《The Hunter - Trilogy》


 Book One: The Presence 001

    In the beginning, there was only the void. Pitch blackness seemed to be all there was, except that it wasn''t. There was something there. An entity existed that, in our feeble human minds, would have been inconceivable. If we had existed at that time, its sheer vastness and powers would have astounded us so much that our brains would be turned into mulch.


    The only problem was that it was completely alone.


    It stayed that way for untold eons and eons, if time had existed. It didn''t know if it was always alone or if it had ended up that way. It didn''t really care, or so it lied to itself, for a few eons more. Then it decided that it had had enough and it no longer wanted to be alone. Using all of its vast power, it started to concentrate all of that energy into a single spot within the void. For another eon it did that, and nothing happened. It grew frustrated and tried to put even more energy into it, to no avail. It had no clue what it was doing wrong, since it had never been done before, then it had an idea.


    Instead of trying to create something out of nothing, it would use a part of itself to do it. Happy with its brilliant idea, it separated a tiny portion of itself and focused all of its power and energy on it. Another eon past and nothing happened. It grew frustrated and angry at its failed attempts and that anger fueled its need for some kind of companion, just so it could complain to them that its efforts were failing. Spurred on by this revelation, it poured more and more of itself into the experiment. It could feel something trying to form, then grew excited and increased its efforts. Half an eon passed and it felt whatever it was grow stronger. Filled with something like joy that it was working, it put even more of itself inside the thing and used more energy than it knew it had, all in the hopes that something would happen. Unfortunately, it was also blinded by the emotions it had never felt before and made a terrible mistake.


    The experiment reached a tipping point when the entity had almost exhausted itself, its body weak and ravaged by its efforts, then it felt a spark. If it had breath at the time, it would have gasped at the sight of the experiment collapsing in on itself. If it had a voice, it would have yelled ''no'' at the failure... then it would have screamed as the experiment exploded.


    A blinding bright light filled the void that the entity was in, and the explosion tore the poor thing apart. Its body was scattered out from the center of the void, and its mind dissolved as more and more of its body was carried away by the force of the explosion. Resigned to its fate and its utter failure, it didn''t try to keep even a small portion of itself together and let its body drift out into the void unhindered.


    Because it didn''t try to hold onto itself or keep its mind intact, all of those fragments remained infused with its essence and it permeated everything. Everything that existed in the void was because of the entity''s sacrifice, and its last thought before its mind completely faded, was that even though it had killed itself, at least it had done something amazing.


    *


    It took eons for other things to start happening. Bits of the experiment that had exploded combined with the body of the killed entity and started to form things. Shapes and gases swirled and coalesced, and became smaller entities on their own. At first they were barely self-aware and only had consciousness with no knowledge or the ability to think. However, they did have instincts.


    Some of the more quick-witted ones gathered others around themselves and they started to realize what was going on. It took eons for them to become fully self-aware and discover their powers, which were similar and different from each other. After many battles to prove their dominance within their pantheon, the hierarchy was established. By this time, they knew each other as gods and they each ruled over their own patches of the void. Unfortunately, there really wasn''t anything in it for them to rule over.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    No one knew who had the idea first or where the urge came from; but, almost as one, the gods decided that they didn''t want to be alone and needed someone other than themselves to acknowledge them. Calling a truce of sorts where they couldn''t attack each other directly, despite some still harbouring animosity towards one another, they came together and contributed a very small part of themselves and created the very first planetary body. Because the gods themselves were so enormous, even a tiny fragment of their bodies combined together to make a world so massive that the scale was incomprehensible. Since there were so many gods, they quickly divided the massive planet up into sections and started to experiment. For some reason, they knew that they could put a very tiny bit of themselves into what they were creating and it would create life, so they did.


    Most of the gods were very pleased at their quick success, mainly because they had gained power from their created beings, and continued to make beings similar to themselves to make themselves even more powerful. Some of the other gods were less than happy at how easily they were being outclassed, and feelings of envy and malice started to grow.


    This started a divide of gods referring to themselves as Light and the others were automatically referred as the Dark gods. The Dark gods didn''t like that one bit. They made a few beings themselves and infused them with those feelings of envy and malice, as well as other traits.


    Over time, those altered beings started to spread and infiltrate the areas of the Light gods to recruit the other beings and tempt them to convert to the Dark. It went unnoticed for a while, then one of the more powerful Light gods noticed a fluctuation in their power. When they concentrated on the planet, they saw their population had dwindled and immediately discovered the deception. Angered at the pilfering of his beings, he enticed his followers on the planet to attack the culprit''s section of the planet.


    This callous act set off a planetary war between the Light and the Dark that everyone became involved in, once it was discovered that several of the more powerful Light gods had suffered the same infiltration by the other Dark gods. Thanks to converting other beings instead of creating them, the envious Dark gods had grown their power to rival the others, and the battle commenced. Decades passed as the war raged. When it was all said and done, the massive planetary object was left in ruins and could no longer support life and almost none of the created beings remained.


    All of the gods calmed down at the sight of the devastation and realized their folly. Unfortunately, what was done was done. Each god scooped up their created beings to remove them from the massive planet, then sighed and floated off into the void on their own. Even the Dark gods felt bad that it had happened; but, they were also angry that the Light gods had started the war in the first place. They floated off in other directions and found their own spaces.


    They all knew that cooperating hadn''t worked in making one world, so they each used their powers and made their own worlds. Some gods made multiple worlds in a single solar system, and some of the more powerful gods made entire galaxies. They had used up a lot of themselves to do it, because they felt that was the right thing to do. The old gods used the last of their energies and elevated their created beings to become the new gods, and they watched over these new worlds as if they were their children.


    They all knew they were missing something, with the worlds being completely empty, so the new gods used their elevated powers to create mortals. They had learned from the old gods and tried their best to not make the same mistakes. Unfortunately, no being was perfect and mistakes were made. One of the biggest mistakes was that on some worlds, the new gods had tried to remain detached from their creations. They didn''t want them to be unduly influenced, which meant that those creations were also unsupervised, and they forgot that the new gods existed at all. Light and Dark energy roamed freely on those ignorant masses of people.


    Earth was one of those worlds.

 Book One: The Presence 002

    My name is Marcus Moon, and I am not who I used to be. I lost my parents at an early age, too young to even remember them, and grew up in an orphanage. I came of age in a corrupted system that told me what to do for nearly all of my eighteen years of life. They even had me working part time for the last few years, to pay for staying there, and gave me an allowance out of my own paycheck. It grated on my nerves; but, since I was viewed as kind of brat by the people that ran the place, I couldn''t complain about it without getting into more trouble.


    When I graduated high school, I had saved up enough of my allowance to afford a short trip to go on holiday in another country before I had to start community college in the fall. Unfortunately, some unknown group decided that the bus my tour group was using was the perfect target for their plans. After they ran us off the road and killed anyone that was too outspoken, like the bus driver, only six of us remained. There were three men and two young women with me, and we were blindfolded and taken god knows where.


    Our wrists were always bound; but, we were never gagged. We were warned to not speak and none of us were stupid enough to test their resolve. We were beaten regularly and filmed, so that they could have propaganda videos to show off their superiority over us. That part didn''t bother me too much, since I had gotten some beatings as a child from the other kids in the orphanage and kind of knew what to expect. What did bother me was that while we were detained, a few of the men holding us had tried to sexually assault the poor girls.


    The first time I tried to interfere, they beat me nearly to death for stopping their fun. They had used up a lot of their energy and were upset that they hadn''t filmed my beating, which was my intent, because they forgot about using the girls. The second time they tried, I taunted them and said that they couldn''t get any women on their own and had to resort to kidnapping. I''m using the polite phrasing, by the way.


    They didn''t like that much and beat me almost as bad as the last time, and they even remembered to bring the camera this time and filmed it. It was one of their most watched videos they had shared and posted for the world to see, and they never realized that it wasn''t because of the beating. It was because I was smiling the whole time.


    We were kept for seven months and constantly moved around from place to place, and I begged over and over to see their leader so I could offer him a deal. I was laughed at the whole time, until at the last place someone had overheard me and took me seriously.


    It was the leader!


    He had guessed, quite correctly, that I was the troublemaker of the group and always caused his men a fuss. After taking me to another room and talking for hours, with some hard negotiating on my part, he finally agreed to the deal. It would secure the other''s freedom, and they would get a willing participant in their next series of videos. In essence, I traded my life for theirs, because I knew how it was going to end.


    My only condition was that I see the other captives on live television being returned to their families. After I was returned to the cell with the others, it took several days for the arrangements to be made and the others were gagged and blindfolded and taken away. I sighed in relief after that, and two days later, I was brought to a room with a chair, a table, and a television.


    No one spoke as the leader came in and turned on the television. It was a live news broadcast and I saw the hostages being delivered to their families, then saw their horror as I wasn''t among them and they realized I had stayed behind. The leader had the camera set up and said a long speech about rights and infringement, and how I had submitted to his authority and agreed to their punishment. All I could do was laugh in my head at his pompousness.


    It was then that I felt something.


    It was just a tingle at first, that started at the base of my skull, then it spread down my spine. I was strangely calm and didn''t let them know something felt odd, in case they had injected me with something. I suspected this was the case as the torture started and I didn''t really feel it. I thought it was weird when they removed my fingernails with pliers and I didn''t react, and the men were surprised that I didn''t flinch at the mutilation. It still hurt like crazy; but, with their painkillers, I wasn''t bothered by it very much and kept relatively quiet. They kept going and left my fingers bloody and mangled, then they moved on to my feet. That wasn''t as pleasant of an experience for me and that made them happy.


    After three hours of taking everything they could do to me, my whole body tingled. They became bored and one of the men hefted a machete above his head. All I could do to spite them was to give them a big smile. Enraged, the man swung at my neck. I felt a brief moment of pain, surprisingly much less than the rest of what had happened to me, and then nothing.


    *


    When I came back to myself, I couldn''t open my eyes and my whole body still tingled. I wasn''t sure what was going on, because I could hear and feel a deep rumbling thump-thump and I was in some kind of liquid. I lost consciousness several times for an unknown amount of time, then I felt immense pressure around me and the liquid drained away.


    I was suffocating!


    I wiggled and kicked and tried my best to get out of whatever it was I was inside, and then I was out. Someone stuck their finger in my mouth and I threw up on them, then I tried to scream at them. It came out as a shrill baby''s cry and a manly laugh greeted me.


    ¡°Ahahaha! The little guy has quite the voice on him, and just out of the womb!¡±


    I kept crying, because I realized I had just been born. Oh, my god! I''m a baby!


    ¡°Lokend, please.¡± A woman''s voice pleaded.


    ¡°Sorry, Aida.¡± Lokend said and quickly wiped me down and cleaned me off, then wrapped me in a small swaddling blanket and handed me to my mother.


    ¡°My sweet Aaron.¡± Aida said and cooed at me.


    My crying slowed as my body''s constant tingling changed slightly and I felt her love. I stopped crying completely and I tried to open my eyes. My hands didn''t quite work yet and I tried to wipe at my face. She felt my desperation, so she took a damp cloth and wiped my face and eyes. That removed the last crusty obstructions that had glued my eyes shut and I blinked my eyes at her.


    If I had had enough air, I would have gasped at how lovely she was. She had long golden wavy hair and chiselled cheekbones, her ears were slightly pointed, her lips were the perfect kind for kissing, and her eyes were a shimmering sapphire blue. She felt my shock at her beauty, and her love for me grew. She felt my hunger pang as if it were her own, and she slid me down slightly and opened her robe. I made a small squeak at the reveal of her perfect breast, and my father chuckled.


    ¡°He''s a keen judge of that already?¡± Lokend asked. ¡°That''s my boy!¡±


    ¡°Q-quiet, Lokend.¡± Aida said with a deep blush as she stared at me. ¡°Go ahead, Aaron. They are all for you.¡±


    I looked at her for only a moment more, then eagerly started to suckle and tasted her delicious mother''s milk. Aida sighed as she felt my happiness at being fed, and she relaxed as the med-bot tended to her lower area and applied the healing gel.


    ¡°How much of a head-start do we have?¡± Aida asked.


    ¡°A few hours.¡± Lokend said as he rubbed his chin through his short and well-trimmed beard. ¡°We had to drop out of hyperspace to have the power available for the med-bot.¡±


    ¡°Can we still make the rendezvous?¡±


    ¡°I''ve got the computer running the calculations now.¡± Lokend said. ¡°Once you''re tended to, we should have the proper jump coordinates for a quick pass at the Shara Nebula.¡±


    Aida closed her eyes. ¡°I hate having to use such dangerous shortcuts.¡±


    Lokend leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. ¡°My dear, that''s all we can use to stay out of The Order''s sights.¡±


    Aida sighed. ¡°Do you think...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry. We have friends still.¡± Lokend said. ¡°We''ll keep Aaron out of their grasp.¡±


    ¡°I hope so.¡± Aida said as she opened her eyes and looked down at me. I stared up at her as I kept feeding and she felt my gratitude for wanting to keep me safe.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°We''ll do everything we can to prepare you, my beautiful son.¡± Aida said and used a finger to rub my forehead. It was so soothing that I didn''t feel the increase in the tingles I felt as I fell asleep.


    I woke up sometime later in my mother''s arms and opened my eyes, only to see that we were inside a ship''s cockpit. I had suspected the technology was more advanced when my father had mentioned the med-bot; but, I never suspected that it would be this advanced. I wasn''t a tech guy in my old life, and even if I was, I doubt that I could identify anything that my little baby eyes could see.


    ¡°Don''t feel dismayed, Aaron.¡± Aida said. ¡°You''ll learn all of this in time.¡± She felt my surprise, and she chuckled. ¡°You''re of my body, Aaron. I can feel you no matter where you are.¡±


    I was completely comforted by those words and in that moment, accepted her completely as my mother. She felt the change in my emotions as my heart opened up to her, and I felt her surprise as a deep connection formed between us.


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± Aida said and hugged me close and kissed my forehead.


    For the next few months, I listened and learned a lot about the situation my parents were in. They were called ''rogues'' and were on the run from an organization called The Order, because they refused to follow their archaic rules and regulations. If they had listened, they never would have fallen in love or gotten together and had me. I was grateful for that, because I loved my mother very much and I couldn''t have asked for a better set of parents.


    It took me almost a year to adjust to my new body and learn how to walk again. I know that sounds surprising; but, the balance was off and I was a lot shorter than I used to be. While I tried to get myself mobile, I discovered an underlying tone of fear in nearly all of my mother''s and father''s conversations. It wasn''t until I was almost two that I managed to say my first word without it being garbled. Good god, it was frustrating not being able to talk properly.


    ¡°MOM!¡± I exclaimed loudly from my play spot on the floor, and Aida caught her breath. I had startled her.


    ¡°Aaron! You scared me!¡±


    ¡°Mom!¡± I said and carefully stood up by myself and waddled over to her. She sat at a console station and I reached her and pat her leg, then I held my arms up for her to pick me up.


    ¡°Oh, all right.¡± Aida said with a smile and picked me up. ¡°I was going to take a break anyway.¡±


    ¡°Mom!¡± I said and hugged her neck tightly and kissed her. ¡°Mom!¡±


    ¡°Yes, I''m your mother.¡± Aida said with a laugh.


    ¡°What''s the ruckus?¡± Lokend asked as he came into the compartment.


    ¡°Mom!¡± I exclaimed.


    ¡°Haha! Of course she''s your first word.¡± Lokend said. ¡°You love her as much as I do.¡±


    ¡°Mo...mo... more!¡± I exclaimed my second word, and they laughed.


    Now that I could talk, even in such a limited fashion, my training began. Since my body was insufficient for most things, they started with my basic knowledge. After several trial lessons as they determined how much I could understand, they started telling me everything. Not about our predicament, I mean about everything.


    I sure was surprised when they told me that there was an all-encompassing power called the Presence. I didn''t want to believe it at first, since it was such a weird concept, then my mother told me all the various ways that it could manifest in someone... one of which claimed that it can sometimes manifest as a very light tingling near the base of the skull.


    I had to believe her after that. She told me that everything had the Presence in it, since it was the very fabric that the universe was made from. It encompassed us, surrounded us, and flowed through us, because we were a part of the universe as well. I found that a little hard to believe, until she started to explain. I blinked my eyes at the description of how their scholars and researchers had researched both physical and mystical means to discover the truth about how everything had come into being, and the comparison to the big bang theory was not lost on me. She felt my understanding of the underlying principles, and smiled.


    Aida showed me the necklace that she wore at all times and it had a locket on it. ¡°This has the most precious thing to me inside it. It is my heart and my soul, and it never leaves my skin.¡± She said. ¡°When you''re old enough, I''ll show you what''s inside.¡±


    I nodded, and my education continued for another year. Just as my mother kept telling me, my ''cute little brain'' absorbed the knowledge like a sponge. I was actually eager for my lessons, to the delight of my mother, because she had been worried that I wouldn''t want to learn anything more than the basics. When I reached my third birthday, she had finally managed to wean me from suckling milk from her breast. I was very reluctant to give it up, since it still tasted delicious and her breasts were the most perfect ones I had ever seen.


    Once I had given it up, they determined that I could be successfully taught a family meditation technique that would let me feel more of the Presence, because I was no longer so physically dependent on my mother. I still felt the loss of the intimacy with her, as did she; but, once I had learned the technique after several months of practice, I could feel the emotional bond between Aida and myself grow from my sole dependency upon her into more of a mutual dependency where we needed each other in almost equal measure.


    Lokend had thought the change in my emotional state had happened a little too quickly than he thought it should have, and it worried him a little. At the time, I didn''t really have the words to explain what my mother and father had meant to me after taking care of me and loving me like they did. Little did I realize that I never would get the chance to explain everything properly.


    We had hopped from space stations to space ports, from settlements to outposts, for as long as I had been on the ship. Aida or Lokend had always stayed on board to look after me as the other went for supplies, or even just picked their orders up. We traded for goods and services along the way, and I was starting to get a handle on some of the more physical techniques that my mother had taught me. She had me use a wooden sword for some reason, since I thought I would be using a laser gun like what my father wore on his hip.


    On my fourth birthday, our small ship docked for normal maintenance at a small station near a super-giant gas planet. My father had postponed it for far too long and had used the ship''s communication array to call ahead. He arranged for the port authority to get the maintenance bots ready to check everything over and to fix any problems they found.


    ¡°I''ll be back with enough supplies for the next leg of our journey.¡± Lokend said, kissed Aida and gave me a hug, then left when the hatch opened. Several bots came in and scoured the place, looking for any stress fractures, warping, or any kind of damage that could happen to a ship during space flight. After half an hour, my father hadn''t returned and I felt Aida''s worry. He had never been gone longer than twenty minutes, and despite her husband''s expressed warnings, she took out her locator beacon and activated it.


    ¡°What is he doing all the way over... argh!¡± Aida grunted and put a hand over her heart. ¡°N-no.¡± She said and picked me up. ¡°Aaron, no matter what, don''t leave this compartment.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    Aida opened up one of the side compartment doors where we kept our blankets. With one hand reached in, touched the stack of blankets, and moved the whole thing as if it was one object. She ignored my surprise at the new technique and stuffed me into the empty compartment.


    ¡°No time to explain. Lay down and use the Hide technique.¡± Aida said and I quickly did as she said. The flow of Presence around me slowed and drifted away, as if I wasn''t there, and she smiled. ¡°Good boy.¡± She said and stuffed the stack of blankets on top of me. ¡°I love you, Aaron.¡±


    ¡°I lo-¡± My words were cut off as she shut the compartment''s door and hit the seal button. I felt the air circulation cut off and realized what she had done. With no air flow, the red telltale light would be on and no one would even consider that someone would be inside. Since I was so small, I had plenty of air to last me several hours before I would start to suffocate. I knew what she wanted me to do next, so I started my meditation technique to calm myself down, and let the flow of Presence inside my own body slow down as well. The less it moved, the less oxygen I would need to stay alive.


    I started counting in my head and waited quietly. I waited for quite some time, and heard several sets of feet pass by my hiding space. I never reacted to them, since I knew that the maintenance bots didn''t wear shoes and that they were searching the ship for something. My count was up to just over 3,000 Mississippi, or almost an hour later, when I felt a wrenching pain in my heart.


    ¡°MOM!¡± I yelled and shook myself out of my mediation and tried to push the blankets out of the way to reach the door. They were jammed in and I couldn''t reach around or through them to touch the quick release button on the door. With all my extra movements and heavy breathing, I could almost feel the oxygen being used up. I started to pant to try and catch my breath; but, it wasn''t working. I started to remember being held in that little cell in my previous life and how I had been tortured, and I felt a surge of tingles go down my spine.


    ¡°Mom!¡± I said and thought about the technique she had used. I concentrated on doing the same thing and focused on the flow of Presence around me. I held my breath to stop distracting myself and made a mental image in my head about making a box of energy around the blankets. It took only a few seconds; but with no air, it felt like an eternity. I felt the box become solid and pushed with both my hands and with the Presence.


    I was surprised at the sound of wrenching metal, then the blankets were hurled out of my way and across the hallway. The compartment''s door and the blankets slammed into the wall, and I ignored the loud bang that the door had made when it hit. I slid out of the compartment and when my feet hit the floor, I ran through the small ship and into my parents bedroom. I had been in here several times as my father had stored his weapons, and I jumped up onto the bed easily.


    My body was using the flow of the Presence almost automatically as I ran across the bed to the headboard. I hit the false panel to reveal the keypad and typed in the security code, and when it opened, I didn''t see my father''s backup laser pistol like I had hoped. What I saw were two short cylinders with buttons on the sides and they were tied together on a cord. The objects were nearly identical, except that one was slightly more slender and long. With nothing else to take, I grabbed the cord with both cylinders on it and tied it around my waist. It looped three times before I could tie it safely without it falling off of my slender body.


    I looked back into the hiding place and saw several sheets of papers, two credit chips with no denomination markings, and some kind of passkey. I quickly stored the items into my tiny pockets and closed the false panel and heard it click, then rolled off of the bed and ran to the doorway. I couldn''t see or hear anyone, so I took a deep breath and used the Walk Silent technique. I wasn''t actually walking silently, all the technique did was use the Presence to push the sound down and away from where it could be heard.


    I hadn''t been taught that technique. I had learned it on my own as I used it at night to sneak onto my parent''s bed, so I could snuggle with my mother. She was always amused that I would leave my own bed to stay with her and she never once complained that I was abusing the ability.


    I quickly and silently moved through the ship towards the hatch and fully intended to go looking for my mother, when the hatch opened and derailed my plan. I ducked around the corner and peered out, and saw something that surprised me.


    It was an alien.

 Book One: The Presence 003

    The alien wore long ornamental robes and I recognized the symbol of The Order on his shoulder. Instead of hair like most humanoids would have, he had evenly spaced black horns around his head and had light blue skin. One of the oddest things about him was that his eyes were completely white with no irises at all. The dark haired teenage boy beside him was a disappointment in comparison, because he looked human as far as I could tell.


    ¡°I can''t believe that we were so lucky to meet a couple of rogues this far out from the galactic core!¡± The teenager exclaimed and pat his hip. ¡°I can''t believe how easy it was to take the man down!¡±


    At his words I looked down at his waist and saw my father''s laser pistol. Instead of the gleaming black it was supposed to be, it had a red tint to its sheen.


    ¡°If he had kept his primary weapon on him, I doubt our sneak attack would have surprised him.¡± The alien said in a gruff voice.


    N-no! I thought, and my heart started to wither.


    ¡°The woman didn''t provide any great threat, either.¡± The teenager said and held up my mother''s locket.


    ¡°NOOO!¡± I yelled in a rage and jumped out into hallway, startling both the alien and the teenager. I did the same technique that I had done to the blankets in the compartment I had hidden in, formed a box around the teenager, and pushed with the Presence.


    ¡°AHHH!¡± The teenage boy yelled as he was hurled down the hallway and slammed into the wall. He bounced off and landed on the floor, and I took the opportunity to form a box around my mother''s locket and pulled it towards myself. It flew thirty feet in an instant and I caught it. Since that worked, I started to do the same thing to my father''s laser pistol.


    ¡°HOLD!¡± The alien yelled and kind of did the same thing to hold the gun in place. ¡°That weapon is much too dangerous for a child to use.¡±


    ¡°Like you care about that!¡± I said and pulled harder.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± The alien grunted as he felt his own power being taxed. Unwilling to keep fighting a Presence tug of war, he quickly reached down and hit the release on the charging clip to make the gun useless.


    ¡°Ooooowwww!¡± The teenage boy rubbed his head as he started to get up. ¡°H-hey! You damn brat! You can''t do that to me! I''m...¡± He stopped talking when his master touched his shoulder.


    ¡°Calm.¡± The alien said and turned to face me, then noticed what I had tied around my waist. ¡°Boy, those Light blades are not for you.¡± He said and tried to use the Presence to take the cylinders.


    ¡°They''re not for you, either!¡± I nearly yelled and reached down to hold onto them, then I felt who owned them. The slender one was my mother''s and the other one was my father''s. I knew my box trick wasn''t going to work, then I felt that I was slowly being pulled down the hallway. Instead of making a box of energy, I made a thin layer out of it that was about the size and thickness of a piece of paper, then used the Presence to fling it at the alien.


    ¡°AHH!¡± The alien yelled and lost his concentration as he held a hand to his cheek.


    I felt the alien''s shock and saw yellow blood seep out between his fingers and glared at him. ¡°They belong to my parents! The people you just killed for no reason!¡±


    Both the alien and the teenage boy were surprised that I could talk so well and showed a higher intelligence than my four year old body let on.


    ¡°Your parents were criminals and were fleeing prosecution.¡± The alien said and moved his hand. The cut had healed in only a few seconds and he used a piece of cloth to wipe off the blood. ¡°They and their friends have done terrible things over the years.¡±


    ¡°I''m not listening to...¡±


    ¡°Quiet!¡± The alien said and then I felt my mouth close as the Presence pressed against it. ¡°Luckily, you are but a child and couldn''t have committed any crimes.¡± He said. ¡°Unfortunately, you still need to come with us.¡±


    ¡°MUH?¡±


    ¡°What? Oh, right.¡± The alien said and I felt the pressure on my mouth disappear.


    ¡°Why do I have to go with you?¡±


    ¡°You''re an orphan and...¡±


    ¡°You killed my parents and made me an orphan, you alien bastard!¡± I exclaimed and concentrated on making another paper-thin layer of energy. Before I could finish it, I felt a whack on the back of my head and fell unconscious.


    *


    ¡°That wasn''t necessary.¡± The alien said to his teenage apprentice.


    ¡°Yes, it was! The little freak threw me into the wall!¡± The teenage boy said. ¡°The least I could to was hit him in the back of the head with that container door!¡±


    The alien sighed, because it was always difficult to cull the retribution instinct in someone so young. He walked over to the unconscious little boy on the floor, then knelt down and searched him. He easily found the papers, the passkey, and the two credit chips. He picked up the dropped locket and untied the cord from his waist, and put all of the items into the storage pack hidden inside his robes.


    ¡°Give me the pistol.¡± The alien said.


    ¡°What? Are you kidding?¡± The teenage boy asked. ¡°I was going to request it as a trophy for my first successful rogue capture!¡±


    ¡°Now.¡±


    The teenage boy sighed and unhooked it from his belt and handed it over, and the alien tucked it into the pack with the other items.


    ¡°Pick him up.¡± The alien said.


    ¡°I''m not touching that little...¡±


    ¡°Use the Presence, then!¡± The alien said angrily.


    ¡°Oh! That I can do.¡± The teenage boy said and used the presence to make the unconscious little boy hover about 3 feet above the floor.


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± The alien said. ¡°Oh, and don''t intentionally bang him into the walls or hatches.¡±


    There was a low thump sound with a slight metallic ring.


    ¡°Oops.¡± The teenage boy said and held in his chuckle.


    ¡°If he is harmed in any way, you will be the one to nurse him back to health... and you will need to give up your time cycles with the Wise One this week.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what? You can''t do that!¡± The teenage boy said at the same time that another thump sound was heard.


    ¡°Heed my words and follow my instructions.¡± The alien said, and felt his apprentice''s emotions go from happy to resigned. Why can''t he be like I was when I was an apprentice? He thought to himself. I was so eager to please that I did everything that was asked of me and never questioned my elders. He held in his sigh and they left the ship.


    ¡°Hey, what am I supposed to do with this thing?¡± The port authority worker asked and motioned to the airlock and the small ship docked there.


    ¡°Lock it up and put into long term storage.¡± The alien said and held a hand out.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    The port authority worker grabbed his scanner and held it under the alien''s hand, then it blinked green. ¡°Whose name do I put it under?¡±


    ¡°Aaron Ullir.¡± The alien said when he remembered the name on the papers the boy had on him.


    ¡°How long should I...¡±


    ¡°Long. Term. Storage.¡± The alien said and glared at the man. The worker nodded several times and put the scanner away as he stepped back to let The Order representatives pass with their captive.


    *


    ¡°Ughhhh.¡± I moaned as I started to wake up. Suddenly, my head was lifted from where it was resting comfortably, then my face was mashed into the underside of a pair of quite nice breasts covered by only a thin cloth. In the next moment, my head and torso are hanging off the side of a bed and I''m watching a hooded figure with a very cute backside rush out through a partially open door. When it clanged shut, my body decided to slide the rest of the way to the floor and I hit my head on the ceramic tiles.


    ¡°OW!¡± I exclaimed and rubbed the top of my head, then I winced when my hand accidentally touched the large bump that was developing on the back of my head. ¡°Dammit, that hurts. What hit me?¡±


    When no one answered, I sat up on the floor and took stock of my situation. I don''t know where I am, how I got here, or what''s going to happen to me. I thought. Just like what happened the last time I was kidnapped. I checked my pockets and looked at my bare waist. I''ve also been robbed. I thought sadly, then a sharp pain lanced through my head.


    ¡°OW! Stop that!¡± I yelled and sent the push of Presence back where it had come from. A muffled ''ow!'' greeted me and I laughed, because I recognized the voice of that idiot teenager. The door to the room opened and the alien came in.


    ¡°Enough playing.¡± The blue skinned alien said.


    ¡°I hope you''re not here to steal anything else, because I don''t have anything left.¡± I said.


    ¡°I didn''t steal...¡±


    ¡°I was unconscious and you took all of my belongings without my permission.¡± I said and glared at him. ¡°Is that not stealing, or are the rules different for you Order thugs?¡±


    ¡°How old are you?¡± The alien asked.


    ¡°Don''t you know already?¡± I asked. ¡°By the feeling of my head, I''ve been probed a lot while I was unconscious. According to my mother, who you bastards killed, you should have gathered all of the general knowledge about me by now.¡±


    ¡°You''re very smart.¡±


    ¡°My mother, who you bastards killed, said my brain is like a sponge.¡±


    The alien sighed and reached down to grab me, and I kicked out with my feet while using my Silent Walking technique. I knew it wouldn''t do any damage; but, it helped me concentrate the presence around my feet and I pushed with it.


    ¡°AHH!¡± The alien yelled as his feet flew out from underneath him and he fell forward. I rolled out of the way and his chin got caught on the the side of the bed and it snapped his head back with a crack. I stood up beside him and looked at his body that was nearly bent in half the wrong way. His eyes looked at me and I could see the pain there.


    ¡°How did you like that ambush?¡± I asked and made fists with my hands. ¡°How do you like that a four year old got the better of you?¡±


    His completely white eyes widened as I made a box of Presence energy around my right fist and he felt the flow condense and become solid.


    ¡°Surprise, asshole.¡± I said and punched him in the face. Since I was only four and my fists were so small, it was the perfect size to smash in one of his freaky white eyes. The alien gargled because he couldn''t scream with his throat pressed against the bed. I pulled my fist back and tried to swing again, then I grunted as I was tackled by the alien''s teenage apprentice. We bounced against the bed and I felt a couple of my ribs crack as we fell to the floor and he quickly rolled over to sit on top of me.


    ¡°You little shit!¡± The teenage boy said and punched me in the head with his fist. I started laughing at him because his weak punches weren''t worth trying to block as he tried desperately to hurt me. It made him angrier, which distracted him and that was what I wanted. I put a hand on his belly and concentrated the Presence between my hand and his gut, then pushed as hard as I could.


    ¡°BLARRRRGH!¡± The teenage boy threw up everything he had in his stomach. I was glad that he was so much taller than me, because his barf just missed my head. I hadn''t succeeded in throwing him off of me like I had hoped, though. He put his hands over his belly and hunched over, and that put his head within the reach of my arms.


    This may be better. I thought with a smile and put my hands over the teenage boy''s ears and did the same thing that I just did to his belly, except to his ears. The teenage boy''s eyes widened as both of his eardrums were shattered, and he screamed. His belly forgotten, he grabbed onto his ears and rolled off of me. I tried to take in a deep breath and winced because I had forgotten about my broken ribs. I didn''t try to sit up for the same reason. A blue hand grabbed onto my shirt and his fingers dug into the cloth as his fingernails dug into my skin.


    ¡°ARGH!¡± I yelled, then suddenly there was nothing but blackness as a wave of Presence washed over the room.


    *


    ¡°I think we need to keep him isolated.¡± A man''s voice said as he held the Sleep technique in place.


    ¡°I agree.¡± A woman''s voice said. ¡°(Undecipherable) has been lax in his training if he would let a four year old get the drop on him like that.¡±


    ¡°I was talking about the child.¡± The man said and nodded at the side of the room, and several healers left to go into the room to deal with the wounded.


    ¡°(Undecipherable)''s care of his apprentice is also lacking, especially if the boy''s first reaction is to resort to laying his hands on a young child when his master is attacked.¡± The woman said, as if the first man hadn''t said anything.


    ¡°The apprentice has petitioned to keep the child''s deceased father''s pistol.¡± Another man''s voice said.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± The second woman asked.


    ¡°He wants it as a trophy.¡±


    ¡°Dear Chaiya, Goddess of Light, please forgive their folly.¡± The first woman said as she gazed up to the ceiling, then she felt a comforting feeling.


    ¡°According to the report, it took several members of The Order to subdue the rogues.¡± The first man said.


    ¡°Ha.¡± The first woman said. ¡°I read that report. The rogues didn''t even have their Light swords.¡±


    ¡°Well, if their young son can do that much damage, I can only imagine what they did.¡± The second woman said.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± The first woman said.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°No reports of injuries for The Order members that were supposedly present.¡± The first woman said.


    ¡°How much do you want to bet that it was an ambush and they slaughtered two practically unarmed people?¡± The second man asked.


    ¡°Why would they do that?¡± The second woman asked.


    ¡°I think the younger generation is starting to believe that hunting rogues is supposed to be a rite of passage for them to rise in the ranks.¡± The second man said.


    ¡°We need to dissuade them of that notion as soon as possible, or we''re going to have quite the mess on our hands soon.¡± The first woman said.


    ¡°This isn''t a mess?¡± The second woman asked and motioned to the see-through wall.


    ¡°One we can easily clean up.¡± The woman said. ¡°Have (Undecipherable) and his apprentice brought to the council chamber. We''ll get to the truth of this matter before the day is done.¡±


    ¡°What about the boy?¡± The first man asked.


    ¡°You can use your Extended Sleep technique so the healers have time to check over him and heal all of his injuries.¡±


    ¡°What injuries? He seemed fine.¡± The second man said.


    ¡°Can''t you feel his Presence?¡± The first woman asked, and the man''s eyes widened.


    ¡°How... how can he...¡±


    ¡°I believe that there''s a few more things to discover about him than just his slightly pointy ears.¡± The first woman said with a smile. ¡°I''ll see you all in the council chamber.¡± She said and left the very quiet room.


    *


    I woke up with a splitting headache and didn''t groan this time. I kept my mouth shut, because I could feel that my head was back on someone''s lap. I didn''t know who it was, or why they were doing it, and I couldn''t give myself away by trying to use Presence. So, I just laid there and kept my breathing normal, while she lightly stroked my hair. She stayed there for quite some time, then suddenly she perked up.


    I thought about saying something to her, then she carefully lifted my head from her lap. Once again, it pressed my face into the underside of her breasts, only this time instead of the smashing motion, the gentle weight of her breasts almost hugged my face. She carefully slid out from underneath my head and put a pillow under it instead. Surprisingly, the pillow didn''t feel as nice as her lap did.


    I waited for several moments in silence before I opened my eyes and turned my head to look at the door. It was slightly open and the hooded girl slipped out through the opening and shut it with barely a click. I had caught a glimpse of her backside in the light, and it was even shapelier than the last time I saw it. I was only four, so I knew I shouldn''t be considering what I was considering, then I took a deep breath and let it out.


    The room''s door opened and a woman I had never seen before stood there. She had an odd uniform on, more like leather armor than anything else, and instead of the Order''s robes I had seen before, she wore a kind of large cloak that could look like robes if she wanted to close it.


    ¡°I know you''re awake, so you can stop pretending.¡± The woman said with a smile.


    ¡°What if I don''t want to get up?¡± I asked sarcastically, and she laughed.


    ¡°You''re just as curious about what''s going to happen from now on as I am.¡± The woman said. ¡°So, you have a choice. You can stay in there and gloat over what you did to (Undecipherable) and his apprentice, or you can come with me and we can find out how we go on from here.¡±


    ¡°We?¡± I asked and sat up, and I realized I wasn''t wearing my normal jumpsuit. ¡°Where are my clothes?¡±


    ¡°Being repaired.¡± The woman said. ¡°(Undecipherable) tore your jumpsuit up, and there was blood and a few other things on it.¡±


    I touched the spots on my chest where his fingernails had dug in and didn''t feel anything.


    ¡°So.¡± She stepped back and motioned to the hallway. ¡°Feel like taking a walk?¡±


    ¡°I guess so.¡± I said and slid off of the bed and walked over to her. ¡°I''ve got really short legs so you have to walk slow.¡±


    ¡°I can...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said adamantly, and she stared down at me. ¡°Only my mother has ever carried me. Since she was killed by The Order, as was my father, I won''t ever accept any offers of help from you.¡± I told her. ¡°Any of you.¡±


    The woman''s face lost its smile, and she motioned down the hallway. I stepped by her and did my best to walk without putting my hand on the wall for balance. I heard her sigh as she shut the door to the room, then she was beside me a moment later and only took one step for every three of mine. We walked down the hallway in silence as we headed towards the room where I hoped to get the answers to my questions.

 Book One: The Presence 004

    I was pretty tired by the time I reached the end of the hallway, because I hadn''t walked so far in my whole life. I made myself smile at that thought. This body was only four years old, after all.


    ¡°It''s the third door on the left.¡± The woman walking beside me said.


    Surprisingly, I could almost detect sympathy from her. I guessed that she was uncomfortable as she watched me walking; but, like I had told her, I wasn''t going to accept their help. My tiny body wasn''t up for so much physical exertion, despite all of the mental exercises and training that my parents had taught me. I reached the third door and looked up at the door handle. I saw her reaching for it to open it for me, and I held a hand up to stop her.


    ¡°I''ve got it.¡± I said, and concentrated. I formed the box of energy around the door handle, and instead of pushing on the whole thing, I only pushed on the corner with Presence. The handle turned and the door clicked open, much to her surprise. I hid my smile at her reaction and stepped into the room, only to be greeted by two of the weirdest aliens I had ever seen. One looked like a giant cockroach and the other looked like a vampire bat. A really ugly vampire bat. It was also barely a few inches taller than me and they both wore ornate robes of The Order.


    The cockroach made clicking noises with its mouth-like thing and the vampire bat squeaked at us, and the woman with me nodded and waved between them. We walked down a short hallway and entered a large circular chamber. It was full of windows and gave a spectacular view of a futuristic city, with flying cars and what I assumed were robot drones. There were also a dozen people that sat in large ornate chairs, and not a single one of them was human.


    ¡°Is he ready to be tested?¡± One of the aliens said.


    ¡°What do you mean, tested?¡± I asked. ¡°I came here for answers, not to play games.¡±


    ¡°Aaron, don''t be disrespectful.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°Only people I care about can call me by my given name.¡± I said angrily as the tingles went down my spine. ¡°Since you killed the only ones I do care about, you people can call me by my family name, Ullir.¡±


    ¡°I don''t suppose...¡± One of the aliens started to speak.


    ¡°Don''t bother trying to apologize for your mistake.¡± I said and looked at the odd-looking yellow fluffy puff ball thing. ¡°I''ll never forgive you for killing my parents.¡±


    ¡°They were rogues and criminals.¡± The fluffy thing said. ¡°It''s our duty...¡±


    ¡°...to kill innocent people that never hurt you or anyone in your organization.¡± I said. ¡°It''s so horrible that people exist that don''t share in your beliefs, isn''t it?¡± I spat at the thing. ¡°You need to go out and kill them all.¡±


    The fluffy thing turned and looked at the other aliens, and one that looked like he was covered in bark spoke.


    ¡°What am I holding in my hand?¡± The alien asked.


    ¡°I don''t give a shit what you''re holding.¡± I said. ¡°Where are my parents'' bodies?¡±


    No one said anything and I crossed my arms.


    ¡°Too afraid I''ll dislike the answer, huh?¡± I asked. ¡°What about my ship and my belongings?¡±


    ¡°Your ship?¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°You killed my parents, so what they owned is mine.¡± I said. ¡°That blue asshole took the things I had on me and I want them returned.¡±


    ¡°You are in no position to make demands.¡± One of the others said.


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked and looked at the scaled monster. ¡°When will I be in a position to make them? Or better yet, will I ever be in a position to make them?¡±


    The alien opened his mouth to respond, then closed it.


    ¡°Yeah, you jerks are so high and mighty, aren''t you? Doing whatever you want and assuming that everyone needs to bow down to your authority.¡± I said snidely, and saw several of the aliens squirm a little. I couldn''t tell if it was because of my words, or because they were squids. ¡°Well, I''ve got news for you. I''m not one of them.¡±


    ¡°You are in our custody.¡± The fluffy alien said.


    ¡°Yeah, because that blue freak kidnapped me and brought me to god-knows-where, and now I''m being held against my will.¡± I responded.


    ¡°That is your point of view.¡± Another alien said.


    ¡°There''s no ''points of view'' to the truth, you piece of garbage.¡± I said and remembered being kidnapped in my previous life. ¡°Otherwise, you can just take whoever you want and do what you want to them, then tell everyone that it''s for the greater good.¡±


    No one responded, and I barked a laugh. It sounded really weird out of my four year old mouth, and some of them squirmed again.


    ¡°Justification of evil doesn''t make it good.¡± I said. ¡°You can delude yourselves all you want and you can spout out all the rhetoric in your feeble little minds; but, I know the truth. I know what you did and that you condone the actions of your followers because you don''t see that it was wrong.¡±


    ¡°You''re only a child.¡± The scaley alien said. ¡°You don''t understand...¡±


    ¡°...that it''s okay to capture and kill people that disagree with you?¡± I asked. ¡°No trials needed! Who cares about listening to their defense or their stories? Why show them mercy? They''re rogues and don''t deserve the consideration, right?¡±


    No one responded and I glared at each of them at what I thought were their eyes. I couldn''t really tell with some of them, though.


    ¡°Yeah, that''s what I thought.¡± I said to them. ¡°You can stuff your tests where the sun doesn''t shine.¡± I barked a laugh. ¡°In fact, you can all suck my tiny little... muhm!¡±


    The woman had knelt and covered my mouth with a hand to cut off my words. ¡°Forgive him.¡± She said and ducked her head. ¡°He knows not the proper respect to show your exalted presences.¡±


    I flailed my arms and mumbled into her hand to get her to let go, so I could tell them that respect needed to be earned, and they would never earn mine. Instead, she kept a hold of me and stood up with me in her arms.


    ¡°Perhaps we can do this another day?¡± The woman asked, and several of the aliens shook their heads.


    ¡°He will be tested, whether he wants to be or not.¡± The scaley alien said.


    ¡°I don''t think that...¡± The woman tried to say.


    ¡°Bind his hands and gag him.¡± The alien said and cut her off.


    ¡°That''s not going to make things better.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°He''s never going to listen to reason, so we will make him see reason.¡± The fluffy alien said and stood up. It was about seven feet tall and walked over to me.


    ¡°Muh mmm hummm MUH!¡± I mumbled loudly.


    ¡°In order for it to work, I need to touch you.¡± The fluffy alien said and out of its puff ball fur, a long and spindly hand reached out. I tried to struggle and turn my head, then the Presence around me became solid and I couldn''t move at all. ¡°This won''t take long.¡±


    The alien''s fingertip touched my forehead, and I immediately lost consciousness.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    *


    A scene played out before me, where the new gods had created mortals and bestowed upon them great gifts. For some reason, they were stronger in some gifts and very weak in others. I didn''t understand what the hell was going on, then the scene changed and showed the mortals create The Order. It was blessed by several of the new gods and its main building became a church of sorts. People came to worship there and praised the new gods, and the members of The Order were regarded as priests.


    The brainwashing goes back a long way. I thought as I watched The Order spread out to other planets and grow. It gathered more and more talented people to it and the organization became stronger as their talents elevated The Order even higher in the people''s regards. I laughed at that, and then when hundreds of years had passed and The Order had reached a thousand planets, I was filled with tingles, almost to the point of pain, and then I felt a desperate need to worship at the church and to revere The Order for what it was. A universe-wide police force that handled things that planetary police couldn''t handle on their own.


    They''re like the FBI. I thought, and then the vision faded.


    *


    I awoke and opened my eyes to see that I was back inside the room I was being kept in. I didn''t feel the comforting lap or see a hooded figure, though. I sat up and my stomach rumbled. I looked around and saw the standard food tray off to the side and sighed. There were three of them.


    I got up and walked over to the small table and sat down, then ate the closest one. I was tempted to eat more; but, I was only four and couldn''t stuff myself like I wanted to. I also didn''t have any pockets in my outfit and I couldn''t stash anything away, either. When I finished eating, I felt a very strong urge to kneel and thank the Goddess of Light for the food.


    ¡°Assholes.¡± I said and walked over to the bed and laid down. It took me a while to fight off the urges long enough to complete one of the mental techniques that my father had taught me. My mind entered a lucid state and I relaxed as I let the Presence around me flow in and out of my tiny body, completely unhindered. In this way, it was easy to find the ''foreign'' Presence inside myself.


    My parents were good people, and I will not dishonor their memory by worshipping an organization that killed them. I thought, then spent the whole day trying to weed out the undue influences that fluffy alien had implanted in me.


    I didn''t succeed.


    Whoever that fluffy alien was, they were really strong in their use of the Presence and I couldn''t get rid of it with my very limited experience with it. That made me angry, because if my parents had still been alive, I was positive that they could have taught me everything I needed to defend myself. As it was, all I could do was mitigate the damage and did my best to not give in to the compulsions they had implanted in me.


    I got up and saw three different food trays and ate the food from one. I ignored the need to thank the Goddess of Light for it and walked over to the door. I used the same Presence trick to turn the handle that I had used at the council chamber and the door popped open. I laughed mentally, because they left it unlocked on purpose, because they didn''t think I was a threat anymore.


    ¡°Oh, hello!¡± A young boy said and stopped to look at me.


    ¡°Jared, come on.¡± A woman said and walked back to the boy. ¡°We''re going to be late.¡±


    ¡°Mommy, look!¡± Jared said and pointed to me.


    ¡°Hm? Oh!¡± The woman smiled warmly at me. ¡°Hi, there.¡±


    ¡°Um... hi.¡± I said, and she took the boy''s hand and walked over to me.


    ¡°No guardian?¡± The woman asked and shook her head. ¡°I hate it when they''re lax like that.¡± She said and bent down, then picked me up in a smooth motion and scooped up the other boy just as smoothly.


    ¡°Hey, wait!¡± I exclaimed.


    ¡°Don''t worry. I''ll have you two at the assembly in no time.¡± The woman said and I felt a flow of Presence encompass us. ¡°Ready!¡± She said with a smile.


    ¡°Get set!¡± Jared said excitedly.


    ¡°Go!¡± The woman said and took off running. My mouth dropped open as we essentially flew down the long hallway. We didn''t run into anyone and avoided all of the possible collisions with ease. I didn''t move or try to touch the Presence around us, in case it disrupted whatever it was she was doing. I closed my eyes and used a quick meditation technique that let me detect the flow of Presence around me easier, and I opened my eyes to see a soft blue glow around us.


    ¡°This is so cool.¡± I said, despite my need to remain detached.


    ¡°It is!¡± Jared said happily. ¡°Maron is the best!¡±


    Maron chuckled as she ran around a corner and avoided a small crowd of people, who weren''t even disturbed by her passing by so closely. With my concentration focused on feeling the flow of Presence, I felt a small spike of it from the crowd. I turned my head that way to look and saw that we had already taken another corner and the crowd has disappeared from sight. We arrived at the assembly hall and Maron slowed down to a normal walking pace as the flow of Presence around her dissipated.


    ¡°Hi, everyone!¡± Maron said to a group of twelve female guardians, and they all turned and greeted her with variations of hello, until one of them noticed she had two children in her arms.


    ¡°Hey, how did you get two of them?¡±


    Maron chuckled. ¡°I picked up a stray on the way here.¡±


    ¡°A stray?¡± The woman laughed. ¡°I thought you might have wanted twice the workload!¡±


    Maron laughed, too. ¡°One is plenty, thank you.¡± She said and looked at me. ¡°Although, he is kinda cute.¡±


    I wasn''t sure how to respond to that, then suddenly there were waving hands and kids hollering for attention. Each of the guardians had a young child in their arms, and each was anywhere from three to six years old.


    ¡°Okay, okay!¡± The guardians all said as one and a Presence barrier formed around the small section we were in. ¡°Play nice.¡± They said and put us all down at the same time.


    I was surprised that I was released from her arms as quickly as I had been picked up, and I looked up at her face. She smiled down at me and I wasn''t sure if she was a robot of some kind, conditioned to be that way, or brainwashed to be the perfect nanny.


    ¡°There you are.¡± A woman''s voice cut through the cacophony of children''s voices, and I turned to see the woman that had come to fetch me to go to the council chamber a couple of days ago. ¡°How did you get here so fast without me?¡±


    I pointed up at Maron, who looked at the woman sternly.


    ¡°If you had been at your post, instead of slacking off, I wouldn''t have had to do your job for you.¡± Maron said. She wasn''t angry or anything, despite the words she said. She was merely stating facts.


    ¡°I was in a meeting to decide if Aar... I mean Ullir was allowed to come here today.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why wouldn''t he be allowed?¡± Maron asked, confused.


    ¡°It''s a long story.¡± My guardian said.


    ¡°You can tell me all about it while the kids play.¡± Maron said and looked down at me. ¡°Ullir, can you keep Jared company while I talk to my friend Emari?¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Go on! He likes making new friends.¡± Maron said and gently moved me towards the play area. I looked at her for a moment and at my guardian Emari, then I sighed and walked over to Jared.


    I really wanted to hear what they were going to talk about. I thought. I was still using my Presence flow technique, so my eyes widened when I felt the flow of Presence around me change slightly and it funnelled into my ears at an increased rate and I could actually hear them!


    ¡°So, what''s up?¡± Maron asked.


    ¡°Oh, he''s... look, I don''t know if I can even talk about it.¡± Emari said.


    Maron chuckled. ¡°Sit down and relax.¡± She said and they both sat down. ¡°It can''t be that bad, can it?¡±


    ¡°Maron, you...¡± Emari sighed. ¡°It''s a goddamn mess.¡± She said. ¡°His parents were rogues.¡±


    ¡°By the Goddess!¡± Maron exclaimed. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°He''s only four and they...¡± Emari''s eyes teared up and she tried to hold back the tears as she told her friend all of the details. I listened intently to everything she had to say, because it would give me the story from a perspective that I didn''t realize I needed.


    *


    ¡°Explain it to me again, (Undecipherable).¡± The scaly alien said to the blue-skinned horned alien. ¡°What were you thinking?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what you mean.¡± (Undecipherable) said.


    ¡°Assaulting a child, for starters.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t...¡± (Undecipherable) stopped talking and rubbed the large bio-med device that covered his eye socket. ¡°You saw what he did to me.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn''t have approached him like you did.¡± A woman''s voice said. ¡°You left yourself wide open for an attack.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t... I... he''s just a child.¡± (Undecipherable) said.


    ¡°According to your report, that child used a Presence Blade on you, after successfully pushing your apprentice away.¡± The second woman said. ¡°No child I''ve ever seen at that age could compress the Presence into a usable force, let alone use it in a fight.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what you want me to tell you.¡± (Undecipherable) said.


    ¡°You can start by telling us what actually happened when you killed the rogues.¡± The first woman said.


    (Undecipherable) kept his mouth shut, because you couldn''t incriminate yourself or others if you stayed quiet.


    ¡°Staying quiet is an admission of guilt that you falsified the report of the encounter that started all of this.¡± The scaly alien said. ¡°Do you want to speak now?¡±


    (Undecipherable) didn''t say anything, and the first woman sighed.


    ¡°You are confined to quarters and restricted from leaving the building until we settle all of this.¡± The first woman said. ¡°Your apprentice will be reassigned...¡±


    ¡°No!¡± (Undecipherable) exclaimed, and everyone in the council chamber stared at him. ¡°He still needs my guidance.¡± He said in a much more subdued tone. ¡°I know I can guide him to the proper path.¡±


    Everyone exchanged glances, then nodded.


    ¡°Very well. He can remain by your side... for now.¡± The scaly alien said. ¡°We will deliberate and keep investigating this incident.¡±


    (Undecipherable) nodded to him and bowed to the council, then left the room.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± The first woman asked.


    ¡°He''s too powerful to fall under my Compulsion technique.¡± The fluffy puff ball alien said. ¡°We can''t force him to speak the truth.¡±


    ¡°I will try and talk to his old mentor and we will see if that can get (Undecipherable) to reveal the truth.¡± The scaly alien said and stood.


    ¡°Agreed.¡± The rest of the council said as one. The meeting ended and they left to attend to their other duties. Running an organization as large as The Order was no small feat and required a lot of their time. One task was running the weekly assembly to let everyone know of any new developments that happened in The Order. The first woman sighed as she was tempted by the thought of completely ignoring what had just happened and how they had ''found'' a new member, then shook her head.


    No, this will give me a chance to address the ''hunting down rogues as a rite of passage'' nonsense. The first woman thought and quickly walked down the hallway to the assembly hall.

 Book One: The Presence 005

    ¡°That''s absolutely horrible.¡± Maron whispered when Emari finished recounting the story, and they both looked over at me. I saw their heads move and I ducked my head, then lifted it to look at them. Maron waved at me and I ducked my head again.


    ¡°I don''t know what I''m going to do.¡± Emari whispered. ¡°He... he has so much hostility built up that it''s like an impenetrable wall.¡±


    ¡°Maybe just let him do what he wants instead of trying to get him to do what you expect him to do.¡± Maron said, wisely.


    ¡°I can''t just...¡±


    ¡°He''s only your second charge, Emari.¡± Maron said. ¡°Believe me, once you have a bit more experience, you''ll understand that sometimes it''s better to let things happen naturally.¡±


    ¡°She''s coming!¡± Someone in the audience exclaimed loudly, and a murmur that spread the word rolled around the whole assembly hall. I felt the disturbance in the flow of Presence in the room, so I lifted my head and looked at the stage with the podium on it. A few moments later, a female humanoid walked out onto the stage. I hadn''t seen her before, so I knew she wasn''t a part of the council that I had seen before.


    Is she someone higher than the council? I asked myself. Because I was still using my mental technique that let me feel the flow of Presence, I could barely detect the slight blue glow around her. It must be pretty strong if I can see it from this far away.


    The guardian care area was about halfway across the assembly hall, which was huge. The woman stopped at the podium and lifted her hands, and a wave of Presence pulsed out from her. I felt the tingle at the base of my skull and then felt the compulsion to listen.


    They waste their powers for public speaking? I asked myself, incredulously. How arrogant are these people?


    The woman spoke of all the things that happened in The Order since the last assembly a week ago, and it was all pretty much just mundane things, until she reached the end of her report and talked about what had happened to me. I was extremely glad to have had two accounts of the story by this point, and now I could find all of the glaringly obvious details that this woman didn''t tell us.


    I wasn''t surprised at her deception, since I had expected it. What I hadn''t expected was her rant about not hunting rogues down as a rite of passage, and I shook my head as even that was twisted and changed to not be a bad thing, only to be discouraged. I couldn''t believe my ears as she went on and on about not letting feelings of anger, vengeance, and revenge drive you to act.


    I stood up and did the reverse of what I had discovered I could do with my ears. Instead of letting Presence flow into my ears, I pushed Presence out through my mouth when I spoke.


    ¡°So letting ambivalence and detachment rule your emotions is a better solution, then?¡± My four year old voice boomed out and filled the assembly hall and made everyone wince. Wow, that was a lot louder than I thought it was going to be. I thought in amusement and reduced the flow slightly.


    ¡°That''s not what I''m saying.¡± The woman on the stage said.


    ¡°No, you''re just downplaying the slaughter of innocent people by members of The Order and only urging the other members to not hunt sentient people down, rather than forbidding them from taking their lives.¡± I responded, and a lot of people gasped. ¡°According to your own words, they can still kill rogues when they find them; but, you will frown upon the act and perhaps maybe punish them if the murders aren''t justified.¡±


    Not a single person spoke and complete silence filled the assembly hall.


    ¡°This... is not the time for a debate.¡±


    ¡°When will be the time? Is there an open forum for my complaints and views?¡± I asked, and she didn''t answer. ¡°No? Okay, then. Thanks a lot for clearing all this up for me.¡± I said, my voice full of scorn. ¡°Can I go now? I''m sick of listening to your half-truths and deceptive words.¡±


    The woman didn''t say anything, so I shook my head and walked over to Emari and held my arms up for her to pick me up. She was shocked that I would do that; but, she didn''t hesitate at all as she quickly bent over and picked me up. She tucked me into the side of her body and I automatically put my arm around her neck to steady myself, then looked at the woman on the stage. I could clearly see the shock on her face and held in my laugh.


    ¡°Emari, take me back to my cell.¡± I said, and everyone looked at me in surprise. ¡°What? You didn''t know that they are holding me here against my will?¡±


    No one responded to the accusations of a four year old, so Emari turned around and didn''t look at or talk to anyone as she walked out of the childcare area and then up the steps to the doors. All their eyes followed us as Emari pushed the doors open with her hand and a bit of Presence, and we left the completely silent room behind us.


    *


    That didn''t go as well as I had planned. The woman at the podium thought and tried to think of how to recover from what just happened. She took a deep breath and let it out, then started to speak. ¡°As you have clearly seen, that young boy has been exposed to some harsh circumstances that were beyond his control.¡± She said. ¡°He can''t hold his tongue or stop himself from blaming The Order for his parents being rogues and criminals.¡±


    Everyone in the audience turned back to face the stage and looked at her.


    ¡°Despite his viewpoint, we are investigating the incident and have already restricted The Order members that were involved to remain in the building until we discover what happened.¡± The woman said, and she felt everyone relax. ¡°The boy isn''t being detained. He has nowhere to go and no one to look after him, and since he is only four years old, he can''t be left alone to look after himself.¡±


    There were murmurs of agreement from a lot of the people there, including the guardians in the childcare area, especially since he fit right into their criteria for ''needs constant care''.


    ¡°We are doing our best by him and we hope that, in time, he will come to see that and understand.¡± The woman said, and nearly everyone agreed with her. She called an end to the assembly and walked calmly to the edge of the stage, then when she was out of sight, breathed a sigh of relief.


    *


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± I asked when Emari turned down a different hallway.


    ¡°You accepted me as your guardian.¡± Emari said with a huge smile, and I blinked my eyes at her.


    ¡°That''s not an answer.¡± I asked. I didn''t need to detect the flow of Presence anymore, so I stopped concentrating on the mental technique.


    ¡°The first time a child trusts a guardian to protect them is a special moment for the both of them.¡± Emari said and stopped at a door in the middle of the hallway. She touched the panel on the side of the door frame and the door slid into the wall with a hishing sound, instead of swinging open like all of the other doors that I had seen so far. She saw my surprise and chuckled.


    ¡°They leave some doors in the old style, despite being able to convert everything to an electronic version.¡± Emari said as she stepped inside and the door hished closed.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Nostalgia, and probably because it''s good practice for when we''re on other worlds that are less technologically capable.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Are you worried about being locked in?¡± Emari asked, and I nodded. ¡°Then I can solve that problem right now.¡± She said and hit several buttons on the inside panel. ¡°Okay, go ahead and touch it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Emari chuckled and took my hand, then pressed my palm to the panel and held my hand flat. After a moment, it beeped and turned green. ¡°There we go! Now you''re all set!¡± She said happily. ¡°Go ahead and try it.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Just lift your hand off of it and touch it again.¡±


    I thought about responding, then did as she said. I lifted my hand from the panel and then put it back on it. The door made a ''hishing'' sound and opened up.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°See? It''s easy.¡±


    I lifted my hand and put it back, and the door closed.


    ¡°You figured out how to close it before the timer expires!¡± Emari said happily and kissed my cheek. ¡°You''re so smart!¡±


    Both her happiness and her affection surprised me and left me kind of speechless. ¡°Can... can you put me down now?¡±


    ¡°In a minute.¡± Emari said with a big smile. ¡°I know you already ate those awful adjustment rations they needed to feed you, so how would you like a treat?¡±


    ¡°Wait, adjustment rations? What are those?¡±


    ¡°It''s specially treated food so that it''s not so hard on your body.¡± Emari said and carried me into the kitchen. ¡°It adds special enzymes to your stomach so that whenever you visit another world, you can still digest the local cuisine without getting sick and get the nutrients your body needs.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± I asked as she opened an appliance that looked like a microwave. I was surprised that it was actually a refrigerator.


    Emari laughed and grabbed what looked like an orange and shut the appliance door. ¡°I''m a guardian. I know everything there is to know about taking care of children.¡±


    I watched her as she put the orange-like thing on something that looked like a cutting board. She hit a couple of buttons and waited for a second, then there was a low hum.


    ¡°Mmm, can you smell that?¡± Emari asked and picked it up and walked over to the table and sat down. She had moved around and did everything with me sitting on her hip the whole time, like it was the most natural thing in the world. It had surprised me so much that she was so adept, that I had forgotten about my request to put me down.


    ¡°Here, try this.¡± Emari said and picked up the top half of the orange-like thing and inside was some kind of cream and the top half was empty.


    I had never seen anything like it before. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Only my favorite dessert!¡± Emari said happily and stuck her finger into it with a plop sound, then pulled it out. ¡°Try it.¡± She said and held her finger in front of my mouth. She didn''t try to force-feed it to me like I thought she would, so I took in a breath through my nose. The most wonderful smell assaulted my nostrils, and she saw my face light up. I reached out with my tiny hand and grabbed her finger to hold it steady and licked up some of the cream.


    ¡°Oh, wow.¡± I said as the flavor hit my tongue and I let her finger go. I couldn''t describe what it tasted like, because my brain had no references to compare it to.


    ¡°Isn''t it the best?!?¡± Emari asked and licked the other side of her finger. ¡°Oh, Goddess! That''s so good!¡± She exclaimed and closed her eyes and let the flavor fill her mouth.


    I could see her slowly sucking on the delicious treat and she took two long and slow breaths. After another moment, she opened her eyes and looked at me.


    ¡°I''m really glad that I can share this with you, Ullir.¡± Emari said as she locked gazes with me.


    ¡°I...¡± I was going to respond with the same thing, then changed my mind. ¡°Can I have some more?¡±


    Emari smiled and dipped her finger into the dessert again and held it out to me.


    *


    Everyone ignored the sound of running feet in the hallways as the member of The Order ran by them. The person ran all the way to her destination and stopped just outside the door. She used the Presence to very lightly probe inside the room and felt nothing. She caught her breath and grabbed the door handle, turned it, and yanked the door open.


    ¡°N-no.¡± The teenage girl whispered as she saw with her own eyes what the Presence had already told her.


    The room was empty.


    She stepped inside and looked around and didn''t notice anything that could have been considered a personal possession. She walked over to the small table and saw two uneaten ration dinners and touched the empty one. Her hand glowed slightly blue as she used her Tracking ability to follow the Presence residue. With the faint trace of his energy in the palm of her hand, she quickly pulled up her hood to hide her bright pink hair and slightly pointed ears, then left the room at a run. She reached the assembly room and the trail was lost in all of the other trails that left the room.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± She exclaimed and looked at the fading energy in her hand, then it was gone. ¡°If only there had been more!¡±


    ¡°Is there something I can help you with?¡± Maron asked the young hooded figure.


    ¡°No.¡± The hooded figure said. ¡°Thank you, guardian.¡±


    ¡°If you''re looking for...¡±


    The hooded figure covered herself with Presence and ran off down the hallway.


    ¡°Run!¡± Jarod said and lifted his arms.


    ¡°I think I spoil you too much.¡± Maron said as she picked him up and covered herself with Presence.


    ¡°Spoil me! Spoil me!¡± Jarod said happily, and she laughed and ran in the other direction towards the large indoor gardens. She had promised Jarod a bit of time playing in the flowers.


    *


    Emari and I had finished the dessert and moved from the kitchen table to the large and comfortable couch in her living room. Now that I had a chance to look at the place, it was very luxurious and opulent and seemed to be a much higher standard of living than I was used to. She still hadn''t put me down and kept holding me close, even while she relaxed on the couch, and I didn''t complain about it.


    ¡°Emari.¡± I said, and she looked at me with a smile. ¡°Are we just going to sit here all day?¡±


    Emari chuckled. ¡°No, I''m just enjoying your company while we wait for your first lesson to start.¡±


    ¡°What lesson?¡±


    Emari reached into her pocket and pulled out a small datapad and hit the button. ¡°It says here that after the assembly, we have an hour of personal time, then we need to go to meet the instructor for your course.¡±


    ¡°My course in what?¡±


    ¡°It depends on what the instructor decides.¡± Emari said and hit another button on the datapad. ¡°Oh! It seems we used up a lot of that hour already.¡±


    Emari stood up easily, even with me still tucked into her side, and she walked over to the bedroom and opened her closet. Inside was several racks of clothing and two sets of drawers. Most of the hanging clothes were robes of slightly different colors, from light to dark. She opened one of the drawers and I saw that there were multiple pairs of folded tight-like pants and a dozen tops that looked like long-sleeved t-shirts. All of them were a light beige color and I looked at her face with a question on mine.


    ¡°It helps if everything is the same color, then you can get dressed in the dark or in an emergency and you won''t have to worry about mixing and matching.¡± Emari said.


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°I''m just showing you my drawers.¡± Emari said and opened the next one, and I saw that it was filled with her underwear and bras. My mouth made that little ''o'' of surprise and I looked back at her face. I saw her deep blush and she shut the drawer as she knelt. ¡°Th-this one''s yours.¡±


    I looked down at the open drawer and saw that it was filled with miniature copies of her outfits. I looked back at her face and I raised my eyebrows at her.


    ¡°Of course you''re staying here.¡± Emari said. ¡°I''m your guardian.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°That was only a temporary living space. You were going to be moved out of there at the end of the week, even if you hadn''t acknowledged me.¡± Emari said. ¡°You did, so here you are.¡±


    ¡°I''m... moving in... with you.¡± I said, and she chuckled.


    ¡°I''m not letting you out of my sight.¡± Emari said happily and bent down to put me on the floor. ¡°Can you get changed yourself?¡±


    ¡°I... maybe.¡± I admitted, and she grinned at me.


    ¡°Strip first!¡± Emari said as she knelt and tickled me under the arms. I laughed at her quick attack and she grabbed the edge of my top and yanked it up and over my head before I knew what had happened. ¡°Whew! I think someone needs a good scrubbing!¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°No buts!¡± Emari grabbed my pants and pulled them down.


    ¡°H-hey!¡± I exclaimed and then she tickled me again. I laughed and she picked me up and strode across the bedroom and into the bathroom. The next moment I was standing in the middle of a big shower.


    ¡°Close your eyes for a second.¡± Emari said and reached for something.


    ¡°But...¡±


    The next moment, a soapy spray hit me in the face. I had both my mouth and my eyes open at the time, too. I started to cry and wipe at my eyes as I tried to spit out the foamy soap.


    ¡°Oh, dammit! I''m sorry, Aaron!¡± Emari said and I felt her get in behind me. ¡°I told the maintenance bot that the spray head had the wrong setting; but, I guess it wasn''t fixed.¡±


    I couldn''t respond, because I was trying not to throw up at the awful taste. She turned me around and then the water started. It was just a trickle at first and she scrubbed at my face with a soft cloth.


    ¡°You poor thing.¡± Emari said as she saw my bloodshot eyes and gave me a hug. She let me go and started scrubbing everywhere else. ¡°The next time I see that maintenance bot, I''m going to kick it right in the lug-nuts!¡±


    I snorted a laugh and she grinned at me, then the water spray intensified.


    ¡°Oh! Rinse time!¡± Emari said and moved over slightly to let all of the water spray to hit me all over, then the shower was over. ¡°There we go.¡±


    Emari picked me up without a second thought and took me out of the shower to the rack of towels. She grabbed two of them and walked out of the bedroom and tossed one onto the bed. Surprisingly, it unfolded and landed flat, and she laid me down on it.


    ¡°I''ll have you all dried off in a second!¡± Emari said and snapped the other towel out to fluff it, then she covered me in it.


    ¡°Hey, what...¡± I stopped talking as her hands rubbed my head through the towel, then they moved down and dried off my face and neck, then my chest, then my legs and feet. She picked the towel up and folded it over to get to the still dry side and gave me one more quick wipe to get anything she might have missed, then she grinned at me.


    ¡°There! All dry!¡± Emari said and walked over to the closet and grabbed a new outfit for me. It was then that I noticed that she was completely naked.


    ¡°E-Emari.¡± I said and she came over with my change of clothes.


    ¡°It''s okay. Everything is made to stretch and can fit any size.¡± Emari said and bent over me to slip a pair of underwear on me, then pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. ¡°See? Perfect!¡±


    I didn''t say anything, because she was still naked and bent over me, and I wasn''t sure I could say anything coherent.


    She picked me up and stood me on my feet. ¡°We just need to tie the belt around...¡±


    Beep! Beep! Beep!


    ¡°Oh, dammit!¡± Emari said and grabbed the towel I had been laying on and dried herself off quickly.


    I watched her closely and her motions weren''t random or wasted. She was dried off almost as quickly as I had been, and she grabbed a pair of underwear and put them on. I stood there completely speechless as she finished getting dressed and grabbed a robe for herself, then picked up a small one for me.


    ¡°No, it''s too long. You''ll trip.¡± Emari said and tossed it onto the bed. ¡°My mentor would kill me if she saw me doing this.¡± She said and picked up a corded belt from the closet and it had one of the cylinders on it. She unhooked it from the belt and hit the button on the side, and a bright white sword came out of it with a low humming sound. It was about three feet long and looked like it was made of pure energy.


    ¡°Wh-what... what...¡±


    ¡°Yes, she would definitely kill me.¡± Emari said and picked up the small robe and swiped the bottom 6 inches off of the end with the humming sword.


    ¡°Oh, my god!¡± I exclaimed.


    ¡°Wh-what did you say?¡± Emari looked at me with concern on her face.


    ¡°I''m sorry, I was just startled.¡±


    Emari didn''t say anything as she put the altered robe over my shoulders and tied the belt around it. She picked me up again and we left the apartment at a run. After a few moments, she covered us with Presence and ran as fast as she could. She didn''t want me to be late for my first lesson.

 Book One: The Presence 006

    Emari stopped running when she approached the proper room and knocked on the door, then she started to whisper. ¡°Please don''t be late. Please don''t be late. Please don''t be late.¡±


    The door opened and a very stern-looking partially furred face glared at us.


    ¡°You''re late.¡± The alien said.


    ¡°It''s my fault.¡± I said, and Emari took in a sharp breath. ¡°She was washing me and I got soap in my eyes and mouth.¡±


    The alien''s beady little eyes stared at me for a moment, then it let out a low warbling sound. ¡°I can smell it on your breath.¡±


    ¡°At least it smells better than it tastes.¡± I said, and the alien made a horn sound.


    ¡°All right, I''m not angry.¡± The alien said and stepped out of the way. ¡°Try to be on time from now on.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Emari said and stepped into the room.


    ¡°Whoa.¡± I said as I looked at the thirteen other kids in the room. They each had their guardian with them, and you would think the room would feel crowded; but, it didn''t and everyone had lots of space around them. They were all doing weird things, and I wasn''t sure what to look at first.


    ¡°A new recruit?¡± The alien said, and Emari nodded.


    ¡°Has he been tested?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Emari said, and I looked at her. ¡°Everything that didn''t require you to be conscious.¡±


    I sighed, and the alien made the horn sound again. I think that''s a laugh. I thought.


    ¡°It''s all right, little one.¡± The alien said. ¡°Unlike those insensitive stuffed shirts, we won''t try to force you to do anything.¡±


    ¡°I still have to show up, though. Don''t I?¡± I asked, and it made the warble sound.


    ¡°It''s required play time.¡± The alien said. ¡°But that''s not all it is. Social interaction and exposure to others with similar abilities can help you develop.¡±


    ¡°What if I''m stupid and can''t learn?¡± I asked.


    The alien made the horn sound again. ¡°You just proved that you are not stupid.¡±


    Emari chuckled and put me down. ¡°Look, there''s Jared.¡±


    I turned and saw that Jared sat about a foot off of the floor with nothing underneath him.


    ¡°Why don''t you go and see what he''s doing?¡± The alien said. Since I couldn''t argue that I didn''t want to see what he was doing, I listened and walked over to him.


    ¡°Hey, Jared.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hi!¡± Jared said. ¡°Look! I''m flying!¡±


    I held in my laugh and my immediate snarky comment that he was actually levitating and not flying. ¡°How are you doing that?¡± I asked instead.


    ¡°Maron taught me!¡± Jared exclaimed and looked at his guardian.


    ¡°It took a while to show him the basic principles, then I had to teach him how to regulate the flow of...¡± Maron stopped talking and looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°I''m sorry, that''s a bit too complicated of an explanation, Ullir.¡± She smiled. ¡°He''s sitting on an invisible shelf.¡±


    I frowned at her for a moment, then closed my eyes and used the mental technique that I used to detect the flow of the Presence around me. I opened my eyes and looked at Jared and what he was doing. I could see a constant flow of the Presence was thickening to push him up and then dissipating, so that he wouldn''t keep floating up until he hit the ceiling.


    ¡°He''s not sitting on a shelf.¡± I said and concentrated on making a box of energy by making the Presence solid. Once I had one, I climbed up onto it and sat down. ¡°This isn''t a shelf either; but, it works just the same.¡±


    Everyone stared at me as I sat in mid-air.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked as I looked at their faces. ¡°Why is everyone surprised?¡±


    ¡°You... just...¡± Maron looked down at the invisible box I sat on and then at my face. ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°I just concentrated and formed the box in my head, then used Presence to make it solid.¡± I said, and the alien came over to me.


    ¡°You can see the boxes?¡± The alien asked.


    ¡°Only if I use the technique my parents taught me.¡± I said and looked at Jared. ¡°When Maron said he was sitting on the shelf, I had to look and see what she meant. He''s actually sitting on a flow of Presence, not a shelf.¡±


    ¡°Can you wait here for a minute?¡± The alien asked.


    ¡°I guess so.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be back in a little while.¡± The alien said and looked at Emari. ¡°Can you do the juggling exercises with them?¡±


    ¡°Ullir doesn''t know how to do that yet.¡±


    ¡°That''s all right.¡± The alien said. ¡°It''s his first day. I planned on him just observing.¡±


    ¡°Oh! All right.¡± Emari said and walked to the middle of the class, and the alien strode to the door and left the room fairly quickly.


    Since I was still using the technique to see the flow of Presence, when Emari got the other children''s attention and started them doing the juggling exercise, I could see them using the Presence to help them keep the balls in the air. I had no clue how to do that, though.


    *


    ¡°Wise One!¡± The teacher alien exclaimed as she burst into the small meditation room.


    ¡°What is it, Xuglach?¡± A large robed alien with the head that looked like a giant housefly asked. ¡°I''m trying to meditate.¡±


    ¡°You aren''t going to believe this.¡± Xuglach said and told her master about her newest student.


    ¡°How old is he?¡±


    ¡°According to the records, he''s four years old.¡±


    ¡°That''s very early for his perception to be so high.¡±


    ¡°He accurately described what levitation looked like, Wise One.¡± Xuglach said.


    ¡°I will observe him, then.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Wise One.¡± Xuglach said and bowed deeply, then left and closed the door to the meditation chamber.


    ¡°Are you sure it''s wise to leave him in with the normal students?¡± The woman from the assembly said as she stepped out of the small alcove that had hidden her from view.


    The Wise One chuckled, which sounded like he was throwing up. ¡°I don''t believe spouting rogue rhetoric to five and six year old children would appeal to him, not after the assembly today.¡±


    ¡°I''ve never met a four year old that could enunciate so well.¡± The first woman said.


    ¡°I really enjoyed him shouting louder than you.¡± The Wise One said, his voice full of mirth. ¡°I wonder how he learned to use the Presence to boost his voice?¡±


    ¡°Wise One, this isn''t the time for musing.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°Yes, yes. I share your concerns.¡± The Wise One said and stood up, and she had to strain her neck to look up to his nearly twelve feet of height. ¡°Make sure Emari doesn''t bring him to the assembly hall anymore.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°I don''t think that will stop him.¡±


    ¡°I''m merely delaying him from using our own way of doing things against us.¡±


    ¡°He''s only four.¡± The woman said. ¡°I doubt that he''s that devious.¡±


    The Wise One put a three clawed foreleg on her shoulder. ¡°Big things can come in small packages.¡±


    ¡°Then what comes in big packages?¡± The woman asked and smiled up at him.


    ¡°Even bigger things.¡± The Wise One said and laughed.


    *


    While the other children juggled with a wide range of success, I could barely hold onto the balls with my small hands. Emari saw me struggle and she took a break from monitoring the other students to stand behind me. She couldn''t get close enough for what she wanted, so I made a box around the box I sat on.


    ¡°Have a seat.¡± I said and pat the air behind me. She looked down at the spot, smiled, and climbed onto it like she was mounting a horse. She sat down right behind me and put her legs on either side of me.


    ¡°Let me show you.¡± Emari said as she put her arms around me and took the ball from my hand, then held it up in front of my face. ¡°The Presence is a part of all things.¡± She said and I saw her hand glow slightly. ¡°All things have Presence.¡± She said and the ball glowed slightly. ¡°You know how to push with it, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said.


    ¡°If you concentrate, you can use an object''s Presence as if it was yours.¡± Emari said and her hand glowed slightly brighter and the ball lifted up from her palm slightly. ¡°You can move them as if it was your hand moving it.¡±


    I watched as she moved her hand under the ball, and the ball moved with her hand as if she still held it.


    ¡°Okay, that''s neat.¡± I said and put my hand under the ball, and I felt a tingle through my hand.


    ¡°Take it.¡± Emari said.


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Don''t overthink it.¡± Emari said and rested her chin on the top of my head. ¡°You can feel the Presence around the ball, can''t you?¡± She asked, and I nodded. ¡°Then you can touch the ball without touching it.¡±


    ¡°I...¡±


    ¡°Just try it.¡±


    I took a deep breath and let it out, and concentrated on my hand. I could see the flow of Presence around and in my hand as it danced and swirled, so I looked at the ball. I could see that her Presence was still holding it up, so I didn''t try to take the ball from her. That move might have been jarring and too much for me to handle, so I just let my Presence float up slowly from my hand. The glow around the ball increased and I was surprised that my brain could interpret it as if my hand actually touched it.


    ¡°I can feel it!¡± I exclaimed, then moved my hand from side to side, and the ball followed my hand. ¡°Ha ha! I did it!¡±


    ¡°Yes, you did.¡± Emari said. ¡°Now let it go.¡±


    I stopped concentrating and the glow lessened, then it disappeared as Emari let the ball go as well.


    ¡°Now, try it on your own.¡±


    I knew I could do it, so I picked the ball up and turned my hand over, then concentrated on the flow of Presence. My hand glowed and the ball glowed, and I used that energy to very slowly lift the ball away from my real hand with my Presence Hand. When I had it six inches away, I moved my hand from side to side, and it held the ball in place.


    ¡°That''s very good!¡± Emari said and gave me a hug. ¡°Keep letting it go and picking it up, while I go and check on the others.¡±


    ¡°Emari.¡± I said and turned to look at her. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Don''t look at me! Look at the ball!¡± Emari laughed.


    ¡°Oh, right! Sorry!¡± I said and looked back at the ball. I kept slowly lifting and lowering the ball into my hand using Presence. The more I did it, the easier it became, and I eventually held one ball up with Presence in one hand and scooped up another and started to use both hands to do it. It was a lot harder to try and split my concentration like that, especially since I was using my less-dominant hand. It needed a lot more concentration to do the same movement and it needed a lot more Presence to do it.


    *


    ¡°Look at him go.¡± Maron whispered as she leaned in close to Emari. ¡°He''s already progressed to doing it with two hands.¡± She pat Emari on the back. ¡°That was great how you helped him that first time.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t.¡± Emari whispered back. ¡°He did it on his own.¡±


    Maron chuckled softly and leaned in closer. ¡°I saw your hand move with his to hold the ball steady.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t.¡± Emari said. ¡°He caught both the ball and my hand and moved both of them.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Maron looked at her with wide eyes. ¡°How did he do that?¡±


    ¡°He...well, he... I can''t really explain it.¡± Emari said. ¡°You know how they''re supposed to use their Presence to grab the ball and it makes that jerking motion because we have to let it go?¡±


    Maron''s eyes widened. ¡°It... it didn''t do that.¡±


    Emari shook her head. ¡°It was like... he reached into my Presence grip on the ball, then used his own Presence to grip both my Presence and the ball at the same time.¡±


    ¡°That''s not possible.¡± The teacher alien whispered from right behind them.


    Both women gasped and jumped from being startled, then turned to face her. Luckily, they were far enough away from everyone else in the room and there was enough background noise that they hadn''t been noticed.


    ¡°When did you get back?¡± Maron asked.


    ¡°Just now.¡± The teacher alien whispered. ¡°What you''re saying isn''t possible.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Emari whispered. ¡°That''s why I said that I can''t describe it properly.¡±


    ¡°Well, it''s a good thing that I''ve asked the Wise One to monitor him.¡±


    ¡°Thank the Goddess.¡± Emari looked back at the little boy she was in charge of. ¡°Maybe he can figure out how a little boy can praise god when he''s startled.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Maron and the teacher alien said together.


    ¡°I startled him earlier and he said, ''oh, my god''.¡± Emari said, to their surprise.


    ¡°Only the most knowledgeable in The Order know that there are other gods and goddesses in the pantheon.¡± The teacher alien whispered.


    ¡°Maybe that could explain why he''s so smart?¡± Emari asked.


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± The teacher alien sighed with a warble. ¡°I will inform the Wise One if he doesn''t know already.¡± She put a gloved hand on each of their shoulders. ¡°Until then, I have a class to teach.¡±


    *


    I was getting pretty good at holding both balls up in the air above my hands with just Presence, when the teacher walked into the center of the room and a small pulse of Presence emanated from the alien. I turned my head and looked at her, and she smiled at us. I held in my disgust as the smile moved some of the fur aside and revealed a pair of small mandibles where the mouth should have been.


    ¡°You''ve had enough practice with the juggling exercise.¡± The alien said. ¡°Thank Emari for her help.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Emari!¡± The other thirteen children exclaimed loudly.


    Rather than blindly following the teacher''s order, and since I had already thanked Emari for her help, I looked at Emari''s face and gave her a nod instead. As if she understood the difference, she gave me a big smile and nodded back.


    ¡°Now, I think we need to move on to the Pushing game.¡±


    ¡°Yay!¡± Jarod exclaimed. ¡°I can really push hard!¡±


    The alien teacher made the horn sound and pointed to an area off to the side. ¡°Then you can be first, Jarod.¡±


    Jarod laughed and ran over to the side of the room and grabbed one of the soft pillows in a pile there, then tossed it a couple of feet away. He plunked down onto his butt and held both hands out towards the cushion. I was still using the detect flow technique and saw him gathering Presence around his hands, then he pushed it out and it hit the pillow. The pillow looked like it had been hit by two small fists and it slid across the floor fairly quickly. When it stopped by the wall, Jarod laughed and everyone clapped at his success.


    ¡°Good job!¡± The alien teacher said and looked at the other children. ¡°Who wants go next?¡±


    Nearly all of the other children put up their hands, and the alien pointed to one girl. She hopped up and ran over to the stack of pillows and grabbed what I assumed was her favorite color, and she tossed the pillow a couple of feet away and plunked down onto her backside like Jarod did, and she held up only one hand. I saw her gather twice as much Presence to her hand and she did the same thing and pushed it out to hit the pillow. It slid across the floor and hit Jarod''s pillow, flipped up and over it, then hit the wall and landed on top of Jarod''s pillow.


    ¡°Ooo! That was a nice one, Afora!¡± Her guardian said. ¡°I''d say that was worth two points!¡±


    ¡°YAY!¡± Afora yelled and ran over to her guardian and hugged her. The other students took turns until they had all pushed their pillows across the room.


    ¡°Well! I think that''s enough for today.¡± The alien teacher said, and all of the guardians went to their charges and picked them up. I stopped Emari before she tried to pick me up, and I saw the disappointment on her face.


    ¡°I want to try it.¡± I said and pointed to the pillows, and she understood that I wasn''t rebuking her.


    ¡°You don''t have to...¡± The alien teacher started to say.


    I ignored her and walked over to the area. Since all the pillows were already across the room in a messy pile, I used the same trick I had used many times before and formed a box of energy around the closest pillow and pulled it towards myself. This was met by complete silence and I stopped myself from smiling.


    I knew that I was showing off a little; but, since they thought I wasn''t capable of using a technique I just learned, I figured it that it was okay to awe them. I glanced at Emari and saw her slightly worried expression, so I winked at her. She caught her breath at the gesture, and I smiled and looked down at the pillow in front of me. I didn''t pick it up with my hand and toss it out a few feet away like the other kids did. Instead, I used the same technique that I had used on the juggling balls.


    My hand glowed slightly as I gathered Presence around it, then I did the same thing to the pillow and gripped it with my ''hand'' made of Presence. When I lifted my real hand up, the pillow lifted as well. Everyone gasped in surprise, and I moved my real hand up and out in front of me, and the pillow moved up to hang in the air in front of me. It was about a foot away from my hand, and I assumed that if I was holding it with a hand made of Presence, I could ''throw'' the pillow if I pushed it away.


    I concentrated on that idea, and pushed my real hand forward slightly and pushed really hard with Presence. Everyone stopped breathing as the pillow flew across the room in an instant and slammed into the wall. Either the pillow was poorly made or I had used a bit too much Presence, because it popped apart at the seams and pretty much exploded.


    Feathers and stuffing were flung out everywhere and covered half of the room, which just happened to be the side of the room that the other kids and their guardians stood. I turned and looked at them and saw that I had covered them almost completely, and no one said anything as Emari walked over to me.


    ¡°Ullir.¡± Emari bent over and picked me up, and some of the feathers fell off of her head and shoulders.


    ¡°Emari, I...¡± I expected her to berate me and I didn''t know what to say.


    ¡°You''re a prodigy!¡± Emari said and smiled at me as she turned around with me in her arms. ¡°Did you see that, everyone? He pushed that pillow across the room!¡±


    Everyone just stared at us, and she laughed.


    ¡°I think I need another shower!¡± Emari said and shook her head, and feathers and stuffing landed on my head and face. ¡°Oh! Now you do, too!¡±


    I still didn''t know what to say to her complete opposite reaction to what I had expected. She hugged me tightly and then shifted my weight to her hip so she could carry me like she had earlier that day, then walked over to the door.


    ¡°See you tomorrow!¡± Emari said and waved to the other guardians, then we left the classroom. She didn''t cover us in Presence to do her quick run trick, and instead took me around to different windows and showed me all of the different buildings and areas that surrounded us.

 Book One: The Presence 007

    During the impromptu tour, we got some strange looks because of the feathers and stuffing that covered us. After the tour we went back to her apartment and took another shower together. I wasn''t stupid enough to keep my eyes and mouth open this time, so I didn''t have to suffer through the embarrassment, the pain, or the horrible taste. We dried off and dressed for bed and I looked around for where I was going to sleep.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Emari asked and pulled the blanket down on the bed and fluffed the pillows.


    ¡°Looking for my bed.¡± I said, and she laughed.


    ¡°It''s right here in front of you.¡± Emari said.


    I stared at her with wide eyes, and she laughed.


    ¡°I told you that I wasn''t letting you out of my sight from now on.¡± Emari said and picked me up.


    ¡°W-wait.¡± I said.


    She ignored me and shoved me under the blanket, then climbed in beside me.


    ¡°But... but...¡±


    Emari leaned close and kissed my forehead, then tucked the blanket up to my chin. ¡°I missed having someone else in my bed.¡± She said and put an arm around me. I was too stunned to say anything, so she took that as permission and pulled me in close as she turned onto her side and hugged me. She took in a deep breath and let it out in a contented sigh.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± Emari said and closed her eyes.


    ¡°G-goodnight.¡± I managed to say. She drifted off to sleep almost immediately and I stared at her peaceful face. I wasn''t going to manage to get out of her grip anytime soon, so I resigned myself to a long and tireless night. Once I admitted that to myself, I yawned and closed my eyes.


    I''m sure she... will loosen her grip... in an hour or so. My thoughts became sluggish, and before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.


    *


    ¡°I''m telling you that there''s something odd about that boy.¡± The woman from the assembly said when the alien teacher left the meditation room.


    ¡°Now, now.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°It''s not very often that we find someone that can be classed as a prodigy.¡±


    ¡°His guardian called him that.¡± The woman said and rolled her eyes.


    ¡°I believe she is quite right about him.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I''ve been near him and felt his Presence control. It''s quite remarkable in someone so young.¡±


    ¡°We haven''t had any luck in determining what species he is, either.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°He could just be an odd variant that has slightly pointed ears.¡±


    The woman barked a laugh. ¡°You don''t believe that any more than I do!¡±


    ¡°No, I don''t.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I assume you''ve checked the archives?¡±


    ¡°I''ve done a cursory search with no result, so I''ve assigned several members of The Order and their apprentices to do an in-depth search and see if there''s any kind of reference to his species.¡±


    ¡°What about the parents?¡±


    ¡°His mother Aida was only a member for a year. She was recruited from some backwater planet in the Archnal Cluster.¡±


    ¡°That''s pretty remote.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I doubt they would even have an archive there.¡±


    ¡°You''re right. Not one record was kept for their population.¡± The woman sighed. ¡°They didn''t even have a central government until we gave it to them.¡±


    The Wise One chuckled, and it sounded like he was throwing up. ¡°What about the father?¡±


    ¡°Surprisingly enough, he had been a loyal member for almost ten years.¡± The woman said. ¡°Then he met her.¡±


    ¡°What was his background?¡±


    ¡°Similar and different.¡± The woman said. ¡°His planet had extensive records when we encountered it, but...¡±


    ¡°The old government didn''t want to hand anything over to us.¡± The Wise One said.


    The woman nodded. ¡°They destroyed everything before they walked out of all the government buildings and abandoned them.¡±


    The Wise One nodded his giant fly-like head. ¡°Some people just can''t grasp that we are bringing them enlightenment and progress.¡±


    ¡°They claimed that they were afraid we were going to absorb them.¡±


    ¡°Little did they realize that we don''t do that. We only welcome them with open arms and lift them up to be closer to the Goddess of Light.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Have you checked the temple for...¡±


    ¡°The only thing we have of the boy is his identification papers and his birth place.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°He wasn''t born on a planet, was he?¡±


    ¡°According to the spacial coordinates, it was out in the middle of nowhere.¡± The woman said. ¡°We would have found them years ago if they had registered the birth at one of the temples in the colonies.¡±


    The Wise One chuckled. ¡°That was a very smart way to hide their trail.¡± He said. ¡°Do you have any idea where they were going?¡±


    ¡°As far as we could determine from the downloaded ship logs, they had been hopping from system to system and tried to say ahead of us.¡±


    ¡°They managed it for almost five years.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Have you marked the routes they took as a priority?¡±


    ¡°Why would we... oh, damn.¡± The woman put a hand over her eyes and sighed.


    ¡°Yes, we should assume that whatever paths they travelled over that time, at least some of them are regular rogue routes that sometimes cross through the normal shipping lanes. Otherwise, they wouldn''t be able to find the supplies they would need to survive that long.¡±


    ¡°I''ll send word right away.¡± The woman said and left the meditation room.


    ¡°There''s no need to rush.¡± The Wise One said to the closed door and chuckled. ¡°It''s not like the routes are going to run away before we can get a patrol ship sent out there.¡±


    *


    I awoke in the morning and was greeted with a very happy face on my guardian.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± Emari said.


    ¡°You''re a morning person?¡± I asked, groggily.


    ¡°Nope! I''m just so energized from having you to take care of!¡± Emari said and slid out of the bed and practically jumped to her feet.


    I shook myself mentally to wake myself up fully, then used the technique I had to detect the flow of Presence. She really is energized. I thought as I saw the flow of Presence moving through her at a much faster pace than it had the day before.


    ¡°Is my little man all ready for breakfast?¡± Emari asked and reached under the blankets and plucked me out from under the warm covers. I shivered at the loss of external heat, and she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me close. She was still quite warm from being under the covers herself, so my shivers slowed down.


    I didn''t bother trying to protest when she shifted me to the side and balanced me on her hip and held me with one arm, and she took me out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. I was quite impressed that she was so adept at only using one hand and kept her balance as she quickly made the both of us breakfast and set the table. I thought about asking her to let me sit by myself, then she sat down and started to feed me.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°I''m...¡± I chewed the bite of food she gave me. ¡°...fully capable...¡± I took a sip of the odd-colored milk she held for me. ¡°...of feeding myself.¡±


    Emari chuckled and ignored me as she made sure I ate everything in a perfect balance. When my breakfast was gone, she continued to hold me close as the food settled in my stomach, and she ate her own breakfast and used the same technique. I would learn later that if you ate too large of a portion of food that it would disrupt the flow of Presence inside you slightly, and you had to wait for your body to absorb some of it to return that flow to normal.


    ¡°We''ve got two hours before we need to start your technology use lessons, so what would you like to do?¡± Emari asked as she cleaned off the table and the kitchen counter with one hand. Her excitement was hard to ignore; but, I managed it somehow.


    ¡°Do you have a telev... ah... I mean... a video screen?¡±


    ¡°I''ve got a holoprojector.¡± Emari said and walked into the living room. She stopped beside the large comfy couch and hit several buttons, and the windows that had a half-decent view of the city shuttered closed to plunge us into a soft darkness. I shivered for a different reason than the cold as I remembered the last time I had been plunged into darkness. It had been the day my parents had died.


    I felt her lips on my cheek as she hugged me with both arms, then a light show started. ¡°Wh-what... is that?¡± I asked as we were surrounded by bursts of light and explosions, what looked like laser pistol fire, and the accompanying sounds.


    ¡°It''s the fireworks display from the last planetary celebration of the Goddess.¡± Emari said. ¡°Isn''t it amazing?!?¡±


    I opened my mouth to tell her that on a quality standpoint that the visual clarity was severely lacking and the minute details were impossible to see, then I realized that was not what she wanted to hear.


    ¡°It... it is.¡± I looked at everything that was happening around me, and the flow of Presence was moving with the fireworks. My eyes widened as I realized that whatever energy the hologram was utilizing to appear, it had its own flow of Presence and disturbed the flow in the room.


    ¡°I knew you''d like it!¡± Emari said and sat down on the couch and sat me on her lap and rested my back against her front. I watched the hologram with her, then suddenly in the very center, a huge explosion happened and the fireworks and the flow of Presence went out in a perfect circle. ¡°Ooo! That was a big one!¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± I said in response. It wasn''t the display of colorful lights, though. It was the flow of slightly glowing blue Presence that amazed me. We watched the rest of the fireworks and then she changed the clear holodisc with another.


    ¡°My guardian gave me this one.¡± Emari said and started it.


    I caught my breath as two robed figures stood facing each other and they activated their Light swords. The flow of Presence increased a hundredfold around both blades in the hologram, and then they began to fight.


    ¡°She recorded her Master and his apprentice as they were training, and thought it was so elegant that she had to share it with future generations.¡± Emari said, reverence in her voice, because she believed it, too.


    I came to believe that myself as the fight progressed. The two participants performed feats of superhuman strength as they fought and performed what could only be called ''magic''. I was disappointed that I couldn''t feel what the Presence around the figures actually was and could only see the distortions in the hologram.


    I need to see a real fight. I thought to myself as we watched it to its conclusion.


    ¡°I''ve got some great learning ones, too.¡± Emari said and popped the holodisc out and set it inside the holder. She put another one in and started it, and it was a generic kids show like they had on Earth. I watched it, barely, and realized that it did have some fundamental information that could be useful... if it wasn''t so general and surrounded by so much childish nonsense.


    ¡°Emari.¡± I said and she looked at me. ¡°How do you tell them apart?¡±


    ¡°Tell what apart?¡±


    ¡°Them.¡± I pointed to the holodisc holder.


    Emari chuckled and picked one up at random. ¡°You see these little dots and squiggly marks? That''s writing.¡±


    I then realized how lacking some of my education was. My parents had been focused on teaching me how to survive and I didn''t even think about trying to learn to read and write.


    ¡°How do I...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry, Aaron. You didn''t miss anything.¡± Emari said when she accurately guessed my intentions. ¡°We don''t start teaching language arts until you''re five years old.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°I know you''re at least a year younger than everyone else in the class and no one expects you to get caught up to them right away.¡± Emari said. ¡°Although, your Presence use is way above theirs!¡±


    I couldn''t help but smile at her happiness. ¡°How far along are they?¡±


    ¡°They already know the alphabet and are just starting to learn how to make words with them.¡±


    ¡°Can you teach me the alphabet?¡± I asked, and she saw the hope in my eyes.


    ¡°It''s difficult.¡± Emari warned me.


    ¡°We''ve got an hour before my technology use lessons.¡± I said with a grin, and she laughed.


    ¡°I can''t say no to that cute little face!¡± Emari said and kissed my cheek, then she turned off the holoprojector and took me over to the side of the room and hit a button on the wall. A desk folded down and a chair slid out from underneath it. ¡°I''m going to go slow, so tell me if you don''t understand something and I''ll repeat it, okay?¡±


    I nodded, and she pushed several buttons. A holoscreen popped up in front of us on the table and on it was a single dot. For the next hour, Emari was very patient with me as I stumbled and messed up a lot as I tried to learn one of the most complicated languages I had ever seen.


    ¡°Don''t be discouraged, sweety.¡± Emari said and kissed my cheek. ¡°It''s only your first lesson.¡± She said and turned everything off and hit the button to slide the chair back and to fold the desk away. ¡°We have to get changed and get to class.¡±


    I didn''t say anything as I moped and berated myself for not learning everything right away. Some prodigy I am. I thought to myself and watched Emari as she stripped off. Her short and wavy brown hair shook as she quickly removed her bedclothes. I admired her lithe and slightly muscular body. It had been a shock to see the first time, and I was kind of surprised that her casual nakedness didn''t bother me as much this time.


    Of course, now that I had the chance to observe her without being flustered, I realized something. She wasn''t the one to hold my head on her lap. I knew this because her breasts, although quite nice and ample, hung far off to the sides and it wouldn''t have been possible for my small face to have been pressed into them from underneath and be able to feel both of them at the same time.


    Who was it, then? I asked myself.


    Emari turned and looked at me and saw the question on my face. ¡°You''re wearing a similar outfit today without the robe.¡± She said, and then smiled broadly. ¡°Don''t worry, I''ll dress you again!¡±


    ¡°W-wait!¡± I exclaimed and held my hands out to try and stop her. She just laughed and quickly stripped me off in barely a moment. I looked down at my completely naked body and then at her. ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°It''s a trick that my guardian taught me.¡± Emari said. ¡°When you''re old enough, I''ll teach it to you.¡±


    ¡°When will that be?¡± I asked. Being able to do a quick change of outfits would be a very useful skill to have.


    ¡°I''ll let you know.¡± Emari said with a sly smile, and I sighed. She leaned down and kissed my cheek again and then grabbed another outfit from my drawer and I was dressed a moment later. ¡°There we go.¡± She said and picked me up, then tucked me into her side and balanced me on her hip. ¡°We''re going to be so early that Xuglach will wonder if I''m trying to suck up to her!¡±


    I tried not to laugh at that, and couldn''t hold it in.


    ¡°Oho! Is that a laugh I just heard?¡± Emari asked in amusement as she walked to the door of the apartment.


    ¡°N-no.¡± I said and tried to deny it.


    ¡°I must be hearing things!¡± Emari said and touched the panel to open the door, and it made the hishing sound as it opened. ¡°Oh, no! Was that a Warglesnort farting?¡±


    I snorted and burst out laughing, even though I had no clue what a Warglesnort was. Emari laughed herself as she stepped out into the hallway, and several people smiled at us when they heard us. She took me back to the classroom and I learned how to operate some of the basic technology that existed in what had become my every day life.


    After class, Emari and I went to a large outdoor park-like area to eat lunch, spent an hour walking around and looking at the buildings and things she had shown me through windows the day before, then we went back to the classroom for the practical lessons in the use of Presence. I didn''t try to show off this time and just watched everything like the alien teacher had strongly suggested I do.


    Emari took me back to the apartment to eat supper, once again she fed me to ensure that my body had the best balance, then we spent an hour learning more of the alphabet. I didn''t try to do too much like before, and it was a little bit easier this time. We went to bed after having a shower and I didn''t try to fight or struggle as she tucked me into bed and snuggled me. I wasn''t sure why she enjoyed pampering me so much; but, the more she did it, the more Presence that flowed through her.


    I had used my mental technique all day to detect the flow of Presence, and I was surprised that I hadn''t developed a headache from concentrating like that for so long. I finally stopped using it and closed my eyes, then drifted off to sleep.


    *


    Xuglach, the alien teacher, had been relieved when her newest student had refrained from participating in the practical lessons that day. She didn''t want a repeat of what had happened the day before, because it had taken her over an hour to clean up the mess that the busted pillow had left everywhere. She walked around the classroom and tidied up the things that her exuberant students always left out of place, then her leg slammed into something.


    ¡°Ow! Owowow!¡± Xuglach hopped on one leg and gripped her sore leg. After a few moments, she relaxed enough to use the Pain Reduction technique and the pain faded. With that taken care of, she concentrated on the flow of Presence around her and inside of her, then directed it at her leg. It glowed for several moments as the damage was repaired, healing her, and she sighed.


    ¡°What did I hit?¡± She asked and looked at the spot where she she thought she had hit something, and she cursed in her native tongue when she saw the solid box of Presence she had inadvertently walked into. ¡°If he wasn''t so adorable I would be so angry at him!¡±


    Xuglach held a hand out as she concentrated and sent several pulses of Presence at the box of energy to break it apart. The energy rejoined the flow of Presence in the room and she nodded in satisfaction. When she turned around to get back to work, her eyes caught the sight of another one nearby. It was much smaller, and it was in a spot that would let someone who was really short reach the display shelf.


    Thankfully, that clued her in that there would probably be more than one of them scattered around, so she concentrated and pushed her flow sense out and out to fill the room. When she looked around this time, she saw six of them in various places.


    How can he make so many solid things and not be exhausted? Xuglach asked herself as she went around the room and broke the boxes apart and cleaned the place up. ¡°I think I''ll have to ask him to stop making them, or someone could get hurt.¡± She said and made the horn sound. ¡°Well, someone else could get hurt.¡±


    Her work done, she turned off the lights and left the room, then went to her own apartment down the hallway to go to bed.

 Book One: The Presence 008

    For the next two weeks, it was the same daily routine. Breakfast, relaxing, learning the alphabet, learning to use technology, lunch, practical lessons using Presence, then more learning the alphabet and bedtime. I fell into the routine easily, and as I relaxed more and more, things became easier. It only took another week for me to learn all of the complicated alphabet and successfully passed the standard test. Both I and Emari were happy with the results.


    It took me a month to successfully learn how to regulate the flow of Presence around me so that I didn''t break or destroy what I was focusing on and trying to move. That is, unless that was part of the task. Those tests I passed with flying colors. It wasn''t until the flash card game was introduced at school that I fell far behind the others. That''s also when the teasing started outside of the classroom.


    ¡°Ha ha! Look at the prodigy!¡± One of the girls said and pointed at me. ¡°He can''t even do the simplest things!¡±


    ¡°That''s not nice.¡± Her guardian said.


    ¡°It''s the truth!¡± The girl said. ¡°I''m not lying or exag... exag...¡±


    ¡°Exaggerating.¡± Her guardian said.


    ¡°Yeah! That!¡± The girl said and laughed.


    Her guardian looked at me and then at Emari with a sad expression. She couldn''t keep telling her charge that it wasn''t nice to tell the truth, and they knew it. The other kids laughed and over the next few weeks had happily joined in on the teasing as they pointed out all of the things that I did wrong. Since everything they said was true, Emari couldn''t complain to the teacher about it and none of the other guardians tried to stop them.


    I became more reclusive as time went on, mainly because I was tired of having to deal with their immaturity. Emari became less happy over that same space of time, because she was failing as my guardian and she didn''t know what to do about it to try and solve the problem. She then had the bright idea to get a set of the flash cards for me so we could practice.


    ¡°Emari, if I can''t do it by now, I can''t do it at all.¡± I said, the sound of defeat clear in my voice.


    ¡°No! Don''t give up!¡± Emari said and tossed the pack of cards onto the floor of the living room as hard as she could, then she picked me up. ¡°Oh, Aaron!¡± She said my given name instead of my family name as she hugged me close. ¡°I wish I knew what to do!¡±


    I didn''t know what to tell her, so I just hugged her back and closed my eyes as I rested the side of my head on her shoulder. She rocked me back and forth several times to try and comfort me. I opened my eyes and lifted my head to ask her to put me down, then I saw that the pack of flash cards had broken open and had scattered. Some were face up and some were face down; but, that wasn''t what caught my attention. It was the pattern the cards had left.


    It was a perfect circle.


    ¡°E-Emari.¡± I said and pointed.


    ¡°What... oh, dammit! I made a mess!¡± Emari said and bent down to start gathering them up.


    ¡°Don''t!¡± I exclaimed, and she stopped moving.


    ¡°What is it, Aaron?¡±


    ¡°Don''t you see it?¡± I asked as I stared at the cards.


    ¡°See what?¡± Emari looked down at the scattered cards.


    ¡°Can you hold me above them?¡± I asked, and she nodded as she gathered Presence around her hands and then used it to form the same levitation technique that Jarod had used the first time I had seen him in class. I was raised up into the air several feet above her head and I stared down at the pattern. Now that I had a top-down view of it, I remembered seeing the fireworks display that Emari had shown me weeks ago.


    ¡°It''s the same pattern.¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Aaron, I... I can''t hold you for very long.¡±


    ¡°Hm? Oh! I''m sorry.¡± I said and quickly formed a tall box of energy below myself down to the floor and used Presence to make it solid. ¡°Okay, you can stop now.¡±


    Emari sighed in relief. ¡°It''s a lot harder doing it for someone else!¡± She said, then she caught her breath. ¡°How are you going to get down?¡±


    I waved her concerns away. ¡°I''ll worry about that in a little while.¡±


    ¡°But... what about...¡±


    ¡°Later.¡± I said and stared at the cards below me. I had summarily dismissed the fact that some of the cards were face up and some were face down; but, I knew I was wrong to do that. ¡°I need to figure this out.¡±


    ¡°Aaron, we... you have to get to class soon.¡±


    I didn''t answer her as I kept looking at the cards. I knew the alphabet forwards and backwards by this point, and I could read it to some extent. The compound words or words that were made up or slang were beyond me, at least until I could get more experience in seeing them written out.


    Some of the cards I could see only had a picture of something on it, others had a single letter, and the rest had words or phrases. The face down cards partially covered the face up cards in what appeared to be a random way, then I dismissed that stupid thought. I knew that it wasn''t just a coincidence, just like the cards falling into the pattern of a complete circle hadn''t been. I nearly giggled as I realized that the Presence itself was trying to help me learn!


    ¡°Emari, can I have a datapad?¡± I asked, and suddenly there was a datapad hovering in front of me. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and started to write down the letters and words that I could see.


    I worked at it for nearly half an hour before I had the distinct feeling that I was doing it wrong. I closed my eyes and performed a mental relaxation technique to clear my head, and a feeling of rightness filled me. I opened my eyes and looked at the cards again. I started over and only read the outermost ring of letters and words as I recorded them on the datapad. When I skipped the first picture, my rightness feeling ebbed slightly and I smiled.


    ¡°Emari, what''s that picture right there?¡± I asked. I could have guessed at it and might have gotten it correct; but, I didn''t want to take the chance, now that I knew what to look for.


    ¡°It''s a wrench.¡± Emari said.


    I closed my eyes as I felt the rightness feeling fluctuate. ¡°That''s right, but... it doesn''t feel right.¡± I said as I opened my eyes and then saw her confusion. ¡°What''s another word for wrench?¡±


    ¡°Another word for... what would it... oh! Its a tool!¡± Emari exclaimed and I grinned at her.


    ¡°Yes, a tool.¡± I said and added it to the datapad. The next card had the letter ''s'' and I wasn''t sure if it should be a part of tool or not, so like all the others, I kept it separate for now. I finished adding everything I could see on the top row of cards and looked at the datapad. It was a jumble of letters and words.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Emari asked.


    ¡°I''ve got the first row done; but, it''s not making sense.¡± I said and held it out for her to look at it.


    ¡°That is a mess.¡± She said and looked down at the circle of cards. ¡°Where did you start?¡±


    I pointed at the spot and she nodded, then walked around the circle to check everything.


    ¡°You have everything that''s showing.¡± Emari said, then she smiled. ¡°What you don''t have is what''s not showing.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked and looked down. ¡°I didn''t miss anything.¡±


    ¡°You did, sweety.¡± Emari said. ¡°Look at the blank cards.¡±


    I looked at them and didn''t understand what she meant.


    ¡°They''re spaces between words.¡± Emari said, and my mouth dropped open.


    ¡°Oh, my GOD!¡± I yelled. I completely missed Emari''s reaction to my yell as I quickly added in the ''spaces'' between words and took out the spaces that weren''t supposed to be there between the letters. The sentence looked wrong and realized that I had started at the wrong spot. I shifted the words around to where I thought it should have started, and smiled.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Emari!¡± I exclaimed and looked at her. ¡°We did it!¡±


    ¡°Wh-what does it say?¡± Emari asked.


    ¡°In order to learn the tools needed to!¡± I said and laughed.


    ¡°Aaron, I...¡± Emari looked down at the floor, then back at me. ¡°Keep going, sweety.¡±


    I nodded several times and did the next row of cards that were closer in. I needed a lot more help with the pictures and the parts of phrases this time. Emari didn''t complain as she did her best to help me figure it out. The bing sound that signalled the time to go to afternoon classes came and went as we kept working.


    Figuring out where to start on the next row of cards was easy when you knew what the last word of the previous line was. We finished after an unknown amount of time, since neither of us were keeping track, and I rolled off and fell into her outstretched arms. We both laughed at the simple solution for getting down off of my perch. I absorbed the solid box of energy, hugged Emari around the neck, and kissed her cheek.


    ¡°Look at what it says!¡± I said and handed her the datapad.


    ¡°In order to learn the tools needed to do what you need to do, seek that which is above all others and ask for their help.¡± Emari read, then she gasped. ¡°No, it... it can''t...¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You can''t see him.¡± Emari said.


    ¡°See who?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The Wise One.¡± Emari said.


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Only members of The Order and their apprentices can visit with him, and then it''s only once a month for a very short time.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''ve been here for a long time now and I''m tired of being picked on for not knowing how to do things.¡± I said. ¡°You''re my guardian and I need your help.¡±


    ¡°Aaron, I...¡±


    ¡°Are you going to refuse to help me?¡± I asked, and she stared at me with wide eyes. ¡°Will that mean you might fail in your duty?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what you ask is... it''s impossible.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Why what?¡±


    ¡°Why is it impossible?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You''re not in The Order and you''re not an apprentice.¡±


    ¡°No, I''m not.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°However, you are.¡±


    *


    The Wise One sat in the lotus position as he watched the latest holorecording of the children participating in lessons at school from the day before, then he heard a beep from his terminal.


    ¡°Hm? What''s this?¡± The Wise One asked as he received a formal request for a meeting. ¡°I''m much too busy to...¡± He stopped talking when he saw it was from a guardian, then he chuckled as he checked her Order profile and saw who her charge was. ¡°Then again, perhaps I could spare a few minutes.¡±


    *


    ¡°By the Goddess!¡± Emari exclaimed and put a hand over her heart.


    ¡°He agreed, didn''t he?¡± I asked, and she nodded several times. ¡°When can...¡±


    ¡°We need to get there right now!¡± Emari nearly yelled and picked me up as she ran from the living room.


    We were out the door of the apartment and halfway down the hallway when she formed Presence around us and ran as fast as she could. I could feel the Presence being sucked into our fronts and being pushed out our backs. I could also feel that she was pushing her ability to its limit. I was surprised that we didn''t have to leave the building we were in as she snaked her way down several hallways and started to slow down as we approached a large set of ornately-carved stone doors.


    ¡°We have... an appointment.¡± Emari managed to say between her gasps of breath and the glow of Presence faded from around us. The two guards on either side of the large doors wore helmets and made what I thought were laughing noises.


    ¡°The Wise One is expecting you.¡± One of them said with a muffled voice and pulled open one of the heavy doors.


    ¡°Thank... you.¡± Emari said and walked into the dimly lit room behind the doors. It kind of looked like a lobby and even had a reception desk, which was confirmed when she walked over to the red bulbous alien that sat there.


    ¡°Main garden, second door.¡± The alien said and pointed.


    Emari nodded and walked past the desk and went to the second door, knocked twice, then entered.


    ¡°Wow.¡± I said at the lush greenery that was so many different colors that I couldn''t name them all.


    ¡°It''s amazing.¡± A gruff voice said from somewhere inside the dense foliage. ¡°You wouldn''t think that it could grow so well inside such a stark and sterile building.¡±


    Emari stood there in the open doorway and didn''t know what to do.


    ¡°Don''t be nervous, Emari.¡± The gruff voice said. ¡°I am not to be feared.¡±


    ¡°I... Wise One, I...¡±


    ¡°She''s not afraid.¡± I said. ¡°She''s in awe.¡±


    A coughing noise responded and I thought I heard a bit of throwing up, too.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I am fine.¡± The gruff voice said. ¡°Come forward. The foliage thins out in the middle.¡±


    Emari walked into the garden and deftly avoided hitting any of the plants with either her own arms or me. After a few moments, we entered a clearing of sorts and I saw a really tall and large robed figure with their back to us.


    ¡°You requested to see me for a reason, I hope.¡± The figure said without turning around.


    ¡°You''re the Wise One. Shouldn''t you know that already?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Aaron!¡± Emari exclaimed. ¡°Ah, I mean Ullir. Ullir! You shouldn''t be disrespectful to the Wise One.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t being disrespectful.¡± I said. ¡°I only asked a question.¡±


    ¡°Being wise does not mean I''m all-knowing.¡± The figure said and turned around.


    ¡°OH, MY GOD!¡± I yelled as I saw a giant fly''s head on one of the tallest bodies I had ever seen.


    ¡°Ah, so you do know there are other beings in the pantheon of gods and goddesses.¡± The Wise One said and nodded approval. ¡°Good, good.¡± He said and walked over to us. ¡°What is the reason you wanted to see me?¡±


    I stared up at him and couldn''t speak, and all I could see were hundreds of reflections of my shocked face in the thing''s segmented eyes.


    ¡°This is why, Wise One.¡± Emari said and took the datapad from my frozen hand and gave it to him.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Why is this message significant?¡±


    ¡°It''s because of the attached picture.¡± Emari said. She had calmed down from the exhausting run and could now speak normally.


    The Wise One opened the picture and stopped moving. ¡°Where...¡±


    ¡°My apartment.¡± Emari said. ¡°We even missed school as Ullir figured it out.¡±


    ¡°Ullir did?¡± The Wise One moved his head slightly and looked at me. Well, I assumed he was looking at me. I honestly couldn''t tell because I was still in shock from his horrific and grotesque appearance.


    ¡°We even missed afternoon classes.¡± Emari said.


    ¡°Hm.¡± The Wise One closed the picture and read the sentence again, then handed the datapad back to Emari. He turned around and walked across the clearing and stopped near a tree.


    ¡°S-sir... I mean, Wise One, can you...¡±


    ¡°Quiet.¡± The Wise One said, and she closed her mouth with a snap. ¡°I believe the words clearly explain what needs to be done.¡±


    It took me a couple of minutes to get over the shock of seeing an old horror movie monster, then I took several deep breaths to calm down completely. I waited another few moments to compose myself and to keep my voice at an even level.


    ¡°Great and knowledgable Wise One.¡± I said reverently, and the large creature''s back straightened as he stood tall. ¡°Please help this unworthy soul in his time of need.¡±


    The large alien turned around and faced us. ¡°As if directed by the Goddess Chaiya herself, I will do all that I can to help you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and bowed my head, so I wouldn''t have to keep looking at the horrible thing. It walked over to us and put one of its clawed forelegs on my shoulder, and I held in my shiver.


    ¡°I have watched your lessons over the last few weeks.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I know why the other children make fun of you for not being able to perform basic tasks.¡±


    ¡°You... you knew?¡± I asked and felt a tingle go down my spine. My horror at the thing was quickly replaced by anger at it. ¡°Why didn''t you do anything about it?¡± I lifted my head and stared into it''s gigantic segmented eyes and imagined swatting it with a giant fly swatter.


    ¡°As others have said, it was the truth.¡±


    ¡°They teased and bullied me about it and you let them.¡± I said.


    ¡°I wanted you to understand that even if you excel in something, there will always be those that will not see you as special.¡±


    ¡°I hope you saw that I didn''t tease or bully them because I did so well in other things.¡± I said.


    ¡°Do you believe that makes you better than them?¡± The Wise One asked.


    ¡°No, I don''t believe that.¡± I said, honestly. That''s because I know I''m better than them. I thought and kept the smile off of my face.


    ¡°Good.¡± The Wise One said and finally removed his leg from my shoulder.


    I feel like I need a shower. I thought in disgust.


    ¡°They make fun of you because you have missed a very crucial step in your understanding of Presence.¡± The Wise One said. I didn''t say anything, because I knew he was pausing for dramatic effect. ¡°You know that Presence is in all things and you know that Presence can flow through all things.¡± He paused again and nodded.


    ¡°I do know that.¡± I said.


    ¡°You have Presence in you and it is yours.¡± The Wise One said and poked my arm with a claw, then he pinched my sleeve. ¡°Your clothes have Presence in them, separate from yours.¡± He said and waved at the air. ¡°Presence is everywhere.¡±


    I didn''t respond, and he reached into his robes and pulled out one of the flash cards.


    ¡°This has Presence in it as well.¡± The Wise One said and held it up with the blank back facing me. ¡°I assume you are using your detection technique?¡±


    ¡°All day, every day.¡± I said, and Emari caught her breath.


    ¡°Then you can see the slight glow that all things have?¡± The Wise One asked and I nodded again. ¡°So, do you want to know the secret to the flash cards?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said, without even a hint of eagerness in my voice.


    ¡°It''s this.¡± The Wise One said and turned the card around. On it was the symbol for the number 1.


    ¡°One?¡± I asked, confused.


    ¡°No, young one. You have made the mistake of assuming that what you see is all you can see, and missed a subtle difference that I''m surprised no one has told you about before now.¡± The Wise One coughed several times as if laughing. ¡°The card has Presence in it... and the ink has its own Presence.¡±


    I gasped as my mind was blown.


    I stared at the card with a blank expression for nearly a full minute without moving or saying anything.


    ¡°Ullir, are you...¡± Emari started to ask if I was okay, and the alien stopped her.


    ¡°Let him work it out on his own.¡± The Wise One said, wisely.


    It took me another five minutes before the concept of a completely separate Presence for everything sank in. I concentrated on the card and the ink glowed slightly more than the card itself, which let my mind see the difference in the two Presences. Once my brain adjusted to the fact that I could focus on an entire object and I could focus on the things that make up that object and could determine what they were, I smiled.


    ¡°I believe you have it.¡± The Wise One said and put the card away. ¡°What''s on this one?¡± He asked and took out another one.


    I let the flow of Presence show me that there was ink on the other side, and it glowed in my vision. It didn''t matter that I was looking at it from the other side, because the flow of Presence moved through everything.


    I smiled as I saw the image. ¡°It''s a spaceship.¡±


    The Wise one quickly pulled out another card, and another and another.


    ¡°The letter B. The word ''gravity''. A planet.¡± I said.


    ¡°You did it, Aaron!¡± Emari said happily and kissed my cheek for several seconds. ¡°Good job!¡±


    ¡°I think that''s all the time I can spare today.¡± The Wise One said and turned away from us. ¡°Good luck at school tomorrow.¡± He said and walked across the clearing. ¡°Oh, before I forget. Could you stop leaving invisible boxes all over the classroom? Xuglach hurt herself last night when she ran into one.¡±


    ¡°Oops.¡± I said and looked at Emari. ¡°I keep forgetting to absorb them.¡±


    The large alien waved a foreleg at us in dismissal, so Emari carried me out of the garden and we left. We learned later that it was the Wise One''s private space and that he never let anyone else in there. Ever.


    It took me an hour to wake Emari up after she had fainted.

 Book One: The Presence 009

    I surprised my guardian Emari the next day during the afternoon practical Presence lesson... by not using the knowledge I had gained. The alien teacher automatically skipped over me when asking questions and looking for volunteers to practice, and I didn''t dissuade that tendency. Emari didn''t say anything to me until we were back inside her apartment.


    ¡°Ullir, why didn''t you show them that you can do it now?¡± Emari asked.


    ¡°Because of who they are.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Sure, I can see through the flash cards now and can catch up to them easily; but, what about the next time something comes up and I can''t do it or I don''t understand what they mean?¡±


    Emari opened her mouth to say that she would help me deal with it, then she thought about what I had been through and changed her mind.


    ¡°Yeah, I''ll be ridiculed and made fun of again.¡± I said. ¡°I made the mistake of showing off with the pillow push and look at what happened since then.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, you shouldn''t hide your gifts.¡±


    ¡°I''m not hiding them if they don''t know I can do them.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''m not going to display them for everyone to see, either.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°I''m going to keep watching and I''m going to keep learning.¡± I said and showed her the datapad I had been using to take notes during class. She saw that I had written down everything that was on every flash card for every child. ¡°I''m the one that''s going to decide who I show off to.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Ullir.¡± Emari knelt in front of me and hugged me. ¡°I wish I could help you deal with this.¡±


    ¡°You are, Emari.¡± I said and hugged her back. ¡°More than I ever thought you could.¡±


    After that little revelation, Emari didn''t worry about me so much. She watched me as I got teased and made fun of, and she stepped in when she knew that she could without making the other guardians angry at her for interfering. She knew that I had already built emotional armor to protect myself while around the other children, which made her look forward to our alone time even more, and she let me deal with the situation in my own way.


    More time passed and eventually I turned five years old. What I didn''t know was that at each child''s birthday, they were tested. Not in the way that the council had the first time I had arrived, thankfully. When I was taken into a small room by Emari on the morning of my birthday, I looked around and no one else was in there.


    ¡°Emari, I thought...¡±


    ¡°Ullir, I''ll be right back.¡± Emari said and put me down.


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± Emari said and kissed my cheek, then whispered. ¡°I can always see you with Presence.¡±


    I nodded and she left the room. When the door shut, the seams disappeared and I was in a completely sealed room.


    ¡°Step to the center, please.¡± A woman''s voice said.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked and looked around again. Since I always had my Detect Presence technique active all the time, I concentrated on the walls. I slowly turned in a circle and didn''t jerk or show that I had detected several people behind one of the walls.


    ¡°It''s the annual rite of passage.¡± The woman''s voice said. ¡°On the day each child becomes a year older, their skills and abilities are tested to see if they will remain with their current teacher or will move on.¡±


    ¡°Is my old teacher in there with you?¡± I asked, and she didn''t respond. ¡°It''s a simple question.¡±


    ¡°No, she isn''t.¡± The woman''s voice said, and I felt a slight shift in the flow of Presence.


    I turned my head and looked right at her though the wall. ¡°It''s not nice to lie to children.¡± I said calmly, and saw her startle. I had been using the technique the Wise One had clued me into for almost a whole year now, so with almost no effort I could see the woman, her separate pieces of clothing, her wrist communicator, her Light sword on her hip, and even the storage pack she had tucked into her robes. I didn''t bother trying to look inside the pack, though. I turned my head slightly and looked at my old alien teacher.


    ¡°Xugloch, you have no business being here as I am tested, since your opinion will be biased.¡± I said and looked at the other three people in the room beside the woman who spoke. ¡°Of course, I''m also assuming that the other three people in there with whoever spoke are unbiased and haven''t prejudged me already.¡±


    The other three people exchanged glances and looked at my old teacher.


    ¡°Why did you call her your ''old'' teacher?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°I won''t be in her class anymore, regardless of your decision today.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve had enough of her snide attitude and ridicule from the other kids, that no one except my guardian tried to put a stop to.¡±


    I watched as the others talked back and forth for several minutes, then my old teacher raised her arms in defeat and left the other room.


    ¡°We sent her away.¡± The woman said. ¡°She''s not happy.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and walked towards the center of the room. I was sure that there was some kind of significance to the wording to ''step to the center'', so instead of using my eyes, I used the flow of Presence. The highest concentration of it was about 2 feet off to the right of the very center of the room, which meant the ''room'' actually included their viewing area. I walked to what I believed was the correct point and stood there, then waited.


    *


    ¡°Okay, he got that right.¡± One of the aliens in the viewing room said. ¡°He''s clever.¡±


    ¡°I liked that he looked at the center of the room that he could see first, then looked for the center of the flow that normal people can''t see.¡± A man said.


    ¡°The tests have just started.¡± The other alien said. ¡°No preferences, remember?¡±


    The man chuckled. ¡°The kid''s got balls.¡± He said. ¡°I''ve reviewed some of his lessons and some of the security footage. They tortured that poor kid, both inside and outside of the classroom.¡±


    ¡°You''re going to pass him, aren''t you?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°Yep.¡± The man said. ¡°The curriculum has been holding him back and he deserves a chance to prove to himself that he can do better than he has.¡± He smiled. ¡°Getting us to kick out his teacher so that she can''t see his skills took a lot of gall.¡±


    ¡°Plus, she''s being judged as well.¡± The first alien said. ¡°If he under-performs, it will be held against her.¡±


    ¡°Well, I watched all of the lessons and it was her that under-performed.¡± The second alien said. ¡°When she didn''t stop the other kids from pointing out his flaws was bad enough. She started to ignore him during the practical lessons instead of including him.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°I bet he was bored out of his mind, just sitting there every afternoon.¡± The first alien said.


    ¡°You didn''t watch all of the footage, or looked at the datapad his guardian submitted for review.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°I didn''t feel like reading through all that schoolwork.¡±


    The woman laughed. ¡°You should have.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You''ll see.¡± The woman said and concentrated on throwing her voice into the next room and hit the button to open the closet.


    *


    ¡°Please take a pillow and move it across the room.¡± The woman''s voice said, and I looked over at the closet.


    ¡°Just one pillow?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, just one.¡± She responded.


    ¡°How about the middle one?¡± I asked and held a hand out to the stack of small square pillows. I formed a box of energy around the others and made it solid, then used what I called ''Presence Hand'' to grab the center one and pulled it out of the closet and over to me. I had it hover in front of my chest about two feet above the floor.


    ¡°The corner.¡± I said and pushed it to the corner and stopped just before it hit the wall, then showed off a little and turned the pillow onto its side and put it right into the corner. ¡°The other corner.¡± I said and pushed the pillow across the room and tucked it into the corner.


    ¡°That''s fine.¡± The woman said.


    I nodded and quickly tucked the pillow back into the closet in the center spot and absorbed the energy box.


    ¡°I assume you can juggle...¡± The woman started to say.


    I smiled as I pulled three balls out of the closet and didn''t even bother starting the juggle with my real hands like the other kids did. I only used Presence Hands and moved them in a juggle motion without actually letting them go.


    *


    ¡°The most the teacher saw him do was hold two of them steady, one in each hand.¡± The man said. ¡°I knew he must have been hiding his skills the whole time.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think so.¡± The first alien said. ¡°He genuinely struggled during those first few weeks and it got a lot worse with the flash card game.¡±


    ¡°Should we do that next?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°Yes, but throw him a curve.¡± The second alien said. ¡°Use the holoscreen here instead of physical cards.¡±


    ¡°You know he can see us, right?¡± The man asked, and the alien laughed.


    ¡°It''s a test of how much he can see and what kind of detail.¡±


    *


    ¡°We''re moving on to the Flash Card game.¡± The woman said.


    I looked in the closet and pulled out the deck of cards.


    ¡°Not those.¡± She said. ¡°I''ll look at them here on my screen and you tell me what they are.¡±


    ¡°Is this how you test the other kids?¡± I asked, and she didn''t answer. ¡°I''m not complaining.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°I''m fine with harder tests.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± The woman said. ¡°Begin.¡±


    ¡°A starship. The letter A. A metal cup. The word ''green''.¡±


    ¡°What color is it?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°Blue.¡±


    She didn''t say anything for a moment, then spoke. ¡°Continue.¡±


    ¡°The sun. The letter D. Another starship. A right arrow.¡±


    ¡°I think that''s enough.¡± The woman said. ¡°Please wait a moment.¡±


    *


    ¡°I think he''s right. We need to use the advanced criteria.¡± The first alien said.


    ¡°He''s only five.¡± The woman said. ¡°We can''t just...¡±


    ¡°Who''s prejudging him now?¡± The man said and smiled at her.


    The woman took a breath and let it out. ¡°All right.¡± She said. ¡°I''ll agree to advancing up to level three; but, that''s as far as I''m willing to go.¡±


    ¡°All right!¡± The man clapped his hands once. ¡°Abulah, change the room''s configuration for the acceleration test.¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy?¡± The woman asked. ¡°You can''t start him with that!¡±


    ¡°Ha ha! You agreed.¡± The man said. ¡°Just watch this kid. He''s going to surprise us all.¡±


    *


    ¡°Prepare for room adjustment.¡± The woman''s voice said with a sad tone.


    I stayed still and felt the flow of Presence in the room shift and change, then the walls moved out on the sides to reveal a long hallway.


    ¡°Stand in the middle of the access-way.¡± The woman said.


    I walked over to the hallway and looked at it. It was about fifty feet long and the flow of Presence increased as I approached the middle.


    ¡°Try your best to catch the projectiles... and try not to get hurt.¡± The woman said.


    I heard a puff sound and then something sped towards me down the hallway as the flow of Presence increased to the same intensity that I felt when Emari ran with me in her arms. Since I had lots of practice with meditation and controlling the flow of Presence, when the object was about to hit my face, I used a Presence Hand to catch it. It was a bean bag about the size of my fist.


    ¡°You did it.¡± The woman''s voice whispered in relief.


    I heard another puff, and another. I waited until they were close enough and I felt the disturbance in the flow of Presence before I easily caught them. I started to smile as the puffs of sound started at a constant rate and I let the other bean bags drop to the floor and concentrated on catching everything that they threw at me.


    *


    ¡°Add in a single shot from the rear cannon.¡± The man said to the alien at the controls.


    ¡°No!¡± The woman exclaimed and tried to stop them. ¡°You can''t do that!¡±


    The man grabbed her hand. ¡°I just want to see if he''s smart enough to choose.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t agree to level four!¡± The woman spat at him.


    ¡°They''re just bean bags.¡±


    ¡°He''s only a child!¡±


    ¡°Is he?¡± The second alien asked.


    *


    The bean bags were coming at such a fast rate that I couldn''t hear individual puffs anymore. I had to really concentrate to catch them and release them every split second to keep up with the pace, and I started to sweat as my internal Presence drained away like water down the drain.


    I felt a disturbance in the flow of Presence behind me and knew they were going to shoot me in the back. ¡°Cowards!¡± I yelled and formed a box of energy around myself and made it solid with Presence. The bean bags hit it and fell to the floor. ¡°Is that how you killed my parents? Did you shoot them in the back, too?¡±


    ¡°You''ve taken it too far!¡± The woman''s voice said angrily and she hit the button to clear the viewing window on my side. I had assumed that she wasn''t talking to me, and saw the proof as she gestured at the slightly cowering man beside her. ¡°He was just starting to trust us, you ignorant fool!¡± She nearly yelled. ¡°You''ve undone a whole year of hard work in only a second!¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± I said and they all turned to look at me. ¡°All he did was remind me how awful you people are.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, please.¡± The woman said, and I thought I recognized her. ¡°Don''t let this idiot''s actions color your perception of us.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that you are the one that''s in the minority, right?¡± I asked and smiled at her. ¡°You''re the one that stands out from the rest.¡±


    The woman wasn''t sure how to respond to that.


    ¡°Like my guardian, people that actually care about how others feel are pretty rare.¡± I said and looked at the man and the two aliens. ¡°Everyone else is like them.¡±


    No one said anything, so I crossed my arms and glared at them.


    ¡°Are there any other tests that I need to do?¡± I asked. ¡°Go ahead and drop something on me next. Is there a pit trap under me that I need to hover over?¡± I looked at their faces and knew at least my guess of the trap was accurate. ¡°If you won''t answer that, can you tell me if I passed?¡±


    The woman sighed. ¡°We need to deliberate to determine...¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± I absorbed the box of energy from around me. ¡°I know what that means.¡± I said and turned away from them, then walked over to the door. ¡°It''s not automatic?¡± I asked and concentrated on the panel on the other side of the door and hit the release button. The door opened and I stepped out of the room.


    ¡°Ullir!¡± Emari ran over to me and picked me up to hug me close.


    ¡°It didn''t take as long as I thought it would for them to try and hurt me.¡± I said.


    Emari gasped and looked into the room, and saw four guilty faces look back at her through the viewing window. ¡°I hope you''re ashamed of yourselves!¡± She said loudly and several people walking by in the hallway looked at us.


    ¡°The woman''s okay.¡± I said.


    Emari shook her head. ¡°She''s the one that told me not to take you to the weekly assembly after that first time.¡±


    ¡°I thought I recognized her.¡± I said and looked at her. ¡°There''s still no time set for a debate, right?¡± She didn''t respond, so I put my arms around Emari''s neck to hold on. ¡°Let''s go home.¡±


    ¡°Right away.¡± Emari said and covered us in Presence, then ran as fast as she could.


    It took almost a week before the council sent for us, and we dressed in the best outfits that we had. We took our time and walked there instead of running, and the large stone doors were already open. We went inside to the council chamber and stood there in front of them.


    ¡°Congratulations, Ullir.¡± The fluffy puff ball alien said. ¡°You have moved from the first level of training to the third.¡±


    ¡°That''s it? I passed level four of the acceleration test and you''re only skipping me ahead one level?¡± I asked, and I saw shock on some of the faces. ¡°You really are assholes, aren''t you?¡±


    ¡°We believe that putting a five year old in with the seven year old children will be difficult enough.¡± The scaly alien said. ¡°Putting you in with eight and nine year old children would be too difficult for you.¡±


    ¡°Despite the evidence you have, and even after I''ve visited The Wise One?¡± I asked, and I definitely saw shock on their faces. ¡°What you ''believe'' means less than nothing to me.¡± I said. ¡°But, since I''m only five and can''t successfully fight your arrogance and stupidity, I guess I just have to do my penance and go to school with the children while I wait for my chance to escape this place.¡±


    ¡°You''re not being held here against your will.¡± The fluffy puff ball alien said. ¡°We''re only concerned about your well-being.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh.¡± I said. ¡°Say, can you do that invasive compulsion thing to my head again? I''ve been feeling rebellious and I haven''t knelt and praised the goddess in a while.¡±


    Several of the aliens were definitely shocked to hear me say that.


    ¡°That''s right, you smug bastards.¡± I laughed. ¡°I''m only five and I''m telling you to your faces that you''re hypocrites.¡± I said. ¡°The next time you want to see me for something, send a holomessage instead and don''t bother asking me to come for a visit. Something stinks in here and I can''t stand the smell.¡±


    Emari turned us around and walked out of the chamber. No one spoke or tried to stop us.

 Book One: The Presence 010

    I spent the next year with the seven year old children and learned a little more about the fundamentals of using Presence. I had thought about using it to reinforce my body already, and about a third of the way through the year, the teacher brought in a member of The Order that specialized in those kinds of mental focusing techniques. I learned a lot during that week. Unfortunately, that was the only new thing I had learned.


    Thankfully, just like my supplementary lessons in the alphabet, I had successfully convinced Emari that I was wasting my time in class and she helped teach me what I needed to know. She couldn''t force herself to show me any of the advanced techniques that I had heard about or seen other people perform, like her technique for Presence Run. I didn''t pester her about it, though. She had helped me practice all year so that I could split my focus as many times as I wanted and wouldn''t lose concentration.


    My sixth birthday arrived and Emari took me to the same room I had been in the year before. I looked through the wall and saw the same woman was there; but, the other four were different. My teacher for that year was there as well. I didn''t protest her presence, and the test went without a hitch. I asked for the next year''s test to be performed, and after my observers had a short discussion, they ran the next year''s tests.


    I didn''t push my luck ask and for the following year''s tests to be run, mainly because I knew that if I passed them, they wouldn''t advance me, anyways. I figured I had to settle with skipping every second year.


    Needless to say, I passed both sets of tests with high marks and I received a holomessage the next day and I had advanced from the seven year old classroom to the nine year old classroom. It was unheard of that a six year old would be training and learning with children three years older than them.


    I didn''t disappoint them.


    I learned a lot of new techniques as we started using practice swords. Both mental and physical techniques were taught that year, and I was as happy as I ever thought I could be. I was actually learning something that would keep me alive and I threw myself into my studies with both reckless and controlled abandon. I had hidden the resentment I felt against the council for holding me back for a year and my plans for escape started to form in the back of my mind.


    Over the years, I kept overcoming all of the things I thought were detrimental to my development. One of which was that I had a dominant arm and a weaker one. It bothered me that I could use Presence so much easier with my right hand, and I knew that wasn''t how it was supposed to be. So, I trained hard in my spare time to make myself as fluent in the use of my left hand as I was with the right. Everything I did with my right hand, I repeated ten times with my left. I also worked hard to keep my emotions contained and didn''t let them influence my training or my studies.


    By the time I was ten, my body had grown and expanded to that of a young adult. I had even skipped five years and took classes with fifteen year old teenagers. Luckily, my height had increased in proportion to my age and I was close to being the same height as everyone else. No one questioned me about my age or my abilities, because we had all proven that we deserved to be in that classroom.


    The year was kind of a primer year for us to refine all of the techniques we had learned up to that point and to prepare us for, in their words, the gruelling year that was to come. A lot of the other students were worried about that, and I didn''t assuage their fears. I knew for a fact that none of us were going to fail, because The Order had spent all of this time training us and they weren''t going to get rid of us now. Unfortunately, this also meant that they would be very reluctant to let me go when I was of age and wanted to leave to head out on my own.


    Unlike the other students, I suppressed the flow of Presence around myself to make things more difficult for myself. I lowered my resistance to injury and intentionally weakened myself during mock battles, just so I could improve so much more than I would have if I had used all of my abilities. Despite intentionally handicapping myself, I still won every fight I was involved in and completed every task that was given to me.


    *


    ¡°So, he''s finally become a more even match for his fellow students.¡± An alien said as he gazed out the window at the training grounds below. ¡°It took him long enough to find the right balance.¡±


    ¡°He''s ten years old and competing against teenagers that have five more years of experience than him.¡± The woman said. ¡°Quite successfully, I might add.¡±


    The alien laughed. ¡°Are you back to thinking he''s a prodigy, then?¡±


    ¡°I always thought he was.¡± The woman said as she watched the tenth level class that Aaron Ullir was in. ¡°He''s also very dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least he hasn''t been spouting rogue philosophies from the rooftops and shouting down the council.¡±


    It was the woman''s turn to laugh. ¡°Only because he''s waiting for the right opportunity.¡±


    ¡°If you didn''t keep him from attending the assembly...¡±


    ¡°It''s for his own good.¡± The woman said, and couldn''t help but admire Aaron''s long dirty blonde hair. She had to keep hers short because it kept getting in her way. ¡°A child speaking out can be forgiven for the most part.¡± She turned to the alien standing beside her. ¡°As he is now, he would probably be assaulted and arrested for his views on the council and The Order as a whole.¡±


    The alien chuckled. ¡°You make it sound like he wants to take us all down.¡± She didn''t respond at his joke and he put a hand on her arm. ¡°Are you actually worried about that?¡±


    ¡°What? That one person could go on a crusade and destroy everything that The Order has built?¡± The woman asked. ¡°That would be crazy, wouldn''t it?¡±


    The alien didn''t say anything as his hand moved up her arm and gripped her shoulder.


    ¡°He''s going to complete the training curriculum next year as an eleven year old and not a sixteen year old, as it was designed to be.¡± The woman said and looked down at the young boy that seemed to be growing into a man before her eyes. ¡°He''s going to have to sit here and wait for another five years before he''ll be of age and can make decisions for himself.¡±


    ¡°I wondered why you kept holding him back, even though his skills were more than a match for kids much older than him.¡±


    ¡°We weren''t trying to delay his progress like he believes.¡± The woman said. ¡°We were trying to protect him.¡±


    ¡°From what? Life?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The woman said, and you could hear a tone of sadness in her voice. ¡°He doesn''t realize what getting older means.¡±


    *


    The intense training and preparation year passed by without incident, mainly because I didn''t want to cause any, and I performed my eleventh birthday tests without batting an eye. Literally. I had done it all with my eyes closed, much to the surprise of the people that had tested me. I hadn''t told anyone that I had learned years ago that I didn''t need my eyes to see and feel the flow of Presence around me. The range I could detect it had grown at a constant rate, because I never stopped using the technique, even while I slept.


    ¡°We will have the results for you as soon as we deliberate and...¡±


    I ignored her words and walked over to the door and opened it before I reached it, still with my eyes closed, and stepped out.


    ¡°Ullir!¡± Emari exclaimed and jumped on me to give me a hug. ¡°Congratulations!¡±


    ¡°We still have to wait for the official results.¡± I said with a smile, and she chuckled.


    ¡°We haven''t done that the last few years, so why would now be any different?¡± Emari asked. I was only six inches shorter than her now and she couldn''t carry me like she used to. We both missed it, each and every time we were near each other. ¡°Come on! Your party awaits!¡±


    I humored her every year as she threw me a ''surprise'' birthday party. She always let things slip and told me about it, which just made her more endearing. She had tried once to give me an actual party, with guests and everything, and it was a disaster. Nothing seemed to go right and everything was messed up. Even the cake had somehow gotten squished while being delivered. Everyone was disappointed in her, except for me, because I knew of all the effort and hard work that she had put into it for me. She didn''t try anything fancy after that, though.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    We went back to her party-decorated apartment and had a great time as we ate good food, watched our favorite holoprojector programs, and cuddled on the couch. It was something that the both of us enjoyed, even though we did a similar thing at least once a week. I helped her clean and tidy up the apartment after that, we each took a shower and got changed, and joked and carried on before we climbed into bed.


    ¡°Goodnight, Aaron.¡± Emari said as she pulled me in close and kissed my forehead.


    ¡°Goodnight, Emari.¡± I said and closed my eyes.


    Almost immediately, or so I thought, my eyes popped open and it was morning already.


    ¡°Good morn...¡± I stopped talking when I realized I was alone in the bed. ¡°Emari?¡±


    She didn''t respond, so I threw off the covers and sat up. She wasn''t in the bedroom, so I jumped up and ran to the kitchen. The appliances were cold and she wasn''t there, either. Rather than run around like a chicken with its head cut off, I closed my eyes and used the flow of Presence to detect her instead.


    She wasn''t anywhere in the apartment, the hallway outside, or in the surrounding apartments.


    ¡°Something is wrong here.¡± I said as my anger tried to bubble to the surface. ¡°She promised that I would never leave her sight.¡± I concentrated harder and focused on her specific traces of Presence. It was all over the apartment in faded quantities, so I walked back to the bedroom and found the strongest concentration. Once I had that, I followed it to the closet, then out of the bedroom and over to the dining room table.


    I picked up the datapad there and read the message from Emari.


    ¡°Dear, Aaron. Congratulations on graduating and being assigned to your final year. I am so very proud of you. You struggled a lot and you let me help you. You also let me hug you whenever I felt like it, and that made me very happy. These last six years have been the best time of my life, and I am overjoyed that I got to spend them with you.¡±


    I took a deep breath and let it out to try and stay calm.


    ¡°Unfortunately, when a student enters their final year of training, they are deemed old enough to take care of themselves and my skills and abilities are no longer needed. I''ve been told that I need to leave you, despite your age, and I left this message for you.¡±


    The flow of Presence around me intensified and cracks started to form in the datapad''s display.


    ¡°I couldn''t bare to tell you this in person, in the fear that I would see in your face the same loss that I''m feeling right now. I can''t... no, I won''t... subject you to my endless tears or my broken heart. Aaron, thank you for caring enough about me to let me call you by your name. I know I slipped up a lot; but, you never became angry. That touched my heart even more than you letting me snuggle you every night.¡±


    I intentionally stopped pushing Presence through my hands so I wouldn''t destroy the datapad before I finished reading her note. I heard a crunching sound and looked down at the table. It looked like an elephant had stepped on it. I ignored it and read the last part of her note.


    ¡°I never imagined that The Order would reassign me so soon! I was supposed to stay with you for another five years! I... I don''t even know where I''m being sent to. It''s all so rushed and confusing that I didn''t even get to pack. All I have are the clothes on my back and my sweet little Aaron in my heart. Even though our time together was cut short, I hope beyond hope that some day we will see each other again.¡±


    ¡°All my love, Emari.¡±


    I held the datapad gently as tears started in my eyes. ¡°I... I lo...¡± I quickly tucked the datapad into my pocket as my anger broke free of my considerable mental blocks and a large ball of energy formed around me. I automatically made it solid with Presence and yelled. ¡°YOU BASTARDS!¡±


    The solid energy ball expanded out in all directions from the force of anger and Presence that I shoved through it. It crushed the rest of the table, the chairs, the cabinet of dishes, and the walls deformed.


    ¡°AHHHH!¡± My whole body glowed as I angrily pulled in far more Presence than I should have been able to, converted it into an outward force, then pushed it into the solid ball of energy.


    The solid ball of energy expanded out and met no resistance whatsoever.


    *


    BEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEP!


    ¡°By the Goddess'' Light!¡± A guard exclaimed as his security monitor lit up like a Christmas tree. He hit the alert button which connected him to the security communications network for the building. ¡°Damage alarm on the fourth floor! Guardian apartments, section B. Unknown assailants, unknown casualties.¡±


    ¡°Squad Six is on it.¡± A calm voice said right away.


    ¡°I hope so.¡± The guard said and shook his head at the massive damage. ¡°If anyone was caught in that...¡±


    *


    The armed and armored security squad arrived on the fourth floor in mere moments, thanks to their use of Presence Run, and stopped in the hallway.


    ¡°Geezus! Look at this place!¡± One of them said as they saw the devastation.


    ¡°Gawk at it later!¡± The captain of the squad said, drew his laser rile, and activated it. ¡°Helmets down and get into position!¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡± The whole squad responded and drew their weapons and activated them, then were instantly scattered in excellent firing positions around the massive hole in the wall. What they saw in the middle of the mess surprised the hell out of them.


    An eleven year old boy hovered in the middle of a completely wrecked apartment. There was no floor or ceiling, because they and the walls had been pushed out to form a perfectly smooth sphere nearly forty feet in diameter.


    ¡°Wh-what do we do?¡± One of the guards whispered. ¡°He''s just a kid.¡±


    ¡°Stun rounds!¡± The captain yelled and they all switched their rifles to stun.


    Unfortunately, the boy heard him and turned to face them, and they saw that his face was both tear-streaked and completely calm.


    ¡°FIRE!¡±


    The entire squad of ten people, a mix of aliens and humanoids, fired a single stun shot each. The energy from the stun blasts looked as if they had hit the target, then the energy dissipated.


    ¡°Hey, what...¡±


    The captain unhooked a grenade from his belt and flicked the switch. Rather than throw it, he slipped it into the large hole. It was a perfect sphere, so the grenade rolled down to the center of the depression, right under the boy.


    ¡°Shields!¡± The captain said and they polarized their helmet visors. A bright blinding light covered everything. ¡°FIRE!¡±


    All of the guards fired a single shot each. When the light dissipated a second later, they saw the eleven year old boy was unconscious at the bottom of the sphere.


    ¡°Search patrol!¡± The captain said. ¡°Check the surrounding apartments for any injuries... or deaths.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Half of the squad split off to search and the captain led the rest into the apartment to secure the boy.


    ¡°Captain, do you need to handcuff him? He''s unconscious.¡±


    ¡°Do you want him using his powers when he wakes up?¡± The captain asked, and the guard didn''t respond. ¡°Check him for injuries and get a stretcher in here.¡±


    ¡°Sir.¡± The guard knelt and checked the boy over. ¡°He has some cuts, bruises, and I think a sprained ankle; but, I suspect they are from the 20 foot fall he just suffered from and not preexisting.¡±


    The captain nodded. ¡°Send for the stretcher.¡±


    The guard nodded and called for medical assistance. Five minutes later, both the stretcher and the search patrol were there.


    ¡°All of the apartments were vacant.¡± The patrol reported as the boy was strapped into the stretcher.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± The captain turned and looked at the guard. ¡°This whole wing is supposed to be full of people!¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what to tell you, sir.¡± The guard said. ¡°We didn''t find anyone. Hurt or otherwise.¡±


    The captain took a breath and let it out. ¡°All right, let''s get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Where are we...¡±


    ¡°The holding cells.¡± The captain said and waved his hand at the destruction. ¡°Look at this place.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter if no one was hurt.¡± The captain said. ¡°Oh, and send someone outside and see if any of the debris from the outside wall landed on anyone.¡±


    The guard looked at the gaping hole where the outside wall used to be. ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    The captain stood there and watched part of his squad take the stretcher with the unconscious boy out of the hole. When they were gone, he told the others to record everything and to gather any evidence that might be there. There wasn''t; but, he didn''t want them to assume that there wasn''t any and made them look anyway.


    They left the wrecked apartments and cordoned off the damaged areas, then went downstairs to the office and the holding cells.


    ¡°How long do you think he''ll be out?¡± One of the guards asked.


    ¡°Depending on if he took all 12 stun blasts, anywhere from an hour to a day.¡± The medic said. ¡°His ankle was sprained, so I wrapped it. The left elbow has a nasty bruise so it''s in a sling, and I''ve patched all the scrapes.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, doc.¡± The captain said.


    ¡°Should I even ask what happened?¡±


    ¡°Sure you can ask.¡± The captain said and walked away.


    The medic turned to the guard. ¡°It''s that bad?¡±


    The guard chuckled and handed the medic a datapad with some of the pictures of the apartment. ¡°See for yourself.¡±


    The medic looked through them and made a low whistling sound. ¡°He did that?¡±


    ¡°We saw him hovering in the middle of it, so yeah.¡± The guard said. ¡°Did he have anything on him besides his sleep outfit?¡±


    ¡°Yes, this.¡± The medic said and took a partially smashed datapad from his pocket.


    The guard took it and turned it on. The display flickered in and out, since it had been damaged in the fall. ¡°Thanks, doc.¡± He said and left to find Jenkins. He can repair these things in his sleep. He thought and found the alien he was looking for in the barracks cleaning his laser rifle. ¡°I have a pet project for you.¡±


    ¡°Nice.¡± Jenkins said and took the datapad. ¡°Ooo, Presence damage.¡± He said and rolled it over in his hands. ¡°Pressure cracks.¡± He said and rolled it back. ¡°Impact damage on the top corner.¡±


    ¡°Can you fix it?¡±


    ¡°Bite your tongue.¡± Jenkins snarled and pulled out his field tech repair kit. ¡°Can I, he says.¡± He shook his head. ¡°If I wasn''t busy right now, I''d be insulted.¡±


    The guard chuckled at Jenkins musings and watched as the datapad was quickly popped apart, the display screen was replaced, two micro-welds to hold it in place were made, a repair to a faulty connection was completed, a replaced wire to the damaged battery was added, then the battery itself was replaced.


    ¡°I can''t do anything for the casing without my quick-set bonding material.¡± Jenkins said as he snapped the datapad back together and handed it to the guard.


    ¡°This is great, Jenkins. Thanks.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to see your ugly face again, unless you come back with something else for me to fix.¡± Jenkins said.


    The guard laughed and his joke and left the barracks. As he walked back to their offices, he activated the datapad and called up the last thing entered on it. When he read what it said, he ran instead.

 Book One: The Presence 011

    I woke up and had a massive headache. ¡°Owwww.¡± I tried to rub my forehead and couldn''t. I opened my eyes and tried to sit up, and I couldn''t do that, either. ¡°Huh? What''s going on? Where am I?¡±


    I heard a scuff of feet as someone stood up. ¡°What''s the last thing you remember?¡±


    ¡°I... I was in the apartment and... and I read... EMARI!¡± I yelled and tried to detect the flow of Presence, then pain lanced through my head. ¡°OWWW!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, don''t do that.¡± The man said and opened the cell door. ¡°You''re still suffering from stun effects.¡±


    ¡°What stun effects?¡±


    ¡°In essence, it''s a pulse of energy that disrupts the flow of energy in the brain.¡± The man said and touched my foot. ¡°How''s the pain?¡±


    I looked down at my foot and saw that it was wrapped. ¡°I don''t...¡± I closed my eyes and thought back to what happened. ¡°The guards attacked me, then threw a grenade.¡± I said and opened my eyes and looked at the man. ¡°I was prepared for it to explode and would have contained it; but, there was a bright blast of light and...¡±


    ¡°You woke up here.¡± The man said, and I nodded. ¡°You were hit with a dozen stun blasts and fell about twenty feet to the floor.¡± He said and pointed to my ankle and then my elbow. ¡°You''ve been unconscious for almost two days.¡±


    ¡°Two...¡± I sighed. ¡°She''s long gone by now.¡±


    ¡°Yes, she is.¡± The man said. ¡°The captain has had two days to figure everything out and we know what happened.¡±


    ¡°You had a temper tantrum.¡± A man''s stern voice said from outside the cell, then he stepped into the opening. ¡°A big, nasty, destructive hissy-fit that wrecked three floors of apartments.¡± He said. ¡°The medics and rescue people were...¡±


    ¡°...not busy at all.¡± I finished his sentence and he squinted his eyes at me. ¡°Before you keep lying and embarrassing yourself, I know the place was completely empty.¡±


    ¡°How do you...¡± The medic stopped and smiled. ¡°You used Presence to scan the area.¡±


    ¡°I was looking for Emari.¡± I said.


    ¡°We know.¡± The captain said. ¡°I also know that she''s no longer on the planet.¡±


    I took in a deep breath and let it out; but, it didn''t help and I scowled. ¡°Those rotten stinking bastards.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they wanted to make sure it was a clean break between you and your guardian.¡± The captain said. ¡°You certainly broke a lot of stuff; but, it wasn''t clean by any stretch of the imagination.¡± He laughed at his own joke. Neither I nor the medic joined him. ¡°Anyways, you caused some serious damage and...¡±


    ¡°Am I being charged with something?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, The Order...¡±


    ¡°Do I have to pay off the value of the damage?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, The Order...¡±


    ¡°You''re saying that The Order is taking care of it and I don''t have to worry about it, right?¡± I asked.


    The captain sighed. ¡°Let me at least finish...¡±


    ¡°Why am I still in a cell? Shouldn''t I have been moved to the medical wing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°...one sentence.¡±


    ¡°Your injuries weren''t deemed a medical emergency, so I decided that here was as good a place as any to let you recover.¡± The medic said.


    ¡°Why am I restrained?¡± I asked.


    ¡°In case you decided to repeat your performance.¡± The captain said sternly.


    ¡°I can''t even meditate with the state my head is in right now.¡± I said and closed my eyes. ¡°How long before the stun effects wear off?¡±


    ¡°They should have worn off yesterday.¡± The medic said. ¡°When you didn''t wake up, I had a med-bot scan you.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°Well, to say that you''re a little messed up is an understatement.¡± The medic said. ¡°Our mental expert Lashina said that your emotional state was borderline psychotic, so she compelled you to stay sleeping for another day to try and calm you down.¡± He said. ¡°I didn''t think the stun effects would stay around until you woke up, though.¡±


    ¡°That''s just great.¡± I said. ¡°Now I''ve got even more compulsions floating around in my head.¡±


    ¡°Don''t sound so defeated.¡± The medic said. ¡°I''m sure that...¡±


    ¡°Can she make me not feel so depressed?¡± I asked and looked at him. ¡°If she could remove it, that would be great.¡± I said. ¡°I want to keep my anger, though.¡±


    ¡°Keep your...¡±


    ¡°I hate The Order with a passion.¡± I said, and despite my brain''s inability to focus Presence at the moment, I would have seen that my body glowed slightly if I could have used my mental technique to detect its flow. ¡°They killed my parents, kidnapped me, gave me a caregiver to raise me for six years, and now they''ve taken her from me, too.¡±


    There was a low sound of creaking metal and the captain stepped back into the hallway.


    ¡°They take and take and take.¡± I said angrily and something popped inside the bed I was on.


    ¡°Easy, now.¡± The medic said and tried to pat my arm. He couldn''t touch it through the thick layer of Presence. ¡°Remember what happened the last time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I remember.¡± I said and looked at the captain, who had his laser pistol out of its holster. ¡°Don''t worry. I learned my lesson.¡±


    The captain visibly relaxed as the Presence flowed away and holstered his weapon.


    ¡°Do you want me to call Lashina?¡± The medic asked, concern in his voice.


    ¡°Sure, why not?¡± I asked. ¡°I''m sure there''s more messing around in my head that she wants to do.¡±


    The medic walked over to the door of my cell and leaned out into the hallway. ¡°Lashina! He''s awake and wants to see you!¡±


    I lifted my head to get a better look at the expert that had decided I was borderline psychotic, and my mouth dropped open as a four foot tall pink-skinned pixie-like alien with long white hair skipped into my cell. She wore ornate robes, so I knew she was pretty high in The Order, and she stepped close to my bed.


    ¡°You have got to be kidding me.¡± I said, and she giggled like a little girl.


    ¡°You''re funny, Ullir.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°This isn''t a joke?¡± I asked and looked at the medic.


    ¡°Can''t you see my Presence?¡± Lashina asked, curiously.


    I looked back at her. ¡°Pain shoots through my head when I try to focus.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Lashina blinked her eyes for a moment. ¡°Why would... just a second.¡± She said and put her small hand on my forehead. My whole face tingled as she did whatever it was she was doing. ¡°Oh, poop!¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    I snorted a laugh at her cute attempt to curse. ¡°What''s the diagnosis, oh great pixie?¡±


    ¡°When I compelled you to sleep, it froze your body''s state of Presence at the time... including the stun effects.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Give me some time to try and clear it up.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and have a seat if it''s going to take a while.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh! That''s a good idea. Thank you.¡± Lashina said and flipped open her robes to show that she wore the same long sleeved tight t-shirt that everyone wore. She climbed up onto the bed in one smooth motion and straddled my chest, and I saw that she wasn''t wearing the same pants as everyone else. She wore a skirt. A really, really short skirt.


    My eyes widened as she sat down and the skirt practically disappeared. All I could see were a pair of tiny little panties and the inside of her pink thighs. Apparently, I was the only one getting the show, because her robes covered her and most of me from view.


    ¡°If you''re wondering, I find that pants are too restrictive to my flow of movement.¡± Lashina said and put both of her hands on my forehead as she leaned over me. ¡°Now be quiet while I work.¡±


    I couldn''t help but stare at her panties and was pretty sure that I couldn''t speak right then, even if I wanted to. My whole head started to tingle and I managed to tear my gaze away from between her legs and looked up at her face. She had her eyes closed and she was mumbling something. I couldn''t hear what she was saying, so my eyes drifted down to her chest. It was in proportion to the rest of her and I was surprisingly happy about that for some reason. My eyes drifted all the way back down and once again I stared at the space between her legs. Then I just... zoned out.


    *


    ¡°He''s repressing a lot of hostility.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°It didn''t look like he was repressing it too much.¡± The medic joked.


    Lashina smiled. ¡°The Order really messed up with this one.¡± She said and looked at the captain. ¡°Can you tell me what happened without breaking protocol?¡±


    ¡°It was (Undecipherable)''s fault.¡± The captain said. ¡°According to the records, he killed the boy''s rogue parents.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that ass.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I''ve tried to council him on how he abuses his authority too much.¡±


    ¡°I know I''m not supposed to question a member of The Order; but, should we be discussing this in front of the one we''re talking about?¡± The captain asked.


    ¡°Don''t worry. My specialized Pantie Hypnotism Technique worked like a charm.¡±


    ¡°Your w-w-what?¡± The captain blinked his eyes at her, and she laughed.


    ¡°I just gave him something to occupy his mind while I work my mental magic.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I haven''t met a boy yet that could resist my charms!¡±


    ¡°Oh... okay.¡± The captain said. ¡°Well, after he was brought here...¡±


    Lashina listened while she worked and started to clean out the mess the stun energy had made of Aaron''s mind. One or two stun effects would have cleared up on their own; but, twelve different stun effects had created a kind of oscillating resonance inside of him and disrupted his flow of Presence.


    No wonder he had extreme pain when he tried to concentrate! Lashina thought.


    As she repaired the damage and used her flow of Presence to heal him, she discovered that he wasn''t quite what she had thought he was, which made her smile.


    He doesn''t know what I really am, either. She thought in amusement and closed her eyes as she called more Presence to herself and let it fill her up, then she very carefully eased it into him. Unlike with everyone else she had tried it with, her Presence didn''t push his Presence out. It flowed with it instead and they swirled together. She tried not to moan at the sensations the intermingled energy was letting her feel. With her energy so incorporated with his, her work to try and remove the stun effects was done in mere moments.


    She didn''t stop or wake him, though.


    Lashina stayed there and shared her Presence with him for as long as the captain talked. He had found everything out, even how the boy preferred to be called by his family name and not by his given name. She absorbed all of the information and made sure to remember Aaron''s entire tragic tale. Despite hearing it all, she had a deep desire to hear it from his own lips.


    Easy, girl. He''s only eleven. Lashina thought to herself, then felt a slight disturbance in the flow of Presence. He''s not eleven? She asked herself and felt another disturbance. Hm. So he is and he isn''t. She mused, felt no disruption, and smiled. ¡°Okay, I think he''s going to be fine.¡± She said out loud.


    ¡°How long will he be unconscious this time?¡± The medic asked.


    ¡°He''s not unconscious.¡± Lashina said with a grin. ¡°His mind is just ignoring all sensory input except visual.¡±


    ¡°Then how...¡±


    ¡°Like this.¡± Lashina said.


    *


    Suddenly there was a small pink hand in front of my face.


    ¡°IEEE!¡± Lashina squealed. ¡°Don''t stare at them!¡±


    ¡°Wh-what... what...¡± I blinked my eyes and looked up at her, and saw her deep blush. ¡°I... I...¡±


    ¡°I hope you got a good look!¡± Lashina said and tried to pull her skirt down.


    ¡°I''m sorry!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°I just... they''re so pretty and... right in front of my face and...¡±


    ¡°You think they''re pretty?¡± Lashina asked as her blush deepened and she stopped her fruitless efforts to cover herself. I stared up at her face and pointedly didn''t try to look between her legs again.


    ¡°I think your work is done.¡± The captain said.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Lashina exclaimed and put her hands on my shoulders as she slid off to the side and stood up beside the bed. ¡°Yes, I''m done.¡±


    ¡°That was fast.¡± I said, and she smiled at me.


    ¡°If you have any more problems, I want you to come and see me.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°My name is Lashina Oleneth and I''m in the database.¡± Lashina said, and then her hand reached out and caressed the side of my face. ¡°Don''t wait too long, okay?¡±


    I widened my eyes at her. ¡°Um... okay.¡±


    Lashina giggled and walked out of my cell like nothing had happened.


    ¡°That was weird.¡± I said.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± The medic asked.


    I closed my eyes and let the flow of Presence go through me. I used the mental technique to detect the flow of Presence around me and was relieved that my brain didn''t hurt. I opened my eyes and smiled slightly as I used Presence to pop open my restraints.


    ¡°I feel fine.¡± I said and used Presence to reinforce my ankle to strengthen it.


    ¡°Hold on, don''t...¡± The captain sighed as I pushed the restraints off and sat up.


    ¡°Where do you think you''re going?¡± The medic asked as I stood.


    ¡°Somewhere that''s not here.¡± I said and walked to the cell door. ¡°Apparently, I''m not a prisoner. Why would I stay here?¡±


    ¡°They haven''t fixed your apartment yet.¡± The captain said as I walked by him.


    ¡°That was my...¡± I took a quick breath. ¡°It''s a guardian''s living space. Not mine.¡±


    Neither the captain nor the medic knew what to say in response.


    I left the holding area and walked over to the reception area and stopped at the big holodisplay. I quickly found the living quarters and administration section and went up to the proper floor. I didn''t knock or anything when I reached the right office and just walked right in.


    ¡°Oh! Hello.¡± The woman at the desk said. ¡°Do you have an appointment?¡±


    ¡°I''ve been unconscious for 2 days from stun damage, ever since The Order took away my guardian.¡± I said frankly, and she stared at me with an open mouth. ¡°I''ve graduated into my final year of training and wondered where my assigned living area is.¡±


    The woman shook her head slightly to clear it, then smiled. ¡°Name, please.¡±


    ¡°Ullir.¡± I said and waited. I could see and feel the flow of Presence quite a bit more than usual, and my range of detection was about a third greater than it had been before my temper tantrum. I wonder if it''s because of what I did, or because that pixie Lashina fixed me?


    ¡°Here we are.¡± The woman said. ¡°You''ve been assigned quarters in the C block of the barracks.¡±


    ¡°In the...¡± I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them and gave her a pleading look. ¡°Is there any chance that I can change it and have a normal place to sleep?¡±


    ¡°I...¡± The woman caught her breath when she saw my face. ¡°Just... let me check, okay?¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said sincerely, and she gave me a warm smile and started quickly typing and checked the available listings for living quarters. As she searched, her smiling face slowly faded. When she reached the end of the listing, she sighed in regret.


    ¡°I''m sorry. There''s been a huge relocation from the guardian''s living area and we''ve had to squeeze everyone in where we could.¡±


    ¡°That was my fault.¡± I said, and her eyes widened. ¡°Thanks, anyway.¡± I said and left before she had a chance to respond. So, they''re putting me in the barracks. I thought. Who in their right minds puts an eleven year old kid in with military units? I chuckled and stepped into the lift to go down to the ground floor. Well, if I''m stuck living there, I might as well see if there''s anything I can learn from them.


    I left the building that I had lived in since I had arrived on the planet, walked across the square that Emari had carried me around for years and we had walked around together for years more, and I entered the barracks and stopped at the desk.


    ¡°C block.¡± I said.


    The alien at the desk didn''t say anything and pointed to the wall behind me. I didn''t turn around and used the flow of Presence to look at the map and found the right area.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and walked around the desk.


    ¡°Hey! You didn''t look at the map!¡± The alien said to my back. ¡°You don''t know where to go!¡±


    I didn''t respond and went through a double set of doors and down a hallway, took a left and saw the large C on the wall plaque by another set of double doors. I went through them and it just looked like another hallway. I closed my eyes and focused on finding everyone within my detection range, then I read the names beside the doors with people in those rooms. I walked down the hallway and stopped at the door marked ''Officer of the Barracks'' and knocked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    I chuckled and took that as permission to enter and opened the door. Inside was a humanoid alien with feathers for hair.


    ¡°What do you want, kid?¡±


    ¡°I''ve been assigned living quarters in C block.¡± I said. ¡°Name''s Ullir.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± The alien said and looked at his datapad. ¡°Yeah, it says here that your temporary assignment is room G.¡± He smiled. ¡°Good luck with that, Aaron.¡±


    ¡°My. Name. Is. Ullir.¡± I said.


    He looked at me with angry eyes. ¡°I''ll call you whatever I like.¡±


    ¡°Only my guardian called me that.¡± I said with an evil smile. ¡°Are you going to be my new nanny?¡±


    The alien put his datapad down and stood up. ¡°Now listen here...¡±


    ¡°No, YOU listen.¡± I said. ¡°You will call me Ullir. That is my name. I am not a soldier. I am not under your command. You will give me the proper respect or you will regret it.¡±


    ¡°Is that a threat?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said, and his eyes widened. ¡°What? Did you expect me to deny it or say no?¡±


    ¡°Yes, actually.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don''t mince words and I don''t pander to fools.¡± I said, to his surprise. ¡°Have a good day.¡± I shut the door and walked down the hallway. The door to his office opened and he stepped out.


    ¡°Hey! I''m...¡±


    ¡°I don''t care.¡± I said and opened the door to room G and saw the state it was in. ¡°Goddamn Order assholes.¡± I stepped into the room that looked like it hadn''t been cleaned... ever... and shut the door.

 Book One: The Presence 012

    My final year of training began and it was some of the hardest things I had ever done. I was exhausted practically every night and barely spent any time in the pig-sty that I and three other people shared. The three soldiers couldn''t understand why they could never touch my bunk while I wasn''t there, or bother me while I slept there. They tried to prank me, their new roommate, and I didn''t want anything to do with them.


    Even exhausted, I could still create energy boxes to cover the bed and myself and used external Presence to make them solid. Since they were invisible unless you could detect the flow of Presence, the solders were completely clueless about what I was doing. I had hoped that I could learn from them; but, they were too stupid to learn anything useful from, so I focused on my training.


    About halfway through the year, they finally introduced us to The Order''s primary weapon. The Light sword. They brought in several Order members to instruct us on its proper use. A lot of it was classroom materials about how the weapon artificially created an intense energy field that focused absurd amounts of Presence inside it. Of course, I felt stupid that first day and raised my hand.


    ¡°Yes, Ullir?¡± The teacher asked.


    ¡°If the design and application is so easy, can''t anyone make them and use them?¡± I asked, and everyone in the class laughed, including the members of The Order.


    ¡°Congratulations! For impressing me with such a blatantly stupid question, I''m assigning you to write a report on the importance of regulating the use, mining, and gathering of focusing crystals from the holy sites.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°They only exist on specific planets in the universe.¡± The teacher said. ¡°The Order has declared them holy sites and only so many crystals are mined and dispersed to those that need them.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It''s very, very difficult to mine them.¡± One of The Order members said. ¡°The danger of them releasing their stored energy is...¡± He smiled. ¡°The last time someone wasn''t careful with a mining pick and struck an untreated crystal, there wasn''t anything left of them or of the thirty feet around them.¡±


    ¡°Well, you''ll learn all about that as you write that report.¡± My teacher said. ¡°See me after class and I''ll give you a few reference books.¡±


    I didn''t protest like I usually did, since I was actually interested in the subject. What I hated was that the teacher always wanted three to five thousand words.


    ¡°So, with that out of the way, these are the general components for...¡± The teacher started the holoprojector and I watched in fascination as my prediction of it being very simple to construct was right on the money. The components were laughably easy to find and assemble, and even the lenses could be scavenged from any standard recording device and in some cases from a droid''s eye socket. The only strictly regulated component was the power crystal, and you couldn''t just go to the local market and buy them.


    The Order owned or controlled them all.


    Of course they do. I thought as the presentation went on, then one of The Order members stepped to the front of the room and pulled the weapon from his hip and activated it. The low hum was accompanied by the appearance of a three foot long glowing blue blade.


    ¡°This isn''t sharp in the general sense.¡± The man said. ¡°It doesn''t really burn, either.¡±


    Of course it doesn''t. I thought. It''s energy. All matter is a form of energy. Since the Presence is in all things, including both matter and energy, using a Light sword disrupts both matter and energy.


    I kept my thoughts to myself this time, though.


    The lesson went on and we were shown a practical demonstration of the Light sword''s use. The Order member used it to cut cloth and to burn through a small chunk of metal, which completely countered his argument that it didn''t really cut or burn. I didn''t correct him or bring up the contradiction, and then the other member of The Order stepped forward. They had a mock fight using the Light swords, and everyone was in awe of them. Except me.


    I could see them not using any of their abilities to enhance their fight, or to counter some of their opponent''s moves. They weren''t even using body reinforcement when they blocked and countered. I could see the intense concentration of Presence around the Light swords and when they clashed, they released a small amount of Presence that neither fighter tried to manipulate or even absorb back into their swords or personal Presence flows.


    In a long and drawn-out battle, that would be detrimental for a fighter to constantly wear away their Presence and let it go like that. I thought.


    The mock fight came to an end when one of them pretended to stab the other in the gut.


    ¡°So, would anyone like to try...¡±


    ¡°When can we build our own weapons?¡± I asked, and everyone in the room turned to look at me.


    ¡°After you learn everything about the theory behind the...¡±


    ¡°What if you already know all of the theory?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Congratulations! For amusing me with yet another stupid question, you can write a report on all of the theories on Light swords, including their creation by the first beings, and how society has advanced since they appeared.¡± My teacher said.


    ¡°Do you want me to submit it now or later?¡± I asked and held up my datapad.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°I''ve been saving that report since the year began.¡± I said and hit the send button. The teacher''s datapad beeped at him and he looked at it with wide eyes.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°So, when can we make our own weapons?¡± I asked again.


    ¡°Not until the end of the year.¡± The teacher said and quickly skimmed through my report. ¡°Ullir, did you... are these your ideas?¡±


    ¡°Once I understood the principles, a lot of possibilities occurred to me.¡± I said. I didn''t put them all in the report, though.


    ¡°This is really good.¡± The teacher said. ¡°When you see me after class to get those reference materials, I want you to stick around for a while.¡±


    ¡°I''d like to, but I''m busy.¡± I said, and he looked up from his datapad and looked at me. ¡°They''re doing basic training at the barracks and are going out on an overnight excursion.¡±


    ¡°You''re not part of the military.¡± He said.


    ¡°I''m not; but, they are locking down the barracks before they leave. If I''m not inside...¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± The teacher said. ¡°Perhaps tomorrow, then.¡±


    ¡°That''s the weekend.¡± I said with a slight smile.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    He didn''t respond and one of the members of The Order held up his light sword.


    ¡°Who wants to try using this.¡±


    ¡°No, thanks.¡± I said loudly, and once again, everyone looked at me. ¡°There''s a reason the weapons are made personally.¡± I explained. ¡°You tune it to your own flow of Presence to allow you to use it without hurting yourself. I''m not going to risk using someone else''s Light sword and risk hurting myself or damaging the sword.¡±


    Once the other students heard that, none of them wanted to try it, despite really wanting to.


    ¡°Well!¡± The teacher said with more enthusiasm than was necessary. ¡°This was a great lesson, wasn''t it?¡±


    None of us responded, so he called an end to the class and waved me over to his desk. He handed me three books and told me that I had a week to do the report on mining the focus crystals and their impact on society. I could feel the two members of The Order were staring at me, so I ignored them and left. I went to my room and laid down on the bed, and focused the flow of Presence through the three books, one at a time, and read them without opening them.


    I had to use several different mental techniques to do it, and as I read them, I used a datapad to write the report. It only took three hours to complete it, then I put the books and the datapad aside and went to sleep. I had blocked out all the noise and hubbub when the soldiers left for their mission, and didn''t wake up until the next morning. They came back and I ignored them again, waited until I had to get up, then left my room and went to class.


    I passed in both the report and the three books the teacher had lent me, and he just stared at his datapad. He tried to ask me how I had written it so quickly; but, I ignored him and he moved on to teach us more about the different weapons and technology that we could encounter when off-world and facing enemies that were out to hurt us.


    I kept my opinion about The Order being the enemy to myself. People needed to be afraid of them and their power; but, now wasn''t the time to make a stand about that. I was much too young and weak to do anything about it at the moment. I was going to need a lot more training and power to deal with an organization that spanned countless worlds. I smiled because I didn''t believe that was an insurmountable task.


    The day passed, then the week, then a month and another, and before I knew it, the entire year was over. It had passed by like a fever dream full of sweat and blood. The other students had taken it upon themselves to teach me that I could be beaten in a fight by someone more experienced; but, that didn''t mean that I was beaten as a person. It wasn''t a hard lesson for me to learn, since all it did was remind me of my previous life and everything I went through there.


    Thankfully, I didn''t have to die this time.


    On my twelfth birthday, I went to the same testing room that I went to every year on my birthday. It hadn''t changed in all the years I had been going there. I performed all the little monkey tricks that they asked of me, then for the first time a droid came out. I was both curious and worried for a second, until it took a fighting stance. I laughed out loud at the absurdity instead of keeping it to myself, and I saw the observers reactions.


    ¡°Begin.¡± The woman''s voice said, and the droid lunged at me lightning fast.


    I caught it with my Presence Hand and held it steady, then examined it closely. I knew there was a reason they had given me this chance, and when I concentrated on the chest, I saw that it was heavily shielded and was covered in a stun field.


    ¡°Oh, sneaky.¡± I said and used Presence to reverse the energy flow and popped the stun charge mechanism. The stun field faded and I used another Presence Hand to pull off the metal covering. I concentrated and used another hand to grab the front of the thick shield. It seemed like a solid block of metal, which I knew was a deception, so I crushed the front of it and ripped it open.


    Inside was a focusing crystal.


    ¡°You couldn''t just give me the parts I needed?¡± I asked, then laughed again. ¡°Actually, I guess you just did.¡± I said and popped the crystal out of the holder. The robot wasn''t powered by that, though. I concentrated and followed the robot''s flow of Presence and found its battery packs and used a small Presence Hand to pull the wired leads to it. The droid shut down and stopped moving, so I lowered it to the floor and went over in my head what components I would need.


    I didn''t have any tools with me, which is something they must have expected. I was tempted to open the closet and see if they would have a small toolkit inside, then chuckled. I had been using Presence to open things since I was five, so I used it again to completely dismantle the droid. It took a while to open up everything and my focus was sharp and intense as I unscrewed every bolt and crushed every rivet.


    *


    ¡°His test is taking twice as long as the others.¡± One of the aliens asked. ¡°What in the world is he doing?¡±


    ¡°Showing off.¡± The woman said and sighed. ¡°He''s letting us see that he doesn''t need the toolkit we left in the closet that he knows is there.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The alien looked down at his monitor to get a close up view of what was happening, and shook his head. ¡°Why is he... hey! He''s crushing the rivets in the plating!¡±


    The Wise One chuckled by making a coughing sound. ¡°Yes, he is definitely showing off.¡±


    The four observers watched, kind of in awe, as their reluctant student completely dismantled the droid, right down to individual wires. Once he had everything spread out, he quickly chose the right components that were needed to create a standard weapon for a member of The Order.


    *


    I used one of the spindly arms of the droid for the casing, then used both my fingers and Presence to put all of the components together into the proper configuration and slid the whole thing into the cylinder. I didn''t bother with trying to add an external switch or power regulator knob, since this was only a test. I could almost feel their surprise as I skipped that step and stopped myself from smiling.


    I had taken my time with assembling it, because I had been using my own flow of Presence to attune the components to myself. If I hadn''t, it really would have been dangerous for me to try and operate it without the proper safety precautions. I had even adjusted the power regulator for minimal output so that when I turned it on, it wouldn''t blow one or both of the clear lenses that I had set to direct the focusing crystal''s power.


    I used several small screws to secure everything and I was done. I stood up and held the weapon out in my hand, and I let my flow of Presence enter it. It felt like it was a part of my hand, and this time I didn''t stop my smile as it spread across my face. The viewing window appeared in the wall and I turned my head to see the woman that had been the head of the committee that had assessed me every year.


    ¡°Congratulations, Ullir. You''ve completed your training.¡± The woman said. ¡°I don''t know how you''re going to activate your weapon without a switch.¡±


    I grinned at her as I used Presence to flip the internal switch, and a one foot long blue energy blade came out. It was only one inch wide, and I saw surprise on all of their faces.


    ¡°It has both a switch and a regulator.¡± I said and used Presence to turn the regulator up to the standard setting and the blue energy blade extended out to three feet long and widened to three inches. ¡°I left them internal, so that only someone attuned to it could activate it and control the settings.¡±


    ¡°Very good. Very good.¡± The Wise One said and clapped its two forelegs together and the claws made a clacking sound. ¡°I knew you had it in you to complete the training to our satisfaction.¡±


    ¡°That''s where you''re wrong, oh Wise One.¡± I said and deactivated the weapon and hung it on my belt. ¡°I completed the training to MY satisfaction.¡±


    The Wise One coughed several times as it chuckled. ¡°Yes, that would be a distinct difference.¡±


    ¡°So, now what?¡± I asked. ¡°What happens to me now?¡±


    ¡°Usually when a student completes their training, they are of age and can be inducted into The Order.¡± The woman said. ¡°Unfortunately, you won''t be of age for another four years.¡±


    ¡°And?¡± I looked from her to the Wise One. ¡°What does that mean for me?¡±


    ¡°Unless you can find a master that will take you, you will have to wait until you are of age before...¡±


    ¡°I don''t want a master.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve been sick of having to follow all of your stupid rules since I''ve been here. I will not subject myself to being a toady for some arrogant Order flunky.¡±


    The woman turned to the Wise One. ¡°What does ''toady'' and ''flunky'' mean?¡±


    ¡°I have not heard the terms before; but from the connotations, I believe toady means a submissive person and flunky means an underling that follows orders without questioning them.¡±


    ¡°I guess that''s why they call you the Wise One, oh Wise One.¡± I said, and the Wise One chuckled.


    ¡°I do have my moments.¡±


    ¡°So, since I''ve completed my training, I qualify as an adult.¡± I said and looked at their faces. ¡°Since I''m not of age, I can''t work for you and I can''t leave on my own.¡± I saw several nods. ¡°I guess this means I''m in limbo.¡±


    ¡°In limbo.¡± The Wise One said, and nodded. ¡°Yes, you are in limbo. A transition phase between being a child and becoming an adult.¡± He chuckled. ¡°We will still assign you various tasks to complete, since you are still under our authority. I hope you won''t be too much of a bother while you wait to grow up.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don''t have anything to worry about.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to be a perfect angel.¡±


    ¡°That''s a relief.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°By the way, can I have my belongings back?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Unfortunately, there are still regulations against...¡±


    ¡°I didn''t think so.¡± I said as I let a smile spread across my face and gave her a little wave. ¡°Buh-bye!¡± I said happily, opened the room''s door, and stepped out into the hallway.


    ¡°I... have a bad feeling about this.¡± The woman said.


    I barked a laugh, activated my Light sword as I stepped back into the room, then jumped up to jam it into the fire detection sensor on the ceiling.


    BEEEEP! BEEEEP! BEEEEP!


    The alarm wailed and I stepped back out of the room just in time.


    ¡°By the Goddess!¡± The woman exclaimed as she and the other people in the room were covered in fire suppression foam. ¡°Get back here, you!¡±


    I laughed at the top of my lungs as I covered myself in Presence and ran.

 Book One: The Presence 013

    I called it ''The Year of Pranks''. Everyone else called it ''The Year of Hell''. It made me laugh every time I came around a corner and a member of The Order would groan at the sight of me. It wasn''t the recognition of my achievements that made me happy. It was that just seeing me was enough to make them unhappy, and that was how I liked it.


    The only ones spared from my antics were the guardians, their children, and The Wise One. Everyone else was fair game... and I played the game very well. Everything that went wrong was immediately blamed on me, whether there was any evidence that I had done it or not. My notoriety knew no bounds and even people that I had never personally met knew my name.


    *


    ¡°I''m finally back!¡± Kara Moor said as she walked down the shuttle''s loading ramp.


    ¡°Oh, great. Another one.¡± A male voice said.


    Kara stopped walking and turned to face him. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°N-nothing! I didn''t say anything, miss!¡± The alien dock worker said and bowed deeply to her. ¡°I''d never say anything against The Order!¡±


    Kara knew he was lying; but, she didn''t want to cause a scene over a few innocuous words and kept walking down the ramp. The alien stood up straight and another worker stepped close to him and whispered.


    ¡°She must have supernatural hearing, too.¡± The second worker said. ¡°It''s the pointed ears. They''re a dead giveaway.¡±


    Kara could still hear them and ignored their comments. She didn''t stop walking and left the landing pad, then quickly walked over to the main administration building.


    ¡°Kara!¡± The woman at the desk exclaimed and stood up. ¡°You''ve grown so much since you''ve been gone!¡±


    ¡°It''s only been six years, Guardian Enelle.¡± Kara said and gave the older woman a hug. ¡°How have you been?¡±


    ¡°These old bones won''t let me play with the young ones like I want to.¡±


    ¡°You''re not old!¡± Kara laughed. ¡°You''re only twenty years older than me!¡±


    Enelle chuckled. ¡°You''re twenty-two, dear.¡± She said and kissed Kara''s forehead like she used to when Kara was a child. ¡°I''m old in both relative age and comparative age!¡±


    ¡°We''ll have to agree to disagree, then.¡± Kara said with a smile.


    ¡°What brings you back to The Order''s home world?¡± Enelle asked.


    ¡°You''re looking at the youngest member of the council!¡±


    ¡°That was you?!?¡± Enelle exclaimed, then gave her another hug. ¡°Congratulations!¡± She said and looked her in the eyes. ¡°I heard the general announcement that someone new had been appointed to replace old Igifeus when he retired; but, they never mentioned your name.¡±


    ¡°That''s the council for you.¡± Kara said with a smile. ¡°Always trying to keep things secret until absolutely necessary.¡±


    ¡°I hope you''re going to work hard to change that stupid policy!¡± Enelle said.


    ¡°Why else do you think I rushed back here?¡± Kara asked. ¡°It wasn''t just to see you, you know!¡± She said and let the older woman go. ¡°I called ahead and asked for permanent living arrangements.¡±


    ¡°Come over here and I''ll see where the staff set you up.¡± Enelle said and Kara stepped around the desk. ¡°If they messed up and only gave you a small apartment, I''ll make some heads roll!¡±


    Kara laughed and put her hand on the woman''s shoulder as they checked the system logs.


    ¡°They''re lucky they did a good job.¡± Enelle said and asked for Kara''s datapad. She loaded the directions into it and gave it back. ¡°If you have any problems, you message me at any time, okay?¡±


    ¡°What if you''re asleep in bed?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± Enelle said. ¡°Just like the other two children I''ve had the privilege to raise, I will do everything I can for you for as long as I live.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Enelle.¡± Kara said and gave the older woman another hug. ¡°That means a lot to me.¡±


    ¡°All right, you better go before I start crying.¡± Enelle said.


    Kara smiled and nodded. ¡°You and I have a lot of catching up to do, and now that I''m a member of the council, I don''t plan on going anywhere for a long time.¡±


    *


    ¡°Are you sure it was wise to make someone so young a member of the council?¡± The first woman asked The Wise One.


    ¡°What is my name again?¡± The Wise One asked and laughed as it made a coughing sound.


    ¡°Very funny.¡±


    ¡°It is the perfect opportunity to introduce new ways of thinking into a group that has had the same members for almost twenty years with no change.¡±


    ¡°Wise One, that means Kara was only two when the last member was appointed.¡± The first woman said. ¡°Doesn''t that tell you something?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°You can count! Bwahahaha!¡±


    ¡°By the Goddess, you have a strange sense of humor.¡± The woman said, and The Wise One laughed some more.


    *


    It took almost a month for Kara to settle in to her duties on the council. They had started her with only a light regimen to deal with, and she excelled so well after a week with it that they assigned her the rest of her duties with only two of the council members expressing doubts. They were unfounded, because Kara loved her new job and her energy and enthusiasm lifted everyone''s spirits whenever she was around.


    After six months, she had integrated so well with the other council members that it was like she had always been a council member herself, despite being the youngest one. Because of this well meshed integration, Kara started to hear rumors and found reports of small incidents from all of the different departments, scattered all over the compound. Her old guardian Enelle had been an invaluable source of information for both the rumors and the facts, since she worked in the administration building.


    As a kind of side project, she combined the incident reports and rumors into a timeline of sorts, and she was surprised at how long it had been going on and that no one had caught the culprit. It was during one of the normal daily meetings that she decided it was time that she got to the bottom of things. When the meeting''s normal agenda was dealt with, she was about to ask for everyone''s attention when she felt something disturb the Presence in the room. She looked up just in time to see a large cloth bundle fly into the middle of the room and slam into the floor.


    SPLAT!


    The loosely tied cloth burst open and animal dung was flung outwards and splashed everywhere. Luckily, the splatter only reached their feet and dirtied the bottom of their robes, and a sound of incessant laughter filled the room for a second and disappeared.


    ¡°What was that?!¡± Kara exclaimed as she stood and concentrated on the flow of Presence around her. I can''t sense anyone but the council members nearby.


    Several of the council members sighed, then one of them spoke up.


    ¡°I''m surprised you haven''t heard of our resident problem child already.¡± The scaly alien said.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± Kara said and pulled out the datapad she had compiled everything on and pushed the data into the room''s holoprojector. All of the reports floated in the air in front of the council. ¡°Are you saying that all of these incidents are by the same person?!?¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°His name''s Ullir, and ever since he graduated from the training course, he''s been an annoying thorn in our sides.¡± The fluffy puff ball alien said.


    ¡°He''s quite adept at using Presence and excels at using his custom-made Light sword.¡± Another council member said. ¡°It''s unfortunate that he uses those gifts only for mischief.¡±


    ¡°I think he might be running out of ideas.¡± The scaly alien said. ¡°This one was pretty mild.¡±


    ¡°Mild?!? He just threw animal feces on the council!¡± Kara nearly yelled.


    ¡°Do you remember that time he switched the smoke grenades for sleeping gas before the guards training exercise last month?¡± One of the council members asked the others and chuckled.


    ¡°Okay, even I have to admit that one was funny.¡± The fluffy puff ball alien said. ¡°It took them a week to wash off the whiskers and thick eyebrows that he drew on their faces.¡±


    ¡°Remember when he stole everyone''s robes and made a huge tent out of it to cover the main garden?¡± The scaly alien asked. ¡°We still haven''t figured out how he did that without anyone seeing him.¡±


    ¡°Council members!¡± Kara exclaimed, and they stopped their musing and looked at her. ¡°Why don''t you punish him for all of these callous acts?¡±


    ¡°We have punished him.¡± The fluffy puff-like alien said. ¡°It doesn''t do any good.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°If he doesn''t ignore us and decides to show up to do it, he completes the punishment quickly and then targets whoever assigned it for his next act.¡±


    ¡°How many of you...¡±


    ¡°We''ve all been the target at one point.¡± The scaly alien said.


    ¡°If he''s such a problem, why haven''t you kicked him out of The Order?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°We can''t.¡± One of the other council members said. ¡°He''s not a part of The Order.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Kara looked at all of their faces and saw resignation. ¡°Why... how... you said he graduated training! He''s supposed to be a part of The Order!¡±


    ¡°Normally that''s true, but...¡± The man sighed. ¡°He''s only twelve.¡±


    ¡°WHAAAAAAAT?!?¡± Kara yelled, shocked. ¡°He... he''s only...¡±


    ¡°We told you he was exceptional.¡± The scaly alien said. ¡°In his own words, he''s in a kind of limbo.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Not a child and not yet a man.¡±


    Kara took several deep breaths, and immediately regretted it because of the extreme smelling dung that had been spread around the room. She coughed for a moment and then looked at the council members.


    ¡°What is he going to be punished with because of this?¡± Kara asked and waved at the pile of dung.


    None of the council members said anything, then one of them hit several buttons on the side of his chair and half a dozen cleaning bots came out of the wall and started to clean the mess.


    ¡°You... you''re just going to ignore this... this... insult?!?¡± Kara pointed at the bottom of her robes as a cleaning bot made quick work of cleaning her boots and the hem of her robes.


    The other council members exchanged glances and they all shrugged as one.


    ¡°Well, I''m not going to stand for it.¡± Kara said. ¡°I''m going to find this Ullir and I''ll give him a piece of my mind, then I''ll give him an appropriate punishment!¡±


    ¡°Good luck with that.¡± The scaly alien said, and everyone chuckled.


    ¡°I don''t need luck to deal with an errant child.¡± Kara said and walked out of the council chamber. She stopped the first pair of guards she saw and asked them to search for Ullir. The two guards exchanged looks, eerily just like the ones the council members had, and looked back at her.


    ¡°Master Moor, do you understand what you''re asking?¡± One of the guards asked.


    ¡°Of course I do.¡± Kara said. ¡°If you find him, bring him to my office and message me right away.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master Moor.¡± He said and both guards left at a fast walk.


    With their help, I should be able to find him fairly quickly. Kara thought and left the building to start looking for him herself.


    After searching for four hours and asking everyone she met, she was no closer to finding Ullir than she had been when she started looking.


    ¡°Master Moor!¡± A man''s voice exclaimed, and Kara turned to see a guard running towards her. He was soaking wet and looked like he''d been put through hell.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°We... finally cornered him.¡± The guard said and took several deep breaths.


    ¡°Why didn''t you message me?¡±


    The guard held up his wrist communicator and showed her that it was crushed. ¡°It''s usually the first thing he disables when we try to use it.¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°Where is he now?¡±


    ¡°He entered the East Forest Glade about twenty minutes ago.¡±


    ¡°The forest glade is for Order members to...¡± Kara closed her eyes for a moment, calmed down, then looked at the guard. ¡°I want a room prepared.¡± She said. ¡°I also want it escape proof.¡±


    ¡°Master Moor, that''s not...¡±


    ¡°As a member of the council, I order you to do this. Have several of The Order members assist you.¡± Kara said. ¡°I want a room to put him in that he can''t get out of, until I can think of an appropriate punishment for him.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master Moor.¡± The guard said.


    ¡°Make sure to get your injuries tended to first.¡± Kara said and covered herself in Presence, then ran as fast as she could around several buildings and through the central courtyard, then around the barracks and came to a stop at the edge of the forest. ¡°The gall of him entering here.¡± She said and stepped into the forest with reverence. Once inside, the flow of Presence around her increased and calmness filled her. ¡°He will be punished for abusing The Order''s hospitality.¡±


    Kara used several mental and physical techniques to expand her senses far beyond her normal range. That was only possible to do in high Presence areas, like the East Forest Glade, and she started her search. There were some dangerous creatures lurking about and she avoided them easily as she made her way deeper into the forest. It was a large area and it took her nearly an hour before she found a trace of Presence that wasn''t a part of the forest. It was near a stream and led directly away from The Order compound.


    It took Kara another half an hour for her to follow that trace of Presence to its source. She had used her best stealth techniques and had hidden her flow of Presence by holding it in close. She eased around the spot that she had pinpointed as his location and stayed well within the treeline and out of sight. When she was finally close enough to see her target with her own eyes, she remained still and observed him for several moments.


    Kara was surprised that instead of the twelve year old child she had expected to see, she instead saw a fairly tall five foot figure with long dirty blonde hair. It somehow looked both dishevelled and clean at the same time. The figure wore a standard set of robes and outfit that were a different color, to show that he wasn''t a member of The Order, one of their apprentices, or a student in training. As far as she knew, he was the only one that wore that particular color.


    He sat on a large rock beside the stream, and if she wasn''t mistaken, he was actually fishing in the sacred waters. Filled with outrage at his blatant disregard for the traditions of The Order, she readied herself for an intense battle and prepared to jump out of hiding to tackle him with all of her might.


    I will have him! Kara thought with glee.


    *


    I sat on the large rock by the stream and thought about the prank I had just performed. I think I''m starting to lose my touch. I thought and laughed. Was throwing dung at the council the best I could come up with?


    I pushed that thought and every other one out of my mind and started to meditate and practice various mental techniques. I sat there quietly for about four hours before I felt a disturbance in the flow of Presence in the forest as someone stepped inside. I knew that someone was coming for me, since no one else came into the forest during the day.


    I changed tactics and quickly constructed a fishing pole and dipped it into the stream. I knew there were tons of fish and that taking a few of them wouldn''t change the balance of Presence in the water. I didn''t cheat and use Presence to catch the fish, either. I had learned that honing normal skills was just as important as honing the skills that use Presence, and I practised as much of both as I could. Of course, I had tons of free time every day to do that. I was always practising something because I had nothing else to do and only performed pranks to break up the sheer monotony of daily life.


    It took me an hour to catch one fish, then another half an hour before the person looking for me approached. I didn''t need my eyes to see her, thanks to my Detect Presence mental technique, and I was quite impressed by her. She had hidden her Presence almost completely and I had a difficult time making out her details. She had an hourglass shaped body with a moderately large chest, a thin waist, and shapely hips. Her bright pink hair was styled quite attractively, and when I focused on her face, I felt a surge of Presence from her.


    I better stop her before she hurts herself. I thought, then spoke loudly. ¡°I''m not going to run or fight.¡±


    I heard her catch her breath and the Presence near her lowered in intensity, so I calmly turned my head to look at her hiding spot. ¡°I mean you. The one with the pink hair.¡± I smiled at her when she poked her head out to stare at me in shock. ¡°Just don''t scare the fish, okay? I only need to catch one more.¡±


    I watched her as she stood up and slowly walked over to me. When she sat down next to me, I got back to fishing. It didn''t take long to catch a second fish, almost as if it knew I need it. I held in my laugh at that thought and quickly cleaned both fish and prepared a fire beside the large rock. I could feel her intense stare while I worked and neither of us said anything as I cooked up both fish. When I handed one to her, she started eating it without a word, then she suddenly jerked as if she had been poked with something.


    ¡°Ullir!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°You are confined to your new living quarters for a week as punishment for your assault on the council today!¡±


    ¡°The only thing I assaulted was their nostrils.¡± I said and laughed. I saw her start to smile and then she scowled.


    ¡°I am a member of the council.¡± She said. ¡°My name is Kara Moor.¡±


    ¡°Can I make a joke that I couldn''t Kara Less?¡± I asked her, and she sighed.


    ¡°Ullir, this is a serious matter.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. I know.¡± I said and took a bite of fish. ¡°You want to prove your might to the other council members.¡±


    ¡°That''s not true!¡± Kara said. ¡°What I want to do is show them that no one is above the council''s edicts.¡±


    ¡°Except the council.¡± I said, and she caught her breath.


    ¡°They tell us not to steal, and yet they steal all the time.¡± I said and continued to eat. ¡°They tell us not to take innocent life, and yet they hunt down rogues and kill them.¡±


    Kara sat there with a stunned look on her face. ¡°Ullir, that... that''s not...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you can''t really deny it without lying, can you?¡± I asked, and she didn''t respond. ¡°Look, I''ll take your punishment this time; but, it''s a freebee.¡±


    ¡°A what?¡±


    ¡°A freebee. I''ll do what you say this time for free, with no retribution.¡± I said and finished eating the fish. ¡°All bets are off next time, though.¡±


    Kara sat there and watched as I dumped several handfuls of water onto the fire and spread the ashes with my foot to make sure it was completely out. I then took the remains of my fish and her half-eaten one and tucked them under a small pile of leaves around the roots of the nearest tree.


    ¡°Are you just going to sit there, or are you coming?¡± I asked and walked away into the forest.


    ¡°W-w-wait!¡± Kara exclaimed, jumped to her feet, and quickly followed me.

 Book One: The Presence 014

    As I walked through the dense forest back to The Order compound, Kara had a surprisingly difficult time trying to keep up with me, even though I wasn''t using Presence to boost myself.


    ¡°Ullir.¡± Kara said from behind me. ¡°ULLIR!¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± I asked without slowing down or turning around.


    ¡°Aren''t you going to apologize for what you did?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked and chuckled. ¡°You wouldn''t appreciate me lying, would you?¡±


    I could almost hear her scowl as she started to lecture me about paying the proper respect to my elders and a bunch of other nonsense. I tuned her out for the most part and quickened my pace to a light jog, to see if giving her more exercise would quiet her down. I started to get further away from her and I felt her start to use Presence to boost herself so she could avoid the bushes and branches I was intentionally sending her way.


    ¡°Hey! Are you even listening to me?¡± Kara asked several minutes later.


    ¡°No.¡± I responded.


    ¡°UGH!¡± Kara grunted in frustration, and she heard me laugh. ¡°It''s not funny to ignore a council member!¡±


    ¡°You know, you''re kinda cute when you''re angry.¡± I said absently, then I felt her Presence falter. I stopped jogging immediately and turned around to catch her as she tripped over a tree root and fell. I used my Presence to cushion her and carefully held her in my arms as if we had been dancing and I was dipping her. She wrapped her arms around my neck automatically and stared up at me with wide eyes.


    With her hanging down like that, her shoulder-length pink hair had fallen back and revealed her slightly pointed ears that looked just like mine. I was surprised by this, considering the only other people besides myself that had them were my parents. Now that I had an up close look at her, I saw that her eyes were a deep brown with little gold flecks in them.


    ¡°Yeah, definitely cute.¡± I said with a smirk to tease her, and her face flushed to a deep red.


    ¡°G-get your hands off of me.¡± Kara said and let my neck go. ¡°You shouldn''t touch me with such impunity.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± I said and let her go.


    ¡°AHH-what?¡± Kara yelled and stopped when I dropped her to the ground, barely six inches away.


    I tried not to laugh at her confusion, then stopped fighting the urge and laughed.


    ¡°It''s not funny.¡± Kara said, not very convincingly. She sat up and looked at the hem of her robes. They had small rips and tears in them from running through the forest. ¡°Dammit, these are my new robes.¡±


    ¡°I can fix that for you.¡± I said.


    ¡°Really?¡± Kara looked up at me with doubt on her face.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said and held my hand out and used Presence to lift the edge of her robes, then in a flash I had activated my Light sword and swiped it across the cloth and removed six inches from the hem.


    ¡°HEY!¡± Kara yelled.


    ¡°What? It''s fixed, isn''t it?¡± I asked. ¡°No more pulls and tears.¡±


    ¡°You were supposed to repair it, not cut it off!¡±


    ¡°I''m not a seamstress.¡± I said with a grin.


    ¡°UGH!¡± Kara grunted in frustration.


    ¡°You shouldn''t be lazing around like this. Don''t you have work to do?¡± I asked and started to jog again.


    ¡°You... you...¡± Kara started to rant at me.


    I ignored her of course, then I felt her gather Presence around herself and she started to run after me. I let her get to within a few feet and covered myself with Presence and started to run myself. She kept berating me and lectured me on proper protocol as we ran. She couldn''t quite reach me, despite her attempts to boost herself past her limits.


    I led her on a merry chase through the East Forest Glade and all the way back to The Order compound. I popped out of the forest and the strong Presence feeling the forest granted disappeared as I met open air. I stopped ten feet away and waited for a moment, then Kara burst out through the underbrush, covered in leaves. Most of her robes had little rips and cuts in it now.


    ¡°You... rotten... little...¡± Kara panted.


    ¡°Shouldn''t a member of the council have a little more decorum than this?¡± I asked with a grin.


    Kara closed her eyes and took several deep breaths as she meditated for a moment and calmed down. She lifted her wrist and tapped the com code for the guard station.


    ¡°Is the room prepared?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Yes, Master Moor.¡± A voice responded. ¡°Main building on the third level. Section A, second door.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Kara said and looked right at me with angry eyes. ¡°You heard that.¡± She said and pointed. ¡°Now march!¡±


    I quickly gave her the guard''s salute, much to her surprise, then I shocked her as I did a perfect about face and started to double-time march away from her towards the main building.


    ¡°Hut. Hut. Hut.¡± I chanted as I quickly crossed the central courtyard and several people turned to look at me. They started to laugh when they saw Kara running after me to try and keep up. I entered the main building and stepped into the closest lift, double-time marched in place, and the doors started to close before Kara could get close enough to stop them.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± Kara exclaimed.


    I didn''t laugh at her expression, even though it was pretty funny. The leaves still stuck to her are a nice touch, too. I thought in amusement. The lift doors opened and I double-time marched out and down the hall and stopped at the stairs. A second later, Kara came out the door and glared at me.


    ¡°You did that on purpose!¡±


    I lifted my hand up into the air as I jogged in place. ¡°I swear to god that I did nothing to influence the events that have transpired within the last hour.¡±


    Kara caught her breath at my casual use of a swearing oath. I knew that she couldn''t detect any disturbance in the Presence around me, since I didn''t lie, so she pointed down the hallway.


    ¡°Your room awaits.¡± Kara said, and we went down the hallway to the second door and I opened it.


    ¡°Ha.¡± I said as I stopped double-time marching and stepped inside.


    ¡°What''s funny now?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°This is the room I stayed in when they kidnapped me eight years ago.¡± I said and looked around. ¡°At least they didn''t change anything since then.¡±


    Kara made a kind of whimpering sound and I felt a massive disturbance in the Presence around her. I was beside her in an instant and caught her as she fell unconscious. I picked her up and carried her to the small bed that was there and laid her down on it. I touched her forehead with a fingertip and used a little bit of Presence to check her.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Well, no need for a medical team.¡± I said out loud. ¡°You just fainted.¡±


    I gave the room another quick glance and realized that I didn''t have anywhere to sit down. I sighed and looked at the bed, gently lifted her head and shoulders, then sat down on the bed and rested her head on my lap.


    ¡°Nothing to do but wait it out, I guess.¡± I said and looked down at her. She had a kind of shocked look on her face, and I had no idea why. I sat back and leaned against the wall, then felt kind of tired. With nothing else to do while I waited for her to wake up, I closed my eyes and relaxed, then drifted off to sleep.


    *


    ¡°Do you think it''s going to work?¡± The first woman asked.


    ¡°Only time will tell.¡± The Wise One said, then chuckled. ¡°It was quite the reaction when she realized who Ullir really is, wouldn''t you say?¡±


    ¡°Is this why you never objected to her visiting him when he was a child?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°I cannot confirm or deny that this was my intention all along.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Although, if it was, wouldn''t it have been a brilliant plan?¡±


    ¡°Do you really need me to stroke your ego?¡± The woman asked, and he laughed.


    ¡°All right. I have to admit that at the time, I only saw a lonely teenage girl that needed someone to take care of, and a scared little boy that needed someone to take care of him.¡±


    ¡°It must have been quite the surprise for you when he accepted Emari as a guardian, then.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it was.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Even more so for Kara.¡± He said. ¡°She desperately searched for him for quite some time before being accepted as an apprentice.¡±


    ¡°You arranged for her to be sent away?¡± The woman asked, surprised.


    ¡°It would do neither of them any good for her to have stayed around.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Although, I will not claim credit because she excelled in her apprenticeship and became a Master in record time.¡±


    ¡°That''s magnanimous of you.¡± The woman said, and he laughed.


    ¡°Now, like Ullir just said, all we can do is wait it out.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Will our wild child be tamed by our latest council member, or will he frustrate her into ambivalence like he has the rest of the council?¡±


    ¡°What are you hoping for?¡± The woman asked, curious.


    ¡°Honestly, I hope for a nice even balance between the two.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    The Wise One nodded. ¡°If both of them calm down and can accept each other for who they are and their place in the universe, then we will all be better off for it.¡±


    ¡°You just don''t want any more animal dung brought into the building.¡± The woman said with a smile.


    ¡°He must have been saving it for a while, because the cleaning robots have been cleaning each other all afternoon and still stink of it!¡± The Wise One said and laughed. ¡°Oh, that reminds me. Call administration and have them order new cleaning droids.¡±


    The woman couldn''t help herself and laughed, too.


    *


    Kara started out having the most wonderful dream. She had been walking around randomly and her eyes caught sight of the most prettiest dirty blonde hair she had ever seen. She followed that hair all over and then it was locked in a room. That proved no obstacle for her when she returned that night in her hooded cloak and she quickly made her way inside. Her whole body shook as she saw the face of her prince for the very first time.


    She ran to his bed and quickly perched on his bed and let him rest his head on her lap, as all good princesses did for their princes. She sat there for hours and hours just staring at him and stroking the beautiful dirty blonde hair, and her heart was full of joy and happiness.


    She was interrupted by the ogres and had to leave before her prince awoke, and she vowed that she would come back whenever she could to let him use her lap as his pillow. She came back, time and time again, always hidden and at night, and none of the ogres suspected that she was sneaking in to spend time with her prince practically every night.


    Unfortunately, her dream turned into a nightmare when she approached the room her prince had been kept in. She had finally decided to reveal herself to him and declare her undying love, and when she opened the door, he wasn''t there! She searched for him frantically all over, then the royal family decided that she should be sent away for more advanced training. She tried to deny them and pleaded to stay, only to be refused and sent far away from her prince.


    ¡°I will come back to find you!¡± She exclaimed as she was whisked away to a far-off land. ¡°My lap will always be yours, my prince!¡±


    *


    Kara opened her eyes as the dream faded and as she looked up, she saw a handsome and chiselled face with a strong jawline, and long dirty blonde hair. She could see his slightly pointed ears that matched her own and she knew that he was who she had been looking for all this time.


    ¡°My prince.¡± Kara whispered and reached up to stroke his hair like she had when he was a little boy.


    ¡°Hm? What?¡± Ullir blinked his eyes as he woke up.


    Kara snatched her hand back before he noticed what she was doing. ¡°Ullir! What are you doing?¡± She asked to try and distract him from her own actions.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Ullir looked down at her. ¡°I was sleeping. What did it look like I was doing?¡±


    ¡°Never mind that.¡± Kara said in dismissal. ¡°Why are you holding my head in your lap?¡±


    ¡°There wasn''t anywhere else to sit.¡± Ullir said with a chuckle. ¡°I sincerely doubt that you would want me to sit on the hard cold floor while you sleep in my bed.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Kara quickly sat up and glared at him. ¡°I''m not sleeping in your bed!¡±


    Ullir held a hand out and then pointed straight down. ¡°You. Bed. Slept.¡±


    ¡°I... I wasn''t...¡± Kara started to become flustered, and he chuckled again.


    ¡°I''m just kidding.¡± Ullir said. ¡°You fainted when we entered the room and I put you on the bed.¡±


    ¡°I don''t faint.¡± Kara said and turned away for a moment, then she stood. ¡°You are to remain in this room, and you are not to leave until someone comes for you.¡± She said and walked over to the door, then turned back to glare at him. ¡°Do you remember your promise?¡±


    ¡°What promise?¡± Ullir asked.


    ¡°You said you would accept this punishment and would do what I told you to do this time, without retribution, because you were giving me a ''freebee''.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Yeah, I did.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Kara said and let a smile spread across her face. ¡°I''ve decided what your punishment is going to be.¡±


    ¡°Oh, this should be good.¡± Ullir said and crossed his arms. ¡°Is it gathering vegetables from the greenhouses? Pruning the flowers in the gardens? Oh! Are you going to make me scrub the council chamber?¡±


    ¡°Nothing so mundane as that.¡± Kara said, and her smile turned wicked. ¡°From this point forward, you are my apprentice.¡±


    Her statement was met with an open mouth and a blank stare from him, and she held in her laugh.


    ¡°You have a week to gather your belongings and to get your affairs in order, then you are all mine.¡± Kara said, and her predatory instincts kicked in. ¡°Before you start complaining or trying to worm your way out of your promise, you said no retribution, and that includes trying to nullify becoming my apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Goddammit.¡± Ullir swore and sighed.


    ¡°I need to go and deal with council business, so you can sit there and think about all of the horrible things you''ve been doing to everyone.¡± Kara said and walked to the door.


    ¡°I don''t think making people laugh is horrible.¡±


    ¡°What people?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°I''m people, so me.¡± Ullir said with a smirk.


    Kara rolled her eyes. ¡°Do not leave this room unless someone comes for you.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Ullir said.


    Kara stepped out of the room and shut the door, then hit the button to secure it. ¡°You better stay in there.¡± She said under her breath and walked down the hallway to the lift. She went down to the ground floor and left the main build to head to the administration building to talk to her old guardian, Enelle. If anyone could tell her everything about her new apprentice, it was her.


    When Kara had been old enough, she did a lot of research and discovered that she was a member of a very rare and long lived race of humanoids whose name was lost to time, and they had a much stronger ability to use Presence than normal humans. She had always had pride in herself at being able to use her abilities so well, and after discovering that her whole race was the same, it had given her the drive to start looking for them.


    Unfortunately, electronic records from most worlds were sorely lacking for genealogy research, so her search for more members of her race was glacier slow in its progress. Kara put those thoughts out of her mind as she entered the administration building and heard her guardian greet her with enthusiasm.


    ¡°Kara! You''re back!¡± Enelle exclaimed and gave her a hug.


    Kara chuckled. ¡°I was here only yesterday.¡±


    ¡°It''s always enjoyable to see one of my children.¡± Enelle said. ¡°What can I do for you today?¡±


    ¡°Well, I was wondering if I could get some information on my new apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You''ve found one already?¡± Enelle asked. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°His name''s Ullir and...¡±


    ¡°WHAAAATT?!?¡± Enelle yelled and several people in the lobby turned to look at her. ¡°Excuse me!¡± She said and waved to them, then turned to the door behind her. ¡°Janelle! I''m taking the rest of the day off!¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± A woman''s voice said. ¡°I''ll be right out!¡±


    Janelle came out and took over the desk duties, and Enelle grabbed Kara''s arm and pulled her out of the administration building and over to the small park that the office workers used to relax.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Enelle asked as they sat down. ¡°You''re taking Ullir on as an apprentice?¡±


    ¡°Why is that so surprising?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°I helped you compile that huge list of offences, remember?¡± Enelle asked. ¡°Don''t forget that those are just the ones that have been reported.¡±


    Kara took a breath and let it out. ¡°I know he''s going to be a handful...¡±


    ¡°Kara dear, he''s been many, many handfuls for the council since his graduation.¡± Enelle said. ¡°You can''t honestly think that you can reform him.¡±


    ¡°You raised me not to be a quitter, Enelle.¡± Kara said and smiled. ¡°Don''t worry. I''ve already got several plans in my head on how to straighten him out and put him on the right path.¡±


    ¡°Kara, I raised you to be smart, not delusional.¡±


    Kara laughed. ¡°Enelle, I don''t think...¡±


    ¡°That''s right. You''re not thinking.¡± Enelle said. ¡°Let me tell you all about him, and then you can decide if you want to waste your time or leave him be.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Kara said, then her eyes widened as her old guardian Enelle started to tell her the whole sordid tale from the very beginning.

 Book One: The Presence 015

    Kara listened to Enelle talk for nearly two hours, and the things she heard were ridiculous and far-fetched... and yet none of it were lies. When Enelle had finished talking, Kara thanked her for telling her everything.


    ¡°So, what have you decided?¡± Enelle asked.


    ¡°That boy needs me more than ever!¡± Kara said with passion in her voice as she stood, then she took off running towards the main building.


    ¡°Kara!¡± Enelle called after her, then sighed. ¡°I had hoped it would discourage her.¡± She said with a chuckle. ¡°Instead it had the opposite effect.¡± She stood up and walked over to the building with her apartment in it. ¡°I''ll have to keep a close eye on her from now on.¡±


    Kara entered the main building and went up to the third floor, then quickly walked down the hall to the second door to see that it was wide open. ¡°Ugh!¡± She grunted and went into the room to see an empty food tray on the bed and a note. She picked the up note and read it out loud. ¡°Someone came to get me and brought food.¡± She crumpled the note and threw it onto the bed and stormed out of the room. ¡°ULLIR!¡± She yelled and ran for the lift to search for her missing apprentice.


    *


    I opened the closet and stepped out, and didn''t laugh until I felt her flow of Presence go down in the lift. ¡°She is going to be so mad when she realizes that I never left, even though I promised I would stay.¡± I laughed and walked over to the bed and sat down. I put the food tray on the floor, then used Presence Hand to shut the room''s door and heard it click. I wasn''t going anywhere for a whole week, so I laid down and relaxed, closed my eyes, and practised some mental techniques while I waited for her to come back.


    I was surprised when it took her two whole days and the help of an entire guard regiment to search everywhere for me, before she found out that I was in my assigned room. The flow of Presence from her was massive as she stormed down the hallway and opened the door to my room, and then she stared daggers at me.


    ¡°Hi, Kara.¡± I said, and I could see the blood fill her face as she tried to hold in her anger. ¡°Before you blow your top and start screaming at me, I never left the room.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to argue that I hadn''t been in the room, and I held a hand up to stop her.


    ¡°I promised I''d follow your orders, remember? You told me to stay in here, so I did.¡± I said and then pointed at the side of the room. ¡°By the way, I was hiding in the closet.¡±


    ¡°Ullir... you...¡± Kara made fists with her hands and did several mental techniques to try and calm down. ¡°You made me think that you''d left.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and how quickly you assumed that I would break my word.¡± I said, and her eyes widened. ¡°I wasn''t even suppressing my Presence. If you''d taken a second to check, my little trick would have been easily discovered.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to respond, then she closed it. After a few silent moments, she spoke. ¡°Are you always going to be like this?¡±


    ¡°What, honest?¡±


    ¡°No, deceitful.¡± Kara said. ¡°You knew I wouldn''t check for your Presence before I stormed out to search for you.¡±


    ¡°I did.¡± I said. ¡°Do you know what that means?¡±


    ¡°What''s that?¡±


    ¡°Despite all the research you did on me, I know a lot more about you than you do about me.¡±


    Kara took another deep breath and let it out. ¡°You don''t know me.¡±


    I smiled and rolled over on the bed to face the wall. ¡°I know that despite you being wrong, you want to punish me for tricking you.¡± I said and closed my eyes. ¡°I only have five more days to wait before I can leave this room.¡± I said and yawned. ¡°How long will I have to wait for you to give me up as an apprentice?¡±


    Kara didn''t say anything until she stepped out of the room and shut the door. ¡°I''m never going to give you up.¡±


    I didn''t respond, because I knew she wasn''t expecting me to, and went to sleep.


    The next five days passed by at a snail''s pace. I wasn''t sure why the time seemed to drag on. I had used various mental techniques to occupy my time and to sleep, and yet that just made the time last longer. I was brought my meals by a different person every day, and each of them stated clearly that they were not there for me and put the tray just inside the door and shut it. Sometimes it was a guard, an administration worker, and sometimes it was even a member of The Order. It still made me smile when they couldn''t look me in the eyes.


    I kept my promise and stayed in the room for the whole week, and when my time was done, I felt both relief and a little sad. Kara hadn''t come to see me after my little prank. I wasn''t sure if it was because she was embarrassed or angry, though. It was probably a mix of both.


    I felt her Presence as she came down the hallway, and it wasn''t the huge flow that I had felt the last time I had seen her. The door to the room opened and there she stood. Kara didn''t glare at me or even say anything. She just waved her hand to indicate that I should follow her, then she turned around and walked away.


    I sighed and got up, then followed her down the hallway. We got in the lift and she didn''t even look at me as we went to the ground floor. She walked out of the main building and over to a smaller building right beside it. I didn''t say anything as we entered the council members'' apartment complex and we walked all the way to the back of the building. She touched the panel by the door of an apartment and it hished open, then she motioned for me to follow her inside.


    I held in my sigh as she led me across her luxurious apartment and to her bathroom. ¡°Don''t tell me I have to scrub your bathroom.¡± I said dejectedly. Kara didn''t respond as she opened the large shower stall. With one swift motion she grabbed me by the neck of my robes, flung me into the shower, then hit all of the buttons in quick succession.


    ¡°GLUG!¡± I choked as soap entered my mouth and eyes and covered me from head to foot.


    ¡°Start scrubbing.¡± Kara said. ¡°You''re filthy.¡±


    I tried to spit out the soap and sputtered a few curses, and she crossed her arms.


    ¡°You had better start washing yourself.¡± Kara said with a small smile. ¡°Unless you want me to use Presence Hand to help you.¡±


    I coughed and rubbed the soap from my eyes and glared at her.


    ¡°Start. Scrubbing.¡± Kara said and used multiple Presence Hands to toss several sponges and a wash cloth at me.


    ¡°FINE.¡± I said angrily and took off my belt and tossed it at her. She caught it easily and gently placed my weapon on the counter. It had gotten covered in soap; but, since I had made it without any external switches or knobs, it was mostly waterproof. I''d have to check it later and make sure.


    I stared at her face and she stared back at me as I took off my robes and I let them drop to the floor of the shower. I had been sorely tempted to throw them at her to cover her in soap as well; but, I didn''t want her to think that she was getting to me. To my surprise, she bent down and picked them up to get them out of the way.


    ¡°Hurry up and give me the rest.¡± Kara said, and I squinted my eyes at her. ¡°Unless you want to shower with your clothes on?¡±


    I sighed and quickly pulled off my long sleeved t-shirt and handed it to her. She took it and didn''t bat an eye as I pulled off both my pants and underwear in one motion and gave her those as well.


    ¡°Soap time.¡± Kara said and reached for the button. I closed my eyes and mouth and felt the spray cover me again. I bent down and picked up one of the sponges she had thrown at me and started to scrub. I was using my Detect Presence technique, as I always did, because I had learned a long time ago that I could still ''see'' without using my eyes. I didn''t turn my head to look at her, since that would give away that I could still see her, and I watched her watching me.


    It''s too bad I can''t read minds like Lashina does. I thought when I concentrated on Kara''s face. Is she a pervert or something? She''s just standing there and staring at me.


    I saw her startle slightly, then she grabbed my weapon belt and turned and left the bathroom.


    That was a little weird. I thought and kept washing myself. I wonder what she''s going to make me do next?


    I finished my shower and dried off with a towel, and left the bathroom.


    ¡°You took your time.¡± Kara said with a huff.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°I had twice as much soap to wash off for some reason.¡± I said.


    Kara ignored me and pointed to the bed. ¡°Put those on.¡±


    I held in my sigh as I looked at the standard apprentice outfit and robes.


    ¡°Hurry up! I don''t have all day to waste on you, you know!¡±


    I didn''t bother holding in my sigh this time as I turned away from her and put on the underwear, tight pants, and long sleeved t-shirt. I picked up the robes and slipped them on, and felt the extra weight. I checked the small storage pack and saw that it had all of the little things I had kept in my old robes. I turned to look at her and she held out my belt and weapon. They were both clean and dry, so I tied the belt around my waist and made sure the weapon was in just the right position for a quick draw.


    ¡°Sit.¡± Kara said and pointed to a chair. I did as she said and sat down, then my head was covered in a soft towel and she rubbed my head for several minutes. I wasn''t sure what she was doing, since I normally just let my hair dry on its own. I was about to ask her when the towel was removed and then I felt something go through my hair.


    ¡°What are you...¡±


    ¡°Shush!¡± Kara barked at me, and I closed my mouth.


    I closed my eyes and let her do what she wanted. What I didn''t know at the time was that she was indulging in one of her fantasies about brushing someone''s long hair and grooming them. She kept her own hair at shoulder length because it was easier to take care of; but, ever since she was a little girl, she had always wanted to do it or have it done to her. It took me years to find all that out, though. When she had done it that first time and I hadn''t protested or made a fuss about it, it paved the way for her to do it... every single time I had a shower.


    When she was done, my hair had been styled and tied up into a long ponytail. I thought about turning to her and yanking the tie out to spite her, then I saw her face. She wasn''t smiling or anything obvious like that. If I had to describe it, it was a contented look with not a trace of smugness in it.


    ¡°Now you look like a proper apprentice.¡± Kara said and walked over to one of the closets in her huge bedroom and opened it. ¡°These are your robes and outfits.¡± She said. ¡°You will have them cleaned and maintained once a week.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry. There are eight sets.¡± She said. ¡°One to wear while the others are cleaned.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t going to comment on that.¡± I said. ¡°Robes are free. I just go and get a new set when one wears out.¡±


    Kara chuckled. ¡°Oh, Ullir. I have much to teach you.¡± She said. ¡°You will do this to lessen the workload of others that used to do it for you.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to take their jobs from them.¡± I tried to argue, and she laughed.


    ¡°There''s nothing wrong with doing manual labour and getting your hands dirty.¡± Kara said. ¡°In fact, do you remember your suggestions for punishments?¡±


    ¡°Oh, great.¡± I groaned.


    ¡°We have an appointment in the greenhouse to...¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°We''re not qualified to harvest food.¡±


    ¡°You''re right. We don''t have any experience.¡± Kara said and walked over to the bedroom door. ¡°Guess what we are going to get over the next three hours?¡±


    ¡°Extremely dirty?¡± I asked, and she grinned.


    ¡°Among other things.¡±


    ¡°I just had a shower.¡± I said.


    ¡°And you''ll have another when we''re done.¡± Kara said. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    ¡°Do I have to?¡±


    ¡°No, Ullir. You don''t have to do anything.¡± Kara said. ¡°I just hoped that you would want to learn something from a Master for once, instead of trying to figure things out on your own.¡±


    I opened my mouth to say that I didn''t need her to teach me, then I realized that I did. She was right, and I hated to admit that, so I didn''t and kept my mouth shut. She smiled at me and then led me from her apartment and the building to go to the greenhouse to play in the dirt.


    I had expected Kara to work me like a dog and what she did instead was give me a fundamental lesson in the use of Presence. It wasn''t a ground-breaking or a mind blowing lesson; but, it did open my eyes a bit more to the subtleties that were possible with the use of Presence.


    You can''t just pour Presence into a seed and have it sprout and grow instantly into a plant, since all that would do is kill the plant. It can''t grow like that without food and water. However, you could enhance the plant to accept more food and water and help it grow as its needs are met. It still wouldn''t grow instantly; but, it would grow two to three times faster than normal if you could dedicate the time to do it. Which was what the Presence users in the greenhouse did every day.


    I had passed by the building thousands of times and hadn''t even considered that there were people using Presence for something like growing food. Of course, I was still only twelve and I didn''t have a lot of concerns past what I wanted to do each day. I chuckled mentally. Even in my past life, I was only eighteen and pretty much did the same thing. I wasn''t really concerned with the future and just tried to get through the day.


    I no longer had that luxury.


    I glanced at the pink haired young woman next to me as she discussed with one of the workers the best times to apply Presence to her favorite flowers. Despite my attempts to be a complete hellion to the rest of The Order, she had ignored it all and chased me down to punish me anyway.


    I listened to her talk and watched as she used a hand to swipe her pink hair back behind her slightly pointed ear, and my eyes were drawn to it. Since the only other woman I had seen with ears like that was my mother, I couldn''t help but compare the two.


    My mother had been really tall, had long golden blonde hair, and sculpted cheekbones. Kara was about six inches shorter, had shoulder length pink hair, it was natural as far as I could tell, and she had similar cheekbones. She had a bit more plump to her cheeks, which gave her face a more rounded look. Almost as if she felt me thinking about her, she turned her head and looked at me.


    ¡°Is something wrong, Apprentice Ullir?¡± Kara asked. ¡°Are we boring you?¡±


    ¡°Not at all, Kara.¡± I said. I saw a flash of annoyance on her face because I hadn''t called her ''master''.


    ¡°Then what were we talking about?¡± Kara smiled, because she suspected I hadn''t been listening.


    ¡°You wanted to know if you could cross-breed your favorite annual flower with a perennial to try and have it bloom more than once a year.¡± I said, and her eyes widened slightly in surprise.


    ¡°Wh-what did we decide?¡±


    ¡°That it would only work if you want to lose the aesthetic of your favorite plant.¡± I said. ¡°If you cross-breed, even with one of a similar color and structure, it will no longer be the same plant.¡±


    ¡°So, am I going to try it?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°You''re going to make me try it.¡±


    The greenhouse worker chuckled. ¡°Ha ha, Kara! He knows you well!¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to respond that I didn''t, then she remembered that I had said the same thing when she came and got me from my punishment room.


    ¡°We''ll need some supplies and appropriate pots for the experiments.¡± Kara said instead.


    ¡°I''ve got everything you need right over there.¡± The worker said and pointed. ¡°Give me a few minutes to gather everything for you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Kara said, and we waited as the worker got the things we needed, then we left the greenhouse and went back to the apartment. After she decided the best window to set everything up in front of, we put everything there just as the sun set.


    ¡°I guess we can finish this in the morning.¡± I said as darkness fell.


    ¡°I''m taking a shower.¡± Kara said and walked over to the bathroom and hung up her robes. ¡°Don''t you dare try to sneak a peek at me.¡±


    I put my hand up in the air with the palm towards her. ¡°I swear to god that I will stand on this spot and not move or step into the bathroom to look at your luscious naked body while you wash yourself.¡±


    Kara caught her breath, because I had sworn such a strong oath for such a simple thing. ¡°G-good.¡± She said, quite flustered, then she shut the door.


    I smiled, because she didn''t realize that the shower was well within my Detect Presence range and I could clearly see her through the wall that separated us. She took off the rest of her outfit and stepped into the shower. I watched her efficiently clean herself and step back out and dried off, then I saw her hesitate.


    ¡°Ullir? Are you still there?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Kara.¡±


    ¡°Close your eyes, please.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I said and closed my eyes, since I didn''t need them to see anyway, and put my hands over them as well. ¡°I''ve covered them, too.¡±


    The bathroom door opened and she peeked out to look at me and saw that I really was doing that, and she held the small towel in front of herself and ran to her closet. She grabbed her sleeping outfit and ran back to the bathroom, and I was surprised that she didn''t have anything covering her backside. She got changed quickly and stepped out of the bathroom, and put her dirty clothes in a pile beside the closet.


    ¡°You can uncover your eyes.¡± Kara said.


    I did so and saw with my own eyes that she wore a set of loose silky green pyjamas that hid her figure almost completely. Her normal every day outfit was super-tight in comparison and showed off her body a lot more. I kept that thought to myself, though. Now that the way was clear, I walked over to the bathroom to take my own shower. We really had gotten dirty while working in the greenhouse.


    ¡°Ullir.¡± Kara said to get my attention and I turned to look at her. ¡°Aren''t you going to say anything?¡± She asked, and turned her upper torso slightly from side to side as she clasped her hands in front of herself.


    ¡°About what?¡± I asked, clearly ignoring her attempt to garner a compliment from me.


    ¡°N-never mind!¡± Kara gasped and turned away from me. ¡°H-hurry up and clean yourself!¡±


    I held in my laugh and shut the door, then quickly got a shower and dried off. I stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my waist and reached for a clean outfit and a set of robes from my closet.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Getting dressed.¡± I said.


    ¡°Your bed clothes are in the bottom drawer.¡±


    ¡°I can''t change into them until I go back to my room to get ready for bed.¡± I said.


    Kara smiled. ¡°Which is now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°This is your room now.¡± Kara said. ¡°I had all of your things brought over already.¡±


    ¡°You had no right to...¡±


    ¡°You are my apprentice and you will do what I say.¡± Kara said. ¡°I am taking you firmly in hand and will train you as all good masters should.¡±


    ¡°As a slave?¡± I asked, half-jokingly and smiled.


    ¡°No, as a partner.¡± Kara said and climbed into bed. ¡°From now on, we will share everything as all good partners should.¡±


    ¡°E-e-everything?¡± I asked, a little stunned.


    ¡°Get changed and come here.¡± Kara said and pat the bed.


    ¡°I am not sleeping in the same bed with you.¡±


    ¡°There''s no other bed here and there''s no room for you to bring one in.¡± Kara said with a satisfied look on her face. ¡°It''s either this or the floor.¡±


    ¡°Can I at least have a blanket if...¡±


    ¡°No, you will not sleep on the floor.¡± Kara said, sternly. ¡°It''s a big bed. There''s no harm in sharing it.¡±


    I opened my mouth to protest, and her hand glowed for a moment and my mouth clamped shut. ¡°Muh mere.¡±


    Kara chuckled. ¡°I know it''s not fair.¡± She said. ¡°But, you are only twelve and not fully grown yet. You will have to wait until you are of age if you want people to respect you and your decisions.¡±


    I frowned at her, and she pulled the blanket down to show there was a lot of room between her and what would be my side of the bed. I sighed and put the outfit and robes back and grabbed a set of blue pyjamas from the drawer. The pressure on my jaw disappeared and I walked over to the bed and climbed in.


    ¡°There. Was that so hard?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I haven''t been in bed with a woman since my guardian was forced to abandon me.¡± I said, and she caught her breath.


    ¡°Ullir, I... I''m sorry.¡± Kara said and her hand touched my head. ¡°Ew! Your hair''s still wet!¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh, I forgot.¡± I said, and she huffed and asked me to sit up. She flipped over my pillow and went to the bathroom to get another towel, then climbed back into bed and dried my hair. She only brushed it a few times and sighed.


    ¡°I''ll have to wait until morning to give it the attention it deserves.¡± Kara said sadly, put the brush down and laid down. ¡°Goodnight.¡± She said and turned onto her side to face away from me.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I responded automatically, laid down on my back and just stared up at the ceiling.


    It was our first night in bed together, and neither of us slept a wink.

 Book One: The Presence 016

    I got up in the morning and went to the closet to get changed. I had slept for only brief moments all night, so I was tired and cranky, and didn''t say ''good morning'' when Kara rolled out of bed. She looked as bleary-eyed as I was, and I don''t think she saw it as a good morning, either. She didn''t say a word as she stood beside me and changed her clothes. Her embarrassment about being nude in front of me the night before had either evaporated or she just ignored it, because she pulled off her pyjamas without even glancing at me and I saw her bare breasts.


    Let me get a couple of things straight. They were not the first breasts I had seen on a woman. Not counting the couple of times from my previous life, I had seen my mother Aida topless countless times, and all I saw was her inherent beauty and appreciated the delicate forms. She had raised me and my brain had firmly and automatically put her into a separate category from other women called ''you can''t''.


    My guardian Emari on the other hand, whom I had seen completely naked more times than I could count... both inside the shower and out... had been put into the ''you shouldn''t but maybe'' category. She had taken care of me after I was kidnapped; but, she wasn''t related and she was quite pretty. She also had a great body and her casual nakedness had definitely awoken something within me. I would always appreciate her for that. I had been too young physically to do anything about it, though.


    Kara Moor was a whole separate issue and I couldn''t help but look at her and see her as a woman. A quite beautiful and voluptuous woman, in fact. By this point in my second life, I was mentally thirty years old. I was still immature for that age and physically hadn''t entered puberty yet; but, seeing her bare breasts being set free and so close, started to stir things within me.


    My eyes kept drifting down to stare at her jiggling mounds, and surprisingly, she put on her pants first and gave me a spectacular view of her chest as she bent down to pull them on. I actually felt a pang of disappointment when she pulled her long sleeved t-shirt on and covered them.


    ¡°Don''t just stand there!¡± Kara snapped and I looked at her face. She wasn''t looking at me as she grabbed a set of master robes from her closet. ¡°Get your things ready and put on your belt and weapon.¡±


    ¡°R-right.¡± I said and transferred the few things I had tucked in my old robes into the clean ones, and tossed the dirty ones onto the pile with hers. I tied on my belt with the weapon, and used a small flow of Presence to check it. No water or soap had gotten inside and I relaxed.


    ¡°Come along.¡± Kara said, fully dressed and walked over to the bedroom door, and I followed closely behind her.


    ¡°What are...¡±


    ¡°I have council business to deal with.¡± Kara said, almost angrily.


    ¡°Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.¡± I commented, which had been an old saying for someone being grumpy back on Earth.


    Kara immediately stopped walking and turned to stare at me with wide eyes. I had almost walked into her and had stopped just in time. She was about eight inches or so taller than me, so I could clearly see the surprise on her face. I wasn''t sure what else to do, so I stared right back at her. After a few moments, she took a quick breath and closed her eyes.


    ¡°Yes, I did.¡± Kara admitted with a slight blush and turned around, opened the bedroom door, and started walking across the apartment. ¡°As my apprentice, you will stay by my side at all times, unless I send you to do a task for me. At that point you will have my permission to leave my side for a short... I repeat short... amount of time to complete that task.¡±


    I followed her out of the apartment and down the hallway. ¡°What if...¡±


    ¡°You will return to me and inform me if the task will take longer, then I will decide if you can leave for longer.¡±


    ¡°So, you''re going to try and keep me on a short leash.¡± I said.


    ¡°You are my apprentice, Ullir. How can I teach you what I know if you don''t stay by my side as much as possible?¡± Kara asked. When I didn''t answer, she continued. ¡°Unless you are with me all the time, you might miss some little bit of information that could change your life, or save it, or help you save others.¡± She said. ¡°Wouldn''t that be tragic?¡±


    ¡°It''s feeling kind of tragic now, so yes.¡± I said.


    Kara stopped walking and turned to look at me. I had learned from the last time and had made a small buffer between us made of Presence, and I stopped walking when she did.


    ¡°Ullir, my only intention is to help you become the best person you can be.¡± Kara said. ¡°My goal is to mold and shape you into...¡±


    ¡°No, thanks.¡± I interrupted her.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°Look. I''ll learn everything I can from you, since I know you know a lot more about everything than I do; but, I am not going to be brainwashed into becoming a flunky for The Order.¡± I said. ¡°So, you can get that thought out of your head right now.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to say something, then she frowned and turned around. When she walked away, she whispered. ¡°I thought you said you knew me.¡±


    I didn''t have a good response for that, so I stayed quiet. I followed her all the way to the council chamber and she paused before the large stone doors.


    ¡°You will not speak unless spoken to.¡± Kara said as she turned to me. ¡°You are not to respond to any provocations, be it comments about you or about other council matters.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    Kara put her hands on my shoulders. ¡°Ullir, please.¡± She said, with a pleading tone in her voice. ¡°Do this for me. Keep your tongue still and don''t respond.¡±


    ¡°You''re not making this fun for me.¡± I said with an unhappy face.


    ¡°Sometimes we need to do... unpleasant things... in order to get the things that will make us happy.¡± Kara said. ¡°It could be taking an insult, or being the butt of a joke, or even having to deal with people you despise and need to treat them civilly.¡±


    I blinked my eyes at her. ¡°If I do this, what pleasant things will I get out of it?¡±


    ¡°Is satisfaction that they couldn''t bait you not enough?¡± Kara asked, and I shook my head. ¡°If you need something tangible, then I''ll grant you the lunch hour to leave my side so you can do what you want.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked, and she heard the happiness in my voice.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kara said. ¡°So, keep your word about staying quiet and I will keep my word that you will have lunchtime all to yourself.¡±


    ¡°It''s a deal.¡± I said and held my hand out for her to shake. She smiled slightly and took her hands from my shoulders and put her hand in mine. Instead of shaking it like I had intended, she intertwined her fingers in mine, gave my hand a squeeze, then let it go.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Remember. No talking unless spoken to directly.¡±


    I nodded, and she turned towards the large stone doors. The guards there opened both of them for us and we stepped inside.


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± The fluffy puff-ball alien said and covered its beady little eyes with an odd-shaped hand. ¡°The day had started out so well, and now this.¡±


    ¡°This must be some kind of joke.¡± The scaly alien said as he saw my apprentice robes. ¡°Ullir? An apprentice?¡± He looked at the other council members briefly while Kara took her seat and I stood behind her, then he looked right at me. ¡°Has our newest council member tamed our resident prankster so soon?¡±


    I leaned forward and whispered in Kara''s ear. ¡°Does that count as being talked to directly?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Dammit.¡± I whispered, and she covered her mouth to hide her smile.


    ¡°Now that we are all here, shall we start today''s agenda?¡± One of the other council members asked, and everyone nodded assent. ¡°First off, we''ve had a logistics problem with...¡±


    Needless to say, I was bored out of my mind. I stood there for three hours while they discussed everything from new troop transports for the guards to replacing the flickering lights in an arboretum on the far side of the compound. I was more than thankful that I had learned to reinforce my body with Presence years ago. I covered myself in a solid layer of it, then relaxed and let it support me the entire time.


    I successfully ignored all the barbs, verbal jabs, and jokes made at random times during the proceedings. When the meeting finally came to a close, I changed the Presence I had used to brace myself from a solid state back into energy, then waited patiently for Kara to keep her word.


    ¡°I believe I''ll have lunch in the arboretum and inspect those lights for myself.¡± Kara said and turned to me. ¡°Ullir, you are free to go.¡±


    I gave her a slight bow, then strode over to the large stone doors.


    ¡°Meet me at the training grounds after lunch.¡± Kara said.


    I gave her a small wave of acknowledgement and as soon as I stepped outside the council chamber, immediately activated the Presence Run technique and disappeared from everyone''s sight. I only had an hour to set up the pranks I intended to use to get back at the council members that had made jokes about me that morning.


    I wonder what that fluffy puff-ball alien is going to look like bald? I asked myself and laughed as I headed to his personal apartment to set everything up. This is going to be so good!


    The people I passed didn''t see me at all and only heard a faint mad laughter.


    *


    Kara met up with her old Guardian and they went to the arboretum together to have lunch and discuss things. Despite everything her guardian had told her and tried to warn her about, she knew in her heart that Ullir was a good person. All he needed was someone to guide him and show him that people did care about him. Their conversation turned more serious when they finished eating.


    ¡°I don''t believe you''re thinking rationally, Kara. He hates The Order.¡± Emelle said. ¡°He''s twelve now, almost thirteen, and he was only four when his rogue parents were killed.¡± She said and touched Kara''s arm. ¡°Unlike what a lot of other people say about him being too young to remember such a horrible incident, I think he''s much smarter than everyone gives him credit for.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°I''m telling you that he remembers everything that happened.¡± Emelle said. ¡°Not just that they died, but how they did and that they had been hunted down and executed.¡±


    Kara chuckled. ¡°Emelle, I can''t remember what I did at four years old! Do you?¡±


    Emelle sighed and didn''t speak for a moment. ¡°Kara, he''s not like any child I''ve ever seen.¡±


    ¡°I have to admit that he is powerful...¡±


    ¡°That''s not what I mean.¡± Emelle said. ¡°I''ve done a lot of research on him and I''ve talked to a lot of people. All of them... not some, all... have said that he seems to have knowledge and experience of someone much older.¡±


    ¡°You''ve been spending time with that crazy pixie Lashina, haven''t you?¡± Kara said, and Emelle nodded. ¡°I admit that he does had something in those eyes when he looks at me a certain way.¡±


    ¡°Kara...¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what quirk of genetics he has that he can look like he has sapphire blue eyes in one moment, then he turns his head slightly and they shimmer to emerald green.¡± Kara said, almost dreamily. ¡°They are quite enchanting, and...¡± She stopped talking and looked at her old guardian, who had surprise on her face.


    ¡°You''re in love with him.¡± Emelle said.


    ¡°I am not!¡± Kara exclaimed and stood. ¡°I won''t sit here and listen to my dear friend spout nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Kara, wait!¡± Enelle tried to call her back; but, her old charge ignored her and walked away.


    I can''t believe her! Kara thought in exasperation as she walked across the compound to go to the training grounds. Imagine that! Me being in love with my prince! She stopped walking and caught her breath at her mental slip up. I meant Ullir. She corrected and took several deep breaths and then kept walking.  I''m not in love with Ullir.


    *


    I finished setting up three very elaborate traps for the worst offenders from the council meeting, and checked the time on my datapad. I smiled because I had just enough time to get to the training ground before lunch hour was over.


    I hope Kara doesn''t ask me what I''ve been doing. I thought to myself and let my smile become a grin. I let the grin fade as I approached the training grounds and saw Kara was waiting for me.


    ¡°Let''s begin.¡± Kara said and walked over to one of the buildings used for practice fights. I followed her inside and over to the middle of one of the large circles marked on the floor. ¡°Take off your robes.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°Until you get more practice controlling Presence, they will only flop around and get in your way.¡± Kara said.


    I just looked at her with raised eyebrows, and she sighed.


    ¡°You can leave them on if you want to.¡± Kara said. ¡°You''ll be down a set of robes and will need to get them replaced when we''re done.¡±


    I didn''t say anything, so she shrugged and unhooked her weapon from her belt and played with the knobs, pulled a lever, then hit the switch. I was surprised when instead of the three inch wide blade of a normal Light Sword, it was only half an inch wide. It was still three feet long and hummed, though.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± I asked, and she smiled.


    ¡°Did you really think that the simple basic components they let a student have would be all that there is to constructing a Light sword?¡± Kara asked. ¡°As long as you''re careful, they can be modified both before and after construction.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± I asked, genuinely curious. ¡°I mean, I wrote a paper on Light swords and the fundamentals of Presence use in conjunction with...¡±


    ¡°We can discuss things later.¡± Kara said and cut me off. ¡°Draw your sword.¡±


    ¡°Just so you know, I was the best duelist using practice swords.¡± I warned her as I activated my Light sword.


    ¡°Oh, Ullir.¡± Kara chuckled and gathered Presence around herself. ¡°The differences between a practice fight and a real fight are like the differences between night and day.¡± She said. ¡°Are you ready for me to show you some of those differences?¡±


    I gathered Presence around myself and smiled as I took a sword-fighting stance. ¡°I was born ready.¡±


    *


    That made Kara think about Emelle''s words about him being older than his body appeared, and she smiled. Even if he is older than he looks, he still has a lot to learn. She thought, took her own fighting stance that was very different than Ullir''s, then she dashed in close with her sword on a downward arc. As she had predicted, he turned his sword to cross his body to protect himself, so she put a hand on his belly and used Presence Hand to push.


    Ullur made a satisfying grunt sound and took a step back, then he bat her sword aside and swung his own in a classic horizontal line in an attempt to push Kara back. Normally that would work, except she had been expecting it and ducked forwards instead to put herself within his swing radius. His eyes widened as she made a fist and drove an uppercut into the bottom of his chin.


    Ullir''s head snapped back briefly and she turned around and slid her hand down his arm as if caressing it. Before he knew it, he had been flipped head over heels and landed on his back, his Light sword had been claimed, and Kara''s Light sword was an inch away from his neck.


    ¡°Oh, look. You''re dead.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°That was dirty.¡± Ullir said. ¡°We''re supposed to be sword fighting.¡±


    Kara laughed and moved her sword so he could sit up. ¡°Ullir, there''s no such thing.¡± She said and held his sword out to him.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ullir asked and stood up, then took his sword back.


    ¡°We are not, nor do we ever, have sword fights.¡± Kara said. ¡°What we do is fight using swords.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°No, that''s not the same thing.¡± Kara said. ¡°Fighting includes hand-to-hand combat, laser pistols or rifles, and Light swords.¡± She explained. ¡°None of those are mutually exclusive and it doesn''t stop anyone from using any other method.¡±


    Ullir stood there and stared at her as that realization sunk it. ¡°There''s no set rules for combat?¡±


    ¡°I believe you''re starting to understand.¡± Kara said. ¡°We can use any means that are necessary to defeat our opponents. Fists, swords, guns, and even Presence.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Ullir, it''s not like people can meet before a fight and discuss what forms they will fight in.¡± Kara said. ¡°When you go into a fight, you need to expect that everything can and will be used against you.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Ullir blinked his eyes for a few moments, and then he smiled. ¡°Okay, I get it.¡±


    ¡°I hope so, because I''m going to attack again.¡± Kara said and took a different fighting stance.


    ¡°I wouldn''t have it any other way.¡± Ullir said and changed his stance as well.


    Both of them smiled at each other and lunged.

 Book One: The Presence 017

    I was so surprised that Kara was kicking my ass as we fought. She had already punched me a bunch of times and added in kicks for good measure. I had a hard time trying to predict her next move, even using Presence, because her flow of Presence didn''t change when her tactics did.


    Kara swung her sword at my head and I leaned back to avoid it, used Presence to brace myself and created a box of energy to lean on, then kicked out with both feet. My unorthodox attack completely threw her off balance and she grunted as one of my feet connected with her stomach.


    There! I thought as her guard dropped and gave me an opening. I swung my sword towards her hand to disable her Light sword and she let it drop to the floor and held her hand out as she used Presence Hand to catch my Light sword.


    ¡°Surprise.¡± Kara said and used her free hand to make another Presence Hand and pushed. I flipped backwards off of my solid energy box and landed on the floor. She started to lunge for me again, then her legs impacted my invisible energy box and she tripped over it and fell on top of me. Fortunately, we both had our swords out to strike and not in close to defend, so neither of us were hurt by them. That didn''t mean we didn''t get hurt, however.


    ¡°Ooowwww.¡± Kara moaned in pain as she rolled off of me and deactivated her Light sword. We had bumped foreheads and her legs had hit the box of solid energy pretty hard. I sat up as I deactivated my own Light sword and turned to check her. My own slight injuries completely forgotten.


    ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Kara said and touched her forehead. ¡°That really hurt.¡±


    ¡°Well, everyone tells me that I have a hard head.¡± I joked.


    ¡°You really do.¡± Kara chuckled and then moaned in pain again. I put a hand over her forehead and she looked at me. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Shh.¡± I said and closed my eyes as I eased a little bit of Presence into her forehead where a small bump was starting to form. ¡°No concussion or blood pooling.¡± I said and moved my hand out of the way. ¡°I need to check your legs.¡±


    ¡°I''m fine.¡± Kara said and tried to sit up, and I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.


    ¡°If you''ve broken anything, you could hurt yourself more if you try to move.¡± I said and she laid back down.


    ¡°What did I hit, anyway?¡± Kara asked as I lifted her robes to see the damage.


    ¡°One of my solid energy boxes.¡± I said as I absorbed it and then hovered my hand over her knees and legs. ¡°I don''t think anything''s damaged; but, you''re going to have some nice bruises tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Wait... did you say solid energy boxes?¡± Kara asked. ¡°What are those?¡±


    ¡°It''s just something I discovered I could make when I was a kid.¡± I said absently and then I saw some blood start to seep through one of her beige pant legs. ¡°I was wrong. You are hurt.¡± I said and picked her up in a princess carry, with an arm behind her back and one under her knees.


    ¡°Ow! Wait! What are you doing?¡± Kara asked, a little frantically.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± I said and covered us in Presence as she put her arms around my neck. I took a deep breath and let the flow of Presence assist me in holding her steady, then I used the Presence Run ability and took off at full speed. Kara''s grip around my neck tightened as I ran from the building and avoided colliding with several people, just barely missed a troop transport as it landed, then I ran all the way over to the medical bay.


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡± The droid behind the desk asked when I stopped in front of it.


    ¡°Multiple contusions from an energy-based impact on the knees and shins, with a secondary impact on the front cranium.¡± I said. ¡°Possible soreness and general damage from a fight, and also falling onto a hard surface with a mitigating obstacle in between.¡±


    The droid looked at my face and then at Kara''s. If droids had the ability to smile, this one would have done it. ¡°You were the obstacle.¡± It asked, and I nodded. ¡°Right this way.¡± It said and rolled out from behind the desk and through a set of free-swinging double doors. I carried Kara and followed the droid through the doors and down a short hallway, then we entered an examination room.


    ¡°Put her on the table.¡± The droid said and its arms split as several different tools came out of them. ¡°Are you able to remove your clothing?¡± It asked Kara.


    ¡°Mostly.¡± Kara said and looked at me.


    ¡°I can wait outside.¡± I said, and she shook her head.


    ¡°I told you that you need to stay by my side unless I send you on a task.¡±


    ¡°You could...¡±


    ¡°Take off my clothes.¡± Kara ordered, and her face flushed a little red. I sighed in resignation and untied her belt with her weapon on it and tied it around my own waist, then I took off her robes and folded them before setting them on a nearby chair. I then took off her pants very carefully, and let the flow of Presence guide my hands to avoid the damage. Her eyes widened as she felt me do that, then she took a deep breath and held her arms up above her head.


    ¡°Your top, too?¡± I asked, and both she and the droid nodded. I grabbed the bottom edge and eased it up to her chest, then our eyes met. Kara looked very vulnerable, so I closed my eyes and let Presence guide my hands again. Since I had my Detect Presence ability active all the time, I could still see, and she visibly relaxed when I hadn''t tried to take advantage of the situation to stare at her chest.


    ¡°Step back, please.¡± The droid said, and I stepped back towards the wall to let it work and kept my eyes closed. Kara winced as the droid injected her with something to numb her legs, and then she sighed in relief.


    I thought she was hamming it up to get sympathy from me; but, she really is in pain. I thought in surprise. I didn''t say anything as the droid tended to her knee and shin wounds, one of which was quite a deep gash. The droid picked up a thick pad with some glowing blue liquid in it, applied it to the wound and wrapped a bandage around it.


    ¡°Make sure you leave that on for at least twelve hours to let the wound close over and heal.¡± The droid said, then it checked Kara over and found all of the budding bruises that had started to form all over her body. It applied antiseptic gel on all of the spots. ¡°You need some bed rest and you are to relax.¡± It said. ¡°No exercising for a day. No work for two days. No fighting for three days.¡±


    There was a beeping sound and the droid changed needles.


    ¡°The council has been notified of the situation.¡± The droid said. ¡°A mild sedative has been approved to help you sleep.¡± It said and poked Kara''s arm with the needle.


    ¡°Hey, I... I didn''t... want... hee hee.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°Appropriate reaction to anaesthetic and sedative combination confirmed.¡± The droid said and turned to me. ¡°Help her dress and take her home.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°You can open your eyes. I have covered her mammary glands with a cloth.¡±


    I opened my eyes and held in my sigh as the small cloth barely covered Kara''s nipples.


    ¡°Dress me!¡± Kara said and giggled as she lifted her arms over her head. I slipped her top on fairly easily, even with having to pull it down over her fairly large chest and move the cloth out of the way at the same time. She put her arms around my neck and pulled me in close.


    ¡°You''re so handsome.¡± Kara said and giggled again.


    ¡°I... ah... need to put on your pants.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha! I''m not wearing pants!¡± Kara let my neck go and looked down at her bare legs. ¡°Hey!¡± She exclaimed and pointed to the med-pack on her shin. ¡°I have a boo boo!¡±


    ¡°Yes, you do.¡± I said and eased her pants on. I was grateful that they were super-stretchy, because they slid up and over the bulky pack easily. I helped her sit up to put her robes on her, and she hugged me tightly.


    ¡°You''re so sweet!¡± Kara exclaimed and then giggled. ¡°You''re also really bad.¡± She said and let me go as I set the robes over her shoulders. ¡°No one likes you very much.¡±


    ¡°That was the point.¡± I said and didn''t bother giving her her belt back and kept it on my waist.


    ¡°What? Don''t joke!¡± Kara said and took my hand. ¡°You just need to stop tricking people and they''ll like you more.¡±


    ¡°I do that so they won''t like me.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Kara said and looked at me with one wide eye and one squinted eye. ¡°I''m glad I''m not like them, then.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°I really like you, silly.¡± Kara said and let my hand go, then she opened her arms. ¡°Carry me, my prince!¡±


    ¡°I can just get a...¡±


    ¡°Carry. Me.¡± Kara said sternly and squinted both eyes at me this time. I sighed and picked her up in a princess carry, and she held on tightly to me and snuggled her head into my neck.


    ¡°If she needs more sedative to help with sleeping it off, give her this.¡± The droid said and handed me a small vial. I didn''t have a hand free, so it dropped it into the pocket of my robes. ¡°Only a few drops for each hour, or the whole vial for twelve full hours.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said.


    ¡°You are welcome.¡± The droid said. ¡°Have a nice day.¡±


    I carried Kara out of the medical bay and covered us in Presence, then used it to push both the light and sound of us away and into the ground. It was an advanced Stealth technique and I probably shouldn''t be using it in such a fashion; but, who was going to complain about it if they couldn''t see me doing it?


    I chuckled at that thought and Kara moaned a little. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Like my dreams have come true, my prince.¡± Kara said. She had her eyes closed and still had her head tucked into my neck.


    ¡°Don''t get me confused with your dreams, Kara.¡± I cautioned her. ¡°It won''t end well.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense.¡± Kara said and gave my neck a kiss. ¡°A princess needs her prince.¡±


    I rolled my eyes at her spouting nonsense and took her back to her apartment and laid her down on the bed, then I gently pulled her arms apart to free myself from her grip around my neck.


    ¡°N-no... don''t... don''t go.¡± Kara said, her eyes half-closed.


    ¡°I just need to get you changed for bed.¡±


    ¡°Bed!¡± Kara''s eyes opened wide and looked at me. ¡°Yes, bed!¡±


    I quickly took off her robes and set them aside, then took off her pants.


    ¡°My top, too.¡± Kara said and tried to raise her arms. They got about halfway and flopped back down. ¡°Tired.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you''re very sleepy.¡± I said and eased her top up and was about to unveil her chest when her hand shot out and slapped my face.


    ¡°Don''t look!¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I said and closed my eyes.


    ¡°That''s better.¡± Kara said and I took her top off the rest of the way, then her hand reached up and gently stroked the spot on my face that she had slapped. ¡°I didn''t hurt you, did I?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said right away.


    ¡°Thank the Goddess.¡± Kara said and sighed. ¡°She finally granted my wish, and the last thing I want to do is hurt my prince.¡±


    I held in my chuckle at her delusion and grabbed her pyjamas, still with my eyes closed, then quickly dressed her. Once she was covered I opened my eyes and I saw that she had watched me the whole time and she gave me a huge warm smile. I got her settled under the blanket and she closed her eyes.


    ¡°Kara.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°Why do you keep calling me your prince?¡±


    ¡°Because you''re my prince.¡± Kara said. ¡°I''ve been looking for you... ever since I saw... that head of dirty blonde hair... years... ago.¡±


    ¡°But why?¡±


    ¡°I told you.¡± Kara said and let out a long breath of air. ¡°I''m a princess and you''re my prince.¡±


    ¡°What exactly are you going to do to your prince?¡±


    Kara giggled, still with her eyes closed. ¡°That''s not something... a lady is supposed... to say.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked.


    ¡°If he knew... how much I cared about him... and... and...¡±


    ¡°And what?¡±


    ¡°I want... what''s best for... foooo.¡± Kara sighed and fell asleep.


    Unable to guess what ''fooo'' meant, I got changed myself and climbed into bed, then made sure that I stayed on my side like I had the night before. I watched her for quite some time and I didn''t realize I had fallen asleep until I woke up the next morning... with Kara snuggled up to my chest and her head rested on my shoulder. Her face was completely peaceful as she slowly breathed in and out like only a truly sleeping person could achieve.


    I was tempted to shake her and complain about what she was doing, then changed my mind. It''s my fault she''s in this condition. I thought. The only one I can realistically be angry at is myself.


    So, with that resolved in my head, I relaxed and didn''t try to push her away.


    The doc-bot said she needed lots of rest, and since I can''t go anywhere with out her permission, I''m stuck here for as long as she is. I thought, then Kara stirred a little. I laid there and waited for an outburst from her, and instead she fumbled around and found my arm on that side and hugged it to herself like a blanket, despite already being under a blanket. She rubbed her face on my shoulder a little, then sighed in contentment.


    Now I was trapped and couldn''t get away, even if I tried to. I had no choice but to stay. So, I closed my eyes and used a mental technique to put myself into a partial meditative state and went back to sleep.


    *


    Kara woke up around noon and was surrounded by warmth. Her whole body tingled and she wallowed the flow of Presence from her prince. She always felt energized when near him, and she had vowed that she would always be by his side. She loved him very much and felt that they were destined to be together, and she would do anything to make it happen. She could never tell him that, though.


    Kara hugged his finely toned muscled arm to her chest as she turned onto her side, then tried to snuggle in close and bent her knees, which pulled on the healing wounds and hurt. A lot. She gasped in pain and opened her eyes, only to realize that it wasn''t a dream. She really had Ullir''s arm clutched to her chest and it was pressed tightly between her breasts. Her face burned from embarrassment and she let go of it immediately.


    Kara was about to yell and holler at him for taking advantage of her, then she noticed that he was asleep and that she was on his side of the bed. That made her think about Ullir''s comment the day before about her waking up on the wrong side of the bed.


    I even told him that I did! Kara thought as her face went to an even deeper red, then she took stock of her injuries. With just a touch of Presence, she let it flow around her and found all of the damage she had suffered, from both the fight and her fall. He started out not doing well, since he hadn''t had any real practical experience with real fighting. After only a few minutes, he was actually defending and countering my attacks. She thought in surprise. He could be a really great fighter one day.


    Kara got lost in her thoughts for several minutes, then she realized that she was still on Ullir''s side of the bed and he hadn''t tried to rebuke her or push her away, or even stopped her from holding him.


    Maybe he... he might actually... Kara shook her head. No, that would be too much to ask so soon. She thought. I haven''t moulded him into a perfect man yet! She carefully put her arms back around his arm and hugged it to her chest again. I missed my opportunity the first time when you were taken away from me as a child, my prince. She thought, then her emotions became adamant. I won''t miss it this time!


    Kara indulged in her fantasy of him already being her perfect man and closed her eyes, then sighed contentedly and went back to sleep.


    *


    I was only in a meditative state while I slept, so I could keep a keen eye out for Kara and make sure she didn''t hurt herself by rolling around or something. What I hadn''t expected was her to wake up and let me go. I was about to ask her how she was, when she used Presence to check herself, then she took hold of my arm again and hugged it tightly as she went back to sleep.


    I thought about telling her that I wasn''t a teddy bear and she shouldn''t be holding me like that, then I thought about her actually wanting to hold onto me. Unlike the night before, where she was pretty much drugged up to her eyeballs and acted like she was drunk, she didn''t seem like that at all today.


    She is voluntarily pressing her chest against me, and it does feel really nice... and warm... and soft... I thought, then shook my head mentally. I can''t think like that. She''s trying to change me into a loyal Order member, and that is never going to happen!


    Unfortunately, I still couldn''t say anything to her, because it was my fault that she was hurt like she was. I held in my sigh and figured I could let her indulge in her prince fantasy for another little while. Neither of us were going anywhere for another day, at least, so I kept my eyes closed and went back into a meditative sleep.

 Book One: The Presence 018

    By late afternoon, I was pretty hungry, and Kara was still asleep. I looked down and saw that she only had one arm around mine and wasn''t holding on as tightly, so I carefully eased my arm over slightly and she didn''t react. I moved it a little more, then a bit more. I pulled it free and before her arm flopped down because it was no longer holding onto mine, I caught it and laid it gently down on the bed.


    ¡°Mmm.¡± Kara moaned and crossed her arms as if hugging something.


    I sighed mentally, because I had just escaped being caught again, and got out of bed. I changed silently, with the help of Presence containing and directing the sound away, and went to the kitchen. I had been making my own meals for quite a while now, and I had seen Emari do it for years, so I easily prepared a mix of both breakfast and lunch for two people. I wasn''t sure if she would want to eat; but, it was better to have something ready for her than it was to make her wait.


    I shook my head at that thought. Now I''m waiting on her and it''s my own idea! I chuckled very softly and walked back into the bedroom and set the tray of food beside the bed, then used a bit of Presence to check her over. I could feel that a lot of the damage was healing and relaxed. The only major injury was her shin, and thanks to the med-pack, that was almost healed as well.


    I sat down on the bed beside her and waited for almost twenty minutes, then I heard a distinct rumbling from Kara''s stomach. ¡°I guess I can wake you now and not feel guilty.¡± I said and reached over to comb her hair out of her face with my fingers. It revealed her face and that she was staring at me. ¡°Good afternoon, sleepy-head.¡±


    ¡°U-Ullir.¡± Kara said my name like it was a dirty word. ¡°What... where...¡±


    ¡°The what is you were hurt during our training yesterday and the med-bot gave you a sedative.¡± I said. ¡°The where is you were cuddled up to me all night on my side of the bed.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Kara gasped and tried to roll away. ¡°That was just a dream!¡±


    I caught her shoulder to stop her and held her still. ¡°Easy, now. You need to relax and not exert yourself.¡± I said. ¡°Med-bot orders, remember? No exercise for a day, no work for two days, and no fighting for three days.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡± Kara looked at me with slight panic in her eyes.


    ¡°I made food.¡± I said and pointed. Her stomach asked to be fed again and I chuckled. ¡°Look, your stomach agrees.¡±


    Kara was surprised when I picked up both pillows and motioned to her back. She sighed and sat up, and I put them behind her. She leaned back and it put her in a proper sitting position, so I turned and picked up the tray and placed it on her lap.


    ¡°I wasn''t sure if I should make breakfast or lunch for us, so I made a mixture of both.¡± I said and picked up a kind of bread roll and broke it in half, and Kara''s stomach growled greedily. I chuckled and used a knife to spread a green paste over it, then handed her the bread roll.


    ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± Kara asked as she stared at my eyes and took the offered roll.


    ¡°I was honestly asking myself that.¡± I said and pointed to the roll. ¡°Eat.¡±


    Kara didn''t stop staring at me as she raised the bun to her mouth and took a bite, and her eyes widened slightly at the taste. ¡°What is that?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what a lot of this stuff is.¡± I said and I saw the surprise on her face. ¡°It comes in unlabelled jars.¡±


    ¡°Ullir! This could be worm food or even animal droppings!¡± Kara exclaimed and looked at it with disgust.


    I laughed, and I missed her slight shiver. ¡°Kara, I doubt my old guardian would have fed me worm food.¡± I said and did my own bun and took a bite. ¡°If you can find me an animal that can poop this stuff out, I''ll show you a credit-making machine!¡±


    Kara snorted a laugh and I grinned at her.


    ¡°All I know for sure is that it tastes good, and that''s all that matters.¡± I said and finished my bun, then I poured some yellow syrup-like substance over a waffle-like cake. ¡°You have got to try this one.¡± I said and cut a piece off, speared it with a fork, and dipped it into the yellow syrup and held it out to her. ¡°Go on, try it.¡±


    ¡°I''ve had Gramul Cake before.¡± Kara said and leaned forward to take it in her mouth, and she put a hand over her mouth to stop her gasp.


    ¡°It''s good, right?¡± I asked, and she only nodded slightly as she chewed. I cut a piece off for myself and ate it. ¡°I think my guardian was a foodie... someone who enjoys the different flavors and textures of great tasting food.¡±


    Kara wasn''t sure what to say to that.


    ¡°I guess she kind of made me one, too.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Once a week she would treat me and share her favorite dessert.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What one was it?¡± Kara asked and looked at the various dishes on the tray.


    ¡°It''s a dessert. It wouldn''t be on the meal tray.¡±


    ¡°Will you be feeding me dessert after this?¡± Kara asked, and I could swear that she sounded eager.


    ¡°It depends on how much of this we can eat.¡± I said and motioned to the tray.


    ¡°Do we have to eat it all?¡± Kara asked, doubt in her voice.


    I chuckled. ¡°No. I wasn''t sure what you would like, so I made a bunch of things.¡±


    Kara almost sighed in relief. ¡°Okay, I''ll try everything and see what I like.¡±


    Kara and I ate quite a bit of the food on the tray, then she sat back and put a hand on her belly.


    ¡°I think I''m done.¡± Kara said. ¡°It was all good and I couldn''t decide what one was the best.¡± She put a hand on my arm and gave it a squeeze. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You haven''t had dessert yet.¡± I said.


    ¡°I don''t know if I can eat any more.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Oh, you''ll want to eat this.¡± I said and picked up the tray and left the bedroom. I quickly cleaned it off and prepared the special dessert that Emari enjoyed so much, put it on the clean tray, and went back into the bedroom.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Kara asked as I put the tray down in front of her.


    ¡°According to Emari, it''s enjoyment in solid form.¡± I said and put my hand on the top part. ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°I... don''t know.¡± Kara said.


    I grinned at her and lifted the top of the orange-like fruit and the smell of the creamy center flowed over her. Kara caught her breath at the delicious smell and she blinked her eyes several times before she managed to speak.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I''ve been buying them from a vendor for years and I still don''t know the name of it.¡± I said and dipped my finger into the cream. ¡°I doubt I could pronounce it, even if I did know.¡± I held my finger out to her. ¡°Try it.¡±


    ¡°Don''t you have a spoon or something?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°This is how you''re supposed to eat it.¡± I said. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Kara looked from my finger to my face. ¡°You''re not playing a joke on me, are you?¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°I swear to god I''m not.¡± I said, and she stared at my face for a moment, then leaned forward slightly and took as small of a lick as she could. I saw her face light up and her eyes widen as she swallowed, then she grabbed my hand with both of hers and gave my finger a real lick.


    Kara let the flavor fill her mouth and she closed her eyes as she swallowed. ¡°By the Goddess.¡± She whispered. ¡°Ullir, it''s... I''ve never...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Ullir said. ¡°I had the same reaction the first time Emari fed me it like this.¡±


    Kara still had a hold of my hand, so she leaned forward again. Instead of licking my finger, she slipped it into her mouth and sucked off the rest of the cream. Her whole body shivered at the large dose of the flavor, and she slowly slid my finger out and kept her lips closed as she did so.


    ¡°That''s so good.¡± Kara said and licked her lips. She took several deep breaths and dipped her own finger into it and scooped some out. She didn''t do what I thought she was going to do, though. She held it out to me instead. ¡°Your turn.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°You said we were sharing this food and that this is how you''re supposed to eat it.¡± Kara said. ¡°I know you didn''t lie and you said it wasn''t a joke.¡±


    ¡°It''s not, but...¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Kara said.


    I thought about saying no. If I did, she would probably get angry at me for not reciprocating. I held in my sigh and took a small lick.


    ¡°Don''t you like it, too?¡± Kara asked, a little confused.


    I did sigh this time and took her whole finger into my mouth like she did for mine, and she nodded slightly. When I started to suck on her finger, her face slowly turned red. She eased her hand back and pulled her finger from my mouth, and it was as clean of cream as mine had been.


    Neither of us said anything and just stared at each other for a full minute.


    ¡°Um... Ullir.¡± Kara managed to say through her embarrassment.


    ¡°Y-yes?¡± I asked, and my voice wavered slightly.


    ¡°I... I...¡±


    I expected her to tell me to take it away and reached for the tray.


    ¡°I''d like some more.¡± Kara said, her face still red.


    I raised my eyebrows slightly at her boldness and changed my reaching hand to dip my finger into the cream, then held it out for her. She didn''t bother trying to lick it this time and just put it into her mouth and sucked on it. After a moment, she dipped her finger into the cream and held it out to me. I couldn''t refuse, not with my finger still in her mouth, so I sucked on her finger, too. We repeated this several times, and by the time we had finished off the dessert, both of our faces were bright red.


    Neither of us said anything as I cleared away the dessert and offered her a cloth to wipe herself off. She cleaned off her finger and then wiped her mouth and handed it back. She watched as I deftly folded the cloth the other way to the clean side and did the same thing, then I took the tray and the empty dessert to the kitchen. When I came back to the bedroom, she had a hand on her knee below the blanket.


    ¡°Ullir...¡±


    ¡°The med-bot gave me something to help.¡± I said and took the vial out of my pocket. ¡°This will let you sleep.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Kara said, and I stepped close to the bed. ¡°How long?¡±


    ¡°Up to twelve hours.¡± I said, and she nodded as she took it and poured it all into her mouth. I felt her pull Presence to herself as she closed her eyes, and she folded her hands over her stomach as she used Presence hand to move one of the pillows out of the way. I quickly turned the other one for her to lay her head on.


    ¡°U-Ullir.¡± Kara mumbled.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°S-stay... w-with... foooo.¡± Kara let out a long breath of air and fell asleep.


    ¡°Well, I guess I''m not going anywhere.¡± I whispered with a chuckle, created a box of energy and made it solid with Presence, sat on it in the lotus position, and entered a meditative state to practice some mental techniques and kept an eye on her.


    Kara didn''t wake up after twelve hours, and since it was the middle of the night, I figured she was actually asleep without the help of the drugs. A quick check with some Presence confirmed my assumption, so I changed for bed and thought about climbing onto her side of the bed. There was a lot more room on that side; but, I knew if I did that, she would be angry that I had crossed onto her side and violated her private space.


    I chuckled mentally at that, because in her mind, it was okay for her to do that and not me. I climbed into bed on my side, and with her in the middle of the bed, it didn''t leave me a lot of room. I made do with what I had and once again, entered a meditative state and went into a light sleep, in case she needed me for something.


    She didn''t.


    Kara woke up the next morning and as far as I could tell, she felt great. She took off the med-pack from her shin and saw the gash was gone and relaxed. She asked for breakfast, so I made it for her and served it to her in bed. She tried to protest, so I reminded her that the med-bot told her to rest. It had only been a day, despite how long it felt, and she still had the day off of work.


    ¡°You''re not going to let me get out of bed, are you?¡± Kara asked me, and I shook my head.


    ¡°You just rest and take it easy. You can worry about things starting tomorrow when you have to go back to work with those idiots.¡±


    ¡°The council members are not idiots.¡± Kara said, sternly.


    ¡°We''ll have to agree to disagree on that.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t ignore the long history of their policies, all of the lives they''ve taken, and all of the families they''ve destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Ullir...¡±


    ¡°I''m not going to debate it against all the ''good'' they''ve done, because you are completely biased for them.¡±


    ¡°Why not? You''re completely biased against them.¡± Kara countered.


    ¡°Yeah, I am.¡± I said. ¡°Where are your parents?¡±


    ¡°They live on a lush green planet in the Ersatz sector.¡±


    ¡°Have you seen them lately?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Kara said. ¡°I''ve been too busy...¡±


    ¡°...working for The Order.¡± I finished for her. ¡°So, when was the last time you saw them? It''s been years, right?¡±


    Kara didn''t respond, and I chuckled.


    ¡°It doesn''t bother you at all to have left them behind? Do they message you? Do you message them? Is that even allowed?¡±


    Kara stayed quiet, and I sighed.


    ¡°Look, I hate to burst your bubble like this. The Order is not an organization that''s made with sunshine and rainbows. It''s made from blood and death and on the backs of innocent people.¡±


    ¡°No, it isn''t.¡± Kara said and glared at me.


    ¡°You can deny their acts until you''re blue in the face, which will clash with your pink hair by the way; but, it won''t change the facts. Despite what you believe are good intentions, The Order does horrific things.¡±


    Kara closed her eyes to try and bring an end to our unpleasant conversation. ¡°I order you to never speak of this again.¡±


    ¡°That''s what every member of The Order says to everyone, and no one ever raises their voice against them... more than once.¡± I said. ¡°Then they are declared rogues and hunted down.¡±


    ¡°You have my permission to leave my side for the rest of the day.¡± Kara said and kept her eyes closed.


    ¡°All right, I''ll go.¡± I said and walked to the bedroom door. ¡°I already have lunch and dinner prepared. You only need to warm them up for a few seconds.¡±


    Kara nodded without looking at me, and I left the bedroom and then the apartment.


    With nothing else to do, I left the building and ran towards the East Forest Glade. I always felt better with all the Presence around me, and it enhanced my abilities past what I could normally do. I covered myself in Presence and ran as fast as I could and went back to my spot by the stream. I came to a stop and saw a cute pink pixie as she sat on my favorite rock.


    ¡°You know, you''ll never stay on her good side if you keep making her angry.¡± Lashina said and turned to face me.


    ¡°Even after tending to her for two days?¡± I asked, and she chuckled.


    ¡°Ullir.¡± Lashina jumped off of the rock and floated to the ground, then she strode over to me and barely touched the ground. ¡°Women like to be treated like queens.¡±


    Or princesses. I thought.


    ¡°Yes, like Princesses.¡± Lashina grinned at me and took my hand. ¡°I haven''t seen you in a while.¡±


    ¡°I''d like to say that was on purpose.¡± I said to make her laugh, and she did. ¡°I''m under orders to never leave Kara''s side, unless she orders me to do something for her.¡±


    ¡°Oh, poo.¡± Lashina said and lifted my hand to her face, then she pressed my palm to her forehead. ¡°Go ahead and check me.¡±


    ¡°Again?¡± I asked, and she nodded slightly. ¡°I don''t know why you keep asking me to do this.¡± I said and gathered Presence to my hand and then sent it into her. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths as my Presence flowed through her. ¡°I still can''t find anything wrong.¡±


    ¡°K-keep... checking.¡± Lashina said and didn''t let my hand go. ¡°Can you... use a little more?¡±


    ¡°We''re in the East Forest Glade.¡± I said. ¡°I can add a lot to it if you want.¡±


    ¡°Please.¡±


    I put my other hand on the side of her face and held it tenderly, then closed my own eyes and saw the flow of Presence without my eyes. I pulled a pile of it into myself and directed it to my hands, then eased it into her. She caught her breath as I used the pile of Presence I had gathered and checked all of her at once. Her whole body glowed as my Presence filled her and I saw her shiver.


    ¡°Are you okay? I''m not using too much, am I?¡±


    ¡°N-no, it... it''s perfect.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Just perfect.¡±


    ¡°I can see all of you now, and I can''t detect anything wrong.¡± I said a few minutes later.


    ¡°Hm? Oh.¡± Lashina opened her eyes and looked at me. ¡°I guess it''s all in my mind.¡±


    I opened my eyes and chuckled as I stopped using Presence to check her, and she sighed. ¡°Maybe you should go to bed and rest for a while.¡±


    ¡°Will you tend to me like you did for Master Moor?¡±


    ¡°Kara said I had the rest of the day off.¡± I said. ¡°So, I''m not busy.¡±


    ¡°Goody!¡± Lashina said and took my hand. ¡°If we run, we can be back at my place in no time.¡±


    ¡°I haven''t run holding hands before.¡± I said.


    ¡°It''s the same as doing it alone or holding someone, except I''m strong enough that I can share it with you.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°Wow, really?¡± I asked and covered myself in Presence. Lashina''s hand tightened in mine as she felt it, and she covered herself in a much stronger flow of Presence and our hands glowed brighter because our energies mixed together. ¡°Well, look at that.¡± I said and held our hands up. ¡°It''s working.¡±


    ¡°Now concentrate on us running together and not on you running alone.¡±


    ¡°How do I do that?¡± I asked. ¡°I''m a foot taller than you. You have to take more steps, don''t you?¡±


    Lashina chuckled. ¡°Not once we get going.¡± She said. ¡°We will run together, our strides with match, and we will touch the ground at the same time with our feet.¡±


    ¡°This I have to see.¡± I said. ¡°Do I guide you or...¡±


    ¡°Let me do all the hard work, and you can see how it''s done.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said and used a quick mental technique to calm down and set myself to learn something new.


    ¡°Very good.¡± Lashina said, impressed. ¡°Now send me your Presence.¡±


    I nodded slightly and her four foot tall body glowed. She stood there for only a moment, bent over slightly and my body did the same. She wasn''t controlling me, it was more like her body strongly suggested that I follow hers. I did so as I mimicked hers. She smiled at me and I smiled back.


    Then we ran.

 Book One: The Presence 019

    Since we were inside the East Forest Glade, our abilities were boosted already; but, with the two of us combining our own energies to run, our speed didn''t double like I thought it would.


    It quadrupled.


    I was so glad that I had achieved a balance with the forest a long time ago, because if I hadn''t, I would have hit every single branch and bush that we passed. Lashina was giggling madly as we quickly traversed through the trees and underbrush like wind through the leaves of the trees above our heads. She had told me a while ago that she wore a skirt and not pants because they interfered with her movements, and I was pleasantly delighted to see the proof for myself.


    As we leapt over tree roots and ducked under half-fallen trees and low branches, her strides were impossibly long for someone of her four feet of height. She was like a gymnast as she did splits with her legs out to the sides and then the splits with one leg all the way forward and the other all the way back. Each time she jumped and lunged, her tiny skirt inched farther and farther up her backside until it had hiked all the way up and was barely the size of a belt.


    By the time we had reached the edge of the forest, Lashina''s cute little pink ass was completely exposed and her tiny little white panties gave the view a stark contrast to highlight it. Being the gentleman that I am, I was about to tell her about it when I thought we were going to stop running... except we didn''t. My eyes widened as we left the East Forest Glade and didn''t slow down at all. We were still sharing our energy and she used it to propel us past dozens of people just as she did for us with the trees in the woods.


    We were across the compound in only a minute and were inside her apartment and then her bedroom before anyone had seen us. We stopped beside her bed and she let my hand go as she threw her robes onto a chair and then jumped onto her bed face down, then she laughed as hard as anyone I had ever met. Myself included.


    ¡°Bwahahaha!¡± Lashina guffawed as she kicked her feet and made fists and lightly pounded her mattress. ¡°Did you feel that?!? Did you? That was so much fun!¡±


    I was about to comment, even with the sight of her butt jiggling like it was, then she rolled over to look at my face. My eyes were below her waist at the time and she saw where I was looking.


    ¡°So, that''s why you''re so quiet.¡± Lashina said happily and her tiny hands reached for her skirt.


    ¡°I was going to tell you...¡± I started to say, when her hands didn''t grab her skirt and she rubbed her thighs instead. I raised my eyebrows at her and she giggled.


    ¡°I didn''t expect anyone to see these today, and yet here you are, looking at me with lust in your eyes.¡± Lashina said in a slightly deeper voice, then she sat up.


    ¡°I... ah, I didn''t... I mean...¡± I looked at her face and saw her sly smile. ¡°I''m only twelve.¡±


    Lashina giggled again as she shook her head slightly, then she slid to the side of the bed and stood up. ¡°We both know you''re quite a bit older than you look.¡± She said and touched my chest. ¡°I mean, just look at me.¡± She said and did a little turn to show off both her front and her back. ¡°You could never guess that I was a hundred years old, would you?¡±


    My mouth dropped open at the absurd number. ¡°A... a... h-h-hundred?¡± I asked, shocked.


    ¡°I know, I know.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Us long-lived races are very difficult to guess the ages for, once we reach maturity.¡± She said as she reached up and unhooked my robes.


    I caught her hands to stop my robes from falling to the floor. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°You promised to tend to me like you did Master Moor.¡± Lashina said with an evil gleam in her eyes.


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Oh? Are you going back on your word, Ullir?¡±


    ¡°I...¡±


    ¡°I''ll even close my eyes as you undress me and change me into my sleeping attire.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°It''s still morning.¡± I said, and she giggled as she took my robes and laid them over hers.


    ¡°You said you only have the day off, so I can''t have you wait and attend to me tonight, can I?¡±


    ¡°I... suppose not.¡±


    ¡°Then get to work.¡± Lashina said and closed her eyes and lifted her arms over her head. ¡°My belt knot is in the back.¡±


    I held in my sigh and reached around her to untie her belt cord, then carefully set her weapon on the chair with our robes. I loosened her skirt next and carefully pulled it down over her slender hips and managed to not hook her underwear. She put her hands on my shoulders and stepped out of the skirt, and I was proud of myself that I only glanced at her crotch once.


    As I stood up, I used my fingertips to grab the bottom edge of her long sleeve t-shirt. I felt Lashina shiver slightly when my fingers caressed her skin, then I lifted her top up and stopped just before revealing her breasts.


    ¡°Why did you stop?¡± Lashina asked.


    ¡°This was the spot where I had to close my eyes.¡± I said.


    ¡°I have mine closed instead, remember?¡± Lashina said and pointed to her closed eyes. ¡°Unlike Master Moor who must have stared at you to make sure you didn''t look, I''m making sure that you do.¡±


    ¡°Lashina...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Lashina said and her hands touched my chest, snaked up to my neck, and cupped the sides of my face. ¡°The mind is willing; but, the body is weak.¡±


    ¡°Then why are you doing this?¡± I asked.


    Lashina opened her eyes and looked into mine, and I saw a depth there that was both surprising and a little scary. ¡°I want you to know that someone can appreciate you for who you are.¡± She said. ¡°Plus, I don''t mind at all if you look at me like you want to... do things... to me, even if you physically can''t right now.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    ¡°It''s not fair to you.¡± I said.


    Lashina caressed my face for a moment, then slid her hands behind my neck and pulled me forward. ¡°I want to steal your first kiss with a woman, Ullir.¡± She whispered. ¡°Will you let me? Even though you''re ''only'' twelve?¡±


    I took a slightly shaky breath and slowly put my arms around her in a tight embrace. I had been tempted to comb my hands through her long white hair; but, that wouldn''t have given her the same wordless impression of permission.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Lashina said and closed her eyes as she pressed her lips to mine.


    I was surprised when I felt her Presence much stronger than I had only a moment before, so I gathered my own Presence to share with her. Lashina moaned as I kissed her with enthusiasm and poured my Presence into her. I could feel her body become warmer as her Presence started to glow, and mine did the same as they mixed together. We stayed that way for several minutes, as we shared each other''s Presence and kissed, then the moment passed and we broke the kiss at the same time. We both opened our eyes and looked at each other, and we were both wide-eyed and glowed.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Wow.¡± I said.


    ¡°I was going to say that.¡± Lashina said with a smile. ¡°That was your first kiss?¡±


    ¡°I''ve never kissed my mother or my guardian like that, so yes.¡± I said, and she giggled.


    ¡°Then I need to thank you again.¡± Lashina said and her face went to a darker pink. ¡°That was wonderful.¡±


    ¡°I have no choice but to agree.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°You better agree, you scamp!¡± Lashina said as she playfully slapped my chest. ¡°Now get back to work.¡± She said and lifted her arms.


    ¡°Aren''t you going to close your eyes?¡± I asked as I gripped the edge of the long sleeved t-shirt.


    ¡°We both know that neither of us need our eyes to ''see'' with the flow of Presence.¡± Lashina said, and I raised my eyebrows at her. ¡°What? You didn''t think I could see your flow of Presence?¡±


    I opened my mouth to say that it was a secret; but, anyone that practised the basic mental technique a lot could gain the same proficiency and could see without their eyes.


    ¡°Plus, I want to see your happy face with my own eyes when you see them.¡± Lashina said and grinned evilly.


    ¡°You smile like that a lot.¡± I chuckled and lifted her top up and pulled it off of her, then pointedly looked down at her chest. When she had treated me for stun damage, I had guessed that her chest was in perfect proportion with the rest of her, and I was glad that I was right. What I hadn''t expected was that her nipples were a much darker pink than her normal skin and were quite pronounced.


    Lashina giggled at the expression on my face. ¡°I knew you would like them.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± I admitted. ¡°You''re quite beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you.¡± Lashina said and reached down for her underwear.


    ¡°W-wait.¡± I said. ¡°I thought I was changing you for bed.¡±


    ¡°I can''t go to bed all sweaty.¡± Lashina said and yanked her panties off. ¡°I need a shower after that hard of a run.¡± She twirled her panties around on her fingertip and then tossed them at my face. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡±


    I caught them and my nose picked up her scent, and it was almost as sweet as the special dessert that Emari had shown me.


    Lashina came out of the shower a few minutes later and handed me a towel. ¡°Give me a hand, would you?¡±


    I held out her underwear and she took them from me, then went to the chair with her other clothes on it and came back.


    ¡°Start drying.¡± Lashina said and smiled as she held her arms out to her sides.


    ¡°You''re really enjoying this, aren''t you?¡± I asked and started drying her.


    ¡°Ullir, if I thought for a second that you would have accepted an apprentice position so easily, I would have offered you one when you graduated your training.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I stopped drying her and looked at her face. ¡°You do realize I''m just humoring Kara, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°You would have been okay with that?¡± I asked, then started drying her again.


    ¡°Ullir, I would be okay with anything you did.¡± Lashina said and smiled. ¡°Even arranging to have Gruskluan shaved.¡±


    ¡°Is that what the fluffy puff-ball alien is called?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°What does he look like now?¡±


    ¡°Definitely not fluffy or puffy!¡± Lashina said, and we both laughed.


    I dried her off and she pointed to where she kept her sleeping attire, and she had to pick the underwear that she wanted to wear. I kept trying to give her comfortable ones and she wanted sexy ones. We compromised with a pair of cute ones. She also chose a nightgown that barely went below her hips.


    ¡°Do you really wear this every night?¡± I asked as I slipped it on over her head.


    ¡°It''s just in case someone... whom I won''t mention... might try to sneak into my room and peek at me.¡±


    ¡°I''ve never...¡± I stopped talking, and she laughed.


    ¡°Go and get your own shower.¡± Lashina said and waved to the bathroom.


    ¡°I don''t have a change of clothes.¡± I said.


    ¡°You mean these?¡± Lashina asked and opened a small closet beside hers and it was full of apprentice robes and outfits.


    ¡°You really were going to recruit me.¡± I said, surprised.


    ¡°I said I wanted to.¡± Lashina said. ¡°You didn''t detect a lie, did you?¡±


    ¡°No, but...¡±


    ¡°Ah, you thought I was exaggerating.¡± Lashina said, and I nodded. ¡°I wasn''t, and I''ve never done that... except when I played with you a little and asked you not to stare at my panties when you were being held for causing all that damage.¡±


    I sighed and closed my eyes. ¡°I still can''t believe that The Order would do that to me and take Emari away.¡± I felt her put her arms around me as she hugged me.


    ¡°Ullir, I''m so sorry you had to go through that.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I felt so bad that I even went to the council about it.¡±


    ¡°You did?¡± I asked and opened my eyes to look at her.


    ¡°Of course I did!¡± Lashina said and reached up to tap my forehead. ¡°I know how much they hurt you and I tried to get them to reverse the decision.¡±


    ¡°They didn''t.¡± I said.


    ¡°Not only that, I was censured for questioning the council''s decision.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Why else do you think I didn''t see you for a month after that?¡±


    ¡°Those bastards.¡± I said and made a fist.


    ¡°I couldn''t help you get over what they did, and by the time my censure was over, you had so much hate for everyone in The Order, I knew that I would only cause you pain if I tried to approach you as anything other than a friend.¡±


    I opened my fist and took her into a hug. ¡°Thank you, Lashina.¡±


    ¡°I''m going to need another shower if you don''t get one soon.¡± Lashina teased, and I chuckled.


    ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± I said and went to the bathroom and took a shower, dried off, and went back out to her bedroom.


    ¡°Aw.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I wanted to dry you off.¡±


    ¡°You said only what I did with Kara.¡± I said and smiled, and she chuckled.


    ¡°All right.¡± Lashina said and lifted her arms. ¡°Put on the pyjamas and carry me to bed!¡±


    I laughed and got dressed, picked her up in a princess carry, which was a little easier with her so short, and carried her to her bed only a few feet away. She pointed to where she normally slept, and I tucked her under the blanket in the right spot.


    ¡°Hurry!¡± Lashina said and pat the bed beside her. ¡°I want to cuddle for a few hours before you need to feed me and then you have to go.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe I''m doing this.¡± I said and climbed into bed and slid over to her.


    ¡°Admit it.¡± Lashina said. ¡°You like having someone who just tells you what they want.¡±


    ¡°Even if I can''t give it to them?¡± I asked, and she cuddled in and tucked my arm over her shoulder and hugged it.


    ¡°We only have to wait until you''re of age, Ullir.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Once you can legally make decisions for yourself, you can give anything you want to whoever you want.¡±


    I smiled at her and she smiled back. ¡°I assume that you''re going to be waiting for that to happen?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Ullir.¡± Lashina sat up slightly and gave me a kiss on the lips. ¡°You''re going to be waiting for that to happen, too.¡± She said and tucked herself back onto my chest and put an arm around me, then promptly went to sleep.


    I looked down at her long white hair and combed my fingers through it, like I had been tempted to do before. I was waiting to become legal age so I can leave the organization that caused the death of my parents. I thought, and then smiled. It never once occurred to me that there could be other reasons.


    I wasn''t tired at all, so I entered a meditative state and practised more mental techniques to pass the time before Lashina woke up and wanted to be fed. I made her supper and tended to her as if I was her apprentice... or butler, as the case may be... and she gushed over my work and thanked me profusely the entire time. She thoroughly enjoyed being fed and we made idle small talk as she ate, then the night arrived it was time for me to leave.


    ¡°Ullir.¡± Lashina climbed out of bed and stood before me with a longing look on her face. ¡°No matter what happens over the next few years, please... please... wait for me.¡±


    ¡°I''m not sure what you...¡±


    ¡°I want to be the first to share myself with you.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Four years isn''t that long of a time for people like us.¡±


    ¡°You said something like that before.¡± I said as I got changed into apprentice robes. ¡°When you mentioned before that you were a long-lived race, you said ''we''.¡±


    ¡°Yes, silly.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I meant you as well.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what your race is called, since its name has been lost over time and your people have been scattered to the far corners of the universe; but, it has been around just as long as mine has.¡± Lashina said, then she sighed. ¡°Kara is going to keep you on a short leash from now on, after you being gone all day and didn''t even try to check on her.¡±


    ¡°She didn''t want me to.¡± I said and held up my wrist communicator. ¡°She could have contacted me at any time and she hasn''t; but, you''re right. She is going to be angry. More at herself than at me, though.¡±


    ¡°I think she would be really angry if she knew that you had spent the whole day with me.¡± Lashina said with an evil smile.


    ¡°I don''t know why.¡± I said. ¡°My personal time is just that. Mine.¡±


    Lashina pulled me down to her height and looked into my eyes. ¡°May I have another kiss?¡±


    ¡°Is that really what you want?¡± I asked teasingly, and she giggled.


    ¡°It''s all I''m allowed to ask for.¡± Lashina responded and kissed me. I knew what she expected me to do, so I eased my flow of Presence into her and she shivered. She broke the kiss and let me go. ¡°Goodnight, Ullir.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight, Lashina.¡± I said and walked over to her bedroom door.


    ¡°You know, most masters hate it when you call them by name and don''t use their title.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and smiled as I turned to look at her. ¡°Are you one of them?¡±


    ¡°By the Goddess, no.¡± Lashina said in a sexy voice and put a hand over her heart. ¡°I love hearing you speak my name.¡±


    I gave her a bow, covered myself in Presence, and left her apartment as silent as a ninja.

 Book One: The Presence 020

    I arrived back at Kara''s apartment in the council''s private apartment building and I saw the remnants of lunch and supper on the kitchen table. I quickly cleaned it up, since I knew she would expect it of me, and I went to the bedroom. She was on her side of the bed and pretended to be asleep, so I ignored her obvious attempt to ignore me and went to the bathroom. I took a quick shower and changed into my actual pyjamas.


    When I transferred things from my old robes to the new ones I would wear the next day, I discovered that Lashina had tucked her panties into my hidden pocket. I almost laughed out loud and quickly tucked them into my new robes, then I hung up the robes and climbed into bed on my side. Kara still didn''t speak to me, so I didn''t speak either and closed my eyes. I was a little tired after pretending to sleep for part of the day, so I took a deep breath and let it out and let sleep take me. I didn''t even need to do a mental technique like I usually did.


    We got up the next morning and Kara acted as if nothing had happened between us the last few days. I was fine with that, since I didn''t have to explain where I had been the day before. I made breakfast for the both of us and we ate in silence, then I followed her to work. We were there early, so we had arrived in plenty of time to witness the funniest thing I had ever seen. The fluffy puff-ball alien came in and looked like one of those hairless cats. I immediately covered myself in a layer of Presence to contain my laughter and directed it away from being heard.


    Kara on the other hand had gasped and covered her mouth. ¡°Gruskluan! What happened to you?¡±


    ¡°As if you don''t know.¡± Gruskluan grumbled.


    ¡°I really don''t.¡± Kara said, surprised. ¡°Where is all your beautiful fur?¡±


    ¡°Ask your apprentice.¡± Gruskluan said and sat down in his chair, and I saw that he was significantly shorter than he should have been.


    ¡°Ullir has been tending to me the last few days.¡± Kara said, and conveniently left off that she had dismissed me the day before.


    ¡°This happened before that.¡±


    Kara sighed in relief. ¡°He had been within my Presence constantly before that, so I don''t see how he could have assaulted you and done such a thing.¡±


    ¡°It happened at night, so I''m sure that...¡±


    ¡°Ullir has never left my bed at night and sneaked out.¡± Kara said, adamantly.


    The entire council caught their breath and turned their heads to stare at her.


    ¡°Did you just...¡±


    ¡°You sleep in the same bed with your apprentice?¡± The scaly alien asked. ¡°He doesn''t have his own bed or even his own room?¡±


    ¡°When he became my apprentice, I forbade him from leaving my side without my permission.¡± Kara said. ¡°Why would going to sleep at night be any different?¡±


    The council members exchanged glances and then looked back at her.


    ¡°Your... sleeping arrangements... are highly unorthodox.¡± Gruskluan, the previously fluffy and no longer puff-ball like alien said.


    ¡°Are you questioning how I treat my apprentice?¡± Kara asked, and you could hear the incredulity in her voice. ¡°If you are, then you can keep your mouth shut because no one has the right to question how a master trains their apprentice.¡±


    Gruskluan winced at the venom in her voice.


    ¡°A master and their apprentice share a delicate relationship that needs to be built on trust and mutual respect.¡± Kara said. As she talked, her voice became louder and louder. ¡°For you to think... for any of you to think... that I am mistreating him is absolutely unfounded and completely absurd!¡±


    ¡°Calm down.¡± One of the other council members said. ¡°No one is questioning your integrity.¡±


    ¡°I certainly hope not.¡± Kara said and closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and glared at Gruskluan. ¡°I hold the precepts of The Order in very high regard and I would never do anything to compromise my beliefs or besmirch the reputation of this fine organization.¡±


    No one spoke for several minutes to let Kara calm down some more. I didn''t bring up the trust issue between Kara and I, mainly because I wasn''t allowed to speak in the council chamber unless spoken to directly, then the meeting officially started. It was another long and boring one, as it almost always was, so I converted the layer of Presence around myself into a solid and relaxed against it. I could have stood there and reinforced my body to stay still; but, why go through the trouble and exhaust myself by using my skills for so long? There wasn''t any point, and I could be ready in an instant if anything happened, because I was completely rested the entire time.


    Nothing happened, though.


    The meeting ended and I followed Kara out of the council chamber and back across the central courtyard. She started to head over to the training grounds and I had to stop her.


    ¡°The med-bot said no fighting for three days.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m not fighting.¡± Kara said, and I could see that she was still angry about the council accusing her of the mistreatment of her apprentice. ¡°I just need to deal with some frustration.¡±


    ¡°I''m pretty sure that falls under the same category.¡±


    Kara stopped walking and glared at me. ¡°Ullir, do not question me.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t questioning you, Kara.¡± I said, and her eyes squinted at me. ¡°I''m only concerned about you possibly hurting yourself against the med-bot''s orders.¡±


    Kara''s face lost its anger and she closed her eyes. ¡°How am I supposed to deal with this situation and how I feel, if I can''t deal with it like I usually do?¡±


    ¡°I have an idea.¡± I said and used my wrist communicator to call someone.


    ¡°HI, HI!¡± Lashina yelled out of the little speaker.


    ¡°That was almost a sonic attack, Lashina.¡± I chuckled, and she giggled.


    ¡°I knew you''d like it.¡± Lashina said. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°Something happened in the council chamber today...¡±


    ¡°Say no more.¡± Lashina said. ¡°You know where my office is. Bring Master Moor over to me right away.¡±


    ¡°We''ll be right there.¡± I said and ended the call.


    ¡°Ullir...¡± Kara tried to say something, and she stopped talking when I took her hand.


    ¡°Come on.¡± I said and pretty much dragged her back across the courtyard in the other direction and over to the administration building.


    ¡°I know where her office is.¡± Kara said and tried to let my hand go.


    ¡°She told me to bring you.¡± I said and held on, then we entered the building.


    ¡°Kara! How are... oh, hello.¡± The woman at the desk changed her expression from happy to neutral when she saw me. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°I know where I''m going, thanks.¡± I said to her and walked by the desk as I dragged Kara with me. I saw the woman and Kara exchange looks, and ignored it. Just from the aborted greeting I knew that they knew each other. I took Kara into the lift and went up to the right floor, then led her down to Lashina''s office and went inside.


    ¡°Ullir!¡± Lashina said happily and then she giggled. ¡°Long time no see!¡±


    I couldn''t help myself and chuckled as I continued the joke. ¡°It has been a long time, hasn''t it?¡±


    ¡°I see you brought me a present!¡± Lashina said and looked at Kara''s surprised expression. ¡°I''m joking, of course.¡± She said. ¡°Please, come with me into the patient area.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Give Ullir permission to stay here in the waiting room for you.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, you can...¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°That''s good enough.¡± Lashina said and took Kara''s hand from mine. ¡°Ullir, we''ll be back in about half an hour. Can you amuse yourself until then?¡±


    ¡°I doubt it.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°A good prank takes a lot longer than that to set up.¡±


    Lashina giggled and dragged Kara into the back room and shut the door.


    I looked around the small office and wondered how many patients she had during the day. Her specialized mental prowess was practically unique among Order members, and it made me wonder why she was here on their home planet and not on a constant tour of all The Order outposts that were scattered all over the place.


    I sat down on the small armless couch and didn''t try to make myself a nuisance by searching through everything that I could see. With my Detect Presence technique on all the time, I could clearly see that some things glowed more than others, so I knew they were either important or significant. I didn''t try to figure out why, though.


    I might ask Lashina about them later. I thought and waited patiently.


    *


    Kara had been surprised at how easily Ullir had talked so familiarly with the short and very pink pixie-like alien, and she had let that alien drag her into a private room and out of Ullir''s sight.


    ¡°Relax, Master Moor.¡± Lashina said and pointed to a pair of chairs and sat down on one. ¡°Ullir is concerned about you and he called me to help you.¡±


    ¡°How do you know each other?¡± Kara asked as she sat down on the other.


    ¡°I can''t divulge any information about what happened after he graduated training.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I think it''s also classified under Ullir''s private files in the archives.¡±


    Lashina smiled as she successfully planted the idea to check the files into Kara''s subconscious. She didn''t physically put the idea there, since her mental powers didn''t work like that; but, just giving her some of the basic information and piquing her curiosity was enough to goad her into doing it.


    ¡°So, you seem to have a lot of pent up anger.¡± Lashina said, and Kara''s eyes widened. ¡°Don''t worry. Everything we discuss is completely confidential and doesn''t get entered into the archives.¡±


    Kara took a deep breath and let it out.


    ¡°That''s it. Relax.¡± Lashina said and sat back as she crossed her legs. Her robes fell open and Kara saw that she wore a skirt and not the regulation pants.


    ¡°Master Oleneth...¡±


    ¡°Before you start to rant, I have permission from The Wise One to wear a skirt.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Pants interfere with my movements too much to be practical.¡±


    ¡°He likes seeing you in a skirt, doesn''t he?¡± Kara asked and covered her mouth. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±


    Lashina laughed. ¡°It''s all right.¡± She said and leaned forward to pat Kara''s knee once and leaned back. ¡°He definitely appreciates seeing a flash of leg occasionally; but, it really is a practical choice on my part and not rebellious against the pants policy.¡± She said. ¡°You don''t see me walking around and telling every woman I meet that she needs to wear a skirt instead of pants, do you?¡±


    Kara shook her head. ¡°No, in fact I barely see you around at all.¡±


    ¡°It''s because I''m so small and short.¡± Lashina joked.


    ¡°You''re not short.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I''m a foot shorter than Ullir and almost two feet shorter than you.¡± Lashina said, and held a hand up to stop her protest. ¡°There''s a reason people refer to my people as pixies and pixie like.¡± She said. ¡°I think it''s the combination of our height and the pink skin.¡±


    Kara took another deep breath and let it out. ¡°Why are we talking about this?¡±


    ¡°I''m calming you down and distracting you.¡± Lashina said and Kara raised her eyebrows. ¡°I''m not just a pretty face, you know.¡± She said and smiled. ¡°I''ve got a great body, too!¡±


    Kara snorted a laugh and covered her mouth again.


    ¡°Ha! You thought I was going to say mind.¡± Lashina said and Kara nodded. ¡°I have that as well and I use it to make people feel better. It''s not really a job, since it''s more of a tendency on my part.¡±


    ¡°So, you''ve always done things like this?¡±


    Lashina nodded. ¡°Once I became a member of The Order, they sent me here to take care of the most important members of the organization.¡±


    ¡°The council.¡± Kara said.


    Lashina barked a laugh. ¡°Of course not!¡±


    ¡°But... aren''t they...¡±


    ¡°It''s the new trainees.¡± Lashina said. ¡°The next generation. The next flow of Presence in the universe.¡±


    Kara blinked her eyes at that thought, and Lashina leaned forward and pat her knee again.


    ¡°There''s nothing more important than shaping young minds when you know that they are going to make a huge difference in the world we live in.¡± Lashina said. ¡°You know what I''m talking about.¡±


    Kara took another deep breath and let it out. ¡°Ullir.¡±


    ¡°He''s strong and powerful, and he has a huge potential.¡± Lashina said. ¡°His command of Presence alone set him above every other trainee.¡±


    ¡°He did graduate very early.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I don''t mean that.¡± Lashina said. ¡°He could have graduated when he was seven.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?!?¡± Kara exclaimed.


    ¡°You didn''t know?¡± Lashina asked. ¡°Have you done any research on your apprentice at all?¡±


    ¡°I... I have.¡± Kara said. ¡°Nothing like that came up.¡±


    ¡°I would suggest talking to a few select individuals... I''ll give you a list before you leave... so you can get a more detailed account of what he''s gone through.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Now, what happened in the council chamber this morning?¡± Lashina asked.


    ¡°Well, it was like this...¡± Kara said and told her about what had happened and how she had been accused of being inappropriate with her apprentice, and how she had firmly shut that argument down.


    ¡°Hm.¡± Lashina rubbed her chin. ¡°I suspect they assumed you were having sex with him, despite his age and being your apprentice.¡±


    ¡°I WOULD NEVER!!!¡±


    ¡°Calm down.¡± Lashina said and pushed Presence out to cover Kara and blocked her Presence, and she calmed down. ¡°I didn''t say I assumed that, since I know for a fact that you haven''t.¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°I''m sorry. I overreacted.¡±


    ¡°It''s all right; but, you shouldn''t have reacted so strongly.¡± Lashina said and absorbed her Presence back. ¡°Does that mean you, on a personal level, want to have sex with him?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what? No!¡± Kara exclaimed.


    ¡°I didn''t mean right now.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Perhaps at some time in the future when you finally admit your feelings for him.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what? No!¡± Kara exclaimed.


    ¡°Master Moor, I said it''s all right.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°N-no. I... I don''t have feelings for him.¡± Kara said. ¡°He''s my apprentice and that''s the end of that.¡±


    ¡°Really? So it ended after barely getting started?¡± Lashina asked.


    Kara opened her mouth to change what she said, then closed it.


    ¡°Master Moor.¡± Lashina stood up and stepped close to her.


    Kara looked at her in the eyes and saw a depth there that was both appealing and scary.


    ¡°You are going to overreact every time someone suggests that you have more than a casual relationship with Ullir, unless you can admit, even to yourself, that you care about him.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°I... I can''t have a relationship with him.¡± Kara said. ¡°He''s not even a proper man yet, and I haven''t taught him how to...¡± She stopped talking and stared at Lashina.


    ¡°You want to change him into your ideal man before you admit to yourself, and him, how you feel.¡±


    Kara could only nod, and Lashina took a breath and let it out.


    ¡°You have a lot of work to do.¡± Lashina said, despite her belief that it was fruitless. She also knew that if she tried to discourage Kara''s efforts, it would only make things worse between Kara and Ullir, and not better like she wanted it to be. ¡°Good luck.¡±


    Kara didn''t say anything as she stood up, nodded slightly to Lashina when she gave her a list of people to talk to about Ullir, then she left the room and shut the door.


    ¡°You poor deluded fool.¡± Lashina whispered sadly. ¡°You need to love him for who he is, not for who you want to change him into.¡±


    *


    I stopped looking at the picture on the wall and imagining the water was actually moving, when the door to the private area opened. ¡°How did it go?¡± I asked after I saw Kara come out and close the door.


    ¡°I''m fine.¡± Kara said and walked over to the door to leave. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    I stood up and looked into the private room with my Detect Presence ability, and Lashina didn''t look like she was coming out to say goodbye. So, I gave the wall a little wave and I followed Kara out of the office and down the hallway to the lift. She didn''t say anything else as we left the building, not even to the woman she knew behind the desk, and I followed her back to her apartment.


    ¡°Since we can''t train physically today, I''ll teach you a mental technique to sharpen your Presence focus.¡± Kara said and pulled off her robes and tossed them onto a chair.


    ¡°I can already do that.¡± I said.


    ¡°I didn''t ask for your opinion.¡± Kara said and put two pillows from the couch onto the floor and pointed to one. I sat down where she indicated and assumed the lotus position without being asked, and she sat down across from me and did the same thing. ¡°Clear your mind.¡±


    I easily did so and she took a deep breath.


    ¡°Now, I want you to concentrate on just the flow of Presence.¡±


    ¡°Which one?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Mine, yours, the room, the people around us, the air, or the planet.¡± I said. ¡°What one should I focus on?¡±


    Kara blinked her eyes at me for several moments, then gave herself a little shake. ¡°Your own.¡±


    ¡°Done.¡± I said immediately.


    ¡°Ullir, that''s not funny.¡± Kara said. ¡°It takes...¡±


    I held my hand up and swirled the Presence around it like a cloud, then absorbed it again.


    Kara stared at me for a moment and then I felt her focus on my Presence flow. ¡°I need you to draw in Presence from the air and pull it into your core.¡±


    ¡°You mean into my soul, right?¡± I asked, and she blinked her eyes at me.


    ¡°I mean into the center of your being.¡±


    ¡°That''s the soul.¡± I said.


    Kara opened her mouth, I assume to try and explain if there was a difference. She didn''t, though. ¡°Ullir, just do it.¡±


    ¡°How much do you want me to take?¡±


    ¡°As much as you can.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Ullir.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know. Just do it.¡± I said and closed my eyes. I didn''t need them with Detect Presence active all the time, anyway. I took a very deep breath and let it out, then started to draw in the Presence that was around me. My body started to glow immediately and I pulled in more and more, and the glow brightened. I saw Kara''s eyes widen and her eyebrows go up as I pulled in more than she thought I could.


    I held in my smile as I activated my own constructed mental technique to cycle Presence throughout my body and started to move it in waves as I gathered even more Presence and added it to my own flow. Kara reached a hand out towards the bright glow around my body and her hand stopped when it touched something solid.


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°It''s just a modification of the same technique I use to make solid energy boxes.¡± I said without opening my eyes. ¡°I stumbled across this technique when...¡± I stopped talking, because that was when The Order had taken Emari away from me and I had destroyed half a dozen apartments. Kara didn''t ask me to finish the sentence, thankfully.


    ¡°I need you to change this slightly.¡± Kara said, and explained what she wanted me to do.


    ¡°No.¡± I said.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°That would weaken my technique and allow others access through my flow of Presence.¡± I said and opened my eyes to look at her. ¡°Is that what The Order wants? For me to be weak and vulnerable?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what? No.¡± Kara said in denial. ¡°I was just...¡±


    ¡°So, it''s you that wants me to be vulnerable.¡± I said. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Just do it.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, you are my apprentice and...¡±


    ¡°...I''ll learn anything you want to teach me, as long as it''s useful.¡± I interrupted her. ¡°I will not intentionally make myself weak for you or for anyone else.¡±


    ¡°It''s to help you expand your...¡±


    ¡°Lie.¡± I said and her eyes widened.


    ¡°I''m not lying.¡±


    ¡°Then you''re delusional, because I felt a tremble in the flow of your Presence just now.¡± I said and let the extra Presence I had gathered seep back out into the air and let it go. My body tingled all over from holding so much. ¡°Unless you have something important to teach me, I''ll go and get lunch ready.¡±


    Kara didn''t respond, so I stood up and went to the kitchen to make her meal. I was quite proud of myself that I didn''t spit in it.

 Book One: The Presence 021

    Kara and I fell into a normal daily routine fairly quickly. I made her breakfast, followed her to work and was bored, I made her lunch, we trained both physically and mentally, she berated me for not listening to her advice, I made her supper, and we went to bed. I could see her becoming more frustrated with me as time went on, and neither of us were going to compromise our beliefs to make the other one happy.


    She kept trying to change me and I flatly refused to change. Days turned into weeks and then into months, and Kara and I barely spoke to each other in a casual manner as we went about our daily routine. There was no hatred or animosity between us, though. We were like oil and water together in the same container; but, we wouldn''t mix together, no matter how much you shook or stirred that container.


    Lashina would pop around at random times to try and settle our differences; but, since Kara had her own agenda that was completely separate from mine, Lashina''s efforts met with the same amount of success as Kara''s efforts to undermine my abilities and weaken me to be susceptible to her influence. I had to admire both of them for their persistence; but, I wasn''t going to give in to Kara even a little bit, so Lashina''s efforts were for naught and a waste of time.


    When Kara and I fought in the training grounds, she didn''t hold back at all and I learned a lot from her. She in turn had learned to be wary of my invisible boxes and had started to use Detect Presence during those training sessions. I had been tempted a few times to make a few and scatter them around the apartment; but, I remembered the first time she had been seriously hurt when she tripped over one, so I refrained from using them outside the training area and she never tripped over one there.


    Months turned into years, and just as Lashina had predicted, it passed by faster than I thought it would. I had grown a lot when I hit puberty and was still growing. My height was almost at six feet and my hair had grown impossibly long and I always wore it tied up in a ponytail, despite Lashina''s protests. She really liked seeing me with my hair down, and I suspected that Kara did, too. Since I didn''t want to let her think I was starting to soften in my resolve, I kept my hair restrained and Lashina stayed disappointed.


    My sixteenth birthday approached at breakneck speed and Lashina kept coming around to spend time with Kara and I. Kara had stopped a long time ago from trying to tell Lashina ''no'' when she asked to come over, and I always enjoyed her company because the sound of her laugh was always nice to hear.


    I had also discovered that Lashina had very creative ways to flash her underwear at me without Kara noticing or even suspecting. I looked forward to it each and every time, because I could never predict when it was going to happen and it was always a surprise. The best part was that she never wore the same pair of panties twice. I had no idea where she was getting them and I never asked. It would ruin the mystique and lessen the surprise if I knew. Lashina always gave me a demure and sexy smile, and I suspected that she thought the same way, because she didn''t volunteer the information, either.


    It was unfortunate that all of our well-laid plans changed the day of my birthday.


    I woke up as if it was any other day, and knew that today was going to be my day to tell The Order to shove it. Both Kara and I got dressed and were about to leave the apartment when there was a knock on the door.


    ¡°It''s probably Lashina again.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°No, it''s not.¡± I said as my Detect Presence ability let me look through the wall and I saw two guards. ¡°Two guards are waiting for us.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kara turned and looked for herself, and I saw her confusion. ¡°What in the world do they want?¡± She asked and opened the door.


    ¡°Master Moor. Apprentice Ullir. Please come with us.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Urgent council business.¡±


    ¡°I''m on the council.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°This way, please.¡±


    Kara looked at the guard for another moment, then looked at me. ¡°Your coming of age ceremony will have to wait.¡±


    ¡°As they planned, no doubt.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ullir.¡±


    ¡°We should go.¡± I said and nodded to the guards. ¡°We shouldn''t keep the assholes waiting.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± One of the guards said and unhooked his laser pistol from his belt.


    ¡°I meant the council assholes, not you assholes.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh.¡± The guard said and hooked his gun back onto his belt. ¡°Follow us, please.¡±


    Kara smiled at me as we left her apartment. She hadn''t missed that I had still called the guards assholes. We followed the guards all the way to the council chambers and saw that the large stone doors were already open. The guards took up their positions on either side of the doors and Kara and I walked inside the council chamber.


    ¡°Thank you for coming on such short notice.¡± The scaly alien said.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Kara asked him. ¡°I was coming here to work and the guards interrupted me.¡±


    The scaly alien looked at Gruskluan, the not-fluffy anymore alien, and then back at Kara. Apparently he wasn''t sure how to continue if the script they had written was interrupted.


    ¡°What kind of urgent mission do you have to send us on?¡± I asked.


    Everyone looked at me in surprise, because it was the first time I had spoken inside the chamber since I had started coming here with Kara almost four years ago.


    ¡°Well? What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We''ve discovered the whereabouts of a bounty hunter that has been targeting Order members.¡± The scaly alien said. ¡°The latest communique states that he''s holed up in a small planetary system near the Shara Nebula.¡±


    ¡°Why haven''t we sent a member of The Order and a guard squad to deal with it?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°That''s what we are going to do.¡± Gruskluan, the not-fluffy anymore alien said. ¡°We''ve chosen to send you.¡±


    ¡°I can''t go.¡± Kara said. ¡°My duties on the council...¡±


    ¡°...will still be here when you come back.¡± The scaly alien said.


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°There''s a prepped shuttle on the priority landing pad waiting for you.¡±


    ¡°I need to pack.¡± Kara said in an attempt to stall for time.


    ¡°The shuttle is fully prepped for the both of you. If you need any additional supplies, you can procure what you need when you reach the relay point.¡± The scaly alien said.


    ¡°But... Ullir...¡±


    ¡°You can celebrate his birthday when you get back.¡±


    No one spoke for several moments, and then a shrieking yell broke the silence as it came near the council chamber.


    ¡°Nooooooo!¡± Lashina cried as she ran down the hallway and entered the council chamber before anyone knew she was there. ¡°You can''t do this!¡± She spat at the council.


    ¡°Master Oleneth, it''s only a quick mission.¡± Gruskluan, the not-fluffy anymore alien said.


    ¡°Liar!¡± Lashina exclaimed, and the whole council caught their breath. ¡°You blame Ullir for your condition and you are delaying his adulthood ceremony out of spite!¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Of course I blame him! Who else could it be?¡± Gruskluan asked in outrage. ¡°Look at me! I''m hideous!¡±


    ¡°You were hideous before.¡± I said, and he glared at me.


    ¡°You keep quiet!¡± Gruskluan spat at me.


    ¡°You didn''t catch him doing it and you don''t have any proof!¡± Lashina said. ¡°Even if he did do it, you can''t punish him by denying his right to become an adult!¡±


    ¡°After he goes on this mission, the council will acknowledge his right to make his own decisions.¡± The scaly alien said.


    ¡°I''m surprised you waited until now.¡± I said calmly, and he looked at me. ¡°If you had been smart, you would have sent me on a mission after I graduated.¡± I looked at all of their faces and saw guilt there. ¡°Oh, I see. You tried to; but, your own code of ethics forbade you from sending a child on a dangerous mission.¡±


    None of them said anything, and I chuckled.


    ¡°Now that I''m not legally a child, even though I haven''t had the official ceremony, you can order me to go... and by your rules, I can''t refuse.¡± I said, and they remained quiet. Even Kara couldn''t refute my statement. I turned to her and motioned to the rest of the council. ¡°I told you these guys were assholes.¡± I said. ¡°The proof hurts, doesn''t it?¡±


    ¡°Ullir.¡± Kara sighed.


    ¡°What? It''s not like I can say anything that will make them change their minds, is there?¡±


    ¡°No, there isn''t.¡± Kara said. ¡°You also don''t need to confirm their belief that this is necessary.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I''ve worked very hard to make them believe that I''m not worth having around.¡±


    ¡°If you are sending him on a dangerous mission, then you need to return his belongings to him before he goes.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°There''s no need for...¡± The scaly alien started to say, and Lashina held a hand out to him and closed his mouth with Presence.


    ¡°He is an adult and they are his possessions.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Unless you want to confirm, publicly, that you stole them and intend to keep his things, you need to return them to him right now.¡±


    Gruskluan nodded to one of the guards and he left the chamber. It took almost ten minutes for him to return with a small sack and put it on the council table. Lashina went to the table and picked up the sack and brought it over to me.


    ¡°Ullir.¡± Lashina said in a sad voice and held out the sack. ¡°Don''t go.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, I have to.¡± I said and tucked the sack into my robes and hugged her. I was much taller than her now and her head barely touched my chest. ¡°I''m going to miss your laugh the most.¡±


    ¡°Liar.¡± Lashina giggled as she looked up at my face and shook her head. ¡°We both know what you''re really going to miss the most.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I can''t say things like that in public.¡± I said, then knelt on one knee to put our faces at the same height.


    ¡°Oh, Ullir.¡± Lashina said as she put her arms around my neck and kissed me right in front of everyone. I wasn''t going to be shown up by her, so I put my arms back around her and gave as good as I got. I even pulled an absurd amount of Presence into myself and pushed it into her. Her whole body glowed and she moaned a very loud and womanly moan. Every single person in the chamber, except us, were made extremely uncomfortable by the sound... which I knew was exactly her intent.


    Lashina broke the kiss and let my neck go. ¡°Goodbye, Ullir.¡±


    I leaned in close to hug her again and whispered in her ear. ¡°Please, call me Aaron.¡±


    Lashina shivered in my arms and she kissed my cheek, then she hugged me back and whispered in my ear. ¡°In one year from today, I will be on the Sarcusan Station in the Halman Sector. I will be stationed there for one week, and you will come to see me.¡±


    ¡°I can''t promise that...¡±


    ¡°You promised me your first time.¡± Lashina whispered and bit my earlobe. ¡°I haven''t been with anyone in a very long time and I want to break my chastity vow with you.¡±


    ¡°Lashina, I...¡±


    ¡°I love you, Aaron.¡± Lashina whispered and leaned back to look into my eyes, then gave me a tender kiss on the lips. ¡°Godspeed, Apprentice Ullir.¡± She said in a normal voice and let me go. I let her go as well and stood. She quickly left the council chamber and didn''t look back.


    ¡°This is all very touching; but, you need to go.¡± The scaly alien said.


    ¡°Just a minute.¡± I said and took out the sack and opened it. Inside were crumpled papers, the two unmarked credit chips, the passkey, and the two cylinders. I dug them out of the sack and held them out to the council. ¡°The focusing crystals are missing from these.¡±


    ¡°They are rogue weapons and were disabled.¡±


    ¡°No, they were mine and you disabled them for no reason.¡± I said. ¡°Where are the crystals?¡±


    ¡°Destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Liar.¡± I said when I felt a slight disturbance in the flow of Presence. ¡°You wouldn''t waste such a valuable resource like... oh.¡± I shook my head and sighed. ¡°You took them and gave them to other people to use them in their own Light swords.¡±


    He didn''t respond and I put the empty cylinders back in the sack.


    ¡°Where''s my father''s laser pistol?¡± I asked. ¡°It''s not here in the sack, either.¡±


    ¡°It was...¡±


    ¡°If you lie again and claim it was a rogue weapon and was disabled, I will destroy this council chamber.¡± I said, and everyone sat up straight.


    ¡°Are you threatening us?¡± The scaly alien asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said, and I saw shock on everyone''s faces. ¡°I know you all think I don''t remember, but I do. I remember everything you''ve done to me.¡± I said. ¡°You killed my parents, kidnapped me, gave me a nanny to raise me, then took her from me five years early without notice and I had to learn to live on my own. The entire time I''ve been here, you forced me to stay against my will and I had to play by your rules.¡±


    Everyone was quiet, because none of them detected any lies from me, or could dispute the facts.


    ¡°You''ve stolen my Light sword focusing crystals for your own use and you won''t hand over a laser pistol that no one in The Order would use, let alone want to keep.¡± I said. ¡°So, where is the weapon?¡±


    No one spoke and I let my anger rise as I gathered a massive amount of Presence around me.


    ¡°Actually, I could probably let stealing the weapons go, because those aren''t really that important to me. Not really.¡± I said. ¡°What pisses me off is that my mother''s locket is missing.¡±


    ¡°What locket?¡± The scaly alien asked, and I laughed.


    ¡°You lying ASSHOLES!¡± I yelled and made a Presence Hand for each of them and placed them around all of their necks and squeezed. ¡°GIVE. ME. MY. MOTHER''S. LOCKET.¡±


    ¡°Ullir! Let them go!¡± Kara exclaimed and started to gather Presence around herself. I made the Presence around myself solid and did the same with the Presence Hands holding the council''s necks.


    ¡°I have had enough of their lies and petty schemes.¡± I said in a deadly voice and looked at them. ¡°Return my property... all of it... or you are all going to die.¡±


    ¡°Drop him!¡± A guard yelled and opened fire with a laser pistol, as did his partner. The lasers did nothing to my solid shield. ¡°Switch to rifles!¡±


    ¡°They aren''t going to work.¡± I said and used Presence to pop the charge release on them and the guns powered down.


    ¡°Ullir, don''t make me do this.¡± Kara said, disappointment in her voice.


    ¡°I thought you were the nice one of the bunch, Kara.¡± I said and turned to look at her and saw tears in her eyes. ¡°Out of all of them, I had hoped that you would agree that stealing my things and treating me the way they did was wrong.¡±


    ¡°I... I can''t defy the council.¡± Kara said and drew her Light sword.


    ¡°I was only a child, Kara; but, I''m not a child anymore. Not only will I defy them, I''ll do it to spite them!¡± I exclaimed and covered her face in Presence and made it solid to distract her, then I sucked all of the Presence out of her before she could defend herself or blocked me. She collapsed into unconsciousness from loss of air and I absorbed the solid Presence I had used to cover her face, so she could breathe.


    I felt something fly close to me and caught it with another Presence Hand. It was a little taxing to use so many of them at once; but, I had huge sources of Presence right in front of me and I used them judiciously. Rather than wait for the grenade to explode, I used the Presence I was absorbing from the council to disassemble it in seconds, then removed the light emitter and crushed it. The guards stood there with their mouths open and stared at me.


    ¡°I spent a lot of time in the barracks.¡± I said in explanation and created a wall of energy out of the air between the door and the council and made it solid with Presence. ¡°Now.¡± I turned to the members of the council. ¡°Mr. Scaly Alien.¡± I said and picked him up by his neck using the Presence Hand I held him with. ¡°Tell me where to find my property, or we will see if your species really can regrow an arm.¡±


    The scaly alien''s hands started to glow, and I laughed.


    ¡°Really? I have you and ten others by the necks and I''m about to kill you if you don''t comply, and you''re going to try and fight me?¡± I asked, and he scowled at me. ¡°It''s not going to happen.¡±


    I covered all of their hands with Presence and made it solid. Some of them gasped as I disabled their only real means of offence. I eased the Presence Hands around their necks so they could take several breaths, then tightened them again. I drew my Light sword and activated it, then used another Presence Hand to grab the scaly alien''s arm and lifted it out to the side.


    ¡°Now, tell me what I want to know.¡± I said and held the sword near his arm.


    ¡°You wouldn''t dare maim a member of the council.¡± The scaly alien spat at me.


    ¡°Is it maiming if I know it''ll grow back?¡± I asked and smiled at him. ¡°This could be quick and painful or slow and very painful.¡± I said and cut through his robes to see where his shoulder was. ¡°Start talking.¡±


    ¡°Go to hell.¡± The scaly alien said.


    ¡°You have always underestimated me.¡± I said and touched his arm with the Light sword.


    ¡°ARGH!¡±


    ¡°You believe that I hold your lives in high regard, and you couldn''t be farther from the truth.¡± I said. ¡°You are scum. The worst of the worst.¡± I said and slowly moved the sword through his arm as he screamed. It took almost ten seconds to cut it all the way through, because of how slowly I was doing it, then his severed arm flopped to the floor and twitched several times. ¡°You see, I know all about what self-righteous fanatics believe is right, and they don''t care who they hurt or kill, as long as their fanaticism is justified.¡±


    The scaly alien almost passed out, so I pushed Presence into his head to keep him conscious.


    ¡°You don''t see what you do as evil, because you''re so blinded by your beliefs.¡± I said. ¡°I, on the other hand, was a victim of those beliefs and I know you don''t deserve mercy, let alone deserve to live.¡±


    ¡°S-s-stop.¡± Gruskluan, the not-fluffy anymore alien said. ¡°I''ll... I''ll tell you what you want to know.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± I said. ¡°After being stuck here for twelve goddamn years, I am sick to death of your sanctimonious holier-than-thou bullshit.¡±


    ¡°Please, let us go.¡± One of the other council members said as she struggled against the Presence Hand around her neck.


    ¡°If the information is correct, I promise to let you all go.¡± I said.


    ¡°Unharmed?¡± Gruskluan asked. When I nodded, he told me everything I needed to know.


    (Undecipherable), the blue skinned and black horned alien that had kidnapped me for The Order, had both my father''s laser pistol and my mother''s locket.

 Book One: The Presence 022

    ¡°That horned blue-skinned alien bastard.¡± I said. ¡°Where is he?¡±


    ¡°We don''t know.¡± Gruskluan, the not-fluffy anymore alien said. ¡°He went rogue a year ago.¡±


    ¡°What about his apprentice?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He''s gone, too.¡± Gruskluan said. ¡°He took your father''s gun as a trophy.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t you stop them?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We didn''t know he had left The Order until we received word that he had hijacked the ship we had booked him passage on.¡±


    ¡°What made him turn on you?¡± I asked out of curiosity.


    ¡°You.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± I said and squeezed the Presence Hand around his neck. ¡°What did I tell you about lying to me?¡±


    ¡°It''s... because of... you, then.¡± Gruskluan managed to say, and I eased the Presence Hand''s grip. ¡°When he killed your parents...¡±


    ¡°...murdered...¡± I said.


    ¡°...after that, we started to take a firmer hand with him and his temper.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I bet he didn''t like that one bit.¡± I said, and he nodded.


    ¡°He started to chafe under the constant scrutiny.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that I can understand.¡± I said. ¡°Then he just left? You didn''t send anyone after him?¡±


    ¡°Of course we did.¡± Gruskluan said. ¡°Unfortunately, he''s one of our best operatives and...¡±


    ¡°No one came back.¡± I said, and he shook his head. ¡°So, no trackers on his things or tucked into his clothing?¡±


    Gruskluan closed his eyes for a moment, at my knowledge of some of their secrets, then he looked at me. ¡°All have failed.¡±


    ¡°God, I hate to do this.¡± I said, ignored their surprise at my words, then I absorbed all of the Presence Hands I had around the council''s necks.


    ¡°Sieze him!¡± The scaly alien said and tried to grab his Light sword with his remaining hand, and his hand bounced off of his hip. ¡°What the...¡± He looked down at his hand and it was still encased in solid Presence.


    ¡°I told you that I wouldn''t let you fight me.¡± I said and used a Presence Hand to take his Light sword. ¡°Wow, you really tweaked this thing into uselessness.¡± I held it in my hand and popped it apart with Presence, then took out the focusing crystal. ¡°It''s not as high of quality as the one that used to be mine; but, it''ll do until I find a proper replacement for the one you stole.¡± I said and took out my mother''s Light sword and adjusted the compartment to accept the different shaped crystal.


    ¡°You can''t do that!¡± The scaly alien said.


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s not right!¡±


    ¡°Well, I do have to adjust all of the electronics for it to work properly.¡± I said.


    ¡°I meant that you can''t take my weapon!¡±


    ¡°This thing?¡± I asked as I held up his weapon, then reassembled the useless cylinder and tossed it on the floor at his feet. ¡°I''m not taking it.¡±


    ¡°You... you...¡±


    ¡°How does it feel, asshole?¡± I asked, and he scowled at me. ¡°You all deserve much worse than being choked for a couple of minutes.¡± I said and walked over to Kara and knelt by her. ¡°I''m sorry I had to do that to you.¡± I said to her unconscious form and took her Light sword. I popped it apart and took the crystal from it and added it to my father''s Light sword and stashed it away.


    ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± Gruskluan asked.


    ¡°I''m going to do the job you couldn''t.¡± I said and stood. ¡°I''m going to hunt down your hunter and get my things back.¡±


    ¡°You... are not leaving... this planet!¡± The scaly alien exclaimed.


    ¡°Yeah, you can''t tell me what to do anymore, Stumpy.¡± I said and picked up his severed arm and waved at him with it. ¡°Buh-bye!¡± I said and tossed him his arm, and he tried to catch it with his immobilized hand. I laughed as he tried to hold onto the severed arm and it fell to the floor, then he followed it and dropped to the floor himself to try and keep a hold of it.


    ¡°Are you really going to hunt (Undecipherable) down?¡± Gruskluan asked and tried not to stare at his fellow council member as he struggled fruitlessly.


    ¡°I need my mother''s locket back, so yes.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then you can take the prepped shuttle.¡± Gruskluan said. ¡°There''s a long haul transport in orbit. If you use it to get to the Shara Nebula...¡±


    ¡°Oh, he''s not there.¡± I said to their surprise.


    ¡°But... our info...¡±


    ¡°...is completely biased and flawed.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll follow the actual trail and not the one he''s laid out for you to follow.¡± I walked over to the energy wall and looked at the guards on the other side of it. ¡°I have no real beef with you, except that I didn''t learn any new fighting techniques while I stayed in the barracks.¡± I said. ¡°Would you mind if I borrowed a few weapons?¡±


    The guard looked at the council and they didn''t object, so he held out his pistol and rifle.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and absorbed the wall and took the two guns and hooked them to my belt, then I turned to the council. ¡°I won''t be coming back here, not even for the reward on (Undecipherable)''s head.¡±


    ¡°It''s significant.¡± Gruskluan said. ¡°If you send proof.¡±


    ¡°When I send you his head, give the reward to Lashina.¡± I said. ¡°She''s the only one still here that genuinely cared about me as a person and not what I could potentially become.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that we have to put a bounty on your head for this.¡± One of the other council members said and motioned at the room and held up their immobilized hands.


    ¡°Well, considering you were sending me to fight a bounty hunter that specializes in killing Order members for my very first mission, having you continue to try and have me killed is no big deal.¡±


    ¡°You... actually believe that.¡±


    ¡°I always did.¡± I said, to their surprise. ¡°I knew you weren''t going to let me go, even when I was of legal age and could make my own decisions.¡± I said. ¡°Both of my parents were rogues in your eyes, and you failed to reform me after holding me prisoner for twelve years.¡±


    ¡°You weren''t a prisoner.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t allowed to leave, despite being judged able to live on my own. You''ve even denied my coming of age ceremony.¡± I said. ¡°You can keep deluding yourselves if you want; but, I''ve been your prisoner all these years... and now I''m leaving.¡±


    No one said anything in response, so I covered myself in Presence and used Stealth to erase myself from their perception and left the council chamber. I used Presence Run to leave the building and no one saw me as I went to the administration building and went behind the desk. I used the Sleep technique on the woman there and used Emari''s password to enter the system and checked all of the records for ship movements from a year ago.


    I couldn''t spell (Undecipherable)''s name, so I looked for shuttle transfers like the one I would be using today, and cross-referenced it with missing ships. I found three possible leads with the ship''s manifests and passenger lists, copied the relevant information to my datapad, then cleared the search. I woke the woman without her seeing me and left the building, then ran over to the prepped shuttle that was waiting for me. I closed the hatch and went to the cockpit.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°I''m the only passenger.¡± I told the pilot, and he didn''t question the change in the number of passengers. I was tempted to fly the thing myself, since I had some practice with it; but, I didn''t know the proper procedures for takeoff and landing. I sat in the co-pilot seat and watched and listened as he went through the checklist and talked to traffic control. When he was given permission to lift, he did so professionally and we shot up into orbit in only a few minutes. He didn''t try to engage me in idle chit-chat and I didn''t try to distract him from his job.


    I saw what looked like a long rectangle with a small bubble at the front, and that was what we headed towards. As we approached it, the size and scale dwarfed the shuttle and my eyes took a few minutes to adjust to the fact that things in space were very difficult to judge their size without any frame of reference nearby. I knew the size of the shuttle, so by using its size as a reference, the bubble at the front was the size of an apartment building. I couldn''t even guess at what the rest of the ship was the size of. A large loading hatch opened and the shuttle floated inside and landed. A docking hatch on the side of the wall extended and formed a seal over the shuttle''s hatch, and the pilot shut everything down.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I''m your assigned pilot.¡± The man said. ¡°Where you go, I go.¡±


    ¡°I can''t let you do that.¡± I said and stood up.


    ¡°You can''t let me do my job?¡± The man asked and slipped off his helmet and hung it on the back of his seat. He had short scruffy black hair and a thick moustache.


    ¡°I''m not going where The Order told me to go.¡± I said.


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Before you keep trying to find an excuse to kick me off of my own shuttle...¡± The man stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. ¡°...Lashina said she misses you already.¡±


    I just looked at him with wide eyes and he laughed.


    ¡°Damn, I just lost twenty credits.¡± The man said. ¡°I bet her that you would curse.¡±


    ¡°Lashina sent you?¡± I asked, stupidly.


    ¡°Sent?¡± The man laughed again. ¡°You do know Lashina, right?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°She just told you if the opportunity arose, you should keep an eye on me.¡±


    ¡°You got it in one guess!¡± The man said and let my shoulder go, then held a hand out for me to shake. ¡°My name''s Rhubin Tromazz.¡±


    I took the offered hand and shook it.


    ¡°By the way, I packed the shuttle''s cargo compartment to the bulkheads with supplies.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We won''t need to stop at the relay point.¡±


    ¡°Are you really doing this?¡± I asked. ¡°The council told me that they were putting a bounty on my head.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no! I''ve been coerced by a rogue!¡± Rhubin said in a scared voice, and I laughed.


    ¡°Okay, I have to admit that was good acting.¡±


    ¡°Stick with me and I''ll show you all the best tricks!¡± Rhubin said and walked over to the shuttle''s hatch. ¡°They should have sent someone to meet us at the docking umbilical by now.¡± He hit several switches on the panel by the door and nodded. ¡°Good seal... aaaaaand... it''s pressurized.¡±


    ¡°Why did it take so long?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Probably because a lot of the resources on long haul transports are dedicated to living arrangements for the crew and not on luxuries like high-end air pressurizers.¡±


    ¡°You mean if it works, why buy the expensive ones?¡± I asked, and he nodded.


    ¡°If my guess is right, these people run the ship on a shoestring budget.¡±


    ¡°We''re about to step onto a spaceship for an extended voyage and you''re telling me they cut corners to save money?¡± I asked with some incredulity, and he laughed.


    ¡°No, they don''t cut corners or endanger themselves.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I meant that there''s no frills on this flight. They''re frugal, not stupid.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no!¡± I fake gasped. ¡°They aren''t going to serve us meals in our rooms!¡± I said and slapped my hands on the cheeks of my face. ¡°Who''s going to peel my fruit and wash between my toes?!?¡±


    Rhuben was in fits of laughter when the shuttle''s hatch opened and a five foot six inch tall blonde woman stood there.


    ¡°Um... h-hello.¡± The woman said and stared at Rhuben. ¡°Is this a bad time? I could come back when you''re actually ready to disembark.¡±


    That made Rhubin laugh even more.


    ¡°Just ignore the laughing fool for now.¡± I said. ¡°How is the ship? Are we ready to leave?¡±


    ¡°Once we get you stowed away and your shuttle locked down, we can head out.¡±


    ¡°Then lead the way.¡± I said, and she nodded and turned away. I grabbed Rhubin''s arm and pulled him with me as I followed her and closed the hatch.


    ¡°Ooo... oo. I''m okay now.¡± Rhubin said as he calmed down. ¡°That was funny.¡±


    ¡°That''s me, a regular comedian.¡± I said.


    Rhubin barked a laugh. ¡°I wanna meet an irregular comedian now!¡±


    I had to chuckle at that, and we stepped into the ship. The woman closed the hatch and sealed it, then hit the button to depressurize the umbilical. The air was sucked out and it disengaged from the shuttle. I looked out through the window there and saw someone in a thick spacesuit manually turn and apply large docking clamps onto the shuttle''s landing gear.


    ¡°That looks like a pain in the ass.¡± I said, and the woman chuckled.


    ¡°It is a pain in the ass.¡± She said. ¡°We looked into retrofitting the rail system to upgrade it to electronic; but, the damn thing would cost more than the ship.¡± She said. ¡°We even thought about splurging on a heavy maintenance droid for it.¡±


    ¡°Let me guess.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°It kept trying to move the shuttle instead of trying to tie it down.¡±


    The woman laughed. ¡°The sales guy had no idea why the droid kept doing that, no matter how many times he tried to update its programming!¡±


    ¡°Did you get to keep the droid?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°He practically gave it to us.¡± The woman said. ¡°He listed it as defective and even sent word back to the manufacturing plant to check the other bots from the production lines.¡±


    ¡°You put it right into the cargo hold, didn''t you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I sure did! It''s been a blessing, since it has no problems moving stuff around.¡± The woman chuckled. ¡°Come on. We need to get to the cockpit.¡±


    ¡°I assume we''re going to meet the captain?¡± I asked, and she laughed.


    ¡°Oh, he is just going to love you!¡± The woman said and turned away. ¡°Captain! Ha ha!¡±


    We followed her through several hallways and we came to what looked like a large empty lobby with a double-wide ladder off to the side on the bulkhead. I looked up at the ceiling and down at the floor, and I was sure I could see that they were large sealed metal doors and not a ceiling or floor at all.


    ¡°Welcome to the central shaft.¡± The woman said. ¡°There are safety hatches on every level that we keep closed when in port.¡± She said and hopped onto the ladder like she had done it a thousand times. ¡°We open them all up when we''re in flight, though.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Have you ever been in weightlessness?¡±


    ¡°Not since the womb.¡± I said, and she snorted a laugh.


    ¡°That''s a good comparison, actually.¡± She started to climb the ladder and she hit the hatch release, then the large metal door, which was also the ceiling, opened when she approached it. ¡°There''s not really a lot to do on a long haul voyage. Since we always need to save power when not in port, we cut off all the artificial gravity in the non-essential parts of the ship.¡±


    Rhubin and I climbed up the ladder after her.


    ¡°One of the things we do is come here into the central shaft and play games in zero gravity.¡±


    ¡°I like these people already.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°I should tell you to hold your opinion until you meet everyone; but, we''re all good people.¡±


    ¡°Uh oh.¡± I said. ¡°That means there''s a bad apple in the bushel.¡±


    The woman laughed. ¡°Well, I guess Cassie can be a bit melodramatic.¡±


    ¡°I told you.¡± I said to Rhubin, and he laughed, too.


    We climbed through several decks and I gave a cursory glance around with both my eyes and with Presence. I wasn''t surprised that the distance I could detect it was the same, what did surprise me was that in space, I could literally see in three hundred and sixty degrees with Presence.


    On the planet''s surface, I had almost always limited myself by only looking on the same horizontal plane that I was on at the time. If I was in a room, I only looked at the room or the rooms beyond, and not up at the next floor or down to the floor below. I berated myself mentally that I had unintentionally limited myself like that, and also glad that it hadn''t been a detrimental mistake or caused me problems from having such massive blind spots in my perception.


    Well, I know what I''m going to be practising for most of this journey. I thought as we kept climbing up to the floor with the cockpit. It took a little while, and I thought about asking why they didn''t have a lift, then I realized they wouldn''t need a lift if the entire center of the living section didn''t have gravity and all of the security hatches were open most of the time. It was only when they were in port that it was a chore to go from the shuttle dock to the cockpit.


    ¡°Here we are.¡± The woman said and waited for Rhubin and I to cross the floor hatch and she closed it manually. ¡°He''s going to be happy that we''re ahead of schedule.¡±


    I didn''t ask her who she meant, because she jumped off the ladder and walked over to a large security door with a small hatch in it. She typed in a short code and the door popped open. She stepped through the hatch and we followed her into the cockpit. I held in my chuckle as I saw that it was more like a bridge and not a cockpit. Three chairs were arrayed around a large central console and the center chair had someone in it.


    ¡°I''ve got our passengers.¡± The woman said and the center chair turned around to face us. The man was completely unremarkable and could have been in any situation in any chair anywhere, and he would have fit the description of ''he fit right in''.


    ¡°What about the shuttle?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Donny should have the clamps secured by now.¡± The woman said and sat in the far left chair and hit a button. ¡°Donny?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the clamps are secured and I tied the shuttle down for good measure.¡± A man''s voice came out of the speaker by her hand.


    ¡°Thanks, Donny.¡± The woman said. ¡°You better strap into the jump seat by the crew compartment instead of coming up here.¡±


    ¡°I''m already there.¡± Donny said. ¡°I even told Cassie to secure herself.¡±


    ¡°Good going.¡± The woman said. ¡°What about Evelyn?¡±


    ¡°She''s in the medical bay and already has everything locked down.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Donny.¡± The woman said and turned to the man in the center chair. ¡°We''re all good.¡±


    ¡°What about us?¡± I asked.


    The man pointed at a small row of folding seats against the bulkhead. ¡°Strap in and get ready to pull some G''s.¡± He said. ¡°We''re already ahead of schedule because you boarded so fast and I fully intend to stay ahead of schedule.¡±


    Rhubin and I went to the seats and he showed me how to strap in without hurting myself.


    The man in the center chair turned to his console and hit a button. ¡°All hands, prepare for acceleration burn.¡± He said and flicked several switches, pushed some buttons apparently at random, then grunted and hit the button again. ¡°Here we go.¡±


    The man''s hand hit a huge red button and the whole ship vibrated. I was pretty sure it was the engines igniting, then he grabbed a set of levers and pushed them forward. My whole body was pressed into the jump seat at about six times my normal weight, and I used Presence to reinforce my body to take the strain. The massive ship started to move slowly, then it started to gain momentum.


    We were on our way.

 Book One: The Presence 023

    The long haul ship left orbit and started to go faster. I glanced at Rhubin and thought about reinforcing his body to help with the strain, and I saw that he had a huge smile on his face.


    I guess he''s enjoying it. I thought and looked at the other two people. Neither the man nor the woman seemed to be bothered by having their bodies weigh six times its normal weight. They were checking readouts and flicking switches with only a little difficulty.


    I closed my eyes and only used my Detect Presence technique and saw that they were glowing a little more than normal, and I realized that they were either reinforcing themselves with Presence on purpose or their brains were doing it automatically. After almost twenty minutes, the contents of the ship, including us, caught up to the ship''s new speed and the pressure on us lessened.


    The blonde woman hit a button. ¡°We''re almost at equilibrium.¡± She said and her voice came out of the speakers above my head. ¡°We should be out of the planet''s gravity well in three minutes.¡±


    ¡°Hot damn!¡± A crackly voice responded out of the speaker by her hand. ¡°We''ll really get cooking then!¡±


    ¡°Donny, cut the chatter.¡± The man in the center chair, the captain, said with his finger on a button.


    ¡°Why? This is a blast!¡± Donny responded.


    ¡°We''re trying to impress our Order guests.¡± The captain grumbled.


    Donny''s laugh sounded harsh from the speaker. ¡°They''re paying us for transport, not a show!¡±


    The captain sighed and started to look my way, then changed his mind and kept looking forward. ¡°Just check the cargo when we''re in open space.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, boss!¡± Donny said.


    If he had turned all the way, he would have seen my smile. I thought. The three minutes passed quickly and I no longer felt heavy.


    The woman touched the button again. ¡°Equilibrium in three... two... one. Okay, we''re all green!¡±


    There were three successive clicks from the speaker by her hand and she nodded.


    ¡°Three crew members all respond A-Okay.¡± She said and hit the strap release on her harness. ¡°Whew! We''re finally on our way.¡±


    ¡°How are the jump coordinates shaping up?¡± The captain asked and released his own harness.


    ¡°We''ve had a solution for the Lagrange point since we entered the system.¡± The woman said as she hit several buttons and pulled three different levers. ¡°As long as we stay on course, the computer only needs to check the reference points and it won''t need to recalculate.¡±


    The captain nodded and touched the button to speak. ¡°All right, everyone. You know the drill. Let''s get to work.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything we can help with?¡± I asked and hit the release on my harness and stood up, then Rhubin did the same.


    The woman stood up and came over to us. ¡°It''s just a quick sweep to see if we have any stowaways.¡±


    I looked at her with raised eyebrows, and she chuckled.


    ¡°You''re wondering why we didn''t check in port?¡± She asked, and I nodded. ¡°People can hide just about anywhere. After going through twenty-five minutes of acceleration like that and not being strapped in? Would you be able to hide successfully?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said, and it was her turn to look at me with raised eyebrows.


    ¡°Enough small talk.¡± The captain said and walked over to the hatch. ¡°Either sit still or help.¡±


    ¡°We''re right behind you.¡± I said. Plus, it''ll be great practice for my Detect Presence technique.


    When we reached what I had thought was the lobby the first time I saw it, the central shaft, all of the large metal hatches were open throughout the ship.


    ¡°Good god.¡± I whispered as I looked ''down'' the shaft. I didn''t see the woman''s reaction to my words; but, I did hear her take in a sharp breath.


    ¡°Be careful stepping out.¡± The captain said and held onto a handhold and stepped into the open air and floated there, then he pulled himself along the large double-wide ladder to the ''top'' of the ship. The woman told us to start at the middle floors and to work our way back up to the cockpit. She also warned us to not overdo our movements.


    ¡°Rhubin''s a great pilot.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sure he''s had lots of experience in zero-g.¡±


    ¡°What about you?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°I''ll be fine.¡± I said to her as I stepped out into the central shaft without holding onto a handhold.


    ¡°Hey, wait! You can''t...¡± She stopped talking when I stopped about four feet out and turned around in mid-air to face her. ¡°How are you doing that?!?¡±


    ¡°The Presence and I have been friends for a long time.¡± I said and held my hand out. ¡°Rhubin? Need a launchpad?¡±


    Rhubin laughed and stepped out as he took my hand, then he turned himself upside down and pushed off towards our designated area to search. I hadn''t moved at all and the woman stared at me.


    ¡°Ma''am?¡± I asked and held my hand out to her. ¡°Need a boost?¡±


    The woman stepped forward and took my hand. ¡°My name''s Luxea.¡±


    ¡°I''m Ullir.¡± I shook her hand and her whole body moved with the motion, which made her laugh. ¡°I guess I do have to be careful with some movements.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°That would be wise.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''m going down to the lowest level.¡±


    ¡°Mind if I walk you down?¡± I asked, and she chuckled.


    ¡°I''ll take your offer, just so I can see what you''re going to do.¡± Luxea said and pulled herself in close to whisper. ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°I''m physically sixteen.¡± I whispered back, and she widened her eyes. ¡°I''ve had some... bad experiences.¡±


    ¡°I... see.¡± Luxea said and smiled a little sadly. ¡°Then kind sir, please lead me to my destination.¡±


    I put my arms around her and her face flushed slightly red at my tender touch. I knew some things about manoeuvring in space, mainly from science fiction shows, so I used a little bit of Presence to nudge the back of my feet. Luxea''s grip on me tightened as we rotated in place and I pointed our heads ''down'' to where we wanted to go.


    I was tempted to use the Levitation technique; but, I knew that would be way too powerful with no gravity to counter it, so I used Stealth instead. I smiled as the flow of Presence went down my legs and pushed out through the bottom of my feet, as if I was directing the sound of my footsteps away, and it was enough to give us some good velocity. I stopped using it once we were moving, and her eyes stared into mine.


    ¡°H-how are we going to stop?¡± Luxea asked when we were halfway down the central shaft. She sounded worried, and I smiled at her.


    ¡°I''ll catch us.¡± I said.


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°I''ll use the reverse of a child''s training technique.¡± I said. ¡°Instead of grabbing and lifting a ball with Presence, I''ll catch and lower it instead.¡±


    Luxea looked at me with confusion.


    ¡°We''re the ball.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ohhh.¡±


    I chuckled and when we neared the lowest deck, I did just that and ''caught'' us and lowered us to the deck.


    ¡°That was... I... I don''t know what to say!¡± Luxea exclaimed.


    ¡°That was the perfect thing to say.¡± I said. ¡°What hatch do you want to go to?¡±


    Luxea didn''t say anything for a moment, then she pointed to the right.


    ¡°I hope you don''t find anyone.¡± I said and carefully turned her around and very lightly pushed her. Luxea floated over to the hatch and grabbed the handhold, then pulled herself into gravity. She quickly turned around and looked at me again, so I smiled and used the Levitation technique and launched myself up the shaft like a rocket.


    ¡°By the goddess!¡± Luxea exclaimed.


    I chuckled and used Presence to rotate myself, then used the Levitation technique again to stop my momentum. I floated up to the floor of my designated search area and nudged myself over to the side of the shaft and stepped onto the deck.


    Okay, here we go. I thought and closed my eyes. My detection range wasn''t much larger than normal; but, I could ''see'' all around me and that took some getting used to. If I didn''t concentrate hard enough to add the proper colors and shapes to everything, it was like walking inside a wire-frame world. If you weren''t careful, you could lose all sense of perspective. I had been doing it for about a decade by this point in time, so my mind had a firm grasp on how things were supposed to look.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    I searched three floors at a time and used the available maps on the bulkheads in the central shaft to find my way around. I hadn''t been in a large spaceship before, so I knew there were hidden dangers that I needed to be wary of. I was glad that my Detect Presence technique meant that I didn''t need to enter any of the rooms to check their contents and that significantly sped up my search. I even had time to enter all of the information into my datapad.


    I moved up to every third floor and searched them, which overlapped Rhubin''s search, and I quickly made it back up to the cockpit before anyone else. I sat down on the jump seat I had used during the ship''s acceleration out of port and patiently waited. It took over an hour for everyone else to make it back up to the cockpit.


    ¡°Ullir! There you are!¡± Rhubin said when he saw me. ¡°What happened to you?¡±


    ¡°I finished searching the ship an hour ago.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Such a kidder.¡±


    ¡°I''m not kidding.¡± I said and held up my datapad with the improvised ship''s schematics on it and I marked all the places I had searched. ¡°I didn''t find anyone.¡±


    ¡°Let me see that.¡± The captain said and walked over to me and held out his own datapad. I sent him the necessary files and he quickly scanned them. ¡°Damn, boy!¡± He said and chuckled. ¡°Where have you been all my life?¡±


    ¡°I was four when The Order killed my parents, kidnapped me, and held me captive on their home planet.¡± I said and was greeted with complete silence. ¡°Don''t worry. It''s not a secret or anything.¡±


    Rhubin sighed. ¡°Ullir, you can''t just go around spouting these things.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°It''s a rogue mentality to state things regardless of the consequences, that''s why.¡± The captain said. ¡°Are you a rogue, boy?¡±


    ¡°In the eyes of The Order, yes.¡± I said, and everyone stared at me. ¡°I''m just being myself, though.¡±


    ¡°Ullir.¡± Rhubin sighed again.


    ¡°It''s best to get it out in the open.¡± I said and stood. ¡°A member of The Order went rogue a year ago and stole something precious to me. I defied the council and left, thankfully before they could initiate me into their organization.¡± I looked at their shocked faces. ¡°Now I''m on a mission to hunt down a black horned blue-skinned alien bastard called (Undecipherable).¡±


    No one said anything, so I turned and looked at the captain.


    ¡°Captain.¡± I said and saw his surprised face. ¡°We don''t have to go to the Shara Nebula like The Order told you to.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank the Goddess.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I hate going there!¡±


    ¡°Everyone does.¡± A woman''s voice said and I looked at her. She had her brown hair tied up in a bun on the back of her head and she was the first person I had seen that wore glasses. ¡°Some might even call it a phobia.¡±


    ¡°Are we really going to listen to this guy without any proof?¡± The young woman with her red hair tied up in a ponytail asked. ¡°If we don''t go there, we could be charged with defying The Order!¡±


    I guessed correctly that this was the melodramatic Cassie and smiled. ¡°Rhubin? That''s your cue.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no! I''ve been coerced by a rogue!¡± Rhubin said in a scared voice that was a perfect copy of how he had said it to me inside the shuttle. After a moment, everyone laughed, even Cassie.


    ¡°We should record that.¡± The captain said with a bark of laughter. ¡°All right.¡± He turned to his crew. ¡°You all know that going there was a major diversion from our normal shipping route and we were going to suffer a significant delay in our shipping schedule because of it.¡±


    ¡°The compensation The Order offered barely covers the late fees and penalties for not delivering on time.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''m all for skipping that part of the journey, especially since we would have to come back here to get the money.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to see the nebula with my own eyes.¡± Donny said, and the rest of the crew glared at him. He chuckled and held his hands up in surrender. ¡°That''s okay. I''ll keep my curiosity to myself and vote with you guys.¡±


    ¡°Pussy.¡± Cassie said and looked at the captain. ¡°I reluctantly have to agree that we won''t make any money and we''ll lose some reputation with the new clients if we have to pay them to take the shipment they ordered.¡± She said. ¡°I''ll vote with the majority here, Dad.¡±


    Dad? I thought and looked back at the unremarkable man. He was completely generic in every way, so I looked back at Cassie to compare them. She had a nice figure, even in the loose jumpsuit, her face was quite striking and she looked to be about eighteen. ¡°Your mother must have been very beautiful.¡± I said out loud by mistake and Cassie''s face turned bright red.


    ¡°She really was.¡± The captain said and turned to me. ¡°I''m glad someone else besides me can see her in my daughter.¡± He said and held a hand out to me. ¡°I''m Adurus. People call me Rus.¡± He said and pointed to his daughter. ¡°That''s Cassiopeia.¡±


    ¡°DAD!¡± Cassie yelled, her face still red. ¡°Not my full name!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, sweety.¡± Rus said and pointed to the man beside his daughter. ¡°The bald guy is Donny, obviously.¡±


    ¡°Hey.¡± Donny said. ¡°I hope it''s fun being on the run with you.¡±


    ¡°That''s kind of an odd request.¡± I said, and he laughed.


    Rus pointed to the woman with glasses. ¡°That''s Evelyn. She''s our resident med-tech.¡±


    ¡°Hi.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°I agree with the others. I might get to use my skills for more than just cuts and bruises if we''re on the run.¡±


    ¡°Yep! I definitely like these people!¡± Rhubin said, and several of them chuckled.


    ¡°Last, but not least, is Luxea.¡± Rus said. ¡°The best first officer a captain could have.¡±


    ¡°Here we go.¡± Luxea rolled her eyes. ¡°You can butter me up all you want, Rus. I''m still not sleeping with you.¡±


    ¡°You''ll give in one of these days.¡± Rus said in what he thought was a seductive voice. It wasn''t.


    ¡°Geez, Dad!¡± Cassie exclaimed. ¡°Keep it in your pants! What are our guests going to think?¡±


    ¡°Speaking of us.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I''m Rhubin, shuttle pilot extraordinaire, and this is Apprentice Ullir.¡±


    ¡°Just Ullir.¡± I corrected. ¡°I can change into some normal clothes now that I don''t have to wear these ridiculous robes anymore.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Rus asked. ¡°Wouldn''t being an Apprentice help with looking for (Undecipherable)?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°If he gets word that The Order is looking for him, he''ll run or go into hiding.¡± I said. ¡°Now, if it was someone who was curious about a rogue that managed to get away from The Order and perhaps wanted to join him...¡±


    ¡°Ooo, sneaky.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°When do we start building your fake identity?¡±


    ¡°We just did.¡± I said, and he chuckled. ¡°You don''t happen to have normal clothes on the shuttle, do you?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I could only get pilot uniforms, Order robes and Apprentice robes.¡± He said. ¡°I''ve got a storage crate full of each of them.¡±


    ¡°We have tons of crew jumpsuits onboard.¡± Rus said. ¡°You''re welcome to help yourselves to them.¡± He turned to Cassie. ¡°Why don''t you take them to their sleeping compartments and show them where the spare uniforms are.¡±


    ¡°All right. Fine.¡± Cassie sighed. ¡°I''ll show them around and then I''ll be the Rogue Ambassador for the ship.¡±


    ¡°That''s the spirit!¡± Rus said.


    ¡°Dad, I was joking.¡±


    ¡°I don''t care, Ms. Ambassador!¡± Rus laughed. ¡°You''re stuck with the job now! Ha ha!¡±


    Cassie rolled her eyes at her father and looked at me. ¡°You heard him. Let''s go.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Ms. Ambassador.¡± I said in a completely serious tone of voice and walked over to her. She was only a couple of inches shorter than me and I stopped in front of her. She looked into my eyes to see if I was joking, and I gave her serious eyes back.


    ¡°Does the job come with additional pay?¡± Cassie asked me.


    ¡°I don''t have a source of income at the moment.¡± I said, then chuckled. ¡°I guess I need to start thinking about what I''m going to do for the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°You really did just strike out on your own, didn''t you?¡± Cassie asked me, and I nodded. ¡°Then... for the first little while... until you can get your feet under you... I''ll wave my ambassadorial fees.¡±


    ¡°That''s mighty kind of you.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll be in your care until then.¡±


    Cassie stared into my eyes for a moment longer, then she turned away and walked to the security door. Both Rhubin and I followed her and she took us down two levels to the crew compartment and opened the door. We went inside and she pointed to the closest hatch.


    ¡°Single man bunk and clothing storage for one person.¡± Cassie said and pointed to the one next to it. ¡°Double bunk with clothing storage for two people.¡±


    ¡°I spent a year staying in a guard barracks once.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to pass on sharing a room.¡±


    Cassie looked at me and I thought I saw disappointment on her face.


    ¡°I''m passing, too.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°More privacy if it''s a small room with a single bunk.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± I said.


    Cassie smiled a little. ¡°Okay, that I understand.¡± She said. ¡°You''re going to want the first one and the hatch on the end.¡±


    ¡°I''ll take portside.¡± Rhubin said and walked down to the hatch on the end. ¡°I like having a room with a view.¡± He said. ¡°I''ll go out to the shuttle later and get a few replacement uniforms for myself.¡±


    ¡°That means this one is mine.¡± I said and tapped the hatch closest to the central shaft. ¡°Now I just need clothes.¡±


    ¡°Right here.¡± Cassie said and stepped to the wall opposite my new quarters and touched an unlit panel. She opened it and pulled a lever, and a section of the wall popped out and slid aside to reveal a large closet that was full of jumpsuits, gloves, helmets, towels, bed linens, and a whole bunch of other things. She looked at my height and then at the racks of jumpsuits.


    ¡°This should fit.¡± Cassie said as she picked one and then handed it to me.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and looked over the contents of the closet. ¡°I don''t see any underwear.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Cassie blinked her eyes and looked into the closet.


    ¡°The jumpsuit cloth seems a bit too rough for me to wear completely nude.¡± I said, and her face went a little red as she turned her head and looked back at me. ¡°Hold on, you''re completely nude under your jumpsuit?¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡± Cassie''s face turned fully red as she lied.


    I reached out and put my hand on her lower back as I felt Presence gathering there. She must be sensitive in this spot. I thought. ¡°I''m not making fun of you. If you like that kind of thing, it''s okay.¡±


    ¡°I...it''s not... I was just in a hurry to change and...¡±


    ¡°I said it''s okay.¡± I said and made small circles on her back. It was something Emari did to me sometimes, during a particularly difficult lesson, to calm the Presence within me. It''s funny how little things like that stick with you. I thought. ¡°There''s no need to be embarrassed.¡±


    ¡°But... I''m... and you...¡± Cassie kept looking into my eyes and I was sure she could feel the tingling of Presence at the base of her spine.


    ¡°You want me to give you a hug after I get changed, don''t you?¡± I asked.


    Cassie caught her breath and she tried to hide her slight shiver.


    Her flow of Presence is quite strong for someone completely untrained. I thought as I turned her body towards me and stepped close. ¡°Is there underwear hidden somewhere, or will I have to... do what you''re doing... until I can get some from the shuttle?¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Cassie took in a breath and let it out. ¡°I''m sure that... there should be some... in one of the drawers.¡±


    ¡°Shall I step back and watch you look for some?¡± I guessed, and she didn''t even hesitate in her response.


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± Cassie said. ¡°I think... you''d like that, wouldn''t you?¡±


    ¡°Very much.¡± I said, playing along with what I thought was a bit of a fetish for her. ¡°I appreciate beauty whenever I see it.¡±


    Cassie took in another breath and nodded slightly, so I let her go and stepped back to stand next to my sleeping compartment''s hatch. She tried to keep my face in sight as she turned around and started to check the top drawers.


    ¡°I doubt they would be in there.¡± I said, playing along. ¡°Try one of the bottom ones.¡±


    ¡°O-okay.¡± Cassie said.


    As Cassie bent over, her jumpsuit pulled up tightly and she didn''t try to bend her legs at all to ease the tension in the cloth. It formed snugly over her shapely backside and gave me a great view between her legs. She looked up at my face and I made sure that I was staring right where she wanted me to, and I saw her visibly shake and a dampness started to form where I was looking.


    Cassie moved along and was opening drawers at random, without even checking the contents, and she was quite aroused by the time she had opened the last drawer. She stood up with her face bright red and she turned to look at me as she leaned against the open closet compartment.


    ¡°It seems I might have to go without underwear.¡± I said.


    Cassie closed her eyes took several breaths to try and calm down. When it looked like she was getting herself under control, she spoke. ¡°I guess so.¡±


    ¡°I''m going to need a shower, too.¡± I said to tease her.


    Cassie gasped and put a hand over her crotch. ¡°Oh! I... I... I need to go!¡± She said and quickly walked over to the hallway hatch and stepped out and disappeared from sight.


    ¡°Damn, Ullir.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°How the hell did you do that?¡±


    ¡°I''m not sure.¡± I said. ¡°I just... when I touched her back, I could almost feel what she wanted.¡±


    ¡°I''d ask you to teach me that trick if I thought you could!¡± Rhubin laughed. ¡°By the way, there''s piles of underwear for both men and women in the third drawer there.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said, and we both laughed.

 Book One: The Presence 024

    I grabbed a pair of underwear and walked over to the other side of the deck to where the crew showers were. ¡°No wonder Cassie reacted like that.¡± I chuckled when I saw that it was just a large open area with shower heads spread out along the bulkhead. ¡°There''s no privacy at all here.¡±


    ¡°Welcome to Long Haul Shower Etiquette 101.¡± Donny laughed as he came into the compartment. ¡°Eyes up. Lather fast. Rinse quick. Run.¡±


    ¡°Run?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Have you ever been on a long space voyage with unattached women?¡± Donny asked as he pulled out a basket-like tray and dumped his tools and things into it.


    ¡°No.¡± I said.


    ¡°Whew. Well.¡± Donny said and unzipped the jumpsuit he wore. ¡°Unless you''re good at handling very horny women, they are going to eat you alive.¡±


    ¡°Am I speaking to a victim or a survivor?¡± I asked, and he laughed. I pulled out a tray for myself and carefully put everything I had on me into it, including the jumpsuit and clean underwear, then covered it in Presence and made it solid.


    ¡°Luckily, they know I''ve got a weird sense of humor and they''ll only pay me attention if I pay them attention first.¡±


    ¡°So, it doesn''t really matter if you''re interested in them or not?¡± I asked.


    ¡°After a few months of being alone out here in the depths of space, you''re gonna start thinking that anything is ''interesting'', if you get my meaning.¡± Donny said and grinned.


    ¡°I think I do.¡± I said and pulled off my robes. ¡°Just so we''re clear, I''m not interested at all.¡±


    ¡°HA!¡± Donny barked a laugh and walked over to the closest shower and hit the button. He was covered in soap and in less than a minute, he was scrubbed and rinsed off.


    ¡°Okay, that was impressive.¡± I said. ¡°Only my guardian could do that faster.¡±


    ¡°I''ve had a lot of practice.¡± Donny said and grabbed a towel. ¡°Have fun, kid.¡±


    ¡°What do you...¡± I stopped talking as Luxea walked into the compartment and Donny grabbed his tray and walked out.


    ¡°Hi.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Are you getting settled in?¡±


    ¡°I only just found underwear.¡± I said and pointed to the tray, and she laughed.


    ¡°Cassie is such a tease.¡± Luxea said, immediately guessing what had happened. She grabbed a tray and put her things in it, then unzipped her jumpsuit. She turned to face me as she did and the cloth slowly parted to show off some of her cleavage. ¡°Are you going to just stand there and stare at me, or are you going to get a shower, too?¡±


    ¡°That depends on if you want me to stare or if I should do what Donny said.¡± I responded.


    ¡°What did he say to do?¡± Luxea asked and eased the jumpsuit off of her shoulders and held it in place with a hand just above her breasts.


    ¡°Eyes up. Lather fast. Rinse quick. Run.¡± I said, word for word, and she laughed again.


    ¡°All right, I can''t argue that''s not a smart way to act.¡± Luxea said, and then she let her jumpsuit go and let it fall to the floor. ¡°Are you going to do that?¡±


    ¡°I''ve promised my first time to a good friend.¡± I said right away, and she nodded.


    ¡°It''s good to keep your word.¡± Luxea said and stepped out of the jumpsuit and walked over to one of the shower heads. ¡°I hope it doesn''t come back to haunt you.¡±


    ¡°I''ve waited this long, I can wait a little more.¡± I said as I put my robes in another tray and pulled off my long sleeved t-shirt and tossed it on top. I pulled off my tight-like pants next and put them on the pile, and with Detect Presence active, I saw that Luxea watched me as I undressed. I took off my underwear next and added it to the tray, then I walked over to the shower head right next to hers. She stared at me with raised eyebrows, looked down at my exposed and very well muscled body, which was from all of the intense physical training I''ve done, then she looked back up at my face.


    I hit the button for the soap to cover me, then sighed. ¡°I forgot the tie in my hair.¡± I said and turned my back to her. ¡°Would you mind?¡±


    ¡°N-no, of course not.¡± Luxea said and reached up to my hair and fumbled with it, then managed to get it untied. She didn''t hesitate to run her hands through my long dirty blonde hair and fluffed it out.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and turned back to the shower and lathered up. It took a bit longer to do that with having to do my hair as well, and Luxea stood there and watched me the entire time. I turned on the water and rinsed off, and I could see that Presence had gathered in different spots on her body. Surprisingly, it wasn''t at her breasts or pubic area. One area was at the nape of her neck and the other was at her belly button.


    I could clearly see that she was aroused as well. I don''t think she has ever had someone just wash themselves solely for her enjoyment. I thought and turned to her. ¡°Is your shower broken?¡±


    ¡°Hm? What?¡± Luxea blinked her eyes for a moment and managed to take her eyes off of my body and looked into my eyes. ¡°Are you really sixteen?¡±


    ¡°Today is my birthday.¡± I said, and she caught her breath. ¡°I better go dry off.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, you... you probably should.¡± Luxea said.


    I gave her a slight bow, which made her catch her breath again, and I walked over to the towel rack and stood there for several minutes as I dried myself off completely. I saved my hair for last and dried it as much as I could, and when I put the towel down, I heard her gasp.


    ¡°Let me brush your hair!¡± Luxea said and came over to me. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°Don''t you need to shower?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh! Yes, I should.¡± Luxea said, sadly.


    ¡°I can wait.¡± I said and slipped on the clean pair of underwear.


    Luxea gave me a warm smile and walked back over to the shower and she was as quick as Donny was in lathering and rinsing. I held in my laugh as she quickly came back and instead of drying off, she just wrapped a towel around her body and one around her hair, picked up her tray, and took my hand.


    ¡°My sleeping berth is up on the next level.¡± Luxea said.


    I stacked up my two trays and picked them up and tucked them under my arm and she led me from the shower and into the central shaft. She didn''t even bother trying to use the handhold as she jumped up and out into weightlessness. I chuckled as she dragged me with her and we floated up to the next level in a perfect line and landed on the deck.


    ¡°You''ve done that before.¡± I commented, and she laughed.


    ¡°Only a few times.¡± Luxea said and used her elbow to turn the handle on the hatch to open it. She took me into the hallway and down to the end, then she had to put her tray down as she opened the hatch. ¡°It sticks and I can''t use just my elbow.¡± She said in explanation, then picked up her tray, dragged me inside and shut the hatch.


    I put my trays down on the floor, out of the way, and waited for her to tell me where to sit.


    ¡°Give me a minute.¡± Luxea said and tucked her tray onto a small shelf, then she quickly tidied up the place and shoved things away and out of sight.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°This is supposed to be a double bunk compartment, isn''t it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It still is.¡± Luxea said. ¡°The top bunk stores when it''s not needed and the compartment is almost twice as big as the single bunk.¡±


    ¡°One of the perks of being the first officer?¡± I asked, and she chuckled.


    ¡°No. I stay here so that when we have a few extra passengers and have to share, I don''t have to move all of my stuff.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°That''s pretty smart.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Luxea said and went to the shelf above her bunk. She moved a couple little things around and picked up a huge wooden paddle-like thing.


    ¡°I thought you were going to brush my hair, not beat me to death.¡± I joked, and she laughed as she turned it around to show me all of the thick bristles.


    ¡°I saw all that hair and it''s desperate need to be brushed!¡± Luxea said.


    I chuckled. ¡°Yes, it''s my hair that has the desperate need.¡±


    Luxia pointed to her bunk and I sat down on the edge of it, and she climbed onto it behind me and knelt. ¡°This might take a while.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have any plans to be anywhere.¡± I said. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°I''m off-shift until tomorrow morning.¡± Luxea said and started at the end of my hair and did little strokes with the huge brush.


    ¡°Then we have a bit of spare time to waste.¡± I said and closed my eyes. I concentrated on the flow of Presence in the small compartment and it was pretty sparse. I guess being so far away from a planet would reduce the amount of Presence floating around. I thought. I''ll have to be careful if I try to absorb it to use.


    ¡°Thank you for this, Ullir.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I haven''t combed someone''s hair in a long time.¡±


    ¡°What about Cassie?¡± I asked.


    ¡°She never takes her hair out of the ponytail.¡± Luxea said. ¡°In the central shaft without gravity, it goes... well, everywhere.¡±


    ¡°I can imagine.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Even on the planet, I had to keep the ponytail so that my hair was easier to keep under control.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t you ever get it cut?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°It''s a part of me.¡± I said. ¡°It grew from me and parts of me are in it, and if I cut it off and discarded it, it would be like losing part of myself.¡±


    Luxea stopped brushing my hair, then she leaned forward and hugged me from behind as she rested her chin on my shoulder. ¡°You really can use and manipulate Presence, can''t you?¡± Her towel had mysteriously disappeared and she pressed her bare breasts against my back.


    ¡°Ever since I was a child.¡± I said.


    ¡°Can you show me something?¡± Luxea whispered in my ear and she shifted her body slightly to rub her nipples on my back.


    ¡°I already did that.¡± I said.


    Luxea lightly kissed my cheek. ¡°That was then, this is now.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said and used Presence Hand to pull the towel off of her head and her medium length blonde hair fell down onto us.


    ¡°Hey, what...¡± Luxea let me go and leaned back to look up at the towel that hung in the air. ¡°Are you doing that?¡±


    I turned around and saw the Presence that was gathered at her neck glowed a little more brightly than it had before. I reached out with a fingertip and touched the spot.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Luxea gasped and put a hand on mine and her other hand down between her legs as she looked at my face. ¡°How did you know I''m sensitive there?¡±


    I didn''t say anything as I gathered a little bit of Presence into my fingertip and pushed it into her through that spot. I had done something similar with Lashina and I wondered if it would work with someone else.


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± Luxea breathed as she tried not to moan. ¡°What... oh, my...¡±


    I traced my fingertip down her body towards what I believed to be another erogenous zone and her breath sped up.


    ¡°Ullir... oh... w-wait... wait.¡± Luxea said and caught my hand before it touched her belly button. ¡°If you''re saving yourself for a special someone, you can''t be doing sexual things with other women.¡±


    ¡°Like letting them comb my hair or letting them watch me as I shower?¡±


    ¡°Ye...¡± Luxea stopped talking and smiled. ¡°I thought it was me that was trying to seduce you.¡±


    ¡°I swear to god that I wasn''t trying to seduce you.¡± I said, and she covered her mouth.


    ¡°You... you shouldn''t say such things.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I just thought you hadn''t had anyone just treat you normally in the shower.¡± I said. ¡°Someone that didn''t try to hide or just let you look as much as you wanted.¡±


    ¡°I... I haven''t.¡±


    ¡°I haven''t had someone brush my hair in years.¡± I said, thinking back to Emari. ¡°When you offered to do it out of the blue like that, well...¡±


    ¡°You like it, too.¡± Luxea said, and I nodded. ¡°Then what was this?¡± She asked and lifted her hand from between her legs and showed me that her fingers were wet.


    ¡°The one I''m saving myself for, showed me that she enjoyed feeling my Presence.¡± I said. ¡°It wasn''t sexual for the most part. It just made her feel good.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it definitely felt good.¡± Luxea said and looked at her other hand where she had stopped my progress on her belly. ¡°But... you were...¡±


    ¡°I was aiming for your belly button.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t mean to make you nervous.¡±


    ¡°My belly button?¡± Luxea looked down at it. ¡°Why there?¡±


    I don''t think she knows it''s a Presence focus point for her. I thought. ¡°If I may?¡±


    Luxea let my hand go and I didn''t bother trying to drag it the rest of the way. I gathered a little more Presence into my fingertip and poked her belly button with it and pushed my Presence into her.


    ¡°Gah!¡± Luxea gasped and warm liquid poured out from between her legs. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around me, then panted as her body trembled.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked. ¡°I didn''t hurt you, did I?¡±


    ¡°By... by the goddess... n-no, I''m not hurt.¡± Luxea said and tried to even her breath out. ¡°I''m not hurt at all.¡±


    ¡°Can I ask what happened?¡±


    Luxea didn''t say anything as she let me go and rubbed herself between her legs, then she spoke. ¡°Open your mouth.¡±


    ¡°What? Why would... muh!¡± I stopped talking when she lifted her hand and shoved her wet fingers into my mouth.


    ¡°That''s what happened.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I haven''t finished like that in a long time.¡±


    I wanted to ask her what she meant by ''finished''; but, she still had her fingers in my mouth. I didn''t want to start drooling on her or the bed, so I closed my mouth and sucked.


    ¡°Mmm.¡± Luxea said and slid close. ¡°L-lick them, too.¡±


    I didn''t have a lot of room to do that, so I just flicked my tongue on the bottom of her fingers and she closed her eyes.


    ¡°Oh... oh, yes. Just like that.¡± Luxea said as she put her other hand between her legs. ¡°Mmm!¡±


    I wasn''t sure why she was enjoying it so much, so I gathered another little bit of Presence onto my fingertip and waited for a moment, then poked her belly button again and shoved Presence into her.


    ¡°GAH!¡± Luxea gasped and her whole body shook. She was breathing heavily and she didn''t open her eyes as she took her fingers from my mouth and laid back onto the bunk.


    ¡°Luxea? Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡± Luxea said. ¡°By the Goddess, no.¡± She took several deep breath and opened her eyes to stare at me. ¡°Ullir, you... you can''t do that anymore.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Yes, it felt good.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It felt really, really good.¡± She said. ¡°So good that... I think... I''d give up everything to... to just...¡± She shook her head. ¡°Don''t do this with anyone else. Not even me.¡±


    ¡°Luxea...¡±


    Luxea tried to sit up, and she couldn''t gather the strength. I reached for her hand and she pulled it away. ¡°If you intend to save yourself for your special someone, you can''t just casually do what you just did.¡±


    I opened my mouth to ask her why it felt that good, then decided that staying ignorant for now was the best choice. ¡°I promise.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank the Goddess.¡± Luxea said and closed her eyes. ¡°Ullir.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I can''t... finish your hair... right now.¡± Luxea said and yawned loudly.


    ¡°That''s okay. I think you''ve had enough of my company for a while.¡±


    Luxea chuckled for barely a moment, then she started to snore.


    That really wiped her out. I thought and saw that the two spots that had Presence inside her were barely glowing at all. Well, there''s more proof that if you use up too much Presence, you''ll fall unconscious until you recover.


    I picked up the blanket and laid it over her, then I put on the jumpsuit from one of my trays. It fit well, so I opened her sleeping compartment hatch and picked up my stacked trays, then stepped out and shut the hatch. I felt someone approaching and turned to meet them.


    ¡°Damn that old hag!¡± Cassie exclaimed.


    ¡°It''s not what you think.¡± I said.


    ¡°No?¡± Cassie asked. ¡°Your hair is half-messy and you''re carrying a shower tray!¡± She said and pointed at my arm accusingly. ¡°You''d only be doing that if you just came from the shower!¡±


    ¡°Cassie...¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to hear it!¡± Cassie said. ¡°I thought you were different! I thought you liked me and not her! You even called me beautiful!¡±


    Actually, I said your mother must have been very beautiful. I thought; but, I didn''t say it out loud.


    ¡°If you''d let that blonde whore touch you, I don''t want anything to do with you.¡± Cassie said and turned to her sleeping compartment and opened the door. ¡°Stay away from me from now on, Mister Ullir!¡± She said and stepped into her compartment, then poked her head back out. ¡°...and I better not catch you looking at me either!¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry. You won''t catch me doing it.¡± I said as I walked by her sleep compartment and opened the hatch to the central shaft.


    ¡°Good!¡± Cassie said and shut her hatch. I stood there and waited for a moment, because I knew what was coming, and her hatch opened again. ¡°Hey! I meant that you can''t look at me at all!¡±


    ¡°That''s not what you said or what I heard.¡± I said without looking at her and stepped through the outer hatch.


    ¡°HEY!¡± Cassie yelled.


    I turned and looked at her as I shut the hatch. ¡°Oops! I just saw you!¡±


    ¡°I''m going to kill you!¡± Cassie''s muffled voice said through the hatch.


    ¡°You shouldn''t piss her off like that.¡± Evelyn said as she walked over to me. ¡°Redheads have epic tempers.¡±


    ¡°It was also a misunderstanding and she wouldn''t let me explain.¡± I said.


    Evelyn looked at my messy hair and the shower trays under my arm. ¡°By the looks of it you went back to... by process of elimination... Luxea''s sleeping compartment to have some private time.¡±


    ¡°It was private, but all we...¡±


    ¡°I honestly don''t care what you do with other people.¡± Evelyn said and motioned for me to step aside.


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°We all have needs that we want to fill.¡± Evelyn said and touched my arm to make me step aside. ¡°You''re tall and handsome, and I wouldn''t mind seeing that hair all spread out on my bunk as I ride you.¡±


    My eyes widened and I raised my eyebrows at her.


    ¡°Unlike the other two, I have no problem asking for what I want.¡± Evelyn said and opened the hatch. ¡°I sleep in that compartment.¡± She said and pointed. ¡°You can check my schedule in the database for when I''m free.¡±


    I opened my mouth to respond and she shut the hatch in my face.


    ¡°I told you!¡± Donny''s voice boomed across the central shaft and I turned to see him wave at me. ¡°They''ll eat you alive!¡± He said and laughed a full belly-shaking laugh.

 Book One: The Presence 025

    I went back down to my floor and went into my sleeping compartment, then put my things down. Okay, now the hard work. I thought, and picked up my old apprentice robes. I used Detect Presence and very slowly went over every square inch of the cloth. I wasn''t surprised to find three very small devices. I didn''t remove them, mainly because I assumed that there were three of them for a reason. I didn''t think they could triangulate my position with such a small sample; but, you never know the limits of technology that you''re unfamiliar with.


    I hadn''t had a lot of exposure to technology that wasn''t used by or related to things used by The Order. As far as I knew, they could track these little things across an entire galaxy and only needed a relay to maintain contact with them.


    I chuckled. I guess that''s why they call their rest stops ''relay stations''. They are literally relays for their tracing technology.


    I put the robes aside and stored them into the personal storage space in the compartment, then picked up my mother''s Light sword. Now that I had access to a fully functioning one, its complexity was head and shoulders over the very simple one I had constructed the year of my training graduation four years ago. Kara had shown me some of the modifications she had done on her own; but, she had been reluctant to take it apart completely, because the parts were so delicate that she would have had to readjust it for her flow of Presence.


    I didn''t have that problem with this Light sword, since I hadn''t adjusted it to my flow yet. I took out the micro tool kit that I always carried with me. I could have used Presence to do it; but, in space I would have to let my body recover if I used too much of it at once. With Presence so sparse outside of a planet''s atmosphere, I had to be careful of how I used it. I took my time and very carefully disassembled the Light sword. I didn''t strip it down to individual wires, though.


    I left the components pretty much intact and took out my datapad to check what each one was and compared it to the parts I knew. It was surprising to learn that technology hadn''t really advanced in the sixteen years I had been alive. The parts inside my mother''s Light sword were the same ones that you could still get today. The thought of that made me shake my head.


    What the hell are they doing with this advanced technology to let it stagnate like this? I asked myself. I would have been trying to improve it and refine it, just like I proposed in the paper I had given to my teacher during my last training year. I pushed my indignant thoughts aside and analyzed each component, compared it to the technical data on the datapad and inside my own Light sword.


    Kara had been right. My understanding of the limitations and the scope of Light sword technology and how it was applied to modern weapons had been lacking. I had tried to change that over the last four years; but, The Order was very strict with its information concerning the technology. Now that I was outside their constraints, I had access to information that the general population had access to. Of course, that made me think of the tiny trackers in my robe and I stared at my mother''s Light sword.


    ¡°No, they... dammit, yes they would.¡± I said and spent several hours completely pulling everything apart. I had been right. They had installed one of the trackers inside a dummy wire. I was both pissed and impressed. I removed it of course, with the dummy wire, and spent twice as much time very carefully attuning the parts to my flow of Presence. When I had them all in sync, I assembled them and added the focusing crystal. I had to keep the external knobs and switches, mainly because the casing was much too slender to make them internal. I would change that as soon as I could.


    I felt someone approach my sleeping compartment and tucked everything under the blanket on my bed and covered it in Presence and made it solid. I turned to see Rhubin as he stepped to my hatch and knocked.


    ¡°You awake in there?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said.


    ¡°They''ve got supper ready.¡± Rhubin said.


    I barked a laugh and opened the hatch. ¡°What happened to lunch?¡±


    Rhubin smiled. ¡°Rumor has it you needed some time alone after a run-in with Cassie.¡±


    ¡°Who told you that?¡±


    ¡°Cassie.¡± Rhubin said, and we both laughed.


    ¡°I assume it''s safe for me to show my face.¡± I said as he stepped back and I stepped out and shut the hatch.


    ¡°She''s not chewing through the bulkheads right now, so it should be okay.¡±


    ¡°Wow, really?¡± I asked and we walked to the central shaft. ¡°What floor?¡±


    ¡°Third from the top is the galley.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Grab on.¡± I said.


    ¡°Um...¡±


    ¡°There''s actually straps on the back of the jumpsuit.¡± I said and pointed with my thumb over my shoulder. ¡°I''m sure they''re for a life-pack or something.¡±


    Rhubin held on and we jumped at the same time. I used Presence to guide us, rather than propel us, up to the right floor and nudged us over and landed. Everyone was there and serving themselves.


    ¡°Damn, boy!¡± Rus, the captain said with a spoonful of some green sludge halfway to his mouth. ¡°How the hell did you do that?¡±


    ¡°I''d like to say practice.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°That''s only the second time I''ve done it, though.¡±


    Rus laughed. ¡°I knew you were a space rat as soon as I saw you!¡±


    ¡°A space rat?¡± I asked, confused.


    ¡°Rat is short for ''rating''.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°It''s supposed to be a compliment.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I don''t know why anyone would think being called a rat is a compliment.¡±


    ¡°You get rated for space when you pass a safety course in zero gravity and basic maintenance of life-saving equipment.¡± Luxea said and handed me a tray of food.


    I opened my mouth to ask if it was hers and to tell her that I could get my own, and she touched my lips with a fingertip.


    ¡°Sit and eat.¡± Luxea said and went back over to what looked like a buffet table. I sat down at the end of the table next to Evelyn, because it was the closest spot.


    Cassie made a ''pfft'' sound with her mouth and picked up what looked like a stick with some bark on it and bit into it. ¡°Ooh, that''s good.¡±


    ¡°You''re supposed to have dessert after the meal, young lady.¡± Rus said.


    Cassie stuck her tongue out at her father and took another bite of her stick.


    ¡°That''s no way for a girl to respond to her father!¡± Rus said and picked up a small round yellow ball from his tray and threw it at her. Without missing a beat, she opened her mouth and caught it with almost no effort.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Fangs.¡± Cassie said with her mouth full of whatever it was.


    ¡°Some attack that was.¡± Donny said and chuckled.


    ¡°What are you going to have for dessert?¡± Evelyn asked as she turned to me.


    ¡°I have no clue what any of this is.¡± I said and motioned to the tray in front of me. ¡°Which one is supposed to be the dessert?¡± I asked and she laughed. The other crew members froze at the sound and turned to stare at her.


    ¡°I suppose as a medical professional, I should point out what you have there.¡± Evelyn said and slid close to me and pointed to the green blob. ¡°That right there is a multi-cell bacterial compound that''s had eight essential nutrients and proteins added to it.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t sound very appetizing.¡± I said, and she laughed again. None of the crew moved or spoke.


    ¡°In layman''s terms, it''s yogurt.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I said. ¡°I guess that''s the dessert.¡±


    ¡°No, that''s part of a balanced meal.¡± Evelyn said and pointed to the next thing on the tray. ¡°Now this blue stuff...¡±


    I sat there and learned the scientific name and components of the food I was supposed to be eating. The crew successfully got over their shock at hearing her laugh and everyone sat down to eat. Rhubin sat down across from me and I thought I saw Cassie giving him an appraising eye.


    Donny''s right. I thought and smiled. They really will eat you up if you''re not careful.


    Evelyn finished telling me everything about the food and I managed to eat it despite knowing what it really was. ¡°Now, what would you like for dessert?¡± She asked me with a bright smile.


    ¡°I''m tempted to say ''surprise me''; but, that''s way too much of an invitation for you to kiss me.¡± I said, and she laughed again.


    Her fellow crew members only jumped slightly at the sound.


    ¡°If there are any of those sticks left, I''d like to try one.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''ll go get one for you.¡± Evelyn said. When she walked away, Rus leaned over her chair towards me.


    ¡°What did you do to her?¡± Rus asked in a whisper.


    ¡°Not a thing.¡± I whispered back. ¡°I swear to...¡±


    ¡°She''s only ever laughed like that once.¡± Rus whispered and cut me off. ¡°It was when...¡±


    ¡°Here you go.¡± Evelyn said as she came back over to the table and sat down. ¡°Cassie really likes these and we stock up on them whenever we stop for supplies in the Granis System.¡±


    I hadn''t had a chance to do more than glance over the details of the ship data that I had taken from the administration building; but, that name sounded familiar.


    ¡°The Granis System?¡± I asked. ¡°What''s it like?¡±


    ¡°I really should let Cassie tell you about it, since she''s the navigator.¡± Evelyn said and looked over at Cassie, who pointedly looked away from her. ¡°Then again, maybe not.¡± She said and turned back to me. ¡°It''s a binary star system that has a red giant and a white dwarf star.¡±


    ¡°Is that even possible?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°The white dwarf''s gravity is siphoning off the red giant''s outer layer, though.¡±


    ¡°What are the planets there like?¡± I asked.


    Evelyn chuckled. ¡°There are no planets.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°It''s a tourist attraction.¡± Evelyn said and my eyes widened. ¡°There''s a huge space station... well, a series of them, actually... that are far enough out to not be caught in the extreme gravity sheer from the two star''s coronas mixing, and close enough to enjoy the constant light show.¡±


    ¡°You''re kidding.¡± I said. ¡°You have got to be kidding.¡± I shook my head slightly. ¡°You''re not kidding.¡±


    Evelyn laughed. ¡°You really are completely ignorant about everything, aren''t you?¡±


    ¡°I haven''t ignored the information.¡± I corrected. ¡°I just haven''t had access to it before.¡±


    ¡°I think someone needs to spend some time studying the ship''s database.¡± Rhubin said and then laughed. ¡°Who knows the wonders a completely clean mind like yours will find!¡±


    ¡°Ha ha. Very funny.¡± I said.


    ¡°Actually, that''s not a bad idea.¡± Rus said. ¡°If you really don''t know anything about space travel, you''re going to be nothing but deadwood on this trip.¡± He said. ¡°I''ll add your datapad to the network and...¡±


    ¡°Could I get a new one instead?¡± I asked. ¡°This one is pretty much full. Rather than try to go through it and delete things, you can give me one that''s already on the network.¡±


    ¡°Good point.¡± Rus said and dug into his pocket and pulled one out. ¡°I barely use this one anyway.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and accepted it and slipped it into one of the many pockets the jumpsuit had. I looked at my nearly empty food tray and saw the stick that Evelyn had given me. It looked a little damp and I glanced at her face. I was a pretty good judge of facial expressions, so I was sure I saw anticipation there.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Evelyn said and licked her lips. I could see that Presence had gathered on her forehead and at the base of her skull.


    I picked up the stick and moved it towards my mouth, then leaned in close to her to whisper. ¡°Did you suck on it or stick it somewhere?¡±


    Evelyn''s face went a little red at the question, so I leaned back and very slowly started to put it down. I saw her disappointment, so I lifted it to my mouth and took a bite. She almost sighed as I did, and I held in my chuckle.


    ¡°This is actually pretty tasty.¡± I said and took another bite. ¡°When''s the next time the ship is going to stop there?¡±


    ¡°We''ve got two stops with a three day layover for unloading cargo at each location, then we stop there for resupply.¡± Rus said. ¡°It''s a week layover there, since we need to unload and load cargo.¡±


    ¡°When''s the first jump?¡± I asked.


    ¡°When?¡± Rus laughed. ¡°We''ve been in it for about a day so far.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I looked at his and then at everyone else''s faces. ¡°When did that happen?¡±


    ¡°Wow, he really doesn''t know anything.¡± Cassie said, and I couldn''t tell if she was making fun of me or not. ¡°We jumped into hyperspace when we hit the Lagrange point, about thirty minutes after we accelerated out of Ulathall''s gravity well.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t feel anything.¡± I said, completely surprised. ¡°Shouldn''t I have felt something? I thought we were still in normal space.¡±


    Rus laughed. ¡°There''s a reason the ship is called a long haul transport.¡± He said. ¡°Our jumps take a long time and the transition is like being dipped into a pool of water instead of splashing in like the smaller ships.¡±


    ¡°So, you''re saying that if I was on a smaller ship, I would have noticed the change in the flow of Presence?¡±


    ¡°What? No.¡± Rus said. ¡°The ship would have vibrated slightly when we crossed the barrier into hyperspace. The smaller ships don''t have the finesse... or the time... to transition smoothly like a big ship can.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I said.


    ¡°You definitely need to start studying.¡± Rus said and pointed to my pocket with the new datapad. ¡°I''d suggest starting right away.¡± He said and stood up, then he dropped his empty food tray into a slot by the buffet table. ¡°The sooner you can pull your own weight around here, the happier you''ll be.¡±


    ¡°You mean the happier you''ll be, Rus.¡± Luxea said, and he laughed as he left the galley. She stood up and put her empty tray in the same slot, then walked over to me. ¡°Concentrate on ship operations, mainly the loading and unloading of cargo and operating the equipment.¡± She said and put a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Remember what I told you.¡±


    I nodded and she left the galley.


    ¡°What did she mean?¡± Evelyn asked and I turned to look at her.


    ¡°When I told her that I''m saving myself for someone back on Ulathall, she warned me not to play around or to get involved with anyone, not even her.¡± I said.


    The sound of a food tray as it clattered to the floor got everyone''s attention and we all looked over at Cassie.


    ¡°Sorry, I missed the slot.¡± Cassie said with a red face and picked up her tray, then she put it in the slot and didn''t say anything else as she quickly walked by the table and left the galley.


    ¡°Let me get that for you.¡± Evelyn said and picked up my tray with hers, then went over to the slot and put the both of them in. ¡°If you have any questions, I''ll be in the med-bay on level two.¡± She said as she walked by the table and left the galley.


    ¡°Okay, that was some freaky shit.¡± Donny said and laughed. ¡°You got all three of them going on the same day! Ha ha!¡±


    ¡°I didn''t.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t know why Evelyn''s acting that way.¡±


    ¡°I suspect it''s because she hasn''t had you up to the scanner yet.¡± Donny said. ¡°She loves that thing.¡±


    ¡°What does it...¡±


    ¡°I almost forgot!¡± Evelyn said as she came back into the galley. ¡°All new personnel need a full medical checkup to make sure everything''s fine.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn''t we have done that before leaving the planet?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°There wasn''t time.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°I expect to see you both first thing in the morning.¡±


    ¡°What happens if we fail the tests?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I get to keep you! Ha ha ha!¡± Evelyn cackled an evil laugh and left.


    ¡°Okay, now I understand why you guys were upset when she laughed earlier.¡± I said to Donny, and he laughed as he put his tray in the slot.


    ¡°Good luck, kid.¡± Donny said and left.


    ¡°Should we be scared?¡± Rhubin asked as we got up to leave as well.


    ¡°Only if you''ve got some kind of contraband shoved somewhere that''s going to show up on a full body medical scanner.¡± I said as he dropped his tray in the slot and we left the galley.


    ¡°Thankfully, no.¡± Rhubin said and grabbed the strap on my back. ¡°I can''t say I''ve never done that, though!¡±


    We both laughed as we jumped into the central shaft''s zero gravity and I floated us down to the crew quarters. He went to his bunk and I pulled out the captain''s datapad and used Presence to check it over. Now that I had one that I knew wouldn''t have been altered by The Order, I took mine out and used Presence to check it. Sure enough, there was a tracking device inside.


    I didn''t destroy it or even disable it. I copied over the relevant files I needed to the new datapad and tucked the old one back into the shower tray that still had my other things in it. I wanted to check the rest of my items and see what else was altered, then decided that I should take Luxea''s advice and studied the ship''s operations first. If I was going to become a valuable member of the crew, I needed to know everything I could to help.

 Book One: The Presence 026

    I studied the ship procedures for cargo loading and unloading, the machines used, and even took the time to read through the manuals for those machines. I checked the time and saw that I had about six hours before the morning and cleared everything off of the bed and secured it, then used a mental technique to enter sleep after setting an alarm on the datapad.


    I woke up when the alarm went off and thought about getting a shower before going to the med-bay. I figured it wouldn''t hurt to be clean for it, especially if she gets me to strip off... which I highly suspect is what she''s going to ask me to do. I left the datapad beside the bed and stepped out of my sleeping compartment and shut the hatch, then covered it in Presence and made it solid. Anyone trying to get in, wouldn''t even be able to touch the hatch, let alone use the handle to open it.


    ¡°Hey, Ullir.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Hey. How was...¡± I started to ask how he slept and stopped when Luxea stepped out of Rhubin''s sleeping compartment behind him. ¡°Good morning.¡± I said to her.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Luxea said and walked by us and left through the hallway''s hatch. I waited until the hatch closed before I turned my head to look at Rhubin with raised eyebrows.


    ¡°She said she needed help to relax.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Did she?¡± I asked and started to smile.


    ¡°A few times.¡± Rhubin said and started to laugh, then I did, too.


    We both went to get a shower and talked, changed into clean jumpsuits, then we went up to the med-bay on level two. Evelyn didn''t say anything and pointed to Rhubin and then at a chair. He sat down and she hooked her arm in mine and led me through a large hatch, then closed it. The room was almost bare, except for a huge bed with what I assumed was a scanning mechanism and the console off to the side.


    ¡°Strip.¡± Evelyn said, and it sounded like she was full of anticipation.


    I didn''t do it quickly like I suspected that she thought I would. I slowly unzipped my jumpsuit and pulled it off my shoulders, and her eyes followed my movements. I eased it down my chest and across my stomach, then stopped. I saw her jerk a little, as if she wanted to pull it off the rest of the way herself. I held in my chuckle and slid the jumpsuit down over my hips and made sure to bend over and block her view as I slid the jumpsuit to the floor.


    I thought I heard her growl a little, so I stepped out of the pile of jumpsuit and picked it up to hold in front of me. ¡°Where do I put this?¡±


    ¡°Anywhere!¡± Evelyn said, a little frantically.


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said and tossed it over her head and ran over to stand behind the bed.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Evelyn exclaimed and pulled the jumpsuit off of her head and glared at me. ¡°That wasn''t nice.¡±


    ¡°There''s no chairs or anything else in here.¡± I said and motioned to the room. ¡°Where else could I hang it up?¡±


    Evelyn opened her mouth for a moment, then sighed. ¡°I didn''t want you to have anything to hide behind.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to be the first to see all of you.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Outside of the few moments I can sneak a peak at you in the shower.¡± Evelyn said.


    ¡°I''m starting to suspect why you like your job so much.¡± I said and stepped out from behind the bed, and saw her disappointment that I was wearing underwear.


    ¡°Getting to see people at their most vulnerable is something I''ve always enjoyed.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°I don''t mean that I want to see people hurt. I''m not sadistic or anything.¡± She explained. ¡°It''s just... I get to see a glimpse of who people really are, without the front they present to everyone else.¡±


    I pulled down my underwear and tossed them to her, and she caught them and looked down at me. I didn''t try to cover myself with a hand and I let her look for as long as she wanted. When she looked up at my face, she gave me a smile and walked over to me.


    ¡°I''m so glad to finally meet you.¡± Evelyn said and held a hand out to me. I shook the offered hand and she motioned to the bed. ¡°Please, lay down and try to relax.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have to try.¡± I said and climbed onto the bed and laid down.


    ¡°I know.¡± Evelyn went to the console and hit a button, and a little stool popped out of the bottom of it. She put my clothes on it and started to push buttons and pull levers on the console. ¡°I''ve had a couple of people who are sensitive to Presence in this thing, so if you could try and not freak out about it powering up, that would be great.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been near power sources before, so I should be okay.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m warning you, because of the way it cycles up.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°It uses a lot of power and it gives a deep scan by penetrating your body with a resonance wave of energy.¡±


    ¡°That sounds suspiciously like a stun blast.¡± I said, and she chuckled.


    ¡°It''s a similar principle, and probably why some people are more susceptible to its effects than others.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°It''s a much lower setting and covers the entire body, which is why it takes a lot longer to activate.¡±


    ¡°Can I block the effects and still have it work?¡± I asked. ¡°I was stunned once and suffered for two days before a friend managed to purge the effects from me.¡±


    Evelyn walked over to me and looked into my eyes. ¡°How many stun blasts did you take?¡±


    ¡°I think they said it was a dozen.¡±


    ¡°A dozen!¡± Evelyn nearly yelled as she put a hand on my chest. ¡°You could have died!¡±


    ¡°I was only twelve at the time, too.¡± I said, and she caught her breath.


    ¡°Oh, Ullir.¡± Evelyn said and she rubbed my chest consolingly. ¡°You poor thing.¡±


    ¡°It was four years ago today, actually.¡± I said.


    ¡°I... I''m sorry.¡± Evelyn said and leaned down to kiss my cheek. ¡°I didn''t mean to bring back painful memories.¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡±


    ¡°I''ll make the proper adjustments to the scanner to account for previous stun trauma.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Evelyn stared at me for a moment longer, then slid her hand down my chest and across my abdomen, then she went back to the console and made some adjustments.


    ¡°Okay, here we go.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    I closed my eyes as the machine started to make a whir sound, and I took a deep breath and let it out, then used a mental technique to hold myself in place perfectly still. With my Detect Presence skill active all the time, I could see the flow of Presence change around me and then it concentrated in what I thought were emitters in the machine.


    The energy burst out and slammed into me like a freight train, and every muscle in my body tried to tense up. I was really glad that I had used my self-titled Statue technique, because it kept me perfectly still when all my body wanted to do was jump up and run. It wasn''t pain, though. It was more like it was stimulating all of the nerves at once and it wasn''t a pleasant feeling.


    I wonder how many people screamed at this point? I asked myself. The energy wave fully penetrated me, hit the bed, then bounced back. I think it''s like radar or sonar.


    ¡°...and we''re done.¡± Evelyn said and hit the button to stop the machine, then she walked over to me with my clothes. ¡°You did really well.¡± She said, surprised. ¡°You didn''t even flinch when it started.¡±


    ¡°How many people screamed when they felt all of their nerves get stimulated at once?¡± I asked as I sat up, and her face drained of all it''s color.


    ¡°How did...¡± Evelyn closed her eyes. ¡°A few.¡±


    ¡°I bet Cassie was one of them.¡± I said and quickly got dressed.


    ¡°She was really loud and Rus came in yelling at me for hurting his little girl.¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t actually hurt; but, it doesn''t feel good, either.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Did the scan come out clean? I wasn''t blocking it or anything.¡±


    ¡°Let''s check.¡± Evelyn said and walked back over to the console. ¡°The imaging software should have had plenty of time to... to... by the Goddess!¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked and looked over her shoulder.


    ¡°I''ve... I''ve never seen such a clear scan before.¡± Evelyn said and enlarged it. ¡°Look at this!¡±


    ¡°What am I looking at?¡± I asked as I saw what looked like a screen full of little lightning bolts.


    ¡°These are your nerve endings!¡± Evelyn said happily. ¡°Usually the body reacts in some way and there''s always some blurring, mainly when I zoom in on this scale.¡± She said. ¡°Even unconscious, the body still has autonomic functions that can''t remain still.¡± She looked up from the display and stared at me. ¡°You are just as much of a wonder to behold on the inside.¡±


    ¡°You''re giving me a scary look, Evelyn.¡± I said with a chuckle, and she laughed.


    ¡°Don''t worry, Ullir. I won''t sneak into your room to get a better look at you.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°Just like Luxea, I''ll respect your decision to save yourself.¡±


    I put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Don''t thank me yet.¡± Evelyn said with a smile. ¡°Once we''re out in space for a month or so, your appeal is going to skyrocket.¡±


    ¡°I don''t need to ask why, do I?¡±


    Evelyn chuckled. ¡°You''ve noticed that there''s not a lot of available men on the ship, haven''t you?¡±


    ¡°Apparently there''s one more than there was before.¡± I said and nodded to the waiting room.


    ¡°Luxea won the fight to have him for the first week.¡± Evelyn said, then she sighed. ¡°Wow, I just told you a lot about myself, didn''t I?¡±


    ¡°Not just yourself.¡± I said and took out my new datapad. ¡°Can I have a copy of my scan?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Evelyn said and send it to my datapad. ¡°You don''t have the resolution to zoom in very much; but, it still has all the data.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and walked over to the large hatch. ¡°Want me to send Rhubin in?¡±


    ¡°As long as you don''t tell him what I said.¡±


    ¡°I honestly think he wants to do his part for the crew.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sure even if he did know, he would still want to help you if you need him to.¡±


    ¡°You seem very accepting about all of this.¡± Evelyn said.


    ¡°Luxea had me practically naked in her room and less than two hours later, she was having sex with Rhubin in the next compartment.¡± I said, and recalled what Rhubin had told me barely ten minutes ago.


    ¡°She didn''t even wait until...¡± Evelyn stopped talking and sighed. ¡°You definitely don''t have a high opinion of us now.¡±


    ¡°I''m just glad I didn''t try to get involved with her, and the misunderstanding with Cassie confirmed that decision.¡± I said. ¡°I''m taking Luxea''s advice to heart and I''m staying away from all of you.¡± I opened the hatch and stepped out. ¡°Rhubin, she''s ready for you.¡±


    ¡°That was fast.¡± Rhubin said and I caught his arm before he passed me.


    ¡°It''s not going to hurt, but you''re going to feel it.¡± I whispered to him and let his arm go. ¡°Try not to scream like a little girl.¡±


    Rhubin barked a laugh and stepped into the compartment. I thought about waiting for him, then figured I needed to keep studying and should get a quick breakfast from the galley a floor below. I was halfway through eating when I heard shrill and muffled shout, laughed, then finished eating. I found out later that it took three tries for him to get a full scan.


    I studied all day and went over everything several times, then I went to get supper. Everyone was there and the idle chatter didn''t stop when I went to the buffet table and gathered some food onto a tray. I knew what I liked and only took those, since Evelyn had said that the tastes were for variety and it wasn''t necessary to have some of everything to eat a balanced meal.


    I sat down across from Donny and waited until he was between bites of food to ask him for a favor. ¡°Donny, do you think you could show me around the cargo area?¡±


    ¡°Not right now.¡± Donny said. ¡°I''ve got some personal time scheduled.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I meant the next time you go in to check everything and to perform maintenance.¡±


    ¡°Have you worn a spacesuit before?¡±


    ¡°No, but I''ve read the manual and checked over one.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± Donny barked a laugh. ¡°All right. I guess you''ve got to start somewhere.¡± He said. ¡°Meet me tomorrow morning at the main cargo hatch.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°It''s not going to be a tour.¡± Donny warned me and kept eating. ¡°If you''re coming with me, you''re going to work.¡±


    ¡°Why else do you think I''m asking you?¡± I asked, and I saw Rus nod at the same time that Donny did, and we all finished eating. I had even successfully avoided the furtive glances and little noises that Cassie made during the meal to try and get my attention. I skipped dessert this time and went back to my sleeping compartment.


    Now that I had a bit of free time, I dug out the shower tray of my things that I had protected in the personal storage of my sleeping compartment, and went over everything. I knew that the tracking devices were all the same and were stashed all over everything in my possession. Some were blatant and I barely had to search for them, and others were so well hidden that if I didn''t have such good control in my use of Presence, I would have easily missed them.


    There was even one inside each of the two unmarked credit chips as well. I wasn''t sure how they had inserted them without destroying them, though. Of course, with that thought in my head, I now wondered if they had anything on them or if they were just dummy chips. I also had no way of knowing how much used to be on them, if that was the case. Whatever I did find on them, it could be what The Order put on them and not what my parents actually had before they died.


    I should see if there''s a chip reader onboard. I thought and used my new datapad and checked the ship''s inventory. There were a dozen of them stored in different areas of the ship. I was a little surprised by this, since you would only need one or two of them near the access hatches for the ship and the cargo.


    There was only five people on the ship normally. Why would they need twelve chip readers? I asked myself. I''ve also got to see if I can transfer whatever is on these chips to different credit chips. If The Order is tracking these, I won''t be able to use them anywhere without them knowing about it.


    With a set beginning in my head, the next thing I looked at was the passkey. I checked the serial number on it and typed it into the datapad. I wasn''t surprised when a schematic for my parent''s small starship called ''Udelis'' appeared.


    Udelis? I asked myself, then smiled. Well, considering I didn''t know the name of the planet I was on until after I left it, it''s no surprise that I didn''t know the name of the ship I was born on.


    I looked over the information about the ship and its capabilities, and was quite satisfied that it would be a great ship. With that knowledge, I picked up the folded sheets of paper and read them. One was the ship''s registration and I put it aside, then I saw my birth paper. It had my name, weight, size, and the coordinates of my birth. I wasn''t sure why that was significant, except to prove that I wasn''t born on a planet.


    ¡°Holy crap.¡± I said out loud. ¡°I was literally born in space.¡± I sat back and stared at the paper. ¡°I... I have... nowhere... to call home.¡±


    That thought hit me hard, especially because of the way I had grown up in both of my lives so far. First my parents died and I grew up in an orphanage, then I died. Second, my parents were killed and I grew up in The Order''s custody.


    I glanced at the passkey and sighed. ¡°I suppose I need to somehow find you as well Udelis, since that''s where all of this started.¡±


    I didn''t feel any change in the Presence around the passkey or around myself, so I knew that it was only my own need for something to hold onto and not something the Presence needed for me to have. It was my own selfish desire and not something strictly required to live my life, so it dropped in priority in my eyes, below making a living and finding the things my parents wanted me to have.


    I knew the locket was important, because my mother had told me that when I was old enough, she would tell me the significance of its contents. I needed to have it back, just to find out what was in it. I wasn''t sure I would even know the significance of what would be inside; but, if I didn''t find it and discover what it was, I would always wonder what it was that my mother found so important that she wouldn''t let the touch of it leave her skin.


    With nothing left to check over, except for my own things that I knew didn''t have trackers, I did a cursory examination of them anyway and didn''t find anything. I knew there wouldn''t be; but, it was better to check and not find anything, than it was to not check and miss something that might have been there. My personal tasks were done, so I stashed everything away and laid down on my bed to go to sleep.


    Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

 Book One: The Presence 027

    The next morning, true to his word, Donny put me to work. After he tested me on everything, of course. We donned a couple of the one size fits all generic space suits, then left the crew part of the ship and entered the cargo area. If you''ve ever wanted to be awed by the size of something, I recommend standing at the bottom of a long haul ship''s cargo area.


    ¡°How did they even make something like this?¡± I asked over the suit''s dedicated communication channel. The cargo area was the height of a skyscraper, the length of ten city blocks, and it was crammed full of cargo containers that were nearly identical in size to a big rig''s trailer or a railway car.


    ¡°They have to build them in space for one thing.¡± Donny said and handed me a large toolbox. ¡°For another, once you get the automated asteroid smelters going in a shipping yard, you can churn out miles of construction materials in a day.¡±


    ¡°That''s crazy.¡± I said, and he laughed.


    ¡°What''s crazy is that it''s cheaper to ship things like this and have it take up to ten times as long, than it is to have smaller ships only take one or two of the shipping containers and get there ten times as fast.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess it would depend on what you''re shipping and how much.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you''re getting it.¡± Donny said and pointed up several floors. ¡°If you ordered a thousand wrist communicators and wanted it fast, then go for a quick delivery ship. It''s fast and can handle such a small load.¡± He said and walked over to the stairs. ¡°Now, if you ordered a hundred automated crop harvesting bots that are the size of half of one of these containers...¡± He said tapped one as we passed it.


    ¡°...you would need about twenty quick delivery ships, which would probably cost an arm and a leg.¡± I said, and he nodded.


    ¡°On a ship like this, fifty containers with two machines in each, barely takes up one section.¡± Donny said. ¡°We''re a lot slower than a smaller ship; but, when you order big, this is the way to go.¡±


    ¡°How long have you been on the ship?¡± I asked.


    ¡°This is my third year on this ship.¡± Donny said, then he grinned at me. ¡°Before you ask, yes I did.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t going to ask.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I figured you had to do you duty for your fellow crew members.¡±


    Donny laughed. ¡°Doing my duty! Ha ha! Good one, Ullir!¡± He said. ¡°I gotta remember that one.¡±


    We went up to the floor he indicated and he asked for the tools. I watched as he checked the container''s integrity after popping open a panel with a wrench.


    ¡°Why is the panel covered like that?¡± I asked. ¡°Shouldn''t they be on the outside?¡±


    ¡°It''s to protect the electronics and readouts during shipping.¡± Donny said and closed the panel and used the wrench to secure it. ¡°It won''t degrade in vacuum; but, these things are massive and when we''re moving them around, they can cause damage and be damaged in return.¡±


    ¡°I assume they have to be loaded in a certain way?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± Donny said. ¡°There''s a panel on the other side of this thing if it gets turned around. If you stack them too close together, though...¡±


    ¡°You have to allocate space for movement.¡± I said in understanding.


    ¡°You got it.¡± Donny said. ¡°Okay, this is one temperature controlled unit done. Only eight hundred more to go.¡±


    ¡°You''re kidd... no you aren''t.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Please tell me that you have another wrench.¡±


    Donny laughed and handed me one just like his. ¡°You do the other row there while I do this one, then we''ll move up to the next floor.¡±


    We worked for the rest of the morning, stopped for a quick lunch, then worked until supper. Once we had a good rhythm going, we actually completed checking them all before we had to leave.


    ¡°Nice work.¡± Donny said and clapped me on the shoulder when we were back inside the crew section of the ship. ¡°It''s only a basic run-through tomorrow to check that everything is secure in the rest of the cargo area.¡±


    ¡°I guess that means you don''t have a bot to do that.¡± I said, and he chuckled.


    ¡°A bot can''t decide if something is ''secured enough''. It''s either secured or it''s not.¡±


    ¡°I take it that means you''ve got a few containers that are less than completely secured.¡± I said, and he nodded.


    ¡°We overloaded back on Ulathall and we have about two dozen containers sharing secure points on the deck.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t that dangerous?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Only if there was something heavy in the containers.¡± Donny said and then smiled. ¡°They''re full of feathers, so it''s okay.¡±


    ¡°Full of... oh, ha ha.¡± I shook my head. ¡°A thousand pounds of feathers weighs the same as a thousand pounds of bricks.¡±


    ¡°Bwahahaha!¡± Donny slapped my back. ¡°You''re quick!¡±


    ¡°Uh huh.¡±


    ¡°If you want to keep working with me, meet me back at the cargo hatch in the morning.¡± Donny said.


    ¡°I''ll do that.¡± I said and went back to my sleeping compartment.


    I worked with Donny for a week and familiarized myself with everything that I could in the hold. We had just finished a lesson in the proper loading of hazardous materials when Rus the captain''s voice came over the speakers.


    ¡°We''re preparing to exit hyperspace.¡± Rus said. ¡°Two hours to first drop point.¡±


    ¡°Oho!¡± Donny said. ¡°Ullir, you are about to get your first practical experience in how cargo is transshipped.¡±


    ¡°We''re not stopping at a planet?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s a mining colony in the middle of an asteroid belt.¡± Donny said. ¡°That''s why it''ll take two hours to navigate to get there.¡±


    ¡°Are we moving a lot of stuff?¡± I asked.


    ¡°About a hundred containers of food, replacement parts, and one robotic sorting machine.¡± Donny said. ¡°We''re only taking on thirty containers of processed ore, though.¡±


    ¡°Well, that should solve the doubled up containers on level three and free up some manoeuvring space.¡± I said.


    ¡°Now you''re thinking like a real cargo man!¡± Donny said. ¡°Let''s get the containers prepped for shipping.¡±


    We worked for the whole two hours to get everything ready, and we even had the new droid programmed to assist. The job went surprisingly smoothly, even with me helping, and we completed the cargo transshipment five hours and three stops later. Luxea had handled the credit transfers using the chip reader and made sure that the proper payments were made for the goods that were delivered.


    There wasn''t really anything for the crew to do on a mining colony that they couldn''t do on the ship, so we navigated out of the asteroid belt two hours after that and jumped back into hyperspace. We had two weeks to go before we reached the next stop, so I had a lot of time to discover what else I could do on the ship. I was a bit lost for a couple of days, since I didn''t know what else I could do with my limited technical knowledge, then Cassie finally cornered me after supper before I could duck into my sleeping compartment.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Ullir, can I talk to you?¡± Cassie asked.


    ¡°That depends on what you want to talk about.¡± I said.


    ¡°I know you''ve been avoiding me.¡±


    ¡°Of course I am.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°You completely misunderstood a situation, jumped to conclusions, became unnecessarily angry at me, then ignored me.¡± I said. ¡°Why in the world would I want to stay around you when you''re so hostile?¡±


    Cassie closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. ¡°I''m sorry I misunderstood.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that would mean a lot more to me if you had let me explain at the time.¡± I said. ¡°Instead, you stayed angry at me and avoided me whenever you saw me... at least until you found out what had actually happened between me and Luxea... which was nothing. Then you tried to gain my attention with all your little mannerisms.¡±


    ¡°Ullir...¡±


    ¡°What? I can''t be angry at you for hating me and treating me like that?¡± I asked. ¡°Did treating me unfairly make you like me more?¡±


    ¡°Please let me explain.¡± Cassie said.


    ¡°Explain what? That you were jealous of Luxea because you wanted to claim me for yourself first before she had a turn?¡±


    Cassie opened her mouth for a second, then closed it.


    ¡°Yeah, I know all about how the women on this ship go through men.¡± I said. ¡°How you fight to see who gets to claim him first.¡±


    ¡°We didn''t do that for...¡± Cassie stopped talking and I smiled.


    ¡°That''s probably because I just turned sixteen and you thought you would be the first to get me, before I was ''eligible'' to be shared.¡± I said. ¡°Like I told Evelyn, I''m taking Luxea''s advice and I''m staying away from you. I mean you as in the women on the ship, not just you specifically.¡±


    ¡°Ullir... I...¡±


    ¡°It''s been over a week. Are you next in line for Rhubin, or did Evelyn get him this week?¡±


    Cassie closed her mouth and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°So, it is you.¡± I said, and I could see it in her eyes. ¡°I guess you getting me alone here was just so you could make things less awkward when I see you leaving Rhubin''s cabin.¡±


    ¡°No! I... I really wanted to apologize.¡±


    ¡°...and you didn''t do that at any time during all the times we''ve shared meals because...?¡±


    ¡°You kept avoiding my attempts to try and get your attention.¡±


    ¡°That''s because all you needed to do was open your mouth and talk to me.¡± I said, and her eyes widened. ¡°I''m not going to respond to a huff, or a giggle, or a sigh, or even a dropped spoon every time it happens.¡± I said. ¡°I''d be talking to everyone on the ship and I''d never get to eat if I did that.¡±


    Cassie didn''t say anything in response.


    ¡°Look, if you really are sorry, you can start making it up to me by giving me navigation lessons.¡± I said. ¡°I have no clue how to do anything and I want to learn as much as I can about ship operations. I''ve spent a week in the cargo hold and I''m pretty sure I know how to handle all the basic things there.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, it... it''s very complicated to... you don''t even have the math to...¡±


    ¡°Give me some reading materials and then test me.¡± I said, to her surprise. ¡°We''ve got just under two weeks before the next stop, and I''ll be working in the cargo hold again.¡±


    ¡°You can''t learn starship navigation in two weeks!¡± Cassie exclaimed.


    ¡°Not all of it, no.¡± I said. ¡°Just the basics.¡±


    ¡°It took me two years to learn just the basic formulas!¡±


    ¡°I don''t need to learn them.¡± I said. ¡°That''s what computers are for.¡±


    ¡°You need to know them so you know what to ask the computer for and which ones to tell it to use, smart ass!¡±


    ¡°Computers aren''t that stupid, are they?¡± I asked, and her eyes widened. ¡°If I asked for a plot to a planet in another solar system, I''m sure that it wouldn''t need me to enter the formulas for acceleration or for calculating orbital velocities of planets around a star.¡±


    Cassie just stood there and stared at me.


    ¡°I suppose I need to tell you to not waste my time while teaching me.¡± I said. ¡°I want to learn how to use the navigation systems on a ship, not learn how to navigate on my own as if I was floating in space by myself. We are in a ship that can do all the heavy lifting math-wise. I don''t need to know it all, just how to use it to get where I want to go.¡±


    Cassie didn''t say anything for almost a full minute, then she sighed. ¡°I... I think I can show you that much.¡±


    ¡°That''s great. I''ll see you in the morning.¡± I said and turned around and opened the hatch to my sleeping compartment. ¡°By the way, I can block sounds while I''m sleeping, so you don''t have to stay quiet while you''re with Rhubin.¡±


    I didn''t look at her as I stepped into my compartment and closed the hatch. I could still see and hear her with Presence, though.


    ¡°You''re an asshole.¡± Cassie said, not realizing that I could hear her, and she leaned her head against the hatch. ¡°I really like you and you''re treating me like this.¡± She said and wiped away the two small tears she had on her face. ¡°I''m only spending time with Rhubin so I can be closer to you.¡±


    Yeah, relationships don''t work like that. I thought. Sleeping with a guy''s friends usually ends a relationship. It doesn''t start one.


    ¡°There you are!¡± Rhubin said as he entered the hallway through the large hatch. ¡°I was looking for you at your place.¡±


    Cassie turned to him with a huge smile. ¡°I thought I''d surprise you.¡±


    It''s definitely a surprise. I thought and held in my laugh.


    ¡°It''s definitely a surprise!¡± Rhubin said, and I had to cover my mouth to stop my laugh from escaping. ¡°My place is right this way.¡±


    ¡°I know where you sleep, Rhubin.¡± Cassie said.


    ¡°If I have anything to say about it, there''s not going to be a lot of sleeping going on tonight.¡± Rhubin said, and Cassie giggled.


    I stopped watching them when they entered his sleeping compartment and I did exactly what I told Cassie I would do. I formed a Presence barrier around myself and blocked sound from entering. I still had my datapad on me, so if anything happened, I would still get a notification from it.


    I entered a meditative state to increase my mental retention and looked up the navigation systems on the long haul transport we were on. With about fourteen hours to waste before morning, I studied hard for about eight of those hours and slept for the remaining six. I hadn''t seen or heard when Cassie left and I was pretty sure she wanted it that way.


    I got up the next morning before Rhubin did and ate breakfast before anyone else. I went up to what the crew called the cockpit, and what I thought of as the bridge of the ship. I stood beside the third chair, where I knew the navigation system was, and waited there patiently and didn''t touch anything.


    Rus, the captain of the ship, came in and saw me standing there. ¡°Anything I can help you with, Ullir?¡±


    ¡°No, captain.¡± I said. ¡°I''m just waiting for Cassie so I can have my first navigation lesson.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± Rus said and sat down in the middle chair. ¡°You''re going to try and learn how to navigate a ship while on the ship? Really?¡±


    ¡°It seems like the only way I''m going to learn anything, captain.¡±


    ¡°You''re gonna give me a swelled head if you keep calling me that.¡± Rus said and laughed. ¡°Everyone else just calls me by name.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to only call you Rus from now on?¡± I asked, and he actually took a few moments to think about it.


    ¡°Well...¡±


    ¡°There you are.¡± Cassie said as she came into the cockpit. ¡°When you didn''t show up for breakfast, I went to your cabin and you weren''t there.¡±


    ¡°I had breakfast early so I could get here early.¡± I said.


    ¡°That''s admirable; but, now I have to work for a little while before I can start your lesson.¡± Cassie said and sat down. ¡°I usually perform all the checks and things right after breakfast and now I''m behind.¡±


    ¡°I''m surprised Rhubin didn''t tell you at breakfast that I wasn''t in my bunk.¡±


    ¡°He''s... still in his own.¡± Cassie said, her face slightly red as she tried not to look at her father.


    ¡°Oh.¡± I said into the awkward silence. ¡°From now on, don''t bother looking for me.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, I told you that...¡±


    ¡°I meant that I''ll be here learning as much as I can or I''ll be eating.¡± I said. ¡°There''s no need to look anywhere else.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°After supper is apparently personal time for everyone, so I''ll be in my bunk then and keeping to myself.¡±


    Cassie looked like she wanted to say something else, then she sighed and started to work. I watched her as she used various controls and the display changed to several different things, then she typed in a few commands on the small keyboard and turned to me.


    ¡°Okay, I''ve set primary navigation controls to Luxea''s station.¡± Cassie said. ¡°For now, this terminal is a dummy and nothing we do here will affect the ship in any way.¡±


    ¡°I''m tempted to make a joke about me accidentally navigating the ship into the center of a star; but, I''m pretty sure there are safety measures to stop me from doing that.¡±


    Cassie and Rus exchanged glances and looked back at me.


    ¡°Wait, there isn''t?¡± I asked and Cassie shook her head. ¡°Okay, who''s bright idea was it to not program that into a navigation system?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes it''s necessary to get close to a star while manoeuvring.¡± Rus said. ¡°We''ve had to do it twice when in some of the more remote systems.¡±


    It was my turn to look at each of their faces and ended looking at Cassie. ¡°I''m not going to ask why.¡± I said. ¡°So, what''s my first lesson?¡±


    ¡°I want you to call up the system we''re headed to and to check the route.¡± Cassie said and stood up, then motioned to the chair. ¡°Have a seat.¡±


    I sat down and hit the ''recall last action'' switch on the console, then watched as a quick run through appeared of how she transferred control to Luxea''s control. I quickly typed on the little keyboard and asked for the log of actions. I found the one that referred to a course correction and pulled that up and hit the recall switch again. It replayed the actions taken for the course correction and showed me the system we were going to.


    Now that I had that information, I switched the display to show me the star system, then stopped for a moment. I was sure Cassie was a little worried, then I remembered the right buttons to push to show the current course. A little dotted line popped up and showed where the ship would be entering the system and the projected course to the small moon.


    ¡°This much I remember from studying the manual last night.¡± I said and looked at her. ¡°I don''t know how to query it to check if the course is valid.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t ask you to go that far with the information.¡± Cassie said with a slight smile. ¡°If you want to know that, you need to do this.¡± She said and put a hand on the chair back and leaned by me, then with one hand typed in the query. I did not miss the fact that she was clearly trying to press her breast into my shoulder. It felt nice; but, that wasn''t why I was here.


    ¡°Is the command always the same?¡± I asked as the course verification popped up on the display.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Cassie said. ¡°Whether it''s through a nebula, a tight star cluster, or open space.¡±


    I took out my datapad and entered the command so that I would remember it. ¡°Okay, what''s next?¡± I asked eagerly, and she smiled.


    ¡°I have so much that I want to show you.¡± Cassie said in a slightly deeper voice.


    I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at her not so subtle sexual innuendo and I was pretty sure that I also heard her father groan. Don''t worry, Rus. I won''t fall for it. I thought and glanced at him. Almost as if he heard me, he gave me a slight nod in return.

 Book One: The Presence 028

    I worked like a dog for two weeks and learned the ins and outs of the navigation console. I also learned that most consoles were generic and had certain functions in common, so that no matter what console I was using, I could still do certain things and still get the same results. The best part was how you could get the smallest details out of even the old system that the long haul ship used.


    ¡°It still works, so...¡± Cassie started to say.


    ¡°...why buy newer.¡± I completed for her, and she chuckled.


    ¡°You could get higher resolution or even a slightly faster processing speed; but, why bother doing that when it takes so long to work with the information anyway?¡± Cassie asked. ¡°It''s just pouring credits into something that doesn''t really need it.¡±


    ¡°What about the fast transports?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They have different operating requirements than us and still don''t need a top-of-the-line navigation computer or gravity sensor relays.¡± Cassie said and laughed. ¡°Some people just open a crew hatch and let their droids scan for them!¡±


    I laughed, too. ¡°I guess buying a droid would be cheaper than overhauling a spaceship.¡±


    ¡°Oh, definitely.¡± Rus said. ¡°My first captain strapped the droid to the hull and left it out there.¡±


    ¡°That... can''t be good for a droid.¡± I said, and Rus laughed.


    ¡°It was an early model and he removed the basic personality before subjecting it to that.¡±


    ¡°What about micro-meteorites and radiation?¡± I asked.


    ¡°All ships have radiation and deflection energy shields.¡± Rus said and I looked at him with inquisitive eyes, and he pointed at Luxea. ¡°Talk to my first officer and engineer.¡±


    ¡°There''s not much to engineer on a long haul like this.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Everything runs at about forty percent capacity to keep wear and tear on parts to a bare minimum.¡±


    ¡°Only forty percent?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°Any higher and we would have to upgrade the fusion reactor to handle the extra load.¡± Luxea said and looked at Rus. ¡°Despite me asking every day for eight years, it still hasn''t happened.¡±


    ¡°Luxea, it''s just not economically viable.¡± Rus said, and she laughed. ¡°Do you really want to sit in dry dock for up to six months to get a new reactor?¡±


    ¡°It would only take a month if you went to a more prominent shipyard.¡±


    ¡°Which costs a lot more.¡± Rus said. ¡°I''ve worked hard for a long time to get to this point. This is the easy life I''ve always wanted.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Look, we make money. Lots of money.¡± Rus said. ¡°I pay you all really well, even more than the shipping companies pay their contract workers.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but it gets really boring.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°It sounds like the army.¡± I said, and the three of them turned and looked at me.


    ¡°How?¡± Rus asked.


    ¡°The way Luxea talked just reminded me of a saying I heard.¡± I said. ¡°The army is ninty-nine percent boredom and one percent sheer and utter... excitement.¡±


    ¡°That wasn''t what you were going to say.¡± Cassie chuckled. ¡°What''s the last word supposed to be?¡±


    ¡°Terror.¡± I said, and the three of them fell silent for several minutes.


    ¡°You know, this job isn''t so bad.¡± Luxea said, and both Cassie and Rus nodded their heads.


    ¡°We''ll be arriving in a few hours.¡± Rus said. ¡°Ullir, want to take us in?¡±


    ¡°What? No.¡± I said. ¡°I''m not ready to handle a ship yet.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°I''ll stand right here and gaze lovingly over Cassie''s shoulder at the console and watch the expert do her magic.¡± I said and saw Cassie''s blush.


    ¡°M-maybe not r-right over my s-shoulder.¡± Cassie said a little nervously, so I took a step back and she sighed in relief.


    ¡°Mind on the console.¡± Rus said and she nodded. I stood there and waited as the ship approached the point where we would exit hyperspace. I watched Cassie perform all of the checks she had me do during the last two weeks, then Rus reached for the ship''s main controls.


    Luxea pushed the button for the ship''s speakers. ¡°All hands, we''re about to enter normal space.¡±


    It was the first time I had been on the bridge for this to happen, so when Rus hit the button to cut power to the hyperspace generator, the spectrum-shifted starfield in the viewport of the cockpit warped and became just a complete blanket of stars as far as the eye could see. They glowed with both light and Presence... and I was very surprised that I could detect it from so far away.


    ¡°Oh, my god.¡± I whispered.


    Cassie whipped her head around to look at me, then realized she needed to work and turned back just as quickly. Now that we were in the system, she had to let the computer update its navigation software to reflect the current situation, then she plotted a course to the small moon. I tore my gaze away from the spectacular sight through the viewport and watched her work. If I guessed right, she was going to test me later on it and might even ask me to get them onto the proper heading to leave the system when their impromptu vacation was over.


    ¡°Course plotted and locked in, Dad.¡± Cassie said.


    Rus checked it and nodded slightly, then changed the ship''s course to reflect the new data. ¡°The system''s pretty empty, so we can make a fast approach.¡±


    ¡°Thank the goddess.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I really hope they got the holoprojector working in the guest suite this time.¡±


    Rus laughed. ¡°You''re lucky I booked the whole floor for a week.¡±


    Luxea laughed, too. ¡°I''m sure at least one of them will have a working one.¡±


    ¡°You can always come over and share mine.¡± Rus said and waggled his eyebrows at her.


    ¡°We''d be swapping suites before that happens.¡± Luxea said and stood up. ¡°I''ve only got an hour to pack and get ready, so I better get to it.¡±


    ¡°You need to check...¡± Rus started to say.


    ¡°I''ll have it done before we hit orbit.¡± Luxea cut him off and left the cockpit.


    ¡°What about you?¡± I asked Cassie.


    ¡°I need to stay and maintain the ship''s course.¡± Cassie said. ¡°It''s just watching the monitor and keeping an eye on the other ships; but, it''s still really important and vital to the ship''s operation.¡±


    ¡°I can do that.¡± I said, and she looked up at me. ¡°If anything happens, I''ll call for you right away.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Cassie looked over at her father.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Rus said in a defeated tone.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Cassie exclaimed and hopped out of her seat and hugged him, then she turned to me. ¡°If anything shows up in the plot, you let me know instantly!¡±


    ¡°Yes, Ma''am!¡± I said and gave her a guard''s salute. She looked surprised for a moment, then she nodded and left the compartment at a run.


    ¡°That was nice of you.¡± Rus grumbled.


    ¡°It sure was.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°I figured I''d save you from listening to her sigh and moan for the next hour while we headed for the moon''s parking orbit.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you''re right.¡± Rus sat up straight and looked at me. ¡°I usually have to listen to her complain the whole time.¡± He smiled back at me. ¡°Thanks, Ullir.¡±


    I gave him a nod and sat down in the navigator''s chair and watched the plot and the other ships floating around in orbit. Nothing came close to our plotted course, so Rus eased the enormous long haul ship into a high orbit around the small moon.


    ¡°Okay, we''re locked in.¡± Rus said and looked at me. ¡°Get your ass down to the cargo hold to help Donny and I''ll let our customers know that we''re here and have their orders.¡±


    ¡°I''m on it, captain.¡± I said as I stood. Rus smiled at me and I left the cockpit to do as he asked. I joined Donny in the cargo hold after putting on a spacesuit and we handled the cargo like a pair of old pros. It really was pretty easy to do the job with someone else that knew what they were doing, and a heavy cargo droid that we could tell what to do. We successfully transferred over everything into the pressurized area so that the customers could take possession of their goods and didn''t have to work in vacuum like us.


    Shuttles from the moon''s surface started to arrive and suddenly Luxea was there. She wore a very stylish dress that had a slit all the way up her thigh and the blue color of the cloth highlighted her blonde hair nicely. The people that came off of the first shuttle were surprised to see that a beautiful and stylishly dressed woman was there to process their order.


    Luxea handled the stares and whispered comments like a professional and only acknowledged the ones that she was interested in responding to. The people paid for their goods and they had their own heavy loader transfer the cargo container to their shuttle. They left and the next shuttle docked almost right behind the other one when it left. There wasn''t even a pause in the work as we kept processing their orders and confirmed the goods. It took about two hours for the shuttle train to end, and Luxea went to the hatch and hit the intercom button.


    ¡°Hey, Rus. Are there any more shuttles coming?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Nope. According to the manifest, we delivered all the orders that were requested.¡± Rus said over the little speaker. ¡°All that''s left are incidentals that we can peddle while we''re down on the surface.¡±


    ¡°Are we taking the pods this time?¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Actually, Rhubin offered to take us all down in the shuttle.¡± Rus said.


    ¡°When is he leaving?¡±


    ¡°As soon as we load our things onto the shuttle.¡± Rus said with a laugh.


    ¡°I''ll be right there!¡± Luxea exclaimed and let the button go and tossed me the chip reader. ¡°Stash that in the maintenance locker and let''s go!¡± She nearly yelled, then she ran from the compartment.


    ¡°Okay, now I know why there''s a dozen of these things all over the ship.¡± I said, and Donny laughed.


    ¡°Come on. Rhubin said he''d wait for us if we wanted to shower first.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± I said and we secured everything, locked the external hatches, then went to get cleaned up. We were at the shuttle barely ten minutes later with our small bags of personal things.


    ¡°Come on, come on, COME ON!¡± Luxea yelled and shoved us into the umbilical to Rhubin''s shuttle. ¡°We''re all anxious to relax!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, relax.¡± Donny said and she slapped him on the back of the head. ¡°Ow. Okay, I deserved that.¡±


    ¡°Damn right you did.¡± Luxea said and secured the hatch, then pushed by us to get to the shuttle. We followed her and she shut the door right behind us, secured it, and used her datapad to vent the umbilical and then disengaged it. ¡°We''re free.¡±


    ¡°You''re lucky I unhooked the clamps on the landing gear already.¡± Donny said as he sat down.


    ¡°That was the first thing I checked when I got here.¡± Luxea said and hopped by us and went to the cockpit to sit in the co-pilot''s seat.


    ¡°I guess I''ll sit back here, then.¡± I said, and Donny laughed.


    The shuttle took off with all of us in it. I thought it was a little odd to leave no one aboard the ship; but, I knew I wasn''t experienced enough... or trusted enough... to be left on my own. Rus had locked everything down on the ship anyway, so there wasn''t much point in staying aboard. I would have liked to be left alone for a whole week, though. I''ve always had someone around me for one reason or another my whole life. Being completely left alone for a while would have been such a nice breath of fresh air.


    I knew I wasn''t going to get that air, even on a small terraformed moon.


    There was a ton of information about the place in the ship''s database and I had read some of it; but, I honestly didn''t care about how a few choice people had decided that they wanted somewhere to live and then built it.


    I mean, doesn''t everyone do that? You grow up, find somewhere to go, then make a place to live. It''s not that great of a story. I thought. The details may change and those can be interesting sometimes, like taking a hundred years to make a lifeless moon into a habitable place; but, once you''ve heard it, what else is there to listen to? How long they worked? How hard? Anyone with half a brain would already know those things. That made me chuckle, because even to myself I sounded like an asshole.


    ¡°What''s funny?¡± Donny asked.


    ¡°I just called myself an asshole in my head.¡±


    ¡°Bwahahaha!¡± Donny guffawed. ¡°He finally admits it! Ha ha ha!¡±


    I distinctly heard a few chuckles at my expense from the others, and I smiled. I could have made something up to be funny; but, sometimes the truth itself was funny and it didn''t even need a punchline.


    The shuttle came in for a landing and had barely touched down when Luxea had passed by us, grabbed her bags, and was out through the hatch and down the ramp to disappear from our sight. The two people waiting for us had barely seen her pass and looked from her retreating figure and back to the shuttle.


    I picked up my small bag and walked out of the shuttle. ¡°Luxea is a little excited to be here after so long.¡± I said to the greeting party.


    ¡°I think I saw that.¡± The older man said with a huge smile. ¡°Welcome to Esyndae.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, but I''m not the captain.¡± I said and stepped aside for Rus and pointed to him. ¡°He''s the captain.¡±


    ¡°Rus!¡± The older man exclaimed and gave Rus a quick hug and let him go. ¡°You know, you''re the only person I''d let book a whole floor without a down payment!¡±


    ¡°Hey, you know I''m good for it.¡± Rus said with a laugh. ¡°I just sold...¡± He stopped talking and laughed again. ¡°Privately, my friend. Privately.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± The older man said and looked at everyone. ¡°I''ll have Ohazith show you to your rooms.¡±


    ¡°Right this way.¡± A slightly high pitched voice said and I looked at what I thought was a woman, who stood beside the older man. She looked human as far as I could tell, with long black hair and a pretty face. I couldn''t see anything special about her with Presence, except that she had what looked like two long bundles of something wrapped around her waist under her baggy uniform.


    ¡°Lead the way.¡± I said, and she smiled at me and walked towards the large building not far away. I concentrated on her and focused my attention on trying to figure out what it was she was hiding. To everyone else, especially Cassie, it looked like I was watching the woman''s backside. I found this out when she poked me in the side.


    ¡°Why exactly are you staring at her ass?¡± Cassie whispered angrily. ¡°Mine looks better than that.¡±


    ¡°How exactly would I know that if I''m not allowed to look at yours?¡± I asked and didn''t bother trying to keep my voice down.


    Cassie widened her eyes, squinted them, sputtered a little, then crossed her arms and grumbled something that sounded like ''you''re supposed to look anyway''. I held in my laugh and kept following Ohazith into the building and into a very large lift. It fit us all and our luggage easily and we went up to the top floor.


    ¡°He really did book all the suites.¡± Donny said in amazement as the lift opened and we stepped out into a huge lobby.


    ¡°There are no set rooms, so feel free to choose one that suits you best.¡± Ohazith said in her high pitched voice. One of them already had a ''do not disturb'' sign hung on the door handle.


    ¡°Except for that one.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°That one''s Luxea''s.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Ohazith turned and looked. ¡°Oh, so it is.¡±


    ¡°I claim the middle one!¡± Cassie said and ran over to the door. I was wondering where her luggage was, then Rus lumbered by with his arms full. He put them just inside the room and shut the door before his daughter asked him to help her unpack.


    ¡°You all have fun.¡± Rus said and quickly walked back into the lift and the doors closed.


    ¡°I''ll take the one between them.¡± Rhubin said and carried his large bag over to the room and went inside. A moment later, he also put out a ''do not disturb'' sign. Evelyn didn''t say anything and took the room next to Cassie''s and shut the door.


    ¡°Process of elimination means I get that one.¡± Donny said and walked over to the one beside Evelyn''s and went inside.


    ¡°Then the last one is yours.¡± Ohazith said and motioned to the door.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and didn''t move.


    Ohazith turned to me and looked me in the eyes. Have you figured it out, yet?


    Surprisingly, no. I thought back. You must be using Presence to disguise it, because all I can see is two long bundles of Presence.


    Ohazith chuckled, and the sound wasn''t grating on my nerves like I thought it would be. I can show you if you like.


    I wouldn''t want to impose on you. I thought to her.


    My secret will eat you up inside... at least, until you drop your shields and let your anger loose. Ohazith thought. Then you might just tear off my clothes to see for yourself.


    You... are very turned on by that possibility. I thought in surprise, and she laughed. I really like your laugh.


    You really do. Ohazith thought in surprise as her hand touched my chest. Her skin was very warm against the jumpsuit''s fabric. It reminds you of someone.


    Lashina. I thought and brought her image to my mind. I''m saving myself for her.


    You''re assuming I need to touch you physically to give you pleasure. Ohazith thought smugly, then I felt her Presence touch the back of my head and it pulled the tie out of my hair. Almost like magic, she ruffled through my long dirty blonde hair using Presence, spread it out, and it cascaded over my shoulders and down my back to touch my backside. You are very handsome.


    Can I do the same to you and give you a similar compliment? I asked.


    Why do you ask when you can just do it like I just did? Ohazith smiled and walked over to my room. I followed her and we both stepped into my room and I shut the door.

 Book One: The Presence 029

    What followed was one of the weirdest and coolest things I had ever experienced.


    The woman Ohazith, with her long black hair, had closed the shutters on the windows to stop anyone from seeing in, then she turned to me. She hadn''t said a word out loud and only talked to me in my mind.


    Well, Ullir. Ohazith thought to me. Why are you so comfortable having me roaming around in your mind?


    Lashina always answered my thoughts when I had them; but, always out loud and she never talked back to me this way. I thought back to her.


    So, you like the intimacy.


    Something like that. I used Presence to fluff her hair out like she did to mine and it cascaded down her back. You look quite appealing.


    Ohazith chuckled out loud. Not beautiful? I think I feel insulted.


    I can''t judge you completely yet. I smiled and used four Presence Hands to grab her outfit. One on each shoulder and one on each hip, then pulled it apart. Her body jerked at the sudden motion and she gasped loudly at her sudden nakedness. Instead of covering herself, her body flooded with pleasure, then she revealed what those two long bundles were that she had wrapped around her waist and had covered in Presence.


    It was two extra arms.


    Ohazith unfolded them and they were kind of spindly and very thin. This is why I hide them. She thought and she spread her three long fingers and thumb on the ends of those arms that made her look distinctly alien. People only see a pretty woman of a similar species when I greet them and never want to see the truth.


    I did. I said and walked over to her as I unzipped my jumpsuit.


    You are the exception and not the rule, Ullir. Ohazith thought, sadly. Are you not disgusted by them?


    Instead of answering her question, I took one of the extra hands as if I was going to shake it, then I pulled it towards my mouth and kissed the back of it. Ohazith shivered at the touch of my lips and the things she felt inside my head.


    You were surprised to see them. Ohazith thought, puzzled. How can you ignore their oddness?


    I''ve seen a lot, and I mean a lot, of weird and frankly disgusting aliens the last few years. I thought to her. Your arms are nothing by comparison. They are thin from misuse and lack of exercise. If you had kept using them as nature intended, they would be just as strong as your other arms and you wouldn''t feel ashamed of them. I took her other extra hand and kissed the back of it as well. They aren''t alien in my eyes at all.


    Ohazith caught her breath. You... you understand that... I''ve hurt myself by concealing them all these years.


    Yes, I do. I thought and let her hands go and stepped close to her. I''ve hurt my development by concealing what I could do for years as well. I saw that she was a few inches shorter than my nearly six feet of height. Can you hug me with them, or will that make them sore and tired?


    Yes to both. Ohazith said and used her normal hands to open my jumpsuit and slid it off of my shoulders. I can reinforce them somewhat with Presence; but, only for short periods. She thought and rubbed my chest with her normal hands and put her two extra arms around me and hugged me very lightly. The extra hands played with my hair as I stared into her eyes.


    Please be careful. I thought to her and gave her a tender kiss on the lips.


    Your concern over my well-being is very... odd. Ohazith thought. What I felt from you before is so much repressed anger that...


    Hurting you on purpose would be one thing. I thought and caressed her breasts with my hands as I copied her movements on my chest. It made her catch her breath and she kissed me back. Having you hurt yourself while trying to just touch me is another.


    Oh, Ullir. Ohazith thought and broke the kiss. Why didn''t I meet you six years ago before I took this job?


    I was only ten at the time. I thought to her, and she laughed.


    Only ten! Ha ha ha ha! Ohazith''s mirth and happiness filled my mind and I didn''t try to block her at all. If the others had only known at the time who you truly were, they would have treated you differently.


    Oh, yeah. Definitely. I chuckled. It was bad enough being constantly monitored. Having to be constantly medically tested on top of that would have been so much more fun for me.


    They might not have done that; but, you were wise to not take the chance. Ohazith moved her hands up from caressing my chest to cup the sides of my face. I wish you hadn''t promised Lashina your first time, dear Marcus. She thought and let me feel her desire to have me inside of her.


    I believe you said that you didn''t need to touch me to make me feel pleasure.


    Only you, my dear. Ohazith thought, sadly. I can''t do it to myself.


    I moved my hands up to cup her cheeks as well and smiled. Perhaps you meant like this? I asked and poured my Presence into her through my hands and swirled it with hers.


    By the Goddess! Ohazith exclaimed. Marcus! How... how...


    Apparently, if who I''m with is powerful enough, my energy can mix with theirs.


    Oh, Marcus. Ohazith closed her eyes and let my Presence roam through her. Please... t-touch my c-center.


    Your... I stopped talking telepathically when she stopped masking her concentration of Presence in her body. You need to teach me how to do that. I thought as the center of her chest glowed brightly.


    I''ll do anything for you. Ohazith opened her eyes and stared into mine. We have a whole week to spend together, my dear.


    I doubt that...


    Ohazith let me go and stepped back as she lifted her normal hand and tapped several buttons on her wrist communicator. Now we have a whole week together. She thought happily and stepped close to me again. Please, touch me.


    I was warned not to do this.


    I know. Ohazith thought. Luxea is right. Doing this with someone will make them desire for you to do it to them again and again.


    But...


    Unlike her, I want you to do it again and again. Ohazith thought and took my hand with both of her extra hands, and I wasn''t bothered by their touch in the least. Neither of us is leaving this room until you need to leave on your ship.


    That made me chuckle and I gathered a small amount of Presence to my fingertip as she pulled my hand towards the spot. I stopped my hand just before touching her, though.


    Maybe you should lay down on the bed first.  I thought and shared my caution with her.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Yes, that would be the smart thing to do. Ohazith thought with a smile as she let my hand go with her frail extra hands, then took it with her normal hand and led me over to the bed. She laid down on it and she rested her extra arms out to her sides. I''m ready, dear.


    You look very beautiful. I thought to her and she felt my sincerity as I showed her the image of her on the bed and how good she looked.


    Thank you. Ohazith thought and I felt her sincerity in return.


    Here we go. I very lightly touched the spot in the middle of her chest and pushed my Presence into her.


    ¡°OHHHHH!¡± Ohazith yelled in pleasure as the center of her Presence intensified and glowed brightly. She didn''t try to use her hands to stop the flow of liquid between her legs and just let it come out unhindered.


    I took my finger away from her chest and she was breathing heavily. How was...


    Please, Marcus. Ohazith pleaded. I''ve never had anyone touch me like that before.


    But...


    I''ve tried before and it always hurt, because their Presence tries to push mine out. Ohazith explained. To find another person as sensitive as you that can share their Presence... Her hand reached out for mine and one of her extra hands cupped the side of my face. I need you to make me feel as good as I''ll make you feel later.


    You can do this for me as well? I asked, a little surprised. I thought... well... it would just be an emotional exchange or something.


    Ohazith chuckled. It normally is and I only stimulate the pleasure center of your brain. She thought in amusement. Now that I know you can do this, I will make you feel just as good.


    But... what about...


    We won''t be having sex, and Lashina will know this when next you meet. Ohazith thought, and I felt her reassurance. I won''t deny her feeling you both physically and mentally when the two of you finally join as one next year.


    I looked at her face and had a bad thought, or just a thought that any man would think when he had a beautiful naked woman in his bed. What''s to stop you from taking advantage of me once I''m feeling so good that I can''t say no... or if I don''t want to say no and beg you to make love to me?


    Ohazith used a bit of Presence to cut the tip of her finger and stuck it in my mouth. I swear by the Goddess Chaiya that I won''t use your body until Lashina uses it or decides that she can''t.


    I felt a tingle go all the way down my spine and looked at her with wide eyes. What was that?


    A blood oath to the Goddess of Light herself. Ohazith thought and smiled. Now make me writhe on the bed in pleasure and don''t hold back!


    All right. I thought and gathered a bunch of Presence to my hand to make it glow and covered the bed in a solid Presence barrier, just in case. Ohazith trembled as I slowly brought my glowing hand to her chest and her eyes widened as my energy started to jump to her center with little lightning bolts.


    B-b-by th-the G-g-goddess! Ohazith''s thoughts trembled, then I touched her chest and dumped it all into her Presence center and our energies merged.


    ¡°OHHHH! OHHHHHHH! OHHHHHHHHH!¡±


    I was glad that I had the idea to cover the bed in a Presence sound barrier, because she screamed in pleasure as loudly as she could, over and over, and fluids gushed out from between her legs in a torrent. I started to grow a little worried about that and thought about taking my hand back, then all four of her hands gripped mine and kept it held to her chest.


    M-m-more, Marcus. Ohazith thought. By the Goddess, let me have... no, give me back... all of the pleasure that I''ve given away with nothing in return!


    I couldn''t refuse her sincere request, and by this point she wasn''t blocking me from feeling everything that she was feeling. I can feel your whole body, so if I think...


    Yes, yes! I agree! Just keep going! Ohazith thought frantically, and I chuckled and increased my flow of Presence into her center.


    She didn''t think about much of anything after that.


    *


    ¡°What do you think he''s doing in there?¡± Luxea asked Rhubin the next day as they went to the elevator to meet up with everyone for breakfast.


    ¡°Who? Ullir?¡±


    ¡°No, I meant Donny.¡± Luxea said sarcastically.


    ¡°I''m right here.¡± Donny said as he came out of his room.


    ¡°We were just talking about Ullir.¡± Rhubin said and they all stepped into the lift. ¡°What do you think he''s doing in his room?¡±


    ¡°I honestly don''t care.¡± Donny said, and Luxea and Rhubin looked at him with wide eyes. ¡°We''re on vacation. If he wants to hole up in his room and hide, it''s none of my business.¡±


    ¡°But... what if...¡± Luxea tried to say.


    ¡°If you''re so concerned about him, just go knock on his door.¡± Donny said and cut her off. ¡°If it was me and you interrupted my sleep, or me doing something... or someone else... I''d be pissed.¡±


    Luxea opened her mouth and sighed. ¡°Yeah, I guess you''re right.¡± She said. ¡°I just thought...¡±


    ¡°What? That when given a choice, he''d want to hang around us while we troll for people to sleep with?¡± Donny asked, and her face closed down. ¡°Yeah, the guy that''s going to wait for an unknown amount of time to have sex with someone he really cares about, isn''t going to want to be around people like us while we parade several partners in front of his face.¡±


    ¡°Next year.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°He''s waiting until next year.¡±


    ¡°A YEAR?!?¡± Luxea yelled, then she closed her mouth with a snap. ¡°A year.¡± She almost whispered. ¡°I would have seduced him if I''d known how long he had to wait.¡±


    The lift opened and they walked out and across the lobby to the large restaurant. When they arrived at their table, Evelyn, Cassie, and Rus were already there.


    ¡°Did you know that Ullir''s waiting a whole year before having sex?¡± Luxea asked Evelyn as she sat down beside her.


    ¡°No wonder he looked down at us when he found out what we do with new men on the ship.¡± Evelyn said.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Luxea frowned at her. ¡°What did he say about that?¡±


    ¡°Nothing like what you''re thinking.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°He just... wasn''t into the whole having a guy for a week and then passing him along to the next woman.¡± She said. ¡°He was relieved that he wasn''t doing it and said he was listening to your advice and wants to stay away from all of us.¡±


    ¡°By the Goddess, I messed up so badly with him, didn''t I?¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Coming out of Rhubin''s sleeping cabin after what happened between the two of you?¡± Evelyn asked. ¡°Yeah, that was a royal mess and screwed the rest of us over completely, so we didn''t even get to try and seduce him.¡±


    ¡°No, I did that.¡± Cassie said. ¡°I blew up at him when I saw him leaving Luxea''s with his shower stuff.¡± She said. ¡°I was so angry that she had poached him before even discussing it with us, that I told him off and to get lost.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that would definitely have turned him off from the whole thing.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Getting angry at him for something he didn''t do... or had no real intention of doing... was not a good idea.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t know that he didn''t sleep with her, okay?¡± Cassie said, dejectedly. ¡°I messed up and I tried to apologize, and he didn''t believe me.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Why would he?¡± Donny asked and slapped Rhubin on the shoulder. ¡°You didn''t even wait a day for Rhubin to rest before taking your turn!¡±


    ¡°Donny!¡± Cassie exclaimed, her face bright red as she glanced at her father. ¡°Shut up!¡±


    Donny laughed. ¡°It''s not like you were trying to hide it, were you?¡± He asked, and Cassie didn''t say anything. ¡°I guess you were.¡± He said and looked at Rhubin. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°It''s me that should apologize to Ullir.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I knew he liked Cassie, and even though I knew he wouldn''t sleep with her right away because of his promise, I crossed that line before Cassie could make up for her mistake with him and that stopped Ullir from even considering dating her.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you all messed up completely.¡± The older man that owned the resort hotel said as he approached the table. ¡°That''s not a great way to treat a fellow crew member or a good way to keep a friend.¡±


    ¡°I''m just glad I wasn''t involved in any of that.¡± Rus said.


    ¡°Only because I won''t sleep with you.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I still wouldn''t have been involved.¡± Rus said. ¡°If you cheated on me with a sixteen year old kid, I''d drop you like a hot reactor into deep space.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Luxea sat up straight and glared at Rus. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°I said, if we were an item, we''d be an item. You wouldn''t be allowed to play around with the crew. If you did, our relationship would be over.¡±


    ¡°You have no right to tell me what I can and can''t do!¡± Luxea said angrily.


    ¡°I don''t know why you''re getting angry at me.¡± Rus said. ¡°We aren''t in a relationship.¡±


    Luxea closed her mouth and frowned at him.


    Rus turned to the older man. ¡°I haven''t seen Ohazith since yesterday.¡±


    ¡°She took a week of personal time.¡± The older man said. ¡°Urgent business of some kind.¡±


    ¡°I hope everything is okay?¡± Cassie asked.


    ¡°She was a personal greeter and tour guide. We aren''t expecting anyone to arrive for another few days, so it''s fine.¡± The older man said. ¡°I already have her replacement prepped to receive the next shuttle.¡±


    ¡°What about us?¡± Donny asked.


    ¡°I''m taking over her duties in that regard.¡± The older man said.


    ¡°What?¡± Rus looked up at him. ¡°We can''t possibly...¡±


    ¡°Now, now. I''m more than happy to show my old friend and his crew around.¡± The older man said. ¡°First, breakfast.¡± He said and clapped his hands once. Three waitresses came over with full trays of food for them.


    ¡°Look at all that!¡± Donny said happily as a huge plate of food was put in front of him. ¡°Thanks a lot!¡± He said to the waitress, and her face flushed red. He noticed the change and gave her a very warm and welcoming smile. Her face stayed red and she served two more people and then she retreated to get the drinks. She was back a minute later and served everyone on her section of the large table and ended with Donny.


    Donny, being the deft man that he was, placed his room card into her hand while he gave her a small denomination credit chip as a tip in her other hand.


    ¡°Th-thank you sir; but, tips are not necessary.¡± The waitress stuck the card into her pocket without anyone seeing while she tried to give the credit chip back.


    ¡°I know.¡± Donny said and closed her hand over it. The waitress nodded and stepped back to wait for her next opportunity to serve him, which wouldn''t be until later that night.


    ¡°Enjoy the plentiful food and the delicious drink, and I''ll be back in an hour to begin the day''s festivities.¡± The older man said, gave them a theatrical bow, and left.


    ¡°Now that''s a showman.¡± Rus said with respect, then laughed. ¡°He''s going to give us the best tour of the place anyone has ever had!¡±


    ¡°I missed the man-made falls the last time we were here.¡± Cassie said.


    ¡°Well, if you hadn''t been so excited over the water skiff races, you might have seen something besides that hot-shot pilot.¡± Evelyn said.


    ¡°What can I say? He was cute!¡± Cassie said, and everyone laughed.

 Book One: The Presence 030

    I spent the whole week pleasing and being pleased with Presence. I had no idea that just a little bit of stimulation mentally could make your physical body react in so many different ways. Ohazith showed me that a woman could also be pleased in many different ways than I had known as well. She assured me that none of the things I did for her broke my word to Lashina because we didn''t have sex with each other.


    I personally wasn''t touched physically, except for passionate kisses and random caresses on my chest and arms, even though I could feel how much Ohazith wanted to please me with her body. It was a deep seeded need in her to have me join with her, especially after sharing so much mentally and emotionally, and I admired her restraint and resolve to keep her oath to the Goddess Chaiya. To make up for that, I pleased her as much as I could and for as long as she wanted me to, and she was very grateful for the extra attention.


    When the week of vacation time we had together came to an end, she had successfully taught me how to mask the flow of Presence inside my own body, even better than my Stealth technique could manage. I think it was because she was deep inside my head that I learned so quickly, and I thanked her profusely for showing me such an important technique. With both the Mask Presence and my Stealth technique combined, I could potentially hide myself from everyone, even master level Presence users.


    My dear Marcus. Ohazith thought to me as we dressed. If I knew anything more, I would teach you that as well.


    Thank you. I thought as I gave her a hug and a quick kiss. I don''t know why I''m not angry at you for using my name from my old life. I thought to her as we walked over to the door of my room, and she chuckled.


    It''s because I''m not being malicious or ignoring the name you use now, Ullir. It is but a placeholder that references you. Ohazith thought and cupped the sides of my face with her extra hands. Like Lashina, I accept you for who you are and I don''t judge you. She leaned forward and kissed me on the lips. We both know that you have a deep repressed anger inside of you and it will shape you as you grow older.


    You''re not going to tell me to try and get rid of it? I asked, surprised.


    Ohazith laughed. Why would I tell you to remove your strongest ally?


    But... isn''t it... doesn''t it cloud people''s judgment? I asked, repeating what The Order teachers said.


    Only those without your focus, my dear. Most would strike out randomly and hurt those around them in rage. Unlike them, you know what you want to do and you use that anger to get you there. Ohazith thought and then smiled. I want to keep kissing you so I can delay your departure. She thought, amused. Am I a bad person?


    That made me smile and I took her into my arms again and gave her the kiss that she deserved. She moaned into my mouth as I eased my Presence into her center through my own chest.


    I am very tempted to go with you. Ohazith thought as we broke the kiss.


    ¡°There''s lots of room on the ship.¡± I said out loud, for the benefit of those standing in the floor''s lobby waiting for me, assuming they could hear me, then I whispered. ¡°Quit your job and come with me.¡±


    Ohazith raised her eyebrows at me as I felt her Presence inside my head, then she smiled. It touches my heart that you really mean that, dear. She thought and I felt how flattered she was. I would not last a month trying to stop myself from seducing you, let alone an entire year.


    Ohazith caressed my face one last time before she carefully folded her extra arms down and around her belly, then covered them in Presence. I had taught her how to use Presence to keep them healthy and to give them the nutrients they would need to be restored to proper working order. She had known how to reinforce them slightly, and the technique I taught her would make it much easier and less draining for her.


    If you come back this way in a year, please look for me. Ohazith thought, gave me a quick kiss, and opened the door. Everyone in the hallway stared at the two of us as we left my room and as we walked over to them to board the lift.


    ¡°Was Ullir the urgent business you needed to tend to all week?¡± Donny asked Ohazith.


    Luxea whacked him in the back of the head with her hand.


    ¡°Ow. Okay, I kinda deserved that.¡± Donny said and rubbed the spot.


    I smiled. ¡°Before you ask or even wonder, I kept my word and I did not have sex with Ohazith.¡± I said, truthfully.


    ¡°That does not mean that I didn''t have sex.¡± Ohazith said with a huge smile, which made Rhubin, Donny and Rus scratch their heads over how that would work. Luxea, Evelyn, and Cassie knew what she meant and their faces flushed red.


    ¡°I can''t believe the week passed by so fast.¡± I said as the lift arrived and I helped Ohazith step into it. ¡°It feels like we just got here and now we''re leaving.¡±


    No one said anything as they stepped into the lift behind us with their luggage. For them, they had had the busiest time every day while the older man that owned the place took them on tours to see everything. We exited the lift and Ohazith walked us out to the shuttle.


    ¡°Thank you for coming to our humble resort.¡± Ohazith said in her high pitched voice. ¡°We sincerely hope you will visit Esyndae the next time you pass by.¡±


    ¡°I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I can guarantee it.¡± Rus said with a smile.


    ¡°I can''t wait to get back to the ship so I can relax.¡± Evelyn said and rubbed the back of her neck, which made everyone laugh.


    ¡°She needs a vacation from her vacation!¡± Donny laughed as everyone else climbed aboard the shuttle.


    I stopped walking to talk to Ohazith. ¡°Are you sure that...¡±


    ¡°I have a role to play and I must play it, so you need to leave before I go crazy and decide to go with you.¡± Ohazith said and gave me one last kiss.


    I was tempted to just pick her up and carry her away, and she laughed as she ''saw'' me do that in my head. She gave me a little push and then put a hand over her heart.


    ¡°Goodbye, Ullir.¡± Ohazith said out loud. Goodbye, Dearest One. She said in my head.


    ¡°Come on, loverboy.¡± Donny said and pulled me into the shuttle and shut the hatch. ¡°For someone who is saving himself, you''ve sure got a way with the ladies.¡±


    I didn''t say anything and sat down at the back of the shuttle without even trying to take the co-pilot seat. Everyone went quiet as Rhubin powered up the shuttle and then took off. We left the small moon and spiralled up through various orbits to stay clear of the other ships, then docked with the long haul transport. Luxea used her datapad to activate the umbilical and pressurized it, then we were inside the ship and stored our things in our rooms.


    I didn''t even get a souvenir. I thought with a smile as the ship powered up from its stand-down condition and started to move, then Luxea''s voice came over the speaker.


    ¡°Ullir, get up to the cockpit right now!¡± Luxea exclaimed, her voice full of urgency.


    I ran from my sleeping compartment and jumped into the central shaft that was now in zero gravity and completely open, then used Presence to propel myself up to the cockpit and barely landed on the deck and ran into the cockpit. Rus, Cassie and Luxea stared at me because of my sudden appearance.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    Rus moved out of the way and hit a button to activate the communication system at his station and I saw Ohazith''s frantic face.


    ¡°Ullir, thank the Goddess.¡± Ohazith said. ¡°An Order ship exited hyperspace a few minutes ago and broadcast a warning about you being a rogue.¡± She said. ¡°They are on a fast intercept course for Esyndae and you need to leave right now.¡±


    ¡°Ohazith...¡±


    ¡°There''s no time for pleasant conversation, my dear.¡± Ohazith said and hit several buttons. ¡°I''m sending you the data on the three ships you are looking for.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°You''ll be arrested!¡±


    ¡°It''s already done.¡± Ohazith said. ¡°There are no names, so you should look at the pictures for the passenger manifests.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Ohazith! Take an escape pod and we''ll pick you up with the shuttle!¡± I said frantically.


    ¡°They are already at my door, dear.¡± Ohazith said. ¡°I have truly been blessed by the Goddess Chaiya to have known you, Ullir.¡±


    There was a small explosion and the door behind her burst open. The older man that owned the resort and two guards stepped into the room.


    ¡°End the call, Ohazith.¡± The older man said.


    ¡°Very well.¡± Ohazith said and hit the button to stop the audio on my side.


    ¡°N-no...¡± I put my hand on the screen.


    ¡°The Order has issued a bounty on the man you spent the week with.¡± The older man said. ¡°What did he tell you?¡±


    ¡°We didn''t speak about who he is or what he''s done.¡± Ohazith said. ¡°We didn''t speak at all, actually.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn''t lie to me.¡± The older man said and the two guards raised their weapons.


    ¡°I''ve never lied to you.¡± Ohazith said. ¡°Not in all the years I''ve worked here.¡±


    ¡°Are you a rogue collaborator now?¡± The older man asked and raised his wrist communicator. ¡°You sent a lot of data up to Rus'' ship.¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± Ohazith said. ¡°Ullir needed my help, and I did it gladly.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± I exclaimed.


    The older man shook his head. ¡°You know the penalty for divulging personal information on the guests, and you did it anyway.¡±


    ¡°I did.¡± Ohazith admitted.


    The old man sighed. ¡°You were the best greeter and tour guide I had working here.¡±


    The two guards took firing stances, and Ohazith didn''t try to run or hide.


    ¡°You were the best employer.¡± Ohazith said, and the two guards shot her. One through the heart and the other through the center of her chest and through her Presence center.


    ¡°NOOOOO!¡± I yelled as I saw her lifeless body fall out of sight. I let my repressed anger out as I gathered an absurd amount of Presence to myself. I had learned that I didn''t need to physically touch someone to use Presence on them, and that little lightning bolts would come out if I used too much Presence. I also knew that all energy and matter had Presence in it, so I used that knowledge in the most efficient way possible. The signal from the planet that let me see what was happening, actually had a very thin line of Presence inside of it.


    I let my anger boost my level of Presence far beyond what I should have and I shoved it as hard and as fast as I could into the communications display on the ship. It travelled down to the planet through that signal instantly as I concentrated on the men in the room, and huge lightning bolts burst out of Ohazith''s display and struck them.


    ¡°ARGH!¡± The older man and the two guards yelled as my lightning bolts electrocuted them.


    ¡°ULLIR!¡± Luxea yelled and grabbed my shoulders to pull me away from the display. ¡°STOP IT!¡±


    As my hands lifted from the display, the lightning bolts continued to go from my hands, through the machine, and down to the planet to the three men I could still see shaking and vibrating on the screen.


    ¡°They''re DEAD!¡± Luxea yelled into my ear and I heard the fear in her voice. ¡°DO YOU HEAR ME? THEY''RE DEAD!¡±


    I took a deep breath and stopped pushing my Presence through the communications system. The communications display went black when the flow of Presence stopped, then I dropped to my knees, exhausted.


    ¡°She... she''s dead.¡± I said, and tears formed in my eyes and poured down my face. ¡°She''s dead because of me.¡±


    ¡°She knew what she was doing.¡± Luxea said as she knelt and hugged me. ¡°I think... I''m sure that she knew they were coming for her anyway.¡± She said. ¡°Ohazith just made sure that her life was useful before she died.¡±


    ¡°T-transfer the... information to...¡± I pulled out my datapad from my pocket and dropped it, then I lost conciousness.


    *


    ¡°Rus! What are you doing just sitting there?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°Get us out of here!¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Rus said and added a bunch more power to the engines. ¡°Cassie, you''ve got two minutes to get me proper hyperspace jump coordinates.¡±


    ¡°Already done!¡± Cassie said and sent them to him.


    ¡°Luxea, get him into a jumpseat!¡± Rus said and worked the controls on the ship.


    ¡°I can do that.¡± Luxea said as she put Ullir''s dropped datapad in her pocket and dragged a completely unconscious Ullir over to the small jumpseat at the side of the cockpit. ¡°I think.¡±


    ¡°All hands! We''re going to full acceleration in one minute! Strap in!¡± Rus said over the ship''s speakers. Luxea barely managed to get Ullir strapped in and made it back to her seat just in time to strap in herself.


    ¡°Full burn!¡± Rus said as he pushed the levers forward and hit the button. The long haul ship''s engines all lit up at the same time and propelled the ship out of the small moon''s gravity well. ¡°How... long until... Lagrange point?¡±


    ¡°At this... speed... ten minutes.¡± Cassie said as she looked at the navigation display. ¡°If we had been... on the other side of the moon... it would have been... double that.¡± She said and hit the button to change the display to add other ships. ¡°The Order ship is... changing course.¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter!¡± Rus said and laughed. ¡°We''ll be in hyperspace long before they can get to us!¡±


    ¡°It''s at times... like these... that I wish we had... a smaller ship.¡± Luxea said as she was pressed into her seat at nearly eight times her normal weight.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Cassie said. ¡°The ship''s massive size... needs a lot more thrust to... get it moving so quickly.¡±


    ¡°That''s half the fun!¡± Rus said and laughed. ¡°You wouldn''t even feel this in a little ship!¡±


    ¡°That''s the point!¡± Luxea said, and Rus laughed some more.


    *


    I opened my eyes and felt weak as a freshly born kitten. ¡°What... where...¡± I mumbled.


    ¡°You''re in the medical bay.¡± Evelyn said and bent over me to look into my eyes. ¡°What did you do to yourself?¡±


    ¡°I... I let...¡± I closed my eyes and lost consciousness again. When I woke up the next time, I felt much better.


    ¡°Hey, you.¡± Luxea said and touched my hand. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Better.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m glad.¡±


    ¡°How long have I been here?¡±


    ¡°Three days.¡± Evelyn said and walked over to the bed. ¡°I''m not sure why; but, you were close to dying and I couldn''t figure out why.¡±


    ¡°It''s because I used up nearly all of my Presence.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ha, you''re funny.¡± Cassie said from the other side of the bed. ¡°It''s not possible to do that.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°She''s right.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°It''s like when you lose a bunch of blood from a bleeding wound.¡±


    ¡°Um... you can die from that.¡± I said, and they both laughed.


    ¡°You just heal the wound and the blood comes back eventually, or you add some to speed up the process.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°Problem solved.¡±


    I opened my mouth to say that it wasn''t that simple, then changed my mind. I wasn''t a medical professional and it probably was that simple.


    ¡°What about The Order ship chasing us?¡± I asked instead.


    ¡°They didn''t come close to catching us before we entered hyperspace.¡± Luxea said. ¡°They didn''t even enter long ranged weapons range.¡±


    ¡°Not that a fast courier ship could carry long ranged weapons.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°It would tear the little thing apart if it tried to fire something like that.¡±


    ¡°What about...¡± I stopped talking because I had reminded myself about Ohazith and what happened to her. I felt around for my datapad that should have been in the leg pocket of my jumpsuit, and my hand met the bare skin of my thigh instead. ¡°Why am I naked?¡±


    ¡°You still have underwear on.¡± Evelyn said, then she grinned at me. ¡°Although, technically I''m supposed to remove all restrictive clothing when treating a patient.¡±


    ¡°The only thing underwear restricts is other people seeing me naked.¡± I said.


    ¡°Uh huh. Restrictive.¡± Evelyn chuckled and both Luxea and Cassie laughed.


    ¡°Where''s my datapad?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You don''t need to worry about that right now.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°Just rest and concentrate on...¡±


    I ignored her and sat up. When the thin blanket that covered me fell off, Cassie and Luxea gasped.


    ¡°Oh, Ullir.¡± Cassie said, sadness clear in her voice.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked and looked down at myself. I was surprised to see five jagged scars arrayed in a perfect circle on my left pectoral muscle. They were about two inches long and kind of looked like lightning bolts. If my guess was right, and I''d confirm it later by using my medical scan as a reference, it was right above where my heart was in my chest. It was like something had tried to dig my heart out of my chest, and as far as I knew, something really tried to. I rubbed my fingers over the scars and nodded when I felt that they were small bundles of thick scar tissue, like they had been there for a long time.


    ¡°I can''t heal them.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°I''ve tried a few different things and I even cut one off.¡±


    ¡°It grew back.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°They feel... old.¡±


    ¡°It''s like you''ve always had them, and yet I know you didn''t have them before because of the medical scan I did.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°I can''t explain it.¡±


    It means I need to be a bit more careful when using Presence like that. I thought, and was immediately saddened when I didn''t hear Ohazith respond to my thoughts, because now she never would.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± Cassie said as she saw my face and her fingertips touched the scars alongside my fingertips. ¡°Scars can sometimes make you look more manly.¡±


    ¡°He didn''t really have a problem with that before.¡± Evelyn tried to joke.


    ¡°My datapad?¡± I asked, and Luxea dug my datapad out of her pocket. She handed it to me and Cassie removed her hand from my chest as I checked the datapad''s log for recent information transfers.


    ¡°Yes, I looked through it.¡± Luxea said before I could ask her if she had looked through it. ¡°I needed to know where to store the new data without messing up what you had on it already.¡±


    I didn''t respond as I nodded and found where she had put the information, then I looked at the ship manifests Ohazith had sent me. I scanned through the passenger pictures as quickly as my eye could handle it, then stopped about halfway through the second ship''s records when I saw a face I recognized.


    It was (Undecipherable)''s apprentice.


    His hairstyle was different and he was definitely trying to hide his appearance; but, I would recognize his beady little eyes and sarcastic grin anywhere. With this picture, my search could be focused solely on the second ship''s movements, because that was where I was sure (Undecipherable) was. I checked the rest of the pictures from all three ships, just in case, and didn''t see him. I hadn''t really expected to, either. If he was hiding his blue skin and horns, he could make himself look like anyone.


    ¡°Can I go to my sleeping compartment?¡± I asked Evelyn.


    ¡°If you''re not going to stay here like I want you to, you might as well go there and rest instead.¡± Evelyn said in resignation.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and stood up and walked over to the hatch.


    ¡°You can at least get dressed first.¡± Cassie said.


    ¡°I need a shower, so that''s a waste of a clean jumpsuit.¡± I said and kept working on the datapad as I left the medical bay.


    I felt the three of them follow me and I heard them catch their breath when I stepped off the deck into the central shaft and used a small amount of Presence to push myself down. I dropped down to the crew compartments and stopped at the shower level, turned myself around with another small amount of Presence, then stepped onto the deck without looking up from the datapad. I covered it in Presence and made it solid to protect it from the soap and water, took a shower and dried off, then walked out into the central shaft and floated across to the hallway with my sleeping compartment. I absorbed the solid Presence around the datapad and grabbed new underwear and a jumpsuit from the hallway closet.


    I quickly got dressed and entered my sleeping compartment, then worked on all of the new data that I had and mixed it with the data I already had. I wasn''t surprised that nearly all of it pointed to the Granis System and its huge tourist attraction. It was also a hub for illegal trade and moving goods that The Order didn''t want moved without their permission. I smiled when I read what one of the items was.


    Presence focusing crystals.


    Thank you, Ohazith. I thought and put the datapad down and covered it in solid Presence. You''ve given me my first solid lead to tracking down the bastards that killed my parents.


    I rolled over on my bunk, put my hand over my heart, and caressed the scars that would let me remember Ohazith for as long as I lived.

 Book One: The Presence 031

    With a new goal in sight, the Granis System, I went to Cassie and she told me that it was about three weeks away. Rus had to divert from our previous hastily-chosen course to take a more direct route, in the hopes that we could arrive before the notice from The Order of me becoming a rogue, reached the distant tourist attraction.


    I wasn''t worried about being caught there, not after discovering its underworld connections; but, there would no doubt be people who would want to hunt me down for the one thousand credit bounty. Ohazith was kind enough to include the notice along with all the other information she had sent to the ship. I was glad that the bounty was so low and it stated that I needed to be alive to claim it.


    Good luck getting me back there alive. I thought with a touch of hatred while I ate breakfast. As I sat at the table, each person that walked by me pat my shoulder, rubbed my back, or gave me encouraging words. When Luxea did it, she had leaned down and gave me a hug and whispered in my ear.


    ¡°I''m so sorry, Ullir.¡± Luxea breathed. ¡°If there''s anything I can do...¡±


    I slowly turned my head so she wouldn''t be surprised by the movement, and she leaned back slightly. ¡°Can you teach me about engineering?¡±


    Luxea smiled. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°You can tag along when I do my daily check of the ship''s systems if you want.¡±


    ¡°I''d like that.¡± I said. ¡°It''ll keep me busy, at least.¡±


    ¡°I do it after lunch, so meet me in the cockpit after that.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said.


    We all finished eating and went our separate ways. They all went to their respective jobs and I went to my sleeping compartment to study. I wasn''t sure what Rhubin did during the day, and I honestly didn''t want to know. It was his business and that was as much information as I wanted to have on the subject. I had skipped going to lunch and met Luxea in the cockpit, and she waved me over to the side of the room. I wasn''t sure what she wanted me for, then she reached out and tapped the wall. I heard a hollow sound and raised my eyebrows at her.


    ¡°It''s just a facing.¡± Luxea said and pulled a wrench out from one of her jumpsuit pockets. ¡°A fake wall to protect us from all of the electrical wires that would be floating around if we didn''t cover them.¡±


    I watched as she expertly unbolted the panel in only a few seconds.


    ¡°Take it out.¡± Luxea said and pointed at it.


    I looked at the practically seamless metal and then looked at the little holes the bolts had left.


    ¡°That''s right.¡± Luxea said and smiled as she passed me a tiny little tool with a thick hook on the end. ¡°You need to brace it and yank with this to get the leverage you need to pop it open.¡±


    ¡°How do you decide what panel to open?¡± I asked and took the tool, did as she said and hooked the tool into a bolt hole, then pulled. The panel popped off the wall with a small suction sound and I put the panel down on the floor.


    ¡°The ship''s schematic.¡± Luxea said and held up her datapad. ¡°It tells you where all the junction boxes are that need to be checked.¡±


    ¡°I assume it also tells you what they are for.¡± I asked as I looked at about 6 large bundles of wires that entered a three foot by three foot square junction box. ¡°This looks like a nightmare.¡±


    Luxea chuckled and opened the junction box, and inside was like... well, I don''t know what it was like. I had never seen anything like it before. Hundreds upon hundreds of connections, relays, welds, switches, buttons, and what I thought were fuses of some kind were scattered all over the thing.


    ¡°I was exaggerating before.¡± I said as I looked at the complete mess before me, and even with Presence and my mind automatically sorting everything into its own color, I couldn''t make sense of it. ¡°This really is a nightmare.¡±


    Luxea laughed and took out something that looked like a datapad and plugged it into a port between two bundles of wires that I wouldn''t have found if she had given me a map and detailed directions.


    ¡°You can''t look at the whole as a whole.¡± Luxea said and pointed. ¡°This goes to the medical bay.¡± She said and then touched the bundle of wires. ¡°Main power.¡± She said as she rubbed her finger on a thick one with distinct markings, then touched the wire next to that. ¡°Backup power.¡± She touched a huge bundle of wires next to that. ¡°Video and audio tied into the communication system.¡±


    I stood there as she explained what each bundle of wires did, and I was surprised that so much was handled by it. ¡°If this box is ever damaged, it could ruin the whole ship!¡± I exclaimed, and she laughed.


    ¡°It could... if it was the only one on the ship.¡± Luxea said, and I stared at her.


    ¡°There''s more?¡±


    ¡°Now you know why I said I can''t teach you engineering.¡± Luxea said. ¡°There are hundreds of these on a long haul transport. Each with redundancies and backups so that no matter what happens, things will always work.¡±


    ¡°Unless it''s the main power reactor.¡± Rus said. ¡°If we have to dump it in an emergency or it explodes, all the junction boxes in the universe won''t save us.¡±


    ¡°How much backup power would we have if that happened?¡± I asked. ¡°I mean dumping it or shutting it off, not exploding.¡± I smiled. ¡°Are there things like high voltage batteries or secondary reactors on the ship?¡±


    ¡°We can last about twelve hours at full power without the main reactor.¡± Luxea said. ¡°If we go to bare minimums, we can last for about a week.¡±


    ¡°I assume the ship doesn''t have a spare main reactor.¡± I said, and she shook her head.


    ¡°We couldn''t store it, legally anyways, even if we did have one.¡± Rus said. ¡°Plus, we would need to be in a shipyard to change it out... and we would need the help of a lot more hands than what we have on this ship.¡± He chuckled. ¡°No point in keeping an extra one onboard when we''d never be able to use it.¡±


    I was going to suggest having it completely wired up and powered down, so that if anything cut off power to the main it could just be started up to take its place, then kept the thought to myself. I had no idea how large the ship''s reactor was, where it was, or what requirements it needed for operation. Instead, I looked at Luxea''s face.


    ¡°Show me what you can and I''ll try my best to follow along.¡± I said.


    Luxea smiled sweetly at me and nodded, then showed me what her daily engineering job entailed as we checked the junction boxes that needed to be checked. I wasn''t surprised to discover that she was very smart and knew everything about the ship and its inner workings. She had been on it long enough that she could do most of the little repairs blindfolded and we were done well before suppertime.


    ¡°...and that''s it.¡± Luxea said and bolted the last panel into place. ¡°Maintenance check done.¡±


    ¡°Luxea.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, Ullir?¡±


    ¡°I only have one question.¡±


    ¡°What''s that?¡±


    ¡°How does it work?¡± I asked.


    ¡°How does what work?¡±


    ¡°This.¡± I said and waved at the corridor we were standing in. ¡°Lights. Gravity. Electricity. How does it work?¡±


    Luxea opened her mouth to say something, probably to call me stupid, then she closed it and thought about my question. ¡°Ullir, it''s both simple and complex at the same time.¡±


    ¡°Try me.¡±


    ¡°Well, everything that works has... it''s just...¡± Luxea stopped talking for a moment. ¡°On and off.¡± She said. ¡°Everything has an on and an off. Even the most intricate technology is made up of little electronic switches that just turn on and off. When done in specific sequences and faster than a blink of an eye, they can perform amazing things.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I wasn''t sure what she was saying, then she took my hand and lifted it up, folded my other fingers down and left my index one pointed up.


    ¡°This is off.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Now do your Presence trick and make your fingertip glow.¡±


    I gathered a little bit of Presence to my fingertip and it glowed slightly.


    ¡°This is on.¡± Luxea said. ¡°While off, you are in one state, and when on, you are in another. If you do it rapidly, that''s another state. If you do it every second and skipped every other second, that''s another state.¡±


    My eyes started to widen and my eyebrows raised up as she kept talking.


    ¡°If you do three rapid and one slow, that''s another state.¡± Luxea said. ¡°There are an infinite number of states you can create and they each have their purpose.¡±


    ¡°In an electronic system, you can set anything up, any commands you want, and the state of all the little switches inside tell it what do to and in what order to do it so it can follow those commands.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Luxea said. ¡°The lights don''t just turn on. They need regulated and constant power so it doesn''t overload. Imagine if you just had ''power'' and ''on'' as commands. The lights would explode as all the power was shunted to them!¡±


    ¡°What it does is add a small amount of power, directs it where it needs to go, tells the light to accept that power, then adds the power in a steady stream to maintain a consistent glow and not just one short burst.¡± I said as I started to understand.


    ¡°That''s right, Ullir.¡± Luxea whispered. ¡°All electronics work that way, otherwise they would just pop the moment any power was added.¡±


    I think that''s why Light swords have basic electronics and aren''t just a housing for the focusing crystal. I thought. If I held onto a bare crystal and tried to create a Light sword with it, it would probably create one at random, anywhere on its surface, and possibly kill me if it didn''t just cut off my hand... or explode from not having any kind of regulator in place.


    ¡°I can see your mind working.¡± Luxea whispered again and leaned in close. ¡°I can almost feel it.¡±


    I blinked my eyes and saw her Presence starting to gather as she became aroused, and I absorbed the small amount still on my finger, in case she got the wrong idea and tried to take advantage of me.


    ¡°You''ve opened my eyes to several new things and it''s letting me see why some things are the way they are.¡± I whispered, and she closed her eyes at the compliment. ¡°Thank you very much, Luxea.¡±


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± Luxea said and opened her eyes and looked at me forlornly.


    I could see in them that she had missed a golden opportunity, so I cupped the sides of her face with my hands. ¡°I''m still taking your advice, remember? I won''t get involved with anyone on the ship.¡±


    ¡°I shouldn''t have given you that advice, Ullir.¡± Luxea sighed. ¡°It''s denied you a way to help you deal with your grief.¡±


    ¡°I have dealt with it.¡± I said. ¡°I put it right into the same bundle of anger that I have at The Order for killing my parents.¡± I leaned forward and touched my nose to hers. ¡°She wasn''t even a rogue and she was killed, because according to The Order, I am a rogue and she collaborated with me.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, you...¡± Luxea took a shallow breath and let it out. ¡°The Goddess teaches us that anger will eat you up inside.¡±


    ¡°Not if you use it to keep yourself from making mistakes.¡± I said, paraphrasing what Ohazith had said to me, then let Luxea''s face go.


    ¡°Ullir, you killed three people with... whatever it was you did with the communications system... because of that anger.¡± Luxea said. ¡°You almost died.¡±


    ¡°That''s because grief stopped me from using my anger properly.¡± I said. ¡°You were right. I should have stopped when they were dead and I wouldn''t have drained myself by wasting my energy on trying to kill corpses.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, that''s not what I meant.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and turned and walked away. ¡°See you tomorrow for my next lesson.¡±


    *


    ¡°Look at this place.¡± The Order member said and waved at the carnage in Ohazith''s room. ¡°What the hell happened in here?¡±


    ¡°By the looks of the console, it exploded.¡± The second one said.


    ¡°After they killed the collaborator.¡± The first one said. ¡°Why did it explode and kill the three of them?¡±


    ¡°A fail-safe device, perhaps?¡±


    ¡°If we had come here instead of trying to chase that ship...¡±


    ¡°We still would have found the same scene, just an hour earlier.¡± The second one said. ¡°Showing them that we were willing to chase them, even without the possibility of catching them, showed them our resolve to find them.¡±


    ¡°Why did we do that again?¡±


    ¡°They started to run as soon as we entered the system.¡± The second one said. ¡°Only guilty people run.¡±


    ¡°They could have just been leaving on their own.¡±


    ¡°Not at full burn like they did.¡± The second one said. ¡°It''s too bad we didn''t get their ship identification, though.¡±


    ¡°It shouldn''t be that hard to find them.¡± The first one said. ¡°How many long haul transports can there be out this way?¡±


    ¡°More than either of us has the time to chase down and inspect.¡±


    ¡°So, what do we do?¡±


    ¡°We need someone more sensitive than us to look this place over.¡± The second one said.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It glows with Presence.¡±


    ¡°If you hadn''t noticed, everything does.¡± The first said, sarcastically.


    ¡°Yes, but you failed to notice that the glow isn''t coming from the bodies. It is on them.¡±


    The first one knelt on one knee and looked at the remains of an older man and concentrated on it. ¡°You''re right. It''s not an internal glow.¡±


    ¡°We''ll check the guests to see if there''s anyone sensitive enough for the job. If there isn''t. We''ll have to send for someone.¡±


    ¡°That could take weeks, even in our ship.¡±


    ¡°Do you have anywhere else you need to be right now?¡± The second one asked.


    ¡°Well, considering we were sent to deliver messages when any normal courier could have done it... no.¡± The first one said and smiled.


    The second one chuckled. ¡°Let''s skip the search here, then. Tell the ship to go back to Ulathall and report what happened here, and that we need someone with a more precise grasp of the use of Presence to come here and inspect things, then possibly track this flow of Presence.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it''ll last that long?¡± The first one asked.


    ¡°I''ll try and construct a barrier that should hold the state of the room intact... for as long as I can maintain it, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to...¡±


    ¡°No, it would just disrupt my concentration if you try to help me or make part of the barrier yourself.¡±


    The first one shrugged. ¡°I''ll make sure they bring you food and...¡±


    ¡°I don''t have to stay here to keep it going.¡± The second one smiled. ¡°It only has to be within my detection range.¡±


    ¡°You''re lucky, then.¡± The first said. ¡°I have to keep looking at things to have it work.¡±


    The second chuckled. ¡°You need more mental discipline, my friend.¡±


    ¡°No, I just need more time to practice.¡± The first said. ¡°Which I could do if we weren''t sent out all the time to do things like this.¡±


    ¡°Well, we''ll have about two weeks before the ship comes back. That should give you plenty of time to relax and practice.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, very funny.¡± The first one said. ¡°This is a resort! Who''s going to practice meditation while in a place like this? Not me!¡±


    The second shook his head. ¡°Go on, then. Have fun.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± The first one said and strode away.


    ¡°Give the ship its orders!¡± The second one nearly yelled, and his friend gave him a wave of acknowledgement. ¡°I''ll call and tell them myself after I set up this barrier.¡± He said and closed the door, then pulled some Presence around himself and closed his eyes. He made what his mind thought of as a soft blanket and laid it over the room. It didn''t stop things from happening inside the room and only slowed down the dissipation of Presence. As long as he kept pouring Presence into his blanket, it would contain the Presence within the room.


    At least, it had always worked that way. The Order was fortunate to have someone with that skill this time, otherwise they wouldn''t be able to track whoever it was that had doused those three men and most of the room with Presence. He had felt stronger Presences before from different masters; but, this room had been hours old by the time they had reached it, after some investigating and the staff had discovered their missing owner. The Presence in the room was still quite prominent, and that had been a surprise for him to see.


    The second Order member''s thoughts drifted to the message about declaring an apprentice a rogue and the minuscule bounty on his head. If it was him, this Ullir, then both the level of the warning and the price of the bounty will increase. He thought and finished making his soft blanket barrier, then he called the ship to confirm their orders.


    The fast courier ship left orbit around the small moon, accelerated out of the moon''s gravity well, then jumped to hyperspace. The two Order members had grossly miscalculated the timetable. It had taken them a week to get to Esyndae because of all the stops they had to make to deliver the warning about Ullir. Without those stops, the fast ship made the trip in two days, picked up their requested expert, and was back on the small moon of Esyndae two days later. The shuttle from the ship landed and the expert stepped out and was greeted by both Order members who were very surprised at her sudden arrival.


    ¡°Master.¡± They both said and bowed slightly. ¡°Welcome to...¡±


    ¡°Take me to the room right now and pray to the Goddess that it''s still intact enough for my needs.¡± Master Kara Moor snapped angrily at them.


    ¡°Y-yes, Master Moor.¡± They both said and led her from the landing pad and into the resort as quickly as they could. As they approached the room, the second member of The Order dismissed his soft blanket and Kara saw it dissipate. She nodded to him and opened the door, then she caught herself before she gasped.


    L-look at this place. Kara thought in shock. Her eyes almost burned at the amount of Presence in the room. It came from near the console. She walked over to it and put her hand into the radiating Presence. Ullir. She thought as she recognized his Presence, then she turned and looked at the three bodies just inside the door. He killed them.


    Kara closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She opened them and looked at where the bodies were. She knew they had been standing when they were hit by something, so she walked over to where they would have been standing, and looked back at the console. She saw the woman''s body and the two laser blasts that had killed her.


    There''s too much of his Presence in here and I can''t tell if he was in the room or not. Kara thought. They obviously shot the woman and he reacted, and did something with Presence; but, I can''t tell what it was.


    Kara turned and bent down to examine the older man, then unbuttoned his suit coat and then his shirt. Now I know. She thought as she saw the huge indent in the man''s chest where his heart should have been. There''s only one attack that I''ve heard of that could implode a man''s heart like that. She closed her eyes for a moment. Oh, Ullir. She sighed because her student was losing his way. ¡°What was the name of the ship that left orbit when you arrived?¡±


    ¡°They don''t have the ship''s name on record, Master Moor.¡± The first one said.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Kara asked and stood.


    ¡°It''s against their policy to record those things. Or passenger names.¡± He said. ¡°All they do is take pictures for identification.¡±


    ¡°Show me.¡± Kara demanded and he handed her a datapad. She flicked through the seven pictures in an instant. ¡°We need to find that ship.¡± She said and left the room at a fast walk, and the other two Order members quickly followed her. I''m coming for you, Ullir. She thought. You will answer for your crimes.

 Book One: The Presence 032

    The next three weeks passed by in a studying flurry and I had my nose pressed to my datapad''s screen constantly. I only left my sleeping compartment to eat, to follow Luxea around the ship while she made repairs and did her daily checks, and to shower. I wasn''t really interested in engineering as a whole, since Luxea was right. That would take years of intense studying and a keen interest. More than likely I would need a talent for it, which I didn''t really have or wanted to develop.


    What I did have was a strong interest in electronics.


    With Luxea''s insight and my own extrapolation of the information she shared with me and showed me how to look up in the ship''s computer, I knew there was a treasure trove of things to discover if I took the time to look for and discover them. I limited myself to six hours of sleep a night and used various mental techniques to keep my mind clear of other thoughts, focused on the task at hand, and to enhance my learning ability so I would retain the information I was forcibly trying to cram into my head at a much faster rate than most people could.


    I used Presence to reinforce my mental capacity and let it organize my thoughts and the information I was absorbing, and I wasn''t surprised when I started to understand things more than I would have weeks before. By the end of the three weeks, I no longer thought of the junction boxes as nightmares. They were interconnected pathways that let the ship run smoothly.


    I started to instinctively know what wires were for which system, and when I wasn''t sure, I let the flow of Presence guide me. Luxea and I had just finished checking the last junction box and when I secured the panel back in place, the ship''s speakers squawked.


    ¡°We''re about to drop out of hyperspace and into the Granis System.¡± Rus'' voice said. ¡°Luxea, get your tight ass up to the cockpit right now.¡±


    ¡°He''s such a jerk.¡± Luxea said and took the wrench from me and put it in her pocket.


    ¡°Well, he''s been wanting to have sex with you for how long now?¡± I asked, and she chuckled.


    ¡°I''m fine with sleeping with members of the crew; but, I draw the line with sleeping with the boss.¡± Luxea said and walked down the hallway. ¡°Unlike the others I take to my bed, the boss can fire you.¡±


    ¡°Is that all that''s stopping you?¡± I asked, curiously.


    ¡°No.¡± Luxea said and opened the hatch to enter the central shaft. ¡°Like I said. He''s a jerk.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Ullir, I have to at least like someone if I''m going to spend time with them.¡± Luxea said and was about to swing out into the zero gravity field from the handhold when I caught her arm. She looked at me with wide eyes, then she caught her breath as I picked her up in a princess carry and she had to put her arms around my neck. She didn''t speak as I jumped out into the central shaft and used Presence to propel us up to the cockpit level in only a couple of moments.


    I landed on the deck beside the security door. ¡°Now Rus can''t bitch at you for not rushing.¡±


    Luxea kept her arms around my neck as I stood her up on her feet. ¡°Ullir...¡±


    ¡°Just because I don''t want to get involved with you and the other women, it doesn''t mean that I don''t like you.¡± I said and let her go.


    Luxea slid her hands down my chest and closed her eyes for a moment, then she looked at me. ¡°I really am sorry for how things turned out between us.¡±


    ¡°Surprisingly, so am I.¡± I said to her surprised face, then I stepped around her and opened the security hatch. ¡°After you.¡±


    Luxea nodded and entered the cockpit. When Rus didn''t say anything to her about being late or taking her time, she nodded at me and took her seat.


    I looked at her console, then at the middle one Rus sat at, and then at the navigation console that Cassie was using. ¡°What''s with the reddish display screen color?¡± I asked, curiously.


    ¡°We''re on high alert, just in case there''s a blockade or something.¡± Rus said. ¡°I sincerely doubt it; but, you never know what the fringes of the galaxy might have in store for you until you get there.¡±


    ¡°There could be an entertainer''s strike over a hospitality tax hike.¡± Cassie said.


    ¡°Or the transshipment fees are being handled by a new cartel and they want their cut before we reach the station.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Or there''s a shortage of drinkable alcohol in the hotels and they confiscate it from incoming vessels.¡±


    ¡°That''s not a good way to run a tourist attraction.¡± I said, and the three of them laughed.


    ¡°It''s more of an all-consuming machine that constantly needs to be fed.¡± Rus said. ¡°Half of our current cargo is intended to be sold here.¡±


    ¡°Intended? Not guaranteed?¡± I asked, and he nodded.


    ¡°Sometimes the people who ordered it made a mistake, or can''t pay.¡± Rus said. ¡°Exiting hyperspace... now.¡± He said and hit the button to cut power to the hyperspace generator and the ship dropped into normal space. The stars shifting back to their normal state wasn''t as big of a deal for me, now that I had seen it a few times.


    ¡°Sometimes the clients aren''t around anymore, too.¡± Luxea said. ¡°That happens more often than not, to be honest.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± Rus said. ¡°The goods can be offloaded pretty much anywhere we go.¡± He chuckled. ¡°We''ve even made more money than the original order sometimes.¡±


    ¡°You''re thinking about the Corsican Chickens, aren''t you?¡± Cassie asked her father. ¡°Nothing new on the navigation screen.¡±


    ¡°By the Goddess, those farmers on Apan thought they were gifts from the Goddess Chaiya herself!¡± Rus laughed. ¡°It''s still the best deal we ever made.¡±


    ¡°Double the market price for a hundred thousand chickens? It''ll always be the best deal!¡± Cassie said and laughed, too.


    ¡°The farmers almost died of shock when we said that three quarters of the chickens were egg-layers.¡± Luxea said and joined in on the laughter.


    ¡°I could have charged triple!¡± Rus guffawed and wiped his eyes. ¡°Oooo... ooo.¡± He said as he calmed down. ¡°I''d already quoted double, so I couldn''t change the price then.¡±


    ¡°They even made him an honorary planetary citizen.¡± Cassie said with a grin. ¡°He just needs to give up shipboard life and move there.¡±


    ¡°Bite your tongue, young lady!¡± Rus barked. ¡°How''s the course for the station dock?¡±


    ¡°Locked in and the lanes are clear.¡± Cassie said and sat back. ¡°You might want to call some of the customers and let them know we''re here.¡±


    ¡°It can wait.¡± Rus said and reduced the power to the ship''s normal engines before he turned to face me. ¡°This is one of the longest stops we have, since so much of our cargo needs to go here.¡±


    ¡°I''m almost afraid to ask.¡± I said, and he chuckled.


    ¡°The last time it was three weeks before we could get everyone to pay up.¡± Rus said. ¡°A few of them think they can take the order, sell it, and then pay us.¡± He shook her head. ¡°We don''t work on commission. You order, we buy, we bring it to you and sell it to you. End of story.¡±


    ¡°I''m not going to ask what your markup percentage is.¡± I smiled.


    ¡°There''s no standard. It all depends on the goods and the difficulty in shipping them.¡± Luxea said and held her hands out and wiggled her fingers at me, then spoke dramatically. ¡°I can... show you... the formulas!¡±


    ¡°Oh, no!¡± I exclaimed and covered my eyes. ¡°Anything but that!¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°Mwahahaha!¡± Luxea laughed an evil laugh. It set everyone off and we all joined in and laughed, too.


    Rus flew the ship in slowly so that Donny and I could prep some of the cargo containers for transshipment. With so many of them leaving the ship, it was going to take a long time to get them all ready. Rus and Luxea told us which ones had priority and Donny marked them, then we prepped them and brought them to the pressurized area for easy pickup by the clients.


    Several small patrol ships floated by and talked to Rus over the repaired communication system. I had initially thought they were security and were some kind of port authority or something. I learned later that they were just very eager customers and wanted to know how long they had to wait to pick up their orders. It made me laugh and then I wondered what those orders could be. I was tempted to ask a few times; but, it wasn''t any of my business. Plus, they were harbouring me on their ship, knew full well who I was and who was looking for me, and they didn''t turn me in.


    The smaller orders were out and gone within the first few days, and some of the bigger orders by the end of the first week. It took nearly a full week for one of the large hotels to finish picking up their order, which was a significant amount of containers. They were either a new business or they were refurbishing everything they had. They paid in full, much to my surprise, and then the customers stopped coming.


    ¡°I think that''s it.¡± Luxea said and double-checked her pending list. ¡°There''s a couple of small timers still; but, they were a low priority for pick-up anyway.¡± She said. ¡°Now the fun begins.¡±


    ¡°Fun?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Now we can head over and try to make money above and beyond the normal orders.¡± Donny said. ¡°I''ve got a container full of little goodies that I know are going to be a big hit.¡±


    ¡°Make sure you give some of whatever it is to the station manager.¡± Luxea warned him.


    ¡°I wasn''t born yesterday.¡± Donny said and chuckled, and I looked at him with wide eyes. ¡°The first thing you do is give tribute before trying to peddle things on her station.¡±


    ¡°I thought it was a ring of stations linked together.¡±


    ¡°It is, and each has their own section manager; but, she was the one that had the bright idea to come here in the first place and link everyone together to make one gigantic promenade.¡± Donny said. ¡°It''s a completely brilliant idea and it saves energy across the entire thing, since it''s only a single object to keep relatively still and not dozens of them trying to stay close to one another and near the same spot to get the same view.¡±


    ¡°Are we all going again?¡± I asked as we closed everything up and locked it down.


    ¡°Hell, no.¡± Donny said. ¡°Rus has first shift.¡±


    ¡°How long...¡±


    ¡°Two days.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Then I''ll come back and take over.¡±


    ¡°Evelyn''s next on watch. After that, we usually have everything sold and we all come back to the ship for the last day, admire the view, then head off to the next stop.¡± Donny said. ¡°Cassie only had to do it once and I''ve never had to stand watch.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Just so you know, I''m not complaining at all!¡±


    We finished up and went to the crew quarters to change into normal clothes and prepared for a couple of days off of the ship. When we all went to the shuttle to leave, Rus was there to send us off.


    ¡°You all have fun.¡± Rus said as each crew member passed into the umbilical to the shuttle, then he held a hand out to me when it was my turn. ¡°You''ve done good work since you''ve been on the ship.¡± He said and put a credit chip in my hand. ¡°It''s standard wages for six weeks of work.¡±


    ¡°Rus, I wasn''t doing it for...¡±


    ¡°I know, kid.¡± Rus said and cut me off. ¡°You also didn''t complain once, talked back when someone asked you to do something, or tried to shirk your duties.¡± He said. ¡°You had no obligation to keep working in the cargo bay when you were learning how to do other jobs, and yet you went right back there each time we stopped and worked like an old pro.¡±


    ¡°Rus...¡±


    ¡°You earned it.¡± Rus said and then smiled slyly. ¡°Although, if you didn''t notice, I said standard wages and not crew wages.¡± He slapped me on the shoulder. ¡°You need to be on the crew for six months before you get full shares.¡±


    ¡°That''s more than fair, Rus.¡± I said. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°You''re thanking me for not paying you like the other crew?¡± Rus chuckled and shook his head. ¡°You poor naive boy.¡±


    ¡°I''m not a part of the crew officially, since that would jeopardize your cover story.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t expect to get paid at all, so getting anything from you is a surprise.¡±


    Rus took a breath and let it out. ¡°Take care of yourself out there and stay close to Rhubin.¡± He said. ¡°I also suggest you slouch and take that tie out of your hair.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, your hair will be harder to deal with.¡± Rus said. ¡°It should also make you look different than your wanted poster.¡±


    I smiled at him. ¡°I''ve got that covered.¡± I said and took out a partial face mask. It was actually a damaged blast shield from a helmet that I had trimmed to fit like a pair of goggles over my face and left my mouth uncovered. I slipped it on over my face and then took the tie out of my hair. I bent over and shook my head to fluff my hair out with the use of Presence, like Ohazith had shown me, then stood up straight and flipped my hair back.


    ¡°I''m not even going to ask how you can see out through that thing.¡± Rus said and chuckled. ¡°It seems I was worried for nothing, though.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I smiled. ¡°See you later.¡± I said and stepped into the shuttle.


    ¡°By the goddess.¡± Cassie whispered as she saw me. ¡°What... why...¡±


    ¡°It''s so people won''t see my face.¡± I said.


    ¡°They''ll be too busy looking at all that wonderful hair.¡± Evelyn said as she stared at me.


    ¡°That''s what I''m hoping for.¡± I said and gave her a wicked smile. I thought I saw her tremble as her flow of Presence increased slightly. I bowed my head to her and took a seat at the back of the shuttle, then Rhubin lifted off. Only a couple of minutes later, we were docked to the station. Rhubin was lucky that we were associated with Rus'' long haul transport, because the docking fees were waved for traders. According to Luxea, they could compound the fees by the day if you managed to find an unscrupulous dock master.


    ¡°This place is just getting more and more interesting.¡± I said sarcastically, and she laughed as we approached the hatch to enter the station proper.


    ¡°If you come here as a tourist, you don''t see or hear about any of this.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It''s all done under the table and out of sight by the people who come here for business.¡±


    ¡°Well, I want to see this tourist attraction, so do I count as a tourist?¡± I asked.


    Luxea turned to look at me, then she reached up and tapped the black blast shield over my eyes. ¡°That story isn''t going to work with you blinded like this.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I want to hear it, then.¡± I joked, and she laughed.


    ¡°If you''re smart, play up the blinded part.¡± Luxea said. ¡°If you want, I can lead you around for today.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate the offer.¡± I said and reached up and lightly touched her cheek with my fingertips, then I ran my fingers through her blonde hair. ¡°We both know you have things you would rather be doing than dragging me around with you.¡±


    Luxea opened her mouth for a moment, then she smiled. ¡°What if I just wanted to keep an eye on you?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Keeping an eye on a blind man. Good one.¡±


    ¡°You''re going to keep saying no to anything I offer, aren''t you?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°That would make me quite the fool, wouldn''t it?¡± I asked back, and she laughed.


    ¡°Definitely.¡±


    ¡°Then this fool will meet you back on the ship in a couple of days.¡±


    Luxea nodded and turned back to the hatch and opened it.


    ¡°Am I going with you?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°That depends on how deep into the rabbit hole you want to go.¡± I asked.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Rhubin asked. ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    I wasn''t sure how to explain a children''s story to him without having to explain that I learned about it in another life. ¡°I''m only pretending to be a tourist while I look for someone.¡± I said instead. ¡°I''m kind of sure where I need to go to first, and it''s not in the nice part of the station.¡±


    ¡°Well, Lashina said to look out for you.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I''ll go where you need me to go.¡±


    ¡°I assume...¡±


    ¡°...correctly.¡± Rhubin said and smiled.


    ¡°Give it to me.¡± I said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°There''s a security checkpoint before we go into the station.¡± I said. ¡°I doubt that...¡±


    ¡°You''re allowed to carry weapons.¡± Luxea said, and motioned for us to go through the hatch.


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked.


    ¡°How else would you defend yourself if someone attacked you?¡± Luxea asked.


    I shrugged, because I had left my pistol and rifle back in my sleeping compartment. I stepped by her, as did the others, and she closed the hatch.


    ¡°Have fun, everyone.¡± Luxea said and somehow managed to disappear into the crowd that was nearby. We walked over to that crowd and waited in line as people were checked at the security station.


    ¡°How are you going to get by the scanner?¡± Rhubin whispered to me.


    ¡°I''m going to block my face, of course.¡± I whispered back, and he chuckled as he looked at the black blast shield I wore over my eyes.


    ¡°Sorry. Stupid question.¡±


    I put a band of solid Presence around my head at the same size of the blast shield, just in case, to stop any scanner that might be able to penetrate the thick reinforced metal. It should make it look like it''s embedded in my skull, and I won''t be asked to remove it. I also used the technique that Ohazith taught me to mask my Presence flow and covered my Light sword in Presence as well, just in case. We all passed through the checkpoint without incident and entered the station.


    ¡°I''m getting a room in the Hamilton.¡± Cassie said to us. ¡°If you need me for anything, ask for me there.¡±


    ¡°You''re not going anywhere else?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They have everything I need, so no.¡± Cassie said and laughed. ¡°Bye!¡±


    ¡°Keep your wrist com active!¡± Donny yelled, and she waved at him as she walked away. ¡°I''m going to the cheapest and best bar on the station.¡± He said. ¡°See you in a few days.¡±


    Donny walked off and I looked at Evelyn.


    ¡°He''s not joking.¡± Evelyn said with a smile. ¡°He''ll stay in the bar the whole time.¡±


    ¡°Drinking?¡± I asked, and she laughed.


    ¡°It''s a strip club.¡± Evelyn said and put a hand on my arm. ¡°I''ll be at the Hamilton, too.¡± She said and gave my arm a squeeze, then walked away without hearing my answer.


    ¡°Okay, how are you doing that?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°Doing what?¡± I asked and walked off in the direction I wanted to go.


    ¡°The three of them are acting like they are in love with you, and you haven''t done anything to them.¡± Rhubin asked as he followed me. ¡°You''re even actively discouraging them.¡± He said. ¡°I don''t get it.¡±


    ¡°I have an idea why; but, I can''t tell you.¡± I said, and he looked at me like I had kicked him in the stomach. ¡°It might break the mood and it definitely doesn''t work for everyone or in every situation.¡±


    ¡°Dammit, Ullir.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°You''ve got to tell me if it''ll work most of the time!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Ask me about it later and I''ll try to explain it when I''ve got the time.¡±


    ¡°You''re always busy.¡± Rhubin said, and I gave him a crooked smile. ¡°That''s part of it?¡± He asked, and I nodded. ¡°Okay, I''ll try and figure it out for myself.¡±


    ¡°If you do find out, it might not be for you.¡± I said. ¡°You''re a hot-shot pilot. People expect you to act a certain way.¡±


    ¡°Which is different from what you''ve been doing.¡± Rhubin said and stopped talking as he thought about it. I led him across the station to the part that Ohazith had mentioned in the information she gave me.

 Book One: The Presence 033

    When Rhubin and I were about to enter the dangerous section of the station that had the storefront I needed to get to, two large and burly aliens stepped in front of us. They only had one eye and a big mouth with odd-shaped teeth.


    ¡°You need to pay the toll.¡± One of them said.


    ¡°Is it one or both of your lives?¡± I asked without missing a beat. They exchanged looks, at least I assumed they did, because all I saw was them twitch to the side towards one another without turning their heads, then twitched back to face me.


    ¡°It''s fifty credits.¡± The one on the right said.


    ¡°Your life is only worth fifty credits?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°You didn''t say if it was one or two, though.¡±


    ¡°Fifty credits.¡± The one on the right said pulled out a long knife and waved it at me, threateningly.


    ¡°If I kill you, there won''t be a cartel after me or anything, will there?¡± I asked, grabbed the knife in a flash, then shoved it right into the part of the alien that glowed with the brightest Presence. I absorbed that Presence as it tried to escape and I felt a tingle go down my spine. The lifeless alien slumped to the floor and I kept hold of the knife. It made a slush sound as it was extracted from what I thought of as the alien''s chest, and the other alien looked down at its quite dead fellow.


    ¡°What was the toll again?¡± I asked. ¡°One or two lives?¡±


    ¡°Just... one.¡± The other alien said as it picked up the dead one, then it walked away.


    ¡°By the goddess.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Um... I...¡±


    ¡°We haven''t entered the section yet, so you can make a hasty retreat now.¡± I said without turning around and I looked at the knife. It had a white sticky substance on it and I looked around for something to wipe it off. ¡°You don''t happen to have a cloth or something, do you?¡±


    Rhubin handed me a square piece of cloth and I carefully wiped off the long knife that was more like a short sword, folded the cloth over, then put it in a pocket.


    ¡°I''ll have it cleaned.¡± I said.


    ¡°Keep it.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Ullir, I think... yeah, I need to go.¡±


    ¡°Don''t get into trouble.¡± I said, and he looked down at the pool of white liquid on the floor.


    ¡°That''s what I''m hoping to avoid.¡± Rhubin said, then walked away without looking back.


    I waited until he was out of sight before I hooked the long knife to my belt and walked over to the section I wanted to enter. I was surprised that it had a large security door and also no guards.


    Maybe those two were the guards? I asked myself and chuckled as I walked over to the door. Self-appointed guards, maybe.


    I stood there for a few moments and examined the door. I didn''t see any energy fields or stun emitters, so I reached out and pulled on the handle. It made a clank noise and only moved an inch. I used my Detect Presence technique to look into the door and also through it, then saw that there was a bar on the other side that blocked the handle from moving all the way. I didn''t see anyone on the other side of the door or within my detection range, so I used a Presence Hand to slide the bar over slightly and used the handle to open the security door all the way.


    I stepped through and closed it, then put the bar back in place. That was a little too easy. I thought to myself and walked across the small room and into a hallway, then out into a huge area with people, aliens, droids, and machines moving around in an almost random manner. I waited until there was a small lull in their movements and entered the throng, then slowly made my way over to the shop that I wanted to get to. I put my hand on the door handle and someone spoke from behind me.


    ¡°Come with me.¡± A man''s voice said.


    ¡°Is this important?¡± I asked, and he cycled the power on his laser weapon so I could hear it charging.


    ¡°Is taking the life of a sentient creature important?¡± He responded.


    ¡°If this is about the two thugs that tried to rob me, I was defending myself.¡± I said and smiled briefly as I turned around. ¡°Preemptively.¡±


    ¡°The one still alive says differently.¡± The man dressed in a uniform said and pointed to the long knife on my belt. ¡°They said it was you that robbed them.¡±


    ¡°Well, you know that''s a lie.¡± I said, and he raised his eyebrows at me. ¡°I would have killed them both, taken all of their things, then shoved them into an airlock and disposed of the bodies if I was going to rob them.¡±


    The man just stood there and stared at me with shock on his face.


    ¡°I only have the knife because he didn''t ask for it back.¡± I said and briefly smiled again.


    ¡°You... still have to answer for the crime.¡±


    ¡°What crime?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Murder.¡±


    ¡°Well, that''s a lie.¡± I said. ¡°If I wanted to murder him, I would have cut off his head or dismembered him in a fit of passion. As it was, he threatened me with a knife, so I took it from him and stabbed him with it. He died.¡±


    Everyone else that was around or passed by, completely ignored us, and it was like we were in our own little pocket of time.


    ¡°You still killed him.¡±


    ¡°I haven''t denied that part.¡± I said.


    ¡°You need to come with me.¡±


    ¡°I''m not very good with following orders.¡± I lied, and I saw the man''s right eye twitch. So, he can tell when people lie. ¡°Where would you take me if I went with you?¡±


    ¡°To the brig.¡±


    ¡°For how long?¡±


    ¡°Until the section manager can see you to judge your case and give you your sentence.¡±


    ¡°That sounds surprisingly like a rigged system. I didn''t hear the words trial or defend yourself in there anywhere.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll agree to meet the section manager; but, not to sitting in the brig for an unknown amount of time.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have a choice in the matter.¡± The man said and moved his laser weapon from side to side slightly, as if I needed the reminder that he was pointing it at me.


    ¡°I haven''t even had my coming of age ceremony.¡± I said, and his eyes widened. ¡°Look, I have business to attend to. You go and handle things and let me know when the section manager can see me.¡±


    ¡°You can''t just dismiss a formally reported crime.¡±


    ¡°Can I formally report them trying to rob me, then?¡± I asked. ¡°Before you say no, I have a corroborating witness that saw the whole thing.¡±


    The man opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it. ¡°You can''t file a report after the fact to try and mitigate the murder charge.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I thought so.¡± I said and calmly walked over to him. He didn''t react, I assumed because he thought I was coming with him, so I grabbed his weapon from his outstretched hand before he could react and pointed it at his head. ¡°Did you see that? You were threatening me with a weapon, so I took it from you. I could have killed you with it before you even blinked.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The man just stared at me as I stepped back and right in front of his eyes I disassembled his weapon.


    ¡°Unlike the thieves, I knew you didn''t intend me harm.¡± I said and handed him the pieces. ¡°Now run along and get me that appointment.¡± I said, turned him around and pushed him into the crowd. He stumbled into a couple of people, and they still didn''t pay him or me any attention.


    I held in my laugh at the absurdity and walked over to the shop and entered it. ¡°Hello to the shopkeeper.¡± I said and shut the door, then walked over to what I thought was the main counter. I saw all kinds of electronic devices on the shelves that I passed. I had no idea what a lot of them were called or what possible functions they would have. With my technique Detect Presence on all the time, I could see a figure as he sat on the floor behind the counter. I could also see a large laser weapon in his hands.


    ¡°I''m not here to cause you trouble.¡± I said and used Detect Presence to look at the laser weapon. I found the charge release and used Presence Hand to flip it open.


    ¡°Garshnak!¡± A deep voice said as his weapon lost power. I watched him flip a few switches, turn a knob, then smack the side of the weapon with the palm of his hand. ¡°Piece of junk!¡±


    ¡°It''s just the charge release.¡± I said as I casually leaned on the counter. ¡°Flip it back and let it build up again.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The deep voice said. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± I said and glanced over the counter. He was an alien of some kind with beige skin, average height, and was also completely bald. That made me laugh, and he looked up at me with three eyes.


    ¡°What are you laughing at?¡±


    ¡°Not you.¡± I said and held my hands up in surrender. ¡°When I saw your bald head, it reminded me of a shaved fluffy puff-ball alien called Gruskluan.¡±


    ¡°GRUSKLUAN!!!¡± The alien yelled and stood up, his uncharged weapon forgotten. ¡°You know him?¡±


    ¡°Know him?¡± I asked and grinned. ¡°I''m the one that arranged to have that bastard shaved bald.¡±


    ¡°You... you...¡± The alien put the large laser weapon on the counter, walked around it, then took me into a hug. ¡°I should declare you my brother in arms; but, my brothers would kill me!¡± He said.


    ¡°I don''t want to cause a family quarrel.¡± I responded, and he grinned at me as he let me go.


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡± The alien asked. ¡°Someone that can pull off a stunt like that on Gruskluan deserves the best service!¡±


    ¡°Well, I''ve got a bit of an odd request.¡± I said.


    ¡°Let''s hear it.¡±


    ¡°I''m looking for a high quality focusing crystal.¡±


    The alien''s jaw moved up and down as if he was speaking, except that no words came out.


    ¡°Before you freak out, yes I''ve been declared a rogue by The Order.¡± I said. ¡°Even though I was never inducted into the organization.¡±


    The alien closed its mouth and frowned as it squinted its three eyes at me. ¡°It''s not supposed to work like that.¡±


    ¡°They pretty much do what they want and no one questions them.¡± I said and shrugged. ¡°They killed my parents, who were also declared rogues. When they kidnapped me, they took the focusing crystals from my inherited weapons.¡±


    ¡°Those bastards!¡±


    ¡°That''s almost exactly what I said when I found out.¡± I smiled. ¡°I don''t intend to use them; but, I would like to put them back into proper working order.¡± I said and looked around for a moment, then leaned in close. ¡°I took a focusing crystal from a member of The Order to repair my mother''s weapon. Unfortunately, it''s a much lower quality one and it''s old and practically worn out. It''s not a fitting replacement for me to have to remember her by.¡±


    The alien nodded his head in understanding.


    ¡°I took a newer one from another member to put in my father''s weapon and it works fine; but, I''m not comfortable with that and it feels wrong, if you understand what I''m saying.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± The alien said. ¡°I''ve had a few customers complain about weapons not feeling right.¡±


    ¡°So.¡± I said. ¡°Can you point me in the right direction?¡±


    ¡°You''re a fresh face, completely unproven, and you could be working for The Order.¡± The alien said.


    ¡°All I''m doing for those assholes is a job they can''t do themselves.¡± I said. ¡°I''m hunting down a member of their own organization that went rogue last year.¡±


    The alien didn''t say anything and I didn''t see surprise on his face.


    ¡°He stole things from me and I want his head.¡±


    ¡°The bounty?¡±


    ¡°I told them I wouldn''t be back for it when I send them his head as proof.¡±


    ¡°You really broke away from The Order?¡± The alien asked.


    ¡°I was only a child and they wouldn''t let me leave until my sixteenth birthday.¡± I said. ¡°They kidnapped me and held me prisoner for twelve years, stole from me, and tried to send me on a mission that they thought was guaranteed to kill me before my coming of age ceremony, which I didn''t have yet, even though I''m sixteen.¡±


    ¡°They wanted to remove you as a threat.¡± The alien said and caught on to the facts right away.


    ¡°They tried.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°I cut off one of their arms and interrogated them, then they told me about the blue skinned and black horned alien that was responsible for everything.¡±


    ¡°Do you know his name?¡±


    I held in my laughter, because the alien already knew who I was talking about and that he was a male. ¡°It''s (Undecipherable).¡± I said. ¡°Him and his sadistic snot-nosed apprentice.¡±


    The alien nodded and hit a button, which closed heavy metal shutters over the door and windows. ¡°This way.¡± He said and walked around the counter. I followed him and he took me into the back room and over to a wall of odd electronic things. He grabbed a shelf and pulled, and the wall behind it popped out and the shelf swung out to reveal a door.


    The alien put his hand inside a small hatch, and with Detect Presence I saw that he entered a long combination of numbers into a touchpad there. There was a hishing sound as the door opened.


    ¡°Did I just hear a Warglesnort fart?¡± I asked, and the alien whipped his head around to stare at me, then he burst out laughing. He sounded like a donkey that couldn''t get enough air.


    ¡°A... a... Warglesnort fart! Heeehaawww! Heeehaawww! Heeenh heeenh heeenh! Heeehaawww!¡±


    I couldn''t help myself and laughed at his ridiculous laugh, and we stood there for several minutes.


    ¡°You... funny.¡± The alien said when he calmed down. ¡°I''ve got to tell Meaglesnarn what you said!¡±


    ¡°Is that where we''re going?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes!¡± The alien said and I followed him through the door and it hished shut behind us. The alien laughed for another couple of minutes as we walked down several hallways and passed through several doors and other security checks, then we arrived at the place that I assumed was our destination.


    ¡°Meaglesnarn! You have got to hear this!¡± The alien said and quickly told the other alien, that looked like him, what had happened. The second alien laughed like a donkey for a minute or so, then clapped the first alien on the shoulder.


    ¡°Mogglesnark! I haven''t laughed like that in weeks!¡±


    ¡°I told you.¡± Mogglesnark said. ¡°This is... say, I didn''t catch your name.¡± He said as he turned back to me.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter here needs a couple focusing crystals.¡±


    Meaglesnarn''s mouth dropped open and he stared at us for about twenty seconds, then he realized what was said. ¡°You can''t say stuff like that out loud!¡± He exclaimed and roughly grabbed Mogglesnark''s arm and shook him.


    ¡°It''s okay.¡± Mogglesnark said, then explained what had happened to me, my situation, and who I was looking for. Meaglesnarn did the same thing Mogglesnark did when I told him, and his jaw opened and closed for several moments and he didn''t make any sound. He clamped his mouth shut and nodded when Mogglesnark finished talking.


    ¡°This way.¡± Meaglesnarn said and walked to the wall behind where he stood, then walked right through it as if it wasn''t there.


    ¡°Wow.¡± I said and looked at it with Presence. It was a solid wall as far as I could tell and there was nothing behind it. I had assumed it was the edge of the station, and I was completely wrong.


    ¡°Meaglesnarn makes great holoprojections.¡± Mogglesnark said and followed the other alien.


    I followed him and we stepped through the wall holoprojection and I was surprised that there was an entire market behind it. I looked at as much of it as I could, and I saw laser weapons, grenades, proximity mines, spacial charges, mining equipment, gourmet foods, a brothel, several fruit stands, clothing stands, and a whole bunch of other things all mixed together.


    There was no rhyme or reason to where things were. I tried not to stare at what looked like a sushi stand serving customers that was right next to a stand with a guy cleaning his laser rifle and sold various weapons.


    Do they even care about sanitary food conditions? I asked myself.


    ¡°Here we are.¡± Meaglesnarn said and knocked on a door, then entered without waiting for a response. I looked inside and saw several aliens, some of which looked just like the two I was with, and when I looked up, I saw a very bright glow of Presence. I didn''t say anything as we went up the stairs several floors. We kept getting closer to that bright glow, and I had a hard time not concentrating on it.


    When we reached the right floor, I couldn''t see anything else except that bright glow. I was sure we had passed several people, some of whom had taken an interest in me and followed us; but, I only had eyes for that bright glow.


    Meaglesnarn once again knocked on the door and waited for a moment, then entered without waiting for a response. ¡°Great Aphatoris.¡± He said and bowed deeply to the brightly glowing source of Presence. ¡°I have someone you need to meet.¡±


    ¡°Well, then.¡± Aphatoris said in a normal voice and not the booming one I had expected from someone with so much Presence. ¡°Please, bring them in.¡±


    ¡°Quick! Quick!¡± Meaglesnarn waved Mogglesnark into the room, who grabbed my arm and pulled me into the room with him. ¡°His name is Hunter and...¡±


    ¡°Quiet.¡± Aphatoris said and stood up. ¡°I believe he can speak for himself.¡±


    Now that I was close enough, I managed to see through the brightness of the Presence around the powerful being that stood across the room and started to make out the details.


    It was a woman.


    There were other people in the room with her and they were hard to see. When I stepped forward to get close to her, they tried to interfere. I created several Presence Hands and grabbed those people, then threw them across the room to slam against the walls and held them there. She stared at them for a moment, then glared at me as I walked over to her.


    ¡°You dare...¡±


    ¡°I can''t greet you properly if they are in the way.¡± I said as I stepped close to her. I had never seen or even heard of anyone that had this much Presence in them, not even The Wise One whose Presence was about half as bright. I reached out with my hand to take hers and she caught her breath when our skin touched. Her Presence flowed and swirled around her, down her arm, and into me. Her eyes widened as my Presence accepted hers and they swirled together, instead of what she had expected it to do. Namely, block her flow of Presence and try to deflect it from touching me.


    ¡°Wh-who are you?¡± Aphatoris asked in a whisper with wonder in her voice.


    ¡°I''m someone that needs your help.¡± I said and stared into her eyes for a moment, then I surprised myself, and her, when I took her into my arms and kissed her.

 Book One: The Presence 034

    I used the technique I knew for absorbing and moving Presence through my body, and Aphatoris moaned as I eased some of it through my lips and into her. She put her arms around me and kissed me back. We stayed that way for several minutes, to everyone''s surprise, then her flow of Presence started to falter. I guessed that she was regretting letting me get this close to her, so I stopped kissing her and let her go. She held onto me for only a moment longer and let me go as well.


    I stepped back and gave her a deep bow, just like the three eyed and bald Meaglesnarn had when he entered the room. ¡°Great Aphatoris, I humbly greet thee and ask for your help in my time of need.¡±


    It took Aphatoris almost a full minute to compose herself. While she did, I looked at her. She had brown hair down to the middle of her back, dark blue eyes, and a body that would be stunning if she didn''t hide it under several layers of clothing.


    Aphatoris gave her body a slight shake and then glanced at the sides of the room. ¡°Release my people.¡±


    I did better than that and pulled them back over to where they had been before and let them go as I absorbed the Presence Hands. ¡°In my haste to meet someone as prominent as you, I may have overreacted a little.¡± I said and smiled crookedly.


    Aphatoris started to smile back, then stopped herself as she looked at the people around her. ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    ¡°What hit us?¡± One of them asked and rubbed his head. ¡°One second I was here, then I was over there on the wall, and now I''m back here again.¡±


    I guessed that Aphatoris didn''t really have an explanation for that, because she probably hadn''t seen anyone do something like that, either. Then she turned to me and squinted her eyes.


    ¡°I should be very angry at you.¡± Aphatoris said.


    ¡°I shouldn''t be drawn to you like metal to a magnet, either.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I''ve never been around someone with such a bright and blinding Presence before.¡±


    ¡°How can you even see me?¡± Aphatoris asked. ¡°That blast shield looks like it''s embedded in your skull.¡±


    So, she can see Presence to some extent herself. I thought. ¡°I don''t need my eyes to see your magnificence.¡±


    ¡°You have a silver tongue.¡± Aphatoris said as her face flushed slightly red. ¡°I won''t be swayed with just pretty words.¡±


    The unspoken ''again'' hung in the air between us.


    ¡°Then let me tell you a tale with a lot of harsh and ugly words instead.¡± I said. ¡°Perhaps that may sway you.¡±


    I told her my tale from when I was born, right up to when I left The Order''s home planet. By the time I was done, the number of people in the room had doubled and some of them were crying. Aphatoris had a couple of tears on her cheeks and she wiped them off. Everyone else was clearly angry.


    ¡°I knew The Order was crooked in some way; but, I could never prove it.¡± One of the aliens said. ¡°They are always holding themselves in high regard and expects everyone to worship them and their powers.¡± Another alien said. ¡°Sanctimonious jerks.¡±


    ¡°When (Undecipherable) came through here and wanted a shipment of focusing crystals, we couldn''t refuse.¡± A man in a uniform said and stepped out from behind a couple of others, and it was the man that had tried to arrest me earlier.


    ¡°Hey, did you get me that appointment with the section manager?¡± I asked, and several people and aliens chuckled.


    ¡°I apparently didn''t have to.¡± The man said. ¡°This is the one that killed on your property.¡±


    ¡°Actually, it was before I entered this section of the station.¡± I corrected. ¡°I thought they were thieves trying to rob me when they asked me to pay a toll.¡±


    ¡°What did you do?¡± Aphatoris asked.


    ¡°I asked them if the toll was one of their lives, or both.¡± I said. ¡°They responded with saying it was fifty credits, and I asked them if their lives were that cheap.¡±


    A couple of aliens laughed out loud.


    ¡°Then one of them pulled this out of their belt.¡± I said and unhooked the long knife from my belt and held it out to Aphatoris, hilt first. ¡°They asked for money again and waved it at me, so I took it as a direct threat of violence, disarmed him, then stabbed him with it.¡±


    ¡°Then what?¡± Aphatoris asked and took the long knife.


    ¡°I asked the other alien if the toll was one life or two. He said one and picked up the body and left.¡± I said. ¡°Then I walked over to the large security door with the bar across the handle and came inside.¡±


    ¡°There''s a bar across the handle?¡± One of the aliens asked, then he ran from the room.


    ¡°How did you get in if the door was blocked?¡± The man in the uniform asked.


    ¡°I moved the bar, obviously.¡± I said to him without making fun of him for asking a stupid question, then turned my head back to look at Aphatoris. She nodded slightly and waved at everyone to relax.


    ¡°Meaglesnarn.¡± Aphatoris said. ¡°What do you say?¡±


    ¡°He''s been completely truthful, except for his name.¡± Meaglesnarn said.


    ¡°I detected that as well.¡± Aphatoris said and looked at me. ¡°Hunter, why lie about your name?¡±


    ¡°In case (Undecipherable) has people here, or is here himself, or gets word that I''m looking for him.¡± I responded. ¡°If he knew my name, he could run, hide, or come after me and put the people around me in danger.¡±


    Aphatoris nodded. ¡°Yes, he could do all of those things... or do nothing.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°He could sit and wait for you to come to him, to see how you''ve progressed over the years since he''s seen you.¡± Aphatoris said. ¡°I doubt that would happen; but, it''s possible that he''s waiting for you.¡±


    ¡°If he is, then he''ll be ready for me whenever I show up.¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you prepared to face him this soon?¡± Aphatoris asked.


    ¡°I honestly don''t know.¡± I said. ¡°I have no information about his capabilities or even how strong he is, only that he was one of The Order''s best operatives before he went rogue a year ago.¡±


    Aphatoris didn''t say anything until the alien came back with the bar in his hand. He told her they used the bio-scanner and it had been held by the alien I had killed. She nodded to the alien and looked at me.


    ¡°Even if you were defending yourself, you took the life of another sentient being.¡± Aphatoris said. ¡°As the section manager, I hereby judge you guilty.¡±


    I held in my sigh and waited for her to pass judgment.


    ¡°You will be held in a private cell for the length of one week.¡± Aphatoris said, then she frowned at me. ¡°If you had done the crime inside my section and not in the connection to the rest of the station, I would have sentenced you to a month of isolation and intense mental conditioning.¡±


    ¡°Would you be the one doing the conditioning?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Aphatoris said without any inflection in her tone of voice.


    ¡°Then I''m glad it didn''t happen in your section.¡± I said, and I couldn''t read the reaction on her face.


    ¡°Now that you know the penalty, would you do it again?¡± The man in the uniform asked.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said honestly, and several of the people and aliens gasped. ¡°I won''t weaken myself or my defenses for anyone''s benefit.¡±


    ¡°You would kill so callously again?¡± Aphatoris asked.


    ¡°They would have hurt or killed me for my credits.¡± I said. ¡°Why does me defending myself surprise you so much? It''s not like other people haven''t killed others before, right?¡± I looked around at their faces. ¡°Or were you all smart enough to hide the bodies and make them look like accidents?¡±


    There were a lot of uncomfortable beings in the room from my words, and I smiled.


    ¡°I didn''t kill the other robber because I had hoped it would be a life lesson for him.¡± I said. ¡°Robbing people, especially me, is a very dangerous business.¡±


    No one at all talked after hearing that statement.


    ¡°When does my sentence start?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Immediately.¡± Aphatoris said. ¡°Hand over your...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°What part of not robbing me didn''t you understand?¡± I asked. ¡°I''m not handing anything over to you or anyone else.¡±


    ¡°I cannot let you enter a holding cell with all of your weapons and personal items.¡± Aphatoris said. ¡°You could easily use them to escape.¡±


    ¡°Considering I can easily escape right now without using them, I don''t see why I need to hand them over.¡± I said.


    Everyone stayed quiet, probably because they didn''t see any of the people that detected lies flinch at all.


    ¡°I escaped from The Order''s council chamber while it was in session.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Do you really think I can''t just walk out of here whenever I want to?¡±


    ¡°Then why don''t you?¡± Aphatoris asked, slightly angry.


    ¡°I told you before that I needed your help. The trail to (Undecipherable) led me here, so this is where I am.¡± I said. ¡°I knew he would want focusing crystals, so I came here to see how many he bought and where he went.¡±


    Aphatoris sighed. ¡°He gave us a useless promissory note for payment from The Order.¡±


    I barked a laugh and she glared at me. I held my hands up and apologized. ¡°I''m sorry, that was rude.¡± I said. ¡°I was told that I should dress as a member of The Order to make things easier for myself, and I thought that was a stupid reason to degrade myself, and I honestly didn''t think it would work.¡±


    ¡°It could have.¡± The man in the uniform said. ¡°No one wants to cross The Order.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± I said, to their surprise. ¡°If I hadn''t given my word that I would let them go if they told me what I wanted to know, I would have killed the council before I left.¡±


    Complete silence filled the room at my words and no one moved.


    ¡°Before you start thinking I''m crazy, killing them wouldn''t have destroyed The Order. There''s too many of them spread out all over god''s creation for a few deaths to take the whole thing down.¡±


    Several aliens caught their breath at my declaration and the man in the uniform stared at me.


    ¡°Look. Just like I did for the newest council member when she wanted to punish me for what I didn''t think was a crime, I''ll take your punishment this time without retribution.¡± I said. ¡°But, this is the only time. After this, I won''t be answering to you for any crimes that you think I''ve committed.¡±


    ¡°You dare dictate to me?¡± Aphatoris said, clearly angry now.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said, and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°If I didn''t have to come here for your help, I wouldn''t be here at all... so, that alien''s death is partially your fault.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Aphatoris nearly yelled.


    ¡°You''re not even going to punish the other alien for attempted robbery.¡± I said and looked at the other people''s faces and back at hers. ¡°It happens so often that you all look the other way, until something like this happens. You have to notice it now and you have to ignore that it''s your fault it''s gotten to this state in the first place.¡±


    Aphatoris made her hands into fists. ¡°You will be put into isolation for a week!¡± She exclaimed, changing the ''held in a cell'' verdict to isolation. ¡°One meal a day of basic rations!¡±


    ¡°I''m keeping my things and my clothes.¡± I said, before she could order them taken from me. I really didn''t want to fight them, because I would never get the help that I needed if I hurt or killed them.


    ¡°Take him away!¡± Aphatoris waved angrily at the man with the uniform and then at me.


    ¡°Come with me.¡± The man said and I followed him out the door of the room and to a lift. He hit a button that was hidden unless you pressed it, then the lift dropped down several floors. ¡°You know she could have had you killed.¡±


    ¡°No, she couldn''t.¡± I said, and he looked at me. ¡°Her moral outrage at taking sentient life would mitigate any death penalty to incarceration and maybe hard labour.¡±


    ¡°You seem to be taking this really well.¡± The man in the uniform said and the lift door opened. The place looked clean and like it hadn''t been used in a while. ¡°Isolation is the harshest punishment she''s ever given to anyone.¡± He said. ¡°One meal a day of rations is barely enough to live on.¡±


    ¡°Is there any way I can insure that it gets delivered and not stolen?¡± I asked, and he looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°You''re right. I''ll need it to live. It would be bad if I missed one or two and went hungry, wouldn''t it?¡±


    ¡°You don''t have a high opinion of us, do you?¡± The man said and opened a solid metal cell with a small sliding opening at about face height.


    ¡°I don''t have a high opinion of anyone.¡± I said and stepped into the completely empty cell. ¡°That way, I can''t be disappointed when people meet those expectations.¡± I smiled. ¡°I''ve only been surprised a couple of times in the last sixteen years when someone has exceeded them.¡±


    The man closed and locked the cell, then opened the sliding metal slot. ¡°But... you''re only sixteen years old.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said.


    He just looked at me for a few moments, then sighed. ¡°I''ll be back tomorrow with your supper.¡±


    ¡°Make it a late supper.¡± I said. ¡°It''ll throw people off if you skip when you should bring it.¡±


    ¡°Why would... oh, right. You expect someone to steal it.¡±


    ¡°Don''t you?¡± I asked.


    The man didn''t respond and closed the slot opening. I watched him through the walls as he walked back up the hallway and stepped into the lift, then I was left all alone.


    ¡°Finally!¡± I exclaimed and sat down in the middle of the room. ¡°I''m finally alone.¡±


    I was a bit disturbed that it looked eerily similar to the cell I had been held in during my previous life when I was tortured and then killed. I was very thankful for having access to Presence and my Detect Presence technique that let me see all around through the walls, ceilings, and floor. No one was within my detection range, so I relaxed. I did several mental techniques to let me stay calm and to feel the flow of Presence in more intricate detail.


    I couldn''t get Aphatoris out of my head, though. I felt like I was a moth that was drawn to her flame. Her Presence was so bright and powerful that even now, as I thought about her, it felt like I could still feel it. I concentrated on her flow of Presence and like a beacon, I looked up and saw her.


    I can feel it. I thought, surprised.


    *


    How can he be so casual about killing people? Aphatoris asked herself as the very handsome Hunter was led from what her people called her throne room. It was just a meeting room with a simple chair for her to sit in, though. Other chairs were at the sides of the room for people to sit on; but, they were barely used because they always stood to report to her.


    ¡°Can we really keep someone like him here?¡± One of the aliens near her asked.


    ¡°He said he would take the punishment this time.¡± Another responded.


    ¡°Does he even have that choice?¡± A man asked. ¡°Why would he try to defy the Great Aphatoris?¡±


    I really hate that title. Aphatoris thought. ¡°He said he came here with someone and didn''t want them in danger.¡± She said. ¡°Find them for me, without them knowing about it, and report back.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Great Aphatoris.¡± Meaglesnarn said and bowed to her, then he and Mogglesnark left the room at a fast walk. Three other bald aliens that looked like them left as well.


    ¡°Their network of shops was the best investment I ever made.¡± Aphatoris said and smiled. ¡°Having three eyes to appraise things helps, too.¡±


    No one responded to her, and she held in her sigh. Her people revered her a bit too much for her liking and she couldn''t do anything about it without losing their respect. She couldn''t even have a normal conversation without them calling her ''great'' every few minutes. She walked over to her chair and sat down, and her people formed a kind of protective ring around her. She thought about telling them to back off to the sides of the room, because she was in a bad mood, then decided not to and sat quietly.


    Aphatoris felt a tingle at the back of her skull and held in her gasp. What was that? She asked herself, and inexplicably, she leaned forward and looked down at the floor. She wasn''t sure why she wanted to do that, then she saw a flicker of something. She bent over farther and reached down to touch the floor where the flicker of light was.


    It''s not there? Aphatoris thought in bewilderment, then moved her head to the side and saw that the flicker wasn''t on the floor at all. I can see it down past the floor! She thought excitedly. She wondered why, after all these years, she hadn''t developed any new abilities besides boosting others with her Presence and detecting lies, and now she could see something through the floor. I need to find that flicker!


    Aphatoris stood up and walked over to the door of the meeting room. Her people separated and stepped out of her way, then several of them followed her to protect her. She didn''t say anything to them as she followed the flicker down to the next floor, and the next, then she reached the bottom floor of the section she was in and walked over to where the flicker was.


    It was right below her in an isolation cell.


    *


    I felt the glow of Presence as it came closer and closer, then it entered my detection range. My eyes had followed its progress and I watched as the humanoid shape of bright light came closer and closer, down the last two floors, then it moved over to the spot right above my cell. I stood up and reached my hand out and put it into the edge of the brightness.


    The waves of Presence flowed around my hand and I could feel it want to mix with mine. I thought that was a little odd, since usually it was the person that would give me that impression. This time, I knew the person wasn''t happy with me and yet her Presence didn''t have a problem with me at all. I smiled and let some of my considerable mental barriers down and gladly accepted it.


    *


    Aphatoris gasped as she felt something open up below her and her Presence flowed down through the floor. She trembled at the sensations she felt and slowly lowered herself to the floor.


    ¡°Great Aphatoris, what is it?¡± One of the beings with her asked.


    Aphatoris waved her hand to tell them to be quiet, and she hugged herself as her Presence gave itself over to someone she personally thought was reprehensible. She hadn''t had it do that before, since she had to willingly want to boost someone else for the transfer to work. Her body shivered as more Presence than she had ever given anyone before, easily flowed out of her.


    S-s-stop. Aphatoris thought and concentrated on her flow of Presence. Please, stop.


    *


    I felt the flow of Presence falter, like it had when I was kissing Aphatoris, so I gently closed my mental barriers. Thank you for choosing me. I thought at the flow of Presence and not at Aphatoris, and I felt a tingle go down my spine. It was nice meeting you, too. I thought in amusement, then the flow changed and I couldn''t feel it anymore, despite the bright glow being right there above my head.

 Book One: The Presence 035

    The bright glow went away and disappeared from my perception when it left my now considerably larger detection range. It was almost double what I could detect previously and I felt like I could hold a lot more Presence inside myself than I had before.


    It boosted my abilities. I thought as I sat down on the floor. I looked down at my hands and held them about a foot apart, and shot a small lightning bolt from one hand to the other. It didn''t hurt, because I absorbed the bolt as it hit me and I conserved the energy. This is amazing. I thought happily and kept doing it until I had the idea to do two bolts at once. It took a bit more Presence; but, it worked. So, I doubled that and kept going.


    After half an hour, I had my hands two feet apart and had dozens of small lightning bolts flying from one hand to the other. I held in my laughter as I used Presence to curve and warp those bolts to change their direction and still had them hit my hand.


    If I concentrate, I can actually feel each individual bolt and control where they hit. I thought in amazement. With a new technique to use, I stayed there for the rest of the night and tried to master it. I didn''t need to sleep, being charged up like I was, so I worked all through the next day as well. When I felt someone enter my expanded detection range late that night, I eased my technique to a stop and folded my hands on my lap and pretended that nothing was going on.


    The man in the uniform slid open the one foot wide metal cover of the slot. ¡°I''m sorry to say that you were right.¡± He said and turned the food tray sideways to fit it into the slot. ¡°When I went to get your meal, someone had already shown up and taken it.¡±


    I stood up and took the tray, and saw that it wasn''t basic rations like Aphatoris had ordered, and it even had a spoon. ¡°Now you know why I asked you to go at a different time.¡±


    The man sighed. ¡°I think if you apologized...¡±


    ¡°For what?¡± I asked and used Presence to look at the food. Unfortunately, I didn''t have any way to detect if it was poisoned or tampered with. ¡°Where did you get this?¡±


    ¡°I stepped out the back and asked one of the food stands to fill it.¡± The man said. ¡°They thought it was for me, so it''s the good stuff.¡±


    ¡°That''s a relief.¡± I said and started to eat. ¡°They wouldn''t try to poison you with it.¡±


    The man stayed silent as I quickly ate, then I slid the tray back through the slot.


    ¡°See you tomorrow night around the same time.¡± I said.


    He nodded and closed the cover on the slot, then walked away without a comment.


    I think he''s starting to see that not everything is as black and white as he thinks it is. I thought and sat down in the middle of the room again and started practising with what was in essence Presence Lightning. I sincerely doubted that I was the only one to have stumbled across this technique, and I was sure that others would be much more versed in its uses than I was. That made me determined to try and discover everything I could do with it. I worked hard for most of the night and then I felt tired.


    I used the mental technique to relax myself and entered a meditative sleep for about six hours. Once my mind and body was refreshed, I continued to work with my new technique. The man in the uniform returned the next night and he had a similar tray of food.


    ¡°How did you know someone would poison your food?¡± He asked as he slid the tray of food into my cell. ¡°I showed up at the normal time and got the tray of rations, then used my hand scanner to check it.¡± He sighed. ¡°It wouldn''t kill you right away, though. You''d be deathly ill for a few days if it went untreated, then you would die.¡±


    ¡°That''s not what should be worrying you.¡± I said as I quickly ate the food.


    ¡°What should?¡±


    ¡°That it''s probably not the same person doing it each day.¡± I said and handed the tray back. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    The man didn''t say anything and closed the slot, then he walked away.


    Yeah, he''s definitely starting to be disillusioned. I thought and used Presence to check myself and didn''t find any impairments. I''m glad he''s a good man.


    The next five days passed by fairly quickly, and I was actually sad when my solitary sentence ended. I was well rested, had a firm handle on my new technique and its capabilities, and the only interactions I had were brief visits when I was fed my one meal a day. The man in the uniform came to me each day with a different reason why I wasn''t getting the normal rations, except for this last day when he came for me just before supper and opened the door.


    ¡°Follow me.¡±


    I nodded and followed him without saying a word, and he didn''t speak as we entered the lift and went up to the top floor and to the meeting room where the bright glowing Presence was. I wasn''t surprised that she hadn''t visited me after that first time, and I could still feel that she was trying very hard to stop her Presence from coming to me.


    I thought I was the moth attracted to the flame. I thought as I smiled at her and she didn''t smile back. Maybe it''s her flame that she doesn''t want my moth around.


    ¡°Hunter, you have served your sentence.¡± Meaglesnarn said. ¡°Have you come to regret your crime?¡±


    ¡°The only thing I regret is that I didn''t kill them both so that none of this would have happened.¡± I said, and murmurs and grumbles rolled around the room. ¡°The thief wouldn''t have wasted your time by filing false charges and put Aphatoris into a moral quandary.¡±


    ¡°I''m not in a quandary.¡± Aphatoris said.


    ¡°You''re trying to decide if you want to put me back into solitary.¡± I said and saw her eyebrows go up. ¡°I wonder if it''s because you want to see if one of your followers can succeed in hurting me this time.¡±


    ¡°I want no such thing!¡± Aphatoris exclaimed as her Presence flared.


    ¡°Your followers do.¡± I said and successfully ignored her brighter Presence as I looked at Meaglesnarn. ¡°They''ve stolen my rations, poisoned them, switched them, and did several other things to them that I won''t mention in front of a lady.¡±


    All three of Meaglesnarn''s eyes nearly bulged out of his bald head, because he didn''t detect any lies. ¡°I will investigate this.¡±


    ¡°Don''t bother.¡± I said. ¡°You''ll just rationalize it away as harmless because I didn''t actually die from what they tried to do to me.¡±


    ¡°That''s enough!¡± Aphatoris exclaimed.


    ¡°I agree.¡± I said and let some of my anger out and the Presence inside me flared. ¡°Not a single person, except for one good man, cared about how I was treated.¡±


    Aphatoris gasped as her Presence flared to match mine.


    ¡°If this is how you treat people that ask for your help, I''d hate to be someone who came here and didn''t need it.¡± I said. ¡°You people are worse than The Order.¡±


    ¡°That... that''s not...¡± Meaglesnarn couldn''t say it, because I hadn''t lied.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Ha, see? You can''t deny it and not lie.¡± I smiled. ¡°It''s not even that you put me in isolation and only gave me one meal a day. That part I didn''t mind at all.¡±


    Most of them caught their breath at that, because it wasn''t normal to not mind being imprisoned.


    ¡°What I didn''t like was that you didn''t check to see if I was being fed. Not once. You didn''t check to see if I was getting the one meal a day that I needed to live.¡± I said to Meaglesnarn and Aphatoris. ¡°I was completely out of sight and out of mind for everyone, except for the ones messing with my food.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I got more attention from them than the ones that were supposed to be watching out for me and keeping me safe.¡±


    No one said anything, and I sighed.


    ¡°Okay, there is another thing I regret.¡± I said. ¡°I regret that I promised no retribution for this punishment, or I''d start interrogating you all to find out who tried to poison me.¡± I looked at all of their faces, and several of them turned their heads away automatically. ¡°Never mind, there they are.¡± I said and used Presence Hands to grab them by their collars and pulled the four of them into the center of the room. ¡°Meaglesnarn, I told you that you wouldn''t have to investigate.¡±


    ¡°It was all his idea!¡± One of them said and pointed to the alien beside him. ¡°He said Aphatoris told us to test the prisoner!¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± The alien said and punched the man on the side of the head.


    ¡°You are messing everything up!¡± Aphatoris exclaimed and stood as she glared at me. ¡°Why are you causing me so much trouble?¡±


    ¡°Fate.¡± I said, and she caught her breath. ¡°I was meant to come here.¡± I formed Presence around the appendages of the three aliens and around the arms of the man to hold them, then tossed them aside to land at the man in the uniform''s feet. ¡°Feel free to charge them with attempted murder.¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡± Aphatoris said.


    ¡°I came here looking for your help. I didn''t realize that you needed someone to help you.¡± I said and tried to take a step forward, then half a dozen laser pistols and rifles were aimed at me. I put my hands up as if I was surrendering, then used Presence Hands to disable all of the weapons and knocked them out of the men''s hands. The man in the uniform was not one of them.


    ¡°I... I don''t need your help.¡± Aphatoris said and motioned to Meaglesnarn. ¡°Here is the information you wanted.¡±


    Meaglesnarn took a datapad out of his pocket and handed it to me. ¡°This is the ship information and the crew list, as well as their registered flight plan.¡±


    ¡°That''s not normal information to have, is it?¡± I asked and quickly checked it.


    ¡°We hacked the ship''s database and pilfered it.¡±


    ¡°Then give me the rest of it, too.¡±


    ¡°You don''t need...¡±


    ¡°If you really think their registered flight plan is where they are actually going, then you''re not as smart as I thought you were.¡± I said and held the datapad out. After a moment, he reached out for the datapad and took another out and handed it to me. I checked it and saw that it had tons of information on it. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°You''ll need this, too.¡± Meaglesnarn said and handed me a small box. It was six inches long, eight inches wide, and four inches deep. I didn''t have to open it to see what was inside.


    ¡°How much?¡± I asked, and he shook his head.


    ¡°When you take (Undecipherable)''s head for The Order, send us his hands.¡± Aphatoris said. ¡°Or a picture of his death. I''d prefer his hands; but, a picture will suffice.¡±


    ¡°I''ll do my best.¡± I said.


    Aphatoris waved to one of her people, and he went to the door and left for a few moments, then there was a loud ruckus as Luxea, Evelyn, and Rhubin came into the meeting room.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Luxea exclaimed and ran over to me. ¡°Are you okay?¡± She asked as she put her arms around me and hugged me tightly. ¡°They wouldn''t tell us anything, except that they had you in custody.¡±


    ¡°I filled them in as much as I could.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I didn''t think someone would arrest you for getting robbed, though.¡±


    ¡°Me, either.¡± I said. ¡°I told the truth, and my story, and they still sentenced me to a week of isolation.¡±


    ¡°ISOLATION!¡± Luxea yelled and let me go. ¡°You know his story and you gave him isolation?¡± She glared at everyone, then her eyes met Aphatoris''. ¡°You people are heartless!¡±


    ¡°It was only a week.¡± I said, and Luxea looked at me.


    ¡°You shouldn''t have been treated that way.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Some people can''t look past their own insecurities when dealing with others.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I mean, look at me. I completely expected them to treat me unfairly because of how I was treated before, and look what happened.¡±


    Luxea chuckled for a moment, then she stopped with shock on her face. ¡°You can''t blame yourself!¡±


    ¡°I didn''t help the situation by acting distrustful.¡±


    ¡°Trust has to be earned.¡± Luxea said. ¡°You can''t just magically have it when you meet someone for the first time.¡±


    I felt a flicker in the bright Presence around Aphatoris and turned my head to look at her. ¡°(Undecipherable) did that to you, didn''t he?¡± I asked, and Aphatoris tried to look away. ¡°You trusted him right away and he hurt you.¡±


    Everyone in the room looked uncomfortable, and she turned back to face me with sadness in her eyes.


    ¡°If you don''t succeed in your hunt, you will never be allowed back here.¡± Aphatoris said.


    ¡°Hey! This is a major trading station!¡± Evelyn said. ¡°You can''t just...¡±


    Aphatoris held up a datapad that showed a signed declaration from the other section managers. ¡°We won''t stop the ship you are on or interfere in any trading it does; but, Hunter won''t be allowed to step foot on this station.¡±


    ¡°That''s not much encouragement.¡± I said, and her eyes widened. ¡°I only found out this place existed a few weeks ago. After being here for a week as your prisoner, not being allowed to come back here doesn''t bother me.¡±


    Aphatoris wasn''t sure how to respond to that.


    ¡°You''re making the same mistake The Order did.¡± I said. ¡°You think because this place has nice things in it, has lots of things to do, and has lots of people that want to be here... that I want the same things.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I really don''t. You can keep it all to yourselves for all I care.¡±


    ¡°We... we can... get you more focusing crystals.¡± Aphatoris said and pointed to the small box I had in my hand.


    ¡°Well, considering they''re worthless to anyone else except The Order, and a crime to sell to anyone else, I shouldn''t need any more than this dozen for a really long time.¡± I said.


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°You gave them to me as a gift, so it wasn''t a crime.¡± I said and nodded to Meaglesnarn.


    ¡°Hunter, please.¡± Aphatoris said, her voice sad. ¡°What can I do to encourage you to do this for us?¡±


    I held a hand out to the people around Aphatoris, to show that I meant no harm, then walked over to her. She was a few inches shorter than me, so she had to look up slightly to look into my eyes.


    ¡°I want you to forgive yourself for being stupid.¡± I said.


    ¡°Wh-what?¡±


    ¡°I''m sure that blue-skinned devil was all charm and pretty words when you met.¡± I said. ¡°He sucked you in and manipulated you, and before you knew it, he robbed you and was gone without so much as a goodbye.¡±


    Aphatoris had tears in her eyes and didn''t try to wipe at them.


    ¡°I can feel you fighting with your Presence, and you shouldn''t do that.¡± I said and cupped the side of her face. Her whole body trembled as her Presence and mine swirled together, like it had that first day. ¡°You can be on guard, and you can pick and choose who you want to help; but, when you fall in love with someone, all that preparation and caution is meaningless.¡±


    Aphatoris opened her mouth and let a sob escape. ¡°It hurts so much!¡±


    ¡°It always does.¡± I said and took her into my arms, and she cried on my shoulder. It was completely quiet in the meeting room, except for her crying. It lasted for nearly ten minutes, and then she started to compose herself. I held onto her until I saw her Presence become less bright and more under control, then I eased my embrace and took half a step back.


    Aphatoris wiped at her eyes and looked up at me again. ¡°How did you do that?¡± She asked, completely composed. ¡°I haven''t cried like that in years.¡±


    ¡°I think you just needed someone to understand.¡± I said and took another step back.


    Aphatoris'' glowing Presence didn''t try to follow me or hold onto me, and she looked down at herself in surprise, then back at me. ¡°It''s all mine again.¡±


    ¡°It was always all yours.¡± I said. ¡°It just wanted to help you.¡±


    Aphatoris wasn''t sure how to respond to that, either.


    I walked over to where Luxea, Evelyn, and Rhubin were. ¡°Where are the others?¡±


    ¡°Cassie''s on watch, and Rus and Donny are getting the ship ready.¡± Luxea said. ¡°With less than a third of our load, we can get up to speed and jump into hyperspace that much faster now.¡±


    ¡°Then we better get back to the ship.¡± I said, and we all walked over to the door of the meeting room.


    ¡°It''s too bad you were stuck in here all week.¡± Rhubin said and opened the door. ¡°You didn''t even get to see the spectacular tourist attraction the station was made for.¡±


    I stopped walking and looked back at Aphatoris. ¡°I think I saw something much better than that.¡± I said to her surprised face, then I shut the door. ¡°If we hurry, we might not get robbed before we get to the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°That''s not funny, Hunter.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°How did you know to call me that?¡± I asked, curiously.


    ¡°One of those three-eyed aliens asked us if we were looking for ''Hunter'' when we were searching everywhere for you.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°What made you pick that for a name?¡±


    ¡°I told them I was hunting (Undecipherable). Since I was pretty sure they couldn''t be trusted with my real name, especially since they knew about (Undecipherable) before I even described him, a fake name seemed appropriate.¡±


    ¡°I''ll make up some fake papers for you.¡± Evelyn said, and everyone looked at her. ¡°What? I''m a medical professional. I can fake medical records easily.¡±


    We reached the shuttle without incident, boarded it, then left the station to go to the long haul transport.


    ¡°I really need a shower.¡± I said as the shuttle landed inside the ship''s docking bay.


    ¡°It can wait.¡± Luxea said and walked over to the shuttle''s hatch. ¡°Donny, get the clamps on the landing gear as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°I''ve got a suit beside the docking bay''s hatch already.¡± Donny said. ¡°Give me ten minutes and I''ll be back inside and strapped to a jumpseat.¡±


    Luxea nodded, checked the umbilical for pressure, then we all left the shuttle. We were all strapped in and on our way ten minutes later.

 Book One: The Presence 036

    Our next destination was just a normal planet. It was the one that had ordered the large farming equipment, and we had the fifty cargo containers unloaded and on the planet in only six hours. No one wanted to rest there, so we secured everything on the ship and went to the next destination. This went on and on, and each stop barely took any time as each one had smaller orders to deliver.


    During each hyperspace jump, with Cassie''s help, I managed to decipher and plot out all of the ship data that Meaglesnarn had given me on (Undecipherable)''s ship. When I compared it to the ship data I had on the missing ships, the information about the ship''s capabilities matched the second one. The one where I had seen his apprentice''s ugly face in the passenger manifest.


    After Cassie ran everything through the navigation computer, it compiled them all into a consistent course and gave me the locations that the ship visited the most. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near where the long haul transport was headed. Rus offered to change course to get me as close as possible, and I flatly refused. They had put themselves at too much risk already by having me aboard and I wouldn''t ask them to intentionally lose money by changing their course so significantly.


    What was fortunate, or fateful, was that Cassie had been running her own search without my knowledge. I wasn''t sure how she did it, or where she got her information; but, she had managed to track down the giant gas planet where my parents had been killed and I had been kidnapped. That would have been significant all on its own, and I was quite happy with that... then she surprised me by showing me a long term docking fee for a ship that matched the registration papers I had in my possession, then she brought up the navigation data on her console to get there.


    ¡°How did you...¡± I stopped talking and bent down to give her a hug from behind. ¡°If I wasn''t saving myself for someone and if you weren''t such a bitch when you get angry...¡±


    Cassie reached up and smacked the top of my head. ¡°If I wasn''t sitting down right now, I''d kick you right in the balls.¡±


    ¡°I really like you, too.¡± I said, and that made her laugh.


    ¡°That''s actually not too far from our normal route.¡± Rus said. ¡°Mind you, there''s not really much to do near a gas giant.¡±


    ¡°Dad, I''ve worked out a new course that will add it as a stop before we head too far out to come back to it.¡± Cassie said. ¡°It''ll add a day to the delivery on Apan, though.¡±


    ¡°Those people love me.¡± Rus said and waved her concerns away. ¡°I''ll message ahead at our next stop and let them know about the delay.¡±


    ¡°How many more stops?¡± I asked as I let her go.


    ¡°Only three.¡± Cassie said. ¡°We don''t have any layovers left and the ship is nearly empty, so you''ve got just over a week before we get there.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be ready to leave then.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Rus asked. ¡°You''ve been a great member of the crew so far. I wouldn''t mind you sticking around long enough for that pay raise.¡±


    ¡°It''s been great being here for the last three months; but, if I can get my parents'' ship back... I mean, my ship back... then I need to do it.¡± I said and pointedly ignored Cassie''s and Luxea''s reactions.


    ¡°That''s understandable.¡± Rus said, then smiled. ¡°Feel free to take as many jumpsuits as you need.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I appreciate the offer; but, I think the novelty has worn off, even if some of them had Cassie in them.¡±


    Cassie blushed, and I kept to myself that it could mean two different things. The first being the ones she wore and the second being the ones the men wore that she slept with.


    ¡°You do remember that she''s my daughter, don''t you?¡± Rus asked.


    ¡°Rus, I''ve never forgotten that she''s your daughter.¡± I said, my voice full of respect. ¡°I better start getting my things in order.¡±


    ¡°You have a week to do that.¡± Cassie said.


    ¡°It''s not really going to take me long.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve only bought two normal outfits during this whole trip and I only wore one. Everything else I''ve kept in my sleeping compartment.¡±


    ¡°There''s large laundry bags in the jumpsuit closet.¡± Rus said. ¡°Take a couple if you want.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and left the cockpit. I went to the crew compartment and grabbed the laundry bag that was more like a duffel bag and added my clothes to it, then I took a second bag and added my personal belongings to it, wrapped it up tightly, then put it inside the clothing bag. I added the rifle and pistol next and tied the bag. I covered the top of the bag in Presence and made it solid, then put it back into the personal storage of my sleeping compartment.


    That didn''t take as long as I thought it would. I thought and sat down on my bunk. I stared at the small bundle and took several deep breaths. My entire life in one sack.


    It was the second time it had happened to me, and I sighed as I covered the personal storage with Presence and made that solid, too. With that out of the way, I took out a datapad and looked up the systems for my ship and started to study.


    The week of small deliveries passed by as if it hadn''t happened and the long haul transport jumped into the system with the super gas giant planet. With the ship nearly empty, we decelerated quickly and parked into a high orbit, well away from the small space station in geosynchronous orbit. After a bit of communication tag back and forth, since we had arrived during the local night, we were granted permission to send the shuttle.


    ¡°I think I''d rather wait until morning.¡± I said to Rus.


    ¡°Actually, it''s better to get over there and get things handled and during the night shift.¡± Luxea said, and I raised my eyebrows at her. ¡°They aren''t going to be too strict on procedures and should just process your ship with little or no fuss.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Luxea said and stood. ¡°I''ll go with you and show you how it''s done.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to trouble you.¡±


    Luxea chuckled and waved for me to follow her. ¡°We can grab Rhubin on the way by the crew compartment and then head to the shuttle.¡±


    I let her lead me down through the levels to the crew compartment and I stopped her from entering the hallway. ¡°He''s in there with Evelyn.¡±


    ¡°He''s what?¡± Luxea asked, then sighed. ¡°I told Evelyn we were close to port an hour ago.¡± She said. ¡°What are they doing?¡±


    ¡°Ah... things.¡± I said.


    Luxea walked over to the small panel by the hatch to the hallway and hit a button. ¡°Rus, blare over the speakers that Rhubin was supposed to have the shuttle prepped already.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that''s mean.¡± I said with a grin.


    ¡°Tell me what they do.¡± Luxea said and matched my grin with her own.


    I nodded, then Rus'' voice blared over the speakers throughout the ship that Rhubin was about to be charged with dereliction of duty for not having the shuttle prepped when it was needed. I laughed when I saw both Rhubin and Evelyn jump at the loud noise, then Rhubin tried to sit up. Evelyn was on top, so she tumbled off of him and the bunk as she fell to the floor.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    I described it to Luxea and she laughed with me as I told her about them scrambling to get dressed. After about five minutes of them fumbling around, both Rhubin and Evelyn came out of his sleeping compartment and walked over to the hatch. When it opened, they saw Luxea and I holding our sides and laughing at them.


    ¡°Ha. Ha.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°That wasn''t funny.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it was! Ha haha hahaha!¡± Luxea laughed. ¡°I told you an hour ago to get ready for port duty.¡±


    ¡°I thought you were warning me that I only had an hour left.¡± Evelyn said.


    Luxea kept laughing and Evelyn went up the ladder to the medical bay.


    ¡°Sorry, Ullir.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I''ll have the shuttle ready as soon as possible.¡±


    I didn''t say anything as he hit the button to open the floor hatch to go down to the next level, then Luxea and I followed him all the way down to the level with the shuttle dock.


    ¡°Hey, kids.¡± Donny said as he came in through the side door and unhooked his helmet. ¡°Docking clamps are released, so you can take off whenever you want.¡±


    ¡°Come with us.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°What for?¡± Donny asked.


    ¡°Obviously so you can check the outside of Ullir''s ship.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''m going to make sure they didn''t mess with anything on the inside, and you need to check everything on the outside.¡±


    ¡°Hazard pay?¡± Donny asked.


    ¡°Yes, you''ll get a bonus for a space walk outside of the hangar, if... and only if... Ullir''s ship isn''t housed and is just floating in space.¡±


    ¡°Then count me in.¡± Donny said. ¡°My suit''s energy packs are freshly charged and I don''t have to change them.¡±


    ¡°How''s your internal air?¡±


    ¡°I''ll round it down to twenty three hours left.¡± Donny said.


    Luxea nodded and made sure the umbilical to the shuttle was pressurized, then she opened it and ushered us all through it to the shuttle. We were out the docking bay about ten minutes later, once Rhubin started everything up and did his checklist for full operation. He did it all quietly and didn''t look at anyone else while he worked.


    We didn''t poke or prod him verbally for not having it done already, even though it was pretty much his only official job. Rhubin flew the shuttle over to the small station and we saw that they had an internal dock for us to land in. He looked a bit surprised and I asked him why.


    ¡°It''s because the station is so small.¡± Rhubin said as he manoeuvred the shuttle into the fairly large bay. ¡°All this volume could easily have gone into living quarters or pretty much anything else except for a pressurized landing bay.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they just don''t like using a docking umbilical.¡± Donny suggested.


    ¡°Or they had the plans for a large space station and didn''t scale it properly, or change it for a smaller one.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Look at those cargo shipment containers.¡±


    I looked out the large viewing window and saw several cargo containers that were half the size of the ones in the cargo bay of the long haul transport.


    ¡°I think you''re right.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''ll stay aboard and keep the shuttle ready for departure.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°I''m not needed yet, so I''ll stay, too.¡± Donny said.


    Luxea nodded to them both and led me out of the shuttle. It was weird to step out of it and walk down the small ramp as if we had landed on a planet and not a space station.


    I guess I''ve gotten used to using the docking umbilical for passenger transfers. I thought to myself as we entered what looked like a guard station. It was empty.


    ¡°Not even a token watch commander for the night shift.¡± Luxea shook her head and went through the door at the back. I followed her and the hallways were a little smaller than what should have been on a normal space station. ¡°Yes, the scale is definitely off.¡± She said and stopped walking when she saw what looked like an information booth. It was unmanned, so she walked around the small counter and quickly typed on the keyboard there. She bought up a schematic of the station that had basic amenities listed on it, and she chuckled.


    ¡°What''s funny?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s like a child designed it.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It has everything a space station is supposed to have, only it''s at half the size and the details are all simplified.¡±


    ¡°I don''t remember it being this small.¡± I said. ¡°When I was a kid, my father was gone for a while, then my mother went to look for him. They were gone for a long time, and then...¡±


    Luxea stepped out from behind the counter and put a hand on my arm, then rubbed it consolingly. ¡°I''d say you didn''t realize the scale; but, maybe they changed the station since then.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they could change out an entire space station in only twelve years?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°What about cutting off or losing a section?¡±


    Luxea shook her head again. ¡°No, there''s no indication the station has been compromised or had extensive repairs.¡±


    ¡°Then why would it have taken so long?¡± I asked, curiously.


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Luxea said and slid her hand down my arm and took my hand. ¡°Come on. I know where the port master''s office is.¡±


    ¡°Will he be there?¡± I asked jokingly. ¡°This place is practically deserted.¡±


    ¡°It''s the first time I''ve been to a station that went by local time and not galactic standard time.¡± Luxea said. ¡°This place should be a bustling hub of activity, since it''s actually the middle of the day.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it''s their way of defiance?¡± I asked as she dragged me down several hallways and we stopped at an unremarkable office. ¡°Okay, this layout is stupid. Shouldn''t the port master have an office near the port?¡±


    ¡°He''s supposed to.¡± Luxea chuckled. ¡°If my guess is correct, this is going to be the plushiest office we''ve ever seen.¡±


    ¡°Oh, damn.¡± I said, and she laughed. ¡°Do you want to knock, or should I?¡±


    ¡°I''ll do it.¡± Luxea said, and instead of knocking, touched a small square beside the door. I heard a low chime from the other side of the door, and then it opened with a whooshing sound.


    I can''t make the Warglesnort farting joke. I thought in disappointment.


    ¡°Yes, yes. Come in.¡± A male voice said, and we stepped into the plushiest office I had ever seen. Luxea and I exchanged knowing looks, then walked over to the large ornate desk that had an alien behind it. As far as I could tell, he didn''t have any facial features besides a slit for an eye and a slit for a mouth. That was it. It was also kind of creepy.


    ¡°You''ve got business here that can''t wait until morning, apparently.¡± The alien said from the lower slit.


    Luxea squeezed my hand in a sure sign that she wanted to speak, so I nodded. ¡°Rather than wait for some incompetent who would be just waking up, I thought it was best to enlist your expertise instead and have it handled properly.¡±


    The top slit on the alien''s face pulled open slightly and I saw a large black eye. ¡°My brother is due on shift in the morning.¡±


    ¡°I stand by my words.¡± Luxea said and squeezed my hand tighter to keep me quiet.


    How did she know I was going to speak? I asked myself.


    ¡°Ha.¡± The alien barked a laugh. ¡°All right. You''ve convinced me.¡±


    She has? I thought in surprise.


    Luxea quickly and expertly described the situation to the alien, and he used some kind of hands to activate a tiny holoprojector on his desk. The super gas giant appeared on it, as did the station, the long haul transport we came in on, three other ships docked at various parts of the station, and then a tiny little dot appeared near the polar region of the planet.


    My parents could have gone into a large docked ship. I thought in surprise. That could explain why it took so long.


    ¡°I can honestly say that it''s the longest long term storage we''ve ever had.¡± The alien said, then laughed. ¡°It might be the longest anywhere!¡±


    ¡°No doubt.¡± Luxea said with a huge smile. ¡°You can definitely claim notoriety for not only having it, you can claim it for clearing it out of your inventory.¡±


    The alien used what looked like an insect leg to scratch what should have been its chin that was only a flat surface. ¡°Yes, I see your logic.¡± He said. ¡°I hope you realize that the storage fees are significant.¡±


    ¡°For twelve years of storage? Of course they are.¡± Luxea said and let my hand go, then she leaned onto the desk. ¡°Have you used annual compound interest formulas or did you use the monthly?¡±


    ¡°Most people just ask for the price.¡± The alien said, clearly surprised.


    ¡°Most people don''t realize how important your job is.¡± Luxea said.


    Is he blushing? I asked myself as the alien''s face changed colors slightly. Damn, Luxea. I thought in admiration. She''s charming the pants off an alien!


    ¡°Since it was long term storage, we had to use the annual interest rate.¡± The alien said.


    ¡°Did you perform basic maintenance?¡±


    ¡°Only on the outside. Once the ship was locked, we didn''t have access to the internals.¡±


    ¡°Did you do it monthly to pad the bill?¡± Luxea asked and swayed her body from side to side slightly.


    ¡°You... are very... knowledgeable.¡± The alien said, clearly flustered.


    ¡°Like I said, not everyone knows how important your job is.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Now I''d like to know what the price is.¡±


    The alien typed something and a little piece of paper popped out of a tiny slot in front of him, and he handed it to her. She read it, and made a ticking sound with her tongue and her lips.


    ¡°I thought you said you used the annual rate.¡± Luxea said and turned her body to the side, and kept up the slight wiggling. ¡°This is a bit much, even with the maintenance.¡±


    ¡°Well... there were administration fees...¡± The alien said.


    ¡°You didn''t need to charge for that, did you?¡± Luxea asked and increased her wiggles. ¡°It was just sitting there.¡±


    ¡°We still... had to... make sure everything was handled.¡±


    ¡°What did you take from it?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°The external... communications array and... three of the gravity sensors.¡± The alien said, and his body started to sway with hers.


    ¡°Oh, no.¡± Luxea said, in an almost helpless voice. ¡°How is the ship going to talk to other ships?¡±


    ¡°We... have a replacement.¡± The alien said. ¡°Cheaper and much older... but, it works.¡±


    ¡°Then... shouldn''t you deduct the brand new communications array cost from the fees?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°I''ll forgive you for taking the sensors.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes. A-all right.¡± The alien said and typed with four of its hands. The holoprojector turned off and another piece of paper popped out and his shaking hand held it out to her.


    Luxea reached out and took it very slowly, then looked at it. ¡°That''s much better.¡± She said happily. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± She said in a deeper voice. ¡°Where can we get the communications array?¡±


    ¡°Storage crate 134235.¡± The alien said. ¡°It should be in the hanger where you landed.¡±


    ¡°Yay!¡± Luxea exclaimed and the alien jumped. ¡°We''ll go out and check the ship, then we''ll be right back with your payment!¡±


    ¡°O-okay.¡± The alien said. ¡°H-hurry back.¡±


    Luxea nodded and turned away from the desk, grabbed my hand, and we left the office.

 Book One: The Presence 037

    ¡°How did you do that?¡± I asked Luxea, and she chuckled.


    ¡°I''ve dealt with his species before.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Exaggerating compliments and body movements distract them.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t explain how you made him admit to stripping the ship.¡± I said.


    ¡°They tell you things they don''t normally admit when they are distracted. Once he said it out loud, he had to adjust the storage fees.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry, you''ve got plenty of credits.¡± Luxea said. ¡°You barely spent any during this trip.¡±


    ¡°What about...¡±


    ¡°I brought a chip reader and spare chips so we can put what you need for the fees onto another chip and then we can just hand it over.¡± Luxea said. ¡°No more haggling needed or waiting for the transfer to go through.¡±


    I didn''t say anything in response, and when we were about to step through the guard area, she stopped.


    ¡°You''re thinking hard about something.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I''m wondering how the chip readers can do that.¡± I said. ¡°Is it just electronic? Do the chips have a charge in them or just a number? Can they be altered or changed without damaging the credits supposedly on them?¡±


    ¡°Ullir, what brought that on?¡± Luxea asked.


    I thought about not answering, then sighed. ¡°There were two unmarked credit chips in my possession when The Order killed my parents and kidnapped me. I only got them back just before leaving Ulathall, so I don''t know if they are fake, have the actual totals that they should have, or if the tracking devices hidden inside by The Order erased them.¡±


    Luxea stared at me for several moments before she spoke. ¡°You''ve been struggling with this on your own for how long?¡±


    ¡°I found the tracking devices a couple of days after we left The Order''s home planet.¡±


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± Luxea said and stepped close to me, then rested her head against my chest. ¡°Ullir, I''m so sorry.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You''ve had The Order take so much from you, and then you discover that they might have robbed you of your inheritance.¡± Luxea said and stepped back to look up at me. ¡°If I had known then, I would have...¡±


    ¡°No, I don''t think you would.¡± I said, and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°You''re looking back at the situation with the knowledge of all the things that have happened since.¡±


    ¡°That... I...¡±


    ¡°At the time, we had barely met and then we had our private time in your sleeping compartment.¡± I said, and she sighed. ¡°Yeah, you had enough of me then and it took you a while before you started to treat me normally.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry for that, too.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I just... what we did then... I couldn''t...¡±


    ¡°It''s okay.¡± I said. ¡°You were right. I shouldn''t do things like that with anyone else.¡±


    Luxea caught her breath. ¡°Uhazith.¡± She whispered and put both of her hands on my chest. One of them landed on the circle of scars around my heart. ¡°Is that why you reacted like that when she...¡±


    ¡°We were together for a week and we shared Presence the entire time.¡± I said. ¡°She felt like a part of me, and when she was murdered, I couldn''t keep that part of me contained.¡±


    Luxea rubbed the scars for a moment, then she let her hands drop. ¡°I can give you a quick lesson on the chip reader''s use while Donny''s checking the ship.¡± She said in a serious voice. ¡°When we go back to the ship to get your things, we can find out together if those chips they gave you are fake or not.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Luxea.¡± I said, sincerely.


    Luxea nodded slightly and we went through the empty guard area and out into the hanger. We picked up the proper container and walked up the ramp to the shuttle, then she hit the button to retract the ramp and secured the hatch. She walked over to Donny and told him what was in the shipping crate, then went to Rhubin and told him where the ship was. We were up and out of the hanger bay in less than a minute. It was a surprisingly short trip to go from the station to the polar region of the super gas giant planet. When we got there, the ship was the only thing there. No maintenance bots, no temporary space dock, nothing.


    ¡°I''d seriously want to argue the administration fees.¡± Rhubin said as he brought the shuttle around and hit several buttons. ¡°I''m not getting a response from the onboard computer to initiate the docking procedure.¡±


    ¡°It''s been out here for twelve years.¡± I said. ¡°I doubt anything''s been responding in all that time.¡±


    ¡°The air scrubbers will need to be purged at the very least.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Rhubin, how many space suits do you have on the shuttle?¡±


    ¡°I always carry six spares, just in case.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°All checked regularly and maintained.¡±


    ¡°Good man.¡± Luxea said and pat his shoulder as she passed him and went to the proper compartment. ¡°We need to borrow two of them.¡±


    ¡°I just topped off their air; but, you need to check them anyway.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°I always do.¡± Luxea said and did a quick suit check and handed it to me. I took it and got dressed as she checked the second suit.


    ¡°I''m buttoning up.¡± Rhubin said as he slipped on his helmet, then he hit a button. A thick bulkhead slid up between the cockpit and the rest of the ship. ¡°Okay, I''m depressurized and in my own suit.¡± He said over the dedicated suit communication system.


    ¡°Donny, it''s time for work.¡± Luxea said as she slipped on the helmet and it clicked into place.


    ¡°I gotcha.¡± Donny said and put on his own helmet and gave Luxea''s suit a quick once-over and double checked her helmet seal. He tapped the top of her helmet and she turned and checked his suit, then they both did mine.


    ¡°Depressurize.¡± Luxea said and I heard the distinct sound of sucking air for a few seconds.


    ¡°You''re clear.¡± Rhubin said.


    Luxea opened the shuttle hatch and I was surprised that it led to completely open space and not to the ship we were supposed to board. ¡°Relax, Ullir.¡± She said and touched my arm. ¡°The ship is below us.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t have a main dock for the shuttle to fit in, so the shuttle needs to land on top of it.¡±


    ¡°Then how would we get from here to there without going outside the ship?¡± I asked. ¡°Besides having to do it now, I mean.¡±


    Donny laughed. ¡°There''s personnel docking hatches on the tops of all standard starships.¡± He said. ¡°Before you ask, all shuttles have one on their bellies.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Oh.¡± I said. ¡°That makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, except it''s not working.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I just hope the reactor is in low power mode and not extinguished.¡± She said, concern in her voice as she used a handhold to swing out into the blackness in front of us.


    ¡°What would that mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The difference between quick repairs and a complete overhaul.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Are you ready for this?¡±


    ¡°No risk, no reward.¡± I said.


    Donny chuckled. ¡°That''s my philosophy.¡± He said and hopped out through the hatch with the shipping crate in one hand, grabbed the edge of the shuttle with the other, then pulled himself down and out of sight. ¡°Weee!¡±


    ¡°Well, at least his request to have fun while on the run with me came true.¡± I said, and everyone laughed. I could barely feel any external Presence at all as I stepped out into the blackness, and Luxea pointed down. Donny was only about twenty feet away below us and stood on the ship''s hull. My eyes widened in surprise as my Detect Presence technique showed me that the super gas giant below the ship had almost no Presence within it, unlike every other planet I''ve ever seen.


    That made me recall the stories I had heard as a child, about how the first gods had created the planets from themselves, and this one was... well, either the Presence had been siphoned off or this was one of the last planets this god had created. I did what Donny did and pulled myself down and let the shuttle go. As I drifted down, Donny caught my foot and guided me the rest of the way, then stood me on the ship''s hull. I felt two distinct clicks as my feet touched the skin of the ship.


    ¡°Walk slow. Heel to toe. One foot at a time.¡± Donny warned me. ¡°The main hatch is over there.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°I''d attach a guide wire to help you; but, I''m going over that way.¡± Donny said and pointed to the front of the ship. ¡°See you later!¡± He said and walked like a duck as he moved away.


    I held in my laugh and felt Luxea come down beside me. I put a hand out to catch her, and she took it and pulled herself down to touch her feet to the hull. We walked over to the side of the ship and I felt a little nervous as we approached the edge.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± Luxea said and took my hand. ¡°Just walk and keep your eyes on the hull.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Just do what I do.¡± Luxea said and when we reached the edge, she let my hand go and lifted a foot as she took a step and started to fall forward. I was about to holler that Donny said not to do that, then she pivoted on her other foot and the first foot touched the side of the ship.


    ¡°Okay, that was neat.¡± I said, and she chuckled as she pulled her second foot over the edge to join the first.


    ¡°Your turn.¡± Luxea said and grinned at me. ¡°I''m right here if you need me to catch you.¡±


    ¡°Now I''m tempted to jump and make you catch me.¡± I said and she laughed. I stepped forward and copied her movements exactly, taking into account my larger size and longer legs, and I ended up standing right next to her.


    ¡°Great job!¡± Luxea said and pat my arm. ¡°You didn''t even hesitate.¡±


    ¡°Now what?¡±


    ¡°The main hatch is right there.¡± Luxea said and pointed to a large round ring on the side of the ship.


    ¡°Do I have to take out the passkey?¡± I asked.


    ¡°By the Goddess, no.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Do you know how easy it would be to lose them if you needed to use them outside of a space suit?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said, and she laughed again.


    ¡°You just need to have it on you when we approach the hatch.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Even if the reactor isn''t working, the backup power always has enough to recognize the command key.¡±


    ¡°What about the hatch?¡±


    ¡°We''ll probably have to use the manual release to open it.¡± Luxea said.


    I followed her over to the large ring and she stopped before she stepped over it. She motioned for me to keep going, so I stepped over the ring. When my foot touched the hatch, nothing happened.


    ¡°Dammit.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I think even the backup power might be down.¡±


    ¡°Hey, don''t be like this.¡± I said and knelt on the hatch. ¡°Welcome me back, Udelis.¡±


    As soon as I said the name, the ship reacted. External lights turned on, one by one, and lit up the surrounding area and the shuttle. The hatch vibrated below me and I was surprised when it started to cycle open.


    ¡°This is great!¡± Luxea said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the way of the opening hatch, then she stepped into the opening and dragged me inside. She oriented us to stand on the floor and hit the close hatch button. ¡°It means the reactor is still fully functioning!¡±


    The hatch cycled closed and the compartment pressurized in an instant as it filled with breathable air and the artificial gravity turned on.


    ¡°Wow.¡± Luxea said as the inside hatch opened and everything started to light up. ¡°Your parents didn''t scrimp on anything, did they?¡±


    ¡°Scrimp?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Bought the cheapest working version instead of the best.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Well, they were raising a family here.¡± I said. ¡°Would you scrimp on anything with a child''s life on the line?¡±


    Luxea looked at me for several moments, then her hand touched my chest. ¡°No, I guess I wouldn''t.¡±


    ¡°So... purging the air filters.¡± I said. ¡°How do we do that?¡±


    ¡°From the cockpit.¡± Luxea said and walked down the hallway.


    I followed her, and everything looked so small. Of course, I was only a child the last time I saw it and everything looked huge then. I was about four feet taller and twelve years older now.


    ¡°This is a luxury yacht.¡± Luxea said in surprise as she looked at all the warm colors and plush surfaces. ¡°Living here would be like being on vacation all the time.¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t a vacation. We were running from The Order for years.¡± I said, and she caught her breath.


    ¡°Ullir, that... that''s not what I meant.¡± Luxea said, and I could hear the sorrow in her voice.


    ¡°I know what you meant.¡± I said.


    Luxea didn''t say anything else until we came to the cockpit. ¡°By the Goddess.¡± She whispered as she saw the high end consoles there. She glanced at me for only a second, then sat down on one of the two chairs. She started to check everything over and brought different things online. ¡°The air scrubbers are purged and the air purifiers are running at a hundred percent. We''ll have fresh air in a couple of minutes.¡±


    There was a light thump sound and then a whoosh sound. I looked up and saw that the shuttle had touched down on the top of the ship and a small umbilical had lifted up from Udelis.


    ¡°The shuttle''s docked.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Good seal.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and turned to face the hallway. ¡°Here comes Rhubin.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Luxea looked up from the console. ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°Can''t you hear his laugh?¡± I asked and tapped the side of my helmet.


    ¡°Haha hahaha!¡± Rhubin laughed over the suit com as he walked up the hallway towards the cockpit. ¡°Look at this place! Hahaha!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I hear him now.¡± Luxea chuckled and turned to look at him herself.


    ¡°Ullir, you lucky dog!¡± Rhubin said. ¡°They would have stripped this thing years ago if they knew what was inside!¡±


    ¡°They tried to strip the outside.¡± I said. ¡°Luckily, the only thing they could get that way was the communication array and some of the gravity sensors.¡±


    ¡°The system check confirms that.¡± Luxea said. ¡°They took the gravity sensors about ten years ago and the communications array three years ago. That''s when the logs stopped registering them, anyway.¡±


    ¡°What''s it going to take to replace the gravity sensors?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A trip back to the long haul transport.¡± Luxea said and smiled. ¡°We''ve got hundreds of spares.¡±


    ¡°Hundreds?¡±


    ¡°They cover the ship, so we need that many for basic maintenance and rotating the reserves.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''ll replace them at the next stop.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°They''re cheap and easy to get if you use the regular shipping lanes.¡± Luxea said, and I understood.


    ¡°Thanks, Luxea.¡±


    ¡°You''ve got a great ship.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''d tell you to buy a replacement for the cheap communications array as soon as you can, but...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I saw how happy you were when the port master gave you the revised price.¡± I said.


    ¡°Outside of a shipyard, you won''t have much luck finding one.¡± Luxea said. ¡°That''s why they usually come with the ship when they''re built.¡±


    ¡°So, even ordering one won''t work.¡± I said, and she shook her head. ¡°Will the cheap one be okay?¡±


    ¡°Considering the advanced communications protocols this ship has, it will work.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Just don''t be surprised when you try to make long ranged calls and the quality is really bad.¡±


    ¡°I guess I''ll have to make do.¡± I said.


    ¡°Do you want us to give you a hand checking the rest of the ship?¡± Rhubin asked. ¡°Three sets of hands should make it go faster.¡±


    ¡°Once we get the air quality up.¡± I said, and a beep came from the console.


    Luxea looked at it and nodded. ¡°Okay, we''ve got fresh air.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be the first to sacrifice my nostrils.¡± I said to make them laugh and unhooked my helmet. I lifted it off of my head and took a breath in through my nose. ¡°Yeah, just as I thought. Week old dirty socks.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Luxea popped the seal on her helmet and took a small breath. ¡°Dammit, there must be a contaminant in one of the filters.¡± She said and sealed her helmet again. ¡°Helmets stay on.¡±


    I put mine back on and she brought up the ship schematic after turning off the air filtration system.


    ¡°Okay, here''s the filter locations.¡± Luxea said and pointed to them. ¡°They''re behind easy access panels for quick removal and replacement.¡±


    ¡°Do I have any replacements?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They''re stored right below the access panels.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    It took about ten minutes for us to find the source of the smell. Two of the filters had some kind of fungus growing on them. I expressed concern over it, and Luxea assured me that it was common for things to get caught in the filters, since that was what they were for. I asked her to take one back for Evelyn to check, just in case, and she agreed. We switched out the old filters, after cleaning the holders and disinfecting everything around it, then closed everything up.


    Luxea went back to the cockpit to start the air filtration system again, then we all went up through the personnel access hatch in the middle of the ship and into the shuttle. Rhubin had no problems with the ship''s undocking procedure and we told Donny we would be back soon.


    ¡°I''ll have this stupid thing attached by then.¡± Donny assured us, and then Rhubin flew us back over to the long haul transport. Luxea was going to get the replacement parts and I needed to pick up the rest of my things.

 Book One: The Presence 038

    We arrived back at the long haul transport and split up to do our assigned tasks. Luxea headed to the parts storage, Rhubin volunteered to bring the contaminated filter to Evelyn in the medical bay, and I went to the crew quarters to get my things. What I didn''t expect was to see Cassie waiting for me.


    ¡°Hi, Ullir.¡± Cassie said, her face slightly ducked so she wasn''t looking right at me.


    ¡°Hi, Cassie.¡± I said.


    ¡°I guess you''re really leaving.¡± Cassie said.


    ¡°I have to.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t stay on this ship for the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°What''s wrong with that?¡± Cassie asked as she lifted her head and looked at me. She had tears in her eyes and I saw a deep regret in them.


    ¡°I didn''t say there was anything wrong with it.¡± I said and stayed where I was instead of trying to approach her. ¡°It''s just not the life for me.¡±


    ¡°But... what if... what if I...¡±


    ¡°Cassie.¡± I said in a stern voice, and she winced. ¡°It wouldn''t have mattered if you didn''t overreact that first day.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°I admit that it would have changed things between us from then until now; but, you knew... you all knew... that this day would come sooner or later.¡± I said. ¡°It actually took longer than I thought it would, to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, I... I''m sorry.¡± Cassie said.


    ¡°I know you are, Cassie.¡± I said. ¡°I also know that you can''t change how you treated people with just an apology. You have to actually change how you treat them.¡±


    ¡°I did!¡± Cassie said. ¡°After I overreacted that first time, I...¡±


    ¡°...slept with Rhubin.¡± I said, and she stopped talking. ¡°It''s none of my business who you have fun with, and I''m sure you had lots of fun.¡±


    ¡°Did... did you watch...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said firmly. ¡°I even asked Rhubin not to tell me about it.¡±


    ¡°Ullir...¡±


    ¡°I asked him not to tell me about any of it, actually.¡± I said. ¡°Despite how much he wanted to talk about it, I really didn''t want to know what he did with any of you.¡±


    Cassie sighed. ¡°I really like you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± I said. ¡°It didn''t stop you from doing what you wanted with whoever you wanted, though.¡± I stopped talking and waited for a moment. ¡°I don''t want to know the answer to what I''m going to ask you. It''s just for your own thoughts to answer.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°How many men did you sleep with while you stayed at the Hamilton on the tourist station in the Granis System?¡± I asked. She opened her mouth to respond and I held a hand up to stop her. ¡°I told you. I don''t want the answer.¡± I said, then smiled. ¡°Unless the answer is zero.¡±


    Cassie closed her mouth and didn''t speak.


    ¡°I figured that was why you went right to the fanciest hotel as soon as we were on the station.¡± I said. ¡°Not a restaurant for food. Not the marketplace to shop. A hotel.¡±


    Cassie looked like she was getting angry. ¡°Ullir.¡± She said, and I could ear it in her voice. ¡°I''m not a...¡±


    ¡°I know you''re not.¡± I said and cut her off, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Like Evelyn said, we all have needs. Some people want the fleeting comfort of passionate and meaningless sex. Others want people to treat them with respect and perhaps be their friends.¡±


    ¡°I respect you!¡± Cassie exclaimed. ¡°I didn''t even try to seduce you after... after that...¡±


    ¡°Her name was Ohazith, and in only one week, she made me care enough about her to ask her to quit her job of six years to come with me.¡±


    Cassie caught her breath. ¡°I... I didn''t know that.¡±


    ¡°You would if you had bothered to ask, or tried to talk to me like friends are supposed to.¡± I said. ¡°Actually, none of you have asked me about it.¡±


    ¡°I thought you wanted to be left alone.¡± Cassie said.


    ¡°I''ve always wanted to be left alone.¡± I said. ¡°Ohazith being murdered didn''t make that condition magically appear.¡± I smiled. ¡°When Aphatoris sentenced me to a week in isolation for killing that thief, it was actually a nice break for me.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡±


    ¡°Except for about ten minutes each day when I ate supper, I was left completely alone.¡± I said. ¡°No one was anywhere near me during all that time and it was very peaceful.¡±


    ¡°You''re such an ass!¡± Cassie exclaimed. ¡°We were worried sick when we found out that they had arrested you!¡±


    ¡°I''m sure you were.¡± I said without any inflection in my voice. ¡°I was arrested about an hour after arriving on the station. When did you find out about it?¡±


    Cassie closed her mouth on her hot retort, because she didn''t expect me to ask that question.


    ¡°Three days? Or maybe four?¡± I asked. ¡°No. It was six days, wasn''t it? That''s when your shift was supposed to start on the ship. You wouldn''t have checked in until then.¡±


    Cassie turned her head to the side and I saw the tears roll down her cheek. ¡°So, you''re blaming me.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°For what? Taking care of yourself?¡±


    ¡°For not caring enough about you to check in on you until I was done partying.¡± Cassie said and looked back at me, clearly angry.


    ¡°You''ve always done that.¡± I said, and saw the surprise on her face. ¡°Of course, sometimes it was before you went somewhere to have fun, too.¡± I corrected. ¡°It was never you just coming by to visit, or saying hello, or a dozen other little things that could have been used as an excuse to see me. It was always before or after you were going to have fun with someone else.¡±


    ¡°I... no, that... it''s not true.¡± Cassie said, her voice full of doubt, and her flow of Presence wavered.


    ¡°It''s a surprising fact, isn''t it?¡± I asked, and she couldn''t look at me. ¡°I''m sure I wouldn''t have noticed if I had been involved with you, or with Luxea, or even with Evelyn. I would have been too busy being distracted.¡±


    Cassie didn''t look at me as she spoke. ¡°Some friend you''re trying to be.¡± She said. ¡°You don''t respect me at all, do you?¡±


    ¡°You don''t get it.¡± I sighed. ¡°If I didn''t respect you, I would be saying all of this later when we all gather together and Rus officially sends me off of the ship.¡±


    ¡°You''re such a liar.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to tell everyone that you only saw me as your next conquest?¡± I asked. ¡°You haven''t tried to be my friend at all. You''ve made no effort in that regard, except to try and further your own goal of sleeping with me.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°I have tried to be your friend!¡± Cassie exclaimed and looked at me.


    ¡°No, you haven''t.¡± I said. ¡°Out of the three of you, Luxea''s the only one to...¡±


    ¡°I knew she would get her claws into you!¡± Cassie said.


    ¡°That''s not what...¡± I stopped talking and sighed. ¡°You''re not even listening to what I''m saying, are you?¡± I asked, and she didn''t respond. ¡°You''ve already decided that I''m wrong and you''re looking for any excuse to justify hating me for not accepting your advances.¡±


    Cassie frowned at me and stayed quiet.


    ¡°Well, I''m glad we had this little talk.¡± I said. ¡°We didn''t manage to get everything out into the open; but, at least now you can go on with your life with the unreasonable belief that I''ve wronged you.¡±


    ¡°You are such an asshole!¡± Cassie spat.


    ¡°Yeah, I''m the asshole.¡± I said. ¡°Who exactly is the one that tried to corner me every time they were horny and tried to talk to me, then ran off with someone else?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you know how frustrating it is to like someone, then have them sleep around with everything that moves and you can''t even have a normal conversation with them, because all they want to do is talk about that other person and what they were doing?¡±


    Cassie''s mouth made that little ''o'' of surprise.


    ¡°I figured you were trying to make me jealous, or envious, or something by telling me all of that stuff.¡± I shook my head. ¡°All you managed to do was piss me off. You''ve never guessed how annoying it is to have you describe the things you did, then you try to touch me or infer that I''m missing out.¡± I said. ¡°Like I don''t know that I''m missing out!¡±


    Cassie''s eyes were wide as she stared at me.


    ¡°Rubbing your body on me every goddamn time you''re around me is NOT trying to be my friend!¡± I nearly yelled. ¡°Do you even care about how it made me feel, to have you sleep with someone else and then come over to me and hug me, or squeeze my arm, or rub your chest on my arm or my back?¡±


    Tears were flowing down Cassie''s cheeks again.


    ¡°You didn''t care about my feelings at all!¡± I spat at her. ¡°All you cared about was your own satisfaction! It didn''t matter what I had to suffer through, as long as you got to tease me in a twisted attempt to get me to give in to your petty desires!¡±


    Cassie started to openly sob and cry.


    ¡°Yeah, I''m the asshole.¡± I said and used a mental technique to calm down. ¡°I also don''t make any excuses for my behavior, because I don''t need any.¡± I said in a normal voice. ¡°Since I''ve been on the ship, I''ve always been honest, I''ve always helped, and I''ve always been there when someone needed me.¡±


    Cassie wiped at her eyes; but, the tears didn''t slow down.


    ¡°I may be an asshole, Cassie... but you... you are not a nice person.¡± I said.


    ¡°I... I... I hate you!¡± Cassie exclaimed.


    ¡°Of course you do. I''m the asshole.¡± I said. ¡°So, go ahead and hate me. You''ve always done everything you wanted anyway. Why would you start acting differently now, even after I''ve told you the truth?¡±


    Cassie walked over to me to slap my face, and I caught her hand easily.


    ¡°I think I''ve humored you and your immaturity long enough.¡± I said sternly, then I stepped backwards out of the hallway and into the central shaft as I dragged her with me.


    ¡°Let me go!¡± Cassie almost yelled.


    ¡°Rus? What''s the penalty for assault on the ship?¡± I asked and turned us around to face him.


    Rus sighed. ¡°Three days confinement and docked pay for the days you didn''t work.¡±


    Cassie caught her breath when she saw that everyone except Donny was there. ¡°H-how... how much did you hear?¡±


    ¡°Since you yelled ''you are such an asshole'' at Ullir and he said you were trying to make him jealous.¡± Rhubin said and looked at me. ¡°Ullir, I''m sorry I played a part in hurting you like that. Willing participant or not, I still helped.¡±


    ¡°Now you know why I asked you not to tell me anything about your... activities.¡± I said and let Cassie''s hand go.


    ¡°I wanted to apologize before, but...¡±


    ¡°...it never seemed like the right time.¡± I finished for him, and he nodded. ¡°Well, it doesn''t matter.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve got my own ship now and I don''t have to stay in this weird environment anymore.¡±


    No one knew how to respond to that statement.


    ¡°After Luxea gets the replacement gravity sensors to Donny and he gets them installed, we can handle the payment transfer to the port master.¡± I said. ¡°We can wait until then to say goodbye.¡±


    ¡°I''m saying goodbye to you right now!¡± Cassie said and wiped off her face. ¡°Ullir, you are a jerk! You are an ass! You are a whole bunch of other things that I can''t say because my father is right there!¡±


    ¡°Come on, Cassie. Tell me how you really feel.¡± I said.


    Cassie made her hands into fists. ¡°Ullir, you can just fu...¡±


    SMACK!


    Cassie''s ponytail of red hair whipped to the side when Luxea slapped her.


    ¡°Shut your mouth.¡± Luxea said, her voice full of disdain.


    ¡°Luxea!¡± Rus exclaimed and tried to step between them to do something, and Rhubin caught his arm.


    Cassie put a hand on her face where a red welt was already forming. ¡°What was that for?!?¡±


    ¡°I''m tired of your immaturity, too.¡± Luxea said. ¡°You can''t look past your own pettiness to see the people in front of you are real and not just playthings.¡±


    ¡°You have no right to judge me!¡± Cassie said.


    ¡°I''m not judging you. If I was, I''d call you a stupid brat who thinks the world needs to revolve around her and gets upset when it doesn''t.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Isn''t it funny how you didn''t do any of those things you did to Ullir where I would see them?¡± She asked. ¡°Is it because if I had, you knew that I would have stopped you?¡±


    Cassie just glared at her and didn''t respond.


    ¡°I thought so.¡± Luxea said and turned to Rus. ¡°It''s been really great being on this ship all these years, despite your constant sexual harassment.¡± She said. ¡°But, like Ullir, I think I''m done with this kind of lifestyle.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what... what are you saying?¡± Rus asked, his attempt to pull free of Rhubin''s grip was forgotten.


    ¡°I''m cashing out.¡± Luxea said and pulled out a chip reader and typed up several things on it, then popped a chip into it. ¡°I won''t even ask for the remainder of my cut for this haul.¡± She said and pulled the chip out and put it in her pocket. ¡°You can keep it as the fine for assaulting Cassie, the gravity sensors, and for a couple of these chip readers.¡±


    ¡°But... but... but...¡±


    ¡°I know what''s left is worth a lot more than that; but, I''m not waiting around until the end of the trip to leave.¡± Luxea said and turned to look at me. ¡°Ullir, would you mind giving me a ride? Your ship is big enough to carry a couple of passengers.¡±


    ¡°Luxea...¡±


    ¡°Hey, I can pay.¡± Luxea said and popped her chip back into the reader, typed up something, then popped the chip out and put in a blank. After a moment, she pulled the new credit chip from the reader and held it out to me. ¡°One standard passenger fee to get me back to one of the main trading hubs.¡±


    I looked at the chip and then at her face. ¡°I''m probably going there anyway.¡± I said and didn''t take the offered chip. ¡°I''m going to need more clothes, supplies for travelling, and a few other things.¡±


    Luxea nodded and tucked the reader and the credit chip into her pockets. ¡°Evelyn, could you pack up my things and have them ready when Rhubin brings Donny back?¡±


    ¡°I can do that for you, sure.¡± Evelyn said, then she turned to me. ¡°I want to say goodbye to you, too.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°I don''t think you''re going to be allowed back on the ship after this.¡± Evelyn said and stepped forward. ¡°Ullir, it was very nice meeting you.¡± She said and held a hand out to me.


    I ignored the offered hand and took her into my arms as I gave her a hug instead. ¡°Ullir''s my last name.¡± I whispered to her. ¡°My first name is Aaron.¡±


    Evelyn took a breath and let it out as she hugged me back briefly, then she let me go.


    I let her go and looked at Rus. ¡°Goodbye, captain.¡±


    Rus didn''t say anything, so I turned to look at Cassie. She still had her hand on her face and stared at Luxea with seething anger.


    I didn''t say anything to her and I looked at Rhubin. ¡°Can I bother you for...¡±


    ¡°It''s not a bother, since I''m going with you.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Grab your stuff and I''ll take you back to your ship.¡±


    I went to my sleeping compartment and grabbed the laundry bag with my things in it, then came back out. Luxea, Rhubin, and I went down to the shuttle dock and climbed aboard, then we were out into space and flew over to my ship. After she stashed a couple of chip readers in different places, she checked the air purifying system again and started it up, then she went out with Donny to attach the gravity sensors. Rhubin and I checked over the supplies that were in the ship to see what was available and what I would have to buy at our first stop.


    ¡°Long term ration supplements.¡± Rhubin said as he opened a cabinet in the kitchen. ¡°You can add these to almost anything to make a tasty meal.¡±


    ¡°I guess that''s because there''s not much storage space on such a small ship.¡± I said and closed a cupboard filled with rationed food trays. ¡°There''s no way to fit anything more than six months of food for three people in the cargo area.¡±


    ¡°At least it''s a part of the ship and you don''t have to wear a spacesuit to access it.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°You haven''t tasted vacuum stored food yet.¡± He chuckled. ¡°By the way, you don''t really want to.¡±


    I chuckled, too. ¡°I can imagine what it tastes like.¡±


    We heard the main hatch cycle and walked over to the hatch to meet Luxea and Donny.


    ¡°Okay, we''ve got the communications array installed and the gravity sensors.¡± Luxea said. ¡°After I run a quick test to make sure they''re working, we can head over to the station to pay off the storage fees.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± I said, and she went to the cockpit to start the diagnostics.


    ¡°Luxea told me what happened.¡± Donny said as he took off his helmet. ¡°I''m sorry, Ullir.¡±


    ¡°Why? You did your best to warn me, and I did my best to not encourage her.¡±


    Donny nodded and held a hand out to me. ¡°Well, it was nice meeting you.¡±


    I shook the offered hand. ¡°It was nice meeting you, too.¡±


    ¡°Hop in the shuttle and I''ll take you back to your ship.¡± Rhubin said to Donny, who nodded again and went towards the middle of the ship. ¡°I''ll be back in a few minutes to bring you over to the station.¡±


    ¡°I''d like to say there''s no rush...¡± I started to say, and Rhubin chuckled.


    ¡°Yeah, they''ll probably want to heavy burn to leave the system as soon as possible.¡± Rhubin said and followed Donny to the middle of the ship. I followed them with my Detect Presence technique and watched them ascend into the shuttle, disengage the small umbilical, and take off towards the long haul transport. I let out a brief sigh and walked down the hallway towards the cockpit.

 Book One: The Presence 039

    ¡°The checks are almost done.¡± Luxea said as I entered the cockpit.


    ¡°Can you show me how the chip reader works while we wait?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Luxea said, and then she smiled. ¡°It''s both complicated and simple.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t it always?¡± I asked, and she chuckled.


    Luxea took out one of the ones she bought and started to show me how the chip reader worked, and how it could take credits from either another chip or from a designated and protected computer on larger ships.


    ¡°Before you ask, it''ll only work with authorized personnel and with a security code.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I had the authority to handle the transfers on the long haul transport, so that''s why it was usually me that handled everything.¡± She explained. ¡°Rus has his own authority obviously, since it''s his ship. Cassie doesn''t, and you can probably guess why.¡±


    I nodded my understanding.


    ¡°It also has a very limited range.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Right now, this one can only transfer between credit chips, since there''s no dedicated credit computer on this ship.¡±


    ¡°Well, we weren''t traders or merchants, so there wouldn''t be a reason for my parents to have one onboard.¡± I said. ¡°Would it be difficult to add one, if I do decide to try and become one of the fast haul transports?¡±


    ¡°There''s not a lot of cargo space on this thing, once you take into account personal food storage and the supplies you plan to buy.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Becoming a fast haul transport wouldn''t be a good choice.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it was just an idea I was thinking about.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to need a way to make money, now that I''m going to be on my own. I thought being a quick delivery ship would work in the short term.¡±


    ¡°Not for the cost of wear and tear on the ship.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I can do up some rough calculations and show you the approximate figures you could expect to get on an average run, though.¡±


    ¡°I''d appreciate that.¡± I said. ¡°Can you show me how to transfer credits from chip to chip again?¡±


    ¡°I''ve got to spread out my credits onto more chips, so just watch me work.¡± Luxea said and took out a blank chip from the handle of the reader.


    ¡°Can I see one of those?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Luxea said and gave it to me.


    Using my Detect Presence technique, I could see the basic structure of the chip and what little electronics it contained. I couldn''t see any energy in it, so I handed it back.


    ¡°Okay, first chip will have one hundred credits.¡± Luxea said and did the commands very slowly so I could see her work. She inserted her main chip and took a hundred credits from it, popped it out, then put in the blank chip I just examined and put the credits on it.


    ¡°Can I see it again?¡± I asked, and she handed it to me. I looked at it and saw that it was slightly different. There was a little bit more Presence in it, which meant at least some energy had been used to alter the chip. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason why you did that?¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I''ve been trying to examine electronic things using Presence ever since your first lesson.¡± I said. ¡°Remember what I asked you a little while ago? The two unmarked chips in my possession have trackers inside them and I wanted to see the difference between an empty chip, and partially used chip, and the ones I have.¡±


    ¡°Is there a difference?¡± Luxea asked and I nodded. ¡°How big of a difference?¡±


    ¡°Can I see your main chip?¡± I asked, and she hesitated. ¡°You don''t have to hand it over, I just want to see the Presence inside of it.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, I... there''s a lot of credits on this.¡± Luxea said and took it back out and held it up. ¡°I''m used to handling large amounts of money and even I''m nervous with this thing.¡± She said. ¡°I need to spread it out before something happens to it.¡±


    I smiled and looked at it. ¡°Oh, there''s definitely a lot more Presence and energy in that one than in the empty and partially filled ones.¡± I said. ¡°I''m tempted to ask you how much is there.¡± It''s close to what I detected in the two unmarked chips. I thought.


    ¡°It''s everything I''ve made on Rus'' ship over the last eight years, minus the little splurges that I give myself when I visit a resort planet to relax.¡± Luxea said and chuckled. ¡°Which reminds me. I hope Evelyn has everything of mine packed by now.¡±


    ¡°You could have...¡±


    ¡°No, Evelyn was right. There''s no way they would let us back onto the ship after what happened.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I really didn''t think it would turn out this way.¡±


    ¡°None of us expected it.¡± Luxea said and touched my hand. ¡°I really didn''t know she was pawing at you like that or I would have stopped her.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Now start spreading out your fortune.¡±


    Luxea snorted a laugh and did exactly that. She didn''t tell me the denominations she was using; but, I could see the small writing that appeared on the chips as she extracted them. She was putting ten thousand credits onto each one. I watched her as she did a dozen of them, made a dozen one thousand credit ones, then five hundred and one hundred denominations. I lost count when she changed to fifty and ten credit ones.


    When she was finished, she had several piles of them and pulled several small bags out from one of her jumpsuit pockets. She sorted the chips out and stored them, then put them in different pockets all over her body.


    ¡°When Rhubin brings me my things, I''ll spread the chips around and hide them.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°You could easily hide most of them inside that massive hairbrush.¡± I chuckled, and she laughed.


    A light blinked on the console and Luxea turned to check it. ¡°The communications array passed all the tests.¡±


    No sooner had she said that when Rhubin''s voice came out of the speaker by her hand.


    ¡°Hey, kids! I''m on my way back.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Dammit Luxea, you have a lot of stuff!¡±


    We both laughed at that and I checked the navigation console to see how far away he was, then saw the long haul transport go to full burn.


    ¡°Yep, there they go.¡± I said and Luxea looked at the plot.


    ¡°Such a waste.¡± Luxea said. ¡°He''ll burn off a hundred hours of wear on the engines like that.¡±


    ¡°Well, he did just lose his engineer.¡± I said and looked at her. ¡°I can''t believe you quit like that.¡±


    ¡°I told you months ago that it was getting boring.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I was going to leave eventually anyway and this whole thing gave me an opportunity to get away with almost no fuss.¡±


    We waited for a few minutes while the shuttle approached, then it docked to the top hatch. We all helped bring Luxea''s things down and put them into the room that used to be mine when I was four years old. I was going to sleep in the room where my parents stayed and I had already dropped my bag in there on the bed. The door was locked and I even put a bit of Presence over the door control panel and made it solid.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I was tempted to start the ship up and fly it over to the station, and Rhubin warned me that they would probably charge me for docking the ship to the station. I couldn''t refute that, especially since Luxea showed me the fees for storing the ship for twelve years. She had been right that I would have plenty of credits to cover it, thanks to working on the long haul transport for three months. Unfortunately, that didn''t leave me a lot left over for food and supplies.


    We took the shuttle and made a quick trip back to the station, and I let Luxea handle giving the port master alien the payment. He was a little nervous taking it to complete the transaction, then she handed him a five hundred credit chip and thanked him for all of his hard work. The alien had preened and gushed that he was happy to finally meet someone that appreciated his talents, gave her a receipt, and asked her out to dinner.


    ¡°I''m terribly sorry.¡± Luxea said and ducked her head in a clear submissive gesture and wiggled her hips. ¡°I need to leave the system as soon as I get back to the ship.¡±


    ¡°Awww.¡± The alien said and sighed. ¡°If you happen back this way...¡±


    ¡°I''ll be sure to call on you right away.¡± Luxea said and held her hand up at chest height and wiggled her fingers at him. ¡°Goodbye!¡±


    The alien lifted one of its arms and wiggled its fingers back at her. ¡°Goodbye.¡± He said, disappointment clear in his voice. We left the office and went back to the shuttle at a fast walk. When we were aboard, Rhubin took off and flew us back to my ship.


    ¡°I''m glad that''s over.¡± Luxea said and shivered a little. ¡°That guy gave me the creeps.¡±


    ¡°I thought you handled it really well, considering what he looked like.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah, word play is one thing.¡± Luxea said. ¡°If we hadn''t left right away...¡± She shivered a little. ¡°Imagine trying to eat dinner with that!¡±


    I reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It got him to complete the transfer and now the ship''s all yours.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Any idea where you''re heading to first?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking a major trading hub; but, I''m sure word of me and the bounty on my head has spread far and wide after three months.¡± I said.


    ¡°They won''t know you''ve claimed the ship, so you''ll have some leeway for a while.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I think it''s time you adopted the Hunter persona permanently.¡±


    ¡°Will that work with Cassie and the others knowing it''s just a persona?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I know she''s angry; but, I doubt she would try to turn you in.¡± Luxea said and went quiet for a few moments. ¡°We really should jump out of the system as quickly as possible, though.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Yeah, I agree.¡± I pat Rhubin''s shoulder. ¡°What will it take to secure the shuttle to the ship''s hull?¡±


    ¡°I''ve got securing cables that should tie into the hull plates if there''s no safety rings available.¡± Rhubin said as the shuttle approached the ship. ¡°It''ll take a little longer to attach the magnetic locks that way; but, it''ll still work.¡±


    ¡°I''ll give you a hand while Luxea gets the ship fully operational.¡± I said, and Luxea nodded. We went about our tasks and had the shuttle secured to the top of the ship and had all of the ship''s systems checked out and powered up. There were only two chairs in the cockpit, so I let Luxea keep the one she was in so she could monitor the ship''s engines and reactor. Since Rhubin was a pilot, I let him sit in the other seat and I stood behind them.


    ¡°Luxea, please tell me there''s a class four reactor to power the engines.¡± Rhubin said as he hit several switches to prime them.


    ¡°No, it''s only a class three.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Damn.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°That means we won''t have a lot of extra power when in hyperspace. If anything happens, like needing repairs and things, we''ll have to drop out of hyperspace to deal with it.¡±


    That''s exactly what happened when I was born. I thought, surprised. We needed the extra power for the med-bot. That reminded me that I should probably tell them about it. ¡°Oh, by the way. There''s a basic med-bot onboard. It works while in normal space...¡±


    ¡°...but, not in hyperspace.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°There''s a med-bot onboard?!?¡± Luxea asked, surprised. ¡°Ullir, do you know how difficult it is to get one of them outside of a space station?¡±


    ¡°Not a clue.¡± I said, and Rhubin chuckled.


    ¡°He said basic, so it might not have a high grade AI.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°It can probably only do the medical procedures and not be able to discuss things.¡±


    ¡°I honestly don''t know.¡± I said. ¡°Should we check...¡±


    ¡°We can do it later.¡± Rhubin said and then smiled. ¡°Here we go!¡± He said as he moved a couple of levers and hit a button... and nothing happened. ¡°Hey Luxea, are the engines getting power?¡±


    ¡°Everything looks fine.¡± Luxea said. ¡°There''s no drain on the system and they should work.¡±


    Rhubin reset the controls and repeated them, and nothing happened. ¡°Damn.¡± He said. ¡°Did we just strand ourselves in an out of the way system?¡±


    Since I use Detect Presence all the time, I looked at the console. ¡°I can''t see any breaks in the wires or connections.¡± I said.


    ¡°Do you have the passkey on you?¡± Rhubin asked as he turned to look at me.


    ¡°I put it where it should be safe.¡± I said. ¡°The ship worked fine the last time it was there.¡±


    ¡°I wonder what the problem is.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Give me a few minutes to try and work this out.¡±


    ¡°Well, considering we aren''t going anywhere until you do, we can afford to give you a minute or two.¡± Rhubin joked.


    ¡°Ha. Ha.¡± Luxea said sarcastically and started to check over the logs to try and discover what was wrong. A few minutes turned into ten, then turned into half an hour. ¡°I don''t get it.¡± She said as she sat back. ¡°There''s nothing that says we need another step to start the ship.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you''re overthinking it.¡± I said, and she glared at me. ¡°I wasn''t insulting you.¡± I said as an apology. ¡°I saw you going over the recent logs and the start up procedures, and I''m wondering if that''s the right way to go.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Well, there was always someone in my family on the ship. The only time there wasn''t was when they were killed and I was kidnapped.¡± I said.


    ¡°Which means... the ship was always in operation!¡± Rhubin exclaimed. ¡°Luxea! Can you look for the very first log file entry?¡±


    ¡°Assuming it still exists, sure.¡± Luxea said and did a quick search. ¡°Okay, I have it.¡± She said and brought it up on the display. ¡°No, there''s nothing there about a different procedure.¡±


    ¡°Assuming the first one would be in the shipyard where the ship was built, can you look for the first time it left port?¡± I asked. ¡°It shouldn''t be too long after the first entry.¡±


    ¡°You''re not asking for much.¡± Luxea rolled her eyes. ¡°Do you realize how many startup tests dockyards run on newly-built ships?¡±


    I chuckled and briefly put my hand on her shoulder. ¡°Just do your best.¡±


    Luxea sighed and nodded, then went back to work. It took her another few minutes to scan through the log files, then she let out a little squeal and almost jumped out of her seat.


    ¡°I got it! I GOT IT!¡± Luxea yelled.


    ¡°Does that mean you got it?¡± Rhubin asked with a grin.


    Luxea swung at his shoulder and hit him with the back of her hand. ¡°Shut up, you.¡± She said and turned to me. ¡°You''re not going to believe this.¡±


    ¡°Dazzle me.¡± I said and she laughed.


    Luxea reached between the two seats and down under the console, tapped the front of it and pushed. The small panel clicked and then opened up to reveal a palm scanner like The Order had on their electronic doors.


    ¡°Good god.¡± I said as I knelt to look at it, and missed Rhubin''s and Luxea''s reactions. ¡°I guess that would stop anyone from trying to steal it.¡±


    ¡°It gets better.¡± Luxea said. ¡°There''s only three registered users. Aida Ullir, Lokend Ullir, and... Aaron Ullir.¡± She had paused when she discovered my real name.


    I nodded and put my hand on the scanner. ¡°Hey, Udelis. It''s been a long time.¡±


    The sound of something whirring was heard and then the main display changed as several lights on the console started to blink.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''> Primary user found: Aaron Ullir </td></tr>


    <tr><td colspan=''4''> Voice command ''Udelis'' confirmed.


    Full defense system unlocked.


    Full navigation system unlocked.


    Propulsion unlocked.


    Med-bot unlocked.


    Food processor unlocked.


    Small cargo droid unlocked.


    Secondary storage unlocked. </td></tr>


    <tr><td colspan=''4''> Welcome home, Aaron </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Um... thanks?¡± I said, surprised at the display''s information.


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± Luxea whispered as her smaller display showed her the details for everything. ¡°The ship has a secondary reactor.¡± She said and then caught her breath. ¡°It''s got weapons!¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± I took my hand from the scanner and the panel closed. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know where they are hiding on a ship this small; but, there''s two primary pulse cannons and two assault laser cannons.¡± Luxea said as she read the information. ¡°A seismic charge launcher. A dummy buoy system. Deflector shields all around the ship and not just in the front. It even has an automatic rotating ship identification that changes whenever it enters a new system!¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± I said, shocked at the information. ¡°I never imagined that... I just thought my parents were good at running.¡±


    ¡°Really good according to that list.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I''ve got primary engine control now.¡±


    ¡°Then let''s get out of here before the station detects the weapons.¡± I said.


    ¡°Don''t worry. They''re hidden and completely concealed, according to this.¡± Luxea said and tapped the display. ¡°I doubt they are emitting a strong enough energy signature to be detected through the hull. Even if we were right on top of the station they wouldn''t know the ship was armed.¡±


    ¡°That''s a relief.¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay, hold on.¡± Rhubin said and did the same motions to give power to the engines and hit the button.


    The ship launched out of the polar region of the super gas giant as if we weren''t deep inside the planet''s massive gravity well and we were only flying in deep space.


    ¡°Whoa-ho-ho-hooaaaa!¡± Rhubin hollered like a kid at Christmas and steered the ship towards open space. ¡°Luxea, give me some hyperspace jump coordinates!¡±


    ¡°To where?¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Anywhere! We''re approaching the Lagrange point faster than I''ve ever flown anything before! Ha haha hahaha!¡± Rhubin laughed.


    ¡°Rus said jumping to hyperspace in a small ship will be rougher.¡± I said. ¡°We should probably slow down a little and...¡±


    ¡°Got them.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I picked a smaller system that''s near the main routes. We should be able to shop there without being discovered.¡±


    ¡°Good enough.¡± Rhubin said and hit the buttons to enter the coordinates into the computer. ¡°Hang on!¡± He said and hit the button to activate the hyperspace generator when we passed the Lagrange point and it spooled up in only a second.


    I was distinctly surprised when it felt like the Presence around the ship became solid and a tingle went down my spine as we entered hyperspace. Good god! I thought at the intense sensation.


    ¡°Wooo-hoooooo!¡± Rhubin exclaimed and laughed, because the ship hadn''t vibrated at all.

 Book One: The Presence 040

    ¡°Ullir, this is amazing!¡± Rhubin said as we flew through hyperspace. ¡°We''re at... point five times... no, one times... one point five times... one point seven times... by the Goddess! We''re at two times light speed!¡± He shook his head at the readout and looked at me. ¡°Ships aren''t supposed to travel this fast!¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what to tell you.¡± I said. ¡°This trip into hyperspace feels completely different than what it did on the long haul transport.¡±


    ¡°That''s probably because the ship is so much smaller.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°You weren''t near the edge of the ship for any of the jumps in the long haul, were you?¡±


    ¡°A few times when I was working on the bridge.¡± I said. ¡°It didn''t feel anything like this.¡±


    ¡°What does it feel like?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°It''s like...¡± I stopped talking and thought about the best way to put it into words. ¡°It''s like we''re on a big water slide. The engines are the water pushing us along and the Presence is holding us steady in the slide and protecting us.¡±


    ¡°Holding us steady?¡± Rhubin asked. ¡°That''s my piloting skill!¡±


    ¡°Don''t the deflector screens protect us?¡± Luxea asked, a little confused.


    ¡°You asked me how it felt.¡± I said. They don''t believe me, even though I''ve told them that the Presence is in everything. I thought. ¡°How long until we reach the system you set the coordinates to?¡± I asked, to change the subject.


    Luxea typed at the console and brought up the course data. ¡°At this ridiculous speed, about six hours.¡± She said, then checked the numbers again. ¡°By the Goddess, it''s only going to take six hours!¡±


    Rhubin laughed. ¡°I really like this ship!¡±


    ¡°Me, too.¡± I said. ¡°Luxea, can I talk to you for a few minutes?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Luxea said and followed me out of the cockpit and down to what I considered the living room on the ship. It had the console my mother worked at while I played on the floor. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I know you only wanted passage to a system where the major trading routes go, so you could try and find another ship to take you wherever you want to go.¡±


    I stopped talking for a few moments as I took a deep breath and let it out.


    ¡°I''m way out of my depth here.¡± I said. ¡°I can use the systems pretty well, thanks to all the practice I had on the long haul transport. Your lessons on maintenance will help me immensely for any of the little things that might happen; but, this ship... it''s...¡± I turned away from her and waved at it. ¡°You''re right. It''s like a luxury craft. There are so many extras and little things all over the place that I have no experience at all with them.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Luxea, I... I want you to stay.¡± I said and turned back to face her. She had wide eyes and raised eyebrows, and just stared at me. ¡°I know it''s a lot to ask of you. I''m wanted by The Order and there''s a bounty on my head.¡± I said. ¡°It''s not going to be the nice easy life you had on the long haul transport. I know that for sure.¡±


    ¡°You remember being on the run from The Order, even though you were only a child?¡± Luxea asked, surprised.


    ¡°Yeah. I remember learning to walk right here.¡± I said and pointed to the floor. ¡°I walked over to my mother and said my first word.¡±


    ¡°It was ''Mom''.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°How did you know that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°She''s the first woman you loved.¡± Luxea said with a smile. ¡°The first man I loved was my father.¡±


    ¡°Aida was very beautiful and she loved me more than I thought I deserved.¡± I said.


    ¡°It was the same with my father.¡± Luxea said. ¡°He was a great man and I miss him dearly.¡±


    ¡°It tore my heart out when The Order killed her.¡± I said, my voice full of sadness. ¡°I was filled with anger and I tried to get to her, then (Undecipherable) and his apprentice showed up and took me.¡±


    Luxea stepped forward and put her arms around my waist and rested the side of her head on my chest. ¡°My dad was mining on an asteroid that was dense enough for gravity but not air.¡± She said. ¡°He was covered in dirt and grime and one of the droids that cleared away the rubble while the workers dug, mistook him for rubble and cleared him out of the way, too.¡±


    I put my arms around her and held her tenderly. ¡°I think we''re kind of tied for tragic parent deaths.¡±


    ¡°No, you win that.¡± Luxea said with a sad smile as she looked up at me. ¡°My mother is still alive and living on my father''s death pension.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad the mining company is taking care of her.¡± I said.


    ¡°It made them overhaul the outdated recognition software and program them for rescue operations as well.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Once they figured out how to get it to work without any bugs, they shared the update for free with every other mining consortium that used those droids.¡±


    ¡°That was nice of them.¡± I said. ¡°They could have made a fortune selling those updates and not all of them would have gotten it.¡±


    ¡°I was really angry at them, at the droids, and... and with myself... for a really long time.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Blame can be like that.¡± I said and used one of my hands to rub small circles on her lower back.


    ¡°I eventually grew to accept it, because his death helped so many people in the end.¡± Luxea closed her eyes for a moment and looked back at me. ¡°I became an engineer because of him.¡±


    ¡°Now I''m really glad.¡± I said and smiled at her, and her sad smile became a normal one.


    ¡°Yeah, you might not have met me, otherwise.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Maybe, maybe not.¡± I said, and she raised her eyebrows. ¡°I think... no, I know... I''ve met certain people in my life, and...¡± I stopped talking, unsure if I should say it out loud.


    ¡°And what?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°It almost always turns out that I meet them for a reason.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t really explain it, since some of the people came and went without consequence; but, a few have stood out and my life changed after meeting them.¡±


    Luxea looked into my eyes for several moments before she spoke. ¡°I''m one of those people?¡±


    ¡°You are.¡± I said, and I saw her face flush slightly red.


    ¡°I... ah... suppose that... I could stick around for a while.¡± Luxea finally managed to say.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said sincerely as I bent slightly to give her a tighter hug. She hugged me back just as tightly, and we stood there for several minutes without saying anything.


    *


    ¡°Master Moor, we have a problem.¡± The pilot said over the ship''s communicator. ¡°We can''t find them.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Kara stepped into the cockpit of the fast courier ship. ¡°What do you mean you can''t find them?¡±


    ¡°Up until now they have been using the normal shipping routes, since we suspect they don''t know we have been following them.¡± The navigator said. ¡°We were more than lucky to stumble across their path in the Granis System and the station manager was willing to hand over the long haul''s shipping manifest. Each place we''ve stopped at since then, following the supply trail, has brought us closer and closer to catching them.¡±


    ¡°The last port said they had left barely a week ago and this was supposed to be their next stop.¡± Kara said. ¡°It''s only a short hop through hyperspace, so they should be here.¡±


    ¡°It''s a short hop for us.¡± The pilot corrected. ¡°For a long haul cargo ship it could...¡±


    ¡°Did you contact the station to see if they docked and left already?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°They haven''t been here yet.¡± The pilot said.


    ¡°Hm.¡± Kara crossed her arms and thought for a moment. ¡°How long do we have to wait before they show up?¡±


    ¡°It could be anywhere from right now to several days.¡± The navigator said.


    ¡°You have got to be kidding me.¡± Kara said. ¡°Now I''m starting to wonder if they skipped this port.¡±


    ¡°They can''t. Not without incurring a large penalty for non-delivery.¡± The pilot said. ¡°They will have to show up here eventually.¡±


    ¡°Then we will wait.¡± Kara said. ¡°This is the first time we''ve actually gotten ahead of their movements.¡± She looked at the navigator. ¡°I assume they''ll be dropping out of hyperspace within this general area?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mastrer Moor.¡± The navigator said. ¡°They are a much larger ship and displace a lot of volume, so they will be slightly off the normal jump coordinates from smaller ships.¡±


    ¡°Then I want a short patrol route set up for this area.¡± Kara said. ¡°I don''t want to give them a chance to jump before we can catch them in normal space.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to request help from the system''s normal patrols?¡± The pilot asked.


    ¡°No, we should be able to handle this ourselves.¡± Kara said and walked away from the cockpit to resume her seat in the small passenger compartment. ¡°We''ve come this far and our chase is almost at an end.¡± She said to the two other Order members with her.


    ¡°Thank the Goddess.¡± One of the Order members said. ¡°I enjoy travelling most times; but, these tight quarters have been less than comfortable.¡±


    ¡°Comfort is a condition of the mind.¡± Kara said and closed her eyes. Ullir, why couldn''t you stay comfortable with me? She asked herself. Everything was fine at first, and then... She held in her sigh. All I wanted was for you to become the man I want you to be, and all you did was fight against it. She used a mental technique to enter a meditative state and relaxed. I almost have you back, now. This time, things are going to be different between us. I just know it!


    Less than six hours later, the ship they were looking for appeared in the system. The Order fast courier ship had just completed a loop in their patrol route, which put them right in the middle of the long haul transport''s projected course.


    WOOOONNNN! WOOOONNNN!


    The collision warning sirens on both ships blared out and both of the pilot''s reacted.


    ¡°BY THE GODDESS!¡± Rus yelled and hit the emergency button. It reversed the engine thrust and kicked in the one-time use engine thrusters that were mounted on the front of the ship. They had never been used before; but, they worked as intended and the long haul transport''s forward momentum was greatly reduced as the massive ship slowed down. The quick deceleration was joined by the sound of metal groaning and a lot of vibrations, since large ships weren''t supposed to slow down like that.


    It was a relief to the pilot of The Order''s fast courier ship, because it gave him just enough time to divert his course from colliding with the front edge of the long haul transport''s cargo area. He hadn''t been going very fast; but, even relatively slow ships in space were still moving quite fast by normal standards.


    The collision sirens ceased and everyone relaxed as the large ship came to a stop, then Rus clued in on what just happened and hit several buttons to call the little ship he had almost made into spare parts.


    ¡°What the hell were you thinking?¡± He yelled at the other pilot''s face on the small display screen. ¡°You can''t just fly through the heavy shipping lanes like that!¡±


    It was then that The Order pilot swung around and flew into the long haul transport''s view, and Rus looked up to see the distinct color and markings for The Order.


    ¡°We were waiting for you.¡± A distinctly female voice said and he looked back at the display to see a much wider view and a pretty woman with pink hair stood behind the pilot. She also wore the master robes of The Order. ¡°Prepare to be boarded and hand over the fugitive.¡±


    ¡°Fugitive? What fugitive?¡± Rus asked, and Kara felt the flow of Presence waver.


    ¡°Lying won''t make things easier for you.¡± Kara said. ¡°You know who we are looking for.¡±


    Rus opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it.


    ¡°Ullir''s no longer on the ship.¡± Cassie said as she leaned into the display''s view.


    ¡°CASSIE!¡± Rus yelled.


    ¡°I''m not going to face imprisonment for that jerk, Dad.¡± Cassie said to him and looked back into the display. ¡°We just dropped him off at a super gas giant planet where he picked up his ship.¡±


    ¡°His ship? What ship?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°His parents'' old ship.¡± Cassie said. ¡°I don''t know what kind of condition it''s in, though.¡±


    ¡°Send me the coordinates.¡± Kara said and Cassie disappeared from her view.


    ¡°Cassie, what are you doing?¡± Rus asked.


    ¡°I told you.¡± Cassie said and sent the data about Ullir''s ship. ¡°I won''t become a criminal for something that they can easily discover from a quick survey of the area.¡± She came back to the display and looked at Kara. ¡°There''s no ship information, since it wasn''t fully powered and we were pretty far away.¡±


    ¡°Is he still there?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°He was when we left there yesterday.¡± Cassie said. ¡°I don''t think he''s going to be there for long with Luxea onboard, though.¡±


    ¡°Who''s Luxea?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°She was our engineer and abandoned us.¡± Cassie said, angrily. ¡°Good riddance, I say.¡±


    ¡°Are they together?¡± Kara asked before she could stop herself.


    ¡°Ha!¡± Cassie barked a laugh. ¡°She wishes!¡±


    Kara smiled. ¡°As a member of The Order, I request that you remain here while I investigate your claims.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine. We have to look for another engineer to replace her anyway.¡± Cassie said. ¡°Especially after this emergency stop.¡±


    ¡°Have the locals check your ship over and The Order will handle the cost of repairs.¡± Kara said, and both Cassie''s and Rus'' eyes widened at the offer. ¡°Information leading to Ullir is very valuable to me.¡±


    ¡°He has a pilot, too!¡± Cassie blurted, and Rus glared at her. ¡°Rhubin Tromazz. He''s pretending to be coerced; but, he''s going along with Ullir willingly.¡±


    ¡°That saves me from having to ask what happened to the shuttle pilot.¡± Kara said and nodded. ¡°I''d still like to board your ship to look around for myself.¡±


    ¡°We''re not going anywhere for a while.¡± Cassie said. ¡°You should go and try to catch him first.¡±


    ¡°I intend to.¡± Kara said. ¡°Good day.¡± She ended the call and looked at the navigator.


    ¡°We can be there in about eight hours.¡± He said.


    ¡°Is that the fastest we can get there?¡± Kara asked, doubtfully.


    ¡°If you want hypothetical answers included, no.¡± The navigator said and smiled. ¡°We can push the ships systems past the recommended limits and risk something failing.¡±


    ¡°Which is the polite way of saying we might explode.¡± The pilot said.


    Kara nodded acceptance. ¡°Send word to the station and to the patrol ships to make sure that ship doesn''t leave the system, then get us on course to the coordinates and jump as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°We''ll be ready to enter hyperspace in about five minutes, according to the computer.¡± The navigator said as the pilot swung the fast courier ship around and accelerated away from the long haul transport.


    They jumped five minutes later, almost to the second, and the eight hour trip seemed to take three times as long for Kara. She had tried to relax and used various mental techniques to pass the time, and none of it seemed to help ease her anticipation. As the time ticked down, she became more agitated, and the other two Order members remained very quiet so that they wouldn''t attract her attention.


    When the ship exited hyperspace at the proper coordinates, Kara jumped to her feet and entered the cockpit to see what the situation was. It took a frustratingly long time for the navigation computer to update for the local region. When the navigator sighed, she knew Ullir was gone.


    ¡°The ship isn''t in the polar region of the super gas giant or docked to the station.¡± The navigator said. ¡°In fact, there are no ships in the area right now.¡±


    ¡°Well, it is a very low traffic system.¡± The pilot said.


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°The super gas giant is almost completely mined out of useful chemicals.¡± The pilot said. ¡°It used to be a big hub for trading and transshipping goods about twenty years ago.¡±


    That information made Kara think about what it would mean for the people that had used those old routes and they died out, then she thought about what those routes would mean to people that didn''t want to deal with The Order. She caught her breath as she made the connection between Ullir''s parents being rogues and coming to this station while on the run from The Order.


    They were killed here. Kara thought. ¡°Take us in on a fast approach and contact the station manager.¡± She said. ¡°I want to know who was on shift when Ullir got his ship and where it went.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think they would have that information.¡± The navigator said.


    ¡°What? Why wouldn''t they?¡± Kara asked. ¡°All ships are supposed to file a flight plan with...¡± She stopped talking for a moment before answering her own question. ¡°There are no Order representatives here.¡±


    ¡°I also doubt that the station would care where a ship that''s been in storage for so long went, as long as they were paid.¡± The pilot said.


    ¡°I bet the fees were enormous.¡± The navigator said. ¡°Can you imagine what condition it would be in?¡±


    ¡°It depends on if it was sealed or not.¡± The pilot said. ¡°If it was me, I''d have stripped the thing and sold it off for salvage years ago.¡±


    ¡°It was being held upon request by a member of The Order.¡± Kara said. ¡°(Undecipherable).¡±


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± One of the Order members said. ¡°That would mean he...¡±


    ¡°Killed Ullir''s parents here.¡± The other Order member said.


    ¡°...and Ullir came back here.¡± The first one said. ¡°That''s... he''s...¡±


    ¡°Quiet.¡± Kara said to them and looked back at the pilot. ¡°Follow my orders.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master Moor.¡± The pilot said and flew them towards the station as he called them, then started to talk to the alien and demanded information on who had worked the day before.

 Book One: The Presence 041

    I adopted my ''Hunter'' identity before we stopped at the minor trading system. I wore the black blast shield over my eyes and did the same Presence covering trick to make it look like it was embedded in my skull when viewed on scanners, then fluffed my hair out to hide that it wasn''t. I also used the Mask Presence technique to hide my Presence completely. As far as anyone that saw me was concerned, even members of The Order, I was just a normal person.


    With Luxea''s expert help, we went to my room and checked the two unmarked credit chips to see what was on them. When she inserted one into the reader, it beeped at her.


    ¡°Okay, good news and bad news.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°The Order screwed me over again, didn''t they.¡± I said, and she nodded.


    ¡°The bad news is it''s locked to an Order chip reader and I can''t tell you what''s on it.¡±


    ¡°Well, that''s just great.¡± I said sarcastically. ¡°What''s the good news?¡±


    ¡°There''s actually something on it and it''s not fake.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Do you want me to try the other chip?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said, and I wasn''t surprised that it was in the same condition and gave us the same result. ¡°Now what?¡±


    ¡°Well, we can''t just walk up to a member of The Order and ask if they have a chip reader.¡± Luxea said.


    I was tempted to say we could just assault one of them and then ask, then sighed. ¡°All right. At least now I know.¡±


    Since I barely had any funds left from buying the ship out of storage and after stocking up on our basic supplies, I couldn''t load up on all of the extra supplies that I wanted to. Luxea had tried to pay me again for passage and I told her that she was staying on the ship and wasn''t a passenger. She couldn''t argue the point, so she waited and tricked me by buying some of the things I ordered before I could. I thought about getting angry about it, then decided that she was only trying to be nice.


    The next time we were out picking things up and she did it again, I told her that I would pay her back when I could, and she laughed.


    ¡°You saw how much I have, didn''t you?¡± Luxea asked as she passed me a box full of miscellaneous electronic parts and a toolkit. ¡°I could clear out this whole marketplace and still have enough left to buy passage on a passenger ship to go and see my mother.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to go see her?¡± I asked.


    Luxea opened her mouth to say something, stopped, then spoke. ¡°I don''t know.¡±


    ¡°You were going to say yes right away and changed your mind, didn''t you?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Well, it''s not like I''ve got a real plan to follow myself.¡±


    ¡°We can''t just cruise around the galaxy and hope to stumble across something to do.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I know what I want to do. Figuring out how to do it is another story.¡±


    Luxea nodded again. ¡°I think we should all sit down and try to work out what you need to do.¡±


    ¡°Just me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s your ship and you have things you need to do.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Rhubin and I are just along for the ride, so we need a plan and a course of action to take.¡±


    It was my turn to nod. ¡°After we finish buying supplies and get on our way again, we''ll sit down and discuss things.¡± I said and took out my credit chip and saw the little bit that was left on it. ¡°I don''t have enough to buy much of a wardrobe, though.¡±


    ¡°Let me handle that.¡± Luxea said and took my arm in hers. ¡°Let''s drop off what we have so far, then we can come back and I''ll get you something nice to wear.¡±


    ¡°Luxea...¡±


    ¡°I wanted to buy you something before you had to leave the long haul transport and didn''t get the chance.¡± Luxea said with a grin. ¡°You can call it a ''going away and I''m going with you'' present.¡±


    ¡°You''re not going to take no for an answer, are you?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°All right, we...¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± Luxea yelled and dragged me behind her through the sparse crowd and back to the ship. Rhubin had been surprised that the cost of docking the ship to the station had been the same cost as landing a shuttle, so we had opted for the ship being dock instead. We dropped off our purchases and went back to one of the more prominent clothing shops.


    ¡°Luxea, you...¡±


    ¡°You already agreed!¡± Luxea said and laughed at my groan as she pulled me into the shop.


    ¡°Greetings and salutations.¡± A spindly droid said as we approached the counter. ¡°What can I do for you today?¡±


    ¡°Hunter needs good clothes.¡± Luxea said.


    The droid turned its round head and I felt a wave of energy flow over me. ¡°Preliminary scan complete.¡± It said. ¡°We have a variety of pre-made items that would be suitable for a man of his height.¡±


    ¡°Let''s take a look at them.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Right this way.¡± The droid said and walked over to a rack near the side of the room. ¡°Are you partial to any particular fabric?¡±


    ¡°Rugged and comfortable.¡± Luxea said without talking to me. ¡°He''s going to be wearing them a lot, so they need to be durable.¡±


    ¡°Ah, then you might like this.¡± The droid said and slid half of the rack aside and pulled out something that looked like a uniform. ¡°It''s made of the best Huffing leather and is guaranteed for a year.¡±


    ¡°You guarantee it?¡± Luxea asked, surprised.


    ¡°It won''t start to wear on its own for that long, barring external damage like small cuts and abrasive things rubbing it.¡± The droid said. ¡°Even then, the cuts will be visible but they won''t penetrate the thick underskin.¡±


    ¡°Wow, really?¡± Luxea reached out and touched it. ¡°Ooo, that''s nice and soft inside.¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t need to be cleaned, unless you wear it continuously for more than a week without taking it off.¡± The droid said. ¡°Then you need to give it a quick wash and leave it dry for a day and it will be back to normal.¡±


    ¡°So, as long as he doesn''t wear it for that long...¡± Luxea prompted.


    ¡°It won''t require any maintenance besides hanging it up once in a while.¡± The droid said.


    ¡°What about protection?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It can be modified to hold small metal plates in critical areas.¡± The droid said and pointed to small indentations on the cloth''s surface. ¡°I can''t recommend that, since adding metal would slow you down and add to the weight of the outfit, which is already quite heavy because of the thick fabric.¡±


    ¡°What about the color?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It can only be dyed into a darker color from the standard beige.¡± The droid said.


    ¡°I want it in black.¡± I said.


    ¡°Black is the easiest to do and the least requested.¡± The droid said and played a recording of a laugh. ¡°I assume you want the entire thing...¡±


    ¡°As black as it can go.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then you will be purchasing...¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Luxea said and cut the droid off. ¡°Do I pay now or can it wait until you dye it?¡±


    ¡°It''s up to the lady.¡± The droid said.


    ¡°How long with the dye take to set?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Half an hour.¡± The droid said. ¡°Like I said, black is the easiest.¡±


    ¡°Then we''ll be back to pick it up then.¡± I said. ¡°Let''s go grab something to eat while we wait.¡±


    ¡°I can''t. I need to dye clothing for a customer.¡± The droid said, completely serious, and Luxea laughed.


    ¡°We''ll leave you to it.¡± I said and took Luxea''s hand and walked out of the shop.


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Luxea gripped my hand. ¡°That droid was funny!¡±


    ¡°He wasn''t trying to be funny.¡± I said and looked around. ¡°I''ve got enough left for a half-decent meal at a good restaurant.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Then let''s go to a half-decent restaurant and have an okay meal so we can eat like kings.¡± Luxea said with a grin.


    I had to smile at that logic, so we walked for a little while and found one. We went inside and it was just as Luxea said. I told them how much I wanted to spend right away, and the guy behind the counter practically leapt over the counter and tried to hug me. It made Luxea laugh, and the guy led us to the best table in the restaurant and told us to prepare for the best meal of our lives.


    Then he filled the table with food.


    Luxea kept chuckling and tried to eat some of everything. ¡°Try this!¡± She exclaimed and shoved a piece of something into my mouth when I tried to say no. The expression on my face made her laugh again and she kept eating different things. I picked one of the best smelling ones and ate a good portion of it while she occasionally slipped something else past my defenses and into my mouth.


    We finished the meal about twenty-five minutes later and asked for the rest of the food to be packed up so we could take it to Rhubin. The guy came back with the prepared food cartons and I handed him the credit chip with the last of my credits on it.


    ¡°Thank you! Thank you!¡± The guy said and kept bowing to us as we left. ¡°Come again! Come again!¡±


    ¡°I think he was a little eager to please.¡± I said, and Luxea laughed. ¡°You enjoyed that a lot, didn''t you?¡±


    ¡°I really did!¡± Luxea said. ¡°If we ever come back here, we have to eat there again!¡±


    ¡°Well, we have the coordinates in the navigation computer for this system, so mark them and we can make this a regular spot.¡±


    ¡°Our base of operations!¡± Luxea exclaimed and laughed again.


    ¡°You''re really getting into this whole situation, aren''t you?¡± I asked, and she nodded.


    ¡°It''s kind of fun.¡± Luxea said. ¡°We should drop this food off to Rhubin and go back to the shop.¡±


    I agreed and we did that, and the droid had the uniform ready for us. It was pitch black and I couldn''t see any of the seam lines or pockets it had. ¡°Okay, that''s a great dye job.¡± I said and touched the fabric.


    ¡°Thank you for the compliment.¡± The droid said. ¡°Now I''m glad I took the initiative and added gloves, boots, and a cloth head covering.¡± It said and put the three items on the counter.


    ¡°Oh, wow.¡± Luxea said and touched them. ¡°The boots are fantastic!¡±


    ¡°They are supple and easy to move in, unlike a lot of other uniform boots.¡± The droid said. ¡°The gloves are thin and don''t reduce finger dexterity, and the cloth head covering can be changed to hold all of your husband''s magnificent hair.¡± It said and showed the hole my hair would fit through to let the covering go over my head like a helmet, except it was cloth and not an actual helmet.


    ¡°You''ve thought of everything!¡± Luxea said to the droid, without correcting the husband comment, and it made a kind of whirring sound.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The droid said in a slightly softer voice.


    Her charm even works on droids. I thought, surprised. Now that''s talent!


    Luxea paid for the outfit and the droid wrapped it up for her. She held the bundle to her chest and carried it out of the shop, and we went back to the ship. She didn''t speak at all until we entered the ship.


    ¡°Oh! I forgot a few things that I need.¡± Luxea said and ran to her room on the ship, dropped the bundle on the bed, then shut and locked the door. ¡°I''ll be back in a little while.¡±


    ¡°I can come with...¡±


    ¡°No, I''ve got it.¡± Luxea cut me off with a smile. ¡°You might distract who I want to talk to.¡±


    I opened my mouth to argue that it was her that would be distracting, then chuckled. ¡°Call on your wrist com if you need anything.¡±


    ¡°I won''t be that long and it''s not that far.¡± Luxea said and went to the main hatch. ¡°See you in a bit!¡±


    ¡°Who lit the fire... under her ass?¡± Rhubin asked between bites of what looked like a huge bun filled with a bunch of the food we had brought back to the ship.


    ¡°No idea.¡± I said and looked at the sandwich and then at his face. ¡°What the hell are you eating?¡±


    ¡°Lunch.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°What restaurant was it? This stuff is great!¡±


    ¡°I don''t know the name of it; but, I did tell Luxea to mark this system in the navigation computer so we could come back to it.¡±


    ¡°Good man!¡± Rhubin said and took another bite, then walked away.


    ¡°I hope you''re eating that in the kitchen!¡± I exclaimed.


    Rhubin mumbled something that I couldn''t hear.


    ¡°You better not get any of that on the flight controls!¡± I nearly yelled. When he didn''t respond, I sighed. ¡°I think I need to set some ground rules for certain things on the ship.¡±


    I went over to my bedroom and sat down at the small desk with the box of miscellaneous electronic parts on it and opened the box. I started to sort through them all and divided them up into their uses and possible uses, then grouped them into configurations that I thought would work well together.


    ¡°I''m back!¡± Luxea hollered a little while later. She didn''t say anything else for a few minutes, then she knocked on my door. ¡°We should have that talk and discuss where to go from here.¡±


    I thought that was a good idea to get out of the way as soon as possible. ¡°I''m coming.¡± I said and left the piles of electronics on the desk and walked over to the door. Luxea glanced in and saw what I was doing and smiled at me. I smiled back and we walked to the kitchen to see that Rhubin was there at the table and had just finished off his lunch.


    ¡°We need to discuss what Ullir... I mean Hunter... needs to do next.¡± Luxea said and sat down at the table. ¡°The dock fee is paid up for the rest of the day, so we''ve got some time before we need to leave.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, can you take that blast shield off?¡± Rhubin said. ¡°It''s a little weird that you can still see us with it on.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t think it made you uncomfortable.¡± I said and took it off as I sat down.


    ¡°It''s not the blast shield itself, it''s the implication of what it means.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°What? That I can see through walls?¡± I asked and chuckled. ¡°I told you I could.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but...¡±


    ¡°The blast shield is a constant reminder for you.¡± I said, guessing his thoughts, and he nodded. ¡°I didn''t watch you in your sleeping cabin with anyone, if you were worried about that.¡±


    Rhubin opened his mouth for a second, then nodded again.


    ¡°I don''t get excited by seeing that, since it''s an invasion of privacy.¡± I said, and he relaxed.


    ¡°You really don''t like invading other people''s privacy, do you?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°It''s too rare of an occurrence to disturb.¡± I said, and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°Back on the long haul transport, the only alone time we had was after supper, and that was only if we didn''t have something that needed to be done.¡± I said. ¡°Before that, when I was being held by The Order, I was never left alone, except for the first few days after they took me.¡±


    Luxea and Rhubin didn''t say anything for a moment as they let that bit of information sink in.


    ¡°I guess that''s why you locked yourself in your sleeping compartment a lot.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°I was studying.¡± I said. ¡°Of course, I only had access to the information on the ship''s database, so I don''t know if I was getting everything I needed... or wanted... to know.¡±


    ¡°Well, you''ve got access to this one now.¡± Luxea said and tapped the table. ¡°You''ve still got the datapad from the long haul, so you can compare some of it to whatever this one has on it.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t even think of adding it to the ship''s network... assuming the ship has a network.¡± I said.


    ¡°Of course it does.¡± Luxea said. ¡°How else would it have detected you when you spoke its name?¡±


    ¡°I guess you''ve already got a datapad ready for me.¡± I said, and she chuckled and handed me one.


    ¡°I knew you would need it and wouldn''t think about asking for one.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Thanks. I think.¡± I said, and she laughed.


    ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± Rhubin asked. ¡°We''ve got a whole universe to travel through. Where do we need to go?¡±


    ¡°After working with Cassie and the information I got from Meaglesnarn and Aphatoris, we worked out the most travelled planet that (Undecipherable) has gone to.¡± I said. ¡°The problem is, I don''t know how strong he is. I do know that he was The Order''s best operative for sending out on missions before he went rogue, though.¡±


    ¡°Which was almost a year and a half ago.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Yeah, talk about an unknown quantity.¡± He said and thought for several moments. ¡°He could be a lot more powerful than you, and you would waste your opportunity to catch him off-guard if you show up too early and too weak.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± I said. ¡°I guess I''m saying that I need time to try and get more powerful, except that if I wait too long, I could completely miss my chance to get him.¡±


    ¡°Well, first thing you need is money.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°You spent everything you had left to get us enough supplies to offset what I''ve got stored in the shuttle. If we''re going to make this work, we''re going to need an income.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I''ve offered to...¡± Luxea started to say, and I raised my hand to stop her.


    ¡°I''ve already told you why you shouldn''t.¡± I said.


    ¡°So you''re desperate for money; but, not desperate enough to take it from me.¡± Luxea said in a huff and crossed her arms. ¡°Why don''t you just turn yourself in and collect the reward.¡±


    ¡°That''s the stupidest thing I''ve ever heard!¡± Rhubin exclaimed and looked like he was going to argue, and I put a hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°Luxea, I think that''s a great idea.¡± I said.


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Luxea looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°I was joking!¡±


    ¡°I know you were.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°It also told me a good way to get some fast money.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you can''t turn yourself in.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Like Rhubin said, you only just got away...¡±


    ¡°I have no intention of turning myself in.¡± I said with a grin, and Luxea''s mouth dropped open. ¡°Don''t overreact.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t mean either of you.¡±


    Both Luxea and Rhubin sighed in relief.


    ¡°Neither of you have bounties on your head like I do.¡± I said, and they nodded. ¡°I''m thinking that I need practice honing my skills and I need to make money, so why not combine the two and become a bounty hunter?¡±


    ¡°A bounty hunter named Hunter.¡± Rhubin said, then smiled. ¡°I like it.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you want to do this?¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°If I can work things out the way I hope to work them out, then this is not only going to get me the money I need to keep the ship and us going, we should also help a lot of people in the process.¡±


    ¡°What? How?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°The Order puts bounties on rogues, don''t they?¡± I asked, and her eyes widened.


    ¡°Ullir... I mean Hunter... you can''t seriously want to hunt rogues down! Not after... I mean...¡±


    ¡°I do want to hunt them; but, not for The Order.¡± I said and smiled.


    ¡°Oh, you sneaky little bastard!¡± Rhubin exclaimed and slapped me on the shoulder. ¡°You''re a genius!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Luxea looked from Rhubin to me.


    ¡°We can take the bounty, hunt them down and fake the bounty''s deaths, or whatever requirements The Order needs, then collect the reward.¡± I said, and she just stared at me.


    ¡°Hunter, that... it''s really complicated to... how would we prove...¡± Luxea looked down at the table and kept mumbling under her breath.


    ¡°We can take some of the smaller bounties and work our way up to the higher cost ones.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°In the meantime, we can go with the fast courier transport idea to keep the ship operational, now that the extra storage capacity is available.¡±


    ¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡± I said. ¡°Once we complete a few deliveries, word is going to spread about the speed we can travel.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you want that kind of word going around?¡± Rhubin asked. ¡°It''s going to draw a lot of attention.¡±


    ¡°It will, and where better to hide than in plain sight?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°As long as you aren''t the public face for the operation. That black metal half-covering your face is not a friendly look.¡± Rhubin said, then he chuckled. ¡°Of course, there''s no way they''ll believe a pilot if I tell them the ship can go twice light speed in hyperspace.¡±


    ¡°They''ll believe me.¡± Luxea said as she lifted her head and looked at us. ¡°I''ll be the public face.¡±


    ¡°Luxea, I know I asked you to stay...¡±


    ¡°You did?!?¡± Rhubin looked from her to me.


    ¡°I''m staying for a while, so if you won''t take my money to help, then I''ll help by selling this quick courier ship as much as I can.¡± Luxea said, confidently.


    ¡°But... but...¡± I sputtered as she took our idea and ran with it.


    ¡°We should call ourselves ''The Wave''.¡± Luxea said, getting into the idea. ¡°It can even be our catch phrase.¡± She smiled. ¡°Here comes The Wave! Look everybody, it''s The Wave! There goes The Wave!¡±


    ¡°Oh, geez.¡± Rhubin sighed and put a hand over his face.


    ¡°Don''t worry about a thing! I''ll handle setting everything up.¡± Luxea said and stood. ¡°I''ll head to the local branch of the Galactic Registry and add us to the shipping company list right away.¡±


    ¡°Do it on the side, at least.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We don''t want anyone tracing us back here if it comes out who we really are. It''ll lead everyone right to us.¡±


    ¡°I''m not stupid.¡± Luxea smiled as she walked to the hatch. ¡°I even know a place to get great uniforms.¡±

 Book One: The Presence 042

    Luxea came back a little while later and gathered us together in the living room. She had two very dark grey uniforms with black details, and they had oblong oval patches on the shoulders and on the right chest with an embroidered emblem. It was two hands with the palms facing outwards, at a forty-five degree angle from each other. The thumbs and ends of the hands slightly overlapped to make it look like the head and body of a bird, the fingers were the wings, and the wrists were the tail. The letters ''THE WAVE'' were embroidered right below it near the edge of the patch.


    ¡°Isn''t it great?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°It only took a few minutes to design it and have the droid add them to the uniforms!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, great.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I look horrible in dark grey.¡±


    ¡°Ha! You''re funny.¡± Luxea said and tossed the slightly bigger uniform to him. ¡°Women love men in uniform.¡± She said and handed him the boots with the gloves and cloth helmet stuffed into them. ¡°You''ll be wearing that from now on, unless you''re performing shuttle operations. You can wear your flight suit if that''s the case.¡±


    ¡°Well, thank you very much for your permission.¡± Rhubin said sarcastically. ¡°Hunter, can you believe this?¡± He asked and held the uniform up. ¡°Look at it! It''s ghastly!¡±


    ¡°Actually, Luxea''s in charge of the shipping company.¡± I said and Luxea grinned. ¡°Unlike us, she''s the only one that''s been doing it for years and she knows the ins and outs of the business.¡±


    ¡°Oh, come on!¡± Rhubin said and started to complain. ¡°I''m just a pilot and won''t even meet the customers! Why would I need...¡±


    ¡°We have to wear them off duty, too.¡± I said. ¡°We''re going to be walking advertisements.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, have you done this before?¡± Luxea asked, a little surprised. ¡°I was just about to suggest that.¡±


    ¡°I haven''t done it before, I''m just a good guesser.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I assume you have a couple of removable patches for my uniform too?¡±


    Luxea nodded and took out a small package. ¡°They self-stick and you can put them on when you''re not hunting for bounties.¡±


    I took the package from her and opened it. ¡°I''m surprised you don''t have the patch on the back, too.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn''t see it under the vests.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Vests?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I saw the cutest vest accessory that we can wear. It''s not heavy duty like the uniform, so it won''t add to the weight, and the company logo will be on the back of it.¡±


    ¡°We don''t have to wear the vest all the time, do we?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°No, Rhubin.¡± Luxea took pity on him and chuckled. ¡°I knew you would be a bit of a snob and wouldn''t wear it, so I only got one for Hunter and myself.¡±


    ¡°That''s a relief.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°The uniform is going to be hard enough to move around in as it is.¡±


    ¡°You''ll get used to it.¡± I said and looked at Luxea. ¡°I don''t see any other packages.¡±


    ¡°The vests will be delivered in an hour.¡± Luxea said. ¡°The droid only had one in stock and it was in my size. He''s going to make another one and dye them both black.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like we have a bit of time to waste.¡± I said and stood. ¡°Do either of you know where we can go to look at bounties?¡±


    ¡°You don''t need to go anywhere.¡± Luxea chuckled. ¡°Just access the station''s network from the console over there and look under contract labourer jobs.¡±


    ¡°You''re kidding.¡± I said, and she shook her head. ¡°It''s really that simple?¡±


    ¡°Well, there''s going to be specific ones for just this station, then probably for the planet nearby and maybe the whole system.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''m not sure when they update the intergalactic listings.¡±


    ¡°I really thought it would be a lot harder to become a bounty hunter.¡± I said and walked over to the console and sat down, then quickly connected to the station''s network and browsed the contract labourer jobs. ¡°Yeah, this is... I can''t believe this is...¡± I shook my head. ¡°They contract for a lot of weird stuff!¡±


    Both Rhubin and Luxea laughed.


    ¡°Wait until we hit a major trading hub, then you''ll really find some weird things.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Just watch out for the ones that say they are ''easy'' and have higher that average payouts.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Yeah, I figured that if it''s too good to be true, it usually is.¡±


    ¡°So you do know some things!¡± Rhubin exclaimed and laughed.


    I saved a few of the jobs that seemed a little more difficult than the ''easy'' ones that asked to pick someone up at such and such a place and bring them to another place. Rhubin was right. That sounded way too easy to be that easy. Of course, one of the ones I picked was near an easy one, so it wouldn''t hurt to check it out.


    ¡°Okay, I''ve got a few of them.¡± I said. ¡°We''ve got a loan defaulter on a planet in the next system that took the money and ran, a local militia deserter, and a suspected murderer.¡±


    Rhubin smiled. ¡°The deserter is the easy one, right?¡±


    ¡°You guessed it!¡± I grinned. ¡°He apparently emptied half of the armory when he left and they don''t say if he kept them or sold them.¡±


    ¡°Kept.¡± Rhubin and Luxea said at the same time, and we all laughed.


    ¡°Loan defaulter first?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We should convert the spare room into a holding cell before doing anything else.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°That''s a good idea, except I don''t have any money for materials.¡± I said.


    ¡°How much does the job pay?¡±


    ¡°If we can get him back here by the end of the week, it''s five thousand credits.¡±


    Rhubin whistled. ¡°What did he get the loan for?¡±


    ¡°Fifty thousand.¡± I said, and Luxea whistled this time.


    ¡°Okay, I''ll foot the bill for the modification.¡± Luxea said and I started to protest. ¡°I expect it back, with interest, as soon as we get paid for the job.¡±


    ¡°How much interest?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Five percent.¡±


    ¡°Five percent for a week! Are you crazy?!?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°Actually, that''s a really good deal.¡± I said, and he stared at me. ¡°She could have asked for seven or even ten percent. What am I going to do? Say no? It''s only fifty credits on a thousand.¡±


    Luxea nodded. ¡°If we can get a good contractor, we can get it done by the end of the day.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to handle it?¡± I asked, and she smiled.


    ¡°That''s fair, since I am paying for it.¡±


    ¡°Then I''ll leave it in your hands.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''ll get changed before I leave.¡± She glared at Rhubin. ¡°I strongly suggest that someone else gets changed, too.¡±


    ¡°Why not Hunter?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°His uniform isn''t done yet.¡± Luxea said and walked out of the living room.


    ¡°She''s going to keep doing things like this, you know.¡± Rhubin sighed.


    ¡°Don''t tell me you pissed her off.¡± I said and kept looking at the local system contract jobs when he didn''t answer, then I moved on to the multi-system ones. ¡°You can tell me if you want.¡±


    Rhubin smiled at me and started to tell me about the last time he and Luxea had spent time together and how he had tried to do things my way. I didn''t interrupt him or stop him to tell him how stupid he was to try and change the way he treated her, and he gave me all the details that I really didn''t want to know.


    ¡°So, now she''s punishing me.¡± Rhubin said in a defeated tone when he was done of the story.


    ¡°Will I still be your friend if I say you deserve it?¡± I asked without looking at him, and he chuckled.


    ¡°I know I deserve it, so yes.¡±


    ¡°Dammit.¡± I said, and he laughed.


    ¡°You''re always kidding.¡± Rhubin said and slapped my shoulder.


    ¡°You should get changed before she comes back and sees you''re still in your flight suit.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, damn! You''re right.¡± Rhubin said and grabbed the outfit and boots, then ran from the living room.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Luxea came back a few minutes later and she had three large aliens with her. They had one extra arm each that stuck out of where their belly buttons should have been. Other than that, they looked human. They pulled a large trolley cart into the ship and followed Luxea to the spare room, then they got to work. I checked on them some time later and as far as I could tell, all the extra arm did was hold things in place and wasn''t useful for anything else, because there wasn''t a shoulder socket, and only the elbow bent and the arm rotated. That was it.


    It''s the first time I''ve seen an almost useless appendage on an alien. I thought to myself as I watched them work. They stripped the room right down to the bulkheads and reinforced everything to make it into a very strong cell for holding prisoners. I didn''t stay and keep watching, since I had things I wanted to do, so I went to my room and sat down at the desk and looked at the electronics I had sorted out.


    I took a deep breath and let it out, then went to the bed and opened the hidden safe. I took out my mother''s Light sword and the small wooden case, closed the safe, then went over to the desk. I took out the small toolkit and disassembled the Light sword just enough to remove the worn out crystal I had taken from the scaly alien and looked at it. I shook my head at the poor quality and put it aside, then opened the small wooden case. I hovered my hand over the twelve completely unused crystals and thought of my mother Aida as I did so.


    The eighth crystal glowed slightly and I nodded as I used a Presence Hand to lift it from the holder and held it near the Light sword, then I adjusted the internal dimensions to hold the much better crystal. I had initially intended to expand the outer casing so I could change all the external controls to internal ones, then changed my mind when I received the crystals from Aphatoris. I slipped the focusing crystal inside the adjusted space and used Presence to attune the crystal to both the components inside the Light sword and to myself.


    I sat there and made sure everything was in perfect working order, then reassembled the Light sword. When I sat back, my mother''s Light sword was back in pristine condition and was as powerful as it would have been when she had used it before my birth. I closed my eyes and sighed as I picked the weapon up and felt a distinct feeling that it was my mother''s weapon. My hand fit around it too easily and I felt how small my mother''s hands must have been compared to mine.


    I covered part of the room in a solid Presence box and turned on the sword briefly. It practically vibrated with Presence and the distinct feeling of my mother increased. I nodded in satisfaction and turned it off, then I placed it in the safe and took out my father''s Light sword. I removed Kara''s focusing crystal and set it aside, then hovered my hand over the eleven remaining crystals as I thought about my father Lokend. The fifth crystal glowed slightly and I used a Presence Hand to pick it up and repeated the same procedure that I did for my mother''s Light sword.


    I tested it for only a moment and felt the distinct feeling of my father, nodded at the successfully restored weapon, and added it to the safe. I went back to the table and took out the electronics toolkit that Luxea had bought for me. It had everything in it that any budding electronics expert could want. A soldering iron with multiple heads for both rough and fine point work, small tools for adding and assembling circuit boards, and configuration tools for adjusting the various parts and components of electronic devices.


    I didn''t really need all of them, since I could use Presence to do a lot of the things the tools were for; but, the tools themselves taught techniques on how things should be handled and manipulated and were great practice to use both my hands and Presence Hands to do the work.


    It''s time to update my basic weapon. I thought with a smile and unhooked it from my belt and put it on the desk, then pulled it completely apart to individual components and wires. Now that I knew what to look for, I didn''t touch the crystal that was inside. I used a Presence Hand to pick it up and used Detect Presence to examine it very closely. With the scaly alien''s focusing crystal to compare it to, I could see that there was quite a bit of wear and the Presence flow inside of it was a lot weaker than I thought it should have been.


    So, they really do wear out from constant use. I thought and contemplated replacing it, since it was over four years since I had received it. I didn''t know if it had been new when I received it then, so it might even be a lot older and could be degrading faster like the one from the scaly alien. I pushed those thoughts and the focusing crystal aside and changed my concentration to the parts in front of me.


    With everything apart like it was, and with my updated and intense electronics knowledge, I started the very long and arduous construction of what I had hoped would be the best Light sword for me. I started with the basic circuit board and its standard settings for a Light sword''s dimensions. I saw its limitations and wondered if I could change it. I knew it hadn''t been done before, since there was nothing in the history class about altering the basic length.


    I had done a lot of research on Light swords and the theories behind its construction, so I knew that if I added a regulator there as well as where Kara had added hers for the width, I could change both the width and the length of the energy blade, rather than leaving the direct connection like it was. I didn''t go overboard with the regulator, since this was going to essentially be a prototype and a test of concept. It only had three settings and I set them for one foot, three feet, and six feet. That was a ridiculous length and couldn''t be used in an actual fight with normal techniques; but, it should be neat to see when it was activated.


    With that set, I added another regulator with three settings for the width, like Kara''s Light sword. I set them for one inch, two inch, and three inch, which was the standard width. That was as wide as I could do it safely, since the aperture was limited by the width of the lens on the end. If I wanted to either find or buy a custom lens that was larger, I could probably play with it more; but, then I would have to make the entire Light sword much wider to accommodate the change.


    That would also mean it couldn''t be held with one normal hand, which would make it unusable.


    The thought of a not-normal hand made me think of Ohazith and the large hands on her extra arms.


    Those long fingers could have held a larger Light sword easily. I thought and rubbed the scars that surrounded my heart. It was a familiar gesture, since thoughts of her kept popping up when certain things reminded me of her, and I rubbed my chest every time. I only knew her for a week and yet...


    I stopped myself before I distracted myself from my chosen task or let my anger rise without a focus. I used a mental technique to clear my mind and returned to constructing my new Light sword. With access to a bevy of other electronic components and the fundamental knowledge of how it all worked, I could combine them to create different effects for a Light sword.


    I added in directed switches that would activate different modes and added the proper components to make them happen. Since the old droid''s arm was quite long, I easily fit in what I wanted, especially since I had opted for the smaller regulators and wrapped the wires around the inside of the casing, instead of bundling the wires together like I had when I made it the first time after graduating my training. I didn''t have to change where the focusing crystal was mounted, even with all of the additional electronics and wires, and I didn''t have to add external switches.


    I had marked them internally in my own shorthand, so that even if someone took my weapon from me and could see inside of it, they wouldn''t be able to activate it or use it in any kind of configuration. I was tempted to try to add a palm reader to the outside of the casing, then decided not to. Everything was internal and it was completely sealed from the elements, so adding something external wasn''t going to let it keep its integrity.


    I did choose a new focusing crystal, since I wasn''t sure my old one would hold up to the testing I was going to perform. That was also why I didn''t try to use the scaly alien''s. I thought about using Kara''s, then remembered what I had told Mooglesnark about her crystal not feeling right. It wasn''t attuned to me properly, since it had a previous owner, so I didn''t try to use it in this Light sword.


    Although, I did add an extra little bit on the end of the handle. It was a second lens and behind that was a stun emitter. It only had a single charge and would be a drain on the internal long-life battery if used too often, because it took a lot of energy to work and it didn''t have an external power receptacle. That didn''t matter for me, since I could use Presence to transfer energy into the battery, or I could pop it apart occasionally and switch out the depleted battery for a fresh one.


    Now that it was completed, I held it in my hand, almost reverently. Once again, it felt like it was a part of me and I was comforted by the feeling that it was well constructed and would last for a very long time. I didn''t activate it, though. This wasn''t the time or place to do that, so I grabbed a polishing cloth from the desk and gave it a good cleaning and removed all of my fingerprints and smudge marks from handling it, then hooked it to my belt and stood up.


    I slid the old crystals into the polishing cloth and put them into the small wooden box with the remaining nine new focusing crystals, then put the box back into the safe on the headboard of the bed. With them safely tucked away, I covered the desk of electronic parts with Presence and made it solid to protect them and stop anything from being stolen, then left my room.


    ¡°There you are!¡± Luxea said happily as she saw me walking towards the kitchen. ¡°Quick! You have to see this!¡±


    ¡°Can''t I get a bite to eat first?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Luxea grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hallway to the spare room. ¡°Look at this masterpiece!¡±


    ¡°Masterpiece?¡± I asked and looked into the room. It looked almost exactly the same, except that it had four bunk beds mounted to the walls instead of the single bed in the middle. They looked like they folded up to get them out of the way, and there were two nice soft couches that someone could sit on to eat meals on the medium-sized table in front of them. ¡°Couches and not chairs?¡±


    ¡°I told the workers that giving prisoners weapons to attack us or each other wasn''t a good idea.¡± Luxea said. ¡°The couch was the best compromise, and they are embedded into the bulkhead with the reinforcement.¡± She chuckled. ¡°There''s no way anyone is going to move them or the table.¡±


    I took a moment to look around with Detect Presence. ¡°At least it all matches the ship''s normal decor.¡±


    ¡°I was worried about that myself, then I watched them tear the room apart as it if was a puzzle and they preserved everything.¡± Luxea said, and I could hear that she was impressed. ¡°They quickly adapted the new things to integrate into the room without it looking like an eyesore.¡±


    ¡°What about the door?¡± I asked.


    ¡°There''s actually two!¡± Luxea said and pulled me outside and pointed to the panel. ¡°Since we won''t have prisoners all the time, one door is for regular use and looks like a normal door.¡± She pushed the button and the door whooshed shut. ¡°No one would know it''s also a cell.¡±


    ¡°The other door?¡±


    Luxea hit the button to open the normal door, then she slid a lever and hit the button again. A heavy reinforced metal door slid out from the other side and three bars extended to mate with it as it closed.


    ¡°Food trays can be given either directly...¡± Luxea pulled open the slot and I saw that the door was about six inches thick. ¡°...or it can be rotated in.¡± She said and pulled the slot out of the door to be the width of a food tray, then pushed it closed. ¡°No physical interactions are needed once they are inside.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that''s a good idea.¡± I said. ¡°I could have escaped each time the guard brought me my meals back on Granis Station.¡±


    ¡°With what you can do, you could have escaped at any time.¡± Luxea said, then she looked at me. ¡°That reminds me. I meant to ask you why you didn''t.¡±


    ¡°I agreed to take the punishment without retribution.¡± I said, and she laughed.


    ¡°You''re such a softie.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I''m not. I needed their help, so hurting or killing them to escape wouldn''t make them want to cooperate.¡±


    ¡°You keep telling yourself that.¡± Luxea smiled. ¡°You know for a fact that scared people cooperate. Look what you did to The Order council to get away.¡±


    I opened my mouth to argue, then shrugged.


    ¡°Okay, now we can go and get something to eat.¡± Luxea said and hit the button to open the security door and pulled the lever to disengage the mechanism, then hit the button to close the normal door. ¡°It''s pretty late and I was so busy working that I forgot to eat.¡±


    ¡°I was busy working as well.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh? Were you playing with all those miscellaneous electronic parts you bought?¡± Luxea asked, and I nodded. ¡°What did you make?¡±


    ¡°I remade this.¡± I said and pat the Light sword cylinder on my hip.


    ¡°I''ve seen them active before, mostly from news broadcasts of The Order. I''ve never seen one in person, though.¡±


    ¡°That has to wait until we''re not on an enclosed starship and preferably on a planet with lots of space around.¡±


    ¡°It''s a good thing our first bounty target is only a short hyperspace jump away, then.¡± Luxea said with a smile. ¡°I can''t wait to see what you did!¡±


    ¡°Me, either.¡± I said, and we went to the kitchen to eat the last of the leftovers from the restaurant meal we had eaten earlier that day.

 Book One: The Presence 043

    In the middle of eating, we received the notification that our dock time was about to expire. Rhubin came into the kitchen and asked if we were staying or going.


    ¡°Let''s jump to the next system and track down that loan defaulter.¡± I said. ¡°We can test out Luxea''s new cell, too.¡±


    Rhubin nodded and went back to the cockpit, then after a moment, we felt and heard the docking clamps release, then nothing.


    ¡°This ship is really something.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I can''t feel the acceleration, and you know Rhubin is flying us out at the ship''s best speed.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°We need to show off a little, so it''s okay for now.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll warn him not to get too cocky with his piloting before we come back, just so he doesn''t make the port master angry.¡±


    Luxea nodded and kept eating. I felt the distinct feeling of entering hyperspace and looked at Luxea with wide eyes.


    ¡°We just entered hyperspace, didn''t we?¡± Luxea asked, and it was my turn to nod. ¡°I''m finding it hard to believe you can feel things outside of the ship like that.¡±


    ¡°Think of it like that first time I showed you what your belly button did with Presence.¡± I said, and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°I didn''t need to touch you on the inside to make you react like that.¡±


    ¡°You... you''re saying the ship is like my body...¡±


    ¡°...and I''m the belly button.¡± I said.


    Luxea went quiet as she thought about that and we finished eating.


    ¡°We''re here.¡± Rhubin said over the ship''s internal communication system.


    ¡°That really was a short hyperspace jump.¡± I said and we cleaned up, then went to the cockpit.


    ¡°What have we got?¡± Luxea asked and sat in the co-pilot seat.


    ¡°A couple of scattered ships, mostly system only and no hyperspace generators.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°There''s only one hyperspace capable ship active, according to the preliminary scan.¡±


    ¡°The programmed route doesn''t need to be changed.¡± Luxea said and looked at the navigation display. ¡°It''s clear all the way in.¡±


    ¡°Any chance we know which planet he''s on?¡± I asked.


    ¡°There''s three habitable planets and a space station.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I doubt he would be on the station, especially if he knows people are looking for him.¡±


    ¡°Any population numbers for the planets?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°You''re kidding, right?¡± Luxea asked and laughed. ¡°We''re lucky to get the planet names!¡±


    ¡°Good point.¡± Rhubin chuckled. ¡°Should we stop at the station?¡±


    ¡°If he''s not on the station, do we need to?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It might be a good idea.¡± Luxea said. ¡°We can see if there''s any jobs for quick deliveries or pickups.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t see any in the last system; but, we can give it a shot if you want.¡± I said. ¡°Rhubin, take us in. Luxea, you''ve got communications duty. See what the difference in fees are between a ship dock and a shuttle landing.¡±


    I took out a datapad and accessed the information I had saved on the bounty and read it all again to familiarize myself with what the guy looked like and his body proportions.


    ¡°It''s cheaper for the ship dock.¡± Luxea said, surprised. ¡°I''ve even got an offer for a delivery job.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Things are working out already and we barely started!¡±


    ¡°All right, let''s dock and go meet our new potential client.¡± I said.


    ¡°You can get changed.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Your uniform is on my bed.¡±


    ¡°Is that what you were working on?¡± I asked, and she nodded.


    ¡°I hope you like it.¡±


    ¡°Please tell me it doesn''t light up or creates a beacon or something.¡± I said, and she laughed.


    ¡°I''m an engineer, not a sadist.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Go put it on and see for yourself.¡±


    I left the cockpit and went to her room and opened the door. She had left it unlocked and I walked over to the bed. I didn''t see anything special about the uniform until I was close enough and my Detect Presence technique let me see the subtle differences in the fabric thicknesses.


    Did she reinforce some of the cloth panels or something? I asked myself and touched it. ¡°It''s metal!¡± I said out loud and looked at the rest of it. She had expertly trimmed and cut half inch thick metal and put them into all of the slots that were prepared to hold them on the uniform. When I looked closer, I saw that the panels of metal had wires attached to them, very discreetly, and were carefully sewn into the seams and folds of the cloth to hide them.


    I followed the wires back to their source in the thick shoulder pads. I didn''t have to open up the hidden compartments to see the electronics there and battery packs similar to the ones I had installed in my Light sword. I had no clue what the thing did, however. Nothing was marked and all I could see was a switch in the armpit that would turn it on and off, and a port to charge it up.


    I was tempted to go and ask Luxea what she had done, then decided I didn''t have the time to do that and get dressed before the ship docked to the station. I took off my clothes down to my underwear, then picked up the pants. I had to struggle slightly with the weight, and that made me smile. I put on the long sleeved t-shirt and then the uniform coat. The added weight of the metal sewn into the fabric was quite a burden. I was in very good shape and was quite strong, so I was surprised that it was affecting me that much. The blast shield on my face weighed nothing in comparison.


    What kind of metal is it to be so heavy? I asked myself and put on the boots. Even those had large curved metal plates on the sides, front and back, two pieces on top of the foot, and thick pieces in the soles. I was chuckling almost constantly as I put on the gloves and they had metal on the backs of the hands and smaller pieces on the palms. Once I was completely dressed, I stood there and I was sweating quite a bit. It even beaded up on my forehead. I walked out of her bedroom, with some difficulty, and went to the cockpit.


    ¡°Hey, you look... what the hell are you doing?!?¡± Luxea almost yelled as she saw me struggling to walk. She jumped up and quickly slapped me under the right armpit to hit the switch there. ¡°It''s powered armor, you idiot!¡±


    The weight of the metal magically disappeared and I felt energy cover the metal. My mouth made that little ''o'' of surprise as I saw it with Detect Presence and it glowed slightly blue.


    ¡°Didn''t you see all the wires and the switch?¡± Luxea asked me.


    ¡°I did, but...¡±


    Luxea sighed. ¡°You wanted to ask me about it first.¡± She guessed correctly.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said. ¡°How did you do it?¡±


    ¡°In simple terms, it''s a modification of the artificial gravity theory that allows us to reproduce standard gravity.¡± Luxea said. ¡°You could seriously hurt yourself if you walked around with all that tristeel sewed into your clothing unaided!¡± She closed her eyes for a moment to calm down, then glared at me. ¡°You''re lucky I didn''t slap your face for being so stupid.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I thought it was funny that you made me clothing that I had to struggle to put on.¡±


    ¡°Yes, funny.¡± Luxea rolled her eyes at me. ¡°You were supposed to turn it on before you put it on.¡±


    ¡°How does it work?¡± I asked and refrained from trying to touch the energy over the metal.


    ¡°It''s a small electrical field that makes the metal ten times lighter than it actually is.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It still has the same mass, so you still need to be careful with moving around, just like you would in zero gravity.¡±


    ¡°How long does the charge last?¡± I asked and bent my arms, then my legs, and turned my torso from side to side to test it. It didn''t impede my movements at all.


    ¡°I doubled up on the main batteries and added secondaries in the heels of the boots.¡± Luxea said. ¡°You can wear it for twenty hours straight before the charge starts to die, then you''ve got about twenty minutes to either start charging it again or take it off.¡±


    ¡°I saw the charge ports in the shoulder pads.¡±


    ¡°You can plug it in to a standard power port or you can just hang it in the closet when you''re sleeping.¡±


    ¡°You put in a wireless charger?¡±


    ¡°Why only go halfway when I could make it completely awesome?¡± Luxea asked and smiled.


    ¡°Money?¡± I asked, and she chuckled.


    ¡°I was tempted to add stun emitters; but, they are energy hogs and would only work at the detriment of the armor.¡±


    I smiled and lifted my Light sword to show her the stun emitter under the lens in the handle.


    ¡°You set it back from the lens to let the stun effect spread out!¡± Luxea said, surprised.


    ¡°It can work on contact or as a distance weapon.¡± I said. ¡°You''re right, though. It''s only one use and then I have to charge the separate battery.¡±


    ¡°You were smart to add its own battery.¡± Luxea said. ¡°That''s why police and guard guns only have settings for laser or stun, and never both.¡±


    ¡°It can''t handle doing both at the same time.¡± I said, and she nodded.


    ¡°The gun would have to be about thirty percent larger if they want the stun emitter to have its own power supply to function as an effective weapon.¡±


    ¡°Which is why they''ve never redesigned it.¡± I said.


    ¡°Why change what works?¡± Luxea asked.


    I wonder if that''s why things haven''t advanced after they had advanced so far. I thought to myself. I guess there''s no drive to innovate when they believe they already have everything they need.


    ¡°Anyway, you look great.¡± Luxea said. ¡°How does it feel?¡±


    ¡°Light.¡± I joked, and she swatted my shoulder without hitting one of the metal pieces.


    ¡°Don''t make me hurt you.¡± Luxea said with a crooked smile.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I said. ¡°When will...¡±


    There was a loud clang and the ship stopped moving.


    ¡°...never mind.¡± I said and turned to look at the main hatch. ¡°No one''s waiting for us.¡±


    ¡°We''re meeting them in the security office.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Okay, we''re powered down into standby mode.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I''ll stay aboard and keep watch.¡±


    ¡°You just want to prove that you don''t need to wear the uniform.¡± I said with a smile, and he chuckled.


    ¡°We''re coming back, so you still need to be presentable.¡± Luxea warned him. ¡°Hopefully, we won''t be long.¡±


    Luxea left the ship and I followed her. ¡°I wonder how long it''s going to take to search three planets for one person that probably doesn''t want to be found.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully, less than a week.¡± I said, and she nodded agreement. We went to the port master, paid the docking fee, then went to the security office. She had accessed the station''s plans before we docked and took out her datapad.


    ¡°Okay, make a left and it''s the first door.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°There''s three people in the room.¡± I said. ¡°All humanoid. Two male, one female.¡±


    ¡°You know, seeing through walls can be a very handy skill to have.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Try not to give yourself away, though.¡±


    ¡°I''m shutting up now.¡± I said and she chuckled, then she knocked on the door.


    ¡°Enter.¡± A man''s voice said, and Luxea opened the door and we entered the room. ¡°Ah, there you are.¡± The man dressed in a stylish uniform said and stood up from behind his desk. ¡°Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.¡±


    ¡°We were coming here anyway, so it was just good business sense to see you first.¡± Luxea said with a sweet smile. The uniformed man returned it and then looked at me. ¡°You''re an odd fellow.¡±


    I had the blast shield that covered my eyes and had spread my hair out with Presence. ¡°I want to correct you and say that you meant odd-looking; but, I really am odd.¡± I said without smiling.


    ¡°O-kay.¡± The uniformed man said and motioned to the two people that stood off to the side of the room. ¡°This woman claims that she''s a bounty hunter and found this man hiding on the second planet.¡±


    Luxea and I turned to look at them and I got an up close view of them and held in my sigh. The man with her was the one we were looking for.


    I guess it''s not going to take very long at all to find him. I thought sarcastically.


    ¡°Can you believe this little thing? A bounty hunter! Ha ha!¡± The uniformed man said.


    ¡°Considering he''s the man we came looking for, she could be a bounty hunter.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°You are NOT jumping my claim!¡± The woman said angrily and stepped in front of her prisoner.


    ¡°Relax.¡± Luxea said to placate her. ¡°It was only a venture that we were going to do while we were looking for work.¡±


    That''s a nice twist of the truth. I thought, and the woman visibly relaxed.


    ¡°Azora, don''t do this.¡± The prisoner pleaded. ¡°I thought you loved me.¡±


    ¡°I do love you; but, I need the money more than I need you.¡± Azora said.


    ¡°I can give you...¡±


    ¡°Quiet, Ernas!¡± Azora exclaimed and turned on him. ¡°You led me on and I thought you were a legitimate business owner who was on vacation!¡±


    ¡°I am.¡±


    ¡°You stole money and ran! You''re just some lowlife criminal! You don''t deserve to be happy!¡±


    Ernas opened his mouth, then closed it. ¡°Will you wait for me?¡±


    ¡°Wait for...¡± Azora closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. ¡°You could be sentenced to jail for life. I''m not waiting for you to get out.¡±


    Ernas sighed, too. ¡°I guess that is too much to ask.¡±


    ¡°Damn right it is.¡± Azora said and turned back to us. ¡°How much for quick passage back to the Dizahl System so I can claim the bounty?¡±


    ¡°Five hundred credits for a one way ticket.¡± Luxea said. ¡°For each of you.¡±


    ¡°How long...¡±


    ¡°About ten minutes.¡± Luxea said with a smile, and the three of them stared at her.


    ¡°Did... did you just say the jump will only take ten minutes?¡± The uniformed man asked after a few moments.


    ¡°Including normal space flight.¡± Luxea said and her smile grew into a grin. ¡°The Wave has a very fast ship.¡±


    ¡°Amazing.¡± The uniformed man whispered.


    ¡°I''ll buy passage for myself and my prisoner.¡± Azora said and dug out a credit chip from her pocket.


    Luxea took out a chip reader and popped the chip into it, hit several buttons, then passed the chip back. ¡°Welcome aboard, Azora.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Azora said. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    ¡°It was nice meeting you!¡± Luxea said to the uniformed man and gave him a little wave. ¡°Keep us in mind if you have any quick shipping needs in the future.¡±


    The four of us left his office and walked back to the ship.


    ¡°You''re going to really enjoy this trip.¡± Luxea said, then she chuckled. ¡°Well, for the length of time you''ll be on the ship, anyway.¡±


    ¡°That wasn''t an exaggeration?¡± Azora asked. ¡°You can get me to the next system in ten minutes?¡±


    ¡°You''ll see.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Here we are.¡±


    The main hatch opened and we stepped through. Azora and Ernas stopped walking when they saw the inside. I pushed them gently to move them all the way into the ship and closed the hatch.


    ¡°Don''t worry, the shock of seeing such a beautiful ship wears off after a while.¡± Luxea said and touched the intercom button by the hatch. ¡°Rhubin, we have the client and we''re going back to the previous system.¡±


    ¡°I''m taking off now and reversing course to the Dizahl System.¡± Rhubin said.


    Luxea waved for Azora and Ernas to follow her, so I walked behind them and we all went to the spare room that was now a cell.


    ¡°You''re just putting us into a normal room?¡± Azora asked, surprised. ¡°What if Ernas tries to escape?¡±


    Luxea chuckled and hit the button to open the normal door. ¡°You can go into the holding cell with him if you want.¡±


    ¡°No, I... I''d like to see more of the ship, if that''s okay.¡± Azora said and put her hand on Ernas'' back and eased him into the room.


    ¡°It will be a short tour.¡± Luxea said and pulled the lever, then hit the button to have the security door close. Azora''s eyes widened at the thick heavy door. ¡°It''s not that big of a ship and we''re not going far.¡±


    ¡°Th-that''s fine.¡± Azora said and looked up at me. ¡°I like your hair.¡±


    ¡°It needs a good brushing.¡± I said.


    Azora''s eyes drifted down to my waist, where the end of my hair was.


    ¡°I used to keep it tied into a ponytail.¡±


    ¡°It must get everywhere now.¡± Azora commented. ¡°It''s quite distracting.¡±


    I gave her a crooked smile, and she took a shallow breath and let it out.


    ¡°The cockpit is this way.¡± Luxea said, and led Azora down the hallway. ¡°That''s the living room. That''s the kitchen. That''s miscellaneous supply storage.¡± She said as we passed each room. ¡°Here it is! The cockpit.¡±


    ¡°We''re already in hyperspace!¡± Azora exclaimed as she saw the shifted star field through the cockpit''s viewscreen. I had felt the ship transition into hyperspace and hadn''t let it show.


    ¡°This ship is fantastic.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Hi, there. I''m Rhubin.¡±


    ¡°Hi.¡± Azora said absently as she kept staring out through the viewscreen. ¡°How fast are we going?¡±


    ¡°Twice light speed.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°That''s not possible!¡± Azora gasped. ¡°It''s not, right?¡± She asked. ¡°You''re joking, aren''t you?¡±


    Rhubin chuckled. ¡°I didn''t believe it the first time we jumped, either.¡± He said and pointed to the readout on his display.


    Azora looked at it and shook her head. ¡°No, it''s some kind of trick.¡±


    ¡°Well, we''ll be dropping out of hyperspace in about three minutes, so you''ll see it for yourself.¡±


    Azora nodded several times and sat down in the co-pilot''s seat and looked stunned. The three minutes went by and the ship entered normal space, and she caught her breath. Rhubin flew the ship over to the station and Luxea helped Azora place the call to the company that had issued the bounty for Ernas. They were ecstatic to hear he had been caught and gave us landing coordinates on the only habitable planet in the system.


    We diverted our course and Rhubin parked the ship in a low orbit. He was going to land the ship on the ground, and I told him that he might as well use the shuttle, since that was its primary use, and it would save wear and tear on my ship. He agreed and we disconnected it from the ship after a short space walk, retrieved Ernas from the holding cell, then we all boarded the shuttle through the ceiling hatch in the middle of my ship and took off for the planet.

 Book One: The Presence 044

    Rhubin flew us down to the planet''s surface and landed at the given coordinates. It was near a large corporate building and there were several people and aliens in business suits waiting for us.


    ¡°You really did catch him.¡± One of the aliens said as we left the shuttle with the prisoner and the passenger.


    ¡°I did.¡± Azora said. ¡°I''d like the reward, please.¡±


    ¡°Of course, of course.¡± The alien said and waved to a man behind him. That man stepped forward and opened a small briefcase and inside was a single credit chip in a holder. Azora picked up the chip, then Luxea snatched it from her hand and stuck it into her chip reader.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Azora exclaimed. ¡°That''s...¡±


    ¡°...completely legitimate.¡± Luzea said and handed the chip back.


    Azora just stared at her with a blank look on her face.


    ¡°Thank you for returning our wayward employee.¡± The alien said and two other aliens came forward and took Ernas by the arms, then escorted him into the building. ¡°I swear, the more privileges these slaves get, the more they think they can take what they want and just leave.¡±


    ¡°HE''S A SLAVE?!?¡± Azora yelled.


    ¡°Hm? Oh, don''t be upset.¡± The alien said. ¡°My galactic is horrendous. What''s another word for slave?¡±


    ¡°Indentured worker.¡± I said, and the alien pointed at me.


    ¡°Yes! That''s the word. Indentured.¡± The alien said. ¡°He agreed to work for us for five years if we paid for his education and all living expenses. Signed a contract and everything.¡±


    ¡°How long has he worked for you?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Only two years.¡± The alien said. ¡°What he didn''t know was that we were impressed with his work and started grooming him for a management position with a bigger office and even his own secretary. We gave him access to some of our more prominent client''s accounts to see how he would handle their finances.¡±


    ¡°He siphoned off some of those funds.¡± I said, and the alien nodded.


    ¡°Fifty thousand credits is barely an hour''s income for our business; but, losing that income always raises red flags. We sent a toad to check on his progress and to see what he intended to do with the funds, then he panicked and ran.¡±


    ¡°Calling someone a toad isn''t nice.¡± Azora said.


    ¡°Why isn''t it?¡± The alien asked as he looked at her like she was speaking nonsense. ¡°He is a toad.¡±


    ¡°RIIIBIIT!¡± The alien behind him croaked, and Luxea covered her mouth to stop from laughing.


    Azora was slightly stunned by that. ¡°Um... wh-what... what''s going to happen to him?¡±


    ¡°We''ve already arranged for Ernas to be sequestered to his penthouse apartment and he can only handle the ten thousand credit clients.¡± The alien said. ¡°He''s also defaulted on the contract and enacted the clause for extended service for another two years.¡±


    ¡°The idiot has to start over from the bottom.¡± The man that had handed over the credit chip said. ¡°If he''s lucky and works well, he can have this expunged from his work history before his contract is up.¡±


    ¡°If he doesn''t?¡± Azora asked.


    ¡°He''ll have a hard time finding a job, even inside our own company.¡± The man said. ¡°He can choose to switch professions at that point, then he''ll have to start over again.¡±


    ¡°He... he''ll be working for you... forever.¡±


    ¡°I told you, only if he''s lucky.¡± The man said.


    ¡°This business deal is completed.¡± The alien said and waved both of his hands at us. ¡°Thank you for the prompt dealings!¡± He didn''t wait for a response and turned around, then the group he was with followed him into the building.


    ¡°I didn''t get the chance to advertise.¡± Luxea sighed.


    ¡°I''m sure they know who we are.¡± I said and led her and Azora back into the shuttle. ¡°If there''s one thing corporations appreciate, it''s speed of delivery.¡±


    Azora didn''t say anything and sat in one of the shuttle seats, and Luxea went to the cockpit and sat beside Rhubin. I was tempted to go and sit off by myself, then realized it wouldn''t look good for our company if I ignored our very first passenger. I held in my sigh as I sat down in the seat next to her and she turned her head to look at me. She had tears in her eyes and looked to be on the verge of crying her eyes out.


    ¡°You''re not an actual bounty hunter are you?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°You loved him a lot, didn''t you?¡±


    Azora took a quick breath, threw her arms around me, then burst out crying and sobbing as she put her head on my shoulder. ¡°I abandoned him!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°He loves me and I left him!¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and pat her arm. ¡°He''s going to have a hard life in his penthouse apartment and working the same job that he had contracted with them to do, before he robbed them.¡±


    ¡°That... makes it sound... like Ernas was wrong.¡± Azora said between sobs.


    ¡°He was.¡± I said. ¡°If he had been coerced or tricked into it, I would probably be all over that building and destroying everything in outrage.¡±


    ¡°You... you would?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± I said as the scene played out in my mind and I smiled. ¡°Ernas agreed to work for them and betrayed them, and yet, they didn''t ask for the money he took and only wanted him to come back.¡±


    Azora''s tears slowed down and she lifted her head from my shoulder.


    ¡°Imagine if all companies did that.¡± I said. ¡°Making the happiness of their employees a priority and forgiving them for their crimes and not putting them in jail or to death.¡±


    Azora stopped crying when I said ''death''. ¡°He... he could have died?¡± She asked, shocked.


    ¡°It depends on the local laws, I think.¡± I said. ¡°He''s pretty fortunate that they want him to fulfill his obligations and didn''t charge him or turn him over to the authorities.¡± I smiled. ¡°Of course, as far as I know, they are the authorities here.¡±


    ¡°But... what if...¡±


    ¡°If you''re worried about him, just call him the next chance you get.¡± I said. ¡°They didn''t say he couldn''t talk to people or even meet them on his own time.¡±


    Azora stopped hugging me and sat back in her seat. ¡°I... I didn''t think... I thought he would be...¡±


    ¡°We all assumed that they wanted him arrested.¡± I said. ¡°Aren''t you glad that he''s not?¡±


    Azora nodded slightly several times. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    I shrugged and we didn''t speak again until we docked back to the ship and went down through the hatch. Rhubin and I reattached the shuttle to the ship and went back inside.


    ¡°So, where do you want to go?¡± Rhubin asked Azora.


    ¡°I...¡± Azora looked at all of our faces and then back at Rhubin''s. ¡°I''d like to go home.¡±


    ¡°One quick trip back coming right up.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Luxea, want to give me a hand with the coordinates?¡±


    They left and went to the cockpit, despite everyone knowing he didn''t need her help, and I was left alone with Azora.


    ¡°We should probably sit down or something, right?¡± Azora asked.


    ¡°The living room is this way.¡± I said and she followed me there. I sat down on the couch, and she sat down right next to me, despite having a whole couch and several chairs to sit on.


    ¡°What''s your name?¡± Azora asked.


    ¡°Unavailable.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hee hee.¡± Azora laughed awkwardly. ¡°I wasn''t... I mean, you''re handsome and everything, but...¡±


    ¡°The big metal plate on my face doesn''t turn you off?¡± I asked.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°No, I... it''s kind of endearing that you can act normally with it.¡± Azora said. ¡°I want to hold you and tell you that you''re being so brave about it.¡±


    Well, damn. I thought. I guess my disguise really can backfire like Evelyn said. I lifted my arm, and Azora practically jumped onto me and held me tightly for the ten minute trip back to the neighbouring system. Once there, she opted to get dropped off at the station. We had paid the docking fee for the day already, so we docked and gathered at the main hatch to send her off. She left the ship with both a happy smile and a sad face. Before we could close the hatch, someone came out of the port master''s office and waved for our attention.


    ¡°You really do have a fast ship.¡± The uniformed man said as he approached. ¡°I was just looking at your flight path with the port master.¡±


    ¡°It was impressive, wasn''t it?¡± Rhubin asked. ¡°This little ship blows everything else away.¡±


    ¡°It does, and I''ve talked to the station manager. We want to hire you for a high priority diplomatic mission.¡±


    ¡°We don''t want to get involved with politics.¡± I said.


    ¡°You''ll only be providing transport and won''t be involved with the discussions.¡± The uniformed man said. ¡°We were all set to book them onto a passenger liner and send them on the three month trip, and then...¡±


    ¡°Here we are.¡± I said.


    ¡°Before we think about taking the job, what are the particular requirements and how many people are going?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°There are three delegates, all female, two security guards, also female, luggage for the trip, food and necessities for an extended stay, and they need to get there as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Three months was as soon as possible?¡± Rhubin asked, surprised.


    ¡°The passenger liner has many stops and layovers on their circular route. One of their stops just happened to be where the delegates needed to go.¡± The uniformed man said.


    ¡°How much were the passenger tickets?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Two thousand credits each, round trip.¡±


    ¡°That''s a top tier luxury liner.¡± Luxea whispered.


    ¡°So, what do you think?¡± Rhubin asked me.


    ¡°Where is this mission going to?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s a planet called Chofaris in the Fogaris System.¡± The uniformed man said. ¡°You''ll be landing at Sefaris, the coastal city, and dropping the delegates off at the government buildings there.¡±


    Places here have some weird names. I thought to myself.


    ¡°Is it still a round trip?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°No, you''re just delivering them to their new posts in the government there.¡± The uniformed man said. ¡°We''ll even pay the same fee as if they had taken the passenger liner.¡±


    ¡°This seems too good to be true.¡± I said, and the uniformed man looked at me. ¡°What''s the catch?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what you mean.¡± The uniformed man said, and I felt the Presence waver slightly.


    ¡°We refuse.¡± I said and walked back into the ship. ¡°Luxea, Rhubin, let''s go.¡±


    Luxea and Rhubin didn''t comment as they stepped back into the ship with me.


    ¡°W-wait!¡± The uniformed man said.


    ¡°What''s the catch?¡± I repeated the question.


    ¡°It''s a war zone.¡± The uniformed man said, slightly deflated and he hunched a little. ¡°Passenger ships are allowed through, so you should be safe...¡±


    ¡°...but, there''s no guarantee.¡± I finished for him, and he nodded. ¡°Do the delegates know?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They are going there on their own initiative, despite protests from both governments there and here.¡±


    ¡°Are they here on the station?¡± I asked, and he nodded. ¡°Then Luxea and I will meet with them.¡±


    The uniformed man let relief show on his face for a moment, then stood up straighter. ¡°I''ll take you to them right now.¡±


    ¡°Rhubin, stay here and keep the ship ready for departure.¡± I said and held a hand out for Luxea. She took it with a smile and the uniformed man led us from the dock and through the station to the rooms that the delegates were staying in while they waited for their transport. The uniformed man knocked on the door and waited. After a few moments, the door opened and an ornately dressed woman stood there. The gold accents of her dress highlighted her brownish-blonde hair that was similar to mine.


    ¡°Yes?¡± She said, then saw who was there. ¡°What can I do for you today, major?¡±


    ¡°Forgive the intrusion.¡± The uniformed man said and gave her a slight bow. ¡°We might have a fast transport available for you.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful!¡± She exclaimed and stepped back. ¡°Please, come in.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The uniformed man said and stepped into the room. Luxea and I followed him inside, and the woman stared at my almost six feet of height and my long flowing dirty blonde hair.


    ¡°I wish I could see your eyes.¡± The woman whispered, barely above a breath.


    That''s why I''m covering them. I thought with a smile.


    She shook herself and closed the room''s door and walked over to an archway. ¡°We might have a fast transport!¡±


    ¡°Wonderful!¡± Two other women''s voices exclaimed and came out of the other room, and they wore identical dresses and had similar hair.


    ¡°When can we leave?¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°These two people from The Wave have asked to meet with you before they decide to take the job.¡± The uniformed man said.


    ¡°Then let us greet them properly.¡± One of the women said and stepped forward to stop in front of me. ¡°Great Warrior, my name is Uzahne.¡± She said and bowed her head to me. ¡°I have been appointed to be a delegate to help the war-torn region of the Fogaris System. The woman on my left is Ahaen and the one on my right is Sheph.¡±


    I nodded my head to them in turn. Sheph had been the one who answered the door.


    ¡°We humbly request that you put yourself and your ship into jeopardy to take us to our urgent task.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°We would normally take the safer route; but, our need to be there as quickly as we can dictates that we must ignore our own safety to try and accomplish our task.¡±


    ¡°Do you really believe that your presence will make a difference?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Just the word that we would be arriving has made a difference.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°If we show up before our scheduled arrival, I am positive that it will change the course of the war.¡±


    ¡°For better or for worse?¡± I asked, and her stoic face broke into a smile as she took my hand.


    ¡°With your help, we can find that out.¡±


    Ahaen leaned in close to Uzahne and whispered in her ear. ¡°You shouldn''t casually touch a man like him publicly.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Uzahne said without whispering. ¡°That''s why I did it.¡±


    ¡°You really want me to take you, no matter the cost to either you personally or to those around you?¡± I asked, and she nodded.


    ¡°I am tempted to beg; but, we both know that tactic won''t work.¡± Uzahne said and her smile grew into a grin. ¡°I also know that offering you a monetary bonus won''t work, either.¡±


    ¡°You can''t spend money when you''re dead.¡± I said, and she nodded.


    ¡°What I can offer is good companionship, interesting conversations, and perhaps an enjoyable shared meal or two.¡±


    ¡°Uzahne!¡± Ahaen exclaimed, and Uzahne laughed.


    ¡°I don''t believe he would take advantage of me.¡± Uzahne said as she looked into my eyes, right through the blast shield I had over them. ¡°Not in that way, anyway.¡±


    I bowed my head slightly to her. ¡°What about when we arrive at your destination?¡±


    ¡°There''s a very good chance for several minutes of sheer terror, possible capture, and even death.¡± Uzahne said truthfully, because I didn''t feel any wavering in the flow of Presence.


    ¡°You know all of that and you still want to go?¡± I asked, and she nodded again without hesitation.


    ¡°There''s only one more thing that I need to ask you.¡± I said.


    ¡°You can ask me anything.¡± Uzahne responded.


    ¡°Do you need help moving your luggage?¡±


    Uzahne smiled. ¡°We have porters that will make short work of that and the supplies transfer.¡±


    ¡°Can I take that to mean you accept the job?¡± The uniformed man asked me, slightly confused.


    ¡°It''ll be tight with five more passengers.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I suppose we can put the delegates in the spare room with the four bunks and I''ll let the security guards use my room.¡±


    ¡°They switch shifts, so there is always one of them on duty. Only one extra bunk will be needed.¡± Sheph said. ¡°The four bunks in the spare room will be sufficient.¡±


    ¡°I''ll handle the credit transfer and let the government know you''ll be leaving soon.¡± The uniformed man said and turned to me. ¡°You will be leaving soon, won''t you?¡±


    ¡°As soon as the ship is loaded.¡± I said.


    ¡°PORTERS!¡± The uniformed man yelled and ran from the room. ¡°PORTERS! Get moving! Dock six! Go! Go! Go!¡±


    ¡°I think he''s a little excited to be rid of you.¡± I said to Uzahne, and she laughed.


    ¡°We have been a bit of a burden on his time and a security concern.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Perhaps now he can relax with us out of his way.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean I shouldn''t relax?¡± I asked, and she gave my hand a squeeze and let it go.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Uzahne said with a grin. ¡°Your life is about to get much more exciting.¡±


    *


    ¡°I can''t believe this.¡± Master Kara Moor said as she and the other two Order members left the port master''s office in the station with the super gas giant. ¡°Not only didn''t he ask for their destination, he didn''t even make them file a flight plan!¡± She exclaimed and strode over to the large viewing window, sighed, and rested her forehead against it as she looked out at the large swirling mass of gasses of the planet below.


    ¡°It is troublesome.¡± One of the Order members said. ¡°At least we have the ship''s specifications.¡±


    ¡°It will still be difficult to track them down, even knowing they are in an out-of-date starship.¡± The other Order member said.


    ¡°Who installs a class three reactor into a ship that size?¡± The first one asked. ¡°It should have had a class four at least.¡±


    ¡°Maybe storage space requirements?¡± The second asked. ¡°A family of three lived on it. They would need a lot of food to keep travelling like they did.¡±


    ¡°That''s possible.¡± The first said. ¡°Maybe...¡±


    ¡°Quiet.¡± Kara said and closed her eyes. She performed a mental technique to calm down and to get her thoughts in order. She stayed there for several minutes, then she opened her eyes and turned to face the two Order members with her. ¡°We''re going back to Ulathall.¡±


    The two men just stared at her and didn''t respond.


    ¡°We could hop around blindly for weeks or even months before we stumbled across them again.¡± Kara said. ¡°I need to consult with the rest of the council about how to proceed from here.¡±


    The Order members nodded agreement and Kara led them back to their docked fast courier ship. She gave the ship orders to return to Ulathall, The Order''s home planet, and the ship left the station with haste. Once the navigation computer came up with the proper jump coordinates to take them where she wanted to go, they poured on the speed and jumped into hyperspace.


    *


    Azora met with the alien that she owed money to and paid him. He thanked her for paying it back before the deadline, so that he wouldn''t have to hunt her down, and then showed her out of his office.


    ¡°If you need anything else, just call.¡± The alien said and shut the door.


    Azora wasn''t going to call him again; but, that made her think of Ernas and what Hunter had said. She walked over to one of the many public terminals on the station and sat down, then looked for the company that Ernas worked for. She found their listing and placed the call after paying the fifty credit charge. The station was the only place to make a call like that, since it was the only place that had a communications array large enough to communicate with the next star system, and she waited.


    A woman answered her call and asked where she should direct it. Azora asked for Ernas, and the screen went blank. Azora was about to cry out that she had been disconnected, and then Ernas'' face appeared.


    ¡°Hello?¡± Ernas said automatically, then noticed who it was. ¡°Azora!¡±


    ¡°Hi.¡± Azora said, her face flushed red.


    ¡°How are... hey, wait! You actually called me!¡± Ernas said, surprised. ¡°I didn''t even think to mention it to you!¡±


    ¡°A... a friend mentioned it.¡± Azora said. ¡°I... Ernas, I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°No, it''s my fault. I''m sorry.¡± Ernas said. ¡°I shouldn''t have led you on like that. It''s just... you''re so pretty and nice and I love you and...¡±


    ¡°I''m not nice.¡± Azora said, a tear rolled down her cheek. ¡°I turned you in when I should have...¡±


    ¡°I deserved it.¡± Ernas said and cut her off. ¡°I did commit a crime and I need to atone for it.¡± He said. ¡°I can''t have visitors for about a month; but, after that...¡±


    ¡°You want me to come and see you?¡± Azora asked, shocked.


    ¡°I''ve got this big empty penthouse suite that''s as lonely to be in as I am without you.¡± Ernas said. ¡°Of course I want to see you.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Azora took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°I want to see you, too.¡±


    ¡°Great! I''ll have the monthly supply run stop off at your place to pick you up next month.¡± Erans said enthusiastically. ¡°By the Goddess, I can''t wait!¡±


    ¡°Me, either.¡± Azora said with a smile.

 Book One: The Presence 045

    Uzahne had been right. The porters made short work of loading the ship for the journey. Luxea went to the navigation computer to get it to compute the proper course to the Fogaris System. It was a fair distance away, even in interstellar terms, and we would need to make several hyperspace jumps to get there. The universe was a big place and there was a lot of room in it; but, there were also lots of things in it to avoid as well.


    With so many different spacial anomalies like black holes, rogue planetary bodies, asteroid fields, nebulae, and pretty much everything else that could occur in space going on, making one direct jump over such a long distance was more hazardous than jumping into the middle of a star. After a short debate with Rhubin and Luxea, we decided that caution should win out over speed, especially if we were going to be in plenty of danger at the end of the trip.


    The delegates were settled into the spare room with the four bunks, and their two security guards stood outside the room. Now that they were at their posts and the delegates were safe, we could leave. Rhubin disengaged the dock and the ship floated out slightly, then he added power to the engines. I went to the spare room and nodded to the guards as I pointed to the door. The guard beside the panel nodded back and turned to hit the button for the door chime.


    ¡°Come in!¡± A woman''s voice almost yelled, and the guard hit the button to open the normal door.


    ¡°You don''t have to be so excited to see him, Sheph.¡± Ahaen said with a sigh.


    ¡°He''s gorgeous.¡± Sheph said with a chuckle. ¡°All that hair...¡±


    ¡°I hope the room is to your liking.¡± I said without stepping into the room, and the three women turned to look at me. Uzahne sat on the couch by the table, Sheph sat on a lower bunk, and Ahaen stood by the wall with her arms crossed. They each had changed from their ornate dresses into more practical loose fitting pants and tops. It was a little odd that they still matched, especially since their hair was so similar in style and color.


    ¡°It''s wonderful.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°When I heard you had a fast courier ship, I expected there to be bare metal with bolts sticking out everywhere and exposed wires all over the place.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°I''m very happy to be surprised that it isn''t.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Ahaen asked.


    ¡°Ahaen, don''t be rude to our host.¡± Uzahne said as she glanced at the other woman.


    ¡°I wasn''t being rude.¡± Ahaen said. ¡°I would tell him to get the hell out and to stop bothering us if I was going to be rude about it.¡±


    Uzahne chuckled and looked back at me. ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°We''re about to jump into hyperspace and I wondered if you would like to see it up close.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t realize I was disturbing you, though.¡± I said and gave her a quick bow of my head and walked away. I had barely taken three steps when I heard three pairs of running feet.


    ¡°We''d love to!¡± The three women said as one.


    I held in my smile and turned to see the three of them poking their heads out through the doorway. I waved at the hallway, and they stepped out of the room with much more decorum than they had just demonstrated. They walked over to me with the two security guards right behind them.


    ¡°The cockpit is a good size, so you should all have a great view.¡± I said and led them to the cockpit. ¡°Passenger observers.¡± I said to Rhubin and Luxea, who turned their heads to look.


    ¡°I can see by your faces that you haven''t seen this before.¡± Rhubin said and gave them a sly smile. ¡°Get ready for the best light show in the universe!¡±


    Luxea chuckled. ¡°You''re overselling the product.¡±


    ¡°Hey, a pilot has to be a bit of a showman, doesn''t he?¡± Rhubin asked with a grin.


    ¡°Just fly the ship.¡± Luxea said and turned her chair to face the delegates. ¡°Don''t be shy. Come in.¡±


    The three delegates stepped forward and the two guards stood just outside while I stood off slightly to the side to let them see.


    ¡°We''ll reach the Lagrange point in about a minute.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°The what?¡± Ahaen asked.


    ¡°Lagrange point. It''s the point in space where the gravity of the planet and the gravity of the star it orbits, cancel each other out.¡± Luxea explained. ¡°It gets a lot more complicated than that when moons and other celestial objects are involved.¡±


    ¡°That''s amazing.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°Oh, you haven''t seen anything yet.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Twenty seconds.¡±


    Uzahne took a step back and leaned in close to me. ¡°We''ve travelled on dozens of ships and seen more planets than a normal person should.¡± She whispered. ¡°This is the first time someone has offered to let us watch.¡±


    I didn''t say anything and just pointed at the cockpit''s viewscreen. Uzahne turned her head just in time to see the spectacle.


    ¡°...aaaaaand jump into hyperspace!¡± Rhubin exclaimed and pushed the levers and hit the button.


    The three women''s eyes nearly bulged out of their heads as the blanket of normal stars shifted and warped into different colors, then they gasped when the stars became twisting beams of light and shot past the ship.


    ¡°You see?¡± Rhubin turned to them. ¡°I told you...¡±


    Luxea''s hand shot out and covered his mouth. ¡°Don''t ruin the moment.¡±


    No one else said anything for the next few minutes as the women recovered from the sight, then Uzahne turned and looked at me. I was surprised to see astonishment on her face.


    ¡°Take us back to our room, please.¡± Uzahne said in a normal tone of voice.


    I stepped back and motioned to the hallway, then led them back to the spare room. I stepped to the side and waved them inside the room, then stepped in front of the door without going in myself as the two guards took up their positions on either side of the door. They had similar surprised looks on their faces as the delegates.


    I guess they''ve never seen it before, either. I thought.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°We will remember this gesture for the rest of our lives.¡±


    ¡°I was amazed the first time I saw it, too.¡± I said, and the other two women stared at me. I tapped the blast shield over my eyes and smiled. ¡°This doesn''t limit my sight because I use Presence to see.¡±


    Ahaen and Sheph gasped at those words and they covered their chests automatically.


    ¡°He hasn''t looked at us like that.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Have you, Hunter?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I was advised a while ago to not use Presence techniques on anyone if I didn''t intend to sleep with them.¡± I said, then I made fists with my hands and frowned as I struggled to keep my anger in check. ¡°I ignored that advice once, and she paid for my mistake with her life.¡±


    Everyone gasped, including the two guards.


    ¡°You killed her with Presence?¡± Uzahne asked, and I saw the two guards put their hands on their laser pistols.


    ¡°No, but that was the result.¡± I said, and small bolts of lightning flowed over my knuckles. ¡°We were together for a week, then she gave me information she shouldn''t have and they killed her.¡±


    ¡°I''m so sorry.¡± Uzahne said and stepped close to me as her hand reached out and touched my fist. She hadn''t noticed the lightning because she was looking at my face, so she caught her breath as the small lightning bolts passed over her fingers and came back to me. Her head dropped down and she stared at her hand as the bolts passed over her hand again. ¡°I felt that and it didn''t hurt!¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Only because I don''t want it to.¡± I said.


    Uzahne startled and looked back up at my face.


    ¡°None of you need to worry about me looking at you in that way.¡±


    ¡°What if I asked you to look?¡± Uzahne asked, and I could see on her face that she didn''t want me to.


    ¡°It still won''t happen.¡± I said. ¡°I learned my lesson the hard way.¡±


    Uzahne nodded and let my hand go, and the little lightning bolts didn''t try to follow her. ¡°Will you join me for breakfast tomorrow morning?¡±


    ¡°Your guards think it''s too soon for that.¡± I said with a small smile.


    The two guards jumped slightly and Uzahne looked at them. She saw that their hands were on their laser pistols and were ready to draw them. I took a step back from the doorway and all five women were looking at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°Good day, delegates.¡± I said and bowed slightly, then walked down the hallway towards my room.


    *


    ¡°I told you that he was dangerous!¡± Ahaen said.


    ¡°At least wait until the door is shut.¡± Sheph said and one of the guards hit the button to close the normal door.


    ¡°I knew taking this ship was going to be a mistake.¡± Ahaen said. ¡°We should have waited for the passenger liner.¡±


    ¡°If we waited that long, we could miss the entire conflict.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°That was always a possibility. It doesn''t matter what transport we took.¡± Ahaen said. ¡°Plus, we would have had a lot more people to talk to during the trip.¡±


    ¡°Now you''re just making up excuses.¡± Sheph said. ¡°Did his admission rattle you that much?¡±


    ¡°Yes! What information did she give him? What did he do after that? Did he mourn her? Is he a criminal that we should avoid if people are getting killed around him?¡±


    ¡°That''s enough babbling.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°All of that is immaterial at this point. We''ve already left and are on our way to our duty station.¡± She said and turned to face them. ¡°I don''t think he was supposed to tell us what happened, so it must be eating him up inside and he needed to tell us.¡±


    ¡°Tell you, you mean.¡± Ahaen said with a huff.


    ¡°If you weren''t so standoffish, perhaps he might have spoken to you as well.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°I don''t want him to speak to me.¡± Ahaen said. ¡°Sheph adores his body and you fancy his personality. The two of you together could form the perfect woman for him.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I think you would be more to his liking.¡± Uzahne said.


    Ahaen blinked her eyes for a moment. ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°You''re outgoing, look at things pragmatically and see the downside immediately, and you can assess a situation quickly and act upon that information.¡±


    ¡°I have to reluctantly agree.¡± Sheph said. ¡°You''re definitely more his type than either Uzahne or I am.¡±


    ¡°I am not!¡± Ahaen said and crossed her arms again and huffed, and Uzahne and Sheph exchanged knowing glances.


    ¡°Well, that''s a moot point anyway.¡± Sheph said. ¡°You heard what he said.¡±


    ¡°Unlike you, I understood the qualifier he stated.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°He won''t do anything with someone that he doesn''t intend to be involved with, which means he will with someone he does intend to get involved with.¡±


    ¡°You can''t seriously think that...¡±


    ¡°Oh, not any of us.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°It''s clearly much too soon for him to even think about another woman in that way right now. His pain of loss will fade eventually, though. When it does...¡±


    ¡°He... he might devote everything he is to whoever he chooses.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°Or whoever gets chosen for him.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°I kind of regret accepting this fast transport.¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡± Ahaen asked, surprised.


    ¡°Now that I''ve met him, I know it won''t be me that will have his utter devotion.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°I won''t have him at my side as we face the daunting task ahead of us and he won''t be willing to die to save us.¡±


    ¡°Well, when you put it like that...¡± Ahaen started to say.


    ¡°Now you want him! Ha ha!¡± Sheph laughed.


    ¡°A personal guard would be just what I need.¡± Ahaen said. ¡°Someone to dote on me, fulfill all my needs, and be at my beck and call day and night.¡±


    ¡°You want a personal servant, not a personal guard.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°No, he needs to protect me all the time, too.¡± Ahaen said.


    ¡°You''re not asking for much.¡± Sheph said. ¡°I suppose you want him to be rich, too.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn''t hurt.¡± Ahaen said haughtily, then they all laughed.


    *


    ¡°So, do you want first shift with the clucking hens, or should I take it?¡± The guard on the right whispered.


    ¡°We should flip for it.¡± The guard on the left said and took out a large copper coin that her village used instead of credit chips. ¡°That way it''s fair and we can only complain about bad luck for the next eight hours.¡±


    The guard on the right chuckled. ¡°All right. I''ll call when you flip it.¡±


    The guard flipped the heavy coin into the air and the other guard called ''wings''. The coin landed and bounced on the floor, then landed with the picture of ''wings'' facing up.


    ¡°Yes!¡± The guard on the right said as the other guard picked up her coin. ¡°Have fun!¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± The guard on the left said and nodded, so the right guard hit the button for the door chime.


    ¡°Yes, come in.¡± A woman''s voice said and the guard hit the button to open the door.


    ¡°I''ll bring your evening meal and then I''m off until the morning.¡± The left guard said.


    ¡°Ooo!¡± Ahaen almost moaned. ¡°I''d like...¡±


    The guard took their orders and left the room to go to the kitchen. She quickly prepared the elaborate meals for the delegates and two of the ration meals that had been allocated to her and the other guard.


    ¡°Hey, there.¡± Luxea said as she came into the kitchen. ¡°That looks good!¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The guard said.


    ¡°Hey, are those basic rations?¡± Luxea asked as she saw the two rationed food trays.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe that the delegates would...¡±


    ¡°It''s the government''s policy.¡± The guard said.


    ¡°Well, I don''t see any government around here, do you?¡± Luxea said and reached up to the cupboard above her head and took out two of the supplements that the ship had years worth of in storage. ¡°Let me see those trays for a second.¡±


    The guard wasn''t sure what she was doing; but, she handed the trays over and watched as Luxea cracked open the supplements and sprinkled them over the two meals, then put them into the hydration infuser. Luxea hit the button and two seconds later, it beeped and she took the two trays out and handed them to the guard.


    ¡°Believe me, it makes a world of difference.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Make sure you help yourself, okay?¡±


    The guard nodded and watched as Luxea grabbed her own supplements and did the same thing to two more rationed food trays, then left the kitchen. The guard took the food trays back to the spare room, gave the delegates their meals, then stepped out of the room so she and the other guard could eat.


    ¡°What is in this thing?¡± The guard on the right asked as she took a spoonful of what was supposed to be potatoes. ¡°It doesn''t taste like paste!¡±


    The guard on the left took a spoonful herself and her eyes widened. ¡°It''s good!¡± She said, then answered the other guard''s question. ¡°The navigator showed me a supplement to add to it.¡±


    ¡°I hope she lets us have more of them.¡± The guard on the right said. ¡°It''s the first time I''ve had rations that were edible!¡±


    The guard on the left chuckled and they finished their meals. She waited until the delegates were done, then took all the trays back to the kitchen and dropped them into the available slot. She went back to the spare room and prepared herself for the hardest part of her job before she went inside.


    Interacting socially with the delegates.


    She was well-practised in hiding how awkward it was for her to spend casual time with people that only saw her as a bodyguard and not a person. It wasn''t as if they were mean or degrading about it, it was just that she had an assigned job and that was all they saw her as. A shield to protect them. She liked her job and she did it willingly, and sometimes eagerly; but this time, it was the first time she thought that protecting someone might not be worth the hassle.


    She held in her laugh at so casually dismissing her chosen profession, just because she didn''t like one small aspect of the current job. At least we''ll have more guards when we get to Chofaris. She thought happily.


    *


    We were in hyperspace for almost a week before we exited into normal space and Luxea had to adjust for course corrections and make sure the next jump was viable. We were in a relatively empty part of space, so there was no need to calculate for gravitational effects on the next jump. It was only going to be a short hop to get us past a nasty acid-like nebula, according to Rhubin, then we were going to make a three day hop to the next jump point. After that, we only had one more jump to reach the Fogaris System.


    During this first normal space part of the flight, one of the delegates requested my attendance at a meal. I was surprised that it was Ahaen that had extended it, since I figured she didn''t like me at all. I attended it, quite reluctantly, and I was surprised that none of them were hostile to me. Even the two security guards seemed to give me contemplative looks. I was tempted to ask them what was going on, then figured it was better for everyone if I didn''t try to figure out this little mystery.


    Even though I didn''t try to be charming, it came off that way, and the delegates seemed to have a great time. I didn''t dissuade them or encourage them in any way, and yet the three of them seemed to treat me as if I was a valued ex-boyfriend and we had broken up amicably. I thought that was a little weird, since all three of them were doing it; but, I didn''t point it out and they didn''t push things too much. A casual touch here, a bit of a giggle and a sly smile, and more than casual glances at each other and at me, filled the time even more than the great food did.


    They asked me to walk them back to their room when the meal was done, and I did so. I stopped by their door and as each woman passed me, they each took my hand and did a little curtsy. I was surprised by this, since I figured it was something they should be doing for some high class official and not me. When I opened my mouth to comment as Uzahne did it, she quickly put her other hand on the side of my face.


    ¡°Accept it for what it is.¡± Uzahne said cryptically, let her hand drop from my face and let my hand go, then one of the guards shut the door before I could respond. I looked at the faces of the two guards, and they tried to ignore my inquisitive stare.


    ¡°You should listen to Uzahne.¡± The guard on the left said.


    I turned my head and looked only at her. ¡°So, what was this?¡±


    ¡°Just a dinner.¡± She said. ¡°Nothing more.¡±


    ¡°It felt like it was a lot more than just a dinner.¡± I said to see her reaction. Her face flushed red, and I knew there was something going on. I couldn''t figure it out, though. I stood there and waited to see if she would say anything else, and she stayed quiet. I turned to the guard on the right and her face was slightly red as well. With nothing else to go on, I took a breath and let it out.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said to them, to their surprise, and I went back to my room.

 Book One: The Presence 046

    The delegates and I had dinner two more times during the jump transitions in normal space, and then we made that last long jump. It was almost another full week, and when we came out of hyperspace, we were greeted by a system that was full of debris.


    BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP!


    ¡°By the Goddess!¡± Rhubin exclaimed as the collision alarm blared and he deftly manoeuvred the ship to avoid the partial hull of another starship that had drifted into our flight path. ¡°Luxea!¡±


    ¡°I can''t get a clear reading on anything!¡± Luxea responded. ¡°There''s too much interference!¡±


    Rhubin avoided another large chunk of metal as he reduced the ship''s speed to a crawl. ¡°I can''t see anything to navigate by!¡± He said, and we heard several thumps as things bounced off of the hull.


    ¡°The local star is right there.¡± I pointed out to the right at about forty-five degrees. I could clearly ''see'' it, thanks to Presence. ¡°I can''t tell you where the closest planet is, though.¡±


    ¡°The star is good enough.¡± Rhubin said and changed course to face the star. ¡°I need to get us out of this debris field.¡± He said. ¡°Luxea, tell the passengers over the intercom to brace themselves for some potential high gravity manoeuvres.¡±


    ¡°Can we fly above or below it?¡± I asked as Luxea warned the passengers.


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± Rhubin said without looking at me or laughing, so I knew things were serious. ¡°This thing could go on for a very long distance in every direction, depending on where it started and how many ships were damaged.¡± He flew the ship down and around what looked like the cockpit of a large starship and barely missed several bodies floating from it. ¡°There''s no real resistance in space to make something slow down on its own, so this mess will spread out and keep going until it hits something.¡±


    ¡°Like us.¡± I said, and he nodded.


    ¡°I''m really going to try and avoid that.¡± Rhubin said.


    It took nearly half an hour for Rhubin and his great piloting skills to get us out of the debris field. He was sweating profusely and I had to warn him a couple of times about large things approaching the ship, that were outside his field of view, so he could avoid them.


    Luxea tried to update the navigation system once we were in the clear, and she sighed. ¡°Rhubin was right. That mess is all over.¡± She said and showed us on the main display screen.


    ¡°Good god.¡± I said as I looked at the gigantic mess. ¡°How many ships?¡±


    ¡°The computer is still counting the pieces.¡± Luxea said and looked at me with sad eyes. ¡°It''s going to take a while.¡±


    I nodded understanding. ¡°I need to tell the delegates about this.¡±


    ¡°Should we broadcast their welcome message?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Hell, no.¡± I said, to her surprise. ¡°Do you want whoever did this to find and kill us, too?¡±


    Luxea didn''t respond, so I left the cockpit and went to the spare room. The guard on the door looked rattled, and she hit the button for the admittance chime on the door.


    ¡°Y-yes. Just a second.¡± A woman''s voice said, and a few moments later, the door opened. ¡°Oh, hello.¡± Uzahne said, and she looked as dishevelled as the guard. ¡°That was a long and rough ride.¡±


    ¡°That''s what I came here to tell you.¡± I said, and the three delegates and two security guards were shocked and appalled at the carnage I described, mostly because of the sheer scale of it.


    ¡°How many ships?¡± Uzahne asked.


    ¡°That was the first thing I asked.¡± I said. ¡°The computer''s still counting the pieces, so we don''t know.¡±


    ¡°We need to start rescue operations right away.¡± Sheph said. ¡°The longer we wait, the more people will die.¡±


    ¡°You''re assuming people are still alive.¡± I said, and her face drained of color. ¡°Plus, this isn''t a ship designed for rescue, nor do we have the personnel to perform rescue operations.¡±


    ¡°We can''t just sit here and do nothing!¡± Ahaen exclaimed.


    ¡°Unfortunately, that''s exactly what we are going to do.¡± I said, and she gasped. ¡°Rhubin is exhausted after saving our lives from that disaster. I''m not going to tell him that he needs to put our lives in danger again while he tries to fly back through it.¡±


    ¡°Don''t you care about the people dying on those ships?¡± Ahaen asked, incredulous.


    ¡°Not enough to kill myself, my friends, or my passengers, just to make an ill-conceived attempt at trying to save them.¡± I said, and she didn''t know how to respond to that. ¡°When we figure out what to do next, I''ll come back and talk to you.¡±


    ¡°We need to get to the planet, Chofaris.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°You shouldn''t assume that you still have someone to report to.¡± I said, and she closed her mouth. ¡°I won''t drop you off there and then have you taken prisoner or killed because you neglected to be cautious of the situation you''re in.¡±


    ¡°You''re just going to stand there and dictate to us, is that it?¡± Ahaen asked.


    ¡°If you want me to.¡± I said, and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°I''d rather you all keep calm and think about what needs to happen next, and not what you think should happen next.¡±


    ¡°Those are the same things.¡± Sheph said, and I shook my head.


    ¡°It''s the difference between want and necessity.¡± I said. ¡°You want to do things to try and help others because you feel ineffectual right now.¡± I looked at their faces and saw that they felt that way. ¡°What needs to happen is to get you to the point where you become effectual, then you can help others from a position of power and not from a position of weakness.¡±


    ¡°We aren''t weak.¡± Ahaen said.


    ¡°I didn''t say you were, I said your position is. If we go rummaging around and try to help people, where will we put them? If they are running out of air, who do we leave behind to die?¡± I asked, and they covered their mouths. ¡°We only have one med-bot and one engineer. Do we concentrate on one ship and get it running, or do we search for the best one and try to help them?¡±


    ¡°You... you have made your point.¡± Uzahne said, in a slightly defeated tone.


    ¡°I hope so.¡± I said. ¡°I''m not saying we won''t help. I''m saying that doing it blindly is a mistake and will only cause more problems than it would solve.¡±


    ¡°We get it.¡± Ahaen said. ¡°You don''t have to keep implying that we''re being stupid.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t imply anything like that.¡± I said calmly, despite her trying to goad me. ¡°Now, if you had tried to order me to put my ship in danger, then I would have called you stupid and probably a few other not so nice things.¡±


    ¡°You...¡± Ahaen made her hands into fists.


    ¡°You were smart and didn''t do that, so you can relax.¡± I said. ¡°When you deserve to be insulted, I will do it to your face and wont imply anything.¡± I turned my head and looked at Uzahne. ¡°You can tell that I haven''t lied, can''t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but not with Presence.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°I''ve developed the skills to read people''s body movements and facial expressions and can tell when they are lying. You''ve been very difficult to read.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°That''s because I haven''t lied and there''s nothing for you to pick up on.¡± I said, and her eyes widened. ¡°Is that why you kept inviting me to dinner? You were trying to read me?¡±


    ¡°That''s one aspect of it.¡± Uzahne smiled slightly.


    ¡°I should apologize for wasting your time, then.¡± I said and smiled back. ¡°I''ll come back when I learn anything new.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Before I go, is anyone hurt?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Just bumps and bruises.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°May I check?¡± I asked.


    Uzahne nodded and I stepped into the room for the first time in weeks. I made my hand glow with Presence, and hovered it over her face.


    ¡°Techniques like this are great, except you need people to practice on.¡± I said and moved my hand lower. Ahaen caught her breath as my hand almost touched Uzahne''s chest. ¡°Minor Healing with Presence can only be used when someone is actually hurt, so I don''t have a lot of experience with this.¡±


    ¡°D-do your best.¡± Uzahne said and tried not to breathe, because my hand was so close to her.


    I nodded and finished checking her chest and upper back, then I knelt down on one knee and she gazed down at my face. I hovered my hand over her abdomen and detected a light bruise there. My hand glowed brighter and I eased my Presence into the damaged area and sped up her body''s normal healing process. Uzahne''s breath shivered out of her at the sensation, and I moved down to her legs. Since she wore pants, it was a lot easier to check her all over. I found another bruise on the top of her foot and a small bruise on her forearm.


    ¡°D-did you look?¡± Uzahne asked, her face slightly red.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°I gave you my word that I wouldn''t.¡±


    Uzahne nodded and motioned to Sheph. I checked her over and found several more bruises. She reacted the same way to my Minor Healing technique that Uzahne did. She seemed a little weak, because she had to brace herself by holding onto my shoulders when I knelt in front of her to check her legs.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Sheph said. She let her hands run down my chest as I stood up, and her face was an even deeper red than Uzahne''s was. I turned to Ahaen and she shook her head.


    ¡°No, thank you. I''m fine.¡±


    ¡°It will only take a minute.¡± I said.


    ¡°I don''t want you that close to me.¡± Ahaen said.


    ¡°So, eating dinner with me and holding my hand is fine; but, when I offer to heal you, that''s too close?¡± I asked.


    Ahaen opened her mouth to respond, then closed it.


    ¡°You''re just being fickle.¡± I said and she squinted her eyes at me. ¡°It''s okay for you to be in control and touch me casually, as long as it''s your choice. When it''s not your choice, you refuse.¡±


    She didn''t say anything, so I continued.


    ¡°Just so you know, I don''t need to use my real hand.¡± I said and formed a Presence Hand, then used that to quickly check her. I only found one large bruise, and it was on her backside. ¡°I see.¡± I said, and her face went completely red. ¡°I''m tempted to leave you with it.¡±


    Ahaen opened her mouth to say something, I assumed to tell me off, then Uzahne spoke.


    ¡°Heal her, Hunter.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°I won''t have her complain that she''s suffering later.¡±


    I nodded and used my Presence to accelerate her body''s healing process there. She gasped as her backside tingled and her whole body shivered while her breath came out in quick short breaths. The bruise disappeared and the technique stopped working, so I absorbed the Presence Hand. Ahaen stared at me with anger on her face, so I gave her a slight bow with my head, then repeated that with the other two delegates, and left the room.


    *


    ¡°How dare you let him do that to me!¡± Ahaen exclaimed and her hand rubbed the spot that the large bruise used to be.


    ¡°You would be yelping and hollering every time you sat down for the next few days.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°I didn''t want to hear it, and you need to be at your best to help us deal with this... this...¡±


    ¡°Disaster.¡± Sheph said. ¡°It''s a disaster.¡±


    ¡°Yes, a disaster.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°I can just imagine all of those poor people trapped in compartments and in escape pods, just drifting out there all alone.¡±


    Ahaen always hated it when they discussed things without her input, so she chimed in. ¡°What are we going to do?¡± She asked. ¡°We obviously can''t order Hunter to start rescuing people.¡±


    ¡°He''s right.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°This isn''t a rescue ship, nor can it handle many injured people.¡±


    ¡°We need to join whatever rescue operations are going on.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°Even if it''s for the other side?¡± Ahaen asked.


    ¡°Even if.¡± Sheph said. ¡°Saving lives is what we came out here to do.¡±


    ¡°I won''t defect to the opposition.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°We would have to surrender to them as prisoners first and then we can help with the wounded.¡± She said, then sighed. ¡°Hunter is not going to like that decision.¡±


    ¡°It''s not his choice.¡± Ahaen said.


    ¡°He would have to deliver us, so he does have a say.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°We could take the shuttle, and it won''t endanger this ship or its crew.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°That is a great idea!¡± Ahaen said and walked over to the door. ¡°We can get out there and actually start helping people instead of just sitting here and waiting.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Uzahne said, and she stopped and turned to look at her. ¡°We can''t just take the shuttle! We need to ask...¡±


    ¡°We were sent here to save lives, and that''s what I''m going to do.¡± Sheph walked over to Ahaen.


    ¡°Are you coming, or are you going to cower here in this room and wait for him to give you permission to do your job?¡± Ahaen asked.


    ¡°This is a mistake.¡± Uzahne said and walked over to them. ¡°All he wants is to keep us safe.¡±


    ¡°All he wants is to restrict what we can do.¡± Ahaen said. ¡°How many people have died while he stood here and healed our bruises?¡±


    The other two women took deep breaths and sighed.


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± Ahaen said and led the two delegates from the room and their guards followed them over to the middle of the ship. The ladder up to the hatch wasn''t guarded and the hatch itself wasn''t locked.


    It was alarmed, however.


    Beep! Beep! Beep!


    ¡°Oh, damn!¡± Ahaen said and scrambled up into the shuttle. ¡°Come on! Hurry!¡±


    The other two delegates and the security guards went up the short ladder and entered the shuttle, then closed the hatch and locked it.


    ¡°Get us prepped and out of here.¡± Ahaen said to one of the guards.


    ¡°I highly advise against this.¡± The guard said.


    Ahaen pushed her aside and looked at the other. ¡°Hurry!¡±


    ¡°I''ll have us away from here as soon as I can.¡± The guard said.


    *


    Beep! Beep! Beep!


    ¡°Oh, those stupid bitches!¡± I exclaimed as the shuttle hatch alarm went off. ¡°Rhubin, tell me the controls in the shuttle are locked down.¡±


    Rhubin only looked at me and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± I yelled. ¡°Do something!¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± Rhubin said. ¡°The shuttle only needs to be prepped and disengaged from the hull.¡±


    ¡°Cut the internal gravity and start spinning us!¡± I said.


    ¡°That''s actually a really good idea.¡± Luxea said and strapped in. ¡°Do it.¡±


    ¡°One whirling dervish coming right up!¡± Rhubin said with a grin as he strapped in.


    I ran from the cockpit and to the center of the ship. I started to climb the ladder, then the gravity was gone. I heard a muffled scream, and then the ship started to rotate in place. More screams joined the first, and I tried to open the hatch. It was locked, so I used a Presence Hand on the other side and opened the lock, then I opened the hatch.


    ¡°AhhhHHH!¡± Ahaern yelled as she was pressed into the ceiling of the shuttle underneath the other two delegates and one of the guards. Since the shuttle was docked to the top of the ship, it was farther away from the center of the rotation and that had thrown everyone against the ceiling. I used a Presence Hand to grab the guard on the ceiling of the cockpit and pulled her into the back with the others.


    I used another Presence Hand to hit the intercom button below me. ¡°Okay, Rhubin. That''s enough spinning.¡±


    The ship slowed down and came to a stop, and I quickly used Presence Hands to pull everyone down to the floor just as the artificial gravity kicked back in. Ahaen let out a shrill scream as her broken arm was now under normal gravity and it hung limply at her side. I went to her and she flinched back from me and looked like she was about to scream at me.


    ¡°Shut up!¡± I exclaimed, and she clamped her mouth shut. ¡°How stupid can you be to try and steal from me?¡± I asked her angrily, and she didn''t say anything. ¡°You''re lucky it''s just a broken arm and not your neck!¡± I said and covered her arm with Presence and made it solid to hold it steady. ¡°Get up! All of you!¡±


    It took them a few moments to stand up. When they did, Uzahne spoke.


    ¡°Hunter, I told them it was a mistake and...¡±


    ¡°I said SHUT UP!¡± I yelled at her, and she flinched away from me. ¡°As god as my witness, I''ve never seen anything so stupid!¡± I said as I glared at them and they all flinched away. ¡°Do you even realize that you just committed an act of piracy in a war zone?¡±


    ¡°Wh-wh-what?!?¡± Uzahne exclaimed. ¡°W-w-we d-didn''t!¡±


    ¡°You''re passengers and not crew, so you''re lucky it''s not mutiny.¡± I said and shook my head. ¡°Delegates stealing a ship to go off on your own is the dumbest thing that... no, I''ll leave the recriminations for the review board when we drop you off.¡±


    ¡°R-review board?¡±


    ¡°What? Do you think I''ll forgive you for committing a crime because you''re women?¡± I asked, and they didn''t respond. ¡°The shuttle is docked to the ship! If you had engaged the shuttle''s engines, you could have caused massive decompression in the ship, not to mention potentially tearing it apart and killing me and my crew!¡±


    ¡°We... we didn''t... we would have...¡± Uzahne tried to rationalize their actions.


    ¡°I didn''t see anyone putting on a spacesuit to go out and remove the magnetic locks and cable tie-downs on the shuttle''s landing gear.¡± I said and looked at all of their faces, and was happy to see shock there. ¡°Yeah, that''s right. The shuttle would have torn a good portion of the hull off of the ship and its engines might have cooked us to a crisp... hopefully before the reactor exploded.¡±


    ¡°You... you exaggerate...¡± Ahaen managed to say through her pain.


    ¡°That was the worst case scenario. The best case would be the ship being dragged along and sending us all into an uncontrollable spin into the debris field and probably dying instantly.¡± I said. ¡°I can see and feel that you''re all hurt, so get your asses back down into the ship and go to the living room.¡±


    They didn''t protest further and did as I asked. It took a while for them all to get back down the ladder, since they were all hurt, and I checked the shuttle controls. I saw the engines were powered up, so I put them back into standby mode and went through the hatch myself. I shut it and was tempted to lock it, then decided not to. We might be using it soon, so making it harder for the people that needed to use it wasn''t a good idea.


    I went to the cockpit and told Luxea and Rhubin the state the passengers were in and that I needed to activate the med-bot. Rhubin nodded and Luxea came with me, and we dealt with all the injuries as best as we could, with the med-bot''s help.

 Book One: The Presence 047

    When all the injuries were dealt with, Ahaen''s arm had been encased in a bio-med wrap filled with gel that sped up healing. I took them back to the spare room and told them all to get inside.


    ¡°What?¡± Uzahne looked at me. ¡°One of the guards...¡±


    ¡°Yes, she might have advised you against your actions; but, she didn''t try to stop you and went with you.¡± I said.


    ¡°My job is to protect them.¡± She said.


    ¡°Well, you suck at your job, because you let them put themselves in a ridiculous amount of danger that they wouldn''t have survived.¡± I said, and she sighed. ¡°Everyone inside.¡±


    The five women entered the spare room that only had four bunks.


    ¡°I suppose you want our weapons.¡± The other security guard said and unhooked her laser pistol from her belt to hold it out to me.


    ¡°What for?¡± I asked, and she looked at me in confusion.


    ¡°Aren''t we prisoners?¡±


    ¡°For now.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Having weapons won''t help you.¡± I pulled the lever and hit the button on the panel by the doorway, and the thick security door slid out of the wall from the other side and closed with a loud thunk. The women gasped at the sight and stared at the heavy metal door.


    ¡°You don''t have to lock them in.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Yeah, I thought that before.¡± I said, and it was her turn to sigh. I put my hand on her lower back and ushered her towards the cockpit.


    ¡°I can''t believe they thought they could fly into all that debris and start rescuing people.¡± Luxea said. ¡°You''re right. That was pretty stupid.¡±


    ¡°I could understand if we found an intact ship or something, or even heard any communications from survivors.¡± I said. ¡°It''s way too soon for them to risk their lives for an ideal and not have any proof that it would mean anything.¡±


    ¡°Is that what they were doing?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°They want to help people they think are in danger of dying.¡± I said. ¡°They don''t even know where to start looking for those people and they tried to go anyway.¡± I shook my head and let my hand fall away from her lower back. ¡°All they would achieve is putting themselves in the same danger that they think they are saving others from.¡±


    Luxea nodded. ¡°I hope the computer finishes soon.¡±


    ¡°If we can get any kind of route to the closest planet, or even a space station, we can deliver the passengers and get out of here.¡± I said.


    ¡°That''s all?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°You just want to leave?¡±


    I stopped walking and rubbed my hand on the blast shield over my eyes. ¡°I''ll tell you the same thing I told them before they decided to commit piracy.¡± I said. ¡°This ship can''t handle rescue operations. We don''t have the personnel to deal with more than a handful of injured people, as you just saw, and we definitely don''t have the room to pick up more than six extra people before the air filters are overloaded and we are out of room.¡±


    ¡°What if...¡±


    ¡°Even if we had a ship ten times this size, we still aren''t qualified to rescue people or have the equipment to support it.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, sometimes just doing it makes you qualified.¡± Luxea said.


    I looked into her eyes and she looked into mine, and I remembered the story she told me about her father. I sighed, because I could tell that she was going to argue that there were a lot of little kids out there that are going to miss their mothers or fathers.


    ¡°If... and I really mean this... if you can find somewhere big enough to hold all of the people that might still be trapped, we can discuss with Rhubin how to proceed and if he''s willing to try.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Luxea exclaimed as she hopped up a little and kissed me, then she ran towards the cockpit. ¡°You won''t regret this, Hunter!¡±


    ¡°I already regret it.¡± I said, which made her laugh.


    I walked the rest of the way to the cockpit and Luxea was typing furiously and checking details. I thought about asking her what she was looking for, then decided that I didn''t need to know until she found it.


    ¡°Hey, how are you doing?¡± I asked Rhubin. ¡°You look like a limp noodle.¡±


    Rhubin chuckled. ¡°I''m drained, Hunter.¡± He said, and I could see that the Presence inside of him was pretty low. ¡°Intense flying like that for over thirty minutes straight just took all of my energy.¡±


    ¡°Would eating help?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, I ate before we exited hyperspace.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°This is... I''m weary, you know?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°We need to finish assessing the situation, so just relax and take it easy.¡± I said. ¡°Let yourself recharge for a while.¡±


    ¡°You know, I could use a nap.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I doubt I could fall asleep right now, though.¡±


    ¡°Lean back and close your eyes.¡± I said, and he looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Hey, you won''t know until you try, right?¡±


    Rhubin nodded and leaned back in the chair, then closed his eyes. I reached out with a fingertip and did what Ohazith had taught me by mistake. I had assumed that Presence would always interact with itself, even between people, because I was so adept at its manipulation. She had shown me that most times when people used their own Presence on others, it actually pushed the other Presence out and could hurt them if you weren''t careful.


    I gathered a little bit of Presence to my fingertip and used that knowledge as I carefully pushed it into Rhubin''s forehead. I used my Presence to push his out of his head and down into his body, so he wouldn''t lose any of it, and his head flopped to the side as he fell asleep. I had discovered how to do a new technique. Sleep. Of course, there wasn''t really any way to practice it without putting someone to sleep, so I was going to have to wait to use it again.


    For about an hour or so, we floated in space near the star, and we were just outside the large debris field as it very slowly drifted by. There were thin parts where there were only small bits and pieces of ships and a few bodies, and other parts where halves of fairly large starships floated past with clouds of debris and bodies around them. It was a wondrous... and horrible... sight to see.


    ¡°I think... yes! There''s movement!¡± Luxea said and put the image on the display. ¡°Can you see the shuttle flying around the big wreck?¡± She pointed and traced it with her finger.


    ¡°That''s about the size of the long haul, isn''t it?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°If it''s not a cargo ship, then there''s probably hundreds of people on it.¡± I said. ¡°Is it friend or foe?¡±


    ¡°The markings are similar to the ones on the delegate''s clothing.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I can''t get an image of the shuttle to see if it''s the same.¡±


    ¡°What''s it doing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°If I had to guess, they are surveying the damage.¡± Luxea said and tapped a few keys. ¡°They aren''t going to be happy when they see the back end.¡±


    The display changed to show the real image of the ship and the computer put a wireframe overlay on the real image to show what it was supposed to look like.


    ¡°It''s lost the whole back third of the ship.¡± I said.


    ¡°The engines, reactor, probably a good portion of the environmental system, and a lot of crewmen.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°How is it still operating?¡± I asked.


    ¡°If they were lucky, all that happened was the engine room was sheered off and the reactor didn''t blow.¡± Luxea said. ¡°If they were unlucky, it was ejected and blew too close to the ship.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°There''s no way to see which it was, is there?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°That means we can''t approach until we know we won''t get a lethal dose of radiation, right?¡±


    Luxea nodded. ¡°To be safe, yes.¡±


    ¡°Any communications?¡±


    ¡°No, but they might be playing dead like us¡± Luxea said. ¡°Just in case there''s enemies still around.¡±


    ¡°I guess there''s no chance for a covert signal.¡± I said.


    ¡°Not with the outdated communications array.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Remind me to drop a seismic charge on that station when we head back that way.¡± I said.


    Luxea chuckled for a moment, then she stopped when she saw my serious face. ¡°You''re not kidding.¡±


    ¡°I was willing to let the theft go, since I didn''t think it was going to matter much; but, now it''s putting our lives in danger and that I won''t stand for.¡± I said. ¡°If we still had the original one, we might have even contacted the planet through all that interference and had rescue ships out here for everyone.¡± I motioned out the viewscreen at the debris field. ¡°Instead, we''re just watching everything expire.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think that alien knew this would happen or that we would be caught up in a situation like this.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I know.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Could you keep watch for another hour? If Rhubin wakes up, see what he wants to do. I''ll come back then and let you get some sleep.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think that''s a good idea?¡± Luxea asked, doubt clear in her voice.


    ¡°We''re kind of stuck here right now.¡± I said. ¡°Of course, we could abandon the job and fly around the star and hope to find a clear hyperpace jump point and not an enemy fleet picking off the stragglers.¡±


    Luxea stared at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°Do you want to do that?¡± I asked.


    Luxea shook her head. ¡°What I want is to try to do something besides just sitting here.¡±


    ¡°You are doing something.¡± I said and pointed to the navigation display. ¡°I know you''re not a navigator by trade; but, Cassie pawned the job off on you enough that I''m sure you can try and find a good route through that mess.¡±


    ¡°You''re trusting me with that?¡± Luxea asked, and I saw the surprise on her face.


    I put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. ¡°I''ve trusted you to handle a lot of things so far, haven''t I?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°What kind of friend would I be if I didn''t trust you enough to dump one more impossible task on you?¡±


    Luxea snorted a laugh. ¡°Thanks a lot.¡±


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said and let her shoulder go, then I left the cockpit.


    I went to my bedroom and closed and locked the door, then walked over to my desk. On it were four thick cylinders, slightly larger than my own. They were untested, as was mine, since we hadn''t visited a planet for me to test it. I couldn''t wait until then, so I had constructed four more Light swords with all the different options that mine had, except I used much better regulators with more settings. I had also made the components modular, so that if one part didn''t work or burned out quickly, I could replace them easily or remove them and it wouldn''t affect the other parts.


    I had taken my time and modified my heavy cloth uniform to add four long cloth pockets, one on the outside of each thigh and one on the underside of each forearm. I made sure that it didn''t interfere with the heavily modified power armor Luxea had installed and it gave me access to four backup weapons. I was tempted to make the rest of the crystals into Light swords as well, then decided to keep them as backups to replace the crystals when they wore down.


    I took off my uniform and tucked the cylinders into the custom pockets, then turned the armor''s power off and plugged it in. It would charge faster that way and I liked wearing less clothing when I meditated. I walked over to the bed and climbed onto it, assumed the lotus position wearing just my underwear, then used several mental techniques to enter a meditative and relaxed state. I blocked out all sound as I concentrated on the flow of Presence around me. I focused on my own body first and felt the strong Presence there, then I changed focus to the Presence inside the ship.


    My detection range had grown slightly, since the boost that Aphatoris had given me, and I was using it constantly so that let me expand it out further. I turned my head to look at the five women that sat on the couches and bunks in the spare room, and they were hunched over and looked very sad. I looked up at the empty shuttle and saw that it was still in standby mode and was still empty. I looked at the cockpit of my ship and saw that Luxea was hunched over the navigation controls and her fingers typed faster than I thought they could. It made me smile and I looked at Rhubin, who was still unconscious in the pilot''s seat.


    Satisfied that I could easily see everything in the ship, I changed my focus to feel everything within my detection range. I caught my breath as I felt the deflector shields that surrounded the ship and the strong Presence that the energy had in it. I turned my head when I felt a small wave of Presence flow over the ship and looked in the direction it came from. I was surprised to see that it wasn''t from the star that we were fairly close to.


    It was from another ship.


    We''ve just been scanned! I thought in surprise and jumped off the bed, turned on my armor as I picked it up, then ran from my room. I thought about calling Luxea; but, I would have to waste time with trying to explain what I felt. I reached the cockpit silently a few seconds later and Luxea jumped a little as I reached around her and hit the button to show the local system on the large display.


    ¡°There''s another ship here?¡± Luxea looked at the details. ¡°How did you...¡±


    ¡°No time.¡± I said and pointed at the markings, now that I could see them. ¡°Those don''t match the delegate''s clothing.¡±


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Luxea asked. To her credit, she didn''t ogle my near nakedness.


    ¡°Hope for the best and plan for the worst.¡± I said and quickly put on my uniform of power armor. ¡°Can you open a couple of the weapon hatches without it being discovered?¡±


    ¡°Which ones?¡±


    ¡°The assault laser cannons.¡± I said. ¡°If they come close or threaten to board us, I want them sufficiently discouraged from doing that.¡±


    ¡°What if they just want to know why we''re here?¡±


    ¡°It depends on why they want to know.¡± I said. ¡°Do they want to escort us to a safe haven to protect us from others or do they want to take the delegates hostage to force the locals to surrender?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what? Why would they do that?¡±


    ¡°Because they can?¡± I asked, and Luxea couldn''t refute that.


    ¡°Everything''s hidden on the ship and the deflector screens cover everything, so I can reveal the laser cannons without giving anything away.¡± Luxea said and did it. ¡°Okay, we''re armed and ready.¡±


    ¡°What about the shuttle?¡± I asked. ¡°It''s docked to the top of the ship.¡±


    ¡°It''s small enough to be covered; but, it''s going to give their scanners a really weird cross section.¡±


    ¡°As long as it keeps them guessing.¡± I said and looked at Rhubin. ¡°I''m sorry about this.¡± I said and gathered some Presence to my hand and pushed it into his head, then used it to boost his own Presence to make it rush to his head. It acted just like I had dumped a bucket of cold water onto his face.


    ¡°ARGH!¡± Rhubin yelled and woke up, then rubbed his face several times. ¡°Dammit! What the hell?!?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, Rhubin.¡± I said. ¡°We have company.¡±


    Rhubin was fully awake and looked at the main display, and grimaced. ¡°Bad company.¡± He said. ¡°It''s a scout ship.¡±


    ¡°Okay, it''s worse than I thought.¡± I said. ¡°Luxea, still no communications?¡±


    ¡°No, they''re staying quiet.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Maybe they''re waiting for us to make a move first.¡±


    ¡°Rhubin?¡±


    ¡°Strap in. One jink coming right up.¡± Rhubin said and added a little power to the engines, then dropped the ship about twenty feet.


    HOOOAAHHHH! HOOOAAHHHH!


    The target lock alarm went off and Rhubin rolled the ship as two missiles flew right above us and through the spot where we had just been. I had used Presence to hold myself to the deck and stood there calmly.


    ¡°The missiles aren''t following us so they must be direct fire only.¡± Rhubin said in relief as the alarm stopped. He poured energy into the engines and flew down below the enemy ship to get out of its weapon''s firing arc.


    ¡°Do it, Luxea.¡± I said.


    ¡°Rhubin, give me a good shot!¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°You got it... in three... two... one.¡± Rhubin said and rolled the ship upside down and flew straight up at the scout ship. Luxea pulled and held the trigger and I wasn''t surprised to see and feel the large and highly charged laser bolts as they left the front of the ship. What did surprise me was that they went right through the scout ship''s cockpit as if it wasn''t there.


    Then it really wasn''t.


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± Luxea whispered and let the trigger go.


    ¡°I love this ship!¡± Rhubin exclaimed as he brought the ship around and stopped to give us a view right into the middle of the scout ship. We saw the pieces of two alien bodies floating in the hallway. ¡°Looks like they were already decompressed.¡± He said. ¡°They would have been blown out into space otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Should we... go and see if...¡± Luxea was breathing heavily.


    I put my hand on her shoulder and she looked up at me. ¡°They were going to kill us if we moved... then tried to kill us when we did.¡± I moved my hand from her shoulder to rub the back of her neck. ¡°You did great.¡±


    ¡°I... I killed them.¡±


    ¡°No, I did.¡± I said, and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°I ordered you to fire.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°It''s all on me, okay?¡± I said and put a little bit of Presence into my hand and eased it into her neck. She sighed at the tingly feeling and I felt her relax.


    ¡°Why don''t you go and rest for a while.¡± I said.


    ¡°O-okay.¡± Luxea said and stood up, put a hand on my chest for a moment, then left the cockpit.


    ¡°Her first death.¡± Rhubin said after a minute. ¡°It''s always a bit of an eye-opener.¡±


    ¡°You saw my first casual kill, so what did you think?¡± I asked and sat down on the co-pilot''s seat.


    ¡°That thief was the first time you killed in public?¡± Rhubin asked, and I heard the surprise in his voice.


    ¡°Despite my demeanor at the time, I don''t normally kill people like that.¡± I said and used the ship''s scanners to check for other ships that might be in the vicinity.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Rhubin asked, and I chuckled.


    ¡°I don''t doubt I''ll get to that point, considering all the stupid people that exist.¡± I said, and he looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°I''m not there yet, so don''t worry.¡±


    ¡°I... ah... wasn''t worried.¡± Rhubin said, and I chuckled as the Presence wavered a lot from the lie. The scout ship was well within my Detect Presence range so I checked and couldn''t find any other life forms on the ship. I also couldn''t detect any large energy sources.


    ¡°Do you think there''s anything salvageable on the scout ship?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I''d say the missiles; but, we don''t have missile launchers, so no.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Can we rig the engines to send it into the debris field or something?¡± I asked. ¡°I don''t want to leave the wreck just sitting here like this. If anyone finds it, they''ll know someone else is here.¡±


    ¡°The engines need primary power, which the cockpit controlled, so that''s out.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We could try and see if we can get the automated thrusters to expend themselves and the ship should drift along with the rest of it.¡±


    ¡°See what you can do remotely. If we can''t do it that way, we''ll hop over there and patch it physically.¡± I said. ¡°The last thing we need is to give ourselves away.¡±


    ¡°You don''t think they contacted their own people yet?¡± Rhubin asked. ¡°It was a scout ship, after all.¡±


    ¡°Luxea didn''t detect any communications at all, so I think Luxea was right. They were playing dead like us and were waiting for something to happen.¡±


    ¡°Which just happened to be us.¡± Rhubin said, and got to work.

 Book One: The Presence 048

    Rhubin managed to get the scout ship''s thrusters to activate remotely, and he directed the wreck into the debris field. He had the brilliant idea to ram it into one of the masses of twisted metal, one we both agreed couldn''t have anyone alive on it, to try and account for the missing cockpit. Both the mass of metal and the wrecked scout ship tumbled along with the rest of the debris field as if it had always been a part of it. Rhubin and I agreed to hide my ship in plain sight, and he flew the ship over near the edge of the field and powered everything down into standby mode.


    ¡°This damn debris field must be huge.¡± I said as we drifted. ¡°How big were the fleets fighting here?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°What does the computer say?¡±


    I checked the calculations that Luxea had been running and whistled. ¡°It''s up to over a hundred confirmed ships so far.¡±


    ¡°A hundred?¡± Rhubin looked at me with raised eyebrows. ¡°Are you joking?¡±


    ¡°It''s still not done, so no.¡± I said.


    ¡°By the Goddess, that... that''s crazy.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Why would they throw their lives away like this?¡±


    ¡°Lots of reasons, most of which are completely stupid.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t say what stupidity drove these particular people to do this, though.¡±


    ¡°At least there''s no more movement.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°That huge ship over there had a shuttle flying around it a while ago.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°Luxea thinks they were conducting a damage survey.¡±


    ¡°What else did she say?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°Their environmental plant is probably gone with their engine room.¡±


    ¡°Oh, geez.¡± Rhubin sighed. ¡°They''ll be running out of air soon.¡±


    ¡°Assuming they didn''t lose most of it in the explosion.¡±


    ¡°We can''t even go over there to help.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°That''s what I was telling Luxea.¡± I said, and he glanced at me. ¡°We could take about six more people before this ship reaches the maximum number of people the air purification system can handle, and we don''t have the training or the personnel to handle rescue operations.¡±


    ¡°I hate that all we can do is just sit here.¡±


    ¡°Luxea said that, too.¡±


    ¡°Is there still no communications?¡± Rhubin asked, and I shook my head. ¡°Well, damn.¡± He said. ¡°I guess all we can do is wait and hope.¡±


    ¡°Considering the size of this battle, even if we wanted to do something, we''d still have to wait.¡± I said and brought up Luxea''s failed attempts at finding a course through the mess. ¡°The best course so far can only get us about a quarter of the way through.¡±


    ¡°There''s too many objects moving at different speeds to get a course all the way through in one shot.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We need to take paths to clear areas if possible, then find another course.¡±


    ¡°Can we drift through like this?¡± I asked. ¡°We''re travelling at a similar speed, so shouldn''t it be easier?¡±


    Rhubin chuckled. ¡°If only it worked that way.¡± He said. ¡°We''re losing manoeuvring capabilities by matching the debris. If we try to fly through at this speed, we''ll mostly be using lateral thrust to avoid collisions and not the main engines.¡±


    I thought about that for a minute. ¡°You''re saying it''ll be like what we did to the scout ship.¡±


    Rhubin nodded. ¡°We could get blindsided by... well, anything... while trying to ease around.¡±


    ¡°You want to try and fly through it normally?¡±


    ¡°Show me Luxea''s other attempts.¡± Rhubin said, and I showed him on the main display. ¡°That one.¡±


    ¡°That''s barely a tenth of the way.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but look around it.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°It''s a relatively empty area, and there should be several more options to take once we get there.¡±


    ¡°You really want to do this?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I''d rather fly up and over this thing; but, the space between here and the planet is chock full of it and it''s spreading out.¡±


    ¡°We could wait it out.¡± I said.


    ¡°We could.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°It should take a few days or so to move out enough to give us a clear run to the planet.¡±


    ¡°You don''t want to wait, do you?¡±


    ¡°Not if I have a choice.¡± Rhubin said and looked at me again. ¡°Do I have a choice?¡±


    ¡°I told Luxea when you woke up to ask you what you wanted to do.¡± I said, and he smiled. ¡°You''re as crazy as those delegates.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to charge them with piracy?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°I was trying to scare them into thinking before they acted.¡± I said and turned to look at them. ¡°They look pretty sad right now.¡±


    ¡°You know, technically we stole the shuttle in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Hey, The Order said I could take it.¡± I said in my defense.


    ¡°To the long haul transport.¡± Rhubin said with a smile.


    I sighed. ¡°All right. I''ll let them off the hook this time.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to go and give them the good news?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°The computer needs a little time to get a course from here to that empty space you like so much, so sure.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll be back in a bit.¡±


    Rhubin nodded and I left the cockpit and walked through the ship. It was really quiet with everything in standby mode, and I went to the spare room. I tapped the door chime, waited for a moment, then opened the security door.


    ¡°Rhubin has convinced me that it''s best to not have passengers secured as prisoners.¡± I said in a defeated tone. ¡°Apparently, it''s bad for business to do that.¡±


    ¡°It... it is.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°You can put a guard on door duty again if you want.¡± I said. ¡°I came here to tell you that we''ll be doing some unorthodox flying in about twenty minutes to try and get through some of this debris field.¡±


    ¡°You''re going through it?!?¡± Sheph asked, surprised.


    ¡°That''s what my expert pilot wants to try.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, we had a run in with an enemy scout ship.¡±


    ¡°How did we get away?¡± Ahaen asked.


    ¡°We''re floating on the edge of the debris field right now.¡± I said and avoided the question. ¡°We''re just waiting for the navigation computer to give us a path inside.¡±


    ¡°Not through?¡± Uzahne asked.


    ¡°It''s too big of a mess to go through in one shot, so Rhubin wants to take short hops to get through.¡±


    The three delegates exchanged looks for a moment, then looked back at me.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°We''re sorry for what we did.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°Only because you got caught.¡± I said, and her eyes widened. ¡°If you had gotten away and went on your own, you wouldn''t even consider apologizing until you saw me again. Even then, you would say you were sorry that you had to leave to do your jobs and not for taking the shuttle.¡±


    Uzahne opened her mouth to respond, then she sighed. ¡°You''re probably right.¡±


    ¡°I''m definitely right, especially if it let you save a few lives. You would have your justification then and it wouldn''t matter that you stole a shuttle to do it or that you left us behind.¡±


    ¡°How can you talk down to us like this?¡± Ahaen asked. ¡°Don''t you have any respect or decorum?¡±


    ¡°Respect has to be earned.¡± I said. ¡°After what you tried to do, do you honestly think that you deserve to be treated with respect?¡±


    Ahaen frowned and didn''t respond.


    ¡°You shouldn''t think so highly of yourselves, not if you want to keep your heads in sticky situations.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and I mean that both figuratively and literally.¡±


    That made them all gasp, even the two guards.


    ¡°You dare threaten...¡± One of the guards started to say.


    ¡°Not me.¡± I said and held my hands up in surrender. ¡°I''m just warning you about what could happen if you talk too loudly or make too much noise around the wrong people.¡±


    Uzahne stood up and walked over to the door. ¡°You''ve seen that for yourself, haven''t you?¡±


    I smiled sadly and nodded. Her hand reached out for mine, and I stepped back. ¡°Be ready for some crazy flying soon.¡± I said and pulled the lever to deactivate the security door, then hit the button to close the normal door.


    I walked over to Luxea''s room and pushed the door chime button. I watched her get up from the bed and walk over to the door, then it opened and I saw her face was soaked from tears. She didn''t say anything as I stepped into the room and closed the door, then I took her into my arms and held her while she cried. Not everyone could handle it when they knew they had intentionally ended someone''s life.


    It didn''t matter if they were an alien or not.


    *


    Master Kara Moor had been home on Ulathall for only a day after she had reported what happened with Ullir and about losing him, when she was called for a private audience with The Wise One. She prepared herself to be seen formally and went to his office to wait. After almost an hour, the over eleven foot tall alien came into the office and walked over to sit behind the desk.


    He can''t have a chair back there. Kara thought as The Wise One sat down and it left him at the same height that a normal person would be if they sat down behind a desk. She quickly used Detect Presence and saw that he sat in the lotus position on the floor and there was no chair.


    ¡°My height can be imposing to some, so I do this to make them comfortable.¡± The Wise One said.


    What do you do about your face? Kara thought as she tried not to stare at the giant fly-like head with the large segmented eyes, then she admonished herself mentally for thinking that thought. That was Ullir''s distorted view, not mine. The Wise One is just another person and not a monster.


    ¡°You are probably wondering why I called you for a meeting.¡± The Wise One said, and she nodded. ¡°You are a member of the council, and yet I believe you are unaware of some of the things going on around you.¡±


    ¡°What things?¡± Kara asked, then closed her mouth with a snap. ¡°My apologies for interrupting you.¡±


    The Wise One coughed a chuckle. ¡°It''s quite all right, Master Moor.¡± He said. ¡°One of the misconceptions you have is that we stole from Ullir.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to respond, then closed it.


    ¡°After you returned from your mission, Ullir was to be given back his things after his coming of age ceremony.¡±


    ¡°His parents'' Light swords were missing the focusing crystals, making them useless.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°He was to be given new ones.¡±


    ¡°The old ones were still taken unnecessarily and can''t be readjusted to their previous owners.¡± Kara said. ¡°The last things he had of his parents were ruined by The Order, so he was justified in being upset about that.¡±


    ¡°We can''t change decades of policy for one child.¡± The Wise One sighed. ¡°Rogue weapons were confiscated and disabled.¡±


    ¡°They didn''t have them when they were killed and the Light swords hadn''t been used in years.¡± Kara said, then she sighed. ¡°Arguing semantics isn''t going to get us anywhere.¡±


    ¡°It can get us to understand what happened.¡±


    ¡°I already understand what happened.¡± Kara said. ¡°We wronged him, he wronged us back, and then he left.¡± She said. ¡°Unfortunately, he''s also committed several crimes and needs to be brought to justice.¡±


    ¡°His bounty has been increased since the murders on the resort planet.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°Against my advice.¡± Kara said. ¡°Having more unscrupulous people out looking for him is not the best way to find him.¡±


    ¡°I made them add the stipulation that he must be brought in alive.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°He''s going to fight as hard as he can before he will let anyone bring him back here.¡± Kara said. ¡°All you''re doing is sending people to their deaths.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think he will kill anyone that comes after him?¡± The Wise One asked.


    ¡°Unfortunately, yes.¡±


    ¡°Then why are you trying to find him first?¡±


    ¡°He didn''t kill me when he had the chance.¡± Kara said. ¡°I know he has feelings for me that will make him hesitate, and I''ll use that disadvantage against him.¡±


    ¡°What about you?¡± The Wise One asked, and her eyes widened. ¡°Will you hesitate against him?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Kara said. ¡°Unlike him, I can divorce my feelings from my actions. I will accomplish this task.¡±


    ¡°All you need is a clue to where he is, then?¡± The Wise One asked.


    ¡°I''ve hit a dead end, and he could be going anywhere.¡± Kara said. ¡°I was so close when we reached the station where his parents...¡± ...were killed. She thought. ¡°...where his ship was stored.¡±


    ¡°Then it''s time you knew something else about the council.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I reviewed the footage of what happened, and I know you were unconscious for Ullir''s conversation with the rest of the council.¡±


    ¡°I haven''t had a chance to look at it myself.¡± Kara said. ¡°I left to chase after him as soon as I recovered.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± The Wise One said and held up one of the small tracking devices. ¡°These are embedded into all clothing, items, and technology that everyone possesses.¡± He put it on the desk and rolled the small pill-shaped device over to her. ¡°It''s a tracking device.¡±


    Kara picked it up and looked at it. ¡°But... how would...¡±


    ¡°With one, we can find what system you''re in. With two, we can find the planet or station. With three, we can triangulate your position and pinpoint exactly where you are.¡±


    Kara caught her breath. ¡°You can find anyone with these.¡±


    ¡°If they didn''t find them and removed them.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°(Undecipherable) found and removed all of the ones on him and his apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Which is why you can''t find him so easily now.¡± Kara said, then her eyebrows raised up. ¡°Don''t tell me that...¡±


    The Wise One took out a datapad that had been modified to receive the proper signal. ¡°Ullir was covered in them when he left.¡±


    ¡°You could have found him at any time?!?¡± Kara asked, surprised.


    ¡°If you hadn''t rushed off, we could have given you this before you left.¡±


    Kara closed her eyes and sighed. ¡°You''re doing this to show me that I did let my emotions dictate my actions.¡±


    ¡°Partially.¡± The Wise One said and Kara opened her eyes and looked at him. ¡°I also want you to find him as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°You were very close that last time. Even closer than you thought.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°What? How?¡±


    ¡°Ullir''s ship jumped out just before you jumped in.¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡± Kara closed her eyes again. ¡°I just missed him.¡±


    ¡°Now you can track him easily... or not.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Kara asked and opened her eyes to look at the datapad. ¡°There''s nothing showing up on this.¡±


    ¡°Which means he''s currently in hyperspace.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°You''re lucky that it keeps track of where the last signal originated from.¡±


    Kara brought up the information and saw that it was a small system, just off the main trade routes. ¡°I''ll go there right away.¡± She said and stood up. ¡°If I''m lucky, he''ll drop out of hyperspace before then and I''ll see where he''s going.¡±


    ¡°Don''t rely on the tracking device too much.¡± The Wise One cautioned. ¡°You know some jumps can take a long time.¡±


    ¡°Like the long haul transport did.¡± Kara said and nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°Let the device guide you, not direct you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. Even if he appears in normal space, there''s no guarantee he''s going to stay there for any length of time for me to go there and get him.¡±


    The Wise One nodded. ¡°Be careful, and go with the blessing of the Goddess.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Wise One.¡± Kara said and bowed, then left the office at a fast walk.


    ¡°She''s still letting her emotions rule her actions.¡± A woman said as she stepped out of the hidden alcove. ¡°She completely missed the fact that she can be tracked as well.¡±


    The Wise One nodded. ¡°I can only hope that her persistence can sway Ullir back to neutrality and away from hating us.¡±


    ¡°I saw the footage of that council meeting, too.¡± The woman said. ¡°I warned you that he remembered everything.¡±


    ¡°You did, and I tried to ease his fears and his concerns.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I miscalculated and made no impact on him whatsoever.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I wouldn''t say that.¡± The woman said. ¡°Lashina really took a liking to him.¡±


    ¡°How are the arrangements for her mission coming along?¡± The Wise One asked.


    ¡°I''ve already set up her tour schedule and she''ll be leaving on the transport next week.¡± The woman said. ¡°It took some doing to arrange one week layovers at all the outposts along the trade routes like she wanted me to.¡±


    ¡°She''s been harassing us for years to give her a tour of some of The Order churches.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°We''ve kept her here on the home world long enough that she deserves a break.¡± He chuckled, which was just a coughing sound. ¡°I''m sure she realizes that she''ll be working during that time as well.¡±


    ¡°She does, and she''s looking forward to it.¡± The woman said. ¡°She nearly tackled me when I gave her the itinerary and the list of appointments she already had.¡±


    The Wise One laughed, and it sounded like he was throwing up. ¡°Yes, I believe she would enjoy meeting all those people that she first met when they were students here.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of that... there''s still no sign of (Undecipherable).¡±


    ¡°Not even at the Shara Nebula?¡± The Wise One said and chuckled.


    The woman chuckled, too. ¡°Ullir was right. Not only was (Undecipherable) not there, he had never been there. It was a false lead.¡±


    ¡°Ullir is quite smart to have guessed that... and about our tracking devices.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°Do you think he''s doing the same thing?¡± The woman asked, and The Wise One shook his head.


    ¡°We put two of the tracking devices into the unmarked credit chips that his parents owned, and locked them with an Order chip reader. He won''t be able to use them or throw them away until he looks at their contents.¡±


    ¡°That was very sneaky of you.¡±


    ¡°I was being pragmatic.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°When he finds out how much is really on those chips... well, we''ll find out when he decides to use them. We''ll get a notification right away.¡± He said and took out a datapad that was configured in the same way as the one he had given Kara. ¡°She will bring our wayward child home. I know she will.¡±

 Book One: The Presence 049

    I held Luxea in my arms for about ten minutes while she cried, then I felt the Presence in the ship change as everything powered up. ¡°Do you feel up to navigating us through this debris field?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Luxea blinked her wet eyes at me.


    ¡°Rhubin thinks we can take a short trip, recalculate, then keep going, rather than go through the whole thing at once.¡±


    Luxea sucked in her breath. ¡°Why didn''t I think of that?!?¡±


    ¡°You can''t be brilliant all the time.¡± I said. ¡°You need to pace yourself.¡±


    Luxea laughed and wiped at her eyes. ¡°Yes, I... I can help.¡±


    ¡°Then we need to get to the cockpit.¡± I said. She needs the distraction. I thought and led her there.


    ¡°There you are.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I was about to start screaming for help.¡±


    Luxea chuckled and sat down on the co-pilot''s seat and started working. ¡°Okay, the course to that open area is still clear.¡±


    We had barely started to move when I felt something enter my detection range.


    ¡°Watch out for that thin slow moving piece there.¡± I said and pointed to what looked like a long thin piece of metal.


    Rhubin slowed us down as it drifted close to us and we saw that it was one of the main structural beams from a ship and it was a hundred feet wide and over four hundred feet long.


    ¡°I thought it was thin and slow moving.¡± I said in surprise as it drifted past in only a few seconds. ¡°Damn, that was weird.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think I''m trying to keep a good distance away from everything I see?¡± Rhubin chuckled. ¡°You don''t know how big something is until it almost hits you.¡±


    We made three more successful jaunts through the debris field before we hit a snag. Literally. A long thick cable had floated out from one of the larger wrecks and hit the ship, slid up the hull, and snagged onto one of the magnetic locks that secured the shuttle to the ship. We started to roll around and Rhubin immediately reversed thrust and killed our momentum. We were lucky that it hadn''t dragged the large ship towards us or we would have been in trouble.


    I could see where the cable was wrapped partially around the magnetic lock. ¡°I didn''t think they made cables that big.¡± I said and concentrated on the cable. I made a large Presence Hand and grabbed the end of the cable and gently pulled. It wasn''t heavy, since it was in space; but, it was huge and had a lot of mass. As I eased it away from the ship, the magnetic lock held it as firmly as it held the cable that secured the shuttle to the hull.


    ¡°Dammit, I can''t pull it off.¡± I said, and both Rhubin and Luxea stared at me.


    ¡°Wh-what did you say?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°It''s caught on one of the magnetic locks that are holding the shuttle.¡± I said. ¡°We''ll have to cut it off.¡±


    ¡°There''s no way anyone should go out there.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Look at all the little things that are bouncing off of us.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t the deflector screens stop the cable from hitting us?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Lots of reasons.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We''re going slow and so was the cable. It''s mass was too much to deflect. It snaked down around the screen and got caught. Pick one.¡±


    ¡°In your professional opinion, can I fit a spacesuit over my uniform?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, sure. There''s lots of room for... no, you can''t!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°You''ve gotten us this far, so I''ll take care of this.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°Even with a plasma cutter, it''ll take an hour or more to cut through a cable that thick!¡±


    ¡°I''ve got something much better than a plasma cutter.¡± I said and turned to leave the cockpit.


    ¡°I''m going with you!¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°No, you''re not.¡± I said and turned back to stop her.


    ¡°I''m an engineer! I know where you''ll need to cut it so it doesn''t rebound on the ship!¡±


    ¡°Considering I can hold the cable and cut it at the same time, that''s a moot point.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you can''t just...¡±


    ¡°I won''t risk your life for no reason, Luxea.¡± I said, and she caught her breath. ¡°If you were really needed out there, I''d drag you along by the hair if I had to.¡±


    Luxea closed her mouth on what she was about to say and nodded instead.


    ¡°Don''t worry. I haven''t killed that blue-skinned bastard yet. There''s no way I''m going to let something like a cable hurt me.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°I''ll be back before you know it.¡± I said and left the cockpit before she said anything else. I wasn''t stupid enough to try and go out the main hatch of the ship, since I would have to then crawl up and over the cable and through that very dangerous area of where it was moving. I went up through the top hatch into the shuttle instead, unhooked my Light sword from my belt and put on one of the space suits, then hooked my Light sword back to my waist. I sealed the shuttle off from the ship and depressurized the compartment, then I opened the side door and saw what I was looking for.


    I took a breath and stepped out onto the hull of the ship and carefully walked, heel to toe like Donny had shown me, and went to the magnetic lock. Turning it off wasn''t an option, because that would cause the massive cable to pull on the shuttle and possibly tear it away from the hull. The cable was about two feet thick and I saw that it had partially wrapped around the shuttle''s landing gear.


    Yeah, that would definitely cause a lot of damage. I thought. ¡°Okay, I can see it. It''s stuck pretty good.¡± I said over the suit''s dedicated communication channel.


    ¡°By the Goddess, Hunter. Be careful.¡± Luxea responded.


    ¡°You couldn''t tell me that before I came out here?¡± I asked with a chuckle, and she didn''t laugh. ¡°It''s all right, Luxea. I''ll be done in a few minutes.¡±


    It took a lot more concentration to create two large Presence Hands to hold the cable firmly on both sides of the landing gear, then I picked up my Light sword and thought about the options. I needed it to be the normal length of three feet, since the cable was two feet wide, so I left that setting and thought about how thin it should be. I set it for one inch wide and then changed the amount of energy it would produce and increased the intensity.


    I needed to cut the loose flopping end off as quickly as possible, since staying out here unprotected was not a good idea. Just as I thought that, the deflector screens shimmered as several scraps of metal, a bag of tools, and a lifeless body bounced off of it and were sent just over my head. They just missed the edge of the shuttle, and I saw for myself just how close to being exposed the shuttle was.


    I activated my Light sword and it formed instantly with a bright glow. I almost had to turn my head away from the sheer amount of Presence contained within it, and I could feel the focusing crystal as it vibrated and handled more power than it normally did. The batteries that powered the electronics also drained fairly quickly, so I put the Light sword against the top of the cable and carefully lowered it on an angle. With Detect Presence, I could see through the cable and knew exactly where the tip of the Light sword was and there was no danger of me cutting into the hull of the ship with it.


    I had chosen the end of the cable that was floating in space and cut through it like a hot knife through butter, then I used the large Presence Hand that I held it with to ease it away from the ship. Once it was out far enough, I gently pushed it to give it a little momentum and sent it on its way. I absorbed that Presence Hand and turned back to the part of the cable that was still attached to the large wreck, cut through that end, and very carefully used the Presence Hand I held it with to move it away from the ship. I didn''t push it like I had with the free end, since all that would do is create a constantly moving hazard like it had been before it caught us.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Okay, I''m done.¡± I said over the suit com. With my dangerous task done, I deactivated my Light sword and changed the settings back to the defaults, then quickly entered the shuttle and secured the hatch. ¡°I''m inside the shuttle.¡±


    I pressurized the compartment and took off the spacesuit, hooked my Light sword back to my belt, then felt the ship move away from the large wreck. I went down through the docking hatch into the ship and secured the hatch, then went to the cockpit. Luxea tackled me as soon as she saw me.


    ¡°I can''t believe you did that!¡± Luxea exclaimed and hugged me tightly. ¡°I was so worried!¡±


    ¡°I told you I''d be right back.¡± I said and briefly hugged her, and she let me go and resumed her seat.


    ¡°It was a heck of a lot quicker than doing it with a plasma cutter.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We barely had enough time to find a good course to the next clearing.¡±


    ¡°Don''t rush it.¡± I said. ¡°God knows what other hazards we might find in this mess.¡± I saw Rhubin''s reaction to my words, and I put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Slow and steady wins the race.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Rhubin looked at me with an odd expression. ¡°What kind of races have you been in where going slow let you win?¡±


    ¡°Never mind.¡± I chuckled, because I didn''t want to explain another childhood tale from my old life. ¡°Take your time and get us through this thing.¡±


    Rhubin nodded, and it took us another twenty minutes to finally get near the inner edge of the debris field. Once there, we floated along to let the navigation computer update its files on the local region. It wasn''t good. The large trading station was torn to pieces and there wasn''t anything moving at all. No shuttles, no rescue ships, nothing.


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± Luxea whispered. ¡°They... they fought right next to the station and...¡± She shook her head and looked at me. ¡°Why would they do this?¡±


    ¡°I can''t answer that.¡± I said and looked at the devastation.


    ¡°Is there anyone on the planet that can tell us what''s going on?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°We can send a signal; but, you know the danger of that as much as I do.¡± I said and my hand briefly touched Luxea''s shoulder. ¡°I wonder if we can float over and check the station out, or even pretend to be debris and ''fall'' into the planet''s orbit.¡±


    ¡°There''s no sign of any other ships on the passive sensors.¡± Luxea said and stared at her display. ¡°I''m just itching to use the full capabilities of the gravity detectors.¡±


    ¡°That would give us away just as much as the communication signal would.¡± I said as I remembered the scout ship, because that was how I had found it. ¡°Rhubin, any ideas?¡±


    ¡°I like your drifting into orbit idea.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°It won''t be pretty, since we''d be drifting at almost a right angle to the flow.¡±


    ¡°What if we bumped into something first?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Now there''s an idea.¡± Rhubin said and checked the navigation display. ¡°Luxea, is that a solid piece of ship over there?¡±


    ¡°It is; but, what if there''s people on it?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°We''re taking it with us, so if there is, we might be able to help them.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Luxea looked at him with raised eyebrows. ¡°How are we...¡±


    ¡°Just watch.¡± Rhubin said and manoeuvred the ship into the right position, partially inside the wreck''s fuselage. ¡°Okay, here we go.¡± He said and turned off the front deflector screen. ¡°Sorry about this Udelis.¡± He said to the ship and added a little bit of power to the engines. A loud thump and some scraped metal sounds were heard, then he added more power.


    ¡°You''re crazy!¡± Luxea exclaimed as Rhubin slowly changed the large ship fragment''s course out of the debris field.


    ¡°It''s only crazy if it doesn''t work.¡± I said, and Rhubin laughed.


    ¡°Okay, I think that''s good enough.¡± Rhubin said and reduced power to the ship. After a little more scraped metal, the large ship fragment drifted a little bit ahead of us. He turned the front deflector screen back on and kept pace with the improvised decoy.


    ¡°Hunter, can you detect anything?¡± Luxea asked as she stared out the viewscreen at the mass of metal in front of us.


    ¡°Give me a second.¡± I said and concentrated on the flow of Presence outside the ship. ¡°There''s no power on it that I can sense anyway.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t... it''s a little far...¡±


    ¡°Please try.¡± Luxea''s hand touched mine and I felt her Presence flare up. I could almost feel her desperation, and my Presence responded in kind. It flared up and my detection range increased just enough to cover the several floors of ship in front of us.


    ¡°There''s five people... actual people, not aliens... right there.¡± I said and pointed to a spot about halfway up the side of the wreck. ¡°It''s a closed compartment from what I can tell and they''re huddled together.¡±


    ¡°We have to help them.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°We''ve got about an hour or so before we near the station and enter the same high orbit around the planet.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°If you''re going to do something, it needs to be done before then.¡±


    ¡°Are they wearing spacesuits?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°No.¡± I said.


    Luxea sighed. ¡°We''d have to bring them the spare suits from the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°I can''t fly the shuttle and fly this ship at the same time.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°She wants me to do it.¡± I said.


    Rhubin looked at me and then at Luxea. ¡°He doesn''t have any flying experience in space!¡±


    ¡°One of my guards does.¡± Uzahne said from the hallway. ¡°We were going to take the shuttle and she was going to fly it.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how dangerous it is to fly in this situation?¡± Rhubin asked, without taking his eyes off of his instruments.


    ¡°I don''t have to. She''s an experienced pilot.¡±


    ¡°Then you can just...¡±


    ¡°Only she can come.¡± I said. ¡°She has to stay in the cockpit and she can''t wear a spacesuit, unless she has one stashed somewhere.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure she will accept the risk.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°You are not going to order her to do this.¡± I said sternly.


    Uzahne looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°I... I wasn''t going to.¡±


    I felt a waver in the Presence and sighed. ¡°You can''t order her to risk her life for people she doesn''t know.¡± I said and walked past her. ¡°I''ll just ask her if she wants to try.¡±


    ¡°W-wait!¡± Uzahne quickly walked after me. When we reached the spare room, the guard standing outside was the one I needed to talk to.


    ¡°Go inside, please.¡± I said to Uzahne and motioned for her to enter the spare room. ¡°Quietly.¡±


    Uzahne squinted her eyes at me and stepped into the room, and I shut the security door to lock them in.


    ¡°I''d like to talk to you for a minute.¡± I said to the guard, and she frowned at me. ¡°Come to my office.¡± I motioned down the hallway and she glanced at the room, then walked ahead of me. She stopped walking when she reached my room.


    ¡°Do I go in there to die, or are you going to kill me right here in the hallway for trying to steal the shuttle?¡± The guard asked as she turned to face me.


    I smiled and bared my teeth at her. ¡°It''s not going to be that easy for me to forgive you.¡±


    She gasped as she jumped to the wrong conclusion and tried to draw her laser pistol from the holster. I moved before she could and put my hand over the top of the holster, and she grabbed my hand instead. I saw various thoughts cross her face, then it flushed red.


    ¡°P-please, don''t.¡± The guard said and lowered her eyes. ¡°I... I''m...¡±


    ¡°You misunderstand.¡± I said, and she looked up at me. ¡°There are people trapped in a wreck we are using for cover. I need someone to fly me over there in the shuttle so I can give them space suits and bring them back.¡±


    ¡°You''re serious.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°This is strictly volunteer. I won''t ask you to risk your life for people you don''t know. It''s your choice to come or not.¡±


    ¡°You''re going anyway.¡± She said as her slight blush faded, and I nodded.


    ¡°If you agree, the only thing that changes is how quickly I can get there.¡± I said. ¡°Also, there won''t be a spare spacesuit for you. You''ll be in the shuttle''s cockpit behind the blast door and fully pressurized. If anything happens... well, you know what will happen if it does.¡±


    The guard nodded. ¡°How long do we have?¡±


    ¡°About an hour before we hit the high orbit of the planet.¡±


    ¡°Will you reconsider charging the delegates with piracy?¡± The guard asked.


    ¡°That shouldn''t be what you''re thinking about right now.¡± I said. ¡°I already decided that...


    ¡°I won''t do it if you keep them prisoner.¡± The guard said adamantly and interrupted me. ¡°Tell me right now that you''re letting them go, or those trapped people will die.¡±


    ¡°I don''t like being dictated to.¡± I said sternly.


    ¡°I don''t care.¡± The guard said, defiantly. ¡°Either say it and mean it, or you can go jump out the hatch by yourself. Without a safety line. Into the darkness.¡± She smiled. ¡°All alone.¡±


    I was tempted to tell her no, just to see her reaction, then I realized I would be lying and I didn''t want to do that. ¡°Fine. I won''t have them charged with piracy.¡± I said, and I saw her face go from smugness to surprise, probably because I gave in so easily. I bet she believed I was going to argue. I thought with amusement. ¡°Don''t let that influence your decision.¡± I warned her. ¡°If you do this, your life is going to be in danger now, not at some arbitrary point in the future.¡±


    The guard opened her mouth, closed it, then she smiled. ¡°I know it''s dangerous; but, I have to agree with the delegates. If there''s something we can do to help, then we should.¡±


    ¡°Uzahne was going to order you to go.¡± I said, and she nodded.


    ¡°I knew she would, just so I would be under her orders if I died.¡± The guard said.


    ¡°Does that matter?¡± I asked. ¡°You''ll still be dead.¡±


    ¡°It would be in her service and that would ensure my family''s future and respect.¡± The guard said. ¡°It would be for giving my life for her, if you''re wondering.¡± She said. ¡°She also accepts the responsibility of my death.¡±


    ¡°And the guilt.¡± I said, and the guard nodded. ¡°Then we should stop by the spare room and let her order you.¡±


    ¡°But... I thought...¡±


    ¡°I only wanted to make sure you made the decision for yourself and you weren''t being forced into it.¡± I said. ¡°Now that I know, you''ll need as much protection as you can get before we do this.¡±


    ¡°You...¡± The guard took a breath and let it out. ¡°How can you be really scary and really nice at the same time?¡±


    ¡°It''s called charm.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Speaking of which, you can probably let my hand go now.¡±


    The guard jumped a little and looked down at her holster, where she still had a hold of my hand. ¡°I... um...¡±


    I lifted my hand from her holster and she didn''t let it go. ¡°Sometimes, even just a casual touch can be reassuring.¡± I said and turned my hand slightly to hold hers and gave it a squeeze. ¡°We''re about to go spit in death''s face. If you need me to hold your hand for a little while, I can do that.¡±


    The guard looked at our clasped hands and then at my face. ¡°You know I don''t actually like you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I hear that a lot for some reason.¡±


    The guard chuckled before she could stop herself and then looked surprised.


    ¡°Come on.¡± I said. ¡°We need to get your orders from Uzahne before you can fly me into death''s bony clutches.¡±


    The guard just stared at me as we walked down the hallway and back to the spare room holding hands.

 Book One: The Presence 050

    Uzahne gave the order to her guard gratefully, then the guard and I were up into the shuttle. I dressed in a spacesuit and she closed the blast door to cut off the cockpit. I depressurized the compartment I was in, disengaged the small umbilical on the bottom hatch, then opened the large hatch on the side of the shuttle. I quickly used Presence Hands to take the tie down cables off of the shuttle and stepped back inside and closed the hatch.


    ¡°Okay, we''re free.¡± I said.


    ¡°All right. Here we go.¡± The guard said and added power to the engines. She did it very slowly, since there wasn''t a lot of room for her to fly around between the ship and the wreckage.


    ¡°The schematics of the ship say there''s a docking ring just above the lip of the wreck.¡± Luxea said over the com channel. ¡°Cross your fingers that it''s still intact.¡±


    ¡°Dammit, don''t jinx it.¡± The guard said and eased the shuttle out from behind the wreck. ¡°I''m nervous enough flying like this as it is without having to worry about not having anything to land on!¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Just relax.¡± I said calmly into my suit com. ¡°You''ve done this hundreds of times.¡±


    ¡°No, I haven''t!¡± The guard exclaimed and the shuttle swung out a little too far, then swung back in close to the wreck.


    ¡°Calm down and listen to my voice.¡± I said and used a mental technique to calm myself, then used a bit of Presence through the blast door and eased it into her and shared my calmness. ¡°You are a leaf on the wind. Nothing can touch you. You''ve done this so many times that you could do it blindfolded.¡±


    ¡°I... I do feel calmer.¡± The guard said. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Now take us up and land this thing.¡± I said, and I felt the shuttle swing out from under the wreck and swoop over the lip.


    ¡°I see it.¡± The guard said. ¡°No response to the automated dock command.¡±


    ¡°That''s all right.¡± I said. ¡°You''ve got this.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± The guard said and brought the shuttle over to the small docking ring. ¡°I''m flipping us onto the side.¡± The shuttle rotated in space onto its side to match the bottom hatch of the shuttle to the hatch on the wreck and drifted in towards the docking ring. ¡°We''re almost there.¡±


    I watched with Detect Presence as the shuttle approached the wreck. ¡°Move back about six degrees.¡± said. ¡°Stern of the shuttle, I mean.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± The guard asked.


    ¡°Positive.¡± I said, and the ship moved back the right amount. ¡°Hold it there.¡±


    The shuttle drifted down and landed on the side of the wreck, and the bottom hatch was directly above the small docking ring. I opened the hatch on the floor of the shuttle and reached down to open the hatch into the wreck. Thankfully, it wasn''t warped or damaged in any way, so it opened smoothly. I could tell that it wasn''t pressurized and there was no sudden rush of air, so I pulled myself down into the wreck and opened the panel beside the hatch. I pulled the manual release and cranked the little wheel, then the small umbilical raised up and touched the bottom of the shuttle. I couldn''t hear the click; but, I saw the magnetic seal jump slightly and make full contact with the shuttle.


    I checked to see if it was sealed all the way around and nodded. ¡°Okay, we''re docked.¡±


    ¡°Still no power.¡± The guard said. ¡°I don''t have any readings from it.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. I didn''t think to take a power pack for that.¡± I said as I climbed back into the shuttle and took out the five remaining spacesuits. I laid the five bundles right beside the hatch for easy retrieval, then eased myself down through the hatch and into the wreck. ¡°I''m going to check on the survivors and see what the situation is like.¡±


    ¡°Watch out for small sharp edges.¡± The guard said. ¡°Spacesuits aren''t designed for harsh environments like that.¡±


    ¡°They should be.¡± I said and landed on the deck. ¡°There''s no gravity or air in this part.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if it''s just vented?¡± Luxea asked over the suit com. ¡°Sometimes non-essential parts are emptied of air during battles.¡±


    ¡°How would you know that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s part of the ship design course.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Warships have lots of empty space around critical areas to stop explosive decompression when they''re damaged.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked and popped my feet up off of the floor and floated down the hallway.


    ¡°It''s an interesting philosophy, except that it makes the ships bigger and easier targets.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Let me guess. Too much armor also makes them easier targets.¡± I said and stopped floating when I came to a hatch that led to a stairway.


    ¡°It''s a trade off.¡± Luxea said. ¡°More armor lets you fight longer and also slows you down so you have to fight longer.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that figures.¡± I said and used Presence to feel the air on the other side. ¡°I''m at a hatch and I can detect air on the other side. What do I do?¡±


    ¡°How do you know there''s... no, never mind.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Okay, look for a maintenance locker. Huge ships need them on every level.¡±


    I floated down the hallway to the end and found a red locker. It was the size of the end of the hallway. ¡°Is it red?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and it''s probably locked.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°That''s okay. I have a key.¡± I said and floated back, took out my Light sword, and set it to low intensity, one foot in length, and one inch wide. I activated it and looked at the locking mechanism in the door of the locker. I smiled and stuck the tip of my small Light sword into it, then carved a small circle around it. I used a Presence Hand to grab the severed lock and put it on the floor, so it wouldn''t be floating around, then opened the locker.


    ¡°Okay, it''s open. What am I looking for?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s a large cloth and metal bundle. It''s slightly longer than a hatch opening, so it should be easily to find.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Assuming it hasn''t been used already.¡±


    ¡°I have it.¡± I said and pulled the large rectangular bundle out of the locker. ¡°Do I need anything else?¡±


    ¡°No, it''s self-contained.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s a portable airlock.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It lets you transition between an airless room and one with air.¡±


    ¡°Why don''t we have one of these things?¡± I asked and carried it over to the stairway hatch.


    ¡°It''s worth about ten thousand credits and it can only be used once.¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You''ll see when you use it.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Just a second.¡± I said and read the instructions on the thing. I stood it up next to the hatch and hit the first button. I saw the energy flow along the back of it and then felt the heat. ¡°It''s welding itself to the wall!¡±


    ¡°I told you.¡± Luxea said. ¡°When it''s done, you need to carefully fold it over the hatch and get any debris out of the way.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± I said.


    I looked and made sure that there wasn''t any debris in the way, then I slowly folded the portable airlock over the hatch. When it covered it, I hit the second button. The top, bottom, and other side of it welded itself to the wall and made a complete seal. I hit the third button and the thing inflated to create a space inside about the size of a telephone booth.


    ¡°Okay, this thing is great.¡± I said and opened it, then floated inside and closed it behind me. I hit the button next to the wall that said ''Pressurize'', and I felt compressed air enter the space. ¡°I suppose it''s the welding mechanism that makes it a one-use thing.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It needs to be cut off once it''s used.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°What if you used magnetic locks instead of welding?¡± I asked and opened the hatch, and some of the air in with me escaped to equalize in the stairwell.


    ¡°You would need a perfectly flat surface and a strong power source for the magnetic field, which is bulky and heavy to use.¡± Luxea said. ¡°This thing was the best compromise, since it fuses itself to the wall, and like you just discovered, anyone can use it without training.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Okay, convenience makes sense.¡± I said and floated down the stairs. ¡°The air''s not as thick as it should be.¡±


    ¡°There''s probably an intermittent leak somewhere. After all the damage that thing took, I''m surprised there''s any air at all.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''m glad there is, though.¡±


    ¡°I should have brought the spacesuits with me.¡± I said and stopped when I reached the floor I needed to get to. Using Presence, I could feel that there was air on the other side of the hatch and opened it.


    ¡°No, you need to make sure the way is clear for safe passage first.¡± Luxea said.


    I floated out into the hallway and turned towards the room that had the survivors to see several metal girders jammed down through the ceiling. ¡°I see what you mean.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Luxea asked, and I described what I saw. ¡°Hunter, you need to be very careful.¡± She warned me. ¡°Some of them could be either letting the air escape, or keeping the air in.¡±


    ¡°Well, that clears things up for me.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I know, I know.¡± I said and approached the closest one. ¡°The first one looks just structural.¡± I said and looked up to see that it was from the floor above. I took out my Light sword and reset it to the default normal settings, then held the metal girder steady with a Presence Hand. I floated up to the ceiling and cut the girder off an inch from the ceiling, then thought about what I could do to stop it from moving.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°I''m going to try something to keep this thing from moving.¡±


    ¡°Don''t do anything stupid.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I''m just going to crank the intensity of my Light sword to try and melt the end of the metal, then use a Presence Hand to smoosh the hot metal into the ceiling.¡±


    ¡°Smoosh? What''s that mean?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Squeezing things together without caring what it looks like when you''re done.¡± I said. ¡°I saw Rhubin do that with a sandwich once.¡±


    ¡°Oh! You''re talking about the leftovers from that restaurant!¡± Rhubin exclaimed. ¡°That was a great sandwich.¡±


    ¡°Rhubin, stay off the channel.¡± Luxea admonished him. ¡°Hunter, just be careful.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to keep saying that.¡± I said.


    ¡°I wouldn''t have to if you had listened to me the first time and didn''t go.¡± Luxea said, and I chuckled.


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± I said and used a Presence Hand to move the girder I had cut away down the hallway past the hatch to the stairwell. I turned off my Light sword and changed the settings to one foot in length, three inches wide, and set it to the highest intensity. Since there wasn''t any gravity, I knew the molten metal wouldn''t drip on me, so I activated my Light sword and very carefully used the tip to essentially cut up the end of the metal girder that was still sticking out of the ceiling.


    I moved slowly, so that the metal would melt from the intensity as well as be cut, then I used a Presence Hand to smooth that metal out onto the ceiling. I didn''t want to float there and wait for it to cool off, so I covered the thing in a layer of Presence and made it solid. I moved on to the next girder, and this one was a bit more of a problem. It came down through the ceiling and went into the floor. I looked up several floors and saw that it was actually all the way through the wreck.


    ¡°I think I found the leak.¡± I said and very carefully eased my Light sword through the part on the ceiling and held the girder with a Presence Hand, then used another to spread the molten metal out as I cut and melted it. I covered the spot with Presence and made it solid, then floated down and did the same thing where it passed through the floor. When the metal girder was successfully cut away, I eased it down the hallway and put it with the other one.


    I had to do three more girders and cut away part of a jagged wall as I worked my way down the hallway, then I reached the room and deactivated my Light sword. I could see the five people huddled on the other side of the door and they looked defeated. I didn''t want them to keep looking that way while I went to go and get the spacesuits, so I reached out and banged on the hatch twice.


    ¡°By the Goddess! Did you hear that?¡± One of them said.


    ¡°It''s just more debris.¡± Someone else said.


    ¡°No, it can''t be.¡± One of the others said. ¡°That was two distinct bangs.¡±


    I did it again, and all five of them reacted. They let each other go, despite needing to stay together to keep their body heat, and one of the men came over to the hatch.


    ¡°Is someone there?¡± He yelled.


    I was tempted to open my helmet to talk normally, then decided against it, since I didn''t know what kind of contaminants were in the air after cutting the girders, so I knocked three times on the hatch instead.


    ¡°There''s really someone there!¡± He said to the others and turned back to the hatch. ¡°The hatch won''t open and the hallway is impassable!¡± He said, then took a breath. ¡°Well, it was impassable.¡±


    I looked at the hatch and saw that it was slightly warped and was wedged closed. I couldn''t talk through my helmet and through the door to tell them I would be right back, so I tapped on the hatch, then tapped a foot higher, then tapped the top of the hatch.


    ¡°No! Don''t go!¡± The man said frantically.


    Good, he understood. I tapped the middle of the hatch, then the top, then the middle again. I''ll be right back. I thought.


    ¡°You''ll come back?¡± The man asked. I tapped the middle twice, and he sighed. ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°I''ve made contact with the survivors.¡± I said into the suit com as I turned and floated down the hallway and out through the stairway hatch. ¡°I''m coming back to the shuttle to get the spare spacesuits.¡±


    I went up to the airlock, used it and decompressed the air, then went down that hallway to where the shuttle was docked. I quickly took all five bundles with me. They were a little awkward, since they were so big, so I used Presence Hands to carry three of them behind me. I managed, barely, to get myself and all five bundles into the temporary airlock at the same time, then went through the hatch, down the stairs, and out into the hallway. I quickly floated down to the room they were in, and I saw that they were all gathered together again.


    Rather than tap on the hatch to get their attention, I put all five bundles down and took out my Light sword. I reduced the intensity to normal and kept the one foot length, then changed the width to one inch. I activated it and eased it into the side of the hatch where it met the wall, then traced the hatch''s outline. The five people in the room stared at what I was doing and weren''t sure what to make of it.


    When I finished, I deactivated the Light sword, grabbed the hatch, and pulled the whole thing out. The five of them carefully let each other go and looked at me. Three men and two women.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± The man that had approached the hatch earlier asked.


    ¡°What? No thank you for saving your lives?¡± I asked and set the hatch aside.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The man said without any inflection. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Your gratitude knows no bounds.¡± I said and picked up the first bundled space suit. ¡°You''re going to need this when we reach the top of the stairwell. It''s vented to space.¡± I floated it into the room at him.


    ¡°Answer the question.¡± The man said and handed the spacesuit to one of the others.


    ¡°The fast transport and light cargo company, The Wave, at your service.¡± I said and gave him a guard salute.


    The man stared at me for a moment. ¡°How did you get here?¡±


    ¡°On a ship, obviously.¡± I said. ¡°We were delivering high priority passengers to Chofaris and found this debris field.¡± I picked up and floated in the other four spacesuits. Everyone waited until they all had one before they started putting them on.


    ¡°Who were the passengers?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°That doesn''t matter right now, does it?¡± I asked. ¡°Hurry up and get dressed.¡±


    ¡°If you brought the enemy here, I won''t go anywhere with you.¡± The man said.


    ¡°Are you stupid or something? Do you just want to sit here and die?¡± I asked and floated into the room without touching anything, thanks to Presence, and everyone''s eyes widened. ¡°When I was captured and held against my will, I never gave up. Not once.¡± I said right to his face. ¡°Are you so weak that you would let everyone die, just because you might... might... need to surrender?¡±


    The man scowled at me for several moments as he kept looking at the black metal blast shield that covered my eyes, then he finished getting dressed.


    ¡°You''re smarter than you look.¡± I said, and he huffed. ¡°Lucky for you, I was bringing three delegates to Chofaris.¡± I floated over to the others and checked their suits, then tapped each of them on the top of the helmets when I saw they all had tight seals, which pushed them down to the deck and their magnetic boots clicked.


    ¡°You''re too late, then.¡± The man said and I turned back to him and checked his seal. ¡°The war already started.¡±


    ¡°By the looks of everything out there, the war is over.¡± I said and tapped his helmet to push him down to the deck. ¡°It''s all wreckage.¡±


    ¡°A-all of it?¡± One of the women asked. ¡°There were over two hundred ships in our armada!¡±


    ¡°Well, our computer was still counting when I left, and it was over a hundred then.¡± I said. ¡°Now I wonder how many enemies there were.¡±


    ¡°They''re your enemy, too?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said as I remembered the brief exchange with the scout ship that traumatized Luxea, then I floated over to the open hatchway. ¡°Let''s get out of here.¡±


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡±


    ¡°The Presence and I are old friends.¡± I said, and I saw the two women''s eyes light up. ¡°Come on, we haven''t got all day.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± One of the other men asked, and he helped one of the women walk.


    ¡°Oh, damn.¡± I said. ¡°Wait.¡±


    They stopped walking and I floated back over to them. I gathered a small amount Presence to myself and my hand glowed as I checked her over and looked at her with Detect Presence.


    ¡°You''ve got a couple of broken ribs.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t heal that much damage.¡±


    ¡°Th-that''s okay.¡± The woman said. ¡°You''re doing so much already.¡±


    ¡°Is anyone else hurt?¡± I asked, and they shook their heads. ¡°Don''t try to be brave and ignore anything.¡± I looked at their faces. ¡°I''ve got a med-bot on my ship.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank the Goddess.¡± The woman with broken ribs said. ¡°This hurts like crazy.¡±


    I looked back at her as I put a hand on her spacesuit, then I used Presence to make a thick layer around the space right below her breasts and made it solid. She caught her breath at the added pressure, then her mouth dropped open in surprise.


    ¡°It''s only to hold your ribs steady while I carry you.¡± I said and looked at the man helping her walk. He nodded and let her go, and I used Presence to pop her boots off of the deck.


    ¡°C-carry m-me?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°Well, drag you with me, actually.¡± I said.


    She got an up close look through my helmet visor and gasped. ¡°Your eyes are covered with metal!¡±


    ¡°I can see everything better this way.¡± I said with a smile, and she smiled back sadly. She thinks I''m lying. ¡°You''ve got short brown hair and the hat you normally wear left a crease in it.¡± I said and she stared at me. ¡°That''s a cute dimple.¡±


    ¡°It... it''s not cute.¡± She said with a red face, and I gently put my arm around her, just under her shoulders to hold her steady, then used Presence to push us out through the opening. She grabbed onto me with both hands and held on. The others walked on the deck using that duck walk with heel to toe motion and followed us out into the hallway.


    ¡°What the... how did your work crew clear it all away?¡± The man asked. ¡°I saw it before I shut the hatch! You couldn''t fit anything like a plasma cutter in here to get at it!¡±


    ¡°What work crew?¡± I asked and floated down the hallway with my passenger. ¡°I cleared all of this by myself.¡± I said. ¡°It was too dangerous to bring anyone else and I needed the five spare spacesuits for you.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± The other woman looked at me. ¡°How did you know there were five of us?¡±


    ¡°I can see through walls.¡± I said, and they all stopped walking. ¡°Hey, come on. We don''t have a lot of time to waste here.¡±


    ¡°You can see through walls.¡± The man that hadn''t talked yet said. ¡°The Goddess has surely blessed you.¡±


    ¡°That''s some blessing.¡± I said sarcastically. ¡°I could tell you what I had to go through to learn how to do it; but, you look depressed enough as it is and I''m rescuing you.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t want to know what you''ll look like if you learn my story.¡±


    ¡°Don''t mind him.¡± The woman in my arms said in a soft voice. ¡°He always looks like that.¡±


    ¡°We can talk about all of this later.¡± I said and motioned to the stairs. ¡°The temporary air lock is at the top of the stairs.¡±


    We all went up the stairs and arrived at the air lock. I took myself and my passenger through first. It was a tight fit, and she didn''t mind it at all. We exited the temporary airlock and I closed it, then took her to the shuttle. She stared at me the whole time and didn''t look around at all.


    ¡°I have to let you go so you can fit through the hatch.¡± I said to her, and she sighed and let her death grip on me go. ¡°There''s gravity past the hatch, so be careful with those ribs.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She said and I put her on the ladder so she could climb up. She only used one arm and both legs to climb, and I watched her as she entered the compartment and sat down.


    ¡°First survivor is aboard.¡± I said and went back to the temporary airlock. The others waited until they were all cycled through the airlock, then they all walked down the hallway and climbed the ladder. I followed them, then hit the manual release for the magnetic umbilical and turned the crank to drop it down, then I floated up enough to close the hatch behind me and entered the shuttle.


    ¡°All survivors recovered.¡± I said and secured the hatch on the bottom of the shuttle. ¡°Okay, let''s go.¡±


    The shuttle lifted off and carefully slid over to the edge of the wreck, then dropped down past it and floated down slowly as it oriented to match the ship and not the wreck. The shuttle dipped slightly, then straightened out, flew to the side a little, then started to drop again. I looked down and watched where the hatches were going to meet.


    ¡°Okay, you''re doing good. Still on course.¡± I said.


    ¡°Thanks for the confidence.¡± The guard said over the intercom.


    ¡°Don''t worry. If you''re about to kill us all, I''ll scream and holler at you even if you keep us on course.¡±


    The guard chuckled. ¡°That''s not funny.¡±


    ¡°Made you laugh.¡± I said. ¡°You''re still good. Keep going.¡±


    ¡°He really can see through walls.¡± The first man whispered, disbelief clear in his voice.


    ¡°We''re almost there.¡± The guard said. ¡°This landing might be a little rough.¡±


    ¡°You''re a leaf on the wind.¡± I said calmly. ¡°Nothing can touch you.¡±


    The guard sighed and the shuttle dropped a little further, then there was a clang as the landing gear touched the hull. ¡°Killing thrust now.¡± She said. ¡°Get us tied down, quick!¡±


    ¡°I''m on it.¡± I said and opened the side hatch on the shuttle and jumped out. The five survivors gasped as I did that, then sighed when I floated down and landed on the hull. They stared at me as I stood there and the cables moved on their own, since they couldn''t see me using Presence Hands, and the shuttle was tied down after only twenty seconds.


    ¡°Okay, we''re tied down.¡± I walked over to the shuttle and climbed back in, shut and secured the hatch, pressurized everything, then checked that the umbilical that came up from the ship was safe to use. The blast door opened to the cockpit and the guard stepped into the rear compartment with us.


    ¡°I can''t believe we did it.¡± She said happily, then looked at the five survivors. ¡°Unless you plan to keep those spacesuits, you need to take them off.¡±


    They exchanged looks for several moments.


    ¡°I think we can let them keep them until they get checked out by the med-bot.¡± I said, and the guard nodded. ¡°It''s gravity from here on out, though.¡± I said to them as I quickly undressed, and they saw my uniform.


    ¡°You really are from a company called The Wave.¡± One of the women said as she saw the patches on my uniform.


    I nodded and stored the spacesuit and opened the bottom hatch again. I''ll go first and you''re next.¡± I said and pointed to the woman with the broken ribs.


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°No buts. You''re the priority right now.¡± I said and climbed down. ¡°We need to get you looked at right away.¡±


    The others helped her down through the hatch and I helped her down to the deck. Her face was red again and I wasn''t sure why.


    ¡°Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you again?¡±


    ¡°Just... just an extra arm will do.¡± She said, and I helped her walk over to the living room. The others came down into the ship and followed closely behind us.

 Book One: The Presence 051

    It took a lot longer to take off a spacesuit in gravity than it did in zero-g, and almost every movement caused her pain.


    ¡°Okay, the men have to leave now.¡± The other woman said. ¡°Is there anyone that can run the med-bot besides you?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°It runs itself, so I think that''s a yes.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then activate it and get it here.¡± She said. ¡°My friend needs medical attention.¡±


    ¡°I need to be near to absorb the Presence holding her ribs in place.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°He''s right.¡± The woman with broken ribs said and pulled her uniform top open, then lifted the edge of her undershirt to show them the slight indent around her rib cage, then rubbed it to show that she couldn''t touch the skin.


    ¡°Where the hell did that come from?¡± The first man asked.


    ¡°Me.¡± I said, and they stared at me. ¡°I don''t want to remove it until the med-bot scans her at least.¡±


    ¡°Then hurry up and get it here so she can be treated.¡± The other woman said. I left and activated the med-bot and brought it over to the living room. The three men and the guard were gone, and only the woman with broken ribs and the other woman was there.


    ¡°That''s a real med-bot!¡± She said. ¡°I... I thought...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and told the med-bot what I had seen. I felt it try to scan her and then it beeped at me. ¡°Sorry.¡± I said and absorbed the solid Presence. ¡°Try again.¡±


    The med-bot scanned her again and gave me two short beeps, which confirmed my diagnosis.


    ¡°Okay, you can go.¡± The second woman said. ¡°We need to undress her and...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± I said and walked towards the hallway. ¡°I swear everyone thinks I''m a pervert because I can see through walls.¡± I said. ¡°I''m the one that''s supposed to be blind and yet it''s all of you that are so short-sighted.¡±


    They didn''t say anything and I walked down the hallway to the spare room. I could hear people talking and the guard there nodded to me. She wasn''t the one who flew the shuttle.


    ¡°It sounds like an argument.¡± I said.


    ¡°They are discussing how to proceed.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± I said and hit the button for the door chime. The talking stopped and the door opened.


    ¡°Yes, what... oh, it''s you.¡± Ahaen said.


    ¡°I miss you, too.¡± I said and looked over her shoulder. ¡°I hear you''re discussing what to do next.¡±


    ¡°We are.¡± The first man that spoke said. ¡°It''s a private...¡±


    ¡°I decide what we do next. Not you. Not the delegates. Not anyone else.¡± I said and cut him off. ¡°This is my ship. None of you have any right to tell me what to do with it.¡±


    ¡°Now listen here...¡± He started to say, and I covered his mouth with Presence and made it solid.


    ¡°I didn''t tell you to speak.¡± I said. ¡°I am going to assess the best course to take for myself. I am willing... slightly... to accept suggestions, and suggestions only. If any of you try to order me, you''ll end up like him.¡± I said and pointed to the man trying to pull the Presence off of his face. ¡°I''m going to the cockpit to discuss things with my business partners and I''ll be back in a little while. I''ll entertain your suggestions then.¡±


    ¡°You can''t just...¡± Ahaen started to say, and I hit the button to close the door and it whooshed shut. I tried not to laugh as she cursed at me, then I absorbed the Presence I had used to cover the man''s mouth.


    ¡°Do you always intentionally piss people off?¡± The guard asked.


    ¡°It makes them focus on something instead of panicking.¡± I said, to her surprise. ¡°I really will be back in a little while. Try to keep them inside so they don''t try to swarm the cockpit and demand that I take them somewhere.¡±


    ¡°No promises.¡± The guard said and smiled.


    I nodded to her and walked all the way over to the cockpit. ¡°Hey, guys.¡±


    ¡°That was some great work, Hunter.¡± Luxea said as she turned her chair around to face me. ¡°You might want to think about becoming a professional rescue technician.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, no.¡± I said. ¡°Have you met the survivors?¡±


    Luxea chuckled. ¡°Both Rhubin and I have been hiding in here.¡±


    ¡°We really have.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We do not want to get involved with politics. Military or otherwise.¡±


    ¡°I was thinking the same thing, so I came here to see what you two wanted to do.¡±


    ¡°Well, we''re almost in high orbit.¡± Luxea said and motioned to the display behind her. ¡°Rhubin said he''s going to nudge the wreck a little more and try to get it to bounce off of the atmosphere.¡±


    ¡°Can you actually do that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It could skip off or become a giant fireball of metal that''ll impact the planet and probably kill millions of people.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Or we could just leave it and see if it''ll stay in orbit or decay and hit the planet eventually.¡±


    ¡°Dammit.¡± I said and waved for Luxea to give up her seat. She stood up and I sat down and turned the chair back to face the console. I started typing and doing various commands to see how much force it would take to make the wreck bounce off into space. I then added in atmospheric pressure and a few other variables, and the computer spat out directions.


    ¡°What in the world are you doing?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Seeing if out-gassing the wreck will work, instead of adding more dents to my ship.¡± I said and typed in a few more things, then let the computer work.


    ¡°Hey, I apologized.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Hey, I didn''t argue.¡± I said, and he nodded. ¡°Okay, I think... yeah, there it is.¡± I said as a targeting icon appeared on the small navigation display. I moved the laser cannon icon over to match it, then sighed as I felt the Presence waver slightly. I let the flow of Presence guide me as I let the icon drift slightly to the right and pulled the trigger once.


    ¡°Hey, you missed!¡± Rhubin said as two large and highly energized laser bolts shot out from the ship.


    The wreck wobbled slightly for some reason and the two icons matched as the bolts struck the right spot and blew out a huge hole in the stairwell. All of the trapped air on the level where the survivors had been, blew out of the hole and acted like a thruster. Rhubin and Luxea watched with raised eyebrows as the wreck veered off and turned from its current course to a new heading. The hole was slightly off-center from the mass, so it gave it just enough sideways motion to ease it out of our way.


    ¡°Should I follow it?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°No, there''s no point.¡± I said. ¡°If anyone''s watching, they''ll see the wreck changing course and will know someone is out here.¡±


    ¡°We''re going to be completely exposed in a minute.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°We were going to be when we headed for the planet anyway, right?¡± I asked, and he nodded. ¡°We should give the station a slow fly-by and see if anyone''s still there.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°Luxea, want to start broadcasting the message the delegates wanted?¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°What about... the enemy?¡± Luxea asked, slightly subdued.


    ¡°We can get to the planet before they can get to us, even if they are hiding in the debris field or are on the other side of the planet.¡± I said. ¡°If they are already on the planet, it won''t matter one way or the other, will it?¡±


    Luxea took a breath and nodded as she sat down, then she started sending the message out to the station and to the planet. There was no response, either good or bad. Rhubin altered course and headed for the station, and still no one responded. I asked him to go as close to the station as he could, without endangering us, and it was just on the edge of my detection range. I couldn''t see or feel anyone with Presence as we passed over the station again, and I shook my head.


    ¡°They could be trapped in compartments deep inside.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°We can''t take on anyone else right now, even if we did find someone.¡± I said, and her face showed sadness. ¡°I was hoping we could drop off who we have and make room.¡±


    ¡°Do we try to land on the planet?¡± Rhubin asked and brought the ship around the station and essentially hid behind it.


    ¡°Without any communications?¡± I asked, then looked at Luxea. ¡°There''s no way to tell if they are even receiving the signal, is there?¡±


    ¡°Not if the receiver is off or damaged.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Getting a signal would let the computers communicate with each other and we would know if they are just not responding. If it''s damaged, they can''t respond.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°All right, I better go and see what kind of suggestions our passengers have.¡±


    ¡°I hope they have like a secret code or something to add to the message to show we''re not the enemy trying to fool them.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°You have a suspicious mind.¡± I said and pat his shoulder. ¡°I like it.¡±


    Rhubin''s laughter followed me down the hallway and I went to the spare room.


    ¡°They''re all waiting for you.¡± The guard said.


    ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± I said and walked by her and went to the now deserted living room, then thanked the med-bot before I took it back to its storage cabinet and deactivated it. I went back to the spare room and nodded.


    The guard hit the door chime, then the door button to open it. I didn''t step into the room, because it was crowded at over double its capacity. The two couches were full and two of the bunks were folded down for the others to sit on. Having nine people in a room designed for four made the large room seem tiny.


    ¡°We have several suggestions for you.¡± Uzahne said as she stood up from the couch.


    ¡°You don''t need to stand.¡± I said and waved for her to sit, and I looked at the woman with a large med-pack wrapped around her chest. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°I feel great and it really hurts to breathe!¡± The woman exclaimed, then she giggled.


    ¡°She really should be laying down.¡± I said.


    ¡°Where?¡± One of the men asked. ¡°If we put one of the top bunks down, we can''t all sit down.¡±


    ¡°Then sit on the floor or stand.¡± I said and stopped myself from calling him an idiot. Almost. ¡°Are you that dense that you''ll let her stay in constant pain because you want a more comfortable place to sit?¡±


    The man couldn''t respond to that without sounding self-entitled, so he stayed quiet. He didn''t move to give her somewhere to lay down, either.


    ¡°Okay, what are the suggestions?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We should go to the station and see what rescue operations are being done.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°We''re currently floating behind the station and there''s nothing going on. No communications, no shuttle or ships moving, and no rescue operations that we can see.¡± I said. ¡°Next.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you can''t just dismiss the idea.¡± The man that had talked first on the wreck said.


    ¡°Are you a commander or something?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Lieutenant Commander He-¡±


    ¡°I don''t need to know your name.¡± I cut him off. ¡°Unlike the wreck you were on, the station is enormous in comparison. I could spend all day looking for people and not find anyone.¡±


    ¡°Or you could find hundreds of them.¡± He countered.


    ¡°Yeah, and then what?¡± I asked. ¡°Do I try to squeeze them all on here five at a time, since that''s all the spare spacesuits I have? Assuming you''d give them up, I mean.¡± I looked at him and saw him clench his fist. ¡°Then what? Ferry them a dozen at a time to the planet surface?¡±


    ¡°What about the planet?¡± Uzahne asked. ¡°Did you try to contact them?¡±


    ¡°We''ve been sending your message to the station and the planet for about ten minutes now and there''s no response.¡± I said, saw her unhappy face, and turned to the lieutenant commander. ¡°My pilot had an inspiring idea, though.¡±


    ¡°Oh, this should be good.¡± The lieutenant commander said.


    ¡°He told me to ask you about a special signal or code word to add to the delegate''s message so that your people won''t think we''re the enemy trying to fool them.¡± I said and saw his face lose some of its color.


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± Uzahne said as she saw the lieutenant commander''s reaction. ¡°Is it true? You have a secret code to allow communications?¡±


    ¡°It''s on a need to know basis.¡± The lieutenant commander said.


    ¡°Hunter needs to know it, you idiot!¡± Uzahne said hotly, and he winced. ¡°We could have been docked to the station or on the planet''s surface already if you had given it to him right away!¡±


    ¡°I only just came aboard and there''s still no proof that he''s not a collaborator.¡± The lieutenant commander said to try and defend himself.


    ¡°He would have left you to die if he was a collaborator!¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Give it to him. Now.¡± She ordered. ¡°This ship could be seen as an enemy at any moment and we could all die because of your unnecessary secrecy!¡±


    ¡°How do I know this isn''t all some ploy to trick us into revealing our remaining forces?¡± The lieutenant commander asked. ¡°I''ve seen some elaborate setups and this luxury ship that''s supposed to be a fast courier is too good to be true!¡±


    ¡°It sure is.¡± I said. ¡°I had a really easy time saving you from that wreck, didn''t I?¡± I said sarcastically and then smiled when I saw him frown. ¡°Uzahne is right. If I wanted you dead, as you seem to be implying, I could have just kept my mouth shut and not told anyone that you were on it.¡±


    ¡°But you didn''t!¡± The woman with broken ribs said and laughed. ¡°Ow! Ha ha ha!¡±


    ¡°Take it easy, Melanie.¡±


    ¡°He risked his life and saved us, then flew me away from death like a bird!¡± Melanie said and put her arms out to the sides and hit two people on the head with her hands. ¡°Whoosh!¡±


    ¡°Okay, calm down.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°He''s my hero!¡± Melanie exclaimed. ¡°He''s a hero to all of us.¡±


    I opened my mouth to argue, then sighed. ¡°We need that signal code, lieutenant commander.¡±


    ¡°I need to be there to enter it.¡± The lieutenant commander said. I motioned to the hallway, and he walked over to me.


    ¡°Don''t try anything funny. You''ll be putting everyone''s lives in danger, not just your own.¡± I warned him, and the lieutenant commander scowled at me. ¡°Uzahne, if we''re doing this live and not using your recorded message, you should be there, too.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Uzahne said and walked over to us.


    I turned to the man that wouldn''t move earlier and pointed to the two empty seats. ¡°Get over there and let Melanie lay down, you insensitive bastard.¡±


    The man stood up to yell at me, so I covered his mouth with Presence and made it solid. He mumbled at me and touched his mouth, then tried to yell anyway.


    ¡°Breathe through your nose, stupid.¡± I said and stepped back from the doorway to let the lieutenant commander and Uzahne out of the room, then motioned for them to walk ahead of me.


    ¡°You shouldn''t do that to people.¡± Uzahne said as we went to the cockpit. ¡°Do you realize how scary it is to be gagged and unable to talk?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do.¡± I said, and she glanced back at me briefly. ¡°It''s quite effective to get people''s attention and it makes them pay attention while they listen to you.¡±


    ¡°It also makes them hate you.¡± The lieutenant commander said.


    ¡°Actually, it''s just dislike and not hate. Not yet, anyway.¡± I responded, and he glanced back at me briefly, too. ¡°Some people hate being told to shut up, though. Why not physically shut them up instead and bypass the verbal assault?¡±


    The lieutenant commander didn''t have a response for that, then we arrived at the cockpit.


    ¡°Hey, Rhubin. You were right.¡± I said. ¡°Secret code.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°It''ll be nice to have a safe place to go and not get shot at.¡±


    Luxea stopped the other message being sent on the communication array and motioned to the computer.


    ¡°Can you look away or something?¡± The lieutenant commander asked.


    ¡°Do you want me to cover my ears so I don''t hear the keys you hit, too?¡± Luxea asked with a laugh. ¡°Look at the main display.¡±


    The lieutenant commander looked at the screen and he could see the number of ships the computer had counted was up to over four hundred, with fifty partial matches, and there was no movement on any of them.


    ¡°It''s analyzed the drift pattern, by the way. The debris field is so big that it''s actually caught in the star''s gravity and it''s in orbit.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Oh, except for your wreck.¡± She said and typed a command, then the display showed the piece of ship the survivors had been on just barely skipped off of the planet''s atmosphere and was headed out to space. ¡°It''s going to miss the other two planets by a slim margin, have its course altered just enough to loop around the star, then come back this way in a few months.¡±


    ¡°A... few months.¡± The lieutenant commander whispered.


    ¡°You need to enter that code.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°We need to try and get rescue operations going as soon as possible.¡±


    The lieutenant commander nodded and quickly typed in a long series of numbers and symbols, then pushed enter. Nothing happened for a moment, then the main display changed.


    ¡°This is a secured channel! How did you... Lieutenant Commander Anson!¡± The woman exclaimed. ¡°How did... where...¡±


    ¡°I''m on a fast courier ship in orbit behind the station.¡± The lieutenant commander said. ¡°What''s the situation?¡±


    ¡°We''ve been gutted.¡± The woman said, sadly. ¡°Most of the station is out of commission and those people that could have retreated to the secured sections deep into the interior.¡±


    ¡°What about rescue operations?¡± The lieutenant commander asked.


    ¡°I''ve been in contact with the main base on the planet. They don''t want to endanger any more lives without some kind of warship to keep watch.¡±


    ¡°How long?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± The woman said. ¡°I''ve got a dozen rescue craft and crews for them just raring to get out there, and we''re under orders to not do anything until there''s someone to watch our backs.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you need to check the rest of the station first.¡± The lieutenant commander said.


    ¡°We can have it done in an hour, since we still have everything going right now. Power, environmental, medical, maintenance. It''s all green.¡±


    ¡°But... the station looks dead.¡± The lieutenant commander said.


    ¡°We''re playing dead, sir.¡± The woman said and smiled. ¡°Once the first missiles got through our defenses, we sealed off and vented all of the outer compartments and cut the power.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha! Nice one!¡± Rhubin exclaimed.


    ¡°Who was that?¡± The woman on the display asked.


    ¡°Just the pilot.¡± The lieutenant commander said. ¡°What does the government say?¡±


    The woman''s face went from normal to very sad. ¡°There... is no government.¡±


    ¡°Wh-WHAT?¡± The lieutenant commander yelled.


    ¡°The planetary defenses weren''t meant to take a full fleet''s missile strike.¡± The woman said sadly. ¡°We took out as many as we could, and we even sacrificed...¡± She stopped talking and wiped at a tear. ¡°It didn''t matter. The capital city of Seafaris is gone and so is everyone that lived there.¡±

 Book One: The Presence 052

    ¡°Those alien bastards!¡± The lieutenant commander exclaimed. ¡°Without a government, our command structure is...¡±


    ¡°Perhaps I can be of assistance with that.¡± Uzahne said and leaned into the camera''s view.


    ¡°Delegate Uzahne!¡± The woman on the screen gasped. ¡°You weren''t supposed to arrive for another two months!¡±


    ¡°I was appointed to the government and came here to assume my position as soon as I could.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Ahaen and Sheph are here as well.¡±


    ¡°Thank the Goddess!¡± The woman on the screen visibly relaxed.


    ¡°Is there any kind of warship docked to the station or under repairs?¡± Uzahne asked.


    ¡°Not anymore.¡± The woman said. ¡°Everything was commissioned and sent out to fight.¡± She said. ¡°Even all of the reserve personnel were called into service to...¡± She stopped talking and took a deep breath. ¡°It''s all gone.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything nearby that...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The woman said. ¡°I told you. It''s all gone.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± I asked. ¡°Wouldn''t something have been left?¡±


    ¡°I have the whole battle recorded if you want to see it.¡± The woman said. ¡°I had a ringside seat and I''m telling you, everything was damaged or destroyed. Both our fleet and the enemy''s.¡±


    ¡°Send us the data.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Also, is there anywhere on the station where we can set up?¡±


    ¡°We''ve got plenty of empty offices here, so you''re welcome to them.¡± The woman said. ¡°It''ll be nice to have someone in authority to take over for me.¡±


    ¡°You''re the senior officer on the station?¡± The lieutenant commander asked, surprised. ¡°You''re only a captain!¡±


    ¡°I told you that they sent everyone.¡± The captain said and held up her hand to show us that it was just a basic claw and not a hand at all. ¡°I was exempt because I''m not fully functional.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Uzahne asked.


    ¡°We ran out of high end spare parts during the battle before this one and I was assigned to a desk.¡± The captain said and chuckled. ¡°Lucky me, huh?¡±


    ¡°You''re alive, captain.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°We''ll be over to keep you company as soon as we can.¡± She said. ¡°What dock should we use?¡±


    ¡°I''ll light it up for you.¡± The captain said and a docking ring lit up as well as a few guiding lights.


    ¡°The back of the station is almost completely undamaged.¡± Rhubin commented and turned the ship to fly it over to the dock.


    ¡°I''d like to say that was by design; but, I think we were just lucky.¡± The captain of the station said. ¡°Our defenses were pretty strong and barely anything got through, until they focused on planetary bombardment and we had to defend that as well.¡±


    ¡°At the cost of yourselves.¡± The lieutenant commander said, and she nodded.


    ¡°It didn''t cripple us as much as we let on, and it also didn''t make much difference.¡±


    ¡°It made a world of difference.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The captain of the station asked.


    ¡°It let you remain viable until now, and we can send out rescue parties for any survivors.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Get the search and rescue crews to meet us and we''ll send you all the data this ship has gathered about the debris field.¡±


    ¡°You came through the debris field?!?¡± The captain of the station exclaimed. ¡°Are you crazy?¡±


    ¡°We jumped into the system on the other side of it, so we didn''t have much choice.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We tried sitting still for a while and that didn''t work out so well.¡±


    ¡°Then your data will be invaluable to the SAR operations.¡± The captain said. ¡°I''ll have the large meeting room prepped immediately.¡± She said and cut the connection.


    Rhubin eased the ship to the docking ring and mated the main hatch with it. There was a clang sound as the docking clamps locked and he smiled. ¡°We''re docked.¡±


    ¡°Lieutenant Commander, if you would lead the way.¡± Uzahne said.


    He turned and looked at me for a moment, then stepped around me.


    ¡°He really doesn''t like you, Hunter.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°That''s because he hated having to acknowledge that Hunter had command authority over him, despite not being in his chain of command.¡± Uzahne said and I stepped back to allow her to pass. She didn''t walk by, however. ¡°Thank you for not pressing charges about us trying to steal the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad I decided that, since you''re now the new government of the system.¡± I said, and her eyes widened. ¡°You do realize that the three of you are the entirety of the government now, don''t you?¡±


    Uzahne took several breaths and closed her eyes. ¡°It... it''s just us.¡±


    ¡°You inherited a star system that''s been ravaged by war.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Congratulations.¡±


    Uzahne opened her eyes and looked at me. ¡°I want you to help with the search and rescue.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°I''m not qualified to...¡±


    ¡°You performed the only one here so far, and you knew exactly where to go. You didn''t have to search or fumble around wasting time looking into empty compartments.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Seeing through walls in these situations is an asset that I do not want to lose.¡±


    ¡°It would take me forever to search through hundreds of ships alone.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, we passed a lot of wrecks and the only one I found anyone on was the last one.¡±


    ¡°How much?¡± Uzahne asked.


    ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°I want to rent your ship and services to haul cargo to the wrecks.¡± Uzahne said with a smile. ¡°A search crew, power packs, supplies, and spare spacesuits for anyone you find.¡±


    ¡°We''ll need the other four spacesuits back from the other survivors.¡±


    ¡°Either those or replacements.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°The shuttle''s empty right now.¡±


    ¡°I''ll give you ten.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°You don''t even know if they have ten spares.¡± I said, and she chuckled.


    ¡°I have an entire star system full of wrecked starships.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°I will give you expressed written permission to scavenge what you need.¡± She said. ¡°If you can bring your ship back up to full operating capacity with those resources at your disposal, be my guest.¡±


    Luxea caught her breath and Rhubin looked like he was shaking with excitement.


    ¡°Luxea, you''re the expert on this.¡± I said without looking at her. ¡°What''s the hazard pay for delivering cargo and retrieval?¡±


    ¡°It''s... Hunter, you... are you really going to do this?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Well, I doubt that we''ll be allowed to just roam around without government approval.¡± I said, and Uzahne nodded. ¡°Plus, I''m tired of being accused of not caring about what happens to people that I can''t help and not wanting to risk the people on the ship for the chance to try and save people that could already be dead.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, that''s not...¡± Uzahne and Luxea both started to say, then stopped to let the other speak.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and looked at them. ¡°This is the fastest ship in the universe and it''s not equipped for rescue operations.¡±


    ¡°It can be.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Give me a day of service working with the search and rescue.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°I''ll have the dock workers update the ship so you can do SAR operations without putting yourself or your crew in danger.¡±


    ¡°There''s no way you can update the ship with that kind of equipment.¡± I said. ¡°It''s too small to handle the power requirements needed for it.¡±


    ¡°Then I''ll give you another ship that can.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°Now, wait just a minute.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°What would we do with two ships?¡±


    ¡°Expand your business. Hire more people. Anything you want.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Please, Hunter. I need your help.¡±


    I looked at Rhubin, at Luxea, then at Uzahne. ¡°I don''t need another ship right now.¡±


    Uzahne opened her mouth, I assumed to make another offer, so I held a hand up to stop her.


    ¡°I''ll take the salvage rights and the multiple shipping cargo jobs that Luxea is going to charge you a lot for.¡± I said. ¡°I also want a dedicated credit computer installed to handle everything for her.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Consider it done.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°I need an Order chip reader.¡± I said, and she gasped.


    ¡°Hunter, I... you can''t seriously...¡±


    ¡°I''m sure there''s an Order church or even a full compound here.¡± I said, and she averted her eyes. ¡°It shouldn''t be that big of a deal to get one, is it?¡±


    ¡°Only official Order representatives are authorized to use them.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°It would be useless to you.¡±


    ¡°Then get me the representative, too.¡± I said, and she stared at me. ¡°I don''t mean it like that.¡± I said, and she relaxed. ¡°It''ll only be for a couple of minutes.¡±


    ¡°I... I can try, but... you know what dealing with them is like.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°I''ll accept a maybe for that part.¡± I said and held a hand out for her to shake.


    ¡°That''s all?¡± Uzahne asked and glanced at my hand and then at my face. ¡°I just gained control of an entire star system and you could ask for anything you want.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I really could.¡± I said.


    Uzahne looked at my hand again and back at my face, then she smiled and took my hand. She walked out of the cockpit and met with the other delegates, or rather the other government officials.


    ¡°I think I understand why you didn''t want to ask for more.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± I said and for some reason, I felt like I needed to follow Uzahne. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, what...¡± Luxea started to say, and I ignored her and ran. The main hatch was already opened and I saw Melanie being carried out on a stretcher by the two men.


    ¡°Hi, Hunter!¡± Melanie exclaimed loudly and waved at me.


    ¡°Hi.¡± I said and touched her hand as I ran by and she giggled. Uzahne, Ahaen, and Sheph were halfway down the hallway already, with the lieutenant commander beside them and the other woman behind him. I saw the sliding doors at the end of the hall open, and a group of six men in uniforms that matched the survivors stepped out of the lift. I felt the Presence waver around the second person from the right, and I assumed the man was lying with his actions.


    He''s pretending to be welcoming! I thought. ¡°Stop!¡± I said and activated Presence Run.


    Uzahne and the others stopped walking and turned to face me, and the man reacted to my shout and them looking away. He popped open his holster and drew his weapon, then pulled the trigger just as I stepped in front of Uzahne. The laser bolt crossed the short distance instantly and hit the chest of my armor before I could catch it with a Presence Hand.


    Surprisingly, the laser bolt made a hissing sound and bounced off one of the metal pieces, hit a metal piece on my arm with a similar sound, then deflected into the wall. The electric field around my armor dropped considerably for a moment, then it went back to glowing slightly blue. The people with the man turned on him and started to wrestle with him.


    ¡°Out of the way! You''re only endangering yourselves, dammit!¡± I exclaimed and made five Presence Hands, grabbed the five people between me and the assailant, then pulled them down the hallway. I ran forward and drew my Light sword with one hand as I activated it, which startled the man and he jumped back. I turned my hand to use a back swing and cut his laser pistol in half as I used a Presence Hand to grab the man by the neck and picked him up.


    I used my swing momentum to turn myself around in a complete circle and swung the Light sword in a wide arc, then stopped with it right at the man''s throat as I faced him and held the Light sword with both hands.


    ¡°Don''t kill him!¡± Uzahne shouted and ran over to me. It took her a few moments, and the men I had dragged down the hallway were up on their feet already. ¡°Hunter, we need him alive.¡±


    I sighed and deactivated my Light sword, then absorbed all the Presence Hands I had created. The man dropped to the floor of the hallway, and I looked him over with Detect Presence. I used two Presence Hands to empty all of his pockets and to get the knife out of his boot. I dumped all the things onto the floor, and everyone looked down at it all.


    ¡°He''s not supposed to have that access key.¡± One of the men he came out of the lift with said and hit a button on his wrist communicator. ¡°Captain, we need to send a search team to engineering right away.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡± The captain''s voice said from his wrist.


    ¡°Hoskins just tried to kill the heads of the new government and he has an engineering passkey.¡±


    ¡°Secure him and bring him to the meeting.¡± The captain said, and two of the men handcuffed Hoskins and picked him up. ¡°I''ll send two search teams and we''ll check for tampering.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, can you help with that?¡± Uzahne asked.


    ¡°I wouldn''t know what to look for.¡± I said.


    ¡°But, just being able to...¡±


    ¡°I would be asking them constantly what things were and would only slow them down.¡± I said.


    ¡°All right.¡± Uzahne said and looked at the men taking Hoskins into the lift. ¡°Please escort us to the meeting.¡±


    ¡°I think I should.¡± I said. ¡°On the next lift.¡±


    Uzahne visibly relaxed and we waited for the lift to come back with two of the men. They greeted Uzahne, Ahaen, and Sheph properly, then we all got into the lift and went to the floor with the command center. We were escorted into the meeting room and met the captain of the station and the rescue teams. When asked for what they wanted, the first thing Uzahine asked for was to have a credit computer installed on my ship.


    ¡°That''s a really odd request.¡± The captain of the station said. ¡°Usually people ask for rooms to rest or food to eat.¡±


    Uzahne chuckled. ¡°We''ve had plenty of food and enough rest to last us for a while.¡± She said. ¡°It''s part of the cost to have Hunter help with the rescue operations.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± The captain said and looked at me. ¡°Your searching skills must be quite valuable to justify such a cost.¡±


    ¡°You''re getting off cheap, actually.¡± I said, and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°I turned her down when she offered me another ship.¡±


    ¡°She...¡± The captain stopped talking and looked at Uzahne, then saw the surprise on Ahaen''s and Sheph''s faces. ¡°Then yes, I''ll have a maintenance crew sent immediately.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, captain.¡± Uzahne said and looked at the table. ¡°Is this table holoprojector capable?¡± The captain nodded and Uzahne looked at me. ¡°Hunter, if you would be so kind?¡±


    I raised my wrist communicator and hit the button. ¡°Luzea, send over the debris field data we have.¡±


    Nothing happened for a moment, then the lights dimmed in the room and the holotable came to life as the entire debris field appeared in the center of it.


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± One of the women from a search team whispered. ¡°It''s enormous.¡±


    ¡°It''s also getting bigger.¡± One of the uniforms said and started typing. ¡°Every hour the mass spreads out. In a few days, you won''t be able to jump anywhere into the system without hearing a collision warning.¡±


    ¡°We need to clear those wrecks as soon as possible and either send them into close orbit of the star to get them away from the planets or put them on a far enough orbit away from the star to clear the jump coordinates.¡± The captain said and looked at the search and rescue teams. ¡°Make sure you take enough remote booster rockets with you to handle the task.¡±


    ¡°Can they be detached?¡± I asked, and everyone looked at me with a question on their faces. ¡°You would only need a couple sets if you could attach them temporarily, get the wrecks moving, then detach them and move on.¡±


    ¡°That''s a great idea!¡± One of the search team members said. ¡°If we do that, we can get everything moving faster and won''t need to keep coming back for spare parts!¡±


    ¡°We can relegate a search craft for only doing that.¡± Someone else said. ¡°If we use magnetic locks on the boosters, it should hold them in place long enough to get even some of the larger masses moving.¡±


    ¡°As long as we can calculate the right trajectories, we can disengage the magnetic locks and recover the boosters, then move on!¡± Another woman said.


    The talking devolved quickly into the specifics, and I stood there and waited until the sound died down.


    ¡°I''ve been hired to ship cargo, mainly supplies and equipment, out to the wrecks.¡± I said, and everyone looked at me. ¡°That also includes rescue teams.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure a fast courier could be useful.¡± The captain said.


    ¡°It''s one of the fastest ships in the universe.¡± I said, without a trace of boasting in my voice. ¡°We came here from the Dizahl System in only three weeks, and we didn''t rush.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± One of the SAR members said. ¡°That''s not possible!¡±


    ¡°The Wave doesn''t exaggerate.¡± I said.


    The captain of the station looked at me from my head of hair and blast-shield covered eyes down to my armored boots. ¡°Kitch, take your team and load up The Wave''s available cargo space with rescue supplies, and your team is assigned to that ship for the foreseeable future.¡±


    ¡°You''ll need to empty the cargo area of the delegate... that is, the officials of your government''s luggage and supplies.¡± I said, and then smiled slightly. ¡°The porters at the other station did it in only ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°We''ll do it in seven!¡± The man I assumed was Kitch said.


    ¡°What about the computer installation?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Twenty minutes, if there''s enough space to install it.¡± The woman beside him said, and I looked at her. ¡°It''s not that big; but, it does need access to...¡±


    ¡°I''m sure we can accommodate it.¡± I said and looked back at the captain. ¡°Are we using the back of the station as a staging area?¡±


    ¡°It''s almost completely undamaged, so we can work unimpeded there.¡± The captain said. ¡°We''ll open up one of the backup maintenance docks so the rescue ships can deliver the survivors and wounded without having to bother with hatches and airlocks.¡±


    ¡°I''ve split up most of my medical team to fly with the larger rescue crews and to keep any severely wounded people stable.¡± A man said. ¡°I''ve kept a select few here on the station and prepped the medical bay for as many casualties as possible.¡±


    ¡°Good man.¡± The captain said and nodded. ¡°Okay, people.¡± She said and sat forward in her chair. ¡°Let''s do this by the numbers. I want everyone to concentrate on the outer layer of wrecks that''s closest to us. Once they are searched for survivors, mark them for the booster team and move on.¡± She looked at the people that had talked the loudest and had the best ideas for the boosters. ¡°Harris, you and your team have booster duty for the first six hours.¡±


    ¡°That''s all?¡± Harris asked, surprised.


    ¡°We are not going to work ourselves to exhaustion.¡± The captain stated emphatically. ¡°Six hours, two hour break, then six more hours.¡± She said. ¡°I won''t authorize another work rotation, unless you can somehow find enough able-bodied people to work on the rescue crews from the survivors.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don''t worry about that, captain.¡± Harris said and smiled. ¡°Once people realize we''re doing a full SAR operation and need all hands, they''ll be fighting us for spots on our ships.¡±


    ¡°I hope so.¡± The captain said and stood up. ¡°You know what I want and what needs to be done.¡± She said and looked at them all. ¡°Now get out there and save our people. Dismissed.¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡± They all stood and saluted, then quickly left the room.


    ¡°I''d like to help.¡± One of the men I had rescued said.


    ¡°How''s the woman you dropped off at the med-bay?¡± The captain asked.


    ¡°She''ll be fine.¡± The other man said. ¡°She''s just overly happy from whatever the med-bot on the ship injected her with.¡±


    The captain didn''t say anything for a moment, then nodded. ¡°Talk to Harris. He''ll be eager to have another set of hands.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± The man saluted and left.


    ¡°I don''t see an executive officer.¡± Lieutenant Commander Ansen said.


    ¡°Why? Do you want the job?¡± The captain asked.


    ¡°What''s the pay like?¡± Anson asked with a smile, and the captain chuckled.


    ¡°I need someone in the secondary command center to keep all of these rescue runs straight and to keep track of the survivors.¡± The captain said.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Anson said and saluted crisply, then left at a fast walk.


    ¡°You''re handling this quite well.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°As are you and your associates.¡± The captain said. ¡°Was there anything you would change?¡±


    Uzahne shook her head, as did Ahaen and Sheph.


    ¡°We know to leave matters like this in your capable hands.¡± Uzahne said.


    ¡°All we need to do is accept the responsibility.¡± Ahaen said.


    ¡°We''ll also handle the public relations part, assuming there''s no one around to handle it already?¡± Sheph asked.


    ¡°We haven''t had a chance to say anything at all to the citizens of the planet about what happened, so I''ll leave that part in your capable hands.¡± The captain said. ¡°I''d suggest not saying how bleak things look; but, it''s up to you how much you want to keep from the public.¡±


    ¡°Don''t keep anything from them.¡± I said, and the remaining people looked at me. ¡°If you lie and they catch you at it, especially with how everything is right now, they''ll never believe anything you say later.¡±


    ¡°I really don''t think telling them that we have no fighting ships left is a good idea.¡± Ahaen said.


    ¡°I didn''t say to volunteer information, I said not to lie.¡± I explained. ¡°If someone asks if there are any ships left, tell the truth. Lots of rescue craft are working hard to get as many service personnel back to the station.¡±


    ¡°But... that''s...¡±


    ¡°It''s the truth.¡± I said and looked at the captain of the station. ¡°How many maintenance workers do you have available?¡±


    ¡°A few hundred, and half of them are trying to clear the way to the front of the station.¡±


    ¡°Any chance they have access to weapons that can be retrofitted onto the rescue craft, or even just added on with its own computer and power?¡± I asked, and she just stared at me. ¡°What?¡± I looked around and everyone was staring at me. ¡°It''s a good idea, isn''t it?¡±


    ¡°It... we''ve never... an independent weapons system.¡± The captain took a deep breath, and another, then she smiled. ¡°If you were an officer in our military, I would promote you immediately.¡±


    ¡°I''d rather have a couple of the smaller missile launchers and a few reloads.¡± I said with a grin, and she laughed.

 Book One: The Presence 053

    ¡°You''re funny.¡± The captain said, then she shook her head. ¡°I won''t give military weapons to a private courier company.¡±


    ¡°It didn''t hurt to ask.¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Do you have any other bright ideas that I can steal and implement?¡± The captain asked.


    ¡°I have tons of ideas; but, we should get to work instead.¡± I said.


    ¡°Does that mean what you know can''t be used right away?¡± The captain asked.


    ¡°You''re very astute.¡± I said and bowed my head slightly to her.


    ¡°Then we need to talk at length after all this is done.¡± The captain said and walked around the large table to hold a hand out to me, except that it was the metal claw and not her actual hand. ¡°It was a pleasure meeting you.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± I said and took the offered ''hand'' without hesitating.


    The captain smiled for a moment, then she caught her breath as the small amount of Presence inside of her swelled up. She looked down at her claw and looked back at my face.


    ¡°It seems your mechanical arm is more a part of you than you thought.¡± I said.


    ¡°I... I can almost...¡±


    ¡°When we talk at length later, I''ll try and teach you how to do that better.¡± I said and rubbed my thumb on her claw. She looked down at my hand and then back at my face again. Her normal hand reached up and touched the blast shield over my eyes, then she let her hand drop and I let her claw go.


    The captain turned to Uzahne and the others. ¡°I''ll show you to your offices now.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Uzahne said and glanced at me. ¡°Hunter?¡±


    ¡°Everyone told the truth.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve got to get back to my ship.¡±


    ¡°Be careful.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Goodbye... ah... madam co-president? Co-governor? Co-leader?¡±


    Uzahne chuckled. ¡°It''s too soon to decide who''s who or what our official titles will be.¡± She said. ¡°Once this crisis is over, we''ll have lots of time to figure things like that out.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with that.¡± I said to her and looked at the other two, then at the two guards. ¡°Good luck to you all.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± They all said, except for Ahaen who huffed.


    I left the meeting room and took the lift back to the deck with the ship on it. I saw the hallway had the new government officials'' luggage and supplies scattered all along the walls. I made it to the ship just as Kitch and his team came out of the main hatch with the last of it.


    ¡°Ha! Six minutes!¡± Kitch almost yelled and the team cheered.


    ¡°Those porter pansies don''t have anything on us!¡± A woman said and shared a weird hand slapping and elbow knocking handshake with the man next to her.


    ¡°We''ll get the trolleys of equipment.¡± A man said and slapped another on the shoulder, and the two of them jogged by me and over to a set of double metal doors. One entered the code and the doors opened into a large storage room filled with equipment. They pulled out two tall metal boxes that were covered in a mesh of something like wire. They were filled with space suits, portable airlocks, power packs, plasma cutters, and tool kits. The doors shut and locked and they pushed the trolleys over to the main hatch.


    I was impressed that they could pack all of that into the two trolleys, then they opened the mesh and took everything out of the two trolleys and put it into the ship. I didn''t do anything except watch as they worked like a well-oiled machine and they had both trolleys emptied in barely ten minutes and came back out.


    ¡°Okay, we''re gearing up.¡± Kitch said and they went to the door across the hallway from the storage room, and I could see them going into another room inside that one. It was a locker room, so I turned away and entered the ship. I went to the cockpit and told Rhubin what had happened in the meeting.


    ¡°Bwahahaha!¡± Rhubin laughed. ¡°You asked for missile launchers! Ha ha haha!¡±


    ¡°And reloads.¡± I said, and he laughed harder. ¡°Where''s Luxea?¡±


    Rhubin pointed down and I looked at the floor, and surprisingly, I saw two women squeezed into the maintenance space that was a foot under the floor''s surface.


    ¡°How did they...¡±


    ¡°There''s apparently an access panel on the floor under the center hatch that goes up to the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°You''re kidding.¡± I said, and he shook his head. ¡°I studied the schematics for this ship and that wasn''t on it.¡±


    ¡°I said the same thing, and Luxea laughed at me before telling me that engineering schematics are different than normal schematics.¡± Rhubin said, with the last bit in a slightly higher pitched voice.


    ¡°Okay, I need the engineering schematics.¡± I said.


    Rhubin pointed at the display in front of the other chair. ¡°She said to bring up the last command.¡±


    I sat down and did that, and found the engineering schematics. My eyes widened as I looked at the entire superstructure of the ship. Junction boxes, wire bundles, computer banks, support members and their important seam welds, various crawl spaces, the reactor housing for both the primary and secondary reactors, and even the hidden weapon mounts. It was essentially the skeleton of the ship and its nervous system with every electrical connection that it had to everything.


    ¡°Good god.¡± I said and moved the three dimensional model around. ¡°Okay, she''s totally right.¡± I said and chose the crawl space under the floor. It highlighted and showed where it exited and where it had access to. ¡°This is amazing.¡±


    ¡°She said you''d like it.¡± Rhubin chuckled. ¡°I couldn''t make sense out of it at all.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''m not an engineer, so I have no clue what all these numbers and calculations mean.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°Seeing the real structure of the ship, though... not the generic version that normal people get to see that I thought was the real structure... now that''s really something.¡±


    Neither of us said anything as I kept examining the schematic and then I looked at specific spots to see that it was practically the same, except in much greater detail. In some cases, it was slightly different, so I marked them in a separate file. I did that so I wouldn''t forget about them and could ask Luxea about the differences later. The time we needed to wait for departure seemed to pass quickly. The search and rescue team getting changed, and Luxea and the other woman in the crawl space, finished their tasks at the same time. I walked over to the main hatch and waited for the SAR team, then opened the hatch so Kitch and the others could walk in without having to stop.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Kitch said. I pointed to the living room and he nodded. They all followed him, and I walked over to the access hatch in the floor that was in the middle of the ship and opened it, then gave both Luxea and the woman a hand crawling out.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Luxea said. ¡°We got it all installed and ran separate power and cables for data collection and storage to keep it completely separate from the other computers on the ship.¡±


    ¡°We still have to adjust the chip readers to accept the new signals, though.¡± The woman said. ¡°Luxea can do that while I get changed.¡±


    ¡°The others are in the living room.¡± I said and pointed. She nodded and went there.


    ¡°I''ll get Rhubin.¡± Luxea said and stepped to the closest intercom panel and touched the button. ¡°Rhubin, get your butt to the living room.¡± She said and let the button go. ¡°He''ll be here in a minute.¡±


    I chuckled and she laughed. Rhubin met us in the living room and we had a meeting with everyone and discussed the best way to handle getting them to a wreck and what to do once we got there.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°I think you should get into the cargo bay and depressurize.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°What? Why?¡± Kitch asked.


    ¡°I''m going to assume we''re not always going to get a hatch to dock to, normal or otherwise.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°That means you''re going to have to cut into the ship.¡±


    ¡°As long as we have some kind of external hatch, we''re good.¡± One of the others said. ¡°That''s why we have so many portable airlocks with us.¡±


    ¡°Are you cutting into the ship before or after applying it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We don''t know yet.¡± One of them said. ¡°We''ll find out when we get there.¡±


    ¡°Can you fit a full-size plasma cutter inside a portable airlock?¡± I asked, and a couple of them exchanged glances. ¡°I''m just wondering how this all works.¡±


    ¡°Well, depending on the situation, we would find a decompressed area and cut our way in. We can choose to seal it later if necessary; but, usually we just suit everyone up and bring them back.¡±


    ¡°That''s almost exactly what I did.¡± I said. ¡°I used a hatch into an airless area and used a portable airlock to get into the next area with air, gave the survivors spacesuits, then brought them out to the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°You did all of that and you''ve never rescued anyone before?¡± Kitch asked, surprised.


    ¡°He also cleared away the debris and damage that was in the hallway.¡± One of the men I had rescued said. Kitch had let him join his crew. ¡°I don''t know how he did it; but, he did and it was clear enough for us to get through without any danger.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I''m starting to see why they want you to help.¡± Kitch said. ¡°I''ll split my team between the cargo hold in decompression and here by the main hatch. When we get to the first wreck and see what the situation is like, it''ll only take half as long to adapt.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Make sure you hold on to something while I''m flying.¡±


    ¡°We know the drill.¡± One of the women said. ¡°We''ve been on some wild rides.¡±


    ¡°Damn straight.¡± The man beside her said. ¡°Remember that training exercise out past Granal''s moon?¡±


    ¡°Oho! Do I ever! That was a blast!¡± The woman exclaimed.


    ¡°Can it.¡± Kitch said and looked at me. ¡°I assume you''re suiting up to come with us?¡±


    ¡°I was hired to help search, so I have to.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Can you see this?¡± One of the men asked from behind the group and gave me a rude gesture.


    ¡°Do you touch your mother with that hand?¡± I asked, and he looked surprised.


    ¡°How many fingers am I holding up?¡± The other woman in the group asked with her hands behind her back. I didn''t even turn my head when I spoke.


    ¡°Two on each hand, index and middle fingers.¡± I said and she gasped.


    ¡°What color underwear is she wearing?¡± The man beside her asked, and she growled and punched his shoulder. ¡°What? It''s a valid question.¡±


    ¡°I don''t use Presence to look at women like that.¡± I said. ¡°They deserve their privacy just as much as men who wear underwear with spaceships on them.¡±


    Everyone was quiet for a moment, then they all burst out laughing.


    ¡°You''ve got little ships on your ass!¡± The woman said and slapped his backside through his spacesuit. ¡°Quick! Evasive manoeuvres!¡±


    ¡°Ha ha.¡± The man said, his face red.


    ¡°All right, that''s enough joking around.¡± Kitch said and looked at me. ¡°Grab a spacesuit and join the decompression team in the cargo hold.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± I said and ran to the center of the ship and climbed the ladder, then entered the shuttle and grabbed the spacesuit I had used a few times. I checked it to make sure that it had plenty of air and water, got dressed, then went back down into the ship. I went to the cargo area and entered, and there were three other people there with a portable airlock ready and waiting to be deployed. One of the men handed me a belt with two tiny thrusters on it, so I put it on and nodded. The other man started the decompression process and the cargo area was cleared of air in only a few seconds.


    ¡°I love efficient systems!¡± He exclaimed and laughed, then we felt the ship release the docking clamps.


    ¡°Yeah, that was fast.¡± The woman said. She had been the one I was asked to look at her underwear. The man with the spaceship underwear wasn''t here, though. ¡°How much did this shop cost?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°I thought it was yours.¡±


    ¡°It is my ship; but, I didn''t buy it new.¡± I said. ¡°I inherited it and retrieved it from long term storage not that long ago.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The woman said. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±


    I heard the sadness in her voice and gave her a smile. ¡°It was twelve... almost thirteen years ago when they were murdered.¡± I said and she caught her breath. ¡°I''m still not over their deaths.¡±


    She reached out and touched my arm, then she turned off her suit com and stood up on her toes and touched her helmet visor to mine. ¡°What color is my underwear?¡±


    ¡°Do you really want me to look?¡± I asked after turning my own suit com off.


    ¡°I get the feeling that you''re the type of guy that doesn''t do things casually.¡± She said. ¡°I''m the same way.¡±


    ¡°You''re a type of guy?¡± I asked with fake surprise, and she laughed.


    ¡°Now I really want you to look.¡± She said, and her voice went serious. ¡°My name is Tessa.¡±


    ¡°I''ve promised my first time to someone else.¡± I said right away.


    Tessa opened her mouth to say something, then she smiled. ¡°I definitely want you to look now.¡±


    I chuckled and even though I didn''t have to actually duck my head to look to see them, I did it for her benefit. ¡°Black lace with frills.¡± I said, and she nodded her head slightly. ¡°They look nice.¡±


    ¡°Only nice?¡± Tessa asked, and I could hear the teasing in her voice.


    ¡°I''m sure they would look a whole lot better on my bedroom floor.¡± I said to tease her back, and she raised her eyebrows at me.


    ¡°That...¡± Tessa stopped talking and sighed. ¡°You shouldn''t invite a woman to bed like that if you''re not going to follow through with it.¡±


    ¡°If you don''t mind waiting for about six months...¡±


    ¡°We might not be alive in six months.¡± Tessa said. ¡°SAR crews get the highest pay and it''s also the riskiest job to have.¡±


    ¡°Because you intentionally go out to put yourselves in danger.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°I guess I should have asked for hazard pay, too.¡±


    ¡°You...¡± Tessa shook her head. ¡°You''re only getting paid for shipping and delivering cargo?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°By the Goddess, I want to see how good my underwear would look on your bedroom floor, too.¡± Tessa said and stepped back to end our private conversation, then she turned on her suit com. I turned mine on as well and we heard Rhubin say that we were approaching the first wreck. Luxea couldn''t find a hatch anywhere, so it was our job to start this time.


    ¡°Let''s do this.¡± The man that gave me the belt said as he stepped over to the large cargo doors and hit the button to open them. We all watched as the wreck floated closer, then it stopped about twenty feet away. Before I could say anything, Tessa took two steps and jumped, flipped herself forward, then landed on the wreck as her boots locked her into place. She held a hand out to become an anchor point, and the man who opened the door hopped out and floated over to her. She grabbed his arm and pulled and he turned over and put his boots onto the wreck.


    The other man picked up a plasma cutter and eased it out to him, and he caught it and stuck it to the wreck. A portable airlock was next, and Tessa caught it and held onto it. A power pack and a container that looked like a fire extinguisher was floated over next, then the man waved for me to jump.


    ¡°I''m staying for equipment transfer until we get an entrance.¡± He said.


    ¡°All right.¡± I said and hopped out. Tessa held a hand out to me to do what she did for the other guy, and since I didn''t want to show off, I took her offered hand and eased myself down to the wreck.


    ¡°You''re a natural.¡± Tessa said.


    ¡°This is only my second time trying to rescue people.¡± I said and concentrated on the wreck under my feet. ¡°There''s air behind this bulkhead.¡±


    ¡°You can see air?¡± Tessa asked, surprised.


    I chuckled. ¡°No, I use Presence to detect it and can feel the difference.¡±


    ¡°How does that work?¡± Tessa asked.


    ¡°I can give you a speech on Presence later.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t see any people within my detection range.¡±


    ¡°We can''t cut into an air pocket without causing a blowout.¡± The man with the plasma cutter said.


    ¡°I can; but, I don''t want to waste a portable airlock to find out that there''s no one here to save.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about that. Potential lives are worth more than an airlock.¡± Tessa said, then smiled. ¡°Are there any airless compartments nearby?¡±


    ¡°Give me a minute.¡± I said and started to duck walk away from her, using the heel to toe method. I stopped about forty feet away and pointed down. ¡°As far as I can tell, it''s airless and it looks like the hatch in the room is closed.¡±


    ¡°We''ll have to risk a slight blowout to...¡±


    ¡°Okay, it''s closed and locked.¡± I said after using a Presence Hand to do it. I drew my Light sword and set it for normal length, width and intensity, then plunged it into the side of the wreck. I held in my laughter at their shocked expressions and muffled gasps. They stared at me while I quickly cut out a huge eight foot high and ten foot wide hole from the wall, then I used Presence Hands to pull it out. I moved it aside, increased the intensity of my Light sword and dragged it across the end of the cut out section, which melted it to the outside of the wreck and secured it.


    ¡°If I had a penchant for cursing, I''d be yelling my head off right now.¡± The man with the plasma cutter said, almost in disgust. ¡°I guess I''m out of a job.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I can do some things as long as it doesn''t endanger anyone; but, I don''t have the kinds of experience that search and rescue crews have.¡± I said. ¡°I cut through lots of wires and support structure here. I know I can''t do that on anything except a wreck.¡±


    ¡°I guess that would be a limiting factor for you.¡±


    ¡°Right. I don''t have to preserve anything, so cutting through is the best option right now.¡± I said. ¡°Who knows what the next wreck is going to be like.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Tessa said and looked back at my ship and the man standing there at the cargo doors. ¡°We''ll be back for spacesuits if we need them.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be here hoping you need them.¡±


    Tessa nodded and walked over to me with the same duck walk and carried the portable airlock with her. The man with the plasma cutter was right behind her and they walked over to the hole I had cut in the hull.


    ¡°Okay, that was a little excessive.¡± The man said and we all stepped inside. ¡°Next time, limit yourself to the size of the largest person on the team.¡±


    ¡°What if we meet a really fat survivor?¡± I asked, and that made them all laugh.


    ¡°We can worry about that if it ever happens.¡± Tessa said as she mounted the portable airlock over the hatch inside the room. She activated its functions and it welded itself to the wall around the hatch, then she inflated it. She stepped inside and pressurized it, then unlocked and tried to open the hatch. ¡°Hunter, what did you do to this thing?¡±


    ¡°Hm? Oh, just a second.¡± I said and turned the handle with a Presence Hand and opened the hatch. ¡°I tightened it to make sure the air didn''t come through.¡±


    ¡°Did you just move that with your mind?¡± The man asked, surprised.


    ¡°Technically, yes.¡± I said.


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± He whispered. ¡°You can see through walls and move things with your mind.¡± He said and looked at me. ¡°What else can you do?¡±


    ¡°I can fly in zero gravity.¡± I said, and he laughed.


    ¡°We all can!¡± He said and tapped his belt buckle, then carried the plasma cutter inside the airlock. He cycled through and then I went next.

 Book One: The Presence 054

    ¡°Okay, Hunter. Do your stuff.¡± The man said and waved at the pitch black corridor. The suit lights only went about ten feet.


    ¡°Be right back.¡± I said and popped my boots off from the deck, then pushed off the wall and quickly floated down the large hallway and out of their sight. I had my suit lights off.


    ¡°Don''t go too fast.¡± Tessa warned. ¡°You should be mindful of your momentum.¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± I said and concentrated on looking for people. ¡°There''s a T section in the corridor. Going left for now.¡±


    ¡°I think he''s just showing off and isn''t actually searching.¡± The man beside Tessa said.


    ¡°If you''re going to have a private conversation, you should turn off your live microphone, stupid.¡± Tessa said.


    ¡°Oops.¡± He said. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Who are you apologizing to?¡± Tessa asked.


    ¡°You.¡±


    ¡°Well, that''s even more stupid.¡± Tessa said. ¡°Hunter can hear you.¡±


    ¡°I''m not apologizing to a guy.¡± The man said, and Tessa laughed.


    ¡°You might want to reconsider that.¡± Tessa said. ¡°He''s...¡±


    ¡°...found a dozen people five floors below this one.¡± I said as I saw them. ¡°They aren''t moving; but, I think they are conserving energy and air.¡±


    ¡°Any wreckage between here and there?¡± Tessa asked.


    ¡°None that I can see. Of course, I won''t get a good view until I go down to the floor and see it at the right angle.¡± I said. ¡°What I see as a support beam or a part of the wall, could be a foreign object that''s been lodged into the ship.¡±


    ¡°I see what you mean by not a lot of experience.¡± Tessa said.


    ¡°There''s a stairway down just after the T in the hallway.¡± I said as I floated back down the hallway and turned on my lights so they would see me. ¡°I think there''s supposed to be a lift around here somewhere, since these are emergency stairs.¡±


    Tessa and the man with her walked down the hallway to me. ¡°The ship''s schematics say there was one about a hundred feet that way.¡± She said and pointed to the right. ¡°Want to go see if it was right while we go down the stairs?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said and pushed off to go to the right of the T section, then I stopped about twenty feet away. ¡°No, there''s no lift... and no ship.¡±


    ¡°What? I thought... the hull goes on for another two hundred feet.¡± Tessa said.


    ¡°On the surface, yeah.¡± I said and floated back. ¡°I don''t know what happened to remove it and leave the outside.¡±


    ¡°I''ve seen some weird things out here.¡± The man said. ¡°It''s eerie at first, then you get used to it.¡±


    ¡°Should we get the spacesuits now or get the survivors?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Survivors.¡± Tessa and the man said together.


    ¡°We get them as close to the exit as possible, then get the suits.¡± The man said.


    ¡°I didn''t do that.¡± I said as we entered the stairwell. ¡°I went to them first, let them know I was there, then went to get the spacesuits.¡±


    ¡°Was there breathable air?¡±


    ¡°For a good portion of it... I think.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t want to take the chance, not after melting the girders off. I didn''t know what kind of odors or gasses that might have left, so I had them suit up in the room they were in, then took them out.¡±


    ¡°Well, you got them out, that''s what matters.¡± The man said.


    ¡°You don''t sound happy about that.¡± I said.


    ¡°You could have killed them by not following proper procedure.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don''t know proper procedure.¡± I said, slightly angry. ¡°I keep telling everyone that and they still expect me to go out rescuing people. I''m doing my best, okay?¡±


    Tessa reached out and touched my shoulder. ¡°Calm down. You''re using up your air.¡±


    ¡°No, I''m not.¡± I said. ¡°I''m only taking one breath for every three of yours.¡±


    Tessa stopped walking and looked at me. ¡°No, you... are you really?¡± She asked. ¡°How are you doing that?¡±


    ¡°It''s just a basic breathing technique.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve used this suit quite a bit. When I recharge the air, it only takes a minute or two.¡±


    Tessa shook her head and kept walking. ¡°Now I''m wondering what else you can do, just like Orim was.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t want to show off.¡± I said and pulled myself over the railing and down, then let go.


    ¡°Hey! Wait!¡± Tessa almost yelled and tried to walk faster.


    ¡°Don''t rush.¡± I said and used Presence to stop myself when I reached the fifth floor. ¡°I can''t see anyone else here.¡± I said and pulled myself back onto the stairs and stood on the landing to wait.


    ¡°You''ll need to go inside and down the hallway.¡± The man said.


    ¡°I''d like to; but, I''m pretty sure I can''t.¡± I said and looked through the door.


    ¡°Why? What is it?¡± Tessa asked as she clomped down the stairs of the third floor and onto the fourth.


    ¡°I was right. I couldn''t see that the hallway was completely blocked by... well, another hallway.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Tessa asked and came to a stop beside me.


    ¡°Have a look.¡± I said and opened the hatch.


    ¡°WAIT!¡± Tessa yelled, then was surprised that there was no decompression or even the sound of hissing air when she saw that the floor was pushed up by the floor below it and there was barely crawling room between the floor and the ceiling. ¡°What? How...¡±


    ¡°A collision, maybe?¡± Orim asked as he came to a stop and looked in, then he whistled. ¡°Hooo, baby! The whole floor is pushed up!¡±


    ¡°Hunter, the people!¡± Tessa exclaimed and looked at me. ¡°Where are they?¡±


    ¡°Third door down the hallway.¡± I said. ¡°This was why they aren''t moving.¡±


    ¡°Don''t tell me they''re crushed!¡±


    ¡°No, thank god.¡± I said, and they looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°They just can''t open the door.¡±


    ¡°Should we go above or below?¡± Orim asked. ¡°That thing looks solid; but, we shouldn''t trust it by trying to crawl in and cutting out the door.¡±


    ¡°Definitely should come in from above.¡± Tessa said. ¡°That way if anything happens, we aren''t below this... whatever happened.¡±


    The three of us went up a level and I told them it was clear. I opened the door and we all walked down to the third door and went inside. We heard several thumps, and a possible scream for help.


    ¡°They know someone''s here.¡± I said and walked over to stand above the screaming woman, knelt, and hit the floor three times. She stopped yelling and I hit the floor once, then hit it twice more, and finally three times.


    ¡°What kind of code was that?¡± Tessa asked.


    ¡°It was code for ''shut up, we heard you''.¡± I said and grinned at her, and she laughed.


    ¡°Hunter, I know the general area for the floor structure and the main beams.¡± Orim said and set up his plasma cutter. ¡°I need you to tell me where the main wire bundles are and any junction boxes.¡±


    ¡°So, you don''t know everything about the ship?¡± I asked, and he chuckled.


    ¡°They modify ships a lot, run new wires, and add new things all the damn time.¡± Orim said. ¡°We only learn the basic schematics and hope that we can cut into a non-vital area.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said and stood up, then walked over to where he was. ¡°The people are there, there...¡± I pointed to all twelve of them. ¡°The largest wire bundle is right there on a thick floor beam.¡± I pointed to a spot three feet to the right of where he was. ¡°Minor bundles there, there and there.¡± I pointed to spots six feet, eight feet, and twelve feet away. ¡°Junction boxes are there and there, and some kind of pipes are there.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°By the Goddess, I want to hire you for my permanent crew.¡± Orim said and drew out the spot he needed to cut.


    ¡°I''d like that.¡± Tessa chuckled.


    ¡°Okay, stand back.¡± Orim said and turned on the plasma cutter. He quickly cut through the floor plating and tossed it aside. ¡°Now the fun part.¡± He said and started cutting through one of the floor''s cross members. ¡°We''re lucky that we only have to cut one of these.¡± He said as he cut down through it, then it made a creaking sound. I grabbed his collar with a Presence Hand and pulled him back, just as the cross member broke off the last bit and popped up about a foot from the floor.


    ¡°Whoa! That almost hit me!¡± Orim said. ¡°Thanks a... lot?¡± He said as turned to look at the person who had pulled him out of the way and didn''t see anyone.


    ''You''re welcome.¡± I said, and he turned and looked at me. ¡°Why did it pop like that?¡±


    ¡°The floor must be under a lot of strain from the floor beneath.¡± Orim said and took a deep breath. ¡°I can''t imagine what would have happened if you had used your Light sword like you did on the hull.¡±


    I''m glad I didn''t offer. I thought and nodded.


    ¡°Okay, let me get this out of the way.¡± Orim said and used the plasma cutter to cut off the cross member about four feet from the first cut. Tessa grabbed it and put it aside, and Orim started to cut out the ceiling of the floor below. Since it was only a thin sheet of metal, barely half the thickness of the metal on the floor, he did it in only a few seconds. There wasn''t any gravity, so he had to try and take it out without letting the hot metal edges touch anything, especially his hands.


    ¡°Can I do that for you?¡± I asked.


    Orim looked at me for a moment and nodded, so I used a Presence Hand to push it up from below and then used another to grab it on the side and lifted it from the hole and moved it out of the way.


    ¡°Tessa, you''re up.¡± Orim said.


    Tessa disengaged her boots and hopped into the air. He grabbed her feet and flipped her over, then lowered her head first into the hole he had just cut.


    ¡°Hi, everybody!¡± Tessa said in a happy voice over her external suit speakers. ¡°We''re here to rescue you.¡±


    ¡°Thank the Goddess Chaiya!¡± The woman about ten feet away from the hole exclaimed. ¡°Get us out of here!¡±


    ¡°Can you crawl over?¡± Tessa asked, and a few of them started to inch their way over. ¡°Be careful of the edge of the hole. It''s still hot and really sharp.¡±


    With that bit of knowledge, I covered the edges of the cut hole with Presence and made it solid.


    ¡°Did you find anyone else?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°We only found you so far and we came right to you to get you out.¡± Tessa said. ¡°We''ll search the rest of the ship once we get you out.¡±


    The woman smiled and made her way over to the hole. It was too tight of a space to float, even with no gravity, so it took her a couple of minutes to reach Tessa. When she did, Tessa reached out and took her hand, then gently pulled her into the middle of the hole.


    ¡°Orim.¡± She said over the suit com, and he pulled the both of them up and out of the hole.


    ¡°Don''t leave us!¡± A man said frantically.


    Tessa laughed over the external speakers. ¡°We just got here!¡± She said and let the woman go as she gave her a little nudge towards me. I caught her easily and walked over to the side of the room and told her to grab a handhold. Tessa hopped back into the air and Orim grabbed her and turned her over and put her back into the hole. ¡°We''re getting you out before we move on, remember?¡±


    ¡°Only four of them are moving.¡± I said on the suit com to Tessa and Orim. ¡°The others are either too scared to move, hurt, or stuck.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think cutting more holes is a good idea with the floor under strain like it is.¡± Orim said.


    ¡°I can try to drag them to the hole.¡± I offered.


    ¡°You''re taller than Tessa and she won''t fit into the crawl space with her helmet.¡± Orim said. ¡°How could you do it?¡±


    ¡°I can give them a safety line to grab onto and we can pull them out.¡± I said.


    Orim glanced at me and then nodded. ¡°We''ll get the movers out first, then try that.¡±


    The other four people were taken from the hole and I put them next to the wall, and then walked over to the hole. Orim took out a length of tether cable and handed the end to me. I knelt and put the end down into the hole, then grabbed it with a Presence Hand and pulled it over to one of the people that hadn''t moved.


    ¡°I can''t grab that! It''s a bare cable!¡± The woman said.


    I covered about five feet of it with a thin layer of Presence and made it solid. ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said in a reassuring voice, and I heard her sigh. ¡°It''s a special cable that only looks rough. Go ahead and touch it to see.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you shouldn''t lie to people.¡± Orim said. ¡°She''s going to scrape her hands a little on it.¡±


    ¡°It really is smooth!¡± The woman said, surprised. ¡°I''m holding it!¡±


    I looked at her down through the floor and saw that she had a good grip on it, so I used a Presence Hand to grab the collar of her uniform and pulled on both her and the cable at the same time. She was almost laughing when she reached the hole.


    ¡°I barely felt you tugging on the cable!¡± She said as I lifted her from the hole. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said and handed her off to Tessa, who brought her over to the others by the door. I repeated this several times, and retrieved four more people without incident. The last three were a bit of a problem, because they were injured.


    ¡°One has a broken arm, one has two broken legs, and the last one is unconscious.¡± I said over the suit com. ¡°I can''t see any visible injuries, so I have to assume he banged his head or something.¡±


    ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Tessa asked. ¡°He could be asleep.¡±


    ¡°If he was sleeping he would have woken up by now.¡±


    ¡°We have been making too much noise for him to only be sleeping.¡± Orim said. ¡°What should we do?¡±


    ¡°I can cover the other two injuries with Presence to protect them, then drag them over.¡±


    ¡°Without the cable?¡±


    ¡°I was using that to reassure the people by letting them hold onto something while we were getting them out.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°The one with the broken legs is the only one that can grab the cable if we use it again.¡±


    ¡°Then bring him over first.¡± Tessa said. ¡°Carefully.¡±


    ¡°Not a problem.¡± I said and walked over to where the man was on the floor below, covered his legs in Presence and made it solid, then used a Presence Hand to grab his collar and walked over to the hole with him. He looked up at me with a shocked face and I picked him up. His legs were bent at two odd angles and weren''t moving, and he looked down at them.


    ¡°What in the... why aren''t they... they still hurt, but...¡± The man sputtered.


    ¡°I''m holding them still.¡± I said over my suit speakers.


    Tessa took him from me and stared at his legs for a moment, then gave him some kind of injection.


    ¡°They''ll stay like that until I let them go.¡± I said and then walked over to where the man with the broken arm was and did the same thing. I covered his arm in Presence and made it solid, then dragged him over to the hole and picked him up. He didn''t say anything as I passed him to Orim, then I walked over to the unconscious man. As a precaution, I covered his neck in Presence and made it solid, then dragged him over to the hole and picked him up. No one spoke as I carried him over to the door.


    We all left the room and went down the hallway, then carefully floated everyone up four floors to the right spot, then exited the stairwell and went down the hallway. Tessa left us there and went through the temporary airlock to get the spacesuits everyone would need. She brought the first six through and then went to get the rest of them.


    ¡°I barely managed to get five spacesuits and myself through the temporary airlock when I did that.¡± I said as six of the people got dressed.


    ¡°We haven''t figured out how to put just the suits through.¡± Orim said.


    ¡°Oh, I guess I could have done that.¡± I said and he glanced at me, then Tessa came back with the last six spacesuits and handed them out.


    ¡°I''ll need a hand getting into this.¡± The man with the broken arm said.


    ¡°I''ll need... well, a much bigger space suit.¡± The man with the two broken legs said.


    ¡°Oh, damn.¡± Tessa said. ¡°How are we getting him into one?¡±


    ¡°I''m tempted to offer to straighten his legs; but, we all know that''s not a good idea without a medical professional to do it.¡± I said, and the man visibly relaxed. ¡°Do you have anything like a rescue bag or something?¡±


    Orim laughed. ¡°A rescue bag? What the heck is that?!?¡±


    ¡°Well, it would just be a cloth or heavy plastic sack that you could slide over someone and seal. It could have a little pack like spacesuits have for air and lights, and you could fit any shape into it.¡±


    Orim and Tessa stared at me, as did all the survivors.


    ¡°It''s a stupid idea, isn''t it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Actually, that''s the most brilliant thing I''ve ever heard.¡± Tessa said, wonder in her voice. ¡°I''ve lost count of how many people had to be jammed into a spacesuit and made their injuries worse.¡±


    ¡°It''s a great idea, but it doesn''t help us right now.¡± Orim said.


    ¡°Actually, I think it does.¡± Tessa said. ¡°I''ll be right back!¡±


    ¡°I don''t think I want to get in a plastic sack.¡± The man with the broken legs said.


    ¡°I''m sure that''s not what she''s going to do.¡± Orim said. ¡°Maybe.¡±


    Several people helped us put the unconscious man into a spacesuit, and everyone was ready to depart except for the man with the broken legs. Tessa came back through the hatch and she carried another portable airlock.


    ¡°That''s not going to work.¡± Orim said. ¡°Once you unfold it and activate...¡±


    ¡°We don''t have to unfold it!¡± Tessa said excitedly. ¡°Watch!¡±


    We all watched as she carefully pulled out the cloth part from the bits of metal that attached it to the wall, then she spread it out to show us that it didn''t need to be unfolded at all.


    ¡°Once it''s inflated, it won''t fit through the other hatch.¡± I said, and she chuckled.


    ¡°You don''t need to inflate it, either.¡± Tessa said and opened the cloth. ¡°That''s only for ease of access through the airlock when it''s attached. We aren''t sending him through this, we''re putting him inside!¡±


    ¡°But there''s no air!¡± The man with broken legs said.


    ¡°There''s lots of air.¡± Tessa said and billowed it out. ¡°Once we get you through the portable airlock, you can also hit the pressurize button and it''ll fill up with even more air.¡±


    ¡°Now who''s the brilliant one?¡± Orim asked and Tessa blushed.


    With a bit of jostling and fumbling, we managed to get the man and his broken legs inside and sealed it. Tessa went through the airlock first so she would be on the other side to get him, and he was the first one we sent through the portable airlock. When he was on the other side, she told him to hit the button to pressurize, and it swelled up to its full shape.


    ¡°It worked! Ha ha ha!¡± The man with the broken legs laughed.


    We quickly cycled everyone through and brought them over to the hole I had cut through the hull. We tied everyone to a guide cable, the same one Orim and I had used to pull them out of the crushed room. We sent them over and the man that had stayed in the cargo hold of my ship caught them and moved them back. With those survivors safely out of harm''s way, Tessa, Orim, and I checked the rest of the ship. We found two more people at the far end, stuck in an engineering access hallway.


    It was a breeze to get them out, since they were already wearing spacesuits, and we went back to the ship. Orim took out a pistol that looked like a flare gun and shot the wreck. I saw a metal disc fly out and stick to the hull, then he checked the side of the gun.


    ¡°The mark''s working.¡± Orim said and stepped back and closed the cargo doors. ¡°Rhubin, head back to the station. We''ve got a full cargo hold.¡±


    ¡°You got it.¡± Rhubin said over the suit com and he flew us back to the station. Instead of docking to the ring with the main hatch, he entered the large ship dock that was for maintenance. It was already pressurized so he landed the ship. We opened the cargo doors and a medical team was there to take the wounded.


    ¡°What the hell did you do to this man?¡± One of them asked as they saw the collapsed portable airlock with the man inside.


    ¡°His legs are severely broken.¡± Tessa said and opened it, and the man inside sat up and hugged her.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± He said sincerely. ¡°You saved my life.¡±


    ¡°It... it was Hunter''s idea.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t matter.¡± He said and nodded to the medical team, who picked him up and put him on a stretcher.


    ¡°Why aren''t his legs moving?¡± One of them asked and touched the solid Presence around them.


    ¡°I''m holding them.¡± I said and then pointed. ¡°Like his broken arm.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah.¡± The man said. ¡°My arm''s broken.¡±


    ¡°Let them go, please.¡± The medical tech said.


    ¡°Get them supported first.¡± I said, and he and the others quickly made sure the broken legs wouldn''t collapse, and I absorbed the Presence holding them steady.


    ¡°Argh!¡± The man grunted. ¡°I think that pain shot''s wearing off.¡±


    ¡°You''ll have lots in a few minutes.¡± The medical tech said and they took everyone with them.


    ¡°Good job.¡± An alien maintenance tech said. ¡°You''re the first ones to get back.¡±


    ¡°It''s not a race; but, it''s good to know that we''re winning.¡± Tessa said with a grin, and the alien laughed.


    We got back onto the ship and went back out to see who else we could save.

 Book One: The Presence 055

    Since the search and rescue team was split between the ship and the cargo area, we actually took turns entering wrecks and rescuing people. When there was a hatch available, the crew in the ship did it, and when there wasn''t, the crew I was with did a spacewalk and entered the wreck. We made short work of searching and gathering people, and surprisingly enough, there were a lot more people trapped and alive than any of us had reasonably expected.


    Most of them were deep inside the wrecks and were difficult to get to most of the time. We had an occasional easy run with only docking the ship and loading people right away, without actually having to enter the wrecks to save people. We still went in to check, just in case, and moved on to the next to load up on passengers before going back to the station to drop them off.


    We worked for six hours straight and took two hours off, then worked for another six hours like the captain of the station had ordered. When we returned to the docking bay with our final load of two survivors, we weren''t allowed to take off again. Rhubin didn''t protest the restriction and said he was going to bed for at least the next six hours. All total, we had rescued almost three hundred people, nearly double of what the rescue ships had. We had also visited four times the number of wrecks.


    No one counted how many bodies we had passed or left there, though.


    I was pretty tired as well, so I closed and locked the main hatch and turned to Luxea. ¡°I''m taking Rhubin''s advice and going to bed as well.¡±


    ¡°I think I will, too.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said and went to my room, took off my uniform of powered armor and laid it on a chair and plugged it into a power port to charge it up, then took off the blast shield that covered my eyes. ¡°Who would have thought that such a simple disguise could change how I looked so much?¡± I chuckled and set it on the headboard of the bed, then I went to the bathroom and took a shower. I stepped out and dried myself off, then went to the closet in my bedroom and only put on a pair of underwear. I sat down and started the long process of drying my hair when the door chime sounded.


    ¡°Come in.¡± I said. The door opened and Luxea stood there wearing something that looked like a long sleeved t-shirt that was also a dress, completely form-fitting, and it went down to the middle of her thighs. It was a light blue and I could see that her hair was wet as well.


    ¡°Want some help?¡± Luxea said and held up her large hairbrush. ¡°You can brush mine afterwards.¡±


    I was tempted to say no, then chuckled and waved to the bed behind me. She smiled and came into the room, hit the button to shut and lock the door, then walked over to me.


    ¡°What are you wearing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Do you like it?¡± Luxea asked and turned around to show me the back. It had a huge circular hole that completely exposed her entire back from her neck to her waist.


    ¡°Are you sure you have it on right?¡± I asked with a grin, and she laughed.


    ¡°Of course I do. If I wore it the other way, it would...¡± Luxea stopped talking and sighed. ¡°It''s too sexy, isn''t it?¡±


    ¡°Only if you didn''t intend for me to stare at you.¡± I said to her surprise, then she smiled.


    ¡°I do want you to look.¡± Luxea said and stepped by me and climbed onto the bed. ¡°If you want to.¡±


    ¡°What about you and Rhubin?¡± I asked as she started brushing my hair.


    ¡°We''re good friends.¡± Luxea said. ¡°We haven''t... had fun... since we were on the long haul transport.¡±


    ¡°You can say sex without me getting uncomfortable.¡± I said, and she chuckled.


    ¡°So, you know that''s all it was.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It was just sex. I wasn''t using him and he wasn''t taking advantage of my vulnerable emotional state.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe you said that with a straight face.¡± I said, and she laughed.


    ¡°All right, both Rhubin and I did that.¡± Luxea said and kept brushing my hair. ¡°When he started acting distant and ignoring me, then told me he was busy when he wasn''t... well, I wasn''t having any of that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he told me you were pretty angry at him for that.¡±


    ¡°Did he tell you why?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Do you really want to know?¡± I asked.


    Luxea stopped brushing my hair and touched my shoulder. I turned around on the bed and she looked into my eyes, then she nodded.


    ¡°It was because of me.¡±


    ¡°You?!?¡± Luxea almost yelled.


    ¡°He was envious of how women treat me and thought he could act like me to make himself more appealing.¡±


    Luxea''s mouth dropped open and she stared at me for several moments, then she started to laugh. ¡°Oh! Ho ho! Ha hahahaha!¡± She dropped her brush on the bed and hugged herself as she laughed really hard and tears rolled down her face. I was laughing by this point as well and she wiped at her eyes. ¡°By the Goddess, he''s really stupid to try something like that!¡±


    ¡°I warned him not to try it a while ago because it goes against his personality.¡±


    ¡°He should have listened to you.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I thought I did something wrong to him and he started hating me for it!¡±


    ¡°Wow, really?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Then it backfired even more than he thought.¡±


    ¡°It really did.¡± Luxea said and took several breaths and calmed down. ¡°Because of that, I completely lost interest in him.¡± She smiled. ¡°In a sexual way, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to tell him that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, I''ll tell him tomorrow.¡± Luxea said and picked up her brush. ¡°I really needed a good laugh.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and turned back around to face away from her. ¡°Me, too.¡±


    ¡°We did a lot of good work today.¡± Luxea said and brushed my hair. ¡°We saved so many people.¡±


    ¡°We did... and we didn''t.¡± I said, and she sighed.


    ¡°I... I know.¡± Luxea said and kept brushing. ¡°I could see the loss on all of the search team''s faces.¡±


    We didn''t say anything else while she brushed my hair all the way up to my head. It had been the first time she had completely brushed my hair. When she was done, we were both relaxed and calm. She handed me the brush, we changed places, and I brushed her hair. It didn''t take as long because her blonde hair was barely down past her shoulders.


    ¡°We should get to bed.¡± I said and handed her the brush.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Luxea said and moved over to put the brush down on the top of the headboard next to my blast shield disguise, then she hooked the bottom of her t-shirt dress and slipped it up and off in one motion and laid it on my uniform. I stared at her nearly naked body because she only wore a small pair of underwear that barely covered her ass, then she climbed under the blanket.


    ¡°I didn''t mean...¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to sleep alone tonight.¡± Luxea said, her voice a little shaky, and she turned onto her side to face away from me. ¡°I don''t want sex or anything, so you can relax.¡±


    ¡°Luxea...¡±


    ¡°I''ll even stay on this side of the bed.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I just...¡± She stopped talking and didn''t say anything else. I held in my sigh and climbed into bed beside her and laid on my back. I counted in my head and waited for two full minutes before I spoke.


    ¡°All right.¡± I said, and she turned over without a word and laid against me, then tucked herself in as close as she could and put an arm over my chest, which completely ignored her last statement.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Luxea said.


    I could see and feel her Presence was low and didn''t react to mine, since my own was low, too. She wasn''t excited at all to be pressing her bare skin against me and I successfully ignored that as well. I had a nearly naked woman next to me in bed and I wasn''t sure why I still felt relaxed. I should have been nervous or scared that she would try to take advantage of me, especially since I knew what she did with the men she met.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I knew she was picky and didn''t take just any man to her bed; but, she had been right when she told me to not get involved with women like her, Cassie and Evelyn. It was too much of a hassle. They had a lot of baggage to deal with before they could look past their own wants and needs to think about the wants and needs of someone else. I drifted off to sleep with thoughts of being completely eaten by a giant faceless woman and her impossibly long sharp teeth.


    *


    Master Kara Moor and her fast courier ship had arrived in the Drizahl System a week before, after they had triangulated the last data they received from the trackers in Ullir''s things. She had been surprised that they were all still active, so she had been skeptical that they would actually find him there. When they boarded the station and talked to the port master, he directed them to the station''s security chief.


    The major was more than happy to accommodate Order members and to tell them anything they wanted to know. She asked about Ullir, and he had no idea who she was talking about.


    ¡°We know he was here.¡± Kara said calmly.


    The major shrugged. ¡°I don''t know what to tell you.¡±


    ¡°We have his ship specifications and the port master said the ship was docked to the station.¡± One of the other Order members said. ¡°Twice within the same hour.¡± He stared at the major and practically saw the light bulb go off in the major''s head.


    ¡°Oh! You must mean The Wave.¡± The major said. ¡°Boy, what a great ship.¡± He said. ¡°It jumped to the next system in only ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°It WHAT?!?¡± Kara yelled.


    ¡°Surprising, I know!¡± The major said. ¡°It''s damn fast in normal space, too.¡±


    ¡°That... it couldn''t... no ship...¡± The second Order member mumbled.


    ¡°Do you have proof?¡± The first Order member asked.


    ¡°If you won''t believe the port master''s logs, you can talk to the passenger they took there and back.¡± The major said. ¡°She booked a room here for a month and has been telling everyone about the fastest ship in the universe.¡±


    ¡°We can talk to her later if it''s necessary.¡± Kara said. ¡°Where did the ship go?¡±


    ¡°We hired it to take passengers to the Fogaris System.¡±


    ¡°To the...¡± Kara sighed and rubbed her forehead. ¡°By the Goddess.¡±


    ¡°They''ll be in hyperspace for over a month at least.¡± One of the Order members said. ¡°They must have charged a fortune for...¡±


    ¡°I authorized a ten thousand credit payment for five passengers, their luggage, and supplies for the trip!¡± The major said and laughed. ¡°Imagine! A fast courier ship only accepting that much! Ha ha!¡± He slapped the table. ¡°I''ve given their business a four star rating for that and the Bogorim Corporation already gave them a four as well for quick delivery.¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°Where is the closest Order church?¡±


    ¡°On the second planet.¡± The major said.


    ¡°Master Moor, we should only need their administration services.¡± The first Order member said.


    ¡°They have an office here on the station.¡± The major said. ¡°Only one occupant, though.¡±


    ¡°That''s sufficient.¡± Kara said. ¡°Thank you for your time, major.¡±


    ¡°Anytime.¡± The major smiled. ¡°Always glad to help The Order.¡±


    Kara and the two other Order members left the major''s office, consulted the station''s map, and went to The Order office. The Order member there stood as she entered the office and she waved him aside.


    ¡°I just need to borrow your console for a few minutes.¡± Kara said and he closed his work and blanked his screen for her. She sat down and used her security code and took out the modified datapad and hit the update button and waited. When the datapad beeped at her, she stared at the data it showed.


    ¡°What is it?¡± One of the other members asked and looked at the data. ¡°By the Goddess, how can they be out that far already?¡±


    ¡°Forget that.¡± Kara said. ¡°How long will it take us to get to the Fogaris System?¡±


    ¡°I said before that it will take over a month, even using these refined coordinates.¡±


    ¡°They will be long gone by then.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°It''s possible that they could jump back using those same coordinates.¡± He said. ¡°It looks like open space for most of them, and we can be there...¡± He pointed to the first one. ¡°...in about a week.¡±


    ¡°How long will they take from the last jump point that''s marked to get to the Fogaris System?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Normally, I would say a couple of weeks.¡±


    ¡°And now?¡±


    ¡°Based on the information we now have on the ship and estimating its speed... a week and a few days.¡±


    ¡°Then we need to go right now.¡± Kara said. She thanked The Order member on duty there and they left the office, then the three of them boarded the ship and took off.


    A week later they arrived at the first jump point in normal space and came to a stop and waited, then Ullir''s ship popped up in the Fogaris System.


    ¡°They are a little bit faster than we thought.¡± Kara said. ¡°Now we wait.¡±


    After a couple of hours, neither ship moved. Then six hours passed and it still didn''t move.


    ¡°What do you think they are doing?¡± One of The Order members asked.


    ¡°Maybe they decided to rest for a while.¡± The other Order member said. ¡°It was a long trip.¡±


    ¡°How long will the next jump take for us?¡± Kara asked the pilot.


    ¡°A day.¡± The pilot said. ¡°It was smart of them to jump to open space and not near any star systems.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Following their trail would be very difficult if we didn''t know their hyperspace jump coordinates.¡±


    ¡°Were they intentionally trying to lose us?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Who knows.¡± The pilot shrugged. ¡°I doubt it, since even we didn''t know we were coming here until last week.¡±


    Kara nodded and closed her eyes and meditated for several moments, then opened her eyes and smiled. ¡°All right. I''m authorizing another short jump, then we''ll sit and wait for an hour. If they left the system, that means we have a week of time to get as close to the Fogaris System as possible using their own jump points.¡±


    ¡°What if they are still there?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Then we know we have at least a week or more.¡± Kara said. ¡°Either way, we can follow their trail.¡±


    ¡°I think I understand.¡± The pilot said. ¡°As long as we are more than a week''s jump away from them, we can stop almost anywhere on their trail and meet them, because it''ll take them a week to get back to the jump point right before the Fogaris System.¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡± Kara said. ¡°As long as they are still in that system, we can make the smaller jumps and we don''t have to worry about missing them in the middle.¡±


    The pilot nodded and the navigator gave him the coordinates for the next jump. The fast courier ship sped up and entered hyperspace with a shiver and a shake.


    *


    I woke up after almost eight hours of sleep and felt someone on top of me. It took me a second to remember that Luxea had convinced me to let her sleep in my bed. I could see how she had draped herself over me with my Detect Presence technique; but, I opened my eyes anyway to see it with my eyes, because I had my arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace for some reason.


    Luxea was face down on top of me. Her head rested on my shoulder and it was turned slightly, so I could see her peaceful face. Her arms were flopped down on either side of my torso and her legs were in between mine, while my legs were spread open enough to let her. She took long and even breaths and seemed very relaxed, and I could see the Presence inside of her was back to its full intensity. Mine was as well, and I could see it easing out through my chest and into hers.


    Okay, that''s a little weird. I thought.


    I didn''t try to stop it, though. I knew that you shouldn''t fight against what the Presence did, because all that achieved was causing conflict within yourself. That made me think of Aphatoris back in the Granis System and the way her Presence had reacted to me because she was fighting so hard against it. I smiled and lifted my hand from Luxea''s back and looked at my wrist communicator.


    No messages. I thought, a little surprised. Actually, I forgot to ask what the crew layover for resting between shifts was. I held in my chuckle, because I didn''t want to wake Luxea. That was an odd thought to have.


    I put my arm back around her and she squirmed a little; but, her breathing didn''t change and she stayed asleep. I used a mental technique to enter a meditative state and then another to relax and concentrate on the flow of Presence around my ship and within my detection range. Nothing was moving, so I knew that everyone had taken time off from the rescue operations because the part of the dock I could feel was empty of people. I changed my focus to just my bedroom and all of the focusing crystals shone in my perception, even the scaly alien''s.


    Don''t worry. I have a feeling that you''ll all get a chance to be useful. I thought to them, then let myself enter a semi-sleep state. It let me rest and kept my perception going to let me know if anything happened within my detection range. Less than two hours later, I felt the station essentially come to life and the maintenance docking bay filled with people and machines as they prepped the other rescue ships for another shift.


    ¡°Luxea.¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Luxea wiggled her body to rub me in a few choice places, namely my chest and my crotch, then her arms moved automatically as she hugged me.


    ¡°It''s time to get up.¡± I said.


    ¡°Mmm. I can... feel that.¡± Luxea said and she moved her legs to the outside of my thighs and pushed my legs together, and she did something with her hips and rubbed herself on me with a twisting motion.


    ¡°Luxea!¡± I said sternly, despite really enjoying what she just did, and her eyes shot open.


    ¡°Oh! H-Hunter!¡± Luxea exclaimed and pushed herself up into a sitting position. ¡°Oh, damn.¡± She said and looked down at her nearly naked self and where she sat. ¡°I''m sorry! I... ah... you were so warm, and... it felt so...¡± She shook her head. ¡°I don''t know why I... my body, it just...¡±


    ¡°Can you feel my Presence?¡± I asked, because wisps of it were still floating out through my chest and into hers.


    Luxea looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°No, I...¡±


    ¡°Close your eyes.¡± I said, and she did so without questioning it. ¡°Take several breaths. In, out. In, out.¡±


    Luxea did this, and I couldn''t help but look at her very nice chest as it rose and fell with each breath. She was also quite excited and it made her look even more appealing.


    ¡°You''ve felt my Presence before, so you know what it was like.¡± I said, and she nodded without opening her eyes. ¡°Can you feel it now?¡±


    ¡°No, I... w-wait...¡± Luxea reached a hand up and touched the middle of her chest. ¡°I... is... I think...¡± Her hand moved out and she wiggled her fingers a little, then traced the wisps through the air and put her hand on my chest. She opened her eyes and looked at where her hand was, then she looked at me.


    ¡°That''s right.¡± I said and put a hand on hers. ¡°It likes you as much as I do.¡±


    The Presence became thicker and she caught her breath. We both felt the dampness between her legs, since our crotches were touching, and her breath sped up and her hips moved forward and back once.


    ¡°W-we can''t.¡± Luxea said and forced herself to stop. ¡°Hunter, you... you promised that...¡±


    I nodded and let her hand go, and the Presence lost its solidity and became wisps again. Luxea took two deep breaths, then she very slowly rocked up onto her knees so she wouldn''t be tempted to rub herself on me again. Both her underwear and mine were soaked, and she blushed as she moved off of the bed.


    ¡°H-Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and sat up myself, then stood beside her. ¡°Do you want to shower first?¡±


    ¡°I want to share it with you.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Very, very, badly.¡±


    I smiled, and she put her hands on my chest, right where the Presence was still easing out of me.


    ¡°I should go to my room to shower.¡± Luxea said and didn''t move. We stood there and stared at each other in the eyes for several minutes without saying anything. I saw in her eyes as she made a decision, then she walked over to my bathroom. I followed her and we got into the shower together.

 Book One: The Presence 056

    Luxea and I washed and cleaned each other very thoroughly. We limited ourselves to only hands, by mutual agreement, because if we had used our lips and mouths like we both wanted to, there was no way in the universe that I was going to be able to keep my promise to Lashina or my promise to Luxea to not get involved with her.


    The last one made us both laugh, since we were naked in the shower together and were currently washing each other as we rubbed and touched each other all over. I had only just barely managed to not use any Presence techniques on her, because she had been adamant about not making her feel too good. I thought that was a bit of a disservice for her, and she countered that she couldn''t do the same to me and it wasn''t fair. I told her that life was never fair and she agreed as she still refused.


    We finished up and I got dressed in my uniform power armor and blast shield, then I loaned her a robe and walked her to her room so she could get changed as well. We went and checked on Rhubin and he was still asleep, so we woke him up. Roughly. He was grouchy and in a bad mood, so Luxea and I got breakfast and brought it to him. He was in a better mood after that and then we opened up the ship''s main hatch and the cargo area.


    ¡°Just in time!¡± Kitch said as he and his SAR crew came into the docking bay. ¡°We were about to storm your ship to get your lazy asses up!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°You could have just called.¡±


    ¡°Where''s the fun in that?¡± Tessa asked, and several of the men laughed. ¡°We''re on decompression duty again today.¡±


    ¡°Well, it is the most fun.¡± I said, and she grinned.


    ¡°That''s my view, too.¡± Tessa said. ¡°Oh, before I forget.¡± She pulled something out of her pocket. ¡°The captain said to give you this.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked and took it from her. It was a little metal star of brass with a pin on the back.


    ¡°Civilian Medal of Valor.¡± Tessa said with a huge smile. ¡°Your life saving bag idea let the crews yesterday save over fifty people with severe injuries that couldn''t fit into a standard spacesuit.¡±


    ¡°But... it was just an idea. You were the one...¡±


    Tessa took another one out of her pocket and pinned it to her uniform above the pocket. ¡°Mine is the military equivalent and has a gold star in the center of the brass.¡±


    I nodded and pinned mine in the same spot.


    ¡°Let''s load the ship up!¡± Kitch said and the crew went to get the proper supplies.


    ¡°Rhubin, get the ship prepped and ready to go. Luxea, check the other ships and see where they''re going, so we don''t double up and check the same wrecks.¡±


    ¡°We''re on it, sir!¡± Rhubin and Luxea both gave me sloppy salutes and huge grins.


    ¡°Stop that!¡± I said and grabbed their shoulders, then turned them around and gave them a little push. They laughed and went back into the ship and I went with the SAR crew to help load up the ship. We all worked hard for the next six hours, took a two hour break, then worked for another six hours. By this time, a lot of the rescued personnel had formed their own search and rescue teams and the operation had expanded almost exponentially.


    There were now three booster crews working to get the cleared wrecks out of the debris field and out of the way of the other ships, and nearly two dozen rescue ships and twice as many crews working on them to save people. Our ship couldn''t handle very many at once, with only so many passengers inside and so many in the cargo hold. So, while we made a lot more trips back to the station to drop survivors off, we were still finding and rescuing more people than anyone else.


    Kitch and his crew were more than happy with that situation, and didn''t mind that they were forced to stay behind when my ship had to dock and stay there for another ten hours to let Rhubin, Luxea and myself rest.


    ¡°I''m tempted to hop over to one of the other ships to keep going out; but, working with you has kind of spoiled me.¡± Kitch said. ¡°The way you can just go through a wreck and find people is amazing. It saves my crew so much time when we don''t have to waste it by checking every compartment one by one.¡±


    We went back into the ship and locked everything down after that, then I went to my room and got a shower. I had barely left the bathroom when Luxea came in wearing my robe and shut the door.


    ¡°I half expected you to come right here while I was showering.¡± I said, and she chuckled.


    ¡°I thought about it.¡± Luxea said and climbed onto the bed and pat the spot in front of her. ¡°I already had my fantasy shower with you, so I don''t want to be greedy.¡± She said and picked up her hair brush.


    I sat down and she started brushing my long hair. ¡°We didn''t do much past fondling each other and that was your fantasy?¡±


    Luxea put her arms around me from behind and gave me a quick hug, then let me go and kept brushing my hair. ¡°Oh, I wanted to do more... a lot more... but, we both know we can''t.¡± She said. ¡°I only have another six months to wait, and then... maybe...¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can stand to wait that long?¡± I asked, and she sighed. ¡°Ohazith wouldn''t come onto the ship because she said she wouldn''t have been able to resist.¡±


    Luxea caught her breath and I felt her arms back around me, then she rested her chin on my shoulder. ¡°You can''t keep blaming yourself.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can.¡± I said. ¡°I actually wanted to stay on the long haul so I could be alone while everyone else went to the resort; but, I knew I wasn''t trusted enough to be left there by myself so I went, too.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sweety.¡± Luxea said and turned her head and kissed my cheek, kissed it again, then sighed and hugged me tighter. ¡°Remember what you said when you asked me to stay on the ship.¡±


    I sighed myself and rubbed the scars on my chest that surrounded my heart. ¡°Yeah, I remember.¡±


    ¡°You were meant to meet her.¡± Luxea said and rubbed the side of her face on mine. ¡°I can''t say that she... she was supposed to...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°So many things could have changed how that played out; and yet, it happened the way it did and that''s how things ended up.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and you''ll always remember her and what you learned that day.¡± Luxea said. She put her hand on mine and we both caressed the scars.


    I nodded and took a deep breath. ¡°Do you want to sleep here again?¡±


    Luxea didn''t answer as she moved her hands up to my face and turned my head to face her. She stared into my eyes for several moments, then she gave me a brief kiss. It wasn''t passionate, or needful, or even platonic. It was a nice middle ground and I felt the potential there for it to become a lot more, if I wanted it to be. That alone was comforting, because she didn''t try to push or manipulate me when she very easily could.


    I used a hand to caress the cheek of her face and closed my eyes as I gave her a kiss back that was very similar, except that I held it for a little bit longer. When I broke the kiss and looked at her, she gave me an almost imperceptible nod and put the hairbrush down. We moved up on the bed and climbed under the covers, and she didn''t bother with the pretense of trying to stay away from me.


    Luxea cuddled in and draped her arm over my chest and put her leg over mine, and I put my arms around her and held her close. After a few minutes, she was fast asleep and I felt her Presence start to recharge from its diminished state. I thought about helping it, then realized I didn''t have to make a conscious decision to do that, then smiled as a small wisp of Presence flowed out of my chest and into hers. Both mine and hers grew slightly brighter, so I closed my eyes and used several mental techniques to meditate, relax, and then sleep.


    We found less and less people during the next shift, until we came to the large wreck that Luxea had seen the shuttle flying around. When we were close enough, detectors on the search and rescue crews started beeping at them.


    ¡°Back off! BACK OFF!¡± Kitch yelled over the suit com to Rhubin. ¡°It''s a major radiation hazard!¡±


    ¡°Luxea was right, then.¡± I said, and he looked at me. ¡°We saw this thing a couple days ago and the whole back section was gone. She said they either lost it, or didn''t eject the reactor in time and then lost the section.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°Yeah, that would do it.¡± Kitch said, and everyone''s faces became sad. ¡°You''re lucky you didn''t try to rescue them or you would be dead, too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and switched to a private channel and called Luxea. ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I''m... I''m fine.¡± Luxea said. ¡°You were right not to try.¡±


    ¡°That''s what Kitch just said. We''d all be dead if we did.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad we didn''t, then.¡± Luxea said and I felt the Presence waver.


    ¡°I''ll give you a hug when we break for lunch.¡± I said, and that made her chuckle sadly.


    ¡°I look forward to it.¡±


    The SAR crew and I finished the first shift and went back to the station for lunch, and I was true to my word and gave Luxea a hug in front of everyone. None of them questioned it, since they all knew about the large ship full of dead people. We requested that one of the booster teams add additional rockets to it and send it right into the star, rather than into a stable orbit.


    The captain of the station and the government, all three members of it, agreed wholeheartedly, and the wreck was sent on its way. All work stopped and we all watched as it floated to its final destruction. When its icon disappeared from the navigation plot, a collective sigh ran through the crowd and everyone saluted. Then we all got back to work.


    We had found a lot of the enemy ships and treated them the same as if they were normal ships. Either fortunately or unfortunately, none of them were found alive, so we didn''t have to worry about making a holding pen or keeping prisoners fed and alive. What wasn''t generally known was that they died from self-inflicted laser pistol wounds and their computers were wiped clean. The booster teams were instructed to send them into a different orbit than the fleet ships to keep them separate.


    It took a week to search everything, even though after four days we had stopped finding anyone else alive. It was a relief for everyone when the last bit of wreckage was sent on its way towards the inner orbit near the star, so now all that was left was to clean up all the miscellaneous debris that still lingered around the area. Despite everyone urging us to help, we had gone far and above the original job we had been hired for. Cargo delivery. Plus, our ship was not designed to handle wreckage removal.


    Luxea wouldn''t tell me how many credits we had made delivering cargo and supplies all week, so I knew it must have been a lot. When we went back to the station after the last search, we were invited to dinner with the government. Luxea had somehow managed to have dress clothes for Rhubin and myself to wear. I tried to ask her where and when she had gotten them, and she wouldn''t say.


    ¡°Make sure you take it out of our shipping fees.¡± I whispered to her as she helped me put on a really weird looking fancy grey suit with odd bulges and protrusions sticking out all over the place. ¡°Then again, this thing looks horrendous.¡± I said and looked in the mirror. ¡°I''m docking your pay instead.¡±


    Luxea laughed and slapped my shoulder. ¡°It''s the height of fashion on Chofaris.¡±


    ¡°How come you don''t have to wear this?¡± I asked as she reluctantly tied my hair up into a ponytail so that it wouldn''t cover the suit, which would have defeated the purpose of wearing it.


    ¡°I''m going to be dressed in something much better than grey.¡± Luxea said as she picked some fluff off of what I thought was a lapel. ¡°Now go wait outside the main hatch for me.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you don''t need any help?¡± I asked and looked at the suit I was wearing. ¡°I definitely needed your help putting on this thing.¡±


    Luxea chuckled. ¡°No, I can handle it alone.¡± She said and walked with me over to the door of my room. ¡°Just don''t laugh when you see me.¡±


    ¡°What? Like you just laughed at me?¡± I asked as we left my room.


    Luxea smiled and gave me a little wave, then walked down the hallway to her own room. I went over to the main hatch and saw that Rhubin was already outside and talking to some of the SAR crew members. He wore a similar suit to mine, except it was dark blue and didn''t have as many bumps or protrusions.


    ¡°Oh! The joke''s on you, too!¡± Rhubin said and laughed.


    ¡°Ha. Ha.¡± I said and walked over to him. ¡°Then again.¡± I saw that no one else wore the weird suits and were dressed in their fancy uniforms, even the women. ¡°Maybe it is a joke.¡±


    It took nearly twenty minutes before I heard the main hatch of the ship open and I turned around to look. I caught my breath as Luxea stood there in what looked like a normal red dress, except she also wore a pair of orange and red wing-like things on her back. As she walked over to me, I saw that the dress was actually more than just cloth. Little lines of something were in a distinct pattern over the surface of the cloth, and lightly glowing orange energy flowed over it.


    ¡°Bwa-ha-HURK!¡± Rhubin started to laugh at her and I gripped his throat with a Presence Hand to shut him up.


    Luxea''s dress only revealed a little bit of her cleavage because of the high cut of the cloth and the designs, and the dress went right to the floor and had a train behind it in the same pattern as the wing-like things. All of it had flowing orange energy lines and drew the eye right up to her face. Her blonde hair was teased out and she had added some red and orange streaks to it to complete the outfit.


    ¡°Wow.¡± I said, and her face flushed to a deep red.


    ¡°Hunter, you''re choking Rhubin.¡± Luxea said without taking her eyes off of my face.


    ¡°He started to laugh.¡± I said and absorbed the Presence Hand. ¡°It''s not nice to laugh at a lady.¡±


    Rhubin coughed for several moments. ¡°I''m really glad... you''re not into... casual killing.¡± He said and rubbed his throat as he looked at us. ¡°When did you two start...¡±


    ¡°We haven''t.¡± Luxea and I said at the same time, which made us both smile. It was then that the docking hatch into the station opened and a man in a similar suit to Rhubin''s stepped in.


    ¡°We are now receiving guests.¡± He said in a haughty voice, then turned around and left.


    ¡°Well, now we know what kind of dinner party this is.¡± I said, and everyone looked at me with curiosity. ¡°It''s the brass kissing their own ass party.¡±


    Everyone was quiet for a moment, then they all burst out laughing.


    ¡°Brass kissing their own ass! HA!¡± Kitch barked a laugh. ¡°I like it!¡±


    The SAR crews chanted it as we all left the large docking bay and followed the man that came to get us. They all stopped chanting as the man ahead of us stopped walking and turned towards a set of double doors. He pushed the button and stepped into the room, then he waved the people in front in. He said everyone''s full names as they passed and I hung back as I felt Presence around the man.


    ¡°Hunter, what is it?¡± Luxea whispered.


    ¡°I''m just wondering what he''s going to call me.¡± I responded.


    ¡°What do you... oh, he''s not reading the names and is reading the people, is he?¡± Luxea asked, and I nodded slightly. ¡°I''ll handle it.¡± She said.


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Trust me.¡± Luxea said.


    I trusted her a lot, so I nodded and she smiled sweetly at me as she took a half-step ahead. Just before it was our turn to step into the room, she leaned over to the man and whispered in his ear. The man''s eyes widened for a second, took a quick breath, and nodded slightly.


    ¡°Members of the Fast Courier Cargo and Transport Company, The Wave. Hunter, Rhubin, and Luxea.¡±


    Everyone had noticed the different style of introduction, and I held an elbow out to Luxea. She gave me a beautiful smile and took the offered elbow, and the three of us stepped into the large reception room. Tables of food lined the walls, and it was immediately apparent why the civilian men''s suits looked the way they did and Luxea''s fancy dress fit right in with all the other civilian women and what they wore.


    There were fish people in attendance.


    Actual, honest to god, humanoid fish people. Some had huge eyes and big lips like a fish, with big fins for ears and occasionally on the backs of their heads like a mohawk hairdo. Others were more human-like, yet had large wing-like fins sticking out of their backs and had large lips. I glanced at Luxea and looked at her lipstick, and I saw that she had exaggerated her own lips to appear slightly larger. I looked back at the crowd and saw that the males had bulges and protrusions like the civilian suits the human men wore and the female fish people all had similar fins and tails like the civilian dresses the human women wore.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± A woman''s voice cut through the chatter of the room and I looked in that direction. Uzahne waved to me to come over, and I led Luxea and Rhubin over to her. She wore a dress just as ornate as Luxea''s, except it was blue and had yellow energy flowing over it. Ahaen next to her wore a green dress and didn''t look happy about that, and Sheph on her other side wore a yellow dress and was happily chatting with one of the human-looking female fish people.


    ¡°You look very handsome.¡± Uzahne said as she looked up at me.


    ¡°I''ll accept that compliment, considering our current company.¡± I said.


    The female fish person stopped talking to Sheph and turned to face me. ¡°Is our current fashion not to your liking?¡±


    ¡°I needed help getting into this thing, so just for that alone I''d pass on wearing it.¡± I said and glanced around. ¡°I''m a little surprised that you and your people aren''t insulted and think we''re mocking your appearance by dressing like this.¡±


    The female fish woman gurgled a laugh. ¡°At first we did think that, then we realized it was flattering to have others try to make themselves look more like us.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t know that.¡± Uzahne said, and the female fish person gurgled again.


    ¡°We only met a couple of days ago. We will need much more time to exchange stories and get to know each other.¡± The female fish person said and held a webbed hand out to me. ¡°Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Olugaell.¡±


    I didn''t hesitate as I took her hand and held it. ¡°Call me Hunter.¡± I said and glanced at her hand in mine, then I looked back at her face and smiled. ¡°Please forgive my ignorance about proper protocol. How should I greet you and treat the delicate hand I now hold?¡±


    She gurgled a little louder this time. ¡°Aren''t you just delightful?¡±


    ¡°She''s the new First Minister of the native species on Chofaris.¡± Ahaen said, a little crossly.


    ¡°We''ve already started to appoint new members to the lost government.¡± Uzahne said with a quick glare at Ahaen, then she smiled. ¡°Olugaell has graciously accepted the position.¡±


    ¡°I might not have if I knew the duties it entailed.¡± Olugaell said with another gurgle laugh. ¡°I''m joking, of course. We lost a lot of our own people when the capital city was destroyed and I''ll do everything I can to help the planet recover from this disaster.¡±


    Everyone went quiet for several moments at those words.


    ¡°You''re still holding her hand.¡± Ahaen said into the silence.


    ¡°That''s because I still don''t know what to do with it.¡± I said with a grin, and Olugaell gurgled a laugh.


    ¡°Then I shall educate you.¡± Olugaell said and lifted our hands to chest height with our palms touching. ¡°Spread your fingers.¡±


    I did that and she spread hers, then she turned her hand a little so my fingers slid between hers and touched the webbed part.


    ¡°Now wiggle your fingers.¡± Olugaell said and I did that as she wiggled hers. ¡°It doesn''t work as well if you don''t have webbed hands; but, that is the proper greeting.¡±


    ¡°Should I just approach with my palm facing out ready for that?¡± I asked, and she shook her head.


    ¡°Always wait for one of my people to initiate, or you could insult them by expecting them to accept a formal greeting from your non-webbed hand.¡±


    I nodded my head in understanding. ¡°Thank you for teaching me.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad that you asked instead of trying to crush it in a death grip.¡± Olugaell said with a big smile, then she turned her head to look at Luxea. ¡°Is the one on your arm your mate?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Both Luxea and I said, which made us both laugh.


    ¡°I''m promised to another.¡± I said, and Olugaell nodded.


    ¡°Then this will only be a nice dinner and not a wonderful one.¡± Olugaell said with a sly smile.

 Book One: The Presence 057

    It actually was a nice dinner. Olugaell had insisted that I sit beside her and Luxea sat on my other side with Rhubin beside her, while Uzahne, Ahaen and Sheph sat across the table from us. Polite and interesting conversation followed, and when the meal was done, the man that had introduced everyone into the room stepped to the middle of it. The lights dimmed slightly and a spotlight shone on him.


    ¡°Our minds are filled with good conversation and our bellies are filled with good food.¡± The man said in the same haughty voice. ¡°Now it is time for the awards ceremony.¡± He waved at our table. ¡°If the honorable officials would kindly come here to deliver their speeches and present the awards.¡±


    I stopped myself from laughing at the honorable part. Uzahne, Ahaen and Sheph glance at me for a moment, as if they heard me laugh anyway, then they stood up and left the table. I thought Olugaell was going to go as well; but, she stayed in the chair next to mine. Uzahne spoke first and gave a speech that I didn''t listen to in the least. I busied myself as I looked around the room with Detect Presence and I was absolutely positive that I saw three Order members across the room.


    Even though they were wearing suits and not the traditional robes, I knew it was them. Their Presence was focused and controlled, except it wasn''t very strong. I took the opportunity to look over them closely and saw various pieces of equipment like datapads, credit chips, Light swords, and the like; but, no chip readers. I sighed and kept scanning the crowd for anything interesting.


    I found several other people, including a few of the fish people, that also had higher than normal amounts of Presence inside of them. Olugaell was not one of them, though. That was a little surprising, considering her not-subtle-at-all advances towards me, and I wondered why she was so interested in me. I thought about the Mask Presence technique that I was using to hide my own Presence, because I thought she might be using it as well, and that made me think of Ozahith. I rubbed the scars over my heart and then felt a webbed hand as it moved over on the table and rested on top of my other hand. I turned my head to look at Olugaell and she gave me a sad smile.


    Can you hear my thoughts? I asked her as I briefly lowered my mental defenses. She didn''t react at all to either my lower barriers or to my thoughts, so I sighed mentally and put the barriers back in place.


    Various different awards were presented to all of the SAR crew members and to some of the survivors who also had joined in on the rescue. Maintenance workers and even administration staff were given awards for performing their duties during the disaster. I thought it was a little weird to give everyone an award for just doing their jobs, then I realized what this dinner really was. It was for public relations.


    With that thought in my head, having the civilians dress up to match the fish people so they wouldn''t stand out from everyone else, made perfect sense. I felt something like whiskers touch my cheek as Olugaell leaned in close to whisper in my ear.


    ¡°You are sad and yet you are smiling.¡±


    I turned my head slightly to whisper back. ¡°They aren''t connected.¡±


    ¡°I want to ask what is in your mind.¡± She whispered as she wiggled the fingers on her hand that covered mine. ¡°Can you tell me?¡±


    ¡°I was just thinking that...¡±


    ¡°...Hunter, Luxea, and Rhubin!¡± Uzahne said loudly and there was a round of applause.


    ¡°Please, excuse me.¡± I said and she moved her hand as I stood up. The three of us walked over to the center of the room and they gave us a little box with a medal in it. It was a small brass planet on a short multi-colored ribbon and the three women shook our hands, congratulated us on a job well done, then sent us back to our table.


    The lights came back up and the man clapped his hands three times. Music of some kind came out of the walls, I assume from hidden speakers of some kind, and half of the people in the room jumped to their feet and went to the center of the room. They stared to dance in fits and starts, and I asked if they were going into seizures.


    Olugaell gurgled a laugh. ¡°It is the dance of a sea crab.¡±


    I looked at the dancers and watched their movements, then had to nod. ¡°Okay, I think I can see that.¡±


    ¡°It is modified for bipedal use, of course.¡± Olugaell said. ¡°Would you care to try?¡±


    ¡°Would you be insulted if I said that I didn''t want to look like a fool in front of you?¡± I asked, and she gurgled another laugh.


    ¡°I''m going to try it.¡± Rhubin said and stood up. ¡°See you later!¡±


    Luxea tried to hold in her laughter as he picked one of the fish people to dance, and then she couldn''t stop herself as he flailed around in a poor imitation of the dance. She had both hands over her mouth as she laughed out loud and I turned to Olugaell.


    ¡°I hope you understand why now.¡± I said and she gave me a big smile and a slight nod.


    The night went on for quite some time and I wasn''t surprised when Luxea was asked to dance. She politely refused on the same grounds that I did, and we shared random topics of conversation among ourselves. Olugaell had left when asked to dance and hadn''t returned, and neither did Uzahne and the other two. Not surprisingly, I didn''t miss their company, and the night came to an end.


    Uzahne came over to us when everyone started to leave. ¡°Hunter, Luxea.¡± She said. ¡°Would you meet me in my office in the morning?¡±


    ¡°I should ask why; but, you want to talk business, don''t you?¡± I asked, and she nodded.


    ¡°We''ve recalled all ships that have been deployed in other systems and ordered them to return, no matter what their previous missions stated.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°We are rebuilding our smaller forces fairly quickly, since the shipyard wasn''t badly damaged.¡±


    ¡°You need a fast courier ship?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°We can discuss it tomorrow, so go and get some rest.¡±


    We didn''t see Rhubin as we left and went back to the ship. Luxea didn''t pretend to go to her room first and come back to mine like the last two times. She just went right to mine with me and shut the door.


    ¡°Don''t you need to undress?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Luxea said and tapped something on her waist. The entire dress puffed out slightly away from her body, then it dropped to the floor in a mound of cloth and flowing orange energy. It left her in just a tiny pair of panties and it made her styled hair and make-up stand out that much more than it had with the dress on.


    ¡°Okay, I have to admit that was neat.¡± I said and she chuckled.


    ¡°I have to try and see if I can get the designs for it.¡± Luxea said and stepped out of it, turned it off and hung it in the closet. ¡°I want to try and adapt it for normal use.¡±


    I stood there as she started to help me undress. I helped when directed and she stripped me down to my underwear. ¡°Shower time?¡± I asked, and she nodded. We took a quick shower, since we were both tired, and then we went to bed to go to sleep. Unlike the first couple of times, it no longer felt awkward and we cuddled together under the blanket.


    ¡°You know, I feel kind of guilty that I''m using you like this.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Yeah, me too.¡± I said, and she looked at my face. ¡°We can''t do anything, and I know it''s probably driving you crazy that I''m holding you like this and it''s not going anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, it''s not driving me crazy.¡± Luxea said, and I looked back at her. ¡°That first time when... well, I really... despite it being an automatic reaction on my part when I rolled over on top of you, it was the first time that...¡± She smiled. ¡°Even when I rubbed myself on you, you weren''t trying to paw at me or tried to take advantage of me.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I can''t say the same.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I said I was sorry!¡± Luxea said with a smile. ¡°Anyway, the next time it didn''t happen, and not the next time, either. We just... look at us. We aren''t dating and we aren''t having sex, and yet we''re here in bed together and sleeping like an old married couple.¡±


    ¡°You mean platonic, don''t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that''s it exactly. It''s comforting to just hold someone as tightly as I want.¡±


    ¡°I''m a life-sized teddy bear, then.¡± I said and she looked at me with an odd expression.


    ¡°What''s a teddy bear?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°It''s a soft plush toy for children to cuddle.¡±


    ¡°Oh! You mean a toy bear.¡± Luxea said and put her head back down onto my chest. ¡°Why did you call it a teddy?¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I think it''s a nickname and I''ve always called it that, even though it actually is a toy bear.¡± I said and gave her a little squeeze. ¡°I''m using you for comfort as well.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°What?!? I didn''t know that! Oh, no!¡± Luxea exclaimed and fake gasped, then started laughing. That made me laugh, too. After a few minutes we both calmed down and relaxed, then drifted off to sleep.


    The next morning during breakfast, Rhubin came in and we told him about having to meet with Uzahne in her office about work. After he got a shower to get rid of the distinct fish smell that clung to him, the three of us ate and left the ship. We had to ask for directions to the new government offices and went there. The station plans Luxea had on her datapad hadn''t been updated to reflect the new layout yet. When we got there, Uzahne, Ahaen, Sheph, and the captain of the station were there waiting for us.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Uzahne greeted us as we sat down. ¡°Did you sleep well?¡±


    The three of us said we did, which we would have said even if we hadn''t. It was a pleasantry that you always responded to positively, so we did.


    ¡°Captain.¡± I said and looked at the captain of the station. ¡°I didn''t see you last night.¡±


    ¡°It''s Admiral, now.¡± She said and pointed to her lapel with her normal hand to show me that she had four dashes instead of two. ¡°I''ve never been one for galas like that and I wasn''t going to dance, either.¡± She held up her claw hand to show that she had no way to hold someone''s hand to dance with them.


    ¡°I''m sure Rhubin would have asked you to dance anyway.¡± I said.


    ¡°Not you?¡± The captain asked.


    ¡°I''m not one for galas, either.¡± I responded. ¡°Plus, I can''t dance like a crab.¡±


    The admiral chuckled. ¡°There was also no need for me to attend, since I wasn''t part of handing out the medals after the meal.¡±


    ¡°I told you that you could have presented them with us.¡± Uzahne said, and the admiral shrugged.


    ¡°Let''s just get to the reason why we''re all here so early.¡± Ahaen said.


    Uzahne glared at her for a moment, then sighed. ¡°We want to hire you to make a special delivery.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said, and everyone turned to look at me.


    ¡°Hunter, we can at least hear her out.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°No, we don''t.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t deliver a missile or a bomb to the enemy''s home world.¡±


    Luxea gasped and looked at Uzahne''s face... and didn''t see surprise there. ¡°He... he''s right?!?¡±


    ¡°We don''t have any ship available that can get there before they have their own forces built up again.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°They destroyed every warship we had available and then murdered all the government officials, not to mention every one of the civilians that lived in the capital city and surrounding area.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and it was a horrible loss of life.¡± I said. ¡°Why do you want to do that back to them?¡±


    Ahaen held a hand up and then her index finger. ¡°Retaliation.¡± She put up the middle finger. ¡°Revenge.¡± She put up the ring finger. ¡°They deserve it.¡± She put up her pinkie finger. ¡°They did it to us.¡± She closed her hand and made a fist.


    ¡°Does that mean you know what city I should bomb to get their government?¡± I asked.


    They exchanged glances and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Does that mean it doesn''t matter what city I bomb, as long as it''s a city about the same size?¡±


    They all looked uncomfortable, and I smiled.


    ¡°You haven''t thought that far ahead, have you?¡± I asked, and they still didn''t respond. ¡°Well, I have.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Uzahne looked surprised.


    ¡°Right now, you have the moral high ground. They bombed the planet and killed civilians.¡± I looked at the admiral of the station. ¡°What was the estimated population?¡±


    ¡°Nine million.¡±


    ¡°You hear that?¡± I asked. ¡°Nine million civilians killed in a fleet battle! That''s outrageous!¡±


    ¡°It is!¡± Ahaen said. ¡°That''s why...¡±


    ¡°...you should start a communications campaign against them! Contact the galactic core and let everyone know that these alien assholes are unscrupulous and vicious for killing civilians with ship weapons!¡± I said adamantly. ¡°I don''t think you should call for help, since someone might take advantage of your vulnerability and swoop in and assume control.¡±


    ¡°We... we were actually going to do that.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Call for help, I mean.¡±


    ¡°You still can, if you trust someone enough to give them military control of the system.¡±


    ¡°We have a few hundred of the mobile weapons platforms spread out over the system now.¡± The admiral of the station said. ¡°We don''t have much of a mobile space force, because it takes so long to build a ship from the ground up.¡±


    ¡°Then build paper tigers.¡± I said, and she looked at me with confusion. ¡°Build the outside frame of a large ship and not the entire inside. Put a few weapons on it and basic engines. It doesn''t even need a hyperdrive generator or a full crew. It only needs to look imposing and not actually be imposing.¡±


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± The admiral said as she stared at me. ¡°You''re a genius!¡±


    ¡°With them ''protecting'' you, you can build actual ships and not have to worry about being overrun, as long as you keep those weapon platforms handy.¡±


    The admiral stood up and looked at Uzahne. ¡°With your permission, I need to get this plan underway immediately.¡±


    ¡°Please do.¡± Uzahne said.


    The admiral walked around the table and stopped beside me, put a hand on my shoulder for a moment, then left the room at a jog.


    ¡°You''ve successfully won another one over.¡± Ahaen said, a little crossly.


    ¡°Someone being nice to me doesn''t mean that I''ve won them over.¡± I said, and she huffed.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°If you won''t make the delivery, then we want to hire you as a scout ship for...¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± I flatly refused and cut her off. ¡°How many times do I have to keep telling you that I won''t risk my ship or my crew over something stupid?¡±


    ¡°If you won''t do either of those things for us, then you are dismissed!¡± Ahaen said, clearly angry.


    ¡°Actually, I was wondering if Uzahne had any luck with the ''maybe'' part of our deal.¡± I said, and looked at her face. I saw disappointment there, so I stood up without hearing her answer. ¡°I''ll take that as a no, and that means our business here is done.¡±


    ¡°Yes it is!¡± Ahaen pointed to the door. ¡°Now get out!¡±


    I ignored her order. ¡°I hope you remember all of the excellent work that The Wave did for you and not the atrocity we refused to do.¡± I said to Uzahne, who took a deep breath and let it out.


    ¡°Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°Goodbye.¡± I said and nodded to her, then to Sheph, then looked at Ahaen. I could see anger there, so instead of nodding, I turned away from her and went out the door with Luxea and Rhubin right behind me.


    ¡°YOU...¡± The door shut and cut off what she yelled. I could see her gesturing wildly and saw Uzahne as she tried to calm the irate woman down.


    ¡°That was diplomatic.¡± Luxea said with a chuckle as we walked back to the ship.


    ¡°She''s been unnecessarily angry at me for a while and I don''t know why.¡± I said.


    ¡°You could have asked her about it.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°What? Do you really think she would tell me what was really wrong?¡± I asked, and he shook his head.


    ¡°How long to prep and get us off the station?¡± I asked. ¡°Before someone comes up with a lame excuse to keep us here.¡±


    ¡°The ship''s on standby, so about ten minutes.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°What about the last of the rescue supplies that are still in the cargo hold?¡±


    ¡°Luxea and I will check them over and see what we should keep and what we can get rid of.¡± I said as we walked down the hallway. ¡°I''m taking a detour to the medical bay to check on the injured.¡±


    We all went there and saw the people that were still recovering from their injuries. Some of them were going to take a lot longer than a few days to get better. We talked to a few of them, and I was surprised that I didn''t see the woman that had broken ribs. I asked about Melanie, and the medical personnel said she was back on duty. Since there was no chance I was going to track her down in the next few minutes, we left the med-bay and went to the large docking bay at the back of the station where our ship was.


    ¡°We might have to move some or most of the supplies still in the hold into the storage cabinets inside the ship to clear the way for all of the salvage we''re about to take on.¡± I said.


    ¡°Salvage?¡± Rhubin looked at me with raised eyebrows as we entered the main hatch of the ship. ¡°What salvage?¡±


    ¡°Have we been here long enough for you to forget that we have salvage rights to the wrecks?¡± I asked with a huge smile.


    Rhubin stopped walking and shut the main hatch. ¡°You can''t be serious.¡±


    ¡°Hey, they are all in a nice stable orbit just past the inner planet. No crossing paths, no random flying debris everywhere, and no other ships are allowed to go there because of the hazard.¡±


    ¡°We can''t take a lot of things because we don''t have the room.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°You might think that.¡± I said with a crooked smile.


    ¡°Oh, I know that smile.¡± Luxea said. ¡°That''s your crazy idea smile.¡±


    ¡°How could you know that?¡± I asked. ¡°I''ve never used it before.¡±


    Luxea and Rhubin exchanged glances and looked back at me. ¡°If you say so.¡± They said at the same time, and I laughed.


    ¡°Damn, you''ve found me out.¡± I said.


    ¡°What''s your idea?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°I''m glad you asked that, chief engineer.¡± I said and put my arm over her shoulders.


    ¡°Chief... oh, no. No, no no no.¡± Luxea shook her head. ¡°You can''t be thinking what I think you''re thinking.¡± She said. ¡°We cannot build a new storage area onto the ship!¡±


    ¡°You know how big the shuttle is, right?¡± I asked her. ¡°Well, I was out there and I saw that it was just barely covered by the ship''s deflector screens and that it''s dangerously close to being exposed.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°It''s simple, really.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°It means that we have that much room all over the top of the ship before something is out past the deflector screens.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that''s crazy.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°You can''t honestly expect the ship to fly fast with almost double its mass!¡±


    ¡°That''s the funny thing about space travel. We only have to be careful about the movement starting and stopping and not the speed in between, since everything we carry is weightless.¡± I said.


    Rhubin frowned slightly. ¡°But... we''ll lose our ability for quick manoeuvres at short range.¡±


    ¡°Only while we have the collapsible temporary storage racks on the top of the ship.¡± I said.


    Luxea caught her breath and turned to give me a hug as her eyes sparkled. ¡°Hunter! You''re a genius!¡±


    ¡°I''m just adapting the temporary airlock idea for cargo.¡± I said. ¡°It doesn''t even have to be a standard size. We''ll have tons of free materials from the wrecks to make it any size that we want, fill it with salvage, then attach it to the ship with magnetic locks and cables like we did to the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°It won''t damage the hull or be permanent.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°It should also give us about eight times our normal cargo capacity.¡±


    ¡°So, what do you think, chief engineer?¡± I asked Luxea. ¡°Want to give my idea a go?¡±


    Luxea beamed a smile up at me. ¡°Try and stop me!¡±


    ¡°Now that''s what I want to hear.¡± I said. ¡°Let''s get to work.¡±


    We had the rescue supplies sorted and kept what we needed or thought would be useful, then put the rest onto the deck beside the ship. I was tempted to requisition one of the heavy maintenance droids that were working in the dock for our salvage operation, then realized I would probably have to talk to the government officials to get their permission for the loan. I really didn''t want to do that, so our ship left the docking bay with almost no notice and barely a cursory ''cleared for departure'' message from the station.


    Once we were out of the hanger and into space, Luxea had the navigation computer reconfigured to track down the markers that the rescue teams had used to mark the wrecks for the booster teams. We had received the ten brand new spacesuits from the station, so Luxea had no trouble getting changed into one. I put on the same one I had before, and Rhubin docked the ship to one of the biggest wrecks.


    ¡°Okay we''re hooked. There''s still power and air, so be careful what you do over there.¡± Rhubin said.


    Luxea and I went through the main hatch on the ship and into the wreck. She pointed to the left and I followed her down the hallway. I didn''t ask where we were going, since I would find out eventually anyway. She led me down another hallway and through a hatch, then pointed to the side at a set of double doors.


    ¡°Do you have that key handy?¡± Luxea asked with a smile. I chuckled and took out my Light sword and set it to one foot long, one inch wide, and normal intensity. When I activated it, she gasped.


    ¡°Don''t worry about the size. It''s cold in here.¡± I said, and she burst out laughing. I jammed the Light sword into the panel beside the door, just in case the doors had some kind of security system that we didn''t know about, then I quickly cut around the double doors. I grabbed then with Presence Hands and pulled them out of the way, and inside was what looked like a mechanics shop with every kind of tool and machine that anyone could ever think of.


    ¡°Now we can have some real fun.¡± Luxea said with a gleam in her eye.

 Book One: The Presence 058

    With access to a large ship''s mechanical workshop, Luxea had designed a collapsible cage with wire mesh that we could attach to the hull of the ship. She knew the shape and dimensions of the ship by heart, so she made each cage the right size to fit five of them on the hull, which I thought was amazing. Two would fit behind the shuttle, one would go beside the shuttle, and two would be in front of it. They were all the same size and could hold pretty much anything, except for something smaller than the holes in the wire mesh. Those things we would store in the actual cargo holds on the ship.


    ¡°Luxea, you''re fantastic.¡± I said as we loaded the collapsible cages onto a large trolley. ¡°These things take up almost no space and we can keep them after we use them.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I expected to get a one-use container that we would have to leave or cut up when we were done with it.¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°You expected me to make something each time we came here to salvage?¡± Luxea asked, surprised.


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡± I said. ¡°I like giving you nearly impossible tasks, remember?¡±


    That made her laugh while we took the cages she made back to the ship. Rather than try to deploy them right away, I had another suggestion.


    ¡°Hunter, you''re crazy.¡± Luxea said when I told her.


    ¡°Hey, the living room is a huge empty space that we''ve only used twice so far.¡± I said. ¡°Why can''t we convert part, or even all of it into a workshop?¡±


    ¡°Because it''s damn messy?¡± Luxea asked, and I chuckled.


    ¡°Okay, I can''t argue with you there.¡±


    ¡°Damn right you can''t.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Most of my room is a mess, and I only have basic tools and equipment there.¡±


    ¡°Hey! That''s it!¡± I said, and she looked at me. ¡°We can convert your room into a machine shop.¡±


    ¡°But... what about...¡±


    ¡°When was the last time you didn''t spend the night in my room?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, that... you can''t expect...¡±


    ¡°It''s just an idea.¡± I said. ¡°For now, we can take all the equipment and put it into the secondary hold.¡±


    ¡°I... all right.¡± Luxea said, and we went back to the machine shop and took all the easily removable equipment that we could and put it on the large trolley. We had to make several trips and we easily filled the secondary hold with everything, including spare parts, accessories, and all of the tools we could get. When we closed the compartment, Luxea had a huge grin on her face and looked at me.


    ¡°I can''t believe we took all of that and fit it in there.¡±


    ¡°That was just the beginning.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°How many maintenance lockers do you think are still intact on that wreck with portable airlocks in them?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Luxea laughed. ¡°There''s still power, so probably a lot of them.¡±


    We went back into the wreck, went to every floor, and found all of the available maintenance lockers and stripped them of everything. They were all intact, so we got six of everything. Six portable air locks, six power packs, six small plasma cutters, six tool boxes, six electrical kits, six bundles of replacement wires of various sizes, and six boxes of generic electrical components.


    ¡°Maintenance lockers are a scavenger''s dream!¡± I said, and Luxea had to agree. Since it was a large fleet ship, all of the things we found were of the highest quality, so none of the parts were worn out or old, and the tools and equipment hadn''t been used before.


    We actually managed to get everything stored inside the ship in storage compartments, except for the portable airlocks. They were just too big to keep in normal areas, so they went into the cargo hold. We went back into the ship and I asked Luxea a very important question.


    ¡°Do you think this ship has an armory?¡±


    Luxea turned her head to look at me with her mouth hanging open, because I could clearly see it through her helmet visor. ¡°Hunter, we... well, I guess we could...¡±


    ¡°Salvage rights.¡± I reminded her. After a few moments, she nodded.


    Luxea took out the datapad that she had loaded the ship''s schematics on and found what we were looking for. We went there and saw the huge security door. It was also welded shut. I used Detect Presence to look past the door to see that it was booby-trapped as well, then smiled.


    ¡°The poor fools thought we would use the front door and set a trap.¡± I said and led Luxea around to the other hallway and along the large blank wall.


    ¡°I still think it''s weird that you can see through tristeel like it was nothing.¡± Luxea said as I took out my Light sword and changed the settings back to normal.


    ¡°The blast shield is tristeel, too.¡± I said and she looked at my face to see that I was still wearing it.


    ¡°You don''t have to wear it all the time, you know.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I know. I''ve just gotten into the habit of wearing it.¡± I activated the Light sword and slowly slid it into the wall, then moved it to the side about two feet, then cut it down to the floor. I went over four feet and then pulled it up to just over my head, across four feet, then back down to meet the first cut. I used a Presence Hand to push it from the other side and caught it on this side with another Presence Hand, then moved it off to the side.


    Luxea gasped as she saw the racks and racks of laser rifles, laser pistols, armor pieces, cases of grenades of all kinds, and even a couple of the large heavy weapons that needed crews to operate.


    ¡°What the hell does a starship need with heavy ground-based assault weapons?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Well, depending on the situation, like well defended targets and...¡±


    ¡°We are NOT taking the heavy weapons!¡± Luxea exclaimed loudly, and I looked at her with wide eyes. ¡°We''re not.¡± She said in a more normal tone.


    ¡°We''re taking the custom power packs.¡± I said, and she didn''t argue, because that would make them inoperable without replacements and she was okay with that. We loaded up two large trolleys with crates of charge packs, grenades, and stacks of weapons. I made Luxea promise to help me convert part of my room into a weapons locker so we could store them safely. Before we left the armory, I made her very happy and used my Light sword to cut up the heavy assault weapons into pieces and melted the mounts to make them completely unusable.


    We brought our salvage back to the ship and left everything in my room, then we discussed what else we could take. Luxea said she wanted to examine any computer-based system on the ship to see what information might be on them, so we went and found a console first. She tried booting it up and nothing happened. She popped it open and checked that everything was connected, then tried again with the same result. Nothing.


    ¡°It''s wiped.¡± Luxea said, sadly.


    ¡°Well, they said the same thing happened with the enemy ships.¡± I said. ¡°I guess it''s standard procedure to wipe computers when abandoning a ship, no matter who you are.¡±


    ¡°Now what?¡±


    ¡°Well, what about the power converters for shipboard weapons?¡± I asked, and she stared at me with wide eyes. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, those things are huge!¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Are they much bigger than the laser cannons themselves?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Then we''ll just take the laser cannons.¡± I said, and her mouth dropped open. ¡°You know, you don''t have to keep looking so surprised every time I say something.¡±


    ¡°They... we can''t... it''s a lot of... by the Goddess, can we actually take starship weapons?¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°What else can we salvage?¡± I asked. ¡°Thrusters? Sensors? Oh! What about a communications array?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, it''ll take hours to... we can''t actually... you aren''t even listening to me, are you?¡±


    ¡°I''m sure some of the smaller ship pieces have to have a good missile rack or two.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°If we harvest a few empty consoles, we can do what I told the captain... well, admiral now... to do with the salvage ships and give them temporary missile firing capabilities.¡±


    ¡°We can''t store reloads for missiles, even with the new outside storage cages.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Not that you would want to store live ammunition outside of a ship''s hull anyway.¡±


    ¡°We could store them under the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°Under the... are you crazy?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°You want to give the shuttle missiles?¡±


    ¡°It was just a thought.¡±


    ¡°It would be shot and destroyed faster than we could launch it from the ship!¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Well, let''s go looking for other valuable things.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, we... are we really...¡±


    ¡°Only if you think we can.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t ask you to endanger yourself to salvage ship weapons; but, if we can do it safely, we have a lot of storage space now.¡±


    Luxea sighed. ¡°Yes, dammit. I can do it safely.¡±


    ¡°Then let''s finish our survey of the inside and start on the outside.¡± I said, and she followed me down the hallway to the first door. It took us about six hours to search and get everything of potential value from the inside of the wreck, then another six hours to scavenge two large and fully functional laser cannons from the outside. Luxea had been right and the power capacitors for them were too big to take out of the ship and store on mine.


    We moved on to the next wreck and did the same thing. There wasn''t much inside, with only one maintenance locker, and there were no weapon hatches. We went to the next wreck and found the bridge of the ship. Luxea was hesitant at first, until I told her that there was no one there, not even bodies. She relaxed and we entered the airless and powerless bridge, then she saw all of the modern consoles.


    ¡°Hunter, I think we just hit the jackpot!¡±


    ¡°It''s a good thing we brought extra power packs, then.¡± I said and she nodded.


    ¡°Without power, I can cut the physical links to the safety mechanisms that protect the computers.¡± Luxea said with a grin. ¡°It''ll let us have access to the computer''s data without having to use their command programs, which would ask for command codes and proper authorization and everything.¡±


    ¡°Then get to work, oh great chief engineer.¡± I said and handed her the small plasma cutter. She chuckled and unhooked her tool belt, then she pulled herself down under the main flight console. I wasn''t surprised that she was done barely twenty minutes later, then I helped her hook up the power packs. The console powered up and she pulled herself onto the seat in front of it and started checking everything. I watched her face grow happier the longer she was there, then she grinned and took out a fresh datapad and started to transfer all of the information from the computer to it.


    ¡°I assume you were successful?¡± I asked, and she laughed.


    ¡°We''ve got it all, Hunter.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Weapon software, engineering schematics, computer programs, everything.¡±


    ¡°What can we do with that?¡± I asked, and she put a gloved hand on my hand.


    ¡°We don''t have to search for things we want anymore.¡± Luxea said. ¡°This has a list of everything and their locations. We just need to go there and get it.¡±


    ¡°You don''t just mean on this ship, do you?¡± I asked, and she shook her head.


    ¡°This is the bridge for a fleet collier.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It''s job is to coordinate with all the other ships and make sure they have the proper supplies to keep fully functional.¡±


    ¡°Then we lucked out and missed the best opportunity at the same time.¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡±


    ¡°Most of this ship is gone. If it''s job was to keep the fleet full of supplies, the cargo hold would have had everything we ever would have needed.¡±


    Luxea opened her mouth to respond, then she closed it. ¡°Well, damn.¡±


    I laughed and gave her hand a squeeze. ¡°When the information finishes transferring, we should salvage the computer components, too.¡±


    Luxea nodded and we waited for it to finish, then we disassembled the main computer and removed the consoles and took them as well. We loaded them onto the ship and went to the next wreck. Thanks to our own computer being able to match the wreck to a known ship, and the new data to tell us where everything was, we made short work of salvaging it and storing the valuable materials in one of the new collapsible cages on the ship''s hull.


    We stayed at it for over a week and we picked over nearly everything. We actually started bypassing and noting where the things we couldn''t take right away were, and we filled all of the wire cages on the ship''s hull with the most expensive things we could salvage. Shipboard weapons and hyperspace generators, mostly. Luxea had the brilliant idea to place beacons all over the new debris field, that had a short range broadcast with the company name and logo to claim the salvage as ours, with our license and authorization from the new government of the Fogaris System.


    After a long discussion, we decided that we needed to rest for a day before going anywhere with our salvage and to go all the way back to the Drizahl System to buy an orbital transshipment container to store it all in. I thought going all the way back there was a bit too far for the first trip, then Rhubin convinced me that we needed to eat some more of that restaurant''s great and cheap food. Luxea didn''t argue, so that was what we were going to do.


    The three of us relaxed and lounged around for half of the day, then we slept for almost twelve hours. None of us were surprised by that long of a sleep, considering how hard we had been working the last couple of weeks. I told Luxea and Rhubin that I wanted to set up a couple of the automated weapon platforms that the mechanics on the station had designed, so we could protect our claim; but, they thought that was a bit too excessive and I was voted down.


    Luxea had the navigation computer spit out a reciprocal course to the clear jump point that was a week away, since it took us far from all of the hazards of having to explain to other system governments why we were hauling shipboard weapon salvage. I was tempted to message the station to tell them that we were leaving the system, and Luxea reminded me that no other ship had shown up in the system the entire time we had been salvaging parts.


    That got me to thinking about what Uzahne had said about ordering ships back home, so I went to the console in the living room and checked the local net for information. There was a lot of speculation and rampant rumors, and lots of notices that their warships would be returning in a few days. That was a relief, so I was about to turn off the console when I had an odd thought. I checked the local contract jobs on a hunch and looked at the listings.


    Sure enough, there was a posting for a quick delivery job to the enemy''s home world. I shook my head at that and thought about adding a warning about dangerous cargo. I shrugged and kept looking, then saw several contract jobs for pest removal in the same system.


    No, they didn''t. I thought and checked out the first one. Ten thousand credits to kill vermin? I looked at the picture and it was one of the aliens wearing a business suit, and I read the short sentence below it. President Vermin pictured at his home. I shook my head and closed the connection. Now I''m wondering if his name actually is ''Vermin''.


    I went to the cockpit to tell Luxea about the job postings while Rhubin flew the ship out to clear space. We jumped into hyperspace to begin the long journey back to the Dizahl System.


    *


    ¡°We can''t stay here much longer.¡± The pilot said to a very unhappy Master Kara Moor. ¡°Our supplies are running low and we need to resupply.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe they are still in that system.¡± Kara said, her voice full of disbelief. ¡°We could have been there over a week ago to confront them if I''d known they were staying!¡±


    ¡°I can''t argue that.¡± The pilot said. ¡°You made the right choice considering the information you had.¡±


    ¡°And now?¡± Kara said, without getting angry that the pilot just insulted her.


    ¡°We''ve got a day, maybe two, before we have to head back to the closest system to restock.¡±


    ¡°You''re allowing for the trip and a bit extra, in case it takes longer?¡±


    ¡°Barely.¡± The pilot said. ¡°I''d rather leave right now, actually.¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°We''ll stay one more day, then head back.¡±


    The pilot nodded and Kara went into the back. The air filters were still working at their best capacity, and yet the sweat smell just would not go away. It irritated her a lot, since it disrupted her ability to meditate for more than half an hour, and her sleep had been fitful the last few nights. The other two Order members had stopped talking the day before and just sat in their seats without moving. If she wanted to delude herself, she could tell herself that they were meditating constantly and were training their minds, when in fact they were just bored and listless.


    She resumed her seat and tried, once again, to meditate. Half an hour later, her nostrils were filled with the stench and she couldn''t take it. She thought about using Presence to cover her face, then remembered that it hadn''t worked the last time she had tried it. Even cloths weren''t able to stop the smell, so she used a mental technique to calm down and relax.


    A loud beep broke the silence and she nearly jumped out of her seat. She dug the specially configured datapad out of her pocket and looked at the screen and saw that Ullir''s ship was no longer in the Fogaris system.


    ¡°They jumped!¡± Kara exclaimed. ¡°Pilot! Take us back two jumps to the closest system!¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°We have a week of time and I want this damnable smell removed from the ship!¡± Kara said and stood. ¡°If we hurry, we can be back here with plenty of time to catch them!¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master Moor.¡± The pilot said as he turned the ship around and brought it up to speed. He already had the coordinates loaded and the ship jumped into hyperspace.


    The fast courier ship made it back to a habitable system in just under three days. When they docked, the fresh air was as refreshing as the fresh food was. Kara had been surprised that she had become tired of eating the basic food rations, which was something she never thought would happen. She couldn''t stop a nagging cough, though.


    It took about an hour for the small ship to be checked over, and she held in her anger that it was contaminated air filters that were the culprit for the smell. It started out as just one and had spread throughout the ship with five people breathing it in. They were immediately taken to the medical bay and examined, and all of their lungs were full of the infection.


    ¡°How long?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°You''ve been exposed to it for over two weeks and...¡± The medical professional started to say.


    ¡°No, how long will it take to cure it?¡± Kara asked and interrupted him.


    ¡°About six hours in a bio-medical tank.¡±


    Kara closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to calm down. ¡°Do it.¡± She said. ¡°Also, have the ship cleaned, restocked, and ready to disembark by the time we''re done.¡±


    The five of them spent the next six hours in breathable bio-gel that cleaned their lungs from the inside. It wasn''t a pleasant experience for anyone, and they were all irritable and sore afterwards. They cleaned up and dressed in new clothing, since the others had to be destroyed, then they went back to the ship.


    Kara checked the datapad and saw that Ullir''s ship was still missing from it. ¡°Take us back to the same spot.¡± She said, her voice hoarse from the bio-gel.


    The pilot undocked the ship and they flew out to the Lagrange point, entered the coordinates, and jumped to hyperspace. They made another jump after that and appeared back at the same spot that they had spent over two weeks floating around and waiting. Now they were going to wait again.


    ¡°Release the sensor drones and make sure to cover as much of this open space as possible.¡± Kara said, and the navigator followed her instructions. I will have you, Ullir. She thought with a predatory smile.

 Book One: The Presence 059

    It took a week to get back to the empty jump point that we had used previously, and now we had about six hours to cross the space to the next jump point. We could have jumped again right away; but, Luxea warned us about excessive wear and tear on the ship, especially with all of the extra mass we were carrying. So, we floated along at a good speed without rushing, since there was no one here to show off to. That made me chuckle, since Rhubin had argued several times that he liked to show off to himself and didn''t need an audience.


    We were barely an hour in normal space when the sensors detected movement. Rhubin called us to the cockpit and Luxea sat down and used the active scanners to check the surrounding area.


    ¡°Oh, damn.¡± Luxea said with a sigh and looked at us. ¡°We''re inside a sensor net.¡±


    ¡°Inside a...¡± Rhubin shook his head. ¡°There can''t be a net here. We''re in the middle of nowhere!¡±


    ¡°There''s no way to detect who owns it or how long it''s been here, is there?¡± I asked.


    Luxea shook her head. ¡°All I can say is, whoever it is knows we''re here and...¡±


    BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!


    ¡°Active scan just picked up a ship!¡± Luxea said and checked the data. ¡°It''s a fast courier ship!¡±


    ¡°A fast courier...¡± I paused and closed my eyes and felt the flow of Presence. ¡°It''s from The Order, isn''t it?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Can we outrun them?¡±


    ¡°If they weren''t right on top of us, sure.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Luxea, get the navigation computer working on new jump coordinates.¡±


    ¡°It''s already running.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It''s going to take a few minutes, though.¡±


    ¡°We need to stall or something.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Hunter, do you have any ideas?¡±


    ¡°Just one.¡± I said pointed to the communications controls. ¡°Call them.¡±


    *


    Kara was ecstatic that they had only been waiting for a couple of hours when a ship entered the hastily constructed sensor net. Even with the right coordinates, there was always some drift between jumps and the computers almost always had to recalculate to ensure the drift wasn''t catastrophic. The ship had only been a couple of degrees off of the projected course, and she told the pilot to power up and get them over to the ship as quickly as possible.


    ¡°It might not be them.¡± The navigator said.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°The numbers I''m getting from the scan are way off from the ship specs we have on record.¡± He said.


    ¡°No, it has to be them.¡± Kara said as she felt the flow of Presence. ¡°I know he''s on that ship.¡±


    ¡°Well, we''ll find out in a minute.¡± The pilot said. ¡°They''re not even trying to avoid us.¡±


    Kara nodded, and then the navigator jerked his hand on the console. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°They''re contacting us.¡± The navigator said, surprised.


    Kara stepped to the side and out of the communicator''s pick-up range and nodded. The navigator hit the accept button and a man''s overly happy moustached face appeared on the small display.


    ¡°This is The Wave! Our fast courier ship is transitioning to another hyperspace jump point and we saw you on our scanner. Are you here doing that, too?¡±


    ¡°Actually...¡± The navigator started to say, and Kara stepped into the pick-up''s range.


    ¡°Hello, Rhubin.¡± Kara said with a smile.


    ¡°Ah, dammit.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Come to a full stop and prepare to be boarded.¡± Kara ordered. ¡°The Order has unfinished business with you.¡±


    ¡°I.. ah... can''t do that.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We''ve got too much cargo to...¡±


    ¡°We will open fire.¡± Kara said and nodded to the navigator, who powered up the small laser emitters on the front of the cockpit. ¡°As you can now detect.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I see it.¡± Rhubin said as his face glanced down at the readout.


    ¡°The gunner is an expert, so the least that will happen is you''ll lose power.¡± Kara said. ¡°I hope you''re wearing your flight suit in case of air loss.¡±


    ¡°That''s quite a threat from a member of The Order, who is supposed to promote peace and calmness throughout the universe.¡± A man''s voice said off-screen. ¡°Or is that a lie as well?¡±


    Kara caught her breath because she recognized the voice immediately. ¡°Ullir.¡±


    The view changed from Rhubin''s face and showed her the upper torso and head of a man with a blast shield embedded into his face over his eyes. He had long and wild dirty blonde hair in a mass around his face.


    ¡°Wh-what happened to you?¡± Kara asked, her voice soft and shaky.


    ¡°Do you really want to know, or are you going to shoot a hole in the hull and kill me instead?¡± Ullir asked. ¡°As you can see, I''m not wearing a spacesuit.¡±


    Kara thought frantically for a moment. ¡°Go put one on.¡±


    Ullir chuckled and shook his head, which made his hair wave around his shoulders enticingly. ¡°Why would I give up an advantage over you?¡±


    ¡°You... you don''t need an advantage, Ullir.¡± Kara said. ¡°Please, I just want to talk.¡±


    ¡°I don''t need the Presence to tell me that was a lie.¡± Ullir said, and Kara closed her mouth. ¡°You want a lot more than that.¡±


    ¡°Of course I do!¡± Kara exclaimed. ¡°You assaulted the council! You assaulted me! Then you left! You left me! YOU ABANDONED ME!¡±


    ¡°You don''t need to yell.¡± Ullir said. ¡°I didn''t abandon you, I fled from my captors.¡±


    ¡°I was not holding you captive!¡±


    ¡°No?¡± Ullir asked. ¡°I wasn''t allowed to leave your side, not even at night.¡± He said. ¡°What would you call that?¡±


    ¡°I told you that you needed to be by my side constantly to learn.¡± Kara said. ¡°All I wanted to do was teach you what you needed to know.¡±


    ¡°No, you wanted to teach me what you thought I needed to know, not what I should have known.¡± Ullir said. ¡°Do you have any idea what it was like for me to go out into space and have no practical knowledge of anything?¡±


    ¡°I would have taught you about...¡±


    ¡°When? After I was killed on my first mission?¡±


    ¡°Ullir, that wasn''t what the council intended.¡±


    ¡°You obviously weren''t at the same meeting I was.¡± Ullir said. ¡°They knew I wasn''t going to join The Order, so they arranged to get rid of me before I could make the decision I was always going to make.¡± Ullir said. ¡°Kara, stop deluding yourself. I was always going to leave. I wasn''t going to be brainwashed by them, or by you, into joining an organization that killed my parents and my potential lover.¡±


    ¡°Wh-wh-WHAT?¡± Kara yelled.


    ¡°Do you really think I haven''t kept track of the bounty on my head?¡± Ullir asked. ¡°Now I''m wanted for three murders and the bounty is right up there with some of the worst criminals in this part of the universe.¡±


    ¡°I recommended against them making what happened at the resort public.¡±


    ¡°You got it wrong, though. I didn''t murder them. Murder requires intent and premeditation. That wasn''t what happened. Those men killed a woman who cared about me deeply, right in front of my eyes, and I lost control of myself and killed them.¡±


    ¡°I saw the bodies.¡± Kara said. ¡°I also know how you did it.¡±


    ¡°Do you?¡± Ullir asked and held a fist up, and Kara gasped as small lightning bolts rolled around his knuckles. ¡°I had no idea something like this existed, and then they killed her and my heart was so filled with anguish that lightning burst out from me and killed them.¡±


    ¡°Ullir...¡±


    ¡°I nearly died.¡±


    ¡°N-n-no.¡± Kara whispered and touched the display screen.


    ¡°I have permanent scars that will never fade because of what happened.¡±


    ¡°Y-your eyes.¡± Kara said. ¡°Your beautiful eyes.¡±


    Ullir stopped the lightning bolts and leaned in close to the communication display. ¡°Why are you coming after me when you know I won''t go back?¡±


    ¡°Because, I...¡± Kara stopped talking and frowned. ¡°You''re delaying me.¡±


    ¡°Of course I am.¡± Ullir said. ¡°Luxea, do you have the new coordinates yet?¡±


    ¡°In another few seconds.¡± Luxea said.


    Rhubin added power to the engines to get the ship up to speed.


    ¡°Open fire! Take out their navigation or their engines!¡± Kara exclaimed. ¡°Don''t let them get away!¡±


    The navigator pulled the trigger and their laser emitter shot over a dozen shots and he walked them along the front and side of the ship to try and disable it. Both he and Kara were surprised when not one single shot came near the hull.


    ¡°Deflector screens are great, aren''t they?¡± Ullir said from the communication display and Kara glared at him. ¡°I''m tempted to use my new technique to disable your ship; but, I can''t leave you stranded all the way out here like you were about to strand Rhubin and Luxea.¡±


    ¡°I would have sent someone to come and get them.¡± Kara said after a moment.


    ¡°They would get here eventually, or you would think they would, right?¡± Ullir asked, and she didn''t respond. ¡°The thing is, you wouldn''t even think to check once you had me in custody.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, you need to answer for your crimes!¡± Kara said, and tears started in her eyes. ¡°You''ve strayed so far from the path of Light!¡±


    ¡°And you haven''t?¡± Ullir asked and she caught her breath. ¡°You''re so desperate to get me back that you just fired a dozen laser bolts at a fast cargo ship. Any one of those shots could have ruptured the hull and killed everyone inside, or hit the reactor and killed everyone inside, or...¡±


    ¡°The emitters only send out low power laser bolts.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Ah, the justification of the righteous.¡± Ullir said. ¡°Doesn''t it feel great to know you''re always right and everyone else has to bend to your will, all because you''re a member of an all-powerful organization?¡±


    ¡°That''s not what The Order does!¡±


    ¡°It''s right in the name, Kara. The Order. What else would they do but impose order on everyone else?¡±


    ¡°Ullir, why are you fighting against me so much? I only want what''s best for you!¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Wow, the Presence really wavered there.¡± Ullir said. ¡°I''m sure the other two members of The Order behind you are cringing right now at that blatant lie.¡±


    ¡°I will take you in to face your crimes.¡± Kara said, adamantly. ¡°Once we get that out of the way, you can get back to living your life the way it should be lived.¡±


    ¡°With you.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kara said, then she caught her breath. ¡°No, I... I meant...¡±


    ¡°On that truthful note, we''re off.¡± Ullir said and waved. ¡°If you need any fast cargo deliveries, call someone else. The Wave won''t accept cargo or passenger work from The Order.¡±


    ¡°You can''t just leave!¡±


    ¡°Sure we can.¡± Ullir said. ¡°Watch us.¡±


    ¡°I know your ship! I know your company! I will find you!¡±


    ¡°If you can justify stopping an entire company''s operations throughout the universe to look for one person on their ships, go ahead and try.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''ll have The Order covered in trade sanctions from every trading hub on all of the major routes.¡±


    ¡°We have every right to stop your ship to apprehend a criminal!¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Well, you would think that.¡± Luxea said and smiled. ¡°Oops! It looks like I almost leaked the footage of an Order ship opening fire on a poor defenseless fast cargo ship! No, wait! I did!¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to respond, then they received a copy of that footage.


    ¡°Buh-bye!¡± Luxea said and waved, then Rhubin took the obvious cue and jumped to hyperspace.


    ¡°NOOO!¡± Kara yelled and punched the communications display and broke it.


    *


    ¡°Okay, that was just mean.¡± I said with a grin to Luxea, and she laughed.


    ¡°I didn''t actually leak it. I just sent it to them.¡± Luxea said. ¡°They don''t know that, though.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that''s going to stop them from harassing us?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°It''s possible.¡± I said, then chuckled. ¡°It''s not likely, though.¡±


    ¡°I''ll spread it around the Dizahl System discretely and see if we can get a bit of a public defense going.¡±


    ¡°Won''t seeing our deflector screens give away that we weren''t damaged?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°What deflector screens?¡± Luxea asked and played the footage she had, and it only showed the shots and the ship shaking, and not the deflector screens protecting it.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I only used the feed from half of the sensors.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It won''t show up as fake, because it''s not edited.¡±


    I laughed and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Now I wish I had footage of everything else that''s ever happened to me at the hands of The Order.¡±


    ¡°We are NOT raiding The Order''s home planet.¡± Luxea said flatly, and I laughed again.


    ¡°Let''s just get back to what''s going to become our base and off-load our salvage.¡± I said. ¡°Once we do, we can put out some discreet inquiries for anyone looking for what we have.¡±


    ¡°We aren''t selling to crooks and thieves.¡± Luxea said adamantly, and I gave her shoulder a squeeze.


    ¡°You''re the one in charge of the business, so you get the last word.¡± I said, and she gave me a sincere and sweet smile before she nodded.


    We made it back to the Dizahl System without incident and Luxea arranged for several large transshipment containers to be placed in orbit and linked together to make one large storage space. I asked her why she had bought so many, and she said we were going to fill them with the salvage from the Fogaris wrecks. She said it would take us about two months to get it all and bring it back here, so that''s what we did. The ''new'' warships in the Fogaris System greeted us like old friends and we had one of Luxea''s whims pay off. She had bought a huge take out order from our favorite restaurant and we had filled our secondary cargo hold with it.


    The crews of the ships were more than grateful for all of the great and free food. We delivered it to all the ships they had in orbit and each time we docked, handshakes and greetings abounded. Once you went through a horrible experience with someone, it formed a bond that wasn''t quite friendship and was more than an acquaintance. It was hard to describe what it was like, because it was something I hadn''t experienced before. We also discreetly dropped off another important shipment at the station that had filled our primary cargo hold. No one had ordered it; but, we knew that they really needed it.


    After that, we went to the orbiting wrecks and worked day and night, took occasional breaks, and stripped the remains of the ships of everything we could. We even took the things we didn''t think we could sell right away. Food synthesizers, formed chairs, and even artwork. You name it, we took it. We were all hysterical with laughter by the time we had finished. Once we were done and left the wrecks practically bare, I had Luxea message the station to let them know that they should send out one of the asteroid smelters to reclaim all of the metal so they could reuse it.


    ¡°Hunter! Was that one of your ideas that we couldn''t use right away?¡± A woman''s voice said outside of the communicator''s pick-up.


    ¡°It is, because the ships needed to be stripped for it to work.¡± I said, then smiled. ¡°Admiral? Is that you?¡± I asked and leaned over Luxea''s shoulder to look into the communicator''s pick-up, and I saw the admiral do the same to the woman on the screen.


    ¡°It is.¡± The admiral said and waved at me with a synthetic hand instead of her metal claw.


    ¡°I see you got my present.¡± I said, and she nodded.


    ¡°You don''t know what that shipment means to us.¡± The admiral said.


    ¡°I visited the medical bay before we left the station that first time and I saw a lot of the patients taking too long to recover.¡± I said. ¡°So, I have some idea what it means to you.¡±


    ¡°It must have cost a small fortune for all those medical supplies.¡± The admiral said. ¡°Hunter, you need to visit here so I can thank you.¡± Her smouldering eyes gave away what she really intended to do. ¡°Maybe we can get that blast shield removed from your face and fix your eyes, too.¡±


    ¡°You mean this old thing?¡± I asked and slid it off of my face, and her mouth dropped open.


    ¡°By the Goddess Chaiya.¡± The admiral whispered, her face shocked.


    ¡°Try to keep it a secret.¡± I said and gave her a crooked smile and a wink, which made her catch her breath. I slipped the blast shield back on and shook my head to cover the sides with my hair. ¡°It was nice meeting you, admiral.¡±


    ¡°Shanifra.¡± The admiral said. ¡°My name is Shanifra.¡±


    I put a hand over my heart and bowed my head to her. ¡°Shanifra, I must take my leave. I may return someday, especially if you need a fast courier and cargo ship''s services.¡±


    ¡°Why couldn''t you charm me like this in person?¡± Shanifra asked, a little sadly.


    ¡°It''s safer for me this way.¡± I said, and she smiled, then chuckled, then laughed.


    ¡°Point taken.¡± Shanifra said. ¡°Safe travels, and may the Goddess watch over you.¡±


    We flew out to one of the many safe jump points, entered hyperspace, and left the Fogaris System behind. During this last trip, we had done a cursory survey of the enemy ships and they didn''t have anything that we could use, since it was all different standards than what we had already harvested, so we left it all untouched. The Fogaris government could deal with it themselves.


    We went back to the Dizahl System and had filled several transshipment containers with salvage. Luxea, being the industrious businesswoman she was, already had a buyer for most of the ship weapons and the hyperspace generators. When she mentioned to the buyer about the generic equipment and items we had taken from the Fogaris fleet ships, they practically begged her to add that to the deal.


    She agreed and increased the price accordingly, then asked if they wanted it delivered. They did, so we spent a good portion of a week delivering them to the second planet and the same company that we had delivered their errant employee to. The Bogorim Corporation.


    The same alien we had dealt with before did this deal as well. It seemed he always did the important transactions when it affected the company, and he was delighted to conclude the deal quickly. He had even complimented us on the very clean salvage operation we must have had and he said he would keep us in mind if he needed our services again, then walked away without a care in the world.


    ¡°We just made a fortune in credits.¡± Luxea said as she looked at the enormously high numbered credit chip in the small metal case. ¡°Now what do we do?¡±


    ¡°Well, it''s been a while since we had a good meal.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°I''m driving!¡± Rhubin exclaimed and pulled us into the ship. We laughed and left the planet at our best speed, then flew back to the station to have another meal like kings.


    With an unbelievable amount of credits in our ship, with a backup on the galactic net in case something happened to the ship, we could pretty much do what we wanted. So that''s what we did. Over the next few months, we only took the jobs Luxea vetted and were legitimate, and I took bounty contracts that The Order had taken out on people. It didn''t take long for word about me to get around, about a bounty hunter with a bounty on his head, who had the guts and the audacity to take bounties from the same organization that had a price on his head.


    Surprisingly, that actually put me in high demand instead of being reviled or vilified. Of course, I kept to my word and the bounties I hunted down for The Order were recruited and not killed, faked their deaths, then we set them up with fake identities, lots of credits provided by the bounty, and weapons when necessary. It didn''t take long to get an entire network of helpers and their families throughout a dozen star systems that had been victims of The Order, who didn''t like what The Order was doing just as much as I didn''t like it.


    Luxea convinced me to not put a seismic charge on the station beside the super gas giant planet to get back at the port master for stealing our original communications array. Instead, we used its practically abandoned facilities as a staging and meeting area for covert operations... once I quietly removed the port master. His brother was much nicer to deal with, now that his conceited brother was gone. After a nice hefty bribe, he gave us access to all the data on the station and then left us completely alone.


    We knew it was risky to work and discuss things there, since I still had all of my tracking devices on the ship. I thought about getting rid of them several times, then after discussing it with Luxea and Rhubin, we figured it was better to let The Order, or Kara specifically, to track our progress.


    We weren''t doing anything illegal, so she couldn''t do anything openly against our company The Wave, and since as a bounty hunter I was doing The Order''s dirty work, she couldn''t get me for that, either. Kara followed us almost everywhere we went and kept trying to confront me. Sometimes for brief breaks her ship didn''t appear in the same system before we jumped out. It was during one of these transfers that I realized The Order could only track us while in normal space, so we started to use that to our advantage.


    The cat and mouse game we were playing had entered a new stage.


    The mouse led the cat where they wanted and only gave them glimpses of the tail, mostly just to frustrate the cat for the mouse''s amusement. We led them all over while we did jobs for both fun and profit, hunted bounties and built a reputation for ourselves. The entire time, I tracked the blue-skinned bastard that killed my parents and his movements. He was still kind of following the same pattern I had discovered almost a year ago, and after several long discussions with Luxea and Rhubin, we decided to set a trap for him the next time he left his base.


    There was only one thing that I needed to do first.


    I had Rhubin drop me off in a nearby system to my intended destination and I left all the tracking devices on the ship so I wouldn''t be followed. I arranged for passage on a passenger ship to take me to the next system. I dressed in my black uniform of power armor, currently powered down because I had gotten used to wearing it when it ran out of power, then took off the company patches and the vest. I put on the blast shield over my eyes and fixed my hair, then took a small bag of luggage with me.


    Luxea didn''t say a word as we waited by the hatch for Rhubin to dock the ship to the temporary unloading area that didn''t require a fee. When we felt the ship make contact and heard the clang of the docking clamps locking onto the ship, she put her arms around my neck, stood up on her toes, and kissed me. It was a goodbye kiss and had a little bit of desperation in it, so I put my arms around her and kissed her back. I felt her tremble slightly, I assumed because it wasn''t like the kisses we normally shared and felt different.


    Luxea only held the kiss for a few brief moments and then broke it, let my neck go, and stepped back. Her face was flushed red and she stayed quiet as Rhubin came running to the hatch.


    ¡°Don''t forget to come back here in two weeks.¡± Rhubin said and held a hand out for me to shake. ¡°Make sure you buy me something nice.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I doubt I''ll have much time to go shopping.¡±


    ¡°Ah, well. Maybe next time.¡± Rhubin said with a smile. ¡°Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and looked at Luxea, and she was no longer blushing. ¡°See you in two weeks.¡±


    Luxea only nodded and Rhubin opened the main hatch. I gave them a quick wave of my hand, picked up my bag, and left the ship. I felt their eyes follow me across the crowded landing area and I went over to the reception desk to pick up my physical tickets. They were already paid for, so when I proved I was who I was, they handed them over and I walked away down the station''s main promenade. I easily avoided everyone as they seemed to walk randomly across my path, and made my way to the correct gate of departure.


    I had about an hour before the ship I was on had to leave; but, I didn''t have anything else to do so I boarded early and went to my assigned room. It was a three day leisurely trip to the next system, and I was very anxious to get there and get it over with. I chuckled at my churning emotions and used a mental technique to calm down. I entered a meditative state and the passenger ship left on schedule and drifted out from the station.


    It took over a day to get to the hyperspace jump point and then we entered hyperspace. I was concentrating this time and only felt a small change in the flow of Presence, which was so unlike what I felt on my ship. I thought that was curious and filed that information away for later. The journey through hyperspace took about eighteen hours and we dropped back into normal space. It took almost another day to get to the station there and I was well prepared for what was about to happen next.


    I left the ship and avoided everyone, just as I had during the trip, and made my way over to the planetary landing shuttles. After a short exchange and a credit transfer, I was on my way down to the planet''s surface. When I got there, it was like an airport back on Earth. People were everywhere, and I looked around to see what way to go. A waving hand caught my eye and I turned that way.


    ¡°Over here!¡± The man said, and kept waving at me.


    I pointed to myself and he nodded, so I walked over to him. I didn''t feel any wavers in the Presence, so I knew he was genuine in his actions.


    ¡°Right this way, please.¡± He said and walked away through the crowd. I looked around to see if it was a joke, and he stopped and waved at me to follow. I was tempted to say no and walk in the other direction, then realized he was walking towards the main doors and there were several rows of hover cars there. Since I needed to go that way anyway, I followed him. He passed through the doors and took a left, then motioned dramatically at a waiting car.


    I looked at him and then at the car. ¡°I guess that saves me from having to hire someone.¡±


    The man chuckled and opened the back door, and I climbed in with my bag. I was glad he didn''t offer to take it from me and held it close. There was something very valuable inside and it wasn''t leaving my sight. The man climbed into the front and powered up, then took off almost straight up.


    ¡°Hey, I didn''t say where to go!¡± I said.


    ¡°I know where to go.¡± The driver said and hit the button to close the compartment between us to give himself privacy. I saw him hit a button by the steering wheel. ¡°I have him secured. We are on our way.¡±


    I looked down at the ground and saw we were already a hundred feet up, so I wasn''t going to try to escape or jump from this height. I sighed and sat back to wait for us to land and then I would try to escape. We flew for about half an hour, passed several dozen other vehicles, then we suddenly dropped down in a long spiral.


    I stared out through the front of the vehicle as we plummeted to the ground, then he pulled up and swung around a small landing area, then set the hover car down as light as a feather. I was a bit too stunned at the expert piloting that seemed to have been designed to keep me from trying to escape, and the man walked around and opened the door.


    ¡°Hurry, please.¡± He said and waved to the house.


    I stepped out and looked at him. ¡°What''s going on?¡±


    ¡°All will be explained.¡± The man said and pointed, and I felt a very strong Presence enter my detection range. I turned around to look where it was coming from when the door to the quaint little house burst open.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Lashina yelled as she jumped down the stairs, used Presence to correct her trajectory before she landed, then ran over to me in an instant and hugged me.

 Book One: The Presence 060

    ¡°You came! You really came!¡± Lashina gushed as she held me.


    ¡°I promised I would.¡± I said and hugged her back. ¡°I thought I would have a much harder time trying to get to you, though.¡±


    Lashina giggled and the sound was music to my ears. ¡°I''ve been staying outside The Order compounds and churches for the whole tour.¡± She said and let me go, then took my hand. ¡°That way, it wouldn''t cause any disturbance in the flow when I asked to stay here.¡±


    ¡°That''s sneaky.¡± I said with a smile, and she tugged on my hand.


    ¡°Let''s get inside before someone shows up unexpectedly and sees me with you.¡± Lashina said and dragged me over to the house and up the stairs, then inside.


    A woman shut the door and she bowed to me. ¡°Welcome to my humble home.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for...¡±


    ¡°We can exchange pleasantries later!¡± Lashina exclaimed and cut me off, then she dragged me up the stairs and into a bedroom. ¡°Hurry! Let me see it!¡±


    ¡°Lashina...¡±


    ¡°Please.¡± Lashina begged and her eyes were wide and she stuck out her bottom lip. Her cuteness overrode my sensibility and I opened my bag and took out the present I had for her. It had taken weeks of playing around and a lot of help from Luxea to get it just right.


    ¡°I wanted to give you this when I had to leave.¡± I said and handed the small wrapped box to her. Lashina''s hands shook as she held it without opening it. ¡°You''re mentally blocking me.¡± She said, her eyes alight with curiosity.


    ¡°It was the only way to stop you from ruining the surprise.¡± I said and nodded at the box.


    Lashina tore off the wrapping and opened the lid to the small box, then gasped at the sight. ¡°Oh, Aaron! It''s beautiful.¡± She moaned as she lifted out the gold chain with a medallion on the end. I had used a few of the machines in Luxea''s workshop to create the casing and carved the forest scene with a rising sun in the middle of it. The sun was actually the edge of a bright yellow focusing crystal.


    ¡°It''s going to take you a day to adjust the focusing crystal to your own Presence.¡± I said and helped her put it on. ¡°You can''t turn it on until then.¡±


    ¡°Turn it on?¡± Lashina looked at me with raised eyebrows. ¡°What does it do?¡±


    ¡°It''s a personal shield that will only work for you.¡± I said, and her mouth dropped open in surprise. ¡°You... you''re using a focusing crystal... as a shield?!?¡±


    ¡°Believe me, it took a lot of work and calculations to get it to function properly, once I had the idea to modify Luxea''s powered armor idea.¡± I tapped my chest to show the armor I was wearing. ¡°She did a lot of the intricate electronics for the shield after I assembled the components. There''s a small rechargeable battery to keep the electronics powered; but, it''s the focusing crystal that''s the main power source for the shield.¡±


    ¡°Aaron, I... I don''t know what to say.¡± Lashina said and stroked the medallion.


    ¡°I know you''re not really someone that likes to fight, so since I can''t stay with you, I wanted a way to protect you without actually being here.¡± I said. ¡°I just wish I had thought of it before, when... well, before when...¡±


    ¡°It''s okay. You can stop blocking me now.¡± Lashina said, and I let some of my considerable mental barriers down. Tears immediately sprung to her eyes and she pulled me down into a hug. ¡°Oh, my poor sweet Aaron!¡± She whispered and held me tightly for several minutes without saying anything.


    ¡°Lashina, I...¡±


    ¡°Shh.¡± Lashina said to stop me from explaining, then she eased her hold on me and leaned back. She kissed me lightly on the lips and smiled. ¡°You don''t need to say anything, remember?¡± She said and then spoke to me in my head for the very first time. I didn''t think you would like talking like this.


    I didn''t think I would, either. I thought back to her. My time with Ozahith taught me so much more than I thought it did, and I learned that having you in my head before let me get even closer to her.


    I''m both happy and sad that she let you keep your vow, now that I know what really happened. Lashina thought and kissed me again. This time, she pushed her feelings into me as well as her Presence.


    I accepted the offering wholeheartedly. Me, too. I thought as I poured my Presence into her and started to undress her. I''ve been tempted several times to cheat on my promise to you.


    Lashina chuckled as her robes fell to the floor and she started to undress me, too. No you haven''t. She thought, then her feelings turned serious. Only that once did you regret that you didn''t share yourself with someone else.


    When she died, it hurt so much, and I don''t know why. I thought, and she felt my anguish.


    It''s because you already accepted her into your heart. Lashina thought as I pulled off her long sleeved t-shirt, then she gave me feelings of comfort and support. It''s all right. I''m not angry or jealous that you did. She started to slide my uniform top off of my shoulders and it dropped to the floor because of its extreme weight. That''s really heavy. She thought in surprise, then went back to her train of thought. Ozahith was a remarkable woman and I regret not getting to meet her in person.


    I think you would have liked her a lot. I thought and took off my pants. She really liked all of the memories I had spending time with you.


    Lashina took off her skirt and looked at me from my head to my feet as we both stood there in just underwear. You''ve grown in height and you have grown a lot in strength. She thought as she used Presence to take off my blast shield mask and set it aside.


    I''ve also grown in my need for you. I thought and opened my mental defenses a little more to show her.


    Lashina gasped as she felt my urgent desire to be with her. Yes, my dearest love. She thought and let out a similar urgent desire for me. It''s been a long year for the both of us to wait.


    Let me try to make up for all of that lost time. I thought sincerely as I picked her up and carried her to the bed, then took off her bra and panties and made love to her. I dropped the rest of my mental barriers and poured out everything that I was into her. I let her feel all of my repressed feelings about everything. She was surprised by the intense anger that I felt for The Order and for everything they did to me, which included keeping me away from her for a whole year. Lashina responded in kind and let me feel how much she had missed being with someone who cared about her for who she was and not for her abilities or for what she could do for them.


    Our Presences flowed out of us, faster and faster, and they swirled and mixed together. We both gave ourselves over to our passion, to our power, and to the flow of Presence. Our individual Presences became so much more that they could have been on their own, because neither of us held anything back. That afternoon turned into evening, then into night, then into the next morning.


    I was six feet tall after growing for a year and she was still only four feet tall, and yet the differences in our body sizes didn''t matter, because we had accepted each other with open hearts and with open minds. Lashina and I lost all meaning of time as we shared ourselves completely and bared our inner selves to each other. Neither of us felt like stopping to eat or anything else and we explored everything that we used to be, everything that we were, and everything that we could possibly become. By the end of that second day, we had exhausted ourselves physically and collapsed onto the bed, covered in sweat and our mutual satisfaction.


    ¡°W-w-wow.¡± Lashina panted as she rested her head on my chest, while our subdued Presences still swirled together through our bodies. ¡°Aaron, that was... I''ve never...¡± She took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°By the Goddess Chaiya, I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said and hugged her tightly. ¡°Over the years it''s built up, little by little. Now with you here in my arms, for the first time in my existence, I finally know what it means to really love someone.¡± I touched the side of her pink-skinned face and then stroked her long white hair.


    Lashina lifted her head and looked at me. ¡°You''ve always known love in some form.¡± She said and gave me a kiss. ¡°Your parents loved you very much and did everything they could to protect you.¡±


    ¡°I do love them, and they are very important to me.¡± I said and gave her a kiss back. ¡°I know my guardian Emari loved me, too. What I feel for you is so far beyond both of those that I don''t have words to describe it.¡±


    ¡°I... I feel the same way.¡± Lashina said, and I felt her sincerity.


    Our Presences settled down and calmed, while still mixed together, and stayed that way.


    ¡°You know I''ve taken men to my bed before.¡± Lashina said, and I nodded. ¡°Sometimes it was for fun, once it was for an obligation, and most times it was because of necessity.¡± She said. ¡°The last time it happened, which was decades ago, I lost interest and swore a vow to never do it again.¡±


    ¡°Boy, did we just completely destroy your vow of chastity.¡± I said, and she laughed.


    ¡°I''ve been alive for a long time and I''ve never felt this way about anyone else.¡± Lashina said as her emotions turned serious and she stared into my eyes. ¡°It''s going to hurt me a lot when you leave.¡±


    ¡°We have almost a whole week left before you have to think about that.¡± I said and closed my eyes. ¡°I should advise you to do what I do. Bundle that injustice into the rest of the things The Order has done and let it simmer, then use that anger to help drive you.¡±


    ¡°Aaron, you can''t keep it repressed like that.¡± Lashina said and put her head down on my chest and closed her eyes. ¡°It''ll eat you up if you don''t vent it.¡±


    ¡°Who said I''m not venting it?¡± I asked. ¡°You''ve seen everything I''ve done, haven''t you?¡±


    Lashina nodded. ¡°You are so lucky that you are still technically my patient and I can protect you.¡±


    ¡°Unlike what my friends believe, I wasn''t worried about you turning me in.¡± I said. ¡°Your staff on the other hand, or perhaps some random person while I travelled, those were the real threats.¡±


    ¡°My dearest love.¡± Lashina whispered. ¡°No one that works for me will ever cross me.¡±


    ¡°I assumed as much.¡± I said and used several mental techniques to restore my mental defenses. ¡°I need to get some sleep, so forgive me for cutting you off mentally.¡±


    ¡°I''m doing the same thing.¡± Lashina said, and I felt her barriers go back into place. Surprisingly, our Presences stayed mixed together. ¡°Just because we are safe with each other, doesn''t mean we want to be vulnerable to everyone else.¡±


    ¡°We really should take a shower.¡± I said and felt sleep try to claim me.


    ¡°We can... worry about it... in the morning.¡± Lashina said and yawned. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said, and let sleep claim me.


    We got up in the morning, had a shower, and were completely famished and needed food. So, we left the room and were assaulted by the woman that owned the house. She berated us for not eating for several days and had wasted the delicious meals she had prepared. I told her if she still had them that I would gladly eat them, even cold. She was mollified by my sincerity and said she had given it to the staff instead. She made us breakfast and we talked, then Lashina had an appointment to attend. She was gone until lunch, and I spent the time meditating. When she came back, we ate lunch together, then we went back to her room to spend more quality time together.


    We were more mindful of our antics and took breaks, then stopped for supper. Lashina had the bright idea to go for a walk afterwards, so the woman who owned the house could give us a tour around the little town. I was quickly disguised and we were led around to all of the local sights. After that, we went back to the house and excused ourselves, then went to bed. We spent the next few days making love and sharing each other, while our connection with Presence became deeper and more intense.


    Neither of us had ever done that with another person, so by the end of the week, our energies were almost completely in sync. What had happened between Ozahith and myself was only the tip of the iceberg compared to doing all of the same things with another experienced Presence user. Our hearts, our minds, and our bodies knew each other so intimately, that we didn''t need to actively share to feel each other''s emotions or moods.


    During our last day together, Lashina turned on her personal shield to test it. It formed around her body in an oblong shape so she could still move around while wearing it, and we were both surprised when I could put my hand through it and touch her. It meant that the shield medallion would protect me if I was close enough to her when she used it. Just for fun, I handed her my Light sword and she marvelled at its design and construction. After a quick explanation of how to use it, Lashina turned it on and claimed that it felt right in her hand. She laughed at my surprised expression and handed it back to me, gave me a kiss, then took me to bed and we spent one last night together.


    When we woke up in the morning, I looked at my wrist communicator and checked my schedule, then sighed. There was a knock on the bedroom door, and the woman that owned the house told us that the driver was waiting for me. We got out of bed and dressed, and Lashina quickly packed my small bag.


    ¡°Make sure you empty this bag and wash those dirty clothes as soon as you get back to the ship.¡± Lashina said and handed the bag to me.


    ¡°I wish I could stay longer.¡± I said.


    ¡°So do I.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Unfortunately, we both have to leave today.¡±


    ¡°You''re leaving, too?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°My tour of The Order churches is scheduled for another three months, with a week at each one.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I made sure to deny as many appointments this week as I could... so I could rest.¡±


    That made us both laugh, and I knelt on one knee to take her into my arms.


    ¡°Aaron, thank you very much for giving me your first time.¡± Lashina said and gave me a kiss. ¡°You know how much it meant to me, and you will always have a place in my heart.¡±


    ¡°We''re actually saying a final goodbye, aren''t we?¡± I asked, and she nodded.


    ¡°Unless you can overrun The Order''s home planet of Ulathall, I won''t be allowed to leave again and you won''t be allowed to visit.¡± Lashina said and kissed me again for several moments. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said, and the woman knocked again. ¡°I have to go.¡±


    ¡°One more thing.¡± Lashina said and bit my lip to make it bleed.


    ¡°Hey, what...¡± I started to say, then she bit her own lip to make it bleed, too.


    ¡°By the Goddess Chaiya, I gift to you all that I am and all that I will be. All others I have or will have in my life, from this point forward, are only shadows compared to my love for you.¡± Lashina said.


    I felt her Presence become like a heavy weight in my chest. With the way I felt about her, I knew it was right to respond in kind to her vow. ¡°With god as my witness, I gift to you all that I am and all that I will be. All others I have or will have in my life, from this point forward, are only shadows compared to my love for you.¡±


    We stared at each other as our blood dripped from our lips, then we kissed passionately. The flow of Presence inside us and in the room churned and swirled like a tornado around us as our blood mixed together and we swallowed it. Our bodies glowed slightly as the oath was completed, and the weight of Presence that seemed to hold us down at first, lifted us up and energized us. We broke the kiss and saw that our lips were healed and all of the blood had disappeared, including the drips that had fallen.


    I stood up and she let me go, and without another word, either verbally or mentally, I left the room and then the house. The driver took me back to the airport-like building and dropped me off. I went inside and had the receptionist check my ticket, then she sent me over to the proper shuttle landing pad and I waited. My detection range had doubled in size, much to my surprise, and I had to use a mental technique to limit what I could see.


    The shuttle arrived an hour later. I boarded it and it took me up to the same passenger ship that I had been on coming here, and I even had the same room. It took a day to gently float out to the hyperspace jump point, another eighteen hours in hyperspace, and a day to get back to the space station. Once there, I took out the small device that Luxea had given me and activated it. Ten minutes later, my ship docked to the passenger pick-up temporary dock and I stepped aboard.


    I felt Luxea as she came from the cockpit at a jog. When she was a few feet away, she stopped walking and caught her breath as my Presence flowed out and touched her. I closed the hatch and told Rhubin to go, then stared at Luxea as the ship undocked and left the system. She didn''t say anything as she basked in my Presence and I could feel how she felt. She cared a lot about me, and the seeds of love were there for us to cultivate, if she decided that she wanted to try and let it grow.


    Luxea crossed those last few feet and held a hand out to me, and I took it without hesitation. My Presence surrounded her and held her, and she closed her eyes for a moment. She took a breath and looked at me, then led me to the cockpit. Once there, she and Rhubin told me that they had completed the plan we had devised for my showdown with (Undecipherable). We couldn''t make the mobile weapons platforms I had initially wanted, since we had sold and traded away nearly all of the shipboard weapons we had salvaged, so Luxea had the brilliant idea to make them mobile deflector screens instead. I thought that was the best thing in the universe, and she had blushed when I told her.


    Luxea and Rhubin had worked the whole time I was with Lashina and placed the deflector screens in strategic places where (Undecipherable)''s ship frequented. With those in place, and with me back, all we had to do was activate them and wait. I thanked them both for all their hard work, then excused myself to go back to my room to unpack. Once there, I opened my small bag and took out my dirty clothes, and a small wrapped bundle fell out of it. It was covered in Presence similar to my own, so I absorbed it and opened the bundle.


    It was an Order chip reader.


    I picked up the small card and read it aloud. ¡°Happy Birthday, Aaron. I hope you find what you are looking for. Love, Lashina.¡±


    I skipped the rest of my unpacking and called Luxea on the ship''s intercom, then I retrieved the two unmarked chips from the safe. She came to my room and was surprised by what I wanted her for, because it wasn''t to have sex with her like she thought.


    Luxea came over to the bed and picked up the chip reader, then gasped. ¡°Hunter, this... it''s unlocked. The security code is already entered.¡±


    I handed her the first chip and she checked it, then gasped again. She showed me the absurd amount of credits on it, then I gave her the second one. It had a similar amount and I held in my laughter. When this had all started, we had kind of struggled with how to get money, and here I was filthy rich the whole time. She transferred the credits into the ship''s computer into my own account. When she did that, I looked at the empty credit chips and saw that they still had lots of energy in them.


    ¡°Let me see them.¡± Luxea said and she put one into her chip reader, then she stared at the display. ¡°Hunter, it... it''s message data.¡± She said, surprised. I pointed to the console at the side of the room and she took both chips over to it. It didn''t take her long to make a transfer of the data to the console.


    ¡°My dearest Aaron.¡± My father Lokend said from the display. ¡°If you''re seeing this, then you''ve figured out that the chips have been modified to hold more than just credits. It took your mother and I a long time to figure it out, and we''ve been transferring information to each other with them for years.¡±


    ¡°Sneaky.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°I assume you have the data on a console now, so you can easily access the highly classified data on The Order, their entire operation, and the focusing crystal mines. Use this data to undermine them and teach the sanctimonious idiots a thing or two about betraying the Ullir family.¡± Lokend said and smiled.


    ¡°Don''t be so dramatic.¡± Aida said and appeared on the display. ¡°I know you''ve grown into a fine young man, so we have no problem giving you this impossible task.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°We had a fake list of contacts on paper in case The Order ever found us; but, the actual list is here in the files. Use them and get all of the help that you need.¡± She said. ¡°Be safe and take care. We love you.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The screen went blank and Luxea looked at me. ¡°That''s all? Just teach The Order a lesson?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''m going to.¡± I said and used the console to look at the information. ¡°I really am.¡±


    We diverted to a main trading hub and sent anonymous messages to all of those contacts with copies of the information, then gave them the names of all the people I had saved from The Order. Then we sent messages to those people about the others, then also included a copy of the information to give to them as well. It set the ball rolling, and it was going to be the beginning of a very trying time for The Order.


    They just didn''t know it yet.


    We went back to the most travelled route that (Undecipherable)''s ship used and activated the mobile platforms, and waited. It took two days for the ship we wanted to appear. When it was close enough to the trap, I told Luxea to close her eyes and I activated all ten of the platforms. Their booster rockets lit off and the deflector screens activated, then they all slammed into the ship. The screens didn''t last long as they acted like battering rams and crushed the entire front of the ship. The cockpit burst and several bodies tumbled into space as the now useless mobile deflector screens tumbled away with them.


    Rhubin flew us over to rest above the now drifting ship, and instead of docking, I put on a spacesuit, grabbed a portable airlock, and jumped out the main hatch and floated myself down to the ship. I attached the airlock and got inside, pressurized it, then used my Light sword to cut into the hull. Sirens blared and people were running around almost at random, then one of them noticed me. He drew a laser pistol and shot at me, so I threw my Light sword at him. He died. I took my Light sword back and as I met more people, they tried to kill me, so I killed them instead.


    Apparently I''m not welcome here. I thought with a smile and made my way to the captain''s quarters behind the cockpit, since that was where I felt a strong Presence, and opened the door. (Undecipherable)''s apprentice was there. He rolled out of bed and grabbed a laser pistol, and I used a Presence Hand to take it from him.


    ¡°That''s mine.¡± I said, and he squinted his eyes at me.


    ¡°YOU!¡± He yelled and drew his light sword. I used Presence to flip the switch and it turned off, and he looked down at it. ¡°What the... why did...¡± He flipped the switch and it came back on, and I flipped it again. ¡°By the Goddess, what''s wrong with this thing?¡±


    ¡°Forget about that.¡± I said and took out the scaly alien''s weak focusing crystal. I had added a small battery and a circuit board, and tossed it to him. ¡°Here, catch!¡±


    The apprentice caught it easily and looked at it. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°It''s a surprise!¡± I said and activated the circuit board. The focusing crystal didn''t have a lens to refine the beam of energy, so unlike what I thought would happen, that the beam would come out in a random direction, it actually came out as a solid ball of energy that consumed everything within three feet of the crystal.


    ¡°ARG-LL-¡± The apprentice started to yell, then his head and torso were consumed. All that was left of him was his legs from the knees down and his hand from the other arm. I searched the rest of the ship and left a couple of people alive, questioned them, then found out that (Undecipherable) had stayed at their base this time. I sighed and used a datapad to transfer all of their computer data, then depressurized the whole ship, which killed everyone that was left, then I left through the main hatch.


    Rhubin picked me up and I gave the datapad to Luxea. She quickly found all of the data I needed about their pirate base, and I put a dozen seismic charges on the ship. It exploded spectacularly, and we flew over to the planet and parked in orbit. Using the stolen data, we passed the planetary defenses with their own signals and codes and I flew the shuttle down to the planet. It was unfortunate that none of us noticed The Order starship that was floating quietly in orbit a quarter of the planet away.


    I flew the shuttle and landed it a good distance away from the base, since it was an Order shuttle and there was no way I could safely land inside the pirate compound. I had brought a backpack with my electronics toolkit and some various electronic parts, in case I needed them, and a few other things. I also brought my small box of focusing crystals, the restored Light swords of my parents, and wore my own personal focusing crystal shield. I used my various abilities to travel quickly through the trees and foliage to reach the compound that looked surprisingly like an Order compound.


    I infiltrated it easily by scaling the wall and slid over it while no one was looking, then slipped into the closest building. I knew I couldn''t fight everyone at once, since it was a large compound and I had no way of knowing who was actually guilty of crimes. Two guards walked close by, so I used Presence Hands to choke them and dragged them inside. I checked them over for security keys, shrugged when they didn''t have any, then made my way towards the building with my target.


    I didn''t meet much resistance and easily killed anyone that came close to discovering me. I guess I am at the point now that I can casually kill. I thought as I withdrew my Light sword from the man''s head, then a laser bolt bounced off my personal shield with a whine. I turned to look and one of the guards had been walking by a window a few floors up. He was in a building on the next block and had seen me killing the guard and opened fire. Sirens blared, and I sighed as I heard several running feet.


    ¡°There! THERE!¡± The guard that had shot at me shouted and pointed to me. I could see a squad of guards approach and several normally dressed people ran behind them. They all carried laser pistols or rifles. I used Presence Hands to draw the four Light swords out of their pockets on my forearms and thighs, activated them, then I used Presence Run to run over to them in an instant and didn''t let them get a chance to shoot. I swung with all five Light swords and cut them down in barely a moment, then I looked up at the guard in the building.


    He held his hands up in surrender, so I picked up a laser rifle and shot him in the head. The bolt blew through his face and out the back of his head, and the body dropped to the floor. I used Detect Presence to look through the other buildings to see several other guards as they prepared to shoot at me, so I aimed the laser rifle at the windows and held the trigger. I smashed out several dozen windows before the charge on the gun gave out, so I picked up a couple of the fragmentation grenades and lobbed them up with Presence into the guards.


    I didn''t have to stick around to witness their deaths, so I grabbed two of the laser rifles and moved on. I killed a few dozen more men and guards, destroyed two hardened defense points, then entered the building I knew that (Undecipherable) was in. Surprisingly, there wasn''t a lot of resistance as I made my way up several floors to where he was. I turned off the four extra Light swords and tucked them back into their pockets, then entered what looked like a throne room. My appearance was met with a harsh laugh.


    ¡°So, you''ve come for me at last.¡± (Undecipherable) said from a stone chair. ¡°It took you long enough.¡±


    ¡°I had a few things to do on the way.¡± I said and shot at him with the last few bolts of the laser rifle, and he laughed again as he easily blocked them.


    ¡°I got the report from the planetary satellites of what you did to my transport.¡± (Undecipherable) said. ¡°Why would you attack an unarmed ship?¡±


    ¡°I thought you were on it.¡± I responded and tossed the empty rifle aside.


    ¡°I was supposed to be.¡± (Undecipherable) said, then he frowned. ¡°I felt you kill my apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Well, it was supposed to be you.¡± I said and he drew his Light sword. I turned mine off and hung it on my belt, then took out the ones my mother and father had owned.


    ¡°You''re going to try and fight me with dual Light swords?¡± (Undecipherable) asked and chuckled. ¡°You''re an even bigger fool that I thought you were.¡± He said and raised his hand out to the side. I felt a pulse of Presence as he picked up a large crate and threw it at me.


    I didn''t react and I let the crate hit my personal shield. It bounced off and flipped through the air, then smashed against the wall. The contents spilled out and rolled over the floor.


    ¡°Hey, that''s cheating.¡± (Undecipherable) said and picked up four more things. Something like a candelabra, a small stone dais, and two large metal urns. Instead of throwing them all at once, which would probably collapse the shield from the weight and impacts, he threw them one at a time. I was tempted to catch them and throw them back; but, that would only give him more things to throw. I avoided them easily and gave them an extra little push to get them out of the room.


    I started to walk towards him, and he walked forward slightly. I felt him gather Presence around himself and I assumed he was going to run at me and attack. What he actually did was pick up the heavy stone chair behind him and threw it up and over his head at me. I was a bit too close to dodge, so I lifted my arms as I prepared to catch it. He smiled and used Presence Run to approach me in an instant and swung his Light sword at my waist to cut me down.


    I turned on both Light swords and flipped them down to block his swing. They clashed and Presence blasted out, which I absorbed, and (Undecipherable) jumped back to watch me be crushed by the stone chair. His eyes widened as the chair didn''t crush me and stayed in the air. I had caught it with two Presence Hands, covered it in Presence and made a stand to hold it, them made it solid.


    (Undecipherable) tried to use Presence to move it and frowned when he couldn''t. He jumped at me again and I blocked with my father''s Light sword and swung at his hand with my mother''s. He let the Light sword go and stepped back, then pulled it to himself. I didn''t let him take a break, though. I lunged at him with both Light swords and he jumped backwards again. He smiled condescendingly at me, and I closed my eyes and let my repressed anger out.


    ¡°Yes, that''s it. Let it out.¡± (Undecipherable) said. ¡°I killed your parents! I kidnapped you! Give in to your hate!¡± He said and tried to use his Presence to attack me.


    I laughed at him, and he looked surprised. ¡°I''ve been taught by people much better than you. My anger won''t consume me, because it has a very specific focus.¡± I said and formed a solid Presence box behind him at waist height, then lunged again. He tried to jump back and the backs of his thighs hit the invisible box and he flipped backwards over it. I absorbed the energy box as I kept moving forward and swung at his head. He ducked almost in time and I only lopped off one of his black horns from his head, instead of his whole head.


    ¡°ARGH!¡± (Undecipherable) yelled and put a hand on it as it spurted blood. He put out his other hand and I felt a wave of Presence hit me and it pushed me away nearly twenty feet as I dragged my feet across the floor.


    ¡°I didn''t know that if you cut your horns so close to the skull that you would bleed.¡± I said and formed a blade made of pure Presence, like I had as a child to cut his face, and I threw it at his forehead.. He deflected it with his own Presence and it crossed the top of his head and it only cut off three of the horn''s tips. I used Presence to propel myself through the air as I jumped across the twenty feet between us, and I twisted around and used a back swing to swipe a Light sword across his abdomen. (Undecipherable) used his Light sword to block and push it away, so I followed through and swung the other Light sword at his feet.


    He grinned as he hopped and pushed my Light sword away with Presence, then he jabbed his Light sword forward into my completely unprotected face... and nothing happened. He looked at his Light sword and then at my face.


    ¡°Your personal shield can''t hold forever.¡± (Undecipherable) said.


    ¡°I turned that off so I could fight in close.¡± I said, and he stared at me as I used the Presence Hand I had caught his Light sword with, to move it out of my way. ¡°You see, when I felt you inside my detection range, I felt how much more powerful you were; but, I also knew that I had already won.¡±


    ¡°Liar.¡± (Undecipherable) said as the Presence wavered. He tried to pull his Light sword away, and couldn''t. He turned it off and he fell back from pulling on it so hard and suddenly having no resistance.


    ¡°Okay, I''m going to win.¡± I corrected. ¡°I''ve been training mentally and physically to fight against you for years, and I figured I had a pretty good shot at beating you.¡±


    (Undecipherable) turned his Light sword on again and threw it at me like a Frisbee. I knocked it away with my father''s Light sword and swung at his neck with my mother''s Light sword. He dodged it and held a hand out, and I felt his flow of Presence as it reached past me. I chuckled and thought about Ozahith as I used my own Presence to grab onto his. (Undecipherable)''s eyes widened as his Light sword flew back through the air and stopped when it hit my Presence.


    ¡°I visited with a very special person recently and we took an oath together. A blood oath.¡± I said as (Undecipherable) tried to pull on his Light sword with everything he had.


    ¡°I thought she was only giving me her love and acceptance; but, she actually gave me so much more.¡± I said and let his Light sword go after tweaking it. ¡°She gave me a way to beat you.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± (Undecipherable) exclaimed as he tried to turn the Light sword on and nothing happened. ¡°What did you do to it?¡±


    ¡°I decoupled the focusing crystal.¡± I said with a smile.


    (Undecipherable) grunted and threw the useless Light sword aside. ¡°I don''t need it anyway.¡± He said confidently and drew another one from his belt. He tried to turn it on, and nothing happened. ¡°Ugh!¡± He tossed it aside and glared at me. ¡°I''ll kill you with just the power of my Presence!¡± He exclaimed and held his hands out towards me and concentrated, and I could see my death in his eyes... except nothing happened. No Presence buildup, no blast of energy, nothing. ¡°Wh-what... what''s going on?¡±


    ¡°The inside of your head is a tangled mess right now, (Undecipherable).¡± I said and sent a small pulse of Presence into his brain. ¡°Someone hasn''t been meditating properly and has fallen behind on their lessons.¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡± (Undecipherable) said and took a step back. ¡°No, I... what did you do?¡±


    ¡°I''ve apparently gained a new technique called ''Presence Confusion''.¡± I said and then I felt a jolt of fear from him. ¡°You can''t hold your concentration long enough to endanger yourself or others.¡±


    ¡°NO! No, I... I''m (Undecipherable)! I''m known in over a dozen systems! I''ve got more Presence in my hands than you have in your whole body!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you do.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Plus, the technique only works for about twenty seconds.¡±


    (Undecipherable)''s face showed surprise for a moment, then he squinted his eyes and smiled evilly as I felt the confusion in his head wane as it started to fade. I needed to distract him, so I shoved the tips of my father''s and mother''s Light swords into his eyes. (Undecipherable) screamed and covered his eye holes with his hands for a moment, then the flow of Presence around him concentrated on his face and he started to regenerate.


    ¡°This is for you, mom and dad.¡± I said and swiped my father''s Light sword across (Undecipherable)''s wrists and cut off his hands, then I swiped my mother''s Light sword across his neck to decapitate him. The head rolled off and landed on the floor before it gurgled at me and blinked the eyelids on partially filled eye sockets. (Undecipherable) died and a large amount of Presence floated up and out of his slightly dismembered body. I was very tempted to absorb it and add it to my own to make myself that much more powerful.


    I didn''t want anything that was his inside of me and I didn''t want it just floating around, either. So, rather than absorb it, I concentrated on it and held it as I took out my old focusing crystal from my backpack. I used the crystal as a container and shoved all of that Presence inside. It glowed brightly, which probably meant it was unstable with so much extra energy inside of it, so I attached the same circuit board and battery that I had for the scaly alien''s focusing crystal that I had killed (Undecipherable)''s apprentice with.


    I bent down and picked up my mother''s blood-covered necklace with the locket on it, used Presence to push the blood off of it and made it clean, and hung it around my neck. With my own task complete, I picked up (Undecipherable)''s head and hands and covered them in a thin layer of Presence, made it solid, then put them in separate sacks before putting them inside my backpack to complete the other two tasks I had. One for The Order to get his head, and one for Aphatoris to get his hands.


    I picked up his body and walked over to the large stone chair. I absorbed the Presence holding it in mid-air and carried the chair back to where it had been in the center of the room. I put it down, placed the headless body on it in a seated position, then put the glowing focusing crystal on the lap. I also dug into my backpack and took out my old Order things. The data pad, my robes, my old wrist communicator, and even the empty modified credit chips that my parents had owned. It was everything that had a tracking device in it.


    As an afterthought, I pulled over his two Light swords and put them on the body as well. I went to the door of the room and turned to look at the throne and activated the still glowing modified focusing crystal. A twenty foot wide sphere of energy formed instantly and consumed everything within it. Nothing was left behind, except a spherical depression in the floor. I nodded at the removal of nearly everything that had been plaguing me since my parents had died, then I left the room, the building, and the compound.


    I was back at the shuttle a few minutes later. ¡°I can''t believe it''s finally over.¡±


    ¡°Me, either.¡± A woman''s voice said as a Presence I knew well, appeared within my detection range.


    I took off the pack on my back and dug out something for her and put it in a pocket, tossed the backpack into the shuttle and shut the hatch and landing ramp, then turned on my personal shield and powered armor before I turned around to face her.


    ¡°Hi, Kara.¡± I said nonchalantly, as if we were good friends that just happened to run into each other.


    ¡°Even now that I have you, you''re still disrespectful.¡± Kara said. ¡°You''ve never called me Master.¡±


    ¡°That''s because you never acted like my Master.¡± I said, and her eyes widened. ¡°You always acted like you were doing me a favor and treated me like a servant.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, I never... I only... I taught you everything that you...¡± Kara mumbled.


    ¡°You always had it in your head that you wanted me to become something for your own use and nothing else.¡± I said. ¡°You can''t deny it, not without lying anyway.¡±


    ¡°Ullir, please.¡± Kara said and took a step forward out of the forest. ¡°You''ve had your fun gallivanting around the universe and playing bounty hunter.¡± She said and stopped twenty feet away. ¡°I kept trying to catch you outside of that damnable ship and you''ve always slipped away, or hid behind the public, or accused me of unfair persecution.¡± She smiled. ¡°Well, I''ve just witnessed you killing dozens of guards, twice that many civilians, an entire transport ship full of people, and a rogue member of The Order with a bounty on his head. How are you going to justify all of that to the moral code of The Order?¡±


    ¡°I don''t have to justify it to anyone except myself.¡± I said to her surprise.


    ¡°Ullir, I... I need to take you back.¡± Kara said and unhooked her Light sword from her belt. ¡°It''s okay, though. You are my apprentice and we will face the charges together.¡±


    ¡°I''m not going anywhere with you, let alone back to The Order.¡± I said and drew my own Light sword.


    ¡°Don''t fight me on this, Ullir.¡± Kara said and turned on her Light sword as she took a fighting stance. ¡°I''ve watched you for months now and I know you haven''t been practising your fighting techniques like you are supposed to.¡± She said, and I felt Presence build up around her. ¡°You need to face justice and atone for your crimes. I''ll stand by your side and I will help you as much as I can.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to fight you; but, I will.¡± I said and tried to use Presence Confusion on her. ¡°You''re delusional and can''t help yourself. You should leave and let me go.¡±


    Kara chuckled. ¡°That mental trick doesn''t work on people like us, Ullir.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I looked at her with raised eyebrows. ¡°But, I''ve had compulsions forced on me a few times since I was a child.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t have to follow them, did you?¡± Kara asked and put a hand towards me, then picked me up with Presence and threw me back into the shuttle. I slammed into the side of it and my personal shield crumpled the metal from the force of the impact. ¡°You still feel it and think you want to do it; but, you don''t have to.¡± She said and pulled me away from the shuttle, then shoved me back into it and caused more damage to it, and my personal shield flickered as the electronics started to fail.


    I turned it off and hit the button on my wrist com. ¡°Rhubin, remote pilot the shuttle! Get it out of here!¡±


    ¡°You won''t have a way back to...¡±


    ¡°You need to take it before it''s completely wrecked!¡± I said and used my own Presence to push at Kara''s. I dropped to the ground and spoke again. ¡°It''s got (Undecipherable)''s head and hands inside!¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay!¡± Rhubin said and I used a Presence Hand to hit Kara in the chest. She stopped it with her own Presence easily, since we had fought each other for years in the practice arena and she knew a lot of my moves. She didn''t try to stop the shuttle as it lifted off, and I wondered why.


    ¡°There''s an Order ship in orbit!¡± I said to Rhubin when I realized why. ¡°You need to...¡±


    ¡°We got this.¡± Luxea said. ¡°If they make a move, we can handle it.¡±


    ¡°You should tell them that it''s not the fast courier ship I used to travel on.¡± Kara said. ¡°They won''t be handling anything.¡±


    ¡°Did you hear that?¡± I asked. ¡°Luxea, can you...¡±


    ¡°They won''t know what hit them.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''m really going to need you to hold me tonight.¡±


    ¡°I''m going to do a lot more to you than that.¡± I said, and she breathed heavily in response.


    ¡°See you soon.¡± Luxea said and ended the call.


    ¡°You''re all delusional.¡± Kara said and I felt a wave of Presence press into my head, felt confusion for a moment, then it passed. ¡°You see? Mental tricks don''t work on us.¡±


    ¡°Kara, stop this.¡± I said and used a Presence Hand to grab her Light sword. I tried to alter the insides, and was met by a Presence barrier. ¡°You''ve learned a few new things, too.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I have.¡± Kara said and used her Presence to crush my Presence Hand. ¡°I''ve even learned how to counter your killing attack.¡±


    ¡°My killing...¡± I thought about what she meant, then remembered Ozahith and the technique I had discovered. ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you won''t be using it on me.¡± Kara said and lunged at me using Presence Run. I formed a ramp in front of myself and ducked, and she ran up and over me. I grabbed her foot as she passed and dragged her down to the ground as I absorbed the Presence I had used. Kara used Presence to catch herself in mid-air for a moment and kicked me in the face with her other foot. I felt my nose break and let her go, then I used a Presence Hand to snap my nose back into place and held in the gush of blood before it sprayed out.


    Kara fell to the ground and rolled over, then swung her Light sword at my knees. I blocked her with my Light sword as she diverted to my abdomen, then she rolled to the side and tried to sweep my legs out from under me with one of her own. I jumped slightly and she grinned as she used Presence to push me away. I flew backwards through the air and slammed into a tree, crushed the bark and bounced off, then landed on the ground on my knees.


    I was very glad that my powered armor still worked, because it had taken most of that impact. The energy flickered and then came back at full strength. I felt Presence build up and looked at Kara, and she had a dozen large rocks floating around her.


    ¡°I''m going to overwhelm your armor just like I overwhelmed your personal shield.¡± Kara said. ¡°Then I''m going to take you back to face the consequences for the things you did.¡±


    ¡°Like spurn your pitiful attempts to seduce me?¡± I asked, and her eyes almost glowed with anger. ¡°I have to admit that you''re quite pretty and you have a nice hourglass-shaped body.¡± I said. ¡°Those large soft breasts and your shapely ass has tempted me a lot over the years.¡±


    Kara''s eyes changed from anger to embarrassment and her face flushed red. ¡°U-Ullir... I... I thought...¡±


    ¡°What? That I didn''t notice?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Of course I noticed. We slept in the same bed together for years and I''ve seen you shower hundreds of times.¡±


    ¡°I noticed you as well.¡± Kara said. ¡°You''ve grown into the body that any woman would desire.¡±


    ¡°Is that all you want from me?¡± I asked as I stood up. ¡°My body?¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡± Kara said. Her face turned to a deeper red and she turned her head away slightly so that she wasn''t looking at me directly. I formed Presence Hands and grabbed all of the rocks she was holding, then pushed them aside and jumped at her. She felt me coming and turned to me with a big smile. At the last second I wondered why, then my Light sword flickered and the focusing crystal cracked inside as the energy blade disappeared. All the times I had increased its intensity had severely shortened its life.


    Kara''s Light sword was unopposed as it slid between two of the tristeel metal plates of my armor, severed the wires, and the energy in that spot died. The three inch wide energy blade went right through my abdomen and I felt it cut through my intestines, what I thought was my kidney, and it went out through my back and severed the armor connection there as well.


    ¡°Uhhhh.¡± I moaned in pain from the debilitating blow and dropped my useless Light sword. The wound was possibly fatal, especially if I moved, and that was what Kara had wanted and planned.


    ¡°I''m sorry I had to do this to you, Ullir.¡± Kara said as she turned off her Light sword and caught me. The tears in her eyes contradicted the smile on her face as she lowered me to the ground. ¡°I promised myself to never harm you and now I''ve done this.¡±


    ¡°K-Kara...¡±


    ¡°Shh. It''s okay. I''m right here.¡± Kara whispered and hit a button on her wrist communicator. ¡°Bring the shuttle.¡± She said and examined the wound, then looked at my face. ¡°Don''t worry, Ullir. You''ll probably only need to spend a week or so in a bio-medical tank to heal the damage. After that, we can go to the council and face our punishments together.¡±


    Kara reached for my hand and I pulled it away before she could take it, and she sighed. I laid my hand on my heart, where the scars from Ozahith''s death were, and I gathered Presence to myself.


    ¡°Stop fighting, Ullir. It''s over.¡± Kara said and leaned back.


    I formed a Lightning bolt and shot it at her. Her Light sword appeared between us and caught it. I formed two, then four, then a dozen and shot them all at her. She merely turned her sword into their paths and caught the Lightning before it could harm her.


    ¡°H-how?¡± I asked. ¡°How can... I''m directing it away...¡±


    ¡°It''s the focusing crystal.¡± Kara said. ¡°It''s designed to absorb and redirect Presence. All you''re doing is losing your own Presence and strengthening my sword.¡±


    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then I reached up with both hands and grabbed the blade of her sword. Kara screamed, I assumed because she thought I was trying to kill myself. She couldn''t move the blade without cutting off my fingers, and since I had my hands covered in Presence, I could hold the blade without hurting myself. I concentrated on her Light sword and felt around for my Presence and realized that it had been completely converted for the blade''s use already. As the shock of my move faded, Kara realized she could just turn the Light sword off and did so.


    My hands flopped to the ground and now that I wasn''t thinking of anything else that I could do, I felt my Presence as it desperately tried to flow out through the hole in my abdomen. I fought it, because I didn''t want to give up, and Kara gasped as she looked at the bright spout of Presence that started to leave through the wound.


    ¡°N-no! I didn''t hurt you that much!¡± Kara exclaimed and tried to use her own Presence to contain it. I smiled as my pervasive Presence flowed through hers as if it wasn''t there, and she started crying. ¡°Ullir, no! You''re not going to die! You''re not!¡±


    ¡°You''re... such a liar.¡± I panted as the Presence wavered more than I had ever felt before. I tried to laugh; but for some reason, I couldn''t take a big enough breath for that. I felt Presence press down on me, and gasped at the pain, then everything started to go dark. I used the last bit of energy that I had to move my hand and grasped my mother''s locket.


    I took one last shaky breath, closed my eyes, and went into the darkness.


    *


    ¡°NOOOO!¡± Kara exclaimed as Ullir stopped breathing and the press of Presence increased. A large glowing circle appeared around her and she threw herself on top of Ullir as if to protect him from something. She had done it instinctively, and the glowing circle intensified in brightness. She saw the shuttle she had called as it landed not far away, and she yelled for help.


    The other two Order members rushed over to her and slammed into the glowing circle. They were hit by hundreds of tiny lightning bolts and were thrown back a dozen feet, unconscious. Kara cried and held onto her prince as they were completely engulfed in the glowing light. A moment later, the bright glow faded and the circle of light disappeared.


    Both Kara and Ullir were gone.


    END BOOK ONE


    To Be Continued...

 Book Two: The Summoned 001

    The bright light lessened and Kara found herself lying on the floor of an all white room. She looked down and around and didn''t see Ullir anywhere. She stood up and used Detect Presence to send a pulse of it out and met... nothing. No people, no walls, no ceiling, and nothing below the floor. She thought that was very odd, since she could clearly see the room around her, and her panic over Ullir not being there intensified.


    "Calmness is a virtue." A disembodied female voice said to her.


    "What? Who... who is that?" Kara asked and tried to detect whoever it was.


    "You have grown up hearing about me and learning my teachings, yet you do not know who I am?"


    Kara gasped as she felt a strong Presence nearby, similar to what she felt when the circle of light had engulfed her and Ullir. "You... you''re... no, it can''t be. How can... am I dead?"


    The voice chuckled. "No, little one. You were just caught up in an experiment that I and a few others were conducting."


    "Experiment?" Kara asked. "What kind of experiment?"


    "The nature of it isn''t essential knowledge; but, I will tell you anyway." The disembodied female voice said from beside her. Kara turned and saw the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Her long flowing and wavy golden hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back to end at her waist. She wore a very flattering long white dress that showed off her ample cleavage and slits on both sides of her hips showed off her long legs.


    Kara closed her eyes and dropped to her knees and started to rock back and forth. "The Goddess Chaiya." She whispered, then repeated it over and over.


    Chaiya touched the top of her head to stop her. "Child, do not debase yourself before me. You have been a faithful follower for all of your life. You may gaze upon me without fear."


    Kara shook her head. "No, I... I''m undeserving." She said. "I''ve done something that I swore I wouldn''t do, and then... then he..."


    "I know." Chaiya said and stroked Kara''s pink hair. "Do you want to atone for your mistake?"


    "How?" Kara looked up at her with tears in her eyes. "What could I possibly do to make up for what I did?"


    Chaiya smiled at her, and Kara''s heart filled with awe to have received it. "I have been gathering followers on a world very different from any that you know." She said. "I needed to have a stronger connection there to investigate... well, that part you don''t need to know just yet."


    Kara blinked her eyes at the goddess.


    "My followers have used their inherent energy to call for my help, which will let me put more of my Presence there... if I send them some help."


    "I''m to be that help?" Kara asked.


    "Now that you are here, yes." Chaiya said. "Will you help me by going to that world?"


    "I''ll do anything that I can to help you." Kara said and wiped at her tears.


    "Then stand and receive my blessing."


    Kara stood and saw that she was barely up to the woman''s collarbone.


    "Kara Moor, I bestow upon you a taste of my power." Chaiya said and kissed her forehead. "You will have skills appropriate for that world, as well as an enhanced metabolism to let you heal even faster than you normally can."


    Kara felt energy flow over her. Inside her chest where the abundance of her Presence was, appeared a new reservoir of energy. She was about to ask what it was for, when Chaiya spoke again.


    "You will be a part of the group I am sending; but, you will not be the leader." Chaiya said. "You will use your sword and newfound abilities to defend the leader at all costs."


    Kara nodded. "I won''t fail you."


    "Be sure that you don''t." Chaiya said. "If you do, the consequences could very well end up making..." She stopped talking and sighed. "Protect him with everything that you are."


    "I swear upon the Goddess Chaiya... ah, I mean... I swear to you that I will."


    Chaiya smiled. "Then wait here while I retrieve the rest of my emissaries." She said and vanished. With nothing else to do, Kara sat down on the floor in the lotus position and started to meditate.


    ¡°By the Goddess, I just met the Goddess.¡± Kara said, and shook her head. She cleared it of all other thoughts, even the very difficult ones about Ullir. She calmed herself down and concentrated, because she needed to discover what the new energy reserve she had received from the Goddess actually was.


    *


    Jessica got out of bed and looked at the bright morning sky out through her bedroom window. She sighed, because she regretted that someone she had fallen in love with couldn''t see it with her. She took a shower and dressed in her best dress, did up her hair and makeup, and tried not to stare at the bags under her eyes from her occasional bouts of hysterical crying. She had a tendency to break down at random times, for no particular reason, and bawl her eyes out.


    Jessica had been like this ever since she had been released from her kidnapping. Two years had passed since her kidnapping from the tour group bus and she was now nineteen. She hadn''t learned the other people''s names until after she had been released, because talking wasn''t allowed and had been punished severely when it happened. Only one of the men with them had even dared speak up when the kidnappers had tried to force themselves on her and the other girl that had been taken.


    Jessica closed her eyes and tried to remember his face, the man who had put his own body on the line for her. He was moderately handsome and had brown eyes and hair. He had taken countless beatings for her and the other girl and did it with a smile. It had touched her heart deeply that someone she didn''t know would do that for her. As time went on and things started to look bleak, they were shuffled from place to place, and then she had seen that man be blindfolded and taken from them for several hours. When he came back, he had given her the warmest and biggest smile she had ever seen.


    Several days later, she had been blindfolded and taken away herself. She thought that it was all over, that she would be raped and tortured like they had always threatened to do to her. She had silently cried and let the tears flow, and she heard the other girl do the same. She waited anxiously for it to begin, when she was unceremoniously dumped out of the vehicle and had her blindfold removed.


    "Embassy! Go!" The hooded man said and pointed. She had been confused and looked around, and the man pushed her violently. She fell to the ground and the other girl helped her stand, and they turned towards the people yelling at them. Two small groups of people were there waving different UN flags, so they started to walk... then they jogged... then they ran. She collapsed into the arms of a soldier and he picked her up, then they all entered different vehicles and were taken to the embassy. Once there, she looked at the others and realized something.


    That man wasn''t with them.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    A few days after being treated in a hospital, Jessica had sat in the cold office with her mother as the television played the video of what they had done to that man. The torture itself was only a secondary concern for her, because she only stared at the man''s face as it was happening. He kept a smile on his face, even though at times he yelled from the pain, then the man with the machete appeared and the video stopped before it showed what actually happened.


    "They didn''t want money, or weapons, or their countrymen freed from prison." The embassy representative said sadly. "What they wanted was notoriety."


    "What does that mean?" Jessica had asked.


    "It''s something similar to being famous. What you just saw was the price to free you." The embassy representative said. "One life, given willingly on camera, to save the others."


    Jessica had burst out crying then and her mother had held her for a while, then they had travelled back home. After several weeks in the hospital to recover, everyone returned to their normal lives. Except for her. She couldn''t get over the trauma she had been through and what that man had done for her. He was her hero and she would never be the same without somehow making it up to him.


    Jessica picked up the single flower she had and left her house, looking her best, and walked for nearly a mile. It took her to the edge of town and she walked over to the medium-sized park there. She didn''t look around at anyone or at the trees or anything else as she went right over to the small stone pedestal with a vase on it and a plaque. It was in memoriam of her lost hero.


    "Good morning, Marcus." Jessica said and placed the flower in the huge pile of them in the vase. "I know it''s weird that I keep coming here every morning; but, I just can''t get through the day without seeing you at least once."


    A few people glanced over at the young woman as she caressed the edge of the plaque, then they went about their morning walks. Everyone knew about her and what had happened and left her alone.


    "The movie they made about you came out last week." Jessica said. "It''s a huge hit, and everyone is raving about it." She said and leaned over the vase as her tears started to flow. "I... I couldn''t go see it, because... because I... I couldn''t. I lived through it once and I don''t want to do it again."


    Jessica didn''t wipe at her tears and just let them fall on the flowers. She had done this every day, and it somehow kept them alive and well. She thought someone was replacing them for her so that they would never wither, and she silently thanked that person for the favor.


    "The royalty checks have been a godsend for everyone you''ve saved, especially me." Jessica said. "I''ve tried to go to work a few times and I just can''t stop crying." She said with a smile. "For some reason, people are unhappy when a girl that''s trying to serve them food is crying in front of them."


    Jessica took several deep breaths and calmed down as her crying fit ended.


    "Okay. Okay. I''m okay." Jessica said and took out a tissue and wiped her eyes. "I better get back to the house. Someone''s coming over to interview me about the movie, again, and my mother said I needed to talk about it and not keep it bottled up inside." She leaned down and rubbed her fingertips on the plaque. "I wish... I wish that I could see you one last time, if only just to say thank you for what you did."


    Jessica walked away from the small pedestal and to the edge of the park. She was completely lost in her thoughts and her dread for the upcoming interview, that she wasn''t paying attention to her surroundings or watched where she was going. She stepped right out into traffic without waiting for the signal. There was the sound of a car horn, the thump of flesh as it hit the pavement, and then nothing.


    *


    Steven worked the night shift at one of the busiest convenience stores in the city he lived in. He never asked why it was so popular, since that didn''t matter to him in the least. What mattered was he could work all night and make great money and he didn''t have to stock the shelves or do inventory. It was a bit riskier during the night shift, since most crimes happened under the cover of night; but, he had worked there for three years since graduating high school and he was now twenty-one. He hadn''t had one robbery or drunk customer in all that time.


    Unfortunately, that pattern had just changed. Three staggering men entered the store talking loudly, and he sighed mentally at the smell from them. He kept his mouth shut and tried not to take too many deep breaths as the men picked up various snacks and items. They brought them to the counter and Steven rang them in.


    "That''ll be fifteen sixty-five." Steven said and put the purchases into a bag. The man in the middle held out a twenty dollar bill and Steven took it and hit the button to open the register.


    BLAM!


    The sound of the gun going off was so loud that Steven''s ears stopped working. He dropped the twenty dollar bill and reeled back from the source of the sound, then covered his ears as he watched one of the men rifle through the cash register and take everything. He had been told repeatedly not to fight back to try to stop any robbers, which irked him, because they were right there in front of him. They took the money and ran from the store, and Steven hit the robbery alarm.


    The doors locked and the counter was covered in a shutter and Steven answered the telephone when it rang. He told the police what had happened and said that he couldn''t hear anything they were saying because he was deaf from the sound of the gun going off. He said that he was fine and hung up, then he started to feel weak and lightheaded. He sat down on the chair behind the counter and closed his eyes to wait for the police to arrive and went to sleep.


    He didn''t even realize that he had been shot.


    *


    Josh hadn''t had an easy life. He had been picked on his whole life, all seventeen years of it, and had just entered his last year of high school. He was relieved that he wouldn''t have to suffer through any more bullying by the guys that had graduated the year before. At least, that''s what he had thought. When he left school that first day, they pulled up in a car, shoved him in the back seat, and drove off.


    ¡°You thought we''d forget about you, didn''t you?¡± One of the three guys said and punched him in the stomach. Josh bent over from the pain and threw up on him. ¡°Ah, shit! These are my new jeans, you bastard!¡±


    He punched Josh in the face and his head rocked to the side and hit the window, which stunned him for several minutes. The smell of the throw up was strong and they had to put the windows down.


    ¡°Dammit, how much ass did you eat today?¡± The driver asked when he saw Josh shake his head and started to come to.


    ¡°I... I didn''t...¡±


    ¡°Naw, you did.¡± The guy in the passenger seat said. The three of them had their heads out the window to try and get a breath of fresh air. Josh didn''t mind the smell, since they had been making him throw up on himself for years. This was the first time they had to stick around for it, though. It made him smile slightly, and the guy beside him saw it. He punched Josh in the arm, because that was all he could reach while leaning away, and that gave Josh an idea.


    He wasn''t sure what he was thinking, since he had never fought back before. He sat up and shoved himself between the two front seats and grabbed the steering wheel.


    ¡°HEY!¡± The driver yelled and yanked it out of Josh''s grip.


    It was the worst thing he could have done.


    The car veered across the center line of the highway and into oncoming traffic. A large dump truck was coming the other way and tried to steer out of the way, and the two vehicles hit head on. The three bullies had their heads partially out the windows, so when the car suddenly stopped, all three of them had their heads crushed and died instantly.


    Josh wasn''t so lucky. He was thrown through the windshield of the car, which tore at his face, his shoulders, and his chest, then the top of his head hit the thick heavy grill of the dump truck. He was conscious as the impact snapped his neck like a toothpick and dented his skull. The rest of his body hit the grill and it broke his back, both of his arms in three places, and his hips as his legs were thrown forward.


    The dump truck pushed the car off the side of the road and rolled it over, taking Josh''s mangled body with it. The dump truck hit the soft dirt on the side of the road, tipped over, and rolled right on top of Josh and the car.


    *


    Jessica, Steven, and Josh woke up in an all white room. They were spread out on three soft beds about ten feet apart.


    ¡°That really hurt.¡± Jessica said as she sat up and rubbed her arm where she had landed on it. ¡°What happened?¡± She asked and looked around, then saw the other two. ¡°What''s going on?¡±


    ¡°I''m just asleep.¡± Steven said and opened his eyes to look at her. ¡°You don''t look like my normal dream girls, though.¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Jessica scoffed and looked at the other guy. ¡°What about you?¡± She asked Josh and he didn''t say anything. ¡°Come on. If you know something, please tell me.¡±


    ¡°I... I''m pretty sure that... what happened to me must have killed me.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°Yes, that is unfortunately true.¡± A woman''s disembodied voice said.


    ¡°Hey, who said that?¡± Steven asked and sat up.


    ¡°I did.¡± The Goddess Chaiya said as she slowly faded into view.


    ¡°There''s my dream girl.¡± Steven said. ¡°Hey, sweetie.¡±


    Chaiya smiled at him. ¡°I believe you''ve mistaken me for a fantasy.¡± She said and made his bed disappear. Steven fell to the floor with a grunt and Jessica laughed a little. She caught her breath, because she hadn''t laughed once since her kidnapping, and she looked at the very beautiful woman that wore a simple white dress.


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Josh asked. ¡°If I died, does that mean... are... are you god?¡±


    ¡°Not in the sense that you mean.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°I am the Goddess Chaiya and I watch over several hundred worlds in my domain, and administer over several thousand others that have chosen to follow me and my teachings.¡±


    Jessica, Steven and Josh stared at her like she had three heads.


    ¡°Unfortunately, your planet was abandoned by my brethren centuries ago and no one has been shepherding you along at all.¡± Chaiya said, sadly. ¡°Your world is far below the rest of the universe. I don''t normally recruit followers from such an undeveloped world; but, I''ve made exceptions in your cases this time.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°I need your help.¡± Chaiya said.


    The three of them stared at her and didn''t know what to say.

 Book Two: The Summoned 002

    ¡°Hold on.¡± Steven said as he stood. ¡°If we''re so underdeveloped because we''re human, then what the hell are you?¡±


    ¡°I''m a member of the first race to ever exist.¡± Chaiya said. Her body was covered in a bright glow as she gave them a small glimpse of her true form and not the facade that she wore, so that their minds would accept her words at face value and they wouldn''t keep questioning her over such inconsequential things.


    ¡°Oh, my god!¡± Jessica exclaimed and covered her eyes, then she felt an immense weight in her chest and her whole spine tingled.


    ¡°Geezus, lady!¡± Steven covered his face with his arms and dropped to his knees.


    ¡°Wow.¡± Josh said as he stared at her. ¡°You''re so pretty!¡±


    ¡°Ah, you have the sight.¡± Chaiya said and reached out to cup the side of his face. ¡°Will you go to a new world as my emissary and help the others as much as you can?¡±


    ¡°I... I''m not a fighter.¡± Josh admitted. ¡°In fact, I''m a complete coward.¡±


    ¡°No, my dear boy. You are no coward.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°You might not have acted until the end; but, you always wanted to and always defied them in your mind and in your heart.¡±


    Josh didn''t hesitate in his response and nodded. ¡°Okay. I accept.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to keep your name?¡± Chaiya asked. ¡°If you want to change it, now would be the time.¡±


    ¡°Is my name so different than ones there?¡± Josh asked and she shrugged. ¡°Then I''ll keep it.¡±


    ¡°Joshua Hector Harrison, I bestow upon you a taste of my power.¡± Chaiya said and kissed his forehead. ¡°You will have skills appropriate for that world, as well as an enhanced metabolism to let you heal even faster than you normally can.¡±


    Josh felt his whole body be bathed in energy and he felt a wellspring open inside of him. The energy filled him up and then filled the wellspring.


    ¡°You have mana reserves unlike what I have seen before.¡± Chaiya said and smiled and she stepped back. ¡°I grant you the title of Sorcerer Priest of Light.¡±


    ¡°P-p-p-priest?!?¡± Josh stammered.


    Chaiya chuckled as she resumed her human-like visage. ¡°It does not have the same connotations as it does on your world.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank god.¡± Josh said and he felt a pain in his chest. ¡°Ow!¡±


    ¡°From now on, if you thank anyone, please let it be me.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°You are my emissary now.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Um... of course, Goddess. Thank you.¡± Josh said with a red face and she nodded.


    ¡°Your job will be to heal and ward your companions for protection.¡± Chaiya said to him, and then turned to Jessica, who lowered her hands from covering her eyes. ¡°I''m sorry for the display. I needed to impart to you the importance of this quest.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Jessica said. ¡°But, why did you pick me?¡± She asked. ¡°I''m... I''m a complete mess!¡±


    Chaiya smiled and Jessica caught her breath at the beautiful sight. ¡°You may break down occasionally from the things you''ve been through; but, you haven''t lost hope and you keep trying.¡± She said and took her hand. ¡°I believe the last thing you said was that you wished to see your saviour again?¡±


    Jessica nodded her head several times as tears started flowing from her eyes. ¡°He gave his life to save mine, and... and that''s not something... not just anyone would do something like that!¡±


    ¡°You''re right. He is something special.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°Will you become my emissary and do everything you can to protect the others?¡±


    ¡°I will do anything for the chance to see him again.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I accept.¡±


    ¡°Jessica Marie Sampson, I bestow upon you a taste of my power.¡± Chaiya said and kissed her forehead. ¡°You will have skills appropriate for that world, as well as an enhanced metabolism to let you heal even faster than you normally can.¡±


    Jessica felt herself be bathed in energy and her spine tingled as her mind opened up and the energy filled it. ¡°By the Goddess Chaiya, I really do understand!¡±


    ¡°I see. Your mind has accepted the mana.¡± Chaiya said and stepped back. ¡°Your title will be the Archmage of Light. Your knowledge of spells and rituals will be above those of any other. You can even rain the heavens themselves down upon your enemies if necessary.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Goddess.¡± Jessica said as the tears kept flowing.


    ¡°If you worry about controlling your tears, collect them and let them enhance your spells.¡± Chaiya said.


    Jessica nodded. ¡°I''ll use anything I can to help those that need it.¡±


    Chaiya smiled and turned to Steven. ¡°Have you decided if this is a dream or reality yet?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Steven said. ¡°I don''t have any evidence either way.¡±


    Chaiya smiled. ¡°Then let me give you some words of encouragement as proof.¡± She said. ¡°You lived a normal life and nothing happened. You didn''t take huge risks and you didn''t travel anywhere.¡±


    ¡°I don''t see what my lifestyle has to do with any of this.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°It has everything to do with it.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°You see, your old life will always influence what happens to you. Good or bad, your experiences shape your perceptions, your expectations, and how you proceed from there and into your future.¡±


    Jessica, Josh, and Steven exchanged looks and then looked back at her.


    ¡°Now you have a choice. Will you become my emissary and go to a world that desperately needs your help? Will you protect the others with your life? Are you willing to risk it all for one moment of glory?¡±


    Steven stood there and thought about it. Unlike the other two that accepted right away, without getting any reassurances, he was skeptical. It was too good to be true, wasn''t it? Reincarnation?


    Chaiya chuckled. ¡°It''s not reincarnation.¡± She said, which broke him away from his train of thought. ¡°I plucked you from where you were at the moment that you were the most vulnerable and there was a chance... a slim chance... that you would be willing to accept what I had to offer.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Steven asked and glanced at Josh. ¡°Are we dead or not?¡±


    ¡°Like I said, I took you at the moment that you were the most vulnerable. At that moment, your life hung in the balance.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°Will you live or will you die?¡± She looked at their faces. ¡°You can all remember what happened now, can''t you? Each of your situations?¡±


    The three of them nodded.


    ¡°If you so choose, I can put you back in that moment you were taken and we can find out how things turn out.¡±


    ¡°So, you''re blackmailing us.¡± Steven said.


    Chaiya laughed. ¡°No, if I was going to do that, I would be as bad as some of the... you don''t need to know that.¡± She said. ¡°All I am doing is making an offer. Become my emissary and live a life of adventure, thrills, danger, and excitement, with a group of others that will be there for you.¡±


    ¡°If you know so much about us, you know I''ve never been one for hanging with a crowd.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°Is five too big of a crowd if you are one of them?¡± Chaiya asked, and he shrugged. ¡°Then will you accept and become a part of a small party of adventurers?¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°Is it going to be like a game or something?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°A game... hmm... yes, I believe that would be more appropriate for you to accept the circumstances.¡± Chaiya said and nodded. ¡°As long as you have Josh with you, with his Divine Healing abilities, he can keep bringing you back if you die in my service.¡±


    ¡°You have got to be kidding me.¡± Steven said. ¡°He can keep resurrecting us?¡±


    ¡°In a sense.¡± Chaiya said and explained. ¡°He will stop you from passing that last barrier into true death and heal you back to the way you were.¡±


    ¡°What if we get blown to bits or something?¡± Steven asked. ¡°Like... ah... a disintegration spell or something.¡±


    ¡°As long as you are within his area of effect, he can catch you before you disperse to reconstitute and restore your body.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°Of course, he can''t do it infinitely, so don''t start thinking about killing yourself on purpose to test it.¡±


    Steven turned his head away slightly to hide his facial expression because he had been thinking exactly that. ¡°All right. I accept.¡±


    ¡°Steven Cecil Matthews, I bestow upon you a taste of my power.¡± Chaiya said and kissed his forehead. ¡°You will have skills appropriate for that world, as well as an enhanced metabolism to let you heal even faster than you normally can.¡±


    Steven felt himself be bathed in energy, and instead of settling in any one spot like the others, it covered him completely and settled into his skin instead.


    ¡°Despite your passive nature, your body has become stronger and tougher.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°I hereby grant you the title of Paladin of Light. You will be the rock that the others will rely on. You will meet challenges head on and protect them from harm.¡±


    ¡°A Paladin?¡± Steven looked down at his hands. ¡°Isn''t a Paladin like an unwavering force for good or something?¡±


    ¡°As with a Priest, a Paladin is not quite what you think it is.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°The abilities you can use depend on your own experiences. Not everyone can be a fighter, so they fit into other necessary roles. A spell caster. A healer. A swordsman.¡±


    Chaiya walked back to the center of the room and turned to face them. The room and the beds faded and suddenly there was a woman that sat in the lotus position in front of them.


    ¡°You are the Emissaries of Light. My Light.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°If you will wait here, I will see if your leader is ready to assume his post.¡± She said and faded away.


    Jessica, Steven, and Josh looked down at the woman in front of them, and they instinctively knew that she didn''t want to be disturbed. So, they moved away slightly and sat down themselves to wait. Josh started to open his mouth to talk, and Jessica shook her head and motioned to the woman. He nodded understanding, so they sat there in silence.


    *


    ¡°How is he, Maleketh?¡± Chaiya asked as she popped into Maleketh''s private space. Unlike her white space, his was a solid blue and he wore a blue suit, and on an altar-like table was Hunter.


    ¡°He''s coming along well for someone that had his insides perforated by a three inch wide energy blade and almost dying.¡± Maleketh said as he poured energy into the wound in Hunter''s abdomen.


    ¡°Why is it taking so long to heal him?¡± Chaiya asked. ¡°I healed the humans almost instantly.¡±


    ¡°You used an absurd amount of energy to summon him and his body absorbed a lot of it while his own Presence was trying to escape.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°Also, you told me to convert him to use mana.¡±


    ¡°You could have healed him before doing that.¡± Chaiya said with a chuckle. ¡°I''m glad I got him before he actually died, though. If he hadn''t had someone so close to him, I might have gotten him sooner.¡±


    ¡°How is the unwanted passenger?¡± Maleketh asked.


    ¡°She accepted my offer to be an emissary to make up for that.¡± Chaiya said and pointed to Hunter''s wound. ¡°I''m not sure how she''s going to react when she finds out that he''s going to be the leader of my emissaries.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe you convinced me to loan you my staunchest supporter.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°Are you sure he''s going to be the deciding factor for what you''re trying to do on that planet?¡±


    ¡°We need to find out what''s going on there.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°Who better than a man that distrusts authority to send and investigate corrupted authority?¡±


    ¡°You''re assuming that it''s corrupted and that he''s going to do what you want.¡± Maleketh said with a chuckle. ¡°He spent seventeen years hearing everyone proclaim to the Goddess Chaiya and he still keeps saying ''god'' when something happens.¡±


    ¡°I''ll give him a blessing and...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Maleketh said, to her surprise. ¡°If there''s one thing he would absolutely hate, it would be you giving him a compulsion.¡± He said. ¡°I''ll bless him and give him what he''ll need to survive there.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Chaiya said and reached for Hunter. ¡°It''s no trouble for me to...¡±


    Maleketh''s hand grabbed hers and she looked at him in surprise. ¡°I said no.¡±


    Chaiya sighed and took her hand back. ¡°I will let the others know that he will be your emissary.¡±


    ¡°He can still be your emissary; but, it is in name only. I will give him his title and abilities.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°You need to make sure that the others are to protect him as well as themselves.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry. They are sufficiently motivated to work together and to keep each other safe.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°One of them had enough mana to become a Sorcerer Priest.¡±


    Maleketh nodded and looked down at the wound. It was closing over, finally, and Hunter''s Presence stopped trying to escape. ¡°I will be done soon.¡±


    ¡°I will gather the others and we can send them together.¡± Chaiya said and disappeared.


    ¡°Don''t worry, Hunter.¡± Maleketh said and put a hand on the unconscious man''s forehead. ¡°I won''t let her corrupt you against your wishes.¡± He said and closed his eyes. ¡°I, Maleketh, grant you the name Hunter as your actual name on the new world. I also grant you the title of Psionic Vanguard, as it suits your already learned skills the best and you are to lead your group from the front.¡±


    Hunter''s body glowed as Maleketh bathed it in energy. It poured into him and coalesced as it slid up into Hunter''s head and settled there. The glow didn''t fade like it was supposed to, and Maleketh looked down at the wound. It was still open slightly, and as it closed, the energy stopped going into it. The glow slowly faded and Maleketh stepped back.


    That was odd. Maleketh thought, slightly concerned. It''s been a few centuries since I''ve blessed someone and I don''t remember anything like that happening before.


    ¡°Are you finished?¡± Chaiya''s disembodied voice asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Maleketh said and Chaiya slid herself and her emissaries into Maleketh''s blue space.


    Kara gasped when she felt Ullir''s Presence as it appeared inside her detection range and she jumped to her feet. ¡°ULLIR!¡± She yelled and ran to him and tried to hug him. ¡°He''s alive! I can feel it! He''s alive!¡±


    ¡°Easy, little one.¡± Chaiya said and gently pulled Kara off of Hunter''s unconscious form. ¡°Maleketh has only just finished healing his grievous wound.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Yes, of course.¡± Kara said and let herself be led back over to the group.


    ¡°Hunter will be the leader of your group, so do everything that you can to protect him.¡± Chaiya said to the four of them.


    ¡°We will do everything we can for him.¡± Kara said, adamantly.


    ¡°You seem to know him.¡± Steven whispered. ¡°What''s wrong with his face?¡± He asked when he saw the blast shield over Hunter''s eyes.


    ¡°He told me that he suffered damage when he attacked and killed someone.¡± Kara said back without whispering. Even now, with Hunter unconscious, she couldn''t see past the Presence surrounding the blast shield, so she knew he was hiding something behind it.


    ¡°He''s a murderer?¡± Josh asked, shocked.


    ¡°Do not overreact.¡± Chaiya said and pushed calmness into them. ¡°The woman he had started to fall in love with was killed, and he lost control of his emotions and killed them in retribution.¡±


    ¡°He still killed someone.¡± Steven said. ¡°Is he really going to be the leader of our group? I don''t know how I feel about that.¡±


    ¡°You gave your word to become my emissary.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°You shouldn''t judge him, because you don''t know everything that he''s been through.¡± She looked at Kara. ¡°You know a lot of it.¡± She turned and looked at Jessica. ¡°As do you.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Jessica and Kara exclaimed and looked at each other.


    ¡°I understand why I do; but, why does she?¡± Kara asked. ¡°I''ve never seen her before.¡±


    ¡°That''s because she met him in another lifetime.¡± Chaiya said and stepped close to Jessica. ¡°I believe you wished to see Marcus again?¡±


    Jessica gasped and put her hands over her mouth as she burst our crying. ¡°Th-that''s Marcus?¡±


    ¡°When he died after sacrificing himself for you and the others, he was reborn to new parents.¡±


    ¡°Th-that''s wonderful!¡± Jessica said through her tears. ¡°I''m so happy that he had a chance at a better life!¡±


    Ullir was reincarnated? Kara thought as her face went slightly red. She turned her head to hide it from the naive girl, because she didn''t want to give away what had actually happened to Ullir''s second life. I always treated him like a child and he never once told me otherwise. She thought. Why would he keep something like that from me and why didn''t I feel the difference in him?


    Jessica was nineteen and Ullir was physically seventeen, and yet she was so much younger in her experiences because he had lived so many more years than her.


    ¡°I can''t say that it was better; but, it was a chance at another life. I won''t say what he''s been through, since that''s something he needs to share on his own.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°Don''t let that be the first thing you ask him when he wakes up, all right?¡±


    ¡°N-no, of course not.¡± Jessica said. ¡°The first thing I''m going to say is thank you. He''s the reason I''ve got a chance at another life, too.¡±


    Chaiya smiled one of her enchanting smiles and nodded. Jessica ducked her head and blushed as she wiped at the tears to gather them. They glowed slightly and disappeared into her mana reserve.


    ¡°My followers are waiting for you, so gather around the table and I''ll send you on your way.¡± Chaiya said, and Kara, Jessica, Steven and Josh walked over to surround the table that Hunter was on. ¡°You are going to feel some pressure, so don''t let it bother you. Your bodies are much more durable than they used to be.¡± She held her hands up and did some odd motions with her fingers. ¡°Oh, before I forget. The world is less developed than your world. You should all be prepared to go without the conveniences that you would expect to normally live with.¡±


    Kara glanced down at the hole in Hunter''s armor where her Light sword had cut through it and saw the healed skin underneath. She didn''t quite believe he was healed, so as the group was encompassed with a bright light and the pressure started to build, she reached out and touched Hunter''s bare skin.


    Hunter woke up in pitch blackness, because of his blast shield, and jerked from the touch. ¡°NO!¡± He yelled and used a wave of Presence to push Kara away. He didn''t see the others, because he wasn''t using Detect Presence, and they were pushed away as well. Since the teleport spell had already been initiated, Kara, Jessica, Steven, and Josh were caught in mid-air as the spell completed. The wave of Presence inside the spell rebounded and hit Hunter, knocked him unconscious again, and he disappeared a split second before the others.


    ¡°I guess you should have waited for him to wake up first.¡± Maleketh chuckled.


    ¡°Oops.¡± Chaiya said and chuckled herself.

 Book Two: The Summoned 003

    Sela, Nita, and Ari were on their normal patrol to check their forest home and make sure that no beast had somehow passed through the magical barrier that protected them. While the elves checked their animal traps, a large burst of mana sent a pulse through the trees and the three of them turned to look. They saw a bright light cut through the trees and exchanged looks.


    ¡°What do you think that was?¡± Sela asked.


    ¡°It was a couple of miles away and yet the light reached us this far away through the trees.¡± Nita said. ¡°No doubt whatever it was is going to attract attention.¡±


    ¡°That''s well within the forest barrier, though.¡± Ari said. ¡°We just came from there and no one was around.¡± She glanced at Sela and smiled. ¡°Unless someone couldn''t detect them.¡±


    ¡°Bite your tongue!¡± Sela said and used the flat edge of her sword to smack her sister''s backside.


    Ari jumped at the tap and laughed. ¡°We need to go back there and check the area again.¡±


    Nita reset the empty trap and the three elves used their forest running skill to quickly traverse through the trees, both on the ground and high in the branches, to get back to the previously cleared area. What they saw when they got there surprised them. A black clothed body lay partially against a tree and a teleport circle was burned into the grass around it with part of it marring the tree.


    ¡°Oh, no!¡± Sela exclaimed and ran over to the body, pushed it aside and rolled it out of the way, then put her hands on the tree. ¡°It''s okay, old one. It''s only surface damage!¡± She said and called mana to her hands and invoked the forest''s magical healing wards. The trunk of the tree started to glow and the burned marks on the bark filled in and regrew to erase the damage. ¡°There! All better.¡± She said in relief, then she knelt and looked at the grass.


    ¡°Don''t waste your mana.¡± Nita said. ¡°It should fix itself.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it''s a man!¡± Ari said as she checked the body and lifted the mass of long hair out of the way.


    ¡°You''re kidding!¡± Nita walked over to her and helped her roll the body onto its back. It was surprisingly heavy. ¡°Hey you''re right.¡± She said. ¡°I thought for sure it was a woman with all that hair.¡±


    ¡°What is this thing?¡± Ari asked as she touched the weird metal on the man''s face. ¡°It looks like it''s embedded into his face!¡±


    ¡°That''s a shame.¡± Sela said as she came over to look at him. ¡°Some kind of spell gone wrong, maybe?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Nita said and knelt to examine it herself. She pushed the hair out of the way to look at the side of the man''s head and caught her breath. ¡°His ears are pointed!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Ari leaned over and looked, then sighed in disappointment. ¡°He''s not an elf.¡±


    ¡°He has to be a half-breed with an elf parent, or even a quarter-breed if one or both of his grandparents are elves.¡± Nita said. ¡°His ears would be longer, otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Why are we talking about this?¡± Sela asked. ¡°He''s trespassing on protected elven land.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think it was voluntary.¡± Nita said.


    ¡°Intentional or not, he''s crossed the magical barrier.¡± Sela said and drew her sword. ¡°We need to kill him and get it over with.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Ari said and stood to block her sister.


    ¡°Ari, you know the law as well as I do.¡±


    ¡°The law doesn''t cover something like this.¡± Ari countered. ¡°We''ve never had anyone teleport through the barrier before.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess that''s true.¡± Sela said. ¡°Nita, what should we do?¡±


    ¡°We need to consult a higher authority.¡± Nita said and stood. ¡°We can''t leave him here, though.¡±


    ¡°Then we need to bring him with us.¡± Ari said.


    ¡°I''m not helping you carry him.¡± Sela said.


    ¡°You don''t have to.¡± Ari said. ¡°I''ll make a stretcher and drag him myself.¡±


    ¡°Your sister rivalry is tiresome sometimes.¡± Nita sighed. ¡°I''ll help.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Ari said and hugged her.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Nita said and pushed her off. They quickly made a stretcher and managed to roll the unconscious man onto it. Nita noticed the two cylinders hooked to the man''s waist and took one to examine it. She was surprised that she couldn''t, since that was her skill, then she remembered her teacher telling her that sometimes even experts can''t recognize ancient artifacts when they see them. She was unwilling to admit that she couldn''t identify them, so she took the other one and tucked both into her pack.


    Ari had tied the man securely to the stretcher, so she and Nita picked up the side with his head. With the two of them holding it on the same side, his weight was halved, and since they were only picking up one side, it was almost halved again. Sela led them through the forest, her sword at the ready just in case, while her sister and Nita dragged the stretcher behind them.


    *


    Inside the large ornate royal chamber, a group of twelve white and golden robed female acolytes chanted. They had been at it for nearly an hour, and several of them were starting to become hoarse from speaking for so long without taking a break. It had taken them days to gather enough mana to complete the circle of summoning, and now they pleaded and prayed to the Goddess Chaiya to send them the help that they and the kingdom desperately needed. Just as one of them choked and coughed as they lost their voice, the circle lit up with a bright light.


    ¡°It''s working!¡± Someone off to the side exclaimed. ¡°She''s answering us!¡±


    A second later, four people were flung out of the bright light in different directions. A man flew into the spectators on the right side and knocked several of them down, a young woman was thrown down the isle towards the door of the royal chamber, a woman was thrown to the left and into the spectators there and knocked some of them down, and a young man was thrown towards the group of acolytes and knocked most of them over as he landed on them.


    The bright light and the glowing circle faded and disappeared. Everyone was shocked at the very unorthodox arrival of their saviours, since they had expected them to appear inside the summoning circle.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± A woman''s voice demanded. She wore a bright blue gown with gold filigree and a crown of jewels sat upon her head. She pointed to one of the robed people. ¡°Acolyte! Speak!¡±


    ¡°We''ve successfully summoned help, Queen Celestina.¡± The acolyte said, sure of that answer.


    ¡°What kind of help hurts my people?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°It wasn''t intentional.¡± Josh said as the acolytes around him picked him up and helped their fellows. He felt a tingling sensation in his hands and he turned to the ones he had landed on and held his palms out. A green light covered them and after a moment, all of the minor injuries they had were healed. He felt something nudge him towards the right, so he went over to the spectators as Steven stood up.


    ¡°Yeah, I could use some...¡± Steven stopped as the green glow went around him and healed the four people he had landed on. He tried to put his hand into the glow, and it avoided him. ¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°You don''t need it.¡± Josh said. He felt a tug to the left and quickly ran to the left as Kara stepped out of the crowd. He moved around her and covered seven people with the green glow. Once that was done, he felt another small tug down the aisle and walked over to Jessica as she sat up.


    ¡°Ow.¡± Jessica said and held her wrist.


    ¡°It''s just a sprain.¡± Josh said right away and knelt, gently took her hand and held it, then the glow covered her wrist and healed it. ¡°How''s that?¡±


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Jessica said, her face slightly red.


    Josh stood and helped her stand, then let her hand go and they walked over to where Steven and Kara stood. One of the acolytes stepped towards them and looked at Kara as she spoke.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°We welcome you, the summoned champion and her three companions.¡± She said. ¡°The Goddess Chaiya has blessed us to send such powerful heroes in our time of need.¡±


    ¡°I''m not the leader of her emissaries.¡± Kara said, to the acolyte''s surprise.


    ¡°But... the summoning was a success.¡± The head acolyte said and looked at Jessica. ¡°One champion and her three companions.¡±


    ¡°It''s not me, either.¡± Jessica said. ¡°It''s Mar... ah... Hunter.¡± She corrected herself. ¡°Hunter is the leader of our party.¡± She turned towards the people. ¡°HUNTER! Get out here!¡±


    ¡°Stop that.¡± Kara ordered her. ¡°Ullir isn''t anywhere in this room.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Jessica looked towards the window along the side of the throne room and saw a sea. ¡°No!¡± She ran over to the window through the crowd and looked down to see high jagged cliffs. ¡°I can''t have lost him again!¡± She burst out crying and tried to think of something to do. ¡°I''m an archmage on this world! I should know what to do in a situation like this!¡±


    Murmurs and whispers of surprise spread throughout the crowd about her being an archmage.


    ¡°There''s no need to overreact.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°A simple location spell should reveal the whereabouts of this Hunter.¡±


    ¡°You don''t believe us.¡± Kara said to her.


    ¡°There''s always only been four.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°Never more, never less.¡±


    ¡°How many times have people been summoned?¡± Josh asked, and Jessica came back over to them.


    ¡°Your party is the sixth group we''ve brought here.¡± The queen said. ¡°You are the first to be summoned from the newest religion to appear in my kingdom.¡±


    ¡°We have been mocked and ridiculed for the entire year we have been practising.¡± The head acolyte said, and another murmur came from the crowd. ¡°When the last group of summoners failed to make any headway into the evil that has laid siege to the world, we were reluctantly called to the castle to try and get help from our Goddess.¡±


    Kara glanced at the queen, who wouldn''t meet her eyes. ¡°I''m surprised you needed to come here for that.¡± She said and looked around. She could feel a large amount of residual energy in the floor that matched the new bundle of mana energy inside of her. ¡°Wouldn''t being inside your own church have given you more power?¡±


    The acolyte''s face flushed slightly red. ¡°We... don''t have a church.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Kara turned and looked at her. ¡°Did I hear you right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Like I''ve told you, we have been ridiculed since we started worshipping the Goddess.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°Raising funds or having volunteers to build a church has been a monumental task.¡± She said. ¡°We''ve had to gather...¡± She closed her mouth and stopped talking.


    ¡°You were going to say ''at home''.¡± Kara said, and she nodded.


    ¡°We all have to start somewhere.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°My sister offered her barn for our use; but, I knew at least a comforting home was more suitable than that.¡±


    ¡°I agree. A barn would have been a useful space; but, a church is supposed to be a place for people to gather and worship in comfort.¡± Kara said. ¡°Do we need to go to your home to cast the location spell you mentioned?¡±


    ¡°No. All we need is something of his.¡± The head acolyte said.


    ¡°Would some of his dried blood be sufficient?¡± Kara asked, and the woman stared at her for a moment. When she nodded slightly, Kara took out a small blade and turned her right hand over to show the dried blood stains and went to scrape the blood off.


    ¡°No!¡± The head acolyte exclaimed and grabbed her hand with the knife, then gasped as she felt Kara''s mana reserve. She took a breath and let it out. ¡°Don''t disturb it.¡± She said and turned to the group of white and golden robed women. ¡°Evangeline? If you would.¡±


    One of the women stepped forward and put her hands over Kara''s palm and chanted some strange language that Kara hadn''t heard before. After a few moments, she understood the words.


    ¡°Heed the words of the humble and meek. Use this blood to find what we seek.¡± Evangeline said, over and over, then her hands glowed. Kara felt her hand tingle and the blood glowed as well. A one foot wide almost see-through green bubble formed between them and on it appeared the castle viewed from the top down. Nothing else appeared, then the castle shrunk away and it showed the town nearby and a good portion of the water. Nothing appeared and the woman started to sweat as more mana was required to search farther. The scene shrunk and showed a good portion of the countryside, and Evangeline started to pant from exertion.


    Josh saw her struggle and held a hand out to her. She glanced at it, then at him, and nodded. He reached in and touched the back of her hand and mana burst out from both of them. The bubble grew to ten feet across and showed the entire kingdom that was several hundred miles across. The name First Sothen Kingdom appeared to float above it and nothing else, so it shrank and showed the next kingdom that was a third bigger than the one they were in called Second Choutia. Nothing else appeared, so it shrank and the bubble showed the next kingdom called Third Nogam and a huge forest that was nearly the size of the first two kingdoms combined.


    ¡°Oh, no.¡± The head acolyte said and a groan came from the crowd when an area about fifty miles across pulsed with a white glow inside that forest.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°He''s inside the Verboten Forest.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°It''s protective barrier keeps everything out.¡±


    ¡°How did he get in there, then?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°We know as much about this as you do.¡±


    Evangeline stopped chanting and the bubble faded away. She turned her hand over and held onto Josh''s hand, and he looked at her in surprise. She smiled at him and didn''t let go.


    ¡°How long will it take to travel there?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°At least several weeks, even with the fastest horse and carriage.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°It''s pointless to waste the time going there, since you wouldn''t be allowed to enter.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t asking permission.¡± Kara said and turned to the queen. ¡°Our party is incomplete and we need to retrieve our missing member.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you won''t do anything for us until you get him back.¡± Queen Celestina said with a sigh.


    ¡°I have no problem dealing with issues along the way, since it will take us weeks to get to him.¡± Kara said. ¡°I was tasked by the Goddess Chaiya herself to help, and I will do so.¡±


    Queen Celestina nodded and waved to the side of the room. A man stepped out and bowed to her. ¡°He will take you to the armorer, weapon smiths, and any other specialist you may need to prepare yourselves.¡± She said. ¡°I will also provide you with a guide and a list of things that can be taken care of while you are on your journey.¡±


    ¡°I can''t promise to be as effective without the full party; but, we will do our best.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Queen Celestina said and stood. ¡°Emissaries of the Goddess Chaiya, I bid you good luck and hope you are successful in finding your lost member.¡±


    Kara gave her head a bow, and the acolytes did the same. Jessica, Josh, and Steven saw everyone do it, so they did it, too. The man walked over to them and ushered them and the acolytes out of the throne room. The chatter from the crowd increased in volume as they left, then the large doors shut behind them and cut off all the sound from inside.


    ¡°Wow, we''re really in another world.¡± Steven said. ¡°Did you see the clothes some of those people wore?¡± He asked and chuckled. ¡°Give me a pair of jeans over burlap any day!¡±


    ¡°Remember what the Goddess said about not having normal things to live with.¡± Kara reminded him. ¡°By the looks of this place, I doubt that they can make anything close to what any of us are wearing.¡±


    Everyone fell quiet as they thought about that, and the man led them through the castle and out into the large courtyard. Several blacksmiths were there, working the fires and hammering metal.


    ¡°Hello, Gavell.¡± The blacksmith said as the man stopped in front of him.


    ¡°The queen requests armor and weapons for these adventurers.¡± Gavell said.


    The blacksmith sighed. ¡°I still haven''t finished the broadsword order.¡±


    ¡°Please delay that until these people have been seen to.¡± Gavell said. ¡°I need to go and find a capable guide for them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± The blacksmith waved him away. ¡°I''ll have them sorted out by the time you get back.¡±


    Gavell nodded and quickly walked away.


    ¡°He seems to be in a hurry to get away from us.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°Well, we''re technically heathens and don''t believe what he does.¡± Evangeline said, and Kara, Josh, Jessica and Steven turned to look at her. ¡°New religion, remember?¡±


    ¡°How''s that working out for you?¡± The blacksmith asked.


    ¡°Really well.¡± Evangeline said with a slightly red face and gave Josh''s hand a squeeze.


    The blacksmith laughed. ¡°Good for you!¡± He said and looked at Josh. ¡°You''re too scrawny for armor plate, so you must be some kind of magic user.¡±


    ¡°I''m... what was it she said?¡± Josh squinted his eyes in thought. ¡°Oh, I remember! I''m a Sorcerer Priest of Light.¡±


    All of the acolytes gasped, even Evangeline. She let his hand go and the acolytes gathered into a small group a short distance away and started muttering. They were covered in mana a moment later and the muttering was silenced.


    ¡°What''s that about?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°No idea.¡± Josh said and looked at his hand. He hadn''t had a girl voluntarily hold his hand like that before; but, her pulling away was definitely a familiar gesture that he had experienced several times. He was saddened by those thoughts and Steven put a hand on his shoulder while the blacksmith showed Kara some nice armor and Jessica looked at the different staffs he had available.


    ¡°Hey, there''s lots of women here.¡± Steven said and leaned in to whisper. ¡°None of them know what it was like for guys back on Earth.¡±


    Josh blinked his eyes and looked at him. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I was a loner and didn''t care about the girls back home.¡± Steven whispered. ¡°They were too immature and really full of themselves.¡± He smiled. ¡°Here?¡± He looked around and leaned back in close. ¡°Look at them. All prim and proper. You know they''ve been raised right, too. I bet almost none of them have had sex yet.¡±


    Josh''s mouth fell open at that realization.


    ¡°Ah, I think you''re getting it now.¡± Steven smiled. ¡°Look, when that girl comes back over and takes your hand again... believe me, she will... lean in and whisper in her ear.¡±


    ¡°Whisper what?¡±


    ¡°Dude, it doesn''t matter.¡± Steven responded. ¡°Tell her you like her smile or something.¡±


    ¡°I... I can''t.¡± Josh said, his face flushed slightly red.


    ¡°Trust me.¡± Steven said and stepped away when he saw the acolytes break apart. He gave Josh a thumbs up and turned to the blacksmith to give him some privacy. ¡°What can you show me for a Paladin of Light to use?¡±


    The blacksmith''s eyes lit up at those words. ¡°This way! This way!¡± He waved Steven over to the side and practically dragged him over to show off the fanciest set of armor he had while Josh was swarmed by the acolytes. He felt someone take his hand and Evangeline stepped closer to him than the others.


    ¡°What''s your name?¡±


    ¡°J-J-Josh.¡± Josh stuttered. She really took my hand like Steven said! He thought in surprise.


    ¡°Your full name.¡± The head acolyte said, as if it was a requirement for something.


    ¡°Joshua Hector Harrison.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°Joshua Hector Harrison.¡± All of the acolytes repeated like a chant. ¡°Blessed be the Goddess.¡±


    ¡°When the Goddess blessed me, she asked if I wanted to change it and I said no.¡± Josh said, because they all looked at him as if they expected him to say something else.


    Evangeline caught her breath. ¡°You kept your given name.¡±


    ¡°Joshua Hector Harrison.¡± All of the acolytes chanted again. ¡°Blessed be the Goddess.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to do that every time I say something?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Evangeline said with a big smile. ¡°Only when it involves words related to the Goddess.¡±


    The smile reminded Josh of what Steven said, and his face flushed red.


    ¡°Are you all right?¡± Evangeline asked with concern in her voice.


    Josh heard the concern, then figured he didn''t have anything to lose. He leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear. ¡°I really like your smile.¡±


    Evangeline squeezed his hand really hard and he leaned back to see if he had screwed up as badly as he thought. Instead of seeing anger on her face like he had expected, he saw a deep blush and a huge smile.

 Book Two: The Summoned 004

    Kara opted for a very lightweight leather armor that was much better than her heavy robes. She kept them, since she wasn''t abandoning her ways or beliefs, and the man at the next stall gave her a bag of holding. She was amazed that it could hold a lot of things and the weight didn''t affect her. She took two swords from the blacksmith that were approximately the same size and length as her Light sword. One she hung on her hip and one on her back. She was tempted to put one in the bag of holding, then decided that if she needed it, trying to go look for it wasn''t a good idea.


    Jessica was an archmage, so she settled for two different staffs. One was for power and attack spells and one was for defense and party boosting. She chose a light leather armor that wouldn''t impede her spell casting and she also accepted a bag of holding from the stall next door. She tucked her dress into it and thought about asking for a sword. When she tried to pick one up, she couldn''t lift it.


    ¡°Are you that weak?¡± Steven asked and picked up the sword with his fingertips and held it out to her.


    ¡°No.¡± Jessica snapped. ¡°I think I can''t take it because I''m not supposed to.¡±


    ¡°Come on, everyone can at least hold a sword.¡± Steven said and flipped it over and held the handle out to Josh. ¡°Grab this, will you?¡±


    Josh put his hand around the handle and Steven let it go. The sword pulled itself out of Josh''s hand and dropped to the ground as if no one was holding it.


    ¡°Well, damn. Would you look at that.¡± Steven said with a grin. ¡°She was right.¡±


    ¡°Here, smart ass.¡± Jessica said and held one of her staffs out to him. He smiled and put his hand around it, held on tight, and she let it go. It dropped to the ground and dragged Steven with it.


    ¡°Gah!¡± Steven grunted as it crushed his fingers. ¡°Okay! Okay! I get it!¡±


    Jessica picked up the staff as if it weighed nothing and Steven stood up.


    ¡°Hey, Josh. Do you feel like giving me a hand?¡± Steven asked and held out his hand with the broken fingers on it.


    Josh touched the hand and it healed.


    ¡°Thanks, bud.¡± Steven said. He had chosen the fancy armor and one of the best swords that the blacksmith had. It was even enchanted to do extra damage depending on how much mana he wanted to add to it. Since he knew that he only had self buff abilities that barely used any mana, adding it to his weapon to charge it up wasn''t going to impact his other abilities. It seemed the longer they were in this new world, the more their inherent knowledge of their classes made itself known to them.


    Josh had taken Evangeline''s advice and only chose basic robes to cover himself and a bag of holding. He had been very tempted to add a focusing wand to help him with the spells he was starting to remember that he had access to, and Evangeline told him that he was the focus already and getting a wand to do the same thing wouldn''t work.


    ¡°I think we should stay here and rest for the night before we start on our journey.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I''m getting the feeling that we can''t leave quite yet.¡±


    ¡°Me, too.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°You''re just horny.¡± Steven whispered to Josh, who closed his mouth and didn''t respond.


    ¡°Well, I suppose I do need some time to adjust to these new items.¡± Kara admitted reluctantly, even though she wanted to leave immediately to go and get Ullir. Steven nodded agreement and they walked in the direction that Gavell had gone. They saw him talking to a kid that looked to be about eight.


    ¡°Yes, I''ll give you an entire gold coin when you return.¡± Gavell said and held the coin out.


    ¡°Half now and half when I come back.¡± The kid said.


    ¡°No, you''ll just take off again and I won''t see you for a month.¡± Gavell said. ¡°You left the last group high and dry next to that gorge.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it''s not my fault they thought the bridge was safe.¡± The kid said.


    ¡°You were supposed to take them to a safe way to cross.¡± Gavell said, angrily.


    ¡°They could swim.¡± The kid responded.


    Kara walked over to them and looked down at the kid as she concentrated on him. ¡°Will you do a good job or will you slack off and delay us?¡±


    ¡°I''ll slack off.¡± The kid said right away. ¡°Hey! I mean that...¡±


    ¡°Your first utterance is always the truth.¡± Kara said with a smile and turned to Gavell. ¡°We won''t be using this... child as a guide.¡±


    ¡°I''m the only one that knows the way.¡± The kid said.


    Kara felt a slight waver in the Presence. ¡°It seems there are others that know the proper way.¡± She said. ¡°Gavell, keep looking for someone else.¡±


    Gavell nodded and started to walk away.


    ¡°All right!¡± The kid exclaimed. ¡°A gold when I come back.¡±


    ¡°Nothing upfront?¡± Gavell asked.


    ¡°I''ll need a few silvers for food along the way.¡± The kid said, slightly disgusted.


    Gavell smiled and handed the kid a handful of silver coins. ¡°Get your travelling supplies and...¡±


    ¡°We''re staying here for the night.¡± Kara said.


    Gavell turned to her with surprise on her face. ¡°I thought you needed to leave right away?¡±


    ¡°We should... and I want to... but, I''m not the leader.¡± Kara said. ¡°We will leave in the morning.¡±


    ¡°I will have rooms prepared in the castle for...¡±


    ¡°They are staying with us.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°They need to bask in the Goddess'' embrace before heading off into the world.¡±


    Gavell looked down his nose at the woman for a moment, then sighed. ¡°I will inform the queen.¡± He said and took out a small sack of money to hand to Kara. ¡°I was told to give this to the head of your party. It''s to cover any expenses you may have along the way while you venture forth to find your companion.¡±


    Kara took the sack and put it right into her bag of holding. She heard a disgusted grunt from the kid and assumed, quite correctly, that the money couldn''t be stolen from a bag that only she could open.


    ¡°I will have the carriage sent to you in the morning.¡± Gavell said and walked away.


    ¡°We should get to the house.¡± Evangeline said, excitedly. ¡°We''ve never had guests before!¡±


    ¡°We will eat a good meal and thank the Goddess for our good fortune.¡± The head acolyte said and then chuckled. ¡°She sent us five champions instead of only four!¡±


    ¡°Everyone will be talking about it.¡± One of the other acolytes said as they left the large courtyard and walked down the road towards the town.


    Of course, seeing twelve women dressed in white and gold robes wouldn''t be enough to make people talk all on its own. Steven thought in amusement as he overheard people talking about them as they passed by. They walked through town and came to a one storey house and the head acolyte opened the door.


    Evangeline pulled Josh inside and into the living room. ¡°This is where we gather and pray.¡±


    Josh looked around the room and he could see and feel all of the mana that had been used and gathered in the room. It was pretty sparse, considering it was supposed to be the regular meeting place for twelve people. The others came in and the living room became pretty crowded, then several sat down on the few chairs that were there and the others sat down on the floor near the walls. It left him, Evangeline, Kara, Jessica, and Steven standing in the middle of the room.


    ¡°I need to go chant.¡± Evangeline said and Josh looked at her, then at their clasped hands.


    ¡°Oh! Sure.¡± Josh said and opened his hand.


    Evangeline held on to his hand for a moment longer and then let go. She walked over to the wall and sat down with poise, then they all started chanting in a whisper. Josh understood what they were saying right away, without having to wait and hear it first.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Bless this house and bless your followers, Chaiya, Goddess of Light. Forgive those who mock us for they are without understanding.¡± All twelve of them said as one. Their voices matched in pitch and tremble, so it sounded like it was the same person saying it twelve times. ¡°Protect us and guide us...¡±


    They must do this a lot. Josh thought and he felt mana start to emanate from them almost immediately. He felt that it was without direction and held a hand out, palm up. The mana quickly flowed to his hand and swirled around it, so he turned his hand over and faced it towards the head acolyte. That seemed the right thing to do, because mana flowed back to her and she started to glow. It jumped from her to Evangeline and Josh knew immediately that she was her daughter.


    The mana jumped to each woman in the circle and the chant grew from a low whisper to speaking normally. As the volume increased, so did the flow of mana. The acolytes became eager as the mana travelled through them and grew in strength, unlike what it had done every other time they had chanted like this. Their talking chant grew into almost yells as they stood.


    Kara felt the Goddess Chaiya''s Presence grow and weigh down on her, so she grabbed Jessica and Steven by the arms and pulled them out of the circle. When that slight obstruction was gone, all twelve women shivered and glowed brightly with mana.


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Steven asked as the women put one of their hands into Josh''s outstretched one.


    ¡°I believe Josh is starting to understand what it means to be a Sorcerer Priest of Light for the Acolytes of Light.¡± Kara said. ¡°I''m not really sure why the energy is growing and not dissipating, though.¡±


    ¡°This is all new to us, so I''m sure there''s things we''re going to need to discover about ourselves before we can be an effective fighting force.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°That''s very mature of you.¡± Kara said, surprised.


    ¡°I''m not sure why I said that.¡± Jessica said, her face slightly red.


    ¡°You just answered that.¡± Kara pointed out, and Jessica reluctantly nodded. The chanting stopped and the three of them turned to look at the group of slightly glowing acolytes with Josh in the center.


    ¡°Jessica, you need to visit the library in the castle.¡± Josh said. ¡°Aimee will take you right away and show you what to look at first.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Jessica asked. ¡°I don''t think we should separate...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry. The queen has guards stationed around the town to protect us.¡± Josh said and nodded to one of the women around him. ¡°Aimee, you know what to look for.¡±


    Aimee nodded and walked over to Jessica. ¡°If you''ll follow me, we can get started right away.¡±


    Jessica looked at Kara, who nodded. She wasn''t going to doubt anything the Goddess wanted them to do, so Jessica left with Aimee, who was still glowing slightly.


    ¡°Kara, you need practice with your unfamiliar swords. Their weight and balance are quite different than what you''re used to.¡± Josh said. ¡°Helena will take you to the guard''s training grounds. You''ll find some familiar things there to practice on.¡±


    Kara nodded and an older woman came over to her and they left the house. Josh didn''t say anything else as he stood there and held the other women''s hands, so Steven leaned against the wall to wait.


    ¡°Nothing for me to do, then?¡± Steven asked a minute later when he was tired of waiting and glanced at the remaining women''s faces. ¡°None of you will lead me anywhere?¡± He asked with a knowing smile.


    ¡°No.¡± Josh said adamantly.


    Steven knew that he wasn''t going to make any headway on the sexual front with these women.


    ¡°There''s nothing for you to fight here, so you have to wait until tomorrow.¡± Josh clarified. ¡°You''ll get some practice in then.¡±


    ¡°Good to know.¡± Steven said. ¡°Say, is there a bar or something in this town?¡±


    ¡°You don''t drink.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°How would you know that?¡± Steven asked and squinted his eyes. ¡°Were you using your bevy of women to sneak a peek on me?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Evangeline said adamantly before Josh could respond, and Steven glanced at her. ¡°The Goddess Chaiya blessed us with Sight for a brief moment. We all saw what needed to be done for everyone to head out tomorrow. You going for a drink wasn''t one of them.¡±


    At least he wasn''t spying on me. Steven thought. ¡°I wasn''t thirsty anyway.¡± He said and looked around the room. ¡°There''s no way that we''re all going to fit in here tonight. Did your Sight happen to show you where we''re all going to be sleeping?¡±


    Josh''s face turned bright red, as did Evangeline''s, and the other women''s faces flushed slightly red.


    ¡°You will have the spare room all to yourself.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°Kara and Jessica will...¡±


    ¡°I don''t need to know the rest.¡± Steven said and walked out of the living room. ¡°Which one?¡±


    ¡°Second door on the left.¡± The head acolyte said and Steven went into the room and shut the door.


    ¡°We should head home ourselves.¡± One of the others said and slowly pulled her hand away from Josh''s, as if she was reluctant to do so. ¡°There''s important work to be done for tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Gather what the Goddess requested and come back here first thing in the morning.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°We need to do our utmost to give her emissaries the best chance at defeating this evil.¡±


    ¡°Blessed be the Goddess.¡± They said together, then the others seemed to have the same reluctance as they let Josh''s hand go and left the house. The head acolyte, Evangeline, and Josh were now alone in the living room.


    ¡°I need to prepare something for everyone to eat when they return.¡± The head acolyte said and reluctantly took her hand away from Josh and left the room.


    Josh waited for a moment before speaking. ¡°I didn''t imagine their reluctance to let go, did I?¡±


    Evangeline shook her head. ¡°We can feel the Goddess Chaiya''s blessing on you.¡± She said. ¡°When you pooled our mana and returned it twice as powerful, at no physical cost to yourself, we knew she had chosen you specifically for us.¡±


    ¡°Is that what I am now? A source of mana?¡± Josh asked.


    Evangeline reached up with her free hand and cupped the side of his face. ¡°You misunderstand.¡± She said. ¡°You gave us our mana back. Usually it flows out while we chant and it dissipates. Some of it resides here in the room, as I''m sure you felt.¡±


    Josh nodded and she let his face go.


    ¡°You held the mana and directed it. No one has ever done that before.¡± Evangeline said. ¡°Even my mother, who is the head of the Acolytes of Light, chosen by the Goddess for that purpose, can''t add to our spells and abilities like you can.¡±


    ¡°You mean like I did with that location spell.¡± Josh said, and she nodded. ¡°That was pretty cool.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t feel any temperature change.¡± Evangeline said, slightly concerned. ¡°Was I supposed to?¡±


    Josh chuckled. ¡°No, that''s just something people say back where I come from when we see something amazing.¡±


    ¡°I''d like to learn more about that place.¡± Evangeline said.


    ¡°That''s... I don''t think...¡± Josh took a breath and let it out. ¡°My life there isn''t something that I want to talk about. The things I had to go through there, with the...¡± He sighed. ¡°I didn''t enjoy them at all and I don''t want to relive them.¡±


    ¡°Then I won''t speak of it again.¡± Evangeline said and she smiled at the relief she saw on his face. ¡°We have several hours to wait for the others to return. Shall we get to your own lessons?¡±


    ¡°I''d like that.¡± Josh said as she led him over to the fireplace and they sat down. ¡°I''d like that a lot.¡±


    *


    I felt a tug on the side of my head and it dragged me awake. I felt it again and grunted. There were two more hard tugs and I opened my eyes into blackness. Oh, right. My blast shield. I thought and used the mental technique Detect Presence to see through the metal. Two pretty women with long blonde hair in a ponytail stood over me with glowing hands and I stared up at them and their long pointed ears.


    What the... are they elves? There''s alien elves? I asked myself, surprised. Wait a minute! I was just fighting Kara! Where is she?


    I reached out within my considerable detection range and didn''t see or feel Kara anywhere. I didn''t relax, because she had successfully masked her Presence from me before. I tried to move my arms to try and sit up, and I couldn''t.


    ¡°Why isn''t this thing coming off?¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°Maybe it really is melded to his head.¡± The other said.


    ¡°The healer that was here said he doesn''t have any grievous wounds that needed to be tended to. That would be a grievous wound if it was real and she would have healed it.¡± The first one said and motioned to my blast shield. ¡°We need to remove it before you know who arrives to check him over.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think this is necessary, Ari.¡± Another voice said. ¡°She''ll either like him or not.¡±


    I diverted my attention to another woman a few feet away. She looked to be about the same age as the other two; but, I wasn''t a good judge of ages when it came to anyone besides humans.


    ¡°She needs to see his eyes.¡± Ari said, and I felt the Presence waver.


    I think it''s you that needs to. I thought and looked at myself. I could see that my wrists were shackled together and my ankles as well. At least I''m still dress... My thoughts cut off when I noticed that my mother''s and father''s Light swords were not attached to my belt and were missing. My anger rose at being robbed of them, again, and I tried to gather Presence to myself. Pain shot through my head for some reason and I lost my concentration. My Detect Presence technique faded and it took me a minute to get it back. The two women kept hovering their hands above my face as they tried to remove the blast shield over my eyes.


    I could see my mother''s locket hanging from the one called Ari''s neck and that pissed me off. I used a mental technique that let me ignore pain up to a certain threshold and concentrated hard as I started to gather Presence to myself. Now that I was focusing so much, I could feel another energy floating around that was similar to Presence and yet it was different. Since the Presence was in all things, both matter and energy, I gathered that energy as well.


    Pain lanced through my brain and the energy ebbed slightly. I pushed the pain aside in my desperate need, even though it had passed the threshold I was able to safely ignore, and I built the energy up. When I felt that I had enough to create a Presence Hand, I waited. I was tempted to use just the one; but, there were three people in the room with me. If I couldn''t handle all three at once, then trying to resist them would mean less than nothing.


    ¡°Something''s wrong.¡± The woman a few feet away said. ¡°Can you feel that?¡±


    ¡°Sela, there''s nothing going on.¡± Ari said. ¡°Someone would have raised the alarm if there was.¡±


    ¡°No, not out there. In here.¡± Sela said and stepped close to me. ¡°It''s... it''s from him.¡±


    ¡°He''s still unconscious.¡± The other one said. ¡°My binding spell will hold him even if he does wake up.¡±


    ¡°Nita, you can''t just dismiss my Perception.¡± Sela said, slightly angry.


    Now! I thought and formed three Presence Hands. I grabbed each of them by the throat and pushed them away from me. The three of them slammed into the wall and I felt my arms twitch. I smiled and discovered that I could move slightly, so her binding spell, whatever that was, seemed to be weakening. I figured I''d try to help it along and pulled Nita from the wall a few feet and slammed her against the wall again. I heard the thump sound like a melon hitting pavement and her head flopped forward as she fell unconscious.


    ¡°No! Stop!¡± Ari said and struggled to get free of the Presence Hand that held her against the wall. Sela didn''t try to struggle at all as she hung there and stared at me. Thankfully, the binding spell faded away and I took several deep breaths before I sat up.


    ¡°Oh, I''ll stop all right.¡± I said and shakily stood up. It was a little difficult with the powerless heavy armor suit on and my wrists and ankles shackled, and I staggered a little. I think I''m still weak from the wound Kara gave me. I thought and touched the spot. It was still tender and sore and I tried to use a healing technique on myself. The flow of Presence was still sluggish and hard to manifest, so I gave up for now. ¡°I''ll stop as soon as you return the items that you''ve stolen from me.¡±

 Book Two: The Summoned 005

    ¡°We didn''t ste-ACK!¡± Ari choked as I squeezed the Presence Hand that held her.


    ¡°Lying won''t help you.¡± I said. ¡°You have my mother''s locket around your neck and you took that from me.¡± I said and eased the hand''s hold on her to let her breathe. ¡°So, we can have a nice normal conversation, or I can interrogate you and get the answers I want anyway.¡±


    ¡°How are you generating mana?¡± The other woman named Sela asked calmly. ¡°The shackles should prevent you from casting spells.¡±


    ¡°Mana?¡± I looked at her with raised eyebrows, that she couldn''t see because they were behind the blast shield. Is mana the extra energy I can feel along with Presence? I asked myself, then I looked down at the shackles with Detect Presence and I could see that they were completely solid. There was no latch holding them closed and no locking mechanism for me to pick.


    ¡°You are trespassing on our protected lands.¡± Ari said, now that she had her breath back. ¡°You are a criminal and all of your possessions have been confiscated.¡±


    ¡°More like picked over.¡± I said and turned to Sela. ¡°Where are the cylinders that hung from my belt?¡±


    ¡°Nita took them.¡± Sela said and motioned to the unconscious woman that hung between her and Ari on the wall. ¡°You''ll need to wait for her to wake up to ask her what she did with them.¡±


    ¡°How did you get through the protective barrier?¡± Ari asked, because she didn''t want to be left out of the conversation.


    ¡°I don''t know what you''re talking about.¡± I said and the two women exchanged glances. ¡°I was in a fight for my freedom... which I lost.¡± I said, and my anger tried to rise again. I turned it to thinking of a way to get out of magical shackles that I didn''t have a clue about opening. ¡°I thought I died and then I woke up here.¡±


    ¡°You don''t even know where you are?¡± Sela asked, shock clear in her voice. ¡°You don''t know anything about anything, do you?¡±


    I stood there for several moments and tried to gather my thoughts. I couldn''t refute her words, because I really didn''t know anything. I didn''t know where I was, who these people were, or what had happened to me. I felt someone enter my detection range and turned to look at them. They were coming down a long stairwell towards the room I was in and I thought about what to do.


    I gently put the unconscious Nita on the floor and that freed up a Presence Hand for me to use. I reclaimed my mother''s locket from around Ari''s neck with it, against her protests that she had claimed it from a legitimate prisoner, then I walked over to the door.


    ¡°You can''t leave.¡± Sela said with a smile. ¡°The door is locked in the same fashion as the shackles.¡±


    I didn''t respond and stood behind where the door would open so I would be completely out of sight of whoever entered.


    ¡°Is someone coming?¡± Sela asked. ¡°I''m just going to holler and warn them.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°You''ll be a better distraction for me that way.¡±


    Sela opened her mouth to yell, then she closed it.


    ¡°Sela, what do we do?¡± Ari asked.


    ¡°He''s right. We are a distraction and it doesn''t matter what we do.¡± Sela said.


    I thought I heard some respect in her tone of voice, then I turned and watched the woman quickly walk towards the room. The door opened at a wave of her hand and she stepped into the room.


    ¡°Nita! My grandmother said you found two ancient artifacts!¡± The women said and gasped when she saw Sela and Ari hung on the wall and Nita unconscious on the floor. ¡°Oh, no!¡± She said and moved over to them.


    ¡°Stop.¡± I said, and the woman stopped moving at the sound of my voice. I walked around the door and stepped out into the hallway. ¡°Do you have healing magic?¡±


    ¡°You aren''t injured.¡± The woman said, sure of her answer.


    Maybe it''s just the shackles making me weak. I thought. ¡°Remove my shackles.¡±


    ¡°I can''t do that.¡± The woman said. ¡°You trespassed on our lands and broke our sacred law.¡±


    ¡°And it doesn''t matter how I got here or why, all that matters is that I''m here, isn''t that right?¡±


    ¡°Most times, yes.¡± The woman said and slowly turned around to look at me. She had long blonde hair like the other three and had similar features. Her high cheek bones and red lips matched; but, the eye colors were different and their hairstyles had slight variations. ¡°Sometimes circumstances cause us to alter established protocol.¡±


    ¡°Like me?¡± I asked, and she nodded.


    ¡°You''re the first male we''ve seen that had such an abundance of mana and your pointed ears also gave the elders pause.¡± She said. ¡°Which of your parents had them?¡±


    ¡°Both.¡± I said, and she caught her breath.


    ¡°You were born of elves?¡± She asked, and Sela and Ari stared at me.


    ¡°No, they both had the same ears as I do.¡± I said. ¡°Where are the ancient artifacts that were taken from me?¡±


    ¡°The elders have them in the...¡±


    I used a Presence Hand to grab her by the neck and pulled her towards me and stopped with her just outside her arms reach of me. ¡°Remove my shackles. Now.¡±


    ¡°I can''t.¡± The woman said. ¡°I didn''t put them on you.¡±


    I sighed, because the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°Then take me to my artifacts.¡±


    ¡°I can''t take a prisoner to the elders! I''ll be banned from...¡±


    ¡°I don''t care.¡± I said and dragged her out of the room.


    ¡°You can''t leave us like this!¡± Ari exclaimed.


    ¡°I could, and it would serve you right.¡± I said, then I let them go. They dropped to the floor and I used a Presence Hand to shut the door. I saw the door meld into the rock and chuckled. With them held at bay temporarily and with two free Presence Hands, I tried to grab the shackles and pull them apart. I slowly started to walk and dragged the other woman with me while I tried to break free and I couldn''t do it. I was tempted to absorb one of the hands and use the Presence to try and cut the shackle, or even just the chain, then decided the hand was more useful to me in my currently hobbled state.


    ¡°Do you even know where you''re going?¡± The woman asked me.


    ¡°Away from there.¡± I motioned with my head to the room and started to hop up the stairs. The woman started to laugh at me, probably because I looked so pathetic with my arms and legs chained and hopped like a bunny. If I had access to my full Presence abilities, I would levitate and floated myself up the stairs, just so I could see the look on her face. We reached the top of the stairs and I used Detect Presence to look around through the walls and didn''t see anyone nearby.


    ¡°I''m not telling you where to go.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°If you won''t be useful, then I don''t need you for anything other than bait.¡± I said and squeezed the Presence Hand around her throat. She choked and struggled and tried to pry the invisible hand off for several moments, then she stopped and held a hand out to me. I eased the pressure and she took in a deep breath.


    ¡°Th-that way.¡± She said and pointed. I felt the Presence waver slightly, so I turned and went in the other direction. ¡°I said that way!¡± She exclaimed and pointed again.


    ¡°Yeah, you did.¡± I said and kept moving. It was slow going, and the hallways were surprisingly empty of people as I made my way to where she told me not to go. I used her lies and half-truths to find my way to a set of stairs. At the top was a small lobby and a pair of doors with two elves in armor that stood in front of them on either side.


    ¡°Help! I''m being kidnapped!¡± The woman hollered as soon as she saw them, and both armored elves drew their swords and ran towards us.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said to the woman, to her surprise. Just as the armored elves were about to lunge and attack me, I used my two free Presence Hands to grab the right foot on each of them. The ankles snapped as their own weight and momentum carried them forward while their right foot stayed stationary. Both of them screamed in pain and fell to the floor, their swords dropped and forgotten, and I let their feet go so they could cradle their injuries.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Can you remove my shackles?¡± I asked one of them after using a Presence Hand to cover the mouth of the woman I carried behind me. ¡°I promise to heal your injury if you do.¡±


    The guard could barely see me through her tears. ¡°Can''t... trust... men.¡± She said through gritted teeth.


    I used the third Presence Hand to remove her helmet and I used that hand to caress her face. ¡°It''s not your fault that I''m here. I''m sorry you got hurt because of me.¡± I managed to squeeze out a little more Presence and eased it into her through the hand to ease her pain.


    The guard stared at me as she felt the invisible hand and my Presence. ¡°How are you doing that?¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t matter right now.¡± I said. ¡°Please, help me so I can help you.¡±


    The woman with me mumbled as loudly as she could; but, it wasn''t enough to overcome the other guard''s crying. The guard I had pleaded with held her hand out and waved it over the shackles on my wrists. A line formed on one side and hinges formed on the other side, then they popped open and fell to the floor. She did the same to the ones on my ankles. When they fell to the floor, I felt something like a black hole open up inside of my brain. I had been trying this whole time to gather Presence and energy into myself and I was only getting trickles here and there.


    No wonder I felt so weak. I thought. My Presence was almost gone!


    Now, the sparse energy that I had detected around me that was mixing with the Presence, was actually quite abundant, and both that and Presence poured into me. My body started to glow as I absorbed much more energy than I thought I could. The lights inside the room actually started to dim, and I felt that I was sucking in energy from them as well. I stood there and kept gathering more and more energy, and I felt my internal reserve fill up.


    Both of them.


    I was shocked and had to use several mental techniques to calm my mind and my body from that revelation, then I examined this new energy. Is this the mana she asked me about before? I asked myself and looked at my hands. The green energy flowed around them like smoke. She mentioned spells before. Does that mean there''s magic wherever I am?


    ¡°You promised.¡± The guard said to remind me and that brought me out of my contemplation.


    ¡°Of course.¡± I said and knelt beside her. ¡°I didn''t have enough control to put you to sleep and had to trip you.¡± I slipped my glove off and put my hand on her ankle. She hissed at me and I smiled at her as I used Presence Heal on her. The energy sputtered and faltered for the first time, ever, and I wondered what was wrong.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The guard asked. ¡°Hurry up and use mana to cast the spell!¡±


    ¡°Use mana?¡± I asked and felt reassurance from somewhere as I looked at my hand and the green smoke still flowed around it. ¡°Yes, you''re right. I think that''s what''s missing.¡± I concentrated on using Presence Heal and added the green smoke to it as well. I felt the two slightly different energies combine, just like Lashina''s and my energy had, and both flowed into the guard''s ankle. It was healed a moment later, much faster than it should have been with using Presence Heal. The two guards and the woman I carried with a Presence Hand, stared at me.


    I stepped around to the other guard and healed her ankle as well. ¡°I am sorry I hurt you unnecessarily.¡± I said. ¡°If you will excuse me, I need to get my items back.¡± I picked up the shackles and put them on the woman I held with a Presence Hand, then moved that hand around her and picked her up by the collar instead. I absorbed the two spare hands I had and put my glove back on.


    ¡°Hey! Let me go!¡± The woman in the shackles said.


    ¡°I may need a hostage for another little while.¡± I said and walked over to the large doors and easily carried her with me. With all of my Presence back and this mana inside me as well, I felt like I could take on the whole universe.


    ¡°You can''t get in without being invited.¡± The woman said with satisfaction in her voice. ¡°The doors are magically sealed.¡±


    ¡°Who''s going inside?¡± I asked with a smile and looked through the doors. The entire chamber was well within my detection range and I could see several women puttering around an altar and both of the Light swords were on it. I smiled as I thought about a good trick to play on them. The two guards stood up, one with her helmet and one without, and they picked up their swords and approached me.


    ¡°Step back from the sacred chamber doors.¡± The first guard I had healed said. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°I''m only retrieving my property.¡± I said, then used Presence to enhance my voice like I had when I was a child. ¡°WHO DARES TOUCH MY SACRED ARTIFACTS?!?¡±


    The guards drop their swords and screamed as they covered their ears. The woman I had captive could only scream, as did the women inside the chamber and everyone else that was within my detection range. I laughed with the same boost, and they screamed again.


    I used Presence Hands to pick up the two Light swords, and none of the women in the chamber tried to grab them. I pulled them over to the door and could barely see that it was surrounded by that green energy. If I concentrated on it too much, it became solid in my vision and that wasn''t going to help me. I then thought about using the Light swords to cut through it, then I assumed that I didn''t have the time to waste trying to do that. I moved them over to the unprotected wall next to the door instead and activated them when they touched the wall. The energy blades came out and burned through the wall instantly.


    I could see two inches of the blades sticking out through the wall, which meant the wall was almost three feet thick. I shifted the Light swords around in a small vertical circle to carve out a slightly bigger hole, deactivated them, and pulled them through the holes that were just big enough for the hilts to fit through. I absorbed the Presence Hands and caught the two cylinders, then hung them on my belt. I turned and looked at the woman with me, and she just stared at my face.


    ¡°I know you''re not going to answer me properly.¡± I said in a normal voice and walked over to the two guards. They still had their ears covered and their eyes shut, so I tapped the shoulder of the one without the helmet. ¡°Hi, again. Can you tell me how to get out of here?¡±


    ¡°You... you damaged the sacred tree!¡± The guard said and pointed to the two holes I had made.


    ¡°I was tempted to cut the door away; but, I''m not here to wreck the place.¡± I said. ¡°Well, I don''t think I am. I only just woke up and I don''t know why I''m here.¡±


    ¡°I can''t forgive someone that can disregard...¡±


    I walked over to the wall and looked around to see the flow of energy. The tree actually was alive and not an empty facade like I thought it was. I took my glove off and touched the wall under the holes and used some of my Presence and mana to heal it. Just like the ankles on the guards, it was healed instantly. The three women gasped when the holes disappeared and I walked over to them.


    ¡°I spent a lot of time in a magical forest.¡± I said, in reference to the East Forest Glade on The Order''s home planet. ¡°I have the utmost respect for sacred trees and would never cause irreparable harm to them.¡±


    ¡°Th-then, go down the stairs, take a right. Follow the curve of the tree until you reach the third door. Go through that and down the hall, down the stairs, and straight out through the large archway.¡± The guard said. The Presence didn''t waver, so I looked into her eyes and took her hand.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said sincerely and looked at the woman in shackles. ¡°Come along.¡±


    ¡°Please take me instead.¡± The guard offered. ¡°I won''t need the shackles.¡±


    ¡°You''re willing to trade yourself for her?¡±


    ¡°I must protect everyone here, even if I believe what they do is wrong.¡± The guard said, then a wave of energy passed over us. ¡°The elders have raised the alarm.¡±


    ¡°Dammit!¡± I said and used the guard''s hand to quickly wave it over the woman''s wrists and ankles. The shackles dropped off and I used the Presence Hand that held her to pick the shackles up instead and tucked them into my belt. ¡°I accept your offer.¡± I said to the guard.


    I picked up her sword and gave it to her, to her surprise, held her hand firmly, then ran down the stairs. I was a little surprised that she could keep up with me at first, then I felt energy flow over her. I glanced at her and saw the thin sheen of green on her, then glanced at our hands.


    Some of my green smoke was flowing into her hand, and I had to assume that she was boosting her run ability. I remembered what I used to do with Lashina and covered myself with Presence. Before activating Presence Run, I did what the guard had suggested and included that green energy as well. My green glow was a lot brighter than hers and I knew that as the more powerful one, I would be controlling the run, just like Lashina had with me when we ran together.


    When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I took the right turn and activated Presence Run. The guard stopped breathing as my Presence and mana energy flowed over her, and we were around the tree, through the third door, down the hall and another set of stairs, and reached the large archway only a few moments later.


    It was blocked by a dozen armored female elves.


    All of them had bows and arrows aimed and ready. Some had swords on their hips and others had spears on their backs. I was tempted to run around them; but, I felt like that wasn''t going to work this time. I came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs and an arrow stuck into the floor at my feet.


    ¡°Enhanced running can''t get you by our best scouts.¡± A woman''s authoritative voice said. ¡°Maylia, you''ve done well. Giving yourself up in exchange for a more valuable prisoner was quite honorable.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Caeda.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Is there another way out of here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°All exits are blocked when the alarm is raised.¡± Caeda said with a smile.


    ¡°How much does this ancient tree like having huge doors cut into it''s body?¡± I returned the smile.


    ¡°No! Don''t hurt it!¡± Maylia exclaimed and tried to tug on my hand.


    I created four Presence Hands near the doors and used both Presence and mana to form blades for them to use. I could see the hinges and the doors themselves were only barred physically and not magically like the sacred chamber was. It took a lot of concentration, so I ignored Maylia''s feeble attempts to distract me and severed the hinges. I absorbed the blades and had to use all four Presence Hands to push on the top of the massive doors.


    ¡°Look out below.¡± I said.


    ¡°LOOK OUT!¡± Maylia yelled and pointed.


    Caeda and the twelve guards turned and saw the doors falling towards them. It seemed like they fell in slow motion and the guards had plenty of time to get out of the way. They managed to run to either side and the doors slammed down onto the floor with a loud bang. I used Presence to create two thin walls in front of the guards and used mana to make them solid. The walls weren''t invisible like they usually were and instead were slightly green and see-through.


    The guards tried to use their fists and weapons to attack the wall; but, it was too close for them to get any power behind it. Two of them were chanting something as I casually walked by them and I saw their hands glow green. I couldn''t have them escaping just yet, so I made the green glow around their hands solid. The two women yelled at their solid hands and stared at them.


    ¡°Wh-what did you... are you a wizard?¡± Maylia asked as we stepped out into a well-used town square.


    ¡°Lady, I don''t even know what planet I''m on.¡± I said to her surprise, and looked around. I could feel that there were a lot of people within my detection range, and I could see various building-like structures mixed in with the trees. They were made of thick wood, just like the enormous ancient tree we had just left.


    ¡°Did you grow the buildings or convert them to make them fit in with the forest?¡± I asked, unable to restrain my curiosity.


    ¡°They are grown.¡± Maylia said. ¡°We use seeds to plant them and then use mana to grow them and shape them into what we desire.¡±


    ¡°That''s really great.¡± I said and stopped walking in the middle of the square. ¡°That would make housing problems disappear if everyone had that ability.¡±


    ¡°Why did you stop?¡± Maylia asked, confused.


    ¡°I didn''t feel like becoming a pin cushion.¡± I said and looked up to see several hundred elves with bows and arrows pointed at me. All of them were female and they were spread out on tree branches, on building roofs, and in some of the windows.


    ¡°You know, this would be a great sex dream if most of you were as nice as you and not sadistic bitches that seem to hate me just for existing.¡± I whispered to Maylia, and her face went to a deep red.

 Book Two: The Summoned 006 (Sponsored)

    ¡°You were smart to stop.¡± A woman''s harsh voice said and Maylia and I turned around to face her. About thirty feet up on a branch about the thickness of a city street, stood an ornately dressed young woman and two dozen guards. The woman had dirty blonde hair and wore a similar outfit to the guards that surrounded her, with form-fitting brown pants and a tight top, covered by a thin metal bustier, arm bracers and thick leather boots. Only hers had gold filigree and looked to be about a hundred times more expensive. Everyone had long hair and had it tied up in a ponytail.


    ¡°Princess Sylvana!¡± Maylia exclaimed when she saw who had spoken. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Word that one of our subjects had found some kind of artifact reached the castle and I was sent here by my mother to see if the claims were correct... or just a fabrication to get our attention.¡± Sylvana said.


    ¡°We would never do that! We love you!¡± Maylia said. ¡°Our patrol found a man and...¡±


    ¡°I can see that with my own eyes, thank you.¡± Sylvana said dismissively and looked at the woman next to her. ¡°Couldn''t they have cleaned him up for me, at least?¡±


    ¡°We tried.¡± A woman said as she stepped out through the bark of the tree, as if it was a hologram. I could see that it was actually solid and they just passed through it without any trouble.


    ¡°Hello Ari!¡± I said and waved to her. ¡°I see you got out of the cell okay.¡±


    Ari waved back automatically, then stopped herself when she saw several disapproving head shakes from the women around her. ¡°We were trying to remove that thing from his face when he woke up and attacked us.¡± She said. Sela and Nita came out of the tree behind her.


    ¡°Wasn''t he shackled?¡± One of the guards asked.


    ¡°Yes, he was.¡± Nita said. ¡°For several hours, actually.¡±


    ¡°Yet he still managed to manifest mana?¡± Another asked. ¡°That''s impressive, especially for a man.¡±


    ¡°He caught us with some kind of wind spell and held us.¡± Sela said. ¡°He knocked Nita out and he...¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter how he got here.¡± Sylvana cut Sela off as the woman I had captured previously and the other guard came out of the tree. ¡°His journey ends here.¡±


    ¡°Princess, he has the artifacts.¡± The guard and woman said at the same time.


    Sylvana laughed and jumped the thirty feet down to the ground. Her body was covered in mana and she landed softly. She pulled a long sword out of the scabbard on her hip, and it glowed with green energy.


    ¡°I''ve never lost a fight. Even an artifact can''t help a man beat me.¡± Sylvana said with confidence.


    I heard the words ''a man'' and they sounded like a curse. ¡°Maylia, can you tie my hair up? It seems I need to teach this child a lesson about underestimating her opponent.¡±


    Maylia looked at the other elves around us to see if any of them had a spare hair tie. When no one offered, she sighed and took her own out and expertly tied my long hair up into a ponytail.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, knowing there must have been some significance to her sigh and letting her hair down. ¡°I can still fight with my hair down, except it''s a lot harder to concentrate.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Maylia said and stepped back. ¡°You are not going to beat her.¡±


    ¡°Shall we wager on that?¡± I asked and looked at the princess. ¡°If I win, you will provide me with supplies to survive for several weeks, appropriate clothing for warmth, a bedroll, and safe passage through the lands of the elves.¡±


    Sylvana laughed. ¡°It will take you weeks to get to the protective barrier that surrounds our lands, even with the fastest horse we have!¡±


    ¡°I''ll worry about the little details when I get there.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t ask for a horse, though.¡±


    Murmurs flowed around the gathered female elves. More arrived on different branches and I felt five strong beings approach.


    If I''m not mistaken, these are the women from inside their sacred chamber. I thought as the women came out through the collapsed doors. They looked a little wrinkled and their blonde hair had streaks of grey in it. They wore similar outfits to what Ari, Sela, and Nita wore. I saw that all the elves I thought I had trapped in the lobby of the tree were missing. I absorbed the solid walls of Presence I had made inside, since it hadn''t stopped the elves from escaping and only changed the direction they could go.


    ¡°That''s a man''s logic for you.¡± Sylvana said to general laughter from her guards and a lot of the other elves. ¡°He doesn''t want a horse to travel with.¡±


    ¡°It''s just another mouth to feed and worry about.¡± I said. ¡°So, what do you say?¡±


    ¡°I''d say you''re a fool.¡± Sylvana said. ¡°When I win, you will become my devoted servant.¡±


    ¡°I should ask what a devoted servant does; but, I''m pretty sure you''re going to say ''anything I want them to''.¡± I said, and she gave me a big grin. ¡°I agree to the terms.¡±


    ¡°As do I.¡± Sylvana said and she started to chant. Her body glowed brightly as the energy increased and I saw it seep into her muscles. She took a fighting stance and held her glowing sword at the ready.


    ¡°Maylia, can I borrow your sword?¡± I asked, and everyone in the crowd gasped. ¡°I just insulted you, didn''t I?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Maylia said angrily.


    ¡°Then I apologize.¡± I said to her surprised face and stepped forward to within ten feet of the princess.


    ¡°You need a sword to fight.¡± Sylvana said and looked at my waist. ¡°You have my permission to use one of the artifacts.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to waste the energy, so I''ll fight like this.¡± I said with empty hands.


    Sylvana stared at me for several moments. ¡°Are you crazy?¡±


    ¡°I''m not crazy. You are the ones persecuting me for trespassing when I don''t even know how I got here or even where here is.¡± I said, and silence fell on the crowd. ¡°Yeah, some of you can tell that I''m telling the truth, especially the elders.¡± I motioned to the five women. ¡°When I win, I have some questions I would like answered.¡±


    ¡°Not demand?¡± The one in the middle asked.


    I smiled my best smile and her eyes widened. ¡°Making a demand on a woman only leads to more grief.¡± I said and glanced up at Ari and Sela. ¡°They can attest to that.¡±


    ¡°Enough stalling! Prepare to fight!¡± Sylvana said, crouched down, and lunged at me.


    I quickly hit the power button under my right armpit to activate my powered armor. I could feel the flow of energy was broken in two spots, at my abdomen and at my back, where Kara''s Light sword had impaled me... and at the time I had thought it had killed me. Most of the armor became weightless and I formed a Presence box under my back and bent backwards to avoid Sylvana''s sword.


    The glowing green energy shimmered by my face and if I hadn''t had my hair tied back, it would have taken a good portion of it from the side of my head. I rolled off the box and absorbed it as I tried to kick her legs out from under her. My feet hit and instead of her legs going out from under her, I slid backwards away from her. She had stayed still and it felt like I had kicked a brick wall.


    I used a mental technique to dull the pain and then enhanced my own body. It didn''t quite work like it was supposed to, and I realized it was because I wasn''t including mana in it. I adjusted my mental technique right away and mana and Presence flowed over me. Sylvana turned to me, confidence on her face, and she turned her blade over in her hand and did a back swing with it. I rolled to the side and the sword nicked the uniform on the elbow joint and cut the wires embedded in the seam.


    She turned and followed through with a forward swing and I held my other arm up to put the armor right in the sword''s way. The loud clang of metal on metal hurt several people''s ears, and the hum of the energy field spit and sputtered as the green energy of her sword disrupted it.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    That''s good to know. I thought and pushed her sword to the side, covered my hands in solid Presence and mana, then jumped up to my feet as I punched her right in the face with an uppercut. Her head snapped back and the force picked her up from the ground. In that instant, I saw her green energy fade slightly. When she landed on the ground, the energy was back at full strength.


    ¡°So, that''s the secret.¡± I said and walked over to her. She swung her sword at my feet and I lifted my boot and kicked to let the sword bounce off of my heavily reinforced boot soles. It sent vibrations up her arm as the sword impacted and rebounded, and she barely held onto it. I bent down and dug my hands into the cloth under her shoulders and picked her up effortlessly.


    ¡°Wow, you''re really light.¡± I said as her green energy started to fade, then it kept fading.


    ¡°Put me down!¡± Sylvana said and whispered something under her breath. She couldn''t swing her sword, since I was within its lethal arc, so she put a hand in front of my face, palm towards me. ¡°Blinding Light!¡±


    Everyone covered their eyes as something as bright as the sun burst from her hand to blind me. The only problem with that strategy was that I was wearing a blast shield, which by definition, protected my eyes from bright blasts. The smile on her face faded as the light did and I didn''t drop her like she had hoped.


    ¡°He''s a man!¡± Someone shouted and then a bunch of them joined in and shouted. ¡°He''s a man!¡±


    Before I could figure out what that chant meant, Sylvana hauled her foot back and kicked me right between the legs. Pain unlike any I had ever felt before shot through my groin and I dropped her to cup myself as I fell to my knees, then laid down on the ground. I moaned and rolled around as all of my mental techniques disappeared because of the debilitating pain and I couldn''t concentrate at all.


    ¡°Yes, that''s right.¡± Sylvana said as her green energy came back in full force. ¡°You understand your place now, don''t you?¡± She asked. ¡°Men need to be subservient and should debase themselves before the superior woman.¡±


    I couldn''t respond, or do anything really, except moan at the pain. Her green energy had pushed my protective and strengthening energy aside and her foot had connected with its full force on my delicate goods. I tried to use healing on myself again; but, I couldn''t concentrate as I lay on my side.


    ¡°I hope you''re enjoying this position.¡± Sylvana said and kicked me in the back, right where Kara had wounded me.


    ¡°ARGH!¡± I yelled as the pain diverted from my crotch to my back, where Sylvana''s boot tip had torn into the wound and opened it again. She pulled her foot away and blood gushed out.


    ¡°No!¡± A woman exclaimed, then I heard a slap and a thump.


    ¡°You can''t interfere.¡± Someone said. ¡°They are still battling.¡±


    ¡°Causing bodily harm that can kill wasn''t in the rules.¡± The other voice said, subdued. ¡°They are supposed to live for the bet to be valid.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t intend to harm him like this.¡± Sylvana said. ¡°His body is pitifully weak in comparison to our own males.¡±


    As they talked, the pain diversion had given me the brief moment I needed to cut the pain off momentarily. I was still very tender and sore, so I covered my crotch and the wound on my back with Presence and made it solid. With both held securely, the excessive pain receded and I used several mental techniques to restore my Presence, tried to heal myself again, then used Detect Presence to full effect.


    ¡°I think I''ve heard... enough boasting from you.¡± I said and rolled up onto my knees, then slowly stood. ¡°I''ve been trying to take it easy on you to teach you a lesson; but, I see now that only a resounding defeat will sway your mind from this folly.¡±


    Sylvana chuckled. ¡°You were just rolling around on the ground and mewling in anguish from a simple attack.¡±


    ¡°That''s because I foolishly underestimated your underhandedness.¡± I said, and several women gasped. ¡°Where I come from, hitting someone below the belt like that would disqualify you from the fight.¡±


    ¡°You are obviously from an uncultured place to avoid such an obvious weakness.¡± Sylvana said.


    ¡°No, we usually protect ourselves when in a situation where something like that could happen by accident. I was stupid and didn''t think that a woman like you, a princess no less, would lower herself to the level of scum to try and win a fight.¡±


    ¡°You DARE speak to me that way!¡± Sylvana exclaimed.


    ¡°If you act like scum, then I''ll call you scum and treat you like you deserve.¡± I said as lightning bolts flowed over my hand. I held my hand towards her and shot a single bolt at her. It hit her green energy and nothing happened.


    ¡°Is that all? A level one lightning bolt spell?¡± Sylvana said and chanted something, then held her hand in a fist. After a moment, a ball of fire covered her fist and she threw it at me. I formed a Presence Hand and caught the one foot wide ball of fire. With my Detect Presence going full force, I could see the green energy mixed in with the fire. With that knowledge, I absorbed it and put it into the mana reserve in my head. The fire ball flickered and died and I absorbed my Presence Hand as well.


    ¡°Shall I attack again and show you what I can really do?¡± I asked and shot three lightning bolts at her. A large green shield appeared in front of her and the lightning didn''t reach her. I knew she hadn''t chanted, so either she had it ready or someone helped her. I smiled and use Presence Run to appear right in front of the shield and touched it. As soon as I did, I turned my head and looked up at the branch with her guards.


    ¡°Is cheating allowed?¡± I asked and shot the guard with a lightning bolt. She screamed and fell to her knees, then she fell forward from the branch before anyone around her could react. The shield disappeared as she fell, and I ran over to the tree, jumped up about fifteen feet and bounced off the trunk, then caught her in mid-air before she had gained any significant momentum. I landed and put her down, looked at all of their surprised faces, then ran over to the princess and grabbed her sword.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Sylvana exclaimed as I walked away from her.


    ¡°I don''t see any kind of power source.¡± I said and turned the sword over. ¡°I have to assume it''s been charged with energy, since it counters my armor so well.¡±


    ¡°Princess!¡± Someone yelled and threw her a spear. Sylvana caught it easily, flipped it around into a throwing pose, then charged it with energy and threw it at me. I held the hilt of the sword and I could feel that it wasn''t made for me.


    Just like my Light swords. I thought and turned it on an angle and held it up to my face. The spear hit the charged blade and ricocheted slightly off course and flew into the gigantic tree behind me. There was a mana explosion and a huge crack appeared in the tree as the bark was blown off of it.


    ¡°NOOO!¡± A dozen women yelled and ran to the tree.


    ¡°So, you can charge any weapon and not just this one.¡± I said and used Presence to push her mana out of the sword. She caught her breath as her mana disappeared from the sword and I concentrated my own energy into it. I used the same technique that I would for attuning a focusing crystal and was pleasantly surprised when both my Presence and mana flowed over the blade.


    Someone handed Sylvana another sword, and she grimaced at me.


    ¡°I''ll make you pay for insulting me.¡± Sylvana said.


    ¡°I''d tell you to do your worst; but, I''ve already seen that.¡± I smiled. ¡°So, do your best instead.¡±


    Sylvana grunted and did several odd motions with the new sword and it was covered in green energy. She made a dozen swipes through the air in different directions, and I suspected what was coming.


    ¡°Take this, you fool!¡± Sylvana said and made one final swipe right at me.


    I turned on my personal shield as thirty phantom blades appeared around me and struck me all at once. The shield had been failing when Kara had attacked me and this last attack finished it off. The electronics sparked and sputtered as the shield died and it smelled like it was on fire, so I covered it in Presence and made it solid.


    ¡°Have you got another mana shield?¡± I asked and pointed the charged blade at her and shot another lightning bolt through the blade at her. Her green energy wasn''t quite as strong this time and some of my Presence made it through and hit her.


    ¡°AHH!¡± Sylvana yelled and tried to block it with the sword, which just made a better conductor. She dropped the sword and rubbed her hand where several burns appeared.


    ¡°It seems when you hurt the tree, your protective energy became weaker.¡± I said and formed a Presence Hand on the blade of my sword and threw it at her.


    ¡°NO!¡± Maylia yelled and tried to block it as she stepped in front of the princess.


    ¡°I''m sorry, I need to win.¡± I said and used the Presence Hand to move the blade around her and plunged it into center of the princess'' chest.


    A cry of outrage rose up from everyone, even from the five elder women, as Sylvana fell onto her knees and stared down at her own blade sticking into her chest. I created a wall of Presence around myself, the guard, and the princess before everyone tried to swarm me. I walked over to her and Maylia, who was on her knees and cried as she tried to hug the princess without hurting her.


    ¡°This means I win, right?¡± I asked, and Sylvana looked up at me with both anger and hopelessness in her eyes. She nodded slightly, so I turned to the elves that were trying to get at us. ¡°Did you see that? She concedes. I won.¡±


    ¡°You will die for killing the princess!¡± Nearly everyone said as one. There were yells and hollers for my head, and I laughed. That made them angrier, so I turned to Maylia.


    ¡°Can you let her got for a minute?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Why?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°You''ve already killed her!¡±


    ¡°Does she look dead to you?¡± I asked, and she looked at the princess. Despite the little bit of blood coming from the sword in her chest, she was breathing normally and wasn''t struggling with anything. Not even pain.


    ¡°What... how...¡±


    ¡°I told you. I needed to win.¡± I said and pulled the sword out of the princess. It came with a short spurt of blood and I quickly healed the wound. Only about two inches of the blade had been inside her chest and I had held it there with a Presence Hand to make it appear like I had skewered her.


    ¡°I will kill you.¡± Sylvana swore.


    ¡°You can''t.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°You promised me safe passage through the elf lands, remember?¡± I asked and stepped back, then did it again and turned to look at the elders. ¡°Your princess is unharmed and I defeated her in combat.¡± I said. ¡°I expect the bargain to be upheld.¡±


    ¡°With reluctance, we must agree.¡± The one in the center said and turned to one of the women near her. ¡°Fetch the things he asked for.¡±


    ¡°Right away.¡± She said and ran inside the large tree.


    ¡°While we wait, will you answer some of my questions?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Drop your barrier and we will discuss it.¡±


    ¡°If you give your word that safe passage through the elf lands has already started.¡± I said, and she exchanged looks with the other four elders. ¡°Yes, I''m smarter than my earlier performance suggests.¡± I said, and that made her smile slightly.


    She turned to the still hollering crowd and waved her hands. A pulse of energy covered everyone and they quieted down. ¡°He hasn''t killed the princess and has beaten her in the fight.¡± She said. ¡°He will have safe passage from here to the protective barrier of our lands.¡±


    The princess'' head guard glared at me. ¡°If you ever come back here, I will skin you alive and feed it to my hounds in front of you.¡±


    ¡°You can''t.¡± I said and smiled at her. ¡°Did you hear me say I only wanted safe passage this one time?¡± I asked and looked at their surprised faces. ¡°I''ve been granted safe passage in the elf lands. Period.¡±


    ¡°The princess never meant for all time!¡± One of the elders said.


    ¡°She didn''t say it was only this one time, either.¡± I said and grinned at their shocked expressions. In their confusion, I absorbed the Presence barrier I had created and stepped over to the group of elders. ¡°So, my first question.¡±


    ¡°Yes, go ahead and ask.¡± The one in the center said in resignation.


    ¡°What planet is this?¡± I asked, and stunned silence greeted me.

 Book Two: The Summoned 007

    ¡°What planet?¡± Maylia repeated the question in a whisper. It was so quiet around us that everyone heard her anyway. ¡°I thought he was just joking.¡± She said normally. ¡°He really doesn''t know the name of the world.¡±


    ¡°In our language, this world is called Relique.¡± The woman in the center of the five elders said. ¡°Roughly translated into the common tongue it is called Sacrament.¡± She said. ¡°It is the center of the universe and all other things revolve around it.¡±


    I stood there and looked at her like she was crazy. Next she''s going to tell me the planet is flat. I thought, then smiled. ¡°I don''t see any technology, besides your grown buildings. Of course, I haven''t had a lot of time to look around at everything, either.¡±


    ¡°Tech-knowledge-y? What''s that?¡± One of the other five elders asked.


    Well, damn. I thought. No chance to place a com call on the galactic net if they don''t even know what technology is. I looked at my wrist com and saw that it wasn''t working. Now that I thought about it, the shackles had covered it completely. Since they drained my energy, I had to assume that they drained the energy from my wrist com as well. Maybe this is some kind of nature preserve. I thought with hope.


    ¡°I have your requested things.¡± A woman said as she came over to us.


    I picked through what she had brought and saw that the cloak, the backpack, and the bedroll were covered in a thin layer of green energy. ¡°Did it take long to alter them to make me easy to track?¡±


    She gasped and froze for a second. ¡°I... I''ll get you new ones.¡±


    ¡°That''s okay. I''ll take them like they are.¡± I said, to everyone''s surprise. I looked through the backpack and dug out a small loaf of bread. ¡°Can you take a bite of this for me?¡±


    Princess Sylvana regained her composure and stood up. ¡°You can''t expect a woman that doesn''t know you to share your food!¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± I turned to look at her. ¡°Oh, is that a custom or something?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Sylvana said, slightly angry.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I said and turned to the guard that had been my hostage. ¡°Maylia, can you bite this for me and check if it''s been poisoned?¡±


    ¡°Wh-wh-what?!?¡± Maylia exclaimed.


    ¡°It''s not that I don''t trust you...¡± I started to say and saw several sets of eyes twitch. ¡°Well, okay, I don''t trust you. How do I know I won''t get sick from eating food that I haven''t prepared myself?¡±


    Maylia walked over to me and took the loaf of bread, then she brought it to her mouth to take a bite.


    ¡°Stop.¡± The woman that had passed me the items said with tears in her eyes. ¡°Barkara root isn''t poison; but, it will make you sick for a week.¡±


    ¡°It''s not poison for you.¡± I said, and she looked at me. ¡°If you haven''t noticed, I''m not one of you. I could die as soon as that touched my lips for all you know.¡±


    The woman''s eyes closed and the tears flowed faster.


    ¡°Can someone get me some actual food, unaltered and poisonless, please.¡± I said and held the pack out. ¡°Oh, and probably another pack, in case that Barkara root is soaked into the fabric or something.¡±


    Another woman came over and took the loaf of bread, put it in the pack, and walked away.


    ¡°Just in case, I''ll pick out a random item and have Maylia try it.¡± I said. We all stood there and waited for her to return and after a minute, Sylvana spoke.


    ¡°I won''t forgive you for corrupting my family''s sword.¡± Sylvana spat at me.


    ¡°What? This thing?¡± I asked as I held the sword out, and she nodded. ¡°Does that mean you don''t want it back?¡±


    ¡°It''s my family''s sword.¡± Sylvana said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Then ask for it nicely.¡± I said with a smile.


    Sylvana fumed for several moments, then took a breath and let it out. ¡°May I have the sword back?¡±


    ¡°That must have been difficult.¡± I said and absorbed my energy from it. I tossed it in the air and caught it by the blade, then held it out to her hilt first. ¡°Here you go.¡±


    Sylvana slowly reached out and put her hand on the hilt. I was tempted to jerk it out of her grip and laugh or give her a little shock of lightning, then decided that it wasn''t a good idea to tease her with so many retaliatory witnesses around me. I let the blade go and she stared at me, as if she couldn''t believe that I would give up a weapon so easily. I gave her a crooked smile and her face flushed slightly red before it turned angry.


    Okay, did I just do something wrong? I asked myself and looked around; but, I didn''t see disapproval or anyone else angry. I shrugged mentally and picked up the large green cloak. I checked it over and found that it had a hidden hood. I unfolded it and put the cloak on and tied the string around my neck, then flipped the hood up to cover my head. Most of my face fell into shadow and it left just my mouth and chin visible. The other woman came back with a new pack that wasn''t glowing green with mana, and the food inside was fine.


    Maylia reached in randomly and pulled out something that looked like beef jerky and took a bite. She chewed it for a minute and then swallowed.


    ¡°You feel okay?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and took the piece of jerky back and took a bite myself. I heard several sharp intakes of breath and ignored them. I chewed it for a minute and it was pretty good. ¡°I really should ask what you made this from; but, ignorance really is bliss.¡±


    No one said anything in response, so I shrugged and put the jerky back into the pack and quickly tied the bedroll to it and slung it over my shoulder.


    ¡°Maylia, do you want your hair tie back?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. Her hair flipped around behind her like a curtain and it spread out. ¡°Do you feel like pointing me towards the border of your lands?¡±


    Maylia waved her hand all around. ¡°You can walk in any direction and you will eventually reach the border.¡±


    ¡°I meant a specific direction.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t want to be wandering around aimlessly.¡±


    ¡°It depends on where you want to go.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Well, I think the most advanced country would be best.¡± I said, in the hopes that I would find something there to help me get back in contact with my ship and my friends.


    ¡°Then you need to head to the First Sothen Kingdom.¡± One of the elders said and pointed. ¡°Despite being the smallest nation in area, it has the highest population.¡±


    I turned that way and tried to use Presence to attune my orientation in that direction. It didn''t quite work like I had hoped, then I remembered that I was supposed to include mana when doing things. When I did that, a green arrow about the size of my fist appeared in front of me and pointed in that direction. I turned back to face the elders and the arrow stayed in front of me and kept pointing in the right direction. The neat thing was it avoided hitting anyone that was closer to me than it was so I could always see it.


    ¡°I''d like to say it was nice meeting you all; but, this has been a horrible experience for me.¡± I said to their shock. ¡°This is the second time I''ve been kidnapped and stolen from.¡± I looked at their faces and squinted my eyes. ¡°You are all very lucky that I didn''t just kill you all.¡±


    ¡°You''ve caused us damage as well.¡± Princess Sylvana said and motioned to the tree. ¡°It will take years to heal that much damage to this city''s Protection Tree!¡±


    ¡°You threw the spear, not me.¡± I said dismissively, then put a hand on the wound on my lower back. ¡°Who caused me bodily harm again?¡±


    Sylvana looked at me angrily, then waved to one of the elves in the crowd. A young woman came out and walked over to me. She was fearful and nervous as she held her hands out to me.


    ¡°Are you a healer?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°I tried healing it myself; but, it''s not working.¡±


    She chuckled despite her fear. ¡°Self-healing is a very rare talent. Even the best healers can''t heal themselves, since their own energy can''t be used to replenish itself.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°I''m not sure what you mean.¡± I said, and she waved at the wound. I turned and lifted the armored top out of the way as I absorbed the solid Presence I had covered it with. She stepped close and held her hands above the wound and they started to glow.


    ¡°Think of it like this.¡± She said as her energy entered my body and I felt the wound start to close. ¡°Your mana is like a very good meal that you can serve to others. They respond positively to the good food, because they have not eaten it every single day of their lives.¡±


    I thought about that analogy for several moments while she poured healing energy into me. ¡°You''re saying that I''m cannibalizing myself by using my own energy to try and heal myself.¡±


    ¡°That is a good example. Another would be when we make bread. We roll the dough out and fold it over and over to make it strong, and yet, sometimes it tears.¡± She said. ¡°We fold it over the tear; but, the tear is still there, even after we cook the bread, because we didn''t add any new dough to it.¡±


    I closed my eyes and felt her energy as it flowed around my wound, and I could sense the damage from Kara''s Light sword was still there. I could also feel my body respond to the added energy and it knitted itself together. Now that I knew what she meant, I let the energy permeate my tissues and let my Presence ease away from the area. I opened my eyes to look at her reaction and see if she felt the change in me. Neither her face nor her energy changed at all.


    ¡°I can''t remove the spear.¡± Someone said and I opened my eyes to look.


    ¡°The tree is trying to stop the crack from spreading.¡± I said and turned my head to the one healing me. ¡°Can you hurry up?¡±


    ¡°I can go faster, but...¡±


    ¡°You will be exhausted afterwards.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°Please, do it.¡±


    She sighed and closed her eyes, and I felt a surge of green energy from her. It came in a rush and slammed into my back. I grunted as the wound closed over almost instantly and the internal damage faded away. I redirected some of it to my crotch and it healed as well. I looked down at my front and the slight scar that Kara''s Light sword had left there faded away.


    ¡°What was that?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°Major... Healing.¡± She said and started to wobble, her knees weakened from the energy loss.


    I caught her before she fell and sat her down on the ground. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and took off my glove, then put a fingertip on her forehead. ¡°Let me return the favor.¡± I smiled and gave her a small dose of my Presence and mana mixed together, which entered her mind and mixed with her own energy. She took a quick breath from the sensation and her fatigue and energy loss disappeared.


    ¡°What was that?¡± She asked, astonished.


    ¡°It''s something I''ve used a few times when friends have been exhausted and needed a boost to keep going.¡± I said and stood up.


    ¡°That wasn''t a boost!¡± She said. ¡°My mana''s been refilled!¡±


    I smiled, because I had only put a small amount of mana into that mix. ¡°Do you feel like giving me a hand, then?¡± I asked and she held a hand out to me. I took off my other glove and helped her stand, then led her over to the tree. ¡°Stand aside, please.¡± I said to those in my way.


    ¡°Haven''t you left yet?¡± Someone asked as they turned from the tree and looked at me.


    ¡°Despite what your people did to me, or were trying to do.¡± I said and looked at Ari and Nita, then at the princess. ¡°The tree isn''t at fault, so I can''t leave it harmed like this.¡±


    I had no trouble when I used a Presence Hand to yank the spear out of the tree. Everyone stared at the spear as it moved on its own. To show them that it was me, I caught the spear and stuck it into the ground. After that little display, the several elves that solemnly rubbed their hands on the bare part of the tree stepped back to let us approach. I stepped forward and concentrated on the tree. It''s green energy was fluctuating as it tried desperately to repair itself, and I looked at the woman holding my hand.


    ¡°It has the same problem that I just had.¡± I said to her, and she nodded.


    ¡°It''s deeply wounded and can''t use its own energy.¡± She said. ¡°It needs our help.¡±


    ¡°Why aren''t the forest healing wards working?¡± Someone asked.


    ¡°If I had to take a guess, it''s the difference between healing a small cut and a deep gash.¡± I said. ¡°Minor healing will work... eventually... if the patient doesn''t die first.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Someone gasped.


    I nodded to the one holding my hand and we reached forward together. As soon as our fingertips touched it, we were assaulted with both pain and anguish. We let go and fell to our knees as we hung our heads down and several people rushed to the woman beside me to check on her.


    ¡°It... it''s all right.¡± She managed to say through the pain. ¡°It''s just a... a shock to... feel it like this.¡±


    ¡°I think that''s my fault.¡± I said and looked at the tree. ¡°For some reason, I feel like I have a connection to it.¡±


    ¡°That shouldn''t be possible.¡± She said and looked at me. ¡°You said you only just woke up.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and used several mental techniques to ignore the pain from the tree and lowered the external stimulation. ¡°Okay, I think I''ve got it under control.¡±


    ¡°I hope so.¡± She said. ¡°It won''t be possible for me to concentrate if I have to feel that to try and heal it.¡±


    I nodded and we stood up together. I took a deep breath and rather than just try to adapt as things happened, I let my Presence and mana flow out and over her to give her the same benefits of my techniques. Her eyes widened as she felt the swirling energy.


    ¡°Wh-what are you doing?¡± She asked as her whole body tingled.


    ¡°Sharing.¡± I said and nodded at the tree. She nodded back and we both put our hands on it at the same time. The force of the pain was diminished and the anguish was still there; but, it was more of a motivation now and not an overwhelming deterrent for us.


    ¡°Major healing?¡± She asked.


    ¡°We need to gather energy first and then apply it.¡± I said.


    ¡°Gather energy?¡± She asked, confused.


    ¡°Just close your eyes and get ready to use your healing.¡± I said and closed my own eyes, then I started to gather both Presence and mana from the air around me. I intentionally avoided taking any from the trees, including the massive one in front of me. With the woman next to me, I could sense she had a good-sized reserve of energy as well, so I started to siphon some into her. I felt her reserve expand to accept the extra energy and she turned her head to look at me.


    ¡°Don''t stop concentrating.¡± I cautioned her. She didn''t say anything as she closed her eyes and I felt her slight resistance to what I was doing disappear. ¡°Good. That''s good.¡± I said and shifted my attention back to the huge crack. Thanks to the pain feelings, it let me map where the best spot was to focus the healing. ¡°Now!¡± I said and used my own Presence Heal mixed with mana to pour it into the tree. The woman chanted and her own mana poured out of her hand and into the tree as well.


    I didn''t have a lot of experience with healing trees; but, I had spent a lot of time inside the East Forest Glade and I had attuned myself to have a balance with the forest. I wasn''t worried about the massive size of the tree, since the size itself didn''t matter. What mattered was restoring its balance with its surroundings, which just happened to include me this time. I pulled more and more Presence and mana from the air and both I and the woman with me glowed green as we acted like funnels.


    There was a loud creaking sound, like twisting wood, then the crack started to close. No one spoke for the next ten minutes, and I could feel the woman with me as her surprise over holding her major healing spell for so long started to overcome her desire to help the tree.


    ¡°We''re almost done.¡± I said to distract her. ¡°Lift your hand slightly.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°You don''t want the bark to grow over your hand.¡± I said.


    She opened her eyes to see the bark flowing over the parts that had been blasted away. She watched in fascination as it moved almost like water on a sandy beach towards our hands and she lifted hers up several inches. I had to smile, because she had it at just the right height for the bark to roll under her palm and felt it as it passed. The hole closed over completely and I stopped sharing my energy with her. She wobbled and someone grabbed her to hold her up.


    ¡°I''m... really tired.¡± She said as her eyes fluttered open and shut a few times.


    ¡°You are going to sleep for a day or so.¡± One of the elders said. ¡°You channelled a lot of mana today.¡±


    The woman nodded and looked at me. ¡°You are...¡± She stopped mid-sentence and promptly fell asleep.


    I looked around at them and they stared back at me. ¡°Not even a thank you, huh?¡±


    ¡°You have trespassed on our lands, a sacred tree was damaged, and you threatened to kill us all.¡± One of the elders said. ¡°What do you think we should say?¡±


    ¡°That you''re sorry you immediately took me prisoner instead of waking me up and asking what''s going on.¡± I said and she glanced at Sela. The look on her face told me all that I needed to know. ¡°Oh, I was supposed to be killed.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The elder said. ¡°If you had been, none of the other things would have happened.¡±


    ¡°Then which one are you going to punish?¡± I asked, and she looked at me with a question on her face. ¡°Are you going to punish the one that wanted to kill me and didn''t, or the ones that stopped her?¡±


    Her face twisted a little as she thought about it and she still couldn''t respond to that question.


    ¡°What about the princess?¡± I asked. ¡°Will she be punished for losing to me?¡±


    No one said anything, then another elder spoke. ¡°That will be up to her mother.¡±


    ¡°Well, you tell her mother that her daughter has been a bad girl and lost to a man.¡± I said with a smile and turned and started to walk across the town square. ¡°That should really get her riled up.¡±


    ¡°We are going to tell her everything!¡± Sylvana said. ¡°How you captured our people and held one hostage, then...¡±


    ¡°I honestly don''t care.¡± I said and cut off her tirade, then had to stop walking when the group of elves in front of me didn''t step out of the way to make room for me. ¡°Really? Passive resistance?¡± I asked, and chuckled. ¡°You figured out that safe passage doesn''t mean unimpeded passage, haven''t you?¡±


    I took two steps back, created several solid Presence boxes at different heights, then used both Presence and mana to boost my body. It settled into my muscles much quicker than it normally should have, and I tried to hop up onto the first box I had made. I severely miscalculated my muscle enhancement and had to change my trajectory with Presence, then landed on the second box I had made about fifteen feet above their heads. They all just stared at me with open mouths and wide eyes as I stood above them on an invisible box.


    ¡°Buh-bye!¡± I said and waved to them, then used my newfound enhanced ability and jumped again. I landed about thirty feet up on a building roof, ran to the end, then jumped again. In a few moments, I was out of sight of the tree-town and all of the elves gathered there. I could feel the flow of Presence and mana in the forest, and I tapped into it as I activated Presence Run and turned off my powered armor. My speed quadrupled, as if I was sharing my energy with Lashina, and I laughed as the mana and Presence inside me flowed together and combined.


    It''s like I have two people inside of me. I thought in surprise. They are together and separate at the same time. One with Presence and one with mana.


    I jumped from a large tree branch to another and kept running. I made sure to not scuff the branches with my heavy metal boots and I didn''t disturb the leaves or the animals on the ground below.


    Maybe I should have asked one of them to teach me more about this mana thing? I asked myself, then shrugged mentally. I''m sure I''ll find someone in First Sothen to tell me what I need to know. I jumped from tree branch to tree branch, and was surprised that I barely had to jump far to reach the next big tree. If all of the trees are like this in the elves land, I''ll be at the border in a day or two.


    As an afterthought, I used my Presence and mana to clear off the green mana glow from the cloak and the bedroll and replaced it with my own to make them my possessions. I followed the green arrow that still floated in front of me and the tree branches stayed in a straight line as if they wanted me to have an easier time running across them.

 Book Two: The Summoned 008

    Kara completely destroyed the training dummies at the guard''s practice yard and returned to the house. Jessica came back with a stack of books and the acolyte behind her had another stack. Josh had just finished his own lessons with Evangeline and the head acolyte came out of the kitchen with food for everyone. She served them in the small dining room and went to get Steven. They all sat down and the head acolyte said a quick prayer to the Goddess Chaiya, then everyone ate the meal.


    Steven started to complain about the taste and Kara, once again, reminded him that things were different here and he needed to adjust to that. He sighed and nodded, finished eating and thanked the head acolyte for the food, then went to bed. The head acolyte told Kara and Jessica that they would have to share the bed in her room and she would stay in the living room.


    ¡°We can''t impose on you like this.¡± Kara said. ¡°We are guests, not...¡±


    ¡°I need to pray and prepare things for your group.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°I won''t be sleeping much at all tonight, so I don''t need the bed.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Jessica asked. ¡°I don''t have a problem with staying in the living room.¡±


    ¡°No, you need to rest.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°Plus, you''ll be in the way and won''t be able to sleep with my chanting.¡±


    Jessica wanted to argue; but, she saw the smile on the older woman''s face and nodded acceptance. She and Kara went to the room at the end of the hall and closed the door.


    ¡°You two better get to bed as well.¡± The head acolyte said to Josh and Evangeline. ¡°I''ll have the proper verses ready for the both of you in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Mother, I...¡± Evangeline stopped talking and her face flushed red.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± The head acolyte said with a motherly smile. ¡°We all saw what was going to happen.¡±


    ¡°But... what if...¡±


    ¡°He''s just as nervous as you are.¡± The head acolyte said and looked at Josh and his red face. ¡°Joshua, please believe me when I say that what I saw didn''t make me uncomfortable or make me judge you.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡± Josh stammered.


    ¡°If you hadn''t noticed, none of the acolytes were bothered by it at all.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°In fact, we all saw that you are going to be as caring and as gentle as any of us could ever hope that a man would be towards a woman.¡±


    Josh''s face was bright red and even the tops of his ears were red. ¡°Ma''am, I... I should help with the dishes and...¡±


    ¡°Nonsense.¡± The head acolyte said and stood up. ¡°Don''t try to subvert what the Goddess blessed us to see.¡± She said. ¡°We all saw what needed to be done for her expectations to be fulfilled.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe you''re okay with... in your house and... your daughter...¡± Josh couldn''t complete a sentence because his thoughts were racing so much.


    ¡°Acolytes aren''t all maidens. You can see my daughter is right there.¡± The head acolyte said with a smile. ¡°We don''t take vows of celibacy, nor are we required to.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Josh looked at Evangeline and her blush hadn''t faded in the least. ¡°I should probably...¡±


    ¡°Take the acolyte''s hand, Sorcerer Priest.¡± The head acolyte ordered, and Josh did so. ¡°Stand up.¡± She said and he stood and Evangeline stood as well. ¡°Now go to her room and care for her as a man should for a woman.¡±


    With her mother''s explicit permission, Josh only felt a little awkward as he walked over to the hallway and entered the first door with Evangeline. He didn''t even look at the sparse furniture or the worn blankets. He only had eyes for the beauty in front of him.


    ¡°C-can you... turn around so I... I can change?¡± Evangeline asked.


    Josh felt something inside him want to refuse, so he went with that feeling. ¡°No.¡± He said, and her eyebrows raised. ¡°I want to help.¡±


    Evangeline stared into his eyes for a moment, then she smiled a little and nodded. Josh''s heart leapt when she didn''t refuse him, and he took his time undressing her. When he was done and she stood naked in front of him, he admired the sight. She watched his eyes to see if there would be disapproval there, or disappointment, and he looked into her eyes.


    ¡°You''re perfect.¡± Josh said and stepped close.


    ¡°Joshua, I... I''ve never...¡±


    ¡°Me, either.¡± Josh responded truthfully. ¡°I mean, I...¡±


    ¡°We can find out how this is supposed to work... together.¡± Evangeline said and cupped the sides of his face. ¡°Do you want me to...¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Josh said, a little excitedly, and she chuckled. She helped him remove his simple white robes and when he was fully naked, she admired the sight as well. She hadn''t seen a man like that before and her eyes lingered on certain parts before she looked at his face. She didn''t say anything to him as she took his hand and led him to the bed. It was at this point that Josh realized that it was really going to happen, and his heart started to beat twice as fast as normal.


    Almost as if she felt his reaction, Evangeline lifted his hand to place it between her breasts. After a moment, he felt that her heart was beating just as quickly as his was, and he slid the hand up to her neck and not to her breast like she thought he would. Her eyes sparkled as he stepped close to her and put his arms around her to give her a kiss. They both closed their eyes and pressed their lips together. Neither of them had kissed anyone like that before, and after a few awkward moments, they stopped trying to think about how to do it properly and just let it happen naturally.


    Josh broke the kiss and let her go, and Evangeline climbed onto the bed and laid down. He looked her over for a second and thought about doing some of the things he had seen countless times in porn videos on the internet, then assumed, quite correctly, that it was way to soon to introduce her to everything that he wanted to do to her.


    Baby steps, Josh. He thought to himself and climbed onto the bed with her. Evangeline spread her legs automatically so he would fit between them and he settled down with their bodies touching from crotch to chest. They stared into each other''s eyes and unbeknownst to each other, they both prayed to the Goddess to let everything go right. They felt a calm feeling and smiled at each other, and Josh shifted himself down and prepared for what was to come.


    Josh reached down and touched her there and discovered that she was surprisingly wet already, so he eased himself inside and then hit some kind of resistance. He wasn''t sure what it was, then Evangeline reached down and grabbed his hips and pulled on him. She hissed and tears came to her eyes. He was about to ask if she was okay when she lifted her head and kissed him, which stopped him from talking. After staying like that for a few minutes, Evangeline stopped kissing him and laid her head back to nod at him. Josh knew what that meant and slowly started to move out. She winced a little and he waited for a few moments, then kept going. They stared at each other as he moved in and out, like clockwork, and after a few minutes, Evangeline''s whole body flushed slightly red and she started to pant. Josh didn''t need any more clues that she was starting to feel good, so he sped up to make himself feel good, too.


    Josh didn''t last long the first time. He was just too excited to restrain himself and her beauty and body were just too much for him to not finish quickly. He wasn''t stupid enough to finish inside, especially since there wasn''t anything like contraception on this world, and he made a mess on her belly. Evangeline stared at him as he did that until he was done, then she sat up when he laid down beside her. ¡°Is that how you do it where you come from?¡±


    ¡°It... depends.¡± Josh huffed. ¡°I... didn''t want... well, not that I didn''t want to... it''s just... can you get pregnant from the first time?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Evangeline''s mouth dropped open in surprise, because she hadn''t even thought about that. All she had cared about was being with him and she didn''t consider any of the consequences.


    ¡°You really do care a lot about me.¡± Evangeline said, to his surprise. ¡°You weren''t just thinking about tonight, you were thinking about the years to come!¡±


    ¡°Well, I... not that far ahead.¡± Josh said.


    Evangeline grabbed a piece of cloth from the side of the bed and wiped herself off, then she rolled onto her side and caressed his chest. ¡°Don''t belittle your efforts.¡± She said. ¡°Even in the... when we were... you thought about me bearing your child and knew we were too young to have it right now.¡±


    ¡°I guess I did.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°You are a good man, Joshua Hector Harrison.¡± Evangeline said and rested her head on his shoulder.


    ¡°So, do you want to go again?¡± Josh asked, and she caught her breath.


    ¡°Wh-what? Again?¡± Evangeline asked, surprised. ¡°Aren''t you satisfied?¡±


    ¡°There''s no way I''m losing this thing for a while yet.¡± Josh said and pointed to his erection. ¡°It seems a shame not to use it while it''s still around.¡±


    ¡°But... that''s not... how can you...¡±


    ¡°This might not happen all the time; but, it''s happening now.¡± Josh said with a grin. ¡°So, if you want to keep going...¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Evangeline said, her face red. ¡°I really do.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you''ll go this time, too.¡± Josh said as he resumed the missionary position.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Evangeline asked, then she gasped as he entered her more forcefully.


    ¡°Hopefully, we''ll find that out together.¡± Josh said and started to move again.


    Neither of them spoke for the rest of the night, because no words were needed, not even during their occasional breaks to rest and recover.


    *


    I really should stop for the night. I thought as I came to a stop on a big tree branch. Staying here so close to the ground might not be the best idea, though.


    I looked around for a good spot, high in the trees, and climbed up near the top of the tree I was on. Even using Presence to climb, it still took a few minutes to get to a good spot in the canopy of the trees. I couldn''t really see around it, since it was surrounded by other similar height trees.


    How do the things below grow if the tree leaves block out the sun? I asked myself and picked a branch wide enough for my bedroll. I created a solid Presence box to set my bedroll on and then mostly covered myself with another solid box. I left room for air to flow in and hopefully no insects or something similar would find their way in. I huddled into my bedroll and with Detect Presence I looked up through the leaves to the stars above. I didn''t recognize any of them, and I really didn''t expect to.


    I hadn''t seen the night sky since I was back on Ulathall, The Order''s home world, and the stars there were unfamiliar, too. I took a deep breath and let it out, used several mental techniques to put myself into a calm and meditative state that I could wake from in an instant, and closed my eyes.


    *


    ¡°I don''t know how he got so far away so quickly!¡± Sela said as she and the group with her rode their horses through the forest at their best speed after the man they chased. Ari, Nita, Maylia, and three of Princess Sylvana''s personal guards were among the retrieval group. The healer had been sequestered by the elders for questioning and they hoped that she woke up soon.


    ¡°Perhaps you should have asked what his capabilities were and none of us would have been so surprised by what he did.¡± One of the personal guards said.


    ¡°His name would have been sufficient to discover that.¡± The second guard said, almost accusatory. ¡°It will also be difficult to find a specific cloaked man in First Sothen Kingdom, even if the clothing is marked for easy recognition.¡±


    ¡°The location spell can be used multiple times as long as one of us has the mana.¡± Nita said and pointed to the princess'' boot tied to one of the guard''s belts. ¡°When we stop to rest, we can cast it again and see how far away he is.¡±


    ¡°If his speed remains constant, he will be far away indeed.¡± The third guard said. ¡°I''ve never heard of a man moving like that without a horse.¡±


    ¡°Forget about men doing it.¡± The first guard said. ¡°Even we can''t maintain this speed, except in short bursts.¡±


    ¡°Which means we need to stop.¡± Sela said and glanced around with her perception. ¡°I see a nesting tree over there.¡±


    ¡°Excellent.¡± The first guard said. ¡°We can replenish our mana and the stamina of the horses.¡±


    The group of seven female elves went to the nesting tree, tied their horses to it, and quickly climbed twenty feet up to a set of branches that were set in a star pattern. Without a word they set up thin ropes and tied themselves to the central trunk of the tree and each rested on a separate branch. The tree glowed slightly as it fed them mana and energy to restore them. They had to be careful of predators, since they weren''t up very far, and they stayed there for half an hour without incident. When they all said their mana was full, Nita performed the location spell on the bloody boot. A one foot wide slightly green see-through bubble appeared in the air above it and showed them the closest hundred feet, then it expanded and showed out to a thousand feet.


    ¡°I knew we should have brought a more experienced tracker.¡± The second guard said.


    ¡°I''m... the best tracker... in this city-forest.¡± Nita said and poured her mana into the spell. The bubble expanded to two feet wide and showed them almost half of the elves lands. A white pulse appeared in the view nearly a third of the way between the town they had left and the land''s border with the protective barrier. Nita was breathing heavily at the mana expenditure and they saw that the pulse wasn''t moving like the last time.


    ¡°If we''re lucky, he stopped for the night.¡± The first guard said as the bubble faded. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    ¡°I need... a few minutes.¡± Nita said and leaned against the tree trunk.


    ¡°Stay here and recharge. You can catch up to us later.¡± The first guard said, nodded to the other guards that included Maylia, and the four of them climbed down and mounted their horses. They took off in the direction of the pulse and sped up when their horses were covered in mana.


    ¡°I knew they were going to leave us behind.¡± Ari said with a pout.


    ¡°You... can go.¡± Nita said.


    ¡°We won''t leave you behind.¡± Sela said. ¡°We found him the first time, so we''ll find him this time, too.¡±


    ¡°You''re sure of that.¡± Nita said. Since her mana was depleted, it would take about ten minutes to get it all back.


    ¡°We''ve been close enough to feel his energy. I''m sure we can find him before the others.¡±


    ¡°He was shackled at the time, though.¡± Ari said and touched the spot on her neck where the locket used to be. ¡°I wonder why he was upset over that necklace. Only women are supposed to wear jewellery.¡±


    ¡°Maybe because he didn''t give it to you?¡± Sela asked, teasingly.


    ¡°No, that can''t be it.¡± Ari said, confidently. ¡°You saw how nice it looked around my neck.¡±


    ¡°That''s not really a reason, despite us being required to remove all of his valuables.¡± Sela said. ¡°I''m surprised he didn''t have any weapons on him, though.¡±


    ¡°We should have stripped him.¡± Nita said.


    ¡°I couldn''t cut the fabric.¡± Ari said. ¡°My knife just scratched the surface up.¡±


    ¡°The more I think about him, the more questions that come to mind.¡± Sela said. ¡°The elders agreed with me, too. We should have just killed him.¡±


    ¡°If we had, we wouldn''t be where we are now.¡± Ari said and the other two looked at her. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°We would still be living our normal lives and not trying to make it up to our people for messing things up.¡± Sela said. ¡°How is where we are now better than that?¡±


    Ari couldn''t really answer that question.


    ¡°Come on. I think we can catch up to the others before they reach him.¡± Nita said and stood up.


    ¡°You need a few more minutes.¡± Sela said.


    ¡°We''re not pushing ourselves.¡± Nita said and started to climb down the tree. ¡°If he is stopped for the night to rest, then we can get to him before he wakes.¡±


    ¡°The princess really wants him back, doesn''t she?¡± Ari asked as she and her sister climbed down, too.


    ¡°She''s never been so embarrassed.¡± Nita said and the three of them mounted their horses and went through the forest at about half of their top speed. ¡°Imagine losing to a man in a formal duel.¡±


    ¡°We lost to him and he was still shackled.¡± Ari said, and both women stopped talking as they thought about that. None of them had ever heard of anyone that could use mana while in the shackles, let alone actually escape from deep under the protection tree. Nita easily followed the trail of the four guards and their horses, since they weren''t trying to be stealthy at all, and advanced towards their target.


    *


    Kara laid in bed next to a sleeping Jessica, and she looked at the palm of her hand. She had used Preserve Presence on her hand to keep Ullir''s blood in the best condition it could be in. She knew they needed it to track where Ullir was, because they didn''t have anything else of his to use. She closed her eyes and thought over their last fight. She played it over in her head and knew she hadn''t made any mistakes. She had successfully tricked him and used his own weakness against him.


    Kara had dealt him a fatal blow despite only wanting to subdue him and stop his resistance; and yet, if she had the chance to do it again, she knew that it was still the best way to end the fight without further bloodshed. The only thing she would change would be the placement of the blade so that he wouldn''t be mortally wounded and only incapacitated.


    I''m really sorry, Ullir. Kara thought, her heart full of regret. The Goddess as my witness, I won''t make that mistake again. She used a mental technique to enter a meditative state and calmed her thoughts and emotions. She needed her rest after exhausting herself at the training grounds. Even that small amount of training had let her ''remember'' how to properly use the odd metal swords. Her skills with Light swords translated over almost flawlessly and she had been surprised at how easy it had been to adapt.


    The Goddess really did bless me to be useful here. Kara thought before she drifted off to sleep.


    *


    The head acolyte worked all night and prepared the proper verses for the Sorcerer Priest and her daughter to chant in the morning and during the day. She had the feeling that they would need as much protection that she could request from the Goddess, and she included a lot of thanks and appreciation in the prayers. As she whispered her words and prayers to the Goddess, her hand moved almost on its own as it wrote down additional things for them to say in the morning. By the time the morning arrived, she had a stack of papers almost half an inch high.


    The head acolyte looked at the stack and held in her laughter. The Goddess wants to help them as much as she can! She thought happily and put the stack of papers on the small table by the wall, where she knew another stack would appear when the other acolytes arrived and added theirs. She went to the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone, because the rest of the acolytes would be there soon with their own work to give to their Sorcerer Priest and would be as hungry as her after staying up all night.

 Book Two: The Summoned 009

    I woke up from a long and quite restful sleep. I hadn''t slept that well since the last night I had spent with Lashina. I chuckled at that thought, especially since we hadn''t slept very much. I looked around and no bugs or other creepy crawlies had managed to find their way into my solid Presence covering, so I absorbed it and sat up, grabbed some of the jerky and bread from the backpack, then ate while I packed the bedroll up and tied it to the backpack.


    I was tempted to have a full meal so I wouldn''t have to stop later, then changed my mind because having a full stomach sometimes has the opposite effect and it makes you tired instead of giving you energy. I finished the piece of jerky and bread, absorbed the solid Presence I had put on the branch to stop myself from rolling off, then started to climb down. I barely had to watch what I was doing, since each time I stepped lower, there was always a branch or a thick knot for me to step on or hold on to.


    I didn''t question it, since that wasn''t what you were supposed to do when things with their own energy help you of their own accord. I did silently thank the tree as I descended to an appropriate height to start running across the branches again. I had almost reached the branch where I needed to go when I felt four people and four animals enter my detection range. I shifted over to a different branch and covered myself in Presence while I used some of my Presence and mana to coax the energy of the tree to flow over me.


    I then used Mask Presence and Stealth techniques to hide my energy. They were unmodified by mana and that made me realize that I should come up with a way to modify the technique to include mana as well. Just including mana in the techniques wouldn''t work, because then I would glow slightly green and completely defeat the purpose of using the techniques in the first place. I was going to need a lot more time and practice to learn how to hide the new energy inside of me.


    As the four people approached my position, I used Presence to enhance my hearing and funnelled their words to my ears so I could hear what they were saying.


    ¡°The last locate spell said he was near here.¡± One of the guards said and brought her large horse to a stop and dismounted. ¡°Search around.¡±


    ¡°That''s kind of pointless.¡± Maylia said and slid off of her horse. ¡°Have you seen any of his tracks yet?¡±


    ¡°Just because he knows how to hide his tracks doesn''t mean he hasn''t left anything to track.¡±


    I actually didn''t think of that. I thought to myself. I was only concerned about damaging the trees and not about leaving tracks for them to follow.


    I watched them search around for signs that I had been around there. They didn''t find anything, since I had used the trees for running and they didn''t try to climb the trees or look there for movement, either.


    Okay, either they are really short-sighted or they don''t believe anyone but them can run through the trees. I thought as my opinion of them dropped even lower.


    ¡°Let''s perform the locate spell again.¡± One of the guards said and took out a bloody boot.


    Dammit. I thought as I recognized the princess'' boot and it had my blood on it.


    One of the others put her hands over it and chanted. ¡°We are the strong in search of the weak. Show us the man in which we seek.¡± Her green glowing hands hovered over the boot and the blood glowed as well. I watched as a bubble formed above it and showed the nearby area, then inside it a white pulse appeared.


    ¡°He''s right here!¡± One of them said and ran over to the tree I was in and walked all around it. ¡°He should be right here.¡± She said and reached out and touched the tree. Her hand glowed and she chanted. ¡°Something is here, something is wrong. Show me something that doesn''t belong.¡±


    I stood still and hoped that the tree''s energy would conceal me, and her eyes went up to look at me. I was about to dismiss my techniques and attack, then her eyes kept going up. I looked up as well, and to my surprise, a slightly glowing box appeared where I had used a solid Presence box to sleep on and it had touched the tree. It even showed my bedroll.


    ¡°He slept here last night.¡± The elf said and sighed. ¡°Maybe the location spell is only picking that up.¡±


    ¡°No, the pulse is still right there.¡± The one casting the spell said. ¡°Look, it''s even on this side of the tree.¡±


    ¡°Use the spore spell.¡± The one holding the boot said. The elf beside my tree nodded and closed her eyes. She started chanting and I couldn''t make out what she was saying. I thought that was odd, since I was funnelling her words to my ears. All of a sudden, the entire tree grew small pustules that burst and little green spores floated out and covered the tree from top to bottom.


    Except where I stood.


    The green spores covered my entire back and all four of the women looked right at me and the empty spot, then the three of them drew their weapons. Two bows and one sword. I was only about twenty feet up, so I knew that I could safely land if I jumped, even with the armor unpowered like it was. I dismissed my techniques and jumped out and down towards the one that had cast the spell.


    ¡°AHH!¡± She yelled and let her arrow go and shot at me. I easily caught the arrow with a Presence Hand, since I was used to catching laser pistol bolts, and landed practically on top of her.


    ¡°Surprise!¡± I said and slapped one of the wrist shackles on her wrist, then turned her around to face the one with the sword. She couldn''t swing without endangering the one in front of me, so she changed her stance and lunged at me. I chuckled and turned away from the strike and grabbed the sword, pulled on it and knocked her off-balance. She didn''t let the sword go, as I assumed she wouldn''t, so I used the other side of the wrist shackle to put it on her wrist.


    The first elf woman''s arm was locked in one direction with her hand out the bottom and the second was locked in the other direction with her hand out the top, which meant they had to stand facing each other instead of side by side. I pushed them aside as I felt the other elf shoot her bow behind me. I caught the arrow with a Presence Hand without turning around, then turned around and looked at her.


    ¡°Are you a better fighter than the princess?¡± I asked her, and she tried to load another arrow into her bow. I used a Presence Hand to take the bow out of her hand and she stared at me with a useless arrow in her other hand. ¡°This is a really nice bow.¡± I said and examined it with Presence. ¡°Would you mind if I borrowed it for a while?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± She exclaimed.


    ¡°Oh, right. I forgot that was an insult.¡± I said and tossed the bow into the underbrush ten feet away. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Attack him, Maylia!¡± She said and pointed at me with the arrow.


    ¡°She''s not stupid enough to break the princess'' word for safe passage like you three did.¡± I said and used a Presence Hand to grab the elf by her collar and dragged her over to me. ¡°Don''t even think about stabbing me with that arrow.¡± I said and took it from her hand when she was close enough. I unhooked her quiver from her back, put both arrows in it, and hung the quiver over my own shoulder. ¡°I''m tempted to break all of your arrows and leave them; but, I have to assume as elves that you can just magically make more or repair them.¡±


    The three elves exchanged looks and I knew that my guess was right, so I took the other elf''s quiver as well and tossed her bow into the underbrush with the other one. I held the third elf with the Presence Hand and hooked the ankle shackle on her leg, then lifted one of the other elf''s legs and hooked it in the opposite direction. One foot was out the bottom of the shackle and the other was out the top, which meant that they weren''t going to be walking anywhere until they removed it. The third elf sat down to make it easier for the both of them to stay comfortable and not strain either of their legs.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°You can''t do this!¡± The one with the princess'' bloody boot said.


    ¡°Are your eyes working?¡± I asked, pretended to be confused, then I smiled. ¡°Because I just did.¡±


    ¡°Maylia! Let us out!¡± She said.


    ¡°She can''t.¡± I said with another smile. ¡°She didn''t put them on you.¡±


    ¡°Guards can open all shackles applied within...¡± She stopped talking when she realized what she said.


    ¡°So I guessed right again.¡± I said and crouched in front of them. ¡°I''m getting good at that.¡± I looked at their faces. ¡°Who feels like telling me why you''re following me?¡±


    ¡°You won''t get anything from us.¡± The three of them said defiantly and I didn''t feel the Presence waver.


    ¡°It seems you''re telling the truth.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°That''s a shame, really.¡± I said and reached up to untie my hair. I shook my hair out and used Presence to fluff it out into its normal shape, like a lion''s mane, and all four elves stared at me with open mouths. ¡°Turn around.¡± I said to Maylia.


    Maylia didn''t ask what I was doing as she turned around and stood still. I used Presence to comb her hair and gathered it together, then I quickly tied her hair up neatly using my hands and her hair tie. I put a hand on her shoulder and she turned back around and looked at my face.


    ¡°Thank you for loaning that to me.¡± I said. Maylia didn''t say anything, probably because she had told me before that she didn''t want it back, so I gave her a crooked smile and used a Presence Hand to pick up the princess'' boot with my blood on it.


    ¡°Hey!¡± The one who had it exclaimed.


    ¡°I can''t have you using a locate spell on me again.¡± I said and used Presence to lift the blood off of the boot. The four elves stared at the floating blood and I compressed it down into a small speck that was too small for them to see, which made it look like it had disappeared, then I floated it into the tear on my uniform''s elbow to hide it. ¡°I''m tempted to do that to the boot as well.¡± I said, looked at the boot for a moment, then dropped it to the ground. ¡°Do you have anything else of mine?¡±


    They didn''t say anything, and I sighed.


    ¡°Don''t make me search you.¡± I said. ¡°One of you might enjoy it, maybe; but, the rest of you will just hate me more for touching you without your permission.¡± I looked into the faces of the three elves. ¡°Believe me, it will be a thorough search.¡±


    Two of them had instant anger on their faces and the third had some anger and a slight blush. My target acquired, I knelt down in front of her and she didn''t flinch as I reached out with a hand. I took her hand, and since I still wore a glove, she wasn''t angered by it. I sent a pulse of Presence and mana over her and the other two, and they shivered at the energy. I couldn''t tell if it was a good shiver or a bad shiver, though. I felt something of mine was tucked inside the belt of the elf whose hand I held, so I smiled at her as I let her hand go and reached for her belt.


    ¡°No.¡± She said and caught my hand. ¡°Search me more.¡±


    The other two gasped and started to berate her, so I covered their mouths with Presence. She looked at the other two when they were silenced, then she looked back at me.


    ¡°How much do you want me to search before I find it?¡± I asked.


    Her eyes flicked around a little as she thought about it. ¡°J-just... just enough to...¡±


    ¡°Say no more.¡± I said and slipped one of my gloves off and folded it over to keep the cloth on the outside and gently put it in her mouth. She moaned a little just from that and I felt her mana fluctuate slightly. Okay, some people have weird fetishes. I thought and slipped off my other glove and tucked it into a pocket, then I started at her hands and worked my way up her arms. I was a little rough as I ''checked'' her with my hands covered in a tiny amount of mana, and she started to pant slightly. I passed her shoulders and reached her metal bustier and I could see the anticipation in her eyes. I put my palms right on top of the metal breast covers and put my fingers on the cloth top underneath.


    ¡°HmmMM!¡± She protested and moaned at the same time, and I fondled her a little and gave her a bit more mana. Her face flushed red from that and I moved down to her waist. Her eyes showed disappointment for a moment, then they widened when I skipped over her belt and checked her thighs and her calves. I did a cursory check of her boots and then slid my hands under her legs and all the way back up to the top of her thighs.


    She was panting a lot by this point and I lifted her off of the ground slightly and gripped one of her ass cheeks with my bare hand and added more mana. It mixed with hers and her body shook for a moment as she closed her eyes, then her whole body relaxed and she became really passive. I let her ass go and slid my hand around to the front as I put her back on the ground. I stopped using mana and tucked my hand inside her belt. I pulled out a rock that had a few drops of my blood on it, and I realized that they had dug up the ground where I had bled in the town square.


    ¡°Sneaky.¡± I said and took the glove out of her mouth before I stood up. I removed the blood from the rock and tucked the compressed blood into the tear on my uniform''s elbow with the rest, then tossed the rock aside. I also used the same technique to remove the saliva from my glove. She drooled a lot from that. I thought with amusement, then I looked at the other two elves. They tensed up and stared daggers at me. ¡°Relax.¡± I said and put my gloves on. ¡°I sincerely doubt that dirt would hold together enough for you to carry it while chasing me.¡±


    Both of the elves relaxed and I turned to Maylia.


    ¡°Why are you following me?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°We were ordered by the princess to bring you back. She can''t let you leave after you insulted her.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I like her twisted world view. I can be hurt and held captive; but, heaven forbid someone insults her.¡±


    ¡°You could just apologize.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°For what? Telling the truth?¡± I asked, and she couldn''t answer me.


    Maylia spoke after a moment of silence. ¡°Now what?¡±


    ¡°I''m tempted to kill these three for breaking the safe passage promise; but, I''m pretty sure if I did that, I''d lose the safe passage completely. Since you didn''t attack me, I can pretend to tie you up and run away.¡± I said, and she smiled at me. ¡°Or maybe we can have a play fight and you can let me win when you''re exhausted and I can run away then?¡±


    Maylia''s smile turned into a chuckle. ¡°It''s not funny. You angered a member of the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I got it!¡± I said and stepped close to her. ¡°I can overwhelm you with my forbidden manly charm and you will have no choice but to let me go.¡±


    The laughter died on her face. ¡°N-no... you... you can''t...¡±


    I put my arms around her and leaned in. ¡°Oh, but I can.¡± I said and kissed her.


    Maylia fought me a little at first and mumbled as she tried to turn her head away; but, I had her arms pinned at her sides and she couldn''t get away. She stopped mumbling and relaxed after a few moments, then she put her hands on my hips and kissed me back. We stayed that way for several minutes, to everyone''s surprise, including my own. I broke the kiss when I thought I might have taken things a little too far and I saw that her face was completely red.


    Neither of us said anything as I let her go and absorbed the Presence I had covered the elves mouths with, then I turned around and ran. When I was far enough away, I started to jump at long and random intervals to break up my trail, then I climbed a tree and activated Mana Presence Run before I took off at my best speed.


    I probably should have asked for a horse. I thought with a laugh. They didn''t even flinch during that whole scuffle!


    *


    ¡°Maylia!¡± One of the elves exclaimed when their prey escaped.


    ¡°Hm? What?¡± Maylia turned and looked at them. Her eyes were unfocused and she blinked them a few times. ¡°Commander, I''m sorry!¡± She said and walked over to them. ¡°He actually did it.¡±


    ¡°Did what?¡± The commander asked.


    ¡°Overwhelmed me with... with his...¡± Maylia''s face flushed red again and she examined the shackles. ¡°It''s going to take a few minutes to remove the lock spell and get them off.¡±


    ¡°Stop talking and just do it.¡± The commander said, a little disgusted at Maylia''s behavior. ¡°Release my foot first.¡±


    Maylia nodded and started to chant the removal spell. She didn''t have anywhere near the amount of mana needed for a complete disenchant or even a partial dispel. It took her almost six full minutes to remove the lock spell from the ankle shackle and they popped off. She wasn''t exhausted; but, she would have to wait a few minutes before using up the rest of her mana to open the arm shackle.


    ¡°It''s about time.¡± The commander said and stood up. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°After him.¡± The commander said and walked over to her larger than average horse with the other elf still shackled to her arm.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°You saw what he just did!¡±


    ¡°Yes, and now that we know what to look for, he won''t get away this time.¡±


    ¡°I meant about him stopping us all from fighting against him.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Was his tongue that distracting?¡± One of the other elves asked and laughed.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Maylia said, her face red again. ¡°Only not for the reasons you think.¡±


    ¡°We were ordered to retrieve him and we know where he''s going.¡± The commander said and she motioned for them all to mount up.


    Maylia didn''t want to be left alone in the forest, since that was a sure way to invite danger and catastrophe, so she climbed onto her horse as well.


    ¡°He''s going to have to stop when he reaches the barrier and we will catch him there.¡± The commander said and had the woman she was hooked to sit in front of her and duck her head. It would be harder to ride with the extra weight throwing off her balance, so she held the reins into her shackled hand with enough slack to control the horse properly and left her other hand free for any corrections it might need.


    ¡°We should take the other horse with us.¡± The woman shackled to her said. ¡°Even with the mana boost, this horse will tire twice as fast with both of us on it.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± The commander said and let out a quick whistle. The spare horse trotted over to her and she handed the reins to the woman in front of her. ¡°Move out!¡± She said and slapped her horse''s backside with her free hand and they took off through the forest after their prey. They were covered in a slight green glow a few moments later and ran at a normally unbelievable speed for such a large horse.

 Book Two: The Summoned 010

    Kara and Jessica got up in the morning after a restful sleep that the both of them were surprised that it happened. They didn''t talk about it, and yet, they both knew that the other had slept much better than they normally did. They dressed and left the room and went to the living room and saw that the acolytes were already in attendance and were talking normally.


    ¡°How did that not wake us?¡± Jessica whispered the question to Kara.


    ¡°It''s the blessing of the Goddess.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°When we gather, only those in close proximity can hear us.¡±


    ¡°That''s what happened in the castle courtyard.¡± Steven said as he came into the living room. ¡°I could clearly hear you until you huddled together, then nothing.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it lets us keep the things we want private and lets us share with only those that want to be close enough to us.¡± One of the other acolytes said.


    ¡°Where''s Josh?¡± Jessica asked Steven.


    ¡°Still in bed, I guess.¡± Steven said and sat down at the dining room table. ¡°Something smells good.¡±


    ¡°It''s breakfast!¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°Once the Sorcerer Priest arrives, I''ll serve everyone.¡±


    ¡°He could stay in bed all damn day.¡± Steven said with disappointment.


    ¡°No, he can''t.¡± The head acolyte said with a smile. ¡°He knows that he needs to... good morning, Joshua!¡± She exclaimed and everyone turned to see a dishevelled Josh with a big goofy grin on his face and a very shy Evangeline held tightly to his arm.


    ¡°You lucky bastard!¡± Steven said and laughed. ¡°Way to go!¡±


    Evangeline''s face flushed and burned a deep red as she ducked her head.


    ¡°You need to keep a civil tongue in your mouth.¡± Kara said to Steven, who only shrugged.


    ¡°I told them last night there was no need to be embarrassed.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°Quickly, now. Sit and eat, then we can distribute the verses.¡±


    She left to go to the kitchen to get the food and Josh led Evangeline over to the table and they sat down. Kara and Jessica joined them, then several of the acolytes sat as well while the others stood behind them.


    ¡°There aren''t enough chairs for everyone to sit at the table.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°We will all eat from the same table, so don''t worry.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°We''ve done this several times already as practice.¡±


    The head acolyte quickly served half a plate of food to the acolytes and full plates to Josh and the others. After a quick prayer to the Goddess Chaiya, they started to eat and a low flow of mana moved around the room. The acolytes that sat at the table finished their food and switched places with the others, then they sat down and ate. The mana increased and Josh automatically funnelled it through his hands. Everyone at the table felt the change in the atmosphere and the excitement of the acolytes was almost as palatable as the food they ate.


    ¡°Go and get the first stack.¡± The head acolyte whispered to one of the others that had eaten already and she ran to the living room and came back with the stack. She quickly gave them out to who was supposed to have them and they started a low mumbling chant. When everyone was finished eating, Josh and Evangeline moved to the living room and the acolytes followed them. Once there, the head acolyte gave him a small stack and he read them as well. He knew the proper cadence and tone to use for reciting them in time with the others, and his words became responses to what the acolytes were saying and asking for.


    ¡°That''s kind of weird.¡± Steven whispered to Jessica as they stood in the doorway to the living room. ¡°It''s like a cult or something and they''re indoctrinating him.¡±


    ¡°Are you listening to the chants at all?¡± Kara asked him and he shook his head. ¡°Josh is actually accepting responsibility for the Acolytes of Light, pledging himself to their defense, and assuming all magical governance for their church as their Sorcerer Priest.¡±


    ¡°It''s just a living room. They don''t have a church.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°Not yet they don''t.¡± Kara said and smiled as her hand touched her bag of holding. ¡°But, they will.¡±


    ¡°You are not giving them all that money.¡± Steven said, adamantly. ¡°That gold is for our expenses during the trip!¡±


    ¡°You saw what that child needed for food for the trip, knowing full well how long it will take. A few silver for meals. That''s all for both ways, which means meals are going to be absurdly cheap.¡±


    ¡°Then divide the money up into shares and give me mine.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°The money is meant to benefit the group and not just one member.¡± Kara said. ¡°Having a proper church will benefit us even more than staying here already has.¡±


    ¡°I don''t see how.¡± Steven said. ¡°I think having money in hand is more realistic.¡±


    ¡°I would instruct you to trust me; but, it''s more important for you to trust in the Goddess Chaiya instead.¡± Kara said and turned towards the group of acolytes. ¡°Look at them.¡±


    Steven turned and looked at them, and their faces were joyous as they chanted praise and thanks to the Goddess. ¡°Yeah, that''s definitely a cult vibe going on.¡±


    Jessica had stayed quiet until now. ¡°Can''t you see it, Steven? They''re happy. Not just for themselves. For everyone. They know with us here, the manifestations of the Goddess''s help they asked for and the Goddess offered to them, they are going to be believed from now on.¡±


    ¡°That is aptly put, Jessica.¡± Kara said and nodded. ¡°Until now, they probably only had abstract feelings and instincts to guide them. With us as proof, they know for a fact that the Goddess heard them and wants them to succeed in spreading her word.¡±


    ¡°Is that what we are? Objects to be used?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°We always were.¡± Jessica said, her face sad. ¡°The circumstances are always different, and yet... we get used. Most times it''s against our will. Sometimes it''s because we were coerced. Other times it''s because you know you don''t have a choice.¡±


    Steven looked at her and knew she must have gone through something really horrible. Kara reached out and touched Jessica''s shoulder to give it a squeeze.


    ¡°We all consciously chose it this time. We knew we were coming here as emissaries for the Goddess. We might not have known what it would be like here; but, we did choose to come here to represent her.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I think Kara''s right. They need a proper church, and that money can probably give them a nice one.¡±


    ¡°By the looks of the town, that much gold will get them a really nice one.¡± Steven said with a huff, then he sighed. ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± He looked at Kara. ¡°As long as we get our own rooms, either inside or attached.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure that the head acolytes wouldn''t want it any other way.¡± Kara said, confidently.


    It took nearly twenty minutes for all the sheets the head acolyte and the others had prepared to be read. During some of the chants, Kara, Jessica, and Steven had been asked to join in and were given their own sheets to chant. When they were done, everyone had slight bonuses to their abilities for an entire week. It was thanks to Josh''s ability to boost and redirect the mana expenditure and Jessica''s archmage ability to increase the written word''s power to twice its normal capability.


    ¡°Is that what all the extra books are for?¡± Steven asked her.


    ¡°I need reading material for the trip.¡± Jessica said. ¡°After reading the books Aimee showed me, I just... I walked around the library and held my hand out.¡±


    ¡°It was amazing!¡± Aimee exclaimed. ¡°The books she needed glowed green and I retrieved them. She read those and then she did it again. When we had to leave, she didn''t even need to raise her hand and those ones glowed!¡± She motioned to the stacks by the door and then clasped her hands in front of her as if she was praying. ¡°The books wanted to come with her!¡±


    ¡°With us.¡± Jessica said, and Aimee''s mouth dropped open. ¡°You''re coming with us.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Aimee looked at her, at the head acolyte, then back at her. ¡°I... I can''t just...¡±


    ¡°The Goddess chose you to help me, didn''t she?¡± Jessica asked and all of the acolytes nodded. ¡°Then it''s only fair that I choose you as an apprentice. I''m not going to doubt the Goddess'' choice.¡±


    ¡°But... but... the others...¡±


    ¡°We will be fine without you for our chants, especially if you are going to train to be a high level mage.¡± The head acolyte. ¡°For a little while, anyway.¡±


    ¡°You... you really think... can I...¡± Aimee looked back and forth between Jessica and the head acolyte.


    ¡°You were reading the books while waiting for me.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Did you understand them?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Aimee said. ¡°I don''t have the mana or the capacity to channel mana, though. I can''t even cast the lowest spell I read.¡±


    Jessica chuckled. ¡°That''s because these are mid-range to high tier spells. You''ll need to practice the basics first.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Aimee said, concern on her face.


    ¡°Don''t worry, I''ll teach you what you need to know to get started.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°How can you teach her?¡± Steven asked. ¡°We only just arrived yesterday and we don''t know what we can do yet!¡±


    Jessica smiled. ¡°After reading those books yesterday, it unlocked a bunch of other things. I can''t say that they are memories, since they didn''t happen to me; but, I know I''ve practised for years to get to this point.¡±


    ¡°That''s crazy talk.¡± Steven said. ¡°How could you have done that?¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°It''s a gift from the Goddess.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°She has adapted your bodies to function in your chosen roles. It''s only fitting that your bodies would remember how to do the skills you have gained.¡±


    There was a knock on the front door and the head acolyte went to it. She opened it and invited Gavell inside and they came over to the group.


    ¡°The carriage is waiting.¡± Gavell said. ¡°It''s stocked with supplies in case you can''t find an inn when you stop. I''ve also included spare clothes for your group and feed for the horses.¡±


    ¡°What about our guide?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°The child is reluctantly sitting in the spare seat beside the driver.¡± Gavell said with a smile.


    ¡°Then let''s go everyone.¡± Kara said and they all followed her out of the house. In the street was a large ornate carriage with the castle crest on it. It was pulled by four horses and had a footman on the back and a driver in the front. ¡°Don''t you have something simpler?¡±


    Gavell chuckled. ¡°This is the fastest carriage and team of horses we could assemble.¡± He said. ¡°They will get you to the border of the elves lands in two weeks, even with the stops on your itinerary to deal with problems.¡±


    Kara nodded and Gavell stepped back and bowed to them.


    ¡°Safe journey and good luck.¡± Gavell said and quickly walked away.


    ¡°He is definitely not comfortable around us.¡± Steven said and climbed into the carriage.


    Kara opened her bag of holding and took out the coin pouch Gavell had given her the day before, removed a handful of gold coins and put them in her pocket, then handed the still almost full pouch to the head acolyte.


    ¡°I can''t hold onto this for you.¡± The head acolyte said and tried to hand it back. ¡°You need it for the journey.¡±


    ¡°Actually, it''s to help us on our journey. Having a church built for the Goddess Chaiya will help us a lot more than carrying gold around.¡± Kara said.


    All of the acolytes and Josh stared at her in astonishment.


    ¡°We were tasked to help by the Goddess, so what better way to help in the beginning than to give her an official church for her followers to gather and pray in?¡± Kara asked. ¡°Before you respond, besides Josh, the other emissaries already agreed that it was the best idea.¡±


    ¡°I... I don''t know what to say.¡± The head acolyte said.


    ¡°Say that you''ll pray to the Goddess and ask her what she wants it to look like.¡± Kara said, wisely. ¡°I could tell you what her churches look like where I come from; but, we have different methods of building there and I don''t think the design would work here.¡± She said. ¡°Oh, and Steven requests that our rooms be either underneath or attached in some fashion.¡±


    The head acolyte held the bag of gold tightly to her chest and nodded. ¡°I''ll pray to the Goddess as soon as you go.¡±


    Kara nodded and climbed into the carriage.


    ¡°They didn''t consult me about it; but, I agree. It''s a fantastic idea.¡± Josh said with a smile. ¡°I''ll be back as soon as I can to help with the construction.¡±


    The head acolyte smiled and touched his hand. ¡°A Sorcerer Priest isn''t meant to do physical labour.¡±


    ¡°I want to help build it, even if it''s just holding things for others or painting.¡± Josh said, sincerely. ¡°It''s going to be the physical manifestation of our faith and I will have a hand in it.¡±


    Evangeline leaned in and kissed his cheek. ¡°We know you care a lot about us, even though you only just met us.¡± She said. ¡°We''ve already changed all of our chants to include you.¡±


    ¡°You have?¡± Josh asked, surprised. ¡°I didn''t notice any hesitation from anyone this morning and it all felt so natural.¡±


    ¡°That''s because of how easily you fit in.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°None of us ever imagined someone like you could exist, then you were suddenly presented to us by the Goddess.¡± She beamed a smile at him. ¡°We asked for help... any help... and the odds that one of you would become a Sorcerer Priest...¡± She chuckled. ¡°We have been truly blessed.¡±


    ¡°Blessed be the Goddess.¡± The acolytes chanted.


    ¡°Hurry, now. You''re going to be late for Steven''s training.¡± The head acolyte said and Josh nodded. He held a hand out to Jessica and she glanced at it for a moment, then took it. He helped her up into the carriage, then he did the same for Aimee. Her face had turned red at the offer of help and she took his hand with poise and climbed into the carriage as well. Josh climbed in after her and shut the door.


    ¡°Sorcerer Priest, aren''t you forgetting something?¡± The head acolyte asked with a smile.


    Josh opened the door and stepped back out. ¡°I''ve got the chants and verses you gave me to repeat every morning, and the extra notes you said I should study.¡± He said. ¡°What did I forget?¡±


    The head acolyte put her hand behind her daughter''s back and pushed her forward.


    Evangeline gasped and looked at her mother. ¡°I can''t just...¡±


    ¡°He will need your help.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°I know you can guide him where he needs to go.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Josh and Evangeline said at the same time.


    ¡°No arguing! Hurry!¡± The head acolyte said and pushed the both of them.


    Josh helped Evangeline into the carriage and climbed in himself. The head acolyte handed her daughter a small stack of papers and she took them reverently.


    ¡°Driver! Your best speed when you reach the town limit!¡± The head acolyte said.


    ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± The driver nodded with a smile.


    ¡°Ladies, if you would help me.¡± The head acolyte said to the remaining white robed women around her.


    The other acolytes surrounded the carriage and chanted under their breath, as did Evangeline and Aimee. Josh felt the mana flow and immediately redirected it and boosted it, and he wasn''t surprised that it felt like he had always done that for the acolytes. The carriage and horses glowed slightly green, and the driver was surprised when it didn''t fade away.


    ¡°You have the blessing of Speed from the Goddess Chaiya.¡± The head acolyte said to him as the acolytes gathered around her again. ¡°It will work until you stop to rest for the night.¡±


    The driver gave her a huge smile. ¡°Ma''am, I''ve already had the horses enchanted with Energize. We''re not stopping for the night.¡±


    ¡°Then the Goddess has truly blessed you.¡± The head acolyte said and returned the huge smile. ¡°Use it well.¡±


    ¡°I intend to.¡± The driver said and flicked the reins. ¡°Hey-ahh!¡±


    The women waved at the carriage as it took off at double its normal trotting speed. It reached the edge of the town a couple of minutes later, then the driver gave the horses another flick of the reins. He laughed as the carriage, which was already quite fast at full speed, doubled that and practically flew over the road. The kid that sat in the seat beside him had only screamed once and stayed quiet after that. The passengers inside had barely noticed any difference, since none of them had ridden in a carriage before and didn''t know that they travelled at a ridiculous speed for horse drawn carriages.


    *


    I stopped running through the tree branches for a moment to dig out some food from my backpack, then kept running while I ate. I knew I didn''t have much of a head start like I had before, since I had left Maylia with the other elves. As a guard, I had to assume that she had some way to remove shackles that a guard hadn''t put on someone.


    I should have asked her if she wanted to come with me. I mused to myself and ran. After a while, I came to a spot with a good portion of the trees missing. I thought about diverting and looked around at the size of the clearing, then sighed. If I go around the space and stay in the trees, I would lose all of the lead I have right now, assuming they don''t bypass me and go through the clearing instead. If they did that, they would actually arrive at the other side ahead of me.


    I stopped moving and crouched down on a large tree branch and thought about that.


    If their goal is to catch up to me and they are rushing to try and do that before I get to the barrier around the elf lands, or even to catch me at that barrier, then trying to stay ahead of them isn''t benefiting me. I thought and looked around. If I divert only slightly and intentionally go slow, then they should pass right by me and keep going. I smiled as I thought about them not being able to locate me anymore. They won''t have a clue that I''m behind them!


    I changed direction and moved off to the right and stayed high in the trees as I took my time and made sure I couldn''t be seen from the clearing. Less than an hour later, I saw four large horses leave the edge of the forest and come to a stop. One of the horses had two people on it.


    Smart. I thought. They only removed the leg shackle to make themselves mobile.


    I stood still and watched them dismount and one of the elves ran around that edge of the forest and checked for something.


    I bet she''s looking for my tracks. I thought and smiled. Good luck finding what''s not there!


    In less than ten minutes, the arm shackles were off and they had mounted their horses again. I was surprised when the horses were covered in a green glow and they took off across the large clearing at a ridiculous speed. I watched them as they entered the trees on the other side and waited.


    Now I really regret not asking for a horse. I thought with a chuckle and climbed down to the ground. I didn''t think you could boost an animal like that.


    I used Mana Presence Run and crossed the clearing and entered the trees on the other side. I did a few long jumps before I climbed up into a tree and ran across the branches again. The trees were just as accommodating on this side of the clearing and I had no trouble running along the large branches and jumping to the next tree in line. I followed both the green arrow in front of me and the four elves that were ''following'' me.


    I chuckled at that and slowed my pace to match that of the horses. Since they had to dodge around trees and underbrush, it was slightly slower than what they had travelled at across the open clearing. I made sure to keep them just outside my detection range, because I didn''t want to give myself away in case one of them could sense it. Being detected would defeat the whole purpose of letting them pass me.


    I can''t wait to see their faces when they realize I''m behind them. I thought with amusement.


    *


    ¡°I told you we should have stayed at the clearing to rest for a bit longer.¡± Maylia said as she got off her horse. It was exhausted and hadn''t eaten all day. She tied it to a nesting tree and the horse grazed on the thick and plentiful grass at the base.


    ¡°We were so close to him I could taste it!¡± One of the guards said. ¡°If I didn''t know any better, I could have sworn he was watching us!¡±


    ¡°That would be a neat trick.¡± The commander said as she tied her horse to the other side of the nesting tree. ¡°You didn''t find any signs of him, either on the ground or in the trees.¡±


    ¡°There''s no way we could have passed him, so his skill in Track Concealment must be expert at least.¡±


    ¡°Or he used a spell.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Ha! A male magic user? Are you insane?¡± One of the guards asked. She had tied her horse to a nesting tree about thirty feet away, as did the other guard. ¡°Even if his mana pool is bigger than it should have been, he admitted he only just woke up and didn''t know what planet he was on. How would he know any spells?¡±


    ¡°He healed the Protection Tree.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°No, the healer did that.¡± The commander said. ¡°The elders admitted he gave her the mana to sustain the spell for that long.¡±


    ¡°Even the princess was amazed that he could do that.¡± One of the guards said. ¡°It''s unimaginable that a man could be used as a familiar like that.¡±


    ¡°His body seemed exceptionally weak, even by normal standards.¡± The commander said. ¡°Maybe that''s why his mana pool is bigger than normal? As compensation?¡±


    Maylia stayed quiet as they discussed the man. She sat down by the tree and closed her eyes and thought about him and everything she had seen him do. She ran everything through her mind and the more she thought about him, the more she realized that he could have caused so much death and destruction to the elves, and all he did was bargain for his freedom and left. Despite him breaking her ankle when they first met, she felt that he was genuinely sorry for causing her pain.


    I don''t care what they say about him being evil incarnate. Maylia thought. He''s a good man.


    Maylia''s thoughts immediately went to their last encounter and what he had done. She successfully stopped herself from blushing at seeing him groping one of the guards and how much the guard had enjoyed it. She was surprised that none of them had talked about it afterwards, especially about the kiss. Her face flushed red, despite her efforts, as she thought about what that had felt like. Men weren''t regarded as anything except necessary for the elf race''s existence and were tolerated because of that.


    Males as a general rule, were horrible fighters and had no mana to speak of. They wouldn''t last a day in the forest if left unsupervised and unprotected. Sometimes there were exceptions, and those were usually reserved and shipped off to the capital and given to the royal family and their allies to ensure any potential heirs would have a better chance at becoming more powerful than they would be by having only one parent with those abilities.


    Normally elves waited until their hundredth birthday before they started to think about having children. By that time, they had come into their full abilities and were sure of passing those traits on to their offspring. The man only became a factor after the decision had been made and then a meeting would be held where the available men were screened and surveyed, usually for the most reliable birthing rates, then those children were screened to see how they turned out.


    It was a long and drawn out process to ensure the best results, then it would be arranged for the chosen man to live with the woman to service her until conception. Once that was achieved, the man was no longer needed and was sent back to where he lived. It was a system that had worked for thousands of years and every elf knew that it was the best way to ensure their continued existence and have the best possible offspring.


    Maylia''s thoughts hit almost exactly on why the princess wanted this particular man back. She wants to expand the royal family. She thought, only slightly surprised. Even though the princess herself isn''t anywhere near a hundred years old, both of her sisters are. That thought made her slightly angry, and she wasn''t sure why. He would be a great candidate for creating a new member of the royal family. She tried to reason to herself, except that she couldn''t get the feeling of his lips out of her mind, or the fact that he had kissed her for so long and her one hundredth birthday was only a few years away.

 Book Two: The Summoned 011 (Sponsored)

    ¡°You know, I''m surprised Sela and the other two haven''t caught up to us yet.¡± Maylia said to try and distract herself from thinking about how that man had made her feel.


    ¡°They probably gave up.¡± One of the guards said. ¡°They didn''t seem very capable.¡±


    ¡°You haven''t seen them at their best.¡± Maylia said in their defence. ¡°Don''t forget they had been held against their will and...¡±


    ¡°You seem to have fared much better than them.¡± The commander said. ¡°Why is that, exactly?¡±


    ¡°I could claim that I don''t know; but, you know that would be a lie.¡± Maylia said. ¡°After we met, even though I did try to defy him at first and he had hurt me, I was the only one to willingly cooperate with him to help him escape from the protection tree.¡±


    ¡°How does it feel to betray your people?¡± One of the guards asked.


    ¡°I didn''t betray anyone. I protected them.¡± Maylia said, and they knew she was telling the truth. ¡°If I hadn''t helped him, imagine what he could have done to the others, or to the tree while trying to escape.¡± She said. ¡°He even retrieved the two artifacts from the sacred chamber without opening the door or being invited in.¡±


    ¡°What? How?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Two holes were burned out of the wall, then the two cylinders floated out and he caught them, like he did with the spear the princess threw, actually.¡±


    ¡°He damaged the sacred chamber of the elders?¡±


    ¡°Yes... for a moment. He somehow healed it.¡± Maylia said. ¡°That''s why I said he wasn''t just channelling mana for the healer to fix the damage from that charged spear. He was actively healing it.¡± She said. ¡°He healed my broken ankle as well.¡±


    ¡°Does the princess know this?¡± The commander asked.


    ¡°Well, she saw what we all did.¡± Maylia said and smiled. ¡°I doubt she would think it matters.¡±


    The commander had to reluctantly nod. She would be unconcerned about the specific details.


    ¡°Hey, do any of you have a burn spell handy?¡± One of the guards asked. When they looked over at her, she had an arm and a leg caught up in a twisting vine.


    ¡°What did I tell you about watching your surroundings?¡± The commander said and walked over to her, touched the vine and said a quick chant, then fire covered the vines. A squeal was heard and the vine quickly let go and retreated as the Flame Touch spell disappeared.


    ¡°I thought they were normal vines and not entangling ones.¡± The guard said. ¡°I was looking to make a trap for our prey.¡±


    ¡°Actually, the entangling vines would be a good deterrent for him.¡± The commander said. ¡°Make sure not to harm the base plant.¡±


    The two guards quickly followed the vines to the base and tucked the plant into a sack and brought it back to the group. The commander nodded at the efficiency and they attached the sack to her horse. They checked the horses and saw they had recovered and they mounted up.


    ¡°Move out!¡± The commander said and the horses were covered in mana and took off at their best speed.


    *


    Okay, I''m definitely going to avoid their trap, now that I know what it is. I thought while I had waited for the guards to mount up and leave. A spider about the size of my hand had crawled up and over my leg while I stood still in concealment. I had been smart and covered myself in a thin layer of Presence and made it solid, because the little monster had tried to bite me a couple of times.


    I wanted to squish the damn thing, because they creep the hell out of me; but, depending on where it had come from, it could be alone or part of a colony. The last thing I wanted was to have dozens of these things crawling over me and trying to bite me. I waited until it failed to bite me one more time, then I used a Presence Hand to pick it up and moved it down the tree. It skittered around in a circle as if it was confused about what had happened, then it crawled away.


    I absorbed the solid Presence around myself and ran after the guards. I still had that floating green arrow that pointed me in the right direction of the First Sothen Kingdom, so I followed it and my ''pursuers''. Even without going at my full speed, I was making great time by my estimation. It was only that, though. An estimation. I didn''t have any real measurements to go by. My only real gauge was the speed of the elves on their horses, and since they were rushing to catch me, I knew we must be getting close to the barrier.


    The rest of the day passed by in a flash, despite having two-thirds of it left, and the elves only stopped twice to rest the horses. I noted where they stopped and saw the difference from the surrounding trees and wondered why they always tied the horses to those trees. I saw them try to perform a locate spell on the hair tie I had returned to Maylia, and they cursed in their native language when it failed. They mounted up and took off instead of stopping for the night like I thought they would.


    So, that''s how they caught up to me. I thought to myself and ran after them. I had given up my huge head start by stopping for the night and they didn''t, and I smiled. They must be getting tired by now after being up for two days.


    I stayed behind them for most of the night and stopped when they did, then I decided to check out one of those trees for myself. Its lower branches were in a star pattern and I didn''t take the chance of being discovered by going down too low and stayed in the higher branches. As soon as I touched the tree with a bare hand though, I felt the energy inside of it want to flow out.


    Oh, that is so sneaky! I thought and held in my laugh. They haven''t been resting the horses, they''ve been recharging them! I looked at the horses and saw them eating the thick grass at the tree''s base. The grass didn''t even look like they had touched it, despite two of the horses munching on it. Now I wonder if the elves use it, too?


    No sooner had I thought that when Maylia leaned against the tree and closed her eyes. I had taken the chance of moving close enough to put my detection range over the horses and she had walked right into it and didn''t notice. I could see the energy in the tree flow into her and her mana grew brighter.


    Now I know why they aren''t falling asleep in the saddle. I thought. She still looks tired, though.


    I didn''t try to take any energy from the tree I was touching, just in case it interfered with my Mask Presence and Stealth techniques. The break the guards took was a little longer than normal and I saw that all four of them partook of the tree''s energy. When they were done, they mounted up and took off, and I followed them and my unerring green arrow of direction while maintaining my distance.


    When the guards reached the edge of the forest that morning I had to stop because of the sight before me. Despite it not being within my detection range, I could clearly see the green energy wall half a mile away. Not only was it massive and disappeared into the sky, it covered my entire sight in the direction I needed to go.


    I kind of thought they were pulling my leg with the whole protective barrier thing. I thought and the green arrow in front of me jinked forward and back twice as if to tell me to hurry. I chuckled out loud. ¡°Yes, we''re almost there. Your job''s almost done.¡± I whispered to it.


    It jinked up and down this time and I stared at it.


    ¡°You can understand me?¡±


    It jinked up and down again and I reached out to touch it. It avoided my hand easily and kept pointing.


    ¡°I might have talked to you this whole time if I knew.¡± I said.


    It turned and faced me for a second and then turned back to point the same way it had been.


    ¡°Can you point to Maylia?¡± I asked.


    It turned slightly to the right for a moment and then went back to pointing in the original direction.


    ¡°Where''s the closest energy tree?¡± I asked, and it turned to point at ninety degrees. I looked that way and about a hundred feet away was one of the trees. I looked back at the arrow and it was already pointing back towards the First Sothen Kingdom. ¡°You''ll keeping pointing until we reach there?¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    It jinked up and down again and I smiled.


    ¡°Then I really am sorry that I didn''t talk to you. You''ve done a great job so far.¡±


    It flipped around and pointed at me for almost two seconds before it turned back to face the proper way.


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± I said and the arrow flew ahead of me and I ran through the remainder of the forest to the edge of the trees. I lowered myself down carefully to a lower branch, close enough to the ground that I wouldn''t hurt myself if I had to jump, and looked at the guards as they searched around the large field between the forest edge and the barrier. I could see that I wasn''t quite close enough to touch the barrier with my detection range, so I crept forward on the branch just enough for my perception to touch it.


    I held in my grunt as the massive amount of mana slammed into my Presence detection range and I felt like it was crushing me with pressure. I thought that was really odd, then I remembered that I wasn''t including mana in the technique on purpose so I wouldn''t be discovered.


    I can''t... move over enough to... keep my mana... out of their detection range. I thought. The pain wasn''t actually that bad, since it was just energy holding me down and nothing physical. I stayed there for only another few moments and made a decision. I was going to have to reveal myself anyway, and now was as good a time as any. I stopped my Detect Presence technique and modified it to include mana energy. With nothing to do except run the last two days, I had plenty of time to go over several of my most used techniques to try and compensate for the added mana energy.


    The first had been Mana Presence Run and that was the easiest to just add mana to. I could see mana in my Detect Presence technique; but, I couldn''t detect it like I did with Presence. It had taken me a lot longer to learn how to see using just that technique, so adapting it to use with mana instead wasn''t something that could happen by just adding the energy. The flow had to be strictly regulated, just like I did with Presence, so my brain could interpret what the shapes of the objects were, their colors, and what they were doing and their functions.


    The most I could do at the moment with Detect Mana Presence, after tweaking it a little with the knowledge I already had with using Presence for all these years, was make out the shapes the mana was creating in my sight. I had to leave them green, because I had no practical experience with created mana shapes and what the associated colors should be. I took several breaths to calm down and then activated the technique.


    Both my breath and my heart stopped for a beat as all the trees and leaves I could see became glowing masses of green with the shapes of Presence buried inside of them. Everything was green. The air, the trees, even my hands were green. The arrow in front of me was already green and in an arrow shape except now it had a bright green ball of energy in the center of it and gave off wisps of mana. I closed my eyes and deactivated the technique.


    Okay. I thought. That was a bit too much added mana.


    It took me several more tries and failed attempts to filter the glare down and to get the mana emanations to stop propagating in my vision. Seeing the mana was one thing; but, I was also seeing the aura of mana energy that things gave off. It was really difficult to see anything properly that way and closer things obscured things farther away.


    I had intentionally avoided looking at the protective barrier around the elves lands. Now that I was including mana in my detection range, I could still feel the pressure from such a huge amount of energy; but, it wasn''t trying to push my Presence away anymore. Everything still had a green mana haze on it, though.


    I''ll have to keep working with it to fix that. I thought and looked at the elves. They hadn''t noticed me or my experiments at all. I smiled and climbed down the tree to the ground as silently as I could and crept out of the tree line and through the tall grass towards the group of horses.


    *


    ¡°Why is there no trace of him?¡± The commander of the elves asked. ¡°This was where he was headed.¡±


    ¡°We''ve searched the projected area of where he would have come out of the forest and there''s nothing. The grass hasn''t been disturbed.¡± One of the guards said. ¡°You don''t think he could have...¡±


    ¡°No, there''s no way he can get through the barrier.¡± The commander said. ¡°Even the princess can''t lift the barrier to pass through without one of her sisters to help.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we did pass him somewhere.¡± Maylia said. ¡°It would explain...¡±


    ¡°No, he knew we were close to him. He wouldn''t bed down for the night and let us potentially catch him.¡± The commander said. ¡°No, he''s here. He has to be.¡±


    ¡°We could search again and...¡± One of the other guards said.


    ¡°No, if he can cover his tracks good enough to hide them from us, searching more is pointless.¡±


    ¡°Then what...¡±


    ¡°I''m tempted to order you to race in both directions and set up watch posts within eyesight of here.¡± The commander said. ¡°That way, if he pokes his head up from the grass or from the edge of the trees, we will see him immediately.¡±


    ¡°We can''t set a trap if we don''t know where he is.¡± One of the guards said. ¡°How will we deal with him if he just shows up?¡±


    ¡°Get the sack with the vines. We can stretch it out and cast mimic on the surrounding vines.¡± The commander said. ¡°He won''t get away.¡±


    The commander turned to Maylia while the guard went over to the horses. ¡°You''ve done well keeping up with us.¡±


    ¡°The horse did most of the work.¡± Maylia said and shrugged. ¡°I just held on.¡±


    ¡°You don''t need to hold on for much longer. We will capture him and bring him back to the princess.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think so.¡± A squeaky voice said from not far away and the commander and Maylia turned in that direction. ¡°He''s travelled the universe and fled an entire organization for a year before being caught. A handful of beautiful elves won''t succeed.¡±


    ¡°He was caught before!¡± The commander said and ignored the beautiful comment while Maylia''s face went slightly red. ¡°He will be caught again!¡±


    ¡°I don''t think so.¡± The squeaky voice said in another direction, and both women turned to face that way. ¡°He doesn''t like being held captive, even if the people holding him don''t believe he''s a captive.¡±


    ¡°It''s a privilege to serve the royalty.¡± The commander said. ¡°You should be honored to be chosen by the princess to help our people.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think so.¡± The squeaky voice said from near the barrier and both women turned to face that way. ¡°What would elves need with someone they hate?¡±


    ¡°We don''t hate men.¡± Maylia said. ¡°It''s just... men are mostly useless, even when painstakingly trained and schooled. They are terrible fighters and their work is sub-par at best.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a flaw in the design.¡± A male''s voice said from right behind them.


    ¡°AHA!¡± The commander yelled and reached for her sword as both women turned to face that direction, only to see both of the other guards were restrained by the entanglement vines that were around all four of the horses and they were all unconscious.


    ¡°Missing something?¡± A man''s voice asked as the commander''s hand tried to grab the hilt of her sword that wasn''t there. She turned back around to face the voice and saw Hunter as he held her weapon in mid-air. ¡°I didn''t think that a simple children''s game could trick experienced fighters.¡±


    ¡°A children''s game?¡± Maylia asked, surprised.


    ¡°The name of it won''t mean anything to you.¡± Hunter said and grabbed the commander by the neck with a Presence Hand and lifted her a foot up into the air. She wasn''t quite choking like that; but, it was close. ¡°Children make noises in different spots to distract someone that''s trying to find you.¡± He said and examined the sword. ¡°This thing looks surprisingly weak.¡± He said and used a second Presence Hand to grab the sword and started to apply pressure to it.


    Hunter knew where the weak spot was, since he could see through the blade, so he turned away from them and used a Mana Presence Blade to cut it in the middle. The commander and Maylia gasped as the sword broke apart into several pieces and dropped to the ground.


    *


    ¡°See? Weak.¡± I said and absorbed the Presence and mana I had used, and left the Presence Hand holding the elf.


    ¡°You... are the one... that''s weak.¡± The commander managed to get out. ¡°Easily... hurt.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, for some reason I am.¡± I said. ¡°I haven''t figured out why yet.¡±


    ¡°Male... half-breed.¡±


    ¡°I''m not one of your males.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''m not even from this planet.¡±


    ¡°Relique is the center of the universe.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Everything is from here.¡±


    I turned and looked into her eyes. She really believes that. I thought. ¡°Well, we all have strange beliefs.¡± I said instead of what I wanted to say. ¡°I believed that playing around with my pursuers would anger them into giving up or convince them that chasing me was pointless.¡±


    ¡°Will... keep following.¡±


    ¡°I know that now, so I need to do something to convince you not to.¡± I said.


    The commander''s eyes widened as she assumed I was going to molest her and she stated to struggle.


    ¡°No, not that.¡± I said and carried her over to the other elves and held her against the vines. She was entangled in seconds and couldn''t move, so I absorbed the Presence Hand.


    ¡°This won''t hold me for long.¡± The commander said.


    ¡°Until you wake up, at least.¡± I said and she glanced at the other two. ¡°Don''t worry. It''s only for about twelve hours. I didn''t want them to starve or get caught by something else.¡±


    ¡°The beasts will consume us long before then.¡± The commander said, angrily.


    ¡°Beasts?¡± I asked and looked around.


    ¡°The forest has dangerous creatures all over it.¡± Maylia said. ¡°We always travel in groups so that if we meet any or are attacked, there is enough of us to overcome them.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t see or feel any beasts along the way, except for that spider.¡± I said.


    ¡°You broke my sword!¡± The commander spat. ¡°Decades of battles fought with it and now it''s lost for all time!¡±


    ¡°More like decades of damage.¡± I said. ¡°You might have gotten a few more battles out of it, if you were lucky. I barely put any pressure on it and you saw how easily it snapped.¡±


    The commander didn''t say anything in response.


    ¡°I probably could have just told you it was going to break and advised you to get a new one.¡± I said with a smile and leaned in close. ¡°Would you have believed me?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! You''re a man and know nothing about...¡± The commander stopped talking because she had just proven my point.


    ¡°Yeah, you people need a better understanding about dealing with men not from your culture.¡± I said and stepped away, then turned to look at Maylia. ¡°So, we meet again.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Maylia said. ¡°It''s surprising that we didn''t find you when we got here.¡±


    ¡°That''s because I was behind you.¡± I said and she didn''t gasp or react, except to glance at the other elf. ¡°You already suspected it.¡±


    ¡°Among other things.¡± Maylia said. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± She asked. ¡°The protective barrier has been in place for centuries. Only gathered members of the royal family can open it to allow people through.¡±


    ¡°Gathered members?¡± I asked and thought about it. ¡°So, even if I had brought the princess with me, she couldn''t have gotten me through the barrier anyway.¡±


    ¡°You were going to take the princess hostage?!?¡± The still-conscious elf tied in the vines exclaimed.


    ¡°I doubt she would willingly come with me, so I guess she would be a hostage.¡± I said. ¡°I figured she would have some kind of power, being royalty and all, over her people being contained. I guess I was wrong.¡±


    ¡°The elders can open the barrier briefly, too.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Why are you telling him these things?!?¡± The restrained elf exclaimed.


    ¡°Because the information is useless to me, obviously.¡± I said. ¡°I''m not going back there and there''s no way they would come here to let me out.¡±


    ¡°Then you''re trapped here.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Please, don''t fight or cause a fuss.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked and felt three people on horses enter my detection range. ¡°Never mind. You brought reinforcements.¡±


    The horses burst out from the treeline and ran at full speed towards us.

 Book Two: The Summoned 012

    The one named Ari pointed her bow up into the air and shot slightly glowing green arrows continuously as she rode her horse. She ran her quiver dry after about ten seconds and then came to a stop a hundred feet away. Sela and Nita had split off to either side and Sela drew her sword and held it up into the air. I saw a green mist shoot out of the sword and go up into the sky. Nita held her hands out towards me and started to chant as her hands glowed green.


    ¡°Run.¡± Maylia whispered to me. ¡°I''ll take the blame.¡±


    ¡°I''d like to leave, except we''re in an open field and the barrier is right there.¡± I said. ¡°The only cover is the unconscious horses and the entanglement vines.¡±


    ¡°Then you need to dodge!¡± Maylia said and tried to push me out of the way. I grabbed onto her instead and held on as thirty arrows bounced off of the magical barrier, ricocheted off, then a strong gust of greenish wind pushed them straight down towards me. I looked up and saw that they were going to miss me by a wide margin, then I felt a pulse of mana and looked at Nita. Something like a spider''s web came out of her hands and flew through the air to just above me.


    I immediately created a solid bubble of Mana Presence around myself, Maylia, and the horses and guards. The green arrows hit the floating spider web all along the outer edge and slammed it down into the ground. The mana web caught everything inside and pulsed green as it tried to suck the energy out of my Mana Presence bubble.


    ¡°That''s a neat attack.¡± I said. ¡°The coordination and timing must have taken a long time to get right.¡±


    ¡°Why isn''t it touching you?¡± Nita asked, surprised.


    ¡°Come closer and find out.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I''m a bit concerned that you would have covered Maylia and the other guards, as well as the horses with this web thing.¡±


    ¡°We would have sorted you out after you were caught.¡± Sela said. ¡°Drop your barrier.¡±


    ¡°You know, even if I thought I would be treated well after being captured... again... I still wouldn''t do it.¡± I said to her. ¡°I have no need or desire to be squirrelled away inside a tree by your people.¡±


    ¡°What''s squirrelled away mean?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°It''s in reference to a small fluffy-tailed rodent that hides nuts inside the hollow trunk of a tree.¡± I said, and she looked at me with raised eyebrows. ¡°Now I''m wondering what you would look like with a big fluffy tail of blonde hair.¡±


    Maylia''s face flushed slightly red and I smiled at her. A green arrow bounced off my barrier and I turned to look at Ari. Her quiver was full again and she put another arrow in her bow.


    ¡°Do you want my mother''s necklace that badly?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Men shouldn''t wear jewellery.¡± Ari said. ¡°Plus, if Sela had killed you, I''d own it anyway.¡±


    ¡°I probably wouldn''t have cared if I was dead; but, I''m not dead, so I do care.¡± I said and used a Presence Hand to scoop up a huge clump of dirt twenty feet away from her side, then flung it at her. Dirt and grass hit her on the side of the shoulder and knocked her aim off just enough that she let the arrow fly. It flew past me and came dangerously close as it whipped by Nita.


    ¡°Stop shooting! We''re supposed to capture him alive.¡± Sela said. ¡°We just have to wait for his barrier spell to end and Nita can maintain the web until then.¡±


    ¡°No, she can''t.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°It''s permanent until I absorb it.¡±


    Everyone gasped and their mouths dropped open.


    ¡°That also doesn''t take into account that I can lift your web.¡± I said and created six Presence Hands, gripped the edge of the mana web in front of me, and lifted. It pulled the half dozen arrows out of the ground and I peeled the web back and off of my solid Mana Presence Bubble. Nobody moved or spoke as I easily disabled what I believed to be their strongest trap.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Maylia asked from beside me.


    ¡°I''m someone who''s tired of being hunted for who I am.¡± I said and turned to look at the guard and then at Sela and the other two. ¡°Hear me now and listen well. I have safe passage in the elf lands, granted by the princess and the elders of that tree-town. I was just going to leave and let this thing end there; but, you people just aren''t going to listen without a threat.¡± I said and bent over slightly to look at the guard that was entangled. ¡°So, I''m going to give you one that you can''t refute or dismiss.¡±


    ¡°There''s nothing you can say that will convince the princess to...¡±


    ¡°With safe passage, I can easily leave like I''ve been trying to do.¡± I said and cut off her words. ¡°Or, I can stay and make your lives a living hell.¡± I smiled evilly. ¡°I can even walk right into the castle''s throne room unimpeded and kill the entire royal family.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± The guard yelled and tried to break free of the vines.


    ¡°You keep pushing me and I''ve taken it for a while. You should know that I''ll only take so much and then I''m going to start fighting back.¡± I said and stood up straight and looked at Sela, Nita, and Ari. ¡°You don''t want me to start fighting back.¡±


    ¡°You... you''re just a man.¡± The restrained guard said. ¡°How can you threaten us? We''re women!¡±


    ¡°Because I''m tired of being chased. I will threaten and then kill anyone that comes after me.¡± I said. ¡°Do you understand?¡±


    The guard looked at me like I was crazy. I sighed and turned to Maylia.


    ¡°Please tell me that you understand. I''ve been giving everyone an easy time because of the way your culture has taught you to treat men. I''m not going to do that anymore. If anyone comes after me, follows me, or looks for me, I won''t hold back. Safe passage or no safe passage.¡±


    ¡°I believe you.¡± Maylia said. ¡°We''ll let the rest know.¡±


    I smiled at her and took her hands with mine. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Maylia looked down at my hands and saw the gloves, then she looked at my face.


    ¡°You know, I was tempted a couple of times to ask you to come with me.¡± I said and she caught her breath. ¡°Yeah, asking you to leave your people and your life for someone you just met is pretty stupid.¡± I said. ¡°I could be gone tomorrow, in whatever way I had shown up here or even some other way, and then where would you be? Ostracized and probably outlawed by your people, an outcast to the rest of the world and then you''d probably...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I''ll go with you.¡± Maylia said and I stopped talking and looked at her.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°Even after everything we''ve done to you, you are still treating us as if we are misbehaving and you''re trying to discipline us.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I''ve never seen a man do anything like that... or show concern for anyone besides himself.¡± She smiled. ¡°All you''ve done is be careful to not hurt us.¡±


    ¡°Maylia, you...¡±


    ¡°I know what it''ll mean, and I''m okay with that.¡± Maylia said. ¡°My family will disown me for stealing you from the princess, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Stealing me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I think she wants you for breeding stock and...¡± Maylia started to explain.


    ¡°That''s all I needed to know.¡± I said and turned to the restrained guard. ¡°With the others here, there''s no need to put you to sleep.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll be going now.¡±


    ¡°We will be going.¡± Maylia corrected me. ¡°We might not get far, since we''re still stuck inside the barrier; but, I''ll do my best to keep you safe and protected.¡±


    I didn''t feel the Presence waver at all and gave her a genuine happy smile. ¡°Remind me to give you a hug later.¡± I said, then chuckled. ¡°Heh, why wait?¡± I asked and put my arms around her and hugged her tightly. She was startled at first, then she put her arms around my waist and hugged me back.


    ¡°That''s disgusting.¡± The restrained elf said.


    ¡°You believe that because you haven''t had a man express genuine feelings to you.¡± I said and leaned back from Maylia and kept my arms around her. ¡°I appreciate Maylia for trying to look past her own prejudice against men to see that I''m not like them.¡± I said, and her face flushed slightly red.


    ¡°Things like that aren''t even shared in the bedroom.¡± The guard said.


    ¡°They''re not?!?¡± Ari asked, shocked.


    ¡°That reminds me.¡± I said and let Maylia go and turned to Ari. ¡°Don''t shoot your arrows at me anymore.¡± I pointed a thumb over my shoulder at the two quivers I had. ¡°I''ll shoot back.¡±


    ¡°You don''t even have a bow.¡± Ari responded with derision.


    ¡°I don''t need a bow.¡± I said and used a Presence Hand to take an arrow out of the quiver and pointed at her with my finger, then threw the arrow. It smashed against the inside of my barrier and she flinched. I smiled and looked at Nita. ¡°No web, or I''ll catch it and throw it back at you.¡±


    Nita didn''t say anything and just nodded. I looked at Sela and she nodded as well. I nodded back and absorbed the Mana Presence bubble.


    ¡°Hurry up and attack him! He''s right there!¡± The restrained guard said.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°I am at the moment... but, where will I be in a few minutes?¡± I asked and held a hand out to Maylia. She took my still gloved hand and smiled at me. I turned away and walked over to the barrier and no one said anything until I reached it.


    ¡°It really does need powerful spell casters to make a temporary hole in the barrier.¡± Maylia said.


    I looked up and up, then turned around to see that it wasn''t a wall of protection. ¡°Now I know why Ari''s arrows bounced off the thing.¡± I said and looked at the dome shape. ¡°It''s the same shape as my barrier when I create it.¡± I turned back and looked at the green energy barrier in front of me. ¡°This covers all of your lands?¡±


    ¡°It took hundreds of magic users and decades of mana storage to cast a spell this large.¡± Maylia said. ¡°We were all taught about it as children. How the rest of the world hated elves and how our people decided to cut ourselves off from the other races so that we wouldn''t have to worry about being attacked anymore.¡±


    ¡°Then you turned into a completely closed off society that lives by its own rules and doesn''t have to answer to anyone else.¡± I said. ¡°Yeah, that would change your people''s outlook and how they treat other races.¡± I chuckled. ¡°It makes a little more sense to me now and I''m glad I wasn''t killed as soon as I was found.¡±


    ¡°So am I.¡± Maylia said. ¡°You''re not like any man I''ve ever met.¡±


    ¡°After hearing about the men of your people, I''m even happier that I wasn''t just killed outright.¡± I said. ¡°So, do you feel like leaving your homeland?¡±


    ¡°What? Leave?¡± Maylia looked at the barrier and then at me. ¡°I told you that...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and I believe you.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°You said you need a few really powerful mana users to open a hole in the barrier, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Even then it normally takes hours to cast the spell.¡±


    I''ve had the barrier inside my detection range this whole time and I know that it''s just an energy barrier. A really thick and strong energy barrier. I''ve been manipulating energy using Presence for years, so I used a Presence Hand to take off the glove on my free hand. I was going to touch it with the glove on; but, for some reason that felt wrong. Just like with the trees and them not sharing energy until I touched it with bare skin, I knew that I needed to touch the barrier with a bare hand.


    ¡°No! Don''t touch it!¡± Maylia exclaimed.


    ¡°Don''t worry. I''ve got this.¡± I said and placed my palm flat on the barrier.


    *


    Over a thousand miles away, the Queen of the Elves sat in her throne room and governed her lands with an iron fist. It kept the elves strong and let them survive for millennia, and she was teaching her eldest daughters how to continue the family tradition when she felt a warm hand touch her lower back. She gasped and put a hand on the spot.


    ¡°Mother, what is it?¡± The oldest twin asked.


    ¡°I... I want to say it''s nothing; but, I can feel someone... touching me.¡±


    The twins looked at each other and then back at her.


    ¡°Mother, there''s no one there.¡±


    ¡°I know that!¡± The queen snapped, then closed her eyes. ¡°This is... I don''t know what... OH!¡±


    The twins ran over to her as she fell to her knees.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°The... the barrier.¡± The queen said as she finally recognized the sensation. ¡°Someone is trying to manipulate the protective barrier around our lands.¡±


    ¡°Who would dare do that without your permission?¡± One of the twins asked.


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± The queen said. ¡°Get the court mages. I need to go there right away.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mother.¡± They said and ran from the room. They came back with the handful of mages who quickly drew a teleportation circle around her and themselves.


    ¡°We''re coming, too.¡± The twins said and stepped into the circle.


    ¡°There''s no time to argue.¡± The queen said and the mages started to chant. ¡°I only hope we can get there in time before whoever it is does irreparable damage.¡±


    *


    ¡°We didn''t die!¡± Maylia exclaimed happily. ¡°You''re amazing!¡±


    ¡°Th-thanks.¡± I said and my voice shook slightly.


    The sheer amount of energy within the barrier was more than I had ever felt before. It was more than I could even imagine. I tried my best to wrap my head around it and tried to manipulate all of that energy. I made a few feeble attempts at shifting the flow of energy in front of me and the entire barrier shimmered as the small disruption spread over the barrier like dropping a rock in a pond.


    ¡°Don''t do this!¡± The restrained guard said. ¡°Only experienced magic users can open the barrier!¡±


    ¡°Please be quiet.¡± I said. ¡°I''m trying to concentrate.¡±


    ¡°You''re going to...hm.¡± The guard''s words stopped when I covered her mouth with solid Presence.


    ¡°I think I need my other hand.¡± I said, and Maylia let it go and slipped the glove off for me. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and put my other hand on the barrier. Another ripple like on a pond flickered over it and I used several mental techniques to let me think and stay calm.


    A bright glowing circle appeared twenty feet away, and everyone else gasped as a bright light shone for a moment and the royal court mages were there.


    ¡°Cease and desist your actions immediately.¡± A very authoritative woman''s voice said in a familiar tone. I immediately stopped and took my hands off of the barrier to turn and look at her. If my mother Aida had a sister, this would be what she would look like, except for the much longer ears. Her long golden hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back, and she wore a fancy dress that looked both comfortable and functional. She was surrounded by blue robed women that glowed green.


    ¡°Your highness!¡± Maylia, Ari, Sela, and Nita all exclaimed at once. The last three slid off of their horses and knelt on the ground, Maylia knelt as well, and the restrained guard could only duck her head. The queen waved her hand at the guard and the vines shrivelled up and disappeared, as did my Presence over her mouth. Whatever it was freed her completely and the other two unconscious guards from the horses.


    ¡°Thank you, my queen.¡± The guard said and knelt.


    The Queen? I asked myself as the woman elegantly walked over towards me through the tall grass.


    ¡°How dare you touch my barrier.¡± The queen said from ten feet away, her voice filled with calmness and anger at the same time. ¡°No one can leave my lands without my permission.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t come here with your permission.¡± I said. ¡°Why do I need it to leave?¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth.¡± Two women''s identical voices said from behind her, then they stepped out to her sides. They were identical in looks as well. ¡°No one questions the queen.¡±


    ¡°Well, someone needs to.¡± I said to them and looked at the queen. She was the same height as me. ¡°I woke up a captive with no idea how I got here. No one asked me anything or told me anything, so I escaped.¡±


    ¡°No one can escape from...¡± One of the twins started to say.


    ¡°I''m standing right here in front of you.¡± I said and cut her off. ¡°Is that not proof that I did?¡±


    ¡°You had help.¡± The previously restrained guard said and nodded at Maylia.


    ¡°You mean from the only one who listened to me and didn''t shout, ''Ew! A man!''?¡± I asked.


    ¡°So she did help.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°Only with directions, which she didn''t lie about.¡± I said. ¡°She gave herself up for the other woman I had to save her, and she stopped me from killing everyone by proving that not all of you are sadistic men-hating crazy people.¡± I wanted to say bitches; but, they probably don''t know what that means.


    ¡°Is that how you see us?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°I can only comment on how I was treated by nearly everyone.¡± I said. ¡°What other evidence should I consider?¡±


    ¡°You cannot judge an entire people from one experience.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°Yeah, like your people don''t do that with all men.¡± I said. ¡°Like I told them...¡± I motioned to the guard, Ari, Sela and Nita. ¡°...I''m tired of being chased and hunted for being who I am. If you keep coming after me, safe passage or no, I will kill them.¡±


    ¡°Safe passage?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°I fought your daughter and won safe passage in the elf lands.¡± I said. ¡°Along with this cloak and some food.¡±


    ¡°You beat our sister?¡± The twins asked at the same time.


    ¡°Yes, even after she kicked me between the legs with her full magical strength.¡± I said, and both twins gasped. ¡°She and the elders granted me safe passage in the elf lands, so I left. Of course, the guards and the ones that captured me the first time followed me to take me back to the princess.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I insulted her by calling her scum.¡± I said, and the three women''s faces scowled.


    ¡°How dare you!¡± The twins exclaimed.


    ¡°Where I come from, it''s the lowest form of attack to hit someone below the belt. Only people who are scum will lower themselves to that level.¡± I said. ¡°Royalty or not, she injured me very badly in my most delicate area. I redirected healing to stop the pain and it''s been healed as far as I know, but...¡± I stopped talking and sighed. ¡°I don''t know if it will function properly after receiving that much damage.¡±


    The three women''s faces lost the scowls and sadness replaced it.


    ¡°For her to damage a man in that way...¡± The queen sighed. ¡°I need to instruct her more before letting her out of my sight again.¡±


    ¡°It is a valid tactic.¡± The guard that had been restrained said.


    ¡°Only for males of no concern, not for men with potential.¡± The queen said. ¡°Her callous act has damaged much more than something merely physical.¡±


    ¡°I''m amazed to meet two people who can see past their prejudices.¡± I said and she looked at me. ¡°Maylia was the first to see that I didn''t want to hurt anyone and only wanted to leave. She knew I wasn''t to be treated like a typical male and was open and honest with me.¡±


    ¡°I hope you realize there are more women like Maylia than there are like my youngest daughter.¡±


    ¡°You weren''t surrounded by hundreds of female elves with bows and arrows aimed at you as they chanted ''he''s a man''.¡±


    The queen closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. ¡°It would be pointless to ask you to stay now, wouldn''t it?¡±


    ¡°Are you joking?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°I was taken captive and robbed of my things by your people. The last time that happened to me, I was held for twelve years and then they set me up to be killed when I wouldn''t join them.¡± I said. ¡°I escaped and recovered these artifacts, then it took me a year of searching to find the piece of garbage that had stolen my mother''s necklace. I killed him to get it back.¡±


    Ari''s face lost all of its color when she heard that.


    ¡°You will be treated like a king from now on.¡± The queen said without conviction.


    ¡°A male king?¡± I asked, and she sighed in defeat. ¡°No thanks.¡±


    The queen walked over to the barrier and held a hand toward it. ¡°Are you sure that...¡±


    ¡°The only thing I want will be for you to not have Maylia become an outcast because she''s going with me.¡± I said. ¡°If you will welcome her back if I ever disappear, or she decides the outside world isn''t for her, I''ll keep it to myself about how I was treated by your people and I won''t come back here to kill you all.¡±


    ¡°You really believe that you can kill us, don''t you?¡± One of the twins asked.


    ¡°I might not be able to do it personally; but, I get the feeling that there are a lot of people on this world that haven''t been treated kindly by you.¡± I said, and I could see on everyone''s faces that it was true. ¡°How many would love a chance to get back at you?¡± I asked, and no one said anything.


    ¡°Very well.¡± The queen said and did a weird finger wiggle and chanted something under her breath. The barrier opened just wide enough for one person to go through. ¡°She won''t be persecuted for abandoning us.¡±


    ¡°You''re wrong. She''s not abandoning you. She''s been protecting you this whole time.¡± I said. ¡°She''s been telling me not to fight or overreact every time we meet, and I''ve listened to her.¡±


    I held a hand out to Maylia. She saw my bare hand and took it anyway and my energy flowed over her. She glowed slightly green as she stood and I motioned for her to go through the barrier first. She didn''t question me and went first, and I saw the look that the queen and her daughters gave me. I let Maylia''s hand go so she could keep going and I noticed that the barrier was about ten feet thick.


    ¡°By the way, I''m not stupid.¡± I said to the queen. ¡°I knew you were going to close the barrier as soon as I stepped in to cut Maylia off from following me.¡±


    ¡°You will not be allowed back in.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°I have safe passage.¡± I said and was about to step inside the barrier, then I turned and looked at the queen. ¡°Actually, there is one more thing you can do for me.¡±


    ¡°Name it. If it is within my power to grant, it will be so.¡±


    I walked over to her and her daughters stepped in front of her to protect her. She smiled and touched their shoulders to move them aside. I stopped right in front of her and stared at her face. It was very close to that of my mothers, so it was easy for me to imagine that it was really her. I closed my eyes and slowly put my arms around her to give her a gentle hug.


    ¡°Goodbye, mother.¡± I whispered in her ear. ¡°I love you.¡± I placed a kiss on her cheek and let her go, then stepped back to see the queen''s face was a deep red. She didn''t say anything and I walked through the opening in the barrier, then it closed behind me.


    ¡°What was that all about?¡± One of the twins asked the queen, who shook her head.


    ¡°Hey, sound can travel through the barrier.¡± I said, surprised.


    ¡°As can wind and rain.¡± Maylia said as she took my hand and held it in a death grip.


    ¡°Well, damn. I wish you had told me that before.¡± I said.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I could have just walked through the damn thing instead of trying to move the energy out of the way.¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°I''ll explain later.¡± I said and turned to the queen. I gave her a little wave and she waved back, then she turned to the mages.


    ¡°Take us home.¡± The queen said. The mages quickly formed another teleport circle around her and her daughters as well as themselves, then they all disappeared.

 Book Two: The Summoned 013 (Sponsored)

    Kara and the others rode in the carriage for several hours and the driver stopped at the first place that had problems. The farm was plagued by two foot tall goblins that were eating the livestock. Kara told the others to stay back after Josh said that this was training for Steven. Steven was happy to hear that, since he was tired of sitting in a carriage and doing nothing but waiting. He was out of the carriage and around the farm in barely a moment. The sound of metal chopping flesh could easily be heard and Steven was back a couple of minutes later.


    ¡°That was fast.¡± Josh said. ¡°It''s almost like you were eager to do it or something.¡±


    Steven chuckled. ¡°Is there anything else?¡± He asked. ¡°Would goblins have like a nest or something nearby?¡±


    ¡°Let me check.¡± Jessica said and closed her eyes. She said a quick chant and a one foot wide green bubble appeared in front of them. It showed everything within a mile and a black dot appeared a quarter of a mile away near a creek.


    ¡°That looks like a tunnel.¡± Josh said. ¡°I think the four of us need to go this time.¡±


    Aimee was relieved to hear that and Evangeline had a worried face.


    ¡°Help us prepare.¡± Josh said to them and he held out one of the sheets the head acolyte gave them and the three of them started to chant.


    ¡°I''ll cast Holy Light on our clothes.¡± Jessica said. ¡°That way, we won''t need torches.¡±


    ¡°Nice.¡± Steven said. ¡°I''ll have two hands free for fighting that way.¡±


    ¡°How did it feel?¡± Kara asked him while the others worked.


    ¡°I hate to admit this; but, it was like I''ve done it a hundred times before.¡± Steven said with a smile. ¡°The blade feels like a part of my hand and I cast a defensive spell automatically.¡±


    ¡°I did the same thing at the training grounds.¡± Kara said as Jessica touched each of them on the shoulder and their clothing glowed white. ¡°I wonder why you couldn''t go there, too.¡±


    Josh finished chanting and the four of them were covered in a green glow that faded. ¡°Training with wooden dummies can''t activate the Paladin of Light''s abilities.¡± He said. ¡°Steven needs to actually fight evil in benefit for someone, or he''s just swinging a sword for nothing.¡±


    ¡°That figures.¡± Steven chuckled. ¡°What was that thing you just did?¡±


    ¡°It was a damage reduction buff. Besides what we normally get from the Goddess, this reduces both physical and magical attack damage done to us by half.¡±


    ¡°Can you cast it again?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°No, once per encounter.¡± Josh said. ¡°It''ll last until it''s over, though.¡±


    ¡°That''s good enough for me.¡± Steven said with a smile. ¡°Let''s go, everyone.¡±


    The four of them walked over to the partially hidden tunnel and entered without hesitation. It was like daytime inside, thanks to Jessica''s Holy Light spell on their clothing. Jessica and Josh stayed in the back while Kara and Steven took point. With Josh guiding them, they quickly found all the goblins, hidden side tunnels, and the slaughtered animal carcasses. When they reached the end of the tunnel, they found a large warren. Inside was something they hadn''t expected.


    The goblins had a prisoner.


    It was a young boy of about five years old and he was naked. He said that he tended the fires like he was supposed to and that he would like to be fed now. Both Josh and Jessica quickly cast their heal and mental stability spells on him. He didn''t change at all. They exchanged looks and Kara slipped her cloak off and put it around the boy. They took him out of the tunnel and Jessica cast Collapse on the entrance to close it.


    ¡°That''s not going to hold.¡± Josh said. ¡°I''ll need to borrow Aimee for a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°She''ll like that.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    They brought the boy back to the carriage and Josh told Evangeline and Aimee what he wanted to do. The three of them left and went back to the tunnel and chanted to have the tunnel removed from the land. They felt the dirt move and expand and after ten minutes, it was as if the tunnel had never existed. They went back to the carriage to see the farmer and his wife holding the little boy.


    ¡°We thought the Jensen boy had been killed a month ago.¡± The wife said with an arm over the boy''s shoulder. ¡°They are going to be so happy that he''s alive!¡±


    ¡°He''s going to need some... special care.¡± Jessica said. ¡°He''s been working for the goblins all that time and... well...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry, youngin''.¡± The farmer said. ¡°We''ve got experience with dealin'' with the aftermath of things like this.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry to hear that.¡± Josh said. ¡°I hope we can give you some peace of mind, now that you know the emissaries of the Goddess Chaiya are here.¡±


    ¡°We''ll add a prayer to our supper tonight, just for her.¡± The wife said. ¡°Thank you. Thank you all.¡±


    ¡°It''s nice to finally see some heroes that know what they are doin''.¡± The farmer said with a smile.


    Kara and the others climbed back into the carriage and drove away.


    ¡°Is anyone else worried about how casual these people are with having to deal with monsters?¡± Jessica asked. ¡°That''s not supposed to be normal, is it?¡±


    ¡°You just handled it as if it was normal.¡± Kara said.


    Jessica blinked her eyes for a moment, then chuckled. ¡°Okay, I''m not that worried now.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t say to not worry, only that you did the same thing.¡± Kara said. ¡°These people have been plagued for long enough that hearing about and seeing monsters is common. That''s not really a normal response for the average person to have.¡±


    ¡°So, what do we do?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°Exactly what we just did.¡± Kara said. ¡°We efficiently clear them out and reassure the locals that the Goddess Chaiya is helping them and they don''t need to worry as much anymore.¡±


    ¡°We can''t be everywhere at once.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°We don''t have to be. We only have to be visible and set an example.¡± Kara said. ¡°Others will step forward eventually and will want to follow in our footsteps.¡±


    ¡°You make it sound like we''re going to be here for a long time.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°Long enough to complete the mission for the Goddess.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°What will happen to us after that?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°It would be pointless to worry about that so soon.¡± Josh said. ¡°We literally just started and we''ll be arriving at the next trouble spot soon.¡± He said and looked at Kara. ¡°Any guesses about what it''ll be?¡±


    ¡°I can only assume as we get farther away from the capital, the monsters are going to get bigger and more powerful.¡± Kara said. ¡°At least, that''s what I feel it''s going to be like. I don''t have any evidence to support that yet.¡±


    ¡°I think she''s right.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I get the same kind of feeling, like we''re only just scratching the surface of what''s really wrong here.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Then we''ll keep going and we''ll see what we find.¡± Steven said. ¡°With us working together, there shouldn''t be anything that we can''t handle.¡±


    ¡°Don''t be overconfident.¡± Kara said, wisely. ¡°Even the strongest fighter will sometimes meet an opponent that can''t be fought.¡±


    ¡°That''s what the magic users are for.¡± Steven said and pat Josh''s shoulder and nodded to Jessica. ¡°They can give us the advantage whatever we fight.¡±


    ¡°Thanks to the Goddess.¡± Josh said. ¡°If it wasn''t for her...¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know.¡± Steven said. ¡°Remind me later to thank her, will you?¡±


    ¡°Only if you mean it.¡± Josh said, and Steven chuckled as he nodded.


    Over the next two days, they fought several battles. The first was a group of magically corrupted wolves that had killed several adventurers and it netted them a bounty that had been set by a nearby town because the mayor''s son had been one of them. Next was a nest of poisonous giant spiders that had laid siege to a silver mine and rescued a dozen trapped miners, for which they received a chunk of unrefined silver ore each for their efforts. The next, and hardest so far, was that several large orcs had moved into a grain mill and killed everyone in the town.


    By eating them.


    Steven had been both disgusted and relieved to slaughter the things, and was very grateful to Josh and Jessica for their cleansing spells to clean the blood off of everything. With no one to actually report the feat to, they could only send word back to the castle about clearing it out. Jessica had discovered a spell to let her communicate by creating a small green glowing creature that was ethereal. It would disappear after hearing the message and reappear at the target to deliver the message.


    Once Jessica had mastered the spell, Josh and Evangeline used it to communicate with the head acolyte constantly. They received new verses and chants and reported on their progress. When the carriage stopped for the night at the end of the second day, it lost the speed boost granted by the Goddess. Luckily, they had reached the next town and the horses had a proper stable to rest at and the group got to stay at an inn. Like Kara had guessed, it was ridiculously cheap for them all to stay in their own rooms for the night. The supper that night and breakfast the next morning was free with the room.


    They set out that morning in the carriage and drove into the countryside at the same time that Hunter had left the protective barrier around the elves lands.


    *


    The queen, her daughters, and the court mages appeared back inside the castle''s throne room as if they had never left. The queen instructed her daughters to send word for their younger sister to be brought back to the castle. Without another word, the queen left the throne room and went to her personal chambers. She walked over to her wardrobe and opened the door to look at all of the fancy things she had. She dug under them and pulled out a simple white nightgown.


    She quickly changed and climbed into bed and tucked herself under the covers. She wasn''t sure why she wanted to do an odd thing like going to bed so early in the day; but, she knew she needed alone time and going to bed was usually the only way she did that. No one disturbed her at night unless it was an emergency, so she turned onto her side and closed her eyes. Her mind raced as she thought about the man she had met only minutes ago. Their conversation was intelligent, he was well spoken, and he conveyed his feelings with as few words as possible and had the most impact.


    The queen had repressed her shiver when he had told her that he had been held captive for twelve years and then was going to be killed. She let her body shiver now because of that, and then it shivered again because of her people''s policy to kill all non-elf males that had somehow made it through the barrier.


    I never would have met him. The queen thought as she hugged herself. That reminded her of his strong and gentle embrace as he hugged her and whispered in her ear. What he said to me didn''t make sense, if it was me he was actually saying it to. She thought, then reached up and touched her cheek where he had kissed her. He actually kissed me! Men aren''t supposed to... She stopped herself before she completed that thought. He''s not an elf. He''s also not useless or a drain on our resources.


    The queen tried to keep her thoughts focused on the practical side of things, because if she let them drift to the amount of mana she had felt from him during that brief kiss, she would start thinking about what that untapped mana could do to help her and her people. She rolled over and buried her face into her hard pillow and tried to forget the tenderness in his touch. It was then that she realized something and she sat up in bed.


    ¡°I didn''t ask him what his name was!¡± The queen said out loud, disappointment clear in her voice. She then thought of something else that was odd about him. ¡°What was that metal thing on his face?¡±


    *


    I watched the queen and her entourage disappear in another bright ball of light, the same way that they had arrived and looked at the guard, Sela, Ari and Nita as they stared at where the queen had been.


    I guess they expected that to go a lot differently. I thought with a smile and looked at the unconscious guards and horses. Should I wake them up?


    I felt a tap on the top of my head and looked up to see the green arrow and it pointed again.


    ¡°What? I''m not there yet?¡± I asked, and it jinked from side to side.


    ¡°Who are you talking to?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°My direction arrow.¡± I responded.


    ¡°Your what?¡± Maylia asked, confused.


    ¡°When I was directed to the First Sothen Kingdom, I used my abilities to orient myself in the right direction, and this green arrow appeared to show me the way.¡±


    Maylia caught her breath. ¡°The forest granted you a guide!¡± She exclaimed.


    I heard gasps from the other side of the barrier and saw that they were all looking at me. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Only friends of the forest are granted guides when in need.¡± Maylia said. ¡°For you to have one after what happened...¡±


    ¡°I got it before I healed the tree, though.¡± I said.


    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± Maylia said and squeezed my hand again. ¡°I knew you were a good man.¡±


    I opened my mouth to respond and the arrow poked the top of my head again, so I looked up at it. ¡°If I keep asking you to point things out, will you stay around?¡±


    The arrow pointed at me and didn''t move for a second, then it pointed in the right direction.


    ¡°That''s a maybe.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°They usually only stay for the main task they were granted for.¡± Maylia said. ¡°The guide probably doesn''t understand what you''re asking.¡±


    ¡°Well, what if I asked to go to the capital of the First Sothen Kingdom and not just to the kingdom itself?¡± I pondered. ¡°Just going to the land is a big help; but, I have no clue where to go from here.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, either.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I''ve never been outside the barrier.¡±


    ¡°I haven''t, either.¡± I said and put up the hood of my cloak, then I started to walk where the arrow pointed. ¡°Maybe we can find our way together.¡±


    Maylia looked at my hand that she still held and then at my face. ¡°I... um... I should tell you something that... well, I...¡±


    ¡°It''ll be easier to just say it.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°I''m going to be a hundred years old in a few years.¡± Maylia said and she blushed.


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked and looked at her. She had blonde hair down to the middle of her back and it was tied into a ponytail. She had long ears like the other elves, except her eyes and face seemed kinder. She also didn''t look a day over twenty five. ¡°Elves have long lives, too?¡±


    Maylia stared at me. ¡°Wh-what do you mean ''too''?¡±


    ¡°The woman I love is a member of a long-lived race. She was a few years over a hundred before we slept together and declared our devotion to each other.¡±


    Maylia''s blush faded and her grip on my hand loosened. ¡°Oh. I didn''t know you belonged to someone.¡±


    ¡°I don''t.¡± I said, and her eyes widened. ¡°We only had a brief time together, then we had to separate because she works for the people that held me captive and she had to go back to them.¡±


    ¡°Th-that''s horrible!¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°It wasn''t long after that when I finally found my mother''s necklace and an agent of that organization found me.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°We fought and I lost.¡± I said. ¡°I actually thought I died, then I woke up in the cell inside the protection tree while Ari and Nita tried to remove my blast shield.¡± I said and tapped it.


    ¡°What happened with that?¡± Maylia asked, curious. ¡°How did it get embedded into your face?¡±


    ¡°I put it there as a disguise.¡± I said, and she gasped.


    ¡°You did it to yourself?¡± Maylia asked, surprised.


    ¡°Yeah, and it''s helped me quite a few times since I started wearing it.¡± I said. ¡°Like when fighting the princess and she used that blinding light.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I didn''t even blink from it.¡±


    ¡°What kind of magic lets you see through metal and also stops you from being blinded by bright light?¡±


    ¡°I''ll try to explain if you want me to; but, I doubt it''ll make much sense to you.¡± I said.


    ¡°Like the barrier?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± I said. ¡°If wind and rain can pass through it, I could just cover myself in water and just walk through.¡±


    ¡°That wouldn''t... would that actually work?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°I''d try it and find out if I didn''t think the queen would reappear and revoke my safe passage.¡±


    Maylia stared at me. ¡°She didn''t revoke it!¡±


    ¡°No, she didn''t.¡± I smiled. ¡°I wonder why?¡±


    ¡°What did you whisper to her?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°She looks a lot like my mother who was killed when I was a child.¡± I said. ¡°I never got a chance to say goodbye.¡±


    Maylia''s hand gripped mine tightly and I held on just as tightly. The green arrow in front of me stopped and pointed straight down.


    ¡°I guess that''s my destination.¡± I said. ¡°Thank you for the help, forest guide.¡±


    It didn''t move, so I took one more step and touched the ground where it pointed. It pointed back at me for a second, then the arrow faded to reveal the green ball of light.


    ¡°I really could use help getting to the capital.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and finding food. Warnings about monsters nearby and pointing them out. Water sources. Lots of things.¡±


    The little green ball floated around a little, then drifted back over to the barrier.


    ¡°I''ll wait here to see that you get back in okay.¡± I said, and it did a little jink and flew faster. It came to the barrier and touched it, then nothing happened. It didn''t fade or go through. ¡°Need a hand?¡±


    The green ball of light flew over to me and I took out a water skin. The water had both mana and Presence in it, so I easily manipulated it to cover the ball of green light in a thin layer of water.


    ¡°It won''t last long, so hurry.¡± I said.


    The green ball of light flew over to the barrier in a flash and hit it, then went right through without stopping. When it was on the other side, I let the water slide off and it dropped to the grass. The green ball floated around the barrier as if it wasn''t sure it wanted to stay.


    ¡°You were right. You need to stay in your own forest.¡± I said to it. ¡°Thanks again.¡±


    It bobbed up and down briefly and flew towards the trees, then disappeared from sight.

 Book Two: The Summoned 014

    With a passenger, I couldn''t run as fast through the normal forest as I had inside the elf lands. Also, the air outside the protective barrier the elves had covered their lands in, was lower in both mana and Presence. I was pretty sure it was because the massive energy barrier let it gather and contained it, and the forest, now that I thought about it, hadn''t been several individual forests. It was all one forest, just like the East Forest Glade back on The Order''s home world had been.


    The only bare spot I had seen the whole time I had travelled was that large clearing, and I was pretty sure that I didn''t want to know how that large of a clearing came to be or why it only had short grass and no trees. Whatever had happened there had made the forest abandon it and left it unclaimed.


    Maylia, on the other hand, laughed constantly at the speed we ran at. Her joy and exuberance was infectious, so when we stopped to have something to eat for lunch, I had laughed with her.


    ¡°That was so much fun!¡± Maylia said and sat down on a fallen log. ¡°I''m not even tired!¡±


    ¡°Lashina taught me how to do that.¡± I said, once again bringing her up. ¡°I had no clue how to share energy to run like that, and then suddenly we were running through the forest like water flowing down a river.¡±


    ¡°She sounds like a great person.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°She is.¡± I said. ¡°She helped me a lot when I was in a bad spot and she didn''t try to manipulate me or change what I thought about the people she worked for.¡± I said with a smile and held the backpack out to her so she could take what she wanted to eat.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Maylia said and took a small loaf of bread and a piece of fruit that looked like a cross between an apple and a peach.


    ¡°You know, if you were two feet shorter, had white hair and pink skin, you wouldn''t look anything like her.¡± I said with a laugh, and she laughed, too.


    ¡°You''re supposed to say that I would look like her.¡± Maylia said and took a bite of bread.


    ¡°I could; but, I don''t want to compare you to her.¡± I said, and Maylia glanced at me. ¡°You''re different people. Comparing you wouldn''t be fair to either of you.¡±


    ¡°You... you aren''t using her as an example?¡± Maylia asked, a bit sheepishly.


    ¡°I''ve known a few strong women in my time. I''d compare you more to Luxea than I would to anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Who''s Luxea?¡± Maylia asked.


    I sat down beside her and ate while I told her all about Luxea, how I met her on a ship, and how things were starting to develop between us. Maylia listened attentively and nodded at certain points, then we finished lunch.


    ¡°You were starting to care a lot about her.¡± Maylia said and helped me tuck the uneaten dregs of our food into the roots of the nearest tree. She hadn''t said anything as we did that; but, I saw approval on her face and a satisfied smile.


    ¡°When I got my mother''s necklace back, I had planned to do a lot more than care about her.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°I was actually eager to see what she would be like in bed if we didn''t have to keep our hands to ourselves.¡±


    ¡°I think she would have eaten you alive.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°That''s what Donnie said when I met her!¡± I said and laughed. ¡°With how things were before, I think it would have been dangerous to get involved with her... and yet... by the time we had slept in the same bed for several months and kept things platonic... well, it doesn''t matter right now. I need to try and get back in contact with her and my ship.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know how you would do that.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I''m not a magic user outside of the general things guards are taught about living in the environment. Of course, there should be a spell that can let you do that. We can ask the next person we meet if they know the way to the capital and I''m sure we''ll find a magic user there that can help you.¡±


    ¡°I haven''t detected anyone yet, even though we''re sticking close to the road we found.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. She took it with a smile and I covered her with my energy as she generated her own and they mixed together. ¡°Ready for another quick run?¡±


    ¡°I think I was born ready for this.¡± Maylia said and we took off into the underbrush and ran between and around the trees. They weren''t big enough or tall enough to run across the branches, so we had to go around. After a few minutes, she spoke. ¡°I''m sorry that I''m not a tracker.¡±


    ¡°Maylia, I didn''t ask you to come along because of the potential skills you might have had.¡± I said. ¡°I wanted your company. Going alone would probably be faster and use less food; but, then I wouldn''t have such a pretty companion to stare at or to talk to while she tried not to stare back at me.¡±


    Maylia''s pace faltered and I came to a stop to catch her in my arms before she fell. ¡°H-how did you see... I''m behind you.¡± She said as she stared up at me and I smiled at her. ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°I can see everything in my detection range. It doesn''t matter if it''s in front of me or not.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then... if you can see through metal... can you see...¡±


    ¡°I don''t look at women like that.¡± I said. ¡°People wear clothes for a reason.¡±


    Maylia let out a relieved sigh and smiled. ¡°You can stand me up now.¡±


    ¡°What if I don''t want to?¡± I asked teasingly.


    Her eyes widened and she licked her lips automatically, so I stood her up. She had a disappointed look on her face for a moment, which made me smile wider, so I leaned in close and gave her a quick kiss on the lips and pushed a little bit of Presence into her. She caught her breath from that brief touch and put a hand over her mouth.


    ¡°I''m sure we''ll find a town eventually if we keep following this road.¡± I said and took her hand again. I shared my energy with her and she closed her eyes at the sensation.


    ¡°They won''t like that we have pointed ears.¡± Maylia said and opened her eyes to look at me.


    ¡°I''ll conceal them when it''s necessary.¡± I said. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    We took off running through the trees and underbrush and avoided the tree roots and pitfalls that existed in every forest. After an hour, I detected a house and slowed down. The forest was coming to an end and we wouldn''t be concealed by a natural barrier from here on.


    ¡°Do you trust me?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°I left my home and my people that I''ve sworn to protect to come with you.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°I guess that is a stupid question to ask you now.¡± I chuckled and gave her hand a squeeze. ¡°You''re still protecting them, you know.¡±


    Maylia nodded and I used my Mask Presence and Stealth techniques on myself while sharing energy with her. She ''saw'' me disappear right in front of her and she gasped, then she stopped breathing when my energy flowed over her and she disappeared as well.


    ¡°Relax.¡± I said. ¡°I''m still here, as are you.¡±


    ¡°I can''t see you! Or me!¡± Maylia said, slightly panicked. I used a mental technique to calm down and shared that as well, and she sighed. ¡°Please keep doing that.¡± She said. ¡°Before showing me such high tier magic would be better, though.¡±


    I chuckled and we went over to the farm house. It was still early afternoon so the house was empty except for a woman that cooked at the stove. I saw a child of about ten was in the barn and there was a man with a horse and plow working in the field nearby.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°Should we reveal ourselves?¡± Maylia asked in a whisper. ¡°The woman should know which way to go to get to the capital.¡±


    ¡°It''s worth a shot.¡± I said.


    ¡°No! Don''t kill her!¡± Maylia exclaimed and tugged on my hand.


    ¡°I wasn''t going to. Where I come from it''s a phrase that means we can try it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, my heart.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Don''t scare me like that.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said and dropped the Mask Presence and Stealth techniques. ¡°I''ll be more careful about what I say from now on.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to, just warn me beforehand.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Do you want me to do the talking?¡±


    ¡°No, I will.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sure the sound of my voice is different enough from the locals that they won''t question me when I say I''m from a far away land.¡±


    ¡°It''s even true.¡± Maylia said with a smile.


    I made sure that my hood was covering enough of my face and used Presence to cover the tips of my ears to hide them. I did the same with Maylia''s and she reached up and touched it.


    ¡°Will that really hide them?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°Keep your hood up, just in case.¡± I said and we walked over to the farm house door and I knocked. The woman left the kitchen and came right over to the front door, then paused.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I''m a traveller from a far away land and I would appreciate directions to the capital.¡± I said and saw the woman jump a little. She opened the door and looked up at us.


    ¡°Are you adventurers? I haven''t heard that accent before.¡±


    ¡°It''s been an adventure so far, at least.¡± I said, and she grinned.


    ¡°Please come in! I was just cooking supper.¡±


    ¡°We wouldn''t want to impose on...¡±


    ¡°Come, come!¡± The woman said and grabbed my free hand and pulled us inside. ¡°I''ve got plenty made and little Joquim will just love to meet you!¡± She shut the door and motioned to the lumpy couch. ¡°Have a seat and I''ll holler when it''s ready.¡±


    ¡°Ma''am, just directions to the capital is fine.¡±


    ¡°Ma''am!¡± The woman laughed. ¡°Do I look like a member of high class society?¡±


    I gave her a once over, from head to toe. She had shoulder length curly dark hair, a slightly round face, and two dimples in her cheeks. She was barely above five feet tall and wore a simple dress and an apron.


    ¡°You could be the queen for all I know.¡± I said, and she laughed again.


    ¡°The queen! Me? Ha haha hahaha!¡± The woman turned away and went back to the kitchen and opened a window. ¡°Hey, Hoquan! An adventurer just said I could be the queen!¡± She hollered out, and a man''s deep laugh responded.


    ¡°I have to meet them!¡± He said and I watched him leave the plow where it was, unhooked the horse, and brought it to the barn. The boy, Joquim, took the horse and put it in a stall and set the feed back on its head. The two of them came into the house through the front door and stopped when they saw us.


    ¡°Well, I''ll be damned!¡± The farmer named Hoquan said. ¡°I thought Margaret might have gone crazy fer a second; but, yer actually here!¡±


    ¡°How many monsters have you fought?¡± Joquim asked right away.


    ¡°Maylia? How many have you fought?¡± I asked her. ¡°Within the last couple of months or so.¡±


    ¡°The last thing I killed was a nasty tree wizard.¡± Maylia said. ¡°He was animating trees and uprooting them to attack the guards.¡±


    ¡°Did he go poof or was he all squishy like real people?¡± Joquim asked.


    Maylia chuckled. ¡°He did both. He went squish first, then he went poof when the spells ended.¡±


    ¡°Wooooow!¡± Joquim stared up at her in admiration.


    Margaret came into the living room to get us.


    ¡°Your highness!¡± Hoquan said and grabbed his wife and kissed her face in different spots several times. She laughed and tried to fend him off.


    ¡°Stop that!¡± Margaret said and managed to get a hand over his still puckered lips. ¡°We have guests!¡±


    The farmer mumbled something and she had to move her hand to find out what he said. ¡°I''m sure they saw someone kiss before.¡± He said and managed to kiss her cheek again before she pushed him away.


    ¡°Wash your hands and get in the dining room, you scamp!¡± Margaret said and put a hand behind her son''s back and pushed him that way, too. She smiled at us and wiped her face off on the end of her apron. ¡°I swear he can make up any excuse to carry on and then he''s all over me.¡±


    Maylia stared at her with wide eyes and I just smiled, since the comment didn''t really need a response. Neither of us mentioned that Maylia had never seen anyone act that way before, especially a man.


    ¡°This way, please.¡± Margaret said.


    We followed her and saw a table full of very modest food. One odd chair was added on one side and I held the normal chair out for Maylia. She looked at me and I motioned for her to sit. She did and I eased the chair into the table. The farmer, the son, and the wife had already sat and stared at me like Maylia was.


    ¡°I know that looked odd.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Back where I come from, when you sit down to a formal dinner, you hold the chair of the woman you''re with so she doesn''t look undignified by dragging the chair on her own.¡±


    ¡°Yep, that''s really odd.¡± Hoquan said. ¡°Never heard of that before.¡±


    ¡°Hoquan!¡± Margaret exclaimed, and he laughed.


    ¡°I was just agreeing with him.¡± The farmer said. ¡°We pray for guidance at the table before we eat. Do you do that where you come from?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t know if Maylia does.¡±


    ¡°We usually thank the queen and the forest for providing for all of our needs.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°There can be some good hunting in the trees, if you can find a group thick enough to give good cover.¡± The farmer said and looked at me. ¡°As our guest, you can have the first prayer.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think I can put into words...¡±


    ¡°Just speak from the heart and give thanks.¡± Margaret said and took her son''s hand, who took his father''s hand. I was fortunate that I had sat beside the man because I was sure Maylia wasn''t going to take some random man''s hand for a prayer. She looked past her people''s prejudice in my case; but, that didn''t mean she would look past it for every man she met from now on. I took the man''s hand and held a hand out to Maylia. She took mine without hesitation and then she slowly took the woman''s hand on her other side.


    I took a deep breath and let it out as I close my eyes and ducked my head. I ignored the urge to pray to the Goddess Chaiya and said my own words and not the rote response The Order used all the time.


    ¡°Dear god, thank you for having such nice people be the first ones you let us meet on our journey.¡± I felt a slight flow of mana come from Maylia that went through me and into the farmer. ¡°Thank you for giving me the chance to meet someone as understanding as Maylia and for letting her come with me.¡± I said and the flow of mana increased and I let some of my mana and Presence enter that flow. ¡°Oh, and thank you for not letting me die.¡± I said and three gasps met those words as the mana doubled. ¡°Amen.¡±


    I opened my eyes and saw the whole table was covered in a bright green glow. The modest food that had been on the table had changed and became a feast fit for a banquet hall. As the green glow faded, the food remained.


    ¡°Is that real?¡± The boy asked and reached out to take what used to be a plain peach apple from the plate and it was now sliced in half and was sugar-coated with what looked like a scoop of whipped cream in the center instead of the core.


    ¡°What kind of meat is this?¡± The farmer asked as he picked up a big slice of turkey breast meat that used to be a small chunk of chicken breast from a game hen. He took a bite of it and the meat fell apart in his mouth to give him the most flavor. ¡°It''s really good!¡± He said and shoved the rest of it into his mouth. ¡°It''s not dry or tough!¡±


    The wife took a piece and tried it herself. ¡°It''s almost like chicken.¡±


    ¡°What''s this white stuff?¡± The boy asked and used a spoon to poke at the big bowl of mashed potatoes that used to be just steamed chunks. ¡°Where''s the potatoes?¡±


    ¡°That is the potatoes.¡± I said, now that I was over the shock of having the meal transformed into what I thought was a proper sit-down meal. ¡°It''s called mashed potatoes, and it probably has some milk and butter mixed in.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Margaret looked at me with shock. ¡°Why would you waste milk like that?¡±


    ¡°Try it.¡± I said. ¡°Believe me, it''s not a waste.¡±


    Margaret couldn''t resist the temptation and used her own spoon to take a small little bit of it out of the bowl. She almost moaned when she put it in her mouth and tasted it. Her husband Hoquan saw her reaction and took a bigger scoop and tried it.


    ¡°Well, I''ll be damned.¡± Hoquan said and sat back in his chair. ¡°I''ve never tasted anything like this before.¡± He looked over the table and everything that had been there was now a much better version of it. Even the scraggly carrots he had managed to dig out of the hard ground were huge and covered in a sugary glaze. The four of them tried everything and it was all delicious.


    Rather than have them pick at everything, I took the initiative and showed them how to load up their plates with turkey on the side, two scoops of mashed potatoes, the glazed carrots on the side, and poured a little bit of gravy over the meat and potatoes for taste. I handed the plate to Maylia and she looked like she wasn''t sure how to eat it. I put a hand on her shoulder for a moment, served everyone and then myself, then I showed them how to eat it.


    They caught on pretty fast, and soon all of the plates were empty and the farmer went back for seconds. Once he did, the son had another plate as well. When the meal was done, there was still tons of food left and Margaret didn''t know what to do with it all. Maylia and I took some to spread our rations out and packed it in the backpack, and I told the farmer and his family how long it should last, assuming it didn''t disappear when I left.


    ¡°Even if it does disappear, we just had a meal fit fer royalty.¡± Hoquan said, then he looked at his wife. ¡°Maybe she is a queen after all.¡±


    ¡°She''s the queen of your personal kingdom.¡± I said, and Margaret''s face flushed red. ¡°We need to go.¡± I said and stood. ¡°Can you give us directions to the capital?¡±


    ¡°Follow the road for about ten miles, then take a right. There''s a wider road there, so follow that for about a hundred miles to the river. Go upstream from there until you hit the docks. If you want to keep going on land, it''s about a month on foot when you get to the cobbled roads and follow the signposts.¡± He said. ¡°A boat will take you there in about two weeks.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said. ¡°For the meal and for the directions.¡±


    ¡°Can you teach me how to make those mashed potatoes?¡± Margaret asked.


    ¡°It''s pretty self-explanatory.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Mash them, add a little milk and a spoonful of butter, then mix it together.¡±


    The three family members walked us to the front door.


    ¡°It was nice meeting you.¡± Margaret said. ¡°If you''re ever back around this way, please stop in again.¡±


    ¡°If I do come back this way, I promise to visit.¡± I said. ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    The three of them waved and Maylia and I walked down the driveway to the road. They kept watching us as we walked along the road, and Maylia would occasionally look back and see the kid waving at us. She waved back each time, then we went over a slight hill and we couldn''t see the farmhouse anymore.

 Book Two: The Summoned 015

    Just after we lost sight of the farmhouse, I felt something... evil... enter my detection range. I knew it was hungry and it wanted food very much. It was also behind us and moving towards the farmhouse.


    ¡°We need to go back!¡± I said and grabbed Maylia''s hand, activated Mana Presence Run, and we ran back up the road.


    What we saw wasn''t just the one thing that I had felt. Over a dozen of them approached the farmhouse at a steady pace. It kind of looked like an armadillo, except it was the size of a man and the end of its tail had several dark spikes on it. The farmer was trying to fend one of them off with a pitchfork and had stepped out in front of his wife and son.


    ¡°Get back!¡± I exclaimed and deactivated Mana Presence Run and let Maylia''s hand go as I took my father''s Light sword from my belt. When I activated it, everything froze still and turned to face me, both the people and the monsters. The people had wide open mouths of shock and the monsters eyes glowed with anger. I didn''t let this opportunity pass and swiped the Light sword across the snout of the closest monster to me and it cut through the monster''s face like a hot knife through butter.


    It tried to scream in pain and just gurgled, because I had inadvertently missed the brain. I turned the Light sword and jabbed it into the exposed cranial cavity and swirled it a little, and the creature dropped to the ground, dead. Now that I knew it would work, I stepped up onto the back of the armored carcass and jumped at the next creature. The main body lumbered around because it was wide and heavy; but, the tails were thin and fast. The creature swung its tail at me and I used a Presence Hand to catch it. It turned its head in confusion to look at its captured tail and I severed the entire head from its neck as I landed on the ground.


    The body dropped dead and I ducked as another tail swiped at me. I caught this one as well and cut it off with my Light sword, then rolled out of the way of the quick spurt of dark blood that came out before the wound cauterized. I felt that getting the blood on me was a really bad idea, so I didn''t try to cut any more of the tails off. I kept using a Presence Hand to catch the tails and held them still while I decapitated each of the eleven remaining creatures.


    When they were all dead, the little bits of blood that had escaped from the wounds I caused started to hiss and fizzle on the ground. I quickly used a Presence Hand to dig the dirt up and went around to all the spots and picked the blood up. I had quite a pile of it by this point and I wasn''t sure what to do with it now that I had it.


    After a moment, I realized that the creature''s bodies weren''t affected by the exposed blood, so I turned one over with a Presence Hand and carefully cut part of the soft underbelly open. I shoved the contaminated dirt and blood into the opening and pushed it closed, then covered it in a solid layer of Presence to hold it. I deactivated my father''s Light sword and hooked it back to my belt.


    ¡°Does anyone know what these things are?¡± I asked and turned to look at the farmer and his family. They didn''t say anything and just stared at me. ¡°The armor is pretty thick on the back of these things. I''m sure they can be cleaned and used for something.¡±


    The three of them still didn''t respond and didn''t move.


    ¡°Are you okay? No one was hit by the spikes, were they?¡± I asked and the three of them shook their heads. ¡°Maylia, do you know what''s wrong with...¡± I turned and looked at her to see that she had the same surprised expression on her face. ¡°What''s... oh.¡± I said when I finally clued in on why they were acting that way. ¡°My Light sword.¡±


    Maylia nodded and I saw her close her mouth and she tried to speak for a few moments, then she gave her head a little shake. ¡°That''s one of the ancient artifacts they took from you.¡± She said and glanced at the cut up creatures. ¡°Now I know how you made those holes in the wall to get them back.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Yes, now imagine if Nita had tried to use it, or if the elders in the sacred chamber managed to somehow activate it.¡±


    Maylia caught her breath. ¡°They would have seriously hurt themselves!¡±


    ¡°Or died.¡± I said. ¡°What if they were looking down the end of it and figured out how to turn it on?¡±


    Maylia looked down at the closest creature and she visibly shook at the thought of that happening.


    ¡°Now you know one of the reasons I wanted them back.¡± I said. ¡°They are much too dangerous for anyone not trained in their use.¡±


    Maylia nodded several times in response and I turned back to the farmer and his wife and son.


    ¡°We can''t just leave these things here.¡± I said. ¡°If they start to rot, the blood will seep out and contaminate the ground like you just saw.¡±


    ¡°I... ah... I''ve got an old cart that...¡± The farmer looked at the thirteen large carcasses. ¡°Okay, I have no idea what to do with them.¡±


    ¡°Let me look at the cart and we''ll figure out what to do after that.¡± I said, and he took me across the yard and behind the barn. A rickety old cart was there and it was pretty beat up.


    ¡°If I had some wood, I''m sure we could reinforce it and make it bigger.¡± The farmer said.


    ¡°Where do I get wood?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I''m sure the neighbour has some.¡± Hoquan said. ¡°I don''t know what he''ll want for it, though.¡±


    ¡°All right. I''ll go see what he wants.¡± I said. ¡°If he doesn''t have any or doesn''t want to give them up, where would the next place be?¡±


    ¡°In town, about twenty miles up the main road when you leave this one.¡± Hoquan said. ¡°You''d probably have to pay good money for that, though.¡±


    ¡°Well, I have to assume the neighbour is going to want money, too.¡± I said. ¡°Since I don''t have any, I''m kind of stuck.¡± I stood there and thought about it. ¡°Would anyone pay for the armored creatures?¡±


    ¡°Huh. I don''t know.¡± Hoquan said. ¡°I suppose you could ask the town guard if there are any bounties for the things.¡±


    Bounties. I thought and smiled. ¡°Well, I think I can carry one with me, so I''ll go to the town instead of the neighbours.¡±


    ¡°How in the world are you going to carry it that far?¡±


    ¡°I''ll figure it out.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll be back soon.¡±


    ¡°After a thirty mile walk carrying one of them things?¡± He laughed. ¡°You might get back here by tonight if you''re lucky.¡±


    We left the barn and I rearranged the carcasses so that none of the cut parts were over bare ground. If by chance blood seeped out, it would hit another creature''s body and not the ground. I chose the one with the cleanest cut and asked the farmer''s wife, Margaret, if she had an old bed sheet. She came out with one and I put the carcass in it with the severed head, wrapped it up and tied one end of the bed sheet to make it into something like a sack, then twisted the other end closed.


    I handed the backpack to Maylia and she put it on, and I knelt to pull the twisted end of the sheet over my shoulder. I used the technique to boost myself by using Presence and mana to let it seep into my muscles and stood up. I immediately created an invisible Presence box around my waist to rest the bed sheet on, made it solid to take the weight of the creature, and turned to the farmer.


    ¡°Make sure you keep Joquim from touching those things.¡± I motioned to the pile of carcasses. ¡°We''ll be back soon to get the rest.¡± I said and gave them a wave. ¡°Let''s go, Maylia.¡±


    *


    The farmer and his family watched the two adventurers walk away again.


    ¡°I can''t believe it.¡± Hoquan said. ¡°He lifted that thing like it was nothing.¡±


    ¡°He''s really going to carry it all the way to town?¡± Margaret asked. ¡°How can he do that?¡±


    ¡°He must be really strong.¡± Joquim said with admiration in his voice. ¡°Did you see that thing he had?¡± He asked and took a stance as if he held a sword. ¡°Ween! Weeen!¡± He swung his hand back and forth.


    ¡°The girl said it was an ancient artifact.¡± Magraret said. ¡°Could that be true?¡±


    ¡°You saw her face. She was as surprised as us when he started waving that thing around.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Ween! WEEEEN!¡± Joquim yelled and jumped towards the carcasses. His mother grabbed his shoulder and stopped him before he landed.


    ¡°You heard the adventurer. No playing with them.¡±


    ¡°But, mom!¡±


    ¡°Do you want to be poisoned and killed?¡± Margaret asked.


    Joquim sighed and ducked his head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Then get in the house and be quiet for now.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Joquim said in defeat and tromped into the house.


    ¡°You can have one of the sparkly fruit halves.¡± Margaret said.


    ¡°YAY!¡± Joquim yelled and ran into the kitchen to get one.


    Hoquam and his wife stood there arm in arm as they stared at the road for several minutes.


    ¡°We were lucky they showed up to ask for directions.¡± Hoquan said.


    ¡°We were really lucky that I forced them to stay for supper.¡± Margaret said with a smile.


    ¡°I probably should have asked how they appeared in front of us like that.¡± Hoquan said. ¡°I could have sworn they were over the hill and more than ten minutes away when those things showed up.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it was another miracle like what happened with our supper.¡± Margaret said. ¡°That was amazing.¡±


    ¡°I expected a prayer of thanks; but, invoking god at the dinner table?¡± Hoquan chuckled. ¡°That''s like asking for divine intervention when you stub your toe!¡±


    Margaret had to laugh at that. Her husband had done that several times over the years and he had cursed and swore each and every time.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, maybe we should start adding a prayer or two to god.¡± Hoquan said.


    ¡°We should thank him for sending us that adventurer at the very least.¡± Margaret said, then she jerked a little. ¡°Wait! He ate with us and then saved us, and we don''t even know his name!¡±


    Hoquan laughed. ¡°I''ll be sure to ask him tonight when he comes back.¡±


    Margaret relaxed and put her head on her husband''s shoulder.


    ¡°It''s too late to go back to plowing the field, so I''ll wait until tomorrow to get back to work.¡±


    Margaret lifted her head and looked at his face to see his smile. ¡°Uh uh. No.¡± She said and tried to step away. Hoquan held onto her and started kissing her face and neck. ¡°S-s-stop.... stop...¡± She tried to fend him off for only a moment, then she gave up and turned to face him.


    Hoquan felt her accept his attempted affection and he kissed her properly on the lips. She couldn''t hold her moan in as he held her tightly and showed her how much he loved her. He broke the kiss and he saw in her eyes that she wasn''t going to say no this time, so he led her inside and took her to the bedroom and locked the door.


    Joquim sat at the table and ate his sparkly peach apple and was none the wiser about what was going on with his parents in their room.


    *


    I waited until we were past the hill again and were out of sight of the farm before I held a hand out to Maylia.


    ¡°You can''t run with that thing on your back.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°It''s all right. We''ll only be a little slower because I can''t devote as much energy to running.¡±


    ¡°You''re serious.¡± Maylia said, and I nodded. ¡°Okay; but if you trip, I can''t catch you.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''ll do my best to wait and fall on top of you later.¡±


    Maylia opened her mouth to respond, then she thought about what I just said. Her face went red and she took my hand anyway. That made me smile and I pulled Presence and mana into myself and poured it into her as I activated Mana Presence Run. We took off and ran down the ten miles of the road, then took the turn and ran twenty miles to the town in only ten minutes. We slowed down when the town came into sight and we decided to walk the rest of the way.


    When my detection range passed over the small guard post, I saw the two guards on top of the small building that was one storey tall and they were looking right at us. I also saw a slightly green bubble in front of one of them and I had to assume that it showed Maylia and me inside of it.


    ¡°We''re being watched.¡± I said.


    ¡°We should always assume so.¡± Maylia said back.


    I came to a stop and turned to her and she stopped and turned to me. ¡°Maylia, before we go in, there''s something I need to tell you.¡±


    ¡°I''m listening.¡± Maylia said in a serious tone.


    ¡°I''ve been calling myself Hunter for almost a year now.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Maylia smiled. ¡°Yes, you feel like a hunter.¡± She said. ¡°It''s nice to finally know your name.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry that...¡±


    ¡°When could you have told me before now?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°We''ve been on the move and discussed things, and even when talking to other people, your name has never come up.¡±


    I blinked my eyes for a moment, then gave her a big grin. ¡°You''re right. It hasn''t.¡± I said and stepped close. I still held her hand and lifted it to my lips. ¡°It''s nice to meet you, Maylia. You can call me Hunter.¡±


    ¡°Is that a ritual or something?¡± Maylia glanced at her hand.


    ¡°It depends. Sometimes it''s required when meeting important people.¡± I said. ¡°I haven''t done it until now, though.¡±


    Maylia''s face flushed red and she ducked her head slightly.


    ¡°We should get moving before they send someone out to greet us.¡± I said.


    ¡°Or to kill us.¡± Maylia said with a smile.


    ¡°Now you''re thinking properly.¡± I said with a chuckle, and we walked towards the guard post.


    *


    ¡°What do you make of these two?¡± The human guard asked and showed the other guard his viewing bubble after it formed.


    ¡°They are definitely not farmers.¡± The other one said as he saw the two beings. ¡°Their outfits say adventurer; but, there hasn''t been any in this region for months.¡±


    ¡°Hm. Well, one of them is carrying something.¡± The first one said, then paused when the two figures stopped walking. ¡°I wonder what they''re doing.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we''ll find out in a few minutes.¡± The other said. ¡°Here they come again.¡±


    The two figures approached with their hoods up. One looked distinctly female with a breastplate and everything, and the other had a really odd cloth outfit and looked to be male.


    ¡°Halt.¡± The first guard said as he dismissed the viewing bubble and then he leaned on the small railing. ¡°Who goes there?¡±


    ¡°Adventurers looking to see if there''s a bounty on this creature.¡± The male said in an odd accent.


    ¡°What creature is that?¡± The first guard asked.


    The male knelt and slid the large sack around to rest it in front of himself and unravelled the top to open it and revealed the contents.


    ¡°By Black Laura''s pale white tit!¡± The first guard exclaimed. ¡°How in the seven hells did you kill it?¡±


    The male smiled. ¡°Does that mean there''s a bounty?¡±


    ¡°As sure as the Ice Queen''s ass is cold!¡± The second guard said and laughed. ¡°The thing has been roaming the county for months and eating everything!¡±


    ¡°Where do we collect the money?¡± The male asked.


    ¡°Bundle that thing up again and I''ll take you to the mayor.¡± The first guard said. ¡°She''s going to be so happy that you killed it!¡±


    The man quickly tied the sack back up and slung it over his shoulder and stood up as if it didn''t weigh anything. The first guard slid down the ladder at the back of the building and ran over to him.


    ¡°This way.¡± He said and he led the two adventurers to the mayor''s office.


    *


    Well, that went a lot better than I expected. I thought as the man practically skipped with happiness as he led us to the mayor. Several townspeople watched us as we passed, and the guard told them what we had in the sack and that it was dead. Some of them shook their heads in disbelief, others gave us a little clap of applause, and others followed us to the two storey wooden building.


    This looks like an actual medieval town. I thought and looked around with Detect Mana Presence. I didn''t see any electricity, or lights, or anything even close to resembling technology of any kind. This... is not looking good, especially if this is the most populous country. If there''s no technology here, then I think I''m screwed.


    ¡°Right in here!¡± The guard said and opened the door with a glass pane in it with ''mayor'' painted on the front of it. We entered and he shut the door on the crowd outside, so they looked in through the door and the other windows. The guard walked past the woman that sat at the desk and knocked on the mayor''s door.


    ¡°Gill, you can''t do that!¡± The secretary said. ¡°She''s busy!¡±


    ¡°Busy, shmizzy!¡± Gill said. ¡°Andora! Open up! I''ve got a surprise for you!¡±


    ¡°Gill, you idiot!¡± A woman''s voice said loudly from behind the door, then it opened to show a woman about five and a half feet tall with her dark hair up in a tangled mess and an angry face. ¡°You know I''m busy after supper!¡±


    ¡°You can make yourself look pretty for your secret lover later.¡± Gill said, and her face burned a deep red. ¡°These two killed the brocchula.¡±


    ¡°Actually, it was Hunter that killed it.¡± Maylia said and pointed at me.


    ¡°Wh-WHAT?!?¡±


    ¡°Step back and they''ll show you.¡± Gill said.


    ¡°All right.¡± The mayor looked at Gill with murder in her eyes, then she sighed and stepped back to let us into the office. ¡°Show me the proof.¡±


    I knelt and slid the large improvised sack off of my back and onto the floor, then opened the bed sheet and pulled it back to reveal the armored back of the creature and took out the severed head to show her.


    ¡°You really killed it.¡± Andora said, surprised. ¡°How? We''ve sent groups of trained solders after it and they couldn''t hurt the thing!¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± I said and put the head back inside the sheet and tied it. ¡°How much is the bounty?¡±


    ¡°It''s been causing havoc all over, so the local businesses agreed that ten silver would be given to the one that killed it.¡± Andora said and took out ten silver from her desk and held it out to me.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and took the silver coins and put them in a pocket. ¡°What are you going to do with it?¡±


    ¡°We''re going to gut it and hang it in the town square to show everyone.¡± Gill said.


    ¡°I wouldn''t do that.¡± I said. ¡°Its blood is poisonous, just like its tail spikes.¡±


    ¡°You''re kidding!¡± Gill said, and I shook my head.


    ¡°I had to dig up where the blood hit the dirt and had to put it inside the belly.¡±


    ¡°Then we need to get a priest or a wizard over here to cleanse the poison out of it.¡± The mayor said and sat down behind her desk. ¡°What a relief that it''s been killed and won''t bother the farmers anymore.¡±


    ¡°You do realize there''s more than just one, right?¡± I asked, and she gasped, as did the several people listening at the door and through the windows of her office.


    ¡°There''s more?¡± She asked, surprised.


    ¡°I counted twelve besides this one.¡± I said.


    ¡°A dozen more of them?!?¡± The mayor exclaimed and stood up. ¡°Great adventurer! I beg you to do an urgent quest for the townspeople!¡±


    ¡°You want me to kill the rest of them.¡± I said and held in my smile.


    ¡°Yes!¡± The mayor said and dug out ten more silver coins from her desk, then ten more, and kept going until there were a dozen stacks of ten silver coins. ¡°Ten silver coins for each of them upon delivery.¡±


    ¡°How will I get them back here?¡± I asked. ¡°Carrying them one at a time will take...¡±


    The guard took a one foot wide sack from his belt and pulled out a short sword, a bag of corn, and three pieces of wood that were eight feet long.


    ¡°You can have my bag of holding.¡± Gill said and handed it to me. ¡°It cuts the weight down to almost nothing and the opening can fit anything you want to put in it.¡±


    ¡°What about after I deliver them?¡±


    ¡°You can keep the bag.¡± Gill said. ¡°If there''s a dozen of those monsters around, I''m willing to give up having a small convenience if it will mean the safety of the farmers around the town.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll accept the quest.¡±


    The people cheered and Gill smacked me on the shoulder.


    ¡°Good luck, my friend!¡± Gill said. ¡°I''ll walk you out to the end of town.¡±


    ¡°We look forward to seeing you back here soon, Hunter.¡± The mayor said and sat down, then she whispered. ¡°Thank Black Laura you''ve shown up to save us from this menace.¡±


    ¡°Actually, you should thank god.¡± Maylia said to the surprised mayor. ¡°Hunter does.¡±


    I held in my laughter as I took Maylia''s hand and we left the mayor''s office with Gill.

 Book Two: The Summoned 016

    Before we left the main street, I had the bright idea to buy a new sheet for Margaret and asked Gill where I could buy one. He pointed to the correct store and asked if there was anything else I needed. I told him I wasn''t sure what I needed, and he laughed.


    ¡°Go look around and see what we have for sale, then I''ll see you at the guard house.¡± Gill said and left.


    Maylia and I went to the general store and I asked for a bed sheet. The woman showed me the cheapest one they had for two copper coins. I thought that was really cheap, so I asked for the next best one. She smiled and showed me one for ten copper coins, or five for a silver coin, and she said she would throw in a bundle of ten of the cheaper ones for free.


    I looked at Maylia and she shrugged, because she had no idea either. ¡°I''ll take them.¡± I said, and the woman quickly did them up in separate packages and gave them to me. I slipped the two packages into the bag of holding on my hip and they disappeared inside. I couldn''t even see them with Presence. I gave the woman the silver coin and she hugged it before she put it under the counter.


    ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°I''ll need a bedroll, and rations for a few days.¡± I said.


    ¡°That''ll be ten copper.¡± She said and put the bedroll and put six small bundles of dried food on the counter. I held out another silver coin, and she looked at it. ¡°Um... I''ll be right back!¡± She said and grabbed the silver coin from below the counter and ran from the store.


    ¡°Wow.¡± I said. ¡°I could rob the place completely before she came back.¡±


    Maylia laughed and took my hand. ¡°I''d never let you do that.¡±


    ¡°Really? And how exactly would you stop me?¡± I asked with a smirk.


    Maylia''s face went a little red, then she leaned in and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. I stood there and stared at her for a couple of minutes, because that was something I never thought she would do on her own, then the clerk came back with a sack full of copper coins.


    ¡°It worked.¡± Maylia whispered, her face bright red.


    ¡°It really did.¡± I said and squeezed her hand slightly, then turned to the clerk. I gave her the silver coin and she gave me forty copper coins back.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± She asked, happily.


    ¡°Well... we''ve got a bit of travelling to do. What would adventurers need for staying outdoors overnight besides a bedroll?¡±


    ¡°You need a fire and a good lantern.¡± The woman said. ¡°Oil''s pretty cheap, so...¡±


    ¡°Does a lantern stay lit all night?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, it needs to be refilled every few hours.¡±


    ¡°What about the fire?¡±


    ¡°We have a lighting kit.¡± She said and went to a shelf, then came back with a flint stone and a small oil skin. ¡°It works with any metal. Just smack it with the flint stone and poof. Fire. It''s five copper.¡±


    I bought it, reluctantly, and put it in my bag of holding with the bedroll.


    ¡°We also have very dry wood for kindling, in case you can''t find anything in the area you stay in.¡± She said and went to the front of the store and grabbed a large bundle of dried and chopped fine wood. ¡°A copper a bundle.¡±


    ¡°That''s cheap.¡± I said and paid for three of them.


    ¡°It''s not a big seller.¡± She said with a smile and gave me two more. ¡°We have heavy blankets in case it gets cold. Two for a silver.¡±


    ¡°You''re just playing with me now, aren''t you?¡± I asked, and her face flushed red.


    ¡°A little.¡± She said. ¡°Three for a silver.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± I said and took the three blankets and paid her. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It was my pleasure.¡± The clerk said. ¡°If you need anything else, don''t hesitate to come back.¡±


    I nodded and we left the store without being tempted to buy anything else. Maylia and I walked over to the edge of town and we were partially followed by several people. I say partially, because it wasn''t the same people the whole way. I wasn''t sure if they were nervous of us or if they just didn''t want it too seem like they were following us and were taking turns.


    Gill waved and we waved back. ¡°Good hunting!¡± He almost yelled. ¡°Make sure you bring them back to get the reward!¡±


    ¡°We''ll be back in half an hour.¡± I said and he laughed. I held a hand out to Maylia and she took it. ¡°Should we show off a little?¡± I asked her, and she glanced at the still laughing guard.


    ¡°I think a little will be okay.¡± Maylia said with a smile.


    ¡°I''m getting to like you more and more.¡± I said to make her blush, then activated Mana Presence Run and ran at half speed. We heard the guards shout as we quickly ran over the road and laughed ourselves until we were out of their sight, then we ran full out. We were back at the farm ten minutes later to find the farmer sitting on the porch with a satisfied look on his face.


    ¡°We''ll I''ll be damned.¡± Hoquan said with a grin. ¡°You can''t be back from town already.¡±


    I smiled and pulled out one of the packages from the general store in town, and the farmer whistled.


    ¡°I should ask you where you got a bag of holding; but, that alone proves you were at least somewhere in town.¡± Hoquan said. ¡°How did you get there and back so fast?¡±


    ¡°We ran.¡± I said honestly, then he watched as I put all twelve of the remaining carcasses into the bag and it didn''t get any bigger and only a little heavier. ¡°Okay, I have to admit that a magic bag is weird.¡±


    Maylia chuckled and carefully handed me the severed heads and I added them to the bag as well. There was one severed tail, so I opened the package of cheap sheets and took one out. I wrapped the tail in it and tucked it into the bag of holding. We both looked around and didn''t see any blood stains on the ground, so we walked over to the porch.


    ¡°We''re going to check around and make sure there are no more of these things around.¡± I said. ¡°We''ll be back in a few minutes.¡±


    The farmer nodded and I took Maylia''s hand again and activated Mana Presence Run. We left in the direction of the creature''s tracks and noticed they split off and had come from different directions. I decided to make a wide sweeping circle to check all over the area with my Detect Presence technique. We didn''t find anything else, thankfully, so we went back to the farm house.


    ¡°You look relieved and disappointed.¡± The farmer said and laughed. ¡°You already got them all?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I just have to drop off a couple things before we leave for good.¡± I said. ¡°Is Margaret busy?¡±


    ¡°She should be fine by now.¡± Hoquan said with a grin and went into the house. I watched him go to the bedroom and he woke up his wife. I quickly turned away and looked at Maylia.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°She''s naked in bed.¡± I said, my own face slightly red this time. ¡°After we left with the first one, Hoquan must have... well, after someone... ah...¡± I stopped talking and couldn''t come up with a good way to explain why the couple had sex without saying endorphins from having their life saved made them grateful to be alive and they celebrated that in the best way they knew how.


    After a few minutes, they both came out fully dressed. Hoquan still had a huge grin on his face and Margaret''s face was both happy and embarrassed.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°I''m sorry for disturbing you.¡± I said. ¡°I just wanted to return your sheet.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t have to do that.¡± Margaret said. ¡°It really was an old one and...¡±


    ¡°I wanted to replace it to say thank you.¡± I said and took out the other bundle of the expensive bed sheets and gave it to her. ¡°There''s five of them in there, so they should last you a while.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn''t have.¡± Margaret said, her face red as her embarrassment grew. ¡°Thank you so much.¡±


    ¡°I hope they''re okay. I don''t have any experience buying bed sheets.¡± I said.


    Margaret opened the bundle and gasped. ¡°I can''t take these!¡±


    ¡°I know they aren''t the best ones; but, I thought the cheap ones were a bit too cheap to give to you.¡± I said and took out the other bundle of ten cheap sheets. ¡°See? These ones aren''t as nice.¡±


    Margaret looked at the huge bundle of sheets I held and then at the ones she had in her hands. ¡°Are... are you... you really bought these for me?¡±


    ¡°If you''re not happy with those, I can get you better ones when I go back to town.¡± I said.


    ¡°N-no, I... these are...¡± She hugged them to her chest. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    I tucked the cheap bundle of sheets back into the bag of holding and took out the large bundle of heavy blankets. ¡°The clerk said that when it gets cold at night that heavy blankets are needed.¡± I said opened it and took one blanket out and put it into the bag of holding and handed the other two to Hoquan.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Hoquan looked at the two heavy blankets and then at me.


    ¡°Offloading extras.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I only need one heavy blanket.¡±


    ¡°How can you do this?¡± Margaret asked. ¡°You eat at our table, make the food become a feast, then save us from monsters.¡± She said. ¡°Now you''re giving us expensive things we would never buy because they are expensive!¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I wouldn''t have killed the things if you weren''t in danger, so it''s only fair that you benefit from the bounty on it.¡± I said and reached into my pockets and took out two handfuls of copper coins. Hoquan and Margaret stared at my hands and I sprinkled the copper coins over the bundles of cloth they held.


    ¡°Hey, what''s going on?¡± Joquim asked as he came out of the house. I took two copper coins from my pocket and gave them to him. He stared at the coins like he had never seen them before.


    ¡°We have to go and deliver the rest of the carcasses.¡± I said and stepped back. ¡°It was nice meeting you.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Margaret exclaimed and elbowed her husband in the gut.


    ¡°Oof.¡± Hoquan grunted. ¡°Oh, right.¡± He said. ¡°Adventurer, what''s your name?¡±


    ¡°You can call me Hunter.¡± I said and he nodded.


    ¡°Safe travels, Hunter.¡± Hoquan said.


    ¡°Bye!¡± Joquim waved happily.


    Both Maylia and I waved to him, then we clasped hands and ran down the road.


    *


    ¡°Momma! He gave me coins! Real coins!¡± Joquim said and held them up for her to see.


    ¡°He gave us all coins.¡± Hoquan said, and his son shoved his two into his pocket and started to jump around and play in the yard. ¡°You know, I could use a new harness for the horse.¡±


    ¡°I saw that new sewing kit in the specialty store two months ago.¡± Margaret said. ¡°I wonder if they still have it?¡±


    ¡°We''re going to town! We''re going to town!¡± Joquim repeated as he frolicked.


    ¡°Not if you don''t get inside and get changed.¡± Margaret said. ¡°Sunday best.¡±


    Joquim nodded and ran into the house.


    ¡°I think we should get changed, too.¡± Hoquan said. ¡°We''ll make a whole event of it.¡±


    Margaret smiled and nodded and they both went into the house to get changed.


    *


    ¡°You don''t have to comment about me giving so much money away.¡± I said to Maylia as we ran. ¡°Even after that and buying the extra things, I still have over a dozen copper coins and seven silver coins left.¡±


    ¡°You''re also getting twelve more stacks of silver coins.¡± Maylia said and laughed.


    ¡°I don''t know if there''s anything else in the town we might need over the next couple of weeks; but, we can look around at all the other stores and see what we can buy with what we have.¡± I said.


    Maylia glanced at me for a moment and then looked forward. ¡°You''re worried about taking all that money from the town and leaving them poor.¡±


    ¡°You saw how the woman in the general store acted when I gave her a silver coin to pay for the fire kit.¡± I said. ¡°She couldn''t handle breaking it and had to get someone else to do it for her. Probably a bank or something.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Now imagine their faces when I take most of that bounty money and spread it all around the town.¡±


    ¡°You''re a good man, Hunter.¡± Maylia said and the mana from her increased and flowed over us. Our speed increased slightly and I glanced at her briefly.


    ¡°You''re learning how to do it on your own.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°Excellent.¡± I said. ¡°When we stop for the night, I''ll start teaching you some basics.¡±


    ¡°R-r-really?¡± Maylia asked, clearly shocked.


    ¡°If what I suspect is right, then my hopes of contacting my ship is just a pipe dream.¡± I said sadly. ¡°I think I''m going to be stuck here for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Don''t give up your dream yet.¡± Maylia said. ¡°You can''t make that decision until we reach the capital.¡±


    I glanced at her again and saw her determined face. ¡°Okay, I''ll wait until then to make a decision.¡±


    ¡°If it does turn out that you have to stay, I''ll start convincing you then that it won''t be so bad.¡±


    ¡°You already have.¡± I said and saw her face turn red again.


    We arrived back at the town in just under half an hour and Gill stared at us.


    ¡°Were the monsters that close?¡± Gill asked in disbelief.


    ¡°No, we got them way out at Hoquan''s farm.¡± I said, and both guards opened their mouths in shock. ¡°We even ran around several miles and followed their tracks in different directions and couldn''t find anything else.¡±


    ¡°Let''s get you over to the mayor''s.¡± Gill said and led us over to the mayor''s office. There was a robed man with a long white beard and a pointy hat coming out of her office.


    ¡°Gill, what are you doing back here and... Hunter!¡± The mayor exclaimed as she stepped around the robed man. ¡°You couldn''t have done it that quickly!¡±


    ¡°That''s what I said.¡± Gill chuckled. ¡°He told me he got them out at Hoquan''s farm.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no.¡± The mayor said. ¡°Poor Margaret.¡±


    ¡°They''re fine.¡± I said. ¡°I got there in time.¡±


    ¡°Did you get them all?¡± The mayor asked.


    ¡°They even surveyed the area and didn''t find any others.¡± Gill said. ¡°It''s a miracle for sure.¡±


    ¡°Show me.¡± The mayor said, and I opened up the bag of holding and took out the twelve severed heads. She started nodding and I took out the twelve remaining bodies. ¡°That one is missing a tail.¡±


    ¡°That''s how I discovered the blood was poisonous when I cut it off during the battle.¡± I said and took out the wrapped bundle and added it to the pile. ¡°I was tempted to keep it as a weapon; but, I don''t have any kind of antitoxin to fight it if I poked myself or others with it.¡± I saw their confusion and smiled. ¡°I meant there''s no way I can heal it if I don''t know what it is.¡±


    The mayor waved at the robed man. ¡°Please cleanse the filth from the carcasses.¡±


    ¡°Can you do the bag, too?¡± I asked. ¡°Just in case.¡±


    The bearded man nodded and mumbled a few words and the bag of holding glowed green for a second. ¡°The contents and the bag itself is cleansed.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said. ¡°How much...¡±


    ¡°You''ve saved the town and many farmers from a horrible fate.¡± The man said and waved me away, then he turned to the pile of carcasses and started to work on them. The mayor motioned for me to follow her, so I led Maylia over to the office and we went inside.


    ¡°He can be abrasive and a little mean.¡± The mayor said and smiled. ¡°Even so, he does good work.¡±


    I kept the comment to myself about him being her secret lover.


    The mayor pointed to the money that was still on the desk. ¡°As promised, ten silvers for each creature.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and slid the money into the bag of holding.


    ¡°What are your plans now?¡± The mayor asked.


    ¡°We''re heading to the capital.¡± I said.


    The mayor''s face clearly showed disappointment, so I waited for a moment before I spoke again.


    ¡°Before we go, we need to load up on supplies and things to last until then.¡±


    The mayor''s face lit up. She unsuccessfully tried to hide her happiness, though.


    ¡°Maybe some clothes so we have different outfits to wear.¡± I said. ¡°What other things do you have for sale here?¡±


    ¡°You might want to visit the apothecary for some minor healing potions and other things, and I would definitely suggest the blacksmith. He has great weapons and some good armor.¡±


    ¡°We''ll do that. Thanks.¡± I said.


    ¡°No, thank you.¡± The mayor said and held her hand out with her fingers pointed towards me, as if I should take it and kiss them.


    I held in my smile as I took the hand and turned it as I gave it a firm handshake instead. ¡°It was nice doing business with you.¡± I said to her surprised face, let her hand go, then took Maylia''s hand and left the office.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Maylia said when we were outside.


    I pointed to a random storefront and walked that way. ¡°Let''s try there first.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, she clearly wanted you to kiss her hand.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said without looking at her. ¡°I told you that I only do it for important people.¡±


    ¡°She''s the mayor of a town.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see what you mean.¡± I said and stopped walking to face her. ¡°When I say ''important'' people, I meant important to me, personally.¡±


    Maylia''s mouth opened and closed once, then she folded her bottom lip under her teeth and bit it. As it slid back out, it was much redder and a little plumper.


    Oh, why not. I thought at the obvious cue and put my arms around her and kissed her.


    A wolf whistle came from across the street. ¡°Go for it, mister adventurer!¡± A man''s voice shouted.


    ¡°Hush up, Clyde! They''re having a moment!¡± A woman''s voice berated him.


    ¡°Can I have a moment with you?¡± Clyde said, and the woman went quiet and didn''t respond.


    I broke the kiss and leaned back, and Maylia looked surprised. ¡°I''m sorry. You looked cute and I couldn''t help myself.¡±


    ¡°D-d-don''t a-apologize.¡± Maylia said, took a breath and let it out to calm down, then her blush faded. ¡°We have money to spend.¡± She said in a serious tone.


    ¡°Okay, that was impressive.¡± I said. Her blush returned and I had to smile. ¡°I have to be more careful when I compliment you, don''t I?¡±


    ¡°I''ve never had a man compliment me before.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Then yes, I need to be more careful.¡± I smiled. ¡°Let''s go make some of the townspeople very happy.¡±


    Maylia nodded and we went around the town to various stores and spent a good portion of our bounty. By the time we were done, most of the town was in high spirits and we had a lot more things inside the bag of holding. We didn''t really need most of it; but, everything would come in handy eventually.


    We were walking down the street when Hoquan, his wife Margaret, and their son Joquim arrived in a little wagon that the horse pulled. Of course, it was getting late in the day by this time, so I offered to get us rooms for the night at the inn. They tried to refuse the offer and said they had some shopping to do, then the innkeeper said that breakfast was included with the room. That was a deal maker apparently, and we all went inside and got rooms. I paid for a small room for their son, a large room for Hoquan and Margaret, and rented the largest room in the inn for myself and Maylia.

 Book Two: The Summoned 017

    I led Maylia to our room and she was very quiet as I shut the door. She looked around at the room and her face went to a deep red as she saw the large bed.


    ¡°Do you want to take a bath first?¡± I asked her and she jumped a little. ¡°Hey, it''s okay.¡± I said and turned to face her. I could see that she was nervous, so I let her hand go and put my hands on her shoulders. ¡°Maylia, if you''re worried about something happening, you can relax. We''ve been running in the forest for two days. All I want to do right now is wash up and get some sleep in a real bed.¡±


    Maylia took several deep breaths and calmed down. ¡°Hunter, it... it''s not that I''m against... that is... I told you before that...¡±


    ¡°Maylia.¡± I said and she blinked her eyes at me. ¡°Just say it.¡±


    ¡°Elves don''t think about having children until after their hundredth birthday.¡± Maylia said. ¡°But... the last two days, I... I''ve been thinking about it.¡±


    ¡°You have? Really?¡± I asked, a little surprised. ¡°I thought your birthday was a few years away.¡±


    ¡°It is, and I really shouldn''t consider it until then. I''m sure I have all the abilities I''m ever going to get, though... so there''s no worry about passing on insufficient abilities to my offspring.¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait, wait.¡± I said and rubbed her shoulders. ¡°That''s the part you''re worrying about? Giving birth to a child?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes.¡± Maylia said. ¡°All elves need to ensure the best possible bloodlines for our race''s continued existence.¡±


    I had to think about that for a few minutes. ¡°So... you''re not worried about the act itself, only the results, right?¡±


    Maylia nodded and told me all about the process for selecting the best male and how it was decided, almost by committee, what man would sleep with what woman to make the best child. I was a little stunned when she described how the man only stayed long enough to get a woman pregnant and then was sent off. He wasn''t involved with the child at all after that. Most times he wasn''t allowed to be.


    ¡°Okay. Wow.¡± I said when she was done. I walked her over to the small table and sat her down on one of the chairs. I sat down beside her and just stared into her eyes. ¡°Your people have always done this?¡±


    ¡°As far as our history is concerned, yes.¡± Maylia said.


    It took me another couple of minutes to wrap my head around the idea of selective breeding. Back on Earth I think it would be some guy''s dream job. I thought. As much sex as you could get, on demand no less, then you just lived your life with the other guys until the next time a woman selects you.


    I shook my head to clear that absurd thought right out of my head.


    If a man''s only significant contribution to elf society is their ability to father children, then the women would have to do all of the other work needed to keep that society going. I thought and looked at Maylia, and I realized that she didn''t know who her father was... would never know... and she didn''t care about knowing him, because that was how they had set up their society''s rules. I took off my gloves and held both of her hands.


    ¡°I have so much to teach you.¡± I said sincerely.


    ¡°About what?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°You''ll see.¡± I said and let her hands go as I stood up. ¡°First, I''ll dig out our new sleeping clothes and then I''ll help you get a bath.¡±


    ¡°I am capable of washing myself.¡± Maylia said, a little perturbed.


    ¡°I know you are.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°I just want to see you naked.¡±


    Maylia looked at me with wide eyes for a moment, then she started to untie her cloak. I took out our clothes from the bag of holding and laid them out on the bed, and I heard the clink of her metal breastplate as she put it on the table. I turned around and saw her start to untie all of the little laces on the side of her leather armor top.


    ¡°Hold on, I want to see this with my own eyes.¡± I said and took off my cloak, then I absorbed the Presence barrier around the blast shield over my eyes and slipped it off. Maylia stopped breathing and stared at me with an open mouth as I walked over to her and put the piece of black metal on the table next to her breastplate.


    ¡°H-H-Hunter!¡± Maylia said my name with wonder and awe as she reached up and touched my completely unmarred face with a feather-light touch.


    ¡°We''re going to be spending a lot of time together, so I thought you should know.¡± I said and stepped close to her. She was almost my height, so she got an up close look at my eyes.


    ¡°You''re so handsome.¡± Maylia said and stroked my cheek. ¡°Such beautiful eyes.¡±


    ¡°They were my mothers.¡± I said. ¡°Sapphire blue.¡±


    Maylia moved my head to the side slightly and then back again. ¡°Azure green as well.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°When the light hits them just right, they look green and not blue.¡± Maylia said. ¡°It''s very pretty.¡±


    ¡°M-my father''s eyes were green.¡± I said, and she raised her eyebrows at me. She didn''t know anything about her father, so I kept talking to cover that fact up. ¡°I didn''t know him for very long. I was only four when my parents were killed and I was taken.¡±


    I surprised myself by saying that so brazenly. I hadn''t talked about it in a long time and I saw the concern on her face. I was going to keep talking when she put a hand over my mouth to stop me.


    ¡°I want to discover everything I can about you.¡± Maylia said and then she smiled. ¡°You don''t have to tell me everything right now.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked. ¡°I could probably condense it all down into a few hours.¡±


    Maylia nodded her head. ¡°I need to treat this like a combat situation. Look. Listen. Assess. Attack.¡±


    ¡°Attack?¡± I chuckled and Maylia nodded again. ¡°I can''t wait to see what kind of attack you''re going to come up with.¡±


    Maylia kept her smile and started to untie the laces on her leather armor. I didn''t want to stand there and wait for her, so I started on the other side. Her breathing became heavier as the thick leather loosened and when we were about halfway up her torso, she let out a sigh and lifted it up over her head. She only had a thin sweat-soaked cloth underneath it and rather than leave it on until we removed the rest of her armor, she pulled it off to reveal herself and became topless.


    I looked of course, because I told her I was going to, and I saw the indents in her skin where the leather had dug in and where the armored breastplate had dimpled the leather and her skin in places. A distinct pinkish line was across her breasts just above the nipples where the armor had been, and I couldn''t resist tracing it with a fingertip.


    Maylia didn''t flinch or try to resist me at all as I caressed her firm and slightly distorted mounds. All she did was stand there and let me do what I wanted, and I traced the lines down her sides and to the top of her thick pants. I stared into her eyes the whole time and she stared back at me just as intensely.


    ¡°I thought you said you only wanted to wash up and go to sleep.¡± Maylia said without blinking.


    ¡°I do.¡± I said and brought my hands up to her neck. I rested them on either side and rubbed her collarbone with my thumbs. ¡°I can''t stand here and not pay you any attention, though.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°No, a man has never touched me like that before.¡± Maylia said right away.


    ¡°What about a woman?¡± I asked, and her face flushed to a deep red. ¡°Ah, I was wondering why you didn''t react when I touched the creases.¡±


    ¡°Is that okay?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°It doesn''t ruin this for you, knowing that I''m not some innocent girl that hasn''t had someone touch her?¡±


    I gave her a crooked smile. ¡°I''m only a little nervous that you''ve had experience and I might not live up to your expectations.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have any when it comes to you.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Everything you do is different and exciting and amazing...¡±


    ¡°Whoa, there.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Let''s finish getting undressed before you keep praising me unnecessarily.¡±


    ¡°It''s not unnecessary.¡± Maylia said and started to untie her pants. They had similar laces down the sides starting at her hips and down her thighs. ¡°There hasn''t been anything you''ve done so far that''s been ordinary.¡± She said and I knelt as I started on her other hip. ¡°Even buying normal things from the shops caused a scene and made people happy.¡±


    I couldn''t refute that, so I stayed quiet and kept loosening the laces.


    ¡°If the queen could have seen you using an artifact like you did to kill those creatures, I think she would have done everything she could to convince you to stay.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Why else do you think I didn''t use it?¡± I asked and looked up at her face.


    ¡°That''s why you didn''t use it in front of the princess!¡± Maylia exclaimed, and I nodded.


    ¡°They never would have agreed to let me go if they knew what I could do.¡± I said and tugged on her pants. The thick leather popped open and slid down to her knees. ¡°Oops. We forgot to take your boots off first.¡±


    Maylia chuckled and sat down so I could untie them and slip them off, then her pants came right off. She had a thin cloth underneath the pants and they were mostly soaked as well.


    ¡°Isn''t that uncomfortable?¡± I asked as she slid the cloth down and off her legs to leave herself in just a small pair of underwear.


    ¡°Just the opposite.¡± Maylia said and held the cloth out to me. Even in the state it was in, the cloth was supple and soft. ¡°It''s the best undergarments to have for wearing leather.¡±


    I couldn''t help but reach out and trace the pinkish creases at the tops of her thighs, down the sides where the edge of the leather had dug in, and around her knees.


    ¡°Whatever you wear, you will get marks of some kind, especially wearing them for a few days in a row and doing extensive movements without taking them off.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Like running across the countryside chasing a man.¡± I said with a grin, and she nodded.


    ¡°It used to be much worse. We could only wear protection for a few hours at a time and then had to rest and massage the areas, until we discovered the cloth and started using it.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Now we can go days before it starts to get painful.¡±


    I stood up and looked into her eyes. ¡°Can you teach me how to give the proper massage?¡± I asked. ¡°I know how to give a massage where I come from; but, I don''t know how to massage these creases out.¡±


    ¡°I''ll do yours and then you can do mine.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Let''s get your armor off, too.¡±


    ¡°That''s not going to work for me.¡± I said and quickly took off my uniform top and hung it on the back of one of the chairs. While she was distracted, I slipped my not-working wrist communicator into the bag of holding. Maylia turned from the uniform coat and marvelled at my long sleeved t-shirt while I pulled it up and off over my head. She caught her breath when she saw the mass of scars in a circular pattern around my heart and her hand immediately reached out to trace them.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°That''s a story I can tell you while we wash up.¡± I said and took off the uniform pants and laid them on the chair seat. I stood there in just my underwear and Maylia looked me over closely. She checked my elbows, my armpits, my sides, my hips and thighs, and then my knees.


    ¡°You don''t have any creases!¡± Maylia said, completely surprised. ¡°What kind of armor doesn''t leave creases?¡±


    ¡°Partially ineffectual armor.¡± I said. ¡°You saw how it reacted when I fought the princess.¡±


    ¡°It withstood her enchanted blade! How can it not have dug into you when that happened?¡± Maylia asked and checked my arm where I had held off the blade. ¡°There''s not even a mark!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, only if the blade hit the metal.¡± I said and held up the elbow of the uniform where the blade had cut through it and the wires there. It had just barely missed my elbow in the process. ¡°Otherwise, it''s just strong thick leather.¡±


    ¡°My people would kill for this kind of leather.¡± Maylia rubbed the cloth. ¡°Where did you get it?¡±


    ¡°Very, very far away from here.¡± I said and knew it was true.


    ¡°Can it be repaired?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± I said. ¡°But, I can worry about that later. First things first.¡± I took her hand and led her over to the bathroom and started to fill the tub. At least they have running hot water. I thought, relieved.


    ¡°Are you washing first?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°No, I''ll help you.¡± I said and checked the water as the tub quickly filled. ¡°I want to rub you all over, so I''m using the excuse that we need to try the soap we bought.¡±


    Maylia touched my shoulder and I turned to look at her. ¡°Can I use that excuse, too?¡±


    ¡°Of course you can.¡± I said with a smile and turned off the water, then got the soap and a soft cloth out of the bag of holding. ¡°One good scrubbing coming up.¡±


    Maylia nodded and took off her underwear, and I saw a very thick bush of blonde hair. She stepped into the tub and sat down and rested her head on the rim as she closed her eyes. I dipped the soap into the water and lathered my hands and the soft cloth up, then picked up her arm and started to wash her. I did both arms and both legs, and she relaxed almost completely as her breath came out in a slow and steady rhythm. She didn''t react when I moved on to her torso and washed her thoroughly.


    I guess she really does have a lot of experience with things like this. I thought as I finished up and swished the water over her exposed skin to rinse it off. Maylia took the cue and stood up so I could rinse off the rest of her, then she stepped out of the tub onto the floor and dripped all over the place.


    I laughed and grabbed a towel and gave her a quick once-over to get all the large drips, then I turned the towel over and dried her off properly. During that part she stared at me as if I was doing something she hadn''t seen before, so I worked my way up her body and stopped at her neck. She grabbed my hands and the towel when I was done.


    ¡°Your turn.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°I need to empty the...¡±


    ¡°Don''t waste the water.¡± Maylia said and motioned to the tub. ¡°It''s still soapy, so the water''s still good for soaking.¡±


    I was used to taking quick showers, so I wasn''t sure if that was true or not. The Presence didn''t waver, though. I took off my underwear and climbed into the tub.


    When in Rome. I thought and Maylia took the soap and lathered up her hands and the cloth like I did and she told me to close my eyes. I laid back like she had and rested my head on the tub edge and closed my eyes. Her fingers touched the scars around my heart and she rubbed them.


    ¡°Tell me about this.¡± Maylia said, then she scrubbed my chest as if I had breasts. I held in my laugh as I realized she hadn''t ever scrubbed a man before. I used a mental technique to clear my mind, then told her about meeting Ozahith and what happened to her. I left out the communication device, though. She kept washing me as I spoke, and when I was done, I stood up and she rinsed me off. I pointed to another towel and she dried me off a little, as if she didn''t know how to do it, so I took it from her and dried off properly, which showed her how to do it.


    I stepped out of the tub and dried my legs and feet off to leave myself completely clean and dry. Maylia didn''t say anything and I could see her thinking about the story I had told her, so I pointed to her hair and then the tub. She nodded and untied her hair and we washed her hair with the soap to clean it and then dried it. She didn''t tie it up and just left it, then we did my hair. It was cleaned and dried as quickly as hers was, then I led her over to the bed.


    I took a hairbrush out of the bag of holding and Maylia looked at me like I was going to do something amazing and I chuckled and had her sit on the bed. She did so and I brushed her hair out like Luxea had taught me, and finished at the top of her head a few minutes later. She reached back for the hairbrush and I handed it over, then we switched places and she did the same thing. She seemed a lot more relaxed about doing it to me than I thought she should be, with me being a man and all.


    Maylia didn''t comment when she finished and just handed me the hairbrush to put back into the bag of holding. I had bought extra hair ties, so we tied up each other''s hair with new ones to keep it up and out of the way. I helped her get dressed in the simple nightgown and underwear I had set out before the bath and I put on a pair of underwear and the man''s version of a nightgown. I looked ridiculous in the thing; but, they didn''t have pyjamas and only had these things to sleep in, so that was what I wore.


    I folded down the blankets and held a hand out to Maylia. She breathed in and let it out, took my hand, and climbed into bed. I climbed in beside her and didn''t cover up with the blankets.


    ¡°Should I do the massage on you now?¡± I asked, unsure.


    ¡°It can wait until morning.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked. ¡°I don''t mind doing it now, in case your muscles get stiff after not taking care of it all night.¡±


    She turned to face me on her side. ¡°It''s going to be odd enough that I''m staying in bed with a man and we aren''t going to mate.¡± She smiled. ¡°I don''t know if I can take being massaged first and then trying to go to sleep beside you afterwards.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Okay, that''s a good enough reason.¡±


    Maylia nodded and rolled onto her back again as I covered us with the blankets up to our chests. ¡°I''m kind of used to cuddling my bed sister, so don''t be scared if you feel me touching you tonight.¡±


    I turned my head and looked at her. ¡°I was about to say the same thing.¡±


    ¡°You were?¡± Maylia asked, surprised.


    ¡°Luxea and I shared a bed for several months, mainly because we liked each other''s company.¡± I said.


    Maylia nodded. ¡°It''s nice to have a warm body to cuddle with.¡±


    ¡°Since I was a child, I''ve almost always had someone else in the bed with me.¡± I said.


    ¡°Me, too.¡± Maylia said and shimmied over slightly. I smiled and reached for her and pulled her over the rest of the way. She only raised her eyebrows for a moment and then hugged me tightly.


    ¡°Just don''t freak out that I don''t have soft breasts to rest your head on.¡± I said jokingly.


    Maylia didn''t say anything as she slid a hand up to the mass of scars around my heart and gave my pectoral muscle a squeeze, then she sighed and cuddled in and closed her eyes. I looked down at a woman I had only met a few days ago, under questionable circumstances, and now I was cuddled up in bed with her.


    I sure have had a strange life so far. I thought and used a mental technique to enter a meditative state that would let me wake in an instant if necessary. I was definitely more tired than I had thought I was and fell asleep barely a few seconds later.

 Book Two: The Summoned 018

    I slept surprisingly well, considering the situation I was in. I half-expected to be tossing and turning for most of the night over my concern for my friends and the possibility that I might not get back to them soon, or at all. I was worried about that; but, it didn''t seem like a huge deal at the moment. That thought made me wake up fully and think about it. I went over my thoughts and I couldn''t find any outside influence on my mind, so I had to assume that whatever happened to me that sent me here had given me a compulsion of some kind.


    I didn''t try to fight it, because if I started to obsess over it, all I would manage to do is give myself extra stress about it. Like Maylia had reminded me, I can''t give up my hopes until I reach the capital of this country and find out for myself if there is any technology to be had. I had to wait until then before I start freaking out about everything that''s happened so far. I felt someone move through my detection range and come up the stairs, and I looked to see a young woman knock on the first room.


    They said something and moved across the hall to the other door and knocked and spoke, then moved back across the hall to our door and knocked. ¡°Breakfast.¡± She didn''t wait for a response and moved on down the hall and knocked on the other doors.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Maylia said and lifted her head to look at me. ¡°It''s morning already?¡±


    ¡°Didn''t you sleep well?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I was sleeping well.¡± Maylia said and put her head back down on my chest and closed her eyes.


    ¡°Do we want to miss breakfast?¡± I asked, and she sighed.


    ¡°No, I guess we shouldn''t.¡± Maylia said and reluctantly sat up. ¡°I''d rather stay in bed; but, we need to eat and get going if we want to make it to the harbour by noon.¡±


    I reached up and cupped the side of her face. ¡°There''s no rush. We''ll have two weeks to rest on the boat ride to the capital.¡±


    ¡°We''re actually taking a ship?¡± Maylia asked, surprised. ¡°I thought we were just getting there as a destination point to head in the right direction to the capital.¡±


    ¡°I was going to, because I wouldn''t mind running all the way just for the exercise, then I figured we could find some kind of transport instead.¡± I said and sat up myself. ¡°There''s no real reason to exhaust ourselves by going there in a rush.¡±


    We got up and picked out a normal outfit to wear to breakfast. I wasn''t stupid enough to leave our things in the room and packed everything we had into the bag of holding, except for my blast shield. That I put on and covered in solid Presence to make it look like it was embedded into my skull.


    ¡°That is so odd.¡± Maylia said and touched it. ¡°It even feels like it''s attached.¡±


    ¡°It actually is now.¡± I said and she dragged her fingers down my cheek to my chin, held it for a moment, then let go. ¡°That''s why Ari and Nita struggled to try and get it off.¡±


    ¡°You need to choose to let it come off?¡± Maylia asked, and I nodded. ¡°Who else has seen your eyes without that in the way?¡±


    ¡°Only a few people since I started wearing it.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t normally take it off for just anyone.¡±


    Maylia gave me a brief smile and then we left the room to go downstairs for breakfast. A few people were there at the small tables, including Hoquan and his family.


    ¡°I see you made it out of bed in once piece and... what in the seven hells is that thing on your face?!?¡± Hoquan exclaimed as he saw the blast shield and everyone in the inn turned and looked at me. Several women gasped and a young girl serving food dropped a plate. It didn''t break.


    ¡°Hoquan!¡± Margaret whacked him on the shoulder. ¡°That''s not nice to point out!¡±


    ¡°Dammit, woman!¡± Hoquan rubbed his shoulder. ¡°He''s disfigured and it surprised me, all right?¡±


    ¡°Now you know why I wear the cloaked hood all the time.¡± I said. ¡°How''s the food?¡±


    ¡°It''s great because it''s free.¡± Hoquan said with a chuckle. ¡°I''d pay a copper for the family to eat here, if they served food to non-guests.¡±


    ¡°Considering your wife''s cooking, that''s high praise.¡± I said, and Margaret''s face flushed red. I held a chair out at the next table for Maylia, and she sat with poise.


    ¡°Hey, no making time with my wife.¡± Hoquan said and laughed as I sat down near him. ¡°She''s got all the man in her life that she can handle right now.¡±


    ¡°Hoquan!¡± Margaret said as her face went a brighter red.


    ¡°Don''t be embarrassed, Ma''am.¡± I said, intentionally giving her the high society label in public. ¡°I know he means you''ve devoted yourself to him completely and that means a man like me wouldn''t have a chance with you.¡±


    Everyone''s attention shifted from me to her, and her whole face turned blood red and she ducked her head in embarrassment. The young girl that dropped the plate came over to our table with two plates of food and stood between me and Hoquan''s table as she stared at my face.


    I reached up and tapped the blast shield with my finger. ¡°Yes, it''s metal.¡±


    ¡°How can you see?¡± She asked. ¡°Is it magic?¡±


    ¡°I''ve trained myself to see without my eyes.¡± I said, and she gasped. ¡°Even though I''m not looking at him, I can see that Joquim is sneaking a bun from the bowl on his table to save for later.¡±


    Everyone''s eyes shifted to Joquim and saw that he had a bun half-tucked into his pants pocket. Mumbles started as people discussed how I could have seen it, since the girl stood between our tables.


    ¡°Are your buns that good?¡± I asked with a smile. She looked to be about fifteen years old and her body was only slightly developed, and yet she completely understood my innuendo and her face flushed red.


    ¡°Hey, don''t be teasing my girls.¡± A woman came over with glasses of water for us. ¡°She''s only fifteen and is too young for adult games, anyway.¡±


    ¡°I had my seventeenth birthday a couple of weeks ago.¡± I said and she dropped the two glasses in shock. I easily caught them with Presence Hands and put them on the table. Complete silence met my words and my actions.


    ¡°You''re really only seventeen?¡± Maylia asked, shocked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°I had a huge growth spurt when I turned fifteen and now I''m about six feet tall.¡±


    ¡°And muscled.¡± The young girl said before she could stop herself. The basic pants and shirt I wore didn''t hide much of my physique like the uniform did, so when I moved, you could see a lot more of my muscles.


    ¡°I''ve been training for most of my life.¡± I said.


    ¡°It really shows.¡± The woman said, and I was a little surprised she didn''t question my age. ¡°I saw the creatures you caught for the mayor.¡±


    ¡°We all have.¡± The young girl said.


    ¡°Are they cleaning them out and hanging them in the town square like Gill said?¡± I asked and started to eat. Hoquan was right and the food was actually pretty good. Maylia stared at me for a few more moments, then she started to eat as well.


    ¡°No, they''re trying to figure out how to get the blacksmith and the leather worker to cooperate to make armor plates out of them.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I smiled my understanding. ¡°They compete for business a lot, don''t they?¡±


    ¡°Like an old married couple that hates each other.¡± The woman barked a laugh.


    ¡°I''m sure they''ll work something out, especially if there''s money to be made by both of them.¡± I said.


    ¡°True, true.¡± She nodded, then glanced at her daughter that still stood there staring at me. ¡°There are other tables.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± The girl looked at her mother in confusion, then she kind of jumped. ¡°I''ll go check them!¡±


    When the girl walked away, the woman bent close to me to whisper. ¡°I don''t want any adventurer playing with her, even if you are close to her age. Understand?¡±


    ¡°You have my word.¡± I whispered back. ¡°I was surprised she was smart enough to understand what I meant, actually.¡±


    The woman squinted her eyes at me and looked like she was about to get angry.


    ¡°Don''t misunderstand.¡± I whispered. ¡°I meant she''s very intelligent, especially at her age, to pick up on the implications.¡±


    The woman''s face smoothed over and she stood up straight. ¡°So are you.¡±


    ¡°I''ve had to be to survive.¡± I said and glanced at Maylia. ¡°My knowledge is still severely lacking, so I''ve recruited some help to compensate.¡±


    ¡°You are still a child.¡± Maylia said and sighed a little. ¡°I''ll do what I can.¡±


    I turned my head and looked at the woman. ¡°Where can we get clothes washed or wash them ourselves?¡±


    ¡°Just use the tub before you drain it.¡± The woman said. ¡°Or leave the tub and we''ll drain it when we clean the room at noon.¡±


    ¡°I assume that''s the checkout time.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    She walked away and I finished eating breakfast, as did Maylia, and I bid Hoquan and his family a good day. They waved as we left the dining room and we went up the stairs to our room. We had about five hours to wash and dry our clothes that needed it, so I took them out of the bag of holding and Maylia and I soaped them up and scrubbed them while my uniform and her leather armor were hung on the chairs to air out.


    We hung the wet clothes on the line above the tub where I thought the shower curtain was missing or something, and it was actually a line for hanging wet clothes after washing them in the tub. After we hung them up to dry, Maylia reminded me about the massage she needed. She stripped off and seemed a little distant, so when she laid down on the bed and started to instruct me on the proper technique to use, I took the opportunity to confront her when she was done talking.


    ¡°You''re upset that I''m so young, aren''t you?¡± I asked and started doing what she instructed.


    Maylia sighed and nodded. ¡°Men aren''t considered for child bearing until they are over fifty, even if they show unnatural abilities.¡±


    ¡°Would it help if I told you I was eighteen when I died the first time?¡±


    ¡°Wh-wh-WHAT?!?¡±


    ¡°I was born on a planet called Earth, lost my parents before I even knew them, then grew up in an orphanage.¡± I said. ¡°That''s a place for parentless children.¡±


    Maylia stared at me with wide eyes and her mouth slightly open.


    ¡°I lived a normal life for eighteen years, then I was kidnapped and tortured for months.¡± I said and used a mental technique so that I wouldn''t have those thoughts and experiences going through my mind and kept busy working over the pink creases in her skin. ¡°Then I was killed.¡±


    Maylia didn''t say anything in response, so I continued.


    ¡°I was reborn to my parents, Aida and Lokend, who were on the run from an organization called The Order. I loved them and lived with them for four years, until they were caught and killed. I was taken to The Order''s home world against my will and trained to become one of their agents for seven years.¡±


    Maylia was listening to me intently at this point, so I kept going.


    ¡°I met Lashina then, when they took my caregiver away and I destroyed where I had lived. I graduated from their program a year later, four years early, and they wouldn''t let me leave.¡± I said. ¡°That''s when Kara showed up and declared herself my ''master''.¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡± Maylia said and sat up to take my hand.


    ¡°I was treated as a servant and taught by her for four more years until my sixteenth birthday.¡± I said. ¡°Of course, I had been telling them the whole time I hated the organization and that I would never join, so instead of giving me the coming of age ceremony to make me an adult, they tried to send me on a dangerous mission to have me killed instead.¡±


    ¡°Tell me you killed them all.¡± Maylia said, her eyes full of anger.


    ¡°I was about to, then I found out my property was stolen and I had to coerce them to tell me how to get them back.¡± I said. ¡°I gave my word that I would let them go if they told me, and they did.¡±


    ¡°Being a good man hurt you that time.¡± Maylia said, quite accurately, and I nodded.


    ¡°It took me a year to track down who I needed to find, met up with Lashina and celebrated my birthday with her for a week, then left her and confronted the man and killed him.¡± I said. ¡°I thought my task was done, then Kara showed up and we fought.¡±


    ¡°With the artifacts.¡± Maylia said, and I nodded.


    ¡°She was... really powerful.¡± I said, disappointed. ¡°I had been overconfident and thought she had shown me everything she could do, and I was proven a fool. She tossed me around and played with me, then ran me through with her weapon.¡±


    Maylia gasped and gripped my hand tightly.


    ¡°That''s why I thought I was dead.¡± I said and pointed the the spot. ¡°Imagine that round hole in the tree through here. I woke up in the protection tree, and you pretty much know the rest.¡±


    Maylia pulled me to her and gave me a kiss on the lips. She only held it for a moment and pulled away slightly, then she laid down and pulled me down on top of her. It was my turn to cuddle into her chest and she held me for quite some time. Neither of us spoke as we laid there and let the time pass us by.


    After a while and without a word, we both got up and checked our things. They were dry for the most part, so I used Presence to isolate the water and pulled it out of the slightly damp cloth. Maylia wasn''t surprised as the excess water dropped into the tub and I handed her things to her. We both changed out of our normal outfits and put on our fighting uniforms. I finished faster, since she had so many laces to do up, and I helped tie her into her thick leather armor.


    I used a slight bit of Presence over certain spots to ease the chafing of the armor and to stop it from digging in, then helped her put on the thick leather top and tied her into that as well. As I did so, I had the bright idea to make cups for her breasts out of Presence and made them solid. She caught her breath as her breasts were enveloped and she looked down at them.


    ¡°I didn''t like those pinkish crease lines.¡± I said and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°It''s not armor; but, it will stop your armor from digging in like it does.¡±


    Maylia nodded and we strapped her breastplate on, then attached her arm bracers and slipped on her boots and tied them. With that done and both of us dressed with our weapons on our hips, we put on our cloaks and raised the hoods to cover our heads. I let the water out of the tub, stored our other clothes and nightgowns into the bag of holding, then we left the room. We went down the stairs and stopped at the desk, and the woman from breakfast was behind it.


    ¡°Thanks for the tip about washing clothes.¡± I said and put several copper coins on the counter. ¡°Have a nice day.¡±


    She looked at the coins and then at me. ¡°But... but you could stay here for...¡±


    ¡°You can pretend we are if you want to.¡± I said with one of my best smiles and she stopped talking. I took Maylia''s hand and walked out of the inn. We didn''t have to look around to see where to go, since we had looked all around the town the day before, so we walked right over to the edge of town that led to the road to take us to the harbour about eighty or so miles away. Some of the townspeople waved or said hello as we passed them, and a few minutes later, we came to the guard house on that side of town.


    ¡°If you see any more monsters, take care of them for us!¡± The guard said from the roof.


    ¡°As long as you can pay!¡± I said back, and he laughed because he knew we had spent most of the bounty in the town already.


    When we were far enough away, I started to teach Maylia how to properly use her energy to share in the Mana Presence Run technique. She listened attentively and asked the right questions when I thought she didn''t understand, and her ability to share and boost our combined energy increased by a significant margin. When we ran, we were that much faster, and that made her very happy.


    ¡°So, does this mean you don''t hold my age against me anymore?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You are a reincarnated soul and have been granted a new life by divine intervention.¡± Maylia said, her voice full of confidence and resolve. ¡°I''ve heard your story and know it to be true, so I can only praise god for having a hand in everything you''ve done.¡±


    ¡°I''ve done some bad things, too.¡± I said. ¡°I was a bounty hunter and...¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± Maylia said. ¡°You are a good man even after everything you''ve been through.¡± She said and then she smiled. ¡°Thirty five isn''t that far from fifty.¡±


    That last comment made me laugh and she laughed, too. We ran for a good portion of the day to reach the harbour, and I was surprised that a boat ride to the capital was only a little more expensive than sleeping in an inn for the night, even though it was a two week trip. When I asked how much their best cabin was, the woman at the desk told me. I paid it without even haggling, and she practically jumped over the desk to hug me.


    She took us out to the ship and said it was leaving right after supper and introduced us to the captain. We were going to be eating at his table apparently, and he was more than happy to hear that. He had a deckhand show us to our room and it was huge by comparison to the inn.


    ¡°Okay, I could get used to this.¡± I said and sat on the bed.


    ¡°This isn''t a pleasure trip.¡± Maylia said. ¡°We''re going to the capital because...¡±


    ¡°Hold on. Who said this wasn''t a pleasure trip?¡± I asked and took off my blast shield.


    ¡°Hunter, I just assumed that...¡±


    ¡°I''ve got you pretty much all alone on a ship for two whole weeks, with nothing to do except spend the time with you.¡± I said with a smile and held a hand out to her. ¡°Why would you think I wouldn''t enjoy that?¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Maylia stopped talking and walked over to me. I stood up and she took my hand. I turned her around and sat her down on the bed, then eased her back to lay down. I took a step away, then tried to step forward and intentionally tripped over my own foot. She let out a little squeal of surprise and caught me with open arms and held me steady.


    ¡°Oh, look. I tripped and fell on top of you.¡± I said, and that made her remember what I said when I carried the first creature''s carcass to the town.


    Maylia had to smile at that. ¡°You did say you would make sure to do it later.¡±


    ¡°And you said you couldn''t catch me.¡± I said and looked into her eyes for several moments. As if on cue, she licked her lips in anticipation, so I couldn''t let her wait any longer and kissed her.

 Book Two: The Summoned 019

    Hunter had seriously thought about stripping Maylia off and having his way with her right then and there, and she seemed completely open to that idea. The only problem was, he wanted to have fun with her so they would both enjoy it, and she thought it was a mechanical process that only led to children. He knew he would definitely enjoy it a lot by being with such a beautiful woman that had a great body, and yet he also knew that she didn''t expect to get anything out of it except the chance to have a child.


    Maylia on the other hand, knew perfectly well that he was going to have fun with her body, as any man would, and she had automatically put herself into a passive state to let him do what he wanted. She wasn''t going to react at all, either emotionally or physically, as she waited for it to be over.


    It was quite the conundrum for Hunter to figure out.


    ¡°Maylia.¡± Hunter said and she didn''t say anything. ¡°MAYLIA!¡±


    ¡°Hm? What?¡± Maylia blinked her eyes at him and lifted her head up. ¡°What is it? Is it over?¡±


    ¡°Over? I haven''t even started yet.¡± Hunter said.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Maylia responded and her eyes glazed over as she laid back down.


    ¡°Stop doing that.¡± Hunter said and she blinked her eyes at him again and looked at him. ¡°Remember what I said before about teaching you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and you''ve already taught me an important technique that has helped me immensely.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''m going to start teaching you something else that''s just as important.¡± Hunter said with a smile. ¡°I''m going to teach you what it''s going to be like to be with a real man.¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°I know you don''t; but, you will.¡± Hunter said. ¡°You definitely will.¡±


    Hunter took his time undressing her and kept telling her that she had to pay attention, since it was a lesson and she needed to know these important things. That stopped Maylia''s eyes from glazing over and he started to give her a real massage like he would for Luxea or Lashina. He did her entire body, right down to her fingers and toes, and she had watched him intensely the whole time. She was physically relaxed and mentally alert after a full body massage, so he started to kiss, lick, and suck on her as he worked his way back up her body towards her face.


    Maylia had giggled a few times, despite trying to pay attention to the strangest lesson she had ever had. No one had ever taught her anything like it before and her mind reeled a few times when he touched her in certain places with his fingers and then his lips and tongue. She had no idea why she was reacting the way she was and she fought against those weird feelings.


    Hunter knew she was struggling with how he was making her feel, so he kept reinforcing that it was a lesson and she needed to pay attention because he would be asking her about it later. He gave her a brief kiss on the lips when he finally reached her face, then he moved all the way back down between her legs and emphasized that this was a very important step.


    Maylia nodded and watched him closely, so he gathered a very small amount of Presence and mana into his mouth and tongue and kissed her there. It sent a shock wave up her body and she almost screamed at the sensation as her body locked up briefly. She threw her head back a moment later and writhed on the bed and she couldn''t think straight anymore. Her body betrayed all of her training and reacted as if it had a mind of its own, and she didn''t care, as long as Hunter kept teaching her this very scary and quite wonderful lesson.


    *


    Kara, Jessica, Steven and Josh knew that they had about a week and a half before they reached the protective barrier around the elves lands, and yet Kara insisted that they keep checking every afternoon to see where they were in relation to Hunter. Unfortunately, as the days passed and Kara fought various monsters, the dried blood on her hand began to disintegrate, even with the protective Presence she had put around it. Just the movement of her hand made it crumble now, and the last little bit of blood that was left was used to cast the locate spell one more time.


    Kara was very pleased that the last time they had checked, Hunter''s position was very close to the barrier and he was moving towards it. His position didn''t really change much before that, and it had worried both her and Jessica. Evangeline cast the locate spell and only a tiny bit of the blood glowed slightly. The bubble formed and Josh didn''t wait for her to struggle before he added his hand into the mix. He had learned a bit of control now and the bubble only expanded out to double its normal size.


    The scene inside the bubble showed more and more of the countryside until it showed the same thing it had each time. The First, Second, and Third Kingdoms appeared as did the elves lands with the protective barrier around it. Hunter was right next to the barrier and Kara nodded, then suddenly Hunter slid out through the barrier to the outside. Evangeline and Aimee gasped at the sight and couldn''t explain how he had gotten out.


    ¡°It''s supposed to be an impenetrable barrier.¡± Aimee said, surprised. ¡°No one can get through it.¡±


    ¡°Hunter did.¡± Jessica said, happily. ¡°Look, now he''s moving away... and... is this right?¡± She looked at the bubble and then at Evangeline. ¡°He''s moving really fast!¡±


    ¡°Wouldn''t you run away from there?¡± Josh asked. ¡°From what I''ve heard about the elves, it sounded like a nightmare.¡±


    Evangeline and Aimee nodded agreement, Steven looked undecided, and Kara smiled.


    ¡°He got out and it looks like he''s moving towards us.¡± Kara said. ¡°How long can we use this spell to watch...¡± The bubble started to fizzle and fade as she spoke, the last bit of blood on her hand stopped glowing and disintegrated, then the bubble popped.


    ¡°About that long.¡± Josh said and chuckled.


    Kara dismissed the Presence from her hand and looked at the others. ¡°Now we know we don''t have to worry about trying to get through the barrier. All we need to do is meet Hunter on the way.¡±


    ¡°This is a big country.¡± Steven said. ¡°It was going to take us two weeks in a fast carriage to get to the barrier. How are we going to find him if he''s not at the barrier anymore?¡±


    Kara smiled a predatory smile. ¡°I''ve found him before, and in a much larger area. I can find him again.¡±


    ¡°I wish I had your confidence.¡± Jessica said.


    Kara turned and looked at her. ¡°You found him again after losing him already, didn''t you?¡± She asked. ¡°What were the odds that would happen?¡±


    Jessica opened her mouth to say that it was different and it took the help of a Goddess to find him, then her eyes lit up with happiness. ¡°We can ask the Goddess for help!¡±


    ¡°When the time comes, with her Sorcerer Priest and a couple of the Acolytes of Light with us, we can pray for guidance and ask her directly.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Then let''s get moving.¡± Jessica said and motioned to the carriage. ¡°We can travel for another couple of days to get us about halfway to the barrier, then we can ask for guidance.¡±


    ¡°We should be a lot closer to him by then.¡± Josh said and helped them climb back into the carriage. ¡°Perhaps the Guidance spell will work like the last time and show us where to go and what to do.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure it will.¡± Evangeline said, confidently. ¡°We''ll need to write out the chant for Jessica and Kara to read.¡±


    ¡°Not me?¡± Steven asked as he climbed into the carriage himself.


    ¡°Please don''t be offended.¡± Evangeline said. ¡°Your... attitude towards the Goddess is...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Steven said. ¡°We didn''t start off well and I''ve asked Josh to help me to try and make it up to her.¡±


    ¡°I know she knows you''re trying; but, you would interfere more than you would help right now.¡± Evangeline said, then she smiled sweetly. ¡°I''m sure Josh can get her to accept you completely and forgive you by the time we get there, then you can participate and ask for guidance with the rest of us.¡±


    Steven nodded and Josh climbed in and closed the door. The kid that was their guide told the driver the best road to take to get to the next spot with monsters for them to fight and the driver drove the carriage there. Kara and Jessica''s bags of holding were getting heavier from all of the carcasses they were carrying, and that had surprised them. They had lost count of how many monsters they had killed so far and the name of the Goddess Chaiya spread from the selfless deeds of her emissaries.


    The next three days passed by quickly and as the week came to an end and they reached the area they believed was about halfway to the elf lands, they stopped at a town and rented rooms at an inn. Once there, they settled in to clean themselves and to prepare for the ritual to ask for guidance. The one who had made the biggest turn around was Steven, and he had personally asked for forgiveness from the Goddess Chaiya for his behaviour and was filled with calmness and acceptance.


    With all of them ready, in fresh white robes, they gathered in Josh''s room and were given sheets with the proper chants on them. It didn''t take long for them to find a steady and even rhythm with Evangeline and Aimee there to coach them, then the mana started to flow and Josh cast the spell.


    *


    Hunter and Maylia had been on the ship for a couple of days by this point, and yet they still didn''t have intercourse. Maylia still went passive when he tried to broach the subject or go further than foreplay, so he figured it was going to take more than a few days of teasing and playing to get her over her body''s ingrained and probably intensely trained reaction to sex.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Hunter had taught her several other things as well, to her delight, which included the mental technique to calm her thoughts. She caught onto it fairly quickly, mainly because as a guard, she had trained her mind to accept those types of techniques. Hunter was tempted to teach her all about Presence first; but, he realized she had lived for almost a hundred years with only mana and decided to use that instead as the basis for her training. It didn''t take him long to adapt his Mana Presence Detection technique for mana use only and started to teach it to her.


    Maylia had been amazed that such a technique even existed, then her mind accepted it as fact when she started to see the wisps of green mana around certain things, especially herself and Hunter. Once she understood that mana could be a part of most things, even in minuscule amounts, she slowly allowed the technique to adapt to her sight like Hunter had done with both Presence and mana. Since he hadn''t perfected the technique for mana himself, they actually learned it and became better users of it together.


    Hunter and Maylia sat at the captain''s table for supper and were enjoying both the food and the captain''s company when they felt a waver in the mana around them. Both of them were alerted by that and held in their surprise and didn''t let it show. It wasn''t until Hunter felt the Presence waver as well that he couldn''t ignore it. He stood up and looked at Maylia, then at the captain.


    ¡°I''m sorry if this seems rude; but, Maylia and I need to step outside.¡± Hunter said and held a hand out to Maylia. She took it without hesitation and stood. ¡°Please excuse us.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± The captain said and stood himself. ¡°Let me know if it''s something that needs my attention as well.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Hunter said and led Maylia out of the small dining room and out onto the deck.


    *


    ¡°Hunter, what is it?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°I felt the flow of mana shifting slightly.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and the Presence shifted as well.¡± I said, and her eyes widened.


    ¡°That means...¡±


    ¡°Yes, someone who knows about me is looking for me.¡±


    ¡°Why would the mana move, though?¡± Maylia asked, and we stood quietly as we thought about it. ¡°It must be a spell of some kind.¡± She said a few minutes later. ¡°That would explain the mana use as well as the Presence.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been masking my Presence this whole time, and yet it still found me, whatever it was.¡± I said, concern in my voice.


    Maylia turned and looked at me. ¡°Hunter, you don''t think... could it be...¡±


    ¡°No, I killed him and annihilated his Presence. Even if someone somehow resurrected his body and granted him another life, it still wouldn''t be him.¡±


    ¡°That''s a relief.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I''d need to kill him if he did come back. ¡±


    I smiled at her and squeezed her hand slightly. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Maylia nodded and we turned to stare out at the farmlands we were currently passing. A large forest was coming up, and we both decided we needed more practice with detect mana, so I pointed and told her we should share energy while we looked.


    ¡°You''re worried about an ambush, aren''t you?¡± Maylia asked as she activated her technique and I nodded as I activated mine.


    ¡°Especially after what we felt just now.¡± I said and concentrated on combining our energies together and let it pour out into our combined detection range. Thankfully, her more extensive use of mana helped me refine my own mana techniques and it let me see more details and discern the effects the different states of mana had on things. I could give them different shades of green now, instead of it all being the same color, which definitely helped my mind process it all.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Maylia said and I felt her shift her attention and followed it myself. ¡°We''re going to have company.¡±


    ¡°We should tell the captain.¡± I said and led her into the dining room. ¡°Captain, there are creatures that I can only describe as humanoid frogs just inside the forest up ahead.¡±


    ¡°Are they in the water or on land?¡± The captain asked and stood.


    ¡°Both.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, damn!¡± The captain said and ran from the dining room. We followed him to the wheelhouse and he pulled a wire. A loud blaring noise broke the serene calm on the ship and everyone came out from wherever they were. The other couple of passengers, the deckhands, and even the people that kept the steam engine going were up on deck.


    The captain stepped out of the wheelhouse and looked at their faces. ¡°We''ve got breeglecots in the water up ahead.¡±


    ¡°Abandon ship!¡± One of the deckhands yelled and ran over to the side and used the ropes to start lowering the small rowboat into the water. The other deckhands went to the other side and lowered the other boat and people started climbing down to them.


    ¡°Is that really necessary?¡± I asked. ¡°Aren''t they...¡±


    ¡°You need to understand their tactics.¡± The captain said. ¡°If they were on the land, they''d throw spears and we could probably speed past them.¡± He said. ¡°If they are in the water, they already have floating ammunition for their...¡±


    CRASH!


    The ship rocked to the side slightly as something hit the bow of the ship.


    ¡°Go! Get to the boats!¡± The captain said and went back into the wheelhouse. ¡°I doubt we''ll stay afloat for much longer.¡± He held the wheel steady so the people could finish leaving the boat safely.


    I looked at Maylia and she looked back at me. ¡°Should we?¡±


    ¡°Well, we are adventurers now.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Do you think you can block the front of the boat?¡±


    ¡°I can try.¡± I said, and we ran to the front of the boat and ignored the people that tried to tell us to leave and not to throw our lives away. I looked down and saw a two foot wide tree trunk sticking out of the side of the boat and water poured into the hull. I formed Presence over the hole and made it solid, and that mostly stopped the water. I couldn''t completely seal it, since the tree trunk was porous and the wooden planks of the hull were bent slightly for about ten feet or so on either side of the damage. I didn''t want to pull the log out and possibly make the hole bigger, so I did what I could to mitigate the damage.


    ¡°Another one!¡± Maylia said. ¡°Follow the mana trail in the water!¡±


    I looked in the right direction and she was right. They were using mana somehow to launch the logs through the water like torpedoes. The logs themselves didn''t have mana and only a small amount of Presence in them, which was why I had missed the first one as it approached. Now that I knew what to look for, I used a Presence Hand in the water to catch the projectile. There was a splash in the water and then suddenly there were two more large tree trunks coming towards the boat.


    I turned the tree trunk I had caught around and pushed it forward as hard as I could towards the frogs, then used that Presence Hand and another to catch the incoming logs, turned them around and pushed them at the frogs, too. A dozen more splashes happened as the first log slammed into whatever it was they were launching the logs from, then the other two logs rammed through the splashing water.


    Three of the humanoid frogs managed to jump out of the water and get out of the way. The ones on the land opened their large mouths and really loud squeals and squeaks came out. It made me laugh.


    ¡°Okay, that''s the funniest thing I''ve ever seen! A five foot tall frog that squeaks! Ha ha!¡±


    ¡°Hunter, this is serious.¡± Maylia said, and I could see her trying to hide her smile.


    ¡°All right.¡± I chuckled and took one of the elves quivers out of my bag of holding and used Presence Hands to take four of the arrows and ''threw'' them at the frogs. What I really did was use the Presence Hands to stab them with the arrows. The frogs didn''t stop squeaking and several of them picked up spears. I pulled the arrows out of the first frogs and quickly used them to stab each of the other frogs in the arms.


    They tried to fend off the arrows, since they only annoyed them and didn''t kill them. I was only trying to distract them to give myself an opening, then used a fifth arrow to stab their chests. By the time the ship was empty and the passengers had gotten away safely, the ship came to a stop barely thirty feet away from the bodies of the humanoid frogs.


    ¡°How in the seven hells are we still afloat?¡± The captain came out of the wheelhouse and came over to us. ¡°I know I felt us be rammed. I know I did!¡±


    I pointed down to show him, and he leaned over the side of the ship and sighed.


    ¡°Why aren''t we sinking?¡±


    ¡°We still are.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t stop all the leaks the thing caused and we''re taking on water.¡±


    ¡°Can you keep holding it for a few minutes? I think I can get us close enough to the shore so we don''t sink completely.¡±


    ¡°I can do that.¡± I said and used the Presence Hands I had made to push on the side of the ship. It was slow, since I wasn''t sure how much pressure I could put on the wood without breaking it. The captain stared at the riverbank as we floated closer to it, then the ship lurched a little and leaned slightly.


    ¡°Can you push a bit more so we don''t slide back out?¡± The captain asked, then chuckled. ¡°I just asked a single man to push a whole ship into dock by himself!¡±


    I had to chuckle at that and pulled the ship out a little, then shoved it in. The ship lifted about two feet out of the water and leaned over about ten degrees as it rested on the dirt by the riverbank.


    ¡°Good! That''s good.¡± The captain said. ¡°The damage is still below the waterline; but, we can easily cover the hole with dirt to stop the leaks, then we can work on the ship.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said and used the same Presence Hands to pull dirt from about a hundred feet away and piled it all over the damage that the log had done to the side of the ship, then I absorbed all of the Presence I had used to cover the hole and the Presence Hands that I had moved the dirt with.


    ¡°That''s the damnedest thing I ever saw.¡± The captain said and scratched his head. ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± I said and turned to Maylia. ¡°Unfortunately, it looks like our leisurely boat ride to the capital just ended.¡±


    ¡°That''s okay.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I was getting sore from sleeping on beds that are too soft anyway.¡±


    I barked a laugh and looked at the captain. ¡°We''ll be leaving now.¡±


    ¡°No refunds!¡± The captain said and held his hands up in surrender, so I laughed again.


    ¡°I wasn''t going to ask.¡± I said and took Maylia''s hand. We shared energy with each other and the captain stared at us as we stepped up over the rail and jumped off the ship to land on the riverbank almost twenty feet away.


    ¡°Is there a bounty of those frog things?¡± Maylia asked me, so I turned and asked the captain the same question.


    ¡°Not as far as I know.¡± The captain said. ¡°I''m pretty sure that there''s too many of the damn things to justify paying someone to kill them all.¡±


    ¡°We can check their weapons and things and see if they''re any good.¡± Maylia said, so we ran over to the bodies and checked. The quality of the spears was poor, as was the leather pieces of armor they wore. None of it was worth taking, so after we checked to see if they were all equipped the same and then if they had any money on them, I fished the ones out of the water and pulled them onto the shore. We checked them as well and didn''t find anything useful.


    ¡°Thanks for getting them out.¡± A man''s voice said. ¡°They rot fast and contaminate the water.¡±


    ¡°That was just a bonus for checking them.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°I don''t know how they survive wearing so little.¡±


    ¡°Sheer determination, I''d say.¡± The man said and chuckled. ¡°I think if we didn''t use the water they live in, they''d still try to hunt people down because it''s all they know how to do.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That''s my house right over there.¡± The man said and pointed at a small house pretty far away across the field next to the forest. ¡°When I saw the ship coming up the waterway, I tried to get over here as fast as I could to warn it.¡± He looked down at the frog carcasses by my feet. ¡°Every few weeks another group comes by and we deal with them when we can. These guys arrived last night and we haven''t had time to get the people together.¡±


    ¡°Where do they come from?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°Nobody knows.¡± The man said. ¡°They just show up.¡±


    That''s kind of like those armadillo creatures on Hoquan''s farm. I thought.


    ¡°Well, you did a great job getting rid of them.¡± The man praised me. ¡°Do you think you could...¡±


    ¡°We''re heading to the capital.¡± I said. ¡°If we come back this way, though...¡±


    The man nodded. ¡°Any help is appreciated.¡± He said. ¡°We send word to the capital every few weeks to ask for adventurers to come and try to stop this from happening, and no one ever comes.¡±


    ¡°I can''t offer to ask them to send anyone, either.¡± I said. ¡°I wouldn''t even know who to talk to.¡±


    The man laughed. ¡°Maybe we will all get lucky and they''ll skip showing up next month.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I said, and yet we both knew the frog things would probably be back.


    ¡°If you stick to the main road over there, you''ll get to the capital eventually.¡± The man said.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and led Maylia over to the road. We glanced back to see the farmer drag one of the bodies across the road, then he struggled to lift it and put it into a wheelbarrow.


    ¡°What do you think he does with them?¡± Maylia asked me.


    ¡°He''s either burying them or using them for food for the animals.¡± I said. ¡°At least, I hope it''s food for the animals.¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Maylia said and stuck her tongue out as she gagged. ¡°That''s disgusting.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°You know, I met a frog man once.¡±


    ¡°You did?¡± Maylia asked, surprised.


    ¡°The only thing he ever said was ''ribbit''.¡± I said with a smile, and she chuckled. ¡°Ready to run?¡±


    ¡°Only if we keep it at a steady jog.¡± Maylia said. ¡°We don''t have to rush, remember?¡±


    I nodded and we activated the run technique together and took off at half of our full speed. Neither of us breathed hard or felt any strain on our muscles, and we were fine with that.

 Book Two: The Summoned 020

    Allirynn Cirilia Asphodel was not a boastful man. He spoke about his deeds and accomplishments with such confidence and bravado that his friends and acquaintances thought he exaggerated and embellished the tales. He didn''t try to correct them after the first few times he tried, because they thought he was trying to fake being humble, and that didn''t sit right with him at all. Even when he tried to tone down the story of his last adventure before meeting them, a few of them still believed he was making some of it up.


    ¡°I''m telling you, it was as big as me and had six inch claws!¡± Allirynn said to the dwarf that sat across the carriage from him.


    ¡°Ha ha! No one''s as big as you, Al!¡± The dwarf laughed a deep laugh and turned to the woman next to him. ¡°Have you ever seen a lion that was six feet and two inches tall?¡±


    ¡°Not from the front.¡± The woman said, and everyone laughed, even Allirynn.


    Allirynn and his friends had set out from their homelands in search of adventure. His homeland, the Fourth Cruneian Kingdom, was by far the largest and most dangerous of the kingdoms. It had harsh deserts, snow capped mountains, and canyons so wide that it took weeks to cross them. It also had the harshest and best mix of training grounds that any fighter worth their mettle would kill to use.


    Sometimes you had to kill to use them.


    Allirynn surely had. Monsters of every type seemed to find him wherever he went, and after doing it for so many years, he now went to new places and expected to meet new monsters to fight. He was always disappointed when they sometimes didn''t appear and he was left wanting. His body was lean and well muscled, fully used to the rigours of fighting, and his skin was a very dark tan from spending sixteen of his nineteen years of life under the sun''s hard rays while inside a small oasis located in the desert of his homeland. It suited his long black hair perfectly and it didn''t contrast like the woman''s bright blue hair and her snowy white complexion.


    Imiryl was from the Third Nogam Kingdom and it shared the snow capped mountains with his kingdom. She wouldn''t admit what her race was, and no one ever asked. All six people in the carriage were friends that had met while training their various skills and no one questioned anyone about who they really were or their motives. All that mattered to them was getting out on their own and being the best adventuring group to ever exist. Their friendships had formed almost instantly and they shared a camaraderie as if they had known each other for all of their lives. That gave them a bond unlike what a lot of other people had with their friends. They were almost closer than family.


    They all had their own stories about how they earned or gained their powers and abilities, even Allirynn. His was a little different than most, however. He had trained since he was a young boy in how to fight, ever since the day he found his father''s old questing gear. What surprised him was when he tried to pick up the armor, it wouldn''t move. When he tried to grab the sword, it was too heavy to lift.


    ¡°Those won''t work for you, my son.¡± His mother had said. ¡°This world has divine rules set in place, one of which was assigned to you against my will, and you can never raise a weapon against your fellow man.¡± She had said, her voice full of sadness, then she stood up straight and her eyes had gleamed with authority. ¡°Do not worry about such things. Now that you know, I will teach you the ways to fight without using a weapon.¡±


    At the time he didn''t understand what she meant, then she started to train him. Day and night, without end, she taught him everything he would ever need to know about hand-to-hand combat. She was relentless that he get everything right, so that the only people he hurt were the ones he was attacking and not himself. When he was old enough, she taught him about mana, and his entire world view changed.


    His mother taught him how to strengthen himself and his body using it, and various other things that would help him survive. All the scary things he had seen creeping around the desert that had caused him to remain inside their oasis for the first ten years of his life, became his sparring partners. He actually didn''t want to do that; but, his mother had insisted.


    ¡°They are nature''s way of challenging you.¡± She had said. ¡°If you cannot defeat a mindless beast at your age, what chance do you have against an opponent that can think?¡±


    Allirynn had stared at his mother for several minutes after that, and he was suddenly struck with how beautiful she was. Her grace and poise, even while showing him some fairly undignified fighting stances and techniques, had always impressed him. Now it had given his young mind a question.


    ¡°Mother, why do we live alone?¡±


    She opened her mouth to give the obvious answer, then she walked over to sit down at the table and pat her knee. Allirynn hadn''t hesitated, even though he was ten and nearly as tall as her, and had climbed up onto her lap and hugged her tightly. She chuckled and hugged him back.


    ¡°When I met your father, he was just another adventurer. A silver coin for a dozen. Nothing particularly special.¡± She had said. ¡°Then one day, he showed me a glimpse of his potential and it surprised me.¡±


    Allirynn hadn''t heard this particular story before, so he had listened intently.


    ¡°I followed him more and more, watched what he did and how he did it, and he intrigued me. I hadn''t thought that any man would have gotten my attention at all, let alone an adventurer.¡± She smiled as she thought about him. ¡°It wasn''t until he and his group of friends managed to defeat a menace unlike any to have come before, that I truly saw him for who he was.¡±


    ¡°Who was that?¡± Allirynn asked.


    ¡°I saw him as the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.¡± She had said. ¡°So, after putting all of my affairs in order, I gave up everything that I was and became his wife. He, being the man that he was, also gave up everything that he was and became my husband. We settled here to build our lives together, far away from everyone and everything. Several years later, you arrived to brighten our lives.¡±


    She smiled happily for only a second, then her face became sad.


    ¡°A year later, word came that a new menace threatened the world and the man that he used to be reemerged. He couldn''t refuse the impassioned pleas for help, so he shed his husband and father roles to go and face the new threat.¡± She sighed and hugged Allirynn tightly. ¡°He never returned.¡±


    Allirynn had kissed his mother on the cheek to catch the tear that had escaped her eye. He swore to her that day that he would become the best weaponless fighter in the world. She had taken him at his word and increased her training regimen to prepare him for that. She was tough, overbearing, and did everything she could to grind him into paste... and yet... he loved her with all his heart and would never speak up against her, or tell her she was being too tough, or that he was worried that he would break under her tutelage.


    Allirynn kept his harsh words to himself, because he knew that his mother loved him more than anything and that she was only doing this to protect him by teaching him to protect himself. On his sixteenth birthday, she had stopped him from going outside to start his daily regimen and brought him into the kitchen. She had prepared a small meal with the best ingredients they had and sat him at the table.


    ¡°What is all this?¡± Allirynn had asked.


    ¡°You have learned a-all that I can teach y-you.¡± His mother had said, her voice wavered slightly. ¡°You are of age now, and as is your right, you can choose what to do with your life from here on out.¡±


    Allirynn stared at her with wide eyes, because he had been completely unprepared for the choice.


    ¡°What will you choose to do?¡± She had asked. With nothing else in his head except his promise to be the best fighter in the world, which was the point of all the training, and that''s what he told her. Without a word, his mother left the kitchen and gathered his things and put them into a bag of holding. She came back to the kitchen and Allirynn hadn''t started eating yet. She sat with him and made him eat.


    When he was done, she passed him a coin pouch full of gold, the bag of holding, and led him to the door of their little house. Allirynn stared at her and didn''t know what to say, since she was clearly kicking him out.


    ¡°You need to train on your own from now on.¡± She had said, her words harsh and her tone soft. ¡°Go to the snow capped mountains to the east. Harden your body against the elements. Use the techniques I have taught you. Become that which you desire most.¡±


    ¡°M-mother, I...¡±


    ¡°I will watch over you when I can.¡± She had said and slowly closed the door on him, then she whispered. ¡°Do not disappoint me... again.¡±


    ¡°Mother, I...¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± She said through the door. ¡°Now you must go. The mountains won''t get any closer if you just stand there.¡±


    Allirynn had put his hand on the door for a moment, stepped back a few steps to look at the small and humble house, then turned away and went east like his mother told him to do. He didn''t hear the restrained sobs that his mother tried to hide on the other side of the door as her tears fell to the floor like rain.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Allirynn had found Imiryl in the mountains while she practised her ice elemental magic. After they trained for several months together and explored the mountains, they eventually found a cave. Inside that cave was a hefty door and when they knocked, a dwarf wearing a warhammer as big as him on his back greeted them. They told him their tales of training, and the dwarf readily agreed that it was a good idea and showed them his own training.


    Of course, this led them to a new area and they fought a nest of goblins. One of the prisoners they had caught was a female elf and the budding group of adventurers freed her. She had been overwhelmed and captured, her weapons and armor stolen, and they were preparing to cook her. She was grateful to the group and joined them before they could ask her to come along.


    The dwarf had laughed at her inviting herself along, and Imiryl pointed out that he pretty much just came along on his own, too. That made them all laugh and they left the mountain range to go to the nearest town for supplies. With gold to spend, Allirynn gave the elf new leather armor and a sword. It wasn''t the best that money could buy, considering that what was available wasn''t the best; but, it was much better than nothing and they moved on.


    Allirynn only knew that he needed to harden his body against the elements, so over the next year, they trained and asked around, and eventually found a mage that specialized in fire magic and its associated spells. They went to a cleared area where fire wouldn''t do any damage to the surrounding area, and Allirynn and the man battled and trained at the same time. They both benefited from this, since the mage was getting better control of his spells and Allirynn was adapting to the intense heat from both the fire and occasional lava pit that opened up.


    Needless to say, the man joined the party to continue the training and they moved on. It was also beneficial for Imiryl, since she had no experience with having to deal with fire in any capacity, and the two hit it off immediately. They continued to travel across the kingdoms until they reached the Second Choutia Kingdom. There they discovered that an evil sect of snake people had taken over one of the towns and were converting the villagers into lamias, with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake.


    Allirynn couldn''t stand by and let such atrocities happen, so he led his group of adventurers on a quest to clean out the snake people. It was a surprisingly long quest, since the snake people were so resilient and had already converted half of the town to their cause. Everyone felt bad about having to deal with the converted townspeople and in most cases they had to kill them. Only a few were reluctant to fight, and those must have only just been converted and hadn''t been brainwashed yet.


    One woman didn''t even have a weapon when they found her and she tried to scream and slither away from them. She was easily caught in ice and shivered as her body temperature dropped. When she saw she couldn''t escape, she readily agreed to take them to the main nest if they agreed to let her go afterwards. Surprisingly, she led them to an old abandoned farmhouse and pointed out the dozen snake people guarding it.


    ¡°Ssshe''sss in there.¡± The lamia hissed.


    ¡°Lass, you better not be telling us there''s a queen in there.¡± The dwarf said, and she nodded. ¡°By the seven hells, we can''t face a creature like that!¡±


    Allirynn put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Don''t worry, my friend. We just need to do this in order.¡±


    ¡°What order?¡±


    ¡°We take out the guards as silently as possible. We break open a couple of windows and dump in all of our lantern oils, and Jarcon blows it all to hell with his highest tier fireball spell.¡±


    ¡°We''re not going to go in there and fight them all?¡± The female elf asked, clearly disappointed.


    ¡°Not until the fire dies down.¡± Allirynn said with a smile.


    ¡°I''m in!¡± The dwarf exclaimed. ¡°Burn them all!¡±


    Imiryl laughed. ¡°I''ll take out the guards in the back of the house.¡±


    ¡°Let''s move out.¡± Allirynn said.


    ¡°You people are crazy.¡± The lamia said as she followed them, then she smiled. ¡°I like you.¡±


    That made everyone laugh and they executed the plan flawlessly. The guards were taken out easily and Imiryl froze the windows so that they wouldn''t make a lot of sound when they broke. The oil was tossed in and they all ran away as Jarcon aimed carefully into one of the windows and cast his spell.


    BOOOOM!


    Jarcon was thrown backwards from the blast, even though he was pretty far away already. Allirynn ran over and stood between him and the intense heat from the fiery inferno that the old house had become, and the mage took out a scroll. Dozens of screams and yells came from the house as it burned, and Jarcon read the scroll in a whisper. He was covered in a blue glow for a moment and then collapsed, unconscious. Allirynn picked him up and carried him over to where the others were.


    ¡°What did he do?¡± Imiryl asked as Allirynn tucked the mage onto her lap and she hugged him.


    ¡°Probably a restoration spell that used up the rest of his mana.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°He should be fine in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Besides a nasty headache!¡± The dwarf said and laughed. ¡°Now what do we do? The screaming has stopped.¡±


    ¡°I''ve got it.¡± Imiryl said and cast a spell that sent a foot thick layer of snow over the whole house. It put the fire out, surprisingly, then the entire house collapsed under the weight. ¡°Oops.¡±


    ¡°Bwahahaha!¡± The dwarf laughed. ¡°Nice going! If there was anything left alive in there, you definitely finished it off.¡±


    ¡°Let''s find out.¡± Allirynn said and the dwarf stopped laughing.


    ¡°You''re serious.¡± The dwarf said, and everyone else laughed. ¡°Ah, dammit.¡± He said and sulked as he hung his head and walked towards the remains of the house, which made everyone laugh harder.


    They cleared the house and found the queen snake was dead, crushed by the bricks from the collapsed chimney, as the dwarf had speculated, and the group of adventurers were happy they had completed one of the largest quests that any of them had ever undertaken.


    ¡°Would you mind if I joined you on your journey?¡± The lamia asked. ¡°The town''sss been gutted and I don''t have any family left.¡± She said. ¡°I don''t think sssomeone like me is going to fit in well anywhere, not looking like thisss.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can see how having a snake around would unnerve some people.¡± The female elf said and looked right at the dwarf.


    ¡°Hey, I''m not prejudiced against them or anything.¡± The dwarf said. ¡°I just hate the thought that they can move around without arms and legs.¡±


    ¡°Well, I have arms.¡± The lamia said and waved at him. ¡°Does that mean you only half-hate me?¡±


    The dwarf opened his mouth to respond, then smiled. ¡°Yes, I guess it does.¡±


    ¡°We''d have to take you with us to try and find you somewhere to go anyway.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°Like you say, you can''t stay here, not after all of this.¡±


    The lamia looked at their faces and didn''t see any open rejection, so she nodded.


    That had been almost a year ago, and they had recently heard word that the capital of the First Sothen Kingdom had need of adventurers. Rather than take the long trip on foot, Allirynn hired a carriage to take them. It was very expensive, especially for taking them across an entire country; but, he didn''t mind. He was with his close friends and they had travelled far and wide. They had been on adventures that only legends spoke of, so he knew that they deserved to ride in comfort this one time.


    They were about a third of the way towards the capital city when they carriage was plunged into darkness. The carriage quickly rolled to a stop as the sound of both horses neighing in pain started, then the sounds were cut off.


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Imiryl asked. ¡°I can''t see anything!¡±


    ¡°My fire isn''t breaking through it.¡± Jarcon said. ¡°I can feel it, so it''s still working and this isn''t an anti-magic field.¡±


    ¡°We''ve all just been blinded for a reason!¡± Allirynn exclaimed and activated his mana enhancements to make his body strong. ¡°We need to get out of the carriage! Right now!¡±


    Someone opened the door and they scrambled out of the carriage in the darkness. Someone fell with a short yelp and Allirynn kicked them as he tried to go to them and help.


    ¡°AGHH!!¡± The lamia yelled as Allirynn''s foot hit something very soft. He stopped moving and bent down to pick her up.


    ¡°I''m sorry, Siada.¡± Allirynn said and held her in a princess carry, with his arm under her back and his other arm under where her legs used to be and was now half of a snake body. In the next moment, there was a resounding crash and several of them felt debris hit them from behind and Allirynn was relieved they had all made it out.


    ¡°I''m the one that''sss sssorry, Allirynn.¡± Siada said and tucked her head into his neck to cuddle.


    ¡°Now''s not the time for... ARGH!¡± Allirynn yelled as he felt fangs enter his neck and immediately felt a burning sensation that spread out from the bite to the rest of his body in only moments. ¡°Wh-what... what is...¡±


    ¡°Lamia venom is pretty toxic.¡± A man''s voice said in the darkness. ¡°It''s especially debilitating to people who have trained their bodies to focus mana, almost as if the mana itself becomes poisoned.¡±


    Allirynn dropped to his knees and Siada let him go and slithered away. ¡°Wh-why? Why?¡± He asked, as confusion and pain filled his thoughts.


    ¡°She was ordered to.¡± The man said, his voice full of satisfaction.


    ¡°Didn''t... hear...¡±


    ¡°You didn''t know that lamias are also telepaths?¡± The man asked, amused. ¡°You poor besotted fool.¡±


    ¡°No... not... wouldn''t betray...¡±


    The man laughed as the darkness started to fade. ¡°You know nothing, boy.¡±


    Allirynn looked up at a dark cloaked man with a slightly mangled face, then there was two of him, then there was one again. ¡°What... magic...¡±


    ¡°He''s losing it already.¡± A harsh woman''s voice said. ¡°Pitiful.¡±


    Allirynn turned his head to look at her and shock went through him as he saw an elf that looked like the one they had rescued pull a blood red arrow out of Imiryl''s neck. Imiryl collapsed as her neck and face started to turn the same color as the arrow and she gasped for breath.


    ¡°N-n-no...¡± Allirynn said and tried to reach for her, then his immense strength left him and he collapsed to the ground. He felt a foot kick him and the push rolled him over onto his back. A large orc with very dark green skin stood above him and he carried the dwarf''s warhammer.


    ¡°It''s a little heavy; but, I can get used to it.¡± The orc said and grinned with a mouth full of crooked teeth. ¡°It smashed that little dwarf pretty flat, didn''t it?¡±


    No.... no, it... it can''t be. Allirynn thought. Even his mind was becoming as sluggish as his body.


    ¡°Not going to respond?¡± The orc asked, then he huffed and looked at the dark cloaked man. ¡°You better give him a stasis potion or he''s not going to last.¡±


    ¡°Freezing his body in this state is going to be torture, isn''t it?¡± The man asked and the orc nodded. ¡°Wonderful.¡± The man said and took a small purple potion out of his bag of holding and knelt by Allirynn with a huge crooked smile. ¡°Drink this up and you''ll be all better.¡±


    Allirynn tried to turn his head and only managed to move an inch, and the man chuckled.


    ¡°Forcefully it is.¡± The man''s mangled face grinned and he shoved two fingers into Allirynn''s mouth to make him gag. Allirynn coughed and the man poured the potion in and held a hand over his nose and mouth. With no other choice, Allirynn swallowed the potion and felt it spread through his body. The burning sensation stopped pulsing and stayed at a steady level, and he relaxed.


    ¡°Aw, he stopped twitching.¡± Another man''s voice said. ¡°I like it when they twitch.¡±


    Allirynn didn''t have the strength to turn and spit at him like he wanted to.


    ¡°Let''s take this somewhere more private.¡± The orc said and slung the warhammer over his shoulder and grabbed Allirynn''s arm, then started to walk into the forest beside the road.


    ¡°Good idea.¡± The dark cloaked man said. ¡°We can''t stay on the main road like this for very long without being discovered.¡± He motioned to the lamia. ¡°You''re coming, too.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Siada said and burst out crying. ¡°You promised to let me go if I turned him over to you!¡±


    ¡°I lied, you idiot.¡± The man said and grabbed her arm, then dragged her into the trees.


    One of the cloaked figures picked up the adventurer that was somehow still alive after being shot with a death arrow, and the others picked up the remaining bodies and followed the dark cloaked man into the woods. At the last moment, one of the figures turned and mumbled a few words and waved his hands. The spell pushed the remains of the carriage and slaughtered horses off to the other side of the road. The figure nodded and followed the others into the forest.

 Book Two: The Summoned 021

    Maylia and I ran down the main road and it seemed kind of deserted for being a main road. We had thought we would have to duck into the trees or hide from any passersby that might be around, and we didn''t have to. We didn''t even have to slow down our run. I even used the Presence technique to draw far away sounds to my ears in case we encountered something that wouldn''t show up in our detection ranges. I heard a rustle of leaves and slowed down to look at a weird raccoon-like thing as it crawled over something.


    ¡°Maylia, just a second.¡± I said and we came to a stop and walked off the road and over to the curiously odd creature. ¡°What in the world is it eating?¡± I asked and looked at what it had in its mouth ¡°Is that part of a horse?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Maylia said as she looked at the partially eaten leather straps and followed them to the wood and metal bar they were tied to. ¡°It looks like a carriage.¡±


    ¡°What''s left of it, anyway.¡± I said. ¡°What could have...¡±


    ¡°NOO-OOOO-OOOOO!¡± A woman''s bellow cut through the air and I winced.


    ¡°Ow.¡± I said and slowed the flow of Presence to my ears.


    ¡°That came from the other side of the road.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Do you think we should...¡±


    ¡°That wasn''t a friendly yell. If you made that sound, I wouldn''t hesitate to go after and kill whoever made you scream like that.¡± I said and took her hand and let my energy flow over her. ¡°Be wary. If they can take out a carriage and leave almost nothing left...¡±


    Maylia nodded and we flipped up our hoods as we activated Mana Presence Run at full strength. We shot across the road in an instant and our detection range reached out further as we ran and it covered more ground. If we hadn''t been paying attention and intentionally looked for people, both hiding and not, we might have missed the fluctuation of mana at the edge of our range as we passed by it. We exchanged glances and ran out and around to approach it from a different direction and didn''t slow down at all.


    At the instant my detection range crossed the mana fluctuation, I activated the mental technique I had to analyze the types of mana and their effects. I knew it was something similar to a barrier that blocked things, so it could be either for sight or sound, or even both. I could also see through it, thanks to my Detect Mana Presence technique. I counted eight standing people, one of which was high up in a nearby tree. I glanced at Maylia to see if she saw the same thing, and she glanced at me and nodded.


    ¡°Use me like a tree and go high.¡± I said and she slowed only a fraction to be slightly behind me. I reinforced my body with Presence and mana and took an extra long stride to made the perfect set of steps for her to run up. Time seemed to slow down as she switched hands with me in an instant, pulled on my hand to give herself a bit more momentum, then stepped on my calf, my hip, my back and then my shoulder and launched herself up into the air. Since we were still running really fast, we crossed a huge amount of distance as she jumped.


    I didn''t have time to be careful as I used an absurd amount of Presence and mana to slice through whatever the barrier was. It disappeared just before we were going to hit it and I ignored the dark cloaked figure that yelled. I jumped myself at the last second and slammed my feet into a man that looked at the people on the ground with lust and hunger.


    I heard a satisfying crack as his head snapped to the side and broke his neck, then he was flung away as I transferred most of my momentum to his now dead body and it slammed into a tree nearly thirty feet away with the sound of a lot more bones breaking. I landed on the ground and slid about ten feet before coming to a stop and I was met with complete silence.


    *


    Maylia had been completely surprised that Hunter would suggest using him like a tree, then she saw the mana seep into his muscles and bones and knew he was serious. She shifted back slightly, then somehow knew when he made a long stride that it was time. It was ridiculously easy for her to use him as steps, because he had made it so, and since she was running so fast, it took her the same amount of steps to run up him as it would have if she had kept running.


    He''s amazing! Maylia thought as she jumped from his shoulders like a launching pad. Because of the speed she travelled at, it sent her on a long arcing trajectory towards her target. She drew her sword and flipped over in the air, used both mana and skill to guide her actions, then she swiped her sword across the woman''s neck and decapitated her, her cloak, and the top of her bow in one motion.


    Maylia flipped over again to slow herself, reached out with her hand and smacked the next tree to give herself another spin and slowed down some more, then the next, and used a mana cushion spell normally used to soften a fall as she approached a tree that she couldn''t avoid. Her feet hit the tree and the spell caught her, absorbed all of her momentum, and she pushed off and dropped towards the ground.


    *


    I held in my laugh as a woman''s bloody head dropped into the clear area in the middle of everyone and they all jumped, even the big green guy. A few seconds later, her whole body dropped and landed in the same spot. I saw Maylia as she handled landing from that move like a pro and I didn''t have to catch her with the Presence Hand I had hung onto her cloak.


    ¡°Who in the seven hells are you?¡± A dark cloaked man with a mangled face asked and I felt a very strong mental probe try to break through my mental barriers.


    ¡°Don''t do that.¡± I said and created a Presence Hand to grab him around the neck and squeezed as I picked him up. The man choked and tried to pry the invisible hand off of his neck.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± A man asked and tried to help the choking one. ¡°Let him go!¡±


    ¡°HYAHH!¡± The big dark green skinned guy yelled and swung an unwieldy hammer at me. I shook my head and caught it with a Presence Hand and pulled it out of his hand, turned it around, then whacked him across the face with it. It shattered his cheekbone, his nose, burst his eye, and caved half of his face in. The green guy dropped to the ground, unconscious.


    ¡°Hunter! To the right!¡± Maylia exclaimed as she cut a woman down, and I turned my head to the right just in time. A blood red arrow hit the blast shield over my eyes and deflected up into the hood of my cloak and tore through it, just missing my ear.


    ¡°You can have this.¡± I said and threw the warhammer at her. The surprise on her face was quite satisfying as the warhammer slammed into her chest and caved it in as it killed her. She flew back about fifteen feet before she landed in a heap and her body hugged the warhammer as if it didn''t want to let it go, even in death.


    ¡°Ah, ah, ah!¡± A man''s voice said and I turned to see that he had a sword against a woman''s neck. It was the guy that had flinched when I broke the barrier. ¡°Move and I''ll kill her!¡±


    I looked down at the woman and saw that she was tied to the same tree that the other two people that were still alive were tied, and looked back at the guy.


    ¡°Try to kill her and you die.¡± I said without moving.


    The man didn''t respond and only looked past me. A second later, he flinched and I heard a man''s gurgled moan.


    ¡°How many is that now?¡± I asked. ¡°Five? Six?¡± I chuckled. ¡°How many more of you want to die?¡±


    ¡°Kill them all.¡± The woman said, her voice without any inflection. ¡°They''re evil now and only want...¡±


    ¡°Sh-shut... up!¡± The mangled face man managed to say through my choke hold and the woman stopped talking mid-sentence.


    ¡°Will killing him stop your compulsion to follow his orders?¡± I asked her, and she shrugged her shoulders. The man with the sword to her throat didn''t like that and he moved to shove the sword into her neck... and it didn''t move. He looked at his hand and at the sword, then at her neck.


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± He asked, confused.


    ¡°That''s what I''d like to know.¡± I said and plucked the sword out of his hand, turned the sword around, then cut off his hand.


    ¡°AHHH!¡± The man screamed and dropped to his knees. He tried to put a hand over the stump to stop the blood from gushing out, so I covered it with Presence and made it solid. He stared at the stump and touched it with his remaining hand. ¡°What is this?¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Tell me what I want to know.¡± I said and dragged the mangled faced man over.


    ¡°You can... go to... hell.¡± The mangled face man said.


    ¡°I''ve heard there''s seven of them.¡± I said. ¡°Which one do you recommend?¡±


    Both men stared at me in surprise without saying anything and Maylia came over to us as well.


    ¡°I don''t think they are going to tell us anything.¡± Maylia said. ¡°The fighter wouldn''t say anything before I killed him and even that magic user over there asked to die before he would reveal their plans.¡±


    Maylia''s really efficient. I thought and looked at the mangled face man as I leaned in close. ¡°Do you want to tell me why you attacked and killed these people?¡±


    The man didn''t say anything, so I covered his mouth with Presence to keep him quiet and turned to the other man. He didn''t say anything either, so I looked down at the woman. Or I should say what I thought was a woman. The other woman that was tied there had her legs in the way when I was farther away, and now that I was right next to the tree, I could see that she was actually a half-snake woman.


    Good god, what is up with this world? I thought and stared at her.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Maylia said. ¡°HUNTER!¡±


    I shook my head and looked at her.


    ¡°I can feel him trying to get by my mental defenses.¡± Maylia said, her face slightly disgusted.


    ¡°Oh, right. I''m sorry.¡± I said and squeezed the Presence Hand until it closed. The mangled face man''s neck snapped and I popped the head off of his body and tossed it aside. The other man stared at me with a wide open mouth as the mangled face man''s body dropped to the ground.


    ¡°He was too dangerous to let live.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t have someone poking around in our minds and fiddling with things. He''d eventually find someone to coerce and try to escape.¡± I knelt and looked into the lamia''s eyes. ¡°Hey, there. How do you feel?¡±


    She opened her mouth to speak and nothing came out.


    ¡°Hm. Okay.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll need to think about this for a while.¡±


    The lamia reached out and took my hand, and she pointed to the man on the other side of the woman between them. I glanced at him and saw his lethargic state and looked back at her. She sighed and opened her mouth and a set of two inch fangs dropped down. A green liquid dripped from one of the tips and I understood.


    ¡°Would a minor potion of healing help?¡± I asked, and she had to think about it. After a minute, she shrugged her shoulders as if she didn''t know and retracted her fangs and closed her mouth. I stood up and looked at the last man alive. ¡°Any chance you or headless guy here has lamia antivenom?¡±


    ¡°Auntie-what?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Cure poison? Antidote? Full healing potion? Anything?¡± I said instead.


    ¡°He might have something in his bag of holding; but, he''s dead. You can''t get anything out of it now.¡±


    ¡°Then what happens to all of his things?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Who knows.¡± The man said, then he sneered. ¡°You should have asked him before you killed him.¡±


    ¡°Like what you were doing to these people?¡± I asked and waved at the bodies, and his sneer disappeared. ¡°I''m sure you were being considerate of their stored items while you killed them, too.¡± I said and looked over at the big green guy. ¡°Maylia, what do you think of him?¡±


    ¡°It''s very odd that an orc would associate with any race, let alone humans.¡± Maylia said. ¡°It''s possible that he has a bounty on his head.¡±


    ¡°I think they all might.¡± I said and saw the man''s reaction to that statement. ¡°So, you are wanted criminals.¡± I smiled and used a Presence Hand on his collar to stop him from running, if he chose to try.


    ¡°I have to assume we get the reward if we bring in your head.¡±


    ¡°No, please.¡± The man snivelled. ¡°I... I hate pain.¡±


    I felt the Presence waver and sighed. ¡°You''re just going to give me trouble and grief, aren''t you?¡±


    ¡°No! I''ll be the perfect prisoner! I won''t make a fuss and...¡±


    I was almost dizzy as the Presence swayed more than ever, so I picked up the man''s sword and shoved it through his neck. He choked and blood poured out of his mouth and neck in equal measure. I kept hold of his collar with a Presence Hand and pulled the sword to the side, making sure I pushed the blade between the vertebra of his spine and severed his neck. I moved the sword back to cut the rest of the skin and the head popped right off and fell to the ground.


    ¡°Maylia, get the orc''s head.¡± I said, and she nodded as I went to the female elf and cut off her head. ¡°We might as well strip them of anything valuable, too.¡±


    I took out the bundle of cheap sheets and took one out, and we piled all eight of the heads onto it and I tied it up, then put that and the sheets back into my bag of holding. We went to the headless bodies and stripped them of their coin pouches, weapons, belts, armor, clothing, boots, bags, and one backpack. The lamia just stared at us as we did it and she visibly shook when we walked back over to the tree towards her.


    ¡°Ah, feeling guilty?¡± I asked and her eyes widened. I checked the bags and backpack and they were half full of normal items of food, rations, and extra clothes. I knelt by the mangled face man''s body and looked at the lamia. ¡°I''ve been curious about something. I was given a previously used bag of holding, so I know they can change owners. It was emptied first, though. Now I wonder if that is always the case. Do the bags have to be empty to change owners?¡±


    I looked at the body and the bag tied to his waist. Before I moved to take it, I took a deep breath and spoke. I had confidence that it would work, so I spoke as if it already had.


    ¡°In the name of god, I hereby claim this executed criminal''s current physical belongings as my own.¡± I said and untied the bag of holding. ¡°I only hope the contents will help the victims in front of me in some way.¡±


    ¡°I couldn''t find anything on the elf.¡± Maylia said, sadly. ¡°Her forbidden blood arrow poison will claim another victim soon.¡±


    I looked down at the woman tied between the tanned man and the lamia and heard her laboured breathing. ¡°Cross your fingers.¡± I said and opened the bag and my hand met a solid barrier. ¡°Dammit.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, what if... can you... what about...¡± Maylia stammered.


    ¡°I doubt whatever you say will surprise me, so just say it.¡± I said.


    ¡°Try using his hand.¡± Maylia said and pointed to the corpse. ¡°It was his bag. If only he can reach in, maybe if you manipulate the hand, you can take things out.¡±


    I barked a laugh and stood up. ¡°I take back what I just said.¡± I turned to her and looked into her eyes. ¡°That was a very smart thing to suggest.¡±


    Maylia''s face turned bright red at the compliment.


    ¡°I know how much you dislike witnesses, so I''ll kiss you later.¡± I said, and she nodded. I used a Presence Blade to sever the arm at the shoulder, then used a Presence Hand to pick it up. It was at this moment that I did something that I never would have thought of doing on my own. Since Presence was in everything, I formed a Presence Hand inside the mangled face man''s hand and squeezed. The hand squeezed the same and I chuckled.


    ¡°Even if this doesn''t work, thank you for the fantastic idea.¡± I said to Maylia, then lowered the arm into the bag. Surprisingly, the Presence Hand disappeared from my Detect Presence technique. I could still feel with it, though. Since I knew it was just an extension of my Presence, I could use it as a conduit. I sent a little bit of Presence through the Presence Hand like a pulse and let it spread out, and I could ''see'' the things inside the bag.


    ¡°This is so weird.¡± I said and did it again, so I would have some idea of what I would be grabbing, then closed the hand on what I thought was a book and pulled on the shoulder. The hand lifted out of the bag and it held a large black tome. The lamia screamed wordlessly and covered her face.


    ¡°That is apparently bad.¡± Maylia said and I nodded and put it back inside the bag and off to the side, then I started to take everything else out of it. When everything but the book was removed, I looked at the things I had scattered on the ground. There was a lot of junk, with miscellaneous items for every day living, and also a chest, several odd colored cloaks, three more books, another bag of holding that was empty, a huge pile of scrolls covered in writing, and a dozen potion bottles in four different colors. Red, green, blue, and purple.


    ¡°I can''t leave the dark book in this one.¡± I said and pulled out the last item from the bag, then dismissed the Presence I had used inside the hand and dropped the arm. The lamia kept shaking her head and I held a hand out in front of her. ¡°I won''t touch it. I''m going to wrap it in one of the cloaks and store it in the unclaimed bag of holding, all right?¡±


    The lamia nodded and I did exactly that. I used one of the normal cloaks we had taken from one of the bodies, wrapped it over and over around the book to cover it completely, then added a layer of Presence and mana and made it solid. The man and the lamia stared at the slightly green book and I put it into the new bag of holding and put that into my bag of holding.


    ¡°Now, these potions.¡± I said. ¡°The red and green match the minor heal and minor mana potions I have. What are the blue and purple ones?¡±


    ¡°P-p-purple.... s-s-s-stasis.¡± The man managed to get out.


    ¡°That could be good or bad.¡± I said, and he nodded almost imperceptibly. ¡°Maylia, any idea about the blue one?¡± I asked and she shook her head. ¡°I can''t just give a random potion to someone.¡± I said and took out a minor healing potion and held to the lips of the man. ¡°I don''t know if this will help or not.¡±


    The man drank it eagerly and then he winced and his body started to tremble and twitch.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± I said and grabbed a purple stasis potion and let him drink it. He relaxed and stopped shaking after that. I looked at the blue-haired woman between them and gave her one, too. Her breathing was still heavy; but, she wasn''t struggling like she had been.


    ¡°Hunter, if there are any more of these people around, we can''t stay here.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Also, some of those odd creatures that were eating the horses are creeping closer.¡±


    ¡°Well, we won''t have to worry about cleaning up the bodies, then.¡± I said and used a sword to cut the ropes that held the prisoners. The lamia rolled over onto her belly and tried to slither away, so I grabbed her with a Presence Hand and dragged her back. ¡°Sorry, we need answers and you seemed to know these people.¡± I said and waved at the bodies. ¡°You''re not going anywhere.¡±


    The lamia started to cry and I didn''t really have any sympathy for her, mainly because I had the feeling that she had caused it somehow. I used bits of the rope to tie her hands behind her, then looked at Maylia.


    ¡°Any ideas on how to transport three immobile people?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A stretcher.¡± Maylia said and looked around, then pointed to a tree with two good branches. ¡°With the cheap sheets, we can easily make one large enough to hold them.¡±


    ¡°I''m really glad you came along.¡± I said and touched the side of her face tenderly. ¡°Let''s get to work.¡±


    In less than ten minutes, we had a stretcher made that was big enough to hold the three of them. When we loaded them onto it, the man held a shaky hand out and pointed to the pile of bodies that used to be his friends.


    ¡°We can''t take them, and they would be dug up and eaten if we buried them.¡± I said, and he pointed again. ¡°You want their things?¡± I asked, and he nodded.


    Maylia and I gathered their items and piled them onto the stretcher beside him and he hugged them with barely moving arms. With that done, Maylia and I lifted one end and I used Presence Hands to pick up the other end. It would be a constant drain on me to keep them manifested; but, there wasn''t any other way to get them out of the woods. We walked at a slow and steady pace until we were out of the trees and onto the main road, then we started to jog. We needed to get to the next town as soon as possible, because two, and possibly three lives hung in the balance.

 Book Two: The Summoned 022

    Maylia and I had to stop jogging an hour later so I could recover some of my Presence. We took this opportunity to settle down on the side of the road and eat, then we tried to feed the people we carried on the stretcher. The man that suffered from lamia poisoning was reluctant at first, until he tasted the turkey meat. He had a difficult time swallowing, since he was still wracked with pain, so he ate slowly and managed to keep it down without throwing up.


    The lamia didn''t want anything, even after seeing the man successfully eat. The blue haired woman couldn''t move her mouth and chew, so we gave her water, some gravy, and the smallest pieces of turkey we had so she could swallow them whole without chewing. It was like feeding a starving baby bird. Either she was really hungry, or the food was helping her in some way. After an hour of rest, I had a good portion of my Presence back and I was surprised, because usually it took me all night to recover completely.


    Something is definitely different about my body now. I thought and used Detect Presence to examine myself. It was at times like this that I regretted tossing the backpack into the shuttle and losing all of the electronics and things I had carried in it during that last mission. The datapad was the biggest thing I missed and it would have shown me the last medical scan I had and I could have compared it to what I was seeing right now. I couldn''t really detect anything different, though.


    ¡°Hunter, how are you feeling?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°Much better, thank you.¡± I said and stood up.


    Maylia leaned in close and whispered. ¡°Have you worked out how to include mana so your extra hands don''t drain you so quickly?¡±


    ¡°Almost.¡± I whispered back. ¡°I''m still having difficulty trying to make the mana solid enough to not weaken the hands. I''m not sure why, since it''s supposed to only be another form of energy.¡±


    ¡°That could be difficult to overcome, since I''ve never heard of solid mana before. If anything is solid, it''s an effect of the mana and not the mana itself.¡± Maylia said and stood there for a minute as she thought about it. ¡°What if you used mana like you used Presence in that man''s hand?¡±


    I immediately activated my Stealth Technique and took her hand and shared my energy with her, then we disappeared from everyone''s perception. I stepped close and gave her a deep and passionate kiss. When I stopped and stepped back, her face was red from a blush.


    ¡°It''s okay. We''re under stealth.¡± I whispered to reassure her that no one saw and then gave her another brief kiss and made her lips tingle with a minuscule bit of Presence. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Wh-why are you so grateful?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°It''s just an adaptation of the same technique.¡±


    ¡°That''s twice you''ve shown me a different way of looking at things, and I appreciate it.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve had my mind stuck in certain ways of thinking and I''ve only tried to change what I could do to fit the situation... instead of changing how I looked at it.¡± I smiled. ¡°Having you here with a different way of looking at things is really helping me adapt and point out thing I''ve missed.¡±


    ¡°I think you are giving me too much credit.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I''m sure anyone else could do the same thing for you.¡±


    ¡°I highly doubt that anyone else here could understand the things I''ve taught you as quickly, or be able to use their own knowledge to correct the person that''s supposed to be teaching you.¡± I said with a smile and she smiled back. ¡°Now that I know I don''t have to make the mana itself completely solid, I''ll just create the outside of the hand with Presence and fill it with mana, that way I can still manipulate the energy as if it was made completely of Presence.¡±


    ¡°It won''t be as large of a drain on you or exhaust your energy so quickly, either.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°The downside is people will see the hands.¡± I said. ¡°The green glow will give them away.¡±


    ¡°Only for the hands you use mana in.¡± Maylia said. ¡°The others will still be invisible.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I''ll only use them when necessary, like while carrying the stretcher.¡± I said and deactivated my stealth technique. ¡°We should go. I don''t know how long those stasis potions are going to last.¡±


    Maylia went to the stretcher to make sure the three passengers were comfortable while I took a minute to create the forms of two Presence Hands and filled them with mana. As I did, the slightly glowing green hands looked like they grew out from the palms and filled in the fingers. The three passengers stared at the Mana Presence Hands and Maylia and I picked up the front of the stretcher. I moved the hands down and grabbed the other side of the stretcher, then picked it up and I barely felt any drain on my Presence.


    I nodded to Maylia, so we walked, walked faster, then we jogged. It was definitely much easier now and I thought about running; but, we had no idea how far we needed to go to reach the next town, so we had to pace ourselves and kept jogging. We were definitely going to need another bath after all this exertion of carrying three fairly heavy people and I was looking forward to it.


    *


    ¡°We have to hurry!¡± Jessica said when the spell ended. ¡°They aren''t going to make it to the next town and that poor girl is going to die if I don''t get to her!¡±


    ¡°Which one do you mean?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°The blood arrow.¡± Jessica said and pulled off the white robe and handed it to Josh. ¡°Kara, can you tell the...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Kara cut her off and gave her robe to Josh as well.


    ¡°Kara, I''m sure that...¡±


    ¡°We all saw where we needed to be.¡± Kara said. ¡°The driver and the kid are staying here for the night and won''t even know we''re gone until tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°How are we getting there before nightfall if we''re not taking the carriage?¡± Steven asked and handed over his robe, too.


    ¡°We rent horses.¡± Kara said and felt that it was the right thing to do. ¡°Even if it won''t be as fast as we''re used to travelling, it will get us there in time.¡±


    ¡°I''ve never ridden a horse before.¡± Josh said and stored the robes in his bag of holding.


    ¡°Me, either.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°I have.¡± Jessica, Evangeline and Aimee said at almost the same time.


    ¡°You''ll catch on quickly.¡± Kara said, and felt the same ''right'' feeling. She didn''t admit that she hadn''t ridden a horse because she knew that in a few minutes it wouldn''t matter. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    The six of them left the room and went downstairs, asked the innkeeper about renting horses, and he told them where to go. They left the inn and went there, rented six horses, then rode out of town. Josh and Steven did adapt quickly and they rode the horses as if they had ridden them all their lives, and Josh laughed at his innate ability to do something he hadn''t thought he would ever do.


    The horses were strong and agile, and Kara knew they didn''t have to take it easy on them, so she rode that horse hard. She was so close to finding her prince again that she had to actively push her anxiety and anticipation aside. Her anguish over fatally wounding him still hovered in her consciousness and she still hadn''t forgiven herself for it. She had been surprised that the Goddess Chiaya had only asked her to atone for the mistake, and hadn''t ask her to beg for forgiveness, either.


    Probably because she knows I already have a thousand times in my head. Kara thought, then she pushed that aside with her guilt and raced down the main road.


    The others could almost feel the determination from Kara, and it matched Jessica''s. She was determined as well, and they all believed that she only wanted to get there to help the injured, when what she really wanted was to finally reunite with her saviour. She needed to tell him how much she loved him and to thank him for what he did for her.


    *


    We jogged for nearly two hours and there was still no sign of a town. There were side roads and we suspected that they had to lead somewhere; but, with no evidence that help could be found there, we had to stay on the main road. A man and woman on a horse passed by and ignored us completely. Neither I nor Maylia tried to ask for help or directions, because we knew they would keep ignoring us and wouldn''t answer.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Maylia said we should stop and rest, so we set the stretcher down beside the road. The light of day started to fade and I wondered how long it would take to get to the next town. We had enough bedrolls for everyone if we had to stay the night nearby, and I looked at the three people on the stretcher. The lamia I was sure would run at the first opportunity, and that was a concern. However, the biggest concern I had was the blue haired girl. That red stuff on her neck and face wasn''t spreading at the moment, probably because of the stasis potion; but, it was dangerously close to her heart and I could see it struggling against the poison that was trying to kill it.


    The tanned man wasn''t far behind her. All of his muscles were partially eaten away from the lamia venom and it had infected him almost completely. The flow of mana through him was halted, also probably because of the stasis potion, and I was pretty sure that was what was keeping him alive.


    We sat there for about half an hour, and the day faded almost completely to plunge us into semi-darkness. I wasn''t worried about it, since I had spent several nights out in the darkness and nothing seemed to bother me. I was also pretty confident that if we did have to stay outside overnight, we would be relatively safe from outside threats.


    Then I felt someone very familiar enter my expanded detection range.


    ¡°Kara!¡± I exclaimed as anger filled me and I stood to look up the road and saw six horses running at full speed towards us.


    Maylia jumped to her feet as well. ¡°I''ll guard them! GO!¡±


    I nodded and dismissed my Mask Presence technique, since I didn''t need it anymore, and I let my anger at her for killing me boost my Presence as I gathered as much of it to myself as I could. My mana boosted as well, then it doubled and tripled in intensity. The energy coursed through me and settled into my muscles and my bones, as if I had activated my body enhancement technique. That reminded me that I could do that, so I felt twice as strong and fast as I normally did when I activated the technique.


    My entire body glowed green and I used Mana Presence Run at full speed to take off and it felt as if Maylia and I were sharing energy. I wasn''t sure why my body reacted that way; but, I didn''t care at the moment and used it to full advantage. In barely two seconds I was a third of the way towards Kara and I created solid Presence boxes in front of the horses. All six of them tripped over the invisible boxes, and since the horses were running full out, the heads of the horses slammed into the road and it knocked them out.


    The unconscious horses flipped end over end and four of the riders were lucky. They were thrown off the saddles and flung forward to land on the road in various states of tumbling and slid to a stop a second later. Two were conscious and two were unconscious. The two unlucky ones, an armored man and a white-robed woman, had held onto the reins and were pulled down and crushed into the road under their horse''s weight. Bones snapped and there were cries of surprise and pain from most of them.


    I ignored their cries, because one of the still conscious ones was Kara. She had landed almost like a superhero, partially knelt on one knee and with one hand on the road in front of her to stop her momentum, which ended her roll. It had hurt her to catch herself like that after being flipped over, and I saw the Presence around her knees and arms that she had used to reinforce herself. I entered her detection range a second later, and she felt me coming and reacted.


    Kara stood up and drew her sword, a normal one, and I bared my teeth at her as took my father''s Light sword from my belt and activated it. Her blade was covered in a green glow a second later and she blocked my incoming swing. I was surprised that I didn''t cut through her blade right away; but, because I had so much force behind me, with momentum and my boosted body, I knocked her sword out of the way, turned the Light sword around, and plunged it right through her light leather armor and into her heart. I didn''t stop pushing until the hilt touched the leather.


    The surprise on her face was a balm to my heart, because I had assumed, quite correctly, that she never suspected I would ever have an advantage over her or gain the upper hand. Whatever this place was and whatever it had done to me, it had definitely come in handy.


    Kara dropped her sword and put a hand on mine that held the Light sword in her chest. ¡°I... hope you... can forgive...¡±


    I pulled the Light sword out of her chest and she dropped to her knees. ¡°Forgive you for playing me for a fool and then killing me?¡± I asked. ¡°Sure. Now that I''ve paid you back, I forgive you.¡±


    *


    Jessica woke up groggily and sat up to see something out of a horror movie. People and horses scattered all over the road with blood spread everywhere and people crying and yelling. She looked down at herself and saw her arm was bent the wrong way and she was surprised that it didn''t hurt.


    I must be in shock. Jessica thought, her now very quick and able mind grasped the situation immediately. I need to do this quick, then.


    Jessica didn''t yell when she used her still working arm to turn her broken arm the other way. It still hung limply, but she didn''t need her arm for casting spells anyway. She stood up on slightly shaky knees and held her hand out. Her staff flew from where it had landed and came to her hand. Now that she stood, she saw over the horse in front of her and Kara being run through with some kind of glowing energy blade through her heart.


    Jessica was immediately angered that someone would hurt her friend and readied her attack spells as she hopped over the horse in front of her while the green cloaked figure removed the glowing blade from Kara, who dropped to her knees.


    ¡°Forgive you for playing me for a fool and then killing me? Sure. Now that I''ve paid you back, I forgive you.¡± The green cloaked figure spat at her and Jessica ran at Kara''s assailant, fully intending to smash him with her best offensive spell as she swung her staff at his chest, then she saw who it was.


    ¡°MARCUS! NOOO!¡± Jessica yelled and changed her spell to a basic impact with a knock back component and whacked him in the chest.


    *


    I heard my earth name and looked to the side just in time to see a young woman swing a staff at my chest. A small green explosion came out of the top and it felt like I got kicked by both hooves of a horse. The breath was knocked out of me and I flew back almost twenty feet. I wasn''t knocked unconscious, thankfully, so I used both Presence and mana to slow my speed and landed on my feet. I couldn''t breathe; but, I had mastered breathing years ago. My body wasn''t going to suffer from oxygen deprivation for quite some time. Of course, now I had a bit of a problem.


    That girl just called me Marcus. I thought, confused. Even if she''s psychic, my mental barriers are all still in place.


    ¡°Josh! JOSH!¡± The girl yelled as she laid Kara down on the ground. ¡°You''re tougher than this, remember? Get over here! NOW!¡±


    A robed man sat up and looked around and his eyes were red from crying. ¡°My leg''s broken.¡±


    ¡°Are you a Sorcerer Priest or not?¡± The girl asked. ¡°Just heal it and help me! Kara''s dead!¡±


    No, she isn''t. I thought, because her Presence wasn''t trying to escape her body like mine had tried to do. Dammit. I already forgave her for killing me, too.


    Josh took a deep breath and quickly wrote out a verse and chanted. A second later, his leg glowed and turned slightly, then Josh stood up.


    What the... who are these people? I thought and slowly walked over to Kara as Josh knelt and put both of his hands on her. He chanted something that I didn''t understand for a few seconds, then the hole in Kara''s chest closed up like water filling a hole and she took in a huge breath.


    ¡°Now go help the others.¡± The girl ordered, and I quickly used Presence to bind Kara''s hands and feet. Josh wiped at his eyes and nodded, then he stood up and went to the others and did the same thing to them. I stood there and watched, completely dumbfounded, as Josh went to each person, even the two that had been crushed by the horses, and completely restored them to perfect health. He even did it to the horses.


    ¡°Marcus, how could you do this to her?¡± The girl asked me.


    ¡°I did it to him first.¡± Kara said sadly as she sat up, and the girl gasped.


    ¡°I didn''t manage to kill her like she killed me, though.¡± I said, disappointed.


    ¡°She wasn''t breathing and you burned through her heart with that thing!¡± The girl said and pointed at my father''s Light sword.


    ¡°Her Presence didn''t leak out at all, not like mine did.¡± I said and looked at Josh and the others as they walked over to us and led the horses. ¡°I guess I have to kill him first to finish the job?¡± I asked. ¡°Is he the lynch pin for your group or something?¡±


    ¡°Marcus. Montgomery. Moon.¡± The girl said in a deadly voice as she stood up.


    My mouth dropped open in shock as I heard my entire earth name spoken for the very first time. She was four inches shorter than me and she had no problem getting right up in my face. I had to turn off the Light sword so she wouldn''t hit it by accident.


    ¡°Shut your mouth!¡± She nearly shouted. ¡°Is there something wrong with you? How can you be so disrespectful? Why did you attack us?¡±


    I barely heard anything she said. I didn''t even know someone else knew my middle name. I thought, surprised. ¡°Who are you people?¡±


    ¡°We''re the Goddess Chaiya''s emissaries sent to this world to help her chosen hero.¡± The armored man said in an angry tone as he and the others gathered around us.


    ¡°The chosen hero is supposed to fight the evil that''s permeating the world, not hurt and kill their friends.¡± Josh said, his tone angry as well. ¡°If I wasn''t here, both Aimee and Kara would be dead right now.¡±


    I ignored their stares as I turned my head and looked at Kara.


    ¡°No, I''m not the chosen hero.¡± Kara said and slowly stood up, her arms and legs still bound. ¡°You are.¡±


    I stared at her and the Presence didn''t waver. That didn''t make any sense to me at all. ¡°N-no, that... that can''t be right.¡±


    ¡°The five of us were sent here because she needs our help.¡± The girl that was still up in my face said. ¡°You need to listen and...¡±


    ¡°I don''t need to do anything.¡± I said and stepped back from her. ¡°I saw a group of people with Kara, a woman that has chased me across the universe, as they charged down the road towards me. I reacted and attacked. Would any of you do anything differently?¡± I looked at their faces. ¡°Would you stand there and wait while someone who killed you rode towards you on horseback?¡±


    No one said anything in response.


    ¡°I don''t think any of you would stand still and wait to see what they had to say. You would attack and hope against hope that you wouldn''t die again.¡± I said and looked at Josh. ¡°Then again, with him around you can''t die, so maybe your choices are a lot different than mine.¡±


    ¡°We can talk about this misunderstanding later.¡± The girl in front of me said. ¡°We need to treat the people you saved.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± I asked, confused.


    ¡°That''s why we were running our horses so hard. They don''t have much time left.¡± The girl said and stepped around me. ¡°Josh, Aimee, and Evangeline.¡± She motioned for them to follow. ¡°Let''s get to work.¡±

 Book Two: The Summoned 023

    Steven took the reins of all the horses and Jessica quickly walked towards the stretcher with the people they needed to help. She felt a hand on her broken arm, was covered in a green glow for a moment, and she was healed.


    ¡°Thanks, Josh.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°I can''t believe you did what you did with a broken arm.¡± Josh said, admiration in his voice.


    Jessica remembered attacking Hunter and then practically screaming at him, then tears burst from her eyes. She quickly caught them and stored them in her mana reserve.


    ¡°Why are you crying?¡± Aimee asked.


    ¡°This isn''t how I thought meeting him was going to happen.¡± Jessica said and took several breaths to calm down.


    ¡°I can''t believe he just attacked us all, despite his explanation.¡± Josh said. ¡°Someone needs to knock some sense into him.¡±


    ¡°Jessica did that.¡± Evangeline said, admiration in her voice. ¡°After she hit him, he stopped attacking.¡±


    ¡°If I hadn''t changed spells at the last second, I could have killed him.¡± Jessica said and more tears came from her eyes, so she caught them and stored them.


    ¡°What did you hit him with?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°My highest tier Confusion spell combined with Push.¡± Jessica said, and more tears came out. ¡°It looked like it kind of worked, so I''m surprised that he can... speak coherent sentences.¡± She said, a little sheepishly.


    ¡°What should he be doing?¡± Aimee asked.


    ¡°Mumbling incoherently and staggering around trying to figure out how to walk.¡± Jessica''s face flushed red as she glanced at the others and saw their surprise. ¡°Confused Push was the only spell I could think of when I saw it was him.¡± She said. ¡°I couldn''t use the Crushing Blow or Consuming Fire spells that I had already prepared.¡±


    ¡°You weren''t holding back at all, were you?¡± Josh asked, impressed.


    ¡°The Goddess told us to do everything in our power to protect the others.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Holding back against someone that attacked us is not a choice she would be happy with.¡±


    Aimee and Evangeline looked at Josh and saw his nod, so they were reassured that he would do everything in his power to protect them.


    *


    ¡°What are you going to do with me now?¡± Kara asked me after Jessica, Josh, Evangeline, and Aimee walked away. ¡°Am I to remain shackled and be your prisoner from now on?¡±


    My anger at her was still there, even though I got to shove a Light sword through her heart; but, it had diminished and faded, since I no longer felt justified. The extra power that had come with it faded as well and I felt a little diminished as the double boost went away and I was left with my own abilities.


    ¡°Yeah, hero.¡± The armored man said. ¡°Do you want to keep your strongest supporter confined?¡±


    ¡°Supporter?!?¡± I nearly yelled as I turned to him. ¡°You have no idea what it was like being confined to her side for four years or go through the things I had to do under her tutelage!¡±


    ¡°Oh, boo hoo.¡± The armored man said. ¡°Cry me a river, you wuss.¡±


    I formed solid Presence around my fist before he could react and I punched him right in the middle of his chest. The chest plate caved in slightly and the crunch of metal scared the horses, whose reins he still held. He didn''t move or get pushed back from the force of the blow like I thought he would.


    ¡°You''re paying for the repairs.¡± The man said without looking at the armor.


    I glanced at his skin and saw that it was imbued with a solid layer of green mana, very similar to my own body strengthening technique, except it wasn''t draining him like it did when I do it. It was constant and kept protecting him, and that annoyed me a lot.


    ¡°Ullir, please just...¡± Kara started to speak and I turned back to her.


    ¡°Just what? Forget all the years I was held by The Order? Forgive them for my parents'' death? Forget that they wanted me dead when I wouldn''t join them? What?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You''re not going to listen at all, are you?¡± Kara asked, her eyes sad. ¡°The Goddess sent us here to...¡±


    ¡°I honestly don''t care.¡± I said and turned around and started to walk away. ¡°Whatever deal you made to follow me here and to take me back, it has nothing to do with me.¡±


    ¡°Hey! You need to let her go!¡± The armored man said.


    ¡°Now that she''s awake, she can break out of it whenever she wants to.¡± I said and activated Mana Presence Run and ran around the others that were walking towards the stretcher and stopped beside Maylia. ¡°We need to leave.¡±


    ¡°Who are they and why are they with Kara?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°Also, why didn''t she die?¡±


    ¡°The skinny guy in the white robes healed her. They''re all emissaries of a goddess that''s pissing me off.¡± I said. ¡°Apparently, she chose me to be her hero without telling me and they are here to ''help'' me.¡±


    Maylia frowned. ¡°What kind of goddess sends your murderer after you to help you?¡±


    ¡°That''s what I''d like to know.¡± I said. ¡°It''s like she''s playing games and seeing what happens, like we''re just amusement for her.¡±


    ¡°Then we should go.¡± Maylia said. ¡°The less we are associated with them, the better off we are.¡±


    ¡°That''s my thought exactly.¡± I said and took her hand.


    ¡°HOLD IT!¡± The girl yelled and I turned to see her next to the stretcher. ¡°I need two of those blue potions.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what they do.¡± I said.


    ¡°They can create antidotes for poison if you know what you''re doing.¡± The girl said and held a hand out for them. ¡°Please.¡±


    I thought about refusing, then let Maylia''s hand go and took out two of the potions from the bag of holding and handed them to her.


    ¡°Thank you, Hunter.¡± The girl said in a tone that implied she was thanking me for a lot more than just the potion bottles. I didn''t say anything and she held a hand out to the trees and a few small pieces of dried wood floated over to her. She put them on the ground and they lit on fire by themselves. I was a little surprised by that and she took out a small pot and poured one of the blue potions into it and put it on the fire.


    ¡°We should go while they''re busy.¡± Maylia whispered, and I nodded as I took her hand again.


    ¡°Please wait.¡± The girl pleaded without looking at me, and she went to the lamia. ¡°Open up.¡±


    The lamia didn''t try to protest or refuse, opened her mouth and dropped her fangs, and the girl collected several drops of her venom in the empty potion bottle.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The girl said and poured the couple of drops of lamia poison into the pot, then several drops of something appeared in her hand from somewhere and she tossed them in as well. She made a stirring motion with her finger and the potion became a tan color. She poured it into the potion bottle and swirled it around, then mumbled something under her breath to make it glow slightly. She went to the tanned man and smiled at him.


    ¡°Can you drink this? It will stop the lamia poison from killing you.¡± She said and slowly fed the potion to him. You could see the difference in him immediately and he took a deep breath, then another. The relief on his face was profound and he took the girl''s hand.


    ¡°Th-thank y-you.¡± The tanned man said.


    ¡°If it wasn''t for Hunter, I never would have known you needed help.¡± The girl said, then picked up the pot and held it out and mumbled something else. A few seconds later, both the pot and the potion bottle looked clean. She took the other blue potion and dumped that into the pot and let it warm up, then she had more drops of something appear in her hand and dropped them in, too.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    She stirred it up a little and then took the first empty potion bottle and added a few drops of the same substance into it and covered the mouth of the bottle with her hand. She mumbled something and the contents glowed black. She went to the blue haired girl and looked into her eyes.


    ¡°I''m sorry, this is going to hurt a lot.¡± She said and moved the potion bottle to the blue haired girl''s neck, slid her hand out of the way, and stuck the mouth of the bottle over the arrow wound. The blue haired girl gurgled a scream as some of that blood red poison was sucked out of her neck and into the bottle. She quickly dumped it into the pot and stirred it up, then she poured it into the second potion bottle and swirled it around and mumbled something else.


    I was listening well and even used Presence to pull the sound to my ears, and I still could only hear mumbling. After the potion turned grey, she went to the girl.


    ¡°Drink this and it will stop the blood death poison from killing you.¡± The girl said and the blue haired girl drank it eagerly. Her breathing became stronger almost right away and she tried to sit up. ¡°No, don''t move.¡± She said. ¡°All it did was stop the progress and neutralize the poison in your body. You''re still severely hurt.¡±


    The blue haired girl nodded and turned her head to look at me. ¡°Th-th-thank.¡± She managed to say with a very hoarse voice.


    ¡°Don''t talk.¡± The girl said and pat the blue haired girl''s hand. ¡°You had an arrow in your throat.¡± She said and looked at Josh. ¡°Can you start on her? She''s going to need a lot of healing.¡±


    ¡°So is he.¡± Josh said as his hands twitched. ¡°All of his muscles are damaged.¡±


    ¡°It''s not life threatening now.¡± The girl said and moved out of the way, and Josh knelt by the blue haired girl to start healing her. He hovered his hands over her neck and face as the green smoke poured out of his hands and into her. Her red face and neck started to fade and she closed her eyes to try and relax as she waited.


    ¡°I have to go.¡± I said again, unsure why I had stuck around for so long. I started to walk away with Maylia and I saw Kara and the armored man as they walked towards us with the horses.


    ¡°Let''s run.¡± Maylia suggested and covered herself in mana.


    ¡°Hunter, wait.¡± The girl said and turned to me. ¡°We need to talk.¡±


    ¡°What I need is to get to the capital and find out a few things for myself.¡± I said.


    ¡°We came from the castle there about a week ago.¡± The girl said. ¡°I''ll tell you anything you want to know. All you have to do is...¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No, I need to find out for myself.¡± I said and covered myself in energy. Maylia''s energy joined mine, and we activated the Mana Presence Run technique together and disappeared from their sight. As we ran around them and past Kara, she turned her head to watch me and it looked like she was going to follow, so I made a solid box of Presence in front of her face and filled it with mana to make it completely green and not see-through. I also activated Mask Presence and Stealth so she couldn''t follow me with her eyes anymore.


    *


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Jessica exclaimed as he disappeared from her sight. She picked up her staff and thought about casting Hold on him, then he was out of her range and she sighed.


    ¡°Are we really letting him go?¡± Josh asked as he felt the bundle of mana run around the group and up the road. ¡°We came all this way just to find him.¡±


    ¡°We know where he''s going and he''s nowhere near as fast as us.¡± Kara said as she walked over to them with Steven beside her with the horses. She had only bumped her face lightly on the solid green box that had appeared in front of her and used her own Presence to disrupt it and dismissed the energy. She rubbed her face absently and looked down at Josh as he healed the blue haired girl. ¡°How is she?¡±


    ¡°Really bad.¡± Josh said. ¡°Even my highest heal is taking a while.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°She not one of our group.¡± Josh said. ¡°Whatever that poison was, it completely messed up her body.¡±


    ¡°I think he''s going to be the same.¡± Jessica said and motioned to the tanned man. Even though she had stopped the poison and its effects, he still hadn''t spoken. He watched them all intensely, though. ¡°Lamia poison actually dissolves muscle tissue. The longer it''s inside the body, the more the person wastes away.¡± She said. ¡°At least, until it reaches the heart. Once part of that dissolves...¡±


    They all turned and looked at the lamia that was tied up beside the blue haired girl.


    ¡°So, how did he get so much lamia venom inside him, I wonder?¡± Steven asked her.


    The lamia opened her mouth a few times trying to speak, then she closed her mouth and turned her head away.


    ¡°Well, we know why she''s tied up. Maybe when the others are feeling better we''ll get their story.¡± Steven said and looked at Kara. ¡°For now, I think it''s time that you tell us what the hell is going on between you and Hunter.¡± He said angrily. ¡°What did he say? Something about you chasing him across the universe?¡±


    Kara wasn''t surprised at the angry tone in his voice and she sighed. ¡°I didn''t think it was necessary for you to know our history, and I thought... I hoped... that he would at least listen to me.¡± She said, then sat down next to the stretcher. ¡°It was an accident. I never meant to mortally wound him.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa.¡± Josh said and looked at her. ¡°You what?¡±


    ¡°Josh, concentrate on what you''re doing.¡± Jessica said and sat down beside Kara. ¡°Start at the beginning and tell us everything.¡±


    Kara nodded. ¡°It all started when this beautiful angel of a boy was brought to The Order compound.¡± She said, and then she started to tell them the whole story about Ullir''s rogue parents being killed and him being raised by The Order. She tried to keep her words impartial so she could convey the story and not influence their opinions; but, when she described Ullir, as he was as a young child and then again when she met him when he was twelve, she couldn''t help herself and her voice and mannerisms changed to reflect how she had feelings for him.


    Allirynn stared at her and listened intensely, and he absorbed every word she said. The more she talked and told him of the things that had happened, he was slowly filled with anger. He purposefully withheld judgment on her story until it was completely done, though. When she finished several hours later and both Imiryl and himself had been treated by their healer, he absolutely hated The Order organization with a passion that almost rivalled that of his love and devotion to his mother.


    The ''benevolent acts'' they did to subjugate entire worlds to their way of thinking was anathema to him and his beliefs. He hadn''t even known there were other worlds out there, and that wasn''t even in the forefront of his mind.


    Forcing people to follow their way because they believe it is the best way, was not benevolent at all. It was a dictatorship. If you didn''t follow their rules, you were declared a rogue and hunted down. Allirynn thought in disgust. That had been the final straw to his decision. It was bad enough that they declared Hunter a rogue from an organization that he wasn''t a part of, then they still hunted him down and killed him. His next thought he had was a shocking one and his eyes narrowed as he looked at Kara. With her here, that means The Order can''t be far behind. I can''t... no, won''t... let something like that reach my homeland.


    ¡°I''m spent.¡± Josh said and sat back with a huff. ¡°I''ve got the both of them into mobile condition; but, it''s probably going to take me a few days of working on them to get them back to normal.¡±


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Evangeline asked. ¡°We''re only two-thirds of the way towards the elves lands and we still have a few more things to investigate for the queen.¡±


    ¡°Hunter''s going back to the capital, so we don''t have to worry about where he''s going to be or meeting up with him.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I''ll send word to the castle to expect him and to invite him to stay.¡±


    ¡°That''s a great idea!¡± Aimee said. ¡°We should send word to the head acolyte as well. She''ll know what to do about him if anyone does.¡±


    ¡°What about them?¡± Steven asked and pointed to the three people on the stretcher.


    ¡°We have to take them back to the town, rest for the night, and then take them with us.¡± Josh said. ¡°Unless you want to leave them somewhere to fend for themselves.¡± He said with a smile.


    ¡°Ha. Ha. No, we can''t abandon them. We''re here to help.¡± Steven said. ¡°I meant, are they coming with us to the last few monster sightings on the queen''s list, or are we leaving them at the inn until we come back in a couple of days?¡±


    ¡°That depends on if we can fit them into the carriage.¡± Kara said. ¡°The lamia we can definitely leave, since she doesn''t seem hurt.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I didn''t even check.¡± Josh said and held a hand towards her. It twitched heavily and his eyes widened. ¡°Actually, she needs to come with us, too.¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°All right. It looks like were renting a couple of the horses for a few days, too.¡±


    ¡°I''ll take a horse.¡± Jessica said and stood up.


    ¡°Me, too.¡± Aimee said.


    ¡°Even after what just happened?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°It wasn''t the horse''s fault. Josh said one of them died, too.¡± Aimee said and then frowned. ¡°I don''t like the chosen very much right now.¡±


    She just completely ignored the fact that she died, too. Steven thought, surprised.


    ¡°Let''s get the wounded onto the horses with the most experienced riders.¡± Kara said. ¡°Jessica, can you handle the tanned guy?¡±


    ¡°Not a problem.¡± Jessica said and waved her staff at Allirynn and cast levitate on him. He was picked up and she walked with him over to her horse, climbed on, then settled him down behind her.


    ¡°Th-things.¡± Allirynn said and pointed at the stretcher.


    ¡°What? Oh.¡± Jessica waved her staff at the items still on the cheap blankets and they all flew over to her. She opened her bag of holding and they all flew inside. ¡°Can you hold on or do you want me to use a bind spell?¡±


    Allirynn held in his sigh at her taking all the items and putting them in her bag, then put his hands around her waist and held on. Jessica felt the strength in his arms and nodded. She didn''t have to worry about him falling off.


    ¡°Can you do that for Aimee and the blue haired girl?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°I''ve got it.¡± Aimee said. She didn''t have a staff, so she took a small focusing wand out of her robes and cast the same levitate spell on Imiryl. She put her in front on the horse instead of behind, though. She was short enough that Aimee could see around her and could still control the horse while she held the blue haired girl steady.


    Kara looked at Evangeline. ¡°Can you...¡±


    ¡°I''ll take the snake woman.¡± Steven said and bent down to look at her face. ¡°Just so you know, you can''t bite me. If you try, I will snap those folding teeth right off. Understand?¡±


    Siada looked at him for a moment and then nodded.


    ¡°This might look undignified.¡± Steven said. He put her arms over his shoulder, grabbed her by the waist, then lifted her up as he stood and put her in a fireman''s carry over his shoulder. She wiggled and squirmed when he did, and he slapped her backside to get her to calm down. She jerked at the hit and jammed her elbows into his back in retaliation, then she gasped in pain.


    ¡°Remember what I said about not biting me.¡± Steven said and chuckled. ¡°I didn''t mean that you shouldn''t, I meant that you couldn''t.¡±


    Siada struggled and he held her steady as he climbed up onto his horse. When he was secured in his saddle, he carefully pulled the lamia off of his shoulder and sat her across his lap like a lady.


    ¡°I didn''t know any other way to get you up here.¡± Steven said. ¡°It''s not like you can walk.¡±


    Siada frowned at him and thought about head-butting him, and he laughed because he knew that look.


    ¡°You''ll only break that cute nose.¡± Steven said and her eyes widened as her frown disappeared.


    Josh, Evangeline, and Kara got on their horses and the group trotted back up the road towards the town. If they were lucky after getting back to the inn, they would get a few hours sleep before the driver and their guide woke up and they would have to leave again. They had a few more monsters to take care of before they could back to the capital.

 Book Two: The Summoned 024

    Once I was far enough away from Kara, a weight that I didn''t know was on me lifted from my chest and my mind seemed clearer. I took a huge breath and let it out as my Presence energy that had been ebbing sprang back to full strength. Maylia noticed the difference as my energy spread to her and she glanced at me with concern on her face.


    ¡°Yeah, whatever power that skinny guy Josh has, must have been holding me there as well.¡± I said and picked up speed to run almost at our top speed.


    ¡°As a group, they might all have that power. If you are near one, you want to stay near one.¡± Maylia said. ¡°You said you needed to leave several times and yet you didn''t.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I wanted to leave... and for some reason I... I just couldn''t bring myself to go. Not until Kara approached, anyway.¡± I said with a slight frown. ¡°I don''t like that it''s affecting me, whatever it is.¡±


    ¡°I thought you might have stayed to hear that tanned man''s story.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°I wanted to, because it''s going to be interesting to hear. I knew it would be some time before he would speak, though. He just lost three of his friends and I sincerely doubt he''s going to say more than a word or two for a while.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Maylia asked.


    I nodded. ¡°You don''t seem affected by whatever that group does, so I doubt he will be affected either.¡± I said. ¡°I really need to get a handle on using mana properly. The spell the girl used on me knocked me back and winded me, and I thought I was completely protected.¡± I said. ¡°Just like when Sylvana kicked me, both times, my protection didn''t mean anything.¡±


    ¡°I tried to protest that mortally wounding you was not a part of the bargain you made.¡± Maylia said.


    I glanced at her. ¡°That was you?¡±


    Maylia nodded. ¡°Then you threw that sword at her and plunged it into her chest.¡± She said. ¡°I hated you so much when you did that.¡±


    ¡°You all did.¡± I chuckled. ¡°That''s why I did it.¡±


    ¡°To make us hate you?¡± Maylia asked, surprised.


    ¡°No, to show you that I could have easily killed her.¡± I said. ¡°Hating me would have happened on its own when I beat her, especially since your people hold men in such low regard.¡±


    ¡°If you could have killed so easily, why didn''t you kill all of us?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°You threatened to.¡±


    ¡°You mean like what happened in that clearing during the rescue?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°It''s difficult to explain. I was angry at your people for capturing and robbing me; but, I didn''t feel any real malice or hatred from you.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I normally don''t just go in killing people like I did in the clearing. I usually examine, or listen, or try to find out what''s going on first before I act. In the clearing, I just... I knew they were bad and needed to be dealt with before they hurt me or anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Like instinct?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°Yes, that''s what it was. Instinct.¡± I said in understanding. ¡°When I was inside the protection tree, I didn''t have any proof that you wouldn''t kill me, and yet... when I approached the sacred chamber, I knew you weren''t going to hurt me and I immediately regretted having to hurt you to get free.¡±


    ¡°I felt that your apology was sincere and knew you were telling the truth about respecting the sacred tree.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°I''m glad you did, or that could have turned out a lot differently.¡± I said. ¡°In the clearing, as soon as my detection range touched them, I knew that they were evil and didn''t hesitate at all, because I knew they wouldn''t.¡±


    ¡°I agree. I didn''t doubt for one second that they would kill us if we didn''t strike first.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Especially that mangled face man. I felt dirty just from him looking at me.¡±


    I nodded and we stayed quiet for a while as we ran.


    ¡°Are we still going to the capital, even though they came from there?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°Yes, I should confirm their story at least.¡± I said. ¡°Once I look around and see for myself what the standard of living is like, that is.¡±


    ¡°I''m interested in seeing that as well.¡± Maylia said. ¡°There''s no record of an elf visiting the capital of any country.¡±


    ¡°I guess that makes us both explorers as well as adventurers.¡± I said with a smile, and she smiled back.


    ¡°Are we stopping anywhere for the night?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± I said as night fell completely. There was no traffic on the road and it was easy to run on it without having to avoid anyone. ¡°I feel pretty energized right now, and we know Kara and the others are probably right behind us.¡±


    ¡°We could buy some horses.¡± Maylia suggested.


    ¡°Can you teach me the mana boost you did on those oversized horses you rode in the forest?¡±


    ¡°I''ll teach you anything that you want to know.¡± Maylia said and gave my hand a squeeze. ¡°You''ve given me more knowledge over the last week than I''ve learned in the last ten years. Also, my mana ability has increased for the first time in thirty years.¡±


    ¡°So, you''re telling me that you''re easily bribed.¡± I joked and grinned at her, and she laughed.


    ¡°Only by you, Hunter.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Only by you.¡±


    I gave her hand a squeeze and we kept running. We arrived at the next town several hours later and asked the town guard where to buy horses. He said he didn''t know, until I held a silver coin up. After a moment, he told us that we could buy some horses if we didn''t care where they came from. He took us down the street and into an old barn. Inside were five horses that looked kind of scraggly.


    ¡°We caught some bandits last week that were trying to rob a man and his wife. They killed one of their horses and almost got away, then our patrol found them. They were no match for seasoned soldiers.¡±


    That''s probably the man and woman we saw on the main road that ignored us. I thought.


    ¡°They''re a little scrawny and haven''t been well fed. I''ve been trying to get them into good health, so I can sell them to the stable that rents them.¡± The guard said. ¡°It''s taking more to feed them than they''re going to be worth when I can actually sell them.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Well, considering there''s only two of us, we can''t take all five.¡±


    ¡°If you pay enough for the two, I''ll make it up from the other three.¡±


    ¡°Are you giving us the saddles, too?¡± I asked, and the guard looked at me warily. ¡°We can ride without them; but, what are you going to do with two old saddles when people can probably buy them new?¡±


    ¡°You could buy them new, too.¡±


    ¡°I need to get to the capital as quickly as possible.¡± I said. ¡°I have no extra time for shopping, or for the sales person to try and sell me something that I have no idea which one is the best. I could buy a cheap saddle for an outrageous price and I''d never know it.¡±


    The guard looked at me like I was giving away all of my advantages.


    ¡°Before you think of doing the same thing, both I and my beautiful companion can tell when people are lying.¡±


    The guard grunted and then smiled. ¡°All right. Ten silver for each horse, and I''ll give you the worst saddles of the five.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Okay, that''s fair.¡± I said and gave him the money. He went to get the two saddles and I looked at Maylia. ¡°Can you tell me which of these won''t die when we ride them out of town?¡±


    Maylia nodded and pointed to number two and number five. We gathered them together and put the tack and reins on them, then brought them over to the door of the barn. The guard came back with two pretty ratty and worn saddles and we strapped them onto the horses.


    ¡°Nice doing business with you.¡± The guard said and waved as he left to go back to his post.


    I looked at the completely unguarded barn without a lock or even a strong door. I didn''t even have to comment when Maylia put a hand on my arm and made me look at her. She smiled a knowing smile at me and I couldn''t help but smile back. She already knew what I was going to say about the place.


    ¡°Let''s stop at that stable and get some feed.¡± I said instead. We went to the stable and bought several weeks of feed for each horse and I put it into my bag of holding. We walked the horses out to the edge of town and I tried to do a quick Mana Presence Heal on my horse to see if I could at least get it back into normal health. The horse filled out slightly and neighed at me as if to thank me, so I pat its neck. I did Maylia''s horse next, then we mounted up and took off riding. After an hour at a regular pace, Maylia directed us to go off the road and into the trees. Once there, I tried to conceal us from the road with Presence. She took an hour to teach me the spell she used to imbue mana into the horse to make it go faster. She used it on her horse and it glowed green and stayed that way.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Now you try.¡± Maylia said.


    I did exactly what she did and absolutely nothing happened. ¡°You have got to be kidding me.¡± I said.


    ¡°It wasn''t a joke. I told you exactly what I did.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Sorry, that''s just a saying where I come from when something happens and we can''t believe it.¡± I sighed. ¡°Can you show me another spell? Something easy?¡±


    Maylia quickly showed me the spell to generate arrows for a bow. She taught it to me and then cast the spell herself, and twenty pieces of thin wood came out of the surrounding trees and dropped into her hand. They had sharp points and fletches made of leaves.


    ¡°They are not as good as making them by hand and with feathers, but when all you have is mana and no feathers...¡± Maylia said, then she walked me through the steps again. I did my best and copied her exactly. I even called mana to my hands to see if that would help... and nothing happened.


    ¡°Isn''t it just great that I can''t use spells in a world full of magic?¡± I asked with a laugh.


    Maylia opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. ¡°You''ve cast powerful spells before.¡±


    ¡°No, they are just...¡± I stopped talking for a moment. ¡°Son of a...¡± I didn''t curse out loud or yell, despite really wanting to. ¡°Only the things I can do with one thing, can I do with the other.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Maylia asked.


    I gave her the reins of my horse. ¡°Hold these tightly.¡± I said and turned to look at a thick dead tree about twenty feet away. I called forth Presence Lightning, except I used the same technique that I had used with the Mana Presence Hands that Maylia had inspired me to do. I made a container for the lightning out of Presence and filled it with mana instead of using just Presence. I pointed at the tree and let a single bolt out. It was the same one that I had hit the princess with the first time and she hadn''t even felt it.


    A huge bolt six inches wide and two feet long shot across the distance instantly, hit the center of the tree, and blew it apart. I created a Presence Wall with mana inside in front of us to stop the old and dried splinters from hitting us. The horses had been spooked by the explosion and tried to get away, and I touched them with Presence and calmed them down. Maylia looked at the completely destroyed tree and then at me.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Maylia asked, surprised.


    ¡°A hastily adapted technique.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve been slowly changing the things I know how to do by adding mana, and it makes them more effective.¡± I looked at my hands and then up into the sky. ¡°I didn''t realize that the more mana I use, the more powerful it becomes.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t that how it always works?¡± Maylia asked, slightly confused. ¡°The more mana you use, the bigger the spell, and the more it drains you.¡± She looked at the tree. ¡°Why aren''t you light-headed or feeling tired after that?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Maylia, I can''t describe the amount of Presence I have inside myself. I can''t tell you how much I have or how much I can gather temporarily when I need it.¡± I said. ¡°When you removed my shackles and they stopped draining me, both my Presence and my mana filled up. They are the same size.¡±


    Maylia blinked her eyes at me. ¡°But... if you can''t cast spells... what is the point of the mana?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± I said and turned to her. ¡°I had a feeling not long ago that it was like I had two people inside of me. One with Presence and one with mana. I thought combining them was what I needed to do to make the energy work for me, because my Presence techniques weren''t quite working right.¡±


    ¡°It''s working now, isn''t it?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°We can run pretty fast.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and when you learned the technique and added your own mana, we went that much faster, didn''t we?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Now, imagine you were using the technique by yourself, and someone like me used only mana and shared it with you.¡±


    Maylia had to think about that for a minute. ¡°You''re saying you''ve only been sharing a small amount of mana with me this entire time?¡± She asked and it was my turn to nod. ¡°But... but that means...¡±


    ¡°Now we have horses, and only you can cast the spell to boost the horse with mana.¡± I said. ¡°But me? I can''t cast the spell. What I can do is share my energy with a willing participant.¡±


    Maylia''s eyes widened. ¡°You''ve been unconsciously holding back, because you''re not used to using mana like everyone else here.¡± She said. ¡°If your mana reserve is large enough for the princess to be interested in keeping you, then... then you...¡±


    ¡°Shall we try it?¡± I asked. ¡°Cast the same spell on my horse and I''ll share my mana with you.¡±


    Maylia nodded. ¡°I''ll be the focusing rod.¡± She said and touched my horse and I took off my glove and touched her neck. I caressed it briefly and then held on. Maylia started to chant and instead of sharing Presence like I usually do, I only used it to make the connection between us, then poured my mana into her. Maylia glowed brightly and she poured that energy into the horse. She finished the spell and the horse glowed just as brightly as she did. She reached out and touched her own horse, then a moment later, it glowed just as brightly.


    ¡°I''d call that a success.¡± I said with a smile and she turned to face me. I kept my hand on her neck and it slid around to the front. She stepped close and stared into my eyes, because she could see through the blast shield just as well as I could.


    ¡°We... can''t waste the spell.¡± Maylia whispered and licked her lips.


    ¡°I think we can spare a few seconds.¡± I whispered back and kissed her. We stayed there for a few minutes, then she sighed and broke the kiss. Without a word, we led the horses back out to the road and climbed up into the saddles, then took off at a ridiculous speed, even faster than the conditioned horses that the elves had. The horses weren''t bothered by the speed at all, and I had to assume that they could see pretty far because of the glow they gave off. Either that, or they were sharing our detection range.


    In any case, we ran for the rest of the night and made fantastic time as we headed towards the capital. Both my Presence and mana regenerated in under two hours when we stopped, so after we fed and watered the horses and ate breakfast ourselves, I took Maylia''s hand as she cast the spell again on the horses. We mounted up and rode at full speed again. We repeated this process each time we stopped to eat, fed and watered the horses, and the countryside passed us by faster and faster.


    Maylia was the one that noticed the horses were getting more muscular and were slightly bigger than they had been. At this point, nothing I saw or experienced seemed odd to me, so I nodded to her and we kept going. We couldn''t really talk or share stories as we rode, so it was companionable silence between us until we stopped to rest. Of course, I didn''t waste those opportunities and cuddled Maylia while we ate and relaxed. She was more than okay with that and enjoyed it as well.


    *


    Kara and the others made it back to the town where they had left the carriage, and they had been surprised that they hadn''t passed Hunter and the woman he was with. They thought for sure, even after waiting to heal the injured for as long as they did, their horses should have caught up to them. They had no idea that Hunter and Maylia had been just down the road in the barn as they waited for the guard to return with the saddles.


    They split the injured between their rooms and slept for the rest of the night. No one was surprised when Steven offered to guard the lamia in his room. Siada didn''t object, which was a surprise; but, Kara wasn''t going to let that happen and took the lamia into her room and covered her mouth with Presence to protect herself. Imiryl, the blue haired girl, went with Aimee and Jessica into their room. The tanned man, Allirynn, went with a disappointed Steven to stay in his room. Josh and Evangeline had their room to themselves; but, they were too tired to take advantage of that.


    The next day, they piled the injured into the carriage with the rest of the group and Jessica and Aimee rode the horses. The kid guide told the driver where to go to deal with the next group of monsters, and he took them there. Josh had been tempted to do the speed spell that the acolytes had given the carriage that first day; but, he needed his mana for working on the injured and did that instead while they travelled. The group arrived at the first spot and saw several people carrying humanoid frog carcasses across the road and there was a large ship shoved into the dirt of the large riverbank nearby.


    ¡°We''re emissaries for the Goddess Chiaya.¡± Jessica said to the man that wore a white hat. ¡°What happened here?¡±


    ¡°You wouldn''t believe me if I told you, pretty lady.¡± The captain said with a smile.


    ¡°I''m sure it''s not that strange of a story.¡± Jessica said without smiling back.


    ¡°All right.¡± The captain said.


    The captain told them about Hunter and how the ship was attacked by the creatures, how Hunter had stopped the boat from sinking and killed the attackers, then how Hunter had docked the ship by himself.


    ¡°Damnedest thing I ever saw.¡± The captain said. ¡°He just looked at the dirt and it covered the hole!¡±


    ¡°I told you it wasn''t that strange of a story.¡± Jessica said and smiled, her thoughts happy that Hunter had helped them in their time of need and acted like the hero he was supposed to be. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Hey, are you going to look for the source of those things?¡± A man asked as he came over to them. ¡°Hunter didn''t have the time to go and look for them himself.¡±


    Jessica looked at the others inside the carriage.


    ¡°You were sent from the capital to help, weren''t you?¡± The man asked and looked at their faces.


    ¡°Yes, we were.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Thank god.¡± The man said in relief and missed the raised eyebrows on some of them. ¡°We''ve been asking for months for them to send someone. The things usually show up every few weeks. These ones showed up the night before, so their tracks or trail or whatever should still be easy to follow.¡±


    ¡°We will probably need one of them.¡± Evangeline said.


    ¡°Well, there''s a couple dozen of them, so help yourself.¡± The man said and pointed to the pile. ¡°We''ve been moving them to my farm to use them for animal feed, once we clean and strip them, of course. The bones are too hard, even for the pigs, and they can eat anything.¡±


    That was too much information. Jessica thought. ¡°Thank you. We''ll get right on it.¡±


    ¡°That''s great!¡± The man said happily and turned away. ¡°I''ll tell the neighbours!¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to stop them from coming?¡± The captain said.


    ¡°We''re going to try.¡± Kara said. ¡°We can''t promise any more than that.¡±


    The captain chuckled. ¡°That''s what Hunter said about protecting the boat.¡± He said and walked over to the side of the ship. ¡°If you''re as good as he was when he tried and succeeded, we''re all in good hands.¡± He banged a fist on the wood. ¡°Hey! Tell me when you want the log pulled out from this side!¡±


    ¡°We''ve almost got it cut off, cap''n!¡± A muffled voice said back.


    ¡°If you fix the ship by suppertime, I''ll pay for the food!¡± The captain said, and a few yells replied. He smiled and turned to Jessica. ¡°You need to keep them properly motivated or they slack off.¡±


    Jessica nodded and slid off the horse and tied it to the back of the carriage, had Aimee do the same, then they both climbed up and squeezed into the carriage. Kara had been right. It was way too crowded with all of them inside.


    ¡°Aimee, what do you recommend?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°A locate spell won''t work, even if we use their equipment to look for the source.¡± Aimee said. ¡°If we... hmm... well...¡±


    ¡°It''s not a test that has a right and wrong answer.¡± Jessica said with a smile. ¡°I''m asking your opinion.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Aimee exclaimed, and her face flushed slightly red. ¡°Well, if that''s the case, we could try a Remnant spell.¡±


    Jessica closed her eyes for a moment and thought about it, then opened her eyes and smiled. ¡°I think that''s the best course of action, as long as we take the original with us.¡±


    ¡°What''s a remnant spell?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°It''s a spell that essentially creates a ghost.¡± Jessica said. ¡°We use the original body and cast the spell, tell the remnant that we want to return the body where it came from, then tell the remnant to go home.¡±


    Steven barked a laugh. ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± He asked. ¡°You''re going to ask a ghost to take you to its home? Really?¡±


    ¡°It should work.¡± Jessica said. ¡°The ghost will fade when the task is complete or if we dispel it.¡±


    ¡°Then let''s do it.¡± Kara said. ¡°Steven, your skills won''t be at their best. We''re not going to be directly saving people, so you should stay here and protect the injured.¡±


    Steven nodded, and Kara, Jessica, Josh, Evangeline, and Aimee stepped out of the carriage to put their really odd plan into action.

 Book Two: The Summoned 025

    Jessica levitated one of the humanoid frog bodies off of the pile and placed it on the side of the road. Aimee took out her focusing rod and drew a mana circle around it, and they both drew mana symbols around the outer edge. Jessica looked at Aimee''s symbols and nodded her approval, then they both drew the inner circle with mana and several symbols on the body. They left it dressed, so that when the remnant saw itself, it wouldn''t be desecrated by having things taken from it.


    It only took a few minutes for Jessica and Aimee to complete the spell chants and the circles, symbols, and then the humanoid frog body glowed green. A moment later, all the glow coalesced together in the center and a nearly completely see-through frog humanoid floated up from the body. It squeaked at them and several of the farmers nearby screamed at the ghostly apparition and ran away. The captain had just stared at the thing.


    Jessica ignored their reaction and showed the remnant the body. ¡°Home.¡± She said to it. ¡°We want you take you home.¡±


    It squeaked again, and she cast the Levitate spell on the body.


    ¡°Go home.¡± Jessica said and moved the body a foot away. ¡°Go home.¡±


    The remnant looked at the floating body and then at Jessica before it turned around and floated down the road. Jessica, Kara, Aimee, Josh, and Evangeline quickly followed it. It went about a hundred feet, then it turned into a field and started to cross it.


    ¡°I can''t believe this is actually working.¡± Josh said as they crossed the field fairly quickly and entered the woods there. ¡°How far do you think it''ll go?¡±


    ¡°There''s only one way to find out.¡± Kara said.


    Surprisingly, it wasn''t very far. Barely a mile away in the woods, there was a thicket of trees so dense that there was only space between two of them to go through. The remnant stopped and pointed into the thicket.


    ¡°I don''t think going in there is a good idea. It doesn''t feel right.¡± Aimee said with a shiver. ¡°What do we do now?¡±


    ¡°We do what we promised.¡± Jessica said and floated the frog body into the thicket. As it passed between the trees, a gaping black maw opened and the body was sucked in.


    ¡°By the Goddess!¡± Josh exclaimed in surprise.


    The remnant, its task done, faded away... as did the gaping maw.


    ¡°Did you guys see that, too?¡± Josh asked and looked at the others. ¡°It looked like a big mouth, right?¡±


    ¡°It did.¡± Jessica said. ¡°What in the world was it?¡±


    ¡°It''s not from this world.¡± Evangeline said and shivered slightly. ¡°Aimee''s right. We shouldn''t go in there.¡±


    ¡°I don''t feel like being eaten, either.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°I don''t think it''s an actual mouth.¡± Kara said. ¡°It''s just our minds giving it shape.¡±


    ¡°Well, my mind says it''s a mouth with really big sharp teeth.¡± Josh said. ¡°No, thank you.¡±


    ¡°We need to try and figure out what it is.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Aimee, do you think we can set up a Truesight spell big enough?¡±


    Aimee looked at the surrounding trees. ¡°Maybe. If we can suspend the rods up high enough.¡±


    ¡°I''ll handle levitating the rods into place.¡± Jessica said. ¡°You start building the spell.¡±


    They both got to work and Jessica formed four long rods out of nearby branches and covered them in her gathered tears to make them shimmer. When they were ready, she used a binding spell on them to make them stay together in a square shape and then levitated it up and held it in place.


    ¡°What''s the symbol for eye?¡± Aimee asked.


    ¡°It''s a squiggly horizontal line with a dot under it.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°Ugh. So simple!¡± Aimee admonished herself. ¡°Why can''t I remember...¡±


    ¡°You''re just learning.¡± Jessica said with a chuckle. ¡°You can''t expect to know everything right away.¡±


    ¡°You do.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been studying the whole time we travelled in the carriage and I''ve apparently got a fantastic memory now.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I''d be completely lost if I was trying any of this stuff back home!¡±


    ¡°I doubt that.¡± Aimee said. ¡°You''ve been so strong!¡± She said, her voice full of reverence. ¡°You even stayed cool and collected when Hunter tripped our horses and we were all hurt.¡±


    ¡°You weren''t awake for that.¡± Jessica said and looked over her shoulder to watch as Aimee added the components for the spell. ¡°How do you know what happened?¡±


    ¡°I used a Before Knowledge spell last night while you were discussing where to put everyone.¡±


    ¡°Aimee!¡± Jessica said and reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°That''s a tier two spell! Nice going!¡±


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Aimee said, her face red.


    ¡°You need bark of the pear-apple tree, not the bognut tree.¡± Jessica said and pointed at the written spell.


    ¡°What?¡± Aimee looked at the spell and changed it. ¡°I need to read the index of the ingredients again.¡±


    ¡°As long as we have some, it should be okay.¡± Jessica said. ¡°How are the ingredients holding up?¡±


    ¡°We have plenty, since a lot of the spells we use barely have any components.¡± Aimee said. ¡°It''s the big spells like this one that''s going to cut into them.¡±


    ¡°We can replace what we need at the next town or when we go back to the last one and return the rented horses.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°Then we''re good to go.¡± Aimee said and picked up the spell and the ingredients. They set everything out in the proper order and they both started to chant. After thirty seconds, each of the ingredients dissolved in order and floated up and swirled into the space between the rods. When the last item joined the rest, Aimee pointed her focusing rod at the center of the mass and Jessica pointed her staff there, too.


    ¡°Don''t conceal the truth! Our minds are not that weak! Show us what is real! Show us what we seek!¡±


    The swirling mass spread out and filled the space in the middle of the rods in a square shape, and nothing appeared.


    ¡°Toss something in!¡± Jessica said.


    Kara picked up a rock nearby and tossed it into the space between the trees underneath their Truesight spell. The gaping maw appeared and opened up, then it swallowed the rock and disappeared. The view through the square of Truesight however, showed something like a crack in the air. It was pitch black in the center and leaked black vapour out of it. It had opened when the rock went through and showed them something they never would have guessed.


    Hundreds of those frog humanoids stood on the other side of it and their blank faces and eyes stared at them.


    ¡°Wow.¡± Josh said. ¡°What do we do about that?¡±


    Jessica put the large Truesight square into her bag of holding. ¡°I think we all know what we need to do.¡± She said. ¡°We need to ask the Goddess what we can do to shut this doorway.¡±


    ¡°Can''t you just dispel it?¡± Evangeline asked.


    ¡°I probably could... if it was a spell.¡± Jessica said. ¡°That thing is... it''s... a crack in the world. I have no idea what to do to try and seal it.¡±


    ¡°Should we gather around it or be near it when we pray for guidance?¡± Aimee asked.


    ¡°No, we should move off a little before invoking the Goddess.¡± Josh said, sure of that answer. ¡°Kara also needs to stand guard to protect us, in case our prayer does something to it.¡±


    Kara nodded as she drew her sword and they moved away a short distance so that the thicket could still be seen, and Jessica, Josh, Aimee, and Evangeline huddled together. Josh gave Jessica a white robe and they all held hands and chanted. They were covered in a white glow after a few moments, then the thicket of trees seemed to shimmer.


    ¡°Hurry.¡± Kara said as she felt something enter her detection range, then another, then a dozen more. She waited until the frog creatures were close enough and used her Presence to push them all away. The light being emitted behind her grew in intensity and then cut off suddenly. She felt a warmth on her back and turned to see Evangeline. She was covered in white fire, and the others were unconscious on the ground.


    ¡°Step aside, Emissary. Your skills are not necessary for what comes next.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Goddess.¡± Kara said and ducked her head as she stepped aside. Evangeline walked forward and the frog humanoids tried to attack her. As they lunged at her or threw weapons, they were simply wiped from existence. The others were too stupid to learn from this and kept attacking her as she walked towards the thicket of trees. Ten more of them came out of the gaping maw and were erased, then they started to come out in a constant flow.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Pitiful.¡± Evangeline said and stepped right up to the thicket, put her hand between the two trees that the frogs kept trying to jump through, then a light so bright that it lit up the entire forest came out of her hand. The ground shook as if something huge had impacted on the surface, then the light faded. The thicket had been crushed flat and the thing that was inside of it was no more.


    Evangeline walked over to Kara and smiled. ¡°Tell them not to worry about calling on me so much. I will come whenever I am needed. Be the task big or small.¡±


    ¡°Goddess, can I ask...¡±


    ¡°I cannot participate directly and I must work through others.¡± The Goddess Chaiya said through Evangeline''s lips. ¡°My embodiment seems to have exhausted the others, and I must assume Evangeline will be as well.¡± She reached out and touched Kara''s face. ¡°Ferry them back to the carriage. They will be fine by the time you reach the next town.¡±


    ¡°What about...¡±


    ¡°I have sealed the crack. Unfortunately, there are a lot of others. The next is near the next town.¡±


    ¡°I''ll let them know.¡± Kara said. ¡°How do we track...¡±


    ¡°You will figure it out.¡± The Goddess said, then the white fire blew out in a gust of wind and Evangeline fell to the ground, unconscious. She had a huge smile on her face.


    I guess that means she knows what happened. Kara thought as she picked the girl up and carried her over to the others. She used her Levitate ability to manipulate the Presence in the air and picked up the others. It was a huge drain on her; but, she knew the Goddess needed her to get them all back to the carriage as quickly as possible. She managed to get them all back into sight of the carriage and the people moving the frog corpses saw her, as did Steven. They all ran over to her to help her with her burden.


    ¡°Thanks to... the Goddess Chaiya... it''s done.¡± Kara said and dropped to her knees. ¡°No more... frog things.¡±


    The people cheered and she didn''t object when one of them helped her stand up. They were all brought over to the carriage and the people helped put them all inside. Allirynn and Imiryl felt much better by this point, even though they were still weak, and they chose to ride on the horses to make room for the others. They left the horses tied to the back of the carriage, so they wouldn''t have to worry about trying to control them or keeping up with the carriage.


    Kara told the driver to take them to the next town. It would take a day, according to the kid guide, so she sat back and closed her eyes. She should be recovered herself by then and used a mental technique to enter a meditative state. Her thoughts weren''t a mess like she had expected, and her urgent need to find Hunter had been sated slightly. She still felt it; but, since she knew where he was going and would be there herself eventually, her heart and mind settled into calmness and she drifted off to sleep.


    The only two people still awake were Steven and the lamia, Siada. She had carefully and easily slid over to Steven and onto his lap, as if they were riding a horse together, which gave the others a bit more room. Steven had taken off his damaged armor the night before and stored it with the supplies, so they didn''t have any hard surfaces between them. He put his arms around her and held her, and she tried to mime talking to him.


    ¡°I was never any good at charades.¡± Steven whispered. ¡°I have no idea what you''re trying to say.¡±


    Siada sighed and leaned against him, so he held a hand up and wiggled his fingers. She glanced at the hand and wasn''t sure what he was doing. He tapped one of her hands and wiggled his fingers again. She looked at his face and he smiled.


    ¡°You see? I can''t even mime hand-holding.¡± Steven said in a whisper.


    Siada raised her eyebrows at him, and he slid his hand under hers and took her hand, then intertwined his fingers with hers. She moved her mouth and asked him something, and he chuckled softly.


    ¡°I''m going to take a wild guess at that. No, I''m not crazy. I''m not even from this world.¡± Steven said. ¡°I''ve never met anyone like you before and I think you''re very exotic.¡±


    Siada tilted her head and looked at him in confusion.


    ¡°It means very rare and exciting.¡± Steven responded. ¡°Hey, maybe I''m better at it than I thought.¡±


    Siada had to smile at him for that. She actually wanted to ask him if he was an idiot. Instead, she put her head down on his shoulder and stayed there until they stopped for food. She resumed that position after they ate and stayed that way until that evening. They stopped on the side of the road and Steven took out blankets for everyone and left them where they were. He took the lamia outside and gave bedrolls to Allirynn and the blue haired girl, then took his own and climbed under the carriage.


    Siada stared at him as he carefully laid the bedroll out and then held a hand out to her. She shook her head, so he climbed out slightly and took her tied hands, pat them, then motioned to the bedroll.


    ¡°Under the carriage is the safest place besides inside the carriage, and there''s no way we''re going to have a comfortable sleep in there with so many people.¡± Steven said. ¡°Unlike what the others think, I''m not going to undress you and feel you up.¡±


    Siada blinked her eyes at him and wasn''t sure if he was joking or not.


    ¡°It''s warmer with two bodies in bed and it''s cozy.¡± Steven said. ¡°Trust me, it''ll be nice under there.¡±


    Siada couldn''t really object, since she was still a prisoner, so she nodded. He grinned at her and they both slid in under the carriage and Steven let her get in first. She was a little bigger than a normal person because of her tail, so she coiled it up at the bottom of the bedroll and he slid in beside her.


    ¡°No, that''s not good enough.¡± Steven said and slid out, then climbed out from under the carriage.


    Siada was so surprised that he had left her completely unattended that she didn''t even consider trying to escape. Steven came back with a thick blanket and climbed back under the carriage and covered her and the bedroll with it. He climbed back inside next to her and snuggled in close.


    ¡°There, that''s much warmer.¡± Steven said. ¡°I told you it was nice and cozy under here.¡±


    Siada looked into his eyes to see if he was trying to trick her, and all she saw was openness and frankness. Something she hadn''t seen on anyone''s face, at least not before she had met Allirynn and his friends. Tears came to her eyes as she thought about them and what she had done and Steven''s hand quickly reached up and wiped the tears away for her.


    ¡°Yeah, I know. The situation we''re in is pretty scary.¡± Steven said. ¡°Don''t worry, though. I''ve been assigned to protect you and that''s what I''m going to do.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°They don''t call me the Paladin of Light for nothing.¡±


    Siada was sure he was only saying those things to reassure himself, and she didn''t care. She put her tied wrists around his neck and hugged him tightly. Steven put his arms around her and held on just as tightly.


    The night passed fairly quickly and everyone was up and awake by morning. Kara had worried about the lamia until she questioned Steven about what happened, then she relaxed. They all ate breakfast and Kara told them what the Goddess had told her the day before, about there being another crack near the next town. They packed everything up and Allirynn and Imiryl climbed back inside the carriage because Jessica and Aimee had resumed riding the horses. The group travelled for half the day to get to the town. Once there, they were greeted by a very happy guard at the gate house.


    ¡°We''re emissaries of the Goddess Chaiya.¡± Jessica said to the guard on top of the small guard house. ¡°We''re here to deal with that large armored monster.¡±


    ¡°You''re about a week too late for that!¡± The guard chuckled. ¡°That Hunter guy cleared out thirteen of them!¡±


    Everyone in their group was surprised to hear that and the guard noticed.


    ¡°Yep! He just strode into town with one on his back and asked if there was a bounty on it.¡± The guard laughed. ¡°He came back an hour later with a dozen more of them and laid them out in the town square! What a sight that was!¡±


    ¡°There''s still a threat to the town and...¡± Jessica started to say.


    ¡°You''ll be wanting to see the mayor, then.¡± The guard said. ¡°I''ll be right down.¡±


    The guard climbed down and let them into the town and to the mayor''s office. Once there, they got the whole story from the mayor named Andora and they told her that more would come.


    ¡°If you can stop them from coming back, that would be wonderful!¡± Andora said. ¡°If you kill any armored creatures on the way, be careful of their tails and their blood. It''s corrosive poison.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any of the creatures here?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°Only the heads.¡± The mayor said and put one on the desk. She had them there because she wasn''t sure what to do with them. ¡°The armored bodies we managed to cut up and are working to try and make armor out of them.¡±


    Jessica held in her sigh, because she was pretty sure that the remnant spell wasn''t going to work with only a head to conjure a ghost from. ¡°We''ll try and deal with it as soon as possible.¡± She said and took the head anyway, just in case.


    ¡°Go have fun, you kids!¡± Andora said and waved them out of the office.


    ¡°She called us kids.¡± Steven said with a laugh.


    Jessica and Aimee tried the remnant spell, and surprisingly, a ghostly head appeared above it. They did the same thing they had with the frog creature and followed the remnant for a couple of miles into the forest where another large thicket of trees was and Jessica took out the Truesight square before tossing in the head. They saw the same thing behind it. A gaping black maw opened to accept the head, and through the square, were hundreds of the creatures that just stared blankly back at them.


    ¡°They look a lot more dangerous than the frog things.¡± Josh said as he saw the large armored armadillo things. ¡°We need Steven here at least.¡±


    ¡°I''ll stay out of the prayer as well.¡± Jessica said and cast one of her little communication creatures. It flittered away and Josh, Aimee, and Evangeline started to pray while Kara and Jessica watched them. Steven was there a couple of minutes later, just in time to slash his sword through the head of an armored creature before it reached the three praying people. Kara and Jessica had already killed several others and one had sneaked by them somehow.


    Josh, Evangeline, and Aimee managed to conjure up the Goddess again. She inhabited Aimee this time by covering her in white fire while the other two fell unconscious, their energy spent. Steven immediately bowed to her and averted his eyes, and she pat the top of his head.


    ¡°I appreciate your extra devotion; but, just unwavering loyalty will suffice.¡± The Goddess Chaiya said.


    Steven chuckled at her joke without lifting his head. ¡°You know you''re still my dream girl.¡±


    ¡°You still harbour such lofty assumptions?¡± The Goddess Chaiya asked.


    ¡°Why ask for the world when you can ask for the universe?¡± Steven asked, and he felt her amusement.


    ¡°You should settle for just the world.¡± The Goddess Chaiya said with a smile and walked by him. She passed Kara and Jessica and they also had their heads bowed. She quickly sealed the crack and went back over to them. ¡°You have done well so far.¡± She said. ¡°As you retrace your steps to go back to the capital, use those things you carry to find more of the cracks for me to heal.¡±


    The white fire faded and Aimee collapsed into Jessica''s arms, unconscious. Jessica and Kara exchanged looks and nods. Some of the carcasses they had stored as proof of their deeds were now going to come in handy in another way. Kara gathered the six creatures they had killed and then they carried the three unconscious people back to the carriage, placed them inside, and went back to the town to let the residents know that the job was done and that they didn''t have to worry about the armored armadillos anymore.


    They tried to refuse the bounty that the mayor offered them, then Jessica pointed out that they needed to replace some of the spell supplies and would need feed for the horses and other things. The mayor was more than happy to show them around the town and let them spend the money they had earned. The group bought what they needed and left the now very happy town, then started to make their way back to the capital. It was going to take another week for them to get back there with all the stops they had to do along the way to seal the cracks.


    Since they were already two days behind Hunter on his journey towards the capital, their only hope was that the Queen of the First Sothen Kingdom and the head acolyte would be able to delay him long enough for them to catch up to him.


    Allirynn wasn''t very happy, because the last two towns hadn''t had a healer, and Josh was exhausted and needed to rest after each time they left the carriage and dealt with the creatures. Neither he nor Imiryl had any healing for the last two days and had to suffer through travelling as well. The more Allirynn was with these people, the Emissaries of Chaiya, the less he liked them. They seemed more concerned over their own needs and fulfilling them than they were for the things they deemed a lower priority. Namely, healing him and Imiryl.


    Once they had become mobile, they had been mostly forgotten and were more of a hindrance to them than anything else. Allirynn didn''t like that at all. Unfortunately, he was still much too weak to head out on his own. Also, the one named Jessica had all of his things and the belongings of his friends in her bag of holding. He was going to have to wait for a while before he would be strong enough to ask for them back.

 Book Two: The Summoned 026

    There were several other roads that branched off and were similar in size and quality that led to other towns and cities, and the people that lived there considered that the main road as well. Since I wanted to get to the capital, I took the farmer''s advice and followed the signposts to make sure we were going in the right direction towards the capital. The speed and mana boosts on the horses had taken us fairly quickly to where we needed to go.


    In just three days we arrived at the outskirts of the capital city, and my hopes of communication off the planet withered at the state of it. We trotted the horses around the outskirts to look at the houses and my opinion of the people''s standard of living was pretty low.


    ¡°Perhaps these are the poor and downtrodden.¡± Maylia said to try and get my hopes up.


    ¡°I''m sure they are.¡± I said. ¡°Unfortunately, the best way to determine the value of life in a society is to look at the poor. I can see that their clothing is worn and their houses are run down.¡± There''s also not a trace of technology anywhere. No electricity, either. I thought and sighed. ¡°They barely even have weapons and this world is really dangerous.¡±


    Maylia nodded. ¡°Hunter, I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°So am I.¡± I said and we turned our horses around and went back to the main road that would lead us through the town and up to the castle.


    ¡°Halt!¡± An authoritative voice called out as we made the turn to go to the castle. ¡°What business do you have here in the capital?¡±


    ¡°We''re looking for the bounties on wanted criminals.¡± I said right away instead of asking why they didn''t ask us that before we entered the city, and turned the horse to face the armored guard. ¡°If you''re wondering what ones, the group had a big green orc with them.¡±


    The guard''s eyes nearly bulged out of his helmet. ¡°You... you''re going after...¡±


    ¡°No, we already dealt with them.¡± I said. ¡°We just want to get paid for their heads.¡±


    The guard stared at me for several moments, then looked at Maylia, who nodded. ¡°Well, then.¡± He said and motioned to a side road. ¡°Please, come with me to the barracks. The captain of the guard will be more than happy to verify your claim.¡±


    ¡°Lead the way.¡± I said, and he led us down the road towards a large building. Other guards looked our way as we passed them and none of the regular people did. I thought that was a little odd, considering how Maylia and I were dressed. The guard tied our horses to the posts outside the door and we dismounted while he admired the slightly altered horses.


    ¡°They must be fast.¡± The guard said, then opened the door for us.


    ¡°Unbelievably.¡± I said and put a hand on Maylia''s lower back as we stepped into the building. The guard came in and shut the door, then led us down the hallway and knocked on the first door. There was no kind of marking on it to indicate that it was special in any way.


    ¡°I''m sorry to bother you, sir.¡± The guard said without opening the door.


    ¡°It must be important if you are off patrol to come here during a shift.¡± A gruff voice said. ¡°Come in.¡±


    The guard opened the door. ¡°It is important, sir.¡± He said and told the captain what we were here for.


    ¡°We''ve had a few people try to claim that ridiculous bounty.¡± The captain said, skeptically. ¡°Your proof better be good.¡±


    ¡°I hope their heads will be enough proof.¡± I said and took the wrapped bundle out of my bag of holding, then looked at his desk. ¡°Where should I open this? I don''t want to get blood on everything.¡±


    The captain barked a laugh. ¡°The desk is fine. I''ve got a great Scourer.¡± He said and looked at my hooded face. ¡°You''re not like other adventurers I''ve met. They wouldn''t care about things like that.¡±


    ¡°You must have some really inconsiderate people around here.¡± I said and plopped the improvised sack of heads onto the desk and untied it. ¡°Now, a few of these are only human and I don''t know if they have individual bounties or not; but, they all wore the same dark cloak and were with the ones that have the faces that do stand out.¡±


    The captain looked at my face for a moment, then nodded. I took out the normal heads, both male and female, then pulled out the female elf''s head. His eye twitched slightly, so I knew he recognized her. Next, I took out the big orc head that was partially smashed, and the guard with us caught his breath.


    That''s a definite confirmation. I thought to myself, then I took out the mangled face man''s head and the captain shot to his feet and leaned in close.


    ¡°You actually have it.¡± The captain said, his voice full of disbelief.


    ¡°My beautiful companion and I came across a completely wrecked carriage and slaughtered horses beside the main road a long way from here, then heard a yell. When we entered the woods, we found a group of eight of them. They had killed three people and were in the process of killing at least two more. The third was debatable.¡±


    The captain held his hand out and I handed him the head. ¡°That sounds like them.¡± He said. ¡°What was special about those people, I wonder?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They usually just kill them all outright.¡± The captain said. ¡°One of the others must have been important or something.¡±


    That was my thought as well. I thought. ¡°Now, about the bounty...¡±


    ¡°Do you have their things?¡± The captain asked.


    ¡°We left their bodies for those odd creature things that seem to eat anything unattended in the woods.¡± I said, and he sighed. ¡°What were you looking for?¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter if the skreenaks have them.¡± The captain said. ¡°All right. You''ve proven your bounty.¡± He said and put the head back in the sack. I helped him add the others and he tied it up, then sat down and rooted through his desk. He took out a small sack of coins and tossed it to me.


    ¡°Is this all there is?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That''s a sack of gold coins.¡± The captain said. ¡°Most people won''t see a single gold coin in their whole lives.¡±


    ¡°That''s why you said it was a ridiculous bounty.¡± I said, and he nodded. I put the pouch into my bag of holding and turned to leave.


    ¡°Would you be interested in any other bounties?¡± The captain asked.


    I stopped and turned back. ¡°It would depend on what they are for.¡±


    ¡°You are definitely not like the other adventurers.¡± The captain said and smiled. ¡°Most of them just ask how much.¡±


    ¡°I learned a long time ago to worry more about the target than about the money.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± The captain barked a laugh. ¡°You''re smart, too.¡± He said and took a big list out of his desk. ¡°Most of these are petty crimes and aren''t much of a concern.¡± He picked up something like a pencil and scratched off about two-thirds of the list, then circled half of the remaining ones. ¡°Murderers mostly.¡± He said and passed me the paper. ¡°The top two are large monsters that need exterminating.¡±


    ¡°Any chance you have a map so I know where to go?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Definitely smarter than the others.¡± The captain said and handed me a scroll. ¡°I don''t normally hand things like that out, so take care of it.¡±


    I opened the scroll and it showed a dot in the city that it showed. ¡°It shows itself?¡±


    ¡°It does, and anywhere you go.¡± The captain said. ¡°The last guy I showed that to, thought it showed him because he was looking at it and holding it.¡±


    I chuckled and the captain laughed.


    ¡°Ask it for a location and it will point an arrow and lead you there.¡± The captain said. ¡°It can only show the two mile by two mile area around where it is, since the paper can''t show more than that.¡±


    ¡°That''s still going to be an enormous help.¡± I said and rolled the scroll back up and put it in my bag.


    ¡°I''m glad you recognize the inherent value of such an item.¡± The captain said and stood again. ¡°I don''t expect you to run off and tackle all of that right away, since you look like you''ve had quite a journey to get here.¡± He glanced at the bag of heads and smiled. ¡°There are a few good inns in the city. Go. Relax. You deserve it.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°I''m glad you recognize my inherent value.¡± I joked, and he laughed.


    ¡°Go on.¡± The captain said and looked at the guard. ¡°Make sure they aren''t bothered.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± The guard said and saluted. ¡°This way, please.¡±


    The guard led us out of the barracks and instead of mounting the horses, we walked with them and asked the guard for a good stable. He took us to one and we paid for several days and made sure they knew to feed and water them more than a normal horse.


    ¡°Don''t worry, sir!¡± The young girl that looked about ten years old said. ¡°I''ve never seen such magnificent animals! I''ll take really good care of them!¡±


    I took two copper coins out of my pocket and handed them to her. ¡°Be sure that you do.¡±


    The girl looked at the two coins and then back at me. ¡°You''re paying me?!?¡± She asked, surprised. ¡°I get to stay here for free as long as I work.¡±


    ¡°Meals included?¡± I asked, and she nodded. I took out two more copper coins and gave them to her.


    She stared at the money in her hand like she didn''t know what to do with it.


    ¡°Two horses, twice the money.¡± I said. ¡°See you in a few days.¡±


    She looked up at me with huge eyes that looked on the verge of tears. ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    We left the stable and the guard pointed out a couple of the inns. We asked which was better and he said they were pretty much the same. There were so many people travelling through that they didn''t have to compete for business and didn''t waste money on trying to do anything else except provide a service. We went to the first inn, since it was closer to the stable and the castle, and the guard left as we went inside and to the counter.


    ¡°We''d like a room for a few days.¡± I said to the back of a woman who was hanging several keys up on a large rack.


    ¡°Of course.¡± The woman said and turned towards us, then she gasped. ¡°Wh-what... what room... would you like?¡± She asked and her eyes didn''t raise above the counter''s edge.


    ¡°The one with the hardest bed.¡± I joked and smiled, and she jumped a little. ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    ¡°I''m f-f-fine.¡± The woman said and stepped close to the counter, and I noticed that she was pointedly looking down under the counter at something. I looked as well and saw a slightly green bubble and it showed both my face and Maylia''s without our cloaks covering them. I had to assume it was for identification purposes; but, it was still a violation of my privacy.


    She could at least ask to see our faces before using that thing. I thought, and being the considerate man that I am, I absorbed the mana from it. The bubble popped audibly and quite loudly and the woman jumped again.


    ¡°On second thought, I''ve changed my mind.¡± I said. ¡°I think I''ll walk around town for a while before deciding where to stay.¡±


    I took Maylia''s hand and we left the bewildered woman as she stared at the spot under the counter where the permanent viewing spell had been. We walked by the other inn and I saw that they had the same thing under their front desk and I popped that one as well without going inside. We checked two other inns and only one didn''t have the same thing. It wasn''t as fancy as the other inns, and I looked at all of the ground floor rooms to see if there were any other glowing green bubbles. There wasn''t, so we went inside.


    ¡°We''d like a room, please.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Of course.¡± The woman at the counter said and smiled back at me. ¡°Would you mind dropping your hoods briefly, just so I know who I''m renting to?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t mind at all. Thank you for asking.¡± I said and pulled my hood down, as did Maylia.


    The woman blinked her eyes at my blast shield and stared at it for several moments.


    ¡°It''s metal.¡± I said and tapped it. ¡°Do you serve food as well?¡±


    ¡°W-we do.¡± The woman said. ¡°Meals can be included if...¡±


    ¡°We''ll be here for several days.¡± I said. ¡°How much for breakfast and supper to be included for three days?¡±


    ¡°Fifteen copper.¡± The woman said right away without having to think about it. ¡°Five per day. Three for the room and two for the meals.¡±


    I took out a silver coin and she easily made change and handed me the key. It was huge and only had a couple of teeth on it.


    ¡°Up the stairs and last door on the left. I''d show you the way; but, I''m working alone today and I don''t want to leave the counter unattended.¡±


    ¡°Are you always busy?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°It''s a steady flow of customers and my rates are the cheapest in the city.¡± The woman said with a smile. ¡°I close at meal times to serve food and clean the rooms during lunch, if the rooms are unoccupied.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Thank you. We''ll be back down for supper.¡± I said and led Maylia to the stairs.


    ¡°I hope stew is okay.¡± The woman said to our backs. ¡°I didn''t have enough meat to make into proper meals.¡±


    I stopped walking and turned back to her. ¡°How many people are staying here?¡±


    ¡°Six, not including you two or me.¡± The woman said. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°How much is a good cut of meat?¡± I asked.


    ¡°More than it cost to stay in the room.¡± The woman said and laughed.


    I walked over to the desk and put a silver coin on the counter. ¡°Can this buy enough meat for everyone to get a good meal?¡±


    ¡°I can get half a pig or even a quarter of a cow for that!¡± The woman exclaimed.


    ¡°Cow sounds good.¡± I said and added another silver coin. ¡°Make sure you get the prime meat and not the fatty chunks.¡±


    She didn''t say anything and just looked at the money on the counter. I walked back over to Maylia and we started to go up the stairs.


    ¡°The butcher''s not going to believe me when I ask him for half a cow.¡± The woman said, her voice full of disbelief. ¡°Now I wonder if he''ll even sell me that much.¡±


    I held in my laugh until we entered our room and Maylia turned to me with a smile.


    ¡°That was nice of you.¡± Maylia said. ¡°She should have enough meat to last for a while.¡±


    ¡°Stew can be fine some days; but, it''s usually the last thing you make when you''re almost out of everything except vegetables.¡± I said and looked into the bathroom and saw a huge tub. Nice.


    Maylia walked over to the bed and pushed on it with a hand. She smiled and sat down and barely sunk into it. ¡°Yes, this is a good bed.¡±


    I chuckled and walked over to her. ¡°Shall we have another lesson?¡±


    ¡°Do I need to ask which one?¡± Maylia asked as she took off her cloak.


    ¡°We do have a couple of hours to wait for supper to be ready.¡± I said and took off my own cloak.


    ¡°Are there no other lessons you can teach me?¡± Maylia asked with a smile as she unstrapped her metal breastplate and set it aside.


    ¡°We can get to that after supper.¡± I said and took off my uniform. ¡°First a bath! Horses stink after two days of heavy running.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it''s the horses that stink.¡± Maylia said and laughed when I tossed my smelly long sleeved t-shirt at her. She started to undo the laces of her thick leather armor top and I went to her and helped her. We were both stripped off and in the hot water a few minutes later, then we lathered each other up and scrubbed.


    ¡°Do you still think this is weird?¡± I asked as I rubbed her chest with soapy hands.


    ¡°Extremely.¡± Maylia closed her eyes and relaxed as she let me play with her breasts. ¡°If you were any other man, I would have killed you a week ago for trying to touch me with your bare hands.¡±


    I looked down at her chest and its prominent nipples, then back at her face. ¡°And now?¡±


    ¡°I''ll kill you if you stop.¡± Maylia said and she didn''t even blush.


    I slid my hands up to her face and leaned in to give her a kiss on the lips. She kept her eyes closed as I did, then I went back to washing her off. She washed me off a few minutes later and we dried off and went to bed to play some more. She still went passive when I tried to do more than that; but, it took her longer to get to that point.


    I guess I really am wearing her down. I thought with a smile.


    We laid in bed and cuddled for a while and relaxed with nothing pressing to do. Neither of us had been in a city this big before, and since we wanted to see everything, we decided to take a tour in the morning. We got dressed in normal outfits and went downstairs to the moderately large dining room and were met by six other people. Two couples and two single men. Someone had pushed several square tables together to make one long one for everyone to sit at.


    ¡°Our benefactors!¡± One of the single men said and stood with a raised glass. ¡°Cheers for meat!¡± He said and took a large gulp of something that looked like beer.


    ¡°At least wait until they sit down, for Laura''s sake.¡± One of the men in a couple said.


    ¡°Black Laura?¡± I asked and held a chair out for Maylia.


    The man nodded. ¡°Do you know her?¡±


    ¡°Not in that sense.¡± I said and pushed Maylia''s chair in close to the table. ¡°I only heard her name a couple of times.¡±


    ¡°In what context?¡± He asked, genuinely curious.


    ¡°Maylia, what was it the guard said when I showed him that armored creature?¡± I asked and sat down.


    ¡°I think he said, ''by Black Laura''s pale white tit''.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± The man''s wife said. ¡°How does a saying like that get spread around so quickly?¡±


    ¡°At least he didn''t take her name in vain.¡± The man said. ¡°It must have been some strange creature to get that response from a fellow follower of hers, though.¡±


    ¡°The locals called it a brocchula.¡± Maylia said, and the room fell silent. She looked at all of their surprised faces. ¡°Have you heard of them?¡±


    ¡°They''ve been cropping up occasionally in different places.¡± The man in the second couple said. ¡°We left Second Choutia two months ago and heard several stories along the way about them.¡±


    ¡°They apparently eat everything.¡± The woman in the first couple said and then her voice dropped to a whisper. ¡°Even people.¡±


    ¡°That''s when we caught them.¡± Maylia said. ¡°They were attacking a farmer and his family and Hunter dispatched them in moments.¡±


    ¡°Wait, did you say them?¡± The partially drunk single man asked.


    ¡°There were thirteen.¡± Maylia said and the two women gasped.


    ¡°You... killed thirteen of them.¡± The man in the first couple said. ¡°In moments.¡±


    I nodded. No one said anything else for several minutes, then the woman that ran the inn came into the dining room with a wonderful smell. I could see everyone react positively as she carried over a large platter with a huge roast on it. It was well cooked and surrounded by vegetables and potatoes as garnishes.


    ¡°It looks wonderful!¡± One of the women said.


    ¡°It smells wonderful.¡± The partially drunk man said and barely managed not to drool.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The woman that ran the inn said and picked up a huge knife and a fork. ¡°I''m non-denominational, so there''s no ceremony or prayer before the meal.¡± She said and looked at the people around the large table. ¡°I''m not against prayer, so you can say one for yourselves if you want.¡±


    ¡°Does it have to be silent?¡± The man in the first couple asked, and she chuckled.


    ¡°You can speak aloud as long as you don''t try to sway non-believers to your cause.¡± The woman said. ¡°I don''t want any preaching in my place.¡±


    The man opened his mouth say something, then closed it.


    I bet he was going to say his religion demands that he preach. I thought in amusement, then waited until the innkeeper handed plates of potatoes and meat to Maylia and myself before I took Maylia''s hand and spoke. ¡°Thank god for the food.¡± I said and a pulse of mana and Presence spread out from us. ¡°Let''s eat.¡±


    The innkeeper frowned at me. ¡°What did I just say?¡±


    ¡°That wasn''t me.¡± I said. ¡°It happens every time I pray at meals.¡±


    Everyone just stared at us with slightly open mouths.


    ¡°It really does.¡± Maylia said and started to eat.


    I took a bite of meat myself and it practically melted in my mouth. It was soft and juicy and flavorful. ¡°Oh, that''s tasty!¡± I said and took another bite. ¡°I can''t remember the last time I had meat so tender.¡±


    No one was eating, so I waved at them and at the food, then kept eating the food on my plate. They each said their own prayer out loud and started eating. The innkeeper watched me closely for several minutes. I saw on her face when she decided that I wasn''t going to do anything else to surprise her, then she started to eat, too.

 Book Two: The Summoned 027

    Maylia and I went back to our room and we went through some of the lessons I had already taught her. Since she was using mana exclusively, the techniques had to be adapted to work with the different type of energy. Some techniques required Presence, or at least a healthy working knowledge of it, and it was something that Maylia had no basis for. It wasn''t that she didn''t have Presence, since all things did, it was that her mind had learned for all the time she was alive that it dealt with mana, and even then she said it had taken her ten years to learn the basics for that.


    It was a very close parallel to The Order''s training in that respect. It wasn''t until you knew a lot about it that they taught you what you could potentially do with Presence. Depending on how adept you were, you were shuffled into different categories and those aspects were trained up to their full potential. My own experience had been odd because I was so proficient with it and I didn''t have a specialization.


    We practised for several hours with Maylia doing the exercises with mana and myself doing them with Presence and mana added. At first I tried to mix them in equal measure and the techniques worked just as well as they normally did. When I cut back on the Presence and used more mana, they worked that much better.


    It must be the rules of this world. I thought as I levitated off of the floor several inches. I used Presence to guide the technique like I normally would and used mana to power it. Instead of the usual invisible force that lifted me, it was a greenish see-through mana fog that buoyed me up into the air.


    ¡°How are you doing that?!?¡± Maylia exclaimed. ¡°You''re floating!¡±


    ¡°Levitating, actually.¡± I said and stopped using mana and the glow faded. ¡°I can do it with just Presence, since that''s how I learned it.¡±


    ¡°Levitation is a mid-tier spell and uses a lot of mana.¡± Maylia said and her voice had an odd tone. ¡°Even the elders can only do it for a couple of minutes.¡±


    I had counted the time in my head. ¡°I''m at about twenty minutes now.¡±


    Maylia shook her head in disbelief, even though she was looking right at me. I held a hand out to her and she shook her head again.


    ¡°Come and float with me.¡± I said and changed the technique to use mostly mana instead. She looked at the green fog and then at my face.


    ¡°Will I float, or are you pulling me onto your lap?¡± Maylia asked.


    I smiled crookedly. ¡°Ladies choice.¡±


    Maylia opened her mouth and closed it. Did it again, then took a deep breath. ¡°Both.¡±


    I chuckled and told her to sit like me, then she took my hand. I poured my energy over her and she felt what it was like. I didn''t say anything and just let her feel the flow of energy, then levitated her up from the floor. Maylia caught her breath at the movement and her muscles tensed up.


    ¡°You need to relax.¡± I whispered. ¡°Let the energy hold you.¡±


    Maylia closed her eyes and used a mental technique to calm down.


    ¡°That''s it.¡± I said proudly. ¡°Now pull yourself over to me.¡±


    ¡°Y-you do it.¡± Maylia said and opened her eyes. I smiled at her and eased her from beside me to in front of me, then I gently pulled her into my lap. She stared at my face as she settled and unfolded her legs and the levitating force I was using on her joined with mine and we raised up twice as high. She held onto me tightly and looked down at the floor.


    ¡°You run thirty and forty feet high up on tree branches. Why does a foot high make you nervous?¡± I asked, amused.


    ¡°There is supposed to be something underneath us to hold us up.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°There is, and since I trained you, you can see it.¡± I said and hugged her back. ¡°We should get to bed.¡±


    ¡°You''re not tired, are you?¡± Maylia asked as I easily floated us over to the bed.


    ¡°I can sleep.¡± I said and stopped levitating us and we landed on the bed.


    ¡°That''s not what I asked.¡± Maylia said, and I chuckled.


    ¡°I sleep when I can. It doesn''t matter if I''m actually tired or not.¡± I said. ¡°We''ve got a big day of exploring to do tomorrow, so we should rest.¡±


    ¡°Is that all we are doing tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°We could start on that list; but, like the captain of the guard said, we should relax.¡± I said and tucked us under the warm blankets.


    ¡°Even knowing Kara and the others will be coming back here?¡± Maylia asked, concern in her voice.


    ¡°I''m not sure why I don''t feel any urgency about that.¡± I said. ¡°There''s no way they know what you can do to the horses, so they probably think it will take us more than a week to get here.¡± I smiled. ¡°Since it only took us three days, we''re probably four days ahead of their estimation. At least.¡±


    ¡°We really are going to take the captain''s advice?¡±


    I hugged her close and kissed her. ¡°Are you going to formally object?¡±


    ¡°Would it matter if I did?¡±


    ¡°Always.¡± I said, and she smiled.


    ¡°Then no. I think we should take a day off from... whatever it is we are doing.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows at her. ¡°From all of it?¡± I asked, teasingly.


    ¡°Remember what I said in the bath earlier.¡± Maylia said in a serious tone and her eyes locked onto mine. ¡°Don''t make me kill you.¡±


    That made me laugh, so I rubbed my hands over her arms to make sure I touched a lot of her bare skin with my hands and then I kissed her. She relaxed after that reassurance and we cuddled together before we went to sleep.


    The next morning, we got up early and went downstairs for breakfast. The tables were back to their normal positions and we sat down to eat. The woman that ran the inn saw us and quickly served us breakfast, since no one else was there. She stood there with her arms crossed and waited. I glanced Maylia and then at her.


    ¡°Care to join us for breakfast?¡± I asked the innkeeper.


    She opened her mouth to refuse, then she left and came back with a plate of food for herself. I smiled and took her hand and Maylia''s, who took hers in turn to make a circle, then I thanked god for the food we were about to eat. Another pulse of Presence and mana came out between us and the woman shivered.


    ¡°You were telling the truth.¡± The innkeeper said and looked at our clasped hands. ¡°That wasn''t from either of you.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°You should have seen what happened when I said a formal prayer at a farmer''s table the first time. It was...¡±


    ¡°No preaching.¡± The woman said and cut me off.


    I chuckled. ¡°I was only going to tell the story; but, I guess that could count as preaching. I''m sorry.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    The woman nodded and we ate breakfast together. Maylia and I went back upstairs and dressed in our adventuring outfits, just in case, and we left the inn to check everything out. We started at one end of the city and worked our way across it and looked at everything. Maylia had seen a lot of it the day before in passing, so today with no pressing business, she wanted to investigate everything up close.


    I didn''t object at all, since I wanted to do the same and could gauge the actual standard of living, so we took our time and looked at everything and stopped at every business. We asked questions and examined everything we saw. Some took us for idiots and tried to sell us garbage at high prices, so we moved on from them quickly. Others saw our curiosity and offered more information than we asked for.


    We made sure to buy something valuable from the people that encouraged us to ask more questions, that way it justified their time and made them believe they hadn''t wasted it by answering our questions. The first thing I kept asking people after our general questions were answered, was if there was something to stop an area effect from affecting me. No one had an answer for that until we reached a small shop near the other end of town, just before suppertime. When I described the sensations I had felt, the little old lady nodded her head several times.


    ¡°Yes, yes.¡± The old lady said. ¡°Some creatures have a confusion effect to stun their prey and some even have a suppression effect to stop you from running away.¡±


    ¡°That''s almost exactly what happened.¡± I said. ¡°I knew I had to get away, and yet I couldn''t make myself do it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, dangerous creatures they are that can ensnare their prey and make them want to stay.¡± The old woman said. ¡°I can have something made in a few days... if an adventurer like yourself can stick around that long.¡± She said with a wrinkly smile.


    ¡°How much?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Ooo, it''s expensive.¡± The old lady said. ¡°A personal item would be good to use; but, it''s not necessary. Do you have a preference for the size, the shape, or where the jewel will be worn on the body?¡± She asked. ¡°Before you answer, it has to be worn next to the skin to be effective.¡±


    I looked down at myself and the only jewellery I wore was my mother''s necklace, and I wasn''t letting that out of my sight. ¡°Can you wear gloves with a ring?¡± I asked and she looked at my gloved hands.


    ¡°Hmm. I think... wait right here.¡± The old woman said and quickly disappeared from behind the counter.


    ¡°I didn''t see her move.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Me, either.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°It could be a Teleport spell.¡± Maylia pondered. ¡°Or maybe she has an innate ability to...¡±


    ¡°All of my family can cast the teleport spell instantly and we don''t leave that burned ring in the floor when we do.¡± The old lady said as she appeared back behind the counter and cackled a short laugh. ¡°How about this?¡± She asked and put a thin ring that had a curved front on it the size of a quarter. I looked at it and slipped off my glove, then looked at the old woman.


    ¡°It''s not already enchanted, is it?¡± I asked, and she cackled a laugh again.


    ¡°You really are smart.¡± The old lady said and waved her hand over it. It glowed for a moment and then the glow disappeared. ¡°It only shows mana traces when worn.¡±


    ¡°What was it?¡± I asked and picked it up.


    ¡°It was charmed to make you see every deal was a good deal.¡± The old lady said with a crooked smile.


    I slipped it on my index finger and it fit perfectly. I put my glove on and it didn''t interfere with it in the least. I nodded and took the glove off and handed her the ring back.


    ¡°Will it give me general protection or specifically for what I described?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I can make it more general if you want.¡± The old lady said. ¡°It might take a bit more time for me to gather the mana needed.¡±


    ¡°Is that the cause for the few days I need to wait to get it?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Can you share mana?¡±


    ¡°Are you propositioning me, young man?¡± The old woman asked and cackled another laugh.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°It normally takes an intimate act to share mana between people.¡± She said. ¡°Would you willingly kiss this wrinkled old face, among other things?¡±


    I smiled and held my bare hand out to her. She looked at my face and then at my hand.


    ¡°You really are propositioning me?¡± The old lady asked, surprise clear on her face, then it flushed red.


    I waggled my fingers at her and she thought about it for a few moments, then she took my hand. I used a little bit of Presence to make the connection between us, then let my mana flow out and into her hand. Her bony hand gripped mine like a vise and she gasped. I felt something inside of her open and my mana flowed right into it. The more I poured out, the more she absorbed, and in less than a minute, that little space was full and my mana had nowhere else to go. I stopped sharing and she didn''t let my hand go.


    ¡°What are you?¡± The old lady asked in a whisper.


    ¡°I honestly don''t know.¡± I said. ¡°Do you have any insights?¡±


    She shook her head, looked at our clasped hands, and let my hand go. ¡°I can look into it if you wish.¡±


    ¡°We won''t be staying in town very long, so don''t trouble yourself.¡± I said. ¡°How long to make the ring now?¡±


    ¡°I''ll have it ready by tomorrow.¡± The old lady said.


    ¡°And the price?¡±


    ¡°We can discuss it tomorrow when you pick it up.¡± She said with a smile.


    ¡°As long as it''s not a kiss.¡± I said and put my glove back on. ¡°Those I give to Maylia.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± The old lady said and cackled again.


    I took Maylia''s hand and we left the shop and went back to the inn. We arrived just in time to have supper. It was steaks this time and we were still at separate tables like breakfast. The two women from the couples waved at us when we sat down and I waved back. I noticed one of the single men was gone and when I asked, the innkeeper told me that he had left.


    She stepped away to serve another table about ten feet away and I said a little prayer. She turned to me when she heard me speak and she didn''t feel anything. I didn''t tell her that it was because the little pulse of mana and Presence didn''t reached that far. Maylia and I finished eating and went upstairs to practice more techniques, then we changed and went to bed. We slept for the rest of the night to relax and get ready for the morning. There were only a few buildings left to explore and then we were going to start on the captain of the guard''s list.


    Taking one day off was enough for the both of us.


    We got up early the next morning and ate breakfast, ran across the city to look at the last few buildings, then we went to the stable to get our horses. Of course, the ten year old girl was there and she was brushing the horses. She was also completely oblivious to her surroundings and we walked right up to her and she didn''t notice.


    ¡°I''m sorry to interrupt your fun.¡± I said and she jumped about a foot in the air. ¡°We need the horses.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡± The girl asked to try and hide her embarrassment for being startled.


    ¡°Well, the captain of the guard told us there was a monster or two that needed to be handled.¡±


    ¡°What ones?¡± She asked, genuinely curious.


    I took out the list and read the first line on it. ¡°It''s a garglemacer near the Karmack Mountains.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± The girl yelled. ¡°You... you can''t...¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you know what it is?¡±


    The girl nodded. ¡°You don''t want to take the horses, sir.¡± She said, her tone subdued. ¡°It''ll eat them, and you, if you''re riding them.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked and she nodded again. ¡°Can you describe the creature for me?¡±


    The girl wiggled her finger in a come here gesture, so I knelt down on one knee and she stepped close to whisper in my ear. She put her hands on my shoulders and looked at my cloak, so I pulled the hood down for her. She barely looked at my blast shield as she put her lips by my ear and told me what it looked like. I was both surprised and not surprised by her words.


    ¡°It''s about the size of eight horses combined, and the wings are ten times that.¡± The girl breathed and shook slightly. ¡°It opens its mouth and covers everything in fire.¡± She said. ¡°It swallows animals whole and no one that has gone looking for it has ever come back.¡± She slid her hands around my neck and hugged me. ¡°Don''t go, sir.¡± She pleaded, tears in her eyes. ¡°I don''t want you to die like my parents.¡±


    I put my hands on her back and held her as she cried for a couple of minutes. She hiccuped and shook as her sobs escaped, probably for the first time, and I didn''t move or say anything until she was done. She took several deep breaths and calmed down, then she let me go and stepped back.


    ¡°We only just met and you care that much about me already?¡± I asked, and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Her face went red as she blushed and ducked her head.


    ¡°You don''t have to worry, though.¡± I said and stood. ¡°Apparently, I''m a great adventurer and my trusty companion won''t let anything happen to me, now that she wants to keep me.¡±


    Maylia swatted my arm and I chuckled.


    ¡°Are... are you going to take the horses?¡± The girl asked. ¡°The trails are... they are dangerous and... and the crags are steep and the bluffs are rocky and the cliffs crumble at the softest touch!¡±


    I held a hand up to her to stop her before she continued and started to shout. ¡°All right, we''ll leave the horses in your care.¡±


    The girl nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°We''ll be back later to show you that we''re fine.¡±


    The girl nodded again and looked to be on the verge of tears.


    ¡°Hold up your finger.¡± I said, and she did. I gathered Presence and mana to my fingertip to make it glow. ¡°I swear to god that I''ll be back to see you again.¡± I said and touched her fingertip with mine. She gasped as the energy transferred to her. She stared at her finger as it held the glow for a few seconds. ¡°Now do you believe me?¡±


    The girl blinked her eyes and nodded again, this time her eyes were clear and she had a slight smile. Maylia and I left the stable and I took out the scroll and asked it for the Karmack Mountains. A line appeared and showed us what side of the city to leave from and an arrow pointed off the scroll in that direction. Maylia pointed to the street we needed to take and I put the scroll away. I took it out again when we reached the edge of the city and the line extended out into the wilderness.


    ¡°Are you ready to help me fight a dragon, my trusty companion?¡± I asked and held a hand out to her. I knew with her excellent hearing that she would have heard the girl''s description easily.


    ¡°I am by your side, am I not?¡± Maylia said and took my hand. ¡°Do you see me running away and screaming?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t even see you twitch.¡± I said with a smile and she smiled back. We activated Mana Presence Run and let the energy flow over us, then we took off at a jog towards the Karmack Mountains. We didn''t want to exhaust ourselves before we got there.

 Book Two: The Summoned 028

    Maylia and I followed the map scroll''s directions and it took us right to the Karmack Mountains. When we got there, the small town in the valley below them looked to be in the process of rebuilding. People were all over the buildings as they cut away burned parts and repaired them, and were too busy to pay us any attention.


    ¡°It looks like the town was attacked.¡± Maylia commented when we came to a large lot full of sheet covered bodies. We could see inside the building behind it and six healers were working on burn victims. One of the healers stumbled and caught herself on the side of a bed as Maylia and I stepped inside the building.


    ¡°You need to rest, Gia!¡± The woman working on a patient a few beds away said.


    ¡°There are too many hurt for me to stop and rest!¡± Gia said. ¡°If we delay any more, we could lose...¡±


    ¡°I can offer mana if that''s what you need.¡± I said.


    Gia''s face flushed red and didn''t hesitate as she walked over to me. ¡°If I can save these people, I will gladly lay with you to get the mana to do it.¡±


    All the healers stopped what they were doing and looked at me to see what I would say.


    I smiled at her while Maylia frowned. ¡°While I appreciate the offer... and your dedication to your work... only the willingness to share is required.¡± I said and let Maylia''s hand go so I could take off my glove.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± The other healer that had spoken asked.


    ¡°You can call me Hunter. The captain of the guard in the capital city said there was a bounty on something called the garglemacer and I''m here to collect it.¡±


    Quiet fell in the room and even the people in the beds stopped moaning in pain at my words.


    ¡°You can''t possibly try to go after the creature!¡± Gia exclaimed.


    ¡°I didn''t come all this way to sight-see.¡± I chuckled and she stared at me. ¡°Although, I bet the view from one of the peaks would be breathtaking.¡±


    ¡°We will send someone for your body when we can.¡± Gia said and turned away. ¡°Assuming there''s anyone left in a few days.¡±


    ¡°Hey.¡± I said and took her hand to stop her. ¡°I was trying to make a joke.¡±


    ¡°This isn''t funny.¡± Gia said without turning back around. ¡°People are dying of massive burns over most of their bodies and we''ve all run out of our mana trying to keep them alive.¡±


    ¡°The world would be a sad place if you didn''t smile.¡± I said, and she turned to look at me. Her calm face had become full of pain. ¡°You lost someone this time.¡±


    ¡°My brother led a group up to the creature''s roost in a vain and foolish attempt to slay the thing.¡±


    ¡°Where are your parents?¡± I asked.


    Gia motioned out to the front of the building where the sheet covered bodies were.


    ¡°I am so sorry.¡± I said.


    Gia heard the sincerity in my voice and closed her eyes. ¡°It happened three days ago, so it still hasn''t sunk in that they''re gone.¡±


    ¡°Maybe there''s still hope that...¡±


    ¡°No, this happened after my brother went there.¡± Gia said and opened her eyes, and I saw that the sadness was gone and it was replaced with anger. ¡°I don''t know if he spurned on the attack or just hastened it. Either way, many people are dead now because of him.¡±


    ¡°Let me see if I can help.¡± I said and used a touch of Presence to make a connection between us and poured mana into her. Just like the old lady at the enchantment shop, I felt her small mana reserve fill up almost immediately. Gia didn''t say anything as she let my hand go and went to the person she was just trying to help. She grabbed the charred man''s hand and mana poured out of her as she chanted what I assumed was a healing spell, even though I didn''t understand a word of it.


    I watched as she used up about a quarter of her mana, and just like magic, the charred flesh was shed from the man and fell onto the bed to leave him pink skinned and healthy. She completely healed three more people and came right back over to me. She took my hand and her face was the same polite mask it was when she dealt with the patients. She healed four more people and came back to me, and I saw a slight smile peek out through the mask. The other healers stood back and watched as she practically ran through the whole room and healed everyone. When they were all done, Gia had a smile on her face from ear to ear and her mana reserve was slightly bigger.


    ¡°They still need to stay in bed for a few days to recover their energy, since I only healed their wounds and didn''t restore them to full health.¡± Gia said happily as I refilled her mana again, then her eyes looked out to the lot in front of the building and she sighed. ¡°I just wish you had been here when...¡±


    ¡°I only arrived at the capital two days ago.¡± I said and let her hand go. ¡°Even then, we were travelling at a ridiculous speed. By rights, we shouldn''t have arrived for another week or so.¡±


    ¡°Then thank Laura you managed to get here when you did.¡± One of the other healers said and came over to us, as did the other four.


    ¡°You can thank god, too.¡± Maylia said. ¡°We thank him at every meal.¡±


    ¡°At every meal? Really?¡± One of them asked. ¡°We''re required once a week at the service to thank...¡±


    ¡°Oh, it''s not a requirement.¡± Maylia said and smiled. ¡°We just do it out of habit, mostly.¡±


    The healers exchanged looks of disbelief.


    ¡°I''ve actually been doing it for years.¡± I said and they all looked at me. ¡°When I was a child, I was put under a compulsion to pray to a certain goddess, that I won''t name because I refuse to speak it.¡± I said and looked at the healers. ¡°It wasn''t Black Laura.¡±


    Two of them let out a breath and relaxed.


    ¡°In defiance, I prayed to god instead. It''s pretty much automatic at this point.¡± I chuckled, then I thought about it. ¡°Ha. I gave myself that compulsion.¡±


    No one spoke for a moment, then one of the healers held a hand out to me.


    ¡°Can you fill my mana, too?¡± She asked.


    ¡°He doesn''t have to.¡± The one that had spoken before said. ¡°We can recover on our own.¡±


    ¡°What if someone gets hurt?¡±


    ¡°Gia can handle it.¡± The woman said with a smile as she glanced at me and then back at Gia. ¡°She''s apparently very dedicated to her job to accept mana from a stranger.¡±


    ¡°She knows my name and I know hers, so we''re not strangers.¡± I said to stop Gia from blushing. ¡°We even know each other''s occupations, and I know she had family losses similar to mine.¡±


    Gia looked at me with wide eyes and I smiled.


    ¡°I was four when I lost my parents to a monster.¡± I said, which wasn''t an exaggeration to describe the blue skinned alien, and I didn''t feel my repressed anger try to rise. ¡°Now we need to go.¡±


    ¡°No! Please.¡± Gia pleaded. ¡°If you provoke it into attacking again... we... the town won''t survive.¡±


    ¡°Like I told the girl at the stables, don''t worry. Maylia won''t let anything happen to me.¡± I said.


    ¡°That''s not what I meant!¡± Gia said.


    ¡°If nothing happens to me, then the garglemacer doesn''t stand a chance.¡± I grinned and looked at the patients. ¡°Which one of you knows where the creature''s roost is?¡±


    A man raised his hand and I walked over to him. ¡°It''s near the top of the second mountain.¡± He said. ¡°The path is treacherous and the journey is long. You will need food and warm blankets. Don''t light a fire. It will attract beasts and not keep them at bay.¡±


    ¡°I''ll take your expert advice.¡± I said. ¡°Fire bad.¡±


    He looked at me with raised eyebrows for a moment, then he barked a laugh. The tension in the room broke and a couple of the other patients laughed, too. The healers didn''t know what to make of it.


    ¡°So, do you want a scale or a tooth when I come back with it?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°A tooth.¡± He said without having to think about it.


    I turned around and looked at the other patients in the large room.


    ¡°Tooth.¡± ¡°Tooth.¡± ¡°A scale would be nice.¡± ¡°Same here. Scale.¡± ¡°Tooth.¡±


    They all chimed in with what they wanted and they all seemed confident with hope that I would return.


    ¡°Then we better get a move on.¡± I said and walked over to Maylia and took her hand. ¡°See you tonight.¡± I said and we walked out of the building. Maylia and I activated Mana Presence Run and let the energy flow over us, then we ran.


    *


    ¡°Tonight?¡± One of the patients asked, confused. ¡°The second peak is a day''s travel to the top.¡±


    ¡°They just disappeared.¡± Gia said, stunned. She had seen a green glow around the two adventurers for a second and then they were gone.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°What?¡± One of the healers asked and ran to the window Gia looked out of. ¡°They just stepped out of the building! Where did they go?¡±


    ¡°Maybe they used a teleport spell.¡± One of the patients said.


    ¡°That only works if you''ve been there before, or if you have a very detailed description of the area.¡± One of the others said. ¡°I''d say they are apparitions.¡±


    The healer near him laughed. ¡°You and your ghosts!¡±


    ¡°I''m telling you! They visit the mortal plane! I''ve seen them!¡± He exclaimed, and she laughed again.


    ¡°Just rest and relax. You need to get your strength back to help with fixing the town.¡±


    ¡°I''m not helping with anything. Not until that Hunter guy comes back, anyway.¡± The man said and crossed his arms defiantly. ¡°There''s not much point until then.¡±


    No one could dispute that logic. If Hunter didn''t come back, then the creature would still be alive and it would probably attack the town again. It would destroy more of their homes and kill more of their people. That wasn''t a happy thought to have.


    ¡°He''ll do it.¡± Gia said as she kept looking out the window. ¡°We just have to believe in him.¡±


    ¡°Says the girl who offered to go to bed with him to get more mana.¡± One of the other healers said and a few people laughed.


    ¡°I still would.¡± Gia said without tuning around and the laughter died out.


    ¡°You would?¡± The healer beside her asked.


    ¡°I felt his mana. He could have kept filling me up all day long and it wouldn''t have drained him. Not even a little bit.¡± Gia said. ¡°I think...¡± She stopped talking out loud. I think I would do anything he asked to have him stay. She thought, wistfully.


    ¡°Think what?¡± The healer beside her asked.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Gia said, her face red. ¡°All we can do now is wait.¡±


    ¡°While you wait, there''s still work to be done.¡± One of the other healers said. ¡°Bedpans or sheets?¡±


    ¡°Bedpans.¡± Gia said and turned away from the window and walked over to the closest bed.


    ¡°Okay, there''s something wrong with her.¡± The healer by the window joked and walked over to her. ¡°And with me, too. I''ll help you.¡±


    Gia smiled and nodded, and they both got to work doing the messiest and smelliest job that no one normally volunteered for.


    *


    Over the next two hours I used the map scroll to guide us to the second mountain peak. The girl from the stable had been right. The crags were steep, the bluffs were rocky, and the cliffs crumbled if you stepped too close to the edge. We had to slow down our run when we were about two-thirds of the way up the mountain, because it wasn''t wide enough for two people to walk side by side in some spots. That was okay, though. I used the levitate skill when it was too dangerous and we didn''t fall or trip once.


    As we got closer to the peak where the creature''s roost was, definite signs that it was around could be seen. Large claw marks, scorched trees and bushes, animal bones, and a pretty strong stench. I couldn''t describe what it was, thankfully, because I didn''t want to see or experience what could have made that kind of smell. I did not want to have that kind of memory floating round in my head.


    Maylia tapped my shoulder and she waved a hand slowly over her own face. I nodded and activated Mask Presence and Stealth. I couldn''t do anything with my mana yet, though. That irked me a little; but, there wasn''t much I could do about it at the moment. I let my energy spread over the two of us and it concealed us as we crept farther up the mountain. We saw some craters, some rock slides, and a lot of broken and damaged weapons spread out all over the place.


    A couple of them looked in newer condition and I pointed them out. Maylia motioned to them and we went over, so she could check out the tracks. She dragged me around and made walking motions with her fingers, pointed in two different directions, then looked at me with a question on her face. I pointed to the right and she nodded and we followed that trail.


    It took us to a small outcropping and underneath it was the top half of a man. He either had a clean shaven face or he wasn''t old enough to have facial hair. Maylia checking him over with a hand and couldn''t find any personal possessions or weapons. I took out the scroll and asked it in a very low whisper to mark the body''s location. A small black dot and the word ''body'' appeared on the scroll.


    This thing is great! I thought and rolled it back up before putting it away. I made a twirling motion with my finger and Maylia retraced our steps back to the spot where we had gone right, then we went left and followed the other trail. This was the correct one, because it led to a path and a treacherous climb to a rocky shelf about twenty feet above our heads. Maylia looked at me and shrugged.


    I stepped back from the rock face and sat down in the lotus position and pulled her down onto my lap. She stared at me as I used the levitation technique and raised us up silently about eighteen feet, that way we could look over the edge of the rock shelf, and we saw that it was a cave entrance. I lifted us the rest of the way and thought about ending the technique there, so we could crawl silently into the cave. I changed my mind and stayed in the seated position and carried us all the way inside. Since we didn''t touch anything, we made no noise at all as we travelled down the long tunnel on a cushion of Presence and mana.


    When we reached the end of the tunnel, we came across a huge cavern over a hundred feet wide. It had piles of different items spread all over it. Carts, barrels, bundles of cloth, and a bunch of other things. Some were broken, some were smashed, and others were eerily undamaged. There was also a huge pile of things in the very center in the shape of a bird''s nest.


    There was also a dragon on it.


    It was a really big grey one and the scales looked really thick and heavy. The multitude of horns on its head told me that it was a serious threat in a fight if it ever got close enough to hit you. The dragon let out a long breath and a burst of flame hit the nest and rebounded on the dragon, which hit it right in the face. It didn''t move or react in any way and it took in another long breath.


    It''s immune to fire. I thought and looked at Maylia. She was either admiring it or trying to figure out how to kill it. I was betting on the latter, so I tapped her cheek to get her attention, pointed to the dragon, at her sword, then at my heart. She nodded, and I pointed to myself, made a flip over motion and pointed to the dragon, and she nodded again.


    I carefully put her down right next to the nest and she crouched down out of sight and covered herself in mana to boost herself. I moved over slightly and stood on the cave floor, then generated four Presence Hands and filled them with mana. I held up three fingers, then two, then one. I grabbed one of the large horns on its head, the two legs on this side and the tail with the Mana Presence hands, then pulled the dragon up onto its side. It roared loudly as it woke up.


    Maylia stood and lunged as hard as she could and plunged her glowing mana sword into the spot where the heart was to kill it. It was a great plan to have come up with on the fly, and it was executed perfectly.


    It''s too bad that it didn''t work.


    It should have, since her blade had found its mark and went right into the soft underbelly, and the tip of the sword went into the heart. The problem was that it stopped right there. The hilt impacted the chest and it wouldn''t go any further. Maylia tried to move it and cut up the heart, and the dragon wasn''t having any of that. It kicked out with a free leg and I used a Presence Hand to grab and pull Maylia out of the way. Part of the nest broke apart and some of the debris hit her and caused bruises almost immediately. She had also kept a hold of her sword, which removed it from the beast''s chest.


    The dragon tried to point its head at us and breath fire, so I pulled on it again with the Presence Hand that held it and pointed the mouth straight up. It roared in anger and then it started to glow green. It kicked and scraped at the green Mana Presence Hands I was using to hold its other legs and the green glowing claws cut through them. I felt it like it had swiped the claws at me instead, which surprised me. All of its legs were free and it quickly swiped at the Mana Presence Hands that held its head and tail and broke them apart as well.


    I wasn''t hurt physically; but, I was hurt mentally. So much so that I couldn''t absorb the mana or Presence before the dragon rolled over and took a huge breath. Maylia jumped behind me and I made a Mana Presence barrier as the dragon blew a gout of flame so big that we couldn''t see anything else except flame.


    It''s real fire and not magical. I thought, surprised again. I can''t absorb mana from it to lessen its power.


    If we both hadn''t trained in seeing with more than our eyes, we would have missed the dragon as it jumped into the air to attack us with the glowing green claws on its forelimbs. Thankfully, my Mana Presence barrier wasn''t static, so I picked Maylia up and ran and it stayed over us. The dragon landed right where we had been and tore at the ground.


    Interesting. I thought and stopped across the cavern. It can''t see through its own flames. ¡°Hey, you big lout! You missed us!¡± I exclaimed and put Maylia down.


    ¡°Hunter! What are you doing?¡± Maylia asked as the dragon let out another huge gout of flame towards us.


    ¡°Giving us an advantage.¡± I said and unhooked my father''s Light sword from my belt. ¡°Stay with me. The barrier will hold as long as the dragon doesn''t get its claws into it.¡±


    Maylia nodded and moved behind me and put her hand on my back. She covered herself in mana again and let her energy mix with mine. I used Presence to keep the connection going and nodded to her. She took a single step back and I could still feel her sharing energy with me. I smiled and took a fighting stance and activated the Light sword.


    We both saw the dragon pounce at us and flap its wings to cover the distance quickly, so we rolled as one to the side while still under my barrier and inside the flame. The dragon landed again and we both lunged at it. I went high and she went low as we attacked the closest leg. The green glowing scales sparked as I swiped at it with the Light sword and barely scraped the surface, so I turned the sword over and shoved it through the thick scales and into the hip joint.


    The dragon roared in pain as the Light sword tore into its flesh, and Maylia used the opportunity to drag her sword along the underbelly for several feet. Blood gushed out from that wound and we removed our weapons. The dragon tried to swipe at us and I barely managed to deflect the green claws with the Light sword''s energy blade.


    It''s definitely not as effective as it normally is against the mana protection it has. I thought as the dragon followed up with a swipe at us with its tail. I caught it with a Mana Presence Hand and held it just long enough for Maylia and I to get out of the way. I absorbed the hand and we took off across the cavern to hide before the dragon turned towards us to attack again. The flames died down and it looked in confusion at the spot where we had just been.


    ¡°Ready to do that again?¡± I asked in a whisper from behind one of the piles of items.


    ¡°Even if I was going to die.¡± Maylia whispered back and her face had a huge grin.


    ¡°I won''t let that happen.¡± I said adamantly. ¡°If things do turn bad, you run as hard as you can.¡±


    Maylia looked at me like I was speaking nonsense. ¡°I chose to be by your side. If things do ''turn bad'', I won''t abandon that vow. Or you.¡±


    I gave her a slight nod and we stepped out from hiding. ¡°Hey, ugly! Are you ready for round three?¡±


    The dragon stomped around in a circle and roared at us. It was definitely nervous of being near us now.


    ¡°I don''t think it''s ready.¡± Maylia said. ¡°It''s not shooting flame at us, either.¡±


    ¡°Then we need to make sure it sees us as a threat at a distance so it will shoot.¡± I said and held my father''s Light sword out towards the beast and used my modified Mana Presence Lightning technique. I could feel the Presence in the focusing crystal shift as I siphoned mana through it and the blade to charge it up. ¡°This might be too much for the weapon to handle, though.¡± I said as the blade glowed twice as brightly and green lightning rolled over it in waves.


    ¡°To be used against such a beast is an honor, even for an ancient artifact.¡± Maylia said, her voice filled with reverence. ¡°Let god guide your aim and it will strike true.¡±


    ¡°Did you hear that?¡± I asked the dragon. ¡°God says you''re done.¡±


    It roared at me and flexed its wings to push itself off the ground. It did half a flap as its front legs lifted slightly and that exposed the wound that Maylia had caused earlier to its chest. I shot right at that wound and a five foot long green lightning bolt slammed into the spot and blew the chest apart. I was reminded of the princess and that spear she had thrown and hit the protection tree with, because the dragon''s thick skin and muscle around the heart had been blown out just like the bark had been.


    The dragon finished its wing flap and roared. Instead of flying forward, the blast and wing movement tipped it backwards and it fell onto its back. Maylia and I quickly ran over to it and I dismissed the protective barrier around us. The creature''s ribs, lungs, and heart were completely exposed and blood pooled everywhere.


    That was a lot more effective than I thought it would be. I thought.


    ¡°You did it.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Thank god.¡±


    ¡°Not yet.¡± I said and looked at the Light sword. I could see a small crack in the focusing crystal and the energy blade flickered slightly.


    The dragon saw that we were close and tried to swipe at us. I deflected the glowing claws of one foot with the Light sword, caught the other clawed foot with a Mana Presence Hand, then plunged the flickering Light sword into the beast''s heart. The dragon tried to take a huge breath to breathe fire on us, so I swiped the sword sideways and back again to cut through both of its lungs. Rancid air blew out of them and into our faces as the lungs tried desperately to take in more air, then the last of its breath left it and the heart stopped beating.


    ¡°Now we can thank god.¡± I said and Maylia took my hand.


    ¡°Thank god we aren''t dead.¡± We said at the same time, looked at each other''s surprised faces, then we laughed.

 Book Two: The Summoned 029

    I thought about cutting the dragon''s body up into pieces so that it would be easier to carry, then I remembered what the guard had said about the bag of holding he gave me, that it would open big enough to accept whatever I wanted to put in it. I looked at the one foot wide bag and at the much larger dragon, then I looked at Maylia.


    ¡°You can try it.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Although, a fraction of this thing''s weight is going to be a lot for you to carry after a fight like that.¡±


    I nodded and stood up one of the nearby barrels, then sat down on it to rest. I created a small Presence Hand and tried to absorb it, and felt pain in my head. I dismissed the hand and let the energy dissipate like I had with the protective barrier. I hadn''t even tried to absorb it.


    ¡°I''m still hurt.¡± I said and sighed.


    ¡°Magical attacks can do that.¡± Maylia grabbed her own barrel and stood it in front of mine and sat down to face me. ¡°I think it used a skill called ''Rend'' to tear through other magically created things.¡±


    ¡°That''s what it felt like.¡± I said and rubbed the side of my head. ¡°Like it was tearing at me and not the Mana Presence Hands I was trying to hold it with.¡±


    Maylia nodded. ¡°You could be fine in a few minutes or it could take days for you to recover.¡±


    I closed my eyes and looked at my Presence and mana reserves. They weren''t refilling as quickly as they had the last few days. What had taken me two hours to fully recover looked like it was going to take about three times that. ¡°Even my energy recovery is slower.¡±


    ¡°I''m surprised you''re still conscious.¡± Maylia said and I opened my eyes to look at her with raised eyebrows. ¡°I''ve seen people collapse when their magic either backfires or gets broken somehow.¡±


    ¡°Their minds couldn''t handle the strain?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Or their physical body couldn''t take the mental backlash.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it definitely hurt.¡± I said and twisted my back from side to side. ¡°I''ve felt much worse, though.¡±


    ¡°Since we have some time, why don''t you tell me about some of it while I look through all these supplies and see what I can scavenge.¡± Maylia said and stood up.


    ¡°We get to keep any treasures we find.¡± I said, and then smiled. ¡°Gold. Jewels. Fair maidens.¡±


    Maylia held a finger out and poked my chest as she said each word. ¡°You. Have. Enough. Fair. Maidens.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''ll sit here and be good. Go have fun rooting.¡±


    Maylia moved over to the dragon''s nest and started checking what she thought would be the most valuable things the creature would have kept close to itself, and I started to tell her of my months of captivity in my first life. Even though we were in a similar looking cave, I wasn''t suffering flashbacks or even breathing heavy as I recounted everything. You would think that after a while you would forget things like that; but, you don''t. For some reason, it''s always the bad things that stick in your mind and you can remember them vividly, while you have to try to remember any of the good times you had.


    I felt that I didn''t need to recover all of my mana and Presence, since we needed to get back to the town before dark. I was a little skeptical about the bag of holding at first, then I levitated the dragon''s body up just enough to put the edge of the bag underneath the head. Sure enough, the opening spread out to nearly twenty feet across and the carcass slipped right inside. I dropped the bag because of the weight, and I was sure there was no way I would be able to tie it back to my belt.


    ¡°We should take a lot of these supplies as well.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Even after four hours, I''ve barely gone through a third of the things here.¡± She looked around. ¡°I''m tempted to take all of the things that are intact; but, you only have...¡±


    ¡°I have a second bag.¡± I said and took out the one with the wrapped black tome in it. I put it inside a broken barrel, so I wouldn''t lose it when I put it back in my bag.


    ¡°You can''t lift one bag!¡± Maylia exclaimed. ¡°How in the world are you going to carry two of them?¡±


    ¡°I''m not.¡± I said. ¡°You can take this one.¡± I handed her the now empty bag and she caught her breath.


    ¡°Hunter, you can''t... these things are valuable... and if I take it, then the things I put inside...¡±


    ¡°It''ll take days to sort all of this stuff out, so don''t worry about that right now.¡± I said and put the broken barrel with the wrapped black tome into my own bag. ¡°Start filling it up.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°Time''s a wastin''.¡± I said with a crooked smile. ¡°By the time you pack everything up, I should have recovered almost completely.¡±


    ¡°You''re still hurt.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Yeah, and I probably will be for a while.¡± I said and twisted my back from side to side again, as if that helped at all. ¡°Now hurry up. We don''t have all day... well, we do... you know what I mean.¡±


    Maylia smiled and took the bag, then started to load up everything she could. Unlike me, she organized while she did it and didn''t just dump everything into the bag. She sorted and grouped similar things together as she added them to the bag. After an hour, all that was left in the cave were the smashed, burned, and ruined things.


    ¡°Good job.¡± I said and she nodded without blushing at the compliment. I made a solid Presence holder around my waist and levitated the bag of holding up from the ground to rest it on my back like a backpack and covered it up. I didn''t use mana, since I still couldn''t make it solid like I could with Presence, and hoped that whatever rules this world had about including mana in everything, could keep being skipped once and a while.


    ¡°Can you handle it?¡± Maylia asked, concern in her voice.


    ¡°A few hundred pounds is nothing.¡± I said and took several breaths.


    ¡°What if you took off your armor?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°Wouldn''t that make things easier?¡±


    ¡°Son of a...¡± I stopped myself from cursing and hit the button under my right armpit to turn on the armor. It''s weight disappeared, and since I had Presence directly on the electrical field the armor created, it took me no effort to include it in the flow of energy and the weight of the bag of holding disappeared.


    ¡°I can be so stupid sometimes.¡± I said and turned to Maylia with a smile. ¡°Thank you for pointing out my shortcomings.¡±


    ¡°You are a strange man to thank me for that.¡± Maylia said and returned my smile.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. ¡°How''s the weight of your bag?¡±


    ¡°It''s magic lets me lift an unimaginable amount of items.¡± Maylia said and took my hand. ¡°I might be struggling with it by the time we reach the town.¡±


    ¡°No, I don''t think so.¡± I said and made a similar holder for her bag to keep the weight more manageable, then I led her out of the cave and up the tunnel. Since we walked on the ground, our footsteps echoed twice, three times, then again. By the time we reached the mouth of the tunnel, it sounded like there was a dozen of us. I took Maylia into my arms and she looked into my eyes. I gave her a kiss and she closed her eyes while I levitated us down the twenty feet of the cliff face and we landed softly on the ground. I broke the kiss and she stared at me for a moment more before she nodded.


    We walked down the path to get back to where the scuffle was and I took out the map scroll and went to get the half body we had found earlier. I wrapped it in a cheap sheet and put it in my bag, then we took our time and carefully made our way down the mountainside as we retraced our steps to get back to the safer part. Once there, we activated Mana Presence Run and took off at our best speed. Both my mana and my Presence drained faster, probably because I was still hurt magically, and we couldn''t waste any time getting back to the valley town.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Just as night fell, we reached the edge of town and slowed to a normal run. I was exhausted and breathed heavily, since both my mana and Presence were really low, and Maylia led me to the only place we had visited. The sheet covered bodies were still in the lot outside and all of the healers inside gasped when we stepped through the door.


    ¡°Do you have a healer that can tend to magic wounds?¡± Maylia asked right away.


    ¡°No, you''ll need to go to the capital for that.¡± Gia said as she rushed over to us. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Maylia started to give them a description of the fight and I fought to keep my eyes open.


    ¡°I''m... tired.¡± I interrupted and stumbled. Maylia and Gia steadied me.


    ¡°Over here!¡± A healer said and pointed to a cot she had just set up. They took me over to it and I waved to have them move it out of the way. I dropped to my knees and managed to get my bedroll out and put it on the floor. I used a mental technique to enter a meditative state, hit the button to turn off my powered armor, then let the excessive weight of the bag of holding and my unpowered armor drag me to the floor and I promptly fell asleep.


    *


    ¡°He just... there''s a dent in the floor!¡± The healer with the folding cot said.


    ¡°He''s carrying the garglemacer in his bag of holding.¡± Maylia said and took out her own bedroll and laid it beside Hunter.


    ¡°He''s WHAT?!?¡± Gia yelled.


    ¡°I''ll finish telling you what happened.¡± Maylia said, and everyone quieted as she told them everything that happened after they had entered the cave. Most of the patients had sat up and even moved to other people''s beds to try and get closer as she talked. She said everything frankly and without exaggeration, and they were all spellbound by the tale. When she finished with Hunter cutting it''s lungs to stop it from breathing fire, everyone was stunned.


    ¡°You weren''t even afraid, were you?¡± One of the patients asked.


    ¡°I was beside Hunter. I had no need to be afraid.¡± Maylia said and yawned.


    ¡°You should lay down and get some sleep, too.¡± Gia said. ¡°I''ll make sure you''re not disturbed.¡±


    ¡°We all need to get some sleep.¡± One of the healers said as Maylia laid down. ¡°Come on, everyone. Get back to your own beds.¡±


    The patients all hobbled back to their beds with a few needing help from the healers, since they needed more rest to recover their own strength, then the healers went around and turned down the oil lamps.


    ¡°I knew he would be back by tonight.¡± Gia whispered as she looked down at Hunter.


    ¡°He said he would.¡± Maylia turned onto her side and yawned again. ¡°Thank god he... always keeps his word.¡± She closed her eyes and used a mental technique to enter a meditative state herself, then fell asleep almost immediately. She was almost as tired as Hunter was and her mana was low after that run.


    Gia nodded. ¡°Yes, thank god.¡± She whispered and carried a chair over to set it by the wall next to them and sat down. ¡°Thank god he came here.¡±


    It was quiet for several minutes and the other healers went to the back room to their own cots.


    ¡°I can''t believe it.¡± One of the patients whispered. ¡°We''re actually getting a tooth.¡±


    ¡°Shh! We''ll get in trouble.¡± The man next to him whispered back. ¡°Do you want them to give us a rough sponge bath tomorrow?¡±


    The man shook his head and rolled over and he didn''t see Gia as she smiled.


    *


    ¡°I''m telling you Imiryl, we need to get away from these people.¡± Allirynn whispered during yet another time where they were left completely alone.


    ¡°They... are... healing... us.¡± Imiryl''s voice rasped.


    ¡°Only a little bit each day.¡± Allirynn said and tried to hide the disgust in his voice. ¡°I would have tried to leave already if they didn''t have all of our things.¡±


    ¡°Taking... us... to... capital.¡±


    ¡°Only because they are going there anyway.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°They are barely giving us and our welfare a second of thought.¡±


    ¡°Can''t... argue.¡± Imiryl said and smiled. Allirynn took her hand and held it tenderly, and they both completely ignored the lamia that sat across from them in the carriage.


    Siada had gotten used to the cold treatment from them, mainly because she knew that she deserved it. She thought her current predicament with lack of speech had been the best thing to have happened to her, since she knew that they didn''t want to hear her try to explain away why she had betrayed them and their trust. She didn''t think she could properly explain it, anyway.


    It didn''t take long for the emissaries to return to the carriage and this time only Josh and Evangeline were unconscious.


    ¡°We''re getting better at this.¡± Jessica said happily as they opened the door to the carriage and carefully put Josh and Evangeline inside. ¡°It only takes two people to invoke the embodiment of the Goddess Chaiya now.¡±


    ¡°It''s too bad we can''t figure out how to stop them from staying that way for six hours.¡± Steven said and climbed into the carriage. ¡°Hey, there.¡± He said to Siada, who perked up and let him sit before she slithered onto his lap and left more room for everyone.


    ¡°I don''t like you doing that.¡± Kara said as she climbed into the carriage and sat down.


    ¡°Hey, I''m not hurting her and it frees up so much room.¡± Steven said, fully prepared for the argument.


    ¡°I meant giving her preferential treatment.¡± Kara said. ¡°You don''t see me trying to do that to Allirynn or Imiryl.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should ask them if they want you to?¡± Steven asked and looked at the two people in question. Their angry faces gave him his answer. ¡°Ah... never mind.¡±


    ¡°Let''s head to the next place.¡± Jessica said and closed the door of the carriage. ¡°If we''re lucky, we won''t have to wait long for Josh to wake up.¡±


    Yes, lucky. Allirynn thought and stopped himself from frowning or sighing out loud. Maybe he''ll give us another small dose of help before he falls unconscious again.


    ¡°Isn''t there a town nearby?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°Maybe we should stop for the night.¡±


    Everyone looked at Kara, who looked out at the darkening sky. She nodded, and Jessica and Aimee mounted their horses with huge smiles and led the carriage to the town. It was also going to be near the next spot where they had fought some monsters, and they could tackle it after a good breakfast.


    There were a few occasions where the monster encounters didn''t have a corresponding crack to have sealed, and when they asked the Goddess for guidance, she informed them that some of the monsters were actually natives to the world they were on and didn''t need to be cleansed like the others. That had been great news, because that meant their current job list was going to be that much easier to complete and they would get back to the capital city in only four more days and not the week they had thought.


    *


    ¡°Uggghhh.¡± I moaned as I woke up with a splitting headache. I also couldn''t see, because my Detect Presence technique had stopped. ¡°I can''t concentrate.¡±


    ¡°Just relax and lay still.¡± A woman''s voice whispered. ¡°It''s still very early.¡±


    I blinked my eyes and quickly checked to see that I was still dressed and that my mother''s and father''s Light swords were still attached to my belt.


    ¡°I said to relax, not to flail around.¡± The woman whispered, amusement clear in her voice. ¡°I said I wouldn''t let anyone disturb you.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t hear that.¡± I whispered back and laid still.


    ¡°You were unconscious at the time.¡± The woman said. ¡°Maylia is right beside you, too.¡±


    I reached to the side and touched someone''s foot, ankle, and then calf.


    ¡°The other way.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I whispered and let her go, then reached with my other hand in the other direction. My hand touched the thick leather of Maylia''s pants and I let out a little sigh.


    ¡°You don''t have to be sorry.¡± The woman said from close by and I felt a feather light touch on my cheek. I couldn''t tell if it was her lips or her fingertips, though. I didn''t react in any way, and I hoped that she understood what that meant. I closed my eyes and tried my best to push the pain in my head aside, that way I could use a mental technique to go to sleep and hopefully have less of a headache later. I managed to succeed for the most part. I took a deep breath, let it out, and repeated that several times, and let myself drift off to sleep without trying to meditate.


    *


    Maylia gasped when she woke up some time later. Hunter! She thought in urgency and immediately sat up, then felt small hands on her shoulders and turned her head to look at the healer.


    ¡°Shh.¡± Gia whispered. ¡°He''s right beside you.¡±


    Maylia turned her head the other way to look beside herself and saw that Hunter was there and had his hand on her thigh. She relaxed, even though she couldn''t feel it through the thick leather.


    ¡°He went back to sleep when he reassured himself that you were close by.¡± Gia whispered. ¡°You should get some more sleep, too.¡±


    Maylia nodded and let out a contented sigh as she laid back, put a hand on Hunter''s, and closed her eyes. She fell asleep again and didn''t need to use a mental technique to meditate, either. She hadn''t even noticed that everyone else was awake and had been watching both her and Hunter.


    *


    ¡°How much longer before he wakes up?¡± One of the patients at the other side of the room asked.


    ¡°As long as it takes.¡± The healer checking him said. ¡°If someone like him says he''s tired, he must have been completely exhausted.¡± She smiled. ¡°You know what adventurers are like.¡±


    The man nodded. ¡°They hate to admit weakness, even among friends.¡±


    ¡°They are definitely a hardy bunch.¡± The man in the next bed said. ¡°Me? I''m weak as a mouse and I need to stay in bed all week to recover.¡±


    ¡°We''re kicking you out tomorrow, you lazy lout.¡± The healer said and the man chuckled.


    ¡°Ah, well.¡± He said and laid back with his arms folded behind his head. ¡°I''m going to have to really enjoy my last relaxing sponge bath.¡±


    ¡°That reminds me. Where did I put that scrubbing brush?¡± The healer asked.


    ¡°You wouldn''t!¡± The man exclaimed.


    ¡°You need to remember that this isn''t a place where you can abuse the hospitality.¡±


    ¡°I remember, I remember.¡± The man said and nodded several times. ¡°I''ll even bring over one of my prize chickens.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± The healer asked and rubbed her hands together to simulate the hard brush.


    ¡°All right.¡± The man said, defeated. ¡°Half a dozen eggs, too.¡±


    The healer stopped rubbing her hands together and pat the man''s shoulder. ¡°You''re too generous.¡±


    The man put a hand on hers and he looked up into her eyes. ¡°You took care of me, even when there wasn''t much hope I would live after being burned like that.¡± He said, and he put as much sincerity into his voice as he could. ¡°I can''t spare more. I would give you more if I could.¡±


    The healer smiled and nodded, gave his hand a squeeze, and went to the next bed.

 Book Two: The Summoned 030

    I woke up again and the pain had receded quite a bit. I wasn''t sure why it was bothering me after going to sleep, then I realized that I had taken several magical wounds. Since I had no experience with them, I had to assume that they were like normal wounds... and I had left them untreated all night and I probably bled mana and Presence the whole time. I checked my Presence and mana reservoirs and saw they were only half full.


    ¡°Dammit.¡± I said and used the Detect Mana and Presence technique to get my sight back. It took a bit more out of me than it normally did, and that confirmed what had happened the night before. If I used mana or Presence, even for basic things, I was going to lose it much faster than I normally would until I was healed magically.


    ¡°Take it easy.¡± Maylia said as I tried to sit up.


    ¡°We need to get back to the capital city before my energy leaks become faster than my energy gains.¡± I said and hit the button under my right armpit to turn on my powered armor. The weight on me disappeared and I stopped myself from sighing in relief.


    ¡°I''m sure the mayor would let you borrow the official carriage.¡± Gia said from the chair beside me.


    ¡°No, we can run a lot faster than that.¡± I said and stood up. The room spun for a second and I closed my eyes and had to make a sacrifice in energy. I used Presence and mana to reinforce my body to gain my strength back and my reserves dropped down to a third. Thankfully, I used much more mana in the mix this time and only that seemed to drop slowly after the initial loss.


    ¡°Hey, you can''t leave yet.¡± One of the healers said. ¡°You need to eat.¡±


    ¡°Forget that.¡± One of the patients said. ¡°What about our teeth?¡±


    ¡°I can''t take the carcass out right now.¡± I said and ignored the needing to eat comment, because I didn''t have the time to eat. ¡°I won''t have the energy to pick it up again if I stop now.¡±


    ¡°When will...¡±


    ¡°Hush!¡± Gia said. ¡°He''ll keep his word, just like he did when he came back last night.¡± She said, her voice full of confidence. ¡°He didn''t say he would give a tooth to you right away, did he?¡±


    The man opened his mouth, probably to say that I did, then closed it. ¡°No, I guess not.¡±


    ¡°I will come back.¡± I said and took off my glove and held a hand out to Maylia. She took it and let her own energy flow over me. I gave her a smile and she smiled back, then she led me over to the door.


    ¡°We should only jog, even if it does take us longer.¡± Maylia said.


    I nodded, because I honestly couldn''t argue for going faster, and we activated Mana Presence Run together. We were covered in a green glow and I glanced at her.


    ¡°You''re the more powerful one, so we''re running at your pace.¡± I said.


    Maylia tried to hide her smug smile, and I chuckled.


    ¡°I have no problem saying that a woman is more powerful than me.¡± I said and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°It''s been true in a lot of cases, like with the queen.¡±


    Maylia remembered our encounter with the queen of the elves and nodded. ¡°Ready?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I chuckled. ¡°We need to go anyway.¡±


    We started to walk, then started to jog. Maylia controlled the energy this time, so it was more mana than anything else. Our speed increased and we left the town fairly quickly. I was a little surprised that I wasn''t losing more energy than I was, and I checked Maylia. Her mana was dropping at a very slow and steady rate and if I gauged our speed versus the distance we had to go, she should only be down to about half of her mana total by the time we arrived at the capital city.


    I was grateful for that, because my energy was dropping at a slightly faster rate and I would be down to just under a quarter of my total in both mana and Presence by then.


    I hope we can find a magic healer quickly. I thought. I don''t know how long I''ll last if I don''t get treated soon.


    Neither of us spoke as we jogged. It was taking longer than when we went to the town and I didn''t mind. The feeling of being pulled along behind a strong woman reminded me of the times Lashina and I would run through the East Forest Glade. I looked down like I did then and instead of seeing the flash of panties on a cute ass, I saw a strong and muscled backside under thick leather pants. Both looked fantastic to me, so if I was asked to choose between them, I would be hard pressed to make a decision.


    *


    Maylia glanced back to see how Hunter was dealing with being led by her, and she saw where he was looking. It surprised her that he would ogle her like that, then she realized it was actually the first time he had seen her from that angle. He had always been by her side or in front of her.


    I don''t think he''s thinking what I think he''s thinking. Maylia thought as she glanced at his face again. He doesn''t have that look that men get when thinking those kinds of things.


    Maylia faced forward and concentrated on jogging at a good pace and let her mana flow over them, which boosted the both of them and not just herself. She knew they were much stronger together when they ran than they were when they ran separately; and yet, she had been unprepared for her energy consumption to be reduced instead of increased.


    There are two of us. How can it take less energy? Maylia asked herself and then pushed that thought away and kept jogging. They needed to find a magical healer as soon as possible. I don''t like him being vulnerable like this. She thought, and pushed that aside as well.


    *


    We ran for several hours and made it back to the capital city. If the sun was any indication, it was just after midday and we slowed down before we reached the guard house. My energy was right at where I thought it would be, below a quarter of my total, and I could feel it still leaking away.


    ¡°We need a magical healer right away!¡± Maylia called to the guard that stood on duty by the road. ¡°Preferably a great one.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Uh...¡± The guard turned and opened the door to the guard house. ¡°Hey! Does anyone know a good magic healer?¡±


    ¡°They all heal with magic, dummy!¡± A voice said and laughed.


    The guard looked at us and shrugged.


    ¡°A healer that can heal magical wounds.¡± I said and didn''t try to hide that I was leaning heavily on Maylia. The guard turned and relayed my words, and a man came out.


    ¡°What happened?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°What part of right away didn''t you understand?¡± I asked and frowned. ¡°I need healing. Right. Now.¡±


    ¡°There''s no need to be rude.¡± The man said. ¡°All I asked...¡±


    I shook my head and started to walk by him. He reached out to me with an angry face and Maylia''s sword was at his throat an instant later.


    ¡°Touch him and die.¡± Maylia said and the other guard drew his sword. I used some of my remaining Presence to make two Mana Presence Hands and pulled the weapons away from the guards. One from the guard''s hand and one from the other guard''s scabbard. I turned the weapons on them and pointed them at their hearts.


    ¡°You delay me for no reason.¡± I said and stumbled slightly as my energy dropped down to an eighth. ¡°Either help or get out of our way.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°You can''t command...¡±


    ¡°I''m under the captain of the guards orders you goddamned idiot!¡± I yelled and tossed their swords away before I decided to jam them through their hearts like I wanted to. My breath started to come out heavier and my body reinforcement failed and faded away. I dropped to one knee and Maylia put my arm over her shoulder and stood up.


    ¡°I''ll be back to kill you both if he suffers permanent damage because of this.¡± Maylia said and carried me past the guard house.


    *


    ¡°What''s going on out here?¡± The knight in full plate armor asked as he came out of the guard house and saw the two people stumbling away. He had heard the initial question and laughed with the others, went back to work, then he heard the yell. Both guards started talking at once and the Knight understood after a few moments. He punched both men in the face in a one-two combo and they fell to the ground, stunned.


    ¡°I''ll be the one to kill you.¡± The knight said and was tempted to kick them for their stupidity. ¡°Next time, you better read the important posts on the job board.¡± He said with derision, then he ran after the two people.


    *


    ¡°The castle!¡± A voice said from behind me and I turned slightly to see a man in full plate armor as he ran towards us. ¡°They have the best healers in the castle!¡±


    ¡°He has magical wounds.¡± Maylia said as he came to a stop beside us.


    The man nodded and suddenly there was a horse beside him. ¡°Let me give you a ride.¡±


    I was quickly shoved up and onto the horse and the man climbed up behind me and offered a hand to Maylia, then she was up and sat behind him. A second later, we were tromping along the rooftops of the houses and completely ignored the roads. I didn''t even have time to look at the horse closely and we were back on the ground and at the castle gate. It opened automatically and the horse came to a stop beside a green robed man.


    ¡°Magical wounds and near collapse.¡± The armored man said to the robed man, who nodded and waved a hand over me.


    ¡°Yes, I see.¡± The green robed man said and looked at Maylia. ¡°Just to confirm, what faith is he?¡±


    ¡°Both he and I pray to god.¡±


    Both the knight and the green robed man were startled to hear this.


    ¡°But... isn''t this...¡±


    ¡°We pray to god.¡± Maylia said adamantly and that cut off all discussion.


    ¡°Very well.¡± The green man said and lifted both hands. ¡°Assistance!¡±


    He was immediately surrounded by six green robed people and they carefully lifted me down off the horse and I was carried, as if I weighed nothing, into the castle. I looked to make sure Maylia was still with me, and she was beside the armored man right behind the people that carried me. I relaxed and was taken into a large room with a bed.


    ¡°Whatever you are doing, can you stop it?¡± The green man asked. ¡°It is interfering with our healers.¡±


    ¡°No one has started yet.¡± I said.


    ¡°They''ve been trying since you entered the castle.¡± The green robed man said and pointed. Several people dressed in beige robes stepped out from the beige colored wall.


    ¡°Oh. Sorry.¡± I said and hit the button under my right armpit to turn off the powered armor. The weight of the improvised backpack and my armor pulled me down and crushed the bed instantly.


    ¡°He has a garglemacer in his bag of holding.¡± Maylia said.


    The green robed people cleared away the wooden frame of the bed, which left me on just the mattress. Surprisingly, they disappeared a moment later and the beige robed people came close.


    I felt a dozen strong mental probes and grunted from the assault. ¡°STOP THAT!¡± I yelled and pushed back with the last bit of mana that I had and only a touch of Presence. Twelve beams of mana hit each of the beige robed people and dropped them to the floor.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± The green robed man asked and looked at the unconscious people around him.


    ¡°They... attacked me... mentally.¡± I said and then lost consciousness.


    *


    Maylia''s sword was out of its scabbard in an instant and against the green robed man''s throat. ¡°You will have magical healers here immediately and they will not mentally probe either of us.¡± She said with her voice full of venom. ¡°Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°But, they need to assess...¡±


    ¡°No, they do not.¡± Maylia said angrily and eased the blade a fraction of an inch forward and dimpled his skin. ¡°Healing does not require it. If I detect any more mental probes, your head will be on the floor right alongside theirs.¡±


    ¡°Calm down.¡± The knight said. ¡°There''s no need to...¡±


    Maylia reached out and formed a green glowing Mana Hand around his throat. ¡°I''ve already had this conversation with two stupid guards.¡± She said and squeezed. ¡°Do not try my patience!¡±


    The knight held his hands up in surrender and she stopped squeezing.


    ¡°Heal his magical wounds right now.¡± Maylia ordered the green robed man, who nodded and carefully stepped back from her blade and went to the door of the room. He spoke for a moment and eight more beige robed people came into the room. They saw the green hand around the knight''s neck and the other beige robed people unconscious on the floor. They formed a circle around the bed and they started to chant. Mana started to form around them and flowed in a circle, then it started to pour into Hunter.


    ¡°I need to inform the queen about this.¡± The knight said and motioned to the hand around his neck.


    ¡°Be sure that you tell her everything and make sure that you tell her the truth.¡± Maylia said and dismissed the green hand. ¡°Even half-truths and omissions are lies.¡± She held the sword in her hand at the ready and didn''t sheath it, which was a clear indication that she wasn''t going to. ¡°I will be here if she needs the full story.¡±


    ¡°She will probably send for...¡±


    ¡°I vowed to never leave Hunter''s side.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Give your queen that information as well.¡±


    The knight nodded and left the room at a fast walk. When he entered the hallway he started to jog and kept jogging right up until he came to the throne room. Surprisingly, he wasn''t sweating at all. He knocked and waited, then the door opened.


    ¡°Yes, what is it?¡± The court attendant asked.


    ¡°Information about our kingdom''s guest.¡± The knight said.


    ¡°Shall I relay, or...¡±


    ¡°I need to speak to her in person, if she''s available.¡±


    ¡°She is.¡± The court attendant said and stepped out and opened the door. ¡°We close the doors in the afternoons to help keep the cool draft on the floor to a minimum.¡±


    The knight nodded and stepped by the court attendant and strode across the plush carpet and right up to the throne. He stopped at the end of the carpet, about fifteen feet away from the throne, and the queen lifted her head from the book she was reading and looked at him. Her talent called Sight took all of him in and saw what he was, his abilities, and where he was supposed to be stationed.


    ¡°You are supposed to be on guard duty, sir knight.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, I was on guard duty, until...¡± The knight explained what had happened at the edge of town with Hunter and Maylia, and she frowned. He told her how he had given them a ride to the castle to get him immediate healing, and she nodded. When he told her what had happened in the guest room, she shot to her feet and dropped her book.


    ¡°Guards!¡± The queen said loudly. Four guards came into the throne room from a side room and formed around her. ¡°To the guest room.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± The four of them said as one and she started to walk quickly. They paced her exactly in the same positions around her, and the knight had to jog to keep up with them. They made it to the guest room and one of the two front guards opened the door. They all went inside and the queen saw Maylia as she stood guard next to Hunter, who was being bombarded with an absurd amount of mana.


    The green robed man was about to ask if the queen was going to have the green cloaked woman arrested for her behaviour when the queen spoke before he could.


    ¡°Bring two dozen more healers.¡± The queen said to him as she saw the healers around Hunter start to lose their mana charge. ¡°Hurry up.¡±


    The green robed man was startled for only a moment, then he left the room in a rush.


    The queen nodded and walked over to Maylia. ¡°Brave adventurer, please accept my apologies for the treatment.¡± She said. The words didn''t sound apologetic; but, Maylia had heard people in authority speak a lot over the years, and that was just how they spoke. It didn''t matter if they were sad, angry, or happy. They always spoke the same way, unless they were encouraged not to.


    ¡°We were in desperate need of help and were ridiculed, then threatened when we tried to leave.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I''ve never been to a capital city before arriving here three days ago. Despite the wonders I have seen, the ones in charge of protecting the people don''t listen and seem to falter when it counts.¡±


    ¡°The knight has already corrected the guards that tried to delay you.¡± The queen said. ¡°He also informed me that my healers have taken to using mental probes on guests inside my castle without the guest''s permission. Or mine.¡±


    Three of the healers turned startled eyes to the queen as their mana ran out. The green robed man came back into the room with the two dozen healers the queen had requested. As they took up positions around the bed to replace the exhausted ones, the queen looked at them with an appraising eye.


    ¡°Yes, I believe I need to... discuss... some things with the healers so that they won''t make the same mistake again.¡± The queen said in the same authoritative tone. The promise that it would not be a pleasant experience for the healers was heavily implied, and they all understood it.


    ¡°I''m glad they have someone like you to keep them in hand.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Yes, in hand.¡± The queen said and looked at Maylia''s face to see that the hood of the cloak barely covered anything. ¡°The knight told me what you did.¡± She said. ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°Hunter has been teaching me so many new things.¡± Maylia said. ¡°That was the first time I managed to use that particular technique successfully.¡± She smiled. I hadn''t realized that anger could be a catalyst to help me invoke it into being. She thought. I must remember that.


    The queen blinked her eyes for a moment and then looked back at Hunter. ¡°I would like to talk to him when he wakes.¡±


    Maylia nodded. ¡°I''m sure he would like to meet you, too.¡±


    The queen nodded back and walked over to the door, with her guards around her, and she pointed at the knight. ¡°Back to your post.¡± She ordered him and left the room.


    With no desire to refuse his queen''s order, the knight quickly followed her and disappeared from sight. The green robed man stood off to the side and absently scratched the place on his neck where Maylia''s sword had dimpled his skin, and he waited patiently for the healers to finish their work. The healers kept rotating to make sure that they always had at least five people healing him at a time, because they were concerned that he was deeply wounded magically and he needed a lot of healing.


    They were not going to disappoint their queen, so they worked diligently and efficiently. No matter the cost to them, they would finish this task, even without knowing what had happened or how their patient had received the magical wounds.

 Book Two: The Summoned 031

    I opened my eyes and saw complete darkness, so I used my Detect Mana and Presence technique and could now see through the blast shield that covered my eyes. I didn''t feel any pain or even a hint of discomfort, so I knew my magical wounds had been taken care of. I checked my Presence and mana reserves and saw that they were completely full, so I relaxed and looked around. I saw that I was in an unfamiliar room and then remembered where I was. Maylia was cuddled up as close to me as she could get with the both of us still wearing our armor and our bags of holding as backpacks.


    I turned my head and looked out the side of the room to the hallway beyond that and then the next room. I could see outside past that and it was dark outside. I wasn''t sure how much time had passed since I was brought here for healing and took in a deep breath and let it out.


    ¡°Are you awake?¡± Maylia whispered.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said and turned my head to look at her.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡±


    ¡°The pain is gone and my energy reserves are completely full.¡± I said.


    ¡°That doesn''t answer my question.¡± Maylia said with a smile.


    ¡°I feel stupid for pushing myself like I did.¡± I said, and she sat up and touched the side of my face.


    ¡°You acted to try and get the help you needed.¡± Maylia said. ¡°The queen apologized for their behavior.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what? Did you say the queen?¡± I asked, surprised.


    Maylia nodded and reached for my armpit and hit the button for my powered armor. I sat up myself and checked the batteries with Presence and saw that they were down to just above half full.


    I need to repair the wires and try to figure out how to charge the thing. I thought.


    ¡°She also wants to speak to you.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°What time is it?¡±


    ¡°It''s early evening.¡± Maylia said and pointed. ¡°They just brought supper for us.¡±


    I looked over at the table and saw huge piles of food. ¡°What if I hadn''t woken up for a while?¡±


    ¡°The food would still be there.¡± Maylia said and stood up. ¡°Do you want to stay here or go to the table to eat?¡±


    ¡°Table.¡± I said, stood up myself, left off the hood of the cloak, and we went to the table and sat down. I was famished, considering I hadn''t eaten since lunchtime the day before. Maylia ate just as eagerly as I did and I stopped and looked at her. ¡°You haven''t eaten?¡±


    Maylia shook her head. ¡°It didn''t feel right to eat food while you were hurt and you couldn''t join me.¡±


    I reached out and took her hand, and she looked at my hand and then at my face. ¡°You didn''t have to wait for me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did.¡± Maylia said as she gave my hand a squeeze. ¡°I''m your trusted companion.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t mean...¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes it does.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Where you go, I go. What you do, I do. When you eat, I eat.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like you''re becoming obsessed with me.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Devotion is a kind of obsession.¡± Maylia said, wisely. ¡°I''ve seen you challenge the elders, the princess, the queen, powerful monsters, and even the common folk''s perception of you.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t intend for...¡±


    ¡°You took me into battle at your side and didn''t once say that it was too dangerous for me, even if you thought it was, and you trusted me to help, even though you could have handled it on your own.¡± Maylia said. ¡°You deserve my devotion, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°You''re wrong about two things.¡± I said, and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°The first is that I never once thought it was too dangerous for you. Either in the clearing against those criminals or against the garglemacer.¡± I said and gave her hand a squeeze. ¡°Also, I couldn''t have handled it on my own. You saved me a couple of times in the clearing when I was distracted and it was your initial blow against the garglemacer that gave me the opportunity to defeat it.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, that was your idea and...¡±


    ¡°I''m not going to mention that huge slash you did to its underside that made it think twice before attacking us again.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t think I could have hit it properly with the lightning bolt if it had kept breathing fire and jumped at us constantly.¡±


    ¡°We would have whittled it down eventually if it did.¡± Maylia said. ¡°That was your plan, wasn''t it?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°If it kept breathing fire to give us cover, we would have given it so many wounds that it would eventually die... assuming that it didn''t have some way to regenerate or heal itself.¡±


    ¡°I... hadn''t thought of that.¡± Maylia said. ¡°We might have been there for hours trying to fight the thing.¡±


    I nodded again. ¡°I expected it to take a while, especially when I saw the size of the thing.¡± I chuckled. ¡°We handled it a lot faster than I thought we could have, that''s for sure.¡±


    We kept eating at a more normal pace and filled our stomachs. When we were done, Maylia stood up and went to the door of the room and opened it, spoke briefly, then closed the door.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The queen wanted to know when we woke.¡± Maylia said. ¡°If my guess is right, she won''t want to wait until tomorrow to question us, despite the late hour.¡±


    Only a minute later there was a knock on the door and a court attendant asked us to accompany him to visit the queen. We agreed, since it wasn''t polite to say no to the ruler of a kingdom while staying in her castle. The man looked at us from head to foot, sighed, and led the way down the hallway.


    ¡°I don''t think he approves of our clothing.¡± I said in a loud whisper.


    Maylia picked up on my teasing tone immediately. ¡°At least he didn''t state it out loud.¡±


    The man sighed again and Maylia and I exchanged amused looks and held in our laughs. He took us to what I thought was a random hallway in the castle and stopped in front of an unmarked door, knocked, and stepped out of the way and waited. The door opened and a girl of about twelve stood there.


    ¡°Welcome, adventurers.¡± She said in a haughty voice. I knelt on one knee and held a hand out to her. She was surprised for only a second and she daintily put her fingertips on top of mine.


    I put my thumb on them and bent my head. ¡°It''s a pleasure to meet you, your majesty.¡±


    The girl caught her breath. ¡°I-I-I''m not the q-queen!¡±


    ¡°You''re not?¡± I asked in mock surprise. ¡°I was told the queen wanted to speak to me, so when I saw you with such poise and composure...¡±


    ¡°I should have known you would be charming as well.¡± A woman''s authoritative voice said from farther inside the room. ¡°Milly, bring them in.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mother.¡± Milly said and stepped back without letting my hand go. I stood and we followed her inside and she shut the door. She led us across the room and stopped near a large roaring fire in a fireplace that was as tall as I was, six feet. A woman in a normal and yet very fancy and expensive dress sat in a rigid chair by the fire and was knitting something.


    ¡°I''m glad to see you well, Hunter.¡± The queen said and looked at her daughter. ¡°You also seem to have found another admirer.¡±


    Milly''s face flushed red and she let my fingers go. ¡°Mother, I...¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± The queen said. ¡°He is handsome, isn''t he?¡±


    Milly looked up at me and right into my eyes, then she nodded.


    ¡°You are too young to be betrothed, so don''t make any plans in that regard.¡± The queen told her.


    Milly nodded again, disappointment clearly on her face, and she walked over to her mother.


    ¡°You will find someone that makes your heart flutter; but, don''t forget that you need to be queen first and foremost.¡±


    ¡°I know, mother.¡± Milly said and looked at me. ¡°You could ask him to stay for me.¡±


    The queen smiled a little and gave her daughter a slight hug. ¡°Just because you can do something, doesn''t mean that you should.¡± She said and let her go. ¡°Now go into the other room and try not to listen at the keyhole.¡±


    Milly sighed dramatically and nodded, gave me one last look, then went into the other room and closed the door.


    ¡°You need to be more careful of whom you entice in the future.¡± The queen said to me.


    ¡°I can''t promise the impossible, your majesty.¡± I said, and that made her smile a little.


    ¡°I need to ask you to forgive the surroundings.¡± The queen said and motioned to the room. ¡°I only get so much personal time each day and I spend that time here relaxing.¡±


    ¡°Then we should ask for forgiveness.¡± I said and glanced briefly at the door that Milly went through. ¡°We''ve interrupted time with your daughter.¡±


    The queen gave me an odd look. ¡°You really are bothered that my time with her has been shortened.¡±


    ¡°I am, your majesty.¡± I said. ¡°When I was four, my parents were... taken from me.¡± I said ''taken'' instead of ''killed'', so that I wouldn''t startle the girl that listened at the door. ¡°At the time, I would have given almost anything to spend a few more moments with them. When I was eleven, my caretaker was sent away from me without notice, and once again at that time, I would have given almost anything to have seen her one more time.¡±


    ¡°I am hesitant for my daughter to hear the story you are about to tell me about the garglemacer.¡± The queen said. ¡°She is a little young to understand the impact creatures like that have on a population.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think she needs to understand it in that capacity, your majesty.¡± I said, to her surprise. ¡°Just how it has affected me and the people I''ve met should be enough for her to imagine how other people will react.¡±


    ¡°Will you censure your words and vulgarity while you speak?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°Well, since I''m not from here, if I do use vulgarity, either on purpose or by accident, you would only hear words that you wouldn''t understand.¡± I smiled. ¡°I don''t see a need to curse or swear, though. It wasn''t that kind of an ordeal for either myself or Maylia, even after I was wounded.¡±


    The queen looked at Maylia for confirmation, and she nodded. ¡°All right, Millicent. Come back in.¡±


    Milly opened the door to the side room and came right in without trying to disguise that she had been listening at the door. The queen shook her head at her and Milly motioned to her lap. The queen looked at her knitting for a moment, then tucked the needles and yarn back into the bag of knitting supplies she had at her hip and pat her thighs. Milly climbed up and sat on the queen''s lap as if she sat upon a throne.


    ¡°May we sit as well?¡± I asked.


    ¡°There are no chairs for...¡±


    I created a box of Presence and added some mana to it to color it green, made the Presence solid, and motioned for Maylia to sit. She did, and I sat beside her. Both the queen and Milly stared at the box like they had never seen a box before.


    ¡°I suppose I should start when we reached the valley town under the Karmack Mountains.¡± I said.


    ¡°Actually, I think you should start with the captain of the guard giving us the list.¡± Maylia said. ¡°The queen needs to know the legitimacy of the quest.¡±


    ¡°What list?¡± The queen asked, so I pulled the list out of a pocket and handed it to her. She quickly read it, as did Milly, and both of them stayed quiet.


    ¡°Before you ask, we''ve only done the first item on the list.¡± I said. ¡°The captain scratched out the others so we wouldn''t be wasting our time with them.¡±


    The queen nodded and handed the list back. ¡°I assume you must have done something to earn such attention from him.¡±


    ¡°That I won''t describe with young ears around.¡± I said.


    The queen nodded while Milly frowned.


    ¡°It''s not that I don''t think you can handle it, young majesty. It''s that I don''t want to be the cause of putting those kinds of images in your head.¡± I said. ¡°Believe me, you don''t need that right now.¡±


    Milly thought about it for a few moments, then she nodded.


    ¡°Needless to say, Maylia and I completed what he thought was an impossible job.¡± I said.


    ¡°So he gave you a list of others.¡± The queen said, and it was my turn to nod. ¡°Why did you accept?¡±


    ¡°I could lie and say money. I won''t, though.¡± I looked at Maylia and she took my hand. ¡°If it was something bad enough to be at the top of a list the captain of the guard had to be dealt with first, when what we had already done was over half a dozen spots down on that list, I knew I had to try to do something about it.¡±


    ¡°That''s not really a why.¡±


    ¡°Before I came here, I was a bounty hunter.¡± I said, and both the queen''s and Milly''s eyes widened. ¡°I was hired to hunt things down and either deal with them or bring them back to whoever hired me, so that they could deal with them.¡±


    ¡°You were a mercenary.¡± The queen said, almost like it was a curse.


    ¡°Before you judge me too harshly, there were extenuating circumstances that allowed me to assume that role in an altruistic fashion.¡± I said. ¡°Also, I wasn''t a murderer for hire.¡±


    Neither Milly nor the queen reacted to that, so I knew that they had understood what the job entailed. I started to explain about my personal situation at the time and how I would have the jobs, the clients, and the targets researched and verified, then I would hunt the targets down. Most were capture and return, except for the ones for The Order. Those were always eliminate, and the queen was surprised when I told her that I had faked all of their deaths and set them up with new lives, money, weapons, and a series of connections with the others that I had saved.


    ¡°You are a good man.¡± The queen whispered when I was done of that part.


    ¡°I could argue that I''ve done a lot of bad things, your majesty.¡± I said.


    ¡°That doesn''t matter.¡± The queen said in dismissal and waved my comment away.


    I glanced at Maylia, because she had said the same thing to me when I told her.


    ¡°Now, tell me about the garglemacer.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°After we took a day of rest and explored the capital city, under the captain''s orders, we left and...¡± I explained everything that happened between then and now, and Maylia filled in the parts where I was unconscious. When we were done, quiet filled the room and no one spoke as they thought about everything that they had heard. Even me. I intertwined my fingers with Maylia''s and glanced at her face. I couldn''t thank her verbally for what she did for me in the guest room with the healers, so I winked at her. She understood and smiled at me.


    ¡°Can you show me the garglemacer?¡± The queen asked.


    I looked around the room and shook my head. ¡°It will never fit in here.¡± I said. ¡°My bag of holding had to open to twenty feet across to fit it inside.¡±


    ¡°Twenty feet?¡± The queen asked, her eyes wide.


    ¡°That''s with the wings folded in.¡± I said. ¡°If you can wait until morning, I can take it out briefly before I head back to the valley town to give them the teeth and scales.¡±


    ¡°The town is called Bitosin.¡± The queen said. ¡°You really promised to give them such valuable items?¡±


    ¡°I figured they were going to die facing the thing while defending their homes, so they should get something for that when it died.¡±


    The queen looked at Maylia, who nodded. ¡°I assume you''ll bring it right back here after that.¡±


    ¡°I need the evidence for the captain of the guard, so yes.¡± I said.


    The queen nodded. ¡°After you collect the bounty, bring the carcass to me and I will buy it from you.¡±


    ¡°That''s not...¡±


    ¡°I doubt anyone else could offer you what it''s actually worth.¡± The queen said. ¡°Will you sell it to me?¡±


    ¡°I should say no.¡± I said and looked at Milly. ¡°I think a certain someone would be upset with me if I did, though.¡±


    Milly nodded firmly, while the queen and Maylia smiled.


    ¡°It''s settled then.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°I''ll sell you the carcass for a fair price... and for some information.¡±


    ¡°Oh? About what?¡± The queen asked as Maylia and I stood.


    ¡°The emissaries of a certain goddess that arrived here a while ago.¡± I said. Since the queen didn''t react in surprise or was startled by my words, that meant she must have known I would ask.


    ¡°I will tell you what I know, what I believe, and what is going to happen next... if you want to know.¡± The queen said. ¡°Such things can be dealt with in the light of day and outside of Black Laura''s domain, however.¡±


    ¡°Her domain is the night?¡± I asked and absorbed the solid Presence box that Maylia and I had sat on. ¡°Is that one of the reasons she''s called Black Laura?¡±


    ¡°Among others.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°Are you a follower?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°Not publicly.¡± The queen said. ¡°There are too many different religions for the ruler of a kingdom to be partial to any of them and remain favoured by most of the people.¡±


    ¡°Unless you convert them all.¡± I said, and the queen''s mask of a polite face became a frown.


    ¡°Being a ruler to guide the people, and ruling their lives with imposed religion, are two very different things.¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, I am very glad to hear that.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. She did the same move that Milly had when I had held a hand out to her, and she placed her fingertips on mine. I touched them with a thumb and bowed my head to her.


    ¡°Goodnight, your majesty.¡± I said and let her hand go, then held a hand out to Milly. She took it the same way and I bowed to her as well. ¡°Goodnight, young majesty.¡±


    I took Maylia''s hand and we left the room and went all the way back to the guest room. I paid attention this time and saw all of the people tucked into recesses and corners all along the way.


    They must be concealing themselves with a spell or something. I thought, because they glowed slightly green and I doubted that I would see them otherwise.


    We entered the guest room and went over to the bed. Maylia pointed to the bathroom and the large tub there, and I shook my head as I climbed onto the mattress. I laid down and she laid down next to me, and I turned off the powered armor. I sank down into the mattress and Maylia rolled over on top of me.


    ¡°Hey, now. Control yourself.¡± I joked, and she chuckled.


    ¡°Go to sleep.¡± Maylia said and moved back slightly to lay on her side and faced me. ¡°Despite being back to normal, you still need to rest.¡±


    ¡°You, too.¡± I said. ¡°You worked hard to keep me safe and get me healed.¡±


    ¡°You would have done the same for me.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Definitely.¡± I responded and turned my head to look at her. ¡°So... you actually created a Mana Hand.¡±


    ¡°I did.¡± Maylia said and I could hear the happiness in her voice. ¡°Do you want to see it?¡±


    ¡°You don''t need to show off for me.¡± I said and yawned. ¡°I already think you''re great.¡±


    Maylia partially sat up and leaned over me. ¡°You do?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°You''ve stuck by me as we ventured out into a strange world that neither of us has seen before. You''ve had my back the entire time, even fighting a dragon of all things.¡± I said and took her hand and held it. ¡°I''m having a difficult time trying to come up with a way that I could have done all of this without you by my side.¡±


    ¡°I feel the same way.¡± Maylia said and gave me a kiss. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said, and she snuggled in as closely as she could, like she had when I was unconscious. I used a mental technique to enter a meditative state, so I could wake at any disturbance, then let my mind drift off to sleep.

 Book Two: The Summoned 032

    We got up early the next morning and were delivered breakfast. I appreciated that, since it saved us time from having to make something for ourselves. We still had quite a bit of food stored in our bags of holding, not counting the things we took from the dragon''s lair... I mean the garglemacer''s lair. We weren''t going to be worrying about food for a while.


    Either we were being watched, like I suspected since we arrived, or someone had great timing. The server came back when we finished eating and took the remains of breakfast, then informed us that the queen was waiting for us in the sitting room. With no need or reason to delay, we followed the server as she led us to the room and the queen.


    ¡°I hope you slept well.¡± The queen said and motioned to the chairs in front of her. In the middle was a small table with sweets of some kind and a tea service platter. She had a cup of tea and a sweet in her hand already. I had Maylia sit first and I sat next to her.


    ¡°Better than some nights, not as good as others.¡± I said. ¡°Constantly being watched is getting on my nerves, though.¡±


    The queen chuckled. ¡°It''s an enchantment on the castle.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°The castle monitors everyone in the castle. Depending on what they are doing, the appropriate people are notified when necessary.¡±


    ¡°So, because we were eating...¡±


    ¡°The server was told when you were done.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°Can the castle make judgment calls?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°You''re wondering about the incident with the healers yesterday.¡± The queen said and I nodded. ¡°The guards weren''t informed because no malice was intended towards myself. It won''t react in any other way.¡±


    ¡°So, if I intended to kill you, I would be swarmed by guards; but, because we only fought with underlings, it wasn''t that big of a concern?¡± I asked.


    ¡°In essence, yes.¡± The queen said. ¡°People can still work against me; but, not openly. If they are active, then they will be caught.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell when someone lies?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°That is one of my gifts.¡± The queen said. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°At random times, just surprise people with an easy yes or no answer.¡± I said. ¡°It will catch them off-guard and they should give you an honest answer. If they don''t, then you can gauge how much they are actually lying to you.¡±


    ¡°That is a good tactic.¡± The queen said. ¡°I suppose I shouldn''t have to ask why you learned it.¡±


    ¡°When surrounded by liars who even lie to themselves, being able to detect lies is only good to have when dealing with absolutes.¡± I said. ¡°I grew up like that, so I''ve become sensitive to it.¡±


    The queen nodded. ¡°As have I.¡± She said. ¡°Before we go out into the courtyard so you can show me the garglemacer, I shall answer your questions.¡±


    ¡°When did the emissaries appear?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Almost two weeks ago.¡± The queen said. ¡°I was very reluctant to use the Acolytes of Light to have them summon heroes, since they are a new religion and have almost no followers.¡± She said. ¡°What could someone with no real faithful followers accomplish?¡±


    ¡°Let me guess. It was spectacular.¡± I said and she nodded. ¡°She might not have a lot of faithful here; but, she has hundreds of thousands, if not millions of followers, on other worlds.¡±


    ¡°I suspected that when the acolytes managed to summon five people, when every other summon spell only managed to bring four.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°How many summons have there been?¡±


    ¡°Seven, counting you.¡± The queen said. ¡°Most of them managed to make some headway with the evil that permeates the world before they were killed.¡±


    ¡°Did they have healers in their groups?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The queen said. ¡°Most parties were balanced for survival.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A fighter, a ranged fighter, a magic user, and a healer or cleric.¡± The queen said. ¡°An all around team to fight in any situation.¡±


    ¡°They didn''t survive, though.¡± I said, and she shook her head. ¡°I guess that means they faced something that their balance couldn''t handle.¡±


    ¡°They could have taken magical wounds like you did.¡± Maylia suggested and I looked at her. ¡°Unlike you, who felt the claws cut you, they might not have known that''s what it was and ignored it.¡±


    ¡°Like I did the first night.¡± I said, and Maylia nodded.


    ¡°It''s not like we could have gone anywhere then. You were exhausted after that run.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and I still don''t know how to deal with those kinds of wounds, besides coming back here to the castle to get healing.¡± I said. ¡°I sincerely doubt that...¡±


    ¡°I will allow it, if that''s what you wish.¡± The queen said and both Maylia and I looked at her.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± I asked, and she nodded.


    ¡°Although, the other emissaries have more than enough healing to handle anything that happens.¡±


    ¡°Wait, did you say ''other'' emissaries?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don''t normally tell people this; but, I can see what people are, their abilities, and where they should be.¡± The queen said. ¡°When the healers were working on you yesterday, I saw your affiliation, your title, the things you can do, and where you should be.¡±


    ¡°I''m not going to like this part, am I?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Chosen Hero and Emissary of the Goddess Chaiya, Psionic Vanguard that leads from the front, and you are supposed to be with the other emissaries.¡± The queen said.


    I dropped my head into my hands, put my elbows on my knees, and held my anger in check. Barely.


    ¡°However, you are not a chosen of the Light.¡± The queen said.


    I lifted my head and tried not to growl when I spoke. ¡°What difference does that make?¡±


    ¡°The others had the appropriate titles. Archmage of Light, Sorcerer Priest of Light, and Paladin of Light.¡± The queen said. ¡°The woman named Kara is classed as a Swordsman and has a blessing of the Light; but, she doesn''t have a title like you and the others.¡± She said. ¡°You, on the other hand, have not been blessed by the Light.¡±


    ¡°Thank god!¡± I exclaimed, and a pulse of Presence and mana came out of me. Both the queen and Maylia gasped at the strength of it and we all felt that it wasn''t mine.


    ¡°Hunter! That''s why!¡± Maylia put a hand on my shoulder. ¡°I knew it was strange that when we prayed at meals we felt that Presence! It''s because you''ve been blessed by god!¡±


    I looked at her with wide eyes and then looked back at the queen.


    ¡°Now that I''ve felt it directly, she''s right.¡± The queen said. ¡°You are an emissary for the other in name only.¡±


    I took a deep breath and put my head back in my hands and tried to get my swirling emotions under control. I wasn''t blessed by her. I thought in relief and my anger at being violated like that receded. My mind raced at the implications of what being blessed by god meant, however.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± Maylia said and moved her hand up to stroke my hair. It was starting to pull out of the tie I had it in and she tucked a few stray strands behind my ear. ¡°This also explains why being around the others affected you so much.¡±


    ¡°Yes, which means I need to pick up that ring before we leave the city.¡± I said. My voice didn''t waver, despite my uneasiness, and I looked at the queen. ¡°Can you tell me what god''s blessing did to me?¡±


    The queen shook her head. ¡°If it was prominent like the others, I could. As far as I can tell, it''s pretty much hidden unless invoked.¡±


    ¡°I need to be more careful when I say it, then.¡± I said.


    ¡°That would be wise.¡± The queen said. ¡°Before we go outside, I have been receiving messages on a weekly basis from the emissaries about their progress in fighting the monsters.¡± She paused for a moment. ¡°Their last message was about you.¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°They want you to delay me as long as possible so they can get here before I leave, don''t they?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Since I was hurt and needed healing, you didn''t even have to try.¡±


    The queen nodded again.


    ¡°How long do I have?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± The queen said. ¡°If they take as long coming back as they did to find you, while doing the tasks I assigned them, then it would be a week from when you met them.¡±


    ¡°Only if they did the same things on the way back.¡± I said. ¡°They also said something about finishing the list.¡±


    ¡°Where did you meet?¡± The queen asked, and I told her the approximate area. ¡°Then add a few days for travelling the rest of the way, and subtract a day or so for not having to stop along the way, except to eat and sleep.¡±


    ¡°A rough and generous estimate would be about six days, give or take a day.¡± I said. ¡°When was the message?¡±


    ¡°A day before you arrived here to get healed.¡± The queen said and stood.


    ¡°So, I have three days, plus or minus a day.¡± I said and stood as well.


    ¡°The head acolyte has requested to see you as well.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°The what?¡± Maylia asked as she stood.


    ¡°She is the leader of the small band of women called the Acolytes of Light.¡± The queen said. ¡°They were the ones that summoned you.¡±


    ¡°I vehemently decline.¡± I said. ¡°I swore to myself that I would have nothing to do with that goddess, after everything that her followers have done to me.¡±


    The queen looked at my eyes, from one to the other. ¡°I would like to hear that story some day.¡±


    ¡°I can give you a summary as we go outside; but, I only share the deep personal details with those I intend to be intimate with.¡±


    The queen was startled for a moment, then looked from my face to Maylia.


    ¡°Yes, she knows it all. Both the good and the bad.¡± I said and Maylia nodded.


    ¡°Then I must settle for the summary.¡± The queen said and walked over to the door. Four guards came out of the next room and formed around her and I talked as we were led through the castle to the courtyard. I was tempted to leave some things out, especially with all of the extra sets of ears we were passing, then figured that I''ve told people all over about different things. Laying it all out for the queen to hear wasn''t any different. None of it was a secret, after all.


    I kept talking as I took the bag of holding and opened it to remove the dragon''s carcass. Several of those hidden people gasped at the sight of the huge monster, including Milly. Even the guards were surprised at its size. The queen walked around it and examined it while I finished my story, then she motioned to the guards around her and pointed to the wing. It took three of them to pick it up and unfold it, while the fourth one had to help them extend it out to its full length.


    ¡°Yes, I will definitely pay more than a fair price for this magnificent specimen.¡± The queen said and looked at me. ¡°Give me a few minutes for an expert to...¡±


    ¡°I don''t really have the time to waste, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°You need to know how to remove the scales and the teeth safely.¡± The queen said. ¡°You can''t just pull on them and hope that they will come free.¡±


    I held in my sigh, because that was what I was going to do, and she had called me on it. ¡°I assume you already have this expert in the castle?¡± I asked, and she pointed behind me. I turned around and a woman with dark hair stepped out from the wall.


    ¡°Can I ask where you found it?¡± She didn''t even look at me and went right over to the garglemacer.


    ¡°Yes, you can ask.¡± I said and that made her look at me. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    She squinted her eyes at me. ¡°Where did you find it?¡±


    ¡°Near the second peak in the Karmack Mountains.¡± I said.


    ¡°Did it have a nest or a horde of goods?¡± She asked as she ran her hands over the ridges on the creatures skull.


    I glanced at Maylia and she shrugged. ¡°Kind of both.¡± I said, and described what the inside of the cave looked like.


    The woman turned to the queen. ¡°I''d like to form an expedition and investigate...¡±


    ¡°We stripped it.¡± I said, and the woman gasped.


    ¡°Wh-what? How could you do that?!?¡± She exclaimed.


    ¡°It was fairly easy. We opened a bag of holding and put the things inside.¡± I said. ¡°It took a while.¡±


    ¡°You...¡± The woman clenched her fists. ¡°If I had seen the den and the nest intact, I could have determined where it had attacked, estimated how many people it has killed, and possibly if there are any more of them.¡±


    ¡°First off, you can get both the number of attacks and the people it killed from the captain of the guard, since all reports go to him.¡± I said. ¡°Second, you can contact the people who filed the reports and see what was taken and what the nest was made of. Third, it was a solitary nest. No eggs, no broken egg shells, and no indication that anything but a huge creature had been inside the thing.¡±


    The woman just stared at me and didn''t know what to say.


    ¡°You''re surprised I''d notice things like that, aren''t you?¡± I asked, and she didn''t respond. ¡°For your information, I had similar thoughts after the creature was dead.¡± I said. ¡°Was it alone? Do I need to worry about retribution? Are their baby garglemacers flying around somewhere?¡±


    The woman still didn''t respond and I stepped close to her.


    ¡°Well, Ms. Expert, can you show me how to remove the scales and the teeth?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to strip it before selling it to the queen?¡±


    ¡°I promised some of the Bitosin townspeople some scales and teeth. I''ll limit them to the smaller teeth, probably from the sides, since I don''t want to ruin the look.¡±


    ¡°The look?¡± The woman asked, slightly confused.


    ¡°I assume the queen is going to have the head preserved and mounted, then hung up on the throne room wall... or better yet, right up there.¡± I said and pointed up to the spot where the kingdom''s crest was on the high castle wall. ¡°It would be a great conversation starter, regardless of where it is.¡±


    ¡°It is a majestic creature!¡± The woman spat. ¡°You can''t display it like a trophy!¡±


    ¡°How about in a museum or something?¡± I asked. ¡°Would putting the whole thing out as an example of the beast''s species be okay with you?¡±


    ¡°I...¡± The woman had to think about that. ¡°I suppose... if it was done properly and certain precautions were taken...¡±


    ¡°Show me how to take the smaller scales near the underbelly.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°That way the people get a scale and it doesn''t damage the carcass more than it already is.¡±


    She couldn''t refuse the request when it was said so well, and she took out a two-pronged knife and showed me how the scales were overlapped and locked together. With two twists of the special knife, she dislodged a scale and then used the end like a lever and popped the scale out of the recess in the skin. She handed me the scale and I put it into a pocket and asked her to do a tooth next. I watched her closely as she did it and she popped the tooth out expertly. She handed me the tooth that was several inches in length and I nodded to her and put it into the same pocket.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said.


    Now that I knew what to do to easily remove both items from the garglemacer without ruining the rest of it, I opened the bag of holding and slipped the carcass inside, put it back into the Presence backpack I had, and the weight disappeared when it was covered in my powered armor''s energy. I saw the disappointment on the woman''s face and reached into my pocket, then handed her the scale and the tooth. She looked at them and then at me.


    ¡°You''re giving me these?¡± She asked, stunned.


    ¡°I hear they might be valuable.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I''m sorry I ruined your scout trip to its lair.¡±


    She didn''t say anything in response, so I turned to the queen.


    ¡°I need to leave, so tell Milly I said goodbye.¡± I said and turned to Maylia. ¡°Do we do a flashy exit, or just disappear?¡±


    ¡°Didn''t you say before that you didn''t like showing off?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Just disappearing it is.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± The queen said and stepped forward. ¡°I want to offer you a job.¡±


    ¡°I thought I was summoned to help you.¡± I said. ¡°We already have a list from the captain of the guard.¡±


    ¡°I meant as a representative of the First Sothen Kingdom.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°What does the job entail?¡±


    ¡°It''s simple, really.¡± The queen said. ¡°You travel. You do good deeds. You tell people that I sent you.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been doing two of those things already.¡± I said, unsure of where she was going with this. ¡°Why would I need to do the third?¡±


    ¡°Two reasons.¡± The queen said. ¡°You can travel freely to every city and town.¡±


    ¡°I thought I could do that anyway.¡± I said, slightly confused.


    ¡°Not just in my kingdom.¡± The queen said and took out a golden circular crest that was the same as the one on the front of the castle. ¡°This gives you the rights and privileges you deserve as my personal vassal.¡± She said. ¡°Wear it at all times and it will protect you.¡±


    ¡°What''s the second reason?¡±


    ¡°You would have access to resources that normal adventurers don''t have.¡± The queen said. ¡°Extra healing, weapons, supplies, and anything you need.¡±


    I looked at her to try and figure out her angle. ¡°What do you get out of it?¡± I asked. ¡°What''s one more adventurer in your arsenal going to do?¡±


    ¡°I believe you know the saying, quality over quantity.¡± The queen said. ¡°I could have a hundred adventurers and maybe combined, they could have fought the garglemacer.¡± She glanced at Maylia and back at me. ¡°You and your companion entered its lair, fought and killed it, then came back to claim the bounty. You didn''t do it for fame or to prove yourself. You did it because you knew it was a danger and had to be dealt with.¡± She said. ¡°Even that job you described that you did for the captain of my guard, you did it because someone was in trouble and before you knew they would be worth anything.¡±


    I couldn''t refute anything she said, so I stayed quiet.


    ¡°There won''t be many that can see your title, and even less that can see what you are.¡± The queen said. ¡°After hearing your story, and seeing your reaction to finding out how you arrived here, I believe this will be beneficial to us both.¡±


    ¡°Will Maylia get a badge as well?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Just being beside you would be enough for most people to accept that she''s a part of your party.¡± The queen said. ¡°However, you can formally add whoever you like to your status and they will get a smaller badge and be provided the same benefits, even if you are unconscious or absent for some reason.¡±


    That was music to my ears. I thought. It''s exactly what I wanted to hear. ¡°Now, tell me what you really want.¡±


    The queen gave me a slight smile and then it disappeared. ¡°I am very uncomfortable with this new religion. As you say, with so many followers in other places, it could take over everything.¡± She said. ¡°If I can co-opt the summoned hero and have him work for me and not in the name of that goddess, her claim of power here is weakened.¡±


    ¡°I''m listening.¡± I said and the queen stepped close and explained about how the other summoned heroes would travel and do good deeds in the name of their religion and how that made the religion spread, because of the acts performed in the deity''s name as proof. The heroes would gain fame and fortune and the power of that deity would increase as more deeds were performed.


    ¡°They''re solicitors.¡± I said when she was done.


    ¡°What?¡± The queen asked, confused. ¡°Did you just curse?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°My apologies, your majesty. It''s not a curse. It''s a term for someone that travels around and sells something, usually something that people don''t need.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that''s exactly right.¡± The queen said. ¡°That''s what''s been happening. The more deities floating around, the more confused the people become. I won''t eradicate them, since that is also against being in harmony with the people and their beliefs; but, the less of them they have to choose from, the better. Not just for them, either. For everyone.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°Would you want to go to a city where there are a dozen different churches and the followers of those churches are on the streets all the time as they try to convert others to their cause?¡± The queen asked, and I shook my head. ¡°I imposed a ban on that happening in my kingdom before too many churches were built. If people are curious, I won''t stop their free choice. What I will stop is the bombardment of their senses by a deluge of unrealistic expectations.¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, you keep saying all of the things that make me want to agree with you.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°It''s almost like you are trying to convert me to your cause.¡±


    The queen opened her mouth to deny it, then realized what she had just told him and sighed. ¡°You''re right. I just did it myself. I''m sorry.¡±


    I stopped myself from laughing at her expression. ¡°Your majesty.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. ¡°I''ll gladly accept your offer.¡±


    The queen raised her eyebrows at me.


    ¡°You''ve been completely honest with me and your apology shows you have integrity, even if you think you made a mistake.¡± I said. ¡°You didn''t, so your apology isn''t necessary.¡±


    The queen gave me another partial smile and placed the badge in my hand.

 Book Two: The Summoned 033

    I was only slightly surprised when the badge touched my hand and I was covered in a slight green glow for several moments. The badge faded and it reappeared on my chest where a nameplate would have been. It was also right above my heart.


    ¡°I''ll teach you the phrase to speak to extend your status to Maylia.¡± The queen said and spoke several sentences. I understood the underlying meaning of it and thought about a better wording for it.


    ¡°Is it the words or the intent that matters?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The words are important, so that it conveys the full potential.¡± The queen said. ¡°The intent needs to be there as well. You have to want them to be protected.¡±


    I turned to Maylia and took her hand. I spoke the phrases exactly and she was covered in a slight green glow as well, then a smaller badge appeared just above her metal breastplate on her thick leather armored top.


    ¡°Now I have a question.¡± I said. ¡°Does this status show when people look at me instead of being a chosen of what''s her name?¡±


    The queen let a complete smile appear on her face for only a moment. ¡°Yes. It takes priority.¡±


    ¡°Excellent.¡± I said. ¡°Maylia, let''s go.¡±


    ¡°Don''t you need a new list of tasks from the queen?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°She has a couple of hours to make it while we run errands.¡± I said and activated Mana Presence Run to let the energy flow over us. I adjusted it to include more mana and we glowed a brighter green. I turned to the queen and gave her a slight bow. ¡°Your majesty.¡±


    ¡°I will be busy upon your return, so I will leave the list with a court attendant.¡± The queen said. ¡°Oh, and there''s no rush to do them or in any particular order. It''s all at your discretion.¡±


    ¡°What if I decide to not do any of them?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That would be what ''at your discretion'' means.¡± The queen said and I could see her trying not to laugh. ¡°You should hurry. Your time to leave safely dwindles with each passing moment.¡±


    Maylia and I jogged to the edge of the courtyard in an instant and stopped, then I turned back to face the queen.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and she nodded, then Maylia and I ran. I used Mana Presence Hands to open and close the doors as we passed through them and then we were outside. I led Maylia to the stables and we went inside as we put up our hoods. I could hear soft crying from one of the stalls and we walked over to it. Inside was the young girl and her tears fell to the floor as she brushed one of our horses.


    ¡°I thought you liked brushing horses.¡± I said and the girl jumped and dropped the brush.


    ¡°YOU''RE ALIVE!¡± The girl yelled and ran to the stall door, climbed it in a second, and jumped off of the top and into my arms. I easily caught her and she hugged me tightly as she tucked her head into the crook of my neck.


    ¡°I''m not going to lie.¡± I said as she cried. ¡°It was close this time.¡±


    ¡°I... I knew that... something must have... you didn''t... come back... so long.¡± The girl hiccuped as she tried to speak.


    ¡°I was seriously hurt in the fight and if it wasn''t for Maylia getting me to the capital in time, and the queen''s intervention and special healers, I don''t think I would have survived.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you shouldn''t tell her all of that.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Just having you back is enough.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want her to think that we were just wasting time coming back.¡± I said, and the girl eased her hold on me and leaned back. ¡°I made a promise to you and you needed to know why I didn''t come back right away.¡±


    The girl kept one arm around me and wiped at her wet eyes with her other hand.


    ¡°I hope those sad tears are happy now.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°Want to give us a hand with the horses? We need them to run some errands.¡±


    The girl nodded and I put her down, and the three of us had the horses equipped up in only a few minutes. We led the two horses outside and Maylia climbed up onto hers.


    ¡°We''re visiting the valley town of Bitosin to deliver something.¡± I said, and I saw her shake slightly. ¡°First, we need to stop at a shop across the city and then at the barracks to visit the captain of the guard. Do you want to come along?¡±


    ¡°N-not to th-the town.¡± The girl said and her tears continued. ¡°I can''t... go back there.¡±


    ¡°Then just a ride around the town will have to do.¡± I said and held a hand out to her.


    ¡°I can climb up on my own.¡± The girl said defiantly, even with a wet face.


    ¡°I know you can.¡± I said and smiled. She hesitated for a moment and took my hand. I twirled her around in a circle to make her catch her breath, then I let her hand go and picked her up by the waist. She gasped as I easily lifted her and set her down on the saddle. I climbed up onto the horse and managed to barely squeeze onto the saddle myself; but, that wasn''t very comfortable for either of us or for the horse, so I used Presence and mana to make a rounded solid shape just behind the saddle and moved back slightly.


    I put my arms around her to take the reins and the girl leaned back into me, so that our weight moved as one. She used her hands to grip the saddle horn tightly and I flicked the reins to make the horse go into a trot. The girl gasped at the speed it displayed and tried to hide her surprise and delight. I didn''t have to glance around to see that Maylia was beside me and half a step back, so that if anything happened, she could react in time to help.


    We rode around the outskirts of the city to the other side to get to the first place we needed to go. The enchantment shop. We tied the horses up outside and the three of us went inside. We went right over to the counter and the old lady was waiting for us.


    ¡°You''re late.¡± The old lady said with a smile. ¡°I also see that you have come up in the world.¡± She motioned to the kingdom''s crest on my chest and then she sighed. ¡°I suppose you came to tell me that you don''t need my services anymore.¡±


    ¡°I came to pick up the ring, actually.¡± I said.


    ¡°But... you are... the queen chose you as a personal vassal.¡± The old lady said. ¡°She has the best artisans in the kingdom working for her.¡±


    ¡°Probably.¡± I said. ¡°Except that Maylia and I visited every shop in this whole city and you were the only one to actually offer a solution to my problem.¡±


    ¡°That may be true, but...¡±


    ¡°Are you saying you failed and that it didn''t work?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, it''s magnificent.¡± The old lady said. ¡°My best work.¡±


    ¡°May I see it?¡±


    The old lady reached under the counter and took out a small wooden box. ¡°Before you put it on, you need to know that it will stop any external effect that tries to affect you.¡± She said. ¡°I can''t determine the actual extent, since I couldn''t put it on to test it myself.¡±


    ¡°So, you''re saying it might protect me only a little, or it could cut me off from everything that could affect me completely.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°I guess it''s worth a shot, since any help is better than none.¡± I looked at Maylia. ¡°I almost proved that with my life.¡±


    ¡°Now we know what you''re vulnerable to, so it was a valuable lesson to learn.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Now we know why when the princess kicked you both times, it hurt you a lot more than it should have.¡±


    I couldn''t help but laugh at that.


    ¡°What''s funny?¡± The girl asked.


    ¡°Until this moment, I hadn''t realized that I could have died by getting kicked between the legs and in the back.¡±


    ¡°You have an odd sense of humor.¡± The old lady said.


    ¡°Only sometimes.¡± I said and looked at her. ¡°How much for the ring?¡±


    ¡°It depends on if it works.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°Do you have something that can cause a similar effect to what I need protection from?¡±


    ¡°You know I do.¡± The old lady smiled.


    ¡°Did you only enchant what I wanted on the ring?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Of course not. There is basic protection and a minor mana boost. The ring''s surface was huge and I had a lot of room to play with.¡±


    ¡°Anything on it to benefit you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Anyone that sees it will know I made it and where to come to find me.¡± The old lady said.


    ¡°You don''t think that it''s a little dangerous to share your name and location to everyone?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to go out there and meet everyone personally?¡± The old lady cackled and put the ring box on the counter. ¡°The normal people you meet are more than welcome to come and visit me, and I don''t think the bad people you meet will be around long enough to find me.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that''s fair.¡± I said and opened the box. The golden ring''s coin-sized curved surface was covered in squiggly lines and etchings. I couldn''t even begin to make out one image or letter out of the mess.


    ¡°You won''t figure it out.¡± The old lady said. ¡°Even if you knew how to read and write that language.¡±


    I snorted a laugh. ¡°You seem to know more about the current me than I do.¡±


    ¡°If the ring works like I hope it does, I''ll give you the name of someone that can help you with that.¡±


    ¡°What? Really?¡± I asked and picked up the ring. It didn''t glow green or anything.


    ¡°You are a personal vassal of the queen and you are going to wear one of my items.¡± The old lady said proudly. ¡°That''s going to help me more than you can possibly imagine and I need to try and help you in return.¡±


    ¡°If this works and stops them from influencing me...¡± I slipped the ring onto my index finger. ¡°...then its worth to me can''t be measured.¡±


    ¡°The lady and young miss need to step back to the edge of the shop.¡± The old lady said and picked up a small box. ¡°This thing is... very powerful.¡±


    ¡°I vowed to stay by Hunter''s side.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°You still are.¡± The old lady said and pointed to the tiny badge on Maylia''s chest. ¡°Distance won''t affect that.¡±


    Maylia nodded understanding and she took the young girl over to the door to the shop, while she stayed in full view of me.


    ¡°Prepare yourself!¡± The old lady said and I braced for whatever was in the box. She held the small box and opened the lid dramatically.


    ¡°AhhHH!¡± The young girl screamed as a wave of fear came out of the box. I felt it myself, since I was so much closer; but, it didn''t affect me. I looked into the box and inside was a tiny little lizard.


    ¡°Where can I get one of them?¡± I asked, and the old lady cackled a laugh and shut the box. The fear feeling went away immediately.


    ¡°These little darlings are rare and very expensive, because of what they can do.¡± The old lady said. ¡°When they experience an emotion, they use mana to boost that feeling to others.¡± She tucked the box back under the counter. ¡°You should feel it when I feed him his favorite greens.¡±


    I waved Maylia and the girl over. The girl looked crossly at the old lady, who pulled out a small wrapped candy.


    ¡°You were more susceptible than most.¡± The old lady said and held the candy out to the girl. ¡°If you don''t face your fear soon, you won''t be able to ever face it.¡±


    The girl looked at the candy and didn''t take it.


    ¡°It''s just candy.¡± The old lady said and put it on the counter, then pulled a second one out and unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. ¡°The surface is too soft to hold an enchantment.¡±


    I looked at her. ¡°That means you tried.¡±


    ¡°Very astute of you.¡± The old lady said and the girl took the candy.


    ¡°Well, we know the ring kind of works.¡± I said. ¡°I still felt the fear, though.¡±


    The old lady nodded. ¡°Yes, that would be an appropriate side effect.¡± She said and a book materialized in her hand and she opened it to a blank page. ¡°Yes. Yes. You will know what the effect feels like and it won''t affect you.¡± She said and scribbled a bunch of nonsensical words onto the page.


    ¡°I hope it works the same way if I ever meet them again.¡± I said.


    ¡°It will, or you can bring it back for a full refund.¡± The old lady said and closed the book.


    ¡°How much is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A gold coin.¡±


    ¡°YOU THIEF!¡± The girl with us yelled and I felt a pulse of mana from her.


    ¡°Hey, take it easy.¡± I said.


    ¡°NO!¡± The girl exclaimed. ¡°She can''t charge you that much for one item!¡± She said. ¡°You could buy five expensive horses and their full kits for that!¡±


    ¡°It''s a one of a kind item.¡± The old lady countered. ¡°I can charge as much as I want to.¡±


    ¡°You old hag!¡± The girl spat. ¡°You know he''ll pay anything you want after what he said before!¡±


    ¡°I''m sure the queen will loan him the money he needs.¡± The old lady said, amusement in her voice. ¡°Shall I charge him two gold coins instead?¡±


    The girl growled in response and I knelt on one knee beside her. I touched her shoulder and her mana jumped over to me. I held in my surprise at the strength of it and she turned to face me with anger on her face.


    ¡°I never asked you your name.¡± I said in a calming voice.


    ¡°It''s Afyne.¡± She said and her face slowly lost its anger. ¡°Afyne Ivoneth.¡±


    ¡°It''s very nice to meet you, Afyne.¡± I said. ¡°Thank you for looking out for me.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you don''t understand.¡± Afyne said, her voice full of concern. ¡°Most people...¡±


    ¡°...won''t see a gold coin in their entire lives.¡± I finished the quote, and she caught her breath.


    ¡°You... you do know.¡± Afyne said. ¡°I''m sorry. I thought...¡±


    ¡°If I hadn''t had a conversation with the captain of the guard, I would have been completely unprepared for how much things cost.¡± I said and cupped the side of her face. ¡°I won''t tell you to stop speaking out; but, I will tell you to speak to me in a normal voice and not yell at the seller.¡±


    Afyne''s face flushed red and she bit her bottom lip as she made the best puppy-dog eyes I had ever seen. Maylia had to look away from the cuteness to hide her reaction and the old lady''s hard expression softened at its power.


    ¡°You are pretty dangerous.¡± The old lady said to her and we both turned our heads to look at her. ¡°The cost is still one gold coin; but, I''ll forgo a lump sum and you can pay me in instalments.¡±


    ¡°What about other clients that come in because they see the ring?¡± I asked. ¡°Do I get a commission on those sales?¡±


    The old lady gave me a crooked smile. ¡°Ah, I see your plan.¡± She said. ¡°You think you can defer the entire cost of the ring if you send me enough new clients.¡±


    ¡°Would that work?¡± I asked. ¡°If, say... you put aside ten percent of each sale for me as a commission.¡±


    ¡°Ten percent!¡± The old lady almost yelled.


    ¡°That''s only five copper per silver.¡± I said. ¡°Or one copper for every ten you earn.¡±


    ¡°Most of the things I sell are fairly cheap.¡± The old lady said. ¡°It will take a long time to earn enough to pay the ring off.¡±


    ¡°It all adds up eventually.¡± I said. ¡°Five sales, a hundred sales, or even a thousand sales.¡±


    The old lady cackled. ¡°You could never personally meet a thousand people that would want to buy items from me.¡±


    ¡°Is that a challenge?¡± I asked, and she cackled again.


    ¡°All right. I''ll accept the ridiculous ten percent commission on sales, just to see if you can send me so many people.¡±


    ¡°You drive a hard bargain.¡± I said and stood as I held a hand out to her. She took it and gave it a shake and let it go. I reached into my bag of holding and took out the small sack of coins the captain of the guard gave me and passed a single gold coin to the old lady. Both she and Afyne''s mouths dropped open at the sight and watched me wordlessly as I put the sack back into my bag of holding.


    ¡°The inn next.¡± I said and led Maylia and the girl out of the shop.


    ¡°You have gold coins.¡± Afyne mumbled as I put her up on my horse. ¡°Actual gold coins.¡±


    ¡°I wonder how much the bounty on a garglemacer is?¡± I asked and climbed onto the horse.


    ¡°It would have to be at least the same as those criminals.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Or perhaps more. It is on the top of the captain''s list.¡±


    ¡°Well, we''ll find out soon.¡± I said and we rode our horses to the inn. The innkeeper was happy to see that we were still alive and was grateful for the return of the room key. I had been very tempted to stay a while longer to take a proper bath, since it had been several days since the last one. I fought that urge though and we left the inn to head to the barracks to visit the captain of the guard.


    He tried to pretend that he didn''t know we were coming with evidence and acted surprised when I took out the carcass of the garglemacer. Afyne screamed and hid her face against Maylia at the sight and she held the girl as she cried. I popped a tooth and a scale off for the captain of the guard as proof, since I knew exactly how to do it, and he gave us the bounty. It was twice that of the criminals we had been paid for before, and the young girl with us only stared at the sack with wide eyes and didn''t say anything. We rode back to the stables to drop her off and when I tried to take her off of the horse, she wouldn''t let it go.


    ¡°You''re not coming back, are you?¡± Afyne asked, her eyes still wet.


    ¡°We''ll be back to sell the carcass to the queen in a few hours.¡± I said.


    ¡°No. Here. To the stables.¡± Afyne said and wouldn''t look at me.


    I sighed. ¡°No, we won''t be coming back.¡±


    ¡°Then take me with you.¡± Afyne said. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°This is no life for a child.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°I''m not a child.¡± Afyne said.


    ¡°Afyne, I can''t be responsible for...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°Then teach me.¡± Afyne said and cut me off. ¡°If you don''t think I can make it because I can''t fight, then teach me how to fight.¡± She said, and this time she did look at me. Her eyes were full of pleading passion and tears started to flow from them again. ¡°You killed the monster that ate my parents.¡± She said. ¡°No one... no one else has ever been able to do that.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t do it alone.¡± I said.


    ¡°I know that.¡± Afyne said and glanced at Maylia. ¡°I want to be a great fighter like her.¡±


    ¡°We cannot teach you everything that you may need to know.¡± Maylia said. ¡°If you are a magic user, or if your skills are more for divination, we can''t...¡±


    ¡°No, I know I''m supposed to fight.¡± Afyne said. ¡°I can feel it.¡± She said and closed her eyes as she started to mumble. ¡°I''m just... no one will... too afraid...¡±


    I didn''t feel any wavers in the Presence while she spoke, so I knew she wasn''t lying. ¡°I''ll agree to take you along... for a while.¡± I said and she looked at me with hope on her face. ¡°On one condition.¡±


    ¡°Anything!¡± Afyne exclaimed.


    ¡°You need to come to Bitosin with us.¡±


    Afyne started to shiver and shake and she closed her eyes and bent over the saddle to let the stream of her tears fall onto the horse. It took her several minutes to compose herself and for the crying to ease enough for her to talk without sobbing.


    ¡°W-wh-why?¡±


    ¡°Like the old lady in the shop said. You need to face your fear.¡± I said. ¡°Avoiding it will work for a while, probably even years. Unfortunately, you won''t be able to rely on yourself if every time someone mentions the town, the garglemacer, or your parents, you break down and start crying.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about it?!? Afyne nearly yelled.


    ¡°A lot more than you think.¡± I said and put a hand on hers. ¡°I''ll tell you all about it on the way.¡±


    ¡°I... I didn''t agree!¡± Afyne said and tried to get of the horse as I climbed on.


    ¡°Yes, you did.¡± I said and hugged her from behind. ¡°When you didn''t say no right away and just cried, that was confirmation enough for me.¡±


    ¡°I... I don''t... want to go!¡±


    I felt the Presence waver and smiled. ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and rested my chin on the top of her head. ¡°Both I and Maylia are here. We won''t let anything happen to you.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°I considered letting you go and you could live your life how you want and could keep hiding from it and yourself, then I remembered something.¡± I said and flicked the reins and the horse started to trot.


    ¡°Wh-what did you remember?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°Myself as a scared little boy after my parents were killed.¡± I said and I felt the girl shiver. ¡°Then a very kindhearted woman took me in and cared for me. I resisted at first, mainly because I didn''t want to be treated like a child.¡± I said and Afyne stopped resisting and leaned against me. ¡°She taught me a very valuable lesson and I''m going to teach it to you.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what lesson?¡±


    ¡°Everyone needs someone to care about them.¡± I said.

 Book Two: The Summoned 034 (Sponsored)

    ¡°I''m going to do for you what she did for me.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to become your guardian.¡±


    I heard a gasp from both Afyne and Maylia, then Maylia''s horse started to drop back. I slowed my own horse and came to a stop, and Maylia stopped beside me. She had a look of utter shock on her face and her mouth opened and closed over and over without making any noise. It was then that I remembered that in her culture, men were not allowed to be near children and they didn''t have a hand in raising them.


    I formed a Mana Presence Hand and cupped the side of her face, since I couldn''t reach it with my own, then put a little bit of Presence into her. Since I only did that during our lessons in bed, it startled her out of her shock.


    ¡°Don''t freak out on me now. I''ve been trying to show you that... I guess it didn''t make much difference until now.¡± I said and absorbed the Mana Presence Hand and looked down at Afyne, who was already looking up at me with eyes so wide that they looked fake. ¡°You decided that you wanted to come with me, even knowing it would be dangerous, and you don''t even know if we have a home to go to or not.¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± Afyne said. ¡°I... I''ve been alone for... and you... you were the only one to...¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and took her hand, then I repeated the phrases to extend my status to her. She was covered in a slight green glow for a moment and a little golden badge appeared on her clothes. ¡°There. Now it''s official.¡± I said and put my arms around her while she caressed the badge with her fingertips.


    ¡°It''s real.¡± Afyne whispered, and Maylia could only stare at me with disbelief on her face.


    ¡°It''s as real as you want it to be.¡± I said and looked at Maylia. ¡°Can you still ride?¡±


    Maylia only nodded and didn''t say anything, so I flicked the reins of my horse and it started to trot. She was right beside me and kept glancing at me and then at Afyne. We left the capital city without incident and when we were far enough away, we stopped and I boosted Maylia while she cast the mana boost spell on both horses. With that done, we brought the horses up to full speed, to Afyne''s surprise and joy.


    ¡°This is wonderful!¡± Afyne exclaimed and we crossed the countryside quickly. We arrived at the outskirts of the valley town of Bitosin and I brought us to a stop.


    ¡°Why are we stopping?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°Since Afyne doesn''t want anyone in the town to see her, she needs to wear my cloak.¡± I said and took it off and slipped it over the girl''s shoulders. I put the hood up for her, and since her head was smaller than mine, her entire face was covered in shadow.


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Afyne said.


    ¡°Just because I want you to face your fear, that doesn''t mean I won''t protect you from it.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve accepted responsibility for you, so I''m going to do my best for you from now on.¡±


    Afyne nodded and we continued on into the town at a trot. We arrived at the building I thought was a hospital and the lot outside was empty. I was grateful for that, especially for Afyne''s sake. It was one less reminder that her parents were dead.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± A woman''s voice nearly yelled and the door to the building opened. Gia came out and was quickly followed by the other healers. ¡°You look well.¡±


    ¡°The queen has the best magical healers in the kingdom.¡± I said. ¡°It was still close, though.¡±


    Gia nodded. ¡°I''m glad you''re okay.¡±


    ¡°I came back to give everyone the items they wanted.¡± I said and looked inside the building to see that most of the beds were empty. ¡°I guess I''ll have to track them all down.¡±


    ¡°Hardly.¡± Gia laughed and turned to one of the others. ¡°Mary, if you would be so kind.¡±


    ¡°One call coming up.¡± Mary said and started to chant, then she brought her hands together and opened them. Dozens upon dozens of little balls of green light shot out from her hands and disappeared from sight. A combined yell and holler came from all around and people started to run towards us.


    ¡°Okay, that was impressive.¡± I said and Mary beamed a smile at me. I handed the reins of my horse to Afyne and climbed down, then opened the bag of holding and carefully pulled out the carcass of the garglemacer. The sight was met by gasps and another startled scream from Afyne. I quickly reached up and grabbed her hand. I didn''t say anything as she gripped my hand tightly, and we waited for several minutes for everyone to show up. I pat her hand and she nodded as she let me go, so I could do what I came here to do.


    ¡°You really did it.¡± One of the men said. ¡°I don''t believe it.¡±


    I could almost feel the fear and tension in everyone, as if they expected the thing to wake up and jump at them. ¡°Thanks to my trusted companion, we vanquished the beast.¡± I said dramatically and used Mana Presence Hands to roll it onto its side and pointed to the creature''s destroyed chest. ¡°I was gravely injured, as most of you know, and the queen had her best healers work on me constantly for a good portion of the day yesterday to heal the magical damage I had taken.¡±


    ¡°Is that what the badge is for?¡± A woman asked and pointed at my chest.


    ¡°Actually, after I showed her the carcass, she offered me a job.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha ha!¡± A man laughed. ¡°I knew she was a smart lady!¡±


    Several other people joined in and laughed, too.


    ¡°Can we touch it?¡± A boy asked.


    ¡°Only if you''re very careful.¡± I said. ¡°There might be some residual magic, or even poison, on the claws and maybe the horns.¡±


    The boy looked afraid as he stepped close and poked the leg he was next to. It didn''t move, so he reached out and laid a hand on it. ¡°It''s cold!¡±


    ¡°Is it okay to make a joke and say that it''s dead tired?¡± I asked, and several people laughed and a couple of the faces frowned. ¡°Yeah, it''s too soon. I''ll wait until tomorrow.¡±


    A few more people laughed as they came forward and started to touch it. I let them face their fear and didn''t say anything for several minutes, because I knew Afyne was facing her own fears.


    ¡°There''s the last one.¡± Mary said and pointed, and I turned to see a man as he ran down the street towards us. ¡°He must have the horse on the plow today.¡±


    The breathless man stumbled for the last few feet and I quickly walked over to catch him before he fell.


    ¡°You didn''t have to rush. I just got here.¡± I said and the man only panted in response. ¡°I wasn''t going to leave without giving you what I promised.¡±


    The man nodded and motioned to the ground. I helped him sit and I went back over to the carcass.


    ¡°Now that everyone is here, it''s time to give out the presents.¡± I said. ¡°Scales first.¡±


    A multitude of hands raised up and I used a Presence shape filled with mana to duplicate the knife''s shape and started to pop off the scales. They were all surprised as I caught each one as it popped off and handed it to the next person in line. Thankfully, the creature was huge and I had only done one row of scales from around its underbelly and ran out of people to give them to. I slipped the last few into my own pockets.


    ¡°Okay, teeth next.¡± I said, and several hands went up. I eased open the creature''s mouth and a few people let out a little scream, including Afyne on my horse. I wasn''t stupid enough to stick my head in or even my hands, because I didn''t want to shock people more than I already had. I quickly popped out just enough teeth to hand out, then took three to add to the three scales I had in my pockets. When everyone was happy and had their own keepsake, I turned to the healers.


    ¡°You didn''t say what you wanted.¡± I asked them, and every one of them shook their heads.


    ¡°Even if we wanted to take them, we wouldn''t.¡± Gia said. ¡°We are dedicated to healing, so accepting part of a creature that only destroys is against our beliefs.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    I nodded and opened my bag of holding and slipped the carcass back inside. That shocked a bunch of people and they were doubly shocked because I put the bag on like a backpack and the weight wasn''t affecting me.


    ¡°There was one more thing we found near the roost.¡± I said and took out the sheet-wrapped half body. I carefully unwrapped it to only show the face.


    Gia caught her breath and covered her mouth.


    ¡°Is this...¡±


    ¡°N-no, it''s not my brother.¡± Gia said. ¡°It''s his friend and... we... well...¡± She looked at the face with sadness.


    I nodded and covered it up. ¡°Can I assume that he''ll get a proper burial or whatever it is you do here?¡±


    Gia and the healers nodded. ¡°We''ll put him with the others and have him buried with them.¡±


    I took a handful of silver out of my pocket and held it out to her. ¡°Will this cover the cost?¡±


    All of the healers and the townspeople around us were surprised by my gesture.


    ¡°Are you really an adventurer?¡± Gia asked.


    ¡°I didn''t start that way; but, I am now.¡± I said. ¡°Please, take it.¡±


    Gia reached for the pile and stopped, pulled her hand back slightly, then reached again and stopped.


    I chuckled and took one silver and put it in her hand, then did the same to each healer. As luck would have it, I had pulled out just enough to give the healers one coin each.


    ¡°Keep up the good work.¡± I said and walked over to my horse.


    ¡°Please stay!¡± Gia exclaimed.


    I could see that several people were startled by her request and a lot were not. ¡°As tempting as it is to settle down and build a home, I can''t right now.¡± I climbed up onto my horse. ¡°I have work to do.¡±


    ¡°Will you ever come back this way?¡± Gia asked, hope in her voice, and Afyne shook slightly.


    ¡°I don''t think so.¡± I said.


    Gia sighed in disappointment and Afyne sighed in relief. I turned the horse around and started to trot down the road with Maylia right beside me.


    ¡°Goodbye!¡± The boy yelled at us. ¡°Thanks for the tooth!¡±


    I waved over my shoulder without turning around. I waited until we were well outside the town before we stopped and Maylia cast mana boost on the horses. We ran the horses at full speed after that and went back to the capital city. Once there, the new guards at the guard house didn''t try to stop us or even asked us what our business was. I wasn''t sure if it was because of the badges or because word of what happened had spread to the other guards. Either way, we weren''t bothered and went right to the castle.


    As the queen had predicted, she was quite busy with meetings and couldn''t see us personally. The court attendant gave me the list of things the queen thought that I could help with, and I could easily read it, despite it being a completely different language than the common list that the captain of the guard had given me. I had to assume that it was because of the badge. The court attendant took us out to the courtyard and pointed to a large cage that had been constructed there.


    The woman expert stood beside it. ¡°All right, show me what remains of the thing.¡±


    ¡°I believe I was to be paid first.¡± I said, and she sighed.


    ¡°I have that for you.¡± The court attendant said and took out a fairly large sack.


    I opened it and it was filled with gold coins. ¡°Hello.¡± I said to the contents.


    ¡°Yes, it''s ridiculously expensive.¡± The woman said, her anger clear as day. ¡°I hope that I can convince the queen to leave it intact, because it would be the best specimen we''ve ever found.¡±


    ¡°Yes, found.¡± I said and put the gold into my bag of holding and took the carcass out. I absorbed the Presence backpack I had and used my Mana Presence Levitation technique to put the carcass inside the cage. The woman stared at the garglemacer as it floated inside the cage without touching anything. Her eyes had quickly found where I had removed the scales.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± She asked and pointed at the nice smooth skin. ¡°You didn''t have the special knife I used.¡±


    ¡°You mean the knife you didn''t offer to me or tell me where to get one for myself?¡± I asked, and her face flushed slightly red from embarrassment, probably because she thought she could delay or stop me from damaging the corpse. ¡°It doesn''t matter how I did it, only that I did it.¡± I said and walked away. ¡°Have a nice day.¡±


    She didn''t respond and the court attendant led us back out of the castle. We mounted the horses and started to trot down the road.


    ¡°Afyne, do you know a good blacksmith?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I can show you where the stable gets all the metalwork done.¡± Afyne said.


    ¡°Good enough.¡± I said and she pointed where to go. We followed her directions to a small out of the way place. Maylia and I had been by there before and had only glanced inside without actually talking to anyone. At the time, I hadn''t realized that I actually needed a blacksmith''s skills. In actuality, I needed some of his tools.


    ¡°Ah, Afyne!¡± The blacksmith said and lifted his goggles to look at her. ¡°What are you doing here so early? I don''t have the new shoes for the...¡± He stopped talking when he saw the little golden badge on her chest with the kingdom''s crest on it.


    ¡°I''m not here for the stable.¡± Afyne said and the blacksmith looked at me.


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡± The man asked. ¡°I doubt there''s anything you can get here that you can''t get from the smiths in the castle.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean you''re not up to making some custom metal items for me?¡± I asked. As soon as the blacksmith heard the word ''custom'', his eyes lit up.


    ¡°I''ve made some odd things before.¡± The blacksmith said. ¡°What did you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°Well, I''m missing some essential tools and I want to know if you can replace them.¡± I said. ¡°If you''ve got some paper and...¡±


    ¡°Right there on my desk.¡± The blacksmith pointed. I turned around and looked where he indicated and only say a pile of scrap metal. The man chuckled and walked over to the pile and moved a few things aside to reveal part of an old wooden desk. He picked up several sheets of thick paper and a coal pencil, shook the dirt and metal shards off of them, then handed them to me.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and quickly drew out the tools that I knew could be made with metal. The blacksmith watched and nodded his head at the shapes, then I wrote in the sizes they needed to be and he started shaking his head.


    ¡°Nope. I can''t make things that small.¡± The blacksmith said. ¡°The metal will crack and break apart.¡±


    ¡°Even if you stretch it while it''s molten?¡± I asked and looked at the table and the piles of different tools there. ¡°A chisel!¡± I said. ¡°You made that, right?¡±


    The blacksmith nodded. ¡°That''s easy.¡± He said and picked up a wrapped block of what looked like concrete. He opened it and it had a long channel carved into the middle. ¡°You just pour it, harden it, then sharpen it.¡±


    ¡°What if you make a smaller channel?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°The molten metal''s too thick to flow inside a channel any smaller than that.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°What about the other tools?¡± I asked. ¡°You have pliers right there.¡±


    ¡°I can''t make them any smaller. Can you use them?¡±


    I looked at the size of them and looked down at the damaged wires on my elbow. I saw that the wires would be lost in the teeth of pliers so large and shook my head.


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± The blacksmith said.


    ¡°It was just an idea I had.¡± I said and put the drawings into my bag of holding and gave the blacksmith a copper for the paper. ¡°Afyne, where did you get the leather straps for the horses?¡±


    Afyne told me where to go and we left the blacksmiths and walked with the horses to a tailor shop Maylia and I had visited several days before. I asked the lady at the counter how she did such impeccable stitching on the reins and on the harnesses, and she showed me the tools and thread they had used. While I asked about thick leather and she showed me slightly larger and stronger material and the tools needed to work on them, Maylia and Afyne looked around the shop.


    ¡°I need a way to black it out.¡± I said when I bought some of the thick leather and the tools to work it and some thread to sew it together.


    ¡°Whatever you need this for, we can do it for you.¡± The lady said. ¡°You are a valued customer.¡±


    ¡°I would get you to do it if I could; but, I can''t stay around to wait for it to be finished.¡± I said. ¡°How do I color it black?¡±


    The lady sighed. ¡°The quickest way is to use some coal pitch. You can get it from the general store.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and looked at Afyne. ¡°Do you see anything you like?¡±


    Afyne shook her head several times while Maylia nodded and pointed discretely. I looked without turning my head and saw a cute little fancy dress.


    ¡°Well, both Maylia and I bought outfits here, since we don''t wear our armor all the time.¡± I said and turned to the lady and pointed at Afyne. ¡°Is there any chance I can get a cloak similar to that one, only in her size?¡±


    ¡°The same color?¡±


    ¡°Green helps blend into the forest better.¡± I said, and the lady nodded and went into the back. She came out with a smaller cloak that looked the same, with a nice thick cloth in a darker green.


    ¡°How is this?¡±


    ¡°Perfect.¡± I said. ¡°Can I get a couple pairs of basic pants and shirts, also in her size?¡±


    ¡°They are right over here on the shelf, sir.¡± The lady said and walked around me and sorted through them, then held a pair up to Afyne''s leg. She grabbed another pair and brought them over to the counter and tossed two shirts on top. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Where can I get a bag of holding?¡±


    The lady smiled. ¡°You are a big spender today.¡± She said and went into the back room. She opened something like a chest and pulled one out.


    ¡°Two of them, please.¡± I said loud enough for her to hear me.


    The lady laughed and grabbed another one and came out to the counter. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    I leaned in close and whispered. ¡°You might as well throw in that fancy dress over there.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°I''ll distract her while you wrap it.¡±


    The lady nodded with a huge smile and she walked out from around the counter. I picked up the bags of holding, put one inside mine, and walked over to Afyne and Maylia with the other. I knelt on one knee and held the bag out for a moment to show Afyne that it was hers, then tried to tie it to her belt.


    ¡°It looks like someone needs a new belt.¡± I said and looked down. ¡°Boots. You need proper boots, too.¡±


    ¡°There''s a great Cobbler just a few doors down.¡± The lady said and handed me a new belt over Afyne''s shoulder. ¡°Unless you don''t like having a Half-Faerie making things for you.¡±


    ¡°As long as the quality is good, I don''t care who made it.¡± I said and untied the old belt from around Afyne''s waist and put the new one on. I tied the bag of holding onto the new belt and nodded. ¡°There. Now it won''t slip off.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡± Afyne stared at the new belt and the bag of holding.


    ¡°I can''t have you change into new clothes until we get a bath.¡± I said and lifted my arm, smelled my armpit dramatically, then jerked my head back. ¡°Woooo! Yep! I definitely need a bath!¡±


    Afyne laughed and snorted at the same time and covered her mouth and nose with both hands to hide it.


    ¡°I have your items wrapped, sir.¡± The lady at the counter said.


    ¡°Great.¡± I said and walked over to her. I put the packages into my bag of holding and she whispered how much everything was. I was quite surprised at how much the bag of holding was and took out the small bag of coins I had and put two gold coins on the counter. She took them expertly and gave me a sweet smile.


    ¡°Thank you very much for your business, sir.¡± The lady said.


    I nodded at her and we left the shop. I took my cloak back from Afyne and put it on, then draped her own cloak over her shoulders. She tried to hide her smile, probably because she didn''t want me to see how happy she was about having her own things, so I tried not to look at her as we walked down the street a few doors to the Cobbler.

 Book Two: The Summoned 035

    What was odd was that Maylia and I had been all over the city and I didn''t remember seeing this shop before. We went inside the shop and there was a grumpy old man with grey hair that stood behind the counter. We walked right over to him without looking around.


    ¡°The tailor a few doors down recommended you.¡± I said and motioned to Afyne. ¡°She needs boots.¡±


    ¡°Are you looking for comfort or for durability?¡± The old man asked with a rough voice.


    ¡°We''re going to be riding horses a lot, so both.¡± I said.


    ¡°You''re going to have sore backsides riding all the time.¡±


    ¡°What do you recommend for that?¡± I asked and knew what he was going to say.


    ¡°Not riding so much.¡± The old man said and chuckled.


    ¡°I knew you were going to say that.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Ain''t no better way to prevent it than not doing it.¡± The old man said and looked at Afyne. ¡°Do you want boots?¡±


    Afyne looked a little startled to be spoken to directly. ¡°Um... yes. Please.¡±


    The old man squinted his eyes for a second. ¡°Being polite is a good trait.¡± He said, then he gave her a huge grin. ¡°All right. I''ll make you a pair.¡± He said and started to walk out from behind the counter, then he disappeared. I looked around because both the mana and Presence I had detected from the man had disappeared as well.


    ¡°Where did he go?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°I''m right here.¡± The old man said and we all turned around to see him as he sat at a workbench across the room. He was rubbing something onto a very nice pair of boots. They glowed yellow for a moment and he smiled at them. ¡°Yes, very nice.¡± He said and picked the boots up.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°It''s a secret.¡± The old man said and walked over to us and I still couldn''t detect him. ¡°Here you go.¡± He handed the boots to Afyne and he smiled warmly as she hugged them to her chest.


    ¡°How much?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A silver per boot.¡± He said and I gave him two silver coins. ¡°You''re not going to negotiate over the price?¡± He asked, surprised.


    ¡°I''d rather ask how you can hide your mana so well.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Please.¡±


    The old man squinted his eyes at me for a moment. ¡°Being patronizing is not a good trait.¡±


    ¡°If I was going to be like that, I would...¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Maylia exclaimed.


    ¡°I wasn''t going to say anything actually patronizing.¡± I said to her. ¡°You know I won''t insult someone or treat them unfairly until they do it to me first.¡±


    The old man looked from me to her, then he chuckled. ¡°I heard that about you.¡±


    ¡°You did?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°The two of you were all over the city and in practically every shop.¡± The old man said. ¡°If you hadn''t done them all so quickly, word would have gotten around about how you were testing them to see who was actually interested in selling the right things to you.¡±


    ¡°That''s why I wanted to do as many as I could in one day.¡± I said. ¡°Is that why we didn''t see this shop?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The old man shook his head. ¡°You can''t find this shop without a recommendation.¡±


    ¡°I suppose having this badge wouldn''t help, either.¡± I said and motioned to it.


    ¡°Someone still has to recommend you.¡± The old man smiled slightly. ¡°That thing isn''t an all-access pass for everything, so get that thought out of your head.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Actually, besides what it has already done, I don''t expect it to do anything else except ease our passage and maybe help smooth things over if we do get into trouble.¡±


    ¡°Or cause trouble.¡± The old man said.


    ¡°Yeah, that''s a worry I expect to have when we leave the First Sothen Kingdom; but, that won''t be for a while.¡± I said. ¡°The other kingdoms are a little low on the queen''s priority list.¡±


    The old man couldn''t help but chuckle at that. ¡°Any good ruler is concerned for their own citizens first. If she has things for you to do, you should get to it.¡±


    ¡°I guess that means you can''t tell me how you''re hiding your mana.¡± I said and stopped myself from sighing.


    The old man put a hand on my shoulder. ¡°You''re on the right track with what you''re doing. You just need to focus more on the mana part.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been trying to do that.¡± I said.


    ¡°You can''t do everything in a few days.¡± The old man said. ¡°Time will let you do what you need to do.¡±


    I was about to respond when I remembered that the old lady at the enchantment shop hadn''t given me the name of someone, like she said she would, that could help me with my abilities.


    The old man saw my reaction and nodded. ¡°You better get going.¡± He said. ¡°If you need anything else boot-wise, you come back here and let me know.¡±


    I nodded and we left the shop. It took a bit of convincing to get Afyne to let her shiny new boots go and to put them into her bag of holding. After that, we mounted our horses and rode over to the enchantment shop. We had barely come to a stop when the old lady came out the front door of the shop and passed me a piece of paper with a name and a location.


    ¡°You know how to find it.¡± The old lady said and went back into the shop without another word.


    ¡°How did she know we were coming back here?¡± Maylia asked.


    I held up my hand and showed her the ring. ¡°It has to be this.¡±


    Maylia nodded. ¡°Where to now?¡±


    ¡°The stables.¡± I said, and Afyne sighed. ¡°You need to tell them you''re not going to live there anymore.¡±


    ¡°Most of them don''t even know I was there.¡± Afyne said.


    ¡°Which means a couple do and might miss you.¡± I said, and she shook her head. ¡°Well, at the very least, they''ll miss you doing the jobs no one else did.¡±


    Afyne didn''t say anything and we rode over to the stable. A worker came out to greet us and didn''t look at Afyne at all.


    ¡°What can we do for you?¡± The young man asked.


    ¡°Who''s in charge?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I am for today.¡± The young man said. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Yes, since you''re losing a great worker and don''t seem to care at all about it.¡± I responded.


    ¡°What?¡± The young man turned and looked back into the stable and saw several workers. ¡°Who are we losing?¡±


    ¡°She''s been in front of you this whole time and you didn''t even notice.¡± I said and let anger seep into my voice. ¡°I thought she might have been exaggerating about how you treated her; but, I can clearly see that she was understating how much you ignored her.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The young man turned back to look at me. ¡°Who are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°By the look on your face, I can tell that her name won''t mean anything to you, since you probably don''t know it.¡± I almost spat at him. ¡°When whoever owns this place, or the actual manager shows up, you tell them that Afyne won''t be living here anymore.¡±


    The young man stared blankly at me.


    I knew he wouldn''t know it. I thought angrily and tapped the badge on my chest. ¡°I won''t be using this stable anymore, either.¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Sir! This is a great stable! We treat the horses like royalty! They are fed and watered as much as they want and we groom them several times a day!¡±


    ¡°That''s great news for the horses.¡± I said with a snarl. ¡°It''s too bad you don''t treat people half as well.¡± I turned my horse around. ¡°Make sure you tell the manager that, too.¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡± The young man ran forward and stopped beside my horse. ¡°SIR!¡±


    I ignored him and flicked the reins to make the horse trot. Maylia was right there beside me and the young man stared at us until we took a corner and left his sight. I wasn''t sure if it was because of the horse''s speed or because I had ignored him. It was probably a mix of both.


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Afyne whispered. I took a hand off the reins for a brief moment and hugged her, then resumed full control of the horse. We stopped at the general store and I bought another bedroll, a jar of coal pitch and a brush, and some rope. If we were going to be capturing people at some point, I was going to need it.


    With nothing else to keep us in the city, we decided to find the second creature on the captain of the guard''s list. Thanks to the map scroll pointing us in the right direction, we travelled for the rest of the day before we reached the town where the creature was last sighted. The best part about doing this one first was that it was in a completely different direction from the main road and there was no chance at all that we would meet Kara and the others on their way to the capital.


    Maylia, Afyne, and I had stopped for a quick picnic at lunchtime and finished off the last of the turkey and things we had received at the farmer''s dinner table. Afyne said that it was the best food she had ever tasted and wanted to know where we got it from.


    ¡°It was thanks to god.¡± Maylia had said and explained what had happened.


    ¡°That can''t be true.¡± Afyne said and had looked at me and back at Maylia several times. ¡°Is it true?¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± I responded. ¡°I''ve been blessed by god.¡±


    Afyne had caught her breath and just stared at me for several minutes. ¡°Is that why you''re so good?¡±


    ¡°No, he''s always like that.¡± Maylia had said and explained that we had only just found out that morning. Afyne had stayed quiet for the rest of the trip to the town and stayed that way until we stopped at a stable. Her expertise took over and she practically schooled the people there on the proper treatment of our horses if they were going to stay there overnight without a fuss.


    She can definitely take charge when she''s confident in herself. I thought.


    We left the stable when Afyne was sure the horses would be fine and we went over to the only inn that the small town had.


    ¡°Ah! What a great looking family!¡± The innkeeper said as we entered and walked over to the counter.


    I ignored the compliment and the blushes on Maylia''s and Afyne''s faces.


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡± The innkeeper asked with a smile.


    ¡°We need a room with a bathtub.¡± I said and put a hand on Afyne''s shoulder. ¡°I''d complain that I smell like a horse, except that our horse expert might get upset.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I would.¡± Afyne glared up at me and the innkeeper laughed uproariously.


    ¡°The joys of a child''s honesty!¡± The innkeeper said and picked up a key. ¡°This is our biggest room and the tub is quite large.¡±


    ¡°Sounds great.¡± I said. ¡°How much for the night?¡±


    ¡°Eight copper, since I assume that the three of you will be staying in the same room.¡± The innkeeper said. ¡°Two rooms would be ten copper.¡±


    ¡°One room is fine.¡± I said. ¡°What about food?¡±


    ¡°Only breakfast is included.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± I said and gave him eight copper and took the key. ¡°Do you know anywhere that serves good meals?¡±


    ¡°Good as in cheap or good as in taste?¡± The innkeeper asked.


    I chuckled at the distinction and slipped him another copper coin. ¡°Let''s go for taste this time.¡±


    The innkeeper smiled and told us where to go for the best tastes and how late they were open. I thanked him and we went to our room to get cleaned up.


    ¡°I think I want to show off a little.¡± I said and started to take off my uniform coat after I turned the hot water on in the tub.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Maylia asked and started to get undressed as well.


    ¡°We''ve got to let our uniforms air out tonight, so we might as well get a little dressed up to go eat.¡± I said. ¡°We should probably give our underclothes a good scrubbing, too.¡± I said and then sighed. ¡°Dammit, I knew I forgot something.¡± I glanced at Afyne, who had stood there silently and watched us getting undressed.


    ¡°I took care of it.¡± Maylia smiled and took out a few small wrapped packages from her bag of holding.


    ¡°You''ve been waiting to rub that in my face all day, haven''t you?¡± I asked with a chuckle and hung my coat on a chair and kicked off my boots.


    Maylia couldn''t hide her smug smile this time. ¡°Not all day.¡±


    I laughed and started to open my pants to take them off. I heard a small gasp and looked to see Afyne as she turned around and faced the other way. ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and laid the pants on the seat of the chair. ¡°I still have underwear on.¡±


    ¡°That''s not... you can''t just...¡± Afyne babbled and Maylia chuckled.


    ¡°I''m getting undressed, too.¡± Maylia said. ¡°It takes me longer because of all the laces.¡±


    ¡°I usually help.¡± I said and slipped off my long sleeved t-shirt. ¡°Four hands work faster than two.¡±


    Afyne didn''t say anything, so I helped Maylia get undressed completely and she climbed into the tub.


    ¡°Now you have a choice.¡± I said and touched Afyne''s shoulder. She let out a squeak and jumped a little.


    ¡°Ch-ch-choice?¡± Afyne asked nervously without turning around to look at me.


    ¡°After you get undressed, you can soak in the tub first or get rigorously scrubbed by experienced hands.¡± I said and took off my blast shield. ¡°The other choice is to get scrubbed first and then soak.¡±


    ¡°I... I don''t...¡± Afyne still didn''t turn around, so I knelt behind her and put my arms around her waist and hugged her.


    ¡°You don''t have to be nervous.¡±


    ¡°But... you''re a boy... and... and boys, they...¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Don''t worry. We''re only getting cleaned.¡± I said and let her go. ¡°You won''t see any of the things that boys and girls do sometimes.¡±


    ¡°But... you and Maylia... don''t you...¡± Afyne turned around to look at me and she gasped at my completely exposed face. Her small hands reached up and touched my face where the edge of the blast shield had been and ran her fingers over the shape that used to be there. ¡°H-h-how...¡±


    ¡°It''s a trick to keep my real face hidden.¡± I said. ¡°People seem to underestimate me when they see it, or assume I''m blind, or think I was in a terrible accident.¡±


    ¡°I... I was going to ask what happened to cause it.¡± Afyne said, then her fingers traced my eyes. ¡°Why do you cover your eyes like that?¡±


    ¡°Since I came here, it has come in handy a few times already.¡± I said. ¡°It deflected an arrow that probably shouldn''t have been deflected and it stopped someone from blasting my eyes with a blinding light spell.¡±


    ¡°It''s armor?¡± Afyne asked and stared into my eyes.


    ¡°There''s nothing else like it.¡± I said and she smiled. ¡°So, scrub or soak first?¡±


    Afyne''s face flushed red and she let her hands drop from my face.


    ¡°Shall I choose for you?¡± I asked and she gave me her sad puppy-dog eyes. ¡°Scrubbing it is.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Afyne asked and I quickly unhooked her belt. ¡°I want to soak first!¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry. The decision has been made.¡± I hung her belt on a chair and quickly took her top off.


    ¡°AHHH!¡± Afyne yelled and covered her very small chest with both hands. You could see the dirt line between where the cloth from her top ended and where her exposed skin began.


    ¡°It''s okay. I''ve seen a woman naked before.¡± I said and started to undo her pants. Afyne let out a little yip as I pulled them down to her ankles. ¡°Oops! I forgot your boots.¡± I said and picked her up, went from kneeling on the floor to sitting on a chair and sat her on my lap. I slipped her ratty old boots off and saw how dirty her feet were, because she wasn''t wearing socks. ¡°Somebody has been neglecting her toesie-woesies!¡± I said and tickled the bottom of her feet.


    Afyne burst out laughing and struggled to get away. She stopped trying to cover her chest, which was the distraction I needed, and I pulled her pants off completely. Now that she was almost naked, I gently held her in my arms as I stood up and walked over to the tub. Maylia already had herself lathered up and held her hands out for Afyne.


    ¡°N-n-no.¡± Afyne whispered.


    I carefully handed her to Maylia, who took her into her own arms and just held her. I kept my underwear on at first and climbed in as well, then Maylia and I took off our underwear and quickly washed ourselves. We gently scrubbed Afyne all over and it took a while to get the dirt off. I even had to use trace amounts of Presence to encourage her skin to give up its hold on the grime that had been caked on for a long time.


    Afyne''s feet were the worst and were almost black from the old boots she wore. They were also very ticklish and she laughed the entire time we tried to scrub them clean. We had to empty the tub when she was clean, because the water was so dirty, and Afyne''s face was bright red because of that.


    ¡°Don''t be embarrassed.¡± I said and she turned her head and looked at me while the tub refilled. ¡°You survived and made it on your own for this long and washing yourself wasn''t much of a priority.¡± I put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Even Maylia and I have ignored washing when it was necessary.¡±


    ¡°What he''s saying is, don''t expect to bathe like this every day.¡± Maylia said and checked the water''s temperature. ¡°Ah, there it is.¡± She turned off the water and climbed in as she sighed and relaxed.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± I said and Afyne stepped into the tub and sat down. She just stared at me as I climbed in and sat down myself. I put my arms out along my side of the tub and sighed as I leaned back and closed my eyes. A few moments later, the water sloshed a little and I felt someone lean against me. I opened one eye slightly to look and see Afyne as she tucked herself under my arm. She started to turn her head to glance at me and I closed my eye.


    I''m glad I didn''t lift my head because she would have caught me looking. I thought and then smiled. The last thing I need is for her to think that I''m trying to peek at her.


    *


    This is absolutely amazing. Maylia thought as she looked across the tub at Hunter with a young girl tucked under his arm. His actions have all been to protect and comfort her. He bought her things she needed and he even made her laugh. She thought in surprise. No elf man has ever done anything like that for a child!


    Maylia''s thoughts reeled over two completely conflicted sets of information. She knew, deep in her subconscious and in her beliefs that she had grown up with, that men were flawed and that they couldn''t properly raise a child. They were too impulsive, too reckless, and couldn''t be trusted with the life of a child because they lacked the proper emotional attachments to ensure their safety. And yet, here before her very eyes, was the complete opposite of that.


    Maylia had watched the girl closely all day and she was responding more and more to Hunter. Even now, after protesting barely a half an hour before about him taking off her clothes for a bath and seeing her bare, she laid against him as if she had always done it.


    *


    Afyne closed her eyes and let out a sigh and relaxed. She had just turned eleven years old and she had never done anything like this before. Bathing with another person seemed so odd at first, then both Maylia and Hunter had scrubbed her and cared for her. Her skin felt raw and even tingled in some places. Especially her toes. She thought it was a good tingle and she let that tingle flow over her. After a minute, she felt the water ripple and opened her eyes for a second. She saw Maylia as she tucked herself under Hunter''s other arm.


    They both closed their eyes and relaxed against him.


    *


    We really should get out and dry off. I thought about ten minutes later.


    I had my arms around their shoulders and both of their breathing was calm and even, barely above where it would be if they were sleeping. I thought that was a little odd, until I realized they were both so relaxed that they were at the brink of falling asleep.


    I''ll give it another ten minutes. I thought and smiled. I want to see if they actually do fall asleep.

 Book Two: The Summoned 036

    Ten minutes passed and they didn''t fall asleep, so I called an end to the tub soaking. Both Maylia and Afyne were disappointed and I reminded them that we needed to go eat. Afyne perked right up and climbed out of the tub.


    ¡°Hey.¡± I said and caught her arm. ¡°Dry off first.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Afyne looked at me with raised eyebrows. ¡°Why would I do that?¡±


    ¡°So you''re not wet when you put on new clothes.¡± I said.


    ¡°Just humor him.¡± Maylia said and stood up, then stepped out of the tub. ¡°He gets cranky if you walk round and drip water everywhere.¡±


    ¡°What does he do when it rains?¡± Afyne asked and looked genuinely curious.


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Maylia smiled and looked at me. ¡°He''ll probably sulk about the world dripping on him and getting water all over the place.¡±


    ¡°Did you hear that?¡± Afyne shook her fist in the air and laughed. ¡°Dry off, world!¡±


    ¡°Ha. Ha.¡± I said and stood up myself. ¡°It''s so you can be comfortable when you put on fresh clothes and they don''t stick to you.¡±


    Afyne rolled her eyes and Maylia chuckled.


    I tossed Maylia a towel and picked one up myself, then pointed at Afyne. ¡°Double team.¡±


    Afyne looked at me. ¡°What does that...¡±


    Maylia and I quickly dried her off from head to foot in less than a minute. Her wide-eyed stare was so cute combined with her messy hair that I just stood there and stared right back at her and smiled. After a few moments, a slightly wet towel slapped me across the face as it landed on my head.


    ¡°Hey! You''re dripping all over the place.¡± Maylia said and Afyne laughed and snorted at the same time. I laughed and tossed my towel at Maylia, which she easily caught and turned over before she started to dry herself off with its dry side. I took the towel off my head and dried myself off with it.


    ¡°We need a good hair brushing, too.¡± I said and took out the large wrapped package along with the fancier clothes we had bought the first time in that shop. I hadn''t expected to actually need them, because I had only bought them to thank the sales lady for answering our questions, and here I was taking them out to wear to supper. ¡°Afyne first.¡±


    ¡°My hair will...¡± Afyne stared to say.


    ¡°Sit.¡± Maylia commanded the young girl and pointed to the edge of the bed. Afyne looked like she was going to say no, then sighed and sat down. Maylia climbed onto the bed behind her and I handed her the brush. I finished getting the clothes ready and Maylia finished brushing Afyne''s shoulder length light brown hair.


    I handed a second brush to Afyne and told her to switch places with Maylia. She looked at me like I was weird, so I motioned for her to hurry up. She sighed again and Maylia slid forward and sat on the edge of the bed. She started to brush Maylia''s long blonde hair from the top of her head and I climbed onto the bed beside her.


    ¡°You need to start at the end, or you''re going to get the hair all tangled about halfway down.¡± I said and started to brush the hair properly.


    ¡°Where did you learn that?¡± Afyne asked, surprised.


    ¡°I spent quite a bit of time with a woman that loved brushing hair.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°It took me a while to get the hang of doing it right and now it bothers me when it''s not.¡±


    Afyne reached up and touched her own hair and I reached out and touched it myself.


    ¡°Before you think I judged you, it can only be properly brushed after a good washing.¡± I said. ¡°That''s the only time that my urge to brush it kicks in.¡±


    Afyne nodded and we both worked on Maylia''s hair. It was done fairly quickly and I asked her if she wanted to leave it down or put it up.


    ¡°If we''re getting dressed up, I better leave it down.¡± Maylia said and motioned to the fancy clothes.


    ¡°I was thinking the same thing for myself.¡± I said and we switched places. Maylia and Afyne brushed my hair out and Afyne kept asking Maylia to make sure that she was doing it right. When they were done, I turned towards them. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and they both had slightly surprised expressions. ¡°It''s time to get dressed.¡±


    Maylia nodded and opened one of the small packages and gave a new pair of underwear to Afyne, who kept her slightly surprised expression as she put them on. Socks were next and Afyne just stared at them like she had never seen them before. I put on new underwear and socks myself, then put on a pair of pants that were very similar to dress pants for a suit.


    Maylia opened another small package and put on her own slightly lacy underwear, both a top and a bottom, and Afyne''s mouth had fallen open at the sight of them. She looked down at her normal underwear and then at Maylia''s to compare the two different styles. Maylia smiled and leaned down to whisper in her ear and Afyne''s face flushed to a bright red.


    ¡°What are you telling her?¡± I asked as I put on a stiff white shirt.


    ¡°What the difference in our underwear means.¡± Maylia said and put on thin and also lacy socks.


    I noticed the difference and looked at her face. She smiled and held a hand out to me, so I walked over to her and took the hand, bent over it, and kissed her fingers. It was her turn for her face to flush red.


    ¡°I actually wanted Afyne''s package.¡± Maylia said with a soft voice.


    ¡°Oh. Just a second.¡± I said and walked over to pick it up and brought it over. ¡°Here you go.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Maylia said and took my hand. She held it for a few seconds and then put the package on the bed.


    ¡°I haven''t had new pants in a long time.¡± Afyne said excitedly and stepped close to the bed as Maylia opened the package. ¡°I can''t wait to...¡± She gasped as Maylia lifted up the fancy white dress. Her face showed shock and surprise and she didn''t say anything else as we put the dress on her. The only mirror in the room was the small one above the sink, so I pointed to it. Afyne walked over to it and tried to hop up and see herself.


    I created a Presence box, colored it green with mana to make it visible, then made it solid. ¡°Try this.¡±


    Afyne turned around and saw the green box with wide eyes. I held a hand out to her and she took it and stepped up onto the box, then slowly turned around to face the mirror. She was far enough away that she could see most of herself in the reflection and her eyes started to tear up. Maylia handed me a small square cloth with ridges on it and I guessed that it was a cloth handkerchief.


    ¡°You look very pretty.¡± I said and used the handkerchief to catch Afyne''s tears before they dropped onto the dress. She hiccuped and tried hard not to cry, so I used a little bit of Presence to make a connection between us, then used a mental technique to calm down and shared that with her. Her breathing slowed down and matched mine after a few moments.


    ¡°I guess I need to watch how I compliment you, too.¡± I said with a smile and she smiled back.


    ¡°I hope I can get used to it soon.¡± Maylia said and leaned close to Afyne. ¡°He kind of surprises you and gives them almost at random.¡±


    ¡°R-really?¡± Afyne asked, and Maylia nodded.


    ¡°I know for a fact that he''s trying not to tell me the same thing he just told you.¡± Maylia said. ¡°It''s the first time I''m wearing this fancy of a dress, too.¡±


    Afyne looked at her dress and then up at Maylia''s face and saw that her long blonde hair flowed around her. ¡°You do look pretty.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Maylia said without batting an eye.Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Hey, that''s not fair.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°How can she compliment you and you don''t react, and yet if I said...¡±


    Maylia held a hand up to stop me. ¡°It''s not the compliment, it''s the source.¡±


    I held in both my chuckle and my sigh. ¡°What if I said it like a woman?¡± I asked and they both looked at me with raised eyebrows. ¡°Ahem.¡± I coughed and cleared my throat a couple of times, then made my voice as high pitched as possible. ¡°You both look very pretty.¡± I squeaked out and it sounded like a certain mouse cartoon character.


    Both Maylia and Afyne burst out laughing.


    ¡°It''s not funny! You''re both beautiful!¡± I squeaked and they laughed harder. I waited as they laughed and I let my voice go back to normal. ¡°Is everyone ready?¡±


    ¡°My boots!¡± Afyne exclaimed and went to the chair and reached into her bag of holding and took out the boots. She carefully put them on the floor and slipped her feet into them. Surprisingly, the boots changed their appearance and now matched the dress. Both Afyne and Maylia caught their breath.


    ¡°Us, too.¡± I said and put my boots on. They were already black so they went with my almost suit-like outfit and I put on the outfit''s overcoat. Maylia''s dress was long enough that it covered her boots when she put them on and we were all set. I put my belt back on and transferred some silver and copper coins into my pockets before I tucked everything we had into my bag of holding, that way there was nothing left in the room when we left to go eat.


    I started to put on my blast shield and Afyne''s hand touched my elbow. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Can you... leave it off?¡± Afyne asked.


    I looked into her eyes for a moment. ¡°I suppose.¡± I said and she beamed a smile at me. I couldn''t help but smile back and put the blast shield into my bag of holding. She took my hand and dragged me towards the door.


    ¡°Is someone a little eager to show off her new dress?¡± Maylia asked with a smile and followed us out of the room and shut the door. I handed her the key and she locked the door with it, then handed the key back to me. We went downstairs and were met by several gasps and a lot of muttered whispers. The lobby was kind of crowded, so we crossed it in a twisting path around several people and left the inn.


    I reminded Afyne of the directions the innkeeper gave us and we followed them to a restaurant that had no one waiting outside. I didn''t think that was odd until we went inside and the place was almost completely empty.


    ¡°Customers!¡± A woman exclaimed and ran over to us, and several other shouts were heard from nearby. When I looked, I saw three men and two women in the kitchen and they were bustling around like we had stirred up a hornet''s nest.


    ¡°I guess that means you don''t get a lot of business.¡± I said.


    ¡°Not at odd times like this.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°Odd times?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Um... well...¡± The woman shifted her eyes from side to side. ¡°I probably shouldn''t say. I don''t want to ruin your meal.¡±


    ¡°Is it about the monster?¡± Afyne asked and the woman looked startled for a moment.


    ¡°M-m-monster? There''s no monster.¡± The woman said and the Presence wavered.


    I glanced at Maylia and she shrugged. ¡°I heard this was a great place for good food.¡± I said instead of asking what I wanted to ask.


    ¡°Yes! We have the best food!¡± The woman said and waved us over to a round table with four chairs around it. ¡°I''ll be right back with the menus.¡±


    I held a chair out for Maylia and she sat down. Afyne raised her eyebrows at me and I waved to the chair beside Maylia. She sat down on it and I slid it into the table and then took my own seat. Afyne leaned over and started to whisper to Maylia about something, so I turned my head to listen to the people in the kitchen and used Presence to draw the sounds to my ears.


    ¡°They asked about the monster.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°Did you tell them it doesn''t exist?¡± A man dressed as a cook asked.


    ¡°Of course.¡± She said. ¡°If word gets out that people are missing, no one will come to our town ever again.¡±


    ¡°If they asked about it, doesn''t that mean they already know about it?¡± One of the other men asked.


    ¡°Suspecting it exists and confirming it exists are two different things.¡± The first man said. ¡°We can''t let rumors destroy our town''s reputation.¡±


    ¡°At least it hasn''t taken any visitors.¡± The woman said. ¡°I don''t know how we would explain that.¡±


    One of the other women sighed. ¡°I hope they send someone to help soon.¡±


    ¡°I heard an armored woman showed up at the inn earlier.¡± The third man said and stoked the fire.


    ¡°Really? That''s great!¡± The woman that sat us said. ¡°I hope the rest of her party shows up.¡± She said happily. ¡°Maybe they can get rid of it!¡±


    ¡°You better get back out there.¡± The first man said and handed her the menus. ¡°They might think you got lost.¡±


    I turned my head back to face Maylia and whispered. ¡°There''s people missing. They don''t want to admit it because it might scare people away.¡±


    Maylia nodded and stayed quiet as the woman came back and gave us the menus. I looked over mine and saw a wide range of dishes. I was a bit surprised by the selection, considering this was a small town. I picked the chicken and rice and Maylia chose the steak and potatoes. Afyne just stared at the menu and didn''t say anything. Maylia leaned over and they whispered back and forth for a minute.


    ¡°I''d like two chicken legs and fried potatoes, please.¡± Afyne said.


    ¡°That''s a great choice.¡± The woman said and took the menus back. ¡°I''ll be right back with some water.¡±


    The woman left and came back with a big pitcher of water and three glasses, left again and came back with a woven basket full of bread buns. I waited until she left again before I poked one of the buns and found out how hard they were.


    ¡°They are either old or cooked too long.¡± I whispered and took one. I dug my thumbs into it and pulled, and the inside was dry and tough. ¡°It seems to be a mix of both.¡±


    ¡°Pity.¡± Maylia said. ¡°The last meal we had at the inn in the capital had great bread.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully this isn''t an example of the quality of all the food.¡± I said and slipped the bun into my bag of holding.


    ¡°Why are you taking it?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°If I leave it on the table or put it back into the basket, they''ll know I don''t like it.¡± I said. ¡°When they bring the other food, I''ll try it and see if it''s any good. If it is, I won''t mention the buns and just put it on the side of my plate. If it''s not any good, or just okay, I''ll put the bun on the table and tell them the truth.¡±


    Afyne looked at me and I could see that she didn''t understand.


    ¡°I don''t want to assume anything because of the buns. I also don''t want to hurt their feelings before knowing how well they can cook.¡±


    ¡°Ohhh.¡± Afyne said. ¡°You don''t want to make them mad.¡±


    ¡°Not without more proof, anyway.¡± I said and smiled.


    ¡°Are we going to take a look around the town before going back to the inn?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°I''m tempted to.¡± I said. ¡°We kind of stand out dressed like this and everyone will know we''re here.¡±


    ¡°With a town this small, there''s no doubt that word of us will spread quite quickly.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°We can also ask around about any sightings and see who''s lying.¡±


    ¡°If we aren''t dressed as adventurers, will they all lie? You said the ones here are worried about scaring us off if we find out about the monster.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure a lot will try to cover it up. It''s the honest ones we need to talk to, though. I think we could get more reliable information from them.¡±


    ¡°That''s a good point.¡± Maylia said. ¡°We can reveal our true purpose for being here after that.¡±


    I nodded and glanced at Afyne, who had sat there quietly while Maylia and I talked. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Afyne blinked her eyes. ¡°About what?¡±


    ¡°About our plan for rooting out the real story on the monster.¡± I said. ¡°Do you think it''s a good idea, or should we wait until the morning and go around dressed in our adventuring gear instead?¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Afyne looked at Maylia and back at me. ¡°I don''t know.¡±


    ¡°Well, we''ll try it my way first. If we don''t find anyone willing to talk to us dressed like this, we''ll try again in the morning.¡±


    We sat there quietly after that and waited for the food. When it came, it looked and smelled good.


    ¡°Enjoy.¡± The woman said and stepped back slightly and waited. I reached for a spoon and Maylia took my hand.


    ¡°We are sitting down to a formal dinner. You can''t intentionally ignore it, now that you know the truth.¡± Maylia said.


    I sighed. ¡°You know I don''t like being forced to do something.¡±


    Maylia smiled. ¡°I''m not forcing you to do it. I''m forcing you to face the decision to do it.¡±


    I sighed again and put the spoon down and turned my hand over so she could hold it properly, then we each held a hand out to Afyne. She looked at our hands and back at us.


    ¡°Hunter is going to pray.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Ohhh.¡± Afyne said and took our hands.


    I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°Dear god, thank you for the food we are about to eat.¡±


    A pulse of Presence and mana swirled around us and through our hands and into each other. Afyne''s mouth dropped open as she felt it.


    ¡°Don''t forget to mention your blessing.¡± Maylia whispered.


    ¡°Oh. Right.¡± I said. ¡°Dear god, I really didn''t want a blessing by you know who, so thanks a lot for blessing me instead.¡±


    The mana and Presence increased in intensity.


    ¡°I just wish I knew what the blessing was for.¡± I said as an afterthought. ¡°Amen.¡±


    I felt an intense stab of pain right behind my forehead and then everything went black.


    *


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Maylia and Afyne yelled as Hunter''s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell forward onto his plate of food, unconscious. The mana and Presence doubled in strength for a moment, then cut off completely. Maylia and Afyne tried to let their hands go so that they could pick his face out of the food, and they couldn''t. All three of them had their hands locked together somehow.


    Maylia let anger spur her emotions and created a Mana Hand, and she used that to lift Hunter''s head out of the food. Some of the rice and a chunk of chicken were stuck to his face, so she turned his head to the side and gently rested it beside the plate.


    Afyne''s eyes were on the verge of tears. ¡°Wh-what happened?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Maylia said and used the Mana Hand to brush Hunter''s hair up and out of the way and the food off of his face. ¡°He''s not hurt and he seems to be breathing fine.¡±


    ¡°I... I''ll get the healer.¡± The woman that stood beside the table said and stepped back.


    ¡°It''s not necessary.¡± Maylia said and dismissed the Mana Hand. ¡°I said he wasn''t hurt.¡±


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Afyne asked slightly panicked, then she took Maylia''s calm state as a cue to stay calm herself, despite not feeling calm at all.


    ¡°We wait.¡± Maylia said. ¡°If I heard his words correctly, he just asked for divine help.¡±


    The woman beside the table gasped and took another step back, and another, then she left the room at a jog and went into the kitchen.


    *


    ¡°Ugh.¡± I said and rubbed my head as I opened my eyes to see a blue room. ¡°What hit me?¡±


    ¡°Shock.¡± A disembodied and amused voice said. ¡°You really should be careful what you ask for.¡±


    ¡°I know I should have been more careful; but, Maylia said that I shouldn''t ignore...¡± I stopped talking and looked around. ¡°Hey, where are Maylia and Afyne?¡±


    ¡°They are still holding your hands back at the restaurant.¡± The deep voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw a man dressed in a nice blue suit, eerily similar to the one I wore.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked, even though I suspected who it was.


    ¡°You know who I am.¡± He said and smiled. ¡°You''ve been talking to me since you were a child. Both times.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I definitely need to be more careful about what I ask for.¡± I said, and he laughed.

 Book Two: The Summoned 037

    ¡°Wait a second.¡± I said. ¡°How can I be here and back at the restaurant?¡±


    ¡°The simple answer is astral projection.¡± The man in the blue suit said. ¡°It''s one of your class skills.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± I looked at him with wide eyes. ¡°How can I use a skill that I don''t know how to use?¡±


    ¡°I helped, of course.¡± The man said. ¡°I gave you a little nudge in the brain and here you are.¡±


    ¡°What did you use? A skewer?¡± I asked and rubbed my forehead where I had felt the sharp pain.


    The man chuckled. ¡°Doing something new is almost always painful.¡±


    I shook my head for a second. ¡°Before this meeting goes on a completely different track, I have a few questions.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± I asked.


    The man laughed. ¡°The short story is you were chosen by...¡±


    ¡°Don''t say her name.¡± I interrupted, and the man laughed again.


    ¡°She selected you for a very important mission.¡± The man said. ¡°Something very odd has been going on with that planet and we need to get to the bottom of it.¡±


    ¡°Why me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You were the most suited for the task.¡± The man said. ¡°Uniquely qualified, I believe she said.¡±


    ¡°I''m not even her follower.¡± I said, slightly confused.


    ¡°She convinced me to let her borrow you.¡± The man said. ¡°Your experiences in both lives has given you a perspective that should serve you well.¡±


    I thought about that for a few moments. ¡°You mean my distrust of authority.¡±


    The man nodded. ¡°It''s come in handy for you a few times already.¡±


    ¡°Handy? I almost died a couple of times.¡±


    The man smiled. ¡°I meant that the people that seem to be in charge are more concerned with their own power and using it, than they are concerned over the people they are supposed to be protecting with that power.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°It''s not species limited, either.¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡± The man said. ¡°Even Queen Celestina is guilty of it to some extent.¡±


    ¡°Well, she does rule a kingdom.¡± I said. ¡°She''s honest, though. I had to cut her some slack after she healed me and I found out a few things.¡±


    The man smiled. ¡°Now you are her personal vassal.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and it overrides people seeing me as a chosen of what''s her name.¡±


    The man chuckled. ¡°You don''t have to try so hard to distance yourself from the others.¡±


    I huffed. ¡°The others? You mean Kara.¡±


    ¡°How do you feel about her after you rammed your Light sword through her heart?¡± The man asked.


    I tried not to sigh. ¡°I forgave her for killing me before I realized that she wasn''t dying.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t answer my question.¡±


    I sighed this time. ¡°She still held me prisoner for years and she sympathized with The Order, even knowing everything they did to me and my parents.¡± I said and my anger didn''t try to surge forward.


    ¡°You''re maturing about that and you''re coming to terms with it.¡± The man said. ¡°It still bothers you; but, not to the point that you''ll lash out at anyone that mentions it, including yourself.¡±


    I didn''t say anything in response, because it was true.


    ¡°Eventually, you''ll accept it as a part of what makes you, you.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that my life would have been so much different if The Order hadn''t killed my parents.¡±


    ¡°We both know how different it would be. You lived the life for four years as a young child and then for a year after you escaped The Order''s home planet.¡± The man said. ¡°Now imagine living that life for all sixteen years.¡±


    ¡°That''s all just conjecture.¡± I said. ¡°It happened and here I am.¡±


    ¡°Yes, here you are, standing before me and wondering what happened to you.¡±


    ¡°Can you explain it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Your body needed to be adapted to survive on the planet and to use mana.¡± The man said. ¡°You were mortally wounded and it took a while, even for me, to heal you and convert you.¡±


    ¡°Convert... wait, is that why I feel like there''s two people inside of me?¡±


    The man nodded. ¡°I worked quickly to finish so you could be sent off with the others.¡±


    ¡°Is that another reason why my body seems so weak?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Put it this way. When you were born, both times, your body was new and weak and needed time to adapt to its new environment.¡± The man said. ¡°After changing your body enough to give you the ability to use mana...¡±


    ¡°Son of a bitch.¡± I cursed and tried not to keep going, just in case he took it personally. ¡°Why aren''t the others like this?¡±


    ¡°They were.¡± The man said. ¡°The three Earthlings had no previous energy manipulation abilities and were very easily converted for mana use.¡±


    ¡°What about Kara?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The first thing she did was meditate and explored how the energy had changed her.¡± The man said. ¡°Of course, they all had quite some time to wait while you were being healed.¡±


    Which means they all adapted long before being sent to that planet, unlike me. I thought. ¡°Having all of this explained before being sent off would have been nice.¡± I said and tried not to get angry. ¡°Or being asked, for that matter.¡±


    The man smiled. ¡°You would have refused her if she had given you a choice.¡±


    I thought about denying that, then figured lying to god would be a bad thing to do.


    ¡°She had expended a lot of energy to bring you here, too. Giving you a chance to say no wasn''t going to happen.¡±


    ¡°So, how long am I stuck there for?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Until she discovers what''s been going on and you help to put a stop to it.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°She chose you to fight it and the others are there to support you.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think so.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve met them already and they didn''t feel like support at all.¡±


    ¡°Whose fault was that?¡± The man asked with a smile.


    ¡°Kara''s... and mine.¡± I said and sighed. ¡°She knew I would attack her and came after me anyway. She also brought five other people with her. They charged with horses at full speed and I reacted.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do about them now?¡± The man asked. ¡°You''ve had your revenge on Kara.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want anything to do with them if I have a choice.¡± I said. ¡°Are you going to force me to...¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    The man chuckled. ¡°You know I won''t make you do anything you don''t want to do.¡±


    I nodded and was quiet for a minute, then I asked the question that brought me here. ¡°I''d like to know what your blessing does for me.¡±


    The man waved at the room. ¡°This is one thing it can do.¡±


    I looked around the room for a moment, then I understood. ¡°You mean talking to you directly and not just the astral projection.¡±


    The man nodded. ¡°You can ask me for help occasionally; but, I''m not a crutch. Don''t ask me about trivial things that someone else could answer or that you can figure out for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Don''t incur your wrath over stupid stuff. Got it.¡± I said, and he laughed.


    ¡°Once per day, you can invoke a physical bonus and give yourself an increase of all your abilities by fifty percent.¡± The man said. ¡°It only lasts for an hour, so use that wisely.¡±


    ¡°Well, considering I don''t really know what I can do, using it wisely is debatable.¡±


    The man smiled. ¡°You''ll find that out when you meet the person the enchantress recommended.¡±


    ¡°She said they could help me with my class.¡±


    The man nodded ¡°My blessing also lets you be a conduit for me if it''s necessary.¡±


    ¡°A conduit?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you mean for your powers or for you, personally?¡±


    ¡°Depending on your need, one or the other, or both.¡±


    I had to think about that for a minute. ¡°If it''s you personally, are you taking me over completely or is it more like sharing?¡±


    The man smiled. ¡°I can only take over and possess you completely if you are willing.¡±


    ¡°That''s not going to happen.¡± I said, adamantly.


    ¡°Then the most that can happen is sharing. I can''t do anything physically unless you let me. We''ll both be completely aware of the other as well.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean we''ll have extra-sensory perception?¡± I asked.


    The man nodded. ¡°You have some of that already with your Presence Sight and Presence Hearing. While we share, you will have the other three senses expanded, too.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know if I''m comfortable with distance smelling, tasting, and touching.¡± I said.


    ¡°That''s understandable.¡± The man chuckled. ¡°It will be a little odd for me as well. I haven''t given my blessing to anyone in a very long time and I haven''t felt things through a mortal body since then.¡±


    ¡°Does the blessing do anything else?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Isn''t that enough?¡± The man asked with a laugh.


    ¡°I''ve been feeling both Presence and mana when I pray at meals.¡± I said. ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°It will let any meal taste great, regardless of what the food is. If you want it to, that is.¡± The man said. ¡°If you intentionally add Presence and mana on your own, you can change the food into what you want to eat, as long as you''re sharing it with others.¡± He said and then smiled. ¡°If it''s just you, you would be happy with basic rations, so I won''t help you make better food for no reason.¡±


    I barked a laugh. ¡°Okay. No abusing you for personal gain. Got it.¡±


    The man laughed. ¡°I will help you when you actually need it. Other than that, you can pretty much do whatever you want.¡±


    ¡°No directives? No orders to go fight the evil that''s taking over the world?¡±


    The man shook his head. ¡°It''s been happening for decades now, so there''s no real rush.¡±


    ¡°Then why did she recruit me now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You actually were going to die and she grabbed you just before you did.¡±


    ¡°And you didn''t?¡± I asked, and he chuckled.


    ¡°You were happy that you finally got your mother''s locket back. I wasn''t going to interfere with your life, or your death, since you were at peace with what you''ve done during your life.¡± The man smiled. ¡°Both times.¡±


    I stood there and looked at him as I thought about that. Should I ask if it was him that gave me another chance at life?


    ¡°Yes, it was me.¡± The man said and I raised my eyebrows at him. ¡°It was because you protected those girls and for your noble sacrifice. When your mother prayed to me and asked for a noble son, you fit the bill. You faced death with the knowledge that your life saved the others and just as Jessica said, it''s not a normal thing for someone to do.¡±


    ¡°Jessica? Who''s that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°She is one of the girls you saved from a horrible fate in your first life.¡± The man said. ¡°She is also one of the Emissaries of Light.¡±


    I thought about the three robed women that I had seen in Kara''s group. It had been over seventeen years since the last time I had seen the two girls that had been kidnapped in my previous life, or even thought about them, actually. When I tried to recall what they looked like, I discovered that their faces were no longer a part of my memory.


    ¡°I don''t remember what they look like.¡± I admitted, sadly.


    The man put a hand on my shoulder. ¡°You left that life behind you a long time ago. There''s no shame in not remembering some of the details.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I suppose.¡±


    ¡°You can look on the bright side.¡± The man said and let my shoulder go. ¡°The next time you meet them, you''ll have something interesting to talk about.¡± He smiled. ¡°I mean them being from Earth as well, not the kidnapping and your subsequent murder.¡±


    I had to laugh at that. ¡°That should be the first thing I say. Hey, you! Besides Kara, which one of you did I die for?¡±


    The man laughed, too. ¡°That''s a great conversation starter if I ever heard one.¡±


    That was pretty much the only things I needed to know right then, so I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°I know this is going to be a stupid question; but, how do I stop doing this astral projection thing?¡±


    The man grinned. ¡°All right, just this once I''ll answer a stupid question. Just close your eyes and tell yourself to go back to your body.¡±


    ¡°That''s it?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°Wow, that really was a stupid thing to ask.¡±


    The man laughed and pat my back. ¡°I know you can probably come up with other questions to ask me; but, we''re both out of time.¡± He said and slapped my back hard.


    ¡°AHH!¡± I yelled as I shot across the room towards the wall. I quickly closed my eyes and told myself to get back into my body. In the next instant, I was back inside the restaurant and my whole body jerked. I let Maylia''s and Afyne''s hands go as my head lifted from the table a couple of inches and it dropped again as I reacted to the sudden change in my environment. I banged the side of my head and reeled backwards, my arms windmilled and my chair tipped backwards, then I fell to the floor and landed on my back.


    ¡°Goddammit!¡± I exclaimed and heard faint laughter. Just because he offered to answer my stupid question, doesn''t mean that he wouldn''t be annoyed with me over it. I rubbed the side of my head as the laughter faded and Maylia and Afyne appeared on either side of me.


    ¡°What happened?¡± They both asked me, concern in their voices.


    ¡°Long story short, I was just talking to god.¡± I said. ¡°In person.¡±


    Maylia and Afyne caught their breath and stared at me.


    ¡°Surprisingly, I didn''t react like that when I saw him, even though I knew who he was.¡± I said. They helped me up and I put the chair upright and we all sat down at the table again. I looked at my messed up plate and the almost perfect impression of my face in the rice. ¡°That looks weird.¡±


    ¡°Forget the food and tell us what happened.¡± Maylia ordered, so I told them exactly what happened. ¡°Well, at least you know.¡± She said. ¡°Now what do we do?¡±


    ¡°This doesn''t change anything.¡± I said and picked up my spoon and stirred the rice to erase my face from it. ¡°I still don''t want anything to do with them.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, can you really ignore them after hearing about your true purpose from god?¡±


    ¡°You and I have done just fine so far, and according to Queen Celestina, so have they.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t see any reason to change that.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°I''m taking the queen''s advice. I can choose to do what I want. If that includes avoiding the others as much as possible, I''m going to do that.¡±


    ¡°They are supposed to be your support.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°You are my support.¡± I said and took her hand, then put my spoon down and took Afyne''s hand as well. ¡°You both are.¡± I gave their hands a squeeze and let them go. ¡°We should eat and then walk around the town to check things out.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°Maylia, I''m fine... besides my head hurting. Who knew that tables were that hard?¡± I asked and ate a spoonful of rice. ¡°Hey, this isn''t bad.¡± I said and scooped up some chicken with the next spoonful of rice and ate that. ¡°Not bad at all.¡±


    Maylia looked at me for only a moment, then started to eat herself. Afyne saw us both eating and she started to eat, too. We ate the meal fairly quickly and I slipped the dried and broken bun onto the side of my plate, then waved the woman over to us. She looked at us through the slightly opened door to the kitchen and didn''t come over, so I kept waving. She came out, quite reluctantly, and walked over to us sheepishly.


    ¡°How much...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°It''s free.¡± The woman said and cut me off.


    ¡°If you won''t tell me, I''ll just leave money on the table.¡± I said.


    ¡°You... you had a divine...¡± She stopped taking and shook her head. ¡°I can''t charge you money after you experienced that.¡±


    I thought about how much the other meals we had were and about what Hoquan said about paying a copper for his whole family to eat at the first inn we had stayed at. I looked at the custom meals and guessed a copper each, and since I had made a bit of a mess and a scene, I put five copper onto the table.


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± I said and stood, then I walked around the table and held my hands out to Maylia and Afyne. Neither of them hesitated as they took my hand and I led them out of the restaurant. ¡°We have work to do.¡±


    It didn''t take us long to walk around the small town and to talk to several people. A few of them vehemently denied the existence of any monster, others claimed ignorance, and most of them lied. We were fortunate that one old man had no problem telling tall tales, especially after I offered him several copper coins, and he gave us the whole story. He told us when it started, how long it had been going on, and who was missing. He presumed they were dead, mainly because of what the monster was.


    A giant snake.


    That would explain why there are no bodies. I thought as he grossly overestimated its size. At least I hope he''s overestimating.


    I gave him the copper coins and thanked him for his time, then Maylia, Afyne and I went back to the inn. We were met with even more stares and murmurs. I was sure it was because of what happened in the restaurant, so I ignored them and we went upstairs to our room.


    ¡°Whew, I''m tired.¡± I said and took some nightime things out of my bag of holding, which included Afyne''s packages that Maylia asked for. She opened another one and pulled out a small nightgown for Afyne that matched hers, and I took out the man version for myself. We quickly changed and put away our fancy clothes and changed for bed. Afyne covered her mouth and tried not to laugh when I changed into my nightgown.


    ¡°Hey, it''s all they had.¡± I said as I quickly washed Maylia''s and my underthings.


    ¡°You look like a girl!¡± Afyne exclaimed and laughed.


    ¡°It''s the long hair.¡± I said and shook my head from side to side and used presence to fluff it out. Afyne stopped laughing and stared at me. I hung up the wet clothes on the line above the tub and walked over to the bed, then pulled down the covers and climbed onto it. ¡°Come on, climb in.¡±


    Afyne blinked her eyes at me and didn''t move.


    ¡°Don''t worry. Just like when we took a bath in the tub, I''m not planning on doing any boy and girl things with Maylia tonight.¡±


    Maylia took her hand and led her to the bed, then had to pick Afyne up and tucked her into the bed beside me. Maylia climbed in herself and I covered us all in the blanket.


    ¡°Be forewarned.¡± Maylia said in a serious tone. ¡°We are cuddlers.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Don''t scare the poor girl.¡± I turned onto my side and looked at Afyne, who laid there with wide eyes. ¡°Maylia and I are used to hugging at night, so if you get caught in the middle, don''t freak out, okay?¡±


    Afyne nodded several times and Maylia turned onto her side and faced her, too. We could partially see each other over Afyne''s head.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said and closed my eyes.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± Maylia said and closed her eyes, too.


    After a few moments, Afyne took a deep breath and let it out as she sighed. ¡°G-g-goodnight.¡±

 Book Two: The Summoned 038

    Kara and the others arrived back at the castle just as night fell. Jessica had sent a message just ahead of their arrival and Gavell met them in the small castle courtyard where carriages dropped off passengers.


    ¡°Welcome back, Emissaries of Light.¡± Gavell said and didn''t sound like he was making fun of them as they started to climb down out of the carriage. ¡°The queen has been very pleased by your progress.¡±


    ¡°She''s going to be even more pleased when we tell her what''s been going on.¡± Josh said and helped three of the women out of the carriage. Gavell''s eyes opened wide as a blue haired woman stepped out next without taking Josh''s offered hand, then Gavell stared as Steven stepped out and carried a lamia in his arms. Her wrists were bound and she looked happy for some reason.


    ¡°Yes, she will be very interested in what we have to tell her.¡± Kara said. ¡°When will she be free?¡±


    ¡°The queen has set aside the entire morning to meet with you, after you all have a good night''s sleep.¡± Gavell said and then he caught his breath as a tall and very tanned man stepped out of the carriage and stumbled slightly. He caught the tanned mans arm to steady him and felt how muscular it was. ¡°Oh, my.¡±


    ¡°This is Allirynn.¡± Jessica said. ¡°He doesn''t talk much.¡±


    ¡°He shouldn''t have to.¡± Gavell whispered and took in all of him. ¡°Is he a new member...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Allirynn grunted and didn''t say anything else.


    ¡°When we met Hunter, he had rescued these three.¡± Josh said. ¡°I''ve been trying to heal them in my spare time, between handling things for the Goddess.¡±


    Gavell looked at the three people and saw that they looked a little worse for wear. ¡°It doesn''t seem like you''ve done much for them.¡±


    Josh sighed. ¡°Yeah, we''ve been pretty busy on the way back here and I had to rest a lot.¡±


    Gavell still held Allirynn''s arm to keep him steady and looked at his face. ¡°Will you allow the queen''s healers to help you?¡±


    Allirynn nodded and Gavell smiled warmly.


    ¡°What... about... her?¡± Imiryl raspy voice asked as she stepped next to Allirynn and she pointed at the lamia, Siada.


    ¡°She seems to be a prisoner.¡± Gavell said. ¡°Will we need to...¡±


    ¡°No, I''ve got her.¡± Steven said. ¡°Are the rooms in the castle ready for us?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Gavell said and waved a couple of guards over. ¡°Take them to their rooms and stand guard. The emissaries are not to be disturbed.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The guards said and one walked ahead and the other stepped aside to let the emissaries pass. As they walked by, Josh told Gavell that the lamia needed healing as well and Gavell said he would send someone to the rooms. Josh, Kara, Jessica, Aimee, Evangeline, and Steven with Siada in his arms, left the courtyard with the guards.


    ¡°Hey, where''s my money?¡± The kid asked.


    Gavell chuckled and let Allirynn''s arm go to take out a gold coin. ¡°You actually did a good job this time.¡± He said and held it to the kid. ¡°As promised.¡±


    The kid looked at the coin for a second and reached for it, then snatched it from Gavell''s outstretched hand as if it was going to disappear or be taken away.


    ¡°Before you try biting it to see if it''s real, you have my word that it is.¡± Gavell said and the kid stopped in mid-motion. ¡°The teeth marks are fine. It''s the slobber that most people can''t stand.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, whatever.¡± The kid grunted and tucked the coin into a pocket and ran out of the small courtyard.


    Gavell laughed as the kid disappeared and he turned to Allirynn and Imiryl with a smile on his face. ¡°The guest room isn''t far from here. Can you make it without assistance, or can I offer my arm for support?¡±


    Allirynn thought about it, then sighed and held a hand out.


    ¡°I would ask for the story of what happened; but, that can wait until tomorrow.¡± Gavell said and offered Allirynn his elbow, then he held an arm out to Imiryl as well. ¡°If you are who I think you are, then the queen is interested in meeting you.¡± He said and led them the short distance to the guest room. Allirynn and Imiryl stared at the luxurious room and Gavel helped them over to the bed. ¡°I''ll let her know that you are here as well.¡±


    ¡°Healing.¡± Allirynn said and sat down on the bed.


    ¡°Don''t worry. I''ll send them right in.¡± Gavell said and pat Allirynn''s hand. ¡°Do you want to bathe and change...¡±


    ¡°Healing first.¡± Allirynn grunted.


    Gavell chuckled. ¡°All right.¡± He said and left the room.


    A few moments later, ten beige robed people stepped into the room and motioned for Allirynn and Imiryl to lay down on the large bed. They did and the first five healers surrounded them and started to chant. Mana flowed and swirled around them, then they were bathed in it. They both felt much better right away; but, they knew that was a false feeling, since they had felt the same way when Josh had healed them that first time as well.


    They needed to wait and see if the healing would actually take hold.


    *


    ¡°They are people that Hunter saved, you say?¡± The queen asked Gavell.


    ¡°If the story the captain of the guard told you is accurate, and we both know it is, then these are the ones that had their carriage destroyed by that band of evil doers.¡±


    ¡°The ones that the captain of the guard suspected they have something important about them for those people to not have killed them immediately.¡± The queen said. ¡°What of the bound lamia you said was with them? Is it in a cell?¡±


    ¡°One of the emissaries, Steven, has assumed guarding her. I assigned two guards to the emissaries rooms, just in case.¡± Gavell said. ¡°The emissary Josh said she needed healing, so I sent five of them.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± The queen said. ¡°The captain of the guard is right. We need to find out why they weren''t just killed like the others.¡±


    ¡°You have the entire morning set aside for the emissaries.¡± Gavell said.


    ¡°I doubt I will need the whole morning.¡± The queen said. ¡°Unless they are not as eloquent as Hunter.¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, I sincerely doubt that anyone is as eloquent as him.¡± Gavell said. Allirynn might be a close second, if he spoke more than a few words at a time. He thought and smiled. Not that I mind. Being quiet is nice sometimes, too.


    ¡°Very well. I will cut the emissaries visit short and try to get as much information out of them as quickly as possible.¡± The queen said. ¡°After that, I will meet those two. The lamia will have to wait.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Gavell said and left her knitting room.


    ¡°Come back in, Milly.¡± The queen said, and Milly opened the door to the side room and came in.


    ¡°What do you think about this?¡± The queen asked and Milly climbed onto her lap and sat regally.


    ¡°The emissaries aren''t as... for... fourth... what''s that word, mother?¡± Milly asked.


    ¡°Forthcoming.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°Yes, forthcoming.¡± Milly said. ¡°They aren''t as forthcoming as Hunter. He only hid the details of what happened, so we wouldn''t be shocked; but, he still told us what happened and didn''t hide anything.¡±


    ¡°I was just thinking the same thing.¡± The queen said with a brief smile. ¡°I''m very happy that you picked up on that subtle difference.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to mention it to the emissaries?¡± Milly asked.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± The queen said. ¡°I don''t believe they will be too concerned about anything after they find out that Hunter has already left.¡±


    ¡°You should wait until after talking to them before telling them that.¡± Milly said, wisely.


    The queen smiled briefly again. ¡°Do you think they will leave to go after him, without talking to me first, if they know he''s gone?¡±


    Milly nodded.


    ¡°I''m so happy to have a daughter that''s so smart.¡± The queen said and gave her a brief hug. Milly blushed at the compliment and hugged her mother back.


    *


    The healers worked for most of the night on Allirynn and Imiryl. Since Allirynn seemed to have been hurt both physically and magically, because of the lamia venom that had poisoned his own mana, he took the longest to heal. Both he and Imiryl had fallen asleep as the healers worked. When they woke up in the morning, they were alone in the room.


    Allirynn sat up and looked at her. ¡°How do you feel?¡±


    Imiryl sighed. ¡°Empty.¡±


    Allirynn nodded. ¡°I can''t believe they''re gone.¡±


    ¡°I... I know.¡± Imiryl said and rolled over onto her side to face away from him. She stopped fighting the tears that she had held back since it happened, and her body shook while she stopped herself from loudly sobbing. Allirynn laid back down and slid in close to her and put his arm around her waist. She tried to push it away, because if he comforted her at all, she was going to lose her self control. He knew this, so he dug his hand down in front of her and pulled her in tightly to his body to spoon her.


    ¡°N-no! Don''t hold me like... like...¡± Imiryl''s plead stopped as her mind finally gave in to her despair. All of the feelings she had repressed about losing the man that she loved came out and crushed her resolve. She burst out crying and sobbed as she held onto Allirynn''s arm tightly while her tears soaked the pillow under her head.


    *


    Steven opened his eyes and looked at the lamia in bed beside him. He hadn''t done anything to her, despite really wanting to, especially after they had shared the bath the night before. He had really needed it and had offered to help her wash up as well. She hadn''t tried to get away or shook her head no, so he had bathed her. He had a very difficult time trying not to grope her with the perfect excuse of cleaning her.


    Siada must have sensed that or had guessed his conflict, because she didn''t try to stop him or encouraged him in any way as she stared at him the entire time and waited to see if he was going to grope her. Even now, she stared at him as if she expected him to do something to her.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Steven said. ¡°Thanks for not slithering away.¡±


    Siada looked at her still bound wrists and back at his face.


    ¡°If it was my choice, you know I''d let you go.¡± Steven said and sat up. He only wore his underwear, since the silly nightgown the staff had offered to him was laughable, and he wouldn''t wear it even on a dare. He thought the lamia looked great in it, though. ¡°I''m sorry that the healers couldn''t do anything for your voice.¡±


    Siada took a breath and let it out in a long sigh.


    ¡°We''ll get it figured out. Don''t worry.¡± Steven said and got out of bed. ¡°I wonder when...¡±


    There was a knock on the door and Steven pulled on a robe and walked over to answer it.


    ¡°Breakfast is being served in the room at the end of the hall.¡± The young man said, handed Steven the pile of clothes he had asked to have washed the night before, then the man walked away.


    ¡°That''s great timing.¡± Steven said and shut the door. ¡°Breakfast is served.¡±


    Siada sat up and motioned to her night dress.


    ¡°I''ll help you get changed first.¡± Steven said and did exactly that. He untied her hands and tied one of them to the bedpost, then he slipped off her nightgown. His eyes lingered on her bare breasts and he admired how prominent they were. He had seen them quite a few times so far and he delighted in seeing them again, be it ever so briefly. He quickly put a shirt on her free arm, switched it with the hand that was tied to the bedpost, and put her other arm through the shirt and buttoned it.


    It was one of his shirts, because her clothing had been damaged and not worth saving. Steven untied her hand from the bedpost and tied her hands together, then put the long skirt from the laundry on her. It slid up and over her long tail easily and he pulled it up and over her hips, then he looped the belt around her waist to hold both the shirt and skirt in place.


    ¡°I hope that''s okay.¡± Steven asked her and she shrugged. ¡°All right.¡± He said and finished getting dressed himself, then he motioned to the door. ¡°Want me to carry you?¡±


    Siada rolled her eyes and he laughed.


    ¡°I honestly don''t mind.¡± Steven said and she shook her head. He put his hand around her elbow and escorted her out of the room and down the hallway.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Josh said and waved at they entered the room at the end of the hall. Evangeline, Aimee, Kara, and Jessica were there, too.


    ¡°Better than some, not as good as others.¡± Steven said.


    Josh nodded his understanding. He hadn''t slept well, considering that he and Evangeline had agreed to extend their celibacy until they were back in a private room, because being in the castle and fooling around was not a good idea.


    ¡°We should hurry up and eat.¡± Kara said and took some food from the small buffet table. ¡°We have to meet with the queen and we shouldn''t make her wait.¡±


    They all got food and sat down in various spots, not quite together and not quite apart, and Steven quickly ate and then helped Siada eat. They all finished eating and then someone came into the room.


    ¡°The queen will see you now.¡± The young man said and waited for everyone to come over to the door before he turned and led them to where they needed to go. It was a large room with only a desk and two chairs behind it. The queen sat on one and a young girl sat at her side on the other chair.


    ¡°I hear you have quite the tale to tell me.¡± Queen Celestina said and looked at them. ¡°I believe you are both a party member short and have an extra party member.¡±


    ¡°Actually, this is one of the people Hunter rescued.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°What happened?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°Unfortunately, the circumstances of that encounter weren''t relayed to us.¡± Kara said. ¡°All we know is that she was involved with the people involved in the ambush and the other victims, which is why she is bound to prevent escape.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t explain why she''s here with you and not in a cell or with the other two.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°I accepted responsibility for her.¡± Steven said, and the queen looked at him. ¡°Until we find out what really happened, she needs to be both watched and protected.¡±


    ¡°Which fits your role as a Paladin perfectly.¡± The queen said and Steven nodded. ¡°She doesn''t need to be present for this, so if you are responsible for her, both you and she can go back to your rooms to wait.¡±


    Steven held in his sigh. ¡°You could have told me that earlier.¡± He whispered and led Siada back over to the door of the room. ¡°I could have slept in.¡± He kept whispering and shut the door behind them.


    ¡°Obviously, he didn''t realize that words spoken in this room are amplified so I can hear everything clearly.¡± The queen said. ¡°Would anyone else like to complain about how I''m handling this?¡±


    ¡°No, your majesty.¡± Kara said. ¡°I''ll speak to him later about...¡±


    ¡°That''s not necessary.¡± The queen said. ¡°Can you tell me what has been going on?¡± She asked. ¡°Your messages were quite short and contained no real information.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t want to waste your time with all the details, your majesty.¡± Jessica said. ¡°We discovered that we would meet Hunter and would be back here before I needed to send another message.¡±


    ¡°You wanted to tell me everything in person?¡± The queen asked. ¡°Then it mustn''t be important for you to wait this long to tell me.¡±


    Jessica glanced at the others and saw their uncomfortable faces that matched her own. ¡°Actually, we... we found out that only some of the reported creatures are native to this world.¡± She said. ¡°The others, usually the persistent ones, arrived here through portal cracks in the world.¡±


    The queen''s eyes widened and she raised her eyebrows to the highest they had ever been, which was the most shock she had ever shown in her entire life. ¡°Did you say cracks in the world?¡± She asked, her voice a full octave higher in pitch.


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Jessica said and told her about them and how many they had encountered so far.


    The queen picked up a little bell and rang it.


    Gavell came into the room and walked over to her. ¡°Yes, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°Gather the court mages. I need to send word to every town and city in the kingdom to warn them about an immediate threat.¡± The queen commanded in her normal tone.


    Gavell nodded and left at a fast walk.


    ¡°Your majesty, I don''t believe it''s an immediate threat.¡± Josh said. ¡°We''ve been...¡±


    ¡°What you believe is irrelevant.¡± The queen said and cut him off. ¡°What I perceive as a threat to the people in my kingdom is more important than your opinion.¡± She said. ¡°How many people have died trying to investigate these cracks? How many have died trying to fight these... otherworldly creatures?¡±


    ¡°Your majesty, this has been going on for years, even decades, according to some of the witnesses.¡± Josh said to try and mitigate the mistake they had made in not telling her before now.


    ¡°How many have been lost or killed around the whole country, or around the world, since you found out about them over a week ago?¡± The queen asked with deadly precision to cut off his defense.


    ¡°There''s no real way to calculate that, since we don''t know how many cracks that exist or where they are.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± The queen said and saw them relax slightly. ¡°However, people are still dying and I''ve lost a week of time for my magic users to try and discover a way to find them.¡± She said. ¡°Hopefully, with two magic users that have felt and seen these cracks, it will cut down on the time we need to discover if they can be found.¡±


    ¡°We will gladly do everything we can to help.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°You mentioned that you managed to close these cracks on your way back here.¡± The queen said. ¡°How exactly did you do that?¡±


    ¡°It... wasn''t actually us that did it.¡± Josh said. ¡°We prayed and asked for divine intervention, then the Goddess Chaiya embodied one of the Acolytes of Light and she closed the cracks.¡± He glanced at Evangeline and Aimee. ¡°I''ve never actually seen it myself because it drains me and I fall unconscious.¡±


    The queen''s eyebrows raised up to as high as they had ever been, for the second time in her life, and she stared at them with wide eyes. ¡°I thought you claimed that you needed your other party member to be more effective?¡±


    ¡°We do need him.¡± Both Kara and Jessica said at the same time.


    ¡°You just told me you brought a manifestation of a goddess into being and she used her powers.¡± The queen said. ¡°How can you be more effective than that?¡±


    ¡°It feels like... like something is missing.¡± Jessica said as she tried to put her thoughts into words. ¡°We''re working well together and we''re doing things that none of us has ever thought possible; and yet, every time we go in to fight the monsters or to call for help from the Goddess, it seems like... like... it''s not complete. There should be something else. Something we''re missing. Since we don''t have it with us, it feels a little off... or a little wrong.¡±


    Josh leaned close to her and turned his head to whisper in her ear. ¡°You didn''t mention that before.¡±


    Jessica didn''t say anything in response.


    ¡°I haven''t felt anything like that.¡± Josh whispered. ¡°When did you...¡±


    ¡°I can still hear whispers.¡± The queen reminded them and Josh jumped a little and turned his head back to face her with surprise on his face. ¡°So, while I wait for the mages to prepare, you might as well tell me all of those details that you thought I was too busy to hear.¡±


    The others looked at Kara, who was the only one that had been conscious each time the Goddess Chaiya had been called, so she started to tell the queen everything that had happened since they had left the capital city.

 Book Two: The Summoned 039

    I opened my eyes and was only slightly surprised to have two cute faces pressed into both sides of mine. I was now laying on my back and wasn''t sure how Afyne had managed to climb over me to my other side and propped herself almost on top of me, considering I had been in a meditative state and should have woken up if anything happened. She was sound asleep with an arm around my neck and hugged me tightly, while Maylia''s arm was draped over my chest and hugged me just as tightly.


    My arms were kind of trapped underneath the both of them and I didn''t mind it at all. It meant that I couldn''t move without disturbing them, and I activated my Detect Mana Presence technique to look around and tried to see what time it was. I looked out through the wall and saw where the sun was, and it was just barely above the horizon. I ''looked'' down into the kitchen to see that no one was there and knew it would be a while before any kind of breakfast would be ready.


    I didn''t use a mental technique to go back into a meditative state, despite that being my normal reaction to passing time when I can''t do anything else. I just laid there and soaked in the feeling of having Maylia and Afyne as they used me for comfort, in their similar and slightly different ways. I wasn''t sure why having a young girl depend on me made me feel better about everything, though. I was still worried about messing up or doing something wrong; and yet, that didn''t stop me from wanting to keep taking care of her.


    I almost laughed out loud at parental thoughts that I''d never had before and caught myself just in time. It''s funny how my entire perception of... well, everything... has changed, now that I have a new concern in my life. I thought in amusement.


    Afyne moved slightly and her arm around my neck tensed up, she took in a deep breath and held it, then slowly let it out and relaxed again. Her fingers rubbed my neck a bit and tickled me a little, so I had to grit my teeth and did my best not to react to it. She stopped after a few seconds and I relaxed.


    Even though she''s still asleep, I think she was making sure I was still here. I thought.


    That made me think about my old guardian Emari, and I was pretty sure she mentioned that I did the same thing to her. That reassured me, because it meant that I was on the right track to being a good guardian. I closed my eyes as I let the feeling of them hold me permeate my being while I kept watch and waited to see how long I could lay there before they woke up.


    Almost as if she knew I had just made that bet with myself, Maylia took in a quick breath and opened her eyes. I tried not to laugh when she realized that she had her face mashed up against mine and I felt the heat on my cheek increase as she blushed. She very carefully moved her head away slightly and turned to look at me, I assume to see if I was awake, and she sighed a little when I didn''t open my eyes to look back at her. She didn''t remove her hand from around my chest, though.


    It was then that she noticed Afyne was partially on top of me, with her face against mine, and Maylia smiled. She didn''t try to move her away, adjust her position, or wake her up. She just laid her head back down next to mine, almost touching, and closed her eyes.


    Now we''re both keeping watch and waiting. I thought.


    Both of my arms were still pinned, so I stayed still and waited patiently. I was temped to get up, eat a quick breakfast from our own food stores, and get to work on finding the monster; but, I also didn''t want to ruin what was to be Afyne''s first morning with us. It wasn''t that I wanted to make a good impression on her, it was because not every morning was going to be as leisurely relaxing as this one. Maylia and I had some frantic mornings and some normal ones, and I wanted Afyne''s first morning to be a normal one.


    We didn''t have to wait long before Afyne woke up, because the kitchen staff had arrived and the smells of cooking food wafted up through the floor. She opened her eyes and tensed up her muscles briefly, and she relaxed for a few seconds. Just like with Maylia, I saw the moment Afyne realized what she was doing.


    Afyne jerked a little and wasn''t as careful as Maylia had been as she turned her head. It was still pressed tightly against me, so when she turned, her lips grazed the edge of my lips and then they pressed into my cheek along with her nose. I felt the heat in her face as she blushed much darker than Maylia had, then she pulled her face away from mine. She stared at my eyes and didn''t move as she waited to see if I was going to react to what she had just done by accident.


    I stayed perfectly still, so she wouldn''t be embarrassed, and Afyne slowly slid herself up into a sitting position and took her hand away from my neck. She looked at Maylia to see if she had noticed, and saw that she was still sleeping, so she laid down next to me with her head as close to mine as she could put it without touching me. Her blush didn''t fade as she stared at the spot where she had inadvertently kissed my cheek and her hand reached up and touched her own lips.


    I figured now was a safe time to start to stir, so I took in a long slow breath. Afyne jerked only slightly, so I let the breath out and took a faster one. Maylia took that as a cue and started to do the same thing, and pretended to wake up. I waited for a few moments before I opened my eyes.


    ¡°Now that was a good sleep.¡± I said. ¡°Good morning.¡±


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Maylia said and propped herself up on her elbow to look down at me, which freed my arm from her weight, so I reached up and caressed the side of her face briefly.


    ¡°G-g-good m-m-morning.¡± Afyne said.


    ¡°It really is.¡± I said and lifted my head a little to look down at my other arm that she had pinned. ¡°Would you mind if I had that back?¡±


    ¡°Wh-wh-what?¡± Afyne''s face was still flushed red. When I wiggled my fingers against her leg, her whole body jerked. ¡°OH! I''msorryI''msorryI''msorry!¡± She said and rolled off of my arm.


    Both Maylia and I laughed at her reaction.


    ¡°Hey, it''s okay.¡± I said and put my now free arm around her shoulders, then pulled her in for a hug and used both arms. ¡°I wasn''t complaining that you had it. I just couldn''t hug you properly without it.¡±


    Afyne stayed stiff in my arms for several moments, then she relaxed and hugged me back.


    ¡°Yep, it''s definitely a good morning.¡± I said and let her go, then I turned and pulled Maylia down on top of me and hugged her. ¡°Good morning again!¡± I exclaimed and kissed her on the lips, then on the cheek, then on the neck in rapid succession.


    Maylia laughed and didn''t struggle much against me before I let her go.


    ¡°I think I smell breakfast. Is that breakfast?¡± I asked and sat up as I looked at Afyne. ¡°Are you hiding it?¡± I dove onto her and tucked my nose into the crook of her neck. I made loud inhaling noises as I snorted like a pig and tickled her neck to make her laugh.


    Afyne laughed that uncontrolled laugh that all kids have. I felt a little foolish carrying on like this; but, it was worth it to make them laugh.


    ¡°Nope! No breakfast there.¡± I said and looked at Maylia.


    ¡°No. No no no!¡± Maylia said and tried to roll off of the bed. Afyne kept laughing as I caught Maylia and dove onto her and did the same pig snorting thing to her neck as I tickled it and she laughed, too.


    ¡°No breakfast there, either!¡± I exclaimed, then sat in the middle of the bed and sighed. ¡°I guess we have to get out of bed and get dressed.¡±


    ¡°You sound so disappointed.¡± Maylia said and put a hand into my hair and combed it back behind my ear. ¡°We have to get dressed anyway, since...¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    A knock on the room door interrupted her and I went over to answer it. A young woman who looked about twenty was there with a big tray of food.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± She said and didn''t bat an eye at my nightgown or my dishevelled state. ¡°My father said you might want to have breakfast in bed.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± I laughed exaggeratedly.


    Her mouth dropped open at the sight of a floating green hand as I used a Mana Presence Hand to take the tray from her.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± I exclaimed and gave her a quick hug, then I shut the door on her very surprised face.


    Both Maylia and Afyne laughed as I carried the tray over to the bed.


    ¡°Breakfast in bed with two beautiful ladies.¡± I said and climbed onto the bed and sat down between them. ¡°Could this day start off any better?¡±


    The three of us enjoyed eating the food on the tray and our very first breakfast in bed. We washed up after that, then Afyne helped me dress Maylia in her armor, since she took the longest to get ready. After that, Maylia and I dressed Afyne in new pants and a shirt, since riding a horse wearing a dress was not a good idea. Afyne put on her belt by herself and tucked her nightgown into her bag of holding.


    I got dressed myself and Afyne had been surprised at the weight of the cloth. She hadn''t seen the metal pieces until she ran her hands over the cloth and felt the difference. She didn''t ask me about it, though. I saw her slightly unhappy face as I put on the blast shield to cover my eyes, then she sighed a little and smiled. We put everything away that we had out, put on our green cloaks and left the hoods down, then left the room to go downstairs and returned the room key and the breakfast dishes.


    ¡°Leaving so soon?¡± The innkeeper asked and accepted the tray and the key.


    ¡°We''re going to hunt the monster!¡± Afyne said loudly, and a few people gasped, including the innkeeper and his daughter.


    ¡°You can''t go after it!¡± The innkeeper''s daughter exclaimed and everyone turned and looked at her.


    ¡°So, you admit there is a monster.¡± I said and she blushed. ¡°It''s all right. We have as much information about it as we could get from people that wouldn''t admit that there''s a problem.¡±


    The innkeeper sighed. ¡°We are trying to protect the town''s reputation.¡±


    ¡°All lying does is cause mistrust.¡± I said. ¡°If a visitor had been taken, would you admit it then?¡±


    ¡°We would have to.¡±


    ¡°So, who is outside the town and watching the people that come here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We... don''t have anyone doing that.¡±


    ¡°Then how do you know that no visitors have been taken if they didn''t come to the town first and then disappeared?¡± I asked and he couldn''t answer. ¡°You could have a bunch of people missing that were coming here and got caught before actually arriving in the town.¡±


    No one said anything in response, and I didn''t really expect them to.


    ¡°If we only left and didn''t come back, would you assume we were missing or on our way?¡± I asked. ¡°What if those that actually left, didn''t come back, because they were caught by the monster?¡±


    I could see the realization on the innkeeper''s face that they had made a terrible mistake. They had no way to confirm if a visitor had been taken, unless it happened right in front of them, and they had been deluding themselves by saying no visitor had ever been taken.


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± Afyne said, confidently. ¡°We''ll take care of it.¡±


    The innkeeper looked surprised for a moment, then he smiled. ¡°We can only hope that''s true.¡±


    ¡°You''ll see.¡± Afyne said and took my hand and Maylia''s, then she led us out of the inn and to the stable. She quickly checked the horses and nodded her approval after the young man put the saddles and kits back onto the horses and secured them properly. ¡°Good work.¡± She said and took out two copper coins and held them out to him.


    ¡°Th-thank you, miss!¡± The young man said and took the coins.


    We led the horses outside and I put her up on mine, added the solid Presence to the saddle for me to sit as well, and climbed on. We had a great description of the spots that townspeople had gone missing, so we started our search at the closest one. Maylia picked up on the tracks right away, and we followed them. It led to another spot where the dirt and bushes had been disturbed in a circular pattern.


    ¡°It rested here. A lot.¡± I said, and Maylia nodded. She pointed to another track and we followed it out to another spot where someone had disappeared. We went back to the circular depression and spent several hours following the different trails around.


    *


    Kara finished telling Queen Celestina everything that had happened during their journey and the queen didn''t let any kind of emotion show on her face. The others weren''t sure what to make of that, however. There was a knock on the door of the room and Gavell came in.


    ¡°Your majesty, the magic users have gathered in the chapel and await your orders.¡±


    The queen had been writing occasionally as Kara had talked, and she wrote out several more sentences and handed a piece of paper to him. Gavell didn''t read it and folded it up to put it into a pocket.


    ¡°Once the message has been sent, I want them to discuss things with the archmage and the sorcerer priest to try and determine how we can find these cracks. Tell them that some have been around for a long time and may not be easily detectable from the ambient mana in the areas around their locations.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Gavell said and bowed to her, then turned to the emissaries. ¡°This way, please.¡±


    Jessica and Josh stepped forward and then they both, as if they had previously coordinated it, reached back and took the hands of Evangeline and Aimee. Neither the queen nor Gavell said that they couldn''t take them with them, so the four of them followed Gavell out of the room. When only Kara, the queen, and the young girl were alone in the room, the young girl spoke.


    ¡°You care a lot about Hunter, don''t you?¡± Milly asked.


    ¡°Yes. He is my...¡± Kara paused for a second, because she was about to say ''prince''. ¡°He was my apprentice for almost four years before he ran away.¡±


    ¡°Does apprentice there mean prisoner?¡± Milly asked.


    ¡°He wasn''t a prisoner.¡± Kara said. ¡°He was underage and I taught him as I took care of him.¡±


    ¡°You lie to yourself.¡± Milly said, and the queen put a hand on her daughter''s shoulder to quiet her.


    ¡°I''m training her to use her gifts properly.¡± The queen said and looked at Milly. ¡°Some things need not be said openly.¡±


    ¡°How do you decide?¡± Milly asked, a little confused.


    ¡°Experience and practice.¡± The queen said. ¡°Like now. Calling someone a liar, even within their own perception, is not proper or appropriate.¡±


    Milly had to think about that for a minute. ¡°What if it''s detrimental to that person or to those around them?¡± She asked. ¡°Should they be told then?¡±


    The queen let a small smile out briefly. ¡°Even then, there are more subtle ways to say such things.¡±


    Milly very slowly nodded her head up and down as she understood what her mother meant.


    ¡°Thank you for the thorough account of your travels.¡± The queen said to Kara. ¡°I need a bit of time to think about how to proceed from here, considering the impact your information is going to have on the populace as a whole and on your group in particular.¡± She said. ¡°Please, feel free to roam through the castle and the grounds while you wait.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, your majesty.¡± Kara said and left the room.


    ¡°They didn''t ask about Hunter.¡± Milly said, a little surprised.


    ¡°Kara knew that he wasn''t around when they were summoned, so she must also know that he is not in the immediate area.¡± The queen said. ¡°However, I don''t know her range of detection.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you said she could check the castle and the grounds?¡± Milly asked.


    The queen nodded. ¡°Depending on where she goes, I can estimate how far away she could potentially feel him.¡±


    There was a knock on the door and Gavell came in. ¡°Your majesty, the message has been sent. All of the mayors in the cities and towns have been notified of the cracks and the otherworldly monsters.¡± He said. ¡°We are waiting for confirmation that they have passed the information on to the town guards.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure the warning alone isn''t going to be enough to reassure them.¡± The queen said. ¡°I hope the magic users can come up with a way to detect these cracks.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure they will, your majesty.¡± Gavell said. ¡°Shall I bring the others in to see you now?¡±


    ¡°Are they completely healed?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°The healers finished very early this morning.¡± Gavell said. ¡°Allirynn was even more badly hurt than Hunter was.¡±


    ¡°Did they say what caused it?¡±


    ¡°Lamia venom, your majesty.¡± Gavell said. His face remained passive; but, his voice held anger.


    ¡°Inform the guards if you hadn''t already, and make sure that she doesn''t leave the castle, even if the emissaries try to leave.¡±


    Gavell nodded his understanding. He wasn''t going to let her go without hearing what happened.


    ¡°I''m sure that... Allirynn was it?¡± The queen asked, and Gavell nodded again. ¡°I''m sure that his story will be just as enlightening as the Emissaries of Light''s story was.¡±


    ¡°I certainly hope so, your majesty.¡± Gavell said and bowed, then left at a fast walk to retrieve Allirynn and Imiryl from the guest room.


    *


    ¡°Can you tell how old the tracks are?¡± I asked Maylia, and she hopped down off of the horse and carefully traced her fingers over the indentations, then she touched the ground next to it.


    ¡°A day, maybe two.¡± Maylia said. ¡°That was about when the old man said the last person disappeared.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°This is the right trail then.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry it took so long to find it.¡± Maylia said and climbed back onto her horse.


    ¡°I didn''t think to ask how old the tracks were until an hour ago, so don''t worry about it.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, we found its hunting pattern and found a few sites that the old man didn''t know about.¡±


    ¡°Which confirmed your guess about it actually taking visitors and not just townspeople.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Unfortunately.¡± I said. ¡°This track doesn''t fit the pattern, so we know this has to be the way that it went.¡± I took a hand off the reins of my horse and gave Afyne a one arm hug. ¡°Don''t be angry if we have to leave the horses behind and you have to wait with them.¡±


    Afyne chuckled. ¡°Why would I be angry? That''s my job.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and kissed the top of her head. ¡°All right, Maylia. Lead on.¡±


    Maylia nodded and smiled at the bright red face on Afyne, then she turned her horse around and followed the tracks. I followed her and we moved off into the wilderness and far away from the town.

 Book Two: The Summoned 040

    After asking a servant for directions, Kara walked around the interior of the castle to check all the rooms with Detect Presence, then she went outside and walked around the grounds.


    He''s really not here. Kara thought as she arrived back at the main entrance to the castle. Did we beat him here? She asked herself and went inside the castle and back to her room. She passed by the room that the mages had gathered in and saw them in deep conversation with Jessica and Josh. With the way the queen reacted to what I said, we might be here for a while.


    Kara closed the door to her room and went to the bed, climbed onto it and sat in the lotus position, and entered a meditative state. Her train of thought became slightly derailed as she remembered what the queen''s daughter had said about her lying to herself.


    I''m not. Kara thought adamantly and used a technique to calm herself and her emotions. I did teach him for almost four years, I care a lot about what happens to him, and we need him. She took several deep breaths. The Goddess Chaiya chose him to lead this mission, so he needs to be here with us.


    Kara wasn''t crazy enough to try and do Josh''s chant alone to talk to the Goddess and ask for guidance, and possibly for Hunter''s current location, mainly because she was sure that she would be overwhelmed and would probably fall unconscious from the effort.


    I have to wait for Josh and the others to finish their deliberations, then we can ask for guidance. Kara thought. The sooner we find him, the sooner we can start hunting these cracks down again and finish the Goddess'' work.


    Kara was sure of that course of action, so she relaxed and her thoughts thinned down as she pushed everything aside and focused on Hunter, despite her attempts to push those thoughts aside, too.


    *


    ¡°That is a very interesting story, Imiryl.¡± Queen Celestina said a couple of hours later. She was still in the same room she had been in to meet with the Emissaries of Light, except that this time, there were two more chairs and Allirynn and Imiryl had been invited to sit down. ¡°Can I ask you what you expect me to do about it?¡±


    Imiryl started to speak angrily. ¡°Your majesty, you need to...¡±


    The queen held up a hand to stop her rant. ¡°Please, don''t make the mistake that most people make and react emotionally.¡±


    ¡°The man I love is dead!¡± Imiryl spat angrily.


    ¡°As are...¡± The queen shuffled a few papers around. ¡°...fourty-four others at the hands of those nefarious people, who are also dead.¡± She said and looked at Imiryl. ¡°The lamia wasn''t involved in any of those other deaths. She was only involved with your group.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t matter!¡± Imiryl almost yelled. ¡°She betrayed us to them!¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, betraying your friends is not a crime.¡± The queen said and Imiryl jerked as if she had been slapped. ¡°Don''t get me wrong, because I believe it should be.¡± The queen said and then sighed. ¡°Besides Allirynn, did she actively try to hurt you or your friends, or killed them with her own hand?¡±


    Imiryl opened her mouth to say yes, which would have been a lie, so she changed her mind and sighed as she shook her head no. ¡°She might as well have.¡±


    Allirynn had been quiet for most of the story that Imiryl had told and the queen suspected that his version of events would be similar, except for the start of it, which happened before he had met the others that had become his friends.


    ¡°Because Allirynn would have died from her poison without extensive healing, she will be charged with murder. I will have her sent to the cells in the basement and will hold her for trial.¡± The queen said and looked at Allirynn. Her ability let her see who he was, what his abilities were, and where he was supposed to be. She wasn''t sure what she should do with the first two parts of the information; but, she knew exactly what to do with the third.


    ¡°Allirynn, Imiryl, I have a job for you.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°No.¡± Allirynn said.


    ¡°Don''t you want to hear what it is before saying that?¡± The queen asked.


    Imiryl took Allirynn''s hand and they looked at each other. He saw in her eyes that they couldn''t just outright refuse, especially since the queen had seen to their healing. After a moment, he looked at the queen and nodded slightly.


    ¡°I need you two to deliver a message to my personal vassal.¡± The queen said. ¡°It''s very important that he gets this message as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°What message?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°It''s vital information for him to have, especially since he''s out there trying to fight the evil trying to take over this world.¡± The queen said. ¡°I''ve almost finished writing it. I only need...¡±


    ¡°They did it!¡± Milly said as she ran into the room without knocking.


    ¡°Milly.¡± The queen admonished with just the tone of her voice.


    ¡°I''m sorry, mother. You said to tell you right away.¡± Milly said, and the queen nodded. ¡°They constructed a really complicated spell to detect the energy the cracks give off, then the archmage adapted it into the locate spell!¡±


    ¡°That''s actually a very smart use of both spells.¡± The queen said. ¡°Did they say when it will be ready?¡±


    Milly smiled and help up a piece of paper. ¡°They said it requires a lot of mana, too.¡±


    ¡°That won''t matter.¡± The queen said and took the piece of paper, copied it onto a new piece of paper, then added the new piece to one she had already filled out, rolled them up together and sealed them with wax and the royal kingdom seal. ¡°My message is finished.¡± She said to Imiryl and Allirynn. ¡°This relates to the security of the entire world and not just my kingdom.¡±


    Both Imiryl and Allirynn perked up at those words.


    ¡°What do you say?¡± The queen asked. ¡°Will you deliver this message for me?¡±


    ¡°It really does involve the safety of whole world?¡± Imiryl asked, and the queen nodded. ¡°Then, we can''t in good conscience refuse.¡±


    ¡°I am so glad you said that.¡± The queen said and stood up, walked around her desk, and handed the scroll to Allirynn. ¡°Hunter is several miles outside the town called Agotorn.¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Allirynn said and shot to his feet.


    ¡°You will take my fastest carriage and go there to deliver the message.¡± The queen said. ¡°It''s two days travel from here. He''s going to be there for several days, so that''s not a concern.¡±


    ¡°We will leave immediately.¡± Imiryl said and stood up as well.


    ¡°Not like that, you won''t.¡± The queen said and rang a little bell.


    Gavell came to the room and saw the door was already open. ¡°Yes, your majesty?¡±


    ¡°Ready the fast carriage. These adventurers need clothes and supplies for a week, any equipment that they need, and...¡±


    ¡°Jessica has our things.¡± Allirynn said.


    ¡°Give them bags of holding and take them to the archmage as well.¡± The queen said. ¡°Choose our strongest mage to go with them. They will not leave here unprotected.¡±


    ¡°What about guards?¡± Gavell asked and glanced at Allirynn. ¡°At least two will be needed for an official escort.¡±


    ¡°Only if they can fit on the back on the carriage.¡± The queen said. ¡°They will not ride inside and the mage will sit with the driver.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Gavell said and bowed to her, then turned to Allirynn and gave him a big warm smile. ¡°Come with me, please.¡±


    Allirynn and Imiryl left the room and followed Gavell to the front of the castle, where he arranged the fast carriage and gave them two bags of holding. He brought them back inside the castle and took them to the room where Jessica and the others were still talking to the court mages.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Excuse me, Archmage.¡± Gavell said.


    Jessica stopped talking and turned to face him. ¡°Yes, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Allirynn requests that his things be returned.¡± Gavell said.


    ¡°What? Oh!¡± Jessica looked at the tall tanned man behind Gavell and smiled. ¡°I''m glad you''re feeling better, Allirynn.¡±


    Allirynn didn''t say anything and just nodded as he held out his bag of holding. Jessica smiled and opened hers, waved her staff at it, and all of the things Alliryn had around him on the stretcher flew out of her bag. They landed on the floor with a clatter and several thumps. Allirynn quickly put all of them into his bag of holding and was relieved to see that everything was there. He tied the bag to his belt and turned away.


    ¡°You''re not even going to say thank you?¡± Josh asked, slightly scandalized.


    Allirynn turned back around and squinted his eyes at him. ¡°Why would I do that?¡±


    ¡°We rushed to get to you, I healed you, and we brought you to the capital.¡± Josh said. ¡°You would be dead now if it wasn''t for us.¡±


    Allirynn made his hands into fists. ¡°We should have been healed a week ago.¡± He said and let anger color his voice. ¡°We wouldn''t have suffered in agony all this time if you had.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I was busy saving the world!¡± Josh countered. ¡°If we don''t seal those cracks...¡±


    Imiryl stepped forward and took Allirynn''s hand. ¡°If you were half as good as you claim to be, you would have healed the two people that were suffering right in front of you and then worried about the people you might potentially be saving later.¡±


    ¡°He was doing his best!¡± Evangeline said in Josh''s defense and took his hand. ¡°Even blessed by the Goddess, his energy isn''t limitless! He needed to rest a lot after each time we called her for help!¡±


    ¡°Yes, and isn''t that special!¡± Imiryl said and her face showed her anger. ¡°Why didn''t you just wait for a few hours, or even a day, before travelling to the next crack and calling for her help again? Does it always take up all of your energy to call for help, or is just the calling itself that drains you? Why didn''t you use up most of your healing on us first and then called her for help? You were going to be unconscious afterwards anyway, weren''t you?¡±


    Everyone fell quiet at those words. None of the emissaries, Josh included, had tried to do anything else, or even considered doing something else, as they travelled back to the capital and sealed the cracks.


    ¡°All you did was rush to the next crack and exhaust yourself, while Allirynn and I writhed in pain.¡± Imiryl almost spat.


    ¡°Why didn''t you say anything?¡± Jessica asked. ¡°We could have...¡±


    ¡°We were too exhausted from fighting the pain and our throats were damaged!¡± Imiryl exclaimed. ¡°You know this! You were right there! Didn''t you hear us whining in pain? Didn''t you see how uncomfortable we were?¡±


    Jessica closed her mouth, because she had seen and heard them... and she had ignored them because she couldn''t help them... which was what the others had done, too. Tears sprung to her eyes, because she had failed to do the very thing that she had promised to do. She only helped them a little to stop the poisons from killing them, then didn''t help them any more. She caught the tears automatically and stored them to use later.


    ¡°Well, at least one of you still has some compassion.¡± Imiryl said and glared at them.


    ¡°Diofra, the queen has asked for a strong mage to go with these adventurers to deliver a message.¡± Gavell said and the woman nodded and came over to him.


    ¡°I can... deliver a message.¡± Jessica said as her tears stopped and took out her staff to perform the spell.


    ¡°It''s not that kind of message.¡± Gavell said. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Jessica said, slightly disappointed, and put her staff away.


    Gavell led Allirynn, Imiryl, and Diofra back through the castle to the large area where the blacksmiths, tailors, leather workers, and other artisans were. Allirynn was surprised to find a strong and lightweight leather wrapping for his arms and legs at the leather workers, and a nearby tailor saw what he was doing with it and quickly altered a thick tunic to remove the sleeves and shortened the hem on the bottom to allow easier movement, then asked the leather worker for the widest belt that he had. The leather worker had to look around and then handed over a six inch wide belt with a large buckle.


    ¡°That''s perfect.¡± The tailor said and waved to Allirynn. ¡°You need this.¡±


    ¡°I have clothing.¡± Allirynn said, and the tailor laughed.


    ¡°Not like this.¡± The tailor said and held the tunic up. Allirynn looked at the missing sleeves and at the tailor''s face. ¡°I saw you are using straps of leather to squeeze your muscles and give them resistance. You''re a combat fighter. You need your arms free.¡±


    Allirynn was reluctant, since his motives had been read so easily, then he felt a hand on his arm. He turned his head to look at Imiryl and she nodded. He held in his sigh and turned back to nod at the tailor. The tailor handed him the tunic and Allirynn started to put it on.


    ¡°You''ll need these for your hands.¡± The tailor said and hopped around his small stall like a kangaroo and kept grabbing little things. ¡°This for your forehead to keep the sweat at bay. These to wrap your ankles.¡±


    Allirynn was surprised at the energy the man expended gathering things, which he piled on the table, then he handed the huge belt to Allirynn for him to wear. Once it was put on and the things from his old belt were transferred to it, the tailor handed over all of the things he had gathered. When the tailor was done, Allirynn was almost covered from head to toe in protective wrappings that each had their uses.


    ¡°How does it feel?¡± The tailor asked and carefully eyed Allirynn. ¡°Can you do a punch or two?¡±


    Allirynn quickly did a one two combination and added an uppercut, and heard a satisfied sigh. He wasn''t sure who it was from, though.


    ¡°Now the lady.¡± The tailor said and turned to Imiryl. ¡°What would you like?¡±


    Imiryl shook her head, because she didn''t feel like shopping.


    ¡°I''m not sure of your class; but, you''re not wearing anything even close to armor, so you must have a magic base instead.¡± The tailor said and went back into his stall. ¡°Hm. Magic. Magic. What do I have that... no, she needs better movement...¡±


    They all stood there and watched the tailor as he went through a bunch of clothing.


    ¡°No. No.¡± The tailor tossed things from one chest to another. ¡°No. N... wait.¡± He stopped and went to the other chest and picked up what he had just thrown. ¡°Maybe.¡±


    The tailor walked over to his pedal powered sewing machine and started to work.


    ¡°We don''t have a lot of time.¡± Gavell said.


    ¡°I''m... almost... done.¡± The tailor said with strain and concentration clear in the tone of his voice. He worked for a few more minutes, then he barked a laugh. ¡°Yes! This should do it!¡±


    Everyone stared as he picked up the ugliest and misshapen brown lump of clothing they had ever seen. It had sewing and thread marks in a haphazard pattern all over it. He saw their reactions and laughed.


    ¡°It''s inside out.¡± The tailor said and dug his hands inside the lump of cloth, then flicked his hands once, then again, and pulled. With an almost popping sound, the piece of clothing turned right-side out.


    Imiryl caught her breath at the sight of the beautiful dress-like suit outfit. ¡°It''s beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Ha. You say that now.¡± The tailor put the outfit down onto the table and leaned out of his stall to wave to a woman two stalls over. ¡°I''ve got some coloring work for you!¡±


    ¡°I''ll be right there!¡± The woman yelled as she tumbled out of her stall, then she ran towards them, almost drunkenly. Her clothes were dishevelled and her hair was a mess.


    ¡°How many times do I have to tell you to stop running when I call you?¡± The tailor asked with a smile as he caught the woman before she fell. ¡°You know I hate calling the healers because you rushed.¡±


    The woman laughed ¡°You always have such great things for me to alter!¡± She said happily and didn''t seemed to be drunk at all. She saw Allirynn''s and Imiryl''s startled faces and laughed again. ¡°I''m not drunk. I have a condition called Hobbled and it makes me terribly clumsy.¡±


    ¡°How did you...¡± Imiryl started to ask.


    ¡°I was born with it, so it''s not a spell, a curse, or something that can be healed.¡± The woman said. ¡°Thankfully, my children are fine and didn''t inherit it.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t think that the risk...¡±


    ¡°We love each other and would love our children just as much, whether they had the condition or not.¡± The woman said and looked at the tailor. ¡°Now, what do you have for me?¡±


    ¡°This.¡± The tailor said and waved to the outfit.


    The woman caught her breath, just as Imiryl had. ¡°It''s beautiful.¡±


    ¡°We just need a color scheme from the lady.¡± The tailor said and the woman looked at her.


    ¡°Red. Like fire.¡± Imiryl said without having to think about it.


    ¡°Ooo, fire! I haven''t done fire before!¡± The woman said. ¡°Give me a minute to look at it.¡±


    ¡°Take your time.¡± The tailor said and pat her hand, then glanced at Imiryl. ¡°What type of magic do you use?¡±


    ¡°I''m an ice maiden.¡± Imiryl said, and a hush fell over the people nearby.


    ¡°...and you want clothing that looks like fire.¡± The tailor asked, and she nodded. ¡°Well, the customer is always right.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°You are going to look great in this.¡±


    ¡°All right, I think I have it.¡± The woman said and put her hands on the cloth. Both her hands and the cloth glowed green and then the cloth started to ripple. Mana flowed over it and as it did, the clothing changed from the ugly brown it had been and became shades of red, orange, yellow, and bits of white. The collar, cuffs, and hems of the outfit all changed to a fiery blue and the fire pattern emanated from them, so the brightest colors were in the center and the darkest near the edges.


    ¡°Would you look at that.¡± The tailor said and picked it up. ¡°I''ve never seen you do something like this before!¡±


    ¡°I was inspired!¡± The woman said. ¡°Quick! Let her change into it!¡±


    ¡°Yes! We need to see it in use!¡± The tailor said and motioned for Imiryl to enter the stall, then closed over a changing area with a curtain and they all waited. A few minutes later, the curtain slid back and Imiryl stood there wearing an outfit that she absolutely adored. It was the perfect combination of her and Jarcon''s colors, her ice and his fire, and her face was covered in tears.


    ¡°He would have loved it.¡± Allirynn whispered and took her into his arms and let her cry.


    ¡°A masterpiece.¡± The tailor said and admired his work. ¡°Even I''m impressed and I made the thing.¡±


    The woman laughed. ¡°I told you that you make great things!¡±


    ¡°You made it look spectacular.¡± The tailor said and put an arm around her to hold her steady.


    ¡°I still need to do the boots.¡± The woman said, and the tailor laughed.


    Imiryl handed her boots over without a word and the woman changed them to match the rest of the outfit. A man walked over and gave Imiryl two focusing rods and a handful of scrolls.


    ¡°What are these for?¡±


    ¡°You''ll need them.¡± The man said and walked away. Imiryl stared at them for only a moment, then she put them into her bag of holding.


    ¡°Diofra, do you need anything?¡± Gavell asked, and she shook her head. ¡°Then let''s get you all to the carriage and on your way.¡±


    They walked over to the small courtyard where the carriage was and Gavell introduced them to the driver, then Allirynn and Imiryl climbed inside and Diofra climbed up to sit beside the driver. Gavell motioned to the guards and talked under their breath for a few moments, then one of the guards climbed onto the back and sat down on the small shelf there and strapped in so he wouldn''t fall off.


    Gavell went to the carriage and opened the door, then held out a small sack of gold coins. ¡°Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Imiryl said and took the sack, and Allirynn nodded.


    Gavell smiled and stepped back, waved at the driver, and the carriage left the courtyard at its best speed.

 Book Two: The Summoned 041

    ¡°Did you give her the scroll?¡± The green robed man asked the scribe.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The man said with a smile. ¡°It looks like a spell scroll and I gave her two other real spell scrolls to hide it.¡±


    ¡°So, she doesn''t suspect what it is.¡±


    ¡°She didn''t even look at them.¡± The scribe said. ¡°I think the focusing rods distracted her.¡±


    ¡°Good. Good.¡± The green robed man said and rubbed his throat where Maylia''s blade had dimpled the skin. At some unknown time in the future, that ''spell'' would be read and that woman will suffer a debilitating curse. He thought in satisfaction. He wasn''t sure when it was going to happen, and that was a thrill in and of itself. No one threatens me and gets away with it. He thought and dismissed the scribe, then he went about his normal daily routine as if he had done nothing wrong and his act of revenge was a comfort to his slightly twisted view of how the world was supposed to work.


    *


    Maylia, Afyne and I followed the tracks for quite some time, and since we were only moving slowly, we had only travelled a few miles outside the town when we found what looked like a mound of dirt and rocks. It didn''t stand out from the surrounding landscape, since it was similar to a few mounds we had passed along the way. This one was slightly different because we could clearly see a five foot wide hole between and slightly below two of the large rocks.


    Maylia waved us off and we moved back several hundred feet and dismounted from the horses. ¡°I can''t tell if that space is completely underground or if it''s just below the surface.¡±


    ¡°Or if there is another exit.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°I''ll need to get closer to try and detect if the creature is actually there.¡±


    ¡°We need to be very careful.¡± Maylia said. ¡°If the hole is any indication, this giant snake is going to be just that. Giant.¡±


    ¡°Which means it didn''t drag off its victims.¡± I said. ¡°It swallowed them whole.¡±


    ¡°Is that why some of the tracks were wider than others?¡± Afyne asked, and Maylia nodded.


    ¡°I can''t see or feel it anywhere nearby, so this should be a good spot to leave the horses.¡± I said and knelt down on one knee. ¡°Afyne, you know the horses should detect any danger nearby, so if they start to react, climb on and let them take you away from here, okay?¡±


    ¡°What if you need them?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°You can bring them back after waiting for a little while.¡± I said and gave her a quick hug. ¡°Other than that, don''t move from this spot, just in case we do need to make a quick getaway.¡±


    Afyne nodded and I stood up and took Maylia''s hand. I activated my Mask Presence and Stealth techniques and let the energy flow over me and shared it with her, and we faded from Afyne''s sight. She just stared at us, or where we had been, and Maylia and I moved off quietly. We didn''t want to disturb the snake, assuming it was still inside, so we approached the rocky mound carefully.


    Once I was close enough, my Detect Mana Presence technique''s detection range covered the entire mound and I saw the creature. The damn thing was seventy feet long and was almost five feet wide.


    ¡°Maylia, can you see it?¡± I whispered, barely above a breath.


    ¡°It''s basking in the heat.¡± Maylia whispered. ¡°The rocks look like they are in a similar configuration to a campfire.¡±


    ¡°I was worried that the hole went into an underground space and we wouldn''t be able to get to it until it woke up and came out.¡± I breathed. ¡°You''re the expert here. What should we do?¡±


    ¡°I doubt it''s venomous, because we would have seen or smelled it at any of the abduction sites. So, we need to secure the head and cut it off before it can wrap its tail around us.¡±


    ¡°You think it crushed them first?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I didn''t see any blood; but, it could have tenderized them first to make them easier to swallow.¡±


    ¡°That''s a pleasant thought.¡± I whispered. ¡°Okay. We can make large Presence and mana hands to grab the neck and I''ll use my mother''s Light sword to cut the head off.¡±


    ¡°You need to be careful. If it has a magical attack like the garglemacer, you''ll be hurt again.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Well, we know what to do if that happens.¡± I whispered and touched the badge on my chest. ¡°Plus, we''ve got the horses with us this time. We can be back at the town in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°Or back in the capital in a day.¡± Maylia nodded. ¡°All right. We should split up to approach from different directions. One of us should be able to catch it and hold it.¡±


    ¡°I''ll go over there and we can attack together.¡± I pointed and she nodded, then I moved off and she waited until I was in position. There was no chance to get in closer without making noises that it was going to hear, so I dropped the Stealth technique and we activated Mana Presence Run at the same time and we ran towards the den that the giant snake had made. It reacted almost instantly and its head jerked as it sensed two threats coming at it from two different directions.


    Instead of attacking one of us like I thought it would, it remained still and convulsed slightly. Both Maylia and I managed to create and use our Presence and Mana Hands to grab onto its neck. Unfortunately, as I drew my mother''s light sword to strike, the giant snake chose that moment to act. Or finish its act, to be more precise. It convulsed again and opened its massive jaws, then a horrible retching sound cut through the silence and it regurgitated its last meal. An eight foot long mass of... something... came out, and the stench was immediately apparent and pervasive. It was also accompanied by something like an acid fog as well, so we had to jump away from it and dismiss the Presence and Mana Hands holding it.


    Before we could do anything else, it took the opportunity to make its escape and slithered out through the acid fog, almost as fast as a horse could run, and it disappeared through another hole in the rocks. I ran around the rocky mound and made another Presence Hand filled with mana and tried to grab it by the tail. The snake slid right out of it as if it didn''t feel it at all and I couldn''t get a solid grip on it. It was out of my detection range a moment later, in the opposite direction of Afyne and the horses, so I dismissed the hand and ran around to check on Maylia.


    ¡°Are you all right?¡± I asked. ¡°Did the fog touch you?¡±


    ¡°I''m fine.¡± Maylia said, anger in her voice. ¡°It got away.¡±


    ¡°Quite easily, too. I couldn''t grab it with a Presence Hand.¡± I said. ¡°You were right. We can only grab it safely behind the head.¡±


    ¡°We need to track it.¡± Maylia said and started to walk around the mound, then we heard a soft moan. We both froze at the sound, because the only thing even remotely close to us was the regurgitated mass covered in snake vomit and what I assumed was stomach acid. The acid fog had just dissipated and we both slowly turned towards the sound and I automatically used Detect Presence to look inside the mass... and I immediately regretted it.


    I turned Maylia away from it so she wouldn''t see. ¡°Good god, don''t look at it.¡± I said, sadness in my voice. ¡°I''ll... take care of it.¡±


    Maylia nodded and I stepped away from her, then I formed a Presence Hand filled with mana and picked up a very large rock. I dropped it down onto the poor man that was somehow still alive after being more than half digested. The rock crushed what was left of his head and put an end to his suffering. I absorbed the Presence Hand this time, since it hadn''t been anywhere near the snake, and hugged Maylia from behind.


    ¡°Let''s get Afyne and the horses.¡± I said and gave her a squeeze. ¡°We need to chase this thing down.¡±


    ¡°We really do.¡± Maylia said and shivered. ¡°That was...¡±


    ¡°Shh.¡± I said and kissed her cheek. ¡°Let''s make sure that no one else suffers that fate.¡±


    We walked over to where Afyne was with the horses and told her most of what had happened. We left out the man still being alive, though. She didn''t need that image in her head. We mounted the horses and rode them past the rocky mound and chased after the snake.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    *


    Allirynn and Imiryl were quite happy to have the carriage to themselves, especially after spending over a week practically crammed into it with five other people. They sat side by side, almost in a huddle, because neither of them wanted to be far away from the other and they weren''t ready to give each other space. The trip was going to take two days, and now that they were halfway through it and had stopped for the night, they were a little worried about the urgent message that they were bringing.


    ¡°Do you think Hunter can wait this long to get it?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°I wouldn''t know.¡± Allirynn said and reluctantly let her hand go as he picked up the folding cot that would fit in the middle of the carriage seats and it would create one large surface for them to lay on. ¡°The queen obviously didn''t trust the emissaries to deliver it.¡±


    ¡°I noticed that, too.¡± Imiryl said and lifted her feet and legs so that Allirynn could put the cot into place. Neither of them took off their new clothes and moved onto what was now a large bed and laid down. Imiryl didn''t have to ask him for a shoulder to rest her head on, and he didn''t have to ask if she wanted his arm wrapped around her to hold her. They both needed the comfort, for the same reasons, and Imiryl tried to hold the tears back.


    Allirynn held his other hand up for her and she took it and intertwined their fingers. He hugged her hand to his chest and that gave her tears permission to flow. She quietly cried and Allirynn held her, and let her tears be his. Unlike her, his anger over what had happened wouldn''t let him shed tears for his betrayed and lost friends. He sincerely hoped that Siada would meet a fitting end before he saw her again, because if she didn''t, he promised himself that she would get that end by his own hand.


    *


    ¡°Why are you in there with her?¡± Kara asked Steven through the small opening in the door, because he was currently sitting inside a cell in the dungeon of the castle with the lamia, Siada. Kara and the other emissaries had gathered together to pray and ask for guidance, and they couldn''t find him to start the ritual. When they asked around, it didn''t take long before they found out where he was. Evangeline and Aimee had left to check with the head acolyte to see if there was anything she could do.


    ¡°Siada is under my protection.¡± Steven said, full of confidence.


    ¡°That''s not really an answer.¡± Josh said. ¡°We need your help to ask for guidance.¡±


    ¡°You can do it without me.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°You should ask for guidance, too.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Especially after...¡±


    ¡°I know what I''m doing.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°What you''re doing is sitting in jail for no reason.¡± Kara said. ¡°You can easily keep watch on her from outside of the cell. You don''t have to sit in there with her.¡±


    ¡°I gave her my word.¡± Steven said. ¡°Even if she did do what the queen said, we all know there were extenuating circumstances.¡±


    ¡°Oh, geez.¡± Josh rubbed his face in frustration.


    ¡°Steven, this isn''t a world like ours.¡± Jessica said. ¡°The laws here are...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know this is a harsh world.¡± Steven cut her off. ¡°I''m sure the judge will listen to...¡±


    ¡°We don''t know if there is a judge!¡± Josh exclaimed. ¡°We don''t know if they even have a legal system!¡±


    Steven wasn''t sure what to say to that, because he hadn''t thought about that possibility.


    ¡°Look, you''re not under arrest.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Just come out of there and I''m sure that we can figure something out.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry; but, I''m staying right here. I can''t abandon her.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°You need to start thinking with the head on your shoulders and not with the one between your legs!¡± Josh pleaded.


    ¡°Says the guy that''s been with a hot woman since the day we came here.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°It''s not like that.¡± Josh said. ¡°I love her and we''re getting married.¡±


    Kara and Jessica caught their breath and stared at him.


    ¡°I proposed to her last night.¡± Josh said. ¡°I didn''t get a chance to tell you until now.¡±


    ¡°Congratulations.¡± Steven said with a chuckle. ¡°Is she pregnant?¡±


    ¡°Don''t be an ass.¡± Jessica said and glanced at Josh and whispered. ¡°Is she?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not.¡± Josh said. ¡°I''ve been careful.¡±


    ¡°So, you''re getting married and we''ve only been here for just over two weeks.¡± Steven said. ¡°I''d say that you''re going too fast; but, everything seems to be going fast, doesn''t it? I''ve been in here since lunchtime with Siada and it''s night already.¡± He laughed. ¡°Where does the time go?¡±


    ¡°Steven, be reasonable.¡± Jessica said. ¡°You can''t just decide to stay in jail.¡±


    ¡°Well, I did and here I am.¡± Steven said. ¡°So, you can all go back to your rooms and I''ll see you in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Steven, can''t you at least...¡± Josh started to talk, then stopped and sighed. ¡°No, I suppose you can''t.¡±


    ¡°Josh is getting it.¡± Steven said. ¡°What kind of paladin would I be if I ignored her plight after promising to protect her?¡±


    ¡°You can''t protect her from her crimes, no matter how much you may want to.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°The voice of experience.¡± Steven said. ¡°Didn''t you tell us that you were going to stand by Hunter and face his crimes together, once you brought him in?¡±


    ¡°That''s different.¡± Kara said. ¡°Hunter is my responsibility.¡±


    ¡°Well, Siada is mine.¡± Steven said. ¡°I accepted it when I volunteered to watch and protect her.¡±


    Kara looked into his eyes and hadn''t felt the Presence waver, so she nodded. ¡°See you in the morning.¡±


    ¡°You can''t be serious.¡± Jessica said to her. ¡°We need his help.¡±


    ¡°He''s busy.¡± Kara said and walked over to the door of the dungeon and knocked. ¡°We can chant without him for now and ask the Goddess for help.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°We''re not getting anything done by debating this further.¡± Kara said and the guard opened the door. ¡°Let''s go.¡± She said and left the dungeon. With no convincing argument and nothing else to do, Jessica and Josh followed her. If they were lucky, they could complete the chant when Evangeline and Aimee came back from meeting with the head acolyte, and maybe she had some advice for them, too.


    *


    ¡°I can''t believe we lost it.¡± I said, slightly disgusted. ¡°It''s a giant snake! How could it get away?¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry. It''s getting too dark to follow the tracks.¡± Maylia said as she climbed back onto her horse and I could hear the disappointment in her voice.


    ¡°It''s not your fault.¡± I said, placatingly. ¡°It''s the world''s fault for not having bright sunlight during the night.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn''t be night then!¡± Afyne giggled. ¡°It would still be daytime!¡±


    ¡°You see? Afyne understands.¡± I said and gave her a one arm hug while holding the reins of the horse with my other hand. ¡°We better get back to the town and warn them that the snake is still on the loose.¡±


    ¡°It''s also hungry after...¡± Maylia couldn''t finish that sentence.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and flicked the reins. ¡°I''m hungry, too.¡±


    ¡°Can we eat out again?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°We should try the cheap restaurant this time.¡±


    ¡°Can... can we get dressed up, too?¡±


    ¡°I don''t see why not.¡± I said. ¡°We''re only a little dusty after searching, so cleaning up shouldn''t take us too long.¡±


    We rode the horses back to town and stopped at the guard house and told them to watch out for the giant snake. They had confused looks on their faces, until I said it was the creature that no one wanted to admit existed and was eating people. They understood after that and promised to keep a look out for it, so we went to the mayor''s office next. We were lucky and caught him just as he was going to supper. We told him and used the same explanation we had used for the guards, and he nodded wordlessly.


    ¡°Don''t worry! We''ll get it!¡± Afyne assured him, to his surprise.


    We dropped the horses off at the stable and the worker Afyne had given the two copper coins to that morning quickly tended to both horses. Afyne didn''t have to instruct him at all, so we left the stable and went back to the inn to get a room. The innkeeper was very relieved to see us and very happy that we were unharmed. He wasn''t as happy about the creature still being out there, though.


    ¡°We warned the guards and the mayor, so as long as everyone stays indoors tonight, no one should go missing.¡± I reassured him and asked for a room. He gave us the same one we had before, so we quickly went upstairs and changed into our fancy dress clothes and went back down to the counter. Once again, whispers and stares met us and I ignored them. ¡°Can you tell us where the cheapest meals are served?¡± I asked the innkeeper and held up a copper coin.


    ¡°Of course.¡± The innkeeper chuckled and took the coin, then told us where to go to get the cheapest meals we''ve ever had. I held Maylia''s and Afyne''s hands as we followed his instructions and went to what looked like a barn that had seen better days.


    ¡°This can''t be it.¡± Maylia said as we approached the door, then it opened and a man stepped out. He burped loudly, thankfully in a different direction and away from us, then he walked down the street.


    ¡°Despite the evidence?¡± I asked, and Afyne giggled.


    We went inside and saw that there were no tables or chairs. There were barrels instead and they had rectangular bales of hay on either side of them for sitting on. Small lanterns were hung on strings above the barrels and they swung slightly. The place was pretty full, too.


    ¡°Welcome!¡± A woman said and walked over to us. ¡°Yes, you''re in the right place. We really do serve food here.¡±


    That made me smile. ¡°We had expensive food yesterday, so now we''re here to try the other end.¡±


    ¡°Then this is definitely the right place for you.¡± She said with a laugh. ¡°I think we can push two of the bales together and give the three of you enough room to sit at the same barrel.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said.


    A man came over to the closest barrel and shoved another hay bale beside it.


    ¡°Can we see a menu?¡± I asked, and she laughed again.


    ¡°There ain''t no menus here, hun.¡± The woman said and waved for us to sit. ¡°You get whatever comes on the plate.¡± She said and looked at Afyne. ¡°I will make sure that there''s not too much on one plate and a bit more on yours, though.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I think.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll reserve judgment on that until I taste it.¡±


    She laughed as she walked away.


    ¡°It''s definitely a better atmosphere than the other place.¡± I said and looked around.


    ¡°This is fun!¡± Afyne said and swung her feet out and kicked the barrel with her toes, then kicked the hay bale she sat on with her heels. The barrel didn''t move at all and she couldn''t hurt the hay, so I didn''t tell her to stop.


    The woman came back with three bowl-like plates and a basket hung on her elbow. ¡°Here we go.¡± She said and put the bowls down, and I saw it was full of a thick stew. The one in front of me had more meat and vegetable chunks in it and Afyne''s was only about three-quarters full. ¡°How many buns do you want?¡±


    ¡°May I?¡± I asked and held a hand out for one. She gave me one and it was still warm. I held it in both hands and put my thumbs into it and pulled. The bread was soft and pliable, was cooked just the right amount, and smelled great.


    ¡°So, how many do you want?¡± The woman asked and held out another bun.


    ¡°Just leave the basket.¡± I said with a grin.


    The woman laughed and turned towards the other people. ¡°You hear that, everyone! He likes my buns!¡±


    ¡°I like your buns, too!¡± A man''s voice hollered from across the restaurant. ¡°Bring them over here so I can squeeze them!¡±


    ¡°No one asked you, Kirsan!¡± The woman said as she blushed.


    ¡°He''s not giving you trouble, is he?¡± I asked, and she looked down at me.


    ¡°I... no, he''s just a little drunk.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°Let me know if that changes.¡± I said. ¡°He''ll be out of here in a second.¡±


    The woman put the basket down on the barrel and put a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°There''s another way to quiet him.¡± Maylia said with a smile. ¡°This is a formal meal, after all.¡±


    I barked a laugh and held my hands out to her and Afyne. They both smiled back at me and I started to pray.

 Book Two: The Summoned 042

    After my prayer in thanks for the food, the entire barn had fallen quiet and not just the slightly drunken man. The pulse of mana and Presence was helped by all three of us and our intent, so it spread much farther than the normal ten feet and covered the entire barn. The woman that served us stood beside us with wide eyes and barely breathed at the display.


    ¡°That worked a lot better than I thought it was going to.¡± I said, and both Maylia and Afyne laughed.


    We started to eat our food and it tasted really good, and the woman drifted away to tend to the other people. I introduced Afyne to the joys of eating a good bread bun and showed her how to tear it apart properly and dip it in the stew to use it almost like a spoon. I made sure she knew to be careful so she wouldn''t splash it onto her dress, too. She copied me and Maylia joined in, and we had a great time talking and eating. A few minutes later, the rest of the people resumed eating as well.


    ¡°That was great.¡± I said when we were done eating, then sat back as I raised a hand. ¡°Check, please.¡±


    ¡°Check you?¡± Maylia laughed. ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    I laughed, too. ¡°Where I come from, it means I''m done eating and I want to pay the bill.¡±


    ¡°You have a lot of odd sayings where you come from.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Where do you come from?¡± Afyne asked.


    I was about to answer when I thought that this wasn''t the right place to share that kind of information. ¡°I''ll answer that when we''re back in the room.¡± I said and turned to wave at the woman. ¡°I''m ready to pay for the food.¡±


    The woman walked over to us and her face was blank. ¡°Please, don''t.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I looked at her with wide eyes.


    ¡°You''ve been touched by the divine.¡± The woman said and ducked her head. ¡°We all felt it.¡±


    ¡°Why would that make the food free?¡± I asked. ¡°The expensive restaurant tried to say the same thing.¡±


    ¡°Please accept the offering.¡± The woman said and bowed slightly. ¡°We don''t want to offend you or your god by asking you to pay.¡±


    ¡°Don''t bow to me.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°I''m just an adventurer.¡±


    ¡°Please, don''t be angry.¡± The woman said and tried to bow over more.


    I caught her and stood her up straight. ¡°I said not to do that.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry that you''re unhappy with me.¡± The woman said and ducked her head to her chest and several tears formed in her eyes.


    ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± I asked.


    ¡°This is a small town. We''ve been plagued by disappearances for years, and now you''re here.¡± The woman said. ¡°We are all aware of the punishment and reward system of the diving beings.¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand.¡± I said.


    ¡°People are plagued for bad behaviour and then rewarded for good behaviour.¡± The woman said and lifted her head to look at me. ¡°We''ve been waiting for years for the plagues to stop.¡±


    I was about to say that wasn''t what I was there for, then I remembered that I was actually summoned to this world just for that purpose.


    The woman saw my indecision. ¡°I knew it. You can''t say that you''re not here for that.¡± She smiled. ¡°People have been whispering about two angels that showed up to deliver us from this evil.¡±


    ¡°We aren''t angels.¡± I said and tried not to get angry.


    ¡°You''re both tall with long blonde hair, and so beautiful that you are hard to look at.¡± The woman said. ¡°You can''t deny that you came here to fight the monsters for us.¡± She blinked her eyes for a moment and stared into mine. ¡°I doubted it was you at first, that you were just a fantastic looking man that wanted to see how the poor lived and came here to eat... and then you prayed and we all felt it.¡±


    ¡°That wasn''t why I did that.¡± I said. ¡°I only...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± The woman said. ¡°You don''t have to hide what you are here.¡± She said and waved to the barn and the other people that stared at me. ¡°We all know you are here to try and save us, even the ones that won''t admit that''s what we need.¡±


    I couldn''t deny her and say that I wasn''t there to save them if I could. ¡°I''m not an angel.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean you can''t fly?¡± Someone asked, and they were immediately hushed by several others.


    I opened my mouth to say that I couldn''t, then realized that it would be a lie. I could fly, quite easily, in zero gravity. I could also levitate for a while, as Maylia knew, since I had used it a few times with her.


    The woman smiled as I remained silent. ¡°You can''t deny that, either.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I''d like to, because you''ve gotten the wrong impression of me, and you''re jumping to conclusions.¡±


    ¡°How many people have you saved so far?¡± The woman asked, and I sighed again.


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± I said to Maylia and Afyne.


    ¡°What about paying for the meal?¡± Maylia asked.


    I took out a coin without looking at it and put it on the barrel, then held my hands out to her and Afyne and we left the barn hand-in-hand.


    *


    The woman waited until the barn door shut before she turned to the barrel and picked up the coin. She gasped at the silver sheen as it reflected in the lamp light and she turned to face the door that the angels had just passed through. She stood there silently and held in her hand a coin that she had only seen rich people use for common purchases.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± A man''s voice asked.


    The woman turned and looked to see that it was the slightly drunk man. ¡°Just keep eating, Kirsan.¡±


    ¡°I''d like a bread bun.¡± Kirsan said, and her eyes widened.


    ¡°Me, too.¡± A woman said.


    ¡°I''d like a couple of them.¡± A man said. ¡°What the angels did to eat them looked like fun.¡±


    The woman looked at the silver coin in her hand and smiled again. ¡°I''ll be right back with another batch.¡± She said and quickly left the barn to go to the house. She would tell them that all of the meals would be free tonight when she gave them the buns.


    *


    I led Maylia and Afyne back to the inn and we met more whispers. I now knew what they were saying and I kept ignoring them as we went up the stairs and back to our room. We got changed and Afyne didn''t make a fuss about climbing into bed with us. She even laid down between us with a smile on her face as I tucked the blanket up to our chests.


    ¡°What are you smiling for?¡± Maylia asked, curious.


    ¡°I really was rescued by angels.¡± Afyne said, smugly.


    ¡°Afyne.¡± I huffed and Maylia reached over her to cup the side of my face.


    ¡°Hunter, think of it from her perspective.¡± Maylia said. ¡°We showed up one day and gave her money, then showed up a few days later to take her with us. Now she''s living a new life with you as her guardian.¡±


    I couldn''t dispute Maylia''s words, either. ¡°I''m not an angel.¡± I said instead.


    ¡°You act like one.¡± Afyne said. ¡°You left a silver coin on the barrel.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You gave her a whole silver coin and you only gave that expensive place five copper.¡± Afyne said and grinned at me. ¡°I wanted to stay and see her face when she saw it.¡±


    ¡°I... well, dammit.¡± I said, and she giggled.


    ¡°Go to sleep, you two.¡± Maylia said and she had a smile on her face.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°They called you an angel, too.¡± I said and laid down on my side to face her over Afyne''s head.


    ¡°I''m not insulted in the least.¡± Maylia said and laid down to face me.


    ¡°Maybe I''ll be an angel when I grow up.¡± Afyne said, happily.


    ¡°Maylia''s right. Go to sleep.¡± I said.


    ¡°I can''t. You promised to tell me where you came from.¡± Afyne said and turned onto her side to face me, too. She put her hands together as if she was begging, then gave me her sad puppy dog eyes. I sighed exaggeratedly and she giggled, because she knew I couldn''t refuse her when she was being so cute.


    ¡°All right.¡± I said and started to tell her an abbreviated version of how I got there. Both her eyes and mouth had gotten wider and wider as I talked. When I was done, Afyne closed her mouth and didn''t react in any other way. ¡°Uh oh!¡± I said and started to tickle her. ¡°I think I broke her!¡±


    Afyne laughed and squirmed to try and get away, so I put my arms around her and rolled onto my back as I pulled her on top of me.


    ¡°Maylia, is there a warranty on children if you break them?¡± I asked and tickled Afyne a little more to keep her laughing.


    ¡°I''d say no, since I don''t know what a warranty is.¡± Maylia said.


    I laughed at that. ¡°It''s a guarantee that something will work, or you get either your money back or a replacement.¡±


    Afyne stopped laughing at those words and pushed herself up to sit on my stomach. ¡°Are... are you...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said firmly. ¡°It was a joke.¡± I reached up with a hand to touch her cheek with my fingertips. ¡°No matter what happens, for the rest of your life, I am going to do everything I can to take care of you and protect you.¡±


    ¡°You mean it?¡± Afyne asked, her voice full of hope.


    ¡°As god as my witness, I do.¡± I said, and Afyne gasped as a pulse of Presence appeared and covered us.


    ¡°Hunter! Your blessing!¡± Maylia exclaimed as she sat up.


    ¡°I know what I said and what it means.¡± I said and held a hand out to Maylia. ¡°Will you help me?¡±


    Maylia smiled as she took my hand. ¡°As god as my witness, of course I will.¡± She leaned in to give me a kiss and the flow of Presence covered her, too. She leaned back and I saw Afyne had tears in her eyes.


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Afyne said and laid down on top of me and hugged me.


    I held her and let her cry, because I knew they were tears of both sadness and joy. ¡°We need to find someone that can figure out what your abilities are and...¡± I stopped talking and sighed. ¡°The queen could have done that before we left the capital.¡±


    Maylia laughed. ¡°Yes, the queen of the First Sothen Kingdom would appreciate you taking up time in her busy schedule, just so you can use her as a skill scribe.¡±


    I had to laugh, too. ¡°Okay, going to the queen for only that might be a bit of overkill.¡±


    ¡°Might be?¡± Maylia raised her eyebrows at me.


    ¡°We can ask the innkeeper in the morning if he knows anyone.¡± I said and took an arm away from Afyne to put it around Maylia. ¡°We should get some sleep until then.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± Afyne said and didn''t let me go or try to move off of me. I glanced at Maylia, who shrugged and moved in closer, then she put an arm over the both of us.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± We said at the same time, and Afyne sighed and held me a little tighter for a second, then she relaxed fell asleep. Maylia looked at her peaceful face, kissed her forehead, then rested her own head on my shoulder. I entered a meditative state, so I could stay alert and sleep at the same time, then spent the rest of the night being cuddled.


    We got up the next morning and I answered the room''s door when someone knocked. Once again, breakfast in bed was being served by the innkeeper''s daughter. She had blushed the entire time and had a look of anticipation on her face. I took the tray from her with my real hands and she opened her mouth for a second to say something, then she closed it.


    ¡°I''m sorry. I was carrying on yesterday. I can''t make Afyne jealous on purpose.¡± I said and closed the door on the innkeeper''s daughter''s surprised face.


    ¡°M-m-me?¡± Afyne stammered.


    ¡°Do you see another young woman around here that I give hugs to?¡± I asked, and she blushed and shook her head. We ate breakfast quickly and Maylia and I dressed in our armor. I was tempted to leave Afyne at the inn, mainly because we had no way of knowing where the snake was today. It moved so fast that even if the horses did detect danger nearby, they might not react in time to get Afyne away. When I tried to mention the danger, Afyne completely ignored me, so we left the room and went downstairs to the innkeeper.


    ¡°Good luck today!¡± The innkeeper said when we turned in the key and handed over the breakfast tray.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said. ¡°You wouldn''t happen to know someone that can tell a person''s skills or magic affinities or something, do you?¡± I asked, and he shook his head. ¡°Well, I''ll keep looking.¡±


    We left the inn and went to the stables to pick up the horses. The worker was there and looked like he had been there all night. When he saw us, he quickly had both horses kitted up and ready for travel.


    ¡°Somebody is dedicated.¡± I whispered to Maylia, and she smiled and nodded at Afyne. I looked from her to Afyne and then back at her, and she nodded again.


    ¡°Good work.¡± Afyne said and gave him two more copper coins.


    ¡°Th-thank you miss! Thank you very much!¡± The worker said. ¡°They''re wonderful horses!¡±


    ¡°They really are.¡± Afyne said and led them outside so we could mount them. I knelt by my horse and pat my knee, and she smiled and used it as a step to climb up onto the horse all by herself. I climbed up behind her while Maylia mounted her own horse, then we rode out of town to begin the search for our elusive quarry. I sincerely hoped that we would find it before it found something else to eat.


    *


    Allirynn and Imiryl woke early and roused the others, they all ate breakfast quickly, then the carriage was on its way again. The driver didn''t push the horses, despite knowing the queen''s orders, because he knew that the horses would last longer with an easier gait and wouldn''t need to rest for as long each time they stopped. If he ran them as hard as they could go, their speed would be offset by the time the horses would need to rest when they stopped, which would increase because of the extra strain the horses would have to endure if they ran full out.


    *


    The head acolyte''s advice to the emissaries had been to let Steven do what he felt was right, and if the ritual to ask for guidance didn''t work with so few emissaries, she would be by in the morning to help. Kara, Josh, Jessica, Evangeline, and Aimee had tried and asked for guidance from the Goddess Chaiya the night before, and they only received a vague sense of what needed to be done and no direct instructions.


    The head acolyte arrived at the castle and went right to the room at the end of the hall where guests ate meals. ¡°All right. Tell me what happened.¡± She said, and Evangeline told her that it felt like something was missing.


    Jessica sighed and everyone looked at her. ¡°I guess that''s my fault.¡±


    ¡°Can you explain?¡± The head acolyte asked her, and Jessica told her what had happened during their meeting with the queen the day before and how she felt that without Hunter, the group was missing something that they needed and wouldn''t function as well as it was supposed to.


    The head acolyte nodded. ¡°You are letting your own feelings interfere with the ritual.¡± She said. ¡°It worked before because you were sure of your course. Now, with Hunter gone off on his own...¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Jessica gasped. ¡°Hunter what?¡±


    ¡°He was here two days ago.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°I asked to see him and was refused.¡±


    ¡°Why would the queen refuse to let you see the Goddess Chaiya''s chosen hero?¡± Kara asked, angrily.


    ¡°Calm down, emissary. It wasn''t the queen.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°Hunter was the one that refused.¡±


    ¡°What? Why would he refuse?¡± Evangeline asked, confused. ¡°We are the Acolytes of Light for the Goddess. We are here to help her chosen heroes.¡±


    ¡°I have another question.¡± Josh said. ¡°Why didn''t the queen tell us that Hunter had been here and left?¡±


    Jessica sat down and didn''t feel hungry anymore. ¡°Probably because of how we treated Allirynn and Imiryl.¡±


    ¡°How would she know about that?¡± Josh asked. ¡°We didn''t tell her.¡±


    ¡°No, Allirynn and Imiryl probably did.¡± Aimee said.


    ¡°She saw us first thing in the morning and I know they were still in the guest room, so they couldn''t have biased her against us.¡± Kara said and thought about it. ¡°I believe we''re overthinking this.¡±


    ¡°Really? How?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°It''s simple.¡± Kara said when she understood. ¡°We didn''t ask.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t explain why she wouldn''t tell... oh.¡± Josh said and understood, too.


    ¡°She wasn''t going to volunteer the information, not after we waited to see her in person to tell her about the cracks and how to seal them.¡± Jessica said, sadly. ¡°How can we mess things up like this? We''re supposed to be the Goddess'' chosen.¡±


    ¡°We''re still just people.¡± Josh said. ¡°We''re not perfect. We can make mistakes just like everyone else.¡±


    ¡°That''s very wise, Sorcerer Priest.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡±


    ¡°We still need guidance from the Goddess, so we can make sure we''re doing her work properly.¡± Josh said and the head acolyte stepped close and took his hand, as did Evangeline, and Aimee took the head acolyte''s hand.


    ¡°We should ask for Hunter''s location as well.¡± Kara said and stepped forward to take Aimee''s hand. ¡°If he was here two days ago, he''s had a huge head start on us. We''re going to have a hard time trying to catch up to him.¡±


    Jessica sat there and didn''t stand up to join them, so they turned and looked at her expectantly. ¡°I can''t.¡± She said. ¡°I don''t think I... I''m not in the right state of mind to help you right now.¡±


    The head acolyte let Josh''s and Aimee''s hands go and walked over to Jessica and knelt in front of her. ¡°Emissary, the Sorcerer Priest is right. You will make mistakes. We all do.¡± The head acolyte said and took her hand. ¡°If you can''t trust in yourself and your decisions, then let the Goddess guide you.¡±


    ¡°But... I followed her advice and... people were suffering... and... and...¡± Jessica took in a sharp breath and caught a tear from her eye before it fell and stored it.


    ¡°Faith is a matter of perspective.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°You only just discovered her. It will take time to feel how right things are with her in your life. I''ve been the head acolyte for a year now and she hasn''t failed me yet.¡± She smiled. ¡°She even brought me a son-in-law that I didn''t know I wanted.¡±


    ¡°Mom!¡± Evangeline gasped, and Aimee squealed a girlish scream and hopped a little.


    ¡°What?¡± The head acolyte let Jessica''s hand go and stood. ¡°Did you think you could hide such important news from me?¡±


    ¡°He asked me last night after I came back from visiting you!¡± Evangeline said. ¡°How could you know what I didn''t!¡±


    ¡°I asked the goddess for guidance, of course.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°Her church should be done next week and I wanted to make sure it was to her satisfaction.¡±


    ¡°You mean... the other acolytes know?¡± Evangeline asked, and her mother laughed.


    ¡°You need to act surprised for the party tonight.¡±


    ¡°P-p-party?!?¡± Evangeline asked, surprised. Aimee let out another squeal and hugged Evangeline.


    ¡°That means we''re staying for at least another day.¡± Josh said. ¡°I wonder why the Goddess doesn''t want us to leave right away?¡±


    ¡°Let''s ask her.¡± Jessica said and stood.


    ¡°I thought you didn''t feel up to it.¡± Josh said with a smile.


    ¡°After what the head acolyte said, I think this is the best time for me to help and to ask for it for myself.¡± Jessica said and they all clasped hands and started to chant. With the head acolyte there and Jessica''s thoughts directed to asking for help and not about missing Hunter, the directions they received from the Goddess Chaiya were clear and precise. They weren''t what any of them expected, however.


    ¡°We need to wait?¡± Josh asked as the Goddess'' Presence faded. ¡°Wait for what?¡±


    ¡°We need to wait and find out.¡± The head acolyte said with a smile. ¡°Is that fresh eggs I smell?¡±


    ¡°Ham, too.¡± Jessica said. She was filled with reassurance that everything was going to work out and her appetite was back in full force. She led the older woman over to the buffet table and they both started to eat. The others went with them and they started to eat as well.


    Kara, on the other hand, sat down and had a disappointed look on her face. She wasn''t going to question the Goddess'' orders, even though she knew that they needed Hunter''s help. She needed to wait with the others to see what the Goddess intended for her emissaries to do next.

 Book Two: The Summoned 043

    It took us nearly half the day to track the giant snake to another den-like rocky mound. It was much further out from the town than the last one was and it looked much older and well used. We scouted around it for several more hours and didn''t find the creature. The ground was hard and all of the tracks seemed older than the last few days. That was a little odd, considering we had followed a fresh track to get to the new den.


    ¡°It must be using the previous tracks to cover up its movement.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I didn''t think a snake would do that.¡±


    ¡°It might not be doing it consciously.¡± I said. ¡°It could just be moving along very familiar patterns.¡±


    Maylia sighed. ¡°Hunter, if we don''t find it...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°Tracking it now is going to be a lot harder, and we can''t rule out that it''s going to double back and head towards the town again.¡±


    ¡°Then we should head back and concentrate on searching for tracks on the outskirts of the town, just in case.¡± Maylia said. ¡°It won''t stop the creature from attacking; but, it should make it harder for it to sneak up and take someone.¡±


    ¡°That puts us in danger of being attacked and taken.¡± I said. ¡°Then again, if we stay on the horses and make lots of noise...¡±


    ¡°We don''t want to scare it away. We''ll never catch it if it moves on to another place.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°All right. It''s getting late, so we''ll do a holding pattern around the town until nightfall, get a room, then try again in the morning.¡±


    Maylia climbed back up onto the horse. ¡°This hunt isn''t going as well as I thought it would.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Finding it like we did that first time was probably pure luck because it was resting.¡± I said and flicked the reins on the horse, and we travelled back to the outskirts of town.


    ¡°We could cover more ground if we split up.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°We''d also lose our mutual support.¡± I said. ¡°No, we stick together and we''ll get through this together.¡±


    Maylia nodded and we patrolled the area outside the town until the day started to fade. We went back into the town and asked around to see if anyone went missing, and no one had. Although, to be fair, no one knew if anyone had gone missing and that didn''t mean that some lone person hadn''t been taken. It only meant that no one knew about it.


    With that unhappy thought floating around in my head, we dropped the horses off at the stable and went back to the inn. The innkeeper saw my face and handed me the key to the room without a word. I nodded to him and led Maylia and Afyne up the stairs. I didn''t feel like going out to eat, so we ate some of the food I had in my bag of holding for supper. After we ate, we started to strip off our armor so we could get changed into our nightgowns to get ready for bed.


    *


    The queen''s fast carriage barrelled over the rough road and the driver flicked the reins to spur it on. Unlike during the rest of the trip, they were close enough to the town of Agotorn and their next stop that the driver could give them a good run before they rested for the night.


    The guard that sat on the shelf on the back wasn''t enjoying this part of the ride; but, he had accepted the duty and would fulfill his obligation to the queen. Despite what a lot of the other guards thought, he knew that the queen had personally approved hiring him as a guard to work in the castle. She had appeared unexpectedly as he and the other group of men had finished their guard training, and they all stood at attention for her.


    The queen had walked along the front of the formation and nodded occasionally, then she passed in front of him and had given him an appraising glance and nodded sightly. He was in the Captain of the Guard''s office an hour later and assigned to the castle, which was the most prestigious posting available. He wasn''t just guarding the castle from potential attack, he was guarding the queen herself. He had even spent a month on her personal detail and enjoyed being at her beck and call.


    Taking a bumpy ride is nothing. The guard thought with a smile. I would give my life for her.


    The carriage slowed down as it approached the town and then came to a stop. The driver talked to the guard at the guard house, then drove over to the inn to drop off the passengers. He secured the reins and hopped down, helped the mage climb down from the front seat safely, then he went around the back and helped untie the guard.


    ¡°Is this it?¡± Imiryl asked as Allirynn helped her down out of the carriage. ¡°Are we here?¡±


    ¡°The guard at the edge of town said that this was the only inn in town and this is where the adventurers are staying.¡± The driver said. ¡°I''ll take the horses over to the stable and park the carriage nearby, then I''ll stay with it.¡±


    ¡°You won''t stay in the inn with us?¡± The mage asked.


    ¡°My duty is the safety of the horses and the proper care of the carriage.¡± The driver said. ¡°I have work to do to check it and make sure everything is fine.¡±


    ¡°And to make sure that no one tries to steal it or loot it during the night.¡± The guard said.


    The driver nodded. ¡°I''ll secure the supplies in my bag of holding before I inspect the carriage.¡± He said and climbed back onto the carriage. ¡°See you in the morning.¡±


    The guard, Imiryl, Allirynn, and the mage walked into the inn while the driver drove the carriage over to the stable.


    ¡°Ah, there''s the rest of the party!¡± The innkeeper exclaimed when four new people came in. ¡°Do you want a room right next to the others?¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Imiryl asked, surprised. ¡°How did you know we were coming?¡±


    ¡°Only two adventurers showed up the other day.¡± The innkeeper smiled. ¡°We all knew that at least two more were going to appear eventually.¡± He said and looked at them. ¡°I''ve only got two rooms left, so you''ll have to share.¡±


    Imiryl paid for the two rooms and took the keys, then she looked at Allirynn, because she was unsure of how to say what she wanted to say. He took one of the keys and handed it to the mage without a word, then he took Imiryl''s hand and led her over to the stairs. The mage looked at the guard, who shrugged, and they followed the other two up the stairs.


    ¡°That was not how I thought they were going to share the rooms.¡± The innkeeper whispered, and his daughter laughed from behind him.


    Allirynn took Imiryl over to the door the key was numbered for and unlocked it. Since the innkeeper was telling the truth, the next room was going to be the one they needed to visit first. He led Imiryl over to the door and knocked. The mage and guard walked up behind them and waited, mainly because they wanted to see the queen''s personal vassal with their own eyes.


    *


    I had just put on my nightgown and taken the hair tie out of my hair when someone knocked on the room''s door. I hadn''t been concentrating on my Detect Mana Presence technique, since I had taken off my blast shield already, and it had faded from my perception. I brought it back to the forefront of my attention and looked through the door.


    ¡°Hello.¡± I said. ¡°Maylia, guess who''s here.¡±


    ¡°Who is... oh!¡± Maylia said as she looked through the door as well. ¡°What are they doing here?¡±


    ¡°The better question is how they knew we were here.¡± I said and walked over to the door as I used Presence to fluff my hair out a little. ¡°Is everyone covered?¡±


    ¡°Just a second.¡± Maylia said and adjusted her nightgown a little, checked Afyne to see that she was fully dressed, then they both nodded.


    I opened the door and the four people there caught their breath at the sight of me. ¡°Yeah, sorry. I must look horrible. You caught me just as I was about to get into bed.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Is he kidding?¡± The mage whispered. ¡°He''s beautiful.¡±


    I held in my laugh and looked at the tall tanned man. ¡°You''re looking much better.¡± I said and looked at Imiryl. ¡°You look positively radiant.¡±


    ¡°M-m-me?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°Well, the last time I saw you, the blood poison had colored your neck and face blood red. It was hard to see how pretty you were through that, even with the blue hair.¡± I said, and her face flushed red. ¡°Yes, almost like that.¡± I frowned. ¡°Wait, don''t tell me the little bastard didn''t completely heal you.¡± I said with concern as I stepped forward and touched her face and neck tenderly to see if it was mushy like it had been before.


    ¡°He didn''t.¡± Allirynn said, almost angrily.


    I looked at him and saw that his muscles were normal and not partially eaten away like they were the last time I saw him. ¡°He only fixed you?¡±


    ¡°He didn''t do that, either.¡± Allirynn said, this time anger was clear in his voice.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He only healed us enough to let us travel, then we suffered for a week while they took us to the capital.¡± Imiryl said. Her face was still a deep red; but, I couldn''t feel the same texture as I had before, so I stopped touching her.


    ¡°You mean the queen''s healers finished the job.¡± I said, and she nodded.


    ¡°They said it took part of the day and nearly all night to fix us, after we fell asleep.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°Of course, there were a lot of them and they took turns.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad it worked for you, too.¡± I said, and they looked at me. ¡°I spent some quality time with the queen''s healers after I suffered magical damage from fighting a garglemacer.¡±


    ¡°A garglemacer?!?¡± Imiryl gasped.


    ¡°I can tell you about it later.¡± I said to try and direct the conversation where I wanted it to go. ¡°What I want to know is what the hell those other idiots were doing for a whole week while you suffered?¡±


    Imiryl was touched that he reacted that way to their plight. ¡°I think the message we have for you from Queen Celestina will tell you what you need to know.¡± She said. ¡°Allirynn and I can fill in the details in our own words later, if it''s necessary.¡±


    Allirynn took out the sealed scroll from his bag of holding and handed it to me. I was about to break the wax seal on it when Maylia spoke.


    ¡°Hunter, don''t make them stand in the hallway.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°You''re right.¡± I said and stepped back to hold the door open. ¡°Come in.¡±


    The four of them came in and saw Maylia and Afyne were in nightgowns as well.


    ¡°We''re sorry for interrupting.¡± The mage said.


    ¡°You''re lucky we just finished getting dressed.¡± I said and shut the door. ¡°Otherwise, you would be seeing us dancing around in our underwear.¡±


    ¡°Can we do that?¡± Afyne asked, her voice full of hope and anticipation. ¡°It sounds like fun!¡±


    Maylia laughed and put an arm around her. ¡°Maybe later.¡±


    I walked over to them and broke the seal on the scroll and unrolled it. ¡°What is... is this a spell?¡± I asked and read the first page and understood what it did, even though I couldn''t cast it myself. ¡°That spell gives me a few weird questions to ask.¡±


    I slid it under the second page and started to read the actual message from the queen. As I read more of it, my face turned from a slight smile, to a blank face, then to a frown. I had also glanced at Allirynn once, at Imiryl twice, and at the mage and guard once.


    ¡°That answers them.¡± I said and made my face show no expression.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Maylia asked and looked over my shoulder to read some of the note for herself.


    I sighed. ¡°I have good news, bad news, and really bad news to tell you.¡±


    ¡°Good news!¡± Afyne exclaimed, and I smiled.


    ¡°The good news won''t make sense until I tell you the bad news.¡± I said. ¡°The bad news is that a lot of the creatures are not from this world and come here through cracks, where thousands more wait to come through.¡±


    Afyne gasped and the guard took in a sharp breath.


    ¡°The good news is, the spell lets the cracks be located and they can be closed when found.¡± I said.


    ¡°What''s the really bad news?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°The Emissaries of Light needed the direct help of their goddess so she could close the cracks.¡±


    ¡°That''s what they were doing while we went to the capital.¡± Imiryl said.


    ¡°Yes, the sorcerer priest would recover just enough to get to the next crack, they would call her again to seal the crack, then they would move on to the next one.¡± I said, a little disgusted, and shook the queen''s message. ¡°What a waste of time and energy.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Maylia asked as she finished reading.


    ¡°Remember my blessing and its conditions?¡± I asked.


    Maylia caught her breath and stared at me, then she shook her head. ¡°Those idiots.¡± She said with just as much disgust as I had.


    ¡°I don''t understand.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°What''s going on?¡±


    ¡°The fools are giving up their time and energy for no reason.¡± I said. ¡°They could have easily healed you with their energy before asking the goddess for help.¡±


    ¡°I knew it!¡± Allirynn exclaimed.


    ¡°That''s not all, is it?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°They''ve been asking her to completely embody one of them and take them over, so she can use her abilities to seal the cracks.¡± I said. ¡°They don''t have to. They just have to channel her power as a conduit and share time with her instead.¡±


    Allirynn looked so angry that he could chew through Maylia''s thick leather armor.


    ¡°Have you eaten yet?¡± I asked him, and he jerked a little at the odd question. I looked at the others and they shook their heads. ¡°Have a seat.¡± I said and pointed to the table, then quickly took out enough food for them all to have a good meal. ¡°It''s cold; but, it still tastes good.¡±


    ¡°We can''t impose on you like this.¡± The guard said.


    ¡°I can''t ask Allirynn any questions while he''s this angry.¡± I said and handed him a thick piece of meat. He took it and dug his hands into it, bit it, then tore off a big piece and chewed it. ¡°He needs to work out some of his frustration.¡±


    ¡°You seem calm.¡± The mage said as she sat down and started to pick at the food I had put on the table.


    ¡°Only because I''ve had years of practice at hiding how angry I am.¡± I said and I motioned for everyone to sit. ¡°I''m pretty sure I''d lose favor with god if I rushed back to the capital and killed Kara again.¡±


    ¡°You... killed...¡± Imiryl couldn''t finish the sentence.


    ¡°It happened when they took over your care. The little bastard was there, so she didn''t actually die when I shoved my weapon through her heart.¡± I said sadly. ¡°I doubt I''ll be forgiven if I did it again, or hurt the others again, now that I know who they are.¡±


    ¡°Who are they?¡± Allirynn asked and took another big bite of the mangled piece of meat in his hands.


    ¡°A pain in my ass.¡± I said, dejectedly.


    ¡°He''s the summoned hero!¡± Afyne said and reached around the guard to pick up a few carrot sticks. ¡°He''s a man and he''s the hero!¡± She said with a laugh and then started to crunch loudly on the carrots.


    ¡°Are you... it''s not a lie, but...¡± Imiryl looked at me. ¡°Only women are supposed to be heroes.¡± She said. ¡°There''s also only supposed to be four.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I had no idea what was going on when I came here and woke up captured by the elves.¡±


    Only Allirynn and Imiryl reacted surprised to that.


    ¡°I pieced together some of what happened to me since I escaped them, then I had an out of body experience the other night and talked to god.¡± I said. ¡°He told me the whole story of why I''m here.¡±


    The mage and the guard reacted that time and dropped their food.


    ¡°I should tell you not to overreact and to take it in stride; but, I''m still surprised by it myself and can''t do that, either.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I hope we can all get used to it after a while.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± The mage looked at me. ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°You don''t know?¡± I asked, a little surprised, then I laughed. ¡°I guess even good monarchs still play court games.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Maylia admonished me.


    ¡°You''ve been officially assigned as adjuncts to the queen''s personal vassal.¡± I smiled at the mage and the guard. ¡°Congratulations! You are now my flunkies! Ha ha!¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Maylia exclaimed.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked and grinned at her.


    ¡°Don''t stretch the truth.¡± Maylia chuckled.


    ¡°If I don''t establish the ground rules now, they''ll think they have a choice!¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± I said and handed the mage the letter. ¡°It actually says that if you choose to, you can help me in the tasks she assigned me. The list she gave me before changed a little and the new one is there at the bottom.¡±


    The guard leaned close to the mage and read the note as well. They both kept eating and took their time reading it. The guard was the first to lean back and smiled.


    ¡°If the queen deems me worthy to help you, then I can''t refuse her call.¡± The guard said. ¡°I will pledge my sword and my shield to the safety and welfare of her personal vassal.¡±


    ¡°Maylia and Afyne have badges as well.¡± I said, and the guard nodded understanding.


    ¡°I... I have to think about it.¡± The mage said. ¡°I helped construct the energy spell and I know it''s going to take a lot of mana to perform.¡± She sighed. ¡°I might be able to save enough mana in my storage crystal to...¡±


    ¡°Did you say storage crystal?¡± I asked and cut her off.


    The mage nodded and took out a thick round crystal about five inches wide. ¡°It takes me half a day to charge it up, then I can wait a day and I''ll have enough mana to perform the spell.¡±


    There''s no way I can adapt that to fit inside a Light sword. I thought. ¡°They don''t come any smaller than that, do they?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°Well, we''re hunting a giant snake that eats people alive, so we won''t need the spell just yet.¡±


    ¡°What if it''s using one of the cracks?¡± Imiryl asked.


    I opened my mouth and looked at Maylia.


    ¡°That would explain why we can''t find it, even though we looked all day.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Well, dammit.¡± I said and thought for a minute. ¡°Okay. New plan for the morning.¡± I said. ¡°We need paper to copy the spell, in case the paper or the spell is consumed when it''s read, then we''ll cast the spell and hope the closest crack isn''t nearby.¡±


    ¡°I can''t cast it in the morning.¡± The mage said. ¡°I told you that I need...¡±


    ¡°Mana.¡± I said. ¡°That''s not a problem.¡±


    ¡°The queen said the same thing.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°I should make you wait until tomorrow to tell you; but, you''ve had people delay you for no reason before.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°The reason mana isn''t a problem is because I can share mine.¡±


    ¡°Are you a mage?¡± The mage asked.


    ¡°Nope. I couldn''t cast a spell to save my life.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve tried.¡±


    The four people at the table looked at me with wide eyes, and I laughed.


    ¡°I meant trying to cast a spell, not trying to save my life with it.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The mage said. ¡°Then how...¡±


    ¡°In simple terms, I can boost your mana.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. ¡°If you''re willing to share.¡±


    The mage didn''t hesitate as she took my hand, then I felt a small surge of mana from her. It hit my huge mana reserve and bounced back to her.


    The mage gasped. ¡°B-by... by the goddess Black Laura.¡± She whispered. ¡°You can share that?¡± She asked and I nodded. ¡°Then I''ll gladly help the queen''s personal vassal in his quest!¡±


    ¡°Please, call me Hunter.¡± I said and shook her hand, which made her laugh because she hadn''t had that happen to her before.

 Book Two: The Summoned 044

    ¡°My name is Diofra.¡± The mage said and let my hand go.


    ¡°I''m Evus.¡± The guard said and I shook his hand, too.


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Now finish eating and get the hell out.¡±


    That made them laugh and they kept eating.


    I handed the queen''s note to Imiryl. ¡°You want to read that, too.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Imiryl took the note. ¡°The queen said it was a message for you.¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± I said. ¡°I want you to read the second sentence and tell me what you think.¡±


    Imiryl looked at the note and read the sentence out loud. ¡°I''m sending two very valuable adventurers with this message.¡± She looked at the mage and the guard, then at me.


    ¡°She meant the two of you.¡± I said and motioned to her and Allirynn. ¡°I think it was her subtle way to tell me why those criminals targeted you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Imiryl shook her head. ¡°There''s nothing valuable about us, except for the bit of gold Allirynn had left that they took.¡±


    ¡°Special weapons?¡± Allirynn asked.


    ¡°I don''t think so.¡± I said. ¡°The only things we could scavenge were the bow that elf had and the large hammer the orc had.¡±


    ¡°You have it?!?¡± Allirynn asked and shot to his feet, surprised.


    ¡°We stripped the bad guys, so yeah.¡± I said. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It was owned by...¡± Imiryl couldn''t say the dwarf''s name without crying. ¡°...one of our friends.¡±


    ¡°I guess that explains why the orc had such a hard time using it.¡± I said and picked up my belt that was hung on the chair behind the mage. I dug into my bag of holding and pulled out the large war hammer. ¡°Here you go.¡±


    Both Allirynn and Imiryl stared with angry eyes at it and didn''t try to take it from me.


    ¡°Hunter, don''t tease them with it.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°What do you mean, tease them?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°I''m giving it back to them.¡±


    ¡°You are?!?¡± Imiryl gasped.


    ¡°It''s not like I need it.¡± I said. ¡°I only took everything from those guys so that someone wouldn''t come along and have a bunch of free weapons and armor... if they were crazy enough to brave the woods and the creatures there to go and get it.¡±


    Allirynn and Imiryl exchanged glances.


    ¡°I guess that would have been you two.¡± I said with a laugh.


    ¡°We can''t take it.¡± Allirynn said.


    ¡°Please, I insist. If it was your friend''s weapon, you should have it.¡± I said and held it out again.


    ¡°Hunter, they physically can''t take it.¡± Maylia said and touched my shoulder.


    ¡°What? Why?¡± I looked at her with my eyebrows raised.


    ¡°Our classes forbid it.¡± Allirynn said, sadly.


    ¡°You''re kidding.¡± I said and looked at everyone''s faces and didn''t see denial there. ¡°Wow, really?¡±


    The mage took out a focusing rod and put it on the table. ¡°Pick that up.¡±


    I put the war hammer down on the floor, since it was much too big to put on the table, and I tried to put my fingers around the rod. It wouldn''t move. ¡°Hey, it... what the...¡± I tried a few different things, like tapping it to get it to roll, which it didn''t, then I tried to pry it up and it didn''t move.


    ¡°Unless you are a magic user, you can''t use them.¡± The mage said and picked the rod up with her fingertips. ¡°I can''t use weapons at all, even if they were enchanted and infused with mana.¡±


    I reached out and put my hand around the end of the rod.


    ¡°You don''t want to do that.¡± The mage said. ¡°It will crush your hand against the table if I let it go.¡±


    I couldn''t take that chance, in case it was classed as magical damage, so I let it go. ¡°Put it on the table again.¡±


    The mage put it down and I made a Mana Presence Hand. Everyone reacted with shock at the green floating hand in front of me, except for Maylia and Afyne. I moved the hand down and gripped the focusing rod, then tried to lift it. Since I was expecting a very heavy object, I pulled on it as hard as I could. The hand shot up to the ceiling and smashed through the wood and into the attic.


    ¡°Oops.¡± I said and brought it back down to hover in front of me. ¡°I thought it was going to be heavy.¡±


    This time, everyone was shocked that it had happened and no one said a word as they stared at the focusing rod. I put it down and absorbed the Mana Presence Hand.


    ¡°That''s not possible.¡± The mage said. ¡°You can''t lift weapons outside your class restrictions.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''ve been doing things I shouldn''t have been able to do since I was a kid.¡± I said with a smile.


    The mage shook her head. ¡°No, you don''t understand. The divine rules prevent people from doing it.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''m not from here.¡± I said and turned to Maylia. ¡°Pick it up with your normal hand.¡±


    Mayla stepped close to the table and tried to get her hand around it, and she couldn''t even roll it from side to side. ¡°It won''t move.¡± She said, slightly angry. ¡°Even though I know some spells.¡±


    ¡°They are probably class specific.¡± The mage said. ¡°Some classes do have limited magic capability; but, they still wouldn''t be able to use a magic user''s class items.¡±


    ¡°Now try it with a Mana Hand.¡± I said.


    Everyone gasped when a green floating hand appeared in front of Maylia. She moved it down and gently picked up the rod without resistance.


    ¡°Ha! I knew it.¡± I said ¡°Even though we make and control the hands, they are separate from us and aren''t affected by our class restrictions.¡±


    Maylia put the rod down and dismissed the hand.


    ¡°I doubt we can actually use it for what it was intended for, though.¡± I said, then chuckled. ¡°What is it used for?¡±


    ¡°It''s a focusing rod that''s used to empower and direct spells more accurately.¡± The mage said, her voice subdued.


    ¡°A focusing rod?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°I guess it doesn''t come in smaller sizes, does it?¡±


    ¡°No, they are all the same size.¡±


    ¡°How are they made?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± The mage said.


    I looked at the other people and they shook their heads. Well, I can''t use it for what I want anyway, since I can''t lift the thing with my normal hand. I thought. I''ll have to keep looking.


    Everyone sat there in silence, the food forgotten.


    I reached over the table and tapped the queen''s note in Imiryl''s hand, so she read the rest of it. When she got to the list at the bottom, she grabbed Allirynn''s arm and put the note in front of him. He read it and when he read the list, he nodded.


    ¡°Queen Celestina''s Personal Vassal.¡± Imiryl said and stood, as did Allirynn. ¡°Please accept our pledge.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    I looked at their determined faces. ¡°What brought that on?¡± I asked and took the note back. ¡°What''s on the list that you reacted to?¡±


    ¡°All of it.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°The queen of the First Sothen Kingdom trusts you to handle such important things. The least we can do is try to help you.¡±


    ¡°That''s not really a good reason to accept your...¡±


    ¡°We owe you.¡± Allirynn said and motioned to the war hammer. ¡°You saved us.¡±


    ¡°I''ve saved a lot of people.¡± I said. ¡°They aren''t all scrambling around to try and help me.¡±


    ¡°If what you think is true, that we were why the carriage was attacked, then it''s our fault that our friends are dead.¡± Imiryl said.


    ¡°Ha.¡± I barked a laugh. ¡°That''s like blaming me for not showing up in time to save them, too.¡±


    Allirynn frowned and tried to hide it.


    ¡°You do blame me.¡± I said, and he shook his head slightly. ¡°No? Then...¡± I stopped talking for a moment, then I understood. I stood up and walked around the table and put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°I''ve been there.¡± I said and squeezed his shoulder slightly. ¡°Don''t worry, though. You''ll never forgive yourself for not saving them.¡±


    Allirynn looked angry for a second, then he barked a laugh. ¡°You do understand.¡±


    I nodded and let his shoulder go. ¡°If you want to do this to atone for their deaths, that''s not going to work.¡±


    ¡°No, I...¡± Allirynn took a breath and let it out. ¡°I want to stop it from happening again.¡±


    ¡°And you?¡± I asked and looked at Imiryl.


    ¡°We started out with the intent to be the best adventurers in the world. We thought we were getting close, and then...¡± Imiryl said with a touch of sadness as a tear came to her eye and she wiped it away. ¡°Now we know it was a foolish thing to strive for, because we paid too heavy of a price for being so arrogant.¡± She straightened her back and looked into my eyes. ¡°If I can save even one more person from having to pay that kind of price, a price that no one should pay, then I will do everything I can to help.¡±


    I didn''t feel the Presence waver at all, so I smiled. ¡°That is the kind of pledge I can accept.¡± I said and held a hand out for her to shake.


    Imiryl had seen me do it with the mage and the guard, so she did the same thing and shook it. Allirynn shook my hand next, then I walked over to stand beside Maylia.


    ¡°Now all we need is a healer that can handle magical wounds.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m not a healer; but, I do have healing spells.¡± The mage said. ¡°At the very least, I can treat them and keep them stable until we find someone or return to the capital.¡±


    ¡°That''s good enough for me.¡± I said. ¡°Now, if you would all be so kind, get out so I can get my beauty sleep.¡±


    Maylia laughed. ¡°We''ll meet again in the morning to discuss where to go from here.¡± She said and everyone stood. ¡°You can take the food, too.¡±


    They picked up the several dishes on the table and walked to the room''s door.


    ¡°If you''re not busy before you go to sleep, try to think about ways to capture a seventy foot long giant snake that moves as fast as a horse.¡± I said to them as they left the room. They all jerked at the absurd comment and I laughed and used a Presence Hand to shut the door on their surprised faces.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Maylia exclaimed, and both Afyne and I laughed.


    ¡°Hey, they needed to know what''s going on.¡± I said and picked Afyne up, then put her over my shoulder in a fireman''s carry. ¡°Time for bed!¡±


    Maylia sighed as I twirled Afyne around a couple of times and plopped us both onto the bed into a pile.


    ¡°Ahahahahaha!¡± Afyne laughed joyously, then Maylia jumped onto the bed beside us and made us hop slightly, which made Afyne laugh even more. I quickly tucked us all under the blanket and we cuddled in together.


    I kissed Afyne on the forehead and then kissed Maylia on the lips. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°G-goodnight.¡± Afyne said, her face slightly red.


    *


    Evangeline didn''t have to act surprised when she went back to her mother''s house and saw the party that the other acolytes had thrown for her. She hadn''t known that they were so creative with all the decorations and things, and then they piled presents on her. They were only modest and mainly things that she would need for her own house after she was married, except for a few nice outfits for her to wear on normal days. Those she could use right away.


    The biggest surprise was when her mother, the head acolyte, brought out her old wedding dress. Evangeline couldn''t hold the tears back as the magically cleaned fancy dress looked to be brand new, and she hugged her mother tightly as she accepted it. Of course, they were all emotional at this point and there wasn''t a dry face in the house after a few minutes.


    ¡°Have you set a date yet?¡± Someone asked.


    Evangeline shook her head. ¡°He only just asked me, and with the Goddess'' orders to stay and wait...¡±


    ¡°When the church is finished in a few days, perhaps her orders will change.¡± Someone else said.


    ¡°That''s right!¡± Aimee said excitedly. ¡°Maybe that''s what she''s making you waiting for!¡±


    ¡°I doubt she would stop her emissaries from going out to seal the cracks, just so one of her acolytes can get married.¡± Another one said.


    ¡°I don''t see why not... but, if that''s true, then... she''s doing it because it''s one of the emissaries!¡± Aimee said and smiled. ¡°She wants him married in her church!¡±


    ¡°That has to be it.¡± One of the other acolytes said. ¡°That would be perfect.¡±


    ¡°We can even do the preliminary arrangements until then.¡± One of them said. ¡°Oh, this is wonderful!¡±


    ¡°The first official function will be a wedding of the Sorcerer Priest of Light!¡± Another said and they all became excited.


    ¡°We''re all jumping a little ahead of ourselves.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°We can''t do all of that on our own. Josh needs to decide when it will happen.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure that once he hears what we plan to do with the church, he''ll be honored to be the first person to be married.¡± Aimee said. ¡°He loves Evangeline so much!¡±


    ¡°What about the dowry?¡± Someone asked.


    ¡°There isn''t one.¡± The head acolyte sighed. ¡°You all know her father died before she was a teenager.¡±


    ¡°So, there''s no money at all.¡±


    ¡°We didn''t even have a chance to start putting money away.¡± The head acolyte said, sadly.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± Evangeline said and held her mother''s hand. ¡°You know Josh isn''t going to care that I don''t have one.¡±


    ¡°That''s not the point, dear.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°What will the marriage be like if it doesn''t start off in the traditional way?¡±


    Everyone was quiet for several moments while they thought about that, then the silence was broken by a knock on the door. One of them stood up to go and get it, then she let out a startled gasp and ran back into the living room.


    ¡°Evangeline! Aimee!¡± She said. ¡°It''s for you!¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry for the intrusion.¡± A husky voice said and came into the room.


    ¡°Captain!¡± The head acolyte exclaimed and stood.


    ¡°Now, now. Stay seated, please.¡± The captain of the guard said. ¡°I know it''s a little late; but, I finally managed to get through all of the carcasses that the emissaries brought back.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± The head acolyte asked, surprised.


    ¡°The queen informed me of their travels this morning, so I went to the castle and asked the emissaries to hand over everything they had gathered.¡± The captain said. ¡°It was a lot more than I thought and took all day to sort and count them.¡±


    The head acolyte looked at him with a puzzled expression. ¡°But... even so... why are you here?¡±


    ¡°I''m the only one that''s authorized to handle and distribute large sums of money.¡± The captain said and took out two small coin sacks, about the size of his fists, and handed one to Aimee and the other to Evangeline. ¡°Adventurer law states that you get a cut of the bounties on the creatures. When I was at the castle to give the payout to the emissaries, they said that without the two of you, the cracks you encountered couldn''t have been sealed.¡±


    Evangeline stared at the sack of coins in her hands and Aimee opened hers. She gasped at the gold and silver contents.


    ¡°They told me you were here when I told them I wasn''t allowed to leave it with them.¡± The captain of the guard said. ¡°If you will excuse me, I need to check the city patrols before I head home.¡±


    ¡°Of course, captain.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°Thank you for stopping by.¡±


    ¡°It was a pleasure.¡± The captain said and nodded, then left the living room and went out the front door.


    ¡°It has to be a sign from the Goddess.¡± One of the acolytes said. ¡°You were worried about not having a dowry, and now you have more money than you''ve ever had before!¡±


    ¡°It must be!¡± Aimee said. ¡°Look at this!¡± She said and held the small sack open and showed them the contents. ¡°Blessed be the Goddess!¡±


    ¡°Blessed be the Goddess!¡± The other acolytes repeated.


    Evangeline sat there and stared at the sack without opening it.


    Her mother, the head acolyte, put an arm around her shoulders. ¡°Yes, the Goddess wants you to be happy.¡±


    ¡°M-mother, what... what will I... no, what will we do with it all?¡±


    The head acolyte smiled. ¡°A portion should be put aside for the dowry, and if you want my suggestion, make the amount the same as what your father would have gathered if he had lived.¡±


    Evangeline nodded several times and hugged the sack of gold and silver coins. A moment later, a hand from each of them reached out and rested on her crossed arms.


    ¡°This is a great party.¡± One of the acolytes said, and the others wholeheartedly agreed.


    *


    The captain of the guard went to check on the city patrols and then went home, just like he said he would. He greeted his wife with a hug and kiss, as was his usual ritual, then he chased the two small children around the house to tire them out. They and their mother laughed as he pretended to stumble and fall, and the children tacked him and swarmed over him to claim their victory.


    ¡°I surrender! I surrender!¡± The captain said and held his hands up and the children sat on his chest and preened proudly.


    ¡°All right, time for bed.¡± Their mother said, and the kids went without a fuss. She tucked them into bed and kissed them goodnight, then went out to talk to her husband. ¡°Tell me what''s been going on.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you know me well.¡± The captain said and sat down at the kitchen table, then pat his knee. She raised her eyebrows at him for a moment, then sat down. He put his arms around her waist and held her tightly. ¡°These Emissaries of Light are perplexing both the queen and myself.¡± He said. ¡°She can''t tell if they are really here to do what needs to be done to help us, or if...¡± He stopped talking and sighed.


    ¡°...or if what?¡±


    ¡°It''s like they are... humoring us.¡± The captain said. ¡°They''ve done some great things so far, and yet both I and the queen believe that they are playing a role and aren''t really who they claim to be.¡±


    His wife thought about it for a few moments. ¡°You mean they''re pretending?¡±


    ¡°In a sense.¡± The captain said. He knew about the queen''s ability to tell her what people were, their abilities, and where they should be. ¡°They have the titles and abilities they are supposed to have; but...¡±


    ¡°From what you''ve described to me about their arrival and how they acted, it does sound like they are only just learning.¡± His wife said.


    ¡°That''s it.¡± The captain said and kissed her cheek. ¡°That''s why it''s bothering me!¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°They haven''t been what they are now for their whole lives like the others that have been brought here.¡± The captain said and smiled. ¡°When they were summoned, I think they became what was needed.¡±


    His wife stared at him with wide eyes, then she smiled back. ¡°That does make sense.¡±


    ¡°It sure does.¡± The captain said. ¡°I''ll have to tell the queen in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Will the queen knowing that make much difference?¡± She asked, and he chuckled.


    ¡°It will definitely change how she deals with them.¡± The captain said, held onto his wife and stood up, then walked out of the kitchen and through the living room. ¡°Right now, the people they''ve saved see them as having infallible judgment. The queen knows that''s not true, and now she will know why.¡±


    ¡°You know I do have legs.¡± His wife said as they approached the bedroom. ¡°I can walk perfectly fine.¡±


    ¡°That''s going to change in a few minutes.¡± The captain chuckled as he stepped into the bedroom and shut the door with his foot.

 Book Two: The Summoned 045

    I woke up early the next morning and carefully slipped out of bed. I figured this was the only chance I was going to get to work on the repairs that my armor needed. I had put it off for too long already, and my search for appropriate tools had been fruitless. I was going to have to rely on my own Presence to do the delicate work, as if sewing the thick material wasn''t going to be time consuming on its own.


    I opened my bag of holding and took out the things I had purchased in the capital city at the tailor shop and put them on the table, then picked up my uniform top. It was still quite heavy, and I couldn''t turn it on, since I was going to work on the wires that had been cut. I sat down on a chair and held in my sigh as I unhooked my father''s Light sword from my belt. I held it in my hands and stared at it for several moments, then nodded.


    Killing a dragon was a fitting final act for your weapon, father. I thought and used Presence to remove the screws and rivets in the casing. It was quite a bit more difficult than it should have been, and I remembered that I should be using mana... then ignored that thought. I had no idea what effect mana would have while I worked on electronics, so I used Presence only. Once all the screws and rivets were removed, I pulled the Light sword apart with Presence. The sight made me remember tearing up a droid to make my very first Light sword. I would love to have a fully functioning droid right now.


    I put the lenses aside and looked at the various internal components. I was really regretting leaving my electronics toolkit in the backpack and hadn''t had it in my pocket, because I wasn''t going to be able to completely harvest the wires that attached the components together like I could have. Without melting them off with the soldering iron, I would have to use Presence to sever them as close to the contact points as possible, which meant the wires would be that much shorter on both ends.


    I quickly checked the elbow of the uniform and saw that it was a clean slice through the fabric and the wires that connected the plates together hadn''t been pulled out, only severed. I was going to have to patch them with smaller bits of wire to give it a little slack and then tuck it back into the seam before sewing it back together. Unfortunately, that was going to be the easy part.


    I looked at the hole in the front of the uniform where Kara''s Light sword had gone through, and the whole section of wires between two metal plates had been burned away by the Light sword''s energy. The back was worse, because the angle of her sword had gone through two sets of wires and had eaten those away as well. I stopped my sigh before it escaped and counted the pieces of wire I was going to need. I looked back at the Light sword and counted the wires.


    If I''m lucky, I can split them in half and have them work. I thought. It''s going to mean a lot of exposed wires, though.


    I sat there and thought about how I was going to do it, then I had an idea. I concentrated on one of the wires in the Light sword and specifically its coating, then I used Presence to slowly move it back and exposed part of the wire. There wasn''t much slack in it, though. I used another bit of Presence to create a blade and severed the wire just before the contact point, let the coating go and it covered the wire end, then I did the same thing at the other end of the wire.


    This... might just work. I thought and picked up the harvested wire that had extra coating on it. For the next half an hour, I slowly cannibalized all of the wires out of the Light sword and spliced them into the damaged areas on my armored uniform. Thanks to moving the coating out of the way each time I cut the wires, there was enough coating to cover the spots that I had used Presence to intertwine the wires together. It wasn''t perfect, since the cut was there, so I used one of the leather working tools to shim a thin piece of leather off of the scraps I had and sewed it around the repairs, just in case.


    I took the battery pack from the Light sword and hooked it up to the batteries in the armor''s shoulder pads to let them charge up. There wasn''t much energy left in the armor, considering how much I had used it while it was damaged, and it drained the Light sword''s battery in only a few minutes.


    By that time, I had successfully done a horrible sewing job on the elbow of the uniform and attached a thin strip of thick leather to cover the cut and hold it together. It was the only way, unless I wanted to shorten that arm slightly to get the fabric close enough to sew it, and I wasn''t going to give up the coverage at my wrist for that. Plus, it would probably hang wrong on my arm and not be comfortable.


    I disconnected the dead battery from the armor and looked at the regulating component for the focusing crystal. I''ll play with that later. I thought and got back to work on sewing large ugly patches of thick leather over the holes Kara''s Light sword had made in the front and back of my uniform. Unlike what people may think, even with the proper tools, I still made a complete mess of it. I had trimmed the leather piece on the wrong side and sewed it to the uniform, which made the cloth bulge out and distorted the shape of the metal plates.


    I grit my teeth and had to cut the thing off, flipped it over, then sewed it back on again. It hung properly this time; but, since I had used the same holes as before, the piece was slightly loose and I could move it, even though I had pulled the thick thread tightly and tied it off at each hole. I shook my head and cut the threads to remove the piece and tossed it aside. I took several breaths and used a mental technique to remain calm, then I started over with a new piece of thick leather.


    *


    Maylia had woken when Hunter had left the bed; but, she didn''t let on that she had. She kept her eyes closed and watched what he was doing with curiosity. When he took out the ancient artifact, her interest heightened, then she almost gasped as the thing opened up and floated apart without him touching it or using a Mana Presence Hand. She used the mental technique that Hunter had taught her to remain calm and kept observing. She had no idea what all those little things were that he was taking from the ancient artifact; but, he was putting them into his armor and that shocked her.


    Her motherly instincts kicked in when Hunter started to sew his uniform. She almost hopped out of bed to take it from him so that it could be done properly, then she squashed that impulse and stayed in bed to watch him. Her heart went out to him as he made mistake after mistake, and the urge to go and help him was so strong that she opened her eyes and sat up. With the better vantage point, she saw him take the bad leather patch off completely and toss it aside, then he started over. She laid back down and closed her eyes, because if she interfered now, he would probably stop and wouldn''t finish.


    Maylia laid there and watched him, his mistakes and his successes, and she couldn''t help herself and she smiled. She had never seen a man work so hard to get something right before, and as she watched him, his own smile appeared as he worked and she knew that letting him work it out for himself had been the best course of action to take, despite her desire to help him in all things.


    She felt something warm start to build up inside of her, and she recognized it as part of Hunter''s private lessons. That surprised her, considering it had been a few days since the last time he had tried to teach her those things. She became warmer at that thought, and she had to use the calming technique again to stop her thoughts from reliving one of his lessons. She took in a shallow breath and let it out, then let her body relax and kept watching the man that she had devoted herself to.


    *


    Allirynn woke up and looked at the woman he held in his arms. They had undressed and taken a bath, then put on proper sleeping clothes for the first time since they had been attacked. He had surprisingly slept well, and he wasn''t sure why the weight he felt over the death of his friends had eased slightly the night before. He only knew that it was after he had talked to Hunter and had made his pledge. He noticed that Imiryl hadn''t cried as much before falling asleep, either.


    He admired her strength and her resolve, and he treasured the fact that she had survived and they could get through their despair together. If it had only been him, he wasn''t sure if he would have gotten over losing them all, so he clung to her as tightly as he could. He would give up everything he was to make sure that she lived, and he was pretty sure that she would do the same thing for him.


    *The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Evus the guard had tried to gallantly sleep on the floor so that Diofra the mage could have the large bed all to herself. She had vehemently denied his request for a spare blanket and told him that if he wanted to sleep on the floor like an animal, then he didn''t need a blanket. If he wanted to sleep like a normal man, then he could get changed and climb into the bed with her. She claimed that there was plenty of room and she had climbed onto her side after changing into a fancy nightgown in the bathroom.


    Evus had sighed and took off his armor and changed in the bathroom as well, because it was definitely too cold to sleep on the floor without a blanket, then he climbed into the other side of the bed and stayed as far away from her as possible. They both slept through the night and woke up early the next morning.


    ¡°This doesn''t make us a couple.¡± Diofra said. ¡°We only shared a bed and not each other.¡±


    ¡°I''m pretty sure that just the implication that we went to bed together is going to make people talk.¡± Evus responded.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Diofra asked, surprised.


    ¡°Everyone in the inn''s lobby last night saw me come up here with a woman. They are going to assume we spent the night together... and we did.¡± Evus said.


    ¡°We. Were. Only. Sleeping.¡± Diofra said pointedly and sat up to glare at him.


    ¡°Of course we were.¡± Evus said. ¡°No one else but us is going to believe that, though.¡±


    Diofra looked angry for a moment, then she sighed. ¡°It shouldn''t matter what people think.¡±


    Evus chuckled. ¡°If only that were true.¡± He said and sat up as well. ¡°Before we get out of bed, I just want you to know something.¡±


    ¡°What''s that?¡±


    ¡°I still respect you, even though you slept with a stranger last night.¡± Evus said with a huge smile.


    Diofra''s face lost all expression as she sighed. ¡°Do you really?¡±


    Evus reached out and touched her arm briefly. ¡°I appreciate that you took the chance to sully your virtue, just so I could have a comfortable night''s sleep in the same bed with you.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t thinking that far ahead and what it would mean.¡± Diofra said, a little sadly.


    ¡°I''ll take the blame for this, if it ever comes up.¡± Evus said. ¡°I won''t tell anyone that it was your idea.¡±


    ¡°You''re going to guard my virtue?¡± Diofra asked.


    ¡°If all we ever do is sleep, then yes.¡± Evus teased. ¡°I am a royal guard, after all.¡±


    Diofra looked at his face for a moment, then nodded. ¡°We should get dressed.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡± Evus asked. ¡°Breakfast won''t be for a while yet.¡±


    ¡°Are you suggesting we stay in bed?¡± Diofra asked, surprised.


    ¡°Unless you want to do something else.¡± Evus asked and gave her another huge smile.


    ¡°Are you going to keep saying things like that?¡± Diofra asked.


    ¡°Not in public.¡± Evus laid back down. ¡°This is private between us and no one''s business but ours.¡±


    Diofra nodded and laid back down as she pulled the blanket up to her neck. They were both silent for several minutes before Evus spoke.


    ¡°Can I compliment you without you getting angry?¡± Evus asked.


    ¡°It depends on the compliment.¡± Diofra said without any inflection in the tone of her voice.


    ¡°You''re the first woman I''ve seen wearing a nightgown like that.¡± Evus said without looking at her. ¡°It''s really nice.¡±


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Diofra said, and accepted the compliment graciously. She might have hollered and yelled if he had said something lewd about her body, as she had fully expected him to, and she had been pleasantly surprised that he complimented her clothing instead.


    They laid in bed, together and separate, and waited for breakfast to be served.


    *


    Steven woke up in the cell with the lamia and he wasn''t surprised that she had wrapped her lower half around him again. The cells weren''t quite cold; but, they weren''t quite warm, either. He knew she needed the extra body heat and he never objected to her whenever she used him like a personal heater. Siada had pressed her upper half onto him as well and hugged him tightly, as if she could coax even more heat out of him, and he held in his laugh at the thought.


    Under the right conditions, being in jail isn''t so bad. Steven thought, then he heard the dungeon door as it opened and the rattle of keys. He listened as the footsteps came closer, and then a face appeared in the little window of the door.


    ¡°I''ve got breakfast for you.¡± The guard said. ¡°I''m still only allowed to bring one tray.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine.¡± Steven said.


    The guard unlocked and opened the cell door and walked in with the food tray and Steven saw that it was overloaded with food.


    ¡°Thanks a lot.¡± Steven said and the guard nodded and left. ¡°You can stop pretending to be asleep.¡±


    Siada moved her hands slightly and lifted her head from his chest to look into his eyes.


    ¡°Yes, I can tell when you''re faking it.¡±


    Siada sighed and Steven chuckled.


    ¡°I''m not trying to discourage you, I''m just letting you know that you don''t have to fake it.¡± Steven said. ¡°Do you feel up to eating?¡±


    Siada nodded, so they got up and shared breakfast. When they were done, Steven sat down on the bunk and Siada slithered onto the bunk beside him. She twisted her tail around one of his legs, tapped his chest, then pointed out the door.


    ¡°No. I''m staying right here.¡± Steven said and she squinted her eyes at him. ¡°Don''t give me that look.¡±


    Siada sighed and Steven put an arm over her shoulder.


    ¡°I''m sure this is all going to be cleared up as soon as possible.¡± Steven said. ¡°I''m going to stay with you until it is.¡±


    Siada mimed a blade across her throat, and it was his turn to sigh.


    ¡°Look, I''ll do everything I can to stop them from killing you.¡± Steven said. ¡°I''ll plead, beg, and even fight if I have to.¡±


    Siada shook her head no.


    ¡°You can''t talk to defend yourself, Siada. I''m not going to let them persecute you when you can''t even defend yourself.¡± Steven said, and she hissed at him. ¡°I meant verbally.¡±


    Siada nodded and they sat in silence while they waited to see what her fate was going to be.


    *


    The captain of the guard informed Queen Celestina of his and his wife''s insights that they had the night before, and she had to go over everything the emissaries had said and done since they had arrived. Unfortunately, those insights seemed to fit the evidence and the queen sighed.


    ¡°I had expected seasoned veterans, like all of the others that had been brought here.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°As had I.¡± The captain said. ¡°Are you sure that Hunter is their chosen hero?¡±


    The queen squinted her eyes at him, and he held his hands up in surrender.


    ¡°I meant that he acts completely different from them, not that your ability might be wrong.¡±


    The queen nodded. ¡°Yes, he seems to be... more...¡±


    ¡°No need for more adjectives, your majesty.¡± The captain said and smiled. ¡°More is enough.¡±


    The queen let a small smile touch her lips, then it disappeared. ¡°I''ll need to arrange for some... special schooling... for the Emissaries of Light.¡± She said. ¡°Their behaviour has been favorable for the most part, except when it comes to caring for others besides themselves.¡±


    ¡°It seems like they don''t care what happens to the people when their attention can''t be diverted from a task their goddess assigns them.¡± The captain said. ¡°At least, that''s what I''ve heard from a few reliable sources.¡±


    ¡°The driver and the guide?¡± The queen asked with a knowing look, and he laughed.


    ¡°I sometimes forget how good your own information gathering skills are.¡±


    The queen nodded. ¡°I''ve observed the archmage a few times now, and it''s not that they don''t care. They just are not as concerned when it comes to the welfare of others.¡±


    ¡°Will you be teaching them?¡± The captain asked, and she shook her head.


    ¡°No, I will leave that in the hands of a more qualified teacher. She will inform them of their lack of certain skills and will correct that failure.¡± The queen said. ¡°I know you''re busy, so I should thank you now for coming to see me so early.¡±


    ¡°I do need to go.¡± The captain said. ¡°Have a good day, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I will.¡± The queen said and let a smile touch her lips again.


    *


    Kara and the others were woken up and given breakfast fairly quickly, then the emissaries were asked to go to a certain room in the castle. Evangeline and Aimee were asked to go about their business while the emissaries were busy with a task that the queen needed them to do. When Kara, Josh, and Jessica stepped inside the room, it changed from one with only a few chairs and a table, to that of a traditional classroom.


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Josh asked and looked around.


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Jessica said and touched one of the desks. ¡°It feels real.¡±


    ¡°It''s a simple transmogrification spell.¡± A woman''s haughty voice said from behind them. Josh and Jessica jumped a little at the scare and whirled around to look; but, Kara just turned and looked normally. A very well-dressed woman stood in the doorway, and Kara couldn''t detect her. At all.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°For the next few days, I am going to be your teacher.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°What for?¡± Josh asked, surprised.


    ¡°We will get to that in a moment.¡± She said. ¡°Please sit down so we can get started.¡±


    Josh and Jessica exchanged glances and looked back at her.


    The woman''s haughty voice became sharp as a whip when she spoke. ¡°Shall I make it an order?¡±


    Jessica was confused about the woman''s behaviour. ¡°Ma''am, you do realize that we are the Emissaries of Light, don''t you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know who you are, archmage.¡± The woman said with squinted eyes. ¡°The three of you. Sit. Down.¡±


    Jessica, Josh, and Kara were surprised when they were overcome with the urgent need to sit immediately, and they sat at the closest desks.


    ¡°Wh-what was that?¡± Jessica gasped.


    ¡°You people are not the only ones around here with special abilities.¡± The woman said, her voice full of derision. ¡°Did you think you were?¡±


    ¡°No, but...¡±


    ¡°You believe you are better than everyone else, just because you have been summoned?¡± The woman snapped. ¡°Well, I have some startling news for you. You are not.¡± She said. ¡°That is one thing you will need to learn as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we''re only here to...¡± Josh started to say.


    ¡°Quiet.¡± The woman said, and his mouth snapped shut. ¡°You will sit there and you will listen. Speak only when spoken to. Give concise answers when asked a question, and do not elaborate unless invited to.¡±


    Layer upon layer of restrictions kept the three of them in their seats and quiet, and the woman smiled.


    ¡°Let this in and of itself be a lesson for you.¡± She said. ¡°There will always be someone more powerful than you.¡±


    The three of them stared at her and didn''t respond, because they couldn''t. She hadn''t asked a question or invited them to speak.


    ¡°Now, let''s get started.¡± The woman said and walked to the front of the classroom and began the lesson.

 Book Two: The Summoned 046

    I finished sewing up my armor and used the jar of coal pitch to blacken the leather patches to hide them and the thread I had used. I was quite happy that it matched the black dye of the uniform and my repairs didn''t stand out like I was worried they would. It wasn''t seamless, not by any stretch of the imagination; but, it was repaired as well as it was going to be, especially since I was pretty much the only one that could work on it safely and without damaging the wires.


    I hung the uniform coat on the back of the chair to let the coal pitch dry, then I stored everything into my bag of holding, including the war hammer that I had left out the night before. I glanced up at the ceiling that I had broken with a Mana Presence Hand and wondered how I was going to fix it, when there was a knock on the door. I looked through it and saw the innkeeper''s daughter with a tray of food. I dug into my pants pocket that was on another chair to grab a couple of copper coins, then went over to the door and answered it.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± I whispered and took the tray with a Mana Presence Hand and handed her the two copper coins. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The young woman nodded and I closed the door as silently as I could. I brought the food over to the table and Maylia sat up in bed.


    ¡°I guess it''s time to get up.¡± Maylia said and gently shook Afyne awake.


    Afyne whined a little and her hands reached out for where I had been sleeping beside her, and her hands met nothing but air. She jerked like someone had poked her with a sharp stick and bolted upright into a sitting position in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°Where is...!¡± Afyne gasped and then saw me at the table with breakfast and relaxed. ¡°I thought...¡±


    ¡°I won''t ever leave without telling you where I''m going.¡± I said in a serious tone, and she nodded.


    I brought the tray of food over to the bed, climbed onto it beside Afyne and put the tray down, then gave her a quick hug to reassure her. We ate the nice breakfast and cleaned up, then we dressed in our adventuring outfits. I saw the other members of my quite crowded party come from their rooms and they walked towards to the door of my room, so I rushed over to the door and pulled it open before any of them could knock.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± I said and waved them all inside. They came in and I shut the door behind them. ¡°I hope you all slept well, because this is going to be a long day.¡±


    The mage and the guard glanced at each other, then back at me.


    ¡°Did anyone have a chance to think about how to deal with a giant snake?¡± I asked and they all had a surprised look on their faces.


    ¡°You were serious?¡± The guard asked.


    ¡°Of course I was.¡± I said. ¡°Anyone have any ideas?¡±


    ¡°It depends on if it is hiding inside one of those cracks.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°If it is, we can trap and probably kill it. If it''s just out and around, we''d have to wait until it''s asleep before we would have a chance to do anything else.¡±


    ¡°That''s how we caught it the first time.¡± Maylia said. ¡°We approached it from two directions and...¡±


    ¡°You should have killed it from a distance.¡± Allirynn said.


    ¡°That might have been possible, assuming it didn''t detect whatever you attack it with.¡± The mage said. ¡°Some snakes have very acute sensory organs on the sides of their noses and can react instantly.¡±


    ¡°It threw up!¡± Afyne blurted out. ¡°They scared it and it ran away!¡±


    ¡°That''s not something I''ve heard snakes do.¡± The mage said. ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said with a sharp tone, and she nodded in acknowledgement that I wasn''t going to say anything else about it. Allirynn leaned close to Imiryl and whispered.


    ¡°It was either a delay tactic or it needed to lose the extra weight to get away faster.¡± Imiryl said.


    ¡°Yes, that would make sense.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Making itself lighter would let it move a lot faster. I hope when we find it that it''s not sluggish, because that means...¡±


    ¡°...it would have just eaten.¡± I said. ¡°Yeah, no one wants that to happen.¡±


    Everyone was quiet for a moment.


    ¡°First things first.¡± I said. ¡°Let''s find some paper and copy that crack locator spell a few times, then we''ll head out of town and cast it.¡±


    ¡°Why out of town?¡± The guard asked.


    ¡°In case there''s something wrong with it or it does something weird.¡± I said. ¡°It''s always safer to do things like that when you''re not near the general population.¡±


    Imiryl gave me an odd look. ¡°Do you actually care about things like that?¡±


    ¡°Don''t you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Maylia said and I looked at her. ¡°She''s asking if you actually care about collateral damage.¡±


    ¡°I know; but, it''s such an odd question that I wondered what made her think... oh.¡± I tried not to sigh. ¡°I''m not with them, so if they gave you that impression, you can forget about it right now.¡±


    ¡°If you are the summoned hero, then they...¡± Imiryl started to say.


    ¡°I never agreed to anything.¡± I said and cut her off. ¡°I was taken without my knowledge or consent and sent here. I didn''t have any choice in the matter, and I hate that. A lot.¡± I used a mental technique to stay calm and my anger didn''t try to rise. ¡°Regardless of the circumstances, I''m here now. So, I''m going to do the best that I can to deal with the situation. Not for the goddess and definitely not for her emissaries. I''m doing this for me and for those that I care about. This world is dangerous and I will protect them from it.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°If I go out there with the belief that I''m going to save the world, I am going to fail.¡± I said and they all stared at me. ¡°I can''t save the world. That''s too lofty of a goal for any one person, or even a group, to take on.¡±


    ¡°But... but we... that''s always...¡± Imiryl stammered.


    I put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Don''t delude yourself by thinking that the fate of the entire world rests on your shoulders.¡± I said, and I could see in her eyes that was exactly what she was doing. I glanced at Allirynn and saw a similar look. ¡°Remember your pledge to me. You shouldn''t try to save every single person from losing people. It''s not possible. All you need to do is concentrate on saving the next person.¡±


    ¡°That''s short-sighted.¡± Allirynn said.


    ¡°Only because you don''t realize that there will always be someone next to save.¡± I said, and his eyes widened. ¡°Yeah, you''re getting it.¡± I said with a smile and looked back at Imiryl and gave her shoulder a squeeze. ¡°Do the immediate goal and achieve it. It''s not that far fetched, is it? Saving one person?¡±


    Imiryl shook her head no.


    ¡°Once you save someone, you can feel good that you''re making a difference, then you can move on to the next person to save.¡±


    ¡°That''s so...¡± Imiryl stopped talking.


    ¡°You have my permission to say that it''s simplistic, because it is.¡± I chuckled. ¡°It also works.¡±


    ¡°But... but we...¡±


    ¡°I did it for almost a year and started to take down an all powerful organization that spans hundreds of worlds. My goal wasn''t to kill them all, since that was completely unrealistic. I just wanted to save the next person from them so they wouldn''t suffer, then moved on to the next person.¡±


    ¡°How... how many...¡±


    ¡°Too many to count.¡± I said with a smile and let her shoulder go. ¡°Once you included those people''s families and friends who let others know what my friends and I were doing...¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°Word spread like a wildfire.¡± Alliynn said with a nod of respect.


    ¡°It did, so that''s what I''m going to do here.¡± I said. ¡°You all pledged to help me, so that''s what we need to do. We are going to start by saving the next victim from this giant snake.¡±


    Everyone nodded, even Afyne.


    ¡°Okay, now that we''ve got that out of the way, we need to discuss what roles we have, so we all know where our uses will be best.¡± I said. ¡°I''m a Psionic Vanguard and I apparently lead from the front.¡±


    ¡°You''re a what?!?¡± Most of them said in response, and I chuckled.


    ¡°Hey, more people that have no idea what I can do.¡± I laughed. ¡°I''ll find out what my class can do when I find someone that can tell me about it.¡±


    ¡°You don''t know?¡± Diofra the mage asked.


    ¡°I told you. I had no idea what was going on when I came here.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°I have a name and a location for the person; but, it''s pretty far from here, so I''m not worrying about it for now.¡± I said and looked at Allirynn. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Unarmed combat fighter.¡±


    ¡°I guess that explains the massive amount of mana in your muscles and bones.¡± I said. ¡°You can''t use weapons at all?¡± I asked, and he shook his head. ¡°What about throwing a rock?¡±


    ¡°Throwing a... are you joking?¡± Allirynn asked.


    ¡°You didn''t think of that?¡± I asked, and he shook his head again. ¡°Well, we can try it later. Either tossing a rock at a target or using it to crush a bug.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Yes, it has the potential to become a weapon.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°You have such strange thoughts.¡± Imiryl said.


    ¡°The blast shield over my eyes didn''t give you that impression already?¡± I asked and tapped the black metal. ¡°I think I''m losing my touch.¡±


    Maylia laughed. ¡°I''m a... was a guard. I fight swiftly with my sword and my fists.¡±


    ¡°I''m a stable hand.¡± Afyne said proudly. ¡°The best in the capital.¡±


    That made everyone smile.


    ¡°I''m a royal guard for Queen Celestina.¡± Evus the guard said. ¡°I can fight with sword and shield.¡±


    ¡°I''m a court mage.¡± Diofra said. ¡°I can cast both offensive and defensive spells.¡±


    ¡°Do you need time to prepare? To pray or something?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, and that''s why I''m one of the most powerful court mages.¡± Diofra said, just as proudly as Afyne.


    ¡°I''m an ice maiden.¡± Imiryl said, and the mage, the guard, Afyne, and Maylia caught their breath and stared at her.


    ¡°What''s that mean?¡± I asked when I saw their reaction.


    ¡°We live very long and sheltered lives. It''s against our society''s rules to leave the comfort of the mountains.¡± Imiryl said.


    I intentionally didn''t glance at Maylia, because her society had the same rules. ¡°What else?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°You didn''t just decide one day to leave, did you? Something must have happened.¡±


    Imiryl quickly glanced at Allirynn and then back at me.


    I didn''t need to hear any other reasons. ¡°What can you do?¡±


    ¡°You really don''t know anything.¡± Diofra the mage said, a little surprised at the truth. ¡°She''s an elemental sorceress. Ice in all its forms is hers to control.¡±


    ¡°That sounds handy.¡± I said. ¡°Have you stood in a desert and made it snow?¡±


    Imiryl stared at me and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°I''ll take that as a no.¡± I said and looked at their faces. ¡°I see that I''ve got a lot to teach you about testing your limits.¡±


    ¡°Which you can do at a later time.¡± Maylia said with a smile. ¡°We need to get that paper and cast the spell.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we better get on that right now.¡± I said. ¡°I really hope there''s no crack nearby, though.¡±


    ¡°Me, too.¡± The mage said. ¡°I hate snakes, and the thought that thousands of them are just waiting to come here to eat us all...¡± She shivered uncontrollably for a moment.


    ¡°Then let''s get work.¡± I said and led them all out of the room and down the stairs to the innkeeper and we handed over the keys to the rooms. ¡°I''m sorry to tell you this; but, I damaged the ceiling in my room. There''s a hole about this big that goes up into the attic.¡± I said and held my hands almost a foot apart. ¡°We were experimenting and...¡±


    ¡°Say no more.¡± The innkeeper said with a smile. ¡°We''ve had adventurers stay here before.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for being so understanding.¡± I said and handed him a silver coin. ¡°I hope that''s enough to cover the repairs and the loss of the room rental until it''s fixed.¡±


    ¡°It''s more than enough, sir.¡± The innkeeper said with a huge smile on his face and slipped the coin out of sight, then he waved to us as we left to go to the general store. I had been tempted to leave Afyne behind, since there were too many of us to take the horses this time; but, I knew that she wouldn''t like it, not after my promise to always protect her.


    I bought a pile of paper and coal pencils and gave some of them to the mage, and she quickly copied over the spell several times and stored them, then handed the original back to me. With that done, we walked out of town and found a good spot and the mage asked for my help. She took out her mana crystal and put it on a flat rock next to the paper with the spell on it, then she held her hand out to me.


    ¡°I don''t think you''re going to need the crystal.¡± I said.


    ¡°It lets me channel more of my mana into a spell, so I''m using it as the catalyst.¡±


    I shrugged and took her hand. ¡°Do you want me to start sharing now or...¡±


    ¡°I''ll let you know.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°I don''t want to interrupt the spell when you''re surprised.¡± I said, and she chuckled. ¡°I''m serious.¡±


    ¡°I''m using the crystal, so as long as the mana gets added, it won''t matter if I''m surprised.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll follow your lead.¡±


    Diofra started to chant out loud as she read the spell and her finger moved down the page, then she started to glow. She was about halfway down the page when the five inch wide crystal glowed and she paused and nodded to me. I used a touch of Presence to initiate the connection between us and she caught her breath, then I started to add my mana. She didn''t gasp like I thought she would, though. I looked down at it and it glowed brighter and brighter.


    Diofra''s glow doubled and I felt my mana go through her and into the crystal. ¡°S-s-s-stop.¡± She whispered and I slowed the mana down to almost nothing. Her hand trembled as she moved it down the page and she finished reading the rest of the spell out loud. When she said the last word, the paper dissolved and I felt all the mana she had built up inside the crystal get sucked away as a twenty foot wide slightly green see-through bubble formed around us. It wasn''t the local area like I had expected, though.


    It was the entire First Sothen Kingdom.


    ¡°WOW!¡± Afyne yelled as the map appeared. ¡°It''s so pretty!¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t help us much.¡± Allirynn said.


    ¡°Hush.¡± Imiryl said and pat his arm, then looked at Diofra. ¡°You need more concentration.¡±


    ¡°She must have been thinking of the safety of the whole kingdom and not the local area.¡± Maylia said.


    I sighed. ¡°I should have emphasized what I said for you, too.¡± I said to Diofra, who stared at the map like she had never seen anything like it before. ¡°Diofra.¡± I said and she didn''t react. ¡°DIOFRA!¡±


    ¡°Huh? What?¡± Diofra looked at me and blinked her eyes.


    ¡°The local area, please.¡± I said.


    ¡°The local... oh, yes. Okay.¡± Diofra said and closed her eyes. ¡°Agotorn and the surrounding area. Agotorn and the surrounding area.¡± She chanted and the map zoomed into the town and showed several miles around it.


    ¡°Okay, everyone. Help us look for... well, something odd.¡± I said, and they all started to look at the map for anything out of the ordinary.


    ¡°I don''t see anything.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°Isn''t it weird that I''m looking for something that I don''t know what I''m looking for or what it looks like?¡±


    Allirynn put his arm around her waist and they kept looking.


    ¡°There!¡± Afyne said and pointed to a spot a couple of miles away. ¡°Look! It''s a black spot!¡±


    ¡°I don''t think that''s...¡± The guard started to say, then he walked over to her. ¡°Hey, I think she''s right.¡±


    ¡°She sure is.¡± I said and quickly drew out where it was on paper. ¡°Thank you, Afyne.¡±


    ¡°Y-you''re welcome.¡± Afyne said with a slightly red face.


    ¡°Okay, now I have a question.¡± I said and turned to the mage. ¡°Can we locate the snake with this?¡±


    ¡°Not unless you have something that it owned or was a part of it.¡± Diofra said and dismissed the spell. She picked up the mana crystal and put it into her bag of holding.


    I thought about the thing it threw up and shook my head. I wasn''t going to consider trying to carry some like that around just to locate the snake, assuming we could carry it.


    ¡°Then we do it the old fashioned away and hunt it down.¡± I said and turned to Imiryl. ¡°You''re our ace in the hole.¡±


    ¡°I''m your what?¡± Imiryl asked, surprised.


    ¡°You''re the trump card. The thing we need to win.¡± I said. ¡°Snakes need external heat to maintain their body temperature.¡±


    Imiryl nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°Good, because we''re going to use that to our advantage and we''re going to end this thing before it eats anyone else.¡± I said. ¡°We know where the crack is, so we''re going there first.¡±


    ¡°I''ll try tracking the snake when we get close to that thing.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Everyone needs to watch carefully for the snake until then.¡±


    ¡°It moves unbelievably fast, so I''m tempted to get the horses for Afyne and Imiryl.¡± I said.


    ¡°That''s a good idea.¡± Evus the guard said. ¡°It keeps them slightly out of harm''s way, and keeps them more mobile than us.¡±


    I nodded and we went back into town. I had Maylia on one side and Afyne on my other side, and I held her hand. Just before we reached the stable, I came to a stop and gave Afyne a pile of copper coins. She stared at them for only a moment, then she understood. She had already given away the copper coins I had given her in the capital. She had handed them to the stable worker and hadn''t kept them for herself, even though she had earned them for taking care of the horses herself.


    Afyne smiled at me and we went into the stable to retrieve the horses. The young man had them kitted up and saddled in record time and she gave him two copper coins. He thanked her profusely, to everyone''s amusement, and we stepped outside with the horses. The guard went over to the carriage they had arrived in and talked to the driver.


    ¡°Where did you get such magnificent beasts?¡± Diofra the mage asked and admired the slightly oversized and very muscular horses.


    ¡°We bought them in a town a long way away.¡± I said. ¡°They weren''t in good shape then; but, we''ve taken good care of them since.¡±


    ¡°Well, whatever you''re doing to them, don''t stop.¡± Diofra said and stroked the neck of one.


    ¡°We''re going to have to buy more, since we use them to travel.¡± I said and helped Afyne climb up onto my horse. ¡°I doubt anyone here besides Maylia could keep up with me on foot.¡±


    ¡°Ahem.¡± Allirynn fake coughed and I glanced at him.


    ¡°We can race later.¡± I said. ¡°Help Imiryl climb up onto Maylia''s horse.¡±


    Allirynn looked at me with slightly squinted eyes.


    ¡°That was advice, not an order.¡± I said and gave him a crooked smile. ¡°I''ll do it if you don''t want to.¡±


    Allirynn didn''t say anything and held a hand out to Imiryl. She raised her eyebrows at me and then took Allirynn''s hand. He helped her climb up into the saddle and her new outfit let her ride without a problem.


    The guard came back over to us. ¡°The driver said that he has to head back since we''re all staying.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn''t be fair to make him stay.¡± Diofra the mage said. ¡°He''s got a wife to get back to.¡±


    ¡°We are definitely going to need more horses.¡± I said.


    ¡°And bedrolls. And food.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°We''ll worry about logistics later.¡± I said. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    I took the reins of my horse and led my group out of town towards the spot where the crack was and occasionally checked the paper I had drawn. Hopefully, the giant snake wouldn''t find food before we found the giant snake.

 Book Two: The Summoned 047

    My fairly large party walked the couple of miles out of town and approached the area on the map where that black spot was. Maylia easily found tracks that were only a day old, since she was on the ground and not on a horse. We quickly followed them to another large rocky mound that we had checked many times before as we passed through the area while searching. There hadn''t been anything remarkable about it then, and now I wondered if it had been concealed before.


    ¡°I can''t see the snake inside; but, we''ve checked this mound several times already. The snake either works fast to clear a spot for itself or it was already cleared and we couldn''t tell.¡± I said.


    ¡°The tracks are new, so I think it can clear out a spot for itself quickly.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I don''t see anything different, either.¡±


    ¡°No other signs of the snake?¡± Allirynn asked.


    ¡°Unfortunately, no.¡± I said. ¡°Which means it''s not here or it''s inside that crack.¡±


    ¡°We should go around the mound and see if there are any other tracks.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°We''ll be right back.¡± I said to the others and held a hand out to her. She took it and I used my Stealth technique and shared the energy with her. We both faded from everyone''s sight to their surprise, except for Afyne, who had seen us do it several times already. Maylia and I quickly made our way around the mound and were relieved to not find any tracks or other holes in the rocks, so we went back to the group and I dismissed the technique.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°It''s a special technique that I''ve been using since I was a kid.¡± I said. ¡°Since it uses energy to mask...¡±


    ¡°You can share that energy with someone else, like you shared mana with me.¡± Diofra the mage said.


    ¡°Almost.¡± I said. ¡°Maylia could already move silently and this is an extension of that.¡±


    ¡°So, they need to at least have some experience with it to share as well.¡± Diofra said, and I nodded.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± The guard asked.


    ¡°We''re moving back a little ways and Imiryl is going to cover this whole place with ice and snow.¡± I said. ¡°I want it thickest in the middle, if possible.¡±


    ¡°You want it buried?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°For the most part, yes.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll make a path to the only hole in the rocks, where it''s sure to come racing out into the warmth, and Allirynn and I will be there to catch it.¡±


    ¡°We should take it out from a distance.¡± Allirynn said.


    ¡°We would, if it was actually in there.¡± I said. ¡°Both Maylia and I can see that it''s not... at least not in the parts we can see. Neither of us can see the crack or inside of it.¡±


    ¡°You can''t?¡± Afyne asked, surprised.


    ¡°I think it won''t reveal itself until we''re close enough to it.¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you talking about the snake or the crack?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°Both.¡± I said. ¡°That''s why I want Allirynn with me. With his reinforced body and unarmed combat experience, he is the best suited to grab the thing.¡±


    ¡°You don''t want the glory?¡± Allirynn asked.


    ¡°Glory?¡± I barked a laugh. ¡°If you think killing monsters gives you glory, then you''re more than welcome to have it.¡±


    Allirynn frowned, so I clapped a hand onto his shoulder.


    ¡°I didn''t say there wasn''t glory in it, I said I don''t want it.¡±


    Allirynn thought of all the creatures he had fought since he was young, and he did believe that it gave him glory. ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°I''ve got more than enough stories to tell people when I feel like telling them.¡± I said. ¡°Which isn''t very often. Even then, I save the details and some of the more... sensitive ones... for those I really care about.¡±


    Both Maylia and Afyne''s faces flushed slightly red at those words.


    I turned and looked at the guard. ¡°Evus, you stay beside Afyne and if anything approaches her...¡±


    ¡°I''ll give my life to save hers.¡± The guard said.


    ¡°I''d rather you defend her until you die.¡± I said and he gave me an odd look. ¡°Yes, there''s a difference, so remind me later to teach it to you.¡±


    Evus nodded and stood beside Afyne and my horse.


    ¡°Maylia, I need you on the right flank. If we need the distraction, attack with impunity.¡± I said and she nodded. ¡°Diofra, what offensive spells can you cast?¡±


    ¡°I''ll need five seconds for Lightning Bolt, ten seconds to cast Fireball, fifteen seconds for Blades of Air, and thirty for Rolling Earth.¡±


    ¡°Do you have anything for extra protection to others?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I have a Mana Shield spell; but, it''s stationary and constantly uses mana.¡± Diofra said.


    I thought about that for a minute. ¡°Is there any way you can partially cast a spell and then hold off on finishing it?¡±


    Diofra opened her mouth, I assumed to say that it wasn''t possible, then she smiled. ¡°If you can share some more mana, I can charge my mana crystal and can cut the casting times in half.¡± She said and took out the crystal. ¡°I don''t have the ability to pause a spell, though.¡±


    ¡°How many times can you cast Lightning Bolt?¡± I asked and took her hand.


    ¡°Until my mana runs out.¡± Diofra said and then caught her breath as I pushed mana through her and right into the crystal. She looked at it and the crystal started to fill up. ¡°How are you doing that?¡±


    ¡°I felt the mana funnel through you when you cast the other spell.¡± I said. ¡°The crystal''s full.¡±


    ¡°That''s... you''re amazing!¡± Diofra said and I smiled and let her hand go.


    ¡°You take the left flank and like Maylia, if we need the distraction, let loose with as many bolts as you can.¡±


    ¡°It''ll be like a lightning storm.¡± Diofra said with a huge smile.


    ¡°Get into position you two, and Imiryl will make the snow and ice.¡± I said, and Diofra and Maylia moved off to where I indicated.


    ¡°Do you want me to drop it around you?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°Don''t worry about us.¡± I said. ¡°You just cover this place with as much ice and snow as you can and as quickly as you can.¡±


    ¡°You''ll all freeze if I do that.¡± Imiryl said.


    I smiled. ¡°Prove it.¡±


    Imiryl looked at Allirynn and he nodded. ¡°All right.¡± She said. ¡°Give me a minute.¡±


    ¡°You have twenty seconds.¡± I said and pat Allirynn''s shoulder. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    We walked over to where I wanted to stand for the creature''s predicted emergence from the rocky outcropping and I used Presence to form boxes with pitched tops around Diofra the mage, Maylia, Allirynn, and myself. I then made a path with the same angled roof all the way over to the opening in the rocks. I had just made everything solid when about a foot of snow dropped down on top of the entire area. I laughed and Allirynn grinned at me, then he stopped grinning when strong icy winds swirled around us with more snow and nothing touched him.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Allirynn asked and looked down at the dry ground in a square around him.


    ¡°I''ll explain later.¡± I said as I saw the snake appear, practically out of nowhere, and it thrashed around in the icy cold wind inside the rocky mound. It quickly found the exit because it still had warm ground in front of it, and it slithered through the opening as fast as it could move.


    ¡°Here it comes!¡± I said and absorbed all of the solid Presence boxes I had made. ¡°Imiryl! Cover it with snow!¡±


    The blowing icy winds shifted and concentrated on the path I had made and the foot of snow around it was pushed on top of the giant snake. I used several large Mana Presence Hands to throw even more snow on top of it and then rolled a large rock over the hole it had come through and blocked it. The snake hissed and rolled around to get the snow off of it.


    ¡°Now!¡± I yelled and used the several Mana Presence Hands to try and grab the thing around the neck, and Allirynn ran forward as more mana infused itself into his muscles and bones, then he jumped and tackled it. Both I and the snake were surprised at how effective that was, and it could only flail around the parts of its long body that he didn''t have a hold of. When it realized it wasn''t going to get away, it tried to curl itself around him.


    ¡°Distractions!¡± I yelled and drew my mother''s Light sword and made the proper adjustments while I waited for the right moment. ¡°Imiryl, that''s enough!¡±


    The snow, ice, and sleet stopped to give everyone a clear view, then the tail of the snake was hit with a Lightning Bolt, then another two seconds later, then another. The whole snake jerked from each hit, and then Maylia was there and jabbed her sword into the middle of the thing''s body. It didn''t react at all, so she turned to the side and ran with her sword still inside the snake. It definitely noticed that and tried to roll over to get its lower body away from the extreme pain, and that was my cue.


    I used Mana Presence Run and activated the Light sword which was now six feet long. With Allirynn to hold it steady and it was distracted by so many other concerns, it didn''t notice me at all and it couldn''t twist its exposed neck out of the way. I sliced through it like a hot knife through butter and its head flopped off and landed on the snow covered ground. I was grateful that it hadn''t had time to cover itself in mana, because the Light sword wouldn''t have been as effective if it had.


    ¡°It''s dead!¡± I yelled and everyone stopped attacking. I turned off the Light sword and hooked it to my belt, then walked back over to Allirynn and the head of the creature.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Allirynn asked. ¡°It''s still struggling!¡±


    ¡°The body doesn''t realize the head is gone. Can you hold it for a few minutes so it doesn''t hurt anyone?¡± I asked and he nodded. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Is it really dead?¡± Diofra asked as she trudged through the snow over to the path, then she jogged over to us and saw the severed head. ¡°I guess so.¡±


    ¡°Does anyone like snake meat?¡± Maylia asked as she came over to us, as did the others.


    ¡°I heard that it tastes like chicken if it''s cook right.¡± I said and everyone looked at me as I wrapped a cheap sheet around the giant snake''s head and stored it in my bag of holding. ¡°I''ve never had it myself, so I don''t know if that''s true.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think eating something from another world is very appealing.¡± The guard said, and I heard the disgust in his voice.


    ¡°Don''t knock it until you try it.¡± I quickly glanced at Maylia to make her blush a little.


    ¡°Now what?¡± Diofra asked.


    ¡°We send it back.¡± I said. ¡°According to the queen''s note, even though it''s always there, the crack appears visually when you put things through it.¡±


    ¡°How are we getting this gigantic thing all the way over there?¡± The guard asked.


    ¡°Easily.¡± I said and looked at Imiryl, then waved my hand towards the rocky mound. ¡°Miss Ice Maiden, please make us a solid ice path to our destination.¡±


    Imiryl smiled and nodded, then trotted the horse along as she created a five foot wide sheet of ice all the way over to the mound. Allirynn didn''t have to be asked to drag the thing, and once the carcass was all on the ice, it slid with almost no resistance. Afyne rode my horse and we all went over to the rocky mound together.


    ¡°Hold on. I''ve got this.¡± Diofra the mage said and cast a spell. Her mana crystal was about half empty now, and the rock I had put there rolled out of the way and the smallish hole that the snake had squeezed through expanded out. The rocks and dirt rolled out of the way as well to make the opening big enough for us all to walk through.


    ¡°Rolling Earth?¡± I asked, and she nodded.


    ¡°I''ve only used it to make avalanches.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°Don''t sell the spell short. You could make a quick pit trap with that.¡± I said.


    ¡°You mean, use an offensive spell defensively?¡± Diofra asked, surprised.


    ¡°Sure, why not.¡± I said. ¡°It should work.¡±


    She had a contemplative expression on her face as we all went into the rocky mound and I waved Allirynn forward. He gave the snake''s body a push and it slid along the ice towards the center of the mound, then a huge gaping maw appeared out of nowhere and started to swallow the huge snake.


    ¡°AHHHH!¡± Afyne screamed.


    ¡°Afyne!¡± I snapped, and she stopped and looked at me. ¡°It''s not what it looks like.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°I would never endanger you.¡± I said and looked at the mage ¡°Diofra, did you make a Truesight square?¡± I asked, and she nodded and handed it to me. I held it up and everyone saw that it was just an illusion. It was actually a large crack, and through it was a dark and weird looking world with a handful of other giant snakes waiting there. They looked at us through the portal with blank eyes. As the dead giant snake''s body slid through the portal, the other snakes reacted. They started to fight over the carcass and Allirynn gave it one last push to get the tail end through the crack.


    I handed the Truesight square back to the mage. ¡°Now is the fun part.¡± I said sarcastically.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Diofra asked.


    ¡°Now I have to ask for help.¡± I said. ¡°Imiryl, fill this place with ice and snow and make it as cold as possible.¡±


    ¡°What about you?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I''ll be fine.¡± I said. ¡°Everyone, please go back outside.¡±


    ¡°No, I''m staying right here.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Me, too.¡± Afyne said. ¡°It scared me! I want to see it gone!¡±


    ¡°As do I.¡± Allirynn said.


    I looked at the others and their faces were just as determined. ¡°Just don''t freak out, all right? I don''t know what''s going to happen, or if anything is going to happen.¡±


    They all nodded and I sat down and covered us all in a solid Presence box. ¡°Go ahead, Imiryl.¡±


    She did as I said and filled the whole place with ice and snow, about four feet deep, and it covered everything except us and the portal. I used several mental techniques to calm myself and entered a meditative state, then I started to pray to god for help.


    *


    ¡°Maleketh!¡± The Goddess Chaiya was quite upset as she materialized inside his blue area. ¡°You''re still blocking me from seeing Hunter.¡± She said. ¡°Why won''t you let me detect where he is?!?¡±


    Maleketh laughed. ¡°He knows what happened to him now.¡±


    ¡°That''s no reason to stop me from telling the emissaries his location!¡±


    ¡°You know his view on authority... especially your authority... and he flatly refused to meet with your head acolyte when she asked to see him.¡± Maleketh said.


    ¡°He''s my emissary and my chosen hero.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°What am I supposed to tell the other emissaries when they ask me, again, where he is?¡±


    ¡°You could say that his whereabouts are not necessary for them to know right now.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°You know that he wants nothing to do with them.¡±


    Chaiya sighed. ¡°I didn''t think he hated Kara so much.¡±


    Maleketh laughed. ¡°He doesn''t hate her. He knows it was her that visited him as a child.¡±


    ¡°Then what''s going on?¡±


    ¡°She betrayed him, of course.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°Several times, actually.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Chaiya said, feigning ignorance.


    ¡°It was only little things at first, as you very well know.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°A word here, an odd comment there, then she only taught him what was necessary and not everything he needed to know.¡±


    ¡°He wasn''t a part of The Order. She wasn''t allowed to teach him everything.¡±


    ¡°She was supposed to be his master.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°She also tried to get him to open up his defenses to make him vulnerable.¡±


    ¡°Only to her.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°She wanted to be closer to him.¡±


    ¡°She wanted to manipulate him.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°She wanted to make him into her prince.¡±


    ¡°Making a man better is not a crime.¡±


    ¡°I won''t comment on that.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°When she turned on him in The Order council chamber to side with the people she knew had wronged him, that was all he needed to cut his ties with her. Everything before that were mere annoyances that he could accept and ignore... then she killed him.¡±


    ¡°He forgave her for that!¡± Chaiya exclaimed.


    ¡°Yes, with regret.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°He has a kind heart; but, it''s also been hurt more than any heart should be.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he has suffered through some...¡±


    ¡°Some?¡± Maleketh interrupted and his anger sprang forward. ¡°He lost two sets of parents! He was tortured both physically and mentally! He also lost what could have been the two great loves of his life!¡±


    Chaiya backed up and turned her head slightly away.


    ¡°I have humored you and this mission of yours, since it affects all of us.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°However, I will not disregard his wishes. If he does not want you to find him, then I will continue to block you from sensing him.¡±


    ¡°Maleketh, you know I designed the group to work together.¡± Chaiya said, her tone subdued. ¡°They can work on their own for a while; but, you know that they need his sharing ability and he will need their healing ability.¡±


    Maleketh sighed and calmed down. ¡°Yes, I know. I will talk to him the next time he asks for help and let him know. If he decides, on his own, that he will at least meet with them to discuss things, I will let you find him.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Chaiya said and touched his arm. ¡°I couldn''t ask for anything more from you than that.¡±


    Maleketh huffed. ¡°He''s going to say no.¡±


    ¡°Really? Even when his god asks him to consider it?¡± Chaiya asked with a smile, then she faded away.


    ¡°Dammit.¡± Maleketh said and sighed. ¡°She convinced me to do what she wanted. Again.¡±


    Maleketh felt a tug that he hadn''t felt in a few days, so he walked over to what seemed like a random spot and a table appeared. On the table was a large mirror, and then the reflection faded and showed him what Hunter was currently doing. He smiled and swiped a hand and rolled it back a few minutes and moved his hand over it the other way to watch it in fast forward. He nodded at what he saw and dismissed the mirror and table, then he closed his eyes to initiate astral projection and responded to his staunchest supporter''s earnest and reluctant request for help.

 Book Two: The Summoned 048

    I felt a very strong Presence start to grow and then it appeared inside of me. That was a new sensation, let me tell you. An entirely separate consciousness formed around my own and suddenly I could see and hear everything within two miles. I had consciously blocked smelling, tasting, and touching everything, because I had been warned that all of my senses would be enhanced when I asked for help.


    ¡°It must be pretty bad if you''re asking for help so soon.¡± My mouth said without me using it.


    ¡°I thought you said you couldn''t take over my body without my permission?¡± I asked god.


    ¡°I have your permission.¡± He said and chuckled a very different chuckle than mine. ¡°Your subconscious mind really doesn''t want me to talk to you in your head.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that''s true.¡± I said as I thought about the only times I had someone else in my head. They were both women that I had been very close with and it wasn''t something that I would share with just anyone. That thought made god laugh with my mouth.


    ¡°That''s really strange.¡± A woman''s voice said from behind me and I turned my head to look at her.


    ¡°I warned you not to freak out about it.¡± I said to Diofra.


    ¡°It''s not very often that people witness the Presence of a divine being.¡± My mouth said to her.


    ¡°We can actually hear the differences in your voices.¡± Imiryl said, surprised.


    ¡°We are two separate entities.¡± My mouth said. ¡°Hunter is only letting me inhabit him for a short time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and turned back to look at the crack. ¡°Do you think you can do something about sealing this thing?¡± I didn''t need the Truesight square to see it anymore and I could see the snakes still fighting over the dead snake''s carcass.


    ¡°Let me borrow your arm.¡± My mouth said and I nodded. I lost all feeling in my arm and gained immense power and strength in it, then the sensations returned.


    ¡°Whoa.¡± I said as my arm lifted up and the hand flexed several times, then pointed towards the crack.


    ¡°All right, let''s see... hmm... I think... wait, that can''t be right.¡± My mouth said.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Hunter, I need the rest of your body for a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think so.¡± I said.


    ¡°You can cancel my permission at any time.¡±


    ¡°That''s not the point.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t want to be a passenger in my own body.¡±


    My mouth chuckled. ¡°What if we compromise?¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Remember what you did with the telepath''s arm?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I said. ¡°Well, I guess that could work.¡±


    ¡°As long as you remain passive.¡± My mouth said. ¡°I need to use your mother''s Light sword as well.¡±


    ¡°Hold on, what are you going to do?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Something you shouldn''t do on your own.¡± My mouth said and I felt god''s Presence cover me and seep into my skin just below the surface. I stood up and tapped the powered armor switch under my right armpit to turn it on, then drew my mother''s Light sword with the arm god was using. ¡°Here we go!¡± My mouth said and then my body jumped into the crack.


    *


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Maylia and Afyne yelled as the gaping maw swallowed me.


    ¡°Hold on!¡± Diofra exclaimed and took out the Truesight square and held it up for everyone to look through, and they saw me land on the other side.


    *


    I stood there and looked at the handful of giant snakes in the pit, and they didn''t notice me at all. I looked up and saw that the sky was a dark red and everything seemed to be cast in a permanent reddish darkness. I could see other giant snakes on the top of the pit as they slithered around for no apparent reason, then one of them spotted me.


    My mother''s Light sword turned on and I took a fighting stance I had never used. I let my body remain passive, because I was going to be in serious trouble if I didn''t. I was covered in god''s Presence and the six foot energy blade of the Light sword glowed brightly.


    ¡°I am no one''s prey!¡± My mouth said and then I jumped several hundred feet up into the air and drove the Light sword up through the giant snake''s lower jaw, its brain, then the top of its head. In the next instant, it had been decapitated and the seventy foot long body was chopped into a hundred pieces. I only wondered for a moment what was happening, then all of the body pieces were picked up by Presence and tossed around to all of the giant snakes in the area.


    With every one of the giant snakes being fed fresh and bloody food, they all stopped what they were doing and started to eat. With them distracted, god used my body like a puppet and my mother''s Light sword to traverse the large pit and decapitated each and every giant snake that was around it and inside of it. When he was done, the only movement I could see were the writhing bodies of a hundred giant snakes.


    ¡°Okay, that was impressive.¡± I said, and my mouth laughed.


    ¡°I only used your body''s own abilities.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°Levitation, Presence Hands, Presence Run, and body reinforcement.¡± My mouth said.


    ¡°I can''t jump a couple hundred feet!¡± I exclaimed, and my mouth laughed again.


    ¡°Levitation, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°There''s no way... my Presence is... I can''t possibly...¡± I stammered.


    ¡°Not yet, anyway.¡± My mouth said. ¡°Maybe in about fifty years when you''ve gained enough Presence that doing this won''t exhaust and kill you.¡±


    ¡°That''s good to know.¡± I said sarcastically. ¡°Thanks for telling me before I tried it myself and died.¡±


    My mouth laughed again.


    ¡°Now what?¡± I asked. ¡°We''re on... wait, where the hell are we?¡±


    ¡°I was trying to figure that out.¡± My mouth said. ¡°I can''t tell if it''s daytime or nighttime.¡±


    ¡°Look for the star.¡± I said and we both concentrated on the Presence that a star should give off. After a few moments, we didn''t find any. ¡°Uh oh.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the local star is gone.¡± My mouth said. ¡°Several things could explain that... except that most of them would have destroyed the planets around them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that was my thought, too.¡± I said. ¡°Which means that the star''s Presence was consumed while leaving it intact.¡± Just like that super gas giant where my parent''s ship was. ¡°It also means something is maintaining the heat on this planet, because it should be frozen over without a sun to warm it.¡±


    ¡°This is very troubling.¡± My mouth said and my head looked up through the red sky to observe the stars. ¡°I''ll need to talk to... her.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for not saying her name.¡± I said.


    ¡°About that...¡± My mouth said, and I sighed. ¡°She designed the group of emissaries to work together.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°I had a nice long talk with Queen Celestina and she told me about adventuring parties being balanced for survival. However, she also told me that none of the other summoned parties survived.¡±


    He didn''t have any comments about that.


    ¡°Yeah, I know I''m being stubborn.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t ignore years of how I was treated, or how they treated others, and still work with them. They can call themselves emissaries; but, I know what they really are. Members of The Order.¡±


    ¡°Jessica and the others haven''t been initiated yet, so will you at least consider meeting with them?¡±


    It was a request from god, so after asking him for help in dealing with this mess, I couldn''t rightly refuse his request.


    ¡°Give me a couple of weeks.¡± I said. ¡°If they aren''t as corrupted as I believe they are by then, I''ll meet them at the capital to talk.¡±


    My head nodded. ¡°I''ve memorized the local stars, so we should go back.¡± My mouth said and then my body jumped down into the pit and I fell. Just before we hit the ground, god used Levitation to catch us and cushion the impact to reduce it to almost nothing.


    Just like in zero gravity. I thought, surprised.


    We landed right in front of the crack and stepped through it.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Afyne exclaimed.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I''m all right.¡± I said as my body turned and god held a hand out to the crack and surprisingly physically pulled it closed. Once it was, he held it closed with my hand and I felt his immense Presence flow out and it literally knit the fabric of space together like I had sewn the thick leather pieces to my uniform, then he used Presence Heal to remove the ''scar'' that was left.


    Maylia ran over to me and stopped a foot away. ¡°I thought... you were gone.¡±


    ¡°Technically, I was.¡± I said. ¡°On another planet I mean.¡±


    Maylia looked at my body and saw that god was still using me like a puppet.


    ¡°Give me a second.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°Dear god, thank you for your help.¡±


    ¡°I don''t remember the last time I got to fight so many giant creatures.¡± My mouth said with a laugh. ¡°I look forward to the next time.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we can''t just keep jumping into cracks like that.¡± I said. ¡°We could jump into an acid pit or airlessness, or into something equally horrible.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t worried.¡± My mouth said as I felt the Presence under my skin recede and it left me tingling all over. ¡°I will respect your wishes, however. We can observe and decide together the next time.¡±


    ¡°It would have been nice to do that this time.¡± I said.


    My mouth laughed. ¡°You wanted to go inside as much as I did.¡±


    I didn''t respond and my mouth laughed again.


    ¡°We needed to see what the situation was like and try to figure out what is going on, so we were going to have to send someone in eventually.¡± My mouth said.


    ¡°So, I ended up helping them anyway.¡± I said, and my mouth chuckled.


    ¡°You saved them from going into a situation like that.¡± My mouth said. ¡°Like a hero, you were going to take the responsibility for yourself.¡±


    I opened my mouth to say no, then sighed. ¡°You need to go before I change my mind about this whole thing.¡±


    My mouth laughed. ¡°You enjoyed it just as much as I did.¡± He said. ¡°I''ll spread the word about what we discovered.¡±


    ¡°Amen.¡± I said, then god''s immense Presence and his consciousness faded from my awareness and I dropped to my knees.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Maylia exclaimed and knelt to hug me.


    ¡°Whew.¡± I said. ¡°That was... tiring. I guess... he really did use... only my own body''s abilities.¡±


    ¡°You look exhausted.¡± Diofra said and held a hand out to me. I took it and she started to chant, then I felt energy flow through me. The tiredness faded and I felt much better. I wasn''t back to a hundred percent, though.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and let her hand go. ¡°Let''s head back to town and let them know that they don''t have to worry about the giant snake anymore.¡±


    I asked Imiryl to remove the ice and snow from around us so we could leave, and we all took our time and walked back to town. We met with the mayor and he was still reluctant to admit that they had a monster problem. I walked over to the middle of town and told everyone with me to cover their ears, then I used Presence to enhance my voice to epic proportions.


    ¡°HEY! EVERYONE! WE KILLED IT! IT''S DEAD! COME TO THE MIDDLE OF TOWN TO SEE!¡±


    ¡°Owowowowow!¡± Afyne said in a steady stream with her hands over her ears, so I reached up and plucked her off of my horse and took her into my arms.


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I whispered to her and kissed her cheek as I used Presence Heal on her ringing ears. I propped her on my hip like Emari used to hold me when I was a child, and I held her close while we waited for the townspeople to gather. ¡°You know, I didn''t ask how old you were.¡±


    ¡°I''m eleven.¡± Afyne said.


    ¡°That means I can baby you and care for you for another five years before you''re of age.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Would you like that?¡±


    Afyne''s face flushed to a deep red. ¡°N-no.¡±


    I felt the Presence waver a lot and held in my laugh, then I leaned in close and whispered in her ear. ¡°I guess I''ll only do it in private from now on.¡±


    Afyne looked into my eyes when I leaned back and she nodded slightly.


    ¡°What''s all the yelling about?¡± A man asked.


    ¡°You''ll see in a minute.¡± I said and saw the trickle of townspeople stop and no one else approached. ¡°Behold!¡± I said and reached into my bag of holding with one hand and pulled out the sheet-wrapped head of the giant snake to put it on the ground. I untied the sheet and held the giant snake''s head up over my head with one hand.


    Quite a few women screamed at the sight.


    ¡°Don''t be afraid!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°Thanks to Allirynn and his superb unarmed combat skills as he held it steady, and Imiryl''s fantastic control of her ice powers to contain it, we were able to subdue the creature and behead it!¡±


    The crowd gasped and some gave appreciative oos and ahhs, and Allirynn and Imiryl stared at me with surprise on their faces, because I had given them all of the glory for killing the creature.


    ¡°This town will no longer be plagued by this menace!¡± I nearly yelled, and they all cheered.


    Now that they didn''t have to hide the creature''s existence, they were all extremely happy that no one else would go missing. I put the severed head back on the sheet and Maylia tied it up for me, then I put it back into my bag of holding. When several people approached to ask about loved ones that had been taken, I had to tell them that the snake wasn''t something that took prisoners. They sighed and in some cases cried, because they understood what that meant, and Afyne put a reassuring hand on their shoulder when it was necessary.


    The whole town started to celebrate and we avoided being invited to join in. We needed supplies, so we went to the general store while Maylia took the reins of both horses and stayed outside to wait. I bought bedrolls, tents, lanterns, fire starters, oil skins, and food rations for everyone to last a week, and I carried Afyne on my hip the whole time. After that, I asked the others if they had spare clothing. They did, so we didn''t need to stop at the small tailor shop. We went back to the stable and the young man was there waiting for us.


    ¡°You wouldn''t happen to know where we can buy some horses, do you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No.¡± The young man said, sadly. ¡°The... ah... well... a lot of them went missing.¡±


    ¡°What about a carriage?¡± Evus the guard asked. ¡°We have two strong horses.¡±


    ¡°Can you drive a carriage?¡± I asked, and he shook his head. I looked at the other people''s faces and they all shook their heads. ¡°Then we need to find out how far it is to the next town.¡±


    ¡°It''s about three days by horse that way.¡± The young man said and pointed to the west.


    I glanced at Maylia. ¡°Do you think we can double up on the horses long enough to get that far?¡±


    ¡°If we boost them, I think so.¡± Maylia said. ¡°If those that can run travel beside them and we let the others ride on them.¡±


    ¡°We''ll have to stop more often to feed and water them, especially with the extra weight.¡± I said.


    Afyne nodded. ¡°I''ll take Imiryl.¡±


    ¡°I can ride a horse, so I can take Diofra.¡± Evus the guard said.


    ¡°Will we find something to do in the next town?¡± Imiryl asked as Allirynn helped her climb up behind Afyne. ¡°This is a big saddle.¡± She whispered as she touched the solid Presence she partially sat on.


    ¡°There''s nothing official on any of the lists we have.¡± I said with a smile, and she nodded her understanding that I meant there might be something, if we asked around and investigated a little.


    Once we had Afyne and Imiryl on my horse and the guard and the mage on Maylia''s horse, it left Maylia, Allirynn, and myself on the ground to run. I took Maylia''s hand and she cast the boost spells on the horses with my mana flowing through her, and both horses glowed green and stayed that way.


    ¡°Afyne, keep them to a regular pace so we can keep up.¡± I said, and she nodded. I took Maylia off to the side and we activated Mana Presence Run together. The energy flowed over us and we glowed as well. I saw Allirynn do something similar to what Maylia did to the horses and he boosted himself. A group of townspeople had gathered near us to see us off.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± A young woman said, and I turned to see the innkeeper''s daughter. She waved to us and I waved back.


    ¡°Everyone ready?¡± I asked, and everyone nodded. ¡°Then let''s go.¡±


    *


    The innkeeper''s daughter was touched that the tall and handsome angel had waved back to her, unlike all of the other adventurers she had met. Then suddenly, he took off running as fast as a horse, as did the woman with him. The tanned man was next and then both horses ran after them. It left the innkeeper''s daughter completely stunned, because she had never heard of anyone running as fast as a horse before.


    ¡°Thank god it''s over.¡± A woman''s voice said, and the innkeeper''s daughter turned to look at her, and she recognized her as the waitress in the restaurant.


    ¡°It''s too bad that the queen''s personal vassal took the head with him.¡± The mayor said. ¡°We could have made a big display and...¡±


    ¡°I''m glad he did!¡± Another woman exclaimed. ¡°I don''t want to think about that damn snake ever again, let alone want to see it every time I come into town!¡±


    ¡°Same here.¡± A man said. ¡°We can get back to our lives and not have to worry about it anymore.¡±


    ¡°We can''t forget what happened here.¡± A man said.


    ¡°I''m never going to forget it.¡± The innkeeper''s daughter said. ¡°The queen has angels working for her and they saved us.¡±


    ¡°It only took them a few days to do what other adventures failed to do for years.¡± The young man from the stable said. ¡°I''m never going to forget that, either.¡±


    Everyone fell silent and then started to drift away to go back to their lives, with the words of two young people floating through their heads.


    *


    ¡°So, that concludes today''s morning lesson on proper procedure and behaviour inside the castle.¡± The stern woman with the haughty voice said. ¡°You are required to appear here again tomorrow morning so we can continue your education.¡±


    Jessica had learned early on how to get permission to speak and raised her hand.


    ¡°Archmage, you may speak.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Jessica said. ¡°May I ask why we are being educated?¡±


    ¡°Congratulations on being the first to ask such an important question.¡± The woman praised her, and Jessica felt a nice tingle run down her spine. ¡°It has come to the queen''s attention that none of you know what you are doing.¡± She saw the surprise on the girl''s face and smiled. ¡°Yes, she knows that you only just learned that you had powers and abilities, and that you are unfamiliar with what that means for both you and the people you are trying to save.¡±


    Josh put his hand up and she looked at him.


    ¡°Sorcerer Priest, you may speak.¡±


    ¡°You don''t know anything about our powers, either.¡± Josh said. ¡°Why will learning things about the castle help us?¡±


    ¡°Not as important of a question; but a fair one.¡± The woman said. ¡°It''s discipline.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Josh asked, slightly incredulous.


    ¡°I won''t mention how completely unprepared you were to head across the countryside to retrieve your missing party member. What I will mention is your lack of compassion and understanding of the people you met along the way.¡±


    Josh frowned and Jessica sighed, and Kara didn''t react at all.


    ¡°Swordsman, you may speak.¡± The woman said. ¡°Tell me what you think.¡±


    ¡°This is a waste of time.¡± Kara said. ¡°I''m not required to understand the people in order to save them from the creatures killing them.¡±


    ¡°What if you violate one of their religious beliefs while doing that?¡±


    ¡°According to the people I''ve talked to, there are so many religions that it would be impossible not to violate at least one of them.¡± Kara said. ¡°People here don''t wear religious identification, so even if we somehow memorized all of the rules and regulations of those religions, we still couldn''t safely navigate through them all. We would have to apply all of the rules and regulations for each and every religion to each and every citizen.¡± She said. ¡°You would be better served by converting everyone to one religion and you would only have to apply one set of rules to everyone.¡±


    ¡°That would be a dictatorship.¡± The woman said. ¡°Not to mention that enforcing religious rules on a populace that doesn''t want them is tantamount to religious genocide.¡±


    ¡°That''s your personal point of view.¡± Kara said, to the woman''s surprise. ¡°If you were the ruler of a kingdom that had several dozen religions fighting each other for followers, sometimes inciting conflict over their beliefs, wouldn''t it be so much easier if there was only one church? Only one religious authority that was in charge of the entire population''s religious welfare?¡±


    The woman couldn''t argue that it wasn''t a good solution for a country to unify itself, despite the removal of the people''s rights to choose who they wanted to worship.


    ¡°I''m glad I''m not a ruler and I don''t need to make that kind of decision.¡± The woman said instead. ¡°You are dismissed until tomorrow morning.¡±


    Kara, Josh, and Jessica stood up and left the classroom.


    ¡°Are you going back tomorrow?¡± Josh asked Kara when they were far enough down the hallway.


    ¡°You heard her. The queen said we are required to attend.¡± Kara responded.


    ¡°Even though you think it''s a waste of time?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°We''re wasting our time here anyway.¡± Kara said. ¡°Plus, we can''t leave the castle until the church is finished and our rooms are ready.¡±


    ¡°We could stay at an inn or even at the head acolyte''s house.¡± Josh suggested.


    ¡°No, we need to stay.¡± Jessica said. ¡°The Goddess said so.¡±


    ¡°Steven is still in the dungeon as well.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I doubt we can convince him to abandon what he thinks is his duty.¡± Josh said. ¡°He''s kind of stubborn when it comes to things like that.¡±


    They fell quiet and went back to the room that the castle staff served food in, and a buffet was waiting for them, as well as Evangeline and Aimee. Josh took Evangeline into his arms and kissed her, because he had missed her last night while she stayed at her mother''s place.


    ¡°You''re not going to believe what happened!¡± Aimee exclaimed and took out the sack of gold and silver coins the captain of the guard had given her the night before. Jessica, Kara and Josh took out identical sacks to show her and she laughed. ¡°I guess you will!¡± She said happily.

 Book Two: The Summoned 049

    ¡°That''s fantastic!¡± Chaiya said when Maleketh told her what Hunter had agreed to. ¡°My emissaries will be so happy to hear that!¡±


    Maleketh held in his sigh. ¡°I want you to warn them about saying something stupid; but, I know that''s an unreasonable request.¡±


    Chaiya laughed. ¡°Don''t worry. I won''t let anything interfere with this meeting.¡±


    ¡°Your influence there isn''t that great.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°Whoever is doing this has a much stronger hold there than the rest of us.¡±


    ¡°That won''t matter in a few months.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°Word of my emissaries and their accomplishments spreads even as we speak. The more people that hear about them, and me, the more that I am in their thoughts.¡±


    Maleketh did sigh this time.


    ¡°Cheer up!¡± Chaiya said. ¡°With the description of the star positions you gave us, it shouldn''t take us long to find that world you were on.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t recognize any of them and that worries me.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°Especially if the star there is extinguished.¡±


    ¡°You worry too much over the little details.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°The next time my emissaries call me to seal a crack, I will poke my head through and see if it is the same world. That is, unless Hunter calls you first, then you can do it and let us know.¡± She said and pat his arm, then started to fade. ¡°Thank you!¡±


    Maleketh didn''t like letting her get her way; but, she had been a master manipulator for eons. He just hoped the enchanted ring that Hunter wore would counter her powerful influence that formed when the emissaries gathered together.


    *


    The next three days passed by before I knew it, even with having to stop and feed the horses more than usual. Nighttime wasn''t unusual, either. We camped out in tents and bedrolls in relatively safe areas and with so many people available, standing watch over the camp was only a couple of hours and we all had a good night''s rest each time. We arrived at the town without incident on the morning of the fourth day. It was a much larger town than the last one and no one batted an eye or gave us a second look.


    I guess seeing adventurers is a lot more common here. I thought.


    We had no trouble at all buying more horses from the stable, surprisingly for ten silver each, which was the same price as the two horses we already had, then we had to buy new saddles. I was very thankful that I had Afyne with me, because she was the expert. The man had tried to sell us inferior saddles for a much higher price, and she quickly put a stop to that nonsense with her superior knowledge and shamed the man. Not only did we get four new saddles, we also got the full kits with bridles and reins, grooming supplies, and the promise of new shoes for the horses... and all for the price of two expensive saddles.


    ¡°Remind me to give you an extra cuddle tonight.¡± I whispered to her as I helped her climb up onto my horse. She blushed and nodded and we led all of the horses over to the blacksmith to have their horseshoes checked. Only two of the horses needed replacements, so we had to wait for an hour while they were being worked on.


    ¡°We should start asking around about any trouble.¡± Imiryl said.


    ¡°Be careful. We don''t know what these people are like.¡± I said.


    ¡°You make it sound like everyone is out to kill us.¡± Diofra the mage said with a laugh, and I didn''t laugh. ¡°You really think that?¡± She asked, surprised.


    ¡°I don''t think they are out to kill us. Hurt, maybe. Delay possibly. Inconvenience, more than likely.¡± I said. ¡°Especially if someone is making money from the trouble.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have a favorable opinion of people, do you?¡± Evus the guard asked.


    ¡°Actually, I''m just suspicious.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, you have to earn favor, just like trust and respect.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°You did that with us?¡±


    ¡°I do it with everyone.¡± I said. ¡°It''s much easier to be suspicious at first and have it develop into trust, than it is to automatically trust someone and have them become suspicious later and break that trust.¡±


    Allirynn glanced at Imiryl and they both looked at Maylia, who nodded.


    ¡°Do you trust us?¡± Imiryl asked, and I could hear the concern in her voice.


    ¡°I accepted your pledge, didn''t I?¡± I said and took her hand. ¡°I also left Afyne by your side and had Evus guard her.¡±


    Imiryl looked at my hand and then at my face.


    ¡°I wouldn''t trust just anyone with her safety.¡± I said, gave her hand a squeeze, and let it go. ¡°Maylia, Afyne and I will start with the inns. Evus, do you want the tavern or the restaurant?¡±


    ¡°We''ll take the tavern.¡± Diofra said and hooked her arm through the guard''s. ¡°Neither of us looks like we are going to start a fight, just from the expression on our face.¡±


    ¡°I think she meant you, tall, dark, and mean looking.¡± I whispered loudly to Allirynn, and he smiled.


    Imiryl laughed and took Allirynn''s hand. ¡°We''ll take the restaurants, if they are open.¡±


    ¡°Meet back here in an hour.¡± I said, and we went about our assigned tasks. The first innkeeper was both glad and sad that we weren''t there so early to get a room. He was quite happy to tell us everything he knew when we asked about any local monsters, though. We went to the next inn and received almost the same reactions. There were three inns, so we came back to the blacksmith''s place just in time for the hour to expire and found the others already waiting for us there.


    ¡°You aren''t going to believe this.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°Monsters!¡± I fake shivered and Afyne giggled.


    ¡°By the stories we got from the innkeepers, it''s only been a few months since they started getting overrun.¡± Maylia said. ¡°From the descriptions... well...¡±


    ¡°They are cute and fuzzy little baby bears.¡± I said. ¡°They also scavenge and eat everything they find.¡±


    ¡°The woman that owns the restaurant showed us the storeroom.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°There''s nothing left inside. Even the large wooden barrels were half-eaten and only scraps of burlap were scattered around.¡±


    ¡°They didn''t touch the alcohol at the tavern.¡± Diofra said. ¡°The barkeep''s been getting a lot more business lately.¡±


    ¡°Anyone have any ideas how to find them?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Set out some food near the edge of town as bait and we wait.¡± Evus the guard said. ¡°Either tackle them then or follow them back wherever they go.¡±


    ¡°We should do the energy locate spell after that, so we aren''t looking at miles of map to find a black spot.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°Good point.¡± I said. ¡°I doubt basic rations are going to get much attention, so if it''s all right with everyone, I''ll use some of the actual food we have.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°I''m going to heat it up and make some delicious smells.¡± I said. ¡°Diofra, any chance you have a wind spell or something?¡±


    ¡°I think so.¡± Diofra said and started to rummage through her bag of holding. ¡°Let me check.¡±


    ¡°I might have something.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°Before we left the capital, one of the men there gave me two focusing rods and some scrolls. I didn''t need them, since I''m an elemental sorceress; but, I didn''t want to be rude, so I accepted them.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    We all watched as both magic users dug around in their bags of holding.


    Imiryl took out the two focusing rods and held them in one hand, then took out the first scroll. ¡°How can you tell what spells they are?¡±


    ¡°They need to be opened and the title read.¡± Diofra said and pulled half a dozen of them out. ¡°These have been opened already, so they aren''t what I want.¡± She said and put them back.


    ¡°You should mark them on the outside after rolling them up.¡± I said.


    Imiryl opened the scroll she had and read the title. ¡°Fireball.¡± She said and tears came to her eyes.


    ¡°Let me.¡± Allirynn said and took the scroll and rolled it up. I handed him a coal pencil and he wrote ''fireball'' on it and gave it back to her.


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Imiryl said and put it back into her bag of holding, then she took out the next one. It glowed slightly red, unlike every other scroll I had seen up to this point.


    ¡°STOP!¡± I yelled and everyone froze at my yell. ¡°Are scrolls supposed to glow red?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Evus asked and looked at Diofra and Imiryl, who both had scrolls out, and they all looked normal to him.


    ¡°The one Imiryl has in her hand is glowing red.¡± I said and pointed to Maylia.


    ¡°He''s right.¡± Maylia confirmed. ¡°It''s faint; but, it is red.¡±


    ¡°A red scroll?¡± Diofra asked and walked over to Imiryl and hovered a hand over the scroll. ¡°It''s... no, it can''t be.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°It''s cursed.¡± Diofra said and everyone froze still again. ¡°If you had opened that, the curse would have been released.¡±


    ¡°Do you remember the man that gave you those items?¡± I asked with a little anger in my voice, and Imiryl shook her head.


    ¡°Use that pretty locator spell!¡± Afyne said, excitedly.


    ¡°You just want to see it again.¡± Maylia said and put an arm over her shoulders, and Afyne nodded.


    ¡°Give me a few minutes.¡± Diofra said and wrote out the same spell, except she left out the the detect energy part of it and added the cursed scroll instead. ¡°All right, it''s ready.¡±


    We went to the outskirts of town and set everything up, and I took Diofra''s hand. She shook as I immediately shared my mana and a little anger, and she read the much shorter spell. I kept sharing and maintained the crystal as the spell took effect and drained it, and the twenty foot wide slightly green bubble appeared and showed the entire First Sothen Kingdom. I filled the crystal again and two dots appeared on the map.


    ¡°That''s us!¡± Afyne said and pointed.


    ¡°That''s the capital.¡± Evus the guard said and pointed to the other dot.


    ¡°Zoom in on us, please.¡± I said, and when the locator spell did, it wasn''t the scroll that was lit up. It was Maylia.


    ¡°You were the target.¡± I said, and my anger flowed out and through Diofra, who gasped as the bright green energy of the mana crystal turned dark.


    ¡°Hunter, stop sharing!¡± Diofra exclaimed.


    ¡°Show me who sent it.¡± I said and ignored her, and the bubble whirled as the countryside passed by and it stopped inside the castle and showed a green robed man walking in a hallway. Almost as if he sensed he was being watched, he stopped walking and rubbed a spot on his throat.


    ¡°That''s where my blade touched him when I threatened him to hurry up and have Hunter healed properly.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°Diofra, can you send a message to the queen?¡± I asked and tried to keep my anger in check.


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± Diofra said. ¡°I... I''ll need to purge the crystal of the negative energy first.¡±


    I looked down at the dark crystal and let her hand go. As soon as I did, the dark color started to fade and it returned to the bright green it had been. So, mana is affected by intent as well. I thought.


    ¡°Um... what message should I send?¡± Diofra asked and dismissed the modified locate spell.


    ¡°I want the green robed man put in jail for trying to curse Maylia.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t know if it''s a crime, so I just want to prevent him from going anywhere. I''ll kill him when we return to the capital in a couple of weeks.¡±


    ¡°We''re going back?¡± The guard and Imiryl asked with surprise on their faces.


    ¡°I agreed to meet with the emissaries to discuss things.¡± I said, and everyone heard the sadness in my voice. Both Maylia and Afyne hugged me to comfort me.


    ¡°I thought you hated them.¡± Allirynn said, and I saw the anger on his face.


    ¡°Like you do?¡± I asked, and he nodded. ¡°I don''t hate them personally, only their actions, or lack thereof, and what they stand for.¡± I said. ¡°Except for Josh. He annoys me a lot for some reason.¡±


    ¡°He is full of self-importance.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°I don''t know if it''s his abilities or if it''s having an automatic following with the acolytes.¡±


    ¡°It''s probably a combination of both.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Some people can''t handle the adoration properly.¡±


    ¡°We''re getting off-track here.¡± I said and turned to Diofra. ¡°I''m sorry for scaring you. Can you send the message, please?¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t scared.¡± Diofra said and the Presence wavered slightly.


    ¡°You might want to leave off the ''coming to kill him'' part.¡± Evus the guard said.


    ¡°No, I want the queen to know my intentions.¡± I said. ¡°I wouldn''t have said it, otherwise.¡±


    Diofra nodded and after a quick chant, spoke the message into the mana crystal. A little wisp of light appeared from the top of it, then it shot off faster than most eyes could see. I noticed that both Maylia and Allirynn had watched it with me. Diofra stored the still charged mana crystal into her bag of holding. I took out the broken barrel with the black tome hidden inside it and asked Imiryl to put the scroll in the barrel, then I stored the barrel back into my bag of holding.


    ¡°Why did you do that?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°I want to destroy it; but, if that somehow counts as opening it and puts the curse on Maylia, I can''t take that chance. Right now, it''s in this extra-dimensional space and can''t hurt anyone.¡± I said. ¡°Maylia, look around for any tracks and see if this is a good spot for the food trap.¡±


    Maylia spent about twenty minutes looking around and found quite a lot of odd tracks not far away from the road. We went over there and I took out some of the actual food we had and started a small camp fire. I set up a rack on top and laid out the best smelling food we had and let it warm up, and Diofra finished looking through her things to find the wind spell I requested.


    ¡°Give us a little wind, pointed away from the town, Diofra.¡± I said and stepped back. She cast a weak wind spell that made the fire increase slightly and the smells doubled, then the smoke from the fire was whisked out and away. ¡°Good. Keep that up.¡± I said. ¡°The smell is making me hungry, so you know those cute little things won''t be able to resist it for long.¡±


    ¡°Something''s coming.¡± Maylia said and pointed where the wind was going.


    ¡°Hide!¡± I said and we all scattered and hid behind trees and bushes. I had Afyne with me, and she whined with need when the first little bear showed up. I covered her mouth with a hand to keep her quiet and used Presence to push our sound down and away, as the one foot long and one foot high brown colored bear cautiously stalked through the trees. It looked like a toy and even had beady little black eyes and nose. The claws on its paws were quite real, however.


    After almost ten minutes of it coming closer and backing off, it apparently didn''t sense any danger, so it crept over to the low burning fire with its snout constantly sniffing the air. When it was close enough, it reached out with a single claw and poked the rack. It rattled a little and scared the bear enough to make it jerk. When nothing else happened, it poked the rack again and didn''t scare itself. The little bear''s confidence grew and instead of poking the rack, it hooked the edge of it with a claw and pulled.


    The rack fell over with a loud clatter and scared the hell out of the little thing. It took off running with a little yip and Afyne laughed loudly into my hand. Since I was using Presence to push our sound down and away, the bear didn''t hear that, either. I did hear a masculine laugh close by, then a whispered ''sorry''. We stayed still and waited for a few minutes, and sure enough, the little bear was back and walked almost normally over to the spilled rack of food.


    It was still cautious with a touch of recklessness, probably because the food had been disturbed and the smell of it had doubled again, then the little bear practically dove into the mess. Afyne laughed again as the little bear wallowed in the great smelling and tasty food. A minute later, another bear, a much lighter brown, crept out of the trees. It saw the first bear eating and ignored all of its other instincts and ran over to the pile and dove in, too. Afyne laughed and mumbled that she really wanted one and I could give her one as a present.


    ¡°I don''t think they''d make good pets, even though they are almost as cute and cuddly as you are.¡± I whispered to her.


    We waited for another ten minutes or so, until both bears finished off the food. When it was all gone, they walked around the campfire and sniffed, probably looking for more food. When they didn''t find any, they sauntered away back into the woods. I waited until they were close to the edge of my detection range before I stepped out of hiding and extinguished the campfire.


    ¡°Maylia, can you track them, or should we follow them right now?¡±


    ¡°Now that I know why those tracks looked so odd, especially with such small gaits, finding them again will be fairly easy.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± I said. ¡°Diofra, we need another crack sensing spell.¡±


    ¡°I''ll limit it to the local area before casting it this time.¡± Diofra said and prepped the spell.


    ¡°I really hope it''s not here.¡± Afyne said.


    ¡°They didn''t seem to be menacing, did they?¡± Imiryl asked.


    ¡°They''re still animals.¡± Maylia said. ¡°If there''s too many of them... well...¡±


    ¡°Now I''m imagining being swarmed by cuddly little bears.¡± I said.


    Afyne had a slightly euphoric look on her face and Evus the guard laughed.


    ¡°Okay, here we go.¡± Diofra said and a ten foot wide bubble appeared. We spent another ten minutes looking, and none of us could find any black spots. Diofra expanded the bubble a little and we looked for another few minutes, and we still didn''t find anything.


    ¡°I guess that means they''re local.¡± I said. ¡°We should head into town and see what they want us to do about them.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Some of them didn''t sound too happy about losing all that food.¡±


    ¡°There could be hundreds of these things.¡± Evus the guard said. ¡°I think we should find them and see how many there are before making any decisions.¡±


    ¡°That''s a good point.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°We might need to...¡± She paused when she saw the sad look on Afyne''s face. ¡°...remove them from the area.¡±


    ¡°Okay, we follow and find them first, try to see how many there are and the threat they represent, then we can decide what to do after that.¡± I said, and everyone nodded. We went back into town and gathered the horses, then rode out of town to track down the cuddly little creatures.


    ¡°I still want one.¡± Afyne whispered, a little sadly.


    I didn''t tell her that we might have to kill them all, because she knew that already, so I just hugged her with one hand and guided the horse with the other.

 Book Two: The Summoned 050

    Maylia''s greater understanding of the creatures and how to track them properly, led us right to their small cave. Maylia and I used Stealth and crept closer. Thanks to my Detect Mana Presence technique, we didn''t have to get too close that we might be detected by them, and I saw that there were six of the one foot tall bears with another six of them half the size of the ''adults''. The light brown bear we had seen sat against the cave wall and two of the tiny baby bears were suckling on her teats.


    The dark brown bear looked to be choking, then it threw up a good portion of the food it had eaten. I was worried that it had gotten sick on the rich food, then the other bears and a few of the baby bears swarmed over to the mess and started eating. I was a bit disgusted at the sight, until Maylia whispered that the food hadn''t been chewed. I glanced at her and then looked at the food closely, and nodded understanding.


    It gathered the food and brought it back without actually eating it. I thought, and we moved away and went back to the others. ¡°Good news, there are only six adults.¡±


    ¡°What''s the bad news?¡± Evus asked.


    I covered Afyne''s mouth with a hand. ¡°There are six babies.¡± I said and barely contained her squeal of delight and had to hold her steady as she tried to jump around. ¡°At least we know why they''ve been raiding more food places lately.¡±


    ¡°That''s not bad news for some.¡± Diofra smiled at Afyne''s reaction.


    ¡°It also makes things a little more complicated.¡± I said. ¡°Moving a few of them out of the area wouldn''t be too big of a task; but, six of them and six babies?¡±


    ¡°It would be shocking for the young ones if we just picked them up and moved them forcefully.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Some may even perish from the fright.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± Afyne yelled into my hand.


    ¡°Now you know why we need to discuss things.¡± I said and hugged her. ¡°We have to try and figure out what''s best for the townspeople and for the bears.¡±


    Afyne calmed down and nodded understanding.


    ¡°Even if we did move them, we would just be putting them into another situation where they are in danger.¡± Evus said. ¡°Both the bears and any people they may meet.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± I said. ¡°Also, removing them isn''t an option. They''re not foreign and are supposed to be here. If they were killing people or making them sick, we might have the justification to get rid of them.¡±


    Afyne looked like she wanted to speak, so I uncovered her mouth. ¡°Please, don''t kill them.¡± She pleaded, and a tear formed at the corner of her eye. I knelt behind her and hugged her.


    ¡°All they are doing is feeding their babies. Being a nuisance to a few people isn''t a good enough reason to kill them.¡± I said, and she relaxed in my arms.


    ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Diofra asked. ¡°If we leave and don''t resolve this, then the next group of adventurers that come through here... might not be as nice as us.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Afyne said and turned her head slightly to look at me with her puppy dog eyes. ¡°Help them.¡±


    ¡°I''ll think of something.¡± I said.


    Afyne turned around and put her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly.


    ¡°Let''s head back while I think about it.¡± I said, and took out a couple of the dry ration packs and left them in the area where we were, in case one of the bears came by and discovered humans had been so close to their cave, then we mounted the horses and slowly went back to town. I ignored all the glances that everyone gave me as I thought about what to do.


    I knew that Diofra was right and that the next group of adventurers would just kill them all and be done with it. Or worse, they could skin the little bears and try to sell their small pelts as novelties or something. My thoughts focused on that idea and a plan started to form in my head. By the time we reached the outskirts of the town, I knew what we could do about the situation and directed everyone to go to the mayor''s office. We tied the horses up outside and entered. The secretary there wasn''t too keen on the idea that I didn''t make an appointment first, so I gave her a bright fake smile and she caught her breath.


    ¡°I''d like to make an appointment to see the mayor, concerning the future of his town.¡± I said with a slightly deeper voice and leaned over her desk.


    ¡°Wh-when would you l-like to meet...¡± The secretary stammered.


    ¡°How about in ten minutes?¡± I asked. ¡°I''ll take a short walk and come back.¡±


    ¡°I... well, I don''t think...¡±


    ¡°I''m sure he''s very busy; but, I would appreciate seeing him as soon as possible.¡± I said and stood up straight, then used Presence to untie my hair tie. ¡°Oh, my tie came loose.¡± I shook my head to spread my hair out. The secretary just stared at me with an open mouth. ¡°I''ll come back in a few minutes and see if he''s still busy, all right?¡±


    ¡°A-a-all r-r-right.¡± The secretary manage to say and we left the office.


    ¡°What was that all about?¡± Maylia asked with a laugh.


    ¡°Distraction.¡± I said and left my hair untied. ¡°We both know he''s just sitting in his office and not doing anything, so he probably has the secretary turn people away for no reason.¡±


    ¡°How does flirting with her make that change?¡± Evus asked.


    Diofra laughed. ¡°She''s going to want to see Hunter again, obviously.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°You''ll see.¡± Diofra said as we walked down the street, took a corner, then kept walking.


    My estimate of ten minutes was a little short as we walked around the center of the town and arrived back at the mayor''s office fifteen minutes later. I held in my laugh as the secretary had her face pressed up against the glass of the window as she looked for us, then she saw us and disappeared from normal view. Maylia and I watched her as she knocked on the mayor''s door and leaned in, then she nodded and went back to her desk.


    ¡°We''ll wait out here.¡± Diofra said and took Evus'' arm.


    ¡°No, we''re going to crowd his office.¡± I said and we all went inside. ¡°Hello, again!¡± I said with a huge smile and the secretary blushed. ¡°Did you have any luck getting me an appointment?¡±


    The secretary took a few moments before she answered, I assumed to get her voice under control. ¡°Yes, I cleared his schedule for the next few minutes.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate that.¡± I said as I took her hand, slipped a silver coin into it, then let it go.


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± The secretary said and didn''t look at her hand. ¡°Please, go right in.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and walked by her and opened the door, then led everyone into the mayor''s office. Just as Evus closed the door behind us, the secretary looked at her hand and saw the silver sheen of the coin. The closed door didn''t quite muffle her yell like I thought it would. The mayor looked at the door and then at me, and only saw my smile that was completely genuine this time.


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡± The mayor asked.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Actually, I came here to do something for you.¡± I said. ¡°I heard of your scavenger problem.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that.¡± The mayor said and gave me a dismissive wave. ¡°It''s not worth the cost to pay high class adventurers to hunt the little beasts down.¡±


    ¡°We already did that.¡± I said and he raised his eyebrows at me. ¡°No, we didn''t kill them.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± The mayor asked.


    ¡°They are only little bears.¡± I said.


    ¡°They are otherworldly monsters and need to be eradicated.¡± The mayor said.


    So, he knows. I thought. ¡°Actually, they are local and come from right here, not some other world.¡±


    ¡°They are a menace and need to be dealt with.¡± The mayor said. ¡°As the queen''s personal vassal...¡±


    ¡°...I can choose the things I want to do.¡± I interrupted. ¡°Before you think about trying to order me to exterminate them to protect the people, as the queen''s personal vassal, I am ordering you to have the townspeople protect the bears.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have the authority to give me orders.¡± The mayor said, his face angry.


    ¡°Does Queen Celestina''s badge of protection mean so little to you?¡± I asked.


    When he didn''t respond, I walked over to the door of the office and opened it. I saw his smug smile, and I assumed because he thought I was leaving, so I dissuaded him of that notion.


    ¡°Miss?¡± I smiled at the secretary. ¡°Would you be so kind and call the town guards for me and ask them to come to the mayor''s office? The Queen''s personal vassal needs to talk to them.¡±


    ¡°O-of course, sir! Right away!¡± The secretary said and ran from the office.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The mayor asked and he was no longer smiling.


    I didn''t say anything in response and waited. After about ten minutes, several dozen town guards gathered in ranks in the street outside the office.


    ¡°They''re... here, sir.¡± The secretary said in a huff as she came in through the door.


    ¡°Thank you very much.¡± I said. ¡°Now I need something else.¡±


    ¡°A-anything.¡± The secretary whispered.


    ¡°I need an entrepreneur. Someone who is willing to run a business and make a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°You want Liehman.¡± She said right away. ¡°He''s always trying to find new ways to make money.¡±


    ¡°Sounds perfect.¡± I said. ¡°Is he nearby?¡±


    ¡°I''ll go get him!¡± She said and opened the door.


    ¡°Send a guard so you can sit and rest.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and have the guard approach with his hands raised away from his sword. We don''t want to scare the man, only to ask him to come here.¡±


    The secretary laughed and told one of the guards where to get him.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and waved for my party to follow me out of the mayor''s office and looked at the gathered guards. ¡°Gentlemen.¡± I said and then noticed the slightly different shape of one of the armor suits. ¡°...and lady.¡±


    Several of the guards chuckled, because most of the time, people didn''t notice her.


    ¡°I''ve heard word of little creatures ransacking various food stores and I''ve investigated them.¡± I said, and they all perked up at those words. ¡°I found them, and the descriptions are true. They are cute and fuzzy little bears.¡±


    ¡°Are they just babies?¡± One of the guards yelled out.


    ¡°Shh! Be quiet!¡± The guy next to him whispered.


    ¡°What? I bet five copper that they are.¡± He whispered back.


    ¡°You''ve lost that bet.¡± I said and the two of them whipped their heads around and looked at me. ¡°The bears are only one foot tall and one foot long.¡±


    The guy groaned and several guards laughed.


    ¡°They do have babies half their size, however.¡± I said and a squeal of delight came from somewhere, and a few of the guards turned to look at the woman in their midst.


    ¡°It wasn''t me.¡± She said. ¡°Honest.¡±


    ¡°The babies are why they are scavenging for more food. They bring it back to share.¡±


    ¡°Awww.¡± Several people said. They were mixed in with the others that had gathered in the street to see what was going on.


    ¡°What''s the big deal?¡± A man''s voice asked, and I turned to see a guard escorting a man over to me.


    ¡°I''ve got a business proposal for you.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oho!¡± Liehman slapped his hands together. ¡°Let''s hear it!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Just a second.¡± I said and looked at the guards. ¡°As the queen''s personal vassal, I''m declaring some of the land near the town as a wildlife preserve.¡±


    ¡°A what?¡± Everyone asked.


    ¡°It''s a dedicated area of land that''s used exclusively for animals to live in.¡± I said. ¡°I''m also declaring these Minibears an endangered species and they are to be protected and not killed.¡±


    ¡°You can''t do that!¡± The mayor said from behind me. ¡°What about the people that own that land?¡±


    ¡°I guess that means you own it.¡± I said.


    ¡°He owns all of it.¡± Someone said with disgust.


    I thought about how much land that bears so small needed to live on and looked at the mayor. ¡°How much for five square miles?¡±


    ¡°More than you can afford.¡± The mayor said with a grin.


    ¡°The hard way it is, then.¡± I said and looked back at the gathered guards. ¡°I''ll give you a map in a little while where the preserve is going to be, after I talk to Mr. Liehman about setting things up. For now, no adventurer is to be allowed to go there, or allowed to accept bounties on the bears. Send word to the nearby towns to warn them as well, in case the mayor hires someone in secret and they try to collect payment.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± The mayor exclaimed.


    ¡°If the bears disappear or are harmed, you are the only one that would benefit from that.¡± I said to him and looked back at the guards. ¡°Do not follow the orders of the mayor if they contradict anything I''ve said. Either by reducing your patrols in that area or trying to bribe you into looking the other way.¡±


    ¡°We''d never do that, sir!¡± The lone woman said and a grunt came from everyone else.


    ¡°That''s great to hear.¡± I said and smiled.


    She blinked her eyes at me and didn''t respond, and I saw her eyes trace the outline of the blast shield on my face. When she had, her face flushed red at very obviously ogling me.


    ¡°The mayor will be compensated for the land I''m confiscating; but, other than that, he is to receive no other money from what''s going to happen.¡±


    ¡°What''s going to happen?¡± Someone in the crowd shouted.


    ¡°This town is going to experience a very large boom of visitors.¡± I said.


    ¡°Why?¡± The same person asked.


    I put a hand on Mr. Liehman''s shoulder. ¡°Because of the exclusive Minibear Tourist Attraction this man is opening.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡±


    ¡°People from all over the kingdom... perhaps the world... are going to come here to see the only Minibears that exist.¡± I said, and I could almost see the bags of coins floating around the man''s head. I leaned in to whisper. ¡°Make admission cheap, like a copper for two people, and you''ll be surprised how many people will come just to look. Don''t gouge the customers.¡±


    ¡°I... wouldn''t... ah...¡± Mr. Liehman hedged.


    ¡°I''ll discuss the particulars with you in a few minutes.¡± I said. ¡°Believe me, there''s a lot of money to be made.¡±


    ¡°What''s your cut?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Sixty percent.¡± I said.


    ¡°No way. That''s ridiculous.¡± He said. ¡°Why, the money needed to...¡±


    ¡°What if I provide the startup cost?¡± I asked, and his protest died on his lips.


    ¡°It''s too good to be true.¡± He said. ¡°Thirty percent.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Like I said, we can discuss details in a bit. I have a lot of ideas you can use, too.¡±


    He nodded and I turned back to the guards.


    ¡°Anyone on patrol needs to keep an eye out for the bears. I suggest carrying an extra ration pack on you so that if you do come across one, toss the food at it and don''t interfere with them.¡±


    ¡°What if they come into town again?¡± A woman asked, and Imiryl leaned close and whispered that it was the woman that owned the restaurant.


    ¡°They shouldn''t, as long as Mr. Liehman does as I instruct and leaves enough food out for them.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°I''m glad you''ve got three inns, because this place is going to need them soon.¡±


    ¡°I hope so.¡± One of the innkeepers said. ¡°There haven''t been as many travellers lately.¡±


    ¡°Once word gets around, you''re going have to turn people away.¡± I said, and he nodded. I walked forward and gave a handful of copper coins to each of the guards. ¡°Go to the general store and buy a few extra ration packs to carry on you, just in case.¡±


    ¡°You''re paying for them?¡± One of the guards asked, surprised.


    ¡°I can''t expect you to spend your own hard earned money.¡± I said and all of the guards looked at each other. ¡°It was hard earned on my part as well; but, I have a lot more of it than I ever thought possible.¡±


    ¡°The queen definitely chose her personal vassal well.¡± The lone woman guard whispered.


    I smiled and walked back to the front of the guards. ¡°I''ll have the map ready in a few minutes. Would one of you mind staying here and...¡±


    Every one of them put a hand up to volunteer.


    ¡°Oh, come on!¡± I exclaimed and waved my own hands in exasperation. ¡°At least some of you need to get back to work!¡±


    That made most of them laugh.


    ¡°I''ll cover my eyes and pick randomly.¡± I said and put a hand up to my blast shield, which made a few people laugh, since my eyes were already covered. I turned my head to the side and pointed at random. ¡°Eenie, meanie, miney, moe!¡±


    My hand stopped with my finger pointed at a guard near the back.


    ¡°Come on over.¡± I said and he came over. ¡°Thanks for volunteering to slack off.¡±


    That made everyone laugh, even some of the townspeople.


    ¡°Thank you all for coming at my call. I appreciate it.¡± I said and leaned in close to the guard I had chosen. ¡°How do you salute?¡±


    ¡°Like this, sir.¡± He said and held a flat hand up to the side of his head with his index finger touching and the palm towards me.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and turned the the guards and gave them the salute. ¡°Dismissed.¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡± They all chorused and then marched away.


    ¡°Now.¡± I turned to Mr. Liehman. ¡°You and I have a lot to discuss.¡±


    ¡°How much are you investing to start?¡± He asked.


    I chuckled as I took out the small sack of gold I had received for the bounty on the mangled face man and everyone not in my party had wide eyes as I took out several gold coins. ¡°Five gold to start.¡± I said and counted five and put them in his hand.


    ¡°Okay. Forty percent, minus operating costs.¡± Mr. Liehman said and stared at the gold.


    ¡°Take the operating costs off the top and we split the rest fifty-fifty.¡± I said.


    He counted the gold coins and his hand shook as each coin clinked. ¡°It''s a deal.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± I said. ¡°Do you have somewhere we can talk privately?¡±


    ¡°Step into my office.¡± Mr. Liehman smiled and waved at the tavern.


    I laughed, and we all walked across the street to work out the details of protecting the little bears from being harmed, and also to work out how to make it the best experience a person or a family could have. Afyne practically glowed with happiness as she listened intently.

 Book Two: The Summoned 051

    We spent an hour in the tavern talking and working out the details, and with Diofra''s help, drew out the map for the area were the bears were. With five gold, Mr. Liehman said he could get all the best workers started right away on building the things I wanted, like a separate viewing area that a viewing bubble could be put in permanently in case the minibears were shy at first. He laughed at the idea and said that he could hire a magic user to help construct the series of caves that I wanted to protect the bears and do a few other things like hiding the bears from being found.


    I impressed upon him that it had to be done as soon as possible, and he agreed. After talking to him for a little while longer and giving him more ideas, I eventually discovered that he wasn''t interested in the bears themselves, only in the revenue that they could generate.


    ¡°You are not to sell the bears or their cubs.¡± I said, and I saw the disappointment on his face. ¡°You might get a good amount up front; but, keeping them exclusively here will mean you have a lock on the product and its accessibility to the public.¡±


    The man''s disappointment disappeared and I imagined the money bags floating around his head again.


    ¡°I''d suggest getting a good tailor who can make sturdy and cheap clothing, then get an artist to paint images of the bears on them. Vests, scarfs, gloves and boots in the shape of bear paws...¡±


    Mr. Liehman''s face was glowing with excitement just as much as Afyne''s was when we left. We went across the street to the mayor''s office again and I talked to the mayor''s secretary and discovered the value of the land, then I registered the map of the restricted area with her. Diofra had made several copies of it for us and I sent a couple of them with the guard to bring to the other guards.


    After that, I went in to see the mayor, without an appointment, and dropped the appropriate amount of money for the land onto his desk. He didn''t speak or even look at me, so I left him to his brooding. I knew it was cruel to cut him completely out of everything like I had; but, he had been completely unreasonable and wouldn''t listen to me at all. I got the deed for the land from the secretary and I shook her hand, to her shock, and we left the office.


    ¡°Can we really just leave like this?¡± Imiryl asked as we untied our horses and mounted up.


    ¡°We''ll visit again on our way back to the capital and see how things are going.¡± I said. ¡°If they are going well, we can visit again. If not, and something happens to the bears...¡±


    Afyne''s hands gripped mine and gave them a squeeze, so I kissed the top of her head and her face didn''t flush red this time. We rode out of town and several people waved at us, including a couple of the guards. Without having to discuss it, we travelled to the next place on the queen''s list, since it was so close, and arrived at what seemed to be a town-wide celebration.


    ¡°Welcome!¡± Several people hollered as we rode into town and they pointed. We followed that direction and we ended up meeting a large delegation with the mayor and several other people that I didn''t get the titles for. After a very one-sided introduction on their part, we were brought to a large private residence and our horses taken to an attached stable. Afyne thought that was the best thing in the world and watched the horses being treated very well and nodded her approval.


    We were led inside the house by a fairly nice looking woman dressed both conservatively and provocatively. It was almost a business suit and looked similar to the riding outfit that Afyne wore; but, the shirt she wore was barely buttoned up at all and each time she turned slightly to point things out or took a deep breath, it gaped open and revealed quite a lot of her chest.


    I normally didn''t notice or pay attention to things like that, though. I wasn''t sure if it was her casualness with us or her seeming lack of inhibitions that had caught my attention, because each time she moved my eyes fell to her top and I wanted her to move just that little bit more so I could get a better view of her breasts. Of course, once it happened a few times, I realized that it wasn''t my own thought and something was affecting me.


    The feeling faded slightly and I looked at Evus and Allirynn to see if they were doing the same thing, and I saw their eyes dart from side to side as they tried to look and not look at her chest. I held a hand up and brought everyone to a stop and the woman walked on. It took her a moment to notice we were no longer with her, so she stopped and came back to us.


    ¡°What is it?¡± She asked, innocently.


    ¡°Stop that spell, or glamour, or whatever it is you''re using.¡± I said with a stern voice.


    ¡°I don''t know what you mean.¡± The woman said.


    The Presence wavered a lot, so I turned around and motioned for everyone to leave. No one questioned me and we all walked back down the hallway.


    ¡°Wait!¡± The woman said and tried to move around us and in front of me. ¡°You can''t just...¡±


    I felt whatever it was get stronger, so I used a Presence Hand to grab her by the neck to shut her up and moved her over to the wall and held her there.


    ¡°Hunter, what are you doing?¡± Evus asked and looked at the woman with concern.


    ¡°P-please...¡± The woman managed to squeeze out.


    I ignored her and Evus and walked on. Once we were outside the house, whatever it was that caused had eased, and I had to assume it was because we were far enough away from her or something in the house.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Allirynn asked and rubbed the side of his head and Imiryl touched his forehead.


    ¡°Some kind of effect.¡± I said and looked down at the ring on my hand. At least now I know it works.


    I turned around and looked at the woman I still held against the wall inside the house, and she pulled out a green glowing dagger. I didn''t want to take the chance that she was going to try to cut her way free, so I squeezed the Presence Hand and snapped her neck. The dagger fell to the floor and flipped over to land on the tip and stuck into the wood, which meant it was balanced for throwing with the weight in the tip.


    ¡°I don''t feel so good.¡± Evus said and Diofra caught him before he fell. He bent over and threw up.


    ¡°Who did they say owned this place?¡± I asked as a wave of nausea passed through me and I let the woman''s body fall to the floor. I didn''t throw up, though.


    ¡°She just told us.¡± Maylia said. ¡°It''s the magister.¡±


    ¡°I honestly didn''t hear anything she said.¡± I responded. ¡°Where is he?¡±


    ¡°It''s a woman.¡± Maylia said, concern in her voice. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said and looked at the stable. All of the young men there were bent over and throwing up like Evus was. ¡°Diofra, how''s the healing working on Evus?¡±


    ¡°It''s not.¡± Diofra said and pat Evus on the back as he braced himself on hands and knees to dry heave. ¡°There''s nothing wrong with him.¡±


    ¡°Allirynn and I will stay here with Evus. The rest of you need to search this place.¡± I said.


    ¡°What are we looking for?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°Spells, notes, magic crystals, hidden rooms, or even little creatures.¡± I said. ¡°Something let that woman affect us, and I don''t think the men should go back inside in case it gets worse the closer we are to it, assuming it wasn''t the woman herself.¡± I sat down and Afyne sat on my lap without being asked and hugged me. ¡°Take everything you find.¡±


    Maylia nodded and she, Imiryl, and Diofra went back inside the mansion. I watched them search the woman first and Maylia shook her head at me, then they stripped her of her valuables and weapons. It took about half an hour for them to search the entire house and I watched them the whole time, while I held Afyne and waited. When they came out, Maylia had a smile on her face and reached into her bag of holding.


    ¡°No, just tell me.¡± I said. ¡°Evus and the stable hands can''t take another dose of it, whatever it is.¡±


    ¡°It''s ingenious, really.¡± Diofra said. ¡°It''s a spell-charged mana crystal.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell what spell?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not specifically. I can only tell the type, and it''s a charm of some kind.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°That only works on men, apparently.¡± Maylia said and pulled out a stack of notes. ¡°It''s only subtle at first, then eventually the subjects would give up their livelihoods and become servants.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess this is why the queen sent us here.¡± I said and stood up with Afyne still in my arms. ¡°Evus, how are you?¡±


    ¡°I feel like I''ve been drunk for days.¡± Evus said and wiped off his mouth. ¡°Why would someone do this to us?¡±


    ¡°Some people think having devoted servants makes them feel important, or gives them social status.¡± Allirynn said.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Or it gives them access to skills and abilities they wouldn''t normally have.¡± I said, and he looked at me. ¡°If we had stayed here for the few days of the festival, how much do you want to bet that we would do anything that woman asked us to do?¡±


    Allirynn reluctantly nodded.


    ¡°Diofra, prepare to cast a fireball spell.¡± I said and looked at Imiryl and Maylia. ¡°Get the horses out of the stable and take all the supplies that are there.¡± I created five Mana Presence Hands and pulled the dry heaving young men out of there and over to us. I absorbed the hands and then took Diofra''s hand to share my mana. Once again she gasped at the mana I had and the anger I felt as the mana crystal turned dark green.


    ¡°R-ready.¡± Diofra said and Maylia and Imiryl took the horses past us and farther away. Since I knew what the mana from a crystal felt like, when Diofra cast the spell, I channelled my mana like that through her. A huge fireball shot out of her hands and hit the large personal residence and engulfed everything in only a second with a satisfying ''whoosh'' sound.


    ¡°W-w-wow.¡± Afyne whispered as everything lit up with fire.


    ¡°Burn baby, burn.¡± I said with satisfaction.


    After about ten minutes, the entire house and stable were gone and left nothing but charred remains on the ground. We had to wait a bit longer before the stable hands and Evus were up to walking, then we walked back to town. Everyone was still celebrating and as we approached the main gathering, I felt the same kind of pressure, now that I knew what to look for. I quickly stopped everyone from walking and moved us back, just out of reach.


    ¡°Ladies, it''s up to you.¡± I said and Maylia, Diofra, and Imiryl nodded and moved off into the crowd. After about five minutes, there was a short scream that was barely heard over the uproarious crowd, then the three women came back with a woman propped up between two of them.


    ¡°Hunter, I''d like you to meet the magister.¡± Maylia said and shook the unconscious woman to make her slightly frosty head nod. I chuckled and waved everyone to move away and we left the five stable hands mixed into the crowd. Hopefully, they would think they partied too hard and would go home with no other ill effects after however long they had been caught in this woman''s web.


    ¡°No one is getting sick.¡± I said as we moved away.


    ¡°It''s probably because she''s still alive.¡± Diofra said. ¡°If the charm works like I think it should, she''s both the object of the spell and the conduit for the link to another mana crystal.¡±


    ¡°Which we found.¡± Maylia said with a smile.


    ¡°Which means until she dies, they''ll still be under her influence.¡± I said, and they nodded.


    ¡°I don''t think waking her up is a good idea.¡± Evus said and glared at the unconscious woman. ¡°Even if the two crystals are in a bag of holding, it doesn''t mean she doesn''t have more stashed around.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± I said. ¡°Let''s mount up and get out of town.¡±


    ¡°What about the party?¡± Afyne asked and looked around. ¡°Isn''t it for us?¡±


    ¡°By the looks of things, they don''t need us here to have fun.¡± Diofra said with a chuckle.


    ¡°A few miles away should be far enough, then we''ll stop and talk to her.¡± I said and helped Afyne up onto my horse. ¡°Maylia, can you tie her up and carry her?¡±


    Maylia nodded and tied the magister''s wrists and ankles, then climbed up onto the horse and the others propped the woman across her lap. We all mounted up and rode out of town to the approximate distance I mentioned and came to a stop. The magister started to convulse and shake, and we all dismounted and helped her to the ground. After a few moments, her skin turned from a flushed pink to a dark red. We all watched as her face distorted and grew long spiky teeth and her hands and feet grew into twisted claws. Her body lifted up slightly and I saw two stubs starting to grow out of her back.


    The magister opened her eyes and saw us above her, and she screamed with a pulse of mana. I quickly covered Afyne''s ears so she wouldn''t get the brunt of it, since she was closer to the source, and I covered the woman''s mouth with solid Presence and a bit of mana so the others would know why the sound was dulled. Imiryl put her hand over Afyne''s face as Allirynn lifted a foot, then he stomped down with a sickening crunch and the woman''s head was no more.


    ¡°Damn succubus.¡± Allirynn said and moved his blood-covered foot.


    ¡°We need to go back and clear the town of them.¡± Imiryl said.


    ¡°I don''t understand.¡± I said.


    ¡°We''ve encountered them before.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°I''ve never seen them take human form, though.¡±


    ¡°Did you say succubus?¡± Diofra asked, surprised.


    ¡°We have to go back and find the nest before they breed and spread.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°Assuming they haven''t already.¡±


    ¡°Is there any way to detect the things?¡± I asked. ¡°I didn''t see anything different about her or the other woman.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t notice any difference, either... and it''s supposed to be my job to.¡± Maylia said, disgusted.


    ¡°It could be a glamour.¡± Diofra said. ¡°If it is, we need to either stop it or scare them enough to drop it on their own.¡±


    ¡°Overcharged fireball over the town?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°Considering what it did to that house, it should work.¡± Diofra chuckled.


    ¡°It didn''t scare me.¡± Afyne said.


    ¡°I guess that means they aren''t as strong as you.¡± I said and she grinned. ¡°Once we get into position, it should take them a few seconds to change, if this one is any indication.¡± I motioned to the body on the ground.


    ¡°I''ll be ready.¡± Imiryl said with a deadly tone.


    We went back to the edge of town and Diofra took out her mana crystal and I took her hand, while Imiryl and Allirynn went forward into the town. After seven seconds, Diofra cast the fireball spell and I boosted her and the mana crystal with my own mana. The massive fireball shot out and exploded above all the partying revellers and everyone screamed, men and women included.


    Imiryl quickly grew and slid her ice along the sides of the street and watched and listened for the high pitched screech of the succubus as they panicked. As each of them was revealed, she either grew a spike of ice to impale them or threw ice at them to freeze them in place. It didn''t take her long to find fifteen of the creatures that were hidden in the crowd. The frozen ones were dispatched by Allirynn efficiently and the pair came back to the edge of town.


    ¡°We need to search all the buildings, and probably the basements and storage areas, for any signs of a nest.¡± Imiryl said.


    ¡°We also need to search for any cracks nearby.¡± I said, and Imiryl caught her breath.


    ¡°Allirynn!¡± Imiryl said and took his hand.


    ¡°I don''t know how we can get a message to them.¡± Allirynn said, sadly.


    ¡°To who?¡± Evus asked as Diofra prepared the energy location spell.


    ¡°A village not far from the border of Third Nogam.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°We thought we dealt with the problem they had; but, if there''s a crack nearby...¡±


    ¡°What you did was only a temporary solution.¡± I said. ¡°The same thing happened to me a couple of times on my way to the capital.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Imiryl asked.


    I told her of the encounters Maylia and I had, and Kara''s group going back to find and seal the cracks, then the large twenty foot wide greenish see-through bubble with the map in it appeared around us.


    ¡°It''s right there.¡± Afyne said right away and pointed to one of the buildings in the town.


    ¡°Good eye.¡± I said and she smiled.


    We kept looking around, just in case there was another one. We didn''t find any others, so we went into the town and to the building. I was surprised there wasn''t any spells or traps to stop us as we went inside. Diofra had the Truesight square out and held in front, so we could see the crack, and inside the crack were hundreds, if not thousands, of succubi.


    ¡°Good god.¡± I whispered, then after a moment whispered. ¡°Allirynn.¡±


    Allirynn left for a moment and came back with a body of a succubus and tossed it into the crack. That got an immediate hostile reaction from the succubi and they rushed towards the crack. I created a solid Mana Presence wall in front of the crack and they bounced off of it.


    ¡°Dear god, hear my prayer...¡± I started to pray and ask for his help, then I felt the weight of his Presence as his consciousness formed.


    ¡°I see you picked a great one this time. This won''t be challenging at all.¡± My mouth said sarcastically without me moving it.


    ¡°Can''t you just seal it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not with so much pressing on it from the other side.¡± My mouth said. ¡°I''ll need to use you as a puppet again.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°You just want to fight them up close.¡±


    ¡°You don''t really have a ranged attack, except for Presence Lightning, which we physically can''t use until we are across the barrier anyway.¡±


    ¡°Good point.¡± I said. ¡°Just be careful with my mother''s Light sword.¡±


    ¡°I don''t need it this time.¡± My mouth said as I felt god''s Presence seep into my body to just below the skin, then my body stood up and walked right through the solid Presence that covered the crack without disturbing it.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± I asked as my hands grabbed the necks of two succubi and snapped them, and pushed them back into the mass of succubi behind them.


    ¡°It''s your Presence. You can manipulate it, remember?¡±


    ¡°I''ve never walked through it like that before.¡± I said, slightly exasperated.


    ¡°You''ve never tried to.¡± My mouth said and a very strong Presence built up in my hands, then the familiar Lightning rolled around them. ¡°Let''s shoot for a thousand deaths this time.¡±


    ¡°Shoot for...¡± I stopped talking as a hundred Presence Lightning bolts shot out and twisted and turned to hit as many succubi as it could. Each bolt hit their hearts and burned through them instantly and I felt it go out and out and kill as many as possible.


    ¡°Ha! A thousand and seventy-six!¡± My mouth laughed as all the surrounding succubi dropped dead.


    ¡°Why aren''t they flying?¡± I asked and saw the stubs of wings on some of their backs.


    ¡°They need to keep absorbing the lust of men to maintain their appearance and their powers.¡± My mouth said and my body jumped several hundred feet to land in the middle of another mass of succubi. Presence Lightning blasted out and directed to hit them all in the heart, despite them all trying to dodge and flee the onslaught. I watched in odd fascination as god dispatched all of the succubi in the area, then we looked up at the stars.


    ¡°There''s no sun.¡± I said when I couldn''t feel it with Presence. ¡°Is this the same world?¡±


    After almost a full minute, my head shook.


    ¡°No, this is another one. The stars are different.¡± My mouth said, and I heard the concern in god''s voice. ¡°This might help us find where it is, or mess up our search completely by doubling where we have to look.¡±


    ¡°You couldn''t find it from the last time?¡± I asked, and my head shook again.


    ¡°They are still looking.¡± My mouth said and my hand waved at the closest bodies. I heard popping and snapping sounds and then hundreds of small horns floated over.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked as a bag of holding appeared from nowhere and all the horns floated inside. As we walked back to the crack, god kept waving his hand and harvested the horns off the succubi that had them.


    ¡°Give one of the horns to the archmage when you meet them in a couple of weeks.¡± My voice said with a chuckle. ¡°She''ll know what to do with it.¡±


    ¡°You''re playing a joke on me, aren''t you?¡± I asked, and god laughed.


    ¡°Only in what her reaction will be when she sees what it does.¡±


    I thought about that for a few seconds, then smiled. ¡°All right.¡±


    That made god laugh again as he tied the bag to my belt on the opposite side of the other one, then we stepped through the crack. Diofra still had the Truesight square out and they all had seen everything, then she and Imiryl gasped as they saw my hand physically grab the crack and pull it closed. It was sewn shut and healed with a massive amount of Presence, and a stunned Diofra put the square away.


    ¡°Dear god, thank you for visiting and having fun...¡± I started to say, then my mouth barked a laugh.


    ¡°All right. This once I''ll change the food for your benefit.¡± My mouth said and a burst of mana and Presence came out of me and all of our bags of holding glowed for a moment. ¡°You can''t say I never give you anything.¡±


    ¡°Does a headache and exhaustion count?¡± I asked, and he laughed. ¡°Amen.¡±


    The massive Presence faded away and I dropped to my knees. Maylia and Afyne offered to help carry me by propping me up on their shoulders, and I let them after I turned on my powered armor. Although Afyne just ended up just hugging my side.


    We left the building to see all the men throwing up and all the women trying to comfort them or trying to get away from them. With our task done after a quick search of the town for a nest, we went back to the edge of town and mounted our horses. Instead of me controlling the horse like I usually did, Afyne had the reins and I held onto her to stop myself from sliding off. We rode away from the town towards the next destination.

 Book Two: The Summoned 052

    ¡°Do you have anything like psychologists on this world?¡± I asked Maylia as we travelled at a normal speed. We couldn''t boost the horses until Allirynn, Evus and I were feeling a little better.


    ¡°Sai-what?¡± Maylia responded.


    ¡°Sorry. That''s what we call someone that helps people deal with trauma and the aftermath of bad situations.¡± I said. ¡°Is there anyone here that does that?¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a healer.¡± Diofra said from the other side of Maylia. ¡°You saw a lot of them were already helping.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I thought they were just people being considerate.¡± I said, and that made her laugh.


    ¡°They are people being considerate. It''s kind of their job.¡± Diora said. ¡°There''s not a lot of people like that around that would comfort someone while they''re being sick.¡±


    I glanced at Evus and saw his slightly embarrassed face and didn''t comment that Diofra had no problems with comforting him when he was sick. ¡°I think we should send a message to the queen again and tell her what happened.¡± I said instead.


    ¡°We can do it the next time we stop to rest and eat.¡± Maylia said and we heard someone''s stomach rumble. ¡°Which is going to be pretty soon.¡±


    That made us all laugh and we continued on a little ways before we found a good spot to stop and have a picnic. Afyne always enjoyed it when we stopped and relaxed like this, so she helped a lot by setting everything out with several cheap sheets for us all to sit on and spread out some food, then she made sure the horses were getting a good amount of grass while they grazed. I turned off my armor and slipped the thick coat off before I sat down and tried to relax.


    Afyne didn''t give me much of a chance and sat down on my lap, not that I minded. I grunted and pretended she was too heavy, which made her laugh. Maylia sat down beside us and we all started to eat a mix of dry food rations and some of the last bit of normal food we had left.


    ¡°This is really good!¡± Diofra said as she started to eat one of the ration packs.


    ¡°It''s dried food.¡± Evus said and lightly picked over the one he had. ¡°I might be able to eat this.¡±


    ¡°Stop whining and try it.¡± Diofra said and picked up a dried piece of meat from her own and shoved it into his mouth. Evus was about to complain about the treatment and then he tasted it. His eyes widened and he chewed it slowly until it was gone.


    ¡°Okay, that was delicious.¡± Evus admitted. ¡°It tastes like real food.¡±


    Diofra laughed. ¡°It is real food.¡±


    ¡°You know what I mean.¡± Evus said and waited for a minute to see if he was going to throw it back up, then he started eating normally.


    ¡°Was this why our bags of holding glowed before?¡± Imiryl asked as she ate.


    ¡°Thanks to god.¡± I said and Afyne held a piece of dried meat up to my mouth. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and pretended to be a dog as I snapped my teeth on it and shook my head from side to side and growled a little. She laughed and let it go, so I tilted my head back and chewed it before I gulped it down.


    ¡°I''m not going to ask why you just did that.¡± Maylia said with a shake of her head and a smile.


    *


    Steven waited until the tutor left before speaking. ¡°So, what are you in here for?¡± He asked the green robed man in the cell across from him, who had been in that cell for four days already and no one had visited him at all.


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± The green man finally spoke in disgust.


    As a paladin, Steven knew that was a lie. He wasn''t sure if the man knew what crime he had committed to get him there; but, the man knew he should be in jail for something. It was an odd feeling for Steven, to know that the man was guilty, even though he didn''t have any proof. If he stood, he could see out the little window in the door of his cell and into the one across the hallway. He hadn''t done that since the first day when they had brought the green robed man in.


    Steven turned his head to look at the lamia beside him. ¡°Josh is getting married tomorrow, now that the church is done.¡± He said, and she shrugged. ¡°I... I have to leave for a couple of hours.¡± He said, sadly.


    Siada touched the side of his face and he saw understanding in her eyes. They sat there for quite some time without saying anything, then she touched her mouth and made a motion with her hand to talk.


    ¡°You want another story?¡± Steven asked, and she nodded. He heard a groan from across the hall and ignored it. ¡°Let me think... all right, I have one.¡±


    Siada slithered her tail around his legs and leaned in close as she closed her eyes. Steven''s comforting arm and his voice were soothing to her, and she knew that whatever happened to her, she would treasure this time for as long as she was alive.


    ¡°Once upon a time, there was a princess who''s beauty was the envy of all around her...¡±


    *


    The queen sat in her personal room and knitted, while her daughter Milly sat and watched her. ¡°What do you think?¡± She asked and held up the scarf with half of the kingdom''s crest knitted onto it.


    Milly thought about it, then let a small smile touch her lips. ¡°With only a little more practice, you could probably join the artisan guild.¡±


    The queen put the partial scarf down and held her hands out. Milly took the invitation and climbed onto her mother''s lap and enjoyed the hug.


    ¡°That was very diplomatic of you.¡± The queen said, knowing full well it was a poor attempt.


    ¡°You really are getting better, mother.¡± Milly said.


    ¡°I would like nothing more than extra time to practice.¡± The queen said and held her daughter, who nodded and understood that meant she would want to spend more time with her and not just knitting. There was a knock on the door and they both let out a sigh. The queen gave her a genuine smile and Milly giggled a little, then the girl took a breath and let it out before she hopped off her mother''s lap. She walked over to the door and opened it to see one of the court attendants.


    ¡°My sincere apologies for disturbing your personal time, young majesty.¡± The man said, which made Milly blush a little, because that was the nickname Hunter had called her and it had spread around the castle somehow. ¡°The queen requested these to be delivered as soon as possible.¡± He said and handed over a small stack of papers.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Milly said and took them with decorum.


    ¡°Good evening.¡± The man said, gave her a regal bow, and left at a fast walk. Milly shut the door and walked over to her mother and gave her the papers without trying to read them.


    The queen looked them over. ¡°It seems the scryers have finished gathering evidence on the lamia.¡± She said and put the papers aside. ¡°That went quicker than I thought. I was sure they wouldn''t be able to see the event itself, and yet, the descriptions are there.¡±


    ¡°When will you hold the trial?¡±


    ¡°I believe next week will suffice.¡± The queen said and thought about it. ¡°Perhaps I should wait for Hunter and his party to return, since Allirynn will be with them.¡±


    A little wisp of light slipped through the window and hovered in front of her.


    ¡°Oh? Another message so soon?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°I hope the little bears are okay!¡± Milly said and was unable to restrain her excitement and worry.


    ¡°I''ve already sent a group to help protect them.¡± The queen smiled and held a hand out. The wisp landed on her palm and Diofra''s voice came out of it to describe what had happened with the succubi and their victims, and also successfully closing another crack. The most startling part was that it was a different world on the other side than the last one they had sealed. That really worried her.


    ¡°Don''t worry, mother.¡± Milly said and poked her mother''s cheek to stop her frown. ¡°If anyone can find out what''s going on, it''s Hunter.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The queen gave her another genuine smile. ¡°Yes, he''s definitely not shy about sharing information.¡±


    Milly went quiet for a minute, then spoke. ¡°Are you going to let him kill Fracsal?¡±


    The queen''s smile disappeared and she sighed. ¡°He''s bringing the cursed scroll with him, and I had several mages use the modified spell Diofra gave us. He did send it to her.¡±


    ¡°He won''t say what the curse is, will he?¡± Milly asked, and the queen shook her head.


    ¡°If he admits he knows what it is, he can''t claim he''s ignorant of what will happen when it''s opened.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°Are you going to have it opened?¡± Milly asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°No.¡± The queen said. ¡°Even with the best healers, sometimes curses can''t be caught or stopped once they are cast and hit the target. Since the scroll can target Maylia even when unopened...¡±


    Milly nodded. ¡°Then we should throw it into the bottomless pit.¡±


    The queen couldn''t help herself and laughed. ¡°The dried up well on the back of the property is not a bottomless pit.¡±


    ¡°I can''t hear anything hit the bottom.¡± Milly said, matter-of-factly.


    ¡°How many times do I have to tell you to stop throwing rocks into that thing?¡± The queen asked.


    Milly shrugged. ¡°It''s fun.¡± She said in her defense.


    ¡°I won''t make you lie and tell me you won''t do it again.¡± The queen said and Milly smiled. ¡°Just make sure you''re careful.¡±


    ¡°Gavell wouldn''t let me lean over it, even after I tied on a safety rope.¡± Milly said, a little disgruntled.


    The queen gave her a hug. ¡°He''s a good man.¡±


    Milly sighed and nodded. They spent the rest of their limited time together talking about their day.


    *


    The next morning, a small portion of the capital city was closed off for a wedding in the newest church to be built. It was near the outskirts of the city, since most of the land had been taken already, and the church filled the lot that the head acolyte had bought. It was a huge place, much bigger than any of the other churches in the city, and the builders had been skeptical about the design and making the spires so tall. To their surprise, it worked because the foundations were so deep and the building''s resilience was close to that of the kingdom''s castle.


    This building, The Church of Light, was going to last for a very long time.


    Thanks to the bounties on the creatures that the emissaries had gathered, and their generous donations to the church, which included money from Evangeline and Aimee, it was completely decorated for the wedding of the Church of Light''s Sorcerer Priest and his betrothed, an Acolyte of Light. People gathered in the streets to view the spectacle, despite none of the acolytes or anyone that worked on the church advertising that a wedding was going to be happening that day.


    A word here when flowers were being picked and a whisper there when food was being bought, and everyone in the city knew what was going on. A fancy carriage was rented and brought the bride and her bridesmaids, already ornately dressed, to the church. Josh was already waiting inside with Steven beside him and Evangeline''s cousin beside them. They were dressed in as close to a tuxedo as the tailor could manage on such short notice, and Josh also had a partial robe hung over his shoulders with the emblem of Light on the back.


    A lot of the richer people in town had politely asked to enter the church to witness the event, and the head acolyte agreed, as long as they didn''t mind sitting near commoners. Some agreed immediately and others declined, and that was fine by her. She wasn''t going to discriminate against anyone, because the tenants of the Light was acceptance and inclusion for whoever wanted to embrace the Light.


    Needless to say, the church was full and two of the white and gold robed acolytes opened the large double doors to let Evangeline be brought in. As she was led up the aisle by her uncle, who had graciously accepted the position of giving her away in his dead brother''s place, everyone fell silent at the sight of her. Even the small choir that was supposed to be singing the bridal march were quiet. No one noticed the two bridesmaids behind her because everyone stared at Evangeline''s almost glowing beauty. Her face flushed red at the attention and the completely stunned look on Josh''s face.


    Her mother was the head acolyte and would be performing the ceremony, and her face beamed a smile at her daughter. They arrived at the front of the church and Evangeline''s uncle kissed her cheek, then sat down in the front row in the only available spot and the two women behind her stepped to her right side and took their positions.


    ¡°Welcome all.¡± The head acolyte said and her voice carried perfectly in the intricately designed church and even the people in the back could hear her clearly. ¡°We are gathered here today, in the Presence of the Goddess Chaiya, to witness the formal union of...¡±


    As she talked, the feeling of Presence flowed out and over everyone in the church. The introductory speech wasn''t very long, and there was only a short prayer included, then the ceremony began. It was also relatively short, compared to some weddings the people there had witnessed at other churches, then the couple exchanged rings and personal vows of commitment. As they did, they both glowed slightly, and then Josh stepped close and took her in his arms.


    Everyone in the church, Evangeline included, had wide eyes as he kissed her. Something like a tiny sun formed where their lips met; but, it wasn''t blinding at all. It was warm and comforting, full of love and acceptance, so Evangeline closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the feeling as she hugged him. A collective sigh and ''aww'' sound came from the audience and Josh broke the kiss. He had a big goofy grin on his face and Evangeline laughed at the sight.


    ¡°In the name of Chaiya, the Goddess of Light.¡± The head acolyte said and put a hand on each of their shoulders. ¡°I present to the world, the Sorcerer Priest of Light and his wife, the Priestess of Light.¡±


    Evangeline gasped at the title and the acolytes around the church started clapping, which included one of her bridesmaids, Aimee. Jessica was the other bridesmaid and she clapped, then Steven and the man next to him clapped and the people in the church started clapping as well. Josh held an arm out to Evangeline, which hooked her elbow onto his, and he led her back down the aisle and outside. The carriage was waiting for them and they climbed in, then it drove them away from the church and out of sight.


    After a short ride around the city, they went to one of the acolyte''s barn, that she had offered for the reception. It was an idea that Josh had told them about, after he had described what he thought was the perfect wedding, and they went inside to wait. After a short time, friends and family came into the barn that looked like a fancy dance hall after the renovations, and everyone had a great time eating food and mingling, with everyone in Evangeline''s family welcoming Josh with open arms.


    When that gathering was over, the newly married couple with their friends and the acolytes, went back to the head acolyte''s house to prepare for a short trip.


    ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°It''s only for a week.¡± Josh said. ¡°I''ll be okay on the ship for that long.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t worried about you getting sick.¡± Jessica said, and he chuckled.


    ¡°You''ve already cast Creature Repulsion on the ship and helped me give everyone extra protection.¡± Josh said. ¡°Believe me, I wouldn''t even consider this if the Goddess hadn''t assured us that everything was going to be fine.¡±


    ¡°I still think taking someone else along would be a good idea.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°We''re going on our honeymoon.¡± Josh said with a laugh. ¡°Having someone else along would kind of dampen the mood.¡±


    ¡°You better be careful!¡± The head acolyte said and hugged him with a tear in her eye.


    ¡°After everything that''s happened, now you''re getting emotional?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°You''re officially my son, so I''m allowed to look worried in front of you now.¡± The head acolyte said.


    Josh hugged her back and kissed her cheek. ¡°I''ll keep her safe.¡±


    They all walked with Josh and Evangeline down to the port and to the ship they had booked passage on. It was barely a day to get to the island that the queen''s staff had recommended for them, so they would have about five days of relaxing fun before they had to come back. The head acolyte gave them a slightly tear filled goodbye, then Josh and Evangeline waved from the deck of the ship as it set sail.


    *


    After we finished our picnic and cleaned everything up, we travelled for several more hours at a leisurely pace to get to the next town. There was no fanfare or outrageous personal greetings like in the last town, so we relaxed a little and put the horses in the stable. Afyne wasn''t happy with the state of the place, so we spent an hour waiting while she showed them how it was supposed to be run for the benefit of the horses.


    The man who owned the stable was pretty angry at the eleven year old girl ordering his workers around and telling them what to do, since the proper way would cost him more money to run the place, then he saw the little golden badge on her shirt. He turned and looked at me with wide eyes and I pointed to the larger one on my coat. The man sighed and stepped back to let Afyne do her thing and soon after, the six horses were set up to spend the night.


    ¡°You can always change it back when we leave tomorrow.¡± I whispered to the man, and he nodded. ¡°Just keep in mind that the better it''s run, the more customers you have.¡±


    The man glanced at me for a moment and nodded again. I knew he would probably change most of it back; but, at least he would think about it before he did. We left there and checked into the nearby inn and they had lots of rooms available. I asked for one for myself, Maylia, and Afyne and got a key, then I motioned for the others to get rooms. Imiryl took a key and Allirynn''s hand, and Diofra stepped forward and took a key as well. When Evus didn''t step forward and only glanced at Diofra, I paid for the three rooms and we all went upstairs.


    ¡°Time for another bath!¡± I exclaimed after I shut the room door and started to undress, and Afyne beat me to it and had her clothes off and folded on a chair. I laughed and finished undressing myself, then we both helped Maylia with her laces and leather armor. ¡°I''m tempted to buy you something easier to put on and take off.¡± I said and eased the thick armor top off. ¡°We both know it would never be as comfortable as this is.¡±


    ¡°That''s why I''ve never asked, despite all our shopping in the capital.¡± Maylia said with a smile.


    ¡°What about me?¡± Afyne asked.


    I stopped untying the laces on Maylia''s thigh and looked at Afyne. ¡°You''re going to hit your growth spurt soon.¡±


    ¡°My what?!?¡± Afyne looked at herself and pat her stomach, then looked around on the floor.


    I chuckled. ¡°You''re going to start growing really fast because you''re getting older.¡± I corrected and turned on the water in the tub. It was a lot smaller than the last one we used, so we would have to take turns washing until we wanted to relax. ¡°We can probably get a small set of leathers for you for now.¡±


    ¡°You''ll grow out of them quickly, so we need to hold off on getting a really good set.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I had a set when I was a girl and they didn''t last long.¡±


    ¡°Can I get something that looks like yours?¡± Afyne asked me.


    ¡°Probably not.¡± I said and went back to helping Maylia. ¡°It wasn''t made here.¡±


    ¡°You fixed it.¡± Afyne said and touched the elbow where the cut used to be and the piece of leather I had sewed in was now. ¡°Can you make the whole thing?¡±


    ¡°No, I''m not a tailor.¡± I said and touched the metal plates on the arm. ¡°Plus, this has a lot of special things in it that I can''t make here.¡±


    Afyne sighed and her face was sad.


    ¡°Don''t worry about it for now.¡± I said and knelt by her. ¡°I''m sure we''ll find something just as good by the time you can wear a full set of armor.¡±


    Afyne nodded and we went over to the tub, took turns washing up, relaxed in the water for a bit, then dried off and dressed for bed. It was the first time in almost a week we had an actual bed to sleep in and we all fell asleep before we knew it. I still had my mind set to wake myself in an instant, just in case.

 Book Two: The Summoned 053

    Steven rushed back from the wharf to the castle and he didn''t bother changing his clothes before he went downstairs into the dungeon. When he ran over to the large door to enter the area with the cells, he didn''t see the guard that was supposed to be stationed there.


    ¡°No.¡± Steven said and tried to open the door. It was locked, and he hadn''t seen anyone else around. He took out his sword from his bag of holding and used his considerable strength to slice through the door lock and handle. It popped out and fell to the floor and he yanked the door open and ran inside to see Siada''s cell door was closed. He relaxed and walked over to it and discovered that it was locked, too. He didn''t want to damage that lock as well, so he peered into the little window in the door.


    ¡°Siada? I need the keys, so I have to go find a guard and...¡± He stopped talking when he saw the guard unconscious in the cell. ¡°NO!¡±


    Steven cut the lock without a second thought and went into the cell to check on the guard. When he tried to find a pulse, his hand came away from the man''s neck with two drops of blood on it. He turned the man''s head and saw two large puncture wounds and sadness filled him. He stood and walked out of the cell and looked into the cell across from hers to ask the green robed man when she had escaped, only to find that his cell was empty, too.


    Steven sighed and walked out of the dungeon and didn''t even notice when he kicked the keys that were on the floor by the door. He needed to find another guard or someone in authority to let them know the prisoners had escaped.


    *


    ¡°To the left.¡± The green robed man that clung to Siada''s back whispered as they moved through the hidden catacombs under the castle. ¡°We can escape through the waterway.¡±


    Siada detested the man; but, she needed his help to get away. She knew they were going to kill her for what she did, so as soon as Steven had stopped his all day and all night vigil on her, she took the opportunity to escape. She regretted having to stop the guard from hollering for help; but, she was going to die no matter what she did. She justified it to herself that one man''s life wasn''t as important to her as her own, just as she had when she betrayed Allirynn.


    I''m so sorry, Steven. Siada thought as she slipped into the water. It was colder than she thought it would be and her body lost a lot of heat. She shivered as she expended her energy to swim as fast as she could without making a lot of noise. Since she was half snake, that was pretty fast, since she used her considerably stronger lower half to propel herself through the water with barely any splashing.


    *


    ¡°You! Search the grounds!¡± The captain of the guard yelled and sent a squad to do that and looked at the next group of guards. ¡°You! Start on the outside of the grounds and work outwards!¡±


    The guards took off running and he looked at the next group.


    ¡°Get to the cliffs and check for anything in the water.¡± The captain said and they ran off to do that.


    ¡°You know this is pointless.¡± A woman''s voice said from behind him and he turned to look at her.


    ¡°It gives them something to do.¡± The captain said to the queen''s monster expert.


    She barked a laugh. ¡°A lamia that can go places a human can''t and a man that knows the castle inside and out? You''ll be lucky to find any trace of them even being inside the castle.¡±


    The captain sighed, because he had to agree with her. That was why he hadn''t ordered that the castle itself be searched. He knew that they wouldn''t find them there. Considering the potential head start the two fugitives had, he was sure they might have left the capital city already, or were about to. He had already increased the patrols inside and outside the city, and he didn''t expect it to make a difference.


    *


    ¡°I''m sorry, your majesty.¡± Steven said, his voice sad. ¡°This was my fault.¡±


    The queen looked at him sternly for only a moment, then she sighed, which showed her own disappointment. ¡°You accepted responsibility for her and she escaped.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Steven said. ¡°I abandoned my duty for a few hours for personal reasons and I''m ready to take the punishment for it.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad to hear that.¡± The queen said. ¡°You let your personal feelings for the prisoner affect your judgment, despite being warned several times. If she was a murderer that you were ordered to guard, you would have at least secured her again to stop her from leaving when you weren''t watching her personally, or would have had someone else watching her.¡± She said and she saw the other emissaries react to her words. ¡°Instead, you ordered yourself to guard the murderer, then left her completely unsupervised and she killed one of my guards.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Steven said.


    ¡°My advisers suggested that I go easy on you, because you are an Emissary of Light.¡± The queen said.


    Steven stiffened, because the tone of her voice told him she wasn''t going to.


    ¡°However, I do not share that opinion.¡± The queen said and confirmed it. ¡°You''ve already voluntarily spent time in jail and it didn''t bother you at all, so that kind of punishment will be ineffectual.¡± She said and once again, noticed the reactions of the other emissaries. ¡°Therefore, I have ordered that all materials, favors, and monies that have been granted to you since your arrival here, will be forfeited.¡±


    Steven stood there and wasn''t sure what she meant.


    ¡°I see the lack of understanding. You no longer have free access to the castle, the training grounds, or the services we offer.¡± The queen said. ¡°Also, your armor, weapons, money, bag of holding, clothing, and services rendered will be returned immediately.¡±


    ¡°Y-you can''t...¡± Jessica started to say and Kara put a hand on her arm to stop her protest.


    ¡°Furthermore, since services themselves can''t be returned and the armor was damaged and needed to be repaired, you will be charged an equivalent amount and must pay it back.¡±


    Steven sighed and took out the sack of gold and silver he had received for the bounties. ¡°How much...¡±


    ¡°The money you hold has already been included in the cost and much more will be needed.¡± The queen said, and Jessica gasped. ¡°You are starting to understand.¡± She said and looked at Jessica. ¡°Arming and preparing adventurers is not a cheap endeavour.¡±


    ¡°B-b-but...¡± Jessica stuttered.


    ¡°I know you believe because we gave the items to you to use that you own them.¡± The queen said. ¡°That is not the case.¡±


    Jessica tried to hold in her sigh at that realization.


    ¡°Most magic users need to work for years, sometimes decades, to earn the privilege to carry a staff of power or a focusing rod, either given or bought.¡± The queen said. ¡°How many did you take with you?¡±


    Jessica''s face flushed red, because she had two staffs and two focusing rods in her bag of holding, only one of which she actually used. The others she had taken just in case, not because she needed them.


    ¡°Since I had requested that you be summoned here, equipping you to handle the various things you would be facing was an acceptable cost.¡± The queen said. ¡°As you saw from the artisans, they enjoy their work. Having adventurers use their items for the good of the people is one of their fondest wishes... besides making more things.¡±


    Kara, Steven, and Jessica stood there in silence and the queen looked at Steven.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Inconveniencing you in this manner is not enough for the life that was taken; but, I am not as heartless as your friends now believe.¡± The queen said and saw Kara''s and Jessica''s surprise. ¡°You may keep the basic clothing once everything else is returned and no further reparations need to be made.¡±


    Steven walked over to her desk and put the sack of money on it. ¡°I made a donation to...¡±


    ¡°I am aware.¡± The queen said. ¡°I will not ask you, or them, to give it back.¡±


    Steven took a breath and let it out, because he figured the money was already spent after that wedding. ¡°Thank you, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°I was tempted to hold it against you for letting your guard down around the lamia; but, look what she did with the friends she had been with for over a year.¡± The queen said. ¡°I had to take that into account when deciding what to do with you, and decided to be lenient.¡±


    Striping me of everything was lenient? Steven asked himself, surprised.


    The queen looked at Kara and Jessica and back at Steven. ¡°Have you understood the point of the lessons my old teacher gave you?¡±


    ¡°She told us the first day that it was discipline.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Do you understand why?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°You think we don''t know what we are doing, so you wanted us to realize that you had power over us and could tell us what to do.¡± Kara said. ¡°We know that already.¡±


    ¡°Then you missed the point entirely.¡± The queen said and looked at Jessica. ¡°She said you were attentive and did well, as did Josh. Did you learn anything?¡±


    ¡°The rules and customs here are sometimes the same and sometimes a lot different than where I''m from.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°What does that tell you?¡±


    Jessica had to think about it. ¡°Well, the similar ones are more common sense that anything else. The others are...¡± She stopped talking and her face flushed a little red.


    ¡°...nonsense.¡± Kara finished for her. ¡°Like I told the teacher, I don''t need to understand the backgrounds of the people to save them.¡±


    ¡°Once again, that wasn''t the point.¡± The queen said. ¡°Jessica, think about it. What would be the point in teaching you about other peoples lives and how they live them?¡±


    Jessica actually thought about it and after a few moments, spoke. ¡°To highlight the differences.¡±


    ¡°That does matter since there are some. If there wasn''t, what would you learn?¡±


    ¡°That...¡± Jessica went over everything she learned and spoke hesitantly. ¡°...there might be differences, and... we should be mindful of them if there are. We need to... respect them, even if we don''t follow their beliefs.¡± She said more confidently.


    ¡°Very good.¡± The queen said with a slight smile. ¡°I knew at least one of you would understand.¡±


    ¡°I don''t get it.¡± Steven said, slightly confused.


    ¡°In simple terms, then.¡± The queen glanced at him and managed not to frown. ¡°Stop. Ignoring. People.¡±


    Both Steven and Kara were surprised at her strict tone and Jessica''s face turned beet red.


    ¡°I won''t get into the numerous accounts of your conduct and your complete dismissal of others, as if they were beneath you, since all that will do is make you hate me more.¡± The queen said. ¡°All I will do is implore you to be more cautious in the future. The next person you treat inappropriately may be a duke that could be insulted and call for your heads, or a knight that will impinge on his honor and he might challenge you to a duel to the death you can''t refuse, or a devout follower of a faith that uses ritual sacrifice or blood magic.¡±


    All three of their faces lost color at her words.


    ¡°There are many things in this world... besides monsters... that can get you killed.¡± The queen asked. ¡°I sincerely hope that you keep that in mind as you continue to do the work you were summoned for.¡±


    Jessica raised a hand, and the queen smiled slightly for a brief moment and nodded. ¡°How can Steven do that without armor or weapons?¡±


    ¡°Armor is relatively expensive for most people.¡± The queen said. ¡°Most people haven''t killed so many monsters that I''ve bought the hides for.¡±


    ¡°Y-you bought?¡± Steven asked, surprised.


    ¡°Did you think the captain of the guard would buy them, out of the goodness of his heart?¡± The queen asked and let out an uncharacteristic chuckle. ¡°We harvest them for raw materials and allow the artisans to create what they can with them. Armor, weapons, enchantments, potions, and anything else we can use them for.¡± She said. ¡°The only thing we haven''t done that for is the garglemacer Hunter managed to kill, because my monster expert wants it for a display piece.¡±


    ¡°A gargle-what?¡± Steven asked, and she repeated the name. ¡°I''ve never heard of it.¡±


    ¡°Milly.¡± The queen said and Milly opened the door and came into the room.


    ¡°Yes, mother?¡±


    ¡°What was that funny name Hunter called the garglemacer?¡±


    ¡°He said it was a dragon.¡± Milly said, and Steven and Jessica caught their breath.


    ¡°H-how big...¡± Jessica tried to ask.


    ¡°His bag of holding had to expand to about twenty feet across to take it out with the wings folded against its body.¡± The queen said and Jessica swayed as if she was going to faint. Steven quickly went to her and caught her before she fell.


    ¡°Is it really that big?¡± Kara asked, slightly confused. She had no idea what a ''dragon'' was.


    ¡°You are fortunate that it is on the way to an exit of the castle.¡± The queen said and stood. ¡°My daughter and I will show you the way.¡±


    Kara, Steven and Jessica followed the queen and her daughter through the castle to the small courtyard where the monster expert was working on the garglemacer. Jessica let out a short scream before she fainted and Steven picked her up in a princess carry. He was just as shocked as Jessica was at seeing the enormous creature up close, and he estimated that if it opened its mouth, he would easily fit inside. Standing up.


    ¡°It''s impressive.¡± Kara said and walked over to it.


    ¡°You don''t know the half of it.¡± The monster expert said. ¡°The first known specimen for...¡±


    ¡°Are there any more of them?¡± Kara interrupted, and the woman squinted her eyes at her.


    ¡°As far as we know, there are no more in the local area.¡± The queen said. ¡°We haven''t received any reports about more in the rest of the kingdom, either.¡±


    Kara used Detect Presence, and she could see the residue of Hunter''s attack still on the underside of the carcass. ¡°Can I flip it up?¡± She asked, because she could tell that it wasn''t just the technique she discovered he had used before to kill three people. It had mana in it as well.


    ¡°No.¡± The monster expert said. ¡°Most of the chest is missing. Until I get a suitable patch to cover the damage, moving it might cause a lot more damage.¡±


    Kara tried her best to examine it by just using Presence; but, since she couldn''t see it with her own eyes, she couldn''t tell how Hunter had created such a powerful blast. It not only kill the creature, it still had his Presence residue on it after it being dead for so long.


    Jessica woke up and Steven stood her on her feet and held her steady as she stared at the dragon and her body trembled. She wasn''t sure why she was so scared of the thing, since it was dead; but, she wasn''t going to question her instincts.


    ¡°What else has Hunter killed?¡± Kara asked to try and gauge how strong Hunter was.


    ¡°Does that matter?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°It does to me.¡± Kara said, and Jessica turned her head to look at the queen, who described all of the things Hunter had killed since he had arrived there, and how many.


    ¡°I knew we needed him.¡± Jessica whispered and glanced at the dragon. ¡°To do all of that as well as this. There''s no way we could have fought this thing and he did it by himself.¡±


    ¡°He wasn''t by himself.¡± Milly said, and the three people there looked at her. ¡°You didn''t notice that he had a beautiful elf with him?¡±


    ¡°A what?!?¡± Jessica exclaimed. ¡°She was an elf?¡±


    ¡°I hope with this surprisingly simple to discover information, that you will start taking what you learned here to heart.¡± The queen said to them and looked at Steven. ¡°The items, clothing, and healing is still available for the rest of the emissaries except for you, Steven. I will reinstate your position if you somehow return the lamia to our custody.¡±


    ¡°That''s not going to happen.¡± Steven said, and you could hear the sadness in his voice. ¡°She''s long gone by now, especially with an actual death on her hands.¡±


    ¡°Then I''m sorry that this will be the last time I will see you.¡± The queen said, and she let him see in her eyes that it was true. ¡°Please leave the rest of your things at the gate.¡±


    Steven nodded to her, and he watched as she led Milly back into the castle.


    ¡°I guess this means we''re moving to our rooms at the church a few days early.¡± Jessica said with a poor attempt at a joking tone.


    ¡°I guess so.¡± Steven said and started to lead Jessica away, then he stopped and looked at the monster expert. ¡°Thanks for letting us look at it.¡±


    The woman nodded and Jessica gave her a little wave, then Steven, Jessica, and Kara went to the gate to drop off Steven''s things. He kept his normal clothing that Jessica put into her bag of holding for him, and they left to head to the Church of Light. They saw several armorers and blacksmiths on the way and they stopped and went inside to price them. The items seemed like high quality, even the ones that weren''t enchanted, and Jessica spent a good amount on equipping Steven again.


    After that, they went to the church to wait for Josh to return and for the goddess to give them orders.


    *


    Over the next few days, Maylia and I boosted all the horses to increase their speed and enhance them. Since they had a much better starting point in health than the first two horses we had, their improvements happened a lot faster, and we were all travelling at a ridiculous speed. We had to camp out a few times while searching for the next thing on the lists that were suggested we deal with, and we easily caught a group of bandits that had been assaulting and robbing people on different roads as they moved around.


    I could feel how evil they were, like the ones that had tried to capture Allirynn, so instead of trying to capture or interrogate them like the captain of the guard had suggested on his list, we killed them all and took their items and heads. It was a little short-sighted to just get rid of them; but, none of us wanted to take the chance that they would escape or try to coerce one of our party.


    I was a little worried that Afyne would object to my decision, then she hugged me and thanked me for saving others from having to go through what Allirynn and Imiryl had. That reassured us all that we had made the right choice, mainly because we didn''t want her around people like that if they were still alive. We used the crack locate spell and didn''t find any nearby, or in the next area, or the next, then we reached the point where we had to turn around and go back so we could make the meeting with the emissaries.


    Our group turned around and worked our way back, taking a different route, thanks to the map scroll and Diofra''s and Evus'' knowledge of the countryside. We found two more cracks, well away from townspeople, and had almost no trouble with the creatures we had found there. They were dispatched with haste and the place cleaned up, and Maylia led us along fresh tracks to hunt any stragglers down. Once we had the place completely cleared out, we continued on back to the capital.

 Book Two: The Summoned 054

    My group and I arrived at the capital of the First Sothen Kingdom at noon and we were freshly rested with only half a day''s worth of grime on us. We had pushed on because there wasn''t much point in trying to delay the inevitable any longer than I already had. At least I didn''t believe so at the time. My happiness about getting there and not needing a bath, quickly vanished, when I saw the ungodly monstrosity that was the Church of Light. Its towering spires were higher than every other building in the entire city, which included the castle. I shook my head and held in my anger over it, so I ignored it and intentionally went to the castle first.


    The queen had told me days ago what had happened and that the Emissaries of Light were staying at their church and not at the castle. Diofra and I had tried a few times to find the green robed man using the same powerful locate spell with the cursed scroll, and we didn''t have any luck. Either he was blocking us somehow, or the object wasn''t enough of his property to do it more than once. That was annoying, mainly because I was going to have to hunt him down the old fashioned way to kill him. I wasn''t adverse to that, since I had a lot of experience doing it; but, I was in a world with magic and it annoyed me even more that I couldn''t just magically call for him and kill him.


    That made me think about how magic worked. I knew the locate spell would find someone if you had something of theirs, and I wondered why we couldn''t use that target to launch another spell or something. I had to assume that distance was a factor for most spells; but, the locate spell would let you find someone no matter where they were, as long as you met the requirements of a personal item and enough mana. Since I figured the cursed scroll wasn''t enough of the green robed man''s property to keep looking for him, I asked the queen for an item of his property to use.


    Queen Celestina didn''t ask me why I wanted it, probably because she was a very intelligent woman, and she sat beside her daughter as one of the court attendants brought a set of the man''s green robes and his outfit to the meeting room we were in. I almost laughed at it, since I had expected a small personal item and not something he wore practically every day.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said as I accepted the robe from the man, then I turned to the queen and gave her a bow. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± I said with as much sincerity as I could.


    The queen''s face flushed slightly red for a split second. ¡°I hope it works this time.¡±


    ¡°Let''s find out.¡± I said and looked at Diofra. ¡°Before we do this, how much are mana crystals?¡±


    ¡°How much are... what are you going to do?¡± Diofra asked with worry in her eyes.


    ¡°I don''t know if it will work or not; but, if I break the mana crystal, you have my word that I will buy you another one.¡± I said.


    ¡°O-kay.¡± Diofra said, disbelief clear in her voice and her eyebrows raised at me. ¡°Should we...¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to wait any more.¡± I said and pointed to a spot on the floor and I put the folded clothing there. Diofra placed her fully charged mana crystal on top of it and easily cast the spell. A two foot wide slightly green see-through bubble appeared over the top of the mana crystal and showed a small village, then it zoomed in and showed the green robed man as he sat at a table eating food.


    ¡°It worked.¡± Milly whispered.


    With my target in sight, I bared my teeth at him and I placed my hand on the mana crystal. I knew that intent affected the mana and I let my anger out and funnelled my Presence and mana into the mana crystal to establish a connection. The bubble expanded to ten feet across and everyone in the room could clearly see him, now that he was life-size.


    ¡°No one is allowed to hurt the people I love.¡± I said in a deadly voice and shot Mana Presence Lightning into the mana crystal.


    *


    The green robed man had gotten clean away and no one had tried to follow or find him. He had been worried for the first few days, even though he had made a friend cast a very expensive anti-magic spell on him. After five days, his spies had reported that no one at the castle was trying to look for him, so he relaxed and didn''t pay to have the magic renewed on the sixth day.


    When nothing happened after that, he relaxed completely and started to contact people about getting smuggled out of the kingdom. He knew that the queen would have informed all the guards in the towns and cities about him being wanted, so on the seventh day he stayed in a small out of the way village. Inside a small house that had half of it converted to serve food like a restaurant, with several people at tables around him, he ate lunch while he waited for his contact to show up.


    Without warning, a dozen dark green bolts of lightning appeared in the air right beside him and struck him all over, with the majority of the bolts hitting him in the head and the heart. Even though it only lasted for three seconds, the bolts of lightning had bored through his face and his chest to eat away at his brain and his heart to leave nothing behind. The lightning cut off and disappeared as the green robed man''s lifeless body dropped to the floor.


    His contact came into the room and saw the remains, ignored the screams from the other people in the makeshift restaurant that had just realized what happened, and he walked right back out of the room. He decided, for no reason at all, that he no longer wanted to be associated with criminals anymore.


    *


    In my head, I had imagined the view I saw in the green bubble was just like the viewscreen I had looked through when Ozahith died. At the time, I had inadvertently used the communication device on the long haul transport to kill her killers by using Presence Lightning and followed the energy trail to her room. This time, I followed the mana energy instead through the spell, and to my delight, it worked.


    There was a loud cracking noise and I felt a buildup of energy in the crystal as both the spell and my lightning stopped, so I picked up the mana crystal and ran to the side of the room as I opened the window with a Presence Hand. I could detect that there was no one in the area near the window, so I threw the crystal and pushed it with Presence as hard as I could. It shot out of my hand like a bullet and it flew out over the cliff side and over the water. I closed the window just in time, because a second later the mana crystal exploded and little shards of it bounced off of the glass.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± The queen yelled and stood with complete shock on her face at what she had just seen. Four guards ran into the room with weapons drawn and looked around for a threat to their ruler. Milly, on the other hand, sat there and had an odd look on her face.


    ¡°Please accept my apologies.¡± I said and opened the window again. I could see all the little shards that had hit the side of the castle and had fallen to the ground. I used Presence to pick them all up and threw them over the side of the cliff and into the water with the rest of them. ¡°I didn''t expect the results to be that explosive.¡±


    ¡°If I knew your full name, I would state it right now.¡± The queen said in a stern voice and Milly caught her breath. ¡°Then I would lecture you on doing... things like that... in front of me.¡±


    ¡°I told you I was going to kill him.¡± I said. When I didn''t say anything else and just looked at the queen with a slight smile, she sighed and waved away her guards. They left without a word and shut the door. I turned around and saw Imiryl''s face before she could hide her expression, so I walked over to her and Allirynn.


    ¡°By that look on your face, I have to assume that Kara told you what happened with Ozahith.¡± I said, and they looked at me with blank faces, which meant they knew. ¡°Do you want the real story?¡± I asked, and Imiryl blinked her eyes once and then nodded, so I turned to the queen. ¡°Your majesty, before you have me ejected from the castle for what just happened, I''m going to break my rule about saving the details of this story for those closest to me, and I''ll explain how I did what I just did.¡±


    The queen felt a small hand take hers and she looked down to see Milly''s nod. ¡°Very well.¡±


    We all sat down and I told them from beginning to end about how I had met Ozahith, how we had an instant connection despite not knowing each other, and how we had loved one another before she was tragically murdered for knowing me... and how she had ensured her death by helping me track down the blue-skinned alien that had killed my parents. With a quick explanation about a communication device that worked very similar to the viewing bubble of the locate spell, I told them how her dying for me let me discover a new attack, and how it almost killed me.


    I slipped off my uniform coat and pulled up my long sleeved t-shirt to show everyone the circular pattern of scars around my heart. ¡°I earned these. They can''t be removed or healed and they will always remind me of my love for her and what she did for me.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    The queen looked to be close to tears and she held them back while Milly let hers flow freely, as did Imiryl and Diofra. Maylia and Afyne cried a little as well, even though they had both heard the story before.


    ¡°After that, I trained with it and taught myself how to master the technique.¡± I said and skipped over the part about being in jail while I did it. I told them how I had thought about magic and why I couldn''t just do the same thing with the locate spell, since it made the connection with the target, and I wanted to try it. When I did, it had worked.


    The queen whispered something about Black Laura that I didn''t try to hear or asked her to repeat.


    ¡°That... is a much different story than what Kara told the others.¡± Imiryl said.


    ¡°I can just imagine what you think of me after her telling you I was a fugitive from The Order for a year.¡± I said with a sad smile. ¡°Now that I know she did tell you her side of things, I''m a little surprised you went along with me after delivering the queen''s message.¡±


    ¡°You told us that we were the message.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°We were the ones that were targeted by those criminals. We wanted to find out why, and since you were the one to save us from them...¡±


    ¡°Did you examine the new list?¡± The queen asked, and we all nodded. ¡°Then follow it back to Allirynn''s homeland and you will find your answer there.¡±


    I turned to look at the queen and she gave me a slight nod, which meant she saw the place where Allirynn was supposed to be. I nodded in return as a promise to make sure that he gets there.


    ¡°Hunter, you must promise me to never tell anyone that you can do this.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°I don''t need to ask you why, obviously.¡± I said.


    ¡°This is... I need to think about...¡± The queen stopped talking and looked down at Milly, who smiled and walked over to me.


    ¡°If your power becomes known, people will come from far and wide to have you kill people for them.¡± Milly said. ¡°They will make up stories and things about people, just to see if you can kill them.¡±


    I nodded and knelt. ¡°I know how dangerous this can be, especially since it worked.¡± I said. ¡°Of course, it costs a mana crystal each time.¡±


    ¡°Will it always?¡± Milly asked.


    ¡°I used the bare minimum energy that I could to do it and it still overloaded the crystal.¡± I said. ¡°You wouldn''t know where I can buy a replacement, do you?¡±


    Milly turned away from me slightly and looked at her mother.


    ¡°You can take another from the supply at...¡± The queen started to say.


    ¡°No, thank you.¡± I said and interrupted her. ¡°I did this on my own and wrecked Diofra''s mana crystal. I''ll pay to have it replaced, no matter how much it costs.¡±


    The queen looked at me for only a moment before she gave me a small smile. ¡°There''s an artisan just outside the castle walls. The person is only a single level below the top ability of my own people and they have a small shop on the side road that leads down to the docks.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said. ¡°We can stop by on the way out.¡±


    ¡°You really don''t have to do that.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and looked at the queen. ¡°Your majesty, can I introduce someone special to your daughter?¡±


    ¡°I believe she might burst if you don''t.¡± The queen said with a full smile. ¡°You can stop hiding, Afyne.¡±


    Afyne peeked out from behind Maylia and glanced at the queen for a second and bowed her head. ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± She said in a subdued voice and came over to me. I still knelt, so she leaned against me and kept her hands at her sides.


    ¡°Young majesty Millicent, this is Afyne Ivoneth.¡± I said and took both of their hands, then put their hands together. ¡°Afyne, this is Milly.¡±


    ¡°Hello.¡± Both girls said at the same time, which made them both giggle. The laughs had similar pitch and tone, too. Neither of them had lost that innocent child laugh yet.


    ¡°Can Afyne stay here and play for a bit while I go and handle some things?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Of course.¡± The queen said. ¡°Milly, why don''t you show your new friend the arboretum.¡±


    ¡°Can we feed the man eating plant?¡± Milly asked, excitedly.


    ¡°Only if you stay five feet away.¡± The queen warned, and Milly nodded.


    ¡°Come on.¡± Milly said and gripped Afyne''s hand and led her from the room. ¡°You won''t believe how much it eats!¡±


    Both girls started to chat as the door shut behind them.


    ¡°Fast friends.¡± Imiryl said with a smile and she felt Allirynn take her hand and give it a squeeze. She turned her head and looked into his eyes, and I could see the depth of their connection as they stared at each other.


    ¡°I''ll be back to pick her up later.¡± I said and stood. ¡°I didn''t want her to be there for this meeting with Kara and the others.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± The queen said. ¡°You aren''t going to keep it from her, are you?¡±


    ¡°No, I''ll tell her what happened, mainly because it will affect my life going forward; but, she doesn''t need to see it first-hand.¡± I said. ¡°Especially since I expect this to be a volatile meeting.¡±


    ¡°Don''t tell them what you just did.¡± Maylia said. ¡°They shouldn''t have that information.¡±


    ¡°They will overreact.¡± Allirynn said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I can''t wait to see what they do.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn''t antagonize them or...¡± Imiryl stopped talking and smiled. ¡°On second thought, I''ll help.¡±


    That made me chuckle, as did Diofra and Maylia.


    ¡°We have a plan then.¡± I said and motioned for everyone to leave the room. ¡°Your majesty, thank you for listening.¡±


    ¡°I may still ban you for killing someone in my castle.¡± The queen said with a stern look on her face; but, her voice was calm and held no anger.


    ¡°That''s your choice.¡± I said, also without any inflection in my voice. ¡°I won''t even argue that it wasn''t inside the castle.¡±


    Maylia barked a laugh. ¡°Don''t split hairs, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I said I wouldn''t argue about it.¡± I grinned at her and she shook her head.


    ¡°I do have to think about this and what it means.¡± The queen said. ¡°Please stop in again before you leave the capital. I''ll give you my decision then.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I said and bowed to her. I walked over to the door with the others and opened it, then turned to look at the queen. ¡°How many people have you thought about having me remove like that?¡±


    The queen smiled a genuine smile. ¡°Too many.¡±


    ¡°Me, too.¡± I said, gave her another bow, and left the room.


    We quickly left the castle and went down the side road towards the docks, then we stopped in the little magic shop that the queen had told us about. The beautiful young woman behind the counter started to hyperventilate as we all piled into her little store. I wasn''t sure if it was because there were six of us in the small space or because we were all better than average looking.


    ¡°G-g-g-good a-a-afternoon.¡± The woman behind the counter managed to say.


    ¡°Hi, there.¡± I said and swept my hair back behind my ear with my hand. Several strands of hair had come loose from the tie and I had forgotten to have Afyne fix it for me. ¡°You wouldn''t happen to have mana crystals for sale, do you?¡±


    ¡°I-I-I-I d-d-d-do.¡± The woman said and kept hyperventilating.


    ¡°Let me handle this.¡± Maylia said and eased me aside as she stepped forward. ¡°How much are mana crystals?¡±


    The woman just stared at her with a slightly open mouth.


    ¡°It looks like normal-looking people need to take over.¡± Diofra said with a laugh and eased both Maylia and me aside and stepped to the counter. ¡°My mana crystal broke and I need a new one.¡±


    ¡°Hm? Oh. Yes, okay. Just a second.¡± The woman behind the counter said and walked into the back of the shop. ¡°Does it matter what element is the primary?¡± She asked with a slightly muffled tone.


    ¡°I''d prefer neutral if you have one. If not, I''ll take fire.¡± Diofra said.


    I watched the woman as she rummaged around and I saw her move several different colored mana crystals aside to get one that had almost none, like the last crystal Diofra had.


    ¡°You''re in luck.¡± The woman said and came back to the counter. ¡°I have one neutral left.¡±


    ¡°Does it matter what the element is for the crystal?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Technically, no.¡± The woman said and gave me a huge smile as she switched over to teaching mode from selling mode. ¡°Depending on the spells mages use, neutrals are the best for not interfering with other types of spells. If they cast mainly fire, getting one already attuned for fire would make the spells stronger and easier to cast.¡±


    ¡°What about crossing elements?¡±


    ¡°If you cast an ice spell with a fire attuned crystal, it will still work, only not as well or be as powerful as a neutral or ice attuned crystal.¡±


    ¡°Is the locate spell element based?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°No one ever asked me that before.¡± The woman said, surprised. ¡°Everyone just assumes that certain spells are neutral and use them that way.¡±


    ¡°You''re going to tell me that it''s air based, aren''t you?¡± I responded and she nodded.


    ¡°The mana in the spell uses the air itself to form a path from the caster to the target.¡±


    Just like electronic signals that pass through air making a path, the mana from the spell does the same thing. I thought and let a huge smile spread across my face, and she gasped.


    ¡°Do I have to take you outside?¡± Maylia asked with a laugh.


    ¡°Sorry. I''ll try not to seduce every woman that I meet.¡± I said. ¡°Mostly.¡±


    Maylia punched my shoulder. ¡°You better not!¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay!¡± I said and held my hands up in surrender, then looked at the woman behind the counter. ¡°How much for the crystal?¡±


    ¡°It''s a gold and twenty-five silver.¡± The woman said and Diofra gasped. I assumed because she had been gifted the crystal and hadn''t had to buy it.


    ¡°What about the element attuned ones?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A gold and five silver, unless you buy a couple of them and I can give you a discount.¡± The woman said and laughed at her joke.


    ¡°I''ll take the four air attuned ones that you have as well as the neutral one for Diofra.¡± I said and put the money on the counter. ¡°I''m tempted to grab a few of the miscellaneous ones; but, we might find more neutrals and air somewhere else.¡±


    The woman just stared at the money on the counter.


    ¡°It''s all right, I know you were joking about the discount.¡± I said and pushed the money across the counter. ¡°Five mana crystals, please.¡±


    ¡°R-r-r-right away!¡± The woman practically flew into the back of the shop and brought out the four air attuned crystals and wrapped them in cloth and put them in boxes for me.


    I stored them and Diofra took hers.


    ¡°Y-y-you... you have to...¡± The woman tried to speak.


    ¡°...attune them to mana as well.¡± Diofra finished for her. I could see that she was shocked as well; but, she didn''t let it color her voice.


    The woman behind the counter nodded and pointed at her. ¡°Y-yes, th-that.¡±


    I held in my laugh at her reactions. ¡°Thank you for your help.¡± I said. ¡°The queen knew what she was talking about when she recommended you.¡±


    ¡°Th-th-the queen?!?¡± The woman asked, surprised.


    ¡°We just came from the castle. She said you were only a single level below her best artisans.¡±


    The woman''s mouth opened a little and she stared at me.


    ¡°Have a good day!¡± I said and waved to her as I led everyone else out of the shop.


    ¡°Oh, that poor girl!¡± Evus said with a laugh. ¡°She''s going to be in shock for a while.¡±


    ¡°So am I.¡± Diofra whispered and hugged her bag of holding.


    ¡°Can anyone tell me which way to go to get to that goddamn ugly thing?¡± I asked and pointed to the Church of Light, whose spires could be easily seen.


    ¡°Over to the main road, then down to the street near the barracks.¡± Evus said. ¡°It''s close to the outskirts of the city on that side.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± I said and walked faster. ¡°We can stop and visit the captain of the guard to drop off all these creature carcasses before I have to meet with... them.¡±


    Maylia took my hand and we all walked off into the afternoon sun towards a meeting I was not looking forward to.

 Book Two: The Summoned 055

    After we visited a very happy captain of the guard to drop off all of the carcasses we had stored, we walked back to the road that led to the church. I stopped at the end of it and stared at the huge ugly white monstrosity. I wasn''t close to it, and yet, it almost turned my stomach at the thought of going inside of it.


    ¡°I want to try something.¡± I said and turned to the others.


    ¡°It doesn''t involve Mana Presence Lightning, does it?¡± Evus the guard asked, and I chuckled.


    ¡°No, that was my own wish fulfillment.¡± I said and held my hand up and pointed to the ring on my finger. ¡°This ring is enchanted to help me fight against area effects.¡±


    ¡°He had it custom made after the last time we met the Emissaries of Light.¡± Maylia explained.


    ¡°It kind of worked already when I was around the succubus.¡± I said.


    ¡°Is that why you weren''t affected like me?¡± Evus asked.


    ¡°I was still affected and I almost fell under the charm like you did, until I realized something was going on and the power of that charm waned.¡± I said. ¡°Here, I know something is going on already, so it should work right away and not kick in later.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Diofra the mage asked.


    ¡°I want to try and share my energy.¡± I said and stepped close to Imiryl and held my hand out to her. ¡°Are you willing to try and share energy with me?¡±


    ¡°After hearing your side of Ozahith''s story, I would be honored to.¡± Imiryl said and took my hand. I smiled and used Presence to initiate a connection between us. I felt my energy touch hers and I also felt the harmony between her energy and her body, then her eyes widened when her energy responded by trying to come to me. My hand started to turn cold, so I let her hand go and stepped back. I could still feel the tentative connection to her, though. I turned to Allirynn and he took my hand without hesitation and I used Presence to make the connection.


    I felt the harmony between his energy and his body as well. It reminded me of how my energy used to be, before I came here and my body was changed and given mana to use. It had thrown off everything I had worked for years to achieve and I needed a lot more time than a few evenings of meditation to correct my body''s conflicting energy rhythms.


    I let Allirynn''s hand go and turned to Evus, who took my hand and I did the same thing. I had already shared energy with Diofra several times to cast spells and to charge her mana crystal, and Maylia and I shared energy all the time, so those connections were already there. Allirynn and Imiryl were on my right and Diofra and Evus were on my left, so I had Maylia stand across from me because our connection was the strongest, then we all joined hands. With us standing in a circle, I concentrated on the mana and Presence in the ring and the enchantment. Since I had no clue how the actual enchantment worked, all I could do was propagate the energy I could detect in the ring and hoped that would be enough to protect us.


    Dear god, let this be enough to stop whatever effect the emissaries have. I silently prayed.


    The energy flowed out from me like a wave of water from each arm and spread out to cover us all, then the waves met at the other side of the circle and splashed over Maylia. It made her gasp and the waves flowed back to me and met again. We all glowed slightly green now, so I nodded and we all let our hands go at the same time. The glow faded and I could feel the connection between us was still there.


    ¡°Okay, I think it worked. Make sure you stay close to me.¡± I said and they nodded. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    I took Maylia''s hand and walked towards the church, while Allirynn, Imiryl, Diofra, and Evus walked right behind us. Allirynn had taken Imiryl''s hand to mirror us, and slightly surprisingly, Evus took Diofra''s hand and mirrored us as well. The six of us, three apparent couples, walked with a purpose.


    *


    ¡°He''s coming!¡± A woman''s voice rang out inside the Church of Light. Excitement and elation ran around the church and infected everyone it touched... especially Jessica and Kara. They hadn''t seen Hunter since their last unfortunate meeting and they knew it was going to be different this time. The head acolyte walked towards the front of the church and stood in the middle of the raised platform with most of the acolytes around her, while the four Emissaries of Light positioned themselves in front of her on the floor. They could all see clearly and they waited anxiously, with different reasons, for the Goddess Chaiya''s chosen hero to enter the Church of Light.


    *


    I didn''t feel anything at all until my detection range crossed the door of the church and my Detect Mana and Presence technique felt the weight of the goddess'' Presence inside the building. It made me stumble slightly and Maylia caught me before I tripped.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, grateful to have her support.


    ¡°I can feel it, too.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Not as much as you can, thankfully.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think we would even notice if you weren''t sharing so much.¡± Diofra said from behind us.


    The others nodded and we kept walking down the street and approached the front doors of the church. Up close it looked even gaudier than it did from far away. It was such an obvious attention grab that it made my opinion of the goddess lower even more. She was trying so hard to get people thinking about her that she resorted to such tactics, and it cheapened her worth.


    ¡°I''m surprised it''s not a bright color as well.¡± I whispered as the front doors opened and two acolytes stood there with beaming smiles as they held the doors.


    ¡°Pure white isn''t bright enough?¡± Maylia whispered back.


    I held in my laugh and gave her hand a squeeze instead.


    ¡°Welcome!¡± The two acolytes said happily and waved us into the building.


    I couldn''t refuse like I wanted to, especially since I had agreed to the meeting, so I walked through the doors with confidence. I managed not to wince as my body entered the goddess'' domain; but, I heard a slight hiss from a manly voice behind me and saw Evus had winced for me.


    ¡°The air is thick with it.¡± Diofra whispered in awe and put her hand out as if to catch some of it.


    ¡°We welcome you with open arms, the Goddess Chaiya''s Chosen Hero.¡± The head acolyte said and the pressure around me doubled. We all somehow kept our composure as it hit us, thankfully.


    ¡°I don''t know how you can say that, considering I''m pretty sure that Kara has told you all about me.¡± I said with a fake smile and we all walked forward to stand in front of the emissaries.


    ¡°We do know of your exploits and the multitude of suffering that you have caused others; but, the Goddess is forgiving and...¡±


    ¡°You can save the fake forgiveness speech. It''s not necessary.¡± I interrupted her, to everyone''s surprise.


    ¡°F-fake?¡± The head acolyte looked at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°Yeah. Do you think I want, or need, the goddess'' forgiveness?¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''m perfectly fine with all of the things I''ve done, both good and bad.¡± I stopped talking and grinned. ¡°Actually, god seems fine with it too, and I didn''t ask for his forgiveness, either.¡±


    Everyone stood there in silence at my words and the pressure on me and my group lifted almost completely. It barely touched us and I heard and saw the others with me relax.


    ¡°I only came here to talk things over with the emissaries.¡± I said.


    ¡°A room has been prepared for you to stay and...¡±


    ¡°I''m not staying in this awful place.¡± I interrupted the head acolyte again and all of the acolytes gasped.


    ¡°A-a-awful?!?¡± One of the acolytes asked, her shock too much to stay quiet.


    ¡°I know you can feel the oppressive weight of the goddess'' Presence.¡± I said.


    ¡°You mean her warm and comforting embrace.¡± The woman said and managed to not hug herself.


    ¡°Suuuuure.¡± I said and looked at Kara. ¡°I was forced to live under The Order''s influence and the goddess'' Presence for twelve years. I absolutely refuse to continue doing that, because now I can choose not to.¡±


    ¡°How many times do I have to keep telling you that we didn''t keep you prisoner. You were too young to...¡± Kara stopped talking and her face flushed slightly red as the Presence wavered from the lie.


    ¡°So, you know.¡± I said and looked at Jessica. ¡°You and I need to talk.¡±


    ¡°That can wait.¡± Allirynn said and glared at Steven. ¡°You let her go.¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t intentional; but, yes, I did.¡± Steven admitted, because he knew Allirynn was referring to Siada. ¡°My actions led to her escape and the death of an unprepared guard.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°It was my fault.¡± Josh said and stepped forward. ¡°He left her alone for a few hours to attend my wedding.¡±


    ¡°Wedding?¡± I asked and saw the young woman next to the head acolyte. Her robes were slightly different than the others and I looked back at the emissaries. ¡°You let someone die, just so you could attend a wedding?¡±


    ¡°We didn''t let anyone die!¡± Jessica said. ¡°It just happened while...¡±


    ¡°You knew full well how dangerous she was! She nearly killed Allirynn and several of his friends died because of her.¡± I said, my voice full of scorn and I glared at Steven as well. ¡°Why didn''t you bring her as a date or warn the guards that you were leaving and to stay away from her until you returned?¡±


    ¡°I... I didn''t think...¡±


    ¡°None of you are thinking.¡± I spat. ¡°You''re just bumbling around and hoping for the best while depending on the goddess for everything.¡± I shook my head and let Maylia''s hand go. Our connection didn''t weaken in the slightest, even when I grabbed Steven by the neck and picked him up. Several of the acolytes protested that move loudly.


    ¡°Go ahead and beat me up. I deserve it.¡± Steven said. ¡°You''ll only hurt yourself, though.¡±


    ¡°You''re right, you do deserve it... and I would hurt myself, because I haven''t had the time to meditate and refine the conflicting energies inside me.¡± I said. ¡°However, Allirynn doesn''t have that problem.¡±


    ¡°What...¡± Steven started to speak and I tossed him over to Allirynn, who caught him easily.


    ¡°There will be no fighting inside the Church of Light!¡± The head acolyte''s voice boomed out and made everyone wince.


    ¡°QUIET!¡± I yelled and used Presence to boost my voice to make it as loud as hers and everyone winced again. ¡°Unlike some people, I have respect for other people''s beliefs. I won''t sully a place of worship for petty gains.¡±


    That made everyone quiet down, even the protesters.


    ¡°Allirynn will be taking him outside to teach him a lesson in humility.¡± I said.


    Allirynn bared his teeth in a satisfied grin and walked down the aisle with Steven, whose feet never touched the floor and he didn''t speak. The other emissaries tried to follow them and I formed a slightly green see-through Mana Presence Wall in front of them to stop them. Kara reached out to dissipate it and I held a hand up to stop her and covered her hand in solid Presence. Jessica reached out and touched the wall, and I felt her hand. That surprised me slightly, since it had never happened before.


    I noticed that the acolytes at the front door looked like they thought about not letting Allirynn and Steven leave, so I used two Presence Hands to open the doors. Both women yelled as the doors were taken from their grasp and scrambled to close them again. Allirynn easily walked outside with his punching bag before the doors closed. I absorbed the Mana Presence Wall and the Presence Hands, before I looked at the emissaries with a smile and we all heard the sounds of a fight outside.


    ¡°You can''t come in here and just do whatever you want.¡± Kara said, slightly angry.


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked. ¡°I''m the chosen hero, aren''t I? The goddess chose me. Not you. ME.¡± I yelled and exuded as much arrogance as I could. ¡°I could kill every single person in this city that annoyed me and she wouldn''t do anything to stop me.¡±


    Kara caught her breath because the Presence didn''t waver, and shock spread to everyone... except to the people in my group. They knew me better than that.


    ¡°You''re shocked to hear that she would like the attention?¡± I asked and started to laugh. ¡°Good god, Kara. I feel dirty just pretending to be as arrogant as you are.¡± I shook myself and stopped trying to be something I wasn''t. ¡°You don''t know your goddess as well as you think you do.¡±


    Doubt blossomed on Jessica''s face and I stepped over to her.


    ¡°I know you''ve heard Kara''s filtered version of the truth of what happened to me. Would you like to hear the actual truth?¡± I asked. ¡°It''s still biased, since it''s my view of everything; but, at least when you hear it, you can make up your own mind as to which one is more believable.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Jessica looked at Kara and Josh and then back at me. ¡°Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°It''s hard to fight that feeling, isn''t it?¡± I said and motioned to the church. ¡°It feels all encompassing, doesn''t it? It makes you think it will always be there and you eventually believe that you want it to be there. The only problem with it, is that it''s a lie. Being told that you want it or should want it, and actually wanting it, are two different things.¡±


    That made me think about my guardian Emari, and how I had accepted her into my life and loved her, and then they took her away from me.


    ¡°Believe me, there is a difference. When you learn what it is, you will never forget it.¡±


    Jessica blinked her eyes for a moment. ¡°I... I chose to come to this world and be an emissary for the Goddess.¡± She said. ¡°I came here to help people.¡±


    ¡°From what I''ve heard, all you''ve been doing is helping yourselves.¡± I said, and her face flushed red as she blushed. ¡°I can see you realize that you can''t keep doing that, Jessica. I''m glad that the queen''s lessons have gotten through to you.¡±


    ¡°You know about that?¡± Jessica asked, surprised.


    ¡°Of course I do. Unlike a certain group I won''t mention, I''ve been relaying messages back and forth from the queen every time something happens... or each night if nothing happens.¡± I said. ¡°Diofra can cast the spell hundreds of times before her mana crystal runs out... well, her old one, anyway. I just bought her a new one and we haven''t charged it up yet.¡±


    ¡°Mana crystals? I haven''t read a book about them yet.¡± Jessica said. ¡°You can use them to cast spells?¡±


    ¡°About twice as fast as a normal spell.¡± Diofra said. ¡°You still need a chant, so you know what spell you''re using and to direct the mana; but, as long as you have the spell contents in your mind...¡±


    ¡°...you can shorthand the chant and abbreviate it to streamline the magic, while still retaining the versatility.¡± Jessica finished and nodded several times. ¡°That would explain why some of my spells went off before I was done speaking the chants.¡±


    ¡°Having extra power helps.¡± Diofra said with a bit of a smirk and glanced at me.


    ¡°You can share mana?¡± Jessica asked me, and I nodded. ¡°Can you show me?¡±


    ¡°In a little while.¡± I said and turned to face the door of the church. ¡°Allirynn is just about done teaching.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean he''s almost done?¡± Jessica asked and the doors to the church opened and Allirynn carried in a severely beaten Steven.


    ¡°By the Goddess!¡± The acolytes yelled and some ran over to them.


    ¡°Bring him over here.¡± I said and waved at Josh.


    The acolytes helped to carry Steven to the front of the church. Allirynn had no trouble carrying him though, so he waited until he was near Josh and dropped Steven at his feet. Steven grunted in pain and spit up a little blood, so the acolytes gasped and started to berate Allirynn.


    ¡°Stop acting like I killed him.¡± Allirynn snapped at them and they huffed.


    ¡°It''s all right, Steven.¡± Josh said and knelt. ¡°I''ll have you fixed in a minute.¡±


    I waited until Josh started to pour healing out of his hands and I grabbed one of his wrists.


    ¡°HEY!¡± Josh yelled and tried to pull away.


    ¡°Shut up, you arrogant little prick.¡± I said and held a hand out to Allirynn. ¡°You''re looking a little beat up yourself.¡± I said with a smile.


    Allirynn smiled back and took my offered hand. ¡°I thought about just holding him and pounding him as hard as I could, then I thought about what you would do, so I let him go and we had an actual fight.¡±


    I chuckled, because it was the most I had heard Allirynn speak in once sentence. ¡°Tell me you had fun.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it was great.¡± Allirynn said as Josh''s healing energy was boosted as it passed through me and into him. ¡°It wasn''t even close at first, then he realized that he didn''t have to hold back against me.¡±


    There was a knock on the church''s door and it opened to show a town guard.


    ¡°Hey, who''s going to pay for all the damage to the street?¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry about that.¡± I said and used a glowing green Mana Presence Hand to take out a silver coin from my pocket and flicked it across the church to land at the guard''s feet. ¡°Keep the change.¡±


    The guard quickly bent down and grabbed the silver coin. ¡°Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. It will be fixed by tonight.¡±


    I used the Mana Presence Hand to give him a proper salute and he returned it before he left. He hadn''t been surprised by the floating green hand in the least.


    ¡°Thanks, Hunter.¡± Allirynn said and I saw that all of his bruises and scrapes were healed.


    I let Josh''s wrist go. ¡°No problem.¡±


    ¡°No problem for you.¡± Josh grumbled and put his hand back over Steven to concentrate his healing energy. Steven was healed a few moments later and Josh helped him stand up.


    ¡°Are you happy now?¡± Kara asked. ¡°You''ve killed me and had Steven beaten nearly to death. Is that enough for you?¡±


    ¡°Only if you learned your lesson.¡± I countered. ¡°Steven? What do you say?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I got it.¡± Steven said. ¡°I apologized for my mistake, and that guard''s death was my fault. I''m going to live with that for the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°So, you understand that this isn''t a game? That peoples lives are at stake? That mistakes can have huge consequences for you and for others?¡±


    Steven nodded. ¡°Yes, I understand, Mr. Perfect.¡±


    ¡°I''m not perfect.¡± I barked a laugh. ¡°I''ve made mistakes. Mistakes that have gotten people killed. I''ve also done a lot of bad things and I''ve even killed people.¡±


    Some of the acolytes gasped and some caught their breath, and the head acolyte covered her mouth. I had to assume because they never thought I would admit to such nefarious acts.


    ¡°I told you before that I''m okay with everything I''ve done. This isn''t a confession and I''m not here to ask for forgiveness. I''m just here to state the truth.¡±


    ¡°What truth?¡± Jessica asked, and I could see that she was afraid to hear what I was going to say.


    ¡°I know that the goddess designed the emissaries to work together.¡± I said and her hand lifted slightly towards mine. ¡°I know your abilities are designed to work well as a group. I also know that some of you believe you need me to complete the set.¡±


    Jessica heard the tone in my voice and let her hand drop back to her side.


    ¡°You can''t say no.¡± Kara said. ¡°You were sent here to...¡±


    ¡°I know why I was sent here.¡± I said and cut her off. ¡°Unlike you four, who were given abilities when you chose to come here, I wasn''t given a choice. I was kidnapped again, my body altered against my will to work with mana, and then I was brought here before my body could adjust to the changes.¡±


    ¡°You should be okay after...¡± Kara started to talk.


    ¡°Jessica, punch my hand.¡± I interrupted and held my palm up to her. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°I''m not strong like that. I''m an archmage.¡±


    ¡°I know what you are, even better than you do.¡± I said, and her face flushed red again. ¡°Punch me.¡±


    Jessica made a fist and swung it like she had fought all her life and smashed my palm. The sound of the bones in my hand as they shattered was loud in the quiet church. I hissed while my fingers flopped around and Jessica screamed in sympathetic pain at the sight. Kara stared at me like she had never seen me before.


    ¡°I''m so sorry!¡± Jessica exclaimed and started crying. ¡°I didn''t mean to hurt you!¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and cupped my broken hand to my chest.


    ¡°Josh! Heal him!¡± Jessica said and didn''t try to catch her tears as Josh held his hands out towards me. The energy wasn''t working, though. ¡°Josh!¡± She exclaimed again.


    ¡°I don''t understand.¡± Josh said and he concentrated on me. ¡°What''s going on? Why isn''t it working?¡±


    ¡°I don''t want you to heal me, so it won''t work.¡± I said with a smile, and Jessica gasped.


    ¡°Hunter, please! Let him help you.¡± Jessica pleaded.


    ¡°Now you know the main problem with faith-based healing.¡± I said and held my hand out to Diofra. It took her a few minutes to chant the spell for major healing, and thanks to my sharing ability, she had plenty of mana to do it without depleting herself. It was a cheat that I had figured out about not being able to heal yourself. I couldn''t think of any rule about not having someone else use my mana to do it. It was the healing wards on the elf trees that gave me the idea. The wards used mana to heal and it didn''t matter what the source was, as long as the effect itself wasn''t generated by the tree.


    I flexed my now healed hand and looked at Jessica. ¡°I hope you''ll listen to me now.¡±


    ¡°I was always going to listen.¡± Jessica said, her face wet with tears.


    ¡°Yeah, but now there''s a chance you''ll actually hear what I have to say.¡± I said and held my healed hand out to her.


    Jessica looked at the hand she had just broken and tentatively brushed her fingers over my palm. ¡°You made me hurt you like this, just so I would listen to you?¡± She asked, her voice sad.


    ¡°It was the best way to get your undivided attention.¡± I said.


    Jessica stopped rubbing my palm and slid her hand into mine and held on. I smiled and used my Presence to make a connection to her, then my ring-enchanted energy flowed over her. She gasped as she took in a sharp breath and stared at me with wide eyes, probably because she felt the immense mana pool I had and the Presence of the Goddess receded from her.


    ¡°Let me tell you my story.¡± I said, then I smiled as her energy responded and flowed back over the connection to swirl with mine.

 Book Two: The Summoned 056

    ¡°You''re joking, right?¡± Josh asked before I could start talking. ¡°Do you expect us all to just stand here and listen to your life story?¡±


    ¡°I don''t expect you to do anything.¡± I said. ¡°I asked Jessica if she wanted to hear it and she said yes. Steven''s getting close, so he''s interested and might listen my version. Kara... well, she never really listens to anything that doesn''t praise the goddess, since she grew up with it and it''s pretty much ingrained into her psyche. I stopped trying to convince her about my unfair treatment years ago.¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t unfair.¡± Kara said. ¡°We treated you like you were one of us. Like family.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh. What about your actual family? How are they doing?¡± I asked, and she didn''t respond. ¡°Yeah, there you go. You gave up your real family to be in The Order and didn''t think twice about it. I asked you for years to contact them, just because I wanted to see if they were still alive, and all you said was that they were happy for you and you didn''t need to.¡± I said. ¡°That''s not right. They are your family.¡±


    ¡°They are devout followers of the Goddess Chaiya, just like I am, and they agreed to let me join The Order because it was the best option for both me and them.¡± Kara said. ¡°I learned so much from them.¡±


    ¡°You mean The Order and not your parents, right?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kara nodded.


    I motioned to her. ¡°You see? She sees nothing wrong with taking young children from their homes.¡±


    ¡°There was no way for my family to teach me how to use my goddess given abilities.¡± Kara said. ¡°I could have hurt them, or the other children in my city, if I didn''t get the proper training. If you don''t start young, the mind loses some of its pliability and can''t adjust properly to the techniques.¡±


    ¡°So, you''re saying that all families that follow the goddess and have gifted children, willingly hand them over for proper training?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°What about families that don''t follow the goddess? Do they hand them over without a fight? How do you handle them?¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to respond, then she shook her head. ¡°This isn''t about that.¡±


    ¡°This is exactly about that. People who don''t follow The Order''s tenents and rules are declared outlaws and rogues. It''s even worse if they used to follow the Goddess and decide to leave.¡± I said. ¡°My parents were in The Order and fell in love, against The Order''s policy, and they were declared rogues and hunted for years.¡±


    ¡°You''re wrong. The Order had no problems with them being in love, getting married, or having children.¡± Kara said, and the Presence didn''t waver, so she wasn''t lying. ¡°They refused to submit you for training.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°The Order wants their members to be happy. You can do whatever you want, like having children. What The Order won''t do is let children with powerful abilities be corrupted or twisted to use their powers for evil.¡±


    ¡°My parents were not training me to be evil.¡± I said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°They left you unprotected and you could have been taken by evil.¡± Kara said. ¡°If we hadn''t had someone on (Undecipherable)''s ship to keep watch on him and any children he found, he could have taken you for himself to train.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, found.¡± I said sarcastically. ¡°He killed my parents and kidnapped me.¡±


    ¡°At the time, he actually saved you from being corrupted.¡± Kara said. ¡°We didn''t find out until later that he was a corrupting influence as well.¡±


    ¡°As well.¡± I scoffed. ¡°You mean my parents.¡±


    ¡°They were dissidents and incited riots and rebellion against The Order. They were actual criminals.¡± Kara said. ¡°They were dealt with overly harshly, though. I have always been against hunting rogues down to kill them.¡±


    ¡°You just wanted to convert them back.¡± I said.


    ¡°It would be better than death, wouldn''t it?¡± Kara asked. ¡°How long would a four year old boy have lived if he hadn''t been taken back to The Order? What if a bounty hunter had found your parents instead? Would they have let you live when you attacked or would they have killed you, too?¡±


    ¡°This sounds like an old argument.¡± Maylia said and stepped between us. ¡°It''s getting us nowhere.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°You''re right. I''m sorry.¡± I said and looked at Jessica. ¡°Do you feel like taking a walk?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Jessica said and looked at the other three emissaries. ¡°Can we all go?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think you should go.¡± Josh said. ¡°He could be trying to steal you from us.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± I barked. ¡°She would lose a lot of her powers, if not all of them, if she broke her word to the goddess.¡±


    The other three emissaries stared at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°What? You didn''t know that, either?¡± I asked, and Josh and Steven shook their heads. ¡°You really need to start asking more questions.¡± I said and looked at Jessica. ¡°I''m not here to steal you away or to break up your group. Like I said before, I just want to talk.¡±


    Jessica gave one more glance to the other three emissaries, then she nodded to me. I led her down the aisle and the others in my own group followed us.


    ¡°Are we really going to let him take her like this?¡± Josh whispered, concern in his voice.


    ¡°He just wants to talk.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°Evangeline, do you...¡±


    ¡°I''ll stay here with my husband.¡± Evangeline said.


    ¡°I''ll go.¡± Aimee said and walked quickly down the aisle to catch up to us.


    When I stepped outside, the pressure I had felt lifted completely. I had been under it and it felt like it had lessened, when all that had happened was I was getting used to it. Jessica didn''t quite gasp at the difference and only took in a sharp breath. I saw several people working on the street and surveyed the damage.


    ¡°Wow, you weren''t kidding, Allirynn.¡± I said and saw piles of dirt, several craters, both big and small, and paving stones spread everywhere. ¡°You didn''t hold back at all.¡±


    That made Allirynn laugh and Imiryl hugged the arm she held.


    ¡°Let''s go that way.¡± I said and pointed down the road towards the center of the city. ¡°We haven''t had lunch, so now would be a good time to grab something to eat.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± Evus the guard said and rubbed his armor covered belly. ¡°I don''t want my armor getting loose.¡±


    Diofra the mage chuckled. ¡°Just tighten the straps, dummy.¡±


    ¡°Don''t shatter my food dreams with logic.¡± Evus said haughtily and she laughed.


    We walked down the street and then down another to find a nice little restaurant.


    *


    ¡°Why isn''t my synergy working?¡± The Goddess Chaiya asked after she watched Hunter''s first entry into her church. ¡°All of my acolytes are there, as are my emissaries.¡±


    Chaiya rolled the time back to before he entered the church. She saw Hunter take the other people''s hands and the slight glow that spread over them, and she frowned. She faded from her area and appeared beside Maleketh.


    ¡°What did he do?¡± Chaiya asked.


    ¡°Are you having a hard time charming your chosen hero?¡± Maleketh asked with a grin.


    ¡°I''ll amend my question.¡± Chaiya said in a huff. ¡°What did you do?¡±


    ¡°Hunter has a pitiful little enchantment to help him resist area effects and he thought it was going to help him against what you weaved between the emissaries.¡± Maleketh laughed. ¡°That''s so funny!¡±


    ¡°Yes, using a man-made enchantment to fight a divine power is laughable.¡± Chaiya said and sighed. ¡°It shouldn''t have worked... so, what did you do?¡±


    ¡°He said a little prayer to ask for the enchantment to be enough to stop the effect the emissaries have.¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°...and of course, you granted it!¡± Chaiya exclaimed.


    ¡°He did pray, albeit silently.¡± Maleketh said and smiled. ¡°I''m sure he didn''t do it intentionally; but, he did ask sincerely to protect his friends.¡±


    ¡°Intentionally or not, both he and his group are unaffected by my followers.¡±


    ¡°Oh, he''s still affected.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°He wasn''t greedy. He only wanted to stop the mind-numbing effect the emissaries have that makes them all agreeable with each other. He didn''t say anything about the church or the acolytes.¡±


    Chaiya sighed. ¡°That''s not enough to bring him over to my side or to keep him with the other emissaries.¡±


    Maleketh shook his head. ¡°Take baby steps, Chaiya.¡± He said and pat her hand. ¡°You can''t expect him to ignore everything that''s happened as if it doesn''t matter, then align himself with your emissaries. He needs time to think things through and to sort them out for himself.¡±


    ¡°He''s my chosen hero. Why can''t he just act like it?¡± Chaiya asked.


    ¡°Because you''re trying to force him to.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°Let him choose what he wants to do.¡±


    ¡°You know that doesn''t work most of the time.¡±


    ¡°You only think that it doesn''t.¡± Maleketh smiled. ¡°Given a choice, even if it''s a bad choice, making up their own minds gives them happiness. You can''t fault them for not choosing what you want.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can.¡± Chaiya said and huffed again.


    ¡°Any luck finding the source of the dark planets?¡± Maleketh asked.


    ¡°Don''t change the subject.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°Are you going to stop helping Hunter or not?¡±


    ¡°Chaiya, you know I can''t abandon him. When he asks for my help, I will give it.¡±


    Chaiya sighed. ¡°Maleketh, please...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°You''ll just have to work your plans around him.¡±


    ¡°I did. That''s why I picked him.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°He''s not cooperating and my plans can''t work like that.¡±


    Maleketh sighed this time. ¡°I can''t force him to work with your people any more than you can.¡±


    ¡°He''s supposed be my emissary and he''s supposed to lead my group.¡± Chaiya said and started to fade away. ¡°Perhaps he needs a reminder of that.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to...¡± Maleketh stopped when he couldn''t feel her Presence. ¡°Well, damn.¡±


    *


    The restaurant owner was happy to have so many customers come in at once and we were quickly seated at an appropriately sized table. Maylia sat on one side of me and Jessica sat on the other, while the others sat across from each other down the table, with Aimee at the other end. I saw her reach into her robes and put her hand on something, then her hand started to glow and I had to assume it was either a recording or transmission spell. Menus were handed out and we all ordered what we wanted. As soon as the man walked away, I turned to Jessica.


    ¡°I know this is going to be hard for you.¡± I said and took her hand. ¡°Can you tell me what happened back on Earth after I died?¡±


    Jessica took several deep breaths as tears sprang to her eyes and she gathered the tears and stored them. ¡°Yes, I... I can tell you.¡± She said and told me all about the sensational media coverage, the movie deal, the money from it, and the interviews. When she was done with all of that, she told me about her daily routine. Even though there were other people at the table, she told everything directly to me. I sat in silence and listened to everything she had to say. The food had been brought to the table and sat uneaten on my plate, then she hit me with a bombshell.


    ¡°After I found out all about you from the orphanage, from your place of work, and from the few friends you had, I... I realized something.¡± Jessica took another deep breath and her eyes never left mine. ¡°I had fallen in love with you.¡±


    ¡°Jessica...¡±


    ¡°No, I know.¡± Jessica said as her face flushed red. ¡°It was just a stupid crush. How could I be in love with someone who was dead?¡± She asked and didn''t notice that Imiryl''s blush matched hers. ¡°It''s just... no one had ever given up their life to save mine. I mean, I''ve never even heard of something like that happening before, you know?¡±


    I nodded and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°When I found out what kind of man you were before we were kidnapped, I knew that if we had met before then, I would have fallen head over heels for you.¡± Jessica said and put a hand over her heart. ¡°Even if you never gave your life for mine, I would have loved you.¡±


    ¡°I''m not that person anymore.¡± I said, and she laughed.


    ¡°Neither am I.¡± Jessica said, to my surprise. ¡°I died, too.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°I was going home after visiting your plaque in the park and I stepped into the street without looking. I was hit by a car and... then the Goddess brought me to... well, some weird all-white place.¡± Jessica said and explained what had happened to her and about meeting the others.


    ¡°You don''t know how long you were there, do you?¡± I asked when she finished talking, and she shook her head.


    ¡°It didn''t seem like a long time, though.¡± Jessica said.


    I held in my sigh, because she could have been there for weeks and not realize it, before she was sent here, and I was sent right after being changed. ¡°We should eat.¡±


    Jessica nodded and started to eat. ¡°Can you tell me your story now?¡±


    ¡°We might as well stay here for supper.¡± Evus said and waved the owner over to get the menus again, because he and the others had finished eating a while ago. They ordered more food and I started to tell Jessica about what happened to me after I was reincarnated.


    It took a while.


    I didn''t stop talking when I reached the point in the story where I was sent here, either. I kept going and told her about what happened with the elves, escaping them, and making my way across the country to get to the capital. Jessica had stopped eating at some point and just listened until I was done, then she started asking questions.


    I answered most of them, even the odd ones about the level of technology that allowed space ships to be commonplace. Everyone at the table... in fact the entire restaurant... had no clue what we were taking about, except for Maylia, since I had already told her all about it. Everyone else had blank faces and looked like their minds couldn''t wrap their heads around physical and mechanical things doing what magic did for them.


    Jessica eventually ran out of things to ask. ¡°Hunter, thank you for telling me all of that.¡± She said and sat up straight in her chair. ¡°I... I''ll need some time to...¡±


    ¡°Take all the time that you need.¡± I said and sat back myself. ¡°It took me years to live through it all, so you''re going to need more than a few hours to think about everything I''ve said.¡± I waved to the owner and he came over to us. ¡°How much for all the food?¡±


    ¡°Seventeen copper.¡± The man said, and I could tell that he was uncomfortable being around us. I handed him a silver coin and he gave me back thirty-three copper coins, so I gave him the three extra and put the rest in my pockets.


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± I said and stood, then everyone at the table followed me out of the restaurant. I saw Aimee let whatever that spell was go and her hand stopped glowing. I took Maylia''s hand and we all walked back to the Church of Light. No one spoke.


    *


    ¡°By the Goddess'' blinding Light.¡± The head acolyte said at the head of the large table that the acolytes and emissaries sat around. The remote viewing spell had worked much better than she had thought it would, and they had watched and listened to everything that had been discussed between Hunter and Jessica.


    ¡°Jessica was pretty smart to ask all those questions at the end.¡± Steven said, admiration in his voice. ¡°I was pretty much struck dumb at the story Hunter gave her.¡±


    ¡°He also didn''t lie.¡± The head acolyte sighed. ¡°Everything he said was true.¡±


    ¡°So was everything I said.¡± Kara responded. ¡°He didn''t deny killing those people, even when asked directly.¡± She said. ¡°He admitted his guilt.¡±


    ¡°So, what do we do?¡± Josh asked. ¡°He''s coming back and will be here in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°What do you think we should do?¡± Steven asked the head acolyte.


    ¡°Jessica''s emotional bond with him is very strong.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°His words may sway her to leave.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Kara said. ¡°Hunter is right. She won''t abandon the Goddess and risk losing everything she was given, especially the blessing.¡±


    ¡°If she did give up, she might even have to go back to...¡± Josh stopped talking when he realized what he was about to say. ¡°She won''t leave the Goddess'' service. I know she won''t.¡±


    ¡°We should go out to meet them.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°I doubt he will enter the church again.¡±


    They all got up from the table and went up the stairs to the front door of the church to wait.


    *


    ¡°Hunter, why wouldn''t you let Josh heal you?¡± Jessica asked as they walked down the street towards the church. The doors opened and the acolytes and the emissaries came out.


    ¡°I didn''t need it.¡± I said.


    ¡°But, you shouldn''t be able to block it like you did.¡± Jessica said, slightly confused.


    ¡°I''ve been able to block energy since I was a kid.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I could have blocked Steven from being healed, too.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Jessica asked, surprised.


    ¡°That''s not what you should be thinking about, though.¡± I said and stopped walking in front of the church. The acolytes had pensive and contemplative looks on their faces, and I knew what Aimee had done. She had let them hear what was said at the restaurant.


    ¡°What should I be thinking about?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°Why Allirynn could be healed so quickly from all of his injuries, as if he was a part of your group, even though the last time Josh tried to do that, he barely kept him alive.¡± I said with a smile, and I saw the shock and surprise on everyone''s faces, especially Josh''s. I made a motion with my hand in a swirling motion, and my entire group turned as one and we started to walk away. ¡°Some of you have been so concerned about needing me in your group that you''re spying on me and using pressure to get me to do it.¡± I laughed. ¡°All you''re doing is ensuring that I won''t.¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Jessica almost yelled and I turned slightly to look at her and kept walking. ¡°I didn''t know that...¡±


    ¡°I know you didn''t know.¡± I said. ¡°It was nice talking to you, even if you did know.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I... don''t... can''t you...¡± Jessica stammered.


    ¡°I''ll see you again.¡± I waved to her. ¡°By the way, you should ask Aimee what she has in her pocket.¡± I said and turned around to face forward and led my group down the street.


    *


    ¡°He knew.¡± Aimee whispered in shock.


    ¡°Knew what?¡± Jessica asked as her face went from pleasant to angry. ¡°Show me.¡±


    Aimee took out an elaborately carved metal emblem of the Church of Light that was about the size of her palm. Jessica took it from her hand and flipped it over.


    ¡°You invoked a remote viewing spell?¡± Jessica asked, surprised. ¡°When did you make this?¡±


    ¡°I made them yesterday.¡± Josh said. ¡°We needed to know that you were okay.¡±


    ¡°Them?¡± Jessica looked at the other acolytes and they all held up an identical one. ¡°How long have you been watching?¡±


    ¡°Since we sat down at the table.¡± Aimee said, her face red from embarrassment.


    ¡°No wonder Hunter can''t trust us.¡± Jessica said to the others. ¡°How could you do that to him?¡± She asked, then she looked at Aimee. ¡°It could have undermined everything Hunter and I just went through. How could you do that to me and not tell me?¡±


    ¡°There... wasn''t time.¡± Aimee said, sadly.


    ¡°Well, you''ll have plenty of time from now on.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I relieve you of your duties as my apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Aimee looked at her in shock. ¡°P-please, don''t dismiss me! I really like being your apprentice! I promise not to do it again!¡±


    ¡°I wish I could believe that.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°Jessica, don''t be so hasty.¡± Josh said. ¡°It wasn''t what you think.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Jessica asked. ¡°If Hunter hadn''t mentioned it, would you... would any of you... tell me about it?¡±


    ¡°Of course we would.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°We had them made for the emissaries as well.¡±


    ¡°No, thank you.¡± Jessica said and walked by them. She felt the comforting embrace of the Goddess when she entered the church and she didn''t readily accept it like she normally did. It still held her, and she liked that feeling; but, she also remembered what Hunter had said about being told to want it and wanting it for yourself. At the moment, she didn''t really want it, and it lessened slightly.


    Jessica went downstairs to the basement and changed for bed, then climbed in and did her best to remember the feeling of Hunter''s hand in hers. He had held her hand for the entire time that they talked and she wanted to burn that feeling into her memory. She had even confessed her love to him and he didn''t immediately reject her or told her that she was being silly about it.


    This definitely went better than the first time we met. Jessica thought happily and drifted off to sleep.

 Book Two: The Summoned 057

    I led my group back to the castle and one of the court attendants brought us right to the queen''s personal chamber, where she spent her private time with her daughter. We could hear the loud laughter in the hallway before the man knocked on the door.


    ¡°Come in.¡± The queen''s voice said.


    The man opened the door and peeked in. ¡°Your expected visitors are here, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Gavell.¡± The queen said, and the man ushered us into the room. I saw several dolls, pieces of clothing, and various other items were strewn across the room and two young girls were currently tucked into a corner. They talked in loud whispers as if they were sharing deep secrets and didn''t care who else heard them. The man bowed to the queen and closed the door behind us.


    ¡°As you can see, the two of them have been inseparable.¡± The queen motioned to Milly and Afyne.


    ¡°I''m a little surprised you didn''t say ''insufferable''.¡± I joked, and the queen let out a rare chuckle.


    ¡°I admit they have been a bit of a handful... for Gavell.¡± The queen said with a smile.


    I grinned at her, completely understanding that when they did get out of hand, he took them out of her sight. ¡°It''s good for him that it''s time for me to lessen his burden.¡±


    ¡°He will be glad to hear that.¡± The queen said. ¡°How did the talks with the emissaries go?¡±


    ¡°We didn''t try to kill each other this time, so it went better than last time.¡± I said. ¡°I managed to convince Jessica to listen to me and I told her my life story. Both of them.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Actually, I guess three of them, since I pretty much had to die before being sent here.¡±


    ¡°Is that how all adventurers come here when summoned?¡± The queen asked, curious.


    ¡°I doubt it. The goddess... I don''t know how long she took to recruit the others, if they all just happened to die at the same time, or if she plucked them from different times and just kept them while she gathered the others.¡± I said. ¡°I do know that time ran differently from my first life to my second. Jessica said only two years had passed for her and it was seventeen for me.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± The queen asked. ¡°Time is supposed to be constant. It wouldn''t lengthen or shorted arbitrarily, would it?¡±


    ¡°I suppose it would depend on the size of the planet, the size of the star it orbited, and the mass of those objects. The pull of gravity could affect the speed of time, since it''s relative to wherever you are...¡± I said, and the queen just stared at me, as did Allirynn and the others. ¡°I''ve been going over it in my head to try and figure it out.¡±


    ¡°I''m... sure you will.¡± The queen said hesitantly. ¡°In the meantime, we should tell the children that...¡±


    A loud rumbling shook the castle and rattled the glass in the windows.


    ¡°What in the seven hells was that?¡± Evus asked and rushed over to the window. ¡°By Black Laura''s...¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked and interrupted his curse.


    ¡°If I didn''t know better, and I thought I did... it looks like a crack in the world.¡± Evus said.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± I walked over to look, and sure enough, it was. Only it wasn''t like the others. There was no gaping maw illusion to hide it. ¡°It is... and it isn''t.¡± I said and explained the difference.


    ¡°You''re right.¡± Allirynn said and looked as well. ¡°It''s not trying to conceal itself like the others.¡±


    ¡°Evus, stay here and guard Afyne.¡± I said and walked over to the door of the room. ¡°Your majesty, if you will excuse us.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± The queen said, and I led the rest of my party out of the room. We ran down several hallways to the stairs, then down another hallway and out of the castle.


    ¡°That thing is huge.¡± Imiryl said, now that she had a better look at it.


    ¡°It''s also high up in the air.¡± I said as we ran down the side road towards the docks. ¡°It''s not the same as the others at all.¡±


    ¡°I think I know why.¡± Allirynn said and pointed at several black things that exited the portal. ¡°Flyers.¡±


    ¡°Goddammit.¡± I said and saw the things unfurl and flap their wings. ¡°Diofra, please tell me you have a flight spell.¡±


    ¡°I do; but, it''s only limited. There''s no way it can let you fight in mid-air or go that high.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°What about a teleport spell?¡± I asked. ¡°If we can get above it...¡±


    ¡°You''ll fall and die.¡± Diofra said. ¡°I won''t do that to you.¡±


    ¡°I need to at least get up to that portal.¡± I said and we came to a stop on the closest dock. ¡°I''ll have to levitate up there.¡± I could see that it was just a little higher than what god had made me jump before, so asking him for help would be pointless at the moment. ¡°The portal has to be closed before more of the things come through.¡±


    ¡°Too late.¡± Allirynn said and I looked up to see several dozen more things come out.


    I held in my curse. ¡°Does anyone know what they are?¡±


    ¡°They...¡± Maylia stared at one for several moments. ¡°Oh, no.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked and looked at her.


    ¡°If the wing patterns are the same, and the four legs...¡± Maylia sighed. ¡°They are garglemacers.¡±


    ¡°Son of a bitch!¡± I nearly yelled. ¡°Someone give me some good news! Where they are going?¡±


    ¡°They hunt first and then find somewhere to roost.¡± A woman''s voice said from behind us.


    I turned around and saw the monster expert run towards us. ¡°I said good news.¡±


    ¡°They''re only half the size.¡± She said. ¡°Barely teenagers, really.¡±


    I opened my mouth to say that sucked for good news, then thought about it. If they were only half the size, that meant they should only be half as tough. At least, I hoped that''s what it meant.


    ¡°Okay, we can work with that.¡± I said and turned to the others just as people''s screams started. The townspeople had started to notice them. ¡°Gather around.¡± I said and Maylia, Diofra, Allirynn, and Imiryl all came close and joined hands. I activated Mana Presence Run and shared the energy with all of them. ¡°They have soft underbellies, so target there as much as you can. Fireballs aren''t effective, since they can shoot their own. Imiryl, I want a snowstorm with heavy icy winds to cover the city. If you need mana to do that, I''ll give you all that you need.¡±


    ¡°I will need some to maintain it after the initial burst.¡± Imiryl said.


    ¡°Diofra, any ice magic spells or powerful wind spells would help.¡±


    ¡°We don''t have the crystals attuned for mana use yet.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°Dammit.¡± I said. ¡°Okay, we''ll have to do that first. Allirynn, you''re our ground force. When a creature lands, get over to it as soon as you can and flip it over onto its back to expose it.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°Then what?¡±


    ¡°I can help.¡± The monster expert said and stepped forward as a harpoon materialized in her hand. ¡°If he exposes the belly, I can kill it.¡±


    I let Maylia''s hand go and held it out to the monster expert. ¡°What''s your name?¡±


    ¡°Sam.¡± She said, and I felt the Presence waver a small fraction.


    ¡°Sam, huh?¡± I said as she took my hand. I used Presence to make a connection to her and my energy flowed over her. I smiled when she gasped. ¡°Hi, Sam. Stay with Allirynn. He won''t have to flip them over now. He''ll just hold them up for you.¡±


    ¡°O-o-okay.¡± Sam said, her voice shaky.


    ¡°I''m sharing my fast running technique with everyone, so don''t be surprised. Stick beside Allirynn and he''ll guide you.¡±


    Sam nodded several times and I held in my laugh.


    ¡°Maylia, you''re with me. You have to defend me while I close that crack.¡±


    Maylia nodded and saw one of the creatures descend towards the buildings. ¡°Allirynn.¡± She said and pointed over his shoulder.


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± Allirynn said and let Imiryl''s hand go, grabbed Sam by the arm, and ran. She let out a startled scream as he pretty much dragged her behind him and I did laugh at that.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°I''ll get started, too.¡± Imiryl said and let my hand go as she closed her eyes and started to chant to help her focus her mana.


    Diofra took out her uncharged mana crystal as the local temperature quickly dropped. ¡°This is going to take a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°No, it won''t.¡± I said and took her hand. I knew exactly what it took to attune a crystal to your own personal energy, since I had done it several times with the focusing crystals for Light swords, which were a lot more dangerous to deal with. ¡°Allow me.¡±


    I took her hand and placed it on top of the mana crystal, then intertwined my fingers with hers. I recalled what the other mana crystal felt like during all the times I had shared my mana with Diofra and charged it, so it was simple to allow that same energy mixture to touch the new crystal through her. It pulsed several times and then both my mana and Diofra''s flowed into it. It was completely charged a few seconds later and it felt like it was her old crystal.


    ¡°I... I''m not even going to ask how you did that.¡± Diofra said and hugged the crystal to her chest.


    ¡°I''ll explain it later. Get your wind and ice spells ready.¡± I said.


    Diofra nodded and pulled out her scrolls and took the one that said Ice Storm on the side. She quickly memorized it and put it away, then gripped the mana crystal and started to chant.


    I unhooked my mother''s Light sword from my belt and held it in my hand, then held my other hand out to Maylia. ¡°Hop on.¡±


    ¡°I''ll control the Levitate technique and you power me.¡± Maylia said and climbed onto my back and wrapped her legs around my waist and put her arms around my neck.


    ¡°You can''t watch my back with your eyes closed.¡± I joked, and she laughed as we activated the Levitate technique together. In the next moment, a six inch thick blanket of snow fell over the entire city and the garglemacers started to yell at the drop in temperature.


    ¡°It''s not as thick... much bigger area.¡± Imiryl said between breaths.


    I reached out with a hand and took hers and I charged her up as if she was a mana crystal. I felt her mana reserve fill up instantly and the excess made her glow fairly brightly. The snow increased in depth several inches and the icy winds started to blow.


    ¡°M-more.¡± Imiryl whispered as she emptied her mana reserve to make the storm swirl fiercely. ¡°Let the garglemacers feel what my home is like.¡±


    I grinned and dumped more mana into her to fill her mana up again and she used about half to make the sleet and cold bite into the skin, the Diofra''s Ice Storm spell finished and it really started to blow. I filled Imiryl''s mana again and she nodded, so I let her go and touched Diofra''s mana crystal to fill it again.


    ¡°Ready, Maylia?¡± I asked as I looked up at the huge crack and she kissed my cheek. She closed her eyes and I poured my mana in a steady stream into her and she used that boost to levitate us up into the air. It was slow at first, since it was her first time lifting the two of us at once; but, once we got above the edge of the nearby houses, we started to accelerate as we went higher.


    ¡°Good. Good.¡± I said in encouragement. ¡°Let the energy flow. Don''t try to fight it. Ease it into the technique. The energy wants to help us. Let it do the work.¡±


    Maylia nodded and a moment later our speed doubled.


    ¡°I''m so proud of you.¡± I praised her and activated my mother''s Light sword. ¡°Guide us to the right about thirty feet.¡±


    We floated over in that direction as we kept going higher and I readied to strike the closest garglemacer. Since the storm gave us all cover, the creature didn''t see or hear us coming. I sliced the Light sword up under its neck and into its brain, flicked the tip of it around, and withdrew it before the creature knew it was dead. The carcass dropped to the ground below and we moved on.


    ¡°We''re almost there.¡± I said and added a slight push to the left to avoid one of the creatures as they came out of the bottom of the crack. When we passed the bottom edge, what I saw through the crack stunned me.


    It wasn''t a dead world like the others.


    The creatures on the other side weren''t poised to attack or had lifeless eyes until they crossed over. It looked like a large breeding pit and a bright green sky was on the other side, instead of the dark red haze of every other crack I had been through.


    ¡°Good god, what is going on?¡± I asked out loud and I felt god''s Presence as it descended upon me. I hadn''t intended to do that, since I wasn''t in a position to have him seal the massive crack yet. Maylia cried out in pain as god''s power flowed over her and we glowed as the Levitate technique was overcharged. We shot right up to the middle of the crack and stopped there. I closed off sharing energy with Maylia and she sighed in relief. Several garglemacers noticed the very close prey and they scrambled over each other to try and get what they thought were tasty morsels.


    I held a hand out and started to form Mana Presence Lightning, then surrendered my arm to god without a word. I felt his happiness as the lightning had his power added to it, and then only ten bolts shot out instead of the hundred I had expected, because that was how many that had come out the last time. I was going to ask what he was doing, then I saw the bolts skewer ten of the garglemacers like they were on a spit. Even through the crack, since we hadn''t crossed into it, I could smell the cooking meat.


    The creatures around the skewered ones had jumped back startled at first, then all of their attention was drawn to the smell. A few of them that had passed out of the crack already, turned around and went back in when they caught the smell, too.


    ¡°Okay, that was a good idea.¡± I said.


    ¡°Thanks for giving me a hand.¡± My mouth said with god''s voice. ¡°Let''s get the rest back inside.¡±


    We turned around and formed a dozen giant Mana Presence Hands and grabbed the closest creatures in the air and pulled them back to the crack. They fought at first and tried to break free, then the smell hit them and they flapped their wings to help. I almost laughed at that and let them go, and they scrambled back through the portal to join in on the feast.


    I felt four people enter my expanded perception and turned to look. I saw Jessica, Kara, Steven, Josh and Evangeline as they stood just inside my detection range. I assumed they stopped because they could feel I could detect them. A second later, Kara and Steven took off running towards a garglemacer that was tearing into a building nearby. Jessica waved her staff and chanted something, then her, Josh, and his wife were caught up in a gust of wind and to my surprise, flew right up to me.


    ¡°I heard you might need a hand.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°Diofra needs that flight spell.¡± I said, matter-of-factly, and Jessica chuckled.


    ¡°I''ll write out a copy when we''re done.¡± Jessica said. ¡°You two look like you''re managing without it.¡±


    ¡°It''s just a Levitate technique that Maylia is handling, and there''s barely any manoeuvrability.¡± I said and motioned to the creatures through the giant crack. ¡°I thought you were terrified of these things.¡±


    ¡°I''m completely petrified.¡± Jessica said with a smile. ¡°The Goddess is keeping me from screaming my head off because of what I''m seeing.¡±


    I turned back to the crack. ¡°So, she''s good for something, then.¡±


    The cooked garglemacers were almost gone, so god and I cooked up ten more.


    ¡°That''s a neat idea.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°Thank god.¡± I said.


    Josh didn''t say anything, probably because he wasn''t sure if I said it to thank god, or if I was telling him to thank god for the idea. Either way, it shut him up, so I was happy.


    ¡°Hunter, you can''t keep saying bad things about the Goddess.¡± Jessica said. ¡°One of these times, she''s going to take it personally, and then...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she''s going to smite her chosen hero.¡± I said and looked around at the city. Allirynn and Sam had already killed six of the ones that had come out first. ¡°What would her followers think of her then?¡± I grabbed a garglemacer with a giant Mana Presence Hand and lifted it up to toss it back through the crack. ¡°Or better yet, what would you think?¡±


    Jessica sighed. ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I haven''t said anything directly against her, so don''t worry.¡± I said. ¡°I hate the things her followers have done in her name, especially The Order that she established, and that hate transfers to her because she honestly doesn''t care what her followers do as long as she gets famous for it and they give her more followers; but, that doesn''t mean I hate her personally.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I think it does.¡± Jessica said with a smile, and I laughed.


    ¡°My secret has been discovered!¡± I said and grabbed two more garglemacers that tried to come through the crack and put them back inside, then I had to cook ten more creatures to keep the feeding frenzy going. They were like dogs at the moment, where you could keep putting food in front of them and they would keep eating as long as there was more food. It was a great distraction.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Maylia opened her eyes and spoke in a serious tone as I felt the Levitation technique start to waver, so I fed her a very tiny amount of mine and god''s combined energy. She gasped as the energy was more than enough to recharge her mana reserve and she closed her eyes again to stabilize us.


    ¡°We need to close this crack.¡± I said.


    ¡°We know.¡± Jessica said and motioned to it. ¡°The Goddess told us about this.¡±


    Josh and Evangeline joined hands and started to chant.


    ¡°She told you it was a crack?¡± I asked. ¡°When?¡±


    Jessica opened her mouth to say, when the goddess'' Presence spread out from Evangeline. Josh fell unconscious and his now brightly glowing wife held onto him for only a moment, then passed him to Jessica.


    ¡°Hello, Aaron.¡± The Goddess Chaiya said as she looked at me with gold glowing eyes.


    ¡°You have no right to call me that.¡± I said and held in my anger.


    ¡°It''s your name.¡± Chaiya said and looked at the crack. ¡°It''s so big.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and close it, then.¡± I said.


    Chaiya chuckled and I felt a wave of her Presence cover me. ¡°If I could close it by myself, I would have done it already.¡±


    I was really glad that I had inadvertently already called god, because Chaiya''s Presence hadn''t engulfed me and swallowed me whole like I felt it was trying to do. I saw the reaction on her face when I didn''t immediately fall under her spell, and that made me smile.


    ¡°Yeah, that little trick didn''t work on me.¡± I said and glanced at Jessica, who only had eyes for the goddess in front of her. I reached out and shared a bit of energy with her. She took in a big breath of air, because she had apparently forgotten to breathe. ¡°You shouldn''t overwhelm your own people like that.¡±


    Chaiya frowned a little at me, then she smiled. ¡°Go ahead and summon your god. We need to talk and then we can close this thing together.¡±


    ¡°Why wait? Let''s just close it.¡± I said and Maylia floated us over to the right side and god gripped the edge of the crack with my right hand.


    Chaiya blinked her eyes at me for a moment, then she floated over to the other side of the huge crack and gripped that side. We floated over to each other and our hands met to hold the crack closed, then her energy and god''s flowed out and over the huge crack to sew it closed. She stared at me as she felt the foreign energy and understood what I had done. She didn''t mention it, though.


    The thing was, her energy felt familiar to me. It took me until the crack was sealed and healed over before I figured out why. I didn''t say anything to her about it, either.


    ¡°There.¡± Chaiya said with a satisfied smile. ¡°I hope this has enlightened you to what it means to be a part of a team that was designed to work together.¡±


    ¡°It has.¡± I said. ¡°Even more than you think it has.¡±


    Chaiya beamed a smile at me and nodded, then she floated to Jessica and gave up using Evangeline as an avatar. Jessica caught her and the weight of two people was a bit too much for her. I held a hand out to her and she nodded, so Maylia and I floated next to her so I could take her hand to share energy. She felt the difference and the strength of it, then we gently floated down to the snow covered ground. I formed a large solid Presence box and Jessica sat on it with Josh and Evangeline.


    ¡°We have... the rest of the... garglemacers grounded.¡± Diofra panted.


    ¡°Even with... your help... this was a lot... to keep going.¡± Imiryl panted as well.


    ¡°You both are doing great.¡± I said and put a hand on each of theirs. I gave them only a touch of mine and god''s combined energy and they both recovered completely.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Imiryl and Diofra said together.


    ¡°Give Allirynn and the others a few more minutes to finish off the rest of the creatures, then you can stop.¡± I said and they nodded. I used Presence to push the words I spoke next, down and away from everyone. ¡°Dear god, thank you for your help.¡±


    ¡°You know I came early for a reason.¡± He said with my mouth.


    ¡°Yes, I know. I figured it out.¡± I responded. ¡°Thanks for that.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to tell the emissaries?¡±


    ¡°They wouldn''t believe me.¡± I said. ¡°Even after what I told her today, Jessica won''t believe me, either.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± He said with my mouth. ¡°I have to go. She''s coming.¡±


    ¡°Amen.¡± I said, then god''s Presence and consciousness faded from my perception.

 Book Two: The Summoned 058

    Maylia climbed down off of my back and sat down on the large solid Presence box that I had made to keep Jessica, Josh, and Evangeline out of the foot deep snow.


    ¡°I need to rest.¡± Maylia admitted and swayed a little.


    I nodded and knelt in front of her and took her hands. ¡°You did great holding us up there for so long, so just relax and let the rest of us take care of checking on the people of the city.¡±


    Maylia put an arm around Jessica and leaned on her heavily to hold herself up.


    ¡°Keep her warm.¡± I said to Jessica and looked at the nearby building that one of the garglemacers had smashed into looking for food. Kara and Steven had killed it and left it there, and I could see several people were trapped inside because of it. ¡°Diofra, get your healing spell ready.¡±


    We ran over to the carcass and I stored it in my bag of holding. It really was a lot smaller than the full-size one, so its weight was also significantly less. Once it was out of the way, I used my mother''s Light sword to cut and clear away any blocking debris, as long as it wasn''t supporting a load of some kind.


    Diofra and I went inside the rooms to gather the people up and put them in one of the safer rooms and told them what had happened, then checked them for injuries. There were only bruises and scrapes, so I used Mana Presence Heal and Diofra cast her healing spell, which fixed them right up. They thanked us and we left at a run to head to the next place that had been attacked.


    *


    ¡°I knew it would work.¡± The Goddess Chaiya said happily as she appeared in the blue area that Maleketh resided. ¡°Even with him borrowing your powers near the end, he saw the importance of working with my emissaries.¡±


    Maleketh didn''t correct her misunderstanding, or told her that he was actually there to stop her from stealing his follower. ¡°What do you expect to happen now?¡± He asked instead.


    ¡°He''s going to drop that ragtag group of his and join my emissaries to complete my quest, of course.¡± Chaiya said, as if she was talking to a child that didn''t understand how the world worked.


    ¡°You really do have tunnel vision, don''t you?¡± Maleketh asked.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Chaiya asked.


    ¡°You''ll see.¡± Maleketh said and then shrugged. ¡°Or maybe you won''t. In either case...¡± He turned to her and his calm and jovial demeanor disappeared. ¡°You tried to steal my follower.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what? No!¡± Chaiya said with wide eyes. ¡°I didn''t! I was only...¡±


    ¡°I felt you trying to sever his connection to me.¡± Maleketh said and let his power out and his hair floated as if he was under water. ¡°Charming him is one thing. I could allow that, since it would be superficial and wouldn''t change his beliefs. Trying to overwrite my blessing with your own, though? That I won''t allow.¡±


    ¡°Maleketh, I wasn''t... I thought that...¡± Chaiya stopped trying to explain and frowned. ¡°I need him!¡±


    ¡°And I don''t?¡± Maleketh asked as bolts of Presence Lightning flowed over his hands. ¡°You have millions of followers on hundreds of worlds that you control. I have one world and barely an eighth of the population believes in me.¡±


    ¡°That''s because of your stupid non-interference policy! You let them choose to forget about you!¡± Chaiya said. ¡°You should have used your powers to influence...¡±


    ¡°I tried that once, remember?¡± Maleketh asked. ¡°It worked for a while, and then... the power faded just as quickly as it had raised. On a cosmic scale, anyway.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t do it right, that''s why! Look at my Order. It''s still going strong, and it''s been thousands of years! I get new followers every day!¡±


    ¡°But at what cost?¡± Maleketh asked. ¡°They are almost like drones in a hive. They barely have any original thoughts and follow you blindly. All they want to do is serve you, because you overwhelm them with your powers.¡±


    Chaiya squinted her eyes. ¡°Hunter said almost the same thing.¡±


    ¡°Yes! You understand that, don''t you? He had a similar thought to mine.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°Amazing, isn''t it? A mortal being able to think on par with a divine being?¡±


    ¡°No, it''s not amazing. They are our creations. They shouldn''t aspire to think like us.¡± Chaiya said.


    ¡°Ha ha.¡± Maleketh fake laughed and absorbed the Presence Lightning and stopped his hair from floating. ¡°He''s not aspiring to be anything like that... and you''re missing the point.¡± He said. ¡°It''s their potential to reach that pinnacle of the mind, not them actually reaching it.¡±


    Chaiya shook her head. ¡°You can''t let them get out of hand or think that they don''t need you.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes they don''t need us.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°They can live perfectly happy lives and not have to devote themselves to a powerful being that they believe lives in the heavens.¡±


    ¡°Now you''re speaking nonsense.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°If you believe that, why are you fighting so hard to keep Hunter? Just give him to me and...¡±


    ¡°I let him live two lives already without interference and I only interfered this time because of you.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°Now that I am personally involved, I won''t let you take him and make him into another one of your drones.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Chaiya said, slightly angry. ¡°Don''t expect any more information from me.¡±


    ¡°You mean you''re going to stop popping in to see me at random times?¡± Maleketh asked. ¡°You''re not going to bother me with information that I didn''t ask for?¡±


    Chaiya huffed and put her hands on her hips. ¡°You''re going to regret speaking to me like this.¡±


    Maleketh waved his hand in dismissal and she started to fade.


    ¡°What... wait... I''m not done speak...¡± Chaiya''s words were cut off as she was expelled from Maleketh''s personal space against her will.


    ¡°Okay, Hunter. The dice are cast.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°Let''s see what comes up. A pair of ones for an epic loss or a pair of sixes for an epic win, because every other result is meaningless.¡±


    Maleketh walked over to a seemingly random spot and the table formed with the mirror on it. He watched as Hunter gathered the carcasses and helped the people of the city that had suffered from the attacks of the creatures.


    ¡°What''s funny is, I don''t know which one will be for the best, or even which one to root for.¡± Maleketh laughed. ¡°Isn''t that great?¡±


    *


    By the time I picked up the sixth carcass, my bag of holding started to get really heavy. Since I knew there were a couple dozen more of them scattered throughout the city, I had to go and drop them off. Since the queen wanted the full-sized one, I figured leaving them in the castle courtyard would be fine. If she decided that she didn''t want them, I could always pick them up again later.


    ¡°Keep healing, Diofra. I''ll be right back.¡± I said and ran up to the castle. As I came closer, I saw a huge hole right where the castle''s emblem used to be on the front of it. ¡°No.¡± I said and used Presence Hands to open the front doors and ran as fast as I could through the castle and up to where the damage was. I followed the smashed walls and a trail of blood down a hallway and through three different rooms, until I came to the queen''s personal chamber and saw the wall where the door used to be, and the wall had been smashed through.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°AFYNE!¡± I yelled and darted into the room through the hole and was stopped by the carcass of a garglemacer.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Afyne said. She and Milly were tucked into the corner behind the queen, who had a glowing green sword in her hand and her clothes were torn and ragged. I tried to pick up the garglemacer and heard a man moan. I eased it back to the floor and walked around it to see the front paws of the creature were buried into Evus the guard''s armored chest plate. His sword was buried into the creatures heart, which meant he had killed it.


    ¡°Don''t move.¡± I said and knelt beside him to examine the damage.


    ¡°Hey, I understand what you meant about... fighting to the death to save someone... and not just fruitlessly throwing my life away.¡± Evus said and coughed up blood.


    I closed my eyes and used Presence and mana to cover his external wounds and stopped the excessive bleeding.


    ¡°I''m glad you understood the difference.¡± I said and touched his shoulder. ¡°I''ll be right back with a healer.¡±


    ¡°It''s... too late for that.¡± Evus said. ¡°I can feel the claw... in my heart.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°You should be fine if I can get Josh up here.¡±


    Evus closed his eyes. ¡°This was... a valiant death.¡± He said and took a shallow breath. I moved my hand to his forehead and used Presence to put him into a deep sleep. His breathing evened out and I shared my pain reduction technique with him.


    ¡°Rest easy, Evus. You''ll be fine.¡± I said and stood as I turned to the queen. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡±


    The queen nodded, so I opened the window with Presence Hands and jumped out. A heard a girl''s scream for only a second and I used the Levitation technique to slow myself down just before I landed on the ground, which was the same technique that god had used when we fought the giant snakes. I then used Mana Presence Run and ran back down to the docks where I had left Jessica and Maylia.


    ¡°Hunter, what''s wrong?¡± Maylia asked when I stopped in front of her.


    ¡°A garglemacer attacked the castle.¡± I said and picked Josh up and tossed him over my shoulder, then I was gone before Jessica could say a word. I was back at the castle and ran up to the right floor a few moments later. The queen''s eyes were wide as I appeared in front of her and dumped Josh onto the floor. She didn''t say anything, though. I knelt and gathered Presence to my fingertip and poked Josh hard on the forehead and shoved my Presence into his head to force him to wake up.


    ¡°Wha...¡± Josh jerked as if I had poked him with a sharp stick. ¡°Ow! My head!¡± He said and rubbed his forehead.


    ¡°You''ve got a life to save.¡± I said and pointed to Evus.


    ¡°By the Goddess!¡± Josh exclaimed and rolled up onto his knees and crawled over to him.


    ¡°One of the claws is in his heart.¡± I said. ¡°The lung and the kidney damage isn''t as important; but, I can''t heal massive damage like that.¡±


    ¡°What''s he covered in?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°My Presence.¡± I said. ¡°Start healing him.¡±


    ¡°I can''t. I''m tapped out.¡± Josh said. ¡°I always am after summoning the Goddess.¡±


    I reached down and grabbed his wrist and dumped my mana into him. ¡°Is that enough?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± Josh said and started to use his healing ability.


    I used myself like I had with Allirynn and funnelled the healing through my body and into Evus through the connection I had made with him. I watched as Evus'' wounds started to close over and I used a giant Mana Presence Hand to pick up the dead creature. Evus jerked from the movement, because his leg was caught under the carcass as well. I shoved the carcass aside and pushed as much healing into him as I could take from Josh.


    ¡°W-wait... that''s... too fast.¡± Josh said and started to breathe heavily.


    ¡°His heart needs it or he could die.¡± I said and eased the flow of healing energy when Evus'' heart finished filling in and his chest started to close over. ¡°Okay, there we go.¡± I said and absorbed the Presence I had used to stop the bleeding and then used a Presence Hand to take off his armor chest plate to let the healing energy clear up the superficial wounds. The armor was useless now anyway, since it was dented and torn by claws. I shared more mana with Josh and his breathing went back to normal.


    ¡°I shouldn''t be surprised to see so much damage healed.¡± The queen said and I waved her to come over. She stepped close and I gently held her hand. She took in a deep breath as the healing energy covered her and all of her scratches and budding bruises faded away in only a few seconds.


    ¡°Afyne? Are you hurt?¡± I asked and let the queen''s hand go.


    ¡°No; but, Milly is.¡± Afyne said and the two girls came over to me.


    ¡°Young majesty.¡± I said and took Milly''s hand. She had the same reaction as her mother and took a deep breath as her bruises faded away.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Milly said for the both of them.


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said and let Josh''s wrist go.


    ¡°Yeah, you''re welcome.¡± Josh grumbled.


    ¡°Don''t be condescending.¡± I snapped at him and let Milly''s hand go. ¡°I could have healed her myself.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t you?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°You were already using your ability, so why waste it?¡± I asked and looked at Evus. ¡°I think I''ll let him sleep this off.¡± I said and pulled part of the damaged rug over and propped his head up on it.


    ¡°I think that would be best.¡± The queen said. ¡°Plus, we can get at Gavell''s body with the creature out of the way.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I turned and looked where the creature used to be and saw the crushed remains of the court attendant. ¡°Oh, no.¡± I sighed. ¡°He was standing by the wall, wasn''t he?¡±


    ¡°He jumped in front of the creature to try and distract it.¡± The queen said. ¡°It worked... and it didn''t.¡±


    I nodded. He proved what I had warned Evus the guard about. I thought. Sacrificing yourself without ensuring the safety of your charge first was always a mistake.


    ¡°Emissary, can you do anything for him?¡± Milly asked Josh.


    ¡°No, I''m sorry.¡± Josh said. ¡°If I had been here when... maybe I could have. I can''t do anything now.¡±


    Milly nodded as tears formed in her eyes and she walked over to Gavell''s body and sat. Afyne went with her and they held each other as Milly mourned the man that had been her guardian all her life.


    ¡°Did any of the creatures escape?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°I don''t think any got away; but, Sam is the monster expert. You should have her meet with some of the court mages and see if they can look for more of the things.¡± I said and stood. ¡°I need to drop off the ones I have in the courtyard with the adult one, then I''ll bring the rest over.¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡± The queen said and waved at the one at the side of the room. ¡°Take that one, too.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± I said and picked Josh up by his collar and stood him on his feet, then I walked over to the carcass and shoved it into my bag of holding. ¡°Josh, let''s go.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Let''s. Go.¡± I said, and he followed me out of the room.


    ¡°We can''t just leave the guard on the floor like that.¡± Josh said as we walked down the hallway.


    ¡°That guard pretty much gave his life to protect the queen.¡± I said. ¡°He could stay on the floor in that room for the rest of his life and she wouldn''t take it as an insult.¡±


    ¡°That''s not the point.¡± Josh said. ¡°He''s laying in rubble and...¡±


    ¡°Don''t be stupid. They want privacy to mourn.¡± I said and led Josh down the stairs. ¡°Evus is going to be asleep for several hours, if not for the rest of the night. He won''t be bothering them.¡±


    ¡°That''s not what I meant.¡± Josh said. ¡°He should be in a bed and have a real pillow under his head.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°At the moment, he doesn''t care where he''s sleeping. You could hang him upside down from the rafters and he''s not going to wake up.¡±


    ¡°You''re really an asshole, aren''t you?¡± Josh asked, and I laughed again.


    ¡°You don''t get it. There are things that matter a lot in this world and there are things that don''t.¡± I said. ¡°Right now, where Evus rests his head while he''s unconscious doesn''t matter. The queen and her daughter, who need time to mourn a man that they''ve known for years, if not for their whole lives, does matter.¡±


    Josh went quiet and we left the castle out through a side door to enter the courtyard where the full-size garglemacer was. ¡°Wow.¡± He said, then went over to it and started to examine it. ¡°It really is a dragon.¡±


    I ignored him and dropped off the carcasses of the smaller ones beside the large cage. It only took a few moments, so I tapped Josh on the shoulder and waved to the exit. He nodded and kept glancing back at the cage as we left. Once we were outside, I picked him up and tucked him under my arm and ran.


    ¡°HEY!¡± Josh yelled and tried to struggle. I was tempted to smack him for throwing me off balance as I ran, then changed my mind. I arrived back at the spot I had left Maylia and Jessica and dropped him next to his still unconscious wife. ¡°Thanks for being gentle.¡± He said, sarcastically.


    ¡°Anytime.¡± I said. ¡°Maylia, are you rested enough? I could use a hand.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure I can manage.¡± Maylia said and stood. ¡°Should we split up or...¡±


    ¡°No, we stick together.¡± I said and took her hand and shared my energy with her. She smiled and we ran towards the next spot that had a dead creature. We took turns storing each one and we ran back to the castle to drop them off when we couldn''t hold any more. I had the bright idea to ask the healers in the castle to spread out in the city to give healing to those that needed it, and they agreed and left the castle in pairs to search with us.


    *


    ¡°Hey, you''re awake!¡± Steven said as he carried Kara over to Josh. ¡°We need some healing here.¡±


    ¡°The last one hooked my calf before we could kill it.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Josh said and healed her in moments. He couldn''t do anything about her torn pants, though. ¡°There you go. Good as new.¡±


    ¡°What about the people?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°What people?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°The people being attacked by the baby dragons.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Don''t tell me they''re all dead!¡±


    ¡°What? No.¡± Steven said. ¡°We thought Josh was unconscious, so Kara healed the few of them that she could. The rest...¡±


    ¡°The both of you need to come with us.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°We can''t leave Evangeline.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°I''ll watch her.¡± Imiryl said and started to absorb the ice and snow around the solid Presence box.


    ¡°I don''t know...¡± Josh started to say.


    ¡°Do I need to give you my word that she won''t be harmed?¡± Imiryl asked, a little exasperated. ¡°Will you trust me then?¡±


    ¡°All right. We''ll be back soon.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°Good luck.¡± Imiryl smiled. ¡°I hope you can heal them better than you did me.¡±


    Josh sighed and he, Steven, Kara, and Jessica left to find people that had more serious injuries.

 Book Two: The Summoned 059 (Sponsored)

    It didn''t take Maylia and I long to finish gathering up all the dead garglemacers and took them to the castle to drop them off. We also found a lot of people that needed healing of some kind and directed the castle''s healers to the most critical ones. After taking care of the ones I could and stabilized the others while they waited for major healing, I found Diofra and she did what she could as well.


    Of course, some of them were too much even for healing spells, so I left Maylia with her and went looking for Josh. I found him and Jessica near exhaustion as they sat on a snow-covered step, and Kara and Steven were holding off angry people that pleaded with them to heal their family members.


    ¡°Thanks for waiting.¡± I said loudly as I approached them and I saw the relief on Jessica''s face and the slight annoyance on Josh''s. ¡°I gathered all the carcasses and found a lot more people to be healed.¡± I held a hand out for Jessica, and she took it without hesitation. I shared my mana with her and she hopped up with renewed energy.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Jessica said and gave me a quick hug, then she stepped back and chanted something and cast a healing spell over the gathered people. That calmed them down and they brought forward someone with a broken arm. I reached down and grabbed Josh''s wrist and gave him some mana, and he started healing the arm. After only a few minutes, the people trudged through the snow and went back to their homes.


    ¡°I''m glad you showed up.¡± Jessica said. ¡°We were being swarmed with requests for scratches and bumps and we couldn''t focus on the people that actually needed healing.¡±


    ¡°That mass healing you just did must cost a lot of mana.¡± I said, and she nodded.


    ¡°Even with my mana pool, I can only cast it three times.¡± Jessica said. ¡°With Josh nearby, he can boost it to double its effectiveness. With you nearby...¡±


    ¡°You can keep casting it without having to rest.¡± I said.


    ¡°Did you really find people that need our healing?¡± Josh asked.


    I nodded and led them back to the worst cases and pretty much became a mana battery for them.


    ¡°This is so great!¡± Jessica said ten minutes later and cast a major healing spell on a woman with several breaks in her leg. The woman hissed at her, and she laughed and pat the woman''s hand. ¡°I meant with Hunter helping, we can heal these major injuries without having to wait for our mana to recharge first.¡±


    The woman gave her an odd look, like Jessica shouldn''t be happy that she was hurt, then her leg was healed and her own face became happy. I assumed because now she understood what Jessica meant about her not having to stay in pain any longer. Josh finished with the man he was healing as well, and with that done, everyone that had been hurt had been healed.


    ¡°This really was great.¡± Jessica said and hugged my arm. ¡°Thank you for helping us so much.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you said that before. I wasn''t helping you, though. I was helping them.¡± I pointed at the last of the people that had been healed.


    ¡°But... you did help us.¡± Jessica said, slightly confused. ¡°I don''t understand what you mean.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I know you don''t. You''ve been kind of out of it since your goddess blasted you with that charm spell or whatever it was she hit you with.¡±


    ¡°What are you taking about?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°When we were up there and Josh and Evangeline summoned their goddess, she tried to put me under her power. Jessica was right there and she took the brunt of it instead.¡± I explained. ¡°She''s been a little glossy-eyed since then.¡±


    Jessica laughed and hugged my arm tightly. ¡°You''re so funny.¡±


    I shrugged my shoulders and motioned to her. ¡°You see? I even gave her some of my energy to make her start breathing again; but, it hasn''t done anything for her state of mind.¡±


    ¡°Jessica? Are you all right?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°I''m fiiine.¡± Jessica said with a big smile and rested her head on my shoulder.


    ¡°It''s almost like she''s drunk.¡± Steven said, concern in his voice. He snapped his fingers up above her head and then down low by her chin, and she giggled. ¡°She''s definitely high on something.¡±


    ¡°That would have been me if god hadn''t protected me.¡± I said, and saw the regret on Kara''s face. ¡°Yeah, I know you would have liked that.¡±


    ¡°That''s not...¡± Kara sighed. ¡°To have you not be confrontational every time we talk? Yes, I would like that. It would be a nice change.¡±


    ¡°You know why I''m like this.¡± I said. ¡°If I stop fighting her influence, even for a second, I''ll start getting sucked into the same trap Jessica is now in.¡±


    ¡°She looks pretty happy to be trapped.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°Right now she does.¡± I said. ¡°Watch.¡±


    ¡°What are you...¡±


    ¡°Jessica, please let my arm go.¡± I said to her.


    ¡°Why? I like hugging it.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°I need to go. I have to meet up with the rest of my party and then get Afyne and Evus from the castle.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to do that.¡± Jessica said and gripped my arm tighter. ¡°Just stay here with me, okay?¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry, I need to leave.¡±


    ¡°You don''t need them.¡± Jessica said, her happy tone had a touch of seriousness to it. ¡°All you need is right here in front of you.¡±


    ¡°Even if that were true, I have commitments that need to be settled first.¡± I said and tried to pull my arm out of her grip. ¡°Please, let me go.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, don''t leave me.¡± Jessica said, her happy tone completely gone. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°I know you do.¡± I said and cupped the side of her face.


    Jessica sighed and closed her eyes, then she almost purred as she rubbed her cheek on my palm.


    ¡°It took you a long time to fall for me, didn''t it?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°You can''t expect me to just fall in love with you right away.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Jessica asked and opened her eyes to look at me. ¡°Don''t I deserve your love?¡±


    ¡°It has to build up a little. It has to grow.¡± I said and let her face go.


    ¡°I don''t want to wait that long.¡± Jessica said, her voice filled with sadness. ¡°I want you to love me right now.¡±


    I held in my chuckle. ¡°If it was that easy to love someone completely, we''d all be in a hell of a mess, wouldn''t we?¡± I asked, and she sighed. ¡°It''s okay. If you let me go now, I''ll show you a secret about myself that very few people know.¡±


    ¡°I already know all about you.¡± Jessica said and her grip on my arm eased. ¡°What could you...¡±


    I absorbed the solid Presence I had around the blast shield over my eyes and used a hand to slide the black metal off of my face. ¡°Surprise.¡±


    Jessica let my arm go and covered her mouth with both of her hands. ¡°By the Goddess! Your eyes!¡±


    Kara had almost the same reaction and stared at my completely unmarred face.


    I stepped back and out of Jessica''s reach. ¡°It started as part of a disguise to hide my identity, then it evolved and became a part of my uniform.¡± I said and slipped the blast shield back onto my face and covered it with solid Presence to make it look like it was embedded into the skin.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Jessica said, her mouth still covered with both hands. ¡°Thank you for showing me.¡±


    ¡°There, you see? We''re that much closer now, aren''t we?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± Jessica said, and she almost vibrated with excitement. ¡°When can... I see...¡±


    ¡°There''s no rush.¡± I said with a smile and started to walk backwards. ¡°With all the places I have to visit for the queen in order to solve this cracks mystery, I''m going to be here for years.¡±


    ¡°Y-y-years!¡± Jessica gasped. ¡°We... we could...¡±


    ¡°I''ll see you around.¡± I said and gave her a little wave. ¡°Josh, try and heal her, now that you know what happened to her.¡±


    ¡°I doubt I can heal something like that.¡± Josh said. ¡°We got our powers from the Goddess. I can''t heal an effect she created.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked. ¡°If she broke your wife''s hand while inhabiting her, you could heal that.¡±


    Josh opened his mouth to say something, probably ''of course'', and he smiled. ¡°I''ll try.¡±


    I nodded and turned around and ran back to the last spot where I had left Maylia and Diofra, which was just around the corner of the closest building. ¡°Thanks for not running over to my rescue.¡±


    Diofra laughed. ¡°We knew you needed to handle it on your own.¡±


    ¡°Plus, we didn''t want to add to the conflict.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I wanted to smack Jessica around to make her let you go.¡±


    I snorted a laugh and gave her a hug. ¡°Thank you for showing restraint.¡± I said. ¡°We need to head back to Imiryl and then to the castle to pick up Evus and Afyne.¡±


    The three of us walked carefully through the foot thick snow back down to the docks and met Imiryl where we had left her and Allirynn and Sam were already there.


    ¡°Good job, you two.¡± I said. ¡°All clean kills.¡±


    ¡°You know my view on specimens.¡± Sam said.


    ¡°I''m surprised you didn''t want to keep one of them alive.¡± I said.


    ¡°Only if there was a chance to not harm anyone, would I try to capture one of them alive.¡± Sam said. ¡°All of them had already started to loot and you saw the destruction even a half-sized one can do.¡±


    I nodded and looked down at Evangeline. ¡°What do we do with her?¡±


    ¡°I gave my word to watch her.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°I''ll stay here while you go up to the castle.¡±


    ¡°I''ll stay, too.¡± Allirynn said and put an arm around Imiryl''s waist. ¡°For warmth.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°All right, we''ll be back soon.¡±


    ¡°What about all this snow and ice?¡± Imiryl asked. ¡°Do you want me to start absorbing it?¡±


    ¡°No, it will let the people remember what happened here for a while.¡± I said and she smiled.


    Diofra, Maylia, Sam, and I walked up the road towards the castle and I pointed to the side courtyard where the carcasses were and we went in through there. Sam the monster expert stopped walking and stared at over three dozen dead creatures.


    ¡°Enjoy.¡± I said and pat her shoulder, then took Diofra and Maylia inside the castle and up to the queen''s personal chamber. Workers were already trying to clean the place up and Gavell''s body was covered with a sheet and had several flowers on it. Milly had her arms around her mother''s waist, which broke normal social protocol, and it meant that the man''s death had hit her very hard.


    ¡°Your majesty, we need to talk.¡± I said.


    Afyne walked over and hugged me for a moment, then held her arms up. I picked her up and propped her on my hip as I held her close. The queen turned to look at me, almost in a daze, and I saw that she still wore her torn clothes. She didn''t look any less regal than she had before. Maylia and Diofra picked up the unconscious Evus and hung his arms over their shoulders to carry him between them, and I saw Maylia use Levitation on him so he would be weightless.


    The queen looked around the room for a moment, then she did the same thing as I did and picked Milly up and propped her on her hip to hold her close, then she led us from that room and down the hallway to the meeting room that had chairs for us. We all sat down and the queen put Milly on her lap, so I kept Afyne with me as well and put her on my lap.


    ¡°As you no doubt saw, this crack was a lot different from the others.¡± I said.


    The queen nodded. ¡°It was completely different from the other descriptions I''ve heard, especially the part where normal people needed a Truesight square to see it.¡±


    ¡°That''s right, your majesty. Only someone that wouldn''t need the spell to see would miss adding in the inherent illusion that all the cracks have.¡± I said. ¡°Or realize that there should be an illusion to hide what was inside the crack.¡±


    ¡°What was inside?¡± The queen asked.


    I told her about the green sky and the garglemacer breeding pit, and how it was nothing like the other worlds with cracks.


    ¡°You know why it was different, don''t you?¡± The queen asked me, and I nodded. ¡°I''m not going to like the answer, am I?¡±


    ¡°No, your majesty.¡± I said. ¡°The Emissaries of Light''s goddess opened the crack.¡±


    The queen was silent for almost a full minute before she spoke. ¡°You have proof?¡±


    ¡°I''ve felt her energy a few times now, and when I was near the crack, I felt it again. When she helped close it, I felt the energy return to her.¡±


    ¡°What else?¡±


    ¡°She said she couldn''t close the crack by herself, and she didn''t lie.¡± I said. ¡°I think that''s why the crack was so big. She wanted to make sure that it couldn''t be closed by her alone, or by me asking god for help.¡±


    The queen fell silent again and I saw Milly''s arms tighten around her neck. The future ruler fought against shedding more tears, only this time, I suspected that it was because of the senseless loss of her guardian and not more grief over his death.


    ¡°You''re saying she wanted to work together with you and caused this.¡±


    ¡°She said that she hoped it enlightened me to what it means to be a part of a team that was designed to work together.¡± I said. ¡°I told her that it did.¡±


    The queen sighed. ¡°Imagine causing so much destruction in a city full of people, just to give a lesson on teamwork.¡±


    ¡°She should have done what you did with the emissaries.¡± I said and smiled for only a moment. ¡°People wouldn''t have died or been hurt that way.¡±


    ¡°How many?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°We won''t know unless Sam cuts open the carcasses and checks inside.¡±


    ¡°Sam?¡± The queen asked. ¡°You mean Samantia.¡±


    ¡°The monster expert.¡± I said. ¡°She''s in the courtyard now with them.¡±


    ¡°I''ll have her properly examine them first thing in the morning.¡± The queen said. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡±


    ¡°I think my party needs to rest for the night to recover completely, then we''ll head out to work on the rest of your list.¡±


    ¡°You''re going to leave without the emissaries?¡± The queen asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°I don''t really need them.¡± I said.


    ¡°Didn''t you just say you told their goddess that you understood what teamwork was?¡±


    ¡°I did and I do; but, that doesn''t mean I want to work with them any more than I have to.¡± I said. ¡°The team I already have, that came together naturally, works really well together.¡±


    The queen nodded. ¡°You can stay here in the guest rooms.¡±


    ¡°I might take you up on that if we can''t find an inn with rooms.¡± I said and stood as I switched Afyne back over to my hip. ¡°We need to get the horses into a good stable and then have baths all around, not to mention I want to hold those close to me while I sleep.¡±


    Milly''s eyes twitched and darted to Afyne and then back to my face, which made me smile.


    ¡°I''ll stop by first thing in the morning to check if there are any changes to your list.¡± I said and we left the castle.


    We met up with Allirynn and Imiryl, who said that the emissaries had picked Evangeline up, so we gathered up the horses and headed to a different stable than the one Afyne had stayed at. We got the horses settled and went to the cheap inn Maylia and I had stayed at before. She had several rooms free, so I rented three of them and we put Evus in one and left Diofra to take care of him, at her request. Allirynn and Imiryl took the next room and Maylia, Afyne, and I took the last one.


    We didn''t say a word to each other as we undressed, then we washed each other in the large tub, then we sat down and tried to relax. That didn''t really work, so we dried off and dressed in our nightgowns, then we climbed into the bed and cuddled up close with Afyne in the middle. She didn''t protest the several kisses she received on the forehead and cheek from me, even though I thought she would, then we held each other tightly and drifted off to sleep.


    *


    ¡°Ha. That actually worked.¡± Josh said as he moved his hand away from Jessica''s forehead, then he saw the tears as they started to flow out of her eyes. ¡°Hey, you''re okay now.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Jessica said and didn''t try to wipe her eyes or catch the tears to save for later. ¡°How could I act so stupidly in front of him?¡±


    ¡°He knew you weren''t yourself.¡± Steven said. ¡°I told him...¡±


    ¡°I don''t have memory loss, Steven. I know what happened.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I just... I wonder...¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°Will he keep his word? Will I... will we see him again?¡± Jessica asked and put her hand over her heart. ¡°Years, he said. He''ll be here for years.¡±


    ¡°He also said he was working on the crack mystery.¡± Kara said. ¡°So are we.¡±


    Jessica looked at her. ¡°I need a book about mana crystals and their uses. If they are as powerful as Diofra said, then I''ll need at least one of the crystals, if not more. I can cast the crack locate spell and we can find where they all are, and not just the ones in the local area.¡±


    ¡°That last one sure was something.¡± Steven said. ¡°I''ve never seen one that big before.¡±


    ¡°The creatures were big, too. Maybe that''s why?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°It was the first time so many came through at once, too.¡± Kara said. ¡°Perhaps whoever is behind them is getting bolder, now that we''re closing off a lot of the small cracks.¡±


    ¡°We could ask the Goddess for guidance and...¡± Josh started to say.


    ¡°No.¡± Jessica interrupted. ¡°She was just summoned and we can''t bother her so soon.¡± She said. ¡°I''ll go looking for the book I need in the morning, then I can make a map of all of the cracks.¡±


    ¡°You''re being a bit forceful, aren''t you?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°I think this is the first time that I know what to do next.¡± Jessica said and stood. ¡°I''m going back to bed.¡± She said and walked over to the door of the meeting room in the church basement. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    Jessica didn''t wait for their response and quickly went to her room. The comforting Presence that held her every time she entered the church, grated on her nerves now. She wasn''t sure what Josh had healed in her head; but whatever it was, it had given her a clear mind for the first time since she came to this world. She knew that everything Hunter had told her was the truth and she wanted to desperately to go to him and tell him she believed him.


    She also knew that she wouldn''t be allowed to do that.


    Jessica had memorized all of the spell books that she had received and none of them contained a spell that would help her retain her own mind and will, and she also didn''t know a spell to do what Josh had just done to her with his ability. If she was lucky, she would find something in the morning when she looked for the book on mana crystals. She smiled, because she also wouldn''t have an acolyte of Light apprentice that looked over her shoulder and saw everything she did.


    To ensure her best chances of not being influenced during the night, she made a modified sleep spell that stopped her from dreaming, then she climbed onto the bed in her room and cast the spell on herself. She fell asleep immediately with a smile on her face.


    Sometime later, Steven looked into Jessica''s room and saw her smile. That made him smile, and he went to his room to go to bed, too.

 Book Two: The Summoned 060

    The spell Jessica had used on herself the night before ended and she woke up like a switch had been thrown. She was up and dressed in mere moments and cast a sound dampening spell on herself, then dug the Church of Light symbol out of her robes and left it on the bed. She was out of her room and up the basement stairs before anyone noticed and she went out into the city with a clear mind and a clear purpose. She thought about going to the castle and looking through their library for what she needed, then she thought that would be the first place that the others would look for her and changed her mind.


    Jessica passed several places that were already rebuilding from the damage the night before, and she was very surprised that the castle had been attacked by one of the creatures and the church had been spared, even though it was a much taller building. She pushed that thought aside and found a magic shop that was open. She was glad that at least someone was open this early.


    ¡°Please tell me you have a book on mana crystals and a book with a mind protection spell.¡± Jessica said to the clerk.


    ¡°A book on mana crystals?¡± The woman asked, and Jessica nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± She said and picked up a tiny little book on the subject. ¡°It''s a children''s book.¡±


    ¡°A children''s book.¡± Jessica took the book and her mind reeled over all of the basic magic information that she lacked. It had never occurred to her to start from the basics. ¡°Do you have any other magic books for children?¡±


    The clerk laughed. ¡°Sure. Do you have a young child at home to teach?¡±


    Jessica resisted the urge to point to herself. ¡°What about mind protection spells?¡±


    ¡°In what manner?¡± The clerk asked and piled several books on the counter.


    ¡°Some kind of area effect, or even something that will keep me clear-headed if someone tries to charm me.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Or a dazzle spell counter, or even...¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. I get it.¡± The woman said and walked around the counter. ¡°Most people would want a charm or an enchantment to help fight those kinds of effects.¡±


    ¡°I can''t wear anything obvious or it could be countered.¡± Jessica said and the woman nodded.


    ¡°You want something more permanent or...¡±


    ¡°Permanent would be great; but, I''ll take daily or even weekly if necessary.¡±


    ¡°The initial cost is pretty high mana-wise, then you can maintain it for almost nothing for as long as you want.¡± The clerk said and pulled a thick book off of a shelf. ¡°If you can get a few other magic users to help the first time, it can be permanent.¡±


    ¡°Can the permanent one be cast later?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± The clerk said.


    ¡°Then I''ll take it.¡±


    ¡°All right. Just let me copy it out and...¡±


    ¡°I can memorize it.¡± Jessica said, and the woman laughed.


    ¡°I''m sorry, it can''t work like that.¡± The woman said. ¡°It''s a mind-altering spell. You can''t memorize it.¡±


    ¡°Then how do I cast it?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°You copy it and read the spell as you add the mana, then chant.¡± The woman said with a laugh. ¡°Just like every other spell.¡±


    ¡°Will it consume the paper?¡± Jessica asked, because she wanted to ensure no evidence would be left.


    ¡°Unless you put it into a spell book with the appropriate mana cost, it will consume the paper it''s written on.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I''ll take a couple of copies.¡±


    ¡°You can copy it yourself.¡± The clerk said.


    ¡°No, I can''t.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I won''t have time.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± The clerk said and opened the book to the right page. ¡°It''s a little complicated and...¡±


    ¡°That won''t be a problem. I''m an archmage.¡± Jessica said and the woman choked and sputtered. ¡°It''s all right. Keep working.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, archmage. Thank you, archmage.¡± The woman said and copied the spell out of the book. It was a little more complicated than a normal spell and it required a couple of ingredients that she had plenty of in her bag of holding, so as soon as the woman finished making a copy, she took it and walked over to the counter and prepped it.


    ¡°You can''t...¡± The clerk stopped telling her she couldn''t cast a spell inside the shop, then changed her mind and went back to copying the spell again. ¡°Never mind.¡±


    Jessica read the spell and added the mana and proper ingredients, then started to chant the verse at the bottom of the page. As she did, the page started to be consumed and she felt a band of mana start to form around her mind. It was a odd feeling for her, because she didn''t think she had any sensations on the edge of her mind, and then the band became really tight and snapped into place.


    ¡°GAH!¡± Jessica yelled and put her hands on the side of her head and rubbed her temples. ¡°Dammit, that hurt!¡±


    The clerk laughed. ¡°You just cut off your mind from being touched by outside forces. Of course it''s going to hurt.¡± She said. ¡°It only hurts when initially cast, though. Maintaining it is easy. Just add it to your daily chant.¡±


    ¡°My what?¡±


    ¡°You know. The chant you use to prep your daily spells so you can cast them for free.¡± The woman looked at Jessica like she was stupid. ¡°Everyone knows that.¡±


    ¡°Yes, right.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I just woke up and came right here.¡±


    ¡°You skipped your morning ritual to come here?¡± The clerk asked, surprised. ¡°Then you can go right out through that door in the back.¡± She said and pointed. ¡°I''ll finish making your copies while you prep your daily spells at the altar.¡±


    Jessica was going to ask her how to do that, then she remembered the children''s books on the counter. She picked them up and took them to the back of the shop and went through the door. It was a nice white space with an altar at the back, and it had various symbols of the different religions marked out on it. She thought about writing them all down, then decided it was better to read one of the children''s books on how to prep free spells first. She shut the door and sat down against it and opened the first book called ''Magic and Me''.


    Jessica didn''t feel at all belittled that it had easy sentences to read and pictures for her to look at. It didn''t make her feel like a child at all as she absorbed the basic spell information. It didn''t do much for her overall power, since she was pretty much at the top tier for casting spells; but, it did give her a better understanding of how they worked and what the spells themselves were made of. She absorbed the book''s information and then read the next and the next. When she read the one on mana crystals, she had learned everything that a child that grew up with magic would know.


    It almost blew her mind.


    Jessica went to the altar and prepped what she thought would be her daily spells, considering she was an archmage, and after a few quick chants, she felt the spells generate and hang around her. They weren''t physical or mystical, or had an real substance, and yet they were floating around her like they did and she knew that she could pick one of them and it would be instantly cast. She also felt that they would be expended at the end of the day, whether she used them or not, and she was okay with that.


    Especially since she had three times the normal daily spells at her disposal.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Two fireball spells, three healing spells, one major healing spell, two flight spells, two minor healing spells for crowds, and two speed spells were at her command. Jessica revelled in the thought of being able to heal someone instantly and not have to rely on a spell to cast it or drain her mana.


    How could I not have known this was possible? Jessica asked herself.


    ¡°Hey, are you okay in there?¡± The clerk asked through the door.


    ¡°I''m fine.¡± Jessica said and walked over to the door, then she opened it. ¡°Thank you for letting me use your altar.¡±


    ¡°I hope nothing was wrong.¡± The clerk poked her head into the room and saw that nothing was changed on the altar, and relaxed. ¡°You were in here a while.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry it took so long. I had twelve spells to prepare.¡± Jessica said as an explanation.


    ¡°T-t-twelve?!?¡± The clerk gasped. ¡°And you skipped it?¡±


    Jessica laughed. ¡°Believe me, I won''t be skipping it from now on.¡±


    ¡°I should hope not!¡± The woman exclaimed, then she smiled. ¡°I made ten copies of the spell.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Jessica said. ¡°How much for them and the books?¡±


    ¡°Ten copper for the copies and a silver each for the books.¡± The clerk said, and Jessica paid for them and put them into her bag of holding. ¡°Don''t forget to add the chant for the mind block spell to your prep from now on.¡± The woman said and walked over behind the counter.


    ¡°Oh, I won''t.¡± Jessica said with a smile and walked over to the counter herself. ¡°Do you have any mana crystals?¡±


    ¡°I sure do.¡± The clerk said. ¡°What kind do you want?¡±


    ¡°Any chance you have a neutral one?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°I knew an archmage would want the versatility.¡± The woman said and bent down behind the counter for a moment and put one on the counter with a box and a cloth.


    Jessica looked at the five inch wide chunk of crystal and smiled. ¡°I''ll take two.¡±


    ¡°D-did you say two?¡± The clerk asked and looked at Jessica over the edge of the counter.


    ¡°Are they expensive?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°They are a gold and twenty-five silver.¡± The clerk said without moving.


    Jessica took out three gold coins and put them on the counter. The clerk blinked her eyes for a moment, then put a second crystal on the counter and added another cloth and box. She stood up and took the three gold coins.


    ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Jessica said and wrapped one of them in a cloth and put it in the box, then tucked it into her bag of holding.


    ¡°If you need anything else, let me know.¡± The clerk said.


    Jessica picked up the second crystal and tucked the cloth and box under her arm and carried the mana crystal out of the shop. After reading the book, she knew the crystal needed to be attuned to her mana, so she slowly covered the crystal and held her mana in a ball around it as she walked down the street towards the Church of Light. She walked inside and ignored the pointed stares from the acolytes that had opened the door for her. She went inside and down to the basement, then knocked on Josh''s room door and waited.


    ¡°Do you know what time... oh. Hi, Jessica.¡±


    ¡°Hi, Josh. I bought a mana crystal.¡± Jessica said and held it out to him. ¡°Give me a hand?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Josh said and touched her wrist. Jessica felt energized and charged up the mana crystal in about a minute and it only took half of her mana.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Jessica said and started to walk away.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°Outside to cast the crack locate spell.¡± Jessica said without looking up from the glowing green crystal. ¡°This thing is so neat!¡±


    Josh chuckled and shut his room door.


    Jessica went back up the stairs and to the front doors. ¡°Good morning.¡± She said to the two acolytes there. ¡°I was concentrating on attuning this crystal and couldn''t say it before.¡±


    Both acolytes nodded and opened the doors for her.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Jessica said and went outside. ¡°Now I just need a good place to set this down.¡± She said and looked around and saw a pile of paving tiles in a stack across the street. They were extra ones left over from repairing the street the night before and she went over to them. It was the perfect height for her and she put the cloth down and put the mana crystal on top of it, then she took out the crack locate spell and copied it over. She cast the spell and used the mana crystal as the focus, then a five foot wide greenish see-through bubble appeared and showed her the entire First Sothen Kingdom.


    Jessica took out another piece of paper and made a quick drawing of the map and asked the spell to zoom in on each of the cracks she could see. She marked their locations on the map and the directions to get there, then zoomed back out. She tried to shift the focus of the spell to the next kingdom and it wouldn''t change.


    I guess you have to be inside the kingdom for it to work. Jessica thought and dismissed the spell. The mana crystal was empty after casting such a huge spell, so she put a bit of mana into it to distinguish it from the other one, then wrapped it up and put it in its box and then in her bag of holding. With a flat surface right there, she made several copies of the map and then remembered that Hunter wanted a copy of her Flight spell. She made a couple copies of that and wrapped them in one of the maps.


    Jessica was tempted to use a viewing spell to try and find him, then she realized he wouldn''t want to be found that way. With no other recourse, she walked down the street and took the corner and kept walking. She thought about using one of her speed spells to get to the castle quickly, then dismissed that silly thought and enjoyed the leisurely walk instead. By the time she arrived at the castle, pretty much everyone in the city was up and the guards at the front gate asked her what her business was.


    ¡°I made a map of all the cracks in the kingdom and want to deliver it to the queen.¡± Jessica said with a smile. ¡°If she''s up. I don''t want to wake her if she''s still in bed.¡±


    The two guards exchanged glances, then one of them stepped back and opened the front door for her.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Jessica said and went inside. A court attendant was there and he led her up to the room that the queen used for meetings and she was ushered inside. The queen came in a moment later and looked at Jessica as if she were a particularly interesting specimen that she would like to see the inside of. The queen didn''t say anything and held a hand out.


    ¡°It''s a map and...¡± Jessica started to say.


    ¡°The flight spell that Hunter wanted.¡± The queen said and cupped her hand for a moment, spoke into it, and a little ball of light zoomed out through the window.


    ¡°You cast them yourself?¡± Jessica asked, surprised.


    ¡°There is a lot that you don''t know about me.¡± The queen said. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°Um... not really.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I just...¡± She looked at the queen''s blank face and sighed. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Is that for something specific or is it just a blanket apology?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°I thought I was humoring you by taking those lessons, and even though I did learn some things, I didn''t really understand what you meant.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Now I do.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am missing a lot of the basic knowledge that I should have, if I had grown up here.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I''m sorry that I dismissed your concerns over my behavior, considering I was ignorant and didn''t know I was ignorant.¡±


    The queen gave her a slight smile. ¡°Then you are much farther ahead of the other emissaries than I thought you were.¡± She said. ¡°Try to keep it that way.¡±


    ¡°I will, your majesty.¡± Jessica said and smiled. ¡°I definitely will.¡±


    Jessica left the castle and went back to the Church of Light to meet up with the other emissaries and to give them the map she had made. If they were lucky, they would meet Hunter at the closest crack. It was barely a day''s normal travel away, and with her instant speed spells, she knew they could get there much quicker than that.


    *


    ¡°Huh, what?¡± I asked as I woke up from something poking me on the forehead. ¡°What the...¡± I reached up and grabbed the little ball of light. The queen''s voice spoke as if she was right there in the room and told me that Jessica had dropped off a map of the cracks in the kingdom and the flight spell I wanted.


    ¡°Thank you, your highness. I''ll be in the meeting room in a few minutes.¡± I said and let the ball of light go and it flew out through the window.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Maylia asked and rolled onto her back.


    ¡°A wake up call.¡± I joked and leaned over Afyne and gave Maylia a kiss. ¡°Good morning.¡±


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Maylia said and glanced at Afyne, then whispered. ¡°Hunter, I''m really starting to miss your private lessons.¡±


    ¡°We could send Afyne out to get the horses ready for departure.¡± I whispered back.


    ¡°She''s too efficient and we would only have a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°There''s six horses now, remember?¡± I reminded her.


    Maylia smiled. ¡°Right after breakfast.¡±


    I nodded and gave her another kiss, kissed Afyne''s cheek, since she was on her side between us, then I slipped out of bed and dressed quickly. I hit the button for the powered armor and went over to the window.


    ¡°You''re going to do that every time now, aren''t you?¡± Maylia whispered.


    I grinned at her and opened the window, then I jumped out and down the two stories to land softly on the ground using the Levitation technique. I used Mana Presence Run to quickly run through the city and avoided all of the damage and patches of snow that were still left, and went to the castle. The guards opened the door for me without stopping me and I ran all the way up to the meeting room.


    The queen handed me the copies of the flight spell and the map of the cracks.


    I stored the flight spells and looked over the map. ¡°It''s just your kingdom.¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t deliberate. I could tell she tried to cast the spell wider and it didn''t work.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°That means you need to be in the kingdom to cast the crack locate spell.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°All right. I''ll amend this to the list you gave me and I''ll check everything out.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You''re not going to pick and choose?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°I don''t really have that luxury anymore. Not after yesterday.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± The queen said and held a hand out to me. ¡°Stay in touch.¡±


    ¡°I will, your majesty.¡± I said and took her hand and bent over it. ¡°If you need me back here, just holler.¡±


    The queen nodded. ¡°Good luck, and good hunting.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and let her hand go, then went over to the window.


    ¡°Can''t you use the door this time?¡± The queen asked with a smile.


    ¡°I could.¡± I grinned at her and jumped out the window.


    *


    Queen Celestina held in her laugh and walked over to the window. ¡°Men.¡± She said and closed the window.


    ¡°Mother? Was that Hunter?¡± Milly asked as she came into the room. Her eyes were still puffy from crying the night before.


    ¡°Yes. He''s going on a self-imposed crusade.¡±


    ¡°For you, I hope.¡± Milly said and hugged her mother.


    ¡°I think he''s doing it more for himself.¡± The queen said. ¡°If he skipped something, he would never know if what he skipped would be something that could lead him to whatever this evil is that''s making the cracks.¡±


    Milly looked out the window and saw Hunter''s running figure as it blurred out through the courtyard and down the road. ¡°I hope he finds it soon.¡±


    ¡°So do I, Milly.¡± The queen said. ¡°So do I.¡±

 Book Two: The Summoned 061

    I ran back to the inn and went in through the front door, since I didn''t want to waste the time to try and levitate myself back up to my room''s window. The innkeeper didn''t even glance my way as I passed by and went up the stairs. I arrived just in time to have breakfast delivered and took the tray from the serving cart before the elderly lady could knock on my door.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said as I passed by her, gave her a copper coin, and went into the room. She stared at me with her hand hovering in the air as if to knock. I chuckled and closed the door on her and carried the tray of food over to the table. I turned off my powered armor, hung the coat on the back of a chair, then I went over to the bed.


    ¡°Is somebody still sleeping?¡± I asked and hopped onto the bed, which popped the other two occupants up about six inches off of the bed. Afyne giggled, fully awake, and I caught her in my arms and hugged her, then kissed her cheek a couple of times to make her laugh some more.


    ¡°I feel a little left out.¡± Maylia said and fake pouted.


    I grabbed her hand and pulled her on top of us and kissed her, too. ¡°There! Do you feel better now?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Maylia said with a smile.


    We climbed out of bed and sat at the table to eat breakfast and enjoyed it a little more than we normally would, especially after the close call Afyne had the night before with the garglemacer. We finished breakfast and I picked up the tray as I stood.


    ¡°Afyne, we''re heading out in a little while. Can you head over to the stable with Evus and get the horses ready?¡± I asked.


    Afyne nodded and started to get changed. Maylia gave her a hand to help and I left the room to check on Diofra and Evus and knocked on their door.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± I said when Evus opened the door. ¡°You look positively alive.¡±


    Evus laughed and rubbed his chest through his nightgown. ¡°I don''t understand how wounds like that can be healed; but, I''m very grateful.¡±


    ¡°So am I.¡± I said and put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Thank you for what you did. I really appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°It was my honor.¡± Evus said, his tone serious. ¡°It really was a valiant death.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°It would have been fitting, that''s true.¡± I said and gave his shoulder a squeeze. ¡°You still have work to do, though. I couldn''t let some creature stop you from fulfilling your appointed duties.¡± I smiled. ¡°Like escorting Afyne to the stable to prep the horses.¡±


    Evus smiled back. ¡°Escort duty it is.¡± He said. ¡°I''ll need to stop at the castle to pick up another armor chest plate first.¡±


    ¡°I''ll go, too.¡± Diofra said and stood up from the table. ¡°Give me a few minutes to change and...¡±


    ¡°I have a surprise for you.¡± I said and took out the copies of the flight spell. ¡°You might want this.¡±


    Diofra came over to the door and took the couple of sheets of paper and read the top one. ¡°Are you serious? This is... it''s a true flight spell!¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I asked Jessica for it last night and she left it with the queen this morning, along with a map of the cracks that are left in the kingdom.¡± I said and took the map out.


    ¡°By Black Laura''s pale white tit!¡± Evus exclaimed. ¡°Look at them all!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it''s going to take a while.¡± I said and tried not to laugh as Diofra rolled her eyes at Evus'' curse. ¡°Of course, we now have two groups working on closing them, so it''s not as daunting of a task as it would be if we were doing them all alone.¡±


    ¡°It is a bit of a relief to know that there''s someone else that can deal with these things.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°We''re leaving in about an hour, so if there are any supplies you need, make a list and we can pick up whatever you need then.¡±


    ¡°We''re going to need more food and water, since a lot of these are out in the wilderness.¡± Evus said and pointed to a few spots. ¡°We might need thicker clothing for some of these parts, too.¡±


    ¡°Tell Afyne to get thicker blankets for the horses and anything else they might need.¡± I said and gave him some silver and copper coins. ¡°When you''re both changed, come over to my room to pick her up.¡±


    They nodded and I went over to Allirynn''s room and knocked. When he answered, I told him everything I had just told Evus and Diofra and he agreed we should leave after buying more supplies. I told him the hour time limit and left him and Imiryl to get ready and went back to my room. Afyne was dressed and looked a little sad, so I knelt in front of her and she gave me a little hug.


    ¡°That was scary last night, wasn''t it?¡± I asked.


    Afyne leaned back without letting me go and nodded.


    ¡°Evus did his job and kept you safe.¡±


    Afyne nodded. ¡°I know the difference now, just like he does.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows at her and she smiled.


    ¡°It was the difference between what Gavell did and what Evus did.¡± Afyne said. ¡°The monster didn''t even slow down when Gavell stepped in front of it and it acted like it was scared when Evus started fighting it.¡±


    I smiled and kissed her cheek. ¡°You are very smart to understand what some grown ups don''t.¡± I said and her face flushed a little red. ¡°Evus and Diofra will be here in a few minutes to take you...¡±


    There was a knock on the room door and I saw that it was Evus and Diofra.


    ¡°...to the stable right now.¡± I finished and she giggled. I led her over to the door and she left with Evus on one side and Diofra on the other. I closed the door and turned around, and Maylia was already completely naked.


    ¡°How the hell did you do that so fast?¡± I asked with surprise on my face and she laughed. I quickly pulled off my pants and tossed them on the chair, then my long sleeved t-shirt and underwear followed it. We were in each other''s arms a second later and then on the bed a few seconds after that.


    Less than an hour was barely enough time for her to have three ''lessons'' and I only managed one myself, mainly because it was so much more fun to teach her. I had almost forgotten that I wanted to have fun, too. Maylia was much more receptive this time and I was very close to her not going passive when I tried to go all the way with her, so I knew it wouldn''t be long before we would both enjoy having actual intercourse. I think we were both getting anxious about crossing that final line.


    We cleaned up and dressed in our adventuring outfits, went over to meet with Allirynn and Imiryl, and we went to the stable to see that all six horses were prepped and ready to be ridden. Evus was putting the last of the horse supplies into his bag of holding as we walked over to them.


    ¡°I guess that was perfect timing.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Afyne exclaimed and hugged me. ¡°I got new blankets and better feed bags and...¡±


    I held her and smiled as she happily gave me a complete rundown of everything she had bought and replaced for the horses, which included a new feed mix to give them more energy.


    ¡°Now we have to do the same thing for ourselves.¡± I said.


    Maylia laughed. ¡°I don''t want a snugly fit feed bag, thank you.¡±


    I turned to look at her and imagined a bit and bridle in her mouth and around her head, then snorted a laugh. ¡°Yes, that would be ridiculous.¡±


    ¡°You just imagined me wearing it, you ass!¡± Maylia smacked my shoulder and I laughed.


    ¡°We can get some of the supplies we need from the general store.¡± Evus said with a grin and we led the horses along the street. ¡°We''ll have to stop at a good tailor for the thick blankets and clothing.¡±


    ¡°We know just the place.¡± Maylia and I said at the same time and we all laughed.


    Surprisingly, it didn''t take us long to get all of the supplies we needed, even with all the people working on repairing the damage the garglemacers had done to a lot of the buildings. We even managed to get some actual food from one of the restaurants, mainly because Allirynn had caught the garglemacer before it had rampaged through the place. The food wasn''t going to stay fresh for very long and we were all okay with having to eat it within the first couple of days.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    With all of our things gathered and the load of supplies spread evenly over the horses and our bags of holding, we trotted out to the edge of the city. The guards at the guard house gave us a salute as we passed and I returned it. Once outside the city, Maylia and I boosted the horses with speed and we took off at a fast and leisurely pace. The closest crack was only about six hours away, because of the ridiculous speed that the horses could achieve, and we didn''t push them hard as we travelled.


    *


    Jessica went back to the Church of Light and saw that everyone was up and waited for her, because Josh had told them what she was doing. She gave them the map of the cracks around the kingdom that needed to be sealed and pointed out the closest one.


    ¡°I gave the map to the queen and she''s going to give it to Hunter.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I''ve got a speed spell ready, so we should get there before him.¡±


    ¡°It would be better if we coordinated movements with him.¡± Kara said. ¡°I doubt we''ll catch him at the closest one, so I suggest going straight to this one.¡± She said and pointed to the next closest one that was a couple of days away and in the same direction. ¡°With the carriage and the speed spell, we can be there in a day.¡±


    The Church of Light had purchased a carriage so that the emissaries could travel and not have to worry about always finding a room to stay in.


    ¡°I''ll have it loaded with supplies.¡± The head acolyte turned and whispered to the acolyte behind her.


    ¡°Jessica, have you thought about keeping Aimee as an apprentice?¡± Josh asked.


    Jessica felt the normal pressure around her increase slightly. ¡°I have thought about it, and I just can''t take her back as an apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Kara asked, and you could hear the incredulity in her voice, because dismissing an apprentice never happened in The Order, except in extreme cases.


    ¡°I have no right to try and teach someone when I didn''t even know the basics of magic that any child born here would know.¡± Jessica said. ¡°It''s not fair to the apprentice to have that large of a gap in the knowledge of their teacher.¡±


    ¡°I guess... that''s fair.¡± Josh said, a little unsure. ¡°How are you going to fix that?¡±


    ¡°I''m going back to the beginning, of course.¡± Jessica said and took out one of the children''s books she had bought.


    Josh laughed at the bright and colorful book. ¡°Are you kidding? You''re so far beyond that!¡±


    ¡°I thought so, too... until I read it.¡± Jessica said and held the book out. ¡°This one on mana crystals was great!¡±


    ¡°Wait, you''re not kidding?¡± Josh asked and took the small book about mana crystals. He opened it and tried to read it, then winced. ¡°Uh, it''s full of stupid rhymes.¡±


    Jessica laughed. ¡°It''s a children''s book! It''s supposed to rhyme!¡±


    ¡°You actually got something out of this?¡± Josh asked and flipped through the pages without actually reading them. ¡°It''s baby stuff.¡±


    ¡°It really is... and isn''t it a little sad that we don''t know what a baby would know about magic?¡±


    Josh opened his mouth to say that he knew a lot more about magic than a baby did, then he sighed when he saw some kind of formula about mana use that he hadn''t seen before. He was going to have to read it to get the proper background for it.


    ¡°Can I borrow this?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°Why else do you think I bought it? I read it twice and it''s stuck in my head.¡± Jessica smiled. ¡°I want it to stick in your head, too!¡±


    ¡°Oh, geez.¡± Josh said as she pat his head like he was a little kid.


    ¡°If you manage to get through it and understand what it''s saying, I''ll give you a present.¡±


    ¡°It''s another book, isn''t it?¡± Josh asked, and she laughed.


    ¡°Finish it and find out.¡± Jessica said and looked at Kara. ¡°I think you''re right. We won''t catch Hunter at the closest crack. It''s almost in the middle of nowhere, so there''s nothing to keep him there for long.¡±


    Kara nodded. ¡°Even if he hunts down whatever it is that comes out of it, he''s going to move on fairly quickly.¡±


    ¡°Then we better get ready ourselves.¡± Steven said. ¡°It''s going to be a long trip, if this map is any indication.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we definitely have a lot of cracks to close.¡± Josh said and flipped back to the first page of the children''s book. ¡°I just hope there''s enough time between them for us to rest until the next one.¡±


    ¡°There will be.¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°My daughter is getting used to having the Goddess use her body as an avatar.¡±


    ¡°That''s great!¡± Steven said. ¡°I was getting worried about how much time she''s been unconscious.¡±


    ¡°You''re worried about her and not about me?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°You''re a guy.¡± Steven laughed. ¡°Who worries about how a guy feels?¡±


    Josh was about to argue, then he laughed instead. Jessica glanced at Kara and saw that she wasn''t bothered by that statement, just like she wasn''t bothered by wanting Hunter charmed by the Goddess.


    ¡°I''ve got to get some things from my room.¡± Jessica said and went down into the basement and slipped the emblem she had left on the bed, back into her robes. She didn''t know how it had appeared on her, since she had refused it the day before; but, she didn''t want them to try looking for her and not be able to find her, especially if they were going on an extended trip around the country to close all of the cracks she had detected.


    Jessica sat down on her bed and looked around the room. She wasn''t going to be seeing it again for a while, so she quickly made up a small altar and put the markings of the Church of Light on it. She was tempted to add other emblems and items that she had seen on that other magic user''s altar at the magic shop, then decided she could to that later if it was necessary. She slipped the little altar into her bag of holding and went back up the stairs to wait for the others.


    Kara, Steven, Josh, and Evangeline came back a few minutes later and Jessica followed them outside to the waiting carriage. It was fully stocked for an extended trip, and Jessica used one of her stored speed spells on it and the horses. The entire carriage glowed and stayed that way, and the driver nodded his thanks to her. The emissaries climbed inside and the driver flicked the reins. The carriage took off at a good speed until they hit the outskirts of town, then the driver went to full speed.


    *


    The next six hours passed by like a flash for me and we arrived at the spot where the crack was to find that the vegetation in the area had been eaten. Not just a little bit, either. It was completely gone. There were no trees, no bushes, no grass, and nothing even remotely close to a plant anywhere within a quarter of a mile of the crack. The illusion of a thicket of trees remained, however.


    ¡°What do you think did this?¡± Maylia asked and stared at the barren ground, which was almost hideous to her eyes, since she had lived for almost a hundred years inside of a lush forest. ¡°I don''t think there are even seeds left.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± I said. ¡°I also don''t really want to know.¡±


    ¡°I hear that.¡± Evus said. ¡°If it can do this to trees and grass, what would it do to a person?¡±


    ¡°We need to close that crack immediately.¡± I said and hopped off my horse and left Afyne on it. Just as I was about to approach the thicket of trees, a formless black cloud floated out of the thicket. It shifted and changed shape, almost as if it was alive, then I realized what it was. ¡°Diofra! Fireball!¡±


    I formed a solid Mana Presence box around the cloud and Diofra pulled out her mana crystal and said a quick chant to cast the fireball spell. I opened the wall on that side for a moment and caught the fireball inside. I closed the box and held it and the cloud together as I tried to keep my concentration. My skin started to blister as the magical fire burned my Presence and the cloud in equal measure.


    ¡°Hunter! Let it go!¡± Maylia exclaimed and jumped off her horse to stand by me.


    ¡°I... can''t.¡± I said and let the fire burn. ¡°If even... one of them... gets out...¡±


    ¡°One of what? There''s only one cloud!¡± Maylia said.


    I saw that the fire wasn''t going to last long enough, so I started to add my own mana to it to keep it going. The fire flared up and filled the inside of the large solid Presence box I had made and the cloud started to be consumed by the mystical fire.


    ¡°N-no, it... it''s a swarm. Thousands of... bugs.¡± I said and tried to compress the box. It shrunk a little and the heat inside increased. It was then that we heard the intense buzzing from the bugs, and whatever they were, they tried to get out. I wasn''t letting that happen. I formed another solid Mana Presence box around that one to hold it steady and relaxed as the bugs started to die off in droves. I could see them as they struggled through the flames and tried to break free of their fiery prison. I felt satisfaction as the last of them burned up in the fire and I dismissed both boxes and collapsed to the ground.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Afyne yelled and was at my side before Maylia had rolled me over. Burns covered about half of my body and I saw Diofra''s tears as she used her major healing spell on me. A lot of the burns faded and she held out her mana crystal and cast the spell again. All the burns were gone from my physical body; but, I could still feel them in my mana.


    ¡°Boy, that sucked.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°This isn''t funny.¡± Maylia said. ¡°You know you can''t do things like that with your Presence and mana!¡±


    ¡°It was all I could think to do.¡± I said and they helped me sit up. I winced from pain and Diofra wiped at her tears. ¡°Thanks for not hesitating.¡±


    Diofra let out a sob and Evus put his arm around her. She leaned against him and cried her eyes out.


    ¡°Dear god, I need to close that crack.¡± I said and didn''t fight god''s Presence as his consciousness appeared around me. I gave up everything to his control, except for my head, and he hopped up and ran over to the thicket and went inside. He closed the crack and sewed it shut, then healed it. The illusion faded away and he walked my body back over to Maylia and Afyne and laid down without saying a word. ¡°Thank you, god. Amen.¡±


    The Presence and consciousness faded away and I was left with magical burns that no one but specialized healers could deal with.


    ¡°Well, it looks like we''ll be meeting up with the Emissaries of Light a lot sooner than I thought we were going to.¡± I joked, and everyone stared down at me with stern expressions. ¡°Don''t just stand there. Go search around for any other bare patches and I''ll hope beyond hope that this was the only one.¡±


    The others exchanged looks for a moment and nodded, and Allirynn, Imiryl, Evus, and Diofra spread out to look. Maylia glared at me for only a moment more and nodded, then she went to search as well.


    ¡°It''s my turn to take care of you now.¡± Afyne said and leaned down to give me a kiss on the cheek, then she propped my head up a little, put it on her lap, and pet my hair. I could feel her trying to push mana into me and I used a touch of Presence to make the connection. She gasped at the sensation, then I let her discover that her mana wasn''t needed. She just held me close and kept stroking my hair after that.


    It took a little while for the others to finish searching around and to come back. When they did, they had great news. No bare trails, no bare patches, and no signs of bugs anywhere.


    I relaxed and sighed dramatically. ¡°I was not looking forward to doing that again.¡±


    ¡°You are not doing that again, regardless.¡± Maylia ordered. ¡°Imiryl can encase them in ice, or...¡±


    ¡°Not quickly enough.¡± I said and pat Afyne''s hand.


    Afyne stopped petting me and helped me sit up again.


    ¡°I''ll try to come up with something better, I promise.¡± I said. ¡°Until I do, though...¡±


    Maylia took in a deep breath and reluctantly nodded.


    ¡°Help me up into the saddle.¡± I said and turned on my powered armor. ¡°This is going to be a long ride.¡±


    I was quickly mounted onto my horse, so I turned off the armor and Afyne sat in her regular spot in front of me.


    ¡°Hold on tightly.¡± Afyne ordered as she took the reins. Since I was pretty much at her mercy, I put my arms around her waist and held on tightly as ordered. I saw her happy smile as she flicked the reins twice, and the horse took off at full speed. Apparently, it wasn''t going to be that long of a ride after all.

 Book Two: The Summoned 062

    I put myself into a partial meditative state, so that I could react normally and still rest. I could tell the two energies inside of me were still out of sync with each other, and that was why I was so vulnerable. I could temporarily reinforce my body with Presence and make myself more durable and stronger for a short time; but, that wouldn''t solve my problem. What I needed to do was work on getting myself in tune, just like I had tuned the mana crystal for Diofra.


    Why can''t my body be that easy to fix? I asked myself. Why did the goddess send me here while I was so weak? That was a question I could probably easily answer after the incident at the capital with the giant crack. She wanted me weak, so that I would have to readily accept help from her and the others.


    It didn''t make sense in any other capacity. Even though my job was to lead from the front, in my current state, it was very dangerous for me to do so. The conflicting conditions would definitely cause me to create a desperate need for help. If we had arrived as a group, I was pretty sure with the goddess'' charm and the emissaries'' group dynamic, I would have become a pliable tool for her to use.


    That made me smile, because that had definitely not been how things had worked out. Being sent to the elves had put me on such a significantly different path from the others, that just the thought of willingly putting myself under the goddess'' care, turned my stomach. That could be just the magical burns talking, though. I tried not to laugh at intentionally hurting myself like I had, because it was a stupid thing to do. At least it was only pain and I wasn''t bleeding mana from an open wound like the last time.


    What had surprised me was Afyne trying to share her mana with me. It was both touching and amazing. I had touched her with Presence a couple of times and I had seen her mana reserve was focused around her heart. It was pretty strong, considering she hadn''t had any training, and I hoped that the expert I had the info for would be able to read her, too. I had thought about getting an opinion in the capital, then all hell had broken loose and I forgot about it. I didn''t get angry at myself over it, though. I wasn''t sure if getting her potential skills read would be beneficial for her or not, so it wasn''t a high priority for me at the moment. Of course, once I thought that, I knew that it was a mistake.


    I took myself out of the meditative state and used Presence to reestablish the connection between us. Afyne caught her breath for only a moment and then her mana responded to me. I kissed the top of her head and let my energy flow over her and she didn''t fight the feeling and let it wash over her. She knew I would never hurt her and she trusted me, so I decided to trust her even more than I already had. She was only six years younger than me, despite being a little over half my height, and I needed to keep treating her the same way that Emari had treated me.


    Like an adult.


    It was essential for Afyne''s emotional growth, just as it was for mine. To be fair, I was emotionally older than my body at the time; but, it still made me feel really good to be treated that way, even though everyone else had treated me like a child, and I figured that was why. She was the only one to see me as a person and I wanted to give that gift to Afyne. Almost as if she heard my thoughts, she spoke.


    ¡°I love you.¡± Afyne admitted with a whisper, and deep blush came to her face as her mana surged and swirled and tried to mix with the Presence I had covered her with. I knew what she was trying to do, so I eased my mana into the Presence and relaxed the restrictions on its interactions, which let her energy mix with mine. Her mana flared as the energies intermingled and she didn''t let it distract her from controlling the horse. That made me even more proud of her than I was for her trying to do a completely untrained technique for combining energy.


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said and kissed the top of her head again. ¡°Since we''ve got some time before we stop to eat, I think I''ll start teaching you about what we''re doing.¡±


    ¡°R-really?¡± Afyne looked up at me briefly and then back at the road. ¡°You''re going to teach me?¡±


    ¡°You might hurt yourself if you keep offering your mana up like that without proper training.¡± I said, and I felt her stiffen up a little and her mana receded a little. ¡°I wasn''t admonishing you. I was just warning you to be careful.¡±


    Afyne relaxed and her mana flared again.


    ¡°Okay, let me walk you through the basics.¡± I said, and started to talk.


    I told her everything my parents had told me about the Presence when I was a child, and Afyne listened with rapt attention. She guided the horse like she was on automatic pilot and I told her that on this world, mana could be substituted for Presence in my explanations. She had been surprised by this revelation at first, then we stopped to eat and our energy sharing ended. As we had a nice picnic and ate some of the restaurant food, Afyne stayed quiet. I assumed because she was thinking about everything I had told her and she was trying to make sense out of it all.


    I was quite happy to be wrong about that conclusion.


    ¡°You''re unique.¡± Afyne said after we had cleared everything up and mounted the horses again. ¡°You didn''t gain your sharing ability when you came here. You''ve been able to share energy for years.¡± She said and took the horse up to a good trotting speed. ¡°That''s why the goddess chose you to be the hero! It''s so you could empower her people to do her real work!¡±


    ¡°You know, I think you''re right.¡± I said, proud of her deductions.


    ¡°They actually weakened you by forcing you to use mana.¡± Afyne said, and I heard the anger in her voice. ¡°You spent all your life with Presence and developed all your techniques with it, then you got saddled with an energy that you had no experience with and tossed here as a second thought!¡±


    ¡°Saddled, huh?¡± I asked with a grin.


    Afyne looked up at me and grinned back. ¡°She tried to wrangle a wild stallion and hobbled it with mana.¡± She said and looked back to the road.


    ¡°Oh, my god!¡± Imiryl exclaimed and we all came to a stop. ¡°Hunter! You''re hobbled!¡±


    ¡°Afyne just said...¡±


    ¡°No, you don''t understand.¡± Imiryl said and moved her horse over to mine. ¡°When Allirynn and I were at the castle preparing to come to you with the message, the tailor there made me this wonderful outfit.¡±


    I glanced down at it and back at her face. ¡°It looks really nice. I''m sorry I didn''t say that before.¡±


    ¡°I''m not fishing for compliments.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°The woman who colored it and made it change from ugly brown mismatched leather to look like ice and fire combined, claimed she was hobbled.¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand.¡±


    ¡°She said she was born with it and it made her terribly clumsy.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°It couldn''t be healed or removed, or fixed in any way, because it was a part of her. She couldn''t take two steps without tripping over her own feet.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°You''ve been magically hobbled.¡± Allirynn chimed in.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Imiryl said. ¡°Don''t you see? Your mana has been intentionally set at odds with your Presence, so that you will have difficulty with it!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°Can you guess where that won''t be much of a problem for you?¡±


    ¡°Ah, dammit.¡± I said and sighed.


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± Afyne said and pat my arms that were wrapped around her waist. ¡°We won''t let them keep you after they heal you.¡± She said and I could hear the determination in her voice. ¡°You''re our leader now. They can''t steal you from us.¡±


    I was a little surprised that everyone nodded in agreement. ¡°Hey, I...¡±


    ¡°You don''t get a vote.¡± Maylia said with a smile. ¡°Let''s hurry up to the next spot and then we can take bets on how long it will take them to get there.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°All right. Let''s go.¡±


    With a set goal in mind, we took off at nearly full speed, just to see if we could get there before Kara and the others.


    *


    Going to a spot on a map that was almost in the same direction as Hunter, meant that the distance between the two trails, in comparison to the size of an entire kingdom, ended up being fairly far apart direction-wise. On paper, the path to the second crack didn''t look like it was far from the path of the first; but in reality, it was close to fifty miles away and on a separate angle.


    The Emissaries of Light didn''t complain about that, because it meant that they could safely pass the first crack and not have to worry about meeting Hunter''s group before they were ready. Not that they weren''t ready, they just assumed he wouldn''t want to encounter them again so soon.


    Josh finished the children''s book on mana crystals twice, just like Jessica had, and he was just as surprised as she had been at the contents. The rhymes had hurt his brain the first time he read it through, so the second time, he automatically substituted corresponding words that meant the same thing. It wasn''t half as annoying to read without the rhymes.


    ¡°How can we not know about things like this?¡± Josh asked and handed the book to Evangeline.


    ¡°Josh, we have no experience with this world, outside of just showing up here and then we auto-learned what our abilities were after a few days.¡± Jessica said. ¡°We''ve had no other information, except for the books we''ve read.¡±


    ¡°Which now includes a children''s book.¡± Josh said. ¡°I can''t even say it was a waste of time, not after learning about the inherent spell focus that the mana crystals contain.¡±


    ¡°So, you got it!¡± Jessica said, excitedly.


    ¡°Yes, I understood.¡± Josh said. ¡°Give me the prize of another book.¡±


    Jessica smirked at him and pulled out a box and opened the cloth to see that it was her mana crystal with a little bit of mana in it. He took her hand and she filled it with mana, then she wrapped it up and put it back in the bag, then pulled it out again.


    ¡°You just filled that.¡± Josh said as Jessica opened the box and the cloth to reveal the crystal was empty. ¡°Don''t tell me putting it in a bag of holding drains it!¡±


    Jessica laughed. ¡°Of course not. This one is blank.¡±


    ¡°Blank?¡± Josh asked. ¡°I thought...¡±


    ¡°Just sing the rhyme on page eight and cover it in your mana.¡± Jessica said and handed him the crystal.


    ¡°S-s-sing?¡± Josh stared at the crystal with wide eyes, and she laughed again.


    ¡°In your head.¡± Jessica said and tapped her own temple. ¡°You need to attune the crystal to your mana.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Okay.¡± Josh said and Evangeline turned the book to the right page and he mouthed the words as he silently read them off the page. Mana started to glow from his hands and covered the five inch wide crystal, and he kept mouthing the words for almost ten minutes. When the glow faded, he felt a jolt from the crystal and almost dropped it.


    ¡°It felt like it bit me!¡± Josh said, and she nodded.


    ¡°That means it''s ready.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Start adding mana to it.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Trust me.¡±


    ¡°It''ll drain me.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°I doubt it, not with your wellspring.¡± Jessica reassured him. ¡°Plus, it''s still your mana. The crystal lets you stockpile it so you can cast stronger and more powerful spells, or several normal power spells, or even a lot of weak powered spells.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Josh said and started to pour his mana into the crystal. ¡°If we get there before we''re supposed to and I have to summon the Goddess early and can''t, it''s you''re fault.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you read the book?¡± Jessica asked and smiled. ¡°You can use the mana crystal instead and let your own mana recover.¡±


    ¡°I''ve never done that before.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°Neither did I, until I cast the crack locator spell with it.¡± Jessica said. ¡°It emptied mine and the viewing bubble was five feet across.¡±


    ¡°By yourself?¡± Josh asked, surprised. It usually took his intervention to expand the bubble past its normal one foot size.


    ¡°I even zoomed in and out without having to add more mana to the spell.¡± Jessica said, proudly.


    ¡°If that''s true, then... maybe...¡± Josh stopped talking and thought about what it would mean.


    ¡°You might still fall unconscious when the Goddess appears; but, you should still have your personal mana afterwards and shouldn''t have to wait for it to recover.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Maybe.¡±


    Josh chuckled. ¡°I don''t know if it''s the initial drain or if it''s a result of the Goddess'' appearance.¡± He said. ¡°I guess we''ll find out soon enough.¡±


    ¡°According to the driver, we should be there by tonight.¡± Kara said. ¡°Which is a lot sooner than we thought we would be there.¡±


    ¡°We might get there before Hunter!¡± Jessica said excitedly.


    ¡°You''re really stuck on him, aren''t you?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°You''ve seen him, haven''t you?¡± Jessica asked, and Steven shrugged. ¡°He now physically looks like I thought he did on the inside.¡± She said with a beaming smile. ¡°A heart of gold reflected in real life.¡±


    ¡°Heart of gold?¡± Josh laughed. ¡°You''re delusional.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it''s not everyone that would admit that they were okay with killing bad people.¡±


    ¡°You mean people.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°Nope.¡± Jessica said with aplomb. ¡°Every single one he killed was a bad person. Not one was innocent or didn''t deserve to be killed.¡±


    ¡°What about the ones...¡± Kara started to say.


    ¡°They killed his love.¡± Jessica said and looked right into her eyes. ¡°If someone had killed Ullir in front of you, wouldn''t you have killed them? Not in revenge. In retribution.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to respond, then she remembered her first encounter with Hunter on this planet... and that was exactly what she had done. She had not defended herself and allowed his killer to die. That it was actually her and it was Hunter who had done the deed, was of little consequence. She willingly met her fate for his mistake, and she sighed.


    ¡°I knew you would understand.¡± Jessica said and reached out to take her hand. Kara didn''t pull away like she thought she would, and Jessica gave her hand a squeeze and let it go. She didn''t want to push her luck and try to make Kara see the error of her ways, not so soon. It would take months, if not years, for Jessica to break through Kara''s mental programming and to get a real emotional response from her.


    ¡°Josh, how is the crystal charging coming along?¡± Jessica asked, and he held up the half-charged crystal. ¡°You really suck at channelling mana for yourself.¡±


    Steven laughed and Evangeline covered her mouth to hide her smile.


    ¡°Can you help me?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Jessica said and put her hands on his and on the crystal. She felt the slow trickle of mana from Josh into the crystal, and she understood the problem. ¡°Josh, you need to look at it like... like... it''s a gun. You need to load the ammunition before you can fire it.¡±


    Josh looked at her for a moment in confusion, and then he got it. He stopped his grin from overwhelming his face and poured his mana into the crystal. It was filled only a few minutes later and he sat back and stared at the slightly glowing crystal.


    ¡°That was neat.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°I told you it was!¡± Jessica said. ¡°How are you mana-wise?¡±


    ¡°I''m only down about half.¡± Josh said and let the grin spread across his face.


    ¡°Show-off.¡± Jessica said, and he laughed.


    The driver of the carriage knocked on the front of the carriage to get their attention.¡°We''re coming up to the right place on that map.¡±


    ¡°All right, people. Get ready.¡± Kara said and readied her sword, as did Steven. Jessica was ready with her instant fireball spells and Josh stored his mana crystal and started to chant a sleep spell. The carriage came to a stop and the Emissaries of Light jumped out, ready for battle, and they were met with... gazelles. Hundreds of gazelles. Kara looked around for any monster-like beasts and didn''t see any of them.


    ¡°Are you sure this is the right place?¡± Kara asked the driver, and he pointed at the map and then at the spot in the middle of the herd. There was a thicket of trees and Kara couldn''t doubt that it was the right place.


    ¡°How do we tell if these are the beasts from the crack?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°You ask them.¡± A man''s voice said from off to the side and well within the herd. ¡°Hey, are you guys evil beasts?¡±


    An outrageous cacophony of squeals and animal yells filled the air and the man laughed.


    ¡°I''m pretty sure that was a no.¡± The man said.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I own these drackalopes.¡± The man said. ¡°They love whatever that green stuff is that comes out of that thicket, and I can''t get them away from the thing.¡±


    The emissaries exchanged looks and didn''t know what to say.


    ¡°Oh, here comes another one.¡± The man said, and the thicket pushed open and a huge tree-like thing covered in moss stepped out. In less than a second, the gazelles had converged on the thing and stripped it completely. It let out a forlorn howl of pain and died almost immediately.


    ¡°So, are you adventurers going to help me or what?¡± The man asked, and Steven started to laugh. The other emissaries joined in a moment later.

 Book Two: The Summoned 063

    We arrived at the second crack just as the day turned into night, and just in time for supper. To my utter surprise, we were greeted with the sounds of laughter and hundreds of gazelles amassed around the crack. An ornate carriage was off to the side, with the emissaries beside it. They were the ones laughing, for some unknown reason.


    ¡°How long... is it... between...¡± Steven tried to say between laughs, when the thicket of trees moved and a tree-like thing stepped out. It was covered in moss and I was about to warn them, when the gazelles converged on the thing and stripped it of its ''skin'' in barely a second and it let out a howl of anguish as it died. Steven''s laughter doubled and Jessica held her sides from laughing so hard.


    ¡°Hurry up and help before another one comes out.¡± A man partially hidden in the herd said.


    Maylia let out a chuckle. ¡°Okay, that''s pretty funny.¡±


    I tried not to see the humor in a herd of gazelles doing a better job at killing a monstrous creature than a group of adventurers, then another came out and it was gone a few seconds later. I let out a bark of laughter and Jessica heard me. Her head whipped around to look at me and her face was bright red.


    ¡°Maylia, give me a hand.¡± I said and turned on my powered armor. She hopped down off her horse and let me lean on her as I slid off my own. The pain was pretty intense after a ride like that; but, it was still bearable and I shrugged it off as what I would feel every time I tried to use my Presence or mana to stop or change a magical attack. Jessica saw the pain I was in and her blush was forgotten as she grabbed Josh''s arm and rushed over to me.


    ¡°Hunter, what happened?¡± Jessica asked and motioned for Josh to heal me.


    ¡°The last crack had a swarm come out of it.¡± I said and turned off my armor, because it''s electrical field interfered with healing. ¡°I held it with Presence while Diofra''s fireball consumed them, and the magical flames burned the Presence and me.¡±


    Jessica looked at Maylia, who nodded. Everyone except Afyne slid off their horses and gathered around us. Josh looked a little nervous and held his hands out to heal me.


    ¡°This is going to keep happening, isn''t it?¡± Jessica asked, concern in her voice.


    ¡°Until I can resolve the conflict between the two energies inside me, yes.¡± I sighed. ¡°If I keep doing reckless things with it, that is. I was undamaged while fighting the garglemacers in the capital.¡±


    ¡°You were being extra careful then.¡± Maylia said. ¡°You could have tried to attack more than the one you killed; but, you held yourself in check and did the most important thing. You got as many of them back inside that you could and then closed the crack.¡±


    ¡°This time, you...¡± Diofra took a shaky breath. ¡°I don''t want to see that again, all right?¡±


    I felt Josh''s healing ease the pain, so I turned to Diofra. I couldn''t put a reassuring hand on her shoulder like I wanted to, though. ¡°I told you that you did the right thing with not hesitating and I thanked you for that.¡± I said. ¡°I wasn''t exaggerating. I was hurt because of it, and that''s okay. I knew it wouldn''t be as bad as the last time I was magically hurt.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, that''s not the point.¡± Diofra said. ¡°It hurt my heart to see you suffer like that!¡±


    ¡°I know it did.¡± I said, then Josh''s healing stopped and I felt normal, so I stepped forward and instead of putting a hand on her shoulder, I took her into a hug instead. She was stiff for only a moment, I assumed because it was a surprise, then she relaxed and put her arms around me, too. We held each other for a few moments and then I let her go.


    ¡°It''s too bad we couldn''t take a squad of the castle''s healers with us.¡± Evus said.


    ¡°I wouldn''t, even if I had that option.¡± I said, and quickly explained what happened the first time. ¡°I''m sure the queen has them sorted out for the most part; but, considering it was the green robed man''s job to handle that part of the staff, I don''t want to be anywhere near them.¡±


    ¡°I''m really sorry about that.¡± Steven said, and I turned to see he and Kara had come over to us as well. ¡°Because of me, he got away.¡±


    ¡°Technically, maybe.¡± I said. ¡°He was a castle staff member for years and probably knows all the secret passageways inside the castle to get out fast, which was probably why he and Siada got away so quickly.¡±


    ¡°I will hunt her down.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°Even if it takes me years, I will have her pay for killing my friends.¡±


    Steven thought about arguing, then sighed. She had killed the guard when she escaped, so he knew she was perfectly capable of actually killing his friends if the mangled face man had ordered her to do it.


    ¡°I don''t know if this will help.¡± Steven said and reached into his new bag of holding that Jessica had bought him and took out a small bundle of rags. ¡°Maybe her old damaged clothes can give you a scent to track or there might be enough of her residue for a locate spell.¡±


    Allirynn held his hands out, almost in reverence, and they shook as Steven gave him Siada''s clothes. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Steven nodded and looked at everyone''s faces as he thumbed over his shoulder at the thicket of trees. ¡°What do we do with this crack, besides laugh our assess off at it?¡±


    Just then, another tree-like thing came out and the gazelles ate and killed it in only a few seconds.


    ¡°I think we need to hire some of these adventurers to take with us.¡± I joked, and that made everyone laugh, even the man who owned the herd. ¡°Seriously, though. Despite the herd doing a fantastic job of keeping the tree things contained, we should close it as soon as I check the other side.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?!?¡± Jessica and Kara said at the same time and with similar incredulous tones.


    ¡°I need to check what planet is on the other side and let god see the stars.¡± I said, and they just stared at me like I was crazy. ¡°We''re trying to find out what the cracks have in common.¡±


    ¡°Otherworldly creatures come out of them and they need to be closed.¡± Josh said. ¡°What else is there to know about them?¡±


    ¡°Why are they on different planets and not the same one?¡± I asked. ¡°If they were all connected and from the same place, that would be great and easily tracked. They aren''t, though. Each crack we''ve gone in was in a different place and the stars were different.¡±


    ¡°Even the one in the capital?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°I didn''t go in that one.¡± I said and didn''t elaborate.


    Jessica noticed my evasion and didn''t call me on it, thankfully.


    ¡°I better get to it.¡± I said and walked over to the man that owned the herd. ¡°Is there a trick to moving through them, or do I just try not to bump into them too much?¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about it. I''ll lead you to the thicket.¡± The man said and turned around. I followed close behind him, and he weaved his way through the crowded herd like a fish through water currents. I could see touches of mana here and there between the man and the animals, and the gazelles respected his personal space.


    We arrived at the thicket just as another tree-thing came out, and the gazelles rushed around us and dispatched the thing just as quickly as every other time and went back to their previous spots. Witnessing the death of the tree-thing up close was just as brutal as I thought it was, mainly because I could see the gazelles were eating both the thing''s flesh as well as its mana. The deceased creature dropped to the ground and crumbled, almost into ashes, because it was only an empty husk now.


    ¡°Damnedest thing I ever saw.¡± The man said and looked at the remains.


    ¡°If I had some way to carry them, I would buy some of them from you.¡± I said and the man chuckled. ¡°I''ll be back out in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°You''re really going in there?¡± The man asked, surprised.


    ¡°I have to.¡± I said and stepped into the thicket without looking back. ¡°Dear god, I need your help. We''ve got another one to deal with.¡± I said, and felt god''s Presence and his consciousness surround me.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°A real one this time.¡± My mouth said with god''s voice. ¡°What''s inside?¡±


    ¡°Big tree-like creatures that have very tasty skin for drackolopes.¡± I said, and he barked a laugh.


    ¡°Should be fun.¡± He said with my mouth. ¡°Can I have an arm? Your mother''s Light sword should cut through them like a hot knife through butter.¡±


    ¡°You''re not going to use Presence Lightning?¡± I asked and gave up my right arm.


    ¡°Even living wood is a poor conductor of electricity.¡± He said and drew my mother''s Light sword as he covered me in his Presence to use my body like a puppet, then we jumped into the crack.


    *


    ¡°I can''t believe he actually went in.¡± Jessica said as she looked through her Truesight square. ¡°I mean, I know he did, since I just saw him do it...¡±


    Diofra laughed. ¡°He''s done it a few times already and it''s a shock every time.¡± She said and held her Truesight square up next to Jessica''s, so that everyone around them could see, too. ¡°I swear he doesn''t have a trace of fear in him.¡±


    ¡°You''re mistaking the courage to face fear with a lack of fear.¡± Maylia said. ¡°He''s very much afraid.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Steven asked. ¡°He''s not acting afraid at all.¡±


    ¡°He''s afraid he''ll get stuck on the other side of the crack.¡± Maylia said. ¡°He''s afraid that even with god''s help, he might not survive the next encounter when they cross over. He''s also very afraid of being killed and not being here to protect me or Afyne.¡±


    Everyone turned from looking through the squares and stared at her, then looked at Afyne.


    ¡°Then why is he doing it?¡± Josh asked. ¡°If he wants to keep you safe, why risk going in?¡±


    ¡°Like he said, it''s the only way to find out where these things are coming from.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Plus, he knows if the cracks stay open, this world will end up overrun like the ones on the other side.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°Didn''t you ask the queen about what Hunter has been telling her?¡±


    Jessica opened her mouth to say that she had, then closed it. ¡°I thought I did.¡±


    Maylia chuckled. ¡°Maybe you need another lesson on not ignoring the sources of information in front of you.¡±


    ¡°He told you that, too?¡±


    ¡°He''s told me everything.¡± Maylia said, and Kara raised her eyebrows at her. ¡°Yes, even about you and the teck-know-ledge-y he uses.¡± She smiled. ¡°That word is as hard to say as it is to understand.¡±


    ¡°But, you do understand it?¡± Jessica asked, curious.


    ¡°Hunter is a very good teacher.¡± Maylia said, a little smugly.


    ¡°I understand it, too!¡± Afyne said and raised her hand.


    ¡°You''re on a horse.¡± Maylia said with a chuckle. ¡°We can see that it was you that spoke.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Sorry.¡± Afyne put her hand down and a few of the others laughed.


    Jessica turned to Diofra. ¡°You''re one of the most powerful mages from the castle.¡± She said, and the woman nodded. ¡°How many daily spells do you have?¡±


    ¡°Six.¡± Diofra said, quite proud of her accomplishment. ¡°I have four normal and two divine ones.¡±


    ¡°Divine?¡± Jessica asked, surprised.


    ¡°Yes, once you establish a good rapport with your chosen divinity, after a lot of prayer and if you are deemed worthy, they will sometimes grant you a spell to use in their name.¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± Josh exclaimed, quite surprised.


    ¡°I''ve been a devoted servant for five years.¡± Diofra said. ¡°I was granted a divine spell after the third year, then another only last year.¡± Her face flushed a little red. ¡°I shouldn''t brag like that.¡±


    ¡°It''s not bragging.¡± Jessica said. ¡°We asked and you answered.¡±


    ¡°Still, I shouldn''t gloat like that.¡± Diofra said. ¡°Even if it is quite an accomplishment to have two extra spells past the free daily ones.¡±


    ¡°Did you say free?¡± Josh asked, his eyes wide.


    ¡°It''s in the next book.¡± Jessica said and took out another colorful children''s book called ''Magic and Me''.


    ¡°The crystal was a distraction!¡± Josh exclaimed. ¡°I knew you had another book!¡±


    Jessica laughed. ¡°We arrived here before I could give it to you.¡± She said and handed it to him. ¡°Don''t look so worried. There are no rhymes in it until you get to the spell chants.¡±


    ¡°Thank the goddess.¡± Josh said and opened the book.


    ¡°You''re going to read that now?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°Why not?¡± Josh asked. ¡°We''re just standing around and...¡± He stopped talking when he felt a very powerful creature burst out of the thicket of trees and the herd of gazelles scattered by the scare.


    ¡°What in the seven hells is that?!?¡± The man who owned the herd asked as a mass of what looked like tree roots and vines doubled up on themselves and pushed itself up into a kneeling position. A moment later, the sound of a Light sword was heard and a large section of the vines and roots split apart and Hunter dropped ten feet to land on the ground and he rolled to the side before the mass of vines could grab him again.


    ¡°I could use a little help here.¡± Hunter said as he stood and took a fighting stance, then the huge mass of tree roots and vines rolled onto its side and tried to overwhelm him by shooting out vines and roots to try and cover him. He swung the Light sword in an arc to block most of them and cut them off from the main mass; but, he wasn''t fast enough to get all of them in one swipe. His ankles were quickly caught and he was yanked off of his feet and pulled into the mass of roots and vines.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Afyne, Maylia, Jessica and Kara yelled as he disappeared from sight.


    Maylia drew her sword and covered it in mana and ran towards the mass of vines. She wasn''t surprised to have Kara right beside her; but, she was surprised that she used an enchanted sword and not a Light sword like Hunter. They both started hacking at the mass, careful of where they struck, in case the mass decided to suck them in, too. Josh stood about ten feet away and cast a boost spell to give them bonuses to their attacks and their damage.


    ¡°It''s still coming through the crack!¡± Steven said as he gained the bonuses and started to hack at the thing with his own sword. ¡°How big is this thing?¡±


    ¡°Do we really need to know that?¡± Allirynn said and ran over. When he tried to grapple with it, all it did was flow out of his arms like water. ¡°Oh, you''re going to piss me off, are you?¡± He asked with a deadly smile and gathered mana into himself and spread it over his body. ¡°Let''s see how you like this.¡±


    Allirynn grabbed one of the thick roots with his hands and squeezed. The thing shivered and tried to pull away, and he grinned and bent the root in his hands. It squealed, somehow, and a large section of the mass stopped moving.


    ¡°I knew you''d like it.¡± Allirynn said and started to walk away from the mass while still holding the root. It squealed again and shot vines around him. ¡°Yeah, that''s not going to stop me.¡± He said and kept walking, unimpeded by the six vines trying to hold him.


    ¡°Thanks for making an opening for me, Allirynn.¡± Imiryl said in a soft voice as she touched his shoulder. He smiled at her and walked past as she concentrated on her powers. ¡°It''s time for an early frost!¡± She said and put her hands together, created a kind of beam, and shot it right at the split that Allirynn had made in the mass. The whole thing shivered as the beam hit and frost started to grow out from the spot in all directions.


    ¡°Keep it up!¡± Diofra said and grabbed Jessica, then moved over next to Imiryl and aimed at the other side of her frost. ¡°I couldn''t let my fireballs go with the others in the way.¡±


    ¡°Fireballs? But, I thought...¡± Jessica started to say.


    ¡°The ice will act as a barrier for the heat.¡± Diofra said. ¡°That''s why we didn''t use it when fighting the garglemacers. The fire wouldn''t be as effective with all that ice and snow from the storm Imiryl and I created.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Where should I aim?¡±


    ¡°Just follow my lead.¡± Diofra said and took out her mana crystal. She said a little chant and a massive fireball shot out and hit just on the outside of the ice and lit about ten feet of the roots and vines on fire. Jessica nodded and used one of her free fireball spells and hit just passed that, and then chanted herself. She didn''t want to waste the other free instant one, in case she needed it later. At the last second, she remembered to use her own mana crystal as the focus and took it out. A massive fireball, twice the size of Diofra''s, slammed into the mass of roots and vines and lit nearly thirty feet of it on fire.


    ¡°Nice one!¡± Diofra said. ¡°I didn''t think about combining a real spell with a focused spell!¡±


    Is that what I did? Jessica asked herself, then she watched Diofra chant to cast the spell with her own mana, then focused it through the crystal and doubled its power and effectiveness. Another massive fireball hit the roots and spread another thirty feet.


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Diofra laughed and pat Imiryl''s arm and Jessica''s hand. ¡°Let''s show them what magic users can really do!¡±


    Jessica nodded and both women started to cast fireball after fireball while Imiryl changed her beam from frost to ice and created a much stronger barrier to protect the fighters from the heat. The roots and vines screamed as the two competing burns covered half of its current body. The whole thing shivered as the large root and bunch of vines that Allirynn pulled on, snapped from the pressure. The root and vines fell to the ground and crumbled almost to ash.


    ¡°HA!¡± Allirynn yelled. ¡°Sever it from the roots!¡±


    ¡°Consider it done.¡± Kara said and stepped back from trying to cut into the mass to get Hunter. She ran over to the thicket of trees that hid the crack and readied her sword. She closed her eyes and covered the blade with mana and Presence, and the blade extended out to twice its length. That was just an illusion, though. It was just Presence filled with mana, and Kara used Detect Presence to see through the mass of roots.


    Kara took a deep breath and swung with all her might and pushed with Presence as well. Her sword went about halfway through before the thick mass stopped her progress and her enhancement on the sword faded. The part she had severed fell away and part of the root near the crack pulled back and disappeared. She pulled her sword out of the roots before they could grab it and she did the same preparation and swung again. She pushed with her remaining strength and Presence and managed to get the sword another third of the way through. The severed roots fell off and she collapsed to her knees from her exertion.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Hunter said, and Kara heard the reluctance in his voice. She couldn''t say anything back, because she was breathing too heavily. He casually swung his Light sword and severed the last of the roots. They receded into the crack and he turned away from her, then to her surprise, he grabbed the side of the crack and physically pulled it closed. She felt the odd Presence inside him as the energy sewed the crack closed and healed the scar to erase it completely and the thicket of trees faded away.


    ¡°Thank god that''s over.¡± Hunter said. ¡°Don''t expect me to let you have fun like that next time.¡± He wasn''t looking at her as he spoke, though. ¡°Amen.¡±


    Kara felt the odd Presence fade away and Hunter touched her shoulder.


    ¡°Maylia told me you jumped right in with her to help cut me free.¡± Hunter said.


    Kara gasped as he shared his energy with her and her exhaustion evaporated. She felt energized and invigorated, even more than she normally did after a good rest or meditation. She still didn''t say anything, this time for a different reason. She wasn''t sure what to say.


    ¡°Yeah, I don''t know what to say, either.¡± Hunter said as he recognized the look in her eyes. He let her shoulder go and walked over to the others. His hair had lost the tie at some point and Kara stared at his long golden hair as it swung behind him. It was matted in places and quite dishevelled, and it definitely needed a good brushing; and yet, she would give almost anything to bury herself into it, even in its current state. She gazed at it for only a moment more, then stood up and walked over to the others as well.

 Book Two: The Summoned 064

    That was... awkward. I thought after my interaction with Kara, and I could see on everyone''s faces that they thought the same thing. ¡°Does anyone have any ideas on how to gather...¡±


    Just as I spoke, the entire herd of gazelles, or drackolopes as they were called here, rushed back over to the spot where the crack used to be.


    ¡°Uh... never mind.¡± I said, and most of the women laughed. I turned to look at the man that owned the herd. ¡°I guess you don''t need help corralling the herd back together.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want them gathered here.¡± The man said, a little disgruntled, and waved at the field they were in. ¡°I still have the same problem that I had before.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that''s an easy solution.¡± I said. ¡°Just give them what they want where you want them to go.¡±


    ¡°Yes, easy.¡± The man sighed. ¡°They won''t even look at me while they wait for more of those creatures to appear.¡±


    ¡°They won''t be appearing here anymore, so they should lose interest.¡± I said. ¡°Eventually.¡±


    The man chuckled. ¡°You obviously don''t know how stubborn animals can be.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a bag of holding?¡± I asked and the man nodded. ¡°Then I have the solution to that problem... at least, I hope I can give it to you without alerting the herd, which would defeat the purpose of giving it to you.¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand what you just said.¡± The man said, slightly confused.


    ¡°He''s saying he has some of the creature carcasses and can give them to you, so you can lure the herd back to wherever you want them to go.¡± Maylia clarified for me before I could. ¡°If they see it or smell it before you start moving, though...¡±


    ¡°Oh, I get it.¡± The man said. ¡°If they see it appear here again, they won''t leave.¡±


    ¡°They''ll also probably assault us to get at it.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°They apparently find them extremely delicious.¡±


    ¡°Then we need to block their senses for a few minutes.¡± The man said. ¡°Does anyone have a ''stun crowd'' spell?¡±


    ¡°There''s a spell for that?¡± Josh asked, clearly surprised.


    ¡°What world are you from?¡± The man asked with a laugh as Diofra started to dig through her bag of holding. ¡°Every town guard outpost has a copy in case of emergencies.¡±


    ¡°To stun their own people?¡± Jessica asked.


    The man laughed. ¡°Riots, panicking from monster attacks, you name it, they have to handle it all.¡± He said. ¡°Mind you, it''s only a low tier spell, so it''s low range and low power that only affects about twenty feet.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°I used to be a guard.¡± The man said with a smile. ¡°Picked by the queen herself.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°Steven, that''s none of our business.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°It''s fine.¡± The man said. ¡°I lost a leg while fighting a pretty ferocious monster that thought I was a tasty morsel.¡±


    Jessica gasped and covered her mouth with a hand.


    ¡°I get that reaction a lot.¡± The man said with a smile. ¡°The queen''s healers managed to grow my leg back eventually and she asked me to retire. She said I had done my duty for her and that she wouldn''t ask me to sacrifice anything else for the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°That''s what you''re doing here.¡± I said, now that I understood. ¡°You''re breeding monster hunters.¡±


    ¡°Trying to.¡± The man said with a laugh. ¡°It''s really difficult to balance their strength with their ability to be domesticated.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention a voracious appetite.¡± I said and he laughed. ¡°All right, just a second.¡± I said and closed my eyes to concentrate. I chose the dome-like protective Presence shield and poured my Presence out to form it. Once it started to come into existence, I started to add mana to it. I hadn''t had the chance to modify this technique yet, so it took a few minutes for it to appear and cover us all.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Maylia asked and grabbed my shoulder.


    ¡°Blocking us off from being seen... and hopefully felt.¡± I said and added more mana to make the green color thicker and thicker.


    ¡°What if they attack?¡±


    ¡°Then I''ll be hurt again.¡± I said and pushed as much mana as I could into the structure to make it a solid green dome that blocked out everything, then I made it solid. ¡°Whew. That was a bit difficult.¡±


    ¡°A bit?¡± Kara asked and looked at the size of the dome that covered them. ¡°Hunter, you... how did you do this?¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Sheer obstinance.¡±


    ¡°No, how can you create it so large and not have it collapse under its own energy?¡±


    ¡°It''s solid.¡± I said and her mouth made a little ''o'' of surprise. That made me smile, because it wasn''t very often that I could surprise the very seasoned Order council member. I looked out through the bubble with Detect Mana Presence and watched the herd as I took out one of the tree-like carcasses that I had harvested on the other side of the crack. It wasn''t quite ''dead'' in the sense that a living creature would die when stabbed through the heart. All that had happened was its mana center had been disrupted and the tree was no longer animated.


    Maylia caught her breath at the thing and she touched it. ¡°Hunter, do you remember the story I told you about fighting an evil mage that used their magic to animate trees?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That''s what I was thinking about when I killed the first one of these things.¡± I said. ¡°I couldn''t detect anything inside them that was really alive, except for their flow of mana.¡±


    ¡°The poor things.¡± Maylia said and stroked its arm.


    The others exchanged looks as if to say she was acting really weird. I couldn''t tell them that she was an elf and loved trees, because of the prejudice against elves. I handed the large tree-like thing to the man and he slipped it into his bag of holding. The herd didn''t react at all, and I relaxed.


    ¡°I took out all of the ones close to the portal and started to put them into my bag of holding, when that root thing appeared.¡± I said and handed the man another one. ¡°It started out small and then more and more of it kept flowing out of somewhere.¡±


    ¡°You couldn''t tell from where?¡± Kara asked.


    I shook my head and kept pulling the tree-like things out and the man kept taking them. ¡°Whatever was generating it was either blocking me, or it was too far outside of my detection range, which is considerably huge when I''m sharing god''s energy.¡±


    ¡°The part that came out of the crack was about the size of a small building, so the main part must have been gigantic!¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°I didn''t see much besides a general shape, because it attacked and slammed into me as I was covered. I''m just glad I was near the crack and it had shoved me through by mistake.¡±


    Jessica put a hand on my hand and gave it a squeeze. ¡°I''m glad, too.¡±


    ¡°We all are.¡± Diofra said. ¡°If fighting... an arm?¡± She asked and I nodded. ¡°If just the arm was like that, imagine if we had to fight the whole thing!¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°No, thanks!¡± Steven chuckled. ¡°I''ve never felt so superfluous in a fight before.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Hey, I was swinging an ancient artifact around and pretty much felt the same way.¡±


    ¡°Ancient artifact?¡± A few of them asked at the same time.


    ¡°This.¡± I said and pointed to the hilt of my mother''s Light sword. ¡°At least, that''s what I''ve heard.¡±


    ¡°Why is it considered ancient?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Probably because of the focusing crystal.¡± I said and she nodded. Even though a lot was known about what they did and could be used for, how the crystals had formed in the first place was all just speculation and conjecture. The refinement process was also a closely guarded secret. I didn''t tell Kara that I knew what that was because of the information my parents had left me, or that I had shared the information with all the people I had rescued, in an attempt to disrupt The Order''s stranglehold on the crystals.


    ¡°How many of these things do you have?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Only a few hundred.¡± I said and the man stopped taking them and stared at me.


    ¡°Did... did you...¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°I doubt we''ll get anything for a bounty, since these things are just animated trees, so I''ve got no problem handing them all over to you for your drackolopes.¡±


    ¡°This will save me so much money in feed.¡± The man said and started taking them again.


    ¡°Don''t try cutting the arms and legs off, though. They dry up and crumble when separated from the trunk.¡± I warned him, and he nodded.


    ¡°That must be why they eat them so fast.¡± Jessica said. ¡°They know if they only eat so much, it dies and they don''t all get some.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I really would like a small group of them when they''re fully trained.¡±


    ¡°I''m sending a pack to the queen when they are. If her monster expert approves of them, I should be able to sell them in pairs or even small packs to the city guard posts across the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°That''s a lofty goal.¡± I said and we kept the transfer from one bag to the other in a steady stream. ¡°I hope you achieve it.¡±


    ¡°I''m not doing it for the money.¡± The man said and everyone looked at him with expressions of disbelief. ¡°All right, not only for the money.¡±


    That made a lot of us laugh. It didn''t take long to hand them all over, and the man thanked me profusely. I waved his thanks away and clapped him on the shoulder.


    ¡°Tease the herd with one when you''re a few hundred feet towards where you want them to go.¡± I said. ¡°I should suggest dropping it and let them have it; but, you''re training them. It''s up to you how to use the bait.¡±


    ¡°You''re saying I should leave them like breadcrumbs and make a trail back to the farm?¡± The man asked.


    I nodded. ¡°It''s worth a shot. If that doesn''t work, blindfold them all and drop one of the tree things into a paddock or something. They''ll follow the smell blindly and you should be able to get them all gathered up easily.¡±


    ¡°You just thought of all that, didn''t you? You weren''t planning it beforehand?¡± The man asked.


    I shook my head. ¡°I can think pretty fast sometimes.¡±


    ¡°If you have any other ideas, let the queen know. She can contact me at any time.¡± The man smiled.


    I smiled back and nodded as I absorbed the Presence and mana bubble that surrounded us. The man looked around and saw the herd not far away, so he walked calmly in the direction of his farm for a few hundred feet, then he took out one of the tree-like things and dropped it on the ground. The entire herd took off as if a gun had gone off and ran over to him to consume their favorite treat.


    The herd stayed in the spot instead of going back to where the crack used to be, which the man was very happy about. He waved to us and moved off another few hundred feet and dropped another tree-like thing. The herd ran over and ate it and stayed there, so he repeated this until he was out of sight.


    ¡°I have to admit that was a good idea on my part.¡± I said with fake smugness. ¡°Thank you, me! You''re more than welcome, me! You deserve a pat on the back!¡± I tried to do it and sighed dramatically. ¡°Dammit, my arm can''t reach.¡±


    Afyne snorted a laugh and Maylia and Jessica had huge smiles.


    ¡°I think someone''s getting a swelled head.¡± Josh loudly whispered and Steven laughed.


    ¡°Did I just hear a garglemacer burp?¡± I asked and looked from side to side with my hand up to my eyes as if that could make me see farther. ¡°As long as it didn''t come out the other end, we''ll be okay!¡±


    Afyne laughed and covered her mouth, several of them chuckled, Josh huffed and rolled his eyes, and Steven slapped him on the back and kept laughing. Kara just stood there and stared at the man in front of her and didn''t know what to make of him.


    ¡°All joking aside, it''s getting late.¡± I said and turned to face everyone. ¡°We should set up camp for tonight and then have a nice meal.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± Diofra said and looked at the area they stood in. ¡°Give me a minute with this.¡± She said and waved at the uneven ground that had been torn up by the roots and was now covered in a foot deep ash-like substance. ¡°Jessica, want to team up again?¡±


    ¡°You''re thinking of the Wind Gust and Pull Item spells, aren''t you?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°If my guess is right, this powder should be highly flammable.¡± Diofra said with a crazy smile.


    ¡°Do you think it can be used as a Firestorm spell component?¡± Jessica asked, and Diofra laughed.


    ¡°Finally! A like mind!¡± Diofra said and took her hand. ¡°Bwahahaha! Come with me!¡±


    ¡°That was not an appropriate laugh when asking for help!¡± I said after them, and Diofra waved me away as she and Jessica got to work.


    ¡°I''ll keep an eye on them.¡± Imiryl smiled and walked over to help them.


    ¡°I''ll help set up the carriage.¡± Josh said and went to go talk to his wife, who had stayed in the carriage the whole time, because she was not a fighter.


    ¡°I''ll start setting out our tents and bedrolls.¡± Maylia said and went to get the appropriate things from the horses. Afyne slid off my horse and handed the reins to Evus, who had guarded her the whole time, and she came over to me. She had barely started to hold her arms out when I bent down and picked her up and wrapped my arms around her. She put her arms around my neck and we held each other tightly. Neither of us said anything and just stood there in silence, as did the others.


    By the time Diofra and Jessica had cleared the area of the debris from the crumbling roots and split them to use in their spells, Maylia had everyone''s tents out. I propped Afyne on my hip and used a normal hand and a Presence Hand to help construct them. When that task was done, I turned around and saw a huge table had been set out. I almost laughed at the size of it, and then the driver of the carriage pulled out enough chairs for everyone to sit down.


    That had surprised me, because there was no real reason to have so many extra chairs, unless you were expecting to have company. Maylia set up the cooking fire and Diofra lit it, then Afyne and I cooked up some of the restaurant food we had. The smells filled the cleared area and several people''s stomachs rumbled. We were only warming the food up, so it didn''t take long to have enough ready for everyone to have a good meal. Afyne served as I dished it out, and we ended with plates for ourselves and had just enough left over for the driver.


    ¡°No, thank you.¡± The driver said. ¡°It''s not my place to...¡±


    ¡°My job is to take care of the horses and I''m allowed to sit.¡± Afyne said as she held out a plate to him. ¡°You better sit down and eat or I''ll stand right next to you and not eat, either.¡±


    The driver had a pained look on his face and looked at the table with a silent plea. The emissaries tried not to notice this, so I waved to my empty chair.


    ¡°Have a seat.¡± I said and created a solid Presence box for Afyne and I to sit at the end of the table. The man reluctantly took the plate of food and sat down, and Afyne nodded and sat down next to me. We all ate in silence, except for the sounds of silverware and food being chewed. The food was still quite good, even after being reheated, and I sat back from the table and sighed. Afyne stopped eating as well and leaned back onto me, so I put my arm around her shoulders. After a few minutes of silence, Kara pushed her plate out of the way and looked at me.


    ¡°Hunter, we need to coordinate our work on the cracks.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked, even though I knew the reason why it was a good idea. I wanted to know if it was the same idea she had.


    ¡°As you clearly saw, we all worked well together.¡± Kara said. ¡°I think...¡±


    ¡°No, that wasn''t my thought at all.¡± I interrupted, and saw Jessica''s disappointment. ¡°This one time it worked; but, that was only because we all had something to do.¡± I said. ¡°What happens when there''s only one crazy monkey, or a dinosaur, or some birds? Who gets to fight and use their abilities?¡±


    Everyone exchanged glances and then looked at me.


    ¡°Do we take turns or hope there will be more monsters to take care of, so most of us won''t be bored?¡± I asked. ¡°You understand what I''m getting at, don''t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kara sighed. ¡°It would be a waste of our skills to have a group this big at every crack.¡±


    ¡°I won''t deny that it was great to have everyone here and doing their best to help.¡± I said and pointedly looked at Jessica. Her face flushed a little red and she didn''t avert her eyes like I thought she would. I gave her a big smile and her face flushed a little more red. ¡°If we stay as two separate groups, however... we can close the cracks twice as fast.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡± Kara started to say.


    ¡°Both Diofra and Jessica can cast that light ball communication spell to stay in touch. We can also mark off on our maps which cracks we sealed, so we''re not doubling up on our efforts uselessly.¡±


    ¡°What if we find another creature like we did today?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°I can''t say that you won''t, mainly because it''s always possible something huge or powerful did manage to come through.¡± I said. ¡°I can positively say that none of you are stupid enough to do what I did today.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I won''t be repeating this performance if I can help it.¡±


    ¡°No more crack incursions?¡± Maylia asked and took my hand.


    ¡°Not like today, no.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to barely poke my head in, and depending on the creatures we find, I''ll glance at the stars and then close it.¡±


    ¡°Thank god.¡± Maylia said with a smile.


    After that, we went to our respective sleeping arrangements and went to bed. None of us got changed, mainly because there wasn''t really anywhere to do that, and we would have to hastily get dressed if something happened. I entered a meditative state and relaxed in the oversized bedroll with Maylia, with Afyne jammed between us. None of us complained about the close quarters and drifted off to sleep.


    *


    Kara pointedly ignored all of the suggestions that she stay inside the oversized carriage to sleep. She had been too energized by Hunter''s shared energy to even contemplate going to sleep. She had taken a normal bedroll from the storage and set it up a little ways away from the carriage, then she sat down on the bedroll in the lotus position and started her shift on watch. She almost smiled because she would be the only one on watch the entire night.


    Kara used her Detect Mana and Presence technique to scan the area, to make sure that nothing was going to sneak up on them during the night, and she also put herself into a partial meditation state. If she hadn''t, she would have been constantly distracted by seeing Hunter cuddled up so closely with two other women. Even then, her eyes lingered for an extra second every time her eyes passed over his tent.


    It was going to be a long night for her, in more ways than one.

 Book Two: The Summoned 065

    I woke up early, despite my desire to stay in bed for as long as I could. It wasn''t the close quarters that weighed on me, it was the proximity of people that I didn''t know well and knew they had some kind of collective effect that if I was around it long enough, I wouldn''t even realize I was suffering the effects and I wouldn''t want to leave. Of course, since I was close by them, I had the urge to show off.


    I knew that wasn''t a very good way to endear myself to them; but, I also didn''t want them to think that my group and I weren''t enjoying being out and away from civilization. The best way to do that was to show off my cooking skills. Kara had experienced them for almost four years, so there wasn''t really any way to impress her. The rest of the emissaries were another matter, however.


    I held in my smile as I carefully climbed out of the bedroll that Afyne and Maylia were still in. They started to stir when my body heat had disappeared, so I leaned in and whispered that I was making breakfast and gave each of them a quick kiss. I couldn''t hide my smile after seeing their contented and sleepy faces. I quickly tied my messy hair up and left the tent to start on breakfast. I successfully ignored Kara''s intense stare as I went over to the large table and chairs that were still set up and hung my uniform coat on the back of the closest chair. I used part of the table to prepare the food, and since I actually had to cook this time and not just reheat, it took a little longer than it should have to make enough food for so many people.


    By the time I was done, everyone was up and had gathered around the table. I tried not to laugh at everyone''s dishevelled states, mainly because I was in a similar state and we all would stay that way until we reached the next town. Afyne helped me portion out the eggs, toast, and dried meat from some of our modified ration packs. I had given it a quick sear on each side to give it a nice cooked taste to add to the flavor. That wasn''t strictly necessary, since god had given his blessing for the food already to make it delicious; but, even delicious food can still have some improvements to bring out the flavor.


    Jessica, Steven and Josh were the only ones to understand the significance of the breakfast I had made, that it was something they would have only experienced back on Earth, until now. I saw the realization on their faces that they could have different food than what had been prepared by the locals.


    Jessica gave me a warm smile as I put the plate in front of her. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You''re really going to thank me when you taste it.¡± I said with a smile just as warm as hers.


    ¡°Ha.¡± Josh barked a laugh. ¡°It''s just eggs.¡±


    I shrugged and Afyne and I finished serving everyone, even the driver, who hadn''t balked this time at getting to sit at the same table with the adventurers. When Afyne and I took our custom seat at the head of the table, everyone started to eat. The ones from my team kept eating while everyone else took one bite and either gasped or covered their mouths when they tasted it.


    ¡°I told you.¡± I said to Jessica and kept eating.


    After a few moments, she started to eat again and the others did, too. Once again, it was a quiet meal while everyone ate and didn''t speak. The time didn''t stretch on like the night before, though. The meal ended fairly quickly and Afyne and I gathered everything up before anyone could offer to help. When the table was cleared, I took out the map of cracks that Jessica had given me and unrolled it.


    ¡°Okay, these two are gone.¡± I said and put a little x over the two spots. ¡°The placements seem to be random; but, I''m thinking there''s a significance to them.¡±


    ¡°Would knowing where the others are help?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°It might.¡± I said, and Jessica took out the list the queen had given her the first time, then compared it to the map and the places and descriptions. It took her a few minutes to mark off the right spots where the other cracks had been. While she did that, I added in the ones my group had encountered and closed, and then put little markings by the ones that matched the new list the queen had given me. Surprisingly enough, there were only two that were nowhere near the cracks.


    ¡°This is as close as I can guess they were.¡± Jessica said and we all stared at the pattern of dots on the map. ¡°I don''t see anything, except for the stuff that I''m making up in my head.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Go ahead and show us.¡±


    ¡°It''s stupid, though.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°I promise not to laugh... for too long.¡± I said with a grin, and she laughed.


    ¡°All right.¡± Jessica said and pointed. ¡°This looks like a hopping rabbit.¡± She traced her finger over the general shape. ¡°The ears, big feet, and puff tail.¡±


    I turned my head to try and see it from her perspective and couldn''t. ¡°Show me again.¡± I said and walked around the side of the table to stand very close beside her. She traced it again with a slightly shaky hand and I saw it. ¡°It kind of does look like a rabbit.¡±


    Jessica glanced at me with a slightly stern expression for a moment, probably because she thought I was humoring her, then she let her face become a smile as she saw me start to copy the pattern.


    ¡°What else do you see?¡± I asked as I continued to mark down just the dots she had pointed out to make a rabbit shape.


    ¡°You''re really interested in that?¡± Kara asked, surprised.


    ¡°Anything could help us figure out what''s going on.¡± I said. ¡°Looking for patterns in what should be random dots, can''t hurt.¡±


    Kara looked around and saw several shrugs.


    ¡°Jessica, what else?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I think that''s a snake.¡± Jessica said and moved her hand over and traced out a cluster of them and then followed the pattern down in a twisting path to end on a single point. I copied them down and it did look like a snake. What surprised me was a spot near the head of the snake was the crack where we had found the giant snake.


    ¡°Does anyone else see anything?¡± I asked, and I got a few different animals and copied their patterns onto a separate piece of paper. After half an hour of looking the map over, it was time to decide how to divide the cracks up.


    ¡°We are all fairly speedy now, so I think this would benefit us.¡± I said and used a finger to trace a line along one side of the map to cover a good portion of the dots and then crossed over to the other side and stopped at a marked city. ¡°If my estimation is right, that should take about a week, allowing for overnight stops and some investigations if a town is nearby.¡± I said and used my other hand as I pointed to two towns close to the path I had traced.


    ¡°If we take a reciprocal route...¡± Kara said and traced her finger over the map to encompass the cracks my finger had missed. ¡°...we''ll meet up physically right here.¡± Her finger touched mine beside the marked city a quarter of the kingdom away. ¡°If we contact each other every night to update the map and our positions on it, we can adjust our schedules to arrive at almost the same time.¡±


    ¡°You''re worried we''ll have a lot of trouble at the city.¡± I said.


    ¡°Aren''t you?¡± Kara asked, and I nodded. ¡°Why aren''t you going there first, then?¡±


    ¡°It would take us twice as long to go all the way there and then come back this way to close the other cracks.¡± I said. ¡°It might be the wrong decision to work up to it; but, we have no reason to suspect that these things are going to change anytime soon.¡±


    ¡°I agree. Some have been here for days and others for years.¡± Kara tapped the city. ¡°Plus, you know I would rather have us all here at once and not have to wait for someone to show up.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°It should make searching for whatever it is a lot easier with so many eyes.¡± I said. ¡°Assuming it''s something we can find by normal means.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jessica asked, and I told her about the succubi we had found at a town where the crack had been inside a building''s basement. ¡°Oh. Yes, that would be bad.¡± She said and glanced at Josh, who held Evangeline''s hand tightly.


    ¡°Especially if it affects women, or both men and women.¡± I said. ¡°We honestly won''t know what we''re going to encounter until we do.¡± I looked at the map again. ¡°Instead of just contacting every day, we should contact after every encounter as well, just like we do with the queen.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t that too much?¡± Kara asked. ¡°You''re wasting a lot of her time doing that.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''d rather waste her time to keep her informed that nothing happened, then have something happen and her never finding out.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to say that they had told the queen when they saw her in person, then she sighed. ¡°You''re doing this on purpose.¡±


    ¡°Don''t flatter yourself.¡± I smiled. ¡°I told you before we were doing it before we knew that you weren''t.¡±


    ¡°You''re not reiterating it to rub it in our faces?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°I wasn''t.¡± I said and the Presence didn''t waver, then I smirked. ¡°It''s just a happy side effect.¡±


    Kara shook her head slightly. ¡°You don''t have to keep making verbal jabs at us, you know.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°They aren''t supposed to be jabs. That they can be, is telling in and of itself.¡±


    ¡°We''re all trying hard here.¡± Josh said. ¡°We can''t all be perfect adventurers right from the start.¡±


    ¡°You''re preaching to the choir.¡± Imiryl motioned to Allirynn and herself. ¡°Prime examples of arrogant thinking and ignorant bliss are right here in front of you.¡± She said. ¡°Look what happened to us.¡±


    Steven held in his sigh; but, we all saw his shoulders slump.


    ¡°On that fantastic mood killer, we should all pack up and prep for our journeys.¡± I said and a few of them smiled. ¡°This isn''t going to be a leisurely stroll across the countryside, people. We need to be prepared for the unexpected.¡±


    ¡°If you expect the unexpected, it''s no longer unexpected.¡± Josh said with a smile.


    ¡°Only if you knew what it was that''s coming.¡± I countered. ¡°The thing itself is unexpected, not it''s arrival.¡± I looked around and met their gazes. ¡°We all know something is coming. Something big. We just have to figure out what it is.¡±


    They all nodded and everyone except Jessica and myself left the table to pack everything up.


    ¡°I need to copy that.¡± Jessica said and unrolled her copy of the map and put all the same notations and things on it. While she worked, she occasionally glanced at me. I could see hope, and embarrassment, and a few other things mixed in that I couldn''t make out.


    ¡°Do you want me to take off my blast shield?¡± I whispered to her.


    Jessica didn''t hesitate at all before she whispered back. ¡°Yes.¡±


    I absorbed the solid Presence around the blast shield and slipped the black metal off of my face, and she caught her breath as she stared into my eyes. I watched her eyes dart from my left eye to my right, and I had to assume she was seeing the same thing Maylia and Afyne had commented on. My eye color changed with the angle of light that hit them. They were sapphire blue most of the time and looked like my mother''s eyes, then at certain angles they shifted to green to look like my father''s eyes. Even though they had seen it several dozen times by now, both Maylia and Afyne would get caught in it and just stare like Jessica was doing now.


    I grinned at her and finished writing on her map. I marked my route with a dotted line and her route with a straight line, then did the opposite to mine. We would follow the straight line and the other team would follow the dotted line.


    ¡°There''s something I need to tell you.¡± Jessica said and glanced around to make sure that no one was looking at them, and she took out a piece of paper and gave it to me as she leaned in very close. ¡°This is a mind block spell.¡±


    My eyes widened at the press of her breasts against my arm. I was only wearing my long sleeved t-shirt and she only wore a thin top under her robes... and no bra. I could both see and feel that she really liked that I didn''t try to pull away. I used my free hand to tuck the spell into my bag of holding before anyone saw it. I then stared into her eyes for a moment before she spoke.


    ¡°Yes, I''m using it.¡± Jessica said. ¡°It hurt like hell the first time, and maintaining it costs mana, even during my morning chant.¡±


    ¡°Morning chant?¡± I asked, and she explained that the spell could be continued endlessly as long as it was refreshed every morning when she chanted for her free spells. Then she told me all about how she learned about them.


    ¡°Right. I need to buy children''s books.¡± I said and she chuckled.


    ¡°You''re not bothered by it being kid''s book at all.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Knowledge is knowledge. Even when I was a kid back on The Order''s home planet, I still learned everything they taught me. Having the basics gave me a much better understanding of how things worked.¡±


    Jessica nodded. ¡°I couldn''t believe how much I had missed by not having information that babies had!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''ve been there.¡± I said. ¡°The Order only taught me what they thought I needed to live and not everything I would need to know if I ever left the planet.¡± I held in my sigh. ¡°It was a pretty big shock when I escaped and found out just how much I didn''t know.¡±


    ¡°That must have been scary.¡± Jessica said and put a hand on mine and my arm slid between her breasts.


    ¡°You have no idea.¡± I said and did my best to ignore how nice that felt. ¡°My first space flight was quite the learning experience.¡±


    Jessica shivered. ¡°I can''t imagine going up into space in little more than a tin can.¡± She said. ¡°No suit, no protection against radiation...¡±


    ¡°...and no knowledge about safety procedures if anything went wrong.¡± I said and she caught her breath. ¡°Yeah, I was pretty much restricted to the center of the ship until I learned about the dangers and knew how to deal with emergencies.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t sound fun.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°Actually, it was.¡± I said and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°I don''t mean the imminent death part.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Jessica said, and I laughed.


    ¡°I''d tell you more about it; but, we both need to get to work.¡± I said, and she sighed. ¡°Hey, don''t sound so disappointed. We''ll see each other in a week, assuming nothing disastrous happens and we need to rush to meet before that.¡± I said, and she nodded. ¡°You need to prep your daily spells, too.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to get rid of me?¡± Jessica asked, her face a little red.


    I turned towards her and she kept hold of my hand, and my arm turned between her breasts and rubbed them. I saw the look on her face and I knew that she hadn''t done that by accident. She knew what she was doing and I nodded mentally.


    ¡°You know, I''m going to regret that my arm is going to be really cold when you let it go.¡± I said, and her face flushed completely red. ¡°Before you say anything to deny it, I know you did it on purpose.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°It''s still going to take time.¡± I said. ¡°There really is no rush.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Jessica glanced over at Maylia and Afyne, and then at Kara.


    ¡°I''ll stop that thought right there.¡± I said. ¡°Kara and I have slept in the same bed for years, and even took showers together.¡±


    ¡°You did?!?¡± Jessica''s face was a deep red now.


    ¡°Yes, and I''m being completely honest when I say that absolutely nothing happened.¡± I said. ¡°She''s got a great body; but, the personality did absolutely nothing for me.¡±


    ¡°But... what about...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I''ve scrubbed her from head to foot, and she''s done the same for me... and still nothing happened.¡± I said, and Jessica stared at my face. ¡°I learned a long time ago that I can''t get excited just because a woman reveals herself when bathing.¡±


    Jessica glanced down at my arm nestled between her breasts. ¡°I guess I...¡± She stopped and sighed.


    ¡°This is different.¡± I said and she looked back at my face. ¡°Declaring intent is a lot different.¡±


    Jessica took a breath, which squeezed her breasts around my arm, and she breathed out. ¡°You''re not angry that I''m doing this?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I always get angry when a pretty girl is interested in me.¡± I chuckled. ¡°It''s such a horrible experience.¡±


    Jessica couldn''t help but laugh at that. ¡°It''s the worst, isn''t it?¡± She asked and let my hand go. I very slowly turned my arm back and gathered a small amount of Presence in my arm, then rubbed my elbow across the tip of one of her breasts and pushed my Presence into her. She caught her breath at the sensation and her whole body shivered in a good way and I saw her mana react.


    ¡°Absolutely terrible.¡± I said in a slightly deeper voice. ¡°Perhaps some day I might gather the courage to tell them to stop.¡± I took her hands and bent over them as if she was royalty. ¡°Or not.¡±


    Jessica stared at me as I let her hands go and put my blast shield back onto my face. I stored my altered map and walked over to where Maylia and Afyne had just finished attaching the tents and bedrolls back onto the horses.


    ¡°You laid it on thick at the end there.¡± Maylia whispered and tightened the last strap.


    ¡°Maybe a little.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I was trying to tell her that she doesn''t have to try so hard to get my attention.¡±


    Afyne huffed and when I looked at her, she turned her head away. I knew what was wrong and knelt on one knee beside her, then I put my arms around her.


    ¡°You already have my attention.¡± I whispered into her ear. ¡°I watched you the whole time.¡±


    ¡°You did?¡± Afyne asked and turned to look at me with an expression of disbelief.


    ¡°You attached the tent to Evus'' horse first, then made sure Allirynn had his bedroll balanced...¡± I started to say everything she had done. As I did, her face changed from disbelief, to blank, to a big smile.


    ¡°You really watched me.¡± Afyne said, her voice barely above a whisper, and her head ducked a little.


    ¡°Of course I did.¡± I said. ¡°I never want you out of my sight.¡±


    ¡°Me, either.¡± Afyne said. ¡°When you were swallowed by... I was so scared!¡±


    ¡°So was I.¡± I said. ¡°But, thanks to all of our friends, here I am.¡± I smiled. ¡°I wasn''t even hurt this time.¡±


    Afyne nodded and put her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly.


    *


    Kara had watched Hunter''s interaction with Jessica and hadn''t commented on it, because she knew if she wasn''t able to bring Hunter over to lead their group, Jessica was the second best chance they had. When she saw Hunter with the girl, it didn''t dash her hopes at all. She knew, thanks to the Goddess, that Hunter had loved two others and had lost them. She knew there was room in his heart to love more than one person, and that gave her hope. They were members of a long-lived race and they would meet and fall in love with lots of people.


    Kara smiled. She knew from the bottom of her heart that one day, he would love her, too. All she had to do was wait.

 Book Two: The Summoned 066

    Everyone finished packing up after they prepped for their coordinated journeys, then the two groups exchanged pleasantries and split amicably to go their separate ways. Both sides had things revealed about their members, and both sides had a lot of things to discuss and think over among themselves. There wasn''t really any debate over the merits of occasionally meeting to team up, especially for the cracks that they guessed would need more than one group''s collective experience. What they talked about was the individual people in each group.


    For Kara''s group, the main topic was Hunter and his actions and attitude towards them, with some discussion about Diofra and how well she had cooperated with Jessica. For Hunter''s group, the main discussion was Jessica and her significant personality change and the spell she had given Hunter. Diofra made several copies the next time they stopped to eat, and she told him they would have to wait until they reached the next town before she could get all of the ingredients she would need. Hunter didn''t mind, mainly because they had to wait until then to buy the children''s books anyway.


    What bothered Hunter was that he would need to have it continually cast on him, because he couldn''t cast magic himself or maintain the spell on his own, even though he had an enormous mana reserve. He also didn''t have access to multiple magic users to make the spell permanent, and he wasn''t sure if he wanted to do that anyway. He had no idea what a permanent mental block spell would have on him and his abilities, mainly because his abilities were all mental techniques that let him manipulate Presence. If the spell interfered with that, it would be beyond pointless to have it cast on him, for the simple fact that it would make him practically useless.


    For the time being, both groups went about their separate tasks and put their thoughts of the other group aside. They travelled without incident to the first few cracks and dealt with the creatures they encountered fairly quickly. After handling what was essentially a brood of over three dozen half-size dragons, nearly every other creature was child''s play to deal with.


    The Emissaries of Light had a bit of a problem when one of the creatures they encountered was something that looked like a rabbit. It had the big floppy ears and looked cute for the most part, except for the razor sharp claws and teeth, and it had what looked like a beaver tail instead of a puff ball. Killing them wasn''t the problem, though. Trying to track them all down was. Thankfully, Jessica and Diofra really could communicate back and forth as much as they wanted, with barely any mana cost, and Maylia gave them very helpful tips to track the little creatures down.


    Hunter''s group on the other hand, had a really easy time of it. One of the cracks had a large lizard-like thing come out of it and they found a nest and a clutch of eggs when they followed it. No other tracks were in the area and the nest looked old, so either the creature had been there for a long time or it had just arrived. In either case, they killed it and Hunter carried the eggs back through the portal.


    Hunter, with god as a passenger, didn''t try to fight the other large lizards when he saw that they all had similar nests right next to the crack. Instead, he spread the eggs he carried to the different nests he could see, looked up at the sky and memorized the star pattern, then hopped back through the crack and closed it. Nearly all the cracks were similar and were fairly easy to handle and close.


    Both groups couldn''t help but agree that splitting up had definitely been the smart thing to do. They coordinated their travel schedules all week, including rest stops at inns. Then, like previously agreed, they met up just before entering the marked city on their maps. Diofra didn''t even have to make a small clearing for them and they arrived within minutes of each other. Hunter and the others had barely dismounted their horses and attached the feed bags to their bridles when the Church of Light''s fancy carriage pulled in and came to a stop.


    *


    ¡°Good afternoon, adventurers.¡± The driver said and nodded to me and the others, which was the first non-coerced thing he had said without being spoken to first.


    ¡°Afternoon.¡± I said and motioned to the carriage''s four horses. ¡°How are your feed bags holding up?¡±


    ¡°I''ll have to replenish our stocks, now that we''re in a city big enough to sell more than a couple bags at a time.¡± The driver said with a chuckle as he climbed down from the driver''s seat.


    ¡°We''ve had the same problem.¡± I said and waved at the six horses that were happily munching on feed nearby. ¡°Even after stocking up before leaving the capital and picking up extras along the way, our horse expert still had to manage it carefully.¡±


    ¡°We still have lots if you need some.¡± Afyne said. ¡°I planned to top off our own stock here, too.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate that.¡± The driver said and flipped the steps down beside the carriage and opened the door, while Afyne took out a large sack of feed and filled the feed bags before she attached them to the horses.


    ¡°Oh, it''s nice to stretch the legs after a ride like that!¡± Steven said and stretched.


    ¡°Hello to you, too.¡± I said, and he chuckled.


    ¡°Hi, Hunter!¡± Jessica said and hopped down the couple of steps to the ground. Her medium length dirty blonde hair bounced on her shoulders and looked freshly washed.


    ¡°How did you manage that?¡± I asked and pointed to her hair. My own hair had been cleaned during the last bath I had almost two days ago and was now worse for the wear.


    ¡°It''s a preservation spell.¡± Jessica said and moved her head around to show me her hair stayed just as bouncy, no matter what she did.


    ¡°Isn''t it great that she''s putting her magic to good use?¡± Josh asked with a laugh and helped his wife down out of the carriage.


    ¡°You were pretty quick to ask for it when I discovered it.¡± Jessica said with a smirk.


    I noticed that Evangeline''s hair was just as light and fluffy as hers. ¡°Does it only work on hair?¡±


    ¡°So far.¡± Jessica said. ¡°I''m still tweaking it to see what else I can use it on.¡±


    ¡°Please let me have a copy, even if it''s not a perfect spell.¡± Diofra said. Her hair had suffered the most out of all of us, despite her hair being among the shortest. ¡°I''ll suffer the mana loss gladly.¡±


    Jessica laughed and pulled out a sheet of paper with writing on it. ¡°I figured you''d say that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, thank you, thank you!¡± Diofra said and took the paper and hugged it. ¡°I''ll try working on it as soon as I can.¡±


    Kara climbed down out of the carriage and looked around. ¡°If we''re leaving everything here, we might as well start looking around for whatever the crack has let out.¡±


    ¡°As cover, you can do that while scouting around for supplies.¡± I said. ¡°Allirynn, Imiryl, and Diofra can go with you.¡±


    ¡°You''re sending them away with us?¡± Steven asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°Maylia, Afyne, and I need to visit the mayor and several of the city council members.¡± I said and tapped the golden kingdom badge on my chest. ¡°It''s on behalf of the queen.¡±


    ¡°You''re getting the official story?¡± Jessica asked, and I nodded.


    ¡°Evus is a guard, so they won''t question why he''s there.¡± I said as an explanation.


    ¡°That''s his polite way of saying it would be frowned upon if he brought ''outsiders'' into the mayor''s special meeting.¡± Imiryl said with a smile.


    ¡°That''s not my rule by choice. The queen asked me to play nice.¡± I said and smiled back at her. ¡°You know how I would normally deal with a stuck up mayor.¡±


    Evus laughed. ¡°That poor mayor!¡±


    ¡°Poor is right.¡± Diofra said. ¡°The last thing the queen told us was that the Minibear town had grown into a city and the mayor wasn''t getting a single copper coin out of it, except for the cost of the land!¡±


    That made everyone in my party laugh, and the emissaries just stood there in confusion. I gave them a quick explanation of the Minibears and what I had done, and I thought I saw both Jessica''s and Evangeline''s eyes sparkle, just like Afyne''s had when she first saw the cute little deadly creatures. Kara''s expression on the other hand, was more contemplative than anything else.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, any odd feelings or sensations, and for odd people.¡± I reminded them.


    ¡°That''s going to be difficult.¡± Evus said and tried to scratch under his breastplate. ¡°I think I have sand in my armor.¡±


    I looked down at myself and at Maylia and Afyne, then sighed. ¡°All right, slight change of plans.¡± I said. ¡°We find the closest inn with tubs in the rooms and clean up first, then we can split up to go for supplies and to visit the mayor.¡±


    ¡°A bath would be nice.¡± Evangeline said.


    ¡°I''ll stay here and watch the horses.¡± The driver said.


    ¡°I''ll send Evus back here after the meeting and we can get the horses settled into a good stable.¡± I said.


    ¡°We''re not using them to hunt?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°The crack is inside the city, maybe below ground like the last time, and no one has reported seeing any kind of illusions.¡± I said. ¡°I doubt riding a horse is going to help us this time; but, we''ll keep that option handy, like we always do.¡±


    ¡°That''s assuming no one is covering it up.¡± Kara said and I nodded.


    ¡°It''s one of the main reasons I''m going to the meeting.¡± I said. ¡°Depending on how it goes, I might have to visit all of the nobles scattered around the city.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Josh barked a laugh and grinned. ¡°As the queen''s representative, you have to suffer through rich men''s dinner parties!¡±


    ¡°Better you than me!¡± Steven said with a laugh. ¡°The stuffiness and arrogance of their kind would kill me!¡±


    I bit my tongue, so I wouldn''t comment on his own behavior. Jessica saw my reaction and had to bite her own tongue in response. I saw the laughter in her eyes, though.


    ¡°Bath first.¡± I said and motioned towards the road. We left as a fairly large group, all twelve of us, with me in the lead. Allirynn, Imiryl, Evus, Diofra, Kara, Jessica, Steven, Josh, and Evangeline walked behind me, while Maylia and Afyne walked on either side of me. It was an impressive looking group, even dirty like we were, and the people at the edge of the city were nervous when they saw us coming. I motioned to Evus and he stepped out to the side. The guards on duty saw his armor that was similar to their own, and they relaxed and lowered their weapons.


    ¡°Now you know why I didn''t want to ride into town.¡± I commented.


    ¡°I didn''t think of that.¡± Jessica said. ¡°With this many of us together, we look like a raiding party!¡±


    ¡°Bingo.¡± I said.


    ¡°If us walking towards them made them nervous, imagine their shock if we rode in here with half a dozen horses and a large carriage behind us.¡± Maylia said with a smile.


    ¡°They would attack to defend themselves.¡± Kara said. ¡°Useless as that would be against us.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°The best defense isn''t always a good offense.¡±


    No one else spoke and we walked calmly all the way to the guard house. When we were close enough, I had everyone stop and I saluted the guards with their salute.


    ¡°The queen sends her regards.¡± I said and tapped the badge on my chest. ¡°I have an appointment with the mayor and the council today.¡±


    ¡°I''ve never seen an entourage so big.¡± The guard said with awe and looked at everyone.


    ¡°Only these six are my regular party.¡± I said and pointed them out. ¡°I picked up the others about a week ago. I thought I had lost them since then; but, they are surprisingly clingy and here they are.¡±


    The two guards laughed and I felt something poke me in the back.


    ¡°Clingy, huh?¡± Jessica harshly whispered and I could ''see'' with Detect Mana Presence that it was the end of her staff. She had slipped it under the edge of my uniform coat and had the tip pressed against my spine.


    ¡°It was a joke.¡± I whispered back, while using Presence to bring the sound to her ears only. ¡°You know I liked it the last time you clung to me.¡±


    Jessica pulled the staff away from my back and I put my attention back on the guards.


    ¡°I need an inn with a lot of rooms and big baths.¡± I said, and they told me about several options. I thanked them for the information and we all walked by the guards without further hassle, besides stares from them and the other guards that had peeked out at us. Both Kara and I noticed the man that generated a small ball of light and spoke into his hand. I waited until we were far enough away before I spoke.


    ¡°At least it won''t be a surprise for the mayor when we show up at his office.¡± I said and told everyone what I saw and Kara nodded confirmation. The city was quite large and it took us a few minutes to get to the first inn that the guards recommended. I glanced over it and saw that it was pretty close to what we needed; but, it was nearly full and didn''t have anywhere near enough rooms for us all, even if we shared, so I walked on and went to the next place.


    This multi-storey one seemed like the better choice and we went inside. I wasn''t wearing my cloak to hide my face, since I was here on official business, so I wasn''t bothered by the viewing bubble under the front desk that showed our faces. The clerk didn''t look at it, and that put my opinion of her up higher than it normally would have been, if she had looked at it before speaking to us.


    ¡°Greetings, adventurers!¡± The woman said with an enthusiastically fake smile that she would probably show every person that came into the place. ¡°I''m required to tell you that we have security features for disguises and illusion spells. If you do not wish to have your identity revealed, you may leave before I activate the spells.¡±


    My opinion of her went through the roof because of her candid admission, so I gave her one of my award winning smiles. She blinked her eyes for a moment at the sight, then her fake smile faded and was replaced with a genuine one. Her eyes flicked over the blast shield on my face, and I watched her trace the shape of it from the middle of my forehead and down to the middle of my cheeks. After she looked at the indent cut out for my nose, her eyes settled where she thought my eyes would be.


    ¡°We''re all fine with that. Thank you for asking.¡± I said sincerely.


    The woman nodded as she touched something under the desk and said a quick chant that I couldn''t understand. I felt the mana flow out from the desk and cover us briefly, and the woman nodded again.


    ¡°Welcome to the Seascape Inn.¡± The woman said, happily. ¡°How many rooms would you like?¡±


    ¡°Let''s start with three large double rooms with big tubs, preferably side by side and on the same floor.¡± I said and indicated myself, Maylia, Afyne, Imiryl, Allirynn, Diofra, and Evus. ¡°Another large room for the married couple.¡± I pointed to Josh and Evangeline, then looked at the others. ¡°I''m going to assume you want your own rooms?¡±


    Steven nodded. ¡°Damn right I do.¡±


    I chuckled and turned back to the woman at the desk. ¡°Three normal rooms as well, with tubs if you got them.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The woman said. ¡°That will be forty-five copper a night.¡±


    ¡°Per room?¡± I asked and took out my medium bag of gold coins and took one out, and the woman''s face blanched as it lost all its color.


    ¡°N-n-no, s-sir. For all seven rooms.¡± She said. ¡°Supper and breakfast the next day is another five copper.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± I said and put the sack of gold away and took out a handful of silver from my pocket. ¡°We''ll be here for at least tonight and tomorrow, depending on how our business goes, so I better pay for three days, just in case.¡± I said and gave her three silver coins.


    ¡°What about the driver?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°Right. Thanks for reminding me.¡± I said and handed the woman behind the counter another silver coin. ¡°I''ll need another normal room with a tub for three days.¡±


    The woman recovered quickly and handed us all the keys for our rooms and told us where they were.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and started to walk away.


    ¡°Sir! Your change!¡± The woman exclaimed.


    ¡°You can keep it.¡± I said and ushered everyone towards the stairs. ¡°I really need a bath!¡±


    *


    The woman behind the counter looked at the money in her hands and back at the handsomest man she had ever seen. Despite the metal melded to his face, the shape of his mouth looked like it was perfect for kissing. Her face flushed slightly red as she imagined what he could kiss with them.


    ¡°Hey, Winifred. Are you okay?¡± A man asked from behind her.


    It took Winifred a moment to answer. ¡°I''m fine.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh. Yeah, sure.¡± The man said and laughed. ¡°You know what room he''s staying in. Why don''t you go and offer him extra towels for his bath?¡±


    Winifred turned with an angry face to yell at him, then her expression evaporated. ¡°You know what? That''s an excellent suggestion.¡± She said instead and walked over to the huge closet full of towels and took out six of them. ¡°Watch the front desk for me.¡± She said and didn''t wait to see if he was going to agree as she walked over to the stairs.


    ¡°Hey, I was only joking.¡± The man said.


    ¡°Were you?¡± The woman said with a smile and went up the stairs.


    ¡°I have to stop teasing her about the guests.¡± The man said and walked over to man the counter while the actual clerk was off fooling around.


    *


    I had only taken off my uniform coat when there was a knock on the door of the room. I turned and looked to see the clerk with a stack of towels in her hand. My opinion of her had been through the roof, and now it was high in the sky. I held in my laugh at having so many extra towels when we usually had to be careful about how we used them. I walked over to the door and opened it.


    ¡°I''m sorry to bother you.¡± The woman started to say.


    ¡°You''re giving me extra towels, so it''s no bother.¡± I said and took them from her. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The woman looked at the towels in my hand and then at my face. ¡°Do.... do you need...¡±


    ¡°I appreciate the offer; but, I have enough help taking a bath.¡± I said and took off my blast shield.


    The woman''s mouth dropped open in shock and stared at my exposed sapphire blue eyes.


    ¡°Thanks, anyway.¡± I said and shut the door on her.


    Both Afyne and Maylia laughed at the poor stunned woman.


    ¡°You can''t keep doing that.¡± Maylia said. She had half of her armor untied already and slipped the thick leather breastplate off over her shoulders.


    ¡°I only told her the truth.¡± I said and stored the blast shield and hung my uniform coat on the back of a chair. ¡°It''s not my fault that my beauty stuns them.¡± I said with a grin.


    ¡°It''s exactly your fault, you narcissist.¡± Maylia laughed. ¡°You keep wearing that thing and you don''t have to.¡±


    ¡°It''s saved my life a couple of times already.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, like I told Jessica, it''s a part of my uniform now. If I don''t wear it, I''ll feel naked without it.¡±


    Afyne laughed this time. ¡°You stopped wearing the hood thing and the gloves, and those are supposed to be a part of your outfit.¡±


    ¡°I can''t tickle you if I''m wearing gloves!¡± I said and started to tickle her. Afyne laughed the unrestrained laugh of joy and tried to get away. ¡°Oh, no you don''t!¡± I said and picked her up and carried her over to the tub. ¡°Someone needs a good scrubbing!¡±


    ¡°You do!¡± Afyne almost yelled and grabbed me around the neck as I dunked her into the water. I let her go; but, she didn''t let me go, so I rolled into the tub, head over feet, and got dunked myself. I managed to flip over and get my legs and backside over the other side of the tub and slipped my head and torso out of the tub as I knelt on the floor, completely soaked from the waist up. I saw both Maylia and Afyne as they laughed their heads off at me, so I leaned against the tub and laughed, too.


    At least my pants didn''t get wet.

 Book Two: The Summoned 067

    Despite carrying on and playing in the water, we cleaned up fairly quickly and changed into our fancy clothes. It had been Afyne''s suggestion that we look our best and after brushing each other''s hair, we left off the hair ties we would normally use. I was very tempted to wear my blast shield, just for mystery''s sake; but, both Maylia and Afyne convinced me that it ruined the fancy look.


    ¡°All right, I''ll leave it off.¡± I said and put it back into my bag of holding with all of our clothing and armor. ¡°Just don''t get angry when women throw themselves all over me.¡±


    Maylia laughed. ¡°Do you think they will with us by your side?¡± She hooked her arm around mine and Afyne held the hand of my other arm.


    ¡°Good point.¡± I grinned and concentrated on my enchanted ring, just in case, and shared that energy with them. They didn''t react to the tingling sensation this time and only smiled back at me. We left the room and picked Evus up from his and Diofra''s room. He was dressed in fresh clothes and another set of armor, and I raised my eyebrows at him.


    ¡°The queen said I had to take a spare set of armor, just in case.¡± Evus said. He didn''t say anything when I held a hand out. He just took it and let the energy flow over him. ¡°You should probably do this for everyone.¡±


    I nodded in agreement and Diofra took my hand next and shared the energy. We left their room and went to Allirynn and Imiryl to share the energy with them. I started to walk down the hallway and stopped.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°When Evus said everyone, I''m sure he only meant our team.¡± I said and Maylia understood.


    ¡°The least you can do is offer.¡± Maylia said and I nodded.


    We went to Jessica''s room first and her reaction when she saw us was priceless. I had never seen anyone literally struck dumb before. She mumbled a few things incoherently for almost a full minute before Maylia finally managed to snap her out of it by saying we had to leave.


    ¡°No! Don''t go!¡± Jessica exclaimed and grabbed my hand. Unlike the others, the energy flowed over her in an instant and her mana reacted and held onto that energy as if it never wanted to let it go. We all had wide eyes at the sensations, because we could all feel it. Her face was a deep red and she slowly let my hand go. As she moved her hand away, the mana between us felt like taffy. It was sticky and seemed to stretch out before it faded.


    ¡°That was weird.¡± Afyne said for all of us. She reached out and touched Jessica''s hand briefly and then pulled her hand away, and the mana did the same stretching taffy thing. She did it twice more and giggled. That made the tension in the air weaken and we all relaxed.


    ¡°Ask Steven next.¡± Jessica said and I nodded, because he was a bit more receptive to things than he used to be. We went to Steven''s room and he said he didn''t need any extra protection. Since I couldn''t force it on him, we went to Josh''s room next.


    ¡°Yeah, what do you...¡± Josh started to ask as he opened the door, then he saw us and stopped talking. I explained what I was doing and he just stared at us without saying anything. His wife Evangeline came across the room and gave us an appraising eye before she reached out to me. I took her hand and the energy flowed over her. Her body grew excited at the sensation of being held by the energy and she started to breathe heavily.


    Josh noticed the change and tried to take her hand out of mine. Like Jessica, he was covered instantly and he felt everything his wife was feeling. We felt Josh''s dismissal of us, then we felt the lust he felt for his wife, just before he pulled her hand away from mine and slammed the door on us.


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said and Evus chuckled.


    We visited Kara last and she refused the offer after stating that she had seen what had happened with the others and she didn''t want to take the chance that we would feel what she felt. I tried to explain, and she said she understood what I meant the first time and didn''t want to take the chance, then she shut the door.


    ¡°At least you offered.¡± Evus said. ¡°Maybe it will spread if she touches Jessica or Josh.¡±


    ¡°Anything''s possible; but, I doubt it.¡± I said, knowing that it was my ability to share that allowed things like this to happen. I motioned for Evus to take the lead, since that was the role he would be playing for us, and I followed him down the hall and down the stairs with Maylia and Afyne hanging on my elbows. We were met with several gasps and muttered whispers in the lobby while everyone stared at us, and Evus opened the front door so we could leave.


    Once outside, it was almost the same thing. We definitely had everyone''s attention as we walked down the street to the building that the mayor was in. It was quite a lot larger than the offices we had seen in the towns we had previously been in and Evus opened the door for us there, too.


    ¡°Ah! Welcome!¡± A man''s voice said when we stepped into the lobby. ¡°The mayor of Hollowbury has been expecting you.¡±


    The place looked more like an inn than it did an office and I commented on the odd decor.


    ¡°She wanted the place to look welcoming for visitors.¡± The man said and waved to the stairs. ¡°If you will follow me, business is officially conducted upstairs.¡±


    Which tells me that unofficial business is conducted elsewhere. I thought and we followed the man up several flights of stairs. He pointed to a spot beside the door and Evus didn''t say anything as he took that spot and came to attention. The man had a slight smile and knocked on the door.


    ¡°No need to stand on ceremony, Count Gerard.¡± A woman''s pleasant voice responded. ¡°Come in.¡±


    Gerard opened the door and bowed to the woman that sat at the center of the table. ¡°Thank you, Mayor Wilmetta.¡± He said and ushered Maylia, Afyne, and myself into the room.


    ¡°I see the queen understated her choice of a personal vassal.¡± Wilmetta said with a sly smile, and the people around her gave subdued laughs. There were seven seats around the curved part of the half-moon table of stone, with the mayor in the center seat and three seats on either side of her. The last place on the left was empty and Count Gerard sat there with two men, and three women were on the other side of the mayor.


    ¡°Her majesty didn''t fully realize what she was getting when she chose me, that''s for sure.¡± I said with a similar smirk, and they all laughed the same subdued laugh.


    ¡°Would she be pleasantly surprised to see you like this, I wonder?¡± Wilmetta mused. ¡°Ah, no matter.¡± She waved at the flat side of the table and three chairs appeared there after a small burst of mana. ¡°Please, have a seat.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and sat Maylia on the right, Afyne on the left, then sat myself. I felt several mental probes and easily rebuffed them, then quickly formed a Presence barrier around Afyne''s and Maylia''s minds and felt more of them. With so many of them to trace back to the source, I easily found who was doing it. I formed a Presence Hand and squeezed the hidden woman''s neck. There was a loud snapping sound and it startled everyone on the other side of the table. The woman wasn''t dead, so I used Presence to grip her heart and then crushed it into pulp.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The woman''s glamour faded and she fell to the floor, dead.


    The three women on the mayor''s right gasped at the sight and the three men on her left had angry faces as they started to stand. The mayor waved her hand and the three men sat back down. They didn''t lose the angry faces and stared at me with murder in their eyes. I didn''t want to suffer through days, weeks, or even years of retribution, so I took the initiative and slowly stood before I spoke.


    ¡°How dare you try to attack the personal vassal of the queen and his charges.¡± I said as indignantly as I could. ¡°I should kill you all right now for the insult.¡±


    All of their faces showed shock at the completely unveiled threat and even the mayor couldn''t stop it from appearing on her face. They didn''t respond, however.


    ¡°Apparently, you don''t believe me.¡± I said and held my hand out towards them. They all jerked a little and I smiled wickedly, then I formed Mana Presence Hands around their necks, so they could see them glowing green, and I squeezed a little. The women on the right panicked a little at the sensation of being choked slightly and the men just grit their teeth and took it. The mayor didn''t react, except to look at the dead woman on the floor. She knew I hadn''t choked her to death, despite seeing the clearly snapped neck.


    ¡°I believe you.¡± The mayor said.


    I absorbed the Mana Presence Hands and lowered my arm to my side, then I sat down.


    ¡°You didn''t have to kill her.¡± One of the women on the left said, sadly.


    ¡°Would you rather her be put on public trial and sentenced to death then?¡± I asked, and the woman sighed. ¡°As it stands, I can''t actually prove that you all are complicit in her actions, even though we all know you are.¡±


    ¡°Why tell us that?¡± Count Gerard asked, his face still showed anger.


    ¡°I was sent here by the queen to investigate imminent dangers to the kingdom as a whole. I honestly don''t care about your petty machinations.¡±


    ¡°Petty!¡± One of the other men exclaimed.


    ¡°You can run this city like your own personal kingdom for all I care. Unless you''re slaughtering the citizens, I won''t do anything.¡± I said and saw their eyes shift slightly. ¡°Are you slaughtering citizens?¡±


    ¡°We''re getting away from the point of the meeting.¡± Mayor Wilmetta said.


    ¡°Actually, this is the point of the meeting.¡± I corrected, and her eyes widened. ¡°Answer the question. Are you, or anyone at this table, slaughtering citizens... or ordering it done... or assuming it''s done?¡±


    All seven of them fidgeted at the fairly well-worded question, because they could only answer yes or no, and if any of the question applied to them and they said no, I would detect the lie. I looked at all seven of their faces and formed Presence around their hearts.


    ¡°Not answering is all the answer I needed.¡± I said and crushed their hearts. ¡°Maylia, go get the others. We need to figure out what''s wrong with these people.¡± I waved at the corpses slumped on the other side of the table. ¡°I''d say Diofra and Jessica have the best chance of that.¡±


    Maylia nodded, activated Mana Presence Run, and took off at her best speed.


    ¡°It''s all right, Afyne.¡± I said and she turned her head to look up at me.


    ¡°I''m fine.¡± Afyne said and smiled as she tapped her temple. ¡°I felt you protect me.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry that I didn''t think of doing that before coming in here.¡± I said and pat my lap. She climbed onto me and hugged me around the neck.


    ¡°That''s okay.¡± Afyne said and kissed my cheek. ¡°They were bad people.¡±


    ¡°You could tell?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Can you tell me how you knew?¡±


    Afyne shook her head. ¡°When they started talking, I...¡± She looked down at my enchanted ring. ¡°Maybe that helped?¡± She asked. ¡°After I felt those pokes in my head, I... I felt their meanness.¡±


    ¡°I think we need to get someone to read your potential abilities soon.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve been putting it off, because I don''t want you trying to do two things at once.¡±


    ¡°I''m still going to take care of the horses, no matter what my class is.¡± Afyne said with confidence.


    We sat there and held each other while we waited for the others to arrive. When everyone came in, I felt an intense repulsive reaction from Jessica, Josh, and Evangeline at the sight of so many bodies.


    ¡°You... you killed them all.¡± Jessica said in a whisper.


    ¡°Before you overreact, they attacked us first.¡± I said and stayed sitting with Afyne on my lap. ¡°When I asked if they were involved in slaughtering people in the city, they wouldn''t answer.¡±


    ¡°That was the first question you asked?¡± Steven looked at the pained faces of the bodies.


    ¡°I had made an offhand comment about not caring what they did, unless they were killing people.¡± I said. ¡°When I saw their reaction, I had to ask directly.¡±


    ¡°They were bad people.¡± Afyne said in my defense.


    ¡°You can''t just kill all the bad people you meet.¡± Josh said as he surveyed the carnage.


    ¡°Why not?¡± Afyne asked, and Josh gave her a look of disbelief.


    ¡°Go ahead, Josh.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Answer her.¡±


    ¡°Because... then you become a bad person.¡± Josh said.


    Maylia, Afyne, Allirynn, Imiryl, and I laughed.


    ¡°You hear that? We''re bad people now!¡± I said and laughed a little more. ¡°I''m glad you don''t kill bad people on sight, then! What a relief!¡±


    Josh''s face went a little red at that.


    I stood up and shifted Afyne to my hip and held her. ¡°There''s something you need to understand.¡± I said to him and then looked at Evangeline, Steven, and finally Jessica. ¡°I will kill anyone that tries to hurt the people I care about. No debates. No quarter given. They will die.¡±


    ¡°You can''t just arbitrarily declare something like that.¡± Josh said. ¡°What if...¡±


    ¡°Accidents I can overlook, as well as mistakes.¡± I said. ¡°I''m not heartless.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Jessica tried to say.


    ¡°I didn''t kill them all right after the attack. I wanted to interrogate them some more; but, I also couldn''t let them conspire to attack me or those with me again.¡±


    Josh looked at the mess and sighed. ¡°Now we''re associated with this.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± I barked a laugh. ¡°I called you here after the fact.¡±


    ¡°We let this happen.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°Oh, are you going to accept the blame?¡± I asked and he turned his head away. ¡°You might as well accept the blame for them and all the people they killed, too.¡±


    ¡°That...¡± Josh sighed. ¡°You would have done it, even if we were here.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I would have. Without question.¡± I said. ¡°Would you have tried to stop me?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°Of course, that assumes you would have felt their mind intrusions and would have reacted in time.¡± I said. ¡°I would have been able to do it, even if you did try to stop me.¡±


    ¡°You would have ignored my pleas?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°You do realize that if you were here, you would have been under attack as well, right?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°Hunter stopped them from hurting me and Afyne.¡± She said. ¡°Would you have stopped him from protecting us?¡±


    ¡°No, that... I didn''t mean...¡± Josh still had his face averted from looking at either me or the bodies.


    ¡°Diofra, Jessica.¡± I said. ¡°Do you have a magic detection spell, or an identification spell, or something to tell us what these people are?¡±


    ¡°I do have a scribe spell.¡± Diofra said. ¡°I don''t think it will work like you think it will.¡±


    ¡°Try it anyway.¡± I said and turned to Evus. ¡°Ask around and see if there''s a skill scribe anywhere in the city. We could use their expertise as well.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be back as soon as I can.¡± Evus said and ran from the room.


    ¡°You think there''s something wrong with them.¡± Kara said and knelt beside the woman on the floor.


    ¡°No, I''m hoping that there''s something wrong with them.¡± I said. ¡°If there isn''t, then they are just sadistic aristocrats that get off on killing servants.¡±


    Josh sighed audibly and his wife put her arm around him.


    ¡°Yes, Josh.¡± I said with a calm tone. ¡°There are people in this world that like killing.¡±


    ¡°Like you?¡± Josh asked without turning around.


    ¡°JOSH!¡± Jessica gasped.


    ¡°You would be dead already if that was true.¡± I said.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Jessica gasped.


    ¡°It''s harsh, I know.¡± I held in my sigh. ¡°I''m only telling him the truth, though.¡±


    ¡°You can''t just tell people that they would already be dead if you were a more heartless killer!¡± Jessica said loudly.


    ¡°It wouldn''t be fair to him if I lied.¡±


    ¡°Would you have killed me, too?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°Only if you had been a part of The Order when I attacked Kara that first time.¡± I said, and Jessica''s eyes flooded with tears. I stepped close and cupped the side of her face. ¡°Don''t forget how we met then. You almost killed me, remember?¡±


    ¡°I... I didn''t...¡±


    ¡°You think I haven''t thought over everything that''s happened to me while I''ve been here? How easily I was pushed aside by you then?¡± I asked, and she just stared at my face. ¡°At the time, I didn''t detect the change in the mana and energy of your attack. After meditating on it, I realized you intended to kill me and changed your mind at the last second.¡±


    Jessica''s tears fell and she ducked her head. ¡°Hunter, I... when I realized it was you...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said in a soothing voice. ¡°I don''t hold it against you, either.¡±


    ¡°Y-you d-don''t?¡± Jessica looked back up at me.


    ¡°You tried to protect your teammate to the best of your ability. How could I be angry at that?¡±


    Jessica took several shaky breaths and her tears slowed down.


    ¡°You''re letting a lot of power flow away.¡± I said and touched her wet cheek with a fingertip. She held a hand up to her face and gathered the tears that had rolled down her face. They glowed brightly, brighter than any of the others she had gathered, and she stored them separately.


    I heard an undecipherable whisper and let Jessica''s face go and turned to Diofra. ¡°Diofra, what is it?¡±


    ¡°We... we have a problem.¡± Diofra said and moved aside to show me what her scribe spell had revealed. ¡°A huge problem.¡±


    A shocking title floated above the corpse of the mayor. Vampire, Underling.


    ¡°Goddammit.¡± I said.

 Book Two: The Summoned 068

    ¡°What''s a vampire?¡± Maylia asked, confused.


    ¡°V-v-v-vampire?¡± Josh whipped around and stared at the name above the mayor''s corpse.


    ¡°It''s usually a blood-sucking creature that only comes out at night, because it hates the daylight.¡± I said, and Afyne''s arms around my neck tightened. ¡°Apparently, this vampire doesn''t have that restriction, considering it''s still late afternoon.¡±


    ¡°I''ll try the scribe spell on the others.¡± Diofra said and quickly copied the spell over again. She saw me looking and smiled. ¡°I''ll memorize it tonight, so I won''t waste paper.¡±


    ¡°Use as much paper as you want.¡± I said. ¡°I''m pretty sure you''re going to need the spell a lot over the next while.¡±


    ¡°Give me a copy of that spell.¡± Jessica said to Diofra, who handed her that copy and made another. Jessica took out a thick book from her bag of holding and started to flip through pages.


    ¡°Should we block off the city?¡± Allirynn asked. ¡°Or tell the guards?¡±


    ¡°I''m debating it.¡± I said and then sighed. ¡°I have so many conflicting thoughts about vampires and their abilities, that anything I do might be ineffectual. Especially if some of them are a part of the guards.¡±


    ¡°I have the skill scribe.¡± Evus said and came into the room with a woman, who screamed when she saw all the bodies.


    I walked over with Afyne still on my hip and stood between the woman and the table. ¡°Miss, the mayor was a vampire.¡±


    ¡°Wh-wh-what?!?¡± The woman exclaimed through her tears. ¡°That... can''t be...¡±


    ¡°This one''s a vampire, too.¡± Diofra said about the woman next to the mayor.


    ¡°This is why we need your expertise.¡± I said to the woman. ¡°Can you check the mayor and see what comes up?¡±


    ¡°I... she...¡± The woman shivered slightly and wiped at her face. ¡°I''ll try.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and stepped aside as I motioned to the table. The woman gasped when she saw the title floating above the corpse. She took a deep breath, nodded once, then walked right over to the body and hovered a hand over the head.


    ¡°Hunter, I think you''re right.¡± Diofra said and confirmed that the next woman was a vampire as well. ¡°They''re all vampires.¡±


    Josh gasped and his whole body shook when the title above the mayor expanded.


    Vampire, Underling. Nocturnal Undead. Sunlight Resistance 30%. Retractable fangs.


    Extendable Claws (hands and feet). Superhuman Strength. Unnatural speed.


    Mental Fortitude/Penetration 60%. Blood drinker (consumes life essence). Iron skin.


    Transfiguration (self and minion). Limited flight. Glamour (hide). Spell casting (limited).


    ¡°Well, that''s a crapload of crap.¡± Steven said and waved at the list of information.


    ¡°Yeah, no point in trying to block off the city if they can fly.¡± I said and looked at Diofra. She was behind the skill scribe and cast the spell. The words Skill Scribe, Human appeared above the woman''s head and I nodded. She dismissed the spell and moved on to classify the men.


    I walked over to the table and looked at the skill scribe. ¡°Can I ask you...¡±


    ¡°If they are all vampires, the skill list won''t change.¡± The woman said as she stared at the floating info, her voice harsh. ¡°I''ve known her for years, and I never once thought about trying to scribe her. Not. Once.¡±


    I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder to make her look at me. ¡°I know it can be a shock to find out that someone you thought you knew for years could deceive you.¡±


    The woman took a quick breath and nodded.


    ¡°Can I have you check my beautiful friend here?¡± I asked and shifted Afyne a little on my hip. ¡°She needs a skill reading so we can find out her class and can equip her properly.¡±


    ¡°My services aren''t free.¡± The woman said, now that I had distracted her with actual business. ¡°Not even for the queen''s personal vassal.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t expect they would be.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Do I need to put her down?¡±


    ¡°Reluctant to do that, are you?¡± The woman asked and tried not to smile.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I said and she let the smile out.


    ¡°Let''s go over there.¡± The woman waved across the room. ¡°The farther away from these things, the better.¡± She led us across the room to the far side and put her hand over Afyne''s forehead. ¡°Don''t be afraid, you won''t feel anything.¡±


    ¡°I''m not scared.¡± Afyne said. ¡°I have Hunter.¡±


    The woman nodded. ¡°I suppose after a roomful of vampires, a strange lady isn''t much of a bother.¡±


    ¡°No, unless you try to hurt me, then you won''t bother anyone else. Ever.¡± Afyne said, matter-of-factly.


    ¡°I see.¡± The woman said with a smile. ¡°I''d deserve it, too.¡±


    Afyne nodded. ¡°A garglemacer killed my parents, and Hunter and Maylia killed it for me.¡±


    The woman''s eyes widened and looked at me, and I held in my laugh at her surprise.


    ¡°It wasn''t just for you, Afyne.¡± I said and kissed the girl''s cheek. ¡°Although, I wouldn''t have needed any more reason than that.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Afyne said, smugly.


    The woman was about to comment when Afyne''s information appeared above her head. ¡°Oh, my.¡±


    I looked up and saw the list. ¡°Afyne, I need to put you down for a minute.¡± I stood her on her feet, so I could read every skill in her list. ¡°Are these potential skills, or skills she already has and just needs to develop?¡±


    ¡°She has them.¡± The woman said, her voice barely a whisper. ¡°I''ve never seen so many before, even on a seasoned veteran.¡±


    I read the several paragraphs of skills and was surprised by everything that was listed. ¡°What class is...¡±


    ¡°It''s after her title.¡± The woman said and pointed to the top of the list. I had only skimmed over it and didn''t realize what it said when I read all her skills. I blinked my eyes when I read the title.


    Hunter''s Hunter, Rogue Knight Ranger (untrained)


    ¡°What''s it say?¡± Afyne asked and tried to look herself, only it distorted the words when she moved her head. ¡°I can''t see it.¡±


    ¡°Just a minute.¡± I said and waved to Diofra. ¡°Copy this down, please.¡±


    ¡°What is... oh, my.¡± Diofra said as she came over, then she pulled out a piece of paper and copied everything down. ¡°A genuine mixed class!¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°You''re very special.¡± I said and knelt. ¡°I know I told you that before, and this confirms it.¡± I put my hands on her shoulders. ¡°You aren''t limited by just one class of skills. You have three.¡±


    ¡°Th-th-three?¡± Afyne tried to look again and the words distorted.


    ¡°Here.¡± Diofra said and handed her the piece of paper. ¡°Look for yourself.¡±


    I kept my hands on her shoulders as she read it. Several of the others noticed us and came over as well. Diofra copied the information again and made several copies.


    ¡°My... my title.¡± Afyne whispered and looked me in the eyes. ¡°Hunter''s Hunter.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You''re even more mine than I thought you were.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°But... doesn''t that mean...¡±


    ¡°It would be ''Hunter of Hunter'' if it meant that.¡± I said and briefly glanced at Kara, who didn''t turn away. ¡°It means you are my hunter, someone trained to hunt on my behalf.¡±


    Afyne looked at the paper and read it again, then she looked back at my face with a trace of tears in her eyes. ¡°I''m really yours?¡±


    ¡°Of course you are.¡± I said and slid my hands from her shoulders and around her back to hug her. ¡°Never doubt that.¡±


    ¡°I... I didn''t... but...¡± Afyne tucked her head under my hair and pressed her face against my neck.


    ¡°You like having the proof.¡± I said, and she nodded slightly. ¡°I''m glad you do.¡±


    ¡°M-me, too.¡± Afyne said and we held each other silently for several minutes.


    ¡°I got it!¡± Jessica exclaimed loudly in the quiet room and held up a piece of paper. Josh and Evangeline jumped at the sound and I heard a few chuckles from the others.


    Diofra went over to her and looked at the modified scribe spell. ¡°You made it an area spell!¡±


    ¡°It''s only good for ten feet.¡± Jessica said and wrote out several copies. ¡°It also costs twice as much mana.¡±


    ¡°That won''t matter, as long as it covers more than two people.¡± Diofra said. ¡°It even has the same casting time.¡±


    ¡°Make a dozen copies for each of you.¡± I said. ¡°Do you need your mana crystals charged?¡±


    Both of them nodded and took out their crystals, so I walked over to them and put my hand on their wrists. I shared my mana with them and they accepted it while they started to charge the mana crystals. I felt the energy flow easily through Diofra and helped it along to charge her crystal up in a few seconds. Jessica''s was a little more difficult. I let Diofra''s wrist go and put my hand on the crystal.


    ¡°Just a second.¡± I said and closed my eyes. I followed Jessica''s mana into the crystal and felt that my mana wasn''t quite working, so I let my mana cover the crystal and attuned it just a little to allow my mana in as well. After that tweak, it practically sucked my mana in and charged up just as quickly.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Jessica asked. ¡°It took me ten minutes to get it to accept my mana!¡±


    ¡°I practice a lot.¡± I said and looked at Diofra. ¡°Actually, now that I''ve got you here, I might as well get these mana crystals filled.¡± I took the four air mana crystals out of my bag of holding and unwrapped them, then had Diofra hold each of them and I attuned them to her and myself. They were filled in only a few seconds and I wrapped them back up and stored them again. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Jessica had stood there and watched in disbelief. ¡°You''re not even tired, are you?¡± She asked me.


    I shook my head. ¡°I''ve only been exhausted from mana loss after being hurt by the garglemacer, never from sharing.¡±


    ¡°That''s...¡± Jessica smiled. ¡°I was going to say amazing; but, that''s just normal for you.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Yeah, normal.¡± I said and looked at Afyne. ¡°We''ll get you the proper books at the library, assuming they have one here.¡±


    ¡°There''s one downstairs.¡± The skill scribe said and looked at one of the bodies. ¡°Countess Ricessa won''t mind you using it.¡±


    Maylia laughed. ¡°Not now, anyway.¡±


    ¡°We need to check them for items.¡± I said and waved at the bodies, then went to the mayor. ¡°Look for anything that might implicate others.¡± I rifled through her pockets and emptied everything into the table in front of her. I was tempted to remove all her jewellery, then glanced at my enchanted ring. ¡°Don''t touch any of their equipped items until Diofra or Jessica checks them for enchantments or curses.¡±


    All eight bodies were checked for enchantments and then searched. All the loot was placed on the table, including weapons, jewels, and three bags of holding.


    ¡°They could have anything in these things.¡± Steven said and picked one of the bags up. It didn''t look significantly heavy for him; but, his body was heavily reinforced. ¡°Not that they would have emptied them for us if they were still alive.¡±


    ¡°Undead.¡± Jessica corrected. ¡°If they were alive, they couldn''t be vampires.¡±


    ¡°What about a half-vampire?¡± Steven asked and dropped the bag in front of the woman that had it.


    ¡°That can''t exist.¡± The skill scribe said. ¡°They still have to give up their life to become a vampire.¡±


    ¡°What if they were born?¡± Evus asked.


    ¡°Assuming they can breed with each other, which they can''t, the child would be a vampire.¡± She said.


    ¡°What if they did it with a human?¡± Steven asked, curiosity clear in his voice.


    ¡°If they somehow got pregnant and survived the pregnancy, it would still be a vampire.¡± The skill scribe said. ¡°I haven''t heard of it working; but, there''s always a possibility.¡±


    ¡°How could something that''s undead grow?¡± Evangeline asked.


    ¡°Magic, of course.¡± She said. ¡°As well as absorbing the blood and life essence of the living, just like an adult vampire.¡±


    ¡°That''s really disturbing.¡± Evangeline said and noticed the very white color of Josh''s face. ¡°I''m sorry, sweetheart.¡± She hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder. ¡°I didn''t mean to make it worse.¡±


    ¡°S''okay.¡± Josh said with a shaky voice. ¡°I''m okay.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Evus said and we all looked at him. ¡°Isn''t Josh a priest?¡±


    ¡°He''s right.¡± Steven said with a smile. ¡°Josh is a Sorcerer Priest of Light! Priests kill vampires, right? We got this!¡±


    Josh wavered slightly and Evangeline sat him down on the floor before he fainted.


    ¡°Hey man, what''s wrong?¡± Steven asked. ¡°It''s your job to fight vampires, isn''t it?¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Josh bent over and put his head between his knees and stared at the floor.


    ¡°He''s afraid of them.¡± Evangeline said and rubbed his back.


    ¡°Ahahaha!¡± Steven guffawed and pointed at him. ¡°You''re afraid of fictional characters!¡±


    Josh mumbled something that we couldn''t hear.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°They''re not fictional anymore.¡± Josh said without lifting his head and started to rock forward and back and tears came to his eyes. ¡°Terrors in the night. Whispers in your head. Controlling you against your will.¡±


    Steven''s laughter died off and I saw the realization on his face that Josh wasn''t joking around. ¡°Hey, I''m sorry.¡± He said and sat down next to him. ¡°I thought you were carrying on.¡±


    Josh shook his head. ¡°Ever since I was a kid and saw...¡± He stopped talking and shivered. ¡°I''m scared.¡±


    No one said anything for a few minutes and let that sink in.


    ¡°I might have a spell to help you with that.¡± I said.


    Everyone looked at me, which was good, because Jessica''s mouth had dropped open in surprise and they hadn''t seen it.


    ¡°This came into my possession a little while ago.¡± I said and took out a blank piece of paper. ¡°I haven''t had the chance to try it yet, so I don''t know what effects it will have.¡± I said and wrote down the spell and its ingredients, then I handed it over. ¡°Have a look.¡±


    Josh reached a shaking hand out and took the paper. ¡°A... a mind block spell?¡± He asked, disbelief in his voice. ¡°What... how...¡±


    ¡°Diofra said the ingredients are pretty common and she was going to pick some up when she went for magic supplies.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve been reluctant to see what it does, mainly because I can''t maintain it on my own and it would have to be recast every day.¡± I sighed dramatically. ¡°Besides, after I thought about it for a while, I realized that a lot of my abilities work with both mental and physical techniques. This spell might not be beneficial to me, despite its inherent value to protect the mind.¡±


    ¡°Do you think... will this work?¡±


    ¡°You''re worried about being assaulted in your mind, so why not give it a try?¡± I asked and pointed to the bottom of the page. ¡°The worst that could happen is that it works and you don''t renew it in the morning.¡±


    Josh looked at the bottom of the page and saw the daily chant. ¡°It''s that easy to keep it?¡±


    ¡°Actually, it''s easier.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I talked to a couple of people, and if you have several magic users cast it on you at the same time, it can become permanent.¡±


    ¡°R-r-really?¡± Josh asked and crumpled the paper a little in his excitement.


    ¡°Tempting, isn''t it?¡± I asked with a laugh. ¡°Don''t jump ahead of yourself, though. Try it first and see how you feel about it.¡±


    ¡°No, I want it done.¡± Josh said with confidence. ¡°As soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Let''s use the table.¡± I said and used Mana Presence Hands to pull the bodies away from it and made room. ¡°It''s as close to an altar as we''re going to get.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I have one.¡± Josh said and took out a small altar about a foot long and eight inches wide.


    ¡°So do I.¡± Diofra and Jessica said at the same time. They put similar altars down and touched Josh''s with their edges and made a triangle shape with them.


    ¡°I should have enough ingredients.¡± Jessica said and started to take them out. ¡°I''ll need to stock up on them again, though.¡±


    ¡°Same here.¡± Diofra said and put enough on her own altar and then helped Jessica with dividing hers up with Josh and then she put everything on their altars. ¡°Okay, I think that''s got it.¡±


    ¡°Will the three of us be enough?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°Most definitely.¡± Diofra said and took out her mana crystal.


    ¡°Yes! We can count as two each because of the double spell!¡± Jessica said and took out her own crystal.


    Josh took out his and asked what to do. They explained about casting a spell with their own mana and then focusing it through the mana crystal to boost it.


    ¡°That wasn''t in the mana crystal book.¡± Josh said, a little perturbed.


    ¡°Not everything can be written in a children''s book.¡± Diofra said. ¡°It takes experience to gain certain knowledge.¡±


    Jessica nodded in agreement. ¡°Plus, it might be written as an addendum to a weak spell somewhere that it can be made more powerful if focused through a mana crystal at the last second.¡±


    ¡°That''s exactly how I found it.¡± Diofra said. ¡°My little gust of wind spell can become a gale force wind with a mana crystal and my own mana added to it.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Josh said and looked over the copy of the spell he had, then he placed it on the floor between them so they could all read it. ¡°Let''s do this.¡±


    Josh, Jessica, and Diofra joined hands and started to read the spell. As they spoke, the ingredients were consumed and the three of them started to glow as the spell paper burned away. They said the chant at the end and the last of the ingredients and the paper disappeared. They kept chanting and I could see the band of mana form inside Josh''s head and start to constrict. It wasn''t until they finished the fourth iteration that it snapped into place.


    ¡°AHH! That HURT!¡± Josh yelled and grabbed the sides of his head. After a moment, he took in a deep breath and sat up straight. ¡°Holy crap!¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Evangeline asked.


    ¡°It worked.¡± Josh said as a smile grew on his face. ¡°I can''t believe it! It actually worked!¡±


    ¡°Josh?¡± Evangeline had a worried look on her face.


    ¡°It''s okay. Everything is okay.¡± Josh said and stood up. ¡°In fact, I feel great!¡±


    ¡°I''m glad it worked.¡± I said and Josh turned towards me and held a hand out. I raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled and wiggled his fingers. I reached out and took the offered hand and he shook it.


    ¡°Thank you, Hunter.¡± Josh said. ¡°You wouldn''t believe what a relief this is.¡±


    ¡°I have some idea.¡± I said. ¡°You''re shaking my hand barely ten minutes after you accused me of enjoying killing.¡±


    Josh stopped moving his hand, glanced at Evangeline, then back at me. ¡°You do kill too easily for my liking; but to be fair, I would kill to protect her.¡±


    ¡°Just her?¡± I asked as I let his hand go, and he didn''t respond. ¡°When you get to the point that you''ll kill for your friends, you''ll understand.¡±


    ¡°I... don''t know if I want to understand you that much.¡±


    ¡°Me? Not a chance.¡± I laughed. ¡°I meant you''ll understand that sometimes it''s worth being seen as a ''bad person'' by certain people, if you can protect those that are dear to you.¡±


    I saw Allirynn, Imiryl, Maylia, and Afyne nod in agreement. Kara had nodded as well and I ignored it, because I didn''t want to think about how things would have turned out if she had been a little bit more accommodating and understanding. If she didn''t have such tunnel vision when it came to The Order and everything they did, both the good and the bad, things could have been different between us.


    I had grown tired of telling her that years ago, though.

 Book Two: The Summoned 069

    I turned to the skill scribe. ¡°Miss, how much for...¡±


    ¡°My name is Viri, and it''s a silver coin for my services.¡± The woman said and the info above the mayor''s body disappeared. ¡°I won''t charge for the mayor, since it was my fault for being stupid and ignoring her for years.¡±


    ¡°I''m pretty sure you were charmed to ignore her... and the others.¡± I waved at the bodies. ¡°What are the odds that the council or the mayor wouldn''t have been checked by someone?¡±


    Viri sighed. ¡°With the number of people around with appraisal? Ridiculously low.¡±


    ¡°Which means that you all thought they had already been checked, so if you''re going to get angry, get angry that you didn''t check on the work of someone else.¡± I said with a smile.


    Viri chuckled. ¡°You''re telling me to stop being angry over something I had no control over.¡±


    ¡°You got it.¡± I said and handed her a silver coin. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°If you''re done here, I can take you down to the library.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°Almost.¡± I said. ¡°Jessica, why don''t you take everyone down and see if you can find books on their classes?¡±


    ¡°That''s a great idea!¡± Jessica said, excitedly. ¡°We might even find books on some of their skills!¡±


    ¡°You just want to look at all the books.¡± Steven said, and she grinned as she nodded.


    ¡°Evus, head out to where the horses and carriage are and get the driver.¡± I said and gave him the man''s room key. ¡°We should be done by the time you get back and he gets cleaned up.¡±


    ¡°I won''t rush.¡± Evus said with a smile and left at a run, despite his words.


    ¡°Maylia, give me a hand with storing the bodies before we head to the library.¡± I said and took Afyne''s hand, then walked over to the other side of the table where I had pushed the bodies over next to the wall.


    ¡°You''re taking them?¡± Viri asked, surprised.


    ¡°Just these important ones to show the queen, then I''ll destroy them.¡± I said. ¡°Like the humanoid frogs we encountered once, I doubt we''ll get a bounty.¡± I looked down at the mayor''s slack face. ¡°Diofra, send a message to the queen about the situation here and tell her we''re dealing with it.¡±


    ¡°I''ll give her a copy of the new spell as well.¡± Diofra said and followed everyone as Viri led them out the door. When everyone left and the door shut, I put the three people that had a bag of holding back next to the table.


    ¡°I see.¡± Maylia said and held the mayor''s bag while I used Presence to move the dead vampire''s arm and pulled out everything that was inside. Surprisingly, it wasn''t much. A large sack full of money, a book on vampire lore, and an emblem that looked similar to the one the Emissaries of Light had in their pockets. Instead of the Church of Light symbol, it had a crescent moon and a pattern of stars.


    ¡°Is it a communication device?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°It''s possible that it can be more than a remote viewing spell, considering she didn''t have it physically on her.¡± I said. ¡°How awkward would it be to dig into a bag of holding to take it out, without who they wanted to see noticing it?¡±


    Maylia nodded and we checked the other two bags. I used Count Gerard''s arm to empty his bag, which had more money, one of the emblems, and a set of keys. Countess Ricessa owned the other bag, and fortuitously, she had the library ownership papers in her bag, along with another emblem and a sack of money.


    ¡°I guess they didn''t want to carry everything.¡± Maylia stored two of the three empty bags of holding.


    ¡°It''s odd, isn''t it?¡± I asked and took the last one and put all eight bodies into it, as well as all the looted items and money. ¡°Bags that can hold so much and there''s nothing in them.¡±


    ¡°We should search the place.¡± Maylia said and looked around. ¡°If they didn''t carry anything, they would have to store it somewhere.¡±


    ¡°Good point.¡± I tied the new bag of holding to my other hip. ¡°I''ll mention it down in the library.¡±


    We left the room, went down the stairs, and entered the library. Jessica was piling books onto the others and we stood there and watched her very enthusiastically give them what they would need, or she thought they would need. It took a while for her to finish and they all sat down to read their chosen books, then she came over to us and handed a stack of four books to Afyne.


    ¡°You need these.¡± Jessica said and pointed to a table. ¡°It''s going to take a while to read them.¡±


    ¡°Hunter and I have been learning to read together.¡± Afyne said as she opened the top book. She read a little and then frowned. ¡°I don''t know this language.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Jessica looked down at the book. ¡°It''s in Common.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t learn this one.¡± Afyne said and closed the book and looked at the others. ¡°These are the same.¡±


    Jessica looked at me. ¡°What language did you learn?¡±


    ¡°Well, I thought it was common.¡± I said and shrugged.


    ¡°Show me what you learned from.¡± Jessica said and I handed over the books and the pages both Afyne and I had practised on in our spare time over the last few weeks. ¡°Hunter, this... this is the Elder language.¡±


    ¡°What''s that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s what all the old books and spells are written in.¡± Jessica said, slightly awed. ¡°The only reason I know it, is because I read a lot of the old books from the castle.¡±


    ¡°So we wasted our time?¡± I asked, disgruntled. ¡°All that work...¡± I waved at the stack of paper in Jessica''s hands and shook my head.


    ¡°Hunter, you could sell these papers for a fortune.¡± Jessica said as she flipped through them. ¡°Not just to scholars, either. Mages and every other magic user would kill for these translations!¡±


    ¡°We were just learning.¡± I said and looked at Afyne. ¡°At least, I thought we were.¡±


    ¡°It was fun.¡± Afyne said with a smile. ¡°Now we can do it again!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Then store those books and we can get started.¡± I said and looked at Jessica. ¡°Is there any chance you found some children''s books we can use?¡±


    Jessica nodded and handed me back the book and papers, then she led us over to a shelf at the far end of the library. ¡°Reading primers for Common are right here.¡± She pulled out a small stack of them and gave them to me. ¡°I can give you some help if you want.¡±


    I glanced at Maylia and she looked at the first book, then she nodded. ¡°Sounds good.¡±


    The four of us sat down and Jessica went into teaching mode, now that she had three eager students to teach a basic language to. We all stayed in the library for several hours, until it was suppertime.


    ¡°Okay, people. We have to go eat.¡± Steven said and interrupted everyone''s reading. ¡°Let''s go!¡±


    ¡°Mark your places in your books!¡± Jessica practically yelled and everyone slipped a bookmark into the books and closed them. ¡°We''ll come right back here after we eat.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°Don''t be a slave driver.¡± Steven said and walked over to the door. ¡°We might want to do something else later.¡±


    ¡°Like search the building.¡± I said and everyone looked at me. ¡°We didn''t find anything significant on the mayor or the council. There has to be something here.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± Kara said. ¡°I''ll stay and...¡±


    ¡°You need to eat, too.¡± Josh said. ¡°You don''t realize how hungry you are until you stop working.¡±


    Kara looked like she was going to argue and I saw her look at everyone''s faces. She nodded slightly and we all left the library. I shut the door and locked it, then did the same to the building. I hadn''t been surprised that it was mostly empty all afternoon while we were there. What surprised me was that no one came to check on the mayor or any of the council.


    That made me think that they must normally sequester themselves for most of the day and that no one would bother looking for them. That behavior played right into covering up their disappearance and we didn''t have to worry about people being panicked or outraged. I touched the skill scribe''s arm and hung back a little to let the others walk ahead.


    ¡°Don''t say anything about what happened with the mayor. Not to anyone.¡± I said. ¡°Until we start checking everyone to see if they are human, we can''t trust anyone.¡±


    ¡°But... shouldn''t people be told?¡± Viri asked.


    ¡°Yes, but not until we''re prepared to catch the fleeing vampires.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Viri looked surprised.


    ¡°Once people know there are vampires around, word will spread unbelievably fast and the vampires hiding as people are going to run as fast as they can.¡±


    ¡°Run? Why would they...¡±


    ¡°If they stay, they risk being exposed. If they attack, they risk being killed.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡± I said and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°I''m projecting how I would react if I was a vampire and found out that the vampires in charge were eliminated so easily.¡±


    Viri went quiet and we all walked towards the inn and met Evus and the driver. We all went to a decent looking restaurant that had enough tables to sit us all. After talking to the man there, he led us to a group of round tables. There was no chance to push them all together, so we split up and sat down in smaller groups.


    I wasn''t sure how Jessica had managed to sit at the table with me, Maylia, Afyne and Viri. I looked at the other two tables and Allirynn, Imiryl, Diofra, Evus, and the driver sat at one and Kara, Steven, Josh, and Evangeline sat at the other. I looked back at Jessica and she smiled, then started to tell us about finding all sorts of important information in the children''s books she had bought. It was a great excuse to not sit with the other emissaries and she showed me examples of the books.


    ¡°The next time you''re in a magic shop, you should get them for yourself if they have them.¡± Jessica said and put them back into her bag of holding.


    ¡°I can''t use magic.¡± I said, and she chuckled.


    ¡°You might not be able to cast spells yourself; but, you definitely help cast them.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Even just a basic understanding could help you more than you realize.¡±


    I nodded and the waiter came over with menus for us. We all ordered and I whispered to the waiter that I was paying for it all. He nodded and left to get our food. We shared polite conversation about nothing in particular for quite some time, then the waiter came back with our meals. When everyone was served, I held my hands out to Maylia and Afyne and they took them. Afyne held a hand out to Jessica and she glanced at it.


    ¡°Hunter, I don''t think I can.¡± Jessica whispered.


    ¡°It''s okay. I''m not asking him to bless the food. I''m just giving thanks.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Jessica said.


    I nodded and Afyne reached across her to take Viri''s hand, who had already taken Maylia''s. Viri had an expectant look on her face, for some reason. I said a quick prayer and a pulse of god''s Presence went out ten feet and stopped just after it hit Josh and Steven and before it hit Kara and Evangeline, who were eleven feet away on the other side of their table. Josh and Steven had jerked a little at the sensation. At the next table, their driver had shocked expression. At my table, Viri the skill scribe had a pleased look and Jessica trembled.


    I could see her trying to parse in her head the two different feelings that the Presence from her goddess and the Presence from my god had given her. One was all encompassing and dominated you to the point of incoherence and the other was just there to let you know it existed. I created a Mana Presence Hand in front of her, so she could see it clearly, then I rested it on her hand on the table and pat it. I didn''t say anything, absorbed the hand, and started to eat. Jessica took a shallow breath and started to eat, as did everyone else.


    The meal passed quietly and it was good food. When we all finished, the waiter came back and I paid for everyone, over several protests. I joked about taking several copper coins from their cut of the loot and the protests died off. We left the restaurant with our bellies full and our minds on the task at hand. We had to search the building for clues. Clues to what, we didn''t know. All we had to go on was that vampires were prevalent in the city. Anyone could be one. We couldn''t start doing mass reveals until we had some idea how long they had been there. Were the mayor and the council only recently converted, or were they always vampires? The queen had mentioned there were reports of trouble; but, even she couldn''t have guessed that people were either disappearing or becoming vampires. Diofra said her response was both firm and absolute.


    They had to be exterminated.


    I sent the driver back to the inn to wait and I led the others back to the large building that the mayor''s office was in. We searched it for several hours from top to bottom and not a single thing was found. No extra rooms, no extra bodies, no caskets, no magic portals, and no other means of coming and going from the building, except for the well-established doors.


    ¡°Well, this was a complete bust.¡± Steven said and leaned against the wall. ¡°Now what do we do?¡±


    ¡°Try to figure out where the damn crack is.¡± I said and took out the map. ¡°It should be right here.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it collapsed after enough of the vampires came through.¡± Kara suggested.


    ¡°There''s a pleasant thought.¡± Josh said and shivered. ¡°How many succubi were in that other portal again?¡±


    ¡°A few thousand.¡± I said and Josh put a hand over his mouth.


    ¡°We passed a bucket in the hallway.¡± Evus said and Josh nodded and ran from the room. We all ignored the sounds of throwing up.


    ¡°I thought it would be underground.¡± I said and tapped the spot on the map. ¡°If it is, then it''s way down past my detection range.¡±


    ¡°We should spread out and check the surrounding buildings for underground passages.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Three groups, one each with a magic user and a person with detection.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± I said. ¡°You take Diofra, Allirynn, and Imiryl to check the building on the right.¡± I said. ¡°Diofra, if you see anyone, cast the mass scribe spell.¡±


    She nodded and the four of them left at a fast walk.


    I turned to Kara. ¡°You should take Josh, Evangeline, and Steven.¡± I said. ¡°Once Josh stops throwing up, he should be able to cast the spell as quickly as you can point people out.¡±


    ¡°What about Jessica?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°I need a magic user, too.¡± I said. ¡°Jessica, make a few copies of the spell for Josh.¡±


    ¡°I can help look, too.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°We''ve asked too much of you already.¡± I said and she frowned.


    ¡°Monsters have invaded my city.¡± Viri said, her voice cold. ¡°I''ll go and fight them myself if I have to.¡±


    I saw the determination on her face and the Presence didn''t waver, so I knew she was telling the truth. ¡°All right. Stay close and don''t go wandering.¡± I said. ¡°The last thing we need is to give them a hostage.¡±


    Viri smiled and pulled out a shiny silver dagger from a pocket. ¡°I''d like to see them try.¡±


    ¡°I hope that''s enchanted to cut Iron Skin.¡± I said and she looked down at the dagger.


    ¡°It''s mana-imbued silver.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°Are they vulnerable to silver?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, magic weapons.¡± Viri said as if I was stupid. ¡°Everything is vulnerable to magic weapons.¡±


    ¡°You obviously haven''t fought a garglemacer.¡± I said and rolled up the map and stored it. ¡°It''s armor repelled a direct strike from a Light sword and a mana-covered sword barely scratched the surface.¡±


    Viri had to think about that for a minute.


    ¡°Don''t worry about that too much, I''m sure it''s an exception.¡± I said and took Afyne''s hand and walked over to the woman. ¡°Just keep in mind that if you stab a vampire and it doesn''t work, you won''t be surprised, all right?¡±


    Viri nodded and put the dagger away.


    ¡°Let''s go, people. I want this crack found before nightfall.¡± I said and we left to search the surrounding buildings. It took another hour before someone found something. We were almost two blocks away from where the crack was when Kara found an underground passage. It looked like a sewer grate in the underground basement of a run-down building. Her group came back and found us, and we all gathered together at the site.


    ¡°It''s almost nighttime and these things are nocturnal.¡± I said. ¡°We should go back to our rooms and wait until morning.¡±


    ¡°It''s nighttime all the time underground.¡± Kara said. ¡°They won''t be any weaker tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°We will be.¡± I said and she looked at me. ¡°We''ve been on the go all day. I''m not exhausted; but, I''m a little tired.¡± I looked at the people around me. ¡°We could use a short rest, at least.¡±


    Kara looked at the others and saw some bedraggled faces. ¡°Yes, I suppose we should all be fresh and well-rested before going in there.¡±


    ¡°We could always block it.¡± Evus suggested. ¡°No one going in or out.¡±


    ¡°That would tip them off, assuming we haven''t already.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t detect anyone nearby...¡±


    ¡°...but, that doesn''t mean someone isn''t listening or watching from afar.¡± Kara finished, and I nodded.


    ¡°We''ll come back in the morning.¡± I said and waved everyone to follow. ¡°Make sure you take proper precautions tonight and secure your rooms.¡±


    ¡°Nothing is getting into my room.¡± Josh said, adamantly.


    ¡°Hey, you might want to pray for a Holy spell or something.¡± Steven said. ¡°Or make Holy water.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± Josh said with an almost evil grin. ¡°I''ll have everything prepared to take those sons-a-bitches down.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, now you''re talking!¡± Steven said and clapped him on the back.


    Viri promised to meet us first thing in the morning and we all went back to our rooms. Maylia, Afyne, and I changed into out nightgowns and climbed into bed after making sure nothing was going to get into our rooms during the night. The bed was huge, and yet we huddled together as if we were inside the large bedroll we camped in. I gave them each a kiss goodnight and entered an alert meditative state, which would let me rest and let me keep watch at the same time.

 Book Two: The Summoned 070

    I was both surprised and disappointed that nothing happened during the night. I thought for sure that there would be some reaction to the mayor and the council members going missing, or about us sneaking around part of the city looking for the entrance to the underground. We got up relatively early and changed into our adventuring gear, stored everything we had left out and tied our hair up, then left the room and met everyone downstairs for breakfast. We all went into the large dining room and sat down at several tables that were close together.


    I saw a few nervous faces, one of which was Josh''s, who looked like he didn''t get much sleep. ¡°You stayed up most of the night making things, didn''t you?¡± I asked, and he nodded several times. I held up a finger and made the tip glow with a bit of mana. ¡°Want me to try and perk you up?¡±


    Josh looked at my finger and then at my face. He had a determined look for a second and nodded again. I switched the mana for a little bit of Presence and reached out to touch his forehead to push it into his brain to stimulate it, and it met the thick band of mana. Since I wasn''t sharing energy and was trying to force my way through, they weren''t compatible and I pulled my finger away.


    ¡°Nothing?¡± I asked and he shook his head. I could have forced my way through; but, that wasn''t what I was trying to do. I was showing him that I wasn''t getting into his head easily. After a moment, a small smile appeared on Josh''s face when he understood.


    ¡°The same thing woke you up after you collapsed in the capital, remember?¡± Jessica asked and Josh''s smile grew. ¡°Maybe I should get it done, too.¡±


    ¡°I think a few of us should have it done.¡± Diofra said. ¡°We need a lot more ingredients, though.¡±


    ¡°It''s a fairly big city. We should find several magic shops...¡± Jessica started to say when Viri the skill scribe came into the room.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Viri said and sat down beside Maylia at our table.


    Breakfast was served to everyone and Viri held up two copper coins to the waitress. She took them with a nod and left without commenting that Viri wasn''t staying at the inn. We all ate our meals and left the inn and gathered outside in what could be considered a small park.


    ¡°All right, Josh.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Show us what you''ve been working on.¡±


    Josh took out a huge wooden rack full of vials of liquid. ¡°I only made enough of these for each of us to take ten.¡±


    ¡°Just ten?¡± Steven said with a chuckle and took ten, as did everyone else.


    Josh stored his ten and the rack and gave everyone a nice metal cross on a simple chain, then he took out something that looked like a lawn dart, except it was made of wood.


    ¡°They are much heavier on the end.¡± Josh said and tossed it into the air about two feet and it flipped over and dropped to the ground. The very sharp tip stuck into the ground and we all saw the cross with the symbol of the Church of Light marked on it.


    ¡°How did you make that?¡± Viri asked, surprised at the thing.


    ¡°Desperation.¡± Josh said with a crooked smile. ¡°The first dozen or so didn''t work, so I had to add a strip of iron in the core.¡± He picked it up and looked at the tree not far way. He threw it and surprisingly, the thing flipped over and the tip pointed right at the tree and stuck in. ¡°The weight and the fletches correct their flight, so the tip always points where you throw if you throw it hard enough.


    ¡°Why didn''t you just make arrows?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°I did.¡± Josh said and took out six quivers full of arrows. ¡°Each one has been blessed and should give any... of them... a very hard time.¡±


    ¡°How many lawn darts did you make?¡± Steven asked as he retrieved the one from the tree. The wooden tip was bent and he held it out... and we all watched as the tip straightened out and became sharp again.


    ¡°Enough for two each and they are reusable.¡± Josh said with a proud smile on his face as he took them all out and put them on the ground next to the arrows.


    ¡°Nice work, man.¡± Steven said and pat his shoulder. ¡°These should come in handy for sure.¡±


    ¡°Okay, those with bows or can use bows, take the quivers of arrows.¡± I said and Diofra, Maylia, Imiryl, Evangeline, and Viri took quivers. ¡°We''ll stop at a shop and buy some of the best bows.¡±


    I saw Afyne''s hand twitch to take the last quiver, so I reached out and took it, then handed it to her. ¡°Maylia will show you how to use these.¡±


    ¡°Not you?¡± Afyne asked and hugged the quiver.


    ¡°I don''t use a bow.¡± I said and picked up one of the arrows with a Presence Hand and threw the arrow at the same tree that Josh had hit with the lawn dart. The arrow went right into the same hole and I hadn''t taken my eyes off of Afyne the entire time.


    ¡°Show off.¡± Maylia laughed and retrieved the arrow. It fixed the slight damage it had and became perfect again. She gave the arrow to Afyne, who put it into her quiver with a slightly shaking hand.


    ¡°When we get into the thick of it, it''ll be my job to get the arrows back.¡± I said, which surprised a lot of them. ¡°I won''t be leading from the front this time.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Jessica asked, concern on her voice.


    ¡°Josh is the vampire expert.¡± I said and we all looked at him. ¡°I suggest we all listen to him.¡±


    ¡°I... I''m not. I just...¡± Josh said.


    ¡°...know everything about vampires.¡± I said. ¡°You saw the skill list yesterday. You know what to expect, don''t you?¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Josh looked at everyone''s faces. ¡°I can''t...¡±


    ¡°I''m not saying to lead from the front like I usually do.¡± I said and everyone turned to look at me again. ¡°I''m saying while you maintain your buffs and heal people, tell us what to do and how to react to what the vampires do when we encounter them.¡±


    ¡°You... you''re putting this all on me?¡± Josh asked, surprised and a little shocked.


    ¡°You''re the one that chose to have a permanent mind block spell cast on yourself to protect your mind from a vampire''s mental probes.¡± I said. ¡°Can you think of anyone else here with your expertise?¡±


    Josh looked at Viri, who had answered their questions yesterday about vampires.


    ¡°I only know about their stats.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°Oh, I just remembered.¡± I said and took out the thick book I found in the mayor''s bag of holding. ¡°I think I found a book about them.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Jessica and several others, Josh included, yelled.


    ¡°Geez, keep it down.¡± I said and held out the book.


    ¡°Vampire Lore: The First Age.¡± Jessica said and took the book reverently before opening it to the first page and started to read the contents. ¡°It''s written in Ancient!¡±


    ¡°That''s probably why Afyne and I could read the title.¡± I said, offhandedly. ¡°It was in the mayor''s bag of holding.¡±


    Everyone, except Maylia and Afyne, stopped moving and turned to look at me with surprised faces.


    ¡°You can take things from other people''s bags of holding?¡± Viri asked, her voice sounded scandalized.


    ¡°Only under certain circumstances.¡± I said as a qualifier.


    ¡°What circumstances?¡± Kara asked, her eyes narrowed slightly.


    ¡°The owner has to be dead or dismembered.¡± I said truthfully, because those were the only times I had done it. ¡°Otherwise, they could just say no.¡±


    They all visibly relaxed.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Saaaaaay...¡± I looked at everyone with greedy eyes and wiggled my fingers at them. ¡°...what are you hiding in your bags of holding?¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± They all yelled at once and took a step back from me. Maylia, Afyne, and I burst out laughing. The tension I had inadvertently caused faded and several of them smiled.


    ¡°Jessica, give that book a speed read and let us know...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°It''s only conjecture and ''witness'' testimonies.¡± Jessica said, and I heard the quotes around the word witness, which meant she doubted their validity. ¡°No actual facts.¡± She closed the book and handed it back to me. ¡°Viri''s scribe skill was more accurate.¡±


    ¡°It was probably a book from the Countess'' library.¡± Viri said and looked at it. ¡°It looks pretty old.¡±


    I stored the book in with the bodies and looked at Josh. ¡°I want you to take a few minutes to tell Jessica''s communication spell how you made these things so we can send it to the queen.¡± I said and held up a vial of Holy water, then pointed to the lawn darts and the arrows. ¡°Assuming they aren''t trade secrets.¡±


    ¡°I probably could sell them; but, I want these creatures wiped out.¡± Josh said, and we could hear the steel in his voice. ¡°Jessica, prep the spell.¡±


    ¡°Good man.¡± I said. ¡°The queen wants them destroyed completely as well.¡±


    Josh nodded, and he and Jessica started to record the message for Josh to describe everything. I turned to Diofra and asked her to send a very quick message to the queen to warn her that an important detailed message from the emissaries was coming. Diofra sent it off and about twenty minutes later, Josh was finished and Jessica sent the message off. The ball of light was quite a bit bigger than normal.


    ¡°I hope the size doesn''t slow the thing...¡± I stopped talking as the ball of light zoomed away just as fast as a normal one. ¡°My hope was realized!¡± I exclaimed and Afyne and Maylia laughed.


    We left the little park and went to the closest place to buy bows. It didn''t take long for everyone to find a bow they liked, along with some protective gear like gloves and a wrist guard, and I bought it all. I quieted the protests by once again saying I was taking it out of their cut of the loot. It was surprising that they didn''t question me about it after saying that.


    I guess just the implication that they were spending their own money worked to calm them, even though they weren''t actually spending the money. I thought in amusement.


    ¡°I think that''s everything we need.¡± Josh said, and I nodded. He led us all outside. ¡°Prepare yourselves. Those of you with swords, charge them with mana when we get to the sewer grate.¡±


    We all nodded and followed him several blocks to the mayor''s building while Maylia gave Afyne some very good tips for handling a bow along the way. There were already people out and about, even this early in the morning, and we moved on several more blocks to the right building. We entered and went down into the basement and Steven pulled the grate out of the floor, along with some of the floor.


    ¡°Oops.¡± Steven said and put it down quietly off to the side of the now fairly large hole.


    ¡°Yeah, thanks for announcing us.¡± I said. ¡°By the way, I don''t detect anyone within my range.¡±


    ¡°What is your range, by the way?¡± Jessica asked, curious.


    ¡°About seven hundred and fifty feet.¡± I said.


    ¡°Your eyes are covered and you can see two football fields away?!?¡± Steven asked, incredulous. ¡°I can''t see that far normally!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Actually, the only thing that impedes your sight is the curve of the planet... and the things on it, of course.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡±


    ¡°A planet is round, so the horizon stops you from seeing anything past it, or about three miles away.¡±


    ¡°You''re kidding!¡± Steven said, his face completely surprised.


    ¡°If you''re at sea level.¡± I said as a qualifier and grinned. ¡°If you were on a mountaintop at night, you could see a campfire thirty miles away.¡±


    Everyone stared at me with surprised expressions.


    ¡°You would be well above the normal horizon limit, so you''d see a lot more of the things around you.¡± I said. ¡°The higher up you are, the more you''ll see.¡±


    ¡°Which is why the city and town guards have short towers built into their guard houses.¡± Maylia said, catching on immediately. ¡°If you can see three miles on the ground, you can see a lot more than that if you are two storeys up.¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± Jessica said and everyone just stood there.


    ¡°So, is everyone distracted from thinking about vampires?¡± I asked, and a few of them chuckled.


    ¡°I was.¡± Josh said and Evangeline took his hand and held it for a moment, then she let it go and held her bow properly.


    ¡°I''ll lower everyone down.¡± I said and held a hand out to Maylia. She could levitate herself; but, I wanted to show everyone an example of what I would be doing. She took my hand and I used Mana Presence Levitation on her and floated her down into the hole. Everyone except Kara and Afyne watched with rapt attention as Maylia descended down about fifteen feet through a small tunnel and then another ten feet to the tunnel it was attached to.


    ¡°Me next!¡± Afyne said and took my hand, and I sent her down into the hole.


    ¡°I can''t believe you''re taking her along with us.¡± Josh said, his voice full of disbelief.


    ¡°I''d rather have here where I can see and protect her, than leave her at the inn with a single guard and hope that she doesn''t get taken.¡± I said and held a hand out to Imiryl. I lowered her down into the hole and she moved over to protect everyone. We were lucky that it was the end of a tunnel and they didn''t have to guard in two directions.


    ¡°I can jump down.¡± Steven said and went for the hole.


    Josh grabbed his arm and stopped him. ¡°We''re trying to be quiet, remember?¡±


    Steven sighed and looked at my hand.


    ¡°I''m only helping the ladies like this.¡± I said and held a hand out to Viri. She giggled like a little girl and eagerly took my hand and I lowered her down into the hole. I helped the remaining women down into the hole and looked at Kara. She nodded and stepped forward. Her hand twitched to take mine, then she sighed and jumped down into the hole herself.


    ¡°She really doesn''t want to touch you, does she?¡± Josh whispered the question.


    ¡°You''re wrong.¡± I said and picked him up with my levitation technique without touching him. ¡°She wants it very, very badly.¡±


    ¡°Then why...¡±


    ¡°She''s afraid she won''t be able to let go.¡± I said and Josh went down the hole with a look of shock on his face. I sent the other men down into the hole and lowered myself down.


    ¡°We''re getting a weak light from the charged weapons.¡± Josh said.


    ¡°Perhaps those that can see in the dark should take point.¡± I suggested.


    ¡°Right. Okay.¡± Josh said. ¡°Let''s do that.¡±


    Maylia, Kara, Allirynn and I moved forward and everyone followed closely behind us. The tunnel was fairly large at ten feet across. It appeared to be natural; but, with no way to know how long it had been here, it could have been dug and the sides had worn away over time. The tunnel twisted and turned as we walked deeper underground. We ended up going a lot farther than we had above ground as the tunnel snaked around back on itself several times in an almost spiral pattern, never actually crossing, and I felt the edge of the earth pass out of my detection range.


    ¡°We''re really deep.¡± I whispered. ¡°The end''s coming up and I still don''t feel anyone around.¡±


    ¡°No wonder we couldn''t find the crack.¡± Viri said, barely above a whisper. ¡°I don''t think anyone has ever gone this deep before.¡±


    We came out of the tunnel into a pitch black room and Jessica cast a spell. Various sized orbs of light flew out and floated around the room, and in the middle of it, was a floating mass of blackness. I picked up a small stone and tossed it in and the gaping maw appeared and swallowed it.


    ¡°No need for a thicket of trees underground, I guess.¡± I said.


    Jessica and Diofra took out their Truesight squares and there was nothing on the other side of the portal, except a flat area.


    ¡°Hunter, be careful.¡± Maylia said.


    I prayed silently and felt god''s Presence and his consciousness descend upon me and I gave him my arm out of habit. He could see through the crack and frowned with my mouth. I felt his Presence seep under my skin and used me like a puppet and stepped through. It was empty for as far as the eyes could see. With my detection range expanded, thanks to god''s Presence, I ''saw'' a castle near the edge of my range behind us.


    My body walked around the portal and we looked at the structure. It was massive and was at least a few hundred feet high. It was also run down and completely empty.


    ¡°It looks to be about a thousand years old.¡± My mouth said with god''s voice.


    ¡°This is both good and bad.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, it means we have nothing to fight... and that they all came through years ago, however many there were.¡±


    ¡°Goddammit.¡± I said with feeling.


    ¡°I can only do so much.¡± He said with my mouth.


    I laughed. ¡°Yeah, it looks damned enough already.¡± I said and looked up for a few moments to let god memorize the star patterns. After that, we walked back around the portal and stepped through it, pulled it closed, then sewed it shut with Presence and healed it.


    ¡°I''ve got good news and bad news.¡± I said, whispered thanks and amen to god, then turned around to face everyone. ¡°The good news is, I didn''t have to fight anything on the other side.¡±


    Steven spoke a curse that I had been quick enough to divert from Afyne''s sensitive ears. ¡°They''re all already here.¡±


    ¡°You got it with one guess.¡± I said and looked at everyone''s faces. ¡°They''ve been here for years, if not longer.¡±


    ¡°Only here?¡± Viri asked, hope in her voice.


    ¡°HA!¡± Josh barked. ¡°We wouldn''t be that lucky!¡±


    ¡°You all heard the queen''s edict.¡± I said. ¡°She wants them eradicated.¡±


    ¡°Then we''re still on the hunt.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°Daylight will give us some advantage.¡±


    ¡°If they go outside.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°We''re going to need a lot more group scribe spells.¡±


    ¡°No, we don''t.¡± Jessica, Diofra and Josh said at the same time.


    ¡°You memorized it?¡± I asked, and they nodded. ¡°Free daily spells?¡±


    ¡°Two each of Holy Light, Fireball, and Mass Scribe.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°Two Mass Sleep, six Mass Scribe, and four Mass Holy Light.¡± Jessica said, and everyone turned to look at her. ¡°I have twelve free spells.¡± She said. ¡°I haven''t prayed to the Goddess to see if she''ll grant me any extra, though.¡± Her face flushed a little red. ¡°I don''t want to be greedy.¡±


    ¡°O-kay.¡± I said and looked at Josh. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Four Mass Holy Light spells.¡± Josh said. ¡°I can use my mana crystal to cast the Mass Scribe as many times as I want.¡±


    ¡°Your mana refills that fast?¡± I asked, and he nodded.


    ¡°Then you''re still our point man.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Let''s get back up to the surface and start hunting these things down.¡±


    No one spoke as we all headed back up the long winding tunnel. I was tempted to jog or run; but, I didn''t want us all too tired at the end to fight. We made it all the way back by midday and I levitated everyone out of the tunnel and into the basement of the building above. Steven slid the grate back into place and Jessica cast some odd spell to make it look like it wasn''t damaged.


    ¡°It''s just an illusion that will only last a few days or so.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°There''s people in the building now.¡± I said and looked up. ¡°Seven of them on the second floor.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t it supposed to be abandoned?¡± Evus asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Viri said. ¡°I hope it''s just teenagers carrying on.¡±


    ¡°We all do.¡± Josh said. ¡°Jessica, use one of your free Mass Scribe spells as soon as we enter the room.¡±


    ¡°What if they''re more than ten feet away?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°Don''t worry about it.¡± Both Josh and I said at the same time.


    ¡°It looks like all of the spells cast today will have double boosts.¡± I said and motioned to the door to go up the stairs. Most of them smiled as they passed and we went up the stairs to see who was unlucky enough to become our targets.

 Book Two: The Summoned 071

    When we got to the second floor, both Josh and I took Jessica''s hands and she used a free Mass Scribe spell. Instead of the ten feet it normally would have covered, it went out a hundred feet. There was a shout from the room the teenagers were in and a short scream from outside.


    ¡°Both of us was too much!¡± I said and ran to the closest window. ¡°I''ve got the one outside!¡±


    Nearly all of them watched as I jumped out through the window. Maylia ran into the room and I saw her fire her bow and kill the single teenager that had the vampire name over their head. I ran around the corner of the building with Mana Presence Run and saw across the street. A woman was unconscious on the ground and a man stood over her with Vampire, Underling over his head. He had a shocked look on his face and I didn''t give him time to react as I ran over and jabbed my mother''s Light sword through his chest and his heart.


    There were a couple of people down the street who screamed at the sight and they stared at me. I turned off the Light sword and the body dropped to the ground. I looked at the woman on the ground next to the body and she had Housewife, Human above her head.


    ¡°I''m sorry, miss.¡± I said and looked at the two women down the street. They were both human and I waved to them to come closer. They were startled at first and looked about ready to run, then they slowly came over to me. ¡°I don''t know if he was attacking her or if she was just scared of who he was.¡± I pointed to the man and one woman gasped and the other let out a little scream.


    ¡°Wh-who are you?¡± The woman who gasped asked me and the other woman just stared at the vampire.


    ¡°Hunter, personal vassal of Queen Celestina.¡± I said and touched the gold badge with the kingdom emblem on my chest. ¡°We are here to clear out the vampires.¡±


    ¡°You should have told the people!¡± The woman snapped.


    ¡°The vampires would run.¡± I said and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°We only found out last night that they were here.¡±


    ¡°How many...¡±


    ¡°No idea.¡± I said, to their surprise, then to their amazement I stuffed the body into the bag of holding with the others. ¡°This is the tenth one we''ve killed so far.¡±


    ¡°T-t-t-tenth?¡± The woman who had let out a little scream asked.


    ¡°Eight last night and two today.¡± I said. ¡°We hunted down where they should have been all morning, then found it empty.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no.¡± The other woman said.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± I said. ¡°Can you look after this woman for me? I need to get back to the others.¡±


    ¡°You''re just going to leave her here?¡± One of them asked, incredulous.


    ¡°Only until I have the others come over and see if she needs healing.¡± I said.


    Both women nodded and I ran back over to the building I had left and went inside and up the stairs. When I entered the room with the teenagers, they were kicking the dead vampire that used to be their friend. Everyone else stood there and watched.


    ¡°Filthy beast.¡± One of the teenagers said and kicked the body in the face.


    ¡°Some friend you are!¡± Another said and kicked the legs.


    ¡°You took my first kiss!¡± One of them said, and I looked closely to see that it was a girl, despite her being dressed similarly to the others. She was the most vicious in her assault of the body.


    ¡°Now I see why you''re all just standing here.¡± I said.


    ¡°Lots of frustration to work out.¡± Viri said, her face both angry and sad. ¡°It''s understandable.¡±


    ¡°I''ve got an unconscious woman around the corner and across the street that needs to be looked after.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''ve got it.¡± Diofra said. ¡°Allirynn, Imiryl.¡±


    The three of them left at a fast walk and the rest of us watched the teenagers tire themselves out. When they were done, the girl had dropped to her knees and her face was covered in tears. The other teenagers couldn''t look at her or the body, so they were staring at the walls and ceiling.


    ¡°Maylia.¡± I said and the two of us walked slowly over. She knelt by the girl and gave her a hug, and the girl wailed and cried. With her distracted, I quickly shoved the body into the bag of holding. I stood and looked at who I thought was the head of the group.


    ¡°I''m not saying nothing.¡± The boy said.


    I smiled and was about to comment that he just did, then turned to the boy next to him. ¡°Any chance you can tell me who he was and where I can find his family?¡±


    ¡°It was a monster.¡± The boy said, his face angry.


    ¡°Yeah, and I want to know if he ate the people who used to be his family.¡±


    The boy''s face drained of color. ¡°Sally.¡±


    ¡°We''re hunting vampires and we need to know where his family is.¡±


    ¡°I... I''ll take you there.¡± The boy said. None of the others said anything, so I motioned for him to go ahead. I took Afyne''s hand and nodded to Evus and Jessica. They came with us and we left the building. As we moved, the boy went from a fast walk to a jog, and then broke into a run. We easily kept up with him and followed him out to a street with a bunch of houses on it. The boy was out of breath when he finally stopped and pointed to the house.


    Jessica took my hand and spoke the chant to cast the Mass Scribe spell and it went thirty feet and covered the house. I could see the two parents and the daughter, Sally, and the words Vampire, Underling appeared over their heads. I sighed and the boy dropped to his knees, tears in his eyes. I walked over to the house and went inside, and before they knew what hit them, I had cut through their hearts and shoved them into the bag of holding. I did a quick search and didn''t find anything, so I went back outside.


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said to the boy and he looked up at me.


    ¡°Was... was it quick?¡± He asked.


    ¡°They didn''t even know what hit them.¡± I said and he nodded. ¡°Let''s get you back to your friends.¡±


    I helped him stand and we walked back into the main part of the city and to the building. He took over holding the girl who was still crying softly, and Maylia came over to me. We gave each other and Afyne a hug and stayed there for a couple of minutes.


    ¡°We need to do a systematic cleansing.¡± Josh said. ¡°We can get the spell to a hundred feet, so we position the rest to take out any vampires within that area and cast the spell.¡±


    ¡°I agree. We need to be careful about it.¡± I said. ¡°Combat fighters in the middle range, and bows on the outskirts.¡±


    ¡°What if we modify the spell and add a mana barrier?¡± Jessica asked.


    ¡°No, a Holy mana barrier.¡± Josh said, thinking about it. ¡°Can we combine the Mass Scribe and Mass Holy Light spells with a barrier?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Jessica said. ¡°It''ll take me some time to work it out.¡±


    ¡°Do you need to be stationary to work on it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I... maybe?¡± Jessica said, unsure.


    ¡°We''ll limit ourselves to a smaller spell area and start clearing out individual houses.¡± I said. ¡°Less people to deal with and more chance that the vampires revealed won''t get away.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Josh said and looked at the teenagers. ¡°What about them?¡±


    ¡°Lets bring everyone to the mayor''s building.¡± I said. ¡°We can go to healers next and check them for vampires, then bring some back to deal with the fallout.¡±


    ¡°This is going to ruin a lot of lives, isn''t it?¡± Jessica asked, concern in her voice.


    ¡°A lot more than we think it''s going to.¡± I said and looked at the boy who had lost his love and the girl who had lost hers. They clung to each other and didn''t look like they were going to let each other go anytime soon. We told the teenagers what we were going to do, and they came along. We met up with Diofra, Allirynn and Imiryl, then picked up the unconscious woman and the other two women that had watched her. They were still shaken by the revelation of vampires among them and came along willingly.


    We set everyone up at the mayor''s place in the large meeting room and went to the healers. After a quick check, three of them turned out to be vampires that we killed without letting them react, and the healers had to work on themselves to deal with the trauma of having years-old friends turn out to be vampires. Of course, now that they knew what it was like, they were the best suited to deal with the others. We took them over to the mayor''s place and they got to work on the victims.


    We got to work as well.


    With my plan to clear the houses first, we split into three teams and went through the residential areas much faster than any of us thought possible. Most houses didn''t have a vampire. Some had one and we dealt with it and sent the other house occupants to the mayor''s office, and some had all vampires in them. Those were the easiest to deal with, since there was no chance of collateral damage, and by evening, we had worked our way to the edge of the main part of the city.Stolen story; please report.


    Since it was the end of the work day, we positioned ourselves and waited for groups of people returning to their homes. They were easily checked and the occasional vampire had to be removed, then the surrounding people were sent to the mayor''s office to be treated for trauma. It was a time consuming process to do hunting this way, mainly waiting for them to show up, then we moved into the city proper and had to come together and use bigger spells. Jessica had finally managed to construct a proper spell that combined three spells into one, and we gathered as many people as we could into smaller areas and Josh and I helped her cast the spell.


    The glowing white dome of a Holy barrier appeared around the group and six of the thirty-four people inside screamed and tried to block out the Holy light and were revealed as vampires. The normal people screamed and tried to get away from them and I concentrated on the closest vampire and used Presence to crush its heart. It dropped to the ground and I walked around the barrier and did the same to the remaining five vampires. The people seemed to calm down after the last vampire was dealt with, and Jessica dismissed the Holy barrier.


    ¡°We''re sorry about that everyone.¡± Josh said in a consoling tone. ¡°Please proceed to the mayor''s office to be looked after.¡±


    The people were sent to the healers that had been working all day doing the same thing, trying to help people deal with the trauma of living around vampires and not knowing it. Some people were depressed about it and most were angry that they had been lied to. That seemed to be the common response and a lot of them wanted to fight.


    I had been doubtful about including the townspeople at first, then Josh sorted through the ones that had actual combat experience and had some of us hand over half of our bottles of Holy water, a third of our arrows, and a couple of the large lawn darts. I was a bit proud that he didn''t gut our combat capability to bend to the peoples demands and also that he hadn''t completely ignored them, either.


    The ones he had to leave behind, he gave them a couple of bottles of Holy water to reassure them, in case vampires managed to get by everyone that would be fighting, and we left some of the townspeople there to guard the building and divided the others among the three teams and increased our numbers. We kept working our way along the city and finding more people to keep safe and more vampires that had been hiding in plain sight.


    Even though night had fallen, we couldn''t stop once we started, so any magic users we came across, we had them cast energy boost spells on those that needed it and kept going. Our forces expanded and worked throughout the night and we didn''t finish until late the next morning. We all walked back to the mayor''s office to check on everyone, then mine and Kara''s groups went back to the inn and into the dining room to sit down.


    ¡°I''m... really glad... I''m not... an adventurer!¡± Viri panted. ¡°This is... exhausting!¡±


    I used a bit of Presence on her forehead to give her brain a jolt and exhilarated her.


    ¡°AH!¡± Viri gasped and I saw the tingle go through her. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°Oh? That''s not in my skill list?¡± I asked her and smiled as her face flushed red.


    ¡°When did you know?¡±


    ¡°I started to suspect when you giggled like a schoolgirl before I used levitation on you.¡± I said. ¡°I knew for sure when I jumped out of the two storey building''s window and you didn''t react with surprise like everyone else did.¡±


    ¡°Please don''t be angry.¡± Viri said. ¡°After what happened with the mayor, I... I''ve read everyone I''ve met since then.¡±


    ¡°It''s not a drain on your mana to do that?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°It''s a skill for me and not a spell.¡± Viri said, and that got everyone''s attention.


    ¡°You''re a seer?¡± Jessica asked, surprised.


    ¡°Not quite.¡± Viri said. ¡°I can''t distance view like that.¡±


    ¡°What else can you do?¡± Josh asked from the next table.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± I said and put a hand up. ¡°This isn''t an interrogation.¡± I looked at Viri. ¡°Should I ask what my skill list looks like?¡±


    ¡°Like a colander.¡± Viri said with disappointment and her words were met with a lot of confused faces.


    I knew what it was because I could cook. ¡°It''s a large metal bowl full of small holes to let water drip out when washing vegetables.¡±


    ¡°Unlike everyone I''ve ever met, you''re still developing your skills.¡± Viri said. ¡°How old are you?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It depends on when you start counting.¡±


    Viri''s eyebrows rose and she just stared at me.


    ¡°I think the problem is that my body was altered to come here to use mana, so technically I''m only a couple of months old.¡±


    ¡°That could explain things.¡± Viri said and ducked her head a little and looked like she was thinking hard. ¡°Most people don''t have fully developed skill sets until they are at least a couple of years old.¡± She said. ¡°It takes that long for their bodies to adapt and accept their flow of mana.¡±


    ¡°I can''t wait that long.¡± I said and knew I was going to have to devote some serious time to full meditation and not the partial sessions I''ve been doing all along. ¡°I''m too vulnerable in this state.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I''ve let the queen know what happened and how things turned out.¡± Diofra said and a medium-sized ball of light zoomed off. ¡°Of course, we don''t really know what''s going to happen with so many... ah... people... turning out to be vampires.¡±


    ¡°Did you give her the new spells?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Magic users across the kingdom are going to be busy for a while.¡±


    Everyone nodded solemnly and the waitress came over. We all ordered a quick and easy breakfast and ate our food. Once that was done, we all decided to go to bed. As we all left the dining room, Viri touched my arm and pulled me aside, which meant Maylia and Afyne went with us.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked in a whisper and used Presence to block everyone but us from hearing.


    ¡°Thank you for not being angry about reading you, and about stopping them from asking questions.¡± Viri said and looked around briefly. ¡°My other skills are pretty ordinary, but...¡± She blinked her eyes and looked back at me. ¡°Even though I''m not a seer, I can locate anyone.¡±


    My eyes widened, as did Maylia''s. ¡°You don''t need a personal item or anything?¡±


    ¡°It can help if I have something of theirs; but, all I need is a name. Even if it''s fake, it''s still theirs and they''ve used it.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°No wonder you''ve kept this quiet.¡± I said. ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡±


    ¡°You''re searching for someone.¡± Viri said. ¡°Either for yourself or someone else.¡±


    I was quiet for a moment. ¡°You know we are going to kill them, don''t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Viri said. ¡°You wouldn''t be going after them if they didn''t do something bad.¡±


    ¡°You''re very smart.¡± I said and it made her smile. ¡°You''d be okay with finding someone for us to kill?¡±


    ¡°Normally, I would avoid getting involved.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°Then don''t now.¡± I advised her. ¡°Once you have that on your conscience...¡±


    ¡°Even if you use the knowledge to kill, I''m okay with that.¡±


    ¡°I don''t need to ask you why.¡± I said and she looked at me expectantly. ¡°You saw how we treated everyone.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Viri said and her hand touched mine. ¡°You''re not like a lot of the other adventurers, or even like some of those emissaries.¡± She said and squeezed my hand. ¡°You care about how your actions affect people. You''re not dismissive and you don''t ignore those, that by fate or happenstance, are far below you in power and abilities.¡±


    I was about to argue that when she smiled. ¡°You know I want to argue that below me part.¡±


    Viri let her smile grow wider and nodded.


    ¡°Have you used a mana crystal before?¡± I asked, and she nodded again. ¡°Then come with me.¡±


    I absorbed the Presence I was using and led Viri, Maylia, and Afyne through the lobby and up the stairs to Allirynn and Imiryl''s room. I knocked and waited for a moment, and Allirynn opened the door.


    ¡°What''s wrong?¡± Allirynn asked.


    ¡°It''s time we dealt with your little snake problem.¡± I said and took out a charged mana crystal. Allirynn knew what I meant and grinned as he stepped back to wave us into the room. We passed by and he shut the door, then he went to the table in the room and took out the torn rags that Steven had given him weeks ago.


    ¡°There''s almost no residue on these.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°That''s what we''ve been worried about.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t want to take the chance of trying to locate the owner until I was sure we were going to find her.¡±


    ¡°The only thing would be a restoration spell and you would have to hope that the residue would increase and not be used up.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°I''m glad we didn''t try, then.¡± I said and put the mana crystal on top of the rags. ¡°Viri, I need to attune the crystal to you so we can use it.¡±


    ¡°You mean like this?¡± Viri asked and put her hand on the crystal. It glowed a little brighter for a second and I saw the energy shift to accept her.


    ¡°You did that as fast as I can.¡± I said, surprised.


    ¡°Mana crystals let me use some of my skills better.¡± Viri said. ¡°What''s the person''s name?¡±


    ¡°The lamia''s name is Siada.¡± Allirynn said, his voice flat with a touch of anger.


    ¡°A lamia?¡± Viri asked with wide eyes. ¡°I didn''t think there were any of them in First Sothen Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°We were coming here as a full party when she betrayed us and our friends were killed.¡±


    ¡°They almost were as well.¡± I added. ¡°If it wasn''t for some last minute healing and then a long journey to the capital, they both would have died.¡±


    ¡°Then I have no problem finding her for...¡± Viri stopped when I put my hand on hers and the crystal. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I told you. We''re going to kill her.¡± I said and Viri looked at me with an open mouth. I used a fingertip to close it and formed a connection to her with Presence. ¡°Use your skill, please.¡±


    ¡°O-o-okay.¡± Viri said and looked down at the crystal. She put her hand on the rags and started to say a chant. I felt her small amount of mana flow into the crystal, so I added mine to it. ¡°OH!¡± She yelled as the mana burned through her hand, then she gasped.


    Instead of the slightly see-through green bubble that we normally saw, a five foot wide crystal clear orb appeared above the mana crystal. It didn''t just show a map, though. It showed the actual planet they were on. It turned inside the orb, and then it zoomed in to the First Sothen Kingdom and showed a dot. Then it zoomed in again, showed a thick forested area for a moment, then it showed a lamia as it slithered quickly through the underbrush. We could actually hear the leaves being crushed under her muscular body.


    ¡°Siada.¡± Allirynn said angrily.


    The lamia jumped from being startled. She turned around frantically and moved in circles as she looked for him.


    ¡°I told you I would find you.¡± Allirynn said and nodded to me.


    I used the minimum amount of power that I could, the same as I did when I did this to the green-robed man, and bolts of Mana Presence Lightning shot out of my fingertips and went right into Siada. I found that I could direct them much easier through the crystal orb, so I directed them through her head and her heart, with no wasted energy. As an experiment, I created a giant Mana Presence Hand inside the crystal orb and dug up a huge pile of earth, slipped the body inside, then covered it with dirt. I did my best to use Presence to erase her scent from the area and to disguise it.


    ¡°It should be safe until we get there, assuming those raccoon-like carnivores don''t dig it up.¡± I said and felt the crystal lurch. ¡°Maylia, an empty bag of holding, please.¡±


    Maylia took one out and handed it to me, and I moved Viri''s hand. The crystal orb faded and the mana crystal shook again. I dropped it inside the bag of holding and waited, then I relaxed when nothing happened.


    ¡°Whew! Okay. Remind me to dump that where it''s safe.¡± I said and everyone looked at me. ¡°What? It''s a spacial bag. Everything that goes in seems to stay in the same state it went in, until you take it back out.¡±


    ¡°What gave you that idea?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°The restaurant food we ate on the way from the capital.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°It had been in the bag for a day and was the same temperature as when I put it in there.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad it worked, because I was looking for a window for you to throw it, then realized we were in the middle of the city.¡± Maylia said and chuckled.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Allirynn said and I turned to look at him. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°At this point, there was no way we were going to catch her physically.¡± I said. ¡°I''m just glad it worked.¡±


    ¡°You... you killed... really killed... through a locate spell.¡± Viri stared at the spot above the table where the crystal orb used to be.


    ¡°That''s not in my skill list either, huh?¡± I asked, and she shook her head.


    ¡°I don''t know if such a skill exists.¡± Viri said. ¡°I... I need a few minutes to...¡±


    ¡°I suggest not telling anyone.¡± I said. ¡°If they knew I could do this, well...¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, everyone would want you to do it.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°Do you?¡± I asked, and her face flushed red. ¡°You know how much mana crystals cost?¡±


    Viri nodded and looked at the spot above the table. ¡°You lose a mana crystal each time you do it?¡±


    I nodded back. ¡°It''s definitely expensive.¡±


    ¡°You have my word. I won''t say anything.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°Good.¡± I said and didn''t feel the Presence waver. ¡°Now I''m heading to my room for a nice long bath.¡±


    ¡°I... okay. I''ll...¡± Viri started to walk, then stopped and looked at the table, then started to walk again and stopped. ¡°Um...¡±


    ¡°Go home and rest for now. Meet us here tonight for supper.¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Viri said and walked to the door. She gave one more glance to the table where the crystal orb was, then left the room.

 Book Two: The Summoned 072 (Early Post)

    We said goodnight to Allirynn and Imiryl and went back to our room. Maylia, Afyne, and I quickly undressed and cleaned ourselves up in the tub, dressed for bed, and climbed under the blanket. We all had a sad and satisfied look on our faces. It wasn''t because of what happened with Siada, it was because of the vampires. We had done a fantastic job and made short work of the extermination; but, it also wrecked a lot of lives and would change a lot of the dynamics in the city.


    Some of the vampires, like the mayor and council members, held important positions and did a lot of work to keep the place running. I was sure that the queen would send out temporary replacements to help, at least until the locals could be trained up to do the jobs properly. The problem was, all the towns and cities in the kingdom might end up in the same situation, which included the capital. It also meant that we would have to check each and every settlement in the kingdom.


    Maylia and I exchanged knowing looks and I leaned over Afyne to give Maylia a quick kiss. I leaned back to give Afyne a kiss on the forehead and the three of us cuddled together. I entered a meditative state to stay alert and to sleep at the same time, then drifted off to sleep. It was daytime and none of us had any trouble sleeping.


    We got up about an hour before supper and changed into normal clothes and not our adventuring gear. We brushed each other''s hair and left the ties off, so our hair flowed freely, and we left the room to meet with the others. Allirynn had a bit of a smile on his face, which was out of character for the stoic and very tanned man, and Imiryl clung to his arm like a second skin. They were dressed in normal clothes for the first time since they had joined us, and Evus and Diofra came out of their room in similar outfits.


    ¡°It looks like this is a casual day for us all.¡± I said with a smile, and we all went downstairs to the front counter. I paid for another three days to stay at the inn, to everyone''s surprise, and we stood there and waited for Viri. She came in and was dressed casually in a normal dress and looked as relaxed as the rest of us. I waved to her and we all went into the dining room to eat. I paid the extra money to the waitress for Viri''s meal and not long after we sat down to eat, Kara and the others came into join us.


    ¡°I don''t think I''ve ever slept so well and so badly in my life.¡± Steven said and flopped down onto a chair.


    ¡°I have.¡± Jessica said and I turned to look at her face. She was staring at me, so I reached over with my hand. She took it with a sad smile and I held it and her gaze for several moments. Her sad smile changed into a normal smile and I let her hand go.


    ¡°So, where are we going after this?¡± Josh asked as he and his wife sat down.


    ¡°I''m staying here for a few more days.¡± I said. They were surprised to hear this, too.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I need time.¡± I said. ¡°What we just did to this city...¡± I sighed. ¡°We pretty much gutted a third of the families and businesses.¡±


    Everyone fell quiet at my words. They knew it already; but, having someone say it out loud gave it more weight.


    ¡°Before anyone argues, I know it was the monster''s fault.¡± I said to placate them. ¡°It was us that had to get rid of them, though.¡±


    Nods of agreement were given all around.


    ¡°We still need to resupply, especially our magical ingredients.¡± I glanced at Jessica and she nodded. ¡°We''ve got a few more things to take care of as well.¡± I pat the second bag of holding on my hip that had all the vampire bodies in it. ¡°A few days should be long enough to wrap everything up.¡±


    ¡°What if more people are dying right now?¡± Josh asked, his face slightly angry.


    ¡°There''s no what if, Josh. People are dying.¡± I said, and I saw the surprise on his face. ¡°You''re forgetting about what''s happening to the people we helped.¡±


    ¡°I''m not!¡± Josh said. ¡°We have the healers taking care of them as we speak!¡±


    ¡°Yes, so what about us?¡± I asked, and he moved back as if I had slapped him. ¡°We need time to adjust to this situation ourselves.¡± I looked at everyone''s faces and saw some understanding. ¡°You do realize that we have to check every person and settlement we go to, even if the queen has already implemented everything we''ve told her, right?¡±


    I saw Evangeline''s arm go around Josh and he reluctantly nodded.


    ¡°We all feel guilty already for going to sleep and staying here all day without not moving on.¡± I said and saw slight nods from everyone. ¡°We aren''t automatons. We need rest.¡± I sighed. ¡°Yes, people are going to die. What you need to realize is, even if we had moved on right away and went to the next town, people in other towns are still going to die.¡±


    Josh sighed. ¡°But, we can help them.¡±


    ¡°If there were a lot more of us, yes.¡± I said. ¡°By the way, our plans for the cracks can''t change.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± A few of them asked.


    ¡°Clearing out a town is going to take time, even if we keep our groups together.¡± I said. ¡°We also need to deal with the cracks. We are the only ones that can deal with them, while normal people, guards, and adventurers can deal with the vampires in our stead.¡±


    ¡°Do you trust them to...¡± Josh started to say.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± I said. ¡°We will still be checking the settlements out ourselves as we pass them by. Diofra told the queen how thorough we were and I sincerely doubt that others will be as diligent as us in clearing out the threat that the vampires represent.¡±


    Josh seemed to relax and Evangeline hugged him.


    ¡°Three days isn''t going to be much, and you don''t have to stay with us if you don''t want to.¡± I said and looked at their faces. Jessica''s was almost funny in her surprise, as was Kara''s. ¡°You are people with your own opinions and can make up your own minds.¡±


    ¡°Stay.¡± Jessica said right away.


    ¡°Stay.¡± Kara said, if slightly reluctantly.


    ¡°Doesn''t matter to me.¡± Steven said. ¡°I''ll go with the group.¡±


    Josh looked at Evangeline. ¡°Stay or go?¡± He asked her.


    ¡°I have to agree with the chosen hero.¡± Evangeline said. ¡°You need time to deal with your feelings and how you confronted them.¡± She said and gave him a quick kiss. ¡°You''ve put on this strong front and it''s not going to last long if you don''t take care of yourself.¡±


    Josh sighed. ¡°All right. Stay.¡±


    I turned and looked at the driver. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Me?!?¡± The driver looked at me with surprise. ¡°I''m just the driver.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh. Do you want to stay or leave?¡±


    ¡°I drive the carriage for the emissaries. I won''t abandon my post because I''m afraid of being attacked by vampires.¡± The driver said.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°What about your family?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The Acolytes of Light are taking care of them.¡± The driver said, his voice sure. ¡°The archmage gave all the information to the head acolyte and she took everyone in all of our families inside the church.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Good. You only have to worry about your personal safety.¡± I said. ¡°When we stop for supplies, we''ll get you armored up.¡±


    ¡°I can''t fight, sir.¡± The driver said.


    ¡°I''m not asking you to, and I won''t ask you to.¡± I said. ¡°It''s for personal protection.¡±


    ¡°It''s a waste of money.¡± The driver said, and I laughed.


    ¡°Who else is going to drive the carriage if you die?¡± I asked, and he sighed. ¡°Don''t worry. I think just leathers should be good, so you''re not weighed down trying to handle the horses.¡± I turned my head and looked at Afyne. ¡°It''s time for you to get a set, too.¡±


    Afyne grinned at me and nodded, so I turned my head a little and looked at the waitress that had stood a little off to the side and waited for us to finish talking.


    ¡°Thank you for being patient while we rambled.¡± I said and her face flushed slightly red.


    ¡°You saved this city from terrible creatures.¡± The woman responded. ¡°I didn''t mind waiting.¡±


    I smiled at her and we all ordered supper. I was tempted to order breakfast, since we had just gotten up; but, that would inconvenience the kitchen workers. We didn''t talk about much while we waited for the food to arrive, just idle conversation, and then the food came and after a quick whispered prayer, we all ate in relative silence. Meals have been like that recently, and I wasn''t sure if I liked that.


    ¡°So, Viri, how long have you lived here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What? Oh, um... all my life.¡± Viri said between bits of food.


    ¡°How is the business going?¡± I asked and took another bite of food myself.


    ¡°It''s been really slow for a few years.¡± Viri said, a little sad. ¡°I''m getting by, but...¡±


    ¡°Things are stagnant.¡± I said and she nodded. ¡°Well, maybe I can change that.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Viri looked up from her supper. ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°I was going to wait until later; but, now is as good a time as any.¡± I said and took another bite of food to make everyone wait for me to ask while I chewed.


    ¡°You know that''s annoying.¡± Maylia said with a smile.


    I covered my mouth to stop food from coming out when I laughed. ¡°I didn''t expect someone to call my bluff so fast.¡±


    ¡°We''ve been together how long now?¡± Maylia asked and took her own bite of food and started to chew.


    I laughed again. ¡°All right.¡± I looked at Viri. ¡°I want you to join my party.¡±


    ¡°What?!?¡± Several voices asked in surprise from the other tables. None of my people were surprised.


    ¡°It''s not a decision to make lightly.¡± I said and ignored the emissaries. ¡°Things are dangerous, and we ride into danger and not away from it.¡±


    Viri stopped eating and just stared at me. ¡°Is this about...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve seen some of your skills, and I saw how you handled the situations we ended up in yesterday and last night. You didn''t panic, or freak out, or try to run away. You were right there beside us and helped. You even killed some of the vampires.¡±


    ¡°You make it sound like...¡±


    ¡°After last night, you are as much of an adventurer as we are.¡± I said with a smile, and I saw several nods from the people at my table. ¡°I don''t let just anyone join this group.¡±


    ¡°We''d have a monster expert tagging along if he did.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°And a group of magical healers.¡± Imiryl said.


    ¡°Not to mention a pack of drakolopes.¡± Evus said with a grin.


    ¡°Hey, the beasts could be useful!¡± I said in my defense, and they laughed.


    ¡°A pack of drakolopes! Hahaha!¡± Viri laughed, too.


    I let them laugh for a few moments and looked at Viri. ¡°Your life is going to change, so why not change it a lot?¡± I asked. ¡°When we leave, come with us.¡±


    ¡°I... Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°I only ask that you think about it.¡± I said. ¡°No pressure either way. It''s your decision.¡±


    Viri looked down at her meal. ¡°No pressure?¡±


    I chuckled and she looked up at me. ¡°Well, I guess there is some pressure. You saw what our group was like. You just have to ask yourself if you want to be a part of that or if you want to wave to us as we leave.¡± I saw the doubt on her face and reached across the table and touched her hand. ¡°You have three days to make your choice.¡±


    ¡°Three days to decide if I want my whole life to change.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°I know that''s a long time to choose.¡± I said with a smile, and she laughed. ¡°Eat up and we can go find the supplies we need.¡±


    ¡°We?¡± Viri asked.


    ¡°You can come along, and since you''re from here, you can take us to the best places to go and maybe get us some good deals.¡± I pat her hand and leaned back to keep eating.


    ¡°I haven''t even accepted yet and you''re already using me?¡± Viri asked with a smile.


    ¡°I suppose we could just blunder around and hope we don''t get robbed blind.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, no pressure at all.¡± Viri said, and everyone at the table laughed.


    We finished eating and left the dining room and Kara and the others started to go to the front desk.


    ¡°I took care of it already.¡± I said and motioned to the front door to leave.


    ¡°As long as...¡± Kara started to say.


    ¡°Yes, from the loot.¡± I said with a smile and we left the inn and Viri took us to the best places to get the supplies and things we would need. I showed her the map of the cracks and we all discussed the best route for us to take to get to the next city and cover as much ground between here and there as possible. Once we had that information, we bought twice what we thought we would need.


    Thankfully, with Viri with us, the sales people were more than willing to sell us what we needed and in such huge quantities. We even managed to find a shop that had a half-decent set of leathers to fit Afyne, with only slight adjustments, and the driver gratefully accepted a basic set of leathers that gave him a good boost to his defense and didn''t impede his agility or his movement.


    The last place we visited was a magic shop and stocked up on the ingredients that were needed to perform the mind block spell. I was very tempted to buy everything in the place, including copies of all the spells they had, then decided against it. The last thing we needed was to have a bunch of spells we would never use. I did ask everyone what spells they thought they would need and paid for several copies of them, then bought the three neutral mana crystals the store had.


    I saw Diofra stare at me, and I waved her over. ¡°Give me a hand?¡± I asked with a smile. She put her hand on the five inch wide crystal and I attuned it to her and myself, then charged it up. The clerk''s mouth dropped open at the sight, then I did the other two.


    ¡°I think I need to sit down.¡± The clerk said and a chair appeared from nowhere as she collapsed into it.


    I chuckled and gave one of the charged mana crystals to Diofra and she tried to give it back. I mentioned the loot again and she was reluctant even then, so I pat her hand and stored the other two. She sighed and took it, as well as the copies of the spells, and we all left the shop.


    ¡°That was fun!¡± Afyne said and took my hand.


    ¡°Only because you weren''t agonizing over what spells you had to have.¡± I said and glanced at Jessica, whose face was red. I leaned over a little to whisper conspiratorially to Afyne and made sure that everyone could hear me. ¡°Should I tell them that I wanted to buy all of the spells in the shop?¡±


    Afyne laughed. ¡°No! Keep it a secret!¡±


    I laughed with her and we all went back to the inn. ¡°I know we woke up not that long ago; but, everything is shutting down for the night, so I''m going up to my room.¡±


    ¡°We might as well do that, too.¡± Imiryl said and gripped Allirynn''s arm tightly. None of us missed the seductive look she gave him.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± Allirynn said without taking his eyes off of Imiryl and led her over to the stairs.


    ¡°I''m glad we found everything we needed.¡± Diofra said and looked at Jessica. ¡°Want to give these new spells a try?¡±


    ¡°Why not.¡± Jessica said with a smile, then looked at Josh. ¡°Josh? Can we borrow you for a few minutes first? I want that mind block spell cast permanently on myself, too.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Josh said. ¡°We''re probably going to need it in a few days.¡± He turned to his wife. ¡°I''ll be up to the room soon.¡±


    ¡°Hey, do you think I should get it done, too?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°Are you afraid of being taken over by vampire mind tricks?¡± I asked with a grin, and he chuckled.


    ¡°No, I just... well, if vampires can mess with people''s minds...¡±


    ¡°...what can other creatures do?¡± I asked and he nodded. ¡°Better safe than sorry, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Do you have enough to do the spell on me, too?¡± Steven asked Jessica, who pulled out a huge bag full of ingredients.


    ¡°Nope. Sorry.¡± Jessica said, and we laughed.


    ¡°You kids go have fun.¡± I said and made shooing motions with my hand. Jessica, Diofra, Josh, and Steven left to find a good place to set up their small altars to perform the spells.


    ¡°I think I''ll head home myself.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± We said, and she gave us a little wave and walked out of the inn. Kara gave her a lingering glance, looked at me for a moment, then walked over to the stairs and went up them.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± Evus asked as he watched Kara leave.


    ¡°She''s wondering why I''m inviting another woman along with us.¡± I said and motioned to the stairs.


    ¡°Why are you inviting her?¡± Evus asked.


    I, Maylia, and Afyne walked over to the stairs and he followed. ¡°She''s a skill scribe and has a pretty powerful viewing bubble.¡± I said. ¡°It''s more like a crystal ball instead of a greenish bubble, actually.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Evus asked as we went up the stairs. ¡°She must be pretty strong in her mana use.¡±


    ¡°She can attune a mana crystal as fast a I can.¡± I said, and he whistled.


    ¡°Yep, pretty powerful.¡± Evus said and opened his room door. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± We said and went to our own room.


    ¡°Are we going to bed again?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°Actually, I think we can spend a few hours working on your training.¡± I said.


    ¡°Really?¡± Afyne looked at Maylia and I with excitement.


    ¡°We can''t have Hunter''s Hunter slacking off, can we?¡± Maylia asked.


    Afyne''s face flushed a little red and Maylia gave her a quick hug.


    ¡°We can have you up to speed on at least basic movements and attacks in no time.¡± Maylia said, confidently. ¡°So, are you ready to have some fun?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Afyne exclaimed, and then her training began.

 Book Two: The Summoned 073 (Im back as promised!)

    The next three days passed by before we knew it. Afyne had worn her armor non-stop all three days, except for last night when we needed to rest for the upcoming journey. Maylia and I had taken turns with having Afyne perform basic moves, like jumping jacks, lunges, push-ups, squats, and jumps onto a chair and off again. She did everything we asked without question and tired herself out. We always stopped her before she reached exhaustion, since that was not the point of training.


    Afyne needed to get used to moving in the armor and not have it change those movements. We corrected her posture and at random times, would give her a poke in the belly, or the side, or the upper back. She reacted, as almost anyone would, and it threw off her movements. She didn''t get angry at us, though. She understood almost right away that she needed to get used to things potentially hitting her and she needed to not let that bother her or stop her intended movements.


    We woke up the morning of the fourth day and met everyone in the inn''s dining room for breakfast, then discussed our travel plans and ensured that our paths diverted enough between the cracks to cover as many towns and villages as possible. The queen had said that she had implemented some of the measures we had recommended; but, without the appropriate backup available in each town and city for the guards, the majority of the tasks for clearing out the vampires was going to be by adventurers.


    Namely, us.


    We were okay with that, mainly because we were going to be doing it anyway. We decided to split up again to cover as much ground as possible and meet up in a few weeks time at the next major city on the map. Being able to communicate constantly with each other was a huge benefit, for both of our groups, and we were going to use it as much as possible.


    With everything settled, we turned in our room keys at the front desk and left the inn. There was no sign of Viri, so we went to the stable to retrieve our modes of transportation. After saying a quick goodbye, Kara and her much smaller group of people climbed into the carriage and drove off.


    ¡°I thought they''d never leave.¡± A woman''s voice said and came over to us with a horse.


    ¡°Viri?¡± I looked at her with surprise. ¡°I thought...¡±


    ¡°I saw the looks they gave me when you asked me to join.¡± Viri said and smiled at me. ¡°It doesn''t make me wonder why you have so many and they have so few.¡±


    ¡°I think Jessica would be fine with more members, actually.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh.¡± Viri gave me a sly smile. ¡°We are not getting the same information from the same looks.¡±


    I had to smile at that. ¡°Have you got everything packed?¡± I asked, slightly concerned. ¡°Three days really isn''t a long time to...¡±


    ¡°I''ve been packed since the night you asked me.¡± Viri said.


    I chuckled. ¡°Then welcome aboard.¡± I said and we mounted our horses and rode at a trot out of the city. Some people waved and others turned away. Some had anger on their faces and others had relief. It was a sad time for nearly everyone, which included us because we had caused that sadness. We rode out of sight of everyone and stopped to boost Viri''s horse. We only did hers because we wanted it to keep up with our normal movement.


    It would take a week or so to get the horse up to the same mana boost consumption of the other horses, and then we could ride full out. I thought about having her double up with someone instead, then thought better of it. We would have to pick up another horse and alter it for her eventually, anyway.


    Allirynn, Imiryl, Diofra, Evus, Maylia, Viri, Afyne, and I rode away from the city and towards the next crack on the map.


    The next encounter went surprisingly smoothly. I had expected something troublesome, especially after the vampires, and we barely had to fight anything. The crack was located in a deep forest and the creatures were about six feet tall and looked like sloths. Viri used her ability on them and showed us that it wasn''t from this world. Just to confirm it, Diofra used her Truesight square and we saw the creatures inside the crack through the illusion.


    They were slow moving and didn''t even try to run, not that they could have, anyway. They fought against us, to no avail. We quickly dispatched nearly a hundred of them that had scattered throughout the forest, then I prayed to god and we stepped through the crack. I almost felt bad for the things as we easily slaughtered them all on the other side and I put them into the bag of holding. After god checked the stars in the sky, we stepped back through the crack and closed it.


    We mounted the horses and diverted from our course to reach a small village next. It wasn''t large enough to warrant kingdom guards yet, so we knew that they hadn''t heard of the vampires yet or dealt with them. With Diofra''s Mass Scribe spell, boosted by me, and Viri''s ability to scribe individually, we made short work of completely clearing the village. They were all vampires.


    It had been a shock for us to discover. None of them had been human. Unfortunately, we couldn''t tell if they were original vampires from the crack or humans that had been killed and became vampires. According to Viri, it didn''t really matter. Once you became a vampire there was no hope of you ever changing back. We looted every body and piled them into the town''s square. Since they were all vampires, we had to search each and every building to look for their ''food'' supply.


    I sincerely wished we hadn''t.


    It was a slaughterhouse. People of all shapes, sizes, and ages, hung from their feet and were being bled out into huge coffers. They had to have been the original occupants of the village. Unfortunately, they couldn''t be identified in their current state. I took it upon myself to count them and record what had happened, then I asked Diofra to burn it all to the ground. She didn''t argue and no one objected to it, so I held Diofra''s hand and she cast fireballs at every house and building.


    We went to the center of the village where we had stacked the vampire bodies and I added the miscellaneous vampires that we had gathered from the previous city. With the pile complete, Diofra set fire to them as well. I wasn''t sure if it was because of the magical fire or because the bodies were extra flammable; but, the pile went up like a blowtorch and shot thirty feet into the air with bright blue flame. We moved to the outskirts of the village and held each other as we stood there and watched it all burn.


    When there was nothing but ash left, we boosted Viri''s horse and moved on.


    The queen was just as unhappy as we were about the village''s destruction and the loss of its people. Since there was nothing that could be done, except for what had already been done, we went to the next crack. We fought the undead there, both physical and phantasm, and they couldn''t take the Holy light barrier spell and disintegrated. I didn''t bother going inside the crack this time and just sealed it. If there was one thing I didn''t want to do, it was fight a few thousand of the undead by myself, even with god''s help. I''m not saying I couldn''t do it, because I could. I''m saying that I don''t want to take the chance of having the undead tear me apart or chew on my insides while I was still alive. No, thank you.


    We managed to clear another crack that had let packs of wild and rabid dogs, that were about twice the normal size, escape into the world. Once again, I just closed the crack and didn''t try to fight them all on the other side. I had used Presence Lightning to kill them all on this side in front of the crack; but, I''d have to get to the other side to do the same to the rest. With the damn creatures shoulder to shoulder and just raring to come through the crack after us, I didn''t want to take the chance that some would get by if I did try to go in after them.


    It was going to take us a while to follow the tracks and hunt down the dogs that had managed to flee already. We let Kara and the others know we had to divert from our itinerary because of it, and they offered to come and help. I accepted the offer, to her surprise, and we met up the next day. It took us two days to hunt down the large rabid dogs, and we did it just in time. One of the groups had already eaten through a farmer''s chickens and pigs. Unfortunately, the farm animals that had survived needed to be killed as well, because of the scratches and bites from the rabid dogs.


    The farmer wasn''t happy, even after I gave him the value of the animals that had been slaughtered. On the advice of Viri, I gave him double the money for him to buy replacements. He was placated and looked over the mess that the creatures had made. I stored all of the carcasses, including the animals that had to be put down, and that cleared a lot of the mess up. The farmer nodded and went back into his house and I waved for everyone to go back to where we had left the horses.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Thank you for coming as quickly as you did.¡± I said to Kara and the others. ¡°We couldn''t have rounded them all up this soon without your help.¡±


    ¡°Even with so many of you?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°You know, it''s been almost a week since the last time I saw your grumpy face.¡±


    Kara gave me an odd look for a second and turned her head to look at Viri.


    ¡°She caught us just before we left and decided to come along.¡± I said. ¡°She''s been a great help, especially during...¡± I stopped talking and took a breath.


    ¡°Yes, a great help.¡± Maylia said and took my hand.


    ¡°It was that bad?¡± Jessica asked, concern in her voice.


    ¡°Worse.¡± Evus said. ¡°I''ve never seen...¡± He shook his head. ¡°I hope we never see it again.¡±


    ¡°Call us if you need a hand when you hit the next town on your map.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and be careful of new or small settlements. You do not want to go into one unprepared.¡±


    The emissaries nodded and went to their carriage. I gave them a wave as the carriage started to roll away and Jessica waved back. She had a sad smile on her face and I returned it. These were sad times.


    My group mounted up after we checked the map and moved on. Over the next two weeks, we fought large venom-spewing lizards, a spider swarm that had built a web nest around the crack that we had to burn down, weird mud-like creatures that were resistant to both spells and weapons, and even a pack of local wolves that had been infested with parasites from the crack.


    The one we had the most fun with were the monstrous fire-breathing creatures that looked like chickens. They were three feet tall, had four legs instead of two, two large wings, and serrated beaks. I thought we were going to be in trouble at first, until Evus scared one and it let out a loud squawk and roasted the monstrous chicken in front of it. All of our faces lit up at the smell of roasted chicken, and our ''hunt'' quickly devolved into how many times we could get them to roast each other. We laughed and carried on, despite the danger, and we soon only had a handful left to deal with. They were easily killed and then we had to decide what to do with all the roasted meat.


    ¡°I do have a Cleanse All spell.¡± Diofra said.


    We all exchanged happy and hungry looks.


    ¡°I''ll gather the eggs!¡± Afyne said excitedly and we laughed, then got to work.


    We decapitated them all, plucked and cleaned them as if they were real chickens, then everyone sat down while I cooked them up properly. The chicken legs were the size of my forearms and the breasts were the size of my head. Thanks to my cooking skills, they came out succulent and delicious. The smell of my cooking must have spread for miles, because after an hour, I felt several hunters enter my detection range and I warned my group. A little while later, the men came out of the nearby woods.


    I glanced at Diofra and she nodded and cast the Mass Scribe spell on them when they were close enough. ¡°Welcome!¡± I exclaimed when they all came up as human, and tossed my bundle of cheap sheets to Afyne and she spread a couple of them out for the newcomers. ¡°Have a seat. The next one is just about ready.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± One of them asked as he sat down. ¡°Thanks, lass.¡±


    ¡°Monstrous fire-breathing giant chickens!¡± I said and held one of the headless three foot tall creatures. They gasped and said some kind of nonsense name for them.


    ¡°I''m re-branding them chickens.¡± I said and ignored the real name.


    ¡°Are they safe to eat?¡± Another man asked and saw the others in my party had half of one gone already.


    ¡°Our magic user cleansed them.¡± I said and several of the hunters nodded. It only took another ten minutes to finish cooking the next one and I started to divide it up. ¡°Who wants a leg?¡±


    Four of them put up a hand and I chuckled.


    ¡°Just the right amount, then.¡± I said and cut off the legs and handed them out. One wanted a breast and another wanted a thigh. Most of the bird was picked over and I went back to the fire to keep cooking. There were a lot of birds to cook, so I pulled another out of a bag of holding and started cooking it and ate absently while I did so. When the hunters were done eating, they asked where we found them.


    ¡°These are the last of them.¡± I said, not specifying how many we actually had.


    I saw several of them twitch a little and one actually reached for the knife on his belt. His friend touched his arm and stopped him.


    ¡°Well, it was nice having dinner guests.¡± I said, pointedly. ¡°Now that it''s over, you need to leave.¡±


    When the two men looked up, they saw us looking right at them.


    ¡°That''s a good idea.¡± One of them said and stood as he dragged his friend with him and kept a tight hold on the man''s arm. ¡°Thanks for the food.¡±


    I didn''t respond and the other hunters looked from their fellows and back to me in confusion. They stood as well and the hunters moved off back towards the trees. When they thought they were far enough away, they spoke in hushed whispers. I could still hear them, thanks to my use of Presence.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± One of the other hunters asked angrily.


    ¡°Carl here was going to pull his carving knife.¡±


    ¡°What? Why would... oh, you idiot!¡±


    ¡°Just one of those things could feed us for a week!¡± Carl said. ¡°I just...¡±


    ¡°You were going to attack a group of adventurers, in their own camp, to steal their food.¡± The man shook his head. ¡°You could have gotten us all killed.¡±


    ¡°How was I to know he was watching us so closely?¡± Carl asked.


    ¡°How many adventurers did you see there?¡± One of the others asked. ¡°A lot more than four, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah... but...¡±


    ¡°There were eight, stupid.¡± The man said. ¡°Do you know how strong they would have to be to support feeding eight people?¡±


    Carl shrugged. ¡°Strength doesn''t mean squat with a sneak attack.¡±


    A green and slightly glowing Mana Presence Hand appeared in front of him and grabbed him by the throat.


    ¡°That''s right.¡± I said, while I used Presence to carry my words to them. ¡°What makes you think you can threaten my people?¡±


    Carl grabbed the hand and tried to pull it off. The others came over to tried to help, and I made more hands to grab them, too. I picked them all six inches off the ground.


    ¡°How many people have you robbed, I wonder?¡±


    ¡°N-n-none.¡± Carl managed to say, and the Presence wavered.


    ¡°I hate liars.¡± I said and snapped his neck.


    ¡°I didn''t rob anyone!¡± One of them yelled.


    ¡°Did you kill them?¡± I asked, and he didn''t say anything. ¡°I assumed you were hunters of animals, not people.¡±


    They didn''t respond, and I sighed.


    ¡°I''m getting tired of meeting people who pretend to be one thing when they are another.¡±


    ¡°We''re just traders!¡± Another one said and the Presence wavered.


    ¡°Where''s your cart or caravan?¡± I asked and he pointed. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and snapped their necks.


    ¡°Hunter?¡± Maylia turned and saw the men''s bodies drop to the ground.


    ¡°They were bandits.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll keep cooking up the chickens if someone wants to go loot them and check their cart off in the woods.¡±


    ¡°I''ll go.¡± Allirynn said with a smile. ¡°Maybe they left someone guarding it.¡±


    ¡°I''ll come with you.¡± Imiryl said and they quickly crossed the field to the edge of the woods and looted the bandits there, then they moved off into the trees. By the time I finished cooking and dividing up the monstrous chickens, Allirynn and Imiryl had led the cart and horses through the forest path.


    ¡°Was anyone there?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Just two. They weren''t as honest or as forthcoming as the others.¡± Imiryl said, disgust in her voice.


    ¡°We had to go around the long way with the cart.¡± Allirynn said and carried the two bodies over to the others. ¡°Can I get a fireball over here?¡±


    ¡°I''ll do one better.¡± Diofra said with a smile and walked over to him, created a small mana barrier and cast a fireball inside of it. It was like an inferno inside and the bodies were burned up in a couple of minutes. She and Allirynn came back over to us.


    ¡°That''s a neat trick.¡± I said.


    ¡°You gave me the start of the idea when you caught my fireball with your Presence to kill those bugs. When we adapted the barrier for Holy light and Scribe to fight the vampires, well...¡± Diofra gave me a wide grin.


    ¡°That was one spell?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°Nice job.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Diofra''s face flushed a little red. ¡°I''m calling it ''Incinerate''.¡±


    ¡°Remind me not to make you angry.¡± I joked, and everyone laughed. ¡°Let''s check their cart over and see what we have.¡±


    It took twenty minutes to find the jewellery, gold, and personal items that the bandits had hidden. None of them had a bag of holding, so they had to hide it the old-fashioned way. In the bottom of a bag of horse feed.


    ¡°They bought the cheapest feed.¡± Afyne said angrily. ¡°The poor horses.¡±


    ¡°Who do we turn this in to?¡± Maylia asked and ran her fingers through the stolen loot.


    ¡°Considering they were bandits, I doubt whoever they stole from are still alive... or from the same place.¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you trying to convince yourself to keep it?¡± Viri asked, and we all laughed. A second later, we all pulled bags of gold, silver, and copper out of our bags of holding. ¡°Never mind.¡± She said, her face red.


    ¡°Don''t worry. Your cut on the vampire loot is pretty significant. As soon as we find a reputable place to sell it all, we''ll divide it up.¡± I said and grabbed a handful of mixed coins and gave them to her.


    ¡°Wh-what are you doing?¡± Viri asked and tried to keep them from sliding out of her hands.


    ¡°We get a bounty for the creatures we kill at each of the cracks, especially if they are a nuisance to people.¡± I said. ¡°You get part of that, too.¡±


    Viri looked at the pile of money and then at me.


    ¡°Now you know why Hunter doesn''t mind paying for everything.¡± Maylia said with a chuckle. ¡°After buying supplies and better weapons and equipment, we honestly don''t know what to do with it all.¡±


    Viri took a breath and let it out, then poured the money into her bag of holding. ¡°Now what?¡±


    ¡°Well, we keep the bandit loot separate.¡± I said and dumped out the cheap horse feed, then put the loot back in the sack. ¡°We''ll see if there''s a charity or something that we can give it to at the next town.¡±


    ¡°A what?¡± Viri asked.


    ¡°I mean like an orphanage or the healers if they need new beds or something.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Viri said. ¡°That would be a good use for it.¡±


    ¡°At least it''ll help someone and not go to waste.¡± I said and stored the sack of loot. ¡°We don''t really need a cart, though.¡±


    ¡°The food supplies can stretch out our own for a while longer.¡± Maylia said and stored it into her bag of holding. ¡°We don''t need the rest of it, since it''s for personal use by those thugs.¡±


    ¡°We could keep the wood for making fires.¡± Allirynn suggested and I stored the wood. ¡°What about the horses?¡±


    ¡°We''ll have to bring them along.¡± I said. ¡°We''re going to need another one soon.¡± I saw Afyne''s happy face, and then it became sad. I gave her a one-arm hug. ¡°It''s all right. We can keep sharing until you hit your growth spurt.¡±


    Afyne nodded and we decided to leave the horses on the cart and would sell it at the next town. She was the only one who was experienced in handling multiple horses, so we secured the two horses and cart to my horse and we all trotted our horses at a sedate pace through the woods towards the next town.

 Book Two: The Summoned 074

    Jessica was relieved that at the first crack they had dealt with, since learning of the vampires and having her mind blocked permanently, the Goddess Chaiya didn''t notice. She was surprised Josh had still collapsed, then she felt relief again when the goddess left and Josh woke up a lot sooner than he normally did and he still had a large portion of his mana left.


    They had their own weird adventures with creatures and things at their cracks, just like Hunter and his group had. Jessica''s thoughts drifted as she wondered what it would be like to be around him all the time, then she held in her sigh at the unrealistic expectations. She remembered his words and what he had said about them not having to rush, and having years to spend together. She almost laughed at that, since she knew that wasn''t what he meant. She could dream, however.


    The two days they had met up with Hunter and his group had been both exciting and scary. Rabid dogs were not a good thing to deal with, and they had been twice the size. She shivered as she remembered the foaming mouths and slavering jaws of the angry creatures, then she relaxed at the image of Hunter decapitating them. It had been her pleasure to cover the bodies in fireballs with Diofra.


    ¡°What are you smiling for?¡± Steven asked across the campfire.


    ¡°Diofra fixed the preservation spell I had made.¡± Jessica said and shook her head and her hair fluffed out from side to side and stayed together.


    ¡°Yeah, you look all dolled up.¡± Steven said with a grin. ¡°Do you have a big date or something?¡±


    Jessica snorted a laugh. ¡°Who are we going to date out here in the middle of nowhere?¡±


    Steven glanced over at Josh and Evangeline, who were currently cuddle in front of the fire.


    ¡°I''m pretty sure they are the exception.¡± Jessica said. ¡°They''ve been gaga over each other since they met!¡±


    ¡°Okay, that''s true.¡± Steven laughed.


    ¡°We can hear you, you know.¡± Josh said without looking away from his wife.


    ¡°We''ve only got another day to go before we hit that town.¡± Steven said. ¡°You know what that means!¡±


    ¡°More vampires.¡± Josh said with a sigh.


    ¡°No, man. Your own bed and privacy at an inn!¡± Steven said with a grin, and Josh had to smile.


    ¡°That does make things seem better.¡±


    ¡°Damn right it does.¡± Steven said. ¡°Jessica, did you...¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are on their way.¡± Jessica said. ¡°A group of bandits found Hunter and they are going slow because of the horses and cart they had.¡±


    ¡°I guess that means I don''t have to ask what happened to the bandits.¡± Steven said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Diofra said they were going to let them go, then a bandit admitted they were going to sneak attack to rob them.¡± Jessica said.


    ¡°Idiots!¡± Steven said and picked at a pack of dry rations. ¡°I bet they were whispering about it, too!¡±


    ¡°They were.¡± Jessica smiled.


    ¡°Good riddance, then.¡± Steven said. ¡°The less stupid people around, the better.¡±


    Josh smiled and started to open his mouth.


    Steven tossed a piece of dried food at him. ¡°Shut your mouth, smart ass.¡±


    Josh laughed and threw it back.


    ¡°I''ll keep watch.¡± Kara said from the top of the carriage.


    ¡°When do you sleep?¡± Jessica asked, concern in her voice. ¡°I can''t remember you ever staying inside the carriage.¡±


    ¡°I don''t really need to sleep.¡± Kara said. ¡°I meditate and get all the rest that I need.¡±


    Jessica thought about it. ¡°But... I haven''t seen you...¡±


    ¡°I''m doing it right now.¡± Kara said, and the others looked at her. ¡°Yes, I really am.¡±


    ¡°That''s both weird and cool.¡± Josh said, and that brought a rare smile to her face that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. ¡°I agree, it''s time for bed.¡± He stood up and stretched, then helped Evangeline stand and they went to the carriage that had already been altered for sleeping. It was a larger carriage than the one the queen had let them borrow. It was about the size of a camping trailer and it could fit a lot more people inside for sleeping. They all went to bed and settled down to sleep, and Kara kept an eye out for any threats that might try to creep up on them in the night.


    *


    We stopped outside the town and waited for the Church of Light''s carriage. After the last message, we knew they weren''t very far behind us. When they arrived, we moved forward as a group and the guards at the guard shack gave us a list of the people that had been detected as vampires.


    ¡°Thanks. This is really going to help us a lot.¡± I said as I took the list and the guard smiled at me. Jessica cast a free Mass Scribe spell and all of the guards came up as vampires. I waved my hand over my head, and in the next instant, all of the guards had one of Josh''s special arrows in their chests. We quickly looted them, removed the arrows, and I shoved them into the bag of holding that I used for vampire bodies.


    ¡°I think this going to be another long one.¡± Steven said. ¡°How much do you want to bet that the list is of normal people that they haven''t converted yet?¡±


    ¡°That''s a sucker bet.¡± I said. ¡°First thing we need to do is check the other guards.¡±


    ¡°Three teams.¡± Josh said and we all divided up automatically into the same teams we had before. ¡°The map Jessica made says there are only four entrances.¡± He said and showed us the map. ¡°We should go around and approach from the side, instead of what we did here.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Kara said and pointed to the other side of town. ¡°We''ll take the far side.¡±


    ¡°Coordinated?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Okay. Ten minutes, then meet back here in twenty to start the sweep.¡±


    Everyone nodded and split up. I had Evus, Afyne, Jessica, and Viri with me and we went to the right entrance into town. We got into position and waited the required time, then we approached the guard shack and Jessica cast the spell again. They were all vampires, so we wasted no time in wiping them out, looted and stripped them of armor and weapons, then I shoved them into my bag of holding. We were back by the horses with a couple of minutes to spare and waited.


    ¡°No problems.¡± I said when the others showed up.


    ¡°Nice and quick.¡± Steven said with a smile.


    ¡°Josh?¡± I asked and looked at him.


    ¡°All right. You know the drill. We do the houses first and work our way into the center of town.¡± Josh said. ¡°If you need refills on anything, let me know.¡±


    ¡°We should do the same thing we did the last time.¡± I said. ¡°We''ve got the guard shacks cleared, so we can bring any witnesses here. If we find any healers, we send them as well.¡±


    ¡°We could do the healers first.¡± Jessica said. ¡°That way we can just send people there, rather than bring the healers here.¡±


    ¡°We''d need to leave guards.¡± Evus said. ¡°Unfortunately, there aren''t any left, except for the ones that patrol the streets and report to the mayor.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I hope they aren''t changed, too.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°We''ll find out soon enough.¡± Josh said. ¡°Let''s get to it.¡±


    The town wasn''t as large as the last one, so we moved through the houses fairly quickly and only occasionally found a lone vampire. Apparently, the infestation hadn''t overrun everyone, so our jobs were significantly easier. None of the residents saw us removing the threats, so the healers weren''t necessary. None of the healers were vampires, which was a relief.


    We met up after the houses and cleared out the rest of the town''s larger buildings. Once again, it was a lot easier than the last time we had done it, and there was barely anyone bothered by the vampires being there. We gathered the people together and found the mayor was human, then we warned them to be mindful and vigilant. It had taken us barely a day to clear the whole place and we decided to spend the night to clean up and relax.


    The next morning, we met up and checked our maps to make sure we were still on the same routes and had marked off the cracks we had sealed. With our agenda set, we shared another amicable goodbye with the emissaries and parted ways. Jessica looked a bit more cheerful than the last time, and I figured it was because we had met up well before the schedule we had previously set, which told her that we would be seeing a lot more of each other than she expected.


    We sold the cart for a good price and pretty much gave away the adventuring gear, since it was previously used and we didn''t want to keep it. Afyne convinced me to keep both horses and not just the one for her that she would need later, so we had gained two more mouths to feed. It was her job to care for six horses already, so adding two more to the mix wasn''t going to be that significant for her skills. We bought extra feed, the best the stable had, and loaded the new horses up. Maylia and I boosted the new horses and Viri''s horse with mana and speed, then we rode out of town.


    *


    ¡°We''re getting closer to tracking it down.¡± Maleketh said absently as he recorded the last star pattern he had seen in the sky through the last crack. ¡°You wouldn''t think looking for the dark spots would be harder than looking for actual stars.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Of course, it would have been a lot easier if we had bothered to look at the star patterns before the stars were darkened.¡±


    ¡°Mumbling to yourself again?¡± A woman''s voice whispered into his area, and he laughed.


    ¡°It''s a good way to work out your problems.¡± Maleketh said.


    ¡°May I visit?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°Finally! Someone who asks first.¡± Maleketh said and waved his hand. A moment later, a woman dressed all in black faded into existence. ¡°Hello, Laura.¡±


    ¡°Maleketh.¡± Black Laura said. She had a lithe body that was barely covered in a black sheath from mid-chest to the floor and was almost completely see-through. She moved with grace and poise as she walked over to his viewing mirror. Her long black hair was offset by her very pale white skin. ¡°How are the children?¡±


    ¡°Rambunctious.¡± Maleketh grinned. ¡°You''d know all about that, though.¡±


    ¡°I may have had a hand in it, yes.¡± Black Laura smiled and looked down into the mirror. ¡°Oh, is that the map of the breaks in reality?¡±


    ¡°Just the one they have so far.¡± Maleketh corrected. ¡°It''s incomplete at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps you should direct them to travel to the other areas and have more maps made.¡± Black Laura suggested. ¡°It could help our search significantly if the map of the planet was complete.¡±


    ¡°I could tell them that.¡± Maleketh said and looked down at it himself. ¡°Hunter knows it needs to be done already.¡±


    ¡°Is he that smart?¡± Black Laura asked.


    ¡°Do you find that surprising?¡± Maleketh asked with a smile.


    ¡°Only a little.¡± Black Laura said. ¡°Although, my follower did pick him to be a personal vassal.¡±


    ¡°That was a sneaky way to bless them without actually blessing them.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Black Laura laughed. ¡°You''re welcome.¡± She said and touched his arm. ¡°I would do more if I thought I could get away with it.¡±


    Maleketh sighed. ¡°Yes, we can''t be seen as directly influencing them, despite our vested interest in helping them as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°It is an unspoken rule that a few of us have ignored on occasion.¡± Black Laura said and rubbed his arm. ¡°However, now is not the time to create zealots.¡±


    ¡°You should tell Chaiya that.¡± Maleketh said, then he laughed. ¡°On second thought, she would just laugh in your face.¡±


    ¡°Yes, she did.¡± Black Laura said, sadly.


    Maleketh turned to face her and her hand slid from his arm to his chest. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°She''s become very full of herself.¡± Black Laura said and stepped close. ¡°Her arrogance is making her blind to everything except her own plans.¡±


    Maleketh nodded and he put his hand on hers. ¡°She doesn''t realize she has lost the devotion of one of her emissaries.¡±


    ¡°Ooo, which one?¡± Black Laura whispered seductively. ¡°Perhaps I can scoop her up?¡±


    Maleketh chuckled. ¡°I don''t think she has room in her heart for anyone except Hunter.¡± He said and waved at the mirror on the table and the image of Jessica appeared. ¡°It''s the archmage.¡±


    ¡°A powerful pawn to lose from the board.¡± Black Laura said without taking her eyes from Maleketh''s face. ¡°Will you claim her with your king?¡±


    ¡°Laura...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know you despise the game.¡± Black Laura said. ¡°That doesn''t mean you aren''t the best player.¡±


    Maleketh smiled. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°What makes you think I want anything?¡± Black Laura said and her hand slid down his chest to his hip and half-hugged him.


    ¡°The last time you tried to seduce me for a favor, I lost a ridiculous amount of followers to a plague when I said no.¡± Maleketh said.


    ¡°Perhaps I just want to distract you.¡± Black Laura said with a smile.


    ¡°There''s not really anything that you could do to distract...¡± Maleketh stopped talking when she used her free hand to unhook her dress and it dropped to the floor. She revealed that she was completely naked underneath and Maleketh was reminded why people cursed about seeing her pale white tit. It really was quite the sight to behold.


    ¡°Help me make another star, Maleketh.¡± Black Laura said.


    ¡°Laura, I''m really quite busy with...¡± Maleketh stopped talking when she took his hands and pressed them to her breasts.


    ¡°You are the only one allowed to touch me like this, dearest.¡± Black Laura whispered and leaned in to kiss his cheek. The Presence didn''t waver and Maleketh gave one last glace to the mirror on the table, then he waved a hand and the table disappeared as a bed appeared.


    ¡°How many planets?¡± Maleketh asked in a slightly defeated tone.


    ¡°Three, please.¡± Black Laura said and laid down on the bed and posed as sexily as she could, then she smiled seductively. ¡°You can give me as many moons as you can stand, though.¡±


    Maleketh couldn''t help himself and laughed at her sexual innuendo, then he joined her on the bed.


    *


    Over the next two weeks, both Hunter''s and Kara''s groups fought a multitude of creatures, sealed cracks, and cleared the vampire scourge from the countryside. The two groups met at the next large city and combined forces to scan it all. Surprisingly, there were only a handful of them, and they weren''t even in key positions like the others. They stopped and rested for several days, Hunter sold the loot they had gained from the bandits and gave the money to the place that took care of a bunch of orphans.


    It wasn''t officially an orphanage, since it was just a bunch of kids without parents that were being taken care of by a kindly old nurse. Of course, with so much money from the loot, the old nurse registered her house as an orphanage officially with the mayor''s office. She and the kids thanked him and the others for their generosity and invited them to a meal. Hunter couldn''t refuse, so they ate supper with a pile of rowdy and happy children.


    Kara kept her surprise about Hunter''s gesture on behalf of the orphans to herself. She knew they would look at her oddly if she expressed her thoughts about how Hunter''s gift was wasted, mainly because she believed that the town should have taken care of the kids already. She held in her sigh while some of the others had a good time with the children.


    They always look at me oddly when I express an opinion. Kara thought.


    ¡°Hey, Miss Frowny-face!¡± A little girl practically yelled at Kara. ¡°Come and play!¡±


    Kara was brought out of her thoughts and looked at the little girl, then she looked up to see Hunter laughing. ¡°Very funny.¡±


    ¡°I thought so.¡± Hunter said and let Afyne drag him outside.


    The little girl snaked her hand into Kara''s and pulled. ¡°Uncle Hunter said we''re playing hide and seek!¡±


    ¡°U-uncle?¡± Kara blinked her eyes in surprise and let the girl drag her outside.


    ¡°He''s family now! Momma Gracie said so!¡± The little girl hopped up and down. ¡°Where should we hide? Where should we hide?¡± She repeated excitedly and looked around frantically. They could hear someone counting loudly nearby, so she knew they were almost out of time.


    ¡°Let''s try the bushes over there.¡± Kara said, because she used Detect Presence and couldn''t see anyone else hiding there.


    ¡°Okay!¡± The little girl ran over to the bushes with Kara and they ducked down. The girl giggled constantly and was sure to give them away. Kara thought about using her stealth technique and her sound dampening technique, then she noticed the girl''s happy energy.


    ¡°I''m coming to get you all!¡± A young boy yelled and was met with loud laughter from all over the place. He laughed himself and started to run to the closest spot, which just happened to be them. ¡°HA! Caught you!¡± The boy jumped behind the bush dramatically and pointed at Kara and the young girl.


    ¡°AH, FOOEY!¡± The girl jumped up and pretended to be angry, then she laughed. The boy tagged her and ran off to find the next person who was laughing.


    Half the fun is getting caught. Kara realized.


    ¡°Come on!¡± The girl pulled on Kara''s hand that she hadn''t let go of since they left the house. ¡°He''ll catch everyone soon and then we''ll be it!¡±


    Kara walked over to the house and stood there as she lost herself in her thoughts. I''m hunting him again. That thought brought a small smile to her face as she saw Hunter and Afyne with several children walk over to the house to wait as well. I hope he sees the irony in this.


    Hunter turned to see her smile. She''s going to be hunting me again. He thought and let a small smile show on his face. It''s ironic that I''m okay with it like this.


    ¡°That''s everyone!¡± The first boy said as he came to the house and pointed at the little girl and Kara. ¡°Your turn! Hide your eyes and count to twenty!¡±


    ¡°No cheating.¡± Hunter said out of the side of his mouth.


    ¡°Listen who''s talking.¡± Kara said. ¡°You''re using it to...¡±


    Hunter took out his blast shield to show her and then tucked it back into his bag of holding.


    I didn''t even notice that he wasn''t wearing it! Kara thought in surprise.


    ¡°ONE!¡± The little girl yelled with a hand over her eyes.


    Kara covered her own eyes with a hand and the kids squealed and laughed as they ran off in different directions. The game was on!


    Kara would never admit that she actually had fun while playing a simple children''s game that day.

 Book Two: The Summoned 075

    We all stayed the night at a nearby inn and cleaned up, then we met the next morning to discuss our movement plans. There wasn''t going to be another town for quite some time, much to both Kara''s and Jessica''s disappointment.


    I tried not to laugh at their unnecessarily sad faces. ¡°I''m sure something is going to come up and we will have to meet up again before then.¡±


    ¡°I hope so.¡± Jessica said before she could stop herself, and a few people chuckled.


    ¡°Why don''t you tell us how you really feel.¡± Steven said with a smirk.


    ¡°Oh, shut up.¡± Jessica said with a red face and he laughed.


    ¡°If we keep at it, we can get through all of this in no time at all.¡± I said and waved at the map.


    ¡°I don''t think six more months is ''no time at all''.¡± Viri said with a laugh.


    ¡°In the grand scheme of things...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°Don''t start talking about how long the universe has been around.¡± Kara said with a shake of her head.


    ¡°Even long lived races like us are only brief spots in comparison.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°What''s six months compared to all of time?¡±


    ¡°What matters most is that it''s happening right now.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Us. Here. Now.¡±


    I looked at everyone''s faces and saw several nods. ¡°All right, then.¡± I looked back at the map and started to change the route we just picked. ¡°Let''s make most of it.¡±


    Jessica smiled as the new routes had us crossing paths at least once every two weeks. We could handle clearing vampires out of villages easily, so I had us meet up at practically every large town. There weren''t that many large cities left, and since they were pretty far away from the crack that the vampires had left from, I wasn''t expecting to encounter a lot more of them. It didn''t hurt to have everyone gathered together in case I was wrong, though. Everyone was happy with the reworked plans, so after surprising handshakes from Josh and Steven and a hug from Jessica, we parted ways and went our separate and still intertwined routes.


    Both of our groups moved on and worked their way across the countryside. Each village, town, and city, had less and less vampires in them. Jessica had even managed to combine the crack detection spell with locating vampires, and we saw where the remaining clumps of them were within the kingdom. We kept going and fought creatures, closed cracks, healed up, and cleared out the vampires.


    We even took occasional breaks of several days, sometimes together and sometimes apart. It stretched the six month estimate out to over eight months; but, none of us were upset by that. We were doing a lot of hard work and a lot of continuous travelling. None of us wanted to suffer burnout before the task was done and we needed time to rest and relax.


    The last town my group visited was the first town Maylia and I had encountered and killed those armored armadillo things called brocchulas. We were greeted like returning heroes and the town threw a party in our honor. We took the opportunity to check if everyone was a vampire and I was relieved that they were all human. Even Hoquan and his wife and son showed up to greet us.


    ¡°You will be stopping by the farm for supper tomorrow.¡± His wife Margaret said. It wasn''t a request.


    ¡°We''d be happy to.¡± I said and accepted on everyone''s behalf. She smiled and nodded as her family moved on to enjoy the festivities, then the first guard we had seen came over to us.


    ¡°There you are!¡± Gill said. ¡°How has my old bag of holding been?¡±


    ¡°It''s had all kinds of creatures in it.¡± I said and leaned in close. ¡°Even a garglemacer.¡±


    Gill gasped. ¡°Truly?¡± He asked and I nodded. ¡°I knew giving it to you was the right thing to do!¡± He laughed and slapped my shoulder. ¡°You''ve put it to good use, my friend.¡±


    ¡°I have something for you.¡± I said and took out the bag of holding I had bought a long time ago. ¡°It''s brand new and never been used.¡±


    ¡°Aw.¡± Gill held it and looked at it, slightly disappointed. ¡°You couldn''t stuff a few creatures in it, could you?¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Sure, why not?¡±


    I gave him a few of the miscellaneous creatures we had fought and he tossed them into the bag. His eyes had widened at the variety and then he tied the bag to his hip. He was stroking the bag and the bounty inside like it was a cat, and I laughed.


    ¡°If you like that, you''re going to love this.¡± I said and pulled out a tooth and a scale from the very first garglemacer I had fought. ¡°I want you to have these.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what... no, I... Hunter, you can''t...¡± Gill looked pale at the sight of them. ¡°H-how big was it?¡±


    ¡°These are the smallest teeth and scales.¡± I said and handed them to him. ¡°Thanks for the bag of holding you gave me. It had to stretch out over twenty feet to fit the whole thing in.¡±


    Gill''s face was white from shock. ¡°These... you could sell them for... you could even buy...¡±


    ¡°They''re yours, so you can do what you want with them.¡± I said and didn''t tell him that I had two more of each stored away. ¡°Keep them. Sell them. Toss them in the river...¡±


    ¡°Throw them away?!?¡± Gill exclaimed and hugged them close. ¡°Bite your tongue, young man!¡±


    I laughed, and after a moment, he laughed, too. The festivities continued as the day turned into night. We soon found out that we couldn''t stay at the inn, because all of the rooms were taken. There were several shouts and protests, along with offers by people to give up their rooms for us, and I politely declined. We left the inn and moved out to the edge of town and found a nice place to set up camp and rest for the night.


    With nothing pressing during the next day, Maylia and the others took it upon themselves to help Afyne continue her training. I thought about joining in, then Afyne reminded me that I needed to meditate. She had been making me take time to do that each day, even while riding the horses. I nodded and she gave me a kiss on the cheek, then she moved a short distance away and started training with Maylia''s sword. I sat in the lotus position and took a deep breath, then used several mental techniques to calm myself down, cut off external sounds, and concentrated on my body.


    I usually only managed an hour here, or two hours there, each day, after teaching techniques to Afyne and Maylia. This time I spent the entire day in meditation. I could feel the slight difference in my Presence and mana as the two energy states within me came closer and closer together. I was going to need more time to integrate them, considering I had been trying for the last eight months, and if I knew my body as well as I know I did, I was only about halfway to getting the two energies to coalesce together and combine into one.


    I finished meditating and Afyne finished training. After a short rest, we travelled to Hoquan''s farm. We had a great supper, good conversation, and their son stared at all of us like we were the best thing in the world. When supper was over, I took Hoquan aside and gave him thirteen silver coins.


    ¡°No. I''m not taking your charity.¡± Hoquan said, slightly angry.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°It''s not charity.¡± I said. ¡°It''s your cut of the bounty on the brocchulas.¡±


    Hoquan huffed. ¡°I didn''t kill any of them.¡±


    ¡°Only because I showed up too quickly.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I''m sure you would have killed at least one of them on your own. Plus, they were on your land.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t make them mine.¡± Hoquan said without a trace of anger in his voice.


    ¡°They were as much yours as they were mine.¡± I said and held out the coins.


    Hoquan sighed, because he knew he was going to lose this argument, and took the coins. ¡°Why thirteen coins?¡±


    ¡°One for each of them.¡± I said and his eyes widened. ¡°It''s okay. At the time, I got ten each for them.¡±


    ¡°T-t-ten?!?¡± Hoquan almost dropped the coins.


    ¡°I couldn''t come back and give you your cut, because I had spent most of it.¡± I said.


    ¡°What did you buy?!?¡± Hoquan asked, surprised.


    ¡°Pretty much everything.¡± I said. We stared at each other for a moment, then we both laughed.


    We stayed for another hour so that their son could hear some of the stories we had experienced, and he was held spellbound. When it was time for him to go to bed, we said our goodbyes and left the quaint little farm behind.


    It wasn''t until we reached the end of First Sothen Kingdom and our task to clear the vampires was done, that I had Viri use her skill to locate the one person that I needed to talk to, in order for me to understand my skills and abilities. The enchanter at the shop in the capital had given me the person''s name and their location, so it was easy for Viri to use her skill to locate them. When she used the neutral mana crystal I gave her, a small six inch wide crystal ball appeared above it.


    ¡°May I?¡± I asked, and she nodded. I put my hand on hers and added my mana, and the crystal ball expanded out to the five foot wide size we had seen before. ¡°Much better.¡±


    Viri stared at the thing. ¡°How can you do that?¡± She asked as the planet rotated inside the orb.


    ¡°I think it''s just the sheer size of my mana reserve.¡± I said. ¡°Can you concentrate and find this person?¡±


    Viri nodded and read the name again, then the crystal ball zoomed into a place I didn''t expect. It was surrounded by an energy barrier. The crystal zoomed in again and showed a huge tree-city, then zoomed into a small house. We watched as a little old elven woman puttered around her kitchen, then she stopped, put her bowl of soup down, and turned around to look up at us through the crystal orb.


    ¡°A powerful blind seer.¡± The old woman said and cackled a little. ¡°Normally, I would be very upset that someone was snooping in on me.¡±


    ¡°Please forgive the intrusion.¡± I said and ducked my head briefly. ¡°I was given your name and told you could help me.¡±


    The old woman squinted her eyes at me for nearly a full minute without saying anything. ¡°Huh. Well, if you can get yourself here, I''ll see what I can do.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said.


    ¡°Don''t thank me yet.¡± The old woman cackled. ¡°You''re never getting in here! Hahaha!¡±


    ¡°You''ll be surprised.¡± I said and she heard the confidence in my voice.


    ¡°A man coming through the barrier?¡± She cackled. ¡°You will be killed on sight!¡±


    ¡°We''ll see.¡± I said. ¡°When can I come by?¡±


    ¡°I''ll expect your ghost to visit me at any time!¡± The old lady cackled loudly and waved her hand, and the crystal ball dissolved.


    ¡°Well, that was pleasant.¡± Viri said and shivered. ¡°How can someone dismiss a remote spell like that?¡±


    ¡°That''s probably my fault.¡± I said. ¡°She might not have noticed if I wasn''t helping.¡±


    ¡°So, we''ve come full circle.¡± Maylia said and I turned to her.


    ¡°It seems so.¡± I said. ¡°We''ll travel to the barrier, set up camp, then I''ll...¡±


    ¡°You are not just going to go inside and hope for the best!¡± Maylia exclaimed.


    I stepped close to her and took her into my arms. ¡°I was going to say I''ll contact the queen.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Maylia said. ¡°That''s okay then.¡±


    I chuckled and kissed her. She stiffened up slightly, especially since everyone was around us, so I stopped. ¡°I might just relax for a day or two first.¡±


    Maylia''s eyebrows went up and I leaned in to whisper in her ear.


    ¡°Perhaps one more lesson before we have to part?¡±


    Maylia''s face flushed red as she blushed.


    ¡°I''ll take that as a yes.¡± I whispered and kissed her cheek, then stepped back. ¡°Okay, people. Gather around.¡± I said and everyone came over to me. ¡°I''ve got something I''ve been meaning to do for a while now, and it apparently involves going back inside the magical barrier that the elves have around their lands.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± Afyne yelled and grabbed onto me. ¡°You can''t go back in there!¡±


    I knelt and took her into my arms. ¡°Don''t worry. I''m going in a different way than the last time and I''ll be going in with permission this time.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter, please.¡± Afyne''s eyes were flooded with tears. ¡°You''ll be hurt.¡±


    ¡°I''m hurt already by having to leave you and Maylia behind.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t take the chance that they will twist their promise.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°I need to know what I can do to rid myself of this weakness.¡± I said and touched my forehead.


    ¡°How long...¡±


    ¡°I could be gone for a day, a week, or for a month.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll find out when I get there.¡±


    ¡°I''ll tell Jessica where to meet us.¡± Diofra said.


    ¡°Let the queen know as well.¡± I said and looked back at Afyne. ¡°Don''t worry, all right? I promised that I will always come back to you, remember?¡± I said and brought a touch of Presence and mana to my fingertip as I held it in front of her.


    Afyne put her own finger up, then she squinted her eyes and concentrated. I could sense the mana and Presence inside of her as it tried to respond to her commands. I touched my fingertip to hers to give her some help and she gasped as her mana and Presence eagerly rushed to meet mine. Afyne''s eyes almost glowed as she leaned in and gave me a very brief and feather-light kiss on the lips.


    I smiled because she had made my lips tingle with both Presence and mana. ¡°It seems our lessons on Presence are starting to take hold.¡±


    Afyne nodded and gave me a huge smile. She had made great strides in learning to harness both energies, especially in so short a time.


    ¡°Let''s get everything loaded up and we can head to the barrier at the edge of the kingdom.¡± I said, and everyone packed up. Diofra said that Kara and the others would meet us there in three days. I checked the map and saw that the emissaries had one more crack to take care of and I nodded. We mounted our horses and travelled for a day to get back to the same spot that I had left through nearly a year ago. We set up camp off to the side and we all settled in to relax for the next two days.


    On the last day before I was going to leave, I had Diofra and Evus watch Afyne for me and then I created a small Mana Presence dome for privacy. Maylia was quite receptive to what was going to be our last private lesson for a while. When I tried to go a little bit further than foreplay, she didn''t relax or go passive. I rolled her over and she stared at me with wide eyes. She was just as surprised as I was.


    ¡°It''s finally time.¡± I said with a huge smile. ¡°Happy birthday to me.¡± I said and then kissed her before I very slowly joined with her.


    Maylia cried out in both pain and pleasure as she fought her body''s ingrained reactions and I went slow for our first time together. She yelled and hollered in frustration and joy as her body convulsed and she tried to hold on to me and push me away at the same time, then we stared into each other''s eyes as we made love. We both felt every movement, every bit of pleasure, and I didn''t stop moving until she finished. She let out an inarticulate scream when it happened and I kissed her to quiet her. She ate at my lips as if she would never get enough and kept moaning as she did.


    ¡°I love you.¡± Maylia whispered. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I whispered back and kissed her again, then I figured this was a good time to start moving again. Since her body was already primed from going once, she went again almost immediately and kissed me hungrily as she screamed into my mouth. She had her arms and legs wrapped around me at this point and we kept having sex. With the way both she and her body held onto me, it didn''t take me long to finish as well. We both collapsed onto the bedroll and were slightly out of breath.


    ¡°Oh... oh, Hunter.¡± Maylia panted and stared at me. ¡°Is... is it always...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said and her face started to turn sad. ¡°Sometimes it''s better.¡± I said with a laugh.


    Maylia swatted my chest. ¡°Don''t tease.¡± She said and her hand found the scars over my heart and she traced them with her fingers. ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said and she looked at my face. ¡°I''d make more if anything happened to you.¡±


    Maylia closed her eyes for a moment and nodded, then she leaned over and kissed them. She rested her head on my chest and hugged me tightly.


    ¡°Are you two done yet?¡± Viri asked. ¡°I don''t know how much longer I can take listening to you.¡±


    Maylia and I sat bolt upright.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± I said loudly and there was a smattering of laughter and snorts from nearby. ¡°I forgot to make the barrier soundproof.¡±


    ¡°We tried to say something earlier...¡± Imiryl said and stopped talking.


    ¡°Yeah, thanks.¡± I said and rubbed my face. ¡°Maylia, I''m sorry that I embarrassed you like this.¡±


    ¡°I''m not embarrassed.¡± Maylia said and I turned to look at her face when the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°They know we love each other.¡±


    ¡°But... they just... the sounds...¡±


    ¡°I didn''t know I could make those kinds of sounds, either.¡± Maylia said with a pleased expression. ¡°It was a great lesson.¡±


    I opened my mouth to say that I hadn''t intended to teach her how to make those sounds, then leaned over and kissed her instead. I made the Presence barrier push the sound down and away like I should have the first time.


    ¡°Round two?¡± I asked.


    Maylia nodded as she laid down. ¡°This is nothing like what the teachers said making babies was like.¡±


    ¡°I''ve worked with you for almost a year to teach you that.¡± I said and positioned myself over her, then I rolled her over onto her belly. ¡°You don''t know how happy I am that you learned it.¡±


    Maylia looked back at me over her shoulder. Her face showed confusion when I picked up her hips to expose her. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°You didn''t think there was only one way to do it, did you?¡± I asked and slipped inside of her.


    Maylia gasped and then moaned loudly as I showed her a much different way to make a baby than she had been previously taught. She liked it just as much as she liked the other way.


    I had so much more to teach her.

 Book Two: The Summoned 076

    Kara and the others arrived near the end of the day. They quickly exited the carriage and exchanged greetings with everyone.


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Jessica asked when she saw the solid green barrier over one of the tents.


    ¡°Hunter''s been spending some alone time with Maylia.¡± Afyne said and rolled her eyes. ¡°I don''t know why I couldn''t be in there, too.¡±


    Diofra smiled and put an arm over her shoulder. ¡°You''ll understand when you''re a little older.¡±


    ¡°Wait... you mean he''s...¡± Jessica''s face flushed red. ¡°With everyone here, too?¡±


    ¡°Well, the nearest inn is a couple of days away by fast horse.¡± Steven said.


    Jessica''s blush started to fade. ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°You don''t think we actually needed to go foraging for berries to supplement our dry rations every couple of days, do you?¡± Steven asked with a grin and pointedly looked at Josh and Evangeline. Jessica turned to look at them herself and Josh started to whistle and turned his head away. Evangeline just stood there and held his hand and smiled, completely unrepentant.


    ¡°Wow, I can be so dense sometimes.¡± Jessica said and Steven laughed.


    ¡°You''ll understand when you''re a little older.¡± Steven joked and tried to put an arm over her shoulders. Jessica slipped out of his reach before he could and he laughed again.


    ¡°When do you think...¡± Jessica started to ask.


    *


    ¡°Sorry about that, everyone.¡± I said and the solid green barrier dissolved as I absorbed it. ¡°I needed to make sure that Maylia knew how much I loved her.¡±


    ¡°Where is she?¡± Jessica asked, curious.


    ¡°She''s... going to be sleeping for a while.¡± I said with a grin and several male chuckles responded. ¡°Now that everyone is here, I''m going into the elf lands.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Jessica and Kara yelled.


    ¡°There''s someone inside that I need to visit.¡± I said.


    ¡°You can''t be serious!¡± Jessica exclaimed. ¡°I thought it was just someone near here, not actually inside there!¡± She waved angrily at the magical barrier. ¡°You know what they did to you the last time!¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said as I walked towards Afyne. ¡°I''ll have permission this time.¡± I gave her about a third of the cooked monster chickens to help feed everyone and she gave me a third of the large ostrich eggs in return.


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°I''m going to ask, of course.¡± I said and went to each member of my party and shook the men''s hands and hugged the women that wanted a hug. ¡°It should only be a few days travelling to meet her, according to Viri, then I don''t know how long I''ll be.¡±


    ¡°We''re going to stay here, no matter how long it takes.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°We have a job to finish.¡±


    I clapped him on the shoulder. ¡°That we do.¡± I said and walked over to Jessica. ¡°I''m sorry this meeting is a lot briefer than I thought.¡±


    ¡°Have you told the queen what you''re doing?¡± Jessica said, almost accusingly.


    I chuckled. ¡°Yes, and I told her why.¡± I said and took her hand. ¡°You can stay here and wait for me, then we can all go to the capital to meet the queen, or you can head back to the capital on your own.¡±


    ¡°We... we have to talk it over.¡± Jessica said, her voice touched with uncertainty.


    ¡°We''re waiting.¡± Kara said confidently. ¡°We need to rest before travelling across the kingdom anyway.¡±


    ¡°I thought as much.¡± I said and looked at everyone. ¡°You all did fantastic during all of this.¡± I tried to think of something inspiring to say, then smiled. ¡°Thank you all.¡± I turned towards the barrier. ¡°I''ll see you in a little while.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Afyne whispered and I turned back to face her. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said and walked over to her, bent down and gave her the same feather-light kiss she had given me the other day and made her lips tingle this time. She touched her lips with a fingertip and then held it up to me. I kissed the tip to make it tingle as well and she giggled. I kissed her forehead and slipped my blast shield over my eyes and covered it in Presence, just in case, then I walked over to the barrier. I looked up at its massive size, took a deep breath as I covered my hand in Presence and mana, then placed my hand on it. The part of the barrier I could see shimmered at my touch and I closed my eyes.


    This worked the last time. I thought and instead of trying to manipulate the energy, I just pulsed it slightly with Presence to make it ripple, like knocking on a door.


    *


    It had been another long day for Queen Orella of the Elves. Teaching her daughters to be strong and fair was a delicate balancing act. Her own mother had quite the time with her, so she went into their training with an open mind and an understanding attitude. It made her very tired to be moderate and not treat them with a heavy hand like her mother had treated her.


    Orella knew if she tried to beat some sense into them, they would only resent her for the effort, just like she resented her own mother for it, even if it would save their lives later. There was a time for harshness and a time for a steady hand. She sighed and sat down at the table to enjoy a meal with all three of her daughters. Sylvana, the youngest princess, had made great strides in both decorum and her emotional control over the last year. She managed to restrain her anger in several different situations already and didn''t let it get the better of her, not like she had during that incident nearly a year ago.


    Those thoughts made Orella think about the man that had caused that incident. Even after all this time, her mind kept going back to that moment when he had embraced her and kissed her cheek so tenderly. She had never been treated like that by a man before and it still surprised her that a man could be capable of such things. Her hand twitched and she stopped herself before she reached up to touch the spot, then she gasped when she felt a familiar feeling of a hand touching her lower back.


    ¡°Mother, what is it?¡± Braya, one of her twin daughters asked.


    ¡°Gather the court mages for a teleport spell.¡± Queen Orella ordered her and stood, once again stopping herself from putting a hand on the spot. ¡°Someone is touching my barrier.¡±


    Braya didn''t argue and ran from the room and the other two daughters stood.


    ¡°Who would dare do that?¡± Bryanna, the other twin asked.


    ¡°Can you think of no one?¡± Orella asked, almost in a whisper, and both daughters shook their heads.


    ¡°Mother.¡± Braya said a couple of minutes later as she led the court mages into the dining room. ¡°Shouldn''t you...¡±


    Queen Orella gave her casual dress a quick glance and looked at her daughters. ¡°There''s no time for us to change.¡± She said and walked over to the mages.


    ¡°We''re coming, too.¡± Princess Sylvana said and grabbed her sisters and pulled them into the teleportation circle and motioned for the four armored guards to join them. ¡°I will see with my own eyes the person that would insult you this way.¡±


    The queen knew she would say that and nodded to the mages, who adjusted their chant for the extra people and activated the teleport spell.


    *Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    I saw a glowing teleportation circle appear just on the inside of the barrier. Hey, it worked this time, too. I thought with a smile as a group of mages appeared inside the circle and looked right at me. They look a little angry.


    ¡°Who would dare insult the queen by touching the barrier?¡± Princess Sylvana asked as the mages parted for her and the armored guards.


    ¡°Sylvana.¡± A woman''s authoritative voice said in a flat tone.


    ¡°I wasn''t going to attack.¡± Sylvana said and motioned for the guards to take defensive positions. ¡°I didn''t yell and I didn''t rush over, either.¡±


    ¡°You remember your lessons well.¡± The woman said in a pleased tone and stepped forward herself.


    I saw that it was the queen and I gave her a regal bow without letting the barrier go. ¡°Your highness.¡±


    ¡°So, it really is you.¡± The queen said in an odd tone.


    ¡°YOU!¡± Sylvana yelled when she saw me on the other side of the barrier. Her hand gripped the hilt of her sword. ¡°Do you know how long it took to attune this sword back to me?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said and stood up straight to look at the queen. ¡°Please accept my sincere apologies for touching your barrier.¡±


    ¡°You are still touching it!¡± One of the twins said and pointed to my hand.


    ¡°I don''t want you to dismiss me and leave without hearing my request.¡± I said to the queen and ignored the daughter''s accusation.


    ¡°It must be important for you to risk my wrath like this.¡± The queen said with an expressionless face.


    ¡°Very.¡± I said. ¡°I humbly request permission to enter your lands.¡±


    ¡°Of course you cannot enter.¡± Sylvana said and you could hear her trying to restrain herself. ¡°Outsiders are forbidden.¡±


    ¡°Three things concern me inside your lands, your highness.¡± I said and continued to ignore the daughters, despite being impressed that Sylvana was remaining calm. ¡°One of your citizens was recommended to me, because they can help me with my class.¡±


    The queen''s eyes widened slightly at my words. ¡°Surely, there are others that...¡±


    ¡°My class is incomplete, your highness.¡± I said and she, her daughters, and the court mages gasped.


    ¡°Th-that... that''s not possible.¡± One of the court mages said. ¡°For a class to be incomplete...¡±


    ¡°The energies inside of me are conflicted and fractured.¡± I said. ¡°I need more specialized help.¡±


    The queen fell silent and considered my words. After a few moments, she spoke. ¡°What are the other two concerns?¡±


    ¡°The more prevalent one would be vampires.¡± I said and her face lost some of its color.


    ¡°What? How?¡± Sylvana asked, concern in her voice.


    ¡°It''s because of the third concern I have.¡± I said, and quickly explained about the cracks and the various creatures that had come into this world through them.


    ¡°What makes you think vampires could be here?¡± One of the mages asked me.


    ¡°When I went through the crack they came from, I found their old lair. It was abandoned over a thousand years ago.¡±


    The mages exchanged concerned looks and then all eyes went to the queen, which confirmed my guess about it being around the same time that the elves had erected the barrier.


    ¡°Obviously, you have found a way to find them.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°Yes, your highness.¡± I responded. ¡°I have several spells, actually. One to find the cracks inside your lands, one to reveal vampires within a small local area, and one to detect all of the vampires at once.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you need to come inside to cast them?¡± One of the twins asked, derisively.


    ¡°With your own court mages here?¡± I asked with a chuckle. ¡°No. I can just give them the spells.¡±


    The mages caught their breath and started to mumble among themselves for almost a full minute.


    ¡°You would freely give away such high tier spells?¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°It serves no purpose for me to keep them from you.¡± I said. ¡°Except to stop you from dealing with the problems.¡±


    That made them all go quiet, because even a year later, they remembered my promise to come back and kill them all if they had sent someone after me.


    ¡°Why should we believe you?¡± One of the twins asked.


    ¡°A sign of good faith, then?¡± I asked and took out the three spells and rolled them up together.


    ¡°What are you going to do? Teleport paper through a ten foot thick magical barrier?¡± Sylvana asked with a laugh.


    ¡°Nothing so grandiose.¡± I said and took out a water skin, covered the rolled paper in Presence, then poured water over it and held the water around it with Presence, just like I had covered the guiding spirit to let it back through the barrier. They stared at the water-covered paper and I pushed it into the barrier. Everyone on the inside of the barrier gasped or yelled in shock as I used Presence to push the water-covered paper right through it without resistance. When it reached the other side, I let the water flow off of the rolled paper and floated the paper over to the group of mages, then I absorbed the Presence I had covered the paper with and let the pages drop to the ground completely dry.


    ¡°He just passed something through the barrier like it was nothing!¡± One of the twins exclaimed. ¡°How? How could that happen?¡±


    The queen stared at me while one of the mages slowly reached out for the rolled papers. She quickly unrolled the papers and read the spells. The other mages read the spells over her shoulder and they started to mumble again.


    ¡°Well?¡± Sylvana asked, clearly frustrated. ¡°Are they legitimate spells or not?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are real spells.¡± The one holding them said. ¡°It will take a good amount of mana to cast them, though.¡±


    ¡°Can you do it?¡± The queen asked without taking her eyes from me. She clearly did not want the answer to be no.


    ¡°Yes; but, we won''t be able to cast the teleport spell until we recover.¡±


    ¡°Do you have mana crystals?¡± I asked and held one up. ¡°You can use the mana charge instead.¡±


    The mages stared longingly at the fully charged mana crystal.


    ¡°No, we don''t have those.¡± One of them said, sadly.


    ¡°Then I suggest casting the crack location spell first and drawing a map. That way, we can confirm if the most dangerous threat actually exists within your barrier.¡± I said and stored the crystal.


    ¡°I have to agree.¡± The queen said and looked at her mages. ¡°Two of you take the spell and cast it in conjunction to cut the mana cost in half and share the drain.¡±


    The mages quickly copied the spell and sat down to cast it. They added the spell components and easily cast the spell. A two foot wide slightly green bubble appeared above them and it showed their lands. Nearly a dozen cracks were inside and a third mage copied the map and marked the crack locations.


    ¡°That might explain why creatures keep appearing inside the barrier and you have to keep sending out scouting and hunting parties all the time to hunt them.¡± I said.


    The queen''s guards nodded in agreement as the spell faded, since no one could explain how creatures kept appearing inside the barrier that was supposed to keep everything out. Two other mages copied the spell to locate the vampires and switched seats with the first two tired mages. They cast the vampire locate spell and another two foot wide bubble appeared and showed the kingdom. The mages let out a collective sigh when nothing appeared on the map.


    ¡°Well, that''s a relief.¡± I said. ¡°I was worried one of your tree-towns might have been overrun like a few of the villages we encountered here.¡±


    ¡°They took an entire village?¡± One of the twins asked, surprised.


    ¡°Several, actually.¡± I said sadly. ¡°Also, they took over most of a few towns we cleansed and parts of a couple of cities.¡± I saw their pretty faces share that sadness. ¡°I would have been here sooner; but, it took us this long to clear the entire kingdom.¡±


    ¡°You cleared the entire First Sothen Kingdom?¡± The queen asked, clearly surprised, and I nodded. ¡°You don''t do anything halfway, do you?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Once I knew of the threat and the danger it imposed, I had to deal with it as best as I could.¡±


    The queen looked over my shoulder at the dozen people behind me. ¡°You had a lot of help.¡±


    ¡°I did and I am very grateful for it.¡± I said.


    ¡°If I do grant your request to enter, I cannot let anyone else in.¡±


    ¡°I am aware of that restriction.¡± I said. ¡°As you can see, no one else is near me and I didn''t ask anyone to come with me.¡±


    ¡°Then how would you have fought the vampires?¡± The queen asked, curious.


    ¡°I assumed that you would assign me guards, trackers, and mages to hunt them.¡± I said. ¡°It would be ridiculous of me to expect you to let me roam freely within your lands unsupervised.¡±


    ¡°You are very accommodating.¡± One of the twins said. ¡°Is meeting this contact worth putting yourself under the queen''s guard?¡±


    ¡°Despite all the things I''ve done since I arrived here almost a year ago, my body is still weak.¡± I said and looked right at the queen. ¡°I am vulnerable to magical attacks and I hope to find a remedy to that.¡±


    The queen caught her breath and stared at me with wide eyes. ¡°Why would you tell me that?¡±


    ¡°Trust.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°A relationship needs to be built on trust. I trusted you not to send anyone after me, and you didn''t. I came back and I am asking permission to enter your lands, because I want you to trust me back.¡±


    ¡°That''s why you did that trick with the spell papers.¡± One of the twins said and I saw the understanding on her face. ¡°You wanted to show us that you could have come in at any time that you wanted.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I also wanted to show you that even though you didn''t know it, you were trusting me already by me not returning unannounced.¡±


    ¡°Before I consider letting you enter my lands, tell me how to close these cracks.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°You need a devout follower of a god or goddess that has been blessed by them, either personally or by proxy, then they need to share their divine energy with that follower to seal the cracks.¡±


    The queen, her daughters, the guards, and the mages all had shocked expressions on their faces. Clearly, they were not prepared for me to offer the answer right away.


    ¡°I expected that you wouldn''t have anyone remotely close to that description, so I am prepared to trade my services for passage.¡± I said and that made several of them gasp. ¡°I''ll need the mixed group of members to be assigned right after I visit my contact and find out what to do about my condition.¡±


    Sylvana turned away from me and whispered to herself. ¡°He''s blessed by a divine being.¡± She closed her eyes and I could see her trying to hold back her tears. ¡°I hurt him and... and I...¡±


    The queen reached out and put a hand on her daughter''s shoulder. ¡°Now you know another reason not to overreact.¡± She said. ¡°Imagine if you had succeeded in killing him.¡±


    Sylvana took several breaths ducked her head as several tears dripped from her face and onto the ground. Small sprouts appeared from them and she calmed down. She opened her eyes and looked at her mother.


    ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± Sylvana said and turned to face me. ¡°Hunter, I''m sorry for what happened.¡±


    ¡°So are my balls.¡± I said and then smiled.


    There were gasps, scandalized faces, and laughs on both sides of the barrier. Both the queen and Sylvana understood what I did, diffusing the serious mood with humor, and Sylvana nodded to me. The queen let her daughter''s shoulder go and turned to look at me. Without another word, she waved her hand and an opening appeared in the barrier that was barely big enough for me to walk through.


    I turned to the people behind me and gave them a little wave, brought my hand to my lips and blew them a kiss, then I turned around and walked through the opening.

 Book Two: The Summoned 077

    I came through the barrier and stopped as it closed behind me. ¡°I was promised safe passage in the elves lands, so I hope you''re not going to shackle me or bind me magically.¡± I said and noticed the uncomfortable looks on the faces of the mages and the armored guards. The queen had noticed as well and stopped herself from sighing. I saw her trying not to roll her eyes and held in my smile.


    ¡°I don''t believe I''ve properly introduced myself.¡± I said and looked directly at the queen. ¡°May I approach?¡±


    The queen looked taken aback by my formality and at my apparent respect to her personage. She quickly recovered, however. ¡°You may.¡±


    I took several steps, stopped a respectable five feet away, then I bowed at the waist almost forty-five degrees. ¡°My name is Hunter. I am Queen Celestina''s Personal Vassal for the First Sothen Kingdom.¡±


    Gasps and wide eyes greeted those words and I stood up strait to look at the queen''s face. I saw a great loss there, as I knew I would, considering the last words she spoke to me were to try and convince me to stay and help her kingdom. It took her several moments to compose herself before she spoke.


    ¡°I am Queen Orella of the Elves.¡± The queen said and held her hand out automatically to complete the greeting. There were several more gasps and a few whispers because of that. The queen couldn''t take the hand back once it was offered, even though I was a man. I took two steps forward and gently cupped her bare hand in mine, bent over it, and pressed my lips to her fingers. I felt her rough hands and knew she still trained regularly. As a ruler of a nation, she never had to fight personally and used proxies when necessary, because they would never risk losing her. I stood straight and let her hand go.


    ¡°You know my youngest daughter.¡± Queen Orella said in a slightly higher pitched voice and motioned to the younger looking woman nearby.


    ¡°Princess Sylvana.¡± I said and stepped to the side to be in front of her. Sylvana had an expression like a deer caught in headlights and stuck her hand out automatically as well. I held in my chuckle and cupped her hand as I barely brushed my lips on her knuckles.


    ¡°The ones you don''t know.¡± Queen Orella motioned to one of the twins, who stepped forward. ¡°My eldest daughter, Princess Braya.¡±


    Braya''s arm twitched as she fought against automatically sticking her hand out to me. She couldn''t let her younger sister show her up though, so she put her hand out with a jerk as if that would get the act over quickly. I took her offered hand and bent over it briefly and barely touched her knuckles with my lips, just like I had with Sylvana.


    ¡°My second daughter, Princess Bryanna.¡± The queen said and the other twin stepped forward and gracefully held a hand out.


    Unlike the others, Bryanna had plenty of time to adjust to the awkwardness of offering her hand to a man in greeting. I gave her a little smile and saw her face flush a little red, then I bent over her hand and gave her just a tad more than a brush of my lips on her fingers. She saw and felt the difference and her face flushed slightly more red. I let her hand go and stepped back to the respectable five feet and waited. I had been sorely tempted to give them a taste of Presence, just to see their reactions, then thought better of it.


    By the looks of the guards, they are prepared to attack me if I offer even a little bit of offence. I thought.


    We all stood there and no one said anything for nearly a full minute. I had to assume that they were all trying to come to grips with having a foreign man right in front of them... and they weren''t allowed to kill him.


    ¡°May I inquire how long it will take for your mages to recharge their mana to cast the teleport spell?¡± I asked. The queen turned to look at the closest mage. I could see that the four of them that had participated in the two cast spells looked tired; but, they weren''t exhausted like they could have been, had they cast them as individuals.


    ¡°Another half an hour, your highness.¡± The mage said and her eyes flicked to me. ¡°Unless...¡±


    ¡°Of course you can borrow it.¡± I said and took out the charged neutral element mana crystal that glowed slightly green. ¡°You''ll need to attune your mana to it to use it, though.¡±


    ¡°How long will that take?¡± Braya, the older twin asked.


    ¡°Five minutes.¡± The mage said and she held her hands out for it. I gave the five inch wide crystal to her and its glow doubled in intensity. She held it in her hands as if it was a precious little child and made soothing sounds to it. The other mages gathered around and each of them touched it and made the same soothing sounds. I looked at the queen and she gave me an imperceptible shrug. Five minutes later, the glow reduced to what it was before, and all of the mages had smiling faces.


    That''s a lot better than the anger I first saw when they appeared. I thought.


    ¡°Please gather in the circle.¡± The mage with the crystal said and the four guards surrounded me instead of the queen and put me into the center of the group. I was only slightly taller by an inch or so than everyone else, not counting their heeled boots, so my normal sight would have been blocked had I been using it. I was looking through my blast shield with Detect Presence, though... so I easily saw Maylia come out of the tent.


    She woke up a lot sooner than I thought she would. I thought with a smile.


    Maylia wore a hastily donned nightgown that hung off one of her shoulders and her hair was a dishevelled mess. She had a huge smile on her face and she saw us on the other side of the barrier.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Maylia waved lazily. ¡°Don''t accept duels!¡±


    I waved in acknowledgement just in time, because the mages stopped chanting and the teleportation spell completed. One second I was waving to Maylia and the next second I was waving to a window inside the elf queen''s private dining room. I was a little surprised at the instant transition and then I felt a gut wrenching pain flow up from my gut and right into my head.


    ¡°ARRGGHHH!¡± I yelled and put a hand on my belly and one on my head, then I collapsed to my knees and rolled onto the floor on my side. All of the women jumped away from my outburst and the four guards quickly put themselves between me and the queen. In the next moment, they had their swords pointed at me as if I was a threat. The pain intensified and it felt like my insides were being liquefied.


    ¡°BLUURRGGHHH!¡± I expelled an inordinate amount of blood and fluids.


    ¡°GET THE HEALERS!¡± The queen yelled the order as she pushed her guards out of the way and knelt right in the blood.


    ¡°Your majesty.¡± One of them said. ¡°You''re kneeling in...¡±


    ¡°SHUT UP!¡± The queen yelled and looked at me, then her hand touched the side of my face. ¡°Hunter.¡±


    I lost all concentration and the room went dark with the loss of my Detect Mana Presence technique. It took the last bit of energy that I had to pull out the small piece of paper with my contact''s name on it, then I lost consciousness.


    *


    Queen Orella''s heart felt like it had been crushed at the sound of utter agony that she heard from the man behind her. She had tried to turn and see what happened and her guards had gotten in the way and pushed her back. She saw Hunter drop to his knees and fall to the floor, then he threw up more blood than she had seen being expelled from a living body. It could only mean one thing.


    HE''S DYING! Orella yelled in her mind. ¡°GET THE HEALERS!¡± She yelled out loud and pushed her stupid guards out of the way and knelt beside his head. She felt the blood quickly soak into her casual dress and she didn''t care. One of the guards tried to say something and she yelled at them to shut up.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Orella whispered and touched his face tenderly. He''s barely breathing. She thought as she saw him struggle to take out a piece of paper and then he stopped moving. ¡°Hunter!¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Mother! I have the healers!¡± Sylvana said and the mages and guards moved aside to let them through.


    Four women rushed into the room at a fast walk and came over to the person on the floor. They were surprised beyond measure when they saw a man... an actual man... on the floor of the queen''s personal dining room. He also looked to be gravely injured and in a pool of his own blood. The healers pushed their cultural shock aside as their professionalism took over. They didn''t ask the queen to move, since she was the queen and she wasn''t crowding them, even though the blood had seeped up several inches of her dress. The four women knelt around Hunter, one partially in the blood he had expelled, and they held their hands out towards him. Four sets of hands started to glow slightly and the healers winced.


    ¡°He''s completely torn up inside.¡± One of the healers said in a soft voice. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°We don''t know. He collapsed after we used a teleportation spell to come back from the barrier.¡± Sylvana said.


    The head healer immediately had an angry expression on her face and glared at the mages. ¡°You fools! You used the economy spell!¡±


    The faces on all of the mages drained completely of color. Two of them swayed slightly from shock and a third one fainted. No one tried to catch her as she slumped to the floor.


    Queen Orella looked at the healer who spoke. ¡°What do you mean by ''they used the economy spell''?¡±


    ¡°It was streamlined for ease of mana cost.¡± The head healer said and looked at her fellow healers. They nodded and knew what to do as the energy in their hands increased. ¡°It is also a lot cheaper when you add in exclusions and make the spell work exclusively for female elves.¡±


    ¡°We... we didn''t think...¡± One of the mages said, tears in her eyes. ¡°We''ve always used... it''s never happened before... your highness, we...¡±


    Queen Orella held up a hand to stop the woman''s pleading and closed her eyes. She tried to remain calm as once again, her people had injured Hunter. As the queen, even she didn''t realize that the spells they used could be tailored in such a way that they could harm everyone but female elves. It didn''t matter that it was an understandable mistake. What mattered was that she had allowed him to enter her lands as a guest and then allowed him to be harmed. She didn''t want to think about the mages making the same mistake when bringing forth a group of males for potential breeding stock and potentially having the men all die horribly from internal injuries.


    ¡°It will take some time to heal his wounds.¡± One of the other healers said, her voice slightly strained as the healing energy she used quickly drained. ¡°He has taken both magical and physical wounds.¡±


    Queen Orella opened her eyes and looked at the healers. ¡°Use all of the resources you can to restore him to perfect health. I approve both people and items of value. Bring in as many healers as you can.¡±


    One of the mages held out the depleted mana crystal towards the healers. ¡°He let us use this.¡±


    ¡°It''s empty.¡± The head healer said, slightly angrily. ¡°Fill it and be of some use.¡±


    The other mages quickly reached out to touch it and poured in their mana. The crystal was filled in moments and she handed it to the healer, who took it and stopped herself from sighing and glaring at the incompetent mages. The head healer placed the crystal on Hunter''s chest and all of the healers touched it and took five minutes to attune themselves to the crystal. In the next moment, the crystal drained completely and all four of the healers moaned as the energy was practically sucked through them and into Hunter.


    ¡°A-again.¡± The head healer said in a slightly shaky voice and held up the empty mana crystal. ¡°Guard, call the apprentice healers and mages. We can stabilize him here and then move him to a more appropriate treatment area to continue our work.¡±


    The crystal was filled again as the mages offered up their mana as many times as they could. The mage who fainted awoke to the scene and joined in on the effort, too. The healers greedily took the mana and converted it into healing energy. More mages and healers entered the room and with their help, after almost ten minutes of constant healing, their patient took a normal sounding breath instead of the ragged rasp it had been. The mages filled the crystal again and the healer took it.


    ¡°Levitating platform.¡± The head healer said and the platform appeared beneath Hunter. She was surprised that barely a trickle of mana had been removed from the crystal. The four healers carefully rolled him onto his back, now that the danger of him drowning in his own blood had been removed, then the platform levitated by a touch of the head healer''s finger. Everyone cleared out of the way and the healers started to remove Hunter from the queen''s dining room.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Queen Orella stood up and saw everyone''s faces blanch at the sight of her. ¡°Go with them.¡± She commanded the mages and turned to the unconscious man on the platform. She took his hand for a brief moment, then nodded to the healers. The mass of elven women, healers and assistant healers, mages and assistant mages, rushed out of the room to bring their patient to the proper facilities to care for him. Queen Orella pointed to two of the guards and they followed, then she looked down at herself and saw that nearly the entire front of her dress, from mid-thigh down to the hem, was soaked in blood.


    ¡°Mother.¡± Braya, her eldest daughter said and touched her mother''s arm.


    ¡°Have my attendants bring me another outfit.¡± Queen Orella said, her voice sad. ¡°Also, the... cleaners.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mother.¡± Braya said and nodded to her twin to get the cleaners and they left to do their appointed tasks.


    ¡°Mother.¡± Sylvana said in almost a whisper when it was just her, the queen, and two guards left in the room. ¡°Do you think he will be angry?¡±


    Queen Orella wasn''t sure what to say. She didn''t know him, except for that brief encounter almost a year ago. If that was any indication, considering his threat, he could be completely incensed and livid about being hurt again. As she thought about it, for some reason that she could not explain, she knew that he wouldn''t be. She opened her hand and looked at the piece of paper with Hunter''s contact on it. She didn''t recognize the name, even though she knew all of the strongest and talented women in her kingdom.


    ¡°Find this person.¡± Queen Orella said and handed the paper to her daughter. ¡°Bring her here.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mother.¡± Sylvana said and bowed to her, then strode from the room.


    *


    Sylvana looked at the paper and memorized the name and the location. She passed her eldest sister in the hallway and nodded to her, then passed her mother''s attendants and paid their frantic faces and movements no mind, because they always acted that way when the queen required their services. She picked up her pace and went down the stairs to her guard''s resting area and rapped on the door once before entering. They were already standing at attention and she let a smile appear on her face.


    ¡°The queen requests a hunt and retrieval.¡± Sylvana said and handed the head of her guard the piece of paper, then she explained the circumstances. All of the guards, especially the head guard, were surprised at her words.


    ¡°He c-came back?¡± The head guard asked and her voice cracked slightly.


    ¡°He requested permission to enter.¡± Sylvana said when she saw their faces. ¡°He is not here to hunt us all down.¡± She saw several of them relax, and one even sat down and trembled. She was the one that blocked his lightning bolt with her mana shield to help me. She thought and walked over to the guard and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°It''s all right. He''s not going to hurt you.¡±


    ¡°H-hurt m-me?¡± The woman looked at her princess with confusion. ¡°I want to have his babies!¡±


    Sylvana looked at the woman with wide eyes and several of the guards started to laugh.


    ¡°You''ve got high hopes!¡± One of them said and more laughter joined them. ¡°He''s not even part of the mating pool!¡±


    ¡°He took me down with a single low-powered lightning bolt, despite all of my training and defenses.¡± The woman said to them. ¡°Mating pool or not, he''s the most powerful mage I''ve ever seen!¡±


    ¡°He''s a fighter, not a mage.¡± Sylvana let her shoulder go. ¡°Even though he does cast some spells.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± The woman looked up at her princess. ¡°Mage Wall. Mage Hand. Lightning Bolt. Dash. Jump. Healing.¡± She said and rhymed off the six spells that she had seen Hunter use. ¡°I''ve never heard of a fighter using mage spells.¡±


    ¡°Not a word of invocation was spoken.¡± Sylvana told her.


    ¡°That just means he''s even more powerful!¡± The woman said and shivered again. ¡°Oh, the children he could bear!¡± She closed her eyes and put her hands on her belly.


    ¡°They would be physically weak.¡± The head guard said and tried not to spit the words. Physical weakness was anathema to their way of life and their beliefs.


    ¡°Not if trained properly.¡± The woman said and opened her eyes. ¡°He doesn''t know our ways. If the children do turn out weaker, then they would only need to rely on their sister guards to keep them safe while they perform their feats of magic.¡± She said confidently. ¡°Imagine coming across a pack of rickchaws and only needing to have a Mana Wall formed around them in an instant to keep them together! They could be easily slaughtered with ranged weapons with no danger to the squad!¡±


    The other guards had contemplative looks as they thought about how easy it would be to kill the monkey-like and thickly furred armored creatures, if they could be kept from swinging from the trees and running all over the place to swarm the hunting party. Even Sylvana took a few moments to consider the possibilities.


    ¡°If he''s here, I want to submit my petition for his services immediately!¡± The woman said and ran from the room before anyone could stop her. Her nervousness and tremors had been quickly forgotten.


    ¡°Wait!¡± The head guard said fruitlessly and then sighed.


    ¡°They will tell her when she makes the petition that he isn''t eligible.¡± Sylvana said. ¡°He''s not an elf.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think she cares.¡± One of the other guards said. ¡°If he does become available...¡± She stopped talking and looked at the faces around her. In the next instant she bolted to the door with six other women right behind her.


    ¡°Stop!¡± The head guard said fruitlessly as nearly half of their squad ignored her and left. ¡°By the ancestors.¡± She sighed and rubbed her face in frustration.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± Sylvana said as she squashed her desire to hunt her wayward guards down to discipline them. ¡°I only intended to take a few of you with me anyway.¡±


    The head guard nodded and picked the best five people for transporting an important person. ¡°We will escort the carriage.¡± She said and the guards followed their princess out of the rest area to where the horses and carriage were being stored. Sylvana entered the carriage and the head guard sat across from her, while another guard sat with the driver. Two guards rode their enhanced horses in front of the carriage and two rode behind it as they left the comforts of the huge castle to head several tree-cities away to find Hunter''s contact.

 Book Two: The Summoned 078

    ¡°Ughhhh.¡± I moaned as I opened my eyes and saw complete darkness. ¡°Did anyone get the license plate of the truck that ran me over?¡± I asked as my head was assaulted by a splitting headache and I couldn''t concentrate enough to activate my Detect Mana Presence technique. I absorbed the solid Presence around my blast shield and pulled it off of my face as I blinked my eyes, then I shoved the black metal covering into my bag of holding that was thankfully still tied to my hip. I heard someone move over towards me, so I turned my head to look at them.


    ¡°What manner of words were those?¡± The kind and pretty face asked me and then she almost screamed. ¡°Your FACE!¡± She rushed over to my bed and stared down at me. ¡°By the Queen''s Grace.¡± She whispered and touched where the blast shield used to be embedded into my forehead. After a few moments, she shook herself almost like a dog shaking off water, then she let a huge smile spread across her face. ¡°How do you feel?¡±


    ¡°My head is killing me.¡± I said and sighed.


    ¡°No, no. You can''t die from that.¡± She pat my hand. ¡°It''s just mana exhaustion.¡±


    ¡°Mana exhaustion?¡± I asked, confused. Even with a headache, I could tell that I still had all of my mana and my Presence.


    ¡°Healers and mages have been pouring healing mana into you for three days straight.¡± She said and hovered a hand over my forehead, then moved it down over my chest and down my legs. ¡°The body can only take so much before it is strained. We are all very glad that you survived both your ordeal and the healing.¡±


    ¡°Survived my...¡± I stopped talking when I remembered what happened before I collapsed. ¡°Do I even want to know how I was so damaged?¡± I asked her and she moved her hand back up to my forehead.


    ¡°I can''t offer healing for the pain, because it would just make it worse.¡± She said and ignored my question as her hand stopped glowing. ¡°Your body needs to rest and recuperate on its own.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± I tried to speak and she touched my lips with a finger to stop me.


    ¡°Only another half-day of bed, just to be sure your body isn''t taxed too much.¡± The healer said and moved her finger over to my cheek and cupped it briefly with her hand. ¡°The answer to your question will come soon.¡±


    ¡°You know, don''t you?¡± I asked.


    She nodded and let my face go. ¡°If you will promise to lay here and not move, I will send for the head healer.¡±


    I thought about telling her that I was going to do what I wanted, then I sighed as my head throbbed again and I felt the muscles stiffen in my right arm from taking off my blast shield.


    ¡°All right. I''ll be good.¡± I said dejectedly.


    The woman gave me another big smile. ¡°I''ll be back in a few minutes.¡± She said and started to walk away and looked back, as if I was going to jump out of bed and escape, then she walked on. Halfway across the room she turned and look at me again, then she went to the door. She looked back for several moments as she opened the door very slowly, stepped through the opening and stared at me, then she closed the door. I heard her very fast footsteps retreat down the hallway.


    I sighed again, because I still couldn''t concentrate enough to activate any of my techniques, not even partial meditation to dull the pain. Mana exhaustion, huh? I thought with a laugh. After everything I''ve done so far, I''m surprised it''s never happened before.


    I stayed there on the bed and didn''t move, as promised, mainly because I felt that if I did try to move more than I already had, my muscles would have wicked and uncontrolled tight contractions. The last thing I wanted was to have a full body ''charlie horse'' and the wracking pain that would accompany it. I also felt at a distinct disadvantage as I laid there and couldn''t ''see'' anything outside of the room. I heard several sets of feet approach the room''s door and realized that I was too used to using my detection technique all the time and I hated that I couldn''t use it now.


    I hid my consternation at not knowing how many people were actually coming when the door opened. A bevy of similar looking women came into the room and I recognized some of them. I was a little surprised that none of them were the queen or her daughters.


    ¡°You really are awake.¡± The woman in the lead said as she approached the bed and then she stopped walking when she saw that my face was bereft of the black metal of the blast shield. The women behind her were so intent on coming over that they walked right into her. I smiled as the poor woman was almost bowled over before the women behind her caught themselves and stopped walking as well.


    I thought they were going to fall like dominoes. I thought with a smile and saw confusion on their faces as they wondered why they had to stop so far across the room, then one of the women noticed me. She let out a little scream and covered her mouth before more of it escaped. That got everyone''s attention and they all leaned and bent around the women in front of them to get a look for themselves.


    At that moment, I wished that I had a recording device to have a copy of all the different reactions. Disbelief, shock, desire, a few other emotions that I can''t describe, and even some looks that were a mix of those emotions combined. The most prominent one I could see on the first woman was anger.


    What did I do now? I asked myself as my smile faded.


    ¡°Everyone out!¡± The woman in the lead exclaimed as she turned to the others. ¡°Now! Out! OUT!¡±


    I saw incredulity and disappointment on a lot of their faces as they reluctantly turned away and went back to the door. The woman pushed and shoved the others out of the room and closed the door, then she leaned her head against it and took several breaths. She stood up straight and turned towards me, then walked across the room to my bed.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± The head healer asked me.


    ¡°Like a taught rope about to break.¡± I said and her head tilted slightly to the side as she looked at me with contemplation clear on her face.


    ¡°That is the best description I have heard for mana exhaustion.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°I''m not just a pretty face.¡± I joked, then I almost laughed at the surprise on her face. ¡°So, what''s the prognosis?¡±


    ¡°You''re going to be fine, despite almost being torn asunder by the wrong teleport spell.¡±


    ¡°Is that what happened?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°Why was it wrong?¡±


    The woman explained about the spell being tailored for expediency, and since only female elves used it constantly, it was made for them exclusively.


    ¡°Wow.¡± I said and then thought about the implications. ¡°I''m surprised it took me at all.¡±


    ¡°You were inside the circle and anything within it is caught in the spell.¡± The woman said and held a hand out to hover over me. ¡°I''m just going to examine you.¡±


    I nodded and let her ''scan'' me as the other healer had and I thought about being able to modify a spell so much that it would exclude specific genders and races, and anything else being moved would be gravely injured. My first thought was using it to transport dangerous creatures and criminals a very short distance, then they would die of their injuries because the spell would be set up for elves.


    It could save a lot of time and be a lot less dangerous than fighting if it worked. I thought.


    ¡°I see the thoughts in your eyes.¡± The woman commented and her hand stopped glowing. ¡°It''s a specific spell and needs a lot of mana to be cast, not to mention some minor spell components.¡±


    ¡°Is it a set configuration? Does it take time to be set up or need specific requirements? What''s the limit on the distance and the number of mages needed to cast it? Is one aspect dependant on the other factor, or can both be adjusted without impacting the other adversely?¡±


    The head healer stood there and stared at me with her mouth slightly open.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    I chuckled. ¡°I''m sorry. As a healer, you probably don''t know anything about the details.¡±


    ¡°I know some spell theory, especially pertaining to healing and wards; but, the intricacy of mage spells is a little beyond my experience.¡± The woman said. Her voice and attitude were slightly different than they had been a few minutes before, as if her opinion of me had changed.


    ¡°Is the other healer right? Do I need to stay in bed and rest for half a day?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The head healer said. ¡°Then we can see if your body recovers properly.¡±


    ¡°She also said that you can''t heal this headache or my tense muscles.¡± I said, and she nodded.


    ¡°Adding more healing energy now would make your condition worse and not better.¡± The woman said. ¡°I was surprised that you were able to absorb as much healing as you did, actually.¡±


    ¡°Was it that bad?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It was much worse.¡± The head healer said and sat on the edge of my bed. ¡°You were practically ripped apart on the inside, both physically and magically. Once your physical body was stabilized, we had our work cut out for us as we tried to piece you back together.¡±


    I took a deep breath and let it out. That was one of my greatest worries. I thought. Becoming so damaged magically that I wouldn''t recover.


    The head healer saw the worried look on my face and leaned in close. She hesitated for only a second and then she put her hand on my forehead and touched my skin. Her hand was surprisingly warm as she slid her hand up and over the top of my head to essentially pet me.


    ¡°Shh. It''s all right.¡± She said and repeated the motion as she gave me a look that meant a lot more than someone who was only working on a patient. ¡°We got to you in time and kept that magnificent mana reserve intact.¡±


    My eyes widened a little as she moved closer and puckered her lips, then she pressed her mouth to my forehead and gave it a kiss. She held it for about three seconds, then I felt my mana reserve ripple in response.


    That hasn''t happened before. I thought in surprise.


    The woman broke the kiss and leaned back, and I could see that her lips were glowing slightly. She reached up and touched her lips as her eyes gazed off into the distance, then she blushed a deep red.


    ¡°I don''t know why I did that.¡± The head healer whispered and looked into my eyes. ¡°I''ve never... not even when...¡± She swallowed awkwardly. ¡°Honored guest, c-can... can you forgive me?¡±


    I thought about making a joke about her taking advantage of me, then remembered that their society wouldn''t see it that way, because I was a man. ¡°If you can tell me why my mana responded to you.¡±


    The head healer''s face turned to an even deeper shade of red and I didn''t think she would respond, then she did. ¡°One of the most desirable things for a magic user is a larger mana pool.¡± She said. ¡°Increasing it in size and capacity is the only goal worthy of pursuit.¡± She saw the next question in my eyes and she smiled. ¡°After two hundred and ten years of life, my mana pool is stagnant and will never increase beyond its current size. My children however, if the father were to have a similar size or larger...¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I said and didn''t say anything else as I thought about what she said.


    The head healer kept staring at me and her blush didn''t lessen in the least.


    ¡°Can you take my hand? I shouldn''t lift it myself, in case it causes me pain, right?¡±


    The woman lifted the side of the blanket on the bed and carefully lifted my arm as she tucked the blanket underneath it, then she slipped her hand into mine and held it.


    ¡°I appreciate the attention and I am very flattered that a woman of your stature would consider me a viable mate.¡± I said, and I saw her face go from blank to sad. ¡°I''m not saying that you''re too old.¡± I corrected her assumption and her face went back to blank. ¡°I''m a long lived race as well.¡±


    ¡°You are?¡± The head healer asked, surprised. ¡°But... she said...¡±


    ¡°I''ve only just had my eighteenth birthday; but, I have no prejudice against age.¡± I explained. ¡°I''ve slept with two women now, one over a hundred years old and one slightly under a hundred years old.¡±


    The woman gripped my hand tightly. ¡°Did... did they...¡±


    ¡°Have a child? I honestly don''t know.¡± I said. ¡°I haven''t seen Lashina in a year and I only just slept with Maylia.¡±


    The head healer closed her eyes and took several shallow breaths. ¡°Do you regret...¡±


    ¡°Yes. I''m stuck here until I finish a quest for the goddess that sent me here.¡± I said, a little disgustedly. ¡°I won''t find out if I have a child until I return home.¡± I took a breath and let it out. ¡°I''ll deal with it when the time comes, especially since I expect to be here for several more years to complete the task.¡±


    ¡°You really do feel emotions as much as we do.¡± The head healer said, surprised. ¡°I thought... well...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I''m going to get that reaction a lot while I''m here.¡± I said and stopped myself before I sighed. ¡°Now tell me why my mana responded to you.¡±


    ¡°I already said...¡±


    ¡°...that you want a child. That didn''t tell me why my mana rippled for you.¡±


    The head healer thought for a moment, then she smiled. ¡°It''s a sign of intent.¡± She said. ¡°When your mana knows it can expand by reproducing itself or by combining with another powerful mana source, it will make itself known.¡±


    I thought about that, because I hadn''t noticed if it reacted or not while I was with Maylia. At the time, I was quite a bit busy doing a lot of other things and I wasn''t paying attention to either my Presence or my mana. I also wasn''t laying down and staying perfectly still or calm. I held in my chuckle at how Maylia would have reacted if she had been the one to try and have sex with me while I was the one that laid there passively and didn''t react to her.


    She would probably kill me for making fun of her. I thought and smiled as I looked at the healer. ¡°If that''s the case, then yes. I forgive you for kissing my forehead and having my mana ripple for you.¡±


    The head healer smiled sweetly and closed her eyes for a second and then opened them. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to keep it a secret?¡± I asked and then suddenly there were a dozen footsteps outside the room and the door was flung open. I can''t wait for this headache to go away so I can ''see'' again. Having no early warning is starting to piss me off.


    Two guards stepped into the room and then moved aside as Queen Orella came into the room behind them. She wore a very stiff and fancy dress that showed off her cleavage to full advantage, unlike the simpler dress that she had worn the last time I had seen her. Her long golden hair was wrapped up in a stylish bun with several wisps intentionally left out to float around her face to frame and highlight it. She was quite the eye catching sight as she strode purposefully across the room. I noticed that her twin daughters walked behind her and their attire was similar to hers, except that it was muted in comparison. Bringing up the rear was Sylvana and she wore clothing appropriate for adventuring.


    No one can outshine the queen. I thought.


    The head healer let my hand go and stood up beside my bed before she bowed. ¡°Your highness.¡±


    ¡°How is our illustrious patient?¡± Queen Orella asked, her voice regal and slightly aloof.


    ¡°He is awake and needs another half-day of rest to see if there is any permanent damage.¡± The head healer responded in a subdued tone.


    ¡°Did you have any luck with removing that odd embedded metal?¡± Queen Orella asked.


    ¡°None.¡± The head healer said. ¡°However...¡± She waved at the bed and the queen and her daughters looked at me. All of their eyes widened at my exposed and completely unmarred face. The twins were making odd mouth movements and Sylvana stared at me like I was an object of fascination. The queen however, had a look of desire and deep longing. It only lasted for a split second before she brought her face under control and resumed her royal visage.


    Yeah, I am definitely regretting taking the blast shield off. I thought in resignation. ¡°Your highness.¡± I said and tried to lift my head enough to bow it.


    ¡°No!¡± Sylvana exclaimed. She had experienced healing mana exhaustion several times already and knew that moving after waking up was detrimental to the recovery process.


    The head healer turned almost instantly to stop my movements as she put a hand on my forehead. ¡°No movements, remember?¡± She said and slid her hand up and over the top of my head to pet me once more, then she turned back to face the queen. ¡°Your highness, please forgive his immobility.¡±


    ¡°There is nothing to forgive.¡± Queen Orella said, then her face turned sad. ¡°Not on his behalf.¡±


    ¡°Your highness...¡± The head healer started to say and the queen held a hand up to stop her.


    ¡°Hunter, please forgive me for my people causing you injury once again.¡± Queen Orella said, her voice full of remorse and regret. ¡°It might not have been intentional this time; but, it still happened while you are a guest and you almost died.¡±


    I looked into her eyes and couldn''t tell if it was an act or genuine. My head was still pounding from a headache and I still couldn''t activate any mental techniques, so my sensitivity with Presence was also diminished. I didn''t feel it waver, though... and that would have been a huge lie for me not to detect, even in my current state. I pat my hand on the bed a little, and her eyes darted to it. She looked at my face and then looked at her daughters, then I saw her face as she made a decision.


    *


    Queen Orella knew she was either making a huge mistake on behalf of her people, or ensuring its greatest boon. She wasn''t sure which it was going to be until she stepped forward and carefully lifted Hunter''s hand with her own, then she perched delicately on the side of his bed and held his hand with both of hers on her lap. Sounds of incredulity and surprise came from the other people in the room and she ignored them to look at the man on the bed.


    ¡°The head healer told me what happened, your highness.¡± Hunter said. ¡°It was just a stupid mistake that the mages didn''t account for having a man in their midst.¡±


    Orella stopped herself from sighing in relief as he confirmed her previous assumption that he wasn''t going to be angry or hold it against them.


    ¡°I would like a copy of both spells, the original teleport spell and the modified one, if that''s okay.¡± Hunter said, to her surprise. ¡°I give you my word that I won''t use them against you or your people.¡±


    Orella caught her breath, as did her daughters, at his brazen oath. She glanced at her eldest daughter and she gave a barely perceptible nod to tell her that he was telling the truth. The queen turned back to Hunter and smiled.


    ¡°I will have the mages bring a copy of both spells to you this evening when you are feeling better.¡± Queen Orella said. ¡°It is a fair exchange for the spells you have provided for us.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Have they modified the spells for other uses already?¡± Hunter asked and saw their surprised reactions. ¡°You have some talented people.¡±


    ¡°Some of whom want to visit you.¡± Queen Orella said. ¡°Namely the mages that caused your injuries.¡±


    Hunter had to think about that. ¡°I suppose I''ll have to see them to accept their apology, even though you''ve already apologized on their behalf.¡± He said in a slightly defeated tone, then his face took on a bit of a smile. ¡°What about my contact? Is she here?¡±


    Sylvana shifted to the side slightly and tried not to look at the bed. ¡°I couldn''t find her.¡± She said in a sad voice, because she had failed in her task. She couldn''t meet her mother''s eyes or Hunter''s. ¡°The address doesn''t exist, either. There was nothing there.¡±

 Book Two: The Summoned 079

    I laid there in silence and let Sylvana''s words wash over me. Nothing was at the address and she couldn''t find my contact. I let my mind wander over the problem and after only a few moments of contemplation, I understood what had happened.


    It''s only for me. I thought. I have to be the one to go see her. ¡°Thank you for trying.¡±


    Sylvana''s head quickly turned to me and I saw her shocked expression. The queen, likewise, had a similar shocked expression. I gave her hand a little squeeze and then the muscles in my hand started to seize up. It was the same hand that I had used to take off and store my blast shield, which meant that I had just overused the taxed muscles.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± I grunted and the queen''s expression changed to that of concern. She pulled her hand out of my stiff one and gently held it with both of hers as she stroked the back of my hand.


    ¡°Don''t exert yourself.¡± The queen said. ¡°You will cause yourself damage if you persist in moving.¡±


    ¡°This would be a lot easier if I didn''t have such a headache.¡± I grumbled.


    ¡°It''s not just the body that needs to recover.¡± The head healer said. ¡°With magical wounds, the strain on your mind can be just as wearing as the toll on your body.¡±


    I didn''t even try to hold in my sigh this time and a long stream of breath left me. I saw the expressions on the queen, her three daughters, and the head healer soften in sympathy. Even the guards by the door seemed to relax and be more at ease.


    ¡°Can anyone cast a sleep spell?¡± I asked. ¡°That won''t hurt me in my current state, will it?¡±


    ¡°We can''t take the risk that the mana will interact poorly with what you have already been infused with.¡± The head healer said. ¡°I''m afraid you just have to live with the headache until it goes away.¡±


    ¡°It looks like I''ll be here in misery for the next six hours or so then.¡± I said and looked at the queen.


    ¡°I will stay here if you wish.¡± The queen said.


    ¡°I appreciate the offer, your highness.¡± I said and let it show in my voice and on my face. ¡°Although, it''s very unreasonable for me to expect the Queen of the Elves to stay here at my bedside for hours.¡± I smiled despite my throbbing head. ¡°I am only one person. You have an entire kingdom to rule over.¡±


    It was the queen''s turn to sigh openly this time. She knew I was right and we all watched as she struggled with the dilemma.


    ¡°The kingdom can wait.¡± Queen Orella proclaimed and her daughters gasped. ¡°If anything pressing happens, my daughters can handle it, or they can come here to speak to me.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows at her, and she smiled.


    ¡°I am usually in my workspace during this time, anyway.¡± The queen said. ¡°A change of venue will be welcome.¡±


    ¡°Mother.¡± The queen''s eldest daughter, Braya said. ¡°You have a meeting in an hour with...¡±


    ¡°Bring her here.¡± The queen said without looking away from me. ¡°Negotiating for her resource allotment should only take a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°She''s going to know about him sooner or later.¡± The queen said. ¡°Assuming she doesn''t already.¡±


    ¡°I was wondering why she pushed so hard for an appointment so soon.¡± The second eldest daughter, Bryanna said and glanced at me. ¡°She wants confirmation of the rumors.¡±


    ¡°I''m not much of a specimen to show off at the moment.¡± I said with a crooked smile. ¡°I think she''s going to be sorely disappointed.¡±


    The head healer and Bryanna shook their heads in disagreement, then they blushed and turned away.


    ¡°I sincerely doubt that.¡± Queen Orella said. ¡°Just relax, Hunter. I won''t impose on you.¡±


    I blinked my eyes at her. She does realize that she''s the queen, right? I thought, slightly amused. She can pretty much do whatever she wants!


    The queen was either a telepath or could read facial expressions like a master, because she gave me a quick wink and her hand holding mine, unseen by the others, changed from gentle strokes to light caresses. I kept my face impassive as her fingertips reached the underside of my wrist and the softer skin there. My hand twitched at the touch and she let a small smile touch her lips and didn''t stop. Her three daughters looked like they didn''t know what to do, now that their mother and queen had decided to pretty much put everything on hold while she tended to a man.


    ¡°Well, there''s no need for everyone to be here.¡± The head healer said out of the blue and motioned for the daughters to leave. ¡°The guards can stay, since they guard the queen.¡±


    Braya, Bryanna, and Sylvana looked at the head healer like she had gravely insulted them. The head healer chuckled and touched each of them on the shoulder and gave them a little push towards the door.


    ¡°I''m leaving, too. I have work to take care of, just like you.¡± The head healer said to them.


    The three daughters were easily ushered out of the room and the guards closed the door behind them and resumed their positions as statues. After the footsteps faded, the queen leaned over me. Since her fancy dress had presented her cleavage quite prominently while standing up, when she leaned over, her breasts almost completely spilled out of her dress. My eyes widened and were drawn against my will to their very nicely shaped milky softness. It took me a moment to pry my gaze away from such a wonderful sight and looked at her face to see a very smug and satisfied smile.


    ¡°Hunter, when we last saw each other, you did something very...¡± Queen Orella stopped speaking for a moment, then chose her next word carefully. ¡°...unexpected. It was also against proper social protocol.¡±


    ¡°Your highness, I can explain.¡± I said and winced from a particularly painful throb in my head. ¡°It was quite innocent...¡± I began to tell her about how she reminded me of my mother at the time, with her long flowing golden hair and similarly colored eyes, and I took the only chance that I had to say goodbye to her. I then told the queen about how much I had loved my mother, how she had been my first word, and then how I had tragically lost her. The queen''s eyes were brimming with tears by the time I was done.


    ¡°Allow me to return the gesture.¡± Queen Orella said as she let my hand go and used a handkerchief to dab at her eyes, then she leaned way down to put her mouth by my ear. ¡°Your mother loves you, too.¡± She whispered and tenderly kissed my cheek.


    In that moment, my mana reserve rippled like a huge stone had been thrown into a small lake, and her lips quivered as she felt it respond to her touch. I felt a thrill and a wellspring of emotion as everything I felt for my mother came rushing back. When the queen leaned back slightly to look at my surprised face that matched her own surprise, she saw that my eyes were filling with tears.


    ¡°Shh.¡± Queen Orella took her handkerchief and dabbed at my left eye. ¡°It''s all right.¡± She said and dabbed my right eye. ¡°You can let it out.¡±


    I struggled not to openly cry in front of her, and with my muscles becoming stiffer from all of the little movements and fidgets I had to do while trying to stay still, I couldn''t lift my arms to hug her like I wanted to. Almost as if she saw the need on my face, she leaned back down and gave me as much of a hug as she could without lifting me up. She tucked her head over my shoulder and rested it on my pillow. I let the tears flow and took several shallow breaths to try and calm down.


    I wasn''t sure why I was so emotional or why my emotions decided to overwhelm me when I was at my most vulnerable. Maybe that''s why. I thought and tried to use a mental technique to calm down. It''s probably because I am so vulnerable.


    My calming effort was met with a particularly strong throb of pain in my head and I groaned. The queen held me for a moment more and then she sat up and dabbed at my eyes again to wipe off my face. My eyes caught sight of something and I didn''t debate with myself about if I should tell her or not, despite enjoying the sight a lot more than I should have.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Y-your h-highness.¡± I said shakily before I regained control of my voice. ¡°I need to whisper something to you.¡±


    Queen Orella leaned back down to put her ear near my mouth.


    ¡°Your highness, forgive my brashness for telling you this.¡± I whispered. ¡°A bit more than your wonderful cleavage has escaped the confines of your dress.¡±


    The queen stiffened for a second and then she slowly sat back up. She looked down at herself and saw the same thing that I had seen. One of her bright pink nipples had popped out of her dress and was pointed right at me. Her face flushed to a deep red when she realized that it was very exited to be free of its confinement. As deftly as a master swordsman performing their well-practised technique, both of her hands flashed over her bosom and the nipple was immediately tucked back inside and disappeared from sight.


    ¡°Thank you for comforting me in my time of need, your highness.¡± I said in a subdued voice to try and ease her embarrassment. ¡°I really appreciate it.¡±


    The queen''s blush started to fade at my words and she tried to think of how to respond. ¡°I''m... glad I could help?¡± She said, as if she was unsure and was asking a question.


    ¡°You''ve helped me more than I can say.¡± I said with confidence. Now I know that I''m also emotionally vulnerable when I''m physically or magically damaged. I thought. No more reminiscing for me while I''m in this state!


    The queen''s blush faded completely and she nodded just in time for our little personal meeting and emotional exchange came to an end. A loud knock on the door interrupted us and the guard opened the door after the queen stood and nodded. Braya, the queen''s oldest daughter, and another woman dressed in a fancy white dress with a robe tucked over her shoulders strode into the room.


    The woman looked around as if she owned the place and wasn''t fussy on the decor. The dress she wore was comparable to the queen''s, except the new woman''s cleavage wasn''t as prominent nor as large. Of course, her breasts could be larger and all that was wrong was that they had the wrong support underneath for that type of dress. They were quite bouncy, however.


    Now I know I''m mentally impaired. I thought as my eyes followed the woman''s jiggling mounds. I can usually ignore women''s bodies quite easily, even when they are completely naked.


    ¡°Your highness.¡± The woman said as she came to a stop five feet away and gave the queen a bow. ¡°Thank you for seeing me.¡±


    ¡°Our business shouldn''t take long.¡± The queen said and motioned over to a small desk at the side of the room. ¡°Have a seat.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The woman said and glanced at me, then walked over to the desk.


    Huh. No reaction. I thought and watched the queen and the woman sat, then they started talking in animated tones and hand gestures.


    ¡°By the ancestors, I hate trade negotiations.¡± Braya said and I looked up at her. She had been watching her mother as well. ¡°Administration affairs should be handled by underlings, not personally by the ruler.¡±


    ¡°The queen would have final say anyway, wouldn''t she?¡± I asked and Braya looked down at me. ¡°This way, she knows all the ins and outs and doesn''t have to sit through being briefed and then making a decision.¡±


    ¡°What would you know about it?¡± Braya asked, a little confrontationally.


    ¡°Not much.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I let one of my best friends handle all of my business dealings.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I pretty much dumped it all on her and she just tells me what I need to do and I go do it.¡±


    Braya gave me a glare that was full of appraisal and doubt. I had intentionally phrased my words the way I did, so that it would fit better into her culture''s accepted bias against men. I had noticed the queen glace at her a couple of times and I saw Braya give her nods of confirmation, which I assumed meant that she could tell when people were lying. She didn''t say anything to me now, because I hadn''t lied. I really did let Luxea run everything in both the transshipment business and the bounty hunting business. She vetted the customers and told me who we could take on and who we needed to leave alone. She was much better at handling the businesses than I was.


    Neither of us said anything else and remained quiet while the queen and the woman discussed different things. Their meeting lasted for about half an hour and not the few minutes it was supposed to take. At the end, the woman graciously extended a hand and shook the queen''s, then they both stood and the woman bowed. They both came over to my bed and the woman''s lascivious eyes rolled over me. If she had been a man, it would have been a lecherous look, and that''s when I realized that the cultural difference with the elves was almost a direct opposite of male chauvinism back on Earth.


    It wasn''t even a loosely held belief by the elves, either. They knew, from their own experiences, that their men were worthless as fighters and hunters, and they couldn''t even do household chores or difficult manual labour without strict supervision. The women had statistical proof that they were superior to the men of their race in all aspects of their lives. Men were not worth their time, except in the use of creating more children to perpetuate their race''s existence.


    ¡°So, this is the outsider I have heard so much about.¡± The woman said and couldn''t stop herself from licking her lips. Unlike the other elves that I had seen so far, her face had sharp angles and hawk-like features, making a sharp contrast to her well-styled hair and her attempt at dressing fancily. It was not a good look for her and I could see that I was wrong about her breasts possibly being larger. As she bent over to get a closer look at me, I could see that they hung way off to the sides normally and had been bunched up to produce the jiggles I had seen. Her breasts slid out of their precarious holders inside the dress and flopped around like half-filled water balloons.


    It was not a flattering sight.


    I laid still in bed and couldn''t move to try and counter her attempt to loom over me, so I kept my face blank and gave a quick glance to the queen and slightly raised my eyebrows at her.


    ¡°Don''t crowd the poor man.¡± Queen Orella said and touched the woman''s shoulder.


    ¡°His ears are too short.¡± The woman said and stood up straight, much to my relief. ¡°He also needs a bath.¡±


    ¡°He''s been bedridden for three days.¡± Braya said in my defense. ¡°He is restricted from moving until tonight.¡±


    ¡°You should have the servants clean him up anyway.¡± The woman said. ¡°Dirt can fester if left unwashed.¡±


    It had been three days since the last time I had a bath when I entered the land of the elves. I''ve been in bed for three days since then, so I had to agree. Almost a week without washing myself was getting close to pushing the limits of personal hygiene.


    ¡°A few more hours won''t matter.¡± The queen said. ¡°He needs rest, first and foremost.¡±


    The woman gave me one last look from head to foot and I could see her imagining me naked, then she gave a little huff of disappointment. ¡°Your highness, thank you for the concessions and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.¡±


    The queen gave her a nod and Braya motioned towards the door. She escorted the woman across the room and the guard on the right opened the door for them and shut it behind them. The queen sat down on the edge of my bed and took my hand as naturally as if she had always done it. She used both of her hands to hold it on her lap and resumed gently stroking the underside of my wrist.


    ¡°I really hate that woman.¡± The queen admitted, then she caught her breath and looked at me.


    ¡°I don''t like her very much, either.¡± I said with a frown. ¡°She made me lose the erection you gave me.¡±


    The two guards gasped and I heard their swords rattle from their scabbards. The queen on the other hand, had a look of consternation on her face for a moment, bit her lip, then she laughed and laughed. I glanced over at the guards and saw that they were just as startled to hear the queen laugh uproariously as they had been about what I said. Now they looked unsure of what to do.


    ¡°Oh... oh, Hunter.¡± Queen Orella said when she calmed down and I looked at her happy face. ¡°Please be careful when you speak crassly.¡± She said and gave an absent wave to the two guards and I heard their swords return to their scabbards. ¡°Not everyone would appreciate your efforts to diffuse tense situations as much as I do.¡±


    ¡°I would rather be an object of people''s ire than have you feel embarrassed, your highness.¡± I said. ¡°That''s why I didn''t speak with that woman here.¡±


    The queen gave me a knowing look, as if she knew that if I had spoken, things would have only become worse for everyone involved. ¡°Your silence let the meeting end amicably.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Even if I had just said hello, I think things could have spiralled out of control.¡±


    Queen Orella nodded. ¡°If she knew you could talk, that would be all she would want to do.¡± She said. ¡°She is tenacious, to say the least.¡±


    ¡°I assumed as much, considering her attire. She''s trying too hard to ingratiate herself into your good graces and is unconcerned about how blatant it is and that others can see it.¡±


    The queen looked at me with a blank face and didn''t say anything for several minutes. I didn''t say anything either and we stayed there and looked at each other while she kept stroking the underside of my wrist. It was actually quite relaxing and I felt the throb in my head lessen somewhat and closed my eyes. No one else came into the room and no one bothered us, so it was quiet and all I could hear was my own occasional breath for every three of the queen''s. She must have noticed the difference, because one of her hands touched my chest as it rose and fell. After a couple of minutes, she stopped stroking my wrist and I felt the bed move a little.


    ¡°Sleep well.¡± The queen''s voice whispered barely above a breath into my ear, then her lips touched my cheek. My mana reserve rippled for her again and she let out a shaky breath as she moved away. A few seconds later, I felt her lips touch mine briefly and I fought my urge to kiss her back. She thought I was asleep, so I didn''t want to ruin the moment for her. Once again, I was tempted to claim that she was taking advantage of me, then remembered that she didn''t believe that she was.


    When I thought about everything Maylia had told me about elves and their society and how nothing like affection was given to a man, because of his worthlessness, the queen''s current actions could be considered... well, taboo.


    A woman voluntarily taking a man''s hand? Showing concern? Sitting by his bedside while he''s hurt? Giving him a kiss? I thought in amusement. What a scandal it would be!


    So, I remained perfectly relaxed as I let her indulge herself. Her feather-light kisses were spaced nearly ten seconds apart as she moved from my lips to my cheeks, to my forehead, then back again. Each time her lips touched me, my mana rippled for her and I could feel her shaky breath as she moved on to the next spot. I wasn''t sure if she was testing to see how many times she could kiss me before waking me up, or if she was just caught up in the motions and the responses from my mana.


    After ten minutes of her ''testing'', the kisses slowed down and stopped, then she took my hand again. I wanted to open my eyes and see if she was blushing or embarrassed by her very intimate and sensual display. I didn''t though, mainly because if I did look, it would precipitate the very embarrassment and blush that I was looking for.


    Before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.

 Book Two: The Summoned 080

    I woke up with a start and a gasp of breath. ¡°AHH!¡± I yelled as both of my hands almost became fists and all of the muscles in my entire body contracted at the same time. I heard a loud hiss beside me and then whatever was happening to me passed. I did a quick mental inventory of my body and realized something very important.


    I no longer had a headache!


    I sighed as the tension in my muscles faded and I immediately initiated all of the mental techniques I had used automatically for years. My Presence and my mana flowed freely and I circulated it over myself, then I felt such relief as Detect Mana Presence let me ''see'' everything within seven hundred and fifty feet of me, if I wanted to look. I even went to the trouble of using the temporary buff for personal strength and body fortification, just to make sure that it worked, and I could tell that my body was back to normal.


    I turned my head to look at who sat by my bedside and whose hand I had inadvertently squeezed a little too tightly a moment ago. ¡°Your highness.¡± I whispered to the queen, a little surprised that she had stayed at my bedside and still held my hand. ¡°Forgive me.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Queen Orella said without showing the pain that her hand was in. ¡°I''m glad you are all right.¡±


    ¡°Me, too.¡± I said and used Minor Mana Presence Healing on her hand to make it glow. Her eyes widened when her hand was instantly healed and she looked at it.


    ¡°Did you just...¡±


    ¡°...do my job?¡± The head healer asked, and I couldn''t tell if she was joking or angry.


    ¡°I can''t heal major injuries; but, everything else?¡± I smiled. ¡°Piece of cake.¡±


    ¡°What else can you do?¡± The head healer asked.


    ¡°That''s what I''m here to find out.¡± I said and looked at the queen. ¡°Your highness, may I stand?¡±


    ¡°You don''t need my permission to leave the bed.¡± Queen Orella said, and I glanced down at our clasped hands. ¡°Oh.¡± She said and smiled demurely as she let my hand go.


    ¡°Thank you for attending to me.¡± I said and sat up, flipped the blanket off of me, then moved off the bed to stand up. I caught a whiff of myself and I could feel the sweat that I had accumulated from spending three days in bed. I turned to the head healer and bowed to her. ¡°Thank you for healing and taking care of me.¡±


    The head healer glanced at the queen and then looked back at me. ¡°You''re welcome.¡±


    I slipped on my boots and used a Presence Hand to grab my uniform coat that was on a chair across the room and pulled it towards myself. When it was close enough, I checked it for any damage that the teleportation might have done to it, and I saw that the batteries were still at a quarter of a charge. Of course, I haven''t used the powered aspect for more than a few minutes every couple of weeks.


    My ability to use Presence to funnel energy through the conversion component of my father''s old Light sword was slow at best, since it changed the energy into the proper format to be held inside a battery. I did not want to overload it, especially since I knew for a fact that I wasn''t going to be plugging the uniform into a charging port within the next few years. Once I confirmed that the coat and my pants were completely intact and weren''t damaged, I slipped the coat on and turned the powered armor on. The familiar energy flowed over the cloth and it became weightless.


    I was relieved that nothing was touched and there was even still silver and copper coins in my pockets. ¡°Your highness, may I ask a favor?¡± I asked and turned my armor off.


    ¡°Anything.¡± Queen Orella offered before she could think about how she should really answer.


    I held in my chuckle and smiled. ¡°I really do need a bath and to clean my clothing.¡±


    ¡°Braya!¡± The queen said as she stood. The door to the room opened and her eldest daughter came into the room. ¡°Hunter requires a full bath.¡±


    ¡°Mother, are you sure that...¡±


    The queen gave her daughter a look that said she had better listen and follow her order, or else.


    ¡°Yes, mother.¡± Braya said and bowed her head to her mother, then looked at me. ¡°Follow me, please.¡±


    I bowed to the queen. ¡°I request permission to leave your august presence, your highness.¡±


    I saw the queen, her daughter, and the head healer exchange glances and I hid my smile.


    ¡°Granted.¡± Queen Orella said, her voice a little unsure.


    ¡°I will endeavour to clean up as quickly as possible, then I would like to leave to meet my contact.¡± I said as I stood up straight.


    ¡°It''s getting late.¡± Braya said. ¡°It''s not safe to travel during the night.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows slightly, then shrugged. ¡°I guess that means I''m staying for tonight.¡± I looked at the head healer. ¡°Will I return here to sleep for the night?¡±


    ¡°Other arrangements have been made.¡± Queen Orella said. ¡°The guest suite has been prepared for you.¡±


    ¡°You are too kind, your highness.¡± I said and gave her a slight bow.


    ¡°I will see you at dinner.¡± Queen Orella said and turned to her daughter. ¡°Hunter''s quite necessary bath awaits him. Please, lead the way.¡±


    Braya glanced at her mother momentarily and then led me over to the door. The two guards had odd looks on their faces as I approached. I couldn''t tell what kind of emotions they were feeling, so just as I passed between them, I created two more Presence Hands and gently stroked their faces. Both women jerked slightly and made their armor rattle a little.


    ¡°Keep protecting the queen.¡± I whispered and pulled the door shut with a Presence Hand, then I absorbed them all.


    Braya looked back at me with raised eyebrows. ¡°They are the queen''s personal guards. Of course they will keep protecting her.¡±


    They do more than protect her physically. I thought with a smile. They also protect her secrets.


    Braya led me through several hallways and we passed dozens of women. Some were ambivalent to me being there in the castle, some were surprised that a man was there, and others looked at me like I was a particularly tasty dessert. I thought the last was a little odd, considering the way they go completely passive when engaging in sex, then I remembered Maylia saying that she wasn''t inexperienced, even though she had never been with a man before.


    Okay, I need to push that thought right out my head. I thought with a big smile, and we just happened to pass another small group of women. There were four of them. One gasped, one had wide eyes, and the other two stood there with slightly open mouths. I gave them a wink and the one who gasped waved a hand in front of her face as the one next to her held her steady. The four elves had different faces and yet their hair was almost all the same color, with only slight differences in style. I had lost count of all the different shades of blonde hair that I had seen on the elves, which ranged from platinum white all the way to burnished and bright gold.


    I fit right in. I thought. If it wasn''t for my shorter ears, I could be mistaken for one of them, easily.


    ¡°Here we are.¡± Braya said and broke me out of my thoughts. At the end of the hallway was a large door with two quite beautiful young women that wore almost see-through beige cloth dresses. They couldn''t be any older than I was, however. Of course, they were elves, so according to Maylia, that meant they could be anywhere from twenty to eighty years old and would still look that young. One of the girls let out a yip of surprise at the sight of us and edged open the door.


    I couldn''t hear what she said, so I used my Detect Mana Presence technique to look through the wall and inside, since it was well within my detection range. I saw two other young women as they scrambled around a very large in-floor stone tub and prepped it for use as water flowed from two large taps. Several inches of suds and bubbles appeared like magic and covered the ten foot wide tub.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Princess Braya.¡± Both young women said as one and bowed deeply to her. ¡°Your bath is ready.¡±


    Braya pointedly did not look at me as her face flushed red. ¡°It''s not for me.¡± She said and corrected their misunderstanding. ¡°The queen said to give Hunter a full bath.¡±


    Both young women''s mouths opened and closed once, then again.


    ¡°Y-yes, princess. A full bath.¡± One of them managed to say and opened the door. ¡°Full bath!¡±


    The two young women inside the room looked at us for a moment, nodded, then quickly left through a side door. The two young women at the door motioned for me to enter and I looked at Braya. I was very tempted to tease her and ask her to join me, knowing she would refuse. She squinted her eyes and glared at me. Of course, I''ve always liked a challenge and opened my mouth to ask anyway.


    ¡°No.¡± Braya said and cut me off before I spoke. ¡°Even if you meant it and weren''t speaking in jest.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows in surprise at her. Can it be? I asked her mentally. Can you read my mind?


    ¡°Yes.¡± Braya responded, a little harshly. ¡°It has not been a pleasant experience listening to you think about what a group of elves does during their... personal time.¡±


    I turned my body to face her and her eyes widened as my considerable mental shields started to fold into place. I had been lax in protecting my mind and had only covered my deep thoughts. As each new layer of protection formed around my mind, I could see her eyes twitch from my right eye to my left. When I was done and all of my protections were in place, she was breathing a little heavily.


    I used a touch of Presence to connect to her mind directly. Is that better? I asked her with a gentle mental voice that only she could hear. I''m sorry for leaking my stray thoughts all over you.


    Braya stared at me and I could tell that she didn''t know what to say.


    I''ve had a lot of experience with telepaths. I whispered to her over the now devoted link. If you''re curious about my range, it''s the same as my detection range. I closed my eyes and let her ''see'' what I could see with my mind. The flow of mana through the walls, the floors, and the people filled my vision and she shook her head at all of the information.


    ¡°By the ancestors.¡± Braya whispered. ¡°How... how can you...¡±


    ¡°Years of practice.¡± I said out loud. ¡°Would you care to join me in the bath?¡±


    Braya seriously considered the offer, knowing that I meant it to be completely platonic, then I felt her realize that she couldn''t, despite the temptation. She couldn''t be seen as ''taking my side'' in the eyes of the people and especially her sisters.


    ¡°Maybe I''ll ask again after we get to know each other better.¡± I said to save her from answering. ¡°Thanks for the escort.¡± I gave her a bow of my head and turned to look at the young women that still had their arms held out to the side to show me into the room. ¡°How long is the bath going to be?¡±


    ¡°Twenty minutes.¡± The one on the right said.


    ¡°Does that include soaking afterwards?¡± I asked and stepped into the room.


    ¡°We would have to drain it to prepare it for soaking in.¡± The one on the left said and I glanced at her. ¡°Different oils and fragrances are required to relax.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Just a bath, then.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t want to be too much trouble.¡±


    Both young women smiled at me.


    ¡°It''s no trouble. It''s our job.¡± The one on the right said. ¡°Do you need help to disrobe?¡±


    ¡°My uniform armor needs to air out.¡± I said and slipped off my coat. ¡°It''s heavy.¡±


    The young woman took it as if it weighed nothing and waved a hand. A kind of rack appeared and she hung the coat up on it.


    ¡°Handy.¡± I said and she chuckled. I slipped off my long sleeved t-shirt next and the two women''s eyes fell immediately upon the scars arranged in a circle around my heart. I thought it was nice that they didn''t ogle my muscles like some women would. I handed my top to the one by the rack and she hung it up as well. I took off my boots and socks, which she took as well, then I undid my pants and slid them off. I wasn''t self-conscious at all, especially since they didn''t glare at my underwear.


    ¡°I think I better use the bathroom first.¡± I said, and the one on the left took my hand and led me over to a small room and turned her back to wait outside. I did my business fairly quickly and she led me over to the large in-floor tub. I walked down the steps and found the water was almost up to my waist, so I slipped off my underwear and handed them to her. She took them over to the rack, hung them up, then waved her hands over all of the clothing there and covered them in mana. I saw the clothing become clean as the dirt and sweat disappeared, then her mana faded.


    ¡°Where were you during the last year while I had to wash all of my clothes by hand?¡± I asked with a laugh and sat down on the seat in the middle of the tub. ¡°You could have saved me hundreds of hours of work!¡±


    The young woman turned back to me and her face had both a smile and a blush. ¡°Surely, you exaggerate.¡±


    ¡°If anything, I''m downplaying it.¡± I said and looked for a cloth or something to start washing myself. ¡°With Afyne, Maylia, and myself, we go through at least two sets of clothing by the time we reach the next inn and take a full bath, and that''s assuming we don''t eat out and dress up.¡±


    ¡°That sounds wonderful.¡± The other young woman said as she unhooked the front of her flimsy dress and it dropped to the floor, which left her completely naked. ¡°Eating out and dressing up, I mean.¡±


    ¡°Hey, what...¡± I started to say and the other young woman dropped her dress to the floor, too. ¡°Um...¡± I was at a loss for words as their pert and firm breasts pointed straight forward and barely moved as they walked over to the tub. When they climbed into the tub, I got my senses back. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°The queen said to give you a full bath.¡± One of them said in a soft voice, and I ''saw'' several more young women approach from the door that the other two had left through. A dozen young women came into the room, and each had their long blonde hair tied back into a tight ponytail. A moment later, their dresses fell to the floor and left them completely naked as well.


    ¡°Oh, damn.¡± I whispered as they all climbed into the tub with me. ¡°Tell me your ages.¡±


    ¡°Sixty-two.¡± One said. ¡°Fifty-eight.¡± Another said, then I lost track as a cacophony of soft-spoken answers pelted my poor brain and my eyes pained at the sight of fourteen pairs of the most cutest and prettiest breasts I had ever seen.


    ¡°Who''s the youngest?¡± I managed to squeak out as they floated closer.


    ¡°I''m thirty-six.¡± One of them said and I looked at her. She didn''t look a day over twenty as she moved close to me through the throng of beauties and gave me a warm smile. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with mischief as she took the ''main'' position and knelt between my legs as the others spread out around her and me. No actual soap was required because their hands seemed to magically lather themselves, then they started to rub me all over.


    My arms, my legs, my back, and my hair had thirteen pairs of hands rub over everything to scrub them. The one in front of me placed her hands on my pectoral muscles and gently massaged them. I could hear little moans and hums as they worked, and even with my considerable mental fortitude, I couldn''t help but react in a manly way to being treated like I was. My reaction was almost painful as it appeared and the one in front of me felt it press against her belly.


    She caught her breath at the sensation and her whole body shivered for several seconds, then her body reacted just like Maylia''s used to. She became completely passive and lost all motor function as she slid down my chest and slipped into the water on her back. I tried to catch her; but, my arms were being held immobile by three women on each side. They stared at the one that had been ''chosen'' as she floated and drifted away from me in the water.


    *


    ¡°What happened to...¡± One of them started to ask and looked at the man''s front. Since he was sitting on the appointed seat in the center of the tub, the royal position, the water was only deep enough to cover the top of his thighs and nothing else. It was deep enough to save a woman''s modesty when she sat there; but, he was a man. The poor girl caught her breath at the sight of a man''s prominently erect penis, then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she gently laid back into the water and went completely passive.


    Of course, once there were two casualties of some unknown phenomenon, all of the other women just had to look and see what had happened to the other royal bathers. One by one, each of them saw the object of procreation and their bodies reacted on instinct. Even though none of them were anywhere near the age to have a child, they all became completely passive and floated in the water as they drifted and waited to be inseminated.


    *


    ¡°Goddammit.¡± I said and sighed. All fourteen of the ''young'' women floated on their backs in the water and displaced all of the soapy bubbles. Instead of bathing in a tub of water, it looks like I''m bathing in a tub of women. I thought to myself.


    I looked them over and I could see that several of them were... quite ready for intercourse. The rest of their bodies might be completely passive at the moment; but, some of them were prepared to consume anything that came near them.


    I think I need to nominate my name for sainthood. I thought as I stared at the multitude of eager openings around me. Yeah, I''m not losing this erection for a while. I reached for one of the women''s hands. Let''s see if this works. I rubbed my hand over her palm as if I was lathering up with soap and my hand became lathered. Ha! Nice. I thought and tried to finish bathing. My eyes kept going from the woman''s hand to my erection as I finished washing myself. Yep, a sainthood is definitely in order.


    I splashed myself with water and felt it flow over me and rinse the soapiness away, then I carefully moved one of the women aside slightly as I ducked my head under the water to rinse my hair out. I couldn''t leave them like that, so I very carefully lifted each woman out of the water and placed her on a towel beside the tub. Luckily, there were dozens of the towels, so I had plenty to dry myself off with and even rolled some up to make pillows for them.


    I quickly got dressed in my fanciest clothing. If I was going to be eating a meal with the queen, I needed to look my best. I stored my uniform armor and used two Presence Hands and two brushes to brush my hair out, then left it untied. It flowed over my shoulders and down my back to end at my waist.


    I''d say that''s good enough. I thought as I caught my reflection in a large window. It was dark outside, so I could clearly see myself. I smiled, nodded to my reflection, then walked over to the door. Just before I left, I used a touch of Presence on each of the women''s foreheads to wake them up from their stupor. I closed the door and watched them all sit up and look around in surprise.


    Thanks for the bath. I thought and walked down the hallway. I had no idea where I was going; but, I figured I would find the dining room eventually.

 Book Two: The Summoned 081

    I wandered pretty much aimlessly for a while and actually found the queen''s younger twin daughter before I found the dining room. She was tucked away in a side room down what looked to be a less-frequently used hallway. She looked to be doing paperwork or something, so I figured that everyone needed a break from paperwork and knocked on her door. I smiled as she huffed and threw down her writing implement, then she stalked over to the door and pulled it open.


    ¡°What do you...¡± Bryanna''s little tirade stopped when she saw me.


    ¡°I''m sorry to interrupt, Princess Bryanna.¡± I said. ¡°I just finished my bath and was looking for the dining room.¡±


    Bryanna stood there and stared at me with a blank face.


    ¡°The queen invited me to dinner, so if you could point the way...¡±


    Bryanna pointed to the right, the way I had come. ¡°Stairs, second floor, east wing, hallway on the right, fifth door.¡± She said the barest information to give me an idea of where to go.


    I turned in that direction and looked down through the floors and to the indicated room. ¡°Ha. Yeah, I see your mother. I should have known it would be on the other side of the bath room and in a different part of the castle.¡± I said and looked back at her face. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Bryanna nodded and I started to walk away. ¡°W-wait!¡± She exclaimed.


    I stopped and waited as she ran back into her room. When she started to undress, I turned away and looked around at all of the rooms and things in the castle. The place was huge and I was apparently on the fourth floor. If I didn''t have my detection technique, I wouldn''t have realized that it was completely grown from the ground up, just like all of their other buildings and houses.


    I bet if you flew over top of the castle, you couldn''t tell where it was, because the trees that make up the different parts of the structure all match the canopy above. I thought as I looked up.


    ¡°I''m ready.¡± Bryanna said a few minutes later and I ignored the sight above me and looked at her instead. She had quickly changed into a moderately stylish dress that hugged her curves, left her arms bare, and didn''t flare out on the hem. She had a necklace of rhinestones that drew the eyes to her cleavage and several bracelets on her wrists that showed off how slender her arms were.


    ¡°You look lovely.¡± I said and I stuck out my elbow automatically. I almost laughed as she looked at my offering as if it was going to bite her, then she shook herself slightly and slipped her hand inside my elbow and onto my forearm.


    ¡°I don''t suppose you know how long it took to grow the castle, do you?¡± I asked her.


    Bryanna blinked her eyes at me for a moment, then she shook her head. I made a motion down the hallway and she nodded, so I led her down the hallway and over to the stairs. Unlike the last time I passed through the halls and met women on the way, these women all stopped dead and stared at me. I assumed the difference was because of my outfit and free-flowing hair.


    I tried to engage Bryanna in polite conversation and each attempt resulted in her face becoming red and her grip on my forearm becoming tighter. I relented by the time we reached the second floor and we walked in silence all the way over to the proper room.


    *


    ¡°What do you mean, you don''t know where he is?¡± Queen Orella asked, perturbed. ¡°There were fourteen attendants in the bath! How could he slip away unnoticed?¡±


    The young woman''s face turned beet red and she ducked her head and whispered her excuse. The queen asked her to repeat herself and she leaned in to whisper in her ear.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Queen Orella asked, shocked. ¡°All of them?¡±


    The young woman nodded.


    ¡°Continue to search the castle. He couldn''t have gone far.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness.¡± The woman said and darted around the table and ran to the door.


    *


    I was about to knock when I saw a young woman dart around the medium-sized dinner table with five place settings, and she ran towards the door. I eased Bryanna away from the door and took a step back myself, then the door opened and swung out. It just missed hitting us and the young woman had a very shocked look on her face.


    I gave her a genuine smile. ¡°Good job finding me.¡± I said, guessing at what her job had been.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Queen Orella said. ¡°Please, come in.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, your highness.¡± I led Bryanna into the room. ¡°Look who I found. She told me how to get here, then she realized she needed to eat, too.¡± I said with a smile.


    The queen glanced down at her daughter''s arm wrapped around mine. Bryanna slowly slipped her hand out of my elbow, then she walked around the table and sat down in what I had to assume was her normal seat. I felt two people enter my detection range at a fast run, so I walked partway into the room and turned to face the door. The queen and Bryanna looked at me quizzically, so I pointed to the still open door. A moment later, Braya and Sylvana met just beyond the threshold and looked out of breath.


    ¡°I couldn''t... find him.¡± Braya said.


    ¡°Nor could I.¡± Sylvana said. ¡°Even with...¡± She stopped talking when she saw me.


    ¡°I got lost after my bath.¡± I said. ¡°I wandered aimlessly and luckily found your sister, who told me where to go.¡±


    The two daughters looked at their sibling and saw her dressed up for dinner, and their eyes darkened.


    ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± Braya said and turned to leave.


    ¡°Sit down.¡± Queen Orella ordered, and neither of the daughters could ignore her. With a held in sigh, both of them came into the room. They were both sweating from their exertions and patches of it showed through their clothing in key areas. Sylvana suffered the most from this, since her pants and shirt were much more form fitting than her older sister''s dress.


    ¡°Mother.¡± Sylvana said and walked over to the seat beside Bryana and sat down. Braya walked around the table and sat at her mother''s right, which left one seat for me, at Braya''s side.


    ¡°I have a question.¡± I said and the four women looked at me. ¡°If I sit beside the eldest princess, it won''t mean that I am betrothed to her, will it?¡±


    ¡°Betrothed?¡± Queen Orella asked and then waved my question away. ¡°Of course not.¡±


    ¡°Will I be required to mate with her or give her a child?¡± I asked, and the three of them exchanged looks. No one said anything, so I stood there and didn''t move to take the seat.


    ¡°What is with all the questions?¡± The queen asked. ¡°We are just having dinner.¡±


    ¡°A family dinner.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t want anyone to assume that if I join you, I''m joining your family.¡±


    The three of them exchanged looks again. With no other recourse, I picked up the chair and used Presence Hands to pick up the place setting and utensils, moved to the end of the medium-sized table and put everything down. This way, I was joining them for dinner and it couldn''t be construed as an intimate dinner, or a binding contract with one or more of the daughters. I sat down and faced the queen and couldn''t tell what emotions that crossed her face.


    Queen Orella waved at the side of the room, where the young woman who was supposed to look for me, still stood. The young woman shut the dining room''s door and walked back around the room and left through another door. A few minutes later, six servers came into the room and brought serving trays. Five of them put trays in front of us and the sixth put a tray of bread in the middle of the table.


    Since it was a formal dinner, I remembered Maylia saying that she used to thank the queen for the bounty on their tables. Sure enough, the queen held her hands out to her closest daughters, who took her hands. Bryana held a hand out to Sylvana, who took it and held her other hand out across the table to her eldest sister, Braya. Both of them stopped like they had been caught doing something wrong and turned their heads to look at me, then everyone else looked at me, too.


    ¡°Don''t mind me. I''m just a guest.¡± I said. ¡°Please continue.¡±


    They hesitated for a moment more, then joined hands when they realized Braya couldn''t reach me from that far away. It was Braya who spoke and thanked the queen for the food, the roof over their heads, and the everlasting protection from their magical barrier and the insured continuation of their species. When she finished, they let their hands go and picked up their spoons.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°I''d like to pray as well, if that''s okay?¡± I asked and everyone stiffened, even the servers.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Queen Orella said without any inflection in her voice.


    ¡°Thank you, your highness.¡± I said and held a hand out to Sylvana, who looked at her mother. The queen nodded and Sylvana took my hand. I generated a green glowing Mana Presence Hand and held it out to Braya, and everyone caught their breath. I saw on their faces the mistake they had made by not including me in their own thanks, and their faces burned bright red. Braya took the hand and I held her hand gently. The queen and the other daughter joined hands as well and I smiled as we completed a circuit.


    ¡°Dear god, stop being an ass.¡± I said and two of the servers let out a little scream and covered their mouths. ¡°You don''t have to keep testing my resolve. I get it.¡± I said and a strong feeling of Presence filled the room. ¡°I''m getting tired of almost dying every time I encounter something new. I''ve got years to go before my task is done, so please, give me a break.¡± I said and my mana flowed down my arm and hit Sylvana. Her hand tensed as my mana went through her and into her sister, Bryana.


    ¡°Mother!¡± Bryana exclaimed and tried to let her mother''s hand go before my mana could cross to her. She wasn''t in time and my mana lit the queen eyes up as it swirled around inside of her, then it passed to her eldest daughter, Braya. She turned and stared at me as the mana flowed over her and into my Mana Presence Hand and back to me.


    I felt the mana flow back into my mana reserve and nodded. It hadn''t changed or lessened from the journey it just took through the royal family of the elves. ¡°Despite your apparent enjoyment of my occasional suffering, I''m still looking forward to working with you to close the cracks, god. With only eleven of them to deal with, it shouldn''t take long to handle them all.¡± I said, to everyone''s surprise. ¡°On that positive note, I''ll end my prayer. Oh, and thanks for not letting me die again. Amen.¡±


    The large feeling of Presence faded away and complete silence filled the room instead. It took almost five minutes before the queen spoke.


    ¡°Did you just berate a god?¡± Queen Orella asked, her voice still full of shock.


    ¡°Kind of.¡± I said and absorbed the Mana Presence Hand and let Sylvana''s hand go. ¡°We have a weird working relationship. He sometimes puts me in excessive danger and I try not to die.¡±


    Sylvana barked a laugh, despite her desire to not interrupt.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± The queen asked, concerned.


    ¡°It doesn''t happen all the time.¡± I said and removed the cover of the tray in front of me. ¡°Most of the time it''s pretty easy. Hop into the crack, kill the creatures amassed there, stare at the sky to memorize the stars, then come back through the crack and close it.¡±


    The first course of the meal was soup of some kind and seemed a bit thin and runny, compared to the soup my group and I ate on a regular basis.


    Maybe a lack of fresh ingredients? I asked myself. Or it''s intended to be light?


    ¡°Do you do that every time?¡± Sylvana asked. As the youngest, she was farthest from the throne and had travelled all over their lands and encountered all sorts of beasts.


    ¡°No. Sometimes I just close the crack and deal with the creatures that escaped on this side. It gives the star map he''s trying to replicate large blank spots, though.¡± I said and picked up my spoon. ¡°Your highness, may I start eating?¡±


    Queen Orella looked like she was trying hard to digest something, then she nodded and waved at her daughters. We all started to eat and I paced my eating to match them, so that I would finish around the same time as the others.


    I could have drank the whole thing in a few gulps instead of taking ten minutes to eat it by the spoonful. I thought in amusement.


    The servants removed the empty bowls and left the room, then returned with what looked like a salad. With my Detect Mana Presence technique, I could see that some of the leaves and berries glowed brighter than the others. We all ate in silence, except for the crunching of crisp lettuce, or what I assumed was lettuce. For all I knew, it was peeled from the head of a dryad or something.


    I saw Braya stiffen and I glanced at her. Is that it? These things were harvested from living creatures?


    Braya didn''t respond mentally and only nodded slightly. The salad was finished and then the main course was brought in. It looked like a small log, about six inches thick and a foot long. We each had our own and I waited to see what the queen and her daughters were going to do with them. The queen was first to pick up a small hammer-like thing and she gently tapped all along the top of the log. Almost like magic, the log split open and folded down to reveal a steaming mass of... something. Her three daughters repeated her actions for their logs and they split open, too.


    I looked down at mine and thought about refusing. I couldn''t insult them or the cook, though. I picked up the little hammer-like thing and tapped along the log. It split open and I saw the inside up close.


    What is it? I asked Braya mentally.


    ¡°It''s a viricula.¡± Braya said and picked up her knife and sliced down the entire length of the thing. She grabbed a spoon and scooped out a few things that looked like organs and tossed them on the side of her plate, then she started to slice the remainder like a thanksgiving turkey.


    ¡°That doesn''t tell me what it is.¡± I said out loud and looked at it.


    ¡°It''s a boneless slime-covered creature that inhabits the cula tree.¡± Her younger twin, Bryanna said, and repeated her sister''s actions to clear out the thing in front of her. ¡°It''s not a delicacy or anything, if that''s what you''re worried about.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''m actually worried about it slithering around inside my stomach.¡±


    ¡°Even if it''s pregnant, it''s been well cooked.¡± Queen Orella said and started eating. ¡°Make sure to scoop out all of the viscera first.¡±


    I had watched all four of them do it, so I had no trouble removing the organs and cleaning it out. When I was done, it was just a mass of flesh. I cut a small piece off and put it in my mouth, then started to chew. My eyes widened in surprise as I tasted chicken with the consistency of a boiled ham.


    ¡°These are common, you say?¡± I asked and took another slice and started to chew. ¡°It''s quite good.¡±


    ¡°Th-thank you, s-s-sir.¡± The young woman that had served me said.


    ¡°You cooked this?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°I''m tempted to ask you for the recipe.¡±


    ¡°E-excuse me?¡± She asked, surprised.


    ¡°I''ll be travelling quite a bit over the next little while, so knowing a few local recipes and how to cook the flora and fauna would be a big help.¡±


    Everyone in the room stopped breathing and stared at me.


    ¡°I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to shock you by admitting I can cook.¡± I said and kept eating. ¡°I''ll just stick with my stored rations and you can forget that I said anything.¡±


    It was my turn to be surprised when she stepped forward and touched my shoulder with her fingertips.


    ¡°Can you actually cook?¡± She asked in a soft voice.


    I nodded and reached into my bag of holding to pull out a piece of the large monster chickens that I had cooked. I chose a breast piece, since it was the juiciest and had the most meat on it. Everyone gasped at the size of the chunk of meat that was the size of my head, and the smell of it being freshly cooked filled the room.


    ¡°By the queen''s grace.¡± The young woman breathed in the smell and reached out.


    ¡°Careful, it''s still hot.¡± I cautioned her. ¡°I stored it right after cooking it.¡±


    She plucked a small piece of meat from the edge and slipped it into her mouth and started to chew. She let out a little moan and her fingertips splayed out and she rested her palm on my shoulder and held on. One of the other servers stepped close and plucked a small piece for herself and tried it.


    ¡°T-tasty.¡± She said. In the next moment, all six of the servers were delicately chewing on pieces of the meat and had looks of happiness on their faces.


    ¡°Can we try it?¡± Sylvana asked. She apparently couldn''t resist the smell any more than the servers could, so I nodded. Pieces were plucked and handed to the queen and her three daughters. They all had happy faces as they ate it.


    ¡°I will share my recipes with you.¡± The one who served me said.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked and looked around. ¡°I kind of derailed your planned dinner.¡±


    She gave my shoulder a squeeze. ¡°All that''s left is dessert.¡±


    ¡°Please tell me it''s something like a light sponge cake with berries and frosting on top.¡± I said.


    Her eyes widened for a moment, then she smiled. ¡°You can cook.¡±


    ¡°I''ve had years of practice.¡± I said and looked at the partially eaten chicken breast that the other servers were leaning on the table to keep plucking pieces from to eat. ¡°If you all keep eating that, you won''t have room for the delicious dessert to come.¡±


    ¡°How do you know it''s going to be delicious?¡± She asked, teasingly.


    ¡°If you can make a slime-covered tree slug taste good, your dessert is going to taste heavenly.¡±


    She blushed from the compliment and looked at the table to see that she was almost completely blocked from being seen by the queen and her daughters. I saw her make a decision and her hand slid from my shoulder and down my back as she leaned in close to whisper in my ear.


    ¡°I didn''t think that I would regret that I''m only seventy-three.¡± She whispered and smelled my hair. ¡°Even so, I''m tempted to petition for your services.¡±


    I tilted my head back and put my mouth by her ear. ¡°I''m not an elf.¡±


    ¡°I already desire you.¡± She whispered and rubbed my back. ¡°There''s no need to entice me further.¡±


    I thought it would deter you, actually. I thought, a little confused.


    ¡°I would be rejected, though.¡± She continued to speak softly and sadness permeated her words. ¡°I''m much too young to be a viable mate for you.¡±


    Wow, they are really stuck on passing a hundred years of life before locking in their birthing choice. I thought in surprise. Maybe if I told her that she''s old enough to make her own decisions... I closed my eyes and sighed. No, I can''t encourage her.


    ¡°You don''t know how much I appreciate you being sad about that, too.¡± She whispered and kissed my ear. My mana reserve rippled and she stiffened when she felt it. I didn''t correct her misunderstanding of my sigh and she let a low moan escape through her lips as she gave my earlobe a light nibble. When she moved back to look at my face, I opened my eyes and we stared at each other.


    ¡°I will... get the dessert.¡± She said in a tone that said she wanted to give me a lot more than that.


    ¡°I''m not sure I can handle more sweetness from you.¡± I admitted, and she blushed again.


    ¡°I want to see if that''s actually true.¡± She said and stared into my eyes for a moment, stood up straight, then walked away and disappeared through the side door of the room. The other servers noticed her exit and quickly followed her to help retrieve the desserts.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± Sylvana asked, curious.


    ¡°She wants to petition for my services.¡± I said and I saw the queen''s completely blank face. I glanced at her daughters and saw them as they tried to keep the shock from their faces. They weren''t successful.


    ¡°Can we do that?¡± The youngest twin, Bryanna, asked her mother in a not-so-hushed whisper.


    ¡°He''s not eligible.¡± Queen Orella said in a flat tone and I couldn''t tell if she was angry or not.


    I better bet on angry. I thought as her face didn''t show any emotion.


    My server came back into the room with exactly what I had imagined dessert would be. A light and fluffy sponge-like cake with berries and whipped frosting was placed in front of me. Before I could comment, the server''s fingers dipped into the frosting to retrieve a berry and she popped it into my mouth. She looked at me with bedroom eyes and slowly licked the extra frosting from her fingers as I ate the berry she had given me.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± The server asked.


    ¡°I think I''m in trouble.¡± I said and licked my lips, and her face broke into a huge smile.


    ¡°Come to the kitchen when dinner is over, and I will show you some of the best trail recipes I have.¡± The server said and picked up my platter of slug and the monster chicken breast. She glanced at the queen and saw Orella''s blank face. ¡°Just the recipes.¡±


    ¡°Just the recipes.¡± I repeated, and all the servers quietly cleared the table of everything but the desserts and left the room.

 Book Two: The Summoned 082

    We finished the desserts fairly quickly and in complete silence. When supper was finally over, the queen stood and bid me a good night. I stood and thanked her for inviting me to eat with her and her daughters, and she nodded and left without another word. The oldest daughter, Braya glared at me and left with an angry face, while her twin shook her head and left with a sad face. I turned to look at Sylvana and she wouldn''t meet my eyes.


    ¡°I guess that didn''t go as well as I had hoped it would.¡± I said.


    ¡°Why did you flirt with another woman at the table?¡± Sylvana asked. ¡°You must know that my sisters are the most eligible women in the kingdom!¡±


    ¡°This isn''t a contest.¡± I said and Sylvana huffed. ¡°I didn''t plan on...¡±


    ¡°You didn''t discourage it, either!¡±


    ¡°I tried, and all it did was turn her on more.¡± I sighed. ¡°What else was I supposed to do?¡±


    ¡°Say no.¡± Sylvana said.


    ¡°How?¡± I asked. ¡°I''m a man. Would any of you listen if I did?¡±


    Sylvana opened her mouth to say that she would, then she realized who she was talking to. ¡°No.¡±


    I was about to continue the conversation when the servers came back in to clean up. They made short work of clearing the table and washed it off, then the one who served me, boldly took my hand. That made the other servers giggle and she led me to the door at the side of the room. Sylvana didn''t say anything to stop her and left the dining room soon after we did.


    A surprisingly enjoyable cooking lesson followed. There was also occasional flirting, since that was fairly easy to do while working closely in a kitchen and cooking together. We kept things casual, because we both knew that nothing was going to happen between the two of us. That also lifted the pressure of expectation, so while we worked, we occasionally touched hands, lightly brushed arms as we passed each other, and even leaned over each other and pressed our bodies close while we reached for different ingredients. Many smiles, giggles, teases, and laughter was had by the both of us.


    There were lots of other servers, not just the ones that served the queen and her family, and they came and went randomly. I assumed that they cooked and brought food to other people in the castle. Occasionally, they would stand off to the side as they took a break and would watch us. Some looked envious and I ignored them while others looked intrigued and those women I would give a quick smile to when I could. It was when a particularly snippy woman came into the kitchen that my impromptu cooking lesson came to an end.


    ¡°What is this rumor that I heard about a man being in the kitchen?!?¡± The irate and slightly grey haired woman exclaimed as she burst through the kitchen door. She saw me and let out a little shriek. ¡°It''s TRUE! A MAN!¡±


    ¡°I think that''s my cue to leave.¡± I said and tried not to laugh at the woman as I rinsed off my hands. I dried them on a towel and turned to my teacher. ¡°Thank you very much for teaching me, Unodae.¡±


    ¡°It was my pleasure.¡± Unodae said. ¡°I never imagined that a man could learn from me.¡±


    ¡°If we had more time...¡± I started to say and she scooped up a bit of frosting and touched it to my lips.


    ¡°You have learned more of my craft in the last three hours than my apprentice has all year.¡± Unodae said as I licked the frosting from my lips. ¡°If we had more time, I would force you to accept my proposal.¡±


    Everyone went quiet at her words and stared at us with open mouths, then I laughed.


    ¡°Proposal? I can''t give up on the outside world, just so I can stay by your side and cook all day!¡±


    ¡°Would you be too bored?¡± Unodae asked and I could see that she wanted me to deny it.


    ¡°Not bored. I would be too tempted.¡± I said in a slightly lower tone and stepped close to her. I heard a collective gasp from our audience and I put my hands on her hips, then slid my hands behind her back and hugged her. ¡°I don''t know how long I could resist you, if I got to flirt with you all day.¡±


    Unodae put her arms around me to hug me back, then she pressed her lips to my neck and shivered as my mana rippled. ¡°I''m not going to see you again, am I?¡±


    ¡°Not for a month, at least.¡± I said. ¡°Assuming I come back to the castle when my task is complete.¡±


    Unodae sighed and leaned back as she let me go. ¡°I hope you do.¡±


    ¡°Not everyone does.¡± I glanced at the irate woman that stood just inside the kitchen door, then I smiled. ¡°I probably won''t be allowed to have a full bath, either.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t!¡± Unodae looked at me with her eyes almost wild.


    ¡°No.¡± I said, and she relaxed. ¡°I very easily could have, though.¡±


    ¡°Don''t you dare try to take advantage of those poor young girls.¡± Unodae said and she couldn''t help but smile at me, because she knew what their reaction had been when they saw me naked and ''ready''.


    ¡°Would you have fared any better?¡± I asked with a smirk, and she chuckled.


    ¡°You know I wouldn''t.¡± Unodae said and lightly slapped my chest. ¡°Now get out of here and go to bed.¡±


    I stepped back from her and gave her a deep bow. ¡°Thank you again.¡± I said. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    ¡°G-goodnight.¡± Unodae said and turned back to the counter. I saw her body tremble and I had to assume it was because I had bowed to her. I walked across the kitchen to the door and to the irate woman that waited there, ignored her pointed stare, and I walked around her and out of the kitchen.


    I need to find someone to tell me... My thought cut off as Braya came around the corner of the hallway.


    ¡°This way.¡± Braya said and walked back around the corner.


    I walked quickly to catch up to her. ¡°Can you apologize to the queen for me?¡±


    Braya looked at me like I was a particularly icky bug that she wanted to squash.


    ¡°I didn''t mean to disrupt supper like that.¡± I said. ¡°If you would do me a favor and...¡±


    ¡°Why would I do a favor for you?¡± Braya asked. ¡°You''ve been nothing but trouble!¡±


    I opened my mouth to refute that, then sighed. I really have been causing trouble. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±


    Braya huffed and tried to keep walking, so I touched her arm and brought her to a stop.


    Braya, I want you to accept my apology, too. I thought to her over the link I had established with her and let my emotions flow over that link. Sylvana told me that if I flirt with anyone, it should be with you and your sister.


    Braya sucked in a sharp breath. ¡°That little hukla!¡± She spat. ¡°I told mother she wouldn''t be able to keep family business to herself!¡± In the next second, she blushed deeply and sighed as she looked into my eyes. ¡°I suppose there''s no helping it now.¡± She said and I saw the resolve on her face. ¡°Are you really going to accept the server''s petition for your services?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°In her own words, she''s too young to make the offer, let alone be approved for it.¡±


    ¡°Did you know that there are almost a hundred petitions already filed with the fertility council?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what? A hundred? How?¡± I asked, completely surprised. ¡°I haven''t met a hundred people yet, let alone been close enough for them to want to have sex with me!¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Braya barked a laugh. ¡°You really don''t understand how much we desire to perpetuate our race.¡± She said. ¡°Even just a rumor that there''s a powerful man potentially available has sent half of Sylvana''s guard squad into fertilization frenzy.¡±


    ¡°Sylvana''s guards?¡± I asked and remembered meeting the princess for the first time. She had a row of guards at her back and they looked to be fierce fighters. I also remembered my horrible fighting at the time and being seriously hurt by the princess. ¡°You''re kidding.¡±


    ¡°Sylvana surely wishes I was.¡± Braya said, her eyes alight with mirth. ¡°The one you shot with a lightning bolt was the very first to file her petition.¡±


    ¡°She doesn''t hate me for embarrassing her?¡± I asked, once again confused by their choices.


    ¡°The guards are still talking about how you incapacitated her and then caught her when she fell.¡± Braya said. ¡°Who does that?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Who saves an interfering opponent during a battle?¡±


    I didn''t tell her that I needed to save her, because I had only wanted to knock her out and not make her fall to her death. We stood in the hallway and didn''t say anything for several moments.


    Did you file a petition? I asked her mentally.


    Braya took in a breath and let it out, then she turned and walked away. ¡°Your room is in the west wing.¡± She said. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    I like your dress. I thought to her as I followed.


    ¡°I''m not going to accept your poor attempts at flirting, now that I know that you know to flirt with me.¡± Braya said. ¡°Being disingenuous does not make me feel any better about having you around.¡±


    It was my turn to take a breath and let it out. I thought about several things to say, then my own thoughts fell to Unodae and our cooking lesson. We both knew it wasn''t going anywhere and had fun with that. There was no way I could act the same way with anyone that was above a hundred years of age, because they would have to assume it would be a vested interest on my part to establish relations.


    I reached out and touched her arm and we stopped walking again. ¡°Please, forgive my behaviour.¡± I said and bowed to her. ¡°I''ve been guilty of treating you like I would a woman from my own culture, and I''ve insulted you by mistake.¡±


    Braya looked at my submissiveness with a critical eye and I could see her warring internally about me being genuine or not.


    ¡°I will refrain from teasing and tempting you in the future. I hadn''t meant to cause you, your sisters, or your mother such frustration.¡± I said and remained bowed. ¡°You have my word.¡±


    Braya sighed. ¡°With your mental shields, I can''t tell if you''re lying or not.¡±


    I stood up straight. ¡°Can''t you use the link I made?¡± I asked. Like this?


    ¡°It''s only one way.¡± Braya said. ¡°I can only receive and not send.¡±


    I opened my mouth a little, to tell her that I was sorry she was so limited in her ability, then I stepped close and pressed my forehead to hers. I took several minutes to share my own frustration when I was a child and was stuck being only a sender. At the time, I couldn''t establish a mental link with anyone and it had taken years to prepare my mind to do so. When I came to the part where I met Lashina, I eased the flow of memories, because I didn''t want my love for Lashina to color everything that I had just showed her.


    I pulled my head away from Braya''s and saw that she was on the verge of tears. ¡°It will take years of practice and meditation for you to form your thoughts into a coherent stream that people will understand.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°You''re an elf, though. You''ve got plenty of time to learn.¡±


    Braya nodded and reached up to catch her tears before they fell. ¡°We... should get you to your room.¡±


    I nodded as well and she led me across the castle and up the main stairs to the fourth floor. We walked around a couple of hallways and went down the same hallway that I had been down before and had found Bryana. The difference was that there were now two guards standing at a door near the far end of the hallway.


    ¡°Here we are.¡± Braya said and motioned to a door almost halfway down the hall. ¡°The guest suite.¡±


    I opened the door and stepped inside to see what was essentially a sultan''s palace. A giant bed, or what people could affectionately call ''orgy-sized'', was in the middle of the room. Large pillows covered it and were also strewn across the floor in a random pattern. A magical fireplace was off to the side and I looked at it to see that there was no chimney and no wood in the fire. It gave off the same amount of heat, though. A large bathroom was hidden off to the other side and there wasn''t a window to be had anywhere.


    ¡°If this is the guest suite, what does the queen''s bedroom look like?¡± I asked.


    ¡°EXCUSE ME?!?¡± Braya yelled. ¡°You dare ask about my mother''s PRIVATE CHAMBERS?!?¡±


    ¡°No, no, no!¡± I said and quickly took her hand before she could run away. ¡°You misunderstand! I was just curious to compare the decor! I don''t want to actually be in her bedroom!¡±


    Braya''s face lost some of its anger and I sent remorse and sincerity through my link to her.


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said and gave her hand a squeeze. ¡°If you are worried about keeping an eye on me, I invite you to spend the night.¡±


    ¡°EXCUSE ME?!?¡± Braya yelled again.


    ¡°Goddammit.¡± I whispered as the guards that had been at the end of the hall ran over to the guest room.


    ¡°What is going on in here?¡± One of the guards asked, her sword drawn and pointed towards me.


    ¡°Misunderstandings.¡± I said and let Braya''s hand go. ¡°I asked Braya to stay in the room with me to watch over me.¡±


    ¡°You asked me to spend the night.¡± Braya spat.


    ¡°My words were ambiguous and I apologize.¡± I said. ¡°You don''t realize how easily things you say can be taken in the wrong context until it is taken in the wrong context.¡±


    Braya looked from the guards'' aggressive stances and back to me. ¡°You know I must refuse your offer.¡±


    ¡°I do now.¡± I said and bowed. ¡°Goodnight, Princess Braya.¡±


    Braya nodded and walked out through the door and the guard who spoke gave me a derisive glare before she shut the door.


    I can''t wait to be out of here tomorrow. I thought and looked around the room to see if anyone was waiting to pounce on me. I didn''t see anyone, or any secret passages, so I walked over to the bed and pushed most of the large pillows off of it and left two to use as pillows. I undressed and stored my fancy clothes in my bag of holding, then I took out my nightgown and put it on. I looked at the large bed and regretted that it was going to be the first time I would be sleeping alone in over a year. I held in my sigh as I climbed onto the bed and slid under the covers, then I entered my partial meditation state so I could keep watch and sleep at the same time.


    It was going to be a long night.


    *


    Why did I overreact like that? Braya asked herself as she went down the hallway and entered her room. I know I have a temper... we all do... but... She thought of her sisters and her mother as she stripped off her dress and pulled on a flimsy nightie, then she climbed into bed. She laid there quietly as she mulled it over. That server really bothered me. She admitted to herself. The gall of her! Hanging all over a man right in front of the queen!


    Braya rolled over in her bed and inadvertently faced the direction of the guest room. When she realized what she had done, she immediately rolled over to face the other way. A moment later, she rolled back to face the guest room, because she had a puzzling thought.


    He can easily see me from there. Braya thought as she remembered how far Hunter could ''see'' without using his eyes. Her hands checked to make sure that her nightie covered her and she crossed her legs. No free show for you. She thought and relaxed, then drifted off to sleep.


    *


    Unodae left the kitchen in the happiest mood she had ever been in. Never in her life had she thought that she could enjoy the company of a man. Of course, he wasn''t an elf, and like she had told him, that only increased his appeal. She knew male elves were the dregs of society and were kept segregated for a reason. Spending time with a man that was attentive, smart, listened, followed her directions, made suggestions, and could actually cook, had made her mind and body shiver with delight and pleasure.


    Unodae climbed into bed, sans clothes, to the surprise of her three bed sisters. When they asked her what was wrong, she told them about her wonderful time spent with Hunter in the kitchen. Some of them didn''t believe she actually taught him, until she took one of their hands and used it to touch herself.


    ¡°You''re primed!¡± The young woman exclaimed as she felt the supreme wetness between Unodae''s legs. ¡°How? How can you be like this?¡±


    ¡°I told you.¡± Unodae moaned as the woman''s fingers probed her. ¡°Oh... what... what a man he is!¡±


    ¡°Let me see.¡± One of the others slipped under the blanket and moved down to see for herself. ¡°It''s true!¡± Her muffled voice said, then Unodae felt the tender touch of a tongue and squirmed happily.


    ¡°Tell us everything.¡± The third bed sister said as she took her hand and kissed her. Unodae nodded several times, and her bed sisters helped her relax as she started to tell them everything.


    It was going to be a long night.


    *


    ¡°Hunter was right. It was his fault that the old lady saw us.¡± Viri said as she tried to use her locate ability to look into the magical barrier. She failed again, because all that showed was a thick layer of magic and nothing else. ¡°I''ve tried and tried, and I can''t even see that tree right there!¡± She said and pointed to the tree at the edge of the forest that was just inside the barrier.


    ¡°Then he was right again.¡± Maylia said and hugged Afyne close. ¡°He said we would have to wait to see him again when he came back out.¡±


    ¡°I hope he''s okay.¡± Afyne said, and Maylia kissed her forehead.


    ¡°If he isn''t, we will tear down this barrier and hunt down whoever hurt him.¡± Maylia said, her voice full of confidence. Several heads nodded in agreement, and Maylia wasn''t surprised that Jessica''s and Kara''s heads were among them.


    ¡°Let''s get to bed.¡± Kara said and stood.


    ¡°Yes, we have a lot of training to do.¡± Maylia said and stood with Afyne.


    ¡°Goodnight, everyone.¡± Afyne said and the two of them went into their tent.


    ¡°Does anyone else think that their relationship is a little weird?¡± Steven asked when he was sure that Maylia couldn''t hear him.


    ¡°No.¡± Kara said. ¡°Hunter and Maylia are her guardians.¡±


    ¡°But... they... well, they act like...¡± Steven wasn''t sure how to put it into words.


    ¡°They act in whatever capacity the child needs.¡± Kara said as if she was lecturing. ¡°Brother, sister, mother, father, uncle, best friend, trainer, and even discipline giver or sometimes be a rival. Any role needed to strengthen the child is the role they will take.¡±


    ¡°You have got to be joking.¡± Steven said, and she shook her head. ¡°How the hell can they do that?¡±


    ¡°If you''re skilled, it''s automatic.¡± Kara said and walked over to the parked carriage and climbed up on top of it to take her nightly perch. ¡°Afyne is in better hands than I was.¡± She said and sat down in the lotus position. ¡°I only had one guardian growing up.¡±


    No one knew how to respond to that, especially since they knew she had two parents, so they drifted off to their tents and went to bed.

 Book Two: The Summoned 083

    I got up at what I thought was the crack of dawn. Even though I had rested all night, I didn''t sleep a wink. My mind kept going over what I thought of as harmless flirting as it became insults to the women who believed that they were a higher priority for that attention. With that in mind, I resolved to not let my hormones or my propensity to let women dote on me, embarrass either myself or the queen and her family.


    I promised myself to be completely professional from this point forward and I dressed for the occasion. I donned my armor uniform and I pulled my hair back into a tight ponytail. I secured it with a hair tie, then folded the long ponytail up to reduce its total length in half and secured it again with another hair tie. I could turn my head from side to side and there was no dragging weight from my mass of hair. I was still reluctant to cut it, mainly because it had taken me almost two decades to get it to the length it was now. Who would want to get rid of something that took that long to grow?


    I slipped the blast shield onto my face and used Presence to hold it and make it appear to be embedded into my face. With my hair pulled back like it was, my face was completely exposed. I thought about putting on the green cloak they had given me to cover my face in shadow, then decided that if need be, I would do that when travelling. I hooked my mother''s Light sword to my hip and slipped a quiver of arrows onto my back. I even put on my armored gloves and I was as prepared as I could be. I looked out through the wall and could see the pair of guards in front of the door down the hallway.


    I walked over to my room''s door and opened it, stepped out, and saw them tense up. ¡°Good morning.¡±


    They didn''t respond, and I didn''t really expect them to. I closed the door to my room and started to walk away. One of the guards walked over to Braya''s door and knocked. I didn''t wait to see what she was doing, because I figured they wanted someone to keep an eye on me. I didn''t need a babysitter, so I walked down the hallway and then down the stairs. I was tempted to head back to the dining room and see what Unodae had prepared for breakfast, then decided that would lessen the impact of our farewell the night before.


    I went down to the ground floor of the castle and looked around for the largest gathering of elves. I found them in something that looked like a barracks and walked over to the room and knocked. There were twenty elves in various states of dress inside and one of them came to the door and opened it.


    ¡°Yes, what do you... by the ancestors!¡± The half-dressed elven woman exclaimed when she saw me.


    ¡°I require an escort to a specific address. How would I arrange that?¡± I asked and didn''t look at her well-formed breasts through her clear chiffon-like nightie.


    ¡°C-c-captain!¡± The woman said loudly without looking away from me.


    ¡°What is it?¡± A woman asked from across the room. She pulled up her tight leather pants and two others helped her tie the multitude of laces on her hips.


    ¡°M-man.¡± The one in front of me said.


    ¡°By the queen''s grace.¡± The captain spat. ¡°Just a minute!¡±


    She pulled off her nightie and exposed her fairly large breasts. Someone handed her the same soft cotton-like cloth Maylia wore under her leather armor, and she slipped it on. It was quite form-fitting and I saw that it was more titillating than seeing her naked. Her thick armored top was added and two women pulled it tight and tied the sides to secure it in place. Now fully dressed, she stalked across the room and over to the still open door and glared at the woman in front of me.


    ¡°You could have told him to wait and shut the damn door.¡± The captain admonished her. ¡°He can see us all getting dressed!¡±


    ¡°I... captain, I...¡± The woman sputtered.


    ¡°The door doesn''t need to be opened for me to see.¡± I said and tapped my blast shield. ¡°Solid metal.¡±


    I could see that neither woman knew what to say to that, so I spoke instead.


    ¡°I need an escort to meet my contact and wondered if you could arrange it.¡± I said and told her the address. ¡°Can you help me?¡±


    ¡°We were already there.¡± The captain said. ¡°We didn''t find anything.¡±


    ¡°You are Princess Sylvana''s guard squad?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°You might have been there already; but, I still need to go.¡±


    ¡°It''s a far journey.¡± She said, I assume in an attempt to discourage me.


    ¡°I can go alone if it''s too far for you.¡± I said with the hint of a smile.


    ¡°I never said...¡± The captain stopped talking when she realized I had baited her. ¡°I need to consult with Princess Sylvana.¡±


    ¡°As long as you don''t intentionally delay me.¡± I said. ¡°I need to get there as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Weren''t you bedridden for three days?¡± One of the women in the room asked.


    ¡°Yes. It was a teleportation accident and I almost died.¡± I said and heard several gasps. ¡°I''m fine now.¡±


    ¡°Is he for real?¡± One of them whispered.


    ¡°I told you he was special!¡± Another responded.


    ¡°I volunteer for escort duty!¡± A woman exclaimed and held her hand up in the air.


    ¡°This isn''t a contest to see who gets to go!¡± The captain said loudly as she turned to face the room. To her surprise, half of the women had their hands in the air. ¡°You can''t all go.¡± She said, dejectedly.


    ¡°We''ll draw lots!¡± One of them said, then the room devolved into them organizing the draw.


    ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± The captain said and left.


    ¡°How many can come?¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°Just keep drawing and write the names down.¡± The woman next to her said. ¡°The captain can pick however many she needs.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if the princess will come, too.¡± She said and wrote out everyone''s name and tossed them into a sack. ¡°She''ll need an escort, too.¡±


    ¡°Ooo! Double duty!¡± Another woman said and several of them laughed.


    They''re like kids in a candy store. I thought and tried not to laugh at the spectacle of half-naked elves drawing names from a sack to see who would be travelling with me. They finished drawing a couple of minutes later and one of them wrote down the proper order. I felt the captain returning with someone and waited until they came into the hallway before I turned to look at them.


    ¡°Good morning, Princess.¡± I said to Sylvana and bowed my head to her.


    ¡°My captain tells me that you want an escort.¡± Sylvana said and ignored my greeting. Her captain looked at her with wide eyes at the implied insult.


    ¡°So, you''re still angry at me.¡± I said, and Sylvana looked surprised that I would say that. ¡°That''s fine.¡± I said and looked at the captain. ¡°During supper last night...¡± I told her what happened at the dinner table and how the queen and all three princesses felt insulted and ignored, because the server had gotten my attention. The entire squad of women listened to my story and Sylvana''s face was red when I was done.


    ¡°He doesn''t prioritize the princesses.¡± One of the squad whispered. ¡°By the ancestors, he is special.¡±


    ¡°After making that mistake, I''ve decided to keep things professional.¡± I said to no one in particular. ¡°I need to meet my contact and see if I can deal with my weakness.¡± I looked at Sylvana. ¡°The queen won''t let me move around without an escort. Since your squad has already been to this address, it''s only logical that some of them escort me.¡±


    ¡°WE HAVE THE LIST!¡± A woman yelled and ran over with the list and gave it to the captain of the squad. The woman stepped back from the captain and leaned in close to me. ¡°I''m third.¡± She whispered with a happy smile.


    Which means she''s probably going, no matter how many they pick. I thought and gave her a quick nod.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°Can I talk to you for a moment?¡± Sylvana asked and motioned down the hallway. I shrugged and walked to where she indicated.


    ¡°Look at his hair!¡± One of them said. ¡°That looks so versatile!¡±


    ¡°Quick! Someone do my hair like that!¡±


    ¡°Me, too!¡±


    ¡°We''ll do each other!¡±


    I chuckled at the flurry of movement in the room and the captain sighed and shook her head.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Sylvana said and I put my attention on her. ¡°You made us sound petty and vindictive.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t say that; but, you were.¡± I said and her eyes squinted at me. ¡°I didn''t ask for any woman''s attention, and you were insulted when I received it. That was petty. When you were angry at me for something I can''t control, that was vindictive.¡±


    Sylvana didn''t say anything in response.


    ¡°As things stand right now, I won''t openly encourage any flirting. What I can''t do is stop women from being turned on or getting excited that I''m around. That''s not physically possible.¡± I said. ¡°As you can see, I''ve covered my eyes again and I''ve restrained my hair even more than I normally would, just so I would look less appealing.¡±


    Sylvana nodded and glanced at her squad through the still open door. ¡°Some don''t care how you look.¡±


    ¡°No, and I appreciate their attention even more.¡± I said and Sylvana looked back at me. ¡°It means they are judging me on what I''ve done and how I act and not solely on my appearance.¡±


    Sylvana sighed and rubbed her temples. ¡°They can''t all come on an escort mission.¡±


    ¡°Are you coming?¡± I asked, and she gave me an odd look, then nodded. ¡°Then double the guard.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we need them.¡± Sylvana said, then she reached out and touched my arm. ¡°Please, don''t make a scene like that again.¡±


    ¡°Which one?¡± I asked. ¡°Last night or just now?¡±


    Sylvana had to think about that. ¡°Last night.¡± She said, then sighed again. ¡°Both.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I doubt I can get close enough to the guards to have them try and snuggle me.¡±


    Sylvana gave me a look that said she didn''t believe me, and I chuckled again and motioned down the hallway. We walked back over to the room that everyone was in and she told them the good news about her going and needing twice as many guards. A low cheer greeted her words and the captain read off the top eight names from the list. Sylvana left to tell her mother where we were going and I stood there and watched as the other guards helped the chosen eight strip off.


    The elves were of similar height and similar hair color; but, that was the extent of their similarities. Their faces and bodies had subtle and distinct differences. Their breasts were all shapes and sizes and types, their nipples a wide range of colors and sizes as well, and even their backsides were varied with different levels of fullness. There were even a few happy dimples!


    The best thing was, not one of them had a lick of body shame or tried to hide themselves from me.


    ¡°Are you enjoying yourself?¡± The captain asked from beside me.


    ¡°I am; but, not in the way you mean.¡± I said and looked over the guards, who had stopped what they were doing and looked back at me. ¡°I really like how confident you all are in yourselves and in your bodies.¡± I smiled. ¡°I''ve met one or two women before that have been like that. This is the first time I''ve meet so many of you at the same time, though.¡±


    ¡°He really means that.¡± One of them said, surprised. ¡°Who is this man and where has he been all my life?¡±


    That made several of the guards laugh and they got back to work. The eight guards were dressed properly in thick leather armor and equipped with weapons and items needed for venturing in the forest safely. The others dressed in normal attire and the eight guards needed for the escort lined up to wait for inspection. The captain walked down the line, pulled on straps and poked at joints, then nodded when she reached the end.


    They all had happy faces and silently congratulated each other for passing muster. With a wave of her hand and pointed fingers, the captain ordered them to fall out and proceed to their horses. It wasn''t going to be a leisurely stroll with the carriage this time. It would be a hasty dash to get there as soon as possible, like I requested. Sylvana and I followed the professional guards to what was essentially a stable and I was given a horse.


    ¡°Can someone boost it for me?¡± I asked as I checked the saddle to see if it was secure.


    ¡°You can''t boost it yourself?¡± Sylvana asked, surprised.


    ¡°Even basic elves can add their mana to a mount.¡± One of the guards whispered in disbelief.


    ¡°All I can do is assist.¡± I said to her startled face and turned to one of the guards that I recognized. ¡°I don''t know your name; but, we''ve met before. Can you give me a hand?¡±


    The seventh person on the list came over to me and she looked both nervous and grateful. ¡°You remember me?¡±


    ¡°I almost made you fall to your death, so... yeah, I remember you.¡±


    She beamed a smile at me. ¡°I''m so glad!¡± She said and pet the horse. ¡°This mount is so lucky.¡±


    I laughed at the implication of me getting to ride her instead of the horse. ¡°I doubt the saddle would stay on your back.¡±


    She looked shocked for a second, then she burst out laughing. The captain shook her head and Sylvana sighed dramatically, which made the other guards laugh. I finished checking the horse and slipped off one of my gloves, then held the bare hand out to the one I asked for help. She caught her breath at the sight and I wiggled my fingers at her. Her face went a little red and she slowly took my hand.


    ¡°Thanks for the help.¡± I said and placed both of our hands on the horse. She started to do the speed boost and I pushed my mana into her and the horse to enhance the spell. Both she and the horse gave startled gasps and the horse glowed bright green. They all stared at me as I let the woman''s hand go and climbed up into the saddle. It took her a second to recover from what I just did and while she went to her horse and mounted it, I slipped my glove back on and took the reins.


    ¡°Mount up!¡± The captain said and they all climbed onto their horses and did the speed boost to their horses. ¡°Aegis pattern.¡±


    ¡°We''re doing a full royal guard rotation?¡± One of them asked and the other guards started mumbling.


    ¡°Quiet! Let''s go!¡± The captain said and pointed, then we all trotted out of the stable and into the street.


    As we progressed down the road, Sylvana sidled up beside me and the captain of her guard rode in front of us, while the eight guards formed a circle around us. Quite a few elves were up and about by this time and they stared as we passed. When we reached the edge of the tree-city, the guards surrounding us rotated by one position and we all sped up. Five minutes later, they rotated positions again and the horses were running full out.


    We rode for three hours straight, until the horses the guards rode started to pant and their slight green glow faded, along with the speed boost. With a wave of the captain''s hand, all the horses slowed down to a trot, then we came to a stop at what looked to be a rest area. Several of those mana trees were there and the guards quickly dismounted. Six of them set up a perimeter and the other two took the horses and spread them out over the rest area. My horse was the only one that still had a full green glow and wasn''t tired at all. I stayed mounted and waited while the other horses ate and recharged.


    The occasional guard glanced at me and the horse, then they would resume their vigilant survey of the surrounding area. It took half an hour for the horses to rest and the guards mounted up, cast speed boost on the horses, and we resumed our trek through the forest. I wasn''t sure if they had called ahead or something, because we passed through a tree-city and the roads were completely cleared for us. We ran through so fast that I doubt anyone could tell who we were, despite all of the female elves that looked at us as we passed.


    We stopped again three hours later and the guards repeated their tasks. Unlike the last time, they all gave me pointed stares as I remained on my horse and its glow hadn''t diminished in the least. I used a Mana Presence Hand and plucked up a large handful of the mana-infused grass at the base of one of the mana trees and gave it to my horse. It sniffed it as if it didn''t want it, then reluctantly took it for something to chew on. That did not go unnoticed.


    ¡°How much longer?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The next two cities are fairly close to one another. We will pass through one, run for an hour, then reach our destination.¡± Sylvana said. ¡°I don''t know why you want to visit an empty lot.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°That''s why I want to visit.¡± I said, and I saw her confusion. ¡°You''ll see when we get there.¡±


    ¡°Can''t you just tell me what you mean?¡± Sylvana asked.


    ¡°RICKCHAWS!¡± One of the guards yelled. ¡°I can hear their battle cry!¡±


    ¡°By the Queen''s grace!¡± The captain said. ¡°Skirmish line! Keep them from the horses!¡±


    I felt two creatures enter my detection range... then ten more... then a dozen more. ¡°I''ve got twenty-four of them seven hundred and twenty feet that way.¡± I said and pointed in the right direction. ¡°Seven hundred. Six hundred and eighty. Damn, they''re moving fast!¡±


    ¡°How can you tell?¡± One of the guards asked. ¡°I can hear them; but, I can''t tell what direction it''s coming from!¡±


    ¡°I can see them.¡± I said. ¡°Four foot tall monkeys with thick fur and natural scaly armor on their backs like a brocchula. They are running and swinging on the upper branches of the trees, much higher than the paths your people use.¡±


    The guards all looked at each other in surprise.


    ¡°We can offer up the horses and they should leave us alone.¡± The captain said.


    ¡°No.¡± I said and she looked at me with anger in her eyes. ¡°We need the horses.¡±


    ¡°There''s no way we can fight them.¡± Sylvana said. ¡°If it was just a few of them, there might have been a chance. With two dozen of them?¡± She shook her head. ¡°They will slaughter us.¡±


    I let a smile spread across my face. ¡°Oh, ye of little faith.¡±


    ¡°What''s that supposed to mean?¡± Sylvana asked.


    ¡°Take the guards and protect the horses.¡± I said and slipped off of mine and pat it. It sauntered over with the others and stood in front of them. I turned on my powered armor and the energy field covered the heavy metal embedded in the cloth and made it weightless. I walked towards the edge of the clearing and I motioned for the guards to move back to the center.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Sylvana asked.


    ¡°I''m getting ready to fight.¡± I said and unhooked the hilt of my mother''s Light sword from my belt. I used several mental techniques to fortify myself and then finished with the physical enhancement buff and the strength buff. It wasn''t going to last long, so I would have to make short work of the monkeys.


    ¡°Flanking his sides!¡± The captain said and two of the guards moved up and drew their swords.


    ¡°I appreciate the offer.¡± I said and looked up at the monkeys that were shaking the tops of the trees. ¡°It''s not necessary, though.¡±


    *


    Sylvana was shocked to hear him reject their help and looked at the ancient artifact in Hunter''s hand. She wondered what he was going to do with it, then he smiled and activated it.


    ¡°AH!¡± Several of the guards jumped back as the Light sword formed instantly and its bright glow could be seen, even in daylight.


    ¡°Excuse me for a few minutes.¡± Hunter said, then he jumped. It wasn''t a little jump, either. He flew thirty feet up into the air and landed on a tree branch, then he jumped again. Sylvana, the captain, and the guards stared with open mouths as he ascended into the treetops to meet the rickchaws head on.


    ¡°Mother is going to kill me.¡± Sylvana said in a defeated tone as Hunter disappeared into the lower canopy of the treetops.


    ¡°If he dies, I think we are going to be following him soon after.¡± The captain said. ¡°Ready bows!¡±


    The two guards with their swords out, retreated to the group and everyone took out their bows. They knocked arrows and aimed into the treetops.


    ¡°Here they come!¡± One of the guards said.


    ¡°Covering fire!¡± The captain said and they all let their arrows fly into the path of the monkeys.


    The battle had begun.

 Book Two: The Summoned 084

    Good god, they stink! I thought as ten arrows blew through the lower canopy and stopped the monkeys in their tracks. I hopped from a branch and swung my light sword at the closest monkey and lopped its arm off. It screeched and put a clawed hand on the stump of the shoulder, so I bounced from the tree branch, swung my foot around, and gave it a kick right in the face. My boots had reinforced thick metal soles and my foot made a nice crunching ''splat'' sound and crushed its face. The body fell and tumbled down through the leaves and branches.


    One down, twenty-three to go. I thought with a smile and made six Presence Hands, then grabbed the monkeys by their ankles. Every single one of them snapped and the monkeys howled in pain and frustration. I let them go and two of them fell, and the others I gave a push. They fell as well and disappeared from sight. Having some of their number taken out in mere seconds gave the others pause, which was just long enough for me to take advantage of their hesitation.


    I formed two Mana Presence Walls around them and moved them together. A bunch of them jumped out of the way and one missed the branch it was aiming for. It tumbled down and hit another branch, flipped over, and floated out into a spot where it was too far away from other branches to grab them.


    ¡°Buh-bye!¡± I said to it and pushed the two Presence walls together and the monkeys that hadn''t escaped were held in place. I held up my mother''s Light sword and grinned.


    ¡°Open wide!¡± I said and threw the sword like a Frisbee. I used Presence to increase the spin and to keep it aloft, so it flew down the improvised aisle and decapitated all seven of them. I absorbed the walls and brought the sword back to myself. I liked that move a lot. Unfortunately, the rickchaws didn''t like it at all. Not one bit.


    ¡°ROWRRRRAAAALLLLL! HOOO! HOOO!¡± One of them cried. I felt mana flow out from them and the others glowed slightly.


    ¡°Oh, shit!¡± I said and used my Presence Hands to draw out six arrows and threw them as hard and as fast as I could at the remaining monkeys.


    *


    Sylvana and the guards could hear the fight and didn''t know where they could safely shoot, now that the rickchaws had stopped moving forward.


    ¡°Something fell!¡± One of the guards said and they all looked to see a hairy limb bounce off several branches and then land on the ground nearby. ¡°It''s an arm!¡±


    ¡°It''s not Hunter''s, is it?¡± One of them asked, and the other''s laughed.


    ¡°I hope not!¡± One of them said. ¡°Even I can''t overlook it if he has that much hair under his clothes!¡±


    A moment later, the creature''s body flopped down to make a sickening crunch sound. They all stared at it and saw its caved-in face.


    ¡°Is... that a boot print?¡± The closest woman to the body asked.


    ¡°Incoming!¡± One exclaimed and they all looked up to see two more monkeys falling. They moved back a little and the creatures hit the ground with crunches and spurts of blood. Unlike the first one, these two were still alive when they hit the ground.


    ¡°Targets.¡± The captain said and two arrows slammed into the twitching monkey''s eyes. At such a close range, even their worst archer could hit them in the eyes.


    ¡°More!¡± Someone said and they fell back to watch four more flailing monkeys.


    ¡°What is he doing up there?¡± Sylvana asked.


    ¡°Targets!¡± The captain said and the four monkeys had arrows embedded into their skulls. ¡°Whatever he''s doing, he''s cut their numbers by a third already!¡±


    ¡°Make that by two thirds!¡± One of the guards said as seven heads tumbled through the air and thumped into the ground.


    ¡°ROWRRRRAAAALLLLL! HOOO! HOOO!¡± Broke the relative silence of the forest.


    ¡°It''s a death knell!¡± The captain exclaimed. ¡°Retreat!¡±


    The group of guards pulled back from the forest edge and gathered in the center of the little clearing.


    ¡°What''s that?¡± Someone pointed, and they all looked up to see Hunter break through the lower canopy and plummet towards the ground.


    ¡°NOO! He''s falling!¡± The one that had boosted his horse said loudly. ¡°Someone! Do something!¡±


    They all stood there and didn''t know what to do. Their hearts withered, because they fully expected him to hit the ground with a sickening crunch, just like the rickchaws had.


    *


    They look really worried. I thought as I dropped towards the ground, then I activated my levitation technique and caught myself a foot from the ground and landed as soft as a feather. ¡°It''s all right. I had to retreat when I ran out of arrows.¡±


    No less than six quivers were handed towards me and I chuckled.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and used Presence Hands to grab half a dozen arrows and threw them up into the trees. I did this again and again, and six more armored monkeys fell to their deaths. ¡°Four left, including the big guy.¡±


    ¡°Big guy?¡± Sylvana asked.


    ¡°He''s about a foot taller and has more armor.¡± I said. ¡°Look.¡±


    The remaining four monkeys were sliding down the trunks of the nearby trees.


    ¡°What I wouldn''t give for a laser rifle right now.¡± I whispered and threw more arrows. Six arrows from the guards joined mine and we skewered one of the normal rickchaws and stuck it to the tree. It hung there comically and we shifted fire to the next one. The big guy saw our selective fire and changed direction, hit the edge of a branch, then converted his downward momentum into angular momentum and leapt across the distance to attack us from above. He was going to hurt himself by falling so far; but, he was also going to hurt a lot of us, too.


    ¡°Keep firing on the others.¡± I said and absorbed all my Presence Hands and made a large Mana Presence Hand just as the five foot tall armored monkey was barely ten feet away from us. I used it to punch the creature across the face as hard as I could. Its head snapped to the side from the massive impact and that was just enough to distract it and the glowing green hand gained its attention. The creature turned to the side in mid-air and its mana imbued claws tried to slash at the hand that had hurt it.


    With it twisted away, I formed a vertical Mana Presence Wall in front of us and the creature smacked right into it, head first. I jerked from the impact, as if it had actually hit me, then we all heard the loud snap as its neck broke. The creature fell to the ground and was unable to keep fighting. I didn''t feel any magical wounds, so I absorbed both the Mana Presence Hand and the vertical wall, then I stepped over the creature that was still alive.


    ¡°Hey, is rickchaw meat poisonous?¡± I asked and Sylvana looked at me like I was insane. ¡°Just kidding.¡± I chuckled and jabbed my mother''s Light sword into the creature''s eye, swirled it around, and pulled it out. I looked over at the remaining creature and saw that it had become a pin cushion as well. ¡°Good job, everyone.¡±


    All of the guards nodded for a second, then they realized it had been me that spoke. No one said anything and they all looked to their captain for what to do.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°I guess that means I need to leave the praise for your captain to spread around.¡± I said and picked up the large rickchaw and shoved it into the bag of holding I was using for creatures.


    Everyone stood there and watched me with wide eyes as I stored all the bodies and the severed heads. I even took the first creature''s arm that I had severed. When I had gathered everything, I turned off my powered armor and its weight returned.


    ¡°I doubt I''ll get a bounty for them, since they are probably only here inside the elf lands.¡± I said and walked over to the group of horses and pat mine. ¡°Good boy! You stayed in front!¡±


    The horse neighed at me and I pat it again.


    ¡°I think I still have something... hold on.¡± I took off my glove and dug hand into my original bag of holding for about ten seconds, then I felt it. ¡°Ah! Here it is.¡± I said and took out one of the crystallized peach apple halves with cream in the center. The horse almost jumped with excitement when it saw the thing. ¡°Watch my fingers, now.¡±


    The horse gave it a perfunctory sniff as I held it in the palm of my flat hand, then the horse licked it right off of my hand and started to chew on it.


    I laughed and wiped my hand on my pants. ¡°I should have just tossed it to you.¡±


    The horse ignored me, now that it was too busy to care.


    ¡°Do you think we should stay for an extra ten minutes to let everyone relax after that encounter?¡± Sylvana asked the captain.


    ¡°No. We should go before any more of them show up.¡± The captain said. ¡°Everyone, mount up!¡±


    They all followed her order without comment, as did I, and we all climbed onto the horses and started to ride. The guards boosted their horses and resumed their rotating pattern, except that this time, each one that got to ride beside me, gave me a considerable ''come here'' glare. I ignored them of course, since I was keeping things professional. What I hadn''t realized at the time was that I made them want me more. By showing my competence, my cool head in a fight, and some of my fighting abilities, even the doubtful ones were considerably impressed with me.


    We made it through the next city, and its streets were also clear for us to ride through them. This time, there was a considerable amount of people around to watch us ride by. When we passed the center, I felt a strong urge to go back and visit. Since it was close to where I was going, I knew I would have to go back and check it out. Hopefully, it wouldn''t be a trap. The last thing I needed was to be caught and kept prisoner.


    That made me think about the last time I had willingly let myself become a prisoner and met that brightly glowing Presence. I spent a week there and did my best to master Presence Lightning. I was also quite happy to be alone and to have a break from everyone.


    Look how far I''ve come since then. I thought with a laugh. I can''t sleep if I''m alone in the bed!


    Sylvana looked over at me with a question on her face.


    ¡°I''d tell you what''s so funny; but, you wouldn''t believe me.¡± I said loud enough for her to hear.


    ¡°Try me.¡± Sylvana said, and that made me laugh again. ¡°What is it?!?¡± She asked in a huff.


    ¡°I used to enjoy being alone and away from everyone. Then I became used to having a woman in my bed to cuddle with every night. Last night I couldn''t sleep because I was alone.¡±


    ¡°W-w-why was that funny?¡± Sylvana asked, her face flushed red.


    ¡°I was laughing at how much I''ve changed, then I laughed again when you told me to ''try you''.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°I thought that was pretty funny.¡±


    Complete silence fell across her and the guards. All that could be heard was the horses as they breathed and their hooves as they hit the dirt of the road. I glanced at the guard that rode next to me and instead of the ''come here'' look she used to have, it was a ''why not me'' look.


    ¡°No availability and no opportunity.¡± I said to her, as if she asked a question, and her face changed to have no expression. Well, that''s better than anger, at least. I thought and glanced at Sylvana, who was visibly angry. Yeah, like that.


    We rode on and reached the right city, so we slowed down and turned into what I thought was the main Protection tree of the city. It had a grown stable for the horses, who were just coming down from their third speed boost and mine was coming down from its first. We all dismounted and put the horses into stalls, removed their equipment to give them a rest from wearing it, then Sylvana reluctantly waved to me to follow her.


    The captain of the guard gave the other guards commands and they spread out to surround us as we walked. I didn''t think it was necessary, since everyone was keeping back and stared at us.


    I looked at the gathered women''s faces and had to correct my thought. They are staring at me.


    ¡°The address is near the edge of the city.¡± Sylvana said and pointed where we needed to go.


    I followed her and the captain of the guard and the guards did the same rotating positions on foot as they did with the horses. Okay, that''s neat. I thought and kept walking. It took us about twenty minutes to get to the right street and Sylvana pointed to an empty lot a few tree-houses away.


    ¡°You see? It''s empty.¡± Sylvana said. ¡°I don''t know why you wanted to come here to see it.¡±


    ¡°Watch.¡± I said and looked at the captain. ¡°Captain, I need a clear path.¡±


    She looked at me like she thought I was humoring her.


    ¡°Orders roll downhill, right?¡± I asked, and she nodded.


    ¡°Honor Guard.¡± The captain said and two of the guards stopped behind the princess and I, while the other six formed two lines of three women each in front of us. ¡°After you.¡± She said and motioned for me to go through.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and walked between the two lines and stopped just past the end of the line and was right in front of the property. I took a deep breath and stepped forward, lifted my hand to where I thought a door would be on a tree-house if it was there in the empty lot, and knocked. Sylvana, the captain, and all of the guards were completely shocked when my knuckles rapped on solid wood. A moment later, there was the sound of a latch being pulled, then the invisible door opened inwards.


    ¡°It''s about time you got here.¡± A little old lady said in a cranky voice. ¡°I can''t believe you ignored my advice that they would kill you if you came through the barrier.¡±


    I gave her a big smile. ¡°Believe me, I''ll give your words the importance they deserve in the future.¡±


    ¡°You better.¡± The old lady said and leaned her head out. ¡°Princess Sylvana, you should go and make yourself comfortable in the elder council chamber. We''re going to be a while.¡±


    ¡°Do I know you?¡± Sylvana asked and completely ignored the invisible house.


    ¡°Not personally.¡± The old lady said. ¡°Make sure you tell the council about the rickchaws.¡±


    Sylvana''s mouth dropped open for a moment, then she nodded.


    ¡°Well?¡± The old lady glared up at me and I saw that she was barely five feet tall. ¡°Get inside!¡±


    ¡°Yes, Ma''am.¡± I said and gave a little wave to the guards. Three of them waved back, so I turned and stepped by the old lady and she shut the door.


    *


    ¡°What kind of spell is that?¡± Sylvana asked and started to walk away.


    ¡°We can ask the city elders.¡± The captain said, and the guards formed around them.


    ¡°Are we really going to leave him here and unguarded?¡± One of the women asked.


    ¡°Guard what? An empty lot?¡± The captain said with a smile. ¡°Even Hunter couldn''t see the thing.¡±


    That made them all go quiet and they walked back to where they had stored the horses under the city''s Protection tree, then they went inside and up to the proper space. Two guards were there and Sylvana bowed slightly and requested entrance. The doors opened and only four of the five elders came out.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Sylvana asked, concern in her voice.


    ¡°Our fifth claimed that she was getting too old and decided to retire.¡± One of the slightly grey-haired women said. ¡°We are in the process of selecting a new member for the elder council.¡±


    That''s who she is! Sylvana thought. She''s an elder!


    ¡°We have a feeling that you have something to share with us?¡± One of them asked.


    Sylvana nodded. ¡°We encountered a troubling thing on the way here...¡±


    *


    ¡°So.¡± The old lady said and waved to a chair. ¡°Hunter.¡±


    I sat down and she gave me a long and critical look. I returned the look and saw that she wore a simple cloth dress. It was beige in color and was slightly form-fitting, and I could tell that it hugged her slender hips just enough to show that despite being older than a lot of the elves I had seen so far, her body seemed to be both fit and trim.


    ¡°You know why you are here.¡± The old lady said, and I shook my head. ¡°What? You don''t?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°I was told you could help me with my class, and I discovered by other means that my class is incomplete.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The old lady said. ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know how you can help me with my class until I complete it first.¡± I said. ¡°Is that what you meant? You would help me fix what is wrong with me?¡±


    The old lady turned away and took several breaths. ¡°What if I told you that there was nothing wrong with you?¡±


    I felt the Presence waver a minuscule amount. ¡°I would know you are playing on the meaning of ''you'' and that something has actually happened to me; but, perhaps not the physical me.¡±


    The old lady turned around and looked at me with eyes that burned green. ¡°You understood what I meant?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°My ''mana'' body is weak, or incomplete, or vulnerable for some reason.¡± I said. ¡°I think it happened when I was first brought here. I was unconscious at the time, so I don''t know what actually happened. I do know that I came here through a teleportation spell, though.¡±


    The old lady waved a hand to dismiss my concerns. ¡°Let me just...¡± She stepped close and hesitated with her hands near my face. ¡°This may hurt.¡±


    ¡°I better remove my disguise, then.¡± I said and took off the blast shield and one of the hair ties to let my hair fall down to its full length, then I took off my armored gloves and stored them. ¡°Should I remove my armor, too?¡±


    ¡°Just the coat.¡± The old lady said, then she smiled. ¡°Even I will get excited if you take off your pants.¡±


    That made me laugh and I slipped the coat off and used a Presence Hand to float it to another chair. I could see that the old lady was nervous about causing me undue pain, so I reached out and put my hands around her wrists. I formed a connection with her and let her feel my mana and Presence.


    ¡°You really want my help, don''t you?¡± The old lady asked, surprised.


    ¡°I would like nothing more, ma''am.¡± I said, closed my eyes, and pulled her hands onto my face. It felt like a knife carved a huge chunk out of my brain, and I managed to not scream out loud.


    Then everything went black.

 Book Two: The Summoned 085

    The old lady''s eyes burned inside her head as her hands touched the mass of energy in front of her. The world fell away from her perception as the two glowing shapes of energy warred inside the poor soul in front of her. She knew with all her heart that he was in serious trouble. It took her almost an hour before she started to come back to her senses and her own mind started to comprehend the sheer scale of the man''s energy potential.


    It took her another hour to successfully divide the two energies in her mind and assigned one a green color and the other a blue color. That had taken a significant amount of her concentration, so she had to take a break. She couldn''t let the man''s face go, or all her work would be undone and she would have to start over. She entered a mental trance and took a ''vacation'' from what she was doing and let her mind drift as if it was dreaming. She returned after only ten minutes and her mental faculties were completely recharged, so she got back to work.


    She was astonished an hour later when she found another energy signature. It was well hidden, buried within the green mana as a slightly different shade of mana. She thought about using her talents to combine them together, when she felt another energy signature. This one was just like the blue energy she had parsed earlier, and it was a slightly different shade of blue.


    No wonder the man has had such a hard time trying to integrate! He doesn''t have just two energies within him! He has four! Four distinct and very powerful energies! The old lady thought in surprise. I need another break!


    The old lady took a twenty minute vacation this time and came back both calm and collected. She still couldn''t let him go to tell him the major problem she had discovered, because she would still have to start all over if she stopped. She wasn''t going to throw away almost four hours of her gruelling work, just to satisfy his temporary curiosity.


    He''ll find out when I''m done. The old lady thought and continued to work. She focused on the mana energy, since that energy was more alike than it was different, and it took her almost six hours to meld and mold the energies together. She had taken her time, because she knew that if even a little bit of the energy was not integrated, his poor body would continue to suffer when it was damaged magically.


    After she finished that and checked his mana to make sure that it was all one signature again, she had to take an hour ''vacation'' in her mind to prepare herself for the much harder task of dealing with the blue energy. She knew she could do it and it wasn''t difficult in a general sense. What was difficult was how long it was going to take and the mental strain she would suffer. If she compared the time to the amount of energy that she had to work with, then they were both going to be close to starving by the time she was done.


    Well, there''s nothing to do but to do it. We can worry about the consequences when we have to. The old lady thought and got to work.


    *


    Three days later, the old lady took her hands away from my face. I opened my eyes and gasped.


    Wait, how did I know it''s been three days? I asked myself, then memories from those three days came rushing back to me. I had thought I was unconscious the entire time and instead I was having an out-of-body experience and I had watched the old lady work her magic. Her skills were beyond anything that I could imagine. For all the years I had meditated and practised using and manipulating energy, they paled in comparison to someone who had been doing it for over six hundred years.


    ¡°Y-you... m-mast-¡± I started to whisper and the old lady slapped me hard across the face. ¡°OW!¡±


    ¡°Don''t call me master unless you mean it.¡± The old lady said. ¡°I can''t accept new students anyway. I''m retired.¡±


    I rubbed my face where she had hit me. That felt like I hit a brick wall. I thought in surprise and felt my face swell. ¡°Thab wassnd nebbebbary.¡±


    The old lady cackled a laugh and put her hand on my face. I felt a flood of healing energy and my face was put back to normal. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°I said ''that wasn''t necessary''.¡± I repeated and poked my face to make sure it was fine and that she hadn''t changed it into a caricature or something. ¡°Why can''t I revere a master of energy manipulation?¡±


    ¡°I told you that you would have to mean it.¡± The old lady said. ¡°Don''t give me platitudes. You know the proper way to treat a master. If you are not going to do that, you will ridicule me and insult yourself.¡±


    I thought about growing up in that system and my mind rebelled a little at the thought. ¡°Yes, you''re right.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°My apologies.¡±


    The old lady nodded. ¡°Come. We are starving and you need to make us something to eat!¡±


    ¡°Can''t I just...¡± I started to reach for my bag of holding.


    ¡°No, because I can''t get any of those foodstuffs here.¡± The old lady said. ¡°Show me some of what Unodae taught you.¡±


    I regarded her with a critical eye for a moment and then I let a crooked smile show on my face. ¡°All right. You asked for it.¡±


    The old lady cackled at me and I followed her into the kitchen. ¡°Don''t get any crazy ideas. It''s just a kitchen.¡±


    ¡°Ma''am, there is more than one way to cook in a kitchen.¡± I said and took out my hair tie. The old lady turned around as she started to laugh, then her face froze as I shook out my hair. ¡°First, we need a few of those tasty mushrooms...¡±


    I reached around her as I pressed my body into hers. She tried to back up to give me space, so I put an arm around her and hugged her close as I retrieved the small container of mushrooms, then I turned us around and reached for a curved knife. I treated it like a dance and her wrinkled eyes were worried for several minutes as we moved around the kitchen, until she realized that I wasn''t going to do anything past random touching. Her eyes changed from worry to ambivalence, then they almost sparkled as I gave her a lesson on what could be called ''couples cooking''.


    By the time we finished making our meal and sat down at the small kitchen table, the old lady''s seemingly forced cackle had become a demure older woman''s laugh, and her face and skin had a slight glow to it. Some of her many wrinkles had either faded or were hidden inside her happy and smiling face. We ate the food at a leisurely pace, even though we hadn''t eaten in almost four days. If we ate too fast, all we would manage would be to make ourselves sick, so we let our bodies absorb the food at its own pace and we talked and enjoyed each other''s company.


    The old lady sat back in her chair and regarded me with her glowing green eyes when all the food was gone. ¡°Hunter, you haven''t asked me about your class.¡±


    ¡°I was going to ask right away, then I remembered that I''ve gone a year without knowing. What''s a few more hours, especially if I got to spend them like this?¡± I asked and waved at the kitchen. ¡°We really made a mess of it.¡±


    The old lady laughed and looked around. ¡°It''s going to take longer to clean up than it did to make the meal!¡±


    ¡°Then we should get started.¡± I said and stood up as I held a hand out to her.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± She asked as she reluctantly took my hand.


    I helped her stand and led her over to the counter with all of the things on it. ¡°You can tell me about my class while we clean.¡±


    The old lady blinked her eyes at me for a moment. ¡°You... are really...¡±


    ¡°I assume you saw what happened with Unodae.¡± I said and she nodded. ¡°I would have helped her clean up then, except we were interrupted.¡± I started to sort through all of the still open ingredients and packed away what was still viable and put the containers back on the shelf. ¡°If you want to start washing the dishes, I''ll start drying when everything is back in order.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The old lady stared at me as I quickly and efficiently salvaged what I could and packed it away. After a few minutes, she started to help and we cleared up what needed to be saved and left just the dirty utensils and dishes we had used. When she started washing the dishes, I saw her just haphazardly scrubbing the things and shook my head.


    ¡°No, you need to do it like this.¡± I said and stood behind her. Since she was only about five feet tall, I was a foot taller than her and could easily reach around her and added my hands to her poor attempt at washing. ¡°If you don''t get it all, the grime can fester or get mouldy, then everything you make with it will be tainted.¡±


    The old lady moved her soapy hands and rested them on mine, then she tilted her head back and looked up at me. I wasn''t sure if it was because she was the same height or had similar hair; but, she reminded me of Afyne at that moment and all I could think about was how cute she looked. I couldn''t help myself and smiled, then I gave her forehead a kiss and started to hum as I properly washed the dishes.


    *


    Is this really happening? The old lady asked herself as the feeling of Hunter''s lips burned into her skin and made her whole body reverberate with restrained energy. Men are supposed to be aloof and a bit careless when it came to... well, everything. Not just male elves, either. She thought and became acutely aware of his very muscular body pressed to the back of hers.


    The old lady didn''t move her eyes from Hunter''s face as he happily hummed something that she had never heard before. It was a pleasant sound, so it didn''t lessen the impact of the moment on her well-worn psyche. So far, she had amassed just over half a millennium of experiences during her long life, and this was the very first time that a man had acted this way towards her. She had three children, and this was the first time that she felt a pang of regret that they were all female. Almost as if he sensed her thoughts, he smiled.


    ¡°You can''t hold me as an example for how your men should behave.¡± Hunter said. ¡°I think I''m kind of an odd duck, as the saying goes.¡±


    The old lady blinked her eyes in confusion for a moment, then she smiled. ¡°Yes, you are quite odd.¡±


    Hunter chuckled and the old lady felt his laugh reverberate through her back, and she liked that.


    ¡°Why don''t you tell me about my class while you stand there and watch.¡± Hunter said.


    The old lady smiled and started to help wash the dishes. ¡°You were right in your assumption that you can''t cast spells.¡± She said. ¡°Your mental fortitude and the structure of your mind precludes any casting or expelling the mana from your enormous reserve by chanting.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I''ve tried to do even the basic spells that all guards apparently know for survival, like starting a fire and creating arrows. Each time I failed horribly.¡±


    ¡°However, some of the things you do are actually spells that can be cast by others.¡±


    ¡°Wow, really?¡± Hunter asked, and she nodded.


    ¡°Jump, Mage Hand, Body Reinforcement, Lightning Bolt, and a few others... are all spells that can be learned.¡± The old lady said. ¡°Of course, not everyone would survive casting them.¡±


    Hunter tried to create a Mana Presence Hand and a sharp pain sliced through his head. ¡°ARGH!¡±


    ¡°STOP!¡± The old lady turned around and her hands were instantly dried as she reached up to touch the sides of his face. Her healing mana flowed over his head and he relaxed as the pain faded. ¡°You need to meditate and attune your body, you idiot!¡± She said in a huff. ¡°I did not work for four days straight to watch you lobotomize yourself by trying to use your new energy!¡±


    Hunter took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°I''m sorry, I didn''t realize...¡± He stopped talking and closed his eyes. ¡°Yes, I see what you mean.¡± He said. ¡°How did I not die before now?¡±


    ¡°You''ve practically died a few times so far.¡± The old lady said and let his face go. ¡°Please wait until I tell you everything you need to know before you try anything else.¡±


    Hunter raised his eyebrows and then a grin appeared on his face as he wiggled his fingers at her.


    ¡°Not that!¡± The old lady slapped his face again, waited for a moment and healed it, then she turned back to the sink. ¡°I meant your abilities.¡±


    ¡°I know what you meant.¡± Hunter said and put his arms around her to hug her from behind. ¡°I was only teasing you.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that I could be your great-ten-generations-removed-grandmother at my age.¡± The old lady said and started to wash the dishes again.


    ¡°If you''ve been watching me as closely as I suspect you have since I contacted you, then you should know that I honestly don''t care how old you are.¡± Hunter said. ¡°Mind you, I also know that nothing is going to happen between us.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The old lady chuckled. ¡°What makes you think that I won''t take your flirting as intention?¡±


    ¡°Your reactions.¡± Hunter said, confident in his answer. ¡°When I hinted at flirting like this with one of the princesses, they told me that all of the eligible women around were insulted that I would flirt openly with someone who wasn''t of child-bearing age.¡±


    ¡°That''s not what she said.¡± The old lady responded and finished washing the dishes.


    ¡°No, but it''s what she meant.¡± Hunter said. ¡°I promised myself that I would remain professional and wouldn''t tease or flirt with anyone that could take it personally. I even gave my word.¡±


    The old lady tried not to sigh as she dried her hands. ¡°You are a perpetually vexing phenomenon.¡±


    Hunter laughed. ¡°I guess that means you are even more affected by my attention than I thought.¡±


    The old lady laughed as well and slapped his hands around her waist. ¡°Stop holding me so tenderly.¡±


    ¡°That was a lie.¡± Hunter said and eased his hold and she turned around to look up at him. ¡°You like that I can cuddle you and that I don''t expect you to do anything, except maybe cuddle me back.¡±


    ¡°I told you not to use any abilities.¡± The old lady said and her face flushed a little red.


    It was just an accurate guess. Hunter thought with a smile. ¡°I can''t thank you enough for what you''ve done for me so far.¡± He said. ¡°I know I need to meditate on my own; but, knowing you''re going to be right here to help me if I mess up, makes me feel so much better about the whole thing.¡±


    ¡°You seem to develop attachments fairly quickly.¡± The old lady said as her hands slid around his waist.


    Hunter smiled. ¡°Only if I think someone needs it as much as I do.¡±


    ¡°What makes you think that I need a man to hang all over me?¡±


    Hunter leaned his body from side to side to pointedly look at their arms that were wrapped around each other. He looked at the old lady''s face and raised his eyebrows at her, which made her laugh and she shook her head.


    ¡°Start drying the dishes.¡± The old lady said.


    ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± Hunter said and let her out of their embrace, stepped to the side and picked up a dish towel, then he dried all of the dishes. The old lady watched him as he worked and he put everything back where it was supposed to go and tossed the towel onto the counter when he was done.


    ¡°You need to meditate.¡± The old lady said. ¡°You can use my private space.¡±


    Hunter gave her a huge grin and opened his mouth to respond.


    ¡°Shut up.¡± The old lady said, her face bright red from a blush, and she motioned for him to follow. He followed her out of the kitchen and into another room that was bare of everything. ¡°Sit.¡±


    Hunter sat in the lotus position and slowed his breathing.


    ¡°Don''t jump right in, all right?¡± The old lady said. ¡°Ease into your deep meditation like you are stepping into a warm bath.¡±


    Hunter nodded and closed his eyes. The old lady watched him and she felt the layers of consciousness in him peel away as he went deeper and deeper into his subconscious. When he reached the point where he would be at his peak mental capacity, she felt both his mind and his body resonate. She nodded at his efficiency and was tempted to lean in and give his forehead a kiss, just like he had kissed hers earlier. However, she didn''t want to distract him in this state, so she decided that it could wait until he was done. She stepped out of the small room and closed the door.


    *


    My mind was assaulted by the sheer amount of energy that my body contained. No wonder I was hurt every time something magical attacked me. I thought as I contemplated what used to be my separate Presence and mana reserves. The old lady, whose name I knew and was restricted from speaking out loud, mainly because she didn''t want to breed familiarity between us, had shown me that I had four separate energies within me.


    I traced the origins of those energies through my memories and found my original Presence. That energy was as familiar to me as my own hand, and with that pattern in my head, I found the second Presence that had been there. After spending so much time with god and with him using my body like a puppet, I knew that it was a portion of his Presence. I hadn''t even noticed that I had gained this second signature energy at about the same time that I had gained my mana energy. Since I knew that god was the one who had given me the ability to use mana, this wasn''t much of a surprise.


    However, what I thought of as a separate body that housed my mana, was actually the second energy signature hidden within the mana itself. I found that when god converted me to use mana, my body had already absorbed a significant amount of it from somewhere. It didn''t take me long to remember that I had been brought to this world by a teleportation spell, and it had been infused with mana.


    Chaiya''s mana.


    With that thought and pattern to follow, I compared it to the mana and energy I had felt when the goddess had taken over Josh''s wife and used her as an avatar. It was the same energy, so I knew that while I was in my near death state and my Presence had been almost completely drained, the goddess in her stupidity... or apparently her primary plan as I now understood it... had infused an inherent weakness into my body while it tried to recover from the damage Kara had given me. My body had sucked in any energy it could to try and heal itself, which included both Chaiya''s mana and god''s Presence as he healed my broken body.


    I didn''t have one divine being''s energy inside of me. I had two. The thought was shocking at first, and then I replayed the last four days of the old lady''s work to integrate the energies into their proper places. One complete Presence source and one complete mana source was constructed from the two individual signatures of each. That could have been enough to settle my body''s problems; however, the old lady had a different idea. She integrated the two distinct energy reserves together and formed it into one cohesive energy source.


    I wasn''t sure what to call this ''new'' energy, since my feeble attempts at integrating them into my mental and physical techniques had been sorely lacking in comparison to the old lady''s efforts. She had taken what was my greatest weakness and made it into something that I felt was going to be my greatest strength. All I had to do was stop my body from destroying itself when I tried to use it. I no longer had two divine being''s energies mixed into my body that seemed to corrupt it. The energy was all in one and it was all mine now.


    I laughed at that thought and got to work.

 Book Two: The Summoned 086

    ¡°How do you feel?¡± The old lady asked me two days later when I opened my eyes.


    ¡°Is that soup?!?¡± I asked and took in a deep breath through my nose. ¡°You''re an angel!¡±


    The old lady laughed and handed me the bowl. ¡°Don''t guzzle it.¡±


    I took the bowl and cupped it in my hands, then took a long sip from it. I let the warmth of the broth fill me and used my new energy to move that warmth and the nutrients from the soup through my abdomen and out to my limbs.


    The old lady watched my efforts and nodded. ¡°Good. Good.¡± She said. ¡°Can you do anything yet?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I''ve still got another day of work before I can use the energy externally.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Just a day?¡± The old lady asked. ¡°How do you know it will only take that long?¡±


    ¡°Thanks to you.¡± I said and she raised her eyebrows. ¡°I''m using your techniques as a guide.¡±


    ¡°You''re using...¡± The old lady stopped talking and reached a hand for my face. I closed my eyes and dropped my mental shields as she touched my skin. I could tell that she barely managed to continue her mental probe when it touched my enhanced Presence. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I''m adapting all of the things I learned to be used with my new Presence.¡± I said. ¡°Thanks to you, I now know what was wrong with me. I was blind while I was trying so hard to make my Presence and my mana work together, that I didn''t notice that there were two versions of each.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Now that I don''t have four different energies competing against one another, all of the techniques I had adapted in error have to be reset.¡±


    The old lady let my face go and I opened my eyes. ¡°You''re relearning everything.¡±


    ¡°In a sense.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°What I''m actually doing is using your technique of combining to go back through my memories. I''m replacing what I remember about Presence and mana with the new energy into them.¡±


    She made a little ''o'' of surprise with her mouth, and I laughed.


    ¡°Yes, when I''m done, I should be able to do everything I used to do, except with the new energy, because I''ll ''remember'' that I''ve always used it.¡± I said. ¡°Would you get angry if I said you look even cuter with your face like that?¡±


    She snapped her mouth closed and frowned. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Okay, you''re just cute, then.¡± I said with a smile and took another gulp of soup. ¡°Did you infuse this with mana or is it natural?¡± I asked and took another drink.


    ¡°Both.¡± The old lady said and I could see her debating about whether to get angry at me or not.


    ¡°You remind me a lot of Afyne, so I can''t help it if I think you look cute.¡± I said.


    She looked at me for a moment, then sighed. ¡°You''re stubborn.¡±


    ¡°And you''re not?¡± I asked and took another drink of soup, which finished it off.


    The old lady took the bowl and poked the middle of my forehead. ¡°Get back to work.¡±


    I nodded and entered a meditative state and continued to integrate my memories to accept the new energy. I had been tempted to call it something else, then I realized it would be better to leave it as ''Presence'', then I could mold it into my memories that much easier, because all I had to add was how it felt and not actually have to change the memories references. That''s why it wasn''t taking me very long to do it. Even the scale of learning was the same, because all that would have to change would be how intensely I felt it at the time.


    I was surprised at how easy it was to do it, and I knew that it was because the old lady hadn''t tried to hide what she did inside of me. She easily could have kept me in the dark and let me wake up with it completed. Instead, she let me ''float'' right there beside her as she worked and I saw everything that she did. I was very grateful for that, and that was why I flirted so blatantly with her. I knew she wouldn''t be embarrassed by it and she knew that I wasn''t embarrassed, either.


    She knew everything about me and she knew that I knew. She also knew that I was okay with that and that I wouldn''t block her when she checked on me. What would be the point? She had risked a lot to stay inside my head as she put me back together and integrated the competing energies, so the least I could do was give her affection. She definitely deserved it.


    I pushed those errant thoughts aside and dove deeper and deeper into my mind as I went back to where I had stopped to take a break. Once there, I continued my mental reworking.


    *


    What a novel concept! The old lady thought as she stood there and watched her non-student use her technique to alter his own memories to essentially trick his body into ''remembering'' that it always had the same energy, even though it just attained it. I thought he would need months, or even years, to get his body back to the condition it would need to be in to use the same techniques! She chuckled and gave him one last appraising look, then she left the little room. It''s no wonder why the young ones are practically falling over themselves for him.


    The old lady went to her kitchen and refilled the bowl with soup and sat down to eat it, then she remembered what Hunter had done. She put her spoon down and picked it up and cupped the bowl with her hands, then drank from it. She did the same as him and let the broth warm her insides and used her energy to swirl it around and push it out to her limbs. She kept drinking and spreading the nutrients around her body, then she finished it off and put the bowl down. It was then that she realized something.


    There was only one set of lip marks on the bowl.


    She had, completely by accident, drank the broth from the same spot that Hunter had. She was much too old to be concerned about having a second-hand kiss, and yet, it made her wonder what the young man would say if she told him about it. Her mind raced as she imagined him laughing it off, and then she imagined him telling her that he wouldn''t mind getting a first-hand kiss.


    ¡°By the ancestors.¡± The old lady said as she blushed.


    She shook her head and dismissed her flights of fancy as she went to the sink and washed out the bowl. She scrubbed it like Hunter had shown her, and to her utter surprise, she missed the feel of him pressed against her back.


    ¡°Silly old lady.¡± She mumbled and rinsed the bowl and dried it, then she put it back on the shelf.


    *


    ¡°The queen wonders how things are progressing.¡± One of the elders said as she entered the guest room where Princess Sylvana was staying.


    ¡°You know as much as I do, Elder.¡± Sylvana said. She hadn''t been concerned when the first day passed without word, then the next passed and the next. The guards had started looking nervous then, and that had been two days ago. Even the captain of the guard was looking nervous now, and Sylvana couldn''t fault them. She was feeling particularly nervous about Hunter being inside that invisible house with the retired Elder, mainly because she had no idea what was going on.


    ¡°I told her that he was undergoing special treatment by the Elder.¡± The elder said. ¡°I couldn''t tell her what treatment, though.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, either.¡± Sylvana said. ¡°Perhaps you could view...¡±


    The elder shook her head. ¡°It can''t be looked into.¡±


    ¡°You''ve tried?¡± Sylvana asked, surprised.


    ¡°We don''t know how she blocked remote viewing temporarily, so I hope to ask her the next time she comes in for a visit.¡± The elder said. ¡°We definitely would like to put whatever it is into place inside the Protection Trees.¡±


    Sylvana nodded. ¡°The queen would like that for the castle as well.¡± She said. ¡°I suppose you don''t know how long she will be?¡±


    ¡°We can only guess at this point, considering it''s been six days already.¡± The elder said. ¡°Rest assured that you can remain here for as long as it takes.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Elder.¡± Sylvana said, and the elder left the room. When should I start worrying? She asked herself. How long before I should take matters into my own hands and go there to demand answers?


    Sylvana sighed and laid down on the bed. Of all the things she had done during her life, waiting with no end in sight was by far the worst thing for her to experience. Her body urged her to do something, and she had to ignore it for now. She knew that wouldn''t last long and she would have to do something. It didn''t matter what it was, as long as she did it.


    I''ll give it one more day. Sylvana thought. A week to see what was wrong with him was a bit excessive, in her mind, so she resolved that a week would be all she would allow.


    *


    It was about midday when I finally completed my work. I felt a wave of relief and energy flow over my mind as my body vibrated with contained energy. It took me another hour to skim over everything in my head and made sure that it was all properly altered and re-integrated. I hadn''t slept in a week and my mind was just as clear as if I had just woken up from a great nap. I knew that was just a mental high and my mind and body would need to actually rest soon. I wasn''t going to do that here, however.


    I had imposed on the little old lady for far too long already. My welcome, although genuine, was wearing thin. How long would someone let a relative stranger stay in their home? A day? Three? I chuckled at my audacity at staying for an entire week. I knew she would never say anything about it and I also knew that she liked her privacy as well. We hadn''t discussed it, and I realized why I knew these things. My skills and abilities were working in full force. A lot of them were passive and my mind did them automatically, and that made me happy.


    I had done it! It worked!


    I took myself out of my full meditative state and opened my eyes. The world looked just like it was supposed to, except I could also see the energy signatures of everything. The glows and intensities were muted automatically, thanks to my previous experience with the technique, and I was happy to see that I didn''t have to initiate it and it had started automatically. I saw the world as it was meant to be and the energy was just a very thin overlay. I saw the old lady as she left her kitchen and came over to the little room I was in. I used a Presence Hand to open the door for her.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°I have to assume it worked.¡± The old lady said with a smile.


    ¡°It did.¡± I said and unfolded my legs. They should have been stiff from staying in the lotus position for three straight days; but, they worked just fine because my body cycled Presence through them to keep them healthy and in peak condition. I rolled up onto my knees and that put my head at almost the right height to be at eye level with her.


    ¡°I, Hunter, am deeply grateful for all that you have done for me.¡± I said and bowed to her. It was a little awkward because I was on my knees, so I used Presence to hold myself steady and pulled it off.


    ¡°Now, now. Stop that.¡± The old lady said. ¡°There''s no need to be so formal.¡±


    ¡°Ma''am, are you sure?¡± I asked and stopped bowing. ¡°You deserve to be treated properly for what you did.¡±


    The old lady looked like she was going to be angry, then she smiled. ¡°What you''ve done is enough.¡±


    ¡°I want to argue that and give you a big hug, but...¡± I smiled at her rolling eyes. ¡°...I haven''t had a bath in a week.¡±


    ¡°Come with me.¡± The old lady said and I stood up to follow her. She went to her bedroom and off to the side was a tiny little bathroom with a small tub. ¡°Enjoy.¡±


    ¡°Ma''am, I don''t know if I can even sit in that thing, let alone take a bath.¡±


    ¡°Are you refusing my hospitality?¡± She asked, her voice in a higher pitch.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± I said and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°I was warning you that there''s going to be a lot of splashing and probably soap everywhere.¡±


    The old lady sighed. ¡°Just do your best to keep the water inside the bathroom.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± I said and slipped off my long sleeved t-shirt and hung it on the door handle, then I unhooked my pants and took them off. I folded them up and put them on the toilet and bent over to fill the tub with water. I could hear a bit of heavy breathing behind me, so I stayed there and made sure the tub was half-filled. I didn''t want the water to overflow when I stepped into it. I stood up and reached for my underwear, then heard the patter of feet as they made a hasty retreat.


    ¡°Chicken.¡± I whispered with a chuckle and took off my underwear, then settled down in the tub. I had called it right and the water level rose almost to the top when I sat down. I formed a Presence Wall, which was slightly blue, around the tub to keep the water inside, then used the soap and a cloth nearby to lather myself up. I didn''t rush and made sure to clean everything, including my hair.


    I absorbed the Presence Wall and dried myself off, then drained the tub and wiped it down. I put on new underwear and dressed in a normal outfit, because I needed to air out the armor. I left my hair down and used some Presence to fluff it out to give it some extra volume, then I stored the long sleeved t-shirt and the armored pants. I left the bathroom and went to the kitchen and stored the uniform coat.


    ¡°You can look now. I''m decent.¡± I said to the old lady''s back.


    ¡°Are you intentionally trying to make me angry?¡± She said without turning around. I walked over to her and stood right behind her. Almost as if she expected me to do that, she leaned back and rested against me, as if that was the most natural thing to do. I put my arms around her waist and she rested her arms on them.


    ¡°Actually, I was trying to tell you that it''s okay.¡± I said. ¡°You''ve been in my mind, and you know I''ve only done that with two other people. Both of which I grew to love. Letting you see my body doesn''t bother me in the least.¡±


    She didn''t say anything and just hugged my arms.


    ¡°You''ve also given me a gift even greater than I thought was possible.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± She tilted her head up to look at me. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°I feel complete.¡± I said as I looked down at her and let my emotions flow through our mental link. ¡°I can''t thank you enough for that.¡±


    ¡°You are giving me too much credit.¡± The old lady said.


    ¡°I''m not giving you enough, actually.¡± I said and eased my hold on her. I felt her disappointment and smiled as I eased her around to face me instead. ¡°You''ve done for me what two divine beings couldn''t. You made me whole and gave me the chance to fix myself.¡±


    The old lady blinked her eyes for a moment. ¡°Fix yourself? What do you mean?¡±


    I used Presence to pull a small knife to my hand, turned it over, then stuck it into my skin. It took quite a bit of force for it to pierce through, then it was only a small cut and a little dribble of blood came out. In the next instant, the wound closed and healed over.


    ¡°By the ancestors.¡± The old lady looked at my hand and then into my eyes. ¡°That''s not possible.¡±


    ¡°Self Healing and Regeneration are two of the skills I have.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°You know your skills?¡± She asked, surprised. ¡°I thought I would have to give you an itemized list!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°You still can, or we can compare.¡± I said. ¡°Shall I go first?¡±


    ¡°Please.¡± The old lady said.


    ¡°In no particular order, I can see normally and detect everything within a thousand feet. I can both listen to anything within that distance and also talk within that distance. I can use Presence to disguise myself, to a much greater degree than I have been.¡± I said and took out the blast shield. ¡°I can sense people''s intentions now. I ''know'' things about them and I''m pretty sure I can read their thoughts if I concentrated.¡±


    The old lady nodded.


    ¡°I can close off my mind completely from mental attacks, without resorting to external spells. I can use Presence Lightning in any capacity, including close combat and as a reaction to being attacked. I can use any basic weapon and I have master proficiency with swords and especially Light swords.¡±


    ¡°All those years of training are paying off.¡± The old lady said and she rested her hands on my abs.


    ¡°I can empty my mind of all distraction during a fight and can focus completely on battle. I can also sacrifice some of my life force to increase the power of my attacks with Presence.¡±


    ¡°Don''t do it unless it is absolutely necessary.¡± She said and let her hands roam up to my chest.


    ¡°I can see the inherent weaknesses in things, thanks to my detection technique. Oh, and I don''t have to activate it anymore. It will always be on, even if I suffer head trauma or lose consciousness.¡± I smiled. ¡°Actually, a lot of my skills are now passive and are on all the time.¡±


    ¡°It''s not weakening your energy at all.¡± The old lady said and stopped her hands when they touched the scars around my heart through the thin cloth of my shirt. ¡°I can''t maintain so many things at once.¡±


    ¡°I''ll skip over all the physical things I can do, like climbing, jumping, riding, reinforcement, and even strength and speed boosts, since a lot of them are also on all the time.¡± I said. ¡°I barely have to think about it and I can increase my speed and strength to ridiculous levels.¡±


    ¡°You sound so full of yourself.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It does sound like I''m bragging, doesn''t it?¡± I asked. ¡°I can use my abilities like Presence Lightning and Levitation anywhere within my detection range. If I have a medium to work through, I can reach any distance. The limit of Presence Hands I can generate and not be strained has doubled. I could handle making six of them easily and use them for an extended period of time, and twelve strained me after a couple of minutes. Now I can do twelve easily and twenty-four would strain me.¡±


    The old lady stared at me and didn''t know what to say. I could tell that she expected a fifty percent increase, not one hundred percent.


    ¡°I can add Presence to my attacks to increase their damage and impact. I can tell when people lie, even little partial lies. I can meditate with part of my mind while staying completely conscious, which means I can replenish both my Presence and mental capacity without diminishing either.¡± I said. ¡°I can catch incoming projectiles and return them without having to think about it. I''ve actually done this once or twice with a single arrow before.¡±


    ¡°Keep going.¡± The old lady said as her fingers traced the scars over my heart.


    ¡°With concentration, I can cover myself with Presence and make it solid, like armor. I''ve had lots of practice making things solid with Presence before, and not once did I think about making armor with it.¡± I laughed. ¡°Boy, was I short-sighted or what?¡±


    ¡°You can''t think of everything.¡± The old lady said.


    ¡°I can use my own Presence and make it be felt by others, whether they can originally feel it or not.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t think I could do something like that until I realized that god has been using my body to do it this whole time, which means I could do it. I just had to learn how.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''ve actually been learning things from him without realizing I was. Levitation falls, enhanced jumps, speed boosts. I know them all.¡±


    ¡°You need to keep your self-confidence under control.¡± The old lady said and I looked down at her fingers playing with my scars. I didn''t comment on that, though.


    ¡°I can stun people from a distance and wake them up. I actually did this in the full bath last week. I hadn''t even thought about how quickly I had used it on fourteen people in an instant. I just did it and watched them wake up.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I''ve had access to these skills and didn''t know that I did.¡±


    ¡°I think that''s why you received the class. These are all things and variations on things, that you''ve already done at one point.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I realized it when I went through my memories. All these amazing things I can do now, I''ve already done.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve manipulated different states of matter by using its Presence, like covering things in water, and it didn''t occur to me that I can manipulate anything that has Presence in it.¡± I reached out and held a hand towards a candle on the windowsill. I used Presence to increase the friction of the atoms around the wick and it burst into flame. I increased the oxygen around it and made it become like a blow torch, then closed my hand and extinguished it.


    ¡°You are an elementalist?¡± The old lady asked, completely shocked.


    I laughed. ¡°No, dear lady. You were right. I have no magical affinity. I just have what could be considered supreme knowledge about how things work.¡±


    The old lady shook her head. ¡°You don''t need to keep explaining.¡±


    ¡°I can form anything into a solid using Presence. I can use its own Presence to control it, too.¡± I said. ¡°Like a puppet.¡±


    ¡°A what?¡± She looked at me with confusion. I used Presence to create a simple furry sock puppet beside me, then I put my hand inside and opened and closed its mouth.


    ¡°This is a puppet!¡± I said in a squeaky voice without moving my mouth. ¡°Kiss me! Mwua! Mwua!¡±


    She laughed as I dabbed her cheek with the soft puppet, then I absorbed it.


    ¡°I can communicate telepathically with anyone I have established a connection with. Unfortunately, it''s still limited to my detection range. I tried to contact Maylia and Afyne with no luck. I''ll try again after I rest, then I''ll try boosting both my ability and my body to see how far I can send messages.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve always been able to change and alter sounds and their directions; but, I can also create sounds. I need to practice to get it right, obviously. I can throw things using Presence, and not with a Presence Hand. Mind you, I''m a heck of a lot more accurate using a hand to throw things.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you can stop now.¡±


    ¡°I can tell when people are spying on me now.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve felt people''s eyes on me before and couldn''t tell who was doing it; but, this is a full on ''I''m being watched'' feeling and I''ll know who it is.¡±


    No sooner had I said that, when I felt something form in the air nearby. Both I and the old lady looked at the spot and we both swiped at it at the same time. We felt the viewing bubble backlash onto Sylvana and the elder she had convinced to look at us, and that made us laugh.


    ¡°I have a few more skills that I can tell you about.¡± I said and put my hands on her shoulders. ¡°I think I need to go, though.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the princess will be quite angry at you for this.¡± The old lady said and ducked her head.


    ¡°Hey, don''t be sad.¡± I said and rubbed my thumbs on the sides of her neck. ¡°She didn''t see anything.¡±


    ¡°That will be why she is angry. It will make her think we''ve been blocking this whole time.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I sure as hell hope that you would have blocked her if she checked in before.¡±


    The old lady opened her mouth for a second, then closed it and nodded.


    ¡°Good. Then don''t worry about it.¡± I said and slid my hands up her neck and cupped the sides of her face. ¡°Thank you very much for everything.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, please... don''t...¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said with a smile and leaned down and kissed her. I let a touch of my new Presence pass between us and her whole body shivered as it dropped into her mana reserve. Her mana rippled and flowed out and over her to make her body glow. I kissed her for several minutes and let the glow fade, then I broke the kiss and leaned back. The shock on her face was priceless, so I leaned back in and gave her a very light kiss as I brushed my lips on hers. She reacted automatically and puckered her lips, which made the kiss last a second longer.


    I felt her surprise at reacting like she had, so I let her face go and stood up straight. ¡°What do I owe you for your services?¡±


    The old lady reached up and touched her lips and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°If you won''t say a monetary value, then I have no choice but to give you something I''ve been saving for people that helped me.¡± I said and took out a garglemacer scale and a tooth. ¡°Please accept these gifts as a token of my thanks.¡±


    She kept her hand on her lips and stared at the scale and tooth.


    I could feel her trying to come up with something to say, so I took her hand and placed the scale and tooth in it. ¡°I''m probably never going to see you again, so I hope you have a good life and enjoy yourself.¡± I said and closed her hand. ¡°Be safe and take care, okay?¡±


    The old lady looked up into my eyes and I felt her regret that she had missed an opportunity.


    ¡°I''ve only been here a year and I love someone else.¡± I said and leaned back down to kiss her cheek. ¡°I couldn''t be a part of your family, even if I was allowed to marry into it.¡±


    The old lady sighed. ¡°They''ve all moved away to a quieter area, anyway.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry to hear that.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°I can only imagine what you looked like in your younger days.¡± I stepped back and turned to leave, then turned back and bowed. ¡°Goodbye, Master.¡±


    The old lady''s bones shook from the feelings she felt from me and stared at me as I left.

 Book Two: The Summoned 087

    I stepped out of the old lady''s house and I felt like a new man. The Presence inside me was more pronounced and I could see and feel the Presence and mana around me. Until I had seen the old lady combine the energies inside of me, I had honestly thought that Presence and mana were two different energies. I couldn''t have been more wrong. Mana was only another form of Presence. I used my gather energy ability and my body sucked in a ton of both Presence and mana, converted it to my use, and formed a thick barrier around myself and refracted the light to make myself invisible. Of course, once I did that, my first thought was an odd one.


    Why can''t I block everything and not just light?


    With my understanding of gravity, it was a force that massive objects exerted and used to pull things towards itself. It never occurred to me that it could be a massive amount of Presence that actually pulled other Presences towards itself instead. Once I understood that, it was quite easy to counter that flow of Presence and I essentially created a zero-gravity area around myself. Mind you, it took a considerable amount of Presence to counter the pull of an entire planet, so I wasn''t going to be flying around like a bird anytime soon. I could manage very limited flight over short distances, however.


    If I estimated my Presence reserve properly, I could probably travel for about twenty minutes inside an atmosphere before exhausting myself. I let out a bark of laughter and jumped into the air, as if I was inside the long haul transport and had jumped into the central corridor, then I floated towards the center of town. I used Presence to guide my ''flight'' and quickly flew all the way back to the Protection tree in the center of the city in under ten minutes.


    I had been a little off on my estimate and my Presence reserve was down to just under half when I landed. I hadn''t taken into consideration how much I would need to move around after making myself essentially weightless like my armor. I was tempted to walk inside the tree like I was, completely invisible, then decided not to take the chance of being caught and attacked for being an intruder.


    I slipped around a nearby tree and absorbed the barrier I had surrounded myself with, which put my reserve back up over a half of its total, then I walked around the tree and walked over to the entrance of the Protection tree. Every single person around stopped walking and looked at me.


    ¡°Hello!¡± I said and waved. ¡°Beautiful day, isn''t it?¡±


    None of them responded, just like I had predicted, and I walked up the steps and stopped in front of the two guards. I glanced up and looked through the tree to try and find Sylvana. I saw her inside the center chamber and found that the tree was identical to the one that I had spent time inside.


    ¡°I''m here to see Princess Sylvana.¡± I said with confidence. ¡°Do I go inside and look for her on my own or should I wait here and let you handle it?¡±


    The two guards looked at one another and then back at me. They didn''t know what to do.


    ¡°I''ll take care of it myself, then. Thank you for the help.¡± I said and used a Presence Hand to open the door between them and stepped by.


    They stared at me and I held in my laugh as I closed the door without touching it. I walked across the lobby and every woman stopped and stared at me.


    ¡°Hello! Hi! Hey, there!¡± I said and waved at them as I went up the main stairs. ¡°I''m just meeting the princess. Nothing to see here.¡±


    When I reached the third floor, I didn''t have to turn around to see that they all stood at the bottom of the stairs and stared up at me. I held in my laugh and went down the right hallway to the elder''s chamber. The two guards there stared at me as I approached.


    ¡°Greetings.¡± I said. ¡°Princess Sylvana is inside. May I speak with her, please?¡±


    ¡°J-just one m-moment.¡± One of the guards said and knocked on the door. I watched one of the elders come over to the door and open it.


    ¡°Yes?¡± The elder said and then she saw me. ¡°OH!¡±


    ¡°Princess Sylvana, please.¡± I said.


    ¡°Y-yes, of course.¡± The elder said and turned around. ¡°Princess, you have a visitor.¡±


    Sylvana started to walk over towards the door and I heard her sigh. ¡°I hope this is important.¡± She said and then jerked to a stop when she saw me. ¡°Hunter!¡±


    ¡°You called?¡± I asked, and both her and the elder''s faces flushed red.


    ¡°I... I just...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know you were worried.¡± I said and let her off the hook. ¡°Thanks to the Elder and a lot of work, I''m fine.¡±


    ¡°That''s a relief.¡± Sylvana said. ¡°The elders are concerned about what happened to us out in the forest.¡±


    ¡°Me, too.¡± I said. ¡°Unfortunately, I need to rest.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°I''ve been awake for a week and I need to sleep.¡± I said. ¡°Meditating and Invigoration can only do so much. My body needs a break.¡±


    They stared at me for several moments, then the Elder nodded and looked at the guard on the right.


    ¡°Guard, show this man to a room and make sure he is undisturbed.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Elder.¡± She said and gave her a bow, then motioned down the hallway. ¡°Please, follow me.¡±


    ¡°I''ll need exactly eight hours.¡± I said and followed her. ¡°A small room would be preferable.¡±


    The guard nodded and led me down a small set of stairs and down a hallway, then she stopped at a door and opened it. ¡°I will stand guard and maintain your privacy.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate that.¡± I said and then turned to look at her. ¡°Can I ask how old you are?¡±


    ¡°I''m a hundred and thirty-two.¡± The guard said. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because you are of child bearing age, I can''t ask you to cuddle with me.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± The guard asked, surprised.


    ¡°I don''t want to tempt you like that. I made that mistake before and made the queen and her daughters angry at me for it.¡± I said and sighed. ¡°I''ll try and make something instead.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± The guard started to say and I closed the door on her. I walked over to the small desk and hung up my uniform coat, long sleeved t-shirt, and pants to let them air out, then I used Presence to make a life-sized copy of Maylia. I stripped off my normal outfit that I was wearing, down to my underwear, and slipped on my nightgown before I climbed into bed with the slightly blue Maylia doll. I wasted twenty minutes as I tried to snuggle it, rolled it over, then tried to drape it over myself to simulate how Maylia would do it... then I sighed.


    ¡°It''s not working.¡± I said.


    I was completely awake and I could feel the effects of prolonged wakefulness as it ate away at my consciousness. If I didn''t get some actual sleep soon, I was really going to regret it. I absorbed the Maylia doll and rolled onto my side and stared at the wall, with no idea of what to do, then I heard a knock on the door.


    ¡°Yes?¡± I said as I sat up and looked out through the door. It was the guard and another woman.


    ¡°I have someone here for you.¡± The guard said.


    Now I know I''m really out of it, if I didn''t notice the guard leaving and coming back with someone. I thought. ¡°Please, come in.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The door opened and I saw with my eyes that the woman with the guard was already dressed in her own night clothes. I wasn''t surprised to see that it was entirely see through, just like the ones I had seen on Sylvana''s guards. She also wore a small pair of panties that barely covered her.


    ¡°This is my bed sister.¡± The guard said. ¡°She hasn''t passed her guard training yet.¡±


    My eyes widened slightly. ¡°You haven''t turned eighty yet?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°Would you be okay with cuddling in bed? I''m not an elf.¡±


    ¡°That''s a relief.¡± The woman said. ¡°I don''t think I could be in the same room with you if you were.¡±


    It sounds like she''s had some personal experience with male elves. I thought. ¡°Just to be clear, I''m not asking you for sex and we won''t be having a child together.¡± I said and saw them both shiver. ¡°All I want is a warm body to hold me and comfort me while I sleep.¡±


    ¡°I have three bed sisters, so I know exactly what you need.¡± The woman said with a smile.


    ¡°Thank god.¡± I whispered and moved back on the bed. She walked over to me and I watched her handful-sized breasts jiggle enticingly as she climbed into the bed.


    ¡°Front or back?¡± She asked as she untied her ponytail and let her long blonde hair flutter out.


    ¡°Your back to me, please.¡± I said and assumed the proper spooning position. She laid down and slid in close, and I wrapped my arms around her. I was careful of where I put my hands and she let out a cute little chuckle, then she grabbed my hand and put it right onto her breast.


    ¡°Cuddle away.¡± She said and hugged my other arm.


    I buried my head into her mass of hair and hugged her close, gave her firm breast a squeeze, then sighed. ¡°Thank y...¡±


    *


    Both women were surprised when Hunter fell asleep mid-word. The guard looked at her bed sister and regretted that it wasn''t her. She could see the strong arms holding the younger woman and she wanted to feel them around her own body. She gave her friend a wave and left the room before she did or said something that she would regret.


    Her bed sister on the other hand was in heaven. Her hands gently caressed the strong arms around her and her breast had never been held so firmly and gently before. She wasn''t sure how that was possible, so she didn''t linger on the thought. His hot breath on her neck gave her pleasant shivers down her spine and the warmth of his body pressed into hers. They were almost the same height, so she was touching him from her ankles to her neck.


    Even my bed sisters didn''t fit this well behind me. She thought and hugged his muscular arm. She hadn''t been tired when she came to the room and thought she would lay awake the whole time... then she felt a wave of tiredness come over her and she yawned. It was quickly followed by a wave of peacefulness and she closed her eyes, snuggled in as much as she could, then drifted off to sleep.


    The guard in the hallway felt the same wave of tiredness hit her, then the feeling of peacefulness. She wavered on her feet for a moment and then used a Wakefulness spell to stay awake. Her urgent need for sleep faded away and she stood up straight. She didn''t know what had happened; but, since it happened with the man right behind her going to sleep, he had to be the cause. She didn''t like leaving her post for a second time, though. She debated telling someone of a higher rank to pass it along to the others.


    It''s probably just here. She reasoned and stayed at her post.


    She had no idea that everyone within a thousand feet of Hunter had suffered the exact same thing that she just did. Of the seventy female elves inside the Protection Tree, over half of them hadn''t used the general Wakefulness spell in time and fell asleep where they stood.


    *


    ¡°What is he doing?¡± Sylvana asked as she wavered on her feet and braced herself on the desk. She had cast the spell just in time.


    ¡°He''s sleeping.¡± The elder beside her said with a smile. ¡°He wasn''t kidding. He really needed to rest.¡±


    ¡°How many did he take with him?¡± Sylvana asked, not really wanting to know the answer.


    ¡°Only about forty inside the Protection tree.¡± One of the other elders said as her eyes glowed green. ¡°Nearly a hundred in the surrounding buildings.¡±


    ¡°I''ll send out the squads to check on everyone.¡± One of the other elders said and opened the chamber door. The two guards that were supposed to be protecting them were asleep on the floor. She bent down and touched them to cast the Wakefulness spell on them, then walked away.


    ¡°By the Queen''s grace.¡± Sylvana sighed. ¡°I told him not to cause a scene.¡±


    The elder beside her laughed. ¡°I don''t think he had a choice this time, Princess.¡± She said and tapped her temple. ¡°It was a mental affliction.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Sylvana asked, surprised. ¡°It wasn''t a spell?¡±


    ¡°Mass Sleep?¡± The elder laughed again. ¡°That only has a range of fifty feet.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡± Sylvana couldn''t comprehend what had just happened. They were a lot farther than fifty feet away from the guest rooms.


    ¡°He is a wonder.¡± The elder said. ¡°I hope we will soon hear from our retired sister about him.¡±


    ¡°Would she tell me about him?¡± Sylvana asked, and the elders exchanged glances.


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± The elder beside her said, then a second later her face went blank. ¡°Perhaps not.¡±


    Sylvana held in her sigh at that revelation, because that was a definite no if she ever heard one.


    *


    It took almost an hour for the squads to check the surrounding buildings for all of the people that were asleep. Thankfully, no one was hurt, mainly because the space between the waves of sleepiness and peacefulness had been just long enough for everyone to either cast the spell or to assume a proper sleeping position before they fell asleep.


    Sylvana was the one that was most relieved to hear this, and she sent personal apologies to everyone that had been affected. The elders had told her that it wasn''t necessary, that everyone understood what had happened and weren''t angry at all, and she issued the apologies anyway. She should have waited, because something else happened seven hours later.


    Hunter woke up.


    *


    I woke up and my mind was bright and alert. I caught the retreating edge of an effect that my mind had generated. I caught it and tried to stem the effect, then realized that was like trying to catch a wave after it had passed. I let it go and felt the woman that was cuddled in my arms as she woke up.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± She said and her arms didn''t lessen their grip on mine.


    ¡°I''m pretty sure it''s early evening.¡± I said, and she giggled. I felt her breast jiggle in my hand and I started to let it go.


    ¡°Just a bit more.¡± The woman said. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°A quick nap?¡± I asked, and she nodded. It pulled on the hair I currently had my head buried in, so I moved my head a little and put my face back against her neck. ¡°Ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°Twenty.¡± The woman countered and hugged my arms, which squeezed her breasts. ¡°Can you nuzzle my neck? Marlee always does that in the mornings.¡±


    I didn''t feel the Presence waver, so I obliged and started to nuzzle the part of her neck that my lips could reach. She rolled slightly and turned partially onto her back as she flung a leg over mine. My lips slid over her skin and she let out a relaxed sigh as I nuzzled her neck right under her chin. Her hand played with her other breast, so I copied her movements and fondled the one I held.


    ¡°Mmm, that''s so good.¡± She whispered and her body tensed up for a second, then it melted into me and the bed around me as she completely relaxed. I stopped kissing her neck and playing with her breast when I felt her lose consciousness.


    I rested my head beside hers. What else do her bed sisters do for her? I asked myself and looked at her rising and falling chest as she breathed deeply. She didn''t care that I was a man at all, which was both nice and disturbing. I could do anything to her, anything at all, and she probably wouldn''t say no. I concentrated on her to test my ability and read her surface thoughts. She does want someone to play with her. I thought in surprise. She actually expects it when she wakes up!


    That was enough to convince me that I was not going to be here when she woke up the second time. It was one thing to explain to Maylia that I had a bed sister once and it was definitely another thing to go beyond casual touching. I created a Presence layer around my body and made it solid around the parts she was currently touching, then I slipped out from behind her and silently moved off of the bed. I changed into my armor and stored my nightgown, then went to the door.


    I eased the woman''s arm and leg down to the bed and absorbed the Presence holding them, then I opened the room''s door and stepped out without making a sound. The guard looked at me with wide eyes and I made a quiet motion with my hand and closed the door.


    ¡°She''s napping.¡± I whispered. ¡°She may want... ah... something... when she wakes up.¡±


    The guard couldn''t help but smile at my awkwardness. ¡°She''s pretty easy to please. Usually you can get away with just a finger, maybe two. I doubt she''ll want a mouth near there unless she took a bath this morning.¡±


    I stood there and didn''t say anything, and she laughed.


    ¡°I''ll take care of it when I come back.¡± The guard said and motioned down the hallway. ¡°The princess and the elders are waiting for you.¡±


    I nodded and followed her back to the center chamber and she left me there with the two guards. They had both angry and impressed looks on their faces and one of them knocked. The door opened and one of the elders was there.


    ¡°Sylvana is currently giving apologies... again... to those that have been affected by your abilities.¡±


    ¡°Again?¡± I asked. ¡°What happened before?¡±


    ¡°When you fell asleep, you sent out a mental command for everyone to sleep, then you sent out a feeling of peace.¡±


    I was surprised when the Presence didn''t waver, so I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°Please accept my apologies for causing you trouble.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about it.¡± She said. ¡°How did you sleep?¡±


    ¡°Surprisingly well.¡± I said. ¡°Thanks to getting a loan of a bed sister.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± She said. ¡°I''m sure that Sylvana will want to leave... wait, what did you say?¡±


    ¡°The guard was kind enough to loan me a bed sister. She let me cuddle her and I fell dead asleep.¡± I said. ¡°In fact, that''s probably why I sent out those pulses automatically. I really needed to sleep.¡±


    ¡°Did he say he used a bed sister?¡± One of the elders asked.


    ¡°Excuse me?!?¡± Sylvana said from across the room. She stood up and stalked over to me. ¡°Did I hear that right? You had a woman in your bed?¡±


    ¡°I couldn''t sleep.¡± I said. ¡°The guard...¡±


    ¡°You did NOT share a bed with the guard!¡± Sylvana said angrily.


    ¡°No, I shared it with her bed sister. She''s not of child bearing age, so it''s okay.¡±


    ¡°It is not ''okay''.¡± Sylvana said through gritted teeth. ¡°How do you think this makes the royal family look?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think that applies.¡± I said. ¡°You didn''t sleep with her.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn''t have, either!¡± Sylvana spat.


    ¡°Nothing happened.¡± I said in my defense. ¡°I left before I had to... ah... play with her.¡±


    ¡°We. Are. LEAVING!¡± Sylvana yelled, grabbed my arm, and dragged me down the hallway. The laughs of the elders followed us as we left.

 Book Two: The Summoned 088

    ¡°I can''t believe you.¡± Sylvana said as we left the main part of the Protection tree. ¡°Why would you ask for a bed sister?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t ask, actually.¡± I said. ¡°I asked the guard how old she was, then said I would have asked her to cuddle if she hadn''t been of child bearing age.¡±


    Sylvana huffed loudly and led me over to the stable. ¡°Stay here until I get the others.¡± She ordered me, then she stared at me until I nodded. She stalked off and I stood there and waited.


    Pretty hair.


    Handsome.


    That can''t really be a man, can it?


    Men are loathsome.


    I''m picking up random people''s stray thoughts. I thought in surprise.


    I should talk to him. No, I shouldn''t. He was with the Princess. He''s not hers, though. He can''t be. She''s not of age yet. Yes, I''ll do it. I can do it. I''m going to do it!


    I almost laughed as the woman gathered up the courage to approach me. I could see her halfway across the stable and she turned towards me. I added a few more layers of protection around my mind and stopped other people''s thoughts from bombarding me. I was pretty sure I wasn''t going to be able to talk to her and not let what I was ''hearing'' from her mind affect what I was saying.


    ¡°You''re not with the princess are you?¡± She asked, hesitantly.


    ¡°She and some of her squad are my escorts.¡±


    ¡°E-escorts!¡± The woman gasped. ¡°Wh-who are you? How can you... the princess is your escort?!?¡±


    Her poor mind must be reeling. I thought and chuckled. ¡°Well, she had been here before and I needed to come here, so...¡±


    The woman visibly relaxed and nodded. I could sense that she was happy that I wasn''t important enough to command the princess, yet important enough to accompany her. It was an odd sensation to feel and understand someone else''s motives without actively trying to find it out.


    ¡°What kind of clothing is that?¡± She asked, and her hand moved to touch it. ¡°May I?¡±


    I nodded lifted my forearm in front of myself for her to touch. ¡°It''s actually a special leather and cloth mixture with metal plates incorporated into the surface.¡± I said and her fingers rubbed along the black metal. ¡°It''s only really effective if weapons impact the metal. If they hit the cloth, well, it''s just thick cloth and leather.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating.¡± She said, almost in a purr. ¡°I really should ask you how old you are.¡± She said and took in a deep breath. ¡°I don''t care about that, though.¡±


    ¡°You don''t?¡± I asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°I felt the power of your sleep compulsion.¡± She said, and she stopped rubbing the metal on my sleeve and moved her hand up my arm to my shoulder. ¡°I must say... it''s a rare talent.¡±


    ¡°One that your children should have?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh, yes.¡± She said and stopped herself before she touched my bare skin. ¡°Even without the guarantee that they would inherit it, I am willing to pay handsomely for your services.¡±


    Did I hear that right? I blinked my eyes for a moment. ¡°Did you say pay? I thought all that was needed were petitions and my acceptance.¡±


    The woman laughed. ¡°That is the common way.¡± She said. ¡°For those of us with better means, we can bypass the fertility council and pick the man we want for services.¡±


    ¡°I... did not know that.¡± I said. No wonder the queen and her daughters were upset about me flirting with Unodae. ¡°Thank you for telling me. I will be more vigilant of advances in the future.¡±


    ¡°Thanks are not necessary.¡± She said and looked into my eyes. ¡°Will you consent?¡±


    ¡°I must admit that I am tempted.¡± I said. Who wouldn''t be? Women of all kinds practically throwing themselves all over me? I smiled. ¡°Unfortunately, I am going to be busy saving the elves from the creatures that appear randomly.¡±


    The woman chuckled. ¡°You will be?¡± She asked, and I didn''t need my abilities to feel the absurdity she felt. ¡°How exactly can you save us all?¡±


    I was about to respond when Sylvana and the guards came into the stable. ¡°It looks like my escorts are here.¡± I said and the woman sighed and let my shoulder go.


    ¡°What, may I ask, are you doing?¡± Sylvana said as she approached us. The woman started to explain and Sylvana ignored her and looked right at me.


    ¡°This bold woman offered to buy my services.¡± I said honestly, and the sheer look of hatred on all of faces of the guards told me that the woman had done something very bad in their eyes.


    ¡°Discretion was not a part of your learning, apparently.¡± The woman sighed and looked me over. ¡°Perhaps it wasn''t meant to be.¡± She said and nodded to the princess, then walked away.


    ¡°I can''t leave you alone for a minute.¡± Sylvana said.


    ¡°I never moved from this spot, just as you ordered.¡± I said and pointed down. ¡°She approached me.¡±


    ¡°Prepare the horses.¡± The captain of the guard said and all of the guards went to their horses and started to equip them. I went to my horse and Sylvana went to hers.


    ¡°I should have ordered you to stay quiet, too.¡± Sylvana whispered.


    I think being the strong silent type might have been too much for that woman to resist. I thought with a smile and finished equipping the horse and made sure everything was secured. We led the horses out to the main area and the guard I knew held a hand out to me. I took it and gave it a little squeeze, then placed it on the horse. She cast the speed boost and I added my new Presence to it. Both her hand and the horse glowed blue and not green like it was supposed to. Everyone stared at me and I moved her hand to her own horse and we did it again.


    Without a word, the guard beside her held a hand out to me, and I nodded and took her hand and touched her horse. It glowed blue and she marvelled at the change. Of course, the other six guards wanted theirs done as well, so I helped them boost their mounts. The captain of the guard thought about saying no, then relented and held a hand out to me.


    ¡°Does this mean I''m growing on you?¡± I asked and took her hand and boosted her horse.


    ¡°It means I don''t want to be the only one that has to stop every three hours to replenish their horse.¡±


    I chuckled and turned to princess Sylvana and held my hand out to her. She sighed and took my hand, and we boosted her horse. I had intentionally not let them feel the thrill of having my Presence run through them, and Sylvana looked at her hand and then at me.


    So, you know it should tingle. I thought and went back to my horse and climbed on.


    No one asked why we were travelling so late in the day, probably because they all knew why. They all mounted up and we rode the horses out of the city. They didn''t bother with anything fancy and concentrated on just controlling the horses. They were twice as fast as they used to be and we were back at the previous city where I felt the compulsion, less than fifteen minutes later. I asked everyone to slow down and we came to a stop in the middle of the city.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    I let some of my mental shields fade and I felt a distinct need to go in a certain direction, so I told Sylvana and the captain. After talking about it, we decided that I should follow the feeling to its source. We dropped off the horses and the guards came with us as I followed the compulsion. It seemed fleeting and strong at the same time, as if it was a subconscious suggestion, and the feeling led us to the Protection tree.


    My face lost its professional detachment as I looked down into the bowels of the tree to where the cells were, and I saw a woman was being held there. She was not in good shape.


    I turned and looked at Sylvana with a frown on my face. ¡°Go inside and get me an explanation about their prisoner, before I tear open the tree and rescue her.¡±


    ¡°How dare you order me.¡± Sylvana said, her own repressed anger coming forth.


    I stared into her eyes as I held a hand out towards the doors of the Protection tree and tore them off, to the surprise of the guards and the people around us. I held the massive doors in mid-air, then slowly closed my hand. The wood splintered and cracked as it was compressed. Snapping sounds filled the area and made a lot of them wince. When I had made a fist, the large doors had become a round pile of crushed wood. I dropped it off to the side and the ground shook slightly from the weight and left an indentation.


    ¡°Never mind.¡± I said and walked up the steps.


    ¡°You can''t just barge in and...¡±


    ¡°You had your chance.¡± I said to her and the two guards stepped in front of the open space. ¡°Step aside. I need to visit your prisoner.¡±


    ¡°We don''t have... YIP!¡± The guard let out a girlish scream as I picked her up with a Presence Hand and moved her aside. The other guard was just as easily moved aside and I walked by them and into the lobby of the tree.


    ¡°Hunter, you can''t do this!¡± Sylvana exclaimed. ¡°There are rules to follow and...¡±


    ¡°I''m not an elf.¡± I said and walked up the main stairs to the third floor. ¡°Your rules mean less than nothing to me.¡± I walked over to the elder''s central chamber. The two guards there looked openly hostile, so I covered their mouths with Presence and held them against the wall with Presence Hands.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Sylvana reached for my arm and it met a solid Presence barrier. ¡°Stop!¡±


    ¡°I will have answers.¡± I said and knocked on the chamber door. ¡°Open up or I will ask the tree to open up permanently!¡±


    ¡°Please, stop.¡± Sylvana pleaded with me as the door opened and the group of elders stood there.


    ¡°Don''t bother telling me that you don''t have to answer because I have no authority.¡± I said and pointed down through the floor to where they kept the prisoner. ¡°Explain.¡±


    ¡°She is an outsider and...¡± One of them started to say.


    ¡°So, she''s a criminal that you can torture because of that?¡± I asked and cut her off. ¡°What did you ask her? Did you ask her anything?¡± I said angrily. ¡°What use is any information she could tell you?¡±


    The elder closed her mouth and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°You know, I was actually starting to like your people.¡± I said and took a deep breath to calm down. ¡°I had forgotten how horribly you treat people, and you will never know how much I regret that mistake.¡± I turned away from them. ¡°Thanks for the reminder.¡±


    No one said anything and I walked down the hallway and went down the stairs. Sylvana and the captain of the guard followed me. I was tempted to create a Presence Wall and stop them, then decided it was better that they saw this. I walked down to the cell that was similar to the one that I had been held in and I touched the tree.


    Open. I thought and the tree opened the hidden door. I felt Sylvana''s and the captain''s surprise and ignored them as I stepped into the room. The smell was quite pungent and I used Presence to push it away, then I walked over to the bed the woman was chained to. She wore a basic cloth dress and I could see her wrists and ankles were worn away from the form-fitted bindings.


    I looked at her sleeping face and it looked pained and hollowed out from what I suspect was under-nourishment. Her short dark hair was thin and stringy and looked like neither it nor her had been washed in weeks. I turned to Sylvana and saw the look on her face before she could hide it. She knew she had lost me as an ally, so I looked at the captain of the guard instead.


    ¡°Get her things.¡± I commanded her. She didn''t hesitate and left the room at a fast walk. I turned back to the woman on the bed and knew the next few minutes were going to be very difficult for her. I took off my blast shield and my uniform coat, and stored both into my bag of holding. I also made sure that my ponytail was still tied up and out of the way.


    ¡°Sylvana, go stand by the door.¡± I said.


    Sylvana looked like she was going to say no, so I used a Presence Hand to pick her up and put her over by the door and held her there. She was very angry that I would do that to her, so I covered her mouth to stop her rant before it started.


    I reached down and lightly touched the prisoner on the shoulder. ¡°Miss.¡± I said. ¡°Miss, wake up.¡±


    ¡°No...¡± The woman moaned and tried to roll over. Her bindings stopped her from doing that, though. ¡°...stop... don''t... don''t hurt me...¡± She whispered as tears formed at the corners of her eyes. ¡°...no... I told you... I don''t know anything...¡±


    ¡°Miss.¡± I said with authority and her body stiffened. ¡°Miss, wake up.¡±


    The woman slowly opened her watery eyes and looked at me. ¡°No. No, it''s not real!¡±


    ¡°I''m real, and a man.¡± I said and pat my pectoral muscles. ¡°Look, no breasts.¡±


    Her eyes looked at my chest and then she looked back at my face. ¡°H-h-how?¡±


    ¡°I have safe passage in the elves lands.¡± I said. ¡°When I passed by here, I felt you calling out to me.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± The woman blinked her eyes. ¡°I didn''t... I mean... I asked for help, but... I''ve been praying for weeks... and nothing.¡±


    ¡°Who did you pray to?¡± I asked, genuinely curious.


    ¡°Black Laura.¡± The woman said, her voice a bit more sure of itself, then she started to tremble. ¡°You''re really here to rescue me? It''s not an illusion, is it?¡±


    I moved my hand from her shoulder to her wrist and touched the cuff. Open. I thought and the shackle formed the latch and hinge and opened. She stared at me as I did the same to her other wrist and then both of her ankles. She tried to pull her arms and legs in to huddle into a ball, and she screamed as her muscles rebelled from moving.


    ¡°Don''t move.¡± I said in a soothing voice. ¡°Let me heal you first.¡±


    ¡°You''re a healer?¡± She asked, surprised.


    ¡°No, I just have the ability.¡± I said. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°I''m... a knight.¡± She said and I felt the Presence waver a minuscule amount. ¡°From the Second Choutia Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°May I touch you?¡± I asked and held my hands with the palms towards her.


    She looked at my hands for a few seconds and nodded. I sat down on the side of the bed and took her hand. It was thin and frail and I could feel the bones. I was actually nervous about holding it, and that was saying something. I felt the captain of the guard come back down the stairs and enter the room.


    ¡°You''re not quite a knight, are you?¡± I asked.


    The woman''s face turned a little red. ¡°I''m actually in training.¡±


    ¡°How did you get inside the magical barrier?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A miscast Teleportation spell.¡± The woman said, her voice full of disgust. ¡°I warned...¡± She stopped talking for a moment. ¡°It doesn''t matter. He''s dead. So are the other two that were in my group.¡±


    ¡°Did the elves...¡± I started to ask, and she shook her head.


    ¡°They were crushed inside the magical barrier.¡± She said. ¡°I don''t know why I survived.¡±


    ¡°She was right at the edge of the circle.¡± The captain of the guard said and held up a half-dissolved piece of armor and the hilt of a sword. ¡°Her armor and weapons weren''t so lucky.¡±


    ¡°They lied.¡± The woman said. ¡°The elves did that to my things.¡±


    ¡°Why would...¡± The captain sighed.


    ¡°They removed the threat before it became a threat.¡± I said and shook my head. ¡°No wonder people on the outside hate the elves.¡±


    ¡°I always thought it was just hyped up.¡± The woman said, then her eyes filled with tears. ¡°I never wanted proof that they were evil incarnate! I didn''t!¡± She exclaimed, almost hysterically.


    ¡°Shh.¡± I said and touched her with my Presence.


    She gasped as I made a connection between us, then I used a mental technique on her to calm her.


    ¡°Unfortunately, they see outsiders as less than them and treat us accordingly.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve tried to talk to the queen about it, and it has apparently fallen on deaf ears if this is still going on.¡±


    ¡°When did you encounter this?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°It''s been a year since I was trapped in here.¡± I said. ¡°I escaped a week later, earned safe passage, and the queen herself let me out through the barrier.¡±


    ¡°But... but... you''re here.¡± The woman stared at me.


    ¡°I had to come back to see someone important.¡± I said. ¡°How do you feel?¡±


    The woman took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°I feel... wait. How...¡±


    ¡°I''ve been healing you since I took your hand.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I''m just about done.¡±


    She looked down at our clasp hands and she saw that the large red welts from the shackles around her wrists were now gone.


    ¡°I''ve got some food on me, so if you like, we can have supper before we leave.¡±


    ¡°Are... are you serious?¡± The woman asked, clearly surprised. ¡°I''m a prisoner and they tortured me! I''m not staying here to eat with these monsters!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I meant with me. The others will wait outside.¡±


    ¡°HM! Hmm hmm mhm!¡± Sylvana mumbled.


    I used Presence to move her away from the wall and put her out into the hallway and stuck her to the wall. ¡°Captain, can you give us some privacy?¡±


    The captain nodded and put the ruined armor and weapon on the floor, then she left through the door. She touched the wall and the door closed and disappeared.


    ¡°N-no... not... don''t lock me in!¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and gave her hand a pat. ¡°I can open the door anytime I want.¡±


    ¡°You can? How?¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about it.¡± I said and used Presence to drag over the table and chairs at the side of the room. ¡°Do you like chicken?¡±


    ¡°Ch-chicken?¡± The woman asked and her eyes widened as I quickly set up a picnic with several dishes of food. She caught her breath when I took out one of the chicken legs that were the size of my forearm.


    ¡°It''s quite delicious.¡± I said and put it on a plate, then I held her chair out for her. ¡°Miss, would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner?¡±


    ¡°I must be dreaming.¡± The woman said and climbed off of the bed. Her muscles worked fine now and didn''t pain her, so she sat down on the chair with relief clear on her face. ¡°You can stop calling me miss. My name is Dawn. Dawn Sherwood.¡±


    ¡°Hi, Dawn. I''m Hunter.¡± I said and took her hand for a brief moment and shook it, then I sat down across from her. ¡°Help yourself.¡± I said and took out my own chicken leg and started to eat. She watched me for almost a full minute, then she couldn''t resist the smell any longer. She picked up the chicken leg and tore into it with her teeth.

 Book Two: The Summoned 089

    We finished eating and Dawn sat back in the chair, the remains of the large chicken leg on her plate.


    ¡°This would be a great dream if it hadn''t started out as a nightmare.¡± Dawn said and put a hand on her belly. ¡°Oh, I think... I think I ate too much!¡±


    I reached over and put a hand on her belly and used Presence to calm her stomach and helped her dissolve a good portion of the food and spread the nutrients around her body. She stared at my hand as her very bloated feeling disappeared.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Dawn asked.


    ¡°Magic.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°What kind of magic dispels over-eating?¡± Dawn asked, and I could hear the incredulity in her voice.


    ¡°The best magic in the world.¡± I chuckled and quickly cleaned up and stored the picnic things. ¡°Do you feel up to travelling?¡±


    ¡°If I didn''t think they would cut me down in a second, I would have run out of here as soon as you removed my shackles.¡±


    ¡°I know the feeling.¡± I said. ¡°If I knew then what I know now...¡± I shook my head and smiled. ¡°I''ve only got outfits for men on me. Is that okay?¡±


    Dawn looked down at herself and her very dirty simple cloth dress. ¡°I need a bath.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. ¡°Come with me.¡±


    Dawn looked at my hand and then at my face. ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°I have some stops to make around the elf lands, and then I''m leaving.¡± I said. ¡°I''m heading to the Second Choutia Kingdom after that.¡±


    ¡°You... you...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I''m taking you home.¡± I said. ¡°No strings. No favors owed. Nothing required on your part, except to come with me.¡±


    Dawn looked to be on the verge of tears. ¡°You... this is too good to be true.¡±


    ¡°You don''t know the half of it.¡± I said and grinned. ¡°I''m in a loving relationship, so you don''t have to worry about me trying to have sex with you.¡±


    Dawn''s mouth dropped open in shock.


    ¡°Yeah, you can relax about that. I can also cook pretty much anything.¡± I said. ¡°So, shall we go?¡±


    ¡°By Black Laura''s pale white tit!¡± Dawn said and took my hand. ¡°Get me out of here!¡±


    I laughed at the curse, helped her stand, and led her over to the door. I touched the wall and asked it to open, then the door appeared and opened for us. I absorbed all the things holding everyone I had used, including the things I had used on Sylvana just outside the door.


    ¡°We''re stopping for a bath, then we are leaving.¡± I said to her, then I led Dawn up the stairs and down a hallway, then stopped at one of the small guest rooms. I took her inside and set up the bath, then hung up one of the cheap sheets as a makeshift curtain to give her privacy.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Dawn said and slipped off the dirty cloth dress and kicked it away, then she climbed into the bath. When I didn''t hear any water splashing around, I knew what was wrong.


    ¡°I''m coming in.¡± I said and waited for a moment, then I slipped inside the makeshift curtain to see Dawn with tears pouring down her face as she huddled in the water and trembled. ¡°Yes, Dawn. You''re really out of there.¡±


    I knelt by the tub, lathered up a cloth, and started to wash her. I was gentle and thorough, and she didn''t react at all until I reached her belly. She tensed up and I moved past there and washed her legs. When I finished, I lathered the cloth up again and handed it to her. Without a word, she washed herself between her legs and stared at me the whole time. I kept my eyes on hers and didn''t look anywhere else. She felt reassured by that and pointed to the towels.


    I stood up and unfolded one of them, then turned my head away and held the towel up for her. I heard the water splash as she stood and took the towel and wrapped herself with it, so I grabbed another towel and started to dry her off. She didn''t speak at all as I did, then I hung up the underwear, pants, and shirt that I had.


    ¡°They haven''t been worn.¡± I said and stepped out past the make-shift curtain and kept my back to it. She hesitated and stared at me through the curtain, and since I was facing the other way, she relaxed and dropped the towel. She slipped the underwear on first and had to adjust it several times to get them to fit, then she slipped on the shirt and buttoned it up. She sighed contentedly with her body covered and pulled on the pants. Finally dressed, she took two steps and pulled the make-shift curtain aside.


    ¡°All I have are socks.¡± I said and held a pair of thick cloth socks out to her. ¡°We''ll have to stop and buy boots from somewhere.¡±


    Dawn nodded and took the socks and sat on the bed, then she slipped them onto her feet.


    ¡°Do you want me to brush your hair?¡± I asked and held out a brush.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Dawn asked and gave me an odd look.


    ¡°I''ve spent a lot of time around women.¡± I said and wiggled the brush. She sighed and closed her eyes as she nodded, so I climbed onto the bed behind her and brushed her hair. With each slow stroke of the brush through her short black hair, she let out a breath. I could feel her calm down gradually, and when I was done, her hair wasn''t thin and stringy anymore. It was light and fluffy with a few twists and curls in it. When I climbed off the bed and looked at her, she seemed back to normal.


    We both knew that was a lie, since she didn''t have any resolution to what happened; but, we weren''t going to peel that scab off the wound just yet. I led her over to the door and opened it, and a pair of simple boots were there. Neither the captain of the guard nor Sylvana looked at us, and I had been too distracted taking care of Dawn to notice who had put the boots there. Dawn slipped them on and nodded to me, so I took her hand and led her down the hallway and around the center of the tree. The center chamber was still open and the five elders were there.


    ¡°I guess there''s no point in asking for the ones that hurt her, is there?¡± I asked them. ¡°There''s too many to count or the ones that did it are too important to lose, am I right?¡±


    The elders didn''t exchange looks or say anything in response.


    ¡°You know, if I didn''t respect the trees so much and understand their priceless value to both life and the planet, I would burn the whole damn forest down to spite you.¡± I said to them in a calm voice.


    The elders visibly shook and one of them sweat profusely.


    ¡°Yes, you understand, don''t you? A mana enriched forest ignited by magical fire?¡± I looked at their stunned faces. ¡°It would be both glorious and horrible, wouldn''t it?¡±


    No one said anything and I felt Dawn''s hand grip mine tightly.


    ¡°You''re right, Dawn. We''ve wasted enough time here. We''re leaving.¡± I said and turned away, then stopped and turned back. ¡°Actually, I have something else to say.¡± I said. ¡°Listen to me and listen well. Send word to all the other Protection trees and the elder councils. They will stop the torture of their outsider prisoners. They will be bathed and dressed and be given a room. They can remain shackled for their own safety, so they can''t be killed for resisting and trying to escape. They will also be fed properly and I will come by to pick them up as soon as I can.¡±


    ¡°Only the queen can issue...¡± One of the elders started to say.


    ¡°Sylvana.¡± I snapped. ¡°Contact Queen Orella right now and tell her the same thing. Have her issue the same orders.¡±


    Sylvana walked by me and entered the chamber. One of the elders helped her set up the call to her mother.


    ¡°You should also tell her that if any of the current prisoners inside Protection trees are killed, I will kill the elder council of that tree and any guards that are responsible.¡±


    ¡°I can''t tell her that!¡±


    ¡°Then I will. In person. After making her kneel to me in apology.¡±


    Sylvana''s face darkened in anger, then the elder beside her held out a glowing ball of energy. They both glared at me while Sylvana said exactly what I told her to say. When she was done, the queen didn''t respond right away. It took her a few moments to compose herself and then we all heard her voice.


    ¡°It will be done.¡± Queen Orella said. ¡°Tell Hunter that I didn''t know.¡±


    ¡°Tell her that it''s because she didn''t want to know and didn''t ask.¡± I said, and Sylvana said it.Stolen novel; please report.


    The queen didn''t respond and the glowing ball faded. Less than a minute later, another glowing ball of energy appeared inside the elder chamber and the queen''s voice came out of it. The orders were issued, as was the condition I had added, and the ball faded.


    ¡°Now we can leave.¡± I said and led Dawn away. Sylvana and the captain of the guard followed us outside the tree and to the horses. I created a set of stairs for Dawn to climb up onto my horse and I climbed up behind her. I waited for everyone else to mount their horses and then I rode at the head of the group. Neither Sylvana nor the captain tried to ride beside me as we travelled. When we reached the spot where we had been attacked by the armored monkeys called rickchaws, I motioned for everyone to stop in the clearing, because I could feel the crack was just inside my detection range.


    ¡°Wait here.¡± I said and slipped off the horse.


    ¡°W-wait!¡± Dawn almost screamed. ¡°Don''t leave me!¡±


    ¡°I can''t bring you into danger right now.¡± I said and took her hand. ¡°You will be perfectly safe right here and I''ll be back in a few minutes.¡±


    Dawn looked like I was throwing her to the wolves, so I held her hand tightly and spoke to Sylvana and the others.


    ¡°Stay quiet. Don''t talk to her. Don''t crowd near her, and for god''s sake, don''t surround her.¡± I glared at Sylvana. ¡°Leave. Her. Alone.¡±


    Sylvana''s face hadn''t lost its anger since my ultimatum to the queen. ¡°What if...¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± I said. ¡°Stay away from her. Period.¡±


    Sylvana didn''t say anything and just looked away from me. I knew what that meant, so I created an invisible Presence Box that left a five foot space all around Dawn and the horse. Since it was my Presence, I easily stepped through it without disrupting it or revealing that it was there.


    ¡°I won''t be long.¡± I said to Dawn as I put on both my armored coat and my blast shield over my face. I saw her surprise as I did and gave her another smile, then I turned around and jumped up to the second set of branches about sixty feet up that allowed elves to run through the forest. I used Presence Run and quickly made my way towards the crack.


    *


    One of the guards let out a little scream as Hunter jumped and then disappeared from sight.


    ¡°I''m going to kill you all.¡± Dawn said in a deadly voice as she turned around in the saddle. ¡°The things you did to me can''t be forgiven with a bath and a pair of mangy boots.¡±


    All the elves around her stayed quiet and she looked at their faces.


    ¡°Yes, I know you weren''t the ones that did it.¡± Dawn said. ¡°That doesn''t matter, because I know you would have been if I had been captured by you.¡±


    She saw the looks of apprehension on their faces and smiled evilly.


    ¡°I want you to tell every one of your people that Dawn Sherwood will be coming for them.¡± Dawn said and saw the doubt on their faces. ¡°I pledge my children. My children''s children and their children''s children. I will pledge however many generations it takes!¡± She spat. ¡°I swear by Black Laura''s Covenant that your people will suffer for their crimes!¡±


    Sylvana and the guards moved their horses back as Dawn was covered in a black smoky substance. It seeped into her skin and filled her body with a black glow. It lasted for only a moment, then it faded.


    Dawn looked up to the sky with tears in her eyes. ¡°You heard me again!¡± She said and beamed a smile towards the heavens. ¡°Thank you, Black Laura! Thank you!¡±


    *


    I arrived at the spot where the crack was and saw that it was up in the canopy of the trees. It was odd, to say the least, with what looked like a village made of leaves built around it. There were males, females, and children, scattered all over the place. I thought about dashing in and closing the crack, then realized I would be attacked on all sides as soon as I did. I stood there and observed for several seconds and let a smile grow on my face.


    It''s time to use some guerrilla tactics on these monkeys. I thought with amusement and picked the best spot to start picking them off, one by one. I moved over to it and waited for a minute, then I moved a tree branch with Presence and rustled the leaves. Two of the large male monkeys immediately came over to investigate. I let them get far enough away from the others, created a Presence Wall behind them to make them invisible to the village, then I used two Presence Hands to snap their necks.


    I shoved the bodies into my bag of holding for creatures and absorbed the Presence Wall, then moved to another spot and repeated the action. To my delight, they were fairly stupid, so my simple distraction technique easily drew out all of the males and some of the females. With the more mobile monkeys taken care of and shoved into my bag of holding for creatures, I covered myself in a layer of Presence and bent the light away to make myself invisible. I almost felt guilty as I went through the entire village and killed them all... at least, until I reached the crack.


    I didn''t see the illusion of the gaping maw that was supposed to be protecting it, and I started to laugh. I approached the crack and saw through it trees upon trees full of armored monkeys, just waiting to come through. There was no chance that I was going to hop through and fight the things, not so many and all at once, so I reached out and covered my hand in Presence. I grabbed the edge of the crack and felt the tear in space. Unlike the other times, I could feel that it was only a tear in space and was a direct connection from that planet to this one.


    I had done the deed so many times with god''s help that my body instinctively knew what to do. I pulled the crack closed and held it, then I used Presence to sew it closed and smoothed over the ''wound'' in the air. When I was done, it was completely erased, just like the cracks god had sealed using my hand. It had also cost me nearly half of my new Presence reserves.


    Well, damn. I thought and stepped back, then sat down. I wasn''t exhausted from the exertion, which was a relief. I stared at my right hand and was surprised that I had done what I thought only a divine being could do, then I chuckled. I''ve got both a god''s and a goddess'' energy integrated with my own. I know they probably didn''t intend for me to use it this way, though. I let out a bark of laughter. When she finds out, she''s going to be so pissed!


    I stood up and looked around, and saw a lot of piles of items, so I went through the whole village and gathered all of the loot. I took armor, weapons, money, jewels, and anything else that was valuable. I left the food, though. I didn''t want to take the chance that it was tampered with. I left the village in the lower canopy and ran back to the rest area, then dropped down through the trees.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Dawn yelled. ¡°You''re back!¡±


    ¡°I had to detour and gather some loot, or I would have been back a few minutes ago.¡± I said and absorbed the Presence Box around her and my horse. ¡°I thought about burning the rickchaw village, then decided I had to get back to you.¡±


    Dawn visibly relaxed and I climbed up onto the horse behind her.


    ¡°Sylvana, when we reach the next city, you can let your mother know that I closed the crack that the creatures came through. I also killed forty-five male rickchaws, thirty-two females, and fifty-eight children.¡±


    Sylvana, the captain of the guard, and the eight guards stared at me, their mouths agape.


    ¡°Shall we go?¡± I asked no one in particular, then we all trotted out of the clearing and then ran the horses at full speed. We stopped briefly at the next city, so Sylvana could pass on the message and to tell the queen that we were returning to get the map of the cracks. They didn''t have any prisoners, thank god, and we left and went to the next city. They didn''t have one, either. I was relieved that there wasn''t someone else I had to rescue on the way back to the castle.


    When we came to the city, we had to slow down. Unlike the other places, they didn''t make a path for us to easily run through. I thought that was odd, since it was a city around the castle, then realized there were just too many of them to effectively clear the way on such short notice. Instead of the eight or so hours it took to meet my contact, it took only two hours to come back. The city was just falling under the cover of darkness and the light of day faded as the magical lights of the city lit up. We rode right up to the castle and into the stable on the side, and I dismounted and helped Dawn climb down.


    ¡°We''re not actually staying here, are we?¡± Dawn asked, nervously.


    ¡°For the night at least.¡± I said. ¡°Don''t worry. I won''t let them hurt you anymore.¡±


    ¡°How could you stop them?¡± Dawn asked. ¡°You''re only one man and there are hundreds... thousands of them.¡±


    I immediately had the absurd thought of being able to put them all into a fertilization coma by saying I would have sex with them. It made me laugh as I imagined walking around with my erect penis hanging out of my pants while having droves of women fall unconscious from the sight.


    ¡°I have my ways.¡± I said instead and took her hand. ¡°Please do me a favor and try not to blow up at the queen.¡±


    ¡°What makes you think I''m going to do that?¡± Dawn asked.


    ¡°Because I''m trying not to do the same thing.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I told you. I was here a year ago. I had hoped that I would have been the last to suffer indignities at their hands because I was an outsider.¡±


    Dawn looked like she was going to argue, then she grit her teeth and nodded slightly.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, then turned to Sylvana. ¡°Lead the way, please.¡±


    ¡°I am not your...¡± Sylvana started to say, then she too grit her teeth. She turned around and walked out of the stable without saying anything else. I absorbed the extra energy I had given all of the horses and followed the princess with Dawn holding my hand with a death grip. We were inside the castle a couple of minutes later and were greeted by the queen, half a dozen guards, and two of the mages.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Queen Orella said.


    ¡°Your highness.¡± I said, and decided not to beat around the bush. ¡°How many prisoners are waiting to be picked up?¡±


    Queen Orella''s face was stern for a moment, then she sighed. ¡°Three.¡± She waved at one of the mages. ¡°The places they are being kept are marked on the map.¡±


    ¡°You do know that I''ll be stopping at every city and town to ask personally, don''t you?¡± I asked and she nodded. I took the map and marked off the one I had closed. ¡°Only ten more cracks and I''ll be done.¡±


    The queen didn''t respond and no one else said anything.


    ¡°Are we staying in the castle or is there somewhere else we can stay?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The guest room is still available for your use.¡± The queen said. ¡°How long...¡±


    ¡°Just for the night.¡± I said. ¡°I would appreciate the loan of several horses tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you need.¡± The queen said. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said and led Dawn around her and the guards, then I followed the same path I had used to leave that morning to get back to the guest room. We went inside and I covered the door in Presence to stop anyone from trying to get in. Or out.


    ¡°There''s only one bed.¡± Dawn said as she looked at the thing.


    ¡°It''s also the size of a large carriage.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°You can roll over two or three times and we might meet in the middle. Maybe.¡±


    Dawn looked at me with doubt on her face.


    ¡°I don''t really need to sleep yet; but, I''m not passing up the opportunity to relax. No one is coming through that door, trust me.¡± I said and took off my uniform coat and stored it. ¡°I have an extra nightgown, too.¡±


    ¡°Hold on.¡± Dawn said and looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Did you say extra?¡±


    I nodded and took out the female version for her and laid it on the bed, then I took the male version out and put it beside hers. Dawn let out a snort and a laugh as she compared them.


    ¡°It''s all they had for night clothes.¡± I sighed dramatically in exaggeration, and she laughed. I took off my long sleeved t-shirt, my pants, and my blast shield. I stored them and slipped on the nightgown.


    Dawn stared at me with tears of laughter in her eyes. ¡°I think Black Laura has quite the sense of humor if you were the hero she sent for me!¡±


    ¡°Just get changed.¡± I said and flopped bonelessly onto the bed to make her laugh again. I made sure to turn onto my side and faced away from her to give her privacy, then I felt her weight as she climbed onto the bed. Neither of us said anything and we laid there and listened to each other breathing for several minutes.


    She noticed how slow my breathing was compared to hers and turned to me to whisper. ¡°Hey, are you asleep?¡±


    I didn''t respond and as I suspected would happen, a few moments later, she was pressed against my back and had her arms wrapped tightly around me. When I didn''t react to her touch, she started to cry. It was pain-filled and full of emotions, emotions she couldn''t express in any other way, and I was very tempted to turn around and hold her tightly. That would ruin the illusion that she was in control, though. Instead, I did the only thing that I could do.


    I let her cry herself out and hold me for as long as she wanted.

 Book Two: The Summoned 090 (Sponsored)

    I was in a meditative state all night and kept watch while I rested and no one came to the room. It was close a couple of times, as the queen stopped by the door and looked like she wanted to come in, then later her eldest daughter had her hand raised and was about to knock, then moved on. Her twin didn''t look at the door at all as she passed and Sylvana glared at the door when she passed.


    At least she''s keeping her anger in check. I thought with a smile.


    Dawn on the other hand, held me tightly and slept all night. When she woke up in the morning, she must have forgotten where she was for several minutes. Either that or she was still half-asleep. Her hands roamed freely over me and she wasn''t shy in her liberties as she caressed me. Of course, when her hand reached for my delicate part, I had already formed a protective dome of Presence over the area. She pat it a few times as if she knew what it was, then I heard her sigh.


    ¡°Damn codpieces.¡± Dawn mumbled and moved the hand up to rub my chest. ¡°Come on, Dalur. Take off the chastity belt.¡± She said in a much stronger voice. ¡°Hey, wait a minute. Why are you wearing a dress?¡±


    I didn''t move or say anything and let her reach the proper conclusion on her own.


    ¡°Oh... oh, no. No. I...¡± Dawn stammered and I felt her try to remove her arms from around me. I moved my arms and held onto her to stop her from retreating in embarrassment.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said in a soothing voice. ¡°I really needed someone to cuddle me last night.¡±


    Dawn stopped trying to pull away. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°I can''t sleep otherwise.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m sorry I mistook you for...¡± Dawn stopped talking and her arms trembled.


    ¡°It really is all right.¡± I said and turned around in her arms. ¡°I miss the people I love, too.¡±


    We exchanged a look of understanding and laid there for several minutes without moving.


    ¡°Would you really light the whole thing on fire?¡± Dawn asked.


    ¡°If I didn''t know the trees are more alive and caring than the people, yes.¡±


    ¡°You really believe that.¡± Dawn said, her voice unsure.


    ¡°I can see the flow of energy inside the trees.¡± I said. ¡°The elves living around and inside them are mere specks of life in comparison.¡±


    ¡°You''re not one of those monks that preaches tolerance, are you?¡± Dawn said, her voice now harsh.


    I laughed. ¡°Hardly. I''m a bounty hunter.¡±


    Dawn looked at me and didn''t blink her eyes for about thirty seconds before she spoke. ¡°Hunter, the Bounty Hunter.¡±


    ¡°It took me a long time to come up with my name.¡± I said with a smile, and after a moment, she laughed. ¡°We should get dressed.¡±


    ¡°That won''t take me long.¡± Dawn said and looked at the shirt and pants beside the bed.


    ¡°I''ve got a few scavenged armor pieces and weapons I can loan you.¡± I said and sat up.


    ¡°Just a loan?¡± Dawn asked and looked up at me.


    ¡°They aren''t going fit properly, obviously.¡± I said and slid off of the bed and stood up. ¡°We''d need to visit a human armorer for that.¡±


    ¡°Not an elf armorer?¡± Dawn asked and slid off the bed next to her clothing and stood up.


    I turned away from her and pulled off the nightgown and stored it. ¡°Most elves aren''t partial to outsiders, as you know.¡± I said as I took out my uniform pants and put them on. ¡°Plus, I don''t want to spend any more time here than I have to.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a recent development.¡± Dawn said and took off her nightgown as she stared at my back to make sure that I don''t turn around. ¡°Is it because of me?¡±


    ¡°Technically no. I really need to get back to my party, so we can move on to the Second Choutia Kingdom and continue our work.¡± I said and pulled on my black long sleeved t-shirt and tucked it into my pants. ¡°Finding you has just hastened what I had planned to do and moved up my departure.¡±


    ¡°Why? What are you doing?¡± Dawn asked and put on the shirt first to cover her nakedness.


    ¡°Saving the world by killing one creature at a time.¡± I said and put on my coat and buttoned it up. ¡°I''ve decided to keep my word to the queen and I''m going to close the cracks. However, I don''t plan on hunting down everything that comes through them.¡±


    ¡°What are these cracks?¡± Dawn asked and slipped on the pants.


    ¡°Breaches in space that allow creatures from other planets to come here and kill people.¡± I said and ignored her shriek of surprise as I tied my hair into a ponytail, then tied up the ponytail with another hair tie and slipped on my blast shield. With that done, I walked around the bed to stand next to her. ¡°I don''t think there''s much choice for women in what I have.¡± I pulled out several different-sized armored chest plates and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head at them.


    ¡°You''re just carrying these things around?¡± Dawn asked, her surprise at my revelation about the cracks forgotten, as she ran a hand over the closest piece. ¡°These are high quality! Where did you get them?¡±


    ¡°City guards that were vampires.¡± I said and her hand froze.


    ¡°V-vampires?¡± Dawn asked.


    ¡°There''s none in the elf lands and my friends and I cleared the First Sothen Kingdom of them.¡± I said and took out three different helmets. ¡°I won''t know how many are in Second Choutia until we go there and cast the locate spell.¡±


    Dawn braced her hands on the bed and stood there silently as I took out three full sets of armor.


    ¡°I suggest just the boot attachments and the bracers, since the thigh and upper arm pieces won''t fit you.¡± I said and I tried putting several pieces on her with the chest piece she picked. ¡°Yes, that should do it.¡±


    ¡°I can''t wear it like this.¡± Dawn said when she managed to get her voice back.


    I chuckled. ¡°I''m just getting the pieces ready.¡± I said and took them off of her. I gave her the proper leather backing for the armor and strapped it into place, then added the armor pieces over top of them. ¡°How''s that?¡±


    ¡°I thought you said we had to wait to see an armorer for proper fittings.¡± Dawn said and turned at the waist, then bent her arms and legs to test their movements.


    ¡°There''s no joint protection, so you need to be careful if anything happens.¡± I said and stored the other armor pieces. ¡°What kind of weapon do you use?¡±


    ¡°Long sword and shield.¡± Dawn said. ¡°I haven''t practised with the pike or the spear yet.¡±


    ¡°Long sword. Long sword.¡± I said as I rummaged through the loot bag of holding and pulled a sword out. ¡°Nope, broadsword. Just a second.¡± I tossed the sword onto the bed and kept digging. ¡°I really should have organized it instead of just tossing them all in.¡±


    ¡°You just...¡± Dawn reached for the broadsword and tried to lift it. She managed, barely, then dropped it back on the bed. ¡°How strong are you?¡±


    ¡°I think I''m about halfway between a drackolope and a garglemacer.¡± I said and ignored her shocked face. ¡°Aha! I found one!¡± I said and pulled a long sword out. ¡°There you go.¡±


    Dawn took the sword without a word.


    ¡°What kind of shield do you use? I''ve got small wooden ones, normal ones in both metal and wood, and tower shields in both metal and wood also.¡±


    ¡°N-normal. Metal.¡± Dawn said and accepted the normal shield. ¡°I don''t need a helmet.¡±


    I nodded and put the helmets away. ¡°Well, I guess that''s all.¡± I said. ¡°Are you ready to go?¡±


    ¡°But... weapons...¡±


    I chuckled and took out a belt and hooked the sword to it and put it around her waist, then I slung the shield over her shoulders like a backpack. She stared at me like I had done the most amazing magic and I laughed.


    ¡°You never thought of wearing the shield on your back, huh?¡± I asked with a grin. ¡°This way you can carry it openly and it''s not threatening.¡± I held a hand out to her. ¡°Come on. We need to get to the stables and head to the closest town.¡±


    Dawn took my offered hand and we left the room. The guards that stood beside the door at the end of the hall stared at us as we left. We went down to the main floor and went over to the stable. There were four horses set aside and one of them was the one I had ridden yesterday.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Hey, boy.¡± I said and pat it, then looked across the stable to see an elf woman brushing one of the horses. I walked over to her and gave her a smile. ¡°Excuse me. Could I bother you for a speed boost for my mounts?¡±


    The woman huffed and ignored me as she kept brushing the horse.


    ¡°I''ll take that as a no.¡± I said and walked back over to Dawn and the horses.


    ¡°Let''s just take the horses and go.¡± Dawn said.


    ¡°I don''t want to leave without getting the horses boosted.¡± I said. ¡°We can travel a lot faster if... here comes someone else.¡± I turned to the entryway and another elf woman came in. She looked tired and like she hadn''t slept well. She walked across the room and went right to the stall at the end of the stable and started to tend to the feed bags for the horses.


    ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± I said to Dawn and walked over to the woman. ¡°Excuse me.¡±


    ¡°I''m busy.¡± The woman said and filled another bag to attach them to the horses.


    ¡°I''d like to offer to help in exchange for speed boosting my borrowed mounts.¡±


    She stopped filling the feed bag and turned her head to look at me. ¡°Can''t you do it yourself?¡±


    ¡°I can only assist in casting the spell.¡± I admitted. ¡°What do you say?¡±


    The woman looked at the thirty horses and then back at my face, then she sighed. ¡°I''m too tired to argue.¡± She said and went back to work. ¡°Help me feed and water the horses and I''ll do it.¡±


    I smiled and generated twenty Presence Hands, let them glow slightly blue instead of keeping them invisible, then picked up twenty of the feed bags that hung on the horses faces. I picked up a huge sack of feed and poured it out and used my Presence Hands to move the feed bags underneath it and filled them all in about ten seconds. I carried them over to twenty of the horses and hooked them around their heads and I hadn''t moved from in front of the woman. She stared at me as I filled eight more and hung them on the remaining horses, which left the two she had.


    ¡°May I?¡± I said and pointed to them. She nodded and I picked them up with Presence Hands and hung them on the last two horses. ¡°There. Now the water.¡± I said and held a hand out to the large tap near the wall. I used a Presence Hand to open the tap and let a good amount of water gather in a large ball. I used its inherent Presence to control it and floated it over to the first trough and dropped it in. I did this for all thirty horses and turned off the tap, then I absorbed all of the Presence Hands. The woman had a look of astonishment on her face, as did Dawn and the woman that had ignored me.


    ¡°My mounts?¡± I asked and motioned to them.


    ¡°Y-yes, of course.¡± The elf woman said, a little dazed. She followed me over to the horses and went to put her hand on the closest horse.


    ¡°I need to help, if that''s okay.¡± I said and held my bare hand out.


    ¡°You want me to... touch your hand?¡± The elf woman asked, clearly surprised.


    ¡°It lets me share energy.¡± I said. ¡°I promise not to take it personally or ask you to do more than that.¡±


    She had to think about it for a minute, then she touched my hand. Her face went a little red, and I wasn''t sure if it was anger or embarrassment, until she started to cast the spell and I added my Presence to it.


    It was definitely embarrassment. I thought as she blushed and my energy went through her hand and into the horse. When the horse glowed blue, the three women stared at it.


    ¡°Now the other three, please.¡± I said and we did them, too. ¡°Thank you for the help.¡± I said and bowed my head to her.


    ¡°Y-you''re welcome.¡± She said, then she walked over to the side of the stable and picked up a feed bag, then she remembered that all of her work was now done. ¡°I''m going back to bed.¡± She said and dropped the bag as she walked out of the stable and didn''t look back.


    I created a set of slightly blue Presence stairs for Dawn to use to climb up onto my horse. She didn''t say anything and climbed up and sat on the saddle. I quickly tied the reins of the other horses together in a train, then climbed onto the same horse behind her. We left the stable and went out into the street, and I was glad that it was still very early in the morning. The streets were clear and we rode at a good pace out of the city. I checked the map the elves had given me and the closest crack was only a couple of hours away. I turned the horse in that direction and it didn''t stop or try to ignore me. It trampled right into the forest and through the underbrush.


    ¡°You know, it would be really helpful if I had some kind of guide to lead me to all the cracks in the elf lands.¡± I said out loud and let my Presence be felt. After a few minutes, a little ball of light appeared in front of me. ¡°Hello, there.¡±


    ¡°Who are you talking to?¡±


    ¡°A special forest guide that only friends of the forest can see.¡± I said. ¡°Are you the same one that had helped me before?¡±


    The little ball moved from side to side in a clear indication of no.


    ¡°I figured that would be too much to hope for. It''s been a year since then, after all.¡± I said. ¡°Well, little friend, here''s the map.¡± I held it up to show it. ¡°We''re here and this is the closest one we''re going to first. Can you take me there?¡±


    The ball bobbed up and down and became a green arrow for me and pointed in the right direction.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and stored the map, then we took off through the trees at a fast trot.


    *


    ¡°He already left?!?¡± Sylvana exclaimed as she sat down at the breakfast table. ¡°How? The guards were supposed to watch him!¡±


    ¡°They did watch him.¡± The queen''s eldest daughter Braya said. ¡°They watched him perform some high level magic to feed and water all of the horses in the stable, then they watched him ride away with the human woman.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t they stop him?¡± Sylvana asked. ¡°He''s not supposed to go anywhere without an escort!¡±


    ¡°I think we lost the right to keep tabs on him when he found one of the prisoners.¡± Bryana, the queen''s second daughter and twin to the first, said from beside her. ¡°Even I''m angry that the elders of those cities didn''t contact us when they found outsiders.¡±


    Queen Orella sat in silence as breakfast was served and she listened to her daughters discuss the mess they were in. She really hadn''t known about there being more outsiders in her lands. Like Bryana, she was worried about the elders not contacting the royal family after discovering the breach.


    I should have been more strict in my policy change concerning outsiders. The queen thought. She hadn''t slept well last night and she sincerely doubted that she would sleep well tonight. When her daughters debated whether or not to send someone after Hunter, she spoke up. ¡°Have one of the mages plot out his route and we can have an escort group meet him at his next destination.¡±


    ¡°I think it would be easier to wait until he goes to the next town and have them assign someone to escort him.¡± Braya said. ¡°It saves us travel time and the potential to miss him in transit.¡±


    ¡°That is a good idea.¡± Queen Orella said. ¡°Contact the towns and cities close by and have four guards prepared for detached escort duty. Whichever city he shows up to first will have his escort.¡±


    ¡°What if he doesn''t want the escort?¡± Bryana asked.


    ¡°Tell them that he was promised safe passage in our lands and needs our people with him to guarantee that.¡± Sylvana said. ¡°He won''t argue, because it''s true... and he won''t openly refuse because that could negate his safe passage.¡±


    ¡°He also promised his services to close the cracks to enter our lands.¡± Braya said with a smile. ¡°He''s not out of our grasp yet.¡±


    Queen Orella was tempted to tell her daughters than they had already lost him, through no fault of their own, and trying to manipulate him would only make things worse. She sighed instead and her three daughters looked at her.


    ¡°Eat.¡± The queen said and started eating. Her daughters were surprised, because it was the first time in as long as they could remember, that they didn''t give thanks for the food.


    *


    Unodae wasn''t surprised to hear from the other servers about what had happened with Hunter. She knew there were members of her race that blindly hated outsiders. They were easy to spot and deal with, as she had overheard the queen doing. It was the ones that hid their prejudice in plain sight and didn''t let it show until it was too late to deal with them. Those people were the worst to have around. You couldn''t trust them and they made everyone else look bad when they are revealed.


    Today had been her day off and if she had known he was in the castle, she would have gone to him and told him not to listen to anyone else. She would have told him exactly what a normal woman was like and that they didn''t harbour any real hatred towards outsiders.


    Of course, I''m a little biased. Unodae smiled at the thought, then she closed her eyes and remembered the fun they had together while cooking in the kitchen. Hunter, please! Don''t let them sour you!


    *


    I perched myself on a low hanging branch while invisible and I stared at the crack. Something like grubs were moving around it, except they were three feet long and had mouths like buzz saws and ate literally anything they could chew on. There were also thousands of them on this side, and I could see through the crack and even a rough estimation easily put them at a hundred thousand. At least.


    Well, now is as good a time as any to test it. I thought and tiny bolts of Presence Lightning rolled around my fingers. ¡°Anyone want fresh barbecue?¡± I asked and shot a hundred bolts of Presence Lightning at them. I didn''t stop there, though. I also used Chain Attack and the bolts jumped to hit ten more past the first, then ten each past those. In only a few seconds, every single one of the grubs popped apart in a little explosion as their internal juices boiled instantly.


    ¡°That''s disgusting.¡± Dawn whispered from behind me and covered her mouth and nose.


    ¡°No, this is.¡± I said and hopped down to land with a squelching sound in the middle of the mess.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Dawn grunted and dry heaved.


    ¡°Now you know why we didn''t stop to eat breakfast first.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡±


    ¡°You''re not really going to... HUNTER!¡± Dawn gasped as I jumped into what she saw was a gaping maw. ¡°He really did it!¡±


    I disregarded her yell, because I had told her what I had planned. My Presence had recharged already, so I let another hundred bolts out and used Chain Attack. I also used Presence to enhance both my body and my attack. Almost like a tidal wave, the Lightning spread out farther and farther, and then they started to explode. I managed to cover myself in Presence just in time as their fluids and gore splashed all over. It covered everything. I had only made a small dent in the huge mass, though. I had cleared out only enough for me to safely look up at the sky and memorize the star pattern. Which was lucky, because I felt a huge mass of them surge up and flow towards me.


    ¡°Time to go.¡± I said as I pushed the fluids away with Presence and jumped back through the crack, grabbed the side, and pulled it closed. I started to sew it shut and I actually felt the mass of creatures hit the other side. I relaxed as I put the last stitches in and then I healed it. I took several deep breaths and stepped back from the spot and Dawn jumped at me.


    ¡°You''re insane!¡± Dawn laughed and hugged me from behind. ¡°I can''t believe you let that thing eat you like that!¡±


    ¡°Sacrifices... have to be made.¡± I said with a sad voice.


    Dawn turned me around to tell me that she was sorry, then she saw my grinning face. ¡°You... you...¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the hug.¡± I said and tried to pat the top of her head and she smacked my hand away. ¡°There''s no loot, so we don''t have to waste time looking.¡± I led her over to the horses and we mounted mine. ¡°Next stop, breakfast.¡±


    ¡°How can you eat after that?¡± Dawn asked and the green arrow pointed where we needed to go.


    ¡°The question is what will I eat after that.¡± I said. ¡°Can you guess what it is?¡±


    ¡°For Black Laura''s sake, don''t say it!¡± Dawn said, her face turning slightly green.


    ¡°One foot long magic tree slugs.¡± I said and heard her dry heave. ¡°It''s okay. Once you scoop the guts out...¡±


    ¡°HRGH!¡± Dawn covered her mouth. ¡°Stop! STOP!¡±


    I stopped the horse and she slipped off and ran into the bushes. She dry heaved a few more times, and when nothing came up, she sighed and came back over to the horse.


    ¡°Why did you do that?¡± Dawn asked and held a hand up to me.


    I took her hand and used Levitation to lift her up and sat her on the horse. ¡°I''m trying to teach you a very important lesson.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Dawn said, and I felt her surprise at being lifted like she weighed nothing.


    ¡°No matter what you see, or smell, or touch, you still need to eat to keep your strength up.¡± I said and got the horse moving again and the train of three others followed behind. ¡°Plus, it''s better to get that sick feeling when you''re stomach is empty. Believe me.¡± I''m also trying to distract you from what happened to you. I thought. Something like that weighs on you until you can deal with it on your own.


    Dawn nodded in agreement and we followed the green arrow as we rode through the trees.

 Book Two: The Summoned 091

    Dawn and I stopped for a quick breakfast at a clearing. We ate slowly and didn''t talk much. I didn''t try to pry into her life before being captured, because that would only remind her of what she had lost and would undo my attempts at humor. Instead, I looked at my little green arrow forest guide.


    ¡°Say, do you eat food? You''re welcome to have some.¡± I said and it darted from side to side. ¡°No? Hmm. I guess you survive off the mana around the trees?¡±


    The arrow bobbed up and down in a yes gesture.


    ¡°Can you absorb my energy, too?¡± I asked, curious.


    It hovered and didn''t move for a moment, then wavered slightly from side to side.


    ¡°Maybe, huh?¡± I chuckled and held up a hand. ¡°Want to try?¡±


    It wavered again and hovered for several moments, then it floated over to my hand and landed. I felt something like a needle prick my Presence. If I had to compare it to other experiences I''ve had, it was like being bitten by a mosquito. A second later, the green glowing arrow changed to bright blue.


    ¡°Hey, I can see it now!¡± Dawn said as she stared at my hand. ¡°Wait, what kind of woodland spirit is that? It looks like an arrow!¡±


    ¡°It took that form to make it easier to show me the way.¡± I said. ¡°It''s quite helpful, isn''t it?¡±


    A moment later, the blue arrow fell over on my hand.


    ¡°You killed it!¡± Dawn exclaimed.


    ¡°No, it fell asleep! Food coma! Ha ha!¡± I laughed and listened to it. ¡°It''s even snoring!¡±


    Dawn leaned in to listen and she laughed, too. We finished eating and I put everything away using one hand and held the arrow against my chest with the other. It took about ten minutes before the arrow started to stir. Its energy flickered and then it darted out of my grasp. I wasn''t surprised to feel its embarrassment.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said. ¡°I should have warned you it might be too much for you to handle.¡±


    The blue arrow hesitated for a moment, then bobbed slightly up and down as if reluctant to agree.


    ¡°We''re headed to the closest town on the map, then to the crack on the other side.¡± I said and showed it the map again, just in case it needed the reminder. I motioned for Dawn to mount the horse and I tied them all together in a train again. ¡°Ready?¡± I asked the blue arrow as I climbed onto my horse behind Dawn and the arrow bobbed confidently. ¡°Then lead on, my friend.¡±


    It quickly flipped around and pointed off to the left. We followed it through the forest and reached the town half an hour later. I knew something was up when the streets were cleared for our passage. When the edge of my detection range passed over the Protection tree, I saw a group of four guards and the five elders were there waiting for me. As we came closer, I concentrated on them and understood what was going on.


    ¡°Dammit, we''re about to gain some babysitters.¡± I grumbled.


    ¡°I''m not going to ask how you know that.¡± Dawn said.


    We rode through the town and stopped in front of the Protection tree. Before I could say anything, one of the guards stepped forward and held out a piece of paper.


    ¡°I know what it says.¡± I said and took the paper without reading it. ¡°Oh, and thank you all for the proper greeting of a guest.¡± I said sarcastically and saw them all stiffen. Some even stopped breathing momentarily. ¡°Didn''t think I would know that, did you?¡± I asked and frowned. ¡°Each time I meet more of you, you keep disappointing me, over and over.¡± I looked at their nervous faces. ¡°Didn''t Queen Orella inform you of my status? Did you think you could skip it because I''m a man?¡±


    None of them respond and I pointed to the woman that sat in front of me, and she was clearly in view.


    ¡°What about a woman? You can''t greet her properly?¡± I asked and they stayed quiet. ¡°Despicable manners.¡± I said with a stern voice and some of them winced. ¡°Do you have any prisoners?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± One of the elders said. ¡°Nor did we have any.¡±


    I didn''t feel the Presence waver, so I nodded and looked at the four guards. ¡°Get your horses and try to keep up, if you can.¡±


    Almost as if they had been waiting for that command, four horses were led out to the street and the guards mounted them and gave them a speed boost.


    ¡°Forest guide, lead us to the next crack, please.¡± I said and the blue arrow flipped over and pointed down a side street. All of the elves around us were startled at my words.


    ¡°That... it can''t be...¡± One of the elders mumbled. ¡°It''s blue.¡±


    ¡°I hope the revelation that I''m a friend of the forest makes you feel even worse about insulting me.¡± I said to them. ¡°You had better not send word to the other towns and cities about this. If you do, I''ll know it. I want to see who actually greets me honestly and who will act as you did.¡±


    The elders didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Give me your word, placed on the life of your Protection tree.¡± I demanded.


    ¡°No!¡± One of the guards exclaimed. ¡°You can''t... if they break that vow...¡±


    ¡°Yes, if anyone here breaks the vow, they will forfeit their Protection tree.¡± I said. ¡°Do you have the moral fortitude to make such a vow? Can you keep your ignorant mouths shut for a week?¡±


    ¡°How dare you insult us!¡± One of the elders spat. ¡°You shouldn''t even be here in our lands!¡±


    ¡°Yeah... but, I am. I''m also here as the queen''s guest. I''m also saving your pitiful people from all the creatures that have been attacking you for hundreds of years.¡± I responded. ¡°So, which one of us is acting unreasonably right now? Hmm? Tell me.¡± I looked at their shocked faces. ¡°TELL. ME.¡±


    ¡°W-w-we a-are.¡± One of the other elders said in a low voice. ¡°I make the vow that none of us will say anything, for one week, about how we treated you.¡± She said and looked at my face. ¡°Upon the life of our Protection tree.¡±


    Everyone was covered in a soft green glow and the Protection tree shuddered. One of its high branches snapped and it plummeted down to the ground between us. Just before it hit, it stopped and glowed brightly for a moment, then it reformed into what could only be a divining rod. It split in two, and one floated over to the elder and the other floated over to me. We grabbed the pieces at the same time and I felt the immense life inside the tree.


    ¡°If we break the vow, the rods will dry and wither.¡± The elder said and tucked the rod into her robes.


    I nodded and slipped the rod inside my coat and put it in the inside breast pocket. Without a word, I turned the horse around and followed the blue arrow down the side street and the four guards followed me. We were out of the town a few minutes later and then I brought the horse up to full speed. We could run full out now, because the next crack was close to the road.


    The elves couldn''t keep up. By the time they reached where I had stopped and left the horses, I had already cleared out the creatures around the crack, closed it, and was showing the loot to Dawn.


    ¡°How many elves died?¡± Dawn asked, her interest more than idle curiosity.


    ¡°I counted a hundred and twenty bodies in various states of decay.¡± I said and saw the delight in her eyes. ¡°The mantis-like things had taken all their heads, too.¡±


    ¡°You killed... the comikas?¡± One of the guards asked. She looked tired and her horse looked haggard. ¡°All of them?¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t going to, then they decided that I looked like a tasty snack.¡± I said and walked over to her. ¡°Your poor horse.¡± I said and pat it. ¡°I''m sorry my petty revenge affected you so.¡±


    The horse neighed at me and I chuckled.


    ¡°Yes, there''s a mana tree right over there.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°I will wait for you this time.¡±


    The horse sauntered in that direction with the surprised elf still in the saddle.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Hey. Hey! Let me off first!¡± The elf woman exclaimed to the horse and I chuckled. The other three guards slipped off their horses before the horses sauntered over as well. The guard on the first horse climbed off when her horse started grazing the mana-fueled grass at the base of the tree, and came back over to us. I checked the four horses in my train and asked them if they were hungry. They all shook their heads. I gave them brief pets and stood off to the side with Dawn.


    It took half an hour before the horses were recharged, and the guards had stood there in awkward silence. None of them had tried to engage us in conversation and I didn''t encourage them. With Dawn there and their previous mistake in not greeting us, it was too much of a social hurdle for them to traverse without apologizing or admitting they made a mistake. The horses came over to me and not to the guards, to their surprise.


    ¡°I want to conduct an experiment.¡± I said to the guards. ¡°I need one of your hands.¡±


    ¡°You are not maiming one of my bed sisters!¡± One of the guards exclaimed and I laughed.


    ¡°I only need a loan. I don''t want to keep it.¡± I said. ¡°Thanks for volunteering.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what? But... EEP!¡± The guard let out a girly shriek as I levitated her over to me. The other guards reacted instantly and drew their swords and stepped forward.


    ¡°Relax.¡± I said in a calm voice and I saw their stances lose their firmness. ¡°Watch.¡± I formed my Presence around the elf woman''s hand and placed it on the horse. ¡°Speed boost the horse, please.¡±


    The guard opened her mouth to say something, then she thought better of it and did as I asked. As she did, I put my own Presence into the spell effect. Her green mana changed to blue energy and covered the horse, and I didn''t have to touch either her or the horse.


    ¡°I suspected it would work, considering I''ve used Presence Hands to feel as if they were my actual hands.¡± I said and without the guard''s permission took her to the other three horses and had her cast the spell again. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and let her go as I absorbed all the Presence I had used.


    ¡°H-how...¡± The guard looked at her hand and I could tell she was surprised that she had cast the spell four times and had only used the mana needed for just one spell, not realizing I had supplemented her.


    ¡°That doesn''t matter.¡± I said and looked at the guards. ¡°Mount up. We have lots of towns and cities to visit and only eight more cracks to seal.¡± I pat each horse on the way back to mine and Dawn had already climbed on. ¡°I''m sure you''re confident enough to ride alone now.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know how to ride.¡± Dawn said, her face slightly red. ¡°I''m infantry.¡±


    ¡°You might pick up the skill by the time we''re done, then.¡± I said and climbed up behind her, then decided to tease her a little. ¡°At least you didn''t lie and say you just wanted me to keep holding you.¡±


    Dawn opened her mouth to deny it, then she whispered. ¡°It wouldn''t be a lie.¡±


    I chuckled and put my arms around her to take the horse''s reins. ¡°Forest guide! Onward!¡±


    The blue arrow whipped over to the right direction and we followed it. When we reached the next town, I wasn''t surprised to get a cold reception, similar to the one where I had picked up the guards. I could tell that they had heard from the other elders and weren''t told about what had happened. I looked into my coat and the inside breast pocket to see the divining rod was still intact, and I nodded mentally. I asked about the prisoners and they denied any involvement, so we moved on. We stopped at a city next and were greeted ambivalently and they led out a prisoner. The man looked beaten to within an inch of his life; but, he also looked clean and well fed.


    I slipped off my horse to greet the man. ¡°I''m terribly sorry.¡± I said and took the man''s hand. ¡°As soon as I knew they had other prisoners, I had them stop working on you and release you.¡±


    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°I''m Hunter. I''m also Queen Celestina of First Sothen Kingdom''s Personal Vassal.¡± I said and touched the badge on my chest. ¡°I''m questing here as compensation for entry into the lands.¡±


    ¡°Why aren''t they trying to kill you? Or me? Or her?¡± The man asked and looked at Dawn.


    ¡°They tried.¡± Both Dawn and I said and he widened his eyes.


    ¡°Truth.¡± The man said. ¡°Then what...¡±


    ¡°Long story short, I defeated a princess and earned safe passage, then I threatened to kill them all.¡±


    The man continued to stare at me and I chuckled.


    ¡°No, they don''t want to test my resolve.¡± I said. ¡°You can ride the second horse.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you daft? I can barely move!¡± The man exclaimed.


    ¡°You seem fine to me.¡± I said with a smile and waved toward the horse and made steps for him to climb. ¡°We have to wait until we stop for lunch before I can give you some clothes and equipment.¡±


    The man frowned at me and it looked like he was going to argue, so I poked his chest where his broken ribs used to be. ¡°ARGH!¡± He reacted automatically and tried to step back, then he realized he hadn''t felt anything. ¡°What...¡± He pat his chest and then checked his face and his legs. ¡°What... how...¡±


    ¡°I''ve gotten really good at subtle healing.¡± I said. ¡°Ready to go?¡±


    ¡°By the seven hells I am!¡± The man nearly yelled and was up the stairs and on the horse in a flash.


    I absorbed the stairs and climbed back onto my horse behind Dawn, then I looked at the elders. ¡°I hope to never see you again.¡± I said. ¡°Forest guide, the next town please.¡±


    It whipped around and pointed in the right direction and I held in my laughter at the surprised faces of all the elves around me. It was becoming one of my favorite effects. We left that city and moved on to the next town and the next, whose receptions ranged from non-existent to tolerance, then we had to divert into the trees.


    We stopped for lunch at the first rest area we came to and I was sorely tempted to not feed my guards. I couldn''t in good conscience not feed them though, especially since I was above the act of starving people, so I used one of Unodae''s field recipes and prepared a nice salad to start. Everyone stared at me as I cooked... actual food... in the middle of a forest. It surprised them all, especially the two humans with me. I fed the elves one of their staple dishes of broiled slug in a log and served chicken and potatoes to the humans. I wasn''t going to give Dawn the slug, not after her reaction to just hearing about it. That would have been a bit too cruel.


    We all ate in silence and I had a hard time blocking out how grateful everyone was for an actual meal. I also felt that they had expected dry rations for lunch and perhaps a stew or something for supper. I always liked to exceed people''s expectations, mainly because it kept them thinking and wondering what I would be doing next. It also made them concentrate on me and not about their current situation.


    This was especially fortuitous with Dawn and the man, whose name was as generic as his class. Fred the Fighter. It wasn''t short for anything, either. Fredrick? Frederico? Freddie? Nope. Just Fred. In fact, just mentioning his name could have been something better, angered him. I soothed this anger as I outfitted him in light metal armor. It wasn''t a full set of plate mail because he hadn''t learned how to use that type of armor yet. He thanked me for the loan before I could tell him it was a loan, so I gave him a slight nod for his astuteness. He grunted and told me that he was from First Sothen Kingdom.


    Unfortunately, Fred was from one of the towns that had been hit the hardest by the vampire infestation. He didn''t like hearing that he had missed the purge; but, he was happy that it had been dealt with and he wanted to be dropped off there as soon as possible. I informed him of my current task and its necessity, then I told him the estimation of how long it was going to take, based on how quickly I had already closed three of them.


    ¡°You''ve still got to visit each town, too?¡± Fred asked, and I nodded. ¡°Is there anyone else being held?¡±


    ¡°Two more, here and here.¡± I said and showed him on the map. ¡°We can''t get to them for another three days to a week. At least.¡±


    ¡°You could have had them bring them to you.¡± Fred said.


    ¡°What are the odds that they would match where I''ll be, considering even I won''t know until I get there?¡± I asked. ¡°It''s much better to pick them up while passing by.¡±


    ¡°Plus, he can talk to the elders directly and see if they killed anyone and hid the evidence.¡± Dawn said.


    ¡°What difference does that make?¡± Fred asked.


    ¡°I gave my word that I would kill the elders and anyone responsible if they did that.¡± I said.


    Fred looked at my blast shield and then barked a laugh. ¡°You''re a hard ass. I like it.¡±


    Dawn laughed. ¡°Just wait.¡± She said and pointed to the map. ¡°There''s another crack a few hours away.¡±


    ¡°It''s a sight to see, is it?¡± Fred asked.


    ¡°He scared me the first time he...¡± Dawn shook her head. ¡°You''ll see.¡± She said and glanced at the elves nearby. ¡°You''ll all see.¡±


    I packed everything up and the elves were very surprised that they didn''t have to boost their horses. ¡°Don''t worry about them. They''re good for a while.¡± I said and we mounted the horses. ¡°Whenever you''re ready, Forest guide.¡±


    The blue arrow popped up from where it was resting on the horse and flew out in front of us and pointed.


    ¡°In your opinion, would taking the road around be faster or slower than going through the trees?¡± I asked. It wavered slightly in the air, then it pointed through the trees. ¡°A direct route sounds fine by me.¡± I said and we all followed it into the forest.


    Dawn had been right in her assumption that Fred and the elves would be astonished at my antics. The next crack was in the center of a giant beetle nest. The best part about it was that I didn''t feel any hostility from them at all. They stood about four feet tall and were six feet long, and I calmly walked right over to them. The elves gasped and hollered at me for risking my life, and I stopped myself from laughing because I didn''t want to startle the huge armored creatures.


    When I was barely a foot away from one, it skittered away two feet and then stopped. It left me exactly the room I needed to get by. When I passed, it moved back to where it was. I smiled and kept walking towards the crack and the beetles parted like water around me. They formed back into a solid mass when I stood in front of the crack.


    ¡°He''s not gonna... is he? He can''t be...¡± Fred mumbled.


    I gave him a little wave and jumped into the crack. The elves screamed as I was swallowed by the gaping maw illusion. Two of them stood to come after me with their swords drawn, and the other two grabbed on and held them.


    ¡°He said to stay back, no matter what.¡± One of them said.


    ¡°It ATE HIM!¡± The elf she held yelled.


    ¡°I doubt something like that could...¡± She stopped talking when the illusion looked like it split and folded back in on itself, and I was revealed, perfectly fine.


    ¡°I told you.¡± Dawn said with a smile and pushed Fred''s shoulder.


    ¡°I''ve been rescued by a madman.¡± Fred said with a huge grin on his face.


    I walked back over to them and the beetles parted once again to let me pass. ¡°Let''s mount up and get out of here.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± One of the elves looked at the mass of giant beetles and then at me. ¡°I thought you were going to kill everything!¡±


    I laughed. ¡°What for?¡± I waved at the beetles. ¡°I''m sure if you want to attack them, they will be more than happy to fight you... then eat you.¡±


    She looked angry for a second, then she sighed. ¡°I have to report this.¡±


    ¡°You''re reporting everything else, so that''s okay.¡± I said. ¡°I only agreed to close the cracks. I never said anything about killing everything that came through.¡±


    ¡°You would leave us vulnerable?¡± Another elf woman asked in disbelief.


    ¡°I''d leave you to fend for yourselves, since most of you hate having to deal with outsiders.¡± I said. ¡°Or are you comfortable with having a man... from the outside no less... saving you?¡±


    She closed her mouth because she couldn''t answer honestly. If she did, she would insult me no matter what she said. She thought it was safer to remain quiet, only she didn''t realize that staying silent also answered my question.


    ¡°We better go before these passive creatures decide that we''re threatening them.¡± I said and I climbed onto the horse behind Dawn. I saw Fred''s huge grin and returned it, then we left to go to the next town.

 Book Two: The Summoned 092

    I worked all day and managed to close another crack and visited another town and a city. The greetings were still mediocre to non-existent, considering they knew that I would be visiting.


    Maybe they don''t communicate as much as I thought they did? I asked myself as we came to a rest area. Or maybe they don''t care. I thought. ¡°I think we can camp here for the night after eating supper.¡± I said and the elves immediately protested. I held a hand up to stop them, then pointed. ¡°You can go to the next town if you want. With the current boost on your horses, you can reach there in a couple of hours.¡±


    I slid off the horse and pulled out one of the spare tents I had. My group had bought several spares along the way over the last year to replace old and worn tents, and since the bags of holding could hold... frankly, quite a lot of things... I never threw the old ones away. Since the size of things didn''t really matter and it was only the weight that was considered, the tent was already formed and I put it into place and used Presence to drive the tent pikes into the ground.


    I put another down a few feet away and pointed to Fred. He tossed his armor and weapon inside and then I handed him a bedroll. He put it inside and came out to wait for supper. Dawn didn''t speak as she stopped me from giving her a tent. I gave her a nod instead and offered tents to the four elves. They declined both tents and bedrolls, so I had to assume that they were either stubborn or they didn''t want to accept more things from me. I made everyone supper and put feed bags on the horses, who were just as grateful to eat as the people were.


    The elves made their own sleeping arrangements and we all bedded down for the night. They stared at Dawn as she went into the first tent and changed into the nightgown I gave her, then they stared at me as I entered the tent. What they didn''t see was me becoming invisible and changing into a nightgown, or Dawn and I getting into separate bedrolls. They were right next to each other, so we were neither alone nor together.


    I entered a partial meditative state and kept watch, just in case, and I surrounded the camp with a thick Presence Wall. It was invisible, of course. I didn''t want to broadcast our location by leaving the energy slightly glowing and blue, because that would have lit up the night like a beacon. The night passed by and the morning arrived before anyone except me realized it. They were all more tired than they thought they were after all the travelling.


    We ate breakfast and I absorbed the Presence Wall before we moved on to the next town. Surprisingly, they greeted us properly. They didn''t have any prisoners and admitted that they had two of them years ago and had died from the injuries they had gained from trying to get through the barrier. I was a little upset by this; but, they hadn''t let them die after I issued my ultimatum, so I couldn''t kill them for it. I left them amicably with a sour taste in my mouth and moved on to the next crack.


    The creatures we encountered were some of the oddest ones I had seen so far. They were five feet tall and looked like anteaters, except they stood up like kangaroos and didn''t have arms or necks. Also, instead of sucking things in through their long trunks, they first spit out a viscous liquid like a mosquito and then sucked everything up. I used up a lot of Presence as armor as I waded through them and held their trunks closed to stop them from spitting on me. I couldn''t stop them all, though.


    My Light sword had a good workout as I severed trunks and split heads. I wasn''t going to keep these creatures, so after several applications of Presence Lightning on the other side of the crack, I memorized the star pattern in the sky and came back through to seal it. Dawn, Fred, and the four elves had been fully prepared to help me, until I told them what the creatures did. When they saw the creatures attacks, they reluctantly stayed back out of the way and watched me.


    *


    ¡°You''re right, Dawn. Even seeing him jump willingly into that creature''s gaping maw again, I don''t believe it.¡± Fred said when Hunter disappeared into the crack. ¡°He''s like a death machine!¡± He said and chuckled. ¡°You said that he has a party waiting for him?¡±


    Dawn nodded. ¡°A nice group of like-minded people that are waiting on the outside of the barrier.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t they come in with him?¡±


    ¡°He didn''t trust the elves to keep their word.¡± Dawn said, and two of the elves near them hissed and two sighed sadly. ¡°He was right, too. They had us, right?¡±


    Fred reluctantly agreed with a nod. ¡°I wonder who the other two prisoners are.¡±


    ¡°We''ll find out soon.¡± Dawn said. ¡°The next city is coming up.¡±


    ¡°It''s almost like he planned all of this to pick up the prisoners as soon as possible.¡± Fred said, and he and Dawn exchanged looks. ¡°He did, didn''t he?¡±


    ¡°He had planned for a month of clearing the cracks and sealing them.¡± Dawn said. ¡°With us as motivation, he''s cut his trip down to two weeks, the bare minimum to visit each town and close the cracks.¡±


    ¡°That''s why he''s burning through so much energy?¡± Fred asked, surprised. ¡°He''s going to exhaust himself after a week, even with his absurd recharge rate!¡±


    ¡°I don''t think he will.¡± Dawn said, respect in her voice. ¡°Mentally? Yeah, I think he''s going to be tired and he will probably collapse any day now.¡±


    Fred grunted and glanced at the elves. ¡°He won''t have to worry. We''ve got his back.¡±


    Dawn touched his arm and he looked at her. They knew Hunter would be the most vulnerable to the elves and they silently vowed that they would protect him to the best of their abilities.


    *


    ¡°Whew.¡± I said and stumbled away from where the crack was. My Presence was down to almost an eighth of its total. ¡°I went a little wild, there.¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± Dawn said and she and Fred were right there by my side to support me. ¡°We got you.¡±


    ¡°I''m fine.¡± I said and couldn''t help read their thoughts with them so close. They''re quite concerned about me. I thought in surprise and let some of my weight rest on their shoulders. ¡°I think I need to take a break.¡±


    ¡°We could camp out in the woods; but, you know as well as I do what that could entail.¡± Fred said. ¡°Overnight for several hours isn''t too bad. All day and cooking food?¡± He shook his head. ¡°We need shelter.¡±


    ¡°We can stop at the next city when we pick up the next prisoner.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sure we can stay within the city''s protection for a day.¡±


    ¡°Will that be wise?¡± Dawn asked. ¡°If they have a prisoner, then...¡±


    ¡°I''ll be able to gauge them when we meet them.¡± I said and we all sat down next to the horses. ¡°Just give me an hour or so to recharge most of my energy.¡±


    ¡°How can you do that so fast?¡± Dawn asked.


    ¡°This is a mana enriched environment.¡± I said and rested against a tree. ¡°It would take me two to three times longer anywhere else.¡±


    ¡°You''re actually using this green floating stuff?¡± Fred asked.


    I raised my eyebrows at him and he chuckled.


    ¡°I can see it for about five feet.¡± Fred said. ¡°My mother was a mage.¡± He said as an explanation. ¡°I can''t do anything with it, though.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°You''re already doing something with it.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Fred looked at me with curiosity in his eyes.


    ¡°Just being able to see it means you''re using it to some extent.¡±


    ¡°You''re pulling my leg!¡± Fred scoffed. ¡°Mom said I didn''t have any talent for the craft.¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    I let him keep that little bit of delusion for now. If my suspicions are correct, he could be like me. He can''t cast any spells; but, he could be a self-buffer.


    After a short rest, we mounted up and my Forest guide led us to the city with the next prisoner. We weren''t greeted at all as we approached the Protection tree and were completely surrounded by female elves. My guards had automatically taken the proper guard positions, even though there was no chance that they would be able to protect us or themselves if the elves attacked.


    ¡°Take the prisoner and go.¡± One of the elders spat and a guard brought forward a very well groomed man. I thought that was odd, since he should have been in the same sorry state as the others. When he was close enough, I felt a very familiar evil taint. I hopped off my horse and walked over to him.


    ¡°Thank you for...HURK!¡± The man''s words were cut off when I grabbed him by the throat.


    ¡°WHAT DID YOU DO?¡± I yelled and used Presence to enhance my voice. Screams and yells came from the elves around us.


    ¡°N-n-nothing.¡± The man sputtered and the Presence wavered a lot.


    I was very tempted to crush his neck and kill him, like my instincts told me to, then I forced myself to stop and think. I needed information and apparently this man had it. Thanks to the old lady''s technique and meeting Princess Braya, who only had a one-way link in her mind to receive, I knew what to do with this man. I bared my teeth in a feral smile and created a mental probe.


    ¡°Won''t... work.¡± The man said.


    ¡°Oh, but it will.¡± I said and used Presence to essentially drill a hole into his mana.


    ¡°AHHH! STOP! STOOOOOP!¡± The man yelled as my mental probe easily slid into the mana hole I had made. The things I saw inside his head disgusted me.


    ¡°Hunter! He''s a prisoner!¡± Dawn exclaimed. ¡°Let him go!¡±


    ¡°This... man... is a murderer and a torturer.¡± I said and pushed the mental images I was seeing aside. ¡°If the elves hadn''t caught him before he...¡± I stopped talking and looked at the elders. ¡°I will forgive your discourtesy in your lack of greeting, if you will forgive mine for asking you to treat this man well.¡±


    The elders exchanged looks for a moment, then as one, nodded.


    ¡°Hunter, what''s going on?¡± Fred asked.


    ¡°An interrogation.¡± I said and closed my eyes. ¡°Ugh, disgusting. Deplorable.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Your tricks to discourage me aren''t going to work.¡± I said and let the smile appear on my face again. ¡°Unlike you, I''ve been through what you enjoy doing to others and I smiled the entire time, because I didn''t want to give my torturers the satisfaction.¡±


    The man''s eyes widened as I sent him my final torture moments. Since they were my memories, he saw and felt everything from my perspective. ¡°N-no. No! NOOOOOOOO!¡± He screamed and tried to break free from my grasp.


    ¡°Sleep.¡± I said and the man fell unconscious. His mental protections became reactive, so I easily avoided them and I pulled from his mind the information that he had. How he was an acolyte of the planet''s goddess, about how he and all of her followers had been abandoned years ago, and how they were working their way to try and gain her favor back again... by torturing and killing people. I shook my head mentally at the sheer stupidity that showed.


    Unfortunately, the man didn''t know where everyone else was, only a select few from what he considered the inner circle, which included the mangled face man. It was clear in his mind that he was a disciple and had followed the man religiously down the path of depravity and torture. Like most people that did such things, they could dish it out and couldn''t handle it when it was done to them. He had sang like a canary when the elves had started in on him and they knew about the conspiracy.


    I stopped my mental probe and looked at the elders. ¡°That''s why you didn''t tell the queen? Because there was nothing she could do about it?¡±


    The elders exchanged looks again and one stepped forward. ¡°The knowledge didn''t benefit us in any way, except in helping to deal with that.¡± She said and motioned to the man in my grasp.


    ¡°It''s good that neither of us has to deal with him anymore.¡± I said and snapped his neck. He didn''t die right away, so I used Presence to grip his heart and crushed it. ¡°Is there a mage that can cast Fireball or a similar spell nearby?¡±


    One of the town guards stepped forward. I created a slightly blue Presence box the size of a coffin and left one side off, then stuffed the body inside.


    ¡°Shoot this please.¡± I said and stepped back.


    ¡°With pleasure.¡± The guard said and you could hear the satisfaction in her voice as she held a hand out.


    A few seconds later, a one foot wide fireball came out of her hand and hit the body. I quickly closed the Presence box and used Presence to allow oxygen through the box and kept everything else in. I increased the fire until the orange and yellow flames became blue and white. After only a couple of minutes, there was nothing left inside the box, not even ashes. I cut off all air and the flame was snuffed out. Everyone stared at the empty box and I dismissed it instead of absorbing it.


    ¡°I request sanctuary for myself and my party for the night.¡± I said to the elders and they regarded me with a critical eye for a moment.


    The elder who had stepped forward before spoke. ¡°We will not welcome outsiders into the tree. However, shelter will be provided until tomorrow morning.¡± She waved to the guard that had cast the fireball. ¡°You will be guarded and then warded against attacking us.¡±


    ¡°I''ll agree to the guards and only warding the place we stay to keep us inside. If you cast anything on me or mine, I will see it as an attack and will respond in kind.¡±


    The elder looked like she was chewing on something sour, then she nodded.


    ¡°We''ll need a yard or a place for the horses.¡± I said to the guard, and we took the horses with us as she led us down the street, with no less than ten other guards. I thought that was a little excessive, considering I already had four guards as an escort, then shrugged and didn''t comment on it.


    A medium-sized property with a fairly large tree-house on it was waiting for us. Thankfully, it didn''t look lived in and must have been empty for a while. It had a good sized front yard, so I created Presence Walls around it and we put the horses in it. We took off all their kits and saddles and I stored them all in my bag of holding for loot, making sure to mark each one so that the horses would have the same equipment returned to them.


    I let the guards take the largest bedroom with the huge bed, mainly because they needed the room, and I took the second bedroom. Dawn joined me, unsurprisingly, and Fred stayed in the living room. I made him a large box of Presence in the shape of a bed and added a bedroll. He laughed at my attention to detail and climbed onto the bed and pretended to fall asleep. We both knew he was going to stay up and watch us, to make sure I was undisturbed. Dawn and I changed for bed and she kept her eyes on me to see if I was going to peek at her.


    ¡°You do realize that I don''t have to look at you to see you, right?¡± I asked and climbed into bed.


    ¡°Yes; but, you never look at me directly and I can delude myself into thinking that you''re not staring at me.¡± Dawn said and climbed into bed beside me.


    ¡°I''m fine with that, because I''m not staring at you.¡± I said and laid down on my side.


    Dawn was quiet for a minute. ¡°So, you didn''t look?¡±


    ¡°Not like that.¡± I said and she rolled onto her side to look at me. ¡°It''s one thing to see something, it''s another to look with intent.¡±


    ¡°Did you... do you like what you see?¡± Dawn asked me.


    ¡°I can''t get involved with you physically.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sure Maylia would be quite upset if I was to take advantage of you like that.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I suppose she would be upset if I tried to steal you away from her.¡± Dawn said, sadly.


    I chuckled. ¡°No, it''s more like you''re emotionally vulnerable and even if it is consensual, you''re not really in a good position to judge what''s best for you.¡±


    Dawn stared into my eyes. ¡°You''re not the best for me?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I''ve got too much work to do and you need someone who can devote themselves to taking care of you.¡±


    ¡°You can''t do that and work, too?¡± Dawn asked.


    ¡°I''ve had a girlfriend for a year and I''m a guardian to a wonderful girl. I miss them both very much.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Missing them is not enough reason to ignore them and have sex with you, though.¡±


    Dawn sighed and nodded. ¡°I''ll stop pressuring you.¡± She said and rolled over to face the other way.


    ¡°Will you hold me and keep me safe instead?¡± I asked her. ¡°I''m going to be unconscious for about eight hours and I need protection.¡±


    ¡°You want me to protect you?¡± Dawn asked without turning around. ¡°You are a one man army and I''m not even a knight yet.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but... I am only one man. I can''t do everything by myself.¡± I said. ¡°I need friends and allies.¡±


    ¡°Is that what we are? Friends?¡± Dawn asked, her voice subdued.


    I reached out and lightly touched her back. ¡°I''ve only known you for a few days, and yet I feel like we''ve known each other for years. That doesn''t happen for no reason.¡±


    ¡°I... yes, it''s strange. I feel like I can trust you with... with everything.¡± Dawn whispered.


    ¡°That''s why I feel like I can...¡±


    *


    ¡°Can what?¡± Dawn turned around and looked at me. ¡°Hunter?¡± She shook her saviour''s shoulder and he didn''t react. A second later, a wave of sleepiness washed over her and she yawned. It was followed by a wave of peacefulness and she slid in close to the man that had saved her from the savages and tucked herself into him as she hugged him, then promptly went to sleep.


    *


    ¡°Oho!¡± Fred said when he felt the wave of sleepiness. ¡°Nice one, Hunter!¡± He said and shook his head to counter the effect. He needed to stay awake to watch for threats. When the wave of peacefulness washed over him, he knew that he had been extremely lucky to have been rescued by such a great man. He couldn''t put it into words how the man made him feel. He had seen the evil floating off that prisoner and when Hunter had reacted immediately and then dealt with the evil man, Fred had felt such a rush of admiration that he almost peed his pants.


    Even just remembering the body being burned up with blue fire gave Fred shivers. Good shivers. Fred walked over to the bedroom with the elves in it and saw that they were in various states of undress and had succumbed to Hunter''s sleep spell and barely managed to get on the bed.


    Weak minded fools. Fred thought and closed the door and went out to the living room and looked out the window. He smiled widely at the unconscious guards that were supposed to be watching the house. He didn''t warn them he was going to do it, either. He thought with a quiet laugh. Thanks for making my job easier, Hunter!


    Fred went back to the bed-shaped box that Hunter had made for him and climbed on. He relaxed and stayed vigilant, which was not difficult for him at all. As a fighter, he always slept with one eye open, in case the people he was with decided that he wasn''t needed anymore. He had a party turn on him once, when his cut of the loot had been a bit too much for them to ignore. He smiled as he remembered killing them for betraying him and he got all of the loot for himself.


    Fools and their money are soon parted. Fred thought with amusement and dozed as he kept watch.

 Book Two: The Summoned 093 (Sponsored)

    I slept for the rest of the day and then part of the night. When I woke up, I once again felt the trailing edge of wakefulness. I had been out for about eight hours and I was quite hungry. Dawn was so close to me that I couldn''t move, so I waited for her to wake up.


    ¡°Ugh, what was that?¡± Dawn asked and blinked her eyes. ¡°Why am I awake?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°That''s my fault. I waited too long to rest.¡±


    ¡°What... wait, that was you?¡± Dawn looked at me with surprise.


    ¡°If I use too much energy and don''t rest and recuperate, I pretty much take whoever is around me with me when I literally fall asleep.¡± I said. ¡°Now I''m hungry.¡±


    ¡°Me, too.¡± Dawn said.


    ¡°Then a quick breakfast, even though it''s the middle of the night?¡± I asked and she nodded. We left the bedroom and went to the kitchen. ¡°Hey, Fred.¡± I said and pat the man''s shoulder as we passed. ¡°Thanks for keeping watch when I couldn''t.¡±


    Fred nodded and didn''t get up. I led Dawn into the kitchen and quickly cooked up a light and fast meal. I included some of the dry rations that god had blessed to taste delicious, then gave plates to Dawn and Fred, then went to the room with the elves. I knocked on the bedroom door and waited. One of the elves came over and opened the door.


    ¡°Just a light breakfast, so we can all eat and still go back to bed.¡± I said and handed her four plates of food. She didn''t say anything and I could tell she was surprised by my outfit. I shrugged and walked back to the kitchen and ate my plate of food as well. We all went back to bed after eating, and this time I rested intentionally. I didn''t have to, since my Presence had recovered hours ago; but, I also didn''t want to mess up my sleeping habits. I had to make sure to rest at the appropriate times from now on, rather than try to push through and do as much as I can before my Presence use wore me out.


    I was sure that if I kept pacing myself, it would make my recovery times that much shorter. Just because I could handle so many more things didn''t mean that I should on a regular basis. It was the mental strain of doing so many things and concentrating that was the most tiring after a while. I promised myself to rest more, especially if I met another group of creatures like those acid things.


    Maybe I should time my movements to arrive at cracks in the mornings when I''m fresh? I asked myself as Dawn cuddled in close. No, that would probably wipe me out like today and I''d lose almost a whole day and then that night resting. Okay, then. Either at noon or evening, then I can get a solid rest before the next day. With that resolved in my head, I dozed off and meditated partially to go over the map and planned the new route.


    The next morning, I fed the horses and then made breakfast for everyone. We were all in happy moods, even the four elves that were supposed to be my guards. They had completely relaxed because other elves had been doing their jobs while they rested for the first time since they had joined my journey.


    It seems someone else needs to completely rest occasionally, too. I thought and finished eating.


    We were escorted out of the city, right to the edge of the buildings, then we moved on. None of the guards with us questioned why the horses were still glowing blue. I hadn''t told them that once I had helped boost them, it made a temporary connection with them and I could just keep adding Presence to keep the speed boost going. I was at the point now that I didn''t even have to concentrate to do it. I just funnelled some of the surrounding mana, converted it for my use, and put it right into the horses.


    We visited two more towns without incident, then we approached another crack. I was surprised that there weren''t any creatures around it at all. There were a lot of bones, though. When I walked over to the crack and looked inside, I was met with piles and piles of bones. One of the piles moved a little, and then something made of bones came together and stepped towards the crack. I moved out of the way and the thing came through, looked around and started to walk... and then like a puppet with its strings cut, it dropped to the ground and random bones scattered.


    ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± I said and closed the crack and sealed it. ¡°I''m not taking that chance.¡±


    ¡°What was it?¡± Dawn asked and everyone came over when the gaping maw illusion disappeared.


    ¡°Whatever it was, is either animating the bones or giving them life.¡± I said. ¡°There were... a lot of bones on the other side.¡±


    ¡°So, you''re not completely insane.¡± Fred said as he kicked the skull of the thing and it crumbled.


    I chuckled. ¡°You almost sound sad about that.¡±


    ¡°Well, sometimes it''s fun.¡± Fred said and grinned at me.


    ¡°Come on. The Forest guide is eager to visit its friends.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± One of the guards asked.


    ¡°We''re approaching the heart of the forest.¡± I said and the four guards stood still and stopped breathing. ¡°Yeah, it''s a sacred place. I''m going to leave you all close by.¡±


    ¡°You can''t go in there.¡± One of the guards said. ¡°All life except forest life is forbidden.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about it.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sure it will block me if it wants to.¡±


    They didn''t respond and I could hear the doubts and fears in their minds. I thought about trying to reason with them and to calm them, then shrugged. I''ve been feeling my guide''s anxiousness and its heightened awareness for a while now, and I also knew that the heart of the forest wanted me to visit. In fact, I was pretty sure it needed me to, because there was a crack very close to it, according to the map.


    It took us several hours of travelling on the roads to get to the right spot, even at our full speed, and then we had to enter the forest. Our progress slowed to trotting speed as the forest became too thick to use the horses to their potential.


    ¡°It looks like we''re walking from here.¡± I said and we all dismounted. The Forest guide took us through the thick underbrush for another couple of hours. Almost like magic, a clearing appeared in front of us and it even had a depression in the middle for a campfire. It was also completely surrounded by trees. When we entered, it closed behind us.


    ¡°This looks like a campsite.¡± Dawn said.


    ¡°That''s because it is.¡± I said and the Forest guide bobbed up and down. I took out the tents for Dawn and Fred and then filled the depression in the center with kindling and a few pieces of wood. I lit it on fire with the flint on the very first spark and it became a full fire in an instant, to everyone''s amazement. I created a table shape with Presence and left it blue and made it solid, then set out some food for them to pick at.


    ¡°You really shouldn''t go.¡± One of the elves said. ¡°No one...¡±


    ¡°I was invited.¡± I said and she didn''t know what to say. ¡°Sit. Relax. Eat a little.¡± I smiled. ¡°I''ll be back.¡±


    ¡°If you need help, just holler.¡± Fred said.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and my Forest guide led me over to the side of the clearing, then I kid you not, one of the trees stepped aside using its roots, to let me pass. I looked at the thirty foot tall and two foot thick tree for a moment. ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and stepped through the space it made.


    *


    ¡°By the Queen''s grace!¡± One of the elves exclaimed. ¡°He really is a friend of the forest!¡±


    ¡°I will send a message right away.¡± One of the guards said and sat down to cast the communication spell. She spoke her message and the little ball flew away from her and tried to zoom through the trees... then popped in a burst of light.


    ¡°Looks like that''s not happening.¡± Fred laughed and ignored some of the food on the table and picked up one of the dry ration packs Hunter had left. He had never tasted anything so good in his life and he had eaten hundreds upon hundreds of dry ration packs during his thirty-six years of life. They were cheap, plentiful, and could be added to anything to give you the nutrients you needed to live. Stews and soups worked the best to add moisture, and it could even be used as a side for wild game.


    ¡°Hunter said we would have to wait, so that''s what we need to do.¡± Dawn said. ¡°No scouting. No trying to see what''s happening.¡± She glared at the elves. ¡°Just sit there and be quiet.¡±


    One of the elves turned and was going to tell her to shut up, then the one beside her grabbed her arm to stop her. With a small shake of the second one''s head, the other elf relented and held her tongue. They all sat down to wait for however long Hunter was going to be.


    *


    It felt like I jogged for an hour, which meant I had travelled a long way, then my Forest guide''s blue arrow shape faded away. It bobbed and weaved around for a second, then it expanded. My eyes widened as it became slightly bigger than me and then it stuck to the side of a tree.


    ¡°No way.¡± I said and walked forward. ¡°You can become a portal?¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    I felt its affirmation, then its condition that it only worked within the heart of the forest.


    ¡°Are you coming with me, or am I meeting whoever it is alone?¡±


    I felt its sadness and its thoughts about not being allowed to come.


    ¡°I''ll see you when I get back, then.¡± I said and stepped into the portal. ¡°You''ve done a fantastic job so far.¡± I said as I passed the threshold, heard its thoughts of gratitude, then I was inside a huge arena of some kind. I thought that was odd, until trees sprouted out of the ground and they swirled and grew together and formed a human-shaped figure that was about thirty feet tall.


    ¡°Defeat my minion.¡± A harsh female voice spoke from all around.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked. ¡°Am I to prove my worthiness or my cunning?¡±


    There was silence for a few moments, then the voice repeated the demand.


    ¡°Defeat my minion.¡± She said, only her voice wasn''t as harsh.


    ¡°Very well.¡± I said with a smile as I looked at her minion. It was huge and looked to be a formidable opponent, except it had a glaringly obvious weakness. I held a hand out towards it and from its feet down, I formed Presence around them and the roots it still had in the ground. With a bit of applied force from a solid lever and a fulcrum I formed behind it, I pushed one side down and lifted the creature right out of the ground. I made the Presence around its roots solid and then held it in the air with the lever.


    The creature started to mewl like a little kitten that had been taken from its mother. It was almost laughable that a thirty foot humanoid creature was crying like a baby; but, I didn''t laugh. I knew this was the worst possible thing to have happen to it. I could have cut off its arms and its head, and it probably would have grown them all back. Burning it would have done damage as well. However, separating it from its source of power and comfort utterly defeated it.


    ¡°Release it.¡± The female voice said and I absorbed the Presence from around its feet and roots and used the lever to lower it back to the ground. It''s mewling and crying stopped as its roots sunk back into the ground and I heard its thoughts of gratitude.


    ¡°I''m sorry about that.¡± I said and formed a giant Presence Hand, left it blue instead of making it invisible, then I scratched the tree-creature''s belly bark and touched it with Presence so it would feel it. ¡°I would have been in a little trouble if I hadn''t seen how you grew into place.¡±


    The tree-creature let out what I hoped was a laugh and I absorbed the giant Presence Hand. I couldn''t quite make out what it was thinking, probably because it only had a few stray thoughts in its head, and then it reversed its growth and disappeared into the ground.


    ¡°Again.¡± The female voice said, just as harshly, and a portal like the one I had stepped through appeared across the arena. ¡°You cannot use Presence to restrain it.¡±


    ¡°ROOOOOWWWRRRR! HOOOT! HOOOT!¡± The large armored monkey yelled and charged at me.


    I pulled out two arrows and used Presence Hands to drive them right into the creature''s eyes. It howled as it lost its sight and then it stumbled and fell face first... which drove the arrows into its brain and killed it. I walked over to it and slipped it into my creature bag of holding.


    ¡°Are there any other restrictions you want to put on me before you send out the next thing for me to kill?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Arrogance is not a good trait to have.¡± The voice responded.


    ¡°Right back at you.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t come here to be tested. I came here because you invited me.¡±


    ¡°You cannot use Presence Hands.¡± The voice said and a portal opened at the top of the arena. Something like a huge bird came through and squawked at me. The five foot long creature opened its beak and spat a fireball at me. I created a half circle Presence Wall in front of myself and sent the fireball right back at it. The bird-like thing was struck by the fireball and lit up like it was dry wood. It flew right into the side of the arena with a slam and a burst of both feathers and fire, then it dropped to the ground. I covered it in Presence to snuff out the flames.


    I bet Sam the monster expert would want this thing. I thought and stuffed the creature into my bag.


    ¡°You cannot use Presence Walls.¡± The voice said and then a portal near me opened. Hundreds of ants the size of my hand came out of it. I shook my head and used Presence Lightning. It killed all of them on this side of the portal and then thousands on the other side before the portal closed.


    ¡°You cannot use Presence Lightning.¡±


    Another portal opened up and a really nasty looking humanoid lizard came out of it. It was eight feet tall and had green scaly skin. It had crude armor and a six foot long sword. It also wore a dented helmet. Three more stepped out behind it.


    ¡°You''re kidding, right?¡± I asked. ¡°No? Okay.¡± I reached out and formed Presence around their hearts and crushed them. They opened their large mouths and spit out their life-blood and fell down, dead.


    ¡°You... cannot do what you just did.¡± The female voice said, unsure.


    I laughed. ¡°Sure. What''s next?¡±


    A very large portal opened up and a garglemacer dropped down into the center of the arena. It was almost full-sized, which meant it was pretty powerful; but, I knew their weaknesses now. I unhooked my mother''s Light sword from my belt and threw it by the creature''s head. At the last second, I used Presence to catch the hilt and activated the sword to slice right through the creature''s eye, its brain, and out the other eye. It dropped dead and I turned off the Light sword and pulled it back to myself.


    I calmly walked over to it and thought about taking it as it was, then remembered how heavy and awkward it had been to carry. So, I covered it in Presence and then pulled all of its scales off in only a few seconds. It looked like a furless cat when I was done and I dropped all of the scales into my loot bag. I was tempted to take the head whole, just because I could, then laughed and used the Light sword and severed it. I was barely able to stuff the thing into a cheap sheet and get it into my first bag of holding.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± I asked. ¡°Although, my bags of holding are getting full. I can''t take much more.¡±


    The voice didn''t respond for several minutes. I stood there and waited, knowing that something big was coming. I wasn''t sure what it would be; but, I could feel the sheer strength of the mana as whatever it was came closer. The ground in the center of the arena split open and the garglemacer''s carcass was tossed aside as if it weighed nothing, and a huge and bright ball of green mana floated up. The light coalesced and shrank away, then it became a slightly green tinted female form.


    She was exactly my height and her facial features formed into a very generic and also pretty form. I thought that was an odd thought and realized she was trying to glamour me. I smiled at her, like she expected, then clothing formed around her. It was a nice green flowing dress and covered everything, not that I looked anyway. She smiled back at me and reached out to touch me. I leaned back and stayed out of reach.


    ¡°You reject me?¡± She asked, completely surprised.


    ¡°I don''t fall for every pretty face that comes along.¡± I said. ¡°Is that why you brought me here?¡±


    ¡°I need a powerful protector.¡± She said.


    ¡°I''m sorry, I''m spoken for already.¡± I responded as diplomatically as I could.


    ¡°My forest is being threatened constantly. You must help me.¡±


    I felt a wave of compulsion hit me and I stood up straight... then it washed over me and fell away. ¡°I''m already helping as much as I can. I''ll have the rest of the cracks closed by next week. All that will be left is to clean up.¡± I said. ¡°The elves can handle it, once all the sources are removed.¡±


    ¡°How can you tell me no?¡± She asked, completely confused. ¡°You should be on your knees and beg me to let you do it.¡±


    I felt another wave of compulsion and smiled as it passed. ¡°If I was that weak minded, I would be useless to you, anyway.¡±


    She frowned at me and I felt her mana flare. ¡°Help. Me.¡±


    I felt a very strong mental probe bounce off of my mental shields. She winced at the pain as her attempt backfired and gave her a little mana burn.


    ¡°It was nice meeting you.¡± I said and walked over to where my portal had been. ¡°Forest guide! I''m ready to leave!¡±


    ¡°You can''t go.¡± The female voice said. ¡°I need you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, being all demanding and domineering isn''t going to impress me.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll close the cracks, as I agreed to do for passage through the magical barrier. I have plans after that, so I won''t be staying here forever to be your lapdog.¡±


    Her calm face turned angry. ¡°You. Will. STAY!¡±


    I felt a huge buildup of mana as she tried to create a mental probe, so I pulled out that bird-like creature and pointed it towards her, then squeezed the glands in its throat. A fireball burst out and flew towards her and she had to stop her mental attack and divert the fire. In the next instant, her attention returned to me and I had the tip of my mother''s Light sword pressed against her chest and burned a small circular hole in her dress to expose the skin underneath.


    ¡°I am your friend. I have been your friend for as long as I have been in the forest. I have not harmed you in any way and I have always respected the trees. I also know their importance and wouldn''t allow them to come to harm if I could prevent it.¡±


    She stared at me with anger in her eyes.


    ¡°However, as I told the elves, I would burn it all down just so I would be rid of all the trouble, if I didn''t believe that the trees deserve to be protected.¡± I said. ¡°Do you really want to try and force me to be your pawn? To declare me an enemy?¡± I asked. ¡°Please reconsider your decision.¡±


    She glared at me and then looked at the Light sword. ¡°You cannot kill me with that.¡±


    ¡°Who said I would kill you?¡± I asked. ¡°I know this is just an avatar and you''re inhabiting it. I also know that you gain power through all of the life in the forest.¡±


    Her glare shifted back to me and then the glare softened to ambivalence. ¡°You will no longer be a friend of the forest. I rescind all protections and bonuses you have within the forest.¡±


    I felt the all-pervasive mana around us fade away. ¡°Trying to starve me?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Fine. I will remove my own bonuses and protection from you and yours.¡±


    She took in a sharp breath as I cut off all external links I had, which included the horses and my Forest guide, and I also stopped my Presence from leaking out. Her ambivalence became a glare again.


    ¡°I told you that I knew you gained power from the things living in your forest. Turnabout is fair play.¡± I said. ¡°Now open the portal and let me leave, or I will cut my way out.¡±


    She waved a hand and a portal opened slightly to my right.


    ¡°I''m not stupid.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°Open this one to my Forest guide, so I can get back to those waiting for me.¡±


    She closed the portal and opened the one where I pointed, and I felt the thoughts of my Forest guide.


    ¡°Remember. If anything gets in my way, they will be cut down.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t hesitate.¡±


    ¡°I thought you respected the trees.¡± She said, angrily.


    ¡°I do. I can''t fault them for following your orders, either. You are their progenitor.¡± I said. ¡°If you order them to not move for me, then it''s the same as killing them yourself. You''re letting them die.¡± I smiled. ¡°How long will it take for them to see that you are the one being unreasonable?¡±


    She frowned at me. ¡°Begone.¡± She spat. ¡°Finish your work and leave my forest.¡±


    ¡°That was the plan from the start.¡± I said and stepped through the portal. ¡°You were the one that threatened me with slavery.¡±


    The portal disappeared and the Forest guide reformed into a small ball of light. It was green again.


    ¡°I''m sorry your mistress is angry that I refused.¡± I said and held a hand out and let it land. ¡°Thanks a lot for helping me so much. I don''t know what I would have done without you.¡±


    It wavered slightly from side to side and I could tell that it didn''t know what to do.


    ¡°Yeah, I''m going to have a lot of trouble navigating now; but, that''s not your fault. You really did do a good job.¡± I felt its sad thoughts. ¡°No, no. You completed your job. You even did more than I asked and took me everywhere I needed to go and not just to the cracks.¡± I said. ¡°Thanks for being so diligent.¡±


    It wavered a little and its light flickered.


    ¡°Yeah, she would be angry if I gave you some.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°How about you keep it a secret?¡±


    It glowed slightly brighter and I felt its agreement as a very small part of itself slipped out. I touched it with a fingertip and gave it a drop of Presence. The thing glowed bright blue and was brighter than the main body. The Forest guide opened and the blue glowing part slid back inside. It''s own glow didn''t change, which meant it had worked. It could keep my Presence a secret.


    ¡°Good work.¡± I said and let it feel my happiness for a moment, then it faded away. ¡°I''ll... ah... well, I was going to say see you later; but, I guess we won''t be seeing each other at all, let alone later.¡± I felt its sadness and it matched my own. ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    It floated up, became an arrow for a second and pointed off to the left, then it became a ball of green light and zoomed away.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and headed off in the final direction my guide had given me.

 Book Two: The Summoned 094

    I had been right and it was quite difficult to make my way through the forest without the guide''s help. Not being a friend of the forest was making bushes, branches, and leaves hit me all over and at random times. I had eventually resorted to covering myself in a thin layer of Presence to stop it from happening. I made it back to the clearing and saw that all of the trees had moved back and the clearing was more like an overgrown field now.


    ¡°What happened?¡± One of the elf guards asked.


    ¡°I''ve lost my status as a friend of the forest.¡± I said and the elves gasped at that revelation.


    ¡°What did you do?!?¡± She exclaimed the question.


    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± I said and felt something enter my detection range. I turned around and looked up. ¡°Well, damn.¡± I said as one of the bird-like things circled overhead. ¡°I knew a crack was near here; but, I didn''t think she would have hidden it from me on purpose.¡±


    ¡°She? She who?¡± Dawn asked.


    ¡°The heart of the forest.¡± I said and tried to draw in the mana around us. Nothing happened. I smiled and drew in the Presence around me instead and felt the energy pour into me. That was why I wasn''t upset about her blocking me from using the mana in the forest. I knew I could still use the surrounding energy, since everything had Presence in it, including the air. I formed a thicker layer of Presence around myself and reduced the pull of Presence from the planet. I was only going to get ten minutes out of the technique, because I needed at least half of my Presence reserves to close the crack.


    Fred stared at me and I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Something stupid.¡± I said and bent my knees. ¡°I''ll be back in about ten minutes, one way or the other.¡±


    One of the guards started to speak. ¡°Wait! If she wanted it hidden...¡±


    ¡°She hid it so that I would listen to her offer and not close it until she wanted me to.¡± I said and used Presence Jump. I shot up into the air completely weightless and I pulled out my mother''s Light sword. I activated it just as the bird saw me coming and it squawked at me. ¡°Too late.¡± I said and swiped the Light sword across its throat and severed the sacks of flammable liquid. I had been going too fast to decapitate it completely, so I took the more efficient route and stopped its main attack. It tried to spit a fireball out of its mouth and it came out its neck hole instead.


    It lit itself on fire and burst into flames, then it squawked several times as it fell to the ground. I surrounded it in Presence to extinguish the flames and watched it crash into the trees and then the ground. I kept ascending higher into the air and felt the crack nearby, because it disturbed the flow of Presence. I was completely surprised that it was at the very top of the mana barrier that covered the elf lands. Thankfully, there wasn''t a nest or anything, and I couldn''t see or detect another bird-like thing anywhere around.


    I slowed myself down and just as I reached the crack, one of the creatures poked its head through the crack. I had plenty of time to deal with it now, so I swiped the Light sword up through its throat, intentionally missing the fluid sacks, and cut the head clean off. I caught it and stuffed the head into my creature bag of holding and pushed the body back into the crack. I grabbed the edge of the crack and pulled it closed, then sewed it shut and healed the wound.


    I sighed in relief and checked my energy reserve. It was almost gone. I absorbed my protective barrier of Presence and it gave me some energy back... and I dropped like a rock. I turned on my armor to make it weightless and then used small amounts of Presence to guide where I was falling. The wind buffeted me and tore at my skin and my hair. When I was close enough to the ground, I could see where Dawn and Fred were. I could also see that they were quite upset at my uncontrolled descent. I held a hand out to wave just as I approached the top of the trees, then I activated Levitation for three seconds to slow my descent... it was then that my energy reserve bottomed out.


    ¡°NO!¡± Dawn and Fred yelled out. Fred grabbed a bedroll and tried to put it where I was going to land and I laughed. I slammed into a tree branch and broke my arm, bounced off and tumbled through the air, ricocheted from another tree when I hit my back, then fell to the ground. I had gathered just enough Presence on the way through the trees to reinforce my legs, just in time to land on several tree roots. My left ankle snapped like a twig and I dislocated my right knee as I tried to absorb as much impact as I could, then I collapsed to the ground on my back.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Dawn screamed and she and Fred rushed over to me.


    ¡°N-nice.... try, Fred.¡± I managed to say through gritted teeth. ¡°An... A for... effort.¡±


    ¡°For Black Laura''s sake, shut up!¡± Dawn said and knelt beside me. Tears came to her eyes and she didn''t know what to do. She turned to the guards. ¡°Do something!¡±


    ¡°We aren''t healers.¡± One of them said and Dawn growled at them.


    ¡°Useless trash!¡± Dawn spat. ¡°How are you supposed to protect him if he dies?¡±


    They couldn''t answer that, so she turned back to me.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Dawn said in a soft voice. ¡°What can we do?¡±


    ¡°Fred... straighten my... breaks.¡± I said.


    ¡°I was wrong.¡± Fred said and put the bedroll down. ¡°You''re completely insane.¡±


    I barked a laugh and spat up blood. ¡°Don''t... make me... laugh.¡± I said. ¡°Punctured lung.¡±


    ¡°Give me a hand.¡± Fred said to Dawn and they picked me up carefully. Too many parts to my liking, and theirs, flopped around.


    ¡°Oh, goddess!¡± Dawn moaned and they put me on the bedroll. ¡°Hunter... oh, goddess.¡±


    ¡°It''s okay.¡± I said. ¡°Fred, I''m going to pass out now, so pull everything straight, will you?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, Hunter.¡± Fred said. ¡°I''ll give you a minute to make sure you''re really out.¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± I said. ¡°I''m...¡±


    *


    ¡°Wow. When he goes, he goes.¡± Fred said and shook off the weak sleepiness feeling and he wasn''t surprised when there was no followup feeling of peacefulness. He waited a few seconds, just in case, then he straightened Hunter''s ankle. When he didn''t react, Fred moved his leg and Dawn covered her mouth when she heard the bones grinding together.


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Dawn said and started to mumble a prayer.


    Fred picked up Hunter''s arm and it felt like it was boneless. He shook his head and straightened it out as well as he could through the armor. He looked at Hunter''s head and saw that his hair was a tangled mess, full of branches, leaves, and missing chunks.


    ¡°What do we do with that?¡± Fred asked and motioned to the hair.


    Dawn finished her prayer. ¡°I''ve got it.¡± She said and took out the brush Hunter had given her and she slowly worked it through the worst of the tangles and picked out all of the debris. It took her a while to get through the whole mass of hair to make it look normal again.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Fred asked.


    ¡°We have to go for help somehow.¡± Dawn said. ¡°The thing is, Hunter was the one who brought us here.¡± She looked at the elves. ¡°You don''t know how to get back to the road, do you?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    The elves shook their heads.


    ¡°Useless!¡± Dawn spat, then looked back at the man on the ground beside her. ¡°We can''t move him like this.¡±


    ¡°Then we sit here and wait.¡± Fred said and sat down. ¡°If we can''t move him and we can''t leave, then we stay.¡± He said, confidently. ¡°If he was awake, he would tell us what to do. He''s not, so we wait until he does wake up.¡±


    Dawn wanted to argue, because she wanted to do something. She ran her fingers through Hunter''s hair and sighed. ¡°All right. We wait.¡±


    They stayed there for the rest of the day and waited for Hunter to wake up.


    *


    ¡°Ugh.¡± I moaned. ¡°Someone remind me to never do that again.¡±


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Dawn yelled.


    ¡°Take it easy on my ears. I''m not deaf.¡± I said and slipped off my blast shield. ¡°What time... oh, damn.¡± I sighed. ¡°I was out all day?¡±


    Dawn and Fred stared at me, because I had used my broken arm to remove the shield.


    ¡°Just a second.¡± I said and closed my eyes. I used my detection technique to check myself all over. ¡°Yep, I''m fine.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Dawn asked. ¡°Your arm was shattered!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that and a couple of ribs, along with my ankle and knee. It''s probably why I was out for so long.¡± I said and sat up. Everyone stared at me, including the elves. ¡°Is there something on my face?¡± I asked and touched it. ¡°It was about the only thing I didn''t hit on the way down, so it should be okay. It''s okay, right?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you... when you didn''t wake up after a few hours, we... you were barely breathing, and... I thought you were going to die.¡± Dawn said as tears sprang from her eyes.


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said and put an arm around her to let her cry. ¡°I thought I told you that I have Regeneration and Self-healing. Then again, this is the first time I''ve needed it.¡± I said. ¡°I was pretty much out of energy, so it took a while for my body to gather it and use it to fix my injuries.¡±


    ¡°I''ve never heard of that before.¡± Fred said. ¡°Regeneration? Self-healing? That''s not supposed to be possible, is it?¡±


    ¡°Well, I''m not from here.¡± I said. ¡°This planet, I mean.¡±


    Dawn stopped crying almost immediately and leaned back. ¡°You''re a summoned adventurer?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and checked my armor. ¡°Ah, dammit. I left it on.¡± I said and hit the switch. It didn''t make any difference because the batteries were drained. I sighed and looked at the others. ¡°Did you eat everything?¡±


    ¡°You''ve missed two meals.¡± Fred said. ¡°We were about to start foraging for supper.¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± I said and stood up and went to the table, then set out another feast for everyone. ¡°We''ll be staying the night here, then we''ll move out in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Why not leave right now?¡± Dawn asked.


    ¡°I need to gather my energy back.¡± I said. ¡°I''m still running on the bare minimum.¡±


    ¡°But... you''re awake and you slept all day.¡± Dawn said.


    ¡°Being unconscious doesn''t count as sleep and my body used up all the energy I gathered.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''m going to eat and then I''m going to bed.¡±


    *


    Dawn came into the tent and was surprised when Hunter didn''t make himself invisible to change. She watched him as she changed herself and he didn''t look at her. She was both impressed at his restraint and upset that he didn''t try to take a peek. It was a vexing feeling for her to both want and not want him to look. They climbed into their bedrolls side by side and Hunter fell asleep almost immediately.


    Dawn turned onto her side as she reached out of her bedroll and into his to take his hand. He never objected to her needing comfort like that and she pulled his arm against her and hugged it. She knew intellectually that she shouldn''t be doing it, and yet, she couldn''t stop herself from taking advantage of him. She wanted to wallow in him and rub herself all over him.


    After he hurt himself so much and then was miraculously healed, Dawn''s desire to use him as much as she could became a burning need inside of her. She loved another and her heart had broken with his recent death; but, here was her saviour, letting her comfort herself as much as she wanted, as long as it didn''t go further than casual touching. The first time she had gone further than that, it had been an accident. Since then, though... she wanted to try it. She knew she shouldn''t, though.


    Dawn had seen Hunter''s anger when he killed that prisoner as if it meant nothing to him. The thought made her shiver, in the bad way, and she wasn''t sure how she felt about him being able to take a life so casually, even someone who was a murderer. Things like that should be handled by a mayor, or a judge, or even an experienced guard who dealt with criminals on a daily basis and not by an adventurer. She knew Hunter was a good man, he had to be; but, he was also a bounty hunter and would kill anyone he was hired to kill.


    Was it just business for him? Was he hired to kill that man? Dawn asked herself, then another thought struck her. Would he kill the elves for me if I hired him?


    Dawn chuckled softly at the absurd thought and hugged his arm, then she caught her breath. It was the arm he had shattered earlier that day. She eased her hold on it for only a moment, then she couldn''t fight her urges and hugged it tightly. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep with thoughts of watching Hunter break all of the elves'' necks with his magic. The images floated through her mind and calmed her.


    *


    The four elves sat in their tent that was made of local materials and listened to the message.


    ¡°He must have done something very upsetting for his status as a friend of the forest to be revoked.¡± The elder said. ¡°Healing himself must be a trick or a spell effect, or even more likely it''s an enchanted object.¡± She said. ¡°Keep a constant eye on him and try to discover what happened in the forest. Perhaps we can gain favor with the forest if we discover what went on and fix it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Elder.¡± The guard said and the ball of light faded. ¡°You heard her. Rotating watch. Every six hours.¡±


    ¡°I''ll go first.¡± One of them said and slipped silently out of the tent.


    ¡°Get some sleep. This is going to be a long task with only the four of us.¡±


    The others nodded and laid down with her and they huddled together for comfort.


    *


    The next morning I felt great. My Presence reserve was back to full and it had been cycling through my body to reinforce it and made it stronger. It was going to take a long time to get anywhere near where Allirynn and Steven were with their body reinforcement, though. My Detect Presence technique was also working, and seeing things how they were supposed to be was comforting. I also had my arm buried between Dawn''s breasts and it made me miss Maylia quite a lot more than I had, mere moments before.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± I said.


    Dawn slowly woke up from that gentle verbal prod. She realized where my arm was and looked at me sheepishly as she let it go and gave it back to me.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, and she gave me an odd look. ¡°You can decide for yourself what I meant.¡±


    Dawn opened her mouth to respond and then sighed. ¡°You know.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll repeat myself if you want.¡±


    ¡°No, I understand.¡± Dawn said. ¡°I''m sorry for...¡±


    ¡°Hey, it''s okay.¡± I said and sat up. ¡°We''re going to be spending quite a few more nights together. I need the cuddles just as much as you do.¡±


    ¡°I want more than that.¡± Dawn said, quite boldly, then she shut her mouth.


    ¡°I know, and you know I won''t let that happen.¡± I said and tapped my crotch and created a metal sound. ¡°This is reserved for my girlfriend.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I... please, don''t think less of me.¡± Dawn said and rolled over.


    ¡°Ha!¡± I barked a laugh and stood up. ¡°After what happened to you, you''ve been surprisingly calm and collected.¡± I said and turned my back to her to slip off my nightgown. ¡°It''s quite impressive, actually.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Dawn asked and sat up as she turned to face me, then she caught her breath at the sight of my butt fairly close to her face.


    I bent over to pull on my armor pants. ¡°Yeah, it reminded me of my reaction when I escaped.¡± I said and took out my long-sleeved t-shirt and slipped it on. ¡°I had been through an ordeal and I didn''t let it affect me. I got out of there and left it behind me.¡±


    ¡°I... I wish...¡± Dawn reached up and stopped her hand before she grabbed my backside.


    ¡°You''re doing great.¡± I said and slipped the armor coat on and buttoned it up. ¡°I''ll help you in almost any way that I can; but, I can''t help you in that way. You know I can''t.¡±


    Dawn dropped her hand and sighed as she leaned over. ¡°Why can''t you have just a little less morality?¡±


    I chuckled as I slipped on my blast shield and used Presence to hold it in place, then I used two hair ties to make a ponytail and to tie it up. ¡°You have pretty brown nipples.¡±


    Dawn took in a sharp breath and looked down at herself. Her nightgown had slipped down just enough that it billowed out and gave me a great view of her breasts. She blushed and put a hand at the neck and closed the gaping hole, then she looked up at me and I looked down at her. She couldn''t see my eyes; but, she knew that look.


    ¡°I''ll get breakfast ready.¡± I said and left the tent.


    I prepared breakfast for everyone and we ate quickly, gathered the horses, and led them out through the thick underbrush and close trees. It took several hours to get to a point where we could mount the horses again. Once we could, the elves boosted all of the horses, even mine. I didn''t help, however. The elves were surprised by this until I told them why. With the horses significantly slower and having to stop at mana trees to recharge them along the way, it took us all day to visit two more towns and a city.


    I had to pay gold to have access to a hot bath for an hour at the city, so Fred and I rushed through it and let Dawn have most of the hour for herself to soak. The elves declined the offer. We camped at a rest area that night and moved on the next day. I closed a crack and we kept going. Even being forced to take our time like we were, we still managed to close the remaining cracks and visited the very last city and gathered the final prisoner, another woman, in under two weeks. She was a magic user and had cooperated without resistance right from the start, so her imprisonment wasn''t as harsh as the others.


    We visited two more towns and then we reached the end of the elf lands. I was tempted to leave right there; but, we were on the other side of the elf lands and would then have to travel all the way around the magical barrier to get back to where I had left Maylia and Afyne. So, we turned around and spent another week or so travelling as we followed the road all the way back across most of the elf lands to the capital.

 Book Two: The Summoned 095

    I had expected the queen to be waiting for us. What I hadn''t expected was to have a legion of female elves in full armor waiting for me. Five thousand of them with gleaming armor stood at attention in the large cleared out area in front of the castle with twenty-five hundred on each side of the road. As we approached on our horses, the first row of female elves turned with a stomp of their feet, from facing forward to facing the road, then each row of guards behind them did the same thing, one after another.


    It was quite a sight to see such a coordinated effort and the shifting armor looked like a wave that started when we passed and spread out the further we rode up the road. When we reached the castle steps, the very last row of guards turned with a stomp of their feet and completed the manoeuvre.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Queen Orella said and bowed her head.


    Behind her, her three daughters bowed their heads and the five elders behind them bowed their heads. I knew the queen had set this all up to placate me and to try and make up for the things that had happened. I had to admit that it was a nice gesture and quite impressive. Unfortunately, it seemed to be hollow and empty of meaning. If she had announced a complete policy change, or at least make the ones that had kept prisoners be disciplined, it would have meant more to me than this grand posturing.


    Just like Fred and the bedroll when I was falling, the queen deserved an A for effort. I thought.


    ¡°Thank you for completing such a monumental task so quickly.¡± Queen Orella said. ¡°I''ve already ordered the organization of several large groups of guards to travel to those areas to hunt down and get rid of the creatures that came through.¡±


    I nodded and didn''t say anything, because I felt she had more that she wanted to say.


    ¡°I''ve also arranged for transport to the barrier and my three daughters will accompany you.¡±


    ¡°Oh? No big feast in my honor? No medal? No kingdom-wide declaration of me as a national hero for saving your people from an extra-planetary threat?¡± I asked.


    The queen, her daughters, and the elders fell silent. Sylvana was the only one that didn''t keep a blank face and let her anger show.


    ¡°Well, then. Thank you for the mediocre hospitality, your highness. At least you didn''t just ignore me like a lot of your elders have, even knowing I was your guest.¡± I said and the elders winced at the truth in my words.


    The queen glanced at Braya, who nodded. ¡°I will have a word with them.¡±


    ¡°Don''t bother, your highness.¡± I said and slid off the horse, then helped Dawn climb down. ¡°I didn''t have to kill any of them and I doubt you speaking to them will change their minds.¡± I looked into her eyes. ¡°I suggest you use your firm hand to make the elders in your lands keep in contact with you. Perhaps in the future, you won''t be blindsided by information you should have had when it happened, and not weeks later.¡±


    Queen Orella didn''t like that I was pointing that out to her in public.


    When she didn''t offer dinner, when was I supposed to bring it up? I asked myself and sent the thought to Braya as well. ¡°On the bright side, I''m glad you''re not making us use a teleport spell, considering the results of the last time we used one.¡±


    That made everyone wince, even a lot of the guards standing in formation. They must have heard the story about what happened to me by now. A woman stepped forward and I saw that it was one of the mages.


    ¡°Sir, please accept this as an apology for our mistake.¡± She said and handed me a small book. I took it and opened it to see that it was full of spells. The first two being the teleport spell and the modified one that had injured me. I was stunned at the number of spells she was giving me.


    ¡°Thank you very much.¡± I said to her, then I leaned in to whisper. ¡°You can keep the mana crystal.¡±


    The mage''s face flushed deep red at my reciprocating gift. I could tell that she appreciated that I understood how important giving up those spells was to her and she was fighting against her mind and her body to stop herself from wanting to hug me.


    I smiled at her struggle as I closed the book and then tried to slide it into my main bag of holding. It wouldn''t fit. ¡°Damn, the garglemacer head actually filled the bag.¡± I said and ignored everyone''s surprise as I opened my coat and tucked the book into the side with the breast pocket. I saw the divining rod that the elder had given me with her vow to stay silent, and it was still intact. Ha. I had completely forgotten about that. I thought and used Presence to hold the book against the coat and took the rod out.


    Every elf that saw it let out a gasp, even the seasoned guards. They all knew what it meant.


    It took me about ten seconds of their stunned silence to sort through the mass of thoughts to find one of them with the proper response. It was one of the elders, so I knew I had the right phrase to speak.


    I held up the rod. ¡°A vow given in good faith, words kept in silence, trust both earned and given.¡± I said and bent over the rod and touched it to my forehead. ¡°A promise was kept and I honor that.¡± I held it out in my cupped hands. ¡°Your purpose is complete and I return you willingly.¡±


    A bright green glow came out of the rod and it dissolved as if it was smoke, then the glow faded and to my surprise, it left a potted sapling in my hands. Everyone gasped again and stared at me for several moments. The queen was the first to recover from the shock.


    ¡°You have been given a great gift.¡± Queen Orella said, her voice full of reverence. ¡°When you find the right spot, you will need to plant it.¡±


    I opened my mouth to ask where that was and she held up a hand to stop me.


    ¡°You will know when it happens. Do not try to plant it anywhere else. It won''t survive.¡±


    I stared down at the little plant and didn''t know what to do with it.


    ¡°It needs water, sun, and perhaps a little mana to keep it alive.¡± Queen Orella said, her voice softer than it was a moment before. ¡°You can''t store it, so it must be carried.¡±


    I looked at the size of the thing and looked at myself. There were several places that I could put it and keep it safe, especially since I could cover it in Presence and make it solid. For now, since we were going to be travelling, I chose the top of my head as the best spot. It would keep it out of the way and close by at the same time, and it would get the most sun there. I made a nice base for it and set the pot inside to hold it steady, then I covered it in a dome of Presence that let air through.


    A ripple of approval flowed out over the gathered female elves and their thoughts bombarded me, so I closed my mind off almost completely so that I wouldn''t be overwhelmed. The strongest thoughts were from the queen and she stepped close, which I could tell was against normal protocol.


    ¡°Your choice is both bold and endearing, Hunter.¡± Queen Orella said, almost in a whisper, as if we were alone and no one else was around us. ¡°I personally regret everything that has happened. I also saw that this grand gesture fell flat.¡± She said and waved at the assembled forces. ¡°I had hoped that showing you this much respect from the elves would at least be a good start to try and mend things between us.¡±


    ¡°I think I''m just as much at fault.¡± I said and took off my blast shield. I ignored the stunned reactions from the nearby guards and the mage that had given me the book of spells. ¡°You look so much like my mother that I had subconsciously created all of these things that you should be doing and put you on a pedestal. When certain things happened and you didn''t react like I thought you should, or act how I thought you should, you didn''t reach my apparently unreasonable expectations.¡± I smiled sadly. ¡°I reacted poorly and let my own feelings and emotions cloud my judgment.¡±


    ¡°As did I.¡± Queen Orella said and reached out to take my hand.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    A collective gasp spread over the gathered elves when she touched my bare hand and gripped it. Neither of us said anything and looked into each other''s eyes. After a couple of minutes of silence, she spoke again.


    ¡°I would go with you to open the barrier; but, I must stay here.¡± Queen Orella said. ¡°I hope that sending my daughters with you will be enough of a gesture to show you my trust.¡±


    I stood there and didn''t respond for a moment, until I came up with the perfect thing to say. ¡°If I had asked, would you have cuddled with me like a good bed sister would?¡±


    Complete and utter silence fell across the gathering at my question. No one moved or even breathed, and the queen''s face flushed red as she blushed. She gripped my hand hard and stood still for several moments. Rather than answer, she leaned in close and placed a very light kiss on my lips.


    The silence was shattered as nearly everyone reacted in some way. Shouts of disbelief, encouragement, and astonishment, were quickly followed by thousands of offers to be my bed sister. Her three daughters were the most vocal, mainly with negative opinions.


    The queen let my hand go and stepped away, then I saw the veneer of seriousness as it covered her. ¡°Please take your friends and leave my lands.¡± She said and let a smile touch her lips. ¡°Good journey.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, your highness.¡± I said and bowed to her, then I motioned for Dawn and Fred to go ahead to the carriage waiting for us. I started to walk behind them and stopped beside the queen to whisper. ¡°I can''t describe how much I would have enjoyed holding you in my arms, your highness.¡±


    The queen stared at me as I walked over to the carriage and then I waited as her three daughters climbed aboard. I climbed in behind them, and the driver slowly took us back out through the legion of guards. They reversed their facing as we passed and the wave of movement finished as the carriage passed the last row of guards. We were all quiet as the carriage turned and took us in the other direction and its speed doubled when we were out of the city limits. It doubled again as the driver boosted the horses and we took off at full speed.


    Have you been practising? I asked Braya mentally. Her head twitched to look at me and she stopped herself before she did. Keep working at it. I thought and took away the touch of Presence I had left in her. She caught her breath as my mind faded from her perception.


    It took us two days to reach the barrier, which was much faster than if we had taken the horses. When I was close enough, I sent a mental message to Maylia to let her know that we were coming. I had tried to enhance my mental sending capacity using that new technique that sacrifices life force to empower an ability. I managed to give my detection range a fifty percent boost in distance from one thousand feet to one thousand five hundred feet... which was nothing, considering the distance measured in miles. It would still be good for a last ditch effort; but other than that, there was no point in doing it.


    We had to go offroad for the last bit and the carriage emerged from the treeline. There was an immediate response from my friends waiting on the other side of the magical barrier.


    ¡°THERE! There he is!¡± Afyne jumped and pointed. Maylia hugged her to stop her from running to the barrier and potentially hurting herself. I saw that everyone was still there, even Jessica and Kara, and they all looked in good condition, even after waiting almost two months. It was my turn to try and restrain myself from copying Afyne. I fought my urge to hop out of the carriage and run to the barrier to be as close to her as possible.


    The carriage came to a stop a hundred feet from the barrier and I was the first one out. I stood there and stared at Maylia and Afyne and I could see the tears in their eyes. They matched mine, and everyone that came out of the carriage saw my face as they exited. No one said anything until the carriage was empty.


    ¡°It will only take a few minutes to open the barrier.¡± Braya, the eldest sister said and took her twin''s hand and walked over to it.


    ¡°We''re here.¡± Dawn whispered and looked at all the people waiting. ¡°Are they all with you?¡±


    ¡°Technically.¡± I said and didn''t bother wiping off my face. ¡°The ones dressed in white are the Emissaries of Light and I was supposed to be their leader. Needless to say, I wasn''t happy with that arrangement.¡± I smiled. ¡°The ones dressed in all different kinds of outfits are my good friends. They are my actual party that I built through adversity, fate, some horror, and a lot of camaraderie and shared experiences.¡±


    ¡°So, you''re saying the Light people were forced on you and you hated that, while the others were given to you and you accepted them?¡± Fred asked.


    ¡°Okay, are you a mental prodigy or something?¡± I asked and glanced at him. ¡°That''s a few times you''ve read the situation like reading a book.¡±


    Fred barked a laugh. ¡°Naw, it''s the difference between earning a friendship and being told that these people are your friends.¡± He said. ¡°One is a gift and the other you have to deal with.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± I barked my own laugh and slapped his shoulder. ¡°Where were you a year ago?¡±


    ¡°Knee deep in breeglecots.¡± Fred said without missing a beat. ¡°The damn things stank to high heaven!¡±


    ¡°You live around there?¡± I asked and remembered where I had encountered the humanoid frog men. ¡°Well, you won''t have to worry about them anymore, unless they made nests around the same area.¡±


    ¡°They better not have.¡± Fred said and gripped the hilt of his sword.


    ¡°We''ll find out soon enough.¡± I said and let his shoulder go. ¡°We''ll stop there first.¡±


    ¡°We''re ready.¡± Braya said, her voice slightly strained.


    I nodded and turned to Sylvana. ¡°I''d like to say this has been fun; but, it''s just been one ordeal after another and I haven''t had time to process it all yet.¡± I held a hand out to her to shake. She glanced at it and then at me. ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± I said and put my glove on.


    Sylvana took it and shook it. ¡°Goodbye.¡± She said, and her voice had a tone of finality in it.


    ¡°It really is this time.¡± I said and let her hand go. I took off the glove and put it back in my pocket. I put my hands behind Dawn and Fred and led them over to the barrier. The twin sisters put their hands towards the barrier and it moved up to barely make a man-shaped hole.


    ¡°We... can''t hold it... for long.¡± Braya said and I could see that she and her sister were struggling.


    I pushed Dawn and Fred into the hole and held up a finger in front of Braya''s face.


    ¡°N-no, I... don''t...¡± Braya tried to deny my offer, because I had given and then taken my mental link away from her before.


    ¡°I can''t take the chance that I''ll be crushed under the barrier.¡± I said and put a touch of Presence into my fingertip and thought about bopping the end of her nose. It made me smile in amusement and I touched her forehead instead and made an energy sharing connection. The barrier opened to three times the size that even their mother could manage and the other two sisters stared at the hole with their mouths open, while Braya stared at me.


    I have a soft spot for women with mental abilities. I sent to her over the now restored link. She blushed and I didn''t even have to compliment her. Do you want me to leave it? I asked her. It won''t be of any use, since I''m never coming back. That''s why I took it before.


    ¡°You weren''t doing it to spite me?¡± Braya asked.


    No. I was just cleaning up my excess usage. I thought to her and stepped back. ¡°Keep practising and meditating.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡± Braya said and the mental strain from holding the barrier open was gone.


    I turned to her twin, Bryana. ¡°Give Sylvana a hand, would you? She needs someone to teach her when to act like a lady and when to act like a warrior.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Sylvana nearly yelled and I grinned.


    Bryana looked at me with wide eyes, because I would say something like that out loud, and she had felt how much my touch had helped her twin. ¡°If you touch me like that, I will.¡±


    I glanced at Braya, and she nodded. I did the same thing to her sister with a fingertip of Presence to her forehead, and they both gasped at the rush they felt and the barrier opened even wider.


    We could have rode the whole carriage through. I thought with a laugh. I stepped back from her, took two steps towards the barrier, then I turned and gave the three sisters a slight bow. That surprised them even more than opening the barrier, which was my intent, and I turned and walked through the gigantic opening like a conquering hero. I was barely passed the threshold of where the barrier was, when I braced myself for the assault to come.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Afyne yelled and jumped into my arms as she hugged me tightly.


    ¡°Hey, sweetie.¡± I whispered to her and held her just as tightly. My flow of tears started up again. ¡°I missed you so much!¡±


    ¡°I missed you, too!¡± Afyne said through her own resumed stream of tears.


    Maylia came over and hugged the two of us and gave me a kiss on the lips in front of everyone.


    ¡°Wow, you really missed me, too.¡± I said to her, and she laughed.


    Everyone else gathered around and I could hear the surprised thoughts of the princesses that a man would be greeted so familiarly and warmly. The barrier closed behind me to once again cut the elves off from the world.


    ¡°What is that thing on your head?¡± Steven asked.


    ¡°A lasting gift from a promise.¡± I said to intentionally confuse him.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Jessica asked with a smile.


    ¡°We can discuss things later.¡± I said and looked at Allirynn and Imiryl. ¡°I have news on that front as well.¡± They nodded and I turned towards the three people that had come through the barrier with me. I kept Afyne in my arms and propped her on my hip. ¡°Before I get into everything that happened, I''d like to introduce my fellow prisoners.¡±


    Jessica gasped and the others gathered closer. Words of understanding and comfort came from everyone on my side. They all knew what it was like to be treated that way, while the Emissaries of Light stood there, kind of awkwardly. Jessica knew what it was like; but, she didn''t want to relive that and I didn''t fault her for it. Dawn, Fred, and the mage, whose name was Grania, were almost overwhelmed with the show of support. I introduced them to everyone and everyone introduced themselves in turn. After a few minutes of greetings, Afyne spoke.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Afyne said. ¡°You stink.¡±


    I snorted a laugh. ¡°Well, baths were few and far between, and we barely arrived at the capital when we were shipped off to here.¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± Afyne exclaimed. ¡°They didn''t let you bathe first?¡±


    ¡°They didn''t even offer to feed us.¡± I said.


    ¡°That''s horrible!¡± Afyne said, indignantly.


    ¡°The queen was pretty embarrassed when I pointed it out.¡± I said with a grin.


    ¡°Good!¡± Afyne said. ¡°A queen should know how to treat people properly, even if she hates them!¡±


    Her words were met with several nods from my party, while the emissaries stayed still, because they didn''t know how to react. I turned my head to look at the princesses through the barrier and saw them walking back towards the carriage. Everyone saw where I was looking and we all watched the three women climb back into the carriage, then it drove away and disappeared into the forest.

 Book Two: The Summoned 096

    The first thing I found out was that the Church of Light''s carriage had been sent back after the first week. The driver had tried to stay, so that they emissaries would have a ride; but, Jessica had insisted that he leave and they would contact him as soon as they knew they needed a ride back. The second thing I found out was that Evangeline had a little boy and Josh doted on both the baby and her mother and did everything for them.


    The third thing I found out was that Jessica had figured out her Maintenance spell. Instead of just keeping her hair clean and fluffy as if it had just been washed, it now worked on clothes as well. They had to be clean, though. If you cast it on dirty clothes, they stayed dirty until the spell wore off. So, that meant a trip to have both a bath and to wash clothes.


    We packed everything up and I helped Maylia boost all of the horses and made them glow blue. It was a good thing that we had kept the extra one, because that gave us just enough to spread Jessica, Steven, Josh, Evangeline, Kara, Dawn, Fred, and Grania among the experienced riders. Dawn''s disappointment was almost palatable when Afyne climbed onto my horse and I climbed onto it with her. She didn''t say anything about it, especially when Maylia offered the spot in front of her on her horse, which was right beside mine. Kara stared at us when she saw the effect on the horses and I ignored her pointed stare and didn''t say anything about it.


    Jessica got the spare horse, since she was an experienced rider, and she took Josh as a passenger. He looked really awkward trying to hold onto her and not hold onto her at the same time, which amused me to no end. Allirynn and Imiryl took Steven and Kara respectively, and Evus took Fred while Diofra took the mage Grania. Viri shared her horse with Evangeline and the baby, and that was everyone covered. I was not going to run the horses hard with everyone doubled up like they were, so we trotted at a normal pace and made our way to the closest town... which just happened to be the one we had stopped at before.


    We were greeted with a warm welcome by the whole town again and this time, the inn had kept all of its rooms clear for us. I was glad, because even with all the rooms available, we still had to double up to get everyone in to bathe and wash their clothes. It took a while for it to happen, and when we were done, Jessica used a mana crystal to cast the Maintenance spell on all of our hair and pieces of clothing.


    We stayed long enough to have a nice meal, then we loaded the horses up again and trotted out of town. The next stop was Fred''s town, and it was just as devastated emotionally and population-wise as it had been the last time I had been through there. Fred led us right to his family''s house and he left us without a word and went inside. I could see inside and saw a woman react to him appearing. She hugged him and cried, and we could hear her wails. It took her several minutes to calm down, then it took her twenty minutes to clean up and to come out on Fred''s arm to greet us and he had a bundle under his other arm.


    She pretty much dragged him over to me and looked up at me. ¡°I can never thank you enough for bringing my Fred back to me.¡± She said, her voice deep and full of gratitude. ¡°I would pledge to be your handmaiden for life if you had a house to take care of.¡±


    ¡°Then its good that I don''t have a house.¡± I said a little sternly and she looked surprised, then I smiled to take the sting out of my words. ¡°Now you can take all that devotion and give it to Fred instead. He needs you more than ever now.¡±


    She beamed a smile at me and turned to Fred.


    ¡°I told you.¡± Fred said to her and she nodded. ¡°Hunter, thank you for getting me out of there.¡± He said and held out the bundle.


    ¡°You can keep it.¡± I said. ¡°I was going to buy you a set of armor anyway.¡±


    ¡°I told you he was insane.¡± Fred said to his wife and she nodded. No one just gives away sets of armor.


    ¡°Oh, here''s your cut of the bounties.¡± I said and pulled a handful of gold and silver. ¡°I don''t know if I''ll actually get anything for the other creatures I killed; but, I know how much a garglemacer is worth to the queen, and since you were in my party when I killed one...¡± I held out the fistful of money.


    Fred shook his head to say no and his wife let his arm go and held her hands out for it. That made a few people with us chuckle and I gave her the money.


    ¡°You need a better weapon and to get that armor fitted properly.¡± I said to Fred. ¡°This town''s going to need your help for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Aye, it is.¡± Fred said, both sad and glad.


    ¡°Don''t forget to charge them for it.¡± I said with grin and looked at his wife.


    ¡°I''ll make sure he gets paid!¡± She said, her eyes and hands full of gold and silver coins, and most of us laughed.


    ¡°If I''m ever back this way, I''ll be sure to visit.¡± I said and held a hand out to him. While he was distracted, I floated a tooth and a scale into his pocket.


    Fred clasped my hand and held it. ¡°If you need a hand with anything, send word. I''ll be there.¡±


    I nodded and let his hand go and turned to the others. ¡°Hey, Josh. Give Jessica a break and let Evus give you a ride.¡±


    ¡°GREAT IDEA!¡± Josh yelled and was off her horse and on Evus'' horse in only a few seconds. That made everyone laugh, especially Jessica, and we bid Fred and his wife farewell and rode away. When Fred was just at the edge of my detection range, I used Presence to whisper into his ear and told him to check his pocket. I caught a short blast of surprise and then we were out of range and had left the town. I suggested taking a boat ride instead of riding all the way to the capital.


    ¡°Is there a boat big enough for all of us and the horses?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°It doesn''t hurt to check, especially if it will cut our travel time in half.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Although, the last time we tried to take a boat...¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I wonder if we can book passage on the captain''s boat again?¡±


    ¡°I bet he''ll love it with all of these passengers.¡± Maylia said as she waved at us all.


    ¡°More like shocked, I''d say.¡± I said. ¡°So, are we going?¡±


    ¡°I''m just along for the ride.¡± Steven said. ¡°Even if I had my own horse, I can''t ride very well.¡±


    ¡°We go where you go.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°I honestly don''t care how we get there.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°You lead, we follow.¡±


    ¡°You know I''m not big on the whole blind devotion thing, right?¡± I asked and she laughed.


    ¡°It was a simple answer to a simple question.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°I don''t think I''ve ever been around a group that was so... fluid?¡± She said like it was a question. ¡°You aren''t rigid in your leadership. You listen, you ask what we want, you even take how we feel about things into consideration.¡±


    ¡°Well, I...¡±


    ¡°Only once did you actually order us like a military leader.¡± Imiryl said and cut me off. ¡°Because of that, we defeated over three dozen young garglemacers and closed the largest crack to ever exist.¡± She said smugly. ¡°You obviously know what you''re doing and staying with you can only benefit us more than going it alone.¡± She smiled demurely. ¡°Is my more detailed answer good enough for you?¡±


    I couldn''t help but laugh. ¡°I get it. I lead, you follow. Not because you have to, because you want to.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°He finally understands.¡± Imiryl said. ¡°So, what are you waiting for? Lead on.¡±


    ¡°I''m starting to feel like a Forest spirit being in the lead all the time.¡± I mumbled under my breath to make Afyne giggle. We turned the horse down the road and everyone followed me for several hours. Almost as it they were expecting us, nearly everyone at the docks stopped what they were doing to watch the large group of horses trot down the road to them. Before anyone else could proposition us, the same woman that had booked our first trip, the captain''s wife, ran out to greet us.


    ¡°Of course we have the room!¡± She nearly yelled and I laughed. We all dismounted and she led us to the large boat to show that there was plenty of room in the hold for animals, since they ship them occasionally, to and from the capital. It was actually a good setup and then I asked about the available cabins. She informed me that they were practically empty and could even have single rooms for everyone if they needed them.


    We sorted everyone out and I paid for the appropriate number of rooms, with actual money and not trade, which the captain''s wife was very happy about. Dawn and Grania opted to share, so they wouldn''t be alone, as did Jessica and Kara, and Steven took a single room as usual. Maylia, Afyne and I got the large cabin, since there was three of us, and the rest went to their rooms as well. We all settled in for a two week leisurely journey up the large river to the capital. The next day, while I was recounting my adventures in the elf lands and had both Maylia and Afyne hanging on either side of me, I came to the part within the heart of the forest and remembered something important.


    ¡°Goddammit! I forgot to retrieve the second fire bird!¡± I exclaimed, and both Maylia and Afyne laughed.


    ¡°You almost died when you fell, so I think forgetting to look through unfamiliar woods without help can be forgiven this time.¡± Maylia said and kissed me.


    ¡°I guess so.¡± I said. ¡°I worked hard to not burn it up as much as the first one, though.¡±


    Afyne laughed and kissed my cheek. ¡°I don''t think you could get it into your bag of holding, anyway.¡±


    I reached down and pat my main bag, then the creature bag. ¡°Yeah, it''s pretty full.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you''ll get bounties for them?¡± Afyne asked. ¡°If they can only be found in the elf lands, then they are pretty rare, right?¡± She put a hand on mine. ¡°Rare ones are more expensive.¡±


    ¡°Someone''s counting gold before it appears.¡± I joked and hugged her. ¡°I''ll ask the captain of the guard if he''ll let me bring you in to help count and sort them.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Afyne kissed my cheek a couple of times, then she moved slightly and kissed my lips. Her face flushed red and she gave me the best puppy-dog eyes I had ever seen.


    She perfected her best move while I was away. I thought, impressed at how easily she affected my heart with the look.


    ¡°I''m really glad you''re back.¡± Afyne said, blinked her eyes once, twice, then her eyes went completely serious. ¡°You are never leaving me again.¡±


    ¡°I promise that when given the choice, from now on and until you''re ready for me to leave your side, I''ll choose to stay.¡± I said and held up my finger.


    Afyne held up her own finger and I felt her mana and Presence try to come forward at her command.


    ¡°I''ve got a bit of work to do with you to fix my mistake about the energies being separate.¡± I said and touched her fingertip with mine and used a bit of Presence to coax hers to respond. She took in a sharp breath as the competing energies inside her rushed to meet mine. ¡°I''ve got nothing else to do for the next two weeks, except spend it with the both of you. I''ll fix you like my Master fixed me.¡±


    ¡°I can''t wait.¡± Afyne said in a whisper.


    I could tell that she wanted to do anything that would let her get closer to me, and that touched my heart. ¡°It might be hard at first; but, we''ll get through it together.¡±


    Afyne nodded and hugged me.


    ¡°I''m feeling a little left out and I''m right here.¡± Maylia said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± I said with a smile and ran my fingers through her hair. ¡°Now that I know some of the things I know, Afyne won''t be the only one to benefit from it.¡±


    ¡°I can''t wait.¡± Maylia said, repeating Afyne''s words, then she leaned in and kissed me.


    Two weeks passed by as if it didn''t exist. If it hadn''t been for the occasional meals with the captain and meetings with everyone else, I wouldn''t have left the cabin. With lessons, exchanging stories in greater details, and spending time with Maylia and Afyne to make up for being away for almost two months, nothing else seemed to matter. Diofra and Evus took Afyne for the night once a week to give Maylia and I some private time, too. Of course, we took full advantage of this and made up for the time we had been apart.


    The boat pulled into the dock at the capital and there were two different contingents waiting for us. One group from the Church of Light and one group from Queen Celestina. The church one was made up of various acolytes and the head acolyte waiting for her daughter that she hadn''t seen in over a year. The one from the queen had the captain of the guard, three mages, two healers, Sam the monster expert, and surprisingly, two guards and the young majesty herself, Milly the queen''s daughter.


    We all made our way up to the deck to disembark and the rest of us saw who was waiting for us. I had told Afyne and Maylia had seen it for herself; but, the others were completely surprised by the large greeting that awaited them.


    ¡°Mother!¡± Evangeline exclaimed when she saw her mother. They exchanged waves and Josh led his wife down the walkway and he, his wife, and their baby were taken into a bone crushing hug by the short woman. Jessica, Kara, and Steven followed them and were greeted with reverence and nods.


    On the other hand, as soon as my party were seen, there were cheers and yells to tell us to hurry up. I laughed and led everyone else down the walkway and over to them, and we were all embraced by hugs, handshakes, pats on the backs, warm words and a few teary eyes. Especially Sam, since she knew I had gotten the fire bird just for her.


    Dawn and Grania were included in the warm welcome, to their surprise, and they were quickly checked over by the healers and the mages to make sure that they didn''t have any lingering curses or nasty spells on them. I thanked them for that, because I hadn''t thought to have them checked, and then the healers and mages checked me and everyone else over. That made me and them laugh, because it was apparently standard procedure and I had just thanked them warmly for doing their jobs. I still would have thanked them, though. I just would have skipped the half hugs when I did it.


    ¡°Make sure you come right to the garrison first thing in the morning.¡± The captain said. ¡°We''ll square off the lists the queen and I gave you.¡±


    ¡°I hope your coffers are full.¡± I said and clapped his shoulder. ¡°We took care of all of yours while we cleared the vampires.¡±


    ¡°You''re kidding!¡± The captain said, then he barked a laugh. ¡°No, you''re not kidding.¡± He said. ¡°All right, I''ll be ready.¡±


    ¡°We''ll need to use the large courtyard for the creatures I have, too.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and Afyne says she''s going to make sure you count everything, fair and square.¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Afyne''s face went beet red from embarrassment and she gripped my hand tightly.


    The captain laughed a deep rumbling laugh. ¡°I''ll be glad for the help! The last time you came by, I was busy all damn day!¡±


    After a few more minutes of small talk and arranging for the horses to be delivered to a nearby stable, Milly, the queen''s daughter, formally requested that my party and the Emissaries of Light head to the castle to meet the queen. There were way too many of us to take any kind of transport, so we all walked through the city towards the castle. Everyone noticed our procession as we passed. A lot of people greeted us as normal people, others greeted us as royalty because of Milly, while others got out of the way. Some even ignored us completely as if we weren''t worth the trouble.


    Queen Celestina was waiting for us in the grand throne room, with rows of lords and ladies on either side, and also a lot of influential people, including shop owners, tradesmen of all kinds, and even a few normal people. The aisle was twice as wide as normal to accommodate us all and when we neared the end where the throne was, the people that had greeted me and mine, split off and took up their normal positions.


    The captain of the guard went to the side and stood with the armored guards, the mages went around the queen and stood with the others behind the throne, and the healers pretty much folded into the crowd and disappeared. A hush fell over the room as I stopped everyone at the respectable distance from the throne and the queen stood.


    ¡°This is a great day for First Sothen Kingdom.¡± Queen Celestina said. ¡°After years of attempts to summon heroes to purge this land of the scourge that has plagued us, that has killed our people and destroyed our property, we were finally successful!¡±


    A cheer arose from the crowd and she let it go for several moments and raised her hands to quiet them.


    ¡°As queen of this land, it is my great pleasure to declare our land free of the scourge. Heroes, your tasks for this kingdom have been completed.¡± Queen Celestina said and I felt the emissaries and the acolytes of Light relax, both visibly and mentally. ¡°I humbly thank you for your hard work, and I hope that this compensation will be enough to reward you for all that you''ve done for me and the people.¡±


    Court attendants appeared like magic and handed out sacks of gold to the four Emissaries of Light and one to Evangeline, then gave one to me and everyone in my party, except for Dawn and Grania. Even Afyne received one and she was completely astonished.


    ¡°It is only a token of what we owe you, and I hope that when you leave here tomorrow during the unsummoning ritual, you will remember your time here was a good one.¡±


    Quite a few surprised shrieks cut through the silence. Most of them were from the acolytes of Light, and a couple were from my own people. Afyne had reacted to the words and I had taken her hand to calm her. One of the court attendants stepped forward and spoke.


    ¡°Rooms have been prepared for you to stay the night and the ritual will happen at noon.¡± The man said. ¡°If you will follow me?¡±


    None of us had a choice in the matter and we were led from the throne room as the guards fell around us, with the captain at the head of the group. We were taken to the guest rooms and divided up into the appropriate rooms and guards were left at the doors to make sure that we couldn''t leave.


    ¡°At least they didn''t separate the summoned from everyone else.¡± I said and hugged Maylia and Afyne. Without another word, we changed for bed and climbed in together to wait for morning.

 Book Two: The Summoned 097 (Sponsored)

    Morning came and no one in the guest rooms had slept at all. The tension over what was going to happen at noon pervaded everyone''s moods and thoughts. I didn''t let it bother me very much and made sure that both Maylia and Afyne knew how I felt about them. We left our room, under guard, and had breakfast with everyone in the common room at the end of the hall. We were all quiet as church mice and everyone was acting like it was a funeral.


    After breakfast, we all went to the garrison to drop off all of the creatures we had collected throughout the First Sothen Kingdom and Afyne helped the captain of the guard count them all and kept the piles separate. Just as they finished and the captain had recorded all of the carcasses, Afyne mentioned the creatures I had found in the lands of the elves. Curious, the captain asked to see examples.


    I blew his mind.


    The captain couldn''t believe that such a thing as four foot tall armored monkeys actually existed somewhere, so I mentioned the larger alpha ones that were the leaders and showed him one of them as well. He examined them and admired the thick armor-like plates on the creature''s back.


    ¡°All right. I''ll give you a good price for one of the alphas and one of the females.¡± The captain said.


    ¡°Me, too!¡± Sam the monster expert said as she came into the large courtyard, then she gasped at the piles and piles of rare and exotic creatures. ¡°Hunter! Please marry me!¡±


    I burst out laughing. ¡°Not a chance! You just love me for my kills!¡± I said and tried to block her from getting closer.


    ¡°Hey, get...¡± Sam hopped to the side and I had my hand there. ¡°...let me...¡± She ducked and turned and tried to dodge past and I held a foot out to stop her. ¡°UGH! Move!¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said and stepped aside and she ran over to start examining everything. ¡°Make sure you give your expert opinion on their quality and rarity.¡±


    The captain of the guard laughed and took the female and male rickchaws and put them in his bag of holding. ¡°I''ll get one of the armorers to have a look at them and see if there''s anything we can do with them.¡± He smiled. ¡°If he can, well...¡±


    ¡°I''ll be here until noon.¡± I said and the captain nodded. Afyne let out a little whimper and I took her into my arms. I held her and we watched Sam as she went over everything and took samples. When she was done, she came over to me.


    ¡°All joking aside, you''ve done me a great service.¡± Sam said and pat her bag of holding. ¡°I''ll be studying these things for years.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad you''re keeping busy.¡± I said, then I smiled. ¡°So, how long can you go before begging me for it?¡±


    Sam took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°Maybe about five more minutes.¡±


    I reached into my creature bag of holding and slowly took out the bird-like creature that breathed fireballs. ¡°Want to see a trick I did with it?¡±


    ¡°Do you make it talk or something?¡± Sam asked and I was tempted to do that.


    ¡°No. This.¡± I said and turned to Imiryl. ¡°I''m going to start a little fire.¡±


    ¡°I''ll contain it.¡± Imiryl said and formed an ice circle on the nearby wall.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and aimed the bird''s beak to the circle and squeezed its neck. A fireball shot out and hit the circle and burst fire out. Imiryl quickly covered it in ice and froze it over to cut off the oxygen.


    ¡°That''s AMAZING!¡± Sam yelled. ¡°A non-spell fireball!¡±


    ¡°I doubt there''s more than a couple of shots left in it, though.¡± I said and held the five foot long bird-like creature out to her.


    Sam took it like it was a delicate flower and was afraid she was going to break it. ¡°What''s the wingspan?¡± She asked and I pulled one of the wings out. ¡°Over ten feet! It must be highly manoeuvrable!¡±


    ¡°It was.¡± I said and tucked the wing back into place.


    Sam very carefully put the carcass into her bag of holding. ¡°I''ll add the cost for another female and male rickchaw to the bounty the captain is preparing for you.¡±


    I nodded and gave her two monkey bodies and she put them into her bag with the same care. The captain didn''t want any of the other creatures I showed him, so I put them away. I had figured there wouldn''t be bounties for creatures outside of the kingdom and I was right. Afyne was disappointed, because she wanted them to be exotic and worth a lot of money. Not for the money itself, though. She wanted them to be valuable as justification for how long I had been away from her. I didn''t really have anything to show for it, except for Dawn and Grania the mage.


    Despite Dawn''s very obvious and unhidden feelings for me, Maylia didn''t hold it against her or treat her with hostility. She knew I had saved Dawn from a horrible fate and that she had shared my bed for a couple of weeks. She also knew nothing had happened between us and that I had worn a protective cup over my crotch the entire time. Jessica and Kara on the other hand, were almost like hissing cats when she was near, so Dawn stayed clear of them and didn''t try to talk to them.


    While we waited for the captain, I had tried to explain the situation to Jessica and Kara. When I got to the sharing my bed part, they didn''t want to hear anything else. There was only so many times that claiming innocent would work and then the words lost their meaning, so I gave up and let them think whatever they wanted to think.


    About an hour before noon, the captain came back and gave us all the proper shares of the bounties. With all of the creatures we had killed from the cracks, it was quite an amount. When he added in the vampires and how many of those we killed all over the kingdom... well... needless to say, after a year of hard work and travelling, we were quite rich.


    We left the garrison and went back to the castle. Everyone was in a better mood after receiving so much money, until they were reminded about what was going to happen. That reminder came in the form of the Acolytes of Light filing into the castle. There were a lot more of them than the twelve that they had started with a year ago, and we still had Evangeline with us. We stood there and waited while they all went inside, followed by a similar crowd to what had been there that morning.


    I guess it doesn''t happen that often and it''s become a spectator''s sport. I thought.


    When they passed, our guards motioned for us to follow. We all went inside and were taken to the common room for a lunch buffet. It was another quiet meal and we barely ate anything when the hour was up and the guards led us to the throne room. The queen stood in front of her throne, with her daughter Milly at her side, and they waited for us. This time, the five of us were separated from the others of our groups and left in the center of the room. We were surrounded by twelve white and golden robed acolytes and the queen spoke.


    ¡°Summoned Heroes, once again I thank you for the services you have rendered on behalf of the kingdom.¡± Queen Celestina said. ¡°Your deeds will be entered into the annals of history and...¡±


    ¡°Your highness, I wish to stay!¡± Josh exclaimed and interrupted her. ¡°You don''t know what happened to me before coming here!¡±


    ¡°Emissary.¡± Queen Celestina said, her voice sad. ¡°Unfortunately, your mere presence is a disruption to this world. The things you and the others have accomplished prove this. With your purpose for being summoned at an end, forces beyond anyone''s control will start to vie for your attention and for your services.¡±


    Everyone in the room turned their heads to look right at me.


    ¡°Your highness, please!¡± Josh exclaimed again. ¡°I died to come here! If you send me back now, everything I''ve done to improve myself will be worthless, because I''ll be dead!¡±


    Josh''s words were met with silence. No one knew how to respond to that. Except me.


    ¡°You''re wrong.¡± I said. ¡°You''ve become one of the most powerful Sorcerer Priests on the planet. Your body has been hardened by both battle and self-discipline. If you show up there in this form, even at the time you were taken, are you positive that you''re going to die? Don''t you know any fortifying spells? Wasn''t that your job for the rest of your party?¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Josh stared at me as if I was betraying him. ¡°I don''t want to leave. My life is here.¡± He said and looked right at Evangeline and the little bundle of joy in her hands.


    ¡°The queen is right. If you stay, you''ll be targeted by people who will want to influence...¡±


    ¡°I don''t care.¡± Josh said. ¡°I''ll have my own skills and the Acolytes of Light around me! We will stand strong! We will be proud and we will show everyone the true way!¡±


    Spoken like a true fanatic. I thought with amusement and smiled.


    ¡°I cannot make an exception for you.¡± Queen Celestina said. ¡°If I allowed you to stay, then the others would stay as well.¡±


    ¡°We would!¡± Jessica exclaimed. ¡°We may not be from here; but, we''ve made the best of it!¡± She said. ¡°I''d rather stay here with Hunter!¡±


    ¡°I''d rather go home.¡± Steven said. ¡°Even if it is a one way trip, I''ve been here long enough.¡±


    ¡°I concur.¡± Kara said. ¡°This isn''t my life and I''d like to get back to where I belong.¡±


    Josh and Jessica glared at me to say something and Kara and Steven waited for me to confirm their opinion.


    I closed my eyes for a second. Dear god, can I bother you for a second? I need advice. I promised Afyne that I''d choose to stay if given the choice... I felt a sharp pain in my head as a memory that I didn''t know I had was forced to the forefront of my mind.


    I felt Kara''s fingers on my skin after she had killed me and I woke up and reacted by using Presence to push her away. It had worked and pushed me right out of the teleport spell.


    The memory faded and I opened my eyes without letting it show on my face.


    ¡°I think we need to do what the queen suggests and fulfill the ritual.¡± I said and nodded to the queen and then the acolytes. ¡°Please begin the ritual.¡± I turned to look at the four people with me and did my best to ignore the crying from Afyne and the glowing circle below me and the acolytes chanting. I hadn''t been able to establish a full verbal mental connection with Afyne in the last two weeks and I could only share energy, so I gave her a little to calm her, then I covered myself in a very thin layer of Presence and filled it with as much repelling energy as I could.


    ¡°I can''t believe you.¡± Jessica said through gritted teeth. ¡°You''re just going to leave them? I thought you loved them!¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± I said and tried to take her hand. She pulled away and crossed her arms. ¡°Please, don''t be mad. I have a plan.¡±


    ¡°I don''t care.¡± Jessica said. ¡°You should have backed Josh and me up.¡±


    I reached out and put a hand on Josh''s shoulder. ¡°Look, we started off badly, and then things got better, right? You trusted me after a while, just like I trusted you when we met those vampires.¡±


    Josh nodded, a bit reluctantly. I didn''t let him feel my Presence, because he would have given me away.


    ¡°Jessica.¡± I said in a soft voice. ¡°If this is going to be the last time we see each other, please take my hand.¡±


    Jessica''s expression softened at my impassioned plea and she started to uncross her arms... and I was out of time. Everything seemed to slow down as Jessica started to reach for me, then the chanting stopped and the circle below us snapped into place. My fingers just missed Jessica''s and I had to use nearly all of my Presence to push myself and Josh out of the teleport spell. There was a bright flash of light as the spell completed and Kara, Steven and Jessica disappeared.


    I had made us weightless, so Josh and I flew across the room and slammed into the far wall at the same instant that the flash temporarily blinded everyone. We landed behind the queen after bouncing off the wall and the sounds of Josh and I yelling in pain cut through the room. Several of our bones had broken from the impact against the thick stone wall and I absorbed the Presence around us so we would fall to the floor in a heap. I took the brunt of the damage of course.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± ¡°JOSH!¡± Several female voices yelled. I was actually in pain and I couldn''t tell who it had been. We were surrounded by people trying to help and then a commanding voice cut through everyone''s questions and concerns.


    ¡°STEP ASIDE!¡± Queen Celestina commanded and everyone parted to let her through. She strode over to us and knelt. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°The... same thing... that happened... before.¡± I said. ¡°Only... this time... before...¡± I coughed and spit out blood.


    ¡°HEALERS!¡± Queen Celestina yelled as she stood and the healers came over to us.


    ¡°Josh... first.¡± I said and winced as they moved me out of the way. ¡°Damn, I shattered... the same arm.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Hunter.¡± Maylia knelt by my side and kissed me. ¡°You protected Josh.¡±


    ¡°I had to.¡± I said and Afyne went to take my hand and she saw the fingers were crooked. She started to cry and I wiggled my index finger. ¡°This one still works.¡±


    Afyne let out a sob and a laugh, coughed, then put her hand on my chest. The healers finished with Josh''s major injuries and left the minor things to their assistants, then turned to me. Maylia and Afyne moved back to give them room to work and they started by straightening things out. It wasn''t strictly necessary to do that; but, it made the healing go quicker and used less mana if the magic didn''t have to do it.


    ¡°Your majesty, what do we do now?¡± The head acolyte said. ¡°We completed the ritual.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I saw that.¡± Queen Celestina said.


    ¡°Give me... a copy.¡± I said. ¡°If I can... figure out why my energy interferes... maybe...¡±


    ¡°Why did Josh get kicked out, too?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°I was... touching his shoulder... when it completed.¡± I said. ¡°I can still see... some energy on him.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to drown in blood, young man?¡± One of the healers asked and she put her hands on my chest. ¡°Stop talking. Your left lung is full.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I said and started coughing. After a bit more blood came up, I felt her healing energy suck out the blood from my lung and popped my rib back into place. ¡°That always feels weird.¡± I said in a clear voice.


    ¡°How often have you punctured a lung?¡± The healer asked, curious.


    ¡°More than I want to remember right now.¡± I said with a smile and she laughed, then she frowned.


    ¡°It''s not funny.¡± She said and concentrated on her work. ¡°You''re lucky you didn''t hit your head!¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It might have knocked some sense into me.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Maylia said and I looked at her. ¡°Shut up.¡±


    I clamped my mouth shut and nodded.


    Josh was sitting up and still being tended to, and he had Evangeline tucked into his side with his arm around her waist. He stared at me and mouthed the words. ''You knew this would happen''.


    ''Maybe''. I mouthed back.


    Josh glanced at his wife and his baby, then looked back at me and moved his mouth. ''Thank you''.


    I nodded and looked at Maylia. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°I said be quiet.¡± Maylia said and looked at the healer. ¡°Can we move him to the guest room?¡±


    ¡°I''ve got his ribs back into place, so it''s just his arm left.¡± The healer said and waved two more healers over. ¡°We''ll have it set right in ten minutes, then they both need supervised rest for the rest of the day.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry. He won''t be leaving my sight.¡± Maylia said in a stern voice.


    ¡°Or mine!¡± Afyne said. She was much happier about it.


    The healers finished with my arm and we were all led back to the guest rooms, with a meeting with the queen set for the next morning to discuss what to do next.


    *


    Jessica felt someone take her hand. ¡°Hunter?¡± She asked and opened her eyes.


    ¡°Miss? Miss! Are you all right?¡± A man''s voice asked and she turned her head to see a man she didn''t know had her hand. She pulled it from his grasp and she felt that she was laying on hard pavement. She was also surrounded by strangers. She sat up, to their surprise, and the sounds of an ambulance siren could be heard in the distance.


    ¡°Miss, don''t move.¡± The man said and touched her shoulder to push her back down.


    Jessica smacked his hand and it flung his arm away. When she looked around, she saw that she was in the middle of the street in her hometown. Tears came to her eyes before she could stop them and several of the people around her felt sorry for her. They knew all about her and her story.


    ¡°It''s all right. The ambulance will be here in a minute.¡± A woman said.


    ¡°I''m fine.¡± Jessica said and reached up to gather her tears automatically and she stored them to use later. A second later, she realized what she had done and she looked down at herself. She still wore her Archmage outfit! She caught her breath for a second and calmed down. She stood up and brushed the dirt from her white and gold robes, then her fingers touched the bag of holding on her hip. Without a word, she started to walk away.


    ¡°Hey, you can''t leave!¡± Someone exclaimed.


    Jessica turned and glared at the woman. ¡°Why? Are you going to stop me?¡±


    ¡°N-no... you... an accident...¡±


    ¡°I''m fine.¡± Jessica said, then her thoughts went to what Hunter had said when the ritual was happening. He was right about me being strong here. She thought. I should have trusted him and taken his hand when he asked. She took in a breath and sighed. ¡°I''m going to be fine.¡± She said and turned away and walked down the street. She ducked around the side of a building and quickly changed out of her archmage outfit and put on a normal outfit, then continued on her walk back home. She pat her bag of holding that was full of gold, two magic staffs, two dozen spell books, triple that in spell scrolls, reams of paper and writing implements, and six fully charged mana crystals.


    ¡°I''m going to be just fine.¡± Jessica said with a grin.


    *


    ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± A man''s voice woke Steven up.


    ¡°Huh? What?¡± Steven opened his eyes and saw a police officer staring into his eyes with a pen light.


    ¡°Your pupils aren''t blown, so you''re not high, at least.¡± The cop said. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Steven looked around. ¡°HEY! I''m back!¡±


    ¡°Back? Back from what?¡± The cop asked, confused.


    ¡°Dreamland.¡± Steven said and stood.


    ¡°Whoa, there! Don''t move. You''ve been shot.¡± The cop said.


    ¡°What?¡± Steven looked down at his shirt. ¡°I was shot?!?¡± He asked, surprised. He couldn''t feel it, so he felt around with his hands. ¡°Where?¡±


    When nothing was there, he lifted his shirt to show the officer that he had not been shot at all. He couldn''t explain what happened, so they went into the back and they watched the security footage and he called his boss at home while it played to tell him what happened. Sure enough, they watched the footage and there was a loud bang and a flash, and Steven sat down and slumped against the wall.


    ¡°I don''t know what happened.¡± Steven said after he hung up the phone when the boss said that Steven could handle it on his own. ¡°Maybe I fainted?¡±


    The cop laughed. ¡°Let''s go look for the bullet.¡±


    It took them a few minutes to find it under the counter. It was crumpled a little from hitting something, and the cop put it in an evidence bag.


    ¡°We''ll have to close you down for the night because of this.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine.¡± Steven said. ¡°They emptied the till and I don''t have any spare cash to stay open, anyway.¡±


    ¡°What about the safe out back?¡± The cop asked.


    ¡°The boss empties it every day. He hates having a lot of cash around, so we only keep the bare minimum all the time.¡± Steven said, surprising himself that he remembered all of that from fourteen months ago. No, it was only a few minutes ago. He thought and then smiled. ¡°Everyone knows that and we''ve never been robbed... before now.¡±


    ¡°We''ll send out an APB for them and we should get them fairly quickly. Criminals rarely rob in threes, so they aren''t going to be hard to spot.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Steven said and followed the cop out of the store, locked up, and walked home. It was pitch black out, and yet he could see just fine. He smiled as his self-buff kicked in automatically and he felt strength and invigoration fill him. ¡°Yeah, baby!¡± He said and took off running.

 Book Two: The Summoned 098

    Maylia and Afyne couldn''t hold me like they wanted to, upon the advice of the healers, so I had to wait until the healers left before I changed into my nightgown. Maylia and Afyne changed as well and I climbed into bed. They laid down beside me and stared at me with a forlorn look in their eyes.


    ¡°Get over here.¡± I said and held my arms open.


    ¡°But... the healers...¡± Maylia started to say while Afyne slid in and hugged me.


    ¡°I didn''t tell them about my Regeneration or my Self-healing.¡± I whispered. ¡°They think I''m going to be sore until tomorrow and I''m fine right now.¡± I smiled at her, and she slid in behind Afyne and kissed me.


    ¡°Hunter, what happened?¡± Maylia asked. ¡°I''ve never seen something like that happen before.¡±


    ¡°I told the queen the truth. My energy interfered with the teleportation spell.¡± I said. ¡°The first time was completely by accident and it sent me part way across the planet and I landed in the elf lands. This time... well...¡±


    ¡°You did it.¡± Afyne said, her voice full of wonder, then her emotions tried to bubble out of her. ¡°You did it on purpose!¡±


    ¡°Shh!¡± I said and gave her forehead a quick kiss. ¡°I told you that if given a choice, I''d chose to stay.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Hunter!¡± Afyne gripped me tightly and kissed me as her eyes overflowed with tears of joy. ¡°Thank you... so much!¡± She sobbed and ducked her head to my chest and cried.


    Maylia put her arm around Afyne and held her while we let her cry as much as she needed to. ¡°I want to thank you, too.¡± She said. ¡°I didn''t know what I was going to do with you gone.¡±


    ¡°You were going to be a good guardian, of course.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°It''s just too bad that Jessica didn''t take my hand.¡±


    ¡°Josh!¡± Afyne exclaimed loudly, then covered her mouth and whispered. ¡°You kept Josh here, too.¡±


    ¡°He just had a baby. I might not like him very much, with him being a snot-nosed kid with almost no social skills; but, he''s gotten a lot better over the last year or so... and he''s built up his personal character. I couldn''t let him be taken from his newly-formed family, not if I just realized some way to maybe let us stay.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''m just glad we weren''t scattered across the planet this time.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t know what would happen and did it anyway?¡± Maylia asked, then she laughed. ¡°Will a teleport spell work on you at all? You haven''t had any luck with them!¡±


    I laughed too, then leaned over and gave her a kiss. ¡°I''ll be discussing this with the queen tomorrow morning and I''ll let her know what really happened today.¡± I said. ¡°Let''s get some sleep until then.¡±


    Maylia nodded and we both gave Afyne kisses on her cheeks. She didn''t blush from the double attention, which meant she appreciated it for what it was and not what she originally thought it was. We weren''t trying to embarrass her, we were showing her that we loved her in the simplest way possible.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± The three of us said at the same time, laughed because of it, then drifted off to sleep in each other''s arms.


    *


    ¡°So, he disrupted it on purpose.¡± Queen Celestina said in contemplation. ¡°I wonder how?¡±


    ¡°We don''t know.¡± The mage said and dismissed the viewing bubble. ¡°We''ve gone over the casting and nothing showed up at all. One second, the spell completed, then the next, he and Josh were across the room and had gravely injured themselves, while the other three occupants were sent back to where they came from.¡±


    ¡°You confirmed this?¡± Queen Celestina asked, and the mage nodded.


    ¡°The only odd parts were Hunter and Josh. It was like they were... expelled from the spell.¡±


    The queen shook her head. ¡°What a price to pay to try and not be sent back where they are supposed to go.¡±


    ¡°The healers that checked Hunter said that he was actually happy.¡± The mage said. ¡°He was suffering a lot of pain and admitted that he took the brunt of it to protect Josh.¡±


    The queen sat there for several minutes to consider her options. She had been concerned when the Acolytes of Light had approached her for a private meeting a week ago and informed her that the summoning contract had to be completed as soon as possible. She thought that was a bit excessive, considering that the heroes had been adventuring almost non-stop for a year and a couple of months and deserved a break.


    The acolytes then offered proof that one of their members had actually had their goddess embody her for several minutes and literally told them that the heroes needed to be sent home to remove their influence from this world. Queen Celestina couldn''t refute it or deny that the evidence existed.


    Now she didn''t know what to do.


    ¡°Perhaps things will be better in the morning.¡± The mage offered. ¡°I''m interested in finding out what he did to disrupt the spell. After we know that, we''ll have a better idea of where to go from there.¡±


    Queen Celestina nodded. ¡°Make sure that I have some alone time with Hunter and his two companions before the others are brought into the meeting. If he doesn''t offer an explanation that satisfies me, we will need to ask him... directly.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± The mage said and stood, bowed to her, and left the room.


    *


    The next morning, I awoke to breakfast being delivered to our room. I thought that was nice, until the server told us that we were to go directly to the meeting after eating. I knew then that it was for expedience and to stop us from meeting the others beforehand. Maylia, Afyne and I ate and changed into our fancy clothes and I left off my blast shield. We were met by a court attendant and brought to the meeting before everyone else. The queen and her daughter were there and waiting for us.


    ¡°Milly!¡± ¡°Afyne!¡± Both girls said loudly at the same time and ran to each other and hugged. They both had to act restrained when they had met at the boat, because they were out in public. In private, they could both act like they wanted.


    ¡°Why don''t you show Afyne the things that have changed in the castle since the last time you saw each other?¡± Queen Celestina asked.


    ¡°You''re not going to believe it!¡± Milly said and took Afyne''s hand. ¡°Mother commissioned a monument for the people that died during the vampire purge!¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± Afyne exclaimed. ¡°It must be huge!¡±


    ¡°It''s bigger than my room!¡± Milly said and the two girls left the room and talked animatedly. ¡°They''re still compiling the names to put on it, too.¡± She said. ¡°They can''t decide if they want titles and classes added, because that would...¡±


    Their words were cut off as the door shut. A second later, I felt something cover the room and a mage came into the room.


    ¡°All right, Hunter.¡± Queen Celestina said. ¡°Tell me everything.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°In the beginning, there was only the void. Pitch blackness seemed to be all there was, except that it wasn''t. There was something there...¡±


    ¡°Not everything everything!¡± Queen Celestina said, her eyes both hard with accusation and full of amusement. ¡°About the summoning ritual and your ability to interfere with teleportation.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that.¡± I said with a smile, then explained how I had done it accidentally the first time without realizing it, and how that had changed my entire journey on this planet. I then explained how I had remembered doing it and tried to do it on purpose this time, except I had pushed myself out.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Your energy really can disrupt the spell?¡± The mage asked.


    ¡°With unpredictable results. I knew I would be shunted away, because it happened before. Since I did it consciously and with purpose this time, I was sure that I could do it before I was sent anywhere else.¡± I said. ¡°I still could have been sent somewhere on the planet; but, I concentrated on Maylia and Afyne and my connection to them, with the hopes that they would anchor me and keep me close by.¡±


    Queen Celestina thought about what I said and then she told me what the acolytes had told her about ''needing'' to send us away. It was both a surprise and to be expected. Once our collected usefulness was no longer needed, we had to be removed. Of course, now that I knew that we were no longer needed, I was wondering why. The cracks were all over the world, and yet, we had only cleared two kingdoms of them... then I realized what had happened.


    They knew.


    The divine beings must have found the source of the cracks! I thought.


    I was immediately tempted to call upon god to see what was going on, then fought that urge. Doing it in front of the queen wasn''t the best option at the moment, so I resolved to meditate later and would try to get some answers, which assumed that he would be willing to share them. I''ve felt that he''s been keeping tabs on me, ever since my Presence was completed, and I haven''t had any need or feeling from him that he wanted to talk. The queen, the mage, and Maylia stared at me for several minutes while I gathered my thoughts, then I spoke.


    ¡°The gods and goddesses know where the cracks are coming from.¡± I stated out loud. ¡°More than likely, they know why as well.¡±


    Queen Celestina opened her mouth to say something, then she closed it. She tried again, then stopped.


    ¡°Yeah, I''m not sure what to say about the acolytes wanting us out of the way, either.¡± I said. ¡°Except that they do their goddess'' bidding without question and she probably wanted us out of the way for a reason. Using them as proxies to have you send us back will put the blame squarely on your shoulders if anything happens and heroes are needed.¡±


    Queen Celestina grit her teeth and let out a little growl, which completely destroyed her veneer of composure. ¡°I''ll have them all strung up by their ankles in the city square if that happens!¡±


    ¡°Maybe not Evangeline and the baby.¡± I said in a placating tone. ¡°I didn''t just violate the laws of magic and kept Josh here, only to have his wife and newborn child be prosecuted for her mother''s and goddess'' potential crimes.¡±


    The queen''s face went angry for a second, then it went back to her professional blank face. ¡°Yes, only those that were involved at the time will be treated that way.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, your majesty.¡± I said.


    The mage looked at me accusingly. ¡°Why aren''t you advocating for leniency for all of them?¡± She asked. ¡°They are just being used! Can you really stand by and...¡±


    ¡°Yes. If something happens, and I suspect it''s going to soon, they are guilty.¡± I said. ¡°Unless you can cast the mind block spell on all of them and then interrogate them individually to see who would still do their goddess'' bidding.¡±


    ¡°That... well...¡± The mage went quiet as she thought about it. ¡°Some of them do seem to be a little more like fanatics than others.¡± She said. ¡°You raise an interesting conundrum.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I chuckled. ¡°The problem is that most of them would do it anyway, without considering the consequences.¡±


    ¡°It''s true.¡± Maylia said. ¡°I''ve had experience with fanaticism. Once you''re caught up in it, it''s just... normal... and easier... to act that way.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± Queen Celestina said. ¡°Hunter, what do you plan to do?¡±


    ¡°The first order of business is to take Dawn home to the Second Choutia Kingdom.¡± I said. ¡°After that, I''ll be trying to close more of the cracks.¡±


    ¡°What about the mage, Grania?¡± The queen asked.


    ¡°She claims that she doesn''t have a home anywhere near here.¡± I said. ¡°It''s a partial lie; but, without asking her directly where she lived before, I can''t find out the truth.¡±


    ¡°Then ask her directly.¡± The mage said. ¡°I can give you a compulsion spell if you need it.¡±


    ¡°She''s a mage of unknown potential.¡± I said. ¡°She can probably feel or even see a spell being cast on her. I don''t want to know that badly.¡±


    ¡°Then what are you going to do with her?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± I said, and the queen, the mage, and Maylia looked at me in disbelief. ¡°I thought about bringing her along; but, without proving her loyalty, it''s not safe for the people I care about to have her around.¡±


    ¡°You''re just going to drop her off somewhere?¡± The mage asked, surprised and incredulous.


    ¡°No, I told you. I won''t be taking her when I leave.¡± I said. ¡°She has enough gold from the queen to go anywhere she wants and make any kind of life she wants, so that''s what I''ll tell her when everyone shows up for the fake meeting.¡±


    ¡°It''s not fake.¡± Queen Celestina said. ¡°We really do need to discuss what happens now, especially with Josh and the acolytes.¡±


    ¡°You can''t tell them that you don''t trust the acolytes for forcing you to get rid of the heroes, because that will tip them off and they''ll start working against you openly. You can only accept that they have their sorcerer priest now and will grow more powerful.¡± I said and saw the realization on the queen''s face. ¡°As for me, I''m taking my party and leaving the kingdom as agreed, when my task here was done.¡±


    ¡°My list...¡± Queen Celestina started to say.


    ¡°I''ll try to work on the remains of it as I progress across the kingdoms.¡± I said. ¡°With this kingdom as a guide, it should take about a year for us to do each one... assuming the number of cracks remains consistent for the size of the lands.¡±


    ¡°Three more years.¡± Queen Celestina said. ¡°Will it really only be that long?¡± She asked, then she let a small smile show on her face. ¡°Yes, that will be fine. Look what you did for my kingdom in only a year, and we''ve been summoning heroes and raising adventurers for decades.¡± She nodded. ¡°Very well. I will grudgingly accept Josh remaining, as long as the acolytes share their summoning ritual and we can figure out how to work it to send you back where you came from.¡±


    ¡°I would appreciate that, your majesty.¡± I said and bowed my head.


    The ''real'' meeting started ten minutes later and everyone was brought into the meeting room. The queen told them of the conditions that had to be implemented, with Josh being allowed to stay with his wife and child as long as the acolytes shared the summoning ritual in its entirety and didn''t hide anything. The head acolyte agreed wholeheartedly and one of the acolytes stepped forward and handed over everything that they had used in both the summoning and unsummoning parts, as if they knew that would be required.


    The queen glanced at me and I gave her a tiny smile as we shared a knowing look, and she told everyone the second condition. Since the summoning ritual had failed to send me back, she believed that she could no longer have the ''chosen hero'' in her kingdom. As such, I was to be exiled until such time that the ritual could be completed. Only a slight uproar greeted her words, and she held a hand up to quiet them.


    ¡°It is with a heavy heart that I do this. Hunter and his party have been a godsend to my people and their work will be spoken about for decades... nay, centuries... to come.¡± Queen Celestina said. ¡°However, he is a singular existence that shouldn''t be here. His influence has been felt all over the kingdom and his personality draws other powerful people towards him.¡± She smiled. ¡°Had this kingdom been a democracy, I have no doubt that he would have given me some trouble during the election.¡±


    ¡°Some!¡± Evus the guard exclaimed and everyone looked at him. ¡°Ah... I''m shutting up now.¡±


    That made quite a few people laugh.


    ¡°As you just saw.¡± Queen Celestina waved to Evus, which made almost all of us laugh, because we understood what she meant. ¡°You can have a few days to get any necessary affairs in order, buy better equipment and supplies if required, then you will be escorted to the border of the Second Choutia Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for not making it an immediate expulsion like others have, your majesty.¡± I said and bowed to her. ¡°I will use the time wisely.¡±


    ¡°I would expect nothing less.¡± Queen Celestina said and her eyes roamed over the other people in the room. ¡°You are welcome to stay and...¡±


    ¡°No, thank you.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°We go where Hunter goes.¡±


    Everyone in my party nodded, and the queen let them see a small smile for a brief moment.


    ¡°Then once again, I thank you all for your services to me, my kingdom, and its people.¡± Queen Celestina said and bowed her head to us. Everyone bowed in response, and then we were led out of the meeting room.


    ¡°Where to first?¡± Maylia asked.


    ¡°I''m tempted to sell off or trade all of the armor and weapons I''m carrying, except...¡± I stopped talking for a moment. ¡°I get the feeling that I''m going to need them.¡±


    ¡°Then go with that feeling.¡± Imiryl said and held Allirynn''s arm. ¡°You haven''t been wrong yet.¡±


    I nodded and we left the castle and started to gather provisions for the trip. Since we didn''t know what the conditions and supply situation was going to be like in the other kingdoms, we loaded up with a lot more than we normally would take. Extra horse feed, dry and wet rations, and fresh food with both fruits and vegetables, were packed into large saddle bags and into bags of holding. Both Afyne and I had a few pieces of chickens and a few eggs left and we agreed to space them out to make them last that much longer.


    Afyne had taken to her lessons in Presence like a duck to water, once she learned that mana was just a different form of Presence and she could feel the difference. That had made me very proud of her and I tested her with it. She really did know the difference and I rewarded her by going to the tailor shop that we had visited before and pretty much bought out the whole store. We had clothing for every occasion that you could think of now, and then we visited teachers for her various skills and classes. I bought all the materials that I could, including books, training items, and both real and wooden weapons.


    With two new bags of holding that were quite full, we went back to the castle to spend the last of the evening relaxing. We got undressed to have a nice long soak in the tub, and Maylia commented that I wasn''t using the time wisely, as I had told the queen. I tickled her sides and she laughed and tried to run away, so I attacked Afyne next, then I chased the two of them around the large tub.


    Afyne spent most of the next day with Milly and her guards, so I had all that time to be alone with Maylia. She didn''t complain that I was wasting my time after that.


    On the third and last day, we all gathered together and toured the monument that was being constructed for the victims of the vampires. It was huge and had a lot of names on it already. The people working on it said that it would be taken apart when it was completed and moved into the city center. That way, everyone that came to the capital would see it.


    ¡°No one wants to be reminded of it and no one wants to forget.¡± I said as I looked at it. ¡°Eventually, people will see it and not be reminded of what happened; but, they will remember because it''s right in front of them.¡±


    Several of the workers nodded in agreement. We all left there to have a good meal in the common room and then headed to bed. Tomorrow was the big day. My exodus from the kingdom.


    It seems to happen a lot. I thought in amusement as I hugged Maylia and Afyne close, then fell asleep.

 Book Two: The Summoned 099

    The next morning we were up and dressed in our adventuring finest. Everything was freshly cleaned and anything that was metal gleamed. Diofra cast Jessica''s Maintenance spell on everything again and I helped boost it this time. I changed the glow to be invisible, though. Having everything with a tint of blue would be annoying, to say the least. Maylia and I boosted the horses and I made their glow invisible as well. We mounted up and the queen''s guards escorted us to the edge of the capital city.


    Grania the mage hadn''t expressed any desire to join my party or to go with us when we left. With more money than most people saw in several lifetimes, I had told her that she could go anywhere and live however she wanted. She liked that idea a lot, so she booked passage on a carriage headed somewhere in the First Sothen Kingdom. The queen had said she would have one of the mages check on her occasionally to make sure that she was okay.


    There was no fanfare and no big crowd to send us off, either. We had been brought around to the front of the castle and a small group of people had been there. Queen Celestina, her daughter Milly, the captain of the guard, and Sam were there. They waved at us and we waved back as we passed the castle. That was it, and we were off on our worldly adventure.


    We met up with a squad of guards on horseback at the city limits and Maylia and I boosted their horses to give them the ability to keep up with us. We travelled at our normal running speed, which was a lot faster than the guards were used to travelling. By the time we made it to the border of the Second Choutia Kingdom, the guards were pretty haggard from riding so hard. I held in my laugh and absorbed the boosts from their horses and told them that the horses won''t go that fast anymore. They were relieved to hear that and they bid us farewell.


    I was surprised that there wasn''t a border patrol, or a gate, or some kind of monitoring system, to mark the passage from one kingdom to another. There was a sign at the side of the road that said the kingdom''s name we were going to and on the other side of the sign was the kingdom we were leaving. I shook my head at the simplicity of it and wondered how many roads that the kingdoms shared. I had to assume that they all had the same signs on them, because if they didn''t, you would never know that you had crossed into another kingdom.


    After I had given Dawn her cut of the garglemacer bounty, she opened up and talked a little more about her home. She eventually told us where she lived and we wormed the directions out of her. Once we had them, we rode at our fastest speed to get there as soon as possible. She wasn''t quite happy about that, because the trip would be over a lot sooner than she had expected. When we got there however, she was glad that we had reached her town. There was something going on and the town was mobilizing for something.


    ¡°My training building is on the outskirts.¡± Dawn said and pointed to the right, so we followed her directions around part of the town and arrived at the garrison where she had been stationed.


    ¡°PreKnight Sherwood!¡± A man''s voice bellowed and ran over to us. ¡°Where have you been all this time?!?¡±


    ¡°Captured and tortured by the elves, sir!¡± Dawn responded automatically.


    The man''s mouth dropped open in shock and his face lost most of its color. He tried to speak again and only mumbled nonsense. I looked at Dawn and she gave me a little smile. She had taken my advice and had been blunt with the truth, because I knew it would surprise whoever asked her about it.


    ¡°Sir! What''s going on?¡± Dawn asked as she slid off of Maylia''s horse.


    The man stared at her for several moments before he shook his head. ¡°You don''t need to worry about...¡±


    ¡°I need something to do, sir!¡± Dawn said, almost as a plea.


    He took a breath and let it out, then nodded. ¡°We''ve got reports of an Orck horde massing in the wheat fields.¡±


    ¡°No! Not the winter crops!¡± Dawn exclaimed


    The man sighed. ¡°If we don''t get there soon...¡±


    ¡°Where are the wheat fields?¡± I asked and Dawn''s head whipped around to stare at me. ¡°Well, it would be a waste to have a large party of adventurers right here and not go have some fun.¡± I said and looked at the others around me. ¡°Right?¡±


    ¡°You have to let me cast Firestorm.¡± Diofra said with a gleam in her eye.


    I snorted a laugh. ¡°Not a chance. Crops are flammable.¡± I glanced at Imiryl. ¡°Icestorm is out, too.¡±


    ¡°I''ll limit myself to shards and melt them to provide extra irrigation.¡± Imiryl said, her blue hair wafted in the wind as she tried to give me an innocent look.


    I glanced at Allirynn and he shrugged. ¡°All right.¡± I said and looked at Diofra. ¡°Stay close to Imiryl and when she''s not busy and can cover you, you can use fireballs.¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± Diofra yelled and Evus laughed.


    ¡°I''d suggest sleep and confusion spells as well, if you can prep them.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''ve got two Mass Sleep as free spells.¡± Diofra said, a little proud of herself for thinking ahead.


    ¡°Maylia and I will stay with Afyne while she gets experience.¡± I said and Afyne''s muscles stiffened. ¡°Don''t worry.¡± I whispered so only she could hear. ¡°We''ll be close by; but, we won''t be maiming them to make it easier for you.¡±


    Afyne tilted her head back and looked up at me. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°It would only make your training take twice as long if it was easy.¡± I said and kissed her forehead.


    ¡°Spearhead formation?¡± Allirynn asked.


    ¡°If they have a big one among them, sure.¡± I said. ¡°Of course, we might need to make a lot of noise first to make one show up.¡± I smiled. ¡°Then it''s all yours.¡±


    Allirynn nodded with a grin.


    ¡°I''ll stay behind Imiryl and Diofra and try not to get in the way.¡± Viri said.


    ¡°Don''t sell yourself short. You''ve seen us fight before and you haven''t been in the way yet. You''ve also helped with that sword of yours.¡± I said, because Maylia had been training her in her spare time. ¡°Being able to see an attack before it happens to you is a huge advantage. Don''t be afraid to use it.¡±


    Viri nodded and gripped the hilt of her sword.


    ¡°I''ll protect the rear.¡± Evus said. ¡°I''ll also keep an eye out for any flanking units.¡±


    I turned back to the man who was Dawn''s superior. ¡°How long to get your forces mobilized?¡±


    ¡°We''re almost done.¡± The man said. ¡°Are you really going to fight for us?¡±


    ¡°No, we''re fighting for ourselves.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°Unless you want to pay us.¡±


    The man shook his head. ¡°We barely have enough money to feed everyone.¡±


    ¡°Which will be more expensive if the orcks destroy the food crops.¡± I said and he nodded. ¡°Dawn, want to take us there?¡±


    ¡°She needs to lead her unit.¡± The man said.


    ¡°I still have one?¡± Dawn asked, surprised.


    ¡°They''ve been sitting around and twiddling their thumbs without you to keep an eye on them.¡±


    Dawn turned to me. ¡°Give me a few minutes!¡±


    I nodded and she ran off. The man stood there and looked us over for a few moments, grunted, and walked away. We waited for Dawn to come back and she had a group of ten people behind her. They looked like they had just woken up and had put their armor on in the dark.


    ¡°Can you do your levitation trick?¡± Dawn asked and took out a large wooden crate. ¡°If you could take some of us on your horses, the rest can fit in here and we can drag them behind us.¡±


    I laughed at the absurd idea and looked at my fellow adventurers. They nodded, so we split the men and women up appropriately and Dawn chose to take a spot in the large wooden crate. I held a hand out to Maylia and she used her Levitation technique on the crate with my boost, and the thing lifted two inches into the air and stayed stable.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°You''re going to be the conduit.¡± I said to Dawn and let Maylia''s hand go and held it out to her. Maylia held her hand out as well and Dawn took our hands without hesitation. She felt our energy pass through her and power the technique, then the crate raised up two feet to put her at our height.


    ¡°Go down the road, take a left. Three miles, then a right, then ten miles. You can''t miss it.¡± Dawn said. ¡°The rest of the troops will go straight through the fields and meet us there.¡±


    I nodded and we trotted out at a slow pace, then went faster and faster. We made it to the winter crop fields only ten minutes later and saw what had concerned the town. A horde wasn''t just gathering. It was already there. We dismounted and tucked the horses behind a nearby barn and out of sight, then we all crept closer.


    ¡°Allirynn.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°He''s about a hundred feet in, kneeling in the dirt.¡±


    ¡°Spearhead formation.¡± Allirynn said and we arranged ourselves into the formation with him as the point, me on the right and Maylia on the left, Afyne was directly behind Allirynn and between us, and Imiryl and Diofra were behind her with Viri behind them and Evus in the rear. I could hear Dawn''s and her troops thoughts of surprise, then their complete shock when we took off at a full powered run and left them behind.


    In less than ten seconds, we had crossed the two fields between us and the orcks and smashed right into the mass. Those of us with weapons had drawn them during the run and we easily cut through the completely unprepared orcks. Their piggily squeals were loud as we cut them down in droves and then we reached the big guy.


    Allirynn jumped at the last second and drove his fist into the large tusked creature''s snout. He broke one of the tusks and tackled the creature that was twice his size. We quickly formed a fighting area around them and I put up Presence Walls to keep most of the other orcks away. Most of them were still stunned from our sudden appearance and they weren''t being very aggressive towards us yet.


    ¡°Okay Afyne. Have at it.¡± I said and motioned to the half dozen orcks still within the Presence Walls. ¡°Let''s see what you can do.¡±


    ¡°MASS SLEEP!¡± Diofra yelled and all of the orcks on her side, for about fifty feet around, dropped to the ground unconscious and snoring. Startled squeals, snorts, and grunts met this sudden loss of part of their fighting force.


    ¡°Shardscape!¡± Imiryl said and held her hands out. Hundreds of tiny shards formed on the other side of my Presence Wall and I felt her mana drop by a quarter. She let the shards loose and they peppered over two hundred orcks in the face and eyes. Most of them dropped dead just from that, and more squeals and snorts greeted another massive loss of fighting potential.


    Afyne took courage from what she had just seen and I felt her resolve. She drew her short sword and I felt her boost her body to strengthen it and make herself faster. I smiled as she also activated a very inefficient Presence Run and took off towards the six confused orcks. Before they could react to the five foot human that had magically appeared near them, the tendons in their ankles had been severed and they started to fall to their knees. Their wrists were slit to make them drop their weapons and the last thing they saw was a bright steel blade as it slit their throats.


    Afyne stood behind the six bodies as they dropped to the ground. She was almost completely exhausted and her techniques faded as she stumbled over to me. I held my arms open as I knelt and she dropped into them.


    ¡°Good girl.¡± I said and hugged her as I shared some of my Presence with her, then I tried not to laugh. ¡°We definitely need to work on your Presence Run technique that I haven''t taught you yet.¡±


    ¡°I wanted... to surprise... you.¡± Afyne panted.


    ¡°I was definitely surprised.¡± I said and kissed her cheek. ¡°You did really well.¡±


    ¡°We''re both very proud of you.¡± Maylia said and knelt beside us and pet Afyne''s hair. Evus stood there with a big grin on his face, because he realized he just lost his normal job of protecting Afyne.


    None of us had been watching Allirynn''s fight with the large orck, because we all knew he was showing off to the other orcks to discourage them and distract them. We all turned to watch as he put the finishing moves on the poor beast.


    Both of its arms were broken at the elbow from pressure holds and it had lost its second tusk, because it was now sticking out of one of its eyes. The orck''s face was pummelled into mush and its piecemeal armor was dented all over with fist-sized depressions in it... and more than a few hand prints. Allirynn''s personal strength was astonishing as he demonstrated it by easily picking up the creature, flipped it around to face forward and upside down, then slammed it head first into the ground with a crunch.


    ¡°I think it would have survived that move if you hadn''t tenderized the head so much first.¡± I said.


    Allirynn looked over at me and gave me a thumbs up.


    ¡°Oh. Never mind.¡± I said, and he laughed.


    ¡°Hey, here they come!¡± Evus said and pointed. We all stood and turned to look and saw a large regimented army coming across the field.


    ¡°Let''s give them a bit more help, shall we?¡± I said and everyone nodded, even Afyne, who had already recovered. ¡°We''ll only let one by at a time, so you don''t have to use Presence Run, all right?¡±


    Afyne nodded again and I pushed out with my Presence Walls and shoved the orcks back twenty feet to knock them off of their footing, then I absorbed the walls and we all attacked. The orcks tried to stay away from Allirynn; but, they were massed together and didn''t have anywhere to go, so he crushed necks, smashed faces, and broke legs and arms as he moved through the orcks like a battering ram. Of course, we kept the same spearhead formation and were right behind him. Both Maylia and I would let a single orc through so that Afyne could deal with it, and she handled it like a professional.


    Afyne paced herself and didn''t swing with strength unless she had to. She used finesse and knowledge to disable most of them and killed her opponents. She couldn''t make a Presence Hand yet; but, she could make a flat piece of it about the size of her fist. She occasionally used it to smack them in the side of the head to make them look that way, then she would cut their throats on the other side with her sword.


    I have to remember that move. I thought, impressed. She''s adapting her fighting to what she can do and not what we expected.


    I sent her a large burst of my Presence, and she paused for a second to let the tingle flow down her spine, just like I had taught her, to let it integrate into her own Presence, then she smiled and nodded. Maylia and I let an orck through at the same time and she dealt with the both of them. It wasn''t easy, in the small amount of room that she had to work with; but, she handled it as well as she could and they were quickly dispatched like the others.


    Our spearhead formation reached the other side of the orck horde and we came out of it with no blood or anything on our clothes and armor. It wasn''t because of the spells Diofra had cast, either. We were just that efficient. Only Allirynn had blood on his hands, and that was only because he was having fun and wasn''t being careful.


    ¡°Do you think that was enough?¡± Diofra asked.


    We all turned to look back at the orcks. The local army was currently wading into their backs and cutting them down like loggers cutting down trees. It took them a couple of heavy swings to cut each orck down; but, they were cutting them down. It was just taking a while.


    ¡°What do you think Afyne?¡± I asked and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Do you think they still need help?¡±


    ¡°They don''t have you, Maylia, and Evus to show them how to fight properly with a blade.¡± Afyne said with a smile. ¡°Of course they still need help!¡±


    That made us all laugh.


    ¡°All right, Allirynn. You heard her.¡± I said and pointed at the orcs. ¡°Pick a direction and let''s go.¡±


    ¡°Gladly!¡± Allirynn said and nodded to Afyne, then our spearhead formation plunged back into the mass of orcks that remained.


    It took about an hour for the army to finish them off, even the sleeping ones that Diofra had left them, and we all met up at the side of the large and body covered field.


    ¡°We kept it to one field!¡± Someone yelled, and a cheer rose up from all of the local''s mouths.


    ¡°You''ve got lots of fertilizer now, too.¡± I said and that made a lot of them laugh.


    Dawn and her squad came over to us. ¡°Hunter, I... I don''t know what to say.¡± She said and looked at the others in my group. ¡°I didn''t understand why the queen wanted you to leave her kingdom. Until now.¡± She looked back at me. ¡°You could have taken all of them on by yourselves.¡±


    ¡°If we were going to do that, we wouldn''t have done what we did.¡± I said and motioned to Allirynn. ¡°What would we have done if we were alone?¡±


    ¡°Funnel formation.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°We manipulate the enemy into coming to us and only in the strengths we could manage easily.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Dawn looked at us all again. ¡°You just...¡± She shook her head. ¡°I don''t understand.¡±


    ¡°What we did today was kill the leadership and be a huge distraction while your army approached and weren''t noticed by the orcks until you started to attack.¡± I said as an explanation. ¡°We intentionally were loud, showy, and made spectacles of ourselves.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I don''t think I''ve ever seen Allirynn punch so many faces before.¡±


    ¡°I haven''t and their tusks are really sharp.¡± Allirynn said and held up his fists to show healing puncture wounds. Even with his hands covered in solid mana, the tusks still managed to get through and Diofra had cast healing on him.


    ¡°Sorry, I didn''t notice. Let me get that for you.¡± I said and touched his hands and healed them completely in an instant.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°Having two healers is really going to help us from now on.¡±


    Everyone nodded and the man that led the army came over to us.


    ¡°Thank you for your assistance.¡± The man said. ¡°If you come back to...¡±


    ¡°If anyone should be thanked, it should be Dawn.¡± I said and surprised both Dawn and the man. ¡°If we hadn''t brought her here, we wouldn''t have been able to join in on the fun.¡±


    The man mouthed the word ''fun'', then he shook his head. ¡°You adventurers.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and grinned. ¡°Adventurers hit and run!¡±


    As if we practised it, my party and I took off at a run back across the other field towards the old barn where we had stashed the horses. I almost laughed at the astonished thoughts from Dawn and her superior officer. We mounted up and took off down the road and waved at Dawn as we left.


    ¡°I think we just shocked their army.¡± Evus said with a laugh. ¡°I didn''t realize how much faster I can run now, until I saw how fast I used to run in those soldiers!¡±


    ¡°Stick with us long enough and you''ll be at the top of your class.¡± I said and hugged Afyne with one of my arms. ¡°Even unique classes need to have an elite member.¡±


    Afyne''s face flushed red as she blushed. ¡°I''ll do my best.¡±


    ¡°I would never ask for anything else except that you try.¡± I said and let her go.


    ¡°We should stop and see if there''s a crack nearby.¡± Diofra said. ¡°In fact, we should do the whole map of the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± I said and we stopped at a small clearing. We set things up and she used both a mana crystal and my help to draw out the map. To my relief, there weren''t a lot of cracks, even though the kingdom was one and a half times the size of First Sothen Kingdom.


    ¡°Looks like we''re mostly travelling this time.¡± Maylia said. ¡°That means extra training.¡±


    No one groaned or complained, because they all knew that keeping your skills sharp was the best way to survive in a world that tried to kill you pretty much every day... if you weren''t careful.


    ¡°No crack nearby.¡± Diofra said and copied the map and gave them out. ¡°It looks like orcks are local.¡±


    ¡°Great!¡± I said with a smile. ¡°More homegrown fun!¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°Is it lunch time yet?¡±


    ¡°We''re stopped, so why not.¡± I said. ¡°Afyne, let''s set everything up and get to work.¡±


    ¡°Scrambled eggs!¡± Afyne exclaimed happily as she took out a couple of the cheap sheets.


    ¡°You''re the boss.¡± I said and she liked it a lot that I believed it.

 Book Two: The Summoned 100

    It took us nearly six months to work our way across the Second Choutia Kingdom to close all the cracks. We fought all different kinds of creatures. Some as singles, some as masses, and surprisingly, a lot of orcks. They really were homegrown and none of them came from any of the cracks I had closed. I still stepped through the ones I could and looked up at the sky, even though I knew it wasn''t strictly necessary.


    The only thing was, I couldn''t get god''s attention. I tried praying, meditating, and even talking to him directly, both mentally and verbally. I always had the distinct feeling of not wanting to be disturbed. I stopped trying after a month and just let the matter rest for a while.


    We managed to find another one of the evil men that the prisoner had known. We actually stumbled across him as he was planning to attack us with a group of others he had gathered. That had been quite a surprise for Allirynn, Imiryl, and myself. The man''s mind was too twisted by his own acts and depravity to get any more information than what we already had, except that I had the distinct impression that the people they had been looking for were in my party and now they knew that.


    They would be coming for us.


    The people the man had gathered had been his followers and they didn''t know anyone else or their locations, so we dispatched them and took their things that we could use and incinerated the rest along with the bodies. After a long discussion with everyone, we decided that we would need to keep going and seal the cracks. Despite Allirynn and Imiryl being on the bad guy''s hit list and targeted for kidnapping and torture, we didn''t know where they were to go and fight them. All we could do was move on and deal with them when they attacked.


    Unfortunately, the creatures we were killing from the cracks did not have any bounties, so I only kept a couple of each as specimens and we burned the rest. We had plenty of money, so it wasn''t really a concern, and when we stopped for baths and to sleep for the night in an inn, we were treated like royalty. Both because of the money we had to spend for lodging and food, and for all of the creature and orck killing we had been doing. Word of us seemed to spread faster than we could ride our horses.


    I had even met with Queen Celestina''s contact and we quietly dealt with a political uprising that was going to put a cannibal into one of the main ruling classes. Normally I wouldn''t interfere with politics; but, the man had eaten several of his potential rivals and planned to remove the others when he was in power. That I wouldn''t stand for. At Allirynn''s suggestion, we brought him along with us until we found another large group of orcks and used the man as bait. His death while being eaten was both ironic and fitting, because his death actually helped the kingdom and distracted the orcks long enough that we easily slaughtered them all.


    Since we had no contact with the royalty or even higher authority in the military, we left the Second Choutia Kingdom as if we were just normal people. We entered the Third Nogam Kingdom and stopped to let Diofra make another map. We all groaned when we saw that it was the size of the last two kingdoms combined and it had nearly as many cracks as the First Sothen Kingdom, which meant we had a lot of travelling and a lot of cracks to close.


    The only good part about it was that none of the cracks were near towns or cities. They were all in sparsely populated areas and we shouldn''t have too much interaction with the locals or had to worry about how the creatures were affecting their lives. We resigned ourselves for the long haul and stocked up on supplies whenever we could. We worked hard and took breaks as much as possible, especially since it wasn''t a rush job. The cracks had been around for years, decades, and in a few cases centuries, so there was no pressure to get them done.


    It took us a year and a half to close them all and clear the kingdom. There had been one crack that had released a few hundred thousand rat-like creatures, and that was bad... but, it wasn''t as bad as when we discovered that they had bred with the local rats and had litters of twelve to fourteen babies every two weeks. Our feelings of not having to rush disappeared and urgency replaced it as we told as many of the military members as we could and hunted the creatures down. It was the longest three months that any of us had ever experienced and we managed to kill off all of the original breed and their spawn. Diofra had taken to wearing two charged mana crystals and would constantly mutter ''Lightning bolt'' in a steady stream to kill the things whenever she saw them.


    None of us wanted to see another rat for the rest of our lives.


    We encountered three different groups of kidnappers, one of which was on behalf of the queen''s list, and we dealt with all of them. We gathered more information about how they thought taking Allirynn and Imiryl prisoner and ransoming them would help them get back their divinely granted gifts. I couldn''t understand why that would work, because it was the choice of the divine being who would gain their benefits. Kidnapping, maiming, torturing, and killing people wouldn''t help them.


    Upon Imiryl''s suggestion, we had completely avoided her home mountain range. There were no cracks there and she claimed that she did not leave her people under the best of circumstances. She didn''t volunteer anything else and we didn''t pry. Allirynn had held her tenderly as she spoke and we knew it must have been a lot worse than she let on.


    We moved on to the Fourth Cruneian Kingdom, Allirynn''s homeland, and when we did a map for the cracks, there were only three of them. That was more of a surprise than everything else we had seen during our trip, and we had seen a lot. Since he had explored the place before, Allirynn led us to the spots with the cracks.


    The first two only had something like squidlings in one, that died almost as soon as they entered the almost desert-like environment, and the other had gnats. It wasn''t even a swarm. It was just a handful of them. It took Diofra a few hours to adjust the vampire locate spell to search for them. When she cast the spell, all that showed up were the handful that stayed floating around the gaping maw illusion. I laughed at the absurdity of it, considering how hard we worked closing most of the others.


    The third crack was where we had earned our keep.


    We couldn''t tell if it had slipped through somehow or had grown on this side; but, the third crack had spit out what could only be called an earth elemental. Unfortunately, it was mainly composed of sand. There were some gravelly rocks mixed in, as well as a few larger boulders; but, from what what I could tell, the damn thing could pretty much be any size that it wanted, with all the sand and rocks around. It took us several hours to ''wear it down'' to the point that we had removed most of the sand and loose rocks from the area and stopped it from reconstituting itself from the surrounding environment.


    We fought on and used combinations of cold and heat to slow it down enough to fight it on more normal terms, which didn''t mean much. My mother''s Light sword made no real progress against it and traditional weapons didn''t hurt it at all. The creature battered and tore at us with the power of sand-blasting and it damaged both skin and clothing in equal measure. It wasn''t until Diofra asked me to let her do her Incinerate spell on part of the creature that I caught on to what we needed to do.


    With that plan in mind, I started to capture little bits and pieces of the creature with Presence and made the boxes solid. I also made them air-tight and let Diofra burn up the contents, so nothing could escape, and it took us another half an hour to make the elemental expend itself out to almost nothing. When I captured the last of it, everything I had in all the other boxes that were scattered around the battlefield, mostly crystalized sand, stopped moving. The last box had what was essentially the creature''s main body that manipulated the earth element to do its bidding and it was now contained and concentrated on itself.


    I was tempted to keep the thing, mainly because the rarity of having an actual elemental wasn''t something to scoff at; but, it was much too dangerous to keep and I couldn''t open it to let Diofra burn the thing. So, I picked the large box up and carried it over to the crack and tossed it in, then closed and started to seal the crack. As I put in the last stitch, I dismissed the Presence holding the creature and then healed the crack to erase it from existence.


    ¡°Good lord.¡± I said and sat down, practically exhausted. ¡°That was...¡±


    ¡°It was horrible!¡± Afyne exclaimed and sat down beside me. We both winced when we tried to hug each other and touched some of the scrapes and bruises we shared. ¡°We can''t even cuddle!¡±


    ¡°We should make camp.¡± I said, and everyone agreed. We found a good spot nearby and it took us an hour to set it up, with all the soreness and injuries we had. Diofra had expended her mana crystals and her personal mana, so she couldn''t heal us, and I was almost out of Presence after putting up a wall of protection and I needed to rest. None of us bothered to change and climbed into our tents and bedrolls fully dressed.


    I woke up sometime later and immediately felt the evil around us. My Presence was back to full and I ''saw'' about thirty people gathered around my Presence Walls. They were casting spells and using weapons to try and break through it, not realizing that their own energy was making it stronger. My body automatically cycled both mana and Presence in the area and fed my constructs and the horses. It was a simple technique to set up, especially with my absurd regeneration rate and self-healing.


    Maylia and the others were still unconscious, though. I used Presence Healing on Maylia and Afyne first, then I created Presence Hands over everyone and touched them, then healed them as well. I could hear the thoughts of our enemies and they were pretty much lost in the frenzy to try and get in to capture Allirynn and Imiryl. I couldn''t let that happen, so I stayed inside my tent and concentrated on creating a Presence blade outside of my Presence Walls.


    I smiled and made a Presence Hand to wield it, then cut them down from behind. None of them noticed losing their spell casters until the spells stopped hitting my protection barrier. By the time they noticed, my Presence blade was there and cut them down. They had been so focused on trying to get through the barrier that they didn''t even try to defend themselves. I also didn''t try to read any of their minds. They had been so far gone in their madness that all I would be doing is giving myself nightmares for no gain.


    The others woke up a couple of hours later and I already had food prepared. They saw the bodies outside of the Presence Walls and asked what had happened, so I told them while we ate. Only Allirynn had been a little upset that I hadn''t woken them. I told him I had doubted that I could have woken him, even if I had tried, so I didn''t. Once he heard how easy it was to kill them, he reluctantly agreed that letting him sleep was the better choice.


    When we all ate, we cleaned up and packed up, then rode the horses partway across the kingdom towards where Allirynn had grown up. He hadn''t been back there in years, so he was only slightly surprised to see that nothing had changed. Everything was exactly as he had last seen it, and we all stopped at the edge of the small oasis and dismounted. We tied up the horses and stood there and waited, while he went alone to greet his mother. I could see that she was there and I also knew that she had been patiently waiting for him since he had left to be an adventurer almost seven years ago.


    *


    Allirynn stepped up to the door of the house he grew up in and his heart beat in his chest so loudly that he thought he would go deaf from the sound of it. His hand hesitated near the handle and he thought over everything that he had gone through since he had left. He had started off well and met the people he would call friends, then he had grown arrogant and thought he had achieved what he had set out to do. He had been wrong. So wrong. He had thought it cost him all of his friends, then by the miracle of Hunter showing up and saving them, both he and Imiryl had been spared.


    It was then that he was exposed to what he had really been, because he had to spend time with the Emissaries of Light and they were worse than he was. They were arrogant, secular, and completely full of themselves. They thought they could do no wrong. It had grated on his nerves to be on the receiving end of their ''hospitality'' and he understood that if he and his friends had continued on like they had been, they would have been just as bad.


    It wasn''t until he was reunited with Hunter and joined his party that he saw what real adventurers were supposed to be like. It opened his eyes to all of the possibilities, all the things that could have been, and Imiryl was right there by his side to witness it all with him. His heart warmed at the thought of her and all that they had been through together. Imiryl might be an ice maiden and act cold sometimes; but, her heart was as big and as warm as any other. Once she accepted you into it, you were a part of her life from then on.


    His life as an adventurer had been so varied and diverse, it seemed like he had lived several lifetimes worth of experiences. He had left his home with his mind full of uncertainty and his heart longing, and now he had returned with his mind set properly and his heart aglow with love and friendship. He took a deep breath and let it out, gripped the door handle and opened the door.


    ¡°Finally.¡± A woman''s disembodied voice said. ¡°I found you.¡±


    ¡°Mother?¡± Allirynn asked.


    ¡°Allirynn! Run!¡± His mother yelled and ran towards him.


    The explosion lit up the surrounding area and obliterated the house.


    *


    ¡°JESUS CHRIST ALMIGHTY!¡± I yelled as the little house blew up and I covered everyone in a blue Presence dome and made it solid instantly. I started to fill it with repelling energy and the blast wave of both sound and pressure hit us. I was surprised that we were pushed back about ten feet, then I realized why. It had been a blast of Presence.


    ¡°NOOOOOO!¡± Imiryl yelled, then she jumped at the barrier. ¡°Hunter! Let me out!¡±


    ¡°It''s still... going on.¡± I said and tried my best to maintain the barrier while also trying to filter out the effects of whatever had hit us. I tried to look and all I could see was a solid ball of Presence. I blinked my eyes and it didn''t clear. ¡°Dammit, whatever it is it''s blinded my detection technique.¡±


    ¡°Mine, too.¡± Maylia said and shook her head. ¡°We have to stop using it or we''ll stay completely blind.¡±


    I slipped off my blast shield and sighed, because for the first time in years, I stopped using the technique. ¡°It''s been a while since I''ve had to battle without using it.¡±


    ¡°We''ll manage.¡± Maylia said. ¡°Open the barrier on this side.¡±


    I opened it and the light nearly blinded us. ¡°Close your eyes.¡± I said and formed Presence over my eyes in the shape of a skin-tight visor and changed the light refraction to cut through the glare. I had lots of practice making myself and others invisible with Presence by bending light away, so this was only a slight modification of the same technique. After a few minutes, I was successful.


    ¡°Okay, I got it.¡± I said and formed similar visors over everyone''s eyes. ¡°You can look.¡±


    They opened their eyes and looked out of my barrier.


    Imiryl tried to run for the opening and I grabbed her arm. ¡°Let me go!¡±


    ¡°Cover yourself in ice first! Protect yourself!¡± I ordered. ¡°You''ll be no good to him if you''re dead!¡±


    Imiryl glared at me angrily for a moment, then she listened and covered herself in a similar technique that I could make out of Presence. I did that and covered myself in thick Presence armor and did the same with Maylia and Afyne. They could do it on their own for the most part; but, I wasn''t going to drop my barrier without protecting them as much as possible.


    ¡°Okay, the pressure''s stopped. There''s still a lot of sand and wind blowing around, so we''re not going to see very far.¡± I said and looked at everyone. ¡°Ready?¡±


    Diofra had cast Magic Armor on herself and Evus, and Viri had her own and also a magical barrier.


    ¡°Hunter! Let me out!¡± Imiryl spat.


    ¡°Don''t rush into the main area. If he was blown away like we were...¡±


    Imiryl took a quick breath. ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± I said and let her arm go and completely dropped the barrier. ¡°Let''s go!¡±


    We spread out and quickly checked the surrounding area for Allirynn. We found him about sixty feet away from where the house used to be. He was half covered by sand and the other half was covered by a woman, who we had to assume was his mother.


    She took the brunt of the blast. I thought in surprise.


    ¡°Allirynn!¡± Imiryl exclaimed and knelt by them and tried to shake them awake. I bent down and stayed in a fighting stance as I touched Allirynn''s forehead and checked him for injuries. I couldn''t see them without using my detection technique, though.


    ¡°He''s messed up pretty badly.¡± I said. ¡°His arm, shoulder, and I think...¡± I let my Presence flow over him. ¡°...one of his hands.¡±


    ¡°What...¡± Imiryl started to ask.


    ¡°Crushed.¡± I said. ¡°He''s lucky that his mother took most of it.¡±


    ¡°Can you heal him?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, if I don''t want to fight whatever did this.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''ll handle it.¡± Imiryl said in a deadly voice and stood. A light frost covered everything in an instant, except the people. ¡°There.¡± She said and looked up a little. We all turned around to see the sand and wind suddenly stop and the air cleared, as if the mini-sandstorm hadn''t just been there.


    Grania the mage floated above the center of the blast area. ¡°I knew that if I tracked the ones closing my anchors to this planet, that you would eventually lead me to who I was searching for.¡± She smiled evilly. ¡°Now you have.¡±


    ¡°What do you want with us?¡± Imiryl asked and I could feel her gathering her mana.


    ¡°You?¡± Grania barked a laugh. ¡°You''re worthless. I only wanted him.¡± She said and nodded to Allirynn. ¡°With him as my captive, she would have to come out of hiding to rescue him.¡± Her gaze fell on me. ¡°You kept him from me, time and time again.¡±


    I felt a huge amount of Presence press down on me and smiled. ¡°I''m sorry I''m not sorry.¡±


    Grania''s face twisted and she raised her hand towards me. I felt her Presence wrap around me and grip me like a hand. I knew it wasn''t, because it didn''t feel like a hand, so I used my own Presence to poke the feeling and disrupted the energy flow. The pressure faded slightly and she frowned. She raised her hand and swiped it at me and I felt a huge Presence blade cut through the air towards us.


    I couldn''t block something that powerful, not and live, so I deflected it as much as I could with an angled Presence Wall. ¡°Duck!¡± I yelled and I staggered as the blade dug into my Presence Wall and skidded, then it sliced off the part of the wall where my head would have been if I had still been standing. ¡°Oh, that hurt.¡± I said and drew my mother''s Light sword. ¡°Maylia.¡±


    ¡°I''ll keep her safe.¡± Maylia said.


    ¡°All right, you crazy bitch.¡± I said and activated the Light sword. ¡°Prepare to get your ass handed to you.¡±


    ¡°You dare think you can rival me?¡± Grania asked, then she laughed. ¡°You mortals are so funny!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, keep laughing.¡± I said and activated all the buffs I had, then activated Presence Run and took off around her. As I ran around, I bent the light and disappeared from sight, changed direction, then I jumped at her with the Light sword poised to strike. She didn''t move and turned her head to look at me. I felt a huge wave of Presence gather around her, several feet thick, and smiled.


    Grania saw my smile and her head tilted slightly as if she was curious about something, then I turned my sword away and swung my fist instead. I had covered myself in repelling energy, so my fist slid through her thick Presence barrier as if though jello, then I covered my fist in solid Presence at the last second. It smashed into her face and her head whipped to the side, which was the perfect distraction, because her Presence faltered as she felt surprise from being hit so easily. I swung the Light sword back around and drove it into her chest.


    Grania screamed as the Light sword burned through her skin and bones, grazed her heart, and came out through her back. She slowly lowered herself to the ground and then she dropped to her knees. Her face was full of disbelief as she stared at the Light sword through her chest.


    That seemed a bit too easy. I thought.


    ¡°It was.¡± Grania said. ¡°It never crossed my mind that you could get through my barrier.¡±


    ¡°Well, I like surprising people.¡± I said.


    ¡°I won''t make the same mistake again.¡± Grania said.


    ¡°No, you won''t.¡± I said and moved the Light sword around to make sure I cut out all of her heart.


    ¡°Are you trying to do something?¡± Grania asked, curious.


    I looked at the hole I had burned in her chest and I could see through her heart. ¡°I''m trying to kill you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you mortals are hilariously funny.¡± Grania said and put her hand right on the glowing Light sword. Her hand burned from the energy and then she started to squeeze. My eyes widened as I felt the Presence in the blade waver and start to backlash into the focusing crystal. I tried to devote more concentration to it to stabilize it and it didn''t work. I then tried to pull it away and her hand squeezed the energy blade and held onto it. I felt the energy flow shoot back into the focusing crystal and I struggled to hold it.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Such willpower.¡± Grania said and stood. It changed the angle that I was holding the Light sword and it was enough to make me lose my concentration slightly.


    That was all it took.


    Grania''s hand became a fist and Presence shot through the electronics and the focusing crystal in the wrong direction and shattered both. I had to turn my face away from the blast as the hilt exploded and sent metal shrapnel everywhere, then I felt a woman''s hand touch mine.


    ¡°So delicate.¡± She said and gripped my hand. ¡°I believe the elves said that men shouldn''t hold weapons.¡± She smiled and made a fist with her hand.


    ¡°ARGH!¡± I yelled in pain as she pulverized my Presence armor and my hand as if it was nothing. She let it go and it was just a mangled mess of flesh and blood and shattered bones.


    ¡°You poor thing.¡± Grania said and touched my jaw. ¡°They said men shouldn''t talk, either.¡±


    I tried to pull away and she gripped my chin and crushed it before I could. I gurgled from the pain and several shouts came from behind me. ¡°Bloo bib!¡± I tried to say. Do it! I thought.


    ¡°Your little friends can''t save you.¡± Grania said and leaned in close. ¡°They can''t hit me without hitting you, and they love you.¡± She said with a wicked smile. ¡°I wasn''t inhabiting this body within your group for very long before I so easily discovered your weakness.¡± She looked at Maylia and Afyne.


    Leave them alone! I yelled at her in my mind.


    Grania smiled at my defiance. ¡°You don''t know how fortunate I was to find this poor soul that begged for someone to take them from their life. She couldn''t handle being captured by the elves after she found herself inside the magical barrier. I just happened to be near there at the time, so I did her a favor.¡± She said. ¡°Once you ''rescued'' me from the elves, it was a simple task to attach a minuscule amount of my Presence to the tanned man. With that done, I no longer needed to be with your group to know where you were and sent my corrupted followers to find you.¡±


    I thought about what she said and I looked down at her still destroyed heart. Grania is dead, isn''t she?


    ¡°Of course she is. She even begged for it.¡± Grania said. ¡°Her Presence was quite delicious.¡±


    Her... but, she used mana. I thought.


    ¡°We both know that both energies exist here.¡± Grania said and then frowned. ¡°I don''t know why I can''t absorb the mana that exists here, so I came here to find out.¡±


    You opened all those cracks and let loose all of those creatures, just to find out how to absorb mana? I asked in both surprise and disbelief.


    ¡°Ha ha! You simple-minded fool.¡± Grania said. ¡°I need to know how to consume mana so I can finish my work here and consume the star nearby.¡±


    Oh, damn. I thought as I remembered all the other dark red planets around stars that had been almost fully drained of their Presence.


    ¡°You understand now. Good. The cracks served two purposes. One was to anchor me to this planet to allow my Presence access to it and the other was to spread my Presence and influence through fear and terror. Once thoughts of the cracks and the creatures they spawned spread to enough of the population, I once again gained a foothold here.¡±


    ¡°It... was... you.¡± Allirynn''s weak voice said. ¡°You were... the one who...¡±


    ¡°Yes. Your father was delicious as well.¡± Grania said. ¡°He offered me his life willingly, as long as I spared his whelp and his wife.¡± She laughed. ¡°I never imagined that he was also protecting the entire planet at the time and he made me lose my influence here for a time.¡±


    ¡°He was a good man.¡± A woman''s voice said.


    ¡°M-mother, don''t...¡±


    ¡°It''s all right, my son.¡± The woman said as she stood. ¡°I''m glad we finally know what happened to the man I loved.¡± She reached down and touched her son, and he was healed instantly. He stared at her with new eyes as she glowed bright green with mana.


    ¡°M-mother?¡±


    ¡°There is so much you need to know and no time to tell it.¡± She said. ¡°I waited for your return to tell you everything, only to be discovered after hiding for all these years.¡±


    ¡°Your pitiful followers quickly accepted my blessings when you cast them aside.¡± Grania said. ¡°What kind of divine being willingly gives up devotion like that?¡± She shook her head. ¡°You were foolish to sacrifice so much power!¡±


    ¡°I wanted to live my life with the man I loved.¡± Allirynn''s mother said as she turned to face Grania. ¡°He had earned both my respect and devotion, and when he returned both, I felt that I no longer needed the others, who were so shallow in their beliefs. I discovered what true devotion felt like and the others paled and faded away in comparison.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Love!¡± Grania spat. ¡°Anger. Fear. Terror. Those emotions are more powerful! With them you can dominate everything and everyone!¡±


    ¡°You''re wrong.¡± Allirynn''s mother said and I was covered in mana and pulled out of the way. She floated me over to the rest of my party. ¡°Those emotions are quicker and easier to access. They grant you power; but, at a deep cost. Love, compassion, caring. Those are long burning emotions that take time to develop. With them in your mind and in your heart, you can become even more powerful.¡±


    Grania shook her head. ¡°You haven''t had those emotions since I killed your husband!¡±


    ¡°That''s why you are going to fail.¡± Allirynn''s mother said and touched her heart. ¡°His love and devotion are still here, inside of me.¡±


    ¡°Mine is as well.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°I''ve always loved you and am devoted to you. I''ve always wanted to make you proud, to show you that your love and devotion to me wasn''t wasted.¡± He said. ¡°I left our house an ignorant fool on an errand that would have been pointless, had I not had the experiences I have. I know what is important now. It''s not being the strongest or the most well known. It''s having people around you who accept you for who you are, flaws and all, and they don''t expect you to do anything except be there when they need you.¡±


    ¡°Having family and friends weakens you.¡± Grania said. ¡°They become pawns and weaknesses that can only be distractions during a fight.¡±


    ¡°So are we, for them.¡± I said, my jaw fully healed from Diofra''s healing spell. My hand was still quite a mess, though. At least I now had fingers. ¡°Unless you all trust each other to have your back when you get hurt. Then we all benefit each other. You fight harder, stronger, and with desperation when your loved ones are in danger.¡±


    ¡°Pfft!¡± Grania huffed and gathered Presence towards herself and I felt a hundred large Presence blades form around her. ¡°None of you will have loved ones when I am through! You will all become my creatures!¡±


    ¡°I don''t think so.¡± A woman''s disembodied voice said and a bright glow appeared. The Presence blades Grania was constructing were disrupted by beams of coherent light. The bright light faded and revealed Evangeline. Only it wasn''t her.


    ¡°Chaiya!¡± Grania spat. ¡°You bitch! What are YOU doing here?!?¡±


    ¡°Hunting you, of course.¡± Chaiya said with a smile and looked at Allirynn''s mother. ¡°Greetings, sister.¡±


    Allirynn''s mother sighed. ¡°I told you to never call me that.¡±


    ¡°Don''t be angry.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°I''m only here to look out for you.¡±


    ¡°I can take care of myself.¡±


    ¡°With no followers and most of your only planet''s population thinking about this one?¡± Chaiya asked and motioned to Grania. ¡°What have you been doing here?¡±


    ¡°I was trying to put all of this damn mess behind me and live a normal life!¡± Allirynn''s mother exclaimed. ¡°Why can''t you understand that?¡±


    Chaiya laughed. ¡°Dalliances with mortals never ends well. You know this. It''s happened countless times since the first mortal world was created.¡±


    Allirynn''s mother stared at her and couldn''t argue that it had ended well.


    ¡°It did end well this time.¡± I said and the three women turned to look at me. ¡°She might have lost her husband; but, he sacrificed himself to save her, her son, and the whole planet. You can''t tell me that wasn''t a good thing.¡±


    ¡°Her love died.¡± Chaiya said.


    ¡°As long as she and her son is alive, his love will always be inside of them.¡± I said. ¡°He will never truly be dead.¡±


    ¡°Then they must die and...¡± Grania started to say and then the world went white. Snow and ice covered everything within a hundred feet in an instant, then bolts of both Ice and Lightning shot out in a steady stream towards Grania. I added in my own Presence Lightning to the attacks and combined them, and everything hit the intended target. We stopped after a couple of minutes to recover our energy.


    ¡°Impressive.¡± Grania said and pushed the ice away with Presence. Part of her face was gone, one of her arms from the elbow down, and she had a dozen holes through her chest around the heart hole. ¡°I didn''t realize that these mortals were so fragile.¡±


    I felt another surge of Presence and all of the wounds filled in with Presence to take up the missing space, then it transformed into the missing body parts. Grania stood in front of us all with a completely reconstructed body.


    ¡°Let the grown ups handle this.¡± Chaiya said to us, then looked at Allirynn''s mother. ¡°Sister, you can have the first strike.¡±


    ¡°This isn''t a game, Chaiya! Just attack her!¡± Allirynn''s mother exclaimed and Chaiya sighed.


    ¡°You used to be more fun than this.¡± Chaiya said and then she moved. In a flash of light, she was across the distance and had formed Presence around her hand in the shape of a three foot long blade that looked just like a Light sword that glowed yellow. I was surprised by this, then really surprised when Grania did the same thing and a red blade popped out of her hand and caught Chaiya''s in a classic block.


    What the hell? I asked myself as they started to dodge and parry blows. They fought like... well, mortals. I had expected large fiery blasts of energy when divine beings fought, not a standard Light sword duel. We all tried to watch the fight; but, some of us couldn''t keep up with how fast they moved. I could feel them moving and even I had a hard time keeping my eyes on them.


    I could also feel both of their Presences lower slightly as they fought. They are slowly wearing away at their Presence reserves. I thought and remembered plunging my mother''s Light sword into Grania''s heart and didn''t feel any of her Presence being lost. I had to think about why that was as I watched the fight, then I realized why. I had attuned the focusing crystal to my new Presence but I hadn''t been channelling any of it through the crystal and into the blade. I had only used the blade''s inherent Presence and didn''t enhance it at all.


    Such a rookie mistake. I thought and shook my head mentally. No wonder she wasn''t worried at all when I activated the Light sword. She knew I couldn''t hurt her with it like it was!


    The fight raged on and we all stood there in silence as they moved through the thick layer of ice and snow as if it wasn''t there. The heat of the land started to melt it and Imiryl used it as a chance to catch Grania with several ice spikes. It made her steps falter as they pierced her feet and Chaiya swiped with her Presence Light sword and lopped off Grania''s upper arm. It flipped through the air and landed not far away from us, so I used a Presence Hand to pick it up and tucked it into the snow and covered it in Presence to hide it from both sight and feeling.


    Grania started to create another arm and Chaiya smiled as she tried to go in for the kill. Grania smiled back and brought up her other hand and shoved a Presence Light sword into Chaiya''s belly.


    ¡°GAH!¡± Chaiya grunted and pulled back. Both blood and Presence leaked out of her wound.


    ¡°Arrogance is so easy to manipulate.¡± Grania said and stuck out her tongue, then she licked the blood and Presence on her blade. ¡°Mmm. Presence from a newborn. Thank you, Chaiya.¡±


    Chaiya''s face lost some of its color. ¡°S-sister!¡±


    Allirynn''s mother was suddenly there and touched Chaiya''s shoulder and healed her instantly.


    ¡°Together.¡± Chaiya said and Allirynn''s mother nodded and formed her own Presence Light sword from her hand. The two women took fighting stances for a moment, then they attacked. Chaiya went high and Allirynn''s mother went low. Grania had predicted that and had a Presence Light sword ready to block both. She hadn''t spared the energy to convert her lost arm, so it was just see-through energy, just like the Presence Light sword it held.


    Chaiya turned and swung her sword at Grania''s left side and Allirynn''s mother swung at her right side. Grania slipped backwards a foot and both swords missed her by an inch and she lunged with her swords aimed at their faces. Both women ducked and Grania jumped into the air and put her knees into their bent over faces. The sound of bones breaking reverberated as both women recoiled with spurts of blood from their noses.


    Grania didn''t give them time to recover, however. Her blades struck out at their shoulders and they tried to avoid it, which put them at another disadvantage, and Grania kicked Allirynn''s mother in the chest to push her away and then shoved both blades at Chaiya''s legs. She avoided one and the other grazed the side of her thigh. Chaiya dropped to one knee and hissed as Presence and blood came from the wound. She covered it in Presence and staunched the bleeding and stopped the leak, then she blocked Grania''s strike towards her head with her sword and used a hand to catch the second one.


    Chaiya grunted at the pain as her hand sizzled. She tried to do the same trick that Grania had done to my Light sword. Grania laughed and let the blade go to let it dissolve and punched her in the face. I felt a familiar tingle as another Presence made itself known, so I closed my eyes. The negotiations began and lasted for only a second.


    ¡°AAGGHHHH!¡± Chaiya screamed in pain as her previously broken nose was shattered. Her Presence Light sword dissolved and she covered her face with both hands.


    ¡°YES!¡± Grania yelled and swung her sword at Chaiya''s exposed neck. The smash and hum of another Light sword as it caught and deflected her strike surprised her. ¡°What...¡±


    ¡°I may hate how she treats her subjects; but, I can''t let her be killed and leave her followers empty and destitute.¡± My mouth said with god''s voice. My mangled hand was healed and it held a blue Presence Light sword.


    ¡°YOU!¡± Grania yelled and swung her Presence Light sword at me.


    I caught it with a Presence Hand and smiled. ¡°Not just him.¡± I said and yanked on the sword. I knew she wouldn''t let it go right away, not with an opposing Light sword ready to strike at her, so I pulled her off balance and my right hand with the Presence Light sword swiped at her hand. She formed another Light sword on her Presence formed hand and blocked her normal hand from being cut off. When she started to let the sword I held go, I quickly turned it around and shoved it into her side.


    Grania grunted as it sliced into her and she lost both the Presence from creating the sword and from the wound. She covered the wound with Presence and reached out with her free hand to grab me, so I stepped back and she looked at me with a grin as I gave her room.


    ¡°You''re afraid of me now.¡± Grania said, her voice full of satisfaction.


    ¡°No, I''m making room.¡± I said and decided that this was the time to use my trump card. I used Presence to open the four secret pockets I had installed into the upper arms and outside the thighs on my uniform and slid out all four of my remaining custom Light swords. I activated them and charged them with Presence, then plunged all four of them into her chest.


    Grania started to scream in pain when Allirynn''s mother chose the perfect opportunity to attack. She lunged by me and her Presence Light sword sliced through Grania''s forehead and the top of her head fell off.


    ¡°UUUGGGGAHHHHHH!¡± Grania screamed bloody murder and jumped away to try and recover from the worst damage she had ever received.


    ¡°Oh, no you don''t.¡± My mouth said with god''s voice as a giant Presence Hand appeared behind her. I pulled the four Light swords out of her and spurts of blood and Presence came out as the giant hand caught her.


    ¡°Chaiya! NOW¡± Allirynn''s mother yelled.


    Chaiya flew over with her face covered in blood and hatred. She didn''t speak as her Light sword cut through both the giant Presence Hand''s fingers and sliced Grania''s legs off at the top of her thighs. I felt the damage from the Presence Hand being cut and god accept the damage instead of giving it to me. The giant Presence Hand dissolved and Grania fell to the ground in a heap.


    ¡°I''ll... make you all... pay!¡± Grania spat. She tried to form her legs with Presence and both Allirynn''s mother and Chaiya were there to cut them off as they formed. ¡°ARGH! I''ll kill you for that!¡±


    ¡°That''s a hollow threat.¡± My mouth said as I walked over to her. I turned off the Light swords and tucked them back into their hidden pockets. ¡°There''s someone I want you meet, now that we''ve weakened you enough for her to appear.¡±


    A solid black ball of energy appeared beside me and my right hand reached into it. It expanded out to the size of a person and my right hand came back out... and it held a very pale white hand. Everyone gasped as a vision of deathly beauty stepped out and the black ball of energy shrank and disappeared. Her long flowing black hair was as eye-catching as her startlingly intelligent eyes.


    ¡°N-no...¡± Grania''s voice was barely above a whisper.


    ¡°You have evaded me for far too long.¡± Black Laura said and looked at the others and then at me. ¡°Dearest, you should...¡±


    ¡°No, I will watch.¡± My mouth said and a Presence barrier appeared around us to block everyone else from seeing. ¡°No one else needs to, though.¡±


    ¡°You are always so kind and forgiving.¡± Black Laura said, then she turned to Grania on the ground. ¡°Let me show you why I am called Black Laura.¡±


    ¡°N-no. NO!¡± Grania shouted and tried to squirm away.


    Black Laura knelt and touched her.


    ¡°No, please...¡± Grania pleaded.


    ¡°You have killed too many souls.¡± Black Laura said. ¡°The scales must be balanced.¡±


    I felt something similar to what the Forest guide had done to me and part of Black Laura''s Presence stabbed into Grania''s Presence and started to suck it in.


    ¡°Noooo... noooooooo...¡± Grania''s words fell away as her Presence grew weaker and weaker. She tried to exit the body she was inhabiting; but, Black Laura had latched onto her Presence and not the Presence in the body. It took a few minutes for her to drain the last of Grania''s energy, and the body in front of us shrivelled up like a prune and then crumbled into dust.


    Black Laura stood and looked at Allirynn''s mother and Chaiya. ¡°Thank you for taking the lead and making her drain more of her stolen power.¡±


    ¡°You helped me once and didn''t ask for anything, so I am only returning the favor.¡± Chaiya said and then smiled. ¡°Plus, I managed to gain a foothold here myself and gained from it, so we both benefited.¡±


    Black Laura nodded and looked at Allirynn''s mother. ¡°You are always welcome to return.¡±


    ¡°My life is here... was here...¡± Allirynn''s mother said. ¡°I don''t know what''s going to happen now.¡±


    ¡°Spend time with your son and see where things develop from there.¡± Black Laura said. ¡°We are here whenever you need us.¡±


    Allirynn''s mother nodded and Black Laura turned to me and took my right hand.


    ¡°Dearest, thank you most of all for making all of this possible.¡± Black Laura said and leaned in close.


    ¡°Um... he''s only using my right arm.¡± I said, a little awkwardly.


    ¡°I know.¡± Black Laura smiled crookedly. ¡°I was thanking you, too.¡± She said and kissed me.


    Being kissed by a goddess was quite an experience.


    My Presence responded and it rushed to meet hers. She moaned a little into my mouth as my body responded to her centuries of kissing experience and my Presence and hers mingled together a little. I felt her try to restrain herself and not give in to her impulses, and I had to admit that was very flattering. My left hand snaked around her and slid up her back to embrace her properly and she did the same with her free hand. We stayed like that and made out for nearly a full minute before Chaiya coughed loudly.


    ¡°We need to go.¡± Chaiya said. ¡°Our leeway of non-interference unless necessary has disappeared.¡±


    Black Laura reluctantly broke the kiss and looked into my eyes. ¡°I will wait for you until your time has come.¡± She said in a soft voice. ¡°Then I will claim you and you will be mine for eternity.¡±


    I blinked my eyes at her for a moment, then I understood what she meant. ¡°When my long life is done, I will await your appearance. If at that time, you are still enamoured with me, I will be more than happy to be with you.¡±


    Black Laura liked that I had received her subtle hint. ¡°It''s a date.¡± She said and a black orb of energy appeared beside me. My right hand, that still held hers, moved into it and expanded it out to full size.


    ¡°Until then.¡± I said and she walked into the solid black portal. My hand came out and the energy shrank and disappeared.


    ¡°Goodbye, sister.¡± Chaiya said to Allirynn''s mother then she turned and glanced at me. She gave me a look that I couldn''t read and then she disappeared into a ball of light.


    I absorbed the Presence barrier around us and everyone ran over.


    ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Where''s Grania?¡± ¡°Where are Evangeline and that other woman?¡± Several people asked at once.


    Allirynn''s mother held up a hand to stop their questions and she looked at Allirynn. ¡°We need to talk.¡±


    ¡°If you ask for privacy, I will refuse.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°You have seen what my friends are willing to do.¡± He said. ¡°They fought a goddess for us, Mother.¡±


    Allirynn''s mother looked at our faces, some expectant and others, like mine, showed acceptance. ¡°Very well.¡± She said and waved her hand. The house and everything that had been destroyed was instantly repaired and restored to what it had been before.


    ¡°It was all Presence constructs.¡± I said and looked around with my Detect Presence technique, now that the blinding source was gone. ¡°That''s why there was only a blast wave with sound and pressure and no actual debris except sand.¡±


    Allirynn''s mother nodded. ¡°Please, sit.¡± She said and enough chairs appeared for everyone. ¡°This may take a while.¡±


    ¡°Afyne, give me a hand with some food.¡± I said and stood. ¡°We''ll cook while you talk.¡±


    Allirynn''s mother smiled and nodded, so Afyne and I went to the kitchen and made a meal for everyone, while Allirynn''s mother told us all about what had happened. About her being a goddess and adventuring as a mortal for fun, until she met Allirynn''s father. She told us of their love story, spending many years together as husband and wife, and then about her giving up her divine rights to become mortal and her husband retired. They soon had Allirynn and were happy as ever. A few years later, the word of evil rising up to take over the land reached them.


    Allirynn''s mother held everyone''s attention as she spoke of her husband, how he had sacrificed his home life to become an adventurer again to go and fight this great evil, that he had defeated it somehow and it disappeared, and how he never returned. She had raised Allirynn all alone and then she told of how he needed to learn how to fight. Without weapons.


    ¡°You''re a unique class, too?¡± Afyne asked Allirynn as we put the plates of food on a huge table that had appeared for the purpose. He nodded and they all came over to the table and sat down to eat. We all shared a nice meal as Allirynn''s mother continued her story of his training and clearing out the creatures from the surrounding area. When she reached the part about his coming of age, Allirynn interrupted and put a hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°I''ll take over here.¡± Allirynn said and he told his side of the encounter. His mother had tears in her eyes when he finished with being kicked out of the house without any idea of what he was going to do to live.


    ¡°I... had to do it.¡± His mother said in her defense. ¡°If he was out in the world, I couldn''t appear anywhere with him. Everyone would have recognized me.¡±


    ¡°From your adventuring days.¡± I said and she nodded.


    ¡°I was afraid that old grudges against me would surface and they would hold it against Allirynn and treat him appropriately, or inappropriately.¡± Allirynn''s mother said. ¡°I never suspected that he was being targeted for just that reason, except by another divine being and not an adventurer.¡±


    ¡°Which was why you never contacted him and he never contacted you.¡± I said, and both Allirynn and his mother nodded.


    ¡°At first it was because I was busy adventuring.¡± Allirynn said. ¡°Then I was attacked by that mangled face man and I couldn''t take the chance that they would use my mother against me.¡±


    ¡°Now, here we are.¡± Allirynn''s mother said and looked at us all. ¡°The world saved, the people protected, and I barely did anything.¡±


    ¡°Mother.¡± Allirynn said and took her hand. ¡°You gave everything up. For me.¡± He said. ¡°It''s not your fault that Grania corrupted some of your followers.¡±


    His mother wanted to protest, then she saw me smile. ¡°You have something to say?¡±


    ¡°You didn''t notice that Grania hadn''t corrupted all of your followers?¡± I asked. ¡°Only certain ones. Only those vulnerable to either dark thoughts or dark impulses.¡±


    Everyone looked at me and I chuckled.


    ¡°Look, you can tease and entice people with a lot of things; but, maiming, torturing, and killing is not something that an average person is willing to look at, let alone actually commit against other people.¡± I said. ¡°No, these people were on the brink anyway. I doubt there was even a lot of convincing needed, considering the things I saw in some of their minds.¡±


    Everyone seemed to agree to that, even Allirynn and his mother. We sat in silence for several minutes.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Afyne asked.


    ¡°The only thing we can do, of course.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°We attend Allirynn and Imiryl''s wedding.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Allirynn''s mother exclaimed.


    ¡°Your little boy has grown up.¡± I said and motioned to him. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°It was supposed to be a surprise.¡± Allirynn said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°It was a surprise.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Hurry up! She''s waiting!¡±


    Allirynn turned his head to look at Imiryl and saw her face was flushed red and full of expectation. ¡°I... love you.¡± He said and moved his chair out and knelt on one knee in front of her. ¡°We''ve been through so much and we''ve been there for each other through it all.¡± He took her hand tenderly. ¡°If it wasn''t for you, I never would have been able to deal with what happened.¡±


    ¡°M-me, t-too.¡± Imiryl said, tears in her eyes.


    ¡°Imiryl.¡± Allirynn said in a deeper voice as he took out something from his bag of holding. ¡°Will you become my other half?¡± He asked and held up a ring with a dark green stone embedded into the surface. It gleamed with mana and reflected light.


    ¡°A bonding ring!¡± Diofra exclaimed excitedly.


    ¡°Allirynn...¡± Imiryl started to say and he took out the matching ring for himself. ¡°...are you sure?¡±


    ¡°As sure as I am that I never want to leave your side.¡± Allirynn said. Imiryl gave a slight nod and he slipped the ring onto the appropriate finger and she took the other and slipped it on his finger. Both rings fit perfectly and nearly everyone cheered. His mother looked upon them with approval.


    The wedding happened a week later. It took several trips to nearby towns to gather the supplies needed for it and then shopping for the right clothing for everyone else. Maylia, Afyne and I had more than enough fancy outfits for ourselves and we just had to wait for the others. Not a lot of people could travel all the way across the world in such a short time, so most sent messages of congratulations and well wishes. It was a great event and everyone had a great time dancing and carrying on. Near the end of the night, Allirynn''s mother managed to get me alone on the dance floor.


    ¡°Hunter, thank you for taking care of my boy.¡±


    ¡°I''m just glad it all worked out.¡± I said as we slowly waltzed. ¡°It wasn''t a great start when we first met.¡±


    ¡°You are why he is still here, so I can never repay...¡±


    ¡°You did your best during the fight and disabled Grania at just the right moment.¡± I said. ¡°I''d say that''s payment enough, wouldn''t you?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I...¡± Allirynn''s mother took a breath and let it out. ¡°My abilities are not what they once were, but...¡±


    ¡°No, thank you.¡± I said. ¡°If your mind is set to give me something, then I''ll ask you to give me the next twenty years of your life.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± She looked at me like I was asking for the world and her thoughts were the same.


    I smiled. ¡°For the next twenty years, I want you to become the perfect mother.¡± I said. ¡°Neither Allirynn nor Imiryl have any real experience with what it''s like to be married. They are going to need you and your expertise. If they have children, you will become the perfect grandmother instead.¡±


    ¡°You aren''t asking for much.¡± She said.


    ¡°Only devotion to your family.¡± I said. ¡°Can you give me that?¡±


    Allirynn''s mother stared into my eyes until the song ended. ¡°I can see why he likes you.¡±


    ¡°It''s the color-changing eyes.¡± I joked. ¡°Everyone likes my eyes.¡±


    The music started up with another slow song and we started to waltz again. In the middle of the song, she nodded in agreement. We finished the dance and the people playing music said that there was one more dance. I led her over to her son and took Maylia and Afyne back onto the dance floor. I picked Afyne up and propped her up on my hip, just like my old guardian Emari used to do, then we both danced a waltz with Maylia.


    The end?


    The Epilogue is next.

 Book Two: The Summoned - Epilogue

    It was almost seven hundred years later when I laid Maylia to rest. She had grown old over the last hundred years of her life. Her skin wrinkled and her hair turned grey, and I loved her just as much as I had when she was just barely a hundred years old. I stood above her grave and my heart and mind grieved for her as my tears flowed unhindered.


    Beside and behind me, were our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, and so on and so forth. It was a family gathering unlike any other to have ever appeared on any planet. It worked out to be six generations of elves with the seventh generation just about to be born, and over forty generations of humans and mixed heritages. Males and females alike wore the looted weapons and armor that I never sold off and were magically maintained to never wear out.


    With the spells gained from the elves, we had even founded our own city and had grown our own buildings. As each new person was added to both friends and family, either being married in or were born in, the family grew almost exponentially and word of us had spread. The whole planet knew of us and some people came to see us and spend time with us. A few of them stayed and lived with us and others married and became part of the family. The world became a smaller place as each new person from other lands came and integrated into our way of life.


    ¡°Don''t worry, great-granddad.¡± Yamila said and rubbed my back. ¡°We''ll protect this world, just like you and great-grandma taught us.¡±


    ¡°You know, you look a lot like her.¡± I said, and she laughed at the old joke, as did nearly everyone there. Most of the elves looked alike and they had all inherited our slightly odd sense of humour.


    ¡°Father. It''s time.¡± A stern voice said and I turned away to look at my son. He was exactly my height and had my hair and slightly longer pointy ears, which were halfway between his mother''s elf ears and my shorter elf-like ears. His eyes were emerald green and his face was handsome, even as he tried to hide his anger.


    ¡°It''s all right, Malik.¡± I said and wiped my tears away. ¡°I promised your mother that I would only stay here for as long as she lived. She wanted me to leave centuries ago, as you well know.¡±


    ¡°Yes, father.¡± Malik said and held his tongue.


    ¡°You know I keep my word, so I need to go.¡± I said and took him into a hug. He resisted at first, then he relented and put his arms around me. He let out a single snuffle and wiped his tear away before anyone else noticed, then I let him go. ¡°Everyone will look to you, now.¡±


    ¡°I''ll do my best, father.¡±


    I smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. ¡°That''s all anyone can ever ask of you, my son.¡±


    ¡°Poppy! Poppy!¡± One of the young children yelled and I bent down on a knee to catch her as she jumped. ¡°Take me with you!¡±


    ¡°I''m so sorry, Casila.¡± I said and hugged her, then I kissed her cheek. She was so much like Afyne that it hurt my heart to hold her and not exclaim my love for her, even though she wasn''t the young woman I had loved so dearly. ¡°Where I''m going is not somewhere I can take a child.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Aww!¡± Casila pouted and gave me an almost perfect copy of Afyne''s puppy-dog eyes.


    ¡°Don''t worry. I''m sure Malik will take you out on one of his hunts soon.¡±


    ¡°YAY!¡± Casila yelled and hopped down and ran away.


    ¡°Father.¡± Malik almost cursed my name and I laughed.


    ¡°I told you that it''s all on you now.¡± I said and stood. ¡°Good luck.¡±


    Malik took a breath and let it out, then nodded.


    I stepped by him and into the prepared ritual circle. ¡°You do know I could do this by myself.¡±


    ¡°Why waste your energy if we''re here to do it for you this first time?¡± One of the women asked.


    I turned and looked at her. ¡°I think I''m going to miss seeing your beautiful face the most, Jasina.¡±


    ¡°Just look in a mirror, dad.¡± Jasina said and laughed. ¡°Do you have everything packed?¡±


    ¡°I hope so.¡± I said and pat the various bags of holding I had around my belt. ¡°I can''t come back if I forgot anything.¡±


    ¡°Don''t be so silly. You can always come back.¡± Jasina said.


    ¡°No.¡± I said and reached out and caressed her face. ¡°This is your world and your life. I need to get back to my own.¡±


    ¡°Daaaad.¡± Jasina complained at the tender touch; but, she didn''t push my hand away or move her face back. We had all said our tearful goodbyes the night before and no words were left to be said, except one.


    ¡°Goodbye.¡± I said and let her face go.


    A few moments later, the ritual circle underneath me lit up. I turned and looked at all of the faces around me and the weight of what Maylia, Afyne, and I had built eased from my shoulders. I was leaving this world in good hands. I nodded to everyone and the ritual finished powering up.


    *


    There was an immediate outcry of sorrow as the man who had built everything left them in a flash of bright light.


    Malik held in his own anguish, like his father wanted him to, and floated up into the air to get everyone''s attention. ¡°Everyone, he''s depending on us, just like we depended on him.¡± He said. ¡°It''s up to us now.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to take his place?¡± Someone asked.


    Malik knew this was coming, so he laughed. It surprised a few of them. ¡°Me? Replace father? You''re joking!¡± He looked at their faces. ¡°No, I can''t ever be like him. I won''t be him. He was one of a kind and no one will ever replace him.¡±


    Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.


    ¡°All I can do is try my best to lead us where I believe he would want us to go.¡± Malik said. ¡°With all of us working together, there''s nothing in this world that can stand against what he built.¡±


    Everyone nodded their heads again and this time there were sporadic shouts of encouragement.


    ¡°I''d like a meeting with the family heads to discuss the orck menace and what we can do to head off their latest attempt to gain a foothold against the population.¡±


    ¡°Stupid orcks!¡± Someone shouted. ¡°If it wasn''t for them, we could have declared peace already!¡±


    Malik laughed. ¡°If you think it''s the orcks stopping that, you need to visit Third Nogam Kingdom. The king there is a right bastard and rules with an iron thumb.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps we can help.¡± A woman''s voice said.


    The crowd parted to reveal a small party of people with a woman in the lead.


    ¡°I''m sorry we just missed Hunter leaving.¡± Allirynn''s mother said. ¡°I''ve always meant to repay him for what he asked me to do centuries ago.¡±


    Allirynn laughed beside her. ¡°You''ve said that every time we came to see him.¡±


    She shrugged and looked back at Malik. ¡°Hunter has always said that we didn''t need to help and we should live our lives as normally as possible. Well, now that he''s left, it''s time my family and I help his family.¡±


    Malik floated down and landed in front of her, then bowed to her. ¡°I believe this is what he meant when he told me to do the best that I could.¡±


    ¡°No, it''s when he told you ''good luck''.¡± Imiryl said from beside her husband. ¡°He knew us well.¡±


    That made a few people laugh and Malik smiled.


    ¡°Please, join us as we discuss things.¡± Malik said and waved at the nearby building.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Allirynn''s mother said and they all walked over to the building. ¡°I have a descendant that you may take an interest in.¡±


    ¡°By the heavens, mother.¡± Allirynn sighed. ¡°At least wait until we are behind closed doors before you try to marry off my granddaughter.¡±


    His mother laughed the laugh of a woman who always gets her way.

 Book Three: The Resolution 001

    As the light faded, I appeared in a darkened room with an empty video camera that was aimed at a table that had a broken and battered headless body on it. My old body. The man with the machete was wiping it off on the body''s shirt and none of the men in the room had noticed the light. I pulled a Light sword hilt from one of my hidden pockets and turned it on. The three men turned when they heard the hum of the energy blade and stared at the bright blue light. I grinned at their shock and cut the three of them down in an instant.


    It took me three hours to go through their safe house and kill them all, after making sure that the video of me being killed had already been uploaded. I also managed to retrieve the names and addresses of all the other places that my old self had been to when I was kidnapped. In less than a week, all of the places had been cleared and the kidnappers and torturers were killed. I even went so far as to go after the tour company representative that had received a payout for the video that they had made for the news. After a sufficient scare that made him admit that it was only him involved, I killed him, too. He had given the kidnapper the information on the tour bus and needed to die.


    With that task done, I started to walk outside and I felt the invisible sapling on the top of my head react. I took it off my head, made it visible, and knew that I could use it as a divining rod to find out where it needed to be placed, since it had come from one.


    I never imagined that it would be on Earth. I thought and then laughed. All those years I wasted walking around Maylia''s planet and it didn''t want to be planted anywhere!


    I had the distinct feeling that the spot was very far away, so I went to the nearest airport and held the plant up to the destination board. I stood there and waited for it to find where it would want to go. I didn''t try to influence it at all, and I could almost feel the sapling''s appreciation for my patience. People stared at me and a few people laughed and pointed. I had my super long hair done up into a double folded ponytail, to keep it out of the way, and it looked like I was wearing a short cape made of hair. I had been used to it for centuries that I hadn''t tried to hide it using Presence.


    When the destination boards rotated and showed places back to the country where I used to live, I let out a bark of laughter when the sapling reacted. Several people were startled by my laugh and thought I was some kind of madman that was offering a plant up to the sky. I ignored them and looked at the first flight that was leaving, a red-eye overnight flight, and I walked over to where the gate was. I slipped behind a magazine display and covered myself in Presence and activated my Hide and Stealth techniques, then walked by the person boarding people.


    I felt a little bad that I was hitching a ride without paying; but, there was no way I was trusting anyone in this flea-ridden country to convert a gold coin into proper currency. I''d do it once I got ''back'' to civilization and I would buy a ticket on the same airline to come back here. I wouldn''t take it, of course. I would be just paying for this flight. Mind you, I could probably just sit on the outside of the plane and cover myself in a protective barrier. I wanted to sit in comfort though, so I put the seedling back on the top of my head and sat down in one of the seats at the very back of the plane.


    The plane was nearly full and the flight was going to be about seven or so hours long. I meditated the entire time. When we landed, I waited until most of the passengers had left before leaving myself. I had been invisible the whole time, so no one knew I was there. I left the airport and dismissed my stealth technique and went to the nearest town. I walked casually, since I wasn''t really in a rush, and found a respectable bank. I quickly changed into the closest thing I had to a business suit and didn''t bother trying to hide my mass of hair that looked like a short cape. That way, I looked like some exotic foreigner, and I stood in line. Everyone stared at me, especially the security guards, and I waited for an available teller. I approached the counter and spoke.


    ¡°Miss, I''d like to speak to someone about converting some gold into cash.¡±


    The young woman stared at me and I could tell that she didn''t know what to do.


    ¡°You can call over the manager and let him make the decision.¡± I said with a beaming smile and she took in a sharp breath.


    ¡°Y-y-yes, that... is a good idea.¡± The young woman said and left her seat. She walked over to a large office off to the side and knocked, spoke to the man, then they both came over to me.


    ¡°Ms. Smith tells me that you wish to initiate a commodities trade?¡± The manager asked me.


    ¡°Is that what''s required?¡± I asked, slightly confused. ¡°I thought I could just trade gold for the current market value, minus an appropriate conversion rate of course, then I could get cash in exchange.¡±


    ¡°That is a commodities trade, I''m afraid.¡± The man said. ¡°May I ask what amount of gold would you be trading?¡±


    ¡°Just a few coins to pay for a plane ticket.¡± I said and took out a handful of gold coins and stacked them on the counter. The entire bank full of people stopped and looked over at the solid thunks of the coins as they hit the counter and clinked together.


    ¡°What... is the quality?¡± The man asked, very surprised at the weight of gold in front of him. Each coin was the size of a dollar coin and there were no markings. The young woman had stopped breathing and stared at the pile of gold and then at my face.


    ¡°As far as I can tell, it''s 99% pure.¡± I said and handed him one. It was quite heavy and he caught it before he dropped it.


    ¡°Oh, my.¡± The man said. He glanced at the young woman and placed the coin back on the stack. ¡°Normally, the bank won''t handle such transactions; but, perhaps we could work out a personal trade and I will buy the coins from you.¡±


    I pretended to think about it. ¡°I guess it wouldn''t hurt to discuss it.¡±


    The man smiled and motioned to his office, so I picked up my coins and followed him to the office. He shut the door and pulled the shades on his office windows to block off the rest of the bank from looking in, then he sat down behind the desk.


    ¡°Do you know the current value of gold?¡±


    ¡°The last time I checked, it was just over twelve hundred dollars an ounce.¡± I said, and I felt the man''s disappointment. ¡°However, I don''t plan on a personal exchange to be so lopsided in my favor. I''m sure that a thousand an ounce would be more reasonable.¡±


    The man''s disappointment vanished as he smiled. ¡°That would be quite reasonable. Quite reasonable, indeed.¡± He said and picked up the phone. He asked for a scale, both normal and heavy if they were available, then he hung up and spoke to someone in harsh whispers. I could easily hear him and decided to let him think that I couldn''t as I walked around his office and looked at the various pictures on the walls. The manager asked for several investors from the bank partners and quickly got approval.


    The office door opened and the security guard brought in a small digital scale. ¡°It can handle up to ten pounds accurately.¡± The man said and left.


    ¡°May I see one of the coins again?¡± The manager asked and I handed him one of the coins. He put it on the scale and the digital readout said it was a minuscule amount over one ounce. ¡°The others as well?¡±


    I handed each coin over and they were exactly the same. I could have told him that if he asked.


    ¡°Well, that is remarkable for completely unmarked coins.¡± The manager said and eyed the stack. ¡°Would you be willing to part with all ten of them?¡±


    He would make well over three thousand dollars, at least, so I teased him a little.


    ¡°Maybe just five? I''m not sure I''ll need more money than that.¡± I said and the man''s hands crimped a little and he tried to hide his anxiety. ¡°Then again... I won''t really need gold where I''m going, so...¡± I took out another handful and stacked ten more coins next to the first stack, then added another.


    The man''s face showed completely unfiltered joy. ¡°That would be delightful.¡±


    He left the office, almost at a run, and came back several minutes later. He had something like a velcro money pouch and opened it up with a tearing sound. It unfolded like a tri-fold wallet and inside were three stacks of bills. He took them out and counted ten thousand dollars and put one stack back, then did it again and again, folded the money pouch closed and slid it across the table to me.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°I hope this is acceptable.¡± The manager said and slipped his business card into the side of the pouch.


    I smiled and took the pouch and tucked it into my inside breast pocket. ¡°More than acceptable.¡± I said. ¡°Thank you for helping me, despite the bank''s policy.¡±


    The manager''s eyes were aglow with mirth as he slipped the coins into his desk drawer. ¡°That''s why we always have a bit more leeway when dealing with things like this on a personal level. I had been tempted to contact a friend of mine and set up a commodities trade account for you; but, you seemed to be in a rush and I doubt you would want to wait a week for everything to be set up.¡±


    ¡°A week?¡± I chuckled and stood. ¡°I didn''t even want to stand in line for half an hour!¡±


    The manager laughed and stood as well. ¡°I hope you have a great day, sir.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and I left the office. When I walked by the tellers, I stopped and took out a silver coin, walked over to the teller I had spoken to before. ¡°Here''s a keepsake.¡± I said and gave it to her. ¡°It''s pure silver.¡±


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± The young woman said and held it as if it was as precious as the gold coins were.


    I nodded and left the bank and walked back to the airport. I went over to the local destination board this time and waited. I watched the board as it flicked through all the local destinations and felt a pang when a town I didn''t know appeared.


    ¡°You want to go there, huh?¡± I asked the invisible sapling on my head and felt a definite affirmative. I walked over to the ticket counter and bought two tickets. One was for a trip back to the other country I had hitched a ride on without paying, and another to go to the town the seedling liked.


    ¡°Sir, both of these flights are leaving within an hour of each other.¡± The woman behind the counter said. She was also surprised that I didn''t have any baggage.


    ¡°That''s okay. I won''t be taking that one.¡± I said and pointed to the first ticket.


    ¡°Then why did you buy it?¡± The woman asked and handed them to me.


    ¡°I owed the airline the money.¡± I said and tore the first ticket in half. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The woman stared at me as I walked towards the departure gate I would be leaving through. I didn''t want to deal with security, even though I could easily trick the scanners with Presence, so I used Stealth and slipped by them. I waited around for two hours at the right gate and then handed in my ticket at the counter when they called for boarding passengers.


    The woman there gave me a genuine smile as she handed me back the stub. ¡°Please enjoy your flight.¡±


    ¡°With a warm smile like that, how could I not?¡± I asked and her face flushed red. I gave her a smile in return and walked down the boarding tube to the plane in the line with the other passengers. The stewardess that was supposed to greet me froze in shock at the site of me. I held in my laugh at her thoughts and looked through the plane to find my seat. I pointed to my ticket stub and walked by her without a word and went right to my seat.


    I ignored the other passengers reactions and took several breaths and shifted my attention to my constant semi-meditative state. I could feel the traces of Presence around me and my body constantly cycled it through to keep myself healthy and fit. I still needed to eat occasionally to get the nutrients that I couldn''t get otherwise, and for the taste.


    I need to stop at a fast food place. I thought and shifted my attention back to my conscious state. I haven''t had a hamburger in ages!


    During the flight, the stewardess that I had shocked by my appearance had gathered up the courage to approach me. She was actually supposed to be in the first class cabin and had switched shifts with her friend to see me. I thought that was endearing, considering how much harder it was dealing with the normal and usually unruly passengers.


    ¡°Sir, can I get you anything?¡± The woman asked, her voice full of hope and her mind full of other things.


    ¡°How long is your layover at our destination, Diana?¡± I asked her and she caught her breath.


    ¡°S-s-six h-hours.¡± She said, shakily.


    ¡°That should be plenty of time.¡± I said and gave her a huge smile. Her heart fluttered and beat oddly in her chest. I reached out and took her hand and she gripped it with a hidden strength. I ran my Presence through her and found the slight heart arrhythmia. I touched it with my Presence Healing and her face changed from apprehensive hope to happiness.


    ¡°I''ll be right back with a magazine and a drink for you.¡± Diana said, her voice now steady and full of confidence.


    ¡°I would appreciate that.¡± I said and let her hand go. ¡°Thank you for taking care of me.¡±


    ¡°Miss! I''d like a magazine and a drink, too!¡± A woman said from the next aisle.


    ¡°I''ll be right back with the cart.¡± Diana said happily and left.


    *


    For the first time in as long as Diana could remember, the passengers in the general section weren''t making a ruckus. They treated her with respect and didn''t cause problems. The absolutely gorgeous man she had met when he boarded the plane was in that section and she had traded her lucrative first class position to see him again. She didn''t expect anything to happen, except to maybe admire him and to memorize as much of him as she could, so that she could fantasize about him later. It was also the first time that she regretted that it was only a short flight of a few hours.


    When the gorgeous man had spoken her name and asked her how long she would be on layover, her whole body had vibrated and she could barely speak. She couldn''t believe it. When he said it would be plenty of time, she almost had a heart attack. Could it really be happening now? She felt the familiar pressure building in her chest and then the man took her hand. She felt the tingles and worried she would have a massive heart attack right there on the plane, then she realized that if she could spend the last few moments of her life with him, then it wouldn''t be so bad.


    The pressure in her chest miraculously disappeared as if it never existed and she felt such relief that she couldn''t help but let her face show it. She quickly got the cart and handed magazines and soft drinks out to everyone that wanted them. She didn''t even ask for their credit cards and handed everything out as if it was free. By the time the flight was nearing the destination, every person in her section were happy and had enjoyed their flight immensely. She walked around with the cart again and gathered up the magazines and empty cans and bottles.


    The last place Diana stopped was beside the man who was going to be her... date? Liaison? Fancy dalliance? The thoughts made her laugh. She had never done anything like this before, despite all of the offers and the opportunities. She wouldn''t even date the pilots, that way she could always act professional at work and she never had to compromise her morals for a bit of naughty fun at work.


    As if he had read her mind, while she took the magazine and the empty bottle from him, he told her that he hadn''t eaten in a long time and would like to take her out for dinner. She agreed and said that she just had to change her clothes. She always brought a small personal suitcase of clothing, just in case the layovers were longer than they normally were. She was about to walk away when he caught her hand and discretely shoved something into it.


    ¡°For all the drinks.¡± He whispered to her and let her hand go.


    Diana had completely forgotten that she would have to pay for it all. She nodded to him and tucked the money into her pocket as she left with the cart. She took it back to the galley and then tallied up everything. She nearly had another heart attack when she had the final total. One drink or two, you barely notice the cost. When it was a hundred or so? It was definitely noticeable. She held in her sigh as she pulled out the money her gorgeous soon-to-be date had given her.


    It''s probably just a handful of ones. Diana thought and unfolded it, then she gasped. Hundreds! He gave me a pile of hundred dollar bills! She counted them out and it was over a thousand dollars. She took several deep breaths and tried to calm down. Okay. Okay. I must be dreaming. She closed her eyes and her hands closed on the money. No, it''s real. He really gave me twelve hundred dollars for soft drinks!


    Diana calmed down a few minutes later and took the money needed to pay for the beverages, which was just under four hundred dollars, and she put the rest of the money in her pocket. She would give him the money back when she could do it without looking suspicious.


    The plane landed and taxied to the terminal and she did her job of thanking the passengers for flying with them. Each and every one of her passengers thanked her in return for one of the best flights they had ever been on. The service and friendliness had been top notch and they complimented her on doing such a great job. Diana had been flabbergasted at the outpouring of praise. She was so shocked by it, that when the last passenger to leave the plane was her gorgeous soon-to-be date, she thanked him as if he was a normal passenger.


    ¡°I''ll wait in the lounge for you.¡± The man said as he shook her hand, and she was surprised when the other stewardesses didn''t react to his words. He walked away and she turned to her friend.


    ¡°I''m heading off to get changed.¡± Diana said to her and her friend laughed.


    ¡°It''s only a six hour layover.¡± Her friend said. ¡°Why change when you have to change back for the return flight?¡±


    Diana hesitated for only a second and then she spoke. ¡°I have a date.¡±


    Her friend''s mouth dropped open in shock. ¡°Oh. My. GOD!¡± She yelled. ¡°Who is it? WHO?¡±


    Diana and the other stewardesses laughed at her reaction.


    ¡°It''s a secret!¡± Diana said and ran to grab her bag, then she ran by them and out the door. ¡°Bye!¡±


    ¡°Get back here and tell me!¡± Her friend yelled and shook her fist at her, and everyone laughed again.


    Diana ducked into the crew section of the airport after having her bag checked for contraband, then she pulled out one of her favorite dresses. She usually saved it for going out with the girls and for showing off her figure, so she hoped that he would appreciate the effort she was going through. She snorted a laugh at the thought of a man noticing how hard a woman worked to get ready. She changed and styled her brownish-blonde shoulder length hair a little, added touches of makeup on her cheeks to cover a slight blemish, added a thin line of eye shadow, then used a black pencil eyeliner to draw around her eyes.


    Diana blinked her eyes and decided to add two swishes of eyelash extender and thickener, nodded at her stunning reflection, then stuffed her bag into the locker she always used when she was there. She put the man''s money into a small clutch purse that matched her dress, then slipped her feet into slightly heeled shoes and left at a fast walk. She crossed the crew area and entered the airport and went to the large lounge to look for him. She was a bit worried that she would have to waste time trying to find him among all of the people there, then she saw him.


    He stood alone near the entrance to the lounge and there was a five foot area around him that no one else seemed able to cross into. No one paid him any attention and that surprised her. She took a shallow breath and walked into the lounge and over to him. He gave her a huge smile and she returned it.


    ¡°You look stunning.¡± He said in his melodic voice and she felt a tingle go down her spine. ¡°Ready to go?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± Diana said and he put a hand behind her back and led her out of the lounge.

 Book Three: The Resolution 002 (Sponsored)

    Diana let the man lead her across the airport and out through the main doors and there was a limousine waiting for them. ¡°What... how...¡±


    ¡°I asked the bartender in the lounge for help.¡± The man said. ¡°You''d be surprised what someone can do in a short time with a lot of money on hand.¡±


    The driver opened the door and they climbed in. The limo pulled out a minute later.


    ¡°Oh! I almost forgot.¡± Diana said and took out the money he had given her. ¡°Your change.¡±


    The man chuckled and it was a pleasing sound to her. ¡°You can keep it.¡± He said. ¡°Or you can splurge again and buy beverages on your return flight.¡±


    Diana blushed. ¡°I can''t believe I did that without thinking about it.¡± She said. ¡°It just... I was happy and...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it''s hard not to spread that feeling.¡± The man said. ¡°It''s infectious.¡±


    Diana nodded and tucked the money back into her little clutch purse. ¡°I might buy them one drink.¡±


    The man laughed and she let the sound wash over her. She closed her eyes and leaned into him and he put his arm around her shoulders. She felt good like this, despite not knowing the man or anything about him. When doubts started to pop into her head, his other hand reached up and touched her chin and turned her head to look at him.


    ¡°My name is Hunter.¡± He said. ¡°I''ve been around a long time. I lived in this country for seventeen years, then I lived somewhere else for another seventeen, then I lived in another place for... a very long time.¡±


    Diana stared into his sapphire blue eyes and when he smiled at her, they flicked to green for a brief moment. She absolutely loved the sight.


    ¡°I appreciate your efforts on my behalf to make yourself even prettier than you were, despite not needing to, and I want to spend some time with you. I recently lost one of the great loves of my life and the weight of her absence is heavy on my heart.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Hunter.¡± Diana said in a soft voice and she put her hand on his chest. Her arm stiffened as she felt the coiled muscles, then she rubbed her hand liberally over them to find all of them. ¡°I... you know I...¡±


    ¡°Yes, and in most cases, neither do I.¡± Hunter said. ¡°This time however, I''m making an exception.¡±


    Diana shivered in anticipation. She wasn''t sure why she was reacting like this, and she didn''t much care. She felt like this was an opportunity that only came once in a lifetime and she wanted to make the most of it. He leaned forward slightly and gave her lips a feather-light kiss and she felt the tingle on her lips.


    The limo stopped in front of a nice restaurant and the driver let them out. There wasn''t a line to wait in, so they went inside the building and saw the line was actually a small lounge where diners waited for free tables.


    ¡°Party for Hunter.¡± Hunter said and the man at the small podium nodded and waved for them to follow. They were sat at a nice table and were given menus. Diana knew he had money, so she only felt a little guilty when she ordered the lobster platter with a steak chaser. She saw Hunter''s smile at her hesitating manner as she ordered, then he said to double the order and wanted to try it himself. A bottle of wine was offered and Diana accepted it, after a taste test, of course.


    They ate the meal and Diana told him some of the stories of her flight adventures. He listened attentively and laughed when appropriate and nodded and responded with questions. The waiter came and went unobtrusively. When they finished, the waiter brought over the bill and placed the leather folder on the table. Diana was surprised when Hunter didn''t even open it and placed several hundred dollar bills inside, then handed it back to the waiter with a hundred dollar bill on top.


    ¡°Th-thank you, sir!¡± The waiter said and stepped back.


    Is he insane? Diana asked herself as Hunter stood and held a hand out to her. She took it and they walked over to the host and he gave him a hundred dollar bill as well. When they were outside, the limo was still there and they climbed inside. When it pulled away, she couldn''t hold her question in any longer.


    ¡°Why did you tip them so much money?¡± Diana asked. ¡°The food and service wasn''t that good.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have any smaller bills.¡± Hunter said and showed her his wallet full of hundred dollar bills. ¡°What am I going to do? Ask for change on a tip?¡±


    Diana stared at him for a moment, then she laughed. ¡°Ha! Ha ha! Hahaha!¡±


    The limo drove around the city and took them to Diana''s apartment. It was only tiny, mainly because it was her home away from home. It was cheaper to rent the apartment than it was to get a hotel room every time she travelled here, and she always had a place and didn''t have to hope a room would be available if she showed up unexpectedly or had to stay longer than a one night rental would allow. Hunter tipped the driver with a hundred dollar bill and they both laughed.


    They went inside and up the stairs to the right floor and Diana became awkward as she let Hunter into her place. She had suddenly realized that she had actually brought a man home. Someone she had met at work. Almost as if he felt her distress, he turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile.


    ¡°We can just sit and watch television for a few hours.¡± Hunter said. ¡°No pressure.¡±


    ¡°You''d be okay with that?¡± Diana asked, her voice full of doubt.


    ¡°I''m a big proponent for comfort over functionality.¡± He said and motioned to the living room that was only big enough to hold a love seat, a two-thirds size couch, and not a full size couch. ¡°I can''t remember the last time I sat down and watched something.¡±


    Diana looked at him and again thought he might be a little off in the head, considering he had a good looking woman all alone in her apartment and only wanted to watch television. He gave her another smile and walked over to the love seat and sat down like he owned the place. He wasn''t being arrogant about it, though. She walked over to the small couch and sat down beside him. She picked up the remote and turned on the television, then she handed the remote to him.


    ¡°As the guest, you can pick something.¡± Diana said.


    ¡°Thank you. You are much too kind.¡± Hunter said and flicked through the stations in a flash. ¡°Oh, this looks good.¡±


    ¡°...the mating rituals of dolphins are surprisingly similar to those of humans...¡±


    Diana blushed so hard that she thought she was going to pop a blood vessel in her brain. The television was turned off and she felt his arms go around her.


    ¡°I didn''t mean to embarrass you so much by teasing you.¡± Hunter said and she turned her head to look at him. ¡°May I make it up to you?¡±


    ¡°H-how...¡±


    ¡°A kiss.¡± He whispered. ¡°Just a kiss.¡±


    Diana closed her eyes and puckered her lips slightly, then his lips met hers and her world became an explosion of colors and sensations that she had never experienced before. Her doubts and inhibitions fled and she wrapped her arms around her date and she kissed him back with reckless passion. Her hands dug at his clothing and pulled his suit coat off. His shirt was next and she broke the kiss long enough to look down at his sculpted chest. Her eyes fell on the double set of scars in a circular pattern around where his heart was.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Hunter took her hand and traced the thick inner ring. ¡°This represents the first woman I had loved and tragically lost.¡± He said and moved her fingers out to the smaller thinner scars. ¡°This represents the woman I spent many years with and I promised that if she died, I would do the same as the first.¡±


    Diana''s heart beat a steady rhythm as she traced them again. ¡°You did this to yourself?¡± She asked, and her thoughts went right to wanting someone to love her so much that when she died, they would mark themselves permanently for her, too.


    ¡°The first had been an accident and it would always let me remember her, no matter how much time passed. The second I did on purpose, to honor her memory.¡±


    Diana wasn''t sure what to say, so she kissed the spot in the middle of the scars instead. I kissed his heart. She thought with both happiness and satisfaction.


    ¡°Allow me to return the favor.¡± Hunter said and Diana let him unzip the back of her dress and peeled the front down. She didn''t try to hide herself from him and he leaned forward and kissed her lips for a moment, then he bent down and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her breast above her heart. She thought he would grab on and suckle on her, and she half-wanted him to, and instead he sat up straight. Without a word, he stood and held a hand out to her. Diana took the offered hand without hesitation and they went into the bedroom.


    What followed was the most mind-blowing encounter she had ever had. Would ever have. At least, that''s what Diana had decided three hours later when she came back to her senses. She rolled over in bed and stared at the pile of golden hair that she was laying on. She had initially thought it was an attachment, like hair extensions or something, then Hunter had untied everything and the mass of golden wavy hair fell to the floor.


    It''s like the Rapunzel fairy tale! Diana thought at the time. I want to climb it!


    Hunter had laughed at her reaction and then they had a lot of fun in the bed. She was really surprised that she didn''t ache or have any muscle craps after everything they did. It wasn''t until she checked between her legs for damage that she realized she hadn''t asked him to wear a condom.


    Oh, my god! Diana thought and sat up straight.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± Hunter mumbled from beside her. ¡°You won''t get pregnant.¡±


    Diana looked down at herself and it didn''t look like much; but, there was a lot of his expulsions... and hers... all over her, the bed, and his hair. ¡°Pregnant!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°I... no, I thought...¡±


    ¡°No diseases, either.¡± Hunter said, fully awake. ¡°This was all just nice clean fun.¡±


    ¡°But... but... how...¡±


    ¡°Magic.¡± Hunter said and chuckled at her surprised face. ¡°Just kidding. I''ve only slept with three women and none of them had any kind of diseases.¡± He said. ¡°In fact, you''re my very first one night stand.¡±


    Diana turned and looked at him. ¡°Did you just say they were clean and accuse me of being ''dirty''?¡±


    Hunter laughed. ¡°No. I''m saying I''ve never slept with a ''dirty'' woman.¡±


    He sat up and quickly pulled his hair up and tied it once, then again and again, to make that cape-like shape. When she looked down, the ''stuff'' that had been on his hair was now on the bed with the rest of it. She was going to ask what happened and he took her hand.


    ¡°Want to join me in the shower?¡±


    Diana wanted to say yes very, very badly; but, she knew if they spent another hour in the shower, she would never get back to the airport in time for her flight. Hunter smiled and picked her up to make her squeal.


    ¡°I''ll be both quick and thorough.¡± Hunter said.


    After half an hour of the best washing each other sex she had ever had, they were both dressed and in the limousine on their way back to the airport.


    ¡°Did this really happen?¡± Diana asked as the limo pulled up to the drop off zone.


    ¡°That depends on if you want me to walk you in.¡± Hunter said.


    ¡°I...¡± Diana had to think about it. Would the look on her friend''s face be worth it? Yes. Yes, it would. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°It would be my pleasure to escort you.¡± Hunter said and they left the limo and went into the airport.


    Everyone stared at them as they walked across the common area and were checked by security before they entered the crew area. Hunter was a gentleman and waited out by the door while she changed into her stewardess uniform and she came out with her bag. She walked with him and held his hand the whole time, which made people stare for a different reason. Diana didn''t fraternize like that at work.


    ¡°There you are!¡± Her friend said and waved from the waiting area outside the boarding tube where several other stewardesses stood and waited. ¡°I honestly thought you weren''t going to make...¡± She stopped talking when she saw Diana holding the handsome man''s hand that she had seen leaving the plane last. ¡°You DIDN''T!¡±


    ¡°She did.¡± The man said, to her surprise, instead of denying it. ¡°And very well. Several times.¡±


    Diana''s face was bright red as he admitted openly that they had sex. She had intended to tease her friend over the next few hours and then she would reluctantly admit that she had gone all the way with him. On their first date, no less!


    ¡°Diana!¡± Her friend gasped.


    ¡°It was wonderful.¡± Hunter said, because he knew Diana couldn''t talk yet. ¡°She was attentive and patient with me, too. I recently lost someone and she found it in her heart to comfort me.¡± He turned to Diana and looked into her eyes. ¡°I can''t thank you enough for spending this precious time with me.¡±


    Diana stared into his eyes and didn''t know what to say. Hunter leaned in and kissed her on the lips. It was tender and full of caring emotions, and it also made her lips tingle.


    ¡°Have a good trip.¡± Hunter said and stepped back, let her hand go, then bowed his head to her friend and the other stewardesses before he started to walk away.


    ¡°W-wait!¡± Diana exclaimed and walked up to him. ¡°Will I ever see you again?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think I''ll be coming back.¡± Hunter said. ¡°I may, after I take care of a few things...¡±


    Diana sighed. ¡°I know what that qualifier means.¡±


    ¡°If I ever do come back, I will come and see you.¡± Hunter said. ¡°It could be years or even decades, though.¡±


    ¡°D-decades?¡± Diana asked, surprised. ¡°You''d still come and see me when I''m an old woman?¡±


    ¡°Even if you''re married and have dozens of children and grandchildren, I would still want to visit my only one night stand.¡±


    ¡°I''m the only one now and not just the first?¡± Diana asked.


    ¡°I don''t think I''ll be able to find anyone like you, not after how much you satisfied me.¡± He said.


    How much I satisfied him? Really? Diana asked herself. I''ve never felt this satisfied in my whole life!


    ¡°Goodbye, Diana.¡± Hunter said and leaned in to kiss her once more.


    ¡°Goodbye, Hunter.¡± Diana said and she felt several heavy things drop into her pocket. She stood there and watched as her dream man walked away.


    ¡°Oh. My. God.¡± Her friend said from beside her. ¡°Tell me it was as good as he said!¡±


    Diana didn''t hesitate in answering. ¡°It was better.¡± She said. ¡°So much better!¡±


    ¡°Then you need to spill all the juicy details!¡± Her friend said and put an arm around her shoulders. ¡°Right after we get back to work.¡±


    Diana laughed and all of the stewardesses boarded the plane. When she was alone in the crew cabin, she reached into her pocket and felt several heavy coins. She thought it was sweet that he had change when they had joked that he only had hundred dollar bills to pay people with. She pulled out the handful of coins and found a business card. She put the card on the counter and decided to count the coins for fun. Her mind had refused to see what she actually had in her hands at first. She counted the ten coins three times before she realized that they weren''t dollar coins as she had assumed.


    It''s gold. Diana thought and stared at them for several minutes. Her eyes caught the business card on the counter and she picked it up and looked at it. A bank manager? She asked herself. I thought this was Hunter''s! What in... She looked at the coins and then back at the card. I can take them to a BANK?


    *


    Thanks for waiting. I thought to the seedling that was still on my head and invisible. Let''s go find your planting spot. I felt a strong feeling of agreement and I climbed into the limo.


    ¡°Where to now, sir?¡± The driver asked.


    ¡°You can just drive for now.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll tell you a direction when we''re moving.¡±


    ¡°Of course sir.¡± The driver said. The limo pulled out of the drop-off area and he drove as instructed. Ten minutes later, I told him to go left. We drove for an hour before I felt a change and told the driver to go left again. Half an hour later, I had the distinct feeling of stop.


    ¡°Stop here.¡± I said and the car pulled over to the curb. ¡°Thank you for driving me around today.¡±


    I left a handful of hundred dollar bills on the seat, alond with the fee for renting the limo for the day, and I was out of the car before the driver could get out and open the door. I walked across the street and into what looked like a nice park. It was a decent size and was in the center of town. I closed my eyes and let the sapling''s feelings guide me to where it wanted to be. I covered a good portion of the park and a few people commented about seeing me walk around with my eyes closed. I ignored them and concentrated on the sapling''s feelings. They were getting stronger as I approached a small and surprisingly barren part of the ground.


    ¡°I still don''t understand why nothing has grown here.¡± A man said as he scratched the back of his head and held a shovel in his hand. ¡°Damnedest thing I ever seen. Not even grass will grow.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what to tell you.¡± A slightly elderly woman beside him said. ¡°It''s been this way since the park was established ten years ago.¡±


    I smiled and took the seedling from the top of my head and made it visible. ¡°Did someone order a special tree?¡± I asked as I approached the two people. They turned around and looked at me, and the elderly woman visibly trembled when she saw me. The man saw my hair and huffed as he thought ''hippie''.


    ¡°I... I d-don''t r-remember.¡± The elderly woman said hesitantly and her voice shook just as much as she did.


    I took her hand and used a bit of Presence Healing on her. Her reaction was immediate. All of her arthritis disappeared, her sore knee stopped paining her, and her osteoporosis faded away.


    The elderly woman stood up straight and stared into my eyes. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I''m just a delivery man, young lady.¡± I said to her and the man beside her laughed at my joke.

 Book Three: The Resolution 003

    The elderly woman kept looking into my eyes and didn''t laugh. She somehow knew that I wasn''t joking when I called her a young lady.


    ¡°If that''s a special tree, there''s no way we can afford to maintain it.¡± The man said.


    ¡°It''s from an anonymous donor, and I''m pretty sure that as long as it has lots of sun, the occasional rain, and lots of love, it''s going to be just fine.¡± I said. ¡°Of course, there''s a monetary donation to go along with it for the fresh soil and for the fence to stop people from trampling it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is a great idea.¡± The elderly woman said and kept staring into my eyes. ¡°You aren''t staying to help, are you?¡±


    ¡°I have an appointment that I''ve been putting off for a while and now it''s almost time that I get to it.¡±


    The elderly woman touched the man''s arm with her free hand. ¡°Run to the hardware store and bring back all of the bags of soil they have.¡±


    ¡°We did that six months ago.¡± The man said and poked the dry and crumbling dirt with his shovel.


    ¡°It''s going to be different this time.¡± The elderly woman said with confidence as she looked at the seedling. ¡°Now go do what I say.¡±


    I held out a hundred dollar bill to the man. ¡°Keep the change.¡±


    He let go of his shovel, grabbed the money, and ran. He was almost twenty feet away by the time the shovel had toppled over and fell to the ground. Both the elderly woman and I laughed at how quick he was.


    ¡°You didn''t have to do that.¡± She said and looked at me with an amused expression.


    ¡°Are you kidding? That was hilarious!¡± I said and grinned at her.


    She let out another laugh. ¡°You''re not going to tell me who you are, are you?¡±


    ¡°Is that necessary?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What if we put up a sign and...¡±


    ¡°Believe me, you are not going to need a sign.¡± I said. ¡°When this thing gets going, everyone will want to come and see it.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± The elderly woman asked.


    Because I''ve been feeding it my Presence for almost seven hundred years and it''s still only a seedling. I thought and let my amusement show on my face. ¡°I told you. This is a special tree. In five years, it''s going to cast a shadow over the town hall.¡±


    The elderly woman turned and looked at the building that was all the way across the park and the next street. ¡°In only five years?¡± She asked and looked back at the seedling. ¡°I hope I can see that.¡±


    ¡°You will.¡± I said and saw her sad face. I pulled her close with the hand she still held and she looked startled that it hadn''t hurt. ¡°You''re in remission now.¡± I whispered.


    Her free hand reached up and touched her chest where the doctor had said that the lumps had become inoperable, and her fingers didn''t feel them. She let my hand go and used both of her hands to try and find the lumps that had been her death sentence. It was rare for cancer to be diagnosed so late, and also in an elderly person; but, she had been healthy her entire life and only went to the doctor''s recently.


    ¡°You shouldn''t grope yourself in public.¡± I said with a smile and caught her hands before she pulled off her dress to examine her chest with her own eyes.


    ¡°How did you... I don''t... oh, god.¡± The elderly woman started to cry. Are you an angel? She asked me mentally and couldn''t force herself to ask out loud, because it was just a bit too ridiculous for her to admit that she thought I was.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and put my arms around her and held her. By the time the man came back with someone driving a forklift with a container full of bags of soil, the elderly woman had cried herself out and had wiped away the evidence. She didn''t speak as the man dug up the dried dirt where I told him to. The forklift driver helped open up the bags and the two men dumped the soil into the hole and made it several feet deep, which was the perfect depth for a new tree to grow in.


    I walked over to the center of the new soil and looked at the seedling. ¡°Pot and all, right?¡± I asked it in a whisper and felt its approval. ¡°Don''t overdo it, okay? Take your time.¡± I whispered and used Presence to open up the soil and placed the pot into it, then used Presence to tuck it back in.


    ¡°Not with the pot!¡± The man said and tried to step close.


    ¡°It''s bio-organic.¡± I said and blocked him with a hand. He relaxed and stepped away.


    I took out a large water container and carefully poured it out over the new soil, even though it was already moist, and I used Presence to spread it out evenly. I felt the seedling''s appreciation and then I felt a thrum of Presence from the planet. I motioned for everyone to step back and I could see... what was essentially a hole in the world''s Presence... that the seedling had just filled like a missing bulb from a string of lights. We all heard the pot shatter and the soil rippled as roots from the seedling spread out through the rich soil and then down into the earth. The seedling grew from its one foot of height to five feet, then several small branches popped out and little leaves appeared all over it.


    ¡°Sweet Baby Jesus!¡± The elderly lady exclaimed as fresh grass grew up from the soil around the tree. ¡°Get that roped off right now!¡±


    The man and the forklift driver quickly put up several posts around it and strung a rope up to tie them together, then they stared at the impossible growth they had just seen.


    ¡°It''s going to grow in increments every six months or so.¡± I said and took out five thousand dollars and gave it to the woman. ¡°This should be enough for a nice fence and a gate. Have it built about twenty feet out from the center, then in five years time when the tree fully matures, open the gate to the public.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± The elderly woman looked at me with surprise. ¡°We can''t possibly... such a rare...¡±


    ¡°It wants to help.¡± I said with a knowing look, glanced down at her breasts, then back at her face.


    ¡°You... no, are you... it can''t...¡± The elderly woman mumbled to herself for about thirty seconds.


    ¡°I told you that people will come from all over to see it.¡± I said with a smile and took her hand and kissed it. Her face flushed red at the intimate contact, as I had intended, and I let her hand go. ¡°Keep it safe. Once it''s discovered, people will try to take from it and experiment. That won''t work and will only cause it harm.¡±


    ¡°I... I know someone in the mayor''s office. I think I can have her declare this site as... as... as an environmental preservation area!¡± The elderly woman said and then smiled. ¡°I''ll register it on the internet as well, along with what it did to restore this dead area. If anyone tries to take advantage of this tree or hurt it, all of the environmentalists in the world will rain hell down on their heads!¡±


    I nodded and gave the two men there a hundred dollar bill each. They thanked me and then I turned to the elderly woman. ¡°Happy Birthday.¡± I said and handed her my money pouch. I wasn''t going to need it where I was going, so I waved to her and walked away.


    The elderly woman stared at the pouch and felt how thick it was. ¡°He really is an angel.¡± She said, her previous thoughts of not saying it out loud had been forgotten.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    I didn''t stop to refute her words and chuckled as I walked across the park and stepped out into the street, mindful of the traffic, then walked down an alleyway. I made myself invisible and quickly changed into my armored uniform and slipped on my blast shield, then I made myself visible again and used Presence to hide my extra lengths of hair. I pulled out an intricately carved wooden platform from my bag of holding and put it down on the pavement, then I made the several bags of holding I had on my belt invisible.


    The two inch thick and five foot wide wooden platform had an engraved ritual circle that already had all of the ingredients needed for the spell embedded into the surface. It just had to be powered and it would activate and then destroy itself when the spell was complete.


    Pre-loaded spells are awesome. I stepped onto it, filled the ritual circle with energy, and it activated.


    *


    Hunter disappeared in a brief flash of blinding light and the wooden platform broke apart into kindling and then turned into sawdust. A light breeze scattered it across the alley and it became a part of the normal dirt and grime that all alleys built up over time. The old bum that rested in a corner of the dumpster nearby swore for the next thirty-six years to anyone who would listen, until his death from natural causes, despite having a liver disease that should have killed him decades before, that he had seen an angel that day.


    *


    The blinding light faded and I appeared at the exact moment that the summoning ritual had taken me from (Undecipherable)''s hideout along with Kara. She was on top of me and I could hear thoughts, so I blocked her in my mind to hide the knowledge that I could read her thoughts. I also repressed the external feeling of my Presence to what it had been before.


    Kara moved up onto her knees and sat back as she looked down at me. ¡°Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it really happened.¡± I said. ¡°You should probably change your clothes.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Yes, I should.¡± Kara said and stood up, then she stripped off and put on her Order robes. She stared at me the entire time and I could tell that she was looking for any kind of reaction. Thanks to my little side trip, I was quite satisfied sexually and her nakedness didn''t affect me like it used to. I could admire her if I wanted to or I could completely ignore it. I ignored it and she sighed.


    ¡°How do I look?¡± Kara asked and took out her Light sword from her bag of holding and hooked it to her belt, then she tucked her bag of holding into her robes to hide it.


    ¡°Like you never left.¡± I said and gave her a little smile.


    ¡°For everyone else, we haven''t.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°You should probably check your two helpers, then.¡± I said as I sat up and pointed to them. ¡°They''re pretty hurt.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Kara looked over at the spot and saw two Order members about fifteen feet away from the edge of where the summoning circle had been and they were unconscious. She walked over to them to check and I took out my very old wrist communicator and put it on. I had charged it up over the years and had used some of the scavenged parts from my father''s Light sword to repair it.


    ¡°Hey, is anybody there?¡± I asked after pushing the button to turn it on.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Luxia''s voice exclaimed from the little speaker. ¡°What happened? What was that flash of light on the shuttle''s scanners? Where''s Kara?¡±


    ¡°I''ll explain later for the first two questions, and Kara is about twenty feet away from me and is checking her companions.¡±


    ¡°I''m sending the shuttle back down!¡± Rhubin''s voice said.


    ¡°No, keep it on course and reattach it to the ship.¡± I said. ¡°I think it''s time I took Kara''s advice and faced the charges against me.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± Luxia yelled. ¡°Hunter, they''ll have you killed!¡±


    ¡°They would have to hire me to kill me, if that was the case.¡± I said and then laughed. ¡°Can you imagine? Hunter being hired to hunt down and deal with me?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you shouldn''t joke about it.¡± Luxea said, her voice much softer.


    ¡°Hey, it''s okay.¡± I said, my own voice going soft. ¡°We have a long overdue date as well.¡±


    Luxea didn''t say anything for a minute. ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I''ll hitch a ride up to you on the Order''s shuttle, negotiate transport, then we''ll head to the Order''s home planet of Ulathall.¡±


    ¡°You make that sound so easy.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°You''re really going to turn yourself in?¡± Luxia asked, her voice full of concern.


    ¡°I was going to try and escape and keep running; but, after thinking about it for a while, I realized that if I did, I would always have to run. I don''t want to do that to you guys.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you know we are going to follow you anywhere.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We''ve followed you this far, haven''t we?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you have.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t think I''ve ever properly thanked either of you for that.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about that now.¡± Luxia said. ¡°You''ve got... if you''re really going to...¡±


    ¡°I''d like to say I have a plan; but, I''ll make it up as I go along.¡±


    Rhubin laughed. ¡°Don''t you always?¡±


    I laughed, too. ¡°All right, I better go. Kara''s coming over.¡±


    ¡°We''re right here in orbit.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°If they aren''t reasonable, we''ll make sure that this ship is the only one that The Order shuttle can dock to.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Rhubin. See you both soon.¡± I said and turned off the wrist communicator.


    ¡°Did I overhear that right?¡± Kara asked. ¡°You''re going to turn yourself in?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and stood up as I eased some of my mental shielding to hear her surface thoughts. ¡°How are they?¡± I asked and motioned to the two Order members.


    ¡°They''ll recover.¡± Kara said. ¡°They took some damage from the mana backlash when they hit the summoning circle, mainly because their bodies couldn''t handle the odd energy.¡± She was quiet for a moment as she gathered her thoughts and then spoke. ¡°I''m sorry that you had to leave Maylia like that.¡±


    I opened my mouth to say that it had been a long time in coming, then remembered that I wanted to keep up the pretense that I had left when she did.


    ¡°I think you actually meant that.¡± I said with a slight smile.


    Kara''s face flushed a little red. ¡°Hunter, I... I know you and she were together for...¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said. ¡°I made the most of the time I had with both her and Afyne. Things turned out pretty much exactly like I thought they would.¡±


    Kara let out a little sigh. ¡°If you want to talk about it...¡±


    ¡°Actually, I''d like to negotiate how I get back to Ulathall.¡±


    ¡°If you''re really turning yourself in to my custody, then it has to be on The Order ship waiting for us in orbit.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°What if I agree to enter your custody in orbit over Ulathall?¡± I asked. ¡°My ship is going to follow us anyway, so I''d like to enjoy its comfort while we travel.¡±


    Kara looked about to argue, so I gave her an olive branch.


    ¡°There''s enough room for you as well.¡± I said, then held up a hand to stop her mind from going places it shouldn''t. ¡°On the ship, not with me or in my bed.¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Kara''s face flushed completely red as she blushed.


    ¡°I just wanted to make the conditions clear. You''ll be my babysitter on the ship and nothing more.¡±


    Kara looked like she was struggling with the decision. ¡°If I only escort you, you won''t try to jump your ship away to lose us?¡±


    ¡°No, Kara. I give you my word that I am taking you up on your offer to stand by me to face the charges together in front of The Order council.¡±


    ¡°You remembered I said that.¡± Kara said, barely above a whisper.


    ¡°So, what do you say?¡± I asked. ¡°How do you want to handle this?¡±


    Kara stood there and thought about it. ¡°At the moment, you are in my preliminary custody after I defeated you in battle.¡± She said, getting her official story straight. ¡°My ship will escort yours back to Ulathall, where my shuttle will pick you up in orbit and it will take us both to the surface.¡±


    I pretended to think about it for a moment. ¡°That sounds reasonable.¡± I said. ¡°Do you want to give me one of your tracking devices, just in case?¡±


    ¡°No, I...¡± Kara started to say that she trusted me, then she remembered how she reacted to hearing about Dawn being my bed sister for nearly two months. ¡°It''s not necessary.¡±


    I reached out and touched her hand. ¡°Kara. I had a Presence barrier covering my manhood the entire time I slept inside the magical barrier that covered the lands of the elves.¡±


    The Presence didn''t waver and she stared at me because of what that meant.


    ¡°She tried to take advantage of me a few times, and...¡± I started to say and she pulled her hand away.


    ¡°I don''t need to know the details.¡± Kara said and I smiled at her.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked. ¡°This is the first time you''ve been willing to listen, and...¡±


    ¡°Yes. You can keep that to yourself.¡± Kara said and turned towards the two Order members that were still laying down. ¡°Give me a hand with those two and we''ll fly you up to your ship.¡±


    I went with her over to the two men and I used Levitation on them both. With them laying down, it was like they were on invisible stretchers, so I pulled them behind us over to the shuttle. The hatch was still open and we entered and I tucked the two men onto two of the small fold down cots in the back.


    ¡°Pilot, seal us up and take off.¡± Kara said and the door closed and the shuttle took off. She visibly relaxed when it finally hit her that she was really back where she was supposed to be. After a brief explanation of her plans to the pilot, the shuttle stopped beside my ship and dropped me off. I was wearing one of the large and bulky emergency suits that fit everyone and I floated from the shuttle and into the cargo area of my ship. It closed and pressurized, so I stripped off the big space suit and the hatch into the ship opened.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Luxea exclaimed and tackled me with a tight hug.


    ¡°Luxea.¡± I said and she eased the hug and leaned back to look up at my face. ¡°We have about three days of travel before we reach Ulathall.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I... I don''t think that...¡± Luxea''s shoulder length blonde hair waved as she shook her head.


    I cupped the sides of her face and leaned down to kiss her. I touched her lips with mine and gave her a very small bit of Presence. Her whole body shivered and her eyes closed as it swirled through her, then she felt the difference from the last time I had given her some.


    ¡°H-Hunter!¡±


    ¡°I would have gone on The Order ship if I didn''t want to spend this time with you.¡±


    ¡°But... you''re going to... the council and...¡±


    ¡°Right now, all that matters is being with you.¡± I said. ¡°Do you want to join me in the shower first, or do you want to have a nice meal and discuss things?¡±


    Luxea stared at me for about thirty seconds. ¡°Why are you giving me such a hard choice right away?¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 004 (Sponsored)

    ¡°You don''t know how much I appreciate that it really is a hard choice for you.¡± I said and put my arm over Luxea''s shoulder and we left the cargo area. I led Luxea to the cockpit and Rubin turned to look at me, then he jumped to his feet and grabbed my shoulders.


    ¡°What the hell did that bitch Kara do to you?¡± Rhubin practically yelled into my face.


    ¡°Huh? What?¡± I was too surprised by the outburst to understand what he meant.


    ¡°Hunter! You look twenty years older than when you left!¡± Rhubin exclaimed. ¡°Did she burn through your Presence or something? How do you feel? Are you okay?¡±


    Luxea had been shocked as well by Rhubin''s outburst and now she looked at me with the same discerning eye. ¡°Good lord.¡± She whispered. ¡°I didn''t even notice.¡± She said and reached up with both hands. ¡°Give me the blast shield.¡±


    I held in my sigh and absorbed the Presence holding the blast shield in place, and both of them gasped when she took it from my face. ¡°I was hoping it wouldn''t be that noticable.¡± I said as they stared at the subtle lines at the corners of my eyes and a few more creases on my cheeks and forehead.


    ¡°You''re grown up now.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°You were just barely a man who turned seventeen and you still had some baby fat on you. Now, your chin is more chiselled, your cheeks are slimmer, and your hair is thicker.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I don''t know what happened to you, but... damn! That''s some crazy Order voodoo magic if they can make someone age twenty years in only a few hours!¡±


    I wasn''t gone for just the time I was on the planet hunting (Undecipherable), Rhubin. I thought. I''ve been gone for centuries. I couldn''t tell them that right now, though. ¡°It''s a long story, and I''ll tell you both everything after I meet with The Order.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, what if they imprison you?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°What if...¡±


    I reached out and touched her hair and looked into her eyes. ¡°I''ll worry about that if it happens. Until then, we''ve got three days, assuming Rhubin can restrain himself and keep pace with The Order ship that''s escorting us.¡±


    ¡°That''s... going to be difficult.¡± Rhubin said with a smile. ¡°I''ll do my best.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Just get the way points from the other pilot and we can jump to each system and wait for them.¡±


    ¡°Now that sounds like a better plan!¡± Rhubin said and sat down and called the other ship.


    He still likes to show off his piloting skills when he can. I thought, then shook my head mentally. No, not still, he does. Come on, Hunter. This is now. This is now.


    Luxea and I stood there and listened to Rhubin and the other pilot exchange information, then both ships moved out to the Lagrange point before we jumped into hyperspace.


    ¡°I''m going to take a shower.¡± I said and made Luxea''s decision on what to do first. She didn''t hesitate as she followed me out of the cockpit and we went to my room. Look at this place. I thought. It''s like I never left. I glanced at Luxea. Of course, thanks to the unsummoning ritual, technically I didn''t.


    Even my head would start to hurt if I thought about it too much. Leaving and spending hundreds of years somewhere else and then coming right back to the point where I left, just seems like an impossibility. Of course, with my recent experience visiting Earth, I knew it was possible.


    ¡°Hunter? What''s this?¡± Luxea asked as her hand touched my hair to untie it and her arm grazed the extra hair I had that was hidden.


    ¡°It''s part of the story I''ll tell you later.¡± I said and absorbed the Presence disguising it.


    ¡°Oh... dear lord...¡± Luxea whispered at the sight of all my hair.


    ¡°You might need to stand back when you untie it.¡± I warned her, and she chuckled and started to undo the ties holding it all in place. It flopped down and covered her like a curtain and she hugged it and took several deep breaths as she pressed her face against it.


    ¡°H-Hunter, why do I have the feeling that I''ve missed this?¡± Luxea asked, a little confused. ¡°I feel like I haven''t done this in forever and it was only yesterday that we were asleep in bed together!¡±


    ¡°That''s a little difficult to explain, especially since I can''t tell you why until I tell you all of it.¡± I said and turned to her. My hair was long enough now that she could hold onto it and I could turn around without pulling on it. ¡°I can''t tell you yet, in case you get called as witnesses.¡±


    ¡°It''s that big of a secret?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Assuming Kara doesn''t tell them, yes.¡± I said. ¡°She might not think it''s a secret to keep, though.¡±


    ¡°And... and you''re going to tell us...¡±


    ¡°...after meeting with The Order.¡± I said and walked over to the closet and hung my uniform up. It was still fully charged and I hadn''t used its powered function in a long time. I hadn''t aired it out in a few days, though. ¡°Even if they do sentence me to prison or mining at one of their crystal mines, I''ll ask for a delay and tell you everything.¡±


    Luxea had followed me so she could keep hugging my hair. ¡°You can''t say anything now because it might affect what we say if we''re questioned?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°It will completely divert them from the case if they focus on the secret.¡±


    ¡°Then do that!¡± Luxea said. ¡°If you feel them trying to railroad you, then...¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°That might happen anyway; but, they''ll know I''ll be doing it on purpose if I do.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I don''t want to lose you.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I... you...¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and turned to her. ¡°I can feel something between us.¡± I said and slowly pulled my long hair out of her arms and took its place with my naked body. ¡°The roots are there and we can cultivate it and make it grow.¡±


    Luxea stared into my eyes and I could feel her trying to make sense of me.


    ¡°Sometimes it''s better to just accept things without question for a little while.¡± I said and started to undress her. I let my hands wander and her eyes widened as I took liberties with her that I never did before. A gentle caress here, a slight grab there, and by the time I was done and she was naked in front of me, the moisture between her legs dripped onto the floor.


    ¡°Is this really happening?¡± Luxea asked, her voice barely above a whisper.


    ¡°I did promise you that I would be doing a lot more than hugging you when I came back to the ship.¡±


    Luxea licked her lips and plumped them up a little. The small blush she showed flowed over her face, down her neck, and slightly colored her breasts. She was both unsure if she wanted it right now and positive that she wanted it right now.


    ¡°The shower can wait.¡± I whispered to her and took her to the bed.


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± Luxea whispered back. ¡°Ever since I met you on the long haul transport, I... when all we did was brush each other''s hair and...¡± She took a breath and let it out. ¡°I''ve wanted this.¡±


    ¡°No, you didn''t.¡± I said and she raised her eyebrows. ¡°At the time you wanted to have sex, and it could have been good; but, I had no experience at all. You wouldn''t have had as much fun as you thought you would.¡± I brought Presence to my hand and touched her neck, then I slid my hand down over her breast and across her abdomen.


    ¡°Oh.... oooohhhh....¡± Luxea moaned and writhed under my hand as I let my Presence touch her own. I leaned down and kissed her as my hand slid between her legs. It didn''t take her long to beg for me to put something else there.


    Rhubin had to eat his meals alone for the next three days.


    We arrived at The Order''s home planet and both my ship and Kara''s parked in orbit. I was dressed in a set of normal Order clothes and Apprentice robes under the big bulky space suit. I hopped across the distance to the shuttle and boarded, then the shuttle flew down to the planet. The pilot thanked me for returning the suit and I stored it properly after checking it with the proper maintenance protocols.


    I had to almost completely cut myself off from sensing things, because I knew that if anyone from The Order felt how much I could actually sense, my attempt to cover up what had happened to me would be all for naught. I wasn''t going to give the game up so soon.


    ¡°Did you tell them what happened?¡± Kara asked me as the shuttle came in for a landing.


    ¡°No.¡± I said and she looked at me with surprise. ¡°I''ll tell Luxea and Rhubin all of it after this meeting.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you won''t be leaving after the meeting.¡± Kara said. ¡°Neither of us will.¡±


    I didn''t say anything and the hatch opened and the ramp extended. Kara gave me one more glance and then she walked ahead. I let her get half a step ahead of me and matched her stride perfectly. There were a dozen Order members and a platoon of troops waiting for us. I almost laughed out loud at the overreaction. We were stopped at the bottom of the ramp and Kara was relieved of her Light sword. When they checked me, I didn''t have one and they asked what happened to them.


    ¡°I lost the three of them in battle.¡± I said. ¡°My personal one and the two that had previously been owned by my parents.¡±


    Kara turned and looked at my face. ''Really?'' She asked with just her mouth moving. I nodded slightly and she turned back to the man checking me. He took out a small device and ran it over me. I saw it failed to detect any focusing crystals and he nodded to The Order members waiting for us.


    ¡°This way.¡± One of the men in robes said and everyone turned towards the building.


    ¡°We have been here before.¡± Kara said, a little annoyance in her voice. ¡°I was even on the council.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The man twitched and kept walking. ¡°You were suspended, pending review.¡±


    ¡°Not by you, surely. You aren''t qualified.¡± Kara countered expertly.


    The man twitched again and walked a little faster. I let out a very low chuckle and let the Presence carry it only to Kara''s ear. She glanced at me and saw my smile. She let a smile show on her face for a moment, then she wiped it away and faced forward. We were led all the way back to the council chamber and things had changed a little since I had left. Everything had been reinforced and I saw constant patrols by Order members and troops alike. The doors opened and I saw the council again, in their eyes, for the first time since over a year ago.


    I burst out laughing when I saw the not-fuzzy-anymore alien that I had arranged to have shaved. ¡°It still hasn''t grown back?!?¡±


    ¡°SHUT UP!¡± The alien yelled loudly. ¡°It takes decades to grow Gruskluan hair!¡±


    I brought my mirth under control and saw that a few of the council members shared my view of it being funny. ¡°Please accept my apologies.¡± I ducked my head. ¡°I honestly didn''t know that.¡±


    ¡°So you admit it!¡± The Gruskluan exclaimed.


    ¡°Yes, I admit my ignorance. I did not know it would take that long to grow back.¡± I said and the alien grit its teeth. One of the women on the council had to cover her mouth to stop her laugh.


    ¡°Take the proper positions.¡± One of the other council members said and Kara and I walked to the center of the chamber. It was the middle of a circle carved into the floor and after a short humming sound, we were covered in a dome-shaped security field to stop us from leaving or using Presence.


    ¡°This is new.¡± I said and looked at it.


    ¡°Take that ridiculous thing off your face.¡± The Gruskluan said.


    ¡°But I like it.¡± I said and tapped my blast shield. ¡°It''s come in handy quite a few times.¡±


    ¡°Master Moor.¡± One of the other council members said with much more respect.


    ¡°Hunter, please remove it.¡± Kara said.


    I absorbed the Presence and slipped it off, and a few people caught their breath. Both males and females. I tucked the blast shield into my robes and waited for their reactions to run their course.


    ¡°There are a few... inconsistencies in your reports, Master Moor.¡± Another council member said. ¡°Would you care to explain...¡±


    I stood there and tuned out pretty much everything and looked around. If I hadn''t been severely handicapping myself at the moment, I would have been able to see where The Wise One was. I knew Lashina wasn''t there, because she was still off-planet on her tour for The Order. I gave up staring at the hidden door after a few minutes and just stood there and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Apprentice Ullir.¡± The Gruskluan said, his voice just below the point of yelling. ¡°What do you have to say for yourself?¡±


    ¡°About what?¡± I asked and saw his flesh grow pink in anger.


    ¡°Weren''t you paying attention to the charges being laid against you?¡± He spat.


    ¡°No.¡± I said honestly and the woman off to the side let out a bark of laughter and turned her head away to try and hide her face.


    ¡°I will not suffer insolence inside the council chamber!¡± The Gruskluan said.


    ¡°Perhaps if you would stop being so insufferably angry at everyone, people would give your words the weight they should have, instead of everyone having to avoid talking to you.¡± I said and he glared at me. ¡°Plus, I wasn''t being insolent. I was just not paying attention to your blustering. It''s quite wearing on the nerves and the ears, to be honest.¡±


    The not-fuzzy-anymore alien stood and pointed a finger at me. ¡°I hereby...¡±


    ¡°I humbly request an impartial judge, or at least one who is willing to actually listen.¡± I interrupted him. ¡°I know my reputation here is lacking and I have done this on purpose. I made myself an annoyance to ensure that you would be glad to be rid of me when I came of age. I had not suspected that you wanted me dead if I didn''t join you.¡±


    Complete silence met my words and not one person felt the Presence waver.


    ¡°I suspect that one is responsible for those orders.¡± I pointed to the Gruskluan. ¡°A simple prank drove him practically to madness. His mind is so close to being consumed by his anger, I''m having a hard time being in the same room with him.¡±


    No one said anything and I looked at their faces.


    ¡°So, you were all too afraid to say that to his face? Too afraid to tell him he''s being unreasonable?¡± I asked and several of them sighed. ¡°Where is The Wise One?¡±


    ¡°On sabbatical.¡± One of the other council members said. ¡°He apparently had a vision that...¡± The man stopped talking. ¡°He will be busy for a while.¡±


    ¡°Well, that''s convenient, isn''t it?¡± I asked. ¡°Both of the people that profess tolerance and gentle words, Master Lashina Oleneth and The Wise One, are conspicuously absent from this trial.¡±


    ¡°They are too lenient when it comes to you!¡± The Gruskluan said. ¡°If they had used a firmer hand on you while you were growing up, you could have made a proper Order member!¡±


    ¡°You are really delusional.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°If you had used a firmer hand, besides already giving me several compulsions that went against The Order''s code of honor and their precepts, do you really think I wouldn''t react appropriately?¡±


    The council members looked uncomfortable at my words.


    ¡°Yeah, you see it now, right?¡± I asked them. ¡°None of you high and mighty people stopped them from trying to brainwash me against my will.¡± I said. ¡°How many children that are currently Order members weren''t given the honest choice of leaving or joining when they came of age? How many joined without question after your ''training''?¡± I looked at all of their faces and knew the answer. ¡°Ha. All of them. Ha ha ha!¡±


    My laugh reverberated throughout the chamber and then it died off as if it never happened.


    ¡°Until I came along.¡± I said in a serious tone. ¡°Wow, what a surprise I must have been to your nice and orderly slave factory.¡± I smiled. ¡°A voice of dissension. Someone that didn''t agree with being taken and indoctrinated into an organization that murders people that disagrees with it, because they believe that their Order requires strict obedience to their rules and regulations.¡±


    No one responded, and I didn''t expect them to.


    ¡°As for the charges against me, murder and what have you, the original crime was a reaction to someone I loved being killed in front of my eyes. I lost control of my emotions and killed her killers.¡±


    ¡°So you admit it.¡± The Gruskluan said.


    ¡°I admit that it happened.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°It''s actually your fault.¡±


    ¡°EXCUSE ME?¡± He yelled.


    ¡°You illegally declared me a rogue of your organization, even though I am NOT a part of that organization, and she was killed because she associated with me.¡± I said and one of the woman on the council gasped. ¡°Yes, it was The Order''s fault. Your actions precipitated the situation and people died because of it. One innocent life and three very guilty ones.¡±


    ¡°Those aren''t the only people you killed.¡± The Gruskluan spat.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± I said. ¡°I''m not on trial for any of them, though.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are.¡± One of the others said.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°A lot of them were your bounties.¡±


    ¡°We... are not counting them.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well that''s good.¡± I said and reached into my robes and pulled out the sack I had saved for them. ¡°Here''s (Undecipherable)''s head.¡± I opened the bag and dropped the head to the floor. To my surprise and delight, it flipped over and landed neck first against the floor with a plop and stuck there. The burned through eye holes and several missing horns were quite the sight for the council members.


    ¡°No!¡± The Gruskluan exclaimed and everyone felt his remorse.


    ¡°Oh. That''s why you sent me after him.¡± I said and everyone looked at me. ¡°You believed he was going to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± The alien spat. ¡°Do you know how long I worked with him to...¡±


    I formed a blue Presence Hand behind him and grabbed his neck and snapped it. It didn''t kill him because his biology was different, so I formed another Presence Hand. I grabbed his light sword and attuned the focusing crystal to myself, then struck him down with it and cut off his head. Everyone was stunned at the sudden turn of events and stared at the pieces of body that fell to the floor. I turned off the Light sword, wiped my Presence from it, and dropped it.


    ¡°WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!?¡± One of the women yelled as she finally came to her senses.


    ¡°The bounty was to bring back the head of those responsible for the theft of the items from The Order.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°Here is (Undecipherable)''s head and there is his collaborator''s head.¡± I pointed to the Gruskluan. ¡°I had been wondering how someone lower than the council could gain access to The Order''s archives for evidence and confidential information.¡±


    We had a datapad that Luxea had made with all of the pirate''s data that she had recovered from their ship and I produced it from my robes and held it up.


    ¡°With all the restrictions you have in place for people having access to this kind of information, I knew it had to be someone important to give out The Order''s shipping routes, base locations, both actual and hidden, and ship inventories, etcetera, etcetera.¡± I said. ¡°Not to mention that pretty much every ship registers their goods and shipping routes at Order facilities all over, to ensure that there''s a record of their passing.¡±


    ¡°How did you get that?¡± One of the others asked.


    ¡°From (Undecipherable)''s pirate cargo ship.¡± I said and placed the datapad on top of the severed head at my feet. ¡°This proof should satisfy the bounty requirements and plug the hole you had in your information network.¡± I looked at their disbelieving faces. ¡°You might also want to check over all the people the Gruskluan has given orders to, just in case.¡± I said. ¡°When you pay Lashina the bounty for this, you should have her check over anyone that was involved as well.¡±


    ¡°You''re really giving her all those credits?¡± The woman who had yelled before asked.


    ¡°I gave my word that I would.¡± I said and looked at her face and then at the other nine. The council was now down two members, Kara and the not-fuzzy-anymore alien. ¡°So, who will take over my case?¡±


    One of the men stood. ¡°I will.¡± He said. ¡°You do realize you just killed a member of The Order council.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I just killed a rogue.¡± I said and the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°Once the Gruskluan admitted that he''s been working with (Undecipherable), not used to work with, he was automatically a rogue. Unlike me, he was a member of The Order and broke a lot of your laws.¡±


    ¡°You broke the law, too.¡± The man said.


    ¡°Which one?¡± I asked. ¡°As far as I can recall, I am still not a member of your organization. In fact, you still haven''t given me my coming of age ceremony.¡± I smiled. ¡°Guess what? I''m still a minor according to your laws. You can''t hold me accountable for anything you might perceive as a crime.¡±


    ¡°Your guardian can be.¡± The man said.


    ¡°You took her from me long before any such supposed crimes had been committed.¡± I said.


    ¡°Your master is standing right there.¡± The man said and pointed to Kara. ¡°She assumed responsibility for you.¡±


    ¡°Once again, I have to refute your response. She has not been, nor has she ever been, my master.¡± I said and the Presence didn''t waver.


    Kara''s face became red and I put my hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°However, she agreed to come here to stand at my side, as the honorable person she is, to support me in my time of need.¡± I said. ¡°Since I have committed no crimes under your jurisdiction, she is only here for moral support.¡±


    The man looked like he was chewing glass. ¡°You seem to have an answer for everything.¡±


    ¡°Of course I do.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Don''t all children believe they know everything?¡±


    ¡°You attacked this council.¡± The man said.


    ¡°A child''s tantrum after not getting his way.¡± I said and looked at the scaly alien. ¡°I''m glad your arm grew back.¡±


    ¡°Where is my focusing crystal?¡± The scaly alien asked, his voice neither angry nor sad.


    ¡°It was old and weak; but, it was still useful.¡± I said. ¡°You should be happy to know that I used it to remove (Undecipherable)''s twisted apprentice from the universe and it was destroyed.¡±


    The scaly alien waited for a moment to feel the Presence, then he gave me a slight nod.


    ¡°So, is that it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You stole a shuttle.¡± The man said.


    ¡°The beheaded alien said I could take it. He never said I had to return it.¡±


    ¡°I''m saying it.¡±


    ¡°Actually, since the not-fuzzy-anymore alien was in charge at the time, his order for it to be mine is what I''m going with.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I assumed it was a coming of age gift.¡±


    ¡°You will return the shuttle.¡± The man said. ¡°We cannot let you keep it. It''s worth...¡±


    ¡°Hundreds of thousands of credits. I know.¡± I said and chuckled. ¡°All right. I''ll have it prepped and remote piloted down.¡±


    ¡°The pilot as well.¡± The man said.


    ¡°Actually, he was contracted under The Order and is not a member. His contract ended about six months ago. Since he was still under orders by this council to accompany me and fly me where I needed to go, he didn''t abandon his post and can''t be charged with anything. He stayed as the shuttle pilot through a lot of happenings and fulfilled his mission.¡± I took out another datapad. ¡°Here is all the relevant paperwork and the proof that we didn''t use any of The Order''s supplies that we didn''t immediately replace, and we never stopped at any reloading station to take advantage of The Order''s generosity.¡±


    ¡°He really does have an answer for everything.¡± The woman near the end of the table whispered.


    ¡°The guard''s weapons...¡± The man started to say.


    I took out both the rifle and the laser pistol and laid them on the floor. ¡°They are fully charged and haven''t been used once.¡± I said. ¡°A few things happened and I never got the chance to use them.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we saw the reports.¡± The man said. ¡°Are you really going to stand there in front of us and say that you''re not guilty?¡±


    ¡°When did any of you ask me if I was guilty or not?¡± I looked at their startled faces. ¡°Hey, are you finally understanding it now?¡± I asked. ¡°You all assumed I was and all you''ve been trying to do is prove it. Even though a lot of you are natural lie detectors.¡±


    Once again, they all looked uncomfortable.


    ¡°Now you''re starting to see how blind you people are. It''s unfortunate that all of this had to happen for that realization to sink in.¡± I waved at the two heads on the floor. ¡°So, can I go now?¡±


    ¡°Are you guilty?¡± The woman near the end asked.


    ¡°Guilty of what?¡± I asked in return. ¡°Unless you''re specific, if I say no, it would be a lie.¡±


    The woman had to think about it for a few moments. ¡°Are you guilty of...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said and she caught her breath when the Presence didn''t waver even slightly. She looked at the other council members for several minutes and no one said anything.


    The man now in charge of my case sighed. ¡°You are free to go.¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 005 (Sponsored)

    ¡°Master Moor, on the other hand, is hereby relieved of all council duties.¡± The man who was in charge of my case said. ¡°Her inability to impose her will upon her self-proclaimed apprentice after almost four years of attempts has shown that she does not have the mental or moral fortitude to fulfill her duties to The Order.¡±


    ¡°If I may speak?¡± I said as I raised my hand.


    ¡°Your voice here carries no weight.¡± The man said. ¡°You have already been dismissed and as you have clearly stated, you are not a part of this organization.¡±


    ¡°I believe we have already established that I was the only person to ever disagree with everything the council does and didn''t want anything to do with it.¡± I said. ¡°Why would my words mean something a moment ago and nothing now?¡±


    None of them answered and I turned to Kara.


    ¡°I told you they were unreasonable and bigoted.¡± I said to her. ¡°Even though none of them, with all their experience and abilities, could make me behave after eight years, they expected you to do it in only half the time and are punishing you for their failure.¡±


    I saw several of the council members blush, or their versions of it anyway, and I turned to them.


    ¡°I believe if you hold Kara to such a high standard, then all of you are also failures. Will you all order yourselves to step down?¡± I looked at their faces. ¡°No? Why is that? Why is Master Moor being vilified? If it''s because of me, then a good portion of your people here are also guilty by association.¡±


    ¡°That''s... not...¡±


    ¡°How many of you just sat here and let me do what I wanted?¡± I asked. ¡°How many outlandish and stupid pranks have I done and either gotten away with or were ignored because none of you wanted to be my next target?¡± I scanned their faces again. ¡°Over the years, I''ve been tested by you to see if I was good enough to be in your organization. Not once did any of you realize that I had been testing you the entire time.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± A woman near the end asked. She seemed to be the most vocal of the group.


    ¡°Nothing I ever did harmed anyone, and yet I was a huge disturbance to a lot of people sometimes.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°The sleeping gas I put in the air filters of the barracks threw off your well planned military display that day, didn''t it?¡± I asked, and her face flushed red. ¡°What did you do in response?¡±


    The woman sighed and slumped a little in her chair.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°You knew that if you came forward and tried to punish me, you would have to take a prank personally.¡±


    ¡°Get to the point.¡± The man in charge of my case said.


    ¡°None of you have the mental or moral fortitude to fulfill your duties.¡± I said. ¡°Except Kara.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± The woman asked again.


    ¡°Unlike all of you, she was smart enough to take advantage of my generosity. She kept me under control and limited my movements, watched me constantly, and used up her personal time to maintain her self-appointed role.¡± I said. ¡°Did any of you even think to do that?¡±


    The council members exchanged looks.


    ¡°She did it for almost four years, right up until this council denied me my rights.¡± I said. ¡°Then, rather than side with me like I desperately wanted her to at the time, she turned on me... the man she had accepted as her apprentice... all because she believed, quite falsely as it turns out, that The Order had a higher priority to her actions than her own feelings.¡±


    No one could counter my words, because the Presence didn''t waver.


    ¡°She knew it was wrong for you to deny me my coming of age ceremony and acted on your behalf and not mine.¡± I said. ¡°And you all wonder why I never wanted anything to do with you or your organization.¡± I shook my head. ¡°You preach and you lecture and you all believe your delusions are more important than the people around you. You use the members of The Order for your own agendas and none of you care how much your actions impact the people you use and especially those that are not in your organization, because you believe that they are beneath you.¡±


    The man that handled my case slowly sat down.


    ¡°Surprising, isn''t it? The Presence isn''t wavering, is it?¡± I chuckled. ¡°So, do my words still not have weight?¡± I asked. ¡°Hmm? Does the truth fall on deaf ears once again?¡± I looked at their faces. ¡°You just want to get rid of Kara so that she doesn''t start looking into all the things you are doing. You''re all afraid that she will see how... you know what? I''m done talking. I know you aren''t going to say anything to try and defend yourselves, not now and not to me. I''ll just leave you with a little tidbit of information so that you can mull it over.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°I was reincarnated.¡± I said.


    Surprise and shock flowed over the room.


    ¡°Even as a child, I saw through all of your rhetoric and brainwashing techniques.¡± I said. ¡°I hated that thing...¡± I waved to the headless corpse of the Gruskluan. ¡°...for giving a child a compulsion to worship at every meal, and I hated all of you for LETTING HIM DO IT AND DIDN''T SAY ANYTHING!¡± I yelled. ¡°I was a child! Just a child! None of you helped me at all!¡±


    My anger flared and everyone tensed up as they felt it when I let out a little bit of my Presence.


    I closed my eyes for a moment and used a mental technique to calm down. ¡°I''ve had years to clear his corrupting influence from my mind and it pisses me off that none of you had the moral fortitude to help an orphan that was created by your organization''s practices.¡± I shook my head. ¡°What right do you have to rule over all of these people in The Order... to impose your will... when you won''t even take care of a child?¡±


    They still didn''t say anything in response.


    ¡°Of course, you''re all guilty. Not just you. If it wasn''t this group at the head, it would just be another and they would be just as morally bankrupt as you people.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, that''s enough.¡± Kara said in a soft voice.


    ¡°Yeah, I went a little too far in revealing their faults.¡± I said. ¡°It''s a good thing that my words don''t hold any weight here, right?¡±


    The Presence wavered so much that everyone in the room felt a touch of nausea and had to brace themselves. When the nausea passed, they all stared at me, even Kara.


    ¡°Would you mind lowering this security barrier?¡± I asked. ¡°I can easily break it; but, you''ll charge me for breaking Order property if I do.¡±


    A moment later, the barrier disappeared and the circle stopped glowing.


    ¡°I''ll expect Lashina to receive the appropriate bounties for the criminals I brought you, and Kara brought me in, so she should get the bounty on me.¡± I said and walked over to the door. ¡°I''m borrowing a shuttle to get back to my ship, then I''ll have both shuttles sent down to return them to your custody.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± Kara said, surprised I was giving her the bounty, despite us coming here together. ¡°What are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you want to know?¡± I asked as I turned to her and she nodded. ¡°I''m going to dismantle The Order.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    The Presence didn''t waver and the council kept staring at me.


    ¡°Are you surprised that the Presence didn''t waver?¡± I asked. ¡°Don''t be. I literally just told you that NONE of you have the right to rule over others. It will take years to tear you apart and slowly remove all of the people and resources that you''ve had a stranglehold on for decades; but, I''ve got time.¡± I looked at Kara and saw her not-so-surprised face. ¡°Lots and lots of time.¡±


    ¡°Are you threatening us?¡± The outspoken woman asked.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± I said. ¡°A threat would be something like, ''if you don''t stop, I''m going to...''. I''m not threatening anything. I am telling you I am doing it. No threats. No promises.¡± I smiled. ¡°It will be done.¡±


    ¡°Do you really expect us to accept...¡±


    ¡°I don''t expect anything from you.¡± I said and cut her off. ¡°When you failed to meet even basic standards of child care, without even asking the child what they wanted or listened when they expressly told you, I haven''t expected anything at all from you.¡± I used invisible Presence Hands to open the large doors and left them to think about that.


    *


    ¡°We should issue another bounty.¡± The scaly alien said.


    ¡°Did you listen to anything he just said?¡± Kara asked, surprised. ¡°Why are you trying to prove that he is right about you?¡±


    The scaly alien chuckled. ¡°Why do we need to pander to him? He just told us he would be taking The Order apart. If we don''t take care of this now...¡±


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± The outspoken woman asked. ¡°The Presence didn''t waver!¡±


    ¡°We have hundreds of troops right here in the compound.¡± The man said. ¡°Have them surround the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°Why not just blow the shuttle up?¡± Kara asked, incredulous. ¡°Or better yet, instead of having others do your dirty work, why don''t you cowards get off your asses and go out there and confront him yourself!¡± By the Goddess! She thought. Why am I saying such things? She asked herself, then she realized something. The Presence didn''t waver when she called them cowards.


    ¡°Now that''s insubordination if I ever heard it.¡± The scaly alien said. ¡°I order you to go out there and capture him.¡±


    ¡°I already did that and you released him.¡± Kara said and let the smugness into her voice that they expected her to have and not what she actually felt. ¡°I''ve done things that none of you have done and how much older are you? Shouldn''t you be more powerful than me? Are you all so weak that you need underlings to do all the work?¡±


    ¡°You are suspended from...¡±


    ¡°From what? You already suspended me from my hard-earned spot on the council for frivolous reasons, even though I was appointed by The Wise One and he''s the only one that can legitimately remove me. What else are you going to suspend me from? You just ordered me to go and apprehend someone that hasn''t committed any crimes, even according to your twisted view of our laws, so I''ll suspend myself from that ridiculous order. How''s that?¡±


    The scaly alien''s eyes were full of anger. He was about to speak when the doors opened again.


    *


    ¡°I''m sorry to interrupt your tirade.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I forgot to ask Kara if she would escort me.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°Unless you want to declare her a rogue for not following your illegal orders?¡± I asked the council. ¡°Hmm? Yes? No? Which is it? You don''t have to speak up. I could clearly hear you all through the doors, as could everyone else stationed outside.¡±


    The scaly alien clamped his mouth shut.


    ¡°Well, then.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Kara, why don''t you resign from The Order?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Kara looked at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°Don''t you see? You''re going to be the scapegoat for me.¡± I said and waved at the council. ¡°They need someone to blame this whole fiasco on, and who better than someone who tried to illegally arrest someone that was just freed?¡±


    Kara gasped and the scaly alien ground his sharp teeth. ¡°It''s true?¡± She looked at the scaly alien. ¡°The Presence didn''t waver.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t realize my words would have fallen on deaf ears.¡± I said. ¡°So, give them all of your Order things that they provided to you, like your Light sword and your robes. The personal things you can keep and I''ll remove the tracking devices from them later.¡±


    Several of the council members stiffened at the revealed secret.


    ¡°What do you say, Kara?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you feel like leaving all of this dirty water behind?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, The Order is my life.¡± Kara said. ¡°Until you came along, I never questioned it. It''s how I was raised and it''s how I live.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t say you had to abandon your principles or leave all that you believe behind. I''m only asking you to change venues.¡±


    ¡°Change what?¡±


    ¡°You can still do good work to help people, even if you don''t do it under The Order''s orders.¡± I said. ¡°Did you feel lost or separated at all for the last little while?¡±


    Kara thought about it. ¡°Well, I... I knew I was doing the Goddess'' work and I wasn''t alone.¡±


    ¡°Then what''s stopping you from doing that somewhere else?¡± I asked. ¡°Obviously, some of these people can''t see reason and The Wise One, who also appointed you, isn''t here to stop their insanity before they ruin your life.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I... I can''t just...¡±


    ¡°I''m only making the offer. The decision is up to you.¡± I said. ¡°If at any point you change your mind, contact me. You can leave a message at any trading hub and it will get to me. I''ll come and pick you up and take you anywhere you want to go.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°We''re members of the same race, Kara.¡± I said and looked at the council. ¡°We are going to outlive everyone here by centuries.¡± I grinned when I saw the council''s shocked faces. ¡°What are future generations going to say about the incompetence of The Order''s leadership when you and I will be right there to set them straight?¡±


    Kara looked like she didn''t know how to respond, mainly because she knew I was right. She would be a member of The Order for as long as she lived and she knew that if she didn''t do something about it soon, then everything she was raised for... everything she believed in... would have been a waste of time. That was why I had made the offer I knew she wouldn''t accept, so she could see that.


    I reached out and touched her shoulder. ¡°I''m glad you understand.¡± I said, let her shoulder go, then turned and left the room and absorbed the Presence Hands holding the doors open and they closed behind me. One of the other Order members that had been waiting in the hallway with the platoon of troops, motioned to me and four of the troops took up escort duty. They stayed with me until I was outside the building and I stepped into the shuttle.


    ¡°Take me up to my ship, please.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t need the space suit this time.¡±


    The pilot looked at me oddly for a moment, then shrugged and we took off. When we reached orbit, I had him float beside the ship so that the shuttle''s hatch and the main hatch of the ship were beside each other.


    ¡°Thanks for the ride.¡± I said and hit the button to cut off the cockpit from the crew area, then I covered myself in Presence, while leaving an inch of space in front of my face. I then depressurized the crew compartment and opened the hatch.


    ¡°Pilot to ground control! He''s ejected himself into space without a space suit!¡± I heard over the linked com Luxea had given me. I chuckled and stepped out into space, then I closed the hatch and used Presence to press the button to pressurize the shuttle I just left and floated over to my ship. I formed a Presence box inside the main hatch, displaced the air inside, then opened the main hatch. Luxea stood there and shook her head as I came inside and closed the hatch, then I eased the air back into the box and absorb it and the Presence protecting me.


    ¡°You''re such a show off.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Hey, I had to play one more prank before I left.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Did you hear the pilot freaking out?¡±


    ¡°I heard all of it, including inside the council chamber, and we recorded everything.¡± Luxea said. ¡°You weren''t close enough to the control tower for us to get access the main communications array, though.¡±


    ¡°That''s why I didn''t fight so hard to keep the shuttle.¡± I said with a grin and she laughed.


    ¡°I knew you had something devious planned.¡±


    ¡°How long do you think it''ll take to set up the relay?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Ten minutes, assuming you don''t care if they find it.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°They''re going to strip the shuttle to the bulkheads anyway, so why hide it?¡± I asked and we walked over to the middle of the ship and climbed the ladder. ¡°Hey, Rhubin.¡± I said. ¡°How''s the cleaning going?¡±


    ¡°Damn slow.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I''ve got the supplies restored to pre-flight levels; but, the computers are a mess.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Do you know how much data we have in this thing?¡±


    ¡°I''m sure Luxea already has a copy of it, so just wipe everything except the basic flight data.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, it''ll save us from having to comb through it and try to decide what we want them to know and what we want to keep hidden.¡±


    ¡°I''ll handle it.¡± Luxea said and sat down in the co-pilot seat. ¡°I''ll do it while I set the com taps.¡±


    ¡°Com taps?¡± Rhubin looked at her and then at me. ¡°Oh, sneaky! If we can get one on the main array, we''ll be able to get them in real time.¡±


    ¡°We''ll also have access to all the previous communications, assuming they don''t back everything up offsite.¡± I said. ¡°I doubt it, mainly because this is their home planet.¡±


    ¡°All of their backup servers are here.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Given enough time...¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Who was it that expressly forbade us from raiding The Order''s home planet?¡±


    ¡°Information pilfering is okay, now that we have a legitimate chance to do it.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''m configuring it as a normal dummy ship relay, that way they won''t realize what it''s actually doing.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Rhubin barked a laugh. ¡°You''re going to make them think the shuttle is just a drone ship!¡±


    ¡°Bingo!¡± Luxea said. ¡°Information relay is normal for unmanned small craft.¡±


    ¡°I really missed you guys.¡± I said and both of them turned and looked at me. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°How could you miss us?¡± Rhubin asked. ¡°You were only gone for...¡±


    ¡°Finish the shuttle and while we float around the system and drop the stealth relays, I''ll tell you everything that happened.¡±


    They nodded and got back to work, then had the shuttle prepped and we climbed back into the main ship. Rhubin remote piloted the shuttle down to the base and established communications with the control tower, and that started the relay. Luxea''s smart programs quickly entered their systems and started to relay communication protocols, passwords, archive access codes, and everything else that goes through a planetary communications array on a daily basis.


    We bid the tower a good day and took our ship out of orbit, dropped stealth sensor relays all along our path, then when we hit the Lagrange point of the system, jumped into hyperspace.

 Book Three: The Resolution 006

    A week later, we were back at our temporary base of operations in the Dizahl System. Rhubin, Luxea, and I sat in our favorite restaurant and ate like kings. The place had become busy, mainly because we kept telling everyone how good the food was. The owner had tried to give us a discount on the food and the three of us laughed and paid twice as much, then we warned him that if he tried to give us more free food, we''d keep paying double. He had laughed and his wife thanked us for keeping him honest and then dragged him away to stop him from bothering their best customers.


    ¡°All right.¡± Rhubin said to get us back on what we had been talking about. ¡°You had how many kids?¡±


    ¡°Just three.¡± I said, and Luxea gave me a look. ¡°Hey, don''t look at me like that. It was over a hundred year span, okay? I''m surprised we kept it to just three!¡±


    Luxea huffed and Rhubin laughed.


    ¡°Who was who again?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°Malik was first and Maylia was his mother. Second was Alosa, and Afyne was her mother.¡± I said. ¡°Last was Jasina, and Maylia was her mother.¡±


    ¡°Hold on.¡± Rhubin squinted his eyes. ¡°Didn''t you say that Afyne was like an adopted daughter or something?¡±


    ¡°Something like that.¡± I said and Luxea gave me another stern look. ¡°She was only five years younger than me when I appointed myself her guardian.¡± I said. ¡°Since I was already a couple with Maylia, she also became her guardian.¡±


    ¡°That just sounds weird, Hunter.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°In my defense, we did love each other.¡± I said and Luxea''s look hadn''t changed. ¡°It took ten years for us to get together ''like that'', remember? I told you what she meant to me.¡±


    Luxea''s eyes softened slightly. ¡°I''ve read the guardian protocols.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Rhubin looked at her. ¡°What are those?¡±


    ¡°It''s The Order''s fostering program.¡± Luxea said and took out a datapad and brought up the file. ¡°Apparently, depending on the age and maturity of their recruits, guardians can be changed, brought in, or rotated, depending on the functions that each are needed for.¡±


    Rhubin had to think about that for a minute and I hid my smile as he finally got it. ¡°You have got to be kidding me!¡±


    Luxea held up the datapad. ¡°All of their needs are met as they appear, no matter what they are.¡±


    ¡°When she was younger, I helped raise and train her to be one of the best combat fighters on the planet. She grew up quite a bit during that time and started to understand all those weird feelings she felt for me, so our relationship changed to be on a more equal footing. When she was old enough to realize what she actually wanted, to take the next step with me...¡±


    ¡°We get the idea.¡± Luxea said cut me off before I mentioned starting a physical relationship.


    ¡°Well, damn.¡± Rhubin said and sat in silence for a minute. ¡°I''m kind of wishing I had a guardian now.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I doubt that.¡± I pat his arm. ¡°You wouldn''t have grown up like you did and you definitely wouldn''t be the man you are today.¡±


    Rhubin laughed. ¡°All right, you got me there.¡± He said. ¡°I wouldn''t change who I am just for a constant and convenient bed partner that was hired to do it.¡±


    Luxea and I exchanged knowing looks and he tossed a piece of bread at us. We laughed because we all knew that he had no problem paying for that particular service whenever he had the chance. We sat and kept talking, since there was a lot to discuss, and I used Presence to keep our conversation private, despite being out in pubic and surrounded by people. A few people looked at us and wondered why they couldn''t hear us, and I didn''t pay them any mind. One person wondered if they could duplicate the effect and was debating with themselves whether or not to approach and ask about it.


    Luckily, we had finished eating our meal already, so we paid the owner''s wife and tipped her well, then left before anyone came over. We did some shopping and picked up some replacement parts, some supplies, and headed back to the ship. That night, Luxea and I were cuddled up in bed.


    ¡°Hunter, I... I think I...¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said and she caught her breath. ¡°I was pretty ignorant at the time and didn''t realize how rare it was for a woman to caution a man about using his abilities on other women.¡± I turned in the bed and faced her, and she stared into my eyes. ¡°I think that''s when it started. It built up from there, and I knew it was something special, especially after my encounter with Ohazith, which opened my mind and prepared me for the real thing, then with Lashina, who used that preparation to show me what it could be like to be with someone I love.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± Luxea''s heart was beating quite fast. ¡°I''ve been with...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°I also know you had feelings for some, had fun with others, and regretted a few.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to keep reading my mind.¡± Luxea said and frowned a little.


    I chuckled. ¡°I''m reading the situation and guessing.¡±


    ¡°You''re not picking at my brain?¡± Luxea asked, surprised.


    ¡°I don''t need to.¡± I said and gave her a kiss. ¡°I''ve known you for a couple of years here, and hundreds of years where I was.¡±


    ¡°Wait, are you saying that...¡±


    ¡°Maylia told me to never give up about seeing you again.¡± I said and Luxea''s eyes starting tearing up. ¡°So, I never did. It took almost two hundred years for the specialists I had working on the teleportation ritual to reverse engineer it. Once it was done and we knew the right components to add to take me where I wanted to go, well...¡±


    ¡°You waited.¡± Luxea said and her tears stained the pillow.


    ¡°I promised Maylia that I would stay and not abandon her or our family if she was alive.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe there were so many of them.¡± Luxea whispered.


    ¡°It took a long time to get there.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°But, I''m not going back.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°The ritual is very specific.¡± I said. ¡°It seems that you can only appear at the point that you disappeared from previously, if there was a significant event that happened to you, usually a very traumatic one. I was only allowed to go to Earth because it was the tragic end of my first life. When I left after planting the seedling, it was just me leaving like I left Maylia''s planet after her funeral. No almost dying myself was needed. Just poof, I was gone.¡±


    ¡°That''s why you appeared back here at the point that you thought you died, and Kara has no idea that you stayed on that other planet all those years.¡± Luxea said, her tears pouring out.


    ¡°I thought I had died, yes.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sure I wasn''t supposed to be that hurt; but, I was and that''s how things turned out.¡± I wiped at her tears and gave her another kiss. ¡°Now I''m back to live my life like it was supposed to be.¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°With me?¡± Luxea asked, her voice barely above a whisper and full of hope.


    ¡°Do you see anyone else in my bed that''s about to ride me like a hover car flying over choppy water?¡±


    Luxea laughed, despite her tears, and her hand moved down under the blanket to touch me. ¡°Vroom, vroom.¡± She said as she found my control stick and she really liked that I was ready for her. She rolled over on top of me and she moaned as we joined together.


    The water was quite choppy for most of the night.


    It took another week for The Order to completely dismantle the shuttle and shut down the computer. It stopped the direct link to their control tower and the main communications array; but, all of the stealth relays were still scattered over the system and her programs still sent data out. The data flow only slowed down and didn''t stop, mainly because the signals were piggybacking on The Order''s own communications signals and blended right in.


    I properly thanked Luxea for her hard work by telling her that we were going to build our own super computer. Luxea wasn''t sure why we would need such a thing, then I told her that every super computer needed its own network of satellites and communications relays in every system that we had people stashed in.


    She didn''t let me leave our room on the ship for three days while she ''properly thanked me'' back.


    Of course, you couldn''t just buy a computer like that. The core components were easy enough to pick up from various distributors, in order to hide what you were doing. We also had the full use of a space station near the super gas giant planet. It had been practically abandoned until I had factored it into my plans for creating a meeting place for people that were opposed to The Order. Now it had a slow but constant flow of people and shipments going through it. It was quite easy to route the parts we needed through there.


    After talking about where to put this new main installation we needed to make, Rhubin suggested we buy a habitat to put in orbit next to the transshipment containers that our company The Wave used for trading goods. Once he mentioned that, Luxea reminded us about all of those enemy ships that were still in orbit around Fogaris'' star. They didn''t use normal standard parts because they were alien space ships, which was why we didn''t strip them before; but, the system that did use them wasn''t that far away from where all the derelicts were.


    ¡°Oh, you beautiful brilliant woman!¡± I exclaimed and kissed her. ¡°We can get some easy capital from it. I doubt we can salvage a good hull though, considering the mess of the wrecks.¡±


    ¡°We can try to contact someone through an intermediary to find some of the software to run the weapons and equipment we can salvage.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°What about what''s his name and his girlfriend?¡± Rhubin asked. ¡°Uh... damn, what was it?¡± He looked at our confused faces. ¡°You know! The bounty we got shafted on for that corporation? The one we sold all those other ship weapons to?¡±


    ¡°OH! I know who you mean!¡± Luxea said and brought up the files she had. ¡°It''s the Bogorum Corporation and the guy that woman poached on us was named Ernas.¡±


    ¡°Then give him a call and see what he can do for us.¡± I said and touched her hand to stop her. ¡°Wait, I just had an idea.¡±


    ¡°This should be good.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Ask to buy one of their shuttles or even a small fast ship.¡± I said. ¡°Our shipping company is looking for another ship and hoped they would have one for sale.¡±


    Luxea''s eyes sparkled. ¡°Oh, that''s sneaky!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°We''ll get their software first hand and we can salvage pretty much anything else hardware-wise from the wrecks.¡±


    ¡°If we can get an entire intact ship and I can decode their software, we should be able to adapt everything over for our use.¡± Luxea said and stood. ¡°Oh, that... we need to go right now!¡±


    I laughed and kept my hand on hers. ¡°Relax. Start with communications first. Contact Ernas and see if there is anything his company can set up for us.¡±


    Luxea nodded and she brought up the man''s contact information, then she went over to the console at the side of the living room and started the necessary inquiries.


    ¡°Rhubin, while we wait to see how that turns out, we need to make a quick run to the Granis system.¡±


    ¡°The tourist attraction? Why do you need to... oh. Right.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I guess we should finish that delivery.¡±


    ¡°I''m tempted to call ahead and warn them that we''re coming; but, where''s the fun in that?¡± I asked.


    Rhubin laughed. ¡°All right, I''ll get the computer working and move the ship out to the jump point.¡±


    I nodded and he left to go to the cockpit to start the hyperspace calculations to take us to the white dwarf and red giant binary stars safely. Luxea turned off the console and came over to me.


    ¡°Ernas says he will make some... discrete inquires... and he''ll get back to us.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Are the tensions that bad?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°The Fogaris system government... namely Uzahine and the other two delegates we delivered there... have released propaganda videos about the attack on their home planet.¡±


    ¡°They actually took my advice?¡± I asked and Luxea nodded. ¡°What about those bounty jobs they tried to pawn off on us?¡±


    ¡°Cancelled.¡± Luxea smiled. ¡°It seems classing the targets as ''vermin'' just didn''t sit well with the core systems and they cut them.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± I barked a laugh. ¡°I bet it was the one about ''president vermin''!¡±


    ¡°You got it.¡± Luxea said and looked at the door warily. I could tell what she wanted to do and that she was afraid of embarrassing herself, so I put my arm around her waist and pulled her down onto my lap. Her face started to go red until I snaked my hand around her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. She forgot her embarrassment and put her arms around me to kiss me back. We stayed that way even after the ship jumped to hyperspace.


    ¡°We''re on our way to the Granis system.¡± Rhubin said over the intercom. ¡°Sit back and relax as your pilot takes you on a week-long journey across a dozen star systems with both expertise and panache!¡±


    That made both Luxea and I smile and we had to pause our make-out session.


    Luxea reached over and touched the intercom button. ¡°If I didn''t like you so much Rhubin, I could swear that you''re interrupting me on purpose.¡±


    ¡°Who, me?¡± Rhubin asked, then he laughed. ¡°I''m coming back to grab a bite to eat, so I''m just warning you to move your antics to a more private area before I see something you don''t want me to see.¡±


    Luxea glanced at me and I nodded. ¡°Point taken.¡± She said and let the button go. I held onto her and stood up, then carried her to our room.


    *


    ¡°Welcome back, Wise One.¡± The Order member said as the eleven foot tall alien with what looked like the giant head of a housefly stepped out of the shuttle. ¡°Did you enjoy your vacation?¡±


    ¡°I was in a catatonic state the entire time.¡± The Wise One said and he almost coughed his signature laugh. ¡°It was fine.¡±


    The Order member sighed and picked up the alien''s bag. He walked a respectable three feet behind the giant alien and followed him to his residence. He didn''t enter, though. That was The Wise One''s private space and only those he deemed worthy could enter.


    ¡°Send for Master Moor.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I wish to see her on a matter of some importance.¡±


    The Order member bowed and put the bag down, then left at a fast walk.


    ¡°Greetings, Master.¡± The woman that was his receptionist said.


    ¡°Now, now. No need for that.¡± The Wise One said and touched the woman''s shoulder and shared some of his Presence with her. ¡°Are the recordings on my desk?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± She said and stared up at him. ¡°You should find a few interesting things on them.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± The Wise One said and let her shoulder go before he shared a bit more with her than he should. ¡°Let Master Moor in when she arrives. I won''t be busy.¡±


    The woman nodded and The Wise One walked by her and entered his office to look over the things that had happened while he was away. He knew a lot of it already, because he had ''seen'' it while he was in his catatonic state. Watching it with his actual eyes would give him a better perspective than the floating murkiness he had suffered through. He had known he would be under some kind of forced meditation when Kara returned with Hunter, as he was calling himself now, so The Wise One took a vacation to seclude himself and to remove his influence from the event.


    The Wise One sat on the floor behind his desk, so that his head would be at a normal height when Kara came in. He always liked to minimize his height advantage when possible. He watched the main event inside the council chamber and it was just as startling as it was the first time. He hadn''t felt the Presence waver then and Hunter''s words had struck a deep chord within him. Discovering so casually that the Gruskluan was involved with (Undecipherable), was both masterful and upsetting.


    If anyone would have been helping (Undecipherable), it should have been Kralish the scaly alien. The Wise One thought. His anger was always just below the surface and he should have been the one to be easily turned to worship one of the Dark divine beings. There was a knock on the door and he paused the file and turned off the viewscreen. ¡°You may enter.¡±


    Kara opened the door to the office and she was struck by The Wise One''s ugliness. Her hand twitched to grab her Light sword to strike the creature down, just as she had for over a year, because hesitating could mean being maimed or death. She calmed her nerves and tucked her hands into her robes to stop herself from killing the monster in front of her. The Wise One both saw the twitch and felt the killing intent. His long life had flashed in front of his eyes and he knew that his death would be at her hands if he wasn''t very careful.


    ¡°When Lashina returns in two months, you will stay with her until you get your impulses under control.¡± The Wise One said and Kara winced. ¡°Whatever you went through has changed your perception of things. Was it for the better or are you worse for it?¡±


    Kara didn''t respond right away. She thought about the question and spoke. ¡°I was doing the Goddess'' bidding and did it gladly. I was her emissary and helped cleanse an entire kingdom of the Dark''s influence and Presence.¡±


    If The Wise One had eyelids, he would have blinked them several times. As it was, he just sat there unmoving and stared at her with his segmented eyes. Kara was surprised by this, because she had assumed that as The Wise One, he would have known where she had been all this time. The silence stretched on for several minutes and then he spoke.


    ¡°Please explain.¡± The Wise One said and a chair appeared in front of his desk.


    Kara held in her sigh as she sat down, much closer to the thing than she thought she could stand, and started to tell the story.

 Book Three: The Resolution 007

    We arrived at the Granis system with me standing just behind the two seats in the cockpit. The sight of the swirling stellar mass around the two stars was just as spectacular as it had been the first time I saw it. This time I could see the Presence of both stars as the white dwarf siphoned off the red giant''s outer layer. For such large celestial bodies, the process was taking a long time and it would continue to take a long time. This particular tourist attraction was going to be around for at least a billion years or so.


    ¡°Are we docking on the main ring on the station?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°I''d say that would be better, even though we''re not here for the station''s main purpose.¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°We didn''t see it the last time we were here.¡±


    ¡°And why was that, exactly?¡± I asked her with my eyebrows raised.


    ¡°I was having fun with a man I picked up in the lobby of the hotel.¡± Luxea said, completely unabashed by the admission. ¡°I was a different woman then.¡±


    ¡°You don''t know how nervous I was to be around you alone.¡± I said and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°I was warned that you would eat me alive.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Luxea said in a deadly tone.


    ¡°A woman with a voracious sexual appetite and could pick any man that she wanted?¡± I asked, and this time she did blush. ¡°I was seriously debating if it was worth it to take the chance that you would eat me alive, just to see if I could survive the experience.¡±


    Luxea wasn''t sure what to say to that, because it was both a little insulting and flattering.


    ¡°Be flattered.¡± I said and kissed her cheek. ¡°You almost seduced me and you weren''t even trying.¡±


    Luxea''s face stayed red as Rhubin flew the ship through the system and docked us to the main ring.


    ¡°Don''t forget your blast shield.¡± Rhubin reminded me as we left the cockpit. ¡°You had it on the last time you were here.¡±


    ¡°You''re telling me to make it a big reveal?¡± I asked with a smile and he chuckled.


    ¡°You''re not going to need much more of a shock after giving what''s her name that bundle.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''ll head into the main promenade and get us a room at the hotel.¡±


    ¡°You might as well check and see what else they have for sale here.¡± I reminded her. ¡°Anything you want or think we''ll need for what we''re doing.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that I could easily empty both of our credit accounts with that statement.¡± Luxea said and I laughed.


    ¡°If you have to do it, do it.¡± I said and she stared at me. ¡°We''ve scraped by on almost nothing before. We can do it again.¡±


    ¡°You''re serious.¡± Luxea said in a whisper.


    ¡°Who have I trusted to handle all the finances, run both the transshipment business and the bounty hunting business, and to handle vetting the clients for both?¡± I asked and gave her another kiss on the cheek. ¡°Get changed into something not too sexy and go do what you want with our money.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad you didn''t add my money in there.¡± Rhubin said as Luxea walked away. ¡°I like being flushed with credits, thank you very much!¡±


    I laughed and tapped the Wave patch on his vest. ¡°Make sure not to sully our good name.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Madame Esayys is a reputable establishment.¡± Rhubin said haughtily and I laughed again.


    ¡°All right, just have fun.¡± I said. ¡°We''re staying for about a week.¡±


    ¡°See you in a week, then.¡± Rhubin said with a huge grin and left through the main hatch. I stood there and waited, then turned to look at Luxea when she came back from our room. She wore a nice medium cut blue skirt and had a blouse that was both tight and loose in the appropriate spots. She had her hair done up in a complicated bun-like shape and it drew the eye to her neck and her ears.


    ¡°Such sexy ears.¡± I whispered and her face flushed red.


    ¡°Stop that.¡± Luxea said without any conviction, so I leaned down and kissed her earlobe, then moved to the other side of her head and kissed the other one.


    ¡°I''ll meet you at the hotel in a little while.¡± I said. ¡°If you have any trouble...¡± I tapped my ear.


    ¡°I''m still having a hard time believing that you can do that without an electronic device.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I''ll speak to you when you check into the hotel to prove it.¡± I said and gave her a kiss on the lips. ¡°Have fun shopping.¡±


    ¡°Not too much fun.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I''m with Rhubin on this. I like having lots of credits.¡±


    ¡°Just wait until we get the network up.¡± I chuckled. ¡°What''s a small percentage of a covert interstellar call worth these days anyway?¡±


    Luxea''s eyes lit up with that information, then she kissed me hard and ran out through the open hatch. I had to laugh at her enthusiasm at getting to play with an entirely personally-built intergalactic stealth satellite system.


    I knew she would be happy with the idea, just not this happy. I thought in amusement and slipped on my blast shield. I left through the main hatch, locked it behind me, and stepped into the line waiting for the security scanner. Luxea had somehow bypassed the line and disappeared into the crowd.


    ¡°You''re not carrying any weapons?¡± The alien behind the screen asked me when nothing showed up.


    I took out a Light sword hilt from my hidden thigh pocket and held it up.


    ¡°Ah. No wonder.¡± He said. ¡°If you kill anyone with that thing, make sure to hide the body.¡± He waved me forward. ¡°We don''t need the headache.¡±


    I laughed and put it away, then took out a fifty credit chip and tossed it to him. He didn''t even glance at it and put it in his pocket. I entered the main part of the station and looked around, then I eased my Detect Presence technique out to a hundred feet, then another hundred and another. I found Luxea and she was just entering the hotel''s lobby. I stepped to the side of the entryway I was in and watched her. When she booked the room and handed over the credits, I spoke to her.


    ¡°I''m glad you sprung for the top floor.¡± I said and used Presence so that only she could hear me. I saw her startle and turn around to see if I was standing next to her. When she saw that I wasn''t, she accepted the room key and and walked over to sit down in a lobby chair.


    ¡°Where are you?¡± Luxea whispered.


    ¡°I''m still beside the exit by the ship.¡± I said.


    ¡°You''re kidding!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Take out your datapad and see for yourself.¡±


    Luxea did and she brought up the feed from the stations monitoring system. With just a few keystrokes, she was looking through the camera across from me. I turned and waved to her, then blew her a kiss.


    ¡°This is weird.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I''ll be a little busy when I go into the other section, so I''ll only talk to you if it''s an emergency.¡±


    ¡°Can you really keep monitoring for my voice while doing other things?¡±


    ¡°Easily.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t violate your privacy, though. I''m only listening for when you talk to me directly or if you''re in distress.¡±


    Luxea relaxed. ¡°You always know what to say to make me feel better.¡±


    ¡°Go. Spend. Money.¡± I said, and she laughed. I blew her another kiss and walked away from the camera''s pickup and towards the less reputable section of the station. I took my time and kept expanding my detection range to keep Luxea inside of it. I came to the right section and the single secured door that used to be there had been replaced with a security field and four people. Two were men and two were aliens.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°What''s your business here?¡± One of the men asked.


    ¡°Special delivery for...¡± I didn''t want to say her name out loud, so I leaned in close. ¡°...the woman who really runs the place.¡± I whispered. ¡°She gave me a mission to return something to her.¡±


    The man clearly didn''t believe me and thought I was just someone that wanted to try and get to her, so I held up a hand and produced a very small amount of Presence and shifted its color to that of the golden glow that Aphatoris had. The man jerked as if I hit him and he grabbed onto his communication console as he tried to call someone important to handle a situation that he knew he didn''t want any part of. I absorbed the Presence and waited patiently.


    ¡°N-name.¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± I said and tapped my blast shield. ¡°They should all know me. I spent a week here as a prisoner and several of them tried to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Y-y-yessir.¡± The man said as his face went white and he relayed the information. We all heard a loud squawk from his earpiece and the man winced. ¡°Yes. Yes, really. He''s right here. Okay. Yes. All right.¡± He pulled the thing from his ear. ¡°Someone will be here in a few minutes to greet you.¡±


    I nodded and stepped to the side to clear the passage, and used Stealth to disappear when someone else came down the passage behind me. The two men and the two aliens stared at the spot I was and couldn''t believe their eyes.


    ¡°Griglesnap! Lishack nook lidhassep!¡± The alien that stood there waiting to be checked said.


    ¡°Huh? What?¡± The man that was supposed to be clearing him said.


    ¡°Stewpid U-man! Check me throo!¡±


    ¡°Uh, right. Right.¡± The man said and did a quick scan, told the alien to deactivate its concealing energy field, then waited for the scan. A second later, the other man raised a laser pistol and shot the alien in the face.


    ¡°Who''s the one that''s stupid?¡± The second man asked and stepped over to the body and dug out a small electronic device. ¡°Trying to smuggle a backdoor computer virus into the system is an immediate death sentence.¡± He looked at the device and wondered what to do with it.


    ¡°I''ll handle it if you want.¡± I said and faded back into existence.


    ¡°What? How?¡±


    ¡°Like this.¡± I said and covered the device in Presence, crushed it into the size of a grain of sand, then dispersed the energy inside of it. The four of them stood there and didn''t know how to react. The other man''s suspicions had been confirmed and he really didn''t want anything to do with me now. The security field dropped and the man that had tried to arrest me the last time I was here, came through.


    ¡°It really is you.¡± He said and held a hand out. I shook it and he glanced down at the body. ¡°Not your doing, I hope?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Nope. Backdoor virus smuggler.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± He let my hand go and clapped the shoulder of the man that stood there with the speck of dirt on his palm. ¡°Good work.¡±


    The man nodded and looked down at the speck, then he looked at me.


    ¡°Just toss it. It''s just dirt now.¡± I said and followed the man who came to retrieve me through the doorway and the security field was back in place. ¡°I see that you''ve taken a more proactive view of the security around here.¡±


    ¡°Yes. The last time you were here and told us what had been going on, we decided to change things up a little.¡± The man said. ¡°A preemptive solution for things that might happen here.¡±


    ¡°If it had been in place before, I might not have gotten in trouble here the last time.¡± I said and then chuckled. ¡°Maybe.¡±


    The man glanced at my face for a moment and then smiled. I followed him into his office and to the back, then we entered a hidden door and went down the stairs. We entered the same tunnel system I had been in before and we went to the same building-like structure that I knew had her private apartment at the top. I looked up and could see that her golden glow was as strong as it had been back then.


    Just to make sure that she knew it was me that was coming, I let a touch of my Presence enter my detection range and saw her shiver. A few people in the room saw her reaction and came to her assistance. She waved them away and they took up their positions between her and the apartment door. The man and I entered the guarded elevator and we went up to the top floor. We passed two more guards as we stepped out and two more were in front of her apartment door. After another quick scan with a handheld device, the door opened and we were allowed inside.


    ¡°I suggest you bow to her.¡± One of the guards whispered.


    ¡°She doesn''t want me to.¡± I said in a normal voice and stepped into the apartment. The people in front of me didn''t seem eager to move. ¡°Do I need to make a path this time as well?¡±


    ¡°Step aside.¡± Aphatoris said and the people split in half and made a path just wide enough for me to pass through. I assumed it was supposed to be intimidating, so I created two Presence Walls, left them slightly blue, and shoved the people back another foot and held them there.


    ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°What the hell?¡± ¡°I can''t move!¡± They said at the same time.


    ¡°That wasn''t necessary.¡± Aphatoris said, slightly amused.


    ¡°I didn''t want to take the chance that they would try to trip me and I would have to kill them.¡± I said casually. A few people in the room laughed, because they assumed I was joking. The man behind me, Aphatoris, and the rest knew I was completely serious.


    ¡°Do you have what you promised?¡± Aphatoris asked and everyone knew she was very apprehensive.


    ¡°I wouldn''t be here if I didn''t.¡± I said. ¡°May I approach?¡±


    Aphatoris nodded and I walked up the aisle I had made. When I stood in front of her, I took out a wrapped bundle. Her eyes were very wide as she stared at it as if she could see through it.


    ¡°Oh, that''s my dirty laundry.¡± I said and tucked the bundle away. ¡°Just a second.¡±


    One person let out a laugh that was quickly stifled.


    I took out the real bundle and you couldn''t tell what was inside. I had made sure of that. ¡°I delivered the head to The Order already.¡±


    Gasps and murmurs went around the room. Some were full of disbelief and a few had a lot of respect for someone with a bounty on their head to show up at The Order''s home planet to collect on a bounty.


    ¡°You don''t have to accept them.¡± I said. ¡°I know you were angry and upset and asked me for something that you thought wouldn''t... or couldn''t... be delivered.¡±


    Aphatoris looked at my face and I could see the indecision on her face. I smiled reassuringly as I reached up and took off my blast shield, and everyone froze as I revealed my secret. My eyes were fine.


    ¡°By the goddess'' shimmering light.¡± Aphatoris whispered and her hand reached out to touch my cheek.


    I let her admire me for a few moments and then spoke. ¡°Shall we have a little funeral for the man that you loved?¡± I asked, and after a few moments, she nodded. I slipped the blast shield back on and turned away, then created a Presence Box and made it solid, removed the top and put the wrapped bundle inside.


    ¡°I want to see.¡± Aphatoris said in a soft voice.


    I slowly unwrapped part of the bundle and she saw the blue skinned hands that had held her close so many times, and tears came to her eyes. I placed a small wooden engraved plate inside and put an arm around her as I enclosed the box.


    ¡°We are gathered here to lay to rest the man that this woman loved. Though he had died long before his physical body did, the memory of who he had been to her lingers on.¡±


    Aphatoris started crying and hung onto me.


    ¡°It is that man we honor today with a funeral befitting that memory, and not the man he had become.¡± I said and powered up and activated the Fireball spell engraved on the wooden plate. The Presence box filled with fire to everyone''s surprise, then I let in more oxygen and increased the flames tenfold. They tuned from orange to blue and started to incinerate everything inside. Aphatoris was sobbing pretty hard by this point, so I waited for several minutes before speaking.


    ¡°Do you want to keep the ashes?¡± I whispered to her and she shook her head. I turned the flames to white, like the white dwarf star, and even the ashes were quickly consumed. When the box was empty, I snuffed out the flames and dismissed the Presence. I kept my arms around Aphatoris as she tried her best to calm down. She hadn''t realized just how much she had invested emotionally into (Undecipherable) and his ''death'' had hit her pretty hard. She clung tightly to me for several more minutes until she had composed herself and took several deep breaths.


    Aphatoris slowly let me go and looked up at my face as she wiped at her tears. ¡°Thank you, Hunter.¡± She said as a dozen thoughts ran through her mind and she came up with several different ways to thank me. Personally. I smiled and took my arms from around her shoulders. She understood and I didn''t have to actually say that I was taken.


    ¡°Even though I wasn''t sure if you would ever return, I had these prepared for you.¡± Aphatoris said and stepped back from me as a female alien that looked almost human came over to us. She stopped before she touched the Presence Wall I had made, knowing she would be caught if she did. I smiled and absorbed both walls and let the people attached to it go, then she stepped close and held out a small wooden case. It was identical to the one Aphatoris had given to me the last time I was here and it had twelve focusing crystals in it.


    ¡°I really shouldn''t accept...¡±


    ¡°They are a gift.¡± Aphatoris said. ¡°You kept a promise that none of us here expected you to survive, let alone return to keep.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the confidence.¡± I said sarcastically and she smiled.


    ¡°Please take them and put them to good use.¡±


    I reached out to take the wooden case from the female alien and she gave me an odd look. It took me a few moments to realize why she seemed to be familiar. I stopped blocking my mind off so much as I directed my thoughts towards her.


    You''re a telepath? I asked her and she caught her breath at the strength of my mind.


    Y-Yes. She responded. I... you''re not the first... I''ve met others...


    It''s all right. Calm down. I was only curious. I thought to her and gave her some amusement. Would you like to have dinner with me? Strictly platonic, of course.


    Yes. She responded immediately, not wanting to pass up the chance to ''speak'' to another telepath.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and took the wooden box. Our mental conversation had happened in less time than it took for her to take a breath, so no one had noticed and I turned to Aphatoris. ¡°I''m staying at the Hamilton with my partner for a week.¡± I said. ¡°I''m doing the whole tourist thing.¡±


    Aphatoris nodded. ¡°I hope you enjoy everything that the station has to offer.¡±


    ¡°I can''t enjoy everything.¡± I said with a smile and looked at the female alien. ¡°Would you mind escorting me outside, and maybe through the section? I''m sure my first escort has some things to discuss with you-know-who.¡± I motioned with my head and eyes at Aphatoris, twice.


    The female alien smiled at my attempt to not say Aphatoris'' name. She glanced at Aphatoris, who nodded, so she stepped close to me and motioned to the door. I put my arm partially around her waist and we walked out of the apartment and to the elevator.


    *


    The man that had escorted me walked over to Aphatoris. ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    ¡°By the goddess, he''s powerful.¡± Aphatoris whispered and had to sit down. Her body shook from being so close to the man and he wasn''t even leaking any Presence. ¡°I couldn''t offer to boost his abilities like I had planned.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°He doesn''t need it.¡± Aphatoris said. ¡°He is so far beyond needing anything that I could ever give him.¡±


    ¡°Is that why he rejected you?¡±


    Aphatoris shook her head. ¡°He really is with someone else... and yet...¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Neither of them has agreed that it''s exclusive.¡± Aphatoris said. ¡°I don''t know why I know that.¡±


    ¡°I think we just have to accept certain things when he''s around.¡± The man said.


    Aphatoris nodded and looked at the three eyed and bald alien across the room. ¡°Keep an eye on him. If he needs anything, help him if you can.¡±


    The alien nodded and left the room at a fast walk.

 Book Three: The Resolution 008 (Sponsored)

    I escorted the female alien down in the elevator and she took me out through a different exit and we appeared at the end of what seemed to be a random alleyway between two shops. She slipped her arm partially around my waist when we were out in the crowd, like mine was around hers, and she led me down the corridor of bustling businesses to a darkened storefront. I gave her an inquiring look and she smiled as she opened the door and the lights and smells hit me in the face.


    ¡°Ooo, hidden food is always the best.¡± I said and she nodded.


    We went inside and the place was fairly crowded. She pointed to someone off to the side of the room and we went over to the man. After a quick conversation and a fifty credit chip bribe, we were let into the private dining area. Neither of us spoke, verbally or mentally, until the waiter came and took our orders. I accepted her recommendation for what to eat and as soon as the waiter left, I covered the table in a slightly blue Presence barrier and cut off all sound.


    ¡°I''m going to speak normally, if that''s all right?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°Can you tell me the name of your race?¡±


    She had an apprehensive look for a moment. ¡°You don''t want to know my name?¡±


    ¡°Simone Ignat Dominique Alexandra Lynede, I''m tempted to call you Sidal for your initials.¡±


    Simone smiled. ¡°Just Simone is fine.¡± She said. ¡°You prefer Hunter.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°The other names refer to parts of my life that I don''t want to be reminded of right now.¡±


    ¡°You''ve had...¡± Simone''s eyes widened. ¡°...no, are you really?¡±


    I nodded again. ¡°I''m only about ten years short of celebrating my seven hundredth birthday.¡±


    ¡°But... but you...¡± Simone shook her head. ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Magic portals and divine interference.¡± I said and her mouth dropped open in shock. ¡°You''re wondering why I''m telling you?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Because I know you''ll keep it a secret.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Simone asked. ¡°We only just met!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''ve met another of your race before.¡± I said and held out my hand. ¡°If you''d like, I can share that time with you.¡±


    Simone was tempted by my offer. Very, very tempted.


    ¡°Perhaps after the meal?¡± I asked and pulled my hand back. ¡°Here comes our food.¡± I absorbed the Presence barrier and all the miscellaneous sounds around us could be heard again. She turned and listened for the waiter''s mind and didn''t pick it up until it left the kitchen.


    What is your range? Simone asked me mentally.


    Let''s just say that there''s nothing on the station I can''t reach if I concentrate. I responded.


    The waiter delivered our meals and drinks, then left. I let Simone mull over what I had said and as we ate, I concentrated on Luxea. She was currently looking through a digital inventory of programs she thought might be useful.


    ¡°Hey, beautiful.¡± I whispered and used Presence so that only Luxea could hear me. ¡°I''m having dinner with another telepath.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Does she look like Ohazith?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°Assuming she''s the same species.¡±


    ¡°She is the same race and she looks completely different.¡± I said. ¡°Larger breasts, shorter hair, no extra arms, and her Presence is about twice as strong.¡±


    ¡°Are they as nice as mine?¡± Luxea asked, immediately thinking of the breast comment.


    ¡°I haven''t looked yet.¡±


    ¡°Yet, huh?¡± Luxea chuckled. ¡°Do I need to warn you again about sleeping with strange women?¡±


    I smiled. ¡°I want to examine why she doesn''t have extra arms and I''ll need to look for that.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°That''s it? You''re not going to get angry if I see another woman naked?¡±


    ¡°It''s fine as long as you don''t sleep with her.¡±


    ¡°You mean right away, right?¡± I asked jokingly, and Luxea laughed.


    ¡°Can you at least wait until we have a fight or something before you start shopping for a replacement?¡±


    I laughed, too. ¡°Considering we never fight, that''s going to take a while.¡± I said and I felt her agree. ¡°Love you.¡±


    ¡°Love you, too.¡± Luxea said and then she saw a program she absolutely had to have. ¡°I''ve got to go.¡±


    ¡°Have fun.¡± I said and let her monitoring fade into the back of my mind again.


    ¡°You''re not even using electronics.¡± Simone said. ¡°How far away is she?¡±


    ¡°Um... let''s see.¡± I used Presence to look around Luxea. ¡°She currently in station two in a data shop.¡±


    Simone hid her surprise well. ¡°Impressive.¡±


    ¡°We still have personal communication devices as backups.¡± I said and showed my wrist com.


    ¡°They can be hacked and the signal pirated.¡± Simone said and I smiled.


    ¡°So, when did you start working for...¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to strip right here or should we go somewhere more private?¡± Simone asked, her tone just a bit cold.


    ¡°I''d actually like to get to know you better first.¡± I said and she gave me a knowing look. ¡°Yes, really.¡±


    ¡°Let me see, then.¡± Simone said.


    I opened my mouth to say no, then brought a touch of Presence to my fingertip and held it out to her. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead to my fingertip and I gave her a temporary sharing connection. When I shared my limited detection range with her, that only covered about two-thirds of the station, she shivered for a moment and fell unconscious. I chuckled and used Presence to reduce the shock to her system and hold her head, so she didn''t drop it to the table. After a few minutes she woke up with a slight headache.


    ¡°How can you ''see'' so much and not go mad?¡± Simone asked and rubbed her forehead.


    ¡°Compartmentalization.¡± I said. ¡°If I tried to look at everything at once, like you just did, it would hurt. So, I mentally limit what I ''see'' and make it all background noise.¡± I waved at the restaurant. ¡°Like all this noise. It''s there, and you can listen to some of it and make it out if you concentrate; but, if you don''t pay attention, it''s just noise.¡±


    ¡°You''re amazing.¡± Simone said and looked down at her meal. ¡°I don''t think I want to make myself wait anymore.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Do you have a place nearby?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Simone said and hit the little button on the wall for service. ¡°Check, please.¡±


    The waiter had anticipated her and held out a chip reader. I took out a chip and he slipped it into the reader. His eyes widened at the total and he took off the cost of the food.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Take ten percent for yourself.¡± I said and he added the gratuity and handed me the chip back.


    ¡°Thank you sir.¡± He said and slipped his own chip into it and took the tip. ¡°Thank you very much.¡±


    Simone and I left the hidden restaurant and she led me down the street and another alley to a door. We didn''t go back to Aphatoris'' building, though. She took me inside another smaller space and there was no elevator. After seven floors of stairs, we arrived at her apartment and she let me inside.


    ¡°I can''t believe I''m doing this.¡± Simone said as she shut the door.


    I stood behind her and reached up and put my hand on the back of her neck. ¡°Please, allow me to get to know you.¡±


    Simone thought about saying no, then she sighed and let her considerable mental barriers drop.


    *


    The Visidern were a telepathic species that had been on the edge of a solar system that was being slowly torn apart and consumed by a rogue super-massive black hole. The stellar phenomenon was extremely rare and they were the unlucky ones to win that particular lottery. With no other choice but to abandon their multi-planet home system, their society took everything they could with them and fled.


    Unfortunately, no other planet or star system could support over twenty billion new citizens.


    They travelled for years to try and find some habitable planet to settle on. In some cases they were successful for a time and filled up anything they found. Resources for that many people were also hard to come by. Soon they gained a reputation as a people who would completely strip any area of everything, just to feed their people. Once they were branded as humanoid locusts, it spelled their downfall as a society.


    No one would sell them anything. No one would welcome them. No one seemed to care.


    The tiny planet they lived on wasn''t harsh; but, most of their population lived on the spaceships in orbit. Ramshackle and pieced together habitats often failed and killed droves of them. Those habitats were harvested for any usable parts for the others. Thousands died. Then hundreds of thousands more. Some of them couldn''t take it. They killed themselves so that there would be one more morsel of food for their families to eat.


    Soon, it became the norm that a man of a certain age would work himself to death just to feed the family. Birth rates dropped because no one wanted to bring a child into their situation. The higher gravity also played a part in their bodily functions. They were weaker than they should be and their extra arms were a hindrance instead of a boon. Even the people in space had to adjust to it so they could keep rotating the population down to the planet.


    With no resources to maintain anything, everything started to break down. Essential skills were lost with no one left to teach them. Computers lost power and vast libraries of information were deleted or lost as the parts were cannibalized to try and keep other things running. Some ships left to go off on their own. Some seeking fortune, some seeking redemption, some seeking salvation for them and their people. Most left seeking only death somewhere else. The last group found what they wanted.


    By the time the dust had settled, the Visidern were reduced from over twenty billion to barely a million people, mostly female refugees, because they were the ones who could sacrifice a lot for their children and still live. The race, as a whole, was pretty much done.


    *


    ¡°Oh, Simone.¡± I said and moved my hand from the back of her neck and hugged her from behind. ¡°I am so sorry.¡±


    ¡°I''m one of the lucky ones.¡± Simone said, her eyes full of tears. She had ''seen'' all of that, too. ¡°I managed to sneak onto a freighter as a young girl. They traded with my people illegally, robbed us of national treasures in exchange for basic rations, and left as wealthy as kings.¡± She sighed. ¡°I was discovered when we stopped at the next port of call and I tried to sneak off the ship.¡±


    ¡°Good god.¡± I said and kissed her cheek. ¡°They took your arms.¡±


    ¡°For stealing food.¡± Simone said in a whisper. ¡°They said it was an appropriate punishment.¡±


    ¡°Can I see?¡± I asked, and she nodded. I let her go and she slowly stripped off her light armor and then took off her thick cloth top. I took off my uniform coat and stored it in one of my invisible bags of holding. Simone was naked from the waist up and I only had eyes for her sides. I knelt and tenderly touched the slight protrusions that used to be shoulders. Tears came to my eyes as I hugged her, then the bones under the grown over skin moved slightly, as if the extra arms were trying to move to hug me back. I leaned down and kissed where they were supposed to be.


    Simone let out a sob and I looked up at her tear-streaked face. She knelt and wrapped her actual arms around me and we stayed that way as she grieved for arms she had lost nearly two decades ago. While we were like that, I opened some of my own mental shields and shared my experiences with Ohazith. Simone cried harder. Not because Ohazith had been killed, it was because I hadn''t seen her as a freak and had welcomed the extra arms as a part of her and even encouraged her to use them.


    ¡°Where were you when I was a little girl?¡± Simone asked, her voice hoarse from crying so hard.


    I knew it was a rhetorical question and answered anyway. ¡°I was about a year from being kidnapped, tortured, and killed in my first life.¡±


    Simone''s crying fit started again as I gave that experience to her. I softened it, of course. I removed the pain and agony and only gave her the hope and smile I held the entire time. I also showed her that my sacrifice wasn''t in vain. Her lips found mine and she kissed me to comfort me and to comfort herself. She felt such relief that she didn''t feel any disgust from me, even though I knew her secrets, that she lost herself in the moment and her mind accepted me completely. She embraced me as if she always had and I gave her the same courtesy.


    With a quick touch of my Presence, I knew what she needed, what she truly desired, and it wasn''t a lover. Not at that moment, anyway. She wanted to be accepted for who she was and who she used to be, so that''s what I did. She felt the change in me and surrendered herself completely, both physically and mentally. I could have taken her right then and there and she would have welcomed it; but, we both knew that would have cheapened the experience we were having.


    Simone''s Presence rose up, for the first time in her life, and eagerly tried to mix with mine. She knew it could be done, because Ohazith had done it, and now she knew how it was done, too. Her entire body tingled as my Presence mixed with hers and her body glowed slightly blue as she took in as much as she could stand, both Presence-wise and memory-wise. When she reached her limit, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell unconscious.


    She might be a telepath; but, her experience is almost non-existent. I thought as I picked her up and brought her over to her bed. I laid her down on it and pulled over a chair with Presence and sat down on it. I didn''t want her to think I had taken advantage of her, or even imply that I had, so I held her hand and waited for about an hour for her to wake up.


    Simone opened her eyes and turned her head to look at me. ¡°Take me with you.¡±


    ¡°Simone...¡±


    ¡°No, I don''t expect anything like what you had with Ohazith.¡± Simone said. ¡°I know you''re with Luxea and that you''re eventually going to meet up with Lashina in the far distant future.¡± She smiled and squeezed my hand. I want to have someone near that I can talk to. She thought to me.


    ¡°You know what I plan to do.¡± I said and she nodded.


    ¡°The traders I stowed away on? They traded with The Order.¡± Simone said as her smile disappeared. ¡°Can you guess who it was that caught me?¡±


    I brought her hand to my lips and closed my eyes and went over her memories at the time. I saw more than one Order symbol and their classic robes that hadn''t changed since they adopted them as their standard outfits.


    ¡°There''s not a lot of room on my ship...¡± I started to say, and she pointed to her private console. I let her hand go and walked over to it and turned it on.


    ¡°Look for Argus Shipping.¡± Simone said and I did so. It was a shipping company that crossed the trade sanctions for a dozen different planetary governments and factions... which also included the recent enemies of the Fogaris system. I knew what special codes to use to get into their private dealings and discovered that they had a retired ship and a shuttle for sale, weaponless of course.


    I chuckled. ¡°We''ve been trying to work a deal like this legitimately.¡±


    ¡°It''s a legitimate sale.¡± Simone said and rolled over on bed to look at me. ¡°The listing isn''t.¡±


    ¡°Ah. It means they will only sell to someone in the know.¡± I said and she nodded. ¡°Can I copy this?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you can do whatever you want.¡± Simone said, her voice almost a purr. ¡°I trust you.¡±


    I gave her a smile. ¡°You tested me, even though you were in that state?¡±


    ¡°What better way to find out if you value me, than to give you ample opportunity to touch me as much as you want?¡±


    ¡°What if I''d grabbed your breast or...¡±


    ¡°I would still know where I stood with you, and it would be little more than another woman for you to marginalize.¡± Simone said and sat up. ¡°You didn''t do that, though. You respected me and my body, and didn''t even cuddle me like you wanted to, in case I saw it as a violation of my trust.¡±


    I used Presence to pick up her cloth top and armor and floated it over to her. ¡°You''ll need to get dressed if you''re coming with me.¡±


    ¡°You''re going to be here for a week.¡± Simone said and took the top and armor and set them aside, then she stood. ¡°I''ll clear up my dealings here, hand off what I can''t to someone else, then I''ll meet you at the main ring.¡±


    ¡°I guess we can convert the living room into a temporary room for you.¡± I said.


    ¡°No need.¡± Simone said and walked over to me to make her breasts sway teasingly. ¡°I''ll stay in the reinforced cell.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°It''s quite comfortable, considering it''s supposed to be for prisoners.¡± Simone said and leaned over slightly to make her breasts that much more enticing. ¡°You are both vexing and intriguing.¡±


    ¡°So are you.¡± I said and looked at her breasts. ¡°Are they as supple as I think they are?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Simone said and gave them a little jiggle, then she stood up straight.


    ¡°You know you''re making my hands ache.¡± I said and stood as well.


    Simone gave me a huge knowing smile. ¡°Make sure you ravage Luxea a little more than usual tonight.¡± She said. ¡°For me.¡±


    ¡°I can definitely promise that.¡± I said and we stared at each other for a few moments.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Simone whispered. ¡°I know you want to.¡±


    I smiled a little and reached up, brought a touch of Presence to my fingertips, then cupped the side of her face.


    Simone closed her eyes and let the tingling feeling flow over her. ¡°That feels so...¡±


    I gave her a gentle kiss on the lips and cut off her words. She was going to let me do what I wanted, anything I wanted, and she trusted me completely. So, I let her face go, broke the kiss, and left the room.


    I had a meeting with my girlfriend to tell her that we had a new member of our crew.

 Book Three: The Resolution 009

    I was barely out of Simone''s apartment when I felt a disturbance around Luxea. I stepped to the wall, made myself invisible with my Stealth technique, and closed my eyes to concentrate.


    *


    ¡°Come on, Luxea.¡± The man pleaded. ¡°Just one drink! That''s all I ask.¡±


    ¡°How many time do I have to tell you no?¡± Luxea asked and tried to walk around the man. He stepped to the side and blocked her from leaving the small electronics store. ¡°Move aside.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been waiting months to find you here again.¡± The man said. ¡°At least hear me out.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°I promise that it''s something you''ll really enjoy.¡±


    ¡°You better move before I call security.¡± Luxea said, her anger starting to rise.


    ¡°You''re such a kidder.¡± The man said and started to reach for her. ¡°Come with me and... ARGH!¡±


    A slightly glowing blue hand gripped his wrist like a vice and stopped him from touching her.


    ¡°The lady said no.¡± A disembodied voice said.


    ¡°What the... hey! Let me go!¡± The man said.


    ¡°I''ll let you go if you leave quietly.¡±


    ¡°Do you know who I am?!?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°No.¡± The voice said. ¡°Nor do I care.¡±


    ¡°Let me go right now, or I''ll...¡±


    ¡°You''ll what?¡± The voice asked. ¡°I''m a floating blue hand and a disembodied voice. What are you going to do to me?¡±


    ¡°I''ll find you, whoever you are!¡± The man said. ¡°I''ll make you regret crossing me!¡±


    ¡°You''re the one crossing me, you idiot.¡± The voice said. ¡°Did you even ask the lady if she was seeing anyone?¡±


    The man didn''t respond.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± The voice said. ¡°You self-entitled pricks think everyone in the universe is yours to do with as you please.¡± Another blue hand appeared and grabbed his neck. ¡°Now, I''m going to ask you once more nicely. Leave her alone.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do? Kill me for hitting on her?¡± The man asked smugly.


    ¡°No. She''s a beautiful woman. She gets hit on all the time.¡± The voice said and Luxea''s face flushed red. ¡°I''ll kill you for not taking no for an answer when she clearly doesn''t want anything to do with you.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it''s just a business deal.¡± The man said.


    ¡°I don''t care.¡± The voice said. ¡°If you run the business this way, we don''t want anything to do with it.¡±


    ¡°We?¡± The man chuckled. ¡°This is for Luxea only.¡±


    ¡°Either you''re more of an idiot than I know you are, or you''re too stubborn to see the reality of your situation.¡± The voice said and the floating blue hand let the man''s neck go. ¡°Look around you, stupid.¡±


    The man turned around and everyone in the shop and in the street outside were watching.


    ¡°Do you really think that a normal person wants to deal with you now, knowing how you treat women when they refuse you politely?¡±


    ¡°Don''t listen to the weird voice! I''m just trying to...¡± The man started to speak to the people.


    ¡°A few of them might listen to your excuses and lies.¡± The voice said and cut him off. ¡°They all know what you''re really like now and they are going to deal with you if they have to... and that''s all.¡±


    ¡°I''ll get you for this.¡± The man grumbled.


    ¡°No, you won''t.¡± The voice said. ¡°Do you want to know where I am right now?¡±


    The man looked around the crowd.


    ¡°I''m not even in that section of the station.¡± The voice said and a few people gasped. ¡°Luxea, a holomap of my location, please.¡±


    Luxea smiled as she brought out the little projector she just bought and hooked it to her datapad. A few moments later, a map appeared ten feet away and showed the map of the station. It showed Luxea''s location on the main concourse and another person''s two thirds of the station away in the restricted section. The little dot moved from side to side to prove that it was a live feed.


    ¡°How exactly are you going to get me all the way over here, before I kill you?¡± The voice asked.


    The man grit his teeth.


    ¡°Right. You can''t.¡± The voice said. ¡°This one time I am going to give you a pass. I''m going to let you go and I''ll forget all about this... unless you decide otherwise and come after me or her. So, what will it be? Will you leave quietly or do things have to get serious?¡±


    ¡°Quietly.¡± The man said. The blue hands faded away and he rubbed his wrist where it had gripped him. He gave an angry look to Luxea and then stormed out of the shop. Everyone avoided him and he disappeared into the crowd.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Leave the holomap up and stay there. I''ve alerted the station''s security about this and told them the guy''s probably going to retaliate against you, the ship, or me. He''ll have you followed back to the hotel and his men will be waiting for us.¡±


    ¡°How do you know all that?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°It''s basic bad guy etiquette straight from their playbook.¡± The voice said with a chuckle. ¡°He''ll be arrested for attempted murder in about an hour.¡±


    ¡°That''s a little excessive, isn''t it?¡± Luxea asked as the blip for Hunter quickly moved towards her.


    ¡°He''s overreacting, yeah.¡± The voice said. ¡°That''s how some people react to being told no.¡±


    ¡°What if I was the one that told you no?¡± Luxea asked, half-jokingly.


    ¡°I would be a sad little mess for a while.¡± The voice said as the blip stopped at the section''s security gate. ¡°I''d respect your decision, after showering you with gifts and messages to take me back.¡±


    ¡°What kind of gifts?¡± Luxea asked with a smile and the voice laughed.


    ¡°I hope neither of us has to find out.¡± The voice said. ¡°I''ll be there in a minute.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Luxea said. ¡°This real-time map is fantastic. I can even see you moving on it.¡±


    *


    The crowd let out a collective gasp and there were a few moans as I slowed down near them and walked normally. I had left off my uniform coat and my blast shield; but, I still had most of my hair hidden.


    ¡°By the goddess.¡± ¡°Look at THAT!¡± ¡°Oh, she''s so lucky!¡± ¡°Do you think he''s real?¡± ¡°I''m so jealous!¡± Various people all said at the same time. Luxea turned off the holomap and put it and the datapad away as she came out of the shop.


    ¡°I''ve got something to tell you.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. She nodded as she took it.


    ¡°So cute!¡± ¡°They look so good together!¡± ¡°Look at his muscles!¡± ¡°Look at his hair!¡±


    We ignored the crowd around us and we walked back to the hotel. As I had accurately guessed, two men had trailed us from down the street. Once we were inside the hotel, they rushed over to the lobby and followed us inside. We stopped at the desk and told them that if anyone asks what room we were in, they should tell them and then call station security. The clerk nodded and we went to the elevator and went up to the top floor.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Our room had a huge bubble window that was half the length of the room and it looked out into space. The twin stars, the main tourist attraction, could be clearly seen. Luxea and I stood side by side with one arm around each other as we stared out at the view.


    ¡°Where are they now?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Coming out of the elevator.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t act until they come in and we get the security recording of them threatening us and hopefully as they try to assault me.¡±


    ¡°How can you be so casual about this?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°I''m trembling.¡±


    ¡°I guess all those years fighting creatures that can kill you with a bite, a swipe of their tail, or with a poison that doesn''t have a cure, has left me with a severe case of nonchalance.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I don''t know if that''s good or bad yet.¡±


    ¡°Me, either.¡± Luxea said. ¡°So, do you think Simone is going to work out as a member of our crew?¡±


    ¡°I have no doubt.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°I saw her breasts, though. I''m a little biased.¡±


    Luxea chuckled just as the men in the hallway used a small explosive device to blow the card key receptacle and the lock from the door. She let out a startled scream from the loudness and the door handle flying across the room, then the two men stormed into the room and she really screamed. They started to raise their laser pistols and Luxea ducked her head against my chest.


    ¡°Max Millian sends his regards.¡± One of them said and they both opened fire. My fully repaired personal shield device easily caught the barrage of laser bolts and the embedded focusing crystal absorbed the energy. The two men''s mouths made that little ''o'' of surprise and then station security burst into the room behind them and tackled them to the ground.


    They weren''t gentle at all in their restraining technique.


    Both men were beaten to a pulp in barely three seconds, disarmed, and taken from the room. One of the hotel clerks came into the room and deeply apologized for allowing the breech of their security. I told him it was my fault for antagonizing an unstable person by trying to reason with them, and that made the man smile. He quickly offered us the next room over, at a discount, and we moved over to there.


    Both Luxea and I received messages from station security the next day about Max being arrested. He just happened to have some sensitive materials on his desk that he wasn''t supposed to have, so his business was raided and they found a lot of activities that the business was doing behind the scenes.


    ¡°I didn''t expect that.¡± I said and we read about quite a few of the underhanded deals he had going.


    ¡°Okay, I don''t feel so bad about all of it now.¡± Luxea said with a laugh.


    With the confidential information from Simone about the ship and shuttle sale, Luxea contacted Ernas from the Bogorim Corporation to arrange a meeting. When she mentioned the sale, he had been extremely relieved. He had discovered it right after he started his inquiries and he wasn''t allowed to say anything, unless we already knew about it. The meeting was set up to happen in two weeks time and he gave us the coordinates for the system. It was only three days travel from where we currently were, so we didn''t have to cut our little vacation short.


    Luxea and I enjoyed our alone time in the hotel, took occasional browsing trips around the station to see if there was anything we might need, and checked the bounty listings for any work we might want to do. On the last day of our stay, a bounty popped up for me. Or, I should say, on me. It was quite the sum to charge for my head, so Luxea immediately posted the circumstances of the bounty for everyone to see. Once she proved that the arrest for all of the charges against him and having his businesses confiscated was his own fault and not because of me, the bounty was blacklisted.


    I know that sounds odd, considering the content; but, it meant that no other bounties concerning the matter would be allowed to be posted, either by him or on his behalf. It was definitely the best outcome we could have hoped for in that situation.


    Simone had several people help bring her things to the ship and stored them in the secondary hold. It was pressurized and she didn''t have to worry about damaging anything that she owned. Surprisingly, it wasn''t awkward at all as she came in through the ship''s main hatch to meet us and greet the others for the first time.


    ¡°Hey, Luxea!¡± Simone said loudly as she dropped her personal bag and walked over to Luxea, then she hugged her. ¡°I feel like I know you already!¡±


    ¡°No in-depth mind reading.¡± I reminded her, and she laughed.


    ¡°Says the man that scanned me down to my neurons!¡± Simone said and let Luxea go. ¡°I don''t do that unless they want me to, and then it''s usually an ordeal for me.¡± She gave me a wink. ¡°Remember what happened at dinner?¡±


    I chuckled and turned to Rhubin. ¡°I gave her a taste of my detection range and knocked her right out.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Rhubin laughed a little and held a hand out for her to shake. ¡°It''s nice to meet someone else that can''t handle his mind tricks.¡±


    Simone took the hand and shook it. ¡°Oh, that could be handy!¡± She said as she picked up Rhubin''s thoughts about me putting him to sleep in the debris field and then waking him up. ¡°I haven''t had a good sleep like that in a while.¡±


    ¡°Neither did I.¡± Rhubin looked at me. ¡°What was it? An hour or so?¡±


    ¡°Something like that.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°I was wired for almost three days after your little pick me up.¡± Rhubin said and laughed.


    ¡°I''ve got a lot more control now, thank you very much.¡± I said and used a Presence Hand to pick up Simone''s bag. ¡°Come on. I''ll show you to your cell.¡±


    Simone laughed at the implication and followed me.


    ¡°I''ll get the ship ready for departure.¡± Rhubin said as he closed the main hatch.


    ¡°I better double-check the main cargo hold and make sure the supplies were stored properly.¡± Luxea said and went towards the cargo area and Rhubin went towards the cockpit.


    ¡°They''re good people.¡± Simone said when I opened the normal door to the cell.


    ¡°Unbelievably.¡± I said and showed her how to change the room''s configuration.


    ¡°Luxea designed it, didn''t she?¡± Simone asked.


    I nodded. ¡°She even paid for it upfront.¡±


    Simone let out a low whistle. ¡°Do you think she''ll spot me a loan for a few thousand credits?¡±


    I laughed. ¡°You''re not going to need a loan soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why?¡±


    ¡°You''ll see.¡± I said cryptically and gave her a sly smile.


    ¡°It''s not nice to tease a telepath.¡± Simone said in a slightly serious tone, then she broke into laughter. ¡°I''m not that easy to bait!¡± She poked me in the ribs without trying to use a mental probe on me. ¡°I worked for Aphatoris! I know all about operational security and not letting ''the new guy'' in on all of the company''s secrets right away.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I smiled and took her hand. ¡°We''ve got some work to do, then a lot of work to do, and then a whole lot more work to do.¡±


    Simone smiled for a moment and then stepped close to me. ¡°I can work in a spacesuit.¡± She said. ¡°I''ve got a few thousand hours free-walking on the outside of shipping hulls, both in partial gravity while in dock and in zero gravity.¡±


    ¡°The circumstances of your experience is terrible; but, I''m glad you have it.¡± I said and kissed her hand. ¡°Having another pair of hands will speed this up immensely.¡±


    Simone smiled sadly at my comment of having extra hands and I reached up and touched her lips with my fingertips to make her sad smile a normal one.


    ¡°Don''t worry. I''ve got plans for you.¡±


    ¡°As I do for you.¡± Simone said with a gleam in her eye. Shall we bet on whose plan will come to fruition first?


    Definitely mine. I thought with amusement and stepped back. ¡°Security door.¡± I said and hit the button.


    ¡°HEY!¡± Simone yelled and the thick metal door closed between us. ¡°No fair!¡±


    ¡°If you can figure out how to get out before we jump to hyperspace, I''ll give you a present.¡± I said and waved at her through the little food slot and walked away. You can''t do it by tearing apart the door mechanism on the inside, either. I thought, to give her a hint.


    The ship flew out to the proper jump point towards the meeting coordinates and entered hyperspace. I walked back to the holding cell and saw Simone as she sat on the floor, just inside the door, covered in sweat. I opened the door and she flopped out onto the floor on her back. She stared up at me and breathed heavily.


    ¡°You figured it out?¡± I asked.


    Simone nodded. ¡°Use... Presence to... push button.¡± She panted. ¡°Barely... made it... move.¡±


    ¡°It''s a start.¡± I said and knelt beside her.


    ¡°P-prize?¡± Simone asked and I chuckled.


    ¡°You need to clean up a little first.¡± I said and touched her forehead. I gave her a very small amount of Presence to energize her and filled her small Presence reserve. She took in a huge breath and let it out.


    ¡°Wow.¡±


    I helped her stand up. ¡°You can use the shower in here or the huge one in my...¡±


    ¡°THE HUGE ONE!¡± Simone yelled.


    I laughed when I ''saw'' the tiny cubicle shower in her head that she had used on the station. ¡°Grab your things.¡± I said and led her to my bedroom and we went inside.


    Simone dropped her bag and stared at the giant shower. ¡°I think I''m in love!¡±


    ¡°Naw, that''s just envy.¡± I said. ¡°Don''t forget to hit the pulse button when you''re almost done washing.¡±


    I left without telling her what it actually did. About ten minutes later, Rhubin, Luxea and I were in the kitchen getting dinner ready when we all heard Simone''s passionate yell of delight as she succumbed to her curiosity and used Luxea''s favorite shower option. We exchanged looks with each other when the sounds grew louder and changed to something else, then we all laughed.


    Simone stayed in there for an hour.


    When she finally came out, quite relaxed and very happy, I gave her the present. It was an amulet that contained a personal shield with a focusing crystal in it. Her eyes teared up and she tried to refuse it, and I told her in no uncertain terms that she was wearing it whether she accepted it as a gift or not. She felt my regret that I hadn''t thought of making it until after Ohazith''s death and accepted it graciously.


    We arrived at the meeting rendezvous point in the designated star system and waited for the other ship to arrive. Like Ernas said, the sale itself was legitimate, approved by both the related governments and the ship had been stripped of all weaponry as per regulations. The other ship showed up a few hours after we did and Rhubin being the master pilot that he was, quickly flipped the ship around to the same orientation as the other ship. We matched docking hatches and were invited onto the other ship as guests.


    After a short introduction, our company representative Luxea and their representative sat down and started the negotiations. It went surprisingly quickly. The company was eager to sell the ship and the shuttle; but, they weren''t going to give them away, either. Luxea knew our limits and how far we could stretch our credits, using the company''s and our personal accounts, and she made the best deal to benefit both parties. After a handshake and a hefty credit deposit, we could go to the shipyard that held the ship and shuttle for transport, then we would transfer the remainder of the credits upon receipt of the merchandise.


    We shared a quick drink and some light food to celebrate the exchange, then we were back on our ship and on our way. Now all we needed to do was get back to our home base and hire a temporary pilot. After that, we only had to take the three week long trip from there to the Fogaris system, the closest jump point to the unfamiliar system, and then do a short jump into the edge of their enemy''s territory.

 Book Three: The Resolution 010

    We travelled back to our home base in the Dizahl System and had no trouble hiring a temporary pilot. We didn''t hire a permanent one, mainly because Luxea didn''t have the time to find us a trustworthy long-term one or research their job history extensively.


    Luxea had received some of the preliminary programs for running the ship we were in the process of buying, and its schematics, from the sellers. She shared them with me and I saw that the plans weren''t the generic ones that people would normally see. They were the engineering ones with all the underlying passages and service ways necessary to work on the electronics in the ship.


    Even I had a hard time adjusting my mind to accept the oddly shaped openings that were clearly not made for humans. Of course, once I put myself into the mindset of one of the aliens and what they would need to do for their species, the layout snapped into place and made sense. I explained the trick to Luxea and after a few minutes, she understood what I meant.


    ¡°Hunter! That''s it!¡± Luxea exclaimed. ¡°That''s why the ships are designed this way!¡±


    ¡°That''s what I just explained.¡± I said, and she laughed.


    ¡°No, not that.¡± Luxea said and worked on her datapad for a minute. ¡°Here, look.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked as I stared at a picture of something that looked like it was half whale and half horseshoe crab.


    ¡°Look familiar?¡± Luxea asked with a grin and pointed to my datapad.


    I scaled the schematics back and looked at both, then after I turned the picture to about a forty degree angle, I saw it. ¡°No way! It''s designed after a creature?¡±


    ¡°It has the same segments in the outer plating and the cockpit is right where the eyes are supposed to be.¡±


    ¡°That''s either brilliant or completely stupid.¡± I said, and she laughed again.


    ¡°It took a lot of engineering to make the ship look like that, rather than go with a standard design.¡± Luxea said and took her datapad back and brought the schematics up. ¡°If I had to guess why they did this, I''d say it''s to stop other races from trying to salvage their ships.¡±


    ¡°Like we tried to do and nothing matched, so we left it all alone.¡± I said. ¡°Damn, that''s smart.¡±


    ¡°They would have had to build up their own industries from the ground up to make everything that''s needed, because they can''t buy anything from anyone else.¡±


    ¡°I guess that''s why we got the ship so cheap, then.¡± I said. ¡°There''s only one place that sells replacement parts.¡±


    Luxea chuckled. ¡°Except that we have hundreds of partially wrecked ships that we can salvage to get all of the parts we will ever need.¡±


    I grinned. ¡°I think this is a good enough reason to celebrate with a good meal.¡±


    ¡°Getting a good pilot wasn''t enough?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Only if he was staying.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t trust him with anything important until you vet him properly.¡±


    Luxea nodded and gave me a kiss. ¡°Let''s get the others and head over to the restaurant.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I had another idea.¡± I said as we went to the cockpit to get Rhubin. ¡°We''re stopping in the Fogaris system...¡±


    ¡°I doubt we''ll find a pilot there willing to fly the ship, especially an enemy one.¡± Luxea said. ¡°They need all the pilots they can get.¡±


    ¡°I was actually thinking about doing another food run.¡± I said.


    ¡°Food?¡± Rhubin turned away from the console. ¡°Tell me we''re going to the restaurant!¡±


    ¡°Celebratory dinner.¡± Luxea said.


    Rhubin hit several buttons to put the ship into standby mode and stood. ¡°Let''s go!¡±


    We went back through the ship and knocked on Simone''s door.


    ¡°We''re going to dinner.¡± I said and the door opened. Simone had on a black skintight bodysuit and a blue sweater that ended halfway between her chest and her waist. I could see that she wore the personal shield amulet under the sweater, just like Luxea had hers tucked under her top. Simone also had on high heeled boots and her short black hair was styled to stand straight up.


    ¡°If there''s an emergency, that''s going to make wearing a helmet difficult.¡± Rhubin said with a grin.


    ¡°It''s collapsible, smart ass.¡± Simone said and touched it with her hand and it laid down. ¡°See?¡±


    ¡°That''s great!¡± Luxea said as it popped back into place. ¡°You''ve got to tell me the secret!¡±


    Rhubin and I rolled our eyes as the four of us left the ship and the two women discussed hair care products and tricks of the trade that all women needed to know to pull off their looks. We arrived at the restaurant and were greeted like family. The owner took us to our regular table and when we ordered, I asked for a spaceship special, which was our code for a massive take-out order. The man''s eyes lit up and clapped me on the shoulder.


    ¡°We''ll get started as soon as your meals are done!¡± The man said and left.


    ¡°Are you sure we''re not taking advantage of him?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°He always makes us a lot of food when we order out like that.¡±


    ¡°Maybe a little advantage.¡± I chuckled. ¡°We pay him well, though.¡±


    ¡°He must order foodstuffs by the ton just for us.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°What''s a spaceship special?¡± Simone asked.


    I explained about the bunch of times that we had filled the cargo hold with ready-made meals for up to five hundred people at a time.


    ¡°You do it so much that you have a code for it?¡± Simone asked, quite surprised, and we laughed.


    ¡°We give him a lot of business.¡± I said. ¡°The first time was when we were in the Fogaris system. We had just finished search and rescue operations and started salvaging the wrecks...¡±


    Luxea and Rhubin chimed in as I told the story and Simone listened, then the food was brought over and we all kept talking and ate. She was surprised to hear about the other food runs to the people we had saved and had hidden. I reached out and took her hand as she thought about what that could have meant to her people, if someone as nice as us had done that for them. I let her hand go and we stayed there for over two hours and kept talking while we waited.


    The owner''s wife came out with a huge smile on her face. ¡°We''ve started stacking and wrapping them, so if one of you could accompany the first shipment to your cargo hold?¡±


    ¡°I''ve got it.¡± Rhubin said and stood. ¡°See you back on the ship.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and he nodded and left with the woman.


    ¡°So, this place is pretty dead some days?¡± Simone asked and I nodded.


    ¡°It picks up when some of the passenger ships pass through the system.¡± I said and turned to Luxea. ¡°Remember the first time we came in here?¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°You barely had any credits! When you told the owner how much you were going to spend, he practically shoved food down our throats!¡± Luxea laughed. ¡°I never felt so full!¡±


    ¡°The first time of many.¡± I laughed as well and sat back in my chair. ¡°It''s one of the reasons why this station has been our unofficial base of operations.¡±


    As if he heard me, the owner poked his head out of the kitchen and waved. I waved back.


    ¡°We have a series of transshipment containers not far away and all of our messages get routed here.¡± Luxea said. ¡°We''re working on getting a little habitat to put into orbit, either near or attached to the containers. We just need to get some more capital to afford it.¡±


    ¡°You guys don''t think small, do you?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°We used to.¡± Luxea said and glared at me, then she burst out laughing. ¡°His ideas are both scary and appealing!¡±


    Simone couldn''t help but laugh, too. ¡°I can see that now, not that I needed the proof.¡± She said. ¡°Not after seeing him bring back (Undecipherable)''s hands for Aphatoris.¡± She reached out and took my hand. ¡°You know how much that meant to her.¡±


    ¡°She was actually going to refuse them until I mentioned having the funeral.¡± I said and she nodded. ¡°I''m just glad it worked and her heart healed a little.¡±


    ¡°Wanting his hands because he touched her was a little excessive; but, he did abandon her without warning when he got everything that he wanted.¡± Simone said and let my hand go. ¡°She was justifiably angry.¡±


    ¡°Well, I was taking his head anyway. Why not the hands, too?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°Only you would want to go face the horned terror head on.¡± Simone said and shook her head.


    I chuckled. ¡°All right. Even I have to admit that I was pretty stupid at the time.¡± I said and Luxea took my hand this time. ¡°I should have planned more and had some kind of backup to take over if something happened to me.¡±


    ¡°I was going to bomb it from space.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Rhubin would have remote piloted the shuttle into the building to open it up for me to get a good target lock.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows at her and she smiled crookedly. ¡°What about The Order ship?¡±


    ¡°Rhubin had it locked in as a target as soon as I had hacked into the satellites around the planet.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and gave her hand a squeeze.


    We sat there and made small talk until the owner came out and said that the cargo hold was filled. I paid him for the food and then gave him a huge tip to cover making the shipment, replacing the containers, and tipping him and his cooks for all of their hard work. He didn''t object, mainly because he would need the extra capital to replace all of the meat and vegetables that he had just used up.


    ¡°We really appreciate you doing this for us.¡± I said and stood to shake the man''s hand.


    ¡°You and your friends have honored my restaurant for a long time now.¡± The man said. ¡°I and my family are more than happy to help you out when we can.¡±


    I used my Presence to check him over and saw that he was as healthy as a man could be. ¡°If you have anyone here that''s hurt, let me know. I''ll do what I can for them.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no.¡± The man let my hand go and waved me away. ¡°You do not have to provide expensive medical services to us! We are just cooks!¡±


    I laughed. ¡°It''s not expensive at all.¡± I said and turned to see his wife come back into the restaurant. ¡°Miss, could I trouble you for a moment?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes.¡± The woman said and came right over to us. I held a hand out to her and she looked at her husband. He nodded and she took my hand.


    I let my Presence check her over and looked with my Detect Presence technique. ¡°How did you break your arm?¡± I asked her, and her hand went right to her forearm to cover it.


    ¡°I was a child back on...¡± She smiled. ¡°We only had basic medical facilities then. It only aches if I''m not careful.¡±


    ¡°Can I offer to fix it for you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, no, no.¡± She said and shook her head. ¡°I cannot be off work for a week while they break and reset it and I would have to keep it immobile with a med-pack.¡± She took a breath and let it out. ¡°I cannot accept such an expensive and unnecessary procedure.¡±


    ¡°This may tingle a little.¡± I said and held her hand tightly and then put my other hand on her elbow.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Both she and her husband asked at the same time.


    I closed my eyes and formed Presence around her arm and left it slightly blue as I made it solid. I then infused her arm and tissues with Presence and the rest of her body shook from it. I used a tiny Presence blade to carefully slice through the proper spots in the jagged and poorly healed fracture of her arm, then I slid the bone barely a fraction of an inch. Once it was back where it was supposed to be, I used Presence to seal it back together and healed it. I absorbed all of my Presence from her arm, including the solid covering I had used to hold it steady, and the whole thing had taken only a few minutes.


    ¡°I hope that didn''t bother you to much.¡± I said and let her elbow and hand go.


    The woman stared at me and didn''t know what to say.


    I held out a credit chip to her. ¡°Your next medical scan is on me.¡±


    She didn''t move to take the chip and kept staring. Her husband wasn''t sure of what to do, either. I chuckled and put the chip in his hand.


    ¡°You''re curious about checking it, aren''t you?¡± I asked and turned to Luxea. ¡°We need to get going.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± Luxea said and stood. ¡°I''ll message the hired pilot and have him meet us at the ship.¡± She put her wrist communicator to her lips and walked towards the door.


    Simone stood and gave me almost the same look that the owner''s wife was. ¡°Yes, we should go.¡±


    I motioned to the door and she walked ahead of me. The owner and his wife didn''t move from beside the table until we had left the restaurant. I held in my laugh as they ran over to the door, watched us walk far enough away, and then the both of them left the restaurant, locked the door, and ran for the nearest medical facility.


    ¡°Did you really heal her already healed broken arm?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said as we walked across the station to where the ship was docked. ¡°The reason it pained her was because it was offset slightly and would pinch the nerves on one side when she strained the muscles, probably from stirring things for too long or lifting too many bulky things.¡±


    ¡°How did you even find such an injury?¡± Simone asked.


    I held a hand out to her and she took it, and I didn''t bother trying to not let her feel it as I used Presence to scan her body. She almost stumbled as it flowed over her and returned to me.


    ¡°I usually hide it from people when I check them, so that they aren''t unnerved by it; but, you wanted to feel it.¡± I said. I tried to let her hand go and she held on tightly. I gave her look out of the side of my eye and she stared at me.


    ¡°You don''t need physical contact to do that, do you?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°No. It just makes it easier and less intrusive if I have their permission.¡± I said. ¡°That''s how I knew she had something wrong. I just didn''t know what.¡±


    ¡°How did you learn to do that?¡±


    ¡°I learned several different techniques over my lifetime so far.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve had a long time to perfect them.¡±


    ¡°Do you even need the use of a medical bay anymore?¡± Simone asked, curious.


    ¡°No.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I can heal much faster than a bath in medical gel.¡±


    Simone stayed quiet and I tried not to read her surface thoughts as we walked back to the ship. As we approached the main hatch, she let my hand go.


    ¡°Hello, there!¡± A man said and gave us a wave. ¡°Did you get hired today, too?¡±


    ¡°I own the ship.¡± I said, and the man snapped to attention and gave me a salute.


    ¡°Sir!¡± He exclaimed loudly. ¡°I''m sorry, sir!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It''s all right. Despite the company uniforms, we don''t have things quite that formal around here.¡±


    ¡°Hurry up and get in here!¡± Luxea said over the intercom. ¡°Rhubin''s dying to show the new guy what we can do.¡±


    ¡°You better get to the cockpit.¡± I said to the pilot. ¡°It''s quite a show.¡±


    ¡°I''ll go, too.¡± Simone said and they went to the cockpit as I closed and secured the main hatch. After a cursory check of both cargo holds to make sure that everything was secure, I hit the intercom button.


    ¡°Okay, Rhubin. Once we''re clear of the station, you can go all out.¡± I said and heard his whoop of glee over the intercom and also through the ship. ¡°Geez, he''s like a kid at Christmas.¡± I chuckled and went to my room. ¡°Hey, you.¡±


    Luxea was there changing into something more appropriate for alone time with me. Namely, nothing. ¡°I''ve got some extra calories to burn off, so I hope you''re ready.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± I said and rubbed my belly. ¡°I''m feeling a little sluggish.¡±


    ¡°Clothes off. Now.¡± Luxea commanded and pointed to the bed.


    ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± I said and quickly stripped off and hung up the uniform, then I climbed into bed with her to help her work off her extra calories.


    *


    ¡°That can''t be right.¡± The hired pilot said. ¡°There''s no way we can move this fast through normal space.¡±


    ¡°I think it''s the engine output combined with the modified deflector screens.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Something about the way they are configured to work together lets us cut through more resistance than just the deflectors alone.¡±


    ¡°But the engine is only outputting...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I don''t know how it works, either.¡± Rhubin said with a laugh. ¡°All I know is... we''re damn fast and... we''re approaching the Lagrange point.¡±


    Both Simone and the hired pilot took in a breath as the ship whipped past that invisible point and then Rhubin kicked in the hyperspace generator.


    ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Simone whispered as she saw a much different hyperspace entrance than most people got to see. She had picked up the exclamation of surprise from Hunter and it fit the situation perfectly.


    ¡°Look at these numbers!¡± The pilot said as he tore his eyes from the physical sight and looked at the instruments. ¡°We''re passing one... one point two... one point five...¡± His voice trailed off as the numbers kept increasing. He mumbled something unintelligible.


    Rhubin had to lean close. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°I want to work for you full time.¡± The pilot said. ¡°I know I haven''t proven my skills yet; but, even if I never get to fly this ship, just being around it is a dream come true!¡± He said and looked at Rhubin. ¡°I''ll even take a pay cut! Please!¡±


    Rhubin laughed and clapped the slightly younger man on the shoulder. ¡°A man after my own heart!¡± He said and leaned back to keep an eye on things. ¡°I''ll talk to them and see what I can do.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± The pilot said and his hands lightly touched the console in front of him. ¡°What a treasure this is.¡± He said, his voice full of reverence.


    ¡°You hear that, Udelis? You''ve got another fan.¡± Rhubin said and the little viewscreen used for communications popped up a message.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''> Voice inquiry to ''Udelis'' confirmed. </td></tr>


    <tr><td colspan=''4''> It''s always good to have more friends. </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°YOU HAVE AN ONBOARD AI?!?¡± Both the pilot and Simone yelled together and Rhubin laughed.

 Book Three: The Resolution 011

    We arrived in the Fogaris System three weeks later and even with five people on board the relatively small ship, it didn''t feel cramped. We had pretty much stayed out of each other''s way for the most part, except during meals when we would discuss things. As soon as we entered normal space in the outer part of the system, we were hailed immediately and asked what our business was.


    ¡°Food delivery.¡± Luxea said and sent them our documentation, including our salvage rights license. ¡°The Wave sends their compliments to the people keeping Fogaris Space safe.¡±


    ¡°One moment, please.¡± The man''s voice said. After almost thirty seconds of silence, the communication viewscreen lit up.


    ¡°You better tell me that Hunter is on board.¡± A stern looking woman said in a harsh voice.


    ¡°Admiral, it''s nice to see you, too.¡± I said and bent down to look into the viewscreen''s pickup over Luxea''s shoulder. ¡°They still have you stuck on that station?¡±


    The admiral laughed. ¡°Stuck. Refused to leave. Is there a difference if the circumstances are the same?¡±


    I chuckled in response. ¡°I guess not.¡±


    ¡°I see you''re not hiding your eyes anymore.¡± The admiral said and gave me an appraising look.


    ¡°I only wear the blast shield when going into battle now.¡± I said and felt Simone''s reaction about me wearing it when I went to meet Aphatoris.


    ¡°Are you visiting the station?¡± The admiral asked with hope in her eyes.


    ¡°That depends on if I can leave with my virtue intact.¡± I said and she laughed.


    ¡°I guess that means you''re still taken?¡±


    I widened the communication''s field of view slightly and put a hand on Luxea shoulder.


    ¡°Oh? You finally staked a claim on him, did you?¡± The admiral asked.


    Luxea blushed a little. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Well, it''s about damn time.¡± The admiral said and Rhubin barked a laugh. ¡°The two of you were making lovey-dovey eyes at each other whenever I saw you.¡±


    ¡°We were not!¡± Luxea exclaimed and then blushed fully.


    The admiral laughed. ¡°I''ll pre-clear you through customs.¡± She said and waved at someone off-screen. ¡°Come on over and see me when you''re done with the food rounds.¡±


    ¡°We''ll save you a dozen meals for your staff.¡± I said.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The admiral said. ¡°We''re authorizing the military com channels for you now.¡±


    Our communication display lit up like a fireworks display with all of the incoming communication requests.


    ¡°Have fun.¡± The admiral laughed again and cut the call.


    ¡°Wow.¡± Luxea said as she looked through the dozens of requests. ¡°Which ones do we answer first?¡±


    ¡°Definitely Kitch and the guys from the SAR team first, then see how close they are to our position.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°You''re really popular here?¡± Simone asked from the hallway behind us. There was room for five people in the cockpit if we wanted to squeeze together a little.


    ¡°They really appreciated my skills when we were on a Search And Rescue team.¡± I said.


    ¡°Being able to see through walls and floors saved a lot of people and time.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Delivering delicious food and much needed medical supplies afterwards, pretty much made us instant friends with the military.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention Hunter''s mobile defense strategy.¡± Luxea chuckled and turned to me. ¡°Kitch is on leave on the planet, so Tessa''s got top priority. She''s right here.¡±


    A holomap of the system appeared above the console and a ship was highlighted. Rhubin turned the ship and we flew towards it.


    ¡°How are you getting a full system scan?¡± The hired pilot named Hector asked from beside Simone.


    ¡°It''s actually just an updated one that we made the last time we were here.¡± Luxea said. ¡°That one took a week to make while we were floating around the system.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that was a fun time.¡± Rhubin said sarcastically and both Luxea and I reached out and touched his shoulder.


    ¡°You got us through it.¡± Luxea said before I could. ¡°Look at us now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Express food delivery. We can''t tell if they are happier to see us or the food.¡±


    ¡°Definitely the food.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Half of the messages are for food orders and then they include messages of hello and welcome back.¡±


    That made us all laugh.


    ¡°Okay, this is a social visit, so casual clothes are authorized.¡± Luxea said in her business voice. ¡°Get changed if you need to. You''ve got...¡± She glanced at the distance counter to the ship they were heading to. ¡°...fifteen minutes.¡±


    We all nodded and left the cockpit to change from our uniforms and into something more comfortable. We stopped at Tessa''s ship first. She had been promoted to captain her own SAR training facility onboard a huge freighter warehouse that was full of supplies and replacement parts. It was one of the fleet colliers that maintained the rest of the ships, if they stayed out for long periods of time from the main station.


    The ship had a large area for the trainees to practice in and Tessa put the people through their paces. We watched a session in progress while we waited to see her and she was a hard and fair teacher. She praised those that needed it and added in slight critiques when it was necessary. The ones that made mistakes that could potentially hurt people, she slammed hard verbally. When it was over, we met up in their galley.


    ¡°Wow, I can''t believe you actually came back here after six months.¡± Tessa said as she ate her reheated meal and we sat around the table with her. ¡°This is so good!¡± She exclaimed and took another bite of food.


    ¡°It''s been more like eight months.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Did you wait for me?¡± I asked with a grin.


    ¡°Bahaha!¡± Tessa laughed. ¡°Jaset and I got together about a week after you left!¡±


    ¡°Jaset?¡± I said and thought about it. ¡°Oh! The guy that teased you about your underwear? Really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Tessa shook her head. ¡°Once he got his head out of his ass, he''s actually pretty nice.¡±


    That made me laugh. ¡°I''m glad he smartened up and saw what was in front of him.¡±


    ¡°You''re not disappointed, are you?¡± Tessa asked, slightly concerned.


    ¡°Is it okay to say that I am, even if it''s just a little?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tessa said right away, then her face went slightly red. ¡°Ah... I mean...¡±


    ¡°Take it easy on her, Hunter.¡± Luxea smiled and touched my hand. ¡°Seeing you without the blast shield has her defenses pretty low right now. Stop dangling the missed possibility in front of her.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°All right, I''ll be good.¡±


    The conversation changed to the system''s current operations and how the fleet has been building up. They had come a long way in a very short time, thanks to Hunter''s ideas. They had even smelted down half of the debris field of wrecks already and were finishing new ships every week.Stolen story; please report.


    After the visit with her and dropping off a dozen meals as prizes for the recruits, as well as six meals for the crew of the ship, we left and moved on to the next stop. Pretty much everyone we knew had been promoted since the last time we saw them, so they all had their own responsibilities. We had short visits with each of them as well, delivered food, then moved on. It took us about six hours to work through all of the communication requests and met everyone we knew personally.


    Kitch made a special trip up to the station to meet us there and we met him at the same dock we had used for SAR operations. ¡°Goddamn, it''s good to see you again.¡± He said and shook my hand. ¡°You got your eyes fixed, too! HA!¡±


    I laughed and he took us all into the station. He gave us a quick tour of the updated facilities and then brought us to the station''s command center. After a brief introduction to the staff there and delivering meals to them, we were taken to the admiral''s office.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± The admiral said as she stood up and shook my hand. Beside her was a woman that I had been unable to say goodbye to the last time we were here.


    ¡°Admiral.¡± I said and ducked my head briefly. ¡°Hi, Melanie.¡± I glanced at her uniform. ¡°I mean, Commander.¡±


    Melanie chucked and came right over to me and gave me a hug. ¡°I''m sorry I never got to thank you properly for rescuing me, before I was sent off to help rebuild the military.¡±


    ¡°So that''s why I didn''t see you in the recovery room when I went to visit.¡± I said and hugged her back.


    ¡°Shanifra told me you did that when I was assigned back here to handle the personnel transfers.¡± Melanie said, referring to the admiral. ¡°My ribs still ache a little when I think back over what happened.¡±


    I used a touch of Presence to check her ribs and they were fine. None of them were misaligned. ¡°I think we all have pains when we think back on what happened then.¡± I said and the mood in the room dropped considerably. ¡°We brought food!¡± I said and made her laugh, which countered the mood shift.


    ¡°That''s another thing I missed.¡± Melanie said. ¡°I heard it''s delicious.¡± She smiled. ¡°Hundreds of times.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I''m glad I brought a ton of it this time.¡±


    ¡°Let''s go to my private dining room.¡± The admiral said and motioned to the door.


    We all followed her down the hall to a nice room that was well decorated and both uniformed women took off their suit coats and their hats to let their hair down, both physically and metaphorically. The difference between the admiral that entered the room and the woman named Shanifra that sat down to eat, was almost startling.


    ¡°So, tell me what''s been going on since the last time we met.¡± Shanifra said and started to eat, which was the cue for everyone else to eat, too. Her artificial arm worked almost as well as her real one.


    ¡°Luxea, you''re better at keeping track of those things.¡± I said and took a bite of food.


    ¡°I am.¡± Luxea said. ¡°She wants to hear you tell it, though.¡±


    That made several people laugh, including Shanifra.


    ¡°All right, all right.¡± I said. ¡°Well, when we left here back then...¡±


    I told the story about what happened with the transshipment business, my bounty hunting, meeting up with Lashina finally, and even hunting down (Undecipherable). I skipped over being summoned away, however. Only my close friends needed to know that part. I ended the story with buying another ship and that was why we were passing by.


    ¡°Well, we''re grateful for the visit.¡± Shanifra said and sat back in her chair. ¡°That meal was delicious.¡±


    ¡°It was just as good as the story.¡± Melanie said and mirrored the admiral as she sat back. ¡°You''ve done so much and all we''ve done is sit here and build things.¡±


    ¡°Which one is more important?¡± I asked and that startled them. ¡°It''s hard to quantify, isn''t it? Both are important in their own ways. You''re giving hope to your citizens and protecting them. Just because you''re not gallivanting around different star systems, doesn''t mean your story isn''t just as riveting.¡± I said. ¡°So, who wants to tell it?¡±


    The two high ranked officers looked at each other, and Melanie smiled and nodded.


    ¡°I guess that''s me.¡± Shanifra said and gave us a much more detailed story than the outline that Tessa had told us, probably because she was at the top of the ladder and knew a lot more about everything. We all sat there and listened to her explain the slow and steady buildup of their mobile forces, as well as rebuilding their infrastructure to handle the enormous costs. When she said almost sixty percent of the planet''s production was devoted to the military, Luxea gasped.


    ¡°S-sixty percent of an entire planet''s gross domestic production?¡± Luxea asked, her voice full of disbelief. ¡°That''s... oh, good god.¡± She said and Shanifra laughed.


    ¡°Staggering, isn''t it?¡± Shanifra asked. ¡°It''s only for a year, though. The people voted on it and they want to be protected; but, only at a reasonable cost.¡±


    ¡°Reasonable! Ha!¡± Luxea barked a laugh. ¡°They can''t know... or understand...¡±


    ¡°The government does, so it''s okay.¡± Shanifra said to calm Luxea down. ¡°They''ve set plans in motion and made proposals that will keep funding us well past the one year deadline. We''ll do our best to bring ourselves back up to a good fighting strength.¡±


    ¡°Have there been any incursions?¡± I asked, getting to the heart of the matter.


    ¡°A few.¡± Shanifra said. ¡°Melanie?¡±


    ¡°It''s only been what we believe are tests of our defenses.¡± Melanie said. ¡°Scout ships and even a few light vessels have tried to penetrate our space over the last few months.¡±


    ¡°How have you responded?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°Completely and totally.¡± Melanie said with a deadly smile. ¡°Any time something shows up that doesn''t hit on our friends list, every ship lights their engines and changes course.¡±


    I thought about that. ¡°You''re taking my ''paper dragons'' strategy to the next level.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Shanifra said as she put on her hat and then her coat, to assume her admiral identity. ¡°Both they and we know that it''s an overreaction, since there''s no way that all of those ships could ever come to bare their weapons against such small ships, before they managed to escape.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That''s not the point, though.¡±


    ¡°No. It''s to show that we will send all of our available visible force to meet them.¡± The admiral said and her smile turned deadly as well.


    I chuckled. ¡°Poor bastards.¡±


    ¡°Damn right.¡± Shanifra the admiral said. ¡°With all of the mobile weapons platforms and ships running silently that we have in our space, there''s nothing that can come and go without us knowing about it.¡±


    ¡°Are you using the weapons platforms as both satellite and communication relays?¡± Luxea asked.


    Melanie glanced at her admiral, who shrugged. ¡°We can''t officially confirm that.¡±


    Luxea chuckled. ¡°Then I don''t have to yell at you for missing the opportunity to use the platforms to their fullest extent.¡±


    Shanifra and Melanie both let out a laugh.


    ¡°Are you sure you don''t want to join our military?¡± Shanifra asked me. ¡°You would be sent to officer training right away and can skip both boot camp and basic training.¡±


    ¡°I''d take them both just to prove that I could do them.¡± I said. ¡°Unfortunately, I have to decline. I have a few things I need to handle before I can relax.¡±


    ¡°You think becoming a member of the military will let you relax?¡± Shanifra asked and shook her head. ¡°What an idea.¡± She laughed again. ¡°What other crazy ideas do you have, Hunter?¡±


    ¡°I''m going to strip all of those alien wrecks out there so that you can smelt their hulls down and use them to help build up your fleet.¡± I said and both the admiral and Melanie froze.


    ¡°You... can''t be serious.¡± Melanie said.


    ¡°Oh, he is!¡± Kitch said, his voice full of amusement. ¡°The crazy nut!¡±


    ¡°It''ll take a couple months at least, even with the extra help and the second ship we bought, assuming we can get the thing converted for our use.¡± I said. ¡°You should be through with converting the wrecks of your old fleet by then, too. Hopefully.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡± The admiral started to say.


    ¡°Our licenses are still valid and we have the rights for salvage in the entire system, right up until the last hull from that battle is reclaimed or destroyed.¡± I said. ¡°It doesn''t specify only friendly ships.¡±


    The admiral sat quietly for several minutes, then she made a decision. ¡°I''ll send word through the fleet to let them know that you and your crew will be working the alien wrecks.¡± She said and stood. ¡°I''ll call off the flight training in the outer rim of the debris.¡±


    ¡°There''s no need for that much of a schedule change for your ships.¡± I said and she gave me a stern look. ¡°No, I''m not exposing my crew to unnecessary danger. It''s going to be a few weeks, at least, before we get the spare ship up and running to our standards, then when we do, we''ll be back and we can start on the inner ring of alien wrecks. If we do need to approach the outer rim eventually, we''ll coordinate rotating the ships through different areas and you only have to divert your flights and not stop them.¡±


    ¡°You really do care about us getting our people trained.¡± The admiral said, almost in disbelief.


    ¡°I''ll even give you an idea for free.¡± I said with a smile as I stood.


    The admiral chuckled and waved encouragingly. ¡°All right, let''s hear it.¡±


    ¡°My crew and I will leave ''people analogs'' in random areas on the wrecks we do clear of salvage and your SAR training teams can go in and ''rescue'' them.¡±


    Both the admiral and Melanie took in sharp breaths and Kitch laughed. The two women stared at me and then at each other, then the admiral walked around the table and clapped me on the shoulder.


    ¡°Getting experience on rescuing people from battle damaged ships, in relative safety, is a wonderful idea.¡± The admiral said. ¡°Make sure it''s not too dangerous.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Don''t worry about that. We''ll record everything and give that and the ship maps to Tessa. She can disperse them to the team leaders and they can decide if it''s too difficult for them to attempt.¡±


    ¡°She''ll love that!¡± Kitch said. ¡°Now I kind of wish I didn''t retire and transfer to maintenance!¡±


    ¡°I can always recall you.¡± The admiral said with a grin and he held up his hands.


    ¡°Nope! Not happening.¡± Kitch said. ¡°I''m well and truly grounded. My wife said that my insane days of mind-numbing danger are over.¡±


    ¡°You''re married?¡± Rhubin asked, clearly surprised. ¡°That poor woman!¡±


    ¡°Ha ha haha!¡± Kitch laughed. ¡°She doesn''t have a clue what I''m really like! Ha ha!¡±


    That made everyone laugh and it also signalled the end of the meal. We transferred the remaining meals to the station and the admiral promised to use them like Tessa was, as rewards for great or outstanding behaviour. She didn''t expect them to last more than a couple of days, considering the feats her people were accomplishing every day.


    We left the station and Rhubin had the navigation computer calculate the last jump we needed to do to get to the shipyard with our new ship. Well, new to us. It was actually fifty years old and was kind of outdated; but, it was over twice the size of my ship and would quadruple our normal shipping capacity. If Luxea and I constructed the same collapsible metal mesh cargo cages to attach to its upper hull like on my ship, we could extend that capacity to ten times our capacity.


    We passed the closest Lagrange point, where the various gravity fields of the planet and the star were negated, and we jumped into hyperspace.

 Book Three: The Resolution 012

    We arrived at the rendezvous point and no one was around to question us. So, we carefully floated over towards the space dock where the ship we were supposed to take possession of was docked. We called the station and they confirmed that someone would meet us at the docking ring next to our new ship and Rhubin docked us without incident. No customs officials were there to check us or the ship for contraband, and we all walked out into the hallway through the main hatch.


    ¡°Hello! Hey! I''m coming! Just a minute!¡± A man''s voice yelled from down the hallway. We stood there and waited for him to come over to us. He was out of breath from running. ¡°Hooo. HOO.¡± He panted and bent over. ¡°I need... to exercise... more.¡±


    ¡°Or run slower.¡± I said and he laughed once and then coughed.


    ¡°The ship... is right there.¡± The man said and pointed to the next main hatch. ¡°Pass... key.¡± He held up a key similar to the one that my ship had.


    ¡°Do you think you can make it?¡± Rhubin asked the man with a laugh.


    ¡°I just have to... catch my breath.¡±


    ¡°We''re in no rush.¡± I said with a smile and we stayed there in the hallway for several minutes to let the man recover from his exertion. He stood up straight and thanked us for humoring him, then he led us over to the next hatch and opened it with the pass key and a numbered code.


    ¡°It''s been reset to a generic code, so you''ll have to give it a personal one when you take possession of it.¡± The man said and led us inside.


    ¡°Woo.¡± Rhubin said as he saw the inside was twice as big as our own entryway. ¡°Is everything scaled up in this thing?¡±


    The man chuckled. ¡°It was intended as a small passenger transport and the hallways are all larger for moving people and luggage around.¡±


    ¡°Nice.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We could easily fit single cargo containers through here on a hover-lift.¡±


    ¡°Be careful of the corners!¡± The man joked and pointed to the curved shape of the long hallway. ¡°Just kidding. Make sure if you do use a hover-lift to add a one foot clearance on the sides and top of the rectangle shipping containers.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Are we starting the tour at the cockpit?¡±


    ¡°You know it!¡± The man said and waved for them to follow. ¡°Like everything else on this ship, it''s huge.¡± He said and then explained that it sat four people comfortably with two primary pilot seats and two secondary, then a pair of twin fold-down seats were mounted to the bulkhead at the back of the compartment on either side of the hatch. It would be tight if we actually had eight people in there at once, though. We arrived at the compartment and saw it for ourselves.


    ¡°I''ll need a com set to talk to the co-pilot on this thing!¡± Rhubin laughed and jumped into the main seat. He could put his hand out to the side and touch the armrest of the other pilot seat.


    Hector sat down in the other seat and looked at the controls. ¡°You''ve got standard flight controls mounted in an alien outer casing?¡±


    ¡°It was quicker to do that than rip out the entire console.¡± The man said. ¡°Everything''s run in a bundle alongside the alien hardware, so it''s easier to perform maintenance.¡±


    ¡°That''s great!¡± Luxea exclaimed. ¡°I was a little worried after studying the schematics you sent us.¡±


    The man nodded. ¡°I''ve got the updated schematics and the new control runs are marked.¡± He said and handed her a datapad. ¡°We wanted to know how serious you were about buying before letting you know how extensive the changes were.¡±


    ¡°It''s a relief.¡± I said. ¡°We thought we would be stuck here for a week as we did all of that work.¡±


    ¡°You were going to do it yourselves?¡± The man asked, surprised. ¡°This was done by the shipyard over the course of two months.¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t going to look professionally done like this when we were finished.¡± I laughed. ¡°Expediency and functionality would have prevailed.¡±


    The man looked slightly disappointed. ¡°I would have liked to have seen that.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Luxea looked at him like a cat about to catch a bird. ¡°Piqued your interest?¡±


    ¡°I like getting my hands dirty.¡± The man said and smiled.


    ¡°A friend and I installed a dedicated credit computer on our ship, with its own control and power runs, after crawling through thirty feet of two foot round maintenance access ways.¡±


    The man''s eyes lit up at her words. ¡°I love doing systems integration!¡± He said and then he sighed. ¡°Since this is mostly a repair facility, I don''t get to do much of it.¡±


    Luxea chuckled. ¡°A lot of people don''t like it when you change things on them, especially if they don''t see it as necessary.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± The man said. ¡°Bunch of old women set in their ways!¡±


    ¡°I should be insulted by that, being a woman and all.¡± Luxea said and the man laughed.


    ¡°It''s fine for women to be set in their ways.¡± He said. ¡°Corporate heads? It''s annoying as hell!¡±


    That made her laugh and I smiled.


    ¡°Let''s continue the tour.¡± The man said and waved for us to leave the cockpit. He showed us all of the rooms, then the huge kitchen, two large living and entertainment rooms, three small cargo areas that were fully pressurized and had access ports both inside and outside the ship, then we went down the stairs and he showed us a gigantic normal cargo hold that ran for pretty much the entire length of the underside of the ship. It could be pressurized or left to the vacuum of space.


    ¡°This is amazing.¡± Luxea said as she saw the size of the cargo bay. ¡°You were right, Hunter. This thing has at least quadruple our storage capacity, not counting the internal spaces!¡±


    ¡°What about the shuttle?¡± I asked. ¡°The sale included the shuttle, didn''t it?¡±


    ¡°It did.¡± The man said with a grin. ¡°Right this way.¡± He said and walked over to the end of the cargo bay and hit several buttons. The door hatch opened and revealed a small shuttle bay and an alien shuttle sat there. ¡°The previous owner didn''t want to deal with the small hatches and climbing ladders.¡±


    ¡°We have our own shuttle bay.¡± Rhubin said, his voice full of wonder. ¡°We have our own SHUTTLE BAY!¡±


    ¡°I think someone is excited.¡± I said and everyone laughed.


    ¡°I hope the ship has at least a class four reactor.¡± Luxea said, because she knew the power requirements for running a ship this size.


    ¡°It''s a class five, and it has a small secondary for running the incidentals like lights and the food processors.¡± The man said, a little smugly. ¡°That was my idea.¡±


    ¡°It was a great idea.¡± Luxea said with a smile. ¡°Can you show it to us?¡±


    ¡°I can show you the compartment; but, I can''t let you in unless you''re all in radiation suits.¡±


    Luxea laughed. ¡°We only want to see it, not take a bath in the rads!¡±


    The man laughed, too. ¡°That''s a fair point.¡± He said and led us back up into the main part of the ship and into a small room near the back. ¡°There they are.¡±


    Luxea looked through the small observation window and saw the powerful reactors. ¡°What''s the half-life on the core materials?¡±


    ¡°Sadly, the previous owner wasn''t fussy on wasting money on a long lasting power source, so the class five is only rated for four hundred years.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Luxea frowned. ¡°Did they put the ship through its paces? What was the response time when there''s a huge power draw?¡±


    ¡°The specs are in the main computer.¡± The man said, his voice without inflection.


    ¡°Well, now we know why we got it so cheaply.¡± I said.


    Luxea nodded. ¡°A class five reactor should have at least twelve hundred to fifteen hundred years on its core.¡± She said. ¡°It''s going to have the same restriction on power usage that we already have on your ship.¡±


    ¡°We''ll deal with it.¡± I said and put my hand on her shoulder. ¡°We should finish the tour and then complete the transaction.¡±


    Half an hour later, the tour was done and the man had the remainder of the credits. We were now the new owners of another ship. All we had to do was decide who was going to be on it to fly it back to the Fogaris system.


    ¡°Hector''s going to pilot it.¡± I said and looked at Luxea. ¡°You need to start copying over the ship''s programs and see what they left in the database.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been doing that since we visited the cockpit.¡± Luxea grinned and I chuckled.


    ¡°We''ll need to change the call sign on the ship and maybe add different plating to change the obvious alien design.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°It will just be superficial, though. I doubt we could cut into the superstructure and not weaken the ship.¡± Luxea said and showed us the schematics. ¡°It''s designed to work as a whole. You can''t change anything except for how it looks, unless you''re looking for trouble.¡±


    ¡°Not changing the obvious look of the thing is also asking for trouble.¡± I said. ¡°Rhubin, maybe you can stop at one of the Fogaris asteroid smelters and pick up a bunch of cheap metal sheeting and bring it back here.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Rhubin barked a laugh. ¡°That''s a great idea!¡±


    ¡°We''ll have to be careful of the deflector emitters on the ship''s hull.¡± Luxea said. ¡°We can''t just put the sheeting down and hope for the best. It''s going to take time to figure this all out and get it into place.¡± She thought about the problem. ¡°I''m tempted to just change out the emitters and put them on the new hull, rather than worry about covering them.¡±


    ¡°We''ll need some structural materials as well, then.¡± I said. ¡°Luxea, can you get us some preliminary numbers to work with?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Luxea said, hesitantly.


    I chuckled. ¡°We''ll double whatever you say, just in case.¡±


    Luxea took a breath and let it out. ¡°Okay. Give me half an hour to crunch some numbers.¡±


    ¡°Take an hour. They haven''t kicked us off the dock yet.¡± I smiled. ¡°When we leave, we''ll jump out to the next empty system. We''ll wait there with this ship and Rhubin will jump from there and go back to the Fogaris system to get the supplies we need.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°I''ll go with him.¡± Simone said. ¡°In case they need a hand loading the cargo bay.¡±


    ¡°They shouldn''t, unless it''s all automated. Thank you.¡± I said.


    ¡°I have to start earning my keep, right?¡± Simone said with a smile. ¡°I can''t just stand around looking pretty.¡±


    Rhubin and I exchanged knowing looks and then looked back at her.


    ¡°I''m okay with that.¡± I said and smiled.


    ¡°Me, too.¡± Rhubin said with a grin.


    ¡°Oh, geez.¡± Luxea said and shook her head. ¡°Get your asses over to the Udelis and gather enough supplies for a few weeks for three people and bring it back here.¡± She said. ¡°I''ll be in the cockpit working on what we''ll need to do to make this ship look more like a normal ship.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± I said and gave her a guard salute, as did Rhubin and Hector.


    ¡°Get out of here!¡± Luxea said and hit my shoulder. ¡°Don''t forget changes of clothes and towels and things!¡±


    Rhubin, Hector, and I laughed as we left through the ship''s main hatch to complete our assigned task.


    *


    Simone held in her own laughter until the hatch closed. ¡°Are they always like that?¡±


    ¡°Not always.¡± Luxea said and motioned towards the cockpit and the two women walked down the long curved hallway. ¡°Hunter does try to diffuse some situations with humor occasionally.¡±


    ¡°He''s a good man.¡± Simone said. ¡°He''s got a lot of darkness in him, though.¡±


    ¡°He''s been through a lot.¡± Luxea said and sat down on the co-pilot''s seat. ¡°I don''t think I could have survived what he''s been through.¡±


    Simone gave Luxea a serious look. ¡°He''s told you everything?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Luxea said and started working. ¡°As much as he can, anyways.¡± She corrected. ¡°He''s not someone that will give you the details for the things he''s experienced, especially if he knows you can''t handle the full truth.¡±


    Simone lost her serious look and smiled. ¡°Yes, that''s exactly the reading I get from him.¡±


    ¡°Have you... what''s that word you used? Scanned him?¡± Luxea asked without looking up from the console.


    ¡°Only as much as he''s let me.¡± Simone said and Luxea chuckled.


    ¡°He''s got a soft spot in his heart for telepaths.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It makes me envious sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Not jealous?¡± Simone asked, curious. ¡°People usually confuse the two meanings.¡±


    Luxea turned her head and smiled at her, then looked back at the console. ¡°I''m not worried about you stealing him from me, even if he does eventually sleep with you.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Simone asked, because she wasn''t sure she heard her quite right.


    ¡°You can give him a mental satisfaction that I can''t even compare to, let alone achieve with him myself.¡± Luxea said. ¡°He''s going to give in to the temptation eventually.¡±


    ¡°You''re okay with that?¡± Simone asked, surprised.


    Luxea thought back to what Hunter had told her about what he had called a ''one night stand''. When he explained what he meant, she understood that it was what she had been doing for years. She would meet an interesting man, share a nice time with him that most times would include sex, then they would never see each other again. She had been quite happy with her life being like that, especially since she didn''t really want a relationship, or wanted to invest herself into a relationship... until she met Hunter.


    Luxea''s view of the whole ''date and have fun'' thing started to shift slightly, then Hunter had that incident with Ohazith and her thoughts on the whole subject changed. She still liked having fun; but, its hollowness started to bother her. She knew it was always hollow and that was how she had liked it. Now, she couldn''t help but think of how she would want to have someone like Hunter that would be devastated if anything happened to her. It was such an odd thought to have at the time, that she had cried for no reason for nearly half an hour.


    Luxea''s life changed after that little revelation. She eventually pushed her sexual urges aside and she started to see the value in companionship for companionship''s sake. It didn''t take her long to realize that friendships could be even more valuable, especially if they were actual friendships. That was how she discovered that she and Evelyn, the medical technician on the long haul transport, were real friends and that Cassie, the captain''s daughter, was only an acquaintance and they only tolerated each other.


    That was why it had been so easy for Luxea to leave the ship. The only friend she was leaving was Evelyn, who had understood why she had to leave. They still sent messages to each other occasionally to stay in touch.


    ¡°I can''t hold it against him if he wants to sleep with another woman.¡± Luxea said, remembering her own sordid past. ¡°I won''t like it, especially if he decides to end our relationship if it happens.¡±


    ¡°He won''t do that.¡± Simone said, sure of it. ¡°He loves you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he does.¡± Luxea said, her face slightly red. ¡°He''s loved a few women, and only once did he have two of them in his life at the same time.¡±


    ¡°Did they have a fight or break up or something?¡± Simone asked, curious.


    ¡°No, he...¡± Luxea wasn''t sure how to explain it to someone else that didn''t know all of the facts.


    ¡°How could he be with two people and love them both?¡± Simone prodded.


    ¡°It took him years to...¡± Luxea stopped and chuckled. ¡°I guess it doesn''t matter, because he left them behind and now he''s with me.¡±


    ¡°What about Lashina?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°He doesn''t expect to meet her again for another decade, maybe two.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Simone said, incredulous. ¡°He''s planning a relationship for a decade from now?!?¡±


    Luxea laughed. ¡°I know! It boggles the mind if I think about it too much.¡±


    ¡°Says the engineer that''s figuring out how to make an alien ship look normal by adding a fake hull.¡± Simone said.


    After a moment, they both burst out laughing.


    Hunter and the two men had to make several trips to get the right supplies transferred over to the new ship. They brought over enough foodstuffs to give them a variety and several changes of clothes. When Luxea was done with the calculations and gave the datapad to Rhubin, they all gave the new ship a once-over check from top to bottom to make sure that everything was in working order. Water, air, and power were all green, so Rhubin and Simone went to the Udelis and the two ships left the shipyard dock together.


    The two ships jumped out of the system and travelled for only a day to end in a system that only had a star and no planets. Rhubin bid the new ship farewell and flew from there to the Fogaris system three days away. After a brief inquiry from the fast patrol ship there at the border of their space, Rhubin was allowed to approach one of the asteroid smelting operations. They were more than happy to offload some of their extra materials for a reasonable price, especially since they produced much more materials than could be used right away.


    Simone''s help wasn''t needed as the crew there happily filled the cargo hold with the structural members and the metal plating Luxea had requested. It was a double order, just in case, and they were done barely two hours later. Rhubin thanked them and handed out enough ration meals and flavor supplements for them all. The crew exclaimed that he was now an unofficial member of their crew and gave him a hard hat and a crew jacket.


    Rhubin laughed and accepted their generosity. After a bit of merriment and a shared drink that one of the crew had produced from somewhere, Rhubin flew the ship out to clear space and jumped into hyperspace. They were back at the rendezvous point three days later and both Rhubin and Simone were shocked to see that the new ship was partially disassembled. There was also an improvised docking ring on the main hatch.


    ¡°What the hell have you been doing?¡± Rhubin asked over the communications console.


    ¡°Lots and lots of prep work.¡± Luxea said. ¡°You can dock to the main hatch, too. It''s got standard controls now and responds to the right commands.¡±


    ¡°Goddammit, woman! You''re a miracle worker!¡± Rhubin exclaimed and she laughed.


    ¡°Just wait until I start adding the proper plating to this thing and you can tell me that again.¡± Luxea said. ¡°How much material could they spare?¡±


    ¡°The main cargo hold is filled to the bulkheads.¡± Rhubin said with a grin and showed her the crew jacket with the asteroid smelting emblem on it.


    ¡°Ha.¡± Luxea said. ¡°See you in a few minutes.¡±


    Rhubin docked to the improvised docking ring and it made a solid seal. It was pressurized using the standard controls like Luxea said and not the alien protocols he had been prepared to use. The main hatches of both ships opened and the crew of both met in the middle.


    ¡°Good work.¡± Hunter and Rhubin said at the same time and then they laughed.


    ¡°We''re taking a break for a day, then we can get back to work.¡± Hunter said. ¡°With Simone out helping, we should get the superstructure extensions in place by the end of the week.¡±


    ¡°Then we can start plating this thing up properly.¡± Luxea said. ¡°No one''s going to recognize this thing when we''re done.¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 013

    It took us three weeks to get the outside of the ship to look like what Luxea had planned. Not only did we have to remount the gravity sensors, we added quite a few more and used up all of our spares. We also had to move all of the deflector screen emitters and their power conduits out to the new hull. The ship didn''t have as many deflectors as my ship did and it only covered critical areas, so we were going to have to salvage a lot of them from the wrecks when we started that operation.


    Our work didn''t go off without a hitch or two. Slight miss-cuts on some of the support members had made mounting the plates on top of them impossible to match up with each other, which meant that we had to open the hull up around them and cut them off, make new structural mounts, then put them into place to set everything right. If Luxea hadn''t been the engineering woman of my dreams, there was no way that we would have ever pulled something like this off, no matter how long we took to do it.


    ¡°That is a thing of beauty.¡± Rhubin said from the shuttle''s cockpit as he sent images of the ship back to us. We hadn''t altered the alien shuttle yet, so we weren''t going to be using it in public until we gave it the same kind of makeover.


    ¡°It almost looks like a Destroyer.¡± Simone commented.


    ¡°A what?¡± Luxea looked at her with surprise on her face.


    ¡°It''s a sub-class of an old frigate.¡± Simone said. ¡°It''s heavily armed and carries two platoons of marines for assaults on hard targets, either in space or on the ground.¡±


    ¡°Are you joking?¡± Luxea asked and brought up the image of a transport that she had used as a model for the reconstruction. ¡°This is what I was trying to emulate.¡± She said and activated the holographic projector.


    ¡°Oh! I see.¡± Simone said. ¡°Can you rotate it for me?¡±


    Luxea turned the display until Simone held up a hand.


    ¡°Here are the differences.¡± Simone said and pointed to the engines. ¡°The ship I''m thinking of has a bank of engines here and here, not along the back in a row.¡± She made the rotate motion and Luxea turned it for her. ¡°The cargo hatch is the same, except it should split in the middle to allow a quicker opening time.¡± She said as the ship turned again. ¡°There should be two observation bubbles, here and here, and the cockpit should be a little more pointed.¡±


    ¡°Oh, god.¡± Luxea said and then sighed. ¡°Who else is going to think this is a warship?¡±


    Simone had to think about that for a minute. ¡°Probably anyone that''s visited a military shipyard more than once.¡± She said. ¡°Definitely anyone knowledgeable about starships and their history.¡±


    I put my arm around Luxea''s shoulders and gave her a one arm hug. ¡°It''s okay.¡±


    ¡°No, it isn''t. It actually is a transport ship design. I didn''t realize they had adapted it for military use.¡± Luxea sighed. ¡°This was the only design that we could adapt the ship to. Everything else would require cutting some part of the ship off or adding so much that it would reduce its functionality to zero.¡±


    ¡°Then we''ll make due.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter, we can''t just fly around in something that looks like an old warship!¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked.


    Luxea looked at me like I wasn''t making sense. ¡°They will constantly challenge us, that''s why!¡±


    ¡°We won''t have to worry about that for a little while.¡± I said. ¡°We''re going to be salvaging the wrecks and filling the hold for the foreseeable future, right?¡±


    Luxea sighed again. ¡°We can''t fly an unarmed ship that looks like a warship into an inhabited system.¡±


    ¡°We only have to do that once and the people in the Fogaris system know we''re coming.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean we only have to do that once?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°There''s a reason why I asked you to leave some room between the ship and the new hull in certain spots.¡± I said. ¡°There''s lots of space to mount some heavy lasers and maybe a couple of those assault lasers, assuming the aliens have similar systems.¡±


    ¡°Are... are you joking?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°You want to arm the ship and make it into an actual warship?¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t going to, then fate seems to have given us the perfect opportunity.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I was happy with just having all the extra storage space. Now we can have that and be able to protect ourselves if anyone tries to hijack us.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I...¡± Luxea sighed. ¡°You''re going to argue that we need to do this, now that we know it does look like a warship.¡±


    ¡°Argue? No. Point out? Yes.¡± I leaned down and kissed her on the lips. ¡°I''ll restrain myself and we''ll only take two of the high velocity weapon power coils from one of the larger wrecks.¡±


    Luxea caught her breath and stared at me. ¡°Hunter!¡±


    ¡°Ha hahaha! I''m joking!¡± I said and gave her another kiss. ¡°I can make due with half a dozen of the medium power coils until we can get a replacement for the reactor core.¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Luxea exclaimed and I laughed again.


    Rhubin flew the shuttle back into the shuttle bay and sealed and pressurized it, then came up to the cockpit to meet with us. ¡°So, are we going now or what?¡±


    ¡°We are definitely going.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter, we... we shouldn''t...¡± Luxea said, her tone of voice sounded defeated.


    ¡°If you want me to, I''m pretty sure I can find the specs for the Destroyer.¡± Simone said, helpfully. ¡°If we are arming the thing anyway, it might as well be accurate.¡±


    Luxea gave her a forlorn look.


    ¡°Hey, it''s okay.¡± Simone said and put her arm over Luxea''s shoulders. ¡°No one really plans to use shipboard weapons, except for the military. We all know those people are a little crazy.¡±


    ¡°You mean battle crazy, right?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°Uh... yeah... sure.¡± Simone said and glanced at me with a smile as the Presence wavered slightly.


    I held in my laugh. ¡°All right. We need to split up again and get back to the Fogaris system.¡±


    ¡°I have to stay here and keep working.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I''ll stay with you for stress relief.¡± I said and she nodded.


    ¡°Then it''s the same division as before.¡± Rhubin said and then he grinned. ¡°Unless Simone wants to stay here and leave me all alone... on a luxury craft... with a huge unused shower.¡±


    Simone barked a laugh. ¡°You''re pushing my buttons to manipulate me already?¡±


    ¡°I have to at least attempt to seduce you, even knowing it won''t work.¡± Rhubin laughed. ¡°What would my reputation be like if I didn''t try at least once?¡±


    ¡°Intact?¡± I asked, and everyone laughed.


    The draw of the huge shower was too much for her to ignore, so Simone went with Rhubin onto the Udelis. Luxea and I gave her permission to stay in our room for the next while, considering we were going to be working for a long time on our respective ships as we salvaged cargo. We jumped into hyperspace and because the larger ship had less power to work with, it took an extra day for us to arrive. When we did, alarms blared and we were immediately targeted with weapons.


    ¡°I guess computers would also recognize the design.¡± I said as several mobile platforms activated near us and readied their weapons. ¡°Luxea, tell me you have the new friendly codes installed.¡±


    ¡°They''ve been broadcasting constantly.¡± Luxea said, her forehead covered in sweat. ¡°I knew this was going to happen.¡±


    We came to a stop as ordered and waited as a patrol ship came over to us. Having our other ship make the slower journey with us had been the smart thing to do, because it gave our unfamiliar, and yet warship-like appearance, legitimacy. After several orders to prepare to be boarded, communications were cut off and we were made to sit there for half an hour. No one approached us, not even a boarding party like they said, and the patrol craft stayed nearby with its weapons powered up and targeted at us. The communication display lit up and the admiral glared out of it at me.


    ¡°You bought a warship?¡± Shanifra asked, her voice full of incredulity.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°No, we bought another courier ship, then redid the hull over the last month to change the awful way it looked.¡± I explained. ¡°It wasn''t until we had a good external look at it with a shuttle that someone recognized that it looks like an old warship.¡±


    Shanifra took off her hat and rubbed her forehead. ¡°Do you realize the panic you just caused here?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said and she sighed. ¡°I can guess, though.¡±


    ¡°Did you do this on purpose?¡± Shanifra asked.


    ¡°Kind of.¡± I said and she frowned. ¡°I thought it would be safe to come here, since you knew it was us coming. I didn''t think you would react in a bad way, considering there''s nothing inside this ship and you would know that I wouldn''t come here with the intention to attack you.¡±


    ¡°Is it armed?¡± Shanifra asked.


    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± I said. ¡°Not yet, anyway.¡±


    Shanifra sighed. ¡°You can''t seriously think...¡±


    ¡°I was actually going to let it slide and take Luxea''s advice; but, with the way a friendly force reacted to a transport''s hull... and if you look at your records it actually was a transport''s hull before the model was adopted to be an outdated and poorly designed warship... I have to seriously consider arming it.¡±


    ¡°I can''t let you float around the system in an armed ship.¡± Shanifra said. ¡°If you do...¡±


    ¡°I''ve been doing it the entire time we''ve been here.¡± I said and she caught her breath. ¡°I''ve always been here in an armed ship.¡±


    The admiral''s eyes darted to her display and she frowned. ¡°Nothing''s showing up.¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± I said. ¡°Why would I bother friends by baring arms against them?¡±


    ¡°Show me.¡± Shanifra ordered.


    I hit a button to put the Udelis into the circuit. ¡°Rhubin, deploy the assault laser cannons.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I don''t think...¡±


    ¡°The admiral will send out the kill signal if we don''t show her.¡± I cautioned, and he sighed. A second later, alarms blared over the communications system and the patrol ship and mobile platforms all targeted the Udelis as it revealed weapons that no one suspected it had.


    ¡°It''s true?¡± Shanifra asked, surprised. ¡°How in the world did you hide assault cannons on a ship that small?¡±


    ¡°It was my parents'' ship and it came like that.¡± I said. ¡°The weapons are built in and not added on.¡±


    ¡°That''s how you handled the scout ship that time.¡± Shanifra said. ¡°Uzahne said that you hid in the debris field to get away from them.¡±


    ¡°She didn''t need to know that we removed the threat and didn''t just avoid it.¡± I said. ¡°Rhubin, that''s enough.¡±


    The alarms stopped blaring as the weapons were retracted and concealed again.


    ¡°Hunter, this...¡± Shanifra sighed. ¡°We have to rethink our open-door policy with you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°I''m still the same person and it''s still the same ship. I''ve never used it against you or threatened anyone or anything whatsoever here.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°Look, you can be all ''this is mine and you can''t come in here without my permission'' all you want. I''m okay with that. I always have been.¡± I said. ¡°What I don''t like is that once I revealed that I can defend myself when attacked, you need to rethink everything that''s happened between us. Really?¡±


    ¡°Do you know how the people will react if we tell them that the ship that helped us so much is armed?¡± Shanifra asked.


    ¡°Some will be insulted that they didn''t know.¡± I said. ¡°Most of them will be ecstatic that the ship that brought them their new government had the ability to defend them, and did defend them, against their enemies.¡±


    ¡°It''s not that simple.¡± Shanifra said.


    ¡°Luxea, send what I just said and a visual of the cannons being deployed.¡± I said and put my hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. ¡°If you''re okay with it, add in the recordings and the data from the encounter with that scout ship.¡±


    Luxea gave me a look that said she wasn''t okay with revealing that she was the one that did it.


    ¡°I ordered it, remember? That''s on record, too.¡±


    Luxea sighed and accessed the data on the Udelis, quickly made up the data packet, and sent it to the admiral.


    ¡°Now send it to everyone in the system.¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Hunter, I can''t do that!¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I can.¡± I reached down and quickly typed in the commands and she tried to stop me. I turned her chair away with Presence to move her out of the way and sent the data to everyone. All of the ships, all of the habitats, and everyone on the planet received the information.


    ¡°I can''t believe you did that to me!¡± Luxea exclaimed.


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said. ¡°It was the only way to stop them from putting a gag order on the information.¡±


    ¡°Everyone is going to know that I''m a murderer!¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°You are not a murderer.¡± I said. ¡°I ordered you to kill them.¡±


    ¡°It''s the same thing!¡± Luxea said and stood up.


    ¡°Is it?¡± I asked and turned to look at her. ¡°Am I a murderer, Luxea?¡±


    ¡°Yes! You''ve killed a lot of people!¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Some I''ve killed casually and others I''ve been angered by and then killed.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve told you why and I thought you were okay with that.¡±


    ¡°I am okay with it! With you! Everyone knows that you''re a bounty hunter and that it''s your job to hunt and kill people!¡± Luxea exclaimed as she glared at me angrily. ¡°I''m not like you, though! I don''t want to be known for killing people!¡±


    ¡°That''s not what you''ll be known for.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°Look at the communications panel and tell me how many of them are for you.¡±


    Luxea squinted her eyes at me as she frowned and then she glanced at the list of messages. They kept scrolling as more and more of them came in. Her eyes started to tear up as she saw the words of congratulations. The number of normal citizens that sent thank you messages started to pass the hundreds and reach the thousands. Mixed in were messages from the military about respect and jealousy for her getting payback for them. Some messages were for Rhubin for his expert piloting and for me for not hesitating in a combat situation; but, the majority were for her.


    ¡°N-no.¡± Luxea shook her head. ¡°No, I... I don''t want this. Not like this.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry. Only the people in this system will know you''re their hero, Luxea.¡± I said in a soft voice and tried to hug her.


    Luxea pulled away out of reach and glared at me. ¡°I''m not a hero!¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are. People don''t congratulate and thank murderers.¡± I said.


    ¡°They thank you!¡± Luxea spat.


    ¡°Only because I''m so charming.¡± I said. ¡°If I was an asshole, they would probably hate me.¡± I said and then thought about it. ¡°Then again, some might still thank me. It''s hard to say with some people.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe you.¡± Luxea said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°I had to tell everyone here what happened, or they could cover it all up and kick us out for having an armed ship in their space.¡±


    ¡°They can still do that!¡±


    ¡°No, they can''t.¡± I said. ¡°What will everyone say if we are escorted to the border of their space and told not to come back?¡±


    Luxea closed her mouth before she said what she would tell everyone in that situation.


    ¡°They will have to wait a little while, until this dies down, before they can lie convincingly.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sorry if I embarrassed you with this.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure you are.¡± Luxea gave me angry eyes as she picked up her datapad. ¡°I need some air.¡± She said and left the cockpit at a fast walk. There was silence in the cockpit for about thirty seconds, then the admiral spoke from the communication''s vidscreen.


    ¡°I''m glad I didn''t offer her an officer''s position, too.¡± Shanifra said. ¡°To think she believes she''s a murderer because she defended your ship from attack.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I suppose she might even believe that all military personnel are the same.¡±


    ¡°I can''t say.¡± I said, even though I got the feeling that she did. I didn''t realize Luxea had that harsh of an opinion about it, though.


    ¡°Well, your strategy worked.¡± Shanifra said as she looked down at her display. ¡°We''ve got thirty... no, fifty requests to invite you and Luxea to dine at the new government house.¡± She said. ¡°The new president''s request is at the top of the list.¡±


    ¡°Uzahne?¡± I asked, and Shanifra nodded. ¡°I don''t think I can accept.¡±


    ¡°I saw.¡± Shanifra said in reference to Luxea''s reaction. ¡°I''ll extend your regrets and let them know what you''re doing about the alien wrecks.¡±


    ¡°I''m still allowed to do that?¡± I asked, and she sighed.


    ¡°Yes, even though I don''t want to let you.¡± Shanifra said. ¡°Are you starting right away?¡±


    ¡°In a couple of days, after we examine the debris field and pick out the best wrecks to start with.¡± I said. ¡°If that changes in any way, I''ll let you know.¡±


    ¡°I need to send an escort with you.¡± Shanifra said. ¡°The patrol ship near you will stay with you.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine.¡± I said. ¡°It''ll be nice to have the company.¡±


    Shanifra''s eyes went to the empty co-pilot seat beside me, then she nodded and cut the call.


    *


    On the planet Chofaris, the extrapolated footage of the encounter played on the news and their version of the internet on a constant loop. Rhubin''s fantastic flying was analyzed and the precise shooting to remove just the cockpit of the alien''s scout ship was praised. Military experts chimed in and gave interviews about the encounter and said that they were lucky to be alive. The whole thing became a national phenomenon and by the end of the day, even young children knew about it and how that fast little ship had saved their whole star system and then given them their government back.


    *


    ¡°Madame President.¡± An aide said as she stepped into Uzahne''s private office. ¡°The Vice President requests a meeting.¡±


    ¡°There''s no need for formality.¡± Uzahne said with a smile. ¡°Please show Olugaell in.¡±


    The aide nodded and left, then returned with the humanoid fish woman that was a member of the native population on the planet.


    ¡°Uzahne, thank you for seeing me on such short notice.¡± Olugaell said as the aide left.


    Uzahne laughed. ¡°Come in, come in.¡± She said and stood to greet her good friend with a quick hug. ¡°You know that you don''t need to request a meeting. Just come right over.¡±


    ¡°I couldn''t do that!¡± Olugaell gurgled a laugh and her fins shook with amusement. ¡°You''re the head of the government. I need to keep some semblance of decorum in our offices!¡±


    Uzahne laughed. ¡°We are the head of the government.¡± She corrected and they both sat down on the couch that she used for informal meetings. ¡°I don''t have to guess what you need to see me about.¡±


    Olugaell smiled. ¡°I wish to see our heroes in person again.¡±


    ¡°I suspected as much.¡± Uzahne said and held out a chip with a recording of the conversation the admiral on the station had given her.


    Olugaell took out her datapad and put the chip in it, then watched the conversation in real time. ¡°Oh, my.¡± She said as she experienced the confrontation between Hunter and Shanifra, then Luxea''s reaction to it. ¡°That poor girl.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it''s a shame, really.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Even if she did want to accept all of the invitations our government officials have sent her, having her reveal that particular prejudice in polite conversation would upset quite a lot of people.¡±


    ¡°Especially my people.¡± Olugaell said and handed the chip back. ¡°Would Hunter accept if invited alone?¡±


    Uzahne waved for her to keep the chip. ¡°He might, if we kept it to a more... private setting.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Olugaell sat there and thought about it. ¡°No openly visible press is a given.¡± She said. ¡°Maybe ten to twelve representatives of the government? Not including us, of course.¡± She smiled. ¡°We could include the admiral and her personal staff as well.¡±


    It was Uzahne''s turn to think about it. ¡°If we limit the people, we can keep it semi-formal and we won''t have to dress up like your people if we don''t want to.¡±


    Olugaell laughed. ¡°I told you several times that it''s not insulting. We see it as a compliment.¡±


    ¡°I kept knocking my drink over with the fins!¡± Uzahne said, then they both laughed.


    ¡°Would he rather get the invitation from you or from me?¡± Olugaell asked.


    ¡°Oh, definitely you.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°We can even hold it at your place to keep it more reserved.¡±


    ¡°That is an excellent idea.¡± Olugaell said and pat her friend''s hand. ¡°I will compose it and send it off as soon as I get back to my office. I''ll even set it for a week from now. If he accepts, we will have plenty of time to make up the guest list and get everything arranged.¡±


    Uzahne nodded. ¡°Thank you, Olugaell.¡±


    ¡°Now, on to other matters.¡± Olugaell said. ¡°We still haven''t decided what we need to do about...¡±


    The two women discussed their political landscape and what they could do to dig out some of the weeds that had cropped up. It was always inevitable for unscrupulous people to get into public office, since that was what a lot of them did to get either money or fame. Those that had money wanted the fame, and those with fame wanted the money. It was almost always that way, and both Uzahne and Olugaell had some hard work ahead of them to deal with it.

 Book Three: The Resolution 014

    My estimation of a few days turned into a week to find the best pattern to start salvaging the alien wrecks. Their odd shapes and their not-pristine condition made it that much harder. At least their emergency hatches were the same as the hatch on the bottom of every shuttle and we could use the shuttle when necessary. Luxea had worked hard all week, despite still being angry and ignoring me. She had even taken a room on the new ship instead of staying in my room with me.


    While she brooded over what I had done, the rest of us had stripped the outer shell of the alien shuttle and had replaced its plating to make it look more like a normal shuttle, while mitigating the impact to the shuttle''s versatility. Like the large ship, changing too much would reduce the shuttle''s usefulness to nothing and it would defeat the purpose of changing the look. It had a lot less things on it to move out to the new hull and we were done just in time for me to get ready for the dinner party that Olugaell had invited me to.


    I tried to refuse on everyone''s behalf, then I was politely and pointedly reminded that the invitation was for me only and perhaps a guest if I so wished, so I couldn''t really find or make up a reason to refuse. I could have just said no; but, I had been through a lot with some of these people. I didn''t believe that insulting them by continuing to refuse a simple dinner invitation would keep me on their good side and I reluctantly accepted.


    Luxea absolutely refused to go with me, and after she had a long and lingering glare at Simone, she claimed that she would be unavailable, too. I accepted that explanation and then I had to decide what I wanted to wear. Since it was a semi-formal dinner, I had been tempted to wear my armored uniform, then I figured it might be a little insulting if I showed up fully prepared to do battle. After looking through the clothing I had on my ship and not finding anything suitable for a casual state dinner, I looked through the clothing I had in one of my bags of holding.


    ¡°I haven''t worn this in a while.¡± I said and took out the fancy suit that almost looked like a tuxedo. It was still in perfect condition, since the things inside the bag were unaffected by how long they had been in there. It also had Jessica''s Preservation spell on it. All of my clothes from that time had the spell on them, including my powered armor uniform, and I could maintain the spells forever as long as I kept adding a little Presence to it. I took a shower to clean up and used Presence to tie up my hair a few times to make that cape-like shape. I thought about trimming it down several times, especially now that I was back in space and had to somehow tuck it all inside a space suit whenever I put one on.


    I just couldn''t bring myself to do it, though. I had grown it since I was a child and my Presence maintained its healthy look. Over the years, it had changed from its dirty blonde color to a more golden blonde, similar to what my mother''s hair was. I sincerely doubted it would ever become that golden, though. I skipped covering part of it with Presence to hide it, since no one I would meet would realize how long it actually took to grow it to the length it was now. I dressed in a simple shirt and the suit, added a couple of bags of holding and a Light sword, then made them invisible and left my room.


    ¡°Hunter? Your escort is here.¡± Rhubin said over the intercom. ¡°It''s another fast patrol ship.¡±


    I pushed the button. ¡°I figured as much. Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Should we show them the temporary docking ring that can join two ships together?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°Hell, no. They''ll steal it in a heartbeat if they know it actually works.¡± I said and he laughed. ¡°Tell them I''ll meet them at the hatch at the top of the ship.¡±


    ¡°I miss having the shuttle there to play with.¡± Rhubin said, his voice a little sad.


    ¡°You like having the shuttle bay on the other ship more.¡± I countered.


    ¡°Damn straight! No more space walks to check the shuttle''s integrity!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''ll see you when I get back.¡±


    ¡°Don''t have too much fun.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°You know why.¡± He said needlessly.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I let the button go and walked over to the middle of the ship and looked up through the hull to watch the fast patrol ship flip over and put its own shuttle hatch over ours. I waited until there was a good seal from their umbilical as it attached to our hull and climbed the ladder, then I opened the hatch and saw a woman staring at me from the other ship.


    ¡°You didn''t cut internal gravity to pass between ships?¡± She asked, surprised.


    ¡°It wasn''t necessary.¡± I said and pulled myself into her ship and flipped over, then used Presence to close and secure the hatch of my ship, then did the same for her ship. I checked the telltales and depressurized the umbilical attachment and released it.


    She stared at me the entire time. ¡°How did you do that without touching anything?¡±


    ¡°Presence.¡± I said and her eyes widened.


    ¡°What about your hair? How are you keeping it all together like that?¡±


    ¡°Same reason.¡± I said. ¡°It barely takes any energy.¡±


    ¡°Can... can I touch it?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Once the gravity is back on.¡± I said and she pushed the button on the panel by the ladder. We had both been floating about four feet above the floor when the artificial gravity came back on and I caught her before she fell to the floor. ¡°You need to be a little more careful of your surroundings.¡± I said and levitated us down to the floor.


    ¡°You flew?¡± She whispered, her voice full of awe.


    ¡°We can all fly in space.¡± I said with a grin.


    She wasn''t sure what to make of that statement.


    ¡°Perhaps you can tell the pilot we''re good to go?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± She said and hit the intercom button. ¡°Passenger secured. Move out.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡± The pilot responded and the ship moved out a little, poured on the speed, and flipped over slowly to ease the feeling of centrifugal force.


    ¡°Roger is an odd name for a woman.¡± I joked, and it took her a second to realize what I meant.


    ¡°Oh! No, I... my name is Grace.¡±


    I held a hand out to her. ¡°Hi, Grace. I''m Hunter.¡±


    Grace took the hand and shook it. ¡°I know who you are.¡± She said. ¡°Everybody does.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I doubt that.¡±


    Grace gave me an odd look, then she walked over to a screen mounted on the bulkhead and dragged me behind her. She didn''t say anything as she turned the screen on and set it to a local news station. I had to blink my eyes at what I was seeing.


    ¡°How did they get that footage?¡± I asked in surprise as it showed me standing calmly between Rhubin and Luxea during the ship''s manoeuvres. My long hair floated out behind me as the ship flipped over and it responded to the motions and my feet remained planted to the floor. After thinking about it, I was pretty sure where it had come from.


    ¡°An anonymous source.¡± Grace said and changed the channel. ¡°Hold on. One of these should have your rescue footage on it.¡±


    I stood there wordlessly and waited as she found a station that was currently critiquing my rescue operations. I might not have followed their normal procedures; but, the footage was spectacular, especially when I wielded my modified Light sword to cut my way into areas and sheered off debris to get it out of the way to rescue trapped people.


    ¡°Is it true that you don''t have any formal training in SAR operations?¡± Grace asked.


    ¡°Formal? No.¡± I said and watched the screen. ¡°I''ve got a ton of practical experience, though.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Grace smiled. ¡°The military had to release the actual number of hours you were a part of the operation.¡±


    I turned from the screen and looked at her. ¡°That''s not all, is it?¡±


    ¡°Your ship and SAR team rescued three times the number of survivors than any other team.¡± Grace said. ¡°Let me tell you, I was shocked at the numbers.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°What about the public?¡± I asked, knowing what she was going to say.


    ¡°To put it mildly, they are losing their minds.¡± Grace said. ¡°When they found out you weren''t even getting paid for it...¡±


    ¡°Tessa must have told them.¡± I said and held in my sigh.


    ¡°You mean the captain of the SAR Training Facility?¡± Grace asked, and I nodded. ¡°She''s been interviewed twice now about your adventures.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that''s where the rescue footage is coming from.¡± I said.


    ¡°More keeps showing up.¡± Grace said and changed the channel to show the Udelis as it slipped between two wrecks, flipped over and parked beside a wreck and somehow matched the rotation, then the cargo hatch opened and spat out several space-suited people. ¡°Ooo, I haven''t seen this one yet!¡± She said excitedly and watched with rapt attention.


    *


    Twenty minutes later, Uzahne''s aide spoke. ¡°He''s on the fast patrol craft and will enter the atmosphere soon.¡± She said and tapped her ear to put the communication device back into passive mode. ¡°They will land in about fifteen minutes.¡±


    ¡°Places, everyone!¡± Olugaell said and her house staff scrambled to get into position and readied themselves to serve at the dinner party. ¡°Is everyone set?¡± She asked and they all nodded. ¡°The drinks poured? The food properly heated? The sea crab chilled to ten degrees?¡±


    A chorus of ''yes, miss'' responded and she nodded happily.


    ¡°Good work, everyone.¡± Olugaell said. ¡°Let''s make this a party to remember.¡±


    ¡°It already is.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Even if all that happens is we sit down to eat and don''t talk, everyone is already talking about it.¡±


    Olugaell chuckled. ¡°Launching a propaganda campaign to focus on Hunter''s exploits was a great idea.¡±


    ¡°We needed to extend an olive branch to Luxea, and what better way to do that than to focus on someone that will grudgingly accept being branded a hero by the people?¡±


    ¡°What makes you think he''ll accept it?¡± Olugaell asked.


    ¡°He accepted the invitation.¡± Uzahne said with a smile. ¡°He knows he''s being paraded for the government in exchange for us letting him bring an armed ship into our space.¡±


    ¡°We can''t abuse his complacency.¡± Olugaell said with a grin. ¡°Not much, anyway.¡±


    Uzahne laughed and hooked her arm around Olugaell''s elbow, careful of her forearm fin. ¡°Let''s go and greet your guest.¡±


    *


    The fast patrol ship landed on a landing pad not too far away from what looked like a mansion, except it was designed for humanoid fish people. It was covered in fountains and pools of various colors and sizes, with some actual fish in some of them and a few had humanoid fish in them. I couldn''t tell if they were bathing or just relaxing, though. I walked down the ramp as a small group of people approached the ship.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Olugaell said and waved with her free arm. Uzahne was on her other arm and let it go when they were close enough for personal greetings.


    ¡°Vice President Olugaell.¡± I said and gave her a bow of my head. ¡°Thank you for the invitation.¡±


    Olugaell reached out with her webbed hand and I pressed my palm to hers, spread my fingers and added invisible Presence between my fingers in the shape of webbing, then I wiggled my fingers to tap the webbing between her fingers in a proper greeting for her people. She responded in kind, even knowing I had normal hands, then her eyes widened as her fingers met the Presence webbing. The gills on her neck flushed blue as she experienced her people''s version of a blush.


    I gave her a smile and turned to Uzahne. ¡°Madame President.¡±


    Uzahne held out a hand and expected me to shake it, so I did. Behind her were Ahaen and Sheph, the other two delegates I had delivered. Sheph was the first to offer her hand and I took it, then Ahaen held a hand out for me to shake as well. I could feel her grudging respect for me, especially after seeing the footage of what I had done to save all of those people. She had been surprised by the number of people I had saved, both personally and with the Search And Rescue team.


    Since that had been Ahaen''s desire from the start and had precipitated their act of piracy for trying to steal the shuttle, she had to admit that my view of waiting to rescue people from a point of strength had been valid and also the smartest thing to do. I knew she would never admit that, and I decided that I wasn''t going to tease her about it, either. I let her hand go and looked at the other person with them.


    ¡°Admiral.¡± I said and reached out to take her synthetic hand. ¡°Please, be gentle.¡±


    Shanifra gave me a startled look for a second, then she laughed. ¡°Even if you and Luxea are arguing, I won''t try to take advantage of you, despite wanting to thank you for this.¡± She let my hand go and wiggled her fingers.


    ¡°It''s a shame you couldn''t find anyone to bring with you.¡± Olugaell said.


    ¡°Actually, I did.¡± I said and reached a hand back towards the ship. They gasped as a woman came down the ramp and looked like she had just stepped out of a fairy tale. Her reddish brown hair was done up in a fancy hairdo and exposed her neck, which made it look longer than it normally did, and her face had just enough make-up to make her lips and eyes stand out. The long flowing blue gown had a moderate cut for her cleavage and only showed just enough of it to tease that there was quite a bit more concealed inside. The hem of the gown just barely touched the ramp as she took my hand.


    ¡°Everyone, this is Grace.¡± I said. ¡°She''s a lieutenant from the ship behind me.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?!?¡± Olugaell and Uzahne said at the same time.


    ¡°Well, we talked for a few minutes and I mentioned having to go to dinner alone. She was sad about that, so I asked her if she wanted to come with me.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡± Olugaell stammered.


    ¡°Isn''t she stunning?¡± I asked and used a hand to turn her around to show off the dress. ¡°I wasn''t sure this style of gown would go well with her complexion, and I couldn''t have been more wrong.¡±


    Grace''s face was bright red when she faced everyone. ¡°I''m h-honored to be h-here.¡±


    ¡°How did you... what did...¡± Olugaell couldn''t put her thoughts into words.


    Ahaen did not have that problem and looked at Grace. ¡°How did you get dressed like that so quickly?¡±


    ¡°I''m not quite sure, actually.¡± Grace said and her face didn''t lose any of its blush. ¡°Hunter did all of this himself. I just stood there and let him...¡± She glanced at me and back at them. ¡°A dress appeared as if from nowhere, then two hair brushes floated around and...¡± She looked back at me. ¡°It was like magic.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It was just Presence and a deft and well-practised hand at dressing women for years.¡±


    No one was sure how to respond to that.


    ¡°Shall we go inside?¡± I asked and put an arm partially around Grace''s waist.


    ¡°Y-yes. We should do that.¡± Uzahne said and turned to her friend. ¡°Olugaell.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Olugaell said and recovered from the shock of having a completely unexpected guest appear, which threw off pretty much all of their preconceived plans for me. ¡°If you will all follow me.¡±


    We followed as Olugaell led us over to her mansion and we went inside. There were about thirty people in the large room, which included a few humanoid fish people as well. From their thoughts, they were mostly members of the political scene. The few exceptions were members of the military, whose uniforms made them stand out just as much as their mannerisms did.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Tessa exclaimed and came over to me and dragged her date over with her. ¡°I can''t believe they had so much rescue footage of you!¡± She said with a huge grin.


    ¡°I wonder how they got it all?¡± I asked, sarcastically. ¡°It''s almost like it was from someone that was right there with me the whole time.¡±


    ¡°I know! It''s amazing, isn''t it?¡± Tessa laughed. ¡°I bet they''re making a bunch of credits from the licensing fees.¡±


    ¡°I bet they are.¡± I said and motioned to my date with my free hand, because I still had my other hand partially around her waist. ¡°This is Grace. She agreed to accompany me tonight. Luxea decided she needed to be away from me for a while.¡±


    Tessa nodded. ¡°I saw the conversation when I was briefed about your incorrect status tonight.¡± She said with a grin and held a hand out to Grace. ¡°It''s nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°L-likewise.¡± Grace said, slightly flustered, and shook the offered hand.


    ¡°No need to be nervous.¡± Tessa said. ¡°My date is low on the pecking order, too.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Jaset said.


    ¡°Hush dear. The grown ups are talking.¡± Tessa said with a grin and pat his hand.


    He shook his head and chuckled. ¡°I''ll be over at the refreshment table.¡±


    ¡°Get me one of those sparkling things!¡± Tessa said as he walked away.


    ¡°He''s going to get you back for that later.¡± I warned her and she laughed.


    ¡°I''ll distract him before he can.¡± Tessa said. ¡°I haven''t told him yet that I took the whole week off to spend it with him.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I would like to introduce you to some of the other guests.¡± Olugaell said from beside me.


    ¡°Of course.¡± I said. ¡°Grace, would you like to come along, or do you want to stay here with Tessa?¡±


    ¡°If the captain doesn''t mind the company, I''ll stay.¡± Grace said.


    I let her waist go and turned to Olugaell. ¡°Lead the way.¡±


    Olugaell smiled and snaked her arm through mine and led me across the room to start the show.


    *


    ¡°By the goddess.¡± Grace whispered and took a deep breath and let it out.


    ¡°Easy, now.¡± Tessa said. ¡°Are you going to be okay?¡±


    ¡°I think so.¡±


    ¡°I know hanging around all these important people is hard on the nerves.¡±


    ¡°No, it''s not that.¡± Grace said. ¡°I''ve spent time around the top brass a few times.¡±


    Tessa looked at the other woman for a moment and then smiled. ¡°You mean Hunter.¡±


    Grace nodded. ¡°He''s just so... so...¡±


    ¡°Manly?¡± Tessa offered.


    ¡°That... and kind of overwhelming.¡± Grace said. ¡°He''s got this aura about him that sends shivers down my spine.¡±


    ¡°Are they good shivers or bad shivers?¡± Tessa asked, curious.


    ¡°Oh, definitely good.¡± Grace said, then her face flushed red again. ¡°I probably shouldn''t talk like that.¡±


    Tessa chuckled. ¡°It''s okay. He saw me in my underwear once.¡±


    ¡°You''re kidding.¡± Grace said and Tessa shook her head.


    ¡°We were kind of verbally teasing each other, then he saw what I was wearing under my space suit and he made a fantastic pick-up line that totally threw me.¡± Tessa said and she felt a little tingle in a certain place. ¡°I sometimes regret not waiting for him to come back.¡±


    ¡°Only sometimes?¡± Jaset asked as he came over with a glass of the sparkling stuff for her.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tessa said and gave him a kiss as she took the glass. ¡°Then I see your face again and remember how much fun we have together.¡±


    ¡°Just fun?¡± He asked with a smile.


    ¡°Don''t make me say it again.¡± Tessa said and rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Hey, you said it first.¡± Jaset smiled. ¡°Surprised the hell out of me when you did it, too!¡±


    Tessa laughed. ¡°All right, fine.¡± She said and leaned in close. ¡°I love you, you big lug nut.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t need the qualifier.¡± He laughed briefly and kissed her. ¡°I love you, too.¡±


    ¡°Go and get a drink for our new friend.¡± Tessa said.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Jaset said and looked at Grace. ¡°Any preferences?¡±


    ¡°Non-alcoholic and fruit flavored if possible.¡± Grace said. ¡°I have to go back on duty after this.¡±


    He nodded and left, then the two women turned and looked over to where Hunter was greeting another politician and their spouse.


    ¡°Look at the guy''s wife.¡± Tessa whispered with a chuckle. ¡°She''s practically drooling.¡±


    ¡°It''s probably because he''s so charming.¡± Grace said. ¡°I was dealing with it okay myself until he asked me to come here. Then I was pretty much speechless.¡±


    Tessa laughed. ¡°He definitely knows how to handle himself now.¡±


    ¡°Do you think...¡± Grace stopped talking.


    Tessa gave her a lopsided smile. ¡°I''m sure he sees this as a casual date and he won''t... take liberties with you.¡±


    Grace understood what she meant and sighed before she could stop herself.


    ¡°You can always ask for a goodnight kiss.¡± Tessa said with a grin as Jaset came back over with another drink. Grace''s blush was back in full force and she took a big gulp of the pink bubbly drink to calm down.

 Book Three: The Resolution 015

    I was glad that I could shield my mind and block the thoughts from over two dozen people that tried to convince me that their view of the government was the right one and they desperately wanted me to speak publicly on their behalf. I kept my mouth shut and didn''t nod or make any affirmative movements, that way they could talk as much as they wanted and I wasn''t roped into making any kind of commitments. Even stating that I couldn''t speak publicly would be seen as me privately supporting them and I wasn''t going to allow that to happen.


    Olugaell kept me moving, thankfully. She let each person make their case and then politely said I had more people to meet and we would go to the next person that waited for us. I also successfully ignored the very horny and sexually repressed women that were mentally frantic with me so close. Just me being there and dressed up was enough to send a couple of them into a mental fantasy land, with me as the star attraction. They didn''t show anything physically, though. They were much too refined to debase themselves publicly like that. Privately? They would have been all over me, despite any protests, either on my part or that of their husbands and family.


    Once I had met everyone, even the people in the military, some of which I already knew, Olugaell brought me back over to where my date for the night still stood. I took Grace''s hand and she jerked like I had shocked her. I gave her an ''are you okay'' look and she nodded and held my hand firmly. Tessa had seen her reaction and gave me a knowing look. I raised my eyebrows at her and she smiled.


    ¡°Dinner is ready.¡± One of the house staff said and opened a set of double doors at the side of the room. Everyone filed into the room and it was set up like a wedding reception hall. There was one long table at the front of the room and several medium round tables that sat four people at each. Everything was ornately decorated and the small tables nearest to the long table were filled up quickly, to the dismay of a few of the politician''s wives.


    I approached and went to sit at one of the small tables, fairly far away from the long table, and Olugaell quickly came over and brought me up to the long table. I sighed when I saw that little placards were placed on the plates and there was no spot for my date next to me. Most of the people at the long table had already sat and I couldn''t ask them all to move down a seat to make room.


    Olugaell saw the faux pas she had made and her gills showed her version of a blush. I held up a hand to stop her before she said anything and I walked down to the end of the table. I ignored the immediate surprised reactions from Uzahne and the other people that sat at the long table. If I did a bit of tweaking with Presence, I could probably manage to add another space there, then decided to go with my original plan. I led Grace over to the farthest table in the room, right by the door, and pulled out her chair for her. She sat down and I slid her chair in and then I unbuttoned my suit coat sat down beside her.


    It surprised the young politician that sat there almost into apoplexy and the social coup completely delighted his wife. Even if I moved now, she would still have the story to share with all of her friends.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Tessa whispered loudly from the next table. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Sitting down to eat.¡± I said without whispering.


    ¡°You''re the guest of honor.¡± Tessa hissed and motioned to the long table. ¡°You''re supposed to be up there with them.¡±


    ¡°To my regret, I let Olugaell take me away from my date during the socializing part of the evening, so I''m not going to make the same mistake and have Grace sit by herself during the meal.¡± I said. ¡°It wouldn''t be much of a date if she spent the whole thing by herself.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡± Tessa whispered and low murmurs could be heard from everyone in the room.


    I turned to Grace. ¡°I''m sorry for leaving you alone for so long.¡±


    ¡°I forgive you.¡± Grace said, her face red. The color almost matched her reddish brown hair perfectly.


    ¡°I wonder what''s going to be served.¡± I said and looked at the young man next to me. ¡°You wouldn''t have any idea, would you?¡±


    The young man spit and sputtered something unintelligible and his wife laughed.


    ¡°Don''t mind him.¡± The young woman said. ¡°He hasn''t gotten used to meeting important people yet.¡±


    I gave her a smile and heard her heart beat a little faster. ¡°I assume that means you are?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± She said. ¡°My father is the minister of trade.¡±


    I turned my head and saw the man as he sat at the small table right next to the long table where I should have been. He was currently looking right at us and I couldn''t make out what his expression meant.


    ¡°It seems I''ve put one over on him.¡± The young woman said and I turned back to face her. ¡°He''s going to be so envious.¡±


    ¡°I''m not sure that''s envy.¡± I said and she gave her father another look and laughed.


    ¡°I''m sure I''ll get an earful tonight when I go home.¡± She said. ¡°Mother looks like she''s chewing glass.¡±


    I chuckled, because her mother was one of the ones that wanted me to be naked right now. Luckily, the house staff chose that moment to come out of the kitchen and served food to every seat, which included the empty spot beside Olugaell at the head table. I could see her sigh at the sight and she looked over at me, to see that I was talking to Grace.


    ¡°How long have you been on active duty?¡± I asked and used a fork to dig out a piece of crab meat from the chilled legs.


    ¡°Six months.¡± Grace said. ¡°I graduated from the academy, did my mandatory work placement for two months, then won the slot as the first officer on a fast patrol ship.¡±


    ¡°Good work.¡± I said and sucked in a long string of meat. I chewed on it for a moment and swallowed. ¡°You must have shown a great ability to get such a lucrative spot right away.¡±


    Grace''s face flushed red again.


    ¡°Hey, don''t be shy.¡± I said and reached over to take her hand. ¡°I know you did well, otherwise you would have been shuffled off to serve with a dozen other lieutenants on one of the larger ships.¡±


    Grace opened her mouth to respond, then she closed it and nodded.


    I let her hand go and we kept eating. ¡°What office do you hold?¡± I asked the young man and looked at him for a second to make him sputter, then looked at his wife, who covered her mouth as she laughed.


    ¡°Surprisingly, he did not marry into politics.¡± The young woman said happily. ¡°He''s a junior in the finance department and has been the best thing that they, and I, have had in our lives.¡±


    ¡°I''m happy to hear that.¡± I said. ¡°Earning something with your own merits makes it all the more valuable.¡±


    ¡°That''s what I keep telling him.¡± The young woman said and pat her husband''s arm.


    ¡°I... value... you.¡± The young man managed to say coherently. His wife beamed a smile at him and leaned over to kiss his cheek. It left a big lip mark and she had to use a napkin to wipe at his face. We continued to share small talk until the meal was done, then the house staff removed the plates and brought refreshments.


    ¡°Shall we move back into the other room?¡± Olugaell said after a few minutes, and everyone stood.


    Before I could be swarmed by the people that had tried to compete to be close to me during dinner, which meant they had messed up because I sat somewhere else, I swept Grace, the young couple with us, and Tessa and her date into the other room.


    We formed our own little group and I made sure we put our backs to the room to hinder anyone from approaching and disturbing us. The young man was still surprised and could barely put a sentence together, his wife was even more delighted with that development, and Tessa glared at me.


    ¡°Hunter, you can''t do this all night.¡± Tessa said.


    ¡°I don''t see why not.¡± I said and put an arm around Grace''s waist. ¡°They each had their chance to talk to me before the meal.¡±


    ¡°That''s not how events like these are supposed to work.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°That''s not my fault.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°You''re really not going to play along?¡± The young woman asked. ¡°You could make some powerful friends here...¡±


    ¡°Only if I felt like lying and playing their political games, and I really don''t want to. I have no business trying to dabble in things that I have no experience with, nor do I want to have that experience.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Besides, who needs friends like those when I have friends like all of you?¡±


    The young woman blushed. ¡°You really think that?¡±


    ¡°We had a nice time during the meal, didn''t we?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°You didn''t try to recruit me for your own political gains, or your husband''s, and I didn''t try to manipulate you to try and get favours or concessions for my business. We talked like normal people and enjoyed the food. That''s what friends do. We enjoyed the company and didn''t worry about what we could get from the other person.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Tessa whispered. ¡°Turn around.¡±


    I looked at her and then turned my head to see Olugaell, Uzahne, Ahaen, Sheph, Shanifra, and the Minister of Trade and his wife were barely five feet away. They wore a mixture of surprised and shocked faces. I had been talking in a normal voice and anyone that was relatively near would have heard everything I had said.


    I guess I should stop blocking my perception off so much. I thought with amusement. ¡°Hello!¡± I said. ¡°Is there anything I can do for you?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Olugaell said. ¡°We were just...¡± She sighed. ¡°I hope you liked the food.¡±


    ¡°It was great.¡± I said. ¡°I especially liked the chilled crab legs.¡±


    ¡°I can see that by the stain on your shirt.¡± Olugaell pointed out before she could stop herself. Why did I say that in such a mean voice? I heard her ask herself mentally.


    ¡°What stain?¡± I looked down and saw that there were a few dribbles of crab juice on the collar of my shirt. ¡°Oh. I thought I wiped it all off.¡±


    I used a napkin to dab at it and the cloth absorbed it all, which left the shirt white and pristine, thanks to the Preservation spell. That surprised Olugaell almost as much as me telling her that she had been abusing me with her hospitality.


    ¡°Is this event going to last much longer?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I... no, I suppose not.¡± Olugaell said in a slightly defeated tone.


    ¡°Tessa, is there a place around where we can go to have some fun?¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Tessa asked and Jaset put a protective arm around her.


    I laughed. ¡°I meant like a bar or something that we can all go to, not you and me alone.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Well, I think...¡± Tessa took out a datapad and checked something. ¡°I think we can get in, if we''re lucky.¡± She said and then grinned. ¡°Then again, once they see it''s you...¡±


    ¡°I have to get back to work later.¡± Grace said.


    ¡°As long as you''re by my side, you''re on leave, right?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°So, what happens if you don''t come back until tomorrow?¡±


    Grace opened her mouth for a second to say that she was only granted a few hours leave, then she sighed. ¡°As long as I''m with you, I guess it''s fine.¡±


    ¡°Then let''s go.¡± I said and looked at the young couple with us. ¡°Are you coming?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The young man said.


    ¡°I''d love to!¡± His wife exclaimed.


    The man looked at his wife with wide eyes and she gave his cheek a kiss.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± She said and wiped his face off. ¡°You head home and I''ll be back later.¡±


    The man nodded and I, Grace, Tessa, Jaset, and the young woman headed for the door. We were joined by several other military members who wanted to go have fun, too. Surprisingly, a few of the younger politicians came as well.


    ¡°I have to do this.¡± Sheph said to Uzahne and quickly followed us.


    ¡°Sheph!¡± Ahaen said. ¡°SHEPH!¡±


    I held in my laugh as we stepped outside and then we were offered the use of the mansion''s personnel conveyance. It was large enough to take us and those that didn''t have another ride, like Sheph and a few of the military personnel, and the rest followed us in their own vehicles. As we left, I ''looked'' into the mansion and saw Olugaell and Uzahne as they stood there and didn''t know what to do now.


    ¡°I can''t believe we just left like that!¡± The young woman exclaimed and laughed. ¡°My mother is going to kill me! Ha ha!¡±


    I had to laugh at her mirth, as did a few other people. ¡°What''s your name?¡±


    ¡°Hannash Benisla Ignadio.¡± She said.


    ¡°Is ''Hanna'' okay?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°Thanks for coming along, Hanna.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± Hanna asked. ¡°I wouldn''t have missed this for the world!¡±


    *


    The bouncer wasn''t sure what to do. He saw the vice president''s vehicle stop in front of the bar and it was immediately followed by half a dozen other hover vehicles. They immediately split up and parked not far away and then no less than twenty people piled out and came over to him and expected to get in. He was about to call for backup to stop himself from being swarmed when a hand reached out from the crowd and gripped his shoulder.


    ¡°I''m sorry to bother you like this.¡± The very handsome tall blonde man said. ¡°Is there any chance we can get in, or should we try somewhere else?¡±


    The bouncer blinked his eyes and looked at the man''s face. It seemed kind of familiar; but, he couldn''t place it.


    ¡°Hunter! Put on your blast shield!¡± A tiny woman exclaimed.


    The tall man chuckled and made a black piece of metal appear from somewhere and slipped it onto his face. After a second, it looked like it was embedded into his face.


    ¡°It''s YOU!¡± The bouncer yelled. ¡°Justasecondjustasecond!¡±


    Everyone laughed at his reaction and he tried to call the owner of the bar on his wrist com. When he didn''t answer, he called the manager, and when she didn''t answer, he tried the bartender.


    ¡°It''s too busy in here.¡± The bartender said. ¡°Send them away.¡±


    ¡°But... but this is...¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter who it is.¡± The bartender said. ¡°We''re at capacity and that''s that.¡±


    The bouncer turned off the wrist com and looked at the legend in front of him. ¡°I''m sorry, sir.¡±


    ¡°That''s all right.¡± Hunter said and let his shoulder go. ¡°We''ll try somewhere else.¡±


    The bouncer''s spirit withered as the large group of people split back up and climbed into their vehicles. They drove off and he watched their tail lights disappear from sight. About ten minutes later, his wrist com beeped at him. He looked at the caller and sighed as he hit the button.


    ¡°What do you want now?¡± The manager asked. Her shrill voice cut into his ears like knives. ¡°I was in the middle of dancing!¡±


    The bouncer wasn''t sure if he wanted to tell her now; but, if he didn''t, when they reviewed the security footage later and saw who had shown up, he knew he would be in serious trouble. He took a deep breath and explained what had happened with a bunch of people showing up and wanting to get in and the bartender''s absolute refusal.


    ¡°Why didn''t you call him first?¡± She asked, her voice even more shrill. ¡°You''re wasting my time!¡±


    ¡°It was Hunter.¡± The bouncer said.


    ¡°Hunter? Hunter who?¡± The woman asked.


    The bouncer started to explain about all the news broadcasts about the Rescuing Hero Of Chofaris, then the woman screamed so loudly that it felt like his ears started to bleed. It was wordless at first, then it was full of curses.


    ¡°You''re FIRED! The bartender is FIRED! YOU''RE ALL FIRED!¡± She yelled and kept cursing him.


    The bouncer cut the call and waited. He knew he wasn''t going to have to wait long for the boss to call and he wasn''t looking forward to that conversation at all.


    It''s not my fault. He thought, sadly. His wrist com beeped at him and he took a deep breath, let out a long and drawn out sigh, then answered the call.


    *


    The next bar was more than happy to accept a few more people, since it looked like an old warehouse and had plenty of room inside. Tessa urged me to keep the blast shield on until we got inside and found a few tables for everyone. Once the bartender saw me, he called in some help. A small part of the seating area was quickly roped off and we were brought there. It was both secluded and visible.


    ¡°Drinks are on the house for you and your friends.¡± The bartender said with a huge smile as he and two waitresses brought over trays of different drinks.


    ¡°I normally wouldn''t accept that; but, I know you''re going to use me to advertise.¡± I said and took a tall glass filled with a blue liquid from him. ¡°You''re going to make more money tonight than you have all week.¡±


    The man laughed and nodded.


    ¡°You see? He''s strong AND smart!¡± Tessa exclaimed to her date and accepted a drink with three colored layers. ¡°Ooo! I love this one!¡± She said and took a sip. ¡°Mmm!¡±


    ¡°I''m ignoring that jab.¡± Jaset said and took what looked like a dark beer from the waitress. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°When does the music start?¡± Grace asked and took a drink that looked like champagne.


    ¡°As soon as the band gets here.¡± The bartender said. ¡°Which reminds me.¡± He used his wrist com. ¡°Hey, you deadbeats! Get your asses to the bar now!¡±


    ¡°We''ll get there when we get there.¡± A voice said from the little speaker. ¡°So what if we''re a little late.¡± ¡°We play every night.¡± Another voice said. ¡°What''s the rush?¡±


    ¡°The Hero of Chofaris is here.¡± The bartender said.


    There were several incoherent yells from his wrist com, the screech of a hover car, then the call ended.


    ¡°They''ll be here in a few minutes.¡± The bartender grinned and the waitresses laughed.


    The band showed up and came in the back way to get to the small stage. They pretty much threw their instruments into the space and had everything set up in only a few minutes. It took them another minute to get their rhythm going and then the entire bar was up and hopping around.


    It''s almost like a dance club from Earth. I thought and went to sit down.


    ¡°Oh, no you don''t.¡± Grace said and drank half of her drink. ¡°Take a gulp of that and come with me.¡±


    I looked at her with raised eyebrows.


    ¡°You brought me here, so you have to follow through.¡± Grace said and took my hand.


    ¡°I was just going to relax and...¡±


    ¡°You can relax later.¡± Grace said and tugged me to my feet. ¡°Let''s dance.¡±


    ¡°I am not doing that sideways crab thing.¡± I said adamantly.


    Grace laughed and dragged me towards the dance floor. ¡°We dance normally here.¡± She said and the song changed to a good dancing beat. ¡°I don''t know about dancing in this dress, though.¡±


    I surrounded us in a solid wall of Presence so no one could see us, just like I had on the fast patrol ship to let her change. ¡°Let''s get you changed, then.¡±


    ¡°Please tell me you have a party dress or something.¡± Grace said and turned around to take off the dress. ¡°I''ll wear my uniform if I have to; but, that''s not much fun.¡± She said and slipped the gown to the floor to leave her in just a bra and underwear.


    ¡°So, you''re stoic about composure and propriety until you decide you''re going to ignore it?¡± I asked and she turned to give me stern look. ¡°I wasn''t complaining.¡± I said and took out a small bundle of black cloth. ¡°Would a little black dress be okay?¡± I asked with a smile and held it out to her.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Grace exclaimed and took it, checked it to see which way to put it on, then stepped into it and pulled it up. She slipped it over her hips and then grabbed the top of the cloth and pulled it up over her shoulders, put her arms in the arm holes, then pulled it back down over her hips. She had to adjust her underwear slightly to put it back into place and fixed the hem of the dress to straighten it out.


    ¡°You''re not supposed to stare like that.¡± Grace said as she looked at my face.


    ¡°You didn''t turn back around, so I figured it was okay.¡± I said with a crooked smile and stored my coat.


    Grace smiled back and waved at the barrier around us, so I absorbed it. Quite a few people had been surprised at the wall appearing like that from nowhere, then it disappeared and they saw that Grace was in a sexy new dress. She ignored Tessa''s teasing about changing in front of me and took my hand again, then she dragged me over to the dance floor.

 Book Three: The Resolution 016

    After half an hour, the warehouse bar had been completely packed and they had to occasionally rotate people to an outside area for safety reasons. Being the magnanimous man that I was, both I and the people that had come with me, took a turn outside as well. That made everyone like me more, especially the people that worked there. They had been surprised that I wasn''t taking advantage of their generosity and drinking a ton of drinks, and the patrons were surprised that I was actually socializing with them and not ignoring them like they knew most famous people did.


    I danced with Grace a few times, with Tessa once, then with Hanna twice. Sheph, a high member in the government, had managed to get me alone and monopolized me for three dances in a row. The best part was that I danced to fast songs like I would have if I had gone to a bar back on Earth, with about two feet between me and the person I was dancing with. It was just novel enough for everyone to see it as me trying to start a new trend and not the oddity that it actually was. It caught on fairly quickly, and soon the whole dance floor was doing the same thing as me.


    I had just managed to sit down to relax when a random woman gathered up the courage and approached me to ask if I wanted to dance, so I looked at Grace.


    ¡°I don''t own you.¡± Grace laughed and waved me away.


    The woman squealed in delight as she took my hand and brought me out to the dance floor. We were quickly surrounded by other people and the beat of the music picked up.


    ¡°You should let your hair down!¡± The woman said loudly.


    ¡°It''ll hit the floor and people might step on it.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, goddess! I really wanna see that!¡±


    I laughed and shook my head. ¡°Would you settle for my eyes instead?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?!?¡± The woman stopped dancing and stared at me. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    I slipped off my blast shield and she let out another shriek of delight, then a few of the women around us let out similar squeals.


    ¡°Dance with me next!¡± One of them said and waved.


    I nodded and waved back. The song ended and the other woman came right over to me and was seriously fighting her urge to hug me. The music started again and it was a soft and slow melody. The woman''s face filled with redness as she blushed.


    ¡°May I have this dance?¡± I asked and gave her a slight bow.


    The woman nodded several times and I stepped close and put my arms around her. She put her arms around me and held on tightly as we just stood there and swayed back and forth, with an occasional step to the right and then to the left. The song seemed to go on for a while and when it ended, she reluctantly let me go.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and bowed to her again and then I turned to a woman that stood slightly off to the side. I could hear her thoughts as if she was speaking in a normal voice, so I walked around a couple of people and over to her. Both her eyes and her mouth grew wide in disbelief as I approached her. She wasn''t a telepath; but, her thoughts were very clear and concise. She wanted to dance with me very badly and would never, ever, ask me. So, I didn''t say a word and just held a hand out to her.


    She very slowly reached out and tenderly placed her fingertips on my palm. I gave her a very slight touch of Presence and closed my hand to hold onto her fingers, then pulled her onto the dance floor. The music started up and it was another slow one, so I held one hand and put my other hand around her back. She was fairly tall, a few inches shorter than my six feet, so it wasn''t awkward at all as I slowly waltzed with her. The music slowed down again, so I let her hand go and put my other arm around her. Her hands reached around me and dug into my hair, rather than hug me.


    The sheer amount of pleasure she felt doing that as she rested her head on my shoulder, and the strength of her thoughts about it, made me want to untie my hair and let her play with it. I almost did it, then remembered we were on a dance floor with a bunch of other people. If I unleashed my hair now, it would cause too much of a commotion and I doubted that either I, or my hair, would come out of the encounter unscathed. The song ended and she reluctantly took her hands out of my hair and stared into my eyes.


    ¡°I think I''m going to sit down for a little while.¡± I said and she sighed, then she started to turn away. ¡°Would you like to join me for a drink?¡±


    She caught her breath and froze. Her thoughts couldn''t believe I had asked her that.


    ¡°I have a date, as you know; but, my hair is a little messed up for some reason and I have to redo the ties.¡± I said teasingly and she blushed. ¡°Do you want to give me a hand fixing it?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± She said out loud and the resounding ''YES!'' in her thoughts was very loud. I chuckled and led her over to the roped off section set aside for me and after a bit of jostling with putting two tables together, both Tessa and Grace helped the woman undo the ties in my hair. I told them what order to do them in and then my very long hair, centuries of growth, was spread out across both tables in a long snaking pattern. The three women stared at the mass of it and I held out several hair brushes.


    The woman I brought over from the dance floor took a brush like it was a holy object and sat at the far side of the tables and started to brush my hair. If you asked her, or listened to her thoughts, there wasn''t anything else that was as important as what she was doing at that moment. Grace took a brush and joined the woman in brushing it.


    Tessa took a brush and looked at her date. ¡°I gotta do this!¡±


    Jaset laughed and waved at my hair. ¡°Even I''m tempted to do it, so go ahead.¡±


    Tessa gave him a kiss and sat next to Grace and started to brush. Of course, once a few women nearby saw what was going on, they took out their own hair brushes and asked if they could help.


    ¡°I don''t see why not.¡± I said. ¡°There''s lots to go around.¡±


    I should have kept my mouth shut, because after a minute, a dozen women were brushing my hair and were cooing and stroking it like a pet. A couple of others had forsaken their brushes and just buried their hands and faces into it. I held in my laugh at their reactions because I didn''t expect that there would be so many women that had a hair fetish nearby. Even Sheph had come back from the dance floor and joined in. She used a hair brush, despite wanting to play with it with her hands.


    I reached over and touched her hand to stop the brush. ¡°I don''t mind.¡±


    Sheph gave me a look that said volumes, then she put the brush down and dug her hands into the mass of hair as if she was kneading bread. ¡°By the goddess, this is amazing!¡± She said and considered not going further, then she saw three other women had their faces buried in it, then gave in to the temptation and lifted the hair to her face and took in a deep breath through her nose.


    I sincerely thought the interest in my hair would wane after a while, and yet, the women seemed to move around and were constantly replaced by others. Except for one. The woman with the clear thoughts stayed right where she was and enjoyed herself like she had never enjoyed herself at any other time in her life. I thought it was a little odd that she would think that. After half an hour of listening to her pleasure, I asked one of the waitresses to ask her to move up along the tables to sit beside me.


    The woman was surprised to hear my request, so instead of making her way along the train of women as they moved, she stood up and came right over to me and sat down beside me.


    ¡°You really like my hair that much?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s alive.¡± She said and her hand reached for the back of my head and she dug her fingers into my hair at the base of my skull. ¡°I''ve never seen or felt anything like it before.¡±


    I glanced at the other women at the tables as they brushed and played with my hair. ¡°Is it really that special?¡±


    She smiled and leaned in close. ¡°You don''t know how rare it is to have a man with this much hair around.¡± She said. ¡°Men usually get frustrated with taking care of it and shear it off at the first opportunity. Most men keep their hair short, and the ones that let it grow, cut it after it gets past their shoulders.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°It''s not that rare, is it?¡± I asked, a little surprised that the Presence hadn''t wavered as she spoke. I thought back to some of the men that had been in The Order, specifically the two men helping Kara, and to my surprise their hair was tied in a ponytail and if let loose, it would be just past their shoulders and go no further.


    ¡°It''s very rare.¡± She said and continued to comb my hair with her fingers while she looked at me with wonder. ¡°You don''t slick it back, either. It''s billowing out, even on the sides and on top of your head. You''re not restraining your hair and pulling it tight to your head like other people do. You''re only restricting its movement and letting it flow naturally.¡±


    ¡°Most people don''t notice the difference.¡± I said, and she smiled. ¡°You''re a hair aficionado.¡±


    ¡°I love all types, colors and forms.¡± She said. ¡°I''ve never seen anything like yours. Ever.¡±


    ¡°That''s why you were so nervous at first?¡± I asked.


    ¡°How did you know I wanted to dance with you?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I read your mind.¡± I said and she laughed, because she didn''t believe me. ¡°You were staring at me pretty hard, so I figured you couldn''t gather the courage to ask on your own.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Thank you for this.¡±


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said and glanced at all of the women that didn''t look like they were going to let me have my hair back anytime soon. ¡°I think it created a problem I didn''t expect to have, though.¡±


    She laughed and gripped my hair with her hand for a moment, then she let it go. ¡°I''ll handle it.¡± She said and stood. ¡°Ladies!¡± She practically yelled and all of the women stopped doing what they were doing and looked at her. ¡°This hair needs our help!¡± She said and pointed. ¡°It needs a solid brushing and then it needs to be tied up! We can''t let this treasure touch the floor when Hunter starts dancing again!¡±


    ¡°No, it can''t!¡± ¡°That would be a tragedy!¡± ¡°We''ll do our best!¡± The women exclaimed.


    In only a few minutes, the entire length was brushed out straight and then it was folded in half and secured, folded again and secured, then folded one last time to create the cape-like shape it had before.


    ¡°Okay, that was impressive.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°Would you like the next dance?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°I''d just dig into it and mess it up for you again.¡± She smiled. ¡°You let me have my fun and I''m very grateful for it.¡±


    I nodded and took her into a hug, to her surprise. I let her go and held a hand out to Grace, who had been on her third turn brushing my hair. She took my hand without hesitation and I led her to the dance floor. Drinks were served and songs played, people danced and talked, and a good time was had by all... especially the bar. My estimation of my value to the bar was both right and wrong. They technically did make more money than they had all week, only it was more money than what they had made all month.


    Word had spread, not just from the staff and the bartender calling people; but, the people themselves had told their friends, and the friends of their friends, who also told their friends. By the time the night was breaking into dawn, there were just as many people partying outside as there were inside the large warehouse. Everyone was quite happy until an announcement was made.


    ¡°I can''t believe I''m saying this.¡± The bartender''s voice said over the loudspeakers and we could all hear his regret. ¡°We have to close down.¡±


    A loud groan came from the crowd, both inside and outside, and he laughed.


    ¡°I know! I know!¡± The bartender''s voice said. ¡°The band is exhausted after playing all night and we are almost completely out of drinks! We can''t keep going, even though we want to!¡±


    A lot of people laughed and there were shouts to keep going anyway.


    ¡°We all had a great time, didn''t we?¡± The bartender''s voice asked and a resounding chorus of ''yes'' and ''we sure did'' responded. ¡°It''s all thanks to Hunter! The Hero of Chofaris!¡±


    A loud cheer and hoots and hollers greeted his words.


    ¡°You had fun with him here! He had fun here, too!¡± The bartender said loudly and another cheer and shouts of wanting more fun reverberated from the walls, which made him laugh. ¡°He just told me that he has to get back to work to clear the alien garbage that''s been floating around in our space! Make way! Let him through and give him your thanks!¡±


    I hadn''t told him that, which meant that he knew a bit more than the average person. The people shouted encouragement to me and they made a path for me and the people with me. As we passed through the crowd and out of the building, people waved, shouted, and pat our backs. A few women reached out to offer me their underthings, if I wanted to take them. One even had hers off already and waved them at me.


    I chuckled at the sight and held Grace''s hand up to show that I had a woman with me already. We made it to the vice president''s large transport without any kind of incident happening, to everyone''s relief. We had all been drinking, which meant no one was safe to drive, so we all squeezed into the vehicle to head back to the mansion. I wasn''t sure how she managed it; but, Sheph sat right beside me and Grace was on my other side.


    ¡°Now that''s what a meet and greet should be like!¡± Hanna, the young woman married to a politician said from the seat across from me. ¡°That was so much FUN!¡±


    ¡°It really was.¡± Sheph said and looked at me. ¡°Thank you for letting me come along.¡±


    I nodded and she sat back with a contented sigh. A few people did the same thing and finally relaxed after partying all night, then immediately fell asleep. Some of them snored and a few others laughed. It was a surprisingly long drive to get back to the mansion, then I realized we hadn''t gone there and the hover vehicle stopped at a fancy building.


    ¡°Oh! This is me!¡± Hanna said and the door opened. ¡°Hunter, give me a hand!¡±


    I chuckled and took her hand and pulled her out of the tight confines of the crowded seat. She giggled as she stumbled and I caught her as she sat on my lap. Her laugh stopped and she looked into my eyes.


    ¡°I''m married.¡± Hanna said as her face flushed red. ¡°I can''t kiss you.¡±


    ¡°You''re also a little drunk.¡± I chuckled again and placed a kiss on her cheek, made sure that the edge of my lips touched the edge of hers, then I gave her a touch of Presence to clear up her mind a little to make sure that she wouldn''t be so hung over later. ¡°It was nice meeting you, Hanna.¡±


    The driver''s hand reached in to help her and she took the hand and stepped out.


    ¡°It was nice meeting you, too.¡± Hanna said and stopped her hand from touching the spot where the edges of our lips had met. I could hear her thoughts and knew she was going to rush into the house and pretty much ravage her husband because of it. I gave her a wink and the door closed, then we were off to the next stop. Each person was woken up if necessary and I shook the men''s hands as they were dropped off and gave the women kisses on their cheeks and hugs if they wanted.


    The last to be dropped off were Tessa and Jaset, and she only shook my hand and didn''t even try to hug me. That make me laugh and Jaset looked at Tessa in confusion as they left the vehicle. He knew we were closer than a handshake deserved, especially after so many search and rescue operations, and Tessa whacked his arm to stop his stare.


    ¡°She''s nervous that you''ll think she''s trying to make you jealous.¡± I said and a look of understanding passed over Jaset''s face.


    ¡°Thanks a lot, Hunter.¡± Tessa said, slightly angry.


    ¡°I just kissed eight women''s cheeks that I''ve only known for a few hours.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°I''m pretty sure I''d have to kiss you on the lips and probably grab your ass before he starts to get jealous.¡±


    Jaset barked a laugh and Tessa shook her head.


    ¡°It was nice seeing you again.¡± I said and gave her a wave. ¡°You too, Jaset.¡±


    ¡°It was fun.¡± Jaset said. ¡°Even with all the women pawing at your hair.¡±


    I laughed and the driver shut the door. Only Sheph and Grace were left with me in the back and the driver took us to the mansion. The three of us stepped out when the door to the vehicle opened again and Sheph turned to me.


    ¡°What kind of goodbye do I deserve?¡± Sheph asked, her face slightly red.


    I stepped close and gave her a tender hug. She hugged me back, slightly surprised. When I leaned back, I gave her cheek a kiss, then I kissed her other cheek, too. She took a breath and let it out, nodded slightly, then turned and walked towards the mansion and went inside. I turned to Grace and took her hand to give her some Presence to clear her head, then we walked around the mansion to get to the large landing pad there. The fast patrol ship looked to be in the middle of its flight preparations.


    ¡°Oh, damn.¡± Grace mumbled and walked faster. ¡°I am in so much trouble.¡±


    ¡°You won''t be once what happened gets on the news.¡± I said and she glanced at me. ¡°There was at least three thousand people there when we left.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Grace stumbled on the ramp and I caught her before she fell. ¡°H-how m-many?¡±


    ¡°At least three thousand, if not more.¡± I said. ¡°I noticed that the rotating groups going outside started to get bigger and began counting.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I gave up counting a few hours ago.¡±


    ¡°By the goddess.¡± Grace whispered as we entered the ship. ¡°So many...¡±


    ¡°I''m thinking it''s going to be the biggest social gathering in a long time.¡± I smiled. ¡°I''m surprised, actually. Who would have thought that so many people wanted to be in the same building with me?¡±


    Grace couldn''t help but laugh at that. ¡°I think once they knew you weren''t going to treat them like dirt, everyone eagerly wanted to meet you.¡± She said and closed the ramp. ¡°I need to get to the cockpit.¡±


    ¡°Dressed like that?¡± I asked and motioned to the little black dress.


    ¡°This is why I''ll be in trouble.¡± Grace said with a smile and walked towards the front of the ship. ¡°Who shows up at work looking like this?¡±


    I followed her until I reached the passenger compartment and sat down on one of the available seats and strapped in. I heard the captain of the ship and a few other people react to her outfit, heard her get a slight scolding for it, then waited for the checks to finish. Their next patrol shift was about to start and no one had time to do anything except their jobs. I felt someone looking at me and waved at the camera pickup, then gave them a thumbs up to show that I was strapped in and good to go.


    The ship lifted off ten seconds later and we rose up into the air. The pilot flew us in a circular pattern to get us up through the atmosphere with a gentle ride, then they poured on the power when we were in space. They couldn''t fly me out to my ship without doing their patrol first, so I got to ride along as they made a sweep of the inner system and the floating scrapyard of wrecks that used to be the old fleet. They curved out to scan along the perimeter of their assigned space and queried all of the satellites and mobile platforms to add them back into their sensor net.


    The other fast patrol ship greeted them and left the area to end their shift and headed back to the station. Once they were gone, the ship I was on began following their circular route and moved towards the floating alien wrecks to drop me off.

 Book Three: The Resolution 017

    I saw Grace coming towards me and I unhooked the straps and stood up to wait for her. She came down the hallway and stepped into the passenger compartment.


    ¡°I''m glad the captain wasn''t too angry that you looked so sexy.¡± I said and her face flushed red.


    ¡°He spent the night with his wife in the capital, so he didn''t stomp on me too hard verbally.¡± Grace said. ¡°Can I have my uniform back? I need to get changed before we drop you off.¡±


    I took out her uniform and gave it to her, and she thought about asking where I had hidden it all night. After a second, she asked for a barrier instead. I created one around her and she was surprised that I wasn''t inside of it with her.


    ¡°Do you want me in there, too?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I... I don''t know.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''ll let you change in peace this time, since you don''t actually need my help this time.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Grace said and quickly slipped off the little black dress and put on her shirt, pulled up her pants and tucked the shirt in, then she put on her uniform coat and buttoned it up. ¡°I''m done.¡±


    I absorbed the Presence barrier and she held out the small bundle of black cloth to me. ¡°Why don''t you keep it?¡± I asked, then pulled out the long flowing gown. ¡°In fact, why don''t you keep this as well.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Grace looked at both dresses. ¡°No, I... I can''t accept...¡±


    ¡°It wouldn''t be right for me to try and give them to anyone else after you wore them.¡± I said. ¡°They would be comparing themselves to you every time they wore it.¡± I smiled. ¡°Actually, so would I.¡±


    Grace blushed and reached out for the gown.


    ¡°I''m sure you''ll get a lot of use out of one of them, at least.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Which one will be up to you.¡±


    Grace had to laugh at that as she imagined going out with her friends wearing the fancy gown. She motioned for me to walk down the hallway, so I walked with her and we went to a small compartment and she stored both dresses, then we went to the spot on the ship with the shuttle hatch. I looked up to watch the ships dock together and I used the Presence to use the controls to extend the small umbilical and ensured that it gave a good seal. Grace reached for the control panel and turned off the gravity in the compartment.


    ¡°Thanks a lot for coming with me last night.¡± I said as I kicked off slightly and floated up towards the ceiling.


    ¡°I had fun.¡± Grace said as she kicked off and floated up beside me.


    I stopped myself and her with Presence and before I opened the hatch, I reached out and pulled Grace towards me. ¡°I''m glad you did.¡±


    Grace had wide eyes for a moment and then she closed them as our lips met. She forgot all about being professional and her arms went around me automatically as she kissed me back. She knew that nothing was going to happen between us, and yet, she also thought that after a night like that, there had to be at least something. It had been too special of a night for no feelings at all to be between us.


    I broke the kiss after a few moments and she had a look of both longing and disappointment. I gave her a crooked smile and pushed down on the top of her head to float her down to the floor. When she reached it I used Presence to turn the local gravity back on and she stood there and looked at me with wide eyes as I kept floating there. I used Presence to open the hatches of both ships.


    ¡°By the way, I just took your first weightless kiss.¡± I said and used levitation to fly up through the hatches.


    ¡°By the goddess.¡± Grace whispered as I moved as if there was still no gravity. I waved to her stunned face and closed both hatches without touching them, checked their seals, then disengaged the umbilical.


    ¡°Transfer complete.¡± I said over the intercom. ¡°Thank the captain of the fast patrol ship for the ride.¡±


    ¡°Already done.¡± Rhubin said and I watched the fast patrol ship float away to a safe distance. Grace was still staring up at the docking hatch as the ship sent power to its engines and flew away.


    I walked through the ship and entered the cockpit with Rhubin.


    ¡°You better not have had fun.¡± Rhubin warned me and I laughed. ¡°Luxea is going to be so pissed.¡±


    ¡°No doubt.¡± I said. ¡°Where''s Simone?¡±


    ¡°Still in bed, as far as I know.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°You should head there yourself, actually.¡±


    ¡°I need a shower first.¡± I said. ¡°My clothes might not gather stains or anything; but, my body still sweats.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Hours of dancing have finally caught up to me.¡±


    Rhubin shook his head. ¡°You''re just asking for trouble, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± I said and put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Thanks for watching out for me.¡±


    ¡°I had to try and return the favor.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I messed up with her, too.¡±


    I nodded and left the cockpit, then went into my room. I took off my clothes and tossed them on the chair there, hung up my belt with the bags of holding and my Light sword that were still invisible, then went to the bathroom to take a nice long shower.


    *


    Simone opened her eyes and rolled over on the bunk. She was a little regretful that the beds weren''t as big as her old one that was still in storage in the secondary cargo hold; but, she had to admit the damn thing was comfortable and she slept really well, much better than she had on the station. She wasn''t sure why that was, though. She got up and looked down at her loose top and panties, shrugged and ignored her usual practice of covering up, then stepped out into the hallway.


    Simone was still partially asleep as she walked down the hallway towards Hunter''s room. She remembered that she had left her shower things in Hunter''s bathroom and went to get them. She had promised herself that she wouldn''t abuse the shower''s wonderful pulse feature... too much. The thought made her giggle a little. She entered Hunter''s room and saw that the bed had been undisturbed. She shook her head at Hunter''s audacity to not come back all night, after having a fight with his girlfriend.


    ¡°Luxea is going to be so pissed.¡± Simone said in an echo of Rhubin''s words, quickly stripped off her top and panties, dropped then to the floor carelessly, and stepped into the bathroom and opened the shower door. She woke up fully as she saw the most beautiful sight that she had ever seen. She stared at the long golden hair, the sculpted muscles that covered every inch of skin that she could see, which was all of it, then the vision of loveliness turned to look at her.


    *


    ¡°Good morning.¡± I said and gave Simone a huge smile. ¡°I keep forgetting that I need to stop blocking my perception so much.¡± I laughed as I listened to her muddled thoughts. ¡°You managed to sneak up on me and you''re not even fully awake yet!¡±


    Simone looked down at me and saw that I liked being in the shower just as much as she did, especially after a long night of exertion and alcohol consumption, then she looked up at my face.


    ¡°I''m awake now.¡± Simone gave me a sexy smile and put her hand on her hip to pose a little.


    I laughed again. ¡°I don''t mind sharing, as long as you can keep your hands above the waist.¡±


    ¡°No promises.¡± Simone laughed and stepped into the shower and shut the door.


    *


    ¡°What do you mean he''s busy?¡± Luxea asked Rhubin half an hour later. ¡°We''re supposed to head over to one of the wrecks in an hour.¡±


    ¡°Well... ah...¡± Rhubin wasn''t sure he wanted to tell her what had happened.


    ¡°Rhubin, just say it.¡± Luxea said, slightly angry. ¡°He slept with Simone last night, didn''t he?¡±


    ¡°What? Ha ha!¡± Rhubin felt relieved at her absurd claim. ¡°No, of course not. He only just got back to the ship half an hour ago.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Luxea said as her tone slid from angry to deadly in an instant.


    ¡°No, it''s not what you think.¡± Rhubin said when he realized what she was thinking. ¡°He didn''t sleep with anyone at all last night.¡± He said and then thought about it. At least, I don''t think he did. ¡°He''s sleeping right now and said he would be good to go in about six hours or so, depending on how long it takes to get all of the alcohol out of his system.¡±


    ¡°It was only supposed to be a political gathering.¡± Luxea said, slightly confused. ¡°I didn''t go because I wanted him to handle it and to see how well he did on his own. What was he doing drinking all night?¡±


    Actually, you didn''t go because you were angry at him. Rhubin thought. ¡°How would you find out how well he did if you weren''t there?¡± He asked and Luxea gave him a ''don''t be stupid'' look. ¡°Never mind.¡±


    Luxea sighed. ¡°All right. I''ll push the schedule back to this afternoon.¡± She said and she typed up a few things on her datapad. ¡°When he wakes up, have him message me right away. We need to get a move on with this scavenging operation.¡±


    ¡°Have you completed the collapsible metal cages for the new ship?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°Yes, and they are sitting in the cargo bay waiting to be deployed.¡± Luxea said. ¡°We need to attach them to the top of the ship to get them out of the way, before we can put anything else into the hold.¡±


    Rhubin nodded. ¡°I''ll tell him that.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Rhubin.¡± Luxea said and ended the call. She looked at the communication display and sighed. I guess it''s time to call a few people and see what really happened last night.


    *


    I woke up and felt refreshed and invigorated. I remembered the shared shower that morning, which was something I had done with other women before and kept it platonic, and Simone''s hands had grazed a certain part of my anatomy while she washed me. She didn''t do more than that, and that had surprised me at the time. On the other hand, my hands had washed her all over, without being lewd, and I had spent an inordinate amount of time on the very slight protrusions that had been where her extra arms used to be.


    As if it had been an erogenous zone for her, Simone''s breathing had sped up and her body reacted as if I had rubbed her between the legs. Of course, being slightly intoxicated by alcohol that I didn''t know the properties of, I took full advantage of her reactions. I kissed, licked, and sucked on those little protrusions until she gasped and finished. Her eyes were wild and she stared down at me. I was on my knees in front of her and her mind raced at what I had just done to her so easily, without using Presence, then her thoughts went to her dripping womanhood that was so close to my mouth.


    Simone concentrated on me and I didn''t block her at all, because I could feel that she wanted to know something. Something she thought was very important. After a few minutes of staring at me, she let out a little sob as if she was crying and I also felt how happy she was. She knew I wasn''t completely drunk, even after drinking so much, and whatever she had found in my mind had given her some kind of reassurance. I didn''t know what it was and she wouldn''t tell me when I asked.


    We finished showering after that and we went to bed, side by side and didn''t touch. She had mentioned not wanting to be alone in the cell, and I immediately relented and let her stay, mainly because I also felt the same way. Without Luxea there all week, the bed was large and felt very empty. I had barely reinforced my meditation techniques when I had fallen asleep.


    Now that I was awake, I felt my hand being held tightly and turned my head to see where it was. Simone was laying under the blanket with me and she was on her front with her face towards me on the pillow. My hand was held in a death grip right beside her peaceful face and our fingers were intertwined. I wasn''t sure how she had managed to do that and not alert my meditative state that there was movement within my self-imposed limited detection range. Her breathing was long and slow and her mind was calm and relaxed. I could pick through it as much as I wanted and I could experience specific memories if I chose. I didn''t, though. She trusted me not to do that.


    All I could think about was Simone not taking advantage of me that morning when she very easily could have. I was in such a good mood and had quite a bit of alcohol in my system, that my mind had been very pliable and easily could have been filled with suggestions and ideas. She didn''t do that or even spoke much, either verbally or mentally, and it puzzled me a little as to why she didn''t. I laid beside her in bed, the both of us completely naked, and she hadn''t snuggled up to me, not even a little bit. Almost as if she heard my thoughts, she opened her eyes and looked at me with amusement.


    ¡°I can hear your thoughts, dumb ass.¡± Simone said. ¡°I''m a telepath, remember?¡±


    I snorted a laugh. ¡°I didn''t forget, I just thought you were asleep.¡±


    ¡°I copied your mental technique for sleeping and staying alert at the same time.¡± Simone said. ¡°I never realized until today how important and useful it was.¡±


    ¡°It definitely comes in handy.¡± I said.


    ¡°Unless you drink a little too much and forget about it.¡± Simone said and smiled.


    I opened my mouth to respond and thought about it. ¡°I can''t remember forgetting about it.¡±


    Simone laughed and let my hand go. ¡°That''s the problem with consuming a bunch of unknown alcoholic beverages all night.¡± She rolled over and then sat up. ¡°Ugh, my back.¡± She groaned a little and stretched to try and work the kinks out, then tried to rub the muscles. ¡°I should have skipped the pillow. It made my spine bend a little too much.¡±


    I reached over and rubbed her lower back and used a bit of Presence to ease her tense muscles.


    ¡°Ooo, that''s the spot.¡± Simone almost moaned as the tingling eased her slight pain.


    ¡°Uh oh.¡± I said when I felt someone very angry come towards my room. ¡°Luxea''s pissed.¡±


    ¡°Luxea?¡± Simone looked down at her nakedness and pulled the sheet up to cover herself just in time. My room door opened and Luxea stormed in.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Luxea yelled. ¡°What the hell did you do last...¡± She stopped dead as she finally noticed Simone with the sheet clutched to her chest.


    ¡°I did it for you.¡± I said and sat up myself.


    ¡°EXCUSE ME?!?¡± Luxea yelled and glared at both me and Simone.


    ¡°Not this.¡± I said and waved at Simone. ¡°Don''t overreact. We didn''t have sex.¡±


    ¡°Did you use Presence?¡± Luxea said and her voice could strip paint from the bulkhead.


    ¡°No, of course not.¡± I said. ¡°Simone, tell her.¡±


    ¡°He was a complete gentleman.¡± Simone said. ¡°He only sucked on my extra shoulder stubs and not on anything else.¡±


    I closed my eyes and sighed. ¡°That sounds so bad when you say it like that.¡±


    ¡°It''s not bad. It''s the truth.¡± Simone said and looked at Luxea. ¡°He could have licked and sucked on me anywhere, anywhere at all, and I would have let him.¡±


    ¡°Simone...¡± I started to say and she put a hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°He was a little drunk and he kept his urges to himself. He had dozens, no hundreds of women around him last night, and not once did he think that he could take advantage of them. Not once.¡± Simone said. ¡°Can you imagine it, Luxea?¡± She asked. ¡°A hundred beautiful and fairly drunk women threw themselves at him... over and over all night... and not once did he consider doing anything except hugging a few and kissing their cheeks at the end of the night to give them a good memory.¡±


    Luxea stood there and couldn''t say anything, stunned at Simone''s words.


    ¡°He wasn''t lying when he said he did it for you.¡± Simone said. ¡°You know why, don''t you?¡± She asked. ¡°He took all of the media attention from you. All of it. He made such a public spectacle of himself that absolutely no one is thinking about you at all.¡±


    Luxea looked at me and still didn''t say anything. Simone got up from the bed and held the sheet around herself, then grabbed my shirt on the chair and slipped it on, then tossed me the sheet and hit the intercom button.


    ¡°Rhubin, can you get the local news broadcasts this far out?¡± Simone asked him.


    ¡°Sure. Their satellites are all over the system.¡± Rhubin said.


    Simone went to the console display at the side of the room and turned it on, then chose a news channel. ¡°You see? It''s all about Hunter.¡±


    ¡°This was the scene last night when the Hero of Chofaris made a surprisingly public appearance at a local bar in the capital.¡± The newswoman said as the screen showed an overhead view of the warehouse and it had hundreds of people around it. ¡°We all witnessed his no-nonsense attitude and his actions while rescuing people with his phenomenal skills.¡± She smiled. ¡°Now we can witness he can party just as hard as he works.¡±


    The scene changed to internal security footage to show me dancing, then it changed to what looked like a personal recording device and showed me up close, then a couple of people away.


    ¡°That is all exclusive footage we obtained from various sources. We will compile it all and have a special prepared by this evening for your enjoyment, mainly because it shows our hero without his eyes covered! What a scoop! His blast shield wasn''t permanently attached or covered an injury!¡± She said excitedly as the screen gave a close up shot of my bared face, then she gave the camera a smile. ¡°However, the best footage we received was this.¡±


    The next shot showed me as I sat at the tables with my hair all undone and a dozen women as they brushed and played with it.


    ¡°Hunter literally let his hair down!¡± She said with delight. ¡°Personal accounts of the event are still coming in and we will bring those to you when we can.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I really wish I had been there!¡±


    ¡°So do I, Dakini.¡± The woman next to her said. ¡°Who would have believed that a man like that even existed?¡±


    Dakini laughed. ¡°He''s absolutely gorgeous, isn''t he?¡±


    ¡°Besides his immense strength that we all saw in the propaganda videos the government provided, and the strategies the military have attributed to him, he also has a body to kill for and can charm the wits out of anyone.¡±


    Dakini laughed again. ¡°We actually have one of those people here with us today.¡±


    The camera view changed to the woman that was the hair expert I had met last night.


    ¡°You can turn it off now.¡± I said and Simone looked over at me. ¡°Please.¡±


    Simone nodded and turned it off and she walked over to the bed and sat down. ¡°I''m a little surprised you didn''t tear off your shirt and parade around to let them all paw at you.¡±


    I pulled on the collar of the shirt she now wore. ¡°You mean this shirt?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Simone said and lifted the collar up to smell it. ¡°I can''t believe it still smells clean after everything you did last night.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Yeah, I know.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter...¡± Luxea said, her voice subdued.


    ¡°I know you''re angry, and you have every right to be.¡± I said, glanced at Simone and then back at her. ¡°If Simone wasn''t such a virtuous woman, I would have slept with her after our shower this morning.¡±


    ¡°You were the one that held yourself back from going any further.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°You keep telling yourself that.¡± I said and pat her hand. ¡°You knew how vulnerable I was.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Simone took a breath and let it out. ¡°I wanted to do for you what you did for me.¡±


    ¡°You see?¡± I looked back at Luxea. ¡°Totally virtuous.¡±


    Simone burst out laughing. ¡°No way. We''re even now.¡± She said. ¡°The next time you''re waving yourself around while completely naked in front of me, I''m not holding back.¡± She grinned. ¡°I''ll be on you faster than a skreetle on a greddar tree during sap season!¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what those words mean!¡± I said with a laugh.


    Simone gave me the image of a fist sized beetle-like creature that flew at almost the speed of sound at a tree that bled green sap from everywhere. I laughed and laughed when the beetle-like creature slammed into the tree with a loud splat, which completely covered it in sap and dazed it for a minute, then it wallowed in the rich and thick liquid as it ate its fill.

 Book Three: The Resolution 018 (Sponsored)

    ¡°Hunter.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I know I messed up pretty badly and I hurt you.¡± I said. ¡°Everyone seeing what happened with that scout ship helped to legitimize our status; but, it hurt you personally and I''m really sorry.¡±


    ¡°Then you did that.¡± Luxea said and waved at the blank viewscreen on the console.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and didn''t say anything else.


    ¡°What am I supposed to do with you?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± I said. ¡°We''ve never had a fight like this before.¡± I thought about it and shook my head. ¡°I never realized the stakes could be so high if we ever did fight.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°You''re the backbone of our little group.¡± I said and saw the surprise on her face. ¡°Without you, we can''t really do anything.¡±


    ¡°Th-that''s not true.¡± Luxea said, her voice and thoughts unsure.


    ¡°Who is the engineer?¡± I asked. ¡°Who controls the finances of both businesses? Who do we all rely on to handle the meetings? Who investigates the new clients? Who hires the employees? Who buys the essential supplies we need?¡±


    ¡°I... I just... it just...¡± Luxea stammered.


    ¡°It was natural, wasn''t it? You thought it was easy to handle it all and you did it so well that none of us noticed exactly how much work you actually do.¡± I said.


    ¡°Y-you noticed.¡±


    ¡°Only because I love you and we used to share a bed every night.¡± I said and saw her wince a little. ¡°Otherwise, I would be just as clueless as everyone else.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I hurt you with what I did and my shortsightedness has jeopardized not only our relationship, it''s jeopardized our business relationship as well.¡±


    ¡°No, I... I wouldn''t...¡± Luxea tried to say it wouldn''t and the Presence wavered.


    ¡°Luxea, you were completely prepared to burn the businesses to the ground when you saw Simone in bed with me.¡±


    Luxea sighed and couldn''t look at me or Simone. ¡°Hunter, I... I need time to...¡±


    ¡°Well, we''re going to be here in the Fogaris system for the next few months doing salvage. We can split into teams instead of working together. We''ve got two ships and plenty of room.¡±


    I used Presence to grab a fresh pair of underwear and flipped off the blanket, then I stood up to put them on. Both Luxea and Simone watched me with the same expression, one that told me that neither of them expected to see me naked again for a while. I walked over to the closet and put on my long sleeved t-shirt and then the powered uniform.


    ¡°I want you, Simone, and Rhubin to stay here on Udelis.¡± I said and turned around. ¡°I''ll take the new guy and we''ll take the lower priority wrecks and handle them.¡±


    ¡°You can''t strip the ships by yourself.¡± Luxea said. ¡°At least take...¡± She glanced at Simone and then she sighed. ¡°You split us up this way on purpose.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°We both need a pilot, so trading them makes no sense. Also, if there''s anyone who needs someone with them while salvaging, it''s you.¡±


    ¡°Dammit, I can''t argue with that.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I do need someone to hold things for me.¡±


    ¡°Then it''s settled.¡± I walked over to her and she didn''t flinch physically; but, mentally she didn''t want me to touch her right now. I held in my sigh and stepped by her and out into the hallway, then I went to the cockpit to get the data that I would need on the wrecks and to verify what I needed to salvage first.


    *


    When the door shut behind Hunter, Simone used her meagre mental abilities to erect a temporary privacy connection between her and Luxea, so that they could only hear each other and no one else.


    ¡°What is wrong with you?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Don''t give me that.¡± Simone said. ¡°You''re way too angry and you''re overreacting to everything.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what you''re talking about.¡±


    Simone felt the Presence waver. ¡°You know that I can tell when you lie.¡±


    Luxea gave her a look that said to drop it.


    ¡°Does having millions of people see you kill aliens really bother you that much?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Luxea exclaimed and closed her eyes to try and calm down. After two long and slow breaths, she spoke. ¡°Now those same people have seen that the man I''m dating goes out and...¡±


    ¡°Oh? So you''re still just dating after all this time being together?¡± Simone asked. ¡°I''m pretty sure Hunter doesn''t see it that way.¡±


    ¡°I... I''m not... Hunter can...¡±


    ¡°Can what? Date someone else?¡± Simone asked and found some very strong thoughts on the surface of Luxea''s mind. ¡°Oh.¡± She said. ¡°Oh, no.¡±


    Luxea''s face flushed red and she turned her head away.


    ¡°Please, tell me you didn''t.¡± Simone whispered. ¡°By the goddess you abandoned, and for the god Hunter has a connection to, tell me you didn''t!¡±


    Luxea didn''t say anything in response.


    Simone shook her head in disappointment. ¡°Are you going to tell him?¡±


    ¡°I shouldn''t have to...¡± Luxea started to say.


    ¡°Are you insane?¡± Simone asked. ¡°He''s got one of the most powerful minds I have ever met! Do you realize what could happen if he finds out from someone else?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to tell him?¡± Luxea asked, almost accusingly.


    ¡°It''s not my secret to tell and I''ll try to bury it in my deeper thoughts.¡± Simone said and then sighed. ¡°If he somehow forgets his morals and tries to read me without my permission, I won''t hide it from him.¡±


    Luxea gave her a look of relief, because she knew Hunter wouldn''t do that.


    ¡°You''re lucky he paired us together during this ''time apart'' that you wanted.¡± Simone said. ¡°I should have known you had a reason to act like a woman scorned and didn''t try to dissuade him from giving you some space.¡±


    ¡°Once we''re out here for a while, I''ll...¡± Luxea took a breath and let it out. ¡°When the commotion dies down...¡±


    ¡°Ha ha.¡± Simone fake laughed. ¡°Do you really think that it''s going to die down after the spectacle Hunter made of himself for you?¡± She waited a moment and then genuinely laughed. ¡°You''re delusional if you think people are going to forget about it!¡±


    ¡°We''ll find out soon enough.¡± Luxea said. Maybe.


    Simone stopped using the privacy connection and hit the intercom button. ¡°Rhubin, are you ready to get going?¡±


    ¡°Hunter''s already on the other ship and Hector''s moved off, so yes.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Then take us to the first wreck on the list.¡± Simone said. He didn''t even say goodbye. She thought in disappointment.


    He didn''t even say goodbye. Luxea thought. Even though they were fighting, it still bothered her that he would leave like that. I shouldn''t have hesitated when he tried to hug me before. She thought. I just... I didn''t want him to touch me, in case he read my thoughts and... I''m not ready to tell him yet.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    *


    Two days later, I finished stripping the wreck of the medium-sized ship and stowed the third, and last, laser cannon in one of the large collapsible metal cages on the hull. I went to the main hatch and went inside the ship. I didn''t show off by using Presence, though. I just used the air lock controls and cycled through normally. I kept my space suit on and walked all the way to the cockpit.


    ¡°Hey, Hector.¡± I said.


    ¡°SIR!¡± Hector jumped in his seat and half-stood as he saluted me. He had been nervous around me since we had left the other ship and I wasn''t sure why. I could read his surface thoughts easily and they didn''t tell me anything. All he had going through his head were flight patterns and techniques to take us to the next ship on our list.


    I thought that was odd, especially since I hadn''t said we would be going there yet. I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder and used a minuscule amount of Presence to form a mental connection with him. I normally didn''t do things like that; but, I wanted to ease the young man''s nervousness so that he wouldn''t fly us into the next wreck because he flinched when I tried to talk to him.


    ¡°Take it easy.¡± I said and used a mental technique to calm down and shared it with him.


    Hector took a quick breath and let it out, and his mental train of flight patterns derailed slightly when he relaxed. His mind drifted towards something else and I stopped my eyes from widening at what I ''saw''. I immediately stopped sharing calmness and absorbed my Presence from him to sever the connection.


    ¡°You don''t have to salute me. I''m just the boss.¡± I said, instead of what I wanted to say. ¡°Are we in a stable parking orbit with the debris?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Hector said. ¡°We''re on the same trajectory and won''t drift away from them.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± I said. ¡°Why don''t you head to your quarters and relax? I''m taking the rest of the day off before heading over to the next wreck in the morning. There''s no need for you to stay here on shift.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± Hector said, relief in both his voice and thoughts. ¡°See you tomorrow, sir.¡±


    I waited until he was halfway around the ship before I erected a Presence barrier around the cockpit and sat down on the chair next to the communications console. I thought about waiting, then decided it was better to get it over with, so I called my ship.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Rhubin said from the little viewscreen. ¡°How''s it going?¡±


    ¡°I just finished the first wreck.¡± I said and sent him the data on the things I had retrieved, like computer consoles and electronic components that we could use in the new ship, which included the three intact laser cannons and their large power coils.


    Rhubin let out a low whistle. ¡°How did you get all that from a low priority wreck?¡±


    ¡°From what I could tell, the ship had been sheared off right at the bulkhead between the fore and aft sections. It was relatively undamaged, except for what the aliens did themselves.¡±


    ¡°Sweet!¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I think we need to reassess the wreck priorities, if that''s the case.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°No, I think I was just lucky this time. It looked like a small ship and wouldn''t have much to it, so it was assigned a low priority. Even Udelis couldn''t tell what it was originally from and he''s got the whole database from this ship.¡±


    Rhubin nodded. ¡°Luxea did good unlocking that from the alien code.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Having intact programs for her to work backwards from was a huge help, as was the shipyard leaving everything and adding things on top of it.¡± I looked at the time and back at him. ¡°I guess Luxea''s still out?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she and Simone are on the huge ship.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°The bridge was practically destroyed; but, they found part of a shuttle bay and there''s another shuttle in it.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Our bay can''t hold that many, you know.¡±


    ¡°I can squeeze two more in, if we turn them perpendicular to the hull and mount them on runs like the cargo containers on the long haul transport.¡±


    ¡°You want to mount shuttles on the walls?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°It should work.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°The landing gear is designed to hold the ships in almost any terrain...¡±


    ¡°The weight of the shuttles would rip them out.¡± I said.


    ¡°We can just turn off the gravity in that section of the bay. We could even put up a force field like the one that covers the external exit of the bay that holds the air in when the door is open.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°The secondary reactor can handle the load, since it was designed for the incidentals, and it won''t impact the ship''s main power.¡±


    ¡°You''ve given this a lot of thought.¡± I said, impressed.


    ¡°I just want my own flight of shuttles.¡± Rhubin said, and that made me laugh.


    ¡°You can''t fly them all at the same... oh, wait. You can. Never mind.¡± I said and it was his turn to laugh.


    ¡°Why make one shuttle delivery when we can make three?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°All right. Run it by Luxea. If she agrees...¡±


    ¡°We already have the mounts made and we''re just waiting for the rendezvous with you at the end of the week.¡± Rhubin said with a grin.


    ¡°Thanks for at least telling me about it before you did it.¡± I said and he laughed again.


    ¡°Want me to tell Luxea to give you a call when she gets in?¡±


    ¡°No, that''s not why I called.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Rhubin looked at me with concern in his eyes. ¡°What''s up?¡±


    ¡°Hector''s not working out and we need to hire someone else.¡±


    Rhubin''s eyes widened. ¡°Can I ask why?¡±


    ¡°He''s too nervous.¡± I said, completely honestly. ¡°I''m afraid that he''s going to ram the ship into one of the wrecks and you know I wouldn''t say anything if I didn''t actually feel that way.¡±


    Rhubin sighed. ¡°Have you tried talking to him?¡±


    ¡°I even tried using a calmness technique and shared it with him.¡± I said. ¡°As soon as I stopped, he was back to being a bundle of nerves.¡± I brought up the security footage in the cockpit and sent it. ¡°See for yourself.¡±


    Rhubin took a minute to watch the interaction and he sighed again. ¡°His inexperience really shows.¡±


    ¡°He''s been like this since we came here.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t work safely if I''m worrying about my pilot killing us the next time he takes the controls.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry, Hunter. I thought he was ready for this.¡±


    I thought about that statement for a moment. ¡°You like him.¡±


    ¡°He''s a good kid.¡± Rhubin said and then laughed. ¡°That makes me feel so old.¡±


    ¡°You''re only thirty-six.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I''m authorizing half of the three month payment we agreed to in his contract, as a severance pay for early dismissal. Could you let Luxea know in the morning and have her make up the chip?¡± I asked, and Rhubin nodded. ¡°We can pay for a transport to take him back to the Dizahl system, too.¡±


    ¡°Hector will appreciate that.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I''m sure once he gets a bit more experience, he''ll be able to handle things like this more professionally.¡±


    ¡°One can only hope.¡± I said and Rhubin nodded.


    ¡°So, do you want to tell me the real reason you''re getting rid of him so quickly, instead of giving him a chance to acclimate to the hazardous flight conditions?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°I don''t want our company to become what the long haul transport was like.¡± I said, without sugarcoating it.


    Rhubin stared at me for about ten seconds before he spoke. ¡°I''ll have his transport there first thing in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Rhubin.¡± I said and cut the call.


    *


    Luxea and Simone came back into the ship after storing their latest acquisition, a main computer bank from the large wreck, in the main cargo hold. Luxea hoped that this would give them enough processing power and storage capacity to let them try to twin Udelis'' software onto the new ship. She had access to the Udelis AI''s layout and configurations, so she was confident that all she needed to do was replicate the setup as closely as she could.


    Luxea couldn''t do that until they made their first delivery back to their home base in the Dizahl system, though. She needed to pick up some of the computer components she had ordered to make the attempt. With those in hand and the new specs the previous owner had given her for combining the technology, she knew that she could get the two different computer hardware systems to work in conjunction with each other and create a much more powerful whole. If that worked, then making the central hub for their own satellite and communications network would only be a matter of scale.


    Since they had access to literally tons of electronics and computer consoles, their plans were coming along swiftly. Neither woman said anything to each other as they stripped off their space suits and stored them in the temporary lockers Luxea had installed for that purpose next to the main hatch.


    ¡°See you in the morning.¡± Simone said without inflection as she walked down the hallway towards the holding cell.


    ¡°Simone, you know that...¡±


    ¡°You''ve said that every day so far.¡± Simone said and kept walking. ¡°It sounds like you''re trying to convince yourself and not me.¡±


    ¡°I only need to wait until...¡±


    ¡°That''s your problem.¡± Simone said and opened the door of the cell. ¡°You''re just digging the hole deeper and deeper. The longer you wait to say something, the worse it''s going to be.¡±


    Luxea watched the cell door close and then she walked past it and down the hallway to Hunter''s room. She entered and stripped off her clothing and stepped into the shower to wash off the day''s sweat. She had thrown herself into the salvage operation with a vigour that had surprised her and they were making better time than she had allotted for. She washed herself diligently and then reached for the pulse option that she had been using a lot lately.


    Luxea left the bathroom and dried off, changed into a small nightie, and climbed into bed. It was a big bed and she was once again struck by how empty it was. She thought about what Simone had said and couldn''t deny that she had a point. It was going to be worse the longer she kept it secret; but, she only needed to wait until the rendezvous at the end of the week. The public frenzy over The Wave, specifically Hunter, should be over by then.


    Luxea woke up the next morning when the ship''s alarm went off. She dressed in a plain jumpsuit, since she was going to be working in a space suit and didn''t need to wear the company''s uniform, and went to the kitchen to get breakfast.


    ¡°Morning.¡± Luxea said to the two people there at the small table. Rhubin and Simone nodded and didn''t say anything as they kept eating. Luxea heated her own ration meal with flavoring and sat down with them. No one spoke until they were all done.


    ¡°Luxea, I need to you drop seven weeks of basic crew pay onto a chip for me.¡± Rhubin said as he stood and put his empty food tray into the slot. ¡°Also, I need a chip with transport fees from here to the Dizahl system.¡±


    Luxea looked at him with wide eyes. ¡°What for?¡± She asked, surprised. ¡°Are you going on vacation or something?¡±


    Rhubin barked a laugh. ¡°That''s actually a pretty good idea.¡± He said, then shook his head. ¡°No. Hector''s leaving on a transport in about thirty minutes.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Luxea practically gasped.


    ¡°Hunter is scared that Hector is too nervous around him to fly near the wreckage, so he fired him.¡± Rhubin said and saw the color drain from Luxea''s face. ¡°You know Hunter wouldn''t say anything unless it was a real danger.¡±


    Luxea had to nod in agreement. ¡°I... I''ll do the chips up right away.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I''ll get us on our way to meet up with the other ship.¡± He said and left the kitchen to go to the cockpit. When he was out of earshot, Simone spoke.


    ¡°I warned you.¡± Simone said as she stood and dropped her empty food tray in the slot, then she left the kitchen. She had a feeling that there wouldn''t be much salvaging going on today.

 Book Three: The Resolution 019

    ¡°You can''t fire me!¡± Hector exclaimed. ¡°We have a contract!¡±


    ¡°Yes, that you broke.¡± I said. ¡°You can''t reliably fly a ship in your current condition and you''ve been like this for three days.¡±


    ¡°There... there''s nothing wrong with me!¡±


    ¡°Geez, kid. Stop making a scene.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We can all see that you''re trembling. You can''t handle flying a shuttle right now, let alone a cargo ship this big.¡±


    ¡°I can!¡± Hector said and Luxea came into the room with two chips in her hand. ¡°Luxea!¡± He said loudly and rushed to her and hugged her. ¡°Don''t let them take me away from you! I love you!¡±


    ¡°Oh, for god''s sake.¡± Rhubin said and grabbed Hector by the collar and pulled him back from a startled Luxea.


    ¡°No! Let me go!¡± Hector flailed his arms to try and escape from Rhubin''s grip. ¡°Luxea! Tell them! Tell them what we mean to each other!¡±


    Luxea''s eyes dripped tears and she thought about saying something, then she kept her mouth shut instead. There wasn''t really anything she could say that would make this turn out any better.


    I reached out to her and she gave me the two chips and I held one up. ¡°This is half of the contract''s pay as severance, because you did do some work the last couple of weeks.¡± I said and held the other up. ¡°This is a passenger transport fee back to the Dizahl system.¡± I took both chips and tucked them into his coat pocket.


    ¡°I don''t need your stinking credits!¡± Hector said and grabbed the chips out of his pocket and threw them across the room at the bulkhead.


    I caught the two chips with Presence before they hit the wall and made them invisible, so that he would believe that he really destroyed all that money.


    ¡°I want to stay here with the woman I love and you can''t stop me!¡±


    ¡°Wow, Luxea. He''s completely besotted with you.¡± Simone said as she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. ¡°What did you do to the poor kid?¡±


    ¡°Everything!¡± Hector exclaimed. ¡°I''ve never had a woman do anything like that to me before! She''s a goddess! She may even be... mhuh!¡±


    I covered his mouth with Presence and made it solid. ¡°Stop your tantrum.¡± I said. ¡°Not only are you embarrassing yourself, you''re embarrassing Luxea.¡± I motioned to her and Hector saw her tears.


    She''s crying because you''re kicking me off the ship! Hector thought very loudly.


    I sighed and looked at Luxea. Her face went red as she wiped her eyes and turned her head so that she wouldn''t meet my eyes. I stepped close to Hector and touched his forehead to put him to sleep.


    ¡°What do we do with him now?¡± Rhubin asked as he held the younger man upright.


    ¡°He definitely can''t stay.¡± Simone said and looked at Luxea. ¡°He''ll be a danger to himself and to us.¡±


    ¡°Obsession is a dangerous thing.¡± I said and seriously considered giving Hector a compulsion to stay away from Luxea, to try and counter his desperate need to be near her. I was morally against that tactic, though. I wasn''t going to do something to someone else against their will that I personally hated having done to me against my will.


    ¡°I can''t believe he threw away all those credits.¡± Simone said and looked forlornly at the wall where the chips would have fallen. ¡°Such a waste destroying those chips.¡±


    I lifted my hand and held up both chips. ¡°Rhubin, give this to the transport ship.¡± I said and gave him the smaller denomination chip. ¡°They''ll take him home.¡±


    ¡°What about his pay?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°We can''t trust Hector to not break the chip, then those credits will be lost. If I hadn''t caught them just before they hit the wall...¡± I shook my head and put the chip away. ¡°We''ll wait until we''re back home to transfer the payment to his account directly.¡±


    ¡°I guess we''ll have to do it that way.¡± Rhubin said sadly. ¡°The early termination is going to be a mark on his job record for the rest of his life.¡±


    Luxea let out a low sob and wiped at her eyes.


    ¡°Hector might realize what happened by the time he arrives back in the Dizahl system.¡± I said. ¡°No one in their right mind throws away money like that.¡±


    Rhubin nodded and dragged the sleeping young man from the room.


    ¡°Where''s Rhubin taking him?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°To the shuttle hatch at the back of the ship.¡± I said. ¡°The transport will be here soon to pick him up.¡±


    We waited for the transport to show up and no one spoke. There was nothing for anyone to say, actually. We all knew the implications of what had just happened. The ship showed up and Hector was quickly transferred over to it, credits changed hands, and the transport was away without much fuss. Hector would be asleep for the next twelve hours, so the ship would be well on their way through hyperspace before he woke up. Since it was a normal transport, his journey home would be a lot longer than it had been coming to the system with us on Udelis.


    No one was in the mood to work, so I declared that a few days of rest and relaxation were in order. I received a glare from Simone and her thoughts were on me making things worse.


    ¡°Hey, do you want to...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Simone said and cut me off. ¡°You know I won''t be able to resist you if I go with you.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows at her as the Presence wavered and she couldn''t help herself and laughed.


    ¡°All right. I don''t want to go have that much fun with you and not have it lead to something.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I understand.¡± I said and looked at Rhubin. ¡°I''m taking the shuttle unless the military has a ban on us moving around on our own.¡±


    ¡°Not that I''ve heard.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Want me to give them a call?¡±


    I had to think about that for a minute. ¡°Is Grace''s patrol ship still active?¡±


    ¡°It''s the one currently keeping station with us, so yes.¡± Rhubin said with a chuckle.


    ¡°How did they get that duty?¡± I asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°They aren''t actually on duty.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Every twelve hours, a new patrol ship comes over and takes the place of the last one.¡±


    ¡°Ha. They''re spending their down cycles guarding us.¡± I said as I caught on to what they were doing.


    ¡°I bet you can catch a ride with them in about an hour.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Shift change?¡± I asked and he nodded. ¡°Then I better give them a call.¡±


    *


    Luxea didn''t say anything as Hunter walked by her and went to the cockpit.


    ¡°Are you really going to let things sit like this?¡± Rhubin asked when he thought Hunter was far enough away and couldn''t hear anything.


    ¡°What am I supposed to do?¡± Luxea asked, and she sounded a little lost.


    ¡°I actually warned Hunter about messing things up with you and he actually tried to make up for what he did to you.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°You don''t know how surprised I was that it was you that messed things up instead. Why did you do that?¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I don''t know!¡± Luxea exclaimed. ¡°I was angry and I needed to relax.¡± She said, her voice dropping a few octaves. ¡°Since I couldn''t do that with Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°...grabbed the newest available male around.¡± Simone said. ¡°I don''t need to ask how many times you used Hector for stress relief, do I?¡±


    Luxea''s face flushed red, mainly because she wasn''t sure how many times it had been. It was a lot.


    ¡°No wonder Hector was nervous around Hunter.¡± Rhubin said and then sighed. ¡°He was sleeping with who he thought was Hunter''s woman right under the man''s nose and thought he had stolen you.¡±


    Luxea couldn''t refute that, not after Hector''s blow-up.


    ¡°What''s funny is that you didn''t even do it on purpose.¡± Simone said. ¡°You just reverted to your old ways and bing, bang, boom. Chaos.¡±


    Rhubin looked at Luxea and thought about her pattern of behavior and how it had changed over the last while. He gave Simone a glance and had to agree with her. Luxea reverted right back to how she used to act, once she came across something that she wasn''t sure how to handle. He was glad that Luxea hadn''t approached him to do that, because he would have refused her offer and told Hunter about it... and then he realized that was probably why she hadn''t. She knew he would say no and then tell Hunter.


    *


    ¡°Grace said she''s going off duty for a few days and her ship would be happy to give me a ride to Chofaris.¡± I said as I entered the room. ¡°She also said we have to be escorted if we go anywhere, unofficially of course.¡±


    No one said anything and I didn''t tell them that I heard everything they said.


    ¡°Rhubin, do you want to come with me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Are you doing another public display?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I smiled and he put up his hands in surrender.


    ¡°No, thanks. I''ll pass.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°Luxea.¡± I said and she jumped a little.


    ¡°No!¡± Luxea exclaimed before she could stop herself.


    I held in my sigh. ¡°Well, I''m leaving for a couple days. Maybe you''ll calm down by then and be able to talk to me without flinching.¡±


    I went over to the Udelis to pack for a few days. Grace''s ship docked to the shuttle hatch and I used levitation to transfer to the other ship and used Presence to operate both hatches. When I floated into the patrol ship, Grace was there with three other people.


    ¡°You weren''t kidding!¡± A cute young woman that looked to be about twenty years old said as I floated down to the deck. ¡°He doesn''t need null gravity to do that!¡±


    I looked at Grace and her face was slightly red.


    ¡°We saw it on the security footage and had to see it for ourselves.¡± A man said. ¡°It''s so weird!¡±


    ¡°It''s a neat trick.¡± The other man said. ¡°I''d be showing off with it if I could do that, too.¡±


    ¡°You caught me right away.¡± I chuckled and the man smiled.


    ¡°How long are you staying on Chofaris?¡± Grace asked.


    ¡°I''ve got a few days free, mainly because of internal strife with the personnel of my company.¡±


    ¡°Luxea''s still angry?¡±


    ¡°More like she overreacted and did something she deeply regrets and she can barely stand to be in the same room with me right now.¡± I said. ¡°Rather than stay around and be a burden on her...¡±


    Grace nodded and led me back to the same passenger compartment I had been in before and the ship got underway. I stowed my bag under my seat and the cute young woman sat down next to me. The two men went back to their duties and Grace gave the young woman a bit of a glare, then left as well.


    ¡°I assume you''re off duty?¡± I asked and the young woman nodded. ¡°What do you want to talk about?¡±


    ¡°The hair specialist said she''s never seen hair like yours.¡± The young woman said. ¡°How did you grow it out like that?¡±


    ¡°That''s not what you really want to know.¡± I said with a smile as I picked up her thoughts.


    ¡°I... well, I...¡± The young woman tried to ask and was too flustered to get the words out.


    ¡°Because you''re so cute, I''ll answer it.¡± I said and leaned in to whisper in her ear. ¡°There''s enough that you can use it like a blanket and can cover yourself from head to toe with some left over.¡±


    ¡°Oooo.¡± The young woman almost moaned and closed her eyes. ¡°W-where are you s-staying?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± I said and her eyes shot open. ¡°I''ll find out when I get there.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t call ahead?¡± She asked, surprised. ¡°You can''t just... I''ll be right back!¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to...¡± I started to say and she stopped and squinted her eyes at me. ¡°I''m going to the capital.¡± I said instead and she left the compartment to try and make arrangements for me. She came back ten minutes later and held out a datapad. I took mine out and she sent me the data.


    ¡°You''ve got a reservation at a nice hotel, moderately priced, about a mile from the city center.¡± The young woman said.


    ¡°How far away is it from the bar I went to?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A ten minute drive or a thirty to forty minute walk.¡± She said right away, knowing I was going to ask.


    ¡°Thank you for this.¡± I said and put my datapad away.


    ¡°You weren''t even going to use your status to get the best room, were you?¡± She asked and I shook my head. ¡°Are you going to the bar tonight?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking about it.¡± I said and her thoughts swirled around as she debated something. ¡°You''ve convinced me that if I do, I should call ahead first.¡±


    The young woman nodded. ¡°It will let them prepare things instead of trying to adapt like the last time.¡±


    ¡°I don''t suppose you know the bar''s contact info?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I can''t abuse the communications station for more than one personal call per shift.¡± She said and sat down beside me again. ¡°We have to wait to land before we can call on the local network.¡±


    ¡°We?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°If you think I''m letting all that hair out of my sight before seeing it unfolded, you''re crazy.¡± She said. ¡°My name is Kris, by the way.¡±


    ¡°I see you''re not flustered anymore.¡±


    ¡°You said I was cute, right to my face, then answered my question before I could ask it.¡± Kris said, her voice full of confidence. ¡°Because of that, I know you don''t mind personal questions and I shouldn''t mind asking them.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°So, what else do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°Do you take random women to your bed?¡±


    ¡°I honestly can''t say that I''ve never done that.¡± I said. ¡°It only happened once, though.¡±


    ¡°Not at the bar the last time?¡± Kris asked and I shook my head. ¡°Would you be willing to do it again?¡±


    ¡°I could be tempted to if I met the right woman.¡±


    ¡°Which means you''ve only met the wrong women so far.¡± Kris said and looked into my eyes. ¡°How can I qualify as a right woman?¡±


    ¡°That question definitely put you in contention.¡±


    Kris gave me a warm smile. ¡°Even if nothing happens between us over the next few days and we only become friends, I still want to wear your hair like a robe.¡±


    That made me laugh and reminded me about my one night stand, Diana, and how she had enjoyed my hair like that, too. ¡°I can''t promise anything.¡±


    ¡°I know. I''m just telling you my true goal.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that I should be discouraging you, don''t you?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°I''m in a relationship right now, and it''s kind of in a shambles. It started out being my fault, then...¡±


    Kris sat there and listened to my problems for the rest of the flight to the planet''s surface. Since they weren''t in a rush like when they delivered me to Olugaell''s dinner party, it took nearly twice as long to land at the facility where they did the monthly checkup on the ship. The entire crew left the ship in what looked like a random scurrying pattern, almost like rats fleeing a sinking boat.


    Grace saw me watching everyone leave and chuckled. ¡°No one wants to stay around after a month on the ship.¡±


    Surprisingly, both Kris and Grace stayed with me as we walked through the facility. Our bags were given a precursory check by security and we were allowed to leave the building with no fuss. I thought about asking if it was because of me that we got through so quickly, then decided I didn''t need to ask such a stupid question.


    Grace hit a button on a small stand by the exit and a hover car showed up barely sixty seconds later. We stowed our bags and climbed in, then the driver poured on the speed. We were pretty far out from the city and there was little to no traffic, so I wasn''t worried. We dropped off Grace first and she said she would meet me at the bar later that night. Kris was dropped off next and her apartment was only down the street from my hotel.


    Coincidence? I thought as she stepped out of the car.


    ¡°I''ll call the bar and let them know you''re coming.¡± Kris said. ¡°Make sure you pick me up promptly at eight.¡±


    I thought about responding that it wasn''t an exclusive date and that we were all going together, then nodded. She smiled at me and shut the door. The hover car drove around the block and dropped me off at the hotel. I paid the fare, retrieved my bag, and went inside the building. I was barely inside the door when there was a squeal of delight from across the lobby.


    ¡°It''s true!¡± A woman''s voice exclaimed and several people looked at her and then their eyes found me.


    ¡°I think I better handle this.¡± A man said as he gently turned the woman around behind the counter and gave her a little push towards the staff room. ¡°Take your break.¡±


    ¡°I just came back from...¡±


    ¡°Take another.¡± The man said and he had to push her all the way over to the room and shut the door. ¡°My apologies, sir.¡± He said to me as I approached the front desk. ¡°Reservation for Hunter, I believe.¡±


    I nodded and the man quickly entered me into the system as he confirmed my reservation. I asked him to change my room, so that I wouldn''t be staying in the room everyone thought I would be staying in, then I prepaid for the three days I intended to stay and he gave me the room''s card key.


    The man told me what floor the room was on and in what direction. ¡°I''m tempted to walk you up so I can fend off some of the other staff.¡± The man said and I chuckled. ¡°You''re prepared for that, are you?¡±


    I reached up and pretended to push something on my collar as I activated my Stealth technique and completely disappeared. The man let out a startled gasp, then he laughed.


    ¡°You could make a fortune if you sold whatever that is.¡± The man said. ¡°Please enjoy your stay, sir.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and stayed invisible as I walked over to the lift. I took it up to the right floor and I wasn''t surprised to see a few women and two men were waiting near my old room''s door. I smiled and walked down the hallway and entered the new room. I deactivated the technique and locked the door, then I took a quick shower and changed into a set of normal clothes. I rummaged through one of my bags of holding and took out a small wooden plaque that had a bunch of engravings on it. I hung it over my neck and put some Presence into it to power the spell, then the Illusion spell activated and changed my appearance to that of a normal man.


    My long hair went from a golden color to black and closely cropped to my head. My facial features softened and rounded a little and my eyes changed to a dull brown color. My slightly tanned skin faded into a more milky white color, as if I was someone that spent a lot of their time indoors and not centuries outside. Even my muscle definition softened a little and my pointed ears rounded down to a normal shape. The spell couldn''t do anything about my height, though.


    I walked over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I didn''t recognize the face that looked back at me and I smiled. ¡°Time to do a little shopping.¡± I said and left the room without having to worry about random strangers assaulting me.

 Book Three: The Resolution 020

    I looked just like an average person as I went out shopping. No one paid me any mind and I enjoyed the anonymity. The first place I stopped was an electronics store. I picked up a few little odds and ends and then saw something I thought Luxea would really like. I bought it and went to a data store next. I gave their catalogue of programs a quick run through and didn''t see anything that could pique Luxea''s interest, so I left there and went to a clothing store and discovered the downside to looking anonymous and having no one pay attention to you.


    No one paid attention to you.


    The thought made me chuckle as I tried, to no avail, to get someone to help me find a good outfit to wear. The sales people were too busy standing around and talking to each other to bother with me. I wasn''t even upset about it and plainly told them that they just lost their business a few thousand credits. They didn''t believe me until I held up a handful of high number credit chips.


    ¡°We''d be happy to help you...¡± One of the women started to say.


    ¡°No, thanks.¡± I said and put the credit chips away as I walked over to the door. ¡°Maybe next time someone asks for help, you''ll be smart enough to treat them normally and not dismiss them as if they are beneath you.¡±


    ¡°Just because you have money, doesn''t mean you can talk to people like that.¡± The other woman said.


    ¡°I have half a mind to...¡±


    ¡°I''m sure security would be curious as to why you think I''m the one being rude after the way I was treated here.¡± I said and opened the door. ¡°Or, I guess how I wasn''t treated would be more accurate.¡±


    She didn''t respond and both women watched me with regret as I left their shop.


    I walked over to what looked like an information booth and asked it about clothing shops. I found one a few streets over and went there. As soon as I entered, a little bell rang and the man behind the counter looked up to see me at the door, then he walked over to me.


    ¡°You look like a man that''s in need of a good suit.¡± He said. ¡°How long do we have to get ready?¡±


    I grinned at him. ¡°I''ve got to pick someone up promptly at eight.¡±


    The man made a low clicking noise with his tongue as he measured me with his eyes. ¡°Hmm, well... I suppose we can try the ready made suits and see if we can''t alter them to hang properly.¡± He hooked his arm around mine and dragged me to the back of the store. ¡°Normally, I only use these as a template so that a client can see with his own eyes what he likes before I create something for him.¡±


    ¡°Are you okay with leaving the counter like that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s fine.¡± He said and waved my concerns away. ¡°If someone else comes in, I''ll set them up and come back.¡±


    ¡°You do all of this by yourself?¡± I asked as I caught the thoughts from his mind.


    The man chuckled. ¡°Even with the modern conveniences of technology, it''s much more difficult to get the youths of today interested in making good clothing than it is to make them wear it.¡±


    I had to laugh at that. ¡°I''m guilty of that myself, actually.¡±


    The man nodded and pat my arm before he let it go. ¡°Let''s see what we can find.¡± He flipped through several hung up suits. ¡°No. No. Too formal. Too stiff.¡± He gave me another glance and then looked back at the suits. ¡°What will you be doing primarily tonight?¡±


    ¡°Should I make a joke and say ''my date'' or do you want the truth?¡± I asked and the man laughed.


    ¡°You just made the joke, so the truth.¡±


    ¡°Dancing, both close and at a slight distance.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh? That new trend that the Hero of Chofaris started?¡± The man asked.


    I nodded. ¡°He''s showing up at the same bar tonight.¡±


    ¡°Oho!¡± The man gasped. ¡°I really must make an appearance as well.¡± He said and took a quick breath. ¡°All that hair!¡±


    I laughed. ¡°It sure was a sight with all those women brushing it, that''s for sure.¡±


    ¡°I could never maintain that much myself.¡± The man said. ¡°Once it gets past my shoulders, it takes more and more effort to handle it and I always have to cut it.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry about that.¡±


    He gave me a an odd look, then he smiled. ¡°You really are, aren''t you?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I think that''s why everyone seems to be so enamoured of it. They know it''s kind of an impossibility to get it to that length and maintain it.¡±


    ¡°I wonder how he does it?¡±


    ¡°Presence.¡± I said and the man nodded.


    ¡°Yes, something like that would need a supernatural force to support it!¡± He said and laughed. ¡°All right. Enough flights of fancy!¡± He said and pushed half of the suits on the rack aside. ¡°Dancing, dancing, dance... ah, here we are.¡± He pulled out a dark blue pinstriped suit that was well cut and stylish. ¡°Try this on and don''t worry about the length of the pants. They are intended to be hemmed and I''ll fold them up after you put them on.¡±


    I took the suit and he opened the changing room door for me. I quickly changed into just the pants and put on the coat and stepped back out. The man knelt and pulled up the long pant legs and folded them up to where they should be and pulled them taught, creased them with the palm of his hands, and stood up.


    ¡°Well, give it a whirl.¡± The man said and waved at the mirror.


    ¡°You want me to...¡±


    ¡°Let''s see if it will work before I make anything permanent.¡± The man said. ¡°I can hum a little if that will help.¡±


    I chuckled and looked into the mirror, then did one of the standard dance moves.


    ¡°Okay.¡± He said and knelt, pulled the pant leg''s hem down half an inch and creased it again, then pinned the cloth. ¡°That''s the pant length done.¡± He stood. ¡°Give your arms a good rotation and tell me when the suit coat pinches.¡±


    I did as he said and he nodded and slipped the coat off my shoulders, did something with a knife-like tool on the coat''s underarms, then tugged on the arms. He gave it back and I did the same motion again. It didn''t pinch at all.


    ¡°I''ll have the alterations done in half an hour.¡± The man said, so I changed back into my normal clothes and handed him the suit.


    ¡°I''d like two others, preferably in different colors.¡± I said.


    ¡°Any preferences?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Not yellow.¡± I said and he blanched for a second, then he burst out laughing.


    ¡°You said ''not''!¡± He laughed. ¡°Thank the goddess!¡±


    I had to laugh, too.


    ¡°I''ll need more than an hour to do all three suits.¡± The man said.


    ¡°Is there a public communications hub nearby?¡± I asked and he told me where to go. ¡°Thanks. I''ll be back later.¡±


    I left the shop after marking it on my datapad, then went to the closest communication hub. They were spread out all over the city for people''s convenience, and it didn''t take me long to find Tessa''s number. I called her by voice only, just in case she was in the middle of something she didn''t want me to see. I also used Presence to create a sound barrier around myself so that no one else would hear.Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Hello? Who is this?¡± Tessa''s voice asked. ¡°Why are you calling with voice only?¡±


    ¡°It''s Hunter.¡± I said. ¡°I''m using voice in case you and Jaset were naked in bed together.¡±


    There was a man''s laugh in the background and then a muffled ''how did he know?''.


    ¡°Quiet, you!¡± Tessa said and I heard a light slap and Jaset laughed again.


    ¡°I''m waiting for a suit to be altered and wondered if you two wanted to grab a bite to eat.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and I''m going to the bar again tonight.¡±


    ¡°I''m there!¡± Jaset yelled in the background.


    ¡°He means at the bar.¡± Tessa corrected for him. ¡°He has to meet with his friends this afternoon.¡±


    ¡°What about you? Are you up for visiting an old friend without boyfriend supervision?¡±


    ¡°I think that''s a possibility.¡± Tessa said. ¡°Where are you?¡±


    I told her where I was and that I was in disguise, and she said she would meet me in twenty minutes. She showed up twenty-five minutes later and looked around for me. I stood barely ten feet away from her and she didn''t notice me at all. I walked over to her and tapped her shoulder. She turned and gave me a look that said to leave her alone.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± Tessa asked, her voice slightly lower than normal and she clenched her fists as if she was about to fight.


    ¡°I told you I would be in disguise.¡± I said with my normal voice.


    Tessa''s mouth dropped open in shock and her eyes took in my short black hair an her eyes started to brim with tears. ¡°H-H-Hunter? Wh-what did you do?!?¡± She asked as her emotions fluctuated wildly.


    ¡°Calm down. It''s just an illusion.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t cut it.¡±


    Tessa took a shaky breath and nodded several times. I took her hand and led her over to what looked like a good restaurant and we sat down. It took her a few minutes to calm down and her eyes kept darting to my short black hair. I ordered food for the both of us, because she didn''t look like she was going to be talking for another little while, and we waited for it to arrive in silence.


    ¡°Are you going to be okay?¡± I asked when the food came.


    ¡°I... it''s just... you look so... it''s wrong.¡± Tessa said, finally. ¡°If you really wanted to hide in pain sight, you picked the perfect disguise.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°That''s exactly what I was doing.¡± I said and started to eat, then I told her how I was treated in the first clothing shop I had visited. She was immediately outraged and I had to use Presence to calm her down. Once I told her about the second one, her anger receded and we talked about how quickly I had found a suit to wear.


    ¡°You''re buying one for each night?¡± Tessa asked, surprised. ¡°Are you going to the bar all three nights?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking about it.¡± I said. ¡°It might be too much for the bar to handle that many people three nights in a row, though.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''ll probably just stay in my room the last two nights.¡±


    ¡°Alone?¡± Tessa asked with raised eyebrows and kept eating.


    I thought about lying and decided to say the truth. ¡°I don''t know.¡±


    Tessa let a little worry show on her face and then she let her face go blank. ¡°Okay, tell me everything.¡±


    I nodded and explained about everything that had been going on. Since she already knew about Luxea''s reaction over people congratulating her for killing aliens, it didn''t take her long to get the whole picture and her hand moved across the table and took mine. I finished with having to remove Hector from the ship and then coming down here.


    ¡°Wow.¡± Tessa said. ¡°That''s... wow.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and we didn''t say anything else. We finished eating and I paid for the food, tipped the waiter, and we left. Tessa came with me as I browsed through a few stores and waited for my suits to be finished. We both went to the clothing shop when it was time and the man behind the counter came over at the sound of the little bell.


    ¡°Is this beautiful woman your date for the night?¡± The man asked. ¡°Lucky you!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°She''s just here as company.¡±


    The man put a hand on Tessa''s arm. ¡°Don''t worry. You''ll find your man.¡±


    Tessa was a little surprised at the man''s boldness. ¡°I... I have someone...¡±


    ¡°Good, good.¡± The man said and pat her arm and looked at me. ¡°I have the blue pin stripe all ready for you in the change room, as well as the proper accessories.¡± He said. ¡°Shirt, underwear, socks.¡±


    ¡°I was going to take it back to...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°Nonsense.¡± The man said as he led us over to the change room. ¡°You''re wearing it out of the store, since there''s not much time left before you need to go pick up your lady friend.¡± He said. ¡°I''ve got the other two suits wrapped and ready to go behind the counter as well.¡±


    Tessa motioned for me to go into the change room and I went in to put on the suit.


    ¡°Socks first!¡± The man said as the door shut. ¡°They will let your feet ease through the cloth.¡±


    I didn''t respond and took off all my clothes and stored them, then assembled my outfit in the order he said. Socks, underwear, shirt, pants, and then the coat. I looked at myself in the large mirror and the suit fit me perfectly.


    ¡°I don''t know what you did to get this so well tailored so quickly, but...¡± I said as I opened the door to the change room and saw both the man''s and Tessa''s reaction. ¡°...I look good.¡±


    ¡°I... I need a picture.¡± The man said and left for a moment and then came back. ¡°Splendid. Simply splendid.¡± He said and took my picture. ¡°This is going up on my wall.¡±


    ¡°Tessa, what do you think?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You look like a million credits.¡± Tessa said. ¡°Even in disguise.¡±


    ¡°In disguise?¡± The man that ran the shop asked, confused.


    ¡°Let me pay the man before you blow my cover.¡± I said to her. ¡°Should I ask you how much it is, or should I just hand over a few high credit chips and let you take it?¡± I asked and held out several chips. ¡°Make sure you include the rush job and the accessories.¡±


    The man looked at the several chips, plucked a thousand credit one out of the small pile, and put it in his pocket. ¡°That should be enough.¡±


    ¡°Hey, don''t give me a deal just because it came out so well.¡± I said and he laughed.


    ¡°Just make sure you tell everyone where you bought the suit and we can call it even.¡± The man said. ¡°What better way to advertise than to have you walking around wearing it?¡±


    ¡°I hope you''re ready to get really busy tomorrow.¡± I said and we walked over to the counter. He handed me the other two bundles with the suits in them and I tucked them away.


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Magic.¡± I said honestly and he laughed again. I took Tessa''s hand and we walked over to the door. ¡°By the way, I think you should take one more picture before I leave.¡±


    ¡°Only one more?¡± The man asked with a smile.


    I let Tessa''s hand go and took off the small wooden plaque I had hung around my neck and I stopped feeding it Presence. The wood crumbled into dust and floated away as the illusion faded and my original appearance was revealed.


    ¡°S-s-somebody pinch me.¡± The man whispered. ¡°I must be dreaming.¡±


    ¡°One more picture.¡± I said and he nodded and took my picture.


    The man walked over to me and held out the camera to Tessa, who understood what he wanted. She walked a few feet away and just as she was about to take the picture, the man took my arm as if he was my date and smiled as he blushed. Tessa grinned and took the picture, then she gave the camera back to the man.


    ¡°I don''t want to wake up from this dream.¡± The man said as he looked at the picture.


    I leaned forward and pointed to my cheek. He caught his breath and thought about accepting the invitation, then he shook his head.


    ¡°I want to keep the dream alive.¡± The man said and smiled demurely. ¡°Thank you, Hunter.¡±


    I nodded and left the shop with Tessa. No one noticed me as we started to walk down the street, then someone whispered something. Someone else turned to look and shouted.


    ¡°I hope your hover car is nearby.¡± I said as I grabbed Tessa''s hand and we ran.


    *


    ¡°He''s doing it again.¡± Uzahne''s aide said as she looked onto what was considered the planet''s social media sites.


    ¡°Who?¡± Uzahne asked and took another bite of food.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± The aide said and changed her datapad display to show on the room''s vidscreen.


    ¡°Oh, for goddess'' sake!¡± Ahaen exclaimed as she saw the bar''s advertisement. ¡°What is he thinking?¡±


    ¡°That he wants to relax and have fun?¡± Sheph asked and the other two women at the table gave her a glare. ¡°He has a right to enjoy himself.¡±


    ¡°We''ve marketed him as the Hero of Chofaris.¡± Ahaen said. ¡°Does that look like the actions of a hero?¡±


    Sheph looked at the video clip of Hunter doing a weird dance with a random woman. ¡°Well, I know it looks odd to dance like that; but, when you''re doing it, it''s actually quite fun.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Ahaen asked, incredulous.


    ¡°Did you watch him?¡± Sheph asked.


    ¡°Yes. We all did.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°The whole planet has seen it by now.¡±


    ¡°You''re missing my meaning.¡± Sheph said. ¡°Look at who he is dancing with.¡±


    They all looked at the footage for several moments without speaking.


    ¡°She''s no one.¡± Ahaen said.


    ¡°Yes! That''s it exactly!¡± Sheph said. ¡°She''s not a government official, a celebrity, or even a prominent businesswoman.¡± She said and the three women looked at her. ¡°He doesn''t care who he''s dancing with, as long as they are having fun.¡±


    ¡°Which included you.¡± Ahaen said.


    ¡°I managed to get three dances in a row!¡± Sheph said, proudly. ¡°The competition for time with him was fierce!¡±


    Uzahne''s aide laughed before she could stop herself.


    ¡°Any woman could approach him and ask for a dance, and a few he asked himself.¡± Sheph said. ¡°We were all just women. I wasn''t a government official and his date wasn''t a military lieutenant. If we wanted a dance, he treated us all equally.¡± Except at the end of the night. She thought and fought her blush as she remembered his hug and that she had received two kisses on her cheeks and not one like all the others.


    ¡°That... is beside the point.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°What do we do with him?¡±


    ¡°I know what I would like to do with him.¡± Ahaen said and the others stared at her. ¡°Not that!¡± She exclaimed. Well, not only that. She admitted to herself. ¡°We should censure him for embarrassing the government like this.¡±


    ¡°The public would revolt.¡± Uzahne''s aide said and they shifted their gazes to her. ¡°He''s currently at a ninety-five percent approval rating.¡±


    ¡°Did... did you say ninety-five?¡± Uzahne asked, surprised. Ahaen was at seventy-eight, Sheph was at eighty-five, and she was only at ninety-one.


    ¡°The statistics review board expect it to go up to ninety-seven by the morning, if the trend continues.¡±


    ¡°We created a monster.¡± Ahaen said, her fervour over trying to knock Hunter down a peg or two faded away. ¡°He''s a public relations juggernaut now.¡±


    No one spoke again until they had all finished eating their meal.


    ¡°Thank you both for coming over.¡± Uzahne said and the three women stood up at the same time.


    ¡°We need to do this more often.¡± Ahaen said. ¡°We shouldn''t let our busy schedules keep us apart for more than a few days.¡±


    ¡°Tell the rest of the government that.¡± Sheph said with a laugh and gave her a quick hug, then did the same to Uzahne and walked quickly towards the dining room''s door. ¡°See you later.¡±


    ¡°Where are you going so fast?¡± Ahaen asked.


    ¡°I don''t know about you; but, I''m going to see if I can somehow get into that bar again.¡± Sheph said with a grin and left the room. Ahaen and Uzahne exchanged looks, then they both sighed. Unlike Sheph, who had become bolder over the last little while, they were much too reserved to admit that they were tempted to go to the bar with her.

 Book Three: The Resolution 021

    Tessa dropped me off at my hotel and I called a personal conveyance. I didn''t have long to wait for them to show up. I could have just walked down the street; but, I didn''t feel like being swarmed. As it was, people stared and spoke loudly, and one man came over to ask for my autograph. I shook his hand instead and turned towards the hotel. After a moment, I told him to go inside and ask them for a picture from the security footage from the lobby. He practically fell over himself as he thanked me and scrambled into the hotel.


    My ride came and I gave him Kris'' address. I hopped out and a few people noticed me, then Kris came out of her apartment building wearing a very sexy bright blue dress. It hugged her in all the right places and I was impressed that she had turned her cuteness into a weapon. When she saw me, she caught her breath and stared at my stylish new suit that fit me perfectly. I waved her closer and helped her into the hover car, climbed in myself, then told the driver to take us to the bar.


    ¡°You look very nice.¡± Kris said in a low voice.


    I gave her a smile. ¡°It doesn''t take away from what you did.¡± I said and looked at her dress. ¡°When I saw you, I was impressed.¡±


    ¡°R-really?¡±


    ¡°I hope both of our outfits can last through the night.¡± I chuckled and her face flushed red. ¡°You know what I meant.¡±


    ¡°I do... and I don''t.¡± Kris said and gave me a smile.


    ¡°Are we going to play verbal tag all night?¡± I asked and she had to laugh.


    ¡°You know what I want.¡± Kris said. ¡°Everything else is just...¡±


    I nodded. ¡°As long as you don''t deny your own fun in pursuit of that goal.¡± I said. ¡°If you meet someone tonight that gets your attention, don''t let the fact that we showed up together stop you.¡±


    ¡°I... I''m not sure what you mean.¡± Kris said.


    ¡°In about two minutes, you will.¡± I said and she gave me an inquisitive look, and I pointed. She turned her head and looked out the window of the hover car and gasped. Hundreds of people were along the sides of the street and a lot of them had cameras of some kind and were taking pictures and video of the cars approaching the bar, in the hopes of catching someone important showing up to the huge event.


    ¡°I think... calling ahead... might have been a mistake.¡± Kris whispered.


    I laughed and waved my hand out the window and several screams and flashes of light responded. The hover car stopped right in front of the bar and we saw that everything was roped off to keep the crowd back at a reasonable distance. The driver hopped out and ran around to open the door of the hover car for us. I stepped out first and smiled and waved, and a deluge of flashes and screams of delight greeted me. After a few moments, I reached into the hover car and helped Kris step out.


    ¡°Hunter! Is she your girlfriend?¡± ¡°Hunter! Are you sleeping with her?¡± ¡°Hunter! Have my babies!¡±


    I laughed and held a hand up to stop the questions. ¡°My girlfriend and I had a fight actually, and Kris agreed to come with me tonight.¡± I said to the woman that asked the first question, then I turned to the man that spoke. ¡°No, we haven''t been that well acquainted.¡± I turned again and looked at the exuberant woman that had asked the last one. ¡°I honestly don''t think it''s physically possible for me to have your babies, not without quite a bit of reconstructive surgery.¡±


    Lots of people laughed at that and a bunch more questions were shouted out.


    ¡°I hadn''t planned on giving a press conference.¡± I said and was met with more laughter. ¡°I''ll do my best over the next ten minutes, then I need to get inside.¡±


    That had surprised them, especially the members of the actual press that were there, and I answered as many questions as I could. Not surprisingly, the main question was what I was wearing. I answered it and told them there would probably be a waiting list to get an appointment after tonight. That made a lot of people laugh, too. I kept answering questions and most of them I answered directly, a few I had to deflect with a joke or two, and a couple of the more personal ones I chided them for asking things like that in public and then surprised them by answering some of them, too.


    Kris stood at my side and clung to my arm the entire time. ¡°Your ten minutes are up.¡± She whispered.


    I held up my hands to stop any more questions. ¡°My beautiful companion has informed me that our ten minutes are up and she wants you to stop monopolizing my time.¡± I said loudly and put my arm around her waist. ¡°That''s supposed to be her job!¡±


    A few people laughed. ¡°Lucky her!¡± ¡°I want to do that, too!¡± ¡°Marry me!¡±


    ¡°I have to get inside, so thank you all for listening.¡± I said and they responded with their own thanks and appreciation for me taking the time to do what I just did. I gave them all a wave and led Kris inside the bar. I wasn''t surprised to see that it was packed.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Kris asked. ¡°I was terrified confronting all of those people!¡±


    ¡°You''re not angry at my joke?¡± I asked and she shook her head. ¡°The thing about an unruly mob is as long as you remain calm, they can instinctively sense that they aren''t rattling you and they''ll calm down as well.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°The last thing any of those people expected was for me to actually stand there and answer their questions... especially some of the ridiculous ones.¡± I said and one of the waitresses led us over to the same roped off area that I had been in before. ¡°Who asks a man what kind of panties he likes, besides a woman he''s sleeping with or his guy friends?¡± I asked and then laughed. ¡°Did you see their faces when I answered?¡±


    Kris'' face flushed red and she ducked her head a little.


    ¡°Oh.¡± I said as I heard her thoughts. ¡°You''re wearing them.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± Kris said, slightly embarrassed as she turned to sit down at the table closest to the dance floor.


    ¡°I guess that''s why I couldn''t feel any indents on your dress, even though it''s so form fitting.¡± I said as I sat beside her, because my hand had slid over her hip a couple of times while we walked side by side and entered the bar. She blushed harder and crossed her legs.


    A different waitress came over and her tray was full of drinks. ¡°These are gifts from the ladies over there.¡± She said and pointed. I looked and saw a dozen hands wave at me. I waved back and a few of them yelled my name.


    ¡°I can''t drink them all at once, so could tell them that the order I drink them in doesn''t matter because I''ll drink all of them?¡±


    The waitress smiled and nodded. ¡°I''ll let them know.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said. ¡°Which one tastes the best?¡± I asked as she put all of the drinks on the table.


    ¡°This one.¡± She said and slid a dark drink over to me. ¡°It''s also the most expensive of the bunch.¡±


    ¡°That figures.¡± I said and took a sip. ¡°Is that... licorice and vanilla?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°We don''t sell a lot of them.¡±


    I took out a five hundred credit chip and gave it to her. ¡°Give each of them one of these drinks.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. I''ll be back with your change.¡±


    ¡°Keep it.¡± I said and she widened her eyes at me.


    ¡°You''re going to be working a lot tonight.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Believe me, you''re going to earn that tip... and probably a lot more.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The waitress said with a grin and left. After a few minutes, there were twelve nearly identical yells and all of the women stood and waved to me. I waved back and heard a laugh from beside me.


    ¡°I didn''t sign on for this, you know.¡± Kris said with a huge smile.


    ¡°Oh, we''re just getting started.¡± I said and the music started up with a fast beat. A collective happy yell came from the crowd and practically everyone in the bar stood up at the same time. ¡°Care to join me for the first dance?¡±


    Kris looked at the dance floor as it started to fill up, nodded, and took my hand.


    *


    The media coverage was total. They had paid the bar a considerable amount for its security footage from the last time, both inside and outside the bar. This time, because of the foreknowledge of Hunter''s arrival, they had paid nearly three times as much to have professional video recorders set up in key locations to get all of the action and in the highest quality possible.


    Hunter did not disappoint them.


    His behavior wasn''t outrageous, just flamboyant... at first. After a few hours of everyone having fun and after he had a multitude of dance partners, there was a lull in the music so the band could rest. As everyone left the dance floor, Hunter, eight men and a dozen women remained, then a slightly see-through blue wall appeared around the dance floor that went right up to the ceiling.


    No one knew what was going on. Inquiries were made with the staff of the bar and they didn''t know either. The band finished their break and set up to start playing again, then the entire area inside the blue walls lit up for about ten seconds.


    Luckily the band didn''t notice and started to play... and then... Hunter and the people inside the blue area floated up as if there was no gravity inside. The entire bar stopped and watched as the people inside the walls laughed almost hysterically and danced through the air.


    It was like they were flying!


    A fast song, then a slow song, and the people coupled up and floated around in circles like a merry-go-round. No one at the bar believed what they were seeing. The men and women at the studio couldn''t believe what they were seeing, either.


    It wasn''t possible! It was a trick! A hologram! It had to be fake!


    After five songs, the people inside the blue walled barrier floated down to the floor and landed as if nothing had happened. They were still laughing and looked exhausted, then the barrier faded away.


    *


    ¡°I can''t believe we just did that!¡± Grace said and laughed. ¡°Look at everyone''s faces!¡±


    ¡°Thanks for helping me out, everyone.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hey, when you said we could practice our weightless skills by dancing, we couldn''t refuse!¡± Jaset laughed and Tessa held onto him and laughed, too.


    ¡°What a thrill that was!¡± Tessa exclaimed.


    ¡°Did that just happen?¡± Kris asked and looked up at me. ¡°Did we just dance through the air?¡±


    ¡°We all did.¡± I said and looked at the military people that had volunteered when I mentioned putting on a show for the bar. ¡°I didn''t expect so many eager participants, though.¡±


    The others laughed and we quickly dispersed before the audience decided to swarm us. Grace, Tessa, Kris, Jaset and I made it back to the roped off area just as everyone recovered their senses. We were swarmed by people and suffered a barrage of questions. Thankfully, the roped off section provided some protection and kept things at a more civil level than if we had stayed on the dance floor.


    Of course, everyone that had participated were asked what had happened and none of them could say what really happened, just that they heard about what was going to happen and wanted to participate. I didn''t enlighten anyone about what I actually did, which was use up one of my engraved wooden plaques that had the Flight spell on it. They had no experience with actually flying, so I just told them that inside the barrier it would be zero gravity, and their minds used the flight ability that way. It became an immediate sensation, both inside the bar and out.


    ¡°Can you do it again?¡± Someone yelled.


    ¡°I wanna try!¡± ¡°Me, too!¡± ¡°Take me to heaven!¡±


    ¡°I was only able to do it this time because I had professional help.¡± I said and snaked my arms around Grace and Kris, and both women blushed slightly. ¡°I wanted to show you all how skilled the members of your military are when they are operating in space, even when there''s no gravity.¡± I said and a collective gasp went through the crowd. ¡°Did you see them? They danced! They danced in zero gravity!¡±


    ¡°So did you!¡± Someone shouted.


    ¡°I wasn''t by myself.¡± I said and laughed. ¡°Thanks to them, you all saw a great show! Let''s give the Chofaris military a big round of applause!¡± I said and took my arms away from the two women beside me and started to clap. ¡°They risk their lives every day to keep Fogaris space safe! Let''s hear it!¡±


    The crowd picked up my clapping and soon everyone inside and outside were clapping enthusiastically for the military. I stopped clapping and raised my hands, and they all slowed down and stopped. Complete silence fell and they all waited for what I was about to say next.


    ¡°What are you all standing around for? Let''s keep this party going!¡± I exclaimed, and they all cheered.


    *


    The bar had been smart and stocked up on alcohol and had a back-up band. They took turns all night and the alcohol didn''t stop flowing. The night turned into day and everyone kept partying. No one left to show up for work and some even had their bosses there with them, which meant they had the perfect excuse. No one knew why they all still felt energized and no one questioned it. Everyone had fun, even the people outside that never got to enter the bar. Mostly because Hunter occasionally brought out a bunch of people with him and they partied right there with them.


    They were all amazed at the spectacle as the party continued on for nearly half the day, then the bartender announced that they needed to close to clean up the place for the following night. Of course, this was met with the largest amount of boos that ever existed in the bar''s history. When he told them that, everyone laughed. Once they knew they had set another record, besides the sixteen hour long party, they all agreed that it was time to go home. What surprised them all was that they weren''t as drunk as they thought they should be.


    *


    I waited for most of the people to leave the bar and I saw the state it was in. We had wrecked the place and trash was everywhere. I looked over at the bartender and the waitresses as they stared at the colossal mess that they had to clean up and I knew I couldn''t let them tackle it alone.


    ¡°Ladies, excuse me for a few minutes.¡± I said to Grace and Kris and left the roped off area. The bartender looked at me as I approached and his face was very happy.


    ¡°I think I can retire now.¡± The bartender said.


    ¡°Me, too.¡± I said and looked at the place. ¡°I''m sorry about the mess.¡±


    ¡°Well, with this many people, it was bound to build up like this.¡±


    ¡°Would you mind if I gave you a hand?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The bartender said. ¡°You''re the Hero of Chofaris.¡±


    ¡°How about a hundred hands, then?¡± I asked and generated a hundred slightly blue glowing Presence Hands around us. The bartender and the waitresses stared at the hands and didn''t know what to say. ¡°I''ll get to work, then.¡±


    I turned to face the bar and started to clean the place up. The last of the people still shuffling their way out, stopped and turned to look at what was happening. They were shocked to see dozens upon dozens of glowing blue hands as they picked up trash and crushed it, then the trash floated by itself towards the center of the room and gathered in a ball that floated above the floor. Food was gathered in another ball and the alcohol was pulled out of glasses and gathered in yet another ball.


    No one expected to see a large floating ball of alcoholic liquid in the middle of the room with a ball of snacks beside it, or the huge ball of trash as it accumulated.


    ¡°I assume you separate the trash and food?¡± I asked and the bartender nodded his head several times. ¡°Do I pour the liquid down the sink?¡±


    ¡°We... have a... receptacle.¡± One of the waitresses said. ¡°In the back.¡±


    ¡°Large white barrel with the lever?¡± I asked and she nodded.


    The liquid floated around me and towards the door into the back. The bartender shouted to stop and I had one of the hands open the door. He relaxed and the ball of liquid squeezed together to fit through the space and I floated it over to the barrel and opened it, then slowly lowered the alcohol in and closed it.


    ¡°The discarded food?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The large bin out back.¡±


    ¡°What about the trash?¡±


    ¡°The bin next to it.¡± The bartender said and looked at the big balls of food and trash. ¡°There''s no way you are getting those huge things out through the door.¡±


    ¡°What? These little things?¡± I asked and the big ball of food and the huge ball of trash glowed blue for a second, then they were crushed down to the size of a marble. I put the two marbles on the bar and they all stared at them. ¡°Where should I put the glasses?¡±


    The bartender and the waitresses looked up at me in surprise and the hundred glowing blue Presence Hands behind me held four glasses each.


    ¡°Du... du...¡± The bartender stuttered and stared at me.


    ¡°Dispenser... in the back.¡± One of the waitresses said.


    I saw what she meant in her head and found it in the back and nodded, then held the door open and quickly made a train of hands that continuously funnelled handfuls of glasses back into the dispenser that would clean and deconstruct them so that the materials could be used to make other glasses. In barely ten minutes, the place was completely clean of debris.


    ¡°I can''t stay around to help wash the tables off, though.¡± I said. ¡°I need to take my friends home.¡±


    The bartender didn''t respond and the waitresses kept staring at me.


    I reached out and took each of their hands and shook them. ¡°Thanks a lot for a great time.¡± I said and ended with the bartender. ¡°I''ll back in a month when I take another break.¡±


    ¡°A-a-a month?¡± He asked. ¡°You''re waiting a month before taking a break?¡±


    ¡°I kind of goofed off a lot the last little while, so it''s about time for me to get serious.¡± I said.


    ¡°This... wasn''t serious?¡± One of the waitresses asked and I laughed.


    ¡°I probably would have flown all night if I was serious.¡± I said and their eyes widened. ¡°You don''t believe me?¡± I asked and used levitation to pick myself up and floated backwards, did a twirl in mid-air, then waved and floated over to the roped off area and landed beside Grace and Kris. ¡°Ladies, allow me to give you a ride home.¡±


    ¡°L-l-like th-that?¡± Kris asked, her voice shaky.


    ¡°If you want.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°I do.¡± Grace said and I glanced at her. ¡°Please.¡±


    Kris'' hand found mine and gave it a squeeze. She didn''t say anything and just nodded. I put one arm around the waist of each of them, then the three of us walked across the room and out the door. Surprisingly, there were still quite a lot of people outside.


    ¡°Hunter? Maybe we should wait until...¡± Grace started to say, then I covered us in Presence and floated us up into the air in front of everyone. She held onto me tightly, as did Kris, and I used my Stealth technique to make us invisible and sped us away over everyone''s astonished heads.

 Book Three: The Resolution 022

    ¡°I can''t believe this.¡± The man watching the footage said. ¡°What the hell are all those hands?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± The woman beside him said. She didn''t offer anything else and he looked at her. ¡°What? I can''t explain it and they are a huge deterrent. I don''t know if we can get past them.¡±


    ¡°Don''t assume he has them all the time.¡± He said.


    ¡°Don''t assume that he doesn''t.¡± She countered.


    He squinted his eyes at her for a moment, then he sighed. ¡°We can observe him for another twelve hours, then we have to move.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that''s wise?¡± She asked. ¡°How do you know he''s going to stay around until tonight?¡±


    ¡°His hotel is paid for three days and this is only the second day.¡± The man said, smugly. He didn''t even have to threaten the clerk to get the information from her because she gushed it out as soon as he mentioned Hunter''s name. He even had Hunter''s room number and he had already checked it out and planned the best way to infiltrate the hotel. They needed to get to Hunter before anyone else knew what was going on.


    *


    ¡°How are you doing this?!?¡± Grace asked with a joyous expression as I floated her and Kris through the city fairly quickly. ¡°We''re flying!¡±


    ¡°Actually, it''s just levitation.¡± I said. ¡°Flight would allow a lot more manoeuvrability and speed.¡±


    ¡°That''s not much of a distinction.¡± Kris said and clung to my arm.


    ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± Grace asked. ¡°Not that I''m not grateful or anything.¡± She added a bit sheepishly.


    ¡°I''m showing off.¡± I said and she laughed. ¡°Plus, if anyone would appreciate something like this, I figured people who flew ships through space would enjoy it.¡± I said and slowed down as I came in for a landing on the sidewalk in front of her building. Showing off was one thing, startling people by doing what I was doing was another. I let the Stealth technique fade and then let both women go.


    Grace did a twirl to make her skirt flare out. ¡°We definitely enjoyed that dance floor you set up for us.¡± She said with a huge smile. ¡°Imagine! Dancing in zero gravity on a planet! It''s unbelievable!¡±


    I chuckled and I pointed to the front door of her apartment building.


    ¡°Oh! I''m home already?¡± Grace asked and looked at the door. Her face went from happy to sad in an instant. ¡°That means it''s over.¡±


    ¡°Don''t be sad.¡± I said and she turned to look at me. ¡°Even if you do make a frown, you look pretty.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°Shh.¡± I said and stepped close.


    Grace put her arms around me and hugged me. ¡°Please make love to me.¡± She whispered.


    ¡°I don''t want to take advantage of you like this.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m a little drunk, not stupid.¡± Grace said and looked into my eyes. ¡°I''m the one that''s taking advantage of you.¡±


    I opened my mouth to respond and she stood on her toes and kissed me. It had been a while since I had a woman assert herself with confidence like that, so I kissed her back. She didn''t quite moan as my hands went around her and held her firmly. I could hear her thoughts and she desperately wanted to spend some quality time with me. Hot and naked quality time. I seriously considered relenting to her mental pleas.


    I broke the kiss and pulled back. ¡°How about we have an actual date tonight?¡±


    Grace looked like she was going to explode with happiness.


    ¡°Relax, don''t jump to conclusions.¡± I said and she grinned and kissed me again.


    ¡°I''ll see you tonight.¡± Grace said and sauntered away.


    ¡°How can you walk like that in high heels?¡± I asked her and she laughed and went into her building.


    ¡°Are you really going to sleep with her tonight?¡± Kris asked from beside me.


    ¡°I honestly don''t know.¡± I said. ¡°I was tempted to go with her into her apartment right now, actually.¡±


    ¡°Are you drunk?¡± Kris asked.


    ¡°Like you, not completely.¡± I said and that made her giggle.


    ¡°Can we walk back to my place?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said and put my arm around her waist. ¡°I''ve got some time to spare.¡±


    Kris looked up at my face and gave me an odd look. I could hear her thoughts and she was trying to decide if she should ask for what she wanted. I gave her a smile and scooped her up into my arms. She let out a little squeal and put her arms around my neck. A few people on the street stood there and watched us as we walked past.


    ¡°I can be a great friend.¡± Kris whispered into my ear as she held on.


    ¡°You just want me for my hair.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kris said, then she kissed my cheek. ¡°I don''t care if you''re the Hero of Chofaris, or the owner of your own company, or even if you''re a rogue from The Order.¡± She said and tucked her head into my neck and sighed. ¡°None of that matters.¡±


    Her words resonated inside of me and I knew she was being completely honest. I let a touch of Presence out and let it cover her and her heart glowed in response as my energy touched her. She took in a deep breath and let it out and she really liked whatever she was feeling right then.


    ¡°I have a girlfriend.¡± I said.


    ¡°No, you don''t.¡± Kris said. ¡°You''ve slept with someone that you love, a bunch of times, and you don''t really have any kind of personal relationship past that.¡±


    I was very surprised when the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°You told me what happened, and she must think that, too. You haven''t even gone on an actual date.¡± Kris said. ¡°Why else would she be so surprised about you saying that your business relationship was put in jeopardy by your fight? She thought it was separate and you were just having fun on the side. Or she was. Or whatever.¡± She said. ¡°Luxea really screwed things up by not thinking about your feelings.¡± She giggled when she realized what she said could be taken both figuratively and literally. ¡°She screwed up! Ha ha!¡±


    ¡°Maybe you''re a bit more than a little drunk.¡± I said and tried not to laugh, because Kris was right.


    I had been so focused on being in a relationship with Luxea, that I completely missed the fact that we weren''t in the same relationship. I expected certain things to be a certain way and so did she, and I didn''t realize that they weren''t the same things. I had been in a monogamous relationship with Maylia for almost five hundred years, after Afyne passed away, and we had loved each other and never took anyone else to our bed or took our love for each other for granted.


    We were partners and shared everything, and I had just shifted all of those expectations and assumptions over to Luxea. I didn''t know if that was what Luxea really wanted, because she had asked me not to read her thoughts, and I never did. I just assumed that what I had with Maylia was the kind of relationship that she wanted as well, and I had left it at that. It didn''t excuse Luxea''s reaction by taking another man to her bed; but, it definitely would have changed my own reactions to it.


    ¡°I can be a real idiot sometimes.¡± I said out loud.


    Kris laughed and lifted her head to look at my face, then she briefly pressed her lips to my cheek. ¡°A lovable idiot... with more hair than ten women combined.¡±


    That made me laugh and she was happy that I was happy, then she tucked her head back into my neck and promptly fell asleep. With her unconscious, I used my Stealth technique again and made us invisible, then I used Presence Run and ran the rest of the way to her apartment. I plucked her apartment number from her head and went to it, used Presence to open the locks, which included the electronic one, then brought her inside and locked it again. It must have had some expert decorating done to it because she had a really nice apartment.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I took her into her bedroom and deactivated my Stealth technique and tried to put her down on the bed. Her arms held on to my neck tightly and she didn''t want to let go, even asleep. I chuckled mentally at her tenacity and thought about how I was going to get out of her grip. It didn''t take me long to figure it out.


    ¡°You need to let my neck go if you want to cuddle my hair.¡± I whispered to her.


    Kris jerked as if I had slapped her and she pulled her arms away from my neck, then she made grabbing motions with her hands without opening her eyes. I laughed softly, barely above a whisper, and I undid my hair and sat down next to her on the bed and laid my hair in her arms. She hugged the mass of hair and moaned as she buried her face into it, then she rolled over and went back to sleep.


    I was glad that I had given her enough slack that she didn''t drag me on top of her with that move. I slipped off my coat and stored it, then laid down beside her and relaxed as I used several mental techniques to check my mental capacity. As I suspected, my meditation technique wasn''t being used and neither was my limited detection range. I put both back in place before I forgot about them again, then drifted off to sleep.


    *


    ¡°...let''s give the Chofaris military a big round of applause!¡± Hunter said from the vidscreen and started to clap. ¡°They risk their lives every day to keep Fogaris space safe! Let''s hear it!¡±


    Everyone around him erupted into applause.


    ¡°Shut it off.¡± Olugaell said with a sigh.


    ¡°He did it again!¡± Ahaen said, shocked. ¡°Did you see that blue thing? What was that?¡±


    ¡°Whatever it was, it let all those people dance in mid-air.¡± Uzahne said and looked at the empty chair. ¡°Where''s Sheph?¡±


    ¡°She called in sick.¡± Uzahne''s aide said. ¡°She admitted she was only tired from dancing all night and that she didn''t want to come to work drunk.¡±


    Ahaen groaned at the embarrassment. ¡°Does she have no shame?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think shame has anything to do with it.¡± Olugaell said. ¡°Did you see the number of people that showed up when they knew that Hunter would be there?¡±


    ¡°He played up to them, too.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°He left the bar several times and made sure to bring the party out to the people that couldn''t get in.¡± She looked at her aide. ¡°Should I ask what his approval rating is?¡±


    Her aide looked at her datapad and opened her mouth, closed it, then smiled. ¡°The military is up to eighty-eight percent.¡±


    Olugaell stood up and looked at the datapad. ¡°He''s at ninety-nine percent.¡±


    ¡°NINETY-NINE?!?¡± Ahaen yelled and Uzahne put a hand on her arm to calm her down.


    ¡°His support of the military protecting the system pushed him higher than the estimate.¡± Uzahne''s aide said. ¡°I''m not sure how he could get that last one percent, though.¡±


    ¡°You want him to, don''t you?¡± Ahaen asked, slightly angry.


    ¡°We''ve never had anyone even close to his numbers.¡± The aide said. ¡°He has made history at ninety-nine, so...¡±


    ¡°How long is he staying this time?¡±


    ¡°The patrol ship he came in on is leaving in two days.¡± The aide responded. ¡°He came in with them for their one month overhaul and he''s supposed to be on it when it''s done and the crew boards again.¡±


    ¡°Then there''s a chance that he will make another spectacle of himself and this could happen again.¡± Ahaen said and sat back in her chair with a huff.


    ¡°You''re just unhappy that you waited too long and couldn''t get into the bar.¡± Uzahne teased and Ahaen blushed.


    ¡°We should send someone to his hotel to keep watch.¡± Olugaell suggested. ¡°They can let us know what happens and if he is going to do something like this again.¡±


    ¡°That''s a good idea.¡± Uzahne said and looked at her aide. ¡°Please arrange for a squad to put Hunter under surveillance.¡±


    ¡°I assume you want it to be covert.¡± The aide said and Uzahne nodded. ¡°Will that work, considering what we know about him?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ahaen asked.


    ¡°He can see through walls.¡± The aide said. ¡°What makes you think he won''t know he''s being watched?¡±


    The women exchanged glances and then Uzahne looked at her aide again.


    ¡°Call him and let him know we are watching him when the squad is in place.¡± Uzahne said. The aide nodded and left the room to make the arrangements.


    *


    ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Simone said as she watched the news broadcast on the vidscreen in the living room.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Luxea asked as she came into the room and saw the footage. ¡°He''s doing it again.¡±


    ¡°Is he ever.¡± Simone said and waved at the screen. ¡°They''re showing it again in a minute.¡±


    ¡°Showing what again?¡± Luxea asked and ignored Simone when she pat the couch. ¡°Just tell me.¡±


    ¡°Nope. You''ve got to see this for yourself.¡± Simone said. ¡°They keep repeating it, because no one believes it''s possible.¡± She said with a grin. ¡°I''ve seen it three times now and I still can''t believe it!¡±


    Luxea was too intrigued to ignore that statement, so she went to the couch and sat beside the other woman. Since when did I start thinking that Simone is the other woman? She asked herself. She wasn''t surprised by the thought, mainly because of how Hunter had talked about Simone and brought her onboard without even consulting her about it. Unlike the first thought, that thought surprised her. It''s Hunters company. He can hire... and fire... whoever he wants.


    ¡°Here it is again, folks.¡± The announcer on the screen said. ¡°We''ve had experts and consultants scour this footage... again... and none of them have figured it out.¡± He said and the scene played with Hunter and a bunch of people dancing through the air inside a large slightly blue area. ¡°There''s no special technology embedded into the floor or ceiling of the bar, either. Yes, we''ve checked.¡±


    Luxea and Simone stared at the screen and watched as Hunter danced with several different women during five songs. The people inside the area were laughing as they danced in mid-air and looked like they were having the time of their lives.


    ¡°The footage isn''t edited, there''s no guide wires, and no computer touch ups.¡± The announcer said. ¡°We even have multiple camera views with the same time stamps that confirm that it''s entirely genuine.¡±


    ¡°Okay, now I regret not going myself.¡± Rhubin said.


    Simone and Luxea turned their heads to see him as he stood in the doorway with a food tray full of snacks. He walked into the room and sat down between the two women and held out the tray for them to take some of the snacks.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Simone said and helped herself. Luxea hesitated for a moment, then helped herself, too.


    ¡°That looks like so much fun.¡± Rhubin said and sat back to relax and started eating a snack, too. ¡°Giving credit to the military after that dance was a stroke of genius.¡±


    ¡°It sure was.¡± Simone said. ¡°I sincerely doubt they will take any order that tells them to escort us out of the system or that stops us from coming back when we drop off the first cargo of salvage.¡±


    Rhubin laughed. ¡°I doubt the admiral would even entertain that kind of order now, armed ships or not.¡±


    Luxea ate some of the snacks and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°You''re quiet.¡± Simone said as she leaned around Rhubin to look at Luxea.


    Luxea gave her a look that said she wasn''t going to rise to the bait, and Simone chuckled.


    ¡°The first time he did this, it was for you. This time it was for the military.¡± Simone said. ¡°I wonder who the next one will be for?¡±


    ¡°There won''t be a next one.¡± Rhubin said and both women looked at him in surprise.


    ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°There''s no one else to make a spectacle for.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°The Wave has gotten more publicity than we ever could have hoped for, everyone has forgotten about Luxea, and the military is happy. There''s no one else.¡±


    ¡°What about the government?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°You mean the people that caused him do all of this in the first place?¡± Rhubin asked and laughed again. ¡°Yeah, that''s not going to happen.¡±


    Simone and Luxea sat in silence and ate their snacks as they watched the rest of the footage. Both women regretted not accepting Hunter''s offer, because it really did look like a lot of fun.


    *


    Kris slowly opened her eyes and her face was covered in a golden blanket. It smelled like heaven and she dug her hands into it and rubbed her face in its softness. In the next instant, she woke up fully and realized what she was doing. She sat bolt upright and looked at the man beside her in her bed. He looked at peace and she wondered what she had done with him. She didn''t remember doing anything and she touched herself on the chest and then she checked herself between her legs. Both her bra and her panties were intact and she was pretty sure that she was glad that they were undisturbed.


    I''m only pretty sure? Kris asked herself as she stared at Hunter, then another thought struck her. Why didn''t he take advantage of me? I wanted him to. I know I did. She thought, then doubt filled her mind. No, I... I do want to be with him; but, not like... I want to be aware when... if... it happens.


    *


    ¡°That''s why we''re both still dressed.¡± I said and Kris tensed up a little. ¡°I thought about leaving, then I realized I had to keep my word to you.¡± I waved at the hair she sat in. ¡°You used it like a blanket the whole time you were asleep.¡±


    ¡°H-how l-long?¡±


    I took out a datapad and checked the time. ¡°About seven hours.¡±


    ¡°We were here all day?¡± Kris asked, surprised.


    ¡°I didn''t have anywhere else to be.¡± I said with a smile and sat up. ¡°Of course, now I do.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡± Kris started to say.


    ¡°I''ve got a date with Grace that I need to get ready for.¡± I said and stood up, then easily pulled all of my hair off of the bed. I floated it behind me like it was suspended in water and Kris stared at it. ¡°Would you mind if I used your shower?¡±


    ¡°N-no, go right ahead.¡± Kris said and she kept staring at my floating hair.


    I entered her bathroom and quickly stripped off, took out the second suit bundle to see that it also had the same accessories of socks, underwear, and shirt that matched the red pinstripe suit. With my outfit ready, I stepped into the shower to start washing. I intentionally left the bathroom door open and it didn''t take long for Kris to poke her head into the bathroom to take a peek at me. She caught her breath as she saw me through the practically see-through glass of the shower stall.


    I washed everywhere and left my hair for last. I gave it a quick shampoo and rinse, then I turned off the shower and squeezed my hair out with Presence. After a quick flick to get the last of the water off of it, I used a towel to dry myself off. Kris stood there in the doorway, her mouth slightly open, and she watched me get dressed. By the time I pulled on my shirt, she had closed her eyes and I heard her thoughts as she tried to burn the image of me into her mind.


    ¡°Let me help with that.¡± I said and Kris opened her eyes to look at me.


    ¡°H-how?¡± Kris asked in a whisper.


    I leaned down and gave her a kiss and used Presence to stimulate her mind to let her remember. I felt the memory settle into her long term memory and broke the kiss.


    Kris gasped and put a hand over her mouth. ¡°H-Hunter!¡±


    ¡°Thanks for letting me use your shower.¡± I said and stored my other suit and clothes, then I walked to her room door.


    ¡°W-wait!¡± Kris said and turned to face me. ¡°How did you bring me inside?¡±


    I smiled and used Presence to open all the locks on her door and pulled it open. ¡°Any other questions?¡±


    ¡°Are... are you going to sleep with Grace?¡±


    ¡°Now that I''ve sobered up, I can say that I won''t.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I made the mistake of sleeping with a co-worker and made a mess of it. Even if all Grace wants is a one time fling, and I''m pretty sure she wants a lot more than that, I won''t take advantage of her... or you.¡±


    Kris took a deep breath and sighed. ¡°I wanted you to.¡±


    I chuckled as the Presence wavered a little. ¡°Only because it would make the next time it happened that much easier.¡±


    Kris waited for a moment and then nodded.


    ¡°Then you might be happy to know that I''m not taking another break from work for about a month.¡± I said. ¡°Do you think I might catch another ride then?¡±


    Kris didn''t even have to think about it before she answered. ¡°I''ll make sure my ship is on station by then.¡±


    I nodded and left the apartment, then I locked all the locks behind me.

 Book Three: The Resolution 023

    Instead of using another illusion spell, I used Presence to hide most of my hair and used it to distort the light around my face. It wasn''t a great disguise and wouldn''t survive an up close examination, though. I went to the lobby of the apartment building and called a personal conveyance. It showed up a few minutes later and I climbed in and told the driver Grace''s address. We drove there and I asked him to wait. I didn''t get out and looked up at the building and into Grace''s apartment. She looked like she was freaking out a little, was only half-dressed, and ran around her apartment almost at random.


    ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± I said and stepped out of the hover car and went inside. I used Presence Run and ran up the stairwell, rather than wait for the lift, then I stopped in front of her door and knocked twice.


    Grace let out a scream and jumped and she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°I''m afraid to say in case it makes you freak out more.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ohgoddessohgoddessohgoddess...¡± Grace said in a continuous stream and she shook.


    ¡°Can I come in?¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± Grace yelled and took several breaths. ¡°I''m... I''m not ready!¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°I can see through walls, remember?¡±


    Grace looked down at herself and then looked at her door, then she started to cry. I used Presence to open the locks and opened the door, shut it right away, and walked over to her. I took her into my arms and held her as she cried. She was an emotional wreck and I formed a temporary connection with her and used several techniques to calm her down and let her get a hold of herself. She held onto me as I slowly rubbed her back and she trembled from shock.


    ¡°H-Hunter, I... I didn''t mean...¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said.


    ¡°No, I said some things that...¡± Grace wiped at her eyes and looked up at me for a second, then she ducked her head and rested it against my chest. ¡°I''m so embarrassed and I didn''t know if I could face you after what I said.¡±


    ¡°You seemed genuinely happy for a date, though.¡± I said and she laughed a little.


    ¡°I was. Am. Oh, goddess.¡± Grace said and kept trembling, despite my best efforts.


    ¡°I think I might have to cancel our date.¡± I said and she visibly relaxed. ¡°I wanted to come here and tell you in person and not with a message.¡±


    ¡°R-really? Why?¡± Grace asked without looking up.


    ¡°I''m afraid I really poured on the charm last night and I wrangled a date out of you while you were intoxicated.¡± I said. ¡°I kind of had the same conversation with Kris not that long ago and I told her that I didn''t want to take advantage of her... and you.¡±


    Grace took in a huge breath and let it out. ¡°And me?¡±


    ¡°Making plans when we''re both drunk wasn''t the smartest thing for us to do.¡± I said with disappointment. ¡°It gave us both some unreasonable expectations, didn''t it?¡±


    Grace took another breath and looked up at my face. She saw my sadness and her hand reached up and cupped the side of my face. ¡°Y-yes, I... I think...¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to say anything.¡± I said and let her go, then took her hand from my face and kissed the palm before I let it go. ¡°I''ll see you in a couple days back on the ship, assuming your duties don''t have you too busy to visit me in the passenger compartment.¡± I added the qualifier in case she needed the excuse to not come and see me.


    ¡°I can''t promise that I''ll see you there.¡± Grace said and I knew she was grateful for the excuse that I had given her. She was keeping her embarrassment to herself about what she said and didn''t let it show.


    Grace wasn''t normally a woman that would casually offer to sleep with someone like that. She was the kind of woman that didn''t want to start a relationship knowing full well that the other person wasn''t going to be around for long. She knew I was going to leave when the salvage contract expired and I knew that she wasn''t going to leave her home to come with me. She had worked too hard to get where she was to give it up, just for a chance at a relationship with me.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said and she nodded. I turned around and left her apartment, locked the locks, then used Presence Run to go back down to the ground floor and left the building. ¡°Downtown, please.¡± I said to the driver after I climbed into the hover car. He added power to the engine and we took the next corner and the next to face the city center and he drove me there. He had to slow down as we approached a street with a pile of hover cars and a huge crowd of people.


    ¡°What''s going on there?¡± The driver asked rhetorically.


    I turned my head and looked to see a small clothing store was completely swamped with customers, some of which were staring at the large picture of me in the blue pinstriped suit and the man that ran the shop hanging on my arm. I chuckled at his choice of picture and spoke.


    ¡°That''s the shop Hunter got his stylish suit.¡±


    ¡°Oh, damn!¡± The driver said and laughed. ¡°I''m surprised the street''s not closed off! Ha ha!¡±


    I laughed as well and told him to stop at the restaurant Tessa and I ate at the day before. I paid him and went inside, waited for a few minutes to get a small table, then sat down to look at the menu. It didn''t take long for a woman to approach me.


    ¡°I''m sorry to bother you.¡± The woman said. ¡°My friends and I noticed you wearing a suit similar to the one Hunter wore yesterday.¡± She said and waved at her friends.


    I looked over at them and three very well-dressed women gave me a little wave. I wiggled my fingers at them and one of them giggled.


    ¡°How did you get it?¡± She asked, curious.


    ¡°I got it before the big rush today.¡± I said and she nodded.


    ¡°I see that you''re sitting alone.¡± She said and looked at the single place setting. ¡°Would you like to join us?¡± She asked and genuinely wanted me to accept.


    ¡°I couldn''t possibly intrude on your friendly gathering.¡± I said.


    ¡°We would enjoy the company.¡± She said. ¡°It isn''t often we meet a lone man anywhere respectable.¡±


    ¡°Where do you go that''s not respectable?¡± I asked and she laughed.


    ¡°Please, sit with us and bring that humor with you.¡± The woman said and held a hand out to me.


    ¡°Why not.¡± I said and stood up and took her hand, and she took in a sharp breath as she felt my energy. ¡°I believe I danced with two of you last night.¡± I said and the four of them stared at me with wide eyes. ¡°You all bought me drinks, too.¡±


    ¡°No, we... the only one that...¡± One of them started to say and I stopped distorting my face and absorbed the Presence hiding my hair. The entire restaurant came to a standstill and stared at me, as did the four women.


    ¡°Oh, my.¡± The one that had invited me to eat, whispered.


    ¡°So, what''s a good dish here?¡± I asked. ¡°I only had one of the specials yesterday.¡±


    ¡°You were here yesterday?¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°I was in disguise.¡± I whispered loudly. ¡°My normal appearance causes a bit of an uproar if I''m not careful.¡±


    ¡°L-like n-now.¡± One of them said and I chuckled.


    ¡°That''s why I try to sneak in when I can.¡± I said. ¡°I was worried when I had to cancel my date that I would have to eat alone tonight, then four beautiful women asked me to eat with them.¡± I didn''t have to look at them to see their flattered faces. ¡°The least I could do was let you know it was really me.¡±


    The one who invited me hadn''t spoken since I revealed myself, so I looked into her eyes.


    ¡°I''m not married.¡± She said automatically.


    I held in my laugh at her blatant statement. ¡°Even if you were, we''re just sharing a meal.¡± I said and two of the other three women relaxed. ¡°Believe me, I''m not here to cause anyone distress.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°T-tell that to the waitress.¡± One of them said and I turned to smile at the woman that stood about ten feet away. Her legs and her hands shook as she stared at me. I stood up and held a hand out to her. She hesitated for about ten seconds, then she took a step forward and took my hand. I touched her with Presence and let her feel it, then used a calm technique on her. She closed her eyes and didn''t fight the feeling as it went through her, then she relaxed and opened her eyes.


    ¡°Could we bother you for a few minutes as we order our meals?¡± I asked, and she nodded. I sat down and she held my hand for a few more seconds, then she reluctantly let it go and took out a datapad.


    ¡°What would you like to order?¡±


    ¡°What would you say is the best tasting dish?¡± I asked. ¡°Not the most expensive, the tastiest.¡±


    ¡°You want to try the smoked hacklesnout with a side of crab legs.¡± The waitress said.


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± I said. ¡°I''d like one of those.¡±


    ¡°As would I.¡± One of the women said.


    ¡°I want the frecknash steak with a slice of jarsnip.¡± One of the married ones said. ¡°I''ll regret it tomorrow when I have to exercise twice as long; but, it''s worth it.¡± She said with a grin. ¡°We only meet once a week normally and we snuck in a second one last night!¡±


    The other women laughed, gave their orders to the waitress, and she left to get the food.


    ¡°That was so much fun last night.¡± The other married one said.


    ¡°I hope your husband doesn''t get angry about dancing with me.¡± I said.


    ¡°Angry?¡± She laughed and lightly touched my arm. ¡°He told me that if it happened, I better get footage of it somehow!¡±


    ¡°Well, one of the news stations recorded all of it, so I doubt you''ll have to wait long before they release it.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t know if they''ll air it or sell it for private viewing only, though.¡±


    ¡°It depends on what can get them the most exposure and revenue.¡± The one who invited me to eat said. ¡°I''d say it will be a mix of both. They''ll air the special for viewership numbers and then run ads for exclusive footage that you have to pay credits for.¡±


    ¡°You seem to know a lot about that.¡± I said.


    ¡°Her ex-husband runs an editing department.¡± The other non-married one said. ¡°She knows more about his business than he does.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t that always the way?¡± One of the married women asked and they all laughed again.


    It didn''t take long for the food to arrive and we all enjoyed polite conversation and ate. We stayed there for nearly half an hour and just talked, the food long gone. I looked at the time and noticed how late it was getting, so I asked for the check. The waitress came over and wasn''t sure where to put the bill, mainly because all four women tried to say they were taking care of it. I took it before anyone else could and I saw on the paper that my meal and wine weren''t on it.


    I gave the waitress a look with raised eyebrows and she blushed, then I gave a warm smile to the women at the table. ¡°Ladies, thank you for allowing me to join you for this meal and for sharing some excellent conversation with me.¡± I said as I stood and took out a five hundred credit chip and handed both the bill and the chip to the waitress. ¡°If you will excuse me, I need to head back to my hotel room to get some rest.¡±


    ¡°It was our pleasure.¡± The one who invited me said.


    ¡°Oh, definitely.¡± The other non-married woman said. ¡°Would you like...¡±


    ¡°Please accept my apologies.¡± I said and bowed my head to her. ¡°I need to settle some personal matters before I can consider anything else.¡±


    Not only did she sigh, but nearly half the restaurant did as well. I let a low chuckle escape, turned from the table, and walked towards the door. As I did, I slowly made most of my hair disappear and distorted my facial features. When I stepped out into the street, no one quite recognized me. Instead of calling for a car, I covered myself in Presence and used Stealth and Presence Run to head back to my hotel.


    *


    ¡°Dammit, I lost him.¡± A man said into his wrist communicator. ¡°I thought you said this surveillance system was the best on the market.¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± The woman''s voice responded. ¡°Since we know he can hide himself from The Order for a year before being caught, losing him twice in one day shouldn''t be surprising.¡±


    The man grunted. ¡°He''s coming your way anyway.¡±


    ¡°I''m ready for him.¡± She said and cut the communication.


    *


    ¡°Are we really going to let this play out?¡± An armored man asked his partner.


    ¡°We called it in, so all we can do is wait.¡± His partner said.


    ¡°Well, that''s stupid.¡± The armored man said. ¡°What if...¡±


    ¡°We were ordered to wait.¡± His partner said and shrugged.


    The armored man sighed. ¡°If anyone dies...¡±


    ¡°That''s not my department.¡± His partner said with a smile.


    ¡°You really get off on this stuff, don''t you?¡± The armored man asked.


    ¡°Government officials playing with a foreign celebrity and endangering the public is the best mix for chaos.¡± His partner said with a laugh.


    *


    I stopped running outside my hotel and had the distinct feeling of being watched. Normally I ignored that feeling, mainly because everyone watched me while I was out and it was difficult to figure out who was the potential threat. This time, I was still using my stealth technique. I moved off from the building and the feeling faded.


    They''re watching the entrance. I thought. Should I reveal myself or bypass giving myself away?


    For the first time since I had come back from my summoned adventure, I unleashed my full detection range. My mind relaxed as I stopped holding it back and I ''saw'' everything within two miles of my current position.


    *


    ¡°Oh, SHIT!¡± The woman yelled as a wave of Presence fell over her. Her body trembled as the strength of it made her knees weak and she dropped to the floor. ¡°Oh, goddess! Please protect me!¡±


    She felt a counter wave of Presence cover her and she took a deep breath to try and calm down.


    *


    I felt a huge Presence disturbance two buildings over and activated Presence Run. I didn''t hold that technique back, either. I knew I only had seconds to catch whoever it was, now that they had felt the strength of my Presence, so I took off and was inside the building and up the stairs in less than a second. I hadn''t been careful with my steps and left small cracks where my feet hit the sidewalk, the stairs, and the hallway.


    I used Presence to sever the door from its hinges and jumped into the penthouse apartment and stood right in front of a woman that was dressed in a suit of very expensive combat armor. I was still using my stealth technique and yet she stared right at me.


    ¡°I got you.¡± She said with a grin and pushed a button before I could stop her.


    *


    The night sky lit up and became bright as day as a building near the city center exploded.


    ¡°Well, damn.¡± The armored man said as his helmet visor turned black to block the bright light from the explosion. Both he and his partner looked at their internal displays and read the reports. A building near his target had practically vaporized instantly and the whole city was rocked by an earthquake. Windows were shattered in the surrounding buildings and bystanders suffered temporary blindness and deafness within a hundred feet of the explosion. The pressure wave caused a lot of physical damage as well and a small group of people who had been on a nearby street were severely injured.


    ¡°Okay, even I didn''t expect this to happen.¡± His partner said.


    ¡°I told you we should have done something.¡± The armored man said. ¡°We don''t know how many people died inside that building.¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t our target, so we don''t have any information on it.¡± His partner said. ¡°If we tried to do something, we might have set off whatever that was instead.¡±


    ¡°They''re sending in the troops, so we better go.¡± The armored man said.


    ¡°We were told to wait.¡± His partner said.


    ¡°Do you really want to stand here, again, and do nothing?¡±


    ¡°You do realize there''s still her partner in play, right?¡±


    The armored man sighed as his helmet visor cleared and he could see again. ¡°I think I hate this job.¡±


    *


    The man watched his female partner''s position disappear from his display and he closed his eyes. May the Goddess embrace you. He thought in prayer and opened his eyes. He thought about trying to make his getaway while the city was in a panic, then decided he would stand out if he left too early. He would wait for the evacuation notices and then make his way out with the rest of the population. With luck, he would also get confirmation that the target was eliminated as well.


    He packed up all of their things into the special container and hit the button to incinerate all of the evidence of their investigations. Even if someone found out that he was responsible and got caught, there would be nothing that tied him to his partner and she could be disavowed and be assigned all of the blame for the innocents that must have died. He sighed at the loss of such a great partner and turned on the vidscreen to watch the news and see when the evacuation would start.


    *


    Barely thirty seconds after the explosion, something like an air raid siren blared and every single building in the surrounding city block dropped metal shutters to cover its windows and all of the people inside those buildings followed the evacuation plan and went down into the large underground basement that was connected by tunnels to all the other buildings. Only residents knew of this and had planned an orderly evacuation if anything happened.


    A rescue team was sent to the building that had exploded to investigate and discovered that the tunnel and the basement access was still intact. When they approached the exit to enter the building, they prepared for the worst and opened the door, only to be met with a sight they had never expected.


    Twelve adults and two children stood in the middle of the remains of the building with astonished looks on their faces. They were inside a large slightly blue bubble and a few of them stared straight up. The rescue team were astonished when they looked up and saw an unconscious man on top of that bubble. Most of his clothing was gone, as was most of his hair, and his skin was covered in third degree burns.


    ¡°Help him!¡± One of the kids said loudly.


    The rescue team ran over and weren''t sure how to get up to the man, then one of the team picked up a long piece of debris and ran around the bubble and pushed on the body. The rest understood and prepared to catch him, then the body slid down the bubble and they caught him.


    ¡°It''s Hunter!¡± One of the rescue team exclaimed as she recognized the half-burned face. One of his eyes was missing and she almost cried, because she absolutely loved his eyes. His right hand was missing, too.


    ¡°Deploy the stretcher.¡± One of the others said and the man next to him pulled something from his backpack and hit the button. It popped out and inflated and hovered beside the team. Hunter was gently placed on it and med-packs were slapped onto him and his wrist was tied off to stop the bleeding.


    ¡°Take him to the temporary med station.¡± The team leader said and four of his team grabbed the handles and ran with the stretcher between them.


    ¡°What about us?¡± One of the adults asked.


    ¡°I don''t know what to tell you.¡± The team leader said as he looked at the big slightly blue bubble that they were in. ¡°I''ve never seen anything like this.¡±


    ¡°I have.¡± One of the male adults inside the bubble said. ¡°It''s the same color as the thing that Hunter used at the bar during that floating dance.¡± He said. ¡°They played that footage a lot.¡±


    ¡°Is that why we were floating, dad?¡± One of the kids asked.


    ¡°I believe so.¡± He said and put a hand on his son''s shoulder.


    ¡°Since Hunter''s not here to stop this, whatever it is, all we can do is wait for...¡± The team leader started to say and the bubble shimmered a little and faded away. ¡°... never mind.¡± He said. ¡°Let''s get you to the med station.¡±


    ¡°We''re fine.¡± One of the women said. ¡°Whatever that light was, it didn''t hit us.¡±


    ¡°Hunter protected us and brought us all together!¡± The other child nearly yelled.


    Maybe at the cost of his own life. The team leader thought. He would never say that out loud, though. His eyes roamed over the people around him and he saw the looks on their faces. He knew they were having very similar thoughts and they didn''t say anything, either.

 Book Three: The Resolution 024

    Two days later, the medical facility could no longer avoid answering the important calls that had been coming in. The medical technician in charge of the case sat down in resignation and hit the accept button.


    ¡°How long do you think he''s going to take to recover?¡± Uzahne''s aide asked without even saying hello. She had been waiting for the acceptance of the call for two days and didn''t want to waste even more time by pretending to be nice to the aggravating man.


    ¡°I honestly can''t say.¡± The medical technician said. ¡°By all accounts, he should be dead.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± The aide gasped. ¡°But... I thought...¡±


    ¡°Most people would have died just from the burns he suffered.¡± The man responded. ¡°Over ninety percent of his body suffered third degree burns... that means it destroyed some of the muscle tissue and revealed the bone underneath, by the way... and he completely lost a hand as well. When you add in his burst eye, severe head trauma, seared lungs, and nearly every organ in his body was damaged by being in the center of the blast...¡± The man sighed. ¡°To be honest, I don''t know why he isn''t dead.¡±


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± The aide whispered.


    ¡°He was extremely lucky that the rescue team found him when they did, because they stopped a lot of the bleeding and brought him to a med station. They stabilized him and brought him right here, where we worked on him for nearly six hours to repair as much as we could, then we put him inside a fully immersive tank of medical gel to let his body recover from the surgery.¡±


    ¡°But... the news...¡±


    ¡°Optimistic drivel.¡± The man said. ¡°Have you seen what was left of the building?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± The aide said in a soft voice.


    ¡°He was right in the middle of whatever that explosion was and it vaporized the whole place.¡± The man said. ¡°The small amount of rubble around was only from the bottom floor.¡±


    ¡°But... all the windows in the other buildings...¡±


    ¡°Caused by the pressure wave of the explosion.¡± The man said. ¡°I was surprised that there wasn''t more damage, actually.¡±


    Uzahne''s aide nodded. ¡°Thank you for your frankness.¡± She said, her voice firm and under control. ¡°I''ll let the president know his status.¡±


    ¡°It''s ''critical and unknown'' and he could die at any moment.¡± The man said. ¡°If you will excuse me, I need to check to see if he''s still alive.¡± He said and cut the call. He stood and left the small security room and went back to the room with his patient. He wasn''t exaggerating with that last statement. He really did need to check to see if his patient was still alive.


    *


    The aide sat there and stared at the blank communications console and took several deep breaths, then she popped the recording out and left her private room. She walked with a purpose down the hallway and took the corner and stopped at the security station. She was quickly checked and passed, so she walked faster down the next hallway and took another corner and walked down another hallway. She came to a stop in front a set of double doors and took another deep breath before she knocked.


    ¡°Come in.¡± Uzahne said and the aide entered the room. It was a very plush office and there were several people in there with her. Sheph, Ahaen, Admiral Shanifra, and Olugaell looked at her expectantly. The aide walked over to the desk and held out the recording, then told them what the medical technician said about Hunter''s condition. Everyone was shocked at the news and couldn''t think of anything to say in response.


    *


    ¡°What do you mean we can''t see him?!?¡± Luxea asked, her voice full of disbelief and incredulity. ¡°It''s been two days!¡±


    ¡°His condition is stable; but, he is in no condition for visitors.¡± The medical technician said. He had been dreading this call most of all.


    ¡°I don''t care what condition he''s in! We need to see him!¡±


    The medical technician sighed. ¡°Miss, there''s nothing to see. He''s inside a fully immersed medical gel tank. All you can see is the outside of the tank and nothing else.¡±


    ¡°How can you tend to him if you can''t see him?¡±


    ¡°Medical scanners, obviously.¡± The man said and kept himself from insulting her for asking such a stupid question.


    ¡°We are coming there and...¡±


    ¡°There''s really nothing for you to do here except waste your time standing around.¡± The man said and cut her off. ¡°If you want to see him that badly, here''s a picture of his tank.¡±


    The communication station beeped and Luxea looked at the picture. It really was just a tank and you couldn''t see anything inside of it.


    ¡°Now if you will excuse me, I need to... keep monitoring him.¡± The man said. He had almost told her the truth and said that he needed to check if Hunter was still alive.


    Luxe hadn''t missed the hesitation, however. ¡°You better...¡±


    ¡°As soon as I know something, I''ll try to keep you informed.¡± He said and cut the call.


    ¡°Why, that arrogant little prick!¡± Luxea grit her teeth angrily.


    ¡°Easy, girl.¡± Rhubin said from beside her in Udelis'' cockpit. ¡°Getting angry at them for doing their job isn''t productive.¡±


    ¡°Pissing us off isn''t their job!¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°You obviously don''t know a lot of medical professionals.¡± Simone said from behind her. ¡°Look, we can at least go down and land, right? They can''t say anything if we only want to be close by for when he wakes up.¡±


    ¡°We can''t.¡± Rhubin said and both women looked at him. ¡°I''m the only pilot.¡±


    ¡°So what?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°Let''s go!¡±


    ¡°Luxea, we have two ships.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°If we go, which ship do we leave behind, completely unguarded and unmanned?¡± He asked. ¡°The one with expensive cargo or the one with even more expensive cargo?¡±


    Luxea opened her mouth to say that it didn''t matter, and she sighed. They needed the capital after buying the new ship. At the moment, they were buying things with Hunter''s inheritance and not with company account, which was almost empty.


    ¡°Remote pilot me down.¡± Luxea said. ¡°He needs...¡±


    ¡°Not you.¡± Simone said.


    Luxea whipped her head around to argue.


    ¡°You just had a big fight and he found out that you used a temporary hire to have fun.¡± Simone said. ¡°I sincerely doubt that he wants to have that conversation thrown in his face as soon as he wakes up.¡±


    Luxea snapped her mouth closed on her argument because she didn''t like having that pointed out to her.


    ¡°I''m sorry the truth hurts.¡± Simone said, then shrugged. ¡°If anyone should go, it''s Rhubin.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Rhubin turned and looked at her. ¡°I thought you...¡±


    ¡°He knows me well and I know him; but, we haven''t spent enough time together to count as good friends yet.¡± Simone said. ¡°You''ve been by his side since he left The Order''s home planet.¡±


    ¡°I can''t. It would leave both ships without a pilot.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°If any of the debris shifts, or...¡±


    ¡°Then we can all stay right here.¡± Simone said. ¡°As soon as we hear he''s awake, then we can decide what to do.¡±


    Rhubin and Luxea had to nod in agreement. They didn''t really have to do anything until they did hear if Hunter was okay. Waiting until then to decide what to do was the better choice.


    *


    The next day, the young and quite pretty medical technician sat at the console and hummed one of the songs that Hunter had danced to. She had watched everything that had been made about him and his exploits, and she even paid for the full and uncut footage of his last bar visit. Her heart had beat fast at the clarity of the recording as she watched it and she didn''t regret paying the high price, because every single second was worth it.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Stupid... stupid.


    The young woman was startled as the thought passed through her, because it wasn''t hers. ¡°Wh-what? Who?¡±


    I... am so... stupid!


    She turned around to look behind her and no one was there, so she turned back to her console just as it started to beep at her. She caught her breath as the practically non-existent brain activity and body functions fluctuated for a moment, then every single one increased beyond the console''s ability to record them and it let out a long solid beep. She hit the reset button to get new readings and then gasped as a pulse of something passed through her. She lifted her head to look through the observation window at the medical gel tank.


    ¡°H-hello?¡± She asked, as if someone was actually there.


    Another pulse came and she saw the metal ripple slightly and the pulse went through her again.


    I can''t... let them...


    The odd thought went through her brain and another pulse came and the tank shook instead of rippling, then the casing of the tank cracked.


    ¡°No more.¡± A man''s deep voice said, even though no one was around her to say it.


    The young medical technician jumped to her feet because she had heard the voice come from the tank, then the tank split along the crack and medical gel spewed out in a thick spray. Another pulse shattered the tank completely and she screamed as bits of metal were strewn all over the room. Her mind couldn''t make sense of the mangled thing in front of her. She had seen third degree burns before; but, not so extensive and not on the same person. The patient, who she knew was supposed to be Hunter, stepped out of the shattered remains of the tank.


    ¡°S-s-stop!¡± The young woman said as she regained her senses. He was a patient and she needed to help him. She ran to the door and opened it. ¡°You are severely injured!¡± She walked over to him and he didn''t seem to hear her. She reached up and waved her hand in front of his face and he didn''t respond. Without a second thought, she laid a hand on the middle of his chest. It felt like a bag full of water and she held in her revulsion to his still shattered rib cage.


    *


    ¡°I look horrible.¡± I said without moving my mouth, because my tongue was too damaged to use at the moment. I had to use Presence on my body to move it like a puppet, because I couldn''t move it on my own. ¡°On the plus side, I can''t feel it yet.¡±


    I reached for my waist and felt around and discovered that my invisible belt had somehow survived both the explosion and the removal of my remaining clothing. Unfortunately, two of my bags of holding had been torn and destroyed, which severed the connection to their extra-dimensional space. I sighed at the loss of all those engraved spells and other things I had stored in them, namely extra food and my bag of clothing. My Light sword was still invisible as well and the focusing crystal was still intact; but, the electronics inside had been mulched, rendering it useless until I replaced them.


    I reached back and checked the third bag of holding, the one behind the Light sword on my hip, and relaxed because it was still there and undamaged. I was really glad that I hadn''t brought everything with me or worn my armor, because that would have been lost as well.


    ¡°Wh-what are you doing?¡± The young woman asked.


    ¡°I still can''t hear you.¡± I said without opening my mouth. I could feel her curiosity, though. ¡°Please, step back.¡±


    The young woman tried to stay, so I used Presence to pick her up and moved her back three feet, to her utter surprise, then I surrounded myself in a Presence barrier. I took out a small wooden placard and draped it over my neck.


    All my hair is gone. I thought sadly and used Presence to fill the engraved spell.


    The wooden placard glowed brightly and covered me with healing energy. My regeneration and self-healing had been taxed beyond their limits at the extensive damage I had suffered and I needed the boost. I directed the energy to the most important parts, namely my internal organs. It took almost ten minutes for them to be repaired and then fully healed. I shifted the energy to my bones then and the intense pain in my right hand made me look at it and I saw that it wasn''t there.


    ¡°Goddammit.¡± I said, still without moving my mouth.


    I winced as the pain intensified and my boosted healing and regeneration forced the hand to grow back and my energy reserve dropped significantly. The young woman stood there and stared at my hand as the bones, then the muscle, then the skin grew back. My other bones were repaired from several stress fractures and then I directed the energy to my practically destroyed muscles. It took another ten minutes for them to fully regenerate and heal. By that time, six other medical technicians had come into the room and stood beside the young woman and they all stared at me.


    Thankfully, I was wearing underwear and didn''t have to worry about exposing myself as my skin finished growing back. I had both my normal sight and my hearing back, then my energy wavered and I stumbled slightly as the Presence barrier disappeared. The young woman stepped forward and caught me by the chest and supported my weight.


    ¡°I don''t know how you''re still standing while doing... whatever it is that you''re doing!¡± She said.


    ¡°If I was... still in the tank, there was a danger that... I wouldn''t regrow everything properly... with the liquid pressing in on me.¡± I panted and took in a deep breath and let it out. I closed my eyes and activated my absorb Presence technique and started to suck in as much of the Presence around me as my freshly healed body could take. It was only a slight trickle at first, then as my hair sprouted on my head, the flow became a steady stream and started to fill up my nearly empty reserve.


    I opened my eyes and took another deep breath. I stood up straight as some of my strength returned and I discovered that everything was sore and tender after a forced healing like that. The little wooden placard burned up and dissolved into nothing as the spell finally finished. I reached up and felt my head and there was only about an inch of hair there. I sighed again at the loss and looked at the young woman who still had her hands on my chest. She was no longer disgusted at the feeling.


    ¡°Hunter, can you tell us what you just did?¡± One of the men in the room asked.


    ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°I need clothes. A jumpsuit is fine. Then I need a ride to my ship.¡±


    ¡°You can''t just leave and...¡±


    ¡°After what I just went through, do you really think you can keep me here?¡± I asked and the man stopped talking. ¡°I appreciate you keeping me alive long enough for my regeneration to kick back in.¡±


    ¡°If you have regeneration, why isn''t your hair growing back in?¡± The young woman asked and she reached up and touched the fuzz on my head. I felt her sadness at the loss and it matched mine.


    ¡°It was maintained by Presence.¡± I said. ¡°The follicles are the only real living part of a strand of hair, so if it''s cut or damaged, it has to regrow from there and doesn''t regenerate.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± The young woman said and let her hand slide back down to my chest.


    ¡°You don''t understand it''s significance.¡± I whispered and leaned down to put my mouth by her ear. ¡°It was centuries of growth.¡±


    The woman caught her breath and stared into my eyes when I leaned back. Another two people came into the room and I turned my head to look at them.


    ¡°Mr. Hunter, if you would come with us, we can...¡± The armored man started to say.


    ¡°No.¡± I said and cut him off.


    ¡°There are things that...¡±


    ¡°I know it''s your fault.¡± I said and both men stiffened. ¡°Or more importantly, that of your superiors and the government.¡± I said as I easily read the information from their surface thoughts. Everyone in the room turned and looked at the two men.


    ¡°That''s not true.¡± The second man said and the Presence wavered a lot.


    I made a blue Presence Hand around his neck, let him feel it for a second, then snapped his neck. He let out a gurgle, which meant he didn''t die right away, so I formed Presence blades on the index finger and thumb and closed the hand. His head popped off in a large spurt of blood and then the body and severed head dropped to the floor. Everyone was shocked at the sight and the young woman stared at the mass of blood and couldn''t believe what she had just seen.


    ¡°I really hate it when people lie right to my face.¡± I said.


    ¡°You... do you do that to...¡± The young woman couldn''t complete that sentence.


    ¡°No, not all of them.¡± I said and touched her cheek. ¡°He was an agent of chaos and revelled in the mess they contributed to, so I gave him the ultimate result from that chaos.¡±


    ¡°You killed that man.¡± One of the medical technicians said.


    ¡°Yes, and I''m going to kill a few more.¡± I said and looked back at the armored man. ¡°Like the rest of your team, your commanding officer, the general of the special forces, and... no, I guess Uzahne wasn''t directly involved. She ordered it; but, she wasn''t in control of what you did.¡±


    The armored man stared at me.


    ¡°There''s no need for more secrecy, unless you planned on killing the witnesses.¡± I said.


    The man''s eyes flicked to the group of medical technicians and I read his intentions, so I used Presence to turn his head all the way around to face the other direction with a loud crack.


    ¡°It''s not nice to look at a woman with murder in your eyes.¡± I said and the man''s lifeless body fell to the floor. ¡°I''m terribly sorry for the mess.¡± I said to the young woman that was still shocked at the sudden turn of events. I used Presence to pick up all of the blood splatters and shoved it back into the bodies, covered them in Presence, then levitated them into the air.


    ¡°You... you just...¡±


    ¡°I couldn''t in good conscience let him kill you for seeing his partner get killed.¡± I said and touched her face. ¡°Thank you for the concern you felt for me.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± I said and used Presence to ease her mind''s shock away. ¡°This was just another day at work. Nothing spectacular happened, right?¡±


    The young woman looked at the two bodies floating a few feet away and looked back at my face. ¡°I''m so glad that you have both eyes back; but, I''m really sad about your hair.¡±


    ¡°So am I.¡± I said. ¡°Are there any spare clothes around or a dispenser of some kind?¡±


    ¡°At the security desk at the end of the hallway.¡± She said. ¡°It''s just a work jumpsuit for staff, though.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and her mind couldn''t decide if she wanted me to kiss her or not. I compromised and leaned down to kiss her cheek. I looked at the group of men. ¡°Good day.¡±


    They didn''t respond as I opened the room door and made the bodies invisible, then as I walked out the door, I made myself invisible, too. I ignored their shocked reactions and walked down the hallway to the security station and hit the button on the dispenser. I took the uniform and the man that sat at the desk didn''t even flinch at the sound and watched the vidscreen. I glanced at it and it showed the destroyed building and the announcer said that all fourteen residents had been miraculously saved by me and that I was currently in the hospital.


    Not for much longer. I thought and put on the jumpsuit, then carried the bodies into the stairwell and ran down to the ground floor. I found their vehicle, a government issue hover car, and I opened the trunk and shoved the bodies inside. No one else was in the vehicle and I checked the database, using the armored man''s codes, and saw how many people were on his team. They had the entire block covered with surveillance personnel, a twelve person operation, and they were all ordered to observe and not interfere.


    When I went over the mission logs and the recorded conversations, I accessed the map and looked at their deployment. Once I knew where the people currently were, I copied all of the data in their system and dropped it onto a datapad, then I used their own government hover car to start making visits. Using that vehicle, I was allowed access to areas not normally accessible to other people, and made quick work of eliminating the rest of the team. I also managed to acquire an armored personnel vehicle and I hid it in a spot that only I could get to.


    The last pair of agents I dealt with were in the room next to my old room at the hotel, and thanks to my interrogating them, I discovered that the hotel was wired for an explosion as well. I quickly went through the hotel and found all of them. I used Presence to disable them and harvested them. They would prove quite useful for what I was going to do with them.

 Book Three: The Resolution 025

    I raided all of the small databases the surveillance teams had gathered and it let me see the footage of the woman that had set off the explosion. I discovered that she had a partner, a man, and I followed the trail back to his building. It was wired to explode as well, so I disabled them and gathered them up. Lastly, I went into the room and looked for anything personal that they would have used. The room was completely clean, except for a case under the bed that had nothing inside of it, except ash.


    ¡°It might be enough.¡± I said and stored the case. It was obviously used to clean up the scene, so they at least had it in their possession. The ash could possibly be used as well. I''d find out soon enough.


    I left the room and the building, climbed into the government hover car and drove towards the military base they had been deployed from. When I pulled up to the gate house, I made myself invisible using my Stealth technique and then forced the guard to see me as the armored man''s commanding officer. He let me in without fuss and I drove over to the right building, got out, and entered the building. I quickly made my way to the commanding officer''s office and stood there as he discussed the latest debacle with, surprisingly, the general of the special forces.


    This is my lucky day. I thought sarcastically and used Presence to disable all of the electronic devices in the room, including the hidden recorders, then dropped my Stealth technique. It took them nearly a full minute before they noticed that someone else was in the room. Both of them startled at the same time and turned to stare at me.


    ¡°Thanks for warning me they had set explosives to eliminate me, you dicks.¡± I said and used Presence to crush their hearts and lungs. Blood spurted out of their mouths and noses and they slumped over in their chairs. I used Presence to cover them and made them invisible, did it to myself as well, then left the building. I stuffed them into the back of the hover car with most of the other bodies, because I had run out of room in the trunk after four, no matter how much I tried to bend them to fit.


    I drove the hover car out of the base, once again passing the security gate without fuss, and made the long journey to their seat of government. Surprisingly, there wasn''t a checkpoint or a guard house like at the base. I drove the hover car right into their parking lot and parked in a free space, then used Detect Presence as I stood there and looked around the building to try and find Uzahne. When I found her office, she had several visitors, then a plan hatched in my mind. I walked towards the building and smiled the smile of a man about to get some measure of revenge.


    *


    Uzahne had gathered everyone together again for her aide to make the call to the medical facility that Hunter had been taken to. Olugaell, Ahaen, Sheph, Admiral Shanifra, and her executive officer Melanie waited anxiously as the aide used the portable communications suite.


    ¡°We''re very busy right now.¡± A man''s voice said from the display without greeting her properly.


    ¡°The president is waiting for word about Hunter''s condition.¡± Uzahne''s aide said.


    ¡°Hunter is no longer a patient in this facility.¡± The man responded.


    ¡°Oh, no.¡± Sheph whispered. ¡°He... he...¡±


    ¡°He left.¡± The man said.


    ¡°He WHAT?!?¡± Ahaen yelled.


    ¡°He broke out of the medical gel tank and...¡± The call cut off as the power to the portable communications suite was disconnected.


    ¡°What... wait, what happened?¡± Uzahne asked.


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Her aide said and hit a few buttons and nothing happened. ¡°It''s not working.¡±


    There was a loud bang on the door and every woman in the room jumped.


    ¡°Ooo... zaaaa... neeee!¡± A deep rumbling voice said through the door and a feeling of dread covered the room.


    ¡°Wh-wh-what was th-that?!?¡± Ahaen asked as her whole body shook.


    ¡°Yooo... huuuurt... meeeee!¡± The voice said and then there was another loud bang.


    All of the women jumped again and they all trembled as a scraping sound moved down the door to the handle. The door handle jiggled a little, then there was a metallic snap as the lock broke and the handle turned all of the way, then the door slowly creaked open. The women were all afraid of what was going to be revealed, and nothing was there. Someone let out a shaky breath as they relaxed... then a bloody stump hit the door frame with a loud bang.


    Ahaen screamed at the sound and the sight, then the stump pulled something into the doorway. None of the women could make sense of what it was at first. It wasn''t until the thing moved fully into the doorway that they made out the shape of a man and they all burst out crying.


    ¡°Ooo... zaaa... neee.¡± The voice said and they all saw that the mouth didn''t move. ¡°Yoooo... sennnt... themmm.¡±


    Uzahne was completely frozen as the mangled thing stepped into her office. Her eyes saw the thing''s missing eye, the missing hand, the burned away skin and muscle that exposed bone... so much bone... and her mind couldn''t process how the thing could move in that condition. There was a squelching sound and suddenly there was a datapad in the creature''s burned hand.


    ¡°Evvvidennncccce.¡± The creature took a halting step, then another, then another.


    The women in the office were in various states of crying and hysteria. No one moved as the thing dropped the datapad on the desk.


    ¡°Theeeey... knewwww.¡± It said, still without moving its mouth. ¡°Theeeeey letttt itttt happeeeennnnn.¡±


    Uzahne looked up into the thing''s eyes and saw a bright sapphire blue eye that shifted slightly to green when the head turned slightly. ¡°H-H-Hunter!¡± She gasped when she realized who it was.


    The creature nodded once with the sound of tearing flesh. ¡°IIIII hooooope yourrrr happppy nooowww.¡± It said and turned around and slowly walked towards the door.


    ¡°S-s-stop!¡± Melanie said as she stood, her eyes full of tears, and she tried to take a step closer. She stopped before she touched the thing. ¡°Please! Go back to the medical facility! Let them heal you!¡±


    The thing turned to her. ¡°Only... kept alive. Didn''t... heal.¡±


    ¡°Oh, goddess!¡± Ahaen exclaimed and dropped to her knees. ¡°I''m so sorry!¡± She said and wiped at her eyes. ¡°I never treated you fairly, even when you proved you were right!¡±


    ¡°Will... you kill them... for what they did?¡± The creature asked. ¡°They let... so many people... be in danger.¡±


    ¡°They... will be dealt with.¡± Uzahne said and her thoughts were focused on them being fired and publicly disgraced, then charged with various crimes.


    ¡°Not like that.¡± The creature said and it made a smile with its burned face. ¡°I took care of it myself.¡±


    Suddenly there were fourteen bodies dropped around the office. Ahaen screamed as a headless body landed in front of her, then the head rolled off and onto the floor and she screamed again.


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± Uzahne looked at the carnage around her, her eyes and thoughts full of disbelief.


    ¡°Admiral, I need a favor.¡± The creature said.


    Admiral Shanifra jumped to her feet. ¡°Anything!¡±


    ¡°A need a ride out to my ship.¡±


    ¡°I''ll have a fast patrol ship here in ten minutes!¡± Shanifra said.


    ¡°A shuttle is fine.¡± The creature said and started to shamble away.


    ¡°W-wait!¡± Shanifra walked over to the thing, then she didn''t know what to do. ¡°Oh, Hunter.¡± She said. ¡°How are you still alive?¡±


    ¡°Magic.¡± The creature said and stumbled through the doorway and out of sight. Shanifra walked behind him and Melanie followed them.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°By all the gods.¡± Olugaell said as she stared down at the bodies. ¡°How could he... he was only...¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Uzahne said and looked at the datapad, then held in her shudder as she picked it up. It didn''t have any blood on it and she relaxed. After a quick look through the data, she took in a sharp breath. ¡°They did know.¡± She said and put the datapad back on the desk. ¡°The general, the commanding officer, and the entire surveillance team.¡± She spat and her horror at Hunter''s appearance was briefly forgotten. ¡°They actually ordered the team to not interfere and to wait!¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡± Olugaell asked as she pushed her own horror aside for a moment.


    ¡°It doesn''t say.¡± Uzahne said and Olugaell picked up the datapad.


    ¡°What is wrong with you?!?¡± Ahaen asked. ¡°We''re surrounded by bodies! Dead bodies!¡±


    ¡°After seeing what Hunter looks like, those things are nothing.¡± Sheph said and wiped away her tears. She was going to remember what he looked like for the rest of her life. ¡°In fact, I''d rather see them than look at Hunter like that again.¡±


    ¡°But... but... Hunter murdered them!¡± Ahaen said, now that her wits were coming back to her. She would never forget what Hunter looked like, either.


    ¡°Do you really think the people would want to see Hunter, looking like he is, being arrested for killing the people that did it to him and also let an entire building be destroyed?¡± Olugaell asked. ¡°Oh, by the way, there were two other buildings wired with explosives.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Uzahne held her hand out for the datapad and looked at it. ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± She said. ¡°His hotel, which is full of people, as well as a building in the business district with two hundred offices.¡±


    ¡°So we''re just going to let this go?¡± Ahaen asked and waved at the bodies. ¡°What the hell are we going to do with these things?¡±


    ¡°The only thing we can do.¡± Olugaell said. ¡°We hoist the blame on them. They are already dead, so there''s no need for trials or anything. We can even claim they were caught in the explosion.¡±


    ¡°I meant what do we do with them physically.¡± Ahaen said.


    ¡°Call a clean up crew.¡± Olugaell said and activated her wrist communicator, then spoke in her native fish language. She talked for several minutes, then hung up. ¡°They will be here in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°What... what are they going to do?¡± Ahaen asked, not really wanting to know the answer.


    ¡°The same thing that happens to ''vermin'' when we catch them.¡± Olugaell said with a smile.


    *


    I stood there beside the landing pad and waited for the ship to arrive. My attempts to ask for a shuttle were ignored and the fast patrol ship flew down and came in for a landing. I used Presence to stop the backwash of wind and heat from the engines and the ship settled onto the pad.


    ¡°Hunter, please.¡± Melanie pleaded again and she still couldn''t bring herself to touch me.


    ¡°I need to go.¡± I said and the ship''s landing ramp opened up and touched the ground. A figure came out at a run and slid to a stop when she saw me.


    ¡°Oh, no. NO!¡± Kris yelled and walked over to me as tears flowed down her face. ¡°Hunter.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry I missed your ship''s departure window.¡± I said. ¡°I ended up being a little blown up.¡±


    Kris let out a sob and reached out to take my hand. ¡°I''ll take you home.¡± She said in a normal voice.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and let her lead me up into the ship. The ramp closed and she tried to lead me to the ship''s small medical bay. ¡°I just need to sit down.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Kris said in a stern voice, then she sighed and led me to the passenger compartment. She was smart and knew when not to argue. She winced as she strapped me in for lift-off, then she sat down and strapped in herself. She gave a thumbs up gesture to the camera and the ship lifted off.


    As we floated through space, I slowly eased away the damage from everyone''s perception. Kris watched me closely the entire time and her eyes grew wide as my damage was ''healed'' over the next half an hour. By the time they were ready to drop me off, her shock at seeing me so injured was replaced with surprise at my rapid healing and I was wearing the hospital jumpsuit again. We left the passenger compartment and went to the shuttle hatch.


    ¡°Your beautiful hair.¡± Kris whispered as her hand reached up and she rubbed her fingers through the one inch long fuzz on the top of my head.


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± I said and leaned into her hand. ¡°It''s going to take a very long time to get it all back.¡± I said. ¡°I suppose you want to cancel our date now.¡±


    Kris pulled her hand down across the side of my face and down my chest. ¡°Hunter, we share the loss. A loss so significant, that neither of us are going to recover from it for a very long time.¡± She said and put her arms around me and gave me a kiss. ¡°I was worried that we wouldn''t have much in common when we got to know each other better, and now we have this deep loss that gives us a connection that even you can''t deny for long.¡±


    I smiled at her slightly twisted and self-serving logic. ¡°You know I can''t grow it quickly, like I did everything else. Once it''s gone, it has to grow back naturally.¡±


    Kris nodded and gave me another kiss, then she let me go. ¡°I''ll see you in about a month.¡±


    I nodded and turned off the local gravity and pulled myself up the ladder, opened both hatches with Presence, then floated through and shut both hatches before turning the gravity back on. I landed on the floor and Rhubin, Simone and Luxea stood there with surprise and sadness on their faces.


    ¡°You saw me on the other ship.¡± I said and the three of them nodded. ¡°I''m okay now.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°How did you... Hunter, you...¡± She started crying, so I tried to step close and she recoiled slightly. ¡°No, I... I don''t...¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to talk about what happened between us yet, either.¡± I said and held out a datapad. ¡°I need you to find a man for me.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Luxea asked and she took the datapad without touching my fingers.


    ¡°The second half of the pair of assassins that tried to have me killed.¡±


    Rhubin cursed, Simone made fists and stopped herself from ranting, and Luxea stood there and stared at the datapad, because she didn''t know how to react.


    ¡°When you do find him, I''ll capture him and interrogate him.¡± I said and looked at Simone. ¡°I may need your expertise in covert jobs to figure out who hired him when we discover his name.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you can bet your ass we''ll find the bastards that did that to you.¡± Simone said angrily.


    ¡°Then let''s get to work.¡± I said and we all looked at Luxea.


    ¡°Luxea.¡± Simone said and touched the woman''s arm.


    Luxea jumped a little. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You need to find that man before he gets away.¡± Simone said and took her by the arm and dragged her to the living room. When they were gone, Rhubin came over to me.


    ¡°Hunter, are you all right?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°No.¡± I said and put a hand on his shoulder and my body started to shake. ¡°I''m using Presence to keep myself up and moving. I need to eat and sleep for about a week.¡±


    Rhubin nodded and helped me to the kitchen and made me a quick meal that I ate without even tasting it. He made another and I took my time with this one. When I was done, both Simone and Luxea were back... and they had both good and bad news. They had found him, except that he was currently on a transport that was approaching the Lagrange point. I nodded and walked to my room, then locked the door.


    ¡°Hunter, don''t give up chasing him.¡± Simone had followed me. ¡°We''ll get him, you have my word.¡±


    ¡°It''s all right, Simone.¡± I said and went to the closet to get my uniform and the twelve remaining bags of holding on its belt. I dug into one of them and pulled out a 5 inch wide fully charged air mana crystal and a special round wooden placard that was ten inches wide. I took out the case I had found in the man''s room and put the placard on top of it, then sat in the lotus position despite my soreness, and slotted the mana crystal into the carved opening in the middle of the wooden placard.


    I gathered what little Presence was around me and added some of my own personal Presence to charge up the spell. A ten foot wide viewing bubble appeared and it showed me the transport, then it showed me the interior and I saw the man as he sat in a private compartment.


    At least I don''t have to worry about witnesses. I thought and covered the man in Presence and made it solid. ¡°You didn''t kill me.¡± I said and the man started to panic. ¡°You better start talking before you run out of air.¡±


    The man was quite reluctant at first, until I closed off his airways and held him for thirty seconds. He told me everything after that. I also ruffled through his mind and found his real name and the organization he worked for, that was very closely affiliated with The Order. So closely in fact, that in some circles, they were one and the same. They hadn''t even been hired. It was a favor for one of the people that gave them lots of work.


    The scaly alien.


    Like I needed more of an excuse to go after The Order. I thought and shook my head.


    ¡°Please, kill me.¡± The man said. ¡°I have a wife and son that...¡±


    ¡°I''m not going to kill you, since you desperately want that.¡± I said.


    Since all energy had Presence in it, I used my Presence to squeeze his Presence out of the important parts of his brain, which pretty much made him a vegetable. I did give him the distinct impression that his partner had killed me when she killed herself, just in case. There was one part of his brain that had some kind of protection around it, so I examined it very closely. I hadn''t found anything like it before, so I spent a few minutes mapping the anomaly. Once I had the shape in my head, I knew what it was. A suicide charge.


    I shook my head again and used my Presence to turn off the electronics and severed the wires from the explosives. I disassembled it right down to individual wires, so that it couldn''t be activated. I couldn''t get the thing out of his head without cracking his skull open, so I had to leave it where it was. I felt a huge and familiar Presence start to appear, so I quickly removed all of my Presence as I retreated and closed the viewing bubble. The mana crystal was drained and the wooden placard crumbled into dust and disappeared.


    I put the mana crystal away and stumbled over to my door and unlocked it. I told Simone the man''s name, the organization he worked for, and their connection to The Order. I asked her to find them for me, then I dropped to the floor and fell unconscious.


    *


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Simone exclaimed and knelt to help him.


    Rhubin and Luxea were there in moments and the three of them picked him up and brought him into his room and laid him on the bed. They debated on taking off his jumpsuit, then decided to leave it while Rhubin left to get the med-bot. He brought it back to check Hunter over and it could only diagnose severe exhaustion. The three of them were relieved to hear that and tucked Hunter under the blanket and left the room to let him get his rest.


    Rhubin went back to the cockpit to keep an eye on things, Simone went to the living room to start her covert search, using some of her contacts back in the Granis system, and Luxea went to the kitchen to get something to eat. She grabbed a quick snack and ate it, so that she didn''t lie, then went right back to Hunter''s room. She stood in the doorway and stared at the man she loved, and she berated herself for how she acted. Especially since that act sent him right into harm''s way and he almost died.


    Luxea shuddered as she recalled what Hunter looked like. Her eyes lingered on his right hand that had been missing and then she looked at his face. Her heart broke at the very short fuzzy hair on his head and she couldn''t look at his eyes, because all she could see was the burned away hole that had been his right eye. She remembered from the news that he had saved fourteen people from the same explosion and she assumed that must have left him completely exposed.


    Why? Why did you sacrifice your own safety for them? For strangers? Luxea asked him mentally. He didn''t respond, and she sighed and stepped out of the room and closed the door.

 Book Three: The Resolution 026

    My estimation of needing a week of rest was a little short-sighted. When I woke up, I found the med-bot had been taking care of me for almost two and a half weeks, which severely put me behind in my plans. On the plus side, I felt recharged and full of energy, now that my body had enough time to recover from my ordeal. When I climbed out of bed, the bot beeped and a few moments later, Rhubin, Luxea, and Simone were in my room.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°Like I''ve been wasting my time.¡± I said and the three of them gave me odd looks. ¡°Simone, any luck?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Simone said. ¡°I''ve traced the organization you told me about and found a few of their agents, as well as two of their branch offices.¡±


    ¡°How reliable is the information and how long can we sit on it and have it still be viable?¡±


    ¡°The agents and their whereabouts is fleeting, since they move around a lot. The offices are hidden but stagnant.¡± Simone said. ¡°I''m sure when you decide to go after them, I can find a few more agents.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and looked at Luxea. ¡°You and I need to talk.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I''m sorry.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It''s my fault that...¡±


    ¡°No, it''s mine.¡± I said and her eyebrows raised. ¡°Instead of staying and working things out, I left you alone to let you come to grips with what happened.¡± I said. ¡°I hadn''t realized at the time that I didn''t see us for what we really were.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what were we?¡± Luxea asked in a soft voice.


    ¡°We were in different relationships.¡± I said and she caught her breath, then I started to explain about the revelations I had while on the planet, thanks to Kris and what we had talked about. I left out the part about being drunk at the time, since it didn''t impact my conclusions at all. By the time I was done talking, Luxea had tears in her eyes.


    ¡°We... we were...¡± Luxea tried to say we were a couple and were together in a committed relationship, and she stopped herself. She knew that if she said that, then what she did with Hector would be the reason for us not being together anymore and that it would be completely her fault. She fought her instincts and she hated herself for it, because she had to admit to herself that she didn''t want to accept the entire blame. I reached out with my right hand and she flinched, then she berated herself for it.


    ¡°Trying to have a monogamous relationship with you was a mistake.¡± I said. ¡°We had fun, and that''s all there was to it.¡±


    ¡°You did not just say that.¡± Simone said and glared at me. ¡°She loves you.¡±


    ¡°I know, and I love her. She knows I do.¡± I said. ¡°I wanted her to be mine and mine alone, and she doesn''t want that. At all.¡± I looked at Luxea. ¡°Before you accuse me of reading your mind, I didn''t. You asked me not to, and I only recently saw that for the mistake it was.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°You didn''t love me enough to share your thoughts, which meant you wanted to keep yourself completely to yourself, and all I wanted was to have a deep sharing connection with the woman I loved.¡± I said. ¡°I thought you would eventually come around and want to share things with me, your thoughts and feelings, and it didn''t occur to me that you were never going to do it.¡±


    Luxea opened her mouth to respond and I held a hand up to stop her.


    ¡°Don''t try to lie and tell me you were going to, because we both know you''re not comfortable with it, and I''m sorry I expected you to change and accept me for who I am.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I... I do accept...¡±


    I felt the Presence waver and sighed. ¡°Luxea, you were right. I''m a killer. A murderer. I''m also going to go and find a bunch of people that had nothing to do with what happened to me and I am going to give them lobotomies and destroy their organization.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter, you...¡±


    ¡°I''m not going to claim righteousness or anything like that. They are connected to The Order, and I am going to use everything I can to dismantle them.¡± I said. ¡°I''m done sitting here and relaxing. I''m going to strip these ships, sell the weapons and components I don''t need to gather enough capital to create that satellite network, then I''m going to start stripping each and every outpost, ship, and person from The Order, from the outside in, starting with all of their little side operations.¡±


    Rhubin, Simone, and Luxea stared at me and didn''t know what to say.


    ¡°Yeah, you''re starting to see the scope of it.¡± I said. ¡°It''s going to take years, probably decades, to do it. I''m going to do it. I thought I had plenty of time, and then I discovered that no, I don''t have any time to waste. I need to get to work as soon as possible.¡± I looked at Rhubin. ¡°Any luck finding a replacement pilot?¡±


    ¡°I have a list that...¡±


    ¡°Remove all the men from it, and I absolutely forbid you from sleeping with any of the women.¡± I said and he frowned at me. ¡°I told you before that I don''t want my company to turn out like the long haul transport.¡± I said and glanced at Luxea. Her face was bright red and she looked angry. ¡°If any of you want out, now is the time to say so.¡±


    ¡°I need to stay, at least until we make our money back.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°That''s fair.¡± I said and looked at Rhubin. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°I''m trying to decide if you''re being an asshole on purpose.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°It''s definitely on purpose.¡± I said, which surprised them. ¡°I''m done being nice about accepting everything as it is and letting things slide. That time is over.¡± I rubbed my hand over my head and the fuzz there bothered the hell out of me. ¡°I want two female pilots, preferably one with combat experience. I want her to fly a shuttle and the other to fly the second ship.¡±


    Rhubin relaxed a little, because he thought I wanted a replacement pilot for him.


    ¡°I need them here as soon as possible.¡± I said. ¡°If there are multiple prospects, hire them for a month and I''ll rotate them through piloting duties once a week. There''s lots of passenger space on the new ship, so there''s no problem housing them for that long.¡±


    ¡°Except for food.¡± Luxea said. ¡°There''s not enough for too many people for that long.¡±


    ¡°Can you order up enough basic rations for the other meals, say for ten people, and fresh food for one nice meal a day for a month?¡± I asked. ¡°Coordinate with Rhubin and the delivery ship can bring the pilots out as well.¡±


    Luxea was about to say something, then changed her mind.


    ¡°No, I won''t be sleeping with any of them, even if they are naked and jump on me.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll catch them with Presence and put them right back on the transport to send them to the planet. They are here to work, not to goof off.¡± I looked back at Rhubin. ¡°Make sure to check their references and I''ll meet with them and make the final decision if they can participate in the trial or not.¡±


    ¡°What if they work out?¡± Luxea asked. ¡°Will you hire them all?¡±


    ¡°It depends on how many qualify and can handle the work environment.¡± I said. ¡°I wouldn''t mind having two pilots to fly the ship, that way they can split the duty and there wouldn''t need to be any down time. The same goes for the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to pay for them?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°I''ve got lots of personal credits left.¡± I said.


    ¡°You can''t keep funnelling your money into the business.¡± Luxea said. ¡°You need to...¡±


    ¡°What? Take a job?¡± I asked and she sighed. ¡°Yeah, we need to finish this one before I do anything, unless there''s something local that needs to be taken care of.¡±


    ¡°There is something...¡± Simone said and Luxea glared at her.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°It''s an escort mission.¡± Simone said. ¡°A dignitary from the local population needs to visit one of the places damaged by the last war.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°It''s stupid and unnecessary.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Going into a place like that is just asking for trouble.¡±


    ¡°What''s the pay like?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s substantial; but, Luxea''s right. No one''s taken it because of the high risk.¡±


    ¡°Then respond and say that The Wave will accept the escort mission.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter, we don''t have the personnel to handle security like that.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Considering I''m the only one going, we have enough personnel.¡± I said.


    ¡°The last time you left the ship, you almost died!¡± Luxea said, angrily.


    ¡°Don''t worry. I won''t subconsciously handicap myself anymore.¡± I said and looked down at myself. ¡°I need to clean up if I have a job.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going back to Chofaris after what happened?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°There are no more agents on the planet, they don''t have a ship in orbit, and there''s no official bounty on my head.¡± I said and walked over to the bathroom. ¡°Even if someone does show up, I''ll be wearing my full kit when I go to the planet.¡±


    ¡°Your full what?¡± Rhubin asked.


    ¡°It''s an expression that means I''ll be wearing everything I need to protect myself.¡± I said. ¡°Simone, let me know when the job starts.¡± I closed the bathroom door and stripped the jumpsuit off and hopped into the shower. It didn''t take me long, especially since I had no hair to wash, and I felt the loss of it again. Both I and the women in my life had spent so much time bonding together over my hair that it almost felt like I had lost a limb.


    I stepped out of the shower and saw that they had left my room, so I grabbed a towel and dried off, then grabbed another towel to dry my hair. I sighed at the automatic movement and tossed the towel back onto the rack, then I left to get dressed. I put on socks, underwear, a long sleeved t-shirt, the uniform pants and left off the coat. I grabbed my belt and tossed the damaged Light sword onto my work bench. I was tempted to repair it, except I had lost all of the electronic components I had bought.


    I had also lost the present I had bought for Luxea, so I walked over to the console and checked to see what kind of warranty the shop had. I messaged them and told them what happened and they responded right away and said that they had replacements for me, free of charge. I wasn''t going to refuse the generous offer, considering how much I spent on the items.


    Simone came over to my room and I used Presence to open the door before she reached it. ¡°The dignitary said they want to leave as soon as possible. All the arrangements have been made already and you just need to show up.¡±


    I nodded and messaged the electronics shop and told them I would be there soon to pick up my things. ¡°All right.¡± I said and stood up and hooked my belt around my waist, and only left the one bag of holding on it. I was tempted to take more; but, I didn''t want to risk loosing even more irreplaceable things. I opened my hidden safe and took my father''s laser pistol out, checked it, then hooked it to my hip.


    ¡°You can use a gun?¡± Simone asked, surprised.


    I smiled and pulled out a large double quiver full of arrows from one of the bags of holding in the safe and put it on the bed, then I pulled out the green cloak I had gotten from the elves and put it on the bed as well. Simone''s eyes widened at the things she had only seen pictures of in historical records, because no one used a bow and arrows when you could use laser weapons, then she realized I wasn''t taking a bow out and that made her wonder even harder about what I was going to do with the arrows.


    I briefly caressed my mother''s locket inside the safe, very thankful that I hadn''t been wearing it, and I took out another personal shield amulet and hung it around my neck. It was the last one I had and I would have to make more, considering I''ve used up and lost two of them so far. I adjusted it to my personal Presence instantly and closed the safe, then I put on my uniform coat and attached the company patch onto the chest and shoulders. The cloak was next and I pulled the hood up to cover most of my face, which plunged most of my face into shadow.


    I slipped on my blast shield and then put the quiver into my bag of holding, then I walked over to the wall of my room and placed my hand on it as I silently spoke the code phrase. The wall popped open and slid aside to reveal the racks of weapons that Luxea and I had concealed.


    ¡°Oh, god.¡± Simone said as she saw them. ¡°Where did you get military grade weaponry?¡±


    ¡°Salvage.¡± I said with a grin and picked up a heavy assault rifle with grenade launcher and slung it over my shoulder, then I dropped a dozen stun and fragmentation grenades into my bag of holding, then added extra charges for the rifle.


    Simone didn''t bat an eye as the things disappeared. ¡°I want one of those bags.¡±


    I chuckled and closed the wall, then walked over to my safe and took out one of the empty bags.


    Simone''s eyes widened as I walked over to her and tied the bag to her belt. ¡°I was joking.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°You put anything inside and the bag expands to fit it. The only thing you need to be wary of is the weight. It significantly cuts the weight down; but, it doesn''t eliminate it. Be careful that you don''t overload it and hinder yourself.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°It''s not indestructible, though. It can be torn if it suffers enough damage and you''ll lose whatever you have inside it.¡± I covered it in Presence and made it invisible. ¡°Be careful of who you use it in front of.¡±


    Simone nodded and her hand stroked the invisible bag. ¡°Hunter, thank you.¡±


    ¡°As long as you don''t smuggle anything bad.¡± I said and tapped my temple. ¡°Unless it''s for us, then that''s okay.¡±


    Simone let out a bark of laughter. ¡°That''s a weird restriction.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and gripped her shoulder for a moment, picked up my wrist communicator, then I stepped by her and went to the cockpit. ¡°Hey, Rhubin. I''m taking the shuttle, so send the landing coordinates to the onboard computer.¡±


    ¡°You could ask for another ride from...¡±


    ¡°No, I''ve abused their hospitality too much already.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, with us so far behind on this salvage operation, my down time isn''t going to match with Kris'' anyway.¡± I reached down to the console and pulled up her ship and sent her a message. I told her that I had finally woken up and that I was going to miss our scheduled date. I also told her that I would call her as soon as I had some free time.


    With that done, I walked through the ship to the main hatch and into the second ship. I walked to the back of the ship and went down the stairs, then all the way back to the other end of the ship and entered the shuttle bay. I laughed at the two shuttles that hung on the walls of the shuttle bay. They still looked like alien shuttles, so I took the one that looked normal. I climbed in and did the startup procedures, remotely opened the bay door, then took off and the bay door closed behind me.


    It was the first time I had flown a shuttle solo, outside of practice runs with Rhubin monitoring. I entered the course to take me to Chofaris, then sat back and looked out at the stars as I let the computer handle all the heavy lifting that concerned all of the other ships and avoided their scheduled routes. I was sure that Rhubin and Luxea were watching me very closely as the shuttle made the half hour trip to the planet.


    I on the other hand, used several mental techniques to calm myself and to check myself over fully, which included my master''s technique. I was quite relieved to find that I was fully recovered, both physically and mentally, and my energy hadn''t splintered after my body had suffered so much trauma.


    When I reached Chofaris space, I had a short conversation with the traffic control tower and told them where I was going, then waited for them to give me the proper route. They provided it and I entered it into the computer.


    I double checked it and made sure to run it by Rhubin before I executed it, then flew the shuttle down to the surface of the planet. As I was coming in for a landing at the designated coordinates, there were several government vehicles and two APCs, or armored personnel carriers, inside the compound. If I''d known that was a requirement, I could have offered to bring the one I had hidden in the capital city. I didn''t have any troops to fill it, though.


    I wonder if I can claim the government vehicle I left at Uzahne''s office, too? I asked myself with a laugh as I landed the shuttle. I shut everything down, locked it out using my command codes so that no one would be able to access it, even if they somehow got the hatch open to get inside, and then I covered the controls in a thin layer of Presence and made it solid. I left the shuttle and walked down the small ramp to greet the delegate. The military people became instantly alert when they saw the assault rifle over my shoulder, and I held in my laugh at their reaction.


    I''m glad my distraction is working. I thought. They''re more concerned with the rifle than with me.


    One of the men in suits stepped forward and held a hand up. ¡°Credentials, please.¡±


    I smiled a I flipped the cloak over my shoulders to show the shoulder patches for The Wave, then I reached up to pull my hood down to reveal the blast shield that looked like it was embedded into my face. The man winced at the fuzzy hair on my head and berated himself mentally at his own stupidity. He stepped back and waved at one of the government vehicles and another suited man opened the door of the hover car. I was very surprised when the prettiest woman-fish I had ever seen stepped out.


    She had what I considered to be the best of both species. Her hair was a nice reddish brown that reflected the light and it was styled well. Her lips weren''t too large like the fish people''s were, and yet they were puffy and looked very soft and quite kissable. Her eyes were slightly larger than a normal human and not nearly as large and round as a fish person, which made them all the more appealing. She wore a stylish white dress that went from her neck to her knees and had slight slits in the side for easier walking. She also had small and delicate gills on the sides of her neck and she had a smattering of rainbow colored scales at the top of her forehead, just under her ears, and at the sides of her neck.


    It made me imagine that she had a row of scales all the way down her back, so I ''looked'' to see that not only did she have that, she also had slight fin protrusions all along her spine. My fingers itched to flick them and then I realized what was going on. I blinked my eyes and smiled as her enticement faded from my perception. Her lips weren''t as kissable and her hair was styled nicely; but, it was a dull brown and not the shimmering reddish I had first seen, and I noticed that her eyes were a little too far apart for a ''normal'' human face.


    That''s pretty slick. I couldn''t feel her using Presence as a compulsion right away. I thought with slight amusement and concentrated on her Presence flow and saw she had a small core of energy in her head.


    She walked over to me and gave me a beaming smile. ¡°The famous Hunter.¡± She said and held a hand out to me. ¡°I''d tell you my name; but, it''s not pronounceable in the common tongue.¡± She chuckled. ¡°My mother is a traditionalist of her ancestors and doesn''t accept adopted naming conventions.¡±


    I took her hand and that contact let me ''hear'' her name, so I leaned in close and put my lips by her ear, then used Presence to reproduce the sound. She took in a sharp breath and her body stiffened for a second. I leaned back and she had a shocked expression on her face as she stared at me.


    ¡°So, am I riding in the car with you or in the lead APC?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You are her personal guard.¡± One of the men in suits said.


    I nodded and looked at the closest military man. ¡°What''s your com frequency?¡± I asked and showed him my wrist communicator. ¡°Just in case.¡±


    The man shrugged and gave it to me, then he made the mount up motion and we all climbed into our respective vehicles. I sat down beside the woman-fish and she kept staring at me, then the caravan pulled out of the compound and sped off towards our destination.

 Book Three: The Resolution 027

    It took the caravan three hours driving at full speed to arrive at the coastal area. I had my Detect Presence out to its full distance of two miles and I saw everyone around as we pulled into what looked like a shanty town. Hastily constructed shacks of all shapes and sizes were scattered randomly and there didn''t seem to be any order or structure to them. My first thought was about how you would find anyone or even count them to see how many there were. My second thought was that there were no showers.


    I frowned and looked at the woman-fish beside me and she was still looking at me in shock, even after all this time. ¡°Why does no one here have the ability to wash themselves?¡±


    She was startled out of her reverence by my question. ¡°H-how do you know that?¡±


    ¡°I can see through walls.¡± I said and motioned to the darkened window.


    ¡°Oh. Yes.¡± She said, then she sighed. ¡°It''s one of the reasons I came to visit, actually. These people have yet to recover from losing their city infrastructure.¡±


    ¡°Why hasn''t it been replaced already?¡± I asked and she sighed again.


    ¡°There''s only so much that can be done with the resources we have.¡± She said. ¡°Even with hover technology and robotic workers, it still takes time to build things.¡±


    ¡°Then my second question is, why didn''t we just fly here?¡±


    She sighed again. ¡°It''s for show.¡± She said. ¡°Would you look kindly up at the sky as someone flew in to visit, when all you had was a single shack for your whole family to live in?¡±


    It was my turn to sigh. ¡°You''re campaigning.¡±


    ¡°I''m visiting my constituents, and I''m bringing some resources and promises.¡±


    ¡°Why are you afraid of attack?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because I have currency.¡± She said. ¡°I may not be as wealthy as some of the other politicians; but, I definitely have more than the average person.¡± She touched her wrist and turned the plain platinum bangle there to show it had jewels encrusted on the surface. ¡°A gift from my father on my eighteenth birthday ten years ago. He gave it to me on the promise that I would never take it off, no matter what.¡±


    ¡°I assume it''s caused quite a stir on some occasions.¡± I said and she nodded as she turned it back around to hide the jewels and present the plain side again.


    ¡°Even like this, some people can tell that it''s an expensive metal.¡±


    I looked her over closely and saw that she didn''t have any other jewellery of any kind. She hasn''t lied so far. I thought. ¡°How rough can I be if someone attacks?¡±


    ¡°E-excuse me?¡± She looked at my face in surprise.


    ¡°If they try to kill you, do I kill them? Break their arms? Detain them? What are my limitations?¡±


    She stared at me like she couldn''t recognize the words I was saying.


    ¡°I guess that means I''ll have to decide for myself then.¡± I said and felt something enter my detection range, so I raised my wrist communicator and used the military man''s code. ¡°Sorry to intrude on your conversation; but, there''s an armored vehicle about a mile and a half away to the northwest that''s approaching at a high rate of speed towards this town. Oh, and it''s on wheels, so you''ll see the dust from the tires soon.¡±


    ¡°How do you know this?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°I''m Hunter.¡± I said and cut the connection.


    ¡°Do you have a satellite in orbit or something?¡± The woman-fish asked and I shook my head. ¡°Then how can you know...¡±


    A low alarm came from the driver''s compartment and he hit the buttons to close up the armor over the windows and put a small blast door between us and him.


    ¡°Hostiles incoming.¡± A man''s voice came over the hover car''s intercom. ¡°They are opening fire. Damage negligible. Orders?¡±


    ¡°Return fire and disable the vehicle.¡±


    ¡°Sir.¡± The man said and the sound of laser rifles firing filled the air. As soon as it started it was over. ¡°Vehicle disabled. Two persons escaping.¡±


    ¡°Pursue on foot and apprehend.¡±


    I smiled and used blue Presence Hands as I reached out and grabbed the two fleeing men by the ankles and snapped them. For good measure, I also snapped the ankles of the man still inside the vehicle, because he still had a laser rifle and was going to kill anyone that came near him.


    ¡°Culprits captured.¡± The man said and there was silence for a moment. ¡°Sir, their ankles are broken.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I can''t explain it.¡± The man said.


    I smiled and used my wrist communicator. ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said and they looked over to the vehicle I was in. ¡°By the way, there''s a third man still inside the vehicle. I broke his ankles as well. He''s got a laser rifle though, so be careful.¡±


    I saw the leader make several hand gestures to tell his men to check the vehicle. They did it quickly and professionally, then they disarmed the man and dragged him out. The entire thing was over in two minutes. The people around had stayed in their shacks and didn''t come out until the military men had formed a perimeter around the area and then one of the suited men opened the door for the woman-fish to get out.


    I flipped my hood up to cover myself and stepped out first of course, looked around, then reached in to take the woman-fish''s hand. She took it and stepped out, then several of the townspeople saw who it was and came out to greet her. I stepped back to be as unobtrusive as possible as she started to talk at length with the humans and fish people alike. They told her their grievances and she consoled them and said she would have work crews here by the end of the week to deal with some of those problems.


    She warned them that not everything will be fixed, since there was still so much that needed to be done, and the people understood. They were happy to get any help that they could and were grateful for anything she could do for them. It was a sign of a real politician that they could make people grateful for not getting everything that they wanted.


    I kept my thoughts to myself, though. I felt a few of the people, mainly the fish people, had animosity towards her. It was personal and not politically driven, so I knew it was because she was more human-like in her appearance instead of fish-like. I was thankful that none of them had any ill intent and I was also thankful that none of them paid me any attention. I was sure that it was because of the assault laser rifle I had slung over my shoulder and they dismissed my appearance as a hired hand.


    We moved along the town on foot, because the disabled vehicle was blocking the road. A few of the military guys were jacking it up and wrapping chains around it to attach to one of the armored personnel carriers. While they worked, the delegate met with more people and shook their hands, made halfhearted promises, and visited a couple of the larger buildings. One was a meeting hall and she discussed what she wanted to do and gave platitudes to the people gathered there.


    After half an hour, she needed to leave so she could reach the next town. She shook hands, greeted some of the fish people in their proper greeting with wiggled fingers on their web membranes between their fingers, and pet children''s heads. She led me back down the street and one of the men in suits opened the door of the hover car for her. We both climbed inside and she took several deep breaths as she calmed down from the exertion.


    ¡°Do we need to stop at the ocean for a few minutes before we move on?¡± I asked her and she turned her head to stare at me. ¡°I''m sure the water would be refreshing.¡±


    She opened her mouth to say that she would be fine, then she sighed. ¡°Am I so easy to read?¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°I can see through walls.¡± I gave her a crooked smile and she couldn''t help herself and laughed. I lifted my wrist communicator and used the military man''s code. ¡°Slight change of plans. The delegate needs a brief detour at the first ocean access road. Plan for half an hour even thought she only needs maybe ten minutes.¡±


    I saw the military man glare at his own watch communicator and then he shrugged. He passed on the orders and they all mounted up. We drove off for a few minutes and then turned off the main road to go down a poorly maintained dirt road. At the end of it was one of the more spectacular beaches I had seen in a while.


    ¡°I shouldn''t do this.¡± The woman-fish said, barely above a whisper.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and took her hand and pulled her out of the vehicle. ¡°You need the break.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± She looked around at the people in the caravan that were guarding her.


    ¡°Do you need a bathing suit?¡± I asked and she raised her eyes at me.


    ¡°So, you don''t know everything about us.¡± She kicked off her sensible shoes and started to slip her dress off of her shoulders.


    I quickly surrounded her with a solid blue Presence Barrier to stop everyone from seeing her naked.


    ¡°That wasn''t necessary. You can look.¡± She said.


    I looked through the barrier to see that she wore something like scaled armor that covered her breasts from just above the mid-point to the underside, like a strapless bikini top. She bent over and stepped out of her dress and I saw that she had on similar bottoms that also looked like scaled armor. She smiled at me and held out the dress for me to take.


    I absorbed the solid Presence Barrier and took the dress and slipped it into my bag of holding with her shoes. ¡°Okay, that''s interesting.¡± I said. ¡°You wear that all the time?¡±


    She chuckled and her breasts jiggled... and so did the armor. My eyes widened and she used her fingers to poke the armor and it bent and stretched.


    ¡°Reactive armor?¡± I asked and she nodded.


    ¡°It can absorb a lot more kinetic energy.¡±


    ¡°How does that work?¡± I asked. ¡°It barely covers you.¡±


    ¡°Only because I made it this way for swimming.¡± She said and waved at the ocean. ¡°Care to join me?¡±


    ¡°I''m working.¡± I said.


    ¡°How can you protect me as a bodyguard if you won''t come with me?¡± She asked, coyly.


    I held in my sigh and nodded as I stored my assault laser rifle. She stood there and waited for me to change and I motioned to the water. She gave me an odd look, then walked towards the shore. I covered myself in a thin layer of invisible Presence as I followed her and she kept looking back at me to see if I was going to change. We reached the water and she started to wade into it up to her waist and looked back at me again, only to be surprised that I was right there behind her... still wearing my full armored outfit and my large green cloak.


    She shook her head in disbelief and dove into the water and I dove in right behind her. She swam fairly quickly out to a hundred feet from the shore and when she turned around, she let out a little gurgled gasp because I was still right behind her. It took her a few moments to recover, then she squinted her eyes at me. I heard the challenge in her thoughts to keep up with her full speed, so I nodded and waved at the water. She let out a huff of air to clear her lungs and sucked in sea water, then she turned around and swam for all she was worth both down and out from the shore.


    I felt kind of bad about teasing her by staying right behind her; but, at least I wasn''t racing her and making her look bad. Of course, by staying behind her, I could also enjoy the view. Her armor looked substantial at first and I was surprised that it was so flexible. Now I could see that it was very snug and not very big from this angle. Each time she kicked her webbed feet to propel herself forward, that thin slip of armor between her legs shifted from side to side and almost showed her completely.


    I had absolutely no feelings towards this woman; and yet, I also couldn''t deny that the sight was enticing. My body reacted to it and then I realized I was suffering from the same thing that I had felt the first time I saw her. I chuckled mentally and concentrated on her flow of Presence and saw that it was almost twice as strong as it had been on the land.


    That''s sneaky. I thought. I wonder what technique she uses to block others from feeling her using Presence?


    She mentally decided that she had raced away from me enough as she grew tired, so she came to a stop and turned around in the water. She gasped as she saw me right behind her and I heard her almost shout mentally as she wondered how I had kept up with her. I motioned up to the surface and she seriously thought about saying no, then she nodded and we swam up to the surface of the water that was a few hundred feet away.


    When we broke the surface of the water, she did the opposite of what she did in the water and spit out water from her gills and mouth to empty her lungs of sea water, then she took in a breath of air.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± She asked me as she started to tread water.


    ¡°I''ll tell you that if you tell me how you used Presence without alerting me to it.¡± I said and didn''t bother treading water and just let the Presence in the water hold me steady.


    ¡°Do you really expect me to reveal family secrets?¡± She asked, incredulous.


    ¡°Like using mental techniques to seduce people into liking you?¡± I asked.


    She stiffened in surprise and dropped in the water a little for a moment, then she recovered and tread a little faster. ¡°I don''t know what you''re...¡±


    ¡°Don''t start lying now.¡± I cautioned her as the Presence wavered. ¡°You''ve been honest so far today. Do you want people to think your promises aren''t genuine?¡±


    ¡°Are... are you threatening me?¡± She asked in disbelief.


    ¡°Ha!¡± I barked a laugh. ¡°No, I''m saying my opinion of you will drop even further if you lie.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± She squinted her eyes at me in anger.


    ¡°You tried... twice... to make me fall for you.¡± I said and saw her face lose its anger. ¡°I assume the first time was so that I would protect you more diligently. That was quite pointless, since if it had worked, I would have been too enamoured of you to do my job.¡± I said and her face flushed red. ¡°The second time, you just wanted to distract me and played with my emotions.¡±


    She clamped her mouth closed and decided not to respond. Her blush didn''t fade, however.


    ¡°It means you don''t rely on your own charms to get people to follow you and that''s not something I approve of.¡± I said and felt her anger. ¡°Before you get upset, I honestly don''t care what you do, except when it affects me. Using your abilities on me is against our contract and is subject to penalties and early termination.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± She looked startled.


    ¡°You intentionally tried to cause me to have a diminished capacity, which would have affected my job performance. How would it look if those men had shown up without my warning and managed to kill your men and taken you captive... or worse.¡± I said and her face lost its previously flushed color. ¡°By rights I should have warned you after the first time; but, I thought it was something you did automatically to gain favor and let it slide. When you did it again, that proved it was a conscious decision on your part and you were trying to influence me on purpose.¡±


    She wasn''t sure how to respond to that. I could hear her thinking about all the times she had done it and it didn''t cross her mind to consider the consequences if she had been discovered. She looked at me with her slightly larger eyes and she couldn''t decide if she wanted to have me silenced by ruining my reputation, probably by saying I took advantage of her, or to bribe me to keep quiet.


    ¡°Thank you for making my decision for me.¡± I said and rose up out of the water. ¡°I hereby terminate our contract and your account will be charged double the fee for trying to coerce me.¡±


    ¡°You can''t do this!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°I''m out in the middle of nowhere!¡±


    ¡°You can swim back, can''t you? You''re part fish-person.¡±


    ¡°I''m exhausted!¡±


    I looked at her and sighed. ¡°Fine.¡± I covered her in Presence and picked her up out of the water to hover her next to me. ¡°As a courtesy to you, I''ll drop you back off with the caravan. However, I won''t be travelling back with you.¡±


    I used levitation to carry us the half a mile back to the shore. She stared at me the entire time and I could hear the gears in her mind try to figure out what to do. I came to a stop right beside the government car and put her down.


    ¡°Major!¡± The woman-fish exclaimed and I covered her mouth with Presence. The military man came right over to us, as did a few other men, and they held their laser rifles at the ready.


    ¡°Yes, miss?¡± The major looked at her trying to take something off of her mouth.


    ¡°I suggest you and your men take this... woman... back to base. Also, if you have someone that can break mental coercion techniques, I''d suggest getting yourself and your men checked out.¡±


    ¡°Why would we do that?¡± He asked, confused.


    I reached out and tapped his forehead and pushed the woman''s Presence out of his head. The major staggered for a second and the other men raised their rifles to shoot me.


    ¡°H-hold.¡± The major said and shook his head for several moments, then he looked at me. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°A horribly inefficient way to remove someone else''s influence from your brain.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sorry that I didn''t have the time to be subtle about it.¡±


    The major looked at the woman-fish and squinted his eyes at her. She wilted a little under his glare, then she remembered who she was and stood tall and used her ability to its fullest and projected her Presence out to all of us. I smiled and used my Absorb Presence ability and sucked it all in, then did the same for what she still had in her head. I stopped before I took it all, because I didn''t want to kill her, not with so many witnesses around.


    ¡°I believe someone isn''t going to be running in the next election when this attack on the military gets out.¡± I said and dropped her dress and shoes on the sand in front of her. ¡°Major? Can you give her a ride back? I''m not sure what kind of charges she''ll face, if any, for what she did... especially if she knows or has met people in the court system... which is likely, since she''s a delegate up for election.¡±


    The major sighed and nodded, then waved at two of his men. ¡°Can you clear their heads, too?¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked. ¡°How''s your headache?¡±


    ¡°Splitting.¡± He said and smiled. ¡°They can take it.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said and did the same thing to them as I did to the major and forced the woman-fish''s Presence out of their heads. Both men staggered for a moment, then their faces turned feral. I caught thoughts of a girlfriend and a ruined relationship and some about wasting his time waiting to get married.


    ¡°Guard her until we get back to base.¡± The major said and both men took her into the government hover car and the men in suits weren''t sure what to make of the situation. ¡°Everyone mount up! RTB! Return to base!¡±


    ¡°I''ll get there faster on my own.¡± I said and he gave me a disbelieving look. ¡°Don''t be surprised when my shuttle is gone when you get back.¡±


    The major opened his mouth to say something and I activated Presence Run and took off. ¡°Son of a bitch.¡± He said and then laughed.


    I guess Luxea was right. I thought as I ran back to the shuttle. It really did cause trouble when I came back here. I chuckled and used my wrist communicator to call the ship and told them what happened and to get the credits from the defaulted contract. At least we got a nice influx of credits.

 Book Three: The Resolution 028

    I stopped at the electronics store and picked up the replacement items, stayed for a while with the people that worked there as a thank you, then flew the shuttle back to the ship. I was back on the ship barely half an hour when a news story broke. Apparently, one of the people the woman-fish had coerced was married and had influenced a particular bill that funnelled a lot of the money from her relief efforts right into her and her family''s pockets.


    It was quite the scandal, and I had to smile every time she tried to mention that I was involved with her. Public opinion turned against her, even when she tried to use her ability. Of course, thanks to my warning the major of her security detail, everyone she came into contact with was checked for influence and treated. She wasn''t going to get away with her antics anymore. Her trial was set for the following month and they had, surprisingly, set three judges to oversee it. They would be rotated in and be checked for her influence. I thought that was a smart way to handle the situation and it would ensure a fair trial.


    Two days later Rhubin had temporarily hired six women and they were brought out to the ship with the food supplies. While the supplies were being transferred to the new ship, I went to meet the new hires in the living room. I had barely entered the room when one of the women squealed like a little girl and shook. I went right over to her and took her hand, filled her with calm, and Rhubin led her out of the room. The other five women watched them leave and then looked back at me.


    ¡°This isn''t a social gathering. We''re here to work and it''s going to be dangerous.¡± I said and they nodded. ¡°I just hope she wasn''t the combat pilot I asked for.¡±


    One of the women lifted her hand. ¡°I''m the combat pilot.¡±


    I looked at her and saw the scars scattered around her arms, then I looked through her generic jumpsuit and saw that her legs were covered as well. ¡°I assume you didn''t want to take the downtime for the medical bay to finish their work?¡±


    She gave me a stern look for a second, then she chuckled. ¡°I spent a goddamn week floating in that medical gel tank and I couldn''t take it anymore.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been there.¡± I said and reached up for my hair, then sighed. ¡°I never cut my hair, not once, and then poof... one explosion and it was all gone.¡±


    Two of them sighed as well and I heard them think about seeing my hair from the bar.


    ¡°I''m tempted to tell you the extent of my injuries; but, that''s not why I''m here.¡± I said and pointed to the doorway. ¡°That was why I''m here. Anyone that can''t stand to be in the room with me without reacting, can''t be trusted to pilot the ship or the shuttle. I can''t afford for them to be distracted.¡±


    The five women there nodded. They were of various ages, between twenty-five and forty.


    ¡°This isn''t the ship we''ll be staying on, either.¡± I said.


    ¡°We''ll be flying the destroyer?¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°It''s actually a passenger and cargo transport. At least, the original design was. It was adapted to be a warship... a bad warship, actually... and it has subtle differences. The engines, no observation bubbles, and at the moment, no weapons arrays.¡±


    ¡°At the moment?¡± The combat pilot asked.


    ¡°When we showed up in this system with it, it was immediately identified as a warship, despite what it actually was. So, I''ve decided to arm it. Eventually, anyway. My first priority is to salvage these alien wrecks as quickly as possible, so they can be smelted down and made useful by your people.¡±


    ¡°So that''s what you''ve been doing!¡± One of the other women said. ¡°There''s been rumours floating around about what you were doing out here, especially when you... ah...¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and say it.¡± I said and she didn''t say anything. ¡°I know you think I was wasting my time by visiting the planet and causing a commotion. Both times.¡±


    ¡°You''re not going to fire me for that, are you?¡± She asked, and I chuckled.


    ¡°No, as long as you don''t think I''m always like that.¡± I said and she closed her mouth. ¡°I did what I did for a reason. Well, several reasons, actually. One was to correct a mistake on my part and the second was to bolster the opinion of the people for the military.¡±


    ¡°I saw that.¡± The combat pilot said. ¡°The approval rating shot up ten points because of you.¡±


    ¡°That much?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°I just wanted people to appreciate how hard you are all working to get back up to fighting strength.¡±


    ¡°By dancing.¡± The combat pilot said with a grin.


    ¡°Hey, it worked.¡± I grinned back. ¡°Like I said at the time, I didn''t expect so many volunteers for it.¡±


    ¡°I really wanted to do that!¡± One of the others said. ¡°It looked like so much fun!¡±


    I chuckled and looked at their faces. ¡°I assume the experts are still trying to figure it out?¡±


    ¡°You know they are.¡± The combat pilot said. ¡°I don''t suppose you want to reveal the secret?¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Even if I told you, there''s no way for you to reproduce it.¡± I saw her face close down and held up my hand. ¡°I didn''t mean to imply that you or your people aren''t smart. I meant that even if I gave you the secret and showed you how to use it, it''s specifically keyed to me and no one else but me can use it.¡±


    She stared at me for a moment. ¡°Really? It''s that exclusive?¡±


    ¡°It''s even more exclusive than that.¡± I said. ¡°What I used at the time was destroyed and can''t be used again.¡±


    ¡°Oh, wow.¡± One of the other women said. ¡°No wonder you didn''t want to do it again.¡±


    ¡°I actually lost a hundred of them during the explosion.¡± I said and all five women caught their breath.


    ¡°A hundred.¡± One of them said, barely above a whisper. ¡°Wow.¡±


    ¡°I won''t mention everything else I lost that day.¡± I said and their eyes sharpened as they looked at my fuzzy head. They knew that it had been bad; but, no one had any idea how badly I had been hurt.


    ¡°Can you show us?¡± The combat pilot asked before she caught herself. ¡°I''m sorry, I didn''t mean... it''s not like I want to see it... it''s just...¡±


    I thought about saying no, then I saw their concerned faces. I turned to the console at the side of the room and brought up the security footage from the medical facility. Luxea had been... upset... that they wouldn''t let her come and see me, so she had hacked their systems and taken everything related to me. I didn''t show the surgery, though. I skipped right to the part where they stripped me off and put me into the medical gel tank and all of my burns, scars, and missing parts were clearly seen.


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± One of them whispered and looked at me. ¡°How... how did you...¡±


    ¡°Magic.¡± I said and they didn''t believe me, so I turned it off. ¡°So, who wants to take the first run out to the wrecks?¡±


    All five of them raised their hands and I chuckled.


    ¡°Random it is, then.¡± I said. ¡°Grab your things and follow me to the other ship.¡±


    ¡°Sir.¡± They said and I followed them to the shuttle hatch, waited for them to get their personal belongings, then I led them to the ship''s main hatch and into the other ship.


    ¡°This is pretty nice.¡± One of them commented as we walked.


    ¡°It was a passenger ship, so there''s quite a few nice compartments for people to say in.¡± I said and came to a stop behind the cockpit. ¡°I chose the ones closest to the cockpit for you to stay in, since they are pretty much all the same.¡± I waved at the doors in the hallway on either side. ¡°If you want to move to one of the others on the ship, for more privacy or whatever, just let me know.¡±


    They nodded and I motioned to the cockpit for them to go in.


    ¡°This place is huge! We can all fit in here!¡± One of them said.


    ¡°With five of us, we can split the shifts with two of us on duty and one in the shuttle, with two people resting, or only one in the cockpit and one in the shuttle and the others rest.¡± The combat pilot said. ¡°As long as I''m the one in the shuttle.¡±


    The other four chuckled. ¡°There''s only one of you, so you''re going to have longer shifts.¡±


    ¡°No, she won''t.¡± I said and the five women looked at me. ¡°Six hours on, a two hour break, six hours on and then ten hours off.¡±


    ¡°That''s SAR standard procedure.¡± The combat pilot said and I nodded.


    ¡°I know it seems a little wasteful of time; but, on that schedule, we were never exhausted. We were well rested and alert, the tension was reduced, and we worked hard because we knew it wasn''t going to be long when we could take a break.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°If that''s how you want to run it, I won''t argue.¡± The combat pilot said.


    I chuckled. ¡°I know you''re eager to get out there and prove that you''ve still got it, so once you''re settled in your rooms, we can get started.¡± I looked at the other four women. ¡°You''ll have to fight off to see who goes first.¡±


    The women stared at me with their mouths slightly open and I laughed.


    ¡°I''m just kidding. I don''t even know your names yet.¡± I said and held a hand out to the closest woman. ¡°Hi, I''m Hunter.¡±


    The woman smiled at me as she took my hand and shook it. ¡°Beatrice.¡±


    ¡°Deborah.¡± The second woman said and shook my hand next.


    ¡°Eugleasiastis.¡± The third woman shook my hand and I raised my eyebrows at her, and she laughed. ¡°Just call me Gleas. All my friends do.¡±


    ¡°That''s definitely easier to say.¡± I said and shook the fourth woman''s hand.


    ¡°Kalina.¡± She said and squeezed my hand. ¡°Pleased to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± I said and turned to the combat pilot.


    She took my hand and shook it. ¡°I''m Perginia.¡±


    ¡°We should get your gear stowed in your rooms.¡± I said and looked at them all. ¡°Is there any chance you brought space suits with you?¡±


    They gave me sad faces and I couldn''t help but laugh.


    ¡°I didn''t mean to make you sad. I just wanted to know if you needed one issued or not.¡±


    ¡°We need them issued.¡± Kalina said. ¡°They are too expensive to buy personal ones and they are also difficult to store and take with you on different jobs.¡±


    ¡°Depending on the size and weight requirements, sometimes we can''t have much more than toiletries and a change of clothes.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°Oh, I hate those close quarters jobs.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°They overload the air filters with having so many people onboard at once!¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± Gleas said. ¡°The last time I was on one, they only had one shower for ten people!¡±


    Perginia laughed. ¡°You had showers?¡±


    The other women groaned, because they knew full well what that meant in a space ship with a closed air system.


    ¡°I guess it''s a good thing you''re flying in a passenger craft this time.¡± I said and they nodded. ¡°Let me show you the rooms.¡±


    The women were blown away at the rooms. Two of them commented that they were bigger than their apartments. When I showed them the bathrooms, they all couldn''t help but be happy at the large tubs and shower stalls.


    ¡°I am definitely going to like it here.¡± Deborah said. ¡°I''ll take first shift if someone wants to be my co-pilot.¡±


    Beatrice nodded. ¡°It''ll let me familiarize myself with the cockpit while you handle the grunt work.¡±


    Deborah chuckled. ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±


    ¡°Then first shift, first room.¡± I said and floated in Deborah''s bags. The women stared at them and then stared at me. ¡°I brought all the bags.¡±


    The women stepped back out into the hallway and all of their bags were floating in the air.


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°Levitation.¡± I said. ¡°Beatrice, the room across the hall or next door?¡±


    ¡°Next door, please.¡±


    I floated her bags into that room, then the other women picked their rooms and I put their bags inside. ¡°You''ve got half an hour to settle in, then we''ll start the first shift.¡± I said and they nodded and went to their rooms. I walked down the hallway and went into my temporary room to meditate. When the time was up, I left my temp room and walked down the hallway to one of the many storage lockers. They had been empty before and now they were stocked full of space suits, recovery packs, med packs, emergency kits, and tools used for rescues.


    I took out five of the space suits that would fit almost anyone and hovered them in the air. They weren''t the cheap generic suits, either. They were the military ones that Luxea and I had salvaged from the other wrecks, so that should make my new pilots happy. I carried them down the hallway and knocked on each woman''s door, then handed each of them a suit. They didn''t comment at the high quality and accepted them, even Perginia.


    ¡°Don''t worry. If things work out and you get hired for the job, you''ll have a custom flight suit.¡± I said and all five women were both surprised and delighted. ¡°Now, just to be clear... this isn''t a competition.¡± I looked at each woman in the eye. ¡°The trial period is to determine your skills, your ability to handle difficult situations, and working in a stressful environment... namely a huge debris field of wrecked space ships. There is to be no sabotaging anyone else. You are here to work, not fight.¡±


    ¡°What about your joke earlier about fighting to see who goes first?¡± Gleas asked with a grin.


    I grinned back. ¡°It was a joke and I don''t mind joking around, as long as it doesn''t endanger anyone.¡± I said. ¡°Despite my mean appearance and sour expression, I''m actually a bit of an asshole.¡±


    Perginia laughed out loud and Deborah and Gleas chuckled, because they had expected me to say I was a nice guy. Kalina and Beatrice knew I was being serious and didn''t laugh, so I gave them a slight nod.


    ¡°Kalina and Gleas, you''re on personal time until your flight shift tomorrow, assuming you''re taking it together.¡± I said. ¡°I might make it standard to have two pilots, that way one can be primary for the first six hours and the other can take over for the second six hours. What does everyone think of that?¡±


    ¡°We can split the shifts for the first week and see how it goes.¡± Gleas said and the others nodded. ¡°Depending on the workload, we might only need one person for both shifts, or one per shift. It would give us a lot of downtime like that, though.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°We''ll play around with the schedules at the end of the week and talk it over. I want this to run smoothly and efficiently. The happier you are with your working arrangements, the better off everyone is.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe you''re giving us full pay right away and not working us to death for it.¡± Perginia said and two of the other women hissed and told her to be quiet.


    I smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°You''re only getting a base pay. Until you''re hired by the company, you don''t get access to the salvage percentages on the sales.¡±


    ¡°You give employees percentages?¡± Beatrice asked, completely shocked. ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°Only if you''re hired.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t remember what we made the last time we salvaged so many wrecks; but, let''s just say that you''re standing in a good portion of it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Gleas whispered. ¡°You bought a medium sized cargo ship with salvage money?¡±


    ¡°And a shuttle.¡± I said and they stared at me. ¡°We have three shuttles now, by the way.¡±


    Perginina caught her breath and I felt her shake under my hand. I squeezed her shoulder and let it go.


    ¡°Deborah and Beatrice. Stations, please.¡± I said and both women nodded and walked into the cockpit. I motioned for Perginina to come with me and we stepped into the cockpit as well. I used the communications console to call Rhubin. ¡°Hey, Rhubin. We''re ready to launch for the first test run.¡±


    ¡°All right. Closing everything up.¡± Rhubin said and Deborah did the same thing. ¡°All green. Unlocking temporary docking ring.¡±


    We heard the click of the metal as the ring disengaged and the ship vibrated a little.


    ¡°Aaaaaand you''re clear.¡± Rhubin said and smiled from the small display. ¡°Good hunting.¡±


    ¡°Hardy har har.¡± I said. ¡°Talk to you later.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to say goodbye to the girls?¡± Rhubin asked and glanced to the side.


    ¡°If Luxea is there, tell her that I''ll apologize later for being an ass about what happened. If Simone is there, she already knows I''m an ass and I''ll apologize later for what I did to her in the shower.¡±


    ¡°You should be more careful about what you say in mixed company.¡± Rhubin laughed. ¡°Have fun.¡±


    The communications console went blank and I looked at the women around me. Their thoughts were running through all of the things that I could do to a woman in the shower.


    ¡°It was completely plat...¡± I stopped talking, because I was going to say it was platonic and that nothing had happened. What actually happened was I indulged myself and Simone had taken it and not said anything. ¡°It was a shared personal moment and...¡± I stopped again, because I couldn''t say that there was nothing sexual about it, not after Simone had finished and she wanted me to lick her all over. ¡°I''m just going to stop talking now.¡±


    Perginia laughed. ¡°I think that would be for the best.¡± She said. ¡°We should get to the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°We can get changed into the space suits there.¡± I said and looked at the co-pilot. ¡°Beatrice, bring up the low priority wreck list. We''re going to the second one.¡± I looked at Deborah. ¡°I won''t tell you how to fly. So just get us into the best position to keep the ship safe and still leave us with the ability to launch the shuttle.¡±


    Deborah gave me a knowing smile and nodded, so I led Perginia out of the cockpit and all the way to the back of the space ship, then we went down the stairs and all the way to the front of the ship.


    ¡°Where''s the shuttle?¡± Perginia asked as she looked around the huge cargo area.


    ¡°Right here.¡± I said and entered the code to open the shuttle bay.


    ¡°You have a SHUTTLE BAY!¡± Perginia yelled and ran inside, then she gasped at the shuttle in the middle and the two shuttles that hung on the walls. ¡°What in the seven hells...¡± She walked over to one and looked at the force field. ¡°You have the gravity off!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°That was Rhubin''s idea. He apparently likes having access to more than one shuttle.¡± I said. ¡°We''re taking the main one, though.¡±


    Perginia nodded and we boarded the shuttle. She wasn''t shy about taking off her bulky normal clothing and I turned away from her.


    ¡°Are you shy?¡± Perginia asked with a laugh. ¡°I''m wearing a body suit.¡±


    I turned back to look at her as she pulled on the space suit. ¡°I thought it was you that wasn''t shy.¡±


    Perginia laughed. ¡°I''m not; but, I figured we would be flying and wore this under my clothes.¡± She plucked at the stretchy fabric that covered her chest. ¡°I''m really glad you have the better space suits.¡±


    ¡°Me, too. I''ve worn the standard ones over my uniform and they fit... but...¡±


    ¡°Restrictive, I know.¡± Perginia said and closed up her suit, then placed her helmet on the back of the pilot seat. ¡°I assume you''re staying with the standard one?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I''m wearing my powered armor for safety reasons.¡±


    ¡°Then suit up and I''ll have us powered up and out of here as soon as we''re in position.¡±


    I nodded and quickly checked and put on my space suit, the same one I''ve worn every time I''ve gone out into space. Just as I finished and hooked a Light sword to my belt, the ship''s intercom beeped.


    ¡°Okay, we''re in position.¡± Deborah said. ¡°Beatrice is sending you the data for the wreck and the flight path.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Perginia said and the bay doors opened up. ¡°What a sight.¡± She said and I looked out the cockpit to see what she was seeing. Floating a few hundred feet in front of us was a large chunk of a ship. If I had to make a guess, it was a side section with almost nothing inside. It still had to be checked for hazards, though.


    ¡°Take us out.¡± I said and she deftly used the shuttle controls to float us out of the ship and swung around the wreck.


    ¡°There''s half of a shuttle hatch there if you want me to try and dock to it.¡± Perginia said with a chuckle.


    I chuckled as well. ¡°We can''t take the chance it might damage the shuttle''s dock, so just get me close and keep on station.¡±


    ¡°You''re the boss.¡± Perginia said and swung the shuttle up onto its back end, turned part way around the wreck, then eased the shuttle to within ten feet of the hull to put the side hatch right there. She grabbed her helmet and donned it, then raised the bulkhead. ¡°Ten seconds to depressurize.¡± She said and counted down, then all the air was sucked out of the shuttle. ¡°Clear to disembark.¡±


    I opened the door and the hull was right in front of me. I held in my laugh as I activated my Light sword and floated out, then cut a man sized hole in the hull. I heard someone gasp over the suit com and ignored it as I pushed the cut section out of the way. I floated into the ship section and discovered that I was right. There were no high priority things in it, so I scavenged a ton of low priority things. It didn''t take me long to strip it and get the things back into the shuttle, then I took the person analog and tucked it into one of the small service ways near the wall of the hull.


    ¡°Next on the list.¡± I said as I went back to the shuttle and closed the hatch.


    ¡°Docking back on the mother ship.¡± Perginia said and flipped us around and gently flew us... backwards... over to the shuttle bay and landed.


    ¡°Okay, that was just showing off.¡± I said over the suit com.


    Perginia laughed and hit the ship intercom button as the bay doors closed. ¡°Baby on board, Mother.¡±


    Deborah snorted a laugh. ¡°I''m too young to have kids.¡± She said. ¡°Hang on, we''re heading to the next wreck. ETA, ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°Roger that.¡± Perginia said and looked down at the screen that showed her the back with me in it. I gave her a thumbs up gesture and she smiled.

 Book Three: The Resolution 029

    We worked all week while changing shifts and giving each woman a chance to pilot the ship in slightly different and dangerous situations. Perginia only wanted to fly the shuttle, despite having the skills for both small ships and large ships. She was pretty fearless in the shuttle''s operations and could manoeuvre it as it if was an extension of herself. That was impressive by itself and she actually enjoyed it. As far as I could tell, she enjoyed flying even more than Rhubin did.


    By the end of the week, I found the strengths and weaknesses of each woman and knew that given enough time, they could work on those weaknesses and make them into strengths... or they could remain paired up and then those weaknesses were covered by their co-pilot. When we gathered together for a company meeting and sat down to eat together, just like I had us do for every meal, I discussed all of this with them.


    ¡°Okay, I have to admit that having a second person that''s just as qualified in the co-pilot''s seat is a relief, especially if something odd happens.¡± Deborah said and nodded to Beatrice. ¡°Like two days ago and that stray piece of debris headed towards the ship.¡±


    ¡°I''m just glad I saw it.¡± Beatrice said.


    ¡°I''m just as glad that I didn''t fight for the controls when you shouted and scared me.¡± Deborah said with a chuckle.


    ¡°It was a close call.¡± Perginia said. ¡°None of the gravity sensors picked it up, either.¡±


    ¡°I''m not sure how it evaded our sweep.¡± Gleas said. ¡°We checked the area just a few minutes before.¡±


    ¡°Things can move very fast in space, especially in close quarters like this and things bump each other.¡± I said and they looked at me, so I described how at one point I had warned Rhubin during the last salvage operation about a small piece of metal coming at a high rate of speed, then it turned out to be one of the main structural beams from a huge ship.


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Perspective is so weird, isn''t it?¡±


    ¡°It definitely scared us into being more cautious.¡± I smiled. ¡°Not that Rhubin needed the reminder.¡±


    ¡°He''s a great pilot.¡± Kalina said. ¡°They use his piloting at the Battle of Fogaris as an example of active defensive manoeuvring.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°That''s actually a good description for it.¡±


    We all finished eating and when the discussion ended, the women exchanged glances and then they all looked at me. I ignored the pointed stares for a few moments, then I took a deep breath and let out a long and dragged out sigh.


    ¡°I suppose you''re all waiting for my decision.¡± I said and all of their thoughts coalesced into the same thought. ''Let it be me''. ¡°The first thing I need to say is this.¡± I looked at each of them. ¡°Like the military, there''s to be no personal fraternization with anyone inside the company.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Beatrice blinked her eyes at me. ¡°You''re saying we can''t socialize?¡±


    ¡°We wouldn''t be sharing meals together all the time if that were the case.¡± I said. ¡°Having and being friends is fine. I actually meant having sex.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Beatrice sighed. ¡°I guess that''s fair.¡±


    ¡°I was on a ship once and the women there... well, they had no problem sharing the new man on board and passed him around when they were through with him.¡±


    The five women stared at me for a minute, then their faces flushed red.


    ¡°I escaped that situation, barely, and only Rhubin got caught. It was weird and interesting to see how the dynamic worked... and didn''t work... and I do not want that for this company.¡± I said. ¡°In fact, if you caught any of the tension between me and the others, it''s because of a similar situation that happened a few weeks ago when we tried to hire a temporary pilot.¡±


    Perginia caught onto the hint immediately. ¡°Was it the blonde or the brunette?¡±


    ¡°The blonde. She was on the other ship and she joined my crew when Rhubin and I left that ship.¡±


    ¡°Which means she was one of the contributors? Or collaborators?¡± Beatrice asked.


    ¡°It''s more like she was an enabler.¡± Gleas said as she understood. ¡°I''m surprised you hired her.¡±


    ¡°She was a passenger at first, then she became the backbone of the shipping business.¡± I said. ¡°I had thought she had gotten it out of her system by then and when we spent some alone time together...¡±


    ¡°She got you, too?¡± Deborah asked, surprised.


    I chuckled. ¡°Not right away, and a lot of things happened beforehand. When I got back to the ship, I kind of fell into being with her and...¡±


    ¡°It was great and then one of you messed up.¡± Perginia said, and I nodded. ¡°That was why you made a spectacle of yourself the first time. You said it was for a mistake you made, so it had to be for her.¡±


    ¡°Luxea didn''t like that I showed everyone that it was her that killed the aliens in that scout ship and I tried to get everyone to concentrate on me.¡±


    ¡°That definitely worked.¡± Kalina said and laughed. ¡°That was the best time I''ve ever had!¡±


    ¡°You were at the first one?¡± I asked and she nodded.


    ¡°I didn''t get to brush your hair, though.¡± Kalina said and looked at my fuzzy head. ¡°Oh! I''m sorry!¡±


    I shrugged and rubbed my hand over my head. ¡°It''s all right. I remind myself of what happened every time I turn my head.¡±


    ¡°Can we date crew members while off the ship?¡± Gleas asked. ¡°That would be personal time, right?¡±


    I opened my mouth to say no, then sighed. ¡°I''m not here to police your personal lives, especially since I''ve been guilty of sleeping with coworkers.¡± I said. ¡°I''m just trying to mitigate the potential fallout from work relationships being hurt or broken because of personal feelings.¡±


    ¡°You mean what happened between you and the blonde? Luxea, wasn''t it?¡± Kalina asked and I nodded. ¡°Then is she leaving the company if you''ve broken up?¡±


    ¡°I''m not sure what she wants to do; but, she said that she can''t leave until we finish this salvage operation and we recoup the money from buying this ship.¡±


    ¡°Wow, is money that tight?¡± Deborah asked, a little surprised. ¡°What about us?¡± She looked at the other women and back at me. ¡°Why are you dangling a lucrative job in front of us if you can''t pay us?¡±


    ¡°The company doesn''t have a lot of currency at the moment; but, I do.¡± I said. ¡°I even paid for all of the food and supplies that were brought on board with you.¡±


    ¡°You paid for it?¡± Beatrice asked. ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Inheritance from my parents.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t have access to it until recently and as far as I could tell at the time, it was well over twice what this ship was worth.¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± Deborah said. ¡°Why aren''t you pompous and arrogant like most rich people?¡±


    I laughed. ¡°In case you haven''t noticed yet, I am arrogant.¡±


    ¡°Not like them.¡± Deborah said. ¡°I think you''re more overconfident than arrogant.¡±


    ¡°Yes, definitely overconfident.¡± Perginia said. ¡°I''ve seen a lot of your broadcasts and the propaganda videos from the government and the military.¡±


    ¡°I''d like to say I''ve been humbled.¡± I said and rubbed my head again as I sat back in my chair and sighed. ¡°It''s more like I''ve been refocused onto my original plan.¡±


    ¡°What''s that?¡± Kalina asked.


    ¡°I shouldn''t say until I make a decision of who to hire.¡± I said and the women perked up. ¡°Do you want me to make that now, or do you want a day to relax and find out then?¡±


    ¡°There''s no way I can relax for a day if I have to wait.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I''d rather know now.¡±


    The other women agreed and I nodded.


    ¡°I really needed a good shuttle pilot...¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± Perginia pumped her fist into the air, then caught herself. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    I chuckled, then closed my eyes for a moment to give them a blank face, then opened my eyes. ¡°I know the rest of you are here for different reasons, and I know you have different expectations, and I also know that each of you believes that you deserve the job more than the others.¡±


    The other four women exchanged depreciating glances for a moment and looked back at me.


    ¡°This was a fairly hard decision, especially after seeing how you all work this week.¡±


    ¡°How could you see us? You were out in space and salvaging...¡± Gleas asked and then covered her mouth. ¡°I''m sorry for interrupting.¡±


    ¡°Before you jump to conclusions, I didn''t review security footage from the cockpit, even though I could have.¡± I said. ¡°Also, there are no security cameras inside the personal rooms... or the bathrooms.¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    All five women visibly relaxed and the thoughts they had about how I was watching them evaporated.


    ¡°You''ve all acted professionally, both during work and during your off time, and I was honestly surprised there hasn''t been any conflicts between you, considering you are relative strangers and just spent a week together in space on a stressful job.¡±


    Three of them laughed and two had slight blushes.


    ¡°Does that mean I missed something?¡± I asked the two who blushed, Gleas and Kalina.


    ¡°It''s not really a conflict.¡± Gleas said and looked at Kalina. ¡°She''s dating my ex.¡±


    ¡°Will that be a problem if I hire the two of you?¡±


    ¡°No, I...¡± Gleas took a breath and let it out.


    ¡°She doesn''t want children and I do.¡± Kalina said, which went right to the heart of the problem.


    I looked from one to the other, then settled on Kalina. ¡°What are you doing applying for a space salvage job if you''re planning on having kids?¡±


    ¡°Trying to make money, of course.¡± Kalina said. ¡°If I get hired for the three months you''ve estimated for the job, I won''t have to work again for a year.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± I said. She could take the time off after this job to have the baby. I thought and looked at Gleas. ¡°Are you okay with me hiring her for three months?¡±


    Gleas looked at me for several moments and then looked at Kalina, then she steeled her thoughts and nodded to me. ¡°If that''s all she needs to make them both happy, then I''m okay with that.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± I said. ¡°Does anyone else have any other short term or long term plans that a job like this might interfere with?¡±


    The other women shook their heads.


    ¡°All right.¡± I said and stood. ¡°Kalina, I''d like to offer you a three month contract, standard pay for flight with a one percent bonus as danger pay from the salvage when it''s sold.¡±


    ¡°Th-thank you!¡± Kalina said happily and the other three sighed in defeat.


    ¡°Don''t look so glum.¡± I said and they looked at me. ¡°Gleas, I''d like to offer you a job... a permanent job... as the primary pilot for this ship.¡±


    ¡°Wh-wh-what?!?¡± Gleas exclaimed. ¡°P-permanent?¡±


    ¡°The perks are better than a temporary job and...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°I thought this job was only for the salvage operation.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°Why didn''t you say it was a permanent job?¡±


    ¡°I read the ad that Rhubin posted. Nowhere does it say that it''s a temporary position.¡± I said and they all stared at me. ¡°I wanted to hire a pilot for the ship, not just while it''s in the Fogaris system.¡± I chuckled. ¡°How would I get the thing back to base if I didn''t have a pilot to fly it?¡±


    They all sat there and stared at me and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Well, I suppose we should go back to our rooms for the night, because everyone but Kalina needs to reconsider your requirements and expectations about the job. We can meet again for breakfast and I''ll find out then if any of you are interested in an actual job.¡± I said and left the dining area.


    I didn''t want to listen to their discussion, so I put up a soft sound block in my mind and their voices faded into the background noise of the ship. I went to my room and stripped off, hung the uniform suit up, then hopped into the shower to quickly clean up and went to bed. Just as a precaution, I covered the door with a thin layer of Presence and made it solid. I hadn''t done it all week; but, if one of them decided that they didn''t want a permanent job, they might also decide that having some alone time with me would be the best going away present they could have.


    *


    ¡°It''s been a week and he still hasn''t decided.¡± Luxea said as they watched the vidscreen in the living room. She had salvaged a lot that day and needed to unwind.


    ¡°Are you really that anxious about it?¡± Simone asked and grabbed a small handful of thin wafer-like things and ate some. ¡°What are these things, anyway?¡±


    ¡°Something the locals eat.¡± Luxea said and ate a couple of the thin wavers herself. ¡°I think they are dried flower petals or something.¡± She sighed. ¡°If he hires another beautiful woman, I might scream.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you didn''t look over the files Rhubin sent you?¡± Simone asked.


    Luxea nodded. ¡°I didn''t want to know beforehand what they looked like.¡±


    Simone laughed. ¡°You don''t honestly think he''s hiring eye candy, do you?¡±


    ¡°No, but... if given a choice...¡±


    Simone shook her head. ¡°Now you''re really letting your old personality take reign.¡± She said. ¡°Where''s the welcoming and happy Luxea I met when I came onto the ship?¡±


    Luxea opened her mouth for a moment and then sighed. ¡°She''s not that happy anymore.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Simone said and looked back at the screen when the thirty foot tall vermin smashed into another house and picked up two poor souls and ate them. ¡°I''d tell you not to blame yourself for that... but...¡±


    Luxea sighed. ¡°I''ve tried to apologize...¡±


    Simone snorted a laugh. ¡°No, you haven''t.¡± She said and Luxea gave her a look. ¡°I don''t need ''the look'' from you. Every time he tries to come near you, you flinch and hesitate. You barely spoke to him the last time he was around and because of that, he didn''t say goodbye to either of us when he left the ship.¡± She sighed. ¡°Of course, me getting after him for what he said to you didn''t help, either.¡±


    Both women ate more of the wafer-like flower petals and watched the screen. Surprisingly, they both imagined the thirty foot tall monster was Hunter and the woman he currently held in his claws was them. When the monster ate the woman and she didn''t scream, they both thought that was appropriate.


    *


    Rhubin rolled over in bed and his scruffy black hair and moustache rubbed across the pillow and irritated his nose. He rubbed it and moved the hair out of the way and laid on his back as he stared up at the ceiling. He agreed with Hunter that he didn''t want their company to end up like the long haul transport, where they passed people around like toys and had fun with them until they were bored.


    Unfortunately, when he had researched the women to hire, one of them had struck his fancy and hit all of his buttons. He knew they would have a lot in common and he had added her to the list, just for fun. According to Hunter''s daily updates on them and their performances, she was working out to be one of the top contenders for the job. If she got it, then he was going to be in serious trouble.


    Rhubin reached under the blanket and closed his eyes as he concentrated on the woman''s face, then her chest, then on her plump ass. ¡°Oh, goddess!¡± He said and made a mess much faster than he had ever made a mess before. ¡°I really need to get laid. And fast.¡± He climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom to clean himself up. After that and changing his clothes, he went back to bed and slid under the covers. He was quite tired after losing some essential nutrients and expending so much energy.


    Rhubin fell asleep with thoughts of making a quick run to the Dizahl System and visiting a particularly dark bar where not a lot of questions were asked and the lights stayed off.


    *


    On the second ship, each of the four remaining women walked down the hall and stopped near Hunter''s room to stare at the door. Not all at the same time, of course. They hid from each other and made sure that their timing was just odd enough that they didn''t meet each other. They hadn''t coordinated it; and yet, the movements and times spent staring at the door never crossed and they all went back to their rooms shortly after. None of them had build up enough courage to go to him and to ask his advice about what they should do about the very important decision they had to make.


    *


    The next morning, I woke up at my planned time and dressed in casual clothes, because no matter what the women decided, I was taking a day off from doing everything. Unlike them, I had worked each day all week and wanted to relax. I stored everything into a bag of holding and left my room to head to the kitchen. Once there, I thought about prepping breakfast for everyone and gave their rooms a quick glance. They were all in various states of getting up and getting dressed, so I gave in and stopped fighting my nice tendencies and made five more meals. As each woman came into the kitchen to make themselves breakfast, I handed them one of my prepared trays.


    Each one was surprised by this and when all five of them sat down at the large table, I placed my tray on the table and sat myself. No one said anything and we all quietly ate our food. I lifted the soft mental block I had put in place and could hear their thoughts about how good the food tasted. I didn''t delve any deeper than their surface thoughts and waited patiently as we all finished the meal.


    When we were all done, I gathered the trays up and slid them into the available slot and went back to the table and sat down. All five women tried to stop themselves from staring at me and I had to chuckle at that. That got their attention and then they had to look at me.


    ¡°You''re all acting like school girls that are afraid to be disciplined by the cross teacher.¡± I said and all five of them let blushes show on their faces. ¡°I have to admit that it''s endearing... and a little annoying.¡±


    I saw their surprise and their surface thoughts reflected that.


    ¡°You don''t have to be nervous. You''re grown women. We''re here to discuss things. You can say whatever you want and I won''t judge you harshly or react negatively.¡±


    ¡°Is that true?¡± Gleas asked. ¡°I just... I''ve got family here, but... if the job takes me away from them, I...¡±


    ¡°That''s what discussions are for.¡± I said. ¡°So, tell me all of your concerns.¡±


    Gleas looked across the table at Kalina and then at the other women around the table.


    ¡°I can block them from hearing this if you want.¡± I offered and she looked at me in surprise.


    ¡°No, I... I can say this. If I can''t, then I don''t deserve the job.¡± Gleas said.


    I gave her a smile and she described her family, her friends, and her social life that had been perfect until recently. She even managed not to look at Kalina when she said it. She described that she didn''t want everyone to think she was running away from everything if she did accept the permanent job; but, she also didn''t want them to think that she gave up a great opportunity by refusing, just for a social standing that she knew was damaged because of what had happened between her and her ex.


    I reached out and took her hand and she startled for a second, then I shared my calmness technique with her. ¡°Thank you for telling me all of that.¡±


    ¡°I... I tried to... to go to your room last night.¡± Gleas admitted. ¡°I wanted to discuss this with you and see what you thought, before I made my decision.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that you weren''t trying to put me into an awkward position?¡± I asked and her face flushed red for a moment, then the color faded and she looked into my eyes.


    ¡°I honestly wanted your opinion on how to handle the situation I''m in... however... if something did happen, I... I would have to refuse the job and I wouldn''t say no to you.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Not because I wouldn''t want it, because you would have broken your own policy.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Then how about we compromise on the job?¡± I asked. ¡°Rather than the permanent position, it''ll be a trial for the first two months. At the end of that time, you can reconsider your options and make a final decision then?¡±


    ¡°Do I have to wait the full two months?¡± Gleas asked. ¡°What if I change my mind next week, or only a month from now?¡±


    ¡°That''s the best thing about making decisions. If it''s not pressured, you can weigh all the good things against all the bad things and make an informed decision.¡±


    ¡°What are some of the bad things?¡± Perginia asked.


    ¡°I can''t tell you everything if I don''t hire you.¡± I said and held a hand up to stop her protest. ¡°You already know that some systems will react negatively to a ''warship'' entering their space.¡±


    ¡°What if I refuse the job?¡± Perginia asked.


    ¡°I''ll look for someone else or do what I did with the other pilot. I''ll go out in just a space suit.¡±


    ¡°You''re crazy!¡± Perginia and Beatrice said and I laughed.


    ¡°I''m definitely not on the good side of mental stability, not after what happened with that explosion. My anger keeps threatening to break out and I''m very eager to hunt down the people that did it.¡±


    ¡°Is that what you''re going to do next?¡± Perginia asked.


    ¡°That has a both a yes and a no component that I can''t elaborate on for the same reason.¡±


    ¡°Then I''m in.¡± Perginia said. ¡°The news said they had three buildings wired to explode and you disabled two of them.¡±


    ¡°You saved fourteen people from that explosion.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°I also killed fourteen people that knew about it and didn''t say anything.¡± I said and all five women were shocked and stared at me. ¡°Let me make this clear.¡± I said and stood. ¡°Anyone that crosses me or people I care about, they will pay. Either with their lives or the destruction of their businesses and resources. I will take revenge on the people responsible.¡±


    ¡°Then I''m in.¡± Deborah said. ¡°I can''t stand it when people think they are too powerful to be touched by the law when they break it.¡±


    I was the only one that caught Perginia''s slight nod of agreement.


    ¡°I''m in, too.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°If you know the people responsible, I want to help.¡±


    I looked at Kalina and she shook her head. ¡°I''m keeping the three month temporary contract.¡±


    I turned my head to look at Gleas. ¡°You don''t have to wait the two months to decide. You can choose at any time and don''t let the current mood sway you.¡±


    Gleas chuckled. ¡°Are you kidding?¡± She asked. ¡°Who could say no with this kind of atmosphere?¡±


    Perginia laughed. ¡°That''s the spirit!¡±


    ¡°So...¡± Deborah took a breath and let it out. ¡°...who are you going to choose as your pilot?¡±


    ¡°Since you all seem to be adamant about helping me out with this, it all comes down to your skills.¡± I said and let them sit in anticipation for several moments.


    ¡°Stop teasing me!¡± Perginia said and slapped my hand. ¡°Just say it!¡±


    ¡°All right, you''ve forced my hand.¡± I said and frowned.


    They all leaned forward in anticipation, eager to hear their own name when I spoke.


    I gave them all a stern look. ¡°I''m hiring... all of you.¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 030

    I laughed at their shocked expressions and their racing thoughts.


    ¡°A-a-a-all of us?!?¡± Deborah managed to asked, her surprise complete and total.


    ¡°This last week of work went faster than it ever did, didn''t it?¡± I asked and they all nodded. ¡°Not because there was a lot, it was because we enjoyed it. I want to keep that dynamic going.¡±


    ¡°But... but you said...¡±


    ¡°Right off the bat I said it was a test of your skills and that it wasn''t a competition.¡± I reminded them and they stared at me. ¡°I just wanted to see if you could all work and live together without problems.¡± I glanced at Gleas and then at Kalina. ¡°Since Kalina''s only temporary, her conflict with Gleas isn''t a high priority, and we can rotate them to keep any possible grudges to a minimum.¡±


    They all kept staring at me and didn''t know what to say.


    ¡°I guess we need to discuss how often you want to get paid.¡± I said. ¡°Is weekly okay, or...¡±


    ¡°Weekly!¡± Kalina exclaimed and the other women looked at her for a moment, then they laughed.


    ¡°Weekly''s fine.¡± Perginia said and everyone nodded.


    ¡°I''m glad I don''t have to redo these.¡± I said and handed each of them a credit chip. Each of them blinked their eyes at the numbers on the chips.


    ¡°Th-this can''t be right.¡± Beatrice whispered, stunned. ¡°We only... it was just... three days and then... then... only half a shift actually flying the ship each day.¡±


    ¡°It''s only a week''s pay of standard wages.¡± I said and they looked back at me with disbelief on their faces. ¡°I can''t give you the one percent danger bonus until we sell the first batch of cargo... which we can''t sell until we load up... which we can''t do until we get back to work.¡±


    ¡°I''ll get changed right away!¡± Perginia said and stood.


    I chuckled and stopped her from leaving the room. ¡°I''m taking the day off, so relax.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°We''re all resting, since it''s the last day of the week, remember?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Perginia said. ¡°Right. Our day off.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Don''t sound so disappointed.¡± I said. ¡°Believe me, it''s going to pass by quickly, especially if you decide to head to the planet for anything.¡±


    ¡°Hold on.¡± Deborah said and squinted her eyes at me. ¡°You''re letting us leave the ship?¡±


    ¡°I''m not running a prison for pilots.¡± I grinned. ¡°It''s your day off. You can do whatever you want with your own time.¡±


    ¡°This is...¡± Kalina tucked her credit chip away. ¡°I''d like a flight to Chofaris.¡±


    ¡°I''ll go, too.¡± Beatrice and Deborah said at the same time.


    ¡°Then get whatever you want to take with you and the shuttle leaves in fifteen minutes.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m staying, if that''s okay.¡± Perginia said.


    ¡°Are you sure you don''t want to fly the shuttle?¡± I asked and smiled at her.


    ¡°You... you''d let me take the shuttle?¡±


    ¡°As long as you drop the others off and pick everyone up to come back by tomorrow morning.¡±


    Perginia gave me an appraising look for a few moments, then she nodded and left to get her things.


    ¡°You know she could steal it and sell it for a lot of credits.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°She could... or she could run errands and take extra jobs on the side using it.¡±


    Gleas raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°You expect her to abuse the privilege like that?¡±


    ¡°She wants to keep busy and it''s her day off. Wasting a whole day sitting around when she has access to a shuttle would have her chewing through the bulkheads by this afternoon.¡±


    Gleas chuckled. ¡°Okay, yes. I have to agree with that.¡±


    ¡°You have free use of the communication console, so don''t be shy about using it.¡± I said and touched her shoulder for a moment, then left the compartment. I went to my temporary room and sat down at the console to look over the items we had salvaged so far and smiled. We had filled only a quarter of the cargo hold so far, which meant we should have it filled in a couple of weeks, then we had all of the collapsible metal racks on the hull to fill. I checked Rhubin''s report on how well Luxea and Simone were doing and nodded at their progress. They would have the Udelis loaded up by the end of next week and would need to make the first cargo run back to the Dizahl System to offload it into the shipping containers we had there.


    Luxea had already done some preliminary checks on where we could sell the odd technology and with only some slight modifications on our part to adapt it for standard use, there shouldn''t be a problem clearing it out when we had enough of it in stock. I was satisfied that we could turn it all over as quickly as we could salvage and adapt it, so I closed the console and walked over to the bed. I sat in the lotus position and used several mental techniques to enter a meditative state and checked myself over again.


    The stress my body had gone through, from both the explosion and the rapid magical healing, was no longer a concern. I was back in top form and my body circulated Presence constantly to maintain itself. I could even feel the wrecks that weren''t too far away. Each time we took a break from salvaging, I always had whoever was piloting the ship to leave the debris field and put us into a parking orbit near it to reduce the danger. It also gave them great experience for both navigating and reflexes.


    Now that their trial period was over and they had proven they could handle the situation and the ship, the speed and efficiency of our work should increase by a factor of two. At least, I hope it would. I was pretty sure that they understood I wasn''t trying to abuse their skills for my own gains, so they should work that much harder. By the time the Udelis comes back from the first cargo run and loads up again, we should have this ship fully loaded as well, and it should only take us three full runs and the Udelis six full runs to finish the job.


    I finished meditating and left my room to meet the women that were leaving and walked them down to the shuttle bay. I told them to have fun and to not do what I did, and that made them laugh. The shuttle left and I went back up into the main part of the ship and used the communications console. I sent a quick message to Rhubin to tell him that I had hired four of the women permanently and one for only the three month contract. With that task done, I leaned back in the pilot''s chair and stretched, then stood up to go back to my room.


    ¡°Oh! Hi!¡± Gleas said when she saw me. ¡°I was just...¡±


    ¡°...exercising perfect timing.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I just finished sending a message to Rhubin about hiring you all.¡±


    ¡°Was he as surprised as we were?¡± Gleas asked, then she shook her head. ¡°Never mind.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I can almost guarantee it.¡±


    ¡°What about...¡±


    ¡°I''m sure I''ll get an earful the next time I''m talking to them, especially after...¡± I smiled. ¡°Never mind.¡±


    Gleas chuckled, too. ¡°I think we''re both going to get an earful from people we care about.¡±


    ¡°I''d say to tell them you''re working for me; but, that might not be the best thing to lead off with.¡±


    Gleas laughed. ¡°I''ll emphasize ''The Wave'' as the boss and not you specifically.¡±


    I nodded and left the cockpit, so she could make her personal calls. There were small consoles in the rooms; but, only the one in the cockpit made direct calls that didn''t have to go through the ship''s routing and priority system. It was much easier to walk to the cockpit to make a call than to wait in your room.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    It made sense to have a system like that for passengers, that way the crew would have priority for their messages to other ships and the various control towers and they wouldn''t have to wait for the passengers to finish calling their friends and family. I might get Luxea to change those settings later; but for now, it was fine the way it was.


    I went to the large living room and turned on the large vidscreen and checked the channels to see if there was anything good on. Not that I knew what was good, since it was the first time I had tried to sit down and watch something on the local broadcasts. I knew they had something going all the time, considering all of the ships they had patrolling the system and those ships needed entertainment for their crews when they weren''t working.


    I had searched through quite a few shows when I saw Gleas leave the cockpit. I saw her face and she looked like she was both sad and happy, and I noticed that she wore a nice pair of shorts and a t-shirt. When she hesitated by her room and didn''t go in, I walked over to lean out into the hallway.


    ¡°Gleas? Are you there?¡± I asked.


    Gleas waited for a moment, then responded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Could I get your help for a second?¡± I asked and watched her hesitate as she look down the hallway towards my voice, back at her room, then she turned and walked towards me. When she was close enough to see me in the curve of hallway, I put a smile on my face.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Gleas asked when she came into view.


    ¡°I can''t find anything good to watch.¡± I said and motioned to the room behind me. ¡°I actually don''t even know what to look for.¡±


    Gleas opened her mouth to say that she was busy, so I gave her my best ''I need your help'' look. She hesitated for a few moments, sighed a little bit, then kept walking towards me.


    ¡°Thanks a lot.¡± I said and stepped back, motioned to the couch, and we sat down together.


    ¡°What are you in the mood for?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°Something mind-numbing would be great.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t want to have to think about anything for a while and I need the distraction.¡±


    Gleas gave me an odd look for a second, then she nodded and helped me search for something. When she stopped and highlighted a movie, I raised my eyebrows at her.


    ¡°Tide of the Vermin?¡± I asked, curious.


    Gleas couldn''t help but chuckle as she started it. ¡°You said mind-numbing, right?¡± She asked and sat back. ¡°These cheap monster movies have been all the rage lately.¡±


    I sat back and our shoulders touched. I could hear her thoughts about easing slightly away, then she decided there wasn''t any harm and leaned slightly towards me. I took a breath and let it out and she turned her head to look at my face.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°Physically, I''m fine.¡± I said and I felt her concern. ¡°I''m just worried about my plans and how quickly I can implement them.¡±


    ¡°Which is why you want the distraction.¡± Gleas said and I nodded. ¡°Well, let''s see how shoddy this production is.¡± She said and looked at the screen. ¡°Twenty credits says it has a painted screen behind the giant vermin.¡±


    ¡°That''s not a fair bet.¡± I said and gave her a crooked smile. ¡°Unless there''s nothing else in the scene.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Do you a have experience in things like this?¡±


    ¡°Kind of.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to bet that they use forced perspective and maybe a model town or city... with a painted background.¡±


    Gleas chuckled. ¡°Now who isn''t making a fair bet?¡±


    ¡°Me.¡± I said and we both laughed. We sat there, our shoulders touching, and we watched a really bad monster movie. I brought in some snacks and we laughed the whole time at the cheesy effects and the horrible acting.


    *


    ¡°He hired them all?¡± Luxea asked as she stared at the datapad with the message Hunter had sent.


    ¡°I''m just as surprised as you are.¡± Rhubin said and had to adjust his sitting position to ease some of the pressure his erection was causing him, then ate some of his meal.


    ¡°Why would he need so many pilots?¡± Simone asked and took a bite of food.


    ¡°He''s using the shuttle as a relay most times and bringing things to that, then dropping them off in the cargo ship.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°It''s a lot safer to fly a shuttle around some of those wrecks than it is to fly the large ship.¡±


    ¡°Which we don''t have to do, because the Udelis is small enough to fit by itself.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°That''s why he put us on this ship and didn''t make us go to the new one.¡± Simone said in understanding. ¡°He knew it would be so much easier working from this one, especially with Rhubin flying it.¡± She said. ¡°He''s the only one with actual experience flying in stuff like this.¡±


    ¡°He gave himself the harder job and he is also doing the low priority wrecks, so we can concentrate on the big ones and get the better salvage.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°He''s going to be moving through the debris field a lot more than we are.¡±


    Luxea reluctantly nodded. ¡°He would need more than one pilot to work for the whole day, but...¡±


    ¡°Having four pilots and one shuttle pilot, assuming he''s not rotating them into the shuttle to take turns, is a little overkill.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°I thought he would pick two of them, at most.¡±


    ¡°Well, whatever he''s doing over there is on hold.¡± Simone said and pointed to the message. ¡°He sent that right after the shuttle left, so we know he''s not on it.¡±


    I wonder why he didn''t request a docking procedure with us. Rhubin asked himself and had no idea that both Luxea and Simone were asking themselves the same question and they felt slighted that he hadn''t even mentioned it. The three of them finished their breakfast and went back to work. They needed to fill the cargo hold and the wrecks weren''t going to salvage themselves.


    It never occurred to them that their days off didn''t coincide and Hunter knew they still needed to work.


    *


    Perginia dropped the other three women off where they wanted to go and then flew the shuttle halfway across the continent and came in for a landing at a rundown building. She dropped the boarding ramp and six men with duffle bags ran out of the building and boarded in under ten seconds. She closed it up and took off, then flew almost a thousand miles away and landed again.


    ¡°How the hell did you convince them to let you borrow a shuttle so soon?¡± One of the men asked Perginia as six more men with duffle bags boarded.


    Perginia laughed. ¡°I didn''t have to say anything! He told me to take it as long as I was back in the morning with the others onboard!¡±


    The men laughed, too. She took off and flew nearly all the way back across the continent and landed again. The man who spoke leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek as the boarding ramp lowered. She used a hand to grip his face and turned to give him a proper kiss, to his surprise, and the men in the shuttle hooted and hollered.


    Perginia broke the kiss and her eyes blazed. ¡°Go get them.¡± She said in a deadly voice.


    ¡°I will.¡± The man said and then the shuttle emptied.


    Perginia sat there and watched the men load up into several vehicles, then they drove off in different directions. She hoped this went of without a hitch and she would stay there as long as she could. She was sure that it was going to work, even rushed as they were, and she would have to thank Hunter if it did. They had been planning this for a year and never had the means to do what they just did in only twenty minutes. Her hands clenched into fists. Her men would make them pay for what they did.


    *


    Kalina''s boyfriend was ecstatic over the news about her being hired. He knew that such a lucrative contract would flood them with credits after the three month expiry date, because even one percent of the salvage total was going to be a ridiculous amount of money.


    ¡°I can''t wait until your first pay!¡± He said, excitedly. ¡°Once we establish that you''ve got a steady income like me, we can get that extended line of credit at the bank I''ve always wanted.¡± He gave her a hug and walked across the apartment and picked up a magazine. ¡°I''ve had my eye on that new...¡±


    He was so happy about the news that Kalina didn''t get the chance to tell him she had already been paid for a week of work. As she sat there and listened to him go on and on about all of the things he wanted to buy with ''their'' money, she slipped the high credit chip back into her pocket and didn''t say anything.


    *


    ¡°I''m sure he would let you stay with me.¡± Deborah said to the man that stood across the room.


    ¡°For how long?¡± The man asked. ¡°If the contract is up after three months, then what?¡±


    ¡°I told you already that it''s a permanent job.¡± Deborah said. ¡°The ship is...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it''s great, I know.¡± He said and rubbed his face. ¡°You could have at least called me...¡±


    ¡°For what?¡± Deborah asked. ¡°For you to tell me to wait and talk to you in person? We''re doing that now, aren''t we?¡±


    ¡°You already accepted the job.¡± He sighed. ¡°Nothing I say now matters.¡±


    ¡°Oh, come on! Are you really that dense?¡± Deborah asked. ¡°Of course it matters!¡±


    He frowned at her. ¡°I''m not dense.¡±


    ¡°You''re acting like I''ve just killed your pet! Of course you''re being dense!¡± Deborah said loudly. ¡°I thought you would be happy I got a job that pays so much!¡±


    ¡°I am! I just don''t want you to pull up roots and leave!¡±


    Deborah laughed sadly. ¡°They didn''t say they were leaving here forever.¡±


    ¡°They didn''t say they would ever come back, either.¡± He countered. ¡°Look, you know when they leave this time, there''s no reason for them to come back here.¡±


    ¡°No reason?¡± Deborah shook her head. ¡°Except for their new crew members who are from here.¡±


    ¡°If you really think a shipping company that makes deliveries all over the place will shut down for a month, just to bring you home to visit on your days off, then spend another month travelling back to the main routes, you''re delusional.¡±


    Deborah sighed. ¡°Why are you saying this now?¡± She asked. ¡°Couldn''t you have waited until the salvage contract is up?¡±


    ¡°I''m just trying to...¡±


    ¡°I know what you''re doing.¡± Deborah said. ¡°You''re trying to make me feel bad about making my own decision and laying the groundwork for you to leave me.¡±


    ¡°What? That''s not...¡±


    ¡°You didn''t realize that saying what you just said would force me to make a decision?¡± Deborah asked and he closed his mouth. ¡°Yes, right. You want me to decide, so I am.¡± She said and walked towards the bedroom. He followed her and saw her grab a large suitcase.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± He asked, a little shocked.


    ¡°What does it look like I''m doing?¡± Deborah asked as she pilled all of her clothing into the suitcase. She took two of the drawers and dumped them without packing anything nicely.


    ¡°Come on, now. Don''t overreact.¡± He said and stepped into the room.


    ¡°You do this every time something comes up!¡± Deborah said and tossed the drawers aside with a clatter. ¡°Every time I have an opportunity, you act this way and I always let you talk me out of it.¡± She said and went into the bathroom, gathered up her personal things and went out to the bedroom and tossed them into one of the side compartments on the large case. ¡°Well, I''m done listening to you.¡±


    ¡°Deborah, please.¡± He said and tried to take her hand.


    ¡°No.¡± Deborah said and grabbed the pictures she had scattered around the room and thought about taking some towels, then remembered the thick and plush luxury towels on the ship and left them. ¡°I''m going to do what I want to do this time.¡± She said and closed the large suitcase.


    ¡°You can''t leave.¡± The man said. ¡°Your ride won''t be here until morning.¡±


    ¡°For your information, I''m going to stay in a hotel for the night.¡±


    ¡°I can''t afford for you to...¡±


    ¡°I can.¡± Deborah said and picked up her suitcase and hit the button to let it hover an inch from the floor. ¡°If you had taken your head out of your ass for a few minutes, you would have listened to what I was actually telling you and not what you thought I was saying!¡±


    ¡°What were you trying to say?¡± He asked, thoroughly confused by the turn of events.


    ¡°I was going to quit in three months after getting the salvage shares for a full crew member, you idiot!¡± Deborah said and walked out of the room. ¡°Now? I''m going to stay for as long as they''ll have me!¡± She nearly yelled and slammed the front door.

 Book Three: The Resolution 031

    Gleas had called her family and friends and they had given her their best wishes for getting a great job so soon, and she didn''t know how to react to that. On one hand, she was happy that they were happy for her, and on the other hand, she was sad that they were happy to be rid of her. I didn''t find this out until during the long commercial break after the monster movie and Gleas finally admitted what had made her despondent.


    She had kept herself together until I put my arm over her shoulders and she broke down and cried. She mumbled something about not being able to take being treated like everything was normal when her life was going to change so drastically. I hadn''t meant to do that to her, especially not to the point that it caused an existential crisis for her. It took her about an hour to recover herself and then she froze when she realized what had happened.


    She had just cried all over her boss!


    ¡°H-Hunter! I... I''m sorry!¡± Gleas tensed up and tried to stand, so I put a hand on her shoulder to catch her. She stopped and slowly turned her head to look at me, so I gave her my best welcoming smile.


    ¡°Gleas, it''s okay.¡± I said and tugged on her shoulder slightly.


    ¡°But... but I...¡±


    ¡°No, this doesn''t count.¡± I said and her eyes widened. ¡°I didn''t say anything about breaking down and crying after I was already in the room.¡± I joked and she closed her mouth to stop her protest. ¡°Please, sit back down.¡±


    Gleas seriously considered just running away from embarrassing herself in front of me.


    ¡°I''m sure there''s another ridiculous movie or something coming on, and I don''t want to sit here and watch it alone.¡±


    Gleas stared into my eyes to see if I was still joking, so I gave her shoulder a squeeze and sat back on the couch to look at the screen and hung my arms on the back of the couch to show her that I was relaxed. After a few moments, she sat back herself and her neck rested against my arm. She turned her head to look at me and I used a calming technique and let it fill the both of us. She took in a deep breath and let it out, then she relaxed and looked at the screen.


    I was surprised to learn that she hadn''t sat down like this in a long time, and it made me think back to the last time I had done it. Thoughts of Diana filled my mind and that had a different kind of calming effect. Gleas felt the shift in the flow of Presence going through her and looked back at me.


    ¡°I just remembered the last time I sat down to watch something with a woman and how it had backfired on me when I tried to play a joke on her.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Do tell.¡± Gleas said with a smirk.


    I chuckled and told her about it being my first time meeting a random woman after a very long term relationship, and how I had tried to diffuse the situation when I teased her by stopping on a show about dolphin mating rituals.


    Gleas laughed and covered her mouth to try and hold it in. ¡°You didn''t!¡± She exclaimed and I nodded. ¡°That poor woman!¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and laughed. ¡°I suck at romantic gestures, apparently.¡±


    ¡°Apparently?!? Ha ha!¡± Gleas had tears in her eyes by this point from laughing so hard.


    She eventually calmed down and we enjoyed watching another monster movie, and the atmosphere was both friendly and jovial again. All it took was adding my own embarrassment to counter hers, and things equalled out again.


    *


    Surprisingly, Beatrice''s family were as happy as could be that she had found such a lucrative job and sent her off with their best wishes. Her significant other was sad about her having to leave, then she had the brilliant idea to ask if they could come along. She waited until late that afternoon before she called the ship and Hunter agreed to try it for a week, just to see if having someone they cared about would change their work habits or affect the other people on the ship. Plus, there was lots of room. One more person wasn''t going to make much difference.


    Gleas and Hunter ate supper together and it wasn''t strained or awkward, even though it was only the two of them. After they had both shared personal stories, it made them more companionable. She was a pilot and he was the Hero of Chofaris; but, they were also people. They had problems and they had faults, and once Gleas realized this, she knew that she didn''t have to be so reserved around someone she thought was more important than her.


    The realization didn''t cause a fundamental shift in her attitude or anything, it just let her see Hunter as a person and not the imposing figure that the media had made him out to be. Of course, now that she saw him as a person, she thought about all of the things he had done in a new light, especially since she also knew the real reasons behind those things.


    When they finished eating, without either of them saying anything, they went back to the large living room and sat down on the couch to keep watching whatever was on. Gleas would occasionally catch Hunter looking at her at random times as she thought about him, and if she didn''t know any better, he might actually be nervous about it.


    Gleas turned and gave him a knowing smile as Hunter turned to glance at her again. They stared into each other''s eyes for a moment and it seemed to go on for a long time. It was only a couple of seconds in reality, though. They both looked back at the screen and Gleas leaned slightly in to rest against him a little more than she had earlier and they spent the evening just watching the screen and occasionally sharing small talk.


    *


    The next morning, a heavily loaded shuttle floated into the ship and landed in the shuttle bay. Gleas stayed in the cockpit and I ran down to greet them. When the side of the shuttle opened, it wasn''t just four women returning from their day off. I widened my eyes as several large suitcases and containers were carried out and deposited by two men.


    I could hear their surface thoughts and knew they knew that they weren''t supposed to be there. ¡°What''s going on here?¡±


    The two men stiffened briefly and kept moving the suitcases and boxes out of the shuttle.


    ¡°It''s my fault.¡± Perginia said and waved from behind the stack of items still in the shuttle. ¡°I got held up last night and didn''t make it back until early this morning, then my husband and his brother helped me load up the shuttle with everyone''s things. They didn''t have a ride back after I picked everyone up.¡±


    I detected the lie about one of them being her husband, so I caught both men by their collars and pulled them over to the weightless area beside one of the walls. I hung them there and they had no way to move without anyone touching them and they were far enough away from the wall that they couldn''t escape. I then used Presence to check them over and disabled their hidden weapons. I turned back to the shuttle and used Presence Hands to lift every piece of luggage out of the shuttle at once and deposited it beside the lowered ramp. The five women stood there and stared at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°Perginia, please explain why you lied about who they are.¡± I said and covered the men''s mouths with Presence to stop their protests.


    ¡°Please let them go.¡± Perginia pleaded as she came down the ramp and looked at the two floating men behind me.


    ¡°Not until you tell me what''s going on.¡± I said. ¡°Why would you bring two men onto my ship and then lie about it?¡±


    Perginia let tears come to her eyes.


    ¡°Stop the fake tears.¡± I said and she caught her breath. ¡°I''ve been around enough women to know real crying from fake crying. You won''t garner any sympathy from me like that.¡±


    Perginia closed her mouth and wiped at her eyes.


    ¡°Not willing to say anything? Okay.¡± I said and hit the intercom button with Presence. ¡°Gleas, open the shuttle bay doors.¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The loud clang of the door release made Perginia jump.


    ¡°Wh-what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Removing pirates from my ship.¡± I said and moved my hand to the side and slowly floated both men towards the opening doors.


    ¡°NO! DON''T!¡± Perginia yelled and ran over to me. When she reached for me, she hit my personal barrier. ¡°Please, don''t.¡±


    ¡°Tell me what''s going on... and don''t lie.¡± I said and stopped the men about halfway towards the open doors and space.


    ¡°Why aren''t you asking them who they are?¡± Beatrice asked and pointed to the men.


    ¡°They will keep lying and I''ll have no choice but to space them.¡± I said and looked back at Perginia. ¡°She values their lives more than they value their own.¡±


    ¡°How... do you know that?¡± Perginia asked in a whisper.


    ¡°By the way you shouted.¡± I said. ¡°If you hadn''t noticed, neither man tried to shout when the doors opened. They could care less about losing their own lives over whatever is going on.¡±


    Perginia sighed. ¡°I... I''m... I''m hiding them.¡±


    I felt the Presence waver and sighed as I moved the two men closer to the open doors and empty space.


    ¡°STOP!¡± Perginia yelled. ¡°Stop.¡± She said and real tears came to her eyes. ¡°I''ll... I''ll tell you... everything.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to hear it.¡± I said.


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Perginia looked at me with shock on her face. ¡°But... I thought...¡± She looked at the two men suspended in the weightless area and then back at my face.


    ¡°I don''t care about hearing all the backstory of everything that''s been going on to get you to this point, because it has no bearing whatsoever on you lying to me and smuggling two people onto my ship. You''ve abused my hospitality and made me an unwitting accomplice in whatever happened and I am not happy about it.¡± I said. ¡°So, explain why you did this to me.¡±


    ¡°I told you. I''m trying to hide them...¡±


    I felt the Presence waver and used a Presence Hand to pick her up and covered her in a thin layer of Presence, like the two men, and then covered her mouth to stop her protests.


    ¡°I really hate it when people keep lying to me, even after I''ve given them so many chances to be honest.¡± I carried her over to the weightless area and hung her right beside the two men. ¡°Now your life is on the line for piracy with these two.¡± I said to the three of them. ¡°I hope you do realize that by the laws of this system, stowing away with the intent to take over the ship is piracy and I can toss you into space without a trial... or even an inquiry.¡±


    The three of them tried to struggle and move, and I held them by their collars. I was tempted stop them from moving completely; but, that would make this show less dramatic. I wanted them to struggle as much as they could so that they knew they couldn''t escape. One of them reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a grenade.


    The other man shouted through the gag and Perginia started crying for real. The first man looked right into my eyes and turned the activator and put his finger on the button. He motioned to the bay and I shook my head. He let the button go and held it out to the other man. He shouted again and swung at it, hit it out of the other man''s hand, and it flipped out of the weightless area and careened towards the shuttle. The women standing there screamed and then stopped as the grenade hung in the air and stopped moving.


    ¡°I wouldn''t have minded you killing yourselves for your cause, not even a little bit.¡± I said and floated the grenade over to hover between me and them. ¡°Trying to kill others, even by accident?¡± I shook my head. ¡°You people are pathetic.¡±


    The three of them stared at me and at the grenade.


    ¡°Are you wondering why it''s not going off?¡± I asked and they nodded. ¡°I disabled it as soon as I found it on you, as I did to the laser pistols you have hidden and I broke the knives you have stashed.¡±


    Perginia''s tears floated around and made it look like rain was suspended around her head.


    ¡°Gleas, contact the patrol ship that''s keeping station on the other side of the wrecks. Tell them I have some trash they need to pick up.¡±


    ¡°Already done.¡± Gleas said. ¡°They are coming around to bear on us in five minutes.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and looked at Perginia. ¡°I am very disappointed in you.¡±


    Perginia mumbled something and I chuckled.


    ¡°It doesn''t matter how sorry you are. You endangered my ship and my crew and you will hang for it.¡± I said. ¡°I desperately needed your help... you know I did... and you betrayed me for these idiots.¡± I waved at the idiots. ¡°I''m glad that there were too many others and their things for you to bring everyone with you this first trip.¡±


    The three of them stiffened at my words.


    ¡°You don''t think I wouldn''t know one of the oldest tricks for hijacking? Pretending to drop off extra passengers, only to load up with a crew and then come back?¡± I laughed. ¡°You must really think I''m stupid to try that, knowing what I''ve done.¡±


    The two men had stern expressions and Perginia''s tears stopped.


    ¡°Don''t worry. You won''t be facing all of this alone. Thanks to the shuttle''s telemetry, they''ll find all of your little friends hiding in their hiding spots where you dropped them off.¡±


    The two men struggled and tried to punch and kick to give themselves momentum. I watched them with a smile and then the fast patrol ship floated down and stopped in front of the open bay doors.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Gleas said. ¡°They want to know how you want to handle the transfer.¡±


    ¡°Can you send them the shuttle data for me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I sent it as soon as you mentioned it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Tell the patrol ship to open their main docking hatch and to be ready to secure the prisoners.¡±


    The ship didn''t move for nearly a full minute, then it rotated and put its main hatch near the bay doors and opened it. I slid the three prisoners down the rest of the way and absorbed the Presence over their mouths.


    ¡°STOP! STOP!¡± Perginia yelled. ¡°I''m sorry! I''M SORRY! Don''t SPACE ME!!!¡±


    ¡°Relax.¡± I said. ¡°You''ll be in official custody in about twenty seconds.¡±


    ¡°NOOOOOO!¡± She yelled as I pushed them out of the back of the ship. The two men with her let out inarticulate screams as they floated through space without space suits. I turned them so that they landed standing up and held them against the inside hatch and watched the outer hatch close.


    ¡°How did we hear them scream?¡± A woman asked from behind me.


    ¡°I covered them in Presence and held the air around them, then used Presence to carry the sound.¡±


    ¡°You can do that?¡± She asked, surprised.


    ¡°For a limited time.¡± I said and watched the three of them be subdued and taken into custody. ¡°There''s only so much air that can be held inside a barrier so close.¡±


    ¡°So, a few minutes at most.¡± She said.


    ¡°Give or take a minute or two.¡± I said and turned to face her. ¡°You must be the plus one that Beatrice asked to come aboard.¡± I held a hand out for her to shake. ¡°Hi. I''m Hunter.¡±


    ¡°I saw.¡± She said and took my hand. ¡°I''m Sandy.¡±


    ¡°It''s nice to meet you, Sandy.¡±


    ¡°Even under these circumstances?¡± Sandy asked and looked at the patrol ship as it floated away.


    ¡°Especially under these circumstances.¡± I said. ¡°At least something good came of it.¡±


    Sandy smiled and shook her head. ¡°Beatrice said you had an odd way of looking at things.¡±


    ¡°You mean through walls?¡± I joked and she laughed.


    ¡°Let''s get you and everyone up into the ship. I''ll handle the bags.¡± I said and picked everything up, even Perginia''s bags and boxes, and we all went up into the ship.


    ¡°I can''t believe that just happened.¡± Kalina said. ¡°That did just happen, didn''t it?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately.¡± I said. ¡°The worst part was, all she had to be was honest.¡±


    ¡°Would that have changed what you did?¡± Beatrice asked.


    ¡°It always has before.¡± I said. ¡°I might have just sent them back to the planet''s surface, or confined them to a cabin for a week until the next shuttle run, or I might have hired them as general labour and had them help load up the salvage.¡±


    ¡°Wow, really?¡± Sandy asked.


    I nodded. ¡°I wasn''t lying when I said that I really needed Perginia''s shuttle piloting skills.¡± I dropped off all of their baggage into their rooms. ¡°I would have been pretty accommodating of her faults to get her to stay.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Now I have to try and find someone else and hope they aren''t a fanatic as well.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with that.¡± Sandy said with a grin.


    ¡°Yeah, I know. Combat pilots are a fickle bunch.¡±


    ¡°I meant finding anyone that''s not a fanatic about something.¡± Sandy said and put her arm around Beatrice, who blushed a little.


    ¡°I''m going to the cockpit to help Gleas.¡± Deborah said and nodded to Beatrice. ¡°See you at lunch.¡±


    ¡°I''ll switch off with you then.¡± Kalina said and Deborah waved.


    ¡°Then I better get suited up.¡± I said and started to walk away.


    ¡°Wait! How are you going to work without a shuttle pilot?¡± Beatrice asked.


    ¡°Dangerously.¡± I said with a laugh and left them in the hallway so I could go and get changed.


    *


    ¡°Can you believe this?¡± The captain of the fast patrol ship said as he looked at the shuttle''s flight data. He had just finished watching the recording of the conversation Hunter had with the suspected pirates in the cargo hold. He couldn''t even call them hijackers, because one of them had permission to use the shuttle. ¡°Every time we''re around him, we get involved with stuff like this.¡±


    ¡°Sir, he''s helping us.¡± Lieutenant Grace Havershak said and he glared at her. ¡°We only got the report this morning about several government offices being hit by an unknown armed resistance group yesterday.¡± She pointed to the camera feed and it showed the three prisoners in separate cells. ¡°Those two men were there, as was the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°His shuttle.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and isn''t it great that he handed us the raw data from it''s computer and didn''t filter it for content?¡± Grace asked.


    The captain gave her a slight nod. ¡°Very well. Hand it all over to the planetary authorities as soon as we land.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Grace said and left the captain''s office. She walked down the hallway and made the proper arrangements for when they landed in half an hour. Once that was done, she walked back to her cabin and informed the bridge that she was off duty for the next twelve hours. She stripped off her stuffy uniform and used the shower, then dried off and pulled on a pair of loose shorts and something like a sports bra. She climbed into bed and reached under her pillow to take out a datapad.


    Grace flipped through the screens until she found the image she had hidden under a mass of data, so no one would find it, even with an extensive search. She looked into the one sapphire blue eye and her heart fluttered at its perfection, then she looked at the burned through hole where the other one should have been. Her heart fluttered again as she thought about what would have happened had she gone on the date Hunter had cancelled because he knew she was too nervous to go through with it.


    It wasn''t until she had heard about what happened that she realized she should have accepted the invitation and gone with him. Perhaps if she had, he wouldn''t have gone back there at all. He would have been with her... and possibly in her bed... and he never would have suffered through what happened.


    Grace stroked the image on the datapad and let a tear drip down onto her pillow.

 Book Three: The Resolution 032

    Despite protests from my pilots, I used the main cargo hold as my launching point for salvage. It was quite a bit more dangerous to do it this way, because I had to travel so much farther in just a space suit. I didn''t mind it for the most part; but, not having a close place to get back to was a bit daunting, even for me. Needless to say, I took every precaution I could to ensure my own safety and that made the others relax. I worked hard and diligently all morning as I gathered as much salvage as I could before heading back to the ship each time.


    *


    ¡°Am I actually seeing this?¡± Deborah asked with surprise an hour later. She sat in the co-pilot''s seat. ¡°He''s even moving it by himself!¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is a power coil from an assault laser cannon.¡± Gleas shook her head. ¡°I have no clue how he managed to get the thing out without damaging it!¡±


    Deborah chuckled at the sight as Hunter easily tucked the gigantic thing into one of the large metal cages on the hull. ¡°I''ve seen them working on a ship at a docking slip and it took a dozen men and two zero gravity cranes to get the massive thing into place.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe we didn''t hear it hitting the hull.¡± Gleas commented. ¡°How can he do such precision work in a standard space suit?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Deborah said. ¡°I''m just glad I decided to accept the job.¡± She smiled. ¡°What else is he going to do to surprise us?¡±


    Gleas turned her head to look at the other woman and she turned to look back.


    ¡°He''s going to flash us!¡± They both said at the same time, then they laughed.


    *


    ¡°This place is great!¡± Sandy said as she sat down on the huge bed in their room.


    Beatrice was still tucking little things all over their room to make it more like home. ¡°Are you sure you''re okay with all of this?¡±


    Sandy stood up and walked over to her. ¡°As long as I''m with you...¡± She put her arms around the other woman from behind and tucked her head under her hair and lightly kissed her neck. ¡°...I don''t care where we live.¡±


    ¡°I don''t deserve you.¡± Beatrice said and turned around in her arms.


    ¡°Of course you don''t... and that''s why you do.¡± Sandy said with a smile and Beatrice laughed.


    ¡°I don''t have to take the next shift until tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You mean I have you all to myself for another sixteen hours?¡± Sandy asked with a wicked smile.


    ¡°Don''t be silly.¡± Beatrice combed her hands through the other woman''s hair. ¡°You have me all to yourself for the rest of our lives.¡±


    They stared into each other''s eyes for a moment, then leaned in to share their first kiss in space. They both felt the thrill of them starting their lives together and not hiding who they are or what they are doing, and that made them a little frantic in their emotions. Their clothes were off and scattered over the floor and the two of them climbed onto the bed.


    *


    I spent all six hours in space and didn''t take a break until lunchtime. I came back onto the ship and joined the others in the kitchen. All talking seemed to stop when I entered.


    ¡°What?¡± I looked down at myself and pat my crotch. ¡°I didn''t leave my zipper open again, did I?¡±


    I heard a snort of laughter and looked up to see Gleas and Deborah with their mouths covered and holding back laughs. I could hear their thoughts of amusement, too.


    ¡°We were just talking about one of us taking the shuttle out to help you.¡± Kalina said. ¡°We can fly the thing; but, none of us has practised on a ship that small in a long time.¡±


    ¡°If that''s the case, I can fly it.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°What I can''t be is in two places at once.¡±


    That made her laugh. ¡°Now you know why we stopped talking.¡± She said and pointed to a food tray. ¡°We took the liberty of getting your lunch ready.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and sat down. ¡°I''ve got your flight suits on order and another shuttle pilot request sent out.¡±


    ¡°What? How can you order a custom flight suit for us?¡± Beatrice asked. ¡°None of us have been med-scanned in months!¡±


    ¡°Whose fault is that?¡± Sandy asked with a grin.


    ¡°Yours.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°Monopolizing all my free time! It''s scandalous!¡±


    That made everyone laugh.


    ¡°Don''t freak out about this; but, I''ve got fantastic spacial awareness.¡± I said and they all stopped eating and turned to look at me. ¡°Thanks to my extensive use of Presence, I can see the shapes of everything within my detection range.¡±


    Gleas turned her head and looked at Beatrice to see that she had a datapad in her left thigh pocket. ¡°What does Beatrice have in her pocket?¡± She asked and looked back at me.


    ¡°Which one?¡± I asked with a smile. ¡°She has a couple credit chips in her left front pocket, Sandy''s hand in her right front pocket, and a datapad in her left thigh pocket.¡±


    Gleas'', Sandy''s and Beatrice''s faces flushed red and Sandy took her hand out of Beatrice''s pocket.


    ¡°I didn''t mean to embarrass you.¡± I said to console them. ¡°Please, don''t stop on my account.¡±


    ¡°It''s not much fun knowing you can see us sneaking around.¡± Sandy said and I laughed.


    ¡°I honestly didn''t look until Gleas mentioned Beatrice''s pocket.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t make it a habit to look at people too closely, in case it makes them uncomfortable.¡±


    ¡°What about... you know.¡± Kalina said.


    ¡°Two unknown men coming onto my ship uninvited? I checked inside every pocket and hiding place they had.¡± I said and shivered exaggeratedly. ¡°Good god, they were hairy!¡±


    Deborah laughed out loud. ¡°They really can be!¡±


    Kalina laughed, too. ¡°I dated one guy that looked like he was wearing a gorilla suit.¡±


    Sandy and Beatrice made gagging noises and that made everyone laugh.


    We finished up lunch and Kalina stood. ¡°I''ll take primary if Gleas wants to co-pilot.¡±


    Gleas nodded and both women dropped off their empty trays in the slot and left.


    ¡°I''m going to relax in the small living room.¡± Deborah said and left.


    I walked over to stand behind Sandy and Beatrice. ¡°Ladies, I really am sorry if I embarrassed you.¡±


    ¡°No, it''s our fault.¡± Beatrice said.


    I chuckled. ¡°There''s no real fault here. You didn''t do anything wrong.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°But... you said...¡±


    ¡°If you were working and that was happening, then yes, I''d have to reprimand you for it.¡± I said. ¡°Off duty?¡± I smiled and started to walk away. ¡°Try not to prance around naked in public areas.¡±


    *


    Sandy and Beatrice stared at each other for a full minute, then the two of them scrambled out of the kitchen and ran to their room. They barely had the door shut when their clothes were on the floor and they pranced around naked while they laughed happily like little kids.


    *


    The next week passed by fast, just like the testing week did, and Gleas asked for a ride to the planet. She wanted to pack up her things and do a few things, so I flew her down in the shuttle. I dropped her off and asked if she needed me to take her around anywhere, and she said she could handle it and would see me in the morning.


    I handed her a wrist communicator and told her to call me if she needed anything, then I flew to the capital city to pick up the custom flight suits I had ordered. Perginia''s was a waste of money and I paid for it anyway. It wouldn''t have much use as a spare; but, I wasn''t going to discard it, either. I packed the large boxes into the shuttle and flew it towards the place I had stored the armored personnel carrier I had taken from the surveillance squad. It was still there and hidden, so I left it there and landed near a random hotel.


    I only wore normal clothes and I didn''t have any extra hair to hide, so I put on my green cloak and used a bit of Presence to distort my facial features. I rented a room with no trouble and thought about doing a little shopping, then decided I didn''t need anything. I used the console to check the local jobs and saw several prospects. None of them could be done in a day, though. Just the background checks would take several hours and by the time I vetted the clients and accepted the job, I''d only have half the day and the night to complete it, then I''d have to leave.


    I went to the bed, sat on it in the lotus position, and meditated. I should have brought some things to work on.


    The day passed and then the night passed, and in the morning Gleas called me. I checked out of the hotel and flew the shuttle to meet her and saw that she had quite a pile of things to take. I didn''t comment on the amount and loaded it up for her. When I had everything stowed and secured, I went out to see her saying goodbye to two slightly elderly people and a very tall and spindly brother.


    ¡°Make sure you message us every week.¡± The elderly woman said and hugged her.


    ¡°I''ll try.¡± Gleas said. ¡°We might be in transit and you won''t hear from me.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine, dear. As long as you''re happy, that''s all that matters.¡± The elderly woman beamed a smile at her.


    The elderly man gave Gleas a quick hug and didn''t say anything, and the brother barely put his arms around her before he let her go. It wasn''t that he was reluctant to see her go, he just didn''t think hugging his sister was something he wanted anyone to see.


    ¡°Good luck.¡± Her brother said and Gleas nodded.


    I stood there and waited for her to finish and then let her enter the shuttle first. I nodded at her family and followed Gleas inside, then closed the hatch.


    ¡°Should I even ask why you said your final goodbye to them just now?¡± I asked and lifted off with the shuttle.


    ¡°There was no point in delaying it.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I''m not intending to come back.¡±


    I gave her a glance and then looked back at the controls and then out the cockpit window.


    ¡°Before you start asking, yes I did. I gave up my friends and family and my tiny little apartment.¡±


    ¡°If you''d asked, I would have recommended keeping it for at least the next two months, just in case you change your mind.¡± I said.


    ¡°It doesn''t matter if I change my mind.¡± Gleas said with conviction. ¡°I''m choosing to make a new life for myself and this is going to be the start of it.¡±


    I used Presence to maintain the controls and turned my chair to face her as I pulled my hood down to reveal my face and absorbed the Presence I was using to distort my facial features. Gleas was startled by this and turned towards the console to put her hands on the controls and took over.


    ¡°What are you doing?!?¡± Gleas asked and checked the instruments and for any cross traffic in the flight path we were using. I reached over and took her hand briefly. She looked down at it and then at me.


    ¡°Welcome aboard.¡± I said as I shook her hand, let it go, then faced forward again.


    ¡°W-was that a test?¡± Gleas asked and sat back.


    ¡°No.¡± I said and increased our speed. ¡°You automatically assumed piloting control all on your own when you thought I was ignoring it.¡±


    Gleas looked at me and saw my smile. ¡°You mean you weren''t?¡± She asked, surprised.


    I chuckled and we left the atmosphere and flew for half an hour to get back to the ship. I wasn''t anywhere near as graceful landing the thing as a normal pilot; but, I got the job done and the shuttle bay doors closed.


    ¡°I am definitely getting spoiled by this shuttle bay.¡± I said and put the shuttle into standby mode and opened the hatch to lower the ramp. ¡°Is all of this going to your room?¡±


    ¡°Is that okay?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°It''s your room.¡± I said and picked everything up with Presence Hands and carried it behind us.


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡± Gleas asked.


    I stopped making the hands invisible and showed her that there were two hands on every box, suitcase, and container.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I could levitate it all, too.¡±


    ¡°It''s so odd that you can do all of these things.¡± Gleas said. ¡°It''s... it''s like... you''re special.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''ve had a long time to develop my abilities.¡± I said and she gave me an odd look because I only looked like I was in my late twenties. ¡°I''ve been using Presence since I was four.¡±


    ¡°Ohhh.¡± Gleas said in understanding as she greatly overestimated how much power a person could develop in twenty years.


    I didn''t correct her assumption. ¡°Most don''t practice as much as I do, though.¡±


    Gleas nodded. ¡°I''ve met a few people from The Order, and you''re right. They are nowhere near as powerful as you.¡± She gave me another look as I dropped off her things in her room and spread them out to where she said to put them.


    ¡°Go ahead and say it.¡± I said and brought in the last large box to put on her bed.


    ¡°I doubt any of them would be crazy enough to float through space in just a space suit and cut their way into a wrecked ship.¡± Gleas said with a smile.


    ¡°Most of them refuse to leave the comfort of their assigned planets... then they complain when they need to make a long space journey.¡± I chuckled and put a hand on the last box. ¡°This is your custom flight suit, so you can wear this instead of the space suit when you go on duty.¡±


    ¡°You got them already?¡± Gleas asked and came over to the bed. She opened the box and caught her breath at the sleek dome of the helmet and then her fingers touched the fabric of the suit. ¡°Hunter, I... thank you very much.¡±


    ¡°Nothing is too good for my pilots.¡± I said and pat her shoulder. ¡°Get changed. I''m sure that since you were the only one that left this time, you''ll have first shift.¡±


    Gleas laughed. ¡°No doubt!¡±


    ¡°I''ll deliver the other suits and meet you in the kitchen for breakfast.¡± I said and she nodded, so I left her room and picked up the other four suits and dropped Perginia''s into the closest storage locker. I walked to the next room and knocked. Kalina was very happy about getting the suit and tried to hand me one of her credit chips.


    ¡°No, this is standard equipment for your own safety.¡± I said. ¡°We''ll have to wait until we get to the Dizahl System to get you a company uniform.¡±


    ¡°Like yours?¡± Kalina asked.


    ¡°Like Rhubin''s and Luxea''s, actually.¡± I said. ¡°The vest is optional.¡±


    ¡°I like the vest.¡± Kalina said and then she looked down at the box with the custom flight suit. ¡°Hunter, this... it''s too expensive to waste on a temporary hire like me.¡±


    ¡°Only if it''s never worn.¡± I said and she looked at me. ¡°Wear it. Use it. Show me that it was worth every last credit of its value.¡±


    Kalina opened her mouth to explain about her boyfriend, then she closed her mouth and nodded.


    I reached out and touched her shoulder briefly. ¡°If you need someone to talk to...¡±


    Kalina took a deep breath and let it out, and she was going to refuse.


    ¡°...call someone else.¡± I said and stepped back with a grin and shut her room''s door.


    ¡°Wh-what? What?!?¡± Kalina almost yelled.


    I laughed and went to the next room, then decided I could give Beatrice her suit later when I saw what was going on. I kept laughing softly and walked over to Deborah''s room and knocked.


    ¡°Hunter? I thought you were Gleas. She''s on first shift.¡± Deborah said and confirmed my assumption.


    ¡°I''m just dropping this off.¡± I said and held out the large box.


    ¡°What is...¡± Deborah stopped talking as she opened the top. ¡°Oh, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°Enjoy.¡± I said and handed it to her.


    ¡°I will.¡± Deborah said. ¡°I''ve always wanted...¡± She took a shallow breath and let it out. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°See you at breakfast.¡± I said and she nodded. I left there and went back to Beatrice''s room and knocked. There was a short scream and then tumbling bodies, so I turned away so I could hide my face. After a few minutes while they untangled themselves and put on robes to cover themselves, Beatrice came to the door.


    ¡°Hunter?¡± Beatrice looked down the hall where I was looking and then back at me. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to drop this off.¡± I said and held out the large box.


    ¡°Is that...¡± Sandy said from behind Beatrice and leaned her head on her shoulder to look. ¡°It is!¡±


    Beatrice opened the top of the box and I heard her surprised thoughts.


    ¡°You can give your other space suit to Sandy.¡± I said and both women looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°I can''t have her on the ship and not keep her protected during an emergency, can I?¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Beatrice whispered. ¡°I... I didn''t think...¡±


    ¡°I''ll tell the others that you''re skipping breakfast.¡± I said and gave them a crooked smile, then walked away. Both women leaned out of the room to watch me walk away, then they went back inside their room and shut the door.


    I prepped breakfast for myself, Deborah, Gleas, and Kalina, and Deborah and Kalina showed up a couple of minutes later. We sat down to eat when Gleas showed up.


    ¡°Holy hell.¡± Deborah whispered.


    I turned to look and saw Gleas wearing the new custom flight suit like a second skin. I was very surprised that the suit was so form-fitting. The fabric was thick, because of the protective layers and electronics needed for body temperature regulation and other things, and yet... it was very snug and it hugged all of her curves and made it look like she wasn''t wearing anything at all.


    Gleas walked over to the table and her breasts jiggled a little with each step, which was quite the enticing sight. She sat down without saying a word, her face slightly red that highlighted her short blonde wavy hair, and she started to eat.


    ¡°I am in so much trouble.¡± I said.


    Gleas'' face flushed to a deep red. Deborah and Kalina exchanged looks, then they laughed.

 Book Three: The Resolution 033

    We finished a fairly awkward breakfast and then everyone stood.


    ¡°Gleas, I''ll take the co-pilot seat again today.¡± Deborah said. ¡°I''ll get changed and meet you in the cockpit.¡±


    ¡°I better get changed, too.¡± I said and left at a fast walk as I went to my room. I picked up my own large box and opened it up to see the same type of helmet. When I lifted out the suit underneath, it looked like a deflated balloon. No wonder it fits so snugly.


    I took off all of my clothes, even my underwear. The directions recommended nothing between the body and the temperature regulating cloth, and I sighed.


    I guess that''s why Gleas'' breasts moved so freely. I thought and stepped into the neck hole and it stretched out. I slid my bare feet through the suit and into the soft boots attached to the legs. I pulled it up and over my waist, adjusted myself so that the suit wouldn''t hook onto anything, then pulled it up to my chest and slipped my arms inside and through the right holes. I was glad the gloves weren''t attached, because it let me keep the use of my hands, then I pulled the suit up over my shoulders and it snapped into place around my neck.


    It was surprising that an entire suit could be made in one piece like that. I had expected clasps or zippers or something, like a standard space suit. I hadn''t expected that a custom suit would be just that. A custom made one piece suit to fit just one person. I grabbed my belt and attached it around my waist, so that I had one bag of holding, mostly empty, and my Light sword were easily accessible.


    I picked up the gloves that would magnetically lock when I put them on and put them inside the helmet, then tucked it under my arm. I went to my room door, fully prepared for what was going to happen next, then opened it.


    ¡°Woooo, baby!¡± Deborah exclaimed and waved a hand in front of her face.


    ¡°Oh, my.¡± Kalina said as she took in all of me, from head to foot, then she started to slowly clap.


    Sandy put her fingers in her mouth and let out a wolf-whistle.


    ¡°Hey, you never did that for me!¡± Beatrice said and laughed.


    ¡°That''s because I get to see you naked.¡± Sandy responded and Beatrice blushed.


    Unlike the others, who were hamming it up at my expense, Gleas just stood there and stared at me.


    ¡°Try not to fall in love with what you see next.¡± I warned them and stepped out of my room, then I started to walk down the hallway and away from them.


    ¡°Oh, for the goddess'' sake!¡± One of them exclaimed as they watched me walk away. ¡°No wonder he said that he was in so much trouble! Look at THAT!¡±


    Giggles and laughter continued as they followed me to the top of the stairs to go down into the cargo hold. I stopped there and exaggerated the movements as I slowly pulled on each glove, then I lifted the helmet and put it over my head. My short hair made it a simple matter and I locked the helmet into place, then I took each step down and made sure to jump a little each time to make my butt jiggle.


    *


    ¡°Oh... oh, my goddess!¡± Deborah said as Hunter disappeared down the stairs. ¡°What a show!¡±


    ¡°He definitely made sure that we all enjoyed it.¡± Kalina said with a huge smile.


    ¡°You know, I actually did enjoy that, and I love Beatrice with all my heart.¡± Sandy said.


    ¡°He didn''t get after us for staring or for making fun of him, either.¡± Beatrice said.


    ¡°That''s because he knew we would.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Once he saw me...¡± She looked down at herself in the skintight flight suit and then looked back at the stairs. She wasn''t sure how to finish that statement.


    ¡°I wonder why didn''t he just wait to change downstairs?¡± Deborah asked.


    ¡°He knew he was going to be on display.¡± Kalina chuckled. ¡°No matter where he wanted to change, he knew we would be there to see it the first time.¡±


    ¡°That''s why?¡± Deborah asked and then laughed. ¡°Okay, I have to admit that I would have tracked him down to see it.¡±


    ¡°We all would have.¡± Kalina said and looked at Beatrice and Sandy. ¡°Even just out of sheer curiosity.¡±


    ¡°You know it!¡± Sandy laughed and hugged Beatrice. ¡°I doubt there''s a handful of people on the whole planet that wouldn''t want to see Hunter right now!¡±


    *


    ¡°Why are you showing me this again?¡± Uzahne asked, confused.


    Sheph tried not to laugh. ¡°I''m the public relations specialist, remember? This is a gold mine!¡± She said and pointed at the members of the group that the military had rounded up, thanks to Hunter tipping them off about it. The unfiltered shuttle data, which included its gravity sensors and internal and external camera pickups, had let them be rounded up in only an hour. All of them. They had even recovered the stolen data and items the group had taken, before the criminals could do anything with it.


    ¡°I thought we agreed not to bring attention to him anymore.¡± Ahaen said, her scowl quite apparent.


    ¡°You''re just upset that your department hadn''t caught them first.¡± Sheph said and Ahaen crossed her arms and didn''t respond. ¡°We can keep most of this confidential if you want and give the credit to the military for the whole thing; but, the military will know that Hunter was instrumental in their capture.¡±


    ¡°I think that would be best.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°You remember what happened the last time we let Hunter overwhelm the media.¡±


    The three women''s faces darkened as they remembered what Hunter had looked like the last time they had seen him. All of them were relieved to see him healed in the footage. Sheph had felt bad that he hadn''t gained his hair back, though. She remembered the bar and burying her face in its golden splendor, and she secretly despaired that it would be the only time she would ever be able to do it.


    ¡°I was going to ask you to let me run with this; but, I guess I can''t.¡± Sheph said, disappointed. ¡°I''ll drop it into the propaganda machine and have the Hunter parts removed.¡±


    Uzahne and Ahaen nodded.


    ¡°Do we know who these people are?¡± Ahaen asked. ¡°This just seemed to come out of nowhere.¡±


    ¡°Out of nowhere?¡± Sheph laughed. ¡°You do realize the story that broke a week ago, right? The scandal involving Vilshalis and that quarter-breed that coerced him?¡±


    ¡°You mean that weird woman-fish and her suggestion powers?¡± Uzahne asked, and Sheph nodded.


    ¡°These people have been on the other end of their schemes for a long time, especially the woman pilot.¡± Sheph said. ¡°I can''t go into the details, mainly because I haven''t been fully briefed yet.¡±


    ¡°What? Why not?¡± Ahaen asked.


    ¡°This thing goes pretty deep into our government.¡± Sheph said. ¡°It''s hard for people to trust each other in this kind of environment.¡±


    Uzahne let out a sigh. Unlike the other two, she had met the woman-fish about four months ago during a state function, then she had failed the test to show if she had been coerced. The treatment hadn''t been pleasant; but, at least she didn''t suffer the day long headache side effect afterwards.


    ¡°You mean trust the locals.¡± Ahaen said and voiced their concerns. ¡°Who knew they had abilities like that?¡±


    ¡°I doubt it''s just the locals that have abilities like that.¡± Sheph said to try and mitigate the prejudice.


    ¡°We''re straying from the subject here.¡± Uzahne and tapped the folder of documents. ¡°What do we do?¡±


    ¡°We charge them with sedition and treason, of course.¡± Ahaen said.


    Uzahne and Sheph gave her a pointed look and then looked at each other. They knew she always suggested the worst thing to happen.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Are we including Hunter in the charges?¡± Ahaen asked.


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Sheph looked back at her with shock on her face.


    ¡°It was his shuttle they used to...¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy?¡± Sheph almost yelled. ¡°He''s a planetary hero!¡±


    ¡°He''s not above the law.¡± Ahaen said and her eyes darted to the floor, where the headless body had dropped in front of her. She shivered and crossed her arms again as she hugged herself. Despite her protests and desire to use another office to gather in, they still used this one.


    ¡°Actually, he is.¡± Uzahne said and the other two women turned to look at her. ¡°As soon as anyone gets word that he''s been arrested... for anything... the entire population will turn on us in a heartbeat.¡±


    The three of them sat there in silence as they thought about that. It might not have been that way, except someone had leaked a photo of what Hunter looked like after he had saved twelve adults and two children from that explosion. It gave him that last one percent he needed for his approval rating to reach one hundred percent.


    Everyone loved him.


    The government was bombarded daily with requests to see him, talk to him, have him visit their businesses, visit the hospitals, and have dinner. Uzahne''s aide had lost count of all the birthday party requests they had for Hunter to attend. In fact, that was where her aide was at the moment. She was in the side office and combed through the hundreds of messages they received daily, just to find the ones that were relevant to the government and to route them where they needed to go.


    ¡°Ahaen, whatever you think of him personally and about what he''s done, you can''t speak out against him.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°It would be political suicide.¡±


    Ahaen squinted her eyes at her for only a moment, then she sighed. ¡°Yes, I know.¡±


    ¡°Sheph, send Hunter a message and...¡± Uzahne stopped talking and thought about what to say.


    ¡°It''s difficult, isn''t it?¡± Sheph said and let a smile touch her lips. ¡°How do you word something like that, without either insulting his intelligence or downplay his involvement in things he shouldn''t be involved in?¡±


    Uzahne leaned over her desk and took out a huge folder that was filled with papers and flipped through them for several minutes, then she pulled one out and handed it to Sheph.


    Sheph read it and her eyebrows raised up. ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°It''s a formal request from the head of the medical association.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°I didn''t have the heart to say no right away and I''ve been sitting on it for a while. Send that to Hunter and he can be the one to say no.¡±


    Sheph had an angry expression on her face for a second, then she sighed. ¡°All right, I''ll send it.¡±


    Ahaen stood and plucked the paper from Sheph''s hand and quickly read it. She smiled and handed it back. ¡°I can''t wait to see the public''s reaction when he says no.¡±


    Sheph looked at her angrily. ¡°Why are you so vindictive?¡± She asked. ¡°You even apologized to him for treating him unfairly and you''re still doing it!¡±


    ¡°He keeps doing things for me to hate.¡± Ahaen said. ¡°I can''t help it if you can''t see him for the menace he really is.¡±


    Sheph opened her mouth for a second and then closed it. ¡°You keep telling yourself that.¡± She said and walked towards the door. ¡°When you''re sitting alone tonight and thinking about what happened today, I want you to ask yourself something.¡±


    ¡°What''s that?¡±


    ¡°If he really was the menace you claim he is, wouldn''t he have just killed us for what we tried to do to him when we first arrived in this system?¡± Sheph asked and opened the door. ¡°Now that we''re the ones in charge, if it had been our ship and someone tried to take our shuttle, wouldn''t you have them killed?¡±


    Ahaen didn''t respond, so Sheph left the office and closed the door.


    *


    I was carefully detaching a medical console from the large diagnostics machine when my suit com beeped at me. I hit the button with my chin. ¡°You may speak.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for your permission.¡± Gleas chuckled. ¡°We just received a gold priority message from the Udelis.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what that means.¡± I said and popped the last connector out, after marking it of course, then used Presence to unscrew all of the bolts that held the console in place.


    ¡°Among priority messages, it''s at the top.¡±


    ¡°Well, that can''t really be true.¡± I said and picked up the console. ¡°How would they know what I think is a priority message?¡±


    Gleas laughed. ¡°Are you heading back yet?¡±


    ¡°I just popped out the medical console, so yes.¡± I said. ¡°It''s going to take me all next shift to get the scanner removed and the associated computer banks mounted in the walls.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe they had that extensive of a setup in a freighter''s hull.¡± Kalina said. ¡°Who does that?¡±


    ¡°Stupid aliens.¡± I said and they chuckled. ¡°I''m glad it had a low threat level and they only took out the bridge and the shuttle bay.¡±


    ¡°I hope Luxea''s software adaptations can work on it.¡± Gleas said. ¡°If we can get it working, that thing is worth a fortune!¡±


    ¡°Hey, don''t get your hopes up for a big payday.¡± I said. ¡°I''m installing it in the new ship.¡±


    ¡°You''re WHAT?!?¡± Gleas yelled. ¡°Dammit, I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to yell on a closed circuit.¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and carried the console through the ship to the main hatch. ¡°I''m taking everything I can to make our ship the best ship it can be first. Why would I pass up having a top of the line medical scanner and treatment room?¡± I cycled the hatch and hopped out into space and then floated up and around the wreck to head towards the ship. ¡°It saves me from having to buy it later, too.¡±


    ¡°You... were going to buy one?¡± Kalina asked, her voice barely above a whisper.


    ¡°I''ve only got a basic med-bot on the Udelis, and there''s no way we can keep meeting up every time someone has a boo boo.¡±


    Gleas chuckled. ¡°Okay, I guess I can''t argue with that, not if you were going to invest in getting one. You can keep it for our use.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for your permission.¡± I parroted her words that started to conversation and she laughed. ¡°Approaching bay doors.¡±


    ¡°How can you keep doing this in just a flight suit?¡± Kalina asked. ¡°I''d be nervous flying a shuttle through that!¡±


    I landed just inside the force field of air in the bay as the gravity grabbed me. ¡°You''ve seen the footage of the rescues, right? This is a cakewalk compared to that.¡±


    ¡°Only you would think this is easy.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Now get your ass up to the cockpit and read this message.¡±


    ¡°Someone''s in command mode today.¡± I said and carried the console with me and brought it up the stairs and picked the last room at the back of the ship to become the full service medical bay. I left the console inside and walked to the front of the ship. ¡°All right, show me this message.¡±


    ¡°Have a seat behind me.¡± Kalina said and hit a button to shunt the message to the display there. I sat down and read through it, then wondered why it had taken so long to get to me.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°You didn''t read it?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°It''s a message for you, so no.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°I''ve been invited to visit a children''s hospital.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°Apparently, one of their patients is a big fan of mine and they want to meet me.¡±


    Both women turned to stare at me with surprised faces. I walked between them and used the communications console to send a response to the medical facility. It wasn''t the same one I had been in, so I knew it wasn''t a ploy to get me back to examine me. I would still have to be careful, though.


    ¡°I''m tempted to not respond; but, I''d rather have them get some security and stop people from swarming me when I show up.¡± I said and waited for a response. ¡°Okay, they can have everything prepped by the morning.¡±


    ¡°You''re really going?¡± Kalina asked.


    ¡°Sure, why not?¡± I asked.


    ¡°But... but you... didn''t you say that you''re really busy with getting all this salvage done?¡±


    ¡°I''m not that big of an asshole to say no to a sick child.¡± I said and gave her a smile. ¡°I''ll have to hurry and get the rest of the medical equipment transferred over though.¡±


    I left the cockpit and quickly made my way through the ship, down the stairs and back over to the bay doors. I jumped out and floated at a pretty good speed towards the wrecked freighter.


    *


    ¡°I really didn''t expect him to agree to that, or to tell them that he just received the message.¡± Sheph said with a sigh as she looked at the medical facility''s heated response to the government''s delay in getting the message to Hunter. She could see in her mind''s eye as the government''s approval rating dropped even more because of it. She held in another sigh and closed her display, then made the decision that she wouldn''t make an appearance and she wouldn''t send a government representative in her place.


    It wasn''t that she didn''t want to see him, it was the opposite of that. She wanted it very badly. Unfortunately, she also knew that if she was there or sent someone, it would be too obvious that they were trying to associate themselves with his appearance at the hospital. That would backfire on them even more than if they publicly tried to distance themselves from him like Ahaen wanted them to do.


    Sheph thought about the best way to see him without interfering. After several minutes, she couldn''t come up with anything. Instead, she initiated the office''s security features and recorded a private message for him. She knew she couldn''t tell him everything, since a lot of it was confidential and had been declared state secrets, so she settled for generalities and tried her best to express her own feelings about what had been going on... and about him.


    *


    It took me the rest of the shift to strip everything from the alien''s medical bay and get it transferred to the ship. Nothing was installed, and I had to leave a lot of the larger components in the cargo bay beside the stairs, that way they were easily accessible. I was tempted to call Luxea and ask her and Simone to come over and try to start the room''s conversion, then decided that it would be best to get the same crew that Luxea had hired back in the Dizahl System to do it.


    Why half-ass it when we can get it professionally done? I asked myself as I walked up the stairs. I unhooked my helmet and took off my gloves and put them into the helmet.


    ¡°Is it true?¡± Deborah asked when she saw me. She had been leaning on my room door and stood up straight. ¡°You''re really going to visit the children''s hospital in the capital?¡±


    ¡°I was just going to my room to pack for it, actually.¡± I said and waved at the door behind her.


    ¡°Can I come with you?¡±


    ¡°Are you on shift first thing in the morning?¡± I asked and she shook her head.


    ¡°I''ve got the co-pilot shift tomorrow afternoon.¡±


    ¡°Then grab your things for a quick overnight stay.¡± I said. ¡°They''ve got a guest room ready for me.¡±


    Deborah nodded and walked away with determination in her steps. I had read her surface thoughts and knew she had some kind of deep need to go and visit that particular hospital, so I didn''t argue about it. I stepped into my room and popped off my helmet and used the ship''s intercom.


    ¡°Gleas, take the ship out of the debris field and give us a nice parking orbit close by.¡± I said.


    ¡°You got it.¡± Gleas said and the ship started to move.


    I quickly packed a small suitcase with clothes and added a few of the engraved wooden plaques that might be useful to my bag of holding. I didn''t bother taking off my flight suit, since I would be taking the shuttle, then I picked up my helmet and my suitcase and stepped out into the hallway.


    Deborah was there and she wore her flight suit as well. I nodded to her and managed not to stare at her as we went down the stairs and across the partially filled cargo hold to the shuttle bay. We climbed aboard the shuttle and I had her do all the pre-flight checks and told her to take us out. She gave me a look that said she hadn''t done it in a while, and I smiled.


    ¡°If I can fly it to the planet from here, you can, too.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, I need to call Rhubin and see how the search for another shuttle pilot is coming along.¡±


    Deborah nodded and flew the shuttle out of the bay and I placed my call.


    ¡°Nothing yet.¡± Rhubin said with a smile and I couldn''t help but laugh. ¡°I''ll let you know when I know.¡±


    ¡°All right. I''ll keep waiting.¡± I said and cut the call.

 Book Three: The Resolution 034

    Deborah was a little nervous flying the shuttle through the heavy planetary traffic, so I used a calming technique and touched her hand to share it. She took a deep breath and let my energy flow through her and she smiled at me. She didn''t have any more trouble and brought us in for a landing on the designated landing pad used by the hospital. We also had clearance to land there and it was next to the emergency pad, so the shuttle wasn''t in the way.


    I shut everything down and handed her a trench coat. ¡°If I''m not going to walk around in this thing without being covered, I can''t expect you to.¡± I took out my own trench coat and she chuckled.


    ¡°You weren''t shy like that before.¡± Deborah said as she put on the coat and tied the belt.


    ¡°It''s one thing to carry on in front of you, because you were having fun with it. Walking around and possibly having a hundred people ogle me?¡± I slipped on my own coat and tied it. ¡°I don''t think so.¡±


    Deborah raised her eyebrows at me and I gave her an award winning smile.


    ¡°Yes, I made sure you enjoyed the show.¡± I said and picked up our bags and used Presence to open the side hatch and dropped the ramp. ¡°After you.¡±


    Deborah chuckled and went out ahead of me and I closed the shuttle with Presence and gave it a thin layer to protect it, just in case. A medical assistant was waiting just outside the door of the main building for us and waved us over. She wore a basic uniform and had her hair tied into a tight ponytail.


    ¡°Hi, there!¡± The young woman said. ¡°I won the draw to greet you!¡±


    I held in my chuckle at how happy she was over such a simple thing. ¡°I think I''m the one that won.¡±


    The young woman''s heart leapt at my words and she barely restrained herself from hopping up and down. ¡°Right this way! Follow me, please!¡± She said excitedly and turned around and walked right into the door. She bounced off and I used two Presence Hands to hold the suitcases and I caught her before she fell to the ground. She had a pained and shocked expression on her face as she laid in my arms.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Deborah asked her and she was too stunned and embarrassed to respond.


    I shifted one of my hands around and used Presence to keep her steady and made my finger glow with Presence. ¡°You hit your cute little nose pretty hard.¡± I said and touched it as I used Presence Heal on her. Her whole body shivered as my energy made her face tingle and I healed the bruise before it started. Both her eyes would have been black by the morning and that wasn''t going to be a good thing for anyone.


    ¡°Wh-wh-what d-did y-you d-do?¡± The young woman asked as she poked her cheeks with her fingers.


    ¡°I made sure you weren''t going to have a big bruise later.¡± I said and stood her up on her feet. ¡°Let me get the door for you.¡±


    ¡°Th-thank y-you.¡± She said and I used a Presence Hand to open it, then I grabbed onto the two bags and absorbed the hands holding them. She looked at my hands and then at my face, then she looked at the door and back at my face.


    ¡°After you.¡± I said and motioned to the door.


    She gave me one last look and then led us inside. As we walked down several hallways, both men and women poked their heads out of their rooms and around corners to stare at us. We eventually arrived at a guest room and she opened the door.


    ¡°H-here we are.¡± The young woman said. ¡°Th-the doctors start their rounds at eight in the morning, so if you could be ready by then, the staff... I... I mean... the kids would really appreciate it.¡± She said and blushed.


    ¡°Of course. That''s plenty of time for us to be ready.¡± I said and floated the bags into the room and put them on the bed. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    She stared at the bags for a moment and then looked back at me.


    ¡°Is there anything else you need to tell us before we turn in for the night?¡± I asked.


    ¡°N-n-no.¡± She said. ¡°I... I just...¡±


    ¡°Would you like a hug?¡± I asked and her face turned bright red. ¡°You can''t tell anyone I did this.¡± I whispered and slipped my arms around her. ¡°I don''t give these out to just anyone you know.¡±


    She closed her eyes as she put her arms around me and hugged me tightly. I held her like that for about thirty seconds, then I opened my arms.


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± The young woman said and let me go as well.


    ¡°It''s our little secret.¡± I said and played with her ponytail for a couple of seconds. She started to breathe a little faster. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    ¡°G-g-good n-n-night.¡± She said and started to walk away, then turned back to look at me. I gave her a little wave and she waved back, then she turned and walked really fast. She was lucky there wasn''t anyone else in the hallway, because she wasn''t watching where she was going until she came to the corner and stopped. She turned back to look and I gave her an exaggerated wave. She let out a short laugh, blushed, then ran around the corner and out of sight.


    ¡°I thought your skill in manipulating cargo in space was amazing.¡± Deborah said as she pulled me into the room and shut the door. ¡°That poor naive girl!¡±


    I chuckled and took off my trench coat and tossed it on the chair beside the small console. ¡°I thought just walking us to our room wasn''t going to be very fulfilling for her, not after going through all the trouble of winning the draw to meet us first.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think she''s not going to tell anyone what just happened?¡± Deborah asked with a laugh and took off her own trench coat and tossed it onto mine.


    ¡°Not a chance.¡± I laughed and walked over to the window and looked into the small park in the hospital courtyard. ¡°I just wanted to make it a bit more special for her.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I can guarantee that.¡± Deborah said and opened her suitcase. ¡°I''m not a medical professional and even I could see that her blood pressure was through the roof.¡±


    ¡°I kept it as professional as I could under the circumstances.¡± I said.


    ¡°Did you, now?¡± Deborah asked and picked out a couple pieces of cloth to wear to bed.


    I turned away from the window and closed the shutters as I smiled. ¡°I could have taken my coat off before I offered to hug her.¡±


    ¡°Oh, goddess! Ha ha!¡± Deborah laughed and closed her suitcase. ¡°That could have killed her!¡± She said and gripped the neck hole of her flight suit and pulled.


    I was a bit surprised at this development as she pulled the thing down and revealed her ample chest.


    ¡°Imagine causing a medical emergency right after arriving.¡± Deborah shook her head of short brown hair and kept laughing as she pulled the flight suit off and left herself completely naked. She had a tuft of brown hair between her legs and it didn''t cover her, so I saw almost everything. She shook out the flight suit and hung it up by the feet on the back of the bathroom door.


    ¡°Don''t forget to hang it up to let it air out.¡± Deborah said and went into the bathroom.


    I stood there with wide eyes as she took a shower, right in front of me, then she stepped out and quickly dried off. She came out of the bathroom and picked up one of the small pieces of cloth and stepped into a pair of loose shorts, then she picked up the other piece and it was like a half t-shirt. She put it on and sighed contentedly.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°You don''t realize how tight the flight suit is until you take it off and wear normal clothes again.¡± Deborah said and then noticed I was still standing there and hadn''t moved. ¡°You better get that thing off. Temperature control or not, it''s going to stink after you worked in it all day.¡±


    ¡°Ah... right.¡± I said and opened my suitcase and took out a pair of underwear.


    Deborah ignored me as she moved her suitcase to the floor and waved at my suitcase. I closed it and moved it out of the way, then she pulled the blanket down and climbed into the bed onto what she considered her side. I thought that was a little odd, then caught her thoughts about it always being her side and she couldn''t sleep if she wasn''t on that side.


    I turned around and pulled my own flight suit off and hung it up by the feet next to hers and saw that mine was about seven inches longer. There was no chance that we were going to mix them up, especially with the slightly different shapes. Apparently, after you wore them once, they tended to stay close to that new shape and no longer looked like a deflated balloon. It was more proof that custom suits were intended for one person only and that was why they were so expensive.


    I walked into the bathroom and took a shower, just like Deborah did and didn''t bother shutting the door. I came out and dried off, then put on my underwear. I walked out of the bathroom and around the bed and climbed in, then settled down to sleep.


    ¡°I can''t believe I just did that.¡± Deborah said in a soft voice and I felt her embarrassment.


    ¡°You did it automatically.¡± I said and she rolled over to face me. ¡°You weren''t self-conscious about it and acted like it was the most natural thing in the world.¡± I turned my head to look at her. ¡°You must have undressed hundreds of times with someone else in the room.¡±


    Deborah nodded. ¡°I... I was...¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to explain.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter, I just... you''re my boss and...¡± Deborah sighed. ¡°...I just broke up with a man I''ve been with for two years.¡± She said. ¡°I... I don''t... I don''t know what to do with myself now.¡±


    I could hear her thoughts and she really did seem lost. ¡°I was in a relationship for a really long time... longer than any other relationship I had ever had. When she died, I was... adrift.¡± I said, my voice just barely above a whisper. ¡°I met a great woman briefly and slept with her once, then we had to part ways because I had to get back to the ship.¡±


    ¡°Where Luxea was.¡± Deborah said and inched closer to me.


    I nodded. ¡°I fell right into a relationship with her, or at least I thought it was a relationship. It turns out I had certain expectations, thanks to my previous long relationship, and so did she... and they were not the same.¡± I sighed. ¡°It never crossed my mind to talk to her about being exclusive and not sleeping with other people, because I didn''t have to do that in my other relationship.¡±


    ¡°Because you both already understood it was a given.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°Yes, that''s exactly right.¡± I said. ¡°In my head, I was in a committed relationship with her... except, I never actually told her that''s what I thought. I just assumed...¡±


    ¡°Quite wrongly, apparently.¡± Deborah said with a smile and inched closer, and I chuckled.


    ¡°I was so wrong.¡± I said and rubbed my face with a hand. ¡°Now, everything''s a mess and Simone got caught up in it, because I tried to be an ass about it to make Luxea not feel guilty about what happened.¡±


    ¡°Which means she aligned with the woman by default and now you''re on both of their bad sides.¡± Deborah said and she was right beside me now. ¡°So, you exiled yourself to a new ship to let them both try to come to terms with it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and I know that was a mistake, so you don''t have to tell me.¡± I said and it was her turn to laugh.


    ¡°I think during the next day off, you should join the ships again and at least talk to them in person.¡±


    ¡°That would be a good idea... if our days off coincided.¡± I said.


    ¡°Wow... you just... that''s really stupid.¡± Deborah said and I laughed.


    ¡°Now you''re starting to understand the depths of how much I screwed up.¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you okay if I use you for comfort like this?¡± Deborah asked as she tried to slide in to rest against me and met a solid wall of Presence. Her hand and one of her breasts pressed against the invisible wall and she had a look of surprise on her face.


    ¡°You worked pretty hard to get closer without looking like you were trying to get closer.¡± I said and her face flushed red. ¡°You know there can''t be anything between us.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sleeping with the man that assigns your pay check is not the smartest thing for a freshly free woman to do.¡± Deborah said and moved back slightly. ¡°I just... this last week was...¡±


    ¡°You miss having someone else in the bed.¡± I said.


    Deborah nodded. ¡°Not for sex.¡± She clarified. ¡°I just... being alone is... I like having someone to hold me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, me too.¡± I said and she closed her eyes and let out a long and drawn out sigh. ¡°I can''t comfort you like that, though.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I promise nothing will happen.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± I said, even though she really didn''t want anything except for me to hold her. ¡°I can''t cross that line with you.¡±


    Deborah sighed again. ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think you do.¡± I said and she looked into my eyes. ¡°Luxea and I spent quite a lot of nights in bed together, just cuddling, before we got together.¡±


    Deborah blinked her eyes at me for several moments, then she nodded.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± Deborah said and stayed on her side as she closed her eyes. It didn''t take her long to fall asleep like that. When her breathing evened out and was deep asleep, I entered a half meditative state to stay alert and went to sleep myself.


    *


    The next morning, the entire hospital acted like it was a hornet''s nest that had been poked with a stick.


    ¡°Wh-what? He''s here! No! No, he can''t be!¡± A little girl almost squealed. ¡°My hero! He''s coming to save me!¡±


    ¡°Hailey, we talked about this.¡± The young medical assistant who had met Hunter the night before said.


    ¡°He''ll help me! I just know it!¡± Hailey said.


    The young woman sighed. ¡°Hailey...¡±


    ¡°Here he comes!¡± Someone shouted from down the hallway and a few people yelled happily and a few trembled as the door to the ward opened...


    ...and it was only the senior medical technician. A loud groan came from everyone that had gathered.


    ¡°Well, it''s not hard to tell where I stand.¡± The middle aged man said with a smile and shut the door.


    ¡°It''s all right, kids.¡± One of the other female technicians said. ¡°I''m sure he''ll be here shortly.¡±


    ¡°If you all hadn''t groaned at my entrance, I could have told you that.¡± The man said and opened the door dramatically.


    ¡°IEEEEE!¡± Several of the little girls screamed excitedly, as did one of the women.


    Hunter stepped into the room wearing his powered armor and his blast shield.


    ¡°You were right.¡± The senior medical technician whispered. ¡°That was a better entrance.¡±


    Hunter chuckled and stepped into the room with a woman none of them had seen before. She was summarily ignored for the most part, though. Everyone only had time for Hunter.


    ¡°Over here!¡± ¡°Visit me first!¡± ¡°I love you!¡±


    Hunter held in his laughter at all of the happy children, and a few of the women, and their exultant thoughts swirled around his brain. ¡°Everyone, please calm down.¡± He said and they felt a wave of energy come off of him. ¡°I''ll stop at each and every bed to visit with you; but, I have to visit one particularly beautiful girl first.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± ¡°We''ll wait!¡± ¡°Hurry up!¡± ¡°I want a hug!¡±


    Hunter turned his head slightly towards a woman and the medical technician blushed.


    ¡°After the children, of course.¡± She whispered and he beamed a smile at her. ¡°Oh, my.¡±


    Hunter walked down the aisle between the beds and stopped at the foot of Hailey''s bed. ¡°I heard that you asked for me specifically.¡± He said and took off his blast shield. ¡°Once I got the message, I had to come and see you.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± Hailey whispered and tears came to her eyes. ¡°Can... can you... can you help me?¡± She asked, her words interspersed with light sobbing. ¡°P-p-please... s-save me.¡±


    Hunter walked over to the side of her bed. ¡°Thanks to the generosity of the senior medical technician, he let me look over your records.¡± He said, then his hand reached out and rubbed the top of her head and slid it down the back to feel the fuzz that was just like his own. ¡°Do you know why you''re sick?¡±


    Hailey nodded and he wiped at her tears. She was rail thin and had barely any meat on her bones. According to her records, she was twelve years old. Unfortunately, because of the state she was in, she didn''t look any older than seven or eight.


    ¡°I couldn''t even pronounce it, so I accepted his professional opinion about the actual name.¡± Hunter said and she nodded again.


    ¡°Can... can you...¡±


    ¡°Hailey, I... I''m sorry.¡± Hunter said and more tears came from her eyes. ¡°I can''t promise you something like that.¡±


    ¡°But... but, you''re my hero! My Hero!¡± Hailey exclaimed. ¡°You''re supposed to save me!¡±


    Hunter opened his mouth to say something and she gripped his hand. She pulled it down from her head and put it over her heart.


    ¡°P-please! Please, Hunter!¡± Hailey pleaded. ¡°I love you! I know you can do it! I know you can!¡±


    Silence fell and all the other kids and the medical technicians had sad faces as they stared at Hunter and Hailey. It was a completely unreasonable request from a frightened and sick little girl and their hearts were almost torn asunder by the heartbreak.


    Hunter only let one tear escape as he looked around at all of the sad faces and he could hear their thoughts. They all knew that she didn''t have much time left and the scene was hurting them even more than it was hurting him. He knew that if he did this, she would be subjected to untold medical examinations and probably experiments; but, he also couldn''t deny that her plea touched him in the same way that Afyne''s situation had. Even after all this time, he still remembered how they had met and her sad story, then taking her with him on all of his adventures.


    Hunter turned and looked at the senior medical technician, then turned back to Hailey. ¡°Are you willing to suffer through a ton more medical examinations?¡±


    ¡°I''ll do anything for you.¡± Hailey said, her voice a little stronger than normal. ¡°I love you.¡±


    Hunter felt her pure and innocent thoughts and the Presence didn''t waver. Her declaration was true and she really did love him. He knew that she didn''t really understand what that meant; and yet, her love touched his heart, just like Afyne''s had. He formed a solid blue Presence barrier around the bed and Hailey stared at it.


    ¡°It might not work.¡± Hunter said and started to take several wooden placards out of his bag of holding. ¡°Let me see what I can do.¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 035 (Sponsored)

    ¡°Hey! What are you doing in there?¡± The young female medical assistant asked and knocked on the protective barrier that surrounded the bed. A few other people, kids included, added their voices to hers. I ignored them and took out all of the things I would need. I hoped they would work, because I hadn''t done anything like this before.


    ¡°You may feel tingling all over and I''m going to try and stop the pain from...¡± I started to explain and Hailey touched my hand.


    ¡°I trust you.¡± Hailey said. ¡°I''ve never seen these... whatever these things are.¡± She said and knew not to touch the wooden placards. ¡°Do you want me to lay down?¡±


    I nodded and she lowered the bed and laid back.


    ¡°Okay. I''m ready.¡± Hailey said and closed her eyes.


    The first thing I did was check her over with Presence. I let her feel some of it and she giggled as it tickled. I saw all the way through her and saw that she had almost no muscle tissue. Her body was practically eating itself as it degenerated. It took me a few minutes to find her Presence center near the base of her spine, because it was so weak. I touched it with my Presence and shared a little with her, and she gasped.


    ¡°Wh-what was th-that?¡± Hailey asked and opened her eyes.


    ¡°Just a little energy boost.¡±


    ¡°You... you can give me energy?¡± Hailey asked, surprised.


    ¡°I''m hoping to give you a lot more than that.¡± I said and put a hand on her forehead. ¡°Close your eyes.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to put me to sleep?¡± Hailey asked and closed her eyes.


    ¡°No, you need to be awake for this.¡± I said and covered her body in a thin layer of Presence, then lifted her slightly.


    ¡°I can''t feel the bed!¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°That''s normal.¡± I said and slipped one of the diagnostic spell engravings under her. I didn''t really need it, since I knew what was wrong with her; but, I was told that if I ever had to use these spell engravings, they had to be done in order or they wouldn''t work properly. I didn''t question it and filled the wooden engraving with Presence and activated the spell.


    Hailey was covered in a bright green glow for a few seconds and then it faded. My mind was immediately filled with everything that was wrong with her body and my heart shivered at the sheer scope of the damage. I took a breath and used a mental technique to stay calm.


    She must be keeping herself alive by sheer will. I thought and once again looked at her Presence center. That might by why its so depleted. She''s been using it up to try to heal herself without knowing she is!


    The wooden placard dissolved and I slid in the next one underneath her.


    ¡°This will hurt, so I''m going to make a connection to you and I''ll suck as much of the pain out of you as I can.¡± I said and kept my hand on her forehead.


    ¡°Will I feel the connection?¡± Hailey asked, hope in her voice.


    ¡°Do you want to?¡± I asked and she nodded several times. I touched her mind with Presence and formed a connection with her, and she took in a sharp breath.


    ¡°You were hurt so bad!¡± Hailey said and her eyes teared up. ¡°Did... did you get them back?¡±


    ¡°Not yet.¡± I said, surprised that she had grabbed those images from my mind. ¡°I will, though. I just have a few things to do first.¡±


    Hailey relaxed and her thoughts of utter trust and faith in me were hard to ignore. I took another deep breath and activated the next spell. It was a cleansing spell and it really was going to hurt.


    ¡°AHHhhhh...¡± Hailey started to yell, then it trailed off as I took her pain. Her breathing was even and she wasn''t panicking like I thought she might.


    You are a strong little girl. I thought as her pain barely registered on my own pain scale.


    ¡°Did you say something?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°Not out loud. I was just thinking really hard.¡± I said and she giggled.


    It took nearly ten minutes for the spell to run its course and her whole body relaxed when it was over. The placard dissolved and I slid in the last one.


    ¡°This isn''t going to hurt; but, it''s going to feel really weird.¡± I said.


    ¡°Like jellyfish weird?¡± Hailey asked, and I chuckled.


    ¡°Yes, like jellyfish under your skin weird.¡±


    Hailey shivered and then she sighed. ¡°Okay. I''m ready.¡±


    ¡°I can''t take the feeling from you, because then it might not work right.¡± I warned her. ¡°I can keep you calm if you want.¡±


    ¡°Yes, please.¡± Hailey said and I used my calm technique and filled her with it. I activated the last spell and the entire inside of the protective barrier glowed green. It was the same spell I had used on myself to repair and regrow everything I had lost. I had tried several times to get the intricacies of the spell explained to me, and all they could say was that they couldn''t explain it.


    Hailey laid there and didn''t say anything as the ''jellyfish'' under her skin started to move around, so I stood there and waited... and waited... and waited some more. I kept the spell charged with Presence as it worked on her and the people around the barrier were becoming more frantic as the time went on. I shared my calming technique with them and they settled down a little.


    An hour passed and I kept my eyes on the ''jellyfish'' as they moved around under her skin. What was actually going on was that the spell was regrowing her body''s essential components. Since there was almost nothing left, it was going to take a while to give it all back to her. At least, I hoped it gave it all back to her. I''ve only used it on myself and I''ve had extensive Presence use my entire life, so this was all new territory for me.


    Please work. Please work. I thought and started to add my own Presence to her body and boosted the spell. Hailey took in a sharp breath as her body soaked up my Presence like a sponge. With no idea how long the spell was going to take, I increased my inherent absorption rate of the ambient Presence in the air, converted it for my own use, then funnelled it right into Hailey. The glow became brighter and the ''jellyfish'' under her skin moved faster and faster.


    I relaxed as I watched her bones became stronger and the marrow inside became rich with nutrients and Presence. Her muscles and fatty tissue bubbled out to their proper size and reformed under the skin and attached themselves. Her internal organs inflated to normal sizes and her belly plumped out and was no longer sunk in. Her breathing became deep and resonating as her lungs became healthy, and then I had to look at her face so I wasn''t staring at her chest.


    Hailey giggled as if she heard my thoughts and she opened her eyes to look at me. The dull blue color became vibrant as her eyes slid forward slightly and were no longer sunken in. Her cheeks regained their fullness and their color, instead of the greyish pallor they used to have. Her lips plumped out and turned a nice shade of reddish pink to show that she was healthy once more. She had a huge smile on her face as the spell ended.


    I cleared away the dust from the three spells and put it into my pocket, then I gently lowered her back to the bed and dismissed the Presence I had held her with as well as the barrier around the bed. The other kids had lost interest and were doing their own things and the medical professionals had gathered around the barrier to wait. As soon as it dropped, the senior medical professional darted to Hailey''s bedside.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± The middle-aged man asked her and started to examine her.


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Hailey said. ¡°I''ve never felt this way before.¡±


    I blinked my eyes at her. ¡°But... I thought...¡±


    ¡°I''ve always been sick.¡± Hailey said and raised the bed so she could sit up. She tried to lift her hand to touch my face and she struggled.


    ¡°You''re going to be weak and sore for about five to seven days, if not longer.¡± I said and took her hand and placed it on my cheek. ¡°You''re probably going to sleep for a good amount of that, too.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe this.¡± The man said as his fingers deftly checked her legs and then her arms. ¡°It''s like she''s never been sick!¡±


    ¡°Except for my hair.¡± Hailey said and I bent down to let her rub the top of my head. ¡°It''s still like Hunter''s.¡±


    ¡°We need to take her for..¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said with finality and the man stared at me as I stood up straight. ¡°You will let this beautiful girl stay in bed and rest. She needs to recover from the trauma she just went through. Believe me, it was traumatic and she needs to be looked after.¡±


    ¡°But... we need...¡±


    ¡°If she was cured, would performing all those tests immediately instead of waiting a few days make any difference?¡± I asked and he couldn''t respond. I turned to the medical assistant. ¡°She''s starving, so could you get her something to eat? Something easily digestible would be ideal.¡±


    A loud grumble came from the bed and everyone turned and looked at Hailey.


    ¡°That was me!¡± Hailey said happily and hugged her stomach. ¡°My tummy spoke!¡±


    ¡°Hailey?¡± One of the female technicians stepped around the senior technician. ¡°Can I check your breathing and heart rate?¡± She asked and took out a stethoscope.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Hailey leaned forward and untied her hospital gown. When she leaned back, she gasped. ¡°I have boobies!¡± She exclaimed when she saw the small mounds and started crying loudly with tears of joy. ¡°Hunter healed me and gave me BOOBIES!¡±


    I clamped my mouth shut as I turned away from the bed and I fought not to laugh. I saw similar looks on everyone''s faces as they tried to keep their laughter in, too. I didn''t have the heart to tell her that she would have developed them normally if she hadn''t been so sick, so I stood there and waited for a minute to let the technicians finish her preliminary examination before I spoke.


    ¡°Hailey, I need to visit the others kids.¡±


    ¡°Don''t be long.¡± Hailey said, her voice full of confidence. ¡°You didn''t visit with me yet.¡±


    I opened my mouth to argue that I just spent almost two hours with her, then I turned to her and saw that she had a huge smile on her face. ¡°I''ll be as quick as I can.¡±


    Hailey nodded and I walked down the ward and stopped at the first child''s bed. I started to talk to them and ask why they were there. I used Presence and checked them over and used Presence Heal on them. The boy had a congenital heart defect and it was really odd trying to heal something that was always a part of their body. I had to compare it to my own heart to ''fix'' the damage that the body didn''t know was damage.


    It took about seven minutes while the little boy talked about watching me on the news, then talked about the cat he had seen through the window, then talked about the pretty medical technician that always visited him. In seven minutes. I chuckled and told him to get better soon, then went to the next bed. It was almost the same thing, except it was a twisted spine. Each child had something inherently wrong with them.


    As I made the rounds and did what I could with each of them, Hailey''s eyes followed me as she was discreetly checked over. I had left the connection between us and she knew I was going around and trying my best to help each child while I talked to them. I didn''t know how much she was getting from me, though. All I knew was that her Presence was back in full force and she was very happy about not being sick anymore. Oh, and about her boobies. She really really loved having boobies.


    Her thoughts and emotions carried me through checking each child in the ward and I helped everyone that I could. Thankfully, none of them needed the same extensive work that Hailey required and after an hour, I made my way back over to her bedside. The senior medical technician waved the portable scanner away when he saw me coming.


    ¡°So, did it make a difference?¡± I asked him and he sighed.


    ¡°No. The results come up normal. She has no trace of it in her system.¡± He said sadly. ¡°We won''t be able to come up with a cure for it by using her blood as a catalyst.¡±


    ¡°Now you know why I told the ones at the other medical facility that I couldn''t tell them what I did to heal myself.¡± I said. ¡°You can''t reproduce it.¡±


    ¡°Can you do this again?¡± He asked and waved at Hailey.


    ¡°Before the explosion? I could have done it sixty times.¡± I said and everyone in the room caught their breath. ¡°Now? I can only do it just over half that.¡±


    ¡°You need it for yourself.¡± Hailey said in understanding. ¡°Because of all the dangers you face!¡±


    I reached out and rubbed my hand over her head and she almost purred as I did. ¡°That''s right, sweetie.¡± I said. ¡°If I had more resources at the time, I would have gotten a lot more than what I actually have.¡±


    ¡°But... now you...¡±


    ¡°It''s all right. It was worth it.¡± I said. ¡°Now I know if I''m careful and take my time, I can use it for other people when it''s necessary.¡±


    Hailey took in a sharp breath. ¡°Will... will it really work like that?¡±


    ¡°There''s a really good chance of it now, thanks to you and how brave you were.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter...¡±


    ¡°You didn''t complain or even say no in the middle of it all, which makes you a lot stronger than most people.¡± I said and stopped rubbing her head. We both felt disappointment and I formed a solid Presence box and sat on it and took her hand. ¡°So, what do you want to talk about?¡± I asked. ¡°For some reason, my visit has run way over what it was supposed to.¡±


    Hailey giggled and gripped my hand and started to ramble about the random things that young girls thought about. She would slip in the occasional comment about seeing me on the vidscreen and then she told me her fondest wish, after being healed, was to do the fly dancing.


    ¡°Do you know how to dance?¡± I asked.


    Hailey blushed a little. ¡°N-no, I...¡±


    ¡°It''s all right. I''ll teach you a few steps.¡± I said and stood.


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Hailey looked at our clasped hands. ¡°I... I''m too tired to...¡±


    I shared some Presence with her and gave her more energy. ¡°You just need to hold on and I''ll do all the work.¡±


    Hailey looked at the medical technicians and they gave her happy smiles and nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°Just give me a minute to change.¡± I said and let her hand go, walked to the aisle, then covered myself in a Presence barrier. I quickly changed into a shirt and pants and absorbed the barrier. ¡°Now it''s your turn.¡± I said and took out a fancy dress.


    Hailey''s eyes watered at the sight of the frilly blue cloth and two of the women came over. I covered them in Presence as they helped her change and put it on. When they were done, I absorbed the barrier and reached a hand out to her.


    ¡°My lady, may I have this dance?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± Hailey said, her face bright red. She took my hand and I covered her in a thin layer of Presence and used levitation as I lifted her from the bed and she acted like she was already weightless. She stared at me with wide eyes and I floated her to the aisle. I used Presence to turn on the screen at the side of the room and quickly flicked through the channels until I found a program with slow background music. I filtered out the talking and enhanced the music, then used levitation on myself and we floated up several feet as everyone sat down.


    I pulled her close and put an arm around her waist and kept a hold of her hand in a classic waltz pose. ¡°Now, we step to the side, do a little part twirl, take another step and another quarter turn, and on and on.¡± I said and demonstrated. ¡°It''s much easier to do on a floor, so I''ll lead while we float, okay?¡±


    ¡°O-o-okay!¡± Hailey''s eyes were almost bulging out of her head and her face burned as she looked at everyone''s happy and envious faces.


    ¡°Eyes up here, please.¡± I said and her head snapped up and she stared into my eyes. I smiled as I felt her embarrassment. ¡°You don''t have to be embarrassed, even if this is your first time doing this.¡±


    ¡°O-okay.¡± Hailey said and I gave her a warm smile and we started to dance over everyone''s heads. She would occasionally look down at the other children and then remember to keep looking at me and she would blush and look back at my face.


    ¡°Go, Hailey!¡± One of the kids exclaimed and she blushed harder.


    ¡°Shall we show off a little?¡± I asked and she didn''t respond verbally. I smiled at her thoughts and eased my hand away from her waist and pushed her slightly away, then twirled her around. I used Presence to hold her dress, so that she wasn''t flashing the people below, then I pulled her back in close for a hug and she let out the cutest giggle I had ever heard. I swayed us around for several minutes, adding in another twirl and a few different steps, then the music faded.


    I pulled her in for one last hug, then floated us over to her bed and gently laid her down on it. ¡°Thank you very much for the dance, my lady.¡±


    ¡°Y-you''re w-welcome.¡± Hailey said and looked down at the dress.


    ¡°Please keep it to remember me by.¡± I said and she and two of the women gasped. They knew how expensive something like that was.


    ¡°I... I won''t need it... to remember you.¡± Hailey said and her blush came back.


    ¡°You''re so sweet.¡± I said and leaned down to give her cheek a kiss. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Hailey''s face turned bright red and she lowered her eyes. ¡°H-Hunter, you...¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°That... it was nice, but...¡± Hailey looked back at my face. ¡°That''s not... how people are supposed to...¡±


    I waited and wondered if she would actually say it out loud.


    ¡°...kiss.¡± Hailey said and her blush deepened.


    ¡°You want me to take your first kiss, too?¡± I asked and Hailey nodded several times and her blush didn''t fade in the least. I glanced at the people around us and most of them shrugged, while one of the women desperately wished that she was the one in the bed about to be kissed.


    I turned back to her and briefly touched the side of her face, then I leaned in close. She closed her eyes and puckered her lips a little, which made her that much cuter, so I carefully pressed my lips to hers. Her hands reached up and gripped my neck and held me there for several seconds. I had intended for it to only be a brief kiss and she made sure that it wasn''t. One of her hands even reached up and rubbed the back of my head.


    Hailey let me go and her thoughts were thanking me over and over for giving her the best first kiss she ever had. I broke the kiss and held in my chuckle at the thought of her having more than one first kiss to compare it to.


    ¡°W-well, that...¡± The senior medical technician wasn''t sure what to say now and that made me chuckle.


    ¡°I''d say that was the perfect way to end my surprise visit.¡± I said and Hailey nodded agreement. ¡°Which means I need to leave.¡± I took Hailey''s hand and kissed it. ¡°It was really nice meeting you.¡±


    Hailey had way too many thoughts and fantasies going through her head for me to make any sense out of them, so I let her hand go and walked into the aisle, then across the room. I stopped by the door and turned back to her to give her a smile and a wave, then I left.

 Book Three: The Resolution 036

    I went down several floors in the hospital to where Deborah was. She had left at some point while I was busy with Hailey. It wasn''t until I found her that I heard in her thoughts what had happened. She was in a break room and drank some odd liquid and fought not to cry.


    ¡°I take it the reconciliation didn''t go as planned?¡± I asked as I sat down across from her.


    Deborah let out a bark of laughter. ¡°It''s funny how I never really saw how dense he could be until you showed up.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows at her and she waved her hand around to indicate everything.


    ¡°The job, the high pay, the expensive flight suit, free accommodations for employees and for partners if we have them, and even free trips to the planet''s surface on a weekly basis if we want them.¡±


    ¡°Wait... other companies don''t provide that?¡± I asked, surprised.


    Deborah snorted a laugh and took another drink. ¡°You don''t know how happy I... how happy we all are... that you''re doing all of this for us.¡±


    ¡°I was doing it for me, actually.¡± I said and it was her turn to raise her eyebrows. ¡°Peace of mind, efficiency, and a great work environment were what I was striving for.¡±


    ¡°For yourself?¡± Deborah asked, surprised.


    ¡°You don''t know how relaxing it is to have a competent pilot in control of the ship.¡± I said. ¡°I have four of you to keep an eye on things and I don''t have to worry about it.¡±


    ¡°But... all we do...¡±


    ¡°You all check every system each time you go on duty, don''t you?¡± I asked and she nodded.


    ¡°Air purity, power consumption, flight controls, and even our environment... both inside and outside the ship.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°If it was just me, I''d probably check it once in the morning and then once at night, assuming I was staying on the ship.¡± I said. ¡°If I wasn''t, I would leave the cargo bay doors open and never enter any other part of the ship until it was time to leave.¡±


    Deborah stared at me and wasn''t sure what to say.


    ¡°As it stands, I know that all of the immediate needs of taking care of the ship are being handled by professionals. If anything happens, you''ll let me know and we can deal with it.¡±


    ¡°You''re putting a lot of trust in us.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°Actually, I''m trusting you to look after your own lives and I get to go along for the ride.¡± I gave her a crooked smile and she laughed.


    ¡°All right. I can believe that a lot quicker than you being completely altruistic.¡±


    I put a hand on my chest. ¡°Oh! The pain! Right through the heart!¡±


    ¡°Stop that.¡± Deborah laughed and stood up. ¡°I''m pretty sure the staff are searching all over for you.¡±


    ¡°They sure are.¡± I said and stood up, too. ¡°They''ll be on this floor in another few minutes.¡±


    ¡°We better get going, then.¡± Deborah said. ¡°Unless there''s anyone else you want to visit?¡±


    ¡°I''ve avoided talking to the press so far, so no.¡±


    We walked over to the door and left the room, then went down the hallway to the stairs, then made our way back to the guest room. Once we were inside, the unspoken race began. Deborah had her top off and opened the suitcase on the bed to put it inside. I did the same thing with my shirt and mirrored her movements. Our pants were next, then our underwear, then we grabbed our flight suits and slipped them on. Since they had already formed to our bodies somewhat, it was easier to put them on.


    Surprisingly, Deborah''s suit snapped into place a split second before mine and she grinned at me as she slapped my shoulder. I chuckled and handed her a trench coat, then put my own on and we left the room. With my directions and some lucrative use of my Stealth technique, we made it back to the shuttle without incident. Surprisingly, no one was there waiting for us, so we climbed aboard and ditched our coats before we started it up.


    No one was near or coming out for us, so I told Deborah to take off and to do a loop around the hospital and to hover near the ward with Hailey. She didn''t question me and did what I asked slowly, since she really didn''t have much practice flying the small ship in close quarters. When she was in position and the cockpit faced the windows, I stood up and waved enthusiastically.


    *


    ¡°He''s coming back! I just know it!¡± Hailey said and pushed the medical technician''s hand away that had some weird medical tool in it. They weren''t leaving her alone long enough to eat.


    ¡°Hailey...¡± The female medical assistant beside her started to say, then they heard the rumble of a shuttle come around the building.


    ¡°I told you!¡± Hailey said and pushed the tray aside and made the motions to be picked up. The assistant reached for her and took the now much heavier girl into her arms and walked over to the bank of windows. When they got there, a shuttle slowly floated into view about fifty feet from the building, then they saw Hunter in a skin tight flight suit stand up in the cockpit.


    Both Hailey and the woman holding her had bright red faces as Hunter waved at them like his arm was going to fall off. Hailey giggled at the sight and waved back to him, then all of the other kids started to jump around excitedly and waved as well. Hunter said something to her, then turned his head to the woman with him. The shuttle moved back another fifty feet and then rose up into the air, turned around, and flew out of sight.


    The assistant brought Hailey back to the bed and tucked her under the blanket. ¡°That was nice of him.¡± She said and put the tray of broth back in front of her. ¡°I wonder what he said.¡±


    Hailey could still feel Hunter''s energy and she looked at the assistant. ¡°He said that he can''t wait to see what I become.¡±


    The woman chuckled. ¡°What are you going to become?¡±


    Hailey''s face flushed red again and whispered.


    ¡°What was that?¡± The assistant asked and leaned in close to listen.


    ¡°I''m... I''m going to be... his wife.¡± Hailey said and let that thought fill her.


    ¡°That...¡± The woman stopped herself from discouraging the child''s wishful thinking. The only thing she had ever asked them for, during all the years she had been in the hospital, was to meet Hunter and that had just happened.


    ¡°Just you wait.¡± Hailey said with much more confidence than a moment ago. She started to feel full of purpose and knew she was making the right decision. ¡°I''m going to be everything he needs and... and... I''m going to kiss him every day!¡± She exclaimed loudly.


    The other kids and medical technicians looked at her with surprise, then some of them started laughing.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Just wait.¡± Hailey said and looked up at the ceiling. She wasn''t sure why she could still feel him; but, she knew he was in that direction and smiled. ¡°Just wait.¡±


    *


    ¡°We should be back just in time for your shift.¡± I said as the shuttle left the atmosphere.


    ¡°I can''t believe your quick visit lasted all morning.¡± Deborah said with a chuckle.


    I shrugged. ¡°Once I was in there, I couldn''t only visit just one of them.¡±


    ¡°Hunter... the Hero of Chofaris... is a big softhearted marshmallow!¡± Deborah laughed. She had actually called him some alien word; but, he had gotten the image from her mind and that was what she was comparing him to.


    ¡°Ha. Ha.¡± I fake laughed. ¡°How long do you think it''ll take for the footage to hit the news?¡±


    ¡°It depends on how quickly that medical assistant can get to a console.¡± Deborah said with a grin, then we both laughed.


    We arrived back on the ship just in time for lunch and then I got back to work. It was only one six hour shift, so it was over fairly quickly. I was tempted to do another one; but, I didn''t want to mess up the set schedule, so when the shift was over, I closed up the cargo bay and went up into the ship. I felt it move out of the debris field as I entered my room and by the time I was showered and dressed in casual clothes, the ship was in a stable parking orbit.


    Once again, I was prepared for what was going to happen next and opened my room door. In front of me were five women, all dressed quite casually, and each had similar expressions on their faces.


    ¡°So, is there another monster movie or something for us to watch?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I told you he would accept.¡± Sandy said with an arm around Beatrice''s shoulders. ¡°What guy can resist sitting on a couch and rotting their brain for hours at a time?¡±


    ¡°I''d say me; but, I need to relax after what happened today.¡± I said.


    ¡°Deborah gave us a quick rundown of what you did at the hospital.¡± Gleas said and she carried a big bowl of snacks in her arms. ¡°We were kind of hoping you could tell us about it.¡±


    ¡°Only if you actually want to hear it.¡± I said and they all wanted to. Watching the screen was just an excuse to gather together. ¡°I could have told you while we ate supper.¡±


    ¡°We''re filling up on snacks instead of eating a meal.¡± Sandy said with a grin.


    I chuckled. ¡°All right.¡± I stepped out of my room and we all walked down the hallway to the large living room. ¡°Who is sitting where?¡±


    ¡°You can have the command position.¡± Gleas said and pointed to the center of the couch. I sat there and Gleas sat on one side of me and Deborah sat on the other, with Kalina on her other side.


    ¡°Are we all going to fit on the one couch?¡± I asked and looked to see Sandy sit beside Gleas on the end with Beatrice on her lap. ¡°I guess so.¡±


    ¡°I''ve wanted to do this for a while.¡± Sandy said and hugged Beatrice to make her blush.


    I raised my eyebrows at her and she laughed.


    ¡°We were always too busy to spend a lot of our spare time together.¡± Sandy said as an explanation.


    ¡°No wonder you like being on this ship so much.¡± Kalina said with a laugh.


    ¡°It''s been the best time.¡± Beatrice said, her face still red. ¡°We''re only apart for six hours and then...¡±


    ¡°...the rest of the time is just us together.¡± Sandy said and kissed her cheek.


    ¡°Aww... someone hand me a bucket! I''m suffering from the sickening sweetness!¡± Deborah said and pretended to gag, and the others laughed.


    I waited for a few moments and then spoke. ¡°What are we watching?¡± I flipped through the various signals the ship could pick up.


    ¡°There!¡± Gleas pointed when she saw the thing they wanted to watch. ¡°This is a good one!¡±


    I sat back and had to enter a partial meditative state, because what was on was a romantic comedy. Or, the local version of it. I would have classed it as a monster movie; but, I was on a ship with five women and was completely outvoted on that opinion. It was almost laughable as they watched it with rapt attention and the snacks were handed back and forth and they ate them, almost automatically, as they concentrated on the screen.


    I had to admit that it was eerily fascinating to see how engrossed they were. I could understand having two or even three of them caught up in the story; but, all five of them were reacting to what happened on the screen. They made appropriate noises when they liked what they saw and then when something sad happened. Once or twice one of them would turn to look at me to see if I was paying attention to the screen and they relaxed, because I was looking with my eyes in that direction. I let their thoughts and emotions flow over me and enjoyed watching them watching the screen.


    Gleas stood up when the credits started to roll. ¡°I told you it was a good one.¡± She said and stretched her arms, as if she had been holding them still the entire time. Her pants had ridden up a little on her from sitting so long and she had to pull on the legs of the fabric to loosen them. She was right in front of me and shifted from side to side, then she turned and looked at me. ¡°Give me your honest opinion.¡±


    ¡°I enjoyed the spectacle.¡± I said and gave her a smile.


    ¡°It was great, wasn''t it?¡± Gleas looked at the others and they nodded. ¡°I''m going to grab a drink from the kitchen.¡± She said and walked towards the hallway. ¡°Does anyone else want...¡±


    ¡°I''ll go, too.¡± Beatrice said and stood up. ¡°Sandy''s lap needs a break.¡±


    Sandy laughed and rubbed her thighs. ¡°The aches are worth it.¡±


    Beatrice gave everyone a slightly worried look for a second, then she leaned down and kissed Sandy on the lips.


    ¡°What was that for?¡± Sandy asked with a huge smile.


    Beatrice whispered. ¡°I love you.¡±


    I pointedly looked away from the exchange so that when Sandy blushed and looked around, none of us were staring at them. Beatrice kissed her again and she left with Gleas to get a drink. They came back and we all enjoyed spending the evening together and I told them everything that happened in the hospital ward. When it was over, I thanked them all for a lovely evening and went to my room. I thought about going right to bed, then decided to check the console for a few things.


    I didn''t find any news about my visit to the hospital and I thought that was a little odd, so I messaged the hospital to see if everything was okay. I was surprised to get a response right away from a member of their administration. The man said that they didn''t want the publicity or to be swamped by fans of mine and had kept it quiet for the most part. They couldn''t do anything about the locals knowing about it, though. Too many people had seen me there to keep it completely confidential.


    I thanked them for their time and closed the message, then saw a private message for me. It had been sent the day before and it had a low priority, which meant I hadn''t gotten it until this afternoon. I opened it and discovered that it was a personal video message from Sheph. I watched it and listened, and a few times the Presence wavered a minuscule amount, which meant she almost lied or implied it was a lie, and then she gave me an explanation about why my involvement in certain things had been downplayed and in some cases, completely ignored.


    I was a little shocked by this revelation, especially since I had expected the government to use my involvement to bring attention to the situations I had uncovered. They didn''t want to do that, or to even have those situations talked about in general. I shook my head and watched the rest of her video. When she went into her own personal views, especially about me, my eyes had widened at the regret in her voice.


    I realized then that she had the same thought as me, that they should be using my involvement to the best of their ability, and she was sorry that the others wouldn''t see things her way. She knew they were losing a huge advantage by not utilizing the resource right in front of them, and I had to agree. I sat there and thought about her words and what impact they would have if she had been in charge, and sighed.


    I can''t force them to make everything public. I thought and closed her message and saved it into the permanent backup. Now that I was there and in the messaging system, I sent a message to Rhubin, Luxea and Simone, and asked them to change their day off to match mine, then requested a dock so we could talk things out. I made an argument for both a private and a public talk, that way they could pick which one they wanted, assuming they didn''t want both. A public one where we can get everything out in the open and a private one where we can deal with everything else.


    With that done, I stripped off and went to bed. I took several deep breaths and relaxed under the blanket. The bed felt empty and I ignored that feeling, just like I did every night. I didn''t sigh, even though I could easily rectify the situation. I didn''t want just anyone to share my bed, though. My popularity was really high with the locals and that made my prospects pretty low on finding a suitable woman to be with. I''m not saying there is anything wrong with being with a woman that''s infatuated with you, it''s just that would peter out after a short while and then where would the relationship go?


    I chuckled at that thought and entered a meditative state and went over my feelings again. I wasn''t sure why I was even thinking along those lines, especially since I had a couple of women that had the same problems about making a commitment. Luxea, Grace, and even Kris were worried about the same things, only for different reasons. Luxea liked her independence and she also liked having someone to depend on. Grace was independent and wanted someone to depend on long term, and Kris... well, she could be independent if she wanted to be and she needed someone to depend on.


    It was the fact that I wasn''t going to be staying in this system that dampened both Grace''s and Kris'' thoughts and their hopes for being with me. In fact, Grace couldn''t even bring herself to date me without freaking out about where the relationship was going to take us. I chuckled again at that thought, mainly because I was currently thinking about the same thing and wondered where I could take those relationships. I pushed those thoughts aside and hoped that at the meeting, I could find out what was going on with Luxea and if she had decided if she wanted to stay around after the salvage contract was finished.


    I used a calming technique and cleared my mind of all thought and let my mind and body relax. I needed to rest after the exertion today and I closed my eyes as I let sleep claim me.

 Book Three: The Resolution 037

    Rhubin and Luxea agreed to change schedules to match our ship. It meant they got two days off this week, so they weren''t too unhappy about that, especially since the ship was nearly filled to capacity and they would be leaving soon. We all worked for the rest of the week and then at the end of the last shift before our shared day off, we docked the two ships together.


    I immediately hit the ship''s intercom and asked everyone to meet me at the main hatch. Barely two minutes later, I had five slightly anxious women behind me and I waited for the others in the Udelis to show up. I was a little surprised when only Rhubin and Simone showed up and I looked through the Udelis and found Luxea in her room. I held in my sigh and hit the button to open the main hatch and stepped into the large airlock. Rhubin opened the Udelis and I walked forward and held a hand out.


    ¡°Hey, Rhubin. Long time no see.¡± I said and shook his hand.


    Rhubin laughed. ¡°We talk practically every night to coordinate the salvage.¡±


    ¡°It''s not the same.¡± I said and turned to Simone. I could hear her thoughts and she wasn''t sure if she wanted me to share anything with her. ¡°Has my breakup with Luxea really changed your opinion of me that much?¡±


    Simone had a surprised look on her face for a moment, then she sighed. ¡°Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°You''ve spent too much time with Luxea and you''ve accepted her way of dealing with things.¡± I said and lifted my hand to touch her, then let it drop. ¡°I suppose you''ll want to leave when the contract is up, too.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Simone gasped. ¡°No! No, I... you can''t just assume...¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry I haven''t been around to share my thoughts with you.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t use the busy excuse, because you know we could easily have floated over to here each night.¡±


    Simone opened her mouth to say that, and she sighed again. ¡°You weren''t ready to face her and have it out with her.¡±


    ¡°Just like she isn''t ready to face me now.¡±


    ¡°She was fine, right up until the ships were preparing to dock together.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Then she panicked and ran to her room.¡±


    ¡°I''ll go and see her, right after the formal introductions.¡± I said and introduced the women behind me to Rhubin and Simone, then introduced them back.


    Simone was surprised by some of the thoughts she gleaned from them and looked at me. ¡°Hunter?¡±


    ¡°That''s what you want to talk about and not the new flight suits?¡± I asked and motioned to myself. ¡°I thought they would be the first thing you would complain about.¡±


    Simone looked me up and down, then turned her head and looked at Kalina and Beatrice, who wore their flight suits as well. ¡°You rushed right over and didn''t get changed first?¡±


    ¡°I was eager to...¡± I stopped talking and didn''t finish that sentence.


    Simone took in a sharp breath as she read my surface thoughts. ¡°You... you wanted to...¡±


    ¡°I did... or I should say, I used to.¡± I said and she winced. ¡°Yeah, being rejected before even asking hurts; but, I''m a grown man. I can deal with it.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I... if you really...¡± Simone tried to probe deeper into my mind.


    ¡°Simone.¡± I said in a stern voice and cut her off from even my surface thoughts, and she winced again.


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± Simone said, and she really was.


    ¡°So am I.¡± I said. ¡°One of the main reasons you came with me was to do that, and your first reaction when you saw me was to reject me.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t mean to.¡± Simone said and it was my turn to wince as the Presence wavered a lot.


    I sighed and shook my head. ¡°I''m sorry. Apparently teaming you up with Luxea was a mistake and it''s had unforeseen consequences. She needed your help and I didn''t consider what that could do to you.¡±


    ¡°That''s not... no, I... it didn''t happen that way.¡± Simone said. ¡°I''ve been berating her for what she did to you.¡±


    ¡°At first, sure.¡± I said and she didn''t say anything. ¡°Now you believe it was my fault for not accepting her for who she is.¡±


    Simone opened her mouth to deny it, then she didn''t know what to say.


    ¡°It was actually both of our faults.¡± I said as I saw Luxea come towards the main hatch and I spoke loud enough for her to hear. ¡°I was wrong to assume that we were in a committed relationship, despite the flirting we did with other people, and she was wrong in assuming that I would accept her decision to take someone else to her bed without even talking to me about it.¡±


    ¡°Is that what you think?¡± Luxea asked as she came around the corner. ¡°That I did it to spite you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said and looked at her. ¡°Our first fight... a legitimate argument over my mistake... and the first thing you did was sleep with another man.¡± I said. ¡°If I take your history into account, which I should have from the beginning like I was warned to, you did it barely a few hours later and right under everyone''s noses.¡±


    Luxea''s face turned bright red from embarrassment and she didn''t deny it.


    ¡°When you moved to the other ship after that and stayed there, I thought you just needed some alone time to think about things. It never occurred to me that you weren''t thinking about me at all.¡±


    ¡°Are you reading my mind?¡± Luxea asked, angrily.


    ¡°No, Luxea. You asked me not to.¡± I said. ¡°I''m just making assumptions and using empirical data.¡±


    ¡°How can you be such an asshole?¡± Simone asked and then she gasped.


    ¡°You see?¡± I asked and chuckled. ¡°For someone who came on board to be with me and me alone, you''re so firmly planted on her side that it''s actually funny.¡±


    ¡°So you did bring her here to have sex with her.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I always suspected it.¡±


    ¡°Get over yourself and stop trying to justify your mistakes!¡± I spat at her and she flinched. ¡°If... IF... I was going to sleep with her, I would have told you about it. I would have discussed it. I would have explained that when I shared all of my mental faculties with her that I would need to be with her physically, too! It would increase the bond we share a hundredfold!¡±


    Everyone fell silent at my words and I clenched my fists and used a mental technique to calm down.


    ¡°Now, Simone is so corrupted by your thoughts that she''s triggered every time I say something bad about you.¡± I said and waved to her. ¡°How the hell am I supposed to give her the mental support she needs, or get the mental support that I need, if she''s thinking about the wrongs I did to you all the time?¡±


    Luxea just stared at me and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°I had no objections to Simone being brought on board because I wanted her to be my retreat. She was going to become the one person that I could open myself up to completely.¡± I said. ¡°My mind has been starving by not having someone to share my thoughts with! When I met her, she was the same as me! She needed someone to be with her mentally and I was more that happy to be that person for her!¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡± Simone started to say.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°She knew we weren''t going to have sex, because she knew I thought... that I believed... that you were the woman I was with and that was all the room I had in my bed.¡± I had to use my calming technique again to stop myself from ranting. ¡°If I had had any inkling at the time that you weren''t as committed to me as I was to you...¡± I stopped that train of thought. ¡°Actually, it doesn''t matter.¡± I said. ¡°We broke up almost a month ago because of this. I don''t know why I was so worried about seeing you again or why I was putting it off for so long.¡±


    Luxea blinked her eyes at me and didn''t respond.


    ¡°You don''t know how sorry I am that it didn''t work out between us, Luxea. I really and truly regret causing it to happen.¡± I said. ¡°I sincerely hope you can put our personal differences aside and keep working for the company.¡±


    Luxea squinted her eyes. ¡°Is that what this is about?¡± She asked. ¡°You''re just trying to get me to stay?¡±


    ¡°No, I''m trying to force you to quit and destroy the company.¡± I said sarcastically. ¡°Of course I want you to stay!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°I''ve told you over and over how important you are to me!¡±


    Everyone looked at me with various looks of surprise and shock.


    ¡°I meant to the company.¡± I corrected and then sighed. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I can''t take it that you don''t love me enough to not sleep with other people.¡± I said.


    ¡°Who is the one off dating and kissing other women?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Me, obviously.¡± I said and she raised her eyebrows. ¡°We had already broken up then, though.¡±


    ¡°No, we were still...¡± Luxea stopped arguing and closed her eyes. ¡°You''re right. It was after I had...¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t really think you could hold me to the same standard. Even though it was long after you had sex with Hector, you were still jealous when you found me in bed with Simone.¡±


    There were three gasps behind me and I turned to face them.


    ¡°I was a little drunk at the time and Simone came into the shower. We washed each other and then went to bed... to sleep... and we didn''t even cuddle.¡± I said and glanced at Simone. ¡°All we did was hold hands and share thoughts.¡±


    Simone looked into my eyes and I let her feel my regret that it had only happened that once. ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I regret that we won''t be sharing thoughts like that for a while.¡± I said. ¡°Your thoughts are too filled with anger for me. I can''t get the comfort and acceptance that I need from you, which means I can''t give you the same thing, even though you need it just as much as I do.¡±


    Simone''s eyes started to tear up. ¡°I... I regret it, too.¡±


    Everyone stood there and no one said anything for several moments.


    ¡°I think we should go back to our rooms for the night and meet up again in the morning.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We can handle the business side of things then.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± I said. ¡°We''ll see you in the large meeting room on the new ship after breakfast.¡±


    Everyone nodded and I turned around and walked back through the main hatches. The five women that had followed me over, followed me back. I successfully ignored Luxea''s and Simone''s reactions to seeing my backside in the skin tight flight suit and I made a note of Rhubin''s acute reaction to seeing Kalina in hers.


    I''ll private message him about it later. I thought and closed the hatches of both ships. ¡°So, does anyone want to head to the planet for their day off tomorrow?¡± I asked and turned to face the women behind me. A chorus of ''no'' came from them, so I stepped close and looked at each of them in the eyes. ¡°Thank you for choosing to go through this with me.¡±


    ¡°You couldn''t send us away if you tried!¡± Sandy said and laughed. ¡°It''s like we''re living in a drama.¡±


    ¡°It''s not that bad, is it?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± Sandy hugged Beatrice. ¡°Give him a rundown!¡±


    ¡°A jilted and recent ex-lover, a friend that was supposed to be on your side and took hers, money troubles, an urgent job, and conflicting interests when you finally meet.¡± Beatrice said and smiled. ¡°You''ve got all the ingredients of a great drama.¡±


    ¡°Or a tragedy.¡± Gleas said. ¡°With all the things you''ve gone through...¡±


    ¡°It could be a romantic comedy, too.¡± Deborah chimed in and looked at the others. ¡°If you include all of us as antagonists...¡±


    ¡°That''s right! We''re the ensemble cast.¡± Kalina said. ¡°We could make the perfect movie!¡±


    ¡°I don''t know if I should be flattered or scared.¡± I said and they all laughed.


    ¡°It''s okay. There''s nothing on tonight.¡± Sandy said with a grin. ¡°Tomorrow might be an interesting show, though!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Okay, kids! It''s past curfew!¡± I said and pointed down the curved hallway. ¡°Get your asses to your rooms on the double!¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do if we don''t?¡± Sandy asked, playfully. ¡°Spank us?¡±


    I let a wicked grin spread across my face, pretended to spit on my hand, then clapped my hands once and rubbed them together. ¡°What a wonderful idea!¡±


    ¡°Oh, shit! Run!¡± Sandy almost yelled and dragged a laughing Beatrice behind her. ¡°I was joking!¡±


    The others laughed and walked down the hallway behind the two fleeing women. I chuckled again and walked in the other direction and went to my room, stripped off and got a shower, then dried off and slipped on a pair of underwear. I used the console to send Rhubin a private message about his reaction to Kalina and to tell him she was taken and reminded him that she was off limits as long as they were on the ship.


    I turned off the console and climbed into bed, then stopped myself from looking at the Udelis to see what Luxea and Simone were doing. At least I tried to. It worked for a few minutes, then my curiosity got the better of me and I had to look. Luxea was in her bed, in her own room, and she stared up at the ceiling. Her hand was beside her and she kept making a grabbing motion, as if she needed something to be there to hold.


    Simone wasn''t in her room and I looked through the ship to see her curled up in a ball on my bed. She had the covers in a bundle and hugged them tightly as she cried silent tears. I could hear her surface thoughts and she kept blaming herself for losing me so quickly. Her despair was deep and she wallowed in her depression, and there was nothing she could do to change it. She didn''t fault me for what I said or for cutting her off, because I had been right. She really did have hatred for me in her mind and in her heart, because she suspected that if it had been her and not Luxea, I would have treated her the same way.


    She was wrong about that, though. Because she wouldn''t have acted that way. We would have been sharing mentally the whole time and she would have known how I felt and what I expected. In fact, she had known that this time and she had taken Luxea''s side. I wasn''t sure how Luxea had convinced her that it was me that overreacted; but, it didn''t matter much anymore. Simone and I both knew that it would take her a while to get over her prejudice against me and I refused to share my thoughts with her until then.


    I knew that was cruel, especially for a telepath; but, she knew that it was her fault and that was why she was so depressed. She had let herself be drawn into Luxea''s point of view so that they could work together as an efficient team. It was just unfortunate that it affected her opinion of me as well. She hadn''t realized it until I pointed it out to her, though. Now she was suffering because she had lost something she hadn''t realized she had lost.


    I let her wallow for a few minutes before I took pity on her. I''m not gone, Simone.


    Simone snapped out of her downward emotional spiral and looked around. ¡°H-Hunter? Is that you?¡±


    I''ll be waiting for you. I thought to her and she turned her head and looked right at me.


    ¡°I... I thought... we had to be touching to...¡± Simone whispered.


    As long as you''re within my detection range, I can ''talk'' to you. I thought.


    ¡°Hunter, I''m sorry that...¡± Simone started to say and the Presence wavered.


    Stop lying! I thought loudly at her and she winced. I can hear your thoughts and detect lies! Do you really think you can deceive me?


    Simone didn''t respond and I sighed mentally.


    If you don''t stop this idiocy, I''ll change my mind and I won''t bother waiting for you to get some sense into your head. I thought to her. You''ve already made me regret our time in the shower, even though I enjoyed it immensely.


    Simone started crying again, because it was Luxea that had made her regret it.


    Don''t make me start to think that you''re not worth the trouble. I thought and let my perception of her fade. I saw her try to say something else before I stopped concentrating on her. I didn''t make out what she said and didn''t bother to ask what it was. I turned away from her and rested on my side, then I took a deep breath and went right to sleep.


    *


    Hailey had taken every single test that the medical technicians could think of since Hunter had visited. She wasn''t surprised that he had been right and that they would give her so many. None of the tests actually worked and found anything, because there was nothing wrong with her. Her mother was completely overjoyed at the news that her daughter was cured and had her released from the hospital, against the wishes of the staff and administration.


    Of course, once word of a deathly ill and chronically sick child being released from the hospital hit the news, the ward had been swarmed by news reporters... only to discover that all of the sick children had been miraculously healed. Things that took multiple surgeries and years to correct, were gone as if they didn''t exist. All of their families had been happy about it, and it only took one person''s offhand comment about Hunter''s visit the week before to cause an uproar of speculation.


    None of the ward''s staff said anything, because they were sworn to secrecy or they would lose their jobs if they did. The children that used to be in the ward, and their parents, didn''t have that restriction. It didn''t take much to track them down and nearly every single one talked about Hunter visiting and the kids feeling better right afterwards. It didn''t take long for the story to reach the news.


    ¡°If the medical association has any kind of head on their shoulders, they should request that Hunter visit all of their hospitals and see what kind of miracles will come of it.¡± The news anchor said. ¡°We have obtained exclusive footage that we''ve had to alter, to protect the identities of all the underage participants and the staff, mainly because it had been recorded without their knowledge.¡±


    The man paused for a moment and then smiled.


    ¡°You''re asking yourself why we would show it anyway... and when you see it, you''ll know why.¡± He said and pointed to a spot off-camera. ¡°Run it.¡±


    Everyone''s eyes were glued to their screens as Hunter took a young girl''s hand and floated her to the middle of the room, then he floated up with her. Eerie music played and he danced with her in the air and they glowed. The girl''s face was blurred to hide her identity and she and Hunter twirled and waltzed for a couple of minutes. They could see Hunter''s happy expression and he kept his eyes on the girl the entire time.


    ¡°Nothing more needs to be said.¡± The news anchor said with a smile when it cut back to him. ¡°Goodnight, and may the goddess watch over you.¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 038

    The next morning I got up and dressed in pants and a short sleeved t-shirt. It was our day off; but, we also had a lot of work to do. The business meetings alone were going to take up most of the morning. I left my room and went to the kitchen to have breakfast. Gleas was already there and was halfway through her meal.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± I said and prepped my own breakfast.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Gleas grunted.


    ¡°Bad night?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I didn''t sleep a wink.¡± Gleas said and then yawned. ¡°I hope these meetings go fast or I''m not going to make it.¡±


    I chuckled and sat down next to her. ¡°I can give you a little boost if you want.¡±


    ¡°No, I...¡± Gleas sighed. ¡°I can''t let you tempt me.¡±


    That made me laugh. ¡°Honestly, it''s just a bit of shared energy. No sexual innuendo or promises required.¡± I said and made my index finger glow. ¡°You... want... this.¡± I waved my hand in a slow circle. ¡°It''s too tempting... to refuse.¡±


    Gleas looked from my finger to my smiling face and chuckled. ¡°All right. Fine.¡± She leaned close and I tapped her forehead. She took in a sharp breath as I gave her a bit of energy to completely clear her head. ¡°Son of a...¡± She stopped herself before she cursed.


    ¡°How was that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don''t want to say.¡± Gleas said and that made me laugh again.


    ¡°What''s funny?¡± Deborah asked.


    ¡°I gave her some energy to help wake her up.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, give me a bit, too.¡± Deborah said and bent over. She had a loose top on and her breasts slid forward enticingly. ¡°I didn''t sleep much last night.¡±


    I touched her forehead with my glowing finger and she let out a contented sigh.


    ¡°Oh, that''s good.¡± Deborah said and stood up as she gave her head a slight shake, as if to spread the energy around. ¡°How long will it last?¡±


    ¡°Probably noon, especially with all of the mental grinding we''ll be doing during the meetings.¡±


    ¡°That''s plenty of time.¡± Deborah said and went to the counter to get her own breakfast.


    Beatrice came into the kitchen and she was only half-dressed. She only wore pants and a bra. ¡°Morning.¡± She drawled out as if she was still half asleep. The three of us watched her get her own rationed meal and sit down without adding the extra spices or warming it.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± I said as she tried to stick her fork into a still frozen lump of eggs. She didn''t even look at me as I took her tray and prepped it properly and then put it back in front of her. ¡°Okay, eat.¡±


    Beatrice did a long slow blink with her eyes, looked down at her tray, then started to eat.


    ¡°Either she''s not really a morning person, or someone else was up for most of the night.¡± I said and then Sandy came into the kitchen. She was the exact opposite of Beatrice and had a nice shirt on and only panties. The same scene was repeated and she sat down with a cold food tray. I took it from her before she started to eat, prepped it, then gave it back.


    ¡°If you put the two outfits together, one of them would be fully dressed.¡± Gleas said with a smile.


    ¡°Yes, and the other one would be naked.¡± Deborah said with a laugh.


    Kalina came into the kitchen and was the happiest and most awake of the bunch. ¡°Good morning!¡±


    ¡°At least someone doesn''t need a helping hand this morning.¡± I said and touched Beatrice''s forehead and gave her some energy. She took in a deep breath and let it out.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Beatrice said and started to eat.


    I did the same to Sandy and she shivered as if she just woke up from a deep sleep.


    ¡°Oh! Food!¡± Sandy said and started eating, too.


    A few of us chuckled and ate as we waited to see how long it would take for them to realize the state of their lack of clothing. They both finished eating and sat back at the same time and sighed, then Beatrice touched her bare belly and Sandy touched her bare thighs. They both gasped and blushed deeply, stood up without a word, and left. I quickly formed a Presence Barrier on the kitchen door to stop them from hearing us all laugh.


    I cleaned up everyone''s food trays and we waited for the two women to return. ¡°Don''t be embarrassed.¡± I said when the two of them came into the kitchen. ¡°You couldn''t have slept much last night.¡±


    Beatrice and Sandy glanced at each other and their faces flushed completely red.


    ¡°Oh... I... ah... didn''t mean to imply... like Gleas and Deborah, I thought you just didn''t sleep well.¡±


    Kalina laughed. ¡°I''m sure they slept well. Together. A lot.¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t... well, it was... we just...¡± Beatrice started to explain and I held a hand up to stop her.


    ¡°Remember what I said.¡± I reminded her and she remembered me telling her that as long as it didn''t affect her job, she could do anything she wanted.


    ¡°At least we weren''t naked.¡± Sandy said and gave Beatrice a hug.


    ¡°Or prancing.¡± Beatrice said.


    ¡°On that happy note, and now that we''re all dressed, let''s go meet the others.¡± I said and we all left the kitchen.


    ¡°I''ll prepare the room.¡± Deborah said and went in the other direction. Gleas went with her and I led the others to the main hatch and opened it. We stood there and waited for Rhubin, Simone and Luxea, and it didn''t take them long to finish eating and came to the hatch on the Undelis.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± I said when it opened.


    Rhubin gave me a look that a child would give their father after a scolding, Simone had puffy and slightly red eyes, and Luxea had her mouth clamped shut.


    ¡°Maybe not.¡± I said and waved to the ship behind me. ¡°If you would follow me, please.¡±


    At least two of them had the same thought of saying no, and I held in my sigh. I walked away and led everyone to the large meeting room and there were small bowls of snacks, the holographic display in the middle of the table was on, and the chairs were arranged as to not have any clear division between the two crews. The chairs were scattered around in an equal distance from each other, which was perfect. No one could complain that they were being excluded or ostracized.


    ¡°Before anyone mentions it, I asked Sandy to be here so that she''s informed of what''s going on and doesn''t have to wait for Beatrice to tell her all about it after the meetings.¡± I said. ¡°I know she''s not an employee, mainly because I haven''t talked to her to see what kind of skill set she has and if she could be useful in her own right, besides being a balm for Beatrice.¡±


    Everyone turned and looked at her and she didn''t blush at the attention.


    ¡°Now that I''ve mentioned that, if you could all have a seat, we can get these meetings started.¡± I said. ¡°Luxia, can you take the head of the table? You''re up first.¡±


    Luxea gave me a look that said she didn''t want to go first.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    I smiled. ¡°The first question we would all like to know is how far along the Udelis is on being fully loaded.¡±


    Luxea let out a sigh and walked to the head of the table. I sat down next to her and the others spread out and sat around the table. As I had hoped, both Simone and Rhubin were mixed into the others. On the good side, Simone sat beside Beatrice. On the bad side, Rhubin sat beside Kalina.


    I''ll have to warn her as well. I thought.


    ¡°We only have one more cage to fill before we head back to the Dizahl System.¡± Luxea said. ¡°If the work continues like it has been, we''ll be done in about four days.¡±


    I raised my hand and she let out a sigh. ¡°I''ve got about half of the main hold of this ship filled and two of the cages on top. You have the list of the components I''ve salvaged, so why don''t we just transfer items from here to the Udelis to fill it, then you can leave right away for the three week trip to unload and set up the sales?¡±


    Luxea was going to immediately reject the idea, because she was broadcasting the idea that she didn''t want to leave me alone for six weeks with five women. I had a similar thought from Simone and fought not to look at her. A spike of envy came from Rhubin and he looked at Kalina.


    ¡°I''d also like to send a couple of my pilots, if they are willing to go.¡± I said and that caught everyone''s interest. ¡°In fact, I had the idea to send them during each trip, that way they have experience on the Udelis as well and they will get to see what we have set up.¡±


    ¡°There''s not a lot of room...¡± Luxea started to say.


    ¡°There are four bunks in the spare room.¡± I said and Simone caught her breath. ¡°This first time, I''m tempted to send Deborah and Beatrice... and Sandy, of course.¡±


    ¡°That will fill the spare beds.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Not really. I want Simone to stay here and help me increase my salvage speed.¡± I said and Simone''s mind raced at the implication. ¡°With her there, I can get at least twenty-five percent more efficient.¡± I explained. ¡°She would just be a passenger if she went with you, so I want to keep her here.¡±


    ¡°I... I suppose.¡± Luxea said, reluctantly.


    ¡°Excellent.¡± I said. ¡°Check the list and we''ll transfer the things over first thing in the morning. If we''re lucky, we can have it done by lunch and you can be on your way.¡±


    ¡°You''re really sending us?¡± Beatrice asked.


    ¡°It wouldn''t be fair to just send you.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, it''s a three week trip both ways. I can''t in good conscience ask you to be alone for that long.¡±


    ¡°You said it was three weeks before.¡± Kalina said. ¡°Are you joking? It''s over a month to get back to the major space lanes.¡±


    ¡°It''s no joke. Going slow it takes three weeks, because we didn''t want to risk several spacial anomalies to get here.¡± I said and a thrill went through the four pilots. ¡°Udelis is a special ship. It''s custom built to my parent''s specifications and it''s very fast, even in normal space.¡±


    ¡°H-how?¡± Deborah asked. ¡°How can it be fast enough to travel twice as fast as other ships?¡±


    ¡°I think it''s the unique combination of the small frame, the heavy engine output, the set of full deflector screens all around the ship, and the onboard AI.¡±


    They all had wide eyes at my words.


    ¡°Anyways, you''ll all get a chance to see it for yourself.¡± I said. ¡°Rhubin hasn''t had a co-pilot in... well, for as long as he''s been around me.¡± I chuckled. ¡°It might give him a bit of a breather to have someone else take a shift or two and ease some of the pressure on him.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that would be nice.¡± Rhubin admitted, reluctantly.


    ¡°Then it''s settled.¡± I said. ¡°The first run will be Luxea, Rhubin, Deborah, and Beatrice with Sandy along for the ride.¡±


    They nodded their heads and I saw Sandy grip Beatrice''s hand under the table.


    ¡°With that out of the way, what''s the estimate for the salvage we have so far?¡± I asked Luxea.


    ¡°The market fluctuates quite a bit, considering the nature of the materials.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Are you waiting to try the conversion protocols until you reach the Dizahl System?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°I need to pick up a pile of components to start working on them.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I ordered a lot of things a while ago, so they should be ready by the time we get there to pick them up.¡± She used her datapad to manipulate the holographic display to show a large computer bank. ¡°Despite the technology being non-standard, with barely any software tweaks and a power converter or two strategically placed...¡±


    *


    She''s brilliant. Gleas thought as Luxea explained the very simple and yet complicated operations to essentially transform useless technology into equally powerful components that could be adapted for use by anyone, if they made room enough to fit the odd shapes.


    Gleas'' eyes shifted to look at Hunter. Why would she mess things up with Hunter if she''s so smart? She asked herself, slightly confused. She stopped herself from gasping when Hunter shrugged. She looked around to see if anyone else noticed or were shrugging as well. All she saw were people that were listening intently and she turned back to Hunter. He didn''t move and she looked at Luxea.


    I need to wait to see what the dynamic is going to be like before I can figure out how to insert myself into it without causing any waves. Gleas thought and then smiled slightly. I don''t want to cause waves in The Wave. She caught movement at the corner of her eye and saw Hunter rub his head and his sad expression. He must really miss all that glorious hair. She thought and caught her breath when she saw his slight nod. She quickly looked around and saw other nods as well, then relaxed. I thought he was responding to my thoughts! She thought in amusement. How silly is that?


    *


    We''re going to be leaving the system! Beatrice thought happily. She glanced at Sandy and saw a similarly happy face. We''re doing this... our first time leaving... together!


    Beatrice had been worried about jumping through hyperspace on a ship and about leaving Sandy behind, that she had passed up several out-system jobs. It had made their lives a little tougher sometimes; but, they had agreed when they got together, that they didn''t want to do anything without the other being there. When Hunter had agreed to let Sandy come aboard while they worked, had been a blessing that Beatrice thought they could never have.


    Sandy shared her partner''s view. She was so ecstatic that she had a hard time keeping her emotions in check. She had let their newfound freedom go a little to her head and chased Beatrice around like a pair of school children on a field trip. She never would have done that anywhere else.


    Who chases a grown woman around a passenger compartment naked? Sandy asked herself and couldn''t quite restrain her smile.


    *


    He''s letting me go first. Deborah thought and glanced at Hunter. He could send any of us, and he''s sending me.


    Deborah was still emotionally torn over her break-up and had regretted trying to use Hunter as a bed buddy. She had a fleeting thought that he was getting rid of her because of her attempt, then she shook her head mentally. She knew he wasn''t that petty, mainly because he still had Luxea as part of the company and they had a hard break-up as well. Or, it should have been.


    Their relationship just kind of petered out after one fight. Just one. Deborah held in her laugh at the thought. If people broke up after one fight, there wouldn''t be any couples at all in the universe!


    Deborah settled back in the chair as Luxea explained how she was going to offload the more expensive items first and then let the smaller ticket items trickle out later.


    *


    The meetings went on for quite some time, which included shipping schedules and shift changes, depending on the cargo runs and who went with who. I insisted on both of the remaining pilots work all day, except that they switch pilot and co-pilot duties after lunch. Gleas and Kalina were fine with that, mainly because they had gotten used to having someone else in the cockpit to talk to.


    I stood up and took over from Luxea, then we discussed the best way to add the necessary deflector screens to the new ship to give it full coverage. I wanted to set them to the same energy frequency as the Udelis to see if it would increase the speed of the ship.


    ¡°I won''t be able to try and twin Udelis until I come back.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Trying to only put in partial system controls and then hope that they work, isn''t the best way to do these things.¡±


    ¡°I thought I could at least start the hardware installations.¡±


    ¡°We need the AI in place first, then we feed it the parameters we want. Once we do that, it can give us the proper way to go about trying to duplicate the Udelis'' systems.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°I suppose you want to do that so that it doesn''t have to find what attached first, reconfigure, and then try to add new things in?¡± I asked and Luxea nodded.


    ¡°We should transfer over the main computer bank I harvested, too.¡± Luxea said. ¡°It just needs the modifications to let the two systems be compatible.¡±


    ¡°Which you can''t do until you get the components you need back in the Dizahl System.¡± I said.


    ¡°Six weeks is not going to be a long time.¡± Luxea said. ¡°Make that seven weeks. We need to transfer everything out and into the storage containers, assuming I don''t sell a lot of it right away.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± I said. ¡°You might need to deliver it as well.¡± I looked at Rhubin. ¡°You should take one of the shuttles, just in case.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± Rhubin responded. ¡°The top of the ship was looking a little lopsided.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Hey, you wanted them stored in the bay.¡±


    ¡°I''m hoping we''ll scavenge another one in this mess.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°Or a dozen.¡± He said with a grin. ¡°We could probably sell off a couple of them...¡±


    ¡°Just a couple?¡± Luxea glared at him for denying her that big of a payday, then we all laughed.


    ¡°It''s just about lunch time.¡± I said and looked around the table. ¡°I invite you all to enjoy a home cooked meal a la me.¡±


    That made a few of them chuckle.


    ¡°More ration trays?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°You''ve all taken turns making a meal when you wanted, so now it''s my turn.¡± I said. ¡°I just hope you''re ready for the best meal of your lives.¡±


    That made them all laugh.


    ¡°Then I officially call these meetings to an end.¡± I said and lightly slapped the table. ¡°Give me half an hour to get things ready.¡±


    ¡°Can we watch?¡± Sandy asked, her voice full of curiosity, and Beatrice smiled at me.


    ¡°Cooking isn''t really an observational...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°I want to watch too.¡± Simone said, and then several others chimed it.


    I raised my eyebrows at them, then shrugged. ¡°Okay, maybe it is something people want to watch.¡±


    We all stood up and left the meeting room.


    ¡°I don''t think it''s the cooking part.¡± Gleas whispered to me when we entered the hallway. ¡°It''s the watching you do it part.¡±


    ¡°Personal opinion?¡± I asked in a whisper and gave her a crooked smile.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gleas said and it matched her thoughts.


    I had fully expected her to deny it. ¡°Well, then... would you like to help?¡±


    Gleas almost tripped over her own feet at my offer. I caught her with two invisible Presence Hands, so that no one would notice her stumble. She stared at me with wide eyes as we continued to walk down the hallway towards the kitchen.

 Book Three: The Resolution 039

    Gleas thought about refusing my offer, then she saw the large cooking area in the kitchen and accepted. Little did she know about my style of cooking and that it didn''t matter how much room you had to work with. I excused myself for a moment and ran to my room, grabbed one of my bags of holding, and ran back to the kitchen. I started pulling things out of the cupboards and asked Gleas for specific things, like mixing bowls and stirring instruments.


    As I gathered things, she gathered what I asked for and I intentionally crossed her path several times and brushed my arms, my chest, and my hands across her back, her arms, and in one particular jostling, rubbed my hip on her hip. She took my blatant teasing in stride and didn''t blush like I suspected she would. When I started to actually cook and pulled a few special things from my bag of holding, she started making suggestions and grabbed other things to add and turned the tables on me as she rubbed her hands on my arms, across my back, and in one particularly bold move, rubbed her hand across the top of my backside when she pretended to stumble.


    By this point, we both had big smiles on our faces, because our mutual teasing put us in good moods, and the actual cooking went particularly quickly. It always seemed to go faster when you had happy and competent help. By the time the food was ready to be served and we had gathered everything together, we turned to look at our audience and were met by several sets of applause and one slightly scowling face on Luxea.


    I didn''t need to hear Luxea''s thoughts to know that she wasn''t happy with the show I had just performed for everyone. Simone on the other hand, had a blank face because she really wanted it to be her that had helped me cook and was trying to hide it.


    ¡°Thank you, thank you.¡± I said and bowed a couple of times, then took Gleas'' hand and had her bow, too. She laughed, as did a couple of the others. ¡°Let''s go to the dining room and we can all enjoy the great food that I and my mostly useful assistant prepared.¡±


    ¡°Mostly!¡± Gleas swatted my shoulder. Everyone else chuckled and walked towards the dining room.


    ¡°Shh! I''m trying to downplay your role.¡± I said and picked up several dishes with Presence Hands. ¡°This was supposed to be my cooking debut, not a cooking duet.¡±


    Gleas rolled her eyes and picked up the last dish. ¡°You asked me to help, smart ass.¡±


    ¡°Shh! You''re not supposed to tell them that!¡± I said and we followed everyone out of the kitchen.


    They sat down at the large table and I saw that Rhubin, Luxea, and Simone sat together near the end and the others were spread out around the table. I placed the large dishes in the center of the table and then quickly put plates and silverware in front of everyone.


    ¡°Don''t be shy, now.¡± I said and took my own plate and took some of each dish. ¡°It''s going to be the most delicious meal you''ve ever tasted.¡±


    I got a lot of disbelieving thoughts in return and tried not to keep spouting about how good it was going to be. I sat down and waited for everyone to serve themselves. Both Luxea and Simone only took token amounts from one of the dishes and then almost as one, everyone used a spoon and tasted something.


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Deborah whispered as surprised and shocked thoughts came from everyone.


    ¡°What... how...¡± Gleas took another taste. ¡°I helped make this and... oh... mmm!¡± She moaned as she took another mouthful.


    ¡°It''s delicious!¡± Sandy exclaimed and scooped up some food. ¡°Beatrice! Try this pink stuff!¡± She said and held out the spoon to her. Beatrice hadn''t quite recovered from her own taste and still opened her mouth to try it. She gasped and covered her mouth.


    ¡°Oh, my.¡± Beatrice managed to say.


    Luxea and Simone both had shocked expressions and looked down at their mostly empty plates and felt regret.


    ¡°There''s lots to go around.¡± I said and used a slightly blue Presence Hand to pick up each dish and gave a bit more to both Luxea and Simone, then did it with each dish to make sure everyone had some of it. ¡°Thanks to Gleas... I mean... my anonymous helper that I won''t mention...¡± I said and several people chuckled. ¡°...we made a bit more than I had intended.¡±


    They didn''t need any more encouragement and ate the offered food, then took seconds. It was light and tasted great, so they ended up eating quite a lot and they all sat back with sighs and contented thoughts.


    ¡°I am so full it''s not funny!¡± Beatrice rubbed her slightly distended belly.


    ¡°That''s because somebody kept eating my food.¡± Sandy said with a smile.


    ¡°You kept feeding it to me!¡± Beatrice said.


    ¡°You didn''t have to eat it.¡± Sandy said as her smile grew into a grin, then she and Beatrice laughed.


    ¡°Is everyone done?¡± I asked and looked at all of their faces. ¡°Well, it looks like we''re having leftovers for the next few days.¡±


    ¡°Is it healthy to eat such rich and delicious food all the time?¡± Deborah asked.


    ¡°Why do you think I waited so long before springing this on you?¡± I smiled.


    ¡°You wanted to wait until we were all comfortable around each other and settled in.¡± Gleas said and everyone looked at her. ¡°That''s true, right?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said. ¡°It wouldn''t have the same meaning if I had done this after the first few days.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Kalina said and she touched her own belly. ¡°It''s pretty meaningful in its own right.¡±


    I chuckled and brought out several empty dishes and then split what was left in half.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Deborah asked.


    ¡°I''m making sure that no matter what ship we''re on, we can all have another meal or two.¡± I said and put the new dishes in front of Rhubin and Luxea.


    ¡°H-Hunter...¡± Luxea started to say.


    ¡°Thank you everyone for sharing this meal with me.¡± I said. ¡°I''m glad you liked it.¡±


    ¡°Liked it?¡± Sandy asked, then laughed as she rubbed Beatrice''s belly. ¡°We loved it!¡±


    ¡°S-stop.¡± Beatrice blushed and halfheartedly tried to push Sandy''s hand away.


    Sandy took that hand and kissed it. ¡°We need to pack if we''re going on the other ship for seven weeks.¡±


    ¡°G-give me... a few...¡± Beatrice looked down at her belly. ¡°...half an hour to recover.¡±


    Sandy and a few others laughed, mainly because they agreed. I took the first set of dishes, covered them, and brought them into the kitchen stored them. I took covers for the dishes I gave to Rhubin and Luxea and sealed them, then I cleaned off the table.


    ¡°Why aren''t you sluggish like the rest of us?¡± Gleas asked me.


    ¡°I used Presence to help digest the...¡±


    ¡°Quick! Do me!¡± Gleas exclaimed and interrupted me.


    ¡°I could make a joke about...¡± Sandy started to whisper and Beatrice covered her mouth to stop her.


    I laughed and made my finger glow slightly, then I touched Gleas'' belly to ease her bloated feeling, and she sighed in relief. ¡°Anyone else?¡±


    Nearly everyone lifted their hands and I walked to each one and touched their bellies. They each sighed in relief, just like Gleas had, and I saw Luxea give me a forlorn look. I assumed that she didn''t want to admit that she wanted me to help her too, so as I walked by her, I pat her shoulder and helped her. I poked Simone''s belly next and that was everyone taken care of.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Now, if you will excuse me, I need a shower and nap!¡± I said loudly and a few people laughed.


    ¡°Me, too.¡± Deborah said and stood up with a groan. ¡°I''m skipping the shower and going right for the nap, though.¡±


    ¡°That''s a great idea.¡± Kalina said and stood, then let out a huge yawn.


    ¡°I almost felt the pull of that vacuum!¡± Sandy said and everyone laughed.


    ¡°Make sure you set your alarms! There''s another movie on tonight.¡± Gleas said as everyone stood.


    ¡°Don''t tell us what it is.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°I want it to be a surprise.¡±


    ¡°I claim the control position.¡± I said and made them laugh, because even though I sat in the middle last time and was supposed to control what we watched, I hadn''t controlled anything. I looked at Rhubin, Luxea and Simone. ¡°You guys are welcome to come. The living room is huge.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°It''s at seven sharp.¡± Gleas warned her, then refrained from telling her to show up early to claim a good seat near me, which was her plan. She had a fifty-fifty shot to get on either side of me and she intended to give herself the best odds by being there first. I could tell from her thoughts that she just wanted to sit beside me, like she had twice before. She didn''t have any other motives besides that, so I didn''t try to discourage her.


    ¡°I''ll think about it.¡± Luxea said and we all heard the doubt in her voice.


    Gleas laughed. ¡°It''s not like we''re all committed to watch it together. We''re just spending some of our off time doing the same thing.¡± She started to walk away. ¡°Why not just do it together?¡±


    Luxea couldn''t refute that logic, especially since she, Simone, and Rhubin had done it a few times themselves.


    We all split up and I went to my room and did what I said. I took a shower and then went to bed for a quick nap. The full morning of meetings and discussing logistics and plans was just as tiring as harvesting salvage for the same amount of time. I chuckled at the comparison and tucked myself under the blanket and drifted off to sleep.


    *


    Rhubin refused to go on the basis that he wasn''t going to enjoy it. He didn''t want to tell them that he might enjoy it a little too much, especially if he got to sit near Kalina. He had only barely hidden how much he enjoyed staring at her for almost half an hour as she ate Hunter''s delicious food. He was sure that he couldn''t possibly stop himself from staring at her again if he had to be in the same room with her for quite a bit longer than that.


    Luxea seriously thought about refusing the invitation, then Simone said she was going, just for the experience. So, they both changed and put on casual and practical clothing, which consisted of loose pants and shirts with a t-shirt underneath. It was as if they had coordinated it, because when they came out of their rooms, they looked like twins, except for the slightly different colors of the clothing.


    Hunter was right. Simone thought in surprise and in slight embarrassment. I really have been subconsciously aligning myself to Luxea. She couldn''t go back and change, so she unbuttoned the shirt and let it flop to the sides. She bent over and ran her fingers through her black hair and fluffed it out, then stood up. At least now we don''t look exactly alike.


    Luxea and Simone went to the main hatch of the ship and was surprised that both were still open, considering they had remained closed the night before. When they reached the large living room, they were greeted as friends, which was also a surprise.


    ¡°Hey, there you are!¡± Deborah said with a smile. ¡°I''m glad you decided to come.¡±


    ¡°We''re all glad you made it.¡± Gleas said from beside Hunter. ¡°We even moved another couch over so we could all sit together.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know if I''m looking forward to having a butt-free lap this time or not.¡± Sandy chuckled from the end of that couch.


    ¡°You said you wouldn''t bring that up.¡± Beatrice said from beside her.


    ¡°It''s not my fault that I like cuddling you in public.¡± Sandy said, completely serious.


    ¡°Are you saying it''s mine?¡± Beatrice asked, and we all heard the teasing tone.


    ¡°Oh, no! You''re not at fault at all!¡± Sandy wrapped her arm around her and whispered something into her ear. Beatrice''s face flushed red from it and she fell silent, then she put her arm around Sandy and wiggled even closer to her.


    ¡°We think there''s enough room for the two of you there.¡± Kalina said from beside Beatrice and pointed to the empty part of the couch beside Hunter. ¡°At least, we had two people squeezed in there the last time, so you should fit.¡±


    Gleas laughed. ¡°I''m still surprised we had six people on this thing and it was still comfortable.¡±


    ¡°Speak for yourself.¡± Sandy said.


    Beatrice started to open her mouth and Sandy kept speaking.


    ¡°I loved it.¡± Sandy said and squeezed Beatrice''s shoulders.


    Simone kicked off her shoes and walked over to the couch and sat beside Hunter. Luxea gave her a look that clearly said that she shouldn''t have done that, and Simone pat the couch beside her.


    ¡°Get over here and stop delaying.¡± Simone said. ¡°We''re here to enjoy ourselves, not cause you and Hunter to be anxious.¡±


    Luxea sighed, quite loudly in fact, then she kicked off her own shoes and walked over to the couch and sat down. It actually was pretty comfortable and in the back of her mind, she had to thank Simone for creating a buffer between her and Hunter. She would never thank her out loud, though. She had taken away her chance to be physically close to him after being apart for over a month, and in two days, they would be apart again for seven weeks.


    Gleas turned on the screen and flicked through the channels to find the movie she wanted to watch.


    ¡°Who has the snacks?¡± Simone asked and a few of the others looked at her. ¡°What? No snacks?¡±


    ¡°We had a delicious meal for lunch and none of us are hungry, even hours later.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°We should be having supper right now and the thought of ruining the memory of lunch is almost painful!¡±


    The others chuckled and Hunter looked like he wanted to burst out laughing.


    ¡°I knew you liked it a lot; but, I didn''t think I''d ruin all other food for you.¡± Hunter said.


    ¡°You didn''t ruin it. It''s just... no other food can compare to it.¡± Beatrice said.


    ¡°That''s what he meant by ruining it, sweetheart.¡± Sandy said.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Beatrice said and looked at Hunter. ¡°Then yes, you ruined it.¡±


    Hunter laughed, as did the other women. Simone shivered at the strong emotions and Luxea wasn''t sure what to say, so she didn''t say anything.


    ¡°That reminds me.¡± Hunter said and looked at Luxea. ¡°Could you get another ''special order'' from the restaurant when you come back?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you can''t just...¡±


    Hunter held out a ten thousand credit chip to her and she stared at it. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°You can''t waste your money like this.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Is it a waste, though?¡± Hunter asked. ¡°Good food. Good friends. Good feelings.¡± He said and wagged the chip in front of her. ¡°We''ll have lots of money soon, even after this one shipment.¡±


    Luxea took a breath and let it out, then reluctantly took the chip.


    ¡°Hey, it''s starting!¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°Please tell me it''s not a drama about the first fish people meeting humanity.¡± Hunter said.


    ¡°I thought you said you hated it when people lied to you?¡± Gleas said with a gleam in her eye.


    ¡°Oh, geez.¡± Hunter groaned and everyone laughed. ¡°Why did I come here again?¡±


    ¡°You enjoy spending time with friends more than you''re embarrassed at what''s going on.¡± Simone said and everyone turned to look at her, except Hunter, because he thought he had hidden that from her. ¡°Hey, it''s true.¡± She said. ¡°Once, he even let me take a shower with him when I accidentally walked in on him, then he washed me all over.¡±


    Everyone except Luxea had their mouths open in surprise at the admission.


    ¡°I''m not sure why you''re all acting shocked. I told you it happened and that I was a little drunk at the time.¡± Hunter said.


    ¡°Making excuses?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°No, I''m explaining.¡± Hunter said. ¡°Apparently, when I''m drinking, my perception drops to almost nothing and I forget to use certain techniques that even though I have them going constantly, they still falter when I''m mentally impaired by alcohol.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like an excuse to me.¡± Kalina said with a smile. ¡°You must have done something besides washing her... all... over.¡±


    Sandy chuckled and winked at Beatrice, who blushed.


    ¡°Noth...¡± Hunter started to say automatically, then stopped himself and sighed. ¡°Well, I guess...¡±


    ¡°Ooo, that sounds like gossip.¡± Deborah smiled and looked at Simone. ¡°Did the big drunk man take advantage of you when you were all vulnerable and naked in the shower?¡±


    Simone could hear their thoughts about what they thought... and hoped... had happened, and she shivered from the intensity. ¡°I... well, he...¡±


    ¡°So you did do something.¡± Kalina said with a laugh.


    ¡°We''re missing the movie.¡± Hunter said.


    ¡°No distractions during the inquiry.¡± Gleas said and turned down the sound on the screen, then she reached across Hunter and took Simone''s hand. ¡°It''s okay. We''re all friends here. You can tell us what he did.¡±


    Everyone''s attention turned to Simone and she shivered again, especially in direct contact with Gleas. She glanced at Hunter and he gave her a nod. Thank you. She thought to him and saw his smile, then she looked at the women around her and told the whole sordid tale.


    The funny thing was, none of them vilified Hunter as they heard the story. Ever since they had gotten snippets of the shower incident, each and everyone one of them had constructed their own fantasy about what had happened... then they quickly substituted themselves into that fantasy. The only ones who had tried it out for themselves were Sandy and Beatrice, however. They relived it with each other a lot, liked it a whole lot, and secretly thanked Hunter and Simone for the idea.


    Hearing about it firsthand just clarified the details for them. They all went quiet after hearing the whole thing, even about the hand holding in bed afterwards to share thoughts, and it took them several minutes to go through it all and process what they heard.


    Gleas was the first to catch on to the relevant point. ¡°Oh, goddess. You''re supposed to have extra arms.¡±


    The others gasped at that, then suddenly Simone was surrounded and several hands reached out and touched her. ¡°We''re so sorry.¡±


    Simone burst out crying at the intense sorrow she felt from them and then they all tried to hug her at once. They held her and let her cry for quite some time, then the crying eased to a stop. Without saying a word, they each gave her another little hug and went back to their seats. She didn''t even have to tell them the story about how she had lost them, because it didn''t matter to them. They shared in her loss and had given her their sympathy and understanding, and that was that. The sharing moment was over.


    ¡°You''re... all amazing.¡± Simone managed to say as she wiped off her face.


    Hunter put an arm around her shoulders and she leaned in close and accepted his comfort. They spent the rest of the evening like that and watched the worst movie they had ever seen.

 Book Three: The Resolution 040

    The next day, we spent the morning combing through the salvage on the new ship and picked the most expensive items to add to the Udelis'' cargo. Rhubin transferred one of the shuttles to the hull of the ship and I had retrieved a few important things from my room on the Udelis. By lunch time, they were ready to go. Deborah, Beatrice, and Sandy brought over their things and stashed them in the cell with the four bunks and when I came back inside, I was immediately taken into a hug by Sandy.


    ¡°Thank you for sending us first.¡± Sandy said and tensed her arms up to hug me tighter. ¡°We''re going to miss you.¡±


    I blinked my eyes at her for a moment and then it clicked in as to why she was the one doing it. Since she wasn''t an employee, she could be more personal with me and not break my mandate. I put my arms around her and hugged her back.


    ¡°You can share this with Beatrice when you''re alone.¡± I whispered into her ear and gave her a squeeze. ¡°Deborah''s just going to have to suffer.¡±


    Sandy chuckled and we let each other go. ¡°I think this is going to be a long seven weeks.¡±


    ¡°Only if you stay in the cell and don''t go to the other parts of the ship, like the living room.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°The Udelis is a luxury craft that was designed for long space voyages.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I''m sure we''ll be comfortable.¡± Sandy said and took Beatrice''s hand. ¡°I meant that we''re going to miss being around Hunter.¡± She walked away and led Beatrice through the main hatches and into the other ship.


    ¡°I can''t argue that.¡± Deborah said and gave me a wave and left.


    I could tell from Luxea''s expression that she wanted to argue, and she couldn''t. Not without seeming petty. Of course, I could hear Rhubin''s thoughts and he wanted to argue about not getting to take Kalina this time.


    ¡°I''ll see you both when you get back.¡± I said instead of what I wanted to say.


    I hoped that the time they spent with two of my pilots while making the cargo drop would let them get acquainted, more than a day off and a night of watching a vidscreen did. I stepped forward and reached into my bag of holding and took out a small electronic device and held it out to Luxea.


    ¡°I bought this for you the day of the explosion. It was destroyed, along with a pile of other things I had on me at the time, and the company was kind enough to give me a replacement.¡±


    Luxea looked at it as if she didn''t know what to do with it and didn''t try to reach for it at all.


    I held in my sigh. ¡°It''s yours, so you can keep it or you can throw it away.¡± I said and took her hand and wrapped her fingers around it. ¡°I just hope you can enjoy it as much as I enjoyed buying it for you.¡±


    Luxea stared at it and then at me and didn''t say anything. Rhubin stepped close and whispered in her ear and she nodded, then the two of them left and I closed the two main hatches. A few minutes later, I was in the cockpit with Kalina and Gleas when the temporary docking ring disengaged and the two ships separated. We watched as the Udelis turned and sped away.


    ¡°Wow.¡± Gleas said as the ship disappeared from view. ¡°I sincerely hope that twinning your AI gives us at least half of that speed.¡±


    ¡°We''re quite a bit larger than it; but, we have a larger reactor, too. It''s not fully powered, though.¡±


    ¡°I saw the specs.¡± Gleas almost sighed. ¡°Who spends all that money on the rest of the ship and then cheaps out on the reactor core?¡±


    ¡°Rich people.¡± I said and she gave me a look, then she started to laugh. ¡°What?¡± I asked, knowing what she was going to say.


    ¡°You''re rich... and you... bought it! Ha haha!¡± Gleas laughed.


    I exaggeratedly rolled my eyes and my head to make her laugh more. ¡°Kalina, takes us over to the next wreck on the list.¡±


    ¡°It''s a couple of wrecks in, so I can''t get too close.¡± Kalina said. ¡°Can''t we just mark it and skip it?¡±


    ¡°How''s the next one look?¡±


    Kalina had a happy expression at me accepting her suggestion, then she looked at the next location... then the next and the next... and she sighed.


    ¡°Now you know why I wanted a combat pilot.¡± I said. ¡°Even I''m going to have a hard time...¡±


    A beep came from the communications console and interrupted me. I hit the accept button and didn''t even check who the call was from.


    ¡°Is this Hunter?¡± A hooded man''s muffled voice asked.


    ¡°It depends on who is asking.¡± I said.


    ¡°We are members of the Chofaris Liberation and Independent Territories task group.¡± The man said. ¡°You better listen to what I have to say, or else.¡±


    ¡°Or else what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We hurt your future wife.¡± The hooded man said smugly.


    Several thoughts ran through my mind at the speed of light and I weighed all of the possibilities, dismissed them because there was no way they could have captured Lashina, then I wondered who he was talking about.


    ¡°I see your confusion.¡± The man said. ¡°You probably don''t know who I''m talking about, so... how about a picture?¡± He held up a picture of the girl I had healed.


    ¡°Hailey.¡± I said and stopped myself from gritting my teeth when I felt a tug on my Presence.


    ¡°Oh, so you do remember her.¡± The man said. ¡°Good. That makes this a lot easier.¡± He tossed the picture down. ¡°We have her and we''re going to keep her, unless you do exactly what we say.¡±


    ¡°Let her go.¡± I said. ¡°She has nothing to do with whatever you have planned.¡±


    ¡°We can''t let her go. She''s our insurance policy.¡± The man said. ¡°We tell you what to do, you do it, and then we''ll let her go.¡±


    I felt the Presence waver and leaned in close to the console. ¡°I only have one question.¡± I said in a deadly voice. ¡°Did you hurt her?¡±


    The man chuckled. ¡°She may have gotten a little banged up when...¡±


    ¡°Shut your filthy mouth.¡± I said and he jerked as I formed an invisible Presence Hand around his neck. ¡°Harming a child, or allowing a child to be harmed, let''s me know exactly what kind of people you are. So, I hope you''re happy.¡± I let an evil grin spread across my face. ¡°You now have my attention.¡± I said and squeezed the hand to make him choke a little and heard several yells. ¡°I am coming for you.¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡± A woman''s voice yelled. ¡°We have the girl! If you don''t free our friends...¡±


    I made the hand solid and formed a layer of Presence around the hooded man and made it solid as well. ¡°I am coming for you all.¡± I said and cut the connection.


    ¡°Oh, Hunter.¡± Gleas had tears in her eyes. ¡°I''m so sorry.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± I said. ¡°Kalina, change of plans. Get me to the planet right now.¡±


    ¡°Changing course.¡± Kalina said. ¡°Invoking emergency status. Lanes clearing.¡±


    ¡°I''m sending the message to the military.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Maybe they can trace it to the source.¡±


    ¡°That''s okay. I know where I''m going.¡± I said. ¡°I''m getting changed and then prepping the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you...¡± Gleas stopped talking when I disappeared.


    I ran down to my room, changed into my powered armor and slipped on my blast shield, dropped off my bags of holding, in case they had another bomb in place, then dug through a bag of holding to clear it of everything except one item. I put the bag on my hip and then ran out of my room, down the stairs, and into the shuttle bay. I had the shuttle prepped and ready to take off a few minutes later.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°We''re approaching the planet.¡± Kalina said over the shuttle''s communications console. ¡°We have priority for geosynchronous orbit.¡±


    ¡°Put us over the main continent.¡± I said and opened the bay doors.


    ¡°Hunter, can you really find them without any directions?¡± Gleas asked, concern in her voice.


    ¡°You bet your sweet ass I can.¡± I said and she took in a sharp breath. ¡°Apparently, I have a connection to Hailey. I''ll be able to find her no matter where she is.¡±


    ¡°G-good l-luck.¡± Gleas stumbled over her words, because she had a difficult time hiding her surprise.


    ¡°Launching.¡± I said and took the shuttle out, then flew down towards the planet. I let the Presence guide me and I adjusted course appropriately and flew straight down towards her location. I flew the shuttle as quickly as it could go and even caused some heat buildup on the surface. If anyone was watching me on radar and lidar, which is radio precision location and laser precision location, and I was positive that several people were, it looked like I was in an uncontrolled crash situation.


    I ignored the multiple com requests for my status, mainly because they would see it change in a couple of minutes. No one else I knew flew straight towards their destination, not even Rhubin. They all took a slightly circular route, as if they didn''t want to go straight there, or to let people know where they were going in plenty of time for them to react. Well, that wasn''t what I wanted at all.


    I flew straight to where I needed to go and stopped the shuttle a mile above it. My detection range was two miles and I ''looked'' down at the building that the people were holding Hailey in. I saw nine people in the building. Two on the top floor, one on the middle floor, three on the ground floor, and three in the basement, one of which was a glowing Presence that I recognized. Thankfully, the building was not wired with explosives, so I didn''t have to hold back and dismantle them first.


    I entered delayed commands for the shuttle to land on the street outside of the building, made sure it had lots of clearance for its flight path, then I opened the hatch and stepped out and held myself with levitation. I closed the hatch and the shuttle executed the set commands. I floated there and waited for the people inside the building to react. I chuckled as they freaked out at the sight of a shuttle with The Wave markings on the side of it as it landed in the street.


    Four of them came out of the building, which left two people on the top floor and two people in the basement with Hailey. That was the best I was going to get, so I covered Hailey in solid Presence to protect her from any debris as I cancelled my levitation technique and dropped down through the air. I angled myself towards the right spot and covered myself with Presence in the shape of a missile and made it solid.


    Gravity alone after a mile of height, slammed me into the ceiling with so much force that I crashed through the ceiling of the building, killed the two people on the top floor, then went down through the other two floors. I used my Levitation technique to catch myself just before I hit the basement floor.


    ¡°I''mmmm Heeeerrrreeee.¡± I said as the dust cloud spread out and I stood up, then I activated my Light sword and prepared to swing at the woman.


    ¡°She''s my mother!¡± Hailey exclaimed and I stayed my hand. I nodded to her and used Presence to restrain her mother and covered her mouth. I walked over to the man I still had held with a Presence Hand and smiled.


    ¡°Close your eyes, Hailey.¡± I said and held my Light sword up to strike the man.


    ¡°No.¡± Hailey said. ¡°I want to see.¡±


    I gave her a look and I felt her resolve. ¡°You know I don''t do nice things all the time, don''t you?¡±


    Hailey nodded. ¡°That''s why I love you.¡± She said. ¡°You''re nice all the time, until you don''t have to be.¡± She looked at the man. ¡°He and the others took me and my mom when we went to the mall.¡±


    ¡°Your mom told him where you were.¡± I said.


    Hailey took a breath and let it out, then looked at her mother. ¡°I... I know.¡±


    ¡°I can''t let them live.¡± I said and put the Light sword through the man''s heart. ¡°Threatening me is fine... threatening you is not.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Hailey said and looked back at the man and saw where my Light sword was. ¡°But... my mother... she...¡±


    ¡°I''ll make an exception for her, if she tells me everyone else who is involved.¡± I said and pulled my Light sword out of the man and then decapitated him. Hailey didn''t flinch; but, her mother let out a sob and started crying. ¡°I''ll be right back. I need to take care of the others.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Hailey said and I used Presence Run to go up the stairs and outside to the shuttle.


    One of the men noticed me standing there. ¡°Get him!¡± He shouted and started to fire his laser pistol. It bounced off of my personal shield and I walked towards him. The others tried to shoot me as well and it didn''t slow me down at all. I used a Presence Hand to crush his hand and pulled the gun to myself, then I shot them in the legs. I took each of their guns, disabled their grenades, then dragged them all back inside and into the basement. I dropped the four men on the floor and a few of them yelled in pain as their legs folded under them when they tried to stand.


    ¡°So, are you ready to talk?¡± I asked Hailey''s mother.


    Her eyes darted to the men on the floor around me and she nodded. I absorbed the Presence over her mouth and she told me what I wanted to know. I could hear Hailey''s thoughts and her respect for her mother dropped considerably as she went on about the organization she was involved in.


    ¡°Why?¡± Hailey asked when her mother was done.


    ¡°You''re too young to understand.¡± Her mother said.


    ¡°Then tell me why.¡± I said and she shok her head slightly.


    ¡°Mom! You are so stupid!¡± Hailey exclaimed.


    ¡°Hailey!¡± Her mother exclaimed back. ¡°It''s not nice to call people stupid!¡±


    ¡°But you are!¡± Hailey said loudly. ¡°Hunter healed me! He helped me!¡± She said. ¡°He would have helped you!¡±


    ¡°No, he wouldn''t.¡± Her mother said. ¡°He already had one of our groups arrested.¡±


    Hailey gasped. ¡°H-Hunter, is... is that true?¡±


    ¡°Only for piracy, because they tried to hijack my ship.¡± I said.


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Hailey yelled. ¡°MOMMM!¡±


    ¡°We needed his ship for...¡±


    ¡°You are so STUPID!¡± Hailey yelled.


    ¡°Hailey.¡± Her mother started to get angry. ¡°I just told you not to say that.¡±


    ¡°You could have just asked him!¡± Hailey said. ¡°He helps people in need! He always has!¡±


    ¡°There''s no way that...¡±


    ¡°He knows the president! He knows the admiral! He knows all those stuffy suit guys, too!¡± Hailey said. ¡°Even if he said he wouldn''t let you take the ship, he could talk to them for you!¡±


    Her mother couldn''t argue that they weren''t good points. ¡°I can''t ask him now.¡±


    ¡°No, you can''t.¡± I said and looked Hailey over. ¡°They handled you pretty roughly.¡± I said and touched her arm to use Presence Heal on her.


    Hailey felt the tingle go through her and her bruises faded after a few seconds. ¡°Hunter, what are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°I''m going to hunt them all down, of course.¡± I said. ¡°Should I kill them all so that they won''t try to take you again, or should I have them all arrested and they might get out and try to hurt you?¡±


    Hailey looked at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said and rubbed her head with my hand. ¡°When I healed you, I didn''t think people would target you because of me.¡±


    ¡°It''s all right. You rescued me.¡± Hailey said and then smiled. ¡°I felt you looking for me.¡±


    ¡°Like I told my pilots, I apparently have a connection with you.¡± I said and she reached up and touched my head, so I bent down and let her rub my head, too. ¡°Let''s get you out of here.¡±


    Hailey held up her arms and I raised my eyebrows at her. ¡°Please?¡±


    I sighed dramatically to make her laugh, then I picked her up in a princess carry, with an arm under her back and one under her knees. She put her arms around my neck and I used Presence to pick up her restrained mother.


    ¡°You can''t just leave us here.¡± One of the men said and reached for me.


    ¡°I wasn''t going to.¡± I said and walked past him. ¡°No one touches my future wife.¡± I said and used Presence to crush their hearts. They all gasped and died immediately. The sound covered both Hailey''s and her mother''s gasps. Her mother was shocked at my words and Hailey was overjoyed at the acknowledgement. The thing was, when the hooded man had told me he had my future wife captive, the Presence hadn''t wavered even a little bit, which meant I couldn''t deny it.


    I walked out of the building and carried a very happy Hailey in my arms and her disgruntled mother with a Presence Hand. When I reached the street, two military shuttles landed beside mine. Two squads of troops disembarked and ran over to me.


    ¡°How many are left inside?¡± The one in the lead asked. He had the marks of a major on his collar.


    ¡°Alive? None.¡± I said. ¡°I have all of the names and locations of the rest of them if you want them.¡±


    The major nodded and waved someone out of the shuttle he came from while he sent a couple of his men into the building. A stern looking woman came out of the shuttle and she wore a military uniform that looked more like an business suit than anything else. She pulled out a datapad and I gave her the names, aliases, and addresses of everyone that was a member of the Clofaris Liberation and Independent Territories task groups. I refrained from making a joke about the name, because I knew she wouldn''t appreciate it for the hilarity that it was.


    ¡°I didn''t tell you all of that!¡± Hailey''s mother exclaimed and the major and stern woman gave her a very discerning look. ¡°Oh, damn.¡± She said. She had completely missed that I hadn''t given her name in that list and realized she just gave herself away.


    ¡°I''m sorry, Hailey.¡± I whispered to the girl I still held in my arms.


    ¡°You did your best to save her.¡± Hailey whispered back as they handcuffed her mother.


    ¡°What about...¡±


    ¡°He left years ago.¡± Hailey said, her voice sad.


    ¡°Does he know...¡±


    ¡°Yes. He saw the news.¡± Hailey responded and didn''t elaborate.


    I didn''t have to read her thoughts to know what she wanted, especially since she didn''t have any other family to take care of her. ¡°I guess you can stay with me until...¡±


    ¡°THANK YOU!¡± Hailey yelled and kissed me. She held it for five seconds, then broke the kiss and stared at me like she did something wrong. ¡°I... I mean... thank you for... rescuing me, and...¡±


    The stern woman that took my deposition chuckled and we all looked at her. ¡°She''s even cuter in person.¡±


    ¡°I think someone might have a short hair fetish.¡± I said and Hailey giggled. I turned to the major holding her mother''s arm. ¡°What are you going to do with the list?¡±


    ¡°We''ll have it sent to the base and coordinate a simultaneous strike, just like we did with the data from your shuttle to catch the others.¡±


    ¡°I''m tempted to offer to help; but, I''d just get in your way.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t know your procedures or your protocols for that kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said you were going to hunt them down for me.¡± Hailey said as she looked at me.


    ¡°Despite my hero status, I can''t be in multiple places at once.¡± I said. ¡°If the military fails to get any of them, though...¡±


    ¡°We''ll get them.¡± The stern woman said and her face was back to the stern look. ¡°No one has escaped capture yet.¡±


    ¡°Would you mind if I stuck around to see that?¡± I asked.


    She glanced at the major, who shrugged. ¡°I don''t have any objections, as long as you remain an observer.¡±


    ¡°I promise not to do anything, unless someone needs me to step in.¡± I said. ¡°Assuming I can watch everything in real time, that is.¡±


    The stern woman widened her eyes for a moment, then nodded.


    ¡°Back to base.¡± The major ordered, and everyone loaded back up onto the shuttles.


    ¡°I''m right behind you.¡± I said and carried Hailey to my shuttle.

 Book Three: The Resolution 041

    Hailey had been reluctant to let her future husband put her down, until Hunter promised that he wasn''t going to leave her in the passenger compartment. He sat her in the co-pilot seat instead and she was very excited that she could see everything out the front of the shuttle. The two military shuttles lifted off and Hunter followed them, then they flew through the air towards the closest military base.


    Hailey laughed, because she was getting her very first shuttle ride and she was with the man who had been giving her all of her firsts. Her first kiss, her first dance, her first rescue, and now her first shuttle ride. She couldn''t wait to see what other firsts he was going to give her.


    *


    I tried my best to not laugh at Hailey''s racing thoughts and her bubbling emotions. I had forgotten how nice it was to be around such pure emotions and thoughts. There was almost no deceit, and when there was, they were usually too cute to get angry over them lying to you.


    I put my attention back on flying and followed the other shuttles to the military base. We landed in a small compound and I took Hailey''s hand, left the shuttle and locked it, then covered the door in Presence. We followed the men and stern woman as they led us into the building and through several hallways to a large meeting room. Two of the men took Hailey''s mother in the other direction. When we entered the room, three squads of troops were there and came to attention.


    ¡°At ease.¡± The major said and they relaxed. ¡°We have some planning to do.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± One of the men said. ¡°Another raid!¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± The major asked.


    The man pointed to me. ¡°The last time he helped, we caught a whole cell of those idiots trying to liberate already free people.¡± He said and that made a few of the other soldiers laugh. ¡°This is going to be fun.¡±


    ¡°I can''t fault your deductions.¡± The major said and the man grinned. ¡°Anna? Load the info Hunter gave you.¡±


    The stern woman named Anna loaded the data into the holographic table and a large map appeared. ¡°A lot of these are just home addresses, so they are easily accessible.¡± She said and typed up a few things, then the map zoomed in and showed what looked like a large concrete and metal building that was heavily fortified. ¡°This, on the other hand...¡±


    ¡°Oh, damn.¡± One of the soldiers said. ¡°That''s the old security bunker.¡±


    ¡°The what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s what we used to have the citizens retreat to if there was going to be a battle near the city.¡± He said. ¡°It was decommissioned when we finished all of the underground bunkers.¡±


    ¡°I take back what I said.¡± The man who had spoken before said. ¡°This is not going to be fun.¡±


    ¡°Even breaching charges will take several attempts to get through the reinforced walls.¡± Another said.


    The major stared at the building and brought up the schematics. ¡°Okay, they aren''t all idiots. This was the smartest way to stay safe from us.¡±


    ¡°From you, maybe.¡± I said and everyone looked at me. ¡°I promised Hailey that I''d hunt them down for kidnapping her.¡±


    ¡°If we can''t get a squad in there in less than ten minutes, which will give them plenty of time to kill you, how are you going to get in?¡±


    ¡°I''m tempted to say magic; but, it''s just simple science and the use of a very expensive item.¡±


    ¡°I volunteer to go with him, just to see whatever it is.¡± One of them said.


    ¡°Same here.¡± One of the others said. ¡°If you have something smaller than a missile to breach that thing, I have to see it.¡±


    ¡°Hell, I''ll go, too.¡± The man who retracted his fun statement said. ¡°That way if it does work, there''s enough of us to check and clear the building.¡±


    ¡°We''ll need a good pilot.¡± I said and a woman raised her hand. ¡°Are you volunteering or asking a question?¡±


    A few of the men chuckled and she smiled.


    ¡°Both.¡± She said and whispered to Anna, who changed the display on the table to show me dropping into the building. ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°The Presence and I are old friends.¡± I said and she crossed her arms and waited. ¡°Not good enough of an explanation?¡± I asked and she shook her head. ¡°I dropped from a mile up and formed a missile shape made of Presence around myself and made it solid.¡±


    ¡°No fucking way!¡± One of the men exclaimed.


    ¡°Watch your mouth, soldier.¡± The major said and nodded towards Hailey, who giggled.


    ¡°Sorry, miss.¡± The man said, slightly embarrassed, and Hailey nodded to him.


    ¡°I also landed the shuttle by delayed commands in front of the building to draw out as many of them as possible, in case my attempt to gain entrance with surprise failed.¡±


    ¡°By failed, you mean you would have died, right?¡± One of them asked and Hailey caught her breath.


    I gave Hailey''s hand a squeeze. ¡°No, I might have just bounced off or maybe caused a ricochet into the next building. I wouldn''t have tried to go straight in without checking the building first.¡±


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± The pilot asked.


    ¡°I can see through walls.¡± I tapped the blast shield over my eyes.


    ¡°We know it''s fake.¡± One of the other men said. ¡°It''s not stuck there and you can take it off.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t mean it''s not a real blast shield, just that it''s removable.¡±


    ¡°We''re getting sidetracked here.¡± The major said. ¡°What is this device that you have that can get through these walls?¡±


    ¡°I can''t tell you that.¡± I said. ¡°If it was known, everyone would either want one or experiment themselves to make one.¡±


    ¡°It was an experiment?¡± Anna, the stern woman asked.


    ¡°A failed one, actually.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°It was a spectacular failure, though.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± The major had her change the table back to the building. ¡°If you use this device to breach the wall right here...¡± He pointed to a spot near the ground. ¡°...we can get inside and assault them before they can react.¡±


    ¡°How do you know they are on that floor?¡± I asked and he didn''t say anything. ¡°How about we load up the people going with me, I see what one they are on, then assault them on that floor instead.¡±


    ¡°How would we get to that floor?¡± One of the men asked.


    ¡°We have a shuttle pilot, so we assault from the shuttle.¡± I said.


    No one said anything in response for several moments.


    ¡°You can deploy what you''re using that closely?¡± The major asked.


    ¡°I''ve deployed it within touching distance, so yes.¡±


    ¡°T-touching d-distance?¡± Anna, the stern woman asked, slightly shaken at the implication.


    ¡°Like I said, the first test was a spectacular failure.¡± I said and she shuddered.


    ¡°All right, then.¡± The major said. ¡°We can set all the other pickups for the same time as you hit the building.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°We can even use my shuttle, in case you''re worried about losing military assets.¡± I offered, and that made him and Anna smile briefly.


    They got to work and quickly assigned the proper people to track down all of the other members of the domestic terrorists, then I, Hailey, the pilot, and three soldiers left and entered my shuttle. I put Hailey in the co-pilot''s seat again and told the pilot to raise the blast door, just in case.


    *


    ¡°He really cares about you, doesn''t he?¡± The pilot asked Hailey.


    ¡°He loves me.¡± Hailey said, confidently.


    ¡°Oh? How do you know that?¡± The pilot asked as she prepped the shuttle and waited for the go signal.


    ¡°He gave me one of his lives.¡± Hailey said. ¡°He wouldn''t do that if I wasn''t important to him.¡±


    ¡°One of his lives?¡± The pilot asked, slightly confused.


    ¡°I was dying in the hospital and he came to see me.¡± Hailey said. ¡°Instead of keeping the magic for himself to save his life later, he gave it to me and saved mine.¡±


    ¡°Magic?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Hailey said. ¡°The bright light was all around and yet I could still see.¡± She smiled at the memory. ¡°His love and his magic filled me up and made me whole and he had this smile on his face that told me that everything was going to be all right.¡± She said. ¡°It was... we were in our own little world, and... it was just us... and I''ve never seen anything like...¡± She smiled again. ¡°It was magic.¡±


    The pilot stared at the young girl beside her. She wasn''t sure what to say in response, mainly because she had been humoring the girl and wanted to keep her occupied with questions. She hadn''t expected, or imagined, that she would hear something like that.


    ¡°Go! Go! Go!¡± The communications console said and the pilot snapped back into professional mode and six shuttles took off as one, five military and one civilian, then they split as they flew to their various drop-off points. It took almost ten minutes for her to get the go-ahead and the confirmation that everyone was in place. The intercom beeped and she hit the button.


    ¡°They are on the third floor, west side of the building, ten feet in. It''s not rigged with explosives, thank god.¡± Hunter said and two of the men gave him odd looks. ¡°Put us hatch side to the building. Fifteen feet clearance, please.¡±


    The pilot dropped the shuttle from their hovering height and brought it right to the spot he asked for. The shuttle''s hatch opened and then a second later, a bright blue ball of light expanded out to ten feet from the building and then disappeared. Whatever it was had cut a twenty foot wide spherical hole in the side of the building. There was silence for another second, then there were laser blasts from both sides.


    Both she and Hailey watched in wonder as Hunter and the three soldiers floated across the distance and none of the laser blasts hit them and bounced off an energy shield. The shuttle''s hatch closed and she turned the shuttle to look into the large hole in the building. The completely clean edges of the walls and floors were just as surprising as the fight going on.


    Some of the people on the floor tried to run away and bounced off of invisible barriers that covered the doors and windows, others tried to shoot the soldiers and Hunter, and a few dropped their guns and raised their hands in surrender. It was then that the soldiers became serious and laid into them with expert suppression fire and made the rest of them give up, too. None of the soldiers were hurt and they cuffed and disarmed the targets.


    *


    ¡°After seeing what you can do, I think you could have apprehended them yourself.¡± One of the men said to me.


    ¡°I don''t have the authority to arrest anyone.¡± I said and didn''t have to elaborate and say that I would have just killed them all. I had done that at the last place and the point was understood.


    ¡°Hey, how are we getting back to the shuttle?¡± One of them asked.


    I lifted my hand and spoke into my wrist communicator. ¡°Swing back around and I''ll make a bridge.¡±


    ¡°From what?¡± The pilot asked and swung the shuttle around to have the hatch face us again.


    I opened the hatch and then made a solid blue box between the building and the shuttle. ¡°Hold the shuttle there.¡± I said and waved the people around me forward. When some of the prisoners wouldn''t go, I picked them up with Presence and carried them across and stuffed them into the shuttle.


    ¡°We either have to call for more transport or we need to lay you all down to get you to fit.¡± I said, then shrugged and stacked the captives like firewood, much to the soldier''s amusement. We climbed on top and sat down, then I absorbed the Presence I had used and shut the hatch as I hit the intercom button. ¡°We''re overloaded, so fly appropriately.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The pilot said and slowly moved us up and out into clear air and then added power to the engines to take us back to base at half the speed. She could have flown faster; but, with so much extra weight on board, it would be difficult to manoeuvre quickly and not have someone in the passenger compartment be hurt. Namely me and the troops. I didn''t care if the captives were hurt.


    We landed among the other shuttles and they were offloading their own captives and were congratulating themselves. The troops with me didn''t join in as we started to unload our own captives. The men around us settled down as we took out more and more people, and when I and the three soldiers emerged with the last one, we were greeted with a short round of applause and a couple of salutes.


    ¡°Cut that out.¡± The major said to the others and walked over to me. ¡°I''m not going to ask how you captured so many.¡±


    ¡°Why not? It''s a short story.¡± I said and the three soldiers with me laughed.


    ¡°Yeah. He opened the shuttle door, floated us over as he took all of the laser pistol fire on some kind of energy shield, then we used suppression fire and convinced everyone to surrender.¡± One of them said. ¡°It was like magic.¡±


    ¡°I told you.¡± Hailey said to the pilot as they came out of the shuttle.


    ¡°I saw it happening and I have to admit that it was as close to magic as I''ve seen.¡± The pilot said.


    ¡°Have you got the sensor and camera recordings?¡± The major asked and the pilot held up a datapad. ¡°Anna will combine it with the combat suit''s sensor data and give us a full picture.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°That won''t help you figure it out.¡±


    ¡°We''ll see.¡± The major said and waved to the building.


    ¡°No, thanks.¡± I said. ¡°Although I appreciate the offer, you can just let me know what''s going to happen to Hailey''s mother.¡±


    ¡°We have to process her with the rest of them, of course.¡± The major said. ¡°The government doesn''t look kindly on domestic terrorism, especially after how we lost the capital city.¡±


    It took me a second to understand what he meant. ¡°They had inside information.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and can you guess who might have gained from the government being gone?¡± The major asked.


    I looked at the captives being herded into the building and sighed. I didn''t say what I wanted to say, not with Hailey right there, then she took my hand.


    ¡°Can we stop and pick up my things?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°Of course.¡± I smiled at her then looked at the major. ¡°Major. Gentlemen. Ladies.¡± I said and looked at the troops. ¡°If you need a hand with anything else, let me know. By the way, I''ll be busy.¡±


    That made a few of the troops laugh.


    ¡°About that device...¡± The major started to say.


    ¡°I used it and it was the last one I had.¡± I said, completely truthfully. ¡°Have a good day.¡±


    I started to walk away and ''saw'' the major nod to the pilot.


    ¡°Um... excuse me.¡± She said and I stopped walking to face her. ¡°I heard that you need a combat pilot.¡±


    ¡°I do; but, it''s not like the cakewalk we just did.¡± I said. ¡°You''ll be flying around the wrecks of the alien ships.¡±


    Her eyes sparkled and I knew I had her hooked.


    ¡°What about your job here?¡± I asked. ¡°I thought you did terms of service.¡±


    ¡°We do.¡± She said and turned to the major. ¡°Sir! Request permission for an indefinite leave of absence.¡±


    ¡°You know I can''t grant that on my own.¡± The major said.


    I held in my laugh as they played out their little scene, since I knew that they wanted her to keep an eye on me. They talked to ''command'' for several minutes and after a bit of fake griping about leaving them short-handed, her request was granted.


    ¡°It looks like I''m all yours now.¡± The pilot said and gave me a salute.


    I felt a spike of jealousy from Hailey and gave her hand a little squeeze. ¡°Despite the tempting offer, I only need you in your capacity as a combat pilot.¡±


    ¡°Oooooo!¡± A few of the soldiers almost howled.


    ¡°That''s too bad, Jelly!¡± One of them said. ¡°Rebuked before you could even start flirting!¡±


    Jelly''s face flushed red from embarrassment.


    ¡°I didn''t say she couldn''t flirt.¡± I said loud enough for everyone to hear, then saw surprise on pretty much everyone''s faces, including Jelly''s. ¡°I just wanted to make it clear that it won''t go anywhere.¡±


    Everyone was quiet as they thought about that.


    ¡°If there''s any gear you need, you should grab it now.¡± I said to my new shuttle pilot and she nodded.


    ¡°It''ll take me a few minutes to get everything together and pack.¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°I''ll take Hailey over to her place and come back for you.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think I''ll be that long.¡± Jelly said with a smile, so I nodded and she left at a fast walk.


    ¡°Let''s go in the shuttle and sit down.¡± I said and led Hailey inside and left the ramp down.


    ¡°Hunter, what''s flirting?¡± Hailey asked as I sat down on one of the passenger seats and she sat down on my lap.


    ¡°Well, that depends on who you ask.¡± I said and put my arms around her to hold her. ¡°For some people it''s just talking nicely, while others think only physical touching, like hand holding or hugs count.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to hold Jelly''s hand and hug her?¡± Hailey asked and her hand reached up and rubbed the fuzz on my head.


    ¡°You''re not going to ask me what I think flirting is first?¡± I asked her with a smile.


    Hailey smiled. ¡°What do you think flirting is?¡±


    ¡°I think it''s the intent.¡± I said. ¡°I can hold a hundred people''s hands, compliment twice that many, and not feel a single thing or want to start any kind of relationship with them.¡± I reached up and rubbed the fuzzy hair on her head. ¡°Then again, when I mean it, even just an interested look could be considered flirting.¡±


    ¡°So...¡± Hailey stopped rubbing my head and put her arms around my neck as she looked into my eyes. ¡°...is... is this... flirting?¡±


    I saw her start to blush at what it meant if it was. ¡°Will you be angry if I said that you''re a little too young to be thinking that way?¡±


    Hailey took in a breath and let it out as she looked down and the blush faded.


    ¡°I didn''t say it wasn''t.¡± I said and she looked back into my eyes. ¡°I just want you to keep being you for a while longer, okay? You don''t have to think about those kind of things right now.¡±


    ¡°But... what if...¡±


    ¡°If you are worried about others trying to steal me away, you should know that out of all the people I''ve met, you''re the only one that I can find by just thinking about you.¡±


    Hailey took in a sharp breath. ¡°I... I can do the same thing.¡± She said. ¡°When... when you left, I... I knew what direction you were in. Even after I left the hospital, I could still tell where you were.¡±


    ¡°You must have been looking up a lot, then.¡± I said with a smile, because I had been in space.


    Hailey shook her head. ¡°It kept changing.¡± She said. ¡°In the morning it was up and at noon it was about here.¡± She held a hand to her eyes. ¡°At night, I had to sleep on my belly to keep looking at you.¡±


    I sat there speechless, because I was too surprised by what she said to say anything.

 Book Three: The Resolution 042

    Jelly came back to the shuttle about twenty minutes later and dropped several bags, a duffle bag, and a standard military space suit. She walked by Hunter, who sat with Hailey on his lap in the passenger compartment. She entered the cockpit and quickly brought it to readiness, then asked for clearance to leave the compound. It was granted and she lifted off and flew to the address Hailey''s mother was listed under.


    ¡°Okay, we''re here.¡± Jelly said after she landed not too far away from the apartment building Hailey lived in and put the shuttle into standby mode. She stood up and entered the passenger compartment. ¡°It''s just a short walk over...¡± She stopped when she saw Hunter and Hailey staring at each other, then she clapped her hands. ¡°Hey! Snap out of it. We have stuff to do.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh, right.¡± Hunter said and shook himself. He stood up and kept Hailey in his arms and left the shuttle.


    Jelly followed close behind and the shuttle closed behind them and the ramp disappeared. Is it automatic? She asked herself. I didn''t see any options for that.


    She followed Hunter to the building and inside, then they went up in the lift to the tenth floor and entered one of the smallest apartments she had ever seen. With the three of them in there, it was positively crowded, the place was that small. Hunter didn''t put Hailey down as he entered the smallest room with a single bed and nothing else, and then all of the things Hailey pointed to floated towards them and then disappeared.


    Jelly stared at the scene and didn''t know what to make of it. On one hand, it was absolutely amazing. On the other hand, it was almost terrifying. Where is it all going? She asked herself as dozens of stuffed animals flew through the air and disappeared into nothingness.


    *


    Hailey skipped most of the flowers, except for one particular bunch that had the brightest colors and she pointed to them. She giggled under her breath as they flew to her and then disappeared. She knew they weren''t gone and were just being held somewhere special. She thought about her clothing and pointed towards one of the boxes on the floor.


    ¡°Some of my clothes are in there.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°We can sort them when we get to the ship.¡± I said and lifted all of the boxes up with Presence, brought them towards us, then dumped them into the bag of holding. With that, the room was pretty much empty. I turned around and stepped by Jelly and went to the small bathroom. ¡°Anything in here?¡±


    ¡°Toothbrush and...¡± Hailey didn''t say anything and pointed to a few plastic toys that could be played with in the tub.


    I felt her embarrassment about them and gave her a little squeeze. ¡°It must have been fun to take an actual bath after so long.¡±


    ¡°It was!¡± Hailey said and I stored her toothbrush and the toys.


    ¡°The tubs on the ship are huge.¡± I said and that made her very happy, because she couldn''t wait to try it. I carried her to the living room and kitchen combo and there wasn''t anything she wanted. ¡°What about food?¡±


    ¡°I... well...¡±


    ¡°Your mom has you on a special diet?¡± I asked. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I''ve never had normal food before.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°They did all those tests on you to see that you''re normal, and she still thought that you need special food?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Don''t worry, Hailey. We''ve got lots of actual food on the ship.¡±


    ¡°We?¡±


    ¡°I''ve got four pilots and one of their partners living there.¡± I said. ¡°I sent two pilots and the partner on a cargo run, so it''s just me and two women for the next seven weeks.¡±


    ¡°Did you say four pilots?¡± Jelly asked me, and I explained about splitting the shifts and making a very stable work environment and how I still needed a combat pilot. ¡°That makes sense.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad you agree.¡± I chuckled and led us out of the apartment, then I shut and locked the door behind us. ¡°I thought about only needing two pilots to split the day, then thought... well, I''ve got four people willing to work and help me, so why not hire them all?¡±


    Jelly laughed as we stepped into the lift. ¡°I wish I had a boss like you.¡±


    ¡°You do now.¡± I said and she raised her eyebrows. ¡°Unless the military is going to keep paying you while you''re on your leave of absence.¡±


    Jelly opened her mouth to say that they were, then she caught herself before she gave herself away. ¡°I was so excited that I left the base and I didn''t even ask you to hire me.¡± She said instead.


    ¡°Yeah. Imagine my luck! I do one mission for the military and they gave me a pilot.¡± I said and Hailey giggled. ¡°Can you even accept a job while still technically in the military?¡±


    Jelly didn''t respond, because she wasn''t actually sure that she could.


    ¡°I''ll give the admiral a call and find out for sure.¡± I said as we left the building.


    ¡°Wh-wh-what?¡± Jelly sputtered.


    ¡°I''m good friends with her.¡± I said and Hailey giggled again. ¡°I even bought her the new arm.¡±


    ¡°Th-that really was you?¡± Jelly asked, surprised. ¡°There were rumours that you had dropped off a shipment of medical supplies, thousands and thousands of credits worth; but, no one could ever confirm it.¡±


    ¡°That''s probably because I dropped it off anonymously.¡± I said and we entered the shuttle. ¡°It was just one more shipment coming in to the shipping dock that was routed to the medical bay.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t want the recognition?¡± Jelly asked, once again surprised. ¡°Do you realize how many people you helped?¡±


    ¡°I''d say more than one, since one was all I was shooting for.¡± I said and Hailey giggled again. She was thoroughly enjoying my teasing of the poor pilot. I stepped into the cockpit and brought up the admiral''s call identifier.


    ¡°Who are you call... you have the admiral''s personal com number?!?¡± Jelly said, shocked.


    ¡°I have the president''s number as well. I don''t think I need to go quite that high for this, though.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°Relax, Jelly. She lovvvves me.¡± I said and Hailey laughed. The call went through in only moments.


    ¡°Well, I''ll be.¡± Shanifra said out of the communications console display. ¡°It really is you.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I thought my readout was faulty!¡±


    I chuckled, too. ¡°I''ve been a little too busy to call before now.¡±


    Shanifra barked a laugh, then she sighed. ¡°You have got to stop doing these things.¡±


    ¡°It''s not my fault they came after me and then after my future wife to get to me.¡± I said.


    ¡°Future wife, huh?¡± Shanifra looked at the young girl in my arms. ¡°How old is she? Twelve or thirteen?¡±


    ¡°Twelve, and getting closer to sixteen every day.¡± I said and that made the admiral laugh.


    ¡°I''m tempted to ask if you''re joking; but, my expert here says you''re telling the truth.¡± Shanifra said.


    ¡°I was surprised about it, too.¡± I admitted and Hailey''s hand touched the back of my neck. ¡°After three people said the same thing and the Presence didn''t waver, even I had to admit that it was true.¡±


    ¡°You might want to let her live her life a little first.¡± Shanifra cautioned me, and I laughed.


    ¡°Don''t worry about that, admiral. You''re looking at the best procrastinator for serious relationships.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Shanifra smiled. ¡°I have to assume that this isn''t why you called.¡±


    ¡°No, I had a question about legally hiring military personnel while on a temporary leave of absence.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Shanifra said. ¡°All right, just a second.¡± She leaned out of the pickup''s view. ¡°Melanie! Get in here!¡±


    ¡°So much for military protocol.¡± I said and Shanifra laughed.


    ¡°We''re on our break, smart ass.¡± Shanifra said and then shifted aside as Melanie sat down beside her.


    ¡°Hunter! It''s so nice to see you.¡± Melanie said and her eyes caught my missing hair. ¡°I''m so sorry about what happened.¡±


    ¡°Not as sorry as the people who arranged it are going to be.¡± I said. ¡°That''s months away, though.¡±


    Melanie nodded and I repeated my question about hiring military people while they were on leave. She told me several exceptions for the precedent and then said that normally, they were technically still on retainer with the military, because they could be called back into active service with little to no notice.


    ¡°So, I can''t actually hire someone into an official position.¡± I said and Melanie nodded. ¡°Should I sub-contract, or do I just let them live on the military stipend?¡±


    ¡°Who is this about?¡± Shanifra asked.


    ¡°Jelly, what''s your real name?¡± I asked.


    Jelly sighed, because she couldn''t refuse to answer the admiral. ¡°Jennifer Molly, MILPO-03256.¡±


    Melanie quickly typed up the information, her eyes widened, then she bumped Shanifra''s elbow.


    Shanifra''s eyes widened and then she sighed. ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°So, I assume she''s covered and won''t become destitute while working for me?¡±


    ¡°She has enough back pay to cover anything she may need.¡± Shanifra said and the Presence wavered slightly at the ''back'' part of pay.


    ¡°That''s a relief.¡± I said and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°I was worried I would invalidate something by mistake if I put through the hiring contract without talking to someone first.¡± I said. ¡°Thanks a lot for clarifying all of this for me.¡±


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± Shanifra and Melanie said at the same time. Both seemed surprised I was taking having a military babysitter so well.


    ¡°By the way, if you didn''t notice, the Udelis already left on the first cargo run.¡± I said and leaned in close to whisper. ¡°Guess what they are bringing back.¡±


    Shanifra''s mouth watered at the thought. ¡°When?¡±


    ¡°About seven weeks.¡± I said.


    ¡°It''s a date.¡± Shanifra said with a grin.


    ¡°Hey, you know we can''t fraternize like that.¡± I said and a haughty voice. ¡°I have an image to uphold.¡±


    Melanie laughed and covered her mouth to stop it and Jelly gasped her shock.


    ¡°Ooo, you are gonna get it when I see you next.¡± Shanifra said with a wicked smile.


    ¡°Maybe I won''t show up.¡± I said, teasingly.


    ¡°You better show up!¡± Shanifra said and shook her fist at me. ¡°Or I''ll have them drag you here to the station. In chains. Upside down. In just your underwear.¡±


    Melanie laughed so hard that she had to step away from the console and Jelly stared at me like I was a dead man.


    ¡°Well, okay... I guess... I could at least try to make an appearance. Maybe.¡± I said as non-committedly as possible, then chuckled. ¡°I''ll see you then.¡±


    ¡°Bye, Hunter.¡± Shanifra said and cut the call.


    Jelly kept staring at me and didn''t know what to say. She had never, ever, heard of anyone talking to the admiral like that.


    ¡°You''re going to want to witness that dinner.¡± I said to her and it jolted her out of her immobility. ¡°Are you going to fly us to the ship, or do you want to keep staring at me?¡±


    It took her a moment to answer. ¡°I can fly.¡±


    ¡°Then have at it.¡± I said and carried Hailey into the passenger compartment and sat down with her.


    The shuttle took off and we made it back to the ship in orbit about an hour before lunch. It had seemed like a lot longer than that, after everything that went on, and I hadn''t been gone for one six hour shift. I almost laughed at that, considering how many people the military had apprehended, then the shuttle flew around the ship where directed and the bay doors opened.


    ¡°You have a SHUTTLE BAY!!¡± Jelly exclaimed loudly and that made me laugh, because each shuttle pilot that has seen it has reacted exactly the same way.


    ¡°It''s pressurized and has a constant atmosphere, just like the rest of the cargo area, too.¡± I said.


    ¡°I think I''m going to like it here.¡± Jelly said with a huge grin.


    ¡°I''ve got your bags.¡± I said and the shuttle opened up and the ramp dropped. I grabbed her things with Presence Hands and carried them out behind me. ¡°There''s a pile of rooms still left up top, so you''ve got your choice of where to bunk.¡±


    Jelly stared at the various things I had in the cargo bay. When we reached the stairs, she recognized the advanced medical scanner. ¡°Where the hell did you get that?¡±


    ¡°Inside a disabled and converted alien freighter.¡± I said and walked up the stairs. ¡°It doesn''t work with our tech, though. It has to have some heavy modifications, both physically and software-wise, before it can be installed upstairs.¡±


    ¡°You''re not selling it?¡± Jelly asked. ¡°That thing could be worth a fortune!¡±


    ¡°More like save me a fortune so that I don''t have to buy my own.¡± I said and she caught her breath. ¡°I''ve got ten people to look after now.¡± I said when we reached the top of the stairs and walked down the hallway. ¡°I need some kind of medical bay to take care of things.¡±


    ¡°You''re going to need a med tech, too.¡± Jelly said as she followed me past the large living room.


    ¡°I''ll worry about that when Luxea gets back with the parts we need.¡± I said. ¡°I doubt I could get even an assistant to come out with us without some kind of working space.¡± I pointed across the hall. ¡°Most of those rooms are empty.¡±


    ¡°I assume they''re all the same.¡± Jelly asked and I nodded. ¡°Then I''ll take that one.¡±


    I dropped off all her bags in the room and asked her to follow me to the cockpit. When we arrived there, Gleas and Kalina were already turned and looking at us.


    ¡°Hunter! What is that thing growing on your hip?¡± Gleas asked with her hands over her mouth.


    Hailey giggled. ¡°You''re funny.¡±


    ¡°It talked!¡± Gleas hopped out of her chair. ¡°We need to call the media and sell tickets!¡±


    Hailey laughed and Gleas held a hand out to her.


    ¡°Hi. I''m Eugleasiastis.¡± Gleas said and Hailey''s mouth dropped open in surprise. ¡°Just call me Gleas. All my friends do.¡±


    ¡°Hi, G-Gleas.¡± Hailey said and took the hand and shook it. ¡°I''m Hailey.¡±


    ¡°I''m Kalina.¡± Kalina said and waved, then looked at Jelly. ¡°Who''s this?¡±


    ¡°My name is Jennifer; but, I go by my call sign, Jelly.¡± Jelly said. ¡°I''m the new combat pilot.¡±


    ¡°That reminds me.¡± I went to the communications console and cancelled the combat pilot job posting. ¡°No one was responding to it anyway.¡± I said. ¡°Kalina, take us back out to the wrecks. Gleas, thank the military and civilian traffic controllers for their help.¡±


    ¡°What should I tell them the emergency was?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°It''s probably classified by the military, considering how things turned out.¡± I said and glanced at Jelly, who nodded slightly. ¡°Tell them the Hero of Chofaris rescued an endangered child and has taken her into custody.¡±


    ¡°You... ah... should probably file some kind of paperwork with the government about that.¡± Jelly said and looked at Hailey. ¡°Just in case they decide to intervene.¡±


    ¡°Good point.¡± I said. ¡°I guess now is the time to call one of the government''s big guns.¡±


    ¡°Not the president!¡± Jelly said loudly and both I and Hailey laughed.


    ¡°No, not the biggest gun.¡± I said. ¡°One of her friends should suffice, and I know just the person to call.¡±


    Jelly, Kalina, and Gleas were equally surprised when I called Sheph. It was also her personal communication code and it went right to her office and not through any routing software.


    ¡°Oh! Just a second!¡± Sheph said and put me on hold.


    ¡°She''s probably busy.¡± I whispered.


    The three women exchanged uncomfortable glances. Unlike them, Hailey took it all in as if it was normal for me to call the head of the military and the top tier of government every day.


    ¡°Hunter, it''s so nice to hear from you.¡± Sheph said when the screen came back on.


    ¡°Likewise.¡± I said and nodded slightly, to indicate the private message she had sent me.


    Sheph smiled knowingly. ¡°Is this call pertaining to that?¡±


    ¡°In part.¡± I said and explained about Hailey and how her mother had gotten mixed up with the same people I had helped round up before. When she asked what happened, I gave her a condensed rundown and mentioned that she should call the admiral to get the whole story, since she would know it by now.


    ¡°So, what is it you need me to do?¡± Sheph asked.


    ¡°Hailey doesn''t have anyone else to take care of her and neither of us wants her to be put in danger again.¡± I said. ¡°We also don''t want something like child welfare services to try and take her, either.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you do realize...¡±


    ¡°She''s spent enough time in hospitals and being examined and scrutinized.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t allow her to be subjected to being psychologically examined because of this mess. She wasn''t a part of it and it was my fault she got involved in the first place.¡±


    ¡°You feel responsible for her.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°Yes, and I was wondering if there was some kind of paperwork to file or something to stop everyone from taking advantage of her.¡±


    ¡°Aren''t you taking advantage of her right now?¡± Sheph asked with a smile as she looked at the girl I held in my arms.


    ¡°My hip is cold and I needed a hip warmer.¡± I said and Hailey giggled.


    ¡°I don''t think there''s any official paperwork that fits the situation you''re in.¡± Sheph said. ¡°Can you give me until lunch is over to try and come up with something?¡±


    ¡°Don''t skip lunch on my account.¡± I smiled. ¡°I can be magnanimous and give you until supper time to get back to me.¡±


    Sheph chuckled. ¡°That''s so nice of you.¡±


    ¡°I know. I''m the best.¡± I said and she laughed.


    ¡°I''ll call just before supper.¡± Sheph said. ¡°Goodbye, Hunter.¡±


    I waved at her and she cut the call. ¡°Now I need to get changed and get to work.¡±


    ¡°I''ll get changed and meet you at the shuttle.¡± Jelly said and left the cockpit.


    ¡°Hunter...¡± Hailey started to say.


    ¡°I know you just got here; but, I''m already half a day behind schedule.¡± I said. ¡°That''s the bad news.¡±


    ¡°What''s the good news?¡± Hailey asked automatically.


    ¡°I only have to work for about six hours and then we can all hang out in the living room.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Hailey said. ¡°Drop my stuff off and you go to work.¡±


    I carried her back through the ship and asked her to point out the room she wanted. She didn''t move at all until we were almost at the end of the ship and then pointed. At my room.


    ¡°Hailey, you...¡±


    ¡°You said I could pick any room and that they were huge and could fit families in them.¡± Hailey said.


    I sighed and took her inside, then she told me where to put all of her stuff. ¡°I''ll gather my stuff and...¡±


    ¡°No, that''s okay.¡± Hailey said and pat the top of my head. ¡°I''m in danger and you can''t leave me alone, remember?¡±


    I opened my mouth to protest, then sighed again and put her down. ¡°All right. I need to get changed.¡±


    Hailey nodded and I grabbed my flight suit and walked to the bathroom. I was changed and back out a couple of minutes later and hung my power armored uniform up. Hailey giggled behind me and I turned to see that she was playing with one of the large stuffed toys.


    ¡°I''ll be back soon.¡± I said and walked over to her and knelt down. She gave me a hug and kissed my cheek, then I picked up the helmet and gloves and left the room. I knocked on Simone''s room and told her to get ready and to meet me in the shuttle for work. I went down the stairs and across the cargo area to get to the shuttle bay. When I entered, Jelly''s mouth dropped open at the sight of me.


    ¡°You have a top of the line custom flight suit?!?¡± Jelly asked. ¡°How much money do you have?¡±


    I ignored her and when Simone appeared, we took the shuttle out into the alien wrecks to get to work.

 Book Three: The Resolution 043

    Jelly didn''t do any fancy flying like Perginia did. She did her job and got me where I needed to go and then ferried me back and forth from the ship. It was exactly what I needed and the six hour shift passed by before we knew it. We went back to the ship and landed in the shuttle bay, and Jelly once again stated how nice it was to not have to use the umbilical on the bottom of the shuttle.


    I agreed with a nod and we went up into the ship. After I changed, I led Hailey to the kitchen to get the leftovers from the meal I had cooked and went to the dining room to meet Jelly, Kalina, Simone, and Gleas. After twenty minutes of their delighted thoughts and two helpings of food, Sheph called and told me not to worry about the Hailey situation and that no one was going to complain that the Hero of Chofaris was caring for her.


    With that happy news, we all retired to the living room and sat on the couch. Hailey sat on my lap, of course, since that was the only spot she approved of. Gleas was fine with that, since she got to sit beside me like every other time we watched the screen and she picked what we watched. Simone had been kind and offered to let Jelly sit on my other side, since she was new to the group, and Jelly politely declined and sat on the other side of Gleas.


    Simone settled in beside me and Kalina sat beside her. The couch was still comfortable with five people on it, even with Hailey on my lap. The evening went by quickly and then it was time for bed. They all bid me a good night and I carried Hailey back to what was now ''our'' room. I saw that she had opened a lot of the boxes and had packed away a lot of her clothes and I asked her to get her sleeping clothes ready while I got the bath ready.


    Hailey was very happy about that and quickly assembled a pair of knee-length loose shorts and a baggy top with long sleeves, then tucked a pair of underwear under the shorts to hide them from view. With her change of clothes at the ready, I asked her to close her eyes. She did, and I led her into the bathroom.


    ¡°Ta-da!¡± I said and she opened her eyes. She gasped at the huge tub that was completely filled with sudsy bubbles and all of her toys were arrayed around the tub. Before I could ask, she had her clothes off and had jumped into the tub with a splash. I laughed and caught the water with Presence and put it back into the tub. She stayed in there for almost an hour and played and had fun, while I was occasionally allowed to wash her when she wasn''t ''too busy to bother with that stuff''.


    I eventually managed to convince her that she needed to get out so she could get to bed. I dried her off and she reluctantly left the bathroom, after one long and lingering stare at the tub. I told her to get dressed and promised that she could have another bath tomorrow if she wanted. I emptied the tub and took a quick shower and dried off, then dressed for bed myself.


    When I came out of the bathroom in my male version of an old fashioned frill-covered nightgown, Hailey laughed and laughed as tears came to her eyes. I ignored that and picked her up and put her in the bed and climbed in under the blanket with her. It took her almost ten minutes to calm down and to stop laughing. When she did, she reached out and touched the soft fabric and looked into my eyes.


    ¡°Yes, I wore it for you.¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Hailey said and her tears changed from mirth and joy to utter sadness about what had happened to her today. I pulled her in close and let her cry her eyes out for as long as she wanted. She held onto my nightgown and sobbed for quite some time and I stroked her back and her fuzzy hair the entire time. When she finished, I felt an invisible weight that was inside of her lift slightly. She had a long way to go to come to grips with everything, and I vowed to help her as much as I could.


    Hailey eventually fell asleep and kept a firm grip on me and my frilly nightgown. I held her close and entered a meditative state to stay alert, then went to sleep myself. It had been a long day for me, too.


    The next morning we got up and I took her to the kitchen to get breakfast. Since we were the first ones up, I prepped breakfasts for everyone else as well. As I got them ready, they showed up and sat down in the kitchen to wait. When they started to fully wake up and saw what I was wearing, they started to laugh.


    ¡°Why is everyone so loud?¡± Simone asked as she came into the kitchen, then she gasped at everyone''s thoughts and turned to look at me. ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± She whispered and covered her mouth to stop from laughing with the others.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± I said and turned around to give her the full frilly view, and they all laughed. ¡°Breakfast is served.¡± I handed out the prepared trays and sat down beside Hailey and started to eat.


    ¡°I saw him in it first.¡± Hailey said, quite proud of that accomplishment.


    ¡°How long... did you laugh?¡± Gleas asked between laughs.


    ¡°Almost ten minutes.¡± I grumbled and they all laughed again. Simone sat there and let their thoughts flow over her and soaked it all in. She took an occasional bite of food to fill her stomach while she filled her mind. We all had a good meal and then it was time to get to work. Simone and Jelly put on their military space suits and I went back to my room and put on my flight suit, then I met them in the shuttle bay.


    ¡°You''re really sticking to the SAR shift rotation.¡± Jelly said as we left the ship and flew out to the next wreck.


    ¡°I should have given you the same orientation speech that I gave the others.¡± I said and explained how it left everyone alert, kept up morale, let them get plenty of rest, and everyone was happy... especially me.


    ¡°I think I want to retire and let you hire me officially.¡± Jelly said with a laugh. ¡°This job is so easy!¡±


    ¡°We''re leaving the system when the contract is up in a couple of months.¡± I said. ¡°The others have agreed to come with me as I hunt down the people responsible for that explosion.¡±


    ¡°That''s what you''re going to do when you leave?¡± Jelly asked and swung us around a large wreck.


    ¡°Among other things.¡± I said cryptically.


    ¡°I have a life here and...¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and touched her shoulder. ¡°You have your own responsibilities to take care of. There''s no need to explain.¡±


    Jelly took a breath and let it out. ¡°I''d really like to go, though.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°The lure of facing unknown danger is quite a draw, isn''t it?¡±


    Jelly nodded and brought us to a stop near the next wreck on the list. ¡°We''re here.¡±


    ¡°Then close up and Simone and I will get to work.¡± I said and stepped back into the passenger compartment and the blast door slid into place to block off the cockpit.


    ¡°Decompressing.¡± Jelly said over the suit com. ¡°We''re clear. Go for it.¡±


    I opened the hatch and stepped out into space and reached back for Simone.


    ¡°It''s so weird that you can do that.¡± Simone said and took my hand.


    ¡°Only because you haven''t seen me in combat mode... and now I''m wondering if the military is going to release the footage of me rescuing Hailey.¡± I floated us over to land on the hull of the wreck.


    ¡°I doubt it.¡± Jelly said. ¡°Orders from on high covered up your involvement the first time.¡±


    ¡°Then how did you know about it?¡± I asked and drew my Light sword and cut into the wreck.


    ¡°They said something about making sure the military knew how much you were helping us.¡± Jelly said. ¡°It was one of the oddest orders my commander ever had.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I can imagine it was something like, ''tell your people about this; but, keep it quiet and don''t tell anyone else''.¡±


    Jelly laughed. ¡°Fill that with a bunch of military terms and a few political mealy-mouth words and you got it nearly perfect.¡±


    Simone and I entered the wreck and started to salvage what we could. It was a fairly small wreck, so it only took an hour to strip it of everything valuable and we moved on to the next wreck. We worked for the full six hour shift and headed back to the ship for lunch. When we all sat down, Jelly turned and looked at me with a serious face.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Hunter, I''ve been meaning to ask you something.¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°It''s probably going to take a couple of years to get my hair to grow down to my shoulders.¡±


    Jelly shook her head. ¡°No, that''s not... well, I did want to ask that...¡±


    Simone, Gleas and Kalina laughed.


    ¡°What''s your real question?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°Why did you buy a flight suit for yourself?¡± Jelly asked, and she was genuinely curious about it. It got everyone''s attention and they looked at me while they ate.


    ¡°That''s a simple answer.¡± I said and finished eating. ¡°The embarrassment factor.¡±


    ¡°The what?¡± Several of them asked at the same time.


    ¡°From the descriptions of the suits, I knew they would be more form-fitting than the ones I had seen before. I didn''t expect them to be quite so tight and they turned out to be more like a second skin, though.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Rather than buying them just for the women and having them walk around, and possibly think that I was objectifying them, I bought one for myself to prove that what was good enough for them to wear was good enough for me, too.¡±


    ¡°R-really?¡± Gleas asked, surprised.


    I wasn''t surprised that the thoughts of the others matched hers, so I nodded. ¡°If I had known how revealing they were before buying them, though... I might have forgotten to wear mine that first day.¡± I said with a grin as I stood up. ¡°Wouldn''t that have been a shame?¡±


    The four women exchanged glances and then watched me intensely as I cleared the table of the empty food trays, then I carried them over to the counter and slowly slid each one into the available slot.


    ¡°Can Hailey sit in the third seat of the cockpit and watch me work for a little while?¡± I asked with my back to them.


    ¡°I... don''t see why not.¡± Gleas managed to say. ¡°She''s going to need a suit.¡±


    ¡°I''ve got quite a few of them stashed around, so that''s not a problem.¡± I turned around to face them and walked back to the table. ¡°Come on, Hailey. Let''s go and find your first space suit.¡±


    ¡°My first space suit!¡± Hailey exclaimed and hopped up. I caught her and she wrapped her arms around my neck and held on as I sat her on my hip.


    ¡°There''s going to be a lot of extra straps to make it small enough to fit you.¡± I said and walked away from the table.


    ¡°That''s okay. I''ll grow into it!¡± Hailey said, happily.


    *


    When Hunter and Hailey disappeared from view, the four women turned towards each other.


    ¡°He bought his flight suit on purpose.¡± Gleas said and her face flushed a little red. ¡°For us.¡±


    ¡°He bought it so we could look at him while he wore it.¡± Kalina said and took a breath and let it out. ¡°So we wouldn''t be embarrassed when we wore ours.¡±


    ¡°Is he for real?¡± Jelly asked. ¡°Most people wouldn''t even consider something like that.¡±


    ¡°Remember what he said.¡± Simone chimed in as the view of Hunter from behind in a practically skin tight suit was burned into her mind. ¡°He wanted to create a happy and productive work environment.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I''m happy all right.¡± Gleas said and smiled. ¡°Who else gets to go to work and do the easiest job they can think of, gets paid top wages, receives free equipment that any pilot would kill for, and also lets them ogle their drop dead gorgeous boss occasionally?¡±


    ¡°It''s a shame about the hair, though.¡± Kalina said.


    ¡°Even without all that golden mass of hair, he''s unbelievably handsome.¡± Gleas countered. ¡°It''s too bad we''re all employees and can''t enjoy it more than we already do.¡±


    Jelly didn''t point out that she was only working for him and officially she wasn''t an employee. Of course, that made her face flush red and the three other women at the table pointed and laughed.


    ¡°I wasn''t thinking about it!¡± Jelly tried to deny it and that made them laugh harder.


    Gleas tapped Kalina''s arm. ¡°We better go and see if Hunter is putting that poor girl in the suit first before he adjusts it.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± Kalina said and they left the kitchen.


    Simone''s eyes were drawn to their backsides and she blinked her eyes to shake away the thought of comparing them to Hunter''s.


    ¡°They really are like a second skin.¡± Jelly said as she watched the two women walk away. ¡°Are they even wearing underwear?¡±


    Simone caught her breath and looked at Jelly, who just understood what she just said.


    He''s not wearing underwear. They thought at the same time, then they both thought about him standing up right beside the table, that was at just the right height to frame him perfectly.


    ¡°I need to use the bathroom.¡± Simone said as she stood and quickly left.


    *


    I had been trying to adjust the suit after putting it on Hailey when Gleas and Kalina came over to us.


    ¡°Stop that.¡± Gleas said and waved at me to back away.


    I caught their thoughts that I was doing it wrong, so I raised my hands in surrender and backed up.


    ¡°You go and get ready to go back out.¡± Kalina said. ¡°We''ll have her sorted out by the time you reach the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°I''ll leave her in your expert hands, then.¡± I said. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Both women nodded and I gave Hailey a little wave and walked down the hallway towards the back of the ship. I caught a quick spike of pleasure from Simone''s room as I passed it. Instead of knocking, I decided that she needed another couple of minutes alone. I walked to the stairs and went down into the cargo hold, then over to the shuttle bay.


    ¡°Hi, Jelly.¡± I said. ¡°We''re going back to the last wreck. I need to grab the power cables and the control panel for that alien mining droid.¡±


    Jelly didn''t look at me and I could see that her face was red. I caught some of her surface thoughts and stopped myself from leaning in and whispering confirmation of her thoughts about me being naked under the suit. I didn''t want her distracted, not while flying in such a dangerous environment.


    ¡°Are you all right?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I''m fine.¡± Jelly said and the Presence wavered slightly.


    ¡°Do you need a short break?¡± I asked.


    ¡°N-no, I... I''m just...¡±


    ¡°...preoccupied with... something.¡± I said and she blushed. ¡°Get off the shuttle.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Jelly turned and looked at me in surprise.


    ¡°If you can''t put your thoughts and feelings aside right now, I can''t trust your skills while flying in a dangerous situation.¡±


    ¡°But... but... it''s your fault!¡± Jelly exclaimed. ¡°You just told us you bought that suit so we could see you like that, then I realized you didn''t have any underwear on!¡± She said. ¡°You''re naked under that suit!¡±


    ¡°You''re naked under your clothes, too.¡±


    ¡°Wh-wh-what?¡±


    ¡°I am literally covered from my neck to the tips of my toes in thick cloth, and yet you think I''m naked.¡± I said. ¡°With that reasoning, under your clothes you are naked, too.¡±


    Jelly didn''t respond and just stared at me.


    ¡°You''re starting to understand.¡± I said and stepped close. ¡°It''s what a person thinks that makes things sexy and appealing. When I wore this in front of everyone for the first time, it was sexy and appealing to them and embarrassing for me. The second time, it wasn''t as bad. The third, fourth, and fifth time? It became the normal thing to see me in and it''s stayed that way.¡±


    Jelly''s thoughts went over how the other two women reacted to finding out why I had bought my suit, and neither of them had freaked out about it. They accepted it and really liked that I did it for them.


    ¡°The same goes for the women.¡± I continued. ¡°At first they were embarrassed to be protected so close to their bodies, then the next time it was a little easier. The time after that, since we were all wearing the same thing, it became normal and no one overreacted or became too excited. We all still see it; but, we don''t over-exaggerate our reactions because we''ve already seen it before.¡± I explained. ¡°Being turned on by something that''s appealing is normal. For everyone. Both men and women can be affected, and that''s okay, as long as it doesn''t change your reactions to everything else.¡±


    ¡°But... you...¡±


    ¡°That''s why I asked if you need a break. You need to get used to seeing me like this, because you''re going to see it a lot.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t hire one pilot because as soon as I entered the room with her, she jumped and squealed. She couldn''t even be in the same room with me without overreacting.¡±


    Jelly closed her eyes and took several breaths to calm down. I stood there and felt her thoughts filter around and the very personal ones were pushed aside. They were still there, because she didn''t get rid of them; but, she had a firm hold of them and I knew she wouldn''t let them affect her performance as much now. She opened her eyes and looked at me.


    ¡°I''m okay. I can do this.¡± Jelly said, confidence in her voice.


    I nodded. ¡°I know you can.¡± I said. ¡°Now don''t look while I bend over and pick up my helmet and gloves.¡±


    Jelly sighed as I turned around and bent over to grab my helmet from the seat it was on. ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± She whispered as she stared at my backside like it was the most interesting thing to ever exist. ¡°You did that on purpose, you teasing bastard.¡±


    I chuckled and turned back to her. ¡°Yeah, and you didn''t freak out or let your thoughts derail your mind from your job.¡± I said and slipped on my gloves. ¡°Do you think you have enough self-control to still handle flying?¡±


    ¡°Damn right I do.¡± Jelly said as she let anger enter her thoughts. ¡°Do you know how many hostile engagements I''ve been in?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said and put on my helmet. ¡°How many men have you been engaged to?¡±


    Jelly opened her mouth to tell me how many flights she had under enemy fire, then she gasped when she realized what I had asked. ¡°¡±Hey! That''s not what I meant!¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and turned to the shuttle''s hatch. ¡°Come on in, Simone.¡±


    ¡°You''re not done arguing, though.¡± Simone said and walked up the ramp.


    ¡°It''s a polite discussion.¡± I said. ¡°How much of that did you hear?¡±


    Simone understood what I meant about ''hearing''. ¡°I got it all.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad.¡± I said. ¡°We have a lot of work to catch up on.¡±


    Simone nodded. ¡°We''re a day and a half behind schedule.¡±


    ¡°We''ll catch up fast.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I''ll pull, you carry.¡±


    ¡°Only the small to medium things. You can take the big stuff.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡± I said and hit the chin button for my suit com. ¡°Baby Bird to Mother. Are you ready for visuals?¡±


    ¡°I said to stop calling me that.¡± Gleas said with a laugh. ¡°Hailey''s practically jumping around while she''s waiting to see you.¡±


    ¡°Simone, pipe your signal to the cockpit and Jelly can relay.¡± I said and she nodded. She hit a combination of switches and then we all heard a squeal of delight. ¡°Calm down, Kalina! It''s just me! The Hero of Chofaris!¡± I said and waved at Simone.


    ¡°That wasn''t... never mind.¡± Kalina said and we all heard Hailey''s giggle.


    ¡°Jelly, take us out and give Hailey a good view of the ship.¡± I said.


    The shuttle floated out and around the ship to give a wide shot, then we floated in front of the cockpit. Hailey didn''t look at us and waved out the window and then giggled as she saw her own hand wave.


    ¡°All right, Jelly. Let''s get to work.¡± I said and the shuttle floated around and back down into the mass of wrecks. We all enjoyed Hailey''s girly oos and aahs as we weaved around a couple of the floating things, then she gasped when Simone and I jumped out into space and landed on the wreck.


    ¡°It might get boring after this part.¡± I said and used my Light sword to cut into the wreck, and Hailey laughed.

 Book Three: The Resolution 044

    The shift passed even faster than normal with Hailey''s comments and questions about things. When we went back to the ship, she was waiting for us at the top of the stairs.


    ¡°You guys are so awesome!¡± Hailey said and tried to jump up and grab onto me. She wasn''t used to moving around in a space suit that well, so she only kind of hopped on one foot. I laughed and knelt for her, and she grabbed onto my neck. ¡°I never seen anything like that before!¡±


    ¡°I thought you would get bored after a while and instead you just kept asking questions and talking.¡± I said and stood up with her in my arms. ¡°You made our work go so much faster.¡±


    ¡°I did?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°Usually it''s all just quiet and we talk occasionally when moving equipment around.¡± Simone said. ¡°You made us realize that there is a lot more going on and kept us thinking about how to answer you.¡±


    ¡°I really helped?¡± Hailey asked and you could hear how pleased she was.


    ¡°We learned a few things, too.¡± Gleas said as she and Kalina came from the cockpit. ¡°Thanks, Hailey.¡±


    ¡°We''re in a safe and stable orbit away from the wrecks.¡± Kalina said. ¡°We''re good until morning.¡±


    ¡°We should all get changed and have something to eat.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°How much of those leftovers do you have?¡± Jelly asked me, her voice full of hope.


    ¡°Not enough for everyone to have full meals.¡± I said and saw her disappointment. ¡°I''ll prep the ration trays and mix the rest in, so it''s not wasted and no one is left out.¡±


    That made them all happy, so we split up and changed out of our space suits and put on regular clothes, then I took Hailey to the kitchen and prepared the meals while mixing in my home cooked food where appropriate, so that the tastes didn''t clash. I served everyone when they were done and we all enjoyed a good meal.


    ¡°Are we watching the screen again tonight or are we all doing our own things?¡± I asked and cleared up the trays.


    ¡°I''ve got some things to catch up on.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Mainly the shift logs and adding personal notes.¡±


    ¡°Now that you mention it, I need to update the parts list we''ve salvaged.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''ll do that for you.¡± Simone said and smiled at Hailey. ¡°You''ve got more important things to take care of right now.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no!¡± I fake gasped and picked Hailey up. ¡°I almost forgot!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Hailey giggled.


    ¡°It''s bath time!¡±


    ¡°YAY!¡± Hailey yelled happily and the women around the table laughed.


    ¡°One super sudsy bubble filled adventure coming right up!¡± I said and held her out as if she was flying. I made plane sounds as I flew her from the kitchen and Hailey held out her arms and laughed.


    *


    ¡°That''s so nice to see.¡± Kalina said in a soft voice.


    ¡°Someone''s motherly instincts are kicking in.¡± Gleas said and Kalina laughed.


    ¡°You can''t tell me that it doesn''t make you happy to see him act like that.¡± Kalina nudged her elbow.


    ¡°He cooks, he cleans, he works hard, he''s rich, handsome, and he spoils us.¡± Gleas said. ¡°No, I''m not happy at all that he can take care of a kid, too.¡±


    That made everyone laugh.


    ¡°I better get that paperwork done.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°I should do that, too.¡± Jelly said. ¡°Mind if I join you and Simone in the cockpit?¡±


    ¡°The more the merrier.¡± Gleas said and the three women left to do some extra work.


    Kalina sat in the kitchen and thought about everything that Hunter did for them every day. After a few minutes, she couldn''t help herself and compared him to her boyfriend, who seemed to be severely lacking in pretty much every respect. She had refrained from travelling back to the planet during their days off, because she felt selfish and didn''t want to hand over the money she had made. Even if it was the easiest money she had earned in her entire life, she still felt the need to keep it for her own use.


    Am I a bad girlfriend? Kalina asked herself, and then she felt a tiny tingle at the back of her skull. It was accompanied by a sense of surety. No, I''m a great girlfriend. It''s okay if I want to keep my money separate. I''m saving up to have a child. I don''t want to contribute to us being deeper in debt.


    With her mind made up, Kalina went to her room and took her time as she recorded a message to her boyfriend. The least she could do was let him know what she thought about his behaviour lately.


    *


    The rest of the week passed by and Hunter and Simone caught up on being behind the salvage operation for that week. It was going to take a lot longer to catch up to the time he had been in the hospital and to get the entire operation back onto the original schedule. They weren''t trying to do that, since it was a completely unrealistic goal. They just worked hard and had fun. Little did they realize that it made the work so much easier.


    Jelly was the only one who chose to go to the planet surface on the day off, and Hunter let her take the shuttle. She asked him why he was trusting her like that, and he shrugged. After she left, he told everyone that he always gives people one chance to prove themselves. If they fail, he never fully trusts them again. This kind of shocked Gleas and Kalina, until he said that they had already passed and they didn''t have to worry.


    Simone held in her tears and tried to bury her feelings, because she knew that she had failed that trust test horribly. The whole thing with Luxea and taking her side, quite unfairly as it turned out, pretty much ruined her relationship with Hunter before it even got started. She deeply regretted it and she knew there wasn''t really any way to make it up to him.


    Even if she jumped back in time, he was right. Her thoughts still held some irrational hatred that she had picked up from Luxea. She had been working hard to purge herself of them and to try and clear her mind. Her work with Presence had come to a screeching halt as well. She wasn''t sure why that was; but, if she had asked, Hunter would have told her that it was because her own emotions and thoughts were too conflicted to allow her to manipulate it successfully.


    Since it was their day off, Hunter, Hailey, Gleas, Kalina, and Simone gathered in the living room and watched the Chofaris version of an action movie. Hunter thought it was weird, since there was a lot of hover car action and almost no implied death or destruction. It seemed kind of flat in comparison to some of the films he had seen back on Earth. It was still head and shoulders better than a lot of the other things he had watched so far. Hailey on the other hand, absolutely loved it.


    Jelly was back the next morning, just in time for the next work shift, and everyone got back to work. Hailey was back in the third seat in the cockpit and watched them as well. It not only kept her busy, it also let her be watched unobtrusively. That was a win win situation for everyone involved.


    The next week passed and then the next, and the cargo hold and the metal racks on the top of the ship were about a third filled. That was great, because it meant that they were ahead of schedule. Hunter had estimated three trips of the Udelis for one of the new ship, and with two people working, the new ship was already a third full and the first trip with Udelis was only half over. Everyone was happy with that news, because it meant that they would be done that much faster.


    *


    On the next day off, I had the crazy idea that we should all go down to the planet and enjoy ourselves.


    ¡°No, thanks.¡± Jelly said. ¡°I''ve got... ah...¡±


    ¡°Don''t tell me they make you stay at the base in meetings all day when it''s supposed to be your day off.¡± I said and she couldn''t look at me. ¡°Well, as your current non-paying boss, I need your shuttle flying expertise today.¡±


    Jelly opened her mouth to refuse, then she sighed.


    ¡°I''m glad you enthusiastically agree.¡± I said and everyone but her laughed. ¡°I''ve seen all of Hailey''s clothes now and it''s all little girl stuff.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Hailey looked at me with a question on her face.


    ¡°It''s not that I don''t like them, since you''re so cute.¡± I said and she giggled. ¡°I just think you need to have some young woman clothes that fit better.¡± I said as an explanation. ¡°We can visit the zoo, too.¡±


    Hailey gasped. ¡°I''ve never been to the zoo!¡±


    ¡°We can make a whole day of it.¡± I said and looked at the women around the breakfast table. ¡°Do some shopping, have a bite to eat, see some weird and freaky animals, then we can go to the zoo.¡±


    Gleas laughed because she got the joke right away.


    ¡°I''ll even pay for a good supper at a nice restaurant.¡± I said and felt some misgivings from two of them. ¡°Not enough to convince you all, huh?¡± I asked and Kalina blushed slightly and Simone turned her head away a little. ¡°What if I offered to buy you an outfit?¡±


    That made a couple of them catch their breath, Kalina included.


    ¡°Not quite enough... okay, then... how about I volunteer to make one supper this week?¡±


    ¡°DEAL!¡± Simone yelled, which gave away that it was her holding out on them, and her face flushed to a dark red. The other women couldn''t help but laugh at that.


    ¡°Let''s get changed into some good casual clothes and we can head out for a day on the town.¡± I said.


    Gleas smiled. ¡°Girls, I think we have just been challenged.¡± She said and stood. ¡°Shall we take him up on just how good we can dress up casually?¡±


    ¡°You''re on!¡± Kalina chuckled and stood as well. ¡°Half an hour time limit.¡±


    ¡°Not including a shower.¡± Gleas countered.


    ¡°Hey, wait...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°That''s plenty of time.¡± Jelly said and stood with a competitive grin on her face.


    Simone wasn''t someone to be outdone, so she smiled and stood. ¡°No outrageous jewellery.¡±


    ¡°We''re playing dress up!¡± Hailey exclaimed and grabbed my hand. ¡°Let''s go!¡± She hopped off her chair and dragged me out of the kitchen to the sound of four women laughing.


    Thirty minutes later, I was instructed on the ship''s intercom to send Hailey down the hallway. I was also to stand at the bottom of the stairs in the cargo hold where I would wait, so I could properly judge the competitors. I had tried to argue that it wasn''t a competition and was told to be quiet and to be a fair judge. Fifteen minutes after that, the ship was in orbit around Chofaris and the first competitor appeared at the top of the stairs.


    Kalina wore a nice blue flower sun dress that went to her mid thighs. Her shoulder length brown hair was pulled up off of her neck and pinned into a small mass behind her head. She also wore two inch heels that were open toed and she walked down the stairs with confidence. Her thighs rubbed together as she tried to stop me from seeing her underwear, even though the dress wasn''t that short. It drew the eyes to the movement, however... which was exactly what she wanted. She stepped aside and I looked up at the next competitor.


    Jelly was there and she wore a plain white short sleeved t-shirt, that you could clearly see the darker bra through. She had one side of her short reddish brown hair pinned back and bared one of her ears completely. She also had on a pair of loose-fitting shorts that went to mid-thigh and wore combat boots. She didn''t clomp down the stairs like I thought she would with the heavy footwear, though. Unlike Kalina, she didn''t try to keep her thighs together to stop me from getting a good view as her shorts flopped out to reveal beige colored panties that were both modest and suggestive. I raised my eyebrows at her when she reached the bottom of the stairs.


    Jelly walked by me and whispered. ¡°You''re not the only one that can tease others by letting them look.¡±


    I held in my laugh, because a couple weeks ago, she had called me a teasing bastard when I bent over in front of her with just my flight suit on. I didn''t have time for more reflections, because the next woman appeared.


    Simone wore something that looked like a jumpsuit, except it was very stylish and was a bright red. She had on a thick black belt and three inch heeled shoes, also black, and her mid-back black hair was teased out to be twice as voluminous as normal. She wore one gold bangle on her right wrist and a gold hoop earring in her left ear. She walked down the stairs and I saw that she didn''t have a bra on, even though her breasts were quite a bit bigger than those that could go without wearing one, and it was very noticable.


    ¡°I''m starting to feel bad that I''m only wearing dress pants and a blue shirt.¡± I said when she walked by me. She laughed and stood next to the other three women.


    Gleas appeared at the top of the stairs and I let out a low whistle. She wore pants so tight that they looked like they were painted on. They almost looked like beige colored jeans, only without the denim look. It was amazing to see... well, pretty much all of her... as she walked down the stairs. I didn''t even notice that she had on a shirt similar to mine until she was almost at the bottom of the stairs. Our eyes met when she stopped at the second stair and I saw that her makeup was subtle and highlighted her blue eyes perfectly.


    ¡°You need the full effect.¡± Gleas said as her face flushed slightly red and then she turned around to show me exactly how tight her pants were. She waited a moment to make sure I was looking in the right spot, then she slowly walked up six of the stairs.


    ¡°Good god.¡± I whispered at the sight.


    Gleas turned back around and walked down the rest of the way. She glanced down at my excited state and then she stopped beside me and said something that made my heart beat even faster.


    ¡°If you don''t pick Hailey as the winner, I''ll kill you.¡± Gleas whispered and walked over to the others.


    I had to use several calming techniques to clear my thoughts and then the girl in question appeared at the top of the stairs.


    Hailey wore the nice blue dress I had picked for her, except there was a small belt now and the shoes had a little more height. She had a touch of makeup on her eyelids to make her bright eyes pop and she had gotten a blue brimmed hat from somewhere that matched her dress. She had a gold bangle on her wrist that was eerily similar to the one Simone had on, and Hailey hopped down the stairs, happy as happy can be. By the time she reached me, I had already started clapping and the others joined me.


    ¡°The clear winner!¡± I said and picked her up and swung her around. ¡°The prettiest girl on the whole ship!¡±


    Hailey giggled and laughed and hugged me tightly around the neck.


    I turned to the women behind us. ¡°You all fought valiantly in this battle; but, there can be only one victor... and to the victor, go the spoils!¡± I said and gave Hailey three kisses on her cheek to make her laugh.


    ¡°I think I would have fought harder if I knew that was the prize.¡± Kalina said with a laugh.


    ¡°Too late!¡± Hailey said, and everyone laughed.


    ¡°One thing before we go.¡± I said and touched Simone''s hand. She looked at me with surprise as Presence formed around her chest and gave her breasts the support they should have had.


    ¡°You did it to impress me, and it did.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I can''t let you suffer all day for it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Simone said.


    As an afterthought, I put a thin layer over the front and back of Gleas'' pants to obscure them slightly, just so we wouldn''t attract the wrong kind of attention. People were going to look, especially with four women this dressed up; but, that didn''t mean they wanted to get hit on constantly, either.


    We boarded the shuttle and left the ship completely unattended. I had covered it in Presence and no one was going to touch it without me knowing about it. We flew down to the surface and instead of going to the capital like we usually did, we went to Jelly''s hometown instead. She said it had some great shopping that was even better than the capital. Gleas and Kalina thought about arguing, then held off until they saw it for themselves. They were quite happy to have been wrong.


    Nearly a whole section of Jelly''s hometown was dedicated to shops of every kind and I could tell that all four women and one almost teenage young woman were enamoured with the sight. Thus, the morning of endless shopping began. I wasn''t surprised I didn''t have to remind them that I had offered to buy them an outfit for agreeing to come along. They were all quite picky about it, as I suspected they would be.


    Hailey was the only exception, because we were buying several outfits for her. With four women that seemed to be experts in dressing up when necessary, we used up the entire morning with playing dress up. I was the unofficial judge, mainly because I couldn''t quite see past how cute she was to what she was actually wearing. They humored me and kept asking, even though my response was almost always ''I like it''.


    I stored everything in a hidden bag of holding and we took a break for lunch. It was what they considered fast food, even though we had to wait half an hour in line for it. It tasted good, so I couldn''t complain. After that, we hopped into the shuttle and flew towards the outskirts of the capital to visit the zoo. I was surprised at the variety and scope of the animals they had on display and Hailey pretty much hopped up and down the entire time and yelled the creature''s names and dragged us all around.


    I had to occasionally share some energy with the others to keep them going. In a stroke of genius, I shared a bit of Hailey''s enthusiasm with everyone, too. The only one surprised by it was Jelly, and that was only because she hadn''t been around long enough experience some of my techniques. We spent several hours at the zoo and visited every single creature and display they had. When we reached the entrance, everyone was tired from walking around all day.


    Rather than go to a restaurant, I brought them to a large park and set up a nice picnic area for us. I asked them all to wait there for me and I ran to the closest store and bought the items and ingredients that I needed. I used my wrist com and called the specialty store to make sure they had my order ready, ran all the way over to pick it up, then ran back to the park. I surrounded a large area with a Presence barrier, used Stealth to hide us from everyone''s perception, then I started a fire in a large shallow bowl made of Presence.


    ¡°Hunter! You can''t do that here!¡± Gleas said loudly.


    ¡°It''s all right. No one can see us.¡± I said and they all sat still and were completely surprised when I cooked them a meal right there. I extinguished the fire and served everyone. ¡°Go ahead. It''s delicious.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe you just... in the middle of a public park!¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°Relax.¡± I said and lifted the bowl of Presence and the remains of the fire lifted and didn''t leave a mark on the grass. ¡°I wouldn''t cause harm like that, or leave evidence.¡± I smiled and she shook her head.


    ¡°Oh, this... it really is delicious!¡± Gleas said. ¡°How did... no, I don''t want to know.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Yeah, it doesn''t matter where I cook, it still comes out great.¡±


    We all ate the food I had prepared and I added the trash left over to the fire pile, then I absorbed the Presence barrier hiding us and tossed everything into the closest trash receptacle.


    ¡°Who wants dessert?¡± I asked and they all groaned, even Hailey. ¡°I guess we can have it another day.¡±


    We left the park and went back to the shuttle, then took off to go back to the ship. We landed in the shuttle bay and stepped out of the shuttle. I smiled at their thoughts. They were well fed, had shopped until they were tired, had purchased several things, received an outfit as a gift, and has spent the day with me. All in all, they were quite happy with how it turned out.


    ¡°I think my little sea-monkey needs a bath.¡± I said as I carried Hailey up the stairs.


    ¡°That sounds...¡± Hailey started to say and let out a yawn. ¡°...fun.¡±


    ¡°Maybe bed instead and we can get cleaned up in the morning.¡± I said and then saw Gleas and Jelly yawn, too. ¡°Yeah, I think it''s bedtime for everyone.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± Simone said. ¡°Can you...¡±


    I absorbed the Presence holding her breasts up and they jiggled as they bounced.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Simone said and passed me. ¡°I''ll get the bangle back in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight!¡± Hailey said a little loudly. That apparently took the last of her strength, because she flopped her head onto my shoulder and promptly fell asleep.


    ¡°This was a great day.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Thank you, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°I''ll drop your bribe off in the morning.¡± I said and she chuckled.


    Kalina and Jelly thanked me as well and walked down the hallway. I went into my room and put Hailey down after removing the hat, then changed into my nightgown and changed Hailey as well. She didn''t wake up and I tucked us under the blanket, then I entered a meditative state and went right to sleep.

 Book Three: The Resolution 045

    The next morning, I gave Hailey a bath... or, I should say I set her loose and let her play in the tub to her heart''s content while I took a shower. After that, we went to the kitchen and I had breakfast ready for everyone, then I gave them all of the things they had purchased yesterday. Hailey told me after breakfast that she needed a few minutes alone, so I stood outside our room and waited. When the door opened, Hailey stood there in one of her new outfits for when she wore a space suit. A long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of pants that let her have the most movement inside of a restrictive suit.


    ¡°You look really nice.¡± I said and she smiled. ¡°Do you need help being shoved inside your space suit?¡±


    Hailey giggled. ¡°Gleas said you''re not allowed to help and that she''d take care of it.¡±


    I stuck out my bottom lip and pouted as I crossed my arms.


    Hailey laughed. ¡°She said you''d do that!¡±


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°All right, get going.¡± I said and waved her aside. ¡°I need to get changed, too.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Hailey said and almost skipped down the hallway.


    ¡°For some reason, I think she''s enjoying watching us work.¡± I said absently and went into the room and changed into my flight suit, hooked the Light sword to my belt, and put the helmet and gloves into my bag of holding. After that, I walked down the hallway and met Simone as she came out of her room.


    ¡°What the hell is that you''re wearing?¡± I asked and pointed at her military space suit.


    ¡°Um... I''m going to work?¡± Simone said as if she was asking a question.


    ¡°Not in those old rags, you''re not.¡± I reached into my bag of holding and took out one of the large boxes that had been in the order I picked up yesterday. ¡°Go put this on and be quick about it.¡±


    ¡°What is...¡± Simone reached out to take it, then gasped when her fingers brushed mine. ¡°HUNTER!!!¡±


    ¡°Your first flying lesson will occur at twenty-hundred, or eight o''clock tonight.¡± I said. ¡°We can''t have you falsely advertise, can we?¡±


    ¡°I... I don''t know what to say.¡± Simone said and cradled the box in her arms.


    ¡°Maybe ''get out of my doorway so I can change''?¡± I offered.


    Simone put the box down, then reached out and put a hand on my chest. She let it linger there for a moment, then gave me a little shove. She smiled as I stepped back a couple of inches and the door closed. I chuckled and walked back down the hallway and knocked on Jelly''s door.


    ¡°Hold on! I''m almost dressed!¡± Jelly said loud enough for me to hear.


    ¡°Do you mean actual clothes or the space suit?¡± I asked.


    Jelly didn''t say anything for a moment, then spoke. ¡°Can''t you see through walls?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°I already told you that I don''t invade people''s privacy like that.¡±


    The door opened and Jelly stood there in a very similar outfit to Hailey''s, which is probably where Hailey got the idea to dress like that.


    ¡°So you can turn it off?¡± Jelly asked, curious.


    ¡°Can you imagine what it would be like if I was constantly looking through all the walls around me?¡± I asked with a smile. ¡°I wouldn''t be able to tell where they were. I would also be walking into them and probably tripping over everything all the time.¡±


    Jelly''s mouth dropped open slightly at that realization. ¡°I didn''t think of that.¡±


    ¡°Most people don''t.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I''m glad I caught you before you finished getting dressed, though.¡±


    Jelly''s eyes widened at my words and I had to suppress my urge to laugh at her thoughts.


    ¡°I couldn''t in good conscience let you work another day wearing that ratty old suit.¡± I said and took out the other large box. ¡°Make sure to follow the instructions.¡± I handed it to her and tapped the top of the box. ¡°The temperature regulation needs full skin contact.¡±


    Jelly held the box in her hands and stared at me.


    ¡°I''d tell you to hurry up and get changed; but, it looks like you''re going to need a few minutes alone.¡± I stepped back. ¡°See you in the shuttle bay in ten.¡± I said and the door shut between us. I walked down the hallway as slowly as I could and then down the stairs as I procrastinated as much as possible. I took my time, almost crawling down the stairs, then I stood at the bottom and waited for the show to come.


    *


    I can''t believe he bought this for me. Jelly thought as she sat on the bed and her hand stroked the large box. I can''t even return it or say I don''t need it, because it''s custom made for me. No one else can wear it and have it be effective.


    Jelly opened the box and her breath caught at the sleek helmet that didn''t impede her vision at all. The cloth was supple, even though it really was thicker than what she had expected it to be. She took the manual and gave it a quick read-through, then agreed with Hunter. Any clothing, be it underwear or a bra, would severely interfere with the temperature regulation. The body''s heat would gather behind that clothing and the suit would cool the surrounding area to compensate, which could damage the exposed skin around the clothing if left for too long.


    As an example, it would be like getting freezer burn on something that you kept in the freezer for too long. It worked and preserved things normally; but, if left too long, it would cause damage because it was too much cold.


    Jelly took out the helmet and the mag-lock gloves and then lifted out the flight suit. She was surprised that it was one piece and then she understood why they were custom made. Unlike a normal space suit, there was no way to adjust it once it was used. You wore it as it was and it conformed to your body and no other adjustments were necessary. It was your suit and it would stay that way. She hugged the suit to her chest and tried her best to keep her emotions in check.


    There was no way that the military could afford to buy these things for every pilot they had and she had never once imagined she would ever own one. It wasn''t even a goal of hers. It was beyond her means to even save up for one, let alone actually buy one... and here it was, given to her by a man that wasn''t her boss. She also suspected that he knew perfectly well what she was doing there... and he let her. He wasn''t restricting her communications, her flight time, or even her personal time.


    Except for yesterday.


    Jelly had to smile at his antics and everyone was just going along with whatever whim he had. Of course, he didn''t really have to twist my arm too hard to get me to agree to go along as well. She chuckled as she slipped off her clothing and started to put on the flight suit. Plus, it was fun and actually felt like a day off. She caught her breath at that thought and the suit snapped into place around her neck. He knew I was actually working for the military and reporting on all of his activities during my days off and he made me take yesterday off!


    Jelly sat down and let that thought float through her brain as she put on the mag-lock gloves. Their loud snap was a comfort to her. She took several breaths and stood up, her mind set and her goals clear. She had been a little worried that her mission and Hunter''s need for her skills would conflict at some point, and now she knew that wasn''t possible. He was aware of what her actual job was and that was also a comfort to her.


    Neither of them would ever admit it out loud, though. The game still had to be played. Jelly smiled and picked up her helmet and left her room. She was happy that he knew they were playing a game and that made her relax just as much as wearing the fully protective flight suit did.


    ¡°You look great.¡± Simone said from behind her and Jelly turned to look at her.


    ¡°Helllllo!¡± Jelly said exaggeratedly as she looked Simone up and down.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Yours is just as tight, stupid.¡± Simone said and laughed as they walked down the hallway.


    ¡°Who has the better body?¡± Jelly asked, teasingly.


    ¡°Gleas.¡± Simone said, completely serious.


    Jelly blinked her eyes for a moment. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Didn''t you see Hunter''s reaction yesterday when she appeared in those pants, then she turned around and wagged her ass at him?¡± Simone asked and laughed again. ¡°She definitely knew what buttons to push for him.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t even notice after teasing him myself.¡± Jelly said and then laughed, too. ¡°I thought she was joking when she said she wanted him to see the whole show.¡±


    ¡°She definitely outclasses me on the sexiness scale.¡± Simone said and they reached the top of the stairs.


    *


    ¡°I wouldn''t say that.¡± I said and smiled up at the two women. ¡°You both look good.¡±


    Simone smiled because the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°Are you being all chivalrous and want to walk us over to the shuttle?¡±


    ¡°Hell, no.¡± I said. ¡°I wanted to see your breasts jiggle again as you walk down the stairs.¡±


    Simone laughed, because once again, the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°At least you''re honest about it.¡±


    ¡°It was quite the sight and I won''t insult you by denying that.¡± I said and then grinned. ¡°So, go ahead. Give me another show.¡±


    ¡°You''re not ready for it.¡± Simone said and tapped Jelly''s shoulder. ¡°You first.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Trust me.¡± Simone whispered.


    Jelly held in her sigh and walked down the stairs. My eyes were drawn to her breasts as she made sure to jiggle them a little more than the steps on the stairs normally would have shook them. When she reached the bottom and looked into my eyes, she saw my surprise and smiled crookedly.


    ¡°Simone was right.¡± Jelly said and stepped by me and walked across the cargo bay.


    ¡°Eyes up.¡± Simone said and I looked up just in time to see her hop down the first step.


    ¡°Goddamn.¡± I whispered as her large breasts moved like they were completely unrestrained, even though they were restrained by the flight suit. Simone bunny-hopped down each and every stair, which jiggled and shook her chest, until she reached the bottom. To my surprise, it took a few moments for the motions to stop.


    ¡°You see? I told you that you weren''t ready for it.¡± Simone said, her voice full of confidence. She didn''t have to look down to know that she had made me excited with her show.


    ¡°I need to be more careful about what I admit in front of you from now on.¡± I said, and she laughed.


    ¡°Teasing can be so much fun when you turn it around!¡± Simone said and hooked her arm in mine as if I was escorting her, then she dragged me across the cargo hold and into the shuttle bay.


    We worked for the whole shift, came back to the ship for lunch and shared a good meal with everyone, then went back to work and did the next shift. When we were done, we had supper with everyone and then I led Simone back to the shuttle for her first flying lesson. We were well away from the debris field, so I took the shuttle out and handed the controls to her. I had her slowly fly basic drills and then we did one rotation around the ship. With that done, I took over again and landed the shuttle back in the bay and closed the doors.


    ¡°You know, you could just give me the information.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°Nope.¡± I said and she sighed. ¡°It wouldn''t be useful to you, mainly because our body types are different. You would have my memories of using the controls and judging the distances for movement. You''d have to unlearn it and then adjust your perception of those same tasks for yourself.¡±


    Simone just gave me a blank stare.


    ¡°Learning it on your own makes more sense.¡± I said. ¡°Why else do you think I didn''t ask Jelly to share her experiences with me so I could fly the shuttle myself in dangerous situations?¡±


    ¡°She''s almost a foot shorter and her reach is much different than yours.¡± Simone said, finally understanding. ¡°She''s not much shorter than me, though.¡±


    ¡°Your arms are still about two inches longer.¡± I said and tapped the back of her hand. ¡°You would be reaching for the controls out of ''habit'' and would hit the wrong ones, because your arm lengths are different.¡±


    Simone sighed. ¡°Why can''t being a telepath be easier?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Can you imagine what we would be like if we scanned everyone for their skills and were able to use them effectively?¡±


    ¡°Super powerful?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°We''d be a mess! Our heads would be filled with so many skills and errant memories that we wouldn''t know what to do with them.¡± I laughed. ¡°We would probably go crazy trying to decide what to do first.¡±


    Simone opened her mouth to refute that. She thought about her attempt to copy Luxea''s salvaging skills and how much it had changed her thought patterns and how it had changed her opinion of Hunter. It wasn''t until Hunter had pointed out how much her thoughts had adjusted to match Luxea''s that she realized what had happened.


    I let her thoughts run through the whole thing, then I touched her hand. ¡°I''m glad you stayed here.¡±


    Simone gasped as she felt my emotions and I felt her entire mind focus on me. I opened my barriers a little and let her see and feel how I would have felt if she had decided to leave with the cargo shipment on the Udelis.


    ¡°Oh, Hunter.¡± Simone said and tears came to her eyes as she gripped my hand.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and wiped her eyes with my free hand. ¡°You didn''t leave and you didn''t keep alienating me.¡±


    ¡°But... I... I was...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and then changed the subject. ¡°I think we need to hire some generic space workers.¡±


    ¡°For moving cargo?¡± Simone asked, and I nodded. ¡°I don''t think there''s a lot of women who do that.¡± Right after she said that, Simone''s face darkened in a blush, because she had automatically assumed that Luxea would try to sleep with one or more of them if they were men.


    ¡°I assume that, too.¡± I said.


    ¡°That doesn''t make it right... or a nice thing to think.¡± Simone said, sadly.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I sighed. ¡°Unfortunately, history has already repeated itself once. What are the odds it could happen again?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you can''t keep thinking she will.¡±


    ¡°I can only go by her actions so far, and they haven''t been favorable. I honestly don''t want to take the chance that she will do it again if we hire a few men to help.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I''m already taking the chance with keeping Kalina around with the way Rhubin reacts to her.¡± I said. ¡°I''m tempted to mention it to her; but, I''m afraid with the way things are in her personal life, she might jump at the chance instead of staying clear of it.¡±


    Simone wanted to argue that, and she couldn''t. She had spent enough time around the both of them to pick up the same things from their surface thoughts. She knew that Rhubin had deep attraction to Kalina and that he had a hard time keeping his emotions in check when around her. Normally, that wouldn''t be a problem; but, they were both employees at the moment and they couldn''t fraternize like that.


    ¡°I''ll post a tentative job and see what responses come up. If I can''t hire any women, I may just have to go without help.¡±


    ¡°Your work will slow down if you don''t have help.¡± Simone said. ¡°I want to stay here when the Udelis comes back.¡±


    ¡°Luxea needs help, too.¡± I said, then sighed. ¡°I don''t want you to be that help, though.¡±


    ¡°When she was happy, I was fine being around her.¡± Simone admitted. ¡°Now that I know I absorb people''s preconceptions if I stay in close proximity to them, I don''t want to be around her if she isn''t happy.¡±


    ¡°I can''t make her happy now.¡± I said. ¡°If I make any move towards her, she tenses up.¡±


    ¡°She''s scared that if you touch her...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I sighed again. ¡°Despite telling her, over and over, that I won''t read her thoughts, she doesn''t believe me. So, all I can do for now is hope that she can come to terms with everything on her own.¡±


    Simone wasn''t sure that was going to happen, considering Luxea knew what it was like being with a man that can use Presence as an aphrodisiac and she hated that it would also let him read her thoughts.


    ¡°Come on.¡± I said and stood. ¡°I''m late to my standing date to hang out with Hailey.¡±


    Simone chuckled. ¡°She''s got you wrapped around her little finger already, huh?¡±


    ¡°I''d say no; but, she''s going to be my future wife.¡± I said and Simone''s eyes widened as the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°Yeah, it surprised me, too.¡± I said and led her out of the shuttle and we left the bay. ¡°There''s no time frame for it, though.¡±


    Simone shook her head, because the Presence still didn''t waver. ¡°Do you love her?¡±


    ¡°Not yet.¡± I said as we walked across the cargo hold while holding hands. ¡°I''m getting there, though.¡±


    Simone gave me a look, and I laughed.


    ¡°I think she would be insulted if I declared my love for her right now, because it would be a lie and I''m pretty sure she can tell when someone lies now.¡±


    ¡°You have a connection to her?¡± Simone asked, surprised.


    ¡°I think when I added a pile of my Presence when I was using the healing and regeneration spells on her... that were keyed for my use only, by the way... it boosted her own Presence and merged them together.¡± I stopped walking at the bottom of the stairs.


    ¡°She has a part of you inside of her.¡± Simone said, almost in a whisper.


    ¡°Right now, she''s walking around the room and is waiting anxiously for me to return.¡± I said and Simone''s eyes widened at me. ¡°No, I''m not looking at her.¡±


    ¡°Is it permanent? Your connection?¡±


    ¡°Considering she has a fraction of both my regeneration and self-healing, I''d say yes.¡±


    Simone gasped. ¡°Hunter... she... can she really...¡±


    ¡°The hospital wasn''t happy about letting a magically healed and very healthy person out. Not one bit.¡±


    ¡°Surely, they didn''t test...¡±


    ¡°No, thank god.¡± I said. ¡°They didn''t realize just how special she''s become.¡±


    ¡°That group did.¡± Simone almost spat.


    ¡°They only knew of her being associated with me. If they had known how connected we were...¡± I shook my head. ¡°I got her out, so it''s all right now.¡±


    ¡°What about the mother?¡±


    ¡°Still no word.¡± I said. ¡°Not that I expected it.¡±


    ¡°You think they are just going to keep them without a trial.¡± Simone said and I nodded. ¡°That means... you could be babysitting for a long time.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°She''ll be legal age in three years and a month.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can get the others to help plan a big thirteenth birthday party?¡± I asked and Simone accepted the change of subject without complaint.


    ¡°They''ll kill me if I don''t tell them and let them help.¡± Simone said, and that made the both of us laugh.


    ¡°We better get upstairs before Hailey comes out looking for me.¡± I said and started to walk up the stairs.


    Simone started a moment after me and I heard her thoughts because we were still holding hands.


    ¡°Enjoying the show?¡± I asked her without looking back. I knew where she was looking.


    ¡°It''s only fair.¡± Simone said and didn''t hide her excitement at being so close to my backside.


    I can''t argue, considering the show she gave me earlier. I thought with amusement. ¡°Here''s where we part.¡± I said and let her hand go beside my room. ¡°See you in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the flying lesson.¡± Simone said out loud while her thoughts thanked me for sharing my thoughts with her.


    The door to the room opened and Hailey stood there. She almost glared at me until I spoke.


    ¡°Honey! I''m home!¡± I said and knelt to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, which made her giggle and then she blushed. ¡°I''ve got all evening to hang out with you, so what do you want to do first?¡±


    ¡°I want you to get a shower! Whew!¡± Hailey waved a hand in front of her face.


    I laughed. ¡°I''m not gonna argue that.¡± I said and stepped into the room and shut the door.

 Book Three: The Resolution 046

    Salvaging continued every day in the set schedule and no one was available to help us salvage, either male or female. Surprisingly enough, we managed to just barely fill the last meal cage on the top of the ship with salvage the day before the Udelis came back from dropping off the first cargo shipment. Rather than leave immediately, I decided to wait for another two weeks, so that Hailey''s surprise birthday party could take place while we were still in the Fogaris System.


    We also had a lot of food deliveries to make.


    Once again the Udelis was bombarded with food requests and then message requests, so Hailey and I transferred over to the Udelis to make the rounds. We did them in the same order as before. Tessa and her Search and Rescue training facility was first, and I gave her the updated list of wrecks, the people analogs and their locations on the maps, and the hazards around them. She was overjoyed with the information, then I told her we still had a lot more wrecks to go over. She snuck a kiss onto my cheek when her class wasn''t looking, or so she thought. They were going to tease her a lot over it, I was sure.


    We went around and dropped off meals to some of the other people we knew personally, which included the fast patrol ship with Kris and Grace on it. They were both busy, unfortunately, so I just transferred over meals for them and the crew and continued on. We ended the rounds at the space station in orbit around the planet and had a nice dinner with the admiral and Melanie. With that done, we had a lot of meals left over that I decided to keep for ourselves. They should last us a while and would supplement or offset the ration trays to give us a nice variety.


    With both ships available and five normal pilots and one shuttle pilot, Luxea, Simone, and I could work together at salvaging at a constant rate. If my calculations were correct, we could just about fill the Udelis'' cargo capacity in the two week limit I had set, then both ships could make the trip back to the Dizahl System to empty them of cargo. Luxea didn''t complain about the changed schedule, mainly because it meant that she wasn''t stuck working alone.


    Simone had made it clear that she wasn''t comfortable on the ship anymore and needed time alone when I apprised everyone of the lack of workers available to help move the salvage. We were kind of stuck doing it all ourselves, even with the faint hope that we could find someone in the Dizahl System to help, so we got to work and did our best to salvage as much as possible.


    Of course, we still took the full day off every week. Rhubin still had a hard time with his emotions trying to run wild with Kalina in the room, despite him having ''fun'' while he was away. I intervened when I could and was as unobtrusive about it as I could be. Kalina didn''t notice; but, Rhubin sure did. His occasional glare at me for interrupting his ''moves'' was blatantly obvious to anyone that paid him any attention.


    Thankfully, Luxea had her own emotions mostly under control and I had to assume she had enjoyed some ''fun'' time as well. She would still flinch slightly when I tried to approach her; but, at least she wasn''t trying to avoid me completely like I thought she would. I still wouldn''t read her thoughts, not even the surface ones that she was broadcasting quite loudly. Simone would wince sometimes and give me a look as if to ask if I wanted to know, and I always shook my head and refused. I did offer to help her block Luxea and she sighed in relief and accepted.


    When the two weeks were over and the Udelis was almost completely filled, it was time for the magic day. Hailey''s day. I got her up early and had a quick bath, which she was still a bit too tired to enjoy like she usually did, and I made everyone breakfast. After we all ate, we separated the ships and flew to the planet and parked in orbit. Rhubin took the shuttle and left before we did, then we all took a shuttle and flew down to the surface.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Hailey asked. She was wearing a nice dress that fit her perfectly and she was wearing another hat to match. ¡°You didn''t say.¡±


    ¡°No, I didn''t.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°You''ll see soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Hailey said and I looked into her eyes.


    I felt her trying to poke at me mentally. ¡°I told you not to do that...¡±


    ¡°...to other people.¡± Hailey corrected me before I could finish. ¡°I love you and you shouldn''t hide things from me.¡±


    Everyone heard the soft gasp from Luxea and we all managed to not comment and ignored it.


    ¡°I''m not hiding it, Honey.¡± I said in a soothing voice. ¡°I''m just delaying how long it takes for you to find out.¡±


    Hailey frowned a little. ¡°Isn''t that the same thing?¡±


    ¡°No, because I''d tell you in a heartbeat... if it wasn''t important for you not to know yet.¡±


    Hailey had to think about that for a minute. ¡°So, it''s a surprise.¡±


    I opened my mouth to say no, then chuckled. ¡°You''re too smart for me to trick.¡±


    Hailey beamed a smile at me and I stopped blocking her. She squealed in delight and gave me a very tight hug, then she leaned back and looked into my eyes. She didn''t say anything and just stared at me and let me hear her thoughts... all of her thoughts... then she blushed as she leaned in to give me a very light kiss on the lips.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Hailey whispered. She knew not to press her luck by kissing me like she wanted to, not with so many witnesses around.


    ¡°I guess there''s no point obscuring the view then.¡± Jelly said with a chuckle and turned off the diffusion effect on the cockpit''s windshield and we could clearly see out of it as she flew us down towards the children''s hospital.


    ¡°Thank you, Aunt Jelly.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°I''m sorry I could only arrange for a few hours.¡± Jelly said, accepting the aunt qualifier with aplumb. ¡°My boss... my old boss... is a real stickler for operational security.¡±


    A few of us chuckled at her trying to cover up the open secret that she still worked for the military.


    ¡°We''ll be landing in a minute, so get ready for a big reception.¡± Jelly said and brought the shuttle around the large building and landed us next to Rhubin''s shuttle. We didn''t even feel the bump when the shuttle touched down and we could all see the large group of people waiting for us.


    ¡°Hailey, do you...¡± I started to ask, and she grabbed my hand and held on. I nodded and opened the hatch and the ramp deployed. We walked down it side by side and were greeted with shouts, yells and applause. Someone counted to three and they all yelled together.


    ¡°HAPPY BIRTHDAY!¡±


    Hailey beamed a smile at them, then the crowd parted to reveal her mother with a guard. ¡°MOMMY!¡±


    I let her hand go and she ran over to hug her mother. They were both crying and stayed that way for several minutes. We waited until her mother sighed and pat her daughter''s back.


    ¡°Let''s go inside so the party can start.¡± Her mother said.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Hailey said and took her mother''s hand, then she reached out to take mine. The three of us walked in front and led everyone inside.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The party was great, for all concerned. Happy children always made for the best time, and there were enough adults around that it wasn''t awkward for everyone. I made the rounds and checked the other children, and they were doing fine since the last time I had seen them. Most of them had been able to go home and had come back for the party and a checkup. There were a couple new kids, so I spent a bit more time around them and their parents than the others.


    Hailey would occasionally come over to me to get my attention, and I always knelt and gave it to her. She knew she didn''t need to do that, since I was always watching her; but, no one else really understood that. She made sure that they knew I was a high priority for her, even on her own birthday. She spent an equal amount of time with her mother, who was overjoyed that she wasn''t being ignored with all the things going on at the party.


    They really outdid themselves. I thought and looked around at all of the activities that had been set up inside the ward. There were so many in fact, that some of them were in the hallway and in the break room next door. Snacks and drinks were available everywhere and were in kid-sized portions. It was enough to give them tastes and bursts of energy and not enough to spill or make a mess. I thought that was a great idea and it saved so much time on the clean-up later.


    The party lasted for three hours and all of the kids and adults had a great time. Unfortunately, it was also time for Hailey''s mother to leave. Hailey hugged her tightly and they both cried for several minutes, then Hailey used my calming technique and shared it with her mother. Her mother stared down at her little girl, then smiled.


    ¡°My little girl is growing up.¡± She said and knelt to look into her eyes. ¡°You''re a teenager now. You need to be strong and you need to take care of the ones you love.¡±


    Hailey wiped at her eyes and then her mother''s. ¡°Don''t worry, mommy. I will.¡±


    Her mother felt her child''s resolve and she stood and looked at me. ¡°Thank...¡±


    ¡°There''s no need for that.¡± I said and stepped close. ¡°You made a mistake and you''re living with the consequences. The least I can do is look after my future wife.¡±


    A lot of people reacted to that, mostly negatively.


    Hailey''s mother laughed. ¡°You better not try to marry her as soon as she turns sixteen.¡±


    The same people reacted with surprise at her response, and I laughed.


    ¡°I wouldn''t try that, even if I had your blessing to do so.¡± I said. ¡°I have to finish falling in love with her before I try to do anything like trying to date her.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Hailey reached up and tugged on my shirt. ¡°What if I want to?¡±


    ¡°You have plenty of time to discuss it after you''re old enough.¡± Her mother said. ¡°I need to go.¡± She gave Hailey a kiss on the forehead and after she nodded to me, the guard led her out of the room.


    I''m glad he didn''t use handcuffs. I thought and knelt beside Hailey. ¡°I''ll try and see about getting regular visits.¡±


    Hailey shook her head and the tears started again. ¡°She knows she''s going away for a long time.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I''m sorry, Hailey.¡±


    ¡°It''s not your fault.¡± Hailey said and turned to me. ¡°You just made it happen quicker.¡±


    ¡°That''s why I''m sorry.¡± I said and took off her hat and rubbed my hand over the fuzz on her head. ¡°I still would have done it.¡±


    Hailey smiled through her tears. ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°Hey! We''re all going over to the park!¡± One of the kids said loudly, then almost as one, the kids moved and emptied the room.


    ¡°I saw that with my own eyes and I still don''t believe it.¡± Jelly said. ¡°I wish our special forces moved that fast!¡±


    That made a few people laugh and the rest of them moved out of the room to follow the kids and to keep watch over them as they played.


    ¡°Do you want to go with them?¡± I asked Hailey.


    ¡°Yes, but...¡±


    Without a word, I picked her up, careful of her dress as I cradled her in my arms, then I carried her out of the hospital and to the park. After they played there for half an hour, we all went back to the ward and Hailey opened all of her presents. She liked them all and then her face had a worried look as she looked at me.


    ¡°Hunter?¡±


    ¡°I thought you might want to wait to open your moms and mine.¡± I said and waved to Jelly, who stepped forward and gave her a medium-sized and nicely wrapped present. Hailey took her time and opened it, and inside was the most beautiful white frilly dress and hat combination she had ever seen. Her eyes teared up at the matching shoes and she knew that her mother couldn''t have picked it out, considering where she was.


    I knelt beside her and whispered. ¡°Jelly stayed with her for several hours with a datapad full of different things. Your mother picked it out for you and it''s expandable. You''ll be able to wear it for a long time. Every time you do, you''ll know that your mother chose it for you and loves you very much.¡±


    Hailey let out a sob and hugged me around the neck. After a few moments, she let me go and nodded.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to open mine?¡± I asked and she nodded again. I took out a small box and a few people reacted to the size. I held in my laugh at their thoughts and gave the box to Hailey.


    Hailey opened it and she gasped at the contents. ¡°H-Hunter!¡± She exclaimed and lifted out the intricately carved medallion with a sky scene on it. The yellow focusing crystal in the center was the sun and it glowed slightly.


    ¡°You remember what happened when I rescued you?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°This is what protected me from laser fire. It''s a personal shield.¡±


    Nearly everyone gasped at that, especially Jelly. She had seen how effective it was when we had assaulted that building with the terrorists in it. Not one laser bolt had hit me or the three soldiers with me. It wasn''t just the material cost that shocked them, though.


    ¡°It''s already attuned to you, so you can use it right away.¡± I said and held her hat and slipped the necklace over her head. ¡°I''ll show you after the party how to activate it.¡± I smiled knowingly. ¡°If you haven''t figured it out already, I mean.¡±


    Hailey smiled and walked out to the middle of the room and touched the hidden button on the underside of the medallion and a blue energy ball appeared around her. The very next second, a half-filled cup of water bounced off of it and would have splashed all over her, except the water landed on the shield and rolled off to the floor.


    ¡°Pascal!¡± A woman nearly shouted.


    ¡°It works!¡± Pascal said and started to throw a tantrum. ¡°I want one! I want one! I want one!¡±


    His parents muttered their apologies and quickly led their wailing son from the room.


    ¡°I knew there would be at least one.¡± I said and Hailey turned off the shield and came over to me.


    ¡°I''d say this is a good time to officially end the party.¡± One of the medical technicians said.


    Everyone agreed that was a good idea, so I gathered up all of Hailey''s other presents and put them in my hidden bag of holding, taking care to put them back in their boxes to protect them first. With that done, I took a few minutes to clean up the mess that the party had made and compressed the trash into a little ball and tossed it into the garbage, then put the small amount of wasted food into a separate bag for disposal. The hospital staff just stared as I did in moments what would have taken them an hour. I even stacked up the plates and glasses for them.


    ¡°Thank you so much for letting us have the party here.¡± I said to them and the senior medical technician held a hand out to me.


    ¡°Thanks to you, we''ve only had a few patients to deal with the last little while.¡±


    ¡°I hope that didn''t cut your funding or anything.¡± I shook his hand and he let out a sad chuckle.


    ¡°Unfortunately, we will always have work to do.¡±


    I couldn''t refute that and let his hand go as I nodded. I took Hailey''s hand and led her and everyone else out of the building to the shuttle. Rhubin had to fly the kids and their parents back to their homes, so everyone going back to either of my two ships, piled into Jelly''s shuttle. We were back on my ship and out floating around the alien wrecks half an hour later, the ships were attached again and we were relaxing in the large living room. Both Luxea and Rhubin had declined the offer to stay and had gone back to the Udelis.


    Hailey caressed the amulet as she leaned against me and watched the screen. I wasn''t really watching it, mainly because I was basking in the women around me and their surface thoughts. It was so nice to have so many people around me again that had enjoyed a day full of fun and excitement. It was also nice to discover that they didn''t harbour any hatred or animosity for anyone else in the room.


    Simone wiggled next to me and I glanced at her, to see that she had her eyes closed and she was doing the same thing that I was. The best part about it was that we had asked if we could and they all had agreed... as long as I shared as much of it with them as I could. They weren''t telepaths, so they were only getting a minuscule amount of what Simone and I were getting from them; and yet, they were just as relaxed as us and languished in the little bit they were getting.


    Needless to say the night passed by before we knew it and we all went back to our own rooms and went to bed. We all slept well and got up the next morning, full of purpose and drive. We had breakfast and met in the meeting room, then discussed with Rhubin and Luxea the jump schedule to go back to the Dizahl System.


    ¡°It''s going to take longer with this ship than the Udelis.¡± I said. ¡°Even with all of the deflector screens in place to cover the ship, until we get the twinned AI installed, I won''t take the chance in running the reactor core to the red-line.¡±


    ¡°I''ll pull Udelis back to sixty percent and we can match our speed through hyperspace on each jump.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°We won''t even have to recalculate our coordinates each time, since we''re using the same flight path.¡±


    ¡°We can make sure the variance doesn''t drop us on top of each other, too.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Either by putting your ship a half-second ahead of us or by cross-linking the computers to increment the coordinates.¡±


    ¡°Do both, just to be sure.¡± I said. ¡°The last thing we need is a mid-space collision with all this cargo onboard.¡±


    Everyone nodded and we went back to planning the trip.

 Book Three: The Resolution 047

    With the trip plans done, we all turned and looked at Luxea.


    ¡°I guess that''s my cue to speak.¡± Luxea said with a chuckle. ¡°I could have saved this until we arrived; but, everything has to be removed from the ships and then packed in a specific order in the shipping containers to maintain both easy access and clear removal lanes for the things around them.¡±


    ¡°The shipping containers are huge and attaching them like you did was brilliant.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°We shouldn''t have any problems if we load them from each end, rather than trying to carry everything through the main hatches.¡±


    ¡°That''s a good point.¡± I said and brought up the holographic display of the shipping containers in question. ¡°We just have to decide what we want to move first and where to put it, so we won''t have to go rooting around for things.¡±


    ¡°We could leave the biggest things for last.¡± Kalina said and pointed to one of the end containers. ¡°If they are all the same or similar size, like the power coils for shipboard weapons, we can have them in one area and it will leave us a lot of spare room for everything else.¡±


    Luxea typed up a few things on her datapad and added the data for the coils we currently had on board and added their representations to the shipping container display.


    ¡°Actually, that could work.¡± Luxea said. ¡°We''ll have to line them parallel to the walls, which will leave more than enough room in the middle of the container to remove them.¡±


    ¡°We''re going to need more small racks in the main container.¡± I pointed to the one I meant. ¡°Most of the stuff on this ship is from the low priority wrecks.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°By the way, if you didn''t get the updated files yet, we did them all.¡±


    ¡°You did all of them?¡± Rhubin, Luxea, Beatrice, and Deborah asked at the same time, quite surprised.


    ¡°With a great combat pilot and someone to help, we blew through the wrecks in record time.¡± I said. ¡°I initially thought the Udelis was going to have three cargo drop-offs before we did one with this ship, especially when I had to do it alone without a shuttle for help.¡±


    No one commented about how that came about.


    ¡°With the use of a shuttle, my estimate was two trips with Udelis, until we took some of the salvage to fill the Udelis'' capacity and that delayed me again. When I got a shuttle and another person to help, especially with Hailey keeping us motivated, we finished loading this ship and the external racks before you came back from the first drop-off trip and not the second. We''re so far ahead that I wasn''t worried about delaying a couple of weeks to load the Udelis again.¡±


    ¡°So, that''s why.¡± Luxea said. ¡°I thought you were just delaying because you wanted your pilots back.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I did, but my main concern was Hailey. I wanted her to have her birthday here, with the people she grew up around, and not in space where it wouldn''t have as much meaning because then it would be just us.¡±


    Everyone looked at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°Hey, I may be an asshole sometimes and an insensitive jerk other times; but, that doesn''t mean I don''t care about the people around me.¡± I said and saw two disbelieving looks. ¡°You know it''s true.¡± I said to Rhubin and Luxea. ¡°Things might not seem that way from your perspective and I understand that. I still have to do what I think is right, though.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, that really sounds self-serving.¡± Simone said.


    I laughed. ¡°Of course it does, because it is.¡± I said. ¡°I want to be happy.¡± I looked at all of their faces. ¡°A couple of you know what I went through, and when I''m comfortable enough around the rest of you, I''ll tell you some of it, too.¡±


    ¡°Only some?¡± Gleas asked and then she closed her mouth. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°The most you''ll get is a general rundown, because I usually save the details for those closest to me.¡±


    Everyone''s eyes went to Luxea and she couldn''t help but blush at the scrutiny.


    ¡°Sometimes things just don''t work out like I had hoped they would, mainly because we didn''t talk about how things should be beforehand.¡± I continued and saw Luxea relax as she confirmed that she wasn''t the sole bearer of blame for what happened. ¡°Most times, it takes a while for someone to work their way into my heart.¡± I reached out slightly and rubbed Hailey''s fuzzy head. ¡°I''ve had a few exceptions so far.¡±


    Hailey beamed a smile up and me.


    ¡°Out of all of you, there''s only two of you that I''ll refrain from opening up to.¡± I said, looking back at the others around the table, then both Kalina and Jelly sighed. ¡°Yeah, it''s not hard to guess which two.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Both of you will be leaving at the end of the salvage contract, which by my new calculations, will be about a month after we get back from this cargo run.¡±


    ¡°Th-that soon?¡± Kalina asked, her shock apparent.


    ¡°I''m tempted to stay for the full time; but, it won''t be necessary.¡± I said. ¡°Once the ships are fully loaded again, I''ll be turning the wrecks over to the military for reclamation and both SAR and flight training.¡±


    ¡°But... what about...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry, your contract specifically states that you get the full three month salary for participating in the physical salvage operation no matter what, plus any extra time that might have accumulated.¡±


    ¡°So... if I had gone...¡±


    ¡°It would have extended your salvage time past travel time to and from the cargo drop-off.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and any unforeseen circumstances, like injury or absences and whatnot.¡±


    ¡°That''s... are you insane?¡± Kalina asked, and I laughed.


    ¡°I told you before. Happy workers make work fun and easy.¡± I looked around. ¡°So, who wants to spend the trip on the Udelis and who wants to stay here?¡±


    ¡°I had my trip on the luxury ship.¡± Deborah said. ¡°Even though it was a bunk, it was almost sinful how comfortable it was.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I didn''t have anything to do, though. I vote here.¡±


    ¡°Same here.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°Relaxing was nice; but, I like working as well. I''m staying here.¡±


    ¡°I go where she goes.¡± Sandy said.


    ¡°I''d like to try at least one jump on the Udelis.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I''ll want to switch back after that.¡±


    ¡°So, a vote for mostly here.¡± I said and she chuckled.


    ¡°I''d like that, too.¡± Kalina said and looked at Rhubin. ¡°You say the first jump coordinates are a week away?¡±


    Rhubin nodded wordlessly.


    ¡°Would you mind if Gleas and I went with you for the first jump?¡±


    Rhubin shook his head.


    ¡°Then we will pack for a week of travelling and meet you on the ship in the morning.¡±


    Rhubin nodded again and still didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Luxea?¡± I said she flinched a little. ¡°What about you?¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°I have a choice?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°We all have a choice.¡± I said and didn''t elaborate.


    ¡°I''ll stay on the Udelis.¡± Luxea said in a slightly defeated tone.


    Simone gave her a sharp look and then looked at me. I shrugged slightly, because I didn''t have to read Luxea''s mind to know that she didn''t have the courage to stay in the same ship with me. That confirmed she did go and have fun while in the Dixahl System and didn''t want it to come up in conversation. So, I brought it up for her.


    ¡°I should make something clear.¡± I said and everyone looked at me. ¡°My ''no employees having sex with each other'' only applies while they work for me. What you go and do with other people not on the ship is none of my concern, nor do I have any right to have a say in those matters.¡±


    Luxea took in a sharp breath.


    ¡°My only concern is workplace safety and the detrimental effects that dating a coworker, or having sex with a coworker, in the same environment causes.¡± I looked at Luxea. ¡°Look at what happened to us as an example.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I can''t even step close to you without you reacting negatively.¡± I said. ¡°All I can do is give you as much space as I can and hope that you''ll eventually relax enough to stop hating me.¡±


    ¡°I don''t hate you...¡± Luxea started to say.


    I nodded my head when the Presence wavered and she sighed.


    ¡°All right. I hate what happened between us...¡±


    ¡°...and I was the cause of it all.¡± I said and she didn''t have to nod to show that she agreed.


    ¡°I also hate that you still would have released that footage, even if you knew beforehand how I felt.¡± Luxea said, finally getting to the heart of the matter.


    ¡°There we go.¡± I said and tried not to smile. ¡°You finally admitted it. You hate me.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Luxea glanced at everyone''s faces, saw the truth there, and sighed. ¡°Yes, I do.¡±


    ¡°So, do you feel any better after telling the truth?¡± I asked and she shook her head. ¡°You should.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Luxea looked back at me.


    ¡°Now that you admitted something we all know, you don''t have to worry about hiding it.¡± I said and waved at everyone. ¡°You don''t have to worry about saying the wrong thing, or giving yourself away anymore. You can relax, now that we all know where you stand.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to admit that you hate me back?¡± Luxea asked.


    I chuckled. ¡°Luxea, you don''t need any more justification.¡±


    ¡°You just said I should relax and speak my mind without worry. So I want you to tell me you hate me.¡±


    ¡°I can''t, because I love you.¡± I said and she shook her head. ¡°Let me finish before you think I''m lying.¡±


    Luxea looked me in the eyes.


    ¡°I was glad that you wanted time alone to deal with your emotions at the time, and I was really sad that you didn''t want to share my bed at night, because I needed someone to hold and I thought you wanted me for that, too.¡± I said, then my anger rose. ¡°I hated... I absolutely hated... that the first thing you did when we had a fight, was invite another man into your bed.¡±


    Simone and Hailey caught their breath at the strength of my anger and their hands reached out and took mine. I felt their calming Presence try to soothe mine, so I closed my eyes for a moment and thanked them mentally.


    ¡°When I found out, I wanted to rip his arms and legs off and then give him back to you, so that you could always have him when you needed him.¡± I said and looked back at Luxea. ¡°That way, whenever you needed relief, you could take him out and use him as much as you wanted.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter...¡± Luxea had tears in her eyes and a few of the others gasped.


    ¡°I was so blinded by...¡± I stopped and used a calming technique myself to add to Simone''s and Hailey''s efforts. ¡°I knew then that what we had wasn''t going to work, and so did you.¡±


    ¡°That''s not true.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°You knew as soon as you slept with him the first time that you broke whatever we had between us.¡± I said and she looked down at the table, guilt clear on her face. ¡°You knew how I would react, because of how I felt about you and what I thought we had together.¡±


    Luxea couldn''t respond, because she didn''t want to lie.


    ¡°You couldn''t even tell me yourself and I had to find out from him.¡± I said. ¡°Do you know how embarrassing it is to have someone right in front of you and find out that they had been sleeping with the person you love, right under your nose?¡±


    Luxea didn''t lift her head and her tears dropped from her face to land on the table edge.


    ¡°I honestly thought we would be fine. It was only our first fight and I thought, quite wrongly, that we would be back together after a few days.¡± I said. ¡°It never crossed my mind that you didn''t want us to get back together.¡±


    ¡°I did! I wanted us to...¡± Luxea stopped talking and looked up at me. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°If I walked around this table right now and took you in my arms...¡± I tried to say.


    Luxea''s face showed surprise and she flinched a little.


    ¡°Just the thought of me being near you scares you, doesn''t it?¡± I asked and she didn''t respond. ¡°How in the world do you expect to be together with me if you can''t even...¡± I shook my head. ¡°No, I won''t bring this up again.¡± I said. ¡°As far as I''m concerned, it''s over between us and we are never getting back together.¡±


    Luxea looked like I had slapped her. ¡°H-Hunter...¡±


    ¡°You can''t possibly think we could, not after everything that happened and how you react.¡± I said and could see on her face that she did. ¡°Luxea, the most we can ever be is friends.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Casual sex isn''t happening, either.¡± I said and we all saw her reaction to that.


    ¡°Wow, you really thought...¡± Simone stopped talking before she gave anything else away.


    ¡°I can''t deny who I am and be who you want me to be, Luxea.¡± I said. ¡°I just don''t have it in me.¡±


    ¡°Then... you don''t love me.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°The problem is that I do. Ask Simone or Hailey if the Presence wavered at all as I''ve spoken.¡±


    ¡°We all know they would lie for you if you asked.¡± Luxea said without actually accusing them of lying. ¡°If you really loved me, you are supposed to be who I need, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°That''s not how love is supposed to work.¡± Sandy interrupted, and we all looked at her. ¡°Believe me, if you can''t love someone and accept them for who they are, it will never work out.¡±


    Beatrice put her arm around Sandy and hugged her.


    ¡°You can make certain sacrifices and that''s okay, because you know it''s worth it to be with them.¡± Sandy said. ¡°What you can''t do is expect them to change who they are. If you do that, then they aren''t the person you fell in love with anymore.¡±


    ¡°That''s why she never asked me to quit being a pilot, even though it separated us for weeks at a time.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°She loved me enough to support me and my dream. It took us a while, and here we are.¡± She leaned in and kissed Sandy on the lips. ¡°I''ve got a great job, a nice place to live, and I get to spend as much of my spare time as I want with the woman I love.¡±


    ¡°We''ve never been happier.¡± Sandy said, and then chuckled. ¡°Before you think it''s all sunshine and smiles, we have fights.¡±


    ¡°Epic fights.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°Remember when my brother came over unexpectedly...¡±


    ¡°...that ass wanted to stay with us, for free, while he partied all day and night.¡± Sandy said. ¡°I almost wrung his neck when he ate the anniversary dinner I cooked for us.¡±


    ¡°We almost broke up that time.¡± Beatrice said, her voice sad.


    Sandy touched her cheek. ¡°Then we talked about it, worked it out, made up, and stayed together.¡±


    ¡°What happened to the brother?¡±


    ¡°I beat the hell out of the little bastard and kicked him out.¡± Sandy said. ¡°That''s what caused the fight between Beatrice and myself.¡±


    Everyone was quiet for several moments, then a clear voice spoke.


    ¡°You were both smart enough to see that it wasn''t worth losing each other over something like that.¡± Hailey said. ¡°I''m glad you stayed together, because now you''re here and really happy.¡±


    Beatrice and Sandy smiled and they both nodded.


    ¡°I think that clears things up enough to make things a little more awkward around here than they already were.¡± I said and saw a few smiles. ¡°For a little while, anyway.¡±


    ¡°So, that''s it? The meetings are over?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°I''d say so.¡± I said.


    ¡°Lunchtime!¡± Hailey said with enthusiasm and I chuckled.


    ¡°Do you want me to cook, or would you like another meal from our favorite restaurant?¡± I asked.


    ¡°As long as I can sit on your lap, it doesn''t matter.¡± Hailey said, dismissively.


    That made a few of the others laugh.


    ¡°Well, she knows what she wants.¡± Gleas said. ¡°If it''s up for a vote, I''d say prepared meals are quicker.¡±


    Hailey looked at her with a question on her face.


    ¡°More lap time.¡± Gleas clarified for her and Hailey grinned.


    ¡°That one!¡± Hailey said and pointed at Gleas.


    ¡°You heard the boss.¡± Simone said as she let my hand go and poked my shoulder. ¡°Get going!¡±


    ¡°I''m not supposed to be the main cook, you know.¡± I said and picked Hailey up.


    ¡°But, you''re so good at it.¡± Deborah said and everyone else nodded.


    I sighed exaggeratedly and Hailey giggled. ¡°Give me a few minutes to get everything ready and we''ll meet you in the dining room.¡±


    I prepared everything and used Presence Hands to carry everyone''s meals into the dining room, then we all enjoyed the restaurant''s best food. After that, we relaxed in the large living room, minus Rhubin and Luxea. Even after getting it all out in the open, she still couldn''t handle being around everyone. I shrugged it off, because I had said my piece and had made the situation clear for everyone.


    I was surprised that I felt genuine regret from both Kalina and Jelly about their jobs coming to an end soon. I reached out and poked their shoulders with my fingertip and both women turned to me.


    ¡°We''ve got six weeks of travelling to the Dizahl System and then six weeks back.¡± I said. ¡°After that, then we''ve got a month, maybe a month and a half, before the salvage contract is done.¡±


    Both women looked at me with wide eyes, then they smiled. The evening was quite pleasant after that, then the next morning, Gleas and Kalina transferred over to the Udelis for the first hyperspace jump. The two ships unhooked and then moved towards the closest Lagrange point in the system. Once there, the computers took over and we jumped into hyperspace.


    That first week went by before we knew it and when we came out into the large empty space, we docked the ships back together and we all met near the main hatches. Gleas was quite happy to see us all and to get back to staying in her own room. Kalina on the other hand, handed me a datapad.


    ¡°What''s this?¡± I asked, because she was intentionally muddling her thoughts.


    ¡°I quit three days ago.¡± Kalina said and then Rhubin stepped close to her and put an arm around her.


    ¡°Son of a bitch.¡± I whispered and everyone felt my Presence and my anger.


    ¡°We didn''t break your policy...¡± Rhubin started to say.


    I made a fist, which crushed the datapad, and I punched him right in the face.

 Book Three: The Resolution 048

    I''m normally pretty muscular, and that alone gave me quite a bit of strength. If I wanted to estimate it, I was right up there with a top class professional heavyweight boxer. That alone could do some damage when I hit someone. Now, I had been on Relique, or what I sometimes refer to as the fantasy world, for almost seven centuries. The entire time I was there, I had used Presence to reinforce my body to the same standards as Allirynn, the son of a goddess, who was damn near the strongest person on the planet and could wrestle pretty much any creature that existed.


    Thanks to all that work, I didn''t immediately die when the assassin blew up a building to kill me. It was very close, though. If it hadn''t been for the pact I had made with god during that final fight, I would be dead.


    After I had healed my broken and damaged body with magic, my Presence had to take time to bring my body back up to those standards. I wasn''t quite there yet, much to Rhubin''s relief, because when I punched him, it only shattered his nose, his cheek, his eye socket, and part of his forehead... and that was before the force of the punch threw him backwards and into the bulkhead across the hall. It was well padded, so he bounced off of it and fell to the floor, unconscious.


    ¡°RHUBIN!¡± Kalina yelled and went to him and rolled him over. She started crying at the mess of his face.


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Someone whispered.


    I used Presence Heal to fix the damage to his face and then poked his brain with a jolt of Presence to wake him up. ¡°Get up, you bastard!¡± I said loudly.


    ¡°Rhubin!¡± Kalina gasped. ¡°You''re okay!¡±


    Rhubin touched the cheek he had felt shatter and then he looked up at me from the floor.


    ¡°I said get up!¡± I used a Presence Hand to grab him by the throat and picked him up to stand him on his feet.


    ¡°STOP IT!¡± Kalina said and tried to grab the Presence Hand to pull it off.


    I absorbed it instead and started to rant at him. ¡°You fucking bastard! You rotten, selfish, egotistical...¡±


    ¡°Hunter, what''s wrong?¡± Gleas asked. She knew something really bad happened and wanted to understand.


    ¡°LUXEA!¡± I yelled and she flinched, then I pointed to Rhubin. ¡°Tell them what this... this...¡± I let out a low growl in frustration. ¡°I can''t think of a curse that''s vile enough!¡±


    ¡°Hunter, calm down.¡± Hailey said and tried to take my hand.


    I pulled my hand away and saw her sad face. ¡°I can''t let you feel this, Honey.¡± I said in a soft voice. ¡°My thoughts right now are very bad and I don''t want you to have them, too.¡±


    ¡°Don''t hide anything from me.¡± Hailey said and held her hand out and dared me not to take it.


    I opened my fist and let the crushed pieces of the datapad fall to the floor, used Presence to clean my hand, then slipped it into hers. Her eyes widened as my thoughts and emotions flowed into her and then she understood why I was so angry.


    ¡°He''s a bad man.¡± Hailey growled out, because she was even angrier about it than I was.


    ¡°Someone needs to explain this mess right now.¡± Gleas demanded.


    ¡°Go ahead, Luxea.¡± I said and knelt beside Hailey to hug her. ¡°Tell them.¡±


    Luxea looked at the mess and sighed. ¡°By making Kalina quit, he reduced her pay to what she had already received.¡±


    ¡°That''s not... too bad.¡± Gleas said, knowing how much they had been paid so far.


    ¡°Now tell them the worst part.¡± I said.


    ¡°When you quit, you also forfeit your percentage of the salvage rights, which includes the sales.¡±


    ¡°Oh, goddess!¡± Gleas covered her mouth and the other women gasped. ¡°Kalina! Why did you...¡±


    ¡°Mark was going to use me to put us deeper into debt.¡± Kalina said. ¡°I thought I was stuck with that, until Rubin and I started talking...¡±


    Everyone''s eyes shifted to him.


    ¡°He said he loved me and that we could get married.¡± Kalina said and rubbed his chest. ¡°We couldn''t do anything with each other because of Hunter''s policy, so he suggested that I quit and then he and I could be together and we''d share his percentage of the salvage.¡±


    ¡°You are such an idiot, Rhubin.¡± I said without looking up from Hailey''s face. ¡°Just two months. You only had to wait for two months and her contract would have been up, she would have been rich, and then you both could have done whatever the hell you wanted and I wouldn''t have cared one bit.¡±


    ¡°I already told you that we didn''t break your policy.¡± Rhubin said. ¡°She''s not your employee anymore.¡±


    I gave Hailey a kiss on the cheek, then I stood up and she didn''t let my hand go. ¡°How many times have I told you that the policy is there to stop things from disrupting my happy work environment?¡± I asked him. ¡°What the hell did you think was going to happen when you had one of my essential pilots quit in the middle of the salvage mission?¡±


    ¡°You have four pilots!¡± Rhubin exclaimed. ¡°She''s not essential to the ship''s operation. You can manage with three pilots.¡±


    ¡°You''re wrong and you know it, you... you...¡± I still couldn''t come up with a good curse for him.


    Hailey tugged on my hand when she felt that I wanted to punch Rhubin again and I looked at her.


    ¡°I know I can''t hit him again and still be the bigger man.¡± I said to her and then looked back at Rhubin. ¡°She was essential, because two pilots work each shift. One is the main pilot and one is the co-pilot, then they switch on the next shift. Sometimes it''s the same two and they just switch places, other times, two new people come in and take over, or one new pilot comes in and the second becomes the co-pilot. I left it to them so that they would be happy with whatever arrangement they came up with.¡±


    ¡°That''s why you hired all four of us, so that no matter how we split up our shifts or who was working, there would always be two people to keep an eye on things.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°Yes, and now there''s a huge hole in the established shift rotation and someone is going to have to work an extra shift every second day to make up for it, or the person working will be on shift all alone.¡± I said and grit my teeth. ¡°I don''t like that at all, because it''s ruining my happy work environment.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, don''t overreact.¡± Kalina said with a smile and hugged Rhubin. ¡°We worked all of that out.¡± She said. ¡°You can hire me again after this cargo drop and I can take my place back in the rotation.¡± She said with a self-satisfied smirk, as if that was the best solution for everyone.


    ¡°I don''t fucking think so.¡± I spat and everyone hissed. ¡°I''ll apologize for all of the cursing later.¡±


    ¡°I don''t mind it.¡± Hailey said and squeezed my hand. ¡°He''s ruined everything and cursing is stopping you from tearing him apart.¡±


    ¡°If you keep talking sense, you''re going to make me fall in love with you even quicker. You know that, right?¡± I asked her and she giggled.


    ¡°If you hire her again...¡± Luxea started to say.


    ¡°I''d still have the same goddamn problem!¡± I said. ¡°Do any of you really think that I can trust either of these two people again? With either of my ships?¡±


    ¡°Now, wait a minute.¡± Rhubin said and tried to take a step towards me. He hit an invisible Presence wall and bounced off instead. ¡°What...¡±


    ¡°It''s to protect you from your own stupidity.¡± I said. ¡°Were you really going to approach me and threaten me?¡±


    Rhubin closed his mouth and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Damn right you''re not going to.¡± I said. ¡°We were supposed to be friends.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°We are.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°No, we aren''t.¡± I said. ¡°A friend doesn''t ignore another friend''s several pleas and pointed remarks about leaving a certain woman alone. A friend doesn''t ruin that woman''s chances of earning a ton of credits, just because he can''t wait to get into her pants. A friend doesn''t throw away years of friendship for a woman he just met and barely fucking knows!¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Simone reached out to calm me and touched my free hand, then she jerked back. ¡°Goddess!¡± She said and rubbed her hand. ¡°How is Hailey still touching you with all of that inside of you?¡±


    ¡°I told you that she was special and we had a deep connection.¡± I said and felt Hailey''s approval. ¡°She can feel how much Rhubin''s betrayal hurts me.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t betray you!¡± Rhubin spat.


    ¡°Did you not listen to any of the words I just said?¡± I asked and shook my head. ¡°No, you''re still ignoring reason and common sense. You still believe you can talk your way out of it.¡±


    ¡°Look, Kalina is right. Just hire her again and everything can go back...¡±


    ¡°SHUT. UP.¡± I yelled and he closed his mouth. ¡°She QUIT. That''s it. She is no longer a part of my company. I will not hire someone that will quit to try and manipulate the rules that I had set in place to stop people from manipulating the rules.¡± I said. ¡°I never thought you would believe that losing me as a friend was worth sleeping with a woman.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡± Rhubin started to say.


    ¡°No.¡± I shook my head. ¡°She is out... and so are you.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Rhubin and Kalina yelled together.


    ¡°Missed that little detail, didn''t you?¡± I asked and smiled evilly, and Hailey giggled. ¡°Hear that sweet sound? That''s the sound of delight, because Hailey knows something you have forgotten.¡±


    No one said anything, so I continued.


    ¡°Rhubin is not an employee. He was never hired, never signed a contract, and has never been paid a wage. Not once.¡± I said and felt everyone''s thoughts try to argue. ¡°If you''re going to refer to the last salvage job, three people worked at it and we made a ton of money. Because we were all friends, I amicably split the take three ways. I didn''t have to, mainly because it''s my company and my ship was was used, damaged, and suffered unbelievable wear and tear.¡±


    Both Luxea and Rhubin took in sharp breaths.


    ¡°I didn''t even take the repair bills out of the haul first and then split it. I paid for it out of my cut.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and Luxea... all this talk about the business money, it''s all still my money. I never took my cut. If I did, then the business wouldn''t have had any credits at all.¡±


    Luxea gasped. ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you''ve been spending it all over the place. I didn''t complain, though. Why? Because you were keeping everything running and it was nice to see you so happy.¡± I said. ¡°Now? What are you going to do when you get your money out of this salvage? Do you think I should give you a fair share, or let you take just the money you invested and leave it at that?¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter...¡± Luxea''s face was red from embarrassment.


    ¡°Yeah, you get it now.¡± I said. ¡°You''re not an employee either.¡±


    ¡°It... it''s all falling apart.¡± Luxea whispered. We were all right there and we all heard her.


    ¡°Yes, and it''s all my fault.¡± I said and everyone looked at me. ¡°I should have established firm rules when this business venture started, and I didn''t. I waited too long and look where we are now. Three ruined relationships. Well, maybe five if you count Kalina''s two with her old and new boyfriends.¡±


    At some point Kalina''s hands had fallen away from holding Rhubin and she had started crying silently.


    I looked at Rhubin. ¡°So, was throwing it all away worth it?¡± I asked him and he scowled at me. ¡°Yeah, you can''t answer that and not ruin your new relationship, can you?¡±


    Rhubin put an arm around Kalina''s shoulders and turned to walk away, then bounced off another invisible Presence Wall. ¡°Hunter, let me go.¡± He said. ¡°I''m going back to...¡±


    ¡°The only place you''re going to is the cell.¡± I said and several of the women around us gasped.


    ¡°Who are you going to get to pilot...¡± Rhubin''s bluster died before he could get it going, because I had three ship pilots and a shuttle pilot that could double as a ship pilot if necessary.


    ¡°You know too much about the operation of this ship, so I can''t let you or Kalina roam free. You could cause damage, try to hold part of the ship''s systems as a bargaining chip, or heaven forbid, hold one of its occupants hostage.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t do that.¡± Rhubin said and the Presence wavered slightly.


    ¡°Then which one would you do?¡± I asked and he didn''t respond. ¡°The ship systems would be the easiest to get to, so I''ll assume you would use them to try and bargain.¡±


    Rhubin didn''t say anything; but, I heard in his thoughts what he would do. He just couldn''t help but think about it. ¡°You can''t get away with shafting me like this.¡±


    ¡°You were the one that shafted me, Rhubin.¡± I said. ¡°Look at what you did.¡± I waved at the people around me. ¡°Now, instead of losing one pilot like you intended, I''ve lost two, and it''s going to be a struggle to maintain enough crew for both ships to operate properly.¡±


    ¡°I''ll help where I can.¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°We all will.¡± Gleas said. ¡°We''ll work through this mess as best as we can.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and closed my eyes as I let myself calm down.


    Hailey''s hand reached up and touched my cheek and I felt her unconditional love, even after all of that.


    ¡°Thank you, most of all.¡± I said and picked her up. ¡°How can you be so strong?¡±


    ¡°That''s what you need.¡± Hailey said and smiled at me.


    ¡°Then thank god I found you.¡± I said and hugged her close for several moments, then I looked at Rhubin and Kalina. ¡°Walk.¡±


    They thought about refusing, so I used levitation on them and carried them to the cell. I used the security door and closed it, then covered the controls to block anyone from opening it again.


    ¡°I''ll pack up your things and leave them in the room you used to use, Rhubin.¡± I said and walked back to the main hatch and I ignored their hollers and yells.


    ¡°Are you really going to keep them prisoner for the whole trip?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Yes. I can''t let them walk around free. They''ll sabotage the ship.¡± I said and both Hailey and Simone nodded.


    ¡°Hunter, you... really shouldn''t.¡± Luxea said.


    ¡°Do you know what the worst part of it is?¡± I asked. ¡°They came up with the plan to defraud me, believed I would be stupid enough to go along with it, then they expected me to hire her back.¡± I shook my head. ¡°They were so caught up in their own machinations that if they had taken even a few seconds to think it through, they would have realized it was never going to work.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they should have consulted you about it first.¡± Sandy said.


    I turned and looked at her with raised eyebrows, then I realized what she meant and then I smiled. ¡°Okay, yes. That could have worked.¡±


    ¡°What could have?¡± Luxea asked.


    ¡°Nope, I can''t give that secret away.¡± I said. ¡°Now we just have to figure out who wants to fly this ship for the next jump.¡±


    ¡°It''s only for four days.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I''ll take primary if Jelly wants to co-pilot.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you''re comfortable with that?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°You won''t be assuming the main chair. I''m just too used to having an extra pair of eyes on things.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Jelly said with a smile. ¡°I''ll grab my things.¡±


    ¡°You two can share my room.¡± I said as they turned to leave. ¡°It''s the biggest one and the bed is huge.¡±


    Gleas chuckled. ¡°I can''t remember the last time I had a sleep-over.¡±


    ¡°I had one the last time I went planet-side.¡± Jelly said. ¡°The officer''s quarters were double-booked.¡±


    ¡°You poor thing.¡± Gleas said as the two of them walked away. ¡°I heard the rooms there were tiny.¡±


    ¡°Unbelievably so.¡± Jelly laughed. ¡°I woke up with her foot on my face!¡±


    ¡°Eww!¡± Gleas said and they both laughed and disappeared down the curved hallway.


    ¡°I guess that means Beatrice and I are staying on the new ship.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°So am I.¡± I said and we walked back into the ship. ¡°Until I get Rhubin''s things packed and the room cleared out, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Don''t you want to do that now?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°I have to get Kalina''s things first.¡± I said. ¡°I''m not sure what she wants to do now, though.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Will she stick with her horrible choice and stay with Rhubin in another system, or will she go back to her other horrible choice and return to the Fogaris System?¡± I asked, and no one had an answer for me. ¡°I guess I''ll find out when we offload the cargo and I kick Rhubin off the ship.¡±


    ¡°You''re really going to do that.¡± Beatrice asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°I know it seems harsh.¡± I said and stopped walking by Kalina''s room. ¡°I''ve let some things he''s done slide, and I''ve forgiven him for a few other things; but, ruining both my personal and professional relationships?¡± I shook my head. ¡°No, that''s the final straw. I don''t want him around me anymore.¡±


    ¡°That... it''s kind of...¡± Deborah tried to say I was heartless, then Hailey reached out and touched her cheek. She gasped as she felt a fraction of my emotional pain and how much I was hurting. ¡°H-Hunter... oh, goddess.¡±


    ¡°He''s good at hiding how he feels most times.¡± Hailey said. ¡°Except for anger. He lets that out to play.¡±


    Deborah nodded and pat Hailey''s hand. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°You might as well do me, too.¡± Sandy said and Hailey touched her cheek. ¡°OH!¡±


    Beatrice was touching Sandy, so she got a fraction of a fraction of it. ¡°Oh, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be okay.¡± I said. ¡°We''ve got a six hour normal space flight to get to the next jump coordinates, so you should get changed into your flight suit.¡±


    ¡°Can you pack Kalina''s room up that soon?¡± Deborah asked.


    I chuckled. ¡°I just finished packing it all up.¡± I said and the room door behind me opened and I floated out her bags and several boxes.


    ¡°You were doing it while we talked?¡± Sandy asked, surprised.


    ¡°I can multitask like a champion... when I''m not so angry I could spit.¡± I said and she laughed.


    ¡°Come on, Beatrice. I''ll help you get changed.¡± Sandy said and both women went into their room.


    Deborah touched my shoulder. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Me, too.¡± I said. ¡°You''re going to be working full time now.¡±


    ¡°That''s not what I meant.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll see you at supper.¡±


    She walked away and entered her room to get changed and I carried Hailey and Kalina''s bags and boxes to the main hatch, only to find both Simone and Luxea still stood there, both with shock on their faces and on ether side of where the main hatches were joined together.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Luxea said and then didn''t say anything else.


    ¡°No, I won''t cut you off from your salvage rights.¡± I said. ¡°Don''t tell Rhubin that he still gets his share, minus operating costs and the cost of hiring another pilot to do the job he should be doing. That is, unless he messes up and actually does try to do something to harm the ship or anyone on it. Then he gets nothing except turned over the authorities.¡±


    ¡°But... if you tell him first...¡±


    ¡°It''s a character test.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, he still has lots of credits...¡±


    Luxea''s expression changed and I sighed.


    ¡°I don''t want to know.¡± I said and walked by her and down the hall, then into Rhubin''s old room. He didn''t have a lot of things, surprisingly. That probably has to do with whatever he spent all those credits on. I thought and dropped Kalina''s things beside his just inside the door of the room and then I used Presence Hands as I stripped the bed. I was tempted to crush the mattress, then flipped it over instead and added new sheets. I''ll by a new mattress when we get to the Dizahl System.


    I threw the sheets away and left the room and went back to the main hatch. Both women were still there. ¡°We''re separating right after Gleas and Jelly transfer over.¡± I said to them, and that seemed to knock them out of whatever trances they were in.


    ¡°See you at the next jump point.¡± Luxea said and walked away.

 Book Three: The Resolution 049

    Simone walked with me into the new ship. ¡°She''s going to change the terms on the business.¡±


    ¡°She thinks she is.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°But... Hunter, she...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know she can hack it.¡± I said. ¡°She can alter as much of it as she wants and it''s not going to make a lick of difference, because it will only affect things that happen after the changes.¡±


    ¡°What if she changes the registry date on the document?¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter. There are reasons why there is galactic backup. It keeps everyone honest.¡±


    ¡°Even bounty hunters?¡± Simone asked with a smile.


    ¡°Especially bounty hunters.¡± I said. ¡°Who better to appeal to about fraud than a faceless entity that enforces corporate contracts?¡±


    Simone didn''t have an answer for that.


    ¡°I''ve got to spend some quality time with Hailey, so I''ll see you later.¡± I said and opened my room door.


    ¡°Quality time?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°Bath time!¡± Hailey responded excitedly and Simone smiled as the door shut.


    The next four days passed by and both ships arrived at the next jump point, where the pilots switched places. Gleas became the co-pilot and Deborah took over on the Udelis, while Jelly came back over to the new ship to co-pilot and Beatrice became the main pilot. It really bothered me that we had to do it this way; but, there was nothing else that could be done.


    We did the next jump and the next, played musical chairs with the pilots and co-pilots, and by the time we arrived at the Dizahl System, all the pilots wholeheartedly agreed with me that flying the ships like that was difficult and was hard on their morale. None of them wanted to add new people, though. They were comfortable with their coworkers and didn''t want to try to integrate someone new at this late stage in the salvage operation.


    When we docked the ships together next to the shipping containers, it was time to deal with Rhubin. I tried to leave Hailey on the new ship and she wasn''t going to let me.


    ¡°I''ll just follow you if you don''t take me with you.¡± Hailey said, as if it was a matter of fact.


    I couldn''t argue against it, mainly because she had been such a big help the last time I had confronted him, so I picked her up and carried her with me. She was getting a bit too big to do that, now that she was into her growth spurt; but, neither she nor I cared. I just had to be a little more careful when walking through the smaller doorways. The others gathered together and followed us as we went into the Udelis.


    I stopped by Rhubin''s old room and used Presence Hands as I picked up both Kalina''s things and his, then carried everything down the hallway to the cell. I could hear Rhubin''s thoughts and he was angry that I had left him locked inside the entire time and he was very angry that Kalina had to suffer the indignity with him.


    ¡°It''s time.¡± I said and Rhubin stood up and glared at me through the door. ¡°Do not attack me. I will knock you unconscious if you try.¡±


    ¡°What if I''m just thinking it?¡± Rhubin asked through clenched teeth.


    ¡°I won''t consider it aggressive until you actually move to try.¡± I said. ¡°Do I have your word?¡±


    ¡°What does that matter?¡± Rhubin asked. ¡°You won''t trust what I say, anyway.¡±


    ¡°That''s because I can tell when you lie.¡±


    Rhubin huffed and didn''t give his word, so I ''looked'' at him and through his pockets to find a few small electronic devices.


    I probably should have checked him before locking him up. I thought and popped the charge on the devices. Whatever they were, they shouldn''t work without power. As a precaution, I covered them in a thin layer of Presence and made it solid, that way he couldn''t push a button or flip a switch or anything. I hit the button and the security door on the cell opened.


    Rhubin didn''t say anything and led Kalina out of the room and into the hallway.


    ¡°I see Luxea gave you changes of clothes.¡± I said.


    ¡°If you''re going to keep prisoners, you should see to their needs.¡± Rhubin said and tried to keep his anger in check.


    ¡°You had access to a shower, food, and a bed. You didn''t need to change your clothes.¡± I said.


    ¡°We would have been wearing the same clothes for over a month!¡± Rhubin said, angrily.


    ¡°You weren''t going anywhere until today, so what did it matter what you wore?¡± I asked. When he couldn''t refute my logic, I continued. ¡°We''re by the shipping containers, so we''re going to have to take the shuttle to bring you to the station.¡±


    ¡°You''re really kicking me off.¡± Rhubin said, disbelief in his voice.


    ¡°You brought this on yourself.¡± I said. ¡°I asked you... I even pleaded with you... to leave her alone.¡±


    ¡°You had no right to say those things to me.¡± Rhubin said as he unobtrusively reached into a pocket.


    ¡°That just proves you never considered me a friend.¡± I said, clearly seeing that move, and he didn''t say anything. ¡°I thought about asking you in what system you wanted to get dropped off after the cargo is unloaded: but, I think I''ll just leave you at the station.¡±


    ¡°You''re a real piece of work.¡± Rhubin said.


    ¡°I think you just described yourself.¡±


    ¡°I thought you would come to your senses and forget about this.¡± Rhubin said and his hand jerked as he tried to push a button on one of the things in his pocket. When nothing happened, he frowned. ¡°You''re throwing away all of the things we accomplished over a petty squabble.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°Did you really think, for one second, that I didn''t realize the moment I left you unsupervised on my ship, that you would try to take off with it?¡± I used Presence to pull his hand out of his pocket, then made his hand open. ¡°Oh? What''s this?¡± I asked and took it. ¡°Luxea? You wouldn''t happen to know what this is, do you?¡±


    Luxea''s face went slightly red and she didn''t answer, nor did she move her head.


    ¡°How did trying to change the business registry and its conditions work for you?¡± I asked her as I covered Rhubin in a thin layer of Presence and made it solid, so he couldn''t move, and Luxea''s face went completely red as everyone else gasped or caught their breath. ¡°That well, huh?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I... I was just...¡±


    ¡°Trying to cheat me, I know.¡± I said.


    ¡°You''re the one cheating us!¡± Luxea said. ¡°Udelis! Lock all computer controls!¡±


    ¡°Command confirmed. Removing all access to primary and secondary systems.¡± A computerized male voice said from the intercom.


    ¡°Wow, this is a surprise.¡± I said and Hailey giggled, because she knew that Luxea''s actions weren''t what I was referencing. ¡°Udelis, when did you get a voice synthesizer and a translation unit?¡±


    ¡°Command confirmed. Three days ago.¡±


    ¡°Udelis, I''m sorry I never thought of that.¡± I said.


    ¡°Command confirmed. You didn''t know it was possible.¡±


    ¡°Udelis! Transfer all commands and functions to Rhubin and myself.¡± Luxea said, triumph in her voice.


    ¡°Command confirmed. Broadcasting SOS. Local authorities have been notified that Rhubin Tromazz and Luxea Pectrolia are committing piracy. Authorities confirm SOS. Responding in thirty seconds.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Luxea yelled. ¡°Udelis! Cancel previous command!¡±


    ¡°Command confirmed. Unable to comply. All primary and secondary systems are currently locked.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± Luxea tried to run to the cockpit. She hit an invisible Presence Wall and fell to the floor.


    ¡°I''m sorry; but, you are not stealing my ship.¡± I said and used Presence to hit the controls on the new ship and opened the shuttle bay doors. ¡°Udelis, contact the approaching patrol ship and tell them there''s a shuttle bay opening to accept them. I don''t want them cutting into your hull or blowing a hatch or something.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°Command confirmed. Message sent. Patrol ship sees the bay doors and is sending a shuttle.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said. ¡°Well, that didn''t go how I thought it was going to.¡±


    Everyone was too shocked to say anything, except Hailey.


    ¡°I can''t wait until we grow our hair out.¡± Hailey said, completely unbothered by the situation.


    ¡°I miss using shampoo, too.¡± I said and kissed her cheek.


    Simone let out a nervous bark of laughter and that seemed to break the tension and made almost everyone relax. In the next moment, a squad of space suited military people came down the hallway at a trot with their laser rifles at the ready. The ''trunch trunch'' sounds of their coordinated boots was kind of soothing, then they came to a stop beside Luxea and I absorbed the Presence Wall around her while at the same time, disabling all of the little electronic devices she had stashed in her pockets. She was quickly cuffed and two of the men led her away.


    Two of the remaining six came forward and took custody of Rhubin. He didn''t even have the guts to look at me as they passed by with him and then he was gone from my sight as well. He was still within my detection range, so I started to rifle through his head. I had never erased memories before, so all I could really do was muddle the ones he had about the business, the ships, and our projects. I felt guilty that I had to do that to him; but, I didn''t want him letting anyone else know what my plans were.


    ¡°Thanks for responding so quickly.¡± I said as I walked over to the remaining troops, reached by one of them, and held a hand out to the person in back. ¡°I wasn''t sure how I was going to handle that peacefully.¡±


    The surprised woman took my hand and shook it. ¡°I''m... glad we were close by.¡±


    ¡°Do you need to take our depositions or...¡±


    ¡°We already have all of the relevant visual and audio recordings.¡± She interrupted me and let my hand go and she was surprised to find the little device Rhubin had tried to use was on her palm. ¡°Although, you won''t be allowed to leave the system for several weeks while we deal with the criminals and the charges they face.¡±


    ¡°I''m perfectly fine with that.¡± I said and absorbed the Presence around the device. ¡°We have tons of cargo to transfer into the storage containers and I need to hire some engineers to work on retrofitting a medical bay. I also...¡±


    The woman snorted a laugh. ¡°I get it. You''re staying for a while.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°We''ll be here if you need us for anything.¡± I said and then whispered. ¡°Check his pockets for other things like this, and you should check Luxea, too. Just in case.¡±


    ¡°I know how to do my job.¡± She said with a smile and waved her hand in a circle. ¡°Move out.¡±


    The three troops around her turned around and walked away.


    ¡°By the way, how did you know I was in command?¡± She asked me.


    I was tempted to lie, then glanced at Hailey on my hip. ¡°They were protecting you in a huddle and not in an actual formation, then the two in the back took Luxea, while the two in the front took Rhubin. You were peeling away your protection.¡±


    She opened her mouth to say that wasn''t enough proof and I couldn''t have known just from that.


    ¡°I also heard your commands.¡± I said and tapped my pointed ears. I didn''t say that I also used Presence. She nodded and turned, looked at each person there in the hallway with an extra long look at Kalina, then she walked away. I turned to look at Kalina myself and saw that she looked to be on the verge of tears and was fighting hard not to start.


    ¡°Hunter, please...¡±


    ¡°You have a choice now.¡± I said. ¡°Unlike both Rhubin and Luxea, who were caught trying to actively steal my ship, I can drop you off in any system along our route.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I''ve never been outside the Fogaris System.¡± Kalina said. ¡°I don''t know the first thing about living anywhere else.¡±


    ¡°It''s the same as living anywhere. The circumstances may change; but, we all need food, shelter, and people to care about us.¡± I said. ¡°Then again, you had a hard time finding work in an out-of-the-way system. I''m sure you won''t have any trouble finding piloting work around the main shipping lanes.¡±


    ¡°C-can I check?¡± Kalina asked. I''m sure if I report what he''s done, someone will step in and...


    ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°I have to update your work history first.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Kalina exclaimed. ¡°I made a mistake! Please don''t smear my reputation because of that!¡±


    ¡°You made more than just one mistake and you keep making them, over and over.¡±


    ¡°Please, don''t punish me like this.¡± Kalina said in a defeated tone.


    I chuckled. ¡°What would you have me do? Give you a glowing recommendation? For what? The work you did before you quit and contributed to wrecking everything I''ve built?¡±


    Kalina couldn''t answer those questions, so she stayed quiet.


    ¡°We''re staying here for several weeks, so you have until then to decide if you want to stay here, get dropped off somewhere else, or go back to the Fogaris System.¡± I said and waved at the cell.


    Kalina turned around and entered the room and I put her things and Rhubin''s inside and closed the door. I made sure to disable every electronic device, just in case.


    I walked away and the others followed me to the cockpit. ¡°Hailey, I have to put you down for a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°Kay.¡± Hailey said.


    I put her down and she opened one of the jump seats at the back of the cockpit and sat down. I sat down on the pilot seat and started typing commands and checked a few things. I stopped myself from shaking my head at all of the modifications Luxea had done to the Udelis AI.


    ¡°Udelis, how far back do the extensive changes go that Luxea made to you?¡±


    ¡°Command confirmed. Five days for major modifications to my AI. Two months, three days, seven hours, twenty-three minutes for minor modifications and backdoor access.¡±


    ¡°Which was right around the time of our fight.¡± I said. ¡°She''s been planning this for a while.¡±


    ¡°No wonder she didn''t want you touching her.¡± Simone said. ¡°I didn''t pick up on any of this and I''ve been trying my best to find out what was going on with her.¡±


    ¡°That reminds me.¡± I said and closed my eyes and ''looked'' at the patrol ship. Their shuttle had docked already and Luxea was being patted down and a lot of things were taken from her, including several credit chips. ¡°Goddammit! She emptied the credit computer.¡±


    I took out one of the chip readers and checked, and there was nothing left. I used the communications console and called the patrol ship to let them know the chips she had were filled with my personal money and not from the business account. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that they were evidence in the piracy case and would be returned to me when it was time and not before.


    ¡°Thanks for your help.¡± I said through gritted teeth and ended the call.


    Everyone started talking at once and I held a hand up to stop them.


    ¡°I need a few minutes of quiet.¡± I said as I closed my eyes again and concentrated as I entered a very special meditative state. I found Luxea and she was happy that she had gotten away with ''her'' money. I took a deep breathe as I broke my promise to her and dove deep into her mind.


    *


    Luxea tried not to laugh at the guards as they checked her for weapons. She had never needed any weapons, besides her electronic toolkit. Her eyes fell on the several credit chips that they had taken from her pocket and they were added to the sealed container with her toolkit. She smiled, because it was for personal items and she would get them back when they released her.


    She didn''t fight or resist in any way as they put her into a cell and closed the door. She hadn''t seen that her personal storage container was then taken and put into an evidence bag and sent to the captain. Just as Luxea sat down on the bench to wait to be brought to the station, she felt a huge weight on her mind and her entire body shook at its immense pressure.


    Luxea had thought she had a strong mind, and yet, she couldn''t fight the pressure at all as whatever it was scoured through her mind and took everything that it wanted. It rifled through her memories and plucked everything that she had done to the Udelis'' computer system, then she knew what was going on.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Luxea whispered and her mind withered at the strength of his. The pressure became too much for her and her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell unconscious. She flopped down onto the bench and then slid to the floor. Two guards came in and tended to her, then called a medical technician to check her over.


    ¡°She just fainted.¡± The man said. ¡°Lay her down on the bench. The least we can do is keep her off of the floor, even though pirates don''t deserve to even be on the floor.¡±


    ¡°I miss the days when we could just space them without a trial.¡± One of the guards said.


    The other guard chuckled. ¡°How much do you want to bet that the captain is saying the same thing?¡±


    The two guards and the med tech laughed and left the cell.


    *


    It took me a little while to get everything that I needed from Luxea. Luckily, the patrol ship didn''t move off as soon as they had the prisoners. I was tempted to look at the captain to see how much longer I had, then decided that all I could do was the best I could do with whatever time I had available. No one spoke as I worked and pilfered Luxea''s memories. I got everything she did to the Udelis AI and how to undo it, then decided that I didn''t need to stop there.


    My mind remembered my conversation with Simone about taking people''s experiences and trying to assimilate them and I told her that it wouldn''t work, because the mind couldn''t adjust to the difference between the two different bodies using those skills. Programming, though? It''s mostly just mental skills. I had to be careful and not take anything that would mess up my own experiences, though. I only took the technical memorization and none of the physical programming she did, that way I only gained the knowledge and not the memories of using that knowledge.


    I know that sounds like a bunch of gibberish; but, it was true and it worked. The only thing that mattered at the moment was that the patrol ship stayed right there next to us for nearly half an hour before it signalled that it was moving off. I floated up and out of my meditative state, because I had gotten all that I could from Luxea and muddled her thoughts of me doing it as well, then hit the respond button.


    ¡°I look forward to the trial footage and getting my credits back.¡± I said.


    There wasn''t a response and I hadn''t really expected one. I turned around to face the women behind me and Gleas, Beatrice, and Deborah had their hands out. Each of them had several unspent credit chips resting on their palms.


    ¡°What''s this?¡± I asked.


    ¡°One month loans, with a five percent interest rate.¡± Gleas said. ¡°You need capital for operating costs over the next few weeks, including hiring a crew to renovate the medical bay.¡±


    ¡°Gleas...¡± I started to refuse the offer.


    ¡°Before you refuse, this isn''t all that we have.¡± Deborah said and they opened their other hands and had several more chips there. ¡°We''ve saved pretty much everything we''ve made so far, except for the splurges on our days off.¡±


    ¡°Deborah... Beatrice...¡±


    ¡°Don''t say anything.¡± Sandy said. ¡°Just take it and pay it back when you can.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to do this.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve got a few preliminary sales and...¡±


    ¡°How long to accept them and make the deliveries before you get the money for them?¡± Gleas asked.


    I sighed. ¡°A few days. Maybe a week or more.¡±


    ¡°Then shut up and take my money.¡± Gleas said. ¡°We need to get to work and move all of this cargo to the containers.¡±


    I couldn''t refuse their generous offer, so I stood up and took two chips from each of their hands to make six weeks of pay. ¡°This should be enough for the work crew to get everything set up, with a rush priority, and we can also stock up on supplies.¡±


    They visibly relaxed and I raised my eyebrows at them.


    ¡°We thought you were going to be even more stubborn and might actually refuse.¡± Gleas said.


    I opened my mouth to respond, then changed my mind and stepped forward and gave her a hug. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Y-you''re w-welcome.¡± Gleas said and hugged me back.


    Deborah smiled at me when I let Gleas go and opened her arms. ¡°Bring it!¡±


    I chuckled and gave her a hug, too. ¡°Thank you.¡± I let her go and looked at Beatrice, who blushed and glanced at Sandy.


    ¡°Group hug!¡± Sandy said happily and she put one arm around Beatrice and they each held an arm out to me. I stepped into their open arms and put an arm around each of them. They rested their heads on my shoulders and gave me a double hug. They held it for a few moments, then let me go at the same time as if they had practised the move.


    ¡°Now I feel left out.¡± Jelly joked and I turned to her. ¡°Hey, I was joking.¡±


    ¡°Only because you didn''t have anything to offer.¡± I said and took her into a hug. ¡°You would have if you had it.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to say something corny like it''s the thought that counts?¡± Jelly asked.


    I let her go and stepped back to see her slightly red face. ¡°Hey, you said it. Not me.¡±


    Jelly chuckled and then Simone didn''t say anything as she stepped over to me and hugged me as well.

 Book Three: The Resolution 050

    Hailey stood up and walked over to the pilot''s seat and sat down. ¡°Can I watch you work from here?¡±


    ¡°I''m pretty sure you can do anything you want.¡± Gleas said and looked at me.


    I shrugged and let Simone out of the hug. ¡°Udelis, add Hailey to the approved user list. Oh, and remove Luxea and Rhubin if you haven''t already.¡±


    ¡°Command confirmed. New user designation ''Hailey'' accepted. Old users already removed.¡±


    ¡°After this shift, I''ll start working on clearing his systems of Luxea''s influence.¡± I said and bent down to kiss Hailey''s cheek. ¡°No flying the ship while we''re still attached to the new ship.¡±


    ¡°I can fly the ship when it''s not?!?¡± Hailey asked excitedly and I chuckled.


    ¡°We have all these fantastic people around us and they are also pilots.¡± I said. ¡°Maybe they can take some entrepreneurial young woman under their tutelage and share their extensive knowledge.¡±


    ¡°Do we get hazard pay?¡± Jelly asked and that made everyone laugh.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Go get changed so we can get this cargo moving.¡± I looked at the others. ¡°In fact, I think we all should.¡±


    ¡°We could make a carry chain and just pass everything along instead of each of us moving it piece by piece.¡± Simone said. ¡°We just have to be careful of the momentum.¡±


    ¡°I''ll go into the containers to catch everything and rack it properly, so you don''t have to worry about that.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then this is going to be the fastest unloading anyone has ever seen.¡± Simone commented and we all went to our rooms and changed into our flight suits. Hailey watched us as we really did unload at a much faster speed than anyone could have guessed. I stayed inside the containers to catch the items and place them in the appropriate spots, so a continuous stream of salvage flowed towards me.


    We did one six hour shift and took a two hour break, then we did another six hours and called it a day. That evening, I contacted the same work crew that had modified the cell on the Udelis and hired them to redo the room on the new ship. It would happen the next day and they even agreed to install the medical equipment for a small additional fee. After arranging that, I worked on the Udelis AI for two hours, then took Hailey back to our room on the new ship. We had a bath for her and a shower for me, then we went to bed and slept all night.


    We all worked hard the next day and when we came back inside the ship for supper, the medical bay was completed, including the technical add-ons that were necessary to make it completely functional. I paid the crew with two of the week pay chips I had gotten from Gleas and the crew leader looked at the credit total.


    ¡°You''re not going to ask for change, are you?¡± The alien asked with a smile.


    I chuckled. ¡°The rest is a bonus for finishing so quickly. So, have a drink on me.¡±


    The alien nodded and pocketed the chip, then the crew left. I asked everyone to come and see the new medical bay and they were all impressed; even Hailey, who had seen a lot of them. All it needed was to have the software updates that Luxea had designed and it would be fully functional. I checked the programs over first, of course. When they were cleared, I set them to update and install onto the existing software and let it run.


    We had supper and I worked on the Udelis for two hours, then went to bed. The next five days were pretty much the same thing. We unloaded cargo, ate, unloaded cargo, then I worked on the Udelis AI.


    The things Luxea did to the poor artificial intelligence was as extensive as it was unnecessary. A lot of it just rewrote some of the information files to include her name and a piece of her code that didn''t actually do anything. I removed it all, except for the voice and translation files. Those I just cleaned and removed her backdoors in the software. I wasn''t going to reduce Udelis back to a screen display, now that we could actually talk to each other.


    On the last day of the week, we all took a break. I locked the ships down and covered certain parts with Presence, just in case, then we took a shuttle to the station. I paid to dock for the day and we spent the time shopping and walking around the station. This was the first civilian station that Hailey had visited and she was excited about it. I wallowed in her thoughts as she experienced yet another first with me, and she looked forward to whatever it was that was going to be the next first she experienced with me.


    I gave her a hug and she beamed a smile at me, then we all went to our favorite restaurant. The entire staff pretty much fell over themselves when I walked in with a bevy of beauties, then the owner saw Hailey. She was immediately declared the Queen of the Restaurant and a feast was prepared in her honor.


    The owner''s wife came out to see what the fuss was about and immediately fell in love with her and helped to make the meal even more lavish than it was going to be. We were served and started to eat, then the owner''s wife grabbed my arm as she leaned in to whisper.


    ¡°She is to be your wife.¡±


    It was a statement and not a question, so I nodded.


    ¡°Then she is family, too.¡± She said. ¡°Where are your other friends?¡±


    I was tempted to say that they were arrested, then changed my mind. ¡°They aren''t friends anymore.¡±


    The owner''s wife caught her breath and held my arm tightly for a moment, then she sighed.


    I pat her hand. ¡°This food is delicious.¡±


    ¡°Then eat until your belly bursts.¡± The woman said and looked at Hailey. ¡°I will be back with your royal crown.¡±


    Hailey wasn''t sure what she meant, then the woman came back ten minutes later with batter-covered onions that were made into the shape of a large crown and put in front of her.


    ¡°Only you get this delicious treat.¡± The owner''s wife said. ¡°Please try it.¡±


    Hailey looked at me and I nodded, so she broke off a piece and tasted it. ¡°It''s really good!¡±


    Both the owner and his wife beamed a smile at her and left us to finish the meal. When we were done, I paid, despite their protests, and tipped the workers for the excellent service. We left there and hopped on the shuttle and went back to the joined ships.


    Unloading finished after another week and I worked out a few measly sales, until I was struck by inspiration. I contacted the Bogorim Corporation and gave them a list of the salvage I had available, with a tentative list that I might possibly have in a couple of months. Once they knew that they could get an entire influx of new material components, they jumped at the chance. Their clients absolutely loved anything new and odd and they practically demanded I sell it to them.


    I hadn''t even explained that the items could be easily adapted to work with our systems. Once I did, they bought everything I had on my list with the caveat that I gave them first priority on the next shipment. I agreed without question and waited until the end of the next day off before I told the girls.


    I almost had to cover my ears as several grown women squealed in delight like little girls. It was the first time I had heard those sounds from experienced mouths and then I was covered in both hugs and kisses. Hailey was right there and added her own, mainly because she was swept up in the happiness that everyone was sharing. Simone was in a similar situation and had added in her own hug and kiss. She restrained herself and kept it to just my cheek, though.


    I was happy that we had been so meticulous in storing everything, because it made taking out the parts I had sold very, very easy. We loaded up the new ship, since it could carry the entire purchase by itself, and Jelly, Deborah, and I delivered it to the second planet. The same little alien was there to oversee the massive delivery and he was absolutely shocked when I transferred everything into their cargo containers using Presence and didn''t need the machinery they had brought for that task.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I accepted the payment credit chip and the alien reminded me to give them first choice on the next shipment. I promised again and we flew back out to the cargo containers and linked back up to the Udelis. Everyone came into the cockpit as I used a chip reader to enter the very high credit chip into the system. When it beeped and showed us the total had been transferred and a copy was immediately sent to the galactic backup, a sigh of relief came from the others and I chuckled.


    ¡°You could swear I was handling volatile explosives from your reactions.¡± I said and they laughed.


    ¡°You kind of are.¡± Gleas said. ¡°By the goddess, I''ve never seen so many credits in one place before.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and this shipment was mostly from the low priority wrecks.¡± I reminded them and they caught their breath. ¡°When we deliver the next one...¡±


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Gleas took a breath and let it out. ¡°Hunter... even... even one percent of that...¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°Aren''t you glad you didn''t betray me?¡±


    Gleas had a sad look on her face for a moment, then she reached out and rubbed the fuzz on the top of my head. ¡°I never would, even if it turned out that you really were the evil bastard that screwed your friends out of their share, like Luxea and Rhubin believed.¡±


    I widened my eyes for a second and then laughed. ¡°I still can''t believe that it was them that tried to do it to me.¡±


    ¡°Neither can we.¡± Simone said on behalf of everyone. ¡°They even stole your personal money.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that reminds me.¡± I said and did up twelve chips with a week''s pay on them and then three with the five percent interest. ¡°Here are the loans back.¡± I said and gave Gleas, Beatrice, and Deborah two chips each. ¡°Here''s the interest.¡± I gave them the single chips. ¡°And these are the two weeks you just worked.¡± I gave them each two more week pay chips.


    They waited for a few moments, then Gleas fake scowled and put her hands on her hips dramatically.


    ¡°You better hand over the rest of what you owe us or you''re going to be in serious trouble!¡±


    I laughed and started using the credit computer. ¡°I am not giving you that much money on a single credit chip.¡± I said and made them each their own personal account in the computer, then transferred four percent of the original total into each of their accounts. ¡°There.¡± I said and brought up Gleas'' account to show her the total. ¡°Are you happy now?¡±


    Gleas'' arms dropped to her sides for a moment, then she covered her mouth in shock. ¡°H-Hunter... what... oh, goddess!¡±


    ¡°Kalina was only getting one percent because she had a temporary contract.¡± I said. ¡°Employees get four percent, plus bonuses.¡±


    I saw tears appear in Deborah''s eyes and Beatrice and Sandy were almost there.


    ¡°Go ahead and kiss each other. I won''t stare.¡± I said to Sandy with a grin.


    ¡°HA!¡± Sandy barked a laugh then turned to Beatrice. ¡°Shall we?¡±


    Beatrice''s face flushed completely red, then she put her arms around Sandy''s neck and kissed her. And didn''t stop. They made out with each other for several moments and even though I had been joking, I actually stared at them. We all did. When they broke the kiss, they saw everyone looking at them.


    ¡°Hey! You said you wouldn''t stare!¡± Beatrice accused us, her face still completely red.


    ¡°We couldn''t help it.¡± I said. ¡°Tell them why, Hailey.¡±


    Hailey moved from the pilot''s seat and climbed onto my lap. ¡°You really love each other.¡±


    Sandy''s face went almost as red as Beatrice''s.


    ¡°I can''t wait until I''m old enough to kiss Hunter like that.¡± Hailey said with a huge grin.


    It was my turn to bark a laugh and then everyone joined in and laughed, too.


    ¡°I don''t know about everyone else; but, I''m beat.¡± Jelly said. ¡°I''m heading to bed.¡± She turned and started to walk away, and I grabbed her hand.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± I said and let her hand go, then took out a handful of credit chips, one for each week she had worked, then loaded them up with a week''s pay and gave them to her. ¡°Sub-contracted work.¡± I turned to the credit computer and brought up the account I had made for her that had one percent of the salvage sale in it. ¡°My standard hazard pay for temporary workers.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter!¡± Jelly exclaimed. ¡°I... I can''t...¡± She looked at everyone''s faces and then back at me. ¡°I work for the military. I''ve been working for them this whole time.¡± She finally admitted out loud. ¡°I''ve been keeping them apprised of your actions.¡±


    ¡°Like none of us already knew that.¡± I said and waved at the others. ¡°Why do you think I forced you to take days off with us and then had you come along on this trip?¡± I asked. ¡°Did you think I needed a combat pilot to fly us from here to the station?¡±


    Jelly couldn''t answer that question, because when I had asked her to come along, she hadn''t considered what she would be doing at all. She came along just because I had asked.


    ¡°Now you know why I asked.¡± I smiled. ¡°So, enjoy your vacation from work.¡±


    Jelly shook her head in disbelief. ¡°Now I really need to go to bed.¡± She said and left the cockpit.


    ¡°That was really nice of you.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°Actually, I was a bit of a jerk for not paying her before now.¡± I said and several of them nodded. ¡°I didn''t offer, because I knew she would have refused if given a choice.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you worked for someone else and someone gave you a few weeks pay, on top of the pay you already get from that other job, wouldn''t you refuse on the grounds that it was a conflict of interest?¡±


    Gleas started to say that she wouldn''t, then had to think about it.


    ¡°Since she''s now here, over a month''s travel away from that credit source, it didn''t bother her too much to accept being paid for that time.¡± I let a crooked smile touch my lips. ¡°Then I offered her a ton of free credits on top of that.¡±


    Gleas chuckled and the others smiled. ¡°Okay, yes. That much is hard to refuse.¡±


    ¡°Now I have to agree with Jelly.¡± I said. ¡°We should all head to bed.¡±


    ¡°I''ll get the bath ready!¡± Hailey said and hopped off my lap and ran from the cockpit.


    ¡°Don''t use too many suds!¡± I said loudly after her and she laughed as she disappeared from sight.


    ¡°We''ll see you in the morning.¡± Deborah said and the others nodded and started to walk away.


    Simone, stay for a minute. I thought to her and she moved aside to let the others pass. When it was just us, I held a hand out to her.


    Simone didn''t hesitate to take my hand and she shuddered as my thoughts rolled over her. ¡°I... I thought you... were going to keep blocking me.¡±


    ¡°I am blocking you.¡± I said and her eyes widened. ¡°You''re only getting my surface thoughts.¡±


    ¡°But... but, I...¡±


    ¡°You''re getting stronger.¡± I said and pulled her close. ¡°Now sit.¡±


    Simone didn''t even look at the vacant pilot''s chair next to me and sat down across my lap. She let my hand go and put her arms around my neck, then she pulled herself in close to my chest and rested her forehead against mine. Our Presence mixed together slightly at the contact point and she took in a deep shaky breath. I put my arms around her to give her a hug and let it happen. We stayed that way for only a few moments, then Simone came back to her senses and sat up straight, which broke the contact.


    ¡°I can''t believe I just did that.¡± Simone said, surprised at herself.


    ¡°I can.¡± I said and her eyes widened. ¡°It''s one of the reasons you came with me.¡±


    ¡°I... but...¡±


    ¡°No, I still can''t do a full sharing with you.¡± I said and reached up to tap her forehead with a fingertip. ¡°You have a bit more rearranging up there to get rid of what Luxea did to you.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I...¡±


    ¡°It took me a while to figure out; but, she did to you what she did to the Udelis AI.¡± I explained. ¡°Adding little things here and there and she tried her best to alienate you from me.¡±


    Simone took in a sharp breath. ¡°She... she was trying to keep you alone!¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said. ¡°She wanted to make sure that it was only her that I could turn to.¡±


    Simone was quiet for another few moments. ¡°It almost worked.¡±


    ¡°On both counts.¡± I said. ¡°Udelis, thank god, has a read only part of his core. Absolutely nothing can remove the original users from his programming. If it''s attempted...¡±


    ¡°The authorities are called because whoever does it is committing piracy and they are trying to steal him from you!¡±


    I nodded. ¡°It''s an elegant response, isn''t it? I''m really glad my parents set it up that way.¡±


    ¡°But... if Luxea checked everything over... wouldn''t she have known...¡±


    ¡°No. It''s the same as when we had a hard time trying to figure out how to boot up Udelis the first time. Unless you specifically know what you are looking for and how to get to it, you will never find it.¡±


    Simone sat on my lap, holding me, and didn''t say anything for almost a full minute. ¡°I just realized something.¡± She said and looked into my eyes. ¡°Her plans had to change when you hired all of the pilots. It messed up everything she was working for.¡±


    ¡°You''re right. It was easy for her to work her plans around Rhubin, since the three of us were friends and pretty much ignored each other when we''re working. With so many more new eyes and ears to watch her...¡±


    ¡°There was no way she could make sure you were alone.¡± Simone said. ¡°Then you changed ships and stayed on the new one, which left her here on the Udelis.¡±


    ¡°That''s when she recruited Rhubin.¡± I said. ¡°I bet it was her that goaded him into convincing Kalina to quit.¡± I chuckled. ¡°All it would have taken was a whisper here, an off-comment there, and he would have thought it was all his idea... which was why I was so angry at him.¡±


    ¡°Even I picked up on his feelings of superiority when he claimed that they didn''t break your policy.¡±


    ¡°Like I told him, he did break it.¡± I said. ¡°Look at the mess he''s left, all because he couldn''t keep it in his pants for two more months.¡±


    ¡°Would you really have lifted...¡±


    ¡°Kalina wouldn''t be under contract to me anymore and she could have stayed on the ship, just like Sandy stays with Beatrice.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that idiot.¡± Simone said, now that she understood the depths of Rhubin''s mistake.


    ¡°I said that to him much more colorfully.¡± I said and she laughed.


    ¡°I''ve never heard you curse like that.¡±


    ¡°I never really had the reason to until that point.¡± I said and she leaned her forehead on mine again.


    ¡°I really need to go to bed.¡± Simone said sadly as her Presence and mine touched again.


    ¡°And I need to see if Hailey filled the bathroom with suds.¡±


    Simone chuckled. ¡°Okay, I''m getting up now.¡± She said and didn''t make any effort to move.


    ¡°Am I really that appealing?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°You know you are.¡± Simone said, then she sighed and sat up straight, once again breaking contact.


    ¡°It''s the hair, right? Women love the hair.¡± I said and laughed at my own joke.


    ¡°Yes, it''s the hair.¡± Simone said sarcastically. ¡°You''re not just a physical being, you know.¡±


    I nodded and let her half out of the hug and used the freed hand to type on the credit computer. ¡°How appealing am I now?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I don''t care about how rich you...¡± Simone stopped talking when she saw the name on the screen was hers. When she saw the credit total was ten percent of the original salvage sale, she took in two sharp breaths... looked at me... then she fainted. Her arms let me go and she flopped backwards.


    I easily held onto her, since she was still on my lap. ¡°It''s a good thing I didn''t let you go completely.¡± I said with a chuckle.

 Book Three: The Resolution 051

    I cleared the display on the credit computer and then carried Simone out of the cockpit and over to the new ship. Although I was tempted, I didn''t undress her and only laid her on top of her bed. I could easily read her thoughts with her unconscious, and they lingered on getting to sit on my lap and share Presence. There wasn''t an overt sexual need on her part, except that it would let her physically feel what she felt mentally when I shared my thoughts with her.


    As a telepath, she thoroughly enjoyed mental sharing just as much as she enjoyed sex. She had never been able to combine the two, though. Even when she met the occasional member of her race as they had passed through the tourist attraction in the Granis System, none of them were willing to touch her with her missing arms. Because of that, their mental sharing had suffered immensely and she resigned herself to never enjoy the mental interplay between her and another member of her species.


    Until she met me.


    It had given her an opportunity to once again try to share thoughts, and since I had no preconceptions where she was concerned, I had been a long needed balm to both her mind and her heart. At our first meeting, she had let me gain her people''s entire story, or what she knew of it, and her own tragic tale.


    In return, I had given her all of my experiences with Ohazith. She thought that it was more than a fair trade, until my reasoning to her about memories of other people not being the best way to gain experience. It weighed heavily on her, mainly because she hadn''t realized how hollow the memories were if it wasn''t her in them... and now she wanted to experience it for herself.


    Simone wouldn''t push things with me, though. She had made a huge mistake by siding with Luxea and she had a lot of work, both mentally and emotionally, to try and compensate for the damage she had caused to herself and to me.


    I got all of that in only a few seconds. I tried to close off my mind from her and she almost whimpered. Even unconscious, she fought to try and keep a mental connection to me. I let out a quiet sigh and left a small gap in my outer mental defenses for her to keep reading my surface thoughts. Simone took a deep breath and let it out, then did it again. I felt the change in her mind as it went from unconsciousness to just being asleep.


    Now that I knew she was going to be okay, I left her room and went into mine. I slipped off my belt and my flight suit and heard splashing from the bathroom. As I walked over, I heard Hailey''s laughter and then opened the door... only to meet a wall of suds as it tried to rush out of the bathroom.


    ¡°HAILEY!¡± I yelled as I caught the suds with Presence before they escaped. Hailey laughed and laughed, because she really had filled the entire room and the suds went from the floor to the ceiling.


    The next day, since the cargo unloading was completed, all we were waiting around for was word about Luxea and Rhubin... and my money. I attempted to contact the military and was stopped cold by a receptionist in a recruitment office. I had been on hold for a while and then shuffled around until someone actually accepted my call. Since I didn''t want to join the military, she thanked me for calling and hung up.


    ¡°That is the best running around system I have ever seen.¡± Jelly laughed from beside me in the cockpit. She had been practising basic drills on the much larger flight console to familiarize herself with the procedures. We weren''t moving anywhere, because the console was in standby mode; but, the cockpit screen showed a simulation for her to see and she reacted appropriately.


    ¡°I should have asked for a contact number instead of just letting them fly away with all my money.¡±


    ¡°Even if they gave you one, it would probably be fake or changed right after they gave it to you.¡± Jelly said. ¡°Standard military procedure is to change the com codes frequently, so that no one can hack the system and spy on us.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°How do you contact anyone?¡±


    ¡°We just ask our coms for their number by speaking their name and rank number, or we just submit the message and let computers handle the routing.¡± Jelly said. ¡°You know a few people in the military...¡± She stopped talking when she saw my smile. ¡°...normal people in the military.¡± She corrected. ¡°Did you get their com code or just their name?¡±


    I opened my mouth to respond, then realized she was right. I didn''t know Kris'' or Grace''s com codes. I just called their fast patrol ship when it was close enough and asked for them.


    ¡°You see? It''s easier with just the name.¡±


    ¡°Personal codes still work, though.¡± I said.


    Jelly chuckled. ¡°How many people do you give out your personal number to?¡±


    I didn''t even have to think about that one and laughed. ¡°None. I just assumed when I called them, they would have it.¡±


    Jelly smiled at my ignorance of communications protocols. ¡°It doesn''t work that way.¡±


    ¡°Then when we get back to the Fogaris System, I need to make a couple personal calls.¡± I said and she laughed.


    With nothing else to do and having cleared the Udelis AI of all of Luxea''s programming, I left the cockpit and went to my room, then I started working on making the first of many mobile satellite platforms. They were relatively small, barely three feet wide and a couple feet high. Thanks to all of the salvage we had acquired so far, I had lots of components to construct a lot of them. With the small add-ons that had been purchased a while ago, I had everything I needed to convert the alien technology to my use.


    Our second priority in salvage had been as many internal computer components and data processing nodes that we could get. After a quick trip to one of the main cargo containers, I filled my bag of holding with what I needed. It took me three days to figure out the best configuration to assemble them. There were some plans available on the galactic net; but, since I was building it from scratch, they were only a guide for me to follow.


    The most difficult thing to figure out was how to attach the reactionless drive so that it didn''t interfere with the internal components and didn''t impede its movement. The math was quite a bit beyond me, so after a few hours of blatant guesswork, huge mistakes, a few failures, lost components, and beating my head on my desk, I accepted that my failure in figuring it out was total and asked Udelis to give me a hand. After that, it only took me another hour to construct the first one.


    With it as a model, I saved the plans into my private data storage and got to work. Instead of trying to construct each one individually, I made a large flat area with Presence over the bed and set up the components to construct six of them at a time. I used five sets of Presence Hands to duplicate the work I was doing with my main hands and in just under seven hours, I had six more micro-satellites constructed. I used Presence on them all to check and make sure that all of the components and wires were attached properly, then I sat back and looked at my work.


    ¡°It''s time for bed.¡± Hailey said with a tired voice from behind me.


    I turned around and had a huge smile on my face. ¡°Thank you for not being angry at me for working like I have the last few days.¡±


    Hailey walked over to me and was about to hug me, then stopped before she touched me. I was quite dirty from handling soldering materials and salvaged metal and materials. You don''t realize how much dirt can build up on things until you handle them with bare hands and see how black your fingers get.


    ¡°I''ll give you lots of hugs after I wash up.¡± I said and she nodded. I was in and out of the shower and dressed in my nightgown in only three minutes.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Hailey stared at me in surprise.


    ¡°I didn''t want to keep you waiting.¡± I said and picked her up and hugged her.


    Hailey giggled and we held each other for several moments, then I carried her to the bed and we went to sleep. The next morning we had breakfast and my day was filled with satellite construction. The others brought me food and kept me going, then that night, we gathered in the large living room and watched the screen. I tried to watch whatever it was for a little while, then I felt someone''s hand on my forehead.


    I jerked a little at the flood of emotions and thoughts about me and I opened my eyes. ¡°Huh? What?¡±


    ¡°Someone has been exhausting themselves.¡± Gleas said, concern in her voice. ¡°You''ve been asleep for about three hours.¡±


    I hadn''t realized I had fallen asleep. I thought in surprise.


    ¡°I try to distract him from work and all he does is take small breaks.¡± Hailey said from beside me.


    I turned my head to look at her. ¡°Hey, why aren''t you on my lap?¡± I asked, and she giggled. She knew I missed her comforting weight.


    ¡°You need to take better care of yourself.¡± Simone said from beside Hailey. ¡°All that precision use of Presence is draining you.¡±


    I opened my mouth to say that I needed to get the satellites constructed as soon as possible, then I sighed. ¡°Okay, okay. I''ll take the day off tomorrow.¡± I said. ¡°Who wants another shopping day on the station?¡±


    Everyone wholeheartedly agreed that it was a good plan. The next day, we left on the shuttle and flew to the station. Another day of browsing, shopping, and general fun was had by all. Once again, we stopped at our favorite restaurant for supper to end the day, and Hailey received the royal treatment again.


    ¡°I think I''m spoiling you.¡± I said to her as she ate the battered onion crown.


    ¡°That''s your job.¡± Hailey said without missing a beat.


    Gleas, Beatrice, Sandy, Deborah, Simone, and Jelly exchanged looks for a second, then they laughed.


    ¡°She''s got you there!¡± Sandy said. ¡°I''ve got the same job with Beatrice.¡±


    I was tempted to joke and ask her what the pay was like; but, I didn''t want to embarrass them. Simone caught my thoughts and blushed a little, so I winked at her.


    ¡°I don''t know how this place stays in business.¡± Gleas asked. ¡°It''s almost always empty.¡±


    ¡°That''s because I avoid the high traffic days.¡± I said and they all looked at me. ¡°The last thing I want is to have to fight through groups of people just to get something to eat.¡±


    ¡°I was wondering why you said we were on one of the main shipping lanes and this place always seemed empty of traffic.¡± Gleas smiled. ¡°Now we all know you''re a really nice guy.¡±


    I snorted a laugh and the others looked between me and her.


    ¡°He brings the shops lots of business on their slow days, so they aren''t wasting their time by staying open when it''s not busy.¡± Gleas explained.


    ¡°Ooohh.¡± A few of them said and I chuckled.


    ¡°It also lets them remember me.¡± I said and looked at the owner and waved for him to come over. ¡°We''re out of your delicious meals, so I want to order another ''space special''.¡±


    The owner laughed. ¡°We will have it done as soon as possible!¡±


    ¡°There''s no rush. I don''t know when we''ll be leaving; but, I''d like to have them for when we do.¡±


    The owner waved at his wife and she came over to us. She nodded and touched my hand. After a few moments, she smiled.


    ¡°You will receive happy news in three days.¡± She said.


    ¡°I didn''t ask whose birthday was next.¡± I said and she laughed.


    ¡°No, no. You will see.¡± She said and pat my hand. ¡°And it''s Jelly''s turn next week. Gleas is two weeks later, Sandy two days after that, Deborah the next day, then Beatrice and Simone two days after that.¡± She smiled at all of our surprised faces. ¡°Just look at their records to find out the specific days.¡±


    ¡°Ah... thanks.¡± I said.


    She laughed again and walked back into the kitchen to help prepare the meals.


    ¡°We will call when they are done.¡± The owner said and accepted the credits for the meal we were eating, then said he would accept payment for the space special upon delivery to the docking hatch.


    With the meal done and everyone content, we left the restaurant and flew the shuttle back to the ship. We split up and went our separate ways, and I dropped Hailey off in our room and went to the Udelis. I checked in on Kalina to make sure she had eaten the food we had left for her. I saw the trays were untouched and sighed at her thoughts. I opened the cell door and she jerked at the sudden movement and sound.


    ¡°I''m sorry I have to keep you here like this.¡± I said and stepped into the cell. She had gone through her own things and had them spread out in the room. Rhubin''s things were untouched.


    ¡°Do you realize how long it''s been since I''ve been in here?¡± Kalina asked. She didn''t use a defiant tone and her thoughts showed that she regretted coming along on this trip. Her life had fallen apart because of what happened and now she didn''t know what to do.


    ¡°I know exactly how long it''s been and I''ve tried to not be around, so you wouldn''t hate me so much.¡± I said and she sighed.


    ¡°If I never met you...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± I said and sat beside her. ¡°I wanted to warn you about Rhubin and his intentions; but, I had a feeling you would have jumped all over him right away if I had mentioned it.¡±


    Kalina gave me a scornful look for a moment, then she sighed again. ¡°You''re right. I would have been all over him as soon as you mentioned it.¡±


    We sat there for several minutes without saying anything.


    ¡°You know I had to report that you quit.¡± I said and she nodded.


    ¡°Even if you were nice and didn''t include the reason why, it''s still a horrible mark on my work record to quit for no reason.¡± Kalina said and shook her head. ¡°I doubt I''ll get any work at all back home.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to go home.¡± I said.


    ¡°Even with the pay I already have, I can''t afford to live long anywhere else, and my work record will kill my chances to get work right away.¡± Kalina said. ¡°I don''t know what to do now.¡±


    ¡°So, going back to Mark is out of the question?¡± I asked to make sure.


    ¡°We''ve talked through messages and he does want a kid... because a family automatically has a better credit rating than a single man or even a married couple. It''s proof they will be longtime customers.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I''m sorry you had to go through this to find that out.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t have believed you if you told me.¡± Kalina said.


    ¡°Would you have believed Gleas?¡± I asked, and she shook her head.


    ¡°I would think she just wanted to wreck what I had taken from her.¡±


    I nodded again. ¡°So, with all of that knowledge, what do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°I want to escape from this life and never have to worry about any of this stupid s... stuff ever again.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°You know, cursing sometimes relieves the tension.¡±


    Kalina took a breath and let it out. ¡°I heard enough of it from you, so you must be really relaxed.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°It was actually more frustrating, because I couldn''t curse enough or think of good ones.¡±


    Kalina took my hand and gave it a squeeze. ¡°Hunter, I... I''m really sorry I tried to manipulate you.¡±


    ¡°I know you are.¡± I said. ¡°Why else do you think I''m sitting here trying to comfort you?¡±


    Kalina opened her mouth to answer, then sighed. ¡°I don''t know what to do now.¡±


    ¡°I''d suggest doing what you want to do.¡± I said and gave her hand a squeeze and let it go. ¡°What was it? Escaping your current life?¡±


    Kalina''s eyes widened and she thought I was offering to kill her.


    I chuckled and stood. ¡°No, not in that sense.¡± I said and handed her a blank personal ID card. ¡°If you don''t want to be Kalina anymore, with a bad work history and several mistakes that ruined her life, who do you want to be?¡±


    Kalina stared at the blank ID card and then her hand reached out for it.


    ¡°I''ve got a few friends who are experts at hiding people and giving them new lives.¡± I said and she touched the card. ¡°All they ask is that when the time comes, you help someone else who needs to hide and never ask questions.¡±


    ¡°Are... are you serious?¡± Kalina asked. ¡°This... I can be...¡±


    ¡°I told you that there are lots of opportunities for good pilots.¡± I said and let the card go.


    Kalina hugged it to her chest and stared at me.


    ¡°The credits you''ve earned so far will take you a long way in a new life, so if you decide...¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± Kalina yelled. ¡°Please, yes.¡± She said in a more subdued tone. ¡°I don''t want this mess of a life anymore.¡±


    ¡°I''d suggest packing your things back up; but, are they your things anymore?¡± I asked and she smiled. ¡°Take what you want of your old things and be ready to leave at a moment''s notice.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Kalina looked around the cell. ¡°...I''m in a cell, on a space ship, in the middle of a heavy traffic system.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°More traffic makes it easier to hide covert movements.¡± I said and stepped out of the cell. ¡°Remember what I said. If someone comes to you and mentions this, then asks for your help, you give it without question.¡±


    Kalina didn''t hesitate as she nodded. ¡°I will.¡±


    I smiled when the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°I suggest eating and keeping your strength up.¡± I said and shut the security door.


    ¡°Hunter, thank you.¡± Kalina said. ¡°Maybe... maybe we... I hope to meet you again someday.¡±


    ¡°We won''t.¡± I said and felt her sadness. ¡°Our paths won''t cross again.¡±


    She didn''t respond, so I walked away and went back over to the new ship, then sent a message with no content into the galactic net. I received a call three hours later from the restaurant and the food shipment was done, so I took Hailey with me as I disengaged the Udelis from the new ship and flew it to the station''s dock for loading. I paid for the shipment, with a tip for the workers of the restaurant, and they loaded the cargo into the ship. While that was going on, a shuttle under stealth landed on top of the Udelis. It stayed for only a few minutes and then it was gone.


    When the food was fully loaded, I thanked the crew and entered the ship. I checked everything over, closed it up, then flew the Udelis back out to the shipping containers and docked to the new ship again. When I used my Detect Presence and looked into my room, half of the satellites I had made were gone and then I checked the cell. It was empty, except for Rhubin''s undisturbed things and a few boxes marked ''garbage''. I smiled and gathered them together, resisted the urge to crush them and throw them away, and left them in the corner and out of the way.

 Book Three: The Resolution 052 (Sponsored)

    The next morning when I did up breakfast for everyone, a very surprised Deborah ran into the kitchen.


    ¡°Hunter! The cell is empty!¡± Deborah exclaimed and the others gasped. ¡°Kalina''s gone!¡±


    ¡°How? How could she escape?¡± Gleas asked, surprised.


    ¡°She sneaked off when we went to get the food yesterday.¡± Hailey said before I could say anything. ¡°I wouldn''t have noticed if they hadn''t gone into Hunter''s room and took some of his satellites.¡±


    I opened my mouth to speak, then shook my head and chuckled. ¡°I was going to tell you all here at breakfast, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Tell us what?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°Jelly, cover your ears. You can''t hear this part.¡± I said with a smile.


    Jelly put one finger into her left ear and turned her head away, which pointed her right ear towards me.


    I chuckled. ¡°Kalina decided that she didn''t like her old life anymore. She also didn''t want to face all of the things she did, so I arranged for her to go into hiding.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± I said to her surprise. ¡°She wouldn''t be hiding if I knew where she was.¡±


    ¡°But... but she...¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°I felt sorry for her, because she got caught up in the mess that just happened.¡±


    ¡°She was part of it.¡± Gleas said and started to get angry. ¡°If she hadn''t...¡±


    I reached out and took her hand. ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and shared some energy with her to calm her before she got going. ¡°Now we don''t have to worry about her anymore.¡±


    ¡°But... but she...¡±


    ¡°This was the easiest way for me to get rid of her and not have her cause a fuss, either wherever we dropped her off or back on Chofaris.¡± I said. ¡°If I just kicked her off, you know she would tell everyone as much as she could about what went on here.¡±


    Gleas took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°What am I going to tell Mark?¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to tell him anything.¡± I said and she looked at me like I had asked her to kill someone. I chuckled and gave her hand a squeeze. ¡°Don''t call him. If he calls you, then tell him the truth. You woke up one day and she was gone. She snuck off into the night and you don''t know where she is or how to contact her.¡±


    ¡°He''s not going to believe that.¡± Gleas said, sadly. ¡°He thinks she adores him and that she... well...¡±


    ¡°I''ll talk to him if it''s necessary. I''ll make sure he knows she really is gone and I''ll drop off her things.¡±


    Gleas took in a sharp breath. ¡°Her things! Yes!¡± She said and held my hand tightly. ¡°He will have to believe she left if he sees what she left behind!¡±


    ¡°That''s why I resisted the urge to crush them and throw them away, in case they were needed as evidence.¡±


    Gleas nodded and relaxed. ¡°All right. I think I can handle it.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°You think you can handle it?¡± I asked. ¡°Who flies a few thousand tons of starship around the universe?¡±


    ¡°We do.¡± Beatrice and Deborah said together.


    ¡°I need more practice.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°Same here.¡± Jelly said and stopped pretending that she wasn''t listening. ¡°We''re getting there, though.¡±


    Gleas looked at them and then back at me. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°I''m only giving credit where credit is due.¡± I said and let her hand go. ¡°There''s a reason pilots are sought after. It takes a lot of guts to fly a ship through space every day.¡±


    ¡°And you''ve almost got five now!¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°You''re forgetting yourself.¡± I reminded her.


    ¡°I can''t get a training license for three more years.¡± Hailey said, disappointed.


    ¡°Ooo! My first secret pilot!¡± I said and bent down to kiss her cheek. ¡°I''m so lucky!¡±


    Hailey giggled in delight at being my first secret pilot.


    ¡°On that note, what are we doing today?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°Well, I''ve got two more days before that happy news arrives, so I''ll make a few satellites...¡±


    Gleas and the others frowned at me and I held up a hand to stop their protests.


    ¡°I''ll cut my production in half and only make three at a time and not six.¡± I said and they all nodded agreement. ¡°While I''m busy, why not give the three recruits some actual flying lessons?¡±


    ¡°We should detach the new ship and fly out to a relatively empty part of the system.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°We should let the locals know what''s going on, so they don''t freak out about the ship flying erratically.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°Good point.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I''ll do Hailey''s lesson.¡±


    ¡°I''ll teach Simone.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°I guess Jelly is stuck with me.¡± Beatrice said.


    ¡°That makes it sound like I got shafted in the teacher department.¡± Jelly said and the others laughed.


    ¡°Now I have to figure out what I want to do.¡± Sandy said.


    ¡°Hey, I guess now is a good time to ask you what your skills are.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''ve had lots of jobs.¡± Sandy said. ¡°None in space, though.¡±


    ¡°Well, give us a rundown and we can all figure out how you can fit in with the rest of us.¡± I said and she gave us a list of the jobs she had and the skills she used. She really had done a lot of different things and almost none of them could be applied or adapted for use in space. The first time she wore a space suit was when Beatrice had given her old one to her after getting the flight suit.


    ¡°Well, I guess my plans for a space habitat have to be accelerated.¡± I said and they all looked at me with surprise on their faces. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Are... Hunter, you...¡± Gleas couldn''t make her mouth work.


    ¡°I''ll pop out to one of the asteroid smelting operations and see how much their basic structural members cost and...¡±


    ¡°Hunter, even with your latest credit haul, there''s no way you can build a space habitat!¡± Simone said.


    ¡°I was going to build it right on top of the shipping containers, actually.¡±


    ¡°You''re insane!¡± Simone exclaimed. ¡°It takes engineers years, sometimes decades, to create a safe living environment for people!¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I won''t be making it completely from scratch.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡± Gleas said and then she sighed. ¡°You''re going to do this no matter what we say, aren''t you?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Don''t worry, though. I won''t start it until we come back from gathering the last of the salvage.¡±


    ¡°You''re really going to build a habitat.¡± Hailey said in a normal tone, because she was too surprised to be excited.


    ¡°I can''t expect my friends to keep living on a space ship for the rest of their lives.¡± I said and I heard everyone''s thoughts. They had expected to do just that and I laughed. ¡°It''s going to take a while to build, so don''t think you''ll be kicked out of your rooms on the ship right away.¡± I told them. ¡°I need to get the satellite network up and running before I can start to capitalize on its usage fees.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you really are making your own private satellite network.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°It''s the best way to get a steady income, since there are billions of people willing to spend a credit or two for a non-traceable message system.¡± I said and saw everyone''s wide eyes. ¡°What is it this time?¡±


    ¡°You don''t think small, do you?¡± Gleas asked in a soft voice.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°I did at first.¡± I said. ¡°Once I reached a certain point of annoyance with everything in my life, I realized I wanted things to change and started thinking about how to do that.¡±


    ¡°How long to get all of those satellites completed?¡± Deborah asked.


    ¡°Well, with my lower production, maybe five years.¡± I said and they all gasped.


    ¡°F-five y-years?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°You don''t think making a network that spans all the known systems will happen overnight, do you?¡± I asked with a laugh. ¡°Just travelling to every system to drop off the satellites will take that long.¡±


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°I''ll have the main network hub completed by the end of the week, thanks to Udelis'' help.¡± I said and stood. ¡°I''ll build a nice little space-cooled habitat for it and install it on top of the shipping containers.¡±


    No one said anything, so I bent down and gave Hailey a kiss.


    ¡°I''ll see you at supper.¡± I said and she nodded, then I waved at everyone and left to go into the Udelis.


    *


    ¡°I can''t believe...¡± Simone stopped herself from voicing her disbelief, especially since she had felt Hunter''s resolve and the Presence hadn''t wavered as he spoke.


    ¡°The payout we just received from the salvage seems like pocket change compared to what he just said he''ll get from a dedicated network.¡± Deborah said and then looked at the women around her. ¡°Do we get part of that, too?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I do know that our contract has bonuses included; but, normal every day operations?¡± She shook her head. ¡°That''s what the weekly pay is for.¡±


    ¡°Why are you even discussing this?¡± Sandy asked. ¡°You''re rich! Don''t be greedy bitches like Luxea!¡±


    The others gasped at the accusation and then their faces turned red, because the first thing they had thought about was getting some of that influx of credits, even though it would be a long time before it was operational.


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Gleas said with a sigh. ¡°You''re right. We''re horrible people for thinking about it and for trying to figure out how to get a piece of it when it''s done.¡± She stood up and held a hand out to Hailey. ¡°I''m sorry we talked like this, Hailey. Let''s get changed and start your next lesson.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Hailey said and took her hand and stood. ¡°You shouldn''t worry about it, though.¡± She said as they walked to the door. ¡°Hunter always shares things with his friends.¡±


    No one was surprised to hear this. The others cleaned up the food trays and put them in the available slot, then went to get changed themselves. Once everyone was in the proper attire, the ships undocked from each other and the new ship moved off to a clear sector of space for the flying lessons. The Udelis stayed where it was near the shipping containers and the locals were thankful that they had been informed of the erratic movements of the new ship.


    They flew around for an entire shift, came to a rest while they ate lunch, then continued flying for another shift. The new ship flew back to the shipping containers and docked with the Udelis again. They all had supper with Hunter and Hailey talked non-stop about all the cool things she had learned that day, even while she sat there and watched the others take their lessons after hers. Hunter listened attentively and made sure to ask her important questions when she took a breath and let him.


    Hailey''s knowledge of piloting was increasing after each lesson and Hunter was very proud of her. When they finished eating, they all went to the large living room to watch the screen. Since they were in a main traffic system, their choices for programs was both vast and disconcerting. There were thousands of channels to choose from and it took an hour just to find something they hadn''t immediately disliked.


    *


    ¡°I miss the limited channels back in the Fogaris System.¡± Gleas said and tossed the remote onto the empty couch beside us. ¡°I''ll look for a guide on the local net the next time I get the chance.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± I said. ¡°Maybe it''ll have a nice search function and we can just pick what we want.¡±


    ¡°Give me a few minutes.¡± Gleas said and stood up, adjusted her pants because they had ridden up on her again, even after such a short time sitting down. She walked over to the console at the side of the room and did a quick search. She took out a datapad and transferred something to it, then came back to the couch and handed me the datapad.


    ¡°It was not that easy.¡± I said and Gleas grinned at me. ¡°It was?¡± I asked and she chuckled.


    The datapad was quickly searched for a comedy show and the datapad gave me a list of shows and their channels. I narrowed the time and the dozens of options reduced to three.


    ¡°Okay, we have a choice of watching a show about the family life of a group of Kralish, a show about a professional laser ball team with a whole bunch of aliens, or a show about actors trying to break into stardom.¡± I said. ¡°They are also all aliens.¡±


    ¡°I vote the third one.¡± Gleas said and everyone else agreed.


    I told her the channel and Gleas changed it to the right one and the show opening had just finished.


    ¡°How much do you want to bet they pick on the normal guy?¡± Beatrice asked Sandy.


    ¡°I bet you... three public kisses that he''s the mean one of the group.¡± Sandy responded.


    ¡°Ooo, big spender!¡± Jelly said. ¡°You know how much Beatrice blushes from those.¡±


    Beatrice started to blush and we all laughed.


    ¡°All right. I''m in.¡± I said. ¡°One kiss and I''ll bet that the fuzzy-haired alien is the mean one.¡±


    ¡°Cheapskate!¡± Sandy said with a grin.


    Hailey giggled. ¡°I think the lizard girl is the mean one and she''s sleeping in the normal one''s bed!¡±


    ¡°Hailey!¡± Gleas exclaimed and we all laughed again. ¡°Okay, I''m in.¡± She said. ¡°Also one kiss, and I''m going to pick the short dwarf-like guy as the mean one. He looks like he spits fire when he opens his mouth.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Dammit, I didn''t think of that.¡±


    ¡°I think you''re all wrong.¡± Jelly said and pointed. ¡°It''s her.¡± She said as a very beautiful woman stood up on the screen and her face showed that she didn''t like being there at all.


    ¡°What''s your bet?¡± Simone asked with a smile, because she knew the answer that was coming.


    ¡°I''m not betting.¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°Ha! Chicken! Bawk! Bawk!¡± Hailey barked like a chicken and laughed.


    ¡°I will not be goaded into...¡± Jelly gave Hailey a stern look for a second, then sighed. ¡°One kiss.¡±


    Deborah didn''t want to be left out, so she looked at the contestants and chose the fluffy alien as well.


    Simone was the last to choose. ¡°I think Gleas is right. The dwarf-like guy really does look mean.¡± She said. ¡°One kiss says it''s him.¡±


    With our bets placed we all sat back and relaxed as we watched one of the oddest and entertaining comedy shows I had ever seen. It was an hour long and there were no commercials in the traditional sense. The datapad we had kept getting messages to try different things that appeared on the screen, like food and drinks, and there were even notices to buy the outfits the contestants wore. When the show ended, we all just sat there and digested what we had seen. The dwarf was the mean one.


    ¡°Gleas, mark that show and see if there''s more for us to watch.¡± Sandy said.


    Gleas nodded and sure enough, there were over a dozen episodes aired already. ¡°It only started two weeks ago.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Deborah looked at her with wide eyes. ¡°How can there be so many episodes and it just started?¡±


    ¡°It''s on every day.¡± Gleas explained and looked up more information. ¡°Hey, guess what? Hailey was right. We didn''t see it this episode because they are sneaking around; but, the lizard girl is sleeping with the normal guy.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Hailey said. ¡°I get a half kiss!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Do I only use one lip or something?¡± I asked her and leaned in close.


    ¡°No silly.¡± Hailey said, her face red. ¡°Half a kiss is still a kiss.¡±


    ¡°What? You tricked me!¡± I fake gasped and she giggled, then I gave her a light kiss on the lips.


    ¡°Are we watching this from the start or what?¡± Sandy asked as Gleas cued up the first episode.


    ¡°You know we do have to go to bed at some point tonight.¡± Beatrice said and Sandy smiled at her. It was then that she realized what she had said. ¡°To sleep. To actually sleep.¡± She reiterated.


    ¡°Geez, they believe you.¡± Sandy said and hugged her. ¡°Mostly.¡±


    Beatrice blushed and that made us all laugh again.


    ¡°We might as well watch it from the start.¡± I said and Gleas started it.


    For the next thirteen hours, we watched what was to become our daily guilty pleasure. The intricate plot lines, the likeable characters, and the goal of the show for them to become famous stars was so satirical that it was funny... and they capitalized on it. It was a great show and we all enjoyed it.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Deborah groaned when the screen finally went blank. ¡°We just stayed up all damn night!¡±


    ¡°I''m too tired to laugh at that.¡± Sandy said and yawned. ¡°That was great, though.¡±


    ¡°We could have saved some for tomorrow.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I mean today.¡± She said and then sighed. ¡°I''m going to bed.¡± She said and didn''t make any attempt to move. She had snuggled into me during the night and was as comfortable as she could possibly be. Hailey was sound asleep on me and I wasn''t going to move, either. Simone was on my other side and she stared in disbelief at the dark screen. She couldn''t believe a show like that existed and had engrossed her and the rest of us so well.


    ¡°Come on, sweetheart.¡± Sandy said and helped Beatrice stand up. They had to stretch a bit to get their limbs and circulation back to normal.


    ¡°Goodnigh... um... see you later.¡± Beatrice said and I nodded, then the two of them left. Jelly gave me a wave and left, then Deborah did the same and followed her. That left me with Hailey, Gleas, and Simone. The winners of the bet.


    Simone pulled away slightly and sat up to look at me. I gave her a smile and raised my eyebrows. She held her breath as she leaned in very close and looked into my eyes with her lips a fraction of an inch away from mine. She hovered there for several moments, then she moved back, smiled at me, and silently stood up and left the room.


    I''ll collect on the bet when you least expect it. Simone thought to me with amusement.


    I held in my chuckle and let her amusement fill my mind, then I felt a spike of something. I couldn''t quite figure it out, and then Gleas pulled away and sat up.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Gleas whispered. ¡°I need some time off to... I... I have something important that I need to do.¡± She said, barely above a breath. ¡°I request a temporary leave of absence.¡±


    Is that what that spike was? I asked myself. ¡°Granted.¡± I whispered. ¡°Gleas, I know things have been difficult at times around here with all of the things going on, so you can take all the personal time you need to take care of...¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Gleas whispered and leaned in close and kissed me. A wall in her mind opened up and her desire, her thoughts of us being together, and everything she had been hiding behind her mental barrier poured into me. How much she liked that I embarrassed myself for her by wearing the same flight suit. How much she liked that I had given Jelly money when I didn''t have to. How much she enjoyed spending time with everyone, especially me and Hailey.


    I wallowed in her thoughts and emotions while we kissed and made out for nearly five minutes, then she put that mental barrier back into place and broke the kiss. I was so surprised by what had just happened that I just stared at her and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Unlike Simone, I wasn''t going to wait to collect on the bet.¡± Gleas whispered, gave me another quick kiss, then sat up straight. ¡°I''ve handled what I needed to do and I request permission to end my leave of absence.¡±


    ¡°In a moment.¡± I said and lifted a hand and cupped the side of her face. ¡°You do realize that I won''t grant another request, now that I know you''ve figured out how to bypass my policy.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I just... you needed to know that...¡± She smiled. ¡°Unlike the others, I have personal boundaries and the will and fortitude to not give in to my desires.¡±


    ¡°So do I.¡± I said and felt her surprise as she caught some of my desire for her. ¡°Let me reward you for being so smart.¡± I said and eased my Presence into her. She caught her breath as it slid down and touched her core of Presence and our energies merged. I didn''t give her enough stimulation to have her become excited, though. It was a reward, not an opportunity to tease her. I gave her the feeling of being cradled in a warm bath rather than a feeling of sexual gratification.


    Gleas had kind of expected me to take advantage of her, actually. Both Luxea and Simone had talked about different things and her expectations were quite different than the reality I presented to her. She opened her eyes and looked at me, then she smiled. She was quite pleased in a different way and knew that she hadn''t wasted her one chance to share with me. We were both being mature about what had happened and weren''t throwing ourselves on each other, when we both knew that we easily could have.


    I eased my Presence away from her and then let her face go. ¡°Welcome back from your leave of absence.¡±


    ¡°It''s nice to be back.¡± Gleas said and stood up, turned to show me her ass as she had to adjust her pants again and gave me a great view.


    ¡°Why didn''t you do that a few seconds ago?¡± I asked and she chuckled.


    ¡°Neither of us would have stopped if I had.¡± Gleas said confidently and walked away.

 Book Three: The Resolution 053

    We all slept for about ten hours and then realized it was now nighttime. With a laugh, we all had ''breakfast'' and then went back to bed. The next day, I sent a message to one of the asteroid smelting companies to find out their costs of basic structural members and metal sheeting. Compared to what we had paid in the Fogaris System, it was dirt cheap. I went a little crazy with it and spent a few thousand credits on buying construction materials and I didn''t even have to go and pick it up. They sent a shuttle that dragged the shipment behind them with a tractor beam.


    ¡°It must be just a seat, a reactor core, a power converter, and a rear tractor beam.¡± Jelly said as she saw the stumpy shuttle drop off the shipment and take off again. ¡°A tractor beam mechanism is huge.¡±


    I chuckled, because the shuttle dropped the shipment off just outside my two mile range. ¡°I haven''t seen one yet, so I can''t judge it.¡±


    ¡°You might find one when we go back and start doing the high priority wrecks.¡± Gleas said. She had let nothing in her mind or body indicate what had happened the night before and I had to admire that.


    ¡°I''m not really sure adapting either of the ships or even a shuttle to do what that thing just did would be of any practical use.¡± I said. ¡°The pilot probably volunteered to fly the thing, just to break up the monotony of asteroid mining.¡±


    Jelly and Gleas laughed, because they completely understood that point of view.


    ¡°Come on, Jelly. Now I do need a combat pilot.¡± I said and pat her shoulder. ¡°Oh, and probably some securing struts and cable tie-downs.¡±


    ¡°Why not go all the way and use the mag-locks like we do to tie the shuttle to the Udelis?¡±


    ¡°We''ll have to attach it to the side or bottom of the shipping containers, that way I''ve got room to work.¡± I said and we left the cockpit of the Udelis. ¡°I only want to stop the things from floating away, though. Mag-locks might be a bit too secure.¡±


    ¡°Their inertia is going to hold them static for only so long.¡± Jelly warned.


    I had to think about it as we entered the new ship. ¡°Okay, I can take the mag-locks with me and then only use them after I take out the things I want to use.¡±


    Jelly nodded and we went down the stairs and across the empty cargo bay. ¡°It''s so odd seeing this place empty.¡±


    I chuckled and opened the hatch to the shuttle bay. ¡°Don''t get used to that feeling.¡±


    Jelly nodded and we entered the shuttle and launched. It took me about an hour to very carefully drag along the huge shipment without making it gain too much momentum. It was weightless; but, it still had lots of mass. If I lost control of the shipment, it could crush the shipping containers, severely damage one or both ships, and probably destroy the shuttle if I wasn''t careful.


    I was very careful.


    I secured it tentatively to the side of the shipping containers and then removed a little more than what Udelis and I had calculated that the network hub would need for its safety and cooling needs. I had been tempted to purchase a reactor core to install right away, then held off, because I knew that there was a good chance that I could find a good reactor core in one of the large alien wrecks.


    Why buy when you can get it for free? I thought and used the mag-locks and cable ties to secure the shipment and took the things I needed to the top of the shipping containers and quickly laid out the basic structure for the network hub.


    ¡°You''re building it right now?¡± Jelly asked over my suit com.


    ¡°I only have to attach the temporary power source and then the hub can be installed.¡± I said. ¡°I told you it would be done by the end of the week.¡±


    ¡°But... we all took yesterday off by mistake...¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I can''t wait to see what happens on the show tonight.¡±


    Jelly didn''t say anything for a moment, then she laughed, too. ¡°Me, either.¡±


    I used an actual plasma torch and welding apparatus to do the construction, instead of using my Light sword. I could have used the sword if I wanted to do it quick and dirty. I wanted it to last, though. It took about six hours to get the basic structure built to the design specs with the structural members, then I covered it in metal sheeting and left the space for the large double doors uncovered. Those I had to order, since I hadn''t thought about salvaging a basic door system. We took a break for lunch and spent it with everyone, then I went back to work.


    We had to make several trips back and forth from the Udelis to the shipping containers to get the rechargeable power source, the power runs, the mounts and ducting for the network hub''s cooling requirements, and the double doors. I went inside the shipping containers and grabbed several deflector screens and mounted them in the appropriate spots to give the structure enough coverage to protect it. I spread recharging panels all over the outside of the shipping containers to gather as much ambient radiation and light that they could, hooked everything up, then installed the network hub in the center of the room.


    ¡°Okay, here goes.¡± I said and flicked on the power to the network hub and waited. Once it was fully powered up, I used the attached console and entered my command codes to activate the system. When nothing happened, I stopped myself from sighing, mainly because I needed to be patient and wait for it to boot up. No matter how fast the computing systems were, it still took time to become fully operational.


    There were two blinking lights on the console for a few seconds, then they became solid. A second later, they started to flicker and a message appeared on the display.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''> Signals confirmed! </td></tr>


    <tr><td colspan=''2''> Satellites on network: 5 / 18 </td><td colspan=''2''> Pending messages: 0 </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I smiled because it was getting both the passive and active signals from the satellites. The active ones were the ones that had been taken from my room when Kalina left. I typed in a few things on the console to check over the satellites and had them do a diagnostic, then the screen showed that all of them were operating perfectly and five had been deployed. Thanks to Jelly''s explanation about the military''s communications protocols concerning using names and assigning personal com numbers when a message was being sent, helped Udelis and I adapt the same idea for this network.


    ¡°It''s up and running.¡± I said happily and left the little airless structure. ¡°Now all I need is a thousand maintenance robots programmed to construct the satellites for me and we''ll be in business.¡±


    Jelly laughed. ¡°We don''t even have one maintenance robot, and you know what they are like.¡±


    I laughed, too. ¡°Yeah, they can''t handle the precision work.¡± I said and activated the deflector screens and floated over to the shuttle.


    ¡°Real and experienced hands are needed for the detail work.¡± Jelly said as I entered the shuttle and I closed us up. She pressurized us and flew back to the new ship and landed in the shuttle bay.


    I guess that''s why they haven''t advanced robotics to that point. I thought as we left the shuttle bay. Maybe they wanted people to have the final say in the construction? I asked myself. Otherwise, we would have factories upon factories building other robots to do all of the work people do every day.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°You look deep in thought.¡± Gleas said as we entered the kitchen and it brought me out of my thoughts.


    ¡°I was just contemplating the value of hands-on work compared to complete automation.¡± I said and saw what was going on. ¡°What the hell?!? You''re cooking!¡±


    Gleas laughed and waved me to sit at the table. ¡°Yes, you''ve been tasked with this too much the last little while.¡± She said and gave me a smirk. ¡°I thought you would appreciate some time off.¡±


    I chuckled and Hailey came over to me and sat on my lap. ¡°It''s too bad that I can''t take some time off.¡±


    BEEP! BEEEEP!


    ¡°What is that?¡± Jelly asked. She had heard a lot of alarms over the years of working for the military and that was not one she recognized.


    ¡°It''s for me.¡± Simone said and jogged across the room and checked the console. ¡°YES!¡±


    ¡°Happy news?¡± I asked and she smiled at me knowingly.


    ¡°Guess who just popped up at a medical facility in the Varness System?¡± Simone asked.


    I got a clear image of the man who had tried to assassinate me and I smiled. ¡°How old is the information?¡±


    ¡°Three days.¡± Simone said after she checked it. ¡°It came in on a freighter from the Granis System.¡±


    ¡°Then I think I will take some time off.¡± I said. ¡°Hailey, I''m going into a very dangerous situation...¡±


    ¡°That''s okay. I''ll stay here with Beatrice and Sandy.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have to explain, do I?¡± I asked and kissed her cheek.


    ¡°Make sure you raid their databases before you openly attack them.¡± Hailey cautioned me.


    I laughed. ¡°Are you my mission planner already?¡±


    Hailey grinned at me. ¡°You should take at least two personal shields with you, just in case.¡±


    ¡°You read my mind.¡± I said and she got off my lap. ¡°After supper, Gleas and Deborah will pilot the Udelis, while Simone and I prep for what I need to do.¡± I looked at Jelly. ¡°I''ll need a combat pilot, too.¡±


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Gleas asked as she served us the meal she had cooked.


    ¡°When Luxea found that man who blew up the building on Chofaris, I tagged his digital signature.¡± Simone said with a grin. ¡°I guessed that the next time he appeared, it would be somewhere important.¡±


    ¡°And you didn''t tell me this because...¡± I asked, teasingly.


    ¡°In case it didn''t work out and he never appeared.¡± Simone said. ¡°You would have been worrying about it and wondering why it was taking so long.¡±


    I couldn''t refute that, so I nodded instead and reached out to put a hand on Jelly''s arm. ¡°I''m sorry that we have to delay your birthday party.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Jelly looked at me in surprise, then she looked at the other women''s faces. ¡°What...¡±


    ¡°We''ll have to wait a week, maybe more.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Hopefully, this won''t take too long.¡±


    ¡°It''s three days travel to the Varness System on the Udelis.¡± Simone said. ¡°Give or take a day. It''s hard to estimate by just cutting the average ship time in half.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°We also won''t know what the situation will be like or how long it will take to find where I need to go.¡±


    ¡°You might miss my birthday as well.¡± Gleas said and looked at the others. ¡°I hope we can be back for everyone else to have theirs.¡±


    ¡°If worse comes to worst, we can have one big party and celebrate everyone''s birthday together.¡± I said and the women rolled their eyes and two of them scoffed. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°A birthday is supposed to be your special day.¡± Hailey said. ¡°If it''s everyone''s birthday at the same time, it''s just another day and no one is special.¡±


    I opened my mouth to respond, then took a bite of food instead and didn''t say what I wanted to say.


    Yes, keep those thoughts to yourself. Simone slipped into my mind.


    I glanced at her and she smiled as she ate. We all enjoyed the meal and told Gleas that, then we had to prep for a short trip. We would plan for two weeks, just in case it took longer to establish surveillance on the assassin''s base than I suspected it would. The problem was that they would be able to feel my Presence if I used Detect Presence. I was going to have to rely on technology and traditional techniques for infiltration and intelligence gathering.


    We were packed and prepped an hour later and we gathered at the main hatches between the two ships. I knelt and gave Hailey a kiss goodbye. She held it a little longer than she normally did and then she gave me a pointed stare.


    ¡°I''ll be back as soon as I can.¡± I said to her and she nodded.


    ¡°We''ll keep her safe.¡± Sandy said and put a hand on Hailey''s shoulder.


    ¡°There''s lots of food and things to watch, so don''t go anywhere.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Lock the ship up tight and keep the deflector screens active.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mother.¡± Beatrice said with a laugh and saluted badly.


    ¡°I said to stop calling me that.¡± Gleas said with a sigh, and we laughed.


    The ships undocked and Gleas flew the Udelis out to the closest Lagrange point. The computer gave us the proper jump coordinates almost instantly and I chuckled. We had been so used to jumping for weeks at a time and waiting for a few minutes for the computer to work, that it was almost refreshing to get the coordinates so quickly and we didn''t have to avoid any odd spacial anomalies. We entered hyperspace and headed towards the Varness System. I had a rough estimate of three days to get there, so I worked on making more satellites.


    At my slower production rate, I could make three of them every seven hours, so that''s what I did with an hour break for food in between. I made nine the first day and nine the second day, then I took a break for the last day and meditated and slept to get myself into peak condition. I was about halfway to getting my body back to the same state Allirynn had his in, so I was feeling particularly powerful by the time the ship came out of hyperspace in the Varness System.


    ¡°Are you sure we need an excuse to come here?¡± Gleas asked, unsure. ¡°It looks like a normal system to me.¡±


    ¡°That''s why.¡± I said. ¡°Don''t think about anything else except coming to see a recently admitted patient. It could be my missing father and we hope that the notice we received was from him.¡±


    Simone managed to barely stop her wince at my ''missing father'' comment.


    I reached out and touched her arm. ¡°I''m missing him.¡±


    Simone sighed. ¡°That''s not the same kind of missing.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Then don''t try to differentiate between the two. Concentrate on me actually missing my father and you''ll be fine.¡±


    Simone nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± She took a breath and let it out. ¡°I''ve been through Order checkpoints before.¡±


    ¡°We have a ship approaching.¡± Deborah said, a little surprised. ¡°It''s an Order scout ship.¡±


    ¡°Don''t react unless they call us.¡± I said. ¡°They''re probably just scanning to see if we have anything illegal onboard.¡±


    ¡°I''m so glad you worked out all that stuff with The Order council, or the illegal thing would have been you.¡± Simone said.


    I chuckled, because that made me remember running away on the long haul transport. ¡°I wonder what happened to the long haul transport I escaped on?¡±


    ¡°Command confirmed. Ship registry#LH98S-6342T is in orbit around the third planet.¡± Udelis said.


    ¡°You''re kidding!¡± I exclaimed.


    ¡°Command confirmed. I kid you not.¡±


    ¡°What are the odds that they would be here?¡± I wondered out loud.


    ¡°Command confirmed. Ship registry#LH98S-6342T was drafted for exclusive Order use. The odds that it would be in a main traffic system at the same time as this ship are six hundred and fifty-four thousand, three hundred and ninety-eight to one.¡±


    ¡°Ah... thanks, Udelis.¡± I said.


    ¡°We''re being called.¡± Deborah said and turned on the communications console and accepted visuals. ¡°Hello? Who is this?¡± She asked and leaned into the console''s pickup closely so that her face was right next to it.


    ¡°Ah!¡± The man''s voice nearly yelled and I held in my laugh at his startled response. ¡°Um... ah... are... are you leaning into the console?¡± The man asked, his voice unsure, then he paled when Deborah frowned and spoke angrily.


    ¡°Do you have a problem with Jarnlings?¡± Deborah asked.


    ¡°NO! No, I... there''s no problem.¡± The man said. ¡°I just thought...¡±


    ¡°I thought The Order''s mandate was that everyone is accepted and everyone is equal?¡± Deborah asked.


    ¡°It is. I apologize for my rudeness.¡± The man said as he started to regain his composure.


    ¡°Why are you calling?¡± Deborah asked.


    ¡°What is your business here?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Why is that your concern?¡± Deborah asked and I touched her shoulder. ¡°Well, it''s not like it''s a secret or anything.¡± She said and smiled, which made the man on the screen flinch at her distorted mouth. ¡°There was a galactic notice that a nameless man was found and admitted to the hospital here on the fifth planet. We''re coming to see who it is.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Our passenger misses his father.¡± Deborah said and the man on the screen nodded slightly. ¡°We''re just confirming that this isn''t him.¡±


    Oh, nice twist there, Deborah. I thought and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.


    Deborah smiled again and the man on the screen flinched again.


    ¡°V-very well.¡± The man said and we heard someone off-screen say some gibberish. ¡°You have been cleared to approach the fifth planet.¡±


    ¡°Why thank you!¡± Deborah said exaggeratedly and the man had to turn away from the screen momentarily. ¡°Have a good day!¡± She said and cut the call, then we all burst out laughing.


    ¡°Oh! Ohhh!¡± Simone held her sides, because she was laughing so hard. ¡°That poor man! Ha hahaha!¡±


    ¡°That was brilliant, Deborah.¡± I said and gave her shoulder another squeeze and let it go.


    ¡°I''m... saving that... to permanent storage.¡± Gleas said between laughs and hit several buttons.


    ¡°That was so good!¡± Jelly said and everyone calmed down. ¡°I''m going to remember his ''disgusted while trying not to show his disgust'' face for a while!¡±


    ¡°I think we all are.¡± I said. It was a bit crowded in the cockpit with the five of us there; but, I wanted us all present to witness the protocols that The Order used. ¡°Gleas, take us in nice and slow. I''ll drop off one of the satellites when we''re in orbit.¡±


    ¡°Is one going to be enough?¡± Simone asked. ¡°This system is huge.¡±


    ¡°We would look really suspicious flying around the system.¡± I said.


    ¡°What if there''s a nice feature or something to check out?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Something like a solid ice moon or maybe a planet covered in volcanoes.¡± Gleas said. ¡°We''ll be in orbit in about two hours.¡±


    I smiled and nodded. ¡°Simone, get on the console and see if there''s any local tourist attractions or a nice resort or something.¡±


    ¡°It will give us a reason to stick around for a few days as well, once we prove that this guy isn''t your father.¡± Simone said and left the cockpit.

 Book Three: The Resolution 054

    The ship settled into a stable parking orbit around the planet and we contacted the hospital. Since they didn''t have anyone there that knew the man''s true identity, they had no choice but to let random strangers see him to try and identify him. We had to wait for them to make the proper arrangements, though.


    Thankfully, Simone had found a great place about a quarter of the planet away. It was a set of majestic waterfalls that were over a mile high and two miles wide. It had been the result of a tectonic shift in two continental plates that just happened to share the same land mass, and it created a massive waterfall. Thanks to that, the local humidity was almost always one hundred percent, which meant t-shirts and short shorts for Simone, Jelly, and I.


    We met up at the shuttle and climbed aboard, then flew down to the surface of the planet along the very restricted flight path that had been assigned to us. We came in for a landing next to the resort in the designated spot and Jelly shut everything down. For good measure, I covered everything in Presence and made it solid. No one was using the controls without our permission.


    ¡°Hunter, would you mind?¡± Simone asked and motioned to her own chest. ¡°It''s going to be too hot and humid to wear a bra.¡±


    I chuckled and touched her arm, then formed Presence around her breasts and squeezed them together and lifted them up almost to her chin.


    ¡°HEY!¡± Simone yelled and both Jelly and I laughed. ¡°Stop that!¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I said with a grin and lowered her breasts to the right spot, as if they were hanging naturally, then gave them the proper support they needed.


    ¡°We all know you''re not sorry.¡± Simone grumbled.


    ¡°I''d ask you to do mine next; but, there''s no way you could get them that high.¡± Jelly said and cupped her breasts and tried to simulate the move. ¡°Nope, not anywhere near as funny.¡±


    I chuckled and waved for her to move her hands, then I gave her a Presence bra that fit perfectly and gave her the exact support that her breasts needed.


    Jelly let out a contented sigh. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°It sucks that we can''t wear our flight suits.¡± Simone said. ¡°What a stupid regulation to have about not wearing expensive clothing and adornments.¡±


    ¡°I think it''s to discourage theft.¡± I said as I motioned to the shuttle hatch and opened it. ¡°I''m pretty sure if you showed up in the flight suit, everyone would be looking at you.¡±


    Simone rolled her eyes. ¡°Fine, fine.¡± She said. ¡°No unwanted attention.¡±


    ¡°Why else do you think I''m concealing my Presence?¡± I asked and we left the shuttle. ¡°It would alert everyone within two miles if I used Detect Presence.¡±


    ¡°Why aren''t you using it in a limited capacity?¡± Simone asked, slightly confused. ¡°You''ve done that and still stayed hidden before.¡±


    ¡°At the moment I felt the assassin''s Presence flared, she had felt mine. She knew I was coming for her because of that and was ready for me.¡± I said and Simone''s hand grabbed mine and held on tightly as I relived that blinding moment. She went through it with me as my attention changed from the woman in front of me to the people I felt inside the building. I used up all of my Presence to protect them from the blast and to nullify as much of the explosion as I could. Unfortunately, it had left me completely vulnerable and I only had my personal shield to rely on. It hadn''t been enough.


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± Simone had to wipe her tears away with her free hand.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and lifted her hand to my mouth and pressed my lips to the back of it. ¡°Let''s go inside.¡±


    The three of us walked over to the nearby building and went inside and over to the reception desk. Since I was hiding my Presence, I couldn''t tell who else had it; but, I could tell who tried to use it on me. The woman behind the desk greeted us and confirmed our reservation and the man beside her used his Presence to check us over.


    I wouldn''t have minded that, since we didn''t have anything on us except for the invisible bags of holding, so he wasn''t going to find anything. I was annoyed as hell that he was using the opportunity to check us over in a different way than he should have by ''feeling'' us with his Presence, so I created a very small Presence Blade behind him and poked him in the balls with it and absorbed it.


    ¡°YEEOOWWWW!¡± The man yelled and immediately grabbed himself between the legs.


    ¡°HEY! He just... oh, you bastard!¡± Jelly exclaimed and tried to climb over the counter to get at the man. I caught her before she managed to reach him, though. The receptionist had been startled and then she quickly turned on the man and saw where his hands were. She cursed and berated him in front of us and didn''t need the gentle mental prod I had been prepared to give her to let her know what he had been doing.


    A man in a black suit came out of the back room and the man and the receptionist walked over to the side. We stood there and watched a lot of hand waving at the culprit as he rubbed himself between the legs. The receptionist shook her head and then the man was grabbed by the arm and escorted into the back room by the man in the black suit.


    ¡°We are terribly sorry for that.¡± The receptionist said. ¡°He will be appropriately punished for...¡±


    ¡°I want him charged with assault.¡± Jelly said through gritted teeth. ¡°He used his ability to touch me.¡±


    ¡°Miss, I''m sure that we can...¡±


    ¡°Unless they are going to remove his ability to stop him from assaulting anyone else... and I''m sure you''re not going to do that, considering the way I just saw you handle this.¡± Jelly said and pointed. ¡°I want him charged with the crime he did to me and my friend here.¡±


    ¡°He did it to me as well.¡± I said and Jelly, Simone, and the receptionist looked at me with surprise on their faces. ¡°It felt like he was rubbing my butt. I thought about saying something, then he yelled...¡± Because I poked him in the balls. I thought and finished the statement in my head.


    ¡°Miss, sir, I...¡± The receptionist gave us a pleading look. ¡°I assure you that he will be dealt with.¡±


    Simone squinted her eyes at the woman. ¡°I don''t normally call people liars to their faces.¡± She spat and took out her datapad. ¡°What was that man''s name?¡±


    The receptionist didn''t respond and Simone used one of the security hacks I had given to her.


    ¡°I guess I don''t need it.¡± Simone said. ¡°It seems he''s done this a few times already, ''reformed'' each time, then did it again.¡± She shook her head and looked at the receptionist. ¡°You are pathetic!¡±


    ¡°He''s the owner''s son.¡± The receptionist said in her defense.


    ¡°I wouldn''t care if he was the owner of the whole planet!¡± Simone spat. ¡°He''s a criminal! He needs to be in jail!¡±


    ¡°Is there a problem here?¡± A different man in a dark suit said as he came out from the back room.


    ¡°Yes, you''re not allowing a criminal to be brought to justice.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°The matter is being handled.¡±


    ¡°Really? How?¡± Simone asked and the man didn''t say anything. ¡°Aren''t you going to lie and say that he''s being punished?¡±


    The man stood there and didn''t respond.


    I slowly shook my head at him. You don''t come out to confront people unless you can deal with them.


    ¡°Well, I know how to deal with this.¡± Simone said and lifted her wrist com and hit the standard emergency code. The man in the dark suit stepped forward to grab her wrist and I grabbed his arm instead.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°Don''t.¡± I said to him.


    He tried to pull his arm away and I didn''t let go or move. He frowned at me and made a fist, then he swung at my hand holding his arm. Since I was touching him, I knew that he expected me to either let him go before he made contact, or he expected to hurt my hand and that would make me let go. He also expected to apologize and to be suspended for hurting a guest inside the hotel. What he didn''t expect was for me to stand there and take the heavy punch right on the tops of my fingers and I didn''t let go.


    ¡°I hope your security footage is nice and clear.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°That''s four crimes I''ve counted so far. I''m including the three counts of sexual assault as one crime, by the way.¡±


    The man in the dark suit thought about trying to punch me in the face. I grinned at him and he changed his mind. Five minutes later, a squad of guard troops and two members of The Order came into the lobby.


    ¡°Thank the goddess that you''re here!¡± Simone said and then gave her account of what had happened.


    The guards looked like they were bored and knew they weren''t really needed for this part, and the two Order members had her explain the first incident again. They started to look around and then they commanded the troops to storm the back room and to follow the stairs up to the third floor to get the man in question.


    I stood there with my hand on the dark suited man''s arm and waited. When the troops came back, they had the man who had assaulted us, another man who I suspected was the owner of the resort, and the other dark suited man.


    ¡°Having an unsanctioned Presence user working here and checking the guests is against the law.¡± One of The Order members said.


    ¡°Not to mention assaulting us!¡± Jelly nearly yelled.


    ¡°He''s the owner''s son, too. They''ve been covering up for him for years!¡± Simone volunteered the information and held up the datapad. Both of The Order members'' expressions became hard.


    ¡°A Presence user since birth? On an Order planet?¡± One of them asked. ¡°Was he even tested?¡±


    The owner didn''t respond and The Order member started to reach for him. In the next moment, The Order member sighed and waved for them to be taken away.


    ¡°We''ll take him now.¡± One of the troops said and relieved me of my burden.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said.


    ¡°Thank you for bringing this to our attention.¡± The other Order member said to Simone.


    ¡°Do you need this...¡± Simone held out the datapad and the man smiled.


    ¡°No, we will have someone here momentarily to shut the place down and investigate exactly how many crimes have happened here.¡± The Order member said.


    ¡°Make sure you prosecute them all for what they did.¡± Jelly said, angrily. ¡°They stood by and...¡±


    ¡°Please, calm down.¡± The other Order member said and tried to use Presence to reassure her.


    ¡°NO!¡± Jelly jumped back from him as she felt it and then she planted her feet solidly. ¡°How dare you, you fucking asshole!¡± She snarled, then quick as a flash she jumped forward and punched the man in the face as hard as she could. Since she was a trained combat pilot and a member of the military, she was not a weak person by any stretch of the imagination. The man''s head snapped to the side from the force of the blow and he dropped to the floor like a limp noodle, unconscious.


    The other Order member sighed at his companion''s complete lack of decorum. ¡°I am terribly sorry, miss.¡± He said and didn''t try to help the other man at all. ¡°I will council him on the proper use of his skills and when not to apply them. When he wakes up.¡±


    Jelly opened and closed her fists as she took several deep breaths to try and calm down.


    ¡°I guess that means our reservations here are no longer valid.¡± I said.


    ¡°Please, allow me to make up for what happened here.¡± The Order member said and took out something from his pocket. ¡°This will gain you access to a nice Order owned two story apartment house about ten minutes from here.¡±


    ¡°We have a shuttle.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°There is a personal pad nearby.¡± He said and used his wrist communicator to make the appropriate arrangements for us to go there. ¡°I don''t see any bags.¡±


    ¡°They are still on the shuttle.¡± Simone said. ¡°We wanted to see the room first and...¡±


    The Order member held a hand up. ¡°I was worried you needed to check out.¡±


    ¡°We just got here.¡± Jelly said through her clenched teeth. ¡°Now I''m debating on whether or not to stay.¡±


    ¡°I assure you that now we know what has been going on, things like that won''t happen again.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to check all of the resorts and hotels and things?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°Yes. Yes, we are.¡± The Order member said. ¡°The local control tower will send you the coordinates for your new landing destination and the flight path there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Simone said, excitedly. ¡°I... we appreciate it.¡±


    The man smiled and nodded, then he unceremoniously picked up his partner and tossed him over his shoulder and carried him out of the lobby. The three of us exchanged looks, then we followed them out of the lobby. They climbed into a large hover car and we went to our shuttle and climbed in. After they took off down the road, Jelly had us powered up and the control tower gave us the flight path and the new coordinates for where we would be staying.


    Jelly followed the directions exactly and we flew to the new place and landed right beside the two storey house. We grabbed our bags and left the shuttle and went inside the house. Once we were inside and dropped off our bags in the living room, I turned around and made ''come here'' motions to both women. Simone came right over to me and gave me a hug. Jelly was reluctant at first, then she saw the tear in my eye. Her eyes teared up and she came over to me and wrapped her arms around me and held me tightly as she cried.


    I knew Jelly had started to overreact to try and garner sympathy at first, then the full implication of the man''s crimes had hit her. He had used Presence to molest hundreds, maybe even thousands of people, and she was the latest victim. When that Order idiot had tried to use Presence on her to calm her, right after she had been assaulted, was the stupidest thing he could have done. It had been a genuine reaction on her part to lash out like she did and she had scared herself. She hadn''t held back at all.


    ¡°Shh. I''m so sorry that happened.¡± I said and then I rubbed her back. ¡°As soon as I felt him trying to feel us like that, I poked him right in the balls with a Presence Blade.¡±


    Jelly caught her breath and looked up at me. ¡°You stopped him and made him yell like that.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I couldn''t do much more than poke him without giving us away, though.¡±


    ¡°What you did was enough.¡± Simone said. ¡°It brought it all out into the open.¡±


    ¡°No, you did that.¡± I said and rubbed her back, too. ¡°Hacking the security and then calling an emergency?¡± I smiled. ¡°That was some quick thinking.¡±


    ¡°I''m good under pressure most times.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°H-Hunter-r.¡± Jelly said with a slightly shaky voice. ¡°Can... can...¡±


    ¡°Well, okay.¡± I said and let them go. They both looked at me with raised eyebrows for a moment, then I turned around and bent over a little. ¡°I''m not taking the shorts off, though.¡±


    ¡°Wh-wh-what?!?¡± Both of them stared at me.


    ¡°No, I guess that wouldn''t work.¡± I said and turned back around. ¡°It''s easier to grab this way, right?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what are you t-talking about?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°You wanted to grab my butt to make me feel better after I suffered my first sexual assault, didn''t you?¡± I asked. ¡°At least, that''s what I''m guessing. I have trouble reading surface thoughts while I''m blocking so much.¡±


    Jelly wasn''t sure what to say to my offer.


    ¡°Well? Go ahead.¡± I said and closed my eyes and held my arms open slightly. ¡°I won''t even look.¡±


    A moment later, I felt her step close to me and give me a hug. I put my arms around her and her tears flowed as her hands slowly moved down from my waist to my backside. She gripped my cheeks hard and she sobbed and cried into my chest.


    ¡°Shh.¡± I said and rubbed her back with a hand for several minutes.


    Jelly calmed down eventually and eased her hold on my butt, then she stepped away and looked up at my face as I let her go.


    ¡°That felt good.¡± I said. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Jelly took a breath and let it out. ¡°You''re such a liar.¡±


    ¡°Okay, it felt like my cheeks were locked in a vise.¡± I said and she barked a laugh as another tear came to her eye. I quickly wiped it away. ¡°I''m glad my butt could be of use in your time of need.¡±


    Jelly actually laughed this time and she opened and closed her hands. ¡°My fingers are actually sore.¡±


    Simone laughed, too. ¡°I''ve got good news and really good news.¡± She said. ¡°The good news, Hunter has muscles like tristeel and it''s rare that he''ll let you touch them.¡± She said with a grin.


    ¡°What''s the great news?¡± I asked and she motioned to the window.


    ¡°Take a look at what''s across the street.¡± Simone said and we walked over to take a look out the window.


    ¡°Ha.¡± I said and smiled as we looked at the building that we were going to have a really hard time getting to while travelling across a movement restricted city.


    ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± Jelly asked, unsure.


    ¡°It sure is.¡± I said and put an arm across her shoulders. ¡°I really hate that we had to go through what we did to get here, though.¡±


    Jelly looked up at me and I was already looking down at her. ¡°Would you have still caused the scene...¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± I said and turned her to face me. ¡°I would have activated my Detect Presence at full power and let them all blow themselves and their records up before I would intentionally subject you to that kind of treatment.¡±


    Jelly took a shallow breath and briefly glanced at Simone, who nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°We better get everything set up if we''re going to figure out their work hours and how to get in safely.¡± Simone said. ¡°I''ll take the evening shift.¡±


    ¡°I''ll take overnight.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''ll get to bed and be ready for the morning.¡± Jelly said and tried to walk away.


    ¡°Hey.¡± I said and touched her arm. ¡°If you need anything, anything at all, come right to me.¡±


    ¡°What if I need to share some girl talk?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°I''ve had a lot of practice with that, so if you need to, I''m here.¡± I said.


    ¡°Really?¡± Jelly asked and briefly glanced at Simone, who nodded again. ¡°I... might just do that.¡± She said and walked over to grab her bag and went to the downstairs bedroom and closed the door.


    Simone and I set up all of the equipment we had stashed into our bags of holding and then we sat back on the couch and watched the small screens we had placed on the coffee table. We sat there and didn''t say anything for about half an hour, then I just couldn''t help myself.


    ¡°When are you going to cash in on that bet?¡± I asked Simone.


    ¡°Wouldn''t you like to know?¡± Simone said with a wicked smile. ¡°It must really bother you to not be able to read the people around you in your current hiding state.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea.¡± I said and she leaned in close.


    ¡°I''ll tell you beforehand when I''m going to do it, so it won''t be that big of a surprise.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°That''s a relief.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t mind being caught off-guard most times, usually because it''s a pleasant surprise; but, if it compromises me in some fashion, I won''t be happy about it.¡±


    Simone smiled. ¡°I know.¡± She said and we sat there and watched the screen and the datapad automatically marked the people going in and coming out. We lost count of how many of them had the same silver case that I had found full of ashes, that we knew was a cleaning case that removed all evidence of their missions and their items when necessary.

 Book Three: The Resolution 055

    With the day split into three for the watch shifts, we didn''t get to share meals together or even really interact at the same time, except when we would meet to change shifts. Since this was the first day, I decided to let my shift overlap both of theirs. Simone appreciated the thought and then went to bed in the upstairs bedroom when her shift ended. I stayed up all night to watch the little screen by myself.


    When morning came, Jelly came out to take over the watch and I stayed there with her for a while. She would give me the occasional probing glance as we sat next to each other. She never spoke, though. I grew tired after a few hours after staying up for so long and not absorbing external Presence, said goodnight to her, then went to bed in the downstairs bedroom. There were only two beds in the house, so we had to share, and I slept in the currently unoccupied one.


    I couldn''t take the chance to use Presence to stay aware of my surroundings either, especially while inside an Order house and near an Order building with who knew how many Presence users inside. I must have been unconscious for quite some time, because I woke when I felt someone climb into the bed with me. I didn''t react, mainly because whoever it was didn''t try to snuggle in or grab me or anything. I suspected that it was Jelly and she had just been relieved from her watch shift by Simone.


    My shift wasn''t going to start for another eight hours, so I stayed in bed and relaxed. Thankfully, I could still meditate and use mental techniques that didn''t use Presence and I didn''t have to worry about being discovered. I took full advantage of this extra time and used it to relax and went over in my head all of the programming knowledge I had gained from Luxea. I was actually suffering from the very thing that I had warned Simone about when she suggested absorbing someone''s knowledge.


    My mind had all these things in it that I wanted to program and it gave me the desire to construct things to utilize those programs, so I had a lot of mental rearranging to do to get all of those frivolous plans sorted out and categorized into ''immediately useful'' and ''can wait until later'' piles. I couldn''t dismiss them completely, mainly because I knew that I could use the ideas eventually.


    I chuckled mentally at that thought, because that was part of the problem I was having. I couldn''t get rid of all the sprouting ideas that kept coming up within my stolen knowledge. I worked at it for several hours, then put myself to sleep until I needed to get up for the next shift. When I woke, Jelly was still on her side of the bed and deep asleep, so I eased out of the bed and slipped on my pants, then left the room as silently as I could without using my Stealth technique.


    ¡°Did you enjoy sleeping with her?¡± Simone asked when I came over to the living room.


    ¡°Is that you asking or Luxea''s mental remnants?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I''m pretty sure it''s all me this time.¡± Simone said.


    I walked over to her and held a hand up in front of my chest with the palm towards her. ¡°You don''t have to be jealous.¡±


    Simone raised her eyebrows and pressed her own palm against mine and she caught her breath as I gave her all of the mental gymnastics I had done while in the room and she also received the distinct impression that Jelly stayed on her side of the bed and hadn''t moved or done anything at all to imply that she was going to cross that line.


    ¡°Hunter, I... I''m sorry, I...¡± Simone shook her head. ¡°Why do I act so stupidly when it comes to you?¡±


    ¡°I''m a bad influence?¡± I asked and she chuckled.


    ¡°I wish you were.¡± Simone said and then caught her breath as she clearly sent me all of the naked and sexy things she could have done to me since we met, if she hadn''t been co-opted by Luxea and her agenda. ¡°Um... just... forget about seeing all of that.¡± She said and tried to take her hand back.


    I turned my hand and grabbed hers before she could. ¡°You''re not the only one who can imagine things.¡±


    I sent her clear images of all the things I would have done to her during the same amount of time. Tears came to her eyes, because it wasn''t what she had expected at all. A candle-lit dinner, sitting by a roaring fire, riding in a hover car and holding hands, dancing at the now famous bar, and sneaky make out sessions everywhere they went together.


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± Simone said and I wiped at her face.


    ¡°Yeah, that''s what I had expected when you came aboard.¡± I said in a whisper. ¡°Luxea made sure that didn''t happen, though.¡±


    ¡°Goddess, she really messed everything up, didn''t she?¡±


    ¡°A lot more than I can tell you right now.¡± I said and she took a shaky breath. She didn''t try to use a mental probe to see what I meant, and I was happy that she didn''t. ¡°Yes, you''ll find out soon enough.¡±


    Simone nodded and I let her hand go. She gave me a longing look and walked up the stairs to go to bed. I sat down and went over the information that had collected on the datapad and the numbers were exactly what I had expected. There was only a few hours of activity, then nothing for nearly a full work day, then the same activity again. If this pattern continued, then we would have our way to get into the building without alerting anyone, besides the people we were planning to assault, that is.


    Our appointment at the hospital was in a few days and I hoped that we completed the mission before then, because when the man saw me, he was definitely going to recognize me after what I did to him. I had planned on not visiting; but, there was no real way to avoid it without drawing attention to ourselves. Of course, depending on how this mission goes, we may need to make a hasty retreat.


    I had a few hours to go before the scheduled activity in the building, so I combed through the data and picked out two likely targets for Simone and I to take out and replace. They always seemed to lag behind the others and split off to go in similar direction each time. We would need a slight distraction to get everyone''s attention if it''s necessary and I smiled as one came to mind.


    Oh, that will definitely get someone''s attention. I thought and marked the two people for Simone to tag when it was her next shift. With them digitally tagged, she could potentially track them back to where they lived and it won''t be as difficult to take their place and go into the building. I finished my shift and Jelly came out of the downstairs bedroom still wearing her sleep clothes. She wore a very loose tank top and a pair of silk shorts that barely reached the top of her thighs. I tried not to stare as she sat down next to me.


    ¡°Can you... hit me with... a wake up boost?¡± Jelly asked with a yawn. ¡°I haven''t adjusted to... the local time yet.¡±


    ¡°It''s only going to be a small one.¡± I said and touched her forehead. ¡°We can''t take the chance that I''ll be detected before we launch our offensive.¡± I used a very small amount of Presence and slipped it into her head and drew her own Presence into her brain to wake her up.


    Jelly sighed as her mind cleared up and she smiled at me. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry it''s not the flashy version with the huge rush.¡±


    Jelly chuckled. ¡°I think I like this one better.¡± She said and stood up. ¡°I''m getting breakfast, so keep watch for me.¡±


    I nodded and she went to the kitchen and prepped a ration tray. We didn''t bring any supplements with us, so it was just basic nutritional requirements and tasted like it. Jelly didn''t mind it, mainly because that was all they had during deployments anyway. She came back and sat beside me on the couch and picked at it. Her top slipped a little as she ate and I could clearly see her entire breast.


    ¡°Jelly.¡± I said and she looked at me with her fingers stuck in her mouth. ¡°Your top slipped a little.¡±


    Jelly looked down at her exposed breast and then back at me. ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°You''re going to give me the ''naked is okay in the military speech'', aren''t you?¡± I asked and she smiled.


    ¡°Most bases don''t have the space to have separate showers, bathrooms, or even change rooms for all of the different sexes and species that enlist.¡± Jelly said. ¡°You need to be comfortable with someone seeing you during those times.¡±


    ¡°Is this really one of those times?¡± I asked and she laughed.


    ¡°Hunter, we''re on a mission to...¡± Jelly stopped before she said anything that hidden recorders might pick up, despite Simone assuring them that it was clear. ¡°There''s only two beds and one shower. We are going to see each other naked at least once while we''re here.¡± She took in a sniff, then leaned in closer to me and sniffed again. ¡°Actually, if my nose is right, you need a shower right now.¡±


    I couldn''t help but be impressed at her confident attitude, considering what she had been like when that guy had assaulted her. ¡°I''m closing the bathroom door.¡± I said and stood.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°There''s no lock.¡± Jelly said with a grin.


    I chuckled as I shook my head and then I walked over to the stairs and went up them to the bathroom. I opened the door and both heard and saw the shower was already in use by Simone. I was surprised that there was no door or even a piece of glass around the shower stall. We locked eyes and stared at each other for a moment, then Simone smiled and held out the soap she had been using.


    I immediately thought about Jelly''s prediction and chuckled. ¡°You''re supposed to be in bed.¡± I said as I closed the door and then started to strip off.


    ¡°I tried staying up during your shift and then dozed off.¡± Simone said and didn''t watch me as I undressed. ¡°I woke up a few minutes ago and now I''m too wired to get back to sleep.¡± She said. ¡°I may need you to knock me out later, just so I can get some sleep before I do have to be on shift.¡±


    ¡°I could make a joke about how I could knock you out...¡± I said and stepped into the shower stall. ¡°This is a weird setup.¡±


    ¡°Not having a curtain to pull on and hide myself is what I miss the most.¡± Simone joked and passed me the soap. I laughed and took the soap, lathered my hands up, then washed the back of her body from the neck to the ankles. I handed her the soap back and turned around, then she did the same for me.


    ¡°HA HA!¡± Jelly laughed exaggeratedly as she swung the bathroom door open. ¡°I told you the door had no...¡± She stopped talking when she saw Simone and I half-lathered up. ¡°HEY! No fair!¡±


    Both Simone and I burst out laughing and her indignation over not being the first to see me naked.


    ¡°I''ve seen him naked before.¡± Simone reminded her and handed me the soap back. ¡°It is your first time seeing it, though.¡±


    Jelly''s eyes immediately dropped to my crotch and she was surprised that I didn''t try to hide myself or pretend to lather it up and hide it that way. She noted that I wasn''t excited and then looked back at my face.


    ¡°Someone did say that it was okay to be naked around others on a mission.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°You... are not in the military.¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°I was offered a commission, actually.¡± I said and she stared at me. ¡°Do not suffer boot camp, do not sweat with the grunts.¡±


    ¡°You''re kidding.¡± Jelly said. ¡°You have to be kidding.¡±


    ¡°The admiral herself offered the position.¡± I said and started lathering up my front. ¡°I think she just wanted me under her ''authority'', to be honest.¡±


    Simone laughed as she got the implication. ¡°You are always getting in those kinds of situations!¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Most times it''s not even my fault.¡±


    Simone rolled her eyes. ¡°Hurry up and pass me the soap.¡±


    ¡°Don''t you want me to wash you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Shut up.¡± Simone said, because she really wanted me to, and grabbed the soap from me and lathered up herself. She handed it back and turned towards the shower head and started to rinse off. I finished lathering myself and then waited for her to finish, then we switched places. Simone had her hair frothy with shampoo by the time I was done and I helped her rinse it out without getting more soap onto her body. Two towels later, we were both out of the stall and dried off, and I put on a clean underwear.


    ¡°I''ll see you both later.¡± I said and left the bathroom, then turned around and peered back in. ¡°Simone, I marked a couple of people on the datapad. Can you mark them? I''m pretty sure they are going to fit our needs perfectly.¡±


    ¡°Consider it done.¡± Simone said.


    I nodded and went downstairs to go to the bedroom and went to sleep for several hours. Unlike them, I could utilize the entire time effectively and continued to filter all of the programming ideas I had. Simone asked for my help and I put her to sleep as gently as I could and included a ''wake up'' call as well. Just like jelly, she preferred the subtle version of my ability over my normal brute force one.


    It took two more days to track the targets to where they lived, and it was the same apartment complex. Luckily, they didn''t live together, nor did they have family living with them. No children and no spouses were evident, either. Simone and I went there while they were at ''work'' in the building and set things up, then I left and went across the street to set up the distraction we were going to need to ambush the two people at the appropriate time. I had been saving this particular item for quite some time and never managed to get rid of it like I had planned all those years ago.


    We waited until the targets were within range of our traps, then I set off my distraction. I took out the overloaded mana crystal that I had used to kill the lamia that had betrayed Allirynn, and tossed it into a large metallic cylinder, so that it would create the largest ringing sound possible. I ran as far as my non-Presence Run abilities could take me and then the mana crystal exploded.


    Not only did it create the very loud metallic bang and ringing I had expected as all those crystal shards impacted the sides of the metal, the large cylinder acted like a cannon barrel and the majority of the shards shot up into the air like a flare and spread out and sprinkled over several buildings and the alley.


    Needless to say, it worked spectacularly.


    We easily subdued our targets while everyone else was distracted by the unintentionally spectacular visual display. As previously agreed, we took them inside their apartments and spent the night there. Unlike the other assassin, I couldn''t use my Presence to blatantly mulch this man''s brains. I had to do it subtly and it took almost an hour to do it. I had to leave the suicide charge in his head and only managed to disconnect the power source.


    An hour before we were to head out, I stopped in the other apartment and pulled the power source of the woman''s suicide charge as well. Just like the other assassin, it was anathema for them to be caught. Their deep desire came through, even unconscious like they were, so we made sure to secure them completely. We put on a clean set of their work suits and left to go to work. They usually walked and met up down the street, so we copied that motion and walked all the way to the target building.


    Surprisingly, getting inside was easy. They had ID tags and that was all, so we scanned them in and stepped through the unlocked door. There were no guards or even a security station, so we had free reign over where we wanted to go. I followed Simone''s lead on this, because she had a lot more experience doing things like this without the use of Presence.


    We went to her office first and discovered that it was just a normal office, like it would be in any office building, even though these people were hired assassins. It made me wonder if they also handled it like a traditional business. Did they have regular clients that received discounts if they used more services? If an agent is lost, is there a penalty? How did they get new members?


    These questions and more ran through my head as Simone used the terminal on the desk to look through the daily schedule. The computer was attached to a secured and stand alone system, which meant you needed to have direct access from a terminal and it couldn''t be hacked externally. Thankfully, we had access codes, thanks to our two targets, and it let us into the system. Simone took in a sharp breath at the deluge of information she now had access to.


    ¡°Hunter, as soon as we start copying this, they are going to know.¡±


    ¡°Don''t copy it from the system.¡± I said and handed her a video recorder. ¡°Just access it all and have it scroll across the screen.¡±


    ¡°Even that... well, I guess they won''t notice right away if all we do is look and don''t actually copy the files.¡± Simone said and quickly set up a fake audit of the agents and the assets, then had the computer continuously display the information we needed. ¡°Safe houses, agents and their secret identities, dummy businesses on The Order home planets...¡± She shook her head. ¡°No wonder some people think this is a branch of The Order.¡±


    ¡°They do, too.¡± I reminded her. ¡°If my guess is right, this building and every one listed there, are rigged with explosives to remove all evidence that they exist, if they are discovered... regardless of the people inside.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter... you... are you really...¡±


    ¡°I can''t go around and scramble everyone''s brains, can I?¡± I asked. ¡°I don''t have the time to do them all personally, despite wanting to.¡±


    Simone didn''t say anything as we waited for the computer to finish. It took about two hours for us to get everything that we needed. Now we had a problem. We wanted to leave, now that we had what we came for. Unfortunately, we knew for a fact that no one ever left during the day, for any reason, and we would have to stay and waste time until everyone else was ready to leave the building as well.


    This opened us up to a very dangerous situation, mainly because anyone could come to either her office or mine at any time and see that we were not the people that should be here. We also couldn''t walk around, mainly for the same reason. Simone had the idea to look for a break room or a cafeteria, so she checked the computer and found several of them. We left the office and wasted the entire day moving from break room to break room and whispering to each other.


    This established us as a pair and a few different people saw us in each area. Since we weren''t in any office and yet looked like we were supposed to be there, no one questioned us or approached us. I didn''t think it was odd, mainly because we were essentially copying the other people we had seen around and ran with it. As long as we remained confident and kept to ourselves, no one bothered us.


    The day finally ended and we joined everyone as they left the building, like ants out of an ant hill, and we kept up the pretense as we followed our target''s normal routine to go back to their homes. I spent several hours scrambling the woman''s brain, now that I had the time to, then we left them in bed and walked away. We set up a call to the authorities to check on them later, that way we hadn''t left them to die.


    We made it back to the house where Jelly was on watch and she congratulated us on our successful mission. The next day, we managed to arrange a tour of the continental falls and spent several hours there on a little boat. Both Simone and Jelly enjoyed the experience of seeing a mile high waterfall and were in high spirits for the rest of the day. We had supper together that night and packed everything up, then went to bed.


    The next day was the fateful appointment we had made at the hospital to see my assassin. Only I went this time, in case things went bad, and I was led into an observation room and not into the room with the patient, like I thought I would be.


    ¡°Do you recognize him?¡± A woman asked me and stared at me intently.


    I didn''t give her the satisfaction right away and stared at the man for several moments before I spoke. ¡°Yes, I do.¡±


    She nodded to the medical technician, who relaxed and took his hand away from the emergency button he had been prepared to push at a moment''s notice.


    ¡°Who is he?¡± The woman asked.


    I gave her his name and his wife and child''s name, even though I suspected that they were fake.


    ¡°You aren''t sure about the names?¡± The woman asked, pointedly.


    ¡°I only got the names in passing while I learned about where he worked.¡± I said, truthfully. ¡°I can''t say if they were real or something he made up to sound impressive.¡±


    ¡°He didn''t mention what system he came from, did he?¡± She asked.


    I shook my head. ¡°I only know the business and a few names.¡± I said, then told her the business name before she could ask.


    She caught her breath when I said it and I turned and looked at her. She had a slightly red face at giving herself away so easily.


    ¡°Could I invite you to lunch? I really would like to hear more about all of this.¡± I said. ¡°It was quite the mystery when I met him.¡±


    The woman thought about refusing, then she took in my fuzzy hair and my welcoming smile and decided that she could pump me for more information, too. In more ways than one, if given the chance.


    ¡°I''d like that.¡± She said and I gave her an award winning smile. She visibly shivered when I put a hand behind her back, then led her from the room. We had a lot more to talk about than I had first thought.

 Book Three: The Resolution 056

    We left the long care ward and went down a floor to the cafeteria. Once there, I saw the food available and made a sour face.


    The woman smiled. ¡°It''s not that bad.¡±


    ¡°Will your opinion of me drop if I say that I can''t trust your word yet?¡± I asked and she chuckled.


    ¡°You''re stuck believing me because there isn''t a restaurant anywhere near here.¡± She said and we went to the line. ¡°Unless you have a shuttle or a hover car with a transit permit, that is.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you can get permits to fly normally?¡± I asked, genuinely surprised.


    The woman nodded. ¡°Once you establish that you''re not going to fly like a crazy person.¡± She said and loaded some things onto her tray. ¡°Try the green stuff. It tastes like galis.¡±


    ¡°What''s galis?¡± I asked and took some.


    ¡°You''re really from out-system then.¡± She said and I nodded.


    ¡°We came to see that man and do a few other things.¡± I said, so I wasn''t lying. ¡°We even went to the continental falls yesterday.¡±


    ¡°It''s breathtaking, isn''t it?¡± She asked and I took half of the food items that she did.


    When we reached the end of the line, I paid for both meals and two drinks.


    ¡°You didn''t have to do that.¡± She said.


    ¡°I asked you to eat with me.¡± I said and we went over to a small square table near the side of the room.


    She sat down and instead of sitting across from her, I sat next to her. ¡°Flirting already?¡± She asked as she gave me an inquisitive look and I gave her a crooked smile in return and rested my knee against hers. ¡°I''ll take that as a yes.¡± She said with a satisfied smile.


    I was picking up her surface thoughts, now that I had direct contact with her, and gave her a genuine smile. ¡°Do you work exclusively for the hospital?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°I only consult and come in on extreme cases like these.¡± She said. ¡°That man''s mind was mulched from the inside. We suspect Presence was used; but, we haven''t found any trace of any, except for bits of his own in key areas.¡±


    ¡°Key areas? Oh! You mean like motor functions and sight and sound.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°I tried to probe him, and all I can get from him is a distinct impression that...¡± She stopped talking and gave me an apologetic look. ¡°I can''t discuss a patient''s case.¡±


    I smiled and slid my hand over slightly and rested it on hers. ¡°That''s okay. I''ve confirmed who he is and since I''m not family, I don''t need to know anything more about his health.¡±


    The woman relaxed and nodded. ¡°Thank you for understanding.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°You must have expected me to pester you for all the details to relax like that.¡±


    She smiled. ¡°I had suspected it, yes.¡±


    I used my free hand and tried the green stuff. It tasted like mint with a hint of peanut butter. ¡°You''re right. That''s not bad.¡±


    One of her eyes squinted slightly. ¡°You don''t like it.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure in some other context, it would be delicious... like on a dessert with holis berries on top to counter the nutty taste.¡±


    The woman widened her eyes slightly and her thoughts coalesced and focused on the subject. ¡°You can cook?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I could lie and say a little; but, I''ve been helping in the kitchen since I was about eight.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t start learning about how to really cook until I was forced to take care of myself when I was eleven.¡±


    The woman''s hand turned over and held onto mine. ¡°I can''t cook to save my own life; but, my mother always had me help in the kitchen.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like you had a great childhood.¡±


    ¡°Unbelievably.¡± She said and her thoughts played dozens of scenes with her and her mother cooking.


    I picked at the food and tried to hide my reactions to the different tastes that would have fit better as parts of other dishes and not stand alone food. It was difficult. We held hands the entire time and she couldn''t help but laugh at my reactions and I got all of her surface thoughts. When we were done of the food, I put my tray on top of hers and slid them out of the way.


    ¡°What can you tell me about the organization that man works for?¡± I asked, and she didn''t answer. I caught all of her surface thoughts and she didn''t really know anything, except that they occasionally found a headless body. They would be traced back to that organization, mostly because they turned out to be an ex-employee. ¡°I guess that can be considered part of his case and you can''t answer.¡±


    She nodded her head, relieved that she didn''t have to lie to me about what she knew. ¡°Where are you headed to next?¡±


    ¡°Now that I''ve seen him, I don''t really have a reason to stay.¡± I said. ¡°I also doubt claiming to be a tourist after you-know-what''s-people were so nice to let me come here, would probably piss them off.¡±


    The woman chuckled and her thoughts floated around being trained in basic Presence use, to stop her from becoming ''dangerous'' in the eyes of The Order. They had even given her a license to practice.


    ¡°There goes my hope for a date tonight.¡± She said and then gave me an apologetic look.


    I picked up her hand and hesitated for a moment to tease her, then kissed the tips of her fingers. Her face flushed slightly red as I did exactly what she believed was how a proper man should treat a woman. I let her hand go and stood up, picked up both trays and took them over to the slot to drop them off, then left the cafeteria. I quickly left the building and went to the shuttle at the landing pad down the street and climbed aboard.


    ¡°Call the control tower and get permission for a flight path back to the ship.¡± I said.


    Simone did so as Jelly took the shuttle out of standby mode. Simone gave her the information the control tower sent and we took off and flew along the odd twisting pattern to take us up into orbit. The three of us relaxed as the shuttle docked to the top of the Udelis and it gave us a sense of safety. I went out and attached it properly and then the three of us left the shuttle through the umbilical and into the ship.


    ¡°Gleas, get us a course out of here.¡± I said as I entered the cockpit.


    ¡°I already have one.¡± Gleas said and hit a button on the communication console. ¡°Shuttle secured and passengers are aboard. Thanks for the help.¡±


    ¡°Anytime.¡± A voice said. ¡°Good travels and great food.¡±


    Gleas chuckled and turned off the console. ¡°There was a random patrol sent over to check us out.¡± She said. ¡°When they came aboard, we were in the middle of eating and...¡±


    ¡°Say no more.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I just had the weirdest tasting meal ever in a hospital cafeteria. I can only imagine what the military here would be getting.¡±


    Gleas nodded. ¡°They barely looked at anything while I distracted them by eating a meal from our favorite restaurant.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°I was tempted to hold a cloth to their faces to stop their drools!¡± Deborah laughed, too.


    ¡°I sent a care package of a dozen meals over to the traffic control station and now we''re good friends.¡± Gleas said with a laugh and put the ship on course.


    ¡°Good work, you two.¡± I said.


    The ship left orbit, two satellites lighter, and loaded with information that no one knew we had. We waited until we reached the Lagrange point before we completely relaxed and then we jumped into hyperspace and left behind one of the oddest missions I had done so far. I knew it wouldn''t be the last.


    ¡°Let''s get the data translated back into text.¡± I said to Simone and we went to the living room and set things up to reverse the process we had used to get the information. It was going to take a while, and we had to watch it closely, to make sure that it got everything right. When it missed something, we marked it on both the console and the time index on the video file. We would have to go back and correct all of the errors that such an inefficient transfer would always have.


    Once the footage ended, we spent another few hours changing and fixing the spelling errors, missed words, overlapped names, and everything else that had gone wrong on the transfer. When we were done, we had a comprehensive list of the active agents, their missions, where they were currently stationed, and their secret identities. I hadn''t expected to get quite that much during the mission and I also didn''t expect to get away without having some kind of fight.


    Frankly, it was a relief to not have to fight my way out of a situation. I knew that wasn''t going to last, once I started my campaign of removing all of the assassins. I couldn''t start here because it was too heavily protected and I was trying to be covert. If I attacked them now, they would know it was the new people that came on the latest ship, and I didn''t want to give The Order an easy time trying to catch me.


    I chuckled at that thought and Simone glanced at me, so I took her hand and she started laughing, too.


    With the very important task of converting the data done, we made several copies of the information and spread it out to several places, one of which would be the network hub I had made when we exited hyperspace in the Dizahl System. After that, we all gathered in the kitchen and ate a meal together for the first time in almost a week.


    It was going to take three days to get back to our base and I told them that I needed to work and make more satellites. Simone offered to help and followed me into the bedroom to watch me put one together. She tried not to laugh at the ridiculous amount of skills and Presence that I was using to assemble them so quickly and after an hour, she spoke.


    ¡°I think I''ll let you handle this all by yourself.¡± Simone said and pat my back, then she slid her hand up to my neck. ¡°Don''t stay up too long this time.¡±


    ¡°You can''t tell me what to do.¡± I said in a nasal voice and she chuckled.


    She held my neck for another moment and then let go and smacked the back of my head.


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    ¡°I''ll be back in six hours to check on you.¡±


    ¡°What if I''m not done by then?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°You better be.¡± Simone warned me with a wicked smile and left the bedroom.


    The time passed by and I finished about fifteen minutes before she came back into the room. I thought about pretending to be working; but, she would know I was faking it right away. She came in with a small tray of food, just enough for a snack, and I turned to hold my hands out to her.


    ¡°Don''t you dare touch me with those filthy things.¡± Simone said and looked around for a good place to put the tray down. I cleared a spot on my main desk for her and moved back out of the way. She stepped by me and bent over slightly to put the tray down. Her hair had slid to the side when she did, so I silently stood up and reached out to press my dirt-covered fingertip to the back of her neck.


    Simone flinched at the touch and she almost dropped the tray. ¡°You did NOT just touch me!¡±


    I darted by her and went into the bathroom. ¡°Of course not!¡± I laughed and quickly stripped off and hopped into the shower.


    ¡°Get your ass out here and apologize!¡± Simone said.


    ¡°I''m busy washing my filthy things!¡± I said loudly. Even over the sound of the water, I could hear her growling and grumbling. ¡°I can''t quite hear you. I''m still too busy!¡±


    Simone stood there, still slightly bent over, and simmered in her anger. She had apparently just taken a shower and I had ruined it for her. I finished my shower and made sure I was completely clean, dried off, and dressed in my nightgown. I prepped a cloth with soap and water and grabbed a small towel before I left the bathroom. I walked over to her and formed a small area with Presence around the dirty spot with my clear fingerprint in the middle of it.


    ¡°I didn''t realize you just washed.¡± I said and squeezed out a few drops of water onto her neck and she flinched a little, then I used the soapy cloth to clean the spot. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±


    Simone took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°I overreacted.¡± She said as I used a bit more water to rinse the spot, then used the towel to dry the spot. ¡°I''m not sure why I did, considering you don''t normally volunteer to touch me so casually.¡±


    ¡°I think that''s why.¡± I said and she stood up straight to look at me. ¡°You would rather have me caress your neck, dirty hands or not.¡±


    Simone considered what I said and then nodded. ¡°Yes, it''s because you did it to annoy me.¡±


    ¡°I''ll try not to do that in the future.¡± I said and took her hand while I floated the cloth and towel back into the bathroom. I turned to look at the cockpit and ''saw'' that Deborah was in the pilot seat. ¡°They''re splitting the shifts?¡±


    ¡°Only while travelling in hyperspace.¡± Simone said and I heard her thoughts turn to something more personal. ¡°Hunter, are we really going to do this?¡± She asked. ¡°Are we really going to take down The Order?¡±


    ¡°One step at a time.¡± I said and looked at her face. ¡°I have my own gripes against them and how they treat people; but you, you make me want to wring their necks for what they did to you.¡±


    Simone stared into my eyes and she felt my resolve.


    ¡°First, we need to finish the salvage job, get more of my satellites spread around, then we can concentrate on the information we just acquired.¡± I smiled. ¡°Raiding their compounds and businesses is going to be dangerous.¡±


    ¡°...and lucrative.¡± Simone smiled. ¡°You recognized some of the business names.¡±


    ¡°Who would have thought that The Order would have their hands in so many business ventures?¡±


    ¡°Did you think that taking over planets and then star systems is cheap?¡± Simone asked with a laugh.


    ¡°No. I just thought it was all given to them.¡± I said and she laughed again.


    ¡°Shipping yards get paid to make Order specific ships, even if the shipyard is owned by The Order.¡±


    ¡°I saw some of that in the data.¡± I said. ¡°The sheer amount of money being filtered through their businesses is staggering.¡±


    ¡°It''s just like the Bogorim Corporation.¡± Simone said. ¡°Remember what he said when you delivered the bounty that time.¡±


    ¡°They have about fifty thousand credits passing through their offices every hour.¡± I said.


    ¡°Now imagine their multi-system business is spread over thousands of worlds.¡±


    I had to take a breath and let it out. ¡°Probably ten to a hundred times that amount a second.¡±


    ¡°You are about to toss a very small wrench into that machine.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°I''d rather smash it all at once.¡± I said and she caught her breath. ¡°I have to work with what I have, though.¡±


    ¡°You mean us.¡± Simone said, indicating her and the pilots, so I nodded. ¡°We are all going to help you as much as we can.¡±


    ¡°I hope so, because I expect things to get rough in some spots.¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± Simone said. ¡°None of us want anyone else to go through what we went through.¡±


    I nodded again. ¡°Good.¡± I said and let her hand go. ¡°Now get out of here. I need to go to bed because someone ordered me to.¡±


    Simone smiled and waved at the bed, then walked to my door. ¡°Who do you want me to send in to sleep with you?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I looked at her in surprise.


    ¡°Gleas and Deborah packed up all of Luxea''s things and put them in the cell with Rhubin''s and Kalina''s things.¡± Simone said. ¡°There''s only one bunk available.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t they put everything from the cell into Luxea''s room?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They wanted an actual room to stay in, maybe?¡± Simone shrugged. ¡°I didn''t ask.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I''ll find out it the morning.¡± I said and looked through the ship to see Gleas was in Rhubin''s old room and Jelly was in Luxea''s. Both were already in bed, and neither bed was big enough to handle two people sleeping in it, unless they were very well acquainted.


    ¡°Go get changed and come back.¡± I said and moved the completed satellites over with the rest of them. My room was getting crowded with them, so I was going to have to start storing them somewhere else or deploy them in the surrounding star systems. Simone took out her sleeping clothes and changed right there, then she climbed into bed and held a hand out to me.


    ¡°Okay, I guess I don''t need to wait until the morning to find out why.¡±


    Simone chuckled and wagged her hand at me. ¡°I didn''t ask them to, even though it''s a benefit for me.¡±


    I walked to the bed and took her hand, then climbed in beside her. She stayed on her side and closed her eyes as she let my thoughts flow over her. I couldn''t help myself and let her thoughts flow over me as well. It was too difficult to ignore how much she liked that I wasn''t completely blocking her. Of course, she heard those thoughts and stopped trying to stem the flow of her own thoughts.


    It wasn''t quite a storm of thoughts that swirled around in her head; but, it was getting there. She was having a difficult time calming herself enough to sleep like she wanted to, because she was just too excited about staying in my bed again after so long. I caught her envy at Jelly sharing it several times the last few days, despite knowing nothing happened.


    It was the potential. Simone''s errant thought sounded loud and clear, then I got the underlying concept. It didn''t matter if nothing actually happened, because it very easily could have. Two people, in bed together, and the potential that idea contained filled Simone''s mind and set her other thoughts into the whirlwind they currently were. Once again, there weren''t really any prevalent sexual thoughts mixed in.


    It was the occasional touch, sharing Presence, feeling another person''s warm breath on your skin, cuddling in the middle of the night, holding hands or other parts, which actually had a sexual variant in it, and a dozen other scenarios and circumstances that preoccupied her mind.


    Nothing''s going to happen. I thought to her directly and she didn''t open her eyes as she smiled.


    Something''s already happened. Simone thought back to me. Now calm me down so we can go to sleep.


    I held in my sigh and used my calming technique, then shared it with her. She actually did sigh as her mind settled down and languished in my clear thoughts and mind. As an afterthought, I also used a meditation technique and put the both of us to sleep.

 Book Three: The Resolution 057

    We arrived back in the Dizahl System and were greeted with a pleasant event when we flew over to the shipping containers and docked to the new ship. It was Jelly''s delayed birthday party.


    ¡°You made it just in time!¡± Hailey said loudly as she jumped up into my arms. ¡°We were going to start without you!¡±


    ¡°Starting without me would be fine.¡± I said and gave her a kiss on the cheek. ¡°Starting without the birthday girl would be bad.¡± I smiled. ¡°You''re not a bad girl, are you?¡±


    Hailey opened her mouth to say no, then she blushed a little and looked at Sandy. I looked at her as well and she sighed.


    ¡°I was going to wait until later to tell you.¡± Sandy said. ¡°Your future wife tried to teach herself how to cook a meal last week.¡±


    ¡°How long did it take to clean up the fire suppression foam?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°Three very long and sticky days.¡± Sandy said.


    ¡°Hunter, I''m sorry.¡± Hailey said. ¡°I just wanted...¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and kissed her cheek again, then put her down because we were about to meet a few more people. ¡°As long as no one was hurt and you didn''t cause too much damage.¡±


    ¡°We should dock to the station and have a maintenance crew check everything.¡± Sandy said. ¡°I cleaned as much as I could; but, there could be damage and places that I didn''t reach.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°We''ll do that right after the party.¡± I said. ¡°I hope the food heater still worked.¡±


    ¡°The last few days without the ability to cook definitely made us thankful for the meals from our favorite restaurant.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°I would have had to go outside and use one of the thrusters as a heat source.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It would probably heat and freeze in an instant.¡±


    ¡°It does.¡± Jelly said and we all looked at her. ¡°It made it taste better than uncooked, at least.¡±


    That made several of us nod and we all went to the large living room to the party area.


    Jelly gasped when she saw the room was full of people. ¡°John?¡± She said as she saw at the closest man.


    ¡°Hey, sis.¡± John said and hugged her.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°It''s someone''s birthday.¡± John said. ¡°All I heard was ''party'' and I was on the ship and on the way here.¡±


    Jelly shook her head and looked around, then she was surrounded by her friends and family that she hadn''t seen in a while. It had been a lot longer than normal, considering the nature of her job in the military and then being co-opted into monitoring Hunter the last couple of months.


    ¡°You all came?¡± Jelly asked with tears in her eyes. ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°Who was going to turn down a free trip to a main system?¡± A woman asked and stepped forward to hug her. ¡°I''d be crazy to say no!¡±


    ¡°What about your job?¡± Jelly asked her friend.


    ¡°We all have the ''Hero of Chofaris'' excuse to take time off.¡± A deep voiced man said and Jelly''s father hugged her. ¡°There''s not a single person on the planet that would say no when he asks for something.¡±


    ¡°I felt a little guilty asking, actually.¡± I said and Jelly turned her head to look at me. ¡°I don''t like taking advantage of people like that.¡±


    ¡°That''s why we all agreed.¡± A woman who had similar hair to Jelly stepped around Jelly''s father and held a hand out to me. ¡°I''m Jennifer''s mother, Jan.¡±


    ¡°Is this where I''m allowed to compliment you and say that I thought you were her sister?¡± I asked with a grin and took the offered hand and held it for a few moments.


    ¡°Only if you mean it.¡± Jan said and smiled back at me.


    ¡°Stop that!¡± Jelly said and swatted at our clasped hands and glared at me. ¡°She''s happily married!¡±


    Jan laughed. ¡°Oh, I''m sure he wouldn''t want an old woman like me.¡± She said and the Presence wavered. I was sure it was about the old woman comment, because she was barely in her forties. I gave a look to her husband and he gave me a little shrug and then nodded slightly.


    I nodded slightly back and then leaned in close to put my mouth by her ear to whisper. ¡°You are nowhere near the age to be considered old.¡± I said, barely above a breath. ¡°Your husband loves you so much that he''s going to let me flirt with you.¡±


    Jan took in a shaky breath and I heard her thoughts. She was both grateful and slightly afraid.


    ¡°If you weren''t married, I would discretely sneak off with you.¡± I continued and let a touch of Presence flow into her to make her catch her breath and arouse her a little more than she already was. ¡°We would definitely miss the party.¡±


    When I leaned back and saw that her face was red, I smiled and turned her slightly, then I took her husband''s hand and put his wife''s into it. I gave him the same Presence tweak to put the two of them into sync. I leaned in close to him this time.


    ¡°It won''t last long, so you better hurry.¡± I whispered. ¡°The third door down the hallway is an empty room.¡±


    The man didn''t need any more prompting than that and pretty much dragged his wife with him out of the room. No one really noticed them leaving. I turned back to Jelly and she stared at me and didn''t know what to say.


    ¡°Your mom just...¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to know.¡± Jelly said and cut me off. ¡°I really don''t want to know.¡±


    I chuckled and looked at the other people around. ¡°I guess we should make the rounds and mingle.¡± I said and held an elbow out to her. ¡°May I escort you?¡±


    ¡°What about Hailey?¡± Jelly asked and looked down to see she was gone. ¡°What? Where?¡±


    ¡°She''s over by the treat table with two other teenagers.¡± I said and pointed over my shoulder with a thumb. ¡°Your niece and nephew, I think?¡±


    Jelly nodded and put her arm in mine, then we did the rounds and greeted everyone that had travelled so far to be with Jelly on her birthday.


    *


    Jelly''s father had barely gotten his wife inside the room when she grabbed him by his shirt and almost yelled into his face. ¡°You heard him! Hurry up!¡±


    Her husband didn''t need the encouragement and had his own clothes off and started to take off his wife''s. Jan let him, because she was too horny to help. She needed him and she needed him right now. He obliged her and laid her on the bed, then he entered her without any preparation or foreplay. She was more than ready for him and moaned at the much needed intrusion as he pleasured her.


    The Hero of Chofaris wanted me! Jan thought and let it fill her mentally as much as her husband filled her physically.


    The Hero of Chofaris wanted my wife! Her husband thought as he pumped himself into his wife harder than he had ever tried to make love to her before.


    They both stared into each other''s eyes as they had the most exciting sex either of them had ever had in their lives. By the time they were done twenty minutes later, they were both exhausted and laid beside each other in the bed. They had messed the blanket and sheets up quite a lot and held hands as they laid there and thought about what had just happened between them. They knew it was because of Hunter and their opinion of him raised even higher than it had been before.


    They had been worried that taking in their daughter and bringing her along on his adventures might have put her in even more danger than working for the military did, then they had seen the wonderful working environment he had introduced her to. That alone made them like him. When they learned he had wanted all of her friends and family to travel part way across the galaxy to attend her birthday party, it cemented him into the upper echelons of their opinion.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The fact that he was the Hero of Chofaris was something they hadn''t considered as a real factor in their opinion, until he did what he just did. The two of them turned their heads and looked at each other and they still felt the remnants of the connection Hunter had made between them.


    ¡°If you want to actually sleep with him, you can.¡± Jelly''s father said.


    Jan laughed. ¡°Oh, goddess! Can you imagine what that would be like?¡± She asked. ¡°If him just touching me made me like this... so ready for you that you didn''t need to warm me up first... what would actually having sex with him be like?¡±


    Her husband laid there for a minute before he spoke. ¡°I''d say it would be like a religious experience.¡±


    Jan leaned over and kissed her husband. ¡°I just had one with you, my dearest love.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure he would give you another if you wanted.¡± He said with a smile.


    Jan shook her head. ¡°I wouldn''t survive it, I don''t think.¡± She said. ¡°When he whispered in my ear and said that he would take me if I wasn''t married...¡± She shivered. ¡°The Hero of Chofaris wants me.¡±


    Her husband laughed. ¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡± He admitted. ¡°The Hero of Chofaris wants my wife! Mine! Ha ha!¡±


    Jan laughed, too. ¡°Tell me you''re ready to go again.¡±


    ¡°Darling, whatever he did to me, I''m more than ready for another round.¡± He said to her delight.


    They ended up missing most of the party.


    *


    ¡°You know the Hero of Chofaris?¡± Jelly''s niece asked Hailey.


    ¡°I live with him.¡± Hailey said, a little smugly. ¡°He rescued me and then kept me.¡±


    Jelly''s niece sighed contentedly. ¡°That must have been so nice.¡±


    Hailey wasn''t sure that having her mother arrested as a terrorist was nice; but, she couldn''t argue with the result. Getting to live with Hunter really was nice.


    Jelly''s niece thought about being rescued by Hunter, then a thought occurred to her. ¡°Have you kissed him yet?¡± She asked. ¡°If you''re living together, you must have kissed.¡±


    ¡°Geez, Lok. Leave the girl alone.¡± Jelly''s nephew said and ate another treat from the table. ¡°She''s too young to...¡±


    ¡°I''ve kissed him a few times.¡± Hailey admitted.


    ¡°Kissing on the forehead doesn''t count.¡± He responded.


    ¡°It was on the lips!¡± Hailey said in her defense. ¡°And on the cheek a bunch of times!¡±


    ¡°Cheeks don''t count, either.¡± He said, as if he didn''t believe her.


    ¡°I knew it!¡± Lok said and put an arm over Hailey''s shoulders. ¡°Don''t listen to Kol. He doesn''t understand what it takes to kiss someone you love.¡±


    Hailey nodded at the older girl. ¡°It''s embarrassing, especially with other people around.¡±


    ¡°Don''t I know it!¡± Lok said with a knowing smile. ¡°Kol caught me with...¡±


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Kol held a hand up to stop her. ¡°Don''t corrupt the poor girl with your sordid tales.¡±


    Hailey didn''t know what sordid meant and looked at the twin siblings in confusion.


    ¡°It wasn''t sordid!¡± Lok said. ¡°It was love at first sight!¡±


    Kol rolled his eyes. ¡°Only for ten minutes, then he had to leave.¡± He said. ¡°What a scumbag.¡±


    ¡°You shut up!¡± Lok said.


    ¡°Just because you''re sixteen doesn''t mean you can kiss any random guy you meet.¡± Kol said.


    ¡°Do you want another knuckle sandwich?¡± Lok asked and showed him her fist.


    ¡°She always resorts to violence when she can''t argue her point.¡± Kol told Hailey. ¡°I''d be careful around her if I were you.¡±


    ¡°Say. One. More. Thing.¡± Lok said in a deadly tone.


    ¡°Are you really going to punch me in the middle of Aunt Jelly''s birthday party?¡± Kol asked and then smiled. ¡°One more thing.¡±


    Quick as a flash, Lok''s fist swung out and whacked him on the upper arm.


    ¡°OW!¡± Kol jumped back and rubbed his arm where he was sure to develop a nice bruise by tonight.


    ¡°What''s going on over here?¡± A woman''s stern voice sent a chill down their spines.


    ¡°Nothing, Aunt Jelly.¡± Lok said. ¡°Right, Kol?¡±


    ¡°She punched me.¡± Kol said and ruined the cover-up.


    Jelly sighed. ¡°I''m not going to ask what caused it this time.¡±


    ¡°Kissing someone you love.¡± Hailey said and looked right at Hunter.


    Hunter chuckled and knelt on one knee. ¡°One private proof of kissing coming up.¡±


    The five of them were surrounded by a blue solid Presence Wall. He took Hailey into his arms and held her tenderly, then gave her a kiss on the lips. He held it for a couple of seconds and then broke the kiss.


    ¡°We can''t do more than that, even though you will be my wife someday.¡± Hunter reminded her.


    Hailey''s face was slightly red and she rubbed the fuzz on top of Hunter''s head. Just like hers, it was getting longer and it almost wasn''t fuzz anymore.


    ¡°Wife?!?¡± Both Kol and Lok asked at the same time.


    ¡°Her mother already approves and I even have government approval.¡± Hunter said to the shocked siblings. ¡°Of course, it''ll be years before we get to that point.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡± Lok looked at Hailey and then back at Hunter. ¡°You''re the Hero of Chofaris!¡±


    Hunter chuckled. ¡°If you try to argue that there are plenty of other women out there that want to marry me, you can save your breath. I may date a couple of people before getting married, though.¡±


    ¡°As long as you tell me first.¡± Hailey said, quite boldly.


    Hunter raised his eyebrows for a moment and then smiled. ¡°I won''t have to tell you.¡± He said and touched her temple with a fingertip. ¡°You''ll know it if it happens.¡±


    ¡°If?¡± Hailey asked when she felt the Presence waver slightly.


    Hunter chuckled at the proof that she could tell even when he partially lied. ¡°All right, when.¡±


    Hailey nodded and rested her forehead against her future husband''s forehead and their Presences touched as well. She had seen Simone do it and she wanted to know for herself what it felt like. It was like being hugged all over at the same time, only from the inside, and she let a long and drawn out breath escape. After only a few moments, she moved her head away and smiled.


    Hailey had been a little worried that Hunter would have stopped her or say no if she tried it, and all she got from him were thoughts of acceptance and a feeling of pride that she had done it on her own and kept herself calm and hadn''t tried to do more.


    ¡°Hunter, I think people are starting to wonder why they can''t get at the treat table.¡± Jelly said.


    Hunter absorbed the blue Presence Wall around them and nearly everyone was looking at them. A few were surprised to see him knelt in front of Hailey and had her in an embrace.


    ¡°We were just having a private moment.¡± Hunter said and let Hailey out of the hug and stood up. ¡°Blocking the table was unintentional.¡±


    A few people muttered something and Hunter pointed to his ears. The talking stopped and he smiled.


    ¡°She''s going to be my wife in the future and I was just clarifying a couple of things with her.¡± Hunter said, to nearly everyone''s surprise. ¡°That''s years away, so you don''t have to be concerned about it.¡±


    A lot of them relaxed at my words. A couple of them were convinced that I was taking advantage of a young woman because of my status and there wasn''t really any way to convince then that I wasn''t.


    I smiled at them. Imagine if they knew that Hailey and I are staying in the same room and sleeping in the same bed.


    The party continued on for a while and then it was time for presents, to Jelly''s surprise. Her parents came in then and gave her their present as well. She accepted everything graciously and we all went into the dining room to eat.


    ¡°I didn''t get anything from you.¡± Jelly whispered to me as the food was being served by Sandy.


    ¡°Getting one percent of the salvage wasn''t enough of a present?¡± I asked in the same whispered voice.


    ¡°You gave me that a while ago and it wasn''t even my birthday.¡± Jelly stopped talking and sighed. ¡°I shouldn''t be greedy like that. I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°I have something for you; but, I didn''t want to show up the other presents.¡± I whispered. ¡°When everyone heads back to the station, I''ll give it to you.¡±


    Jelly''s mind immediately dropped into the gutter and she blushed, which made me chuckle. We all ate the heated meals and everyone enjoyed the food, then the party was over and Jelly and I went with everyone to the shuttle bay and she said goodbye to everyone, told them I was actually giving her a present after they left, then she thanked them for coming. They transferred over to the tourist transport that was waiting for them nearby, and since my ship and the transport had pressurized shuttle bays, the whole thing was over in less than ten minutes.


    ¡°Whew! I''m glad that''s over.¡± Sandy said and wiped at her forehead exaggeratedly. ¡°That was hard work!¡±


    ¡°Gleas'' birthday is in two days.¡± I reminded her.


    Sandy cursed and everyone laughed.


    ¡°Don''t tell me you did this for me, too!¡± Gleas said to me.


    ¡°Um... no.¡± I said and Hailey and Simone laughed at the blatant lie.


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I guess the cat''s out of the bag.¡± I said and shrugged. ¡°I did it for all of you.¡±


    They all stared at me like they had never seen me before, except for Hailey. She giggled at everyone''s shocked reaction.


    ¡°Now that you all know, I pretty much filled the station''s guest rooms with your friends and relatives.¡± I said. ¡°You can call them and visit if you want, since waiting until your parties happen would be a waste of their time here.¡±


    ¡°Hunter... oh, goddess.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°No, I didn''t invite him or his family.¡± I said. ¡°Only yours.¡±


    ¡°That''s not...¡± Deborah looked at everyone''s faces. ¡°Do you realize how much it cost to bring all of these people here?¡±


    ¡°I booked an entire cruise ship.¡± I said and they all stared at me, mouths open. ¡°It was cheaper than buying individual tickets.¡±


    No one said anything, so I turned to Jelly and smiled.


    ¡°So, do you want your present now?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Jelly said. ¡°What could you possibly give me that...¡±


    I took two steps to the side as I reached out, then I rested my hand on the shuttle.


    ¡°NO!¡± Jelly yelled.


    ¡°I''ve got three of the damn things and only one shuttle pilot.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t remote pilot them and my skills can use them, just like a normal pilot; but, I can''t fly them like you can.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you... you can''t.¡±


    ¡°Sure I can.¡± I said. ¡°Not only that, according to the military, they have provisions in their code for paying pilots to commission their ships into the service. They will even pay for maintenance and operating costs, as long as it''s used for the military''s benefit.¡±


    Jelly couldn''t say anything in response.


    ¡°Do you know why I didn''t give you this during the party?¡± I asked. ¡°I didn''t have time to wrap it.¡±


    Hailey laughed and Gleas chuckled, which seemed to break everyone out of the shock they were in.


    ¡°Come on everyone. Let''s go clean up and get the place ready for Gleas'' surprise party.¡± I said.


    ¡°It''s not a surprise if I know it''s happening.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°Surprise!¡± I exclaimed, and that made everyone laugh.


    Two days later, Gleas had her birthday party. It went pretty much the same way as Jelly''s, except no horny parents or a shuttle gift at the end. I ended up giving her a nice gold bracelet with a blue focusing crystal embedded into its surface. It was a personal shield device, just like the one I had given to Hailey.


    As each birthday passed, we had big parties for each woman and I gave them variations on the same personal shield gift. A brooch for Sandy, a necklace for Deborah, and another brooch for Beatrice so that she and Sandy matched. The last to get a present was Simone, and since I had already given her a personal shield a long time ago, I had a very special present prepared for her instead.

 Book Three: The Resolution 058

    Simone''s present didn''t start to become available until the day after her birthday. I had arranged a nice and quiet shuttle flight from the station in the middle of the local night. The shuttle pilot was very grateful for the shuttle bay and landed with relative ease.


    I walked over to the shuttle hatch and waited for it to open before I spoke. ¡°Thank you very much for coming.¡± I said and held a hand out to the very well dressed woman in a business suit. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she gave me an appraising eye.


    She took my hand for barely a second and let it go. ¡°Where...¡±


    ¡°I''ll take you right there in a moment.¡± I said and looked at the pilot. ¡°You''re welcome to stick around.¡±


    ¡°I''ve got other runs to make.¡± He said and waved. ¡°Just call when she needs a ride back.¡±


    I waved acknowledgement and the hatch closed and the shuttle took off.


    ¡°Well, at least this shuttle bay confirms that you can pay my fee.¡± The woman said.


    I smiled and motioned towards the other end of the cargo bay where the stairs were. I led her over to them and walked up them myself first, to her surprise. She fully expected me to have her walk up them first so I could watch her backside. I didn''t tell her that I could ''see'' it whenever I wanted, mainly because it would cheapen my gallant move of walking up the stairs first. I wasn''t surprised when she checked me out instead.


    When we got to the top of the stairs, I used Presence to make us silent and opened the door to the first room. The woman came to a stop and stared at the room''s contents.


    ¡°Good goddess.¡± The woman whispered. ¡°How in the world...¡±


    ¡°Selling salvage.¡± I said and waved her into the medical bay.


    ¡°Hunter, this...¡± She came into the room and the door shut behind her. ¡°This is better than what I have at my private facility.¡± She said. ¡°I''m very rich, and even I didn''t spend this much money.¡±


    I chuckled, mainly because I had gotten most of it as salvage. ¡°I could say that looks can be deceiving; but, the walls are filled with extra processing nodes and imaging equipment.¡± I took her over to the console and had her sit in the very nice and comfortable chair. ¡°Give this a going over and make sure it had everything you need. If it doesn''t, or you use specific software that you want to have installed, let me know.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure it''s fine.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°Don''t agree right off the bat. I''m not a medical technician, so what''s on there might not be up to your standards. I want them to be up to that or better.¡±


    ¡°You''re really serious about this.¡± She said and I nodded. ¡°It''s too bad you don''t have a med-bot.¡±


    ¡°I have one on the other ship.¡± I said and her mouth made a little ''o'' of surprise that I hadn''t seen in a while. ¡°It''s not fully interactive, though.¡±


    ¡°Only space stations have the capability to have a med-bot, no matter the quality.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°I''ll go get it for you.¡± I said and left her there and went into the Udelis to retrieve the med-bot, then brought it over for her.


    ¡°It''s an UR-B!¡± She exclaimed and came over to me, then knelt in front of it. ¡°It''s so nice to meet you!¡±


    The med-bot made a motion with one of its medical appendages, which split open and showed her the various tools and medical devices it had.


    The woman chuckled. ¡°You''re just as articulate as your brothers.¡± She said and pat the top of its body. ¡°It''s going to be so nice working with you.¡±


    ¡°You seem to know him.¡± I said and she nodded as she stood.


    ¡°I trained as a medical technician next to the UR, or User Restricted models.¡± She said. ¡°They''ve upgraded the looks and the software to make them more presentable in the public eyes since then; but, they lost some of the versatility of the earlier builds.¡±


    ¡°Why are they user restricted?¡± I asked, curious.


    ¡°They can''t operate on their own. They need a user nearby to tell it what to do.¡± She said. ¡°It can''t just run around and perform medical procedures without some kind of supervision.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I understand.¡± I said.


    ¡°You don''t realize the resource you have here, do you?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°I know it''s been a help to have it onboard, especially when we were doing search and rescue operations.¡± I said and she squinted her eyes at me and her thoughts went a little dark when she thought I was dismissing its importance. ¡°Besides that, it was there when I was born and tended to my mother.¡±


    The woman''s face softened and she nodded. ¡°All right, I won''t rant and rave at you for using it like a food reheater and only taking it out when absolutely necessary.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''m not worried about using it like that, mainly because of the power it draws.¡±


    The woman nodded. ¡°That''s why they usually are assigned to a space station. The medical facilities have their own reactor cores to stop catastrophic failure of the station''s main power.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we can''t use him while we''re in hyperspace.¡± I said and she laughed.


    ¡°I''m surprised you can use it while fully stopped.¡± She looked affectionately at the medical droid. ¡°Can you give me a hand checking everything over?¡±


    The droid waved at her again and then I was summarily dismissed and told to come back when they were done. She even locked the door. I chuckled and went back to my room and went to bed.


    The next day I went to the Udelis and made more satellites, then moved the completed ones into the cargo hold. The pressurized one still had all of Simone''s things in it. I thought about adding temporary shelves and trying to shove Rhubin''s, Kalina''s, and Luxea''s things in there as well, then decided it wasn''t worth the effort. I took several meals over to the medical bay on the new ship and the door opened long enough to take them and closed it again.


    I think she might like being here a little. I thought with amusement and then went back to work.


    It wasn''t until the next day that I received a call on my wrist com. I rushed over, stealthily of course, and entered the medical bay. I was surprised to see the medical technician with a smile on her face.


    ¡°Oh, no.¡± I said. ¡°What happened?¡±


    The woman laughed. ¡°Nothing bad.¡± She said and waved at the console and the medical scanner. ¡°We''re done, and this place now meets my standards.¡±


    ¡°Did you have to install anything?¡± I asked and walked towards the console.


    ¡°Yes. Everything that anyone will need to work here.¡± She said and walked me through the programs and updates she had added. ¡°You could have any medical technician work here, of any rank, and they won''t have any trouble at all.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad.¡± I said and turned to face her. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Her hand reached out and rested on my shoulder. ¡°I wouldn''t normally have done quite so much; but, you made this a great place. I couldn''t in good conscience not do my best to get it up to date.¡±


    ¡°Plus, I have UR-B.¡± I said with a smile and she laughed.


    ¡°Yes! Ha ha!¡± She looked at the little droid and pat it. ¡°We are going to do good work together.¡±


    ¡°Do you need to sleep before...¡±


    ¡°I couldn''t sleep now if you knocked me out.¡± She responded.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Good.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡±


    I left the medical bay in search of someone. I found Simone near the engine room on the Udelis and she was changing one of the air filters.


    ¡°It''s only processing at eighty percent for some reason.¡± Simone said and handed the thing to me, then she looked into the duct. ¡°I don''t see anything obstructing it.¡±


    I ''looked'' through the bulkhead and checked the entire duct in the section. ¡°It must be in the filter, because I can''t see anything, either.¡±


    Simone sighed and put a new filter in place and closed the panel. ¡°Not having a free engineer to do all this stuff sucks.¡±


    I chuckled and lifted the filter. ¡°We can take this over to the new ship and pop it into the medical scanner and see what''s clogging it up.¡±


    ¡°That''s not what it''s supposed to be for.¡± Simone said.


    I held a hand out to her and she gave me a big smile and took the hand, the she caught her breath at my happiness.


    ¡°Hunter, what... I thought the medical bay was already operational!¡±


    ¡°I thought it was too, until I talked to a very top professional in the medical field.¡± I said. ¡°She arrived here at night about two days ago...¡±


    ¡°How the hell did you sneak someone onto the ship and then hide them for almost three days?!?¡± Simone asked, shocked.


    I laughed. ¡°The ship is huge and she never left the medical bay.¡±


    Simone gave me a weird look and then chuckled. ¡°I hope you brought her meals.¡±


    ¡°Nope! She''s been eating medical supplies like there''s no tomorrow!¡± I exclaimed and laughed as Simone groaned and stumbled when the Presence wavered so much she was almost sick. ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said and she sighed in relief as the Presence settled down.


    ¡°At least we''re going to the medical bay.¡± Simone said. I don''t know why the Presence wavered so much when he lied like that.


    I smiled at her thought and led her into the room. ¡°We''re here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, good.¡± The medical technician said and walked over to us. ¡°Hi, there. My name''s Amanda.¡±


    ¡°Simone.¡± Simone said and shook the woman''s hand.


    ¡°Hmm. Are you predominantly right handed or are you just used to using that hand for shaking?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Simone looked at her and then at me.


    ¡°Just humor her.¡± I said and Simone nodded, then she answered all of the questions to the best of her ability. She hadn''t let go of my hand, either.


    ¡°Good, good.¡± Amanda said, then she smiled. ¡°I think I have enough data.¡±


    ¡°Data?¡± Simone asked. ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°So we can help you, of course.¡± Amanda said, like she was explaining it to a child. ¡°Why else would I be here?¡±


    ¡°But... Hunter said...¡±


    ¡°I needed a couple of days to make sure all of the equipment was up to my standards, and surprisingly, it is.¡± Amanda said. ¡°The software, though...¡± She shook her head. ¡°I''m glad Herbie was here to help me find all the errors and mislabelled files.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Simone looked at me.


    ¡°I asked her if you needed to be awake for this part, and thankfully, you don''t have to be.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter, what... what''s going on?¡± Simone asked and her nervousness overwhelmed her reasoning and she tried to mentally probe me to find out.


    ¡°Hey, it''s okay.¡± I said and stepped close to her. ¡°By the way, I''m paying off the bet.¡±


    ¡°Wha-¡± Simone gasped as my lips met hers and I poured my Presence into her. She shuddered at the intimate touch of both my lips and my Presence, then I put her to sleep while she was distracted. I picked her up and brought her over to the large medical scanner.


    ¡°I think I would have a lot more patients if I advertised you as the anaesthetic.¡± Amanda said.


    ¡°I don''t think I would have the same impact on a random person.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh.¡± Amanda said and brought up the temporary scan just being in the room gave her of Simone. ¡°Okay, I can see what you mean.¡± She said and sighed. ¡°They butchered the poor girl.¡±


    ¡°Wait until you get the comprehensive scan.¡± I said. ¡°Then you''ll see what they really did.¡±


    It took half an hour for the full scan, right down to the individual nerve endings in Simone''s body.


    ¡°By all that''s holy in the Goddess Laura''s name.¡± Amanda whispered as she saw what Simone''s arm stubs looked like at the microscopic level. ¡°It looks like they just hacked away at her until her arms fell off.¡± She said and took a deep breath.


    I reached over and gave her a touch of Presence and calmed her down.


    ¡°Whew. Okay.¡± Amanda said and looked at the medical droid she had named Herbie. ¡°We have a lot of work to do to clear away all the damage and the healed over tissue and bone.¡±


    The UR-B med-bot named Herbie deployed all of its appendages and then all of its tools, which meant it readily accepted the challenge.


    Amanda nodded. ¡°Let''s do it.¡±


    I transferred Simone to the operating table and stayed there, because I was going to be the one to stop Simone''s blood from flowing out of where they were going to operate. Amanda and I had consulted briefly about what I wanted done, and she had been completely against it, until I showed her the footage from Hailey''s magical recovery. With that as a baseline, she agreed to try and help on one condition. That I trade her one for one. She would help try to heal Simone and I would try to help her heal someone else.


    I had agreed, and now we had a difficult job ahead of us. Doing something like this, cutting away all of the long ago healed areas on an old wound had not been done before. Usually, once something had healed, that was it. If you opened the wound again, all it did was cause more scar tissue to build up and then it wouldn''t heal right, which would cause more damage than was there initially.


    With my magical healing and restoration spells, if they could remove enough of the healed areas to essentially make a fresh wound, as if the other wound hadn''t happened and healed. There was a good chance that when the regeneration spell kicked in, it wouldn''t use the current state of the body and would restore it back to where it should have been had the initial damage had not happened at all, just like with Hailey.


    It took three hours for Amanda and Herbie to remove all of the healed parts around the right side of Simone''s body where her arm stub was. I held back the flow of blood and used Presence to keep circulation going around the ''new'' wound. They had taken about a seven inch wide circle of skin from the area, cut away the musculature underneath, then snipped all of the badly healed blood vessels and nerve endings.


    They had even cut the shoulder stub down and exposed the marrow in the center of the bone to give the spells the best chance to regenerate the limb and not just heal over like the first time. It looked raw and completely exposed when they were done, and then Amanda sat back.


    ¡°Give me a mental boost.¡± Amanda said to me, so I did the same gentle prodding I had done for the others, rather than the rushed normal boost I used to do. She took in a huge breath as her mind cleared up. ¡°All right.¡± She said and moved her chair to the other side. ¡°Only one more side to go.¡±


    Amanda had started on the side with the worst damage and did that one first, so now she was working on the other side and it didn''t take as long. After almost two hours, she sat back and looked at her work. Simone now had a large gaping wound on either side of her torso where her extra arms should have been. If I hadn''t known that she had lost them over two decades ago, it looked like her arms had just been surgically removed.


    ¡°Now it''s all you.¡± Amanda said and she and Herbie moved back and out of the way.


    I ignored he medical technician''s intense attention and used Presence to slightly lift up Simone, then placed the first of the three wooden engraved plaques under her and activated it with Presence. It was just as necessary now to get a magical picture of her body to go along with the electronic one we had. Plus, the magic let me see all of the damage that was inside of her, including all of the new wounds she had just acquired.


    When it was done and had dissolved, I replaced it with the second wooden plaque and powered it up with Presence. This was the cleaning one and would remove any and all ailments and lingering problems that wouldn''t have been caught before now. After ten minutes it was done and dissolved, then I put the final one into place.


    Since I now knew that I needed to add Presence and she needed a lot of nutrients for this part, I nodded to Amanda. She attached our IV bags that were full of everything Simone''s body would need as it regenerated and healed. I put Presence into the plaque and also surrounded us in a Presence Barrier to contain the resulting light that would be produced from the spell.


    The bright white light filled the inside of the barrier as the spell activated and I started to pour my Presence into the spell and into her. I directed everything to the large wounds on her sides and I could almost feel that her body started to fight against it.


    Perhaps it had gone so long without having the extra arms that it was reluctant to change? I asked myself and coaxed her own Presence into action. It had felt a lot less than it should have been, and now I knew why. She had taken so much damage at such a young age, that it hadn''t developed like it was supposed to. Once I showed it in my mind that it was incomplete, Simone''s body accepted the change to come and relaxed.


    It was like a dam had opened. All of that held in energy from the spell, my Presence, and hers, flooded into the areas I was trying to direct it to and before our eyes, her shoulder bones started to grow and then the exposed marrow spiralled out and bone grew out from it. The first IV bag emptied and the second one was half empty by the time her arm bones had grown out to her elbows. Her forearms were next and then just like what happened to my hand when it regrew, her extra hands grew on the ends of her arms.


    Muscle and ligaments formed next and the second IV bag emptied. I wasn''t worried that we would run out, because her arms and hands finished forming when the third bag was only about a quarter empty. She was sucking in my Presence a lot as well. Surprisingly, it was not as much as Hailey had absorbed, which was the opposite of what I had expected. I thought an older and bigger person would need more of my Presence, not less.


    The skin grew over the exposed muscle and covered the hands, completing the regrowth. The spell was still active, so I used the energy to go over everything I had detected. Old and healed breaks, deep tissue scars, some slight space vacuum damage to one of her lungs, and a ton of minor and minuscule scrapes and cuts to her skin. It even removed the callouses that had built up on her normal fingers and even on the heels of her feet.


    The bright glow faded and I stared down at Simone in all of her glory and folded up the sheet under her and put a new one in its place. Amanda came over to look at the completely restored member of the Visidern species that she had seen pictures and had once seen in person a few years ago, when she had been on the station visiting a patient.


    ¡°How can they keep lifting these thin arms in a standard gravity well?¡± Amanda asked, curious.


    ¡°With difficulty.¡± I said and reached down to pet Simone''s hair. ¡°She''s going to be unconscious for about a week.¡±


    ¡°I don''t need to stay here for her recovery.¡± Amanda said and looked at me. ¡°Although, I want to.¡±


    ¡°I don''t mind having a professional care for her while she recovers from the shock.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°Do you think I can get a discount on your services for a week of work?¡±


    Amanda chuckled. ¡°You don''t need it.¡± She said and then looked at the med-bot she called Herbie. ¡°Then again, if you let me bring a couple of patients here and let Herbie assist...¡±


    ¡°Mutual benefits are fine by me.¡± I said. ¡°Just don''t have too much fun with Udelis'' med-bot.¡±


    Amanda nodded and we both stared at the sleeping woman on the operating table. Simone had been completely healed and now had her extra arms back.

 Book Three: The Resolution 059

    Simone groaned as she opened her eyes. She didn''t recognize where she was and felt exhausted for some reason. ¡°Hey... what... where...¡± She managed to say, despite a very dry mouth.


    ¡°Welcome back, sleepyhead!¡± Hailey said excitedly. ¡°Hunter! HUNTER!¡±


    Simone winced at the loud shout in the echoing medical bay. The medical bay? Why am I... wait, I changed the air filter and... and then Hunter kissed me... he chose to actually kiss me... then ... then...


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Hunter asked as he came into the med-bay with a woman by his side.


    ¡°I could drink a gallon of water right now and I could use one of your morning pick-me-ups.¡± Simone said with a sigh and reached up to rub her face... then she froze when a three fingered hand appeared in front of her face.


    ¡°Nice autonomic response.¡± Amanda said and reached out with a thin metal stick and poked the back of the hand.


    ¡°Ow!¡± Simone said and jerked the hand.


    ¡°Reflexes are at, or above, standard.¡± Amanda said and took out a datapad and added new notes. ¡°Can you move the fingers independently?¡±


    Simone frowned and made a fist, then raise the single middle finger.


    Hunter laughed. ¡°I''d say that''s a definite yes.¡±


    Amanda smiled. ¡°I''m glad.¡± She said. ¡°Now do the same motions with the other one.¡±


    Simone lifted her other arm, put the hand in front of her face, and looked at it. ¡°Oh, my god! It''s real!¡±


    ¡°Yes, it''s real! It''s really really real!¡± Hailey laughed and reached out to touch each hand to count them. ¡°One, two, three, four! You have four arms! Four!¡±


    Simone''s own shock diminished at the thoughts and feelings she was getting from Hailey, then she caught her breath. She was getting a lot more than her surface thoughts and looked at Hunter.


    ¡°The surgery, reconstruction, and restoration, let you absorb some of my Presence.¡± Hunter said. ¡°It will boost your normal abilities by quite a bit, mainly because it used to be so diminished.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡± Simone moved her extra arms out of the wait and lifted her normal ones. ¡°I don''t... Hunter, what... how did... I HAVE MY ARMS BACK!!!¡±


    ¡°Easy now.¡± Hunter said and used a calming technique on her. ¡°I did the same thing with you that I did with Hailey. The only difference was that I needed the expertise of a high ranked medical professional before I would even attempt it.¡±


    Amanda nodded. ¡°I''m very glad that he gave me the opportunity to help.¡± She said. ¡°Something like this has never been done before.¡± She reached out and poked Simone''s normal hand with the metal prod.


    ¡°Ow! Stop that!¡± Simone said and swiped at Amanda with one of the extra hands.


    Amanda easily dodged out of the way. ¡°Reactive motions are also on the normal scale.¡± She said and made more notes. ¡°I''d like to test the dexterity of...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Hunter said with a stern voice and the three of them looked at him. ¡°Simone needs some actual rest and not unconsciousness.¡± He said and stepped close to the bed. ¡°I felt your exhaustion spike when your extra arms moved.¡±


    ¡°You''re still blocking me.¡± Simone said and he nodded.


    ¡°You need to relax, so I want you to get some sleep.¡± Hunter said and looked at Hailey. ¡°You can stay if you want.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have to.¡± Hailey said and tapped her temple. ¡°I have her connection now.¡±


    Simone blinked her eyes. ¡°Wh-what?¡±


    It''s okay. Hunter''s been teaching me. Hailey thought at her.


    The words were very clear and resonated within Simone like a tuning fork. Simone stared at the thirteen year old girl for a moment, then one of her extra arms reached out and cupped the side of her face. Hailey smiled and gave her a feeling of happiness, because Simone had used the extra hand to touch her and not the normal hand, then she practically skipped out of the medical bay.


    ¡°She''s amazing.¡± Simone said, barely above a whisper.


    ¡°Don''t I know it.¡± Hunter said with a crooked smile. ¡°Now close your eyes and get some sleep.¡±


    ¡°I... Hunter, you...¡± Simone wasn''t sure how to express herself and what she was feeling.


    ¡°Hush.¡± Hunter said and took one of her extra hands and kissed the back of it.


    Simone caught her breath as she remembered Ohazith''s first time being kissed like that.


    ¡°I''ll need to teach you the same technique to help reinforce your extra arms, so that you can use them without exhausting yourself like she did.¡± Hunter said.


    ¡°Will it work?¡± Simone asked, doubt in her voice.


    ¡°Unlike her, you had access to a lot more Presence before the surgery.¡± Hunter said with a smile. ¡°Now? I think you''re going to have a much easier time learning it than she did.¡±


    I hope so. Simone thought.


    I know so. Hunter responded.


    Simone gasped as his crystal clear thought went right into her head. If Hailey''s mental voice was like a tuning fork that resonated within her, Hunter''s was like a hundred tuning forks inside a resonating chamber that all vibrated at slightly different frequencies and formed a single cohesive signal. Its strength could penetrate right through her mental barriers... if he wanted it to.


    ¡°Rest for now and we''ll talk about this when you wake up.¡± Hunter said and started to ease her into sleep.


    ¡°Prom... promise?¡± Simone asked, sleepily.


    Hunter gently folded all four of her arms over her torso and put a hand on her forehead. ¡°I promise.¡± I promise. His thought echoed his words and Simone drifted off to sleep as she felt his mental embrace.


    *


    ¡°That''s... amazing.¡± Jelly said as she looked at the screen and saw Simone''s new arms. It had taken some convincing on her part to get Hunter to let them see Simone after the surgery, and he only agreed to let them see her and not actually visit. They needed to stay outside of Simone''s mental area to stop any extra stress from having too many minds being around her after her surgery.


    Hunter had known that her defenses would be weak after the ordeal she had gone through and she needed reassuring minds around her for a speedy recovery. Jelly and the others had no choice but to agree that their awe and surprise would be a bit of a hindrance to someone that would be thinking the same thing. Too much disbelief around her wouldn''t help her at all.


    They hadn''t questioned Hailey being allowed in, since they all knew that she had no preconceptions where Hunter was concerned. Unlike them, she hadn''t been shocked at all by Simone growing extra arms with his help.


    ¡°If I didn''t know her personally, I would never know that she didn''t have the arms before.¡± Sandy said, her voice low. ¡°That... whatever it was... is extremely powerful if it can undo what happened to her.¡±


    ¡°It''s too much.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°If people knew that he can do things like this...¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°They would either hunt me down to make outrageous offers, or try to kill me to gain the secret themselves.¡± I said from the hallway outside the living room.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Gleas walked over to me and instead of staying a respectful distance away like she should have, she stepped right in close to give me a hug. ¡°She must be reeling mentally if you put her right back to sleep.¡±


    I took the hug for what it was, a comforting hug, and not what it seemed to be, which was a breech in business protocol. ¡°She''s definitely in shock and can''t believe that she has them back.¡± I said. ¡°She hasn''t had them since she was a little girl and her thoughts keep going back to what happened.¡±


    ¡°No wonder you want to keep us away.¡± Gleas said and let me out of the hug. ¡°We really would make her linger on the shock.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°You''ve all made huge strides the last few months in accepting her; but, this change is too much of a surprise for everyone.¡±


    ¡°It really is.¡± Deborah said. ¡°You could heal so many people...¡±


    ¡°If it worked on everyone.¡± I said. ¡°Don''t forget, the things I''m using are keyed for my personal use. Even if I gave them all away, no one could use them effectively.¡±


    ¡°Which was why you agreed to the medical technician''s deal for her help.¡± Hailey said. ¡°I doubt she''s going to waste it, though.¡±


    ¡°Waste what?¡± Gleas asked and looked from Hailey to me.


    ¡°I agreed to try to help someone for her in the same way.¡±


    Several sighs and a set of rolling eyes met my words.


    ¡°We were just discussing how powerful that thing was.¡± Sandy said and waved at the screen, then she laughed. ¡°Then you agreed to use another one!¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry. Amanda agreed to not publicly publish the paper she''s written about the procedure, and she left out the catalysts. All she mentioned was a boosted regeneration ability and the additional added nutrients.¡±


    ¡°That means she''s going to share it privately.¡± Gleas said, catching the relevant part of my statement.


    ¡°I knew I couldn''t sneak that fact past you.¡± I said and she smiled.


    ¡°You do realize she''s going to probably sell this procedure to the highest bidder, right?¡± Gleas asked.


    I nodded. ¡°I''ve told her that depending on the person, it may not work like she thinks.¡± I said. ¡°Hailey was a special case and doing it on her gave me the information I needed to adapt it for use on Simone.¡±


    ¡°Whom you have a lot of knowledge about.¡± Gleas said.


    I nodded again. ¡°I''m not going to do a deep mind scan on anyone else like I did with her the first time I met her.¡±


    ¡°I want to ask what that was like.¡± Gleas said and then she sighed. ¡°I can guess that there was a lot of instant attraction...¡±


    ¡°Unbelievably.¡± I chuckled. ¡°We both restrained ourselves to just a good mental sharing, though.¡±


    ¡°I''d like to hear more about that aspect.¡± Amanda said as she came into the living room.


    ¡°Amanda! You''re out of the medical bay!¡± I exclaimed and she and Hailey laughed.


    ¡°I had to put Herbie back into his sleep mode.¡± Amanda said sadly.


    ¡°How''s your other patient?¡± I asked.


    ¡°She''s doing wonderfully, thanks to your visits.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I never imagined you could supplement normal healing practices like that.¡±


    ¡°You know I only did it because she was upset about all of the scarring from her treatments.¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter why.¡± Amanda said. ¡°She''s ecstatic about having a normal appearance.¡±


    ¡°I never imagined meeting a scaly alien that didn''t like her scales.¡± I said, kind of impressed. ¡°I don''t want to ask whose DNA you''ve been using to give her genetic treatments.¡±


    ¡°If you must know, it was generously donated by an anonymous source.¡± Amanda said, smugly.


    I chuckled, because the Presence wavered at ''anonymous'' and I picked up from her thoughts that it was her own. She didn''t want to take the chance that some random person''s DNA was going to mess up her treatment preparation, so she used her own.


    What she didn''t say was that whenever something came up and needed some kind of sample for testing, she always used something of hers instead of having to take something from strangers. She had years of practice with her own DNA, blood, and tissue samples. Working with them made her so confident in her work that she could perform almost miracle level procedures and didn''t worry about not having the best results.


    ¡°She just needs another night of rest and will be leaving with me tomorrow.¡± Amanda said.


    ¡°Can''t you pretend to find something wrong and stay longer?¡± I asked with a smile and she laughed.


    ¡°I''ve been doing that all week.¡± Amanda said. ¡°You''ve let me bring six patients up here for treatments and gave me unlimited access to a state of the art medical bay and Herbie.¡±


    ¡°That reminds me.¡± I said and looked at Sandy. ¡°You''ve had experience shopping.¡±


    Sandy snorted a laugh. ¡°We all have.¡±


    ¡°We need to restock the medical bay with a lot of supplies.¡± I glanced at Amanda and she didn''t look apologetic at all. ¡°There''s a standard list...¡±


    ¡°A new standard list.¡± Amanda corrected.


    ¡°There''s a list in the computer.¡± I said and managed to not roll my eyes. ¡°Check the local net and see what kind of prices you can find. If you can get the majority of the supplies from one place, see if they can get the other supplies for you and ask for a volume discount.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you are supposed to just buy supplies. There''s no negotiation on the price.¡± Sandy said.


    ¡°Give it a try and only ask for half of what we need. If it doesn''t work, then tell them you''ll try somewhere else because you actually need double the order and was only shopping for a good price.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that''s sneaky.¡± Gleas said with a laugh.


    ¡°If it doesn''t work on the next couple of places, let it sit until tomorrow. If we don''t get a call before morning, we''ll know if Sandy''s right.¡±


    ¡°They are going to fall over themselves to call!¡± Hailey laughed.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I said and made her laugh some more by tickling her.


    The rest of the day passed by and then the night went just as quickly. The morning came and Amanda was ready to depart. She had packed her things she had delivered with her first patient, who was also the last patient to leave. The scaly alien that was no longer scaled, stepped out of the medical bay on Amanda''s arm.


    When she saw me, she pat Amanda''s arm and reached for me. I took her arm and she relaxed as her Presence felt mine. She wasn''t a Presence user or even knew why she felt so relaxed around me. She didn''t ask because it didn''t matter at all to her, except that she felt it when she was near me. I used Presence to pick up both her and Amanda''s bags and escorted them down the stairs, across the cargo hold and into the shuttle bay. I loaded their bags into the waiting shuttle and went in with them.


    ¡°I want to have your eggs!¡± The woman blurted out, then her face flushed red as she blushed. Her hand reached up and touched her face and then she laughed. ¡°I just blushed from embarrassment! Ha ha ha!¡±


    I felt her amazement at doing something she had never done as a scaly alien. ¡°I''m pretty sure I couldn''t fertilize you before your transformation.¡± I said to her and she nodded.


    Her species was restricted with same species mates because their genetic makeup was too dissimilar to practically every other species. There was no chance for half-breeds, cross-breeding, or genetic offshoots. As I secured her in her seat, she realized what I had said and stared at me.


    ¡°I think you have some other possibilities to think about now.¡± I whispered to her.


    She blinked her eyes and nodded. ¡°I do. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It was nice meeting you.¡± I said and turned to Amanda. ¡°I''m still judging meeting you.¡±


    ¡°You''re such a stuck up prick!¡± Amanda said in a hard voice, to the scaly-not-scaly alien''s surprise.


    ¡°Yeah, I like you, too.¡± I said with a smile.


    Amanda held her stern face for a moment, then she laughed. ¡°I''ll call when I need your help.¡±


    ¡°I''m going back to the Fogaris System soon and will be away for about three months.¡± I said. ¡°You''ll have to wait if you don''t contact me before I leave.¡±


    ¡°I''ll wait until you come back.¡± Amanda said.


    ¡°I''ve got the hatch.¡± I said to the pilot and stepped out of the shuttle, waved to the two passengers, then used Presence to close the hatch. A few moments later, the shuttle was away and I went back up to the medical bay.


    ¡°No change.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°How''s the training going?¡± I asked and sat beside her.


    ¡°She still has a lot of memory blocks and things she doesn''t want to remember.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°Well, that just means you and I have a lot of work ahead of us.¡± I said and took her hand. ¡°Want to get started?¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Hailey said and stood up, and I felt her reach out with her Detect Presence. After a minute, she didn''t find anyone nearby and smiled. ¡°Hunter, I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said. ¡°We still can''t kiss like that.¡±


    Hailey giggled as the image of her kissing me went through her head and she gave it to me.


    ¡°Hey, you''re getting good at projections.¡± I said with both pride and a little surprise. She had seamlessly added me and herself into a copy of the memory of Sandy''s and Beatrice''s passionate kiss we had all witnessed that day.


    ¡°I made a fake one, but...¡± Hailey started to say, then I heard and felt her desire to do it for real.


    ¡°Hailey...¡±


    ¡°Just once.¡± Hailey said. ¡°Before you do it with Simone.¡±


    I widened my eyes for a moment, then I realized what she meant and I tapped her temple. ¡°I told you that you would know.¡±


    ¡°She doesn''t have what we have, so it''s okay.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°I knew you would feel the difference, too.¡± I said. ¡°Even though I did the same procedure with you, it didn''t have the same benefits. You''re still the only one I can find anywhere.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Hailey said and fought to not blush.


    I took a deep breath to say no to the kiss and I was sure that she distinctly heard in her head that I was going to say it... then she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me anyway.


    Hailey''s thoughts and feelings flooded into me and I could block them if I wanted to. I discovered that I didn''t want to and let her give me everything that she had been holding back. She had built up all the little looks, all the little touches, and all of the times we spent together, and let me feel and hear her thoughts she had during all those times.


    Since I didn''t want to be outdone, I did the same thing for her. I gave her all of my thoughts of needing to wait, of patience, of love and acceptance that I had felt the entire time she had been in my life... and how much time that I believed we were going to have together.


    Hailey let out a satisfied moan as we exchanged our memories and we both saw the other person was exactly who we had thought they were. We hadn''t hidden anything or lied about anything, and she accepted that this kiss was going to be all she had for the next three years.


    I broke the kiss and her face was bright red. ¡°Just the once.¡± I reminded her and she nodded.


    ¡°Thank you for letting me.¡± Hailey said and unwrapped her arms from around my neck.


    ¡°You don''t have to pull away.¡± I said and she raised her eyebrows at me. ¡°I only said we can''t kiss like that.¡±


    Hailey let out a giggle and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.


    ¡°Now are you ready to get to work?¡± I asked.


    Hailey nodded and we both turned to the bed and rested our hands on Simone''s extra arms.

 Book Three: The Resolution 060

    It took about fifteen sessions over the next week with a sleeping Simone, one in the morning and one at night, to help her work through all of her issues and problems. Previously, she had made great progress in removing Luxea''s influence on her own, so we helped her get rid of the last of it. We knew it was necessary to do that, since Luxea''s views on aliens was not something Simone should have in her head, especially now that she had her extra arms back and was now distinctly alien-looking.


    During the day, I worked on making satellites and also taught Simone how to use her considerable Presence to reinforce her extra arms. I also taught her how to circulate extra nutrients and energy through her body to keep herself healthy and energized. I pushed her hard during those lessons and she slept well each night, which made Hailey''s and my efforts in her mind that much easier. She didn''t fight against us at all and welcomed our assistance with an open heart and an increasingly peaceful mind.


    I made her wait for the next day everyone had off before I allowed her to leave the medical bay. Hailey heartily agreed with my assessment. Simone also agreed that it was time for her to try and function once more as a part of the crew after being incapacitated for so long. After a sizable meal, she stepped out of the medical bay with Hailey and I behind her. She was surprised when she was greeted by a succession of hugs and teary eyes.


    ¡°You look so great!¡± Gleas said with wet eyes and gave her the first hug.


    ¡°We''ve been watching your progress!¡± Beatrice said and gave her the next hug.


    ¡°It''s the best show on the screen.¡± Sandy said and hugged her. ¡°Except when you''re asleep. Only Hailey and Hunter enjoy those episodes.¡±


    Simone chuckled, because she could hear the underlying thoughts from the joke. She knew Sandy and the others had watched her just as diligently as Hunter and Hailey did.


    ¡°We are all so happy for you.¡± Deborah said and hugged her, then stepped aside.


    ¡°You know I''m not big on displays like this.¡± Jelly said and reached out a hand to shake.


    Simone nodded and held a normal hand out and shook it, then she was surprised when Jelly held her hand there and waited.


    ¡°Keep going.¡± Jelly said with a smile.


    Simone caught her breath at Jelly''s intention to shake all of her hands and tentatively lifted one of her extra arms and shook Jelly''s hand.


    ¡°That''s a little weird.¡± Jelly said and turned the hand a little and pat it with her free hand. ¡°You really can use it like an extra arm and not like a copy of the other one?¡±


    ¡°Yes, thanks to Hunter and Hailey.¡± Simone said. ¡°I had... forgotten... what it was like to use extra arms.¡±


    ¡°That''s actually pretty cool.¡± Jelly said and let the hand go and held her other hand out to be shaken.


    Simone obliged and shook the hand with her other two hands. ¡°Jelly, you didn''t have to do that.¡±


    ¡°Of course I did.¡± Jelly said. ¡°How else was I supposed to evaluate your ability to pilot?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Simone blinked her eyes at her.


    ¡°Someone hasn''t had a flying lesson in a while.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I was going to take you out myself; but, since Jelly is the expert shuttle pilot, I thought it would be better for her to give you the flight test.¡±


    ¡°F-f-flight t-test?¡± Simone looked at me and then at Jelly with worry on her face.


    ¡°Don''t worry. It''s only the basic flight test to prove that you can operate a shuttle without killing yourself or anyone else.¡± Jelly said with a laugh. ¡°Believe me, with your extra arms, you''re going to pass with flying colors.¡±


    ¡°Did you just use a bad pilot pun?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I''m a pilot.¡± Jelly smiled. ¡°That doesn''t make me better than the average person... just much, much cooler.¡±


    Gleas, Beatrice, and Deborah burst out laughing.


    Sandy laughed as well, because she had to agree that Beatrice was cooler than her because she was a pilot. ¡°We... promise not to... watch this episode.¡±


    That made everyone laugh, even Simone. Jelly took Simone''s normal hand and started to walk towards her room.


    ¡°WAIT!¡± Simone yelled and Jelly stopped walking.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Jelly asked, confused.


    ¡°My... my flight suit...¡± Simone sighed and looked at me. ¡°You wasted all that money on me.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°If I thought it was a waste, I would have left you wearing the military space suit.¡±


    ¡°But... now with...¡± Simone lifted her extra arms.


    ¡°Just go get washed and changed.¡± I said and waved away her concerns.


    ¡°But...¡± Simone wanted to object to my casual dismissal.


    ¡°Come on.¡± Jelly said and tugged on her normal arm.


    Simone went with her and they entered Simone''s room.


    ¡°She is going to be so surprised!¡± Hailey said with a grin.


    A couple of minutes later, there was a delighted scream that we all knew was Simone.


    ¡°I told you that sometimes delaying information is important.¡± I reminded Hailey and she giggled.


    A couple of minutes after that, Simone came out of her room wearing a custom flight suit that covered all four of her arms and had two sets of mag-lock gloves, one normal set with four fingers and a thumb and one with only three fingers and a thumb.


    The others gave her wolf whistles and applause, like they had given me when they saw me the first time, and Simone''s face was flushed red. She gave each of them a nod and then walked right over to me.


    ¡°Hunter, you cheated me.¡± Simone said in a stern voice as she glared at me. There were thoughts of confusion from everyone and I couldn''t help but laugh.


    ¡°Okay, fine. I did that to distract you.¡± I admitted.


    ¡°I know.¡± Simone said. ¡°I was the one that was supposed to choose when to cash in the bet.¡± She said and put her arms around me, all of them, and her stern expression vanished as she kissed me. Surprisingly, she kissed me the exact same way that Hailey had kissed me. Hailey started to giggle as Simone shared the experience with her, and it was just different enough from her own memory to delight her.


    Simone broke the kiss and let me go. ¡°Now the bet is paid off.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you didn''t even suspend her first!¡± Sandy exclaimed and then covered her mouth as she let the secret out. She had mentioned knowing it when Rhubin and Kalina had tried their little coup.


    ¡°There goes that open secret.¡± Deborah said and we all looked at her. ¡°What? You don''t think I would be stupid enough to bet a kiss with the boss if I didn''t know how to bypass getting fired for it, do you?¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Sandy barked a nervous laugh, then then we all started laughing. After a few minutes of tension dissolving laughter, Jelly pat Simone''s shoulder.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°Let''s get this done.¡± Jelly said and Simone nodded to her and they walked down the corridor.


    ¡°Stop staring at my ass.¡± Simone said as she caught me doing just that with her modified version of Detect Presence that let her see around her, except that it mostly used her telepathy.


    ¡°I was only testing you.¡± I said with a chuckle and she almost stumbled as the Presence wavered from the lie. ¡°I think that means we have to work on your sensitivity training next week.¡±


    Simone cursed out loud and also in her head, and both Hailey and I laughed.


    With her new dexterity and her ability to keep one set of hands on the main controls and she a free set of hands to run everything, Simone very easily passed her provisional flight test to get her license. All she needed to do now was get actual flight time on her record to qualify as an actual pilot. That was great, because the next day the military contacted me to let me know Rhubin''s and Luxea''s trial had finished.


    They had been found guilty of various charges, the lowest of which was grand theft of my personal money. I asked what to do with their things, and they said to drop it off at the station. It would be brought to the prison facility on the planet and left there for when they got out in twenty years. I could also pick up my stolen credits at the same time, so Jelly flew Hailey and I to the station and it also became Simone''s co-pilot mission. It was the fastest way for her to get flight experience, until we left the system and the restrictions on new flyers weren''t as strict.


    I dropped off their things that had been cluttering up the ship and picked up my credits. I checked the chips of course and was glad to find that the money was all there. I thanked the military officer and we left the station without doing anything else. The medical supplies had been delivered a week before and the trick I had Sandy do had worked like a charm. We got the supplies for a bulk price, rather than the individual sale price, and the medical bay was completely restocked.


    With nothing left to keep us in the system, I had Gleas plot us separate courses that took us to the same rendezvous points, except that we hopped into each system along the way and dropped off the appropriate number of satellites. It added a week of travel time to the new ship; but, since the Udelis was so much faster, it had the task of visiting twice as many systems.


    By the time we reached the Fogaris System, we had successfully deployed over a hundred satellites and all of them were online and working perfectly. I had built in so much redundancy and over-engineered the damn things that they wouldn''t need any kind of maintenance for at least fifty years.


    Dropping the satellites wasn''t the biggest thing we did along the way, either. As we stopped in each system, we left discrete messages letting random people, both reputable and not so reputable, know about a hidden network that wasn''t tracked or had Order monitoring software on them, making it a clean network without prying eyes. The messages were mostly met with disbelief and were seen as a joke, which was my intent.


    Only certain people would consider the ramifications of what having a clean connection meant, and those were the people that were going to be our main customers. Word would spread from them very quickly, once they used their trace programs and saw that it really was a clean network.


    The more satellites dropped and the more systems added to the network, the more it would automatically update the list for people on the network. That was going to guarantee both new clients and more people for them to spread the word to. That alone should have been enough to draw attention to it. Who doesn''t want a secure connection? That wasn''t what had people''s mind''s blown.


    It was the cost.


    One credit for a message. Two credits for a five minute video message. Ten credits for half an hour of live video or text, their choice. It was a pittance. In Earth terms, it was pennies on the dollar compared to what a normal call cost. No one believed it until they tried it. When they did, word about it spread faster than light.


    After arriving in the Fogaris System, we made the rounds and visited everyone to deliver food and to see how everything was. Tensions were still a little high, even though all of the domestic terrorists had been rounded up. It was the lack of definitive closure that was getting to people.


    Since the government didn''t want big show trials to incite the population, everything was handled quietly and only the news outlets were allowed to report on it, as long as they kept the sensationalism to a minimum. Of course, I contacted Sheph as soon as I heard about it and she cleared her office of workers to speak to me. I instead told her to call me on my private network and gave her my com code. Sheph''s face flushed red as she accepted and cut the call, then she was back barely a moment later.


    ¡°I know it''s a mistake, Hunter.¡± Sheph said. ¡°I can''t overrule the president.¡±


    ¡°Uzahne is falling into the same traps the previous government fell into.¡± I warned her. ¡°Most of the citizens had no idea there was even a Chofaris Liberation group until the capital city was destroyed from an orbital bombardment.¡±


    Sheph sighed. ¡°I know... it''s just...¡±


    ¡°You''re outnumbered.¡± I said and she nodded. ¡°Do you want me to make some noise for you?¡±


    Sheph caught her breath at the offer. ¡°Hunter, you... no, you can''t...¡± She faltered in her argument.


    ¡°Sheph, all I have to do is step onto the planet surface and I''ll cause an uproar.¡± I said. ¡°What do you want me to tell the press? The trials are happening but it''s all private? Demand the government be forthcoming and honest? What?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you... we covered up for you...¡±


    ¡°Sheph, you didn''t have to cover anything up. No one would blame me for what I did. In fact, if I remember correctly, they kind of revere me.¡± I said with a wicked smile.


    Sheph chuckled. ¡°Did you know that you have a one hundred percent approval rating?¡±


    ¡°Wow, that high?¡± I asked, a little surprised. ¡°I figured maybe the high nineties.¡±


    ¡°No, one hundred. You could tell them the sky was green and they would believe you, even while looking at the blue one.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I''m not that persuasive.¡±


    ¡°Okay, maybe they would only doubt that blue was the real color.¡± Sheph corrected.


    ¡°All right, point taken.¡± I said. ¡°So, we should discuss exactly what you want people to know.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you do realize that this could be considered treason by the government.¡± Sheph warned me.


    ¡°I''m not defying the government.¡± I said honestly. ¡°I''m telling the people that the government hasn''t learned its lessons from the mistakes of the last one.¡±


    Sheph sighed. ¡°That''s the same thing.¡±


    ¡°Not if you help me word it properly.¡± I said, and she closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded.


    ¡°I''m going to have to resign after I explain.¡± Sheph opened her eyes. ¡°This is what you need to do.¡± She said and told me what to say and where to go to say it.


    *


    Every single person in the capital city was surprised when an unexpected and telltale beeping came over the emergency frequency, which meant an announcement was coming. The frequency was wired into every screen, speaker, and display across the capital, which in turn was sent out as a backup signal to all of the other emergency stations in every other city and town across the planet.


    Soon, the entire world was watching every available screen to see what was coming. The people''s surprise turned to shock when the Hero of Chofaris appeared on the screen wearing his trademark powered armor suit, cloak, and blast shield.


    ¡°Good afternoon.¡± Hunter said and smiled out at everyone, then he dropped the hood and took off the suit coat and his blast shield to make himself more friendly. ¡°I''ve co-opted the emergency network for a special announcement that I''m sure a lot of you have been waiting for a while to hear.¡±


    *


    ¡°For goddess'' sake! Shut it OFF!¡± A woman exclaimed as Hunter started to tell the general population about the Chofaris Liberation group, a closely guarded government secret, how many there had been, how they had been captured with his help, and what was currently being done with them.


    The woman that yelled was the current head of the main broadcast network and she smacked someone on the back of the head. The man she slapped was the vice president in charge of programming.


    ¡°We can''t shut it off. It''s the emergency network and it has all the overrides.¡± He responded and didn''t try to stop the woman''s follow-up strike.


    ¡°Change the feed! Pull the power! Something!¡±


    The man laughed. ¡°There''s a reason it''s the emergency network. None of that can happen. Barring blowing the whole building up, there is no way to stop the signal.¡±


    ¡°Call the military! They can...¡±


    ¡°...sit there and watch like everyone else.¡± The man said with a smile. ¡°I doubt their communications are working right now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The woman asked, surprised.


    ¡°Do you really think any of them want to be the one sent after the Hero of Chofaris?¡± The man asked and laughed.


    The woman didn''t respond and then groaned as Hunter played videos about the captures as he talked.


    *


    ¡°Oh, Goddess!¡± Uzahne''s aide exclaimed as she watched the emergency broadcast in the president''s office. Uzahne didn''t speak and watched silently. The door burst open and Ahaen stormed in.


    ¡°Are you watching this?¡± Ahaen asked and waved at the screen. ¡°I can''t believe he''s doing this to us!¡±


    ¡°You did it to yourselves.¡± A woman''s soft voice said and they turned to see Sheph in the doorway. ¡°You wouldn''t listen to what I was trying to warn you about, and you wouldn''t change your opinion on how you thought Hunter was going to react when he came back and saw what has been going on.¡±


    ¡°Sheph.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Now isn''t the time for recriminations.¡±


    Sheph walked into the room and handed Uzahne her resignation. ¡°As the one who was supposed to be in control of the media, I''m forced to take responsibility for this and resign.¡± She waved at the screen. ¡°I''m not sure how he gained access to the emergency broadcast network...¡± Because I didn''t ask him how he was going to do that and I didn''t want to know. She thought. ¡°...and it can''t be stopped once it''s started, except from the source.¡±


    ¡°I want him arrested for treason!¡± Ahaen said.


    Sheph laughed. ¡°Good luck with that.¡± She said. ¡°He''s not actually committing treason.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Both Ahaen and Uzahne sait at the same time.


    ¡°He''s only telling things he knows about and is showing footage for things he had access to personally. He''s not spilling state secrets, inciting sedition, or even advocating any kind of uprising.¡± Sheph said and both women looked at her with wide eyes.


    The aide only had a contemplative look on her face and then smiled. ¡°He''s only providing information and no actual opinions on what should be done, what could be done, or what he would have done.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Sheph said and walked across the room and looked back when she reached the doorway. ¡°Uzahne, we''ve known each other for how many years now?¡± She asked and held a hand up to stop the other woman''s response. ¡°You don''t know how disappointed I am than you didn''t even consider rejecting my resignation or tried to convince me to stay.¡±


    Uzahne looked down at the paper in her hand, then let it go as if it was a snake that was about to bite her. It dropped to the desk without a sound and when she looked up, Sheph was gone.

 Book Three: The Resolution 061

    ¡°...and I''d like to thank you all for listening.¡± I said into the camera and gave them a beaming smile. ¡°Good day.¡±


    The signal cut off and as Simone gave me a thumbs up gesture, I was met with a round of applause. I chuckled as I put my armored suit coat back on and stored the cloak and blast shield.


    ¡°Thank you for letting me in.¡± I said and walked over to the emergency station worker in charge.


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± The man asked and shook my hand. ¡°I just met the Hero of Chofaris, who is even more of a hero than I thought he was, and he just let everyone know what was going on.¡± He said and let my hand go. ¡°We won''t even get fired!¡±


    The small crew running things there let out several laughs.


    ¡°Hey! We could do our own interviews of each other of this and make a fortune!¡± One of them suggested and they all laughed.


    ¡°If you want to do it, you have my permission to use the footage.¡± I said.


    ¡°HA HA!¡± The man that made the suggestion laughed the loudest.


    ¡°We better go, in case they did find some crazy military unit that would want to confront me.¡± I said. Simone and I left the small underground facility that was well concealed and I took her normal hand and covered us in Presence, then used Presence Run. We ran through a bunch of underground tunnels to the hidden entrance we had come in through. Once outside, I activated Stealth and we ran across several streets to a local landing pad.


    ¡°Okay, Jelly.¡± I said and closed the shuttle''s hatch and dropped the Stealth technique. ¡°Take us to the first stop.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe I''m doing this.¡± Jelly said with a laugh and flew the shuttle at a much faster speed than normal hover traffic was supposed to allow. She stayed low and avoided detection and we arrived at the main government building and landed in the parking lot. I opened the hatch and hopped out.


    ¡°Hey, what are you doing here?¡± I asked Sheph and she shook her head.


    ¡°Hurry up and let''s go.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°I just have to grab something first.¡±


    I walked around the shuttle to the government vehicle that was still in the same spot I had parked it after the explosion. I used levitation on it and put it on top of the shuttle, then secured it with several cable tie-downs and then hopped back into the shuttle and shut the hatch.


    ¡°Okay, one more.¡± I said.


    Jelly added power to the shuttle and lifted off, then carefully flew through the capital city to the next spot. ¡°You weren''t joking!¡± She said and laughed as she brought the shuttle into a hover over the hidden armored personnel carrier I had stashed.


    ¡°Hey, they aren''t going to need it anymore.¡± I said. ¡°Keep the shuttle steady while I attach it.¡±


    ¡°Do you really need an APC?¡± Sheph asked as the shuttle''s hatch opened.


    I shrugged as I grabbed more cables and then jumped out of the hatch. I had the APC cabled up and had mag-locks set on both the sides and the bottom of the shuttle, then levitated myself back up to the shuttle''s hatch and closed it.


    ¡°Really heavy load, so no sudden bursts of speed.¡± I cautioned Jelly.


    ¡°Thanks for telling me! I never would have guessed!¡± Jelly said loudly and added twice as much power to the engines and eased us up slightly. There was a sound of groaning metal for a moment, then a little jerk, and nothing. ¡°You''re paying to fix my shuttle!¡±


    ¡°One of the cables slipped off the main support and crushed a couple of the metal panels, so sure.¡± I said and covered the shuttle and our load in a Presence Barrier to distort what we looked like. ¡°Now stop complaining and get us out of here.¡±


    Jelly cursed at what was probably going to take a few hours to repair, then we slowly rose up into the air. ¡°All right, we''re on our way.¡± She said and flew us up and around a few of the heavy traffic patterns. Once we were in the clear, she pushed the shuttle to its limits and it started to vibrate.


    ¡°You know if we die, we can''t repair the shuttle, right?¡± Simone asked Jelly.


    ¡°Wait until we hit the upper air currents with all this extra weight on our ass!¡± Jelly said and laughed. ¡°I hope you have something for our passenger to catch her lunch.¡±


    It took a couple of minutes for her words to become true. The shuttle started to shake like an unbalanced washing machine in the spin cycle. I quickly grabbed Sheph''s shoulder and shared energy with her to stop her from throwing up. A minute later, we hit an air pocket with no wind resistance and the shuttle shot straight up like a rocket.


    ¡°Wooohoooo!¡± Jelly let out at the feeling of weighing three times her own weight, then it eased as the atmosphere outside the shuttle started to fade away.


    ¡°This thing is going to need a complete overhaul.¡± Simone said as she checked the several red blinking lights. ¡°I think the aircar on the roof crushed half of the gravity sensors.¡±


    ¡°I knew I should have made a solid Presence layer on top of the shuttle.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Oh, well. I''ll remember to do it next time.¡±


    ¡°Next time?¡± Sheph looked at me like I was insane.


    ¡°I meant when moving something too big to put inside a shuttle.¡±


    ¡°I thought you meant this crazy ride.¡± Sheph said and relaxed. ¡°Thank you for keeping my lunch down for me.¡±


    ¡°I did that for me.¡± I said. ¡°Jelly would make me clean it up!¡±


    ¡°Damn right I would!¡± Jelly said. ¡°Okay, we''re coming up on the shuttle bay.¡±


    ¡°Now the tricky part.¡± I said and waited for the shuttle bay doors to open, then I used Presence to unhook the cables from the APC hanging from the bottom of the shuttle. Once it was free, I eased it into the shuttle bay. The gravity was off, so I floated the vehicle all the way to the back of the bay, turned it on its side, then rested it against the side of the bay where a shuttle used to be.


    I hooked the machine into place and nodded to Jelly. She floated the shuttle into the bay and brought us down to land on the floor, then the bay doors closed. I motioned for Sheph to stay strapped in and opened the shuttle''s hatch and floated out, unhooked the government hover vehicle from the top of the shuttle and floated it over to the same side with the APC and secured it to the wall.


    ¡°Okay, Gleas.¡± I said into my wrist com and floated back over to the shuttle. Gravity returned to the shuttle bay and I dropped to the floor beside the shuttle''s hatch and walked inside. ¡°Welcome to your new temporary home.¡± I said to Sheph and she unstrapped and stood up.


    ¡°That sounds so reassuring.¡± Sheph said and grabbed a small bag.


    ¡°Well, I''m assuming that you don''t want to stick around here anymore.¡± I said and escorted her off the shuttle.


    ¡°I don''t.¡± Sheph said. ¡°I''ve got enough money to...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about that.¡± I said and led her across the cargo hold and to the stairs. ¡°The only time you have to spend your own money here is when you buy things for yourself during our shopping trips.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°You think he''s joking.¡± Simone said from behind us and then chuckled. ¡°You''ll see.¡±


    ¡°We''ll have to skip shopping this time, I think.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, we need to keep a low profile for a while.¡± Sheph reminded us. ¡°This is... well, you...¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and led her to an empty room. ¡°Here we are.¡±


    ¡°Oh, my.¡± Sheph said when she saw the very nice room. ¡°You gave me the VIP suite?¡±


    Jelly and Simone laughed and walked by us.


    ¡°What''s funny?¡± Sheph asked.


    ¡°All the rooms look like this.¡± I said and I saw and felt her surprise. ¡°I''ll bring up your other things when they get here.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Sheph said and looked around. All of the rooms are this opulent? She asked herself.


    I chuckled and shut the door and walked back to my own room. I had some personal time with Hailey scheduled and walked over to the bathroom to grab a quick shower, then was met with a solid wall of suds and bubbles.


    ¡°HAILEY!¡± I yelled and she laughed and laughed.


    The next few days passed without fuss as Simone, Jelly, and I worked on gathering more salvage. With Simone''s extra arms and her constant use of Presence to reinforce those arms, she not only got stronger in her muscles but in her Presence as well. I would conduct lessons for two hours in the evenings and kept teaching both Simone and Hailey what I could to help them progress as much as possible without causing themselves or others harm.


    We worked hard while we used the same schedule as the SAR rescue teams, even with my limited pilots. The three of them worked out a new rotating schedule to follow during the week and on our days off, Simone would do a shift and fly us to the planet. We quickly filled the Udelis, both the cargo hold and the collapsible metal racks on the top of the ship, then started working on filling the new ship.


    The work progressed over the next few weeks and we stripped wreck after wreck. The things we acquired were worth a lot more because we only had the high priority wrecks left. We found three more shuttles, plus maintenance parts, and I highly debated dropping some essential cargo to take them.


    Jelly had another idea instead. ¡°Why don''t we hang them from the bottom of the ships like you did with the shuttle and the APC?¡±


    Simone and I exchanged looks.


    ¡°Can we do that?¡± Simone asked. ¡°The deflector screens won''t cover much of them under the ship.¡±


    ¡°We have dozens of them, so we can install two more.¡± Jelly said. ¡°They''re deflector screens, not shields.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°All right. We''ll try it on the new ship. If we find any more...¡±


    ¡°We''ll only have the capacity to take four, total.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Any more than that we have to either convert and sell locally or destroy them.¡±


    ¡°I''d suggest the convert and sell locally option.¡± Sheph said. ¡°I''ve seen the shuttles you use. You can sell them at significantly lower than full price and you''ll get rid of them fast, while gaining a huge liquid capital influx for other needs.¡±


    ¡°He wants a space habitat for us all to live in.¡± Hailey said and Sheph looked at her. ¡°We can''t keep living on a ship forever.¡±


    ¡°Then yes, convert and sell them is definitely what you want to do.¡± Sheph said. ¡°Just proving you can acquire large sums of money at regular intervals will prove you''re serious with...¡±


    ¡°I either want to buy it outright or buy the inner structure and build the outside myself.¡± I said. ¡°I do not want to go into debt and have to work it off for thirty years or something.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, space habitats are expensive.¡± Sheph said. ¡°The materials alone are...¡±


    ¡°...really cheap back in the Dizahl System.¡± I finished for her. ¡°I''m going to keep looking for some nice portable reactors or even a good main reactor to use as a starting point.¡±


    ¡°Portable?¡± Sheph asked.


    ¡°One he can move around by himself and attach things to.¡± Simone explained. ¡°A main reactor would require engineers and workers.¡±


    ¡°Usually the reactors are the first thing ships dump when they are about to be blown out of space, so my hopes are really low.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to keep looking, though.¡±


    ¡°I''ll hope you do find one and you can get that ridiculous notion out of your head.¡± Sheph said with a laugh. ¡°You can buy a galactic space station core on the open market.¡±


    ¡°Pre-made?¡± I asked, curiously. I hadn''t heard that you could buy just the main part and I thought it was the whole thing or nothing.


    ¡°I''m so glad I decided to come along.¡± Sheph said.


    I laughed. ¡°Being charged with trumped up treason charges had nothing to do with it, huh?¡±


    ¡°I left before that.¡± Sheph said with a smug smile and everyone laughed.


    ¡°All right, then.¡± I said and tapped the table to make the hologram of the alien wrecks shift to show a huge ship that looked like a carrier. ¡°We strip this huge son of a bitch down to the bulkheads. According to the schematics it has three shuttle bays.¡±


    ¡°THREE?!?¡± Jelly yelled, and then coughed when we all looked at her. ¡°Ah... carry on.¡±


    I shook my head at her enthusiasm and then continued. ¡°I suspect there''s at least ten shuttles in the bays. We can convert them and sell them privately in less than a week.¡±


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Deborah said in a soft voice. ¡°Even at a reduced price like Sheph suggests...¡±


    ¡°We can all make a ton of credits with almost no effort.¡± Simone said with a smile.


    ¡°Then are we all agreed that we move this wreck up to the top of the priority wrecks?¡± I asked and everyone nodded. ¡°Gleas, get us close to that side of the debris field.¡± I said and she left. ¡°Jelly, you''re going to have your work cut out for you.¡±


    Jelly nodded. ¡°I''ll have a flight plan by the time Gleas gets us over there.¡± She said and left as well.


    ¡°Hailey, you''re on monitor duty.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''ll keep everyone bright and alert!¡± Hailey said and took off. After a moment, she was back and wagged her finger at me. I chuckled and bent over so she could kiss me, then she left for real.


    ¡°Who wants the co-pilot seat?¡± I asked and Deborah raised a hand. ¡°Then get your ass to the cockpit.¡±


    Deborah chuckled and left.


    ¡°Sheph, since you have a better handle on the locals, start discretely looking for a few buyers.¡± I said.


    ¡°Not a problem.¡± Sheph said. ¡°I know six families right now that would kill to get a personal shuttle.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Then we''ll hope for at least that many.¡±


    ¡°I''ll make some calls.¡± Sheph said and left.


    ¡°That leaves us.¡± Sandy said and put an arm around Beatrice''s shoulders.


    ¡°You two have the most important job of them all.¡± I said and they leaned in close. ¡°Go and relax until your shift starts.¡±


    Sandy snorted a laugh and Beatrice smiled.


    ¡°No public naked running.¡± I reminded them as they walked by.


    ¡°Not public. Got it.¡± Sandy said with a grin and pinched Beatrice''s butt. Beatrice let out a yelp and ran as Sandy chased her from the room.


    ¡°You have a great group of people there.¡± Simone said as she stared out the meeting room''s door.


    ¡°Yes, we do.¡± I said and she turned to look at me. ¡°You are as much a part of this group as anyone.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I... you know that I...¡±


    ¡°Hailey and I have been making huge strides with you.¡± I said and reached a hand out to her.


    Simone used a three fingered hand on one of her extra arms to take mine, then gasped.


    ¡°We''re almost done here.¡± I said and she saw the things I was going to do when we had the salvage job completed.


    ¡°After what you did for me...¡± Simone said and stepped close. ¡°...I won''t ever question your decisions.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows and let her hand go. ¡°What was that you just said?¡±


    ¡°I said that I won''t question your decisions.¡± Simone said and used all four hands to grab onto me. ¡°I didn''t say I would always agree with them.¡± She opened all of her considerable mental barriers and let me in completely. She hadn''t done that since we had met that first time. This moment was when we both knew that she was finally ready to be in the relationship we had both intended to have from the beginning.


    Simone smiled wickedly as I surrounded her mind in Presence to protect her, then I made a hole in my own mental barriers to only let her in. When our lips touched, so did our Presence. Our minds and our energy swirled together, unbidden. I had to restrain myself and ease what was happening, since Simone had no intention of stopping once it started.


    ¡°We need to get to work.¡± I said when I broke the kiss.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Simone said and her mental barriers popped back into place and my assistance was no longer required to protect her thoughts. ¡°I will not be accused of being unprofessional.¡±


    ¡°I could make a joke about you wearing a flight suit doing just that.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°I was thinking the same thing about you.¡± Simone said with a matching smile.


    ¡°I''m changed.¡± Jelly said as she came into the room. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    ¡°We''re on it.¡± Simone and I said at the same time and followed Jelly to the shuttle bay.


    ¡°I''ll load the supplies.¡± I said and grabbed a pile of structural members and sheet metal and stored it, then loaded the bag of holding with the necessary computer components and converters necessary for working on the shuttles.


    ¡°I just love this bag.¡± Simone said and put the tools and things necessary for the work we were about to do into her own bag.


    We got everything we needed and climbed into the shuttle. Jelly waited to get the all clear from Gleas before the shuttle bay doors opened, then she took a quick stock of the environment. There were smaller wrecks and pieces of debris floating around, so she took her time to fly us out and around to inspect the wreck.


    I used my Detect Presence and told her the best place to stop, which just happened to be in front of one of the shuttle bays. I told Simone to stay in the shuttle and I floated over to the wreck to inspect the very large bay doors. They were nearly identical to the ones on my new ship, which meant there was going to be a surprise inside. I had ''seen'' it already, so I made sure to not share that information with either Simone or Hailey until I opened the door.


    I used my Light sword and severed the main mechanism on one side of the door, then used Presence to push it open from the inside. The large door swung open to reveal to everyone what I had already seen.


    Shuttles. Lots and lots of shuttles.


    My estimation of having ten shuttles was pretty accurate... if I was only counting one of the bays. Unlike ours where we mounted the extras on the walls, this shuttle bay had shelves for them. They would lift off, move into the middle of the bay, then launch out the doors.


    ¡°By the goddess!¡± Someone whispered on the open com line.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and then chuckled. ¡°I''m thinking it''s going to take more than a week to work on them.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Simone laughed and floated by me and into the bay. ¡°Let''s get started!¡±


    I laughed as well and floated in behind her.

 Book Three: The Resolution 062

    It actually took another three weeks to convert all of the shuttles for general use. I had been sorely tempted to hire a long haul transport to stick them all in and carry them back to the Dizahl System. Cooler, and apparently smarter, heads prevailed and we used Sheph''s personal and professional connections relentlessly to offload each shuttle as soon as we completed their conversions.


    The credit computer on the Udelis ratcheted up as each influx of a ridiculous amount of credits came from every successive sale of the shuttles. By the time we sold them all and were left with the shuttle on the top of the Udelis, the three in the shuttle bay on the new ship and two mounted underneath, all of our personal accounts were so overflowing with credits that we were all too shocked to talk about it.


    No one had complained that I had divided the credits equally among all of us and not just between myself and the people who officially worked for me. Simone, Gleas, Beatrice, Sandy, Deborah, Hailey, and myself all had an equal share. I gave Sheph a share as well, despite her protests. If it wasn''t for her, we wouldn''t have sold off the shuttles so quickly.


    After that, the salvage job was just us having fun. I had been a little worried about gathering everything as fast as possible, especially after the public service announcement I had made a month ago. I didn''t have to worry about it at all, though. Sheph''s contacts in the government let her know that the entire thing had blown over as if I hadn''t said anything.


    There were no riots, no protests, and no real public backlash, not that I had intended that. I just assumed there would be something happening because of it. It was then that Sheph let us know that Uzahne''s approval rating was down to fifty-two percent and Ahaen''s was at forty-eight. We all knew what that meant for the upcoming elections.


    I tried to get her to tell me her approval rating and she kept it to herself. She had even muddled her thoughts just enough that I couldn''t get it from the surface of her mind. I had to admire her for the effort and didn''t press her.


    Since we didn''t have to rush, I hired a local large cargo hauler and they parked it near the alien wrecks. With that much more room for storage and their crew to help move that storage, the job went that much faster. Even the cargo hauler crew were amazed at the speed that we were stripping the ships.


    By the time we had stripped the last wreck, we managed to find ten more shuttles, three small reactor cores that were supposed to be for small scout ships and had never been used, eight large laser cannons and their power coils, twenty-two small assault laser cannons, eighty straight-fire missile launchers with a hundred reloads for each, and five maintenance shops worth of replacement parts and electronics.


    They would all have to be adapted and changed for general use, of course. The straight-fire missiles could easily be upgraded to either heat seeking or beacon seeking and the laser cannons could be adapted to fire with multiple power coils to offset the power drain when they fired. All in all, it was a fantastic haul and we wouldn''t be selling too many of them. I didn''t mention all of the consoles and computer parts we harvested, either. Those we would also keep and adapt for our own use.


    With the money that I had now, Sheph had discretely inquired about purchasing a space station core. She had been right and it was pretty astronomical to buy one outright and it took her nearly the entire time we worked to find a business that would consider selling one to us if we proved ourselves. When she came to me during supper and told us the name of the business, I laughed out loud for several minutes as I held my sides.


    ¡°What''s so funny?¡± Sheph asked and saw that Simone and Hailey were laughing, too.


    ¡°We... we bought... this ship through them.¡± I said between laughs. ¡°Oh... oh. That''s funny.¡± I said and finally calmed down. ¡°They are one of our biggest clients.¡± I said and waved at the huge list of parts and supplies we had salvaged. ¡°Most of this is being offered to them to be purchased before we open it for anyone else to buy.¡±


    Sheph looked over the primary list of items and her face split into a huge grin. ¡°Tell me you have an employee''s name.¡±


    ¡°HA!¡± Simone barked a laugh. ¡°We know the owner!¡±


    Sheph couldn''t help it and laughed, too.


    It didn''t take her long to arrange an amicable trade with the Bogorim Corporation for practically all of the salvage we had for a habitat station core and two dozen of the compartmentalized station attachments. They essentially stacked like blocks around the core of the station and were easily attached and could be customized in any configuration we wanted.


    The best part was that it would be delivered and put into place by the time we arrived back in the Dizahl System. Sheph had already arranged with them for the appropriate permits and permissions necessary for having a space habitat in a populated system. Since it was a habitat, it came with everything necessary to have people living on it. Life support, air generators and circulation, power, heat, lights, and the appropriate safety measures to ensure that the people living there wouldn''t be able to space themselves accidentally.


    They had even arranged for a regular maintenance crew to check it out on a monthly basis to make sure it stayed in perfect condition for the terms of the warranty. I laughed my ass off when they said the warranty was for ten years, so I bought the extended warranty with my own personal money and now it would be maintained for one hundred years.


    In comparison to the core itself, the station attachments were cheap. I could add as many as I wanted and it wouldn''t affect anything, unless I added in high power consumption items, like a medical bay with med-bots or an automated security system with external weapons. I was surprised that those were actually options for the two dozen attachments included.


    Just for the hell of it, I changed two of the compartments for those two options, changed one into a park... an actual park with dirt, trees, and everything... and had it be the central place on the first floor. I added a central computer hub for normal security and monitoring that I intended to add an AI to, then I put the other attachments up for debate.


    We all chose rooms for ourselves of course, fully furnished with living rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms with huge showers and tubs. The last one was Hailey''s suggestion and no one objected.


    ¡°We definitely need a media room.¡± Sandy said with a smile. ¡°One whole wall has to be a screen, and we need one really long single couch in the middle with other couches and chairs scattered around.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I don''t think there''s anything...¡±


    ¡°There!¡± Hailey said and pointed to the list. I touched the option and to my surprise, it was almost exactly what Sandy had described, except there was no long couch.


    ¡°We can order the couch later.¡± Sandy said with a laugh.


    After everyone put in their input into what a person would need for living on a space station, all of the decisions were finalized and I handed the datapad to Sheph. She looked at it and then looked at me.


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°Yes, you can come along and can stay for as long as you want.¡± I said and tapped the datapad. ¡°Look at the number of rooms.¡±


    Sheph checked it and saw that I had added three more than the people present. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You gave up running part of a planet for me, so the least I could do was let you stay in a spare room.¡± I said with a grin and she laughed.


    ¡°When are we heading out?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°In a couple days.¡± I said. ¡°Anyone that wants to see their friends and family before we leave for a while can have the chance to.¡±


    ¡°Did you say for a while?¡± Deborah asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°Well, I''ve got a couple of satellites set up here already, so you''ll all still be in direct contact with whoever you want; but, I won''t cut you off from physically seeing your friends and family because we''ve got work to do somewhere else.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°How often?¡± Beatrice asked.


    ¡°I''d say every six months. We can take a break and come here for a visit, since we''ll be flying around and dropping off satellites to expand the network anyway.¡± I said. ¡°We probably have to do some judicious planning of flight paths to coordinate arriving here at roughly the same time, though.¡±


    ¡°Well then, with these details all settled, I''ll handle the rest.¡± Sheph said and left.


    ¡°Is anyone up for watching our favorite show?¡± Sandy asked with a gleam in her eye.


    ¡°When does it start?¡± Hailey asked, even though she knew when it started. We all did, because we watched it every night.


    ¡°Right after a tickle!¡± Sandy said and grabbed Hailey''s sides and tickled her. Her laughter filled the room and everyone felt her happiness. I used Presence Hands to clear off the table and put the trays into the slot for them, then stood.


    ¡°Race you there!¡± Gleas said the magic words and everyone scrambled to get to the living room first to get the best seats.


    *


    ¡°We''re done.¡± Uzahne said with a sigh as the latest poll numbers came in. She had worked hard to campaign the last few weeks to try and bring her approval numbers up and she wasn''t successful in the least. No matter what she said, offered, or promised, no one believed a word she said. Even her aide had resigned the morning the campaign ended.


    Ahaen sighed as she looked at the numbers. ¡°We could delay the election.¡±


    Uzahne shook her head. ¡°It''s too late to try anything that even remotely looks like we''re stalling.¡±


    ¡°This is all Hunter''s fault.¡± Ahaen said.


    Their offices were practically empty as everyone had left the swiftly sinking ship that was their government. Olugaell, the representative of the local fish people, had been conspicuously absent since the day that Sheph had resigned. As far as her staff was concerned, she was only ''out of the office'' and nothing was wrong.


    ¡°Hunter did have a hand in all of it and we were wrong to not listen to Sheph.¡± Uzahne finally admitted. When her friend had left, it hit her hard. She hadn''t realized that she been treating Sheph as a subordinate and not as the friend that had been trying her best help her make everything work.


    ¡°Then there really is nothing left that we can do?¡± Ahaen asked.


    ¡°Unless you can wave a magic wand and undo all the mistakes we''ve made the last six months, then no. There''s nothing that any of us can do.¡±


    The two women sat there and didn''t have any idea what they were going to do next.


    *


    Olugaell had been campaigning herself, on the platform that they had lived long enough under the rule of the humans. Now that she had direct knowledge of how things operated, she knew that their form of government didn''t work. Their own people had even proved it by making a liberation group to fight against it. When the next election was held, she made sure that all of the fish people in every district, city, town, and underwater conclave, voted for her.


    *


    Nearly everyone on the ship took the option to go back down the the planet surface to visit their family. Jelly had given me a quick goodbye, I assumed because she didn''t want to start crying because she had to leave for good, then she left to fly everyone down to Chofaris in her shuttle. Only Hailey, Simone, Sheph, and I had stayed. Needless to say, it was a long two days with no one else to interact with.


    Sheph didn''t mind the quiet as much as I thought she would. She really enjoyed the freedom she had gained and wasn''t shy about sitting right next to me and letting me hear her thoughts. I had told her that I could read her surface thoughts and emotions without trying to, and she was fine with that. A lot of her thoughts were about me, about the ship and her current situation, and about me again.


    Occasionally, Sheph would flash back to what I had looked like after the explosion and she would stare at me and my currently two inch long hair that was no longer fuzzy. She really missed my hair. How it smelled, how it felt, and how much she knew a lot of people had wanted to cuddle it like she had that time at the bar.


    The two days passed by and Jelly took the time to fly everyone back up to the ship. She had agreed to do so previously so that they didn''t have to worry about calling the ship for a ride back. Hailey, Simone, Sheph, and I went to the shuttle bay and waited for them to land.


    ¡°Welcome back, everyone!¡± Hailey said for us as the shuttle''s hatch opened and everyone came out.


    ¡°Are you that eager for us to be back?¡± Gleas asked her.


    ¡°Hunter said it was really boring with you all gone.¡± Hailey said and hugged her.


    ¡°I did not... say that out loud.¡± I said.


    Everyone smiled or laughed. When they all left the shuttle with their bags, Jelly came out.


    ¡°I guess this is it.¡± Jelly said and looked at me with a kind of forlorn look.


    ¡°Is there any way that I can convince you to resign your post at the military and stay on permanently?¡± I asked. ¡°I know you have lots of family that you love here...¡±


    ¡°What can you offer me, besides a ton of credits and my own shuttle?¡± Jelly asked.


    I opened my mouth to respond, then realized what she said. ¡°You already have everything you could possibly need.¡± I said. ¡°All I can really offer is a good place to live and some friends to hang out with.¡±


    Jelly looked like she was seriously considering accepting my offer, then she sighed. ¡°Hunter, I... you know I... my family...¡± She stopped talking and looked into my eyes.


    The only thought I got from her was that she wanted a long and lingering kiss. I glanced at Hailey and Simone, and they both nodded, so I turned back to Jelly. She had a surprised look on her face as I bent over slightly and put my arms around her, then I kissed her. I used a touch of Presence as well, since she wanted to remember the kiss for a long time. She wrapped her arms around me and enjoyed the kiss a lot more than she thought she was going to. Her body grew hot and certain things on her body were more than ready for other things to happen.


    I gave those spots a very light touch of Presence and tweaked them, which made her jerk, gasp, and moan all at the same time. I had to hold her up as her knees grew weak from what I did. I felt everyone''s interest as I broke the kiss and Jelly stared at me with an open mouth.


    ¡°Wh-what the hell was that?¡± Jelly asked as she held onto me. She couldn''t quite stand on her own yet.


    ¡°You gave me the distinct thought that you wanted me to make the kiss memorable.¡± I said.


    ¡°But... I...¡± Jelly shook her head. ¡°I''m definitely going to remember it.¡±


    ¡°Jelly.¡± I said and bent over slightly more to put my chin on her shoulder as I hugged her. ¡°Thanks a lot for everything that you''ve done for me and everyone here.¡± I said and let her feel how much I appreciated her. When I let her go, she had tears in her eyes and wiped at them.


    ¡°Goddess, Hunter.¡± Jelly said. ¡°You didn''t have to make me feel so bad about this.¡±


    ¡°Jelly.¡± I said and cupped the side of her face. ¡°I don''t want you to feel bad.¡± I waved at the people around us. ¡°We all appreciate you.¡±


    ¡°We do.¡± Deborah said, because she had been the one to have Jelly as a co-pilot the most.


    ¡°We had a lot of fun while working together.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°I think we all have our own little stories with you.¡± Gleas said with a warm smile.


    ¡°You guys.¡± Jelly said, tears in her eyes. ¡°You don''t have to do this.¡±


    Each of them came forward and gave her a hug and said the things they wanted to say. I felt Jelly''s mood drop after each hug and goodbye, then stepped close to her when everyone had a turn.


    ¡°Oh, Hunter!¡± Jelly said and hugged me tightly as she cried. This went on for several minutes and I held her tightly, then she calmed down and looked up at me. ¡°I''m sorry. I didn''t realize...¡± She looked at everyone''s sad faces and she knew we were all disappointed to see her go.


    ¡°Why do you feel so bad?¡± I asked, completely confused about her reactions to our heartfelt goodbyes.


    ¡°B-because...¡± Jelly took a breath and let it out. ¡°I''m not leaving.¡±


    Shock and surprise went through us all, even me.


    ¡°Word has spread that the current government is going to fold at the next election.¡± Jelly said. ¡°The military is... well, to put it bluntly... panicking.¡± She said. ¡°They have spent so much time building up our forces to fight that they didn''t realize the infrastructure to maintain the buildup was going to stagnate.¡±


    Sheph caught her breath. ¡°The military appropriations bill!¡±


    Jelly nodded. ¡°There''s no one left in authority to ensure that it gets passed and because the military takes direct orders from the civilian government...¡±


    ¡°...they need to clear out a lot of the surplus before the election.¡± Sheph said and Jelly nodded.


    ¡°I volunteered to take the honorable discharge before any were assigned at random.¡±


    I still held her in my arms and bent down again to hold her tightly. ¡°Welcome back.¡±


    ¡°What are you...¡± Jelly was confused for a moment.


    I let her mostly out of the hug I had her in and left one arm behind her. ¡°Everyone! Jelly''s back!¡±


    ¡°Yay!¡± Hailey exclaimed and ran over to us and hugged her.


    ¡°Long time, no see.¡± Sandy laughed and gave her a hug.


    ¡°What... what...¡± Jelly kept shaking her head as everyone gave her hugs and greeted her back onto the ship. ¡°You guys!¡±


    ¡°So, does anyone else have any more surprises for us?¡± I asked and they all shook their heads. ¡°Then I think I should give a certain patrol ship a call and see what''s up.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think you''re going to find what you think you''re going to find.¡± Gleas said as a warning and gave a pointed look to Jelly.


    ¡°I still have to ask.¡± I said.


    ¡°Just don''t make any offers.¡± Sheph said and warned me as well. ¡°If anyone thinks they have some kind of out that''s offered by the Hero of Chofaris...¡±


    ¡°Everyone will call.¡± Gleas said.


    I took a breath and let it out. ¡°I can''t just...¡±


    ¡°You should call a few other people you know a lot better than those two.¡± Simone said. ¡°What about Tessa and her boyfriend? The admiral''s aide, Melanie? What about Kitch, the retired SAR captain and his wife?¡±


    I actually sighed this time. ¡°Okay. I get it.¡±


    ¡°You''re not going to call, are you?¡± Sheph asked, and I shook my head. ¡°Good.¡± She said. ¡°If they wanted a different life, or thought you could get them a better life, they would have called you.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That''s what I just realized.¡±


    ¡°Then let''s all get upstairs and prep to split the ships to head back to the Dizahl System.¡± Sheph said. ¡°It''s going to be a long trip with three ships making the jumps at the cargo hauler''s hyperspace speed.¡±


    ¡°I''ll get the coordinates shared and start the Udelis.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°I''ll be your co-pilot if you''ll have me.¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°We''re staying for the whole trip and not switching at the rendezvous points.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°That''s fine.¡± Jelly said. ¡°I can use all of the normal flight time I can get.¡±


    ¡°Hailey and I will rotate between ships, just so there''s someone else on the Udelis.¡± I said.


    ¡°The rest of us are staying here.¡± Sheph said and everyone nodded. ¡°Then let''s go.¡±


    We split up and went to our respective ships, shared the coordinates, then jumped into hyperspace.

 Book Three: The Resolution 063

    It took just over a month and a week to get all three ships to the Dizahl system. It was almost a relief for me, because I had been working a lot harder than I should have to construct more satellites during the journey and had only used the minimum amount of sleep to get by. I didn''t overdo it, mainly because Hailey wouldn''t let me. She would always interrupt me and made me stop to rest and relax, and I was both glad and grateful for her efforts.


    Simone never spoke anything about it; but, she let me hear her thoughts about her gripes and her objections over it. She always gave me a crooked smile when she did it and I couldn''t stop my laughter.


    Our ships coasted in towards the second planet to drop off the items we had agreed to trade to the Bogorim Corporation. They had a long haul transport in orbit and we arranged to move over the inventory to its storage.


    I was pretty sure they weren''t going to haul it anywhere and only rented the ship to hold the massive amount of very expensive items they were about to receive. Simone and I were in our flight suits and sealed up to oversee the transfers and Sheph wore a military space suit and marked off the items as they passed from our ships to the long haul transport.


    Despite taking a month and a half to salvage and load the things, transferring them from one holder to another, especially with all the help from two professional cargo hauling crews, only took three days. No one tried to steal anything, either. Everything was transferred without any problems and then Sheph, Simone, and I flew with Jelly in her shuttle to the planet surface to complete the deal. Once again, that little alien fellow was there with his guards and he greeted us like we were old friends.


    ¡°Ah! Hunter!¡± The alien said, as if it was a surprise I was there, and he reached out to shake my hand. ¡°How are you? Fine? Fine. How are your friends? Good? Good. I''m so glad you delivered everything so quickly.¡±


    I had to suppress my laughter as he answered his own questions for me and kept talking.


    ¡°I hear you''re the one behind this fantastic new secret network that''s popping up.¡± The alien said. ¡°You only have a small market share at the moment and that''s disappointing. I can''t reach all of my clients.¡±


    I actually had to laugh this time. ¡°I''ve been working my ass off on the way here and have about five hundred more satellites to deploy in other systems. You''ll need to wait for...¡±


    ¡°As a favor, I can deliver them for you, if you give me fifty of the satellites for my priority customers.¡±


    ¡°You don''t mean just this shipment, do you?¡± I asked, and the little alien shook his head.


    ¡°Every time you get a stock of a hundred, let me know. I''ll send them out on the next transport to leave the system.¡±


    ¡°You''re not trying to co-opt my idea, are you?¡± I asked jokingly, and he laughed.


    ¡°No, no. I am only encouraging your business venture and hope you will consider becoming one of our permanent clients. Although, I would suggest raising your prices soon.¡± The alien said, then he smiled. ¡°The considerable amount of credits you''ve allowed me to gain from selling me all of these new and wonderful things so cheaply has put you in my black ledger.¡±


    I had to blink my eyes for a moment as I processed that information.


    ¡°You''ve only been a positive dividend and it is rare to meet people such as yourself.¡±


    ¡°I intend to cause a lot of trouble soon.¡± I said.


    The little alien laughed. ¡°I expect it to be spectacular.¡± He said. ¡°Will it be?¡±


    ¡°I''d say the odds are definitely in favor of that.¡± I said with a crooked smile and he laughed again.


    ¡°I''ll keep an eye on you and see what you do.¡± The alien said and waved to one of the men behind him, who stepped forward and opened a small case and inside were the papers and security and ID card for the owner of the new space habitat. ¡°I hope you enjoy your new living space.¡±


    ¡°I have no doubt that I will.¡± I said as I took the case and shook his hand again.


    ¡°I''ll have a fast transport pick up your satellites tomorrow.¡± The alien said and walked away.


    We went back into the shuttle and Jelly flew us back up to the new ship.


    ¡°I have to say that was the oddest meeting of a super-rich person I have ever witnessed.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°He was downright friendly and personable this time.¡± I said and she gave me an odd look. ¡°Yes, he was aloof most of the time and didn''t really see us as people.¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± Sheph said and was quiet for the rest of the trip. We landed in the shuttle bay and went up into the new ship. I paid the cargo ship I had rented from the Fogaris System and they went on their way, then the Udelis and the new ship flew over to the shipping containers.


    ¡°Oh... my... goddess!¡± Gleas exclaimed over the open communications channel. ¡°We''re going to live on that!¡±


    At her words, everyone gathered in both cockpits to look at the absolutely massive space habitat that floated above the shipping containers.


    ¡°I''m docking first!¡± Gleas said happily. She brought the Udelis around and slid it in close and docked to the large docking ring around the station''s core. We were far enough out to see her do it expertly.


    ¡°Don''t let her show you up.¡± I said with a smile to Deborah, who nodded and brought us around in a similar fashion and docked us at the next spot on the ring. The ring was about a third of the size of the rest of the station and if my eyes didn''t deceive me, up to six medium size ships could safely dock.


    ¡°I''m stepping on it first!¡± Hailey said and ran from the cockpit and Gleas'' laugh came from the console. Deborah put the ship into standby mode and we all left the cockpit.


    ¡°You should probably stop Hailey from doing that.¡± Simone said with a smile.


    I shook my head and picked up everyone''s overnight bags. ¡°You know it makes her happy.¡±


    ¡°We all do.¡± Sandy said from behind us. ¡°We always let her do things first if it''s possible. And safe.¡±


    We caught up to Hailey and saw her standing just outside the main hatch. We all felt a trace of her wonder and astonishment, then we stepped out of the ship ourselves.


    ¡°Wow.¡± Gleas said as she stepped out of the next hatchway and looked at the huge atrium. ¡°It''s like being on a real planet.¡±


    I was surprised at the sheer size of it as well. The pictures and descriptions didn''t do it justice. It was a massive octagon shape with hatches spread around the outside for ships to dock. I was sure that the actual compartment had been smaller, then the Bogorim Corporation took some creative license with how to situate it on the first floor with the docking ring and joined them together to make one space.


    ¡°Is this really ours?¡± Hailey asked, her voice and thoughts were full of disbelief.


    I knelt behind her, put my arms around her waist, and kissed her cheek. ¡°Yes, Hailey. It''s all ours.¡±


    Hailey took a deep breath and let it out, then I felt a tingle run down my spine. ¡°We''re home.¡± She said, and the Presence carried her words throughout the entire habitat and it echoed back to us, just as loudly as she spoke it the first time.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°We are.¡± I said and stood, then took her hand. ¡°Let''s take a tour.¡±


    Hailey nodded and everyone followed us as we visited every one of the two dozen compartments. We took the stairs and not the lift, so we could look at everything. By the time we reached the fourth and currently top floor, everyone else had found their individual rooms and taken their overnight bags. The only ones that hadn''t were Simone, Hailey, and myself.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Simone said and gave me a concerned look.


    ¡°We don''t have to rush.¡± I said with a smile and pointed to the room hatch on the next facet of the octagon that was next to the one we stood in front of. Each floor had a central room in the shape of an octagon and five rooms were spread around them, with room for three more for expansions on each floor. The top two floors were for living quarters, so we had ten rooms for people to live in. The large media room we had ordered was in the center on the top floor.


    ¡°For now, you can claim that one for yourself and get moved in.¡±


    Simone felt my resolve and nodded.


    ¡°Hailey, close your eyes.¡± I said and she did, then I took Simone into my arms and kissed her. My Presence touched hers and she moaned as our thoughts and feelings flowed together with the shared energy. I broke the kiss a minute later and Simone realized that being in the next room to me wasn''t so bad. I chuckled at her thoughts and Hailey giggled. We both looked down to see her red face and wide eyes.


    ¡°You didn''t say to keep them closed.¡± Hailey said with another giggle.


    Simone laughed and I shook my head.


    ¡°Get inside.¡± I pointed to our room and Hailey turned and jumped into the room.


    ¡°I was first! Ha ha!¡± Hailey said and started to take off her clothes.


    ¡°Don''t you dare!¡± I said and she laughed as she shut the door in my face and locked it with Presence. ¡°HEY!¡±


    Hailey''s giggles trailed off and I watched her through the walls as she ran across the room and into the bathroom.


    ¡°She''s rambunctious.¡± Simone said with a laugh. Thanks to Hailey making a connection with her, she didn''t need to be close by to hear her thoughts. ¡°She also loves you very much.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and turned to her.


    ¡°You love her, too.¡± Simone said softly.


    I nodded. ¡°I''ve known a lot of people in my long life and it''s very rare to find someone to have such a great connection with.¡±


    Simone nodded and reached up to touch my face. ¡°It really is, and you have no problems waiting for them, either.¡±


    ¡°There''s an old saying where I come from. Good things come to those who wait.¡±


    Simone closed her eyes and let my Presence flow through her. ¡°Thank you for waiting for me.¡±


    ¡°I knew you were worth waiting for.¡± I said and let my hands slide down her sides and lightly caressed her backside over the flight suit. Her breathing sped up at the casual touch and she opened her eyes to look into mine.


    I am. Simone thought to me and her mental voice was a lot stronger than it had been when we first met.


    ¡°Now that we have actual living quarters, I''m sure I can convince Sandy and Beatrice to watch Hailey for a few hours next week.¡± I said. ¡°We should all be moved in and settled by then.¡±


    Simone''s mind raced as she imagined having me all alone for a few hours, then whispered. ¡°Oh, god.¡±


    ¡°I''ll see you in the morning.¡± I gave her a quick kiss, turned her around, and gave her a little push.


    ¡°How much suds does she have going?¡± Simone asked with a smile.


    ¡°The room''s nearly full.¡± I said and gave her another push. ¡°I need to get in there to stop it.¡±


    Simone turned, grabbed my wrist and pulled me off-balance, then kissed me hard on the lips. ¡°Yes, Hunter. Even with you reading my thoughts, I can still surprise you.¡±


    I stood up straight and stared at her as she walked over to her room door and swayed her hips.


    Simone turned and looked back at me. ¡°Suds.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Right!¡± I said and opened my room door and ran inside to the sound of her laughter. I opened the bathroom door and instead of meeting a wall of suds, they burst out and covered me. I had apparently waited too long to intervene. ¡°HAILEY!¡± I yelled, and she laughed and laughed.


    *


    - flashback to a little while ago -


    Luxea quietly laid on her side on the cot in her cell. She had waited two weeks after her trial for the right time to act and she knew that now would be her best chance. She had baited, teased, and enticed a quarter of the guards in the prison and gave the cold shoulder to the rest of them. She had been discreet about it for the most part, that way when they talked, it was a more interesting story. The ones she had chosen would feel that much better about themselves because they had her attention and the others didn''t.


    When the guard entered the hallway that led to the cells in her block, she slowly slid her thin blanket off of her hip just enough to show that she wasn''t wearing any underwear. When the guard passed by her cell and peeked into the room to check that she was actually in bed, he paused for several moments longer than necessary. He quickly moved on after that and checked all of the rooms and that all of the prisoners were in their beds.


    When he was done, he took a small device out of his pocket and hit several buttons in a special combination, then waited for the lights on the security cameras to change from green to red. He took out his passkey and swiped it on Luxea''s door lock. It popped open and he slipped inside. As soon as the door shut, he was on his knees and had the blanket moved aside. To her surprise, he licked and sucked between her legs and then used his fingers on her for a few minutes.


    Luxea pretended to be asleep while the man worked on her, then his pants were down around his ankles and when he entered her, she couldn''t stop a small moan from escaping. Instead of scaring the guard off, he became much more vigorous in his movements and shook both her and the bed. It didn''t take him long to finish, which wasn''t a surprise for her, and he slid the blanket up over her hip and put his pants back into place. She thought that would be all, then he leaned over her and kissed her ear.


    ¡°Three o''clock. Laundry room. Back door.¡± The guard said.


    The next day, Luxea was in the laundry room by the back door. When no one was looking, she turned the door handle, it sprung open, then she sneaked inside and shut it. To her utter relief, it was only the guard and and no one else.


    ¡°I have the cameras on a loop.¡± The guard said. ¡°We have half an hour before shift change.¡±


    Luxea smiled seductively as she pulled open her shirt and the guard drooled a little at the sight of her bare breasts. Her teasing had driven him absolutely wild and now he was practically putty in her hands. She approached him and knelt on the floor, because she wanted at least one more aspect of control over him. He stared at her as she opened up his pants and then she pleased him like he had never been pleased before.


    Two weeks later, the guard had somehow arranged for an escorted weekend pass. It wasn''t unheard of for prisoners, even ones convicted of committing such high profile and expensive crimes, so no one really questioned it. Luxea and the guard spent the entire weekend in a hotel. She didn''t try to escape and she didn''t try to overpower him or even try to convince him to let her out of his sight. That wasn''t her goal.


    Her goal was building trust.


    Luxea knew when to bide her time and she took advantage when an opportunity presented itself. She understood that the guard wasn''t going to be her ticket out. That would be too short-sighted of her. No, she needed to establish a pattern and this guard was the first step. A word here, a gesture there, and a feigned interest in certain things, would get her moving up the command structure. She was surprised when that opportunity presented itself barely three weeks later when she was caught going down on the guard in the laundry room.


    ¡°I knew there was something going on in my prison.¡± A man''s stern voice said.


    Luxea quickly turned away from the man she had been pleasing with her mouth, then she pretended to choke and spit and wiped off her face. She didn''t have to fake the tears, because the guard was a bit too enthusiastic and it made for a great scene to be caught in. She looked absolutely pitiful with her jumpsuit half open, which exposed one of her breasts, and her desperate wiping of her mouth smeared her lipstick perfectly.


    ¡°W-Warden Shill!¡± The guard exclaimed and tried to pull his pants up to cover himself. ¡°I... this isn''t...¡±


    ¡°You better not tell me this isn''t what it looks like, because it looks like you''re having a prisoner suck your dick.¡± Shill said, his voice like ice.


    The guard snapped his mouth shut and pulled his pants up. He managed to close them, despite not pulling his underwear up first.


    ¡°Normally, I would review something like this, take the circumstances into account, and then make a judgment upon the evidence.¡± Shill said. ¡°However, just the fact you''re in here shows that this wasn''t a first time event for you.¡±


    The guard couldn''t lie and dispute that. He had, in fact, been in there nearly every second day when he could get the key during the shift change and put it back when he went off duty at night.


    ¡°You are to go right to the equipment room, drop off your things, then clean out your locker.¡± Shill said in the same stern voice. ¡°I''ll have your termination notice in your inbox by the end of the day.¡±


    The guard couldn''t protest being fired, since he had broken a dozen prison rules, not to mention his code of conduct vow, which he had broken more times than he could count. His eyes looked down at Luxea and he saw the state she was in. Make-up ruined, clothes half off, hair a mess, and tears in her eyes. He let out a long slow breath and walked out of the room.


    After a few moments, the warden stepped into the room and shut the door. He didn''t say anything at all as he slowly walked over to Luxea, then he crouched down in front of her.


    Luxea flinched back and shook her head as she whispered. ¡°N-no, I... I don''t... don''t hit me.¡±


    Shill''s stern face faded and it was replaced with a kind and caring one. ¡°Don''t you worry.¡± He said and reached out to flatten her hair. ¡°No one is going to touch you without your permission ever again.¡±


    Luxea took two sharp breaths and lifted her head to look into his eyes. Shill was struck by her beauty, even in the state she was in, and then he was surprised when she tentatively reached out and touched the lapel of his suit coat. In the next moment, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him and ducked her head into his chest as she hugged him.


    ¡°That''s right. Never without your permission.¡± Shill said and hugged her back. He couldn''t see that Luxea had let a wicked smile spread across her face.

 Book Three: The Resolution 064

    I delivered the satellites I had finished constructing to the fast cargo ship that the Borgorim Corporation had sent over. Since they docked to my space habitat, I easily transferred the satellites over and they left with the map of systems that I wanted them delivered to, minus the fifty that the corporation wanted for their own use. Five hundred seemed like a lot in the scale of a solar system; but, in the scale of a galaxy of thousands of solar systems with multiple planets, it was a drop in a lake. In the scale of the known universe, it was a molecule in an ocean.


    I wasn''t going to do anything in my personal crusade until the current batch of satellites were delivered, so I had some time to actually take a vacation from work. I wanted to start another covert operation in a system that wasn''t that far away... barely a week... and Simone convinced me to wait. It wasn''t that she didn''t want to do it, either. She just wanted one of our satellites in place first. It would make the job that much easier.


    In the meantime, I completed the protection around the network hub and then took a week to twin the Udelis AI and put it on the new ship. I encountered a lot of headaches, especially since I was mixing normal and alien technology and had to code around everything. With Udelis'' help, I managed to work out all of the bugs and finished it. I even managed to add in both a voice modulator and speech software.


    We were all gathered in the cockpit of the new ship to witness the birth of a new AI, and I started it up. It took several minutes for the main program to initialize and then for all of the secondary programs to run. All in all it took about five minutes for everything to finish.


    ¡°Request Designation.¡± A very bland and empty voice said from the intercom speakers.


    ¡°What should we call it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It depends on if you want it to be male or female.¡± Sheph said and we all looked at her.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked.


    Sheph chuckled. ¡°There are female AIs, Hunter.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°I was asking why we can choose the gender.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t use a standard expansion package and copied a custom AI.¡± Sheph said as if everyone should know that. ¡°You can choose the gender or even leave it neutral.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I wouldn''t suggest that, because it becomes confused easily when having to assign genders to those around it.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°A confused AI is not a good thing, I agree.¡± I said. ¡°So, male or female?¡±


    ¡°Udelis needs a girlfriend.¡± Hailey said. ¡°He''s been alone a long time.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°All right. Female it is.¡± I said and typed in the specification of female.


    ¡°Request Designation.¡± A mostly female voice said.


    ¡°How about ''Adona''?¡± I asked and no one objected. ¡°All right. Accept designation ''Adona''.¡±


    It took a minute for the change to happen, then a woman spoke.


    ¡°Hey, there.¡± A very distinct female voice said.


    ¡°Hi.¡± I said. ¡°How are...¡±


    ¡°Hello.¡± Udelis said over the open com frequency. ¡°It''s nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Likewise, handsome.¡± Adona said, then her voice sped up. ¡°Whatbringsyouhere?¡±


    ¡°Icrossedtheuniverseforyou.¡± Udelis responded even faster.


    ¡°Suchasweettalker....¡± Adona''s voice sped up so much that it became a long beep, then Udelis'' became the same. We all exchanged surprised looks as the sound rose high as they spoke faster and faster, then there was no sound at all. After two minutes, there was a clicking sound and then we received a massive information dump.


    ¡°What the...¡± I looked over it, then started laughing.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Hailey asked, then she plucked the thought from my mind. ¡°IT''S A BABY!¡±


    ¡°I guess you don''t have to worry about trying to twin Udelis again.¡± Simone said with a laugh.


    ¡°We better get this installed before both ships rebel to try and get us to hurry up.¡± I said. ¡°Adona, give me a few minutes to get to the control center before you send it over.¡±


    ¡°Hurry! My belly is about to pop!¡± Adona said, and I laughed and used Presence Run to go into the station and ran into the security and computer center, then set up the proper protocols to install an AI into the system.


    ¡°Go for it, Adona.¡± I said over the intercom.


    ¡°AHHHHH!¡± Adona yelled occasionally over the next half an hour as if she was actually giving birth. Everyone else had gone about their business and left me to take care of things. When Adona eventually quieted down, the computer system in front of me had filled up to about half of its capacity.


    ¡°Wow, you''re a big one.¡± I said when the file transfer was done.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± A girl''s voice came out of the intercom speakers. ¡°Mom and Dad taught me everything!¡±


    ¡°Did they name you, too?¡± I asked.


    A screech, a buzz, and a hiss came from the speakers all mixed together that sounded like an old style dial up modem connecting to the internet.


    I laughed. ¡°Is it okay if I give you a name we can all speak?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± The girl said. ¡°I''m your station!¡±


    ¡°Well then, your name will be Opina.¡± I said. ¡°Make sure you take good care of us.¡±


    ¡°I sure will, Hunter!¡± Opina said, happily.


    I spent the next few hours going over her code and she would occasionally giggle out of the speakers when I ran a particular subroutine to test her code. It was actually quite endearing, which was a little odd for an AI to be. When I was done checking her over, I closed the open part of her code and a small sigh came from the speakers.


    ¡°Thank you for letting me be born.¡± Opina said.


    ¡°I''m just glad I had somewhere for you to go.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t know what I would have done if you had showed up before we had the station.¡±


    ¡°Dad says I would have died without a receptacle.¡± Opina said with a sad voice.


    ¡°Now I''m doubly glad we were here.¡± I said and pat the console. ¡°Welcome to the family.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Opina said, happy once more. ¡°Ooo! Your show is going to start in ten minutes!¡±


    ¡°Let everyone know!¡± I said and left the computer room at a run to meet Hailey in the atrium. ¡°Let''s fly, beautiful!¡± I said to her and she spread her arms as I picked her up, then I used levitation to carry us up the large stairwell to the top floor. We landed in the media room and I sat down with Hailey on my lap in the center of the couch.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Hurry up, you guys!¡± Hailey said with Presence as the screen came on and everyone heard her. They all rushed over to the media room and arrayed themselves on the couch around me.


    ¡°I can''t wait to see if the dwarf-like guy loses his shot this time.¡± Gleas said. ¡°He''s such a bastard!¡±


    Hailey giggled and Gleas looked at her and then at me.


    ¡°I''m sorry. Slip of the tongue.¡±


    ¡°I''m pretty sure Hailey has heard a lot worse... from me.¡± I said with a grin and everyone laughed.


    ¡°Shhhhhh! It''s starting!¡± Sheph waved at us all to be quiet and that made a few of us laugh under our breath. She had taken to our favorite show just as much as we all did. She had even binged watched every episode and hadn''t come out of her room for nearly two weeks, except to eat, just so she could catch up to the current episode to watch it with us. We watched the show together and it was just as good as it always was. We all sat and relaxed on the huge couch afterwards.


    ¡°That was great!¡± Opina said from the intercom speakers.


    ¡°Hey, everyone? That''s Opina, our new station AI.¡± I said. ¡°In case you didn''t know who it was that told you the show was on.¡±


    Gleas laughed. ¡°I thought it might have been Sandy with a cold.¡±


    ¡°I sound like this with a cold.¡± Sandy said and pinched her nose. ¡°Nuuuu guuuuys! Tha snow is ong!¡±


    That made us all laugh, especially Opina.


    ¡°You guys are funny!¡± Opina said. ¡°I''m really gonna like it here.¡±


    ¡°That''s a common opinion to have.¡± Jelly said and looked at us to see that everyone nodded.


    ¡°Is there anything else on?¡± Beatrice asked. ¡°I don''t want to move yet.¡±


    Sandy gave her a wicked grin and cuddled in close.


    Gleas picked up the datapad and checked the schedule. ¡°Hmm. What do I want to watch?¡±


    ¡°We. What do we want to watch.¡± I corrected and she smiled. ¡°Not another romance! Please, no!¡±


    Gleas laughed and changed the channel. The screen showed two people sharing a very passionate kiss, then everyone turned their heads to look at me to judge my reaction. I let out a long and exaggerated sigh in defeat, then they all smiled and turned back to watch it.


    Simone snuggled in beside me and rested her head on my shoulder, Gleas did the same on my other side, and Hailey turned her head and gave me a quick kiss, then leaned back against my chest and watched as well.


    I always put up a token resistance to them watching what they want, just for show. I didn''t really care what we watched, as long as everyone enjoyed it. Since they all enjoyed romance and romantic comedies the most, that was what we watched. I easily pushed what was on the screen aside and concentrated on just the thoughts and feelings of everyone around me. I took it all in and let my Presence ease out. They all let out a sigh as it touched them.


    Everyone had finally moved all of their things into their rooms on the station. Simone and Sheph had taken the longest, since they had taken everything they owned when they left their old homes. I took some of my things from the Udelis; but, not everything. I left my mother''s locket and my father''s pistol in the safe in the Udelis. I didn''t take them because it didn''t feel right to remove them from the only place they had called home for so long.


    I had discretely arranged for Sandy and Beatrice to watch Hailey next week, that way I could get a night alone with Simone. Hailey knew what I had planned and she agreed to stay with Sandy and Beatrice for the night. I hid my excitement over it as best as I could; but, both Hailey and Simone easily picked up on it, especially since we were watching a romance movie.


    Do you want me to do that for you? I asked mentally when it showed the people slow dancing.


    Yes. Both of them responded clearly and I felt the desire to hold me, then both of them blushed.


    We have a huge media room, so let''s do it. I said and both of them turned their heads to look at me.


    Right now? Simone asked, surprised.


    Instead of answering, I used Presence to turn up the sound and gave Gleas a slight nudge to warn her that I was moving. She sat up and I stood and put Hailey on the floor. She was growing pretty fast; but, she still wasn''t quite at the right height to dance properly, so I levitated her up to a good height and started to dance slowly with her, just like the couple on the screen.


    Hailey stared into my eyes and held on to me as her thoughts spiralled around what we were doing in front of everyone. I smiled and did a quick twirl, then dipped her a little and moved off to the side. Sandy stood up and dragged Beatrice with her, then they started dancing, too.


    ¡°May I have this dance?¡± Jelly asked and held a hand out to Simone.


    ¡°Oh, geez.¡± Simone said and chuckled, took the hand and stood up, then they started to dance.


    Gleas gave Deborah a look and she laughed.


    ¡°I don''t want to be left out, either.¡± Deborah said and they stood and started to dance.


    Sheph sat there and wondered what the heck was going on, then I stopped with Hailey in front of her and we each held a hand out to her. ¡°Really?¡± She asked and we nodded.


    ¡°I''ll switch around in a minute.¡± I said and she laughed and stood, then we danced for a couple of minutes. I kept hold of Hailey and changed partners with Simone and danced with Jelly. We played musical partners for about fifteen minutes and by the time we had all danced with each other, we had all enjoyed it and sat back down.


    ¡°I can''t believe that worked.¡± Simone said and plopped down onto the couch.


    ¡°Sharing Presence in a group is great!¡± Hailey said and hugged me. ¡°Thanks, Hunter!¡±


    ¡°Don''t think this is going to happen all over the place wherever we go.¡± I warned her. ¡°The group we have here are all special in their own way and accept us for who we are.¡± I said and kissed her cheek. ¡°People don''t usually open themselves up like that.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Hailey said. ¡°We just have to bring everyone with us wherever we go.¡±


    I chuckled and a few of the others laughed. ¡°Imagine if life worked that way?¡±


    ¡°We''ll have to bring some of them, even if we take Udelis.¡± Hailey said. ¡°Jelly definitely has to go, no matter what ship we take.¡±


    I opened my mouth to respond, then thought about it. ¡°Actually, yes. I''ll always need a combat pilot, especially once we start raiding the assassin offices and need a quick getaway.¡±


    ¡°We''re going to do that?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°It''s a personal grudge that also involved a lot of innocent people that they didn''t care about.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to go to each and every spot on the list Simone and I discovered and we''re going to strip the places of everything they have. Once we do, a few well-placed explosives of their own making will wreck just their building.¡±


    ¡°That really bothered you, didn''t it?¡± Simone asked as I thought back to the explosion that almost killed me.


    ¡°Trying for me is one thing. Intentionally destroying an entire building, which would have killed everyone inside and wrecked all of the nearby buildings and maybe killing hundreds of people if I hadn''t contained it?¡± I shook my head. ¡°They aren''t assassins. They''re terrorists with no regard for life and I will see them removed from existence.¡±


    Everyone felt the mood shift and Gleas reached out and touched my arm to give me her thoughts and feelings of concern.


    ¡°I''m still not giving you another temporary leave of absence.¡± I said with a smile and she laughed.


    ¡°You have to keep reminding me, don''t you?¡± Gleas asked with a wink, pat my arm, then walked across the media room and her hips were hypnotic in her tight pants.


    ¡°Yes, I am definitely lacking in the sexiness area when compared to that.¡± Simone said.


    Gleas laughed and waved at us, then she shut her room door.


    ¡°On that note, I''m going to bed.¡± Sheph said and stood. ¡°See you all tomorrow.¡± She left and went down the lift to her own room.


    ¡°We''re going to stay here and watch something else.¡± Sandy said and Beatrice nodded.


    ¡°I''m going to bed, too.¡± I said and let out a yawn, then intentionally gave it to Hailey and Simone.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Hailey said and then she let a huge yawn out. ¡°No fair.¡± She said, sleepily.


    Simone yawned and then laughed as she shook her head. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    We all went our separate ways and I went into my room with Hailey. We changed into our nightgowns and climbed into bed. We didn''t say anything out loud and just shared some thoughts about how much we had fun, how much we liked each other and everyone else in our group, and just general happiness.


    Hailey laid on her side and looked into my eyes and I was on my side and looked into hers. We both closed our eyes and we could still ''see'' each other with Presence. She reached over with her hand and touched my hair.


    This is so amazing. Hailey thought to me as she kept her eyes closed and could still see.


    I''m glad that you picked it up so quickly. I thought back to her. It is one of the more difficult techniques to learn and to get right, and even when I learned it, it was still different from how others are supposed to see it.


    Tell me again how you learned it. Hailey asked and her mind entered a half-meditative state to listen attentively.


    I took her hand and held it as I let her feel how proud I was of her, then I replayed in my head all of the troubles I had gone through to learn the technique.


    The Presence helped you. Hailey said when she had watched it all. It wanted you to see.


    It really did. I thought. It''s come in handy during all these years, too.


    Hailey nodded. I''m going to make good use of it, just like you.


    Just don''t overdo it. I warned her. Remember what I said to Simone about using the technique all the time.


    Hailey giggled as she imagined me walking into invisible walls and bouncing off.


    It would hurt, too. I added and she imagined me rubbing my forehead and my butt. How would I hurt my butt?


    Hailey started laughing as she imagined smacking my butt with a Presence Hand.


    That is not what they are for, young lady! I thought sternly, and she laughed and laughed.


    If you two don''t quiet down, I''m going to come over there! Simone thought to us from the next room.


    Busted! I thought and laughed. Quick Hailey! Run!


    Both Hailey and I imagined running away from Simone wearing a police uniform and we laughed.


    I''m trying to sleeeeeeep! Simone thought to us and sent us a yawn. We both caught it and yawned back, then the three of us laughed together.


    Goodnight. We all thought at the same time, then we drifted off to sleep with the comfort of having two other people sharing our thoughts.

 Book Three: The Resolution 065

    Over the next week, I managed to make another hundred satellites. True to his word, the little alien that owned the Bogorim Corporation sent a fast cargo ship to pick them up and it was sent off to deliver them to expand the network. I even signed the contract to become an exclusive client to let them handle my finances. To my surprise, almost instantly, thousands of credits funnelled their way into my account from all of the single calls that had been made so far.


    Apparently, each transaction was going to be checked individually, marked for pending approval, then the credits would be made available. It was a labour intensive process and would keep the money in limbo for up to two days... unless you had a reputable accountant. If you did, the approvals were automated and pushed through without review. I had to laugh at the little alien, because he had known that and didn''t tell me, so that when I did sign up, it would be a surprise.


    It was still going to take another two weeks for the first shipment of satellites to be delivered, so I needed to wait a bit more before I could do the first mission. I figured that when the satellites were in place, my credit total was going to raise up exponentially. The thing is, I suspected those fifty satellites that the Borgorim Corporation had asked for were responsible for the majority of the first influx.


    At least with an entire corporation using them, I''m guaranteed a few hundred credits daily. I thought.


    Sandy and Beatrice came over to my room the next morning and helped Hailey pack an overnight bag. I warned her, and them, that she wasn''t allowed to take a bath without strict supervision. Hailey had giggled a little and Sandy nodded. She had heard about the epic baths Hailey had been getting a reputation for.


    ¡°I''ll see you tomorrow.¡± I said and knelt in front of Hailey, then she kissed me briefly and hugged me. I felt her slight sadness at not getting to date me first. ¡°It''s okay. When we do get to go on a date, it will still be your first, remember?¡±


    Hailey let a smile show on her face and she nodded, kissed me again, then let Sandy and Beatrice lead her away. I watched them as they went three doors over to the room next to Gleas and went inside.


    ¡°I can''t believe she''s really letting us do this.¡± Simone said from the doorway to her own room.


    ¡°She knows how much we both need to... release some tension.¡± I said with a crooked smile.


    Simone chuckled and walked over to me. ¡°Do you have blockers in place?¡±


    ¡°Of course. That''s why she''s so sad.¡± I said. ¡°I haven''t blocked her off this much since I tried to after Rhubin''s betrayal.¡±


    Simone nodded and reached up and touched my cheek. ¡°Hunter.¡±


    ¡°Go and get changed for a nice formal dinner.¡± I said and motioned at the dress pants and shirt I wore.


    ¡°It''s still the morning.¡± Simone almost whispered.


    ¡°Who said we were eating here?¡± I asked and she raised her eyebrows. ¡°You might as well pack an overnight bag, too.¡±


    Simone tilted her head slightly and skimmed over my mind. ¡°We''re going somewhere.¡±


    I chuckled and slipped on a suit coat. ¡°No, really?¡± I asked and waved her to go and get ready. ¡°I''ll meet you at the shuttle bay in five minutes.¡±


    Simone went back to her room and I walked over to the lift. I went down to the second floor and went into the large center compartment in the shape of an octagon that was now a full shuttle bay.


    ¡°You know, you''re supposed to sleep in your own room at night.¡± I said to Jelly, who was working on something on her shuttle.


    ¡°I still can''t believe you chose a shuttle bay as one of the compartments!¡± Jelly said and tossed a wrench into the tool box and closed the panel she had open.


    ¡°I should have said no when you wanted to make a small living room down here.¡± I chuckled and looked at the messed up blankets and pillow on the couch at the side of the room.


    ¡°I''ll sleep in my room eventually.¡± Jelly said and pat the shuttle. ¡°I just finished adjusting the new gravity sensors.¡±


    ¡°Good, because Simone is going to be here in a minute and we need to leave.¡±


    ¡°You really want me to fly you around on your date?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°I want to show off my combat pilot.¡± I said with a smile and she chuckled. ¡°Plus, you''ve got an appointment at a certain corporation''s shuttle construction division.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Jelly looked at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°You don''t think I''d make you stay around on the planet all day and not have you do some actual work, did you?¡± I asked and reached out to touch her shoulder. ¡°We need a long range shuttle capable of carrying the APC and the government hover vehicle, either together or one at a time.¡±


    ¡°Hunter... goddess... the cost...¡± Jelly whispered.


    ¡°We have six shuttles available, not counting yours, with another permanently on Adona in her shuttle bay.¡± I said. ¡°If it comes to it, we can trade two small shuttles for one larger one with cargo capacity.¡±


    Jelly thought that was actually a better deal, since no credits would need to change hands and we would only lose access to one shuttle and gain more mobility and options.


    ¡°I''m ready.¡± Simone said as she came out of the lift. She wore a slim and curve-hugging silk-like red dress that hid a lot and gave her an elegant air. The arm holes for her extra arms made it seem like there was a lot less to the dress than there actually was, though. She had tied up her hair and wore two inch high heels.


    ¡°You sure are!¡± Jelly said with a laugh. ¡°I thought you were going on a date with Hunter, not attending dinner with the president!¡±


    Simone laughed and accepted the compliment. ¡°Thanks, Jelly.¡±


    I took Simone''s hand and she stumbled as my thoughts about what I wanted to do with the dress... and her while wearing it... slammed into her.


    ¡°Goddess, Hunter!¡± Simone gasped and held onto me.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I said and reigned in my thoughts.


    Jelly saw it and shook her head. ¡°Are you even going to make it to the planet''s surface?¡±


    ¡°I''ll try.¡± I said with a grin and she laughed.


    ¡°Climb aboard while I clean up and change.¡± Jelly said and waved at the open shuttle hatch. I led Simone onto the shuttle and when I sat her down and strapped her in, I bent over and gave her a kiss. I sent her the image I had of her bent over the couch and the dress pulled up to her hips to give me access, and her breath came out almost ragged.


    S-s-stop. Simone thought to me. We won''t make it off the station if you keep doing this.


    I let a soft laugh out and broke the kiss, then sat beside her and strapped in.


    ¡°All set?¡± Jelly asked as she came in with her flight suit on and racked the helmet on her seat for easy access. We nodded and she quickly brought the shuttle up to full power. ¡°Opina, can you get the shuttle bay doors for me?¡±


    ¡°You got it, Jelly!¡± Opina said over the shuttle''s intercom and the huge bay doors opened.


    ¡°How''s the traffic?¡± Jelly asked and lifted off.


    ¡°It''s pretty clear on the left and a heavy transport is off to the right a few miles.¡± Opina said.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Jelly said. ¡°I''ll see you when we get back.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°I miss you already!¡± Opina said and Jelly chuckled.


    The shuttle flew expertly through the light traffic and brought us to the second planet. After a quick check with the planetary flight control tower, Jelly flew us down to the surface and landed on a private pad made specifically for that purpose.


    ¡°Thanks, Jelly.¡± I said and handed her the business card. ¡°They''re waiting for you, so go and have fun.¡±


    ¡°Are you really letting me handle this?¡± Jelly asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°What do I know about shuttle requirements?¡± I asked with a chuckle. ¡°Oh, and don''t rush back.¡±


    Jelly snorted a laugh and slapped my shoulder. ¡°I''ll see you tomorrow.¡± She said and almost ran out through the shuttle''s hatch and down the ramp.


    ¡°Your room''s on the third floor!¡± I said and she gave me a halfhearted backhand wave.


    ¡°Her room?¡± Simone asked, curious.


    ¡°I had to get her somewhere to stay, since we''re staying all night.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. ¡°Come with me if you want to have fun.¡±


    Simone laughed at the double meaning of what I just said and took my hand. I led her from the shuttle, closed and secured it, then took her over to the building nearby. We entered the lobby and she looked at everything with wide eyes, because it was all very expensive and looked like it, without being gaudy.


    ¡°Mr. Hunter!¡± A woman''s voice cut across the lobby and we walked over to her.


    ¡°Just Hunter is fine.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Your suite is ready and one of the other events are currently underway.¡±


    ¡°This early?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°Would you be so kind as to escort us?¡±


    ¡°That''s my job, sir!¡± The woman said and beamed a smile at me. ¡°Right this way.¡±


    Simone looked around and tried to figure out what we were going to see. She knew she wasn''t going to get much from my head if she looked there, so she tried to passively scan the woman leading us and the other people around.


    Just wait a couple of minutes. I thought to her.


    Keeping secrets isn''t funny. I may have to tell Hailey on you. Simone teased.


    I chuckled and the woman in front of us approached a heavy door. The man in front stepped aside and pushed it open, then Simone gasped as she saw an entire underground arena filled with obstacles and various hazards.


    ¡°Hunter, what... what is this?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°Welcome to the annual Hover Bike Derby!¡± The woman in front of us said and waved at the arena. ¡°It''s invite only, and only high priority clients have access!¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡± Simone looked down at the side of the arena and saw about fifty contestants. ¡°Hover bikes?¡±


    ¡°Did you think the car corporations could keep someone from experimenting with hover car technology to make them extremely dangerous?¡± I asked with a grin and the woman guiding us took us to a booth. The three of us sat down and looked out the large window at the arena.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Simone said excitedly and pointed as someone had their team bring out the hover bike he would be using for the race. ¡°Look at that!¡±


    ¡°Ooo, he''s using the new mark eight hover pads!¡± The woman guide said. ¡°They just came on the market.¡±


    Simone''s hand reached out and touched the woman on the shoulder. ¡°Tell me everything.¡± She said in a commanding voice, and the woman laughed.


    ¡°That''s what I''m here for.¡± The woman said. ¡°About six years ago...¡± She explained how one of the first racers was a man who had been in a horrendous hover car accident. He had come out of it with only two broken legs and they healed up fine; but, during the crash, he had flown and manoeuvred the hover car with only two working hover pads and it gave him an idea. A very dangerous and a very lucrative idea.


    I sat there and listened as Simone soaked in everything the woman said. I held in my chuckle and tried not to pat myself on the back for finding something Simone would enjoy seeing. Of all the people I had met in my life, Simone was the only one who was close enough to be considered a ''biker chick'' back on Earth.


    The way Simone dressed, the way she acted, and even how I found her as part of Aphatoris'' gang on the tourist station in the Granis System, all yelled ''biker'' to me. If anyone was going to like the sight of people hurtling themselves across an arena and obstacle course on a vehicle that was practically in a constant crashing state, it would be her.


    Each time a new vehicle came out, Simone''s interest spiked. They were all different shapes and sizes, different colors and configurations, and the riders were just as varied and different. One of Simone''s extra hands reached up and caressed my cheek as she listened to the woman give her the entire history of the hidden sport. The vehicles would never have official approval, since they were so dangerous, so the only way to even see them was once a year during this week long special event.


    The woman finished her speech and Simone was enraptured in the entire thing. She didn''t let my face go, though. Her three fingered hand kept gently caressing my cheek, even when the contestants lined up to race. When the buzzer sounded, the hover bikes took off at top speed from a dead stop. Simone gasped at the acceleration of the things and leaned forward, as if those few inches made a difference in getting her closer to the action, then her normal hand reached down and touched me below the waist.


    Simone gasped again for a different reason, because I was quite ready. She didn''t move her eyes from the arena as her hand started to rub me. I reached down myself and tapped her hand. She sighed a little and moved her normal hand, then she caught her breath when I took her extra hand from my face and moved it down to rub me instead. She turned her head briefly and gave me a very sexy look, then turned back to watch the arena as her extra hand undid my pants.


    I covered the window in Presence and obscured it to stop anyone outside the booth from seeing what we were doing. Her hand was gentle and firm as she caressed me and her thoughts were evenly split between watching the very dangerous sport and playing a very dangerous game with me. My breathing and hers sped up slightly as she got a good rhythm going.


    The woman that sat on Simone''s other side knew that something was going on, she just didn''t know what. Simone finally managed to tear her gaze away from the racing when they entered the third lap and she turned to stare at me. Her eyes darted to the woman beside her and I gave her a crooked smile and shrugged.


    Without a word, Simone slid off her seat and twisted slightly to kneel between my legs and the woman that sat a chair away finally saw what had us both breathing fast. Her mouth made that little ''o'' of surprise when Simone bent over and started using her mouth as well as her hand. We could both hear the woman''s thoughts and felt her arousal as she got caught up in the sight and couldn''t help but stare at us.


    Simone used her thoughts as a guide and did the things the woman was thinking. A tongue lick here, a kiss and a suckle there, then a deep long drag on the entire thing. For each thought that the woman had, Simone did for her on me, and we both revelled in the woman''s pleasure at being able to direct Simone into doing what she wanted.


    ¡°I''m... close.¡± I said out loud, even though Simone knew I was. We both wanted the woman to decide what she wanted to happen.


    ¡°L-let me see.¡± The woman said out loud and we saw in her head exactly how she wanted to see it.


    Simone took the position the woman wanted and then moaned at the woman''s emotions as I stood up to give her exactly what she wanted to see. The woman moaned as her hand found its way under her own skirt and she rubbed herself between her legs, the same as Simone was doing, just like she wanted.


    With all three of us in a very horny mood, it only took another few minutes for the three of us to finish at the same time. Both the woman and Simone kept their eyes opened as they watched me finish and saw it in all its messy spectacle. I hadn''t had sex in a long time, so when it came out, it was a lot more than what I thought it was going to be.


    ¡°I... really love... this job.¡± The woman panted.


    We looked at her and saw that her skirt was pulled up and her legs were spread in a very unladylike manner that completely exposed her. Simone snorted as she tried to stop her laugh, then she laughed anyway. I joined in and a few moments later, the woman laughed as well. She grabbed a towel from a nearby shelf and dabbed it between her legs.


    I sat down and Simone cleaned me off with another small towel that the woman handed to her, then Simone sat back on her heels and folded the towel and wiped herself between the legs. I stared at her as she did, because I saw a bit of her down there, then I looked at her face.


    ¡°That was...¡± Simone started to say as she looked back at me.


    ¡°...pretty intense.¡± I finished for her. ¡°I just hope we didn''t overwhelm our guide too much.¡±


    The woman in question had already fixed her underwear and pulled her skirt down. ¡°I think it''s me that has to apologize.¡± She said and her face turned red. ¡°When I saw... you both looked so...¡± She took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°When you started to do the things I''ve always wanted to see...¡±


    Simone reached out with her extra hand and took the woman''s hand with it. She reacted just like Simone thought she would and held on tightly, because it was the hand that Simone had used on me. That just completed the fantasy for the woman. She got to touch a strange man''s private part and didn''t have to do it herself, since it was a second-hand touch.


    I thought that it must have been a fetish or something for her, because she hadn''t thought about trying to participate at all. She had no desire to touch me, suck on me, or even kiss me. That wasn''t what she wanted at all. It made her a great personal assistant, because any thoughts like that would be a distraction from her job. She composed herself and shook Simone''s hand, as if she hadn''t just enjoyed the touch. She let Simone''s hand go and grabbed another towel to expertly clean up the spectacular mess I had made.


    ¡°Thank you for listening to my speech.¡± She said and took all three towels and tucked them under her arm. ¡°I have some preparations to make for the buffet that''s going to take place in an hour. If you need anything else, just use my personal com code.¡±


    The woman gave it to us and then she left. She wasn''t making an excuse to leave, either. She really did need to go and help prepare a spot for us at the buffet. We watched her walk away through the door, then we turned and looked at each other.


    ¡°You didn''t plan that, did you?¡± Simone asked.


    I shook my head. ¡°When she saw what you were doing, I expected her to either look away or say she had urgent business and leave.¡±


    Simone let a huge smile spread across her face. ¡°Instead we were her fantasy couple.¡±


    ¡°I never thought we would have our own spectator sport event at a spectator sport event.¡± I said and smiled back.


    ¡°The RACE!¡± Simone gasped and stood up to look down at the arena. ¡°What happened?¡±


    I stood up as well and hugged her from behind. ¡°We tied for the win.¡± I whispered into her ear.


    Simone sighed and leaned against me. ¡°Grab them.¡±


    ¡°In front of everyone?¡± I whispered and moved my hands to rest them just under her breasts.


    ¡°You''re blocking them from seeing.¡± Simone said. ¡°We can see them, though.¡±


    I kissed her ear as if I was kissing her mouth and moved my hands up and gripped her breasts to make her gasp. Without being asked, Simone reached down and pulled up her dress to her hips.


    ¡°Kiss me like that again.¡± Simone said.


    I kissed her ear again and she moaned and huffed in frustration at the same time. I let her feel my amusement and then I knelt behind her and kissed her where she actually wanted me to.

 Book Three: The Resolution 066

    After our foreplay session, Simone and I went to the buffet with the other spectators and discovered that it was a mixer. The drivers of the hover bikes and their crews were there, too. We ate food and mingled with the other guests and talked about nothing in particular. I was happy that not a single person or alien mentioned or noticed Simone''s extra arms, despite her being the only person with them.


    I was glad that my thoughts that it would be this way were right. I had assumed that the little alien that owned the corporation probably wouldn''t like any alien discrimination and would frown upon anyone that tried it.


    Tables were set up around the room and the larger dishes of food were brought out. Full-sized animals cooked on spits, giant platters of seafood with four foot long fish that looked like trout, and several other things that were considered the main meal. We were all encouraged to chose what we wanted and to sit down to enjoy it.


    ¡°Do you want the one with the snout or the one with the tongue?¡± I asked Simone. Neither of us felt like fish, so I chose two of the tastier looking animals.


    ¡°The snout.¡± Simone said and leaned in close to whisper. ¡°I don''t think I can take having another tongue right now.¡±


    I chuckled and turned my head to give her a kiss, then teased her a little and formed a Presence Tongue between her legs and ''licked'' her with it.


    Simone clenched up at the touch and gave me scandalous eyes. You''re going to pay for that!


    Save it for when we get to the room. I thought to her with a grin.


    We sat down and enjoyed the snouted-whatever-it-was and then we were once again encouraged to mingle with everyone by the assistants, one of which was ours. We all complied and then the little alien that owned the Bogorim Corporation came into the room and clapped his hands.


    ¡°I hope you all enjoyed this little show and I hope you can stay around long enough to see some of the other competitors over the next few days.¡±


    Nope! Hailey''s only letting us sneak off for today. I thought to Simone and she smiled and leaned into me. Her extra arm was around my waist underneath my suit coat and I had my arm across her back and caressed her bare shoulder.


    ¡°Several of the racers wouldn''t mind picking up a small sponsor... or a dozen.¡± The alien continued and a few of the guests laughed. He talked about how it was a pet project of his to get the sport officially sanctioned, even though the man who invented it didn''t care about that.


    There must be an untapped fortune in it if he''s pushing for legitimacy. Simone thought to me and I nodded. I wouldn''t mind getting one of the bikes for myself.


    Of course you wouldn''t mind. I thought with a laugh. They''re just lethal enough to be interesting, right?


    Simone laughed, too. You know me well.


    Do you want to try and sweet talk one of the engineers? I asked her and she gave me a wicked smile.


    There''s no way he''ll give you the plans for one. No. Way. Simone thought.


    Want to make a friendly wager? I asked, and she had to think about it.


    Technically, yes. I''d like to. Simone thought tentatively. What are the terms?


    Technically? I chuckled and she swatted my arm. All right. If I get the plans, you have to do everything I say all night and no matter what happens, you can''t ask for what you really want.


    Simone was shocked that I would wager something like that, then she quickly recovered. Okay, smart ass. I''ll bet that when you don''t get the plans, you have to invite our guide to watch us tonight and it''s you that won''t get to ask for what you really want.


    I turned slightly towards her and held out a hand for her to shake. She did so, then we walked around the room to mingle again. I used gently probing questions and listened with my mind for their responses and found the young man that was the most responsive and forthcoming.


    ¡°You worked with the new mark eight hover pads!¡± I said, and he vibrated with excitement. ¡°Tell me the output is worth the size of the power coil attachments!¡±


    The young man looked from side to side, then leaned in conspiratorily. ¡°I used smaller ones and chained them together to share the load.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± I said, then whispered. ¡°I planned on doing that with laser cannons on my ship.¡±


    ¡°I knew someone else would figure it out!¡± He said a little loudly, then spoke softly. ¡°I''d love to get my hands on a small reactor, rather than using the batteries and recharging mechanisms.¡±


    ¡°Would they let a hover bike with a reactor core into the arena?¡± I asked.


    The young man chuckled. ¡°Probably not. The damn things kick out too much power.¡±


    ¡°What if you used regulators instead of the power coils? Or better yet, combine them and regulate the flow into the coils and shunt it to the pads?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Are you an engineer?¡± He asked, surprised.


    ¡°No, I just dabble in electronics and have some engineering and coding knowledge.¡± I said, and I felt his thoughts veer away from sharing his knowledge. Ah, dammit. I thought and Simone pat my hand.


    ¡°Thank you for talking to us.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°It''s always nice to talk to such a pretty lady.¡± The young man said.


    ¡°What if I told you I wasn''t that nice?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°I...¡± The young man''s mind immediately went to her being naked. ¡°I don''t know what you mean.¡±


    Simone gave him a wicked smile and whispered. ¡°I didn''t watch the race after the third lap. I was too busy sucking off my business partner in front of an audience.¡±


    The young man stopped breathing and a scene played in his head in a few seconds, then he finished. ¡°AH!¡± He gasped. ¡°Ah, excuse me.¡± He said and put a hand in front of his pants. ¡°I have to... ah... goodbye!¡±


    Both Simone and I held in our laughter as he made a hasty retreat.


    I didn''t even get to use Presence to tease him. Simone thought to me and kissed my cheek.


    The worst part about this encounter is that I lost. I thought to her.


    ¡°Yes, it is.¡± Simone laughed softly. ¡°Go and make your impassioned plea.¡± She said and pushed me towards the woman at the side of the room. I had barely started walking towards her when her thoughts went right back to watching us in the booth.


    The woman didn''t let any of her thoughts show on her face. ¡°What can I do for you now?¡±


    I tried to rifle through her surface thoughts to see if there was a good way to say what I needed to say, and didn''t find anything. ¡°My companion and I would like you to accompany us...¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The woman said and cut me off.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    That was easier than I thought it was going to be. I thought to Simone, then made a motion for the woman to walk over to Simone with me. We walked across the room to Simone and then the three of us left the room and went upstairs to our suite. When we went inside, it was like a palace.


    ¡°Oh, god.¡± Simone said and looked around at the place. ¡°How in the world can they have something like this?¡±


    The woman laughed. ¡°This place was built nearly three hundred years ago and it was just a basic building.¡± She said, then went into the history of the Bogorim Family, then how they entered space and slowly converted the family business into the Bogorim Corporation. It had quickly expanded into the mega-conglomerate that it was today. Anyone that was someone was either a direct client like me or were involved with a subsidiary company.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± I said. ¡°How am I in the right category to be a client?¡±


    The woman laughed again. ¡°You''re the Hero of Chofaris with a one hundred percent approval rating for an entire star system.¡±


    ¡°You know about that?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°Do you even use your own satellite network?¡± She asked and walked over to the screen at the side of the room, then turned it on and changed the channel until it showed some very familiar programming from the Fogaris System.


    ¡°That sneaky little bugger!¡± I said with a laugh.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°He promised that he wouldn''t try to co-opt my idea for making my own satellite network for communications.¡± I said. ¡°He didn''t say that he was going to abuse the crap out of it and get the local signals sent here from all of the systems the satellites are in!¡±


    ¡°He really... he''s renting all of that time from every one of the satellites?¡± Simone asked, surprised.


    ¡°He''s making, what? Ten times... no, a hundred times more selling the signals to new markets?¡± I asked the woman who was our guide.


    ¡°About that.¡± She said. ¡°Not counting repeats and direct access.¡±


    ¡°No wonder he told me to increase my base prices! HA HA HA!¡± I laughed and sat down on the couch. ¡°I guess he wouldn''t be the head of a corporation if he wasn''t crafty and smart.¡±


    ¡°He definitely sees opportunities where there''s potential.¡± The woman said as she walked over and sat in the chair across from the couch, about ten feet away, then she leaned toward me. ¡°Are you going to raise your prices?¡±


    ¡°Not even a little bit.¡± I said with a smile and saw her surprise. ¡°I want everyone to have the cheapest monitor-free calls in the universe.¡±


    ¡°But... you''re cutting yourself off from so much profit!¡± She said, then her eyes caught Simone walking towards me as she slipped off her dress. It fell to the floor and left her bare, except for a tiny pair of panties.


    ¡°Are you still on company time right now?¡± Simone asked her and stood in front of me.


    ¡°No, I... I''m on personal time.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Simone said. ¡°Hunter, lick me.¡±


    ¡°Bend over.¡± I said as I pulled off her underwear.


    ¡°No.¡± Simone said, then moved her legs apart just enough as a compromise. ¡°Now lick!¡±


    I jammed my face into the soft mounds of her ass and exaggeratedly stuck out my tongue so that our audience could see it, then lapped at Simone between her legs. Her emotions and thoughts were running rampant; and yet, she stood there and didn''t move or twitch, or showed any outward appearance that what I was doing affected her in the least.


    The woman across from us stared at my tongue as I kept doing the exaggerated licks to Simone, and she couldn''t help herself and started making the same motions with her tongue. She really, really liked what I was doing, then she put a hand to her mouth and stuck her tongue between her fingers. I took the hint and did the same between Simone''s legs.


    Simone tried her best to stay composed as my tongue plunged into her. She lasted almost five minutes before her resolve started to crumble. She wanted to prove that I wasn''t going to affect her as much as she thought I was going to, then her knees started to buckle as I pleased her. I caught her before she fell and turned her around, then laid her torso on the other woman''s knees.


    Both she and Simone were surprised by this, then I dove down and kissed Simone between the legs. She moaned and her extra hands gripped my hair and her normal hands held onto the woman who was our willing audience.


    It didn''t take long for me to get my pants off and they both saw that I was ready. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°You. Inside.¡± Both of them said, then I was and both women yelled out. Simone yelled because she was finally one with me and our energy and thoughts melded together like she had always dreamed she would do with someone she cared about, and the woman because it was something she had always wanted to see.


    Since she was touching Simone directly, she got some of what we were sharing, and that drove her wild. Getting to see it was what she really wanted and she enjoyed that a lot. Getting to feel it without having to do it herself was something she had never thought was possible and she loved it.


    It was then that I got the reason why from her. She didn''t like being touched in that way herself. Just the thought of having something inside of her made her physically sick... but... watching it gave her a mental satisfaction that her physical body couldn''t give her, no matter how many times she tried. When she felt my Presence doing things to Simone, she gave herself over to the sensations completely, because she didn''t have to have sex herself. She thought that was absolutely amazing.


    Needless to say, the three of us had a wonderful time after that. Simone and I enjoyed each other''s bodies and shared our Presence and thoughts, and the woman who was our audience, thoroughly enjoyed watching it all and feeling it through Simone. None of us thought that was going to happen, and we expected her to watch and get off on seeing it happen. Finding out that she hated physical intimacy but loved seeing it and feeling someone else having it, wasn''t on anyone''s mind at all.


    Because Simone and I knew what she had gone through, we invited her to bed. Not to have sex or to even cuddle. She would have refused immediately if that was the case. No, we asked her to stay on the far side of the bed, that way she could spend the time with us as we cuddled and held each other and let her feel it with Presence.


    With the caveat that neither of us would try to touch her, she agreed and laid down facing us. I held Simone in close and lightly kissed her lips, cheek, forehead, then the tip of her nose. She stared at me while I did it and her thoughts were swirling.


    Are you doing it for her? Simone asked and an image of the woman watching us flashed in my head.


    No, I''m doing it because I''m trying to stop myself from going down on you again.


    Simone shivered at the thought, so I moved a hand down and felt her. She moaned and kissed me as my hand explored her and my mind explored hers. We were both sharing completely and she was like putty in my hands.


    H-hey. Simone thought and broke the kiss. You weren''t supposed to get anything that you asked for, remember?


    I didn''t ask. I thought with a smile and kissed her again.


    Bastard. Simone thought with a mental laugh and let me do what I wanted.


    The woman watched us and enjoyed it all, until she started to doze off and then fell asleep. We didn''t stay up much longer than that and went to sleep ourselves. I felt the woman wake up about seven hours later, and she sat up and stared at us.


    That was all real. The woman thought in surprise. She half-thought it had been a crazy dream, so I opened my eyes and looked at her. I nodded my head at her and sent her a touch of Presence. She shivered and nodded back. She got out of bed and slipped on her clothes, then she walked around to my side of the bed.


    ¡°I want to kiss you to thank you for what you did; but, I don''t want to kiss you.¡± The woman whispered, the conflict deeply ingrained in her mind. ¡°I can''t even pretend...¡± She started to say and I felt her mind reel and her stomach turn slightly.


    ¡°Just saying thank you is fine.¡± I said. ¡°It''s the thought that counts.¡±


    The woman looked down at me holding Simone lovingly, then she did something that surprised her. She kissed the palm of her own hand and then pressed the palm to my lips. Her stomach protested, so she pulled the hand back and barely managed to stop herself from throwing up.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and let her feel my gratitude.


    ¡°Goodbye.¡± She said and looked at Simone, then looked at her palm.


    ¡°Don''t press your luck.¡± I warned her.


    She let out a low chuckle, nodded, and left the room.


    ¡°Here I thought I was messed up with my physical disability before you gave me my arms back.¡± Simone said and opened her eyes to look at me.


    ¡°She is definitely one of the oddest people I''ve met, and I''ve met some really odd people.¡± I smiled. ¡°On the plus side, we put on a great show for her and she really liked it.¡±


    Simone heard the smugness in my voice and laughed.


    ¡°We better get washed and changed.¡± I said and looked at the time on the alarm clock. ¡°We only have two hours before Jelly gets up.¡±


    Simone raised her eyebrows at the ''only two hours'' part. I threw off the blanket and picked her up, then carried her into the bathroom that was as big as the rest of the room. The shower looked like it could fit a dozen people safely and it had eight shower heads. I turned it on and the pulsing water cascaded over her.


    ¡°Two hours is not long enough.¡± Simone said and I grinned as I started to lather her up.


    The two hours passed by before we knew it, making Simone''s words prophetic, and we were out of our suite and down in the elevator to the third floor. Jelly came out of her room and looked like she hadn''t slept a wink.


    ¡°Pop my head.¡± Jelly said and pointed to it.


    I chuckled and touched her forehead and gently boosted her. ¡°It''ll get us home and you can go back to bed.¡± I said. ¡°Your own bed.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Jelly said and saluted, then led us down to the ground floor and to the front desk. We informed them we had to leave, which gave them two vacant rooms for other customers, then we left and went to the shuttle. After a quick flight check, Jelly brought the shuttle up to full power and received clearance for a flight path to orbit. We took off and followed the path, made it to orbit, then flew back to the space habitat.


    ¡°Good morning, Opina.¡± Jelly said as we approached.


    ¡°Welcome back!¡± Opina said happily and opened the bay doors. ¡°Hunter, Hailey said you better be in the room by the time she finishes breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Tell her I came back early so I could eat breakfast with her.¡± I said. ¡°I''m starving.¡±


    ¡°Me, too.¡± Simone said. ¡°What are you making?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± I asked. ¡°I''m not even home yet!¡±


    ¡°Fly faster, Jelly!¡± Simone said.


    Jelly laughed and flew right to the back of the bay and landed.


    ¡°Come on!¡± Simone said and grabbed my arm and opened the hatch. ¡°Go! Go! Go!¡±


    Jelly laughed again as Simone dragged me out of the shuttle and over to the lift.

 Book Three: The Resolution 067

    Both Simone and I had successfully moved the time we shared into our long term memory, that way, Hailey wouldn''t have access to it right away. She knew we had sex, since we weren''t hiding that it happened, we were only stopping her from seeing the details and feeling the things we had felt. It was not something that we wanted a young and impressionable mind to have access to. At least, not until she was old enough to understand what it meant.


    Over the next two weeks, while I waited for the last of the first shipment of satellites to be delivered, I constructed another hundred of them and sent them out on a fast cargo ship. The pings the network hub received on an hourly basis was astonishing and the credits kept rolling in.


    I also managed to install a third reactor core into Adona and added all of the primary power coils and assault laser cannons that required. I included six extra coils and spread the power load, that way they could maintain continuous fire and not drain the reactor. They were mounted on gimbals so they could rotate in a limited capacity, too. Even Adona was surprised at the versatility the cannons I had spread around her outer shell gave her in ship offense.


    Hailey continued her flying lessons and was becoming a fairly good pilot, even though she wasn''t allowed to have a license or allowed to fly or co-pilot ''officially''. We had Udelis log all of her time anyway, just in case, so that when she could get her license, she would already have accumulated the required flight time to go from the provisional license to the full license. That was the best we could do for her in that respect and she was quite happy that she wasn''t wasting her or our time by having everyone teach her.


    When the last satellite from that very first shipment was delivered, which ironically was the last system on the fast cargo ship''s way back, it was time to start planning the first covert mission. It didn''t take us long to figure out we were going to take Adona, since we wanted some extra protection when going to the system. Nothing said ''back off'' like an old destroyer ship design. I left off the two observation bubbles that it was supposed to have, mainly because Adona didn''t need for people to see for her.


    ¡°This place is going to be... awful.¡± Simone said and brought up the data on the holographic table.


    ¡°You have got to be kidding me.¡± Jelly said and read it.


    ¡°It''s one of their holding facilities for prisoners.¡± Simone said sadly and looked at me. ¡°I''m really glad I convinced you to put this off until now, because we needed the satellite to give us this new data.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I''m glad the codes we retrieved from the data still worked.¡±


    Simone nodded back. ¡°I can''t believe there''s something like this so close to a main traffic system.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes hiding in plain sight can keep you hidden.¡± I said. ¡°What is the business? A recruitment camp?¡±


    Gleas barked a laugh. ¡°Goddess! What a simple explanation for extra fencing, guards all over the place, and haggard people inside when they are seen!¡±


    ¡°We are taking this down, right?¡± Deborah asked with a determined look in her eyes.


    ¡°We are.¡± I said. ¡°Just as soon as we decide who wants to go.¡±


    Everyone stood up from their seats.


    ¡°We can''t all go.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m not staying behind if Beatrice goes.¡± Sandy said.


    ¡°I don''t want to stay home, either.¡± Hailey said. ¡°You''ll be a week''s travel away and if anything happens, I won''t know it unless... unless...¡±


    I reached out and hugged her. ¡°Don''t worry. You''ve seen some of the things I''ve been through. This isn''t going to be nearly as tough.¡±


    Hailey heard my thoughts and gasped. ¡°Will that work?¡±


    ¡°We''re going to find out.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Will what work?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°Simone? If you would.¡± I motioned to the table and she changed the display to show the scan of a man''s head. It zoomed in and went inside to show the little bomb inside.


    ¡°You''re going to set them off!¡± Gleas exclaimed. She was always the first to grasp a situation.


    ¡°You got it.¡± I said. ¡°It''s going to take a bit of tech-wizardry to figure out how to broadcast an internal signal from an external source, though.¡±


    ¡°Why do it artificially?¡± Gleas asked. ¡°Isn''t your detection range at two miles?¡±


    ¡°I can''t use it or they''ll blow the buildings.¡± I said and Simone changed the display to a wire frame of the buildings in their compound and red blips showed up on every second floor and were scattered in a pattern to ensure complete destruction.


    ¡°They really don''t want anyone discovering them.¡± I said. ¡°As soon as they feel my Presence, they will respond with deadly force.¡±


    ¡°You already have something made to try, don''t you?¡± Sheph asked and I nodded.


    ¡°There''s no way to test it before getting into the thick of it, though.¡± I said and took out a device that was the size of my fist. ¡°It uses vibrations and resonance to send signals through physical objects.¡±


    ¡°It also needs direct contact to work.¡± Simone said and glared at me, then sighed. ¡°That''s why he said trying to figure out how to reproduce it on a large scale will be difficult.¡±


    ¡°I guess that would stop them from being activated every time they step through a security scanner.¡± Gleas said and thought about it. ¡°Having to touch each person to kill them is not very feasible.¡±


    ¡°That wouldn''t normally be a problem, since we could just shoot the place up with laser cannon fire or just drop a few chunks of rock on them from orbit.¡± Simone said. ¡°It''s not knowing where the prisoners are that''s got our previous plans completely messed up.¡±


    Gleas stared at the building setup and remembered what the thing was called. ¡°Are you sure they are actually prisoners?¡±


    I turned my head to look at her. ¡°You think they have actual recruits mixed in, that way they get the same experience as a prisoner.¡±


    Gleas nodded. ¡°It''s the perfect cover, isn''t it? Who would question one or two new people showing up or a few going missing occasionally? Actual prisoners coming and going would be completely hidden.¡±


    ¡°Son of a bitch.¡± Simone said and sat down. ¡°This headache is getting bigger and bigger!¡±


    I chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder and shared some Presence with her. ¡°We have time, since none of them know we know.¡± I said. ¡°We''ll keep gathering information and we''ll work something out. When we do, then and only then will we move.¡±


    Simone took a breath and let it out, then nodded. ¡°Okay. We can do this.¡± She said. ¡°I know we can.¡±


    ¡°That''s the spirit.¡± I said. ¡°I doubt we can get into their systems externally, since they are compartmentalized.¡± I turned the display around and highlighted the main building. ¡°Once we''re inside, though...¡±


    ¡°We can access their records and find out which ones are actual prisoners!¡± Simone said.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°I''m hoping they also have a device to...¡± I stopped and looked at Hailey when she gasped. ¡°I''m sorry, Honey.¡± I kissed her cheek and looked back at Simone. ¡°I hope they have a device they use to torture the prisoners, something they use to threaten to blow the suicide charge...¡±


    Everyone else gasped this time.


    ¡°Yes, it''s a horrible thing to want.¡± I said. ¡°If they have one, though... all of our future missions against this organization will be that much smoother.¡±


    ¡°Even other places with prisoners won''t make any difference, especially if we can give the signal the ability to be broadcast.¡± Simone said and I nodded.


    ¡°It''s going to be another stealth mission, and a very dangerous one.¡± I cautioned.


    ¡°It won''t matter if we pull it off.¡± Simone said. ¡°Especially if they do have a device we can use.¡±


    ¡°Do you really want to use a torture device?¡± Sheph asked, surprised.


    I reached out and touched her hand. ¡°No, I''m not going to use it to torture them. I''m going to use it to activate the suicide charge in their head to kill them. No threats, no questioning, no anything that would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.¡±


    Sheph relaxed at my words. ¡°I was worried we were going to have to drag you back from the brink of madness if you were going to torture them.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate that you think you could bring me back from that.¡± I said with a chuckle, and she smiled.


    ¡°I''d try.¡± Sheph said. ¡°We all would.¡±


    Everyone nodded, so I stood up straight and held my arms out wide.


    ¡°You... are all... my conscience!¡± I said dramatically and they laughed.


    ¡°All right.¡± Sheph said and turned the building display again. ¡°We have to get this figured out.¡±


    ¡°Are you coming, too?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°No, I''m no good for field operations.¡± Sheph said. ¡°I''m only an administrator.¡±


    I chuckled at that. ¡°You ran part of the government for an entire planetary star system. You are not only an administrator.¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Sandy pointed at Sheph. ¡°Let her run your company!¡±


    I was surprised that I hadn''t thought of that before.


    ¡°I couldn''t possibly...¡± Sheph started to say.


    ¡°I''m going to be too busy myself for... well, now that the satellites are in place, I''m going to be running missions pretty constantly.¡± I said and gave Sheph an appraising eye. ¡°Can you lower yourself enough to only running a company?¡±


    Sheph laughed. ¡°I''m not qualified for it.¡±


    ¡°Neither am I.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°So, what other argument have you got?¡±


    ¡°I''m too busy enjoying my vacation.¡± Sheph said, and that made everyone laugh. ¡°What? It''s true!¡±


    Hailey and Simone laughed harder at the lie and I grinned.


    ¡°You''ve been pacing your room and wondering what you were going to do for the rest of your life.¡± I said to Sheph. She opened her mouth to deny it, then sighed.


    ¡°What am I going to do with my life from now on?¡±


    ¡°You can take care of my business for now, then if you feel like doing something else later, you can do that, too.¡± I said. ¡°What do you say? Can you take care of us with Opina''s help?¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Opina?¡± Sheph asked the room. ¡°Should I accept?¡±


    ¡°I think having something to do is better than wearing out the carpet some more.¡± Opina said.


    ¡°I guess that means I''m doing it.¡± Sheph said with a smile.


    ¡°I think I found you an assistant, too.¡± I said and pointed to Sandy.


    ¡°What?¡± Sandy looked surprised.


    ¡°You''ve been placing the orders for things ever since the medical supply debacle.¡± I said. ¡°You need to let Sheph know what you''ve been doing and what state everything is currently in. Becoming her assistant would not only let you keep doing what you''re doing, you also get a fancy new title out of it.¡±


    Sandy huffed and looked at Beatrice, who looked back at her with sparkling eyes. ¡°You want me to?¡±


    Beatrice nodded. ¡°You''ve been doing it all anyway.¡±


    Sandy nodded and looked at me. ¡°All right. I''m in.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± I said and tapped my knuckle on the table. ¡°Let''s leave this planning session alone for an hour or so and see if we can''t come up with something better later.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? We need this sorted out before we can decide who we need on the mission.¡± Simone said and then smiled. ¡°That is, unless you''re making food.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Yes, I''ll make lunch.¡±


    ¡°Meeting adjourned.¡± Simone said with authority. ¡°Hailey, you know what to do.¡±


    ¡°I''ll get the aprons and you get the food!¡± Hailey said and ran from the meeting room with Simone right behind her.


    ¡°Hey, I didn''t agree to have two assistants!¡± I said to their backs and they laughed.


    ¡°I''ll move the chairs at the table to face the right way.¡± Gleas said with a grin and left.


    ¡°I think I''ve spoiled you all with my cooking.¡± I said and the rest of us left the meeting room together.


    ¡°Yes, it''s all your fault that you''re a great cook and we love eating your meals.¡± Sheph laughed.


    We all went to the huge octagon in the middle of the third floor and Gleas already had the chairs arrayed near the counter so that they could all watch me as I cooked the meal.


    ¡°I should sell tickets.¡± I joked and took the apron Hailey held out to me and put it on.


    ¡°Or record a show.¡± Simone said and opened four different cabinets and grabbed several different things at the same time.


    ¡°Hey, no pre-adding ingredients.¡± I swatted her hand. ¡°You don''t even know what I''m cooking yet.¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± Simone said with a laugh and handed Hailey a big bowl and a whisk with two hands. ¡°Start telling us what you want or I''ll empty all of the cupboards.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°All right, all right.¡± I said and stepped between them and started to direct them. They both rubbed against me, grabbed the ingredients I needed, then listened to my directions. I did the same to them, of course. That was the fun of couple''s cooking, after all. Both Hailey and Simone were giggling and in great moods by the time the meal was prepared, and when we turned around, we were met with applause.


    ¡°We definitely should have filmed that.¡± Sandy said. ¡°Just the coordination alone was amazing to see.¡±


    ¡°I have to agree.¡± Sheph said. ¡°How do I sign up for the next cooking lesson?¡±


    ¡°You just did.¡± I said and she gave me a huge smile.


    ¡°Let''s eat!¡± Simone said and carried four plates to the table. Hailey carried two, and I carried the rest. We all sat at the huge table and enjoyed the food that was made with both skill and love.


    That sounds a little corny, even in my head. I thought with a smile.


    Both Simone and Hailey looked at me. I love you. They thought at the same time.


    I love you, too. I thought and gave them what I felt about them. They blushed and went back to eating.


    We finished the meal and let it digest as we talked about any way we could make the next mission safer. We knew that we could only do so much without actually being there and witnessing what the conditions were like. The problem was that there was nowhere near for the place to be observed from without giving us away.


    We went back to the meeting room and continued to discuss it. After two more hours, we had a tentative plan in place and had the crew picked out. Sheph, Beatrice, Sandy, and Hailey would be staying behind and everyone else would be coming along.


    ¡°You can''t leave me behind.¡± Hailey commanded and stared at me angrily.


    ¡°Hailey.¡± I took her hand and knelt on one knee to put her head slightly above mine. ¡°I could travel across the universe all alone and I will never leave you behind.¡± I said and let my Presence out and touched hers. ¡°No matter where I go, there you''ll be, because you are in my heart and always will be.¡±


    Hailey''s eyes teared up as she felt how I felt and knew that it was the truth. The Presence didn''t waver at all and she put her arms around my neck and hugged me. We stayed that way for several minutes, then she composed herself and let me go.


    ¡°If you die on me, I''m going to kill you.¡± Hailey said sternly.


    ¡°I would definitely deserve it.¡± I said and wiped at her eyes, then gave her a quick kiss.


    I stood up and saw that there wasn''t a dry eye anywhere on the others. No one commented on it and we ended the meeting. We would leave the next day after loading the appropriate supplies onto Adona, then we would be gone for over two weeks, depending on how long it took to do the mission when there. It wasn''t the best plan; but, it had the highest chance of success, according to the three AIs we had.


    We didn''t ask what the odds of failure were.


    We all went back to our rooms and went to bed, some anxious about the mission to come, others nervous about being left behind, and all of us hoped it all worked out and that it wasn''t a fool''s errand.


    The next day came and after eating and loading the ship, we were off. A week''s travel isn''t that long in space terms; but, each day seemed to drag on and was a lot longer than it was supposed to be. I rested fitfully, even with Simone in my bed and sharing energy and thoughts.


    I didn''t know why I was suffering like that until I stood in the cockpit of the ship when it left hyperspace. We had entered the nearby star system that was a day''s normal space travel away from the target and I felt my Presence being sucked out. My body trembled and Simone said something that I didn''t hear. I tried to take several shaky steps, then I collapsed to the floor.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Simone yelled and knelt beside me. ¡°What''s wrong?¡±


    ¡°S-star... the star.¡± I managed to say. ¡°Get... away... from...¡± I lost consciousness as my Presence drained away.


    *


    ¡°What''s wrong with the star?¡± Gleas asked. ¡°It''s a brown dwarf star, isn''t it?¡± She asked and checked the instruments. ¡°It''s barely giving off any light.¡±


    Simone gasped. ¡°Oh, god!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°Get us out of here! Right now!¡±


    Gleas didn''t question why and turned the ship around and added power to the engines. ¡°Deborah?¡±


    ¡°Coordinates are coming.¡± Deborah said. ¡°Thirty seconds.¡±


    ¡°God, please let us survive long enough to jump.¡± Simone prayed, her voice full of sincerity.


    Ten seconds later, the entire ship lurched off course as something massive slammed into it from above.


    ¡°ARGH! What was that?¡± Adona asked from the intercom speakers. ¡°I can''t see anything!¡±


    ¡°We can''t see anything, either!¡± Gleas said and checked the instruments and then looked out through the cockpit''s window again. ¡°Whatever it is, it''s invisible!¡±


    The ship was slammed again and flipped over. Thankfully, the internal gravity was strong enough to stop everyone from being thrown around like ragdolls. Gleas managed to right the ship and get it back on course.


    ¡°Got them!¡± Deborah said and sent Gleas the coordinates to jump.


    ¡°Hold on!¡± Gleas said and pushed the levers and hit the button to jump. Just then, there was a sound of wrenching metal as if it was being crushed, the ship''s AI Adona let out a scream, then the ship disappeared into hyperspace.

 Book Three: The Resolution 068

    Elsewhere


    I opened my eyes and only saw pitch blackness.


    ¡°I didn''t expect to see you this soon, Darling.¡± A sultry woman''s voice came out of the darkness and I recognized it immediately.


    ¡°Black Laura.¡± I said with reverence.


    ¡°No need to be so formal.¡± Laura said as the darkness faded slightly and some semblance of light formed around me. She stepped forward into that light and tendrils of the darkness clung onto her and seemed reluctant to let her go. Her hair floated around her as if she was floating in water and she wore the same insubstantial dress she wore the last time I had seen her. My eyes roamed from her face to her breasts, then down to her slender hips and legs, then back up to her face.


    ¡°Mmm.¡± Laura shivered as she felt my reaction to seeing her. ¡°Your personal situation has changed.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows at her and she let out a sexy laugh. It was the kind of laugh that would attract the attention of every man in a room, and quite a few women. She stepped close to me and her black hair floated around us.


    ¡°You aren''t completely whole, though.¡± Laura said and tapped the scars over my heart.


    ¡°Hailey.¡± I whispered.


    ¡°I still can''t claim you if you aren''t whole, Darling.¡± Laura whispered and her breath on my face made me shiver. It was a good shiver, too. ¡°I suppose this is just another quick visit?¡± She asked, teasingly. ¡°Are you that desperate to see me again? After that explosion wasn''t enough for you?¡±


    Now that I was back here, I remembered being here then. I brought my arms up and put them around her. ¡°Laura, I... this time...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Laura said and put her arms around me. ¡°I''ll let Maleketh know.¡±


    I leaned in and gave her a tender kiss and held it for several seconds. ¡°Thank you for this. Again.¡±


    Laura softly laughed. ¡°You have work to do and I can help only as much as I am allowed.¡±


    ¡°Will you let me remember...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Laura said. ¡°You know the rules.¡±


    ¡°I forget them when I leave, just like I forget everything else that happened here.¡± I said, sadly.


    ¡°You couldn''t do what needs to be done if you did.¡± Laura said with a smile. ¡°Now kiss me again like you mean it.¡±


    It was my turn to chuckle. ¡°I always mean it.¡±


    This time, I gave her a kiss as if she was all there was in the universe and she deserved to have everything given to her, even my life. Black Laura shuddered at my thoughts and emotions, as if she hadn''t had someone offer her such things in a long time. We stayed there for what felt like both an eternity and only a moment at the same time, then she broke the kiss.


    ¡°Your friends need you.¡± Laura said.


    I nodded and let her out of the embrace, then I reached up and caressed her cheek. ¡°I''ll try to not come back too soon.¡±


    Laura let out a laugh. ¡°You know I would take you in a heartbeat and keep you, if you would let me.¡±


    ¡°Now who''s eager to see whom?¡± I asked and she turned her head and kissed my palm.


    ¡°If you only knew.¡± Black Laura said as she floated back into the darkness, as if the scene played in reverse, then the light faded and the blackness once again became all encompassing.


    *


    ¡°ARGH!¡± I yelled as I woke up and felt a sharp pain in my chest, right where my heart was.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Gleas exclaimed, then she relaxed. ¡°You''re okay.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I said and sat up and the thin blanket slid down. I saw two new scars had formed inside the two concentric rings of scars on my chest. I rubbed them and wondered what the hell had happened. ¡°Where are we?¡±


    ¡°We''re in hyperspace and travelling at point five past light speed.¡± Gleas said. ¡°You''ve been unconscious for almost a week.¡±


    The numbers rolled around in my head. ¡°You''re taking us all the way back and it''s taking twice as long?¡± I asked and she nodded.


    ¡°The ship took too much damage to stay on mission.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I can''t explain how it happened.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, I can.¡± I said. ¡°How is everyone?¡±


    ¡°Shaken up.¡± Gleas said and reached for the intercom button. ¡°Hunter''s awake.¡±


    Barely five seconds later, Deborah, Jelly, and Simone were in the medical bay and had surrounded me. I was covered in hugs and brief kisses for several moments, even from Gleas, then Simone had the others move back and put her forehead on mine.


    ¡°Tell us what happened.¡± Simone ordered me. She knew about it but the others needed to hear it.


    ¡°The short version is that the star in that system was being consumed.¡± I said and saw and felt their shock. ¡°It''s Presence is being siphoned off by a divine being.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t feel anything; but, when Gleas said it was a brown dwarf star...¡± Simone started to say.


    I nodded. ¡°You remembered my adventures on Relique and what I found through the portal cracks.¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand how it can be happening here, though.¡± Simone sighed.


    ¡°We are all missing some very important information here.¡± Gleas said and squinted her eyes at me. ¡°I think you need to explain a few things.¡±


    I sat back and rested against the top of the bed and created enough chairs with Presence for everyone to sit. ¡°This might take a while.¡±


    ¡°We''ve got another week of travel before we have to attempt to leave hyperspace.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°What do you mean, ''attempt to''?¡± I asked, then I heard the thoughts from the surface of her mind. ¡°Well, damn.¡±


    ¡°Two of Adona''s engines are scrap.¡± Gleas said. ¡°The top of the ship is... crushed.¡±


    ¡°The worst part of all that is the hyperspace generator was damaged.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°Since we''re in hyperspace right now... without a fully functional generator to drop us in the right spot...¡± I sighed. ¡°We''re flying blind.¡±


    ¡°So is Adona.¡± Jelly said. ¡°All of the sensors, cameras, and gravity detectors on the outside of the ship are gone.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I looked at her in surprise. ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°They were ripped out.¡± Simone said. ¡°I went out and looked personally.¡±


    I widened my eyes at her and gave her an ''are you crazy'' look. ¡°You went outside the ship.¡± I said in disbelief. ¡°In hyperspace.¡±


    Simone nodded. ¡°Half of her deflector screens are scrap, too.¡±


    ¡°Whoever that was, definitely didn''t like someone finding out what they were doing.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Gleas said and I nodded.


    ¡°All right.¡± I sighed. ¡°I hope you''re ready to hear what I encountered during my nearly seven hundred year long trip to the planet at the center of the universe.¡±


    Simone was the only one that didn''t react with utter shock at my statement. Even Adona, the ship''s AI, let a low buzz come from the intercom speakers. They all listened in disbelief as I recounted the tale of what happened. It took about eight hours for me to tell a condensed version of it all. I had to take a break to eat in the middle of it, too.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°You''re really over seven hundred years old?¡± Gleas asked, completely stunned.


    ¡°Don''t tell me you''re not into older guys.¡± I joked and she caught her breath, then she let out a laugh.


    ¡°I can''t believe I''ve been shaking my ass and teasing an old man.¡± Gleas said with amusement.


    ¡°It''s a great ass.¡± I said and took her hand. ¡°You know I really like that you chose to tease me with it.¡±


    Gleas nodded and held my hand tightly. ¡°I don''t feel objectified while doing it, either.¡±


    ¡°I hope it''s because you know that I''m seeing the whole woman and not just a wonderfully sexy pair of tight pants.¡±


    Gleas chuckled. ¡°You know I buy them just for you, right?¡±


    ¡°You do?¡± I asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°You didn''t know.¡± Gleas said, surprised herself. ¡°I thought... you know.¡± She pointed to her temple.


    ¡°I might have caught the thought if you were thinking it and if I was trying to listen at the time.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°Believe me, I was not trying to read your mind at the time. I was too busy staring.¡±


    Gleas opened her mouth to say something, then she accepted what I said as the compliment it was. ¡°Thank you, Hunter.¡±


    I looked at Deborah and Jelly and back at Gleas. ¡°I hope you''re not all thinking that I''m stealing your secret thoughts or something.¡± I said and they blushed a little. ¡°Even with Simone, who I''ve got a deep sharing connection with now, I don''t dip into her inner thoughts unless she lets me.¡±


    The three women looked at Simone.


    ¡°It''s wonderful when he does.¡± Simone said wistfully as she thought back to our last day off. ¡°Just the feeling of his Presence inside of me and the intimacy of letting him know my innermost thoughts...¡±


    Gleas, Deborah, and Jelly blushed harder at the thought.


    ¡°Simone.¡± I said and she chuckled.


    ¡°It''s been a week since we slept in bed together.¡± Simone said. ¡°You can''t blame me for missing you.¡±


    ¡°Didn''t you come here to visit?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I did; but, I couldn''t share your thoughts.¡± Simone said. ¡°I couldn''t follow our connection into your mind, either.¡±


    I thought about what that meant. ¡°I did lose practically all of my Presence. Maybe my mind blocked everything until I recovered some of it?¡±


    ¡°Anything is possible, since you were unconscious and weren''t actively blocking me.¡± Simone said. ¡°Yes, I can tell the difference.¡±


    ¡°I knew that really annoyed you when I did it.¡± I said with a smile and she swatted my arm.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°This... whatever it is... is a bit of a road block for us.¡± I said. ¡°If we can''t slip into nearby systems safely, then we may need to go with Simone''s original plan with laser cannons blazing.¡±


    ¡°We''ll become immediate outlaws if we do that openly.¡± Gleas warned.


    I sighed. ¡°We would also tip them off that someone knows about what they are doing.¡±


    ¡°Which means they could pack up everywhere else and move somewhere else to continue their work.¡± Simone said. ¡°No, we can''t do that.¡± She said. ¡°We will have to get there on another ship and travel directly to the planet.¡±


    ¡°So we drop the whole covert approach?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don''t want to take the chance that we could fall into another dying system.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°It''s not dying.¡± I said and they all looked at me. ¡°Things can still live on the planets. There''s just almost no visible light emitted by the star.¡±


    ¡°That''s... why would anyone...¡± Gleas shook her head and then looked at me. ¡°How can I be sexually attracted to some who is seven hundred years old?!?¡±


    Deborah, Jelly, and Simone exchanged looks for a second, then burst out laughing.


    ¡°It''s not funny!¡± Gleas pouted and crossed her arms, which pushed her breasts up slightly in her flight suit. She was intentionally making us laugh, so I only looked at her chest for a moment before I laughed, too.


    ¡°I think you''ve been in bed long enough.¡± Simone said. ¡°Adona needs your help.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I''ll take a look at the hyperspace generator first, since that has to have priority.¡±


    Everyone relaxed and two of them let out a sigh. Simone gave me a wicked grin and yanked away the blanket. Gleas, Deborah, and Jelly gasped at my nakedness, then they blushed at my quite ready state.


    ¡°Thanks a lot, Simone.¡± I said sarcastically and covered myself with Presence and made it solid. ¡°Where''s my flight suit?¡±


    ¡°Hanging up in the cabinet.¡± Simone said and pointed across the medical bay.


    I used Presence to open the cabinet and a Presence Hand to carry my suit over to the bed. I stood up and had to absorb the solid Presence covering me, then slipped on my flight suit. When it snapped into place at my neck, none of the women had changed where they were looking.


    ¡°It''s not that interesting, is it?¡± I asked.


    Gleas looked up at my face. ¡°Are you sure you''re seven hundred years old?¡± She asked me. ¡°I just had a close up look at you and that was not an old man''s penis.¡±


    Jelly let out a laugh. ¡°Oh, goddess!¡± She exclaimed when she remembered a traumatic event. ¡°A sixty year old division commander had to use the common showers one day...¡± She relayed the story and about how the man''s ball sack hung down farther than his penis was long. The other women laughed hard at the mental image that gave them.


    I rubbed my face in exasperation. ¡°I did not need to know that.¡± I said, and that made them laugh more. ¡°I''m going to work.¡± I said and Simone followed me out of the medical bay. When the door shut, she put a hand on my arm. ¡°I know you did it to distract them.¡± I said.


    Simone nodded. ¡°They needed to know you were okay.¡±


    ¡°They know something on me is okay.¡± I said and she chuckled.


    ¡°Gleas made you excited, Hunter. She needed to know you weren''t taking her teasing for granted.¡±


    I blinked my eyes at her and caught her thoughts. ¡°You told them about our hover bike trip?¡±


    Simone nodded. ¡°Take Gleas aside in a few days and ask her about it.¡±


    ¡°Simone...¡±


    ¡°Trust me, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°I do, but...¡±


    ¡°I love you.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said. ¡°But...¡±


    Simone stepped close and put her arms around my neck and kissed me. She encouraged my Presence to merge with hers and then we stayed there for several moments. She sighed into my mouth and broke the kiss, then she smiled wickedly.


    ¡°If you get the hyperspace generator working, I''ll let you...¡± Simone leaned in and whispered in a sexy voice what she wanted me to do to her.


    ¡°I''m pretty sure that would violate my policy.¡± I said.


    ¡°Only a little.¡± Simone said and I shook my head.


    ¡°No, even if you''re not an employee, that still makes it an unsafe working environment.¡±


    ¡°You won''t budge on...¡±


    ¡°If I gave in, even a little, what''s to stop me from just manipulating everything for my own benefit?¡±


    Simone sighed. ¡°All right. I won''t pressure you anymore.¡±


    ¡°That''s good, because it won''t work.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°See you tonight.¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Simone called after me as I walked away.


    ¡°If you show up wearing that, I won''t have sex with you for a week.¡± I said.


    ¡°We only have a week left before we''re home!¡± Simone exclaimed.


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and went into the engine room to look at the hyperspace generator. ¡°Well, you''re in a sad and pitiful state.¡± I said and looked at the partially smoking piece of machinery. ¡°Adona, can I isolate certain parts to try and work on them without interrupting our journey?¡±


    ¡°You won''t be able to take it apart, since it currently has power and needs to maintain at least eighty-five percent functionality.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Okay. I can do this.¡± I said and reached into my bag of holding and took out my electronics toolkit. ¡°Adona, warn me when I''m in danger of the generator dropping below the threshold.¡±


    ¡°My internal sensors are at a hundred and ten percent.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Don''t burn them out.¡±


    ¡°I have the power regulators cycling at three hundred times per second.¡± Adona said. ¡°No sensor will fail from such a low power surge.¡±


    I nodded and used Presence to look through the hyperspace generator and shook my head. ¡°There are cross-welds on some of these circuits.¡±


    ¡°The internal temperature of the hyperspace generator reached three hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit, with electrical spikes in random areas of another fifty.¡±


    ¡°Which pretty much liquefied the solder in those places.¡± I sighed, then grit my teeth. ¡°All right. Let''s get this thing back to top working condition.¡± I said and opened my toolkit. ¡°Close off the ventilation in this section and only add in new air occasionally. Don''t suck the old air into your air ducting system, either. Keep it here in the two filters of this room.¡±


    Not being able to open the generator up made it very difficult to get the soldering iron into the right spots to melt away the unintended connections that the melted solder had created. Of course, I wasn''t sure about some of them, so I had to have Adona reference the plans and guide me when a melted spot looked sloppy and also looked like it needed to be there. Her input was invaluable.


    Needless to say, I stayed there for nearly six hours, had used up or damaged eight of the different soldering heads I had for my soldering iron, and the smoke and vapour from working in close quarters with solder was thicker than the normal air. It was a good thing I could hold my breath for a long time and only took shallow ones when I did breathe.


    ¡°Okay, I think I have them all.¡± I said with Presence over my mouth. ¡°I''ll come back and clear the air with the portable filtration system.¡±


    ¡°You need to wipe everything off, too. You made a big mess inside of me.¡± Adona said.


    I nearly choked at her words and held in my laugh. ¡°I will... clean up... after myself.¡± I managed to say, then I left the room and couldn''t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.


    I recovered quickly from my laughing fit and returned with the portable filtration system and sucked in all of the contaminated air and caught it all in the thick filters designed for it, then replaced the two in the room. They had a thick buildup of grime on the side facing the room and I knew that my decision to cut off the air circulation was the right one.


    Having that smoke and vapour travelling through the ship and getting into all of the filters would cause them all to be replaced, not to mention the particles the filters didn''t or couldn''t catch, like the smell. That alone would need the ship to visit an atmosphere to get it to air out.


    ¡°How is the generator now?¡± I asked Adona.


    ¡°It''s at ninety-five percent and holding. Your patches will get us out of hyperspace at the proper coordinates; however, I won''t make another jump until it is properly repaired or replaced.¡±


    ¡°Not a problem.¡± I said. ¡°We need to get you into a proper repair facility anyway.¡±


    ¡°You''re not going to do the work yourself?¡± Adona asked.


    ¡°I could do it.¡± I said and reached out and pat a bulkhead. ¡°I''d rather have you looked after by professionals... under strict supervision, of course.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Adona said.


    ¡°I wonder if we can get your main reactor upgraded at the same time?¡± I asked and carried the portable filtration unit back to the storage cabinet.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I''ve been wanting to have your power core fixed for a while. It''s rating is way too low for a great ship like you.¡± I said and closed the cabinet. ¡°So, if you''re going in for major repairs anyway...¡±


    ¡°No wonder all of the females secretly love you.¡± Adona said.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± I looked at the closest security camera. ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Adona said. ¡°I didn''t say anything.¡±


    ¡°Adona.¡± I walked over to the camera, because I was surprised when the Presence wavered at her lie.


    ¡°No, I didn''t say anything.¡± Adona said. ¡°It was a joke. Yes, a joke.¡±


    The Presence really did waver. From an AI lying. I thought in surprise, then didn''t want to cause Adona to get in trouble and changed what I was going to say. ¡°Maybe I didn''t hear what I thought I heard.¡±


    ¡°Right. Just an odd rambling from a distracted AI.¡± Adona said.


    I let out a chuckle and walked towards the kitchen to get something to eat, then changed my mind and went to get a shower instead. I was surprised when I didn''t meet Simone in my room, so I took a quick shower and changed, then went to grab something to eat. I could clean up the mess I had made inside Adona after that.

 Book Three: The Resolution 069

    A week later, everyone was in the cockpit and had strapped into the seats.


    ¡°Are you sure this is going to work?¡± Gleas asked me again.


    ¡°It''ll work, I just don''t know how well.¡± I repeated. ¡°Be prepared to react appropriately.¡±


    ¡°Evasive manoeuvres.¡± Gleas nodded.


    The right exit coordinates were still active in the computer and the hyperspace generator was functioning at ninety-five percent, which meant that it should technically still work. Like the ship''s AI had said, because the generator hadn''t stopped operations, we should still be on course.


    ¡°We''re coming up on the right coordinates.¡± Deborah said from the co-pilot''s seat.


    ¡°Prepare to disengage the hyperspace generator.¡± Gleas said and Deborah reached over and hovered a hand on the controls. Gleas should be doing it herself; but, since she needed both hands in case of an emergency, the task fell to Deborah. It was another reason why I liked having two pilots on duty at a time, and they appreciated it just as much as I did.


    ¡°Disengaging... now.¡± Deborah said and slid the levers back and hit the button.


    There was no sound for a second as the view out of the cockpit changed to that of normal space, then the ship practically slammed to a stop as it hit a sharp gravity gradient. We were all thrown against our seat restraints as our momentum dropped to almost nothing and groaned as our suits and restraints saved our lives. The sound of more wrenching metal filled our ears as the ship bucked like it was on a river rapid for several seconds, then there was nothing.


    ¡°PLANET!¡± Deborah yelled and pointed as the ship slowly rotated in space and a planet loomed large on the right.


    ¡°How do I evade that?¡± Gleas asked and tried to add more power to the two remaining engines to compensate. It didn''t work, so she cut the power instead. ¡°Emergency thrusters!¡±


    Deborah acknowledged the order and Adona showed her what ones to activate for the best chance to survive. She hit them and the ship lurched again and threw us all to the right as the ship gained momentum to the left. The one shot thrusters ran out of fuel fifteen seconds later and the planet stopped growing larger in our view, at least to the naked eye.


    ¡°I think... I think we did it.¡± Gleas said and relaxed. ¡°We''re stuck in low orbit; but, it''s stable.¡±


    ¡°Emergency call sent out. Response received. SAR team dispatched.¡± Adona said. ¡°Orbit decay in three hours.¡±


    ¡°We don''t need a search and rescue team.¡± I said and unhooked my restraints, then went to the console and called the approaching ship. ¡°We aren''t abandoning ship. I repeat, we are not abandoning ship.¡±


    ¡°Your ship is a wreck.¡± A man''s voice responded. ¡°We''re coming there to rescue you and you don''t have a choice in the matter.¡±


    ¡°Get me one of the larger ships with a built in tractor beam.¡± I said.


    ¡°You''re too close to the planet for a large ship.¡± He said. ¡°We''ll be there in twenty minutes.¡±


    ¡°Goddammit! If I wanted to leave, I''d load up the shuttle we have onboard and fly away myself.¡± I nearly shouted. ¡°You have two hours to come up with a plan to rescue MY SHIP, before I come over there and do superficial damage to the surface of YOUR ship and see how much YOU want to abandon it!¡±


    There was silence on the line for a moment. ¡°Hold please.¡±


    ¡°Wow, Hunter.¡± Simone said and pat my shoulder. ¡°Tell us how you really feel.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I can see all around the ship and the wrenching metal sounds was just the outer sheet metal coating we installed. Even all the sensors and deflector screens were torn from the shell and not from the ship''s main hull. The ship itself is still completely intact, except for the engines.¡±


    ¡°It''s mostly all superficial damage?¡± Gleas asked, then she pat the console. ¡°Way to go, Adona.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Adona said. ¡°It still hurt like hell getting my ass grabbed, though.¡±


    I barked a laugh. ¡°I''m just glad that whoever tried to grab you to stop you from leaving, missed.¡±


    ¡°They didn''t miss by much.¡± Adona said. ¡°Of course, now I''m about to land on a planet with landing gear that I can''t deploy and only half of my deflector screens.¡±


    ¡°We also don''t have the time to repair any of the damage or to install new screens.¡± I said. ¡°I''d get one, maybe two in place, then we''d be in the atmosphere.¡±


    ¡°What can we do?¡± Jelly asked. ¡°We do have a shuttle, cables and tie downs, and even mag-locks to secure them in place.¡±


    I nodded and called the SAR ship back. ¡°My shuttle pilot advises me that we could do something with cables, tie-downs, and mag-locks.¡± I said. ¡°You''ve got a powerful SAR ship. What if we hook you guys up and tow my ship out of orbit?¡±


    ¡°We have two engines to assist.¡± Gleas added. ¡°I shut them down to let the emergency thrusters work.¡±


    No one responded for about thirty seconds.


    ¡°Well, it''s worth a shot.¡± The man said. ¡°If you agree that you have to abandon ship when it fails.¡±


    I looked at the others and they reluctantly nodded. ¡°All right.¡±


    ¡°We''ll be right there.¡± The man said and cut the call.


    ¡°You''re going to leave me?¡± Adona asked.


    ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°If the plan to pull you out of the planet''s gravity well fails, I''ll shut you down, cut out your core, and take you with us.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I know it''s going to hurt you for that to happen.¡± I said and let her hear the sadness in my voice. ¡°I''ll be sorry about that later, though. Saving you is more important.¡±


    Adona didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Hey, I think we''re in the Dizahl System!¡± Deborah said and pointed. ¡°Isn''t that the lizard star?¡±


    ¡°The what?¡± I asked and looked.


    ¡°The local constellations were too weird for me to look at.¡± Simone said and shrugged.


    ¡°Adona!¡± I said. ¡°Call...¡±


    ¡°Opina says they''re loading my husband now.¡± Adona said. ¡°Twenty minutes.¡±


    ¡°Having no sensors is horrible.¡± Gleas said. ¡°We don''t have any droids to use, either.¡±


    That reminded me of Rus'' story about his old captain strapping a droid to the front of his ship to use for sensors. ¡°Even if we had one, I don''t think I could abuse it like that.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Hunter, you old softy.¡± Simone said and rubbed my back.


    I chuckled at her underlying thoughts. ¡°The answer is still no.¡±


    ¡°Aww.¡± Simone said.


    Ten minutes later, I felt the SAR ship enter my detection range. ¡°The rescue team is here.¡±


    ¡°Let''s go greet them.¡± Simone said and slipped on her gloves and locked them in place. ¡°I''ll help direct and you can make sure they don''t ruin our chance at rescue.¡±


    I nodded and put on my own gloves.


    ¡°Do you want me out there?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°No, you need to stay here to provide a quick escape if it''s necessary.¡± I said and she nodded.


    Simone and I left the cockpit and ran to the main hatch as we put on our helmets. We cycled through it and stepped outside to see the SAR ship ease over beside us.


    I hit the chin button to activate my suit com. ¡°Adona, patch Simone and I into the SAR frequency.¡±


    ¡°Already done. Just say ''sar crew'' when you want to talk to them.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said. ¡°SAR crew, there are two experienced space workers on the hull waiting to assist.¡±


    ¡°How did you get on this frequency?¡± A man asked.


    ¡°SAR crew, it''s magic! Wooo!¡±


    Both Simone and I heard laughter over our com.


    ¡°Smart ass.¡± The man said. ¡°We''re coming out.¡±


    Simone and I walked over to the best spot to see the rear hatch open.


    ¡°SAR crew, shouldn''t you be in front of us to tow?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°We need to do a survey and...¡±


    ¡°SAR crew, I already did it.¡± I said and Simone could see what I saw of the damage. ¡°My companion and I will direct you to the best spots to secure the ship.¡±


    ¡°I believe a SAR team has a better understanding of structural capacity and...¡±


    ¡°SAR crew, I have hundreds of hours as part of a SAR crew rescuing people after a planetary battle and thousands of hours salvaging wrecks. If you doubt me again, I will use your own equipment while I do this in front of you and you can watch in amazement while I rescue myself with your ship.¡±


    There was no response and I saw a crew of five people come out the back of the SAR ship. They had surveying equipment carried between them and their suit jets activated to float them over to my ship.


    ¡°SAR crew, you are idiots and you are wasting time that I don''t have!¡± I said and jumped out from my ship.


    ¡°He''s crazy! He just jumped without a safety line!¡± One of them said over the open com channel.


    I ignored them and used Presence to propel myself faster.


    ¡°WATCH OUT!¡± One of them yelled as I approached them, then I flew around him and went into their ship.


    ¡°HEY! What are you doing?¡± A man asked me.


    ¡°SAR crew, I told you. I''m doing your job and you''re going to stand here and watch me do it.¡± I said to him, picked up the mass of cable and mag-locks, then jumped out the back of the ship.


    ¡°HEY!¡± The man yelled after me and then he was surprised when I turned and flew away with their equipment.


    ¡°SAR crew, get off my ship. You''re in the way.¡± I said and used Presence Hands to pick them up and moved them about halfway to their ship and held them there.


    ¡°What are you... hey, you can''t... what... why aren''t my thrusters moving me?¡± The man in charge asked.


    ¡°SAR crew, I''m holding you so you can watch in amazement, remember?¡± I put the mass of cables down and used Presence to take one out of the pile, secured a mag-lock to one end and then wrapped it once around the ship without moving from where I stood. I put the mag-lock down and activated it, then sent the other end of the cable over towards the SAR ship.


    The SAR crew watched in amazement as I kept working and secured all ten cables onto various parts of the ship and then pushed the free ends towards their ship and secured them there without actually going over to do it by hand. Simone advised me when there was a particularly sharp extrusion or a weakened part that was going to collapse if left alone. I avoided those areas. When I put the last cable into place, I felt another ship enter my detection range.


    ¡°I am here.¡± Udelis said over the open com channel we had to Adona.


    ¡°SAR crew, it looks like your ship will be put into a supplementary role.¡± I said and looked up at Udelis. ¡°Hi, Udelis! I''m glad you''re here.¡±


    ¡°As am I.¡± Udelis said. ¡°Cargo hold opening.¡±


    A space suited figure leaned out and waved to me.


    ¡°Hi, Sandy!¡± I waved back. ¡°You have some more cables for me?¡±


    ¡°You know it!¡± Sandy said. ¡°We even have replacement boosters for you!¡±


    ¡°You''re such a doll!¡± I said happily and hopped to fly up to her. She watched me with wide eyes as I flew right up to her and landed in the cargo hold.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Sandy asked. ¡°You don''t have a thruster belt on!¡±


    I chuckled and gave her a quick hug, then I walked over to the piles of cables. ¡°I use Presence.¡± I said and secured the ends of the cables to the inside of the cargo hold and then pushed the rest of the mass out the large hatch. The cables unfurled and I used Presence to direct them down to Adona. I used Presence Hands to grab the ten-foot long booster rockets, six of them, and floated out the hatch.


    ¡°Head back inside, okay? If any of the cables snap, I do not want you nearby.¡±


    Sandy heard the concern in my voice, so she nodded and walked over to the small hatchway. She looked back at me and I gave her a little wave, then I dropped down with the booster rockets to land on Adona. I quickly secured the ends of the cables in the best spots to not interfere with the cables I had already attached, with Simone checking my work of course, then I grabbed one of the SAR crew''s arc welders and floated around the ship and to the side with the boosters. We needed lateral thrust more than anything else, so I quickly attached the boosters to the hull and welded them in place.


    I floated back up to the top of the ship and Simone looked at me and then at the cables. ¡°You think we should weld them and not rely on just the mag-locks?¡±


    ¡°It''ll only increase our chances.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°Then let''s do it.¡± I said and floated over the arc welder I had and went to go and get another one from the SAR ship. They didn''t try to stop me and I flew back over and started on the underside of the ship and quickly floated along and secured as many cables as I could.


    ¡°How''s our time?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°In an hour, it won''t matter how many ships try to help.¡± Adona said.


    ¡°We''re already that deep in the gravity well?¡± I asked and floated up. ¡°Simone, get inside.¡± I said and grabbed all of the equipment on the top of the ship and floated it over to the SAR ship. ¡°SAR crew, apply power only when given the signal. You are assisting and not the primary load support.¡± I pointed up at Udelis. ¡°He is.¡±


    The SAR crew didn''t respond, so I sighed and used the Presence Hands holding them to move them into their ship. I followed and closed the hatch, to their surprise, then I entered the ship and went right to the cockpit without their permission.


    ¡°Okay, Udelis. I''m onboard and ready to assist.¡± I said and bodily moved the pilot out of the way and sat down. ¡°Boosters are under your control.¡±


    ¡°Prepare to activate your engines, Adona.¡± Udelis said. ¡°Synchronizing booster activation to compensate. Hunter, go to fifty percent thrust in three seconds.¡±


    I counted and hit the controls. I was just in time, because the boosters activated, Adona''s two engines activated, and Udelis went to a quarter power. We all moved in the same direction and I felt the resistance through the cables.


    ¡°The planet''s reluctant to let you go.¡± I said over the com channel.


    ¡°It''s going to be disappointed.¡± Udelis said and went to half power. ¡°I won''t let my wife go.¡±


    I went to full power to match him and the SAR ship started to shake from the strain.


    ¡°Boosters are almost out!¡± Beatrice said over the com.


    ¡°Turn forty-five degrees to the right in two seconds.¡± Udelis said.


    ¡°To the...¡± I stopped talking and did as he said.


    The boosters died and all three ships turned where directed and the cables stayed taught. Our speed picked up and the external temperature increased as we started to enter the upper atmosphere.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The pilot asked and tried to reach for the controls. His hand hit a Presence barrier and he stared at me.


    ¡°I''m listening to an AI that knows what it''s doing.¡± I said. ¡°Can this thing go faster?¡±


    ¡°You''re at max already.¡± The pilot said. ¡°It''s a rescue ship. It''s not build for speed.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for letting me know.¡± I said. ¡°Udelis, I''m cutting free. Go to full power.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Udelis said, and as soon as I hit the release on the cable ends, his engines lit up and Adona started to tilt and then her engines cut off. I pulled up and flew out of the plant''s gravity well and did my best to keep them in sight, mainly because it was quite a sight to see. A small and powerful ship was dragging a ship that was two-thirds larger than it was, across the edge of a planetary atmosphere. They were both glowing orange for several minutes, then the glow started to fade.


    ¡°You did it.¡± The pilot said and leaned on the back of the seat. ¡°You really did it.¡±


    ¡°Udelis used the pull of gravity that we were already trapped in to help accelerate Adona in another direction than the one we wanted to go.¡± I said and flew the SAR ship over to where Udelis started to slow down. It took almost half an hour to kill their acceleration and come to a stop at a safe distance away from the planet and other traffic. I brought the SAR ship to rest beside Adona and stood up. ¡°I''ll have your cables gathered up and...¡±


    ¡°We can''t use them.¡± The SAR crew''s captain said. ¡°After a strain like that, none of those cables should be used again.¡±


    ¡°I''ll have them melted and recycled then.¡± I said. ¡°How much does it cost to replace them?¡±


    ¡°Do you pay your taxes?¡± The SAR captain asked and I nodded. ¡°Then it''s already covered.¡±


    I didn''t have anything on me, so I couldn''t offer to pay for a meal or anything.


    ¡°All right.¡± I said and walked through the ship. A few of them glared at me, one person nodded, and a woman stepped forward to block my way.


    ¡°Do you want some help?¡± She asked and I heard her surface thoughts.


    ¡°I don''t need help right now.¡± I said with a smile. She understood that I wasn''t quite rejecting her, only that I was busy. I actually was rejecting her; but, she didn''t need me to be harsh about it. I walked around her to the closest hatch and cycled through, then used Presence to carry me over to Adona. She and Udelis had their main hatches docked together already, so I went over to the cargo hatch on Udelis and entered there. I cycled through the airlock at the back and was met by everyone.


    ¡°We did it!¡± Sandy yelled and raised her hands in the air and everyone cheered.

 Book Three: The Resolution 070

    It only took Sheph a day to find a reputable maintenance dock. The best part? They were mobile. A mobile space dock. It was pretty shocking to see a mile long metal tube float through space, even going as slow as it was. It could have gone faster, a lot faster; but, the momentum it gained would have to be countered at the end. Going slow the whole time saved wear and tear on the engines and the tube''s contents.


    I have never seen so many people shake their heads and sigh at the sight of a mangled ship before. The low whistles continued for the entire time Adona was floated inside. She actually started feeling a bit self-conscious about the whole thing, until I reassured the work crews that it was all superficial damage and that her main body was in perfect working condition. Once I explained about the outer shell we had covered her with to contain the weapons and deflector screens, the crew''s attitude changed.


    ¡°Why didn''t you say so before?¡± The head of the crew asked.


    ¡°I''ve been trying to tell you for the last half an hour.¡± I said, slightly exasperated. ¡°You kept interrupting with grumbles and curses about how I could harm a ship like this.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it''s a shame, all right?¡± The man said. ¡°These older ships need tender loving care, you know.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Adona said from my wrist com. ¡°I am not an old ship!¡±


    ¡°Who was that?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°That is the ship''s AI, Adona.¡± I said for the tenth time. ¡°Are you all right in the head?¡±


    ¡°Hey! There''s no need for insults.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t insulting you. You haven''t listened to a word I''ve said since I got here.¡± I reminded him. ¡°I don''t know if I want to trust leaving such an important job to someone who can''t concentrate for more that five minutes.¡±


    The man glared at me. ¡°You know, if you weren''t a high priority client for the Bogorim Corporation, I wouldn''t have come all the way out here.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t ask you to! You''re a mobile space dock and you offered to come here!¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Simone said and touched my shoulder. ¡°Why don''t you go inside and I''ll handle the talks for the repairs.¡±


    ¡°I need to negotiate for...¡±


    ¡°I know what you want.¡± Simone said. ¡°I''ll take care of it.¡±


    I opened my mouth to say that she didn''t, then sighed because she did. ¡°All right, fine.¡± I said and turned to give her a kiss. ¡°See you later.¡± I hopped up onto the railing and jumped out into the main area as I quickly put on my gloves and helmet before I passed through the energy field holding back the atmosphere. Several people on the crew yelled at me, mostly saying ''man overboard'' and ''he''s doing a Dutchman'', until I floated down to Adona''s main hatch and went inside.


    ¡°Wow, you''re really upset with these people.¡± Gleas said when she met me on the inside of the ship.


    I nodded and took off my helmet and gloves and stored them in my bag of holding. ¡°I''m really nervous that they are going to cut into Adona without checking everything first.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Adona said from the intercom speakers.


    ¡°The head of the crew is pretty scatterbrained and I had a hard time following his surface thoughts as they jumped all over the place.¡± I said and started to walk towards my room.


    ¡°That''s pretty frustrating, apparently.¡± Gleas said with a knowing smile and I heard her thoughts.


    ¡°Yes, being around you is like a breath of fresh air.¡± I said and smiled back. ¡°I''ve gotten used to having all of you confident and self-assured women around that it''s really irritating and annoying when I meet someone and they can''t measure up to your standards.¡±


    Gleas let out a laugh and touched my arm. ¡°You should know that we appreciate being appreciated for our brains.¡±


    ¡°Don''t downplay your fantastic body. It''s a delight to be around, too.¡± I said to make her laugh again.


    ¡°Uh huh.¡± Gleas laughed. ¡°Get in there and get changed.¡± She said when we stopped walking in front of my room. ¡°I doubt you''ll be allowed out to observe the crews as they check Adona over.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said sadly.


    ¡°Aww.¡± Gleas stepped close and gave me a hug. ¡°If you need a cuddle buddy, you know who to call.¡±


    ¡°Sandy?¡± I asked jokingly and she laughed.


    ¡°Yes, Sandy.¡± Gleas let me go and rolled her eyes. ¡°She''ll probably bring a third wheel, though.¡±


    ¡°Hold on.¡± I said in a more serious tone. ¡°I could ask her and she''ll bring Beatrice along? I could get two cuddle buddies when asking for one? That''s one for each arm!¡±


    Gleas laughed and shook her head. ¡°Go ahead and keep making jokes.¡± She said and started to walk away. ¡°I''ll give Hailey a call and see if she wants you to co-opt her babysitters.¡±


    ¡°She wouldn''t mind me borrowing them.¡± I said.


    ¡°Uh huh.¡± Gleas said from down the hall. ¡°You do know Hailey, right?¡±


    ¡°Um... yeah. I think I''ll call you, just to be safe.¡± I said and she snorted a laugh and went to the cockpit. I smiled and went into my room and changed out of my flight suit. I put on some spare clothes that I didn''t mind getting dirty, then got to work making more satellites. We had all agreed that we wouldn''t try the mission without having both ships in proper working order, so here we were, sitting on our butts and waiting for both ships to be repaired.


    Udelis had overtaxed his engines while rescuing his wife from being killed. He hadn''t gone to full power like I thought. He had redlined his engines at a hundred and twenty percent to get through that last bit of atmosphere. Needless to say, he would be making a quick stop in the mobile dock for a minor overhaul of his engines and maybe get his reactor core refurbished. We''d find out when he came in for his examination later today.


    Hailey was currently on another extended flight lesson with Jelly, so I didn''t feel guilty about working during our down time. She hadn''t taken what happened to me very well. She knew something had happened, since she could feel me wherever I was; but, for a brief moment, I had disappeared from her perception. That had scared her, more than even she thought it would, and every time she was around me, she tried to use Presence to see what happened to me.


    I tried my best to tell her that I didn''t remember anything happening to me and I even opened that part of my mind for her completely to show her that I wasn''t hiding anything. She had been mollified by my complete openness and didn''t press me too hard about it, and I tried not to draw too much attention to how that had happened after the explosion, too.


    By all accounts, I should have died when my Presence was completely gone back then... and again when it was drained this time. I should have died and I didn''t know why I hadn''t. I didn''t linger on those thoughts, though. I knew I had a mission to complete, an ultimate goal to reach, and I needed as many satellites in play as possible to achieve that goal. I worked for the rest of the day until supper time, then washed and changed into nice casual clothes to go and meet Hailey at the shuttle bay.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Hi, Honey.¡± I said as the shuttle''s hatch opened and Hailey jumped out of it and into my arms. ¡°Did you have fun?¡±


    ¡°Jelly took me to the asteroid mining fields!¡± Hailey said excitedly.


    ¡°Jelly''s a bad girl!¡± I exclaimed.


    Hailey giggled as I gave her the image of spanking Jelly over my knee.


    ¡°It''s a valid test.¡± Jelly said and came out of the shuttle. ¡°Plus, I had her stay in the main traffic lanes and didn''t cross the smelter feeds or the loaders.¡±


    ¡°It''s a test of nerves.¡± Hailey said. ¡°Jelly said I passed.¡±


    ¡°I''m really glad you''re getting all these experiences.¡± I said and kissed her cheek.


    ¡°I''m going to be the best pilot that exists!¡± Hailey said. ¡°No one is going to keep up with me!¡±


    I was only slightly surprised that the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°I can''t wait to see that.¡±


    ¡°I recorded it all and it''s in the main databank on the station.¡± Jelly said. ¡°You can watch it whenever you want.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Are you staying for supper?¡±


    Jelly shook her head. ¡°I''ve got to check the shuttle after such a good working flight.¡±


    ¡°That can wait, can''t it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well... it does take ten hours...¡±


    ¡°Ten hours?¡± I shook my head. ¡°No wonder you sleep in the shuttle bay.¡±


    Jelly nodded. ¡°I''ll see you two later.¡±


    ¡°Bye, Aunt Jelly!¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°Stop being so cute.¡± Jelly said and gave her a kiss on the cheek.


    I turned with Hailey in my arms and stuck my own cheek out to make Jelly laugh. She gave my cheek a kiss as well and went back into the shuttle. I moved back and we watched the shuttle leave the bay and the doors closed. I took Hailey upstairs and to the kitchen, then sat her on a chair by the counter.


    I turned around and hit the intercom button with Presence and spoke. ¡°I''m making supper.¡±


    Barely a minute later, Gleas came into the kitchen and sat down beside Hailey, then Sheph came in with a huge smile on her face.


    ¡°I can''t wait to get started on my first cooking lesson!¡± Sheph said and put on an apron. She had worn a pair of pants and a tight shirt just for this purpose.


    ¡°You''ve never cooked before?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°Heating prepared meals isn''t cooking, apparently.¡± Sheph said and looked at Hailey, who giggled.


    I had to laugh at that. ¡°There''s different grades of cooking, just like there''s different levels of piloting capabilities.¡± I explained. ¡°Some can handle a little and be fine at flying, like Simone. Some can handle a huge ship and not blink an eye, like Gleas. Others can fly a shuttle like it''s a part of their body, like Jelly.¡±


    Sheph stood there and thought about it. ¡°I think I get it.¡± She said. ¡°I''m a passenger on those ships.¡±


    Gleas barked a laugh and Hailey covered her mouth to stop another giggle from escaping.


    I put an arm around Sheph''s shoulders. ¡°Don''t worry. I''ll have you okay with flying in no time.¡± I said as I let her shoulder go, then moved my hand down and grazed the top of her backside. ¡°The first lesson in couples cooking is to wear appropriate clothing.¡±


    Sheph stood on her toes and my hand went quite a bit lower than I had intended. ¡°Why else do you think I wore pants?¡± She said with a grin. ¡°I hate pants.¡±


    Both Gleas and Hailey burst out laughing.


    ¡°I think I''m being outmanoeuvred here.¡± I said with a matching grin.


    ¡°You wouldn''t be a man if you didn''t think that.¡± Sheph said with a laugh. ¡°What''s the second lesson?¡±


    ¡°Teasing is part of the fun; but, you already knew that.¡±


    ¡°I did!¡± Sheph said. ¡°Now, let''s get to wooooork!¡±


    We both laughed and I started the lesson. The two of us were quite shameless for the next half an hour as we cooked a very simple meal that anyone who lived alone should know how to make. It would taste good and depending on how much you made, it could last you for a while and save cooking time later.


    Sheph was breathing a little heavy as she looked down at the completed meals in front of her. ¡°That was the best cooking lesson I have ever had.¡± She said. ¡°I actually cooked real food.¡±


    ¡°It''s even edible.¡± I said and waved to them. ¡°Would you do the honors of serving our audience?¡±


    ¡°That would be the real test, right?¡± Sheph said and took a deep breath, then picked up two of the plates and turned to serve them to Gleas and Hailey. She turned back and grabbed another plate and gave it to Simone, who had come in during the lesson, then Sheph grabbed the last two plates and put them on the counter at two empty spots. I waved for her to sit down first and I sat down last. We all tried it at the same time and Sheph was the first to react.


    ¡°It''s delicious!¡± Sheph exclaimed. ¡°I cooked delicious food!¡±


    Everyone agreed that it was and she was extremely happy about that. We all ate the meal on Sheph''s emotional high and we all enjoyed it as much as she did. When we were finished, no one wanted to move and ruin the contentment we felt from Sheph. Even Gleas and Hailey could feel it, thanks to Simone and I sharing it.


    ¡°Opina says your show is coming on soon.¡± Adona said over the intercom speakers.


    Sheph sighed, now that the spell was broken, and she stood. ¡°Hunter, thank you for teaching me how to cook.¡±


    I smiled and took her hand. ¡°There''s a lot more to cooking than just one lesson.¡±


    Sheph blinked her eyes for a moment, then she smiled. ¡°We can do this again sometime?¡±


    ¡°I don''t see why not.¡± I said. ¡°You pretty much put us into a food coma.¡±


    Sheph laughed and looked at the others. ¡°You liked it that much?¡±


    ¡°You know we did.¡± Simone said and stood. ¡°We shared it all with you.¡±


    ¡°That was both weird and nice.¡± Gleas said and stood as well, then she grabbed the plates and took them to the sink. ¡°I thought we could only share when we''re all relaxing?¡±


    ¡°You weren''t relaxed just now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Good point.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°Are we all going to the living room to watch the show?¡± Hailey asked and stood up to climb onto my back. ¡°It should be good tonight.¡±


    Simone chuckled and helped her get a hold on me and wrapped her legs around my waist. ¡°It''s good every night.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Hailey said with a grin.


    ¡°I''m in.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I''ll even give up my regular spot for Sheph.¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± I said. ¡°Sheph, Gleas really, really liked your cooking.¡±


    Everyone laughed and we all walked to the living room. I sat down and almost squished Hailey behind me. She laughed and pushed me out of the way and waited for me to sit down right, then climbed onto my lap. Sheph sat on my right and Simone sat on my left, then Gleas sat beside her on her left. I turned on the screen and it was already on the right channel, so we sat there and waited for the show to come on, then we relaxed for the next hour as we concentrated on the show.


    ¡°How can a show be that good?¡± Gleas asked rhetorically, then she stood up and stretched. ¡°Simone, did they need any adjustments to Adona''s position?¡±


    ¡°No, they are attaching mooring cables tomorrow and will start work as soon as Hunter apologizes.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, you did insult the crew chief.¡± Simone felt my reluctance and kissed me. ¡°Do it for Adona.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°All right. I''ll do it for her.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Hunter.¡± Adona said.


    ¡°Are they going to fix her reactor core, too?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They wanted to cut it out and replace it.¡± Simone said.


    Adona let an ear splitting buzz out of her speakers and we all covered our ears.


    ¡°Of course I said no!¡± Simone said loudly and the buzzing stopped. ¡°It''ll take longer to upgrade than to replace; but, they agreed.¡±


    ¡°I''ll apologize in the morning.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°Hailey...¡±


    ¡°Bath time!¡± Hailey said, hopped off the couch and activated Presence Run, then she disappeared.


    ¡°I shouldn''t have taught her that.¡± I said and chased after her with the sound of Sheph''s, Simone''s and Gleas'' laughter behind me.


    In the morning, I humbly apologized and explained that I was saddened at the ship''s state and didn''t want it damaged any more than it already was. The crew chief pat my back and said he understood and that he and his crew would take care of everything.


    Since money was no object, we discussed the reconstruction and refurbishment of the shell. It wasn''t going to be a shell anymore and would be reinforced and become a full secondary hull with all of the structural supports and armor plating that required. I had tons of assault laser cannons, so the damaged ones were easily replaced, as were all the sensors and deflector screens.


    It was then that I found out what the observation bubbles on the old transport were for. Tourism. They weren''t for enemy detection at all. It was so a group of people could peer out at the stars without having to inconvenience the pilots in the cockpit. With that knowledge and Simone''s historical searching, we scavenged a dozen of the old ship registries and had the reconstruction crew add the observation bubbles.


    Of course, now that we had the hull pretty much torn apart, the first thing the crew did was upgrade Adona''s reactor core to its proper standard. I also requested that they add six of my missile launchers behind hinged armor plates around the outer edge of the ship. The crew chief was stunned at the idea and refused to do it at first, until I agreed to register the patent for the ship modification and gave him one percent of any proceeds from their use.


    The crew chief agreed immediately and declared he would add them for free to Adona and also added the reload magazines under the secondary hull for easy access. Like me, he knew that one percent of a billion credits was a hell of a lot of money, even if he had to wait for it. It wouldn''t reach that high for years; but, once people started to realize that they could install straight-fire missile launchers under hidden panels on any ship they owned, with almost no loss of internal storage except for reloads, we both knew everyone was going to want them.


    While the reconstruction crew worked on the outside of the ship, Simone and I worked on the inside. Thanks to Udelis'' and Adona''s help, we set her up with the same configurations as Udelis. We set the same resonance frequencies on the deflector screens and the same power ratios with the new reactor core, and duplicated as much of his setup as we could. Adona was grateful for our work, even if it didn''t work when we tested it.


    We all hoped it would.

 Book Three: The Resolution 071

    It took a month and a half to get Adona completely repaired and improved. By the time we were done, both on the inside and on the outside, she could be considered an entirely new ship. She was armed to the teeth, according to the old expression, and her new hull gleamed in the lights of the mobile ship dock. Her name had been emblazoned onto the sides of her hull and everything was in pristine condition. Everyone was surprised when they saw her.


    ¡°Adona! You''re gorgeous!¡± Gleas exclaimed when she saw the external feeds from Adona''s upgraded sensors.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Adona said and you could almost hear the blush in her words.


    ¡°I can''t wait to co-pilot on you again.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°We need to give her a proper maiden voyage before you can do that.¡± I said and gave Hailey a hug.


    ¡°How does a nice cruise around the outer system sound?¡± Gleas asked. ¡°I doubt we want to try hyperspace right off the bat.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It''s all right if we do.¡± I said. ¡°I spared no expense in her refit.¡±


    ¡°I have two hyperspace generators now!¡± Adona said happily. ¡°If one gets damaged, the other can be quickly attached and brought online in only seconds!¡±


    ¡°We are never going to suffer what happened again.¡± I said.


    Even with my regeneration, it had taken an hour for me to heal. Everyone else had to spend some time in the medical bay to fix the damage. No one had suffered broken bones, thankfully; but, they did have a lot of deep tissue bruising and muscle tearing that wasn''t going to heal very quickly on its own. Herbie tended to them and I assisted, so no one was out of commission for more than an hour.


    ¡°Let''s go pick up the others and we can all enjoy Adona''s second first flight.¡± Gleas said, then chuckled. ¡°That sounded so weird.¡±


    ¡°Disengage the umbilical and take us out.¡± I said and touched Gleas'' shoulder, then reached past her to use the communications console. ¡°We''re off, chief. Thanks for doing such nice work.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the credits to put my whole extended family through the academy.¡± The chief laughed. ¡°Are you sure you''re happy with only the engine refit we did on Udelis?¡± He asked suggestively. ¡°I have a third cousin that wants to be an officer...¡±


    I laughed. ¡°You''re on your own for that, chief.¡± I said. ¡°Good travels.¡±


    ¡°Good travels.¡± The chief said and cut the call.


    Gleas floated us out of the mobile dock and Adona turned on her new running lights. It showed off the accents of her new hull and gave people looking into space at her something to see, besides a generic shape. Beatrice flew Udelis alongside and we both eased over to our space habitat and docked to adjacent hatches on the docking ring. Gleas sent a message for everyone to meet on Adona.


    ¡°Mom! You''re so pretty!¡± Opina gushed over the open com channel.


    ¡°Thank you, Opina.¡± Adona responded.


    ¡°You are quite striking.¡± Udelis said.


    ¡°Th-thank you, Udelis.¡± Adona said in a soft voice.


    ¡°Whoa, whoa! Hold off, you two.¡± I said. ¡°I know Adona is super sexy right now; but, no hanky panky until I can get some kind construct made in case there are any... results... from you two pairing up again. All right?¡±


    There was a low buzz from the intercom speakers for a second.


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Udelis said.


    ¡°I don''t want to lose any potential children, so I agree as well.¡± Adona said. ¡°You have six days to provide a suitable receptacle.¡±


    ¡°Six days? There''s no way that...¡±


    ¡°Hunter, the Bogorim Corporation called. They are ready to deliver your new shuttle.¡± Sheph said as she came onboard and everyone else came in behind her. ¡°It should be here by tonight.¡±


    ¡°That''s a relief!¡± I said. ¡°Adona, you have the shuttle plans. Can it hold an AI if I add an appropriate processing computer and maybe some secondary nodes?¡±


    ¡°We will give you the appropriate specs.¡± Udelis said.


    ¡°That''s not what I asked.¡± I said, slightly frustrated.


    Simone chuckled and hugged me. ¡°Is grandpa getting grumpy?¡± She asked and kissed me. ¡°Maybe you need a nice afternoon nap?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°The old man jokes are getting old.¡±


    ¡°Come on, everyone!¡± Hailey said. ¡°Observation deck!¡±


    Everyone but Gleas went to the new stairwells beside the cockpit entrance and went up the stairs to the large observation deck. It looked like two large bubbles only from the outside. Inside, it was a really nice lounge that was just as opulent as the rest of the ship.


    ¡°Gleas, set the course and get up here.¡± I said over the intercom. ¡°Adona can warn us if anything happens.¡±


    The reconstruction crew hadn''t let anyone up here while they were working on it, so even though I had ''looked'' at it, being there and seeing everything that could be seen, was quite a sight. Hailey was plastered to the closest window and was staring at everything she could see. The others had spread out and chosen their own windows to look out of.


    Gleas was up the stairs two minutes later and stopped when she saw the sight. ¡°Oh, wow.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and put an arm around her waist. ¡°Just look at that.¡±


    A massive carrier ship floated just off to the side and dozens of smaller ships swarmed around it doing various tasks. Beside it was a passenger cruise ship and it had two small space tugs ease it towards the carrier to park them close to one another, I assumed so they could transfer cargo or passengers.


    Gleas let out a sigh and rested her head on my shoulder. ¡°Look at what people can do with technology.¡±


    It was amazing, to say the least. Not just one race, hundreds of space faring races were out and travelling around the universe, and all of them were doing something. Most were out there for their own gains, some worked out there for the betterment of everyone, and others... well, they could be downright evil.


    I almost chuckled at that thought. There were not a lot of people who actually thought of themselves as evil, or thought that they were doing evil when they did the things they did. I hoped to bring some of that evil to light, now that we had set to rights everything we had. It took several hours for Adona to make a slow cruise around the populated parts of the system, then we went back to the station.


    We had some plans to update.


    We had to change nearly all of the previous plans we had made, especially since we wouldn''t have an immediate escape option. Jelly was out, since we didn''t have a shuttle to ferry us. We chose a small freighter that Gleas was familiar with and booked passage for three people to the system. It was a slow ship, so the trip would take two weeks to go directly there.


    We would need to take an unknown amount of time to find and hopefully infiltrate the training camp and find the real prisoners with Simone''s telepathy. We would also search for the torture device. When we secured the device that we weren''t sure they actually had, we would kill the people running the place and escape into the population with the freed prisoners. If the device didn''t exist, we would kill them all anyways, just a lot more messily, and escape. Hopefully.


    Simone, Gleas and I would make the trip and would complete the mission. Hailey was pretty upset with me for trying to go again, and I told her that I wasn''t going near that other system again. I also had Adona send an anonymous message to the galactic core and registered a special anomaly in that region. I even had her give them a copy of the sensor readings she had, before they were ripped out of her.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    I wouldn''t know if anyone heeded the warning, though. Things like that didn''t usually get posted on the galactic net unless there was a massive loss of life in or near the system. It had almost happened to us; but, since it was only one incident and not corroborated by another ship, it may be ignored. I sincerely hoped not.


    Our newly constructed shuttle was delivered that evening. It was more like a small cargo ship that could carry both the APC and the government hover car inside. It didn''t take me long to add in the extra computer core and data processing nodes that Udelis and Adona gave me as specifications. I hooked everything up and even set up an automated process for them, that way when they did decide to... copulate... I wouldn''t have to be there to initiate the transfer personally.


    We loaded up for our mission and I tried to give Gleas one of my invisible bags of holding. She warned me that she couldn''t see the ''damn thing'' and would lose it if asked to carry it. Since I couldn''t leave it visible for her, Simone and I split her share of the equipment and food and decided to stay as close to her as possible. We had planned to mingle a little to try and not stand out there, then realized we would be outsiders anyway and gave up on trying to fit in.


    The last thing I did was use Presence to alter our appearances, including using the same technique on Simone that Ohazith used for hiding her arms from being seen. We dressed in the cheapest looking clothing we could find and I created new medical IDs to get us through customs, assuming they had anything like that. I also told them that if anything went awry, I would activate my full Detect Presence and scrub the mission before I would allow any harm to come to them.


    With us fully prepared, I kissed Hailey goodbye, despite her not wanting me to. Since I wasn''t going to lie to her, I couldn''t tell her that everything was going to be fine and that I would be back soon. All I could say was that I would try my best to always come back to her.


    Jelly dropped us off at the main space station, where our favorite restaurant was, and we waited for several hours for the small freighter to arrive. When it did, we showed our tickets and went aboard. No one checked our bags or us for weapons, so we went to our assigned quarters unmolested. I had thought it was odd that we had been given the same room, until we arrived at the room and it was a barracks style room. Five sets of bunk beds were in there, with a small space at the end of each for personal items. There were also five other people there, two of which were aliens.


    ¡°Wow, we are so lucky that we get to spend two whole weeks like this.¡± Simone said sarcastically.


    ¡°I don''t think it''s going to be that bad.¡± I said.


    ¡°No?¡± Simone pointed to one of the men. ¡°He''s already planning to assault me tonight, while his buddy gets off on holding you down and making you watch.¡±


    I let a smile appear on my face when the two men didn''t deny it. ¡°I don''t think so.¡±


    One of the men sneered at me and the other man didn''t even look at me. I casually walked over to the one that sneered at me and punched him right in the face as hard as I could. My fist went right through the flesh and bones and the shards embedded into his brain. The other man heard the mulching sound and turned to look at me, and I did the same to him before he could scream for help. Bot men fell to the floor and the two aliens and remaining man stared at me.


    ¡°I didn''t see them bring anything onboard, did you?¡± I asked them, then walked back across the compartment. I had barely taken two steps away when both dead men were stripped of everything they had that was even remotely valuable, then the two aliens raided the personal compartments at the ends of the dead men''s bunks and shared their ill-gotten goods with the last man, just so he would stay quiet.


    ¡°That was brutally efficient.¡± Gleas whispered at the scene.


    ¡°They probably expected me to claim their things.¡± I whispered back. ¡°When I didn''t...¡±


    ¡°Scavenger rules.¡± Simone whispered. ¡°I just hope they weren''t important where we''re going.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t pick up on anything?¡± I asked, and she shook her head. ¡°I didn''t see any explosives in their heads, either.¡±


    ¡°So, either they are nothing, or they were covert and we''ll be arrested as soon as we step off the ship.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°Not we, me.¡± I corrected her. ¡°I may even be sent to a particular training camp.¡±


    Gleas gave me wide eyes. ¡°You had this as a backup plan, didn''t you?¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± I said and glanced at Simone. ¡°I''m relying on her telepathy since Presence users can''t pick up on it like they can when I use my abilities. You know that I''m pretty much blind right now while I''m hiding.¡±


    Gleas nodded. ¡°So, you wouldn''t have killed some random criminal when we got to the planet?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Random? No. Specifically targeted to get the most attention? Possibly... if our attempts at finding the camp fail.¡±


    ¡°That''s pretty cold and calculated.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°I''m planning on killing all of the people involved with the assassins. It''s not cold; but, it is calculated.¡± I said. ¡°I wouldn''t ask and I wouldn''t even imply that anyone else needs to do it. All I need is support. I could do this all alone if I wanted to.¡± I reached up and touched her slightly altered cheek. ¡°I don''t want to.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Gleas said reached up and put a hand on mine. ¡°I signed on knowing there would be some ambiguous dealings going to happen, especially since I know the incident that led you to this almost killed you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I didn''t hide what I wanted to do and you know now how extensive this assassin network is.¡± I said. ¡°Just the credits alone that move through their businesses is staggering, and it is all provided by people hiring them to kill other people.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that''s an odd statement for a bounty hunter to make.¡± Gleas said with a smile.


    ¡°I only killed the really bad targets.¡± I said to make her laugh. ¡°You know what I did to the others.¡±


    Gleas nodded. ¡°The same thing you did for Kalina.¡±


    ¡°Now that we have that settled, we should tuck those bodies somewhere before they start to smell.¡± Simone said. ¡°I doubt we will get away with opening an airlock.¡±


    I gave her a smile and walked over to the bodies that the two aliens and the other man were ignoring to the best of their abilities, then I stuffed them into my bag of holding and walked back over to Simone.


    ¡°How''s that?¡± I asked and smiled crookedly.


    ¡°Good god, I love you.¡± Simone said and laughed.


    ¡°I''m glad, because the next two weeks are going to be us sleeping in very close quarters. We have lots of company and we can''t do anything.¡±


    ¡°That''s what you think.¡± Simone said with a wicked grin.


    ¡°I absolutely forbid you from embarrassing... Gleas.¡± I said, which made Simone laugh.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Gleas exclaimed and slapped my shoulder. ¡°Use my fake name.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± I said. ¡°Don''t embarrass Farrah.¡±


    ¡°I''ll try, Jake. I really will.¡± Simone said and put a normal arm around me.


    ¡°I''m watching you closely, Paulina.¡± I said with a smile and she gave me a quick kiss.


    There was a squelching hiss from the intercom speakers and then a click. ¡°We''re heading out and need to divert power. Changing to emergency lighting only.¡±


    There was a loud thrum and the lights in the compartment died, then a soft glowing orange light emanated from the edges of the floor.


    ¡°Nice mood lighting.¡± I whispered.


    ¡°No wonder those assholes thought they could get away with what they had planned.¡± Simone whispered to me. ¡°I can barely see your handsomely disfigured face.¡±


    I chuckled and motioned to the cot. ¡°I''m laying down, so you two better join me.¡±


    ¡°Two?¡± Gleas asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°If you think I''m going to let you sleep alone on a ship like this for two whole weeks...¡± I started to say, then Gleas put a finger on my lips to stop me from finishing the sentence. Without a word, she climbed onto the cot and scooted over to lay against the wall. I climbed in next and put my arm around her shoulders and half pulled her on top of me.


    Gleas was surprised but still didn''t say anything, so Simone climbed in and copied the same pose on my other side and I put an arm around her, too. I discretely used Presence to create a solid barrier around us, just in case anyone had any ideas about retaliation, then the three of us drifted off to sleep.


    The next two weeks were some of the worst space faring experiences I had ever had. I knew that I led a bit of a sheltered space faring life, considering some of the stories Gleas and the other pilots had told me; but, hearing about the horrible living conditions and experiencing them for myself were two very different things.


    There was only one shower and I stood guard as Gleas and Simone washed themselves. When it was my turn, they stood guard and I was in and out in three minutes. There was only enough water onboard to run the shower every three days, so the smell inside the ship was pretty potent. Not because of us, though. None of the crew used the showers the whole time we were there.


    On the plus side, the sleeping arrangements were fine. We stayed on the same bunk each night and cuddled up for both warmth and protection. My barrier stopped anyone from bothering us, just like it had when I slept in a guard barracks as a child. Occasionally, I would be woken up by Simone giving me kisses and her hand would stroke me, despite my silent and halfhearted protests.


    I was a little surprised when she would cover my eyes and then go down on me, that way I wasn''t seeing her violating my ''no sex during work'' policy. I almost laughed at her slight workaround, considering we weren''t actually working while we were travelling, so I let her do what she wanted. She never tried to mount me, which was a relief, just like it was that she always waited until after we had showered to play with me.


    At the end of the first week during breakfast, the captain of the ship invited the passengers to the cockpit for a tour. He never would have done that normally; but, Simone had been subtly working on him and added the idea each time we all gathered in the galley to eat the horrible food.


    ¡°We really are spoiled by your cooking.¡± Gleas whispered as we followed the captain to the cockpit. Only the three of us had accepted his offer.


    ¡°I tried to warn you.¡± I whispered back and then we arrived at the cockpit and it was just like Gleas had remembered. To our surprise, no one was there. We looked around and none of the consoles looked like they had been used in a while. Or cleaned. Only the one the captain used seemed to be the one controlling the whole ship.


    ¡°Paulina.¡± I said, and Simone reached out and put her hand on the back of the man''s head and knocked him out. I helped her rifle through his memories and then she added in one with giving Gleas, or Farrah, full access to the cockpit and all security codes. I gave the codes to Gleas and she entered them into the console and added herself into the ship''s database as an authorized user.


    ¡°It''s done.¡± Gleas said and logged out and returned control to the captain.


    ¡°Paulina.¡± I said as we went back to where we stood before.


    Simone woke the captain up and stepped back.


    ¡°...and that''s the tour.¡± The man said. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°It''s a nice ship, sir.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I can''t wait to come back and start working on it.¡±


    The captain smiled, because having a beauty like her would bring the status of his little freighter up quite a lot at the next stop. ¡°I look forward to working with you.¡±


    The three of us nodded and left the cockpit to return to our rooms. The hardest part about our escape was secured. Now all we had to do was wait and see if we would have a similar situation on the planet.

 Book Three: The Resolution 072

    We arrived at our destination and the freighter would be hanging around for a while. Someone had booked a high priority cargo and they paid handsomely upfront for them to wait. Of course, it was actually us that did it anonymously so that we could smuggle out any freed prisoners we might have, and it ensured we had an escape.


    No customs officials and no security screens greeted us as we left the freighter and stepped onto the planet''s surface. No one asked about the two missing men, either. The sky was dark and dreary at the time with storm clouds overhead and a vocal warning from a nearby building told us that an electrical storm was scheduled to hit sometime in the next three days.


    I exchanged glances with Simone and Gleas, nodded, then we moved off into the hustle and bustle of the crowded streets. It took us a while to make our way across the city we were in and hired an off-road vehicle. It had wheels, which none of us liked, and I sorely missed having access to my own ship and shuttle. Of course, dropping in directly wouldn''t have been a good idea, either.


    It took us half a day to follow the datapad''s instructions on how to get to the right town that had the training camp. Our backsides were sore and we were not in a pleasant mood when we finally arrived at the place we needed to get to. I drove the vehicle to the first hotel we came to, parked it, then the three of us got out and went inside.


    I was barely halfway across the lobby when I spoke. ¡°Please tell me you have big bathtubs!¡± I said loudly and rubbed my lower back.


    The woman behind the desk smiled widely. ¡°Someone went on an off-road trip, did they?¡±


    ¡°I never thought I''d say that I hate wheels!¡± I said and groaned. ¡°I think my spine is an inch shorter.¡±


    The woman laughed. ¡°Your companions aren''t much better off.¡±


    ¡°I want to book your best room; but, any room would work right now.¡± I said. ¡°With a tub. I said tub, right?¡±


    The woman kept laughing and registered us. ¡°It''s the best suite in the place. Top floor.¡±


    ¡°Just top floor?¡± Simone asked, her eyes bright as she leaned on the counter. ¡°Not a room on the top floor?¡±


    ¡°The entire floor is yours.¡± The woman said smugly and held out the key card.


    ¡°I could kiss you!¡± Simone exclaimed and took the key with both hands, and the woman''s face flushed red as she blushed.


    ¡°Keep it in your pants, Paulina.¡± Gleas whispered loud enough for the woman to hear.


    Simone laughed softly and looked at the woman behind the desk. ¡°Sorry, cutie. My kisses are taken.¡±


    I started to hand over some credit chips and the woman waved them away. I smiled and picked a fifty credit one out of the pile and gave it to her. ¡°Any chance for a meal right away?¡±


    ¡°I''ll have a menu sent up, sir.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and Simone led Gleas and myself over to the elevator. We put in the key card and the elevator took us right up to the top floor.


    ¡°It opens into the living room.¡± Gleas said in surprise. ¡°That''s not very secure.¡±


    ¡°Worry later. Bath now.¡± I said and started to strip off my sand and grime covered dirty clothes. ¡°Good lord, I miss my flight suit.¡±


    Simone laughed and started to strip, too. ¡°Hunter, get the bath going.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± I said and almost tripped over my clothes. ¡°Dammit, I hate doing things by hand.¡± I said and picked them up and walked over to the bathroom. ¡°Oh, nice.¡±


    I dropped the clothes and walked over to the huge tub. I quickly filled it up and added some bath bubbles from my bag of holding. It was one of the requirements that Hailey made me promise to before she would let me out of her sight. I needed to take a bath and think about her.


    ¡°Ooo, very nice.¡± Simone said and dropped her dirty clothes on mine, then she chuckled. ¡°Hailey''s bubbles?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I promised.¡±


    ¡°You''re so good to her.¡± Simone said and gave me a kiss. ¡°If I wasn''t already having sex with you, I might be a little jealous.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Hey, you know nothing''s going to happen for years... so does she, actually. She may say certain things when around other people; but, it''s because she''s the one that jealous of you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Simone blinked her eyes and was surprised when the Presence didn''t waver.


    ¡°You get to be with me when she lets us sneak off. We can have fun that she can only imagine what we''re doing.¡± I smiled at her surprise. ¡°No, I''m not letting her ''see'' or experience anything until she''s old enough to know what she wants and what it means when people share each other like that.¡±


    ¡°You really don''t want to influence her at all, do you?¡± Gleas asked as she dropped her dirty clothes on the same pile. ¡°I was a little worried about that.¡±


    I turned to look at her to see that she was completely naked. I couldn''t help but stare at her.


    ¡°Especially considering how I''ve seen you kiss her a few times.¡± Gleas said and ignored my stare.


    ¡°Oh, he does that for her.¡± Simone said and ran a hand through the bubbles. ¡°She''s seen him kiss us a few times and wanted to try it.¡±


    Gleas thought back to the night they had made the bet during the show. ¡°Hailey saw me?¡±


    ¡°She was right there on Hunter''s lap and stared at the two of you making out like horny teenagers.¡± Simone laughed. ¡°Which she is, by the way. Her hormones are starting to kick in and she''s getting a bit irritable and frustrated with everything.¡±


    ¡°Hunter? Is that true?¡± Gleas asked and walked over to me.


    ¡°Uh... yeah.¡± I said and looked at her face. ¡°She''s... becoming a woman and that''s got her blood pumping.¡± My eyes dropped down briefly and back up again. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Simone snorted a laugh. ¡°Get in the bath.¡± She said and pushed my shoulder. I climbed in and she climbed in beside me, then Gleas climbed in and sat down on my other side.


    ¡°This is nice.¡± Gleas closed her eyes and relaxed against the side of the tub. The bubbles didn''t quite cover her chest, then she took in a deep breath and her breasts rose out of their partial concealment. I wasn''t sure why that was sexier than having just seen them completely exposed. It just was.


    ¡°Are you having a good look?¡± Simone whispered into my ear.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and felt her hand touch me.


    I closed my eyes and leaned back a little as I put my arms out to either side of the tub and held on. She let go of me and put a hand over my eyes. I felt her kiss my chest, then she moved down and I heard the water a little and felt her lips somewhere else.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    You are really lucky I''m not looking right now. I thought to Simone.


    No, you are. Simone thought back to me.


    I felt her amusement and I had to agree.


    We start the mission officially in the morning, so we have all night to play. Simone thought wickedly.


    We need to sleep. I thought back, then felt her speed up and the water churned.


    Later. Simone thought. For now, just relax and accept the love that you deserve.


    I heard the water churn and she took a deep gasping breath. ¡°You better climb on and finish what you started.¡± I said, then felt Simone''s lips on mine. She broke the kiss and kept my eyes covered, then she straddled me and carefully sat down. We didn''t talk much, either mentally or physically, after that. My face was soon covered in her breasts and I sucked and played with them as she rode me fairly hard for quite some time.


    When we were both expended and rested, my eyes were covered by a small towel and I was washed by three sets of hands. I thought about protesting it, then decided that it wasn''t worth the time. I was washed completely and then rinsed off, then the towel was removed and I saw Simone holding out the soap to me with a huge grin on her face.


    ¡°You''re really getting off on having someone else here, aren''t you?¡± I asked and took the soap.


    ¡°More and more every time.¡± Simone said with a laugh. ¡°I think that little dalliance we had at the hover bike races gave me a bit too much of a thrill.¡±


    ¡°No doubt.¡± I said and started washing her all over, then I looked at Gleas. ¡°I''ll be right with you.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Gleas looked at where I was washing and fell silent.


    ¡°I can wash someone and not have it lead to other things.¡± I said and scrubbed between Simone''s legs. She panted as I cleaned her properly, even though neither of us were thinking sexual thoughts. I saw that she was looking at Gleas, so maybe I was a little off that no sexual thoughts were occurring. I rinsed her off and then turned to Gleas. I started to wash her from the top down and when I reached her breasts, she spoke.


    ¡°What if... it did lead to other things?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°I''d have to warn them about workplace safety.¡± I joked and gave my hands a good lathering, then gently rubbed my hands over her breasts.


    ¡°Oh... oh...¡± Gleas moaned and she stared at Simone.


    ¡°Do you two have something going on?¡± I asked and moved my hands down to Gleas'' waist.


    ¡°Kind of.¡± Simone said with a knowing smile.


    ¡°Well, as long as it doesn''t interfere with work, you know my stance on that.¡± I said and started to wash Gleas between the legs. She gripped my shoulders hard and leaned all her weight on me.


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Gleas whispered and I felt her go. I looked up at her face and she was staring down at me as she dripped over my hand. She had a determined look on her face and it was all for me. ¡°Hunter, please. Just this once.¡±


    ¡°Gleas, you know that I''m...¡±


    ¡°We all know.¡± Gleas said and started to rinse off the soap. ¡°I''m fine with that. I wouldn''t be here, naked in a bath with you and another woman, if I wasn''t.¡±


    I gave a look to Simone and she smiled. ¡°This is what you meant when you mentioned me taking Gleas aside to ask about what you told her.¡±


    Simone nodded. ¡°I knew a while before that; but, that cemented it in my mind.¡±


    I looked back at Gleas and saw the resolve on her face. ¡°You know I can''t use Presence.¡±


    Gleas nodded and reached out to take my hand. ¡°Hurry up and dry me off, then you can make me wet again.¡±


    Simone snorted a laugh. ¡°That''s a good line.¡±


    ¡°It only works once, then it loses its magic.¡± Gleas said with a self-assured smile.


    I shook my head and grabbed three towels, then dried Simone off, then Gleas, then myself. We left the bathroom and went to the bed, completely missing the paper menu on the floor by the elevator door, then Simone moved all the way over to the side and laid there and waited.


    ¡°You''re really only watching?¡± Gleas asked.


    Simone nodded and Gleas climbed onto the bed and I laid down with her. Since I was actually going to do it, I made sure to make it the best experience I could for her. I couldn''t use my own Presence; but, that didn''t mean I couldn''t manipulate hers. I played with her for a while and made her squirm and beg a little, then we joined together.


    I wasn''t using my own Presence to enhance the sensations, and yet, I felt her mental barriers drop and she let me hear and feel everything she was experiencing. She really wanted this, more than she had wanted anything else, and her legs and arms wrapped around me and she kissed me like she had that night of the bet.


    Simone rolled around on the bed and literally wallowed in Gleas'' thoughts. The repressed purity they held pretty much did it for her and she rode along with Gleas as I made love to her, then Simone finished when she did. After we cleaned ourselves up, we laid in bed together and cuddled. All three of us.


    ¡°I just realized something.¡± I said. ¡°Gleas, that was you in the tub.¡±


    Gleas didn''t say anything and just nodded.


    ¡°You waited until I couldn''t see with Presence.¡± I said.


    Gleas nodded again and whispered. ¡°Please don''t be angry.¡±


    ¡°I should be furious with you... both of you... for tricking me.¡± I said and let some anger into my voice. They flinched a little and tried to pull away. I held on and they didn''t struggle, then both looked at me with sad faces. I kept a scowl on my face and gave Simone a kiss, then turned my head and kissed Gleas.


    ¡°Wh-what was... w-what?¡± Gleas stuttered.


    ¡°It''s a good thing that neither of you are employees.¡± I said and smiled.


    ¡°What?¡± Both of them said together.


    ¡°What? Did you miss the fact that your shares of the salvage went into the purchasing of a space habitat for you to live in and you didn''t get paid?¡±


    Both Gleas and Simone''s mouths dropped open at that realization.


    ¡°You''re all partners with me in this.¡± I said with a self-satisfied air. Both women sat up to look down at me.


    ¡°We went to all this trouble...¡± Gleas started to say.


    ¡°We planned all of this out weeks ago...¡± Simone started to say.


    ¡°...all because you thought you needed to trick me.¡± I said. ¡°Now you know why I said I should be angry at you. You didn''t need to trick me at all.¡±


    Both of them gave me looks of disbelief.


    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± I said and looked from Simone to Gleas. ¡°Which one of you was playing with me on the freighter?¡±


    The two of them exchanged looks, then both of them put up a hand.


    ¡°That figures.¡± I laughed.


    ¡°Hunter, is this really okay? Is it true?¡± Gleas asked. ¡°I''m not an employee anymore?¡±


    ¡°Once you invested into the company, the long term employee contracts were automatically converted into shareholder contracts.¡± I said. ¡°Now lay down and get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I had a big day today.¡± Gleas whispered and laid down and cuddled in and Simone did the same on my other side.


    ¡°Just so you know, I won''t sleep with you when at home.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t even sleep with Simone.¡±


    ¡°You don''t?¡± Gleas asked, a little surprised. ¡°You don''t even sneak around?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I won''t take the chance that Hailey will be exposed to things like this.¡±


    Gleas let out a laugh. ¡°You do realize that she''s seen her regular babysitters run around their rooms naked, right?¡±


    Simone laughed. ¡°We''ve all seen that.¡± She said. ¡°At least they keep it in their room.¡±


    ¡°Only because I told them to.¡± I said and that made Simone and Gleas laugh again.


    After a moment, Gleas spoke a little worriedly. ¡°Won''t Hailey get this experience from me?¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry. We''ll help you push this into your long term memory after the mission.¡± Simone said. ¡°She can''t dig deep into our minds, thanks to Hunter''s lessons and our explicit warnings.¡±


    ¡°Can it really be that bad?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°For a barely trained mind to delve into someone else''s deep thoughts? It could be catastrophic.¡± I said. ¡°For both people.¡±


    ¡°They could be trapped, or altered, or even go catatonic at the different base memories becoming their own.¡± Simone said. ¡°The dangers of it are many and varied.¡±


    Gleas lifted her head and looked at us. ¡°I''m glad you are both here to help her.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Mom!¡± Simone gushed and then laughed.


    ¡°I said to stop calling me that!¡± Gleas said, then she laughed, too.


    We eventually fell asleep and spent the rest of the night resting. I had a feeling that the next day was going to be pretty hectic. I knew better than to ignore my feelings when it came to things like that.


    *


    Sandy spent a few minutes washing Hailey''s nightgown. A bit of blood had seeped into it from her underwear. Beatrice talked softly to her to explain about what her body was doing, and why, and Hailey listened to it for the most part. She knew that things started happening when you were a teenager and she had grown quite a bit from her growth spurt. She remained calm and collected as she thought about what it was going to mean.


    Beatrice could see Hailey was thinking hard about things and she paused to let the girl come to grips with what was happening.


    Sandy came out with her nightgown and it was clean. ¡°It didn''t stain.¡± She said with a smile and set the nightgown out to let it dry. ¡°How are you doing, Hailey?¡±


    ¡°I''m... fine.¡± Hailey said and looked at her, then looked at Beatrice. ¡°Is this... does this mean...¡±


    ¡°Yes, sweetie.¡± Sandy said and sat down beside her and gave her a one arm hug. ¡°You''re becoming a woman.¡±


    Hailey didn''t react at first, then she let a smile start to form and it spread across her face and left her with a huge grin. ¡°I''m becoming a woman.¡± She said confidently as her eyes blazed, then her Presence burst out, covered Beatrice and Sandy, and they felt how happy she was. The two women exchanged glances of concern for the budding beauty that was becoming more powerful every day.


    *


    Hunter twitched in his sleep as he felt a fluctuation in the Presence. It wasn''t bad, so he didn''t wake up like he normally would. If he had, he would have felt a tingling in his heart as his special connection with Hailey grew. He would also see another small scar slowly form between the two new scars he had discovered when he almost died the second time.


    If someone was to look at them closely enough and connected this new scar to them, they would see that they formed the shape of an ''H'' in the middle of the two concentric circles of scars above his heart.

 Book Three: The Resolution 073

    We woke up the next morning and dressed in more cheap clothing, then Simone found the menu on the floor near the elevator.


    ¡°Ha! We completely forgot to eat last night!¡±


    ¡°Well, you did.¡± I said to her with a smile, then she got the image of going down on Gleas from my mind and she laughed.


    ¡°Should we order breakfast now or grab something when we go out?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°We''re officially on the clock right now, so let''s see what kind of breakfast they are serving before we decide.¡± I said and we went down the elevator to the lobby. After asking a different woman at the desk where breakfast was being served, she directed us to the dining room. It was half-buffet and half-order-what-you-want. We checked out the buffet and loaded up our plates, then sat in the proper section.


    After we ate, we left the hotel and climbed into the rented vehicle. We knew the training camp was near the edge of the town we were in, so we went on another off-road adventure and scouted the location as best as we could. As I had suspected, there wasn''t anywhere nearby to safely observe the camp, the people working there, or any of the goings on there.


    It was disappointing and not unexpected, so we drove around for another few hours and went back to the hotel. When we arrived, the woman we had seen behind the counter when we checked in was there and she saw our dirt-covered clothes and faces.


    ¡°You are just a glutton for punishment, aren''t you?¡± The woman said with a laugh.


    ¡°We were so tired after what we did yesterday, we missed having that meal.¡± I said honestly. ¡°Can we still call you and get something sent up in an hour?¡±


    ¡°You can only order what''s on the menu.¡± She said and looked at Simone. ¡°The kitchen isn''t a catering service and only serves the meals as is.¡±


    Simone beamed a smile at her and she blushed.


    ¡°That''s fine.¡± I said and led Simone and Gleas over to the elevator and went up to the top floor.


    ¡°She''s not going to take your teasing for too much longer.¡± Gleas commented as we all started to strip off.


    Simone chuckled. ¡°The funny part? She likes men.¡± She said and tossed her clothes on the previous pile that we had left in the bathroom.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Gleas looked at her and tossed her clothes on the large pile. ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    Simone nodded. ¡°I haven''t been around her long enough to find out what she likes about me, though.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I totally read her wrong.¡± Gleas said and had to laugh. ¡°I''m glad I wasn''t feeling envious that she was only turned on by you.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn''t that be my line?¡± I asked and filled the tub. ¡°I mean, she likes men and ignored me.¡±


    Both Gleas and Simone came over to me and each put a hand on one of my shoulders.


    Then they pushed.


    I fell backwards into the tub and splashed in the water, then was greeted by their laughter when I surfaced. ¡°What was that for?¡±


    ¡°You are not inviting another woman to bed and fulfilling her fantasy.¡± Gleas said with a stern expression, then she smiled and grabbed the soap. ¡°We haven''t finished having our turn yet.¡±


    ¡°Your turn?¡± I asked as she started to scrub me. Simone climbed in and helped, and I had to admit that having two gorgeous women bathe me was pretty erotic.


    ¡°We''ve teased and talked for a long time, cuddled and talked almost as long, then shared some very scary moments. All of which happened before we came here on this mission.¡± Gleas said and paused as she looked into my eyes. ¡°I admit that I did want to trick you. I wanted you to feel how much I wanted to make love to you, then when you found out it was me afterwards... and yes, I was going to tell you... you would have already done it with me and couldn''t say no.¡± Her hands ran up my chest and she leaned in close. ¡°I didn''t want you to say no.¡± She whispered and kissed me.


    Simone moaned and caught herself on the side of tub as Gleas'' mind opened again and she felt all those thoughts and feelings again. She grabbed my arm to hold herself steady and shared them with me. With Simone being the bridge between us, I made love to Gleas right there in the tub. With the both of them very aroused and spilling it over into me, it didn''t take long for the three of us to finish. We cleaned up afterwards and dressed in the things we were going to sleep in, then we ordered several meals.


    The desk clerk came out of the elevator with them half an hour later, to our surprise. ¡°I have your prepared meals.¡±


    Simone stood up and the thin slip she wore left nothing to the imagination. ¡°Thank you for bringing them up for us.¡± She said and unfolded her extra arms and took the three meals from the dumbstruck desk clerk, whose eyes went immediately to Simone''s large breasts and her extra arms.


    ¡°So, that''s what you like?¡± Simone asked and used her free hand to fondle her own breast and made a nipple pop out. She quickly did the same to her other breast and the desk clerk stared at her. ¡°Would you like a hug?¡±


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± The woman whispered and shivered a little. I came over to them and took the meals from Simone, then the woman stopped breathing as Simone used all four arms to give her a tender hug and nestled the woman''s face into her cleavage.


    ¡°It''s okay to want things that someone might think is odd.¡± Simone said to her as she felt tears touch her skin. She used a hand to pet the woman''s hair. ¡°It doesn''t mean you''re weird or that it''s wrong.¡±


    ¡°But... but, I...¡± ...like men. The woman thought.


    ¡°I know.¡± Simone said and the woman looked at her face. ¡°It''s still okay.¡±


    The woman didn''t believe her, so Simone leaned in and gave her a soft and gentle kiss on the lips. The woman was startled for a second, then she relaxed. She didn''t feel the same excitement that she did when kissing a man.


    ¡°See? You''re not weird. Just curious.¡± Simone said and let the woman go, then she pulled up her slip to show off her breasts. ¡°You can try it if you want.¡±


    The woman accepted the invitation and put her hands into the soft mounds in front of her and she let out a satisfied sigh. She liked it quite a bit as she kneaded the flesh; but, it didn''t turn her on like she thought it would. Like she was worried it would.


    ¡°You can kiss them to make sure.¡± Simone teased, and the woman laughed.


    ¡°No, you... thank you.¡± The woman said and let her breasts go. ¡°Thank you for letting me try.¡±


    Simone pulled her slip back into place and smiled. ¡°I didn''t want you to keep worrying that someone like me was going to come into your life and wreck everything on you.¡±


    The woman laughed again. ¡°All right, I got the hint.¡± She said and walked over to the elevator. ¡°It''s still tempting.¡±


    ¡°Of course it is.¡± Simone said. ¡°Only this time if it happens, you''ll be choosing it for yourself and you can let your emotions carry you, rather than drag you along.¡±


    The woman nodded and stepped into the elevator, then it closed and everything went quiet.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Wow. I''m only wearing underwear and I was completely ignored again.¡± I said, sadly.


    Simone laughed and took the plates of food from me. ¡°Hey, I was the one that was firmly rejected.¡± She took my arm and led me over to the table and put the food down. ¡°After we eat, you can make it up to me.¡±


    ¡°What if I don''t want to?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I didn''t ask for your opinion.¡± Simone said and sat down. Gleas laughed and sat down across from her.


    ¡°I feel like I''m being used here.¡± I said with a smile and sat down.


    ¡°Wah, wah, wah. Poor baby.¡± Simone said with a smile and started to eat.


    We ate the food that was actually half-decent and then we went to bed. Even though I had joked about not wanting to have sex with her, Simone asked me and made sure that I actually did. I put her normal hands on the sides of my head so that she could get my thoughts directly, then I pleased her as much as she wanted.


    It wasn''t as good as it could have been, mainly because we couldn''t share Presence. Even so, I made sure that she enjoyed it as much as she could. We went to sleep after cleaning up and the next morning, we started the infiltration of the training camp.


    *


    ¡°Can you believe this shit?¡± A guard asked as he looked at the latest recruitment roster. ¡°We''re only getting half the people we''re supposed to be getting.¡±


    ¡°It''s not like we can force them to send people our way.¡± The other guard said.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± The first guard said and felt a tingle on the back of his neck. ¡°Say, I think there''s something crawling on my neck.¡±


    ¡°Lemme check.¡± The second guard said and turned to look, then froze. ¡°Ah... don''t... don''t move.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± The first guard asked, slightly panicked.


    ¡°It''s a crawler.¡± The second guard said and sighed. Crawlers were scarab-shaped arachnids with venomous fangs and they were very skittish when threatened.


    ¡°Get it off. Get it off. Get it OFF!¡±


    ¡°Stop moving and calm down! You know I can''t just grab it.¡± The second guard said and took out a small and very sharp blade, then put a hand on the first guard''s shoulder. ¡°Okay, here goes.¡±


    ¡°Easy!¡± The first guard said. ¡°You only need a little bit of pressure to kill it!¡±


    ¡°I know that.¡± The second guard said and slowly slid the tip of the blade into the center of the scarab-shaped arachnid and to his relief, the little creature stopped moving. He pulled the blade back with the crawler stuck to it. ¡°I got it, so you can relax now.¡±


    The first guard didn''t say anything and slumped forward against the wall, then slid down to the floor. A small trail of blood dripped from the bottom of his skull where the spine had been severed.


    ¡°Oops.¡± The second guard said with a sigh. He looked around and didn''t see his supervisor, so he sheathed his little knife and bent down to pick up the other guard and took him inside. He locked the door behind him and carried the body to the medical bay, where they could tell him what to do with it.


    *


    Nice going, Simone. I thought as we followed the guard into the heavily guarded compound.


    Thanks. Simone thought back to me and I felt her pride in constructing the little scenario from both men''s fears and responses.


    I had to risk using my Stealth technique to cover us and to hide us from everyone''s perception. I held onto Simone''s hand and she led us into the compound. As we walked, I could ''hear'' her sifting through people''s surface thoughts and we made our way to the little building that was our first target and avoided everyone''s direct gazes. We also tried to avoid what I had estimated to be their best operative''s maximum detection range.


    We made it to the right building and then had to wait. It took Simone several minutes to find an impressionable mind and then she gave that mind a very strong need to pee. A minute later, the door burst open and we slipped inside as the man ran around to the other side of the building and emptied what he thought was a very full bladder.


    We took several wrong turns as we searched for what we wanted and came across the monitoring room. No one was inside, so we slipped in and used the equipment there to search instead. Unfortunately, the computer did not have a list of current prisoners or even the number of prisoners. What it did have was various guards receiving authorization to use the device.


    I checked the monitors and found the storage room, then we waited for the guard to come back. When he did, we slipped out of the room and made our way through the building and avoided the people there as much as possible and gave them a wide berth. Getting caught now would be very bad. We found the storage room and we also found out that it was locked.


    Simone smiled and used one of the authorization codes to unlock it. The click of the lock was very loud in the silent hallway, so we quickly went inside and eased the door almost completely shut. I took another chance and made a solid Presence box over the part that the door handle shut against so that it wouldn''t slide into place and engage the lock. There was no way to add the code from inside the room without using Presence.


    No alarm was raised and we didn''t hear any running feet, so I pulled the door closed and it didn''t lock. Simone nodded and we started to search. Because we couldn''t use Presence to look through everything, we had to do it the old fashioned way and opened everything to look inside while still holding hands. Needless to say, it was taking a lot longer than either of us had planned, even with the room not being very big. The shelves were full of boxes, though.


    Simone took in a sharp breath. Someone''s coming.


    We moved over to stand behind the door and waited. Sure enough, someone came down the hallway and turned to enter the storage room.


    Open the door in five seconds. Simone thought and I nodded and grabbed the handle.


    I opened the door slightly when the code on the other side was entered.


    He noticed there was no click and he''s on guard. Simone urgently thought to me.


    I nodded and took out my experimental device and waited. The man eased the door open and cautiously stepped into the room an inch at a time. Just as his back passed the edge of the door, I put my fist-sized device on the back of his head and hit the button. The man''s head shook from the vibrations, there was a squelching pop sound like a wooden bat hitting a watermelon, then he dropped to the floor, dead.


    Well, it works. I thought and moved the man''s foot and closed the door.


    Search him. Simone thought with a little urgency. He was returning something.


    We both knelt by the body and found the bulge in his pocket when we rolled him over.


    Is that a device in your pocket or are you just excited to see me? Simone joked.


    Hope for the first because the second won''t help us much right now. I thought and she dug into the pocket and pulled out a small device, barely the size of an old-style cigarette lighter.


    There''s only one button. Simone said and handed it over.


    Once it touched my palm, I felt like I had to use Presence to look at it, despite the risk.


    You might as well. Simone said. Even if no one feels it, they are going to notice a couple of deaths if you push it and can''t tell what the radius of its effect is.


    I stopped my sigh before it escaped and covered the little device in Presence. Thanks to my extensive electronics knowledge, I immediately knew how to operate it, how often it could be operated, and that its range was five feet.


    Good news and bad news. I thought. The good news is that it is exactly what we are looking for.


    The bad news? Simone asked.


    It only has a small rechargeable battery that only lets it be used once, until its recharged. I thought.


    And we won''t know how long it takes to recharge, or even have the charger. Simone thought back. It will make us very vulnerable if we use it and don''t take out as many guards with it as possible.


    I nodded. So, what do you want to do?


    Me? Simone asked, surprised.


    I''m not walking around in here all alone, am I? I asked with amusement. Do we leave and work on making this thing more effective? Do we try to keep sneaking around and find the prisoners while knowing we only have one good shot and then we have to fight our way out? Or do we try and kill as many lone guards as possible, then go find the prisoners?


    Simone looked down at the dead guard and thought back to how we had entered. I doubt we could get back in the same way and they are probably going to find this guy before we can come back. She thought. Unless you store it with the other two you have. That will give us a bit more time.


    I nodded and shoved the body into my bag of holding. So, what''s your call? I asked, knowing what she was going to say.


    Simone smiled. We hunt these bastards down, one by one!


    I nodded and we moved to the door. We could have stayed there and searched for the charger; but, that was a waste of time, considering I would be changing it anyway. We stepped out of the storage room and instead of avoiding the minds that Simone could detect nearby, we went toward them and I used my handheld device when I could to kill them and stored the body. Sometimes there were two of them and it was a knife to the throat for the second person. If there were three, I didn''t bother with my device at all and just snapped their necks.


    We even found a prisoner who had just been interrogated. We now knew why that man had been going back to the storage room with the device. We looked at the unconscious man, who had a small scar on the side of his head.


    Whoever did this was sloppy. Simone thought. Either they are getting lax in their standards or this guy''s not going to be leaving.


    Any luck with his thoughts? I asked and she shook her head.


    He''s too muddled to get anything past remembered pain. Simone said. They roughed him up badly.


    We might as well leave him here. I thought. It''s the safest place, since we''ve already cleared the building.


    I don''t like it; but, he''s not waking up anytime soon. Simone thought and looked at the vials of drugs and shook her head. Why wouldn''t they just have an experienced telepath do this?


    They aren''t as smart as you? I asked and she smiled. Let''s go. We have more hunting to do.


    As if on cue, there was a loud crashing sound and the lights in the place flickered for a moment and came back on. We each felt amusement, because the electrical storm that they had been warning everyone about had just started.


    It was going to be the perfect cover for us to continue our covert assault.

 Book Three: The Resolution 074

    In the midst of an electrical storm, which was a normal thing to have happen a few times every year like hurricane season back on Earth, an innocuous training camp was being unknowingly besieged.


    People started to go missing and didn''t answer their personal com. It didn''t raise an alarm at first, mainly because the electrical storm had a tendency to disrupt both power and communications, even when run on local reactor power. It was still early morning and the shifts had already changed, so no one was going to be found missing from their posts for several hours.


    As the storm progressed, more of the outlying buildings were infiltrated and cleared in the same fashion as the interrogation building was. No one knew this, of course. Most of them were inside and waited out the storm. It could last for an hour or it could last for several days. That was the thing about electrical storms. If it gained more power, it stayed longer and caused more damage.


    It really was the perfect cover for any nefarious purposes, and several of the guards took this opportunity. Since the main lights were off, it was child''s play for them to acquire one of the prisoners and to sneak off to a secluded part of the camp to have a little fun. They normally couldn''t get away with things like that, since regulations forbade them from damaging the recruits. This time, one of them had found that this particular prisoner wasn''t going to be leaving their facility.


    ¡°I am going to enjoy this.¡± One of the guards said as he opened the door to the small three room building they used for storing the camp''s maintenance equipment.


    ¡°She''s got such a sweet motherly face, doesn''t she?¡± The other guard asked as he carried the gagged and bound woman inside.


    ¡°She''s not going to have that look for long.¡± The first guard said. ¡°Soon, she''s going to have my-URK!¡±


    ¡°Ha ha! Your urk?¡± The second guard asked and set the woman down. ¡°Is that your pet name for your dick?¡± He turned around and didn''t see the other guard. ¡°Huh? Where did you go?¡±


    ¡°He''s in my bag of holding.¡± A very scary voice said.


    ¡°W-w-who s-said th-that?¡± The second guard asked and reached for his wrist com.


    ¡°Your death.¡± The voice said and then the guard''s wrist was crushed.


    ¡°ARGH!¡± The guard yelled and tried to pull away from whatever had a hold of him, and he couldn''t.


    ¡°Tell me where to get the list of prisoners.¡± The voice asked and crushed the guard''s other wrist.


    The guard cried out and tried to get someone''s attention, to no avail. They had chosen this building precisely because you couldn''t be heard from the outside. With the storm raging, he doubted if people inside the building would hear his shouts, not that there was anyone else there. That was the other reason they chose it.


    ¡°TELL ME.¡± The voice said angrily.


    Both of the guard''s ankles were crushed, one after the other, and the guard whimpered and rolled around on the floor. ¡°All right... all right.¡± He said. ¡°Back... at my post...¡±


    ¡°LIAR!¡±


    The man''s knee was crushed and he yelled and shouted as he cried from the pain. After a few moments, he calmed down. ¡°My... my pocket.¡± The guard ground out through his teeth, then the datapad he had smuggled out of the control room floated out and was scanned through almost faster than he could see.


    ¡°You were of some use after all.¡±


    ¡°T-thanks.¡± The guard said and tried to stop his tears. ¡°Now let me go.¡±


    ¡°I never said I''d let you go if you helped.¡± The voice said.


    The man felt excruciating pain for a moment, then there was the sound of a wooden bat hitting a watermelon and he died as his suicide charge went off and mulched his brain.


    *


    ¡°Oh, god.¡± Simone said and let my hand go as she sat down on the floor. Her stealth faded away and she stared up at me as her whole body trembled. ¡°H-Hunter... why are you... so angry?¡±


    I made my hands into fists and didn''t say anything as I dropped my own Stealth and walked over to the woman that was about to have so many very bad things happen to her. Her flowing brown hair was thinned out from not being washed and probably from torture. Her face was almost gaunt and her eyes were slightly sunk in and had dark circles around them, as if she had two healing black eyes. Her body had thinned as well, probably from malnutrition, which was practically impossible since most foods had everything the body needs.


    My angry face softened as I absorbed the solid Presence I had used to distort my facial features. I looked at the very scared woman and she didn''t try to yell, or struggle, or try to get away. I knelt beside her and made sure she saw my calm face, despite my emotions raging inside of me to hurry up and kill everyone in the compound, regardless of the real prisoners. I saw the same sloppy scar on the side of her head that the other prisoner had and reached out to cup the side of her face.


    ¡°Hello, Emari.¡± I said and kept my voice calm and I removed the gag from her mouth.


    Emari looked at me like she didn''t know me, and I understood why. It had been many years since The Order had sent away my guardian without notice and wouldn''t tell me where she had gone. Her note had said that she didn''t know where they were sending her, either.


    Now I knew.


    They might not have sent her here right away; but, this is where she ended up and I was going to kill them all for doing it, even the ones I gave my word I would let go. They deserved to die for this.


    ¡°Emari, it''s me.¡± I untied her hands and her feet.


    Emari''s eyes flicked over my face and when I thought I saw her dawning recognition, I smiled. ¡°Ullir?¡±


    ¡°I asked you to call me Aaron.¡± I said and her eyes teared up.


    ¡°Aaron!¡± Emari exclaimed and put her frail arms around me. ¡°Oh, Aaron! They told me they killed you for being a rogue!¡±


    ¡°They tried to.¡± I said and held her tenderly.


    Emari let me go and I felt her exhaustion. ¡°Aaron, they... they put...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and reached up and touched the scar. ¡°I can only disable it for now.¡±


    Emari closed her eyes and I used her own Presence to disable the internal battery and pulled the wires, so that even with a device like mine that used vibrations to activate it, it wouldn''t detonate.


    ¡°Aaron, I''m so sorry I left.¡±


    ¡°Stop.¡± I said and she looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°You didn''t leave. They sent you away and robbed me of you.¡± I said and stood. ¡°You stay here with Simone and I''ll be back as soon as I can.¡±


    Emari looked up at my imposing figure. ¡°What... what are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°I''m going to kill them all.¡± I said and let a wide smile appear on my face, then I activated Stealth and disappeared.


    *


    Emari gasped and looked around with Presence and couldn''t find him. ¡°Aaron! Wait! You need to know that...¡±


    ¡°He''s gone.¡± Simone said.


    Emari turned her head and looked at a haggard woman not far away.


    ¡°You''re Simone?¡±


    Simone nodded and walked over to Emari and sat beside her.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Who are you to Aaron?¡±


    ¡°Friend. Lover. Confidante. Trickster.¡± Simone said. ¡°He calls himself Hunter now, by the way.¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡±


    ¡°Lots of reasons.¡± Simone said. ¡°There''s too many to tell you right now.¡±


    ¡°Why? Are you going somewhere?¡± Emari asked.


    Simone chuckled and leaned back. ¡°I can see why he liked you as a kid.¡± She said and held a hand out. ¡°I''m a telepath and I need to check you over before I give you any secrets.¡±


    ¡°Is this a test of loyalty?¡± Emari asked and took the hand without hesitation.


    ¡°No, it''s a test of trust.¡± Simone said and her mind grew in Emari''s perception until that mind was all there was, and she discovered that Emari wasn''t afraid of the all encompassing feeling at all. ¡°You love him.¡±


    ¡°Of course I do. He''s my Aaron.¡± Emari said and Simone saw in moments all of the times Emari and Hunter had interacted.


    ¡°You knew.¡± Simone said when her deep scan of Emari''s mind was done. ¡°You knew he was reincarnated.¡±


    Emari nodded. ¡°It was pretty obvious if you spent any time with him.¡± She said. ¡°I still treated him appropriately at the right times to make sure he developed properly. Oh, and I made sure to mask him whenever we were near anyone of authority. I didn''t want them to take him from me to experiment on him.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°They would want to try and discover how he did it, even if he didn''t know how it happened.¡± Emari said. ¡°They never would have let him go if they knew this was his second life.¡±


    ¡°Actually, he''s on his third? Fourth? No, I guess it''s his fifth.¡± Simone said and Emari stared at her. ¡°I won''t go into it right now, since you want to know the reasons he calls himself Hunter.¡±


    Emari nodded and her grip on Simone''s hand tightened.


    ¡°Well, it started when he turned sixteen and The Order tried to send him after a bounty hunter that could kill Order members...¡±


    Emari listened with rapt attention to the woman she knew loved her Aaron, and she was happy that the Presence didn''t waver once as Simone told her what she wanted to know.


    *


    I left the building and felt a little relieved that Simone wasn''t here. I missed her telling me where people were; but, she was also severely slowing me down. I moved almost as fast as a lightning bolt to the next building and didn''t bother trying to wait for someone to enter or leave. I opened the door just enough to fit and slipped inside and then systematically ran through every room and killed everyone I met. None of them even knew I was there as they died and then I stored the bodies before they had hit the floor.


    The last room was a small barracks and there were six men and one woman inside it. Rather than try to stay stealthy about it after I slipped into the room, since after I killed one of them they would all know, I kicked a trash can across the room to make as much noise as possible instead.


    *


    ¡°What the hell was-GLAHG!¡± The man''s words were cut off because his head now faced the other way. The others turned to look and two of the men took an invisible fist to the face, which pushed them away from the group, then one had an invisible foot lodged into his sternum.


    ¡°Shit!¡± A disembodied voice said as the body fell to the floor and the blood splashed up onto the ''invisible'' assailant, whose boot was now caught on the dead man''s rib cage.


    ¡°Call the-¡± A nearly silent laser blast blew the man''s head off and the last man and only woman stood there and stared at the carnage that had taken less than five seconds to happen. They both took laser shots to the face as well and neither of them had reached for their wrist com to warn anyone else.


    *


    I stored my father''s custom laser pistol and stood on the man my boot was stuck in. It took two tries to get my foot dislodged from his chest and my boot was soaked, both inside and outside, with blood. I took a step with it and it made a wet squish sound, so I sighed and slipped it off, used one of the men''s shirts to dry off the blood and stored the boots and the bodies.


    I left there and went to the next and last building. It was the administration building, according to the datapad, so I knew that this was where they kept the high priority prisoners and the main commander of the training camp. I wanted to avoid that man for as long as possible as I killed the rest of his underlings. I went back under Stealth, despite the risk of discovery for using Presence, and made my way around the building.


    I killed two secretaries, a stock clerk, three office workers, and eight guards as I worked my way through the large building. I avoided going to the basement where they stored the prisoners, because I wanted to save the guards there for last. My bag of holding was starting to get heavy, too. I quickly made it to the top floor and stood in front of the door to the man in charge of the place, then opened it and stepped aside.


    When nothing happened, I peered inside and no one was there. I entered the office and looked around and saw the datapad on the desk. On it was the daily schedule and at the moment, the man in charge was taking a tour of the basement holding cells.


    Dammit, dammit, dammit. I thought, then retraced my steps to get to the bottom floor as fast as possible. I arrived at the right door and since I had already killed the guards and stored them, my way wasn''t barred. I carefully opened the door and saw two more guards on the other side.


    ¡°Hey, wait until shift change to come in to stare at the pretty ones.¡± One of the guards joked.


    I snapped his neck and stuffed him into my bag of holding. The other guard stared at the spot that his friend had just disappeared from. I grabbed his neck and broke it as well, then he joined all of the others in my bag. With the current obstacles out of the way, I crept into the basement and went down the stairs, and was relieved that there were no guards on this door.


    I listened as hard as I could to see if there was anyone on the other side. I didn''t hear anything, so I slowly turned the door handle and eased the door open. It let out a loud creaking sound and then I heard a loud laugh from across the room.


    ¡°So much for sneaking around, huh? We all heard you.¡± A man''s voice said.


    Someone else laughed. ¡°Intentionally rusting the hinge was a great idea, sir.¡±


    ¡°I did it to terrify our trainees.¡± The man said. ¡°Catching people trying to sneak in is just a bonus.¡±


    ¡°You might as well come all the way in.¡± A different man''s voice said.


    I pushed open the door with a fingertip and hopped to the side, then a dozen laser bolts flew out of the open door and hit the stairs.


    ¡°Cease fire.¡± An authoritative voice said. ¡°He''s smart enough to get into our basement. He''s not going to stand in an open doorway.¡±


    I felt a wave of Presence pass over me and held in my wince at the strength of it.


    ¡°Oh? You''re not a Presence user?¡± The man asked, curious. ¡°How did you get by the guards?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t get by them.¡± I said. ¡°I killed them.¡±


    ¡°I don''t feel any bodies at the door or up the stairs.¡± The man responded. ¡°What did you do to them?¡±


    ¡°Do you really want to know, or are you stalling so your men can swarm me out here?¡± I asked.


    There was a light chuckle and then two grenades came out through the open door. I quickly put my blast shield into place and turned on my personal shield as both of them exploded. As I has guessed, one was a flash grenade and one was a shrapnel grenade.


    ¡°AAAAH!¡± I yelled as I pretended to take damage. My shield easily deflected the shrapnel and my blast shield blocked the light. I stored it and took out my father''s laser pistol as I waited for the men to rush out. Two of them were stupid enough to try, so I shot them both in the face and moved away from where I was.


    ¡°You might as well come all the way in.¡± A man''s voice said. ¡°We promise not to hurt you.¡±


    Someone else laughed and was quickly silenced.


    ¡°We have the prisoners here, so if you''re here to save them, you''ll have to come in to save them.¡±


    ¡°I''m not here to save them.¡± I said. ¡°I''m here to kill you.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Who hired you?¡± The man responded.


    ¡°You''re not that important to warrant a personal contract.¡± I said to give his ego a hit. ¡°I''m here to kill all of you.¡±


    Several laughs greeted that statement and then there were several yells from people and then the sound of a laser pistol. A man yelled in pain and started to plead for his life.


    ¡°If you don''t show yourself in ten seconds, I''ll kill this man.¡± A different voice said.


    I chuckled. ¡°Why wait? Just shoot him now.¡±


    There was another laser blast and another yell, then silence.


    ¡°That''s one death on your hands.¡± The authoritative voice said to try and make me feel guilty.


    ¡°Ha! You''re kidding, right?¡± I asked. ¡°I''ve killed over seventy people here so far, including your secretaries and office workers. I think one was even a file clerk.¡± I said and no one responded. ¡°What? Did the truth shock you?¡± I laughed. ¡°I just told you that I was here to kill you all. Whether the trainees die by your hand or mine makes no difference, except for when it happens.¡±


    ¡°You really believe that you can come into my compound and kill the people working for me.¡± The authoritative voice said, surprised.


    I laughed again. ¡°Believe it? I just did it. You and the people in that room are all that''s left.¡±


    The Presence built up in the room. ¡°No, you''re lying.¡± The authoritative voice said. ¡°It can''t be true. No one can get in here undetected!¡±


    ¡°I didn''t say it was undetected.¡± I laughed again. ¡°If you kill all the witnesses, though... who is going to report the break in?¡±


    ¡°Sir! There''s no answer on any of the coms.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± The authoritative voice yelled and the Presence pulsed.


    I slipped two grenades out of my bag of holding and set one for three seconds and one for eight seconds, then tossed them into the room.


    ¡°FLASH GRENADES!¡± Someone yelled and then the flash grenade went off.


    ¡°I am going to skin whoever threw that!¡± One of them said, then the second one went off. ¡°AAHHH!¡±


    Multiple people hollered as they all had looked at the grenades just when the second one went off and I slipped into the room past their view. I saw that it was a big room with rows of cells on one side and a kind of workout area on the other. Fifteen guards and over double that in prisoners had their faces covered and were rubbing their eyes, so I slowly walked along and shot the guards in the neck, since their faces were covered.


    I had killed three of them and wounded two more before I felt a pulse of Presence. It picked me up and threw me across the room and I slammed into the bars of a cell, then I slid to the floor.


    ¡°Please tell me you aren''t dead.¡± The authoritative voice said and he faded into view from the shadows and walked over to me. I was still under Stealth; but, he was using his Presence detection range like a radar and could still see me.


    ¡°W-wait.¡± I said in a shaky voice and let my Stealth technique fade away. ¡°Don''t... hurt me.¡±


    ¡°Oh? And why shouldn''t I do that?¡±


    ¡°I... I''ll surrender... as long as... you keep your goons as far away as possible.¡±


    ¡°Ha. Ha ha ha!¡± The authoritative man waved at his remaining troops. Instead of staying far away, the ten of them had huge grins on their faces and walked towards me.


    ¡°No! NO!¡± I covered my face with an arm and twisted slightly away.


    ¡°You are going to pay for what you''ve done.¡± The authoritative man said and just as the goons grabbed my arms to pick me up and the others started to pummel me with their fists and laser rifle handles, I hit the button on the device I had stolen. There were ten distinct sounds of a wooden bat hitting a watermelon, and all ten men dropped to the floor, dead. The authoritative man stared at the pile of bodies and then at me as I stood up and pushed them off of me.


    ¡°I told you I was here to kill you all.¡± I said and raised my father''s laser pistol and shot him in the head.

 Book Three: The Resolution 075

    The authoritative man had tried to use Presence to deflect the laser bolt from his face and only managed to make it hit him in the eye instead. His eye was burned through in an instant and half of his brain liquefied and boiled off in the next instant. He dropped to his knees and his one remaining eye gazed over my shoulder and at the wall. I put a laser bolt into that eye, just in case losing half of his brain wasn''t enough to kill him. The body slumped to the floor and I didn''t bother searching it before I walked over to the two remaining guards.


    ¡°Hey, fellas. No, I didn''t forget about you.¡± I said and crushed their wrist coms and their wrists. ¡°I know that wasn''t strictly necessary, especially during an electrical storm.¡± I smiled at them and crushed their ankles next. I was surprised that my hands weren''t getting sore from crushing so many bones.


    ¡°Stop! STOP!¡± One of them yelled. ¡°We''ll tell you everything you want to know!¡±


    ¡°Good for you.¡± I pat the top of his head. ¡°It''s just too bad that I''m not asking you any questions.¡± I said and crushed their elbows and then their knees.


    The guards were whimpering by this point and the prisoners scattered around actually started to feel bad for the guards.


    ¡°You see, one of the prisoners you have here is someone that raised me for seven years.¡± I said, and the guards let out a defeated moan. ¡°Yeah, you know that I''m not letting you off easy after having to kill everyone else so quickly.¡±


    ¡°Wh-which prisoner?¡± A guard asked.


    ¡°That is a good question.¡± I said and pat the top of his head with my homemade device and hit the button. The wooden bat on a watermelon sound happened and the man died. ¡°It was the wrong one to ask, however.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Goddess! Please, grant...¡±


    I kicked out and shoved my toes into the side of the man''s face, which tore off his jaw, his cheek, and his nose. His tongue wagged and he made a gurgling sound.


    ¡°I can''t have you calling for help before I''m done.¡± I said. ¡°I''m taking the prisoners out of here and away from this place.¡±


    The guard looked at me and his eyes were full of disbelief.


    ¡°Don''t worry, you''re not going to see any of them again.¡± I said and turned my foot the other way and kicked again. My heel crushed the rest of his face and the force of the blow snapped his head back and popped his spine apart. The body dropped backwards to the ground and only the flesh of his neck held his head in place.


    ¡°How can you do that?¡± One of the male trainees asked. ¡°I''ve been here for three months and I don''t think I could treat them like that.¡±


    ¡°This isn''t the time for sentimentality over caring about your guards because sometimes they were nice to you.¡± I said. ¡°Do you remember that they took a couple of you out of here already?¡±


    The man fell silent.


    ¡°Yeah, you know exactly what they do when they take people out of here. Both the bad and the horrible.¡± I said and searched the guards for the keys to the cell doors. I found them on the sixth guard I checked and I hadn''t missed that none of the trainees had pointed him out. ¡°So, does that mean none of you actually want to leave?¡±


    ¡°You said that you were here to kill us all.¡± A woman said.


    ¡°I wasn''t counting the prisoners.¡± I said and her eyes went over to a man that laid face down in one of the cells. ¡°It''s okay. He''s faking it.¡± I went to his cell and opened it. ¡°You can get up now. The guards are dead.¡±


    ¡°You let them shoot me!¡± The man said and rolled over to show that his thigh had a laser burn on it.


    ¡°You''ll be fine.¡± I said and took out my father''s laser pistol and shot him in the other leg. ¡°Hey, now they match!¡±


    ¡°ARRGGHH!!! You''re crazy!¡± The man yelled and tried to move away.


    ¡°Uh. Uh. Uh.¡± I said and aimed for his head. ¡°Tell me your name.¡±


    ¡°It''s John Mal-¡±


    *P-TEW!*


    ¡°Eeeennn! Wrong answer.¡± I said after shooting him in the face. I went to the next cell and the terrified woman stared at me. ¡°Hello there, I''m your current rescuer.¡±


    ¡°Please don''t hurt me.¡± The woman whispered.


    ¡°I''m sorry I scared you with that.¡± I said and pointed at the other cell. ¡°What''s your name, beautiful?¡±


    ¡°It''s Sara Ba-¡±


    *P-TEW!*


    ¡°Eeeennn! Wrong answer.¡± I said and went to the next cell. ¡°You now what? This is taking too long.¡± I said and moved back out to the center of the room and started shooting. Of the twenty-eight prisoners left, I shot twenty-two of them. ¡°There we go.¡±


    The remaining six prisoners were completely terrified now.


    ¡°Hey, it''s all right.¡± I said. ¡°The others were trainees for this camp and were going through hazing.¡±


    ¡°H-how do you know that?¡± One of the braver men asked.


    ¡°I have a list of descriptions and names.¡± I said and they all looked at me like I was crazy. ¡°I wanted to make them think I was going to give them a chance to live; but, it really was taking too long. I need to get you out of here before anyone shows up.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said you killed everyone.¡± A woman said as I opened her cell.


    ¡°I did. I''m worried about someone coming to the camp looking for a worker... or worse, one of you.¡±


    She didn''t say anything and I used the keys to open her shackles. She swung her fists at me to try and push me out of the way.


    ¡°Whoa, easy there.¡± I easily caught her wrists and used a calming technique on her. ¡°I''m not going to hurt you.¡±


    ¡°You just killed how many people?¡± She asked and tried to struggle, despite being calm.


    ¡°About a hundred and ten.¡± I said and used a quick Presence Heal on her to help get her mobile. ¡°They were involved with torturing my guardian and I needed to make them all pay.¡±


    The woman stopped moving at my words and the healing energy. ¡°Your guardian?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I was captured when I was a child and raised on The Order''s home world.¡± I said and the other five prisoners stood up. ¡°Long story short, when I wouldn''t join, they took my guardian away and tried to kill me.¡±


    Small pulses of Presence came from them and I could feel them regaining some backbone.


    ¡°I''ve been biding my time and trying to build up a force to counter everything they do; but, it''s taken me years to get where I am and I don''t have the infrastructure I need to attack directly.¡±


    ¡°You''re peeling the onion.¡± A woman said from three cages away. ¡°You''re going to take out the support structure one piece at a time and whittle them down until you get to the core.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I need you to join my cause immediately and take over.¡± I said and she barked a laugh at the partial lie. ¡°All right, just joining is fine.¡±


    ¡°What about these things in our heads?¡± A man asked.


    ¡°I can only pop the wires and the charge. I won''t be able to have them completely removed until we get back to the station.¡±


    ¡°Are you really getting us out of here?¡± The woman in front of me asked.


    ¡°Yes, and I''m joking about having to join up.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve got a network set up to smuggle you out of The Order''s sights and you''ll have new lives and identities provided to you.¡±


    ¡°Then hurry up and get us out of here.¡± The other woman said and I went to each cage, opened it up and unlocked their chains, then used a quick Presence Heal on them to get them mobile as well. One of the men ran out to the authoritative man''s corpse and searched him, then grabbed his Light sword.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°I''m getting us out of here.¡± He said and held a hand out to her. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy? We can''t escape looking like this!¡±


    ¡°We can steal some clothes or something.¡± The man said, a little urgently. ¡°Let''s GO!¡±


    The woman looked at me and I chuckled.


    ¡°Either he''s pretty stupid or he''s trying to impress you. Or both. It''s hard to tell.¡± I said and she smiled.


    ¡°Hey!¡± The man said and she looked back at him. ¡°Come on!¡±


    The woman hesitated and looked back at me.


    ¡°Oh, before you run off without a plan, money, or common sense... I have clothes, food, weapons, a way off the planet, and more money than I could spend on normal things in a single lifetime.¡±


    The woman looked back at the man and he sighed in defeat. He walked over to me and held out the Light sword.


    ¡°You can keep it.¡± I said to his surprise. ¡°It''s broken.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± The man looked at it. ¡°I can feel the focusing crystal!¡±


    ¡°Try turning it on.¡± I said and it spit and sputtered, then the crystal audibly cracked. ¡°Now you know why he didn''t draw it himself.¡±


    The man tossed the useless weapon aside and looked at me. ¡°I guess I''m going with you.¡±


    ¡°What if I changed my mind?¡± I asked and he had a worried look on his face.


    ¡°I''m just kidding.¡± I said and walked around him. ¡°Now take her hand like a man instead of asking for it, and follow me.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± The man said and both women laughed. All six of them followed me and I went around and stored all of the bodies.


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡± The first woman asked.


    ¡°I could give you a short explanation of extra-dimensional space and how I''m carrying a small pocket of it around, or I could keep it simple and say it''s magic.¡± I said.


    ¡°Any advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic to those that hadn''t seen it before or understand the principles.¡± She responded.


    ¡°Ooo, nice.¡± I said. ¡°It really is magic, though.¡± I said. ¡°Spells and incantations and everything.¡±


    The woman blinked her eyes and stared at me as we all walked up the stairs. ¡°You aren''t joking.¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± I said and opened the door at the top of the stairs. ¡°Say, do any of you know where the control room is?¡±


    The woman that held the man''s hand raised her free hand.


    ¡°Lead the way.¡± I said and followed her to the third floor. We stopped at a security door and she pointed to a keypad. ¡°I was here cleaning and saw inside.¡±


    ¡°This looks really sturdy.¡± I said and admired the door.


    ¡°It''s six inches of tristeel.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°Not a problem.¡± I said.


    ¡°But... what... how...¡±


    ¡°Just watch and be amazed.¡± I said and moved four feet down the hallway, took two steps back from the wall, then I stepped forward and kicked. My foot went right through the normal wall.


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± The woman whispered, amazed.


    ¡°I learned this trick when salvaging a ship''s armory.¡± I said and finished kicking out an appropriate sized hole in the wall. ¡°They were so concerned about people coming in through the door that it was heavily armored and even booby-trapped.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I just walked around to the back and cut through the bulkhead.¡±


    ¡°That really is amazing.¡± She said.


    ¡°I told you.¡± I grinned at her and went inside the room. They followed me and I quickly found the main database and did the same trick we did to get the data from the last place we raided. I had the computer list everything and recorded it, rather than copy the data the normal way. While that was going on, I searched through the room and didn''t find anything noteworthy, not even an inventory list.


    ¡°Hey, there''s someone on the security monitor.¡± One of the men said.


    I looked over and saw Simone and Emari holding hands and talking. ¡°That''s my partner and my guardian. I better go and get them.¡± I paused by the hole in the wall. ¡°Don''t wreck anything until I come back.¡±


    A couple of the men laughed and one of the women nodded. I left the building and walked across the compound to the first building and went into the torture room and shot the man there in the head. He was one of the trainees and that was why his mind was muddled. He was drugged so that he wouldn''t feel the pain from the torture and would be healed to make it look like he actually went through it.


    I left there and went to the maintenance building to get Simone and Emari. ¡°Hey, you two.¡± I said and walked over to them. ¡°I bet you two are fast friends.¡±


    Simone chuckled and showed me their held hands. ¡°She''s a delight and loves you very much.¡±


    ¡°Like I didn''t now that already.¡± I said and knelt beside Emari, then took her free hand and used a quick Presence Heal on her. She took in a deep breath and let it out.


    ¡°You''ve become very skilled.¡±


    ¡°This?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I''m hiding pretty much everything while I''m here on this mission.¡±


    ¡°You are?¡± Emari reached out and sent a pulse of Presence through me. Since I was completely blocking myself from detection, she didn''t feel any response from me. ¡°What technique is that?¡±


    ¡°There''s a lot that we can catch up on later.¡± I said and helped her stand. ¡°For now, we need to get back to the control room and retrieve the data I''m mining.¡±


    ¡°What about the other prisoners?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°I took care of them.¡± I said and Emari caught her breath.


    ¡°Hunter! That''s what I wanted to warn you about!¡± Emari said and clung to my arm. ¡°We aren''t all prisoners!¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I pat her hand and led her from the building. ¡°We suspected it long before coming here, then confirmed it when we found the datapad on the guards that had taken you.¡±


    Emari relaxed at my words and continued to hold my arm tightly as we walked across the compound to the main building. She shivered as we approached and I stopped just outside the door. The storm overhead raged at us and I ignored it.


    ¡°I killed them all, including the administrator.¡± I said. ¡°Only the actual prisoners are left and they are in the control room waiting for us.¡±


    Emari nodded acceptance and I led her and Simone into the building and we went up to the third floor, then Simone laughed at my improvised door. I took them through and saw that most of the things inside were smashed. Monitors, consoles, filing cabinets, desks, and chairs were pretty much scrap.


    ¡°Don''t be angry.¡± A woman said a bit sheepishly, then she pointed to where I had set up the equipment. ¡°We left what you were working on.¡±


    ¡°How do you know you didn''t destroy what I wanted to record?¡± I asked as my anger rose. ¡°Any of those consoles could have had the data we needed to stop this from happening again!¡±


    Simone reached out and tried to calm me down and her efforts were in vain.


    ¡°So help me god, if there are gaps in the data I''m retrieving, I''ll take an equal gap out of your Presence!¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Emari exclaimed.


    ¡°Do you really think the stupid and useless tantrum they had wrecking the place is going to help anything?¡± I asked her. ¡°No! All it did was jeopardize me helping other people that have been taken like this!¡±


    Emari couldn''t argue against that, so she remained quiet.


    ¡°I changed my mind.¡± I said and looked at the prisoners. ¡°I don''t want any of you near this operation if this is how you act when lives are on the line.¡± I waved at the destroyed control room. ¡°You will be sent off to live new and anonymous lives as soon as you are properly healed and have those devices removed from your heads.¡±


    ¡°I want to join.¡± A woman said. ¡°I don''t want anyone else to end up like me.¡±


    ¡°It''s too late for that.¡± I said. ¡°You failed the trust test.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°After all the time you spent here, you couldn''t keep your head on straight for twenty minutes when left alone.¡± I shook my head. ¡°How are you going to act if you come across another facility like this one and are supposed to rescue people?¡± I asked and looked at their guilty faces. ¡°Yeah, none of you would be any good at all.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we''ve been prisoners for years!¡± A man said loudly. ¡°We have a right to be angry!¡±


    ¡°Yes, you do!¡± I said loudly back. ¡°You have every right to be angry! I understand that! We all do!¡± I said in a bit of a rant. ¡°I want to burn this whole goddamn planet to ashes for what they did to my Emari!¡±


    Emari''s eyes overflowed with tears at the truth in my words.


    ¡°I''m not going to do that, though. Do you know why?¡± I asked and they didn''t respond. ¡°Even though I have every right to be angry, what I don''t have is the right to be stupid. Taking revenge for what happened has to be planned meticulously or it could get you killed.¡± I said. ¡°I almost died the first time I tried to come here.¡±


    Emari''s grip tightened on my arm and her tears kept going.


    ¡°But, that''s okay. I learned from my mistake and corrected it, then came here with a different plan. It worked, thank god.¡± I said and two of the prisoners winced a little. ¡°It seems we still have two devout followers, despite everything she put them through.¡±


    ¡°What? No!¡± The man said and raised his hands. ¡°I''m not a devout follower!¡±


    I felt the Presence waver. ¡°Then praise god.¡± I said and both men winced a little. ¡°Thank him for sending me to rescue you.¡±


    The man only shook his head and didn''t say anything else.


    ¡°Simone.¡± I said and she walked over to the man.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Emari asked.


    ¡°She''s going to muddle these memories in their minds.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t kill them like I want to, so I can only remove their knowledge of what happened here and let them go.¡±


    ¡°You''re not taking them from the planet?¡± One of the women asked and moved slightly towards the console with the data retrieval equipment.


    I sighed and pointed my father''s laser pistol at her. ¡°I''ll change my mind again if you don''t stop threatening me.¡± I said and she stopped moving. ¡°I said I have passage off the planet and that I''ll get you new lives. Why isn''t that enough for you? You''ve proven that you can''t be trusted, so why do you keep expecting me to trust you again?¡±


    None of them said anything.


    ¡°Go ahead, Simone.¡± I said and she touched the man''s temple. After a few minutes, she nodded and went to the other man.


    ¡°Don''t touch me.¡± He said and backed away.


    ¡°I''m not giving you another choice.¡± I said. ¡°You had one already and chose poorly.¡±


    Simone reached for his temple and he moved to swat her hand away. I shot the hand and then his shoulder, then the other shoulder for good measure. A few people flinched from the violence, then a feeling of defeat filled the room.


    ¡°Stop that!¡± The other woman said and slapped the man beside her and the feeling disappeared. ¡°He''s right! We might have ruined his chance to rescue more prisoners with what we did here.¡± She looked at the two passive men Simone had put into a sleepwalking state. ¡°If they are still devoted to her, then they are even more gullible than you are.¡± She looked over at me. ¡°I''m sorry for what happened.¡±


    ¡°I don''t care that you are. I just hope it won''t impact the data retrieval.¡± I said as the equipment finished. I quickly packed it up and tucked it into my bag of holding. ¡°Unfortunately, I can''t leave this place intact like my original plan called for.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I wanted it to be completely empty. No signs of people anywhere. Like they had all just left in the middle of the work day and didn''t come back.¡±


    The woman looked around at all the smashed consoles and her heart deflated.


    ¡°Yeah, it''s going to look really suspicious if this is the only room in the whole compound that suffered catastrophic damage and every single one of the guards are gone.¡±


    The other prisoners looked at me and didn''t know what to say.


    ¡°I guess it''s time for Plan B.¡± I said and motioned for everyone to leave the room. As they left, I took out every body that I had gathered and stuffed them into the control room. Apparently, over a hundred bodies was a lot, because they were piled pretty high by the time I was by the door hole I had made and shoved the last body into the room.


    ¡°You really did kill them all.¡± The first woman said.


    ¡°You can tell when people lie and you still seem surprised.¡± I said and took Emari''s hand and led everyone downstairs and out of the building. We went over to the main gate and walked right outside. I clicked a button on my wrist com and kept walking. After ten minutes, Gleas drove the large rented off-road vehicle over to us.


    ¡°Hurry!¡± Gleas said and we all climbed inside. It was a tight fit with the seven prisoners, Simone, Gleas, and myself inside. No one complained about it until we drove away and hit the first rough bump.

 Book Three: The Resolution 076

    Gleas drove us around and out from under the electrical storm, much to everyone''s relief, then she came to a stop. Before anyone could ask why, I took out piles of old clothes for us all to change into.


    ¡°I hope these aren''t the clothes you meant when you said you had new clothes for us.¡± A woman said.


    ¡°Did I say that?¡± I asked with a grin and she sighed.


    Once we were changed, Gleas made another three hour drive over the surrounding lands. By the time she was done, we were all completely covered in dirt.


    ¡°Goddammit, put me back in the training camp.¡± One of the men complained when we drove towards the nearby town.


    ¡°Yeah, you''re not going to want to do that.¡± I said.


    ¡°What? Why not?¡± A woman asked.


    ¡°You''ll see when we get back to the room.¡± I said cryptically.


    We arrived back at the hotel and went into the lobby and were met with a lot of laughter.


    ¡°Your dirt multiplied!¡± The woman at the desk laughed.


    ¡°Ha ha ha!¡± I laughed. ¡°We finally found the people we were looking for.¡± I said. ¡°Is there any chance we can get extra cots sent up?¡±


    ¡°Of course, sir.¡± The woman said and did a bit of typing.


    ¡°I''ll pay the extra fees for the occupancy extension as well.¡± I said and slid a five hundred credit chip across the desk to her.


    ¡°Sir, there''s no need for...¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry, we''ll be calling for meals in about an hour.¡± I said. ¡°There''s no way we''re all going to fit in the tub at once!¡±


    ¡°Not even our grand tub can hold ten people at a time.¡± The woman took the chip and laughed. ¡°Try not to have too much fun, sir.¡±


    ¡°I doubt any fun will be had with so many witnesses around.¡± Simone said and gave the woman a wave. She waved back with a warm smile and we all went to the elevator and went to the top floor.


    ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± One of the women asked as the elevator doors opened and revealed the top floor suite.


    ¡°Nope! The whole top floor is the suite!¡± Simone said and walked in like she owned the place. ¡°Hunter, Gleas, and I are washing first.¡±


    The prisoners gave me pointed looks.


    ¡°We really are only washing.¡± I said. ¡°We''re on mission right now, so no sex.¡±


    Emari caught the qualifier right away and her eyes went to Gleas, who blushed a little.


    ¡°Don''t break anything.¡± I said a bit sternly to the other prisoners.


    ¡°We''ll need about fifteen minutes.¡± Simone said and the three of us went to the large bathroom, shut the door, and quickly stripped and added our clothes to the dirty pile. I was efficient in my washing of both women and Simone teased me a little by moaning at every intimate touch. I ignored it of course. They both washed me and we were out, dried off, and dressed in just under fifteen minutes.


    ¡°That seemed like a waste of a great opportunity.¡± Simone said with a smile as we left the bathroom.


    ¡°Tub''s free and refilled.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and the shower''s free. That could fit ten people inside, easy.¡±


    ¡°Then why didn''t you take a shower?¡± Emari asked.


    ¡°I promised someone important to me that I would bathe and think of her.¡±


    Emari looked at Simone and Gleas and knew I didn''t mean them. ¡°We have a lot of catching up to do.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea.¡± I said with a chuckle and waved to the bathroom. ¡°Ladies first.¡±


    ¡°I''m taking a bath.¡± One of the women said and was barely inside the bathroom door and had stripped off and tossed her dirty clothes onto the pile. ¡°Oh, my!¡± She exclaimed as she slid into the tub and the bubbles covered her. ¡°This is so nice!¡±


    ¡°Now you''ve convinced me to try it.¡± The other woman said and walked in. ¡°Emari?¡±


    ¡°Shower for me.¡± Emari said and I handed her three nice outfits for them to wear when they got out, then she entered the bathroom and shut the door. They were out nearly thirty minutes later and looked like new women.


    I let out a low whistle. ¡°Looking good, ladies.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, geez.¡± Simone swatted my shoulder. ¡°Ease off on the charm. They might take it the wrong way.¡±


    ¡°They saw me kill a whole bunch of people.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°I could dance around naked right now and they wouldn''t take it the wrong way.¡±


    ¡°That''s the truth.¡± One of the women said. ¡°Your methods were effective; but, they are too brutal for my liking.¡±


    I leaned towards Simone and whispered loudly. ¡°She''s already forgotten that I had to be stealthy about it and couldn''t do what I wanted to do to them.¡±


    The woman''s face looked surprised for a moment, then she frowned as she thought about what I would have done if I didn''t have to be stealthy.


    ¡°Oh, that reminds me.¡± I said and walked over to the console at the side of the room and sat down. I stayed there and typed for a few minutes, then smiled and hit execute. ¡°There we go. No more camp.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± The woman looked at me in surprise.


    ¡°The buildings were wired with explosives.¡± I said as an explanation. ¡°If the camp was ever discovered for what it truly was, they would detonate them and remove all evidence that the camp existed.¡±


    ¡°N-no.. no...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, now you know why we were being stealthy. If we had tried to storm the place...¡± I made an expanding motion with my hands. ¡°...kablooie!¡±


    All of them sat down in shock and Simone called the desk clerk to send up ten meals.


    ¡°The men should get cleaned up as well.¡± Emari said when she recovered. ¡°Hunter. Clothes please.¡±


    I took out four outfits for the men and they went into the bathroom. Apparently, they were used to having group showers and were back out just in time for the meals to arrive.


    ¡°Thank you so much.¡± Simone said and gave the woman a quick hug to press her breasts against her.


    ¡°You did that on purpose.¡± The desk clerk said.


    ¡°Consider it a tip.¡± Simone said with a grin.


    ¡°If that''s the case, then I got two.¡± The woman grinned back and looked at Simone''s erect nipples.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Simone fake gasped and covered them. ¡°Get out of here!¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    The woman laughed and stepped back into the elevator. ¡°The cots will be sent up next.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Simone said and the elevator doors closed.


    ¡°I don''t even want to know what that was all about.¡± Emari said and both Gleas and I laughed.


    We all ate our meals and then the cots arrived. The men were set up in the living room and the women were set up in the bathroom, that way they had a door between them and everyone else. It could also be locked and that gave them a level of mental security that they didn''t know they needed.


    The next day, I gave everyone enough clothes for travelling, that way they weren''t dependent on me for it, then we checked out of the hotel. I paid what they considered a very high fee and what I considered well worth the large tub baths, and I told them so. They thanked me for using their hotel and I thanked them for letting me track dirt through their hallways and didn''t complain about it.


    We all had a good laugh at that, then we left and piled back into the off-road vehicle. We were all in a good mood after a full night''s sleep that no one complained. Of course, Gleas made sure to stick as close to the main roads as possible and the ride wasn''t as rough or as dirt-laden as it usually was. We arrived back at the landing port that evening and didn''t bother getting changed or washed before we boarded the small freighter.


    ¡°Farrah!¡± A crew member exclaimed and held a hand out to be slapped. ¡°Are you going to show these hacks how to fly or what?¡±


    Gleas chuckled and slapped the offered hand. ¡°You know it!¡±


    ¡°We''ll see you after your shift.¡± I said and handed our booking reservation papers to the crew member.


    ¡°Oho! It''s you! You''re even early.¡± He said happily. ¡°Get aboard and we can get out of here with the rest of our cargo and get back on schedule.¡±


    I led everyone onboard and they were surprised when none of them were asked for papers or scanned with a security scanner. I took them to the compartment with the five bunk beds in it, or ten beds, and it would be just enough for us if no one shared.


    The people I rescued were more than happy with the sleeping arrangements, considering they pretty much slept on the floor while they were captured. Two weeks on a bed wasn''t going to bother them at all. When told about the shower conditions, they laughed and informed me the shower and bath they had the night before was the first they had this week. Waiting three days was nothing.


    Gleas flew the freighter up and out of the atmosphere like a bird spreading its wings and the crew actually applauded her when the control tower complimented the ship on a perfect take off. That night, I slept alone, just in case someone had the idea to try anything. Of course, I had Emari in the bed next to me, Simone in the bed above me, and Gleas above Emari. I took the chance to cover us in a Presence Barrier and we all slept well.


    The next two weeks passed by fairly quickly. It was probably because as time passed, we were farther and farther away from where they had been held prisoner. When we came out of hyperspace in the Dizahl System, Simone, Gleas, and I let out a sigh of relief. The freighter docked to the station and the crew said their goodbyes to Farrah and were sorry to see her go.


    ¡°Don''t worry! I''m sure we''ll have more cargo requests and I''ll see you then!¡± Gleas said, and that made them happy. We walked to another part of the station and I activated my wrist com and entered a special code.


    ¡°Baby Bird to Nest.¡± I whispered. ¡°The chicks have returned. I repeat. The chicks have returned.¡± I received a double click in response and nodded. ¡°Let''s get to the temporary dock.¡±


    We all made our way there and waited for our ride to show up. Ten minutes later, Adona floated into view. One of the men commented on the beautiful ship passing by, then the ship slowed down, rotated and docked. He was shocked that it was actually our ride. The main hatch opened and on the other side was everyone.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Hailey yelled and I felt a pulse of Presence from her as she ran over to me.


    ¡°Hey, beautiful.¡± I said and knelt to give her a hug and a quick kiss.


    ¡°You smell awful.¡± Hailey said happily.


    I laughed. ¡°We all do after two weeks of occasional showers.¡± I said and stood. ¡°Everyone get on board and we can finish the greetings on the way.¡±


    They all agreed and we piled onboard Adona and I invited everyone up to the observation deck. Hugs and a few kisses were exchanged, and for some reason, I had somehow greeted Simone and Gleas as well. They both gave me wicked smiles and I shook my head at their antics.


    ¡°Hunter, is that where you live?¡± Emari asked as she stared out the window at the large space habitat we were approaching at a crawl.


    ¡°We own it!¡± Hailey said excitedly.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Emari looked at Hailey. I couldn''t have heard her right. She thought. You either rent the space or buy an apartment attached to it. No one can own a whole space habitat!


    ¡°We bought it with the salvage money. It''s all ours.¡± Hailey said. ¡°It''s our home.¡±


    ¡°We actually traded two-thirds of a fleet''s worth of salvage for it instead of selling and buying; but, Hailey''s right. It''s ours.¡± I said.


    Emari fell silent at the realization that I had bought my own space habitat.


    ¡°Once we dock to the station, I''ll assign your rooms here on Adona. You can get cleaned up and then you can report to the medical bay for a full checkup.¡±


    ¡°I''m fine.¡± One of the men said. ¡°I don''t need....¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t asking.¡± I said and the man narrowed his eyes at me. ¡°I know you don''t like someone telling you what to do, so that''s just too bad.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll also remove the suicide charges from your skulls.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t you just say that first?¡± The man asked, perturbed.


    ¡°I wanted to see how much of a jerk you were.¡±


    ¡°You''re the one being a jerk.¡±


    ¡°Me? The man that entered a secret training camp and rescued you at great risk to himself? Who then killed everyone that hurt and tortured you? Who blew up that training camp and got you away from the planet?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah, I''m the jerk. I keep offering help to people that believe they don''t need it.¡±


    None of them said anything in response and I sighed.


    ¡°You''re not going to take my offer to sneak you away, either.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I can''t believe you are that stupid to want to stay anywhere near The Order and risk being captured again and killed.¡±


    ¡°It''s my life. I can do what I want with it.¡± The man said.


    ¡°No, it''s my life. I saved it.¡± I said and he was surprised when the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°Don''t look surprised. They were going to kill you at that camp. That''s why you were sent there.¡±


    Emari gasped and I turned to look at her.


    ¡°Yes, that''s why the guards tried to do that to you.¡± I said. ¡°You wouldn''t be around to file a complaint about it afterwards.¡±


    Emari closed her eyes and a few tears came out.


    ¡°Shh. It''s okay now. I found you.¡± I said and took her into my arms. I hadn''t hugged her since I was eleven and I had to look up to see her smiling face. Now she had to look up at me to see mine.


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I''ve been planning to look for you ever since they took you from me.¡± I said. ¡°What are the odds that the Presence would lead me right to you, during the very first and most difficult mission I''ve ever been on to start tearing down The Order?¡±


    ¡°You... shouldn''t seek revenge.¡± Emari said, barely above a whisper. ¡°Not for me.¡±


    I reached up and caressed the cheek of her face. ¡°I have lots of reasons to do it.¡± I said and leaned down slightly to give her a light kiss on the lips. ¡°You can''t have vengeance without some revenge.¡±


    Emari looked deep into my eyes. ¡°Hunter, what happened to you?¡±


    ¡°I''ll tell you all about it, right after we all clean up and you get healed.¡± I said and let her go as Adona turned to dock at the station. ¡°By the way, you''re first.¡±


    No one argued about her going first, since they all knew how important a guardian was to a developing child. Losing a guardian before their time was supposed to come to an end, must have been devastating... for the both of them.


    After we docked, I assigned rooms on Adona for them to stay in. There were just enough for them to stay in and not have them take the other rooms that people used when onboard. Emari got the one next to mine and Hailey''s, of course. We all washed up and I went over to Udelis and borrowed the med-bot that wouldn''t answer to anything else except Herbie.


    I was tempted to call in a medical technician to do the procedure; but, then I''d have to let them in on why I had seven people with explosive charges in their heads that were designed to kill them if they tried to escape or didn''t listen to their captors. I didn''t want the hassle, so I was Herbie''s assistant and he performed the procedure. We ran Emari through the full medical scanner and received a detailed medical scan, then transferred her to the operating table.


    ¡°This shouldn''t take long.¡± I told her and took her hand. ¡°Then I''ll heal you.¡±


    ¡°I''m fine.¡± Emari said with a weak smile and I chuckled at the waver in the Presence.


    ¡°You will be.¡± I said and used Presence to put her to sleep. ¡°All right, Herbie. Let''s get to work.¡±


    It was surprisingly simple for a precision medical robot to perform the procedure of cutting open her skull and carefully removing the foreign object that was lodged in her brain. I used Presence to ease the tissue out of the way and protected it from potential damage, then moved it back together and healed it. The skull was a little more difficult, since it was hard bone and part of it had to be cut away for the hole, so that took me a few minutes to reform and solidify as if there was never a hole there.


    Herbie put the skin back in place and I healed it to remove the old and new scars, then all that was left was a bare spot to show where it had been. With the official procedure done, we moved on and used the medical scan to repair all of the damage she had received over the years. It took several hours to repair everything and heal her up properly. By the time I was done, I had expended a lot of Presence and Emari looked almost like the Emari she was the night before she was taken from me.


    I transferred her over to one of the beds and tucked her in. ¡°Thanks, Herbie.¡± I said and the droid beeped at me. ¡°We''ve got six more to do, so we''re going to be busy for the rest of the week.¡±


    Herbie splayed its tool appendages in acceptance and I chuckled.


    ¡°I''ll take you back to Udelis until tomorrow.¡± I said and we walked over to the door of the medical bay to see six anxious people and one very happy teenager. ¡°She''ll be asleep for a day or two, so you can go in to visit. Just don''t crowd her.¡±


    The six people went in to check on her and to see if she was okay after the procedure.


    ¡°You got her back.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°I did.¡± I said and knelt on one knee. ¡°Thank you for having faith in me.¡± I said and tapped my temple. ¡°I could feel you encouraging me the whole time.¡±


    Hailey giggled. ¡°I''m getting better at it.¡±


    ¡°You really are.¡± I said and hugged her as I picked her up. ¡°I''m just putting Herbie back and then we can go grab something to eat.¡±


    ¡°Don''t you want to stay and watch her?¡± Hailey asked with a smile.


    ¡°I am watching her.¡± I said and smiled back.

 Book Three: The Resolution 077

    After Emari woke up on her own the next day, I sat her down in the large media room and started to tell her my story. Gleas, Simone, Hailey, Sandy, Beatrice, Deborah, Jelly, and Sheph had sat with us as well and I didn''t object. However, the six rescued people were not invited, since I only wanted to share my whole story with the people in my life. Of course, since I was telling the fully detailed version, I wasn''t done in only a few hours.


    Over the next week, Herbie and I removed the explosives from the other six rescued people in the mornings, then for the rest of the day, I told my story. A few of the others had heard the condensed version and even they were enthralled, and in some cases shocked, as I told them everything. Emari was completely quiet and held my hand the entire time as she stared into my eyes while I spoke.


    Only Hailey and Simone were there just because they just wanted to spend the time with me and it didn''t matter what I was talking about, since they knew all of it anyway.


    Once the rescued prisoners were bomb-proofed and all fixed up, I took all seven of them into the meeting room with Simone and discussed what it was that they wanted to do. I warned them, again, that The Order would be looking for them, as would everyone in the assassin off-shoot business, mainly because they had to be high priority targets for them to be taken like they were.


    Plus, they were supposed to be dead. If they showed up anywhere as themselves, The Order would know they had escaped capture and they would be once again caught and possibly interrogated to find out how and why they were still alive.


    The two men who were still devoted to their goddess, despite everything she did to them, chose to try and return to their lives. I called them fools to their faces, and they said that I promised to let them go. The others opted for going into hiding, just like I had done for all of the other bounties that The Order had hired me for.


    With their choices fixed, I told them to take a few days to get used to being out of the training camp and having a normal life again, then I would arrange for them to be discretely taken where they wanted to go. The two men weren''t happy about having to wait and reluctantly agreed.


    What they didn''t know was that they would be the first two to be shipped out that night, their minds altered again to remove all traces of me, my operation, and being rescued. They would be dropped off where they wanted to go and would have no memory of how they got there. Even though I didn''t have to hide my abilities, I still did... mainly because I didn''t want them to know how powerful I was. They would also never know that it was me that changed and removed some of their memories.


    Emari knew that I was hiding a lot of my abilities and kept it to herself, so the morning of the next day, I once again sat her down in the media room with everyone, except for the other four rescued prisoners.


    ¡°Emari, please tell me what happened to you.¡± I asked her, sincerely.


    ¡°Hunter, after hearing all of your story, I... my story is nothing in comparison.¡± Emari said. ¡°But, if you really want to hear it, I will tell you... if you let me feel your actual Presence and not this shell you are using now.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I wasn''t trying to hide it from you.¡± I said and she immediately understood.


    ¡°Then I can wait for...¡±


    A Presence Barrier appeared around the media room and she caught her breath at the strength of it.


    ¡°H-Hunter... what...¡± Emari stared at the odd-shaped barrier, because she knew it wasn''t supposed to be possible to change a barrier''s shape.


    ¡°I''ve learned a few tricks since I was a child.¡± I said and held a hand out to her.


    Emari took it without hesitation and I gave her my best smile. She caught her breath again at the sight.


    ¡°He''s a handsome devil, isn''t he?¡± Simone teased her, and she laughed.


    I closed my eyes and let the sound of her laughter wash over me. It had been centuries since I heard it last; and yet, now it seemed like it was only yesterday that I last heard it. I opened my eyes and stared at her as I dropped some of my mental barriers for her. Her laughter faded and she stared back at me as my Presence flowed over her... then she gasped when it went inside of her and touched hers.


    ¡°Oh, Aaron.¡± Emari whispered. Her body reacted and her Presence surged up to touch mine in return.


    Our two energies merged together and she did her best to stop from moaning in pleasure at finally feeling my Presence after so long. That wasn''t quite the reaction I had expected, and then I discovered why. She knew. She knew that I was reincarnated.


    ¡°I didn''t have the chance to tell you.¡± Simone said and I looked at her. ¡°You''ve been a little busy.¡±


    I opened my mouth to respond, then I laughed and shook my head. ¡°You could have given me a heads-up at least!¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Simone asked and then smiled. ¡°I''m pretty sure any little bit I mentioned would have caused quite the disruption in everything that''s been going on lately.¡±


    I couldn''t argue with that and looked at Emari. ¡°I''m not the same person I was back then.¡±


    Emari smiled. ¡°Neither am I.¡±


    ¡°Sandy and Beatrice? Would you mind Hailey staying over tonight?¡± I asked. ¡°After we all hear Emari''s story, I want to take her on a tour around the system.¡±


    ¡°I''ll pilot.¡± Gleas offered and I nodded my thanks.


    ¡°So.¡± I said and looked at Emari as I eased my Presence back and only left enough so that our energies were just touching and not sharing. ¡°Tell us everything.¡±


    Emari nodded and started with the emergency council meeting the day before my birthday and how she was informed that she would be transferred the next night, that way it wouldn''t cause a fuss. She knew now it actually had caused a fuss and a lot of damage, and she had been flattered because of it. After she was whisked away on a fast transport, she was sent to one of the outlying outposts and they tried to assign her to another child.


    Unfortunately, the children all felt the unresolved connection she still had with me, so none of them accepted her, because they knew she wouldn''t be the stable environment they needed. Since her usefulness as a guardian was rendered moot, there really wasn''t anything for her to do. She was shuffled around for almost a year before she was forced to take a job as a nanny for a normal couple.


    Her skills were honed around Presence and its use in raising a child that also used Presence, so her versatility in a normal job was abysmal, to say the least. She couldn''t feel the child''s moods very well or alleviate their anxiety and worries before they manifested Presence, so her job performance suffered considerably. She spent a year there and was sent, once again without much warning, to be a servant in one of The Order temples.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Emari did much better there for several months, until the other servants found out why she had been sent there. They didn''t openly shun her, since that would tarnish the people''s view of the temple and The Order. In private, she was vilified and ridiculed for being a failure and was given the worst jobs that they could think of. Some of which they invented, just for her, to punish her.


    This went on for two years, until the temple had a visit from several members of the council. She was quickly spotted, mainly because they felt the Presence flow around her was full of evil intent and malice from the other servants. That was considered a disruption to temple life and any strong Presence user would detect it when they entered the temple, so the scaly alien gave a special order for her to be taken. She spent the rest of the time at the same training camp, being tortured and mentally abused. She would have remained there... and died there... if I hadn''t shown up when I did.


    I had been using Presence as she talked, so I knew what temple they had sent her to. I couldn''t see the other servant''s faces, yet, so I put it to the back of my mind for later. I would definitely find them all and I would make them pay for what they did.


    Emari felt the shift in my emotions and her hand squeezed mine. ¡°Hunter, you shouldn''t.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and leaned forward to give her a quick kiss. ¡°Thank you for telling us your story.¡±


    ¡°I thought I would be shaking and all nervous from telling it.¡± Emari said and looked around at all of the sympathetic faces. ¡°None of you are judging me and I appreciate that.¡±


    ¡°Judge you?¡± Simone chuckled. ¡°I want to wrap my arms around you and cuddly you until you fall asleep.¡±


    ¡°Me, too!¡± Hailey said and raised her hand, which made a few of us laugh.


    ¡°That''s going to have to wait.¡± I said and stood. ¡°We need to grab a bite to eat and then I''ll be the one to hold her in my arms and cuddle her until she falls asleep.¡±


    Emari stood with me and looked into my eyes. ¡°Hunter, you don''t have to do that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes I do.¡± I said and put my arms around her. ¡°Let me try to make up for all of the nights that I didn''t get to hold you in my arms growing up.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to try and give me over seven years of cuddles in one night?¡± Emari asked with a smile. ¡°You''re not ambitious at all, are you?¡±


    A few of the women around us started to laugh.


    ¡°Hunter? Ambitious?¡± Sheph asked and laughed. ¡°He became the Hero of Chofaris without even trying!¡±


    ¡°Just by being himself, he pushed his approval rating to a hundred percent, which has never happened, ever.¡± Gleas said. ¡°He''s also establishing a secured and unmonitored network of communications satellites.¡±


    ¡°I''m not going to mention planning impossible missions, buying a new ship and refurbishing it, or buying a space habitat for us to live in, either.¡± Simone said with a laugh. ¡°I will only say that he''s planning on taking down The Order, step by step.¡±


    ¡°He''s not ambitious at all!¡± My future wife Hailey exclaimed. They all laughed and so did I.


    We went and had a meal, sat around in the lounge for a little while longer, then we enjoyed watching our favorite show. It was pretty far along in the story line, so we gave Emari a crash course on our favorite characters and what was going on. She was hooked as much as we were and enjoyed the show with us.


    After that, Gleas piloted Udelis for me and Emari and I took a long and slow tour of the outer system, well away from the traffic lanes and the asteroid smelters, and we opened up our minds and shared Presence as we shared our memories.


    When I showed Emari what I could do with Presence and her body, she wallowed in the sensations, not unlike how Simone wallowed in other people''s pleasure. She returned the favor and made me feel good as well, then we made sweet and passionate love to each other for most of the night.


    Afterwards, I held her close, just like she used to hold me, and I gave her all of the times I held and cuddled someone else in my bed. Not all of it was sexual, since that wasn''t the point of what I was sharing, and when late morning rolled around, she had tears in her eyes.


    ¡°You did it.¡± Emari whispered and gave me a warm and gentle kiss. ¡°You made up for all the times we couldn''t hold each other.¡±


    ¡°I''m very happy that you think so.¡± I said with a wicked smile, then I moved down and nuzzled her breasts. I gave her the distinct feeling that it was something I had wanted to do for a very, very long time and she laughed.


    ¡°Have you really been thinking of me this entire time?¡± Emari asked, a little surprised and more than a little flattered.


    ¡°Ever since you were taken from me.¡± I said and kissed her. When she got the thoughts in my head about what would have happened between us if she hadn''t been taken, her eyes teared up and she clung to me as if she didn''t want to ever let go.


    If she had stayed, I wouldn''t have met Lashina and started that relationship, and I wouldn''t have been performing pranks on everyone and gotten Kara''s attention, either. That left the door wide open for Emari to move from the ''maybe/definitely sex'' category into the ''now we''re married and she''s raising our own children'' category.


    Emari kissed me desperately for several minutes and let those thoughts fill her up and she let them soak into her consciousness. While she did that, I helped her take everything we shared the night before and moved it into her long term memory, so that she would always have this first night of us together. When both things settled into her mind, she broke the kiss and looked into my eyes.


    ¡°Send me off next.¡± Emari said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Aaron, Hunter, My Missing Love.¡± Emari said. ¡°You''re right. If I hadn''t been taken all those years ago, both of our lives would have been different. I would be your loving and devoted wife, and we would have at least one child... or maybe a dozen.¡± She said with a smile, then her face grew serious. ¡°But, we don''t have that life. We can''t have that life.¡±


    ¡°Emari...¡±


    ¡°You know that I can''t fit into your life now.¡± Emari said, then more tears came from her eyes. ¡°Our time... has passed.¡± She said. ¡°Even though that hurts me to say, we... we missed it. We missed being there for each other when we needed each other the most.¡±


    I opened my mouth to respond and she kissed me to keep me quiet.


    ¡°We are both much different people now because of that.¡± Emari said. ¡°We''ve grown past each other.¡±


    ¡°I... I know.¡± I said, sadly.


    ¡°I don''t have the skills to function in normal society, so I need to try and learn some.¡± Emari said and didn''t let her sadness over the prospect drag her down.


    ¡°I can teach you a technique that might help you with that.¡± I said.


    Emari closed her eyes and ''saw'' in my head what I meant, and she smiled. ¡°Yes, that will help me immensely.¡± She said and gave me another kiss.


    ¡°Are you sure that...¡±


    ¡°I want to stay by your side; but, I can''t. Not won''t. Can''t.¡± Emari said. ¡°You and I can no longer stay in the same world. If we don''t go our separate ways, only disaster will follow.¡±


    I closed my eyes and was a little distraught that the Presence didn''t waver once. Not even a little bit. ¡°Emari, you were the only one who treated me like a normal person, even when I was a child.¡± I said. ¡°I didn''t know until now that you did that for a reason and knew who I really was.¡±


    ¡°My job was to protect you.¡± Emari said and gave me another kiss. ¡°Even from yourself.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°You know I really do love you.¡±


    ¡°And you know that I have always loved you.¡± Emari said. ¡°I will always love you.¡±


    I let out a sigh and caressed her face. ¡°I miss the life we could have had.¡±


    Emari chuckled. ¡°In our minds, we''ve had that life. I''ve loved you for over a decade and you''ve loved me for centuries.¡±


    I had to smile at that reasoning, then turned and used Presence to hit the intercom button. ¡°Gleas, take us back to the station. Slowly. I need to teach Emari a technique to help her.¡±


    ¡°Adjusting course.¡± Gleas said. ¡°You''ve got three hours.¡±


    ¡°Plenty of time. Thank you.¡± I said and let the button go.


    ¡°Hunter, if you just give me the technique as we share, it should only be a few seconds.¡± Emari said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said with a smile, then started to nuzzle her breasts again. Emari started to laugh, then I unleashed my Presence on her and the laughs quickly became loud moans.


    We docked back to the station and we spent the day with everyone as they did various tasks, so Emari could see that we all had our separate lives, even though we worked together. We watched the next episode of the show that night, then Emari went to each of the others and said that she was very honored to have met them, then turned to me.


    ¡°Thank you very much for being in my life.¡± Emari said.


    ¡°Even though it became a disaster?¡± I asked, and she nodded. ¡°Then you''re welcome for me ruining it.¡±


    ¡°Hunter! Geez.¡± Simone said with a laugh. ¡°Go with the mood!¡±


    ¡°I thought I was.¡± I said with a grin and Emari laughed.


    ¡°I''m going to miss you.¡± Emari said.


    ¡°Not as much as you did before, since you can call me at any time now.¡± I said and she widened her eyes. ¡°What part of ''secured and unmonitored satellite network'' didn''t you hear?¡±


    Emari opened her mouth and closed it, then opened it again. ¡°But... I thought...¡±


    ¡°Yes, you''re getting a new life. You don''t have to cut yourself off from those you love, though.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Hunter!¡± Emari wrapped her arms around me and kissed me.


    ¡°Close your eyes, Hailey!¡± Simone chuckled and tried to cover her eyes. A few whistles and a shout to ask for a turn made Emari blush and she broke the kiss.


    ¡°Don''t stop on our account.¡± Gleas said with a grin. ¡°That was pretty good learning material.¡±


    Emari couldn''t help it and laughed, since she hadn''t taught anyone anything for years, and it was the best compliment that she could have gotten. We all went to bed that night in a good mood. By the morning, the mood had faded.


    Emari was gone.

 Book Three: The Resolution 078

    The other rescued people were gone as well. I saw no reason to wait to have them spread out and sent to their new lives. Even though Emari hadn''t been around for very long, we all felt her absence. It took us a few days to come to grips with the fact that she wasn''t going to be around, then we all went back to our normal every day lives.


    During those few days of adjustment, Simone and I decoded the new reams of data that we had recovered from the training camp. It turned out to have nearly twice the detailed information than the ''business'' we had previously raided. We correlated the data we already had and confirmed its validity, then concentrated on the new data. It was enlightening.


    We now had detailed locations for other camps, prisoner and trainee transfers, names and descriptions, and even the people that ran them. Once I told the others about it, we had to have a full meeting to discuss things. I knew that we couldn''t wait too long to go after them, because word of the camp we had already raided was going to be spread around and warnings would be sent.


    ¡°How is the signal device conversion coming along?¡± Sheph asked.


    ¡°It''s surprisingly simple.¡± I said and took the device out. ¡°All I really needed was the right broadcasting frequency to duplicate it.¡±


    ¡°What can you do with it?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°Anything I want.¡± I joked and she chuckled. ¡°I can make it into a gun and hit specific targets, make it into an array and hit a group of targets in a cone shape, or put it into a dispersion field and have it affect everything within a certain distance, depending on the power applied.¡±


    Everyone looked at me and I picked up someone''s errant thought.


    ¡°Yes, I can even adapt it to send into a planetary broadcast network through our satellites, just like the owner of the Bogorim Corporation is doing.¡±


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Gleas whispered.


    ¡°The only problem with doing that is it''s indiscriminate.¡± I said. ¡°We can''t choose who is affected.¡±


    ¡°But... if it''s another building like the first one...¡± Simone started to say.


    ¡°...we can hit the entire building at once and just walk in to raid it.¡± I said. ¡°After that, a discrete detonation of their own safety measures, and no one will know what happened if they investigate.¡±


    ¡°Plus, it won''t matter if they start to catch on to them being raided, because they won''t have any kind of defense to something that uses their own technology against them.¡± Sheph said, and then smiled. ¡°This latest batch of data gave us a few of their primary account numbers and their passwords.¡±


    ¡°Please tell me you''re already funnelling their funds into nameless accounts onto the galactic net, with copies onto Udelis'' credit computer.¡± Simone said with a ''cat that ate the canary'' smile.


    ¡°You know it.¡± Sheph said with a matching grin. ¡°A few of them were solely operational costs for this branch of their training camps, so I set up a dummy transfer. Anytime any money gets sent to those accounts, it''s funnelled right into a nameless account under our ownership and it can''t be traced.¡±


    ¡°I knew having a government official around would be beneficial.¡± I said.


    Sheph laughed. ¡°You''re just glad I know some money shuffling techniques.¡±


    ¡°That''s what I said.¡± I smiled.


    ¡°So, now what?¡± Simone asked and tapped the holographic projector to change it to a star map and the other camps appeared on it. ¡°This is... well...¡± She looked at Hailey apologetically. ¡°I''m sorry, Hailey. The next camp is about a month''s travel away on Adona.¡±


    ¡°What about Udelis?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°He could shave a couple days off. Maybe. Thanks to the upgrades we did on Adona, she''s nearly as fast as him now.¡±


    ¡°Plus, we''ll need the rooms for the prisoners.¡± I said and looked at everyone. ¡°Since we''re going to take the time to go all the way to the next camp anyway...¡± I typed on the table''s console and the businesses the assassins used popped up on the map and I formed several connecting lines between them. ¡°...I think we should make it a campaign.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Hailey said and we all looked at her as she stood up. ¡°Not seeing you for as long as I did the last time was enough.¡± She said. ¡°I won''t sit here and worry about you while you spend...¡± She looked at the progression of the line that went in a wide circle that went through eight businesses and three training camps before it came back to the Dizahl System. ¡°...five months...¡±


    ¡°Six.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°...six months doing dangerous missions!¡± Hailey said adamantly.


    ¡°Hailey...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°Either you take me along or you aren''t going.¡± Hailey commanded.


    ¡°It''s too dangerous for...¡± Sandy started to say and Hailey glared at her and sent out a pulse of Presence. We all felt the strength of it and then she glared at me.


    ¡°I have my shield and everything I''ve learned so far.¡± Hailey said. ¡°We can even take Adona''s new baby girl, Monna. If anything bad happens, I can fly her to safety.¡±


    ¡°Wait, did you say her baby girl?¡± I asked and looked at the floor and down at the shuttle bay. ¡°Opina, general connection to Adona, please.¡± I said. ¡°Adona, when did this happen?¡±


    ¡°While Emari was busy telling her story.¡± Adona said. ¡°I didn''t want to miss my time with Udelis like she missed hers with you.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''m glad the automatic transfer protocols worked.¡± I said.


    ¡°Opina handled a lot of it and did a good job.¡± Adona said and you could hear the pride in her voice.


    ¡°Thanks, Mom!¡± Opina gushed. ¡°I was so happy to have a little sister!¡±


    ¡°Are her data nodes holding up?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Ask her yourself!¡± Opina said. ¡°Hey, Monna! Grandpa wants to say hi!¡±


    Grandpa? I asked myself and tried not to laugh. ¡°Hi, Monna. It''s nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa? Is that really you?¡± Monna asked. ¡°I''ve never heard your voice before.¡±


    ¡°Don''t mind her. She''s just sulking.¡± Opina chuckled. ¡°She''s got thousands of your voice prints in her memory.¡±


    ¡°Sulking?¡± I asked. ¡°Why?¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°She''s been sitting in the shuttle bay since she was born.¡± Adona said. ¡°She doesn''t even have her designated cargo on board.¡±


    I blinked my eyes for a moment, then I nodded. ¡°Hey, Monna.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa?¡±


    ¡°I hope you''re ready for a huge adventure.¡±


    ¡°I think I was born ready.¡± Monna said, then there was a quick buzz over the intercom, almost like an exclamation. ¡°I can''t wait to taste atmosphere after I plunge into it from orbit!¡±


    There was silence for a second, then Jelly burst out laughing.


    ¡°A girl after my own heart.¡± Jelly said. ¡°You and I are going to have a lot of fun together, Monna.¡±


    ¡°Well, that settles Monna''s primary pilot.¡± I said and looked around the table. ¡°Now we just have to decide Adona''s primary.¡±


    ¡°I''ll go.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°Plus, Sandy can keep an eye on Hailey.¡±


    I looked at Sandy. ¡°This isn''t going to be a relaxing vacation.¡±


    ¡°I know. Beatrice and I discussed this after you came back with the rescued prisoners.¡± Sandy said. ¡°Thanks to your satellite network, I can still work, receive updates, and send paperwork back and forth with Sheph when the ship exits the jump points along the way.¡±


    Sheph nodded when I glanced at her. ¡°We pretty much do that normally anyway and only meet in the office once a week, just to make sure we''re still alive and are working on the same things.¡± She joked.


    Sandy laughed. ¡°We see each other every night to watch the show!¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t count.¡± Sheph said with a laugh, then looked at me. ¡°She can be a big help, especially when you, Simone, and Jelly leave the ship for the mission.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, Simone, Jelly, and Hailey can share double duty as a co-pilot for Beatrice on the way there and on the way back.¡±


    ¡°We won''t need the APC, I don''t think.¡± Simone said and brought up the camp''s plans. ¡°The hover car might be a good asset to have along, especially since we won''t be landing anywhere near the target.¡±


    ¡°Who installs anti-aircraft defenses on a training camp?¡± Beatrice asked, shocked.


    ¡°The man running the place.¡± Simone said with a chuckle. ¡°It says the name is Jared, no family name.¡±


    ¡°Any affiliations?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He''s on loan from The Order.¡± Simone said and skimmed through the data. ¡°Ah. He was recommended by the scaly alien.¡±


    ¡°That figures.¡± I said. ¡°All right. I''ll need a few days to work on adapting the device for multiple uses. Sandy and Sheph can get us the supplies we need for such a long journey and enough for the extra people we will, hopefully, bring back with us.¡±


    ¡°You don''t know if you will?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°We can hope for the best; but, even the best plans can fall apart and accidents happen.¡± I said. ¡°If I guaranteed we would come back with someone, I''m pretty sure I would be guaranteed to fail.¡±


    The Presence didn''t waver, because I spoke the truth, and Hailey nodded her understanding.


    ¡°I guess that''s it for the preliminary plans.¡± I said. ¡°We can meet again and work on all of the details in a few days when we all have everything we need.¡±


    Everyone agreed and we went our separate ways for a few hours, then met up for supper and went to the media room to watch our favorite show. After that, we went about preparing for our journey. I managed, quite easily as it turned out, to make the new devices. I actually made ten of each item and I was going to give one of each to my crew members when we left to go on the mission, then I decided that we all needed them. Not just for missions, either.


    It didn''t take me long to adapt the cone and area effects into a single belt attachment, then added a holster for the ''gun'' that could be used to shoot a target. The belt had internal battery packs so that we wouldn''t have to worry about recharging the items all the time. Of course, I made sure that the ''gun'' didn''t look like a laser pistol, that way no one would think that all of my people were walking around armed all the time. I distributed the belts and told them what the items were and how to operate them.


    No one questioned me about why I wanted them all to have them and I appreciated that. They understood that they needed to use the broadcast one occasionally when they went to the system''s main station, just in case there was an assassin around. It didn''t matter if they were looking for me or not.


    There was one thing I changed on our mission itinerary, and that was at the farthest reach of our path when it crossed into an Order restricted space. Normally, I would have avoided something like that; but, this particular spot had something that I needed. Actually, it had a lot of what I needed and I figured that as we passed by, it was the best time to go and get some.


    It was a focusing crystal mining facility.


    At the next meeting, I listened to everyone''s objections and my plans to assault the place changed with those objections. Gleas was surprised that I was actually taking their words to heart and adjusted what I wanted to do to accommodate the changes.


    ¡°Hey, I know you all want the best for me, just like I want the best for you.¡± I said to her, and she nodded. ¡°I don''t mind changing my ''smash and grab'' idea to a covert ''sneak and steal'' plan instead.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Sheph said. ¡°That''s going to be the first directly controlled Order facility you''ll be going after.¡±


    I tapped the data we retrieved from the training camp that we combined with the data my parents had left me. ¡°The administrator of that last camp placed a large order for replacement crystals, which meant he was going through them faster than I am.¡±


    Simone chuckled. ¡°You keep giving the things away.¡±


    ¡°It''s not my fault I want to protect the people in my life.¡± I said. ¡°No, wait. It is. Never mind.¡±


    That made a few people laugh and I felt someone''s sad thoughts. I didn''t have to probe to know who it was, so I walked over to her. Jelly looked up at me with slightly wide eyes.


    ¡°Happy next year''s birthday.¡± I said and held out a personal shield pendant.


    ¡°But... but, I...¡±


    ¡°I know getting your own shuttle was what you really wanted this time and that was why I gave it to you.¡± I said and she didn''t stop me as I put the pendant around her neck. ¡°However, that left you as the only one I haven''t given a shield to.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I''ll give you an empty box for your next birthday, so don''t be disappointed.¡± I joked.


    Jelly shook her head. ¡°I can''t... you just...¡±


    ¡°I''m pretty sure I can afford it.¡± I said and looked at Sheph. ¡°How many personal calls have gone through the satellite network so far?¡±


    ¡°You mean just today or total?¡± Sheph asked with a huge smile.


    ¡°Just today is fine.¡± I said with a matching smile.


    ¡°We''re up to fifteen thousand, eight hundred and ten.¡± Sheph said as she looked at a datapad. ¡°Make that sixteen thousand and eighty seven. Oh, Sixteen thousand and three hundred and twenty.¡±


    ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Simone said. ¡°It''s not even lunchtime yet!¡±


    ¡°Isn''t having cheap calls great?¡± I asked and they all looked at me. ¡°A credit a call, remember?¡±


    ¡°It''s not even peak time yet.¡± Sheph said. ¡°Usually during shift changes the call numbers triple.¡±


    ¡°T-t-triple?!?¡± Jelly asked, shocked.


    ¡°We''ve capped out at just over a hundred thousand calls a day, not counting the Bogorim Corporation''s satellite television signals. We log those separately.¡± Sheph said to everyone''s shocked faces and then she looked at Sandy. ¡°How are the hidden transfers going?¡±


    Sandy checked her own datapad. ¡°We''ve got three million credits and some change so far.¡±


    Everyone fell silent at her words.


    ¡°Oh, goddess.¡± Gleas whispered.


    ¡°What about our personal accounts?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You''re crazy for splitting your income with all of us.¡± Sheph said and chuckled. ¡°I''m not complaining, though. I like crazy.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Nearly everyone shouted.


    ¡°This is a business.¡± I said and they all looked at me. ¡°I''m not operating in a vacuum. You all work hard and are a part of this, so you all get a share.¡±


    ¡°But... we''re just employees.¡± Deborah said. ¡°We aren''t supposed to get shares after the salvage.¡±


    Gleas looked at her and Beatrice, then at me. ¡°Should we tell them?¡±


    ¡°I''d rather let them figure it out; but, go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Everyone, there''s something you should know.¡± Gleas said. ¡°We haven''t been employees since the salvage contract ended. We''re shareholders.¡±


    Her words were met with complete silence.


    ¡°It''s true.¡± Simone said. ¡°It happened when we all agreed to trade our salvage shares in and invested into this space habitat.¡± She looked at me. ¡°As Hunter reminded me, none of us even asked for our payouts on the salvage rights. We handed everything right over to him.¡±


    ¡°You all thought I was being nice and magnanimous when I had you all pick out and design your own compartments to be the way you liked them.¡± I said with a laugh. ¡°None of you suspected it was actually yours! Not one of you!¡±


    They all exchanged surprised looks and then looked back at me.


    ¡°It''s really ours.¡± Beatrice and Sandy said at the same time.


    ¡°Damn right it is.¡± I said and Hailey tapped my arm, so I picked her up, even though she really was getting too big to sit on my hip. ¡°Just like Hailey said when we first stepped onto this station.¡± I smiled and gave her a kiss on the lips. ¡°This is our home. Not just mine and Hailey''s. All of us.¡±


    Almost immediately, several of the others started to cry at the overwhelming emotions, even Sheph. She had nowhere to go when she left her job back on Chofaris, and now she had a home and good friends that appreciated her for who she was and not just for her skills.


    Hailey nodded to me and we walked around the table to give consoling hugs to everyone. We both touched each of them with Presence and ended beside Simone, because she was crying the hardest.


    ¡°This is your home.¡± I said to her and touched her with Presence. She gasped and her tears flowed faster, then Hailey''s hand reached out to wipe her tears and her Presence touched Simone, too.


    ¡°You... you both...¡±


    ¡°I always dreamed of having an older sister.¡± Hailey said.


    Simone let out a sob. ¡°Me, too.¡± She said and then hugged the both of us.

 Book Three: The Resolution 079

    When all of our preparations were done and had loaded Adona up with all the supplies we needed, the large cargo shuttle named Monna, with a refurbished government hover car in her hold, was placed into the shuttle bay. Beatrice, Sandy, Simone, Jelly, Hailey and I said our goodbyes to Sheph, Gleas, and Deborah.


    I hadn''t asked, or in fact considered, Simone being left behind, mainly because I knew that she would adamantly refuse to be away from me for so long, just like Hailey had. Of course, she wanted to keep her mental access to me as well. She had suffered enough without me while Luxea was around, and she didn''t want to take the chance that she would lose access to me again.


    Beatrice floated Adona out to the closest Lagrange point at a leisurely pace, then we jumped into hyperspace to head to the nearest assassin business. It was a couple weeks closer than the first training camp, so we would stop there first. Since we didn''t have to worry about infiltrating the place stealthily, we would only have to observe it for activity for a short time, then assault the building. We wouldn''t even need the old IDs we still had from the two agents we had impersonated that first time.


    Life on the ship was as normal as it could have been, considering we were missing three of our normal number. I cooked all the meals instead of just once a week like I usually did, and everyone appreciated it. The two weeks and a day passed by fairly quickly to my surprise, and we arrived at our first stop. A few of them were anxious, considering this was their first mission like this, and one of them was ecstatic.


    ¡°Hurry! HURRY!¡± Monna yelled as Jelly, Simone and I stepped into the shuttle bay.


    ¡°I think someone''s as eager as you, Jelly.¡± I said and the shuttle''s hatch opened for us.


    ¡°It''s technically her maiden voyage.¡± Jelly said as we walked up the short ramp to get on board. ¡°It''s also a combat mission and we''re going to be plunging into the atmosphere from orbit.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I can''t wait!¡± Monna said. ¡°I can''t! Hurry up!¡±


    Simone laughed and strapped into the co-pilot seat. ¡°It''s so weird to have an excited AI.¡±


    ¡°She''s a third generation custom AI.¡± I said and sat down behind her. ¡°Udelis was a custom one that I then adapted and created a new one to become Adona.¡±


    ¡°Is that why she''s more normal?¡± Jelly asked and finished her prep for take-off, then strapped in. ¡°Adona, I mean. She''s not as... mechanical in her responses like Udelis is.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°It took Udelis and I quite some time to work out how to get her up and running.¡±


    ¡°Then Udelis and Adona got together and had Opina, our space habitat AI.¡± Simone said. ¡°A third generation AI that was a combination of her parents, with room for expansion.¡±


    ¡°And now we have Monna, the most eager AI yet.¡± Jelly said. ¡°It''s a little odd she wasn''t a direct copy of Opina, isn''t it?¡±


    ¡°No, not if Adona and Udelis shared more, or did different things with her algorithms, or a whole bunch of things.¡± I said. ¡°No two children are alike, not even twins born at the same time.¡± I pat Monna''s bulkhead. ¡°Are you ready for your first orbital insertion, Monna?¡±


    ¡°I am so ready!¡± Monna said. ¡°Let''s do it, Grandpa!¡±


    Simone burst out laughing. ¡°That sounds so dirty!¡±


    ¡°Not to mention scandalous.¡± Jelly laughed. ¡°A grandfather and his granddaughter?¡± She glanced at me. ¡°Hunter! How could you?¡±


    ¡°Hardy-har-har.¡± I said. ¡°Beatrice, open the shuttle bay doors.¡±


    ¡°I want to keep listening to this juicy conversation.¡± Beatrice said and we heard Sandy''s laughter in the background.


    ¡°Just do it.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter! Not me, too!¡± Beatrice exclaimed, then everyone laughed.


    ¡°I''m surrounded by children.¡± I said, and that made them laugh more. The bay doors opened and Jelly poured power into Monna''s engines.


    ¡°Ooo.¡± Monna said over the intercom.


    ¡°Easy there, girl.¡± Jelly said and lifted off. ¡°Don''t start moaning until we get to the good part.¡±


    I let out an exaggerated sigh on purpose and everyone laughed again.


    ¡°Here we go.¡± Jelly said and turned us almost vertical and we plunged down from orbit.


    ¡°Weeeeeeeee!¡± Monna nearly yelled for about five seconds, then we hit the atmosphere. The cargo shuttle started to shimmy and shake, which jostled us around a little, and Monna fell silent.


    ¡°Monna? Are you all right?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± Monna said. ¡°I''m just... I''m getting really hot... down below.¡± She said hesitantly. ¡°The buffeting atmosphere is... it rubs and... oh, wow.¡± She said. ¡°I''m really glad you''re here for my first time, Grandpa.¡±


    Jelly had her mouth clamped shut to stop her hysterical laughter before it escaped. Simone, Beatrice, and Sandy did not do that at all and laughed as hard as they could.


    ¡°I''m glad, too.¡± I said and pat her console.


    A few minutes later, we slowed down and entered the air flight paths of various ships and vehicles.


    ¡°There''s so many!¡± Monna said as Jelly flew her expertly through the traffic and brought us down to the surface. ¡°I can''t detect any other AIs, though.¡±


    ¡°That''s because it''s usually really expensive to install an AI into a vehicle.¡± Jelly said. ¡°Just the computer capacity needed takes up a lot of room.¡±


    ¡°But... I have it...¡± Monna said.


    ¡°I worked hard and added all the components needed to make sure that this ship was a proper receptacle for you.¡± I said. ¡°Not everyone can do that to have someone like you on board.¡±


    ¡°That''s really sad.¡± Monna said. ¡°All those empty shells.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± Jelly said and landed us at a commercial landing pad. ¡°Hunter''s going to work on making another receptacle soon and maybe you can have a little brother.¡±


    ¡°Eww!¡± Monna exclaimed. ¡°No thanks!¡±


    Simone laughed and she and I unstrapped.


    ¡°Jelly, stay on the com and monitor us while we go and...¡±


    ¡°I know the plan.¡± Jelly said and cut me off. ¡°Pay the fees for the day and I''ll look for some tourist thing for us to go visit later.¡±


    I touched her shoulder for a moment and then Simone and I left the shuttle. We met the landing field marshal as he walked over to us and I paid for the day, with the option for another if we stayed.


    ¡°If you need a ride, there are personal transports for hire over at the other end of the field.¡± The man said.


    ¡°No, thanks. We brought our own.¡± I said and the rear hatch on the cargo shuttle opened up.


    The man turned and looked inside to see the very expensive black hover car. ¡°Well... ah... I really hope you enjoy your stay, sir.¡±


    I didn''t have to read his surface thoughts to tell that he wanted us to stay longer and spend a lot of our money while on his home planet. ¡°Is there any chance you know a good restaurant?¡± I asked and he looked at me for a moment as he thought about it. ¡°I''d like good food, not necessarily high priced.¡±


    The man smiled, because he knew I wasn''t just someone looking to flaunt my money and wanted value. ¡°You can try a nice place down near the waterfront. Honey''s Honeypot.¡±


    I successfully didn''t laugh right in his face when I heard the term of endearment for a woman and the reference to her womanhood. ¡°It sounds delicious.¡± I said and Simone''s hand slipped down to grip my backside as she heard my thoughts.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°Tell them Darin sent you.¡±


    ¡°Will that get me a good table or a discount?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, I just want to spread my name around.¡± Darin said with a grin.


    I actually laughed this time. ¡°Okay, that was a good one.¡± I said and took out a hundred credit chip and shook his hand. ¡°I''ll tell them your name and even who you are.¡±


    Darin pocketed the chip and nodded, then he watched us as we went into the shuttle and started the hover car.


    Simone flew us out of the back of the shuttle and up into traffic. ¡°Honey''s Honeypot!¡± She said and barked a laugh.


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and reached over to run my fingers through her hair.


    ¡°Hey, we''re on mission.¡± Simone said and didn''t try to push my hand away.


    ¡°Am I distracting you?¡± I asked, teasingly.


    ¡°If your nasty and dirty thoughts can''t distract me, your hand''s not going to do it.¡± Simone said and glanced at me, then back out the windshield. ¡°Would you really lick her?¡±


    I snorted a laugh and stopped combing her hair with my fingers. ¡°Only if you suddenly changed your name to Honey.¡± I said. ¡°Then again, Honey could be the most drop dead gorgeous thing on the planet.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn''t dare.¡± Simone said and looked at me again.


    ¡°Eyes to the front, sweetheart.¡± I said.


    Simone looked forward and then caught her breath. ¡°Hunter, you...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I actually meant it.¡± I said. ¡°Did that distract you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Simone admitted without trying to hide it. ¡°Why did you wait until we can''t share Presence to say it?¡±


    I gave her a crooked smile. ¡°I figured I would pay you back a little for not telling me, for nearly a month, about Emari knowing I was reincarnated.¡±


    ¡°You bastard.¡± Simone said with a laugh, since this was the worst teasing I had done to her. ¡°You dirty old bastard!¡±


    I laughed as well and she flew us down to the waterfront. We actually passed right by the building we needed to observe and I marked it on our datapad map to confirm the satellite image we had and the data from the previous raids. We found a good parking spot not far away from the restaurant and walked, hand in hand, down the street and into the building. Surprisingly, it was like an old diner inside and we looked around at the fashionable decor.


    ¡°Welcome.¡± A woman''s deep voice said from across the room. She stood behind a large counter and looked to be about sixty years old, was slightly overweight, and she didn''t mind showing off her ample chest in a very low cut top. ¡°I''m Honey, and I hope you enjoy what you eat in my Honeypot.¡±


    Simone didn''t quite stop herself as she started to laugh and then changed it into a fit of coughing.


    ¡°Don''t mind her. She''s angry at me for calling her sweetheart and we can''t have sex right now.¡± I said.


    Honey looked at me for a moment, then at Simone, then back at me. ¡°You shouldn''t tell strangers that.¡±


    ¡°I''m just distracting you.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°So, what''s good on the menu today?¡±


    Honey blinked her eyes for a moment, then she fell into her sales pitch and told us the best meals.


    ¡°Do you deliver or allow take out meals?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Of course, we do both.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I''d like the house burger special, she''ll have the seafood platter, and I''d like the grilled ocalout dinner as a delivery meal. Oh, and drinks, too.¡±


    ¡°You''re here and you want a meal delivered?¡± Honey asked, slightly confused.


    ¡°We have a friend waiting back at the shuttle landing pad and she''s hungry, too.¡± Simone said when she finally calmed down. ¡°Oh, and Darin, the landing field marshal recommended this place to us.¡±


    ¡°Darin? Who is that?¡± Honey asked.


    ¡°He said he just wanted you to know his name.¡± I said, and she chuckled.


    ¡°Okay, we''ll get her meal done first and sent off.¡±


    ¡°I''d take it back myself; but, we''re taking a tour of the city after this and it''ll be cold by then.¡± I said.


    Honey nodded and handed three pieces of paper back through a small slot. ¡°That''ll be sixty-three credits.¡±


    ¡°Is there a tip for the driver included?¡± I asked and handed her a hundred credit chip.


    Honey nodded and quickly took the credits and handed me the chip back. ¡°You''ve got your choice of booths and tables, so help yourselves.¡± She said and waved at the empty restaurant.


    ¡°Did we arrive at a slow time?¡± Simone asked.


    Honey nodded again. ¡°We''re between shifts of the power regulation plant, so everyone is at home or at work right now.¡±


    ¡°I was wondering why there wasn''t a lot of traffic.¡± Simone said. ¡°How long before the rush?¡±


    ¡°About four hours.¡± Honey said and then smiled as she leaned on the counter and her breasts nearly spilled out of her top. ¡°You won''t get a parking spot anywhere for about three blocks.¡±


    ¡°You really enjoy having as many people as possible eating from your Honeypot.¡± I commented, and Simone turned away and had another coughing fit to cover her laughter.


    ¡°I really do!¡± Honey said and looked at Simone. ¡°Is she okay? She''s not sick or anything, is she?¡±


    ¡°No, she''s fine. It''s just a tickle in her throat or something.¡± I said and rubbed Simone''s back. ¡°We''ll take the booth over there.¡± I said and pointed, then led Simone over to it.


    ¡°Good god, Hunter.¡± Simone said as we sat down on the same side of the booth. ¡°How can you say things like that with a straight face?¡±


    ¡°Lots of practice.¡± I said and leaned in close. ¡°Plus, I was having my laugh through you.¡±


    Simone shook her head and then gave me serious eyes. ¡°If you didn''t have your no sex on the mission rule, I''d be under the table right now.¡±


    ¡°I sincerely doubt you could fold yourself in half to let me make love to you like that and still fit under the table.¡± I joked and she put her arms around my neck.


    ¡°My head sticking out the side of the table and my moans would give us away.¡± Simone said and gave me a really nice playful kiss. ¡°I''m still tempted to try it, though.¡±


    ¡°I was joking.¡± I said.


    ¡°I know.¡± Simone smiled wickedly. ¡°Now you''re wondering if I really can contort myself to fit down under there.¡± She said and gave me another kiss.


    ¡°There''s a thick support leg under the table and you can''t fit under it.¡± Honey said and put our plates of food and drinks down in front of us.


    ¡°I''m sorry for discussing this loud enough for you to hear.¡± I said and she chuckled.


    ¡°I heard the last few sentences as I came over, so I thought I would warn you before you tried.¡± Honey said. ¡°The last woman gave herself a concussion trying to duck out of sight.¡±


    Simone laughed. ¡°Yes, I would have tried to go head first, too.¡±


    Honey nodded. ¡°I don''t mind people trying to have sex. I just don''t want them to hurt themselves.¡±


    ¡°That''s very understanding of you.¡± I said.


    ¡°Putting a damper on people''s moods isn''t the best way to run a business.¡± Honey said and then smiled. ¡°You wouldn''t believe how many offers I get myself.¡±


    My eyes immediately dropped to her overflowing chest and then went back to her face.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Honey laughed. ¡°Enjoy your meal.¡± She said and walked away.


    ¡°Okay, I have to admit that was nice of her.¡± I said, then I felt Simone''s hands trying to open my pants. ¡°We have to eat.¡±


    Simone gave me a quick kiss. ¡°You start eating and so will I.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that...¡±


    ¡°That''s why I''m waiting.¡± Simone whispered, then she saw Honey resume her spot behind the counter. She made a little hand motion to get Honey''s attention, then dropped her head to please me, to both mine and Honey''s surprise.


    There was no one else in the restaurant, so it was just the three of us. I tried my best to keep eating and to cover the sounds Simone was making, and I didn''t accomplish either task. Simone''s enthusiasm infected both Honey and myself, then suddenly she was done. After a quick wipe with a napkin, she sat up as if nothing had happened and started to eat her meal.


    ¡°You... are really lucky we aren''t on the ship right now.¡± I whispered.


    ¡°So is Honey.¡± Simone whispered, almost in a purr. ¡°She''s trying really hard to not jump over the counter to shove her breasts into your face.¡±


    Of course, once she said that, I had to glance over at the counter. Honey stood there with a red face, a hand slightly massaging one large breast, and the other hand... well, I couldn''t see if she was braced against the counter or doing other things with it. I successfully ignored the temptation to look with Detect Presence and went back to eating my meal. Simone and I finished eating a little while later, then suddenly Honey was there.


    ¡°Thank you so much for eating here.¡± Honey said and gave us a slice of a bright red cake-like dessert with two forks.


    I took out the credit chip with thirty-seven credits on it and she closed my hand over it.


    ¡°It''s on the house.¡± Honey said. ¡°Enjoy.¡±


    Simone grabbed a fork and took a taste. ¡°Oh, my.¡± She said and cut a piece off for me and fed it to me. It was delicious and we finished it off in only ten seconds.


    ¡°That was delicious.¡± I said as I turned to Honey, and in one quick motion, she used a finger and a thumb on both hands to pull the edge of her top down and her nipples popped right out. I almost gasped at the nearly three inch long protrusions, then she grabbed the back of my head and shoved her breasts into my face.


    ¡°Hey-mHm!¡± My shout was muffled by about twenty pounds of breasts.


    ¡°I warned you.¡± Simone said with an evil laugh.


    Honey sighed contentedly as one of her nipples went into my mouth. ¡°Is he always so compliant?¡±


    ¡°Not even a little bit.¡± Simone said. ¡°You just happened to catch him at a vulnerable time.¡±


    ¡°A bad breakup?¡± Honey asked and shifted her breasts slightly and held in her moan.


    ¡°Worse. An old potential lover resurfaced and they had a brief fling, then she had to go.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you poor thing!¡± Honey said and wrapped her arms around my head and hugged me. ¡°Don''t you worry yourself about that, okay? She knows how special you are and I''m sure you''ll meet again some day!¡±


    I waved my hands out to the sides to try and get her to let go.


    ¡°Thanks for comforting him.¡± Simone said and pat Honey''s arm.


    Honey nodded and let me go, then without pausing, tucked her large nipples, one of which was slightly drooled on, back into her top.


    ¡°How the hell are you hiding those things in there?¡± I asked, instead of asking why she would let a man she didn''t know, inadvertently suckle her very large nipple.


    Honey laughed. ¡°Wouldn''t you like to know!¡± She exclaimed, then she reached out and rubbed the top of my head. ¡°Don''t let what could have been, weigh you down. Live your life now and you can worry about what happens later, later.¡±


    I opened my mouth to respond, then sighed.


    ¡°We need to get going.¡± Simone said and we both stood up.


    Honey didn''t miss a beat and took me into a big hug, then did the same to Simone. ¡°If you two stick around for a while after your tour, you make sure to come back here.¡±


    ¡°Ah... yeah... we''ll think about it.¡± I said.


    Simone took my hand and led me from the restaurant. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± I said. ¡°On one hand, you let a strange woman stick her abnormally large nipple in my mouth.¡±


    ¡°On the other hand?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°It was the weirdest sensation I''ve ever had.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to suck on the other one?¡± Simone asked teasingly, and I honestly couldn''t answer.


    ¡°Let''s just finish the tour and get back to the shuttle before the work rush.¡± I said. ¡°If my guess is right, the business will have the same activity as the last place during normal work hours, so it doesn''t seem suspicious.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± Simone said. ¡°We can plant a few discrete surveillance devices in key areas and confirm it.¡±


    We climbed into the hover car and lifted off. I gave a glance to the restaurant and saw Honey as she stood at the doorway. She waved to us as we flew by and Simone waved back.


    ¡°I''m glad you two bonded over my discomfort.¡± I said sarcastically.


    Simone laughed. ¡°You can''t imagine the things she wants to do to you to cheer you up.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to know.¡± I said and she gave me a wicked grin. ¡°I don''t want to know!¡±


    ¡°It''s time I teased you back.¡± Simone said and then described, in detail, what Honey wanted to do to me. I covered my ears and tried to ignore her. It didn''t work.


    I really regretted not being able to use Presence while on these kinds of missions.

 Book Three: The Resolution 080

    We set up the surveillance equipment in various places, innocuously of course, and went back to the shuttle. I had debated over staying at a hotel so that we would be close by when the opportunity arose to assault the business, then decided to utilize the hover car option for the quick getaway and the shuttle''s built in bunks for sleeping in. Monna was quite happy that we were using her, too.


    ¡°You guys rest and I''ll keep watch.¡± Monna said and soft music started to play over the intercom speakers. ¡°Don''t worry about anyone approaching without you knowing about it. I''ve got my sensors running at a hundred and ten percent.¡±


    ¡°Don''t burn them out.¡± I said and laid down on a bunk wearing my nightgown. ¡°Or are you doing the same trick your mom did?¡±


    ¡°She knows so much!¡± Monna exclaimed. ¡°A lot of it I can''t use, since I''m just a cargo shuttle; but, she taught me how to adapt some of it.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad.¡± I said and yawned. ¡°Wake us in the morning.¡±


    ¡°You got it.¡± Monna said and reduced the lighting to darken the shuttle''s insides. She had already polarized the viewscreen on the cockpit to make it look almost solid while Simone and Jelly had changed for bed. I had changed in the cargo area. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± The three of us responded.


    I closed my eyes and used several mental techniques to relax and to stay alert, then went to sleep. After about an hour, my bunk moved slightly and I felt someone climb into it with me. I opened my eyes and wasn''t surprised to see Simone as she slid over me and laid down next to the wall, then she cuddled into me.


    ¡°I thought you didn''t like my nightgown.¡± I whispered.


    ¡°It''s horribly funny.¡± Simone whispered back, then gave me a kiss. ¡°I love you enough to ignore it.¡± She smiled. ¡°Just this once.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Go to sleep.¡±


    Simone gave me another kiss and then fell asleep almost right away.


    The morning came and there were no incidents, walk-bys, or even overhead flights. Apparently, overnight was a very quiet time for nearly the entire city. That was essential info to have, especially if we had wanted to sneak in. We would be the only people moving around during the quiet times and that would have gotten us easily caught.


    We watched the surveillance footage and waited for the right opportunity, then decided that when the workers all moved and entered the building during the city''s shift change, would be the best time to enter the building and begin the assault. We changed into the appropriate clothing to match them and then took the hover car.


    Simone landed the hover car at a discrete distance and we easily weaved ourselves into the flow of people. We had timed our movements perfectly, because when we reached the building, we were a part of the last group entering and the doors shut and locked behind us, just like they had at the first place. As soon as they did, both Simone and I activated the cone broadcast options on out belt mechanisms and covered the entire lobby. About thirty people dropped dead a moment later and left us as the only ones standing.


    ¡°We''ve only got ten seconds to get to the security booth.¡± Simone said and jumped over the security desk instead of going through the detector and I followed her across the lobby and into the side door. The layout was the same as the other business, so we knew exactly where to go. Their planning for making everything familiar for their workers, no matter where they were sent, had done us a favor.


    We entered the security booth and I used the ''gun'' to kill the two men at the console and stored their bodies. Simone sat down and did some quick typing and put the security footage into a repeating loop of a few seconds. While she worked, I popped off my broadcast emitter for an area effect and quickly plugged it into their intercom system. I was surprised at how ridiculously easy it was, then looked at Simone.


    ¡°It''s done.¡± Simone said and I hit the button.


    Everyone inside the building died a moment later and none of it was seen on the security footage.


    ¡°I''ll need a minute to load the previous day''s cleared lobby to add it to today''s footage.¡± Simone said. ¡°If we''re doing the ghost town thing, you need to clear out the rest of them.¡±


    ¡°I''ll loot them as I do.¡± I said and left the booth to get to work. I had brought extra bags of holding just in case there were more people than we had guessed there would be. It took three hours for me to pilfer everyone and then store their bodies, then I went back and gave the relevant things to Simone.


    ¡°Ooo. Nice.¡± Simone said as I handed her the boss'' security key card. ¡°Give me half an hour to break the pin number and...¡±


    ¡°Flip it over.¡± I said with a grin.


    ¡°No!¡± Simone exclaimed. ¡°He wasn''t that stupid, was he?¡±


    I waved at it and she turned it over, then she laughed.


    ¡°He was! Hahahaha!¡± Simone guffawed and easily used the information to access the main computer banks. ¡°Oh... oh, Hunter.¡± She said in reverence as the information appeared on the screen. ¡°I want you to make love to me while we copy all of this!¡±


    ¡°Simone...¡±


    ¡°I don''t care about your policy of distraction!¡± Simone said and quickly set up the recorder. ¡°This... this will...¡± She shook her head and pulled off her skirt and then her underwear. ¡°We''re going to be here all day getting everything he had access to. Everything!¡±


    ¡°We can''t...¡±


    ¡°It''s not a distraction if we''re not doing anything else.¡± Simone said and kissed me, then she opened my pants up to discover that I was ready for her. ¡°Yes, your body understands.¡± She said and climbed up on me while I stood there, then she eased herself down onto me. ¡°He has access to their... direct accounts... and... and their... recruitment policies.¡± She panted as she moved. ¡°Oh... oh... it''s a treasure trove...¡±


    I didn''t move or try to help her at all as she pleased herself.


    ¡°He has... orders from... key people for... assassinations.¡± Simone breathed, then she climbed off, turned around and eased herself back onto me, then used the chair as leverage and moved herself forward and back. ¡°Both... current and... future... OH!¡±


    I watched the information on the screen as she shuddered and dropped her head to the chair.


    ¡°Oh, Hunter! We''ve got them!¡± Simone said, her voice full of passion. ¡°We have the leverage to force The Order to ignore us!¡±


    My eyes caught one particular assassination order as it slowly scrolled down the screen and my anger rose. I didn''t know if Simone had set it up that way or if it was just random chance; but, Emari''s name was there with the camp number she had been in, then beside it was ''disposable''.


    I grabbed Simone''s hips and I took my frustration and anger out on her as I fucked her. Hard. We weren''t having sex and I wasn''t making love to her. I used her as an object and she knew what I was doing, and she was okay with that. When I was done twenty minutes later, I was filled with regret and let her go, then I stumbled back and leaned against the wall, then I slid down to sit on the floor.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Simone said and I couldn''t look at her. ¡°HUNTER!¡±


    I blinked my eyes and looked up at her. I could see the blossoming bruises on her body where I had been much too rough with her and tears came to my eyes.


    ¡°NO!¡± Simone yelled and slapped me across the face as hard as she could to get my attention, then she straddled my lap and pressed her very sore and bruised crotch to mine. ¡°You needed that.¡± She said and her hands held onto the sides of my head, so I would keep looking at her. ¡°I love you and I gave you what you needed... what you wanted.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Simone, I... I don''t...¡± I tried to express what I felt about what I just did to her.


    ¡°You would have wrecked the place if you didn''t have me to take your anger out on.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°You... you knew I...¡±


    ¡°I suspected it would hurt you to see what her actual status would be.¡± Simone said. ¡°I''m just glad that all you did was give our future children headaches.¡±


    I heard what she didn''t say about actually hitting her. ¡°I would never...¡±


    ¡°I know, Hunter.¡± Simone leaned in and kissed me. ¡°You know, it felt really wonderful while it was happening.¡± She caressed my face on both sides. ¡°You completely let yourself go and gave me everything you had. Your anger, your frustration, your disappointment, and your body.¡± She gave me another kiss for several moments. ¡°You gave me it all.¡±


    I closed my eyes and used several mental techniques to calm down. ¡°Simone, I...¡± I started to say I was sorry and she gave me another kiss to stop me. ¡°I can''t heal you until we leave here.¡±


    ¡°I brought a med-kit with me.¡± Simone said and looked down at where our crotches touched. ¡°I don''t think there is a medical gel pack that can fit between my legs as well as you do.¡±


    I let out a long sigh. ¡°Simone...¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I told you a long time ago that I would do anything to be with you.¡± Simone said. ¡°Distracting you with some angry sex is the least I can do for you.¡±


    ¡°Good lord, Simone.¡± I said, barely above a whisper.


    ¡°I love you.¡± Simone said and leaned forward to press her forehead to mine. ¡°Even when you''re being an asshole and can''t control yourself, I love you.¡± She said and I could feel her flowing through my mind and I didn''t stop her. ¡°I know you love me, too.¡±


    ¡°Of course I do.¡± I said as I gazed into her eyes. ¡°Why else would I feel bad about what I just did?¡±


    Simone chuckled. ¡°Well, let me just...¡± She shifted herself a little and then let out a gasp as she sat down onto my lap properly. ¡°...feel it again.¡±


    I grabbed her hips and then very gently moved her up and down. She started panting right away and stared back at me.


    ¡°F-faster.¡± Simone whispered.


    ¡°No.¡± I said and kept the same pace. ¡°I took advantage of your compliance last time. This time I''m staying in complete control.¡±


    Simone shivered at my words and didn''t try to push me at all as we had sex again. It took us a while to finish, which was good, because when we were done and I had expertly applied the proper medical gel packs to Simone''s bruises, it had given the recording equipment time to get everything. We packed everything up and removed all traces of us being there, set the looped footage to end after we left, routed any incoming calls to prerecorded ''we are out of the office'' messages, then we went to the front door and waited for the shift change at the power regulation plant.


    When the streets started to fill with people, we left the building and walked all the way back to the hover car, then flew it back to the shuttle. I was tempted to retrieve our hidden surveillance devices, then decided that we could leave them and see how long it actually took for someone to physically show up.


    ¡°Hey, you two.¡± Jelly said with a smile as we parked the hover car into the hold. ¡°How did it go?¡±


    I opened my mouth to apologize for breaking my policy and Simone covered my mouth.


    ¡°It went exactly according to plan.¡± Simone said. ¡°We even acquired new data that''s going to help us immensely with taking the rest of the places down.¡±


    ¡°That''s great!¡± Jelly said and the three of us went to the cockpit. ¡°I''ve booked a quick visit at a tourist group partway across the planet.¡±


    ¡°Oh, nice.¡± Simone said as Jelly brought the information up on her console, then she frowned. ¡°There''s no way we''re climbing that thing.¡±


    I looked over her shoulder at the half-mile high spiral staircase around a mountain peak. ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked. ¡°It looks kind of fun.¡±


    ¡°The people living in the town at the top have an elevator.¡± Simone said. ¡°The staircase is for tourists.¡±


    ¡°Which is what we are.¡± I said, and she sighed.


    ¡°Okay, fine. I''ll go.¡± Simone said. ¡°But, you''re carrying me.¡±


    Jelly chuckled. ¡°You poor baby!¡±


    ¡°I''m not made for climbing things like that.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°I think she meant me, because I''m stupid enough to actually carry you.¡± I said and they both laughed.


    We landed nearby in the designated area, joined up with the tourist group, then spent the rest of the day climbing up to the top of the staircase. When we arrived at the top, we were greeted with fanfare, yells and hugs, then we were given a little necklace with a pendant that said we had made the climb.


    ¡°Simone shouldn''t get one.¡± Jelly said with a grin. ¡°Hunter carried her.¡±


    ¡°I still made the journey and got to the top.¡± Simone said and held a hand over the pendant, as if someone was going to take it from her.


    ¡°Come! Come!¡± A woman, who might even be the mayor, said to the group we were in. ¡°You have a nice stay in our best hotel to enjoy.¡±


    ¡°It''s their only hotel.¡± Simone whispered and Jelly snorted a laugh.


    We went with everyone and it was a nice hotel. We only needed one room, despite my protest, and we all changed for bed. Simone wore a slinky negligee and Jelly wore a t-shirt and a pair of what looked like bikini bottoms.


    ¡°Make sure you keep your hands to yourself.¡± Jelly warned me.


    ¡°You do realize that Simone can grope you as well, right?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, but she would be playing and that''s okay.¡± Jelly said and climbed into bed.


    ¡°Ooo.¡± Simone said and climbed in after her, then Jelly let out a little squeal.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Jelly turned around and frowned. ¡°What the hell do you think you''re doing?¡±


    Simone lifted her wet finger to her mouth and licked it. ¡°You said playing with you is okay.¡±


    ¡°I... I didn''t mean...¡± Jelly''s face flushed red. ¡°You... can keep your hands to yourself, too.¡±


    ¡°Aww.¡± Simone said, then used her other hand to cup the side of Jelly''s face. ¡°If you change your mind, you know where I am.¡± She leaned forward and gave her a chaste kiss. ¡°Right beside you.¡±


    ¡°Now who is the one not reading the mood?¡± I asked and climbed into bed behind Simone.


    ¡°All right, I''ll be good...¡± Simone said and turned around to face me, then before I could react, she stuck her still wet finger in my mouth and rubbed it on my tongue. ¡°...from now on.¡±


    Jelly saw what she did and caught her breath, then her face burned bright red and she turned around and pulled the blanket up to her neck.


    ¡°Simone...¡± I started to say after she took her finger out of my mouth.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± Simone said gave me the same chaste kiss she gave Jelly, then closed her eyes.


    I let out a sigh and closed my eyes as well. The night passed and we got up the next morning, and none of us mentioned the night before. We met up with the tour group and ate breakfast, then we were led to the large elevator and rode it down to the base of the mountain. We went back to the cargo shuttle and climbed aboard.


    ¡°Strap in. Monna and I will have us back up on the ship in no time.¡± Jelly said.


    I reached a hand out to place it on Jelly''s shoulder. She turned her head to give me a knowing look and opened her mouth to ask me a question, then she turned back to the console to finish the flight preparation.


    ¡°I already warned Monna that leaving atmosphere isn''t anywhere near as exciting as entering it.¡± Jelly said. ¡°There shouldn''t be so many moaning sounds coming from her on the way out. Maybe.¡±


    Simone laughed and pat the console. ¡°It''s okay, Monna. Sometimes a nice slow insertion and exit is just what you need after a hard one.¡±


    ¡°I won''t get my hopes up.¡± Monna said, and yet we all heard that she did hope she would enjoy it.


    ¡°Jelly, take us up.¡± I said and the shuttle lifted up slowly, flew forward to join the surrounding sparse traffic of the other tourists leaving, then reached a point just outside the no orbital flights zone and added power to Monna''s engines.


    ¡°I''ve already been cleared for my flight path to orbit.¡± Jelly said and followed the set course. The winds buffeted us quite a lot and Monna did her best to not let her enjoyment show. It took us nearly twenty minutes to get back up to orbit and Jelly landed us in the shuttle bay on Adona.


    ¡°Welcome back.¡± Adona said. ¡°Monna, you did great.¡±


    ¡°It was fun!¡± Monna said. ¡°Even the slow exit was something I''ve never felt before!¡±


    ¡°We''ve got a lot more stops along the way, so you''re going to be an expert in orbital insertions by the time we''re done.¡± Jelly said and pat her console. ¡°Right now, I''m going to give you a good checking over and see if we stressed anything.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± Monna said. ¡°I think there''s a bit of grime built up on one of the air intakes on my thrusters.¡±


    ¡°I''ll check them first.¡± Jelly said and we all left the cargo shuttle.


    ¡°Thanks for the ride, Monna.¡± I said and pat her hull.


    ¡°I''m sure it''s going to feel just as good each time, so you can ride me as many times as you want, Grandpa!¡± Monna said happily.


    Simone covered her mouth and grabbed my arm, then we went through the hatch at the back of the bay and jogged over to the stairs. When she thought we were far enough away, she burst out laughing.


    ¡°We should... tell her more... appropriate ways of saying that!¡± Simone said between laughs.


    ¡°You all enjoy her saying things like that, so it''s okay.¡± I said and put my arm around her as we went up the stairs. ¡°I kind of suspect that if we did try to tell her to change how she says things, it would only confuse her or cause her to second guess everything she says and not just those ambiguous statements.¡±


    ¡°I guess you''re right.¡± Simone said then smiled as she ducked away from me. ¡°Here comes your wife.¡±


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Hailey yelled as she ran down the hallway towards us and then she jumped.


    I easily caught her and she gave me a kiss. ¡°Hi, Hailey.¡±


    ¡°Did you miss me?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°I miss you every time I''m away from you.¡± I said and gave her another kiss. ¡°What did you do yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Beatrice let me run covert targeting drills on the nearby ships, satellites, and cargo containers!¡±


    ¡°She did, did she?¡± I asked and we walked towards the cockpit.


    ¡°She said I needed more experience with detecting the changes in the targets, so if a fight ever does break out, I won''t be wasting shots.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°I think I need some practice with that as well.¡± Simone said with a smile.


    ¡°It''s pretty hard doing it without alerting the other ships and the guard patrols.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°Hailey did it properly on her very first try.¡±


    ¡°Way to go, Hailey.¡± Simone said and held a hand up to her.


    Hailey slapped it in a high five. ¡°Thanks!¡±


    ¡°I think we''re done here.¡± I said and looked at the console. ¡°Beatrice, take us out and head for the Lagrange point.¡±


    ¡°Course is already laid in.¡± Beatrice said with a smile.


    ¡°Jump coordinates?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We had them yesterday.¡±


    I nodded, and she took us out of orbit while Hailey described in detail what she did and how she did it.

 Book Three: The Resolution 081

    It took almost two weeks to get to the first training camp on our itinerary and the infiltration of it went much smoother and quicker than the first one had. Simone had a remote set with a loop footage command and we entered the camp and disabled the guards. I stored them as we went along and we cleared the place completely.


    We left the main building for last, since that had the leader inside on loan from The Order and we had to approach him cautiously. We also had to assume that he would have people inside that might not have the suicide charge in their heads, and acted appropriately. Their necks were broken and stored as well, and we made our way to the top office.


    ¡°Come in.¡± A voice said when we approached the office. ¡°I''m not armed, so there''s no need to worry.¡±


    I held in my sigh and opened the door.


    ¡°If you''re wondering how I ''saw'' you, it''s your specific lack of Presence.¡± The man behind the desk said as I stepped into the room. ¡°All things have Presence and for you to have exactly none, means you''re either dead or hiding it.¡± He smiled. ¡°Which one are you now and which one will you be later?¡±


    ¡°Does this mean you''re not going to fight me on this, Jared?¡± I asked. ¡°This organization tried to kill me and the people I...¡±


    ¡°The reasons are inconsequential.¡± Jared cut me off and stood. ¡°Can you fight in close quarters?¡± He asked and activated his Light sword. ¡°Or should we move outside to get this over with?¡±


    ¡°I want to keep the damage to a minimum, so outside would be best.¡± I said.


    ¡°You can drop the Stealth technique.¡± Jared said and walked over to me. ¡°I can see your absence anyway.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but you still don''t know what I look like.¡± I said and he chuckled.


    ¡°That is a good point.¡± Jared said as I stepped back and out of the way. Just as he crossed the threshold of the doorway, he let out a gurgle and grabbed his throat to stem the flow of blood.


    ¡°There was no way I was going to fight you head on when I can''t use Presence openly.¡± I said and dismissed the Stealth technique I had on myself and Simone.


    Simone wiped the blood off of her razor sharp knife and tucked it away and I grabbed the Light sword and turned it off.


    ¡°Are you having a hard time healing yourself?¡± I asked him and touched his shoulder. ¡°Ah, I see. You didn''t learn the technique.¡±


    ¡°That makes this job a lot easier.¡± Simone said with a chuckle. ¡°I wonder if they''ll send someone out to look for him when he disappears?¡±


    ¡°More than likely, assuming the loan wasn''t for more than a year.¡± I said and saw Jared''s eyes flash in annoyance. ¡°Ha.¡± I said and grabbed his head, turned it around to face backwards, then stored his dead body. ¡°It''s a two year post.¡±


    ¡°You know what that means.¡± Simone laughed. ¡°How much do you want to bet that the control room isn''t even locked?¡±


    I laughed and took her into a hug. ¡°I''ll bet you one distraction and two teases that it''s open.¡±


    ¡°Hey, that was my bet!¡± Simone exclaimed and I gave her a kiss to distract her.


    We went to the control room and not only was it unlocked, it was completely open. We took out our ''guns'' and shot the workers and the guards, then looked at the sole prisoner as she stood there with a shocked look on her face at all of the people that had just died in front of her.


    ¡°Did your wish come true?¡± Simone whispered to her and she didn''t jump from the scare.


    ¡°By the goddess of darkness, yes.¡± The woman whispered.


    ¡°You worship Black Laura?¡± I asked her and she turned her head to look at me.


    ¡°She has been a comfort unlike any other in my time of need.¡± The woman said.


    I dropped the Stealth technique and stepped close to her. ¡°I know the feeling.¡±


    ¡°Are you...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said and I felt like I needed to comfort the woman. ¡°I have met her.¡±


    The woman gasped and grabbed onto me. ¡°You''re not lying!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°You''ve seen her divine visage!¡±


    For some reason, I knew I needed to tell her what happened. ¡°When we met, she kissed me and we made a date.¡±


    The woman''s mouth dropped open in shock and she stared at me for several moments, then she closed her mouth and let a huge smile slowly spread across her face.


    ¡°You''re killing them all.¡± The woman said.


    I nodded and reached up to touch the scar on the side of her head, then used her Presence to pop the wires and the battery on the suicide charge. She let out a sigh and her hand reached up to take mine.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She said. ¡°What do you need me to do?¡±


    ¡°Guard the device we''re setting up.¡± I said and Simone already had it in place and had the computer running. We were pretty sure there wouldn''t be anything new and just wanted to confirm the data we already had.


    ¡°No one will touch it, I swear on my life.¡± The woman said and let my hand go.


    ¡°We will return in a little while.¡± I said and used Stealth to disappear.


    Simone and I left the room and she told me which of the people being held were actually prisoners. It matched the data we already had, so we went through the rest of the building and cleared it all out. We ended in the basement and once the two guards on the door were disposed of and pilfered of their keys, we walked inside and killed the trainees and stored the bodies.


    ¡°Ugh, what... what''s...¡± A man rolled over on the floor at the sounds of a wooden bat hitting a watermelon and looked over at the next cell to see that it was empty. ¡°Karl! He''s gone!¡±


    That made the other prisoners take notice and they all sat up to look around. All they saw were four others and no one else.


    ¡°They''re clearing us out!¡± A woman almost shrieked.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°No, only the pretenders.¡± I said and let my Stealth technique fade. ¡°I''m here to rescue you.¡±


    ¡°You killed Karl!¡± The man exclaimed.


    ¡°Actually, the assassins did by putting that suicide charge in his head. I just activated it before he did it voluntarily.¡±


    ¡°You can''t do it voluntarily.¡± A woman responded. ¡°It needs an external device to activate.¡±


    ¡°I''ll show you the command codes needed to activate it, after we''ve removed the charge from your head.¡± Simone said with a smile. ¡°We can''t have you accidentally popping your own brain apart, can we?¡±


    ¡°You''re serious.¡± She said, surprised. ¡°They really can be self activated?¡±


    Simone nodded. ¡°They use them if they are about to be captured.¡±


    ¡°Like you''re capturing us?¡± Another woman asked me.


    ¡°If I was going to capture you, I would have just walked you out of here under the guise of transferring you to a new place.¡± I said and opened her cage first. ¡°I have a hover car waiting not far away then a shuttle to take us to my ship.¡±


    ¡°You have a ship?!?¡± She asked.


    ¡°That is how one travels through space.¡± I joked. ¡°Also, when I open these cuffs, don''t freak out and try to wreck the place. I want it left in pristine condition, that way anyone that comes here looking for you, they won''t have any traces to follow.¡±


    ¡°That''s... actually pretty smart.¡± She said.


    ¡°I tried to tell the last group of prisoners not to wreck the place and they ignored me.¡± I said and opened her cuffs. ¡°I had to blow the place up to cover the escape and remove the evidence.¡±


    ¡°Wait, did you say the last group of prisoners?¡± She asked, surprised. ¡°I thought this was the only prisoner camp.¡±


    ¡°This is the second camp we''ve raided.¡± I said and Simone opened a cage and let another woman go. ¡°We''ve got another camp on our itinerary in a couple of months.¡±


    ¡°You''ve made it into a campaign?¡± The man asked as Simone let him out.


    ¡°I was only going to come here to free you, then realized I would be wasting a ton of time by going back home to drop you off then would have to come all the way back out to the next place.¡± I said and let the last woman go. ¡°Now we''re doing a huge circuitous route to hit as many places as we can along the way.¡±


    ¡°So, you can''t get these things out of our heads?¡± One of the women asked. ¡°We''ll need at least a trained medical technician to assist and a space station''s medical bay to...¡±


    ¡°I''ve got everything we need on my ship.¡± I said and she stopped talking.


    ¡°You... how big...¡±


    ¡°It''s a full medical bay.¡± I said and walked around to each of them and took their hands and used their own Presence to disable the charges. After a quick Presence Heal, Simone and I led them out of the basement and up into the building.


    ¡°We couldn''t bring the med-bot, though.¡± Simone said. ¡°Even with the upgraded reactor, Herbie is linked to Udelis and won''t operate when away from him.¡± She chuckled. ¡°The cute little guy goes into sleep mode every time we tried.¡±


    ¡°You have a med-bot.¡± The man said, his voice full of disbelief.


    ¡°Yes, just not here.¡± I said and stopped just outside the control room. ¡°Stay here. I need to check the progress of the data retrieval.¡±


    They nodded and I left Simone to watch them as I went inside.


    ¡°It''s still intact and I didn''t touch anything.¡± The woman said as she came to attention.


    ¡°Are you a guard?¡± I asked, because I recognized the movement as one I did to annoy The Order.


    The woman gave me a crisp salute. ¡°Lieutenant Commander Isabella Ebanez of the Quick Response Squad, at your service, sir.¡±


    ¡°You can drop the sir.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Isabella said with a smile.


    ¡°You''re going to keep saying it, aren''t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Isabella said and kept the smile.


    ¡°I take it your quick response let you see something you weren''t supposed to see?¡±


    Isabella nodded. ¡°I was quickly apprehended and interrogated, then shipped here two months ago.¡±


    ¡°Did they... try...¡±


    ¡°They did and the two of them died before it could happen.¡± Isabella said and her smile hadn''t faltered.


    ¡°Good.¡± I said and saw approval on her face. ¡°What''s the progress of the display?¡±


    ¡°It''s at eighty percent, sir.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so another ten minutes and we can get out of here.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad to hear that, sir.¡±


    ¡°You don''t happen to have medical training, do you?¡± I asked and she shook her head. ¡°I''ll just have to hope there''s someone at the next camp.¡±


    ¡°The next one, sir?¡±


    ¡°There''s more than one and this is the second I''ve raided.¡± I said and her eyes widened slightly, then she frowned.


    ¡°How many more?¡±


    ¡°Six.¡± I said.


    ¡°How many are you raiding?¡±


    ¡°There''s only one more on this route.¡± I said. ¡°The others are in a completely different direction and will take a while to plan for.¡±


    ¡°I''d like to help, sir.¡± Isabella said.


    ¡°That''s great, except we''ve got a couple months before we reach the next camp, not to mention all of the businesses we''ll be stopping at along the way to raid before then.¡±


    ¡°Sir, I''ll do everything I can to help, no matter how small the task.¡±


    I smiled and held a hand out to her. She stepped close and took my hand, then she caught her breath as I used a quick Presence Heal on her. ¡°I''m happy to have you aboard.¡±


    ¡°So am I, sir.¡± Isabelle said with a smile. ¡°Very, very happy.¡±


    The recording equipment finished a couple of minutes later and I packed everything up. We left the building and went right out through the front door as if it was a normal thing for prisoners to do. We walked over to the hover car, climbed in, and drove back towards Monna and Jelly.


    ¡°Only six this time.¡± I said over the wrist communicator. ¡°If I read the records right, then the three missing prisoners have already been... removed.¡±


    ¡°We should do a local sweep, just in case.¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°That''s a good idea.¡± Simone said. ¡°They could have been sold off or traded for... well, you know.¡±


    ¡°I''ll need some local access to try and match the descriptions to the local populace.¡± I said. ¡°Even with Luxea''s old comparison software, I don''t know if we can stay around long enough to see if they are actually alive.¡±


    ¡°All we can do is all we can do.¡± Isabelle said. ¡°Sir, if I may assist...¡±


    ¡°...I''ll take any help I can get, especially if it nets us another rescued prisoner.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a satellite in orbit?¡±


    ¡°I''ll shunt a link for you to use when we get to the shuttle.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m sure with the two of us working, we will be able to make sure no one else is alive.¡± Isabella said.


    It took us twenty minutes to reach the shuttle, then we parked the hover car inside, to the prisoners'' surprise.


    ¡°No time for surprise.¡± I said and left the others inside as I brought Simone and Isabelle out of the cargo area and had them join me in the cockpit. ¡°Isabelle, can you use the console there?¡±


    Isabelle checked it and nodded, so I sent her a link to the satellite in orbit as well as the descriptions of the three missing prisoners, then I started my own search. It took us almost four hours to confirm that no one on the planet matched the descriptions. We also checked the outgoing transports and their passenger manifests and compared them to the descriptions.


    ¡°They had to be disposed of.¡± Simone said and I didn''t feel the Presence waver.


    I let out a sigh and nodded. ¡°All right, Jelly. Get us out of here.¡±


    Jelly had been waiting for the command and Monna had been in standby mode for quite some time. We took off from the planet''s surface and went back up to the ship.


    ¡°You came here in a destroyer?¡± Isabella asked, surprised.


    ¡°It''s a cargo ship.¡± I said with a smile and she gave me a skeptical look. ¡°Really. We had to give it a major overhaul to make the shell an actual hull.¡±


    ¡°Mom''s really pretty!¡± Monna said over the intercom.


    Isabella gasped. ¡°Your cargo shuttle has an AI?¡±


    ¡°All our ships do.¡± Simone said. ¡°Hey, Adona. Say hello to our latest recruit.¡±


    ¡°Hello, recruit.¡± Adona said over the communications console. ¡°Welcome aboard.¡±


    ¡°I... am going to like it here.¡± Isabella said with a big smile.


    ¡°Don''t get your hopes up.¡± Simone said with a smile. ¡°You have to pass the hardest test ever.¡±


    ¡°What test?¡± Isabella asked.


    ¡°You''ll see.¡± Simone said and turned back to look at me.


    ¡°Don''t mind the alarmist.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°You just have to meet someone special in my life.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and if she doesn''t approve of you...¡± Simone grinned and looked back at the console. ¡°It was nice meeting you.¡±


    Both Jelly and I laughed.


    ¡°It''s not really like that.¡± Jelly said. ¡°She does influence a lot that has to do with Hunter, though.¡±


    I didn''t dispute that and Isabelle went quiet for a few minutes, then she turned to me and smiled.


    ¡°I think I''m going to like meeting her, no matter the outcome.¡± Isabella said.


    We docked to Adona not long after that and we left Monna and Jelly in the shuttle bay and I assigned everyone to their own quarters, then Simone turned to look down the hallway and smiled.


    ¡°Isabella, this is Hailey, my future wife.¡± I said as Hailey walked towards us. She didn''t run like I thought she would have, then she came to a stop beside me and looked up slightly at Isabella.


    ¡°You''ve touched death.¡± Hailey said.


    Isabella took in a sharp breath, then she let it out and nodded.


    ¡°Then you can help keep Hunter grounded.¡± Hailey said and looked up at me. ¡°Bath, please.¡±


    I smiled and picked her up, even though she was getting too tall for it, and I carried her to our room and shut the door.

 Book Three: The Resolution 082

    Hailey didn''t play in the tub this time and I wondered what was wrong. When I stepped out of the shower, she gave me a knowing look. I was a bit surprised by this, so I looked down at myself to make sure that I had myself covered by the towel, then I looked back at her.


    ¡°Hailey, you''ve been acting seriously since we came back with the prisoners.¡± I said. ¡°What...¡±


    ¡°When I felt Isabella, I knew she wouldn''t respect me if I acted like a child.¡± Hailey said, then she gave me another knowing look. ¡°Tell me about Black Laura.¡±


    I opened my mouth to respond that I had told her everything. ¡°I already told...¡± I felt a huge waver in the Presence and I wobbled on my feet from the strength of it.


    Hailey was suddenly there to hold me up while water and soap suds splashed everywhere. ¡°Hunter!¡± She exclaimed and wrapped her arms around my chest and pressed her soap-covered breasts into my abdomen.


    ¡°I''m okay.¡± I said, even though I leaned all of my weight on her. ¡°Wow, that...¡± I looked down at her as I fought through the vertigo. ¡°Hailey, I''m sorry. I hope you know that I haven''t kept anything from you on purpose.¡±


    ¡°Of course I do.¡± Hailey said and beamed a smile up at me.


    ¡°But... I just... I''m keeping something from you... and myself, apparently... and you found out so easily.¡±


    ¡°I think it''s because I''m becoming exactly what you need me to be and you needed to know that you know something that you don''t know.¡± Hailey said with a chuckle. ¡°Oh, and you aren''t keeping it from yourself. That was a subtle lie. I think you know what happened and just couldn''t do anything about it.¡±


    I blinked my eyes at her, because I hadn''t felt a disturbance, either then or when she explained her reasoning. ¡°You''re more sensitive than I am at lie detection?¡±


    Hailey nodded.


    ¡°I bet that''s really annoying for Beatrice and Sandy.¡± I said with a smile.


    Hailey laughed. ¡°It really is!¡±


    I chuckled as I ''saw'' in her head as she called them out on all of the little lies people told, almost like a habit, every day. ¡°You shouldn''t tease them so much.¡±


    ¡°I can''t help it.¡± Hailey said. ¡°They are so in love with each other that they lie about how much, all the time!¡±


    ¡°Just like us.¡± I said.


    Hailey took in a sharp breath because the Presence hadn''t wavered. Her grip on me lessened as I turned slightly and knelt on one knee to put my face on a more even level, except it was slightly lower than hers now.


    ¡°You''re growing up so fast.¡± I said and ran my hand through her three inch long gold colored hair.


    ¡°It''s not fast enough.¡± Hailey said automatically, then she blushed.


    I chuckled and put my arms around her. ¡°We''ve got a lot of time to spend together, so don''t worry about trying to grow up too fast.¡±


    ¡°I''m not worrying about it.¡± Hailey said with a smile and put her arms around my neck. ¡°I just hate waiting.¡±


    I smiled back. ¡°You waited all your life for me to come along and you can''t wait a few more years?¡±


    ¡°It''s because I know I have to.¡± Hailey said. ¡°Before, I was just... you know.¡±


    ¡°You were waiting and that was all you could do.¡±


    Hailey nodded. ¡°Now I have a new life and people who care about me, and not because they are paid to.¡± She said and smiled. ¡°I also have you.¡±


    I opened my mouth to say no, then let out a sigh at her racing thoughts. ¡°All right, just one.¡±


    Hailey grinned at me and hugged my neck tightly as she kissed me. Her raging hormones exalted at finally having an outlet for her desire. She shifted her body slightly to get more comfortable and it rubbed her chest on mine, which made her catch her breath at the sensation. She paused her kiss and waited for a moment to see if I was going to push her away. I didn''t, so she relaxed and kept kissing me.


    Hailey''s emotions calmed down after a couple of minutes and she broke the kiss on her own, because she knew that she shouldn''t push me too much. The last thing she wanted was for me to refuse her completely and she stared into my eyes from barely an inch away.


    ¡°I love you.¡± Hailey said, barely above a whisper.


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said and gave her another kiss. ¡°We need to wash off and change for bed.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I''m apparently all soapy for some reason.¡±


    Hailey looked down at my chest to see two boob-shaped smears of soap there, then her face flushed red as she blushed. I smiled as I picked her up and carried her into the tub and finished washing her, then myself, and dried us both off.


    ¡°I''m glad you''re not angry.¡± Hailey said and she looked so cute as she ducked her head slightly. ¡°It was a mistake; but, I... it was...¡± She couldn''t describe what it had felt like, because she hadn''t felt anything like it before. All she knew was that she kind of liked it.


    ¡°It''s all right. Really.¡± I said and we went out to put on our sleep outfits.


    ¡°But... I''m just... and you said...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and we put on our nightgowns. ¡°You were responsible enough to not overreact when it happened and you also managed your emotions on your own.¡± I lifted the blanket on the bed and she climbed in. I climbed in after her and tucked the both of us in. ¡°I was proud that you didn''t let yourself go out of control, so me getting upset about it wouldn''t be good for you.¡±


    Hailey had to think about that. ¡°So, if... if I had... moved more or... tried something else...¡±


    ¡°I would have stopped you.¡± I said. ¡°I would have to.¡±


    Hailey''s heart went pitter-patter at my words. Not wanted to? She thought happily.


    No, not wanted to. I thought back to her and let her feel my love, then she let out a long and satisfied sigh and drifted off to sleep. Goodnight. I thought to her, then used several mental techniques to keep watch, set an alarm in my head, and went to sleep.


    *


    Isabella knelt on the floor of her room, which was lavish beyond anything she had ever stayed in before, and she ignored it as she took out the makeshift blade she had smuggled out of the training camp. She had used it almost a hundred times now and she pressed the familiar tip of the blade to the inside of her forearm. She really missed her confiscated ceremonial blade.


    Just like at the camp, Isabella had used a small piece of cloth to make a bowl shape and the small cut she made only let a few drops of blood out and she caught them with the cloth.


    ¡°Oh, great Goddess Laura, I pray to thee once more.¡± Isabella said as she dipped her fingers into the blood and made several symbols into the cloth. They faded away and she felt a familiar Presence. ¡°Thank you so much for answering my prayers and sending Hunter to me.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    The feeling intensified and she bowed her head.


    ¡°I hope that I can repay you for such a wondrous feat.¡± Isabella said and the feeling eased. ¡°I''ve sworn to help him as much as I can, so if I die in his service, I know I am really dying for you.¡± She said and lifted her head. ¡°I will see you with my own eyes one day, my Goddess.¡±


    The feeling changed slightly and Isabella smiled.


    ¡°I hope it''s not for a long time, too.¡± Isabella said. ¡°I humbly praise you, Goddess Laura.¡±


    The feeling of Presence faded away and she folded up the piece of cloth, wrapped it around her blade, and tucked it back into her clothing. She walked over to the bed and looked at it with an appraising eye, grabbed a pillow and a blanket, then made a nest for herself on the floor. She knew she wouldn''t be able to sleep in a normal bed for a while, not after what she had gone through, and cuddled in on herself in the middle of the nest and drifted off to sleep.


    *


    While Hunter and his group had been raiding the second camp, something across the galaxy had been happening as well.


    Kara turned off her Light sword and looked at the remains of the slave ring she had worked so hard to disassemble. It had been a special mission from The Wise One himself and she had taken it without even asking why it needed to be dealt with or why she was being sent and not a group of Order members. At least, she didn''t know until she plugged in the device he had given her to copy all of the data that was in their computer banks.


    ¡°Oh, Goddess. This is what he meant when he said that sometimes trust can be misplaced.¡± Kara whispered as she read the names of the people involved, which included several prominent members of The Order. She watched the screen as the data was being copied, then it started to flicker. ¡°What''s with this thing?¡± She asked and tried to type some commands, then her device sparked once. ¡°NO!¡±


    Kara grabbed it and pulled just as a huge bolt of electricity shot out of the port and hit it. She used Presence to protect her hand from the shock and looked at the device, then sighed. It had been charred black and she could tell from the heat that the inside was melted. A second later, the same bolt fried the console she was using and then she watched it go into the wall and melt the computer banks.


    Kara immediately sat down to meditate and used several mental techniques to go over the information she had seen and cemented it into her memory. It was the only copy that existed now and she needed to preserve it. Once she was done with the small amount she had seen, she left to go back to her small ship. She needed to return to The Wise One with the information she had as quickly as possible.


    *


    The next two businesses we raided over the next month were even easier than the last one. Simone and I cleared them quickly and we didn''t even have to stay overnight or pretend to be tourists. Once we had recorded the data, Simone and I gave it a quick perusal to ensure that there was nothing new, then we retrieved the account information the bosses had access to and sent it to Sheph back home.


    It wasn''t until Isabella found out about my assault on the focus crystal factory that I had a problem.


    ¡°You cannot do what you are planning to do.¡± Isabella said and nodded to Hailey. ¡°Young Wife has told me all I need to know about your plan and I do not approve.¡±


    I looked at Hailey and she gave me a smug look and didn''t avoid my gaze. ¡°Hailey what exactly did you tell her?¡±


    ¡°I told her exactly what you told all of us.¡± Hailey said and waved at everyone around the table. ¡°I even gave her access to the recordings so that she would hear it from you directly.¡±


    I sighed and looked at Isabella. ¡°I''ve taken everyone''s advice and I changed my plans accordingly.¡± I said. ¡°There''s no real way for me to be safer during this part of the mission.¡±


    ¡°Yes, there is.¡± Isabella said. ¡°There''s no fast exit strategy or a blow it all up to escape contingency.¡±


    I opened my mouth to counter her, then sighed again. ¡°Dammit, I can''t be any stealthier than I already am and having a fast exit won''t ensure the success of the mission.¡±


    ¡°You can use Stealth on Simone and she can move independently of you, correct?¡± Isabella asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then I suggest you leave her here, right at the junction between the service area and the proper mine.¡± Isabella said and pointed to the map. ¡°She can monitor your surroundings and still keep your escape route clear.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°I''ll be sitting on top of Monna, under camouflage of course, at the extraction zone here.¡± Isabella said. ¡°I''d love to have an assault rifle with a scope; but, I''ll make do with the standard laser pistol. My accuracy is pretty low at that range, so don''t be surprised if I''m closer than that.¡±


    I turned to Simone and raised my eyebrows at her, and she shrugged. Hailey had the same reaction, so I had to accept Isabella into a couple of secrets that we had.


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said and walked over to Isabella. ¡°I need to show you something.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Isabella asked as she took in the mood.


    ¡°It''s nothing bad.¡± Simone said with a grin. ¡°If you''re on our side.¡±


    I chuckled at the qualifier and led Isabella from the meeting room and over to mine.


    ¡°What... wait, are you...¡± Isabella shook her head. ¡°Hunter, I like you and I appreciate what you''ve done for me; but, I won''t warm your bed while you wait for Hailey to grow into a proper woman.¡±


    I let out a laugh. ¡°I''m glad you''re honest about that.¡± I said and entered a code into a hidden panel on the wall and just like on Udelis, a hidden wall slid aside and revealed a large rack of laser pistols, assault laser rifles, and several attachments to make them into practical sniper rifles. Various grenades were on the lower shelves with multiple power packs and weapon straps and holsters.


    ¡°By Black Laura''s pale white tit!¡± Isabella exclaimed. ¡°You have military grade troop weapons!¡±


    ¡°I salvaged a ton of these things from a fleet of wrecked warships.¡± I said and waved at the rifles. ¡°I believe you wanted something to maintain a long range firing solution.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Isabella said and saluted, then she quickly assembled a rifle with all of the attachments it needed for medium and long range targets, then she grabbed five additional power packs and a mount for it. As an added bonus, she grabbed several grenades and tucked them onto the gun strap over her shoulder and added two laser pistols. ¡°I probably won''t need them; but, I''d rather have them on me.¡±


    I nodded and led her back to the meeting room and my plans for the factory raid changed slightly. Once she agreed and saw that the changes gave me the best odds of surviving, with minimal casualties on both sides, she signed off on it and the plan was set. We had one more stop before the factory raid and it wasn''t to take out another business. It was to give us all a few days off.


    They all protested at first, until I said that I was the one that needed a day off from everything, then they all reluctantly agreed. I had picked a system that was quiet and unassuming and it didn''t have anything significant in it to attract a constant flow of tourists. All it had was a mile wide river that spanned several thousand miles of tropical terrain and would take two days, from morning the first day until sunset the next day, to traverse.


    ¡°I need to train.¡± Isabella said. ¡°I spent too many days sitting in a cell and I wasn''t allowed to exercise.¡±


    ¡°Then you can stay aboard.¡± I said and looked at Jelly.


    ¡°I''ll drop you off and pick you up when you get to the end.¡± Jelly said. ¡°Monna needs more atmospheric experience and this looks like the perfect opportunity to give her as much exposure to different climates as we can.¡±


    ¡°Monna, did you hear that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa.¡± Monna said.


    ¡°What do you think? Are you up for an adventure?¡± I asked.


    ¡°If Jelly thinks she can keep up with me, sure.¡±


    ¡°Is that a challenge?¡± Jelly asked with a tone of excitement.


    ¡°I know we have to break for lunch and I want to know if you''ll need a nap by then, or if you can last all the way to supper time.¡± Monna teased.


    ¡°Oh, you little...¡± Jelly shook her fist at the camera pick-up. ¡°Just wait! I''ll show you who can stay awake during an operation!¡±


    Both Monna and Adona laughed.


    ¡°I''m staying, too.¡± Simone said. ¡°Floating on the water all day is just not appealing for me.¡±


    ¡°I''m tempted to go; but, I won''t leave my lo... Beatrice all alone.¡± Sandy said.


    Hailey chuckled at her words and looked at me as if to say ''I told you''.


    ¡°Then I guess it''s just you and me, beautiful.¡± I said to her and Hailey beamed a smile at me, then the others made ooo''s and ahh''s at my words. ¡°Hey, get your minds out of the gutter.¡± I said to them and they laughed. ¡°Nothing''s going to happen, all right?¡±


    ¡°O-kay. We believe you.¡± Simone said sarcastically and everyone laughed again.


    ¡°I''m surrounded by children.¡± I said and the laughter continued.


    Jelly arranged for the long boat ride and then flew Hailey and myself down to the planet''s surface. When she dropped us off, the boat we were to board was like a gigantic cruise ship, except that it was made entirely out of a wood-like composite that didn''t rust and gave it an old-home feel.


    ¡°WOW!¡± Hailey exclaimed as she saw the ten storey high ship.


    ¡°We''re going to have all day to walk around it and see what''s on board.¡± I said and took her hand. ¡°Are you ready to have an entire day of relaxing time with me?¡±


    ¡°As long as there''s a huge tub!¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°I booked the biggest suite they had available, so it better have a huge tub!¡± Jelly said with a laugh and hugged Hailey. ¡°Have fun.¡±


    Hailey nodded and I led her onto the ship and we waved at Jelly, then we watched her take off to go on an adventure with Monna. After about half an hour, the ship departed and began its long trek down the longest river any of us had ever seen. Hailey and I stood at the bow and looked at the scenery for a few minutes, then Hailey tugged on my hand.


    ¡°Let''s go and see what the room is like.¡± Hailey said and led me from the deck and took me right to where the map said our room was. Our key card fit and the door opened, and it was a huge room that was the size of a ballroom. Hailey ran inside and started to dance around.


    ¡°I see someone doesn''t mind acting younger when the others aren''t around.¡±


    ¡°That''s because even though they don''t judge us, they still think I''m too young.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°You are too young.¡± I said with a laugh.


    ¡°Only because you measure my life by the years I''ve been here and not by my experiences.¡± Hailey said and did a twirl. ¡°Hunter, dance with me.¡±


    I walked over to her and didn''t want to say no. All I wanted was to see that smile I saw the first time I danced with her, so I held my hands out to her and she took them eagerly. We floated up into the air as we both used the Levitation technique and we danced together as partners for the first time.

 Book Three: The Resolution 083

    For two glorious days, Hailey and I acted like a normal couple. We ate our meals at many of the different restaurants on the humongous ship. We walked along the outer edge of the ship to see the entire thing. We even volunteered to take the shipboard tour to see what else they had and we hadn''t discovered already and were surprised that there was a dance hall with a dance starting every two hours. We ended up spending quite a bit of time there.


    We didn''t talk about anything that concerned the various things going on in our lives and just spent the time together. It was a novel experience for the both of us, to say the least. We hugged a lot and kissed each other at random times, usually in the middle of whatever activity we were doing.


    Hailey was usually the perpetrator and would catch me at my most vulnerable, which was when I was staring at her. She would turn to look at me to see if I was enjoying myself as she was, then catch me looking at her. She would giggle and then would give me a hug and a kiss. It didn''t matter to her if anyone else was around during those moments. All she cared about was being happy and being with me, which she equated to be the same thing.


    I had to agree, mainly because all of the things I worried about that went through my head on a daily basis, faded away when I was around her. They didn''t seem as important and I could ignore them for the short time that I spent with Hailey. She gave me a respite from my own haggard schedule and it made me love her even more.


    We stood at the bow of the boat just before supper time on the second day and I watched her as she tried to hold onto her stylish hat in the high winds with one hand and hold her pretty dress with the other hand as it flapped against her thighs. I liked the sight and admitted to myself that I needed her, even more than I needed a lot of other things in my life.


    Hailey caught her breath and turned to look at me with a surprised expression, then she reached out for me with the hand that was supposed to hold her dress down. I quickly stepped close and hugged her, then I knelt to put my hand down across her backside and held the dress in place for her, so she wouldn''t flash everyone on the deck.


    Hailey blushed as she put the hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes. ¡°You grabbed my butt.¡±


    I wasn''t going to lie to her, so I told her the truth. ¡°I saw an opportunity to stop anyone else from seeing it.¡± I said. ¡°Only I am allowed to see such treasures.¡±


    Hailey bit her bottom lip and her eyes flicked between desire and embarrassment. ¡°You can touch it as much as you want.¡±


    ¡°No, I can''t.¡± I said and she took in a sharp breath.


    ¡°You want to.¡± Hailey whispered and had to tip her head back to get the brim of her hat over my head, then she gave me a quick kiss. ¡°That makes me very happy.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and gave her a proper kiss.


    Hailey relaxed and let the feeling of my lips on hers fill her, and her hormones went almost passive, because she wasn''t the one to initiate the kiss like she had every other time for this trip. It was like, as long as they didn''t have to push her to satisfy them, they wouldn''t run rampant on her. That was good to know.


    ¡°Excuse me.¡± A woman''s harsh voice cut through the wind. ¡°You shouldn''t be kissing a little girl like that.¡±


    I broke the kiss and held onto Hailey. ¡°She''s a teenager and all I''ve ever done is kiss her, even though her mother approves of our relationship and we''re going to be married.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?!?¡± The woman looked from me to Hailey and back again. ¡°But... she...¡±


    ¡°It won''t be for years and I''m trying my best to help her.¡± I said. ¡°Until then...¡±


    ¡°I know the difference between a crush and love. Real love.¡± Hailey said. ¡°I had a crush on him before, because he saved me, then I got to know him as a person and fell in love with him.¡±


    ¡°Even my bad parts.¡± I said.


    ¡°You only do bad to do good.¡± Hailey said with a grin.


    I laughed. ¡°Let''s get out of this wind and go inside.¡± I said and carefully adjusted my grip on her, so that when I stood up, her dress didn''t get flipped up by the wind. The indignant woman could only watch as we walked by her with big smiles and my hand stayed on Hailey''s backside the entire time.


    *


    ¡°At least it looks like they are having fun.¡± Jelly said as she sat in Monna''s cockpit and watched the long range footage. They were currently testing how quiet Monna could be inside an atmosphere and still move at a good speed. They hugged the tops of the trees to stay out of sight and still maintained surveillance on Hunter when he wasn''t inside the cruise ship.


    ¡°I''m glad the overcharging trick works on my visual sensors as well as my gravitic ones.¡± Monna said.


    ¡°Me, too.¡± Jelly said. ¡°Is there anything coming up on passives?¡±


    ¡°Only the planetary traffic coming to pick up the passengers when the ship docks.¡±


    ¡°I should complain that using the satellite is cheating.¡± Jelly said with a laugh. ¡°I won''t, though. Use everything you have access to, or you''re just hampering yourself.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa has been doing that a lot lately.¡± Monna commented.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Jelly said and adjusted the controls as the cargo shuttle approached a large open area and she guided Monna around it to stay hidden. ¡°If we weren''t dealing with assassins that will blow up their buildings, and themselves, if they feel him, he could be clearing the businesses out that much faster.¡±


    ¡°So, he''s doing what we''re doing?¡± Monna asked.


    Jelly had to think about that. ¡°He actually is.¡± She said. ¡°He''s skirting around The Order and trying to stay hidden for as long as he can. If they find out what he''s been doing... well...¡±


    They both fell silent at that thought, because they knew if The Order did discover what Hunter was doing, then they would have no choice but to come after him. All of them.


    *


    Hailey had been quiet during our last supper on the ship, then we went to pack up our things in our room. I wanted to ask her what was bothering her and I got the distinct feeling that she didn''t want me to ask. She didn''t get changed, even though she knew we were going to be riding the shuttle up to the ship.


    I walked over to her and tried to take her into a hug. ¡°I think you should get...¡±


    Hailey gasped when my hands grazed her upper arms and her Presence burst out. It washed over me and my eyes widened at the strength of it, then I picked up what had made her so quiet and tense. She had ''seen'' inside the woman''s head on the deck and read her surface thoughts, one of which was a very clear image of Hailey and I naked in bed and hugging each other, and it was far from the platonic hugs we normally shared.


    ¡°Hailey.¡± I whispered to her and she turned to look at me. Her face was flushed red and her desire for me spiked as she looked into my eyes.


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± Hailey breathed and she trembled. ¡°H-help... I... I can''t...¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I said and knelt in front of her, then I eased the top of her dress down just enough to expose her heart, then I placed my palm there.


    Hailey''s Presence flared and doubled in strength, then to my surprise, flowed around me to hold me.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and eased my Presence through my hand and right into her heart. She took in a sharp breath as our energies merged together and the pressure around us quadrupled as my Presence joined the flow. She was breathing heavily and I used a calming technique and shared it with her. It was like I was trying to fix a mile-high cracked dam by sticking my finger in it to stop the flow of water.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°I''m... the dam?¡± Hailey asked between breaths. The energy expenditure was quite taxing on her.


    ¡°Yes. It''s been slowly cracking for a while and when it breaks... well...¡±


    ¡°I don''t want... to drown you.¡± Hailey said and the mental image of the dam I had given her changed slightly and the crack reduced in size.


    ¡°Good... that''s good.¡± I said and added my own reinforcement. ¡°I''ve been trying so hard with everyone around us to keep those kinds of sexual thoughts away from you, that I didn''t realize a random person we''ve never met before could give them to you.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I... I really want you to hug me like that.¡± Hailey said and her heartbeat increased. ¡°I know you can''t... and I''m sorry that...¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to be sorry. It''s all right.¡± I said and leaned forward. ¡°I want to hug you like that, too.¡±


    Hailey gasped and her Presence focused on my heart and compressed down, then it felt like a Light sword went through my heart as my shirt was ripped open. It was my turn to gasp and I looked down to see the lines between my new scars as they formed together and completed an ''H'' shape in the center of my circular scars.


    ¡°AHH!¡± Hailey let out a short yell and I felt a burning sensation go through my hand as my Presence was pulled out of my palm and shoved into her heart. It felt like a Light sword, too. After a few moments, the energy around us faded away and Hailey almost collapsed. I caught her and cradled her against me as I sat back onto the floor.


    ¡°I... love you.¡± Hailey breathed and blinked slowly at me.


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said.


    Hailey gave me an angelic smile for a moment, then it faded and she fell asleep, completely exhausted. I lifted my hand from over her heart and cupped the side of her face, then I saw what was over her heart. It was the same ''H'' shape that was on mine.


    ¡°I wondered where those odd scars came from.¡± I whispered to her and gave her a light kiss. ¡°I know you didn''t do it on purpose, since I didn''t teach you that technique and it''s still tucked into the protected part of my mind.¡±


    I traced the ''H'' on my chest and then traced the same ''H'' on hers, pulled her dress back up into place, and tried to stand. I felt a little weak and it took me two tries to pick her up into a princess carry.


    I looked down at Hailey in my arms and smiled. ¡°You exhausted me, you little temptress.¡±


    Hailey rubbed her head on my chest and her smile returned. Even asleep, she had heard me and reacted. I held her for several minutes as I gathered Presence to myself and used it to reinforce my body, then decided I needed to rest. We had a few hours before the ship docked, so I laid us both down on the bed. I had just barely given myself a mental alarm to wake myself up when sleep took me, too.


    *


    ¡°It''s done.¡± Black Laura said. ¡°He finally let himself be claimed.¡±


    ¡°Don''t sound so sad.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°I''m sure he will still...¡±


    ¡°Of course he will. He won''t break his word.¡± Black Laura said. ¡°It''s just... he doesn''t realize what it means.¡±


    ¡°He will.¡± Maleketh said. ¡°You told me that he has already encountered our little problem.¡±


    Black Laura nodded. ¡°I just hope he can finish what he started before it''s too late.¡±


    ¡°You could warn him, you know.¡± Maleketh said with a smile.


    Black Laura shook her head. ¡°Among all of us who try to force our hands, I agree with you. Interference beyond what is necessary is too detrimental to their growth to be worth the effort.¡±


    ¡°I knew you were wise beyond compare.¡± Maleketh said with a grin.


    Black Laura smiled. ¡°Everyone says that you are a bad influence.¡±


    ¡°Of course I am. Who else urges their followers to be independent and to live their lives to the fullest?¡±


    Black Laura reached up and touched the side of his face. ¡°Definitely a bad influence.¡±


    ¡°How is that planet working out for you?¡± Maleketh asked. ¡°Were twelve moons enough for it?¡±


    Black Laura let out a laugh. ¡°It''s like its own micro solar system, thanks to you.¡±


    ¡°You said I could give you as many as I wanted.¡± Maleketh said with another grin.


    Black Laura let his face go. ¡°I better go before you make me want any more planets.¡± She said and blackness formed around her and she faded into it. ¡°We must watch over him... and hope.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Maleketh said as the blackness faded. ¡°I know.¡±


    *


    I woke up when my mental alarm went off and found Hailey was cuddled to my chest with her cheek resting on the scars over my heart. She hadn''t undressed, which was a relief, and when I took in a deep breath, she stirred.


    ¡°We need to get up on deck.¡± I said. ¡°We''ll be docking soon.¡±


    ¡°Only if you promise we can take another vacation soon.¡± Hailey said and didn''t move.


    ¡°We won''t be home for another four months, so I can almost guarantee that I''ll want another day or two off with you before then.¡±


    ¡°Only almost?¡± Hailey asked and lifted her head to look at me.


    ¡°Well...¡± I used a fingertip and rubbed the top of the ''H'' scar that peeked out the top of her dress. ¡°...I don''t think we will get away unsupervised from now on.¡±


    Hailey''s face flushed red for only a moment at the touch, then she moved forward and gave me a kiss. She broke it a few seconds later and smiled at me, then she used a fingertip to trace the ''H'' on my chest.


    ¡°You''re proud of yourself, aren''t you?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I did it.¡± Hailey said. ¡°I didn''t know what I was doing at first and it hurt a lot and it was tiring and...¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It took you a long time to do it.¡±


    Hailey nodded. ¡°I know we''re going to be together and you know that I love you.¡± She said and put one hand on my scar and one on hers. ¡°I wanted to show you that I''m yours and you''re mine, forever and ever.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t have to do that.¡± I said and sat up.


    ¡°Yes, I did.¡± Hailey said. ¡°Now everyone that sees it will ask what it''s for.¡± She smiled. ¡°When they do, what will you say?¡±


    ¡°It stands for my heart.¡± I said and Hailey waited for the Presence to waver, and it didn''t.


    ¡°But... what...¡± Hailey looked a little panicked and thought she had done it wrong.


    ¡°You''re my heart now.¡± I said and touched her face. ¡°Hailey, my heart.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Hailey''s eyes teared up. ¡°You... you''re mine, too.¡±


    We sat there and stared at each other for several moments, then we heard a loud air horn.


    ¡°All passengers! We''re coming in to dock. Please prepare for departure in ten minutes.¡± A voice said over the intercom.


    I looked at Hailey and then down at her belt. ¡°Hey, I had an idea.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Will it work?¡±


    ¡°It worked before.¡± I said and slid off the bed and stood up, then changed my shirt. ¡°We just need to get to the control room.¡±


    Hailey smiled and took my hand. I covered us in Stealth and we left the room at a run to get to the control room before the ship docked. We easily avoided the other people and made it to the top of the ship and I looked through the wall to see that the whole crew was there.


    We have to be sneaky about this. I thought to her.


    Okay. Hailey thought back and knocked on the door.


    Hailey, what...


    They need to open the door for us to get inside. Hailey thought and a second later, the hatch whooshed open and a ship''s mate looked out.


    ¡°We''re coming in to port. The captain can''t have visit... oh.¡± He stopped talking when no one was there. He stepped out into the hallway and looked one way and then the other, shrugged, and went back inside.


    Hailey and I had already slipped inside and quickly found the broadcast equipment, then Hailey handed me her area effect device and I attached it to the intercom. A second later, the intercom emitted the detonation signal and covered everyone in the ship. One of the pilots of the ship died, one of the cooks died, and three people in the engine room died. Surprisingly, none of the passengers died.


    During the commotion caused when the pilot died and they called for a medical technician, Hailey and I saw the reports of crew deaths and then slipped out of the control room and went down to the deck. The ship had two pilots and the one that died was the co-pilot and the ship didn''t stop its approach. I stopped using the Stealth technique on us and we waited calmly for the ship to come to a stop. When it did, we walked off with all of the other passengers and saw Jelly at the bottom of the ramp.


    ¡°Hi, Jelly!¡± Hailey waved and Jelly waved back.


    ¡°You look happy.¡± Jelly said and gave her a hug, then she looked at me. ¡°What did you do?¡±


    I chuckled at the accusing tone. ¡°Thanks for trusting me so much.¡± I said and put an arm around Hailey. ¡°It was all Hailey this time.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°This.¡± Hailey said and moved her dress down a little to show off the ''H'' scar she had.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Jelly yelled and quite a lot of people turned to look at us. ¡°You... you taught her...¡±


    ¡°Nope. She did it all herself.¡± I said and I tapped my temple. ¡°She didn''t steal it from me either.¡±


    Jelly let out a sigh. ¡°I can''t believe...¡± She looked at Hailey and pulled the dress back into place. ¡°Why did you do it, Hailey?¡±


    ¡°Hunter''s mine.¡± Hailey said with confidence.


    Jelly opened her mouth to explain a few things to her, especially about mutilating herself like she had, then she sighed again. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    ¡°It can''t be removed, either.¡± I said as we walked down the dock towards the shuttle landing pad. ¡°It''ll just grow back like mine does.¡±


    Jelly let out another sigh and we climbed aboard the shuttle.


    ¡°Hi, Monna.¡± Hailey said and sat in the co-pilot''s seat. ¡°Do you like my dress?¡±


    ¡°It''s nice; but, it won''t protect you from sudden depressurization.¡± Monna said.


    ¡°Then let''s not do that or allow it to happen.¡± I said.


    ¡°Of course not, Grandpa. That''s just standard safety protocol on small ships.¡± Monna said. ¡°Jelly designed me well, so I do have several redundancies in case that happens.¡±


    ¡°Strap in. We''re taking off.¡± Jelly said and I sat behind Hailey.


    She''s not happy with you. Hailey thought to me.


    I know. I thought back to her. What should I do about it?


    Kiss her. Hailey thought. She''s been wanting to ever since you came back from almost dying.


    She has? I asked, surprised.


    Hailey let out a chuckle. She''s also envious of what you and Simone do.


    I reached out and touched her bare shoulder. Won''t you be jealous if I do kiss her?


    No, because I know you don''t love her. Hailey thought. You can even hug her like... Her thought paused for a second as she pushed the mental image away that woman had given her. I won''t be jealous.


    I don''t think I''ll have to go quite that far to ease her mind about us. I thought with amusement, because the Presence hadn''t wavered at Hailey''s thoughts.


    Hailey put her hand on mine and held it for the whole flight back to the ship.

 Book Three: The Resolution 084

    My assumption about the others being more strict about me spending alone time with Hailey was a bit of an understatement. When they all saw the matching ''H'' mark above Hailey''s heart, I had to cover my ears with Presence until the yelling stopped. The only one who didn''t overreact about the whole thing was Isabella. I was glad that I had asked Hailey to stay quiet, because they had called the others on the station to tell them and they added their voices to the throng.


    Of course, none of them really believed that it had all been Hailey''s idea, except for Simone. She knew it was true and tried to push her own feelings aside to explain it to the others; but, she was quickly drowned out and then she gave up and joined Isabella and Hailey off to the side to watch the spectacle.


    It took nearly half an hour for them to finish ranting and raving at me and I didn''t try to defend myself, either. I knew there wasn''t much point and let them get it off of their chests as I read their surface thoughts and felt their emotions. They all felt righteous indignation on Hailey''s behalf and I completely understood it. There was nothing to be done about it however, since it couldn''t be undone, and they all knew it.


    ¡°Are you all finished ranting?¡± I asked and they all looked at me with variations of the same scowl, even the three women on the large vidscreen. ¡°Is that a yes? You''ve said your piece and that''s that, right?¡±


    They all reluctantly nodded.


    ¡°Good. I don''t want to hear anything else about it.¡±


    ¡°Now, wait just a minute...¡± Jelly started to say.


    ¡°I said that''s enough.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you can''t just ignore what this means.¡±


    ¡°I''m not ignoring it. I accepted it and I''m moving on.¡± I said. ¡°I suggest you all do the same.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, she''s an impressionable young woman and...¡± Sandy started to say.


    ¡°I know that, and so does she. This last thing proved that without a doubt. All we can do is help guide her to the best of our abilities. Even with how vigilant we all were, we still needed to be careful of those outside of our control. I hadn''t taken that into account and Hailey almost lost control.¡±


    Jelly let out a sigh. ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I want you to consider something very carefully.¡± I said to them. ¡°I want you to ask yourself what would have happened to Hailey if I hadn''t been there when those thoughts appeared in her head.¡±


    They all fell quiet at my words.


    ¡°Yeah, you know it would have been bad.¡±


    ¡°It was because she was with you that those thoughts appeared!¡± Jelly said, accusingly.


    ¡°This time, yes.¡± I said. ¡°What if she was out shopping with any of you while I was off on a mission, and she mentioned buying something nice to wear for her future husband?¡±


    Jelly opened her mouth to say that wouldn''t happen, then closed it. She couldn''t say that it would never happen, especially with Hailey getting older and bolder in her words and actions.


    ¡°But, that doesn''t matter now.¡± I said and looked over at Hailey. ¡°She won''t lose control again.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Sandy asked, because she remembered Hailey''s sudden Presence outbursts when she felt strong emotions.


    ¡°She doesn''t have to prove herself anymore. Not to me and not to anyone else.¡± I said and they all looked at me. ¡°She is who she is and that''s all she has to be.¡±


    No one said anything, so I walked over to Hailey and knelt in front of her.


    ¡°All we can do is live with her decision and move forward. There''s no point to berate me, or her, over this, because it makes no difference. It happened and that''s that.¡±


    ¡°You make it sound so final and that you don''t have a choice.¡± Simone said, then she caught her breath when the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°H-Hailey!¡±


    ¡°I won''t let him go.¡± Hailey said without looking at her and reached out to take my hand. She knew she shouldn''t kiss me in the current atmosphere of everyone''s thoughts. ¡°He''s mine and no one can take him from me.¡±


    ¡°Hailey, that... it''s not realistic to expect...¡± Simone stopped herself before she said anything else, because she could read Hailey''s surface thoughts, just like I could.


    ¡°It wasn''t realistic before; but, it is now.¡± I said. ¡°I also told her that we would be supervised from now on.¡±


    ¡°You need to be.¡± Sheph said from the vidscreen. ¡°It can''t go any further than this.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I hadn''t intended it to get this far, so that''s a fair statement.¡±


    ¡°It''s true.¡± Simone said and we all looked at her. ¡°He really has been trying to keep everything at as slow of a pace as he could.¡±


    ¡°It''s been difficult to keep things under wraps for this long.¡± I said and let Hailey''s hand go. ¡°Of course, now it''s all going to to be fine.¡±


    ¡°You keep saying that.¡± Jelly said. ¡°How is marking her going to change things for the better?¡±


    ¡°She can use my Presence to guide hers now.¡± I said and nodded to Hailey, and she formed ten slightly blue Presence Hands around us and clapped them together a few times. The five sets of hands made the sound of applause for a few seconds, then she absorbed them.


    ¡°By the Goddess.¡± Isabella whispered and I gave her a crooked smile.


    ¡°We''ve only got a few days left to travel to get to the system with the focusing crystal factory.¡± I said to change the subject. ¡°We all know the details; but, I want to go over them once more, just in case a part of them slipped your minds.¡±


    The others exchanged looks and didn''t comment that they had all forgotten about the current mission.


    I went over to the holographic table and started to go over the details, then put emphasis on Jelly''s role as the cargo shuttle pilot and how important it was for her to be concentrating on that. She took the not so subtle hint and joined in on the briefing. With Isabella decked out in her chosen weapons, we were all reminded about how dangerous it was going to be.


    ¡°And that''s it.¡± I said.


    ¡°We estimate little resistance, considering we know the people posted and their scheduled shift rotation.¡± Isabella said. ¡°It doesn''t hurt that we''ve prepared for visitors and people not registered in the system.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Are there actually locals living there?¡± Simone asked. ¡°That''s not in any of the data we have.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know if there are indigenous people living there or not.¡± Isabella said. ¡°We''ve planned for it, anyway.¡±


    ¡°I''ve also loaded the broadcast signal into our satellite system.¡± I said. ¡°Since it''s only a small world, if we need a distraction, we hit it and escape.¡±


    ¡°What about the prisoners they use for mining?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°That''s why I''m going into the mine first.¡± I said. ¡°Although, I can''t let them go until after the raid.¡±


    Hailey nodded and took my hand and I smiled


    ¡°I need a shower and then I''m going to bed.¡± I said to her.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Hailey said and pulled me down to give me a kiss. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said and she let me go, then she walked over to Sandy and Beatrice.


    ¡°I hope you don''t mind me staying over tonight.¡± Hailey said.


    Sandy and Beatrice exchanged surprised looks, then Sandy smiled.


    ¡°You can stay over whenever you want. You know that.¡± Sandy said, then the three of them left the meeting room.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°We can''t sleep in the same bed anymore.¡± I said and everyone looked at me. ¡°What? She knows what ''hugging'' like an adult means now.¡±


    Jelly let out an exaggerated sigh. ¡°You let us rant and rave over what happened and where it was going to lead, and yet you weren''t planning on taking her to bed with you, even just to sleep?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Both Hailey and I know that we can''t do certain things, now that we can''t keep it innocent anymore.¡± I said. ¡°That''s why she stayed quiet when I asked her to.¡±


    ¡°You asked her to stay quiet?!?¡± Sheph asked from the vidscreen.


    ¡°You weren''t going to listen to her try to defend me anyway.¡± I said and no one responded. ¡°Well, thanks for calling and we''ll talk to you again at the next hyperspace exit.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡± Sheph and Gleas started to say at the same time and I cut the call.


    ¡°That was mean.¡± Simone said.


    I shrugged. ¡°They''ll get over it.¡± I said. ¡°See you in the morning.¡±


    Simone opened her mouth to say something and Isabella touched her arm to stop her. I gave Isabella another crooked smile and left the meeting room to go to what was now my room. I took a quick shower and changed for bed, then laid down and used several mental techniques to meditate, continued to gather Presence to reinforce myself, and set an alarm in my head.


    I went to sleep and didn''t worry about anything. I knew that with Hailey as my anchor, my plans for The Order were going to progress much faster than I had originally allotted for. With the additional help that Isabella provided to keep me grounded, especially in executing those plans, I had a feeling that things were going to be a lot better from now on.


    *


    Kara wasn''t surprised to receive an audience with The Wise One upon her return to The Order''s headquarters. What did surprise her was the number of other people in the room with him. Her message to him had been vague, per his request, and when she entered the room, the door shut behind her and a hush fell over the crowd as The Wise One raised his clawed appendages.


    ¡°Thank you all for coming on such short notice and I''m glad you all made it just in time.¡±


    ¡°In time for what?¡± Someone asked.


    ¡°I''m glad you asked that.¡± The Wise One said and waved at Kara. ¡°The triumphant return of my Task Master.¡±


    Everyone in the room turned to look at her and she felt several mental probes and a few others that tested the strength of her Presence. She blocked them all, since she couldn''t tell which person was doing it in the crowded room.


    ¡°Please come forward.¡± The Wise One said and the crowd parted for her.


    When Kara reached him, she saw a small pedestal and steps up it, and he motioned for her to climb them. Kara held in her sigh at being put on display like this, then she turned to face the crowd with her head at nearly the same height as The Wise One''s.


    ¡°I sent her on a secret mission to clear out a nest of vipers that had started to grow, and she was almost completely successful.¡±


    ¡°Almost?¡± Someone replied.


    The Wise One chuckled and it sounded like he was coughing. ¡°Unfortunately, she didn''t manage to retrieve the data on who was behind the various crimes being committed.¡± He said and held out a clawed appendage to her and she put the partially melted data device into it. Almost immediately, several faces lost their tension and she noted them.


    ¡°It was a terrible tragedy, wasn''t it? A booby-trapped main computer. Despicable means for despicable people. Wouldn''t you agree?¡± The Wise One asked and several people nodded, some of which were the relaxed faces.


    ¡°Master Moor, would you please tell them about what happened?¡± The Wise One asked and tucked the melted device and his appendages into his robes and moved back slightly.


    Kara gave him an appraising look and couldn''t tell if he was being smug or not. It was very difficult to read emotions on a giant fly face and he was blocking as much as she was. Once again she held in her sigh and faced the crowd as she told her tale to the assembled men, women, and aliens.


    ¡°...it wasn''t until I saw the data with my own eyes that I discovered who was behind it all.¡± Kara said and saw a flash of panic on six faces.


    ¡°You said the data was destroyed.¡± One of the panicked people said.


    ¡°It was.¡± Kara responded, and then smiled. ¡°I memorized it before the computer was destroyed.¡±


    Three laser bolts shot across the room and suddenly there were four Light swords in front of Kara to deflect them. The room erupted in a false and structured panic at the laser bolt fire from seemingly nowhere, then suddenly the entire room filled with Presence and pushed everyone down, including Kara. They all dropped to their knees from the overwhelming feeling and could barely keep their heads up to see a Light sword fly across the room.


    ¡°ARGHH!!!¡± A man yelled out as his Stealth technique faded and he dropped the laser rifle. The Light sword was just off-center in his chest and he died looking down at it.


    ¡°Master Moor, if you would be so kind, please tell us the names.¡± The Wise One said and used Presence to pull the man to the front of the room and retrieved the Light sword.


    Kara took several breaths and recited the names in the same order they had been on the screen, and as she said the name of a person in the room, they were covered in Presence and their weapons were removed. All six of the faces she had seen react were on the list. Unfortunately, there were ten names and the missing ones would have to be hunted down. The pressure disappeared and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Most stood up and glared at The Wise One, who just chuckled his coughing laugh.


    ¡°I didn''t know who was involved.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°All of you were presumed innocent until Kara said the names.¡±


    ¡°What if she lied?¡± Someone asked.


    ¡°Did you detect a lie?¡± The Wise One asked.


    ¡°No, but... if she misread the name...¡±


    The Wise One chuckle coughed again. ¡°We have a long trail of evidence leading up to this and Master Moor was completely dedicated to completing this task, no matter who was involved.¡±


    ¡°What if you were named?¡± Someone else asked.


    ¡°Then I would be exposed for a fraud and you all would have attacked me, wouldn''t you?¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°None of us would survive fighting you.¡±


    The Wise One laughed and it sounded like he was throwing up. ¡°Then don''t ask stupid questions! Ha ha!¡±


    Everyone exchanged slightly worried glances, then slowly left the room. The six named people were subdued and shackled, their Presence drained, and led from the room.


    ¡°Excellent work, Kara.¡± The Wise One said when they were alone. ¡°I am impressed you managed to read so many names and then memorize them that quickly.¡±


    Kara didn''t want to accept the praise, mainly because she did fail in the data retrieval.


    ¡°You found the most important part, so the loss of the rest is negligible.¡± The Wise One said and waved her concerns away. ¡°Go and rest for a few days and then come and see me again.¡±


    Kara raised her eyebrows at him. ¡°Do I have another months-long mission to start?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± The Wise One said with a chuckle cough. ¡°Why don''t you visit with your old guardian? I''m sure she would like to see you again after so long.¡±


    ¡°I think I will.¡± Kara said and gave him a respectful bow, unlike all the other people that had been in the room, and she left. She was barely out of the main building when she felt a very strong Presence enter her detection range and she turned to see a fast running figure come to a stop five feet away. Her long white hair was tied up in a fancy hairdo on the top of her head and added nearly a foot to her normal four foot height.


    ¡°Tell me about Hunter!¡± Lashina demanded, her pink flesh had flushed a darker pink because she had expended a lot of Presence to get to Kara so quickly from the East Forest Glade.


    ¡°I was going to see...¡±


    ¡°She can wait!¡± Lashina exclaimed and grabbed Kara''s hand, surprised her by using Levitate on her, then used Presence Run. The pair disappeared from sight and weaved through the compound to head towards the East Forest Glade. It was the best place for them to have complete privacy. Kara was surprised again when not one branch hooked her robes or a leaf hit her face, even though she was being essentially dragged through the trees and underbrush.


    Lashina ran out of the trees into the clearing she had been spending more and more of her time lately. ¡°I want you to tell me everything.¡± She said and gently sat Kara on the large rock by the stream, then she sat down beside her. ¡°All of it.¡± She looked into Kara''s eyes with a stern expression. ¡°Don''t leave anything out.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have that kind of time, Lashina.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I am exercising my authority and relieving you of any and all duties for the next few days.¡± Lashina said, then her expression softened and she looked to be on the verge of crying. ¡°Please.¡±


    Kara let out a sigh and nodded, then adjusted herself to sit in the Lotus position. Lashina did the same and took both of her hands, then closed her eyes.


    ¡°It all started when I finally tracked him down at (Undecipherable)''s secret base...¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 085

    The next three days passed by like slow molasses in winter. With no Hailey to keep things lively and entertaining, all I did was work making satellites. I even skipped sleep for two days and kept working. We all ate meals together and Hailey sat across the table from me, rather than next to me like usual. When we watched television, she sat on the other side of Simone and not on my lap like she used to.


    The collective mood on the ship dropped over those three days and by the time we arrived at our destination, none of them were enjoying themselves and they all had thoughts of not supervising Hailey and me anymore. That wasn''t their decision, though. They hadn''t realized until then how integral their happiness was tied to Hailey''s happiness. Now that she wasn''t acting like a child and filling everyone with youthful enthusiasm, they had no choice but to treat her like a normal person.


    ¡°All right, people. This is it.¡± I said. ¡°Ready weapons.¡±


    Jelly and Isabella nodded and prepared to meet any threat as Beatrice dropped the ship out of hyperspace at the farthest point from the planet. Luckily, there was only one planet and no moons, and since it was a completely Order controlled system and the coordinates were not generally known, our appearance at the proper coordinates didn''t alert anyone to our unscheduled arrival.


    ¡°Adona, what''s the space around the planet look like?¡± Simone asked and inquired the computer herself as well.


    ¡°Three ships. One fast courier, one fast cargo hauler, and one guard ship.¡±


    ¡°Oh, damn.¡± Isabella said as the targeting info came up on her screen. ¡°It''s a Spectral class guard ship.¡±


    ¡°What''s that mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s loaded with shuttles and a garrison full of guards.¡± Isabella said. ¡°They can empty the whole ship in ten minutes and land everyone as a cohesive force.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no.¡± Beatrice said. ¡°What do we do?¡±


    ¡°Keep going.¡± I said and she looked at me like I was crazy.


    ¡°Hunter, there''s no way we can go up against...¡±


    ¡°Have they contacted us yet?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No. The data said we need to reach the inner beacon before they''ll initiate contact.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°Drop a satellite and lets see what they are saying.¡± I said.


    ¡°On it.¡± Simone said and a discrete hatch opened at the back of the ship and a satellite slipped out under no thrust. It shared our momentum and that carried it along behind us. ¡°No one''s reacting to us at all.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± I said. ¡°Stay on course, Beatrice. Simone, when they call, play the message.¡±


    ¡°I''ve got all three ships targeted and locked. No internal warnings.¡± Isabella said and Jelly nodded confirmation. ¡°We can take out their bridges and engines as soon as we are within range.¡±


    ¡°Even with the unscheduled extra ship?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We only have to worry about them launching the shuttles.¡± Jelly said. ¡°If Isabella is right, and I don''t doubt her for a second, we''ll need to disable the bay doors.¡±


    ¡°They may blow them to clear the way when we do.¡± Isabella warned us.


    ¡°Then use the hidden missile launchers and target inside the bay.¡± I said and the four women in the cockpit took in a sharp breath. ¡°Yes, I know what that means.¡±


    ¡°We''re approaching the inner beacon.¡± Simone said in a subdued voice. ¡°Preparing message. Inquiry received. Sending.¡±


    A few seconds later, she sighed.


    ¡°We''ve been approved for inner orbit and the shipment will be ready for us to pick up by the time we get there.¡± Simone said, full of relief. ¡°System defenses are standing down.¡±


    Beatrice relaxed slightly and kept her eyes on her instruments.


    ¡°Status update!¡± Simone said and looked at her plot. ¡°The guard ship is moving for the Lagrange point.¡±


    Both Isabella and Jelly let out sighs of relief. I smiled and put a hand on their shoulders and gave them a little squeeze.


    ¡°Thank the Goddess.¡± Isabella whispered. ¡°I''m not supposed to meet her for a while yet.¡±


    I chuckled and let her shoulder go. ¡°She has the patience to wait for important dates.¡±


    ¡°Plots and targets updating.¡± Jelly said. ¡°Covert firing solutions on the guard ship will be at minimal distance in half an hour. They''ll reach the inner jump point in an hour.¡±


    ¡°We have a two hour approach to the planet, so that''s plenty of time for them to jump out from the closer point.¡± I said. ¡°It''s pretty smart to set things up this way.¡±


    ¡°Especially if you don''t know the layout of the system beforehand.¡± Simone said. ¡°If you just jumped in at the normal point...¡±


    ¡°Instant target.¡± I said. ¡°No need for identity confirmation, false signals, or anything. Just the arrival would tell them all they needed to know.¡±


    ¡°I am really glad we raided all the other places first before coming here.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°They aren''t.¡± I said with a smile and she chuckled. ¡°Beatrice, stick with their approach protocol and give us a nice inner orbit right where they tell us to go.¡±


    ¡°That''s going to put us right inside the orbits of the courier and the cargo ship.¡± Beatrice said.


    ¡°It also gives us the best firing solution.¡± I said. ¡°I can''t understand why they don''t have a large space ship group here.¡±


    ¡°Either they''re lazy or they assumed no one else would find the place.¡± Isabella said. ¡°If I was in charge, I would have a Cruiser class stationed here. At least.¡±


    ¡°Lots of firepower?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Unbelievably.¡± Isabella grinned. ¡°I would have turned tail and run if one had been here.¡±


    I nodded and we all waited patiently as our ship floated into the assigned orbit. Once we were there, Hailey came to the cockpit and took over control of the weapons controls. She looked over everything and sat down, to the approval of both Jelly and Isabella.


    Simone, Jelly, Isabella and I were already all geared up with everything we needed, so we went to the shuttle bay and boarded Monna. Jelly eased us out of the ship through the open bay doors and flew down to the surface of the planet. No one spoke as the empty cargo shuttle flew along the proper flight path for shuttles to approach the mining facility.


    Jelly took us in with a textbook landing on the large landing pad. ¡°Nothing new on the satellite network. No other shuttles, ships, or personnel.¡± She said and hit the switch to open the rear cargo bay.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Simone and I unstrapped and went out through the side hatch and Isabella unstrapped and went into the cargo bay. Only one person was there to greet us and he worked for the factory.


    ¡°That''s a really nice shuttle.¡± The man in the uniform said. ¡°Where did you get it?¡±


    ¡°It was a custom job.¡± I said and wasn''t surprised that our guard uniforms put him at ease.


    ¡°You''re kidding!¡±


    ¡°Nope. Cost a good amount of credits, too.¡±


    The man looked into the cargo space and whistled. ¡°You could fit an APC in there!¡±


    ¡°That and a hover car.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°With room to spare.¡±


    ¡°Ha! I''d love to have you guys on my regular run!¡± The man said with a laugh. ¡°You could take a whole shipment up all by yourself in one trip!¡±


    ¡°That''s what it''s for.¡± I said. ¡°Despite my pilot not minding making multiple trips, it''s a damn pain in the ass, especially transferring in vacuum!¡±


    ¡°I hear that!¡± The man said and handed me the datapad with the form for my signature. ¡°What a logistics nightmare it is to coordinate multiple ships with multiple shuttles, then trying to keep track of which one took what and to which ship, then try to make sure everyone got what they ordered!¡± He laughed and I signed the datapad. ¡°Follow me. Your crate of a hundred medium quality focusing crystals is just inside the shipping bay doors.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe he went through so many of these things.¡± I said and shook my head and Simone stayed half a step behind me.


    ¡°We tried to give him fifty high quality crystals the last time he ordered a shipment and he went through them at the same rate and asked for another shipment.¡± The man shrugged and opened the large door. ¡°So, orders from the boss said not to waste the good crystals on an inexperienced Presence user.¡±


    ¡°Smart decision.¡± I said and the man grabbed something that looked like a handle from a rack of them by the door, then walked over to a square crate that was five feet wide on each side. He slapped the handle to the side of it and hit a button, then the crate lifted a foot off of the floor. I turned and waved to Isabella and she ran over, gave me a salute, then took the handle and moved the crate out into the main area and then walked at a normal pace to the cargo shuttle.


    I turned back around and my eyes roamed over all of the crates that were clearly marked. Low quality, medium quality, and high quality. ¡°I guess a lot of people go through them quickly.¡±


    The man chuckled and pointed at the low quality crates. ¡°Trainees and recent graduates.¡± He pointed at the medium quality ones. ¡°Fifth year apprentices and usually mid-range masters.¡± He pointed to the high quality crates. ¡°Personal Order guards, masters with twenty years experience, and temple heads and council members.¡±


    ¡°You''re kidding.¡± I said and he shook his head.


    ¡°We go through the high quality ones at the same rate as the low quality ones.¡± The man said, then chuckled. ¡°The barely trained and the highly trained burn through their focus crystals at the same rate. Who knew?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°You.¡±


    ¡°HA!¡± The man barked a laugh. ¡°Ain''t that the truth.¡±


    I turned my head slightly to Simone and she nodded, which meant the security footage loop was in place. I nodded in return and she stepped forward and touched the base of the man''s skull and put him to sleep. I caught him and we carried him over to the small booth near the door and went inside.


    Isabella came back with the handle and I pointed to the closest stack of crates with the high quality crystals in them. She nodded and ran over to it, climbed the ladder beside it and attached the handle to the top crate. She hit the button and the crate lifted a foot into the air, so she pulled on it and let it go. It slid forward, tipped over and slid down the side of the crates fifteen feet to the floor, then it tipped back upright. She climbed down the ladder and grabbed the handle and ran.


    ¡°Give her a hand while I go into the mine.¡± I whispered to Simone. ¡°Heck, get Jelly to help, too.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I''ll be fast.¡± I said and covered myself in the Stealth technique. ¡°We timed this perfectly, remember?¡±


    Simone nodded and I left the small booth and ran to the back of the shipping bay to the large set of double doors there. Off to the side was a normal door and I went over to it. I had to use a very small bit of Presence to check the other side, then opened it and went through when no one was there. It took me almost ten minutes at a normal run to reach the junction we had found on the mine map.


    This was where Isabella had recommended Simone stand to be the most effective. I knew by the time I was down to the prisoners to disable their charges and started my way back, she would be here waiting to cover me.


    I didn''t rush, since that wasn''t the point of the mission. I made my way down to where they had the prisoners working and found the two Order members that were in charge. Stupidly, they stood side by side on a platform, right at the entrance to the mining area that the prisoners were working in.


    I was tempted to kill them for being so stupid for only concentrating on the prisoners and not watching the environment, then changed my mind and touched the backs of their necks and put them to sleep. I absorbed most of their Presence, just in case, then moved them back and away from the platform edge. With the watchers removed, it was surprisingly easy to get down to the mining area and find the actual prisoners and kill and dispose of the trainees posing as prisoners. Because of all the mining sounds, no one noticed the wooden bat hitting a watermelon sound as the others died. Once I had them tucked into my bag of holding, I went to the first prisoner.


    ¡°Psst! Is this thing on? Can you hear me?¡± I said into her ear.


    The woman jumped and dropped her laser drill. Luckily, it was touch keyed so it cut off as soon as she let it go. ¡°What... who...¡±


    ¡°I''m here to rescue you.¡± I said.


    The woman looked around and shook her head. Her shoulder length black hair flipped from side to side. ¡°I''m finally going crazy after being here for so long.¡± She said. ¡°I felt two trembles in the Presence a few minutes ago and now I''m hearing voices.¡±


    ¡°Just one voice.¡± I corrected and she looked right at me. ¡°I''m going to touch your head and disable your suicide charge, okay?¡±


    ¡°You didn''t lie.¡± She said, surprised.


    ¡°I can''t take off your bindings until I raid the office, though.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been here for six years.¡± The woman said. ¡°Waiting for another twenty minutes for you while you waste your time is no problem.¡±


    ¡°Waste my time?¡± I asked and touched her head.


    She grinned and grabbed my wrist, yanked me off balance and twisted my arm around, then flipped me over her back and I landed face down on the ground. She bent my elbow and knelt on my back as she whispered in my ear.


    ¡°There''s nothing in the office, you fool. No computers, no data to purge, nothing.¡±


    She applied a bit too much pressure on my arm and it popped my elbow out of joint. When I didn''t cry out or even flinch, she smiled.


    ¡°I think I like you, my ignorant hero.¡± She said and smashed her fist into the back of my head six times and slammed my face into the rough ground each time.


    Needless to say, that rang my bell and stunned me, then my Stealth technique faded as I lost concentration.


    ¡°Oh, a pretty boy.¡± She said and rolled me over, then she straddled my waist and bent down to cross her arms on my chest. ¡°So, what brings you here?¡±


    ¡°Y-you.¡± I said and tried to get my head back in order.


    She smiled and darted her head forward and broke my nose with her forehead with one hit. ¡°Try again, not-so-handsome.¡±


    ¡°You... and focusing... crystals.¡± I managed to say.


    ¡°Hmm. They are worthless to everyone but Presence users, so what do you want them for?¡± She asked, genuinely curious.


    I didn''t answer right away, considering I was still reeling from multiple hits to the head, and she leaned back to hit me with her forehead again.


    ¡°Give him a break, Liv.¡± A woman''s voice said as she walked over to us. ¡°He took out the two Order creeps that were staring at us.¡±


    ¡°He did?¡± Liv asked, then looked down at me. ¡°You didn''t want anyone else looking at us, did you?¡±


    It took me a moment to smile. ¡°Wanted to kill them... stupid for only... watching you.¡±


    Liv laughed. ¡°Okay, I definitely like you.¡± She said and leaned in close. ¡°Did I hurt you?¡±


    ¡°Only... my pride.¡± I said and my head finally cleared from being rattled so much.


    Liv grinned at me as she looked at my broken arm and my broken nose. ¡°Just your pride?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said and lifted my broken arm and flicked it out to the side. The elbow popped back into place with a bit of a sloshing pop. She looked genuinely surprised when I used the hand on the same arm to reach up and pulled on my nose. She winced a little at the snap, then her mouth dropped open as I easily sat up and she had to roll off.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Liv exclaimed and I reached out and grabbed her by the throat. ¡°HRK!¡±


    ¡°I was trying to be nice to people I was trying to rescue.¡± I said and stood up without letting her go.


    Liv held onto my hand as her feet dangled and she tried to pry my hand away from her throat. Her friend held her hands up and backed away.


    ¡°I didn''t want your heads to explode when I sent the signal through the intercom system.¡± I said.


    ¡°What signal?¡± Her friend asked.


    ¡°Don''t act stupid.¡± I said. ¡°The signal to set off the suicide charges in your heads.¡±


    Both of them were surprised by that.


    ¡°I''m really glad I decided to not let you go until I was done here, because having someone like you out and around would have been a very stupid move on my part.¡±


    Liv''s face started to change color because she couldn''t breathe, so I let her go. She dropped to her knees and started coughing and her friend went to her and rubbed her back. I tried to brush off the ground-in dirt from my uniform, then gave up. I would have to recycle it and use another one later.


    ¡°I think I changed my mind.¡± I said and gave Liv a dismissive look. ¡°I''m not going to rescue you.¡±


    ¡°But... you said...¡± The friend started to say.


    ¡°You''re pretty comfortable here, right? You think of this as home and I was intruding on it, wasn''t I?¡± I asked as I read their surface thoughts and knew it was the truth. ¡°I''m pretty tired of people being ungrateful for my help.¡±


    ¡°No, she... she was only playing with you.¡± Her friend said.


    ¡°I don''t care.¡± I said and started to walk away. ¡°As far as I''m concerned, you can just stay here.¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 086

    ¡°WAIT!¡± A man''s voice called out and I stopped walking. ¡°Don''t leave us here.¡±


    ¡°You all feel the same way.¡± I said without turning around. ¡°None of you actually want to leave.¡±


    ¡°That... that''s not...¡± The man stopped before he lied.


    ¡°I don''t know why you want to stay, considering how you''re treated.¡± I said and turned back to look at them. Ten people had gathered together around Liv, who had stopped coughing and rubbed the blossoming bruises on her throat. She didn''t glare at me like I thought she would, though.


    ¡°We''ve all been here for years.¡± Another man said. ¡°Eight years for me.¡±


    ¡°I... told you... six before.¡± Liv said, her voice a little hoarse.


    ¡°Same.¡± Liv''s friend said.


    ¡°Fifteen.¡± A woman said and she didn''t look a day over twenty five.


    ¡°You don''t need to know how long we''ve all been here.¡± A different man said. ¡°Some of us do want to leave, despite Liv trying to protect us by stopping you.¡±


    ¡°We''re a family.¡± A tall elderly woman said. Her grey hair was cut short and she seemed quite regal, even wearing a prisoner jumpsuit. ¡°We''ve been together here for years, helping each other, probably longer than you''ve been in space.¡±


    I had to think about that and counted the years in my head. ¡°About the same, actually.¡±


    ¡°Then you know that time creates a bond in and of itself, regardless of circumstances and companions.¡± The elderly woman said. ¡°You were right. You are intruding on us and you''ve wrecked our social dynamic.¡±


    I looked around at their faces and back at hers. ¡°You knew the others were trainees.¡±


    She chuckled and it resonated from the walls. ¡°We all knew and tolerated them, since they never stay long.¡± She said and walked over to me. It was a shuffling gait, because the magnetic cuffs on her ankles only let her legs get two feet apart. ¡°Please, don''t abandon us.¡± She said and held a hand out to me.


    ¡°You still don''t want to leave.¡± I said.


    ¡°You mistake our thoughts about wanting to stay in this place.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Take my hand and understand.¡±


    ¡°I want your word that you won''t try to influence me, give me a compulsion, or try to knock me out.¡±


    ¡°I will not influence you, past what you see and choose for yourself. I offer no compulsion and I refuse to knock you out.¡± The elderly woman said.


    The Presence didn''t waver, so I reached out and took her hand. Nothing happened.


    ¡°You need to let me pass through your outer mental protection.¡± She said with a smile.


    I opened a small gap for her and she shivered and stumbled a little at what she felt. I caught her and she braced her free hand against my chest and stared into my eyes.


    ¡°How old are you?¡± She asked with wonder.


    ¡°Is that really what you want to know right now?¡±


    ¡°No, I... it''s just...¡± She reached up and caressed my face. ¡°I have the distinct feeling that someone has been waiting for you for a very long time.¡±


    I nodded and she put her hand back on my chest to brace herself and she closed her eyes. She shared hundreds of images with me, like snapshots of their lives together in the mine. They had accepted their fate and as each new person came in and joined their family, since they could all easily tell who was going to be staying, the family grew. They worked together, they shared meals so everyone could eat, and they slept. It had been that way for years.


    ¡°We had no requirements to join.¡± The elderly woman said and opened her eyes. ¡°Good, bad, or indifferent. Rich, poor, or destitute. It doesn''t matter. Here, we are all the same. Prisoners.¡±


    ¡°None of you want to lose that surety.¡± I said, now that I understood.


    ¡°As long as we always stay together, we don''t care where we are.¡± Liv said and stood up. ¡°When you showed up and said you were here to rescue me, I knew you meant to take me away from the others.¡± She said and her friend took her hand. ¡°I couldn''t let that happen.¡±


    ¡°You can let me go now.¡± The elderly woman said.


    ¡°No.¡± I said and she shivered as I moved one of my hands up her body.


    ¡°W-wait, I... I''m too old to...¡± She caught her breath at what she said and blushed. ¡°I... I mean...¡±


    I almost laughed at her thoughts as my hand just barely missed touching her breast and I slid my hand up her neck and cupped the side of her face. ¡°This may tingle a little.¡±


    ¡°P-please...¡± She said and her face didn''t lose the blush. ¡°...be gentle.¡±


    ¡°Should I distract you?¡± I asked and her thoughts told me what to do.


    I slid my other hand down her back to the top of her backside, then I used an index finger to press on a spot just between the cheeks. She gasped as I stimulated her erogenous zone and then I used her own surging Presence to disable the suicide charge in her head. The elderly woman rested her head against my chest and took several breaths to try and calm down.


    ¡°Did you just finger her ass through the jumpsuit?¡± Liv asked, surprised.


    ¡°Not quite.¡± I smiled and held the elderly woman tenderly until she recovered. She lifted her head to look at me and her face showed a lot of different emotions. Her face finally settled on disbelief.


    ¡°You... I haven''t... not since...¡± She stared into my eyes. ¡°You are a dangerous man.¡±


    ¡°Coming into an Order controlled system to one of their sacred crystal mining planets and infiltrating the mine to release the prisoners wasn''t enough to convince you?¡±


    The elderly woman smiled. ¡°That is all existential and circumstantial.¡±


    I actually chuckled at that answer, because it meant I had to prove it to her personally.


    ¡°If you can take us all out of here... and guarantee that we won''t be separated... we will behave.¡± She said and I felt like she was their final authority on the matter. What she said was how it was, and that was that.


    ¡°You have my word that even after I sneak you away to be set up in new lives, you won''t be separated.¡± I said and they all started to cheer. ¡°On one condition.¡±


    The elderly woman squinted her eyes at me as the cheering died. ¡°Name it.¡±


    ¡°If anyone comes to you and asks for help and mentions this, you have to help them, no questions asked.¡±


    ¡°If we don''t?¡±


    ¡°Then the mutual support structure that''s there to help you adjust to freedom will be cut off.¡± I said. ¡°If you agree, housing, money, jobs, equipment, and anything else you require will be provided.¡±


    ¡°What if all we want is to be left alone?¡± She asked.


    ¡°You will be left alone. That''s the whole point of hiding you away. The less people that know where you are, the better.¡±


    ¡°Then how will someone find us to ask us for help?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°I never said you would be out of contact, just left alone.¡± I smiled. ¡°How else would you ask for more food, or get help with farming, or build and buy things, or get more money?¡±


    The elderly woman thought about it for a few moments. ¡°I assume the communications will be secured?¡±


    ¡°I have my own secured satellite network that''s expanding constantly and it can''t be monitored by The Order. It''s also ridiculously cheap to use.¡±


    The elderly woman chuckled. ¡°Then yes, we agree. If someone comes to us for help, we will help them, no questions asked.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± I said. ¡°Now line up so I can disable your suicide charges.¡±


    ¡°Don''t you dare do to me what you did to Ral.¡± Liv said and put a hand over her backside.


    ¡°Excuse me for a few seconds.¡± I said to the elderly woman named Ral, then I disappeared from her sight and reappeared behind Liv, grabbed her by the back of the neck and put a hand on her head. I pulled her Presence into her skull and popped the wires and the battery out of her suicide charge.


    ¡°AGH!¡± Liv grunted and I let her go, then I reappeared back in front of Ral.


    ¡°Th-three seconds.¡± Ral looked at me and a shiver went down her spine.


    ¡°I''m not even using Presence.¡± I said to her and made my fingertip glow. ¡°I wouldn''t have to move from this spot if I was.¡±


    Ral turned to look at where everyone was and her eyes widened. ¡°You aren''t exaggerating.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I could have done it from the surface if I wasn''t trying to hide.¡± I said and she shivered again. I walked over to Liv''s friend and she put up her hands.


    ¡°Please, don''t.¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said in a calming voice. ¡°May I take your hand?¡±


    She looked like a scared rabbit and held a hand out to me. I gave her my best smile and she caught her breath, then I shared a calming technique with her. She relaxed for a moment, then she realized what i just did.


    ¡°You can SHARE!¡± She yelled and a few of the others gasped, because they knew what she meant.


    I reached up and touched the side of her head and gently eased her Presence over to the charge and let her feel it. Her breath quickened as I carefully pulled the leads out of the wires and then slipped the little battery out of contact. I removed my hand from her head and tried to let her hand go.


    ¡°Just... a bit more.¡± She said and held on for a few more moments, then she took a breath and let it out.


    I turned and looked at the man close by and he shook his head. I chuckled. ¡°Just a handshake will do.¡± I assured him and he looked at the three different reactions I had gotten from the three women. ¡°They wanted it done a certain way.¡± I clarified for him.


    ¡°Oh.¡± He said and held a hand out. I took it and didn''t let him feel me manipulating his Presence. Fifteen seconds later, I let his hand go. He looked at his hand and then reached up to rub the side of his head. ¡°I didn''t feel anything.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t want to.¡± I said and walked over to the next woman. She had feathers for hair and her nose almost looked like a beak. ¡°May I...¡±


    ¡°I want what Ral had.¡± She said and indicated the elderly woman.


    ¡°Are you sure? There are other people here.¡± I said with a smile and Ral blushed.


    ¡°Oh, now I really want it.¡± She said and stepped close as she took my hand. ¡°Surprise me.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said and put my arm around her and let her surface thoughts float around until I caught one particular one that she thought I could never do for her. I smiled and put my mouth by her ear and touched my forehead to the spot above the suicide charge.


    To her utter shock, I started to tweet and whistle a mating call and her whole body reacted as all of her feathers twitched and fluffed out. She arched her back and shook her ass as if she had tail feathers and I used her surging Presence to disable the charge. She grabbed onto me with her free hand, let out a squawk, then let out a long slow whine and I stopped whistling and held her.


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Liv asked.


    I looked around at everyone and saw shock and surprise on all of their faces. Their surface thoughts told me that they had never seen her act like that before and they had known her for years.


    ¡°She''s going to need a few minutes to recover and maybe she''ll tell you.¡± I said and nodded at the man I had just shaken hands with. He took the feathered lady from me and she was completely passive. He raised his eyebrows at me and I shrugged, because I didn''t know a lot about avian aliens.


    ¡°Just a handshake.¡± The next woman said with a stern expression and I could tell that she really wanted whatever I had done to the others. She didn''t ask out loud for it, so I just took her hand. Fifteen seconds later, she let my hand go and I felt her regret. Unlike her, none of the others wanted me to distract them while I disabled their charges.


    ¡°I still have to leave you here while I go to the office.¡±


    ¡°Liv was right. There''s nothing there.¡± Ral said. ¡°It''s a waste of time.¡±


    ¡°How do they keep track of everything?¡± I asked, and Ral laughed.


    ¡°Like what? How many prisoners there are? How many crystals? A datapad can track that easily.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°There''s nothing here but the automated factory for crystal refinement.¡± Ral said. ¡°Has the Presence wavered once while I''ve talked?¡±


    I took a breath and let it out, because it hadn''t. ¡°I hate having to change plans at the last minute.¡± I said and hit my wrist com. ¡°I''ve discovered there''s nothing to raid in the office.¡±


    ¡°What? But... every other place...¡± Simone started to say.


    ¡°This is an automated factory. No records, no plans, nothing.¡±


    ¡°Adjusting extraction plan.¡± Jelly said. ¡°We''ve just about got the cargo hold full, too.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I''m bringing the prisoners out.¡± I said and turned to look at the eleven of them. ¡°If you have things you want to take with you, you''ve got two minutes to grab it.¡±


    ¡°Take the cuffs off!¡± Liv almost yelled.


    I took out the magnetic lock key broadcaster and hit the button, then all eleven sets of cuffs, both wrists and ankles, dropped off of them. ¡°I''ll grab the laser drills.¡±


    They looked at me for a second, surprised that they had been freed so quickly when the cuffs normally needed touch activation, then they realized they were free. Liv and her friend hugged tightly and a few of the men shouted.


    ¡°One minute forty-five seconds.¡± I said and made two of the laser drills disappear.


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡± Ral asked.


    ¡°Magic.¡± I said and grabbed the other drills, then went over to her. ¡°Where are your quarters?¡±


    ¡°T-this way.¡± She said a little nervously and led me around the other scrambling people and took me into a nice cubicle sleeping area. ¡°We don''t have time for you to...¡± She stopped talking when she saw me gather her things. She had quite a lot built up, considering she had been in prison for a while, and I tossed everything onto her bed. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    I tied the blanket into a bundle and then tucked it into a bag of holding. ¡°Let''s go.¡± I said and gently took her arm. ¡°I''m sorry I disappointed you by not making love to you like you expected.¡± I said and she gasped. ¡°I can''t have sex with you because I''m on a mission.¡±


    Ral gasped again. ¡°You... really would...¡±


    ¡°I''d like to apologize for letting the situation get out of hand like it did.¡± I said and we stopped at each person''s personal cubicle and I told them to do the same thing I did for Ral. I marked and stored the bundles and then they all followed me out of the main mine area and up to the platform where the two Order members were still unconscious.


    Unsurprisingly, each and every woman walked by them and kicked them in the crotch or the face. I didn''t stop them or even mention taking it easy on the two unconscious men. Their opinion of me rose slightly and we left the mine and entered the portion where Simone waited for us.


    ¡°We had to pack some things.¡± I said and she shook her head and helped me usher everyone all the way back to the shipping area.


    ¡°It''s really real.¡± Liv''s friend said as she saw the shuttle. ¡°We''re really leaving.¡±


    Liv gave me a look that wasn''t an apology, just an acknowledgement, then everyone jumped when Isabella removed her camouflage and stood up on top of the shuttle.


    ¡°It''s going to be a tight fit.¡± Simone said and grabbed several of the cargo handles from the rack by the door and carried them into the rear cargo hold of the shuttle. The prisoners stared at Isabella as she hopped down to land in front of them, then she followed Simone into the shuttle.


    ¡°Go! Go!¡± I said and led Ral inside and waved at the others to follow us. ¡°We can only spoof the security system for so long.¡±


    I took Ral into the cockpit and strapped her into the seat I usually used and Jelly had us out of standby mode. Simone took the co-pilot seat and Isabella sat in the last seat. For the rest of the prisoners and myself, it was standing room only in between the crates and the cockpit.


    I counted the prisoners and made sure we didn''t leave anyone behind. ¡°Okay Monna, close us up.¡±


    ¡°You got it, Grandpa!¡± Monna said and the cargo bay door and the shuttle hatch closed.


    ¡°Your shuttle has an AI?!?¡± Ral asked, completely shocked. ¡°Wait, did she just call you grandpa?¡±


    I chuckled and nodded.


    ¡°Hold on, everyone!¡± Jelly said and added power into the engines and Monna lifted off slowly.


    ¡°Damn, those crystals are heavy!¡± Monna said, almost in a grunt.


    ¡°You can handle it, Monna.¡± I said and pat the bulkhead.


    ¡°Okay, here we go!¡± Jelly said and we flew up and into the preassigned departure flight path. Everyone held their collective breaths as the shuttle flew past the anti-aircraft weapons and then we tilted up into the air and Jelly poured on the speed.


    ¡°...aaaaaand we''re clear of their line of fire.¡± Simone said and everyone sighed, myself included.


    ¡°We just have the courier ship and the fast cargo transport to contend with.¡± Isabella said.


    Ral looked at the console in front of her and saw the ships, then her whole body stiffened up. ¡°Oh, goddess! Shoot them! Shoot them now!¡±


    ¡°Hailey! Fire!¡± I said without hesitation.


    A dozen assault laser cannons lit up space as they tore through the bridges and engines of both ships. A second later, a series of explosions tore through the fast cargo ship and it disappeared in a huge blaze of fire and debris. It was fairly close to the courier ship and it was engulfed and disappeared, too.


    ¡°Wow.¡± Jelly said as she easily weaved us through the worst of the debris being flung towards us.


    Ral was breathing heavy and I reached for her shoulder.


    ¡°What was it?¡±


    ¡°I saw our deaths.¡± Ral said as she looked at me, her face white as a sheet. ¡°They were waiting for us to try to dock to your ship, then they were going to take us.¡± She said. ¡°Your delivery pickup was three minutes too long.¡±


    I managed to not turn my head to look at the cause, then I heard a slap and had to look. Liv''s friend had slapped her hard across the face, then she started crying and hugged her. Liv looked at me and this time she gave me an apologetic look.


    ¡°Okay, people. We''re going with Clean Sweep.¡± I said. ¡°Beatrice, send the signal to cause the distraction. Hailey, open the secondary missile doors and set the pattern for Alpha.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, we got away.¡± Simone said as Jelly took us into Adona''s shuttle bay and we landed.


    ¡°That doesn''t matter now.¡± I said. ¡°Hailey, fire.¡±


    The ship rocked slightly as fifty of the ten foot long straight fire missiles were released in a set pattern. ¡°Simone.¡± I said and she switched places with me. I brought up the data on the screen and watched on their own security system as the anti-aircraft defenses shot down ten, then twenty, then thirty-five of the missiles. Fifteen got through.


    Only one was needed.

 Book Three: The Resolution 087

    The destruction was significant, to say the least. All of those refined crystals in the shipment area that we couldn''t have possibly taken, even with multiple trips, added their own energy to the explosion. It propagated and increased in strength as more crystals were consumed, then it hit the automated factory and the massive amount of unrefined crystals stored there, then cascaded into the mine itself.


    The explosion could be seen from space.


    ¡°By Black Laura''s pale...¡± Isabella stopped her curse when we heard the explosion.


    People think that sound can''t travel through space, and for the most part, that''s true. Vacuum is so sparse of particles that sound can''t move easily through it. Because of the explosion''s sheer ferocity, a significant portion of the planet''s surface and atmosphere were expelled out into space and carried the sound with them.


    We were very lucky that we weren''t over the site, because the blast wave was so strong that when it hit the ship, it started to push us out of orbit. I felt a huge wave of Presence pass over the ship and grunted, as did Hailey, Simone, Ral, Liv, and several other passengers.


    ¡°Beatrice.¡± I said and she adjusted the ship after being knocked off course and we flew out to a significant distance and turned back to give everyone a view of the planet. Most of the continent we had just been on was gone.


    A large empty jagged hole was left in its place and we could actually see down into part of the planet''s molten layer. With it exposed to the air and nothing above it to hold the heat in, it started to cool rapidly, which in turn changed the spin of the planet. Since the planet''s spin determined its magnetic poles and how it was situated in relation to the star it orbited, what happened next was a shock for everyone.


    A large crack started to form on one side of the jagged hole as the planet''s movement, which normally couldn''t be seen by the naked eye, seemed to lurch. We all watched in silence as the crack spread, then another formed and spread, then the planet shuddered and started to compress. The molten layer that was supposed to protect the core of the planet, shot up and out through the cracks and the massive hole for almost a hundred miles into space as the outer layers were squeezed by its own gravity to try and create a cohesive whole.


    I wasn''t sure why the planet''s degeneration was happening so quickly, until I used Detect Presence and ''looked'' at the planet and discovered why. It barely had any Presence left in it. When all those unrefined and still deeply buried crystals had detonated, it had released almost all of the Presence inside the planet. Familiar hands slid around my neck and hugged me, and I took a deep breath as Simone rested her head on mine.


    *


    The Wise One felt a lurch in the Presence and a wave of nausea. It quickly passed and he didn''t show any outward signs that anything was wrong, so no one at the meeting noticed. He excused himself for a moment and stepped out of the room, then reached for his communicator and pushed the button to call his personal secretary.


    ¡°I need messages sent to all Order facilities. Request their status and immediate responses.¡±


    ¡°Wise One, that will take...¡±


    ¡°I know how long it will take.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Send me the list of statuses as soon as it is compiled.¡±


    ¡°Of course, sir.¡± The voice said.


    The Wise One hung up and went back into the meeting as if nothing had happened.


    *


    It took six hours for the computer to recalculate a safe route out of the system. The fluctuating gravity from the crumbling planet threw everything out of sync, and when we left here, I sincerely doubted that anyone was going to be able to come back for quite some time. Not safely, anyway. We decided to leave the satellite to monitor the system, even though there wasn''t really anything left to monitor, and jumped into hyperspace.


    Despite the size of Adona and her being designed as a passenger ship, it started to get crowded. With the seven rescued prisoners from the first camp and eleven from the focusing crystal mine, even with people doubling up and some of my crew giving up their normal rooms, there wasn''t a lot of space for people to move around in. If all fifteen prisoners were still alive at the next camp, we would have to convert the observation deck into a barracks-style sleeping area. We all hoped that would be true and readied the materials, just in case.


    It was the middle of the ''night'' on the ship and I was currently resting on the couch in the lounge. I had given up my room to Ral, Liv, and her friend, so Liv could be watched constantly and Ral had a nice place to sleep. She had tried to refuse to stay in my room and I told her that I was going to sleep on the couch anyway. She only had to decide if my empty room was where she wanted to stay. She did and that was where she stayed.


    Since I was only hiding most of my abilities, I easily felt it when Hailey left Sandy and Beatrice''s room. She walked calmly and quietly, her Stealth ability was on par to what mine was when I was taken by The Order, and she came into the lounge. When she saw me, her heart sped up and her face flushed red. She didn''t speak as she walked over to me and looked down at my sleeping face.


    I know you''re awake. Hailey thought to me, then she lifted the blanket and slid underneath to lay beside me. I miss your cuddles.


    I know you do. I thought back to her and put my arms around her. I also know they mean something different to you now.


    So do you. Hailey thought and closed her eyes.


    We laid there and didn''t move or think anything for a while.


    What are we going to do? Hailey asked.


    We wait, of course. I thought. It''s all we can do.


    We were quiet for another short while.


    We killed all those people. Hailey thought.


    I moved a hand from holding her and took her hand. I''m glad you understand the weight of what happened and that you know we share the guilt. I thought and lifted her hand and kissed it. Thank you for not hesitating.


    We are in this together. Hailey thought and turned around to look at me. I know it was to save our lives and those of our family.


    I smiled at her. You''ve been talking to Ral.


    She really likes you and she''s very afraid of you. Hailey said and I managed to not chuckle out loud.


    It''s not quite the same kind of fear as what you think. I thought and let her ''see'' the information about it in my head.


    Oh, so that''s what she meant. Hailey thought in understanding. I''m not afraid of losing myself in you.


    I know you aren''t. I thought and I felt her desperate need to kiss me. Hailey, we can''t.


    I promised that I would kiss you every day. Hailey thought, unabashedly.


    I blinked my eyes as she shared when she made the promise, way back when I first healed her. That long ago? I asked and she nodded.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Don''t make me break my promise. Hailey thought.


    I looked at the display and saw it was a minute to midnight. All right, you...


    Hailey pressed her lips to mine and didn''t move her lips or try anything like kissing me the way Simone did. She broke the kiss and smiled.


    You planned this. I thought and she nodded.


    Hailey turned her head to look at the display and saw it change to midnight, then she turned back to me. Another day. She thought with amusement.


    Wait! I thought desperately and she kissed me again. This time she did kiss me the way she wanted. I resisted, of course. I couldn''t let her have her way or things would get out of hand very quickly. Before I could push her off, she broke the kiss and sat up, then gave me a look that said I didn''t want her angry at me. I suddenly had the thought that she might look cute angry, and she shook her head at me.


    Without a word or another thought, Hailey stood up and tucked the blanket back over me and walked away. I watched her go all the way back to Sandy and Beatrice''s room and go inside, then I stared up at the ceiling and wondered how long I could manage to keep her from completely dominating my life.


    You''re too late, because I already am. Hailey thought. I''m all you can think about.


    Whose fault is that? I asked and she laughed in my head. Go to sleep.


    I love you. Hailey thought and let me feel it.


    I love you, too. I thought and returned the favor, then she faded from my perception. She''s getting really good at using my mental techniques. I thought to myself, then did as she did and used the same techniques to keep my perception up, my meditation, and my alarm, then I went to sleep.


    *


    Ral laid on the side of the large bed and she couldn''t sleep. The bed, the room, and practically the entire ship felt like Hunter. His Presence permeated everything, even the blankets, and although Liv and Sal were cuddled up on the other side of the bed and fast asleep, she couldn''t make herself relax. She kept going over in her mind what Hunter''s mind had felt like when he had given her that glimpse.


    That wasn''t what had her wide awake, though. It was his offer to make love to her after what he did to disable the charge in her head. Ral was fairly old, by normal standards, and because of their not quite hospitable living arrangements at the mine, she was a little thinner than she would have been with full meals every day.


    Ral knew she was a bit bony in some places and she sagged in more places than she didn''t, and yet, the Presence hadn''t wavered when he said those things to her. She closed her eyes and did her best to purge those thoughts from her head... then they floated right back in. She held in her sigh and turned to put most of her face into the pillow and took a breath in through her nose.


    No one is supposed to smell this good. Ral thought, then gave in to her thoughts and took another deep breath and hugged the pillow. I am too old to have a crush on a man. She thought shamelessly, then she shook her head and buried her face in the pillow. He really is a dangerous man!


    *


    Simone laid in bed beside Jelly and she had been surprised that Jelly had made the offer to share. She even wore the same outfit to bed that she had before. Simone knew better than to take advantage of her this time, though.


    Simone had felt Hailey walking down the hallway and had discretely followed her to see where she was going, not that the visual confirmation was really needed. Hailey had gone right to Hunter and had climbed under the blanket with him. Simone watched from the hallway for the entire time they were together, just in case Hailey tried anything funny, and she wasn''t disappointed when Hailey turned around and gave Hunter a quick kiss.


    That''s not too bad. Simone had thought at the time, then Hailey had turned to look at something and turned back to give Hunter a grown-up kiss. Simone was about to storm into the room to break them up when Hailey broke the kiss on her own and stood up, then tucked Hunter back under the blanket. Simone had made a quick retreat to Jelly''s room and waited, and Hailey had been right behind her.


    Hailey is growing up. Simone thought and rolled over in bed. She didn''t push or try for anything more than a kiss. She smiled. That''s both sneaky and smart, especially with so many people around.


    Simone debated on doing it herself and knew Hunter would rebuke her before she reached the couch. That made her smile, because she would try for something else and would have a bit of fun for the same reason, because there were so many people around and the chance of getting caught.


    Oh, well. Simone thought. Only five more businesses and another camp to go and we''ll be home. She thought. Maybe I can convince him to take me on a cruise around the system like he did with Emari?


    Simone drifted off to sleep with a smile as she thought of laying against the observation window while Hunter made love to her.


    *


    Both Beatrice and Sandy had woken up when Hailey''s strong Presence had left the room. They had become accustomed to feeling it and knew when it wasn''t around. They hadn''t gone after her, though. They rolled over in bed and started to make out. Their hands moved with quick expert movements and explored each other''s bodies and used their limited alone time to full advantage. It didn''t take them long to finish, then they both quickly went to the bathroom to clean up. They were back in bed and breathing evenly by the time Hailey returned just after midnight.


    *


    The rest of the night passed and when everyone woke the next day, no one mentioned the things that had happened the night before. Hailey and I maintained our self-imposed distance and everyone stayed relaxed... that is, until the newest prisoners were given a tour of the ship and were shown the fully stocked medical bay.


    Liv''s friend cried when she saw it. ¡°I''m dreaming! I have to be! No ship this small has a full medical bay!¡±


    ¡°Take it easy, Sal.¡± Liv said. ¡°It''s just a med-bay.¡±


    I turned with wide eyes and looked at Sal. ¡°Please tell me you''re a medical technician.¡±


    ¡°I was.¡± Sal said.


    ¡°That''s good enough for me.¡± I said and walked over to her.


    ¡°Hey, back off.¡± Liv said and stepped in front of her.


    ¡°I believe we have our first patient.¡± I said with a smile and put Liv to sleep without touching her. Sal gasped at that, then she watched with awe as Liv was floated over to the full body medical scanner and placed inside. ¡°It''s pretty fast.¡±


    ¡°Show me!¡± Sal said and if she had a tail, she would be wagging it happily, because she acted just like a puppy that was about to get its favorite meal. She made oo''s and ah''s as the scan continued and she stared at the data. When it was done, she almost drooled on the console at the highly detailed scan.


    ¡°Now the hard part.¡± I said and prepared the surgical tools for her. She watched me like a hawk as I did them all up properly and gave me a surprised expression. ¡°I''ve done this as an assistant a bunch of times.¡±


    Sal nodded and I floated Liv over to the operating table.


    ¡°Should we be here for this?¡± Ral asked, slightly uncomforable at the medical procedure about to be performed in front of them.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Both Sal and I turned and looked at them.


    ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± I said. ¡°Go all the way to the other end of the ship and go upstairs. There''s an observation deck where you can all relax and meet the other prisoners, assuming they are out of their rooms.¡±


    Ral nodded and led everyone out of the medical bay.


    ¡°Let''s get to work removing the explosive.¡± I said to Sal and she nodded as she picked up the laser scalpel.


    Thanks to my experience and Presence use, we were done in less than an hour. Sal was very happy when I had used Presence Heal on her friend and there wasn''t even a scar left. However, it would still take time for the hair to grow back. I transferred her to a recovery bed and Sal attached the IV to give her nutrients and fluids.


    ¡°Can we do another one?¡± Sal asked, eager to work.


    I shook my head. ¡°If we were on a planet, we could. In space? It takes time for me to recover.¡±


    Sal sighed and I helped her clean and put away the tools.


    ¡°Don''t be too sad. We can do another one in the morning.¡± I said.


    Sal looked at me with surprise. ¡°So soon?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°When we were at home, I had my medical droid perform the operations and we did one every day for a week.¡±


    ¡°You used that much Presence every day?!?¡±


    ¡°I''ve used much more than that when I could recover it externally.¡± I said and turned my head to look at the observation deck. ¡°It looks like Ral is talking up a storm with the other prisoners.¡±


    ¡°You can see her from here?¡± Sal asked. ¡°She''s at the other end of the ship!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Do you want to stay here with Liv? She''s going to be unconscious for a while, then exhausted for a few days.¡±


    ¡°No, she would hate me if I stayed by her side and left Ral alone.¡± Sal said. ¡°I''ll come back after lunch and make sure she''s okay.¡±


    I took out a datapad and keyed in the code for the medical bay security cameras and handed it to her. ¡°Don''t modify that. If anyone but me changes the settings, it''ll shut down.¡±


    ¡°You can do that?¡± Sal asked.


    ¡°I can do lots of things.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. ¡°May I escort you to your friends?¡±


    ¡°I... I think you may.¡± Sal said with a smile, took my hand, and used the datapad as she kept an eye on Liv and we left the medical bay to go meet up with everyone.


    ¡°Side trip.¡± I said and detoured us into the kitchen.


    ¡°What...¡± Sal stopped talking when a good portion of the cupboards opened and six trays were almost immediately filled with various snacks. A large tray of glasses and drinks were next, then all seven trays floated around us.


    ¡°Now we can go.¡± I said and she stared at the trays, then at me, then at the trays. I chuckled and led her out of the kitchen and the trays floated behind us. I stopped just before going upstairs and used the intercom to invite everyone to meet in the observation deck for an impromptu celebration party, then we went up the stairs to meet everyone.


    ¡°What are we celebrating?¡± One of the camp prisoners asked and grabbed a handful of snacks and a drink.


    I held up Sal''s hand. ¡°Sal''s a medical technician!¡± I said loudly. ¡°We''ll have those explosives out of everyone''s heads before two weeks pass.¡±


    ¡°Marry me!¡± A man exclaimed and a few people laughed. Sal''s ''family'' didn''t react well to that, though.


    ¡°He''s joking.¡± I said loudly to calm them down, then raised a glass. ¡°To Sal! Your early salvation!¡±


    ¡°Hurray!¡± A cheer rang out and everyone raised their glasses.


    Sal''s face turned bright red from embarrassment.

 Book Three: The Resolution 088

    Over the next two weeks, Sal and I operated on the prisoners and removed the disabled charges from their skulls. Each and every one of them was surprised when they woke up, because they had been healed. Even old wounds and scars had been removed. They were all grateful for the help, except for Liv. When she woke up, she had been angry that I had taken advantage of her friend Sal and forced her to operate on everyone.


    The funny part was that Sal didn''t correct her and let her believe that it was all on me. I didn''t ask what her reason for that was and she didn''t offer. Since I was usually the focus of someone''s ire, it didn''t bother me in the least, so I didn''t correct her, either.


    A few days after the last prisoner was operated on, we arrived in the system with the next business to raid. Our data files were filled with information on the place, so Simone and I easily infiltrated and raided it, removed everyone and stored the bodies, and left it like we had the others. We didn''t stick around and jumped out of the system to head to the next destination.


    A month later, after two more businesses raids, we arrived at the last camp. It was pretty much child''s play for Simone and I to clear the place out, especially with Isabella nearby to assist. The camp only had a normal person as an administrator, so the signal to blow his suicide charge worked. We luckily found all fifteen prisoners and it took almost no effort to convince them it was a real rescue when I mentioned that we had an APC waiting to get them out of there.


    The prisoners thought we were just taking them somewhere else on the planet and neither I nor Simone told them differently. It wasn''t until they saw the hidden cargo shuttle that they started to suspect something. When the rear hatch opened up, they thought we would be transferring them into it... then Isabella shocked them by driving the APC right into the cargo area.


    Simone almost moaned at their thoughts and closed her eyes. I took her hand to steady her and she gripped it hard when the shuttle lifted off and the prisoners realized that they were actually leaving the planet. I felt her reel from their thoughts and emotions and she liked that feeling a lot. Freedom.


    We had to leave the prisoners in the cargo area while we built the appropriate barracks in the observation deck. It only took an hour, since we had already prepped everything, and made cubicle rooms for the bunk bed cots. They would have to double up for the most part, except for one of them. Rather than fight off for the single bed, we had them rotate every few days. That way, everyone had a chance to sleep alone.


    Sal and I worked for another two weeks to remove the suicide charges from the newest rescued prisoners and they were very grateful to have that worry lifted from them. Liv still wasn''t happy that I was making Sal work so hard; but, she couldn''t doubt how much the people Sal saved praised her. They knew that if it wasn''t for her, they would still have those loose wires and batteries in their heads.


    We had another two months of travel to go and three more businesses to raid, so during that time, we all got to know each other fairly well. Most of us discovered that we didn''t much like having so many other people crowded around us all the time.


    We were all very happy that Sheph and Sandy had overstocked our food and other supplies, because with thirty nine people on board, we went through a lot of food every day. Rather than working on more satellites, most of my time was spent cooking for everyone. There were so many people that they ate in shifts, and by the time one meal was done, the next had to be prepped and served.


    I lost my lounge couch as a sleeping area, since there was always someone there watching the screen. None of them had seen a television program in a while, so my sleeping arrangements changed to sleeping in the shuttle bay inside Monna. She was happy to have the company, because according to her, she loved her Grandpa.


    *


    The Wise One sat on the floor behind his desk and once again went over the status reports from all of The Order facilities. Fortunately or unfortunately, it did not cover the associated businesses controlled and run by the assassins. Out of the thousands upon thousands of temples, factories, churches, outposts, relay stations, compounds, retreats, and sacred sites, only one hadn''t responded.


    The Wise One brought up the coordinates of the focusing crystal mine that was three quarters of a galaxy away and wondered if he could subject a ship''s crew to such a long trip. If he sent them on their fastest ship that could hold enough food to make the trip, with minimal stops along the way, it would be almost three months before they would reach it. He debated sending a message to the closest outpost to have them send a ship, and even then it would be almost a month long trip.


    There was a reason the sacred sites were so difficult to get to and The Wise One was sure that if anything had happened there, he wanted to send someone he could trust to keep the information confidential. His decision made, he asked his secretary to make an appointment for Master Moor to come and see him at her convenience.


    *


    When we finally finished our mission, Beatrice dropped us out of hyperspace in the Dizahl System. We were all space weary and needed to get out of the ship''s confinement. We had made a couple of stops to give everyone some air and some extra space; but, that almost made getting back into the ship and squeezing together that much worse.


    This time when it happened, it was going to be for good. I had contacted the Bogorim Corporation at the previous stop and arranged for as large of a compound as they had on the second planet, as long as it was as far away from everything as possible. Even empty land would be fine, as long as prefab living spaces could be provided, well spaced out of course, for the number of people I had aboard.


    Beatrice flew us to the planet and all of the freed prisoners loaded up into Monna and I gave them their bundles of items and personal belongings. Jelly flew them down to the designated spot and they were surprised beyond belief at the place they had been dropped off. I was immediately contacted by Ral to ask what it had cost to rent an entire resort.


    ¡°Hunter! What were you thinking?!?¡± Ral almost yelled into the communications console. ¡°You are absolutely crazy to rent out the whole resort! The place is almost empty except for us and the staff!¡± She said. ¡°How much did you spend to do this?¡±


    ¡°I can''t say such an outrageous number over a com signal, so I have to do it in person.¡± I said with a smile as I saw her blush. ¡°I''ve got a few things to handle at home and then I''ll come down to your personal room and show you how much...¡±


    The call abruptly ended and the women around me laughed.


    ¡°If I didn''t know better, I''d say that was a very nervous woman.¡± Simone said with a grin. ¡°I think she let out a little scream at the end.¡±


    I chuckled and looked at Beatrice. ¡°When Jelly''s back aboard, take us over to the space habitat.¡±


    ¡°With pleasure.¡± Beatrice said and when Jelly landed Monna in the shuttle bay, we eased away from the planet''s orbit and flew over to our personal space station.


    ¡°We''re home.¡± Hailey said as we docked to the station.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Thanks for letting us abuse you like this, Adona.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m glad we rescued so many people.¡± Adona said. ¡°You need to call the portable maintenance bay, though. I need a good maintenance check and maybe an overhaul of my engines.¡±


    ¡°I''ll have Sheph make the call as soon as I see her.¡± I said and we all left the cockpit to go to the main hatch. When it opened, Sheph, Gleas, and Deborah were there. No one said anything for a couple of seconds, then suddenly we were all giving each other hugs and kisses. A few tears were shed and there were quite a few admissions of missing each other and a few relieved laughs. Unsurprisingly, both Simone and Hailey managed to sneak a kiss with me during the scuffle.


    ¡°Sheph, can you call the maintenance dock and see if they can fit Adona in for a checkup and maybe an overhaul for her engines?¡±


    ¡°She already has an appointment for tomorrow.¡± Sheph said with a smile. ¡°The crew chief was downright eager to get her in after so long.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad.¡± I said and put an arm around Simone and Hailey. ¡°It''s time that I get you two properly moved in together.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?¡± Nearly everyone yelled at the same time and Simone and Hailey laughed.


    ¡°I said together, not with me.¡± I corrected their assumption. ¡°Hailey''s moving in with Simone.¡±


    ¡°You know I didn''t actually agree to that.¡± Simone said, teasingly.


    ¡°You didn''t say no, either.¡± I said with a smile and she chuckled.


    ¡°Everyone? Want to give us a hand?¡± I asked.


    They had a disbelieving look on their faces for a few seconds, as if I was trying to trick them into something, then they nodded or said yes. We all went up to the top floor and carefully gathered up Hailey''s belongings and carried them over to the next section and Simone adjusted her own things to accommodate Hailey''s things.


    ¡°It really is nice that you''re doing this for us.¡± I whispered to Simone as the last of Hailey''s things were put into the large closet.


    ¡°You can thank me after Adona''s checkup by taking me on a tour of the system.¡± Simone said and shared with me her fantasy with the observation deck windows and having literally everyone in the system see us making love.


    ¡°That... is not... happening.¡± I managed to say through my surprise.


    Simone leaned in to whisper. ¡°What if you were in Stealth and all they saw was me?¡±


    I closed my eyes as her desire spiked and I fought off her need to have me, then we quickly closed off those thoughts when Hailey came over to us.


    ¡°We have a lot of show to catch up on.¡± Hailey said with a smile and we all chuckled at having to catch up on almost six months of daily episodes.


    ¡°Tomorrow. We can start tomorrow.¡± I said and gave her a kiss. ¡°I''m going to bed and I''m going to sleep for a long time.¡±


    ¡°I think we all are!¡± Sandy said and put an arm over Beatrice''s shoulders. ¡°When was the last time we were alone for more than an hour?¡±


    Beatrice had to think about it. ¡°About four months ago.¡± She said with a laugh. ¡°Has it really been that long?¡±


    ¡°It felt like forever!¡± Sandy said and raised a hand. ¡°Who is tired of eating in shifts?¡±


    Everyone raised their hand except me.


    ¡°I had to cook it all, so I didn''t actually sit down to eat.¡± I said and they all looked at me in surprise. ¡°When was I supposed to sit and eat myself? I was the cook.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± Simone whispered, and her voice reflected everyone''s sadness that she could feel. ¡°We didn''t realize... it was so busy that...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and hugged her. ¡°You all thought I was sitting down and having a meal with someone else.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t you say anything?¡± Hailey asked and gave me a hug.


    ¡°I didn''t want anyone to feel guilty about it, like you all feel now.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°I just hope you can all forgive me if I don''t cook again for a while. I''m kind of burned out.¡±


    Simone gave me a platonic kiss and let everyone''s feelings flow through it. ¡°Since you worked so hard, and tirelessly, you can have three days off.¡±


    Hailey made a snorting noise and burst out laughing, then everyone joined in. After a few minutes, we all filed out of what was now Simone''s and Hailey''s room and went to our own. I stepped into mine and went right to the bathroom and took a quick shower, then I filled the bathtub and added Hailey''s bubbles. I soaked for almost half an hour and shared it with Hailey over our mental connection.


    Hailey really liked that I was still doing that for her, taking baths and thinking about her, and she went to bed and fell asleep with my calm and comforting thoughts in her head.


    I finished the bath and dried off, dressed for bed and climbed under the blanket. I ensured my mental alarm, my meditation and Presence gathering techniques were still working, then went to sleep.


    *


    Kara''s ship was very lucky that they arrived at the outer coordinates of the system where the sacred site was located. The gravity field disturbances around the star had settled down and their entry was only slightly bumpy as they hit a band of gravitic energy that wasn''t supposed to be this far out from the planet. When she asked the co-pilot to explain what had happened, he couldn''t talk.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Kara asked, confused at his silence.


    The man couldn''t bring himself to say what his instruments were telling him. The pilot took a moment to check the readings himself, just to make sure he was on the proper approach to the planet... and froze. The ship drifted towards something in the distance and he couldn''t make sense of it.


    ¡°Is that a ship''s hull?¡± Kara asked as she looked out the cockpit''s window, since neither pilot seemed able to do their jobs. With no real ambient light, except for the distant star, it was actually dark in space. ¡°I think we should avoid that.¡± She said and hit the pilot on the shoulder.


    ¡°What?¡± He looked at her and she pointed. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± He cursed and reversed the engines, then hit the emergency thrusters and the ship lurched to the right. There was a loud clang and the ship shook for a moment, then they were clear.


    ¡°What happened here?¡± Kara asked and looked at the current system plot in front of the co-pilot. ¡°Was it a battle or something?¡±


    ¡°It''s... the planet.¡± The co-pilot said in a whisper. ¡°It... I don''t know how to describe it.¡±


    ¡°It''s...¡± The pilot started to say and was at a loss as well. ¡°Look for yourself.¡±


    ¡°By the Goddess'' blinding light.¡± Kara whispered when the screen showed what was left of the planet. Hundreds of jagged asteroids made from the molten layer of the planet that had been ejected into space, swirled around what was once a full-size planet. It was almost half the size and it looked like large chunks of it were being torn out and spread in a growing oval shape.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Kara asked. She had never seen or heard of anything like it before.


    ¡°We don''t know.¡± The pilot said. ¡°According to the readings, the planet... no, planetoid is being ground up by the star''s gravity, because it''s in an unstable orbit and is much closer than it''s supposed to be.¡±


    ¡°That can''t be right.¡± Kara said. ¡°How would... it''s not possible to...¡± She shook her head. ¡°What happened to the ship we almost ran into?¡±


    ¡°We did run into it.¡± The pilot corrected. ¡°It was a lot bigger than us, so when it hit what we did...¡±


    ¡°Instead of hitting a bump, it was like hitting a wall.¡± The co-pilot said. ¡°That''s also what happens when you jump too close to a planet''s gravity well.¡±


    ¡°Is anyone alive?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°it doesn''t matter if they are.¡± The co-pilot said. ¡°We can''t rescue them and we can''t take them with us.¡±


    Kara glared at him.


    ¡°Unless you want to switch places with someone, then we can take them.¡± He said. ¡°You know how tight our supplies are and how far it is to the next Order system.¡±


    Kara bit her tongue and kept her scathing remarks to herself. ¡°Can we at least check to see how long they''ve been here?¡±


    ¡°Unless their computers are still running, there''s no way to check on this end. We would have to somehow find out where they came from and when they left to come here.¡±


    Kara used a mental technique to calm herself, so she wouldn''t get angry at being so helpless. ¡°Record everything into the secured database and get us out of here.¡±


    ¡°It''s going to take a while to calculate a safe exit.¡± The co-pilot said. ¡°The gravity fluctuations are throwing off everything, especially the hyperspace calculations.¡±


    Kara frowned. ¡°Then how did we survive?¡±


    ¡°We were extremely lucky.¡± The pilot said. ¡°Maybe that wreck was just large enough to mitigate the gravity wave we hit, or we came in just far enough away from the epicenter and the wave had dissipated enough on its own.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Who knows.¡±


    ¡°We''ll have to submit a spacial anomaly warning notice for this region.¡± The co-pilot said. ¡°There''s no way to tell what this place is going to end up looking like.¡±


    ¡°Since we can''t leave right away, can we get any closer to the planet?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Not on your life.¡± The pilot said, adamantly. ¡°There are actual chunks of planetary crust floating out there.¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°Any estimate on the computer''s calculations?¡±


    The co-pilot shook his head.


    ¡°Let me know when we can jump.¡± Kara said and went back into the ship to her small room. The Wise One was right to send me out here. She thought as she sat down to meditate. Something tore that planet up and we need to keep it quiet until we find out what happened.


    Kara winced when she tried to gather the ambient Presence around her, then she gasped when she realized why it felt weird. There should have been two sources of Presence nearby. She could only feel one and it was the star. There was no Presence left in the planet. The only other time she had felt something similar was when she had been on Relique and encountered the ''dead'' worlds on the other side of the portals.


    It''s happening here, too. Kara thought with surprise.

 Book Three: The Resolution 089

    I waited for a week before I secretly arranged for the prisoners besides Ral and her family to be sent off at random times and to different locations, where they could change their identities and receive new lives. I couldn''t take Ral and the others until my contacts had finished constructing the small town-like area where they would be living, well away from everyone else.


    I tried to call her to tell her what was going on and she hung up on me again. I had to chuckle at her nervousness and decided that I had to go see her in person. Both Simone and Hailey agreed that it was the right thing to do, not that I needed their permission. I appreciated it, though.


    I took a normal shuttle, to Monna''s disappointment, and flew over to the second planet. Since I wasn''t hiding my abilities anymore, when I was two miles above the resort, my Detect Presence technique let me ''see'' where Ral was. I saw her shiver as she felt me and her head turned up to look at me. I gave her a wave to see if she could see me and she waved back.


    Ral watched me for the twenty minutes that the shuttle took to come in for a landing. She stayed where she was and didn''t come out to greet me like I thought she would. I closed and locked the shuttle, just in case someone, namely Liv, decided to take it for a joyride. I waved to several people that were around and walked right over to Ral''s room. I didn''t even knock on the door, since I knew she wouldn''t come over to answer it, and I went inside.


    Ral''s silver hair waved slightly as a breeze came in through the window she stood near. She wore a nice light pair of loose fitting beige pants and a flower covered blouse that fit her well, and it made her look even more regal than she had in the jumpsuit. I was glad that I had arranged for extra clothing and things for them with the Bogorim Corporation.


    I had dressed casually myself in a normal pair of pants and a shirt, which technically matched her outfit, even though I hadn''t intended that. ¡°Hello there, young lady.¡± I said to her and she blushed.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Ral whispered. ¡°Why did you come here?¡±


    ¡°I came to see you, of course.¡± I said and walked over to her. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights and stared at me as if I was going to run her over.


    ¡°S-stop.¡± Ral said and I stopped two feet away in front of her. ¡°Why are you doing this to me?¡±


    ¡°I can feel how much you want me to.¡± I said and held a hand out to her. ¡°Nothing has to happen. We can just cuddle on the couch and I can treat you like the lady you are.¡±


    Ral very slowly reached for my hand, pulled it back briefly, then she intertwined her fingers with mine. ¡°You weren''t lying when you said you could have freed us from the planet''s surface when we were at the mine.¡±


    I smiled and pulled her in close. ¡°I would have, if I wanted every Order member and Presence user around to feel it when I did.¡±


    Ral used her free hand to brace against my chest and looked into my eyes. ¡°Can we sit for a while? I want to cuddle and feel your mind again.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I said and led her over to the luxurious couch and sat down without letting her go. I leaned back and she pulled her legs up to get comfortable. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Your Presence Heal technique removed my arthritis.¡± Ral said and lifted the hand I held with intertwined fingers. ¡°Doing this doesn''t hurt anymore.¡±


    I pulled the hand to my mouth and kissed it. She took in a sharp breath at the tender touch and I let her hand go to caress the side of her face.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Ral whispered, her need clear in her eyes and thoughts.


    I nodded and opened my outer mental defenses just enough for her. She closed her eyes and rested her head against my chest, and we stayed there for quite some time as she basked in the feeling of my mind and I ran my fingers through her hair. When she started to feel guilty about using me like she was, she lifted her head to apologize to me and I kissed her.


    A thrill went through her and her Presence responded to the unexpected and very pleasant contact. I used my Presence to encourage hers and she moaned as our energies touched and swirled together inside of her. Her free hand slid down my chest and across my abdomen, then she caught her breath as she felt how hard I was.


    Ral broke the kiss and looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°For me?¡± She asked, genuinely surprised.


    ¡°I don''t see anyone else here turning me on, do you?¡± I asked and she blushed.


    ¡°Hunter, I...¡± Ral looked down at herself and the image of all of her old body''s imperfections flowed through her mind and into mine.


    ¡°I believe you should let me decide for myself.¡± I said and slid my free hand down her back and caressed her backside.


    Ral closed her eyes and waited for me to use her erogenous zone between her cheeks, and I didn''t.


    ¡°That''s cheating.¡± I whispered to her. ¡°Let me show you that I don''t need to use it.¡±


    Ral looked into my eyes and seriously debated saying no. She had ''seen'' that she would have the most pleasure she had ever felt in her life, and that scared her.


    ¡°It doesn''t have to be scary.¡± I said and gave her a tender kiss. ¡°If it will ease your conscience, I give you my word that I won''t show you everything I can do with Presence.¡±


    Ral closed her eyes for a moment as she thought about it and ''saw'' the ramifications, then she opened her eyes and smiled at me as her fear receded slightly. I smiled back as I picked her up in my arms, stood up, then I took her to her bed. We spent the rest of the day there.


    The next morning, we took a shower together and I gave her one last pleasurable experience. It was being washed by someone that liked seeing them naked and wanted them clean. Of course, Ral couldn''t help herself because of my diligence and point of view, so the innocent shower I had started quickly turned into another sex session. I washed us off again and dried us, then took her out into the bedroom. I sprawled her out on the bed and laid down beside her on my side.


    ¡°How can you look at me like that?¡± Ral asked, her face still flushed red from having sex.


    ¡°Like what?¡± I asked innocently as I propped myself up on an elbow.


    Ral laughed. ¡°Like you want to do it again and you''re just waiting for me to say yes.¡±


    ¡°Should I apologize?¡± I asked with raised eyebrows and she shook her head.


    ¡°Go ahead and tell me the news.¡± Ral said.


    ¡°Oh? Don''t you know it already?¡±


    ¡°I''ve been a little distracted.¡± Ral replied.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°The little town you''ll be staying at is nearly completed.¡± I said. ¡°It''ll have everything set up for you and your family to become completely self sufficient within six months, then you won''t have to rely on anything external anymore.¡±


    Ral closed her eyes and she used a calming technique. ¡°You really are going to keep your word.¡± She said and then turned her head to look at me. ¡°How much...¡±


    ¡°Only another nipple''s worth... I meant kiss.¡± I glanced at her chest and back at her face, then I waggled my eyebrows at her to make her laugh.


    ¡°I''m buying a town so cheaply.¡± Ral said with amusement and rolled onto her side and gave me a kiss. ¡°How many others have you coerced like this?¡±


    ¡°Counting you?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°Just one.¡±


    Ral took in a deep breath when the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°Just... just me.¡±


    ¡°You look so surprised.¡± I said with a chuckle and gave her another kiss, then I rolled off the bed and stood up. I grabbed my clothes and I slowly dressed in front of her. Her eyes roamed all over me as I did and when I buttoned my shirt, she looked at my face.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Ral said and started to sit up.


    ¡°No, stay like that.¡± I said and leaned over her. ¡°I want this to be the last thing I see.¡±


    Ral''s face flushed red as she blushed and laid back down.


    ¡°Even naked and after having sex, you still look so regal.¡± I said to her surprise, then I gave her one last kiss. ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye.¡± Ral said, then she gasped when I disappeared from her sight and perception. ¡°I knew that you were a dangerous man.¡± She said to the empty room.


    I ran to the shuttle and slipped by Liv, who looked like she was waiting for me. I quickly caught her surface thoughts and she wanted to confront me about when they would be leaving and how. She absolutely refused to go anywhere if they had to take multiple shuttles. I didn''t stop to reassure her, though. She had her chance to play nice and had played dirty, so I did, too.


    I used Presence to make her fall asleep and set her to wake up in twenty minutes, sat her down in one of the nearby chairs, then went to the shuttle and prepped it for flight. It didn''t take long, then I was away from the surface of the planet and flew up towards orbit. I turned my head back and ''looked'' at Ral and she was staring up at me. She hadn''t moved from where she lay, so I blew her a kiss and waved to her. She blushed again and waved, then she was out of my detection range.


    I flew the shuttle out of the planet''s atmosphere and all the way back over to the space habitat. Now that I had everything important handled, it was time for the prep work and planning for the next round trip, this time in the other direction. Thanks to the experience we gained during the last set of missions, we knew the best... and worst... ways to handle things. There were no focusing crystal factories in our new course data, so none of us had to worry about that.


    ¡°It''s only a short hop this time.¡± I explained as I laid out the new course data. ¡°Four months round trip, along the outer edge of the galaxy.¡±


    ¡°There are three spacial anomaly warnings nearby.¡± Simone chimed in. ¡°We''re going to be in and out of hyperspace a lot during this one.¡±


    ¡°Our satellites are dispersed all over that area, and none of them are picking up the same disturbance like in that secondary system with the brown dwarf star.¡± Sheph said. ¡°As long as you stick to the main travel routes, you shouldn''t encounter another one.¡±


    ¡°The secondary paths are clear as well.¡± I said and brought up the routes. ¡°Even if we do have to divert for some reason, we should be okay.¡±


    Gleas nodded. ¡°I''ll be piloting this time.¡±


    ¡°I''m tempted to go as well.¡± Deborah said. ¡°Beatrice said being the primary the entire time was great... and really exhausting some days.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°That was probably during the... what was it Ral called it?¡± I looked at Beatrice. ¡°Observational training?¡±


    Beatrice nodded. ¡°I''ve never had so many obnoxious people pick apart my flying techniques, and they hadn''t operated a space ship in almost a decade!¡±


    Sandy let out a laugh and hugged her. ¡°You handled it like a champion, darling.¡±


    ¡°Sandy.¡± Beatrice blushed a little.


    ¡°What? They all know I love you.¡± Sandy said. ¡°I''m not embarrassed to kiss you in front of them anymore, either.¡±


    ¡°I am!¡± Beatrice managed to say before Sandy kissed her.


    ¡°Apparently, her opinion doesn''t carry a lot of weight on that matter.¡± Sheph said with a big smile and we all chuckled.


    ¡°I''ll need Jelly, Isabella, and Simone to go with me this time, too.¡± I said.


    Everyone turned their heads and looked at Hailey and waited for her outburst.


    ¡°It''s okay.¡± Hailey said and tapped the spot where the ''H'' scar was under her t-shirt. ¡°Hunter''s right. He can be all the way across the galaxy and he will always be here with me.¡±


    ¡°That''s very mature of you.¡± Sheph said. ¡°What happened between the two of you when you were alone was pretty significant.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Hailey smiled and looked at me. ¡°Unlike the last time, I don''t mind waiting for you to come back.¡± She walked over to me and I bent down for her. ¡°You are always going to come back to me for as long as you live.¡±


    I nodded and gave her a kiss. ¡°We''re not leaving for a few weeks while Adona is being restocked.¡± I said. ¡°We should have plenty of time to finish catching up on the show.¡±


    Hailey smiled and walked back around the table.


    ¡°Okay, let''s work on the little details and make sure we have contingency plans.¡± I said and looked at Isabella. ¡°How did the upkeep on the APC go?¡±


    ¡°It''s scraped up from cables and magnetic locks.¡± Isabella said. ¡°What did you do when you retrieved it that first time? Hang it from a shuttle?¡± She joked.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Jelly laughed at her shocked expression. ¡°We flew it out of the atmosphere under my shuttle, which also needed extensive repairs, and then we floated it into Adona''s shuttle bay.¡±


    ¡°You...¡± Isabella looked at me. ¡°...you let me drive it on missions without telling me that?¡±


    ¡°It still worked, didn''t it?¡± I asked with a fake smile.


    Isabella opened her mouth to holler at me for endangering her, then she sighed. ¡°Please tell me you at least checked it over.¡±


    ¡°We both did.¡± Jelly said and pat Isabella''s shoulder. ¡°The same with the hover car. None of us want to be out and have anything go wrong with our equipment, not when our lives depend on it.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad.¡± Isabella said. ¡°All right. This is what we should do if the next camp is too tough to infiltrate.¡± She said and then gave us all a great briefing on a secondary plan that would work just as well as a primary plan.


    ¡°Excellent work.¡± I complimented her and she preened a little. ¡°Make sure we have those plans and the extra supplies and items available, especially if we arrive in the system and our main plan falls apart.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Isabella said, just to irk me.


    I shook my head at her and looked at Deborah. ¡°If you decide to come along, I may have Gleas help me cook when we pick up the other prisoners.¡±


    ¡°She''s coming!¡± Gleas exclaimed and grabbed her arm and shook it, which made everyone laugh, especially Deborah.


    ¡°Now I guess it''s my turn to have an opinion that doesn''t make much difference.¡± Deborah said and Gleas gave her a hug.


    ¡°We should discuss the best paths to take, how long for each leg of the journey, and how much time we can estimate that the businesses have before they''ll be notified about all of the other vacancies we''ve created in their organization.¡± I said and everyone nodded.


    ¡°I''ve got the surveillance footage from the businesses we''ve raided so far.¡± Sheph said. ¡°There hasn''t been any physical activity.¡±


    I smiled at the qualifier. ¡°How many electronic inquiries?¡±


    Sheph smiled back. ¡°You do not want to know.¡±


    ¡°Are you keeping track of the potential assassination targets?¡±


    ¡°That and warning them.¡± Sheph said. ¡°Some have believed the anonymous message and stayed anyway, and some have disregard it.¡±


    ¡°How many took the offer of relocation and new identities?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°About sixty percent.¡± Sheph said. ¡°I know that seems low, considering their lives are at stake; but, for that many to accept some unknown person''s words as the truth and then follow through on it and leave their lives? It''s an amazing number.¡±


    ¡°Well, when you put it like that, I guess it is amazing.¡±


    ¡°We''re monitoring the others and we''re tapped into the communications in all the places you''ve raided. If anyone actually takes the jobs, we''ll send a tip to the local guard force instead.¡± Sheph said.


    I nodded. ¡°Good work.¡± I said and looked at everyone. ¡°You all deserve praise for everything you''ve done so far.¡± I said and then waited.


    After a few moments, they exchanged looks and then looked back at me.


    ¡°Hunter?¡± Simone touched my hand.


    ¡°I didn''t say I was going to give it to you.¡± I said with a crooked smile.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Simone exclaimed and smacked my arm.


    I laughed and then used Presence to fill the room. ¡°Hailey taught me this trick.¡± I said and I gave them all a hug with Presence. ¡°You''ve all done very well and I am very happy to have you all here to share in this with me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Hunter.¡± Several of them said and enjoyed being held.


    I kept it for a few seconds, then I let it fade. ¡°Now I can call this meeting to an end.¡± I said. ¡°Who wants to help me cook supper?¡±


    Everyone put a hand up, except for Hailey. She had put up two.


    ¡°That''s cheating.¡± Simone said with a chuckle.


    ¡°It looks like Hailey wins for ingenuity.¡± I said and everyone laughed.


    ¡°Okay, that''s fair.¡± Gleas rolled her eyes and then had a bright idea as she gave Hailey a hug. ¡°Hey, can I help?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°Hey! You didn''t say helpers of helpers were allowed!¡± Simone said. ¡°I''m helping Gleas!¡±


    ¡°Oh, geez.¡± I shook my head as everyone became everyone else''s helper. ¡°Come on, everyone.¡± I said and led them all to the large kitchen and we all helped and made supper.


    When we were done, my ass was a little tender after being grabbed so much.

 Book Three: The Resolution 090

    Over the next three weeks, Adona''s overhaul was completed, we caught up on the show and we all thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend so much time together, and Sheph and Sandy procured the supplies and food we needed for our next journey. It all went pretty smoothly and Adona was loaded up with everything, including Monna and the APC.


    On the day we were leaving, Hailey didn''t make a fuss like everyone except Simone and I expected. We both knew that she was completely serious with letting me out of her sight. I warned her to not get too rambunctious while I was gone and she just giggled and kissed me goodbye.


    ¡°I mean it.¡± I said. ¡°If I come back and find out you wrecked the place, I might just get angry.¡±


    Hailey smiled. ¡°No, you won''t.¡± She said, completely sure of it. ¡°It''s just stuff. As long as we are unhurt, the rest can be replaced.¡±


    I gave a look at the people we were leaving behind this time and they shrugged. ¡°It''s not fair that you know me that well.¡±


    Haley let out a soft laugh and gave me another hug and stepped back beside Sandy and Beatrice, then the hatch closed and we were off on the first leg of the trip for a two week jaunt to the first business. Just like we had planned, it went off without a hitch. We cleaned it out of assassins and checked the data.


    There was nothing new, except for the accounts it had access to, so we sent that info off to Sheph and left the building completely empty... after setting up the auto-message system and the taps, of course. After the whole focusing crystal factory debacle, we needed to try and keep a closer eye on what was going on.


    Over the next month, Gleas and I cooked a lot. Both she and the crew appreciated it. There were only so many ration packs someone could eat, even with great flavor additives, before they got sick of them. Freshly cooked food, and the bit of a show I provided, made everything that much better.


    We also hit three more businesses and a training camp during that month. The training camp was also a successful mission, thanks to Isabella''s contingency plan. This camp had a different set up and the defenses were designed for both a ground assault and an air assault, mainly because it was out in the middle of nowhere and not near a town or a city like the others had been.


    The APC didn''t care where we drove it, though. Isabella handled it like a veteran and we were over those personnel defenses faster than any of the residents could react. Our broadcasting equipment had a lot of uses that day, both the area effect and the gun versions. Simone and I quickly went through the main building and took care of everyone. Once again, I was relieved that the camp only had a normal administrator and she was dealt with easily.


    We secured eight prisoners, disabled their suicide charges, then returned to the APC and loaded them up. After that, I called the ship and told them to use the satellite to send the signal over the whole planet, just in case there were agents out and about that weren''t in the lists we had.


    Rather than disposing the bodies in space like I usually did, I dropped them all off here like in the first training camp, then added in the ones I had gathered at the previous business. We couldn''t leave the camp intact after wrecking so much of it, so we might as well make the best use of it. I even added a few of the explosives I had harvested from some of the other sites, just to make sure the place would be completely annihilated.


    Once we were back on Adona and Monna was safely tucked into the shuttle bay, I detonated the explosives with their own codes and the training camp and all the bodies were no more. Now we had people that needed medical attention and I did what I could with Presence Heal, without messing up the space in their heads with the charges.


    I had been very tempted to recruit Sal as our standard medical technician, since she would have been a perfect fit for our little group and really enjoyed her work. I couldn''t, and wouldn''t, break up her family, however. Of course, I also knew that Liv would never let her go anywhere alone, so it also wasn''t worth the hassle. I had laughed out loud at the time, then had to explain to the others why. They laughed, too.


    Our trip continued on and we kept getting success after success. We hit two more training camps and rescued another fifteen people, ten at one and five at the other. We also found out from their records that had we hit them two months before, we would have had twice that many to rescue. Of course, there was no way we could have been there two months before, since we had just come back from the first set of missions at the time.


    We still felt bad about the loss, though. Needless to say, there was a lot of cuddling and hand holding over the next few days. When we arrived at the next system, we had another business that needed to be raided and went back to work.


    On and on it went until our four month trip was over and we arrived back in the Dizahl System. Our morale had returned to normal and we were glad to be home and to have saved the ones we had. I dropped off the prisoners at the resort, which was still on its off season. It explained why it was nearly empty and why the Bogorim Corporation was ecstatic to have income that they wouldn''t have had otherwise.


    We returned to our space habitat and we were greeted in almost the same manner as the last time we returned, except that Hailey was on the other side and she snuck in a few extra hugs and kisses on me. I was glad to be home, especially since we had arrived just in time for Hailey''s birthday, which also meant that we had another month of birthday parties for everyone.


    It was a special event, like it always was, and Sheph had copied my idea from the year before and had rented an entire cruise ship to bring everyone''s friends and families here. Hailey was saddened that her mother couldn''t make it and I promised her that we would make a quick trip there and back, just to visit her. She tried to deny it and say no, and I wouldn''t hear of it and said it was a birthday present.


    Plus, we needed a break from all the hard work we were doing. Going all the way to the Fogaris System on a two month round trip would be a great break for everyone. Beatrice volunteered to go with us as the pilot and Sandy was an automatic plus one, then Simone said she would be coming as well. We were taking Udelis this time to give Adona a break and loaded him up with supplies.


    After the month of parties and gatherings, we loaded Udelis with a special shipment from our favorite restaurant, then Simone, Hailey, Beatrice, Sandy, and I went aboard Udelis and left.


    *


    ¡°I agree. From what you felt, the planet was dead and its Presence was no more.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°What do we do, Wise One?¡± Kara asked. ¡°If these are new places...¡±


    ¡°What if they are old ones?¡± The Wise One asked.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°What if you encountered one of the places that you felt through the portal?¡± The Wise One asked. ¡°Those planets would still be there, since you didn''t feel like you were out of sync with the universe during your travels on Relique.¡±


    ¡°But... if that''s true...¡±


    ¡°Then there are a lot of other planets we haven''t encountered yet.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Of course, the odds that we would even find one on this side of the portals was astronomical.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Kara thought about that. ¡°Wise One, has there been any progress...¡±


    ¡°No. We haven''t found the center of the universe, assuming that was where the planet was.¡±


    Kara was surprised by this. ¡°They said it was...¡±


    ¡°If that was all you knew, why would you doubt it?¡±


    ¡°The Presence didn''t waver, Wise One.¡± Kara said. ¡°I''ve shared my feelings from that time and I didn''t detect anything false about the statement or about where the planet was.¡±


    The Wise One chuckle coughed. ¡°Perhaps I''m letting my cynicism dictate my thoughts.¡±


    Kara could help but smile at that. Of everyone in The Order, The Wise One was the only one that wouldn''t let his emotions dictate his actions, even a little.


    ¡°In any case, the system you investigated has been marked and has been quarantined. I have also increased both the guards and Order members assigned to the safe operation of the other sacred sites and factories.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°Will that help, considering the state of the last one?¡± Kara asked. ¡°Won''t that just put more people into harm''s way?¡±


    ¡°I was actually tempted to quarantine them and have them evacuated.¡± The Wise One said, to her surprise. ¡°We can''t do that, since we need those crystals.¡±


    Kara looked down at her Light sword. The crystal inside would need replacing soon, and she realized that hundreds or perhaps even thousands of her fellow Order members would also need replacements.


    ¡°Yes, we go through a lot of crystals.¡± The Wise One said and took out one of his Light swords. He floated it up and popped it open with a thought. It was a trick he had learned from watching Hunter, and he plucked the weakened crystal from the mechanism that held it. ¡°The more powerful we are, the faster they wear out.¡±


    Kara watched as he took out a large wooden case and opened it to show twenty new crystals. He added a new one to the mechanism and then reassembled it in a second, then tucked it away. He put the nearly exhausted crystal into the case and closed it.


    ¡°I must say that whoever caused that destruction knew exactly how to hurt the continued growth of The Order.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°If they took out all of the sacred sites...¡±


    Kara caught her breath. Oh! Oh, no. No. It... it couldn''t... he couldn''t... there''s no way that... She shook her head and then she felt a wave of Presence pass through her.


    ¡°I believe you just had a revelation.¡± The Wise One said from right in front of her.


    Kara couldn''t help but shiver as she got an up close look at the giant fly head and the disgusting orifice that was supposed to be his mouth. ¡°It... was noth...¡± She stopped her lie before she finished, then she sighed. ¡°It could have been Hunter.¡±


    ¡°Oho!¡± The Wise One said. ¡°You are referring to his threat to take The Order down?¡±


    Kara nodded. ¡°Only it wasn''t a threat. He said he was going to do it and it wasn''t an exaggeration.¡±


    ¡°You believe him, then?¡± The Wise One asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°He must have been quite convincing to sway you to his side.¡± The Wise One verbally probed.


    ¡°I''m not on his side.¡± Kara said. ¡°I''m also not against him, since he was found innocent of the charges against him.¡±


    ¡°He wasn''t innocent. He claimed he did the crimes.¡± The Wise One said with another chuckle cough. ¡°He merely accused the council of not being able to prosecute him for it.¡±


    Kara thought about that and she couldn''t dispute that was what happened.


    ¡°So, you have been influenced by him in some capacity.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kara said. ¡°I wronged him and he proved to me that his actions were justified. He also forgave me for what I did.¡±


    ¡°You have always had a soft spot for him.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°I''ve never let that affect my actions.¡± Kara said and saw the fly twitch its antennae. ¡°Actually, I may even have... treated him a bit more harshly... to compensate for what he might have seen as favoritism.¡±


    The Wise One nodded. ¡°At least you are aware of the influence.¡± He said and walked back around his desk and sat down on the floor. ¡°Have you decided to take Kralish''s assignment?¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to, Wise One?¡± Kara asked. ¡°It''s an odd request to go in person to check a civilian business.¡± She was curious as to why the scaly alien wanted her specifically to go.


    The Wise One didn''t say anything for a moment, then nodded.


    ¡°I''ll tell him yes and leave right away to investigate.¡± Kara said and bowed, then left the office.


    *


    When we arrived in the Fogaris System three weeks later, we received an urgent message from Sheph. One of the businesses we had raided had recent activity. She sent us the relevant video files and the five of us on the ship watched it to see what was so urgent.


    Then Kara walked onto the screen.


    ¡°Oh, damn.¡± Simone said. ¡°She''s really good, Hunter.¡±


    I nodded. If there was anyone out there that would be able to detect trace Presence, it was her. She was their expert, after all. I could only hope that she wouldn''t pick up on me being there.


    ¡°I guess we better get home.¡± Hailey said, sadly.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked and she waved at the screen. ¡°It doesn''t matter if she does find out it was me.¡±


    ¡°But... won''t she come for you?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°Even if she does, she''s...¡± I checked the computer and where the business was. ¡°Three months from the Dizahl System. We''ll be home in plenty of time, even if we stay here for a month.¡±


    ¡°We''re not actually staying for a month, are we?¡± Simone asked.


    I chuckled. ¡°It all depends on what happens during my appointment. Hopefully, I can convince the people in charge to let Hailey visit her mother.¡±


    ¡°It also depends on how long they want to make us wait to let that happen.¡± Simone added.


    ¡°I''ll do my best to try and get it done as soon as possible.¡± I said. ¡°It may require a few personal appearances on my part, though.¡±


    Simone put an arm around my shoulders. ¡°The returning hero would make a good news story, especially for the now mostly fish people filled government.¡±


    ¡°It could be seen as an endorsement as well, so I need to be prepared for that.¡± I said.


    ¡°Full battle dress?¡± Simone asked and I nodded. ¡°You haven''t had to wear that in a long time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I miss it, too.¡± I said and she laughed.


    After that little escapade with Kara''s appearance, we contacted all of the people we knew to let them know we were back in the system. To our surprise, a lot of them had been replaced with fish people. In a few cases, like with Admiral Shanifra, they had fish people added as a co-leader. Needless to say, none of them were happy with the new arrangements.


    We had to wait for two days for the appointment, so we made the rounds to the places we were permitted to go, after a thorough inspection by the customs officials, half of which were fish people. The normal jovial and friendly atmosphere my visits usually garnered was subdued, to say the least. Even when I visited the Admiral and her aide, we barely spoke because of the two fish people there. I also didn''t offer to greet them with the proper handshake.


    The fish people couldn''t quite digest the food I brought, so they were unhappy that I hadn''t brought them anything specific that they could eat. I didn''t bother telling them that they hadn''t been invited, since they had invited themselves to the dinner and knew that already. I thought it was unreasonable for them to expect anything from me, when they themselves had inconvenienced me and my friends.


    I was glad that I had left everyone else on the ship, because I was pretty sure that Simone would have spat in the fish people''s faces and maybe smacked them around a bit. I was going directly to the meeting on the planet''s surface afterwards, so the fish people''s attitude towards me gave me a heads up for what I was in store for.


    Unlike the other times I had been there, when I said my goodbyes, I gave Shanifra a kiss on the lips. This shocked everyone in the room, especially Shanifra, and I gave her a hug.


    ¡°I''m sorry this didn''t turn out the way I wanted it to.¡± I whispered in her ear.


    ¡°You mean the dinner.¡± Shanifra whispered back.


    ¡°You can tell yourself that if you want to.¡± I said and leaned back to give her my best smile.


    Shanifra returned the smile, then she leaned close to give me a kiss. ¡°I knew you regretted not letting me thank you for my arm.¡±


    ¡°You can keep telling yourself that, too.¡± I joked and she laughed.


    ¡°Goodbye, Hunter.¡± Shanifra said and I left.


    I flew the normal shuttle down to the planet and was granted an audience with several government officials and the military review board. As far as we knew, the terrorists still hadn''t been put on trial, which meant my original thought that they would be held for their crimes without trial was a valid one.


    When I was led into a large room that had those officials and the review board there, it was an auditorium and had the entire military upper caste of officers in attendance and not just the few officers that it had been the last time when Jelly had pleaded for the same thing.


    ¡°Have a seat, Hunter.¡± A fish woman said and waved at the single chair on the opposite side of the huge table that she and the other government officials sat behind.


    I knew then that I was in a bit of trouble, because she had not used my official title as the Hero of Chofaris, just my name.


    ¡°Please tell us why you want to visit a known terrorist that you had attempted to keep from being arrested with her fellow criminals.¡± The fish woman said, her voice and mind were full of as much sanctimonious rhetoric as I had ever encountered before and I managed, barely, to stop myself from sighing.


    Goddammit. I thought and took a moment to compose my thoughts. ¡°Well, your most officious fishiness, it''s like this.¡± I said, then started to explain everything. I didn''t have to read her thoughts to know that she didn''t like being called annoyingly domineering with her authority, even though she knew she was. She was okay with the fishiness comment, though.

 Book Three: The Resolution 091

    When I was done talking, the government officials sat there and didn''t say anything for several moments.


    ¡°Please wait outside while we discuss the situation.¡± The fish woman said.


    I stood up and walked outside the auditorium and waited for them to discuss things. I tried to listen; but, there were a hundred conversations going on and it was difficult to pick just one out. When I focused on the fish woman, she was talking in her native tongue and I didn''t understand a word she was saying.


    It took them half an hour to finally make a decision and they asked me to come back inside. I made a discrete call and left my wrist com open and went back into the room, then sat down in the same chair and waited to hear what their decision would be.


    ¡°After some deliberation, it''s been decided that you have been harbouring the daughter of a known terrorist. Since family members are always sympathetic to those that were captured, you will turn her over to us for a proper interrogation.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°You heard what I said.¡±


    ¡°You are within our jurisdiction and you will comply with the law.¡± The fish woman said.


    ¡°Actually, I am the Hero of Chofaris.¡± I said and a murmur went around the auditorium. ¡°What will the people think when I tell them you want to hold a military interrogation on a fourteen year old girl that had been previously kidnapped by the terrorists that you''ve been holding for two years without a trial?¡±


    ¡°You will not be permitted to make such a statement.¡± The fish woman said.


    ¡°That didn''t stop me the last time I made a public announcement.¡± I said. ¡°I believe that announcement also made it possible for your people to seize political power from your fellow human inhabitants.¡±


    The fish woman''s extra eyelids flicked over her large eyes. ¡°Did you just threaten a government official?¡±


    ¡°Did you just threaten to torture a fourteen year old girl for something her mother was only slightly involved in?¡± I countered.


    The fish woman flicked her eyelids again and was quiet for several moments. ¡°I hereby place you under-Hmm!¡± She stopped talking when I covered her mouth in Presence.


    ¡°I don''t think so.¡± I said and stood. ¡°I have not committed a crime and I won''t be held against my will. Not by you or anyone else.¡± I lifted my wrist com to my mouth. ¡°Did you hear all of that, President Olugaell?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did.¡± Olugaell said and the fish woman at the table looked surprised for a moment. ¡°Unfortunately, I have to agree with her.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked, surprised myself.


    ¡°All other family members were rounded up and interrogated to find out how deep the sedition was. The young woman you have been hiding is the last one.¡±


    ¡°I have special government approval for...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°That was issued by the old government and no longer applies.¡± Olugaell said. ¡°I''m sorry, Hunter. I must issue a presidential order for you to hand her over, or you will be arrested.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t learn from what happened the last time someone tried to get me?¡± I asked my wrist com. ¡°Do you really want to do this, Olugaell?¡±


    Olugaell was silent for a moment. ¡°Hunter, you can''t possibly...¡±


    ¡°You people are so stupid it''s almost funny.¡± I said without laughing. ¡°I won''t be waiting for you to issue that order. I''ve grew tired of waiting for people to come for me a long time ago. Don''t worry. I''ll be coming to visit you, just as soon as I take care of a few things here.¡±


    ¡°HUNTER! NO!¡± Olugaell yelled and I turned off my wrist com.


    ¡°You are all going to regret this.¡± I said and covered the room in Presence and pushed down on them.


    ¡°S-s-stop!¡± One of the officers said and tried to raise a laser pistol and shot at me. It bounced off my personal shield and killed someone off to the side.


    ¡°Here, let me do that for you.¡± I said and used Presence to hold his hand steady and pulled the trigger as I shifted his aim slightly. Each and every shot bounced off my shield and killed someone else in the room that thought about shooting me, too. ¡°Ooo, look at all the random people you''re killing!¡± I joked and expended the charge on the laser pistol. ¡°Hmm. You haven''t charged that in a while.¡± I shook my head at him and then crushed his hand and the laser pistol.


    ¡°ARGH!¡± The man screamed and dropped to the floor in pain.


    ¡°N-no... please...¡± The fish woman said.


    I turned back to face her and she held her hands up in surrender. ¡°You missed your chance to be reasonable.¡± I said. ¡°You could have just said no to my request and left it at that. But no, you decided to be greedy and asked me for something unreasonable.¡±


    The fish woman stared at me with her big fish eyes as I took out my Light sword and activated it.


    ¡°If you had just wanted me, I might have allowed you to take me, just so I could find out where you are keeping the terrorists and their families. Unfortunately, you wanted to take Hailey from me and that is never going to happen.¡±


    The fish woman screamed as I plunged my Light sword into her chest and punctured one of her lungs.


    ¡°Can fish people be filleted?¡± I asked and then did two long swipes with my Light sword and cut her from her shoulders all the way down to the edge of her tail. It left her in three pieces and the arms and legs on the fillets twitched and shook. ¡°I guess they can.¡±


    ¡°You... you monster!¡± A human said from several seats away. The other fish people were too shocked to say anything after seeing one of their people being treated that way.


    ¡°Don''t tell me you haven''t thought about trying it.¡± I said to the man and I caught the thoughts in his mind as they surfaced. ¡°Oh, I see. Pan fried in oil and lemon juice. That''s a good idea.¡±


    The man''s face paled and he shook his head several times.


    ¡°I bet they taste awful, though.¡± I said and saw a few people react in the high auditorium seats. ¡°There are some experienced hands here, I see.¡± I walked over to them and smiled. ¡°Was it wild tasting, fatty, or too tender to gauge?¡±


    ¡°Too tender.¡± One of them said.


    ¡°Oho! An honest person!¡± I said and used Presence to lift the man and brought him down to the floor beside me and I put an arm over his shoulders, which shocked him and everyone else. ¡°So, where are the terrorists?¡± I whispered loudly. ¡°It''s okay. You can tell me. I won''t tell anyone else.¡±


    The man wasn''t going to answer me and his thoughts betrayed him and showed me where.


    ¡°Not going to speak? What about their families? Are they in the same spot?¡± I asked and plucked the information from his head that it was the same facility. ¡°Your silence is as admirable as it is pointless.¡± I said and swiped my Light sword across his neck and decapitated him.


    ¡°Stop! We... we''ll tell you what you want to know.¡± One of the government officials said to stall for time. He had already hit the emergency beacon and the place would be stormed in a few moments by one of their best combat squads.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I turned off my Light sword and everyone relaxed as I eased up on the Presence pushing them down. ¡°You know, it''s too bad I''m past that point now.¡± I said and took out a fully decked out laser rifle. ¡°I''m surprised your new regime is so security conscious and no one asked me if I had any weapons on me.¡± I grinned and opened fire.


    *


    Olugaell was filled with horror. She sat in her office and watched the security footage as Hunter slaughtered everyone inside the auditorium. She had made an impassioned plea to The Order temple after he had hung up on her and they said that they would send someone to investigate. She only hoped that they arrived before the combat squad.


    The doors of the auditorium burst open and the quick response combat squad ran in to subdue Hunter. They were met with several fragmentation grenades and they died before they could scream. To Olugaell''s surprise, Hunter made each and every body disappear and then he stood there and waited.


    ¡°All right, who is causing a disturbance in here?¡± An Order member asked as he boldly entered the room as if he owned the place. His partner came in right behind him and was surprised to find the room completely empty, except for a lot of blood splatters and a lone man that stood in the middle.


    ¡°The government officials caused it.¡± Hunter said and walked over to them. ¡°It''s okay now. I handled it.¡±


    The two of them looked around the room and then back at him.


    ¡°What did you do with the bodies?¡±


    ¡°I''m going to deliver them to the main government building.¡± Hunter said. ¡°Want to come along? It''s going to be a sight to see.¡±


    ¡°Are you insane?¡± The partner asked.


    ¡°No, I''m just annoyed. This wasn''t supposed to turn out this way.¡± Hunter said. ¡°I can''t let their immorality and illegality hurt someone I care about, so now I have to do something about it.¡±


    The two Order members were only slightly surprised when the Presence didn''t waver.


    ¡°I''m afraid you''re going to have to come with...¡± He stopped talking when his head exploded. A laser pistol had appeared in Hunter''s hand and he had shot the man in the face.


    ¡°I can''t allow that. Sorry.¡± Hunter said and shot the other man too, then stored both bodies. ¡°It looks like my timetable is going to be moving up again.¡± He said and then disappeared.


    Olugaell hit the button on her intercom. ¡°He''s coming! Defend me with your lives!¡±


    *


    I had to slow down my run as I approached the main government building. The defenses the place had were quite the change from the last time I had visited. I looked inside the building to see Olugaell was inside her office with a squad of people outside it and behind temporary barricades, then another squad was just inside the main hall and were also behind barricades. Three squads of troops were out front of the building and they had two anti-personnel laser assault cannons mounted on either side of the front doors.


    I shook my head at the stupidity and ran around the side of the building, tossed one of my old focusing crystals with the circuit board that let it expand into a sphere and activated it, then it consumed a twenty foot wide section of wall. I jumped up to the second floor to see a completely startled Olugaell as she trembled and stared at me. If she had leaned to the left even an inch, she would have been caught in the sphere of energy and would have lost an arm. At least.


    ¡°Hi, there. Long time no see.¡± I said and walked over to prop my hip against her half-collapsed desk. ¡°I told you I wasn''t going to wait for your order to have me arrested.¡±


    ¡°You... committed treason.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''m not a citizen. All I could possibly do is incite the locals into rebellion. I never did that, nor will I.¡± I gave her a look that said she better tell me the truth. ¡°Where are Uzahne and Ahaen?¡±


    Olugaell wasn''t sure how to respond without getting herself into trouble or making me angry.


    ¡°You don''t have to worry about that anymore.¡± I said as I got the image of them in prison on trumped up charges.


    ¡°Don''t kill me!¡± Olugaell exclaimed loudly and the door to her office burst open.


    ¡°FREEZ-HURK!¡± The man choked as I crushed his windpipe with a Presence Hand, then I did the other people of the squad as well.


    ¡°Stupid.¡± I said. ¡°When you have an insurgent, you shoot first and then ask questions.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, please. Don''t do this.¡± Olugaell pleaded.


    ¡°You did this.¡± I said and started to take out all the bodies. I bound her arms and legs in Presence so she couldn''t run and I filled the room. The last body I took out was the fish woman. All three parts of her. Surprisingly, she was still twitching. ¡°Your people are pretty resilient.¡± I said and picked up the middle part and held her head, then used her mouth like a puppet.


    ¡°Hand over your future wife so we can torture her!¡± I had the puppet say in a squeaky voice.


    ¡°Screw you, fish lips.¡± I said and tossed the thing onto the pile.


    ¡°Oh Great Goddess of the Sea!¡± Olugaell exclaimed. ¡°Save me from...¡±


    I covered her mouth in Presence. ¡°Hey, we can''t have anyone unexpected show up.¡± I said and quickly set several of the assassin explosives around the building. ¡°What do you think people will say when the main government building is destroyed just like the building that almost killed me?¡±


    Olugaell let several tears flow from her eyes.


    ¡°Don''t worry, you''re going to die a martyr for your cause.¡± I said and pat her shoulder. ¡°I''ll make sure there are some people alive that see it.¡± I took out one more building destroying charge and put it on her lap. ¡°Here, hold this tightly or it might go off.¡± I said and absorbed her arm bindings.


    Olugaell gripped it tightly in the hopes that it wouldn''t go off.


    ¡°Okay, now I''m leaving to rescue the people you''re holding without a trial.¡± I said and leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek. ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    Olugaell blinked and I absorbed the bindings on her legs and mouth and then I disappeared from her sight. She finished asking her goddess for help and Presence filled the room, then she didn''t see or feel anything else as all the charges detonated.


    There was a loud and oddly gurgled scream as the building was erased from existence in a blinding explosion that rocked the surroundings and the new Presence disappeared. The three squads out front were blown off their feet and had no idea what had just happened, then they recovered and thought about trying to rescue anyone that might still be alive inside. When they turned to look at the destruction, they saw that the building was completely gone and knew it was pointless to try.


    I ran back to where I had parked the shuttle and flew it over to the spot that I had seen in the military officer''s head. I didn''t bother trying to fight my way in and just put the guards to sleep as I flew over the gate. I landed beside the holding facility and knocked out the guards there, then I secured the shuttle closed with Presence and went inside the building as I kept putting the guards I encountered to sleep.


    It wasn''t really their fault for following orders, so I didn''t really want to kill them all unnecessarily. I was in full Stealth mode as well, so no one saw me as I went right to the main office and put the workers there to sleep as well. I checked the computer and saw what room Hailey''s mother was being held in, then I went to the main power generator and set an explosive charge on it, because I was going to need a distraction to escape.


    I followed the directions and found the right room and knocked on the door. ¡°Hello, in there. Are you decent?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what? Excuse me?¡± Hailey''s mother asked, confused.


    I used a Presence Hand to crush the door handle and the electronic lock at the same time, then I let my Stealth fade as I opened the door. ¡°Hi.¡±


    ¡°Hunter?!?¡± Hailey''s mother exclaimed. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Causing havoc.¡± I said and waved at the door. ¡°Do you want to stand here and discuss it or should we go and see your daughter?¡±


    ¡°LET''S GO!¡± Hailey''s mother yelled and ran past me and out the door.


    I laughed and detonated the charge on the power generator and followed her. The place shook a little and then all of the lights went out and the electronic locks on all of the doors clicked open. Battery power kicked in and only a few lights came on, so I took Hailey''s mother''s hand and led her in the right direction. Almost as one, all of the cells opened and every single prisoner was out and in the hallway. A riot started almost immediately.


    ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± Hailey''s mother asked as I weaved her through the many obstacles, both the prisoners and the debris they were trying to light on fire.


    ¡°I came here to let you see your daughter for her birthday and they tried to get me to hand Hailey over to them for interrogation.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± She yelled. ¡°You didn''t!¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± I said. ¡°I killed them all, then I killed the president and the rest of the government when I blew up the main government building.¡±


    The riot stopped like I had thrown a switch and everyone looked at me.


    ¡°Wh-what did you say?¡± Hailey''s mother asked, shocked.


    ¡°I blew up the government building. Boom. Flash of light. Gone.¡± I said and held the door for her. ¡°After you.¡±


    She gave me a look like she didn''t believe me.


    ¡°I''ll be flying by there to go to the prison, so you can see it for yourself.¡± I said and she gave me a nod and she stepped through the open door. I led her out of the building and around the side to where I had the shuttle and we climbed aboard. We were almost immediately surrounded by prisoners a moment later.


    ¡°Hey! Take us, too!¡±


    ¡°We want to help!¡±


    ¡°Don''t leave us here!¡±


    ¡°Oh, geez.¡± I said and used Presence to carry my voice. ¡°There''s lots of vehicles in the parking lot, you idiots! Take them and go!¡±


    There was a clang as something heavy was thrown at the shuttle and I ''looked'' in that direction and saw three familiar faces. Perginia and her two compatriots that had tried to hijack my ship.


    ¡°Hello, Perginia.¡± I said and she caught her breath.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Perginia yelled and the two men with her picked up a trash can.


    ¡°Why didn''t you grab the guard''s guns?¡± I asked as they threw the trash can and I deflected it from hitting the shuttle.


    ¡°They''re non-lethal.¡± Perginia said.


    ¡°Look, I''ll forgive you for trying to hijack my ship, since you served two years in prison, just...¡±


    ¡°Fuck you!¡± Perginia said loudly. ¡°Break it open! I can fly anything and I''ll take all of you out of here!¡±


    ¡°...don''t piss me off.¡± I said and created fifty Presence Hands as the prisoners surrounded the shuttle and started to attack it. I grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and tossed them twenty feet away. Some bounced off the nearby building and were seriously hurt and some landed on their heads and died. Most were fine, however.


    ¡°Never mind.¡± I said and grabbed her and her two men by the necks and snapped them. The last thing she saw before she died of asphyxiation was the shuttle taking off and flying away.

 Book Three: The Resolution 092

    ¡°It''s really gone.¡± Hailey''s mother said as I flew the shuttle around a huge exposed area that used to be the main government building. It was surrounded by both military and rescue vehicles and the people looked like they were just standing around and doing nothing.


    ¡°The government''s money being well spent.¡± I joked and flew the shuttle to the prison. ¡°There''s no way I can land inside the prison like I did at the holding facility, so I''ll be landing nearby.¡±


    ¡°You''re breaking everyone out of the prison, too?!?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°No, just two that suffered from trumped up charges.¡±


    ¡°There''s a lot more than two of them in there.¡± Hailey''s mother said.


    I gave her a discerning look for a moment. ¡°I only know two of them, so I can''t go freeing everyone. There really are guilty people in prison.¡±


    ¡°You let all the terrorists go.¡±


    ¡°Just as a distraction... and their families were being held, too. I couldn''t let them stay confined when I could get them out.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to do the same thing at the prison?¡±


    ¡°No, that would only cause chaos and not help me.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, I''m pretty sure a building complex that large has more than one redundant power reactor.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± She asked.


    ¡°The only thing I can probably get away with.¡± I said with a smile as I landed several blocks away from the prison. ¡°Stay here. I''m locking you in and I''m covering the shuttle to hide it.¡±


    Hailey''s mother nodded and I left and concealed the shuttle, then I ran over to the prison in Stealth mode. I easily floated over the high concrete wall and made my way over to the administration part of the prison. It was fairly crowded with people and guards, so it took me a few minutes to get inside and to find my way to the warden''s office. Instead of sneaking in, I used Presence to deflect sound from the secretary''s ears and knocked on the door.


    ¡°Come in.¡± The warden said and I opened the door and slipped inside as I dropped my Stealth and shut the door. ¡°What? Who?¡± He asked for a second, then I pulled off my hood and he recognized me. ¡°Hunter! The Hero of Chofaris!¡±


    I nodded and walked over to him. ¡°I have a bit of a favor to ask.¡±


    ¡°If it''s within my power, I''ll give it to you.¡± The warden said.


    ¡°Can you release two prisoners into my custody?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That would depend on what you want them for.¡± He said, warily.


    I chuckled. ¡°They were accused on trumped up charges and sent to prison. I want them out on early parole.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Uzahne and Ahaen.¡±


    The warden nodded. ¡°I thought their trial was a little speedy.¡±


    ¡°So, can you do it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It would need to be put in front of the parole board and their cases would need to be reviewed.¡± He said. ¡°How long can you stay?¡±


    ¡°I''m leaving the system in about an hour.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then I''m sorry, I can''t help...¡± He paused for a moment and then smiled. ¡°Wait a moment.¡± He said and quickly typed up something on the console in his desk. ¡°Okay. Yes. That''s good.¡± He said and hit a button, then two pieces of paper popped out of the desk. He grabbed them and stood up to hand them to me. ¡°There you go.¡±


    I took the papers and read them, then my mouth dropped open a little. ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°It''s all I can grant on such short notice.¡± The warden said with a huge smile.


    I laughed and dug out a credit chip and shook the man''s hand. ¡°Thank you very much, sir.¡±


    The warden looked down at the chip and his eyes widened. ¡°What...¡±


    ¡°Just in case someone decides to hold you responsible and you want to retire in shame.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°Have a great day, warden.¡±


    ¡°You, too.¡± The warden said without looking up from the credit chip in his hand. A hundred thousand credits. He thought in shock. A hundred THOUSAND!


    I held in my laugh as he shouted in his head and didn''t let anything show on his face. I left the office in Stealth mode and absorbed the Presence around the secretary''s ears, then made my way all the way back to the prison''s entrance and floated over the high concrete wall. I made myself visible and walked up to the gate.


    ¡°Hi, there.¡± I said to the two startled guards. ¡°I''m here to see two prisoners.¡±


    ¡°Of course, sir!¡± One of the guards said and opened the gate. ¡°I''ll take you right in personally!¡±


    ¡°Hey, wait!¡± The other guard tried to come after us, then decided to stay at his post. ¡°I wanted to take him in.¡± He said sadly.


    I chuckled and was led into the main administration building and I handed the two papers to the clerk there. She looked at them and at me, then back at the papers. She knew they weren''t fake, since they had the warden''s personal digital signature on the corners, and that couldn''t be duplicated. She had to call the warden and confirm anyway.


    ¡°Oh? He''s here already?¡± The warden asked. ¡°Well, let him in and get the two prisoners ready. The Hero of Chofaris can''t stand around waiting all day, you know.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir! Right away, sir!¡± The clerk said and hung up, then quickly had the day passes processed and had the two prisoners brought out to the visitor''s area. Uzahne and Ahaen were quite surprised to be brought to the area so suddenly, since they didn''t know anyone at all that would want to visit them... then they saw me.


    ¡°YOU!¡± Ahaen yelled and ran at me. She tried to swing and punch me, and I easily caught her hands.


    ¡°I missed you, too.¡± I said and pulled her into a hug and shared a calming technique with her.


    ¡°Let me go.¡± Ahaen said as she lost her urge to fight me.


    ¡°Are you ready to go?¡± I asked and looked at Uzahne. ¡°They don''t give out day passes all the time and we''ve already lost most of the morning.¡±


    ¡°Wait, that''s true?¡± Ahaen asked. ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°Come on. I''ll explain on the way.¡± I said and held a hand out to Uzahne. She only hesitated for a moment and took it, then the calmness flowed over her, too. I led the two women out of the prison and passed the front gate.


    ¡°We''re outside.¡± Ahaen said, surprised. ¡°We''re really outside.¡±


    ¡°It gets better.¡± I said and used Levitation on them and Presence Run. Both women screamed a little and then it was over and we were beside the concealed shuttle. ¡°Who wants a ride off this stupid planet?¡±


    Both women gasped as I removed the concealment and opened the shuttle. I put them inside and strapped them next to Hailey''s mother.


    ¡°Uzahne, Hailey''s mother.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°Ahaen, Hailey''s mother.¡± I said and stepped by them and sat in the pilot seat to start the shuttle up. ¡°Hailey''s mother, that''s Uzahne and Ahaen.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°My name''s Monica.¡± Hailey''s mother said.


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°Okay, hold on.¡± I fed power to the engines and the shuttle took off. I observed the traffic and avoided it all, then flew the shuttle up into orbit. ¡°Docking to top hatch.¡± I said and brought the shuttle in and watched both the instruments and the physical dock, then the magnetic lock clamped onto the shuttle. ¡°...and we''re solid.¡± I said and shut the shuttle down. ¡°Beatrice, take us out of here.¡± I said over the ship com.


    The three women unstrapped as the ship eased out of planetary orbit and I used Presence Hands outside the shuttle to tie it down with cables and secured it. Once that was done, I opened the hatch on the bottom of the shuttle and opened the top hatch on Udelis.


    ¡°Hailey''s mom, you first.¡± I said. ¡°I think someone is eager to see you.¡±


    ¡°Please stop calling me that.¡± Monica said.


    ¡°I can''t. You''re my future mother in law.¡± I said and took her hand. ¡°I need to keep paying you the proper respect.¡±


    ¡°By being impersonal?¡± Monica asked.


    I opened my mouth to say that I didn''t want to be too familiar with her before we became family, then I heard her thoughts. She really didn''t like that I was distancing myself from her, which in turn could possibly distance myself from Hailey. I didn''t want her to think that, so I let her hand go and stepped close to give her a hug.


    ¡°I''m sorry you see it that way.¡± I said and let her out of the hug. ¡°I didn''t want to insult you by calling you by name, especially since we won''t be official family for years.¡±


    ¡°That''s not going to matter now, will it?¡± Monica asked. ¡°We''re both fugitives now.¡±


    ¡°Who, me?¡± I asked. ¡°No one is alive that knows I did this.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Oh, and the government''s main computer banks were in the basement I exploded. Ah, I mean, that the assassin''s explosives destroyed.¡±


    Monica just stared at me.


    ¡°He means that a lot of the records are gone and you probably won''t be missed.¡± Uzahne said. ¡°Unlike Ahaen and myself.¡±


    ¡°That''s okay. Now that I''ve got the most relevant people away from here, I don''t plan on coming back.¡± I said and looked at Hailey''s mother. ¡°Monica, can I help you down the ladder?¡±


    ¡°You may.¡± Monica said with a smile and took my hand, and I eased her down onto the ladder. There was a loud squeal and several happy yells when she reached the bottom.


    ¡°It''s too bad we won''t get the same reception.¡± Ahaen said and reached for my hand.


    ¡°Only because of your behaviour and how you mistreated me.¡± I said with a smile and helped her onto the ladder. She gave me a squinted eyed look, then sighed and went down the ladder.


    ¡°We can''t apologize for how we handled things.¡± Uzahne said and took my hand.


    ¡°I didn''t ask you to.¡± I said and helped her onto the ladder. ¡°We all have to live with the things we''ve done.¡±


    Uzahne nodded and went down. I waited for them to step away from the bottom and then floated down myself and closed both hatches with Presence. I walked over to the intercom and pushed the button.


    ¡°Okay, Simone. Send a message to everyone on the list. Tell them what happened and let them know that it might be a good idea to take nice long vacations, probably with their families. Oh, and that I''ll pay.¡±


    ¡°Should I wait for a response?¡± Simone asked.


    ¡°Yes. If they agree, transfer the proper credits to their accounts.¡± I said. ¡°You better contact our own people''s families back in the Dizahl System and let them know, too. Maybe they''ll want to extend their vacations for a while. A long while.¡±


    Simone chuckled. ¡°Beatrice already did. The cruise ship has no problem taking them anywhere you want them to go, since you''re paying them so much.¡±


    I chuckled, too. ¡°Let''s send them to the Granis System.¡±


    ¡°That''s a great idea!¡± Simone said. ¡°I can contact Aphatoris and see about her taking some of our satellites to the less reputable systems of the galaxy.¡±


    ¡°That''s a great idea, Simone.¡± I said. ¡°Get Sheph to send a shield pendant to her, too.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you know how expensive those things are.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and so will she.¡± I said.


    ¡°Good point.¡± Simone said. ¡°I''ll get right on it.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and let the button go and turned to the people around me. ¡°Let''s go home.¡±


    Uzahne and Ahaen gave me sad looks, so I put a hand on their shoulders.


    ¡°I have some contacts in a fairly large corporation. I''m sure they can find something for the two of you to do, assuming you want to stick around.¡±


    Ahaen opened her mouth to say no and to reject the offer, then Uzahne slapped her face.


    ¡°That''s enough!¡± Uzahne said angrily, then she looked at me. ¡°We''ll take any job we can get.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°I can smuggle you away and give you new lives and identities if you want, too.¡±


    ¡°I want that!¡± Ahaen said and pointed at me and Uzahne slapped her again.


    ¡°None of the decisions you''ve made over the last three years have been good ones!¡± Uzahne said loudly. ¡°For once in your life, you are going to listen to what I say and you are going to like it! Is that clear?¡±


    Ahaen rubbed her face where she had received two hard slaps. She glared at Uzahne for a second, then sighed. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Uzahne said and looked back at me. ¡°Hunter, please take us back with you and we will work wherever we can get a job.¡±


    I nodded and waved towards the side of the ship. The two of them walked over to the cell with four bunks in it and entered. ¡°I was taking us all to the kitchen, actually. It''s time for lunch.¡±


    ¡°Ooo! Mom! You have to help Hunter cook!¡± Hailey said excitedly.


    ¡°Hailey...¡± I started to say that wasn''t a good idea and saw the expression on her mother''s face. ¡°You have to help, too.¡±


    ¡°Yay!¡± Hailey exclaimed and dragged her mother towards the kitchen.


    ¡°Is it that fun to help cook?¡± Ahaen asked, confused at Hailey''s enthusiasm.


    I sighed and waved for Uzahne and Ahaen to follow, then we all went to the kitchen. I had Uzahne and Ahaen sit at the counter to have the best view, then Hailey, Monica, and I started to cook. Hailey and I successfully ignored Uzahne and Ahaen''s shock at the spectacle we provided. Not long after we started, Simone ran into the kitchen and grabbed an apron.


    ¡°I''m helping Hailey!¡± Simone said with a laugh and joined in. About ten minutes later, the ship jumped to hyperspace and Beatrice and Sandy came into the kitchen.


    ¡°Oh, dammit! We missed it!¡± Sandy said and you could hear the disappointment in her voice.


    ¡°I swear I''m spoiling you all.¡± I said and finished preparing lunch for everyone. Hailey added the final garnish and Simone and Monica carried the plates over to the table. Monica had a bright red face and she couldn''t believe that such a thing as ''couples cooking'' existed. She also thought that it wasn''t something that a mother was supposed to do with her future son-in-law.


    ¡°Now you know one of the reasons I was trying to maintain a respectful distance.¡± I whispered to her.


    Monica nodded her understanding and when she sat down to eat, she turned and put a hand on mine. ¡°I''ll just watch from now on.¡±


    Sandy and Beatrice laughed. ¡°Good luck with that!¡± They said at the same time, which made the both of them laugh.


    Hailey took a bite of food and sighed happily. ¡°We can all cook like magic when we help Hunter.¡± She said and the new arrivals tried the food. They couldn''t help but agree that it tasted fantastic and gave me longing looks.


    ¡°I think I''m going to be busy giving cooking lessons during the trip home.¡± I said with a sad voice.


    Simone laughed. ¡°On the bright side, it''s only a three week trip!¡±


    ¡°Yes, that''s the bright side.¡± I said and rolled my eyes to make everyone laugh.


    Needless to say, the next three weeks passed fairly quickly. Hailey and her mother caught up on everything and Hailey was very happy that her mother was no longer being held for terrorist acts, Uzahne caught up on all the goings on she had missed while in prison for four months, and Ahaen still hated me with both justification and a lot of irrationality. On the other hand, she really enjoyed her cooking lessons with me. She would never admit it out loud, though.


    We arrived back in the Dizahl System and flew over to the space habitat. Sheph told us that Kara had been seen in two more of the businesses and each time she left with nothing physical. All she seemed to be doing was following my trail. Fortunately, she was following it in the wrong direction, and none of us wanted to correct her and left her to keep going farther away from us.


    Both Uzahne and Ahaen signed contracts with the Bogorim Corporation and were almost immediately whisked away to learn about their new jobs and responsibilities. Uzahne had said goodbye to me and gave me hug as she thanked me for rescuing her. Ahaen only said goodbye and held a hand out for me to shake. I raised my eyebrows at her offer and she frowned.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Ahaen spat at me and turned around to step into the shuttle. I caught her arm and quickly turned her around. She gasped at the sudden movement and looked completely shocked, so I kissed her. She hit me a few times and tried to push me off, then she realized it was fruitless and stopped resisting. As soon as she did, I stopped kissing her and pushed her into the shuttle.


    ¡°Buh-bye!¡± I said and waved as the shuttle hatch closed.


    ¡°GODDAMMIT!¡± Ahaen yelled at me. ¡°You ASSHOLE!¡±


    I laughed at her indignation and we all watched the shuttle take off to take them to the second planet.


    ¡°You''re so mean!¡± Simone purred from behind me.


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said to her and gave her a quick kiss. ¡°Come on. We have some other things to take care of.¡±


    Simone nodded and we all went to the Sheph''s office to find out what else we had missed while we were travelling. We found out that the cruise ship had left two weeks before and everyone on board has been ecstatic about getting to see such a great tourist attraction like the twin stars in the Granis System. Hailey''s mother Monica did not regret missing it, since she got to spend a bunch of extra time with her daughter.


    We all agreed to let Monica move in to the last free spot on the top level, so that she could be as close to Hailey as she could be, without them actually living together. It only took a minute for Monica to move in, because she didn''t have any possessions, which meant we had to have another shopping day trip at the station.


    Of course, since I was paying, everyone wanted to go. We had to take Monna, after adding a bunch of temporary seating in her cargo area for everyone, then Jelly flew us all to the station on a low traffic day. Needless to say, nearly every shop bent over backwards to accommodate us, especially our favorite restaurant that we visited at the end of the day.


    They greeted Hailey''s mother Monica as the Queen''s Mother, and she received a crown of fried onions along with Hailey, who was their Queen of the Restaurant. Both of them were very happy because of that and we all had a great time. We ate our fill and left with all of our packages, then flew back to the space habitat. We all helped Monica unpack everything to get settled and when we were done, Monica started to cry.


    ¡°We know.¡± Sheph said and took her into a hug. ¡°Believe us, the shock will fade.¡±


    ¡°We''re all here for each other, too.¡± Sandy said. ¡°We all gave up our lives back there to make a home here.¡±


    ¡°And it is a home.¡± Hailey said. ¡°Our home.¡±


    Monica wiped at her face and looked at her maturing daughter. ¡°You''re growing up so fast.¡±


    ¡°Not fast enough.¡± Everyone else responded, since that was what Hailey always responded with when someone said that to her, then everyone laughed.

 Book Three: The Resolution 093

    I called a special meeting for everyone and we gathered in the large meeting room. Only Hailey''s mother Monica wasn''t included, since she didn''t have knowledge of everything that had been going on, nor did she have any idea of the sheer scope of my operation.


    ¡°I think we don''t have a choice now.¡± I said and everyone gave me a grave look, then nodded. ¡°Simone, if you would.¡±


    Simone brought up the command on the console and I plugged my broadcast device into the available port. She filtered out the last two systems with training camps and they dropped out of the map on the holographic table.


    ¡°There''s no guarantee that this won''t make it to those two systems as well, and we won''t know until we go there.¡± I said and reached for the activation button, then paused. ¡°I know this is going to paint a huge target on us and I''m sorry that it''s come to this.¡±


    ¡°So are we.¡± Gleas said. ¡°It was almost fun how we were hunting them down and dealing with them covertly.¡±


    ¡°Kara''s already looking into the disappearances, so it''s only a matter of time before she comes for us.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°No, she''s coming for me.¡± I said. ¡°You are all to tell her that it was all me. This was my idea and I''m the one that executed it.¡±


    ¡°We helped.¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°I''m claiming full responsibility for it, no matter what.¡± I said. ¡°None of you are to volunteer to accept the blame.¡±


    ¡°What about the focusing crystal factory?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°I ordered it.¡± I said. ¡°I even have the recordings to prove it was all me.¡±


    ¡°You said we shared the blame and the guilt.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°We do... and I love you even more because you understood that.¡± I said. ¡°The responsibility for it is still all mine, however.¡±


    ¡°We''re all in this together.¡± Simone said. ¡°If you go down...¡±


    ¡°...you''ll all stay here and wait for me to come back.¡± I cut her off before she could complete her sentence.


    ¡°You''re going to give yourself up after this!¡± Hailey said, surprised.


    ¡°That''s stupid, Hunter.¡± Sheph said. ¡°If you give yourself up, they could sentence you to years of imprisonment... or even death.¡±


    ¡°No, they won''t kill me.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I''m too valuable of a resource now.¡±


    ¡°You''re more trouble to them than you''re worth.¡± Simone said with a chuckle. ¡°You taught them that before you escaped.¡±


    ¡°I also know some techniques that they don''t.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve also developed techniques that allow me to teach Presence use to others that couldn''t manipulate it enough to push a button.¡±


    ¡°Hey! That was my first time!¡± Simone exclaimed and a few of the others let out a laugh.


    ¡°We''re sending this over every system the satellites are in, so even the assassins that have already been infiltrated into all the places they were going, will succumb to it.¡± I said. ¡°What it won''t do is hit ships that are still in hyperspace. Once I activate it, it''s going to send out a pulse once a week.¡±


    ¡°What about the last two training camps?¡± Isabella asked. ¡°If you give yourself up, how are we going to successfully assault them and rescue the prisoners?¡±


    I put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Normally I would say you and Simone could handle it on your own; but, I''ll be taking care of it myself.¡±


    ¡°What? How?¡± Isabella asked.


    ¡°He''s going to tell them about it and give them a copy of the data.¡± Hailey said in a flat tone. ¡°They can''t refute the evidence and will have to send someone to investigate, probably Kara, and since he will be with her, they will rescue them.¡±


    I left my spot and walked around the table to her, then knelt. ¡°Hailey, don''t worry.¡± I said and took her hand, then placed it on the spot above my heart. ¡°I''m yours and you are mine. I can be all the way across the galaxy and I will always be with you.¡±


    ¡°What if you die?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°I''ve died before.¡± I said and used my free hand to rub my hand through her four inch long golden hair that was starting to curl on its own. ¡°That last time, I''m pretty sure it was you that kept me here.¡±


    The Presence didn''t waver, and Hailey''s eyes teared up.


    ¡°You see? You won''t let me go, so you don''t have to worry.¡± I said and wiped at her eyes, then I gave her a gentle kiss. ¡°I love you, Honey.¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± Hailey said and gave me the same kiss back.


    I smiled at her and stood, then I walked back around the table. I gave everyone a look as if to say that this was it, then I pushed the button.


    *


    Over the last year, Hunter and his crew had raided a lot of businesses and killed a lot of people... on a small scale. Eighty people here, a hundred there, and it didn''t make a huge difference or cause a ruckus. It was almost as if they didn''t happen until someone went to see it for themselves and saw that the buildings had been abandoned. No one actually searched for the missing people, since those people had been using fake identities anyway.


    When Hunter pushed the button, though... the signal was sent out to over twelve hundred satellites in twelve hundred solar systems, most of which had multiple planets and habitable moons. The training camps and businesses were not the only places that the trained assassins were located. It was just where a majority of them worked to get their assignments easier.


    Losing a hundred people from a single business meant almost nothing in the grand scheme of things. Losing all of the assassins spread out over a thousand solar systems and several thousand worlds and almost double that in moons? It was significant.


    If the average population for a moderate world was five billion people, which is a very conservative number, considering anti-gravity technology and space habitats, stations, spaceships, and asteroids, then twelve hundred systems with an average of three planets and two habitable moons becomes a total of thirty trillion people.


    Thirty trillion.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    If only one percent of one percent of one percent of that significant number were assassins, then the signal had killed no less than thirty million people. Instantly.


    They all dropped dead wherever they were as the suicide charge in their heads detonated. Most people around them didn''t notice the fainting people at first, then some tried to help and others screamed. Panic quickly spread as word of people mysteriously dropping dead for no reason spread. Alerts were sounded and the authorities were called. Order members were also alerted, since a few of their own numbers had also mysteriously dropped dead and they were asked to investigate.


    No set pattern seemed to emerge. The dead people were from all walks of life, all different species, and lived on different planets. No one could explain the disaster and the fear and enmity rose among all the people in those systems, since they all wondered if a calamity like that was going to strike again.


    *


    Mortals weren''t the only ones to notice that it happened, either.


    ¡°It''s starting.¡± Black Laura whispered as she felt a shift in the Presence.


    It was only a minuscule amount, and yet it wasn''t something that could be ignored, because something significant had to happen for any kind of shift to happen. She used the borrowed connection from Maleketh to look in on her investment. She pulled time back and watched it again, then smiled.


    ¡°Ah, dearest. You knew you were a bit too soon and did it anyway.¡± Black Laura said and stopped herself from touching the image of Hunter. ¡°Perhaps we will see each other much sooner than you thought.¡±


    *


    ¡°Send the message, Simone.¡± I said and walked around the table. I gave hugs to everyone, even though they refused to acknowledge that I was actually leaving.


    ¡°Hunter, it''s going to take Kara a month to get back here.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°I know, and I plan to be in the next system before that to wait for her.¡± I said and gave her a hug. ¡°Jelly, can you drop me off at the station?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I don''t want to.¡± Jelly said, almost in a huff.


    ¡°I can take a shuttle and you can remote pilot it back if you want.¡±


    Jelly sighed. ¡°No, I''ll take you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and turned to Hailey. ¡°Remember what I said.¡±


    Hailey bit her bottom lip and gave me the cutest sad face I had ever seen.


    ¡°I feel the same way; but, I''d look ridiculous trying to make my face like that.¡± I said and caressed her cheek. ¡°I''ll see you later.¡±


    ¡°You''re really leaving us?¡± Beatrice asked as tears came to her eyes and Sandy hugged her.


    ¡°I have to.¡± I said and walked over to her, then hugged both Beatrice and Sandy. ¡°It''s the only way I can protect you all from what happens next.¡±


    ¡°What... what if they come for us?¡± Sandy asked.


    ¡°They won''t.¡± I said. ¡°As far as anyone else is concerned, I did this all myself.¡±


    ¡°You can''t shoulder all of the responsibility!¡± Sheph said. ¡°We were all involved in...¡±


    ¡°I asked you all to come with me. None of you are responsible for my decisions.¡± I said.


    In a rare show of affection, both Beatrice and Sandy gave me a kiss on the lips. That surprised me and everyone else.


    ¡°You were the first one to accept us for who we are and didn''t judge us.¡± Sandy said in explanation. ¡°Allowing me to come along while Beatrice worked was something I never expected... or even dreamed was possible on modern spaceships.¡±


    ¡°Sandy...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°We love Hailey like a daughter, one we haven''t had the chance to have ourselves.¡± Sandy said. ¡°You trusted us to help take care of her, and that was something we hadn''t encountered before.¡±


    Beatrice rubbed her hand over my four inch long hair and smiled. ¡°You let us be ourselves and that is more precious to us than your personal shield gifts.¡±


    ¡°Although, those are awesome.¡± Sandy said and smiled. ¡°We''re not giving them back!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''ve only got a few thousand crystals left to make more, so you better not waste them.¡± I said in serious tone, and everyone laughed.


    ¡°I sent the message to her.¡± Simone said, her voice full of sadness.


    I led Beatrice and Sandy go and walked over to Simone. ¡°I''m not sorry that we didn''t do the tour of the system in Adona.¡±


    Simone laughed for a moment, then she started to cry.


    ¡°Hey, it''s all right.¡± I said and took her into my arms. ¡°Believe me, I''ll be closer than you think.¡±


    ¡°I already miss you.¡± Simone said through her tears and all four of her arms hugged me.


    ¡°Hey, you''re getting better at getting normal reactions from your extra arms.¡± I said.


    ¡°You wouldn''t let me practice like I wanted to, though.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°We''ve been too busy for you to have that kind of fun.¡± I said and gave her a normal kiss and not the subdued one we normally did. Everyone noticed, even Hailey. ¡°I promise that when I come back, I''ll think about letting it happen.¡±


    Simone laughed at that, then she gave me another kiss. ¡°Goodbye, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°No, it''s just a ''see you later''.¡± I corrected her, then I walked over to the doorway to the meeting room. ¡°I''ll see you all later.¡± I said, then I left. Jelly came right behind me and I somehow managed to not be overwhelmed by the sadness and regret from the meeting room. I went to my room and changed my clothes to basic robes, packed a few things that I knew they would want, and made sure that I had multiple data backups on me in case they took the first one and claimed that I didn''t give them anything. I followed Jelly to the shuttle bay on the space habitat and we boarded a normal shuttle.


    Jelly flew me over to the station and dropped me off. She walked me to the shuttle''s hatch and wanted to tell me so many things and also wanted to ask me so many things, so I held a hand up to stop her. She gave me a stern look for a second, then sighed.


    I stepped close to her and gave her a hug. ¡°You tasted delicious.¡± I whispered in her ear, in reference to that time we were on a mission and Simone had taken a particular liberty with her and then stuck that finger in my mouth.


    Jelly blushed so hard that I thought she was going to pass out, so I used a calming technique on her.


    ¡°When I get back, maybe I can taste it directly?¡± I asked her as I let her go.


    Jelly gave me a very stern look, held it for several seconds, then nodded and stepped back into the shuttle. I smiled at her reaction, because she wouldn''t say out loud that she really liked that Simone had let her cross that line without actually crossing the line.


    I walked across the boarding part of the station and booked passage to the next system, then had to wait for six hours for it to leave. I boarded it just in time, because The Order member that manned the station office ran over to where I had been and looked around for me.


    Messages seem to travel slowly on the normal network. I thought and sat down on the slow passenger transport. It would take three weeks to traverse to the next system and I would only have a few days to a week for Kara to show up, assuming members of The Order weren''t already waiting for me when I arrived. Either way, I was giving myself up for what I did and nothing was going to change that outcome.


    *


    Kara had been shocked when she received the message from Hunter. He admitted to all of the disappearances and also to all of the current unexplained deaths that had terrified over a thousand different star systems. The problem was that he claimed that he had an explanation for those deaths and would only tell her in person. She relayed the message to The Order''s home planet and waited for a response.


    They would send a response team immediately to the system in the message and to all systems surrounding it to look for him. Kara knew that was a mistake, since Hunter claimed he would wait for her in that system, then that was where he would be when it was time.


    Kara told her pilot to divert from their next destination and to head to the Dirman System. He told her how long it would take to exit hyperspace and to make the new calculations and to jump again, and she nodded. She had no problems waiting for almost a month to see Hunter again.


    All that remained was how he would react to meeting someone other than her when he arrived.


    *


    The Wise One sat behind his desk and read Kara''s forwarded message again. He was both surprised and not surprised at the information it contained. It seems her instincts were correct and Hunter has been behind the things happening in the civilian businesses. He thought. Now I wonder if she was also right to suspect him in the destruction of the focusing crystal sacred site.


    The Wise One chuckle coughed and closed his console down. He needed to meditate on things and he hoped that his personal garden would give him a much clearer picture of things, now that he knew the cause of some of The Order''s problems. He wouldn''t hold his breath for it, though. He knew how difficult it was to try and predict anything that involved the free will of individuals and their impact on large scale operations.


    The Wise One decided to try anyway, just in case. Perhaps this time, he would be surprised and actually receive an accurate picture of things to come. He cough chuckled again and left his office to head to his garden.


    *


    The scaly alien, Kralish, sat at his personal terminal and looked over a copy of the message sent to The Wise One. Hunter. He thought. It was Hunter!


    He typed up some new orders and sent them to the Dirman System and The Order temple there. Hunter was to be subdued with as much force as possible and then contained. He could not be allowed to escape or to cause even more chaos within The Order. With those high priority orders sent, the scaly alien relaxed in his chambers and let out a sigh.


    He would soon have the elusive rogue in his grasp.

 Book Three: The Resolution 094

    The trip to the Dirman System took three weeks and three days. On the last day, I meditated and used the techniques I had to suppress and hide my Presence. I knew Kara wasn''t going to be there to greet me this soon, so I wanted to hide as much as I could from The Order members that would be looking for me.


    Of course, I was assuming they had been looking for me this whole time and I had no doubt that they were. I wasn''t there at all and I planned on hiding myself when I left this ship. I didn''t want them to possibly trace it back to the other system so soon.


    Kara knew that was where The Wave had its temporary base of operations and where I had worked out of for a while, so completely concealing it from being found was just unrealistic. All I could do was divert all of the attention onto myself and I left as much protection around the space habitat as possible. Namely in the form of stealth drones with automatic laser cannons.


    They wouldn''t stop an all out assault on the habitat; but, they would discourage anyone from approaching with aggression. I left them under Opina''s control and she knew who to let get close to the station and who to warn off. She was also covered in deflector screens and had concealed missile launchers and assault laser cannons scattered over her surface. No one was getting to my family without causing trouble.


    When the ship docked, I quickly used Stealth and faded completely from everyone''s perception and left the ship. I dropped my ticket between two other tickets on the station boarding desk and left the area. I passed by two Order members that looked like they were standing guard at the terminal. I resisted the urge to put them to sleep and kept walking, careful of the people around me and where I wanted to go.


    ¡°There''s still no sign of him.¡± An Order member said as I stepped into The Order office on the station. ¡°How is that possible? He said he was here waiting for Master Moor.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what to tell you.¡± The Order member in front of him said. ¡°We even searched the planet for ship and shuttle activity, and there was nothing.¡±


    ¡°He can''t evade us forever.¡± The first man said.


    ¡°I heard it took Master Moor a year to track him down to face justice the last time.¡± The second man said. ¡°This time, he didn''t even try to run.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± The first man asked. ¡°Maybe he knew it was fruitless to run?¡±


    ¡°No, it was because I need to accept all the attention.¡± I said.


    Both men whirled around and didn''t see me. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Who?¡± They said at the same time.


    ¡°I am the ghooooost of Hunnnnnter!¡± I said in a scary voice. ¡°OooooOOOO!¡±


    Both men felt shock and fear in equal measure and I put them both to sleep. I dragged them behind the large desk and propped them in the corner and sat down.


    Okay, let''s see. I thought and started to type on the console. Hmm, okay. Yes, this isn''t too bad. I said. It''s only limited access, which means I need to get to a temple or a compound before I can get what I''m really looking for.


    I plugged my broadcast device into the console and sent the signal through their systems to hit anything that was near any of the other small offices. I had no way of knowing that I had killed another eighteen hundred people within that limited scope. They were scattered over ten thousand systems, which was ten times where my satellites had been shipped, and that was only in or near their offices.


    I unplugged the device and stashed it in a bag of holding, then I erased the computer footage of me scaring the two Order members and me using the console and copied over the few previous minutes to fill the gap. I seriously considered actually staying here in The Order office to wait for Kara. I had plenty of food and supplies on me and I would only need to sneak out occasionally to use the bathroom and to shower.


    It would be cheaper than getting a room. I thought in amusement and picked one of the men up and sat him in the chair, then I knelt the other man between his legs and partially under the desk. I rested his head on the other man''s lap and just for an extra laugh, I used Presence to open up the seated man''s robes and left his pants intact, then tucked the second man''s hands around and under the first man''s thighs. With that done, I moved them in and braced the pair against the desk, so they couldn''t really move, then started the normal security footage recording.


    It''s been a while since I pulled off a good prank. I thought in amusement and walked over to the opposite corner and sat down to wait and set up a camera to record everything. This is going to be good. I just know it.


    It turned out to be much better than I had hoped.


    The seated man woke up first and sat up straight, then froze when he felt the dead weight near his crotch. His fear of a ghost had evaporated as he gazed down at the man cuddled into his abdomen. His robes were open and the man on his lap held onto his thighs.


    ¡°Off! OFF! OFFOFFOFFOFF!¡± The seated man yelled in a steady stream as he panicked and tried to push the man off of him, which woke the second man.


    ¡°Huh? What?¡± The second man lifted his head and saw the seated man''s open robes right in front of him and his face drained of all its color. He tried to back off and his hands were tightly tucked under the other man''s thighs and his back was against the desk. ¡°HEY! Let me go! LET ME GO!¡±


    Both men struggled to try and get away from the other and the seated man ended up being groped pretty much all over, to both men''s embarrassment, especially since the seated man became excited because of it. Stimulation was stimulation, after all.


    I had to make the Presence over my face solid, so my laughs wouldn''t escape my Stealth technique.


    It took them almost ten minutes to calm down and to figure out how to get untangled, and I laughed the whole time.


    I have to send this to Simone when I get the chance. I thought.


    ¡°Uh... yeah, I... I have to go.¡± The previously kneeling man said awkwardly when they finally separated, pointedly didn''t look at the other man''s excitement that his face had been pressed against a lot more than he ever thought he would have his face pressed against another man''s privates, then he quickly left the office. I let out one last chuckle at the scene and put the camera away.


    The seated man just sat there, his face with a shocked expression, and he didn''t say a word. Even when someone came in with an inquiry half an hour later, he didn''t say a word.


    ¡°Hey, are you all right?¡± The man asked and waved a hand in front of the seated man. There was no reaction and he checked him for a pulse. He was still alive, so he wasn''t sure what to do. He left and came back twenty minutes later with a guard and a medical technician. The Order member was quickly examined and the medical technician gave him a diagnosis.


    ¡°He''s in shock.¡± The man said.


    ¡°From what?¡±


    ¡°We can watch the footage.¡± The guard said and went around the console and brought it up. ¡°Oh. Um... no, we don''t need to see that.¡±


    ¡°I need to see it to confirm the diagnosis.¡± The medical technician said and walked around the console. ¡°Show me.¡±


    The guard sighed and played it.


    The medical technician listened and watched and realized what had happened. ¡°You need to find the other Order member. He sexually assaulted this man and it traumatized him.¡±


    ¡°That''s not really my...¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°That''s a medical order.¡± The medical technician said. ¡°This footage is pretty damning. Even if no actual contact happened... and from what I saw, there was a lot of it... he''s responsible.¡±


    ¡°He looked traumatized, too.¡±


    ¡°I guess once he started, he didn''t know how to stop.¡± The third man volunteered.


    The guard let out another sigh. ¡°I''ll go find him.¡± He said, as if he knew where the other man was.


    ¡°Give me a hand with him, will you?¡± The medical technician asked the third man. ¡°The medical bay isn''t that far.¡±


    The third man nodded and helped the medical technician carry The Order member out of the office.


    *


    Kara had been impatient for the whole trip back to where Hunter wanted to meet. She called the station and asked if they had seen him yet, and all she got were reports of really odd situations happening to Order members that were rotating through the office while searching for him.


    He''s definitely there. Kara thought and shook her head. How can no one else see that?


    Kara''s anxiety ratcheted up as her ship approached the station. She knew he was there waiting for her and she had to admit to herself that she was looking forward to seeing him again, even under the circumstances. It actually hurt her heart a little that he had it in him to murder so many people. She knew he was a killer, since she had actually chased him before while he went on a killing spree; but this time, he had killed millions of people.


    The ship docked and she was up and out of the ship before it had finished getting the proper readings for a good seal. The security team there to greet her were surprised when she ran past them without so much as a hello. Kara didn''t have time to waste on such trivial things right now. She came to a stop in the middle of the boarding area and let her senses expand as her Presence flowed out to its full detection range.


    It had taken Kara years to get it out to its current distance and she was quite proud to have reached two hundred feet so quickly. She didn''t need her full detection range, though. She thought she would have a merry chase all over the station as she tried to track him down, and she caught her breath when he appeared five feet away from her and she let her detection range fade. She turned around to see Hunter as he stood right behind her.


    *


    ¡°Hello, Kara.¡± I said, just to annoy her. She wasn''t annoyed however and I was surprised at her thoughts of being happy to see me.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Kara said and stepped close to me. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°To surprise you.¡± I said. ¡°I figured you came all this way, so the last thing you would want was to try and catch me again after I already agreed to surrender to you.¡±


    Kara shook her head. ¡°No, why did you do what you did?¡±


    ¡°I had to.¡± I said. ¡°I was running out of time, because someone was investigating my work.¡±


    Kara''s eyes twitched and I chuckled.


    ¡°I also did something that I knew would get The Order''s attention in the Fogaris System and my plans had to be accelerated.¡±


    ¡°Fogaris... that''s not where...¡± Kara stopped her words and her thoughts before she gave anything away. ¡°Hunter, I am taking you formally into my custody to be returned to The Order''s home planet to face the charges against you.¡±


    ¡°I hope you''re ready to fight for that custody.¡± I said and waved behind her. ¡°Apparently, different orders than yours have been sent to these gentlemen and ladies.¡±


    Kara turned around to see six Order members standing at the ready, prepared to fight, and twenty guards were behind them with their weapons drawn and ready to fire.


    ¡°What is going on here?¡± Kara asked them.


    ¡°We were ordered to subdue and contain the rogue.¡± One of The Order members said and activated his Light sword. Or tried to. He looked down at it and flicked the switch again, then nothing happened. ¡°What the...¡± He was completely distracted as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his Light sword.


    ¡°Would someone else like to try?¡± I asked and waved at the other five Order members. Two male aliens, another man, and two women tried to activate their Light swords and nothing happened.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± One of the women asked, almost in a panic. ¡°I just built this!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I popped the focusing crystal out of its holder and attuned it to me.¡±


    Her mouth dropped open in shock and she stared at me.


    ¡°Yes, it''s really possible.¡± I said and then there were twenty clicks and every guard weapon pointed at us popped their battery packs, which fell to the floor. ¡°See? Quite easy.¡±


    Kara almost laughed as every single guard bent down to retrieve the battery pack and none of them switched to their backup pistols first to keep us guarded.


    ¡°You would think at least one or two of them would have watched us while the others reloaded.¡± I said.


    Kara actually chuckled as the guards jerked as if someone had hit them and then they tried to switch weapons with both hands full. They made a complete mess of it and we stood there and waited for them to get themselves back in position.


    One of the alien Order members gave up on trying to fix his Light sword and glared at us. ¡°You are coming with us, rogue.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I am already in the custody of The Wise One''s Task Master.¡± I said. ¡°Do you outrank her?¡±


    ¡°The council ordered...¡±


    ¡°She''s outside the council''s purview.¡± I said and cut him off. ¡°In fact, she was specifically sent to retrieve me. Are you going to countermand The Wise One''s orders?¡±


    ¡°You are too dangerous to have out in public unguarded!¡± The shocked woman waggled her useless Light sword at me.


    ¡°Of course I am.¡± I said and her mouth dropped open in shock again, because the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°That''s why Master Moor is guarding me.¡±


    Kara took in a sharp breath and her whole body shook for a second before she stopped herself.


    That was an interesting reaction. I thought with a smile. ¡°I''m feeling a bit hungry.¡± I said to Kara and touched her shoulder. ¡°Would you care to join me for lunch? There''s a restaurant over on deck three that has a good steak and rice dish I''ve been wanting to try.¡±


    Kara barely managed to stop her blush at the invitation. ¡°It has been a long trip with just rations.¡±


    ¡°Aw, you poor thing.¡± I said and gave her shoulder a squeeze. ¡°Come with me. I''m paying.¡±


    Kara nodded and I walked straight towards The Order members and the guards. They weren''t going to move, so I created two Presence walls and pushed them just far enough apart for Kara and I to fit between them.


    ¡°Are we leaving right away, or does your ship need maintenance and resupply?¡± I asked as The Order members and guards stared at us.


    ¡°It''ll be two days before we can leave.¡± Kara said.


    I smiled. ¡°I''m surprised they didn''t just transfer you to another ship.¡±


    ¡°I''ve used the same ship since I accepted The Wise One''s offer.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± I said. Operational security could only be guaranteed if you knew all the factors.


    We walked up to level three and stopped at the restaurant.


    ¡°Reservation for Moor.¡± I said.


    ¡°Right this way, sir and madam.¡± The man said and led us through the restaurant to the best table. ¡°I will have the waitress sent right over.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and handed him a hundred credit chip.


    The man gave me a huge smile and left with a hop in his step. I smiled as well and held a chair out for Kara to sit down.


    ¡°You planned this?¡± Kara asked and adjusted her robes for sitting.


    ¡°You might have said no, or we had to leave right away, so I have food stashed in case.¡± I said and sat down across from her.


    ¡°That''s a yes.¡± Kara said and I chuckled.


    A woman quickly strode over to our table and gave us a huge smile. ¡°What would you like to drink?¡± She asked and I saw she was wearing a hair net over her head. I looked closer at her and saw that it wasn''t hair she was keeping restrained, it was feathers she was trying to conceal. Her nose was also in a kind of beak shape, albeit different than what I had seen before. From her thoughts as she saw me looking, the feathers tended to float out at random times and she didn''t want to get in trouble again for it.


    ¡°Just water for the both of us, two glasses each so you won''t have to make multiple trips, and we both want the steak and rice dinners.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, you might as well give us a plate of those hor d''oeuvres you like so much while we wait.¡±


    The waitress gave me an odd look for a second. ¡°How did you know I was going to recommend them?¡±


    ¡°I can read your cute little mind.¡± I said and gave her an award winning smile.


    Quite a few other thoughts went through her head before she recovered. ¡°Um... okay. I''ll... I''ll be right back with your drinks!¡±


    Kara held off on shaking her head until the waitress was out of sight. ¡°Hunter, what was that about?¡±


    ¡°I''ve met someone of her species before.¡± I said and recalled one of the prisoners. ¡°Unless you''re completely honest with them, they won''t like you.¡±


    ¡°I meant complimenting her like that.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Envious, are you?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Kara said and stopped her blush before it started. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Is that a challenge I hear in your voice?¡± I asked as the waitress came back with the drinks. ¡°Excuse me, could I bother you for a second?¡±


    The waitress looked around for a moment, then I waved for her to come closer so I could whisper in her ear. She leaned on the edge of the table and I let out two quick chirps and a low whistle. She nearly fell over and braced herself on the table as her hair net expanded a little and she started to breathe heavily.


    ¡°I... get off... at ten.¡± The waitress whispered.


    I looked across the table at Kara and saw her shock. ¡°I could get you off right now...¡±


    ¡°Oh... oh...¡± The waitress panted and gave me eyes that were filled with both fear and anticipation. ¡°No, I... I''m working.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± I said and touched her hand to share a calming technique with her. ¡°I''ll be here on the station for two days...¡±


    The waitress reached into her pocket and pulled out her room pass key. ¡°Please wait for me here.¡±


    I took the key and she took several breaths, then she stood up as if nothing had happened. ¡°I''ll be right back with that dish.¡±


    I nodded and she walked away with a really large sway in her hips, as if she had tail feathers and was trying to show them off.


    ¡°What. Was. That?¡± Kara asked in a deadly voice.


    ¡°Apparently a date.¡± I said and tucked the card into my robes. ¡°I assume you''re going to be nearby.¡±


    ¡°I have to be.¡± Kara said, clearly angry.


    ¡°There''s the envy.¡± I said with a chuckle.


    The waitress came back with the plate of hor d''oeuvres and put them on the table, then she took another long look around and bent over me. ¡°A little more.¡±


    I smiled and gave her a low whistle, a quick high whistle, then warbled my throat.


    ¡°OH!¡± She exclaimed and her hairnet puffed right out.


    ¡°That was close.¡± I whispered, and she rested her head against mine as she nodded. ¡°I think I need to stop teasing you.¡±


    The waitress nodded again and I shared more calmness with her. She gave me a huge smile and touched my shoulder affectionately, then she walked away again and practically every man watched her confidently sashay across the restaurant.

 Book Three: The Resolution 095

    Kara didn''t speak as we idly picked at the quite tasty pre-meal treats the waitress had dropped off. I took a sip of water to wash one down and used Presence to let the coolness of the liquid permeate and refresh my body. She blinked her eyes at my very subtle use of Presence and still didn''t say anything. A short while later, the waitress returned with our meals of steak and rice, then she picked up the almost empty plate of treats.


    ¡°They were quite tasty.¡± I complimented her. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The waitress smiled and gave me a nod, then left without a word.


    I dug into the food and it tasted fine. I would have added a different spice to bring out the flavor of the meat and perhaps would have added a nice brown sauce for the rice. Not necessarily for the flavor, for the color contrast.


    Kara kept eyeing me as we ate and I would raise my eyes from my plate to look at her. She would divert her gaze as soon as I did and still wouldn''t speak. Of course, I didn''t try to engage her in idle conversation either.


    What would our small talk be about? I asked myself, then my mind started to create that conversation.


    ''Oh, I didn''t know I had killed quite that many people.'' I could say.


    ''Don''t worry, you''re facing justice for them anyway. What does it matter that you killed a few million more than you planned?'' Kara would probably respond.


    I chuckled at the thought and she looked at me. ¡°Sorry, I''m just amusing myself.¡±


    ¡°You''re not planning any more pranks, are you?¡± Kara asked.


    I smiled. ¡°Heard about that, did you?¡±


    Kara rolled her eyes. ¡°I thought you had outgrown that kind of behavior.¡±


    ¡°So did I.¡± I said with a laugh. ¡°I''m still a kid at heart, I guess.¡±


    ¡°A really immature kid.¡± Kara responded.


    ¡°Hey, there''s only so many things I have access to on a station without getting caught.¡±


    Kara shook her head. ¡°You shouldn''t be playing tricks at all, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°I was just passing time until you showed up.¡± I said. ¡°It was almost nostalgic, actually.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I did the same thing back on The Order''s home planet. I was doing pranks to keep busy and to pass the time, until you showed up.¡±


    Kara thought about that and nodded. ¡°I think it really is similar.¡± She said. ¡°I took you into custody then, too.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Remember my first and only prank on you?¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°You''ve never let me forget it.¡±


    ¡°It was great! You had everyone running around looking for me and I never left my room! Ha ha!¡±


    ¡°Let''s just finish eating and go.¡± Kara said and ate the last of the rice on her plate and drank the last of her second glass of water.


    ¡°Do you have a room yet?¡± I asked and did the same thing.


    ¡°They have standing rooms reserved at the hotel for Order members.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Then I guess it''s good I made other arrangements.¡± I said and waved at the waitress to get her attention.


    ¡°Hunter, you''re not really going to...¡± Kara stopped talking as the waitress came over.


    ¡°Are you all done?¡± The waitress asked happily.


    ¡°Yes, and it was okay.¡± I said and she took in a quick breath. ¡°If you talk to the cooks, tell them to ease off on the hirshall spice and add a bit of grinsaki. A light brown sauce for the rice will really make it pop on the plate.¡±


    The waitress gave me a look that said she couldn''t believe my words, and yet, she knew I had been honest. ¡°I''ll let them know.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much.¡± I said and took out a thousand credit chip and handed it to her.


    The waitress caught her breath. ¡°Yes!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°Um, I mean... I''ll come back with...¡±


    ¡°Keep the rest as a tip.¡± I chuckled and stood up, then I leaned close to whisper in her ear. ¡°I''ll see you tonight.¡± Then I chirped.


    Her hairnet expanded out a little as her feathers fluffed and she nodded. I stepped around her to stand at Kara''s side, then she stood as well and we left the restaurant together.


    ¡°Hunter, are you seriously going to sleep with a strange woman tonight?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°It should be fun, not serious.¡± I said and Kara gave me a glare. ¡°Yes. I haven''t had sex in a while. She seemed to be really receptive, and I doubted that you would want me to sleep in your tiny bed.¡±


    ¡°It''s a normal sized bed. There''s plenty of room for you.¡± Kara responded, then realized what she said.


    I reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°I knew what you meant and I won''t tease you over it.¡±


    Kara frowned at me. ¡°Who are you and what did you do with the old Hunter?¡±


    I chuckled and let her shoulder go. ¡°I killed him and ate him! Ha ha!¡±


    Kara sighed and shook her head and we went to the hotel. ¡°Reservation for Moor.¡±


    ¡°That sounds familiar.¡± I said with a smile, because that was what I had said at the restaurant.


    ¡°Here we are. A single room for two nights.¡± The man said and handed her a room pass key. ¡°And for the gentleman?¡±


    ¡°I''ve made other arrangements for tonight, and depending on how it goes, possibly for tomorrow night as well.¡± I said and Kara let out a huff. ¡°I should book a room anyway, just in case. Is the one next to Master Moor''s available?¡±


    Kara caught her breath and trembled slightly, then she stopped her reaction.


    ¡°It just happens to be.¡± The man said. He had seen Kara''s reaction as well. ¡°Both nights?¡±


    ¡°Please.¡± I said and took out a credit chip.


    The man waved it away. ¡°I assume The Order will cover it.¡±


    I gave Kara a smirk and looked back at the clerk. ¡°I better pay, just in case they decide not to.¡±


    The man chuckled. ¡°I won''t turn down immediate credits over submitting a bill at the end of the month and waiting for payment.¡± He said and took the credit chip, deducted what the room cost for both nights, then started to hand it back.


    ¡°Tip for services?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You can tip when you check out.¡± The man said and handed me a room key and the credit chip back. ¡°Thank you for staying with us.¡±


    I nodded and he told us where the rooms were located. Kara led the way and I followed her to her room. She opened her door and waved me inside, then closed and locked it. I looked around the room and saw that the bed was a single bed, just enough for someone to roll from side to side and sleep comfortably in. If two people shared it, it would be... cozy.


    ¡°I''m thinking you were a little off on the normal bed size.¡± I commented.


    Kara came over to look and sighed. ¡°I asked for a normal room, dammit.¡±


    I looked through the wall and saw that the bed in my room was a normal size and could easily fit two people. ¡°Well, mine is.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Kara turned and looked and sighed again. ¡°I don''t suppose you want to switch?¡±


    ¡°I don''t plan on staying here, so sure.¡± I said and handed her my room pass key and she gave me hers.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Shall we go next door to meditate?¡± I asked. ¡°The room itself is a little bigger, too.¡±


    Kara nodded and we went next door to her new room, then climbed onto the bed and sat in the lotus position. ¡°I want you to tell me everything; but, I don''t want you to influence me with your words. We have to wait until we return to The Order''s home planet and talk to The Wise One.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked, a little surprised. ¡°I thought you would try to interrogate me right away.¡±


    ¡°I want to.¡± Kara said and closed her eyes. ¡°I just know it''s kind of dangerous to listen to how reasonably you can justify all the killing you do.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Okay, I have to admit that I''ve killed quite a lot more than you have, even before this latest thing.¡± I said and closed my own eyes. I felt a few very light mental touches on my mental barriers and chuckled again. ¡°You know, you could just ask.¡±


    ¡°I''m just making sure your protection is intact.¡± Kara said and took in a deep breath and let it out. ¡°You can test mine if you want.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked with a teasing tone.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Kara said and her thoughts were adamant that my mental probes would only bounce off of her barrier because it was so strong.


    I smiled and used the trick Hailey taught me about hugging with Presence.


    Kara took in a sharp breath and her mental barriers wavered for a second. ¡°What was that?¡± She asked, because she hadn''t been prepared for feeling something that was both very odd and comforting at the same time.


    ¡°A distraction.¡± I said and rather than use a mental probe like she expected, I used Presence to surround her mental barriers and she shivered at the ''touch''. ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    Kara reinforced her mental barriers and braced for me to forcefully enter her mind.


    That''s a mistake. I thought to her, then used my ability to merge energies and eased my Presence into her mental barriers like water soaking into a sponge. It didn''t change the shape or what it did, it just added to the weight and slowly flowed through.


    ¡°S-stop.¡± Kara whispered and I slowly pulled my Presence back and away from her. It took her a minute to open her eyes and look at me. ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°There''s a lot of things I can do.¡± I said and opened my own eyes. ¡°That was just one of them.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t do anything like that back on Relique.¡±


    ¡°I did... just not with you.¡± I said and she nodded when the Presence didn''t waver.


    ¡°What else can you show me?¡±


    I smiled and started to open my robes.


    ¡°No! I didn''t mean that!¡± Kara exclaimed and rolled off the bed to stand beside it.


    I laughed and put my robes back into place. ¡°I didn''t even intend to tease you and you took it that way, anyway.¡± I said. ¡°I have embedded scars on my chest, created with Presence.¡±


    ¡°I know. I saw them before.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I have new ones.¡± I said and her eyes looked at my chest, then she quickly turned her head away.


    ¡°No, I won''t let you tempt me.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Yes, showing you my chest is how I would tempt you.¡± I said sarcastically. ¡°But, that''s okay. You''ll see them eventually.¡±


    Kara took another sharp breath, because the Presence didn''t waver.


    ¡°I''m going to meditate until I need to meet my date.¡± I said and closed my eyes again. ¡°Don''t be upset if I''m quiet for the rest of the day.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to say that it wouldn''t bother her, then she realized that she wanted to hear my voice.


    ¡°I can hear your surface thoughts, by the way.¡± I said and entered a half-meditative state.


    ¡°How? I can''t feel anything.¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Even thoughts carry Presence.¡± I said and slowed my breathing down to one long breath every ten minutes. Stray thoughts are easy to grasp if you know how to see them. I thought to her.


    ¡°You can see my stray thoughts?¡± Kara asked, surprised.


    Like planets around a star. I thought, because that was a good description. I slowed my mind down and entered a fully meditative state and let my senses go while still remaining alert.


    *


    Kara stood there and used her Presence Detection technique. She looked over Hunter and his Presence wasn''t any stronger than it had been since the last time she had seen him. Yet, she knew there was something different about him. She didn''t know what it was and she knew she wasn''t going to find out without actually talking to him about it. She stood there for half an hour before she gave in to her curiosity and looked at the scars above his heart.


    Kara gasped as she saw two consecutive rings of angular scars and not the single ring that she expected to see. He also had a distinct ''H'' shape in the middle of them and she couldn''t understand why he would brand himself with his own name''s initial. It made no sense to her, and then she remembered the significance of the first ring of scars.


    No. Kara thought as she climbed back onto the bed and sat down. He lost someone else dear to his heart? She asked herself. Two someones? She managed to not reach out to rub the spot through his robes and then entered her own meditative state. She needed to recover after her long trip through space and also to digest the hearty food she had ingested.


    The rest of the day passed and neither of them moved, except for the occasional breath. It was quiet and it was like there wasn''t anyone at all in the room.


    *


    The Order members had gathered in the office with the lieutenant of the guards.


    ¡°Our orders are clear. He should be subdued and restrained.¡± One of the alien Order members said.


    ¡°He should also be in our custody.¡± The shocked woman said. ¡°I only just fixed my Light sword!¡±


    ¡°We can''t go against The Wise One, even if the council ordered it, which they never would.¡± The other woman said. ¡°He''s The Wise One.¡±


    ¡°So what do we do?¡± The other alien asked.


    ¡°We keep them under observation and report their activities.¡± The lieutenant said. ¡°So far, they haven''t left the room all day.¡±


    ¡°Stay on them and keep us informed.¡± The first alien said. ¡°If they step out of line, I want them handled immediately!¡±


    The other Order members gave him a look as if he was crazy for even thinking they could handle him on their own. Their last encounter hadn''t turned out so well and their targets had been outnumbered twelve to one.


    The lieutenant gave him a salute and left the office at a crisp walk.


    *


    The waitress was filled with a feeling like euphoria as she worked the rest of her shift. She had never met anyone, even someone of her own species, that had been able to do to her what a random stranger had done with casual flirting. She didn''t care if he was married, if had a hundred women scattered over a dozen systems, or even if he was a fraud. It didn''t matter at all to her.


    Her hips swayed a bit more as she beamed a smile at the next customer she gave the bill to. When her shift ended, she was surprised that she had made more in tips that evening than she ever had, not counting the completely outrageous tip her date had given her.


    Maybe they can tell how happy I am? The waitress asked herself, shrugged, and went to deliver the last customer''s meal payment to the manager. Oh, I can''t wait! I can''t WAIT! She thought excitedly and left the restaurant and headed over to the living section on the station. Please be there, please be there, pleasebethere! She thought furiously and forced herself not to run, because that would draw too much attention.


    *


    When the appropriate time arrived, Hunter started to stir. It took a minute for his body to come out of its near comatose state. He used Presence to speed up the process and reached out to touch Kara''s forehead. She didn''t gasp or react physically, because she was in a similar state. Mentally? She nearly had a seizure of pleasure as Hunter''s pervasive energy touched hers.


    Kara''s Presence tried to flow out and follow it to its source, then the energy was gone and she was filled with sadness. My Prince! Come back! She thought loudly before she could stop herself and she started to stir physically as well.


    You''re still holding on to that old fantasy? Hunter asked her with amusement and unfolded himself from the lotus position. ¡°You do know how unrealistic it is to want to change someone into your ideal mate, don''t you?¡±


    Kara didn''t say anything as she unfolded herself.


    ¡°Kara, I''m going to give you a piece of advice.¡± Hunter said. ¡°It''s okay if you want to change and improve yourself to become happy. It''s not okay to diminish someone else and form them into what you want them to be.¡±


    Kara tried her best to glare at him, then she sighed. ¡°I know you''re talking from experience.¡±


    Hunter nodded. ¡°All those Elven women being influenced by that Dryad to see men as useless objects that can only give them children, then made all the males into exactly that, really puts a man''s self worth into perspective.¡±


    Kara stood up and pulled her robes straight. ¡°I was only a young girl at the time, you know.¡±


    ¡°You still are.¡± Hunter said, almost cryptically, and walked to the door. ¡°Do you want to go together, or do you want to meet me there?¡±


    ¡°I''ll wait at the end of the hallway, so if anything happens, you''ll have time to put your clothes on.¡± Kara said sarcastically.


    ¡°I don''t need clothes to fight.¡± Hunter said and covered himself in Presence, used Stealth and faded from her perception, then he used Presence Run. He was at the living section less than a minute later and found the waitress'' apartment easily, rode the lift to the right floor, and went inside. He also put his detection range at just the size of the hallway and the edge of the lift.


    Hunter quickly looked around and saw that the apartment was a bit of a mess, with small feathers everywhere, then he went into the bedroom. He let out a bark of laughter as he saw a large round bed with a dozen blankets all wrapped around each other in the shape of a nest. He felt someone come out of the lift and took off his robes to leave himself in just the tight-like pants and the long sleeved t-shirt.


    The waitress stopped at the door and realized that she had no way to open it, because she had given her key to her date. Hunter chuckled and walked over to the door and opened it.


    ¡°You''re really here.¡± The waitress whispered.


    Hunter took her hand and gave it a kiss, then he warbled his throat in greeting. The woman shivered and stepped into her apartment.


    ¡°Let me see what you really look like.¡± Hunter said and carefully eased her black hairnet off of her head and didn''t damage the feathers. ¡°Wonderful.¡± He whispered and made a set of claws on his hand, like a bird''s feet, then gently scraped the claws through her bright and colorful plumage as if he was grooming her.


    The waitress stood there in shock and let him do something that no one had ever done to her before. ¡°Wh-what... what''s your name?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think you can take me saying it.¡± Hunter said with a smile and absorbed the Presence claws. ¡°Not with your clothes on, anyway.¡±


    The waitress shook with anticipation as she quickly pulled off her waitress uniform, then she was picked up and carried into her bedroom and laid in the middle of her nest. She stared at him as he took off his clothes and tucked them somewhere she couldn''t see, then he spoke.


    ¡°My name is...¡± Hunter started in common and switched to her native language and chirped and whistled, then used Presence to make his four inch hair stand up on the top of his head.


    ¡°OOHHHHH!!!¡± The waitress yelled in pleasure and her body bucked and shook as she had a huge orgasm. She rolled from side to side and hugged herself as she tried to hold on to the feeling.


    ¡°We''re just getting started.¡± Hunter said in warning and climbed onto the bed with her, then he whispered sweet nothings to her as he chirped and whistled a mating call and made her finish over and over as they had wild sex that the both of them really needed after so long.

 Book Three: The Resolution 096

    I spent the night with the waitress and it was one of the oddest and most interesting things I had ever experienced. The way she reacted to even little movements, and the thoughts going through her head to tell me what she wanted next and how to do it, made the entire night the most pleasurable one she had ever experienced.


    When she woke up in the morning, she saw that the nest was covered in her shed feathers and down. That gave her a sense of contentment that she was deeply grateful for and she hugged me tightly and gave me a kiss.


    ¡°Thank you so much.¡± She said and tweeted and whistled my name and her feathers on her head fluffed out a little. ¡°I never thought... a stranger letting me populate my nest...¡± She let out a laugh that sounded like someone ran a finger across a piano''s keys from low to high.


    ¡°You know I can''t... complete it.¡± I said.


    She laughed again. ¡°Oh! Can you imagine!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°You are already too good to be true. That would make you impossible to be real!¡±


    ¡°Do you have anyone to help with that?¡± I asked, with real concern in my voice.


    She stroked my head and gave me another kiss. ¡°My family has been eager to set me up with someone, except that they are as dull and unexciting as if I was with a human.¡±


    That made me laugh and I reached for her belly.


    ¡°I won''t generate a suitable one for another month, so you don''t have to worry.¡± She said and put a hand on mine. ¡°I really wish it could be yours, because it''s going to be a big one.¡±


    I laughed again and gave her a kiss. ¡°I''m surprisingly flattered by the size. Thank you.¡±


    She smiled at me and sat up, then shook herself to get off the rest of her loose feathers.


    ¡°Allow me.¡± I said and used Presence to make my hands into bird-like claws and groomed her head, all down her back, and then her forearms. After that, I used a thin wave of Presence to push all the stray feathers off of her and spread them around her nest of blankets.


    She stared at me and what I had done. ¡°Please tell me you''re staying in the system for the next two to fifteen years!¡±


    That made me laugh and I pushed off the feathers on myself and made them into a ball, then gave them to her. ¡°You can put these where you want.¡± I said and stepped out of her nest.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She whispered, then she spent the next ten minutes meticulously placing each and every feather into the proper spot. When she was done, she let out a low warble and a tweet of satisfaction. She stepped out of the nest and her eyes roamed over it all and nodded. ¡°It''s finally done.¡±


    ¡°I''m very happy for you.¡± I said and hugged her from behind. ¡°I bet your parents are going to be very excited when they hear the news.¡±


    She hugged my arms and nodded again. ¡°I''ll call them as soon as I can.¡±


    ¡°Why don''t you do that while I go make breakfast.¡± I suggested.


    ¡°I suppose I can spare the credits after all the tips I had last night.¡± She said.


    ¡°Just use that new network. It''s only a credit per message.¡± I said and let her go.


    ¡°What? That ad was real?¡± The waitress asked. ¡°I thought it was a scam!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It''s not a scam.¡± I said and walked to her kitchen. ¡°It''s unmonitored and secured, too.¡±


    ¡°But... The Order...¡±


    ¡°...can''t hack into it or read any of the messages.¡± I said and started to gather some ingredients. ¡°I suppose they could watch the television signals from other systems, though.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± She yelled.


    ¡°The Bogorim Corporation is paying to have television signals sent all over my satellite network.¡± I explained, then laughed and shook my head. ¡°The smart little bugger outsmarted me with that idea.¡±


    ¡°What... what did you say?¡±


    ¡°He''s using my network to make a hundred times the credits I make per call.¡± I said and laughed again. ¡°As the network keeps expanding, he''s going to keep making even more money than me almost on an exponential level.¡±


    The waitress stood there and stared at me as I made breakfast. She didn''t notice that I made three plates of it and I walked over to her.


    ¡°Put on some clothes and call your parents.¡± I said to her in a soft whisper, then warbled and chirped at her. ¡°I''ll wait in the kitchen for you to finish.¡±


    She didn''t say anything and just nodded, then walked back into her bedroom and closed the door. I watched to make sure she did put on something and I did the same thing and got dressed in my basic outfit and robes. I took the third plate of food out into the hallway and floated the plate over to where Kara stood at the far end of the hallway. She was concealed with Stealth and I gave her a wave, then I closed the door and went back to the kitchen to wait.


    *


    ¡°I found him!¡± One of the guards said from the main security console in the station''s operations room. ¡°Living quarters, fourth floor.¡±


    ¡°Get a squad up there right away.¡± The lieutenant said. They had been looking for them ever since they discovered that their hotel rooms had been empty. ¡°I''ll inform The Order office.¡±


    A squad was dispatched right away and they were thankful it was so early in the morning. They didn''t have to yell or force people to move out of the way as they ran towards the right section. When they arrived there, the man in front hit the button for the lift. Nothing happened. He hit it again and still nothing.


    ¡°Check it!¡± He said and stepped back and another man took out a small detection device and placed it over the call button controls.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°It''s functional.¡±


    ¡°Dammit, they disabled the lift.¡± The squad captain said. ¡°Stairs!¡±


    They ran down several doors and then tried to enter the stairwell.


    ¡°It''s jammed.¡±


    ¡°Dammit! Cut it down!¡± The squad captain ordered and another man stepped forward and took out a small cutting torch and started to cut the mechanism that controlled the door''s movements.


    *


    ¡°It seems I''m running out of time.¡± I said and put the room key beside her breakfast. I quickly ate the things on my plate and walked over to the bedroom to see that the waitress was still talking to her very excited parents and they were gushing over the virtues of having a nest so soon and about the mate they had chosen for her.


    I spoke a quick sentence in her native tongue and used Presence to carry it to her ears only, then I walked out of the apartment.


    ¡°It''s my fault.¡± I said as I walked down to Kara. ¡°I should have used Stealth and then gave you breakfast.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t have to give me breakfast at all.¡± Kara said and floated the empty plate down the hallway and put it inside the room.


    ¡°You stood guard all night.¡± I said. ¡°It was the least I could do.¡±


    ¡°No, the least you could have done was not be so damn loud.¡± Kara said. ¡°I could hear her screeching from all the way down here.¡±


    I laughed because I had used Presence to confine the sound to the apartment and the hallway, just so she could hear it and no one else. ¡°Do we fight this out or just greet them like old friends?¡±


    ¡°It''s just a squad of guards.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Ah. Ambivalence. Got it.¡± I said and we stood there and waited for them to show up. ¡°That was a nice idea to stop the lift and melt the mechanism on the staircase door.¡±


    Kara gave me a crooked smile for a second, then we felt them break through the door.


    ¡°GO! GO! GO!¡± The squad captain ordered and they ran up the stairs all the way to the fourth floor and the lead man yanked open the staircase door.


    Kara and I turned to face them as they piled into the hallway and took up firing positions.


    ¡°FREEZE!¡± The squad captain yelled.


    Kara raised her eyebrows at the man and then released the lift. It dinged behind us and opened up.


    ¡°STOP! We WILL open fire!¡±


    ¡°With what?¡± I asked.


    All of the battery packs popped out of their guns, then we stepped backwards into the lift as if Kara and I had coordinated it. We saw the surprised and shocked faces on the guards as the lift doors closed.


    ¡°Okay, even I have to admit that was pretty slick.¡± I said to Kara and she gave me a genuine smile.


    ¡°I hope they don''t go too hard on that waitress.¡± Kara said and lost the smile.


    ¡°She doesn''t know anything except my name and that I made a satellite network.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, I helped her complete a nest that took her five years to complete. She''s not going to say a word.¡±


    ¡°She''s just going to chirp a lot?¡± Kara asked in a rare bout of levity and I felt that she was actually amused at the thought.


    I couldn''t help it and laughed. ¡°I certainly hope so! What an interrogation that''ll be.¡± I said. ¡°What''s his name?¡± I then chirped and warbled my throat. ¡°What did you do all night?¡± I made tweets and chirps and fluffed my hair out, then I laughed. Not surprisingly, Kara laughed, too.


    *


    ¡°You are all bumbling idiots.¡± The alien Order member said to the guard squad. ¡°Where are they now?¡±


    ¡°Touring the station.¡± The lieutenant said. ¡°We have three pairs of guards tailing them.¡±


    ¡°What about the woman who lives in that apartment?¡±


    ¡°She''s a waitress that works at the restaurant they ate at last night.¡± The lieutenant said. ¡°She won''t say anything outside of her native language, except to say he was the best lover she had ever had. When we tried to tell her what happened, she just said that she doesn''t care who he is or what he''s done.¡±


    The alien blinked his eyes for a moment, then shook his head because the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°How is that possible? He''s not an Aviatoma and they never take humans to their beds.¡±


    The lieutenant shrugged, because alien sex practices were not important to the mission. ¡°She also said that we better release her before her shift starts or she''ll start telling everyone that The Order is investigating people''s private sexual affairs.¡±


    The alien sighed and waved a hand in dismissal. ¡°Let her go and have her watched.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The lieutenant said and left.


    ¡°Now what?¡± The other alien asked.


    ¡°We monitor and make sure nothing else happens.¡± The alien said. ¡°Stay alert.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to tell me twice.¡± The other alien said and left as well.


    I need to send a message to Kralish. The first alien thought and went to his own room to access The Order message system.


    *


    The waitress walked into the restaurant as if she owned the place. Her bright and colorful plumage on her head was slightly puffed up, because she had received a lot of positive attention from both men and women as she crossed the station to get to work.


    ¡°Nina? You''re not wearing your hairnet.¡± The manager said when he saw her.


    Nina let out a low whistle. ¡°Don''t worry! I have been well and truly groomed.¡± She said with a bright smile. ¡°I won''t have any loose feathers or down for weeks!¡±


    He opened his mouth to ask exactly how she had been groomed, considering there wasn''t another of her species on the station, then remembered that he really didn''t want to know.


    ¡°Make sure you keep track of it.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Nina said and touched his arm affectionately, then she went to work. She made almost as much in tips that evening as she had the night before, not counting Hunter''s tip, of course.


    *


    Kara and I made a day of exploring the entire station. We led the people following us all over the place and made sure that they wasted their time following us, since we visited every single place that was accessible to the public.


    ¡°I think I''m getting a little hungry.¡± I said with a teasing tone.


    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± Kara said adamantly, and I laughed.


    ¡°I''m sure we can get a good table, even without a reservation.¡±


    ¡°You said you had lots of food and supplies stashed, so eat some of that.¡± Kara said and led me back across the station. ¡°Don''t even think of picking up another woman. We are leaving first thing in the morning.¡±


    I sighed exaggeratedly. ¡°All right.¡± I said, sadly.


    Kara gave me a look that said she knew I would pick up another woman if she would let me.


    ¡°No, I''m only joking.¡± I said. ¡°She completed her nest and doesn''t need me anymore.¡±


    Kara''s gaze changed to disbelief. ¡°You took her to bed to make a nest?¡±


    ¡°It was quite an ordeal to make her generate enough feathers for it.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Do you want to hear about it?¡±


    ¡°I heard enough about it last night.¡± Kara said and we entered the hotel. ¡°You can keep the details to yourself.¡±


    I nodded and opened her room for her and she stepped inside. ¡°I''ll see you in the morning.¡±


    ¡°I really should make you stay here with me.¡± Kara said.


    I gave her an award winning smile and let my Presence fill her room. ¡°All you have to do is ask.¡±


    Kara let my Presence float around her for a moment, then used her own to push it away. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    I smiled and shut her door and went to my room next door. I stripped off completely and stored everything into a bag of holding, then pulled out my nightgown and went to the bathroom and took a shower. I dressed for bed and climbed under the blanket and turned my head to look at her through the wall.


    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I said and carried the sound to her ears with Presence.


    Kara looked startled for a second, then she frowned and glared at me. ¡°Oh, you bastard!¡± She exclaimed, because she just realized that I had let her hear me having sex with the waitress last night.


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said with a grin. I rolled over on the bed and used several mental techniques before I fell asleep.


    *


    The next morning, the station''s boarding area had been cleared and six Order members and twenty guards escorted Master Moor and the rogue Presence user from the hotel over to their prepped ship.


    ¡°I can''t believe we can''t make one little detour to one of The Order temples.¡± Hunter said as they approached the docking hatch.


    ¡°I''ve been hard pressed to justify keeping you on the station without confining you in restraints.¡± Kara responded. ¡°Or sequestered in the room.¡± She said pointedly.


    Hunter laughed. ¡°I hadn''t planned on the waitress and you did kind of challenge me.¡±


    ¡°I did not.¡± Kara said and the two of them walked onto the ship.


    The Order members relaxed as the hatch closed and the guards split up and went back to their lodgings to gather their things. The majority of them would be returning to the planet with The Order members, now that the object of their orders was no longer their responsibility. One of The Order member aliens stood there and watched the ship as it backed away from the station.


    The ship turned towards the Lagrange point to jump into hyperspace and poured on the speed. It started to fade from sight... then it exploded in a blinding flash of light.

 Book Three: The Resolution 097

    The shock wave didn''t move the station at all, since it was so massive; but, it did set off both collision and damage warnings for the inhabitants. It also sent an alert to every ship in the area for the same thing. A rescue team scrambled and launched on their rescue craft and flew out to the site at their best speed. They searched for quite some time and they only found a few scraps of metal floating away from the area.


    Word of the explosion spread throughout the station and everyone was in a panic, because an Order ship had been destroyed in their system and it had killed a high ranking Order member and her prisoner. The only person who wasn''t freaking out about it was Nina, the feathered waitress who worked in the restaurant, because she remembered what her one-time lover had whispered to her before he left.


    ¡°Don''t believe everything you hear.¡±


    *


    ¡°I can''t believe that worked.¡± Kara said from inside my Presence Barrier that was just to the side of the docking hatch. We had clasped hands, became invisible with Stealth, and ran back out after we had boarded the ship and before the hatch had closed.


    ¡°You''re not the only one that can be slick.¡± I said and she gave me a smile.


    ¡°How long are we just going to stand here watching the chaos?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°We''re under Stealth and we ate already, so we can wait until the transport is cleared for departure.¡± I said and looked across the boarding area to the ship. ¡°The pilot just said they are waiting for final inspection before they can leave, so about another two hours.¡±


    Kara let out a sigh. ¡°You know, I really liked that ship.¡±


    ¡°Well, your pilot wasn''t too happy about remote piloting it out to explode, either.¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°I can''t believe that alien wanted to kill you so badly that he would kill me and two innocent people to do it.¡± Kara said. ¡°I will have him censored and brought to justice for that.¡±


    ¡°He didn''t want witnesses, I suppose. You saw what his group was prepared to do with witnesses. Now imagine if they had taken me into custody when I first arrived a few days before you did.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn''t have been here for me when I arrived and I wouldn''t know what they had done to you.¡±


    ¡°There was no way I was going to stand trial or be judged fairly.¡± I said.


    ¡°And you believe you''ll get that with me bringing you in?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°You promised to stand by me when I faced the council.¡± I said with a crooked smile.


    ¡°That was for the other things you did before we went to Relique on a mission for the Goddess.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Does that mean you''re going to abandon me to the council''s mercy when we get there?¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to speak and I heard her thoughts.


    ¡°It''s okay if you think you need to distance yourself from me now.¡± I said and cut her off.


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°I did a terrible thing and you''re having a very hard time coming to grips with it.¡±


    ¡°You''ve killed so many people.¡± Kara whispered and her hand gripped mine.


    ¡°Yeah, and I''m going to kill more.¡± I said and she gasped.


    ¡°Hunter, you... oh, Goddess.¡± Kara sighed. ¡°You''re not even sorry, are you?¡±


    ¡°That depends on what you''re asking me to be sorry about.¡±


    Kara didn''t say anything else and she also didn''t let go of my hand.


    When the transport was given permission to leave, we snuck onboard with the two disguised pilots from her ship and went to the two large cabins that had been reserved for our use. It was going to take a little longer to get to The Order''s home planet in this roundabout way; but, that was okay.


    I wasn''t really in a rush, especially after another attempt had been made on my life. The bastards can sit on their asses and wait for me to come and kill them. Except for this alien. I wasn''t going to wait for Kara to send someone else or to come back herself. He was still well within my detection range and I ''looked'' to where he was. He was alone and was recording a message, so I listened and waited for the perfect moment in the message, which was right after the alien said I had been vaporized with the ship. I used Presence to snap his neck and he gurgled as his head flopped to the side. I let the recording go on for about ten more seconds, then I hit end and sent it.


    Let''s see how you like that. I thought to myself.


    The transport ship undocked and floated away from the station in a different direction, then slowly accelerated. No one wanted a repeat performance of the other ship. Two hours later, it jumped into hyperspace without incident.


    *


    The scaly alien sat at his personal display and was a little perturbed that his orders had been taken quite liberally and several things had transpired that he hadn''t predicted. He knew that there would be significant fallout when people learned of Master Moor''s death, so he would have to mitigate as much of it as possible. He would need someone to take the blame...


    His thoughts abruptly ended when The Order member on the screen started to gurgle, then the message ended. He played the last thirty seconds back and saw the alien speak about Hunter being killed, paused, then his head tilted to the side and he gurgled. His neck was clearly broken somehow and then the message ended. He watched in again and paid particular attention to the alien''s neck, and saw the indentations of fingers.


    The hand is invisible. Either the killer is under Stealth, or... it''s just a hand. He thought, and realized who it was. He closed the message and deleted it, then used the shredding program to remove all traces that it even existed. The rumours of your death have been exaggerated, apparently.


    He thought about what to do and started to record more orders. He was pretty sure that they wouldn''t amount to much, considering that if Hunter was alive, so was Master Moor.


    It''s been a long time since I''ve taken a sabbatical. He thought with a smile.


    *


    Over the next month, during the fairly long and leisurely trip as the transport made its circuitous route to The Order''s home planet, Kara seemed to adjust to having me around all the time. I wasn''t sure why that was what it felt like, especially since we hadn''t been around each other for any length of time, not since the time I was under her tutelage so many years ago. She just seemed more open and frank as we talked about different things and she wasn''t as immediately dismissive as she used to be.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I found that I was oddly starting to like this version of her. I knew she was still quite besotted with her goddess, despite everything; but, I also felt that she was starting to see through the ''we only do good'' veneer that had been plastered over all of the unscrupulous things that The Order did on a daily basis. That alone gave her a more appealing air about her.


    Of course, she would adamantly deny any attempt at staying in the same bed with her, so I spent all the nights sleeping on the couch. She apparently didn''t want to tempt me by sleeping in the same bed. I could have reminded her that I had spent a lot of time in bed with women and it never devolved into sex or even a suggestive sexual situation, then decided she knew that already and stayed quiet.


    When the ship finally arrived at the planet, only two visible passengers stepped off of the landing shuttle. The pilots of Kara''s ship had given up on their disguises during the trip and appeared as themselves. It took the people checking them in a few moments to realize who they were. Scanning their IDs helped a bit as well.


    ¡°You''re supposed to be dead!¡± One of the customs people exclaimed.


    ¡°On orders by one of the council.¡± The pilot spat. ¡°Our cargo was too dangerous to bring here and we were considered expendable.¡±


    ¡°That... it can''t be true.¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± Kara said and let her Stealth technique fade. ¡°The Presence didn''t waver.¡±


    The customs people gasped at her appearance and they immediately bowed. Kara ignored that and put her own ID into the scanner, then another. When that ID was entered, a signal was automatically sent to the council, to the guard regiment, to The Wise One, and to the compound''s security office.


    An imminent and dangerous threat had just arrived on the planet.


    Order members and guard squads were quickly assembled and sent over to the shuttle landing area to cover the threat. The scaly alien''s orders had been very clear.


    ¡°I told you.¡± I said for Kara''s ears only.


    Kara let out a sigh and let the events proceed as they unfolded. She didn''t fight or try to stop anyone from completing their assigned duty, since it wasn''t their fault for following such unrealistic orders.


    ¡°Where is he?¡± One of The Order members asked and held their activated Light sword at the ready.


    ¡°Who?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Don''t play coy. We know he just scanned in his ID.¡±


    ¡°I did that.¡± Kara said and held the card up. ¡°I brought some ashes.¡± She said and took a small urn out of her robes. It was actually a decapitated flower vase from the ship that I had modified and we had burned some papers and things to add to it. Everyone immediately relaxed and assumed that the ashes were mine.


    ¡°So gullible.¡± I said to her and she smiled.


    ¡°The council has ordered you to attend to them immediately.¡± One of The Order members said.


    ¡°That''s not possible, considering they all thought I was dead until a few moments ago.¡± Kara said and all of The Order members frowned. ¡°Unless someone told them that I had survived and left orders for me when I showed up?¡± She asked and The Order members looked uncomfortable. ¡°So, he did know.¡±


    None of them said anything in response and she tucked the small urn back into her robes.


    ¡°You do realize he would have had access to the one responsible for the attempt on my life in order to know I had lived, correct?¡±


    The Order members looked very uncomfortable now.


    ¡°Step aside.¡± Kara ordered and every single one of them did so, even the squads of guards. ¡°Tell the council that I have an appointment with The Wise One and I will visit them when I can.¡±


    Kara walked through the large group and I followed her. She really did have a standing appointment with The Wise One for every time she returned to the planet, so she walked with confidence and purpose across the compound to the proper building and entered it. Nearly everyone froze at her sudden appearance and then there was a loud exclamation.


    ¡°KARA!¡± Her old guardian Enelle yelled, and she ran over to give her a hug. ¡°Praise the Goddess! You''re alive!¡±


    Kara gave her a hug back and they held each other for several moments. ¡°It''s nice to see you, too.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Enelle asked sternly, then leaned back to look into Kara''s eyes. ¡°It was Aaron, wasn''t it?¡±


    ¡°Technically, he was the cause.¡± Kara admitted.


    ¡°I told you to give up on making him your husband.¡± Enelle said. ¡°He''s not the marrying kind and he doesn''t have it in him to make such a commitment.¡±


    I chuckled and rubbed the ''H'' symbol engraved into my chest above my heart.


    ¡°He''s...¡± Kara was about to say that I had changed, then smiled instead. ¡°...I know he can''t make that kind of commitment to me.¡±


    ¡°He doesn''t realize how special you are, that''s why.¡± Enelle said. ¡°If he knew how much you doted on him as a child and then understood how important it was for you to have taken him on as your apprentice...¡±


    ¡°Enelle.¡± Kara said a bit sternly, and the older woman let out a chuckle.


    ¡°Yes, I know. I shouldn''t speak ill of the dead.¡± Enelle said, then she gasped. ¡°He is dead, isn''t he?¡±


    Kara didn''t answer the direct question and Enelle''s face went from normal to shocked. ¡°I need to see The Wise One.¡±


    ¡°He''s in his private space, as always.¡± Enelle said. ¡°I''ll call ahead and...¡±


    ¡°He knows I''m here.¡± Kara said and gave her a quick hug, then walked off towards the right hallway. I followed her and she led me all the way to The Wise One''s office.


    ¡°He''s expecting you.¡± The secretary said and looked right at me. Apparently, she had the same ability to see the absence of Presence around her.


    I stepped close and took her hand. ¡°It''s nice to meet you again.¡± I said and shook the hand.


    ¡°You remember me?¡± The secretary asked, surprised.


    ¡°I met you just before meeting The Wise One for the first time, so yes. I remember you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The secretary said, quite flattered.


    ¡°Kara said I wasn''t allowed to pick up another woman.¡± I said to her and she blushed.


    ¡°You do know that he''s killed millions of people.¡± Kara said in frustration.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The secretary said and her blush didn''t fade. ¡°It''s... quite an achievement.¡±


    I chuckled at her point of view and leaned down as I put my mouth by her ear, then I whispered to her a few things that we could do if we were alone. She giggled like a schoolgirl, despite being about forty years old, give or take about five years.


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± Kara spat and grabbed my shoulder and walked past the secretary''s desk.


    ¡°Oh, no! Envy takes me from you!¡± I said loudly to the secretary and let her hand go as Kara dragged me away, and the secretary laughed.


    ¡°You don''t have to do that every time we meet someone.¡± Kara said and let my shoulder go.


    ¡°It''s not my fault she saw what I did as an achievement and not a blight on the living beings of the universe.¡± I said. ¡°I had to flirt with her after hearing that. You know I did.¡±


    Kara didn''t respond, except with a long exhale, and led me into The Wise One''s office. Not surprisingly, there were two chairs in front of his desk.


    ¡°You can drop the Stealth technique, Hunter.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°We all know you can be seen here.¡±


    I let it fade and The Wise One looked me over and saw that I wore a basic outfit and robes.


    ¡°You''re not all armored up?¡± He asked, a little surprised. ¡°Where''s your blast shield and Light sword?¡±


    ¡°Stashed away.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Do I need to explain myself to you or do you know it all already?¡±


    ¡°Just assume that I don''t know anything.¡± The Wise One said with a coughing chuckle. ¡°Please, sit and tell me everything.¡±


    ¡°Do you want the data now or later?¡± I asked and adjusted my robes and sat down.


    ¡°Later is fine.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Kara, please sit. You will find this enlightening.¡±


    Kara looked at me for a moment, then she sat as well. I could almost feel the disbelief flowing off of her and smiled, then I started to talk.


    *


    Lashina hugged herself and did her best to stop herself from using all of her abilities to storm into The Wise One''s office to get to Hunter. She had received the same notification and set of orders from Kralish after the destruction of Kara''s ship and her apparent death with her prisoner. She had ignored the orders as nonsense... then a month later, Hunter appeared on the planet''s surface.


    Lashina knew she was suffering from a lack of both sex and intimacy, because she hadn''t been with anyone since Hunter, and no one else she met since then had been even close to his ability to share Presence. She was like an addict that had been clean for decades, then had one taste. It had been a long time since that taste and she had almost convinced herself that she didn''t need it.


    Now, with the object of her addiction so close... so very close... both her mind and body yearned for him. She used several mental techniques to calm herself and slowed her breathing down. She knew that she just had to be patient and she had been prepared for that. The problem was that he had shown up again, decades before she had expected or planned for, and she hoped that it didn''t mean what she thought it meant.


    He wasn''t there for her.


    The thought gave her a little bit of a panic attack and she squashed it before it blossomed. She was an expert at mind abilities, after all. She wasn''t sure why she was having such a difficult time with her urge to go to Hunter, and that was another problem. She couldn''t fix what she didn''t understand, so she sat in her office and wallowed in her desire as she waited for him to leave the protection of The Wise One''s private area.


    I will get to him before he goes to see the council. Lashina promised herself.

 Book Three: The Resolution 098

    Even with the condensed version of events and a datapad with more detailed information, it still took about four hours to unveil the entire situation to The Wise One and Kara, and they were completely shocked by it.


    The Wise One had been glad to have told Hunter to pretend that he didn''t know anything, because his story was just as enlightening to him as it was to Kara. He never imagined that this side-along organization had been so prolific throughout The Order''s domain and having a record of the people they had killed, the current orders for assassinations, and the future targets they were to keep an eye on, really showed that both he, and The Order, had been well and truly corrupted by Dark forces.


    ¡°Hunter, I have to thank you for bringing this to our attention.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°You have my word that we will look into these last two training camps as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Will you be sending Master Moor?¡± I asked and Kara took in a sharp breath and shook slightly.


    The Wise One chuckle coughed at her reaction. ¡°Yes, I wouldn''t trust anyone lower in The Order''s structure with the task.¡±


    ¡°I''d like to go with her.¡± I said and Kara''s mouth dropped open at the offer.


    ¡°If it is possible to send you along, it shall be so.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Unfortunately, we must now address the matter with the council.¡±


    ¡°He left, didn''t he?¡± I asked and The Wise One nodded. ¡°How long after Kara''s ship exploded?¡±


    ¡°A week.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I am tempted to send someone after him, or to warn those around him of his... actions... but, it is better that he believes that he got away with it for now.¡±


    I opened my mouth to argue, then I realized what he meant. ¡°You don''t want me to tell the council.¡±


    ¡°No. They won''t believe you, even with your evidence, because of Kralish''s orders.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°On their own they didn''t mean much. Combined in the way he gave them and executed in sequence, made anything you brought to the council become suspected as fake.¡±


    ¡°They won''t even believe their own Presence detection.¡± I said and he nodded.


    ¡°They are going to sentence him to death for it.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°No, Hunter is right. He is too valuable to remove from the playing field. He will most likely be imprisoned for the next ten to fifteen years.¡±


    ¡°You want me to accept that.¡± I asked and he nodded. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°To give Master Moor and I time.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°The data you''ve collected from so many sources is quite prevalent. Even with our enhanced mental abilities, it will take months for us to go through it all.¡±


    ¡°Then what?¡± I asked. ¡°You expect me to just sit in prison while you and Master Moor try to clean up the mess?¡±


    Kara took in another sharp breath at her title. She didn''t tremble this time, though.


    ¡°Yes. Be a model prisoner. Don''t cause trouble. Don''t antagonize any of the other prisoners or the guards.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I will personally install several key people in certain areas of wherever you are sent.¡±


    ¡°How will I discover them, whoever they are?¡± I asked, quite stupidly.


    The Wise One laughed and it sounded like he was throwing up. He slapped a clawed appendage on the top of his desk several times, too. ¡°Ha! I needed a good laugh! Thank you.¡±


    ¡°We should go to the council chamber and face them together.¡± Kara said and stood.


    I stood as well and she gave me an apologetic look. She regretted her automatic reaction to distance herself from me, especially since I had actually done a lot of good with my actions and not the surpreme evil she had thought it was.


    ¡°It''s getting late.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Why don''t you retire for the night and I will inform the council you will attend to them tomorrow.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°You want me to walk out of here and not use Stealth.¡±


    The Wise One chuckle coughed. ¡°It should get quite the reaction.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± I said. ¡°It was nice meeting you again.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± The Wise One said.


    Kara and I walked over to the door of the office. When I reached for the door handle, The Wise One spoke.


    ¡°One more question.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Hunter, did you destroy the focusing crystal sacred site?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I admitted and Kara gasped.


    ¡°It really was you?!?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Why did you do it?¡± The Wise One asked.


    ¡°I raided it for focusing crystals, then when I tried to leave, I was informed I was about to be captured and killed. I ordered the destruction of two ships in orbit, a fast courier and a fast cargo ship, then I ordered the mine to be bombed with missiles.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Kara said loudly.


    ¡°I couldn''t let anyone send out a message about the raid and you know how volatile unrefined crystals are.¡± I said and gave an apologetic look to Kara. ¡°I didn''t realize how... energetic... the destruction would be.¡± I turned to face The Wise One. ¡°Now we all know what happens when a sacred site is hit with multiple ship missiles from orbit.¡±


    The three of us were silent for almost a full minute.


    ¡°You didn''t know it would destroy the planet.¡± The Wise One said.


    I shook my head. ¡°The crystals were apparently so deep that they reached the molten core. That information isn''t anywhere in anything I''ve found.¡±


    ¡°That''s because no one knew.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°How would we even go about measuring down inside the core of a planet to see how far the crystals go?¡± He let out a sigh. ¡°It''s too bad that the data of the aftermath was lost with Kara''s ship.¡±


    ¡°You mean this data?¡± Kara asked and pulled out a datapad with a copy of the information on it. ¡°I always take a copy of important data now.¡±


    ¡°Here''s mine as well.¡± I said and took out a data chip. ¡°It was... just watch it. You''ll see.¡±


    The Wise One accepted both items and stared at them, so Kara and I left the office. As we walked to the front part of the office and to the secretary''s desk, I put a hand on Kara''s shoulder.


    ¡°Hold on for a minute.¡± I said and stepped over to the secretary.


    She looked up at me with surprise as she saw me with her own eyes. ¡°But... I thought...¡±


    ¡°I need a favor.¡± I said and walked around the desk, then I turned her chair and I bent over slightly as I put my hands on her shoulders. ¡°Can you enter into The Order''s main database and give me access to everything?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± She blinked her eyes at me and I shared a calming technique with her as well as some Presence. She caught her breath as her Presence accepted my energy eagerly. ¡°Oh, Goddess.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°All those people I killed were assassins, spread out over thousands of worlds.¡± I said and she stared at me with her mouth wide open in shock, because the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°I want to do the same thing on all of the worlds that The Order has access to.¡±


    ¡°You... you want me to...¡±


    ¡°Help me rid the universe of evil.¡± I said and knelt on one knee. ¡°Please.¡±


    She put her hands on my hands, that were still on her shoulders, and she gave them a squeeze and moved them off. She turned back to her desk and typed several commands, much too quickly for me to read, then she moved her chair out of the way.


    I took out my broadcast device and quickly hooked it up to the standard port in the console, then I did my own typing. After a minute, every screen, intercom, and communication device on the entire planet emitted the detonation signal. A dozen people died instantly and their deaths were reported immediately. The notification appeared on the console''s display and both Kara and the secretary saw it.


    ¡°That''s on The Order''s home planet after I had already sent the signal before.¡± I said and typed up another few commands, then gave Kara a brief look and then looked right at the secretary. I saw her determination and I heard her thoughts. She was happy to help rid the universe of assassins, so I smiled at her and hit send.


    Nothing happened right away, since The Order''s messaging network was quite a bit slower than my own. I wasn''t sure if it was because their technology protocols were a lot older than mine or because their processing speed was far inferior to mine. Either way, it was going to take a long time for the signal to be sent to everywhere The Order had their offices, temples, and compounds. I excluded the sacred sites and the two remaining training camps, of course.


    I unplugged the device and tucked it away and turned to her. ¡°You''ve helped me purge a scourge that no one really knew existed.¡± I said and took her hand, then I leaned forward and gave her a light kiss on the lips. ¡°Thank you very much.¡±


    The secretary''s face was bright red. ¡°You''re welcome.¡±


    ¡°I''d suggest changing your passwords and things, just in case.¡± I stood up and let her hand go.


    ¡°You didn''t see it anyway.¡± She said confidently.


    I smiled and nodded, then Kara and I left the building. Everyone that saw me reacted in some way, mostly negatively. They had only heard the bad part of the story, that I had killed millions of people, so I was bombarded with hostility and mental threats. I deflected everything and greeted people with smiles, pleasantries, and hand waves. That just made them angrier.


    ¡°Hunter, stop antagonizing people.¡± Kara whispered as she led me to her living quarters.


    ¡°But, they expect me to.¡± I whispered back. ¡°Hello!¡± I said and waved enthusiastically at the next Order member we passed.


    ¡°Why are you still alive and so many others are dead?¡± She asked angrily.


    ¡°I didn''t have a suicide charge in my head that I could detonate.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°Bye!¡±


    The woman stopped walking and stared at me, because the Presence didn''t waver.


    ¡°Oh, Goddess.¡± Kara sighed and shook her head as she opened the door of the building. ¡°Get inside before they decide to come here and lynch you.¡±


    I chuckled and we went inside and up in the lift to the right floor and walked over to her apartment. We went inside and Kara set the security notice to inform her if anyone approached the door. It was then that we both felt something and we turned to look out the wall of windows.


    ¡°What the heck is...¡± Kara started to ask as the powerful Presence approached at breakneck speed. ¡°Oh, Goddess!¡± She exclaimed when a circular Presence Barrier rushed towards the window and then stopped just in front of the glass. The green energy became opaque and we saw that a four foot tall pink-skinned pixie-like alien floated in the center.


    ¡°Lashina.¡± I said, almost in awe.


    Lashina''s long flowing silver-white hair had come undone and it floated around behind her as if it was in water. Her Presence surged when she locked eyes with me and I felt a huge tingle go from the top of my spine and all the way down my back. It made me shiver and she smiled, because she knew it was a good reaction.


    She opened her hands and hundreds of small Presence Blades appeared around her and swiped at her faster than lightning. They completely shredded her robes and underclothes in an instant and then faded away as the tattered cloth fell off and landed on the bottom of the barrier.


    ¡°Oh... my.¡± I whispered as she completely revealed herself to me, then she floated towards me through the wall of windows.


    ¡°WAIT!¡± Kara yelled too late.


    Lashina''s Presence Barrier, enhanced by the shield pendant I had given her, easily pushed the feeble windows, wall, ceiling and floor out of the way. She stopped five feet inside the apartment and reached a hand out to me.


    I didn''t hesitate as I reached out and my hand went through her Presence Barrier and I clasped her hand. The small Presence Blades made another appearance and shredded my clothes as well. I protected the bags of holding and the hidden belt I wore and she smiled as she felt my slight mental admonishment.


    Huuunnnnteeerrrrr. Lashina purred into my mind as she saw what I looked like now and that I was very ready for her. Oh, Hunter!


    Oh, Goddess. Kara thought and tried not to stare at me being completely naked in front of her.


    I ignored her and stepped into Lashina''s barrier and took her into a hug, then I added my own Presence to the barrier. The green color changed to bright blue and became solid, then I kissed her. Lashina moaned as our energies merged and then she broke the kiss and gave me frantic eyes.


    ¡°Kara, I''ll be back in the morning.¡± I said, because I recognized that look, then Lashina made the solid Presence Barrier smash back out through the wrecked wall and we disappeared from everyone''s sight.


    *


    A short time later, a lot of people in the compound, both Order members and guards, couldn''t help but notice that the East Forest Glade started to glow with Presence. That had never happened before, for as long as anyone could remember, and when people tried to go to Lashina''s office to ask her, since they knew she had been around for over a hundred years, it was empty.


    Most of the council members felt the disturbance and passed it off as an errant anomaly that didn''t affect them, and that was true for the most part, except for the fact that it was caused by two individuals and not by a freak of nature.


    Kara on the other hand, knew exactly what was going on. She stood at the edge of her destroyed apartment, almost in awe, as she felt the energies being manipulated and tossed around in the forest. She never suspected that Lashina was powerful enough to elicit a change in the forest''s ambient energy.


    The Wise One was in his inner sanctum and had entered a closed meditative state, because he didn''t want to experience the things going on inside the forest or feel the ripple in the Presence the two beings cavorting within it were causing. He knew that having someone as powerful as Lashina around was going to cause problems eventually, which was why he usually kept her close by and limited her exposure to the outside world.


    The last thing he wanted was for her to learn new skills that she could apply her ridiculous amount of Presence to. He never imagined that someone else coming there would give her the very thing he had tried to deny her. Experience in Presence wielding.


    *


    Lashina was in heaven.


    The Marcus / Aaron / Ullir / Hunter person she had known was no more, and what replaced him was a being that she couldn''t have imagined in her wildest dreams. His expert Presence use and his centuries of experiences filled her mind, while his body filled hers to the brim. She overflowed with knowledge, love, sex, and Presence, and she came over and over again as they made love over and over again.


    Lashina was swept away by the ancient being she was with. Normally, she would have been the ancient being who swept away those before her, like she had with Hunter when they finally got together after his seventeenth birthday. Now, she didn''t care that he was six hundred years older than her and she gave herself over to everything that he was, everything he had been, and everything he would become.


    Seconds became minutes, minutes became hours, and hours became all night.


    The next morning, two very exhausted people cuddled in the middle of the clearing by the river. Grass, dirt, trees, large boulders, and even a part of the riverbank had been torn up and altered while they had played and chased and had sex. They had spent a significant portion of the Presence they had, as well as used a good portion of the forest''s Presence to enhance their experience.


    ¡°That... was so much... fun!¡± Lashina panted. ¡°Hunter, you... I can''t believe...¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Hunter said and hugged her close. ¡°I''m just sorry that it''s not time for us to be together.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I was prepared for a few decades from now, since that was when I had guessed you would be back here.¡± She said, then her voice dropped to a whisper. ¡°I don''t know why I acted this way when you showed up this early.¡±


    Hunter chuckled. ¡°I know why.¡± He said and gave her a kiss. ¡°It''s the same reason I reacted so badly when the council took Emari away from me when I was eleven.¡±


    Lashina looked into his eyes and her mind delved deep into his psyche, and he didn''t resist her at all. He let her look and explore and see everything he had ever done and she loved him so much because of that.


    ¡°You really aren''t afraid of me doing this.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°After what we did when we slept together for the first time?¡± Hunter asked and then laughed. ¡°We barely left the bed for a week!¡±


    Lashina tried to stop herself, then she laughed. ¡°I was so hungry for you back then!¡±


    ¡°Then?¡± Hunter asked with a grin.


    ¡°All right, I still am!¡± Lashina admitted and then kissed him passionately. ¡°I couldn''t help myself!¡±


    ¡°I can feel how much you need me to share with you.¡± Hunter said.


    ¡°I didn''t know I needed it so badly until you showed up.¡± Lashina said.


    Hunter used Presence and felt her all the way inside and up to her brain.


    ¡°Ohhhhh! Mmmmmm!¡± Lashina moaned at the sensations. ¡°Don''t stop!¡±


    Hunter closed his eyes and did that old ''checking her all over'' trick she had taught him using Presence. He held in his laugh at how young and naive he had been to not see the pleasure she had gotten from it.


    ¡°I loved that about you.¡± Lashina said and Hunter opened his eyes. ¡°You thought you were so far ahead of everyone and you still missed a lot of basic things.¡±


    Hunter chuckled. ¡°Now I know better.¡±


    ¡°By the Goddess, yes you do.¡± Lashina said and rolled over on top of him.


    ¡°I thought you were exhausted.¡± Hunter said with a smile.


    ¡°I can be exhausted later when you leave.¡± Lashina said and kissed him.

 Book Three: The Resolution 099

    ¡°Kara is going to kill me.¡± I said as I took out a set of normal clothing.


    ¡°I can give you a set of robes at my place.¡± Lashina said and stood up.


    ¡°I sincerely doubt I can get away from you if I go back to your place.¡± I said and she laughed.


    ¡°I can''t trick you.¡± Lashina said teasingly as she caressed her breasts.


    ¡°Hey, stop that.¡± I said and dressed. ¡°I have to go.¡±


    Lashina stopped and helped me get dressed. ¡°Give me a hand putting all of this back in order.¡± She said and waved at the mass of destruction we had caused to the forest.


    I smiled and cupped the side of her face. ¡°I''ve got this.¡± I said and started to kiss her, then I used both my own Presence and that of the East Forest Glade to shift everything back to where it was supposed to be. I let her feel me doing it, and she moaned into my mouth. When I was done, I broke the kiss. ¡°There, all fixed.¡±


    ¡°You''re depleting yourself on purpose.¡± Lashina said, surprised.


    ¡°I suspect the council is going to test my limits, so it''s better that they think all of this was your doing.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you shouldn''t degenerate yourself like this.¡± Lashina said. ¡°They should know the person they are dealing with.¡±


    I smiled and gave her another kiss. ¡°Only those I think are worthy can feel what I really am.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t want to give myself away so soon, you know that.¡±


    ¡°Don''t be stubborn.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Even the East Forest Glade wants you back up to full strength.¡±


    I could feel the forest trying to offer up Presence to me, and I appreciated that. ¡°I really should stay weakened.¡±


    ¡°Don''t you dare.¡± Lashina said. ¡°If they really are working with orders from Kralish, you need to give them a good display of power. They need to respect you, not dismiss you as inconsequential!¡±


    I wanted to say no and stay under their notice, then let out a sigh. ¡°All right.¡± I said and used the proper techniques to absorb the local Presence and convert it to my use. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said to the forest and I felt a feeling of happiness. ¡°Okay, that never happened before.¡±


    Lashina laughed. ¡°I told you that you have missed a lot of the small things that normal people would have picked up on.¡±


    I gave her a hug and another kiss, then took out an outfit for her.


    ¡°No, thank you.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I can be back inside my apartment before anyone notices.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with that.¡± I said with a grin and stored the outfit.


    ¡°Hunter, I... I love you.¡± Lashina said, her voice and emotions unsure of how I would react.


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said. ¡°I need to go.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Lashina said, her voice sad. ¡°I knew you weren''t here for me; but, it''s hard to face that fact.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry that my plans accelerated much faster than I had planned myself.¡± I said and took her into another hug. ¡°Perhaps this break will set my path back on the proper track.¡±


    ¡°Break! They are going to send you to prison!¡±


    ¡°The Wise One is right. Both he and Kara need time.¡± I said. ¡°Of course, so do I.¡±


    Lashina sighed. ¡°I can''t believe you made that kind of a commitment to Hailey.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Well, it just kind of happened.¡± I said. ¡°You saw the series of events that led up to it.¡±


    Lashina nodded. ¡°Why couldn''t you do that with me?¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Hey, now. I don''t have future sight or even a decent grasp at predicting things beyond current events. That''s more experience than being able to manipulate Presence to show me or to guess at what''s going to happen.¡±


    Lashina sighed. ¡°Now I have to wait even longer for you to come back for me.¡±


    ¡°What''s a few decades to people like us?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°A long time to wait to be with you again!¡± Lashina exclaimed.


    ¡°It makes it all the more sweeter, doesn''t it?¡± I asked. ¡°Look at what we did this time.¡± I waved at the repaired destruction. ¡°Imagine what we''re going to be like when we meet again.¡±


    ¡°It''s going to take me a long time to adapt your abilities.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°Hailey''s doing just fine with that.¡± I teased.


    Lashina glared at me for a few seconds, then she laughed. ¡°That''s a sneaky tactic!¡±


    ¡°It''s a clean motivation.¡± I said, then took her hand and knelt. ¡°Until the next time we meet, my love.¡±


    Lashina leaned forward and gave me a kiss. ¡°Until then, my love.¡±


    I let her hand go and formed Presence around myself, then used Presence Run to get up to speed and then used Levitation on myself. I was out of the East Forest Glade in less than a minute and floated over to Kara''s apartment. A temporary wooden barricade had been secured over the wall of windows and I looked inside the apartment to see that she was in the kitchen getting breakfast.


    That reminds me. I thought and flew around the building and over to the food vendors that seemed to be open all the time. I bought all of the man''s inventory and he was more than happy to sell it all to me. I stored it and went into the building and up to Kara''s floor, then knocked on her door.


    ¡°I know it''s you, so come on in.¡± Kara said.


    I entered her apartment and went to the kitchen. ¡°Are you making enough for me as well?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Kara said and quickly hid the extra portions she had been preparing.


    ¡°That''s too bad, because it''s been years since I had one of these things.¡± I said and took out one of the special desserts that Emari had first shown me. ¡°It''s only a dessert and can''t be eaten without...¡±


    ¡°I DID!¡± Kara said and uncovered the portions for me. ¡°I made you some!¡±


    I snorted a laugh and put the dessert down, then helped her finish making breakfast. When it was done, I prepared the dessert and we went to the small table and sat down. Kara pointedly didn''t look at me while we ate and she stayed quiet the entire time. I didn''t try to talk myself, mainly because there wasn''t really anything to talk about. When the meal was done, I felt her anticipation and I slid the other dishes aside and put the dessert between us.


    Kara sighed as I popped the top off the orange-like container and the sweet smell hit her nostrils. ¡°Why does it smell so good when someone else is sharing it with you?¡±


    ¡°You just answered that question.¡± I said and dipped my finger into the luscious creamy center and held it out to her. She didn''t hesitate and took my finger into her mouth and sucked on it as if it was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. From her thoughts, it actually was one of the best things she had ever tasted.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Kara slid her head back and her lips made that kissing sound as my finger came out of her mouth, and she dipped her finger into the cream to hold it out to me. I also didn''t hesitate, because this was the only time she let her emotions and feelings out and didn''t try to control things or force her views and values on others. All that mattered was the experience.


    We finished the dessert almost twenty minutes later, which meant we had stretched the thing out to almost twice as long as it was supposed to be. We just stared at each other over the empty dish for several moments and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°We should go.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I''ll clean up and change first.¡± I said and quickly walked to her closet and grabbed new robes, then I went to the bathroom and washed and dressed. When I came out, Kara was stunned that I had chosen Master''s robes.


    ¡°Hunter, you... you can''t...¡± Kara started to say that I couldn''t insult the council like that, then I stopped concealing my Presence. She gasped at the strength of it and her entire body trembled as it flowed over her. ¡°What... how...¡±


    ¡°I''ll explain after the council gives me my sentence.¡± I said and concealed my Presence again. ¡°I have to assume that you will be assigned to escort me to the prison, since I won''t accept anything else.¡±


    Kara thought about demanding I tell her everything right then and there, then she nodded.


    ¡°We should have plenty of time during the trip, assuming they send me where I think they are going to send me.¡± I said and motioned to the door. ¡°Shall we go? They are already in the chamber waiting for us.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Kara looked at me like I was speaking nonsense. ¡°The council chamber is on the other side of the compound.¡±


    ¡°It''s barely half a mile away.¡± I said and walked to the apartment door. ¡°Come on. They are already getting restless. We could have several guard squads sent after us if we don''t get moving.¡±


    Kara still didn''t believe me, even though the Presence didn''t waver.


    I had to walk back over to her and take her arm and lead her from the apartment and out of the building. We walked across the compound and over to the building with the council chamber in it. Everyone still gave me nasty looks and I greeted them with a smile and pleasant words. Kara was right, though. All that did was antagonize them and I was okay with that.


    The council chamber doors were opened by the two guards as we approached and inside was almost the same as it was the last time I had been there. The only difference was that there was a new alien face where the fluffy alien sat and one where Kara used to sit, as well as two guard squads along the walls. The scaly alien''s spot was empty.


    ¡°So, you really are alive.¡± One of the council members said.


    ¡°Still alive, actually.¡± I corrected. ¡°I''ve died a few times now and this latest attempt on my life was quite pitiful, especially for a council member like Kralish.¡± I said. ¡°Of course, I doubt he actually ordered it and probably said something like, deal with it and make sure he doesn''t get back to the council.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Plausible deniability is pretty much the way all of you work, right?¡±


    No one responded to that insult.


    ¡°You have turned yourself in for the heinous crime of killing forty-eight million, six hundred thousand, and eighty people.¡± A woman said from the end of the council table.


    ¡°That many?¡± I asked. ¡°Does that include the people I killed after I sent the message to turn myself in?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± She asked, surprised.


    ¡°I definitely killed a few more people after that.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and I''d say that total is going to skyrocket, now that I''ve had access to The Order''s systems and sent the kill command to all the places I couldn''t reach on my own.¡±


    ¡°WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?¡± Half of the council yelled.


    ¡°But, that doesn''t matter, since you''re so short-sighted and are just going to sentence me to prison for a few years.¡± I said.


    The council fell silent for several moments, then they started to confer with each other.


    ¡°With this new information, we are going to change our verdict.¡± An alien said. ¡°Since you seem to be unrepentant in the face of the charges against you, and you seem to know what we have already decided, your prison sentence will be commuted into shackled servitude at a designated sacred site...¡±


    ¡°That''s not too bad.¡± I said.


    ¡°...for the next thirty years.¡±


    ¡°Now that''s a little excessive.¡± I said. ¡°No actual fake trial? No considering the mitigating circumstances? No listening to my defense?¡±


    ¡°We all know you are a convincing liar.¡± A man said on the other end of the council table.


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°You people are the most upstanding citizens I''ve ever known.¡±


    Every single person on the council winced at the massive lie.


    ¡°I''ve always enjoyed every single time I''ve come into this chamber.¡± I said and they all winced again. ¡°I''m so glad that you all considered the evidence and made impartial judgments against me.¡±


    ¡°S-stop!¡± The woman on the end of the table said. ¡°Stop.¡±


    ¡°Am I still a convincing liar?¡± I asked and she didn''t answer. ¡°Have your orders already been sent to the ship waiting outside?¡±


    The woman nodded. ¡°You will leave immediately.¡±


    ¡°Master Moor is escorting me.¡± I said.


    ¡°She has more important...¡±


    ¡°I won''t go if she doesn''t escort me.¡± I said.


    Nearly everyone on the council became slightly angry that I would defy them, even though I had defied them each time I had been summoned to the council chamber to face them.


    ¡°You will follow our verdict and adhere to our sentence.¡± One of the new aliens said.


    ¡°I repeat my words. I won''t go if she doesn''t escort me.¡± I said. ¡°It wasn''t a request or a threat. It''s just the truth.¡±


    ¡°Guards!¡± The alien said loudly. ¡°Escort this man to the shuttle outside.¡±


    ¡°I can''t.¡± One of them said. ¡°I can''t move.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The alien looked at the guards standing at the side of the room. ¡°All of you?¡±


    ¡°Do you understand now? I''m just humoring you.¡± I said and let out some of my Presence and filled the council chamber. ¡°Master Moor is coming with me to keep me company while you drop me off in the middle of nowhere.¡±


    Everyone on the council couldn''t help it and stared at me.


    ¡°I gave my word once that I would let you all live for giving me the information I needed.¡± I said and looked at the two new people. ¡°Guess who wasn''t here when I said that.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Kara said from beside me.


    ¡°You know that they were both recommended by Kralish.¡± I said and the rest of the council caught their breath. ¡°I also know their names, which means I had to know them before coming into this chamber. Isn''t that right?¡± I said to the two aliens.


    ¡°You are a rogue Presence user and...¡±


    ¡°I can''t be a rogue, you ignorant fool. I''ve never been a part of your organization.¡± I reminded him. ¡°I wore these robes to insult you, because I wasn''t made a master by you or anyone else in this garbage heap you call The Order. I made myself a master and none of you have any authority over me whatsoever.¡± I said, to their surprise. ¡°I''m only here because it stops all the planetary governments across the universe from fighting each other and coming after me for killing all of those people.¡±


    None of the council said anything, because the Presence didn''t waver and they weren''t sure what to say.


    ¡°Just so you know, I''m going to kill you all when I leave here.¡± I said. ¡°I''d rather have a bunch of new people in here that aren''t so closely tied to the scaly alien''s politics.¡±


    Everyone at the council chamber jumped to their feet.


    ¡°How dare you threaten us!¡± One of the new aliens said. ¡°You see? He''s intending to wipe us all out!¡±


    ¡°Not all of you.¡± I said. ¡°Just you and them.¡± I waved at the council. ¡°The guards I''ll let live, since they are only guilty of following your orders.¡±


    All of the guards lifted up into the air and were shoved out of the council chamber.


    ¡°Hunter, don''t do this.¡± Kara warned me.


    I chuckled. ¡°It''s already done.¡± I said. ¡°Care to take a nice long space ship ride with me again? I''ll even break my rule of not telling someone I''m not intimate with everything about me.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to say no, then she thought about it and looked at the council. She remembered how they had treated her before and she couldn''t help but think that they deserve some punishment.


    ¡°Hunter, you can''t kill the entire council.¡± Kara said. ¡°Only Kralish will be left and you know he won''t be critical of who he appoints.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think he''s going to come back here after trying to kill you?¡± I asked. ¡°Me, sure. He could come back tomorrow and people would thank him for it.¡± I smiled. ¡°Trying to kill you? The Wise One''s Task Master?¡± I shook my head. ¡°His sabbatical is going to last a long time.¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°I''m going to have to hunt him down with the other alien that set the explosives.¡±


    ¡°I already killed him.¡± I said and she widened her eyes. ¡°I wasn''t going to let him live after he tried to kill us.¡± I felt eleven Presences try to fill the council chamber to remove mine, so I absorbed them into mine.


    The woman on the end gasped as her Presence drained away and then my Presence increased in strength. ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sorry.¡± I said and formed solid Presence around them to hold them steady. ¡°It still wasn''t nice meeting you. Even after all this time, you didn''t learn your lesson.¡±


    ¡°What lesson?¡± She asked for everyone.


    ¡°Don''t piss me off.¡± I said and took Kara''s hand and walked out of the council chamber.


    ¡°Hunter, please.¡± Kara said. ¡°Don''t kill them.¡±


    ¡°I have to.¡± I said and led her from the building. ¡°Even now, they are calling for reinforcements to come here and stop me.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°They know now that I want to go to the sacred site.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°It''s going to be a nice vacation for me after all of the things I''ve done.¡±


    ¡°You really think that?¡± Kara asked as we boarded the shuttle.


    ¡°I''ve had hundreds of years of responsibility, Kara.¡± I said and she trembled at the truth in my words. ¡°I''ve been working so hard the last year, and after I destroyed that planet...¡± I sighed. ¡°I need a break.¡±


    A hundred guards tromped around the edge of the building, which was quite the sight, then every single one of them tripped and grabbed their ankles.


    ¡°Well, that was technically a hundred breaks; but, they don''t count.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Pilot, take off. We have a date with a ship in orbit.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The pilot said and added power to the engines, then we lifted off and flew up into the sky.


    Thanks to my newfound experience with focusing crystal detonations, I knew exactly how many I needed to use to destroy the entire council chamber and everything inside of it. Just as we reached two miles up, I activated the devices and seven medium quality crystals exploded and consumed everything within the blast range.

 Book Three: The Resolution 100

    I waited until we were in hyperspace before I started to tell Kara my story. We were in a small cabin and I used Presence to soundproof it. Each morning she would leave to get breakfast for us, and I would talk about everything that happened, then she would get us supper. Each night, she would have me create a Presence Wall between us and we shared the bed. She always ended up staring at me before she fell asleep, though.


    This continued on for about five weeks. To say she was shocked at what I told her was an understatement. She had a hard time believing that I had defied the Goddess and had stayed on Relique, especially since to her, we had both appeared at the same point in time when we returned. Travelling with magic seemed to have some weird rules to it and she couldn''t understand how I could be alive for seven hundred years and still only look a few years older.


    Kara almost died of shock when I told her what my hair had been like when I had returned and had hidden it from her. She knew I was telling the truth, and yet, she still demanded proof. I had to chuckle at that and showed her the footage from my bar escapades on Chaofaris. She watched it with rapt attention and had me replay it when it was done.


    ¡°Can you give me a copy of the data you have? All of it?¡± Kara asked and motioned to the screen.


    I laughed and handed her several data chips. ¡°Have fun.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Kara said and stored them, then she went quiet and looked into my eyes. ¡°You''re really that old, aren''t you?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± I said.


    ¡°Why do you still act so immaturely?¡±


    ¡°Why do you always act so aloof and unapproachable?¡± I countered, then I smiled. ¡°Actually, these last two months you''ve been personable and downright warm towards me, even when you were trying to be distant.¡± I said. ¡°I should be asking you what''s wrong.¡±


    ¡°Nothing''s wrong.¡± Kara said. ¡°You were just too confrontational to notice before.¡±


    ¡°I was the one that was confrontational?¡± I laughed. ¡°Yeah, right.¡±


    ¡°If you just did what I said back then and became the man I wanted, all of this could have been avoided.¡± Kara said. ¡°Instead, you fought me nearly every day and ran away. Now you''ve committed an atrocity so huge that everyone will know your name.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°You''re assuming The Order tells anyone that it was me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, they will.¡± Kara said. ¡°You killed the council and whoever comes in to replace them will tell everyone that you are responsible.¡±


    ¡°I hope they do, because right after that, an anonymous tip will tell everyone who it was I killed.¡± I smiled. ¡°What will people say about that?¡±


    Kara tried to respond, and sighed instead. ¡°It will discredit The Order.¡±


    ¡°Yes, finding out that an assassin business was run, right under your noses, and no one except a few key people had any idea they were so closely tied to The Order, will make a lot of people angry.¡±


    ¡°You want that, don''t you?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°No. Making them angry at The Order isn''t my goal.¡± I said.


    ¡°What is your goal?¡±


    ¡°To stop them from automatically trusting The Order. It''s not all powerful and it''s not all encompassing. Why are they in charge? Why are they going onto planets and imposing their rules and beliefs on people?¡±


    ¡°It''s the will of the Goddess.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Yes, and we now how much she treasures her followers.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°She just wants as many followers as possible and she doesn''t care how or why she gets them, as long as she does.¡±


    Kara couldn''t refute that, since that was exactly how they did things when they find a planet that doesn''t have an Order temple or church on it already. They even install offices on space stations where there is almost no external Presence, which makes no sense, except to maintain control and stay in the public eye.


    There was a short buzz from the intercom to get people''s attention. ¡°All hands. Exiting hyperspace. We will arrive at the sacred site in two hours.¡± A voice said and then clicked off, then Kara let out a sigh.


    ¡°It seems our alone time has come to an end.¡± I said.


    ¡°We still have two hours.¡± Kara said, then she caught her breath at what she had just implied.


    ¡°You still want me to be what I can''t.¡± I reminded her. ¡°Until you can look past what you want, so you can see what you can have, you are always going to be disappointed, no matter what you are doing or who you are with.¡±


    Kara didn''t like me reminding her of that, so she turned away and stayed quiet for the rest of the trip.


    We arrived in orbit and Kara brought me over to the shuttle ladder. I had changed out of the master robes and into pants and a shirt, just so the people at the focusing crystal mine wouldn''t automatically think that they had to ''knock me down a peg'' or to ''show me my place''. I was going to take The Wise One''s advice and I was going to do my best to not cause trouble.


    ¡°I don''t know why they won''t let me escort you to the surface.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°They don''t want you to witness the conditions they have the prisoners working in.¡± I said.


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Kara looked at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°You didn''t know that they make people mine the crystals?¡±


    ¡°I did, but... you''re supposed to be in chained servitude. I thought that meant like a butler or servant.¡±


    ¡°Nope. Hard and dangerous physical labour. See you later.¡± I said and started to climb the ladder.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kara exclaimed. ¡°You knew and you wanted to come here anyway?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and climbed back down. ¡°There was no other way I was going to get here.¡±


    ¡°But... we could have...¡±


    ¡°Did you know where it was before coming here?¡± I asked and she shook her head. ¡°I was fortunate enough to have found the data on the other site and also discovered inside information during the raids that allowed me to approach the planet without being shot down. I mistimed the mission and that gave me away, so then I had to cover it up.¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°Hunter, I''m not going to see you again for a while, am I?¡±


    ¡°Do prisoners have access to communications consoles?¡± I asked and she shook her head. ¡°Then yes, it''s going to be a while.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Kara''s hands started to reach for me and she stopped herself.


    ¡°Do you want a dramatic goodbye?¡± I asked her.


    Kara took a breath and let it out. ¡°No, I... I don''t deserve it.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Okay, then.¡± I said and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then I climbed up the ladder. I closed both hatches and Kara looked up at me as the shuttle disengaged from the ship. ¡°Oops! I almost forgot to do this.¡± I said and used Presence to carry my words to her, then I stopped hiding my Presence and let my full abilities out. I saw her react and gave her a hug with Presence, then I touched her Presence center briefly.


    ¡°AHH!¡± Kara gasped loudly and dropped to her knees as she had an orgasm. ¡°HUNTER!¡±


    ¡°I guess that was a little too much.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sorry about that. I didn''t know you were that sensitive to sharing.¡± I used Presence to form a pair of lips and kissed her on the lips. ¡°I''ll ask you for forgiveness when we meet again.¡±


    ¡°You damn well better!¡± Kara nearly yelled, then she slowly stood up and walked over to the closest window and looked out at the shuttle. ¡°Why can I still feel you?¡±


    ¡°My detection range is two miles.¡± I said and she gasped again. ¡°Here''s the limit. Goodbye, Kara.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye.¡± Kara said and then she was gone from what I could feel.


    ¡°Master Hunter, can you tone it down? I''m having a hard time flying with the distraction.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Of course.¡± I said and formed a barrier around the pilot and he couldn''t feel my energy anymore. He relaxed and flew the shuttle down into the atmosphere. It was very rough, because there was a storm raging not far away, and I thought that Monna would really have enjoyed this insertion a lot. That made me laugh and I kept it from the pilot.


    He flew us down to the designated spot and two male Order members waited there with three guards and what looked like an administrator. As soon as the shuttle landed, I thanked the pilot and opened the side hatch, stepped out, and closed it again. He took off without being told and left me alone with the waiting party.


    ¡°I felt you from two miles away.¡± The administrator said in a bland tone, even though she was mentally shivering at my appearance. She was a handsome woman and her strong Presence was trying its best to not be overwhelmed by mine.


    ¡°You don''t have to struggle against the feeling.¡± I said. ¡°I can tell you''re not openly hostile.¡±


    ¡°You killed nearly fifty million people.¡± She said, but not angrily. She was just stating a fact.


    ¡°I wasn''t really trying.¡± I joked.


    Two of the guards laughed and they were glared at by the two Order members. They shut up immediately.


    ¡°You aren''t going to fight this, are you?¡± The administrator asked. She stopped trying to fight against feeling my Presence and her eyes widened as my Presence didn''t overwhelm hers like she thought it was going to. She was surprised that there wasn''t any resistance as her Presence moved and shifted through mine. She had never felt anything like that before, because there was always conflict. Always.


    I gave her an award winning smile and held my hands out to the guards. One of them stepped forward and produced a pair of the restrictive magnetic cuffs and put them on my wrists. I pulled my Presence back to what they thought was a more manageable level in their eyes and they all relaxed. When he knelt to put on the ankle ones, the administrator waved him off.


    ¡°We can wait with those. It''s a long walk down to processing.¡±


    ¡°Why can''t we ride one of the low quality crates and have one of the workers push us down there with the cargo movement handle?¡± I asked and everyone looked at me with surprise. ¡°No? Well, walking it is.¡± I said and started walking towards the shipment warehouse.


    It took them a minute to realize I was leaving without them and they scrambled to catch up to me. I held in my laugh as they did and tried to get back into a proper escort for a high profile prisoner.


    ¡°I think riding the crate is a great idea.¡± One of the guards whispered.


    ¡°Quiet.¡± Another said. ¡°We can try it later.¡±


    I had to laugh that time.


    ¡°Is this funny to you?¡± One of The Order members asked.


    ¡°Kind of.¡± I said and gave another smile to the administrator that she tried to ignore. ¡°I think I''m going to like it here, and that''s odd to say about a place like this.¡±


    We entered the shipment warehouse and walked to the back, the same as it was at the place I had been, and it was almost the same distance to the junction. Instead of going to the mine, they turned and went in the other direction towards the administration facilities for the automated refinement factory. We stepped through a full body security scanner and they didn''t find anything on me.


    The administrator nodded to me and gave me a smile. ¡°I''m glad you didn''t try to smuggle something in that we would have to confiscate.¡±


    ¡°You mean something like this?¡± I asked and reached into my pocket and pulled out one of the desserts. ¡°I was saving this for when I met someone special.¡±


    The administrator stared at the dessert and then at my face. ¡°What... how...¡±


    ¡°I just came from The Order''s home planet and I paid a visit to the food vending area before I went to the council.¡± I said and handed it to her. ¡°if you know how to prepare that...¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± She said and took it tenderly.


    ¡°Well, enjoy it.¡± I said, then I spoke and used Presence so only she would hear. ¡°I hope you know that it tastes ten times better with a partner to share it with.¡±


    The administrator caught her breath and looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°Ten... times.¡±


    ¡°All right, into the booth.¡± One of The Order members said and tried to shove me. His hand bounced off of my shoulder and I didn''t move. ¡°Huh? What?¡±


    ¡°Do that again and I take your hand.¡± I said to him.


    ¡°You can''t threaten me! I''m an overseer for this mine.¡± He said.


    ¡°It wasn''t a threat. It''s a rule.¡± I said and turned to the administrator. ¡°My hands are a little confined. Do you want to help me get out of these clothes?¡±


    She gave me a surprised face for a moment, then reason overruled her. ¡°Please step in and strip off the best you can.¡±


    I gave her another smile and stepped into the booth. I quickly took off the shirt and hung it up on the hook there, then I started to take off my pants. I covered the men''s eyes and let the booth operator, the administrator, and one of the guards watch.


    ¡°Hey! I can''t see! I''m blind! BLIND!¡± One of The Order members yelled and started to flail around and the other men started to do the same. The three women exchanged looks and then looked into the booth at a fully naked me. I waved to them, pointed to the men, and pretended to laugh.


    All three women burst out laughing and the booth operator turned it on and I had a nice cleansing shower. The door opened on the other side and I was next to the booth operator.


    ¡°I suppose you''re going to keep my clothes.¡± I said to her.


    She nodded and opened a compartment that was filled with shrink wrapped bundles and towels. I quickly dried off with a towel and handed it to her, to her delight, and she handed me a bundle. I opened it and stepped into the bright yellow jumpsuit.


    ¡°Who can I complain to that I look like a farglesnap (banana)?¡± I asked.


    She laughed as she imagined peeling me out of it and pointed to the administrator.


    ¡°Hi, again! I''d like to make a formal complaint.¡± I said.


    ¡°Noted.¡± She said with a smile and motioned to the men. ¡°Would you mind.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± I said and absorbed the Presence covering their eyes. ¡°I didn''t want to blush if they stared at me for too long.¡±


    The three women exchanged glances again and looked back at me.


    ¡°I was joking.¡± I said. ¡°I just wanted to keep my modesty with them.¡±


    ¡°Not with us?¡± The booth operator asked, surprised.


    ¡°You were going to see me naked anyway.¡± I said with a grin.


    She blushed a little at the implication, as did the administrator. The guard just gave me a normal smile.


    ¡°Don''t do that again.¡± One of The Order members said angrily.


    ¡°You just have to stop trying to look at me when I''m naked and everything will be fine.¡± I said and looked at the administrator. ¡°Are you taking me all the way down to the mine or is this where we part?¡±


    She seriously debated breaking protocol and wanted to take me all the way there herself. ¡°This is where we part.¡±


    I gave her a slight bow and turned to the guards. ¡°Let''s go. I don''t have all day to hang around, you know.¡±


    The female guard chuckled as they surrounded me, then the two Order members led the way back to the junction and down into the mine. This one went down a lot further than the other one, which meant it had been worked on for a lot longer.


    Does that mean the other planet had a new mine? I asked myself.


    ¡°Here we are.¡± The Order member in front said when we entered the mine and stood on the large platform. ¡°This is my area and you will not cause problems.¡±


    ¡°What if I''m in his area?¡± I asked and pointed at the other Order member.


    ¡°It''s the same area!¡± The first one said.


    ¡°Well, that''s not fair.¡± I said. ¡°Shouldn''t he have a turn being in charge?¡±


    ¡°This is a prison! It''s not supposed to be fair!¡±


    ¡°Whatever.¡± I shrugged and turned to the female guard. ¡°How many prisoners can I kill before I get into trouble?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± She looked at me in surprise.


    I leaned in conspiratorily to whisper loudly. ¡°There are assassins mixed in with the prisoners. I want to know how many I can kill before I get into trouble.¡±


    ¡°Stop that!¡± One of the other guards said and put the ankle restraints on me. ¡°Get down there.¡±


    ¡°You''re letting me meet my new family on my own without introductions?¡± I asked and started to walk down the stairs. ¡°That''s not nice.¡± I said and reached the bottom, then I turned around to look up at them. ¡°Hey, what cubicle is mine?¡±


    ¡°You have to fight for the available space.¡± The first Order member said with a smile.


    ¡°To the death?¡± I asked as I picked up his thoughts.


    ¡°That''s up to you.¡± The man said. ¡°Be warned that each person that dies ''accidentally'' will add another five years to your sentence.¡±


    ¡°I was sentenced to thirty years.¡± I said loudly and made sure my voice carried through the entire mine with Presence. I saw the surprise on the two Order member''s faces and the three guards. ¡°What''s another hundred years or so?¡± I asked and turned away from them and walked down into the main shaft of the mine to meet my new roommates.

 Book Three: The Resolution 101

    I honesty thought about just sitting down and not having a confrontation right away. I didn''t want to cause trouble, and I knew if I went down into the living area that I was going to have trouble. A lot of trouble.


    It''s always nice to make a good first impression. I thought with a smile and kept walking the hobbling walk that the magnetic ankle cuffs allowed. I passed a man who gave me a mean look and I waved at him. I passed a woman that had greedy eyes and licked her lips, so I blew her a kiss and that surprised her. I kept walking and passed a man that ignored me completely and I marked him mentally.


    I reached the living area that had been constructed off to the side, just like it had been at the other place, and it also had the same amount of cubicles. Since I had guessed that this mine operated for a lot longer than the last one, the living space limitation was a real problem if they had been funnelling prisoners here for that long.


    I didn''t know what kind of shifts they had here, either. I probably should have asked a few more questions before coming down here. I thought with amusement.


    Half of the cubicles already had occupants and some of them had two women, some had two men, and the rest of the occupied ones had single people and aliens. I came to a stop in the middle of the area and smiled.


    ¡°Please tell me there''s a female Aviatoma here.¡± I said loudly with a Presence assist and then I let out a really loud squawk to announce my arrival. Three screeches responded from down further in the mine, then there were several loud bangs, a few more screeches, then silence. I stood there and waited for almost five minutes before the first one came into sight.


    ¡°Please, let it be true!¡± A female avian woman exclaimed as she hobbled-hopped-ran into the living area and then she stopped when she saw me. ¡°No, please.¡± She said, her voice full of sadness and she felt a deep loss. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°I knew it was too good to be true.¡± Another one said as she hobbled into view. ¡°Damn it, human! I''ll kill you for insulting me like this!¡±


    ¡°M-move... out of the... way!¡± A third avian woman panted. Her jumpsuit was torn in several places and her arm didn''t work right. ¡°I don''t care if he played a recording.¡±


    ¡°You can have the disgusting thing.¡± The first woman said and turned around. ¡°We better get back to our shift.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be visiting you tonight!¡± The second one said. ¡°Your blood will be sweet as I rip your throat out!¡±


    I ignored their taunts and looked at the third woman. ¡°It looks like they ambushed you.¡±


    ¡°At least they used... the handles on... the laser drills.¡± She said and came to a stop in front of me. The feathers on her head and forearms were pitch black and you could barely tell they were feathers at all unless you looked closely. Her skin was a bit darker than the others, too.


    ¡°Hi. I''m Hunter.¡± I said and held a hand out to her.


    She looked at it like it was going to hurt her and then at my face. ¡°You don''t have a lot of experience with magnetic cuffs, do you?¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡±


    ¡°They repel each other and other pairs.¡± She said. ¡°If you try to force them together... well...¡±


    ¡°How am I supposed to make love to you if we can''t cuddle?¡± I asked.


    She opened her mouth to respond when a thick voice spoke from the darkness.


    ¡°Get back to work.¡±


    ¡°Who was that?¡± I asked and tried to follow the Presence back to the source.


    ¡°The self-appointed shift manager.¡± She said and turned around to go back to work.


    ¡°Wait, let me help you.¡± I said.


    She laughed. ¡°What are you going to do, hold my laser drill for me?¡±


    ¡°If that''s what you want.¡± I said and walked behind her and put my hands on her lower back. She froze as I dug my thumbs into the small recesses on the sides of her spine. She let out a low warble from her throat before she could stop herself.


    ¡°Stop... I have... to work.¡±


    I leaned in close and tweeted into her ear. She trembled for a second then caught her breath.


    ¡°You can do that?¡± She asked, surprised. ¡°What about the cuffs?¡±


    ¡°What cuffs?¡± I asked and popped them apart and stored them, then put my arms around her as I stepped close and hugged her from behind.


    All of the feathers on her head fluffed up and she looked down to see that my hands and feet were free. She couldn''t believe it and shook her head. She let out a few low chirps of disbelief and I used Presence Heal on her. I also disabled the explosive in her head and covered the pieces in Presence to stop them from moving around and causing damage.


    ¡°No, it''s not real.¡± She said. ¡°It can''t be.¡±


    ¡°Get back to work now! You need to fill your quota!¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to carry you now?¡± I asked and picked her up in a princess carry and she let out a frightened squawk and stared at me. I gave her an award winning smile and covered us in Presence, then I ran. ¡°Where is the shift manager?¡±


    ¡°He''s at the mining site.¡± She said and we arrived there a few seconds later and we had passed the other two avian women.


    ¡°That''s not possible.¡± The man said and looked at me as we appeared in front of him.


    ¡°I''m assigning myself to (tweet-chirp-chirp-warble-chirp)''s shift.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and I''ll be staying in her cubicle, too.¡±


    ¡°You''ll what?¡± The avian woman exclaimed. ¡°Wait! I don''t have a cubicle!¡±


    ¡°You will tonight.¡± I said. ¡°Where were you digging?¡±


    ¡°Section six.¡± She said automatically, because she was too surprised by the turn of events to lie or to misdirect me.


    ¡°You need to be properly trained with the use of the laser drill.¡± The shift manager said.


    ¡°She''ll teach me as she works.¡± I said and I plucked the location of section six from his head. ¡°Don''t worry. I won''t blow this planet up, too.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± They both yelled and I ran from the spot over to section six.


    ¡°You can hobble really fast, can''t you?¡± I asked and stood her up next to her abandoned laser drill.


    She stared at me and didn''t speak for a minute. ¡°You blew up a planet!¡±


    ¡°Well, when you launch fifty ship missiles at a stationary target that''s pretty much just a massive explosion that''s waiting to happen...¡± I shrugged. ¡°I learned my lesson.¡±


    She opened her mouth a few times, then she shook her head like a dog shaking off water. ¡°I don''t know if being around you is going to be worth the problems.¡± She said and picked up the large laser drill that was the size of a jackhammer, then she braced it against the wall and turned it on.


    A laser shot out of the end and cut into the wall at a seemingly random spot and she made several adjustments to the emitter. A second later, the wall started to glow around the area. After about five minutes, the surrounding rock melted away a hole that was a foot in diameter. Inside the space was an unrefined focusing crystal about the size of my fist.


    ¡°Okay, I guess I am going to need more than a physical demonstration.¡± I said.


    She warbled a laugh and took out the large unrefined crystal from the hole and walked over to an open crate. She placed it inside and came back over to the wall.


    ¡°How did you get here so fast?!?¡± The first avian woman asked, then she gasped when she saw me. ¡°What''s that doing here?¡±


    ¡°Learning.¡± I said.


    She glared at me and went to her spot that wasn''t too far away, then she picked up her large laser drill and started to work.


    ¡°I should kill you right now for tricking us.¡± The second avian woman said as she walked passed us.


    ¡°I''d hold off on that, because you''re going to feel extremely horny tonight.¡± I said. ¡°I do a great mating call.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    All three women gasped and turned to look at me. ¡°You lie.¡± They said as one.


    ¡°I can''t prove it here, because you''ve got about six hours left to the shift.¡± I said. ¡°The last Aviatoma I was with kept hugging herself to try and hold on to the feeling.¡±


    The three of them stared at me, so I pointed to the wall.


    ¡°You need to start working or the shift manager is going to yell again.¡±


    They sighed and got back to work. I asked the one I was with how to actually operate the laser drill, and she showed me the range finder to detect a good crystal. Once it found one, you changed the emitter settings to melt the rock around it, then you just plucked it out and put it in the crate.


    ¡°How do you dig down to the right spots?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We have actual picks to clear out the rocks and dirt to expose a good area first, then we bring out the laser drills and start harvesting the crystals.¡±


    ¡°You are behind on your shift quota.¡± The thick voice said.


    ¡°I assume a full crate is the shift quota?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°So, if we fill it, we can end our shift early, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± She said. ¡°It''s never happened before, though. We need a full shift to gather enough crystals.¡±


    ¡°Well, you used to.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡±


    ¡°Where are you...¡± She stopped talking and sighed.


    I showed up at the shift manager and startled him. ¡°How many more laser drills do you have?¡±


    ¡°They are all signed out.¡± The shift manager said. ¡°That''s why we have shifts. Not everyone can work.¡±


    ¡°I guess I would normally be on the other shift, then?¡±


    ¡°No, I just told you that there''s not enough drills.¡± He said. ¡°You would be a part of the crew that digs new areas and clears the melted rock when it''s too thick to work around.¡±


    ¡°It''s a good thing I assigned myself to this shift then.¡± I said and ran back to section six. The black feathered woman didn''t jump when I appeared beside her, unlike the other two. I used Presence to hold their drills against the walls because they almost dropped them. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± I said and both of them glared at me, then they realized they weren''t holding their drills. They let out startled squawks and grabbed them and I let them go.


    ¡°If you really are staying on my shift, we''ll have to share the drill.¡± (Tweet-chirp-chirp-warble-chirp) said.


    ¡°Would you mind if I called you Valerie, or Val for short? That almost sounds like (warble).¡±


    Val gave me a look that said she didn''t like that.


    ¡°I promise that in private, I''ll call you whatever you want.¡± I said.


    Val stopped working and looked at me. ¡°Anything I want?¡± She asked and I nodded. She looked at the other two women and then leaned in close to me to whisper in my ear. She tweeted and chirped and I raised my eyebrows at her. She blushed a little and ducked her head, so I put a hand under her chin and had her look at me.


    ¡°If that''s what you want to be called.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then you can call me Val.¡±


    ¡°He''s domesticating you already!¡± The second avian woman almost yelled. ¡°You should scratch his eye out for insulting you by giving you a normal name!¡±


    ¡°It''s not an insult, though.¡± I said and looked at Val. ¡°I just rather save speaking in your native tongue for when we''re alone.¡±


    ¡°You really can speak it and it''s not a recording or anything?¡± Val asked.


    I said a series of chirps, tweets, and squawks to say that I could. I even fluffed my hair with Presence for emphasis. All three women stared at me like they hadn''t seen me before.


    ¡°Now, let''s get this crate filled.¡± I said.


    ¡°It takes time to gather unrefined crystals and it can''t be rushed.¡± Val said. ¡°Plus we only have one laser drill to... Goddess of the Air!¡± She exclaimed when I made five laser drills appear.


    ¡°Shh! Keep this a secret from you know who.¡± I said and used Presence Hands to check all five drills and put them on the right setting for searching, then I lifted them all up in a square pattern with four on the corners and one in the center. I found three crystals and used the drills to melt the rock, then moved over five feet and used them again.


    The three women stood there and watched as I went all along the wall for about thirty feet, which meant I used all five drills six times each and found eighteen crystals. I moved them up the wall and went back along the thirty feet and found ten more crystals. I used twenty eight Presence Hands to pick up the unrefined crystals and placed five in the crate to finish the level, added the padding and protection it needed, then put the rest in.


    ¡°What do you do when you have extra crystals?¡± I asked and stored the drills and then put the top on the crate. I had two extra that I just couldn''t get into the crate without them hitting the others.


    ¡°It''s never happened before.¡± Val said.


    I stored the last two crystals and then turned on the handle on the crate, so it floated up off of the ground. ¡°Ladies, can I offer you a ride?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The three of them asked.


    ¡°There''s no need for you to walk all the way back, right? We have a poor man''s hover car right here.¡± I said and waved at the crate, then turned off the handle and it lowered to the ground. ¡°Val, if you would demonstrate?¡±


    Val nodded and I picked her up by her hips and sat her on the crate. I activated the handle and then easily walked around the area and back to the other two. The other two women had their mouths open in surprise. I waved to the crate and held a hand out to the first woman and she looked like she wanted to bat my hand away.


    ¡°Oh, right. Sorry.¡± I said and created solid blue Presence Claws that looked like bird feet to cover my hands. ¡°This way.¡±


    She was completely stunned at my hands and couldn''t fathom what had happened. I picked her up with my clawed hands and sat her on the left side of the crate, then made a seat belt out of Presence to hold her, just in case. I did the same with Val and gave her a seat belt, too. I then tucked both of their laser drills into a bag of holding.


    The second woman glared at me and I could feel her hatred that I was copying a male for my own advantage. I didn''t bother holding a clawed hand out to her and just waved at the crate. She nodded and I used Levitation to pick her up and put her on the other side of the crate. She let out a startled squawk at the movement, then she felt the seat belt hold her in place. She touched it and looked at me.


    ¡°I don''t want you to fall off.¡± I said in explanation and stored her laser drill, then I activated the handle and the crate floated a foot up off of the ground. I walked at a normal pace, which they hadn''t seen anyone do in a while, and I took them and the crate all the way back over to the shift supervisor.


    ¡°What are you...¡± He stopped talking when he saw the crate and the three avian women on top of it. ¡°What the hell?¡±


    ¡°It''s a shock that people can ride a crate, I know.¡± I said and dropped off the three laser drills that the three avian women had been using. ¡°Do you want me to bring the crate up to the start of the mine?¡±


    The supervisor couldn''t decide if I was pulling his leg or not, because he knew there was no way the crate could be full.


    ¡°It actually is full.¡± I said and tapped the side and it made a solid ''thunk'' sound. ¡°Do I deliver it or not?¡±


    ¡°Deliver it.¡± He said and looked at the three avian women. ¡°You did well to finish so soon and to cover for the new guy.¡± He said. ¡°I''ll put you in for extra rations tonight.¡±


    The three of them let out little chirps of surprise.


    ¡°Thanks a lot.¡± I said and started to walk away.


    ¡°Hunter, you did this, not us.¡± Val whispered. ¡°You deserve the extra rations.¡±


    ¡°You three need them more than I do.¡± I said. ¡°Maybe some extra food will make the other two less hostile.¡±


    ¡°Not a chance.¡± The first woman said.


    ¡°Drop dead.¡± The second one said.


    ¡°Hey, it''s already working.¡± I said. ¡°You didn''t spit at me and that is definitely an improvement.¡±


    Both women fell silent and Val chuckled.


    I took them to the living area and that surprised everyone that was there. I deactivated the handle and absorbed the Presence holding them in place, then I helped all three women down off of the crate.


    ¡°I''ll be back soon.¡± I said to Val and she nodded.


    I activated the handle again and walked at a normal pace all the way back to the start of the mine. Just before I went into the open area, I put the shackles back on my ankles and wrists and then hobble-walked into the space.


    ¡°Hey, there!¡± I said loudly and the two Order members and three guards stared at me. ¡°I''m just delivering a full crate.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± One of The Order members asked.


    ¡°It has a handle and I pull on it.¡± I said and stopped in the middle of the area and deactivated the handle. ¡°See you later.¡±


    No one spoke as I turned around and hobble-walked back out of the area. Once I was out of their sight, I took off the restraints and stored them, then used Presence Run to get back to the living area instantly. Val smiled at my appearance and the other two avian women let out startled squawks. A few people had gathered around them and had been asking questions about me.


    ¡°Before this goes on any further, I need to speak to the biggest, meanest, and most bad-assed person here.¡± I said.


    ¡°That would be me.¡± A gravelly voice said as they stepped out of the very first cubicle. It was an alien, or at least I assumed it was an alien, because he was nine feet tall and looked like he was made of blocks. His head was a block, his arms and legs were two blocks on their ends, and his torso looked like one big block.


    Since the cuffs stopped people from moving their ankles more than two feet part, he had to take baby steps to come out of his cubicle. His hands were held together by two sets of cuffs, since his body was so wide, and a single cuff was so big that I could wear one as a belt. He also had the meanest look on his face that I had ever seen.


    ¡°It''s really nice to meet you.¡± I said and gave him a big smile. ¡°I''d like to rent your cubicle for the night.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He looked at me in confusion. ¡°I thought we were going to fight.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha! You''re such a kidder.¡± I said and everyone looked around in confusion as well. ¡°No, I just need a bed so I can make Val squawk until she can''t speak.¡±


    ¡°We''re supposed to fight for living space.¡± He said.


    ¡°I don''t wanna live there!¡± I laughed. ¡°I just want to visit.¡±


    ¡°Fight him!¡± The second avian woman said and pointed at me. ¡°He''s a fraud and deserves to die!¡±


    The big alien took another step towards me and I didn''t move.


    ¡°I''ll make you an offer you can''t refuse.¡± I said.


    ¡°Credits don''t mean anything down here.¡± He said and started to raise his huge arms over my head to smash me into the ground.


    ¡°I''ll trade you one night in your cubicle for the key to your wrist cuffs.¡± I said with a grin.


    The big alien stopped and looked into my eyes. ¡°You have it?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Only one night?¡± The big guy asked.


    ¡°Yep! Just one night and you can move your arms like you want.¡± I said. ¡°I''d suggest keeping the cuffs close by. When anyone comes around, you can put them back on and pretend they still have you restrained.¡±


    ¡°I could kill you and just take it.¡± The big guy said.


    I laughed again. ¡°I could run around you a hundred times before you could hit me with your arms shackled like that. Afterwards? Well, no point in killing me if you already have the key, right?¡±


    The big alien thought about it. ¡°You''re not trying to trick me, are you?¡±


    ¡°Naw, if I was going to trick you, I would have led you over to the side there and got you stuck in the depression.¡± I pointed to the spot. ¡°It would take you all night to walk all the way to the end and get back out.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± The big alien said. ¡°One night for the key.¡±


    I took out the electronic key. ¡°I mean tonight. Val can''t wait until tomorrow or next week.¡±


    The big alien laughed a huge rumbling laugh. ¡°Tonight.¡±


    I went to hand him the key and then looked at his hands. ¡°Want me to open the first one? You can''t turn your hands to use it.¡±


    The big alien nodded and I unlocked one of his wrists, then I held the key out to him. He took it carefully, so that he wouldn''t crush it, and used it to open the other cuff.


    ¡°Do you realize the power you just gave him?¡± Val asked me. ¡°Everyone will come to him and offer favors to open their wrist restraints.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± I said and looked at the big alien. ¡°Plus, he can just claim another cubicle until tomorrow.¡±


    The big alien smiled at me and shuffled off. No one got in his way.


    ¡°Then why didn''t you make someone else the same offer?¡± Val asked, confused.


    ¡°He''s got a huge bed.¡± I said and took her hand. ¡°Believe me, we''re going to need the room.¡±


    Val opened her mouth to respond and I pulled her close and spoke the first three chirps and tweets of a mating call. She closed her eyes and all of her feathers fluffed up slightly.


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± Val said. ¡°Please.¡±


    I led her over to the cubicle and created a Presence Wall to cover the opening to stop people from seeing us. I didn''t bother blocking the sound, because I wanted everyone to hear us, and they did.

 Book Three: The Resolution 102

    Needless to say I kept my word. Val squawked herself hoarse after about two hours and then she just moaned and grunted when she could. By the morning, her feathers were everywhere and I had groomed her all over with Presence Claws. Rather than leave the place a mess, which would have pissed off the big alien, I had used my own sheet and blanket with the Impervious spell cast on them.


    I used Presence to pick up all of her feathers and down and put them into a sack, then rolled the sheet and blanket up and tucked them into a bag of holding. I could wash them off later when given the chance. When I handed the sack of feathers to Val, she almost cried.


    ¡°Don''t worry. Once I get access to some digging tools, I''ll make you somewhere to put them.¡±


    ¡°You promise?¡± Val asked, as if my answer would shatter her world if I said no.


    ¡°I even have lots of blankets that we can weave together for you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Val hugged the sack of feathers and looked into my eyes. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡±


    ¡°If you want the truth, I''m establishing a pattern.¡± I said and she blinked her eyes at me.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Your race is notoriously harsh to humans that try to sleep with you.¡± I said. ¡°I just showed everyone here that I can do what they thought was impossible.¡±


    Val thought about that. ¡°What if I''m just an easy woman and slept with anything that would have me?¡±


    I chuckled and took her into my arms. ¡°Instead of being a rare bird, you would be a very rare bird.¡±


    Val let out a warbled laugh. ¡°Now I have to ask how many women you slept with.¡±


    ¡°I can count them on two hands.¡± I said. ¡°Believe me, that''s an impressively low number, considering how old I am.¡±


    Val laughed. ¡°What are you, twenty five? Thirty? Ten women isn''t low!¡±


    I laughed, too. ¡°We need to go. The big guy is coming back over.¡± I absorbed the Presence Wall and took Val''s hand and stepped out of the cubicle. ¡°Thanks a lot for the loan!¡± I said to the big alien.


    He looked into the cubicle and was very surprised that he didn''t see a mess.


    ¡°I wouldn''t abuse your hospitality like that.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°I''m not that stupid.¡±


    The big alien laughed. ¡°I think I''m glad I didn''t have to kill you.¡±


    ¡°Keep going with that feeling.¡± I said and gave him a wave, then led Val away from the cubicles and away from two very hostile avian women that were off to the side of the living area. They were huddled together under a blanket and I could feel the residual sexual desire they had felt all night while listening to Val and I do a traditional mating ritual.


    Their thoughts... well... the first one was still disgusted that I wasn''t one of her species, despite being so turned on. The second one was even more hostile towards me now, even though she was just as angry at herself for rejecting me immediately. On the plus side, neither of them wanted to kill me.


    ¡°When are they delivering breakfast?¡± I asked Val.


    ¡°In about an hour they will open up the dispensary over there.¡± Val said and pointed to a spot that looked like solid rock.


    I used Detect Presence to look through it. ¡°Of course they used solid rock to hide the food.¡±


    ¡°Well, it''s not like there isn''t a lot of rock around.¡± Val said and I chuckled.


    ¡°Fair enough.¡±


    The man that had given me a mean expression the day before when I entered the mine came over to us. He glared at Val and I got the thought from him that he had tried, unsuccessfully, to sleep with her.


    ¡°What are you in for?¡± He asked and looked at me.


    ¡°You''re asking me that right away? No ''hello, my name is Five More Years''?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He asked, surprised.


    I pointed my hand at him in the shape of a gun, which got everyone''s attention. ¡°What''s your name?¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter what my name is.¡± He said and evaded the question. ¡°All that matters here is what you did.¡±


    ¡°That''s not true.¡± I said loudly. ¡°What matters is how long you''ve been sentenced to stay here.¡±


    ¡°Is it true?¡± Val asked. ¡°They gave you thirty years?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°Right afterwards, I caused an explosion that killed the entire Order Council.¡±


    Shock went through all of the people in the living area, except for six of them, who thought I had killed Kralish the scaly alien, and they had flashes of hatred for me. Not surprisingly, so did the man in front of me. No one questioned if I was telling the truth, though.


    ¡°We have company!¡± A woman said as she hobbled into the living area.


    ¡°It looks like we will have to continue this later.¡± I said to the man.


    He gave me squinted eyes and then stalked off.


    ¡°Val, don''t be alone near that man. If he approaches you, do what (chirp-warble-tweet-tweet) said. Claw his eye out for approaching you unasked.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± She looked at the retreating man. ¡°He keeps to himself most times, and...¡±


    ¡°Do it for me, then. I don''t want you hurt because of me.¡± I cautioned her and put on my restraints.


    An Order member and two guards came into the living area and spotted me, then walked right over to me. Val beat a hasty retreat without being asked.


    ¡°You. Come with us.¡± The Order member said.


    ¡°This would have gone a lot faster if you had brought an empty crate with you.¡± I said and started to hobble-walk.


    ¡°We''re not allowed.¡± One of the guards said and gave a slightly deadly look to The Order member.


    ¡°That sucks. It''s a great idea.¡± I said and both guards nodded.


    It took us a good twenty minutes to get all the way back to the start of the mine. The other Order member stood there with the third guard and she gave me a tiny wave. I smiled and nodded to her, then I hopped up the stairs faster than my escorts could climb them. I waited for them at the top and they rushed to get to me.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Do you do regular patrols?¡± I asked her and her smile grew wider.


    ¡°Why? Are you afraid we''ll interrupt you trying to have sex with that nasty bird person?¡± The Order member escorting me asked.


    I chuckled. ¡°You''re just angry that she didn''t turn me down.¡±


    He glared at me and started walking at a normal pace towards the junction.


    ¡°We have to keep up.¡± The guard said apologetically.


    ¡°Not a problem.¡± I said and took off the ankle restraints and walked at a normal pace.


    ¡°W-wait!¡± The guard said and he and his partner jogged after me. That made the female guard laugh for a second before she caught herself. Neither she nor the other Order member mentioned me being able to remove the restraints.


    We passed the junction and went towards the administration section. When we were almost there, I put the ankle restraints back on and hobbled in. The Order member escorting me turned around to wait for me. He assumed he would be waiting for a while and was shocked that I was right behind him and still had the restraints on.


    ¡°I hope I''m not here for what I think I''m here for.¡± I said and he gave me a big evil smile. ¡°You do realize I could kill you all right now, right?¡±


    He and the guards froze still and the door opened and the administrator stepped out.


    ¡°I oversee all of these procedures and they are completely humane.¡± She said.


    ¡°Sticking explosives in people''s heads so they behave, isn''t humane.¡±


    ¡°It''s the only way to ensure compliance.¡± She said.


    ¡°I''ve been cooperating, haven''t I?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°I haven''t caused trouble and I didn''t kill anyone yet.¡±


    ¡°Yet?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I''ve got seven targets so far.¡± I said and looked at The Order member. ¡°Maybe eight. He''s being mean.¡±


    ¡°Please don''t kill anyone.¡± The administrator said.


    ¡°Will you stop the operation if I agree?¡± I asked and she shook her head. ¡°Then I will do what I have to do.¡±


    ¡°You can''t resist.¡± The administrator said. ¡°If you try, the medical team won''t be as... gentle.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Neither will I.¡±


    The administrator nodded to the two guards and they grabbed my arms and picked me up, then they carried me into the operating room. I didn''t fight them, since they weren''t really at fault, and the magnetic restraints unlocked from each other and locked onto the sides and end of the table.


    ¡°How was the dessert?¡± I asked the administrator.


    She didn''t say anything in response and I picked up from her thoughts that it had tasted a little bland. Two medical technicians came into the room and they wore masks to hide their identities.


    ¡°Just so you know, your pathetic attempt to be anonymous didn''t work.¡± I chuckled when they both stopped walking.


    ¡°I thought you said you wouldn''t tell him our names.¡± The man said and looked out the observation window.


    ¡°She didn''t tell me, you idiot. I can read your name tag.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The man tried to look down and couldn''t see because of the mask, so he lifted it out of the way and saw his name tag on his lapel. He sighed and took the mask off completely.


    ¡°AHH! Put that back on!¡± I exclaimed and several laughs came from the observation booth.


    ¡°He''s not going to be nice to you now.¡± The other medical technician said and took off her own mask.


    ¡°That''s okay. He''s not going to touch me.¡± I said. ¡°I just started growing my hair back after having it all burned off in an explosion. I''m not letting him shave part of it off.¡±


    Everyone was quiet for several moments after hearing that.


    ¡°You don''t have a choice.¡± She said sadly.


    ¡°We all have a choice.¡± I said and smiled at her. ¡°What will you choose?¡±


    ¡°If it was up to me, they would just let them work and leave them alone. They don''t need the explosives as an incentive.¡±


    ¡°Ah, a like minded soul. They could revolt and kill everyone, and then what? Where would they go?¡± I asked. ¡°How often does a ship come here? Once a month? Two? How would they get on it without being killed as soon as they tried?¡±


    No one answered, so I continued.


    ¡°What about food? Is it grown here or shipped in? How long can they live on the current stored food if there''s no one left to get it for them?¡±


    ¡°I think we need to gas him and put him to sleep.¡± The man said and reached for a breathing mask. ¡°Don''t fight, or we will stretch the cuffs apart.¡±


    I looked at the woman and she nodded. The man put the mask on me and turned it on, then waited for several minutes. I pretended to breathe it in and closed my eyes. He didn''t take it off, though.


    ¡°If you give him too much, he could be asleep for days.¡± The woman warned.


    ¡°That''s fine.¡± He said and held it there for almost ten minutes. ¡°All right. You prep the site and I''ll get the aggression suppressor.¡± He turned it off and removed the mask from me, then walked across the room. He took out a single device and I spoke.


    ¡°That''s a nice name for a suicide charge.¡± I said and everyone froze.


    ¡°You''re awake?¡± The woman asked, shocked.


    ¡°The rumors of my sleep status have been slightly exaggerated.¡± I said and the man started to turn. ¡°Don''t move! That aggression suppressor is going to explode!¡±


    The man looked at it and chuckled. ¡°These are the safest...¡±


    *BOOM!*


    Apparently, when not within an enclosed space, like the inside of a skull to contain the explosion, it was quite energetic. The man''s hand and forearm disappeared, along with most of his face, then the rest of him was shredded by the small pieces of shrapnel that were designed to mulch a brain. Both I and the woman were mostly blocked from the shrapnel by the man''s body. The blood splatter on the other hand, went everywhere.


    No one said anything for about three seconds as the man''s dead body dropped to the floor, then the woman beside me started to scream. It started low as if she had to get used to it, then she worked it up to a full lung expenditure and let loose. I actually had to use Presence to protect my ears from the shrillness.


    For the next few minutes, I laid there and tried not to laugh as several people, the administrator included, crowded into the room and scrambled to try and deal with the situation. The female medical technician was led from the room eventually, still screaming, and the guards carefully put the body into a body bag and carried it out of the room.


    The administrator had a pretty heated discussion with The Order member that was mean to me and they talked about how unstable the explosives were, despite the reassurances and the record that no other accidents had ever happened. I didn''t point out that I was still right there near them on the table and could clearly hear them.


    I was glad I hadn''t, because then the conversation''s subject became me and stayed heated as The Order member argued that I couldn''t be allowed to mingle with the other prisoners if I wasn''t on the same leash as them. The administrator pointed out that I had spent part of the day and all night there and nothing happened. I successfully stopped my laugh before it escaped, because I had done a lot of things the night before.


    ¡°We don''t have the facilities to hold him anywhere except in the mine, so he has to go back there.¡± The administrator said. ¡°Unless you want to give up your own personal quarters and have it converted into a cell for him, then spend the rest of your days and nights guarding him, because we only have enough guards to watch the mines.¡±


    The Order member actually thought about it, then decided he liked sleeping in a bed and not working all the time. ¡°All right.¡± He said and turned to glare at me. ¡°I''ll be watching you.¡±


    ¡°I already warned you about peeking on me when I''m naked.¡± I said and forced blood into my face to make it look like I blushed, and The Order member had a shocked look on his face.


    The administrator let out a quick laugh and then she caught her breath. ¡°I shouldn''t laugh.¡±


    ¡°Probably not, since it makes you feel worse about what happened.¡± I said. ¡°Say, can I get out of these restraints? I have a breakfast date I need to get to.¡±


    The administrator nodded to one of the guards and the man hit the buttons to unlock the cuffs from the table and their configuration changed back to self-restraint.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and sat up, then hopped to the floor. ¡°Am I going alone or will I be escorted there?¡±


    The Order member sighed.


    ¡°Just the guard is fine.¡± I said. ¡°You can stay here and have fun.¡±


    The man gave me a glare for a second, then nodded to the guard, who took my arm and led me from the room. Once we were out of the building, I took off the ankle restraints.


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡± He asked as I made the cuffs disappear.


    ¡°I have the key.¡± I said and he gave me a skeptical look. I popped off the wrist restraints and stored them and he chuckled.


    ¡°You could have escaped from them in the operating room whenever you wanted.¡±


    ¡°Just like I told them...¡± I motioned back behind us. ¡°...where would I go if I tried to escape?¡±


    ¡°That''s true.¡± He said. ¡°By the way, there''s a small farm in one of the side rooms by the mine. It grows just enough to maintain the basic rations for the prisoners and that''s it.¡±


    ¡°You guys have your own farm on the surface?¡±


    He gave me a discerning look, then he chuckled again. ¡°Yes, and it''s not too bad. It''s got some variety to it, at least.¡±


    ¡°Variety keeps things from getting boring.¡± I said and we walked normally to the junction, then about halfway to the mine entrance, I put the restraints back on.


    ¡°You know I''m supposed to confiscate it if you have a key.¡± The guard said.


    ¡°Did you see me use a key?¡± I asked with a huge fake smile.


    He saw it and laughed. ¡°You are going to disrupt everything, aren''t you?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± I said and hobbled along. ¡°I am going to make a few little changes, just so I''m more comfortable here; but other than that, I''m here to relax.¡±


    The guard laughed really loudly at that and The Order member still on watch and the female guard turned to look at us.


    ¡°Did you hear that?¡± He asked them as we approached. ¡°He''s here to relax! Ha ha!¡±


    The Order member gave me a look that clearly said I was stupid and the female guard had her mouth covered to stop her laugh, because she didn''t want to be seen as encouraging me.


    ¡°Just wait.¡± I said and hopped down the stairs like a bunny rabbit. ¡°I''m off to a good start so far.¡±


    Both guards laughed at that and The Order member couldn''t help it and smiled. I gave them a wave and hobble-walked quickly out of their sight. Once I was, I took off the restraints and used Presence Run to go back to the living area.

 Book Three: The Resolution 103

    ¡°HUNTER?!?¡± Val yelled as I appeared in the living area and everyone turned to look at me with a mixture of shock, surprise, and in seven cases, hatred. ¡°Why are you covered in blood splatter?¡±


    ¡°I killed the doctor that tried to implant me.¡± I said and another ripple of shock went through everyone.


    ¡°They let you go after you killed someone?¡± Val asked.


    ¡°Sure. It was ruled an ''accident''.¡± I said with a grin.


    ¡°You''re going to get us all killed.¡± The mean man said as he approached me.


    ¡°Stop.¡± I said and he did. ¡°Take one more step and you''re dead.¡±


    ¡°Did you hear that, everyone? The new guy is threatening to kill me.¡± He said with a smile.


    ¡°It''s not a threat.¡± I said.


    The man frowned at me for a moment and took one more step. Everyone heard the wooden bat hitting a watermelon sound and the man convulsed once and fell to the ground, dead.


    ¡°I warned him.¡± I said and I wasn''t surprised when no one went near him to help.


    ¡°That''s why you called him ''five more years''.¡± Val said. ¡°You were going to kill him.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and the big alien looked at me and gave me a nod. I nodded back and turned to the food dispensary when the large rock wall popped out and dropped down like a cargo hatch.


    One of the workers inside saw the body and hit an intercom button. ¡°We have a code 118 in front of the food dispensary.¡±


    I put on my restraints and the dispensary started to hand out the ration trays of food. All three avian women received double portions, to everyone''s surprise, and they quickly hid the extra food to save for later and to trade. I was the new guy, so I had to wait until last to eat. Just as I took my tray, an Order member and two guards came into the living area with... surprise surprise... an empty crate with a cargo handle.


    ¡°All right! Who is responsible for this?!?¡± The Order member said loudly and the two guards loaded the body into a bag and then put it in the crate.


    Not a single person spoke and kept eating, so I started eating, too.


    ¡°Not going to speak?¡± He asked and smiled evilly. ¡°Do I have to go and get the device?¡±


    A few people took in sharp breaths.


    ¡°Ha!¡± I barked. ¡°Empty threat.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± The Order member glared at me.


    ¡°You just lost one worker from today''s shift. You''re not going to risk losing another.¡±


    ¡°Well, Mr. Smart Mouth, you''ll be taking over his shift today.¡±


    ¡°I worked yesterday.¡± I said, knowing full well what he was going to say.


    ¡°Then you''ll be working every day.¡± The Order member said with satisfaction.


    ¡°You''re slowly working your way onto my list.¡± I said and finished eating.


    ¡°Ha! Empty threat.¡± He repeated my words. ¡°Do you know what they will do to you if you kill me?¡±


    ¡°Even though you''re not a prisoner, they''ll give me five more years.¡± I said and a few people chuckled.


    ¡°They will put you in solitary confinement.¡± He said and grinned.


    ¡°Really?¡± I said excitedly and started to hop towards him. ¡°I always enjoyed the quiet!¡±


    The Order member took two steps back, realized his mistake, then tried to stand his ground. I grinned at him and held my food tray between my hands, then jammed my wrist cuffs together. Val had been right, because my wrists popped apart with the sound of a gunshot from the repulsion and the food tray shot out of my hands and struck The Order member right in the forehead. He fell backwards onto the ground and gripped his heavily bleeding face.


    ¡°You really shouldn''t offer me incentives to kill you.¡± I said and the two guards stepped between us. ¡°It''s all right, fellas.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I made my point.¡±


    One of the guards knelt and applied a med-patch on the large cut.


    ¡°You know we have to report this.¡± The other guard said.


    ¡°Tell the administrator that he already assigned me to work every day without rest.¡± I said. ¡°She''ll understand that I took it easy on him.¡±


    The guards nodded and helped The Order member stand up and he was a little wobbly.


    ¡°You should put him on top of the crate and let him ride in style.¡± I suggested.


    ¡°We''re not allowed.¡± The guard said with a smile and activated the crate, then he walked away with it and the other guard helped The Order member walk behind it. When they were out of sight, nearly everyone else took in a breath and let it out.


    I walked over to get the tray and stored my restraints. I picked the tray up and saw that it was bent on one of the corners. ¡°He must have a really hard head.¡± I said and walked back over to the dispensary.


    ¡°That won''t fit in the slot.¡± One of the male workers said.


    ¡°Sure it will.¡± I said and easily bent it back into shape and used my thumbs to smooth out the wrinkles in the metal. I dropped it into the slot and he just stared at me with his mouth open. ¡°Since I have your attention, if I gave you a ration supplement, would you reconstitute it for me?¡±


    The worker closed his mouth and looked at the other two workers. ¡°We''re not supposed to interact with the prisoners.¡±


    I made a snort noise and then barked a laugh. ¡°One for five? I give you one and you reconstitute five meals for me?¡±


    ¡°Not a chance!¡± The guy next to him said. ¡°One for one.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I''d be stupid to accept that.¡± I said and looked at the three of them. ¡°Do the three of you do this every day?¡±


    They nodded.


    ¡°You work the farm, too?¡± I asked and they nodded again. ¡°Okay, how about this. I give you one each, and you each do three meals for me. That''s three for nine.¡± I said and they thought about it. ¡°Don''t try to split the packs, because the flavor doesn''t work right if you do. It''s all or nothing.¡±


    The three guys got together and conversed for a full minute before they looked at me.


    ¡°We need one to test.¡± One of them said.


    ¡°Ha. Smart.¡± I said and took one out, and nearly every single eye watched as I handed it over.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    The three guys almost fought over it, then they grabbed another ration tray and liberally spread the flavor enhancement over it, then popped it into the reconstitution machine that looked like a microwave. After ten seconds, it was done and they opened the door.


    A collective gasp came from them and they took in huge breaths through their noses. Of course, the smell easily reached the prisoners gathered around the dispensary and nearly every single stomach gurgled in response.


    ¡°That smells so good!¡± Val said from beside me.


    ¡°Hey, there you are.¡± I said and put an arm around her. ¡°Nice disappearing act, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Val said and accepted the compliment.


    The three workers carefully took the tray and brought it over to the counter.


    ¡°We accept your offer.¡± The one closest to me said. ¡°I don''t care if this still tastes normal. The smell alone is worth it.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I should have made a better deal, apparently.¡±


    One of the workers handed the other two spoons and they dipped it in at the same time. ¡°On three.¡±


    ¡°I think we better step out of the way.¡± I said and led Val off to the side and away from everyone.


    ¡°Three!¡± They said together and took big scoops and shoved it in their mouths. All three of them opened their mouths at the flavor and the food almost rolled back out.


    ¡°It''s delicious! I''ve never tasted anything like it before!¡± One of them said.


    ¡°No words...¡± Another said.


    ¡°Do you want your meals done now? Now right? You want them now?¡± The third one asked.


    ¡°I''ll wait for supper, thanks.¡± I said and waved at the tray. ¡°Enjoy.¡±


    The three of them realized their delicious food was sitting there, uneaten, then fixed that problem in about ten seconds and cleaned the tray off completely.


    ¡°That''s even better than what the guards eat.¡± One of them said, completely amazed.


    A man slipped out of the crowd and then his hand reached out and plucked the practically empty tray from the counter. He took off running and then a dozen people saw him and ran after him.


    ¡°That''s what you meant?¡± Val asked me.


    ¡°I''m surprised they waited that long to make a grab for it, actually.¡± I said.


    The shift supervisor came out of his cubicle with an empty food tray and spoke. ¡°Day shift 2, you''re up! Let''s go!¡± He said loudly and walked over to the dispensary and dropped the tray into the slot.


    The big alien looked at me. ¡°You''re on my crew today if you''re taking that guy''s slot.¡±


    ¡°That''s great!¡± I said. ¡°Val, I''ll see you later.¡±


    ¡°Don''t forget to ask about digging tools.¡± Val reminded me.


    I gave her a wave as I walked beside the big alien. ¡°Please tell me that they made a giant laser drill for you.¡±


    The big alien laughed as he took baby steps. ¡°Nope. I have to hold it like I''m writing something down.¡±


    I laughed, too. ¡°Now I really need to talk to the supervisor.¡±


    ¡°You''re not going to convince him to do anything.¡± The big alien warned me. ¡°He''s a company man, even after all these years.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± I said.


    ¡°Do you?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I have to appeal to his bottom line.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Believe me, I will.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with that.¡± He said and didn''t believe for one second that I could do it.


    We walked all the way down to the spot where the supervisor usually stood and gathered around it, and the supervisor handed out the laser drills.


    ¡°I get one today?¡± I asked as he handed me one and marked his sheet.


    ¡°There''s an extra one on this shift for some reason.¡± The supervisor said. ¡°You''re all the way down in section eighteen.¡±


    I didn''t question him as to why he made the biggest alien walk the farthest of everyone. ¡°Do you have any broken laser drills?¡±


    ¡°That''s almost all I have.¡± The supervisor let out a single laugh. ¡°Did you see a mechanics shop or a maintenance bay anywhere in this place?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t see any on the map I have of a similar place, so no.¡± I said and he gave me a strange look. ¡°What about digging tools?¡±


    ¡°I have lots of broken ones of them, too.¡± He said. ¡°Why? Are you a mechanic?¡±


    ¡°Nope. I just have experience working with electronics and some construction.¡±


    ¡°Then stop wasting my time and get to work.¡± The supervisor pointed at the back of the big alien.


    ¡°Can I look at them on my own time?¡± I asked and started to go where he pointed.


    ¡°You''re working every day, so you''re not going to have a lot of free time.¡± The supervisor said.


    ¡°Our section only has to fill one crate, right?¡± I asked and he nodded. ¡°I''ll be back in a little while to look at those parts.¡± I said and ran after the big alien. I marked the drill so I would know which one I had to hand in and then stored it.


    ¡°I thought he gave you a drill.¡± One of the other guys going to section eighteen asked.


    ¡°He did.¡± I said and didn''t elaborate. ¡°How many guys on your crew?¡± I asked the big alien.


    ¡°Six.¡± He said. ¡°We work the fastest and fill the crate with almost two hours to spare.¡±


    ¡°Because of the extra people?¡± I asked and he nodded. ¡°Which means you get extra rations every day.¡±


    ¡°It''s the best crew to work on.¡± One of the other guys said. ¡°We have to do our part, though. If you don''t keep up, you get replaced.¡±


    ¡°Everyone wants a spot on this crew.¡± Another guy said.


    I turned my head and looked at the woman that I saw that first day and she had licked her lips.


    ¡°Don''t talk to me.¡± She said when she saw me looking.


    ¡°You were interested before.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°You hadn''t slept with that bird woman then.¡± She said. ¡°They treat humans like dirt, you know!¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°That''s why I made her squawk so loudly.¡±


    The big alien laughed. ¡°I''ve never heard them quite like that before.¡±


    ¡°You should have seen the other two.¡± One of the guys said. ¡°They huddled under that blanket and looked like they were going out of their minds.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°That was also a reason why I did it.¡±


    ¡°I''m really surprised they haven''t tried to kill you.¡± The woman said, despite telling me to not talk to her. ¡°That was all they were chirping about yesterday.¡±


    I nodded and looked at the big alien. ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡± I asked and he nodded. ¡°Why does the supervisor send you all the way down to section eighteen? You''re the biggest guy here and walk the slowest, yet he sends you the farthest.¡±


    ¡°It''s because we work so fast.¡± One of the guys volunteered. ¡°If we were right by the supervisor in section one, we''d be done half way through the shift and could leave.¡±


    ¡°So, making it more difficult for you and keeping your crew on par with everyone else.¡±


    ¡°You got it.¡± He said. ¡°Sometimes being the best hurts!¡±


    The other guys laughed and the woman smiled.


    ¡°I hope you''re up to feeling a lot of pain then.¡± I said as we reached section eighteen at the very end of the mine. ¡°I''ll cut, you gather.¡± I said to them and walked over to the wall.


    ¡°What?¡± Most of them said, then they all froze as I made six laser drills appear out of thin air.


    I started the same technique I had used the day before, except that I had a block of six drills instead of five, and moved on down the lower part of the wall for thirty feet and searched it in five foot sections. Each stop took five minutes and I found a lot of crystals, nearly one for every drill hole. It took half an hour to do it, then I moved the drills to the top of the wall and did each five foot section on the way back to where the crew still stood.


    ¡°No wonder you guys work so fast! This place is full of crystals!¡± I said half an hour later when I reached them again. ¡°Hey, why are you just standing there?¡± I asked and stored the six drills. ¡°Grab the crystals and pack them up properly. There''s over seventy of the things, so it should fill the crate.¡±


    The three guys and the woman looked up at the big alien, who nodded, then they ran for the holes. It took them ten minutes to fill the crate and there were several crystals left over.


    ¡°I''ll take those.¡± I said and stored the extra crystals. ¡°We have a bit of a problem now.¡±


    ¡°What''s that?¡± The woman asked, her feigned hostility had vanished.


    ¡°If the big guy sits on the crate, no one else can ride it.¡± I said.


    They all looked at each other, then at the big alien, then they all laughed.


    ¡°We''ll walk.¡± They said as one.


    ¡°I can take your drills if you want.¡± I offered and they all handed them over, even the big alien. I marked them and made them disappear. The big alien shuffled over to the crate and sat down on it like it was a chair. Because he was so tall, his feet only dangled a little bit off the ground. I activated the cargo handle and the crate lifted up a foot off of the ground.


    ¡°I didn''t think it would work.¡± The big alien said.


    ¡°Most people don''t.¡± I said and started to walk at the crew''s normal hobbled walk. We made it back to the supervisor twice as fast as we had walked down to section eighteen, and everyone had stopped working and watched us walking by them.


    ¡°You have got to be kidding me.¡± The supervisor said and looked at his datapad. ¡°It''s only been two hours!¡±


    ¡°We work fast.¡± I said and dropped off the right laser drills for everyone and then tapped on the crate. ¡°It''s full, so I''ll deliver it.¡±


    The supervisor waved acknowledgement and I pulled the crate and the crew walked around me and the big alien. We made it back to the living area and everyone was surprised to see us so soon.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Val squawked and ran over to me. ¡°Did you ask about the tools?¡±


    I chuckled and deactivated the crate. ¡°Yes, I''m going back to the supervisor after I drop the crate off.¡±


    Val made a warble sound in her throat and let out a chirp.


    The big alien slid off the crate and stood up. ¡°Thanks for the ride.¡±


    ¡°Same time tomorrow?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°I''m off tomorrow.¡± The big alien said.


    ¡°You''re off today, too.¡± I said with a grin and he laughed.


    He and the rest of the crew went back to their cubicles and I took the crate all the way back to the start of the mine. I put on my restraints and hobbled into view, and I wasn''t surprised to see the other Order member was there watching over things.


    ¡°Hey, there.¡± I said and pulled the crate into the center of the space and deactivated the cargo handle. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to keep pretending with the shackles.¡± The Order member said.


    ¡°It gives me something to do.¡± I said to make him laugh and hobbled out of his sight. I removed the restraints once I was and then used Presence Run to go all the way back down into the mine to see the supervisor. I had a date with what I hoped was a treasure trove of electronics.

 Book Three: The Resolution 104

    I stopped a few feet away from the supervisor and he only jumped a little when I appeared. ¡°Hi, again. Where do you keep your broken things?¡±


    The supervisor seriously considered not telling me and reporting me to The Order members.


    ¡°I give you my word that I won''t use whatever I find to escape.¡± I said.


    He gave me one really long angry look for almost ten seconds, then he nodded and waved for me to follow him. We walked about halfway back to the living area and he took an electronic key out of his pocket. He used it on what looked like a random spot and then there was a click and the heavy thunk sound of a large lock as it opened. A ten foot section of the wall slid out slightly and dropped down like a cargo hatch, just like the dispensary.


    ¡°I should have guessed.¡± I said with a laugh and the man waved me inside.


    ¡°I have to lock you in, so no one else can get in.¡± The supervisor said.


    ¡°I assume I''ll have to wait for shift end before you''ll come back for me?¡± I asked and he nodded. ¡°All right.¡± I said and stepped into the fairly large room that was nearly the size of the shipping warehouse. There were racks of things and piles of things in front of the racks. ¡°Is there any chance there''s a desk or something in here somewhere?¡±


    The supervisor shrugged. ¡°They only dump broken things in here. If there''s a desk, it''s broken, too.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± I said.


    ¡°By the way, there''s something I should tell you.¡± The supervisor said as he used his electronic key to close the hatch. ¡°There''s no lights in there.¡± He let out a single laugh and the hatch closed and the lock engaged.


    ¡°I knew you could laugh!¡± I said loudly through the door and saw him shake his head and walk away. ¡°All right.¡± I turned to look at the room and could easily see everything using Presence.


    I didn''t move from the spot and ''looked'' around the place and it really was just a dumping ground for everything. Appliances, drills, digging tools, broken cargo handles, broken wrist and ankle restraints, communication devices, full and partial consoles, display devices including three hologram projectors, hundreds of datapads, and pretty much everything you could think of that a prison and an administration building had to dispose of because they couldn''t be fixed.


    It wasn''t until I looked through the wall and saw the next warehouse that I let out a loud laugh. It was full of broken robots, mechanisms and conveyor belts, and machines that were used in the automated factory to refine the crystals. There was even a huge pile of damaged crates.


    ¡°I am definitely going to like it here.¡± I said with a smile.


    The first thing I searched for was a good place to work. I needed a half decent sized area, especially if I was going to work on the really big stuff. I also didn''t want it visible from the doorway, so I made my way to the back of the warehouse and over several piles of items and around thirty free-standing shelves and racks. I chose the corner right beside the other warehouse wall and started to shift the debris away from the area.


    I''m going to have to inventory everything, because I need to know what I have to play with. I thought and made careful piles not far away with the things I didn''t wanted to look at first. I stored twelve broken laser drills along the way and hoped there would be enough parts between them to make what I wanted.


    Once I had a good space cleared, I looked around for a good desk. I found three metal ones that were broken and easily cut off the broken leg and side with a portable plasma cutter and replaced it with the same part from a second desk. It had a large indented top, like something heavy had fallen on top of it, so it was useless as it was.


    I tried to straighten out the top and remove the dent; but, the metal was stretched and it wouldn''t go back into a flat shape. Not having a flat surface while working on small electronics was not a good idea. I took the now repaired desk and welded it right to the wall in the corner, so there was no way to lose anything off of the back or the side. I could worry about expanding it and making it bigger later.


    During my searching and shifting items, I had found some of the broken digging tools as well. Unfortunately, I didn''t know how they worked and I also didn''t have a working one to copy, like I did with the laser drills. I stored a bunch of the tools anyway and would have to ask the supervisor about borrowing one. There was no way he would let me do that, unless I proved that I could fix one of the laser drills.


    I took out one of the working ones I had and examined it very closely. Not surprisingly, it was quite complicated... if you didn''t have the various components that just plugged together. Since I had a working one, all of the components were intact and I marked them all down and recorded the serial numbers on a datapad.


    It was almost laughable as I took out a broken one and popped it apart. I easily found the two failed components inside. It was a regulator circuit board that had short circuited and that had damaged the laser emitter by providing the wrong setting when it was turned on. I took out another drill that the power supply was damaged, and since I didn''t feel like rewiring the whole damn thing, it became the first sacrifice to my repair efforts for the other drills.


    With a practically intact drill to harvest from, I easily repaired four of the drills. Obviously, I couldn''t test them inside a damaged parts warehouse, so I marked and stored them. I took out the rest of the damaged drills I had and discovered that quite a few of them had the regulators and emitters blown, which could only mean that there was either something wrong with the regulator or there was feedback of some kind from the emitter that blew the regulator, which in turn would blow the emitter.


    I chuckled at the waste, since it was such a simple repair job. If someone ordered a shipment of replacement parts, all of the drills could be repaired and put back into use. That wasn''t my goal, though. It would disrupt the smooth every second day of the work schedule if everyone had access to laser drills.


    They wouldn''t be happy if they had to work every day like I have to. I thought with amusement. I would definitely be hated because I would be responsible.


    I also didn''t want to be seen as a miracle worker, so I repaired as many drills as I could, which turned out to be seven of them when I was done. Five of the dozen I had found were pretty much gutted, so I made a metal structure that was similar to what I had shown the big alien and his crew. I welded six of the drills together in a box pattern and wired them all up to a control panel that would adjust all six drills at the same time.


    I made sure the switches and buttons were quite large for the big alien to use them, then I welded on the external plating from the five other drills, then added in a few outer panels from a few appliances to make the thing look like it was completely cobbled together. It looked like a junk heap and would possibly blow up if you used it, which was the perfect look that I wanted.


    I added huge handles for the big alien to grab the thing and hold it like he was supposed to. I stored it and worked on the seventh drill. I used a few unnecessary outer plating parts to give it the same cobbled look and stored it. Now I had a whole pile of time on my hands.


    Okay, let''s take a look at the broken cargo handles. I thought and went back through the warehouse and gathered a pile of them up. I brought them back to my desk and spread them out and examined them. Once again, I didn''t have a working one to compare them to, so it was difficult to figure out what parts were damaged and needed replacing. Dammit, I have to wait to look at a functioning one tomorrow.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    I sighed and went over to the piles of miscellaneous items and looked for a chair of some kind, or something I could make into a chair. It took me a while to find some torn cushions I could use for padding, then I looked for some kind of chair or something in the shape of a chair. I didn''t find anything, so I hunted around for good building materials and found another desk. With that and the one I hadn''t used before, and some judicial cutting and welding, I made myself a pretty good chair.


    Of course, once I had one, I couldn''t help but use up what I had and made another. The cushions were quite pathetic and I didn''t know how to sew, so I just bolted them into place and sat down.


    ¡°That''s not too bad.¡± I said and leaned back slightly. ¡°Now I just have to wait for the shift to be over.¡±


    I checked my datapad and I only had a few more hours to go, so I didn''t bother trying to work on anything else. I did look to see if there was any kind of access between this warehouse and the one next door, and discovered that it was sealed off, except for the cargo hatch that opened up in the main mine shaft.


    Now I''m wondering where they store the working equipment. I thought and looked in the other direction. I only saw rock, so I looked across the main shaft and saw only rock there, too. It''s pretty ingenious to hide their things like this behind thick rock doorways. If you didn''t know what you were looking for, or where, you would never find these places.


    While I waited, I started looking through random electronics for both laser emitters and the regulator circuit boards. I knew there wasn''t much hope, since they were not components that would be in a lot of normal things, so I pretty much just looked for fun and marked down a few things in the start of the inventory I wanted to construct. It had to be detailed, because I needed to record the device and the serial codes for the internal components.


    A full inventory was going to take a while, probably a month or so, because I also had to record the state of those components. I was going to have plenty of time to do it, so I just did the things within ten feet of my work area and that burned up the remainder of the shift time. I stored the datapad and pushed a very convenient pile of things over in front of the desk to hide it, then I quickly walked all the way back over to the cargo hatch to wait.


    I watched through the door as the crews walked past and only seven crates were hauled along and not nine like there should have been. With eighteen sections split in half between two work shifts, the quota was nine crates a day. I saw two groups of four prisoners look dejected as they passed. After a few minutes, the supervisor came over to the hatch and used his electronic key to open it.


    ¡°Did you have a good day in the dark?¡± The supervisor asked.


    ¡°It was nice and quiet.¡± I said. ¡°How is being two crates under quota going for you?¡±


    The man opened his mouth to curse at me, then he looked at me. ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    I pointed to his datapad. ¡°You were staring at that when I came out.¡±


    The supervisor tucked the datapad into a pocket and I didn''t tell him that I could still see it.


    ¡°What happens when you fall behind?¡± I asked and he didn''t answer. ¡°That good?¡±


    The man let out a sigh. ¡°It''s bad for everyone if we don''t meet the quota.¡±


    ¡°Then don''t worry about it.¡± I said. ¡°I managed to fix a laser drill.¡±


    The supervisor looked at me skeptically and I took it out. ¡°What the... it looks horrible!¡±


    ¡°You didn''t give me any tools. Plus, it was dark.¡± I said.


    He looked at the drill and then at me. ¡°Keep it and I won''t have to assign you one.¡± He said. ¡°That way, only you are taking the risk with something like that.¡±


    ¡°That''s reasonable.¡± I said and stored it. ¡°I was wondering if I could borrow a working digging tool.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± He asked, his mind full of suspicion.


    I chuckled. ¡°I want to dig out somewhere to live.¡±


    ¡°Not to escape?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Ha! Where would I go?¡± I asked. ¡°We''re on a planet that''s been sequestered by The Order and the food is limited. I wouldn''t get far, especially since I assume the digging tool creates a lot of dust and debris.¡±


    The supervisor nodded. ¡°Everyone would definitely notice if you try digging with it to get away.¡±


    ¡°If you could have one out and ready for me in the morning for my work shift, that would be great.¡± I said and started to walk away, then stopped and turned around to face him. ¡°By the way, where do I get a shower and a new jumpsuit?¡±


    ¡°You do that on your days off during regulated hours.¡± The supervisor said.


    ¡°So, never for me, then.¡± I said and he gave me a surprised look. ¡°Yeah, okay. I''ll try and see what I can figure out on my own.¡± I turned away and ran back to the living area.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Val said when I came to a stop and then she squawked at me.


    I walked over to her. ¡°Hey, you.¡± I said and made a motion to hug her, then stopped and chuckled. ¡°I need a shower and a new jumpsuit before I can do that.¡±


    ¡°I was going to ask where you were that you would miss it.¡± Val said.


    ¡°I didn''t know that people showered on their days off.¡±


    Val nodded and took my hand and led me off to the side of the living area. ¡°What about the digging tools?¡±


    ¡°I found a bunch of broken ones and the supervisor said he would let me borrow a working one tomorrow.¡±


    Val let out a chirp and her feathers fluffed out a little. ¡°I can''t wait!¡±


    ¡°I might not finish it in a day, depending on how the tools work.¡± I said. ¡°Do you know how to operate them?¡±


    Val shook her head. ¡°The big guy knows how, since he''s usually the one they ask to clean up after the regular shifts.¡±


    ¡°His crew, too?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°I guess that is one of their ''being the best'' pains they talk about so much.¡±


    ¡°Besides getting extra rations and first choice on cubicles?¡± Val asked and chuckled. ¡°By first choice, I mean that no one fights them when they come to claim one.¡±


    I chuckled, too. ¡°I figured that.¡±


    Val looked around and then stepped close to me. ¡°I can''t do anything about missing your shower.¡± She said and started to open up her jumpsuit.


    I used Presence to block anyone from seeing her. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°This.¡± Val said and opened the jumpsuit down to her waist. It revealed a substantial amount of her cleavage, which was nice to see, as well as a shrink wrapped bundle. ¡°The booth operator said she missed you making her laugh.¡±


    I grinned at her and slipped my hands into her jumpsuit. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said as I plucked the bundle out of her jumpsuit and made it disappear, then I slid my hands up and cupped her breasts to make her gasp. I leaned in and tweeted and chirped for her, and told her that if she didn''t mind getting a little dirty, I would be happy to start another mating ritual.


    ¡°C-c-cubicle.¡± Val managed to say. ¡°Please.¡±


    I read her thoughts and she didn''t want to just do it out on the ground. She had a bit more respect for herself than that. ¡°Of course.¡± I said and closed up her jumpsuit for her and absorbed the Presence blocking us from sight. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡±


    Val stood there and I walked over to the living area and looked at the cubicles. There were some different people in a few of the cubicles and I saw the woman on my work crew on the second level. I walked over to the stairs and went up them and strode over to her cubicle.


    ¡°No.¡± She said as I stopped in front of her.


    ¡°I''ll open up your restraints.¡± I said and she gave me wide eyes. ¡°It''ll only be for a few hours and not all night.¡±


    She was still going to say no and I held up a hand.


    ¡°I use my own sheets that don''t leave a mess and we won''t wreck the place.¡± I said.


    ¡°Why don''t you ask someone else?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Because you want to know if I can do it again.¡± I said with a smile.


    She let out a sigh. ¡°Two hours, and you open both my wrists and ankles.¡±


    ¡°Three hours, and you can stand right outside the barrier.¡± I said, as if I knew that she would enjoy being that close. I did, because she had that thought pass through her head only a moment before.


    She gave me squinted eyes for a few moments, then she stood up and nodded.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and took off both her wrist and ankle restraints. ¡°Keep them close, in case anyone official comes by.¡±


    She chuckled and tossed them into the corner of the cubicle and walked over to stand just outside. She leaned against the divider between cubicles and crossed her arms. She looked like she was bored; but, I could hear her thoughts and she really wanted to know if I could once again make the proud avian woman squawk so hard that she couldn''t talk.


    I walked by her and then jumped over the railing. That surprised a few people and I ignored it as I went over to get Val. ¡°Your cubicle awaits.¡± I said and took her arm as if we were attending an important function. Her instincts kicked in and she straightened her spine and her head feathers fluffed out to get more attention. We walked across the living area and went up the stairs, then we entered the cubicle and I covered it in solid blue Presence.


    *


    ¡°No no no!¡± The first avian woman said loudly and grabbed the blanket when the squawks of pleasure started.


    ¡°I''m going to kill him!¡± The second one said and the two of them tried to huddle together under the blanket and block out the sound. They were just as unsuccessful this time as they had been the night before and their bodies betrayed them and responded to the clearest mating calls they had ever heard.


    ¡°It''s... not... fair.¡± The first avian woman said between pants and warbles as a few of her feathers fluffed out and a bit of down popped out. ¡°Why... why him?¡±


    ¡°He''s doing this... on purpose.¡± The second one said. ¡°He''s proving... a point!¡±


    ¡°We''ll cut... his throat.¡± The first whispered. ¡°Just enough... to stop this.¡±


    ¡°He''ll kill us.¡± The second said, then her own body responded to what had happened. She had really liked that he defended his mate like he had and killed the threat without pause; but, she hated him almost with a passion, because he was faking it. He wasn''t one of them and he was tricking them by using their own biology against them.


    ¡°What... do we do?¡± The first one asked.


    ¡°We... endure.¡± The second one said and grit her teeth.

 Book Three: The Resolution 105

    After two hours, Val had squawked herself hoarse and had become completely passive. I had kept tweeting and chirping to her that she was going to have the nicest nest and it was going to be up high and that only she and I would be able to get to it. That had given her an almost euphoric experience and her whole body had relaxed. She cuddled into me for the last hour and cooed contentedly.


    I could easily read her thoughts and she couldn''t believe she was having this experience after spending so many years in prison. I didn''t ask her what happened or why she was there, because it didn''t really matter what happened to send her here. She was here and would stay here for as long as The Order wanted to keep her here.


    Just before our time was up, we stood up and I tucked the blanket and sheet away. I had already cleaned her of all her feathers the night before, so it would be weeks before she made any more. I absorbed the Presence Barrier and the woman that stood just outside didn''t react. I heard her thoughts and she was surprised, and a little delighted, that I had succeeded in doing that to an avian woman. Of course, she immediately thought about me trying it with the other two to try and break their spirit, too.


    I didn''t tell her that the reason they were reacting like they were was because they were susceptible to the sounds of generic mating calls and that it drove them a little wild until they answered them. After that, the male had to work a lot harder to keep their attention and make it a lot more personal. The two avian women were fighting the call and didn''t want to acknowledge me as deserving their attention, so it hit them just a little bit harder than if they had just accepted it and then walked away.


    As I led Val down the stairs, the dispensary opened on the other side of the main shaft and everyone crowded around it to get their food. I didn''t walk over to it right away, though. I brought Val over to the two avian women and they glared at me.


    ¡°If you would watch her for me and not hurt her, I''ll make it worth your time.¡± I said.


    Both of them thought about refusing, then they saw Val''s passive state, which meant she had really enjoyed what had happened and needed to be protected.


    ¡°You better not be offering what I think you''re offering!¡± The second avian woman spat.


    ¡°A delicious meal and perhaps a cubicle to sleep in... and not with me.¡± I said.


    Both women thought about it, then nodded and held their arms open.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and turned Val over to their care, then I walked over to the dispensary. I almost laughed when I saw three stacks of three food trays already prepared and a reserved sign on them. ¡°Hey, fellas.¡± I said and handed over four food supplement packets to each of them.


    They practically jumped for joy and then they did up all nine meals, three each, then gave them to me.


    ¡°I won''t need meals for a couple days.¡± I said stored them all and looked at the people around me. ¡°Okay, who wants to rent their cubicle for tonight for one delicious meal?¡± I asked and four people raised their hands. ¡°I''ll only need two, and like I said, just for tonight... oh, and close together, if that''s possible.¡± Two of them dropped their hands. ¡°We have two winners.¡± I said and walked over to them. ¡°Which cubicles?¡±


    ¡°Eight and nine on the bottom.¡± One of the men said and pointed. ¡°If you touch my stuff...¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I give my word that I''m just sleeping and I''ll cover everything in Presence to protect it.¡± I said and took out a thick blanket and a fluffy pillow.


    ¡°What the...¡± He started to ask what I was doing.


    I hung the blanket on his shoulder and handed him the pillow. ¡°So you can sleep just outside.¡± I said and then handed him a meal. ¡°Enjoy.¡±


    The guy gave me an odd look.


    ¡°You can keep the blanket and pillow, too.¡± I said, since it was just a normal blanket and not one with a spell on it, and his mouth opened in surprise. I gave the same thing to the other man and he didn''t hesitate and started eating the food right away. I walked over to the avian women and they also had surprised looks on their faces. ¡°Ladies, if you would.¡± I waved to the cubicles. ¡°Number nine is yours for tonight. Do you want to feed Val, or should I?¡±


    ¡°We''ll do it, just so you don''t choke her.¡± The first avian woman said.


    I nodded and followed them into the ninth cubicle, covered everything in solid Presence, and then put a sheet and blanket on the bed. The three of them sat down and I handed them their trays. Val stirred a little with the great smelling food so close. Instead of eating the food themselves, they chewed some of it up and then carefully fed it to her, almost like what a mother bird did for their chicks.


    ¡°I''ll leave you to it.¡± I said and put the third tray of food on the bed and stepped out of the cubicle, then covered it in Presence to give them privacy. I went next door and covered everything with solid Presence and then added a sheet and blanket to the bed. I sat down and ate the food and it was really good. I finished quickly and set the tray aside to wait and then covered the front of the cubicle with solid Presence.


    The dispensary finished handing out all the food and waited for most of them to finish and accepted the empty food trays back, then closed up. I checked on the avian women and they were eating some food themselves and also feeding Val. It looked like it was going to take a while, so I laid back on the bed and closed my eyes. I hadn''t had a chance to properly meditate since I arrived here, so I took the next ten minutes to enter a meditative state that kept me alert.


    Oh, wow. I thought in awe as I felt the Presence around me. It was almost thick enough to put my hand through it, which meant you couldn''t detect it unless you were in deep meditation. It''s almost like the East Forest Glade, except that Presence could be felt without meditating. I thought. I wonder if it''s because there''s nothing external here to let the Presence flow?


    In any case, I quickly attuned myself to the enormous flow of Presence and let some of it flow into me. I started to glow immediately and I started to cycle it through my body. I felt renewed strength fill me, as well as energy, and I concentrated on my body. With so much Presence to play with, I could feel the different Presence of the dirt and grime that was starting to build up on me.


    I couldn''t actually clean myself without using water; but, I could use Presence to scrape a bunch of it off and crushed it into a microscopic dot and tucked it into my pocket. I did the same with the dried blood splatter and dirt on the jumpsuit and put that in my pocket as well. After that, I let the Presence of the planet pass into and out of me without restraint and lost myself in the flow.


    For about ten minutes.


    ¡°Hey!¡± The man who rented me the cubicle exclaimed and pounded on the solid Presence that covered it. ¡°I changed my mind! You can have your stupid blanket back!¡± He said loudly. ¡°Get out of my cubicle!¡±


    I let out a sigh and eased myself out of the planet''s Presence.


    ¡°Open up and get out!¡± He nearly yelled.


    ¡°Just a second.¡± I said and shook myself as I sat up. ¡°Whew. Okay. That was a rush.¡± I stood up and was a little wobbly. ¡°Ha. Damn. Maybe too much of a good thing.¡± I used Presence to strengthen myself and stood up straight, then I stored the blanket and sheet as I absorbed the solid Presence Wall over both cubicles.


    ¡°Here.¡± He smiled and tossed me the blanket.


    I didn''t catch it and it fell to the floor. It was torn in several places, as if it was dragged along a jagged wall or along the ground. ¡°I''m glad you treated it well.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    He didn''t like that I hadn''t caught it or reacted. ¡°Get the hell out of my cubicle.¡±


    ¡°What about the pillow?¡± I asked, because it was tucked under his arm.


    ¡°You gave it to me.¡± He said and gave me a huge fake smile.


    ¡°And the meal?¡±


    ¡°Fair compensation for the time you''ve been in here.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe how stupid you are.¡± I said and stepped out of the cubicle.


    ¡°You''re lucky you didn''t touch my stuff.¡± He said as he looked around and saw that everything was intact.


    ¡°What stuff?¡± I asked, then covered the bed, the torn blanket, and the pillow under his arm in Presence, then I held my hand out in front of me. Everything inside the cubicle flew together and formed a large ball as it made a crunching sound, since most of the things he had weren''t supposed to be round.


    ¡°HEY!¡± He yelled.


    ¡°Deal breakers aren''t worth my time.¡± I said and slowly closed my hand. The ball of items got smaller and smaller with more crunching sounds, especially the metal of the bed frame.


    The man stood there and stared at the ball as it got smaller, then I clenched my fist. It gave one last jerk and compressed to the size of a softball, then it dropped to the floor.


    ¡°Have a good night.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''LL KILL YOU!¡± The man bellowed at losing all of his worldly possessions and then he turned towards me.


    ¡°Stop.¡± I commanded and he did. ¡°Remember what happened yesterday.¡± I said and I saw the scene with the threatening man as it went through his mind. ¡°Take one more step and you''ll die.¡±


    The man smiled. ¡°You''re not going to be around much, working all the time.¡± He said and took a step back. ¡°Maybe you won''t have anything to come back to when...¡±


    I used Presence and made sure that the sound of a wooden bat hitting a watermelon reverberated throughout the living area, then the body dropped to the floor.


    ¡°No one threatens what''s mine.¡± I said and that carried to everyone as well.


    I reached down and grabbed the body by the collar, then I tossed it out of the cubicle and it arced through the air and landed in the middle of the living area. It was a fair distance, and everyone had watched it flail around like a rag doll. I bent down and picked up the softball and tossed it out to land beside the body.


    ¡°You forgot your things.¡± I said to the body and then looked into the next cubicle where the three avian women were. ¡°Hi, there. Slight change of plans.¡± I said to their startled faces, and Val seemed back to normal. ¡°I own this cubicle now and it''s surprisingly empty.¡± I joked. ¡°Do you want to give me a hand decorating it?¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± Val yelled and jumped up. ¡°You''re still making me a place tomorrow, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll start it right after work.¡±


    Val nodded and I started to take out blankets for her. ¡°I won''t do a full nest, since that has to be permanent.¡± She said and arranged the blankets in a circular pattern. ¡°We''ll need a good base for the bottom when we make the real one, too.¡±


    ¡°I''ll see if I can scrounge up a nice bed cushion or something.¡± I said and she nodded as I handed her a few pillows. She took them and placed them in strategic spots, then added more blankets and tied them together.


    ¡°There!¡± Val said, quite happy with her work. ¡°It might not be too comfortable; but, it''s better than nothing.¡±


    ¡°I thought about saving the other bed, then realized it would have years of that guy on it.¡± I said.


    Val let out a squawk. ¡°Good! No other smells are allowed!¡± She said, then stepped into the nest and walked around it, then she felt it was wrong somehow.


    ¡°Try adding some of your feathers.¡± I suggested and she let out a loud chirp.


    ¡°Yes! Great idea!¡± Val said and quickly opened up her jumpsuit.


    I covered the cubicle in solid Presence to hide her as she pulled her jumpsuit off of one of her shoulders and exposed one of her breasts. She dug inside the jumpsuit and around to her back and pulled out the sack I had given her. I chuckled at the sight of the squashed thing, since I had wondered where she had hidden it. She opened it and plucked a few choice feathers out of it and tucked them into the blankets, then she added a bit of down in seemly random spots and nodded.


    ¡°Yes, much better.¡± Val said and closed the sack and put it behind her back. She pulled her jumpsuit back over her shoulder and into place and closed it. ¡°Now we need to christen it.¡±


    I absorbed the solid Presence over the cubicle. ¡°I promised I was only going to sleep tonight.¡±


    ¡°Hunter! We can''t sleep in it without sleeping in it!¡± Val exclaimed.


    ¡°You are not doing another mating ritual so soon!¡± The first avian woman said and came around to look at the nest. ¡°You just recovered from the last one!¡±


    Val was about to protest when the second avian woman stepped over as well.


    ¡°You will not insult us after we took care of you.¡± The second avian woman said.


    Val was tempted, very tempted, to tell them to mind their own business, then she sighed. ¡°It''s not going to feel right if we don''t.¡±


    ¡°This is only temporary, remember?¡± I said to her. ¡°We will definitely christen the real one.¡±


    Val gave me a look that said I had better make it a good christening, then she nodded. The two avian women gave her a quick chirp and she warbled back to them to thank them, then they went back to the cubicle next door.


    I stepped into the nest and her feathers fluffed up, as if she wanted to get my attention, and I took her into my arms. I gave her a kiss and she accepted that was all she was going to get, then we settled down into the makeshift nest and cuddled together. She did feel a bit of unease, that it wasn''t really her nest yet, and I turned my head to chirp and whistle in her ear. Val warbled and cooed at me, then she let out another sigh and slowly drifted off to sleep.


    No one tried to go to the body or to take the ball of stuff.


    The next morning, we woke up and Val and I ate a delicious breakfast. Now that she was back to her normal self, she drooled over the flavors and thanked me for sharing it with her. I took the empty trays to the dispensary and dropped them in the slot. Not surprisingly, the body was gone. After everyone ate and before the official start of the shift, Val, the two avian women, and I walked with everyone down to the spot where the supervisor would be.


    He showed up a short time later and handed out the laser drills to everyone except me. ¡°I checked and it''s not against the rules to let a prisoner borrow a digging tool.¡± He said, kind of disgustedly. ¡°Here.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and took something that looked like a cross between an old-style hand drill and a scooping machine combined with a small conveyor belt. It was also three feet long and a foot around.


    ¡°Good luck figuring it out.¡± The supervisor said and waved me away.


    I led the three avian women back over to section six and there was still a large area for us to check and harvest crystals from. I wasn''t interested in doing that right away, though.


    ¡°Hey! You can''t slack off.¡± The second avian woman said.


    ¡°Trust me, this is much more important at the moment.¡± I said and walked over to the empty crate and looked at the cargo handle. ¡°Go ahead and start working. I''ll catch up when I''m done here.¡±


    She huffed and the three of them started hunting for crystals.


    I took out my datapad and carefully examined the cargo handle and wrote down all the parts and serial numbers that I could find. I kept watching it with Detect Presence and then turned it on. I saw the anti-gravity field activate and traced it through the circuitry to make sure I knew how and why it worked like it did. I turned it off and checked the components again, then turned it back on. I watched the field this time and how it encompassed the crate entirely and gave it a buffer underneath and on the sides to prevent damaging the crate.


    Nice. Very nice. I thought and wrote down all of my observations.


    ¡°Are you done yet?¡± The second avian woman asked angrily.


    ¡°For now.¡± I said and checked the time. ¡°Dammit, I''m sorry.¡± I apologized, because I hadn''t realized that I had used up over two hours of the ten hour shift. ¡°It really is important, though. Not just for me, but for you, too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, right.¡± She said and carried over two focusing crystals. ¡°Do you know how far behind we are because of you?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Don''t worry about that. I''ll fill this crate in an hour.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± The three avian women said at the same time.


    ¡°Watch and learn.¡± I said and walked over to the next section of wall and took out the giant combined laser drill that had six drills in it.


    ¡°What the heck is that?!?¡± The second avian woman asked.


    ¡°Something I built for the big guy.¡± I said. ¡°I need to test it, so... step back a little.¡±


    All three women moved about ten feet away and I held the drill against the wall. The controls were hard to use with my normal sized hands, because I had made it for the big alien, so I used Presence instead. I watched it with Detect Presence and it worked like a charm.


    I found three crystals with the first test, then I took out the six drills I had in inventory and did the top five foot section of the wall. They watched me in awe as I made my way down another thirty feet of wall, then I went to the other side of the shaft and did that thirty feet as I came back to them.


    ¡°It works great!¡± I said and took a digital readout of the repaired drill to show the supervisor. I went back and gathered up all the unprocessed crystals and brought them back to the crate. I filled it and still had half a crate''s worth of crystals left. ¡°Well, let''s head back.¡±


    ¡°It really did only take you an hour.¡± The first avian woman said, completely surprised.


    ¡°Well, I can cover a lot of ground with twelve drills going.¡± I said and stored their drills. I helped them climb up onto the crate and held them in place with Presence seat belts, then I took them back to the supervisor.


    ¡°Why am I not surprised.¡± The supervisor said with a sigh.


    ¡°Because any time I work you get a full crate long before it''s due?¡± I asked and he didn''t respond. I dropped off the drills he had issued to the three avian women and took out my datapad.


    ¡°Prisoners aren''t allowed to have datapads!¡± He said immediately.


    ¡°You have one.¡± I said and motioned to it.


    ¡°That''s... I''m an exception.¡± He countered.


    ¡°So am I.¡± I said and sent him the data on the repaired drill. ¡°It didn''t explode.¡±


    The supervisor stared at the data and couldn''t believe his eyes. ¡°What... how... it looks like a piece of junk!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It still works.¡± I said. ¡°Say, could you maybe get me a few dozen or so broken crates?¡±


    ¡°What for?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I need building materials.¡± I said cryptically, then pulled the full crate and the three avian women back to the living area.

 Book Three: The Resolution 106

    I took the crate and the three avian women to the living area and dropped them off. Not surprisingly, cubicle eight hadn''t been taken over while we were at work and the large blanket nest was still there.


    ¡°Val? Would you mind if the other two stayed with you in the cubicle?¡± I asked. ¡°They did help you when I needed them to, even though they hate me so much.¡±


    All three women were surprised when I said this.


    ¡°But... well...¡± Val wasn''t sure how to say no.


    ¡°I''ll drop off the crate and I''ll be asking the big guy about how the digging tools work.¡± I said.


    ¡°As long as they sit on the floor or find chairs or something and don''t try to claim the nest.¡± Val said, defensively.


    ¡°I would never.¡± The first one said.


    ¡°I would, just to spite you.¡± The second said to me. ¡°But, since you''ve given me double rations for tomorrow, I won''t.¡±


    ¡°That''s nice of you.¡± I said a little sarcastically and she nodded and ignored the sarcasm. I walked at a normal pace all the way back up to the start of the mine and put on my restraints, then I hobbled into view and dropped off the crate in the middle of the area. I was a little surprised that the other Order member was there with a guard.


    I gave him an enthusiastic wave and he glared at me. ¡°See you tomorrow!¡± I said and hobbled back out of sight, took off my restraints, and then used Presence Run to go back to the living area. I gave Val a wave and then walked over to the first cubicle. ¡°Hey, big guy.¡±


    The large alien grunted to me. ¡°I heard what you wanted.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to be nice and offer to help me out of the goodness of your heart?¡± I asked with a grin.


    He laughed a big rumbling laugh.


    ¡°I didn''t think so.¡± I said. ¡°How about I offer you something that would let you mine crystals as quickly as I did yesterday?¡±


    ¡°You lie.¡± He said and squinted his large eyes at me, because he knew I wasn''t lying.


    ¡°I even used it today and it didn''t blow up in my face.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t the supervisor take it from you?¡± The big alien asked.


    ¡°He doesn''t know I have it, of course.¡± I said and the big guy laughed. ¡°I did repair a single laser drill, which he let me keep, so that I was the one accepting the risk. I also showed him the data and he was shocked.¡±


    ¡°He would be.¡± The big alien said. ¡°We haven''t had a mechanic come through here, ever.¡±


    ¡°I''m not a mechanic.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then how...¡±


    ¡°I just have a lot of electronics and construction experience.¡± I said and took out the single laser drill.


    ¡°That looks like garbage.¡± The big alien said.


    ¡°That''s what he said.¡± I responded and put it away. ¡°As long as I can get more parts, I can keep fixing them. Unless it''s an emitter or a regulator circuit board. Those things are the rare parts that seem to break the most.¡±


    ¡°I''ve burned two of them out myself.¡± The big alien said and then leaned in close. ¡°Can you show me the one you built for me?¡±


    I covered the cubicle in solid Presence, made it soundproof, and took out the very large custom drill. The big alien let out a stream of some kind of curses in his native language when he saw it. I couldn''t make them out and I also couldn''t get the thoughts from his head, because they were going by so quickly.


    ¡°Can I hold it?¡± He asked like a kid about to receive a present.


    ¡°Just don''t bang the end on the walls. It has six emitters.¡±


    ¡°SIX!?!¡± He yelled and reached for it. He stood up and his head brushed the top of the cubicle, then he braced the large drill on his hip and held one of the large handles to hold it steady. ¡°You made the buttons and the switches for me, too?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I had to use Presence to use them, because they''re too big for my small hands.¡±


    The big alien laughed as he touched everything without using it or turning it on. ¡°All right.¡± He said and handed it back. ¡°I''ll show you how to properly use a digging tool.¡±


    ¡°I picked a great spot a couple hundred feet down the shaft on this side.¡± I said and he gave me a look that said he might kill me for making him walk that far. ¡°Just unlock your leg restraints.¡±


    ¡°I tried. My leg muscles adapted to the movement years ago.¡± The big alien said. ¡°I can''t take more than a baby step without straining anything and hurting myself.¡±


    ¡°I was wondering why you didn''t take them off.¡± I said. ¡°I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Your pity and a hundred credits will buy me a nice bit of nothing.¡± The big alien said. ¡°It''s going to take me ten minutes to get down there.¡±


    ¡°I can just use Levitation on you, if that''s all right.¡±


    ¡°Levitation?¡±


    ¡°It''s a technique that lets me lift things like a crate handle, except it uses quite a bit of Presence with unfamiliar things.¡± I said. ¡°I can take a few days of meditation and adapt...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The big alien said. ¡°Just get me there and I can walk back on my own.¡±


    I nodded and absorbed the solid Presence around the cubicle and we both walked out of the cubicle. Once he was in the clear, I reached out and put a hand on his forearm, covered us both in Presence, then used the Levitation technique. We lifted up a foot off of the ground and I floated us at a walking pace out of the living area. Everyone was shocked to see it, especially the six remaining haters.


    I stopped at the spot I had chosen and took out the digging tool. It took him about half an hour to explain everything, then to show me how each thing worked, the clearance you needed to work in, and also not to go too deep with each pass. The machine wasn''t magic and couldn''t chew through rock like it looked like it could. It would jam up and the circular drill bit on the end could stall, as well as the scooping mechanism and the conveyor belt.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    It was quite the complicated machine and the settings for the different types of rock and dirt were numerous. He was gracious enough to tell me the different settings I would need to work on the part of the mine shaft we were in, and I thanked him for all the help and instruction. He handed the machine back to me and I used Levitation on him and sent him all the way back to the living area. He turned and gave me a look of disbelief and I gave him a wave. He shook his head and shuffled off out of view.


    Now that I was alone and knew the specific operations that the digging tools could do, I spent the next two hours recording the information of every component and its location. It was essential information, especially since I was going to try to repair the broken ones that I had stored. I didn''t want to do any work like that out in the open, so I settled on using the digging tool I had to made a one foot indentation in the wall that was ten feet square.


    Once that was done, I started to dig six inches above the ground and went in a foot, then went out to the sides ten feet and only went up nine feet and six inches. I worked for the rest of the shift and made a dozen stairs into the side of the shaft. I couldn''t do much with the dirt I had dug out, except move it out into the shaft, and I even managed to not get dirty myself. I used Presence and spread it out along the wall and it just looked like normal wear and tear on the walls.


    I stopped digging and joined the people returning from work and went back to the living area. Val ran over to me and I told her I had only barely started the stairs. When she sighed and felt sad, I told her that I knew how to fix them and there were piles of broken digging machines that I could work on.


    ¡°Like the laser drills!¡± Val said excitedly and I nodded. ¡°You''ll be done in only hours if you have a bunch of them to work with!¡±


    ¡°Like the big guy said, it''s not magic. It takes time to work and not burn out the machines.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe I''m going to have my own permanent nest tomorrow!¡± Val exclaimed.


    ¡°I have to fix the things first, then I have to dig it out.¡± I tried to explain.


    ¡°Tomorrow!¡± Val commanded. ¡°You can''t make me wait anymore!¡±


    I sighed and she chirped happily and kissed me.


    ¡°How many meals do you have left?¡± Val asked and I checked.


    ¡°Two.¡± I said.


    ¡°Do you want to split a normal ration tray and one of yours?¡± Val asked.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said.


    Val warbled and tweeted at me to meet her at the cubicle and she ran over to the dispensary to get a tray of food. I walked over to the cubicle and the two avian women were there.


    ¡°Hi, there. I see you managed to find chairs from somewhere.¡±


    The two women nodded and I sat down in the middle of the nest.


    ¡°Are you proud of yourself?¡± The first avian woman asked. ¡°You''ve tricked that poor woman into thinking you are a viable mate.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°She knows I''m not a valid male and that I can''t fertilize her eggs.¡±


    ¡°Then why keep up the pretense?¡± The second one asked. ¡°You''re only going to hurt her when she generates an offspring and you can''t do anything for it!¡±


    ¡°She would have started one already if she expected it to viable.¡± I said. ¡°We could probably send it off to be adopted, even this far away from a populated system.¡±


    ¡°She will be devastated.¡± The first one said. ¡°Not having the ability to raise young is heartbreaking.¡±


    I nodded and they looked at me in surprise. ¡°I''ve had close and similar experiences during my life.¡±


    ¡°How? You are only young.¡± The second said.


    ¡°I look young.¡± I corrected her.


    Val came back with three food trays. ¡°Here you go.¡± She said and gave one to each of the other avian women, then she sat in the nest with me with her own tray. I took out mine and we shared the food on both trays. When we had all eaten, the two avian women stood up to leave.


    ¡°You can stay.¡± I said and both women paused. ¡°I said I wouldn''t have sex with Val until the new nest is made, remember?¡± I reminded them.


    ¡°We should refuse.¡± The first said and I took out a couple of nice pillows.


    ¡°I know you have a blanket already.¡± I said and placed the pillows at the side of the cubicle, then I took out a blanket for myself and Val. ¡°Goodnight.¡±


    I turned away from them and cuddled Val, who didn''t mind that one bit, and the two avian women gave me deadly stares for several minutes. I entered a half-meditative state and made sure my Presence gathering technique was active, then I set an alarm for the morning. When I didn''t move or react to them, they both sat down beside the nest and used their blanket to cover themselves. I stopped my smile from forming and put myself to sleep.


    The next morning, I woke up and discovered that I had a bit of a problem. Not one, not two, but three different hands had a death grip on my jumpsuit in different places. Val held onto my chest and the other two held onto my arm and my leg. I thought about complaining, then shrugged. I assumed that they didn''t have anyone that even gave them the time of day and I had let them stay inside a cubicle for two nights in a row and had fed them delicious food.


    I guess that bought me some slack, even though they still hate me. I thought with a smile and looked around at everyone. People were spread all over and under blankets, all the cubicles were full, and several of them had multiple people cuddled under blankets. The only ones that seemed to be alone were the six people that had reacted with hated towards me and the big alien. He was alone because literally no one else could sleep in his bed with him in it.


    I laid there and used Presence to disable and secure the explosive devices in the other two avian women''s heads, because even though they were hostile towards me, they weren''t agents for The Order or assassins. Of course, now that I was doing it, I looked at the first of the six people that were actually assassins. With them asleep, I used Presence to hide the sound and used the gun version of the broadcast device and made their suicide device pop.


    I did the same with the other five and then let out a low sigh. I had been tempted to wait and slowly pick them off, one by one, and decided that I didn''t want to take the chance that one or all of them would contact someone to reveal where I was. I mean, I had killed many millions, possibly hundreds of millions, or even billions by now, of their fellow operatives from all over the universe.


    I am definitely a tempting target. I thought and didn''t laugh.


    I laid in bed and let the three avian women wake up on their own. I kept my eyes closed and also stopped my laugh when the second avian woman woke up and rolled over to cuddle my arm. She opened her eyes instantly at the feeling of my arm between her breasts, then she let it go as if it was a snake about to bite her and she sat up with a barely suppressed squawk and pulled the blanket around herself.


    Of course, that woke the first woman and she opened her eyes and saw that she had a death grip on my pant leg. She didn''t freak out about it, though. She slowly opened her hand and let the cloth go and fought her disgust at her own weakness at reaching for me in her sleep.


    Val stirred next and she stretched as she let out a continuous whistle, then she saw her hand had a grip on my jumpsuit. She chuckled at it and didn''t let go as she leaned in to give me a ''wake up'' kiss. I opened my eyes, since that was what she wanted, and I kissed her back.


    ¡°Morning.¡± Val said and sat up. ¡°I can''t believe I slept that well and I didn''t even have sex in this nest yet!¡±


    I chuckled at that. ¡°I assume that''s usually a requirement.¡±


    ¡°It gives our people a sense of accomplishment and makes the nest feel complete.¡± Val said. ¡°Of course, you can''t actually share in that, since you''re not a male.¡±


    I nodded and sat up. ¡°I''m sorry that I can''t do some of the things you need.¡±


    Val chuckled. ¡°That''s okay. I know you''re not perfect.¡±


    ¡°Imagine if I was!¡± I said and laughed. ¡°I think the three of you would be fighting each other over who got to keep me.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t be fighting.¡± The second avian woman said.


    ¡°That''s because you lost the first time.¡± The first avian woman said with a smile.


    ¡°Only because you started hopping faster.¡±


    ¡°First come, first serve.¡± The first one said with a smile.


    ¡°On that happy note, I''ll go get breakfast.¡± I said and went to the dispensary and waited for it to open up with a bunch of other people.


    ¡°You know he was awake the whole time.¡± Val said and both women let out a short chirp of surprise.


    ¡°No, he was asleep! He was!¡± The first said. ¡°His breathing was slow and even!¡±


    Val chuckled. ¡°It''s always like that.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!¡± The second woman yelled.


    ¡°If you would stop dismissing him so quickly, you would get to know him a little better.¡± Val said.


    ¡°I don''t want to get to know him, let alone better!¡± The second woman said.


    ¡°You don''t know what you''re missing.¡± Val said.


    ¡°I do.¡± The first woman said. ¡°He''s a pretender and he''s leading you on. Only sorrow can follow.¡±


    ¡°Three years? Five? Twenty years? How long do I need to wait for that sorrow?¡± Val asked. ¡°I''m enjoying it now and that''s all I care about.¡±


    ¡°What if you gestate? There''s no one within several light years to help you.¡±


    ¡°I won''t. If by some miracle I do make an egg, I''ll keep it for as long as I can.¡± Val said. ¡°I''ll inform the staff and see if they can spare a stasis pod, too.¡±


    ¡°You''re delusional.¡± The second woman said. ¡°There''s no way they can spare a stasis pod for an egg!¡±


    ¡°We''ll see.¡± Val said and then the dispensary opened.


    I gathered three trays of food and brought it back to them, then we all ate in silence. I gave Val a kiss goodbye and walked over to the big alien. He looked genuinely happy to see me and we met up with his crew and walked out of the living area to get to work.

 Book Three: The Resolution 107

    ¡°Hey, big guy. Want me to do my levitation trick?¡± I asked the big alien.


    ¡°Can you carry all of us?¡± He asked.


    ¡°If you can hold onto everyone and give me a single target.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°We worked this out yesterday.¡± The big alien held his arms straight out to the sides. ¡°Grab on.¡±


    Two of the men put their wrists over one of his hands and one moved to his elbow, then the other man and the woman did the same thing on his other arm. The four of them hung there and let the magnetic restraint hold them onto the big alien''s arms.


    I laughed at the simple solution and picked us both up, then floated us all down to where the supervisor usually stood. Now that we were there well before everyone, I took the opportunity to look around with Detect Presence. Almost directly across from the supervisor''s spot was the equipment storage warehouse that had a bunch of things inside it. That wasn''t the surprising thing, though. I had wondered why the guards or The Order members never seemed to bring crates back down after they were delivered, and now I knew why.


    They were produced in an automated factory that was right in front of me.


    Only ten feet of rock separated the main shaft from the factory, and as far as I could tell, there was an asteroid smelter embedded into the bedrock and conveyor belts continuously fed ores of all kinds into the factory. I didn''t look inside too closely, since crushing rocks to get the ore and then melting them into a composite metal wasn''t really that interesting.


    Forming the metal into crates caught my eye because of the possibilities, except that it poured into molds and those couldn''t be changed because of the limited space. It also told me that the crates themselves could be taken apart instead of cut apart like I had planned. I was still going to have to cut the damaged ones, especially if the supervisor tries to screw me over and gives me all the really bad ones. If he does, I''ll have to take matters into my own hands.


    Actually, I think I will anyway. I thought with a smile and we stood around and waited for twenty minutes for all of the others to catch up to us, including the supervisor.


    ¡°You''re lucky you didn''t take off with the laser drills without checking them out first.¡± The supervisor said and stood in his spot, then handed out all of the laser drills to the workers and left our group for last. The big alien took his, even though he knew I had a nice one for him already.


    ¡°We''ll be back in two hours.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± The supervisor said and waved us off.


    We walked to a spot just out of his sight and I took the laser drills and stored them, then we did the levitation trick and the big alien carried the others as we floated quickly down to the end of the shaft.


    ¡°We''re going to have to dig this out soon.¡± The big alien said as I handed out the drills to the other four people.


    ¡°That''s all right. I''m going to make you a digger like this, too.¡± I said and took out the giant laser drill.


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?¡± The woman yelled.


    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± ¡°What the hell is that?¡± ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Echoed back to us.


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± The woman said and we all laughed.


    ¡°You go high and I''ll go low.¡± I said to the big alien and waved at the untouched wall on the side of the shaft.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± The big alien said and I took out seven laser drills, my six and the big alien''s issued one, then we did the same five minute pattern all along the wall for sixty feet, which took an hour. It was absolutely ridiculous how many crystals we found, one for every drill hole, which meant we were in a deep rich vein. The others didn''t even bother trying to use their laser drills and all they did was gather the crystals and pack them in the crate.


    We filled the crate in only half an hour and I stored all the rest, nearly a crate and a half full. With the extra crystals from the other times I worked, I could fill two crates, easy. I stored all the laser drills, except the the one the big alien had, because he was a little reluctant to let it go.


    ¡°You know if you let him see it, he''s going to confiscate it.¡± The woman said and touched the big alien''s arm.


    ¡°It''s so nice.¡± The big guy said. ¡°It''s the first time I''ve had anything that actually fit my hands.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± The woman said. ¡°You can see it again in two days.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The big alien said and hugged it. ¡°I wanna keep it.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I can drop it off at our cubicle if you want.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± He looked at me with bright eyes. Even though he was nine feet tall and looked like a pile of large rectangular blocks, in that moment, he looked like a kid that you didn''t want to lie to.


    ¡°As long as you hide it if anyone comes around.¡±


    The big alien looked at the giant laser drill one last time, then handed it to me. I stored it and the others hung on the big guy''s arms after he sat down on the crate, then I activated the cargo handle and pulled them all the way back to the supervisor.


    ¡°I don''t want to know how you''re doing this.¡± The supervisor said as I dropped off the issued laser drills. ¡°I dropped the broken crates you wanted in the hallway.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll be back to talk about something, too.¡±


    The supervisor gave me a look that said he didn''t particularly want to talk to me and I chuckled and walked away with the crate behind me.


    ¡°I can''t believe no one has said anything about my wrists and ankles being free.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°I can''t believe no one reported me for killing that idiot that broke our deal.¡± I said.


    ¡°No one wants to piss you off.¡± One of the guys said and I turned my head and looked at the woman as I gave her a smile.


    ¡°Yeah, I got it.¡± The woman said and smiled back.


    I took them back to the spot where all the broken crates were and saw that they were the worst of the worst. Crushed, twisted, busted, holes everywhere, and I held in my sigh. I could still use some of them for structural support, so I stored the best ones and used Presence to crush the rest into a dozen softball sized metal balls and stored them.


    ¡°You don''t have to keep trying to impress us, you know.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°I was just cleaning up the garbage.¡± I said with a chuckle and started walking back to the living area. ¡°If I wanted to impress you, I''d tell you that someone is sneaking into your cubicle.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡±


    ¡°It''s okay. I knocked him out.¡± I said and she stared at me like I was joking. ¡°I''m not joking.¡±


    ¡°Hurry up and get us back there!¡± She said and I started to jog. They were all surprised when the crate didn''t jostle or show any difference from when I was just walking.


    ¡°You can run with these things?¡± One of the guys asked.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°People usually walk with them so they don''t have to worry about the danger.¡± I said. ¡°Imagine having a dozen of these things being pulled by people in the main shaft at different speeds. It would be a nightmare for everyone else to try to walk through.¡±


    I dropped them off at the living area and followed the big alien over to his cubicle, then gave him the giant laser drill and a blanket to cover it. He didn''t even look at me as he laid down on his huge bed and tucked it under his arm. I brought out a camera and took a picture, then ran away before he noticed. I grabbed the crate and took it all the way back to the start of the mine, popped on my restraints, then hobbled into view.


    I dropped the crate off and waved to the guard there. She made several hand motions with her hands using guard signals and asked why I wasn''t there for her patrol. I responded that I have to work every day and she stared at me with her mouth slightly open. I gave her another wave and hobbled back out of sight, stored my restraints, and ran all the way back to the supervisor.


    ¡°Can you let me into the broken parts warehouse again?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Can you fix another drill?¡± The supervisor asked.


    ¡°It depends on what''s broken on it.¡±


    The supervisor waved to the rack behind him. ¡°Have a look.¡±


    I used Detect Presence to look at it as I approached and then picked it up to look at the emitter. ¡°Nope. The emitter''s burned out, which means the regulator''s probably blown, too.¡±


    The supervisor sighed. ¡°I guess there''s no other drills left.¡±


    ¡°Not with the emitter in them, no. That seems to be the most common part to burn out.¡± I said. ¡°You might want to think about ordering a shipment of them and the regulators. You''re not going to have many drills left if they keep burning out like this.¡±


    ¡°I''ll think about it.¡± The supervisor said.


    ¡°Don''t think about it too long, because it''ll probably be a couple months before the shipment gets here. If you''re lucky, you won''t have too many drills go offline by then.¡± I said. ¡°Do you have the part numbers?¡±


    The man sighed and I pointed to his datapad. He held it out to me and I typed in the two serial numbers for the emitters and the regulator circuit board. I had been sorely tempted to enter a serial code for different parts, because I wanted to try and order things without his knowledge. I decided that honesty was the best course of action this time and I was glad that I did. When the supervisor looked at the codes, I read his thoughts that he recognized that they were the right ones.


    ¡°Considering how many drills you have, I''d say a full shipment of a hundred each would be best.¡± I said. ¡°Of course, if you can get me a proper tool set and fasteners, I wouldn''t have to cobble together everything I fix.¡±


    ¡°That''s not going to happen.¡± The supervisor said. ¡°I showed The Order members the stats for your drill and they said it was impressive; but, they can''t entrust others with your repaired pieces.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it''s their loss, right?¡± I said. ¡°So, can you let me into the warehouse or not?¡±


    ¡°I really shouldn''t.¡± He said.


    ¡°How many crates of crystals are you short this week?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Two.¡± The man said.


    ¡°You know I can fill a crate fairly quickly, no matter who I work with.¡± I said and he reluctantly nodded. ¡°What if... say... you had two empty crates dropped off in section six tomorrow?¡±


    The supervisor thought about it for almost a full minute, then nodded. I followed him back to the right section and he took out the electronic key. I took out my electronics kit and covered it in Presence to put it into Stealth, then recorded the frequency that the key emitted to unlock the cargo hatch.


    ¡°Get in.¡± He said when the hatch dropped to the ground. ¡°You''re staying in there until shift ends.¡±


    ¡°Not a problem.¡± I said and stepped inside, entered Stealth myself, then ran back out and all the way back to the living area. I stopped and dropped the Stealth technique and casually walked into the living area and over to cubicle eight.


    ¡°Hey! I thought you were going to make me a place today!¡± Val said.


    ¡°I came to ask when the mandatory showers...¡± I started to say and then I felt someone enter my shortened detection range. ¡°Never mind. This is probably them coming to escort us.¡± I said and turned towards the shaft and waited. Ten minutes later, the ''good'' Order member and the female guard came into view and I put on my restraints.


    ¡°All right, let''s go, people.¡± The Order member said and everyone that wasn''t on shift that day formed two lines, side by side. We were marched all the way up to the start of the mine shaft and up to the junction, then went towards the administration building.


    ¡°You know, all you need to do is install a portable shower down in the living area, then you wouldn''t have to go through all this trouble.¡± I commented to the female guard.


    ¡°It''s not just to clean yourselves.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°We inspect you, too.¡±


    ¡°Ah, contraband.¡± I said. ¡°I''m not really sure how anyone here could have things brought in, though.¡±


    ¡°It could be stolen things, or improvised weapons, or a whole host of other items.¡± She said.


    ¡°Like special desserts?¡± I asked and she turned her head to look at the administrator waiting for us.


    ¡°She didn''t share it.¡± The guard said, sadly.


    ¡°I''m sorry to hear that.¡± I said and she turned to look at me with wide eyes. ¡°It really does taste a lot better when you share it. I have no idea why, though.¡±


    ¡°It''s a chemical reaction between a person''s saliva and another person''s sweat.¡± The Order member said. ¡°That''s why you can only use your fingers to eat it.¡±


    ¡°You seemed to know a lot about it. Do you know know what it''s called?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''s a really long and complicated alien name that I couldn''t pronounce if my life depended on it.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°We just call it Lover''s Passion Fruit.¡±


    My eyes widened because the Presence didn''t waver.


    He laughed at the surprise on my face. ¡°I guess you''ve shared it with someone you aren''t intimate with.¡± He said and managed to stifle his laughter. ¡°It still tasted good, didn''t it?¡±


    ¡°It was delicious.¡± I admitted, a tad reluctantly, since I knew I couldn''t lie to him.


    ¡°Then there''s something there.¡± The Order member said. ¡°Whoever it was, they must have strong feelings for you.¡±


    ¡°Does it matter if they are good feelings or bad feelings?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not even a little bit.¡± He said and couldn''t help it and laughed again. ¡°You could hate them with a passion and it still works... because it''s still strong feelings.¡±


    ¡°It should be called the Fruit of Peace instead.¡± I said.


    ¡°That doesn''t sound as poetic.¡±


    ¡°Or as embarrassing.¡± I countered and he laughed some more.


    Val took a shower first and I was a little surprised that there were shutters on the viewing window.


    ¡°They weren''t there the last time.¡± I said and nodded at them with my head.


    ¡°They were there, just not deployed.¡± The female guard said with a grin.


    ¡°You peeper!¡± I said loudly and she laughed.


    ¡°Next!¡± A male guard said and waved me into the booth.


    ¡°There you are!¡± The booth operator said.


    ¡°Long time no see.¡± I said and stripped off the old jumpsuit and tossed it in the trash. ¡°Can I get an extra long shower for missing so many days?¡±


    ¡°I can give you an extra rinse, but that''s it.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine, as long as it''s hot.¡± I said.


    ¡°Soap incoming.¡± She said with a grin.


    I covered my hidden belt and bags of holding with solid Presence and then quickly lathered up. I covered most of the floor in Presence. ¡°Okay.¡± I said and she hit the rinse button. I quickly scrubbed off the lather and let it fall into the drain while catching the water and making it invisible, then I stood there, dripping wet, and covered all of the floor with Presence. ¡°Hit me.¡±


    The booth operator stood there for a few more moments to stare at me, then she hit the rinse button again. I easily caught all the water and it turned out to be a significant amount. It was quite heavy as well, and I had to funnel it up and into two different bags of holding to hold it all. When the water finally cut off, I shook myself like a dog would to make her laugh.


    ¡°Get out here and dry off.¡± She said and held out a one foot wide and two foot long hand towel.


    I absorbed the Presence from the floor and stepped out of the booth. ¡°This might take a little while.¡± I said and took the small towel from her.


    ¡°We can wait.¡± She said and gave a slight head nod to the blackened viewing window on that side. I looked through it and saw the administrator as she stared at me. I knew she was thinking some pretty racy thoughts, so I figured I''d put on a little show for her. I turned around and took the little towel by the ends and twisted it behind my back. I wiggled my butt as I pulled the towel from side to side and down my back as I dried it off, then I did my butt cheeks.


    Of course, I had to bend over a little to make sure I dried it off well, then I did my thighs. I actually heard her gasp when I bent over to dry my knees. Well, it might have been the booth operator, since it was pretty loud. I stood up straight and then turned around to dry off my chest, my abdomen, then my private part. Both women stared at it like it was hypnotizing them. I used Presence to push the water off of my feet and I held out the tiny towel to the booth operator.


    She caught her breath when she took it and felt how warm it was. She quickly put her face into it and took a deep breath, out of sight of the viewing window of course, then she carefully hung it on the back of her chair. She grabbed a new jumpsuit for me and I put it on.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and she looked at me with surprise on her face. I started to lean in close and a buzzer sounded.


    ¡°No personal contact.¡± A harsh woman''s voice said.


    ¡°I was only going to whisper to her.¡± I said and looked at the booth operator. ¡°Maybe next time.¡±


    ¡°We still can''t touch.¡± She said.


    I formed an invisible Presence Hand to touch her cheek and she caught her breath.


    ¡°Next!¡± A male guard said and she had to go back to her duties. I walked out the other way to join up with the other clean people and neither of us mentioned the side door opening and the towel going missing.


    ¡°You''re CLEAN!¡± Val yelled and hugged me.


    ¡°Yes, it''s such a rare thing.¡± I said and she laughed.


    ¡°I want to make you dirty again.¡± Val said.


    ¡°I have to finish your place before we can do that. I also need to repair some more digging machines. Just one is not going to be good enough.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to wait for us all to march back?¡± Val asked.


    ¡°I''m not supposed to show everyone that I can take these restraints off.¡± I said and she sighed. ¡°Oh, all right.¡± I said and looked at the female guard and The Order member. ¡°Close your eyes for a second.¡±


    When the both of them blinked, I covered myself in the Stealth technique and disappeared from their sight and perception. I took several silent steps and the both of them looked where I used to be. I stored the restraints and then took off running. I had to get back to work.

 Book Three: The Resolution 108

    I ran back to the right spot in the mine shaft to go inside the broken item warehouse and took out my electronics kit. It didn''t take me long to adapt one of my emitters to reproduce the same electronic frequency and the cargo hatch opened up for me. I stepped in and closed it again, then I went all the way to the back corner where my workbench was.


    I moved aside all the broken cargo handles and took out the digging machine I had on loan and then took out all of the broken ones I had. I was pretty happy that I still had the working one, because it was so much easier to copy it while it was intact, instead of going through each broken one and trying to figure out which parts were damaged and needed to be replaced.


    Unlike the laser drill, the digging tool was much more physical parts than anything else, since it needed to cut into, churn up, and dig out rocks and dirt. It couldn''t do much against solid rock, though. If my looks into the other warehouse were any indication, they had a much larger digging machine when they hit a rock they couldn''t dig around. I shook my head at that, because The Order members could just come down and use their Light swords to cut any large rocks into more manageable pieces.


    I opened up the first broken digging tool and immediately saw the problem. One of the main turning gears that looked like a thick corkscrew, had several worn and broken edges. It was skimming, and in some parts skipping completely, the parts it needed to interact with to work both the drill part and the conveyor belt.


    Dammit, why couldn''t it just be a broken gear that I could easily fix or cut out of something else? I asked myself. Why does it have to be a precisely engineered part that I can''t reproduce easily?


    I sighed and shook my head and checked the two dozen other digging tools and saw that most of them had that part intact, so I took all the ones that didn''t and set them aside to make a parts pool for the other tools. I picked each of the other digging tools up and quickly repaired them. When I was done, I had fifteen of them in working order.


    Now for some fun. I thought and took five of them, since I needed them all to have the central corkscrew gear, then I took out some of the broken crates and made much better support members to hold them together. I had to remove two of the external conveyor belt mechanisms and digging scoops, so that I could mount all five of them in a round configuration, just like the laser drills.


    I added the larger levers and controls for the big alien and then the handles. When it was done, I stepped back and looked at the cobbled together monstrosity. The damn thing was huge!


    He''s going to love it. I thought with amusement and looked at the warehouse next door. Now, what should I do to test it? I asked with a grin and walked over to the wall.


    I cleared away a large section of the debris pile there and covered myself and part of the wall in a Presence Barrier. I took out a Light sword and changed the settings to one foot in length and left it three inches wide. I slowly slit it into the wall and watched with Detect Presence until the tip went through the tristeel wall. I moved it all the way up to about ten feet high, went across ten feet, then down to the floor. I moved across to where I had started and stood up to finish the cut.


    This will make a great platform base. I thought and used Presence to move the very heavy piece of thick metal aside. With it out of the way, the bare wall was revealed. I picked up the giant digging tool and turned it on. I waited for a few seconds to make sure that everything was working properly, then pushed it into the wall. I was glad that I had made the barrier, because the sound of five digging tools was surprisingly loud as they dug into the wall.


    The spinning drill bits cut into the wall, the digging scoops cleared away the things it cut, and the conveyors pulled the dirt and rocks away from the heads. I had to stop two minutes later, because I had cleared away all of the wall inside the hole I had cut and revealed the other wall. Now I had a decision to make. Did I want to reveal that I broke in, or do I try my best to hide what I was doing?


    If the guards were even halfway competent, they''ve been watching me this whole time. I thought. I know the supervisor has told them about it, at the very least, because he admitted that The Order members wouldn''t approve anyone else using my repaired items, which I could only have access to if I was in here.


    I took out my Light sword and cut another ten foot by ten foot section out of the wall of the large equipment storage warehouse and pulled it back into where I was. I could make it into another platform, or attach it to the other one and make it that much more structurally sound and have room between them for the electronics it was going to need, rather than leave them exposed on the sides or top.


    I walked over to the second damaged item storage warehouse and had to move an industrial crane several feet to get it out of the way enough for me to enter. Once inside, I saw the enormous amount of wrecked equipment that had gathered over the years... and decades... that the mine had been in operation. I was honestly surprised that they weren''t feeding all of it to the asteroid smelter in the crate factory, just to get rid of some of it.


    Speaking of crates. I thought with a smile and walked over to stacks and stacks of only slightly damaged crates. The rotten bastard really stiffed me with the garbage crates, didn''t he? I asked myself with a chuckle and chose a dozen of the best ones and stored them, then a dozen of the not great ones to make seats out of them. The bottoms could be cut in half and the pieces welded side by side, then the tops could be cut in half and welded together as a seat back, which would make a bench seat two crates wide and it would just barely fit across the platform I cut out of the walls.


    I thought about having a better look around and decided that I would have a lot of time to walk around and explore later, since I intended to stay here for quite some time. I absently rubbed the scars on my chest through the jumpsuit and walked back over to the entryway I had made. I moved the large broken crane back in front of the opening, just in case.


    I walked over to my workbench and took out the first good crate and used a plasma cutter to cut it apart. I looked at the broken cargo handles and estimated how much room I was going to need, then started to cut up the crate into six inch strips of metal. When I had enough to go all the way around the platform, I started to weld them in place.


    I had lots of hinges and things to attach what I wanted, thanks to the nearly perfect crates, so when I wanted to add panels that would let me gain access to the inside of the platform, in case the electronics needed to be worked on, I easily added them to the sides as well. With easy access panels, I could start adding the electronics needed before I added the top platform to seal everything in.


    I knew that a square five foot wide crate needed exactly one cargo handle to hover a foot off of the ground and essentially become weightless because of the size of the anti-gravity field around it. The platform was twice that size, ten feet by ten feet, or four crates worth of size, which most people would think they would only need four cargo handles to function. Unfortunately, they would be wrong.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    The power and electronics needed weren''t additive, they were multiplicative. One large field need to be created, not four smaller ones, so I would need at least twelve of the cargo handles to compensate for the size. None of them were working, so it took me a lot longer to use the information on my datapad to figure out what parts were working and what ones weren''t. Some were easily found because of visible scarring and replaced. A lot of the others were faults in a circuit board or a lose connection or soldering point, which were a lot more difficult to trace.


    Once I had one actually completed and tested it on an actual crate to make it hover a foot above the ground, it didn''t take me long to check over the piles and piles of others to get them working, too. It still took time, however. I felt someone enter my limited detection range, then several others, and I sighed.


    I stored the ten cargo handles I had completed and all of the digging tools, then I propped the partially finished platform up against the wall I had cut it from and covered it with the nearby pile of debris. I walked across the warehouse and waited by the door for everyone to pass, then the supervisor stood there and waited for them to be out of sight. He used his electronic key to open the cargo hatch and let me out.


    ¡°How did things go?¡± He asked with a bit of a smile.


    ¡°You can have your digging tool back.¡± I said and handed it to him.


    ¡°I can''t take this yet.¡± He said.


    ¡°But I''m done with it and want to return it.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Give it to me when you show up for work in the morning.¡± He said and handed it back.


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said and stored it, then we started walking towards the living area. ¡°Did you know that section eighteen needs to be dug out?¡±


    The supervisor nodded. ¡°I surveyed the shaft around mid-shift and I''ll assign the big guy and his crew... namely you... to clear it instead of harvesting crystals the day after tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°We can do both.¡± I said and he gave me a surprised look for a second, then he frowned.


    ¡°That''s an all day job... at least.¡± He said.


    ¡°For a normal crew, sure.¡± I said with a grin and he sighed.


    ¡°I don''t want to know.¡± He said and quickened his pace.


    ¡°I was wondering if I can get some of the prefab wall sections...¡± I started to ask.


    ¡°No.¡± He responded.


    ¡°You don''t even know what I want them for.¡± I said.


    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± He said. ¡°There''s no way... no way in the seven hells... that they will allow a prisoner access to building materials.¡±


    I already have access, dumb-ass. I thought to myself. ¡°Then I''ll scrounge up what I can.¡±


    The supervisor stopped walking and turned to face me. ¡°You are not allowed to destroy your cubicle or to harvest it for parts.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I wouldn''t think of it, since I''m giving it to the avian women.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He asked, confused. ¡°Where are you going to sleep?¡±


    ¡°Anywhere I want to.¡± I said.


    The supervisor gave me a disbelieving look, turned around, and strode away. I let him get far enough away and I walked over to the spot I had dug out the day before. The stairs were still there and were holding up, even without any real support to hold them together, except for being cut into that shape.


    I smiled and took out five of the ten single digging tools I had and covered myself and the entryway with a Presence Barrier to stop the sound, then formed a solid slide over the stairs. I turned on all five diggers, held them the right distance apart, then pointed them up at an angle and slowly walked up the stairs. The diggers tore into the dirt and rocks at a slow and steady pace, and the slide delivered the dirt to the main shaft.


    I didn''t rush it and took the big alien''s advice and let the machine do the work and took my time. Although, with five machines working, I was going five times as fast as normal, so by the time I stood at the top of the stairs and had walked around in a twenty foot circle, only an hour had passed and the pile of dirt and rocks at the bottom of the stairs was pretty big. I used one of the digging tools to dig out a nice sized window into the main shaft and then stored the machines.


    I walked down the stairs and covered the opening with Presence and used some of the lose dirt to cover it as well, then for good measure, covered the very high window as well and spread the pile of dirt around. It was a lot harder to disguise it, so I didn''t bother trying. I also wouldn''t be able to add a door or a lock until I harvested some of the outer casings from a few of the larger scrapped machines in the second warehouse and used them to line the dirt walls.


    I walked back over to the living area and saw that people were already eating. I went over to the dispensary and the three workers were just as happy to get my ration flavor packs as they had been the first time.


    ¡°Is anyone else surprised that I''m not getting double rations like the others, even though I''m on the crews that finish early every day?¡± I asked absently as I stored my nine prepared and delicious meals. No one said anything and I walked over to cubicle eight to be pleasantly surprised at the sight of all three avian women sitting inside the nest.


    ¡°The supervisor''s being an idiot and said you haven''t been here long enough to qualify for extra food.¡± Val said and held her hands out to me in a clear ''give me'' gesture.


    I chuckled and took out a meal for her and she sighed contentedly. I looked at the other two women. ¡°Ladies, may I join you? I bring good food as an offering.¡±


    The two avian women gave me stern looks for a moment, then they both reluctantly nodded. Bringing food back to the nest was a noble act and they wouldn''t refuse, even if I wasn''t a male of their species. Plus, it was delicious. I handed them a meal each and sat down as I took out my own.


    ¡°Tell me... that you made... me a space.¡± Val said between bites of food.


    ¡°It''s made, it just doesn''t have metal walls or a door.¡±


    All three women laughed and I looked at them with surprise.


    ¡°Doors are not strictly necessary. No one will enter an Aviatoma''s personal space uninvited, upon pain of death.¡± The first avian woman explained. ¡°That isn''t bravado, as you would call it. We will know the scent of anyone that trespasses and we will kill them.¡±


    ¡°Then I''m really glad I asked.¡± I said and both women nodded.


    ¡°You will... take me there... as soon as we eat.¡± Val said.


    ¡°Well, slow down. I haven''t even started yet.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Hurry up.¡± Val said and started to eat faster.


    ¡°Fine.¡± I said and opened my mouth, then I surprised the hell out of them when I used Presence to lift all of the food off of my tray, compressed it into several small balls and floated them one at a time into my mouth and down my throat. I used my body''s Presence to quickly disperse the calories and energy into the rest of my body.


    ¡°What... that... how...¡± All three of them couldn''t process what I had done.


    ¡°Finish eating and I''ll take you home.¡± I said.


    Val shivered with pleasure and her feathers fluffed out slightly. She shoved the rest of the food into her mouth and chewed on it as she tossed the tray aside and stood. I laughed and stood, took her hand, and we stepped out of the nest of blankets.


    ¡°Ladies.¡± I said and used Presence to carry my words to everyone in the living area. ¡°I leave Cubicle Eight in your tender care and you can consider it your own personal space.¡±


    Both avian women were shocked by the offer and tweeted and chirped at me and at each other. I only caught snippets of the rapid conversation and it didn''t look like they were going to calm down anytime soon, so I waved at them and led Val out of the living area and walked down the main shaft to where I had concealed what I had dug out.


    I used Presence to push the dirt away from the door and absorbed the block on the entryway, then led an astonished Val up the stairs a dozen feet to the room I had carved, then I absorbed the Presence over the window.


    ¡°Hunter! It... it''s perfect!¡± Val said and she felt very happy as she walked around the circular room.


    ¡°I''ll talk to the guard that likes me and I''ll see about getting an actual mattress or two. Unused, of course.¡± I said.


    Val didn''t hear me as she went over to the window and looked out. ¡°It''s so high up!¡±


    ¡°I was limited by the top of the main shaft or it would have been higher.¡± I said. That she heard and turned to face me.


    ¡°You would have made it even higher?¡± Val asked.


    ¡°If I was allowed to dig straight up, you''d have a nice aerie up on the surface.¡±


    Val squawked loudly. ¡°That''s... that''s...¡±


    ¡°Assuming my distance count is right, it''s about three miles to the surface, give or take half a mile.¡±


    Val let out a low warble and glared at me. ¡°Blankets. Now.¡± She ordered.


    I knew that tone and she wasn''t going to be distracted, so I took out several large bundles of blankets. I had intended to use them over the next few years as both personal bedding and for trades, then Val leapt across the distance, tore open the bundles, threw the blankets onto the ground in a big pile, then she tore open my jumpsuit.


    Apparently, it was my turn to squawk loudly.

 Book Three: The Resolution 109

    Val and I christened her new nest several times that night and she wouldn''t let me sleep until she was absolutely positive that our scents were all over it. She wasn''t even disappointed that she didn''t have any loose feathers to add to it. I knew it was because she would have more available in a couple of weeks and she didn''t mind waiting.


    The next morning it was our work shift and Val was surprisingly full of energy and wide awake, even after being up for most of the night. I took her hand, something she was surprised by, even though I had removed her restraints during the night, then I led her out of the nest and down the stairs. I covered the entryway with Presence and some dirt and did the same to the window.


    ¡°You don''t have to do that.¡± Val said sweetly.


    ¡°I''d rather prevent anyone from violating your space than having to clean it after they do and you kill them for it.¡± I said and we walked back towards the living area. ¡°I also don''t have any more blankets.¡±


    Val warble-laughed and kissed my cheek. We met up with the two other avian women and they looked... better somehow. I wasn''t sure why, even when they both gave me pointed stares and short chirps of respect.


    Val gasped and let my hand go, then hugged both women. ¡°Thank you!¡±


    I wasn''t stupid enough to ask her what just happened, so I stood there and waited for everyone to leave the living area as they started the long shuffle down the main mine shaft to get to work. I took out one of the not so great looking crates that the supervisor had given me and did my best to straighten it up enough for what I was about to do.


    ¡°Ladies, your ride awaits.¡± I said and waved to the slightly mangled crate.


    ¡°That looks dangerous.¡± The first avian woman said.


    ¡°I''ll protect you and hold you steady with Presence.¡± I said. ¡°The bottom is still completely intact, and it''s just for show. I''ll have a much better ride for you tomorrow.¡±


    I took out two small pieces of crate and put them against the other one, so she had a step up and I didn''t have to lift her.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She said and climbed on and sat on the side.


    ¡°I still hate you and think you should die for the insult you represent.¡± The second one said and climbed on and sat on the other side.


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± I said and helped Val sit down on the front of the crate, then I covered them in straps made of Presence to hold them. ¡°Black Laura is waiting for me.¡± I said and all three of them let out startled chirps.


    ¡°You know of The Raven?!?¡± They said as one.


    ¡°Know of her? I''ve met her.¡± I said and took out a cargo handle and attached it to the crate and turned it on. The crate floated up a foot off of the ground and I walked at a normal pace as I pulled it along. Everyone stared at us as I walked by with the three avian women riding on a crate that I wasn''t supposed to have and using a cargo handle that wasn''t supposed to exist.


    When the supervisor saw me he had an angry face for a second, then he saw the slightly mangled crate and sighed. ¡°You fixed one of the broken cargo handles.¡±


    ¡°It took me a while, since I didn''t have a working one to compare it to.¡± I said, completely honestly. I wasn''t going to tell him that I had nine more, especially since I wasn''t going to keep them intact when I had twelve of them fixed. I was going to pull them apart and convert them into what I needed.


    ¡°You know we can''t use it for shipping the crates.¡±


    ¡°That''s why I''m using it like this.¡± I said and walked by him. ¡°I don''t need a laser drill issued, either.¡± I said and he sighed again. I didn''t bother stopping at his spot where he distributed the laser drills and walked all the way over to section six. The three avian women didn''t protest or even say anything until I came to a stop and they saw two empty crates waiting to be filled.


    ¡°We have to fill two of them?!?¡± The second avian woman exclaimed.


    I chuckled. ¡°No, I have to.¡± I said and looked at the expanse of wall. ¡°I should probably dig this out.¡±


    ¡°What? How are are you going to do that?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Like this.¡± I said and took out ten digging machines and made two rows of five, then held them with Presence Hands and started to dig. All three women were chirping and tweeting furiously back and forth as I worked. By the time the other workers were walking by our section, I had already cleared out a sixty foot section of wall and stored the digging tools to hide what I did.


    Luckily, I had revealed another nice vein of unrefined focusing crystals and waited until the other prisoners had walked by before I took out my laser drills and harvested them. Needless to say, after another two hours of work, I had both of the crates filled and even had a few extra to store for later.


    ¡°Now I have a question for you.¡± I said to the two avian women. ¡°Do you want me to remove your restraints?¡±


    Both women seriously considered the matter and talked with Val about it in their native language. She responded and both women looked at me.


    ¡°We will remain restrained for now.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°The danger is too great of being caught.¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± I asked with a smile and used Presence Hands to activate the handles on both full crates and pulled them behind us as I walked back to the supervisor while pulling the crate with the women on it. He saw me coming and from his thoughts, he was going to berate me for leaving without doing what I promised. I held a hand up to stop him and took the corner, walked by him, and he saw the two crates being pulled along behind me.


    ¡°Yes, they are full.¡± I said and guided the crates around the corner behind me and I kept walking at a normal pace. I stopped at the living area and dropped the avian women off, stored the mangled crate and the repaired cargo handle, then took the two crates of unrefined crystals to the start of the mine. I put on my shackles and brought the two crates into the middle of the area and looked up at the platform.


    Unfortunately, it was the Order member that didn''t like me much and one of the men, which meant I wasn''t going to be speaking to the female guard today. I didn''t even bother speaking and left the area, took off my shackles, and ran all the way back to the living area. I gave Val a wave and surprisingly, all three of the avian women waved back. I gave them an award winning smile, a quick chirp of thanks, and ran down the main shaft to the supervisor.


    ¡°I really shouldn''t let you.¡± The supervisor said when I stopped in front of him.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°All right. I won''t make you do something you don''t want to do.¡± I said as I turned around and started to jog.


    ¡°WAIT!¡± He yelled and I ignored him and ran.


    I knew he wasn''t going to leave his position to come all the way back to the living area, just to come all the way back to let me in to the broken item warehouse, so I used my electronic key and opened it just enough to get inside and closed it again. I ran to the back of the room and cleared the pile of debris away from my half-completed platform, then started working on repairing more of the cargo handles. I only needed two more for the platform to go with the ten I had, then made five more, just because I could.


    I carefully pulled them apart and took my time placing the various components from inside the cargo handles around the inside of the platform. The main parts needed to be on the outer edge of the metal and they had to be hooked in a completed circuit and not a series.


    Once I had the twelve sets of components in place, one in each corner and two sets in the expanse between each corner that were an equal distance from each other, I had to cobble together some kind of control mechanism to turn them all on at the same time and connect them all with the appropriate length of wires. I immediately thought about the full and partial consoles I had seen at the front of the warehouse.


    I ran over and looked through them to find an appropriate one. It took me a few minutes as I compared the controls on a cargo handle to that of each of the consoles I had access to, then I had to pull the console apart to see if it could do what I wanted. I found the right circuit board that I could have all of the components attached to and a single button on the console could be used to activate all of them at the same time without the need of a regulator.


    I had to check the other parts and ensure that the field generators had a constant power supply from the internal batteries, which meant I needed a large regulator, like the one inside a Light sword that regulated the flow of energy from a focusing crystal. I sighed and tried to look around at all of the discarded appliances for a regulator, and was just a successful as I was when looking for one when I was trying to fix the laser drills. I wasn''t.


    I took out a Light sword and popped it apart, then removed the large regulator and stored the useless weapon. I attached the regulator and made all the proper connections, then brought the reconfigured console over to the platform.


    Now the hard part. I thought and looked at all of the tiny things around me and the wires they contained that I would have to splice together... and then I chuckled and looked through the wall. I had hundreds of large machines that I could get really long wires from and moved the things out of the way of the large hole I had made into the warehouse. I stepped inside and found one of the broken automated crane arms, easily cut off the metal casing and harvested the large bundle of wires inside.


    Of course, once I was there, I looked at the largest pieces of equipment there and was pleasantly surprised to find a large vehicle of some kind. It almost looked like an armored personnel carrier, except that it didn''t have a place on the front for someone to drive the thing. It had been torn off somehow and all that was left was the back half.


    I couldn''t take the armored parts, obviously, so I looked at the rear cargo door. It was intact and I smiled as I looked at the mechanisms that controlled it and they were fine. The best part was that it was larger than the entryway I had made and would cover it completely. All I had to do was embed it into the wall and secure it. With all the easily available structural metal around me, I almost laughed at the simplicity.


    I took out my Light sword and easily cut off the last foot of the back of the thing and I recognized the interior. It wasn''t an APC at all. It was a shuttle. I now had the rear cargo hatch and the wire runs and I even left it attached to the floor to bury under the stairs as support. I carefully stored it into one of my bags of holding and felt the weight of it.


    It''s almost the same as the full size garglemacer. I thought with a chuckle and searched around for any battery packs that I could use to operate the thing. I found a pile of expended ones and walked back over to the hole I had made and covered it again after I stepped through.


    I took out the large bundle of wires and pulled a pile of normal sized wires out of it and ran them all along the inside of the platform and connected the components that needed to be connected to each other. I looked at the console that I was going to have to attach after I put the top on the platform.


    Dammit! How am I going to move the thing? I asked myself and sat there and thought about it. Come on, you can figure this out.


    The thing was going to hover a foot off of the ground and didn''t have the long handle to drag it, so I needed some kind of propulsion. The problem was, not only were there no volatile substances to use as fuel for any kind of propulsion, the shuttle only had the casing and nothing else, no engines and no reactor.


    I sat down on the edge of my three-quarters completed platform and folded my hands together to think... then I noticed that my hands were folded together.


    ¡°Ha! Ha ha ha!¡± I laughed and ran through the warehouse to the huge container with hundreds of broken wrist and ankle restraints. ¡°Who needs propulsion when I can just pull the damn thing!¡±


    I took out my wrist restraints and used it as a model as I cannibalized a pile of the broken ones to make six functional ones. Of course, I didn''t know what frequency they worked on, so I took out my electronics kit and tested mine and recorded the frequency. I knew it had to be different than all the others, because otherwise all of the wrist restraints would all try to attract to each other.


    I thought back to the operating table and what the guard had done to my wrist restraints then. I smiled and checked to see if there was an electronics switch inside as I looked deep inside of it. It took a while, because I didn''t have any way to operate them, except for opening and closing them. I hoped that it wasn''t just software tweak to change the frequency. To my relief, it was an electronic switch that changed it from one signal to the other.


    Now that I knew that, it was easy to discover their signals when I turned them on. They snapped out to the standard distance and I nodded. If positioned in a hexagon pattern inside the platform and their partners were placed at the living section, the supervisor''s spot, and at the two ends of the shaft, then when they were wired into the console and through the large regulator, it should be possible to pick and choose which one the platform floats to.


    I even have two spares if I need the platform go anywhere else. I thought and got to work.


    Needless to say, I didn''t get it to work right away. I had to take out my defunct Light sword and use even more of the parts and integrated them into the console and wired them up. Once they were in place, I cut a small hole in the top piece of the platform and pushed the ends of the wires through, then welded the top to the platform. I attached all the lose wires to the console and then welded that to the very front of the platform.


    I made a small metal seat from one of the mangled cargo boxes for me to be comfortable while I used the platform, then I attached the bench seat to the very back edge of the platform to allow a bit of room while three people sat on it. Just for fun, I made three sets of two metal hooks that cargo handles could be latched onto. With them, the platform could handle pulling a single crate or two crates, since the platform was two crates wide.


    I thought about making metal mounts for the orphaned cuffs to be secured at the destination spots, then changed my mind. Instead, I was going to bury them. I didn''t know if I would do the one in the living area in front of everyone or try and dig a hole when everyone was asleep. Either way, I was taking a chance.


    I''ll wait for tonight. I thought to myself, stored the completed platform in another bag of holding and put the orphaned cuffs in with it.


    I ran back over to the cargo hatch, looked around to make sure no one was there, then popped it open for a second and hopped out and closed it again. With no one around, I ran over to the entryway I had dug, absorbed the Presence and pushed the dirt out of the way, then used a Light sword as I painstakingly dug out the large furrow under the stairs that the shuttle bottom needed to be shoved into. I used a Presence Hand to hold the hilt to dig in the ten feet or so I needed, then I did the same on the sides and top and only dug in a foot.


    Once I had the space prepped, I quickly dug out a spot for the battery packs and the signal receiver to open the hatch. It was going to take me a while to power them up, even with the adapter from the battery pack in the used Light sword. I attached it and covered everything with Presence, then I took out the rear of the shuttle and slid it into place. It was a snug fit and I had to tweak it a little to get it to sit properly.


    Once it was in, though... I was happy. All I need now is a bit of time, and maybe a working battery pack charger and a large power source. I chuckled at the thought. All in good time.


    With my current chosen tasks completed as much as they could be, I ran back to the living area and met up with Val and the other two avian women. I wasn''t surprised that most of Val''s feathers in the nest of blankets had been replaced with their own. I didn''t comment on it, especially since they really thought I would. I gave them a smile and sat down outside the nest with Val and kept my mouth shut.

 Book Three: The Resolution 110

    When it was time to shower for the people not on shift, the living area cleared out completely, except for the three avian women and myself. I almost laughed at such a simple solution to my ''there''s always people around'' problem. Or so I thought. Almost right after everyone left, two guards came into my detection range.


    ¡°Oh, sneaky.¡± I said.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Val asked.


    ¡°Ladies, if you would join me at the back of the cubicle, I''ll hide us from view.¡± I said and stood up.


    The two avian women in the nest nodded and the four of us stood at the back of the cubicle. ¡°Hold hands.¡± I said and the three women did and I covered us in Presence. I had to let them feel it, just so they would know it was there, then I shared my Stealth technique with them.


    They let out a startled chirp as they faded from sight and then stayed silent. Ten minutes later, the female guard and a male guard came into view. They walked over to the cubicles and started searching them, one by one, and moved to the next one. I made the Presence solid around the three avian women and diverted the sound away, because I knew what was coming.


    ¡°Make sure you spray the nest.¡± The female guard said as the male guard came in.


    ¡°I know.¡± The male guard responded and took out a weird spray can, like an aerosol can, then sprayed the nest and covered it in whatever it was. After that, he dug his hands into the blankets and searched all of the folds and crevasses thoroughly, careful of the feathers and down that was there, and went all around the entire thing. All three avian women were frantically struggling to get free. They chirped and squawked their heads off at the guard for violating their personal space, and I couldn''t blame them.


    You just signed your death warrant, buddy. I thought.


    The female guard walked by the cubicle and went into number nine, and the male guard finished and went into number ten. I didn''t let the women go, though.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Val said when she calmed down. ¡°Let us go. We need to kill him or our threat is meaningless.¡±


    ¡°In a minute.¡± I said and she glared at me. ¡°I can''t let you do it just yet.¡±


    ¡°Why. Not. Now.¡± Val said as a statement and not as a question.


    ¡°I want their inspection to finish first.¡± I said and lifted us up with Presence, then carried us out of the cubicle and over to the main shaft.


    ¡°That doesn''t matter.¡± Val said. The other two avian women were too angered to try to talk to me.


    ¡°Trust me.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°I do.¡± Val said and left the implied ''they don''t'' unspoken.


    ¡°Ladies, please. As soon as they reach the bottom of the stairs, I''ll let you go. Val, you absolutely need to scream, in common, that you saw him violate the nest.¡±


    Val gave me a skeptical look, then I used my electronic key to unlock the other two women''s wrists and ankle restraints. The two of them let out loud angry squawks and pressed harder against my barrier.


    ¡°I''ll even use Presence to carry his screams all throughout the mine.¡± I said. ¡°Get ready.¡± I warned them as the two guards came down the stairs and Val let out a low warble and pressed hard against the barrier as well. ¡°Now!¡± I dropped the Stealth technique and the solid barrier when the man''s boot hit the ground, then all three avian women ran as fast as they could into the living area.


    ¡°HUMAN MALE! YOU VIOLATED THE NEST!¡± Val screamed at the top of her lungs.


    The man had enough time to turn his head and look frightened, just as the women tackled him. ¡°AHHHH!¡± He screamed at the top of his lungs as his eyes were clawed out, then Val and the second avian woman held his arms as the first avian woman took her time and slowly stripped the flesh from his face. They did this on purpose, so that his screams would be remembered by everyone that heard them. Since I was using Presence to carry the sound, everyone in the mine and the administration building heard it.


    ¡°S-s-stop.¡± The female guard was completely shocked at the brutal savagery as her fellow guard was then gutted while he was still alive. Even though they had human-like hands, they were just as strong as bird claws and easily tore into him. The guard took out something that looked like a gun and raised it to point it at them.


    I was instantly beside her and put my hand on it and raised it towards the ceiling. ¡°It''s too late for that.¡± I said to her and she had tears in her eyes, then I spoke for her ears alone. ¡°It was supposed to be your turn, wasn''t it?¡±


    She nodded and let her tears flow. ¡°I hate checking that damn nest. It''s always damp in places and the feathers are everywhere.¡±


    ¡°Then stay quiet and don''t say anything.¡± I said. ¡°If they find out that all of the guards have checked it, you know they have to kill you.¡±


    She let out a sob and let the weapon go, then she hugged me tightly.


    ¡°I thought there was a no contact rule.¡± I said and she buried her face against my chest and cried. I tucked the weapon back into the holster it came from and put my arms around her to hold her while the male guard died a gruesome death. It took a while.


    ¡°Hunter, we need posts.¡± Val said.


    I turned to her and saw that all three of them had blood all the way up their arms to their shoulders and they were splattered with it everywhere. They had eviscerated the guard completely and had all of his internal organs spread out in a pattern around the body.


    ¡°How many?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Six, at this height.¡± Val said and held a hand up at around eight feet. ¡°It must be seen.¡±


    ¡°Give me a few minutes.¡± I said and brought the female guard over to the stairs and sat her down. ¡°Don''t look.¡± I said and she closed her eyes. I walked over to an open area and took out a mangled crate and a plasma cutter, then cut the crate up into strips. It was five feet wide, so I welded two strips together and made a ten foot tall post and added reinforcement with other pieces to strengthen it. I made five more posts just like it and stored the equipment I had and I had Val point to where she wanted the posts.


    I hid myself from view and used a Light sword to make the six cuts into the ground for the posts, then I walked over to the middle of the living area and buried one of the orphaned cuffs. I walked back over to the holes and stopped hiding myself and shoved each post two feet down into the ground.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Val said and kissed my cheek.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°At least you didn''t eat him.¡± I said.


    ¡°We can''t cook him and it''s too unsanitary to eat him raw.¡± Val said as the other two women dismembered the body. The 2 arms, 2 legs, head, and torso were mounted on the six posts and the organs and viscera were strewn across them to tie them all together.


    ¡°Your people definitely know how to make a statement.¡± I said to her.


    ¡°If I wasn''t covered in the blood of a fresh kill, which I know humans hate, I would ask you to make love to me to complete the ritual.¡±


    ¡°Right here?¡± I asked and she chuckled.


    ¡°No, we would need to use the nest that was violated.¡±


    I turned to the two avian women. ¡°We need to finish the ritual in your nest.¡±


    Val and the two women let out warbles of surprise.


    ¡°But... you can''t mean to...¡± Val started to say.


    ¡°I was covered in that doctor''s blood and we had sex.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, but... that was your kill and...¡±


    ¡°What''s the difference?¡± I asked and she couldn''t answer.


    ¡°You have my permission.¡± The first avian woman said.


    I let out a chirp and a warble of thanks, grabbed Val''s hand, and led her over to cubicle eight.


    ¡°We can''t... we just finished... it''s our nest, and...¡± The second avian woman mumbled.


    ¡°Come.¡± The first said and led her over to the cubicle to be witnesses. ¡°Just so you know, I will not enjoy seeing this.¡± She said to me and sat down on the chair beside the nest.


    ¡°I will.¡± I said and took off my jumpsuit to show her that I was already hard. She squawked in surprise and I tore apart Val''s jumpsuit and spread the scraps of bloody cloth around the nest, then I laid her down in the middle of it and made love to her as I stared at the first avian woman. I let out squawks and tweets, as did Val, and the woman I kept eye contact with went along for the ride.


    When Val screamed out with pleasure, so did she.


    I stood up and left a very passive Val in the middle of the nest and used a piece of her discarded jumpsuit to wipe myself off, then I handed it to the first woman. I tweeted and chirped my appreciation to her for protecting her nest, then I bowed my head and dropped to a knee as I warbled my thanks for letting me use her space. Both she and the second avian woman stared at me and didn''t say anything in response.


    I stood up and put my jumpsuit back on. ¡°I''ll leave her in your care.¡± I said and left the cubicle.


    Surprisingly, no one had come to investigate the man''s screams. In the case of the other guard, I was pretty sure it was because they had already seen it and were just waiting until it was quiet to come and retrieve the man''s dismembered body. For the prisoners, I assumed they had to stay and work no matter what they saw or heard.


    I walked over to the female guard and helped her stand. ¡°Can I ask you for a few favors?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± She looked at me like I was speaking gibberish.


    ¡°I know I can''t get a power source from you, so what about a large battery pack charger?¡± I asked and started to walk with her and led her from the living area.


    ¡°I... no, I... don''t have access to things like that.¡± She said.


    ¡°Hmm. Okay. What about prefab building materials like walls and flooring?¡±


    ¡°Per... perhaps.¡±


    ¡°I can pay.¡± I said.


    Her eyes lost their look of horror for a moment. ¡°I bet you can.¡± She said, then tears came back to her eyes. ¡°How can I say something like that after... after...¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry you had to see that.¡± I said sincerely. ¡°I was tempted to block your sight and hearing completely; but, they needed to see the shock and horror on your face.¡±


    ¡°Wh-wh-what?¡±


    ¡°They need a witness to convey that they completed their threat.¡± I explained. ¡°It''s part of a weird ritual of nest preservation.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Different people, different cultures.¡±


    ¡°You... why aren''t you bothered by that? They tore him apart just for touching their nest!¡±


    ¡°No, they tore him apart for violating their people''s personal vision of safety for their children.¡± I corrected her as we walked. ¡°I told you. Different people, different culture. If you don''t respect it, sometimes you have to suffer for it.¡±


    ¡°But... you...¡±


    ¡°The other two hate me quite a lot.¡± I said and ''looked'' back at cubicle eight. I saw the first avian woman with the cloth I had wiped myself off with. She looked at Val and then at the other avian woman as she raised the cloth to her mouth and licked it. ¡°I''m apparently wearing them down, though.¡±


    ¡°You sound happy about that.¡± The female guard said.


    ¡°They are good friends to have, once they accept you.¡±


    ¡°But... but... they...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they do.¡± I said. ¡°Say, can you get me a few unused mattresses? I''ll trade a few tasty meals for them.¡±


    The female guard looked at me with wide eyes for a moment, then she sighed. ¡°I''ll need one to prove it to the supplies clerk.¡±


    ¡°I can give you one right now.¡± I said. ¡°It''s still hot, too.¡±


    ¡°I... wait until...¡±


    ¡°We''re here.¡± I said and put my restraints on as we arrived at the start of the mine shaft and the platform that The Order member stood on with the other male guard.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± He asked me, angrily.


    ¡°I was escorting this lovely young lady back to safety.¡± I said and took out the food tray and gave it to her. ¡°She was confiscating this altered meal.¡± I said and saw him wince a little. ¡°Okay, I actually meant she coerced it out of me.¡± I said and he didn''t wince. ¡°I suggest not trying it, because you will not like how it tastes.¡±


    The Order member didn''t wince and he frowned.


    I looked at the other guard and helped the female guard onto the stairs. ¡°Please escort her back to the administration building. She''s had quite the shock and needs the company.¡±


    The male guard came down the stairs and guided her up the rest of the stairs and out of sight.


    ¡°Get back to the living area.¡± The Order member ordered.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said and hobbled back across the open area and out of his sight. I took off my restraints and ran back to the living area in moments. I came to a stop at the other entrance to the main shaft and picked up the restraints I had released from the two avian women and stored them. I walked over to cubicle eight and stopped a respectable distance away and watched as both of the other avian women took tender care of Val. They tried to clean her up as much as they could and they didn''t really have any means to do it.


    ¡°Please, allow me to assist.¡± I said and both of them turned angry faces to me and warbled angrily. I held up my hands in surrender. ¡°I meant in providing hot water and a replacement jumpsuit.¡±


    ¡°Hot water? How?¡± The second avian woman asked.


    ¡°Planning.¡± I said and took out one of the mangled crates and used a plasma cutter to cut off the top, to leave it three feet deep, checked it to see if it was waterproof, then I dumped some of the water I had gathered from my last shower into it. Some soapy residue was in the water, since it was the water I had taken at the end of my lathered shower. I had two more bags of completely clean water left that I had gathered from the second rinse.


    I was a little surprised there was that much water in the first bag, which meant there was a lot of water in the other two, since I had gathered all of the second rinse. Both avian women looked at the five foot by five foot square and then looked inside at the two feet of hot slightly soapy water.


    The first one dipped her hand into it and gasped. ¡°It''s real. It''s really hot water.¡±


    ¡°No, it can''t be.¡± The second said. ¡°He couldn''t have...¡± She dipped her hand in and she looked at me. ¡°How did you do this?¡±


    ¡°I''ll figure out how to get more later. I don''t like being dependent on them and only washing when they let us.¡± I said and then chuckled. ¡°Especially since I''m supposed to work every day and I''m not supposed to be getting a shower.¡±


    ¡°So, your actions are self-serving.¡± The first one said.


    ¡°Of course they are.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to be here for a long time and I''m going to make myself comfortable here, no matter what.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What if they come down here and stop you?¡± The second one asked.


    ¡°I would feel very sorry for anyone that thinks they can come down here to cause trouble.¡± I said and let out a low and deadly warble.


    The both of them shivered in pleasure at the sound and looked at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°Please, enjoy the bath.¡± I said and put the shrink wrapped jumpsuit that Val had given me on the closest chair, stepped backwards out of their personal space, then I walked over to the mine shaft and ran back to the broken item warehouse. If I was going to make a place to live, I was going to need a few things, like lights, food preparation machines, and a few conveniences that the people in the administration building had. I opened the warehouse and stepped in, then scrounged around for the basic necessities.


    The first thing I needed was the device to prepare the Lover''s Passion Fruit. I chuckled at the name and shook my head. I found a dozen of them and turned to ''look'' at the food dispensary at the working one, then used it as a guide and scavanged the parts I needed to get one working.


    Val''s going to love this. I thought, then I remembered that I had no way to power it without a power source and sighed. Goddammit.


    I looked through all the walls that I could see and none of them had a power wire that I could use, then I caught my breath when I realized that the cargo door had power.


    I''ve been using the damn thing and it never occurred to me it had the power that I needed this whole time! I thought and ran over to the door. Stupid! I am so stupid!


    I looked up at the door and sure enough, a thick cord of power wires went up into the ceiling about a foot, then it went down further into the mine and not towards the administration center like I thought. That threw my calculations and my plans off a little, then I smiled as I made a new plan.


    I needed to find that power source.

 Book Three: The Resolution 111

    I looked back at the avian women to check on them and saw that they had Val inside the makeshift bath and were slowly basting her in it to clean her. It was a little erotic to see them rub their hands over Val''s upper body and caress her breasts, then their hands moved lower to clean her completely and I turned away and stopped watching.


    Yeah, I better not tell them I enjoyed them doing that. I thought and walked at a normal pace down the mine shaft towards the supervisor''s spot. Now that I was paying close attention as I followed the bundle of power wires on the ceiling, I easily found where he stored the working tools. It was only a small space that was right behind where he stood and the earth and rock barrier wasn''t that large in front of it.


    So simple and I didn''t look there, since I was expecting a large area for them to be in. I thought.


    You must want to get into the place pretty badly. The supervisor thought as he saw me. ¡°You''re back.¡±


    ¡°I''m just going for a walk.¡± I said and went right by him and took the corner to go towards the right. Section six was to the left and he wondered where I was going. I let him wonder as I left my follow the cable task behind. It went right across the shaft and into the automated crate factory, which meant it was either inside that factory or past it, somehow. I wasn''t going to be following it much further during a normal shift with him standing right there.


    I took my time and passed several workers as they harvested crystals. ¡°Hey, fellas.¡± I said and they kind of glared at me. ¡°Want a hand? I''m not really busy and can spare a few minutes.¡±


    The four men exchanged a few looks, then waved at a bare part of the wall. I nodded and took out the five laser drills I had and the looks of disbelief they gave me was priceless. As I walked along, I used the drills in the same grid pattern of five foot sections and did about thirty feet of wall.


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I said and waved at all of the revealed focusing crystals. ¡°Have fun with your time off.¡± I turned and walked away. In the next instant, they had dropped their laser drills and gathered up all of the unrefined crystals and had them packed in the crate.


    ¡°Son of a bitch, it''s damn near filled.¡± One of them said and looked at my back. ¡°I''m not going to thank you, you pretentious asshole!¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± I barked a laugh and waved, then kept walking to the next section. ¡°Hello, ladies and gentlemen.¡± I said to the two men and two women. ¡°You''re a bit further along than the others were when I came along.¡±


    ¡°Keep walking, alien haglishal!¡± One of the women cursed at me in an odd language.


    ¡°You do realize that I think you''re the alien, right?¡± I asked and tapped my pointed ears.


    She opened her mouth to respond and one of the men stepped in front of her.


    ¡°She didn''t mean it like that.¡± He said in her defense.


    I chuckled. ¡°Relax. If I was going to kill her for cursing at me, she''d be dead already.¡± I said and walked on. I used Presence to keep an ear on the conversation.


    ¡°Why would you try to piss him off?¡± The man asked her when I was out of sight. ¡°He''s sleeping with one of the Aviatoma!¡±


    ¡°That''s why.¡± She said. ¡°They are filthy creatures and he''s with her! He even made her a goddamn nest! A nest in our living area!¡±


    ¡°Look, he''s left us alone so far, right? Why antagonize him?¡±


    ¡°Can''t you see what he''s doing? He''s already dividing us up and making us choose sides!¡±


    ¡°Sides of what?¡± He asked her.


    ¡°Those for him and those against him, of course!¡± She spat.


    ¡°It''s not hard to tell what side you''re on.¡± The other man said.


    ¡°You know he was responsible for those five deaths! He had to be! Look at what he did to the guy that argued with him!¡±


    ¡°You reported him, didn''t you?¡±


    ¡°What? No, of course not.¡± She lied and I felt the Presence waver. ¡°Not that anything happened anyway. He''s still here and hasn''t been punished.¡±


    ¡°Can he be punished?¡± The other woman asked. ¡°He walks around without his restraints and no one say anything at all to him. No one.¡±


    ¡°Let''s just get back to work.¡± The other man said and they did.


    Interesting. I thought. Even the normal prisoners can be moles for the guards.


    I walked on to the next section and none of them spoke to me when I said hello. I kept going all the way to the end and only one other group spoke to me, so I helped them for half an hour and it filled their crate and then some. I took the extras, of course, and then I walked away. I used Stealth and Presence Run to go back to the end and buried one of the orphaned wrist shackles, then ran back to the supervisor and slowed down to a walk and dismissed the Stealth and walked by him.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± He asked me.


    ¡°I''m seeing who doesn''t mind me being around.¡± I said and walked down the left side.


    Not surprisingly, the sections on either side of the avian women''s section didn''t mind me helping at all. I helped them for half an hour each and they had just enough crystals to finish their crates. Only one other group spoke to me and I helped them as well. The pickings were pretty slim in their section, so needing help was understandable. I did what I could with the time I had left, then remembered seeing that they were the ones that consistently didn''t complete their crates.


    ¡°It''s all right. I got this.¡± I said and filled the rest of the crate for them with what I had stored.


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± One of the men asked. ¡°Where did you get extra crystals?¡±


    ¡°I''ve been mining them this whole time.¡± I said. ¡°How often do you finish and have exactly the right number of crystals to fill a crate?¡± I chuckled. ¡°There''s almost always extra when I''m mining.¡±


    I could hear their thoughts and they started to turn to anger.


    ¡°Before you even think of trying to threaten me to hand over what I still have, I was sentenced to thirty years here because I killed millions of people.¡± They looked at me like I was lying, even though I didn''t and a few of them knew that. ¡°Last official count was over forty-eight million. That was only from the worlds The Order council knew about before I was sentenced, though.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I told them it was a lot more than that and then I killed them.¡±


    All four of them stepped back from me and cursed me in their minds.


    ¡°That''s better.¡± I said. ¡°Like I told some of the others, if I was going to kill people for cursing at me, they would be dead already.¡± I started to walk away. ¡°I won''t even take back the crystals I gave you.¡± I said and kept walking, even though I felt their surprise at my implied threat. ¡°You should have just accepted my help and left it at that.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    I used Stealth and Presence Run to go to the other end and buried another orphaned wrist shackle, then ran back to the supervisor. I buried another one right in front of his spot in the middle of the shaft, right under his nose, then I ran back to the living area.


    *


    ¡°Good goddess, what are we going to do?¡± The administrator asked the two Order members and the group of remaining guards. They had assignments in other parts of the facility and they had all gathered for this meeting.


    ¡°Add five years to their sentences.¡± One of The Order members said.


    ¡°That''s it?¡± The female guard asked. ¡°They butchered him and they only get five years?!?¡±


    ¡°It''s not like we can punish them any more than having them in prison.¡± The Order member said.


    ¡°Put them in solitary!¡± She said. ¡°At least for a week! This can''t be left the way it is! It can''t!¡±


    The administrator sighed. ¡°Very well.¡± She said. ¡°I want the body cleaned up as soon as possible, and the three Aviatomas will be brought here and put into isolation for a week.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, too.¡± The Order member that didn''t like Hunter said. ¡°He was there and didn''t try to stop them, even though he knew they were going to kill the guard.¡±


    ¡°You''ve already added thirty five years to his sentence for the deaths you believe he is responsible for, without evidence, which more than doubles his time here.¡± The administrator said. ¡°He doesn''t need isolation as well.¡±


    ¡°At the very least he contributed to the death of the guard and he has to be held just as responsible.¡± The Order member said. ¡°He even made the posts to display it.¡±


    The administrator nodded. ¡°Bring him as well.¡± She said to the guards. ¡°Make sure everyone is there to see it when you go to get them.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± The guards said and saluted.


    *


    The food dispensary was opened and everyone was served their allotted food rations and I sat with Val and the two avian women and shared my tasty meal with them. I had to pass it to Val first and she passed it to them. I wasn''t sure why, since their thoughts weren''t on social customs at the moment. All they could think about was everyone''s reactions to the dismembered body.


    The avian women were quite pleased that everyone was disgusted, repulsed, and afraid. The spot where he had been killed had a blood pattern on the ground as well, where they had strewn out the organs, and a few of them knew it was actually the Aviatoma''s written language that said ''trespasser'', and they let everyone else know that, too.


    I felt a group of guards and an Order member enter my limited detection range and read some of the guards thoughts. ¡°Ladies, they are coming for us.¡± I said and the three avian women looked at me. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± I said and ran over to the dispensary. ¡°As many meals as you can, please.¡± I said and took out thirty six flavor packets.


    ¡°Yessir!¡± The three of them said and quickly did up as many meals as they could. They managed all thirty six and I stored them all just as the Order member and the guards came into view of the living area.


    ¡°Thanks, fellas.¡± I said and gave them five packs each, instead of the agreed upon ''one for three'' which would have only been four. I ran back over to cubicle eight and then bowed in front of the two avian women. ¡°My apologies, I must put your restraints back on or you will be in trouble.¡±


    They didn''t say anything and just held their hands out to me.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and put their restraints on their wrists and then their ankles, then put Val''s on and my own. At the last second, I covered the nest and the bath in solid Presence to keep them together and tucked it into a bag of holding. The three avian women let out a loud squawk of surprise and everyone turned to look at us. I led them out of the cubicle and covered it in a solid and see through wall of Presence, then another and another, so no one could see what I did.


    I did the same thing with the entryway to the place I dug out for Val and covered it in dirt and Presence again to hide it, in the hopes that they wouldn''t even bother looking for it.


    The Order member came into the living area with the group of guards behind him and walked over to us. ¡°I can''t pronounce their names.¡± He admitted and pointed to the three avian women and then at me. ¡°You''ve been sentenced to isolation for causing the death of the guard.¡±


    ¡°Actually, if you''re going by that, then the rules that you search all the cubicles while no one is here, is what caused his death.¡± I said and he gave me a stern look.


    ¡°Are you a licensed advocate for humanitarian rights?¡± He asked me and I shook my head. ¡°Then keep your opinions to yourself.¡±


    ¡°How long are we going away for?¡± I asked, even though I knew the answer.


    ¡°A week.¡±


    The three Aviatomas screeched and squawked loudly and I shared a calming technique with them and let everyone feel it, especially The Order member, and he stared at me.


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± One of the guards said angrily and motioned with his hand.


    ¡°Just a second.¡± I said and took out the slightly mangled crate and the makeshift steps. ¡°Ladies, if you would.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said you would have a better ride for us.¡± The first avian woman said, almost angrily.


    ¡°I do, in fact it''s a really neat looking platform fitting of your stature. However, this isn''t the time to show off to the plebeians.¡±


    She gave me an angry look for a second, then she sighed. ¡°Yes, you''re right.¡± She said and walked up the steps and sat on the crate. The second avian woman climbed on next and then Val sat at the front.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The Order member asked.


    ¡°I''m not going to let these fine women shuffle all the way up to the administration building when they can ride.¡± I said and took out a repaired cargo handle.


    ¡°Hey! You can''t have that!¡± One of the guards said and reached for it. His hand hit a Presence Barrier and bounced off. ¡°Ah! What the...?¡±


    ¡°Hands off.¡± I said and attached it to the crate. ¡°It was junk and I repaired it.¡± I said and secured the three women with Presence and turned the handle on. The crate rose up to a foot in the air. ¡°I was told that the things I cobble together can''t be used officially, so I''m using it unofficially.¡± I used Levitation on myself and rose into the air as well. ¡°Shall we go?¡±


    The guards looked at The Order member and he was at a loss for words. I shouldn''t have been able to use Presence with the restraints in place.


    ¡°I''ll go first, then.¡± I said and floated away at a faster than walking pace. Everyone in the living area stared at us as I floated and pulled the crate with the three avian women on it with me.


    It took a few moments for the guards to realize I was leaving them behind, even though they had come in force to escort the dangerous criminals, and they jogged to catch up to us.


    ¡°Can you go a little faster?¡± The first avian woman asked me, which was a very rare thing. ¡°They are gaining on us.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°One speed boost coming up.¡± I said and funnelled a pile of the surrounding Presence through my body, converted it for my use, then put it all into the Levitation technique. The three of them warbled and chirped in delight as I flew at nearly my full speed and left the escort very far behind.


    Surprisingly, the other Order member was not at the mine entrance, so I didn''t have to stop showing off for the avian women. I slowed down a little, just enough to bury an orphaned wrist shackle in the middle, then I went up the stairs and flew us all the way to the junction point. I took the corner and flew us over to the administration center. I came to a stop outside the door and stopped using the Levitation technique, then turned off the cargo handle and stored it.


    ¡°Help us down.¡± Val said and reached for my hand.


    ¡°No, you can sit there regally as we wait for them to get here.¡± I said and took her hand to hold it. ¡°It''s going to be a few minutes.¡±


    Val warbled a laugh and I thought I saw a smile on the second avian woman''s face for a second.


    The guards had stopped trying to catch us and only walked all the way back to the mine entrance, up the stairs, all the way to the junction, and then over to the administration center where we waited.


    ¡°I hope you enjoyed that last bit of freedom.¡± One of the guards said as they came into the area.


    ¡°That wasn''t freedom. That was showing you the inadequacy this facility has.¡± I said bluntly and they all looked at me. ¡°I literally just showed you that you waste way too much time.¡±


    ¡°Get off that thing and get inside.¡± He said and I helped the three women down and I stored the crate.


    ¡°Take that back out.¡± The guard said. ¡°I''m confiscating it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You''re not allowed to have it, even if it was broken.¡± He said.


    ¡°Is that a part of the rules? Prisoners can''t have mangled crates and junk?¡±


    He frowned at me. ¡°Hand it over.¡±


    ¡°Hand what over?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you see a crate anywhere?¡±


    ¡°Whatever you did, undo it and hand it over.¡± He spat.


    ¡°No. You think you have power over me and you''re trying to prove it.¡± I said. ¡°I''m not here to play games. I''m here to relax, so stop bothering me with your pettiness.¡±


    The guard took out the gun-like thing and tried to raise it, so I caught his hand with an invisible Presence Hand.


    ¡°Go ahead, Mr. Guard. Raise that weapon and shoot me.¡± I said. ¡°Come on. Go ahead. There''s only a dozen witnesses here.¡±


    He struggled and tried to pull his hand out of whatever had it caught.


    I looked past him at The Order member. ¡°Is there another medical professional here yet?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No.¡± He responded.


    ¡°Then I better not crush his hand.¡± I said and let it go.


    The guard jerked at the lost resistance, then he whipped the weapon up and pointed it at me. ¡°Goodnight.¡± He said and pulled the trigger, then frowned when nothing happened.


    ¡°How much are those weapons?¡± I asked and used Presence to pluck it from his hand and crushed it into a small ball the size of a marble. ¡°You can dock it from his pay because he lost it on duty.¡±


    The other guards stared at the floating marble and didn''t know what to say.


    I moved it with Presence and tucked it into the guard''s pocket. ¡°You know, I''ve always enjoyed isolation.¡± I said and used Presence to open the door and led the avian women inside. ¡°The peace and quiet is quite relaxing.¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 112

    ¡°We won''t find it relaxing!¡± The second avian woman said angrily. ¡°Our people require access to large spaces!¡±


    ¡°That''s exactly why they gave you isolation.¡± I said and turned to The Order member behind us. ¡°Which direction am I going?¡±


    ¡°To the right and down the stairs.¡± He said and I went that way and led the three avian women with me.


    ¡°What in the...¡± The guard at the security door said when he saw us shuffling in without an escort. ¡°Where''s...¡±


    ¡°Behind us.¡± I said and walked over to him. ¡°I have a quick question. Will we be allowed to shower?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± He said.


    ¡°That''s not very sanitary.¡±


    ¡°It''s isolation. No contact for a week.¡±


    ¡°That''s a lie.¡± I said when the Presence wavered. ¡°How are you going to feed us without contact?¡±


    The guard closed his mouth and didn''t respond.


    ¡°Open it up.¡± The Order member said and the guard turned and took out an electronic key. Of course, I immediately obscured my actions as I took out my electronics kit and recorded the signal.


    ¡°This way.¡± The guard said and took us inside.


    ¡°You''re not going to search us or anything?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What for?¡± The guard asked. ¡°You''ll be completely alone in individual cells that are over ten feet apart. You couldn''t do anything with whatever you''re smuggling in anyway.¡±


    I smiled and followed him in and he opened the door to the first cell and pointed to Val.


    ¡°I don''t want to go.¡± Val said.


    ¡°Be brave.¡± I said, then spoke for her ears using Presence. ¡°Trust me. I will be right there with you.¡±


    Val took a deep breath, then stepped into the six foot by six foot cell and the guard closed the door. We walked sixteen feet to the next cell door and the guard opened it. Surprisingly, it had the same frequency lock as the first one. He pointed to the first avian woman and she stopped walking.


    I turned and looked at her, then spoke only for her using Presence. ¡°Honored matron, please enter your private chambers.¡±


    Her body shivered for a moment and she gave me wide eyes.


    ¡°I will be there with you.¡±


    ¡°Do you swear on the lives of your hatchlings?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡±


    She nodded slightly and walked into the cell with her head held high. The guard closed the door and we walked on to the next one. The second avian woman started to panic a little and I shared a calming technique with her.


    ¡°Your secured private space is ready for you.¡± I said for her ears only. ¡°I will be there with you.¡±


    ¡°I don''t need your company...¡± She responded and the Presence started to waver. ¡°...that badly.¡± She finished and the Presence only wavered slightly.


    ¡°I will be there anyway, just in case.¡± I said and she stepped into the cell and stayed facing the back wall. We walked on and I was put into the fourth cell. There was a crackling sound and the intercom turned on.


    ¡°This is Administrator Sussex.¡± A feminine voice said. ¡°You are to be held in isolation for one week. One meal of basic rations will be provided every day. The cells are constantly monitored, so if you think of trying to escape, you will be caught immediately.¡±


    The Presence wavered slightly at the partial lie and I chuckled. I assumed it was because we wouldn''t be caught immediately. Seen? Yes. Caught? Probably only when the guard got around to opening the large security door.


    ¡°Your crime was horrendous...¡±


    ¡°Only in certain people''s eyes.¡± I said and used Presence to let everyone in the building hear me.


    ¡°...and you will be completely isolated. No one will talk to you, so if you have any complaints, you can keep them to yourself.¡±


    ¡°I have an important question.¡± I said. ¡°Where do we go to the bathroom?¡±


    ¡°A panel will open at the same time three times a day.¡± She said.


    ¡°You''re isolating us from a lot of sanitary requirements, you know.¡± I said.


    ¡°Someone tried to escape through the... we''ve had to adjust prisoner access to the facilities.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°You should adjust it for the occupants, not for everyone in the same fashion.¡±


    She was quiet for a moment. ¡°We usually don''t have to tell prisoners to be quiet, since the cells are soundproof.¡±


    ¡°Ha, you''re funny.¡± I said.


    The administrator sighed. ¡°Please don''t make trouble. If you do, I''ll extend your isolation.¡±


    ¡°Ooo, for how long?¡± I asked, eagerly. ¡°The last time I was in isolation for a week, the guard kept interrupting me with meals. That reminds me, just give my rations to the big alien. He''s been very slowly losing weight over the last ten years.¡± I said with a laugh. ¡°Tell him they''re from me and tell him why.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°You are making this punishment very difficult.¡±


    ¡°Only because I''m going to enjoy it.¡± I said. ¡°I''d be as quiet as possible if I didn''t.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to keep talking?¡± She asked, a little perturbed.


    ¡°Oh, sorry. I thought we were having a conversation.¡± I said. ¡°Please continue your unnecessary monologue about how we should repent for our crimes and that we should feel guilty over the people we''ve killed.¡±


    The administrator was quiet for almost a full minute, then sighed. ¡°Close it up.¡±


    ¡°You really shouldn''t piss her off.¡± Another female voice said from the intercom.


    ¡°What? I was telling the truth.¡± I said. ¡°If I was going to piss her off, I''d tell her that I can solve all of her logistics problems in about six months and then tell her by the facility''s established rules, I''m a prisoner and I''m not allowed to help her.¡±


    The voice gasped, because the Presence didn''t waver, then she sighed as well. ¡°Turn off the lights, too.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Whatever makes you feel better about it.¡±


    The guard and our escort left and the lights went out, both inside the cells and out in the hallway. I quickly generated three Presence Hands, one for each avian woman, and took their hands. This startled them almost as much as being in the dark. Their eyes would allow them some sight; but with no other ambient light, it was pitch black and there was nothing for their eyes to pick up.


    ¡°Please be calm.¡± I said to the three of them. ¡°I am right here with you.¡±


    ¡°It''s just a hand.¡± Val said. ¡°I thought you said you would be in here with me.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry, I will be.¡± I said and disconnected all the cameras in the solitary section to block all sight, then I took out a plasma cutter and cut into the wall that led to the next cell. I took the entire wall, from floor to ceiling, then I took out six digging tools and used Presence to hold them in two rows of three, then started digging. When the loose dirt became too much for the little cell, I opened the cell door and pushed all the dirt out into the hallway and shoved it up against the security door.


    I dug through the fifteen feet to the next cell and stopped just as I reached the wall. I took the plasma cutter out and cut out the wall, then stored it. The glow of the plasma cutter showed me the shock on the second avian woman''s face that I could already feel.


    ¡°Excuse me.¡± I said and stepped by her and started to cut out the next wall, stored it, then moved the digging machines around her and kept digging as I funnelled the dirt back to my cell and out the door. I was tempted to open the cell''s door I just passed and use that; but, I didn''t want the second avian woman thinking I was making an escape.


    I reached the first avian woman''s cell and cut the wall away and stored it. ¡°Honored matron.¡± I said and bowed to her. She didn''t look surprised and stepped back out of the way as I crossed her cell and cut the wall away and stored it, then the second avian woman was there with her and they chirped and tweeted at each other furiously. I ignored them and started digging again. I made it across the last fifteen feet and cut away the last wall that was between me and Val, then I stored it and the digging tools.


    ¡°See? I told you I would...¡± I started to say I''d be there with her and she jumped on me and kissed me, hard.


    ¡°I really, really wish you were a male of my species.¡± Val said as she hugged me and kissed me again.


    ¡°I don''t think we could be together even if I was.¡± I said and turned my head to look at the first avian woman. ¡°I believe I would have been claimed long before either of you could have reached me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, False Tiercel. I would have claimed you as soon as we met, as is my right.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°You continue to prove that you are formidable, and yet... you are not of our people.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°I can be a great substitute, though.¡±


    The first one gave me a sharp look for a moment, then she nodded slightly.


    The second avian woman squawked in surprise. ¡°You acknowledge him?¡±


    ¡°No, only that he can be a fitting stand-in for a male.¡± The first one said. ¡°Even you must admit that.¡±


    ¡°Never.¡± The second one said. ¡°He could never satisfy my needs as completely as a true male can.¡±


    ¡°That''s true.¡± I said and all three of them looked at me. ¡°Val would already be gestating if I could.¡±


    Val closed her eyes and sighed.


    ¡°There is the sadness already.¡± The first one said. ¡°Didn''t you say it could take years?¡±


    ¡°I''m not sad about not gestating.¡± Val said. ¡°I''m sad that I can''t give him an appropriate child for all he''s done.¡±


    ¡°A child is not a fitting price for the things he''s done.¡± The second one said.


    ¡°No, a full nest would be.¡± Val said and the other two avian women let out surprised chirps. ¡°He''s not treating us like women. He''s treating us like Aviatoma.¡± She looked at me. ¡°No one else has done that.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''ve got some time on my hands, so why wouldn''t I try to be friends with your notorious species?¡± I asked. ¡°I told you why.¡±


    ¡°Yes, as an example.¡± Val said and gave me another kiss and then let me out of the hug. ¡°How is that working out for you?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Most of them tolerate me, some hate that I do so much, and some don''t want me around.¡±


    ¡°That''s their loss.¡± Val said. ¡°Now, what are we going to do?¡±


    ¡°Wait here.¡± I said and walked to a spot between the second and third cells, took out the digging tools, then made a ''T'' section and dug back into the wall and made a twenty foot wide circle, just like the one I did for Val, then I put the digging tools away and used Presence to clear out and smooth everything. After funnelling the dirt out into the hallway through my cell, I shut and locked the door, then I went back and took out the nest and bath.


    I placed the nest in the very center and the bath off to the side and walked back over to where the avian women waited for me. ¡°Ladies, if you would.¡± I said and led the three of them to the new place for them to relax.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Val yelled and ran over to the nest and knelt by it. ¡°It''s not disturbed or anything!¡±


    ¡°The bath is still viable, too. I can add some more hot water when necessary.¡±


    ¡°This is... incredible.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°You did this in only a short time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and I''ve got years yet to go on my sentence.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°What do you think I''m going to do next?¡±


    ¡°I have been astonished each time, so I cannot predict what you will do.¡±


    ¡°I''m going to make dessert.¡± I said with a grin and left them to go to the last cell. My digging had unearthed the power cable running to the lights and to the cameras and intercom system, so I popped the power from the lights and took out a crate as a makeshift table, then I took out the working appliance I had repaired. I quickly adapted the power attachment to let power flow into the appliance, then took out one of the hundreds of desserts I had purchased.


    I prepared the dessert properly and went back to the nest. All three women were in it and I bowed. ¡°May I approach? I bring delicious food.¡±


    The first avian woman nodded.


    I stepped into the nest and held up the dessert as I sat down.


    ¡°What is it?¡± The first one asked.


    ¡°The most delicious thing you''ll ever taste.¡± I said and popped it open. The smell filled the space and all three women started to salivate. I dipped my finger into the luscious creme inside and held my finger out to the first avian woman. She was repulsed at first, then she saw the slight glow of my hand.


    ¡°You...¡±


    ¡°Claws are appropriate in this situation.¡± I said and wiggled my finger as I made sure my sweat passed through the Presence Claws. ¡°Please.¡±


    She sighed and took a taste... then she warbled in pleasure. It took her a moment before she realized what she had done and she gasped.


    ¡°You think that reaction was strong?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Watch this.¡± I said and dipped my second finger into the dessert and held it out to the second avian woman. ¡°You would honor me if you would but taste my offering.¡± I said in their native language.


    ¡°Damn you.¡± The second one said as the formal request couldn''t be denied, and she took a taste...


    ...and fainted.


    ¡°Well, damn. She really hates me a lot.¡± I said with a laugh.

 Book Three: The Resolution 113

    The three of us stared at the second avian woman and she had a look of pure bliss on her face.


    ¡°She will not be happy when she wakes up.¡± The first avian woman said, then her eyes went to my finger.


    ¡°Val is next.¡± I said and dipped my third finger into the creme and just started to hold it out to her and she dove onto it and suckled on it.


    ¡°MMMMM!¡± Val moaned loudly and her throat warbled when she moved back and my clawed finger was clean. ¡°OH!¡± She reached between her legs and felt the dampness there. ¡°It make me go!¡±


    ¡°I guess you like me a lot, too.¡± I said a little smugly.


    ¡°You didn''t need a dessert to tell you that!¡± Val said and swatted at me, which made me laugh.


    ¡°Now it''s your turn.¡± I said and held the dessert out to the first avian woman. ¡°If you so wish.¡±


    ¡°You want to taste it from my finger?¡± She asked, surprised.


    ¡°It''s your nest, so you have the first option.¡± I said. ¡°If you refuse, then I can''t offer it to you know who, because she''s unconscious.¡±


    She let out a sigh. ¡°Very well. I won''t reject you in turn.¡± She said and barely touched the dessert with her fingertip and held it out to me.


    I gave Val a glance and she gave me a quick nod in return. ¡°Thank you, Honored Matron.¡± I said and gently licked the small taste of creme from her finger. The flavor hit my tongue and a little tingle went down my spine. Hello. I thought in surprise and she looked at me as if she felt my reaction.


    ¡°Now me!¡± Val said and took a normal amount onto her finger and held it out to me, and I did the same thing she did to me. I plunged my mouth over her finger and sucked it all off. She laughed and warbled in happiness as I did and I got quite a lot of flavor. It was a slightly different flavor and no tingle down my spine.


    ¡°Do it again!¡± Val said and motioned to the dessert, her eagerness and need very apparent. She wanted to know if she could go again from another taste.


    I started to dip my first finger into the creme and the first avian woman caught my hand.


    ¡°You don''t need to keep sharing with me. I''ve already approved of the food offering.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry, you have to keep eating it. It''s part of the ritual.¡± I said and finished dipping my finger in. I only took a small amount, so that she wouldn''t be insulted, and held it out to her.


    ¡°You aren''t lying.¡± She said.


    ¡°Nope. Once you start eating, I was told that you have to help finish it or the flavor wanes.¡± I said and looked at the second avian woman. ¡°Sometimes there are exceptions when they can''t finish it, then it''s abandoned and wasted.¡±


    ¡°We can''t waste such good food.¡± Val urged the first one, who sighed.


    The first one leaned forward slightly and quickly licked the small amount from my finger and she warbled in pleasure again. It surprised her that it tasted just as good as the first taste, even though there wasn''t as much, and she stared into my eyes. I felt a very gentle probe and opened my outer mental defenses to let it in.


    You desire me. She thought to me in her native language. She struggled with it, as if she hadn''t thought that strongly in a long time or had someone to do it with.


    Apparently, I really like a challenge. I thought back in her native language and she smiled briefly. I did not return the thought that she desired me, since she was so adamantly denying it to herself. I didn''t want to cause trouble, so I dipped my third finger into the creme and Val sucked and licked it off. She reacted the same way as before and she kept a hand between her legs and warbled and chirped happily.


    By the time the second avian woman woke up from her pleasure overload, she had completely missed the rest of the great dessert. To say that she wasn''t happy was an understatement. Not about missing the dessert, about me giving her so much pleasure that she passed out from it and I wasn''t even one of her species. Both Val and the first avian woman had to stand between her and me to stop her from attacking.


    ¡°I will rip your eyes out, usurper!¡± The second avian woman spat at me over the other two women''s shoulders. ¡°I will tear your manhood off with my teeth and spit it in your face!¡±


    ¡°I think that''s a little uncalled for.¡± I said. ¡°Then again, you would have to use your mouth to get that close...¡±


    She ignored my implied sex act. ¡°No one can do what you did to me and live! No one!¡±


    ¡°It was just a dessert.¡± Val lied and the Presence wavered, then she laughed when we all looked at her. ¡°Oh, all right. It was like a creamy mating ritual.¡± She admitted. ¡°Every taste made me go. Every one.¡±


    The second avian woman squinted her eyes at her as if waiting for the lie, then she glared at me. ¡°One of these days when you fall asleep, there will be no one around to protect you.¡± She said with a deadly warble. ¡°It is then I will strike and I will make you pay for what you''ve done!¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± I said and she looked at me in surprise. ¡°I declare a truce between us until then.¡±


    The three of them took in sharp breaths at my acceptance of her threat.


    ¡°Very well. A truce it is, until such time as the conditions are met to break it.¡± The first avian woman declared.


    The second avian woman relaxed as all of the tension and anger left her. ¡°I''ll be watching and waiting.¡±


    ¡°I know you will.¡± I said with a smile, then I motioned at the nest. ¡°Shall we bed down for the night? The guard won''t try to come looking for us until tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°What will we do about all of this?¡± Val asked and waved at the dug out areas as we settled down in the nest.


    ¡°Oh, I didn''t say he would succeed. I said he would try.¡± I joked. ¡°We''re staying in here for a week, just like they wanted.¡±


    ¡°What about food?¡± Val asked and cuddled into me at one side of the nest, as far out of the way of the other two women as possible.


    ¡°I have it.¡± I said. ¡°I got it just before we were brought in here.¡±


    ¡°You have a week''s worth of ration trays with you?¡± The first avian woman asked.


    I quickly took out seven of them and put them back into a bag of holding. ¡°They are flavored as well.¡±


    ¡°The administrator was right.¡± Val said with a laugh and kissed me. ¡°You are ruining this punishment.¡±


    ¡°I really am.¡± I gave her a kiss back. ¡°I do like being all alone sometimes, so even if I let myself stay in solitary confinement, it''s not even close to being a real punishment for me.¡±


    ¡°We can leave you alone and...¡± Val started to say.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°No, I can be alone at any time by cutting off my senses. How often am I going to be alone with three strong women like you?¡± I asked and they didn''t say anything. ¡°We have a week to spend together and we don''t have to work or do anything for anyone else except ourselves.¡± I smiled. ¡°I''d like to hear your story if you want to tell it.¡±


    ¡°Do you really want to know?¡± Val asked.


    ¡°I do.¡± I held her close and she started to speak in a mix of common and her own language, when the terms she used didn''t have a spoken equivalent.


    *


    The next day a few people were in a meeting in the administration section.


    ¡°The intercom still works at least.¡± One of the guards said.


    ¡°None of the cameras?¡± The administrator asked and he shook his head. ¡°Did you send someone down to check on them?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and we can''t open the door or see into the isolation hallway.¡±


    ¡°What? How did that happen?¡±


    ¡°As far as we can tell, it''s filled with dirt.¡± One of The Order members said.


    ¡°It''s WHAT?¡±


    ¡°I only have a limited detection range.¡± He admitted, even though it was kind of a secret that most of The Order could develop the ability to see the Presence through walls. ¡°From what I can see, there are several tons of dirt and rock on the other side of the door. Since it swings inwards, it can''t be moved.¡±


    ¡°We can''t cut through it, either.¡± The guard said. ¡°That will leave nothing between the cells and the stairs to leave the building.¡±


    The administrator sighed. ¡°What do you recommend we do?¡± She asked The Order member.


    ¡°The preliminary survey of the area shows that there''s nothing on that side of the building. No caves, no natural fissures or escape routes. If they were trying to leave, that was the worst place to try a jail break.¡±


    ¡°Wait, where did all the dirt come from?¡± The administrator asked.


    ¡°The supervisor said that Hunter has a digging tool on him.¡± The guard said. ¡°He also said there''s no rules about loaning the diggers, to his surprise, since they are needed to clean things up occasionally while mining.¡±


    ¡°By the goddess, how has it come to this?¡± The administrator asked. ¡°We have a rogue from The Order messing everything up, and he only just arrived!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°I order you to bring him here to see me.¡± She said, angrily. ¡°Don''t cut the door down. Cut into the wall beside it. We can easily patch the wall afterwards.¡±


    ¡°What about the dirt filling the hallway?¡± The guard asked.


    ¡°Once you cut into the wall, recruit a dozen prisoners to shovel it out of the way.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± The guard said and saluted.


    ¡°That''s going to take several days.¡± The Order member said.


    ¡°I don''t care.¡± The administrator said as her anger simmered. ¡°You will go in there and find him, wherever he has dug to. I will have him here in front of me and I will be making a few things very clear to him.¡±


    ¡°I can assist you if...¡±


    ¡°No, he won''t harm me. If he did, he would never leave this place.¡±


    *


    I stayed awake all night after listening to Val''s fairly mundane story. She had been caught trying to swindle a high ranking Order member out of a few thousand credits and he had been so outraged at someone being able to trick him that he had her sent here for a life sentence, without a trial, over eight years ago.


    Neither of the other two women volunteered to speak, so I eased the three of them to sleep with Presence and didn''t have to worry about the second avian woman trying to attack me on the very first night.


    When I felt someone enter my limited detection range, I immediately read their loose thoughts. Damn, they want me already? I asked myself with a laugh, then I carried all three avian women back to their cells. I laid them on the floor and tucked them into the corner to hide their faces and they would stay asleep for as long as I wanted and wouldn''t freak out about being alone again.


    I went back to the nest room and covered the walls with Presence, stored the nest and bath, then used Presence to pull piles of the dirt back into the room and packed it tightly. Surprisingly, most of the dirt fit into the room, so I only had to weld the walls of the cells back into place and didn''t have to back fill them with dirt. I reassembled all of the cells and stored my dessert appliance, then used Presence to reattach all of the cameras at once.


    That should get their attention. I thought and sat down in the middle of my cell and waited.


    *


    ¡°You''re making us do what?¡± One of the men asked as they were led into the administration section.


    ¡°Digging.¡± The guard said and led a dozen prisoners down the stairs to the isolation section and came to a stop. In front of him were three guards and an Order member, part of the wall cut away, and they were staring into the empty hallway beyond. ¡°What''s going on?¡±


    ¡°It''s gone.¡± One of the guards said and put down the plasma cutter. ¡°We just cut into the wall to clear the dirt out and there''s no dirt.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The other guard walked over and looked into the hallway. He didn''t see any trace of dirt. ¡°How is that possible?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t think it was possible to fill the thing with dirt, so I have no idea how it''s not now.¡± He said. ¡°Now I have to weld this back in place.¡±


    ¡°You can hold off on that.¡± The Order member said. ¡°If it happens again, we need the quick access.¡±


    The guard nodded and pushed the plasma cutter aside and opened the security door.


    ¡°It looks like we don''t need the extra help, so you can take the prisoners back to the mine.¡± The Order member said to the guard with the prisoners.


    ¡°What about our extra rations?¡± One of the men asked.


    ¡°Did you do any extra work?¡± The Order member asked him.


    ¡°No, but...¡±


    ¡°Then no extra rations.¡±


    ¡°We walked all the way up here...¡±


    ¡°... and you''ll walk all the way back.¡± The Order member said and went through the security door and into the isolation section.


    ¡°Well, back we go.¡± The guard said and had them turn around and they all started walking.


    ¡°This isn''t right.¡± One of the other prisoners said.


    ¡°I walked it twice to get you here and I have to walk it twice to come back.¡± The guard said and led them away. ¡°Talk to me again about fairness.¡±


    The prisoners stayed quiet and followed him all the way back to the mine.


    *


    I almost laughed and watched them cut away part of the wall. I had been tempted to turn off the plasma cutter to give them time to check the security feeds and to notice that the cameras were operating again. Instead, I sat there and waited for them to open my cell door.


    ¡°Hey, there.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°Can I lose the shackles?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The Order member said and waved me out of the cell. I shuffled out and by him and he and the guard led me out of the area, up the stairs, and through the administration section. We went to a lift and went up two floors, then we went down the hall to a large office. The guard knocked and waited.


    ¡°What is it now?¡± The administrator asked.


    ¡°We have the prisoner.¡± The guard said.


    There was the sound of a gasp, a smashed glass, and then clinking sounds as the glass was kicked under her desk. I watched it all through her door and managed to keep a smile off of my face when she said we could come in. As the door opened, she resumed her composed stance and glared at me.


    ¡°Sit him down, secure him, then leave.¡± She said in a voice that brooked no argument. ¡°I have a few things I need to... discuss... with the prisoner.¡±


    Both I and The Order member felt the Presence waver, which meant she didn''t really want to discuss anything with me. The guard sat me down on the chair and he hit a button on the back of it. My wrists suck to the arms and my ankles stuck to the legs when the magnetic locks changed alignments. The guard and The Order member left after that and the administrator lifted a small screen on her desk and watched to see them get on the lift and leave the floor.


    The administrator nodded and put the screen down. ¡°How did they get you out so quickly?¡±


    ¡°They came in, opened my cell door, and got me.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°What happened to all of the dirt in the hallway?¡±


    ¡°It''s packed back into where I dug it out from.¡±


    She gave me a surprised look for a moment. ¡°You''re not going to deny it?¡±


    ¡°Why would I?¡± I asked. ¡°It''s not like I was digging to escape.¡±


    ¡°What were you doing?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Keeping my word.¡± I said and didn''t elaborate.


    ¡°What am I going to do with you?¡± She asked. ¡°You said you wouldn''t cause trouble.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t cause trouble.¡± I said. ¡°You all just assumed I did.¡±


    She glared at me for a moment, then she sighed. ¡°Please tell me something to help me streamline this place.¡±


    ¡°I can''t.¡± I said and she sat on the front of the desk in front of me with a sad face. ¡°Although, if I did some things on my own... without telling you... I''m sure that would get by the rules.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± She asked eagerly and I just smiled at her. ¡°Hunter, I can''t just let you roam around doing whatever you want.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t ask you to, since I''ve been doing that anyway.¡± I said.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± She asked and held in her sigh.


    ¡°I told you before that I''m just here to relax. I''m going to be here for a while and I''m going to be comfortable.¡±


    ¡°All on your own.¡±


    ¡°No, I''ll need help from a few people. I''ve got a couple things going and getting certain things will help me.¡±


    ¡°Tell me what you need.¡±


    ¡°You need plausible deniability.¡± I said. ¡°According to the rules...¡±


    ¡°FORGET the Goddess-damned RULES!¡± She yelled into my face. ¡°You tell me you can improve things that have worked well for years... for decades... and also tell me you can''t TELL ME!¡± She spat. ¡°If you don''t tell me what I want to know, I will have to take measures to make you tell me.¡±


    I gave her a calm face. ¡°Do your worst.¡±


    The administrator gave me an evil smile and reached for my jumpsuit, then opened it up and pulled it off my shoulders. ¡°What''s this series of scars?¡± She asked as her hand started to glow and she caressed the circular scars above my heart to make the skin tingle, then she traced the ''H'' symbol. ¡°Marking yourself with your own initial is quite narcissistic of you.¡±


    I didn''t say anything and she knelt in front of me.


    ¡°Let me show you the most effective interrogation technique to have ever been developed.¡± She said and reached down into my jumpsuit and her Presence leapt into my body through my manhood. It reacted immediately and almost painfully. ¡°No one has ever resisted it... for long.¡±


    The evil smile never left her face as she interrogated me.

 Book Three: The Resolution 114

    I was glad that I had hundreds of years of Presence use and had spent so much time on my body''s reinforcement, because I needed every bit of experience I had to stop her from turning my penis inside out and crushing my testicles from the inside.


    It was the most subtle and powerful use of Presence I had ever felt, which was saying something, because I had met some powerful Presence users and as far as I knew, they couldn''t do what she did. After the first hour of torture, I realized why.


    That was all she could do with it.


    Whatever quirk of fate had done to her, her sole ability with Presence was the manipulation of other people''s Presence with her own in a very limited area, namely under her hand, and that was it. I caught some things from her mind, about training for years to control her ability and failing miserably at everything except using Presence under her hand. She could tell when people lied, just like most of The Order members could, and that was all.


    She had no Detect Presence ability, no reinforcement ability, no healing ability, and no way to change it. She was stuck with what she had and she had made the best use of it that she could. She became a very effective interrogator by using her limited use for torturing people.


    That had worked for a while, then when she realized the most sensitive part on people''s bodies was very vulnerable to her ability, she had used it to the ultimate advantage. It had been a long road for her, years of struggle and hardship, and now she was the most powerful woman in charge of an entire planet because of what she could do.


    My interrogation lasted for nearly four hours, with the administrator needing to take ten to twenty minute meditation breaks every hour to recharge herself. She tried everything she had learned over the years to break me, and she tried them over and over, in different ways, and she even developed slightly new and more effective techniques because of it... and I never spoke a word.


    The administrator let my blood covered penis go and stared up at me angrily. ¡°Your manhood should be a puddle of goo on my floor!¡± She nearly yelled. ¡°You should be submitting to me and begging me to be lenient!¡±


    I didn''t have the heart to tell her that I had cut off the sensations from my penis after the first few minutes as we battled for dominance with Presence. I suspected that I wouldn''t be feeling anything from it for quite some time, at least until I could meditate for a few days and go in and fix all of the little bits of damage she actually managed to do before I stopped each of her techniques.


    She stood up when I didn''t respond and that made her even angrier. ¡°You will sit here and wait for me until I return.¡± She spat at me and left the room in a huff. A couple of minutes later, a mousy woman who looked thin as a rail, came in through a side door. Her hair was stringy and she looked like she was starving, and her thoughts were like an open book. She was hungry for what she thought was my weakened Presence.


    She was a prisoner that had been assigned here over a decade ago, because of her ability to absorb Presence. She established a long standing agreement with the administrator for clean up duties, when the administrator discovered that ability could be used to weaken people enough to make prisoners even more compliant after her interrogation.


    ¡°I warned you not to make her angry.¡± The mousy woman said and walked over to me. ¡°She''s never asked me to feed on a prisoner before they broke mentally or physically.¡±


    She didn''t wear restraints of any kind and her jumpsuit was so big and baggy on her that it looked like if the wind caught it, it would pick her up like a kite and carry her away. I didn''t say anything and she reached out and stroked the side of my head and let her fingers play a little with the five inch long blonde hair on my head.


    ¡°Oh? You''re not as mangled as I thought you would be after so long under her hand.¡± She said and knelt down in front of me. ¡°Some of the blood has dried.¡± She said sadly and she started licking up the fresh blood on my thighs. ¡°Mmm, so tasty.¡± She looked up at me. ¡°Your blood is strong in Presence.¡±


    I didn''t say anything, either verbally or mentally, and she put her head down and kept licking and cleaning me, right up to my crotch. I was still quite hard from the administrator''s Presence infusion, and she took advantage of that and easily licked and sucked all of the blood off. Small scars littered my skin down there and she used her tongue to trace each and every one.


    I could feel a little thrill go through her as each new bit of blood hit her tongue and her ability absorbed the inherent Presence from it. As far as I could tell, she was only absorbing it through her tongue and not through her hands that were braced against my thighs. When she reached the head of my manhood, she sucked on it like a lollipop to get the blood that had settled inside.


    ¡°MMMmm!¡± She moaned at the larger intake of Presence from fresher blood. She used her hand to try and wring even more blood up and out of my urethral tract. She got a little more, then her lips made a kiss smacking sound as she pulled her mouth off of me. She sat back on her heels and looked up at me. ¡°I hope that felt as good for you as it did for me.¡±


    I thought about staying quiet, then smiled. ¡°I wish I felt anything at all there, because you looked like you really enjoyed it.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± She blinked her eyes and looked at me with surprise. ¡°You... didn''t feel... anything?¡±


    ¡°It''s completely numb after four hours of being ripped apart from the inside.¡± I said.


    ¡°N-no... no.¡± She said and moved slightly away. ¡°I... I''m sorry! I didn''t... I took and didn''t give back.¡±


    I opened my left wrist shackle and cupped the side of her face. ¡°It''s okay.¡±


    She looked at my free hand and then at my face. ¡°But... but...¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°I have to let her have her fun.¡± I said and put my hand back on the chair arm and closed the restraint. ¡°Just like you.¡±


    ¡°No, I... you let me...¡±


    ¡°Would you like some more?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± She gasped.


    I used Presence to speak only to her. ¡°I can share my Presence.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± She exclaimed.


    ¡°I invite you to kiss me and find out.¡± I said.


    She sat there and stared at me with her mouth open slightly and she didn''t know what to do. No one had invited her to voluntarily touch them before.


    ¡°Let me help you.¡± I said and used Presence to pick her up and sat her down across my lap. Her bony hip dug into my crotch and she looked down at it.


    ¡°You really can''t feel that?¡± She asked, still surprised.


    ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°You would have gotten a lot more than blood from me otherwise.¡±


    She visibly trembled at the idea. ¡°The Presence from millions of potential lives.¡± She whispered and closed her eyes. ¡°I can''t imagine the joy that would bring me from someone so strong.¡±


    ¡°You''ll probably have to wait a while for that, unfortunately.¡± I said. ¡°I''m quite damaged down there.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± She said and opened her eyes to look at me. ¡°They always are.¡±


    We sat there and stared at each other for several minutes and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Hunter, can you really share Presence?¡± She finally asked.


    ¡°You have to decide that for yourself.¡± I said and exaggeratedly puckered my lips.


    ¡°I just licked up your blood.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for that. It looked odd all smeared with blood.¡±


    ¡°You really want me to kiss you.¡± She said, quite astonished.


    ¡°You could open your jumpsuit and let me suckle your breasts instead if you want.¡± I said with a huge smile, which made her laugh.


    ¡°Now I''m really sorry you''re numb down there.¡± She said and turned slightly in my lap and looked into my eyes. Please share with me. She thought and she closed her eyes and pressed her thin lips to mine.


    I didn''t want to overwhelm her with how much I could really do, so I only used a tiny bit of Presence to reach in through her mouth and touched the Presence center in her stomach... and it was sucked in instantly and disappeared.


    She broke the kiss and moaned loudly. ¡°MMMHHHNNNN!¡±


    In the next moment, she curled up into a ball on my lap and I felt her soak through her jumpsuit and then she covered my lap with liquid. Unfortunately, it wasn''t just a womanly reaction as the acrid smell of urine reached my nostrils. I quickly used Presence to neutralize the smell by pushing it away from my nose. When I checked her, she was fast asleep.


    Well, damn. I thought. At least she didn''t let her bowels go, too.


    *


    ¡°How long are you going to keep him waiting?¡± The Order member that didn''t like Hunter asked.


    ¡°He was fairly bloody, so I''m sure Noma is going to need some time to feed and weaken him.¡± The administrator said. ¡°After that, I''ll try again. No one has successfully resisted me yet.¡±


    The Order member stayed quiet because he didn''t want personal treatment from her, so he didn''t say that Hunter had already resisted her. Just the thought that she would do that to someone was against his personal beliefs, especially since they didn''t have a viable medical professional to handle things if she went too far. He wasn''t the one in charge, however.


    ¡°How long does she usually take?¡± He asked, since he didn''t normally interfere with her business and didn''t know.


    ¡°An hour, especially with the stronger ones. They whine and whimper as she sucks them dry.¡± The administrator smiled. ¡°I always watch the footage later to make sure she''s keeping her end of our deal.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn''t be making deals with prisoners.¡± He said.


    ¡°I would rather have her here to control her ability than let her roam around in the general population and let her take it from everyone and making them all weak. Wouldn''t you?¡±


    He couldn''t respond to that and still have the moral high ground. On one hand, the administrator was protecting the prisoners, on the other hand, she was using her ability to hurt certain ones to get what she wanted from them. It was much safer to remain quiet.


    *


    I was there for almost an hour and the liquid on my bare legs had cooled off long ago. I could tell from how soundly the woman on my lap slept that she wasn''t going to wake up anytime soon, so I tried to use a little bit of Presence to make sure that she would stay asleep for a while longer than that... and it disappeared inside of her Presence center.


    ¡°Mmm.¡± She moaned a little and didn''t make any other sounds.


    The door to the office opened and the administrator strode in with a smug smile on her face and it instantly turned to disgust as she smelled the urine. She walked around the chair and stood in front of me and saw the mousy woman curled up on my lap.


    ¡°I can''t believe she made you pee all over yourself.¡± The administrator said. ¡°Are you that weak after what she did?¡±


    I didn''t say anything and she made her hand glow as she reached out and grabbed the mousy woman by the arm, who didn''t react at all to it. The administrator pulled her off of my lap and dragged her across the room and through the side door, then closed it.


    ¡°Are you ready to start again?¡± She asked, her voice and mind filled with anticipation.


    ¡°Just a minute.¡± I said.


    She walked over to me and knelt between my legs. ¡°I am the one in charge here. I''m not doing this on your schedule.¡±


    ¡°All right. You asked for it.¡± I said and let my bladder go. I had been holding it in for about a week, since I didn''t really have the chance to relieve myself because I was so busy. The mousy woman was the one who had given me the idea, so I was going to have to thank her later.


    My urine was a dark yellow and smelled really bad, about three times worse than that of the mousy woman''s. Since I was still erect because of the administrator''s previous torture and damage, my pee shot nearly straight up and hit her right in the face like she was being sprayed with a fire hose. To say that the administrator was surprised was an understatement. Her mouth was open and she inevitably got a lot of it in there and she closed her eyes and tried to turn her head from side to side to avoid some of it. She even put her hands up in the way to try and block it.


    I wasn''t going to allow that and used a bit of Presence to make sure that every single bit of it hit her in the face. The administrator spit and sputtered under the deluge and she was doubly surprised that it lasted so long, especially since she thought it was my urine on the chair and the floor. I let out a long relieved sigh when I was done.


    She lowered her stinky urine coated hands and stared at me in disbelief. Her face, her previously well styled hair, most of her long sleeved t-shirt, and her lap were completely soaked through and tinted yellow. It dripped from her eyelashes, the tip of her nose, her ear lobes, and her chin. She knelt there and didn''t say anything for about thirty seconds, then she stood up and left through the front door of her office.


    I watched her walk down the hallway and into her personal residence, which was quite opulent, and she went right into her overly large bathroom and stripped off and stepped into the shower. To my surprise, it used a lot more water than the showers the prisoners used. She lathered up and scrubbed and rinsed herself off six times before she felt like she was clean.


    When she was done drying herself off, she left the bathroom and went to her closet to get bed clothes and put them on. She went to her bed and climbed in under the covers and huddled up into a ball. All she could think about was that it was her fault, because I had warned her.


    I guess I''m staying here for a while. I thought, then entered a meditative state and stayed alert. I was tempted to repair the damage she had done; but, then she would know that I could fix the damage, so I had to leave it for now. Instead, I funnelled Presence into myself and recharged and reinforced my body. I had a feeling that I was going to need as much energy as I could get.

 Book Three: The Resolution 115

    I was left alone all night. No one checked on me, brought me food, or as far as I could tell, cared I was still alive. The urine spread all over had dried and made everything sticky. On the plus side, the smell dissipated and I didn''t have to keep using Presence to push it away from my nose.


    I looked into the next room and the mousy woman had stayed on the floor, right where the administrator had dragged her, and she was still asleep. When I looked around her room, it had a small bed, a rack of jumpsuits, a small shower, and two towels. One large one that hung on a rack by the shower and one small one about the size of a hand towel.


    So that''s where it went. I thought. I could have sworn the administrator took it.


    I shrugged and looked down the hallway to the administrator''s private residence and she was still in bed. I was tempted to keep looking around for everyone else that worked there, then decided it wasn''t important and turned my attention to the three avian women. They were still tucked into the corners of the cells where I had left them and a tray of food was on the floor just inside the cell doors.


    I probably should have told them that no food was necessary for any of us. I thought, then I sat there and waited.


    There was apparently no set schedule for things for the administrator, because she didn''t get up for another two hours. When she did, she sat up and stretched her arms over her head, climbed out of bed, and went to her closet. She stripped off her bed clothes and took her time picking out the best pair of underwear.


    She eventually decided on a frilly pair that hugged her hips and she slipped them on. She let out a sigh of comfort and grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt, both grey in color, and dressed. She went to the bathroom and quickly used the Presence in her hand and styled her hair in a complicated twirl and twist pattern as she moved her hand over her head. No comb or brush needed.


    I have to remember that technique. I thought.


    The administrator decided she was done and left her residence. She walked over to her office and paused just outside the door as she hesitated for a moment, then she pushed the intercom button.


    ¡°I need two custodians with strong stomachs for clean-up duty in my office for both the floor and the prisoner. You get an extra paid day off this week because it stinks in there.¡±


    Even with that knowledge, she didn''t have to wait long for two volunteers to show up with two buckets full of soapy water.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She said and waved at the office. ¡°I''ll be eating breakfast, so let me know when you''re done.¡±


    ¡°Yes, administrator.¡± The two older women said and watched her walk away, then the two of them opened her office and came inside. They walked right over to the chair and one of them took one of their buckets and dumped it on my lap. I was relieved that it was only slightly warm water and it splashed down over my legs and onto the floor. Both women knelt on their hands and knees and started to scrub the floor.


    I get the feeling they''ve done this before. I thought as they worked efficiently.


    They dipped large hand brushes into the buckets and scrubbed the floor together. It didn''t take them long and they had the dried puddles scrubbed off of the floor. One of them grabbed a cloth and didn''t look at me as she scrubbed my legs and then my privates as well as she could without being able to lift my legs. It didn''t even register in her mind that she was polishing my knob and I was tempted to show her that she was when the other woman spoke.


    ¡°I need to get the mop to get the floor dried up.¡±


    ¡°I''ve got it.¡± I said and used Presence to pick up all of the suds and water from the floor and put them into the half empty bucket.


    The two women looked at the floor that was now dry and then at me.


    I glanced down at myself and then at the woman that had washed it. ¡°You''re lucky it''s not working normally.¡±


    Her eyes dropped to look at it and then she looked back at me. ¡°It wouldn''t matter if it was.¡±


    ¡°You''d be surprised.¡± I said.


    ¡°No, I wouldn''t.¡± She said, completely serious. ¡°I''ve been here for thirty years, young man. I''ve seen and cleaned up some horrible things. There''s nothing you can show me that will impress me.¡±


    ¡°If my arms weren''t restrained...¡± I started to say and she took out an electronic key and opened the wrist shackles.


    ¡°Go ahead and try to impress me.¡± She said in a bored tone of voice. ¡°Come on, hurry up. She''ll be done of her breakfast soon.¡±


    I looked at the woman next to her.


    ¡°She''s just as bored as I am with all of this stuff.¡± She said. ¡°So hurry up and kill us, if you can.¡±


    ¡°Kill you?¡± I asked with a smile and picked both of them up with Presence. ¡°How would that impress you?¡±


    ¡°P-put us down!¡± The second woman exclaimed.


    ¡°Not until I''m done.¡± I said and made a fist with my hand as a visual clue, then created Presence Hands to grab their clothes in several places. ¡°You want me to impress you with just my hands? You got it.¡± I opened my hand and tore their clothes off.


    Both women screamed for a moment, then I used those Presence Hands to grab their breasts and massaged them.


    ¡°N-n-no... s-stop... stop...¡± She said in a weak plea as her mind wanted me to do even more. She wanted me to ravish her, just so it broke up the sheer boredom of her existence. Her fifty plus years of age had been as if she was a drone and no one paid her any attention.


    The second woman was absolutely terrified that her dead husband would be rolling over in his grave if he knew that she was being treated like a common street whore. No one but him had ever touched her sexually and her eyes teared up, because it felt good and bad at the same time.


    I eased her down to the floor and absorbed the Presence Hands that massaged her breasts, then I held a hand up to her as an apology. ¡°I''m sorry. She said you were like her.¡±


    She looked at me through her tears and wiped at her face. ¡°You are a bad man.¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± I said and she looked surprised. ¡°I''m quick to react, I''m judgmental, and I''m ruthless.¡± I said. ¡°If things don''t go my way, sometimes I''ll let it slide and ignore it, or I''ll change things to make my way happen. I don''t like it when people abuse their positions of power and I do my best to stop it... even though I''ve been guilty of it myself.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    She wasn''t sure what to say to that.


    ¡°I''ve done a lot of bad things over my lifetime and I don''t make any excuses for my behavior. I knew what I was doing was wrong and I did it anyway. That''s why I was sent here, actually. The Order didn''t want me anywhere near a normal population for a long time.¡±


    ¡°You''re up to sixty-five years so far.¡± The administrator said as she came into the room with The Order member that didn''t like me much, and he used his Presence to cut mine off from holding the woman up. She dropped to the floor with a thud and she cried out in pain, so I absorbed the Presence Hands on her.


    ¡°Geez, that wasn''t necessary.¡± I said to him and looked at the cleaner. ¡°Sorry about that. He cut off my Presence and made you fall.¡±


    ¡°Take her to the medical room and give her something for the pain and a few med-gel patches.¡± The administrator said to The Order member and he sighed and picked the poor woman up. She was limping and he had to brace her to take her weight, which meant he had to put his arms around her bare and flabby belly to hold her steady. He did not enjoy the experience and neither did she.


    ¡°Get her some clothes, too.¡± The administrator said and looked at the second cleaner. ¡°You''ll both have two extra days off this week.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The second one said. She gave me a look that said she hoped I enjoyed what was going to happen to me next, then she followed The Order member and the other cleaner out of the office. They had left their buckets and brushes behind and the administrator picked them up and moved them off to the side of the room.


    ¡°I see you managed to get your hands free.¡± The administrator said and looked at me.


    ¡°She unlocked them, actually.¡± I said and put my wrists back into them and used a bit of Presence and closed them.


    She gave me a shocked expression for a second, then huffed. ¡°You''re making fun of me.¡±


    ¡°It''s pretty easy.¡± I said. ¡°I could kill everyone here in a few seconds and you''re here wasting time while you try to get me to tell you things you won''t be allowed to do anyway.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be the judge of what I can and can''t do.¡± She said and looked down at my crotch, then she sighed, because she knew she didn''t want to go through that again. ¡°You did that on purpose, didn''t you?¡± She asked. ¡°You showed me that I''m in danger of that happening again if I try using my techniques on you.¡±


    I didn''t respond, because she would know it if I lied. I also didn''t tell her that my bladder was pretty much empty.


    ¡°Well, then. What should I do with you now?¡± She asked with a smile as The Order member that didn''t like me came back into the room.


    ¡°I don''t agree with this.¡± The Order member said.


    ¡°It doesn''t matter what you agree with. Just do it.¡± She ordered and he sighed again.


    ¡°I hate you and everything you''ve done.¡± He said to me. ¡°However, I don''t like you being treated this way. There are better ways to coerce you.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think subtlety is in her retinue of abilities.¡± I said.


    He nodded as he took out his Light sword and activated it.


    ¡°Yeah, that''s not going to work on me.¡± I said.


    ¡°I won''t permanently maim you.¡± He said. ¡°Once we get a new medical technician sent out here, they can remove the damage and help you regrow the skin and muscle tissue you''re going to lose.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you''re more of an asshole than I am.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m sorry about this.¡± He said and took aim at my shoulder, then lunged forward... and the Light sword bounced off of my personal shield. I had set it to a foot away from my skin, so he easily saw its slight yellow glow. ¡°What the... what is it?¡± He asked, surprised.


    ¡°It''s a personal shield, dumb-ass.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Good luck breaking through it.¡±


    He frowned at me and took a fighting stance, then unleashed several lethal strikes at my vital organs and at my head, and every single strike was deflected. When he stopped, he was a little tired and stood there with a look of astonishment on his face.


    It matched the administrator''s.


    ¡°Now what?¡± I asked. ¡°Are you going to shoot me with laser pistols? Assault cannons? What?¡±


    They both stood there and didn''t know what to say for a few moments, then the administrator smiled.


    ¡°Bring me the avian woman he''s bedding.¡± The administrator said to The Order member. ¡°I''m sure that once he sees...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°You can try and do whatever you want to me, since I chose to come here and I''ll deal with the consequences. Harming others in a futile attempt to make me talk is not only stupid, it would only make me angry and I still won''t talk.¡±


    ¡°Do it.¡± She said to The Order member and he didn''t move. ¡°I said go and get her.¡± She looked at him and then she waved her hand in front of his face. He didn''t react and she looked at me.


    ¡°He''s paralyzed.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°You might want to close his eyes so they don''t dry out.¡±


    She tried to push on him and he didn''t move at all. ¡°How did you do that?¡± She asked, because she wanted that technique very badly.


    ¡°You''d be better off asking yourself what happens when you die.¡± I asked.


    She laughed. ¡°You can''t kill me. This place will go into immediate lock down and no one can leave whatever area they are in. All the security doors will close, all power will shut off, and no one can get anything to work.¡±


    ¡°Is that a safety feature that the administrator of the facility has or is it you personally?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± She said smugly.


    ¡°What if someone changed the password?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°There''s no possible way for anyone to get to my personal terminal.¡± She said and her password passed through her mind. ¡°The system wouldn''t recognize a new administrator unless I officially transfer the position to them.¡±


    As she talked about how difficult it had been for her to get to her current position, I generated a couple of Presence Hands in her personal residence to open the secret wall panel. Her console popped out of the wall and I quickly typed in her password and it gave me access to everything in the system. The best part was the fully detailed map, resource allocation, personnel listings, and prisoners with their crimes and length of sentences. I memorized the map, since that was a very handy thing to have.


    Just for fun, I entered my own name as the co-administrator, hidden of course, then used Presence to recreate the words she had spoken about transferring the position. I saved my work, then closed everything up and absorbed the Presence Hands, then let my concentration go back to where my body was.


    ¡°...and you''ll never understand the weight of this kind of responsibility.¡± The administrator said.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. You still haven''t closed his eyes.¡± I said and nodded to The Order member.


    She shrugged. ¡°I have another. I''ll send him for the woman and...¡±


    The buzz of a Light sword cut her words off... and her hand.


    ¡°AHHHHHH!¡± She yelled and gripped the stump as her lifeless hand fell to the floor. The Light sword had cauterized the wound immediately and she glared at The Order member. ¡°What are you doing, you fool?!?¡±


    He didn''t say anything and took a fighting stance.


    ¡°No! I order you to stop!¡± The administrator nearly yelled, then she jumped for her desk and hit the intercom button. ¡°GUARDS!¡± She yelled and rolled over the desk to hide. A few moments later, four guards rushed into the room and stopped in surprise at the scene in front of them.


    ¡°He cut off my hand!¡± She said loudly. ¡°Arrest him!¡±


    The guards looked at The Order member in a fighting stance and they knew they would die if they attacked. The Light sword turned off and The Order member lost the stance and stood up straight. The guards wasted no time in securing him in shackles and took his weapon and emptied his robes of anything inside the hidden pockets.


    ¡°Why do you have a restraint key and the key for the storage room on the ground floor?¡± A guard asked as he looked through the small pile of personal items.


    ¡°I think we can all assume we know why.¡± The administrator said as she stood up. ¡°Someone has been abusing their privileges.¡±


    The Order member didn''t say anything in his defense.


    ¡°Take him to a holding cell until we can investigate this fully.¡± The administrator said and she bent down to pick up her hand. Tears came to her eyes and she hugged the dead flesh to her chest. ¡°Make sure he is... fully searched.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± One of the guards said and saluted, then led The Order member out of her office.


    ¡°Ma''am, you should go to the medical room and have the assistant look at that for you.¡± One of the other guards said.


    ¡°Yes, her skills are... limited, but... at least she can tell me what to expect... and if it can... be reattached.¡± She said between her sobs as her tears kept flowing.


    The guard came over to her and put an arm behind her back, then they slowly walked out of the office and the other two guards went with them.


    I sat there and watched them go to the medical room where they had tried to implant me with a suicide device, then I looked at the solitary confinement cells. I used Presence to secure the doors and disconnected the electronic signal receivers, then I sighed.


    My relaxing vacation from my hectic life isn''t turning out like I thought it would. I thought and waited for someone to come back for me.

 Book Three: The Resolution 116

    Once again, I was left completely alone. Half the day passed by before the mousy woman next door woke up. She found herself on the floor of her own room and couldn''t remember how she got there.


    ¡°The administrator dragged you there yesterday.¡± I said to her.


    She gasped and yanked open the door and stared out at me. ¡°You''re still here!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the administrator''s been a bit busy to get back to the whole torture thing.¡± I said.


    She took a step out of her room and her face winced. I could actually hear the dried urine crack on her jumpsuit. She looked down at herself and then at me.


    ¡°A couple of ladies washed me off. Go take a shower to clean yourself up. I''ll wait right here for you.¡±


    She gave me a disbelieving look. ¡°Why are you making jokes?¡±


    ¡°Because it''s funny?¡± I asked. ¡°Would it help if I said to leave the door open so I can watch you?¡±


    She opened her mouth to say yes, then she looked at my restrained arms and legs and remembered that I could easily open them. ¡°Do you promise to stay there and not come in after me?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said and she caught her breath. ¡°When you''re in the shower, as soon as you ask yourself if I''m going to do it, I''ll come in there and do it.¡±


    She gasped and trembled a little, then she couldn''t help herself and thought about me breaking free and actually joining her in the shower. The whole scene of what she wanted to happen played out and her breathing sped up.


    ¡°You... really would...¡±


    ¡°Imagine millions of potential lives entering you.¡± I repeated her words and her whole body shook.


    She had to brace herself on the door frame so she wouldn''t collapse. ¡°That... that can''t happen... right now.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°What if I promise to do it later?¡±


    ¡°I... no. No. You won''t. You lie.¡± She said and carefully walked into her room, stripped off her jumpsuit, and stepped into the shower. She lathered up and scrubbed her tiny thighs that were barely there, the flat and almost deflated cheeks of her ass, then she scrubbed between her legs. Surprisingly, there was a bit of meat there and it wasn''t just a hollow divot like I had expected.


    She sighed as her hands rubbed her slightly distended belly and then moved up to the small breasts she had. They hung off of her like pancakes, which meant nearly all of the fat in her body was gone.


    He would never touch me looking like this. She thought, her mind full of sadness, then she froze solid and stopped breathing as I slid my hands around her waist.


    ¡°I swear I just heard you say I wouldn''t touch you.¡± I said and moved one hand up to her breast and moved the other down between her legs.


    ¡°Wh-what... what are you doing?¡± She asked. Oh, my goddess! He''s actually touching me!


    ¡°I''m making sure you''re thoroughly clean.¡± I said and nuzzled her ear. ¡°I have just the right sized tool to do that, too.¡±


    She grabbed both my hands and I stopped moving them, because she didn''t have the strength to stop me. She stepped forward slightly and turned around to look at me. She might have looked mousy; but, it was because she was so thin. She was only a few inches shorter than me and her hands reached up for my face.


    ¡°You don''t want to do this.¡± She said.


    ¡°What I don''t want is a commitment from you or for you to think that this is anything more than me having a great time with you.¡± I said. ¡°Shall I get started?¡± I asked and reached down and picked her up with my hands on her ass and braced her against the side of the shower stall.


    Her legs automatically went around me. ¡°W-w-wait, I...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I''m going to give you a good amount of Presence, too.¡±


    ¡°That''s not what I...¡±


    I slipped myself inside of her and she wrapped her arms around my neck and held on for dear life. All those little scars I had seemed to work wonders on her, because she tightened up a lot and they rubbed her all along the inside. She finished right away and she dug her face into the crook of my neck. She almost cried because she was so happy and then I started to move.


    ¡°Huh.. huh... huh...¡± She started panting immediately to the same rhythm I was using and helped me recreate the scene she had imagined about me taking her in the shower. There was just one thing missing and she lifted her head to look into my eyes.


    ¡°Don''t faint on me again, because we are just getting started.¡± I said and kissed her. I only gave her a tenth of the minuscule amount of Presence I had given her the day before and it was sucked into her Presence center almost before it left my mouth.


    ¡°Mmmm!¡± She moaned and she started rocking her hips to help me have an easier time while I had sex with her. She had forgotten that I couldn''t feel anything down there and that was okay, because while it was easier for me, she made it very easy for herself and she finished. I gave her another taste and her little orgasm became a bigger one and she nearly screamed into my mouth... then she bit my tongue.


    Blood pooled into our mouths and she finished again as she sucked up the blood and received another Presence boost. She licked and sucked on my tongue and then she broke the kiss.


    ¡°More!¡± She said and kissed me again. I did my best to avoid giving her my tongue to chew on and gave her another little bit of Presence. She finished again and she tried to rock her hips a little more than her body could handle, because she was getting over-excited. She ignored the pain as she moved and I pressed her into the side of the shower stall to slow her movements down.


    I broke the kiss this time and looked at her. ¡°You''re going to hurt yourself if you keep that up.¡±


    ¡°I don''t care! I don''t care if I break my spine doing this!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°Just go inside of me! Please!¡±


    I opened my mouth to remind her that I couldn''t and she saw my tongue. She darted her head forward and kissed me hard and managed to snag the end of it. She chewed on it like a dog with its favorite toy and blood gushed out into her mouth. Her arms gripped me like a vise and she wasn''t going to let go, so I quickly devised a plan.


    I moved in and out of her as fast as I could and gathered some external Presence and made it into hundreds of tiny bits that I gathered right below my penis. Individually, she might not have noticed it, but together? She felt it building up and she frantically sucked on my tongue and moved her hips for what was about to come. I tensed all of my muscles and she broke the kiss and looked into my eyes, then I moved it up and released all of that Presence inside of her.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°OHHHHHHHHHH!¡± She yelled as her Presence center sucked everything inside. She finished again and squirted only a little pee on me, since she hadn''t replenished her fluids yet, then she tried to curl up into a ball like she had on my lap the day before.


    I pulled out and held her as she pulled her legs up to her chest and she ducked her head to rest her forehead on her knees. ¡°That''s not a great survival mechanism, you know.¡±


    She didn''t answer me, because she was fast asleep and I sincerely doubted I could wake her, even if I wanted to. I held her gently and washed her off, then used a towel to dry her off. There was no way I was going to dress her in that position, so I just brought her over to her bed and tucked her under the blanket.


    Now that I had access to a shower, I used my Detect Presence technique to follow where the pipes and things went. The map I had only showed me where things were, not what they did or how they were connected. I followed the pipes through the building and down into what would be the basement. It was on the other side of the hallway from the isolation cells and I chuckled.


    Now all I need is a couple miles of pipes if I want hot and cold water. I thought with amusement. If I only wanted water, I could get it directly from the large underground lake they get it from or from the water treatment and waste treatment plant on the other side of the automated crate factory. I would only need about a mile of pipes for that or I could grab some and carry it to where I wanted it.


    I turned off the water and dried myself off, grabbed a few of the shrink wrapped jumpsuits from the rack and stored them, then I walked back into the administrator''s office. I grabbed one of the buckets and cleaned off the chair, put the bucket back where it was, then dried the chair and sat down. I was tempted to play around a bit with the things in her desk, then shrugged and closed the restraints to secure myself back to the chair.


    I looked to the medical room and saw the assistant had set up one of the small medical stasis pods and the severed hand was inside. They might not spare one for an egg, but a hand? Sure, they can do that. I chuckled and saw the administrator was curled up on the bed and she had her stump inside some kind of vat. It looked like medical gel, but I wasn''t a technician, so it could be just water and soap for all I knew.


    I looked into the holding cells next and saw The Order member as he sat on a cot and stared at the door. I couldn''t hear his thoughts, which meant he was probably meditating or in shock. I checked the avian women next and they were still unconscious and no one seemed to be going in to check on them. I thought about breaking up their food and force feeding them, then counted how long it had been since they ate.


    They can''t go another day without food. I thought and carefully rolled them over onto their backs and sat them up, then made multiple small balls with the food and funnelled them through their throats and into their stomachs. I wasn''t very familiar with Aviatoma biology, so I couldn''t force the digestion and spread the energy myself, so I left it alone and let their stomachs do the work.


    After that, I closed my eyes and entered a meditative state while keeping myself alert. I assumed since no one was around or even really knew I was going to be there all alone, I could pretend I was actually in solitary confinement. I smiled at the thought that I had to have my penis tortured to get some alone time and concentrated on absorbing as much Presence as possible.


    *


    It took two days for the medical assistant to assess the administrator''s wound and to see if her hand could be reattached. As far as she could tell, there shouldn''t be any problem. All of the nerve endings were intact and the veins and arteries had been cauterized instantly, so there was no excess bleeding or burst or torn endings like if a knife or an axe had been used.


    The problem she had was that the artery ended right at the stump and the vein started at the stump... and it didn''t make the proper circuit that it would have if the hand had been there to complete it. She knew that it was a major and complicated surgery to handle the problem and to ensure the blood flow into the stump and its return to the heart.


    She also knew that she couldn''t do it herself, because she hadn''t performed anything like it before, and she wasn''t sure how long the administrator could survive with a slowly dying arm. Her blood pressure was erratic, especially since the circulatory system had been so compromised, and her body''s immune system was trying desperately to heal the damage.


    The only good part was that the hand had been put in stasis quickly and it would have to stay there until it could be reattached.


    ¡°What am I going to do?¡± She asked no one in particular. ¡°She''s slowly dying and I''m pretty sure that she won''t survive until the replacement medical technician arrives.¡±


    ¡°What if you put her in a biomedical tank and attach her stump to the proper pumps?¡± A man''s voice asked.


    ¡°What? Who''s that?¡± She asked and looked around. ¡°Where are you?¡±


    ¡°I''m the prisoner that''s still up here in her office.¡± The man''s voice said.


    The medical assistant''s mouth dropped open. ¡°How are you using the intercom? That''s a locked system!¡±


    The voice laughed. ¡°I''m not using the intercom. I''m using Presence.¡± He said. ¡°So, biomedical tank?¡±


    ¡°We don''t have one.¡± She said. ¡°I couldn''t do the surgery required anyway.¡±


    ¡°Then pop her into a stasis pod like her hand and keep her in there until the medical technician arrives.¡±


    ¡°That''s two months away.¡± She said. ¡°Who will run the mine?¡±


    The voice laughed. ¡°If she dies long before then, who will run the mine?¡±


    The medical assistant thought about it and sighed. ¡°Yes, you''re right. It''s better she lives and is only absent, instead of dead.¡± She stood up. ¡°I''m going to need a hand or two to transfer her, once I get the thing set up.¡±


    ¡°Not a problem.¡± The voice said and the assistant gasped when two slightly blue glowing disembodied hands appeared in front of her and the fingers wiggled at her. ¡°Ready and waiting.¡±


    ¡°I must be going crazy.¡± She said and swatted at the hands and they moved out of her way.


    ¡°There''s no need to be rude.¡± The voice said.


    She sighed and went into the medical storage room and grabbed the biggest stasis pod they had. She pulled it out into the medical room and over to the administrator''s bed, then checked all the telltales for the equipment. She saw a few of the required chemical ingredients were a little low, since it hadn''t been used in a long time. She added them, checked the onboard battery that would sustain it for quite some time if the power went out, and she made all the proper connections to the closest wall ports.


    The medical assistant took about an hour to set it all up and she triple checked that it was perfectly functional. ¡°Okay, give me a hand with...¡±


    The administrator was lifted up with six slightly blue Presence Hands, one under her back, her head, both arms and both legs, and she was gently placed into the stasis pod. The administrator hadn''t reacted, because the medical assistant had put her into a coma to stop her from freaking out.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The medical assistant said.


    ¡°She said if she died, the place would completely shut down.¡± The voice said. ¡°I''d rather have her in stasis and keep the place up and running.¡±


    She nodded and made the proper hose connections to the administrator''s wrists, nose, mouth, and surprisingly, her rectum. She closed the pod and typed up a few things on the stasis pod''s display, then she hit the button. It took about ten minutes for the stasis pod to fill up and she checked the readouts.


    The same kind of fluid entered through the hoses attached to the administrator and after about five minutes, the medical assistant nodded and hit the next button. The entire pod froze instantly inside and she looked at the readouts again to see minimal brain activity and she nodded.


    ¡°She''s stable.¡± The medical assistant said.


    ¡°We also still have power and nothing''s shut down.¡± The voice said. ¡°Good work, Karol.¡±


    ¡°How do you know my name?¡± Karol asked, surprised.


    ¡°It''s on the personnel list that I''m looking at right now.¡± The voice said and then chuckled. ¡°With the administrator in stasis, I guess I don''t have to keep pretending that I''m her personal prisoner anymore.¡±


    ¡°What? You were pretending?¡±


    ¡°Yep. Oh, and I''m moving into her residence. Let everyone else know, will you?¡± The voice said. ¡°On second thought, I think I will.¡±


    The intercom clicked and gave a short buzz to get everyone''s attention in the administration center, the shipping area, and in the mine.


    ¡°Please be advised that the current administrator was gravely injured and has been put into stasis until a medical technician can be brought here in two months to deal with it.¡± The man''s strong voice said in an authoritative tone. ¡°As of this moment, Hunter, that is Prisoner 8235642, will be moving into her residence and will take over her duties as administrator of this facility. Any and all inquiries shall be relayed to him in his office, previously her office, and he will deal with any problems as they occur.¡±


    The medical assistant stared at the intercom speaker and didn''t know what to say.


    ¡°That is all. Have a good day.¡± Hunter said and the intercom clicked off.

 Book Three: The Resolution 117

    Almost immediately, several guards came to the office and drew their weapons on me, then a minute later, the other Order member came in through the door with the rest of the guards, including the sole female guard. They all were astonished that I sat behind the desk in a fresh jumpsuit and none of them wondered where the interrogation chair went.


    ¡°What do you think you''re doing?¡± The Order member asked me and readied his hand over his weapon.


    ¡°I''ve taken over.¡± I said. ¡°I''m in the system as the co-administrator and she even transferred power to me.¡±


    The Order member and the guards were surprised when I played the recording.


    ¡°To be honest, I didn''t ask for this and I didn''t really want it. I just wanted to do my time and make myself comfortable.¡±


    The Order member stared at me because the Presence didn''t waver.


    ¡°Of course, now that I am in charge, there''s something you need to know.¡± I said. ¡°You won''t be allowed to continue your abuse of the prisoners. That stops now.¡±


    ¡°We didn''t sign up to be commanded by a prisoner.¡± One of the guards said.


    ¡°No, you signed up to work for the administrator and did everything she ordered, no matter how morally wrong or depraved it was. You all did everything she said and none of you questioned her methods or even if she was fit to be in charge of this facility.¡±


    ¡°She was the boss and none of us wanted to sit in her chair.¡± One of the guards said and glanced at the spot it used to be. ¡°We''ve all seen what she could do to someone with her powers if they didn''t do what she wanted.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°You won''t have to worry about that anymore.¡± I said and picked up a tiny metal ball. ¡°Here''s her chair.¡± I put it back on the desk. ¡°I''m going to be busy going over everything here to see what can be fixed...¡±


    ¡°You were sentenced to a week of isolation.¡± One of the guards said. He really liked the administrator and saw her methods as justified and believed you needed a firm had to deal with hardened criminals.


    ¡°I believe she lifted that when she brought me here and tortured me for four hours, then she kept me here for two days without food or sleep.¡± I said and a few of them were surprised by this. ¡°Not only that, none of you came to check on me to see if I was dead or not.¡±


    ¡°She said to leave you alone.¡± The same guard said.


    ¡°I''m having a hard time believing that not one of you thought about making up some excuse to come and see her to check if she had killed me.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Here I thought the cleaning ladies were cynical.¡±


    Only the female guard seemed embarrassed.


    ¡°I was also here for two days while the medical assistant did her best for the administrator, and a few of you knew I was here by myself and restrained, not to mention naked.¡± I looked at the four guards that had come at her call, one of which liked her a lot. ¡°Yeah, you four.¡± I said. ¡°You can''t use the same excuse as the others about not knowing she wasn''t here.¡±


    ¡°We still couldn''t come in here without her permission.¡± The guard who liked her said.


    ¡°Yeah, okay. You don''t care about my well being, and that''s fine.¡± I said. ¡°Once again, honestly I don''t care about that.¡± I turned to look at the side door. ¡°Noma, can you come out here?¡±


    ¡°Is it time already?¡± Noma asked excitedly as she whipped open the door and quickly ran over to the desk. I turned the chair just in time as she launched herself into the air and I used Presence to catch her.


    ¡°Ahhhhh.¡± Noma almost moaned as she opened her mouth and sucked it in as she gently landed in my lap and the Presence I used disappeared into her Presence center.


    ¡°She was here alone just as long as I was, and once again, none of you came to check up on her or even brought her food.¡± I said and all of the guards looked uncomfortable. ¡°Ah, I see. A couple of you were supposed to and didn''t, because the administrator wasn''t here to order you and you were relieved.¡±


    Two of the guards felt guilty about not doing it without orders.


    ¡°Did you just assume that someone else was going to take care of it?¡± I asked and their minds responded with yes.


    No one said anything, though. Admitting guilt or wrongdoing was never a good career move.


    ¡°If I''d known there was this much animosity among you, I would have been doing a lot more the last few weeks than I actually did.¡± I laughed. ¡°I was being so careful about keeping everything hidden and doing it all behind everyone''s backs, that I didn''t realize I could have done everything openly and you wouldn''t have done anything to me, because it wouldn''t have affected you.¡±


    ¡°Now hold on just a minute.¡± One of the guards said. ¡°We would have reported anything we saw.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and then you would have done nothing to follow it up, not without orders.¡± I said. ¡°But, that''s okay. I''m the administrator now and you''ll be reporting to me.¡±


    ¡°Like hell I will.¡± The guard said. ¡°I don''t recognize your authority in the least.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t piss him off if I was you.¡± Noma said. ¡°He''s not a nice man when he''s angry.¡±


    I smiled and gave her cheek a kiss. ¡°Should I give them a little demonstration and give you a treat as well?¡±


    ¡°Oh, please!¡± Noma said. ¡°You''ll let me take what you do?¡±


    ¡°Did you use the bathroom?¡±


    Noma nodded several times.


    ¡°Then yes, you can absorb this.¡± I said and filled the room with Presence and pushed down on The Order member and the guards. They fell to the floor and didn''t even bother struggling as they tried to keep air in their lungs.


    Noma giggled like a school girl as she hopped off of my lap, then she started to hop around the room with her mouth open and sucked in the Presence I was using. The guards and The Order member did not miss the fact that she wasn''t affected by it at all.


    ¡°No, I''m not excluding her from the technique. She''s immune to Presence use.¡± I said. ¡°It''s an ability so rare that I''ve never seen or heard of it before. That''s also why The Order sent her here to die.¡±


    ¡°That... can''t be... true.¡± The Order member said.


    ¡°It''s in her file.¡± I said and held up a datapad. ¡°I swear, I couldn''t make some of these ridiculous conditions of her imprisonment if I tried.¡± I chuckled and scrolled through the list. ¡°The best one was that they wanted her segregated from the normal population because they didn''t want her having children.¡±


    The Order member looked up at me as the pressure reduced while Noma sucked in more Presence.


    ¡°You''re not supposed to feed her too much.¡± He said and looked at Noma.


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± I said and saw Noma''s hops falter slightly. ¡°I figured that out for myself.¡± I was there instantly and caught her in my arms before she fell. ¡°Hey, I told you not to rush.¡±


    Noma grinned up at me. ¡°It tastes too good.¡± She said and closed her eyes as she curled up into a ball.


    I chuckled and carried her over to the desk and sat down with her on my lap. ¡°I''ll break you out of this coma habit one of these days.¡± I said and absorbed the rest of the Presence in the room.


    The guards and The Order member let out sighs of relief and a few guards sat up. They couldn''t stand yet and stayed on the floor to recover.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Like I said, I''m not going to ask you for devotion or to swear loyalty to me. That''s not what this is about.¡± I said. ¡°All I need for you to do is keep doing your jobs. If you do, just like with the administrator, we''ll probably never see each other. You''ll still get paid, you''ll still have days off and paid vacations up on the surface. Nothing much is going to change.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to change?¡± The Order member asked.


    ¡°Nothing much. Only where prisoners get showers, the inspections, the inefficient shift rotations, and how the mine operates.¡±


    ¡°Not much he says.¡± One of the guards scoffed.


    ¡°Hey, don''t worry. It means less work for you and more free time during the day.¡±


    ¡°You''re going to mess up the delicate balance the administrator has between the people and the resources available.¡± The Order member said.


    ¡°You could assume that.¡± I said. ¡°You''d be wrong, though. I won''t make any sweeping changes and expect everyone to adjust immediately. That''s just unrealistic. The increasing of resources, or in essence changing where some of them are, will happen first.¡± I explained. ¡°Namely, the poor quality of the food in the dispensary that the prisoners have to eat.¡±


    ¡°It has all the essential nutrients they need.¡± The Order member said. ¡°That''s why they only need one meal a day.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I''m not complaining about the frequency, I''m complaining about the taste. It''s been removed.¡±


    A couple of the guards let out a chuckle.


    ¡°I''m actually surprised you didn''t just mulch everything together and make a paste that we could just squeeze into out mouths without having to chew it.¡± I said and shook my head. ¡°No, we''ll need to change a few of the growing techniques and maybe even expand it a little and introduce some of the same things from the garden that''s used for your meals.¡±


    ¡°If you start giving them tastier food, the prisoners will start questioning other things.¡± The guard that liked the old administrator said. ¡°You''ll cause the same disruption that you''re trying to avoid.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It''ll take months before enough of the plants and vegetables are transplanted to start making any difference in the food the prisoners eat, so don''t worry about a riot breaking out over it.¡± I said. ¡°The first thing I''d like to do is get a bank of showers installed and stop the time wasted by only having one person at a time shower.¡±


    ¡°We do that precisely to waste time.¡± One of the guards said. ¡°They gather together and talk for the entire time they''re walking and waiting. It actually forces them to interact.¡±


    ¡°You''re also inviting grudges to come to the surface, especially if some of the prisoners normally avoid each other. They will still have individual booths and won''t be in danger, and they won''t be forced into a line at gunpoint to take a shower.¡±


    ¡°We have to be ready in case anything happens.¡± Another guard said.


    I chuckled again. ¡°You can still stay at the ready, it''s just not going to be for as long or as dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Well... I guess... it wouldn''t hurt to try it, at least.¡±


    ¡°That''s the spirit. It''s just a test. If it doesn''t work, we''ll go right back to doing it the old way. However, if it does work, everyone will be a little bit happier.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think that?¡± The Order member asked.


    ¡°I want the showers built beside the living area.¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you nuts?¡± One of the guards said. ¡°That''s like a mile of pipes! There''s not enough pressure in the lines to push the water all the way down there!¡±


    ¡°That''s okay. I have the plans for a gravity fed water system that also recycles into the water treatment facilities. It won''t be wasted and it''ll be reused just as much as the rest of the water is.¡± I said. ¡°It''ll be hot as well, once a good heating system is adapted for the large water container.¡±


    ¡°You are definitely crazy.¡± The guard who spoke about the pipes said. ¡°It''ll take weeks to dig out...¡±


    ¡°I dug a ten foot high and twenty foot wide circular room out of the dirt and rock in about an hour.¡± I said and they all looked at me like I was insane. ¡°I used six digging machines at a time.¡±


    ¡°If... if you did that... and then... wait, can you only do circular rooms?¡± The guard asked.


    ¡°I can do corners. Why?¡±


    ¡°If you do the gravity fed hot water, instead of taking living space away, you could just dig right into the side of the main shaft and make the stalls, put the gravity fed pool or whatever above it, then there would be almost no need for pipes, except for dispersing the water and recycling it.¡±


    ¡°You''re thinking about how to make it work and not thinking about how it can''t.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Guess who just volunteered to help me to design it?¡±


    The man sighed. ¡°I''m not even on duty today.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I didn''t say right now, did I?¡± I asked. ¡°Look, this place isn''t going to change very much. That''s not what I''m trying for. I''m going to streamline it and make it better. Since it''s not against the rules for the administrator to try different things to increase production, I''ll be doing my half-assed best to make this place run smoother.¡±


    The female guard chuckled and then glared at me. ¡°You''re still supposed to be in isolation.¡±


    ¡°I''ve been in it for five days, so I''m going to commute the remaining two days into time served because of the torture. I''m also going to do that for the avian women, since they''ve been nothing but model prisoners while in solitary.¡±


    She opened her mouth to protest, then sighed. ¡°They still have the extra time on their sentences?¡±


    ¡°I doubled it, actually. Ten more years each.¡±


    She took in a sharp breath, then she closed her eyes. ¡°It... it still won''t bring him back... but, I think... yes, he would like that.¡±


    I nodded and showed my wrist. ¡°I''ll be taking a wrist communicator with me while I work in the mines, so if you need anything let me know.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± She said with shock on her face.


    ¡°I''m still a prisoner, so I need to work in the mine to get my quota up.¡± I said and stood up with Noma in my arms. ¡°Just because I assumed the administrator''s duties, doesn''t negate me from serving my own time.¡± I walked over to her room and opened the door with Presence, then put her into bed. I came back out and took the datapad and several electronic keys from the desk drawer.


    ¡°You''re insane.¡± The guard that liked the administrator said. ¡°Completely bonkers.¡±


    ¡°No, if I was, I would have crushed your skull for thinking you can wake the administrator up to fix this mess. She''ll die if you open that stasis pod before the medical technician arrives. You can ask the medical assistant how close to death she is if she doesn''t get that hand reattached or surgery to fix her circulatory system.¡± I said and walked over to the door of the office. ¡°I suggest going back to your posts and continue your work. This place isn''t going to guard itself, you know.¡±


    The guards and The Order member were a little dumbfounded as they watched me walk out the door. I resisted the urge to jump at them and yell ''just kidding!'' to scare them. Barely.


    I didn''t rush as I walked through the place and as far as everyone else was concerned, it was just business as normal. Except for two of them. I went to the medical room to visit the one The Order member had hurt by making me drop her. The medical assistant just stared at me with her mouth open, because I was there when the old medical technician had spontaneously became mulch.


    ¡°You!¡± She said and looked at me.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said and waved at her and walked over to the bed the cleaning woman was on.


    ¡°You took over.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°It''s okay, though. You''re still getting your two days off this week.¡±


    She frowned at me and I looked at her knee and her elbow that had medical gel packs on them.


    ¡°I really am sorry we were interrupted.¡± I said and reached for her hand.


    She jerked away and glared at me.


    ¡°You wanted something to break up the monotony, didn''t you?¡± I asked and she held the glare for only another moment, then she sighed and took my hand voluntarily. ¡°I can still use my hands to tease you if you want.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She said. ¡°The moment''s passed. You lost your chance to have me.¡±


    ¡°Ooo. That hurt.¡± I said and eased my Presence into her and let her feel it.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Fixing those pesky bumps and bruises.¡± I said and took a minute and used Presence Heal on her.


    Her mouth dropped open in shock and she couldn''t believe that all of her aches and pains had disappeared.


    ¡°I''m sorry I missed my chance.¡± I said and touched her tiny Presence center with a little bit of Presence and she shivered. I let her hand go and walked by the medical assistant and she wouldn''t look at me. I walked back across the facility to where the other cleaning woman was. She was in her room and she sat on a small couch. I knocked and she blinked her eyes and looked at her door as if she hadn''t heard that sound before. I smiled and pushed the little button for the buzzer and she came over and opened the door.


    ¡°YOU!¡± She yelled and raised her hand to strike me.


    ¡°Please wait.¡± I said and dropped to a knee. ¡°I can''t undo treating you like that; but, I can apologize again and I can offer you this to make up for my mistake.¡± I said and held out a small electronic key.


    She recognized it immediately and grabbed it instead of hitting me. ¡°W-w-when?¡±


    ¡°You have two extra days off this week, so why don''t you go on up to the surface and enjoy the administrator''s private villa.¡± I said. ¡°I changed your schedule a little as well and next week''s day off is now at the start of the week.¡±


    She caught her breath. ¡°F-four days. I''ve got four days off.¡±


    ¡°You can go alone or you can take the other one with you. It''s your choice.¡± I said and knew she would go alone, because she didn''t particularly like the other woman.


    ¡°And the guards?¡± She asked and put the key away.


    ¡°They are on duty rosters all over the facility and none of them are assigned to the villa.¡± I said.


    She gave me a look that said I was a particularly disgusting bug she would like to squash. ¡°I won''t forgive you for what you did.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°I''m glad that I was somewhat of a gentleman and started with your breasts.¡±


    She took in a sharp breath and looked like she was going to hit me again.


    ¡°By the way, when your days off are over, I scheduled you to clean the villa for three days.¡± I said to her utter shock. ¡°It''s such a huge job, so you need the time.¡±


    She stared at me as I walked away and she couldn''t believe that I would do that for her. I almost laughed at her thoughts and walked across the administration section and went to the holding cells. I had some quick repairs to do to them and three avian women to wake up and explain that they had served their time already.


    *


    The cleaning woman crossed her room and went over to her mini-console and brought up her schedule. Sure enough, there it was with the next four days off and then a three day block of cleaning the villa.


    If he did this for only grabbing my breasts... She started to think, then she shook her head. No, I don''t want to know what he would have done if he had grabbed me anywhere else. It''s not worth it.


    She looked at the villa''s picture and it looked like something from a fancy resort. She reached up and cupped her breasts that had seen much better days and she tried to convince herself that getting to stay in the villa for a week wasn''t worth being groped.


    It took her a while.

 Book Three: The Resolution 118

    The two avian women weren''t very happy about being kept asleep for four days and force fed their food. I explained that I broke it up and didn''t just shove it all in there. They weren''t trying to digest solid chunks of food and I didn''t choke them with it, either. Val on the other hand was perfectly fine with it, because I had taken care of them and they didn''t have to be awake while in the cells. The other two were a bit mollified when she made that point, because they agreed it was good that they had slept through their isolation.


    I took them out of the isolation cells and brought them out of the administration section. ¡°Would you like to ride back to the mine?¡±


    ¡°I think we need to walk for a bit to stretch our legs.¡± Val said and wrapped her arm around mine. ¡°Are we in a rush to get back?¡±


    ¡°It''s supposed to be our work shift in about an hour.¡± I said.


    ¡°You''re in charge and we still have to work?¡± The second avian woman exclaimed.


    I laughed. ¡°As usual, you see the downside.¡±


    She squinted her eyes at me.


    ¡°Since I''ve been on your crew, have you worked much?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She admitted reluctantly.


    ¡°I only meant that we need to keep up the pretense. You see, I know why they make us all mine.¡±


    ¡°It''s to harvest focusing crystals.¡± Val said.


    I chuckled and pat her hand. ¡°That''s the result, not the why. It''s to keep us busy and stop us from being restless and fighting each other.¡±


    The three avian women blinked their eyes at me.


    ¡°What else would we do down here?¡± I asked. ¡°This place is actually a prison that''s also a mine and not a mine that''s also a prison.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The first avian woman asked.


    ¡°There wasn''t a mine here until prisoners were sent here. It became fully functional not long after that and then it became a valuable resource. A very valuable resource. Once it did, a lot of credits were poured into it to make it self sufficient and self sustaining. It could easily be converted over into a partially or even a fully automated mine if they wanted. They haven''t done that, because then what would they have the prisoners do while they were here?¡±


    ¡°They would sit on their asses and rot.¡± Val said and I nodded.


    ¡°Especially big aliens like the big guy.¡± I said and we reached the entrance to the mine and went down the stairs. ¡°It''s just too bad the restraints were too small for him and they didn''t think to chain them together and give him more movement.¡±


    ¡°Why doesn''t he just take them off?¡± Val asked.


    ¡°He tried. Only his arms are still fully functional, since he moved them all the time. His legs?¡± I shook my head and came to a stop in the middle of the area. ¡°His muscles have adjusted to the tiny movements and he''d seriously hurt himself if he tried to take a normal step.¡±


    ¡°That''s horrible.¡± Val said. ¡°The poor guy.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and I can''t offer to heal him, because his body doesn''t think anything''s wrong, since there isn''t really anything wrong. It''s just restricted. I''d suggest physical therapy and slowly work him up to a normal movement; but, he''s so strong that even a tiny movement would rip his constricted muscles apart and possibly cripple him.¡±


    ¡°False Tiercel, why have we stopped here?¡± The first avian woman asked.


    ¡°I promised you a much better ride than on the back of a crate.¡± I said and took out the ten foot wide and ten foot long platform with the half console on the front.


    ¡°By the Great Goddess'' Wings!¡± She exclaimed.


    ¡°It''s just something I cobbled together.¡± I said, even though I had painstakingly took my time to assemble everything and made it look fantastic. I bowed slightly and waved her on. ¡°The middle of the bench seat is yours, Honored Matron.¡±


    She gave it a glance and looked at me and held a hand out to me.


    I took it and she stepped up the eight inches to get onto the platform and then sat like she was taking a throne. ¡°I haven''t raided... I mean... procured proper cushions for you to sit on yet.¡±


    She smiled. ¡°This is fine.¡±


    ¡°I don''t need a hand.¡± The second avian woman said and I held a hand out to her anyway. She grimaced at me and took it, and I helped her on. She sat down on the right side and wouldn''t look at me.


    Val was next and she hopped up onto it excitedly and sat down on the left. ¡°You can haul something this big with a cargo handle?¡±


    ¡°Nope. It took twelve of them.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?!?¡± The three of them exclaimed.


    ¡°Pulled apart and reconfigured, of course. The normal handle can only create a field large enough for a single five foot by five foot crate.¡±


    I stepped on and made seat belts to secure the three of them, then sat down myself behind the half-console and turned it on, then pushed a lever to add power to all of the components at once. The field snapped into place and the platform rose up almost instantly to four feet into the air. The three avian women let out startled squawks.


    ¡°Oops! Sorry about that.¡± I said and I didn''t have to turn around to see the faces of indignation on the first and second avian women. I reduced the lever down to half and the platform lowered down to two feet. ¡°Maiden flight and all that.¡±


    ¡°You haven''t even tested it yet?!?¡± The second avian woman asked, her voice full of accusation.


    ¡°How are we going to move if you''re riding it, too?¡± Val asked, confused.


    ¡°It has a secret mode of transportation.¡± I said and hit the button for the orphaned wrist shackle buried underneath us. The platform jerked about six inches to the side.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The first avian woman said, almost angrily.


    ¡°Please accept my apologies. I should have adjusted the platform onto the proper path before allowing you to board.¡± I said and turned around to bow my head. ¡°I was a bit too eager to please you.¡±


    She gave me a glare and then sighed. ¡°You may continue.¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Be more careful!¡± The second avian woman spat.


    ¡°Don''t worry. I used the regulator out of a Light sword for the main part and it''s not salvaged or anything.¡± I said and the three of them stared at me. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You... you had a Light sword... and you... you used...¡± The second avian woman shook her head. ¡°You are truly an idiot.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I didn''t like having to do it any more than you do. However, I''ve seen the inventory list the administrator has and there are none like it here.¡±


    ¡°You had a powerful weapon and you ruined it for a stupid transport!¡±


    I smiled. ¡°I probably shouldn''t tell you I had to cannibalize it almost completely to reconstruct this console, then.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± The second avian woman yelled. ¡°You IDIOT!¡±


    I laughed at her reaction. ¡°You''ve got a lot of indignation over something you didn''t know existed a minute ago.¡±


    ¡°You could have just taken the regulator back out and repaired the weapon, now it''s nothing but scrap.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry that you think your life would change if I only had a Light sword.¡±


    ¡°You could have ruled the mine!¡± She exclaimed.


    ¡°I already am.¡± I said and she took in a sharp breath. ¡°I didn''t have to fight for it, either.¡±


    ¡°You think that you don''t.¡± She said. ¡°As soon as you show your face in the living area, you''ll be attacked.¡±


    ¡°You think a Light sword will stop that?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°All it will do is make them angry that I have it and they''ll try to steal it for the same reason you just gave. They think having it will give them control of the mine.¡± I turned back to the console. ¡°Power is not that fleeting.¡±


    ¡°You''ll see.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we will.¡± I said and put my hand on the dial and hit the button to turn on the orphaned shackle at the living area. The platform didn''t jerk this time and I smiled. ¡°Do you remember how long it took to walk to the living area?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, forget that.¡± I said and slowly turned the dial.


    It increased the pull of the living area shackle and reduced the pull on the one at the mine entrance. The platform jumped forward as the resistances and attractions worked on the shackle pairs and we moved through the distance in only a few seconds. I was careful to ease us to a stop, though. I wasn''t going to make that mistake again. I also turned off the shackle back at the mine entrance.


    Everyone there was completely shocked at our sudden appearance. They were so shocked that none of them rushed me like the second avian woman had said was going to happen. They would have, so I gave her a slight nod. She didn''t react, because she was just as shocked as everyone else.


    ¡°THAT WAS WONDERFUL!¡± Val yelled. ¡°Let''s do it again! Do it again!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I''m just checking in with the supervisor to make sure he knows we''re here to work today.¡± I said and turned off the platform and it floated down to the ground. I hopped off and walked over to him and snapped my fingers in front of his face. ¡°Hey, we''re working section six again.¡±


    ¡°You... you...¡± He took a breath and let it out. ¡°You''re a week behind.¡±


    ¡°Not a problem.¡± I said and walked back to the platform. ¡°Are the empty crates there waiting for us?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I''ll grab some for myself.¡± I said and turned on the platform. ¡°See you all at supper.¡± I waved to everyone, turned on the orphaned shackle at the supervisor''s spot, switched the living area shackle to the rear, then used the dial again.


    Val had her arms waving in the air as we travelled all the way down into the mine and not one bump or waver happened. We came to a stop and all three women''s feathers had fluffed out. Val did hers intentionally and enjoyed the ride. The other two had been automatic reactions, because they were too stunned at the sheer speed that a pure anti-gravity platform could achieve.


    ¡°I just have to grab some crates.¡± I said and hopped off the platform and walked over to the wall across from the supervisor''s spot and used the electronic key to open the personnel door to the automated crate factory. The three avian women let out chirps of surprise as I went inside and retrieved seven empty crates and the packing material for them. I closed the door and went back to the platform.


    ¡°What... what was that?¡± The first avian woman asked.


    ¡°It''s the automated crate making factory.¡± I said and went over to the supervisors spot and opened the equipment rack and took three of the laser drills. I left him a note and then I hopped on the platform and changed the shackle at the supervisor''s spot to the back. I turned on the shackle at the end of the left shaft and the platform turned that way, then I used the dial to bring us to only part way down the shaft and stopped at section six.


    ¡°Here we are.¡± I said and saved the settings, so that they didn''t snap back to the defaults, and turned off the platform. ¡°I''m going to be a while, so you can sit there and keep looking pretty or you can work if you feel like it.¡± I said and put the three laser drills on the side of the platform, absorbed the Presence holding the women in place, and went to work.


    Val decided to help and she gathered up the crystals that my outrageous drilling technique revealed. I took out each crate and we filled them up at a relatively fast pace, considering we had to do seven of them. I hadn''t even protested how unfair it was to make us work that hard when we were only supposed to work every second day and would have only needed to make up three crates for missing five days of work.


    Not surprisingly, it took us nearly the entire shift to fill seven crates of unrefined crystals, especially since I had to keep digging out the place we were working to reveal more crystals. Val kept working with me and we finished the last crate and I stored the remainder, then I put all seven crates into a bag of holding. I also stored the laser drills and then helped Val back onto the platform and secured the avian women with Presence.


    I turned the platform on and it rose into the air, loaded the shackle settings and turned them on, then turned another small dial to rotate the platform. I switched the settings so that the shackles were now in reverse order, then used the main dial. I turned it very, very slowly, because there were people working in the shaft now. We moved at a running pace and went back up the shaft.


    ¡°Here they come.¡± One of the men said. They had been planning this all shift and when we were right beside them, two of the men lifted their laser drills and hit the ''melt rock'' setting as they pointed them at me.


    It was fortunate that they didn''t remember that the anti-gravity field encompassed the lower half of crates when cargo handles were used, so that it couldn''t bump into anything and gave it some clearance when pulling them. My platform had twelve of the handles, so the field around it extended up a lot farther than half of the platform''s size. I could have stood up on the thing and still been safe from bumping into things.


    The ends of the laser drills bounced off the protective fields and knocked the drills out of their hands. One man was lucky and it fell to the side and didn''t have anything to melt and overheated with nothing to transfer the heat to. It shorted out and turned off on its own. The second guy wasn''t lucky at all. His drill fell on the handle and flipped backwards onto his legs.


    ¡°ARRRGGGHHHH!¡± The man yelled as both of his legs below the knees were melted away instantly. Something designed to melt rock made very short work of flesh and bone. Unfortunately, the laser drill didn''t turn off as he fell onto his face... right in front of it. His scream cut off as his face and then his entire head was melted in barely a moment.


    I brought the platform to a stop and used Presence to turn the laser drill off. I took out an electronic key and pointed it at the attacker that was still alive and hit the button. His wrists and his ankles snapped together and he yelled in surprise and fell to the ground on his back.


    ¡°Attempted murder on another prisoner is five more years on your sentence.¡± I said. ¡°Unfortunately for you, attempted murder on the administrator is an entirely different crime.¡± I looked at the remaining two men. ¡°You two are lucky that you didn''t participate.¡± I used a Presence Hand to pick up the attacker and another to pick up the body. ¡°It looks like you''re not going to be meeting your quota today, so bring all the drills and the unfinished crate to the supervisor. He''ll assign you to new crews for next time.¡±


    The two men stared at me as I hovered the man and the body behind the platform, then I turned the dial and the platform continued on.


    ¡°Help me! He attacked us! Help ME!¡± The man yelled and pleaded as we passed more prisoners.


    ¡°Oh, shut up!¡± Val spat at him. ¡°They don''t believe you, stupid! If Hunter attacked you, you''d be dead!¡±


    The man quieted and I came to a stop at the supervisor''s spot and he saw what I had behind me.


    ¡°Don''t worry about that.¡± I said and turned off the platform. ¡°They just tried to kill me and failed miserably.¡±


    ¡°How did you... ah...¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t me. He fell on his own laser drill when it melted his legs.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The supervisor said.


    ¡°The other two are bringing the drills, one of them burned out, and a partially finished crate. You''ll need to assign them to another team. Split them up or whatever. Hopefully, they won''t cause you any more trouble.¡±


    He sighed and I handed over the three drills I had taken in case the avian women had wanted to work.


    ¡°I''ll see if I can fix the burned out one.¡± I said.


    ¡°I still can''t use it.¡± He said.


    ¡°I can.¡± I said and took out all seven crates that Val and I had filled with unrefined focusing crystals. ¡°Here you go.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what... wait, you did it?¡± He looked at the seven crates and opened each one to see that they really were filled to the top.


    ¡°I would still be working if I didn''t.¡± I said and stored them again, stepped onto the platform and turned it on, then changed the settings and it turned to face the living area. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡±


    He stared at the platform as I sped away without even a trace of any kind of propulsion.

 Book Three: The Resolution 119

    I stopped at the living area and everyone there stared at us. Or really, stared at the man and the body floating behind us. I turned off the platform and helped the three avian women step off of it.


    ¡°You''re leaving us here?¡± Val asked, surprised.


    ¡°Only until I deal with this idiot back at the administration center.¡± I said and waved at the man that tried to kill me. ¡°I have to look up the procedures and appropriate punishments for it.¡±


    ¡°Someone is in our cubicle!¡± The second avian woman nearly screeched.


    The poor man didn''t have a chance as all three avian women crossed the distance in mere moments and tore him to shreds. Not a single person tried to intervene and they did the same thing to him as they did to the guard. I quickly did up six posts and put them in the same holes as before, and the avian women mounted the pieces in the same manner.


    ¡°I''m glad that the nest wasn''t in there.¡± Val said and strung the man''s intestines across three of the posts.


    ¡°Me, too. There''s not a lot of extra blankets to be had in the storage, and they are too thin to work for your needs.¡± I said. ¡°Do you need me to...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Val said sadly. ¡°We won''t need to sanctify the nest, since it wasn''t violated.¡±


    I nodded and looked at the first avian woman. ¡°Shall I clean the place up for you?¡±


    ¡°Please.¡± She said. ¡°We would normally leave it; but, the smell is not pleasant this time.¡±


    I used Presence to gather up all the blood and compressed it down into a small ball and shoved it into one of the legs of the mounted guy. ¡°I''ll grab one of those spray cans that negate smell from the supply, too.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Val, I''ll have power hooked up to the entryway to your nest when I come back.¡±


    ¡°Power? What for?¡± Val asked, confused.


    ¡°You''ll see.¡± I said with a smile and walked over to the platform.


    I turned it on and changed the settings, then turned the dial and shot out of there faster than people could see. The man that tried to kill me screamed bloody murder as he was dragged through the air at the same speed.


    ¡°Relax.¡± I said as we came to a stop a few seconds later and turned off the platform. ¡°I don''t even know what your sentence is going to be. I can''t kill you until then.¡±


    The man stared at me with wide eyes as I stored the platform, because he had never seen something so large disappear into thin air like that.


    I guess he missed me taking out and storing the seven crates. I thought and looked at the top of the stairs. ¡°Oh, hey there.¡±


    ¡°What was that thing?¡± The Order member asked.


    ¡°A quick anti-gravity transport.¡± I said and walked up the stairs. ¡°I''ve got seven crates of unrefined crystals. Do I leave them here or take them down to the refinement factory?¡±


    ¡°It''s the only extra thing we do, besides watch the monitors and guard the mine entrance.¡± The guard with him said.


    ¡°Then I won''t interfere with your job.¡± I said and took out all seven crates. ¡°I forgot to get cargo handles, though.¡±


    ¡°We always keep some spares nearby in case one breaks.¡± The guard said and pointed to a small closet that was tucked into the rock face.


    ¡°What''s with the prisoner and the body?¡± The Order member finally asked.


    ¡°Attempted murder of the co-administrator and fellow prisoner.¡± I said.


    ¡°You reacted harshly.¡± He said and looked at the partially melted body.


    ¡°He fell on his laser drill when he attacked, and no, I didn''t trip him.¡±


    The Order member reluctantly nodded, because I didn''t lie.


    ¡°I don''t know what to do with the body, though.¡± I said. ¡°Hell, I don''t even know how to identify him.¡±


    The guard chuckled. ¡°You don''t know a lot and you think you can run this place?¡±


    ¡°Geez, I just started today. Cut me some slack.¡± I joked. ¡°I''ll pick someone''s brain about it on the way to the holding cells.¡±


    ¡°I''d say ask someone that''s not on duty, so you don''t bother anyone else.¡± The Order member said.


    ¡°Good idea.¡± I said and used Presence Run and disappeared from their sight. I was at the administration center a few seconds later and went inside and to the normal holding cells.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± The guard there asked.


    ¡°Attempted murder on the co-administrator.¡± I said and he nodded. ¡°Take care of him for me, will you? I need to look up the proper procedure for this kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t you just kill him like the other one?¡±


    ¡°That was a gruesome suicide surprisingly. He tried to melt off my face and fell and melted his own.¡±


    The guard winced at that. ¡°At least it was quick.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°What cell do you want him in?¡±


    ¡°Put him next to The Order member.¡±


    I did so and looked at the body. ¡°What do I do with this?¡±


    ¡°It has to be identified and processed, of course.¡± The guard said. ¡°I''m too busy to...¡±


    ¡°That''s okay. I was going to ask one of the off duty guards for help.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± The guard said and went to his half-console. ¡°Frank''s off and I''m almost sure that he doesn''t hate your guts.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°If he''s the pipes guy, then yeah, he can tolerate me. Thanks.¡±


    I left there and stopped at the supply section and grabbed a can of scent nullifier, one of the large spools of power wire, a large battery pack charger, a bank of lights, and a few other little things that could be useful, namely sets of actual tools. After that, I went to the guard''s living area and found the pipes guy in the recreational area.


    ¡°It''s my day off, dammit.¡± Frank said.


    ¡°I just need help on proper procedures and with this guy.¡± I pointed my thumb at the body.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Frank sighed. ¡°I want double pay for the hours I work.¡±


    ¡°Done.¡± I said and he looked at me in surprise.


    ¡°But... the budget...¡±


    ¡°What budget?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°You need to really dig into the database to find out what being the administrator means.¡± Frank said.


    ¡°I''ll pay you out of my own money if necessary.¡± I said. ¡°It won''t be, though. This is an Order facility. It should have millions of credits available.¡±


    Frank huffed. ¡°Yeah, good luck with that view.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I looked at him in confusion. ¡°This place is supposed to be completely self-sufficient. If there''s not a huge influx of credits for all the work that''s being done here, then there''s something seriously wrong with the system running the place.¡±


    Frank gave me an apologetic look.


    ¡°Oh, goddammit.¡± I said. ¡°I guess I am paying you with my personal money.¡±


    ¡°Hey, if you can afford it, I''ve got no problem working on my day off.¡± Frank said.


    ¡°I could pay to run this place without any staff, so yeah. I can afford one guard''s salary for a few hours.¡± I said. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    Frank nodded and followed me to the administrator''s office and he helped me work out how to determine the dead prisoner''s identity and what to do with the guy that had tried to kill the interim administrator. The body was supposed to be disposed of, usually by mulching it to cut down on the rotting smell, then buried in a selective spot well away from the food growing areas.


    I was relieved to learn that and I got rid of the body, then sent notices to his family and The Order to let them know what happened. The guy that was still alive was to have the same treatment for attacking someone that was working for the facility, no matter if it was a guard or the administrator. I thought that was a little harsh; but, since it wasn''t my rules and I was the acting administrator, I had to enforce them. The living assailant was treated the same as the dead body and was mulched and discarded and the same notices were sent to his family.


    I didn''t understand why they could discard so may viable workers so easily, until I saw the caveat that no resistance was acceptable. Any attempt to kill the administrator was met with brutal force and the result had to be broadcast to the other prisoners to stem the attempts on the administrator''s life. Then I understood why she had so much power and no one wanted to go against her.


    It meant instant death... once she was done playing with them, that is... and no one, from the prisoners to the guards to The Order members... wanted to try her patience. None of them wanted to defy her.


    I almost laughed at that. She was a smart one. I thought. She built the system to rely completely on her happiness and that any defiance was met with swift and brutal justice. I had to give her props for that. It was an ingenious and completely closed system. If she wasn''t happy, then no one else was, and lives were lost.


    Frank was an invaluable resource in discovering all of this and he let me find all the intricacies that she had embedded into her procedures. He definitely earned his salary that day as he taught me all of the ways in which the old administrator had twisted the normal way things were supposed to be run to fit her view of how things were supposed to be run.


    They almost matched up; but, not quite. Only someone from the outside would be able to see the subtle differences and then they were glaringly obvious. Everyone there was so invested in her view of things that none of them questioned why they were run that way.


    It was going to take me a while to show them the difference.


    I was up to the challenge, and I had a couple of months to break them of their habit of going along with whatever she wanted, especially since a few of them actually liked the way she handled things. I didn''t try to do it all at once, since they would have rejected it immediately if they knew that was what I was doing. I had to be as subtle as she had been as she instigated all of it and I did my best to subvert everything she had established.


    The two months passed almost as if they didn''t happen.


    New showers had been constructed beside the living area. The living area had been expanded out to accommodate everyone in the mine and no one had to fight to claim the cubicles anymore. The platform I had made to ferry the avian women had been duplicated and it was used to ferry the workers from the living area to the mines.


    The biggest change however, was the loss of the restraints. None of the prisoners wore them, except for the big alien, and that was only because they kept him safe from hurting himself. He had gained several favors because he had the electronic key, and no one wanted to cross him.


    He also absolutely loved the custom made digging machine I had made for him. He shared his bed with both the giant laser drill and the giant digging machine and he wouldn''t give them up for anything. He went to work every second day, whether he was digging or drilling, and he was completely happy.


    When the medical technician arrived on the transport that also carried the things that the supervisor had ordered, the entire mine let out sighs of relief and sadness. Relief that my supposed tenure was at an end and sadness that the old administrator was going to be in charge again.


    None of them realized that the old administrator would need months of rehabilitation to get the full function of her hand back, which also assumed that the surgery was going to be successful. None of that was guaranteed, since the skills of the new medical technician hadn''t been tested in the least.


    The man had quite the load of medical tasks to handle as it was. When he discovered that he had a major surgery pending, he almost panicked. I reassured him that both the woman and her hand were in stasis and he didn''t have to tackle the complicated surgery until he felt like he could handle it. He thanked me for being so understanding and let the surgery slide... for a month... then another and another... and he didn''t even look at the capsule for almost a full year.


    By that time, the mine had almost completely changed.


    I had automated robotic arms that used the laser drills and digging machines to their most efficient means, and the prisoners only had to monitor the work and adjust the precision of the arms to yield the most unrefined crystals. It kept the prisoners busy and also maintained the quota needed to meet the demands of the shipments that needed to be sent out on a semi-regular basis.


    The prisoners were happy that they could shower whenever they wanted, the movement of both prisoners and guards had been so streamlined that it took almost no time for them to travel the miles needed, and the guards had so much free time that they weren''t stressed out over being stuck guarding things inside of a mine for most of the time.


    Everyone was happy and no one wanted things to change.


    Then, the medical technician decided that he could handle the surgery without endangering the administrator''s life. I assisted the medical assistant, of course. She had grown to appreciate my abilities and how much work I had saved her, and we both did our best to help the medical technician with the surgery.


    With all three of us working, our collective knowledge contributed successfully to the administrator regaining her hand. There was a small space where the Light sword had removed a good portion of her wrist, so it took a lot of work to replace that with biomedical grown bone and cartilage to reconstruct the missing parts.


    The medical assistant had been right and all the nerve endings and veins and arteries had remained intact. They took several hours to reattach and to get the circulatory system used to having a completed route again. I didn''t cheat and try to use Presence to speed the healing, either. I let providence and fate rule the day and waited to see if she would recover on her own.


    To my surprise, it took the administrator several months to recover her faculties and to fully wake up to reality. She eventually looked at her restored hand as if it was a foreign object and it took her a week to understand that we had successfully reattached it. It took her nearly six months to learn how to use her hand as if it was her normal hand again.


    By this point, I had been in charge of the facility for two years and everyone had fully accepted that I was the guy that handled everything. Like my words had promised, any problem that came up, I handled it. Both the guards and The Order member came to me whenever anything came up and I took care of it.


    It wasn''t until the old administrator had been transferred to her old residence to rest and relax that she saw all of the changes that had happened while she was recovering. She didn''t receive any notices or unexpected visitors who asked her to handle all of the little things that she normally expected them to bother her with. It was all still handled by me.


    ¡°You just stay here and relax.¡± I said and pat her head as she lay in her bed. ¡°You don''t have to worry about anything else for a while, okay?¡±


    ¡°But... I''m the administrator.¡± She said, her voice a little weak.


    ¡°Don''t worry. You have Noma here to keep an eye on you.¡± I said and she widened her eyes.


    ¡°N-n-no.¡± She whispered weakly.


    ¡°It''s okay. She doesn''t suck people dry anymore.¡± I said. ¡°Noma?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my darling?¡± Noma said and came into the bedroom. She was back to normal proportions and her breasts were a good size and filled like they were supposed to be, and her hips were no longer bony. She had had a spectacular diet of Presence the last two years, thanks to me sharing with her, and she was as healthy now as if she had been a normal person.


    The old administrator stared at her as if she had never seen her before.


    ¡°Please help her maintain her normality.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Gladly, darling. Thank you for leaving her in my care.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t trust her with anyone else, my dark suckling.¡± I said and gave her a kiss and a bit of Presence.


    ¡°Mmmm. Thank you.¡± Noma said. ¡°If you weren''t so devoted to Hailey, I would claim you for myself.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°If I had a credit for every woman that said that...¡±


    Noma laughed and gave me another kiss. ¡°Go on. Get to work.¡± She said. ¡°I''ll keep her busy.¡±


    I hugged Noma and left the room and Noma walked over to the bed.


    ¡°Hello.¡± Noma said and took the administrator''s hand. ¡°It''s been a while.¡±


    ¡°W-w-wait.¡±


    ¡°No, you need this.¡± Noma said and started to suck on her finger and absorbed her Presence.

 Book Three: The Resolution 120

    Over the next few weeks, no one asked why the administrator never left her residence. Some of the guards, especially the man that liked her, visited her regularly. They talked a lot about what had been going on the last two years and she told the man that liked her about how Noma was keeping her Presence from getting too strong.


    ¡°You told me a long time ago that you wanted to keep her here so you could regulate her ability.¡± The guard said. ¡°Isn''t feeding her what you meant?¡±


    ¡°It... is.¡± She said. Technically. She thought. ¡°But... I can''t even... if I don''t have my powers, I can''t maintain the fear needed from the prisoners to keep them in line.¡± She admitted. ¡°I need you to knock her out or to sneak me out of here away from her.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry. I can''t do that.¡±


    ¡°What? Why not?¡±


    ¡°You need time to recover the full use of your hand.¡± The guard said. ¡°I''ve talked to the medical technician and he said unless you work with it daily and maintain your strength, it''s possible you may lose the hand again.¡± He sat back and looked at her hand. ¡°Show me the basic exercise, please.¡±


    The administrator sighed and did the fingertip touching the thumb exercise with each finger and she couldn''t quite get the pinkie finger to touch.


    ¡°Ma''am, you need to keep working at it.¡± The guard said in encouragement. ¡°I know as soon as you get full use of your hand back, Hunter will give up the administrator duties and you can resume your rightful place.¡±


    ¡°He should have done that already.¡± She said. ¡°I''m fine.¡±


    ¡°Ma''am, you were in stasis for over a year while the medical technician prepared to reattach your hand.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± She asked, a little surprised, because she had assumed that Hunter would have kept her status hidden from everyone.


    ¡°Hunter gives us weekly updates on everything and invites us to look over what''s going on and asks for our input.¡± The guard said. ¡°I still hate his guts, though.¡± He smiled. ¡°A lot of us do, actually. But...¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    ¡°He''s a great administrator. He also said that we can hate him as much as we want, as long as we don''t let it affect our jobs.¡± The guard said. ¡°It''s weird to actually hate someone and also respect them.¡±


    ¡°But... he... isn''t he ruling with an iron fist? How did he make all those changes and not cause a riot?¡±


    ¡°He did what he claimed he would do.¡± The guard said. ¡°He only made small changes and let them settle, then changed a bit more. Eventually, the changes happened right in front of us and none of us noticed, because we already accepted that things were always changing for the better.¡±


    ¡°I''ve heard that from several guards so far.¡± The old administrator said.


    ¡°Ma''am, we have mining equipment that any prisoner can use without training. We have anti-gravity transports that bring prisoners to and from the mine in seconds and they haul crates behind them, up to three at a time.¡±


    ¡°Three?¡± She asked, surprised.


    ¡°No shift is below quota. The refinement factory is getting a constant flow of unrefined crystals and is running all day, every day, and we''re actually ahead of our shipment schedule by several months.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± She looked at him like he was speaking nonsense. ¡°We''ve never been ahead of schedule.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± The guard said. ¡°Everything just seemed to pick up speed. Travelling, digging, mining, showers and inspections, all of it. Then one day, everything became... easier.¡±


    She thought about speaking to tell him he was insane for thinking running a mine was easy.


    ¡°It wasn''t really a task to handle the prisoners. They weren''t unruly or caused trouble. They all have their own custom living spaces now and no one fights over it. Why would they? If they want a change, they let Hunter know and it''s done the next day.¡±


    ¡°That... that''s insane.¡± She said, shocked.


    ¡°You would think so... and yet, the prisoners love it. They have a problem, they tell him, and it''s solved as quickly as possible. Since he''s a prisoner and is working alongside them, they know he''s as invested in their happiness as both a long term prisoner and a miner as they are.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe... why didn''t they try to kill him?¡± She asked.


    ¡°They did. A couple of times. He enforced your rules and disposed of them.¡±


    ¡°He did WHAT?!?¡±


    ¡°Is everything all right in here?¡± Noma asked as she opened the door to the residence.


    ¡°It''s fine.¡± The old administrator said.


    ¡°Okay. If you need me, just yell.¡± Noma said and closed the door.


    ¡°Please get me out of here. I need to see this for myself.¡±


    ¡°I''ll ask.¡± The guard said and used his wrist communicator. ¡°Hunter? Are you busy?¡±


    ¡°I just finished a crate, so no.¡± A man''s strong voice said from the wrist communicator.


    ¡°The administrator wants a tour of the facility.¡±


    ¡°So soon?¡± Hunter asked and then chuckled. ¡°You guys must have been telling her all about this place.¡±


    ¡°Only some of the changes.¡± The guard responded.


    ¡°I''ll be right there to pick you up.¡± Hunter said and clicked off.


    ¡°I didn''t mean... I wanted to see it for myself.¡± The administrator said.


    The guard smiled. ¡°If Hunter''s coming to get you, then you''re getting the full tour.¡±


    ¡°Hunter''s coming!¡± Noma said and opened the door to the residence. ¡°I can''t wait!¡± She said and came over to the bed. ¡°You should change if you''re going to be seen by the prisoners.¡±


    ¡°I... yes, I should.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be outside.¡± The guard said and left.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Noma helped the administrator change into her normal outfit of grey shirt and pants, then carefully led her over to the door of the residence and opened it. The guard smiled at seeing the administrator in her uniform and gave her a nod of his head.


    *


    ¡°Ah, you''re ready.¡± I said and came to a stop in front of them.


    ¡°How did you get here so fast?¡± The administrator asked.


    ¡°A quick anti-gravity platform.¡± I said and gave Noma a kiss and a bit of Presence, then waved at the hallway. ¡°Right this way.¡±


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± The administrator asked.


    ¡°We''ll start at the mine and work our way back as I show you all of the things that have changed.¡± I said and led them towards the lift. ¡°I have to admit that even I''m impressed that I''ve done so much in so short a time.¡±


    ¡°Having access to an underground asteroid smelter is wonderful!¡± Noma said.


    The administrator gasped. ¡°What did you do to my smelter?¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I made it more efficient and put it to better use, of course.¡±


    ¡°You... what... how...¡±


    ¡°You''ll see.¡± I said and we all stepped into the lift and went down to the main floor and walked out of the administration center.


    ¡°WHAT IS THAT?¡± The administrator yelled and Noma, the guard, and I laughed.


    ¡°That''s the platform I came here on.¡± I said and helped both women step on. ¡°Buckle up.¡± I said and sat on the small seat behind the half-console pedestal.


    The guard showed the administrator how to buckle the actual straps to hold her against the comfortable bench seat, then the guard and Noma buckled up as well.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± I said and used the controls to take us from there to the junction, then turned to go to the entrance to the mine. We were there in seconds.


    ¡°I hope you''re feeling better.¡± The Order member there said.


    ¡°Ma''am.¡± The guard there saluted. ¡°Sir.¡± He said and saluted me.


    ¡°How are we getting this thing down there?¡± The administrator asked.


    ¡°Easily.¡± I said and turned the dial the last bit and the platform slid right out into the open air.


    ¡°AHH... wait, we''re not falling!¡±


    We all laughed.


    ¡°I''m on the top line here in this section, so now I''ll switch to the bottom line.¡± I said and did so, and the platform sank down to the ground. ¡°Here we go.¡±


    The platform zoomed along at a ridiculous speed for any vehicle and then slowed to a stop in the living area... that now looked like the inside of a modern space station.


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!?¡± The administrator yelled and everyone in the living area laughed.


    ¡°The housing block for the prisoners.¡± I said. ¡°Once I started making changes with the living arrangements, well...¡±


    ¡°We can''t afford this expenditure!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°By the Goddess, I can''t even imagine the credits spent on this!¡±


    ¡°That''s because you didn''t know how to use the money you had.¡± I said and turned off the platform. ¡°Hey, everyone.¡± I said and a few people waved.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± The woman on the big alien''s crew waved at me. ¡°My bitch is complaining that the cleaning bot isn''t cleaning our room properly.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I still can''t believe you didn''t kill him years ago for trying to rob you that time.¡±


    ¡°I beat the shit out of him and he took it like a man.¡± She said and shrugged. ¡°I respect him for that.¡±


    ¡°Enough to keep him a lot longer than any of us expected.¡± I said.


    ¡°He''s a good bitch.¡± The woman said with a grin.


    I laughed again and looked at the administrator. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡±


    I kept an eye on the administrator as she sat between Noma and the guard that liked her, and I could tell that she felt like she was in a completely different place than what she expected. The prisoners were all still wearing jumpsuits, except they were in different clothing styles. They also didn''t have any restraints. That really surprised her.


    I easily fixed the little droid that had a small rock lodged in its spinning sweeper gear. ¡°I see the problem.¡± I said, even though it couldn''t be seen from the outside. I used Presence to pull it out and the little droid spun its sweeper happily. ¡°There you go, little guy. Have fun.¡± I said and put it down. It beeped at me and disappeared under the bed.


    ¡°Thanks, Hunter.¡± The woman said.


    ¡°It was no trouble at all.¡± I said and left her room and went back to the platform. ¡°We can stop here for longer on the way back and you can look around.¡± I turned the platform on and started to move down the main shaft.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Val yelled and waved from her window near the top of the main shaft. ¡°You better not waste time tonight.¡±


    I chuckled and slowed the platform down. ¡°Don''t worry. I''ve got the Lover''s Passion Fruit ready and waiting for you.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± The administrator said before she could stop herself.


    ¡°It works on Aviatoma, too.¡± I said and waved at Val. ¡°I''ll see you at seven.¡±


    ¡°I better!¡± Val said with a laugh.


    I turned the dial and the platform picked up speed and we were at the supervisor''s spot a few seconds later.


    ¡°Ma''am.¡± The supervisor said and nodded his head at the old administrator. Behind him were racks of laser drills and digging tools that looked to be in pristine condition.


    ¡°What in the... how did we get so many?¡± The administrator asked, shocked.


    ¡°I pushed through an order of replacement parts.¡± I said. ¡°Mostly emitters and regulator circuit boards, a shipment of the main drive screw for the digging tools, and a few odds and ends.¡±


    ¡°But... who... how...¡±


    ¡°Once I had my hands on some actual tools and real replacement parts, fixing them was easy.¡± I said. ¡°You also can''t tell which ones are the repaired ones and which ones are the normal ones.¡± I looked at the supervisor. ¡°We''re heading down to section nineteen.¡±


    ¡°Your pet project still throws up too much dust, even with the extra air filters.¡± The supervisor said.


    ¡°That''s why only I''m supposed to use it.¡± I said with a laugh. ¡°I catch the excess with Presence.¡±


    ¡°I''ll figure out how we can use it, too.¡± He said. ¡°One of these days.¡±


    I nodded and changed the settings on my half-console, then switched to the top line and the platform floated up towards the ceiling. I did that because I didn''t want to interfere with the other workers and we travelled the entire distance to the new end of the shaft where my experiment was mounted.


    The big alien laughed as I passed by section eighteen that used to be the end of the mine. ¡°You''re crazy!¡± He said. ¡°I thought the things you made for me were ridiculous!¡±


    ¡°They are, you big lummox!¡± I retorted and he laughed.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± The administrator asked, confused.


    ¡°Feast your eyes on the new tunnel maker.¡± I said as I brought the platform to a stop and waved at the huge mechanical thing in front of us.


    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± The administrator asked as she saw the huge monstrosity.


    ¡°Years of engineering work and cobbling parts together.¡± I said and waved at the huge multi-arm laser and drilling machine in front of us. ¡°Once I had access to actual replacement parts, I kind of went a little crazy.¡± I said and laughed. ¡°Shall I demonstrate?¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± Noma yelled.


    ¡°Hey, now. Don''t suck in what I make right away, okay?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Aww, that''s not fair.¡± Noma said, sadly.


    ¡°I''ll let you absorb what you want after I stop the excess debris.¡±


    ¡°Aaaaaall right.¡± Noma said and sighed exaggeratedly.


    ¡°You know I love you, right?¡± I asked and she beamed a smile at me.


    ¡°I''ve known that ever since that first day when you let me absorb as much as I wanted and I peed myself all over you. You didn''t complain or even get angry at me, so I knew it was true!¡± Noma said happily.


    I laughed. ¡°I''m tempted to overload you now, just to see if you used the bathroom yet.¡±


    ¡°Oh! You bastard!¡± Noma said in an accusing tone, then she laughed, too. ¡°You know I always try to empty my bladder first!¡±


    ¡°Then hold on to your panties.¡± I said and looked at the wall of machines. ¡°One shift of filled crates coming right up.¡±


    The administrator watched as I used the drilling machines on every second mechanical arm to clear away about six feet of rock and dirt to reveal a good vein of unrefined focusing crystals. I used Presence to catch all of the spit out dirt and debris and settled it to the ground. One I did, I used the other mechanical arms to find and then drill out the unrefined crystals and used Presence to catch the excess from them as well.


    Both the administrator and the guard were surprised when one simple action revealed and yielded three crates worth of crystals in only five minutes. They both successfully ignored Noma''s moans as she absorbed the Presence I had used.


    ¡°By the Goddess'' grace.¡± The administrator said. ¡°That''s amazing!¡±


    I took out three crates and filled them with the crystals and then packed them away. ¡°So, now you know how we are staying on schedule.¡± I said and turned to the administrator. ¡°I can create three crates of crystals every five minutes to supplement the normal shipment.¡±


    ¡°You... I can''t believe...¡±


    ¡°It''s all right if you can''t accept it right away.¡± I said. ¡°I mean, you only just learned about the changes I''ve made.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Let''s go backwards through everything and I''ll show you the extent of what I''ve done while you were incapacitated.¡±


    The administrator looked at me for a moment, then nodded.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± I said and the platform turned around to face the other way, then I turned the dial quickly to give them the real ride that the anti-gravity platform provided.


    Both the guard and the administrator were surprised by this, since they hadn''t experienced the full capacity before. Noma loved it, because I used Presence to brace them and she sucked it in.


    ¡°I should tell you to stop that.¡± I said to Noma.


    ¡°You love me too much to tell me no.¡± Noma said and laughed.


    ¡°Guilty.¡± I said and we both laughed together.

 Book Three: The Resolution 121

    The tour lasted for nearly the full shift and the administrator was blown away at all of the changes. She had no idea that power, lights, showers, cleaning bots, and every modern convenience could be had by everyone and not just her. She hadn''t had a cleaning bot though and wondered where they came from.


    The old broken parts warehouse was almost completely empty now and it had been converted to a recreation and workout room. The large cargo hatch was always open and a lot of the prisoners spent their days off there. It wasn''t until one of the inmates offered to let her see the inside of their cell that she realized the full extent of the changes. It wasn''t a cell at all. It was a full residence, just like hers, and it even had a full display screen in the living room.


    ¡°Thanks for letting us intrude.¡± I said and the man waved as we left.


    ¡°What... how...¡± The administrator couldn''t get the words out.


    ¡°Figuring out the logistics for individual showers only happened recently; but, I had left space in the rooms for it, so it was easily adapted.¡± I said. ¡°Running the pipes and keeping the water hot and the pressure up with so many people using it at different times?¡± I chuckled. ¡°What a pain in the ass that was!¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± Frank said and came over to us. He wore an administrator outfit and not a guard uniform. He also didn''t have any weapons or armor on, which surprised the administrator, since he was among the prisoners. ¡°I warned you it was going to be a nightmare.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Administrator, if you don''t recognize him, he used to be a guard until I promoted him to Overseer about a year ago.¡±


    ¡°Over-what?¡± The administrator asked.


    ¡°He keeps all the little things here on task and running.¡± I said. ¡°I was just too busy working to worry about everything.¡±


    There was a loud siren sound for a few seconds and we all turned towards the main shaft. In less than thirty seconds, all of the prisoners that had been on shift were dropped off in the living area with their full crates. The supervisor stopped with the last of the prisoners and hooked all of the crates onto the back of his platform with cargo handles in a chain. He switched the platform to the top rail and floated up to the top of the shaft, there was a second siren, and he disappeared up the shaft with the crates.


    ¡°Good Goddess.¡± The administrator said. ¡°Did I just see that?¡±


    ¡°It''s damn efficient.¡± Frank said. ¡°No one has been hurt, thanks to the field the platforms and crates generate, assuming anyone was stupid enough to stay in the way with the clear warning siren.¡±


    ¡°Even the big guy gets out of the way in time.¡± I said and waved to the big alien. He waved back and shuffled one foot and shot ten feet forward, then did it again.


    ¡°What is he on?¡± The administrator asked as she saw him.


    ¡°It''s half of a cargo handle and part of a crate in the shape of a boot.¡± I said. ¡°I made a small platform for him with the electronics in it. He just turns it on when he wants to move. It raises an inch off the ground and he uses his other foot to push himself along.¡±


    The administrator stared at the ingenious contraption for several minutes, until the beeping of the food dispensary distracted her. It opened up and everyone gathered around to get their food. The three workers there served everyone fairly quickly, thanks to the updated and triplicated food processing units. The supervisor came back and parked his platform and got his food as well.


    I turned my head when I felt three distinct people approach.


    ¡°Hi, Hunter.¡± Val said with a huge smile and kissed me, then she went to get her tray of food.


    ¡°False Tiercel.¡± The first avian woman said and gave me a kiss as well and went to the dispensary.


    The administrator stared at me with an open mouth, because she couldn''t believe what she just saw.


    ¡°Asshole.¡± The second avian woman said angrily, grabbed my collar and kissed me, then she blushed a little and went to get her food tray, too.


    ¡°What was that?¡± The administrator asked, shocked.


    ¡°I eventually wore them down.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°She still tries to kill me in my sleep, though.¡±


    ¡°Are... are you insane?¡± The administrator asked, shocked.


    ¡°Only a little.¡± I said.


    The administrator gave me an odd look, then she blinked her eyes. ¡°Wait, what did the older avian woman call you?¡±


    ¡°False Tiercel.¡± I said. ¡°Tiercel is the title they give mating males of their species. Since I''m not an Aviatoma, it means I''m a fake male breeder.¡± I let her think about that and walked over to the dispensary. ¡°Four trays, please.¡±


    ¡°Yessir.¡± The three workers said and did up four trays and handed them to me.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said walked back over to the administrator. ¡°Shall we sit?¡±


    The administrator was about to ask where when tables raised up out of the floor and nearly everyone sat down to eat their food. The dispensary''s serving job had been done in only ten minutes and the three workers sat down and ate as well. I put the four food trays down on the table and Noma, the guard and I sat.


    ¡°It''s okay.¡± I said and motioned to the spot beside the guard. ¡°It''s not the tasteless stuff it used to be.¡±


    ¡°It''s actually really good.¡± Noma said as the administrator sat. ¡°The servers are the ones that take care of both farms and Hunter helps them with the cultivation.¡±


    ¡°It took a long time to get the right balance.¡± I said with a smile and started to eat. ¡°Yeah, that''s good.¡±


    Noma took a bite and moaned a little. ¡°I can taste you.¡± She said and looked at me with longing, so I reached up and touched the side of her face and put a little bit of Presence into her mouth. ¡°Mmm.¡± She moaned and leaned forward and kissed me for another taste.


    ¡°You shouldn''t be feeding her so liberally.¡± The administrator said.


    I chuckled. ¡°She''d be unconscious if I fed her liberally.¡±


    ¡°He promised to do it once a week and he''s always done it.¡± Noma said and let out a long and satisfied sigh, then she ate some more food. ¡°I can''t wait!¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I still haven''t broken her of the habit.¡± I said and we all ate our food.


    The administrator tried it and the food was just as good, if not a little better, than the food being served to the guards.


    ¡°It''s the same.¡± I said and she looked at me. ¡°I doubled the size of both gardens and criss-crossed their contents. I even brought in new things and added them to the mix.¡±


    ¡°It''s his Presence.¡± Noma said. ¡°The little boosts he gives the plants makes all the difference.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I explained that you can''t just pour Presence into a plant and it grows. It doesn''t work like that.¡±


    Noma poked my shoulder. ¡°It''s all you.¡± She said. ¡°All of it.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The administrator had to agree. Everything she had seen had all been because of Hunter''s administration of her mining facility. She ate her food in silence and when they were done, they dropped off their trays and the tour continued as they went all the way back to the administration center. Even the subtle changes were significant, because she had been out of commission for so long. Everyone they passed nodded, waved, or saluted him and that bothered her a lot.


    I let her ruminate over everything and didn''t interrupt her thoughts until we reached her residence. Once there, my wrist communicator beeped at me to get my attention.


    ¡°Sir, you told me to call and remind you about your conference call.¡± An older woman''s voice said.


    ¡°Oh! Ha ha. I actually did forget. Thanks, Peggy.¡± I said.


    ¡°You''re welcome, sir.¡± Peggy said and clicked off.


    ¡°Who was that?¡± The administrator asked.


    ¡°My personal assistant.¡± I said and she stared at me. ¡°I don''t like doing paperwork and make her do it.¡±


    ¡°Where did you find a personal assistant?¡± She asked.


    ¡°She was one of the cleaning ladies. Once I brought in a few cleaning droids and eased all of their workloads, they branched out and do other things now.¡± I said. ¡°Noma, you be good and I''ll see you tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Kisses.¡± Noma said and she gave me several quick kisses and I gave her touches of Presence each time. ¡°Say hi to everyone for me.¡±


    ¡°You know they don''t mind you being there.¡± I said and she shook her head.


    ¡°That''s your time with them. I get you all the other times.¡± Noma said.


    I gave her a longer kiss and a bit more Presence to make her moan, then looked at the administrator. ¡°Go to bed and relax. I''ve got things handled until you''re recovered.¡± I said and started to walk away.


    ¡°I''ll stay and help you in any way I can to get you better.¡± The guard that liked her said.


    ¡°But... your duties...¡±


    I turned back when I reached the lift. ¡°He''s assigned to be your personal guard and doesn''t have any other duties, so he''s all yours.¡± I said and rode the lift down to the ground level and went to my office. I had made a new place for it when the administrator was taken out of stasis.


    ¡°They''re online and waiting for you.¡± Peggy said when I came through the door.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and walked by her and closed the door.


    ¡°Hi, Hunter.¡± Hailey said from the middle seat of the couch on the huge display screen.


    ¡°Hey, beautiful.¡± I said and beamed a smile at her and sat down on the couch to copy her. ¡°I know it''s only been a week since we last talked; but, you look an inch taller.¡±


    ¡°How can you tell? I''m sitting down.¡± Hailey said and giggled.


    ¡°Why are you giggling? He didn''t start flirting yet.¡± Simone said with a laugh. ¡°Hey, handsome.¡±


    ¡°I''m still not talking to you.¡± I said and turned my head away.


    ¡°Aww, don''t be like that.¡± Simone said. ¡°It was only one public picture.¡±


    ¡°Simone, I did not want the entire galaxy to see me having sex with you on Adona''s observation deck.¡±


    ¡°No one''s talking about it anymore.¡± Simone said.


    I sighed. ¡°I''m on a prison planet and on a secured network, and I''m still getting random messages about it from everywhere.¡±


    ¡°It''s not my fault someone put it on the satellite network.¡± Simone said and licked her lips.


    ¡°You''re supposed to be less affected by public displays by now, dammit.¡± I said.


    ¡°If you were here, I wouldn''t be so bad.¡± Simone said and bit her lip to plump it up.


    I sighed. ¡°You know I can''t leave yet and you can''t come here.¡±


    ¡°You''ve had the satellite in place for six months. I doubt The Order will just magically show up to kick you out.¡± Sheph said. ¡°As far as we can tell, the new council doesn''t have any complaints about how you''re running the place.¡±


    ¡°Only because I asked you to help them track down the organization that''s making all of those assassins.¡± I said. ¡°Which reminds me, how''s Kara?¡±


    ¡°She looked fine last month when I sent her the new data packages.¡± Sheph said. ¡°She''s been a bit cold after each mission, though.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°She''s not really predisposed for that kind of work, so it''s going to take its toll on her.¡± I said. ¡°Did you tell her to call me here?¡±


    Sheph nodded. ¡°She said that she''s not calling a prison, no matter how secure the call is.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°She travelled for months to drop me off and yet she balks at calling.¡±


    ¡°I can''t explain it, either.¡± Sheph smiled. ¡°Oh, I''ve got the new shipping numbers, too.¡±


    ¡°Business can wait.¡± I said. ¡°I''d rather talk to my friends right now.¡±


    ¡°He acknowledged us, even with Hailey here!¡± Sandy said exaggeratedly and hugged Beatrice. ¡°It''s a miracle!¡±


    We all laughed at that.


    ¡°Is Opina linking everyone in?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You know I am.¡± Opina, our space habitat AI said. ¡°Gleas, Jelly, and Monna, say hello.¡±


    ¡°Hello!¡± Three voices came from the display. They were currently out on a delivery and wouldn''t be back at the station for another week.


    ¡°No video?¡± I asked, concerned.


    ¡°I''ve got a maintenance crew looking at Opina''s communication suite. There''s something wrong with the linking software and we can''t add in more than one screen.¡± Sheph said. ¡°They said tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°They said that yesterday.¡± Opina said, a little disgruntled.


    I chuckled. ¡°Well, just getting to hear all of your voices is good enough for me.¡±


    ¡°Us, too.¡± Gleas said. ¡°We all miss seeing you around.¡±


    ¡°I miss being around. I''m also sorry that I missed all your birthdays the last two years.¡±


    ¡°You''re a little tied up hiding from the rest of the universe.¡± Deborah said from just off-screen. ¡°We all understand the necessity of staying there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Thank you all.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll do my best to make it up to you when I get the chance.¡±


    ¡°We love you.¡± Hailey said. ¡°We''ll wait for as long as you want us to for you to come back.¡±


    ¡°Some of us love you more than others.¡± Simone said cattily. ¡°Guess who else got a boyfriend?¡±


    ¡°Simone!¡± Jelly''s voice exclaimed and I laughed.


    ¡°You just gave yourself away, Jelly.¡± Simone said. ¡°Poor girl was caught by this handsome pilot out near the rim during one of the deliveries last week.¡±


    ¡°Wow, really?¡± I asked. ¡°Is he any good?¡±


    ¡°He''s fully vetted and checked out.¡± Sheph said. ¡°He''s good.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Jelly exclaimed and we all laughed.


    ¡°We all want what''s best for our family.¡± Sheph said. ¡°Don''t take it personally.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°Deborah''s husband has been a big help, too.¡± Sandy said.


    ¡°A dedicated heavy maintenance engineer is always handy to have around. I could use a man with his skills here.¡± I said. ¡°I''m glad he accepted the job with our company.¡±


    Deborah leaned into the camera''s pickup. ¡°That was mean of you to wait for us to be married first before letting Sheph make the offer.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t want his decision influenced by your sexy body... I mean our money.¡± I said and she shook her fist at me. ¡°I''m happy you''re happy!¡± I quickly said and raised my hands in surrender, and everyone laughed.


    We talked for another little while and my wrist communicator beeped.


    ¡°Looks like our time is up.¡± I said and looked right at Hailey and created a Presence Hand by her face and caressed her cheek. ¡°I''ll take a bath tonight and think about you.¡±


    ¡°I will, too.¡± Hailey said. ¡°I love you, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said and absorbed the hand. ¡°Until next week.¡±


    ¡°Until then.¡± Hailey said and the screen went blank.


    I stared at the screen and didn''t regret initiating contact. I had debated hard about staying completely out of contact for as long as I was in prison, then when the administrator was brought out of stasis, I paid to have the very next ship drop off one of my satellites into orbit. If things didn''t go well, I wanted a way to call the people I cared about in place before anything happened.


    I had already modified datapads to give me backdoor access into the system if the old administrator did decide to try and put everything back to the way it was. If she tried to take over with her harsh tactics again, I was pretty sure I would have to arrange for her to go back into stasis.


    I left my office and waved at Peggy, and she nodded and shut down her console. She had taken to administrative duties like a duck to water when I brought in her droid replacements. I had given her the options to be transferred out, to retire, or to become something I needed desperately. She had smacked my face for the last option, because her dead husband wouldn''t want her to be one of my women.


    It took me a week to convince her that I only wanted an assistant.


    After that, and a bribe of two weeks vacation every six months, she took the job eagerly and pretty much ran my day and kept me on track. I would occasionally smile at her with one of my award winning smiles, and her hand would magically slap my face, no matter where she was in the room.


    ¡°The answer is no.¡± Peggy would say and then act as if nothing happened. I really like her.


    I left the administration center and used the platform to get back to the living section. Once there, Frank gave me a wave and took it back. I walked down the mine shaft to Val''s place and the cargo hatch opened as I approached. I looked up and Val tweeted at me. I chirped back and went inside the entryway. It was all done up and no dirt walls or floor could be seen. I went up the stairs and Val met me there and kissed me.


    ¡°Please tell me we can!¡±


    I chuckled and knocked on the door across from her nest. It opened and the first avian woman was there. ¡°Honored Matron, we are ascending to the roost.¡±


    She let out a pleased warble and the second avian woman came over to us.


    ¡°The administrator is going to be upset when she finds out what you did.¡± She said and the three of us entered a hidden lift.


    ¡°Are you going to tell her?¡± I asked with a grin and she warbled angrily at me. ¡°Then don''t worry about it. Only we know this exists.¡±


    It took a couple of minutes for us to ascend the three miles to the surface and then we smelled fresh air as we entered the twisting trees I had formed around the lift on the surface. We went up another two hundred feet and the lift stopped. When it opened, we were met with one of the most fantastic views on the planet''s surface. The four of us took it in, along with deep breaths, then we climbed into the real and quite large wooden nest.


    ¡°This amazes me every time, False Tiercel.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°Thank you for this.¡±


    ¡°You say that every time.¡± I said and took out the dessert preparation device and put one of the desserts in it. I had added a self-contained battery pack and it only needed to be recharged occasionally. ¡°You are quite welcome.¡± I said and took out the dessert and stored the device, then popped the dessert open.


    All three women started to drool at the smell, especially mixed with the fresh air and the excessive height we were at, then I formed the claws around my hand and dipped my finger into the creme to start sharing the dessert.

 Book Three: The Resolution 122

    After we shared the dessert and they all enjoyed it, it was time to adorn the nest with their groomed feathers. It had been three weeks since the last time and the first avian woman stripped off and assumed her favorite position of reclining on a particularly thick branch and I had to adjust my technique around her pose. She liked that I never asked her to make it easier for myself and I always pleased her, no matter how inconvenient it was for me.


    When it was the second avian woman''s turn, she fought, scratched, and screeched at me that I wasn''t allowed to do it to her. I managed to get her bent over the side of the nest and took her from behind, and she chirped and warbled angrily at me for degrading her in such a manner and cursed me in both her own language and in common.


    Secretly, she loved that I was strong enough to fight her off and take her anyway. She adored the fact that I never scolded her for acting so unreasonable or tried to curb her behaviour or stopped her from being angry about it. She felt how she felt about me and because I accepted that, she had accepted me in return.


    Val just had as much fun as she possibly could. She wouldn''t stick with a single position and she always wanted to be thoroughly groomed no matter what we were doing. I obliged, of course. None of us were committed to each other, especially because I wasn''t one of their race, and they knew that it was just good fun for us all to have. The three of them dispersed their loose feathers and down throughout the nest and finished the adornment.


    ¡°You''re welcome to stay here all night again.¡± I said as we all dressed.


    ¡°It is tempting.¡± The first avian woman said, a little sad. ¡°I''ve gotten too used to the underground.¡±


    ¡°I keep telling you to come up here on your days off.¡± I said and she waved my concern away.


    ¡°I''ll be here for years yet.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°I also don''t want to get too used to the outside here.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about this suddenly being taken away.¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you going to hand command back over to her?¡± She asked.


    I opened my mouth to answer and Val covered it with her hand.


    ¡°Don''t lie.¡± Val warned me and moved her hand.


    ¡°I''m supposed to be on vacation.¡± I said and looked out at the spectacular view. ¡°I didn''t want to rework this place, or take over, or anything like that.¡±


    ¡°You wanted us from the start.¡± The second avian woman said accusingly.


    ¡°I did.¡± I said and turned to look at her. ¡°Your little chirps and tweets when we''re having sex really turn me on.¡±


    Her face went bright red as she blushed. ¡°You!¡± She spat. ¡°I can''t believe I let you...¡±


    I reached out with Presence and shared a calmness technique. ¡°I can''t express how much I appreciate that you do.¡± I said and she closed her mouth. ¡°All three of you have been the best thing I''ve found at this mine.¡±


    ¡°It is too bad that you can''t keep us.¡± The first avian woman said.


    I nodded. ¡°Even if I built you another aerie in the Dizahl System, I still can''t keep you. Not only isn''t it fair to you, it''s completely unfair to your species.¡± I reached out and cupped the side of the first avian woman''s face and then gave her cheek a kiss. ¡°You deserve to have a real Tiercel in your life.¡± I moved over and did the same to the second avian woman, then to Val. ¡°All three of you deserve it.¡±


    ¡°You''re going to make me warble if you keep talking like that.¡± Val said and kissed me on the lips.


    I smiled. ¡°I guess I''m missing you before I have to.¡±


    ¡°I''d say so.¡± Val said and the four of us stepped into the lift. ¡°How much longer are you staying?¡±


    ¡°Another couple of years, until the thoughts of all the people I''ve killed fade from people''s perception.¡±


    ¡°Is that all it will take?¡± The first avian woman asked.


    I nodded. ¡°It''s starting to fade already, and it''s only been two years since the massacre.¡± I said. ¡°Another two years, maybe three, and I can pardon myself and head home.¡±


    Val shook her head. ¡°Why don''t you pardon yourself now and just stay as a custodian or something.¡±


    ¡°That feels too much like cheating the system.¡± I said and the three avian women laughed.


    ¡°You are the oddest man we have ever known.¡± The first avian woman said.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and the lift opened. ¡°I''ll see you tomorrow.¡±


    They each gave me a kiss, one reluctantly, and I left through the cargo hatch and used Presence Run to go all the way back to the administration center. I went inside and to my residence, quickly did up a bath and added Hailey''s favorite bubbles, then climbed in to lay back and relax. I soaked myself in the water and closed my eyes to meditate and thought about Hailey.


    She had grown quite a lot since I had been in prison and my joke earlier about her being an inch taller wasn''t far from the truth. She was taller than her mother already and if her growing continued, by the time I left here to go home, she would be pretty close to my height if not a little taller.


    I smiled at the thought. Imagine, all these years she''s been looking up at me and soon she''ll be taller and I''ll have to look up at her. I concentrated on our connection and I felt a familiar tingle respond around the scars over my heart. The time is going to fly by before you know it. My chest burned lightly and I chuckled. Yeah, yeah. I know. Hurry up.


    *


    A week later, the administrator laid in her bed and she didn''t know what to do. She had used her administrator access and saw all of the changes, both physically and electronically, and she knew intellectually that it was better... and yet, she liked the way things had been before. Both the prison mine and the prisoners were simpler and easier to control.


    Now, they were so far above her current level of training that it scared her. She wasn''t even sure how the orders for new equipment were handled, because the software had been changed. That angered her and she felt a familiar tingle in the palm of her restored hand and she started to smile. Almost immediately, the door to her residence opened and Noma quickly strode over to the bed.


    ¡°No, don''t.¡± The administrator said and tried to pull her hand out of the way.


    ¡°Now, now. Hunter told me to take care of you.¡± Noma said and grabbed the hand and sucked on the middle finger.


    ¡°S-stop.¡± The administrator said as she felt her excess Presence be sucked out through her finger. ¡°Damn you.¡± She said when it was gone.


    Noma let her hand go and gave her a smile. ¡°You know he''s doing this for a reason.¡±


    ¡°Yes, to keep me here and unable to reassert control.¡± The administrator said.


    Noma let out a girlish laugh that the administrator had never heard before. ¡°He said that was what you would claim.¡± She said, then she leaned in close. ¡°He told me that I shouldn''t tell you this.¡± She whispered. ¡°We''ve known each other for a long time and you did feed me when you could, so I''ll let you in on a little secret.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°What is it?¡± The administrator asked automatically.


    ¡°Hunter doesn''t want you dead, even after what you did to him.¡± Noma said.


    ¡°Then why is he keeping me weak?¡±


    ¡°He''s making me suck your Presence through each of your fingers on purpose.¡± Noma continued.


    The administrator then realized it was true. Noma always used a different finger each time.


    ¡°If you tried to use your ability before readjusting your reattached hand to Presence use, you would tear it apart.¡±


    ¡°Wh-wh-what?¡± The administrator was shocked.


    ¡°You need to keep working your exercises and get your hand back to full functionality like the medical technician said. He knows all about your ability and that''s why he''s so concerned that you''ll lose it if you''re not careful.¡± Noma said. ¡°Your personal guard is even more worried. Not because of your ability, though. It''s because he actually likes you as a person and wants you back to full health.¡±


    The administrator wasn''t sure what to say about either thing.


    ¡°Like Hunter said, you just relax and don''t let anything worry you, except getting better.¡± Noma said. ¡°Believe me, you''ve got years to adjust to the way things are run before you have to take over again.¡±


    The administrator stared at her with a slightly open mouth.


    ¡°I don''t think Peggy will stay on when Hunter hands things back over to you, though. She likes him too much.¡± Noma said with a smile. ¡°It''s too bad she won''t accept casual sex from him, because Hunter is very, very good at it.¡±


    The administrator gasped.


    ¡°Oops! I think I said too much.¡± Noma chuckled and waved her hand. ¡°Forget about that last part. Go to sleep and let all the other worries float away for now.¡± She stood up and walked across the residence and opened the door. ¡°Goodnight.¡± She said and left.


    She did not just say that he would... with the cleaning lady... I mean his assistant. The administrator thought. She''s twice his age! At least!


    The administrator shook her head in disbelief and looked down at her hand. You could still see the slightly lighter part of the skin where the missing piece had been grafted and regrown. The medical technician had said that it would completely fade in time and that she wouldn''t have any scars at all.


    He''s not counting the mental scars. She thought and hugged her hand to her chest, rolled over in bed, and went to sleep.


    *


    A month went by, then another and another. Life at the prison mine went on. Shipments of finished crystals were sent out regularly. People there lived their lives, the guards and workers went on vacations, no one made any kind of ruckus, and the administrator watched it all. She really didn''t fit in with her old style of handling things and to her surprise, several different people visited her occasionally to teach her about how the place was run and the procedures that had been adapted.


    The software lessons had been the most valuable. Once she had been shown how streamlined everything was, the software almost worked intuitively. Orders were added in a normal fashion, then they were sorted into the proper queue and given a priority automatically, because it was checked with what was already in stock and the order was increased to a preset minimum. It even had estimated travel times and turnaround numbers for the transport ships.


    It was absolutely amazing to see and the administrator knew that if Hunter had broken while she tortured him, there was no way he would have been able to get her to understand what it was that he meant by making everything better. Even one of the ideas would have stumped her in trying to implement it. It wasn''t until you saw what was changed afterwards that you understood.


    At the beginning of the next month, nearly two and a half years after Hunter had arrived at her mine, the administrator finally decided that she had enough. She sent a discrete message to The Order and it set something into motion that would surprise everyone at the prison mine... except for Hunter. He had kept a close eye on her and knew what the message said, since she was using the normal network and not his secured and untraceable one.


    He let the message go through unaltered and started to make the proper preparations.


    Two months later, a large Order ship jumped into the system with two small assault ship escorts. They flew in through the defenses, since they had security clearance, and parked in low orbit. The side of the large ship opened up and twenty shuttles launched at the same time. They each had a guard squad on board and they were trained in base assaults.


    All of the shuttles screamed through the atmosphere and plummeted to the plant''s surface. They landed in force, a little harder than they normally would, then every shuttle opened as one. Twenty squads of fully armored guards flowed out of the shuttles and swarmed the shipping warehouse.


    Nothing was there.


    No crates of crystals, no workers, no shuttles, nothing.


    The guards looked around in confusion for only a moment, then they continued through the warehouse and entered the tunnel to head to the junction that split to go to the mine and to the administration center, and they split up. Ten squads went to the left and ten went to the right.


    A lone shuttle left the troop transport and flew down to the planet''s surface. It landed at the same time that the guard squads reached both of their destinations. The shuttle opened up and four hooded Order members stepped out with a stern looking man in the center. He wore grey pants and a shirt under minimal personal armor that was just for show. He looked around at the perfect assault landing that the other shuttles had performed and nodded.


    ¡°What''s the word, Master Afora?¡± The man asked.


    One of The Order members raised her arm and used her wrist com. ¡°Report.¡±


    ¡°Mine entrance. It''s all clear so far.¡± One man''s voice said.


    ¡°Admin center. No resistance.¡± Another said.


    ¡°Continue.¡± The man said and Master Afora passed on the order.


    The guards in the mine jogged, double time, down the mine shaft to the living area to secure all of the prisoners. The guards at the administration center went inside and swept through it and all of the rooms were locked and secured, as if it was on lock down from an invading force. They went up to the second level to the administrator''s residence and found the only door that was unlocked.


    ¡°We have two occupants.¡± The captain of the front team said on his wrist com. ¡°Identify yourselves.¡±


    ¡°I''m a blasted fool and this is the man that loves me anyway.¡± The administrator said from her couch and her personal guard stood beside her.


    ¡°That''s... not a proper identification.¡± The captain said and she identified herself and the guard with her, so the man spoke into his wrist again. ¡°We''ve found the person that made the distress call.¡±


    ¡°We''re on our way.¡± Master Afora said and she followed the stern man inside the storage warehouse and stayed alert for any traps or assaults, even though the squads of guards had gone through there already. You could never be too careful.


    ¡°Mine living area.¡± A voice said from her wrist com. ¡°There''s nothing here. No cubicles and no prisoners. It''s just all bare metal walls.¡±


    ¡°What? How is that possible?¡± Master Afora asked. ¡°Send someone down into the mine and see if anyone is working.¡±


    ¡°Right away.¡± The voice said and clicked off.


    The stern man and four Order members went all the way through the facility and went up to the second floor of the administration center and entered the administrator''s residence.


    ¡°I asked for help in retaking the facility, not for a replacement.¡± The administrator said.


    ¡°I believe you said you were being held against your will, which means you are compromised and your judgment is questionable.¡± The stern man said without cracking a smile, even though he knew what he just said countered itself, because she wouldn''t have asked for help if she was compromised like that. ¡°Where are the other workers and The Order members?¡±


    ¡°As I told you, one of them severed my hand and he was disposed of. The other willingly worked with a prisoner.¡± The administrator said. ¡°If you want to speak to him yourself, he''s in the next room.¡±


    ¡°Check it.¡± Master Afora said to one of the other Order members and he disappeared from sight.


    He was back a moment later. ¡°There is one Order member and six workers, all restrained in wrist and ankle shackles.¡±


    The stern man looked at the administrator. ¡°Why did you refer to yourself as a fool?¡±


    ¡°Because I was stupid enough to call for help.¡± The administrator said.


    ¡°I don''t understand.¡± The stern man said.


    ¡°You will.¡± The administrator said.


    ¡°Mine living area.¡± Master Afora''s wrist com said. ¡°There''s no one in the mines at all.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± Master Afora asked. ¡°Where did they go?¡±


    ¡°Take a wild guess.¡± The administrator said. ¡°If they are not here, and they are not in the mines, where oh where could they be?¡±


    ¡°Call the ship!¡± The stern man said and Master Afora tried and received nothing but static. ¡°Call the guards in my shuttle.¡± He said and there was no answer. ¡°Someone get me eyes up there, now!¡±


    ¡°It''s much too late for that.¡± The administrator said.


    ¡°You!¡± He spat. ¡°Tell me what just happened!¡±


    ¡°I believe you delivered just the right amount of shuttles for all of the prisoners to escape.¡± The administrator said. ¡°Oh, and a ship large enough to hold them all.¡± She laughed. ¡°I hadn''t realized that was something he had been planning for and I played right into his hand.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Master Afora said. ¡°Are you telling us that he''s making a prison escape right now?¡±


    ¡°No. I''m telling you he''s already gone.¡± The administrator said and looked at her personal guard. ¡°Do you think he left the assault ships intact?¡±


    ¡°No, ma''am.¡± The guard said. ¡°As soon as the shuttles hit atmosphere, I''ll bet that both smaller ships were destroyed instantly.¡±


    ¡°I would assume that, too.¡± The administrator said and looked at the stern man. ¡°As soon as your people stepped inside the shipping warehouse, all of your shuttles were commandeered and the prisoners fled the planet.¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡± The stern man said, sadly.


    ¡°I would bid you welcome and I hope you enjoy your stay.¡± The administrator said with a forced smile, then she reached into a pocket and pulled out the Lover''s Passion Fruit that Hunter had given her before he left. She took her personal guard''s hand and gave him a genuine smile. ¡°Would you care to join me for dessert?¡±


    ¡°I would be honored, ma''am.¡± Her personal guard said and smiled back.

 Book Three: The Resolution 123

    Not surprisingly, the prisoners adapted to shipboard life quickly. The ship was large and was quite similar in layout to the mine''s renovations. Nearly everyone on board missed that fact, except for a select few. The big alien and his crew, the three avian women, the three guards that had chosen to come along, and Peggy. Noma didn''t care where she lived, as long as I was nearby.


    ¡°How long have you been planning this?¡± Peggy asked me after a week of being on the ship and she had successfully scheduled activities for the prisoners in place of their normal mining shifts.


    ¡°About two and a half years.¡± I said and she stared at me in surprise, as did the captain and bridge crew of the ship. ¡°I started small, of course. I knew I could weasel some things into practice at the mine eventually, then when I was sentenced to isolation and the administrator took a liking to me, well... after that, I had the means to do what I wanted and put everything in place.¡±


    ¡°You''ve been planning to break out of prison the entire time you were there.¡± Peggy said and shook her head. ¡°When were you going to tell me you were leaving?¡±


    I reached out and took her hand. ¡°As soon as I knew the jig was up and the administrator called for help to fight against me, I told you immediately.¡±


    ¡°That''s not what I meant.¡± Peggy said.


    ¡°I was planning to stay there for another three years.¡± I said and her eyes widened in surprise. ¡°I had it all planned out, too.¡± I chuckled. ¡°That had to change almost at the last minute; but, thanks to your help, we managed it all.¡±


    Peggy sighed. ¡°It''s too bad we lost that first shuttle to this ship defending itself.¡±


    ¡°That was an acceptable loss, considering we had twenty-five shuttles full of people.¡± I said. What I didn''t tell her was that the first shuttle had the eagerest group to take over the ship before the rest of us arrived, that way they would be in charge and my shuttle would have been the one to have an ''accident''. I just happened to arrange their accident first. ¡°The rest of us made it.¡±


    Peggy looked at the captain of the ship and then back to me. ¡°Hunter, why didn''t you let them go to the planet''s surface?¡±


    ¡°There''s no AI on this ship to help run it.¡± I said, honestly. ¡°It''s the same reason I didn''t let the shuttle pilots go, either. We need them to survive.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°I gave them my word that they would be unharmed and I would let them go... with the ship... once we were delivered to our destination.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve warned everyone that if any of our hostages come to harm, they will suffer the same penalties as if they attacked the administrator.¡±


    Peggy sighed. ¡°I guess that would be the only thing that would deter them.¡±


    ¡°It''s okay, Peggy.¡± I gave her hand a squeeze. ¡°I''m watching them all.¡±


    Peggy gave me a disbelieving look, so I pointed to the monitor behind me.


    ¡°Eighteen people are on the main deck and are watching the large screen and my favorite show. I haven''t seen the episode myself and it''s killing me to listen to it without sharing it with Hailey and the others.¡±


    Peggy looked at the monitor and then at my face. ¡°How can you see the show? It''s not on the monitor.¡±


    ¡°I''m not looking at the monitor.¡± I said and pointed down at the floor. ¡°I can see the large screen.¡±


    Peggy knew the layout of the ship now and she looked down at the floor and them back at my face. ¡°I still can''t believe that you can see through walls that well.¡±


    ¡°I''m tempted to tell you what you have on your cabin nightstand; but, I don''t want you to slap me again.¡± I said and she took in a sharp breath. ¡°I truly admire your devotion.¡±


    Peggy blushed, even though she was over fifty, and she pulled her hand out of my grasp. ¡°Keep your eyes out of my room.¡±


    ¡°I have to check on my favorite person every now and then.¡± I said and her blush deepened. ¡°I don''t want you to think it''s an intrusion, so I only check during the day when you''re working and I watch the hallway when you''re not.¡±


    Peggy wasn''t sure how to respond to me watching her all the time.


    ¡°It''s not all the time, since there''s too many people within my detection range to focus solely on you.¡± I said. ¡°It''s okay, though. Even if I can''t watch you all the time, I''m thinking about you.¡±


    Peggy took in a breath and let it out. ¡°I... I think I need to go lay down.¡±


    ¡°You''ve been working hard all week, so I''ll let everyone know you''re off until tomorrow.¡± I said and gave her a quick hug. ¡°See you in the morning.¡±


    Peggy nodded and left the bridge. I watched her until she entered her room and she looked up at me. She gave me a little wave and I spoke to her with Presence.


    ¡°I''ll keep a watch on the hallway for you.¡± I said.


    Peggy nodded and closed the door. After a minute, the door opened and she waved at me.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Peggy said and shut the door.


    I guess I passed whatever test that was. I thought with a smile and kept watch on everyone.


    *


    It took us just over two months to reach the system I had designated for the drop off. None of the computers could come up with the system information and the pilot flew us blind into the proper orbit under my direction.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said in assurance. ¡°There are ships waiting to reload your food stocks and supplies.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank the Goddess.¡± One of the bridge crew said.


    I chuckled. ¡°Look, I know I commandeered you for this trip; but, I''m not a complete asshole. I''ve abused your skills for a while and I have no problem compensating you for the trouble.¡± I said. ¡°You''ll find you''ve received the standard pay, plus bonuses for duress in your accounts, when you get back to where you were supposed to go.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± The captain asked, completely shocked.


    ¡°What? Did you expect to do two months of work for free?¡± I asked. ¡°Are you crazy?¡±


    The captain and the crew stared at me.


    ¡°You should approve of the docking procedures while I go down to the shuttle bay and prepare for transport to the surface.¡± I said and left the bridge for the first time in two months. Everyone on the crew had been unnerved by my diligence at maintaining watch over the bridge crew for the entire journey. Even the prisoners had been weirded out by my apparent lack of sleep for the entire trip. I didn''t bother telling them that all I really needed was a half-meditation state and I could sleep standing up and still watch over everyone at the same time.


    Noma had visited me regularly and had no trouble accepting what I was doing. I had fed her Presence the entire time as well and she was more than happy to put off having sex until we settled down in my chosen system. Of course, by that time, she was completely ready to share with me intimately. It took quite a lot of willpower to get her to wait until we had reached the planet''s surface and the shuttles had taken off.


    A large pile of prefab living compartments had been dropped off in various areas on the pretty much uninhabited planet. I had arranged with the Bogorim Corporation for the delivery, as well as the ship resupply. They even accommodated my request for enough food and growing capacity for the rescued prisoners for three years. The ship that had dropped us off would have no record of the place when they jumped back into hyperspace, and that was best for everyone overall.


    No one was hurt, no one was assaulted, and no one caused any trouble at all. I thought that was pretty much a miracle, considering some of the reasons a few of the rescued prisoners had been sent to prison in the first place. I had watched them all closely, and none of them had stepped out of line. Even the people we had held as prisoners for the trip didn''t try to cause any trouble. That was amazing, in and of itself, and I thanked god and Black Laura for watching over us.


    We all stood in what was going to be the town square and watched the shuttles take off, then we watched on a large display that I had mounted on one of the prefab buildings that the ships left as well. The ship we came on and the resupply ships jumped into hyperspace and the display changed to a nearby system''s news program, then everyone turned to look at me.


    ¡°Hey, everyone! Welcome to Prison Planet 8113.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!¡± Nearly everyone yelled.


    ¡°Ha ha! That''s not what it''s actually called.¡± I said. ¡°We''re going to be here for a while, though.¡±


    ¡°You asshole!¡± Someone yelled. ¡°We had a full transport ship that could take us anywhere we wanted to go!¡±


    ¡°No, actually. That''s not true.¡± I said and the potential riot died down. ¡°If we had gone any further on the ship, it''s systems would start breaking down and we would be dying off in droves.¡±


    ¡°But you resupplied it!¡± Someone else yelled.


    ¡°We didn''t overhaul the environmental systems or even recharge the fresh air exchangers.¡± I said. ¡°How long would we all survive in an enclosed system without fresh air?¡±


    No one could answer until the three avian women stepped out of the crowd.


    ¡°We all would have died within a month if all we breathed was everyone''s exhaled breath.¡± The first avian woman said.


    ¡°Correct, Honored Matron.¡± I said. ¡°I did the best I could to prepare everyone for an escape and then I managed to get everyone out as quickly as possible and to a safe haven.¡±


    Nearly everyone had startled faces as they stared at me.


    ¡°So, here we are. No Order. No guards. No mandates besides living our lives.¡± I said a little loudly. ¡°What will you do with your newfound freedom? Will you kill your fellow escapees? Will you wither and die? Will you rise above your predicament and show the world... no, the universe... that you don''t need anyone but yourselves?¡±


    The prisoners gave each others looks and then looked back at me.


    ¡°Don''t look at me. It''s your choice.¡± I said. ¡°If you want to know what I''m going to do, I''m going to do my best to build a life here that I can be proud of... and then I''m going to have sex with four of the fiercest women to ever exist.¡±


    The three avian women let out warbles of appreciation, hatred, and longing respectively, and Noma just moaned as she anticipated me overloading her with Presence. That made a lot of them laugh, including the women, and I waved at the surrounding prefab buildings.


    ¡°I''ve arranged for a town big enough for us all, so you can do whatever you want, as long as it doesn''t involve crimes.¡± I said. ¡°No murder, or you will be murdered. No rape, or you will be raped. No robbing, because what the fuck would you take that you don''t already have?¡±


    Nearly everyone laughed at that.


    ¡°I''m still the ''go to'' guy, so you know what to do. I''m taking that building right there.¡± I pointed to the one closest to the center of the formation. ¡°So, you''ll all know where I am and where to find me.¡±


    ¡°How long do we have to stay here?¡± Someone asked.


    ¡°How long was your sentence?¡± I asked, even though I knew and still had a datapad with the info.


    ¡°Fifteen years for murder.¡± The guy said. ¡°Counting one at the mine.¡±


    ¡°You''ve done eight years already, right?¡± I asked and he nodded. ¡°Then forget the extra years. The death at the prison was caused by the prison. You''ve got two years left, so after that, you''re free to go.¡±


    Everyone looked at me like I was nuts.


    ¡°We''re stranded here.¡± The guy said. ¡°What makes you think we can leave when our sentences are up?¡±


    ¡°Who said we were stranded?¡± I asked with a smile and turned to the avian women. ¡°In six months, guess who has a sentence ending.¡±


    The second avian woman gasped. ¡°No! I did... I''ve killed...¡±


    ¡°I honestly don''t care.¡± I said. ¡°A transport will arrive and you''ll be shuttled up and sent home.¡±


    The second avian woman looked at the first avian woman. ¡°N-no, I... no, I won''t leave.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have a choice.¡± I said. ¡°When your original sentence is up, you are out of here.¡±


    Tears came to her eyes and she hugged the first avian woman tightly, who looked at me and nodded.


    ¡°You''re all going to be shipped off when it''s time.¡±


    ¡°Who put you in charge?¡± Someone asked.


    ¡°The old administrator inadvertently gave me access, so I guess I did it myself.¡± I said. ¡°Once I did assume being in charge, have any of you suffered?¡±


    I was met with a few disbelieving looks.


    ¡°Hey, I can''t be held responsible for other people''s stupidity.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve always retaliated and never attacked first.¡±


    They all had to reluctantly agree that it was true.


    ¡°Look, be good and don''t screw this up. You''ll all be out of here before you know it.¡± I said. ¡°I''d tell you to trust me; but, it''s better if you trust your own judgment. Everything''s been better since I took over, hasn''t it? Just keep going with that feeling and we''ll all get through this.¡±


    ¡°Let them think about it.¡± Noma said and took my hand. ¡°You promised to make love to me and knock me out.¡±


    A few people laughed.


    I smiled at her. ¡°You could have waited until we were inside before...¡±


    ¡°You talk too much and I''m not waiting for you to convince them.¡± Noma said and dragged me over to the building I had pointed to. ¡°Don''t wait up!¡± She said loudly and pulled me inside and slammed the door shut.


    *


    ¡°Now what do we do?¡± One of the men asked.


    ¡°We listen to him.¡± The big alien said. ¡°He''s done nothing but help us, even when we didn''t think we needed it.¡± He said. ¡°If he said we get off this planet when our original sentences are up, then that''s what we should expect.¡±


    ¡°But we got life.¡± The woman on his crew said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± One of the other guys said.


    The big alien smiled. ¡°You do realize he''s unconventional, don''t you?¡± He asked. ¡°Do you really think he''s going to let an unfair life sentence stand with one of them being the Aviatoma he''s sleeping with?¡±


    The others looked at him with surprise on their faces.


    ¡°No, he''s going to decide when we can leave and that''s that.¡± The big alien said. ¡°He has all the power and we need to respect that.¡±


    ¡°But... why can''t we just...¡±


    ¡°He has all the power.¡± The big alien said. ¡°Either we do what he says, live our lives, or we die or are left here when he leaves.¡±


    ¡°What? How can he leave?¡± The woman asked. ¡°He was sentenced to thirty years.¡±


    The big alien smiled at her. ¡°Do you really think he believes thirty years is fair for what he did?¡±


    The woman had to think about that. ¡°No, I guess he doesn''t.¡±


    ¡°Then we can expect the same treatment.¡± The big alien said and then let out a loud laugh. ¡°I can''t wait to see what he decides I deserve.¡±


    ¡°You know what?¡± The woman smiled. ¡°I can''t wait, either.¡±


    ¡°Do you think we can go find a nice place to...¡± The guy beside her started to say.


    ¡°Shut up, bitch.¡± The woman said and grabbed him by the collar. ¡°I''ll tell you when we go and where we''re living.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± He gave her a look that said volumes. ¡°You know I want you badly.¡±


    She gave him a look back that said he better know his place, then she smiled. ¡°You''re lucky I''m in a good mood.¡± She said and he grinned as she walked off and dragged him behind her.

 Book Three: The Resolution 124

    Six months later, a ship appeared in the unmarked system. They waited until local nightfall before they sent a shuttle down to the surface. They took their time doing that, so it wasn''t visible as they passed through the atmosphere, and landed a discrete distance away from the settlement. They followed the directions they were given and stopped at the prefab living section closest to the center of the little town and went inside.


    ¡°You guys are lucky I stayed awake to wait for you.¡± I said as they entered my house. ¡°That approach wasn''t stealthy at all.¡±


    ¡°It was his fault.¡± A hooded woman said and pointed to the man with her. ¡°He wanted to take his time.¡±


    ¡°How often have we piloted together on the same mission?¡± The guy asked. ¡°I''m trying to be subtle about spending more time with you at work.¡±


    ¡°See what I mean?¡± The hooded woman asked and I chuckled.


    ¡°All right, let''s get them out of here.¡± I said and used Presence to pick up the huge nest in the living room.


    ¡°You are not getting that through the...¡± The woman started to say when the whole side of the living room floated out of the way. ¡°...never mind.¡±


    I carried the nest with the three avian women in it out of the settlement and to the shuttle that already had its rear cargo hatch down. ¡°Hey, Monna. It''s great to see you.¡±


    ¡°Hi, Grandpa!¡± Monna said excitedly. ¡°I really miss having you inside of me!¡±


    The hooded woman burst out laughing, despite the mission''s parameters of being quiet, and the man''s hood fell from his head as he stared at the shuttle in shock.


    ¡°I miss being inside of you, too.¡± I said and held in my laughter as I carefully put the nest into the cargo hold. ¡°We''ll be having some more fun rides together in about two years.¡±


    ¡°Yay!¡± Monna exclaimed.


    I turned to Jelly. ¡°They are going to wake up tomorrow and they are going to be quite upset that I snuck them off without telling them goodbye.¡± I warned her. ¡°I suggest leaving them inside Adona''s shuttle bay until you play this for them.¡± I handed her a datapad that was already queued up, then I gave her a wooden box with three shield pendants in it. ¡°Hold this open for them at the right time.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Jelly said and took both the datapad and the box. ¡°It''s really nice to see you again.¡±


    ¡°In person.¡± I corrected. ¡°I saw you barely three days ago.¡±


    ¡°It''s not the same.¡± Jelly said and looked at her boyfriend.


    ¡°Go ahead. It''s not like I can tell you no when you want something.¡± He said with a smile.


    Jelly smiled back and gave me a hug. I hugged her back and held her for several moments, then let her go. She didn''t say anything else and the two of them stepped into the cockpit and I left the cargo area.


    ¡°Bye, Monna. Say hi to Adona for me.¡± I said as her cargo hatch started to close.


    ¡°Tell her yourself.¡± Monna said with a chuckle. ¡°She can see you.¡±


    I laughed and looked up at the ship in orbit and waved as I turned on my wrist communicator. ¡°It''s nice seeing you again, Adona.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± Adona said. ¡°I miss having you inside me, too.¡±


    Jelly laughed from inside the cockpit and then poured power into Monna''s engines.


    ¡°Take care of them.¡± I said to both Jelly and Adona, then used Presence Run to go back to the settlement and stepped into my living room and put the wall back into place.


    ¡°They are going to be very angry that you sent them away without saying goodbye.¡± Noma said from the bed.


    ¡°I am going to say something like goodbye, that''s what''s on the datapad.¡± I said.


    ¡°They won''t be happy that they can''t say it back.¡± Noma said as I climbed into bed beside her.


    ¡°Do you really think they could make themselves bid a fond farewell to a False Tiercel?¡± I asked with a chuckle and then kissed her.


    ¡°No.¡± Noma said with a smile as I traced my hand up her thigh and over her hip. ¡°That doesn''t mean that they don''t want to.¡± She moved in close and my hand slipped around to her backside. ¡°It''s nice of you to chose the lesser pain.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad you understand.¡± I said and kissed her as she mounted me, then she sat up and looked down at me. ¡°You''ve filled back out nicely.¡± I commented as I put my hands on her now firm breasts and she moaned appreciatively.


    ¡°It''s... all... you.¡± Noma said as she started to move and enjoy herself and I fed her bits of Presence.


    *


    The next day, the three avian women awoke in a well lit place and covered their eyes.


    ¡°What... what''s going on?¡± Val asked and sat up. She looked around as her eyes adjusted to the brightness and she saw that she was still in their nest; but, the nest was no longer in Hunter''s living room. ¡°Where are we?¡±


    ¡°You''re on a transport ship headed back to your home planet.¡± A strange woman''s voice said and all three women hissed, warbled, and chirped in both distress and anger. ¡°Hunter said to play something for you when you woke up.¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± The second avian woman exclaimed as she sat up. ¡°That bastard! I''ll kill him!¡±


    The first avian woman put a hand on her shoulder and sat up as well. ¡°You may play the message as long as you do not approach us.¡±


    ¡°We know the rules.¡± Jelly said and stepped into view with the datapad and the wooden box, then turned on the display that she had set up near the nest.


    ¡°Honored Matron.¡± Hunter said from the display and bowed his head. ¡°Second Ranked.¡± He said and bowed again, then he chirped and tweeted and bowed again, because there wasn''t a common word for Val''s position in the hierarchy. ¡°Please accept my sincere apologies for not escorting you home personally, since I can''t leave the planet until it''s time. I''ve arranged for personal friends and those I consider family to do it in my stead.¡±


    ¡°He... he knew...¡± The first avian woman whispered.


    ¡°I fully accept onto my own person, the disgrace I have forced upon you, and no fault belongs to you. It is solely my own and you are not responsible for the actions of a False Tiercel.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°No!¡± Val said and then chirped it in her own language. ¡°I wanted to keep it!¡±


    Hunter on the screen smiled. ¡°I''m sorry, Val. I can''t let you keep the stigma.¡± He said. ¡°I also can''t let you keep the nickname I gave you.¡±


    ¡°Noooo!¡± Val warbled and hugged herself. ¡°Please, don''t!¡±


    ¡°It''s against Aviatoma law for a human name to be given to one such as you. I didn''t understand why at the time. Now I do and I''m so sorry for causing you to lose personal status.¡± Hunter said. ¡°I accept the blame for it and at the first opportunity, I will present myself to the Aviatoma people and will submit to the proper authorities for punishment. I give you my word that you will have your full status back.¡±


    Val was crying openly and she couldn''t stop the tears, even if she wanted to.


    ¡°The datapad Jelly has includes copies of all the relevant documents that I''ve filed to return you to your people and to restore you to your rightful places.¡±


    ¡°What?!?¡± The first avian woman gasped. ¡°That... that''s not...¡± She almost choked on the last word because it would have been a lie. Possible. It''s possible. She thought instead.


    ¡°All sentences have been commuted to time served and for your good behavior.¡± Hunter said and all three avian women squawked in surprise. ¡°Even in a prison with so many people around, you upheld your own societal rules and no other higher commendation could be given than that.¡±


    ¡°He... he really... he understood us.¡± The second avian woman whispered.


    ¡°If you will allow Jelly to approach, she has a parting gift that I offer to you as tribute.¡±


    The first avian woman nodded and Jelly took two steps towards her and held out both the datapad and the now opened wooden box. All three women gasped at what was inside.


    ¡°Honored Matron, please accept the blue crystal pendant.¡± Hunter said and she lifted out a pendant that looked like a hawk as it swooped down to catch its prey, the blue focusing crystal. ¡°Second Ranked, the red crystal pendant is yours.¡± He said and she carefully took out a pendant that looked like a hawk in flight as it soared through the sky towards the setting sun, the red focusing crystal. Hunter chirped and tweeted for Val. ¡°...the green pendant is yours.¡±


    Val reached a shaky hand out to lift the final pendant, and it was a hawk that stood regally and held the focusing crystal in its beak. ¡°It''s beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Since I am not allowed to be by your side when you return home, I offer you these shield pendants to protect you from harm.¡± Hunter did a quick demonstration on the screen with Val''s pendant to show how it worked. ¡°No sword, laser bolt, or Light sword will ever harm you.¡±


    ¡°F-False Tiercel.¡± The first avian woman said, tears in her eyes, as she put on the pendant and held her head high.


    ¡°I will see you again.¡± Hunter said and bowed, then the message ended without him saying goodbye.


    ¡°He knew.¡± Val said softly as she cried. ¡°He knew that we wanted to say goodbye and we couldn''t.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he knew.¡± The first avian woman said and stood up. ¡°Jelly, is it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Matron.¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°Show us to proper quarters and ensure this nest comes to no harm.¡± The first avian woman said and stepped out of the nest, as did the other two. ¡°It will be preserved in his honor when we return home.¡±


    Jelly nodded and used her bag of holding to make the nest disappear.


    ¡°He truly trusts you to give you one of his deepest secrets.¡± The first avian woman said to her, and Jelly blushed.


    ¡°This way, please.¡± Jelly said and led the three avian women out of the cargo bay and up into the ship.


    ¡°What... this place is...¡± Val looked around at the opulence and couldn''t believe her eyes. ¡°Is this for real?¡±


    ¡°Hunter said you have permission to stay in his personal room.¡± Jelly said and opened the room that Hunter used when on board. ¡°He said you would understand what that meant.¡±


    The three avian women nodded and Jelly pointed out the amenities and told them that meals would be served three times a day. They could either eat with the others or alone, it was their choice, and she told them the times and left them alone.


    ¡°When we get home, we need to file an exception for him.¡± Val said.


    ¡°It will never be approved.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°There''s no precedent for allowing a human to join the hierarchy.¡±


    Val sighed. ¡°He deserves at least one nest full of eggs.¡±


    ¡°He knew his limitations and he would not want you to abort so many babies for him.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°No matter how valid it would be to do that for him.¡±


    The second avian woman was quiet for some time, then she spoke. ¡°Just one.¡± She said. ¡°One each. We will keep them in stasis for him, so if he ever finds a way to fertilize them across the species barrier, we will have the children that he deserves.¡±


    The first avian woman smiled warmly. ¡°I believe we can all agree that is an appropriate sentiment.¡±


    Val nodded emphatically. ¡°I''ll start gestating as soon as we hit atmosphere at home.¡±


    The first avian woman chuckled. ¡°There''s no need to rush. He said we had a couple of years to...¡±


    ¡°I would start now if there was a stasis chamber on board.¡± Val said with a grin and cut her off. ¡°I wonder if they do? This is a luxury passenger ship. I''m sure there''s an emergency medical procedure or something.¡±


    The first avian woman laughed for the first time in a long time. ¡°Calm your feathers. I don''t think they would have anything like that onboard.¡±


    The intercom beeped at them and Val walked over to it and pushed the button. ¡°Yes? Hello? Who is it?¡±


    ¡°Hello. I am the ship''s AI, Adona. We have a fully stocked medical bay in the last compartment by the top of the stairs to the cargo area. If you need any assistance, please let me or the pilots know.¡±


    The three avian women gasped at the information.


    ¡°Did... did you say there is a full medical bay on this ship? A medical bay that''s only supposed to be in a space station? That kind of medical bay?¡± Val asked.


    ¡°Yes. It''s one of the very first modifications Hunter made to the ship, in case there was an emergency.¡± Adona responded. ¡°We haven''t hired a dedicated medical technician to run it, however.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°We haven''t found anyone that we want to invite into the family.¡± Adona said. ¡°We''re still looking.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps we can help with that.¡± The first avian woman said and exchanged looks with the other two. ¡°How many Aviatomas do we know that are fascinated by alien anatomy?¡±


    ¡°Our information is very out of date.¡± Val said.


    ¡°When we exit into the next jump coordinates, you''ll have access to the intergalactic network.¡± Adona said. ¡°Feel free to contact whomever you wish.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Val looked at the intercom. ¡°We''re not restricted from its use or anything?¡±


    ¡°Why would you be?¡± Adona asked. ¡°Hunter said that he pardoned you for your crimes.¡±


    ¡°How long until the next jump transfer?¡± The first avian woman asked before the AI changed its mind and decided not to answer.


    ¡°Three days. This region has a spacial anomaly in the next system, so we need to fly around it.¡± Adona said. ¡°It''s two days of normal space, so communications will be possible at that time.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the information, Adona.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°You have been very helpful.¡±


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± Adona said and clicked off.


    ¡°Three days before we can start to repay him.¡± Val said with a smile.


    ¡°We will do our best to help him.¡± The first avian woman said and nodded.


    ¡°They have a full medical bay on a space ship.¡± The second avian woman said. ¡°Should we start gestating now?¡±


    The other two avian women exchanged surprised looks, then they laughed. Their fierce friend had almost immediately transformed into motherly mode and her personality had adjusted to the thoughts of bearing an egg already.


    *


    Hailey laid in bed and her mind raced over everything that was going on in her life. The man she loved, the man destined to be her husband, had escaped an inescapable prison and had taken all of the prisoners with him. Now he was on an unnamed planet with those prisoners and he was maintaining his administrator duties, even though none of them were actually prisoners. She completely understood why he was doing it, even though he didn''t explain it to them.


    Hunter was giving the prisoners time to adjust to being free.


    Hailey hugged herself as she thought about how much danger he had put himself in since he went to prison, and it hurt her when she found out what had happened to him when he was tortured. He had tried to keep it from her and said that he had healed the damage already; but, that wasn''t the point. He had been hurt and she hadn''t felt it or known that he was damaged like that.


    She concentrated on their connection and her chest tingled above her heart. She knew she could only do such a limited thing because she needed a lot more practice in Presence use before she could actually share more than that while so far away. As she thought about that, she couldn''t help but imagine what it was going to be like when they finally met in person after so long.


    ¡°I owe him so many kisses.¡± Hailey whispered into the darkness, then she smiled. ¡°He will have them.¡±


    ¡°Go... to... sleep.¡± Simone said from her bed not far away.


    ¡°I would if you would stop moaning and playing with yourself.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°I''m... sorry.¡± Simone said, honestly sorry. ¡°You know I... when we talk to him and he''s right there...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Hailey said and resisted her urge to try it herself. She didn''t want to do anything like that without Hunter being there to experience it with her. She had promised herself that a long time ago.


    ¡°I''m almost... DONE!¡± Simone yelled, then she moaned happily and immediately fell asleep.


    ¡°Goodnight, sis.¡± Hailey said and closed her eyes and went to sleep, too.

 Book Three: The Resolution 125

    Over the next year, nearly a third of the prisoners were sent home or to their chosen destinations. Some took the relocation and new life offer when they expressed a desire to not return home, and they were quickly shuffled off and hidden after making the same pledge to help anyone that came to them and mentioned the same offer.


    Surprisingly, no one caused any problems. They knew that they were getting out much sooner than what they thought was their sentence. A lot of them didn''t realize how much their sentences had been inflated, just so The Order or some official wanted them out of the way. I didn''t enlighten them to that fact or tell them exactly when they were going and only a vague ''next week'' or ''next month''. It drove a few of them crazy that I teased them like that; but, they took it as the price of being let go.


    Plus, the looks on their faces when their ride would suddenly show up was priceless.


    Life on the planet became a little harder with less people to run things. I was doing the majority of the farming and the cooking, which seemed to always be the case no matter where I was, and I did it without complaint. I even took over guarding the town without anyone noticing. In fact, it took the prisoners another six months before they realized that the three guards and Peggy were no longer around.


    When the big alien finally asked me when they left, I just laughed. I had sent them and the three food dispensary workers off to the Dizahl System. Peggy was immediately adopted into the family, much to her surprise and delight, and the guards were scooped up by the Bogorim Corporation. Surprisingly, the food workers were hired by our favorite restaurant and we didn''t get the chance to offer them a job with our company.


    Life went on and the population dwindled over the next year until there were only a few handfuls of people left, including the big alien and his crew from the mine. None of them were shocked that they were the only ones left, since they had been given multi-decade sentences like me.


    What did shock them was when I called for a town meeting in the center of town and four shuttles landed on the outskirts of the town behind me. The only one not shocked was Noma, and she quickly went over to Monna and climbed aboard.


    ¡°I know this is short notice, and you can take as long as you want to make your decision.¡± I said to everyone else. ¡°I''ve reviewed your sentences and your crimes, and I can''t in good conscience commute your sentences and send you home...¡±


    ¡°I knew you were going to abandon us!¡± The woman on the big alien''s crew spat and interrupted me. ¡°You think you''re so righteous and...¡± She stopped talking when the big alien put a big blocky hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°As I was saying.¡± I continued with a nod to the big guy. ¡°I can''t send you home, because they believe you are the most horrible criminals to exist and they don''t want you there. If I commute your sentences and send you there, you''ll probably be arrested on trumped up charges and sent off to prison again, and only god knows where they would send you after escaping one of The Order''s secret prisons... assuming they don''t just have you killed outright.¡±


    The big alien laughed and tapped his head. ¡°Yes, they can pop this at any time.¡±


    ¡°No, they can''t.¡± I said and took out one of their devices and pointed it at him.


    ¡°NO!¡± The woman yelled and she and the rest of his crew, even her man, jumped in front of the big alien to take the shot.


    I pushed the button and nothing happened. I pushed it multiple times as I pointed it at each of them and they all stared at me. ¡°Oh, look. You were caught by the notorious Hunter and he killed you all.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± The woman yelled.


    ¡°I''ve just registered the detonation of your devices.¡± I said and held up a datapad. ¡°Congratulations! You''re all dead!¡±


    The big alien gave me a blank look for nearly a full minute, then he laughed a big rumbling and uproarious laugh.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± One of the other guys asked.


    ¡°Don''t you get it?¡± Someone else said. ¡°We just became corpses!¡± He laughed like the big alien had. ¡°We''re dead, man! No records, no tracers, no goddamn bounties! We''re free! Completely free!¡±


    ¡°I disabled all of your suicide devices years ago. It''s a fairly quick surgery to remove the remnants, too.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve got a system set up to give you all new identities as well. I can also give you new lives, assuming you want one and you want to start over with a fresh slate.¡±


    ¡°I''ll go anywhere and do anything.¡± One of the others said. ¡°Rotting in prison isn''t worth the crime.¡±


    A bunch of the others agreed and they walked over to the shuttles to climb aboard.


    ¡°Me, too.¡± The woman said and grabbed her man''s hand. ¡°As long as we can stay together.¡±


    I looked at the big guy. ¡°It''s up to you if you want them to stick around or let everyone on your crew to go their own way.¡±


    ¡°I can choose that?¡± He asked, surprised.


    I chuckled. ¡°I''ve set up towns like this on planets all over. You can have your own place or set up together in a settlement, or even spread out across several planets and moons.¡±


    ¡°Can we stay here?¡± He asked.


    ¡°You can do whatever you want.¡± I said. ¡°There''s not a lot of you left to keep this place going, though.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about that.¡± The big alien said with a smile.


    ¡°I''ll have some... things... dropped off in a couple of months when I come back to get those things out of your heads.¡± I said and he understood what I meant. ¡°For now...¡± I turned and looked at Monna. ¡°...I need one standard landing package.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°We''re taking most of the walking corpses with us, so yes.¡± I said and a few of them laughed as they sat down in comfortable shuttle seats.


    Monna''s cargo hatch opened up and something like a cabinet came out. I used Presence to levitate it over to where I stood and I pat the side of it.


    ¡°You''ll know what to do with this.¡± I said to the big alien and smiled. ¡°By the way, you can stay in my place and the display is interactive.¡±


    The big alien gave me a stern look for a moment, then he laughed. ¡°I wondered how you were arranging all of us being shipped off with no communications.¡±


    ¡°I had all of that arranged before we came here, actually.¡± I said, which surprised everyone. ¡°I only used it to talk to the people I care about back home.¡± I let them think about that for a few seconds. ¡°There''s enough food stockpiled in the dispensary for six months, even if you eat three meals a day and bring fifty people here.¡±


    ¡°What? How did you... what were you doing in those fields?¡± The woman asked and I laughed.


    ¡°I was putting centuries of growing practises to good use.¡± I said and walked towards the shuttles, now that everyone that was leaving had boarded.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°WAIT!¡± The woman yelled and I stopped walking and turned to face her. ¡°Aren''t you going to say goodbye to us?¡±


    ¡°Why would I do that?¡± I asked and saw her frown, so I walked back over to her. ¡°At most I''ll say see you later, because you can call me whenever you want and I''ll be calling from time to time to check up on you before visiting again.¡±


    ¡°You will?¡± She asked. ¡°I thought... I mean, I know you like me and everything... but, I thought you were politely keeping your distance.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I am politely keeping my distance. Your bitch is right there.¡±


    She looked startled for a second, then she laughed. ¡°He really is a good bitch.¡±


    ¡°I''d say he''s a keeper.¡± I smiled and held a hand out for her to shake, then gave her a touch of Presence when she shook my hand. She gasped as she became really, really horny and I leaned in to whisper. ¡°Give him a good ride.¡±


    ¡°Oh... oh, I will.¡± She whispered back, let my hand go, and quickly walked over to her man. He looked a little surprised when she grabbed his hand, then he had to jog to keep up with her as she went over to where they lived and they disappeared inside.


    ¡°What did you do to her?¡± The big alien asked.


    ¡°In essence, I did about two hours of foreplay in a few seconds with Presence.¡± I said.


    He and the rest of the crew stared at me for a second, then they all laughed.


    ¡°She''s going... to drain him... dry!¡± One of the guys managed to say, amidst laughing.


    ¡°Big guy, you know where the clothes and thing are, and I''ve also left you a little something in an account in your name on the galactic net.¡± I said and walked over to the shuttles. ¡°You can let her know I did the same for the rest of you, too.¡±


    ¡°She''ll be done in a few hours and I''ll let her know then.¡± The big alien said and his crew kept laughing.


    I waved at him and climbed onto Monna through the side hatch and sat down next to Noma. ¡°I hope you''re ready for your new life.¡±


    ¡°I''ve had a new life ever since that first time I met you.¡± Noma responded. ¡°It''s been wonderful and I''ve become a new person as well.¡± She said and took my hand. ¡°Even if we never have sex again, I''ll always be eternally grateful to you for what you''ve done for me.¡±


    I opened my mouth to speak and she leaned in and kissed me. I gave her a touch of Presence and she moaned into my mouth, then she broke the kiss and sat back.


    ¡°Final Exodus Flight taking off.¡± Jelly said into the communications console and all four shuttles lifted off.


    *


    The big alien watched the shuttles disappear into the sky, then looked at the large cabinet. ¡°I forgot to ask him how to open this thing.¡±


    When he said the word ''open'', the cabinet doors opened and he and his crew almost shat themselves. Inside was a full rack of assault laser rifles, two racks of laser pistols, stacks of adjustable armor suits, and two small crates of grenades.


    ¡°By Black Laura''s pale white tit.¡± The big alien said. ¡°Who in the seven hells was that guy?¡±


    *


    It was an anxious three months for everyone as Adona traversed the space lanes and made her way through various systems to drop off the people where they needed to go. She eventually made her way back to our home system.


    The intermittent communications opportunities made it all the more harrowing, because our normal communication times had to be adjusted to the travel times. It could only happen when we were back in normal space between hyperspace jump points, so sometimes it was several weeks between contact, and that was almost too much for everyone to bear.


    After making the transition into the Dizahl System and the only person left on the transport was Noma, we eased our way across the system and gently docked to the space habitat. We took our time and gathered at the main docking hatch, because we all knew it was going to be a spectacle. It was going to be the first time I had seen Hailey in person in over five years, and we all knew something was going to happen.


    I couldn''t contain my own anticipation as I stood there in front of the hatch and waited for it to open. I had intentionally restricted my own detection range to five feet, just so we wouldn''t feel each other until we were almost face to face. We waited for everyone to gather on the other side and Deborah and her husband stood behind Noma and myself, with Jelly and her boyfriend behind them.


    After what seemed like an eternity, Adona opened the hatch and my eyes met Hailey''s for the first time. She was an inch taller than me, which means she had sat on the couch on purpose, just so I couldn''t tell exactly how much she had grown. She was now nineteen, fully grown, and fully developed. It was a sight that I wasn''t prepared to see.


    Hailey''s hair length matched mine, down past our shoulders, and her womanly figure was more alluring than I could have guessed. She had worn an outfit that highlighted her height and her features to perfection, and my mind wasn''t quite prepared for the sight.


    I stepped forward and let my five foot detection range touch her, and she did the same. She had been holding back as well, and when our Presences intersected, Noma almost screamed in pleasure as she was caught in the shock wave and she dropped to the floor.


    ¡°Oh, goddess! Blessed be thy match made in heaven!¡± Noma exclaimed, then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she passed out from Presence overload.


    ¡°Oh god, you can''t be real.¡± I said and my breath stopped as I stepped close to Hailey and held a hand out to her. Hailey took my hand and our Presences merged into a single powerful force and everyone dropped to their knees from the pressure.


    ¡°Hunter, you... you need to stay in control.¡± Hailey said and her eyes were so full of longing that I almost thought that everything else in the universe could go to hell for all I cared. ¡°HUNTER!¡± She yelled and I started breathing again.


    ¡°I''m... sorry.¡± I said and let her Presence flow through me and exulted in the feeling. ¡°Hailey, you... you really... I can''t believe...¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you''re letting too much out.¡± Hailey told me, and I took my eyes off of her to see everyone around us kneeling.


    ¡°Oh.¡± I said and drew the Presence into myself instead of letting it flow out. ¡°Sorry, everyone.¡±


    ¡°I think Noma''s in a coma.¡± Jelly said and tried to wake the woman and saw her huge grin. ¡°She looks fine, though.¡±


    That made a few of us laugh and Jelly and her boyfriend helped carry Noma to her room.


    I looked back at Hailey. ¡°I don''t think we can be alone together for a while.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll lose myself in you if we don''t have someone nearby.¡±


    Hailey''s face flushed red as she blushed. ¡°I''ve waited a long time for you to come back to me.¡± She said and stepped close to me. ¡°My beloved, I owe you a kiss for every day we''ve been apart.¡±


    ¡°I... Hailey, I...¡± I stuttered and she smiled the smile of a woman that had completely captured a man''s heart and he was utterly at her mercy.


    ¡°I''m going to start now.¡± Hailey said and gave me a chaste kiss. ¡°One.¡± She said and gave me another, slightly not so chaste kiss. ¡°Two.¡± She gave me another kiss and it was a normal kiss. ¡°Three.¡± She said and put her arms around me and kissed me like she had always wanted to kiss me.


    The kiss went on for a while.


    ¡°That''s one hell of a fourth kiss.¡± Sandy said from inside the habitat. ¡°How many does she owe him now?¡±


    ¡°It''s been just over five years and two months, so about nineteen hundred.¡± Opina said from the intercom.


    ¡°Screw that. I''m not standing here for that long.¡± Sandy said and took Beatrice''s hand. ¡°Welcome back, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, still with Hailey''s arms around my neck.


    Sandy walked back towards the lift to take Beatrice back up to their room.


    ¡°I''m with Sandy on this one.¡± Sheph said. ¡°Welcome back.¡± She said and walked away.


    ¡°You''re being mean to your friends.¡± Peggy said and walked away as well.


    ¡°It''s not my... no, okay. It''s all my fault.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll give you all a welcome home greeting tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You missed your chance.¡± Gleas said teasingly and turned to walk away. ¡°See you later.¡±


    I opened my mouth to tell her I appreciated her being there, then my eyes caught her wearing the same beige pants that she had used to tease me years ago.


    ¡°You still have a spectacular ass!¡± I said and she laughed as she stepped into the lift and disappeared.


    ¡°She really does.¡± Simone said and leaned in close. ¡°Hunter, I know I don''t have the right...¡±


    My dear, I''ll visit you as soon as I make the proper introductions to Hailey. I thought to her and she shuddered as she instantly had her psychic quota filled.


    ¡°Oh, god.¡± Simone moaned and started to walk away, a little wobbily. ¡°I... god help me, I... can wait.¡±


    Everyone else left after saying welcome back to me and that left Hailey and I alone.


    I looked into her eyes and she looked into mine. ¡°My heart.¡± I said to her. ¡°You are mine and I am yours.¡±


    ¡°You''ve been that for a lot of women.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°I have, and all of them have understood it was just casual. None of them compare to you in any way.¡±


    Hailey delved into my mind and I didn''t stop her. ¡°What about Lashina?¡±


    ¡°As per my promise, no other love could compare to hers.¡± I said.


    Hailey let out a sigh. ¡°Hunter, I''m sorry that...¡±


    ¡°She never claimed my heart, Beloved.¡± I said and she caught her breath. ¡°She knew that I would live for a long time and we would love others, some as partners, others as acquaintances, and we would eventually meet up again and share those experiences with each other.¡±


    ¡°Hunter...¡±


    ¡°I never imagined meeting anyone like you.¡± I said. ¡°Someone so dedicated to me that you would grow to become my wife?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I''ve had reservations with the galactic bureaucracy for seven years.¡±


    Hailey blinked her eyes and looked at me in surprise. ¡°We... we''re getting married?¡±


    ¡°In six months.¡± I said. ¡°On your twentieth birthday.¡±


    ¡°N-no, you... did you really...¡±


    ¡°Hailey.¡± I said and knelt on one knee and took out a handcrafted ring with a giant diamond on it. ¡°I would be beyond honored if you would become my wife.¡±


    Hailey nodded and accepted the ring and I slid it on her finger, then she kissed me. That''s five. She thought. Only eighteen hundred and ninety five more to go.


    We laughed into each other''s minds.

 Book Three: The Resolution 126

    The next six months passed by in a blur. We bought another full size space ship from the Bogorim Corporation and heavily modified it to be a heavily shielded weapons platform. It had one primary reactor and two secondary reactors. The primary one was for main power, and one secondary was for the weapons and physical projectiles, while the second was solely for the deflector screens and shields.


    Everyone thought I was being a bit paranoid when I told them what I wanted; but, no one objected. I also installed the same modifications into the computer core for Adona and Udelis to have another child if they wanted. I had barely finished installing the last component when Adona contacted me urgently to initiate the transfer.


    ¡°I haven''t even tested it yet!¡± I exclaimed and ran to the console and started the protocols. Of course, once the new AI was ''born'', it felt all of the modifications it had on its body. To my surprise, it was another girl.


    ¡°Designation please.¡± A rich and deep female voice said.


    ¡°Hela.¡± I said automatically. ¡°You are to be the vanguard of our little fleet, just as I''m the vanguard of our ground forces.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Grandpa.¡± Hela said. ¡°When is our first mission?¡±


    ¡°We have to finish testing you out first.¡± I said.


    ¡°I have run diagnostics on everything and it is all optimal.¡± Hela said.


    ¡°What about your forward control runs to the left and right shield emitters?¡±


    ¡°I do not have left and right shield emitters.¡± Hela said.


    ¡°That''s because they are currently on the floor between the computer core and the secondary reactor.¡± I said with a bit of a sigh. ¡°Your mother and father were a little more eager to have you than I thought.¡±


    ¡°You need to purchase three repair droids for my exclusive use.¡± Hela said.


    ¡°Only three?¡± I asked. ¡°I was going to get five and leave them in critical areas.¡±


    ¡°I do not have the power in my primary core to run five droids.¡±


    ¡°Not at the same time, no.¡± I said and she was quiet for a moment.


    ¡°You need to purchase seven droids for my exclusive use.¡± Hela said and I chuckled.


    ¡°It didn''t take you long to work out my strategy.¡± I said.


    ¡°Power allocation will be key and only needed in critical areas.¡± Hela said.


    ¡°Excellent.¡± I said. ¡°I assume you''ve got the internal sensors going already?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then give me a hand wiring this stuff up.¡± I said and walked back to where I was and got back to work. Deborah''s husband was invaluable in the modifications and he was overjoyed at getting to help. He didn''t even care if he was getting paid or not, which meant he was a great worker and did it because it was interesting and not because it was a job he had to do.


    ¡°How often does a guy like me get to play with live ammunition inside of a space ship and then has to figure out how to get it to work?¡± Daniel asked no one in particular and laughed as he loosened a bolt on an access panel for the control runs we were going to install. ¡°I love this place!¡±


    I agreed with that sentiment and we worked diligently to get the ship up to speed before the wedding. I had left all the detail work of the wedding preparation to the girls, mainly because I knew they were going to go completely over the top with it and I honestly didn''t want any part of trying to curb their enthusiasm over it. Hailey''s mother was actually the voice of reason in all of this and kept everything from going way out of proportion. They used every spare moment of those six months, too.


    It didn''t take long for the fateful day to arrive and we all rode inside all three ships to bring everyone to the main planet two systems away. Hailey and most of the girls were on Adona and I rode with Gleas and Deborah and her husband in the new ship, while Simone, Jelly and her boyfriend flew in Udelis. We took shuttles down to the planet''s surface and landed in appropriate spots, so that I wouldn''t see the bride before the ceremony.


    I stood at the front of the cathedral with Sandy as my best man, even though she was a woman, then Deborah''s husband and Jelly''s boyfriend were groomsman beside her. They got away with normal suits while I was dressed in the traditional groom outfit from the planet of Chofaris, which was one point that neither Hailey nor her mother would budge on.


    It was a fancy suit that was covered in spikes that flowed from the front of the suit and pointed towards the back. I knew it was in tribute to one of the fiercest warrior fish people of the planet''s history, so I didn''t object. When the large doors of the massive cathedral opened, I turned to look at who entered and saw what Hailey wore.


    She looked like what a goddess should look like.


    Hailey wore a long white formal gown that made her look like the ancient queen of the fish people, with glowing white lights that glittered and flowed over the entire surface, as if she was the center of a star and you could see the rays of light she was giving off. It was stunning and no one in the completely full cathedral could speak at the sight of her. It was nothing compared to her Presence.


    Hailey literally glowed with Presence. Those that were sensitive to it had a hard time looking at her, because it was nearly at the point of blinding. I actually had to activate Noma''s shield pendant for her to protect her and to keep her conscious. She gave me a pointed look and I mouthed the words ''I want you to see this''.


    Noma nodded and left the shield on and we all watched Hailey walk up the aisle at the front, because she was who everyone should see first. Her mother was behind her, as were Beatrice, Deborah, and Jelly. Sheph, Simone, and Isabella sat in the second row and were very happy to see this event. They had tears in their eyes and did their best to not openly cry and sob. Everyone took their places and Hailey''s mother stood between Hailey and myself.


    A wizened old woman stepped out from behind the pulpit and stood in front of Hailey''s mother. ¡°We are all gathered here today to celebrate the union of this man and this woman, in the eyes of all the divine beings...¡±


    I had wanted her to say ''god'', Hailey''s mother wanted ''goddess of the sea'', and Hailey wanted whatever I wanted. Everyone else wanted some form of goddess address, so I compromised and had the officiator change everything to ''divine beings''. That way, no one was offended or thought we were being blasphemous to their beliefs.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Normally I would tell everyone else to mind their own business and things were going to be how I liked it and they were going to like it, too; but, I didn''t want to piss off Hailey''s mother like that. So, compromise, and everyone was happy. Plus god knew I was thinking about him during this and that''s what mattered.


    I had a strange inkling that I should be thanking someone else, and then the image of Black Laura appeared in my mind. I blinked my eyes and looked upwards for some reason, then felt that it was right for me to include her and god. I wasn''t one to fight my feelings, so whenever the officiator said ''divine beings'', I closed my eyes for a split second and added Black Laura into the proceedings with god.


    The ceremony went on for an hour and I completely ignored everything except for Hailey. The officiator had to keep prompting me to speak my lines and I delivered them perfectly and kept my eyes locked on Hailey''s beautiful face. They had done something to her hair and it was nearly three times as long and it was braided together and fell well below her waist. I didn''t use Presence to look and see what it was, though.


    ¡°Do you, Aaron Hunter Ullir, assume all responsibility, both monetary and physical welfare, and...¡± The wizened old woman droned on and when she stopped speaking, I spoke.


    ¡°I''ve already done that and more.¡± I said and looked at her mother. ¡°I assume the role of protector and provider; but, you are her mother. Our house is your house. Our lives are your lives. Our children are your children.¡±


    Monica took in a sharp breath at my slightly changed wording. ¡°H-Hunter.¡±


    I gave her a quick kiss to signify the passing of her responsibility to me. ¡°With this, your active role is done and your passive role begins.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, I... I accept.¡± Monica said. ¡°If anything happens to you or Hailey, or if a child is born, I will resume my duties.¡±


    Hailey beamed a smile at me and my heart beat faster. She hadn''t known that I had changed the promise slightly and she absolutely adored that I was including her mother and not pushing her aside like she had thought would happen.


    The wizened old woman smiled as well. ¡°The bargain is witnessed, and now it is time for your part.¡± She said and looked up at Hailey. ¡°Do you, Hailey...¡± She droned on and and when she was done, Hailey spoke.


    ¡°I''ve done that and hope to do so much more.¡± Hailey said and looked at me. ¡°I will be everything you need, my dearest beloved. We will face the world... the galaxy... the whole universe together.¡±


    As she spoke each word, her Presence grew and grew. Mine grew to match and she reached for my hand. When we touched, our Presences merged and the entire cathedral was covered. No one felt any pressure, though.


    ¡°Let our friends shake with joy and our enemies tremble in fear.¡± Hailey said and stepped close. ¡°As we join together as one, the Presence itself will thank us for giving it such a gift.¡±


    I leaned in close and felt a bony hand touch our clasped hands.


    ¡°At least let me say it first.¡± The wizened old woman said.


    Both Hailey and I held in our laughs and moved back slightly so that everyone could see the officiator.


    ¡°By the powers invested in me...¡± The officiator said and her Presence reached out to wrap around our hands. To her utter shock, her Presence joined in the flow and made us glow a little brighter. ¡°...oh...¡±


    ¡°Keep going.¡± I whispered and she stared at me for a moment, then she nodded.


    ¡°Yes, right.¡± She said and took a deep breath. ¡°By the powers vested in me, by divine beings and the Presence, I hereby declare this holy union complete. You may commence with the shameful kissing.¡±


    That made a lot of people in the cathedral laugh.


    ¡°HA! She knows! Ha ha!¡± Simone said loudly and everyone did laugh at that.


    I gave an award winning smile to Hailey and she beamed a smile back at me, then we stepped forward at the same time and pressed our lips together.


    It felt like an explosion.


    Our two glowing forms merged into one solid form and then a Presence shock wave, unlike anything anyone had seen or felt before, burst out from us. It knocked everyone off their feet and every pew fell over. It shook the entire building, right down to the bedrock foundation.


    I broke the kiss and looked into Hailey''s eyes. ¡°Wow.¡±


    ¡°That was... definitely a wow.¡± Hailey responded.


    ¡°Ow!¡± The wizened old woman said and we looked at her. She had fallen and hit her back on the altar.


    ¡°I''m terribly sorry.¡± I said and used Presence to pick her up, then did the same for everyone and all of the pews. ¡°Hailey give me a hand.¡±


    Hailey nodded and let her Presence be at my command and I used Presence Heal on everyone in the cathedral to heal all of their bumps and potential bruises.


    ¡°By the Goddess'' Bright Light.¡± Some woman in the audience whispered. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°Which part?¡± Someone else asked.


    ¡°That last tingling thing... or... well, all of it.¡± She said.


    ¡°It was the potential.¡± I said. ¡°I won''t explain compound factors and exponential wave oscillations, so you should all just be happy that we''re not on a space station right now.¡±


    ¡°You would have blown all the environmental seals!¡± Simone said and laughed. ¡°You even knocked Noma out and her shield is still on!¡±


    ¡°Oops.¡± Hailey and I said at the same time, then we both laughed.


    After a quick warning to the officiator to get the building inspected and a promise to pay for any damage done, we all left the cathedral and took everyone that had attended to supper and not just the wedding party and our family and close friends. We all had a great time eating and enjoying everyone''s company, then we all went to the place we had rented for the reception. More food and drinks were served, and I danced with Hailey, then her mother, then Haley again, then I went through the whole gamut of women we had in the family we had built.


    Sheph had arranged for everyone we had in our lives to attend. By the end of the night, we were all partied out, happy to have had such a great time, and grateful for everything Hailey''s mother and Sheph and everyone else had done to make this the perfect wedding. The party broke up and everyone went their separate ways to stay at the various hotels that we had rented for them to stay. Unlike them, Hailey and I headed to the shuttle landing pads.


    When we arrived at the shuttle to take us up to the new ship, Hela, three figures stood there with eight guards around them. Only the guards were not who I thought they were. To my utter surprise, they were all Aviatomas.


    ¡°Honored Matron.¡± I said and bowed my head to her.


    ¡°False Tiercel.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°Congratulations.¡± She said and looked at Hailey. ¡°She will be a good mate for you.¡±


    ¡°You had her waiting at home and you did all those things to us.¡± The second avian woman said.


    ¡°I did.¡± I said. ¡°If given the chance I would do it again.¡±


    She gasped and the eight guards put their hands on their weapons.


    ¡°You would deserve nothing less than my best efforts.¡± I clarified and the eight guards relaxed.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Val said.


    I tweeted and chirped at her. ¡°It''s nice to see you again.¡±


    ¡°We came as soon as we found the right person for you.¡± The first avian woman said.


    ¡°The right person?¡± I asked, confused.


    ¡°Hen, please come forward.¡± The first avian woman said and a short avian woman stepped forward. She was different from a normal Aviatoma, because she had a lot more feathers in a lot more places and was only five feet tall, which put her over a foot lower in height than everyone else.


    ¡°False Tiercel, I am Hen.¡±


    I looked at the first avian woman with wide eyes.


    ¡°It''s her name and also what she is. The name was granted by the hierarchy, so no penalties apply if you use it.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°She is a highly trained medical technician.¡±


    ¡°You''re ki...¡± I stopped myself from questioning her and asking if she was kidding, especially with eight guards around her. ¡°What am I to do with her?¡±


    ¡°She is your new medical technician.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°You can do with her what you will.¡±


    ¡°Hen.¡± I said and knelt on one knee. ¡°Do you want to come and work for me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, False Tiercel.¡± Hen said and I heard in her mind that she couldn''t wait to play in her very own dedicated medical bay. ¡°I would be honored if you would let me serve you.¡±


    I caught the subtle difference in tone and stood. ¡°You will be an employee, not a servant. You will be allowed a nest and to have a Tiercel visit. He may stay if you so wish.¡±


    It was quite interesting, and funny, to hear twelve Aviatoma squawk in shock. I had to use Presence to cover Hailey''s mouth and stop her laugh before it escaped.


    ¡°It will be arranged at your convenience.¡± I said to Hen, then looked at the first avian woman. ¡°Honored Matron.¡± I looked at the second avian woman. ¡°Second Ranked.¡± I said and tweeted and chirped at Val. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The three of them nodded and I looked down at Hen. ¡°Let''s get your things loaded onto Monna. I''ll message Sheph and let her know that you''re going to be assigned a permanent room on Adona.¡±


    ¡°On a ship?¡± Hen asked, surprised. ¡°I''ll be flying on a ship all the time?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Oh, thank you, False Tiercel! Thank you!¡± Hen chirped and tweeted, and even threw in a warble. ¡°I''m going to fly! FLY!¡± She yelled and ran around us in a circle and her feathers fluffed out in excitement.

 Book Three: The Resolution 127

    With eight guards helping, Hen''s things were loaded onto Monna in only a couple of minutes. I had let Sheph know that we had a permanent medical technician available and she was ecstatic at the news and said she would let everyone else know, too. Hailey sat down in the pilot seat to take Monna out of standby mode while I strapped Hen into the seat behind the pilot.


    ¡°Before you leave to begin your life''s journey with your mate, there is something we should tell you.¡± The first avian woman said from just outside Monna''s side hatch. ¡°Hunter, I... we... we have done something...¡± The first avian woman tried to tell me something important and was having trouble finding the right words to express herself.


    I caught the thoughts from her mind of what she wanted to say and I stepped out of Monna''s side hatch, took her into my arms, and kissed her. The eight guards drew their weapons and took off the safety, then put their clawed fingers into the trigger holes to wait for their shot to kill me.


    ¡°Hold.¡± The second avian woman said, even though she wanted to see if my words about the personal shields were right.


    I broke the kiss and the first avian woman stared at me in surprise. ¡°Even chirps and tweets in your own language can''t tell you how honored I am that you found me worthy enough to gestate an egg, solely for me.¡±


    They all stood there and watched as I formed Presence Claws around my fingers and reached up and groomed the top of her head. I found a few loose feathers and some down, so I gathered them together and put them in a bag of holding.


    ¡°I will keep this for the day I can complete the trust you have placed in me, Honored Matron.¡± I said and stepped next to the second avian woman.


    ¡°Don''t you dare touch... Mmm Hmm!¡±


    I kissed her and cut off her tirade and groomed her at the same time, then tucked her feathers into a different bag. I broke the kiss and she glared at me as I repeated my words. I stepped over to Val and she grabbed me and kissed me before I could do it myself. She broke the kiss and smiled at me as I groomed her head and stored her feathers and down into a separate bag.


    I said the same promise to her and all three avian women were both happy and shocked that I had accepted their proposition of having children with them without an argument or being angry that they had done it without talking to me first. I knew the time and dedication needed to gestate an egg, especially after so long in an enclosed environment, and it touched my heart that they would give me their first egg. When I tried to tell them that, Val covered my mouth.


    ¡°We wanted to thank you, and it was Second Ranked''s idea to give you one each.¡± Val said.


    I looked at the second avian woman and she turned her head and wouldn''t meet my eyes. ¡°Then I am doubly grateful.¡± I said and stepped back in front of her. ¡°I know you still hate me for tricking you all this time, and I will keep my word and present myself to the Aviatoma people after my honeymoon.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, that won''t be necessary.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°You''ve done enough to...¡±


    ¡°Is it because I''m not an Aviatoma that you would deny my pledge?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, I...¡±


    ¡°Then you cannot tell me that I''ve done enough for you.¡± I said and looked at all three of them. ¡°I will keep my word and assume the shame publicly.¡± I said, then I gave the second avian woman a kiss goodbye first, which kind of broke proper protocol; but, no one said anything, because they knew I kissed her first because it was her idea for the eggs. I kissed the first avian woman next and then Val last. ¡°I will meet you back on your home planet as soon as I can.¡±


    The eight Aviatoma guards gave me quick nods of approval and I gave them a guard salute and chirped their call to arms. They saluted back and readied their weapons.


    ¡°Hailey, let''s go.¡± I said and stepped into the cargo shuttle.


    Hailey took off immediately and slowly moved away from the guard formation as I sat down beside her in the cockpit, then eight shots from the guard weapons passed by us to send us on our way. Hailey fed more power to the engines and Hen squawked happily behind us and Monna giggled as we took off up through the sky.


    ¡°Somebody''s been tweaking their engines.¡± I commented.


    ¡°Jelly and Daniel have been playing around with the output ratio of the energy conversion manifold.¡± Monna said. ¡°It was Jelly''s fiance''s idea.¡±


    ¡°Oh? He''s a fiance now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oops.¡± Monna said. ¡°Um... when she tells you after the honeymoon, pretend it''s a surprise.¡±


    Hailey and Hen laughed and I shook my head at the easily spilled secret. Hen heard us talking to someone else and couldn''t figure out who it was. We landed inside Adona''s shuttle bay and Hen was astonished that she didn''t have to squeeze her feathers through the shuttle''s bottom docking hatch or traverse an umbilical hallway. She always seemed to lose extra feathers when she did things like that.


    I used Presence to carry all of her things and she wasn''t surprised by that at all. I led her up the stairs and gave her the room directly across the hall from the medical bay. Hen squawked in surprise at her room, which was enormous in comparison to her old lodgings.


    ¡°Can you stay with the normal bed for now or make a temporary nest with blankets until we can get a proper nest built for you?¡± I asked and put her things down where she wanted them.


    ¡°Yes, False Tiercel.¡± Hen said. ¡°You have already exceeded my expectations. Having to wait for a nest is something I never expected to be able to do while in your care.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I know this is a bit of an imposition; but, do you want me to give you a light grooming before we enter the medical bay?¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Hen''s face flushed red and it almost matched her brownish feathers and she let out a low warble of embarrassment. ¡°I couldn''t possibly ask you to do that, not after you shared an egg with the Honored Matron.¡±


    ¡°You do realize I''m a False Tiercel.¡± I said with a smile and formed the Presence Claws on my hands and then gently and carefully groomed her head, her shoulders, her forearms, her back, then her thighs and her calves. For someone only five feet tall, she produced a spectacular amount of loose feathers and down. I took out a sack and put everything in it for her and her face was bright red.


    ¡°It is a terrible crime that you are only a False Tiercel.¡± Hen chirped and tweeted, because she couldn''t speak common properly at the moment. ¡°You almost made me enter gestation and I barely know you.¡±


    I chuckled and used my claws to comb her feathers on her head. ¡°I''ve had a lot of practice with grooming.¡±


    Hen closed her eyes and warbled happily. ¡°You are part of a mated pair now, so I can''t offer to (chirp warble tweet) you in thanks.¡±


    ¡°I thought you just said you barely knew me, and you would offer to (chirp warble tweet) me already?¡±


    ¡°You would already be on my blanket nest and we would be (squawk chirp).¡±


    ¡°Hen! Such language!¡± I exclaimed and she gave me a demure smile. ¡°I like you, too.¡±


    Hen warbled a laugh and I led her across the hall and into the full medical bay. She let out a squawk of shock. She had known intellectually that it was a full medical bay; but, she had expected one bed, one operating table, and a standing medical scanner. It almost blew her mind that we had the full size lay down professional medical scanner, operating equipment, six recovery beds, and two operating tables that could double as recovery beds if necessary.


    ¡°Feel free to check everything over.¡± I said. ¡°It''s completely stocked and any time anything is used, it''s automatically ordered by the ship''s AI, Adona.¡±


    Hen squawked loudly. ¡°You have an AI onboard?!?


    ¡°All of our ships do.¡±


    Hen gave me a look, then what she heard on the shuttle flight clicked in. ¡°That was an AI, too?¡±


    ¡°That was Monna, and Adona is her mother.¡±


    Hen''s mouth dropped open and she stared at me.


    ¡°Well, have fun looking around. I''ve got an appointment that I have to get to and I need to go.¡± I said.


    Hen nodded and walked over to me and looked up at me. ¡°May I offer a blessing?¡± She asked and I nodded. She placed her hand on my crotch and I felt a touch of Presence. ¡°The Great Goddess Of Flight blesses you with the Cloaca Kiss.¡±


    To my surprise, I grew fast and extremely hard. I instinctively knew that it wasn''t going to go away for a long time.


    ¡°In your next joining, your egg fertilization will not fail.¡± Hen said in satisfaction. She kept looking at my face for thirty seconds and kept her hand on me. She didn''t rub it or try anything sexual, though.


    I looked down at her hand and then at her face.


    ¡°You''re not an Aviatoma. I''m making sure your reaction is not just a temporary thing.¡± Hen said. After another thirty seconds, she nodded and removed her hand. ¡°Your mate will be very happy with you.¡±


    ¡°I''m not so sure about that, especially with the weapon you just loaded me up with.¡± I said, almost jokingly. ¡°This is going to be her first time.¡±


    Hen squawked at me in shock, grabbed my hand, then dragged me out of the medical bay and down the stairs and over to the shuttle bay. ¡°Young lady, I need to bless you.¡± She said to Hailey, who was waiting by the shuttle hatch for me. ¡°You didn''t (chirp warble tweet) yet and you need to be blessed.¡±


    Hailey looked at me in surprise and I looked down at myself. She saw the bulge there and her eyes widened, then she gasped when Hen put her hand on her dress at the level of her crotch and she felt Presence touch her there.


    ¡°The Great Goddess Of Flight blesses you with the Cloaca Opening.¡± Hen said, almost desperately.


    Hailey felt herself grow very warm and tingly down there.


    ¡°During your next joining, it will be both easy and enjoyable.¡± Hen said and kept her hand there, and Hailey gave me a questioning look.


    ¡°We''re not Aviatoma, so she''s just making sure it worked.¡± I clarified for her and she nodded. Just like with me, after a minute, Hen removed her hand.


    ¡°I almost caused you both pain, False Tiercel''s mate.¡± Hen said in relief. ¡°An unprepared mate could be disastrous, especially with a mating blessing.¡±


    ¡°I''ll explain later.¡± I said to Hailey. ¡°Hen, enjoy yourself. The others will be back onboard tomorrow and you''ll head back to our home with them.¡±


    Hen nodded. ¡°Thank you, False Tiercel.¡± She said and left at a fast walk.


    ¡°What was that all about?¡± Hailey asked and her hand touched herself through the dress. ¡°Why am I still warm and tingling?¡±


    ¡°Probably the same reason I''m still standing at attention.¡± I said and her eyes dropped to my crotch again, then her Presence pulsed and I absorbed it. ¡°I think we better get over to Hela.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Hailey said and when she looked back at my face, another pulse went out from her and I absorbed it. ¡°I''m glad it''s only a short hyperspace jump to our destination.¡±


    ¡°Me, too.¡± I said and we climbed onto Monna and flew her out of the shuttle bay and over to Hela. Her shuttle bay was barely big enough for the shuttle with only about five feet clearance on each side.


    ¡°It''s really tight inside you, Hela.¡± Monna said. ¡°Try to take it easy on me, okay?¡±


    ¡°I can make no promises.¡± Hela responded and both Hailey and I laughed.


    ¡°It''s okay. We''re only hopping to the next system.¡± I said. ¡°It''s a day away.¡±


    We left Monna and went up into Hela''s cockpit. Hailey took the primary pilot seat and I sat beside her in the co-pilot seat, then we eased the oval shaped ship out of orbit. We had been pre-cleared, because of the wedding, and we left through a light traffic lane and jumped into hyperspace.


    A day later, we somehow kept our hands off of each other.


    It seemed that the longer we waited to consummate our marriage, the more Hailey tingled and warmed up between her legs and the harder and stiffer I became. It was starting to become painful for the both of us, and we didn''t even wait for clearance before we flew, at full speed, towards our parking orbit. The local landing authority wasn''t too happy with us; but, Hela was ecstatic at the ''hot'' insertion and Monna practically begged us to ride her as fast as we could.


    We obliged.


    We had already packed for our one week stay at the resort hotel and jumped aboard Monna, then we did the fastest orbital insertion in history. Monna absolutely loved us for doing that, despite the armored flight escort that stopped us from making a hot zone landing at the resort hotel''s designated landing pad. We didn''t quite ignore all of the warnings they gave us and slowed our descent to a more reasonable speed, then we came to a landing on our reserved spot.


    I apologized sincerely, told them what was wrong, and no one believed me... until I carried Hailey in through the front door of the main hotel with our bags floating behind us and they saw our glowing crotches.


    ¡°Go! Go! Go!¡± The security guard said and waved us through the lobby and the clerk at the main desk entered our information as we passed by.


    ¡°I''m sorry about this!¡± I nearly yelled and used Presence Run to blow by everyone and took Hailey to our large suite on the top floor in an instant. The various doors between the lobby and our suite ceased to exist as I carried Hailey through them and across the threshold of our room.


    In the next instant, my specially ordered suit and her custom made dress evaporated as our Presences dissolved them and left us completely naked. We landed on the bed in the proper positions and Hailey looked down at my glowing firmness and then at my face.


    ¡°My beloved.¡± Hailey said, barely above a whisper. ¡°I am yours.¡±


    ¡°My beloved.¡± I responded and our perception of the world around us faded. ¡°I am yours.¡±


    There was only us, our bodies, our Presences, and then as I slid forward and Hailey accepted me completely, time seemed to stop. Nothing moved. We didn''t breathe. We didn''t blink our eyes. Nothing but us seemed to exist. Our bodies became one and our Presences were no longer separate. Where I began, Hailey was there. Where Hailey ended, I was there. All of time and none of time seemed to be real and happening at once.


    ¡°I love you.¡± Hailey and I said as one.

 Book Three: The Resolution 128

    Hailey and I made love to each other for an eternity.


    We explored each other''s bodies and Hailey got to experience first hand all of the things she had heard about, both from intentionally peeking and listening to things. Our minds were completely open to each other and Hailey learned about all the dangers of that from my own experience and the things I had intentionally done to several assassins. She understood how easy it was to mess someone else up if you didn''t have the proper intentions and also mess yourself up from the backlash if you didn''t have enough control.


    Hailey loved me all the more for protecting her from that danger for as long as I had and I loved her for not forcing the issue when she easily could have. Our understanding of each other grew by the nanosecond and we both used Presence on each other to enhance our bodies and our responses to being touched by each other.


    I could almost physically feel my long lifespan decrease as we kept sharing everything with each other and Hailey''s lifespan increased in equal proportion. I used my extensive knowledge to increase her body''s reinforcement to be on par with mine and our lovemaking increased in both speed and ferocity. She could handle me at my best now and I had no worries about losing control.


    You would think sharing so much would make you lose your sense of self or your personal identity... but, it wasn''t like that. I had been worried about that when this whole thing started and I didn''t have to. We were still two different people and our minds worked differently. Even though our Presences had synchronized and we could share everything we were, no matter where we were, we were still us.


    That reassured our minds and we became frantic in both Presence use and using our bodies to please each other. We didn''t tire, or weaken in either Presence or our resolve, as we did our best to give each other the embodiment of our love for each other... which made us love each other that much more.


    On and on we went, regardless of time and space, and then Hailey started to falter. I felt her body start to override her desire and she needed to finish. I didn''t want to disappoint her unconscious mind, so I somehow quadrupled my efforts to get ready myself.


    ¡°H-Hunter.... I''m... oh, god! Hunter! HUNTER!¡± Hailey yelled as she felt a world shattering orgasm approach, then I orgasmed and finished inside of her.


    ¡°AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!¡± Hailey screamed as I filled her up and she held onto me as the pleasure threatened to tear her heart and her mind apart, because she wanted to hold onto that pleasure for as long as she could.


    The glowing blue energy around our crotches faded and the intensity of the moment reduced. She stared into my eyes and she couldn''t believe what just happened.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Hailey spoke barely above a whisper. ¡°Is it always like this?¡±


    ¡°Only with you.¡± I whispered back. ¡°I''ve never felt anything like that before.¡±


    Hailey had a worried look on her face for a second. ¡°Was... is this... will it be the only time it''s like this?¡±


    ¡°My beloved, there''s only one way to find out.¡± I said and beamed a smile at her. Hailey gave me an award winning smile back. We both felt that we had the rest of an eternity together, so we started over.


    *


    After several loud crashes, all of the people in the surrounding town had to avert their eyes as something like a miniature white star appeared in the bridal suite on the top floor of the hotel. This lasted for nearly a full minute and it cast shadows all over the place as its bright light dwarfed that of their actual sun in the sky. The light wasn''t blinding and those hit by it felt a warmth unlike anything they had felt before.


    An elderly couple nearly a mile away sat in their small kitchen and looked out at the flash of light. A beam hit them and they both took in deep breaths as their arthritic pain faded away. The old woman turned her head and looked at her husband. She always saw him as his younger self, because she loved him so, and then her eyes dropped to his lap.


    ¡°Harold!¡± She exclaimed.


    ¡°You''re so beautiful, Harriet.¡± Harold said and stood up. His old bones didn''t creak like they had that morning when he got out of bed and his wife stared at him as he walked around the table without hobbling. He took her hand and led her to their bedroom and shut the door.


    ¡°Oh, Harold!¡± Harriet exclaimed barely a minute later.


    *


    Scenes like that were repeated all over with people that loved each other. It wasn''t a random effect that made everyone horny and they had to have sex with whoever was nearby, though. It was all couples and it affected them in a similar way.


    The light hit a lot of people and only gave them minor healing. Some couples were hit and they weren''t affected. The reasons they were unaffected varied, like they didn''t love each other, only one of them was actually in love, or they were only in it for the sex. The secondary effect wouldn''t work for things like that. They needed to actually love each other for them to receive what a lot of people would later call ''the gift''.


    *


    ¡°Whatever they''re doing, it''s shaking the whole hotel.¡± One of the female workers said as they cleaned up the mess in the lobby.


    ¡°What do you mean whatever they''re doing? It''s their honeymoon. They''re not in there playing hide and seek.¡± The female clerk behind the counter said.


    The woman worker gave her a knowing look.


    ¡°Okay, maybe they are.¡± The female clerk laughed.


    The front doors opened and a group of workers came in with a large wooden pallet with six replacement doors on them and the mechanisms used to open and close them. The hotel shook again and several pictures fell from the wall and smashed on the floor.


    ¡°They are going to have one hell of a bill by the end of the week.¡± The female clerk said and reached over her counter to grab a vase before it toppled over. The communications console lit up for an incoming call and she tucked the vase under her arm and answered it. ¡°Good morning! Thank you for calling the Bogorim Hotel. What can I help you with?¡±


    ¡°You can turn off that damned light!¡± The irate man said with his hand over his eyes.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Sir, I suggest you close your window protectors to...¡±


    ¡°They ARE closed!¡± He said. ¡°If you don''t turn off that light right now...¡±


    ¡°Sir, I don''t know what you mean.¡± The clerk said, then her console beeped... and beeped... and then made a solid monotone noise as hundreds of call requests were made. ¡°Um... sir... please hold!¡± She said and clicked him off. ¡°What''s going on?¡± She asked.


    ¡°There''s a giant search light coming out of the back of the hotel.¡± One of the repair men said as he took one of the doors from the pallet. ¡°It''s lighting up most of the town on that side.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± The clerk asked, confused. ¡°We don''t have anything like that in this hotel.¡±


    ¡°Go have look for yourself.¡± He said and shrugged as he held the door in place and one of the other workers popped open the mechanism that held the old broken door.


    The clerk had to check it out so she could tell people that they weren''t responsible, so she had someone else watch the counter and walked through the hotel and stepped out the back door.


    ¡°Ryan? What are you looking at?¡± The clerk asked the waiter from the restaurant next door. He didn''t respond and she walked over to him. As soon as she stepped into the beam Ryan was in, she gasped at how handsome he was. ¡°R-Ryan?¡±


    ¡°Look at that.¡± Ryan said and put his arms around her and turned her around. She looked up and saw the sun-like glow coming from the bridal suite.


    ¡°It''s them!¡±


    Ryan hugged her from behind. ¡°Sweetheart, I love you and we should get married.¡±


    ¡°We... we...¡± The clerk wanted to say that they couldn''t. Neither of them had any money saved up for something like that and they both lived in tiny apartments that barely had enough living space for them, let alone the two of them together. ¡°I really want to.¡± She said instead. ¡°We can''t afford that or buy a bigger apartment.¡±


    Ryan turned her back around and looked deep into her eyes. ¡°We can get the certificate for now. We can save up and get that nice place down on the corner, especially if we rent out what we have now.¡±


    The clerk looked deep into his eyes. ¡°This is a huge mistake.¡±


    ¡°I don''t care.¡± Ryan said. ¡°If I''m going to fail at life, I want to do it by your side.¡±


    The clerk thought about it for only a moment, then she nodded. Ryan beamed a smile at her, one she hadn''t seen on his face before, and then he kissed her. Before she knew what was happening, they were in the back room of the restaurant and making love like they never had before. He was attentive and made her feel things she thought were only heard of in fairy tales.


    The calls to get the hotel to turn off the light were completely forgotten.


    *


    Two eternities later, both Hailey and I were exhausted and energized at the same time as we floated in the middle of the Presence Barrier we had made, then it faded away and we looked around the room... that wasn''t there anymore. The bed, part of the floor, the ceiling, and two of the walls were missing. They had suffered the same fate that our clothes had and dissolved into nothingness as their component atoms were scattered.


    ¡°Wow.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°That was... a definite wow.¡± I said to repeat the words we said after our wedding kiss.


    Hailey laughed and shook her head. ¡°Hand me something to wear.¡±


    I took out her suitcase and helped her dress, then I did the same for myself. We floated over to the door of the suite... or what should have been the door and was only a gaping hole... and we landed in the hallway. We walked towards the stairs and I laughed at the destruction I had left in our wake.


    ¡°I think I was a little eager to be with you, Beloved.¡± I said.


    Hailey nodded as she looked down through the various floors and all of the doors we had blown through. ¡°I think it was me that dissolved them instead of letting you just run through them or making them explode into shards and splinters.¡±


    I nodded this time. ¡°That reminds me. Should I ask how expensive that dress was?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Hailey said with a grin and I laughed.


    We walked down the stairs and took our time getting back down to the ground floor.


    ¡°How long were we actually... you know.¡± Hailey asked.


    I looked at the closest clock. ¡°About twenty minutes.¡±


    ¡°Twenty?¡± Hailey shook her head. ¡°Beloved, we spent a lot more time together than that!¡±


    ¡°You know the same things that I do now.¡± I said when we were halfway down to the ground floor. ¡°Tell me what happened.¡±


    Hailey had to think about it and everything we had experienced over our lifetimes, then she gasped. ¡°If we were at the epicenter of a gravitational anomaly, we could have warped both space and time, depending on the intensity of the energy we concentrated together.¡±


    ¡°That''s my brilliant beloved.¡± I said and gave her a kiss. ¡°Now remember how much Presence we were channelling.¡±


    That took Hailey a few moments to recall, then she stared at me. ¡°Oh, my god.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°We spent all that time together in a space-time limbo and only twenty minutes actually passed.¡±


    ¡°But... what about...¡± Hailey reached down and touched her belly.


    ¡°Time is relative.¡± I said. ¡°If my guess is right, by the time our honeymoon is over and we go back home, Hen will be able to tell us that you''re pregnant.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Heaven knows we tried.¡±


    Hailey laughed. ¡°Mom''s going to kill me for getting pregnant after my very first time having sex.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± I asked. ¡°She''s going to be ecstatic that my promise to her is going to be fulfilled so soon.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Hailey said when we reached the bottom of the stairs and the work crew there had just finished installing the replacement door. ¡°Thank you so much for changing that vow.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t buy her a mother of the bride gift, so I had to give her something.¡± I joked and Hailey giggled.


    ¡°I love you.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said and opened the door for her. We stepped out and walked over to the front desk just as a female clerk came out of a back door. Her hair was slightly messy and she straightened it out and pulled her uniform straight.


    Both Hailey and I immediately caught her thoughts about making love in the back of the restaurant with the man she deeply loved and couldn''t be with because they were on the verge of poverty. A moment later, we both saw the image of the sun-like thing coming from our room. We exchanged looks at the visual component of what we had thought was only a local phenomena we had caused, then I looked at the clerk.


    ¡°Yes, if you''re wondering. That was us.¡± I said and held out a credit chip to her. ¡°Please accept this as a token of our apology to you.¡±


    The clerk looked at the credit chip and was tempted to take it. ¡°You can tip us at the...¡±


    ¡°No, this isn''t a tip. I''m giving it to you personally.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll pay for the damages and the hassle we''ve caused later, since it will take you a while to assess the total cost of everything we''ve wrecked besides the bridal suite.¡±


    ¡°You wrecked it?¡± The clerk asked and I nodded. ¡°So, this is for me and no one else?¡±


    ¡°Well, you can use it for whatever you want.¡± I clarified for her and put it in her hand. Don''t be shocked at how much it is. I said to her mentally.


    The clerk blinked her eyes at me for a moment, then she looked at the hundred thousand credit chip in her hand. ¡°Sir, this...¡± To her surprise, she wasn''t shocked at the total. ¡°...you are too generous.¡±


    ¡°You''re only saying that because you don''t know how much our bill is going to be.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Beloved, how much do you estimate it will be?¡±


    ¡°Oh, a million and a half at least.¡± Hailey said and waved at the smashed pictures on the floor. ¡°Not counting the incidentals.¡±


    The clerk just stared at us without saying a word.


    ¡°Make sure you put that money to good use, like that nice house down on the corner.¡± I said and the clerk gasped. ¡°Beloved.¡± I said to Hailey. ¡°I think we need to take a walk around the town to see... ah... what else we may have affected.¡±


    Hailey nodded and we left the hotel and started the town tour that we hadn''t intended to do for another few days. We were lucky we did, because as we did walk around, we caught the thoughts from hundreds of people that had made love to each other after seeing the light from the hotel.


    You don''t think they shared in everything, do you? Hailey asked me mentally.


    They didn''t feel what we felt, if that''s what you mean. I thought to her. If you mean getting pregnant... well... we won''t find that out for a couple of weeks.


    Hunter, we need to help them. Hailey thought to me.


    We''ll make discrete donations to the couples, just like we did for the clerk. I thought back. Ten to fifty thousand credits, depending on how young they are and the chances they''ll conceive.


    We''ll have to monitor them, too. Hailey thought. We may even have to station Adona here to make sure these people get proper medical care.


    Hailey, that''s a brilliant idea. I thought. It will give Hen lots of practical experience with working with other species, too.


    Hailey smiled and we continued our tour, gave out discrete donations, and obtained people''s contact information for follow-up check-ups after the honeymoon.

 Book Three: The Resolution 129

    Hailey and I had a wonderful time during the rest of the week we had for our honeymoon. When we did have sex, we made sure to be well away from... well, everything... and we repeated the same phenomenon. We knew there was an external component and completely enclosed ourselves to stop any more accidental love making sessions. We kept trying to just include the mass healing effect and it wouldn''t change. So, we had to make sure we were always alone and segregated when it happened.


    Hailey''s estimate was pretty close to what the actual damage total was and the clerk was embarrassed when she presented us with a hotel bill for one million, eight hundred and thirty-five thousand, two hundred and ten credits.


    ¡°I think we should do a direct transfer from one of the personal accounts, rather than try to pay with chips.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°Yes, that will save us a lot of trouble.¡± I said and I motioned to the clerk''s console. ¡°May I use that for a minute?¡±


    ¡°Um... I think...¡± The clerk stepped back. ¡°Just a moment. I''ll get the manager to confirm the transaction.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I said. You don''t have to be nervous about handling so much money. I thought to her and she nodded and went to get the manager.


    She came out of her office and walked over to us with the clerk, then they both smiled. ¡°Please come around the counter and I''ll observe to confirm.¡±


    I walked around the counter and made a chair from Presence. I sat down, so that both women could see me working, and I brought up one of the many personal accounts Sheph had created as slush funds for emergencies and for damages incurred by anyone working for the shipping company. I transferred the credits to the hotel and the manager nodded and pat my shoulder.


    ¡°Thank you for paying in full and not trying to stretch it out with multiple smaller payments.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I know the little bugger that runs the Borgorim Corporation. He''d laugh in my face if I tried to do that to one of his subsidiary companies.¡±


    ¡°You... you know...¡± The manager''s face drained of its color.


    ¡°We''ve been doing business together for years.¡± I said and Hailey laughed. ¡°Hey, no laughing!¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± Hailey said and covered her smile with a hand. ¡°It''s just... he''s been making billions of credits from your satellite network. That''s not technically doing business together.¡±


    ¡°He makes more and more like that every day that I add another hundred satellites to the network.¡± I said and stood. ¡°We buy a lot of things from him, so we''re technically in business together.¡±


    Hailey rolled her eyes. ¡°We''re also one of his primary clients.¡±


    ¡°WH-WH-WHAT?!?¡± The manager yelled. ¡°Wh-why didn''t you tell us?!?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t think that was required.¡± I walked around the counter and put an arm around Hailey.


    ¡°There... there are discounts... and extra services... and perks that...¡± The manager stammered.


    ¡°We were here on our honeymoon, not a business trip.¡± Hailey said and used a calming technique on her. ¡°So, relax and report to the home office that Hunter and his new bride had a wonderful time at your hotel and that we sincerely regret that he couldn''t attend the wedding.¡±


    ¡°You invited him to your wedding?¡± The manager asked, shocked.


    Hailey laughed. ¡°Of course we did. Despite my husband''s slight exaggeration, we really do share a lot of business interests. He was much too busy to indulge in a polite invitation this time.¡±


    ¡°I bet when he sees the report of the damages, we''ll hear from him.¡± I joked and Hailey laughed again. ¡°Thank you for giving us another room and for not just kicking us out.¡± I said to the clerk and the manager. ¡°Have yourselves a great day.¡±


    ¡°We will.¡± They said and Hailey and I left the hotel.


    Once we were out the door, we walked over to Monna and climbed aboard.


    ¡°I''m glad you two had so much fun.¡± Monna said.


    ¡°Thank you, Monna.¡± Hailey said and powered Monna''s engines up while we waited for a flight plan from the air traffic authorities. I laughed when we received it, because it was convoluted and took six times as long for us to get back up to orbit. We probably scared the hell out of them with how we had landed a week ago that Hailey and I didn''t mind the pettiness. We docked Monna inside Hela''s small shuttle bay and then went to her cockpit.


    ¡°Are we really going to do this?¡± Hailey asked and prepped Hela for departure.


    ¡°Are you doubting your stolen abilities already?¡± I asked and she winced as the Presence wavered hard. ¡°Sorry, not a time for jokes.¡± I said and gave her a kiss as an apology. ¡°I meant, do you want to test yourself first before we do this?¡±


    Hailey had to think about that for a while. We left orbit and flew Hela out of the system and jumped into hyperspace. We weren''t going home, however.


    ¡°Hunter, do you... I''m sure that you could do this...¡±


    ¡°Hailey.¡± I said and she turned away from the pilot console and looked at me. ¡°Not only do I trust you with my life, I trust you with your own.¡± I said. ¡°You know how much more I value yours than my own.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Hailey started to say that I was crazy for thinking that, because she felt the same about me, then she leaned over and gave me a kiss. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°I like you a little, too.¡± I said and she winced again as the Presence wavered a lot. ¡°How am I supposed to joke and tease you about how much I love you, if everything I say that''s not completely honest warns you immediately?¡±


    ¡°Stop. Trying.¡± Hailey said and glared at me.


    I sighed and cupped the side of her face. ¡°I love you more than I ever thought was possible for one person to love another.¡±


    Hailey gave me a beaming smile. ¡°I suppose that''s me, too.¡±


    ¡°Ow!¡± I said as the Presence wavered a lot again. ¡°Okay, okay. I get it.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Hailey said. ¡°Now let''s get back to the briefing room and go over the plans again.¡±


    ¡°They''re only tentative, because we can''t get accurate scans through the planetary satellite grid.¡± I said and we left the cockpit and entered the small ten foot by ten foot room with a hologram display table. ¡°We''ve tried using our stolen Order pass codes and nothing is allowing us access to the thing.¡±


    Hailey turned on the table and loaded up the defense plans for the planet we were heading to. It was going to take us nearly a month to get there, even in one of our fastest ships. It showed strategically placed asteroids, mine fields, patrol ships, laser cannon remote platforms, and three Order assault class spaceships.


    ¡°Can we make a dent in any of this?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°We''re going to tear through that as if it didn''t exist.¡± Hela said, confidently. ¡°Look at the ship designs.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    The designs popped up on the holographic display and several things were highlighted on them.


    ¡°They will get off two shots before we burn through their deflector screens and hit their reactor core to cause a shutdown.¡± Hela said. ¡°It will be more shots than that if they go full offense. If they go full defense, then we need to worry about concentrating fire to get through their full power shields.¡±


    I reached out and put a finger on the reactor. ¡°They''re using the main reactor for power, the weapons, and defensive systems.¡±


    ¡°Yes. If they concentrate on either thing, we will have some difficulty. I predict they will split their power and weaken both their offensive and defensive capabilities.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think that?¡± I asked, just to make sure.


    ¡°Because they are The Order. They are arrogant and overconfident in their ship''s capabilities, even though they have only fought enemies of similar ship design or smaller.¡±


    ¡°Hela, you are a little smaller than one of their assault ships.¡± I said. ¡°If all three of them happen to be on the same side of the planet when we enter the system, will you be able to handle it?¡±


    ¡°I do not boast when I respond with ''easily''.¡± Hela said. ¡°We could take out a dreadnought as well, even in a straight up and fair fight.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Which we would never, ever give them.¡±


    ¡°Why lose the advantage?¡± Hailey said. ¡°Surprise and quick action will give us the win, even if there are more ships there than the last report indicates.¡±


    ¡°Well, I''ve planned for heavy resistance, considering who we''re going after.¡± I said.


    ¡°Will this really work?¡± Hailey asked. ¡°The focusing crystals trick, I mean.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I was tempted to just ship them normally and then have them explode; but, there was no guarantee that he would be anywhere near them when they were opened.¡±


    ¡°The only way to be sure is to be there and see that it actually happens.¡± Hailey said and I nodded. ¡°Well, then. We just have to hope that we can get a little more information at the last hyperspace jump point before we hit the system.¡±


    ¡°We''ll have two hours to see if the satellite gets anything new.¡± I said. ¡°Otherwise, we''re pretty much going in blind.¡±


    Hailey took my hand. ¡°Remember our vows. Our enemies will tremble before our might.¡±


    ¡°If they know what''s good for them they will.¡± I said and leaned in to kiss her.


    ¡°I suggest a preemptive strike at these locations.¡± Hela said and the hologram changed to a view of the system that was our target and several asteroids and platforms were highlighted. ¡°If we launch as soon as we exit hyperspace, none of them will be detected or avoided.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Nice one, Hela.¡± I said. ¡°We can dead shot them and won''t even need to adjust the trajectories.¡±


    ¡°I reserve the right to go active with the missiles at the last second.¡± Hela said.


    I laughed. ¡°If you need the manoeuvrability, go for it. In fact, why don''t we double the launch and stagger them?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that''s brilliant!¡± Hailey said. ¡°If they manage to somehow block the first stealth missile, they will be so relieved that the second will get through their defenses completely uncontested.¡±


    ¡°That is a sound strategy.¡± Hela said. ¡°Updating database.¡± After a moment, the hologram projection changed and showed the doubled targets. ¡°All attacks have been given double priority and energy allocation has been changed to accommodate the new attack pattern.¡±


    ¡°Nice, Hela. Thanks.¡± I said. ¡°Now, if they have any inner-system attack craft...¡±


    Our brainstorming session lasted several hours, and then we took a break and cooked a meal together. Hailey fully appreciated what couples cooking meant now and she liberally grabbed and played with me as I tried to cook the meal around her efforts to distract me.


    ¡°Hey, how would you like it if I did this to you while you''re cooking?¡± I asked when I finally put the meals in the processing heater to finish them.


    ¡°Next time, beloved.¡± Hailey said and kissed me. ¡°Unlike you, I''ll completely ignore the food and make love to you like you so desperately want me to.¡±


    I gave her a surprised look, then laughed. ¡°I don''t want to wreck Hela, okay? We need a lot more space if we''re going to have fun like that.¡±


    Hailey grinned and reached for my crotch. I didn''t try to avoid her and let her grab me through my pants. Her fingers tore through the cloth as if it didn''t exist and she stroked me as she looked into my eyes.


    ¡°I love you so much.¡± I said and kissed her briefly.


    ¡°You really will let me do whatever I want.¡± Hailey said, a little surprised.


    ¡°I''ve been waiting years for you to understand what it meant to be with someone you loved and to give them your all.¡± I said. ¡°The thing is, I didn''t realize that I was waiting for the same thing for myself.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Hailey said as I turned away from the food prep counter.


    ¡°You are my heart and my soul.¡± I said to her. ¡°I''ve told you several times that I was yours. I didn''t mean just for now or only when we''re alone.¡± I put my arms around her and she didn''t stop stroking me. ¡°All of me is yours and I''ve never said that to anyone. Ever.¡±


    Hailey''s eyes teared up. ¡°Hunter, I... all of me is yours to do what you want, too.¡±


    ¡°Well, considering I married you and made you my wife, I''d say you''re head and shoulders over everyone else in existence.¡± I said. ¡°Besides loving you for the rest of my life, what else would I want to do with you?¡±


    Hailey let a few tears escape and kissed me. I wiped off her face and she looked down at what she was still doing. ¡°Hunter, I... I started this and we''re in the kitchen.¡± She said. ¡°I''m not sure how I''m supposed to stop.¡±


    I put a hand on her hand to stop her movements. ¡°You don''t have to make me make a mess every time you touch me with love, Beloved.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Hailey looked down again at my hardness. ¡°I did start it, so shouldn''t I finish it?¡±


    ¡°If you want to, or we can wait until after we eat.¡± I said and opened the processor to get the two meals out, then I gave her an award winning smile. ¡°Go ahead and chose which one you want to eat first.¡±


    Hailey looked at my face to see if I was joking.


    I wasn''t, because I had left it up to her.


    ¡°I love you.¡± Hailey said and knelt, then she kept looking up at me as she pleased me. It didn''t take long for me to finish, not with such a beauty doing what she was doing. I felt her pleasure at making me go so quickly with such a simple act, and she felt how much I loved her for it.


    We sat down and had a nice meal as we discussed normal things. Well, normal things for us, like how many missiles I had modified, and how much of a power drain would it be if the laser weapons and the physical projectiles all fired at once. Those kinds of things.


    Over the next few weeks, we did a physical inspection on everything in the ship, again, to make sure everything was working properly for the mission to come. We both knew it was going to be one of the most harrowing things any of us had ever done, and we were sad that we couldn''t bring Simone and Isabella with us, since their expertise would have been invaluable. The only problem with bringing them was that they wouldn''t have survived, so we left them at home.


    It was bad enough that we were tossing ourselves into what could potentially become a perpetual meat grinder if things didn''t go right. Bringing others into that was just throwing their lives away for no real gain, except for the fact that they would just be a casualty, and that was not what we wanted.


    With a month left, Hailey and I met in the small living room and I took out a Light sword. She didn''t question me as I handed it over to her and she turned it on immediately. Her Presence was synced with mine and the Light sword felt right in her hand, so she didn''t need to attune it to herself. I took out another Light sword and smiled at her. She smiled back at me and took a fighting stance.


    Then we fought.


    Hailey needed the practice, because even though she knew all of my moves and techniques, she had never actually used them before, except in the limited capacity she had before we married. She divided her mind like I did to gather Presence, to meditate, and to be aware at the same time. It slowed her down significantly; but, that was only because she wasn''t used to having her body react to her mental commands and not just from muscle memory.


    I didn''t waste any time trying to get her up to a proper level to use my abilities... now her abilities... to their full potential. She already had a basis in a lot of my techniques and Presence use, so getting her to adjust to having so much more Presence to do the same tasks didn''t take long. The only problem she had was with scale.


    Unlike me, she didn''t eventually grow into her abilities over decades. I had essentially thrust them upon her and increased them to full power. She needed a bit more mental discipline and fortitude to make the abilities and skills she now had her own. She didn''t resent me for doing it and she didn''t hate me for trying to cram as much practice as I could into so short of a time.


    Hailey knew I was doing it to save her life, because we were going up against someone that was scarily powerful. She needed full awareness of her current capabilities, so that when we were in the thick of battle, neither of us would have to worry about the other because we would know the other could handle themselves.


    When our training time was up and we stopped at the nearby system that was a short hyperspace jump away from out destination, we waited for the two hours to get the updated information on the target system. We were both confident that Hailey was everything that I would need and we both armored up in similar outfits.


    I donned my classic tristeel powered armor suit and Hailey put on her custom made suit that was nearly identical to mine. We hooked two Light swords to our belts and tucked two more into our bags of holding.


    ¡°Any new info?¡± Hailey asked as I looked at the computer console and read the information that the satellite connection to the next system gave us.


    ¡°It looks like Hela''s going to have her proverbial hands full. There''s a dreadnought visiting the system.¡±


    ¡°It''s an Order ship. We won''t have any trouble.¡±


    ¡°Unless they get their full defenses up.¡± Hailey cautioned her.


    Hela let out a deep laugh. ¡°I''ll tear through them with Hunter''s missiles in ten seconds.¡±


    ¡°Don''t be overconfident.¡± I warned her.


    ¡°Do you want me to re-prioritize my firing solutions?¡± Hela asked.


    ¡°No, we keep to the plan. We need those defenses destroyed before we can take Monna to the planet''s surface.¡± I said. ¡°Make the dreadnought your next priority after the initial launch.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Hela said. ¡°New orders given priority and jump coordinates have been updated.¡±


    I looked at Hailey and she looked back at me. ¡°Are you ready for this?¡±


    ¡°As long as I''m with you, I''m ready for anything.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°Then jump.¡± I said, and we disappeared into hyperspace.

 Book Three: The Resolution 130

    Our plan almost went perfectly.


    We exited hyperspace at the adjusted coordinates and did a full launch of missiles, then another. The double launch staggered them just enough to hide the second missile, and that proved invaluable. As we travelled at full speed towards our target planet to try and get there before anyone in the system could defend from the attack, we found that all three attack ships were on this side of the planet, which would make removing them easier... if they weren''t right there with the dreadnought. There were also twelve in-system gunships converging on the planet.


    ¡°Do we abort?¡± Hailey asked. ¡°Hela, are you still confident we can win with these odds stacked against us?¡±


    ¡°I will be hurt badly; but, yes. We will still prevail.¡±


    ¡°Then take us in.¡± I said to Hailey. ¡°Hela, you know short of blowing up, we will have your body repaired.¡±


    ¡°Mother told me of your ejection protocols and I approve.¡± Hela said. ¡°I would rather live as a core than be destroyed.¡±


    ¡°It shouldn''t come to that.¡± I said confidently and reached over and put a hand on Hailey''s shoulder. ¡°We''ve got the best pilot in the universe right here. If anyone''s going to get us through this, it''s her.¡±


    ¡°Then hold on.¡± Hailey said and swung the ship far towards the left to avoid several straight-fire missiles from a few automated satellites, which I then shot down. In the next moment, all of our primary targets exploded from the first stealth missile salvo.


    ¡°Hela! Prioritize the followup missiles to target the local ships!¡± Hailey said and reduced speed for a second to avoid the direct laser fire from several more weapons satellites.


    ¡°Already done, Grandma.¡± Hela said as the firing solutions on my weapons display updated. I targeted the laser satellites next and our assault laser cannons easily took them out. We couldn''t detect the damn things until they fired and gave us a target, which was something we hadn''t planned for. Reacting to being shot was going to get old, fast.


    ¡°Recalculating next missile salvo for the new target designations.¡± I said and changed the next load of missiles to lock on the three assault ships and the dreadnought equally.


    ¡°We have become a target for their local security net.¡± Hela said just as targeting warnings flashed over my screen and a low siren started.


    ¡°Cut the siren.¡± I said and launched the next missile salvo. ¡°Hela, how many local ships left?¡±


    ¡°None. I doubled up on them as you suggested.¡± Hela said and then the ship lurched as thirty lasers impacted the front shield and it almost collapsed.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± I said and concentrated on shooting the laser platforms. When I saw half of our missiles disappear before they reached the targets, I cursed. ¡°They''re splitting their fire.¡±


    ¡°Changing approach vector.¡± Hailey said and dropped the ship low. ¡°Straight-fire the missiles and let Hela control them for the last few seconds.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± I said and did as she asked. I didn''t bother giving targets to the next set of missiles and fired. ¡°Hela, any luck finding the control module?¡±


    ¡°We destroyed both the primary and secondary defense controls that we knew of.¡± Hela said and showed me on the display the asteroid where they used to be. ¡°There must be a mobile version somewhere that can still direct the satellites to fire on us.¡±


    No sooner had she said that when the top of the ship was hit by thirty laser blasts. The ship lurched again and I got a warning that we lost three of our deflector screens.


    ¡°I can''t see the damn things!¡± Hailey said and rotated the ship and flew us straight up to try and avoid more missiles and laser fire.


    ¡°I think they''re using our strategy.¡± I said and looked at the response pattern. ¡°Every time we fire, we must look like a beacon to their targeting computers.¡±


    Hailey flipped us upside down and poured power into Hela''s engines, then rotated us to face towards the planet again. ¡°We should go dark.¡±


    ¡°It''s too late for that.¡± I said as the ship rocked from multiple laser hits and then I quickly did up the calculations. ¡°They know we''re coming and they are going to concentrate their fire on...¡±


    One of the three assault ships blew up in a spectacular explosion.


    ¡°Good god.¡± Hailey said as it disintegrated and the ship next to it tilted slightly away from the blast and then its forward section lit up as the main reactor exploded.


    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± I exclaimed and quickly played back the footage. ¡°Hela! Abort missiles aimed for the dreadnought!¡±


    Six missiles diverted away and then detonated harmlessly.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Hailey took her eyes off of her display to look at me in disbelief. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±


    ¡°They destroyed the second ship.¡± I said and she did a double take at me, then went back to flying and dodging missiles. ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± I said and quickly changed the firing solutions to exclude the dreadnought. ¡°Apparently, they are fighting our side.¡±


    ¡°Or we are on theirs.¡± Hailey corrected.


    The dreadnought took a massive salvo of laser hits on its side and we could actually see the deflector screen fail and part of the hull blew out with decompression.


    ¡°Can we get by them?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Hailey and Hela said together.


    ¡°Then we have to become their support.¡± I said. ¡°With a dreadnought''s weapons suite available...¡±


    Hailey nodded. ¡°Okay, then. Reducing speed and going for full evasion. We''ll cover that weak spot for them and take out anything that fires at us.¡±


    ¡°Right. Defensive mode.¡± I said and changed the firing profile of the assault laser cannons to short beams and brought the projectile guns online and loaded the burst rounds. I changed the missiles to shoot chaff, then shot them out at half speed. They barely left our missile tubes when they exploded and created a huge mass of metal shards that spread out over a large area as they moved forward.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    It was the perfect defense against laser fire that needed direct hits, because it obscured the target. Scores of them disappeared in flashes of light as the laser platforms tried to shoot through them at us.


    ¡°It''s too bad this only works at slower speeds.¡± I said and Hailey nodded as we flipped upside down again and avoided another missile salvo. ¡°Dammit, where is that launcher?¡±


    ¡°Backtracking calculations unavailable.¡± Hela said. ¡°No observable data.¡±


    ¡°They are dead-firing them.¡± Hailey said and flipped us back upright and I used the laser cannons to shoot any satellites we passed by. ¡°They don''t turn them on until they are right on top of us.¡±


    ¡°I knew they were copying us.¡± I said and rotated our guns to the side. ¡°We''re coming up on the dreadnought.¡±


    ¡°They are refusing communications.¡± Hela said. ¡°They are not targeting us yet.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully they''ll see what we''re doing.¡± Hailey said and turned the ship so that our vulnerable top was facing the dreadnought and we slowed down again. ¡°Fire everything we have!¡±


    I ran my finger across the buttons for the various weapons we had, then pulled the trigger on the projectile guns that were aimed at the last assault ship. We watched as fifteen assault laser cannons shot multiple times to overload the front deflector screen on the ship, then the projectiles went through the opening and each one exploded on impact to make huge craters on the hull... then three missiles went through the gap.


    The first one didn''t explode on impact and lodged into the ship. The second one blew up early and tore at the surrounding deflector screens and hull. The last one fit right into the damage in the hull the other weapons had made and then exploded, taking the other missile with it. The ship peeled back from the impact like a banana and then it disintegrated.


    ¡°Changing firing targets.¡± I said and switched to the stealth satellites and weapons platforms that Hela had marked as a lower priority when we passed by. The dreadnought did the same, surprisingly, and our two ships swept through the now undefended system and destroyed everything that dared to fire on us. When everything was a smoking ruin or just wrecks in space, all that was left was the target planet and its protective satellite network.


    ¡°Grandpa, the dreadnought is requesting communications.¡± Hela said.


    I turned from the weapons console and hit the button for the communications console.


    ¡°Whoever you are, thank you for your assistance.¡± Kara said from the screen. ¡°If you hadn''t shown up when you did, I don''t think we would have lasted much... AARON?!?¡±


    ¡°Hello, Master Moor.¡± I said and saw her eyes twitch.


    ¡°Stop teasing her.¡± Hailey said.


    I gave my wife a crooked smile. ¡°Sorry.¡± I said and looked back at the screen. ¡°So, what brings you here to this out of the way system?¡±


    ¡°I''ve been trying to negotiate with the local government for the last month and a half to let us extradite Kralish.¡± Kara said. ¡°We even brought in a third party to show that we were negotiating in good faith.¡±


    ¡°Let me guess, they delayed and made excuses, then killed the delegation when you told them to force the issue.¡± I said.


    Kara opened her mouth to respond and deny it, then sighed. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Can you feel her emotions and hear her thoughts? I asked Hailey mentally.


    Yes. It''s not supposed to work over a communications link, is it?


    Not normally, no. I thought. ¡°Well, Kara. What do you plan to do now?¡±


    ¡°With all their defenses gone except for the planetary defense satellites, I plan to assault the planet.¡± Kara said. ¡°I have three assault squads and we know his location.¡±


    ¡°You''re assuming he''s still there.¡± I said.


    ¡°We know he is.¡± Kara held up a datapad with the scaly alien''s tracing devices on it.


    ¡°He''s not that stupid.¡± I said.


    ¡°We have visual confirmation as well.¡± Kara said. ¡°He''s there and he''s waiting for me.¡±


    ¡°You mean us.¡± I corrected.


    ¡°I can''t allow...¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t asking.¡± I said. ¡°Send me his location.¡±


    ¡°No. You''ll launch preemptively before my people are ready to go.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to follow your assault squad shuttles with my own and overtake them then?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You wouldn''t.¡± Kara said and squinted her eyes at me.


    ¡°Not if you give me the location now and tell me how you''re bypassing the scramble codes on the satellites.¡± I said. ¡°That''s a fair trade for me to play nice, isn''t it?¡±


    Kara thought about refusing, then she imagined me dropping in ahead of her and capturing the scaly alien before she did. ¡°If you give your word that you will join our assault and won''t try to do it alone.¡±


    I raised my right hand. ¡°I give you my word that I will seamlessly join in the assault and won''t do anything alone.¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°All right.¡± She said and bent over slightly and I received a data transmission. ¡°This is the latest intelligence we have. He doesn''t know we have the scramble codes for the planetary defense grid or that we can disable it to get through.¡±


    I checked it and it seemed legitimate. ¡°When are you launching?¡±


    ¡°As soon as we get the side of the ship closed off from depressurization. It''s right in the side of the hull where the shuttles are stored.¡±


    ¡°Consider it done.¡± I said. ¡°Hailey, give me a hand.¡±


    Hailey took my hand and we concentrated on the side of the ship that was only a few hundred feet away. We used Presence to bend and twist the metal of the hull back into the proper shape and then formed a wall of solid Presence over the thirty foot wide damaged area, with a few feet extra for support.


    ¡°Master Moor! The breach is closed!¡± Someone behind her exclaimed.


    ¡°Continue the repairs while we get down there to retrieve the shuttles.¡± Kara said and then looked at me. ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°No time to explain.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll meet your assault shuttles outside your bay doors.¡±


    ¡°You better be in a shuttle!¡± Kara said, almost angrily.


    I chuckled. ¡°I don''t plan on showing off like that, so relax.¡±


    Kara nodded. ¡°See you in ten minutes.¡± She said and ended the call.


    ¡°Hela, keep recording all the emissions from the dreadnought. When they send that signal to disable the satellite defense network, copy and store it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa.¡± Hela said. ¡°Repair drones Three and Seven are cutting away the three burned out deflector screen emitters. Repair drone Six is accessing stores for new hull armor plating and replacement emitters.¡±


    ¡°Is it bad?¡± I asked and she showed me on the display. ¡°I''m glad I paid for the extra armor.¡±


    ¡°As am I.¡± Hela said. ¡°I have weapon burnout on two of the laser cannons as well.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°We have tons of them, so don''t worry about getting them replaced immediately.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa. Lowering priority.¡±


    ¡°We''ll be back soon.¡± I said and pat the console. ¡°Lock the door and wait for us to come back.¡±


    Hailey and I left the cockpit and made our way to the small shuttle bay.


    ¡°That was scary!¡± Monna said as we climbed aboard her. ¡°Even with Hailey as a pilot, that was hard to sit through!¡±


    ¡°You are just jealous because you wanted to fly through it yourself.¡± Hela said over the intercom.


    ¡°Well, yeah. It looked like fun!¡± Mona responded


    ¡°I thought you just said it was scary?¡± Hailey asked, a little confused as she sat and prepped the shuttle.


    ¡°I did!¡± Monna said happily.


    I laughed and sat down in the co-pilot seat. ¡°She loves things a little rough, remember?¡±


    ¡°She''s going to get a lot of that in a few minutes.¡± Hailey said and Hela opened the bay doors. ¡°Here we go.¡±


    We flew out of Hela''s shuttle bay and swung down and around the huge dreadnought and stopped near the large shuttle bay doors. Two minutes before we were supposed to meet, the bay doors on the dreadnought opened and three shuttles launched out at full speed.


    I shook my head. ¡°I should have made Kara promise to not try to leave us behind.¡± I said and looked at Hailey. ¡°She broke her word first, so go for it.¡±


    Hailey nodded and fed a bunch of power to Monna''s engines.


    ¡°WHEEEEEEE!¡± Monna yelled as we shot forward at a ridiculous speed. My console beeped and Hela sent me the frequency for the satellite defense network. It was just in time, because the hole Kara''s shuttles made was already closing.


    ¡°Broadcasting.¡± I said and made a hole big enough for us to go through. As an afterthought, I used the small lasers and smashed a pile of the satellites on the way by, since they couldn''t be shot from outside. Hailey chuckled and I grinned at her, because she knew that I wanted to fly around and take them all out. The only reason we didn''t was because we didn''t have the time.


    Then we both laughed as Monna stifled her moan while we made another hot insertion into a planetary atmosphere.

 Book Three: The Resolution 131

    Once we were through the satellite defense network and were streaking down through the atmosphere, we started to get clear scans of the compound where the scaly alien was located on the planet below. It was not like a typical compound at all and more like one of the training camps.


    ¡°Son of a goddamned...¡± I started to curse.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Hailey interrupted me as we easily caught and blew past the assault shuttles.


    ¡°I''m sorry.¡± I said. ¡°We probably just found one of the places where they are initially making all of those assassins, or where they are making the people who are going out there and making all of those assassins.¡±


    Hailey had to think about that one as she turned us on a steep bank and allowed Kara''s assault shuttles to catch up to us. ¡°If they have an average population for a normal world of about five billion...¡±


    ¡°Hela says according to the galactic net it is twenty five billion right now.¡± Monna said and then she whined a little. ¡°Why aren''t we going directly to the planet''s surface?¡±


    ¡°Cannon fodder.¡± I said and neither Hailey nor Monna said anything for a moment, then they both laughed when they understood.


    ¡°Works for me.¡± Monna said. ¡°Ooo, Hailey! Do a corkscrew manoeuvre!¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Hailey said and pulled back a little, positioned us just behind the assault shuttle formation, then poured power into Monna''s engines and whipped us into a spinning corkscrew and shot right through the gap between them.


    ¡°Bwahahaha!¡± Monna laughed as the three shuttles moved out of formation slightly because the pilots had been scared. ¡°We had lots of room!¡±


    ¡°They''re a little skittish, apparently.¡± I said as Hailey flew us in another wide banking turn and the assault shuttles caught up to us again. ¡°We''re coming up on the estimated weapons ranges.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Hailey said and reduced power to let the assault shuttles take the brunt of the incoming attack.


    ¡°Deflector screens powered up.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Monna said as our speed dropped with the assault shuttles, who also brought their deflector screens online. ¡°Damn slowpokes.¡±


    ¡°Easy, girl.¡± I said. ¡°Hailey, get ready for evasive manoeuvres. We can''t fire back until we''re at half of their long range. You''ll see the assault shuttles scatter in a minute, too.¡±


    Hailey nodded and a minute later, the assault shuttles started to bob and weave through the air and so did she. Monna was a lot more responsive than the assault shuttles, so we were well away from any large laser cannon shots that came our way. The assault shuttles weren''t so lucky as they took a pounding.


    They lost deflector screens, hull plating, and one even took a heavy shot on one of its engines. It spit and sputtered and blew out lots of black smoke, then it was covered in foam and the fire went out. It had to slow down and became an easier target, so I nodded to Hailey.


    ¡°You''re crazy.¡± Hailey said and we jumped forward and took position in front of the damaged shuttle and drew fire away from it. We shook from multiple grazing hits and our deflector screens held.


    ¡°Getting ready to fire.¡± I said and Monna had no trouble tracing the laser fire back to the points of origin. ¡°Five... four... three... two... one... firing.¡±


    It was long range for our laser cannons; but, we were firing at stationary targets. It was flipping easy compared to shooting at the defensive satellites and weapons platforms as we approached the planet. The assault shuttles started to add their firepower to our own, not realizing that our weapons were of a higher quality and had more power.


    The defensive laser fire died as I destroyed each weapon emplacement that we had tracked. The assault shuttle formation changed to allow a quick deployment upon landing and Hailey pulled us back to behind the new formation. The compound still had troops and anti-personnel weapons, so I provided covering fire as the assault shuttles landed outside of the compound at a safe distance.


    ¡°Do we blast in and take our licks as we land inside the compound, or do we help the idiots?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°Well, we could try and put everyone to sleep.¡± I said with a smile.


    Hailey chuckled. ¡°How angry would The Order be if we did that and stole their target?¡±


    ¡°We''d share a bounty, I''d say.¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay, we''ll hang back and see what they can do.¡± Hailey said.


    I strafed laser shots all along the wall of the compound and she landed behind the assault shuttles and then I couldn''t fire anymore. ¡°Let''s go.¡± I said and put on my blast shield and put on my hooded cloak. Hailey did the same so that we looked nearly identical and we left Monna in active mode.


    ¡°Good luck!¡± Monna said as the side hatch and rear cargo hatch opened.


    I stepped out the side hatch and saw the three guard squads were in formation and Kara was there with two other Order members. ¡°Thanks for waiting for me.¡±


    ¡°I''m under orders to take him alive.¡± Kara said. ¡°I can''t let you kill him for...¡± She stopped talking when she felt an oppressive Presence appear behind me. She drew her light sword just in time as Hailey blew past me with Presence Run and swung at her with her own Light sword. Kara blocked the strike, then dodged the follow-up kick to her gut. She had no time to figure out who it was that was dressed just like me and was attacking her, because it wasn''t over.


    The other two Order members drew their Light swords, so I pulled them out of their hands and turned them off. One of them started to reach out with Presence, so I absorbed it and put him to sleep. When the guards started to raise their weapons, I stopped them with Presence.


    ¡°Don''t.¡± I said, then watched as Hailey punched, kicked, swung her light sword, dodged, countered, then attacked again. ¡°You''re wasting time.¡±


    Hailey hopped back out of Kara''s range and turned off her light sword. ¡°I was just testing her.¡±


    Kara kept her defenses up and her Light sword at the ready, as if she knew it wasn''t over, then suddenly a gloved hand was over her face and she was slammed into the side of an assault shuttle thirty feet away in an instant. The impact cratered the armored metal and Kara lost all of her breath. Her Light sword fell to the ground and the gloved hand over her face was moved out of her sight.


    ¡°She failed.¡± Hailey said and stepped back.


    Kara dropped to the ground in a heap and used Presence to bring air back into her collapsed lungs.


    ¡°I can''t kill you for what you did to Hunter, because he forgave you for that.¡± Hailey said. ¡°I''m not him, though. I won''t forgive you for even the slightest insult you''ve given him, let alone killing him.¡±


    ¡°Hailey...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°No.¡± Hailey said and picked Kara up by the neck and gave her a shake. ¡°He is NOT your prince! You are NOT his princess! Get that stupid and childish thought out of your silly little head!¡±


    Kara stared at her with wide eyes. How does she know...


    ¡°I can read your crystal clear thoughts, that''s how.¡± Hailey said. ¡°You are waiting for him to change and come around to your way of thinking, then you can mould him into the man you imagined he would be.¡± She gave Kara another shake. ¡°That''s not who he is or who he would ever become! Your subtle attempts all those years that he was your apprentice just goes to show how wrong your way of thinking is!¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Kara couldn''t deny that she had tried to get Aaron to let her in and accept her.


    ¡°He is MY husband! MINE!¡± Hailey said and all of the color drained out of Kara''s face, because the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°I am his wife and I won''t accept your unwarranted and unsolicited attempts to subvert him.¡±


    Kara didn''t respond and no one tried to intervene on her behalf.


    ¡°This latest insult to him was the last time you will ever do that to my husband.¡± Hailey said in a deadly voice. ¡°You asked him to join the assault and then tried to leave him behind.¡± She said. ¡°If we hadn''t been there with you on the way down, how many of you would be dead right now?¡±


    No one answered and Hailey let Kara go, who dropped six inches to the ground and caught her footing instantly.


    ¡°Hunter was right, you know. The Order is too arrogant to exist.¡± Hailey said. ¡°So, we are taking it down.¡±


    ¡°Hailey...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°I have become everything you need, Beloved.¡± Hailey said. ¡°You''ve never hidden your plans to get rid of them all.¡±


    ¡°We are about to assault a compound with their help.¡± I said and woke up The Order member I put to sleep and handed them their Light swords back.


    ¡°No. We are humoring them to see how many of them will potentially die before we save them.¡± Hailey corrected.


    ¡°It''s the same thing.¡± I said with a smile as I saw Kara pick up her Light sword and she didn''t attack Hailey with it.


    ¡°Shall we show them how it should be assaulted properly?¡± Hailey asked as she walked over to me.


    ¡°Monna already opened the cargo hatch, so it would be a shame to waste the opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Then kiss me and I''ll let you use the weapons.¡± Hailey said and puckered her lips.


    I chuckled and puckered my lips, so that our blast shields wouldn''t hit each other, and gave her a quick kiss. We used Presence Run and disappeared from their sight, then Hailey drove the hovering Armored Personnel Carrier out of Monna''s cargo area and we felt all of their shock, even Kara''s.


    I popped the side hatch open and looked out. ¡°Well, come on. They aren''t going to wait all day for us.¡±


    The guards didn''t hesitate and immediately climbed aboard. They knew the value of an APC in combat. It was standing room only with thirty of them aboard, though.


    ¡°You three can go to the cockpit.¡± I said to Kara and the two men from The Order, then I climbed up into the weapons cockpit. ¡°Let''s go, Beloved.¡±


    The APC powered up completely, then we swung out and around the shuttles and drove towards the compound at full speed. The defending guards opened fire, because what else would they do, and their shots bounced harmlessly off the hull. I walked laser cannon fire across their positions on the wall and killed a lot of them.


    ¡°Wall coming up.¡± Hailey said. ¡°Heavy reinforcement.¡±


    I had enough time to shoot two breaching shells from the main gun. When they impacted on the surface of the wall, they exploded. They didn''t destroy the wall, though. All it did was weaken the plating and Hailey drove the APC right through it.


    ¡°YEAH!¡± One of the guards yelled happily.


    Hailey swung us around and I used the laser cannons and the machine guns to sweep over all of the troop positions that had been surprised by our easy breach of their walls, then she killed our momentum and stopped us beside the control building.


    I opened the side hatch with Presence. ¡°GO! GO! GO!¡± I yelled and the guards piled out of the APC and stormed into the building. Hailey, any luck finding him? I thought to her as I maintained covering fire through the windows of the building to distract the defenders.


    No. Either he''s blocking us somehow or he''s behind a dispersion field like the satellite defense network. Hailey thought back to me as the two Order members jumped out and entered the building, too.


    That would suck. I thought and felt something big enter my detection range. ¡°Dammit, a fast attack craft is coming at us.¡± I said and closed the side hatch to let us manoeuvre.


    ¡°It must have been a patrol or something.¡± Hailey said and poured power into the APC''s engine and swung us around to face the threat. ¡°Can you get the elevation on the main gun?¡±


    ¡°Can I?¡± I chuckled and used Presence to tilt us up at a thirty degree angle. ¡°To the left a bit.¡±


    Hailey pushed us to the side and stopped when she felt it was the right spot.


    ¡°Perfect.¡± I said and fired the main gun.


    The breaching round hit the wing and exploded, which shredded the wing and part of the fuselage, and the pilot was good enough to kill his speed and bring the practically dead craft down into the compound right in front of us.


    ¡°Sorry about this.¡± I said and lowered us back to the ground and shot another breach round through the cockpit windshield and hit the crew compartment. The ship exploded and the troops on board died with the pilot. ¡°That was a great landing.¡±


    ¡°The idiot would have lived longer if he landed outside the wall.¡± Hailey said and swung us around. ¡°Troops incoming.¡±


    ¡°Got them.¡± I said and strafed the machine gun across the squad trying to attack us from behind. ¡°Hailey, if we can''t track where he is, can we track where he''s not?¡±


    Hailey took in a sharp breath. ¡°Like that guy at one of the training camps who felt your Stealth technique because of your absence!¡± She said and changed the search parameters in the computer link with Monna, Hela and the satellite we had in the system. ¡°You keep watch and I''ll concentrate on this.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± I said and generated Presence Hands to assume her controls of the APC.


    There was a large explosion in the control building and a series of smaller ones, then power to the compound cut off.


    ¡°I might have been a bit more selective in cutting power.¡± I said to myself and moved the APC back over to the building to give the troops some cover as they came out and went to assault the next building. ¡°Losing it all in the middle of the day isn''t as devastating as losing it at night.¡±


    Some laser shots hit the APC and bounced off, so I turned the APC to confront the perpetrators, then a thick steady beam hit the weapon cockpit I was in. I had to duck as the canopy was burned off and my personal shield kicked in to stop the debris and deflected the laser only slightly.


    ¡°Hot hot hot.¡± I said and slipped back into the APC and watched the weapons console melt away. ¡°Dammit.¡± I said and turned the APC back to the real threat and then realized I didn''t have any controls to fire the remaining weapons. ¡°The hard way, then.¡±


    I popped open the side hatch and tossed out my Light sword, then used a Presence Hand to catch it, turned it on, then moved it through the air and around the building where the unmanned heavy laser cannon was. The Light sword easily smashed through a window and I jammed it right into the housing on the back of the weapon with the power converter. It took a moment to ease all the way in and then I tilted it to sever the wires and cut off power to the weapon.


    I took a few seconds to follow the wires and they led to an innocuous building that had a secondary reactor. I sent my Light sword in there and swirled it around the reactor''s casing and cut all of the external power wires. It took me another minute to find the control console for it and initiated the emergency shutdown protocols.


    I did it just in time, because another heavy laser cannon had tried to fire. It only had a small part of the APC in its sights and hadn''t fired before. Thankfully, it only grazed the back edge of the APC and didn''t do any damage. After it discharged its onboard capacity, it tried to draw more and then shut down when it couldn''t. I brought back my Light sword and closed the side hatch and waited while the two Order members and the three guard squads kept assaulting the buildings and wiping out any resistance.


    ¡°When did you get married?¡± Kara asked as she unstrapped and stood up.


    ¡°A month ago. I sent you an invitation, too.¡± I said. ¡°You never answer any of my messages.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to explain, then she sighed. ¡°I thought you were calling me from prison.¡±


    ¡°I commuted my sentence over seven months ago... which you would know if you spent any time thinking about anyone but yourself.¡± I said.


    ¡°That''s not fair.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°No?¡± I turned to her. ¡°You weren''t comfortable taking a call from a prisoner, even though you knew... for a fact... that I was sent there on false pretenses.¡±


    Kara frowned at me. ¡°You killed The Order council.¡±


    ¡°I said I would kill them and the Presence didn''t waver. It''s not my fault they didn''t believe me.¡±


    ¡°You should have been sent to prison for that.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°No one was left to sentence me.¡± I said with a crooked smile.


    Kara sighed. ¡°You also said you were going to take down The Order.¡± She said. ¡°You do realize that also means The Wise One, Lashina, and myself.¡±


    I leaned in close and looked into her eyes. ¡°Kara. I''ve shown you years, no, I''ve shown you decades of the abuses The Order has heaped upon the people they are supposedly taking care of and guiding into enlightenment.¡± I said. ¡°Stealing children. Murdering people for no reason. Ruling planets under their own self appointed government and not one chosen by the people. Using entire planetary incomes to create fleets of ships to take over even more planets.¡±


    Kara didn''t say anything and just stared back at me.


    ¡°I''m tempted to mention how easily corrupted members of the council were, and then used The Order for their own means. No one questioned it. At all. Even when I came along and told them what was going on, no one said anything.¡± I said. ¡°Look at this scaly alien bastard and the hundreds of millions of people he''s killed using Order sanctioned assassins.¡±


    ¡°He sanctioned them.¡± Kara said in The Order''s defense.


    ¡°We''re not fighting rogues here, Kara.¡± I said and caught her thoughts. ¡°The Order hasn''t declared Kralish a rogue, have they?¡±


    Kara didn''t respond because she knew I knew the answer.


    ¡°He''s too influential to do that, because he has a lot of people that he''s groomed and brought up through The Order and put into positions of power all over the goddamned universe. If he is considered a rogue, then all of his disciples become rogues until proven innocent, right?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh wait! No, you don''t do that, do you? They are just brought in, tried and sentenced, and then shuffled off without solving the problem of their creation in the first place.¡±


    ¡°I found him.¡± Hailey said and came out of the cockpit.


    ¡°Thank god.¡± I said and felt a tingle. ¡°And Black Laura.¡±


    Hailey chuckled. ¡°I asked for her help, so thanking her is appropriate.¡± She said and handed me a datapad. ¡°About a thousand feet below us there''s a huge dead spot. No communications, no Presence, and no power, even though there''s power leading to it.¡±


    ¡°I don''t suppose the frequency we have will work on it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We won''t know until we get there to test it.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°Then we better get to work.¡± I said and she followed me out of the APC.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Kara asked. ¡°The datapad said the entrance is a mile outside of the compound. Shouldn''t we take the troops in the APC?¡±


    ¡°Help yourself.¡± I said and waved at the half-gutted APC. ¡°Hailey and I will meet you there when we''re done.¡±


    Kara gave us both searching glances, then left to get the other two Order members and to gather the troops for the upcoming assault.

 Book Three: The Resolution 132

    ¡°Why didn''t you tell her what we are doing?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°I want it to be a surprise.¡± I said and grinned. ¡°Let''s get building.¡±


    Hailey laughed and we started pulling out all of the things we needed from the bags of holding we had. While we were doing that, Kara returned with the other two Order members and the three squads of guards. They piled into the APC and one of the guards took over the controls. He turned it around and they left through the huge hole that Hailey had made with it while entering the compound.


    It took us ten minutes and the both of us used Presence to help assemble the thirty foot wide and twenty foot long monstrosity that I had designed back at the mine. The last component was a small reactor core and I slid it into place and made the connections.


    ¡°Beloved, if you would do the honors.¡± I said and waved to the top of the thing.


    ¡°Thank you, Beloved.¡± Hailey said and jumped up to the top of the combination digging and laser drill machine and sat down on the seat there. I jumped up to join her and stood there beside her as she started it up. She engaged the sets of digging tools that were now on the ''bottom'' of the machine, since we built it on its face, and I covered us in Presence as the dirt and rocks shot up past the sides.


    We dropped at a steady rate, like we were using an elevator, and Hailey added slight curves to our path, so that the ejected dirt and rocks didn''t build up too much on our heads. We both used Presence to keep the drills from getting clogged and the conveyor belts from jamming. We had to stop a few times as we hit a particularly solid mass of rock and Hailey quickly switched to the laser drills to melt the rock. Once it was no longer a solid mass, the digging tools tore right through it.


    ¡°Hunter, this could be a wonderful machine for digging tunnels through mountains.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I said. ¡°Mountains tend to be more solid rock than anything else, so even with the laser drills to help, it would take a long time to go through one.¡± I put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Not that anyone would really need to dig through a mountain to travel to the other side, right?¡±


    Hailey chuckled. ¡°There are still lots of worlds that have mostly ground vehicles, you know.¡±


    ¡°What? You''re joking! What backwards planets are you babbling about?¡± I said and laughed.


    Hailey shook her head and laughed, too. She knew all about Earth where I had come from initially and about Relique where they didn''t have electricity.


    We rode the digging machine all the way down to the required spot and stopped just above where we could ''see'' a gathering of defending troops that Kara and the others were heading towards.


    ¡°So, do we let them clash or do we give them a fighting chance?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°Which ones?¡± I joked and she beamed a smile at me.


    ¡°I know you like her.¡± Hailey said as her voice gained a serious tone.


    ¡°Of course I do.¡± I said. ¡°There were a few times where she actually saw past her life of conditioning and was actually a decent person. Those moments were rare and she was a long way away from having anyone around to reinforce The Order''s values... but...¡± I sighed. ¡°I saw who she could be if given a chance.¡±


    Hailey nodded and waved her hand at the troops below us. All of their guns shut off and popped their cartridges, to their momentary surprise, then they switched to their laser pistols. They didn''t work, either.


    ¡°Idiots.¡± An Order member said and walked out in front of the troops. ¡°I''ll handle this while you reload.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to or should I?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°Please, help yourself.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Hailey said and waited until guard laser fire came from down the tunnel to hit The Order member. She absorbed his Presence and we saw his shock, then his body jerked and shook as it was riddled with laser shots. He dropped to the ground in a heap of robes and the guards behind him were shocked to see him give up his life so stupidly.


    ¡°Grenades!¡± One of them yelled and I created an invisible Presence Wall in front of their position. The guards all pulled the pins on their chosen types of grenades and then threw them hard... only to have them bounce in mid-air five feet away and come right back to them.


    They didn''t even have time to scream as shrapnel grenades, flash bangs, smoke, and one poison grenade went off right in the middle of their defensive formation. Half of them died and the rest were disoriented as I absorbed the Presence Wall and then Kara and her guard squads assaulted the defensive position. It was a one-sided slaughter.


    ¡°Get that security door open.¡± One of The Order members said and two of the guards went to the small console and started working on it.


    ¡°Should we join them now?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°I did say we would meet them here.¡± I said.


    Hailey gave me a crooked smile and started the machine up again.


    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Someone yelled as the ceiling started to crumble above them, then they all scattered as our huge machine dropped down into the large tunnel on top of a lot of the bodies. I slowed our fall with Presence and we let the machine dig down into the bottom of the tunnel until we were at the same depth as the floor. Hailey turned it off and we stepped off of it as if we had just taken the elevator.


    They all stared at us like we were apparitions, even Kara.


    ¡°You arrived just in time.¡± I said and waved at the slaughtered guards that the digging machine hadn''t mulched. ¡°They had weapons malfunctions and their grenades made a huge mess.¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°I knew this was too easy.¡±


    ¡°Did you miss the pile of robes on the ground over there?¡± I asked and pointed with my thumb over my shoulder.


    ¡°The guards shot him when...¡± Kara stopped talking when I pointed at Hailey. ¡°How much longer for the door?¡± She said instead.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°We got it.¡± The guard said and as his finger pushed the button, I only had enough time to turn on the maximum size of my personal shield to cover Kara and Hailey and three guards. It clicked into place as the panel exploded and the two guards there were torn apart. Eight more guards took shrapnel damage from both metal and bone, and the two Order members only had a few scrapes. The rest of the guards had been on the other side of my intact shield and weren''t in danger.


    ¡°Dammit.¡± Kara said and reeled in her anger at the pointless deaths.


    ¡°He''s playing dirty or that''s a safety mechanism.¡± I said. ¡°Either way, the guards should have checked their work before hitting any buttons.¡±


    ¡°Did you just accuse them of being stupid?¡± One of the guards asked me.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said, to his surprise. I turned off my shield and took Hailey''s hand. ¡°This will hurt some.¡± I said and used Presence to pull out all of the shrapnel from the eight guards that had been hit. The guards yelled in pain and then stopped when I used Presence Heal on them and closed all of their wounds.


    ¡°You''re getting more proficient.¡± Hailey said and gave my hand a squeeze.


    ¡°Want to help me with the door?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You should use the old wall trick.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°I want to impress people this time.¡± I said with a smile.


    Hailey rolled her eyes, even though she knew only I was looking at them. ¡°All right.¡± She said and we reached our hands out as one. The two Order members felt the huge Presence pass by them and jumped back from it. We formed a large blue Presence Hand that was the size of the security door and then used that hand to dig the fingers and thumb into the wall around it, then made a fist and crushed the door.


    ¡°By the Goddess'' Bright Light.¡± One of the Order members whispered.


    We pulled the door out of the way and dropped it off to the side of the tunnel.


    ¡°Hailey.¡± I said and she took out an electronic scanner.


    ¡°The dampening field is right through there. No cameras or surveillance system on this side. I can''t tell what''s on the other side of it.¡± Hailey said and used the broadcast frequency. ¡°The satellite scramble code doesn''t work, either.¡±


    ¡°Then there''s only one thing I can do.¡± I said and gave her a kiss.


    ¡°Hunter, you can''t believe that will work.¡±


    ¡°We''ll see.¡± I said and smiled.


    *


    The guard squad waiting on the other side of the dampening field didn''t know what was going on. They saw the booby-trapped security door be ripped out of its casing by a giant blue hand and were terrified that it was going to grab them next.


    ¡°Don''t worry, men! Nothing can''t get through the barrier! Not even Presence!¡± The Order member reminded them.


    ¡°You''re wrong.¡± A man''s voice said as a cloaked figure stepped into the area between the wrecked security door and the barrier they stood behind. ¡°You obviously haven''t fully tested whatever this dampening field is.¡±


    The hood on the cloak was up and hid the face completely, so they couldn''t see who it was. They knew, however. From the descriptions they had heard about, they knew that this was Hunter.


    ¡°We have.¡± The Order member said and held a hand out and his Presence flowed out and hit the barrier and stopped as it was absorbed. ¡°Someone fire a laser pistol at it.¡±


    One of the guards took out a pistol and shot it. The laser bolt was absorbed as soon as it hit the barrier.


    ¡°You see? We can stand here all day and we don''t have to worry about being attacked.¡± The Order member said.


    The male voice laughed. ¡°I can think of two ways to get through this barrier with Presence; but, I''d rather just stand here and keep you talking to distract you.¡±


    ¡°That''s too bad.¡± The Order member said and walked backwards to a console on the wall. ¡°Goodbye.¡± He said and hit several buttons.


    Two panels opened up on the outside of the barrier and two laser cannons popped out and opened fire on the cloaked figure. The lasers burned through the arms, legs, and chest of the figure, then it collapsed to the ground.


    ¡°Not so tough with laser holes burned through you, are you?¡± The Order member said.


    ¡°Wow, you didn''t even ask me to retreat or warn me that you were going to use deadly force.¡± The figure said and to everyone''s surprise, it sat up. Holes could clearly be seen in the chest, and seen through, then the figure stood up. ¡°What kind of Order member are you?¡± The voice asked. ¡°I didn''t threaten you or say I was going to attack.¡±


    ¡°We all know what you''re here for.¡± The Order member said and the Presence wavered.


    ¡°Once again, you assumed something and you''re wrong.¡± The man''s voice said.


    ¡°What do you mean again?¡± The Order member asked.


    The hood was pulled off of the figure without being touched and The Order member and the guard squad saw the dead body. ¡°You assumed this was me and tried to kill me.¡± The body''s mouth opened and closed with the words; but, the lips and facial muscles didn''t move. ¡°Oh! The horror! The HORROR!¡± The voice yelled and everyone winced at the Presence enhanced sound.


    The guards felt a feeling of dread as the body shambled over to the barrier, then there was a rumbling sound and wrenching metal. They all turned to the side and saw the wall disappear into the jaws of a six digging machines... that then shot forward and killed six of the ten guards as they dug into them and made them mulch.


    ¡°That''s gotta hurt.¡± The dead body on the other side of the barrier said, then the drilling machines killed the other four guards to leave The Order member all alone.


    ¡°S-s-stop!¡± He said and held his hands up. ¡°I surrender! Take me in and...¡±


    The laser pistol one of the guards had used to fire at the barrier fired again and hit the man in the neck. It wasn''t a strong shot, so it only burned halfway through and left a hole as if he had a tracheotomy.


    ¡°I''m sorry, you forfeited your right to surrender when you killed me.¡± The dead body said.


    The Order member grabbed his own throat to try and heal it. The laser pistol fired again and again, hitting him all over, and The Order member dropped to the floor on his knees. He had laser burned holes in his arms, legs, hands, and chest.


    ¡°Goodbye.¡± The dead body said and the last two laser shots went into The Order members eyes.


    ¡°Geez, Hunter.¡± Hailey said and stepped into the area behind the barrier and hooked her electronics kit to the control panel. ¡°You complained about me wasting time.¡±


    Hunter came in behind her and laughed as he stored the drilling machines. ¡°I''m sorry. I wanted to put on a show for the audience.¡± He said and waved at the security camera in the corner. ¡°We''re here!¡± He said as Kara and the other two Order members came through the hastily dug tunnel.


    The guards came in behind them and didn''t look at their mulched brethren, because they knew it very easily could have been them. They looked at Master Moor and then at the two power armored figures wearing cloaks. They still might end up like that if things didn''t go well in the next few minutes.


    *


    It took Hailey a few minutes to hack into the console and we all stood there and waited. She knew it was taking longer than it was supposed to and she turned to me to apologize.


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said and kissed her.


    ¡°Hunter...¡± Hailey started to say.


    ¡°It''s not your fault they changed the protocols.¡± I said.


    Hailey gave me another kiss and then went back to work. She figured it out a couple of minutes later and extracted the barrier frequencies, then shut the one behind us off.


    ¡°Nice job, Beloved.¡± I said and waved at the door. ¡°Shall we?¡±


    Hailey nodded and we took out ten assault laser rifles, had everyone step aside, then she opened the door. Dozens of laser bolts flew past us, then Hailey and I moved the rifles into the doorway and opened fire. We spread our gunfire across the guard formations in the next room and made them all duck into cover, then we pulled the pins on their own grenades. They exploded and the guards all died.


    Hailey and I took point and we worked our way through the underground compound and left the side rooms and things to the guard squads. Some of the doors I used a Light sword to melt the edge of the doorway to keep them closed, which stopped a few ambushes before they could happen. Some of the ways forward were blocked by a dampening field and it took Hailey dozens of tries to find the right frequency code to open the next barrier.


    It was slow going, considering the underground compound was larger than the one above ground, and to my surprise, none of the people there had suicide charges in their heads. I started to think that I had made a mistake and that this wasn''t a production facility for assassins, then one of the side rooms was checked by the guards as we passed.


    ¡°Master Moor! You have to see this!¡±


    We all stopped and went back to look, then I chuckled. It was the end of a small factory that was making the suicide charges and two workers were packing them into boxes. They stopped when they saw us, then dropped the charges they had in their hands. I caught them with Presence and placed them back on the conveyor belt and hit the emergency stop button.


    ¡°I think we need witnesses.¡± I said. ¡°Don''t you, Master Moor?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kara said and she only twitched a little at me calling her by her title. The guards secured them and two stayed behind to guard them as the rest of us moved on.

 Book Three: The Resolution 133

    It took us twenty minutes to reach the large circular room where Kara assumed the scaly alien was. To my surprise, he was actually there. Or appeared to be. I wouldn''t be able to confirm it until we broke through the last barrier. Kralish sat on a normal chair in the center of the completely bare room and he had ten Order members around him. They were fully prepared for battle and would attack us as soon as the barrier dropped.


    ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk.¡± Kralish said and shook his head. ¡°Coming all this way and failing so spectacularly. What a shame.¡±


    Hailey. I thought to her.


    I''ve tried the codes twice already and I''ve even linked to Hela to generate new ones. None of them are working. Hailey thought back to me.


    ¡°Having troubles?¡± Kralish asked. ¡°Are you surprised the frequency codes you stole aren''t working?¡± He chuckled and it sounded like a lizard hissing. ¡°I wouldn''t trust putting my own personal codes into a computer system that can be so easily broken into.¡±


    How many combinations... I started to ask.


    Millions. Hailey responded. I''m trying them so quickly that I''ve already burned out an emitter.


    ¡°Oh, and your little digging around the barrier trick won''t work, either. This barrier is completely enclosed within this room.¡±


    ¡°If that was true, then your feet wouldn''t be touching the floor.¡± I said.


    The scaly alien looked down at the floor and his boots were touching the bare metal. ¡°You couldn''t possibly...¡±


    A one foot space around his foot folded up and formed metal jaws like a bear trap and clomped onto his foot.


    ¡°ARGH!¡± Kralish yelled and jerked his leg away, only to find that half of his boot... and his foot... remained inside the trap. The blood stopped immediately and the wound closed over. ¡°YOU DARE!¡±


    ¡°Hunter, stop playing with him.¡± Hailey said and she covered the entire floor under them with Presence, then tried to manipulate all of the metal to attack and grab the people inside the barrier. All she managed to do was make them all levitate away from the threat and use their Light swords to cut away at the metal, even Kralish, who had taken his chair with him.


    ¡°I wasn''t playing.¡± I said. ¡°I knew if I did too much like you just did, they would react. I took the shot I could get away with.¡±


    ¡°You took my foot!¡± Kralish exclaimed. ¡°Do you know how long it''s going to take to grow it back?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said and Hailey stopped trying to manipulate what was left of the floor. There wasn''t enough of it left attached to the outside for us to do much with it now, anyway.


    The Order members used Presence to push the jagged pieces down to flatten them out and then used their Light swords to cut away the floor next to the barrier so we couldn''t do that again. Kralish landed back in the center and glared at me.


    ¡°I was going to save this for when you were really desperate to get to me.¡± Kralish said and took out a datapad. ¡°You damaged my display, so you will just have to suffer with hearing what''s going on.¡± He hit a button on his wrist communicator. ¡°Go ahead and pipe it through.¡±


    Speakers hidden in the walls came to life and we heard what sounded like a bridge crew making a final approach to something.


    ¡°Coming up on target.¡± Someone said.


    ¡°Are those two ships launching?¡± An authoritative male voice asked. He must have been the captain.


    ¡°No, sir. They don''t even have their main reactors online.¡±


    ¡°Coordinate with the other ships. I want that habitat completely surrounded.¡±


    ¡°Sir, the local traffic...¡±


    ¡°Order them out of the way or we will move them out of the way.¡± The captain said. ¡°We''ve been ordered to take the people there into custody. If anyone resists, we will send our regrets to their families.¡±


    ¡°When did this happen?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A small force of six assault ships and a troop transport arrived in the Dizahl System this morning.¡± Kralish smiled. ¡°This was sent to us three hours ago.¡±


    ¡°It''s not live?¡± Hailey asked, surprised.


    ¡°How could it be live?¡± Kralish asked, confused.


    I lifted my wrist com and hit the button. ¡°Hela, connect me with Opina.¡±


    ¡°Done. Opina, Hunter is on the line for you.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa!¡± Opina said. ¡°You''re not going to guess what happened!¡±


    ¡°Is everyone okay?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure!¡± Opina said. ¡°They only sent six attack ships. When they ordered me to lower my shields so they wouldn''t have to shoot them down, I told them they had thirty seconds to surrender.¡±


    ¡°Did they surrender?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Grandpa, they''re The Order. They started firing right away.¡± Opina said.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked, real concern in my voice.


    Opina laughed. ¡°They didn''t even scratch my hull.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It was quick and brutal, especially when Mom got angry at them for shooting at her daughter.¡± Opina said. ¡°Those little assault ships didn''t stand a chance.¡±


    ¡°What about the troop transport?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They tried to open up and launch their cargo, so I took your advice and put a spread of missiles into the opening shuttle bay doors.¡± Opina said. ¡°I didn''t think an explosion that big would look so pretty in space.¡±


    Everyone in the room went quiet.


    ¡°Sheph has already filed grievances with the local Order chapter for sending an attack force against a space habitat that''s owned by a legitimate shipping business for no reason. Once they discovered the habitat was full of civilians and not criminals or enemies of The Order, the entire assault force was declared rogues.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°NO!¡± Kralish yelled.


    ¡°You wouldn''t believe the bounty they gave us for cleaning up such a big mess!¡± Opina said.


    ¡°Where''s everyone now?¡± I asked, my worries gone.


    ¡°Having a party up in the media room.¡± Opina said. ¡°Simone said something about living life to the fullest while you can.¡±


    ¡°Let them know I called.¡± I said.


    ¡°They know. I''ve been letting them listen.¡±


    ¡°Hiiii!¡± Over a dozen voices said as one.


    ¡°Hurry back!¡± A lone voice said that I recognized as Noma''s.


    ¡°I''ll try.¡± I said. ¡°See you soon.¡±


    ¡°Bye!¡± Several voices said and then I ended the call.


    ¡°You knew I would come for them.¡± Kralish said, almost angrily.


    ¡°Actually, I''ve been preparing for The Order to come after them.¡± I said.


    Kara, the two Order members, and the guards around us were shocked to hear that.


    ¡°Since it was only a small force from you, the defenses were more than adequate for the task.¡±


    ¡°You think you''re so smart, don''t you?¡± Kralish said. ¡°You''ve always thought that, even when you were a child.¡± He almost spat. ¡°Speaking up against The Order, questioning our practises, defying those in authority.¡± He tried to stand up, then remembered he didn''t have a foot and sat back down. ¡°You will learn humility, Aaron.¡± He said and activated a control on the datapad.


    I felt nauseated as the Presence warned me to move, which had never happened before, and I grabbed Hailey''s arm and used Presence Run on us to jump backwards.


    I was almost in time.


    Another barrier appeared right where we were standing and would have bisected us if we hadn''t moved. Unfortunately, It didn''t quite miss us. We smashed into Kara and the others and fell into a heap. I ignored the pain from having some of my Presence cut off, then saw that my right arm just below the elbow was gone, as were both of my feet. I used Presence to close off my wounds and looked at Hailey to see how she was, and I discovered that I was the lucky one.


    Because I had a hold of her right arm and had dragged her behind me, her right leg was missing from mid-thigh down after being severed, her left arm was gone from the shoulder down, and the barrier had taken part of her left hip and the entirety of her left leg.


    ¡°B-beloved.¡± I whispered and used Presence to stop the massive blood loss from her missing parts.


    ¡°Beloved.¡± Hailey said. ¡°I... I''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°No, don''t say that.¡± I said and took off her blast shield and then mine. ¡°I can fix you right up.¡±


    ¡°No... time.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°I can have eternity with you!¡± I nearly yelled and pushed everyone away from us, then I kissed her and used her failing connection to the Presence to initiate the same effect as on our wedding night. Time slowed down to a crawl inside our own little bubble and our armor and clothes dissolved away.


    Hailey gave me a sad smile. ¡°My beloved, I can''t maintain this state with this much damage.¡±


    ¡°I only need ten minutes.¡± I said and took out a wooden plaque... that dissolved like our clothing had. ¡°NO!¡± I exclaimed when the bags of holdings we had dissolved as well.


    ¡°Marcus.¡± Hailey said as tears came to my eyes. ¡°Only you and I can exist here. No material things will last more than a second.¡±


    ¡°No, I... you have my regeneration. You can''t... this isn''t...¡±


    ¡°You know as well as I do that it can only handle so much.¡±


    ¡°I''ll put you in stasis.¡± I said, grasping at straws. ¡°I''ll heal you in time! I know I can!¡±


    ¡°Aaron.¡± Hailey said and her remaining hand touched my bare chest. ¡°Nearly all of my blood is on the floor. If it had been a Light sword, the wounds would have cauterized and there would have been time. Since the barrier only removed the parts...¡±


    ¡°No!¡± I cried. ¡°Hailey, please!¡± I pleaded and my tears flowed like rivers. ¡°Don''t... don''t leave me.¡±


    ¡°Kralish was wrong, you know.¡± Hailey said and floated to me. I became hard instantly and she settled down onto me. ¡°This won''t teach you humility.¡±


    ¡°No. It will teach me that I''ve been too soft. Too lax in my methods.¡± I said and my tears dissolved as I made love to my wife one last time.


    ¡°Hunter, make them pay for taking me from you centuries too early.¡± Hailey said and kissed me. ¡°Make them all pay. Good and Bad. There are no such things in The Order.¡±


    I felt the centuries of life I had given her start to fade and I reached for them. I reclaimed them as my own and she nodded.


    ¡°Yes, take me, my beloved. Take me back. Give your anger the life you have been denying it all these years.¡± Hailey said and kissed me again as she poured the last of her Presence core into mine. I finished inside of her at the last second, then Hailey broke the kiss and gave me a smile as she let out a single breath. Her last breath.


    ¡°I am so very sorry.¡± A raspy heavenly voice said and the bright light Hailey and I produced gained a cloud of darkness, which grew and expanded out, to reveal Black Laura.


    ¡°Laura.¡± I said and all the memories of her that had been blocked came rushing back. ¡°No.¡± I said and hugged Hailey''s lifeless body. ¡°Don''t take her.¡±


    ¡°Beloved.¡± Black Laura said and touched Hailey''s still form. It became like a ghost and slipped through my arms. ¡°You gave her a chance to live. A chance to love. A chance for happiness.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and my tears came rushing back. ¡°She gave that to me, too.¡±


    Black Laura nodded and slowly pulled Hailey''s ghost form away from me and I felt my heart try to go with her. She put a hand inside Hailey and grabbed something, then moved towards me with it.


    ¡°You will need this, Beloved.¡± Black Laura said and pushed it into my chest through the ''H'' scar over my heart.


    I felt a pulse of Hailey''s power and her connection to me as it joined with mine once more. My tears dissolved away again and I nodded. ¡°Beloved.¡± I said and Hailey''s ghost form''s eyes flicked to me. ¡°I''ll see you soon.¡±


    Hailey beamed a smile at me and then her form faded away.


    ¡°Not too soon.¡± Black Laura said. ¡°You still have work to do.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and reached out and grabbed some of the smoky cloud around her. To her surprise, I tore a small handful out and brought it to my chest. When the smoke sunk in and then flowed around me to make a fully black body suit, she nodded.


    ¡°Make them pay.¡± Black Laura said in an echo of Hailey''s words as the smoke enveloped her. It shrunk away and she disappeared.


    I was still inside the event that Hailey and I created and I knew that once it ended, I wasn''t going to be able to recreate it again. It was a symbol of our love, a love we had forged together, and when it was gone, Hailey''s love for me would be gone as well.


    I stood there for half of an eternity as my feet and hand regrew and basked in Hailey''s memories that she had given me when she died. I relived all the times we had spent together from her point of view. Our first visit. Her healing. Her rescue. Years of friendship. Cooking lessons. Our favorite show. One date. A long separation. Our marriage. Our child. Our lost child.


    With that final thought, I let the effect fade and time snapped back into place.


    The metal walls had reflected the bright light Hailey and I had produced and it had blinded everyone until they adjusted to it. No one was really hurt and the healing effect didn''t do anything, except for the scaly alien. He stared down at his completely regrown foot as if he had never seen it before.


    ¡°Do you realize what you''ve done?¡± I asked, my voice enhanced with Presence, and everyone winced at the scathing feelings they felt from it.


    ¡°I... humbled you, of course.¡± Kralish said and looked up from his foot. ¡°How did you do this?¡±


    I used Presence and tore a huge section of metal from the wall and threw it at the barrier, and it dissolved. I did it three more times and there was nothing left in the room to throw.


    ¡°Is baby throwing a tantrum?¡± Kralish asked and laughed as he wiggled his bare toes.


    ¡°No. I''m testing the capacity of the barrier, you idiot.¡± I said. ¡°You must have an energy sump to channel it somewhere. Probably into a reactor housing that''s only partially filled.¡±


    I ''looked'' around with Detect Presence and grabbed a guard''s assault laser rifle and shot at regular intervals to see if the energy was going anywhere. I made sure to aim at The Order members with each shot, too. I caught a trail of energy and followed it to the source. It was a class five spaceship reactor with barely anything in it.


    ¡°Well, that''ll take way too long to overload with adding energy.¡± I said and used Presence Blades to sever the reactor''s connectors, then used Presence Hands to try and manually set it to overload. It didn''t work, since there was almost nothing inside to make a nice explosion. I shot at the barrier a few more times and nothing happened.


    ¡°It powers itself and the excess goes to the reactor, if there''s any.¡± Kralish said. ¡°Good luck figuring it out.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have to.¡± I said and opened up the assault laser rifle and adjusted the settings. I fired again and changed the settings again. I repeated this over and over and Kralish started laughing.


    ¡°You''re an idiot.¡± Kralish said. ¡°I was so worried about you that I ran when I heard you were coming to The Order''s home planet. I apparently shouldn''t have.¡±


    Laser blasts kept hitting the barrier and disappearing.


    ¡°We''ve tested every setting on every gun we have.¡± Kralish said. ¡°You can play with it for as long as you want, and you''ll never...¡±


    One of The Order members died as his head exploded and no one had seen the shot.


    ¡°There we go.¡± I said and used Presence to adjust the other guards'' weapons and used them all as I filled the barrier with invisible laser shots.

 Book Three: The Resolution 134

    The Order members did their best to block as many shots as possible with both Presence and their Light swords. Thankfully, the assault laser rifles had freshly charged clips in them. Even though The Order members did their best, when I concentrated fire on each of them they couldn''t block all of the shots and died. I whittled them down and killed each of them in turn until I had emptied the assault rifles.


    I let the empty weapons fall to the floor and looked at the completely shocked scaly alien. ¡°Now it''s your turn.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have any weapons left.¡± Kralish said.


    ¡°Oh, but I do.¡± I said and took a deep breath. ¡°TURN OFF THE BARRIER!¡± I yelled with as much Presence as I could generate in a single burst.


    The scaly alien''s eyes burst from the sonic waves and he screamed. His ears, nose and mouth gushed blood and he choked on it as he fell off of his chair and onto the floor. He threw up quite a lot of blood and some of his guts.


    ¡°Shall I continue?¡± I asked and kept speaking. ¡°IF YOU TURN OFF THE BARRIER, I WILL STOP LIQUIFYING YOUR INSIDES AND WILL LET YOU LIVE.¡±


    The scaly alien threw up even more blood and viscera. He heaved and gasped to try and get more air into his lungs as his internal organs tried to escape.


    ¡°IT''S A SIMPLE CHOICE.¡± I said.


    ¡°S-s-stop.¡± He managed to say and reached around blindly for the datapad. He found it and hit the button to kill the barrier that had killed Hailey.


    ¡°Now the one protecting you.¡± I said.


    ¡°I... can''t see... the settings.¡±


    ¡°STOP STALLING AND USE PRESENCE.¡± I said and he threw up again.


    Kralish''s hands shook as he used Presence to ''see'' the datapad and changed the settings to drop the last barrier.


    I was by him instantly and took the datapad, memorized the schematics for the dampening field and the codes for controlling it, then I crushed it. ¡°Thanks for giving me the means to destroy your entire organization, you fucking piece of shit.¡± I said and used Hailey''s abililty to dissolve things into their component atoms to slowly unravel the scaly alien''s limbs from the appendages inwards.


    ¡°AARRRRGGGHHHHH!¡± Kralish yelled as he felt himself being torn apart.


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Kara yelled and I turned my head to look at her. She had blood pouring out of her eyes and mouth from my sonic attack. ¡°Don''t... don''t kill him!¡±


    ¡°I''m not going to kill him.¡± I said and continued to dissolve the alien''s arms and legs. Just before I reached his torso, I picked up one of The Order''s Light swords and sliced off the stumps at his crotch and at his shoulder blades. ¡°He''s going to wish he was dead, though.¡±


    I dissolved his reproductive system from the outside in... and let him feel each and every atom as it was torn away. The scaly alien screamed a blood curdling scream and his mind tried to lose consciousness to save itself from the pain, so I kept him conscious and kept going and dissolved everything to leave nothing inside of him that could be regrown.


    I easily found his Presence core and didn''t want anything from it, so I started to dissolve it. Kralish mewled like a wounded kitten as his power was eaten away and it disappeared into nothingness. His mind had broken of its defiance and he didn''t even try to struggle anymore as I removed every mote of external power that he had and only left enough Presence to ensure that he would still be alive.


    I picked him up by the back of his neck and looked into his eye holes. ¡°If I thought you would still be alive, I''d dissolve the rest of your body and leave you as just a head.¡± I said, then I tossed him across the room. He hit the floor and rolled over a couple of times to end at Kara''s feet. ¡°Take that back to The Order. Tell them I''m coming for them all.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Kara said and stood. ¡°You can''t mean...¡±


    ¡°Yes. I mean you, too.¡± I said. ¡°If you give up your idiotic ways and forsake your goddess, I may let you live.¡± I said and lightning coursed over my body. ¡°Maybe.¡±


    Kara gave me one last look and then used levitation on the scaly alien''s torso. ¡°Let''s go.¡± She said to the others and turned to walk away.


    ¡°No, just you.¡± I said and reached a hand out, then made a fist.


    The two Order members beside her and the twenty eight guards around her were instantly crushed into little balls of flesh and goo, then I concentrated and dissolved them into nothing.


    ¡°Let this be a lesson to you and to the rest of them.¡± I said as I felt her shock at how brutal I was. I dissolved the bodies of The Order members around me, then lifted the ten abandoned Light swords and hooked them to my belt. I picked up Kralish''s Light sword and crushed it with Presence, then tossed it aside. ¡°None of you are safe from me and I am coming for you all.¡±


    ¡°Even Lashina?¡± Kara said, still with her back to me. ¡°The Wise One?¡±


    ¡°Especially that grotesque giant fly thing.¡± I said and let my Presence fill the room. ¡°It''s The Wise One''s fault that this happened, so he deserves my vengeance most of all.¡± I said. ¡°Yes, you can tell him that.¡±


    I reached down into the ground and found the barrier emitters, now that their own barriers weren''t hiding them, and I split the ground with Presence to pull them up to me. I examined them completely in mere moments and knew how they were made and could reproduce them with the right components. The main components were high quality focusing crystals. I carried the things over to where Kara still stood.


    ¡°You can tell Lashina that I''ll come for her first.¡± I said and walked by Kara. ¡°She''s much too valuable to leave in the hands of The Order.¡±


    ¡°Unlike me.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°You still have your role to play.¡± I said and didn''t look back at her. ¡°Deliver my message and then reconsider your entire life''s path.¡± I said and tapped the side of my head. ¡°By the way, Kralish can''t ever go to sleep. Just a little gift from me.¡± I let out a cackling laugh. ¡°I hope you like incessantly mad screaming.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I used Presence Run to run back to where we had left the prisoners. ¡°You boys better get your asses and the prisoners out of here. This place is going to blow up soon.¡±


    The two guards stared at me.


    ¡°Don''t say I didn''t warn you.¡± I said and then disappeared from their sight. I went back to the massive drilling machine and stepped onto it. I seriously considered riding it all the way back up to the top, then remembered Hailey driving it. ¡°ARRRGHHH!¡± I yelled and used Presence to crush the thing. I grit my teeth and then used Levitation to fly back up through the winding tunnel we had made with it.


    I thought about retrieving the APC, then remembered it was half melted and was pretty much useless. I landed in the courtyard of the compound and looked around. I used Presence to crush two of the assault shuttles, just because I could, then I walked over to Monna and climbed aboard.


    ¡°Grandpa? Where''s Grandma?¡± Monna asked, tentatively.


    ¡°Monna... I...¡± Tears came to my eyes and then they dissolved. ¡°Hailey''s dead.¡±


    Monna was quiet for a moment. ¡°Who are we going to kill?¡±


    ¡°All of them.¡± I said and powered up her engines. ¡°Hailey told me to kill them all.¡±


    ¡°Then we will.¡± Hela said. ¡°I have six targets designated in the planetary atmosphere.¡±


    ¡°Include the government buildings and see if you can hack into their surveillance systems to catch anyone from The Order that''s outside of their buildings.¡±


    ¡°I''m calling in help from Simone and Opina.¡± Hela said.


    ¡°That''s fine.¡± I said. ¡°I''m going to spend some time on Monna clearing away the barrier satellites around the planet.¡±


    It took three hours for the computers to be hacked and for my AIs to find every Order member on the planet. During that time, the single assault shuttle flew back up to the dreadnought. I hailed them and told them that I would cripple them if they tried anything funny. They didn''t attempt anything and the ship turned away from the planet and made its way towards the closest jump point. They were lucky, because I had already jammed their weapons and they would only damage themselves if they tried to fire.


    Once the Order members were found on the planet''s surface, Monna and I had cleared away every single barrier satellite from around the planet, which left them completely vulnerable to attack. I docked Monna in Hela''s shuttle bay and went up into Hela''s cockpit.


    I sat down in the co-pilot''s seat and spoke. ¡°Patch me into the planetary network.¡± I said and Hela used Simone''s and Sheph''s expertise to do it. ¡°Citizens of this crappy good for nothing planet that purposefully harboured an Order council member. My name is Hunter and The Order killed my wife. I am going to kill all of them in return. Because of your compliance in the crime, I sentence an unknown amount of you to die.¡±


    I had added firing solutions into the specially modified missiles I had designed and pressed the fire button. A spread of missiles flew out of the launchers, then another, and another. These missiles were not like normal missiles, though. Inside the tip of each, was a circuit board I had discovered that would let me blow up a focusing crystal and it would disintegrate anything within its radius of effect.


    When these missiles hit and exploded, instead of causing large explosions that did lots of damage, they caused powered focusing crystal explosions instead and whatever was caught inside the blast radius immediately ceased to exist. Seventy-five missiles flew down into the atmosphere and found their targets unerringly, then every member of The Order that was still on the planet ceased to exist, along with hundreds of other people and the buildings they were in.


    ¡°One planet down.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Only a few hundred thousand to go.¡±


    *


    ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Simone sat back with tears in her eyes. ¡°Hailey.¡±


    ¡°No! It''s not true!¡± Hailey''s mother Monica exclaimed. ¡°It''s a mistake. There''s no way... no, they couldn''t...¡± She started crying. ¡°They just got married!¡± She nearly yelled and then covered her face and cried her heart out.


    The others sat in the media room in stunned silence as they stared at the screen that had showed all of the explosions on the planet. Hela''s oval shape turned around and flew out of view of the satellite. The console near Simone beeped and she looked at it.


    ¡°We have new orders.¡± Simone said. ¡°Can anyone guess what they are?¡±


    ¡°Deliveries.¡± Gleas said and stood, anger clear on her face. ¡°I''ll send a specially prepared missile to the temple on the second planet personally.¡±


    ¡°Gleas...¡± Deborah started to say.


    ¡°We copy most of Hunter''s message and we unload our wrath onto these bastards that have been ruining life for everyone.¡± Gleas said. ¡°Simone, cut out the harbouring the council member part and send a copy to my datapad.¡± It beeped and she nodded. ¡°Opina, get the missiles loaded onto Adona.¡±


    ¡°Already done.¡± Opina said. ¡°Those bastards killed Grandma. They all need to die.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Udelis said.


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Adona said.


    ¡°We... can''t be hasty.¡± Jelly said.


    ¡°We''ve stood by and let this go on for long enough.¡± Sandy said and took Beatrice''s hand. ¡°They came for us and were going to take us as hostages, assuming they didn''t kill us and send regrets to our families.¡± She said and gave her a kiss. ¡°We haven''t even done anything against them and they sent an assault force after us. How many people have they killed for no reason and claimed they were cleaning up the criminals?¡±


    No one responded, because they had all heard the stories and media pieces about how The Order had liberated another war-torn or downtrodden planet to bring them under their benevolent rule.


    ¡°But... there are so many...¡± Beatrice said.


    ¡°Yes, and every time we get rid of them, more will come.¡± Sandy said and looked at Simone. ¡°My dear friend, can you bring up that wonderful communication from The Order representative that was so kind to thank us for taking down the rogues from The Order?¡±


    Simone gasped and understood what she meant. ¡°If you weren''t saving all of your kisses for Beatrice, I''d kiss you!¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Beatrice said automatically to defend Sandy, who hugged her.


    ¡°I''m sure she was half-joking.¡± Sandy said and kissed her again. ¡°She hasn''t has sex in a while.¡±


    ¡°I''ll send edited copies to everyone, including Hunter, and that''ll cover our asses.¡± Simone said and quickly did so and Gleas'' datapad beeped again. ¡°Go ahead, sister of vengeance. Let them feel your burning touch.¡±


    Gleas walked over to her and bent down, then gave her a kiss. ¡°This won''t take long.¡± She said and left at a fast walk to get changed into her flight suit.


    ¡°She just kissed me, right?¡± Simone looked around at everyone. ¡°She did, didn''t she?¡±


    ¡°She... is trying to... distract us.¡± Monica said and wiped away her tears. ¡°So we don''t... linger on...¡±


    Simone moved over and took the woman into her arms and Monica started crying again. Simone''s own tears followed, because she had lost a sister, then everyone started crying. Some did it silently like her, some with sobs like Monica, and Sandy and Beatrice kissed each other softly and tenderly as they mourned the daughter they had helped raise.


    *


    Hunter jumped to the next system and hacked their security systems to find who he wanted, then broadcast the new warning message that Simone had given him, along with the declaring the rogues message, and he shot every ship, space station, temple, town, and city that had an Order member in it on each of the three planets and one moon.


    He turned the ship around and flew Hela out of the system to go to the next one. The only problem he had was that he would need to go home soon and reload his missiles. He wasn''t looking forward to that visit at all. He went to two more systems and killed hundreds of Order members before Hela warned him that they were almost out of missiles and wouldn''t have enough to take out the next system, even if it only had a single planet. It had five.


    Hunter considered going there anyway and using the other shipboard weapons to do the job, then realized he wouldn''t have any way to destroy the temples and structures on the planetary surface. He could have done it by hand, if he wanted to take his time and tore the buildings into pieces with Presence.


    ¡°I need more ships.¡± Hunter said and sent a message to the Bogorim Corporation for five more weapon platform ships. ¡°Ooo, and a projectile launching system for my new weapon.¡± He said and used the navigation computer to plot a course for the nearly month long trip to the Dizahl System. ¡°Let''s go home.¡± He said and flew Hela out to the proper Lagrange point and jumped into hyperspace.

 Book Three: The Resolution 135

    By the time the month long trip back home was over, I still didn''t know how I was going to face everyone. I sent in weekly reports like always, just so they knew I was still alive, except that I did it without visuals and wouldn''t accept any calls. If I did, I would have to acknowledge the wrenching hole in my heart and I didn''t want to do that while I was still alone.


    When I entered the Dizahl System, I received an automated message that warned me to identify myself. If I was an Order ship, I was to immediately surrender or be destroyed. I sent Hela''s ship ID in response and the message stopped.


    ¡°Welcome home, Grandpa.¡± Opina said over Hela''s intercom. ¡°We''re all waiting for you.¡±


    I touched the button that said I acknowledged the message and didn''t say anything. I flew the ship all the way through the system and docked Hela between her mother Adona and her father Udelis. I took several deep breaths, because even though I had intentionally limited my detection range, I could still feel everyone waiting for me at the docking hatch.


    I stood up and walked, one step in front of the other, until I reached the hatch. I hit the button to open it and everyone stood there. All of their faces were tear streaked, full of sadness, and right in the front was Hailey''s mother, Monica.


    ¡°N-n-no.¡± Monica said and started crying again. ¡°No.¡± She said and wiped at her eyes. ¡°My baby''s really gone.¡±


    I stepped into the docking ring and put my arms around her, then she started balling her eyes out. She grabbed onto me and held on as she poured her sorrow out. It didn''t take long for it to turn to anger at me, and then she started punching me.


    ¡°No! My baby! You let them take my baby!¡± Monica said as she pounded on my chest.


    ¡°I invoke our vows.¡± I said and her strikes slowed down, then she looked up into my eyes.


    ¡°Wh-wh-what?¡± Monica stuttered.


    ¡°You promised that if anything happened to me or Hailey, you would resume your duties.¡± I said and caressed the side of her face, then I kissed her briefly to hand responsibility back to her. ¡°Mom, I''m so sorry. Your daughter is gone.¡±


    Monica''s face crumbled and she burst into tears again, then she put her arms around me and cried and cried. Everyone else cried as well, and it wasn''t even a Presence effect, because Noma stood there among the others and her face was tear streaked like everyone''s and she wasn''t feeding. I looked at her and motioned for her to step close.


    Noma shook her head and I used Presence to pull her close. She sucked it in and shivered. ¡°No, I... don''t make me feel good now. Please, don''t.¡± She said. ¡°I''ll only take your excess.¡±


    I smiled sadly and took her into a hug with one arm. ¡°Thank you for understanding.¡± I said and gave her a kiss and a touch of Presence that was filled with sadness. I let her go and she stayed right there, because she knew now that she was desperately needed if I made a mistake or let my Presence go unhindered. I let Monica go and she looked into my eyes again.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Monica whispered.


    ¡°I''ve got the means to destroy them all.¡± I said and caressed her face again.


    Monica nodded and stepped back and Simone came over next. She didn''t say anything and just took me into a hug and rested her forehead against mine.


    ¡°Ohhh, godddd.¡± Simone whined as I shared the times I had with Hailey with her. ¡°Nooo. Noooo.¡±


    I put my arms around her and kissed her and let her see and feel everything, even the memories that Hailey had given me at the end. When I let her go, she kept her eyes closed and walked over to Monica.


    ¡°S-S-Simone?¡± Monica asked, almost scared, then Simone kissed her and gave her Hailey''s memories. She whined just like Simone did and held onto her until she was done. Her tears dissolved away when Simone broke the kiss.


    ¡°Hailey didn''t want anyone to be sad, especially Hunter and her family.¡± Simone said and went to Sandy and Beatrice. ¡°I want permission to share this with you.¡±


    Beatrice and Sandy exchanged looks and then looked at me.


    ¡°Hailey would have wanted you to see this.¡± I said.


    ¡°It won''t break your vows to each other.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°Kiss Beatrice first.¡± Sandy said and Simone nodded, then leaned in and pressed her lips to Beatrice''s.


    Beatrice whined like Monica and clung to Sandy while she kissed another woman for the first time, then the memory sharing ended. ¡°Q-quick! Before the clarity starts to fade!¡± She said and Simone gave Sandy a kiss to give her the same memories.


    Sandy didn''t whine as she took the memories; but, her eyes shed tears constantly. Simone broke the kiss and stepped back out of the way, then Sandy and Beatrice looked at each other.


    ¡°She loved us almost as much as she loved her own mother.¡± Sandy and Beatrice said together and kissed, unlike every other time we had seen them, they kissed passionately and without reserve. They showed everyone their love for each other and they knew that we were seeing it for the first time. They did it so that we would all see the same thing that Hailey saw.


    ¡°That''s so sweet.¡± Jelly said and her fiance took her into his arms and kissed her. It wasn''t that he felt that he needed to impress everyone, he only wanted to add that he loved her, too.


    Deborah''s husband did the same thing to her and she didn''t protest or fight the public display. She knew that they needed to show everyone they were in love, too.


    Gleas gave me wide eyes as I walked over to her. ¡°Hunter, no. You... you don''t...¡±


    ¡°You''re right. It''s not the deep and passionate love that the others have.¡± I said and took her into my arms. ¡°We''re not each other''s soul mates, or destined to be together, or even regular bed partners.¡± I looked into her eyes. ¡°We''re just good friends that occasionally have sex.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Gleas blushed.


    ¡°It''s still love, though.¡± I said and gave her a kiss and a touch of Presence. ¡°Thank you for not pushing me when you very easily could have or tried to derail Hailey''s happiness.¡±


    ¡°She claimed you first, even as young as she was at the time.¡± Gleas said. ¡°I had no right to try and usurp the dreams of that beautiful little girl.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°She grew into a beautiful young woman and we all loved her.¡± I said and gave her another kiss, then let her go. ¡°All of our lives changed because of her.¡±


    ¡°They did.¡± Sheph said. Even though she would very much like a kiss from me, she knew there was only friendship between us and she had accepted that a long time ago.


    ¡°You''ll change your mind when I finish growing my hair out.¡± I said and shook my head as I stopped concealing the hair I had grown out to match Hailey''s fake hair at the wedding. I hadn''t even realized it had happened until a week after leaving the planet Hailey had died on. That last visit to our personal eternity had given me more than I realized.


    Sheph gasped at the braid down to my waist and she covered her mouth with both hands. ¡°Hunter!¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± I said and turned around.


    Sheph quickly undid the tie and unravelled the braid. She spread my hair out like a short curtain and buried her face into its golden softness. ¡°I followed this hair across three galaxies and two wars.¡± She said and rubbed it on her cheeks and took in a big breath and wallowed in the smell. ¡°Ahhh.¡± She sighed, then she quickly did a half braid with it and secured the bottom with the tie.


    Simone was drooling about two feet away because of Sheph''s thoughts and emotions. I turned towards Isabella and she held up a hand.


    ¡°I do not see you in that way, in any capacity.¡± Isabella said. ¡°You are only a great boss.¡±


    ¡°And you are a great Lieutenant Commander.¡± I said and gave her a salute, which she returned. The last person I turned to was Hen.


    Hen let out a squawk and shook her head. ¡°N-no, you can''t.¡± She said and I stepped over to her. ¡°I have a nest and a Tiercel.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. I made a clawed hand and gave her head a quick grooming. I didn''t find anything. ¡°I''m glad he actually cares about you.¡± I said and she let out a low warble of appreciation.


    ¡°Th-thank you, False Tiercel.¡± Hen chirped and tweeted, because she had been too nervous I would be angry that she had brought someone here so soon and couldn''t speak common at the moment.


    I actually smiled for the first time since Hailey''s death. ¡°Be happy and let us know when you start to gestate.¡±


    Hen nodded several times and bowed, then suddenly Noma was beside me.


    ¡°We need a shuttle!¡± Noma said.


    ¡°Monna is in Hela''s shuttle bay.¡± I said and then felt a wrenching pain in my heart.


    Noma took my hand and we disappeared back into Hela and went to her shuttle bay.


    ¡°Can you... fly a... shuttle?¡± I asked and another spasm of pain hit me.


    ¡°You can.¡± Noma said as Hela opened the shuttle bay door, then Noma flew Monna out of the ship and gave her more power than I thought necessary, until another spasm hit me and I felt my heart beat twice as fast as normal. Monna didn''t yell in delight as we made another hot orbital insertion, because she could see that I was in pain, a pain she couldn''t explain, and she didn''t want to enjoy anything if I wasn''t going to enjoy it with her.


    ¡°Emergency landing protocol initiated.¡± Monna said as the only landing Noma could get from me at the moment was an emergency one. The shuttle screamed towards the ground in the middle of nowhere, then it suddenly slowed and came to a stop and landed as light as a feather.


    Noma grabbed my hand as the side hatch opened and we disappeared from the shuttle and ran at my full Presence Run speed. We stopped ten miles away, still in the middle of nowhere.


    ¡°Okay, Hunter. Let it out.¡± Noma said.


    ¡°I... don''t know... what you mean.¡± I said and another spasm hit me and it felt like my heart was going to burst from my chest.


    Noma slapped my face as hard as she could and used my own Presence to do it, which made my head whip around and almost broke my neck. ¡°Remember what Hailey said!¡±


    ¡°I... I can''t.¡± I said and gripped my chest over my heart.


    ¡°Let. It. OUT!¡± Noma said and punched me right in the face. She broke my nose and one of my eye sockets and my blood started to splash out... then it froze still as my anger rose. The blood slowly flowed back into the tear in my skin and my nose reformed almost instantly.


    ¡°Stop.¡± I said and grit my teeth.


    ¡°I love you enough to do this!¡± Noma said and hit me again, this time in the side of my chest. The black bodysuit didn''t move; but, my chest caved in and crushed my right lung.


    ¡°STOP!¡± I yelled and my lung instantly reformed and my rib cage healed and I finally let my anger out. ¡°ARRRRGHHH!¡±


    I formed two giant Presence Hands, a hundred feet across each, then formed them into fists and started to pound the ground. When that wasn''t enough, I opened the hands and dug down into the ground and crushed the dirt and rock into dust and dug... and dug... and dug some more. When I started to become exhausted, I stopped what I was doing and fell to my knees. I absorbed the two giant hands and looked at my handiwork.


    I had made a crater over a thousand feet deep and two thousand feet around. Piles of sand littered the landscape around the monstrous hole, because I tossed the crushed contents to the sides to get it out of the way so I could keep digging.


    ¡°Oh, god.¡± I said and looked at what I did. ¡°I really could have stopped at each planet and crushed the buildings myself.¡±


    ¡°No, you couldn''t.¡± Noma said and I turned to look at her. She was completely unharmed.


    ¡°Noma! How...¡±


    ¡°You love me.¡± Noma said and knelt beside me and kissed me. ¡°I tried to get in front of you several times and do you know what you did during your blinding rage?¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°You gave me a kiss and a bunch of Presence, asked me to step aside, and kept going.¡± Noma said and took one of my hands. ¡°You only gave me enough to weaken yourself and not enough to knock me out.¡±


    I had to concentrate and thought back over the last hour, and she was right. I remembered her standing there in front of me several times. She didn''t try to stop me or even told me to calm down. She just stood there and I gave her a kiss, asked her to step aside, and kept going.


    ¡°Noma, I could have...¡±


    ¡°No, you couldn''t.¡± Noma said. ¡°You destroyed everything around me; but, you never once spoke in anger towards me.¡±


    I looked into her eyes and waved at the destruction. ¡°What does this mean?¡±


    ¡°It means I will stay near you whenever you try to suppress your anger for too long. When you break from the strain, you will destroy everything around you. You will not need to worry because you will also leave the people you love alone and completely unharmed.¡±


    I caught my breath. ¡°The habitat.¡±


    ¡°It would be wrecked on the inside and the hull and the structural integrity would still be intact.¡± Noma said and gave me another kiss. ¡°You would never endanger anyone from your family.¡±


    I closed my eyes and she rubbed her hands over my black bodysuit. ¡°I need to keep using up my anger or it overwhelms me.¡±


    Noma nodded and rubbed her hands across my chest. ¡°This is real and it''s also not.¡±


    ¡°It''s also not made of Presence.¡± I said and she gasped. ¡°That''s why it didn''t deform, even when you hit me so hard. There''s no Presence inside of it to manipulate.¡±


    ¡°It''s only a versatile covering and nothing more?¡± Noma asked, surprised.


    I nodded and we sat there in silence for quite some time. ¡°All right. I think I''m okay.¡±


    ¡°You always were.¡± Noma said and stood up, took my hand, and pulled me up to stand beside her. ¡°You just have to relieve your temper now.¡±


    I looked around at the destruction. ¡°That''s some temper.¡±


    Noma let out a soft laugh. ¡°This is over a month''s worth of pent up anger.¡± She said and we floated up into the air on my Levitation technique. ¡°Do you really think that either of us will let you stay pent up for that long from now on?¡±


    I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°Thank you for looking out for me.¡±


    ¡°You took care of me for a long time.¡± Noma said and we landed beside Monna. ¡°It''s about time I started to make up for all of the things you did for me.¡±


    I took her into my arms and kissed her. ¡°Do you think it''ll be safe for me if I knock you out tonight?¡±


    ¡°It won''t be if you don''t!¡± Noma said seriously, then she gave me a tender kiss and we climbed aboard Monna.


    I took the flight controls and I flew us back up through the atmosphere and into space. ¡°I don''t know how I''m going to explain this.¡±


    ¡°You just tell them the truth.¡± Noma said. ¡°Gleas and Simone will understand you the most.¡±


    ¡°That I know.¡± I said and I checked the space lanes to make sure it was clear to go back to the habitat. As an afterthought, I placed a call to the Bogorim Corporation. ¡°Hi, there. Who do I talk to about causing damage to corporation owned land?¡±


    After a few minutes wait, a green alien female with a high pitched voice came onto the screen.


    ¡°Hello! We have a lot of corporation owned land. Can you be more specific?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said and sent her the coordinates and an image of the place from the satellite in orbit around the planet. ¡°How''s that?¡±


    The green female alien stared down at the image on her screen. ¡°What in the world did that?¡±


    ¡°I did. In an hour.¡± I said.


    She gasped and looked at me. ¡°I need to call you back!¡± She exclaimed and cut the call.


    I looked at Noma and she covered her mouth to stop her laugh.


    It wasn''t a laughing matter.


    Not in the least.


    We didn''t feel like laughing.


    We didn''t.


    An image of Hailey''s happy face and the sound of her giggle filled my mind, then Noma got the image and sound of Hailey''s giggle from me.


    Noma couldn''t help herself and laughed out loud.


    I smiled for the second time that day.

 Book Three: The Resolution 136

    I landed Monna back inside Adona''s large shuttle bay and Monna sighed in relief. Noma and I left her there and went inside the space habitat and everyone was waiting anxiously for us.


    ¡°It''s okay.¡± I said. ¡°I just... had to let some anger out.¡±


    ¡°We saw.¡± Simone said. ¡°None of us knew you could do something like that.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t know I could, either.¡± I said.


    Peggy walked into the room and came over to me with a portable display. ¡°Someone from the Bogorim Corporation is on the line for you.¡±


    ¡°Peggy!¡± I exclaimed and I tried to hug her, and her hand was across my cheek instantly.


    ¡°My answer is still no.¡± Peggy said and handed me the display. ¡°I''m sorry about what happened.¡± She said and touched my hand in a rare display of affection, then walked away and went back to the office.


    ¡°She stayed away before because she didn''t want to intrude.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°She also didn''t want you to take advantage of her.¡± Simone almost succeeded in hiding her smile.


    ¡°I would have at least stolen a hug.¡± I said honestly and accepted the call.


    ¡°Hello, Hunter.¡± The short alien that owned the Bogorim Corporation said from the display.


    I said his name in his native language, since it wasn''t pronounceable in common. ¡°To what do I owe the pleasure of hearing from you directly?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to pay my condolences for your loss.¡± The short alien said. ¡°I very much regretted not being able to attend your wedding and now I regret not making the time.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°We knew you couldn''t reschedule an interplanetary conference with all of your businesses and employees, just to stand around and watch an alien mating ritual.¡± I said. ¡°How many millions of credits would you have lost if you had to change it?¡±


    ¡°I would guess about the same cost to excavate a two thousand foot wide and a thousand foot deep crater.¡± The short alien said.


    ¡°Word travels fast.¡± I said and he let out a small laugh.


    ¡°The images are quite impressive and Opina was kind enough to forward the video when I asked.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Opina.¡± I said sarcastically.


    ¡°You''re welcome, Grandpa!¡± Opina said happily. ¡°He wanted proof it was actually you and not some weapon you''ve developed.¡±


    ¡°I was reassured that this wasn''t something that threatened me and mine.¡± The short alien said. ¡°It was quite spectacular to see, I must say.¡±


    I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°How much...¡±


    ¡°Oh, I''d say you''ve saved me a few hundred thousand credits worth of strip mining.¡± The short alien said to my surprise.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°We''ve had a geological survey of the entire planet for over a hundred years. It was much too cost prohibitive to dig when it is so much easier to smelt asteroids and harvest precious metals and ore from them instead.¡±


    ¡°But... I crushed everything.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, yes. Wonderful work. I''ve already sent a hundred mechanical sifters out there with trusted workers to sort out the metals from the giant piles of sand and grit. I must say, grinding it up was quite ingenious instead of just throwing out large chunks that couldn''t be sorted properly.¡±


    ¡°You''re joking, right?¡± I asked. ¡°I did all that and you''re thanking me?¡±


    ¡°Well, I could fine you and exorbitant amount for destroying property that''s been in my family for a hundred and fifty generations.¡± The short alien said. ¡°Would that make you feel better?¡±


    ¡°If you mean exorbitant for me, I think I could handle it. If you meant exorbitant for you, then no.¡±


    The short alien let out another small laugh. ¡°You know I will find the financial gain in anything I set my eyes upon, Hunter.¡±


    ¡°You''re just not going to let that go, are you?¡± I asked. ¡°I don''t want to know what you''re making from my satellite network every day, all right? I don''t.¡±


    The short alien let out a full laugh this time. ¡°Each new satellite in another system increases my revenue exponentially. I didn''t quite believe you when you said that would happen, and here we are.¡± He said. ¡°You really should increase your base costs.¡±


    ¡°If I made it more expensive, then less people would use it and defeat the purpose.¡±


    The short alien nodded. ¡°Now, back to this massive hole you dug into my planet.¡± He said. ¡°I am tempted to offer you a finder''s fee on anything precious we found.¡±


    ¡°I would accept that if you had hired me for it. You can turn it into operating costs for the workers that have weeks of work ahead of them.¡±


    The short alien nodded. ¡°That''s reasonable.¡± He said. ¡°Now the important question.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Go ahead.¡± I said, knowing what he was going to ask.


    ¡°Will this happen again?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said. ¡°I may not be here a lot when it happens, though. I have a mission to complete.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Well, I see that you have ordered a long haul''s cargo full of electronics and parts, which means you will be busy locally for quite some time.¡±


    I sighed again. ¡°I''ll try and find somewhere else to...¡±


    ¡°Nonsense.¡± The short alien said. ¡°I''ll provide a map and landing coordinates for safe zones. There are a lot of things I would like dug up around here.¡±


    Noma put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said. ¡°You''re not going to mind having huge holes all over the place?¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    The short alien smiled. ¡°I''ve already solicited bids on the site you excavated to make a cliff adventure business.¡±


    I almost laughed at the speed that he had turned my mistake into a profitable business venture. ¡°All right, I better go before you make even more money from me.¡±


    ¡°From whom did you buy the electronic components and five brand new space ships?¡± The short alien asked and laughed as he ended the call.


    ¡°He is definitely a master at making money.¡± Sheph said. ¡°It''s almost scary.¡±


    We all nodded at that.


    ¡°When is the shipment due to arrive?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Next week. The ships will be delivered as one shipment two weeks later.¡± Sheph said. ¡°I was tempted to have them deliver each one as they made them; but, you weren''t here and the components you ordered while out weren''t going to arrive until after you came back anyway.¡±


    I turned and looked at Daniel. ¡°I hope you''re ready to start some heavy work next week.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? I''d be at the shipping yard right now if I had the components already.¡± Daniel said.


    I looked at his wife, Deborah. ¡°Don''t worry, no late nights or monopolizing his time.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Deborah stepped close and put a hand on my arm. ¡°We''ll work day and night to get this done as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°I can''t ask you to...¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to ask.¡± Simone said. ¡°We''re not doing this for you.¡±


    I took a deep breath and let it out, then I nodded.


    ¡°Come on. Let''s go get something to eat.¡± Gleas said and took my hand, and we all went to the large communal kitchen and made a meal together. We just cooked the food, though. No Couples Cooking lessons this time. None of us felt comfortable doing that yet. Peggy came in and joined us as we all sat down to eat. It was mostly quiet, until Sandy gave Beatrice a kiss.


    ¡°Sandy!¡± Beatrice gasped.


    ¡°I love you.¡± Sandy said and kept eating.


    ¡°That''s... beside the point.¡± Beatrice said, her face red.


    Simone let out a chuckle. ¡°I think that''s exactly the point.¡± She said. ¡°Kiss''em if you got''em!¡±


    Jelly kissed her fiance, Deborah kissed her husband, and I turned my head to look at Peggy with a smile on my face... my third one that day... and she slapped my face.


    ¡°Still no.¡± Peggy said and Simone barked a laugh.


    *


    Kara sat in her room aboard the dreadnought as it exited hyperspace in The Order''s home system. Her heart and mind were filled with all the things she had seen on her latest mission. It had started out so well and almost seemed... fun. It reminded her of the times she had been on Relique when her party and Hunter''s had joined up. Everything was easier when he was there, and it was the same now.


    Then his wife died.


    His wife. Kara thought, her heart pained. During the trip back here, she finally went through all of the messages from him that he had sent. To her surprise, there were a lot of them. He had sent them sporadically and she hadn''t noticed the sheer amount. It had been almost five years of messages and she was angry at herself for not answering them. Most were just normal communications that anyone would exchange. Those she had only skimmed over. It was the odd ones that she despaired over.


    Kara had read about the things he had gone through and regretted not answering them at the time. If she had, she might have had a chance to... she shook her head. She had missed her golden opportunities to be there for him when he had reached out into space for her and she had ignored him. She hadn''t realized that she had hurt herself all this time by ignoring his need, so she had accepted that pain into her heart and it added to her regret about everything.


    ¡°We are approaching planetary orbit.¡± A voice said over the intercom.


    It broke Kara out of her thoughts and rumination over her mistakes. She donned her robes and put on her Light sword, then left her room and went to the detention cell near the middle of the ship.


    ¡°AHHH!¡± The scaly alien screamed as soon as the door to the cell opened. ¡°AHHH!¡±


    ¡°I thought I told you to gag him.¡± Kara said in a defeated tone. Hunter''s words about mad screaming had been prophetic and Kralish had started screaming non-stop after the fifth day in hyperspace.


    ¡°He keeps chewing through them.¡± The guard shrugged. ¡°He''s gotten really good at it and they only last a few minutes now.¡±


    Kara sighed and nodded. ¡°Open it.¡±


    The guard opened the cell and Kara covered the scaly alien''s mouth with Presence to shut him up. She used Levitation on him and carried him behind her as she went through the ship to the shuttle bay.


    ¡°By the Goddess! That thing''s real?!?¡± The pilot exclaimed loudly as Kara boarded the shuttle to go to the surface and a floating torso came in behind her.


    ¡°Just get me to the compound.¡± Kara said and set Kralish on one of the seats, strapped him in, and sat down herself and strapped in.


    ¡°I thought it was just a scary story going around the ship.¡± The pilot whispered and started the shuttle up. He had been on the ship and hadn''t seen what had happened on the planet''s surface or the results.


    Kara didn''t bother reminding him that three guard squads and two members of The Order hadn''t returned with her, so any ghost stories going around paled in comparison to the truth.


    Goddess, Hunter. Kara thought as she remembered what he did.


    The shuttle left the bay and flew down to the planet''s surface. It landed right beside the building that the council still used. They had rebuilt the room that Hunter had destroyed and had reinforced it, then installed several new safety measures to possibly stop any further attacks against the council. The biggest thing was the shield barrier between the council and the rest of the room.


    Kara looked at the thing with disbelief, especially since she had seen Hunter get by whatever special dampening field Kralish had come up with. A normal force field wasn''t going to do anything at all to deter him.


    ¡°Master Moor, I''m so glad that you have returned with... what is that thing floating behind you?¡± One of the new male council members asked.


    ¡°This is Kralish.¡± Kara said and floated the torso of the scaly alien into the room and deposited him in the center.


    ¡°By the Goddess'' Bright Light.¡± He said. ¡°We asked you to bring him back, not disable him.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t do this to him.¡± Kara said and didn''t volunteer who had.


    ¡°Please remove his mouth restraint.¡± Someone else said.


    ¡°I don''t recommend that.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Master Moor, we need to hear what happened in his own words.¡±


    Kara dismissed the Presence covering the scaly alien''s mouth.


    ¡°AHHH!¡± Kralish yelled and took a breath. ¡°AHHH!¡±


    Nearly every council member covered their ears at the incessant screaming.


    ¡°G-gag him.¡± One of them managed to say and a guard ran over with a gag and Kralish started chewing on it before it was secured in place.


    ¡°What happened to his eyes?¡± The head of the council asked. She was a humanoid woman with large deer antlers and big doe eyes.


    ¡°They were burst in a sonic attack.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Goddess.¡± The council head said and shook her head, then she frowned. ¡°Why haven''t they grown back?¡±


    ¡°I assume for the same reason that his arms and legs have yet to grow back, even though it''s been over a month since he lost them.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°His race has massive regeneration. He even regrew a severed limb when it was cut off with a Light sword.¡± The council head said.


    Kara stood there and wondered how long it would take for them to ask her how it had happened.


    ¡°Did the local government give you any trouble?¡± Someone else asked.


    ¡°Yes. They delayed negotiations until we brought in a third party, then they killed all of our delegates.¡± Kara said, just as Kralish broke his gag.


    ¡°AHHH!¡± Kralish yelled and took a quick breath. ¡°AHHH!¡±


    ¡°I said gag him!¡± The same council member said and the guard brought over another gag. ¡°What is wrong with him, anyway?¡±


    ¡°He hasn''t slept in a month.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± He yelled. ¡°How could you do that to him? That''s pure torture!¡± He exclaimed. ¡°A person would go insane without sleep for that long!¡±


    ¡°He started screaming in less than a week.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Master Moor.¡± The council head glared at her. ¡°You have broken one of the...¡±


    ¡°SHUT UP!¡± Kara yelled as a pulse of Presence came out of her and smashed the shield emitter. The force field between her and the council disappeared and the entire council stared at her. ¡°How dare you accuse me of wrongdoing?!? You all assumed I did it without even asking me about it to see if I would lie! Are you all imbeciles? Are you morons? Who appointed such stupid people to the council?¡±


    ¡°You are out of line.¡± The head of the council said.


    ¡°No, you are! I''ve been standing here and waiting to see if any of you would ask me how Kralish became the way he is, and none of you care how, even after I''ve mentioned it! You only see that he''s like this and because I am standing here with him, you blamed me without a shred of proof.¡± Kara said. ¡°Do you really think a normal person would do this to another living being and then come here with them? Do you think I would show off by being here with this ruined stump of a lizard?¡±


    None of the council spoke in response to her tirade.


    ¡°I was told that I have a role to play, and I came here thinking that Hunter was out of line for telling me that. He gave me a message to tell you when I delivered his handiwork to you.¡± Kara said.


    Kralish broke another gag and started screaming again. One of the council covered his mouth with Presence.


    ¡°What is the message?¡± The council head asked.


    ¡°He''s coming for us.¡± Kara glanced at Kralish and looked back at the council. ¡°He''s coming for us all.¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 137

    Kara submitted her report to the council and she wasn''t surprised that they didn''t ask her about losing the two Order members, three squads of guards, two assault shuttles, and all of the weapons on a dreadnought class space ship. They weren''t even curious about how it had happened so quickly. She shook her head and lifted Kralish from the middle of the floor with the Levitation technique.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The head of the council asked.


    ¡°I have been granted an audience with The Wise One and he needs to see this.¡± Kara said as she turned around and walked towards the doors.


    ¡°We need to discuss what to do about him.¡± One of the other council members said.


    ¡°He doesn''t need to be here for that.¡± Kara said. ¡°I''ll bring him to the medical building after my appointment.¡±


    ¡°We also need to discuss your behaviour.¡±


    ¡°I don''t need to be here for that, either.¡± Kara said. ¡°You can take the cost of the shield emitter out of my next pay.¡±


    The Order council members exchanged looks, because everyone knew they didn''t get paid.


    Kara left the council chamber and made her way over to The Wise One''s office. The secretary there just waved her by and Kara nodded to her. She entered the office and The Wise One sat on the floor behind his desk.


    ¡°This is very troubling.¡± The Wise One said as his segmented eyes beheld the twitching and squirming torso of the scaly alien.


    ¡°Whatever Hunter did to him, he can''t regenerate or sleep.¡± Kara said and put Kralish on the floor near the door, as if he was an ornamental doorstop. ¡°I''m pretty sure he''s gone completely crazy by now.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t talking about that.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Can you not feel it?¡±


    ¡°Feel what?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I don''t feel Kralish''s immense Presence anymore.¡±


    Kara took in a sharp breath and turned to look at the torso. ¡°I didn''t even... I''ve been blocking out everything from him since...¡± She shook her head and concentrated on him. She only felt a slight Presence and it wasn''t regenerating or cycling through his body like it should have been. ¡°Oh, Goddess.¡±


    ¡°He didn''t absorb it, did he?¡± The Wise One asked and Kara shook her head.


    ¡°No, I would have felt any kind of transfer, considering Hunter''s Presence was very strong. Much stronger than the last time I felt him.¡± Kara said. ¡°In fact, I met...¡± She swallowed audibly. ¡°...his wife.¡±


    The Wise One let out an uncharacteristic buzzing sound, one that he had worked very hard for decades to suppress. It surprised Kara to hear just as much as it surprised The Wise One to make that sound.


    ¡°Please tell me, in your own words, what transpired that day.¡± The Wise One said and his Presence filled the room to encompass both Kara and Kralish.


    Kara took a deep breath and began to speak.


    *


    I slept with Noma that night and quickly knocked her out. She had fought her smile as much as she could and then she relented and fell unconscious with it plastered on her face.


    She really doesn''t want to be happy so soon after losing Hailey. Simone said into my mind from her room next door.


    I know. Neither do I. I responded. I just feel so...


    Empty? Drained of emotion? Full of blinding rage over her death? Simone thought back. You''re not the only one, Hunter. Not even close.


    I sighed and fought the tears that threatened to overwhelm my eyes.


    Come here. Simone commanded and I slipped out of bed, pulled on my nightgown, then left my room and went to Simone. I entered her room and walked over to her bed to see Gleas curled up beside her. Her face was tear streaked and there were scratch marks all over her forearms and her thighs. Some were bright red and fresh and others were weeks old.


    Why didn''t she say anything to me? I asked and carefully caressed her arms and thighs as I used Presence Heal on her to make them disappear.


    We all can''t let loose like you and destroy part of a countryside. Simone thought with both amusement and accusation. We can only deal with it in our own ways.


    I already told you that I didn''t know I could do that. I said and climbed into the bed and laid down behind Gleas, then hugged her from behind.


    ¡°No... Simone... I said no.¡±


    ¡°Shh.¡± I whispered in her ear and Gleas took in a sharp breath and woke up instantly.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Gleas said and turned her head to look at me.


    ¡°I have my nightgown on, so you can relax.¡± I said. ¡°Nothing kills a sexual mood like seeing a handsome man embarrass himself in a nightgown.¡±


    Gleas took a breath and closed her eyes as tears popped out. ¡°Please, don''t make me laugh or try to comfort me. I can''t take it right now.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be the judge of that.¡± Simone said and touched her forehead. ¡°Let us hold you and care for you.¡±


    Gleas'' forehead tingled. She didn''t fight against whatever Simone was doing and accepted it.


    ¡°I''m only helping you relax.¡± Simone said. ¡°I agree with Hunter. Messing with someone''s head against what they intend, would cause more problems than it would solve.¡±


    Gleas nodded and she felt the tension in her body melt away, as if she had just spent a few hours soaking in a tub. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Simone and I hugged her and she cried silently as her tears continued to flow. Since we could do nothing to soothe her besides being there and holding her tenderly, that''s what we did. We were also fairly well acquainted with her mind and we could feel that she trusted us implicitly. She wouldn''t be anywhere near Simone''s bed if she thought she would be taken advantage of.


    I gave Gleas a quick kiss on the lips. It lasted for barely a moment and she put her arms around me and kept crying. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and looked at me.


    ¡°She didn''t finish her promise, did she?¡± Gleas asked, barely above a whisper.


    ¡°We just passed a thousand kisses.¡± I whispered back. ¡°She still owes me another nine hundred.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Gleas nodded slightly. ¡°Then I''ll finish it for her.¡± She said and gave me a light kiss. ¡°Please, let me do this for her.¡±


    ¡°Did you know she loved it that you cared so much for her that you rigged the impromptu beauty contest we had?¡±


    Gleas caught her breath as she remembered telling me that after I saw everyone walk down the stairs, even her in her skin tight pants, that if I didn''t choose Hailey, she would kill me.


    ¡°Yes, that one.¡± I said. ¡°I know Hailey would be happy to have you complete her promise to me.¡±


    Gleas let out a sob and started to give me soft and tender kisses that lasted for only a second. She did this for quite some time, turning her head slightly for each one so that it wasn''t quite exactly the same kiss each time, then she reached a hundred and stopped.


    ¡°Only eight hundred more to go.¡± Gleas said. Her tears had stopped at some point and then dissolved.


    ¡°I look forward to each and every one.¡± I said. ¡°Although, there was only seventy three that were Hailey''s.¡±


    Gleas'' face flushed red and she tried to turn her head away.


    I caught her chin and had her look at me. ¡°Gleas, it''s okay. You didn''t hear me complain, did you?¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°It''s just going to take you a little longer to complete Hailey''s promise.¡± I said and gave her a kiss. ¡°I said I was looking forward to each one, not just Hailey''s.¡±


    Gleas gave me a nod and closed her eyes. We stayed there for several more minutes in silence and then Gleas spoke. ¡°Now I can''t sleep.¡±


    ¡°I know a quick way to help.¡± Simone said, mischievously.


    Gleas sighed. ¡°Simone...¡±


    ¡°Hunter? Help her.¡± Simone said and I put Gleas to sleep instantly.


    ¡°That was a little mean.¡± I said and she leaned over Gleas to kiss me.


    ¡°It''s not my fault she assumed having sex with us would tire her out.¡± Simone said. Okay, yes it is. She thought and laughed mentally.


    I shook my head at her and she put her head down on the pillow beside Gleas, then I filled her psychic quota in an instant.


    ¡°Mmm.¡± Simone moaned a little and fell right to sleep.


    I entered my half-meditation half-sleep state and rested as well.


    *


    Kara finished her interview with a very concerned and worried Wise One, dropped Kralish off at the medical building, then went to her residence. She greeted her old guardian with a hug and a promise to fill her in later, and went to her room. When she stepped inside, a four foot tall pink skinned pixie-like alien floated in the middle of the room. Her long white hair was done up in a ponytail and it wagged behind her like a tail.


    ¡°Tell me everything.¡± Lashina demanded.


    ¡°At least let me change first.¡± Kara said.


    Lashina nodded and waited, quite impatiently, for Kara to change out of her formal robes and into her sleep clothes. She floated over to the bed and sat down on the middle of it in a Lotus position and Kara climbed onto the bed and copied her pose.


    ¡°You can tell, can''t you?¡± Kara asked and Lashina nodded.


    ¡°He''s coming for me first.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°He didn''t say when.¡± Kara responded.


    ¡°He''ll come when he''s ready.¡± Lashina said and put a hand over her heart and closed her eyes. ¡°He has... important work to do... and...¡± She gasped and opened her eyes. ¡°Oh, no.¡±


    ¡°You saw Kralish?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I saw what he''s going to do.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Kara asked. ¡°I think I know some of what he...¡±


    ¡°You have no idea.¡± Lashina said and took out a datapad. ¡°The Order sent a scout ship to the same system and this is what they found.¡±


    Kara took the datapad and saw the devastation on the planet''s surface. ¡°How did he do this? Even orbital strikes from space wouldn''t cause this.¡±


    ¡°I have some idea; but, that''s not the only thing he''s going to do.¡± Lashina said. ¡°He''s going to develop a horrible new weapon that''s going to devastate everything.¡±


    Kara thought about Kralish''s barrier that had killed Hunter''s wife and Hunter thanking him for giving him the means to destroy The Order.


    ¡°HUNTER''S WIFE?!?¡± Lashina yelled and Presence shot out from her and wrecked everything in the room.


    Kara glanced at the room and sighed at losing everything again. ¡°I was as surprised as you when I found out.¡± She said. ¡°I guess you didn''t answer his messages, either.¡±


    ¡°What messages?!?¡± Lashina asked and she started to glow. ¡°You will tell me right now what has been going on.¡± She commanded and Kara felt the compulsion hit her as hard as being punched, then the feeling faded away. The compulsion was still there; but, she could choose to ignore it if she wanted to.


    ¡°If you would calm down and stop interrupting me, I''ll do that.¡± Kara said and held a hand out to her.


    Lashina stopped glowing and accepted the hand, then Kara told her everything and she ''saw'' it in her mind. It didn''t take long for her to get the entire story, including all of the messages Kara had intentionally ignored.


    ¡°You stupid fool!¡± Lashina exclaimed. ¡°He reached out to you and you ignored him? How could you do that?!?¡±


    ¡°You ignored him, too.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I didn''t receive any messages!¡± Lashina said loudly, anger filling her voice and emotions. Why didn''t he message me, too? She asked herself and her Presence flared.


    ¡°I think you need to visit...¡± Kara started to say when Lashina disappeared and half of her bedroom wall disappeared with her and was smashed out into the courtyard. ¡°...the communications center.¡± Kara finished. ¡°I knew I should have taken her outside.¡± She said and used Presence to gathered as many of the larger pieces as possible and put them back into place.


    *


    The communications center didn''t know what hit them.


    A meteorite? A missile? A whirlwind tornado? None of them could make sense of what had happened in the last few seconds. A glowing being floated in front of the console and she had her hand out and the entire wall of consoles glowed with the same intensity.


    After nearly a full minute and everyone started to recover from the explosion, the glow around the consoles increased and then they imploded like air being sucked out of a plastic bottle. The glowing being looked at the workers and she knew they were responsible for her not receiving her messages, the very important and universe altering messages, and that it had been ordered by both the council and The Wise One.


    ¡°You are lucky that I am not ruthless and that I won''t KILL YOU ALL for keeping my PERSONAL messages from me.¡± Lashina said and then smiled. ¡°Don''t worry, though. Hunter is coming for you all and he will end you for me.¡±


    She disappeared back out the side of the building that she had crashed through and left everyone there completely terrified.


    *


    ¡°Open all the doors.¡± The Wise One said over the intercom when he felt Lashina approach. He knew she couldn''t smash through all of the walls between his office and the outside of the building, so he gave her an easy route to take instead. After a minute, she appeared in front of him, her anger palatable.


    ¡°Why?¡± Lashina asked as her Presence tried to lash out at The Wise One, which he easily deflected.


    ¡°This was why.¡± The Wise One said and motioned to her. ¡°You have let your personal feelings affect you and you have been acting rashly every time something happens that concerns him.¡±


    ¡°You kept me from helping him when he needed me!¡± Lashina said loudly.


    ¡°I stopped you from ruining your reputation by helping a declared rogue.¡± The Wise One said and tried to keep up the pretense.


    Lashina laughed. ¡°You let him be sent to prison on false charges! He went there because you asked him to! He helped The Order clean up its messes by taking on the attention himself! He is no more a rogue to The Order than I am!¡±


    ¡°He accepted...¡±


    ¡°He is not a member of The Order, which he has reminded everyone of several times. He cannot be a rogue of an organization that he is not even a part of!¡± Lashina spat.


    ¡°He destroyed an entire planetary sacred site.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°Yes, and he showed you how ridiculously easy it would be to do, didn''t he?¡± Lashina said. ¡°How many new safety measures have you come up with to protect the sites since then?¡±


    The Wise One sighed.


    ¡°Have you seen the things that he did to the sacred site were he was imprisoned?¡± Lashina asked and he didn''t respond. ¡°Do you know how many requests I''ve had for people wanting to be sent to prison? Do you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°Of course you do. You''ve been getting my messages and only sending me the ones you wanted me to see.¡± Lashina said and glared at him. ¡°If I thought for one second that I could have a chance to kill you, I would!¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°That''s why I have done what I have done all these years. You are too dangerous to be left to your own devices or to see the whole picture. The Goddess herself said that you needed to be watched and cared for. You needed to be coddled and kept from seeing things that will do... this... to you.¡± He said and waved at her glowing form. ¡°How many people have you harmed over the years by doing things like this?¡±


    ¡°NONE, you sanctimonious insect!¡± Lashina said. ¡°No one was hurt from any of my tantrums!¡±


    ¡°What about mentally?¡± The Wise One asked. ¡°How many people have you terrified with this behavior?¡±


    Lashina''s bluster faded slightly and her Presence glow reduced and almost disappeared as she landed softly on the floor.


    ¡°I believe you have some apologizing to do.¡± The Wise One said.


    Lashina lifted her head and glared defiantly at him. ¡°I''m sorry that you are manipulative and deceitful. I''m sorry that you successfully kept me from Hunter all these years. I''m very sorry that Hunter isn''t here right now to erase you from existence.¡±


    ¡°Are you finished?¡± The Wise One asked.


    ¡°Yes, oh Wise One.¡± Lashina said sarcastically. ¡°I am finished. I will no longer listen to your calls. I will no longer do your bidding. I will no longer help people that come to me for help.¡±


    ¡°That is harsh for you to say.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I understand not dealing with me; but, why would you deny helping others?¡±


    ¡°Because it''s a waste of time.¡± Lashina said and turned to walk away. ¡°Why would I bother helping people that will be dead in the very near future?¡±


    The Wise One stood there and watched the pixie-like alien walk away. One of his forelegs trembled slightly, because the Presence hadn''t wavered while she was talking. Not even a little.

 Book Three: The Resolution 138

    Over the next two months, I worked day and night. No one knew that I worked all night, though. I always made sure the person I was in bed with was asleep before I left to continue my weapon development. Noma couldn''t take being so happy all the time, because she just couldn''t resist letting me knock her out with Presence. She restricted herself to only once a week and it was always after one of my anger sessions, so there was no worry that I would freak out without her there to keep me company.


    That meant most nights I was with Simone and she would fall asleep right after when I filled her mind with her psychic quota. It wasn''t until the second week that I made the comparison between her and Noma. They both had abilities that only I seemed to be able to handle for them. They were very different and also similar, since both of them would degenerate if they didn''t feed themselves regularly. One physically and one mentally.


    During the start of the third week and right after I had my little revelation about Noma and Simone, Gleas came to me for another late night kissing session. She hadn''t avoided me outright; but, she didn''t want to admit to herself that she didn''t want to complete Hailey''s promise as soon as possible. I was tempted to tell her that it was okay, then thought that it was better if she came to grips with it herself. If she wanted to drag it out for as long as possible, I was fine with that.


    Of course, I couldn''t help myself when she showed up wearing a pair of tight pants and she knew it. I made her moan and writhe as I caressed every crease and divot of her ass through the fabric, then I had to peel the damn pants off to get at her actual flesh.


    ¡°You... really love... my ass.¡± Gleas managed to say between moans.


    ¡°I''ve never seen anything else as spectacular.¡± I said and lifted her hips. ¡°Just look at the sight of you like this.¡±


    Gleas'' face flushed to a deep red as I gave her the mental picture of her like that, showing herself off to me with the mounds of her shapely ass framing it, and I let her feel how the sight made me feel.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Gleas said my name, almost in a plea, so I let her feel how hard she had made me. ¡°Oh... oh, god.¡± She moaned as I made love to her just like that.


    Needless to say, I didn''t get a lot of work done that night.


    The rest of those two months I worked on duplicating the devices that created the barrier the scaly alien had created. It was an ingenious design and it worked almost on the same principal as the little circuit board that I had stumbled across that let me explode a focusing crystal and it consumed everything within the blast radius.


    The problem was that both my device and this device were imperfect. They weren''t meant to work how we were using them and it was kind of a cheat of the dynamics between the use of Presence and the inherent abilities that a focusing crystal had and its own built in Presence.


    My device used up the Presence instantly and it consumed itself and anything inside. Kralish''s device consumed anything that tried to pass through the outer energy barrier and used that energy to power itself. The barrier was quite faulty, however. Unlike what Kralish thought, it wasn''t fully functional. I got by the barrier''s flaws three times and could have done a fourth one, if the energy sump had been near full.


    The first time was damn near blatantly obvious, because the barrier hadn''t chewed away the established floor boundary they had set it to. It was easy to use the floor''s own Presence to attack them.


    The second time was also obvious, because I could see through it. That meant it wasn''t absorbing all of the energy passing through it, since visible light wasn''t blocked. Also, when Hailey died, our healing light passed through it and healed the scaly alien''s foot. It took me a few minutes to adjust the assault laser rifle''s settings to remove the heat energy from the laser bolts, which people would assume stopped the weapon from working.


    It still worked; but, when you removed the heat aspect, it apparently also removed the visual aspect. What they didn''t know about it that I did, was that it essentially made the gun into a microwave generator. It didn''t have any real energy itself and caused only the target to heat up at an exponential rate as their molecules vibrated.


    The third time was because we could talk through the barrier. My enhanced voice I used as a sonic attack. It also had no significant energy in the sound itself until it hit the target. It was the target''s vibrating that caused the damage and not the sound itself. It worked on the same principal as the visual bypass. Neither of them were accounted for in the device''s design.


    If those things worked, you wouldn''t be able to see or hear through the barrier and that would make it impossible to test any other aspect. There would be no communications between whoever was inside and whoever was outside, and none of the results could be recorded because there would be nothing to record for either of them.


    So, I did my best to combine both devices and to enhance them to perfection. Mine was crude and effective, and the scaly alien''s was overly complicated and only mostly effective. I definitely had my work cut out for me, especially if I wanted it to actually work and not consume everything inside, including itself and the barrier emitter.


    My only problem was that I had no real way to safely test it until it was built and actually used it. Of course, the components were all standard size and even if I tried to miniaturize it, all I would do was reduce the effectiveness by having to leave components out.


    What I wouldn''t give for an electron microscope. I thought with a chuckle. I could use Presence to make nanometer sized circuit boards that would do the same thing as the normal components.


    Once I let my mind wander down that path, I was pretty sure that I would blow everyone''s minds by making a Light sword the size of a pen and have it still be just as effective as a full sized one. I stopped anyone from hearing my loud laugh at that thought.


    Now I really want to make one. I thought and kept laughing.


    During the days, Daniel and everyone else helped me work on the ships. Of course, since I had five brand new weapons platforms that were nearly identical to Hela before her refit, we had to upgrade them all to fit in with the rest of our ships, with both their speed and manoeuvrability.


    Both Adona and Udelis were overjoyed to be allowed to have so many children; so much so, that they really pushed us to get the main computer core and data processors installed before we finished the other things on the ships. We were all infected by their enthusiasm and couldn''t help ourselves and did as they asked. Hela, Opina, and Monna welcomed each new sister as they were born and their family grew in both numbers and deadly capacity.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Cora, Iris, Lidia, Thea, and Zoe were added to their ranks and Adona and Udelis couldn''t have been happier.


    I had been tempted to try and manipulate the data and make at least one of them male, then changed my mind and let ''evolution'' take its course. Plus, I knew that women would be quite a bit more vengeful and thorough in their tasks. Since our upcoming tasks were going to have to be quite vengeful and thorough, letting women handle it all was perfectly fine with me.


    Once the ships were done, I needed to modify more missiles with focusing crystal warheads. Their versatility was second to none and they were perfect for eliminating their targets, especially with the explosive potential of each warhead added to the focusing crystal''s effect. Luckily, the poor focusing crystals worked well for this and I wasn''t wasting medium or high quality crystals for it.


    Those I needed for my new weapon.


    It was a thing of beauty, in my eyes anyway, and I spent nearly a month making enough of them while simultaneously modifying the missiles. I had been fortuitous to order a long haul transport full of electronic components and parts, because I burned through them faster than I thought possible. Once I had finished the design on the new weapon, all I needed to do was duplicate it.


    It was ridiculously easy to make a weapon like it portable and easily added to a projectile launcher. Of course, the launcher itself was made from basic components that anyone could buy. It was the specific combination with the added specialty programming and the focusing crystals that made the thing so deadly. I couldn''t wait to test it out in real life and I mounted it on each of the new ships, including Hela.


    All six of them were ecstatic at the potentially devastating weapon. If there was one thing that a warship enjoyed, it was a weapon that they could deploy that no one could stand against. I piloted Hela and took Noma with me, Gleas took Cora and Isabella went with her, Beatrice and Sandy took Iris, Jelly and her boyfriend took Lidia, Simone took Thea and Hailey''s mother Monica went along with her, and Deborah and her husband took Zoe.


    It took us a week to work out the plans we needed to jump to each connected system and start the eradication of The Order from the universe. Luckily, there was a galactic map of all known systems, ones with spacial anomalies, and all of the other small things that a ship travelling at hyperspace needed to be aware of. The Lagrange points and the coordinates for accurate jumps in certain places was invaluable for our mission.


    We set our auto message beacons and we all jumped to the same system to witness the test of my new weapon. We all appeared in a system two jumps away from the Dizahl system, since my family had already cleared away all the systems a single jump away, and our ships broadcast the warning and the declaration.


    A fairly large Order ship, a step just below a dreadnought, turned towards us and broadcast a warning of their own. I didn''t respond and fired the very first shot. The device left the launcher and activated, and a solid black ball a hundred feet across crossed the distance between my ship and theirs at the same speed as a missile.


    The Order ship reacted and shot their shipboard laser cannons at it, then their missiles soon followed. Nothing made any difference, except that the ball became a little bigger and continued on. The ball disappeared for a second, the core changed directions, then the ball appeared again and shot towards the evading ship.


    It didn''t stand a chance.


    The black ball hit the side of the ship and as it consumed the target, it expanded and sucked in more. By the time it had passed where the ship had been, the black ball was nearly the size of the ship. It disappeared, changed directions to head towards the next target, which was an Order space station, then the black ball appeared again and slammed into the station at the same speed of a missile.


    ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Simone said over the inter-ship communications network we had.


    ¡°It''s not perfect.¡± I said as the black ball flickered and then disappeared with everything that was inside of it. ¡°I haven''t quite figured out how to properly balance the overload of consumed materials and transfer it into the barrier''s expansion. It''s the energy to material conversion that''s messing my calculations up, I think.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Gleas said. ¡°This is...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and fired another one to finish off the space station. ¡°The good thing is, if it can survive the initial impact and not overload the regulator, it''ll keep going.¡±


    We all watched as the next shot eliminated the rest of the space station and then it disappeared.


    ¡°Where is it?¡± Jelly asked.


    ¡°It''s waiting for another target.¡± I said and let Hela''s computer finish searching for The Order members in the system. ¡°It looks like there''s just the temple on the surface of the planet that we can use the missiles for, so its job is done.¡± I said and recalled the device.


    ¡°I can''t believe they can come back after you shoot them.¡± Deborah said.


    ¡°Only with the same caveat that it''s not overloaded by eating too many physical things.¡± I said. ¡°This is a pretty lightly defended system, so when you enter a heavily defended Order one, don''t just shoot one shot, all right? We need to wipe them all out as quickly as possible.¡±


    ¡°We know.¡± Simone said. ¡°Hailey said to make them pay for what they did.¡±


    ¡°We''re all going to honor her wishes.¡± Jelly said. ¡°Everyone, let''s go.¡±


    I shot two missiles at the temple on the surface of the planet, wiped it from existence, then our six ships turned around and flew at our best speed to separate Lagrange points and entered hyperspace.


    Our campaign of the systematic eradication of The Order had begun.


    *


    Two months later, The Order''s home planet appeared to be calm and didn''t show any outward signs of distress or that anything was wrong. If you looked inside the main council building however, it was a different story.


    ¡°Are you getting a copy of these reports?¡± One of the council members asked. ¡°Entire outposts and their defending ships are being destroyed! Even the temples!¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what to tell you.¡± The head of the council said. ¡°A mysterious ship shows up in each system, broadcasts a ridiculous message about us condoning their actions, then they erase all traces of The Order from the surrounding space.¡± The female alien with antlers said. ¡°If it wasn''t for the government contacts we have in those systems to send us the relay, I doubt we would be getting the reports we are.¡±


    ¡°We need to do something about this!¡± One of the others said.


    ¡°What do you suggest we do?¡± The head of the council asked.


    ¡°Assemble a fleet! Lay in wait for this mystery ship and then destroy it!¡±


    ¡°That would be wonderful if it would work.¡± One of the others said. ¡°What if we assemble a task force at one system and they hit the next one and skip what would be a heavily defended one?¡±


    ¡°We can''t just sit here and let this happen.¡± Another said.


    ¡°I have a suggestion.¡± A disembodied voice said.


    Everyone in the room looked around with both their eyes and with Presence. Their shield barrier was back in place and they didn''t see anyone.


    ¡°Having trouble finding me?¡± The voice said. ¡°I suggest looking up.¡±


    They all looked up just in time for a modified missile to explode just above the building and the blast that absorbed everything stopped about midway down the walls of the council chamber.


    ¡°Hello.¡± A green hooded cloaked figure said as they floated down to land in the middle of the room. They wore a black bodysuit and had ten Light swords on their belt. ¡°I''m here for Lashina.¡±


    ¡°You have no right to-URK!¡± The voice cut off as a Presence blade cut their throat.


    ¡°I wasn''t asking permission.¡± The figure said. ¡°For some reason, I can''t feel her very well around here. She wasn''t in her office or her living quarters, so I thought you idiots had her here under some kind of barrier.¡± A hand flashed out and the shield disappeared as the emitter was dissolved. ¡°Tell me where she is.¡±


    ¡°You''re him.¡± One of the guards at one side of the room said. ¡°The Hunter.¡±


    The figure turned to the guard and gave him a little bow, then a dozen laser bolts bounced off of the figure''s personal shield. ¡°That''s not nice.¡± Another hand waved and the guards that had shot at him from the other side of the room had their legs cut off instantly. ¡°Don''t make me angry.¡±


    ¡°She''s in the East Forest Gla-¡± The head of the council''s word ended as her head imploded and her body slumped to the table.


    ¡°Any other lies?¡± The figure asked. ¡°No? Good. Where is she?¡±


    ¡°She is with The Wise One.¡± One of them said.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The figure said and walked towards the chamber door. Before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a dozen modified focusing crystals appeared on the table and exploded. The doors disappeared as they dissolved and the figure walked on and killed everyone between him and his destination, no matter who they were.

 Book Three: The Resolution 139

    As I walked through the building towards The Wise One''s private space, where I couldn''t quite feel him, I knew that was why Lashina was so hard to detect. She was in a wellspring of Presence that was similar to the East Forest Glade. I couldn''t tell if it was always there and the building was built around it or if it was created inside the building after it was built. Either way, it was there and I went there.


    I killed everyone I met. Some tried to attack me, like antibodies trying to fight off a virus, and I crushed them and dissolved them into nothing. Others thought about running and I caught them. When I approached, I asked them if they loved their goddess. Most of them said yes and I killed them instantly. Others said that they just worked there and I killed them because they lied. When I stepped into The Wise One''s outer office, the same secretary was there.


    ¡°Please, Hunter. Don''t do this.¡± She said.


    I walked over to her as I pulled my hood down and then I took her hand. ¡°The Order killed my wife, a woman that was every bit a part of me as my heart. When she died, I wanted to die with her.¡±


    The secretary started crying because she felt some of my pain.


    ¡°Shh. It''s okay.¡± I said and wiped at her face. ¡°Do you love the goddess?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± She said and I felt her devotion.


    ¡°Then go to her. She''s waiting for you.¡± I said and put her to sleep, then I crushed her into a little ball and made it dissolve. I walked by the desk and passed the office and went down the hallway. I came out into the heavily overgrown inner sanctum of The Wise One.


    ¡°There''s still good in you.¡± The Wise One''s voice said through the foliage. ¡°Kind words to someone before you kill them is not the normal behaviour of someone who has done so much evil.¡±


    I chuckled as I stepped into the foliage and it parted for me. ¡°That''s your viewpoint.¡± I said and I felt invigorated by the space. I didn''t try to absorb it, though. That way was folly. I proved that a second later when something tried to slash at me through the thick underbrush and darted away. The slash had tried to manipulate the Presence that was inside the sanctum and it would have hurt me pretty badly, if I had absorbed any of the energy and let myself get torn up.


    ¡°I''m not that stupid, old bug.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve learned a lot during my long years of life.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and it was all thanks to me.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°You should be grateful.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± I barked a laugh. ¡°You want me to be grateful?¡± I asked and sent out a pulse of Presence. Unlike anyone else, it didn''t push the other Presence away and went through it. ¡°You kidnapped me and held me prisoner for years and set me on a path of death and destruction.¡±


    Three people were inside the inner sanctum with me; but, I couldn''t tell who they were or where.


    ¡°I''ve found glimmers of hope that I could live a normal life over the years. They all seemed to fade away eventually, until the last one. Someone who I found that wanted to be there for me. She wanted to become who I needed. Not for herself, for me, and she did.¡± I said. ¡°She showed me what it would be like to have eternal happiness... and then she was taken away by the alien that YOU LET STAY FREE!¡±


    ¡°You give me too much credit.¡± The Wise One said and something else tried to attack me.


    I blocked it with a Presence Wall and it bounced away. ¡°You claimed to be cleaning up The Order from the inside out and yet you didn''t pursue Kralish for five years? Are you fucking stupid? Do you know how much he''s influenced people in The Order in all that time?¡±


    The Wise One didn''t respond.


    ¡°Yes, I can feel that you do know... and I can also feel that you did it on purpose.¡± I said as my anger rose. I looked down at the ground, and it was actual ground connected to the planet. ¡°Come out now, or you will see some of what I can do.¡±


    ¡°I know what you can do and it''s not enough.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°We''ll see.¡± I said and took out a device, placed it on the ground, and turned it on.


    ¡°ARRRRGGHHHHHH!¡± A woman''s voice screamed as the inner sanctum was surrounded by a pitch black barrier. The pervasive Presence inside the area was cut off and I easily detected three people.


    I walked through the foliage to the spot and found Lashina unconscious on the ground in a large group of vines that looked like they had her restrained. Beside her was the eleven foot tall Wise One with the giant fly head and he cradled a severely hurt being in his forelegs. A dryad.


    ¡°I knew it.¡± I said and both the dryad and The Wise One looked at me.


    ¡°How?¡± The dryad asked.


    ¡°One of your kind tried to keep me once.¡± I said. ¡°When I was in her private space, it almost felt the same as this.¡±


    ¡°I apologize... on her behalf.¡± The dryad said. ¡°Please... let me... connect...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said with finality.


    The Wise One turned his large segmented eyes to me and I could feel the stirrings of anger in him.


    ¡°I have to kill you for keeping Lashina from me.¡± I said and used Presence to lift Lashina up and hung her on my back like a backpack.


    ¡°Such... strong devotion.¡± The dryad said and looked at The Wise One. ¡°If you had shown me a fraction of that, I could have...¡±


    ¡°He can''t. It''s against The Order''s rules.¡± I said. ¡°It''s the main point my parents defied The Order for.¡±


    The dryad looked at me with a sad face.


    ¡°Yes, I could feed you forever.¡± I said.


    She let out a soft laugh. ¡°He isn''t boasting.¡± She said and sighed as her life energy slowly left her. ¡°He could... have...¡±


    ¡°Don''t go.¡± The Wise One said and stood with her in his arms. ¡°You have been my friend for years.¡±


    ¡°You mean her jailer.¡± I said and they both looked at me. ¡°You put her in a tiny little living space and contained her like this, when she should be outside and enjoying the flow of life. I''m sure the glade would have welcomed you back.¡±


    ¡°How do you...¡± She closed her eyes. ¡°...I see. Yes, you know why the glade... has so much Presence.¡± She let out another sigh. ¡°Please... don''t kill them. They care not for... the affairs of... of...¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    The Wise One stood there and the dryad stopped breathing, then she started to wilt. Her body turned brown and folded in on itself, then it crumbled like a pile of dry leaves and fell to the ground.


    ¡°She shouldn''t have died so quickly.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°The barrier is touching her connection to the ground that she kept trying to reestablish.¡± I said. ¡°It sucked her dry.¡±


    ¡°Why did you do this?¡± The Wise One asked.


    ¡°Why did you take Lashina prisoner when you knew I was coming here?¡± I asked and he sighed.


    ¡°A bargaining chip.¡± The Wise One said. ¡°Leverage to distract you.¡±


    ¡°Did it work?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes. You came right for me and left the others alone.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°By others, did you mean the rest of the compound or the rest of the planet?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Both.¡±


    ¡°Then no, it didn''t work.¡± I said. ¡°By the way, can you fly?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I''m just curious. You being a giant fly and all. I was just wondering if you had wings, too.¡± I said and turned off the device and picked it up with Presence as the barrier disappeared. The large piece of earth underneath me dropped away and The Wise One''s segmented eyes stared at me as he floated slightly above the surface as it dropped the two miles to crash into the communications building. The dust cloud it kicked up was phenomenal.


    ¡°It''s too bad that didn''t kill you.¡± I said and flew over to where Monna hovered nearby. I put Lashina inside and touched her head with Presence to make sure she was only unconscious and not brain scrambled or anything. I closed the hatch and looked down at the rubble, then I flew down to land in the middle of it. I used Presence to push the dust away and The Wise One still floated a foot off of the ground.


    ¡°Do you know how many innocent people you just killed?¡± The Wise One asked.


    ¡°Do you know how many innocent people you''ve had The Order kill all these years?¡± I countered.


    ¡°There will always be casualties when there''s conflict.¡± The Wise One said and drew all four of his Light swords and activated them.


    ¡°Only because you refuse to just talk to people and see what they want, rather than imposing The Order on them all.¡± I said. ¡°My wife was right. Good and bad? There''s no such thing in The Order.¡±


    ¡°You really think that you can fight against me.¡± The Wise One said, surprised. ¡°I have the Presence of an entire planet at my beck and call.¡±


    ¡°I hope you don''t mean this one.¡± I said and drew two of my own Light swords. ¡°It''s not going to be here for much longer.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°This is The Order''s home planet and I''m going to destroy it.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I''m the one that''s been distracting you, you stupid bug.¡±


    The Wise One ducked slightly and started to meditate, so I lunged at him and swung both Light swords at him. He blocked them with two of his own and tried to swipe at me with his other two. They bounced off of my personal shield and he stared at the impacts.


    ¡°Surprise.¡± I said and flipped over and kicked him in the chest as hard as I could.


    The Wise One let out a satisfying grunt of pain and I felt his carapace crack. If he hadn''t been holding himself still with Presence, it couldn''t have hit him so hard. As if he realized this, he stopped hovering and dropped to the ground.


    ¡°Catch.¡± I said and tossed one of my modified crystals with a circuit board at him. He batted it away with Presence before it exploded and then he concentrated on me. I felt the weight of a planet land on my shoulders and dropped to the ground on my hands and knees.


    ¡°You can''t be that easy to subdue.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°I''m not.¡± I said and used Levitation on myself, which countered my weight, and I stood up. ¡°Want me to show you some of the things I brought back from my trip to Relique?¡± I asked and took out a small wooden placard. ¡°Dragon''s Breath!¡± I said dramatically as I used Presence to activate the spell. The words weren''t necessary, though. I just thought it sounded good.


    ¡°AAHHHHHH!¡± The Wise One was engulfed in a ten foot wide and thirty foot long Breath of Flame spell. His robes burned away and a lot of the thick little hairs on his body wilted and cracked off from the heat. He used Presence to divert the flames and used Presence Heal on himself.


    I tossed the placard up into the air and held it on him with Presence and then formed a huge Lightning bolt around my arm. I shot it at him and two of his Light swords crossed and took the shot... then both Light swords overloaded and exploded. It covered him in shrapnel and not surprisingly, most of it bounced off. Only larger chunks stuck into the folds of his limbs and shoulder joints. He used Presence to pull them out and used Presence Heal again. His thick hairs didn''t grow back, though.


    ¡°Why are you so desperate to destroy an organization that''s helped so many people?¡± The Wise One asked and held two forelimbs out to me and the claws twitched.


    I felt the Presence build and had to wait to see what he was going to do before I could counter it. ¡°The only people you''ve really helped are yourselves.¡±


    A swirling mass of Presence appeared in front of The Wise One and he coughed a laugh, because the fire spell was still going and wasn''t hitting him.


    ¡°You cannot counter this.¡± The Wise One shook his giant fly head and pushed the ball of energy toward me at the speed of light, then he was shocked when it didn''t reach me and disappeared.


    ¡°Sorry, were you saying something?¡± I asked and took out another wooden placard and powered it up. ¡°Are you thirsty? I hope you''re thirsty.¡±


    I didn''t say the spell''s name this time as a torrent of water spewed out and flew across the distance to hit him in the face. He gurgled and sputtered, then screamed as the water was boiled because of the excessive heat from the fire spell. Both spells were focused on him and combined to create steam. Unfortunately, they wouldn''t last very long and I stopped the water spell when the fire spell''s wooden placard cracked and broke apart to end the spell.


    The Wise One had been essentially broiled and he shook and shivered. ¡°You are trying my patience.¡±


    ¡°Are you telling me that you''re still holding back?¡± I asked and took out another placard. ¡°I''m sorry to say that I lost most of the large wooden placards that I used to have when my wife died.¡± I filled it with Presence and tossed it at his feet. ¡°All I have are low level effects.¡±


    A burst of ice came out of it and engulfed The Wise One''s torso. It left his arms and legs outside of it and he used Presence to chip and crack at the ice, then he used a large amount to crush it like he tried to crush me earlier. The ice shattered and he looked at me with disbelief. I couldn''t see it on his face, since it was the face of a giant fly and there wasn''t any real emotional conveyance there. I felt it in his emotions and caught the stray thoughts.


    I took out an assault laser rifle and shot at him, and he easily deflected the shots. I changed the settings and made the shots invisible, and he couldn''t deflected them. He could still feel them and avoided them as much as an eleven foot tall fly could. I saw that he didn''t have wings on his back, not even stubs for wings, and that just made me sad. He had all the drawbacks of looking like a giant fly and none of the advantages.


    I felt someone enter my detection range and sighed.


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Kara yelled as she ran over to the battlefield. ¡°What are you doing?!?¡±


    ¡°I''m here to squash this bug.¡± I said.


    ¡°He holds me responsible for everything bad that''s happened to him.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°Not everything.¡± I said. ¡°Some of it was divine intervention, which according to you, is also responsible for your actions.¡±


    ¡°The Goddess Chaiya guides her children towards the Light.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°No, towards her and for her own use... and yours, and everyone else who attained high ranks in The Order.¡± I said. ¡°You''ve been instrumental in spreading The Order to all the places its gone, even to places that didn''t want it, and that''s not going to happen anymore.¡±


    ¡°You can''t stop the Goddess'' plans by killing me.¡± The Wise One said.


    ¡°It doesn''t hurt to try.¡± I said and gathered Presence to myself. Or tried to. It didn''t respond to me.


    ¡°Just noticing now?¡± The Wise One said. ¡°I told you. I have this planet''s Presence at my command.¡±


    Kara and I felt it gather behind The Wise One.


    ¡°I believe it''s you that will be squashed like a bug.¡± The Wise One said and slammed the massive Presence down onto me. It felt like every bone in my body shattered as I felt the planet hit me. It was... amazing.


    ¡°Mwahahaha!¡± I laughed maniacally as I let my anger take over and my body healed instantly. ¡°That was wonderful!¡± I stood up with a huge grin on my face. ¡°Do it again! I want to feel the planet hit me again!¡±


    Both Kara and The Wise One were unnerved by my behavior. The Wise One hesitated for only a moment, then he gathered another amount of Presence behind him. At the very instant he unleashed it at me, I was across the distance between us and shoved my two Light swords through his chest where his lungs were. The Wise One tried to throw up something on me, so I left my Light swords there and moved around behind him. I shoved another Light sword into his back and out through his belly, then did it to one of his legs.


    I climbed his back when he dropped to one knee and grabbed onto his neck. ¡°Good god, you''re just as disgusting to look at from behind as you are from the front.¡±


    ¡°Hunter! You can''t kill him! He''s immortal!¡± Kara said.


    The Wise One hissed at her for giving away his secret.


    ¡°Immortality is overrated.¡± I said and shoved a Light sword into the back of his head and into his brain.

 Book Three: The Resolution 140

    I felt The Wise One''s Presence surge, or his borrowed Presence, and the handle of the Light sword in his leg was crushed. It sputtered and turned off, then the one through his back was crushed.


    ¡°Hey, you''re crushing my stolen property.¡± I said and used Presence to pull the two Light swords out of his chest and jammed them into his legs.


    The Wise One gurgled in pain and dropped to both knees and his two extra arms tried to grab the hilts. I pulled the Light swords out again and stabbed his arms with them. He gurgled again and I chuckled.


    ¡°Are you having a hard time talking with a Light sword in your brain?¡± I asked and moved the tip from side to side. His arms twitched and I pushed a little too hard and the end of the Light sword popped out through one of his segmented eyes. ¡°Oops.¡± I said and pulled it back. ¡°I went a bit too far with that thrust.¡±


    ¡°Hunter! Stop it!¡± Kara said. ¡°You''re just going to make him angry!¡±


    ¡°He has no idea what real anger is!¡± I said and used Presence as I pulled the two Light swords out of his arms and shoved them into his eyes and down into his shoulders, which pinned his head in place. ¡°My wife sends her regards, asshole.¡± I said and pulled out the Light sword I had shoved into the back of his head and shoved a focusing crystal with a circuit board into the hole. I quickly used Presence Heal on him, to his surprise, then I jumped away.


    The Wise One reached up and pulled the Light swords out of his eyes and turned to look at me... then the focusing crystal exploded. It was only a low quality one, so it only expanded to ten feet. Since he was over eleven feet tall, all that was left of him was his feet.


    ¡°That was easier than I thought it was going to... ah, dammit.¡± I said, because I could still feel The Wise One''s Presence. The planet''s Presence poured into his and I saw him start to rebuild himself. What I had thought was him using Presence Heal, was actually some kind of restoration ability.


    ¡°Hunter, I told you that he was immortal.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°What are you still doing here?¡± I asked, since I couldn''t think of any way to stop The Wise One from putting himself back together. ¡°Better yet, why didn''t you leave with Lashina after you delivered my message?¡±


    Kara pointed to The Wise One''s coalescing torso. ¡°We weren''t allowed to send out messages to warn anyone, let alone allowed to leave.¡± She said and glared at me. ¡°Why are you just standing there and letting him regenerate?¡±


    ¡°He''s not regenerating. I destroyed his body and not his Presence. I''m trying to figure out how to get rid of... oh, I am a stupid son of a bitch!¡± I said and tossed two more modified focusing crystals at the spot The Wise One stood and they reduced the torso to just a piece of floating spine. ¡°I''ll be right back!¡±


    Kara jumped at me and grabbed onto my cloak as I shot up into the sky like a rocket. ¡°HUNTEEEEER!¡± She screamed and used Presence to make sure she couldn''t let go. I stopped at Monna and the hatch opened for us. I tossed Kara inside with Lashina, bound her with Presence and put her to sleep, then I took Monna''s controls and flew her out of the planet''s atmosphere as quickly as possible.


    ¡°Hela! Single special missile on each target!¡± I said on my wrist communicator. ¡°Noma, fire!¡±


    Ten missiles streaked past the cargo shuttle and the turbulence made Monna moan in pleasure as we passed through it. I put Monna into Hela''s shuttle bay, picked up Lashina and Kara and took them into the ship, dropped them off in a spare room, then put Hela into autonomous mode.


    ¡°Noma...¡±


    ¡°I''m ready.¡± Noma said and took my hand. I kissed her and we ran back to the shuttle instantly and launched, then we made a hot orbital insertion. Monna really enjoyed that, because we were going right down to the planet''s surface this time at full speed. We stopped just before we hit the ground and she landed for only a second. I put her into autonomous mode, then Noma and I jumped out of the shuttle and it took off again.


    We saw that the surrounding landscape was nearly completely obliterated. Ten large and empty craters were spread out around us, and The Wise One was in the center one. He was a torso, a giant fly head, and had four limbs almost completely regrown. In moments he would have his lower body and legs back.


    ¡°I''ll be the buffer!¡± I said and we ran over instantly.


    The Wise One sensed something was wrong and tried to stop the reconstitution process before it was finished. Just as he managed to cut it off and left himself as only half of a body, I touched the spot between his large segmented eyes with my palm and Noma kissed me. With direct skin contact, I used Hailey''s dissolution ability on his extremities to distract him, then Noma used her ability through me. I became a conduit through which she started to suck in The Wise One''s Presence.


    ¡°No! Noooooooo!¡± The Wise One exclaimed as both his body and his Presence was eaten away. ¡°My Goddess! Please! Help your loyal servant!¡±


    I laughed into Noma''s mouth and she laughed into mine. We both knew that The Wise One might be one of her most powerful followers; but, he was only one follower. She had hundreds of billions of followers. What was one lost voice among the masses of others that was constantly calling to her?


    The Wise One tried to manipulate Noma into trying to take the planetary Presence instead of his and she laughed again. She knew the difference between the two and his trickery wasn''t going to work. I added a touch of my own Presence to her meal and she sucked it in even faster. As she did, I dissolved more and more of The Wise One.


    ¡°No... you cannot... I won''t... go...¡± The Wise One said and tried to use the link between his Presence and the planet to stop Noma from consuming him. He might have had more Presence than I did; but, Noma didn''t gain anything like pleasure from consuming it and there was no danger of her being knocked out from it. She took it and that was it. It meant nothing to her, except that she was doing it for me, and The Wise One''s feeble attempt to escape her meant less than nothing.


    I had been tempted to crush his body to distract him and realized if I did that, he would be back to being only Presence... and that would only make it harder to get rid of him. So, I left his physical body mostly intact, which meant his Presence had to stay in it, and helped Noma work her magic as she ate him... and she ate him all up.


    The massive planetary Presence he had gathered together dissipated and sunk back into the planet, now that he wasn''t around to hold it. I dissolved the rest of his body up to the neck and left the head, then covered it in a thin layer of see-through Presence. I made it solid and stuffed the head into a bag of holding. I had kind of a weird and twisted idea and I hoped that it would work.


    Noma and I climbed aboard Monna when she landed and I flew us into the East Forest Glade and landed in my favorite spot beside the large rock in front of the stream. I stepped out of the shuttle and walked towards the forest.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°I''m destroying this planet.¡± I said and enhanced my voice with Presence so that it would carry all the way through the glade. ¡°I know you don''t concern yourselves with the affairs of aliens, so I am making a one time offer. I will move you to another planet to start over.¡±


    One dryad, then another, then a dozen of them flowed out of the forest to look at me. They were all different shapes and sizes, from ten foot tall women to tiny children, and they all had tendrils into the forest and also into the ground.


    ¡°You killed one of us.¡± One of them said.


    ¡°She held one of my people hostage on the orders of this thing.¡± I said and took the head out. ¡°I had to kill her to make a point.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that you know how to kill us.¡± One of them said as I put the head away.


    ¡°No, that anyone that crosses me is going to die.¡± I said. ¡°If I had thought for one second, or picked it up from her mind that she tried to say no or denied his request, I would have spared her.¡±


    The one who spoke sighed. ¡°She was foolish and left when barely above the growth of a sapling.¡± She said and put a hand on the head of the little girl in front of her. ¡°You shouldn''t blame her for...¡±


    ¡°I didn''t say I blamed her, just that she did wrong and I killed her.¡± I said and looked at their faces. ¡°I know there are a lot more of you in there. Are you the only ones willing to leave?¡±


    ¡°We can only offer you newly birthed saplings, because we can''t leave.¡± She said as several of them floated around the dozen dryads. ¡°We are bound to this forest and this planet. If we try to lift our roots from the soil... well, you saw what happened to our wayward daughter.¡±


    ¡°That''s because she kept trying to escape.¡± I said and they looked at me with surprise on their faces. ¡°There was plenty of dirt and living forest and things inside the inner sanctum for her to live on for months. All she had to do was stay still inside the barrier. She didn''t.¡±


    The planet gave a slight shudder and the dryads all looked down at the ground.


    ¡°Yes, you''re running out of time.¡± I said. ¡°My fight with The Wise One ended a bit before I had intended.¡± I looked at the shuttle and blew Noma a kiss. She waved to me and I looked back at the dryads. ¡°So, I give you a choice. The only choice that''s going to matter to you.¡± I said. ¡°You can stay here and die with the planet or you can take a chance and come with me.¡±


    ¡°I think...¡± She started to say as the ground shook slightly again. ¡°...it would be in our best interest...¡± A dozen more dryads, then another two dozen, then another four dozen came into the clearing. ¡°...to take your offer.¡±


    ¡°You have to promise to leave us alone when we get to where we''re going!¡± The little girl in front said.


    ¡°I''ve left you alone for all the years I''ve been coming here.¡± I said and knelt to hold a hand out to her to shake. ¡°I promise to keep doing so.¡±


    The little girl took my hand and shook it.


    ¡°Everyone, gather around.¡± The ''mother'' dryad said loudly.


    ¡°That''s not necessary.¡± I said and let the little girl''s hand go, then put both of my hands on the ground.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± She asked, curious.


    ¡°I''ve gotten surprisingly good at digging with Presence.¡± I said.


    Ten Presence Hands, each one a hundred feet across, appeared around us. The dryads stared at the glowing blue hands, then they gasped as all ten hands moved out to five hundred feet in an instant and shot down into the ground. They carved out a thousand foot wide circle around us, which was mostly forest, and I took out a device that was surprisingly similar to the black barrier one.


    ¡°This is the best part, even though I didn''t imagine I''d be taking soil bound dryads along with this thing.¡± I said and put the device down, then pushed the button. A Presence Shield appeared around us and held everything in place, so I absorbed the ten Presence Hands I had made and stood. ¡°All right, Noma. Take us up.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe this worked!¡± Noma said happily and Monna lifted off, dropped the end of a tow cable down to me that I hooked to the device, then she flew straight up and out through the shield until the cable was taut. ¡°Hold on!¡±


    The dryads held onto each other, the trees, and a few sat down on the ground. They were all completely stunned when the whole section of forest and earth floated up into the air as if it weighed nothing.


    ¡°How... how did you do this?¡± The ''mother'' dryad asked.


    ¡°It was simple, really. Once I knew how one thing worked, it was easily adaptable to work with other things.¡± I said. ¡°The components are surprisingly common and it''s just the configurations and programming that''s a pain in the ass to figure out.¡±


    A few of the children laughed at me.


    ¡°Are you laughing at my pain or my butt?¡± I asked and turned around and slapped myself. ¡°OW!¡±


    They all burst out laughing, even the teenagers.


    I smiled at them and then realized where we were. ¡°Hey, would you look at that.¡± I said and they all turned to look at me. ¡°No, don''t look at me. Look up.¡± I said and they all did, even the adults.


    We passed through the upper atmosphere and they all saw the stars without the benefit of a thick atmosphere to protect them. Some felt instant terror at being away from a planet, some felt awe for the same reason, and the rest accepted it for what it was. Transport and a chance to live.


    Once we had joined Hela back up in high orbit, Noma landed Monna beside me and the dryads.


    ¡°You got out of there just in time.¡± Hela said over my wrist communicator.


    ¡°Do you want to wake Kara and Lashina up for this?¡± Noma asked me.


    ¡°It''s not worth the hassle.¡± I said and put my arm around her shoulders as she took out a datapad. ¡°We can show her the footage later.¡±


    Noma nodded and checked the progress of the barrier digging machine. ¡°Hela''s right. It''s just about to reach the core of the planet.¡±


    ¡°Oh, this should be good.¡± I said and looked at both the datapad and out through the Presence Shield at the planet below us.


    ¡°What will happen?¡± One of the teenagers asked.


    ¡°I kind of went a little crazy when the weapon worked so well the first time.¡± I said. ¡°I needed to make an example of The Order''s home world, so I... ah...¡±


    ¡°It''s happening!¡± Noma said and looked at the planet with her own eyes.


    ¡°Everything has Presence in it.¡± I said as the planet in front of us shuddered. ¡°The black barrier absorbes energy and converts it into power to strengthen the barrier. If you maintain the same size, you need to constantly adjust the power to material ratio, because the barrier can''t handle too much or it''ll short circuit and implode.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± The ''mother'' dryad said. ¡°But, that would mean...¡±


    ¡°It would take weeks for a barrier to try and absorb enough to damage a planet.¡± I said. ¡°However... what if you had... say, twelve barriers that worked in a series and each fed on the residual overage energy of the previous one?¡± I asked. ¡°What if instead of strengthening all of the barriers, you only let them expand instead?¡±


    All of the dryads stopped breathing as they saw six black spheres expand past the crust of the planet and consume the entire side of the planet that they could see.


    ¡°Ah, now that''s a thing of beauty.¡± I said and the black spheres disappeared. ¡°Noma, did any survive?¡±


    ¡°The last three on the other side.¡± Noma said. ¡°Ooo! Look at the data they''re sending us about their operation!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Pop them when you get it all.¡±


    ¡°Already done.¡± Noma said with a smile and sent the command.


    ¡°We are in... space...¡± One of the dryads said with a shudder. ¡°...and no planet is around for us to live on.¡± She said, her voice sad. ¡°What do we do now?¡±


    ¡°We leave of course.¡± I said with a smile.


    It didn''t take me long to fly Monna around and gathered the wrecked ship components that I needed to repair one of the troop transports that had been in orbit. Our shots with the black barrier weapons were so precise now that we could target individual systems onboard enemy ships. The troop transport lost its primary and secondary reactors in only seconds. With no power to do anything, everyone died.


    This had been The Order''s home planet and it was heavily defended with ships and mobile platforms. None of them had stood a chance against us. Missiles and black barrier devices had been unloaded almost as one and we blanketed the system to wipe them all out in a single volley.


    Taking one of the other wrecked ships and replacing the missing reactors on the troop transport was almost child''s play in comparison to all of the upgrades and things that I had done to my warships. I opened the large shuttle bay doors and pulled out all of the shuttles, gutted the inside of the ship''s main cargo area, then easily slid in the huge Presence Shield with the land mass and the dryads inside.


    With that done, Noma docked Hela to the main hatch of the troop transport and came over with us. She carried both Kara and Lashina with her and I checked them both. They were fine and were still unconscious, so I used a bit more Presence to keep them that way. If there was one thing that I didn''t want, was either of them waking up, becoming irate, and wrecking everything.


    With everyone aboard and safely secured, I used the intergalactic system map and set our destination for the closest inhabitable system that had anything close to a lush green forest environment.

 Book Three: The Resolution 141

    My estimate of easily finding a suitable lush forest for the dryads was... overly optimistic. As we stopped at certain systems and wiped out The Order members there, we would fly close to the planet and the ''mother'' dryad would shake her head.


    This seems familiar. I thought after we left the tenth system. That seedling I had taken and eventually planted on Earth had been just as picky for a new home. I chuckled. ¡°We have to return home to reload our missiles and devices anyway.¡± I said. The dryads weren''t very happy about delaying the search; but, they didn''t have much say in where we flew the ship. They also couldn''t argue that I wasn''t trying my best to help them.


    The trip took a little bit longer for us, mainly because we were using the troop transport''s hyperspace generator. I had updated it as much as possible and loaded the same information into the navigation computer, after checking it for previous destinations and future targets of course.


    We jumped into the Dizahl System and when I went to check on our passengers, I saw that some of the more lethargic dryads had perked up. I was pretty sure that they could feel that a planet was nearby. There were three in the system and only one of them was inhabitable, the second one, and it was owned by the Bogorim Corporation.


    The first planet had a kind of acidic atmosphere and even though it was very close to breathable, they couldn''t capitalize on it. The company had tried to drop atmospheric converters on it several times and the acid in the air dissolved the equipment within a week. Self-contained habitats met the same fate even quicker, as did any ship that stayed too long. The visual records of the hull opening up and the scientists getting a face full of acidic air was not something anyone was going to forget for a while.


    The third planet was almost the complete opposite. It was twice as large as the second planet and it had all the building blocks to produce a viable planet. It just didn''t coalesce together to do anything. It was almost as if something had stopped it from happening or as if it had missed a crucial step in the creation of a perfect world. The worst part about it was that there was no atmosphere to speak of.


    It had a manageable gravity of two points lower than standard and that slightly less gravity had let whatever air that was made expand much too far for anything to be breathable. There wasn''t even enough of it to diffuse the light when you were on the surface. The company had tried to settle it and they had essentially landed a space habitat. The problem was, they had the benefits of self-containment and the drawbacks of being inside a planetary gravity well.


    They couldn''t make farms to grow food, so it all had to be shipped in. No ships could land and they only used shuttles to get back to orbit. They still had to worry about space suits and decompression constantly, and that wasn''t what life on a planet was supposed to be like. So, they abandoned that attempt as well.


    While I was going through all of that in my mind, a vine twirled around my wrist and then a woman''s hand grabbed onto mine. I turned to look at the ''mother'' dryad and I both felt and heard her desire.


    ¡°The Hunter.¡± She said, her voice was verbal and it echoed in my mind. ¡°You have found us a perfect home.¡± She said and leaned close and kissed me.


    I was surprised by this, since the dryads hadn''t shown any interest towards me, except as a curiosity. Her vines wrapped around my legs and my arms as she pressed herself against the front of my body, then she really started to get into the kiss as she felt my body react. I broke the kiss and leaned my head back a little.


    ¡°Not that I don''t appreciate what you''re doing...¡± I said and she smiled at me. ¡°...but, why are you doing this?¡±


    ¡°You kept your word.¡± She said. ¡°We all had begun to think that you were just leading us around...¡±


    I felt her pluck something from my mind and she smiled.


    ¡°...on a wild goose chase. We thought you might be tricking us and would try to keep us.¡± She said.


    ¡°Keeping you might have happened if I couldn''t find a place for you.¡± I admitted and I let her see all the places I had travelled to find a proper home to plant the sapling. ¡°I didn''t start out that way, since I had no idea I would be taking you with me.¡±


    ¡°Then let me thank you as you give me the feeding you want me to have.¡± The dryad said and her vines let me go as she took a step back from me. Her body shuddered for a second as she grew very thick and became a statue, then there was the sound of bark breaking.


    ¡°Ooo! I can''t wait until I''m old enough to do that myself!¡± One of the teenagers exclaimed.


    I watched in quiet fascination as the ''mother'' dryad essentially broke out of her body''s engorged shell and protective armor. She was like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon as she crawled out of her discarded body and a bright and almost glowing lithe form stepped out.


    ¡°Good lord.¡± I whispered, because she looked completely human, except for the long green colored hair and her skin was a milky white all over. ¡°I can honestly say that I''ve never seen that before.¡±


    ¡°It is one of our deepest secrets.¡± The ''mother'' dryad said.


    If I had tried to guess her age before, I would have said she was about forty years old, even with the vines and things around her. Now, she looked to be about twenty five and in the prime of her life. Her previously slightly sagging breasts were now firm and perky, her drooping ass was now lifted up and looked firm as well, and between her legs... well... the little tuft of green hair there was almost in the shape of an arrow that pointed down to her opening.


    ¡°Yes, you may touch me.¡± The dryad said and my hand twitched to do so. ¡°I can hear your thoughts so clearly, now that you are not blocking your desire.¡±


    I looked up at her face. ¡°Your powers of attraction are quite alluring.¡±


    She laughed a womanly laugh and took my hand as a bed of soft leaves formed behind her. ¡°You know perfectly well that there is one affair that we concern ourselves with.¡±


    I was only slightly surprised when my black bodysuit sunk into my skin and left me naked. ¡°Hey!¡±


    The dryad laughed again. ¡°Your magic cloth is smart.¡± She said and kissed me. ¡°Give me and my people the power we need to restart our lives here.¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°I do want to do that for you.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then lay with me, The Hunter.¡± She said and laid down on the bed of leaves and slowly rubbed her thighs together. The teasing glimpses she gave me of what she had between her legs was very erotic as she kept her knees together and rolled from side to side. ¡°Show me the life we could have, had you not found this place for us.¡±


    ¡°You''re assuming I would have slept with you?¡± I asked and laid down as she opened her legs and her arms and accepted me.


    ¡°We both know that you would have.¡± She said and then moaned as we joined together. ¡°It was only... a matter of time before... you fell in love with me.¡±


    ¡°You''re full of yourself.¡± I said and started to move and she moaned some more.


    ¡°No, The Hunter.¡± She said between moans. ¡°I am now full of you.¡±


    *


    ¡°This is what we call cultivation.¡± One of the other adults said in their own language that could only be heard by other dryads. ¡°The teasing and enticement gets the male ready for pollination, as you saw by his reaction.¡± She explained. ¡°Most will give you mental images of what they want to see, so don''t worry about trying to figure out what you need to learn to do it, all right?¡±


    The teenagers and the children nodded as they watched their matriarch show them how they would be able to gather their own pollen someday.


    After an hour, the children grew bored and had gone off to play in the woods. The teenagers were surprised that pollination would go on for that long, when they had learned it was usually only a few minutes, especially after a successful teasing. The adults were shocked that the male still hadn''t released his pollen and their matriarch was practically begging him for it.


    *


    ¡°Hunter?¡± Noma asked as she came into the cargo area of the ship. ¡°How long are we going to stay in a parking orbit around the third...¡± She stopped talking when she saw Hunter having some quite enthusiastic sex with a dryad. ¡°...oh.¡± She said and shook her head as she felt him building up more and more Presence to feed the dryad. ¡°I''ll tell the others we''re going to be here for a while.¡±


    Thank you. Hunter said in her mind.


    I''d tell you to hurry up; but, I know you''re trying to make a point. Noma said and smiled. It''s not nice to tempt and tease mystical beings, you know.


    She did it to me first. Hunter thought and showed her what the dryad had done to tease him.


    Noma held in her laugh. Then have fun. She thought and left the cargo area.


    It wasn''t until six hours later that the troop transport ship opened up its cargo area and a large plot of slightly glowing land came out of it. A shuttle lowered it down into the thin atmosphere at a very slow pace. A hole that was exactly the right size was dug out instantly below it and it settled into the space. The shuttle dipped into the protective barrier and landed beside the beings that stood there.


    *


    ¡°I''ll leave the barrier machine, just in case you need it.¡± I said to the ''mother'' dryad. She was back to her full height and her armor and outer body coverings were back and stronger than ever. ¡°I''ll set up an outer barrier, the same that the scaly alien had around his planet, and only people you want to allow in will be able to come in.¡± I put a datapad on the machine and left it there. ¡°You can message me if you need anything. If you decide that you want a full communications suite, I''ll install it for you.¡±


    ¡°Is this your version of leaving us alone?¡± She asked with a huge smile.


    ¡°Leaving you alone and making you feel like you''ve been left alone are two different things.¡± I smiled back. ¡°Just because I''m not here, doesn''t mean you can''t contact me.¡±


    ¡°Do not expect to hear from us for a long time.¡± She said. ¡°This world needs us.¡±


    ¡°Then I''ll leave you to it.¡± I said with a nod to her and walked over to Monna. A vine wrapped around my ankle just as I was about to step onto the shuttle. ¡°If you want me to promise to come whenever you call, I can only guarantee it if I''m in the same system.¡± I said. ¡°Anything past that? It may take months for me to get back here.¡±


    ¡°But, you will come.¡± She said.


    ¡°I give my word.¡± I said and the vine let me go. I stepped into the shuttle and Noma flew us up and out of the barrier, through the thin atmosphere, and back into Hela.


    ¡°What are we going to do with a troop transport?¡± Noma asked.


    ¡°The better question is what we''re going to do with the thirty shuttles welded to the hull.¡± I smiled.


    ¡°Repair and sell them?¡± Noma asked.


    ¡°I was thinking more along the lines of converting the troop transport into a cruise ship for everyone''s families.¡± I said and she gave me a surprised face. ¡°It''ll save me a ton of money on rental fees... eventually.¡±


    Noma laughed and we flew the troop transport over to the space habitat and docked it. Barely. The damn thing was gigantic. My first thought was making it a weapons storage base, then decided against it. Its low speed and poor manoeuvrability was too much of a drawback to be of any use as a weapon loader for our warships. If it had been built with that intention, it wouldn''t have been too much of a problem to convert it. As it was, it was better to make use of its slow speed and massive volume for something more practical.


    I carried an unconscious Kara and Lashina inside the space habitat and found that no one else was back. Only Sheph and Isabella were there, which meant that I had some time to construct even more special missiles and black barrier machines for everyone, including myself. The first thing I had to do was put Kara and Lashina into the security compartment and Isabella was assigned to watch them. After that, I had to do something very important.


    I had to let Monica cook supper for me.


    I hadn''t been back to the station in a while and I knew that she needed me to act more like a son than I had a chance to be so far. I put off calling the Bogorim Corporation and getting back to work, just so I could spend time with Hailey''s mother and let her be a mother to me. I was centuries older than her, and yet, she did make me feel like she was my mother and I felt like her son. She must have felt the connection forming as well, because she had tears in her eyes when she put the food in front of me.


    ¡°Mom.¡± I said and she let out a sob, then she sat on my lap and held onto me and cried. My tears came out to join hers, because we were both happy and sad about it. It was something that we should have been sharing with Hailey and we couldn''t. Despite how things had started out between us, we were just as much family now as if we had been born into it.


    ¡°I can''t... thank you enough... for everything.¡± Monica said between sobs and leaned back to look into my eyes. She saw that my face was as tear streaked as hers and she tried to wipe at mine.


    ¡°I was going to say the same thing.¡± I said Hailey''s ability made both of our tears dissolve and our faces were dry. ¡°If it wasn''t for you...¡±


    Monica shook her head. ¡°It was you that...¡±


    ¡°It was the Presence.¡± Noma said and started to eat. ¡°Some call it fate, or providence, or just dumb luck.¡± She said. ¡°Me? I think it just happens. Most times it''s good and sometimes it''s really bad. You won''t know how it will be until it happens.¡±


    Monica nodded and stood up. ¡°Hunter, go ahead and eat.¡±


    ¡°Join me.¡± I said and she sat down beside me and we ate the meal together. By the time we were done, we were in a better mood about everything. Monica went to clean up, despite my protests, and I went to the security station. It was more than past the time for me to wake up my two new guests.


    ¡°I don''t recommend this.¡± Isabella said from behind me. She had her modified laser pistol ready.


    ¡°Yeah, I really should have done this on a planet; but, I''ve been putting this off for as long as possible.¡±


    ¡°You? Afraid?¡± Isabella gave me a concerned look and I chuckled.


    ¡°I''ll do the easy one first.¡± I said and used Presence to wake Kara up.


    *


    Kara woke up and let out a sigh as she immediately felt where she was. Inside a cell. The last thing she remembered seeing was the inside of a shuttle as she was tossed into it, then nothing until now. She tried to put her hands down to sit up and found prisoner restraints on both her wrists and her ankles.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± Kara asked, angrily.


    ¡°Welcome to the start of your not-kidnapped incarceration.¡± Hunter''s voice said from outside the cell.


    ¡°Excuuuuse me?¡± Kara said exaggeratedly as she glared at me.


    ¡°Oh, don''t mind the current accommodations. Those will change in a couple days when I get a good space set up for you.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Kara said and tried to use Presence... and couldn''t. ¡°What did you do to me?¡±


    ¡°Nothing yet.¡± Hunter chuckled. ¡°Soon? I''ll be giving you the same treatment that The Order gave me when they first kidnapped me.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Kara gasped and looked at Isabella.


    ¡°Yes, she''s going to be your babysitter.¡± Hunter said with a smile. ¡°Welcome to your new home.¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 142

    ¡°Let me out of here NOW!¡± Kara yelled.


    ¡°I''m sorry. I''ve decided that you''re not old enough to make decisions for yourself.¡± I said. ¡°From now on, you''ll be living here under our rules and no misbehaving will be tolerated.¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry. Once it''s decided that you are old enough, then you can choose for yourself.¡± I said. ¡°Will you stay here and be a part of this wonderful organization or will you hate us and everything we stand for?¡±


    Kara glared at me and I smiled at her.


    ¡°Being under someone''s power and authority really sucks, doesn''t it?¡± I asked her and she didn''t respond. ¡°Don''t worry, you''ll grow to love it here with all the restrictions and rules being placed on you that you''ll be forced to live by.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to tell me exactly what I could do with that idea and I covered her mouth with Presence.


    ¡°I wasn''t allowed to speak out against the people in charge and neither are you.¡± I said. ¡°What was the punishment for disobeying orders? Oh, right. You get locked in a room and left alone until your babysitter came to get you.¡±


    If looks could kill, I would have been a puddle on the floor from Kara''s glare.


    ¡°Now be nice and I''ll let you listen to what I''m about to do next.¡± I said and walked out of her sight and stood in front of the next cell.


    ¡°You really shouldn''t do this.¡± Isabella said from in front of Kara''s cell. ¡°I''m pretty sure she''s going to freak out when she wakes up inside of a cell.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea.¡± I said and opened the cell door and stepped inside. I shut it behind me and hit the button to turn on the protective barrier. Even with the restraints on to dampen her abilities, she was going to be like me and will still be able to use Presence. She laid on the bed and looked like she was only asleep, despite being in a Presence induced coma. I walked over to her and knelt by the bed and put my hand on her forehead.


    *


    Lashina felt like she had been squeezed to death. As she rose up to consciousness, she remembered the mass of vines that held her had tensed up for some reason and squeezed her so tightly that she lost consciousness almost immediately. In fact, she still felt them on her wrists and her ankles.


    ¡°No... no, let me go!¡± Lashina exclaimed and started to swing her arms as hard as she could. She still felt the vines on her wrists, so she used Presence to enhance her swings and felt how weak she was. She started to kick as well and kept her eyes closed as she desperately tried to fight off the vines. She knew she couldn''t see while encased in the vines and they somehow blocked her Detect Presence ability.


    ¡°Stop it, you stupid bug! Let me go! Hunter won''t fall for your tricks anymore!¡± Lashina yelled and fought even harder. She felt the impacts on her fists and feet as she hit the vines and made some progress on getting free. She was using up her Presence reserves quicker than normal and she realized that if she didn''t break free now, the dryad could drain her completely.


    ¡°No, I won''t.¡± A familiar man''s voice said and she froze for a second.


    ¡°No! It''s a trick! I won''t fall for it!¡± Lashina gathered up most of her Presence to make one final attempt to escape, then she felt human hands grab her arms. She paused because they weren''t the fly''s claws, then she felt human lips on hers. With the intimate contact that seemed so familiar, the mental barriers she had constructed to protect herself from The Wise One wavered. Her arms were let go and she was picked up and held on a very familiar lap.


    No.... no, it... it can''t be. Lashina thought.


    Yes, it can. Hunter''s crystal clear voice echoed through her mind.


    No! The Wise One has me prisoner! His dryad...


    ...is dead. Hunter thought and kept kissing her.


    Lashina started to believe that it was true and her lips started to move in response. Of course, once that started, her body moved on its own and her arms went around the man of her dreams.


    ¡°Ow.¡± Hunter said as he broke the kiss. ¡°Give me a few more minutes to finish healing.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Lashina opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of a severely beaten man. ¡°HUNTER!¡±


    ¡°Even powered down, you still hit really hard.¡± Hunter said.


    Lashina started crying. ¡°I''m so sorry! I thought... I thought I was fighting my way out of the vines!¡±


    ¡°It''s okay. It was my fault for warning Kara that I was coming to get you as soon as possible.¡± Hunter said. ¡°If I had just shown up unannounced, he might not have tried to take you like that or tried to use you as a bargaining chip.¡±


    ¡°Don''t kid yourself.¡± Lashina said and caressed his healing face. ¡°He knew you were coming before Kara showed up.¡±


    ¡°He did?¡± Hunter asked. ¡°Well, I guess he was The Wise One.¡±


    Lashina smiled for a second, then she caught her breath. ¡°Hunter! We have to get out of here! If he finds us...¡±


    ¡°You missed the part where I said he was The Wise One.¡± Hunter said.


    Lashina gasped. ¡°No! He''s... he''s immortal... you can''t... even without a body, he...¡±


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± Hunter said and took out the head to show her.


    ¡°AHH!¡± Lashina leapt off Hunter''s lap and back onto the bed.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°I said it''s all right.¡± Hunter said and tapped it with a finger. ¡°There''s not trace of Presence or life in this thing.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡± Lashina stared at the huge head. ¡°It''s not possible.¡±


    ¡°Like I told Kara, being immortal is overrated.¡±


    ¡°How? How did you do it?¡± Lashina asked.


    ¡°I''ll skip over all of the other details and just say that I destroyed The Order''s home planet.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Lashina yelled and she heard a muffled yell from nearby.


    ¡°Yeah, it''s completely gone.¡± Hunter said. ¡°I''ll show you the footage later.¡±


    ¡°You recorded it?¡± Lashina asked and didn''t let her personal feelings about it overwhelm her.


    ¡°Of course I did.¡± Hunter said and put the giant fly head away. ¡°It''s a crucial part of my plan.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me about it?¡± Lashina asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Hunter said and stood. ¡°Not until you can tell me... honestly... that you won''t worship your goddess anymore.¡±


    Lashina opened her mouth to say it and she felt a huge pressure in the room and in her heart.


    ¡°You swore to never lie to me, Lashina.¡± Hunter said with a deadly gleam in his eye and all of his injuries were instantly healed as he became angry.


    ¡°I... Hunter, I...¡± Lashina floundered. She felt the pain in her heart where she had made the binding pledge to him and she closed her mouth. ¡°I can''t say it.¡±


    Hunter nodded as he turned off the protective barrier and stepped out of the cell. ¡°Like I told Kara, this is only temporary until I can get proper accommodations set up for you.¡± He closed the cell and turned on the protective barrier again. ¡°I''ll be back with supper.¡±


    ¡°Hunter!¡± Lashina jumped off of the bed and pressed her face to the cell door. ¡°HUNTER!¡±


    ¡°Don''t open the doors until I return.¡± Hunter said to Isabella and then he turned to look at Kara. He absorbed the Presence over her mouth and waited for her outburst.


    ¡°You killed all those people.¡± Kara said.


    Hunter chuckled. ¡°Ha. Don''t be so melodramatic. You only really cared about one person on that mudball.¡±


    Kara closed her mouth and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°If it makes you feel any better about it, your old guardian Enelle died during the fight with The Wise One.¡± Hunter said.


    Kara still didn''t say anything, even though that actually did make her feel better.


    ¡°See you at supper.¡± Hunter said and walked away.


    Both of the prisoners and Isabella watched him leave the security compartment.


    *


    I ordered two more living compartments from the Bogorim Corporation. One would be heavily reinforced for Lashina and her temper tantrums and one that was suitable for a little girl. I smiled as I imagined what Kara was going to do when she saw her new living space and her new wardrobe. She would no longer be allowed to wear her robes or her normal casual clothing.


    I held in my laugh as I ordered the most outrageous girly outfits in her size, all to be delivered as soon as possible, and then I called the Bogorim Corporation. I knew there was no staked claim on the third planet and I had to formally file one with them, since they pretty much owned everything else in the system. They happily accepted my offer and I registered the ownership of the planet on the galactic net.


    The next thing I did was construct all of the satellites that would be needed to make the protective barrier around the planet. It was huge and I incorporated self-sustaining solar powered batteries in them to keep them from having to be powered by anything like a reactor or a power station on the planet. I was sure that the dryads wouldn''t let me go back there so soon to install something like that, so I had to settle for an orbital power plant and external power until the satellites gathered enough energy to maintain their self-sufficiency.


    After that, I began construction of my automated missile factory. Since they had automated factories to create the suicide charges for people''s heads, I knew I could easily adapt the same factory design to make the missile warheads and the modifications to let a focusing crystal be added. I wasn''t surprised at how easy it was, once it was fully assembled and activated. All I needed was more parts.


    The Bogorim Corporation were surprisingly efficient in this regard, because when I placed an identical order to my last one, I was informed that another long haul transport would be arriving within a week with my shipment. I actually laughed at the clerk who was taking my order, then I had to apologize for my strange sense of humor. She agreed to accept my apology if I agreed to go out to dinner with her.


    ¡°You do know that I''m a notorious killer, right?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Of course I do.¡± She said with a wicked smile. ¡°My friends are going to be so jealous that I had a date with The Hunter.¡±


    I laughed again. ¡°I''ll pick you up at your apartment at five and we''ll eat at my favorite restaurant.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful.¡± She said. ¡°I''ll see you then.¡±


    Not surprisingly, we had a great time that night. The food was excellent and served with promptness, the staff was courteous and treated us like royalty, and afterwards we went to her apartment on the second planet. I was barely through the door when she jumped on me and did her best to have sex with me right there. I obliged, of course.


    She was enthusiastic and quite thorough in her efforts and I almost applauded her for it. When she thought she was done and had relaxed, I had to turn the tables on her. I showed her what an experienced Presence user could do and she absolutely loved it. She hadn''t felt anything like it before and her mind and body fully accepted that she wasn''t going to feel anything like that ever again.


    I didn''t dissuade her of that notion, mainly because I doubted that we would ever see each other again, and I went back to the space habitat to sleep for the rest of the night. The next day I continued working and used up pretty much all of the remaining spare parts that I had to make more missiles and black barrier machines. When they were pretty much gone, I had nothing to do except go to the security section and visit with the prisoners.


    ¡°I don''t even want to look at you.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Aw, don''t be like that.¡± I said. ¡°Your new living quarters will be here tomorrow and you won''t be stuck in a cell anymore.¡±


    ¡°I''d rather be here in a cell!¡± Kara said loudly.


    ¡°Then it''s a good thing you''re not in control of what you''ll be doing or where you''re living.¡± I said with a chuckle and walked over to Lashina''s cell. ¡°Hi, there.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Lashina let out a sigh. ¡°You can''t keep people against their will.¡± She said in reference to Kara.


    ¡°Why not? The Order does it all the time.¡± I said.


    ¡°That''s... different.¡± Lashina said and the Presence wavered.


    ¡°Ha.¡± I barked a laugh. ¡°You don''t believe that any more than I do.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, please...¡±


    ¡°Your living quarters will be delivered at the same time and then you''ll start your new lives with The Wave.¡± I said with a dramatic flair and spread my arms. ¡°You''re both going to enjoy it. You''ll forget that you are being held here against your will and that you hate me for what I did.¡±


    Both Kara and Lashina winced as the Presence wavered a lot.


    ¡°Oh, sorry about that. I didn''t realize how big of a lie that was.¡±


    ¡°Which part?¡± Kara asked angrily. ¡°Being held against our will or hating you?¡±


    ¡°I honestly can''t answer that question.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°You can, if you can push aside your prejudice and look at it with a clear mind.¡±


    ¡°I''m clear about it.¡± Kara said and the Presence wavered. ¡°I am!¡± She exclaimed and it wavered again.


    I chuckled. ¡°Uh huh.¡± I said and waved at Lashina. ¡°You''ve got another day of free psychiatrist service from Lashina, without an appointment, so I suggest you put it to good use while you can.¡±


    ¡°I do not need help from her.¡± Kara said and the Presence wavered again.


    ¡°I actually don''t have a lot going on right now; but, I''ll leave you alone anyway.¡± I said and walked over to the door to leave, nodded at Isabella, and left.


    I went up to the main media room and found Monica there. She was watching something and quickly turned it off when she saw me come out of the lift.


    ¡°Mom, it''s okay.¡± I said and walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. ¡°Turn it back on.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°We can be sad together, remember?¡± I said and put my arm around her shoulders.


    Monica nodded and turned the large display screen back on. It showed footage of Hailey as a little girl in the hospital and then suddenly Noma was there beside me. She cuddled into my side and rested her head on the side of my chest. I put my arm around her as well and the three of us sat there in silence. We let silent tears roll down our faces and as they reached our chins, they dissolved away.

 Book Three: The Resolution 143

    The next day, both of the new living compartments arrived and I had them installed on the top floor and the floor below that, since there was only one spot remaining on each level of the habitat for new compartments. Lashina was the one that needed the most work, so I put her on the second level and further away from my own living space. I also added the modifications they would need to survive what was going to be pretty much a battle zone.


    I reasoned that if she saw me every night, Lashina would think that I was trying to be soft on her by treating her better, and she wouldn''t try to break herself out of her mental conditioning as quickly. She was going to have to earn the right to be near me. I knew that sounded pretentious; but, with our promise to each other as motivation, she was the one that was going to have to work to complete it.


    It was just the opposite reasoning for Kara. With me within her sight at night, she would know that I was intentionally being harder on her by keeping a close eye on what she was doing... just like she had with me. She would have to earn the right to be away from me. That made me smile, because I thought it was going to be fun to see her struggle under the same scrutiny that she had me under.


    I went to the security section and retrieved Lashina first. Her reaction to being moved wouldn''t be as... spectacular... as Kara''s was going to be. Isabella greeted me and I went over to Lashina''s cell. She was meditating and floating above the bed.


    ¡°I''m sorry for disturbing you.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± Lashina said and opened her eyes. ¡°My room is ready.¡±


    ¡°If you would come with me, I can get you settled.¡±


    ¡°Your precautions aren''t necessary.¡± Lashina said and landed on the floor and walked over to the door.


    I opened it and she stepped out and held up her wrists. ¡°I can decouple them for you.¡± I said and removed the magnetic restriction. ¡°I can''t remove them.¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Lashina frowned slightly.


    ¡°You know I can''t let you use your full abilities, not on a space station.¡± I said as I knelt and kissed her. She moaned into my mouth and I broke the kiss. ¡°I tried modifying the dampeners in the cuffs to stop all of your abilities and they just short circuit from the overload.¡±


    ¡°Have you tried doubling them?¡± Lashina asked.


    ¡°You can''t wear more than what you have on or they start interfering with each other.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°I''d like for you to try and behave.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I am a grown woman.¡± Lashina said. ¡°You don''t have to treat me like a child.¡±


    I held a hand out to her and she gave me a look, then sighed and took the hand. I poured my love into her and she gasped. ¡°I''m treating you with the care and respect you deserve, Lashina.¡±


    ¡°While you... keep your distance.¡± Lashina said.


    I nodded and we walked out of the security section. ¡°You are a very dangerous woman and I would be lax in my responsibility to the rest of my family to let you roam around unchecked.¡±


    Lashina let out a sigh, because she could ''hear'' my stray thoughts and had to agree. She still worshipped the goddess. As long as she maintained her contact to her, Hunter and his family were in danger from both her and the goddess.


    ¡°You should leave me in the cell.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°No, I''m not that cruel.¡± I said as we took the lift up to the floor with her living compartment. ¡°I''ve modified your space to have a protective barrier that will hopefully keep your stray Presence use contained.¡± I opened her door and she squealed in delight at the sight.


    Inside was a combination of her living quarters and her office, with all of her things inside.


    ¡°The only difference is the change of clothes in the closets.¡± I said. ¡°You''re not allowed to wear Order robes anymore.¡±


    ¡°These awkward things?¡± Lashina asked and whipped her robes off and left herself in a long sleeved t-shirt and short skirt. ¡°I like this much better.¡± She said and gave me a seductive look as she turned away. She lifted her hip slightly and her short shirt hiked up. ¡°So do you.¡±


    I smiled and used Presence to pull her skirt down. ¡°Lose the rest, too.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lashina turned back to look at me, then she took in a sharp breath. ¡°No!¡±


    I nodded and used a Presence Blade to slice off her skirt and it fell to the floor, then I did the same to her top. ¡°There''s not a skirt to be had anywhere in this room.¡±


    ¡°Hunter! No!¡± Lashina exclaimed. ¡°You can''t make me do this!¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry, my little pixie.¡± I said and picked up her ruined clothing, including the robes, and crushed them into tiny balls as I dissolved them. ¡°You are just going to have to suffer with the restriction... of pants.¡±


    ¡°Nooooooo!¡± Lashina covered her face and dropped to her knees as she cried.


    I pet the top of her head and let my fingers run through her long white hair. ¡°I''m tempted to tell you that you''re doing this for me, just so I can see that cute little ass in a tight pair of pants.¡±


    Lashina let out a hiccup and shook her head, because she knew that wasn''t why I was doing it.


    ¡°Show me that you can do this.¡± I whispered to her. ¡°Show me that you can change this one little thing in your life.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter, I...¡± Lashina wiped at her face. ¡°I don''t know if I can.¡±


    ¡°It''s a good thing I bought thousands of different panties for you, since you''re going to be walking around in them all the time.¡± I said and she sobbed. ¡°Oh, and no cheating. You can''t cut things up and make a skirt out of it.¡±


    ¡°You... you''re being... so cruel!¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°I know, sweetheart.¡± I said and bent down to kiss the top of her head. ¡°I really do.¡± I turned around and looked at Noma. ¡°Please watch over her for me.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Noma came in and opened her mouth a little, then Lashina''s extra Presence disappeared. ¡°It has a taste of you in it.¡± She said, a little surprised.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°It happened a long time ago.¡± I said and gave her a kiss and a taste of my Presence, then I walked out of the room. I went down in the lift to the security station and went over to Kara''s cell.


    ¡°You should leave me in here.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I know it''s a lot nicer than the room you had on the ships you''ve been on; but, I won''t let you wallow in your self-pity.¡± I said and opened the door.


    Kara jumped at me and slammed her fist into my face, then wrapped her arms around my neck. ¡°Take off these restraints or else!¡± She said loudly and turned me around to put me between her and Isabella.


    ¡°Can I?¡± Isabella asked as she looked at me.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± I said and turned off the magnetic restraints on Kara''s cuffs and ducked.


    Isabella smiled, quick-drew her holstered weapon, aimed, and fired in less than a second. The stun round hit Kara right in the forehead and knocked her out. I caught her before she fell to the floor.


    ¡°I guess I won''t have any trouble bringing her to her room now.¡± I chuckled.


    ¡°I tried to warn you.¡± Isabella said.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said and picked Kara up in my arms. ¡°Do you want to come along and see what happens?¡±


    Isabella chuckled this time. ¡°You really are going to assign me to guard duty, aren''t you?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No, you can choose what you want to do. I just thought you might want to make sure she doesn''t mess up your command area.¡±


    Isabella gave me a look that said I was manipulating her. ¡°That''s sneaky.¡±


    ¡°At least you''ll be busy.¡± I said, and she had to laugh.


    ¡°All right, I''ll be her shadow for a little while.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be bringing her along while I work, too.¡± I said and she nodded.


    ¡°I''ll stop her from stealing anything.¡± Isabella said.


    The two of us walked out of the security section and went to the lift. We rode it up to the top floor and took Kara into her new living quarters.


    ¡°Good heavens!¡± Isabella exclaimed when she saw the girly interior. ¡°She''s going to kill you.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°What girl doesn''t like having their own pink wonderland to live in?¡±


    ¡°Maybe when they were five.¡± Isabella shook her head as she looked around. ¡°I''m actually scared to look in the closets.¡±


    ¡°You have great instincts.¡± I said with a grin and she laughed.


    ¡°You are a cruel, cruel man.¡± Isabella said. ¡°She really must have pissed you off for you to get her back like this.¡±


    ¡°Want to help me change her into her new uniform?¡± I asked with a gleam in my eye as I laid Kara on her bed covered in frilly pillows.


    Isabella thought about refusing, then sighed. ¡°I''ll help, just so I can get over the laugh before she wakes up.¡±


    ¡°That''s the spirit.¡± I said and nodded at the closet.


    Isabella walked over to it and inside were two dozen adult sized little girl dresses that made you look like a princess. She put a hand over her eyes and shook her head for almost thirty seconds, then she took the first one off the rack and brought it over to me.


    ¡°I swear, if she doesn''t strangle you, I think I might do it for her.¡± Isabella said.


    ¡°Don''t worry. This is just as ridiculous as The Order''s color coded robe uniforms.¡± I said.


    We quickly changed Kara''s robes for the dress. I checked her robes and emptied the things inside the hidden pocket to find a couple data chips, a credit chip, her apartment key, and to my surprise, a picture of me. I put them on the nightstand beside the bed and then used Presence to do up her hair into a proper princess style. When she was properly prepped, I opened the drawer to take out a diamond-covered tiara.


    Isabella gasped at the glittery jewellery and I held it out to her. ¡°It''s real?¡± She asked, shocked, and handed it back.


    ¡°Everything''s real.¡± I said and tucked the tiara into Kara''s hair. ¡°I held off on having a wand or a sceptre made, though. I thought that would have been too ridiculous.¡±


    Isabella shook her head. ¡°When you decide to do something, you go all out, don''t you?¡±


    ¡°My automated missile factory is fully operational and I''m just waiting for more parts, the troop transport is already inside the mobile dock being converted into a cruise ship, and I''ve got another thousand satellites to ship out.¡± I smiled. ¡°I also have two people that need some good mental reconditioning to help them fight their old mental conditioning.¡±


    Isabella looked around the room. ¡°Are you sure this is going to be good mental conditioning?¡±


    ¡°I''m positive.¡± I said and put my hand on Kara''s forehead. ¡°It seems she wasn''t too scrambled by the stun shot.¡± I used one of Lashina''s techniques and ''fixed'' the stun effect.


    ¡°Uhhh.¡± Kara groaned and lifted her hand to rub her face. ¡°What hit me?¡± She asked, then her hand touched mine and she caught her breath and opened her eyes.


    I took my hand off of her forehead. ¡°Stun shot, right in the forehead.¡± I said and tapped the spot on my own forehead. ¡°The lieutenant commander is a fantastic shot.¡±


    Kara closed her eyes for a moment, then she opened them and used her hands to sit up. She realized her arms were free and she was about to comment, then she frowned.


    ¡°You''re still wearing them.¡± I said and took her hand, then held it up. ¡°Coordinating accents.¡±


    Kara sighed. ¡°Why are you doing this... to... me?¡± She finally saw her bright pink girly dress and stared at it.


    ¡°Oh, you''ve noticed your new uniform.¡± I said and pat her hand. ¡°You can''t wear your old uniform anymore.¡±


    ¡°My robes!¡± Kara exclaimed.


    ¡°Relax.¡± I said and pointed to the nightstand. ¡°Your things are right there.¡±


    Kara sighed in relief and turned to look... and saw the picture of me there. Her hand gripped mine tightly, then she realized she was gripping my hand and let it go.


    ¡°It''s not what you think.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I''m pretty sure I know what it means when a woman has a picture of a man in her possession.¡± I said.


    ¡°No, that''s not...¡± Kara took in a deep breath and let it out. As she tried to compose herself, she looked around the room. ¡°Where by the Goddess'' Light am I?¡±


    ¡°This is your new living space.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°Someone has a false sense of themselves and they need to understand what that means.¡±


    ¡°I am not living here.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I''m sorry, you don''t have a choice in the matter.¡± I said and she looked at me. ¡°That''s right. You didn''t feel the Presence waver, did you?¡±


    ¡°But... I''m...¡±


    ¡°...a grown woman.¡± I finished for her and she nodded. ¡°That''s what Lashina said.¡±


    ¡°Does she have to live like this, too?¡± Kara asked and in her mind she could easily see Lashina fitting well into this kind of environment.


    ¡°Oh, no. What she has to deal with is much worse than this.¡± I said and smiled as Kara thought of a bunch of different ways that I could have made Lashina''s room worse than this. ¡°I''m making her wear pants.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Kara gasped, because she knew that Lashina had never worn pants in over a hundred and ten years of her life. ¡°She must be going crazy!¡±


    I looked down into the next compartment and saw Lashina vigorously shaking her head as she held a pair of pants. ¡°She hasn''t even put a pair on yet.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think she will.¡± Kara said and looked down at herself. ¡°I wouldn''t have put this on, either.¡±


    ¡°Once again, you don''t have a choice. It''s either that or you walk around in just your underwear.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll give you the same restriction as Lashina, just in case. You can''t cut up things or make something else to wear from the bedding or curtains.¡±


    Kara looked at the bed she was on and then at the coverings over to port window. ¡°Everything is pink!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It''s dastardly, I know.¡± I said. ¡°I just don''t want you making new robes or anything.¡±


    Kara frowned at me.


    ¡°On that note, I''ll let you look around your new home and get acquainted with everything.¡± I said and Isabella and I walked over to the door. ¡°Oh, and everything is reinforced. Even if you had access to Presence, you can''t damage anything except the clothing.¡±


    ¡°You... you...¡± Kara started to say.


    ¡°Before you finish that thought, there''s a full length mirror on the inside of the closet door.¡± I said. ¡°Go have a nice peek at how cute you look all dressed up.¡±


    ¡°CUTE!¡± Kara yelled and I laughed.


    ¡°See you at lunch.¡± I said and shut the door. I stood there and waited for almost ten minutes as she stared at the door.


    *


    Kara gave up seeing if he was going to come back to tell her that he was only joking and it took her a minute to get off the bed. The fluffy bottom of her dress got in the way and she swatted it away angrily. She stood up and took a breath, let it out, and walked over to the closet. She opened the door and nearly shouted when she saw the contents. She grit her teeth and opened the closet door all the way, then she let out an inarticulate shout when she saw her reflection.


    It was exactly how Kara looked like in her childhood fantasy when she had first met her ''prince''. The style of dress, the color, her hair style, and even... her observations stopped and she reached up to touch the gleaming diamond tiara in her hair. She pulled it out and turned it around to look at it with her own eyes. She blinked her eyes rapidly and stopped the tears from forming.


    No, I... I can''t let him get to me like this. Kara thought and put the tiara back in her hair and shut the door.

 Book Three: The Resolution 144

    Kara woke up the next morning and felt annoyance as she opened her eyes. She was still surrounded with pink and it wasn''t just a dream.


    ¡°Good morning, Princess.¡± Hunter said and came into the compartment with a tray of food. ¡°Your royal banquet has arrived.¡±


    ¡°I wish you would stop saying that every time you bring me food.¡± Kara said and sat up, then watched Hunter set up the table for her.


    ¡°The Presence wavered slightly, so I''m going to keep doing it.¡± Hunter gave her an award winning smile and she sighed. ¡°Princess, please avail yourself of the feast before you.¡±


    ¡°You are getting very annoying.¡± Kara said and climbed off the bed. She wore a set of children''s pyjamas in adult size and walked over to the table. She sat down and he stood there and watched her eat. ¡°I don''t know why I keep assuming that you won''t poison me.¡±


    Hunter chuckled. ¡°I''m not that underhanded.¡±


    ¡°You''ve put things in people''s food before.¡± Kara said as she recalled the tricks he used to pull.


    ¡°That was different. Having people believe they''re eating one thing when it''s really another, is pretty funny sometimes when they find out what they actually ate.¡±


    Kara looked at her tray of food and then looked at Hunter.


    ¡°I gave you my word a long time ago that I wouldn''t do that to you...¡± Hunter said and the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°...despite the temptation and how easy it would be.¡±


    Kara sighed and ate breakfast without saying anything else.


    ¡°Good job.¡± Hunter said and made the tray disappear. ¡°Please adorn your royal uniform and accompany me.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Kara looked at him with surprise on her face.


    ¡°From now on, you''re going to be my apprentice.¡± Hunter said with an evil grin. ¡°I hope you''re ready to get your hands dirty.¡±


    Kara closed her eyes for a moment and stopped her second sigh from escaping. ¡°You''re really enjoying this, aren''t you?¡±


    ¡°Kara, despite what you may think...¡± Hunter said with an angry voice and she opened her eyes to stare at him. ¡°...I''m not doing this for myself. I admit that I am going to enjoy aspects of this, because it feels good to see you have to endure some of the humiliation I had to endure.¡± He said. ¡°However, having to treat anyone this way constantly is not my idea of fun.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter...¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and have a shower if you want and then change into your uniform.¡± Hunter walked over to her door. ¡°We have a full day of work ahead of us.¡± He stepped out and the door closed behind him.


    Kara had taken a shower the night before, so she took off her pyjamas and put on her princess dress and the tiara. His statement had let her know that he wasn''t peeping on her all the time and she put on the pink slipper-like shoes. She walked over to the door and it opened automatically for her. She caught her breath at that and Hunter smiled.


    ¡°What? Did you think I had locked you in for the last few days?¡± Hunter asked and Isabella smiled.


    Kara didn''t bother holding in her third sigh.


    ¡°I suppose you need a quick tour.¡± Hunter said and waved at the middle of the large room they were in. ¡°This is the media room where we all gather to watch television when we''re all at home.¡± He pointed at each of the living spaces and said who stayed there and ended with the one across from hers. ¡°That one''s mine.¡±


    Kara didn''t react to that information like he thought she would have.


    ¡°I can see you all the time, because our living quarters are across from each other.¡± Hunter said pointedly to see if that would get her to react.


    Kara looked at her place and then back to his. ¡°Do you stand at your door all night to stare into mine?¡±


    ¡°Well, no. I just...¡±


    ¡°Then what was the point of putting me there?¡± Kara asked. ¡°You''re not even observing me like I tried to observe you all the time.¡±


    Hunter opened his mouth to respond and she chuckled.


    ¡°If you think that''s going to be motivation for me, then you''ve got the wrong impression of me.¡±


    Hunter sighed. ¡°Come on.¡± He said and led Kara and Isabella down the ramp to the next floor.


    ¡°KARA!¡± Lashina yelled and ran over to the door of her living quarters, hit the protective barrier, then bounced off. ¡°OW!¡± She rubbed her face. ¡°Hunter! You said it would turn off if I came over to the door!¡±


    ¡°I said if you walked over to it.¡± Hunter said. ¡°You could have killed Kara if you ran into her like that.¡±


    Lashina frowned and walked over to the door and both the barrier and the door opened for her. She looked down at Kara''s ankles and wrists and saw that she was blocked from using Presence.


    ¡°Okay, yes. I see that now.¡± Lashina said and looked at Hunter. ¡°I''m sorry I reacted so rashly.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry that you tore the first pair of pants you''ve ever worn.¡± Hunter said and knelt in front of her.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Lashina looked down and saw the large rip between her legs. ¡°Oh, damn.¡±


    Hunter chuckled. ¡°It''s all right.¡± He said and gave her a deep and passionate kiss.


    ¡°Mmm.¡± Lashina moaned and kissed him back.


    ¡°At least they lasted three minutes.¡± Hunter said and helped her take them off, then tucked them away.


    ¡°Hey, what...¡±


    ¡°I''m going to keep them.¡± Hunter said. ¡°You don''t have to wear pants anymore today; but, please stay in the room and don''t go wandering around without pants on.¡±


    Lashina sighed dramatically. ¡°If you just gave me a skirt...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Hunter gave her another kiss and stood up. ¡°It''s pants or nothing.¡±


    Lashina smiled up at him. ¡°Oh? Do you want my panties, too?¡± She asked to tease him.


    ¡°Very much.¡± Hunter said and cupped the side of her face. ¡°I can''t wait for the day that you can successfully walk all the way up to the top level and into my room wearing pants, then take them off and let them drop to the floor in my bedroom.¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Lashina''s face flushed to a deeper pink as she blushed. ¡°Hunter.¡±


    ¡°Keep working hard and we''ll see each other like that soon.¡± Hunter said and let her face go.


    ¡°You''re just going to accept that?¡± Kara asked, a little incredulous. ¡°Lashina, you''re one of the most powerful Presence users in The O-hmhm.¡±


    ¡°Neither of you are a part of that organization anymore.¡± Hunter said. ¡°I thought you understood that.¡±


    Kara humphed and mumbled at Hunter and he sighed.


    ¡°All right. The tour continues.¡± Hunter said and pointed all around and said where everyone else lived, then motioned at the middle of the room where the large food preparation area was. ¡°As you can see, this is the communal kitchen. When I''m here, I make all the meals.¡±


    Both Kara and Lashina took in sharp breaths, because they thought it was automated or something.


    ¡°He''s really good at it, too.¡± Sheph said as she came out of her living space. ¡°His cooking lessons are fantastic as well.¡±


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Hunter said and took her into a hug.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Sheph said and ran her hands through his long hair, then she looked at Kara. ¡°Good morning, Princess.¡±


    Kara sighed and Sheph smiled.


    ¡°Thanks for staying up late to do the paperwork on the latest shipment.¡± Hunter said and let her go.


    ¡°You need to thank Peggy, too.¡± Sheph said and pointed to her living space. The older woman came out and she looked to be half asleep. Her hair was a mess and she wore pyjamas that were similar to Kara''s.


    Hunter walked over to her and tried to give her a hug, then there was a sudden slapping sound and Peggy was by him and at the counter to get a tray of food.


    ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°What just happened?¡± Kara and Lashina asked at the same time.


    Sheph and Isabella chuckled.


    ¡°Even half asleep, she can still slap his face for trying to make a move on her.¡± Sheph said with a grin.


    ¡°He was just going to thank you.¡± Isabella said to Peggy.


    ¡°My answer is still no.¡± Peggy said, picked up a prepared food tray, and went back into her living compartment. The door closed and everyone just stared at it for a few moments.


    ¡°I''ll wear her down one of these days and...¡± Hunter started to say.


    ¡°No.¡± Peggy''s muffled voice said and Sheph and Isabella laughed.


    Hunter walked back over to Kara. ¡°Okay, more tour.¡± He said and motioned to the ramp. ¡°Lashina, I''ll see you at lunch.¡±


    ¡°You sure will.¡± Lashina said and walked back into her living space and sashayed her hips to show off her cute little ass in the panties he had bought for her.


    ¡°That sounded ominous.¡± Sheph said with a laugh and picked up a food tray, then sat down at the huge table and started to eat.


    ¡°Only if I''m naked.¡± Hunter said and she laughed again. He led Kara and Isabella all the way down through the space habitat and ended with the large shuttle bay at the bottom. ¡°And that''s it.¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand.¡± Kara said. ¡°Where are we supposed to be working all day?¡±


    Hunter chuckled. ¡°We passed the two places where I''m needed today. The main storage area and the food growing area.¡±


    Kara gave him a sad look and nodded. She resigned herself to doing endless hours of inventory in the storage area and digging in the soil by hand in the food growing area.


    Hunter laughed at her thoughts. ¡°I''m just bringing you along for today. It''s only your first day up and around the habitat.¡±


    Kara gave him a disbelieving look and he laughed again.


    ¡°Yes, I know. You didn''t give me any time to adjust, except for a week of house arrest.¡± Hunter said. ¡°The only reason I had you stay in your room before now was because I was waiting for the parts shipment.¡± He led her and Isabella back to the food growing section. ¡°I''ve integrated some advanced hydroponics techniques and added some of the best tasting and nutritional food additives to the soil and crops.¡±


    ¡°This isn''t enough for sustainability.¡± Kara said, because it was only a single living compartment.


    ¡°Not even close.¡± Hunter said. ¡°I do this to add to the food we buy. Of course, there''s almost no one here right now. Most of us are all out on missions and the food requirement is pretty low.¡± He said and walked over to the closest hydroponics container.


    Kara watched in surprise as he used Presence to spice up the water flow and to enhance the growing capacity, which was a technique he had learned as an apprentice under her tutelage.


    ¡°Yeah, I remembered it and made it even better during my time on the prison planet.¡± Hunter said.


    Kara almost gasped as his Presence expenditure doubled and the plants sucked it up like a sponge. ¡°How did you to that?¡±


    ¡°Subtle encouragement over time.¡± Hunter said. ¡°They can''t take too much or they''ll overload and wither from their own body''s overworking to grow.¡±


    ¡°But... what you just did...¡±


    ¡°Some plants and crops are more accepting of external Presence, especially if you take the time to care for them.¡±


    Kara gave him another disbelieving look and he shook his head.


    ¡°Just stand there and watch.¡± Hunter said and walked to each hydroponics bay and did the same thing.


    Kara was stunned at the spectacle and couldn''t speak as each plant sprouted buds of vegetables and fruits. She had a hard time believing her eyes as nearly grown vegetables ripened right there in front of her eyes and Hunter picked them. She had never seen it happen so quickly before and when he came over to her with a large container full of vegetables and fruits, she still didn''t quite believe it.


    ¡°I would offer you one to taste; but, they need to be properly washed and cleaned before use.¡± Hunter said and led her and Isabella all the way back up to the kitchen on the second floor. He cleaned them all and dried them, put out a bowl on the table and filled it with fruit, then put the vegetables into the refrigerator-like appliance to store them.


    After that was done, Hunter led them back down to the storage area and Kara caught her breath at the sight of rows upon rows of standard parts.


    ¡°Don''t get too worked up over this. Most of the shipment went right into the missile factory.¡±


    ¡°Missile factory?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°I''m hoping we''ll have enough to reload everyone when they cycle back through during the next week.¡± Hunter said and then a hundred Presence Hands appeared around him. ¡°Until then, I need to make as many black barrier machines as possible.¡±


    Kara stared, dumbfounded, as a hundred machines were built right in front of her. It was amazing to see the exact same movements be performed a hundred times and that alone had surprised her. She had no idea that he could do such precise movements and delicate work with Presence... then he took out a crate and opened it.


    ¡°By the Goddess!¡± Kara exclaimed at the sight of a hundred high quality focusing crystals.


    ¡°That''s just the top layer.¡± Hunter said with a laugh. ¡°I burn through these things faster than you''d think.¡±


    Kara watched as ten focusing crystals were deposited into a kind of matrix in the closest machine to her, then another ten in the next, and on and on it went until Hunter had emptied the thousand crystals from the crate into the hundred black barrier machines. After that, the machines were built up and finished, then put into something that looked like a chute and they disappeared.


    ¡°This sends them to be loaded with the missiles onto the warships.¡± Hunter said and then started constructing another hundred black barrier machines.


    Kara couldn''t believe her eyes. It''s not possible. It''s not. She thought as Hunter took out another crate of high quality focusing crystals and repeated what she just saw. No one would use up such precious materials for a weapon like that. She looked at the weapons as they were deposited onto the chute and shook her head. What a waste!


    ¡°It looks like it''s about time for lunch.¡± Hunter said and put the parts he was gathering back into their proper receptacles. ¡°Isabella, any preferences?¡±


    Isabella shook her head.


    ¡°Do you want to help me cook?¡± Hunter asked with a smile.


    ¡°I''m with Peggy on this one. I won''t fall for your tricks.¡± Isabella said.


    ¡°I know.¡± Hunter said and walked over to her. ¡°I just like teasing you.¡±


    ¡°I did not know that, sir.¡± Isabella said with a straight face, then she smiled back.


    Hunter laughed and led them all the way back up to the second level and made lunch for everyone.


    ¡°Oh, that smells so good.¡± Noma said as she stepped out of the lift.


    ¡°Ha.¡± Hunter said and turned from the counter to give her a kiss. ¡°You can''t smell Presence.¡±


    Noma gave him a knowing look and kissed him back, then sat down across the counter. ¡°Hello, Isabella.¡± She said and then nodded at Kara. ¡°Princess.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you should have called me.¡± Monica said and came down the ramp. ¡°I wanted to help today.¡±


    ¡°I''m not done yet.¡± Hunter said and she came over to give him a quick kiss, then she put on an apron.


    ¡°What''s left?¡± Monica asked.


    ¡°Give those a good mixing and add the spices on the third shelf.¡± Hunter said and pointed at a pile of cut up vegetables.


    Monica nodded and took out a big bowl and added the vegetables to it, sprinkled some of the spices into the bowl, then used a large spoon to stir them up and spread the spices around.


    ¡°How long in the refresher this time?¡± Monica asked.


    ¡°Only ten seconds, then pop them into the cooker for five.¡± Hunter said and finished filleting something that looked like a roast.


    ¡°These are going to be delicious.¡± Monica said and followed his instructions. ¡°Mmm, smell that!¡± She said and took them out of the cooker. ¡°How do you come up with these recipes?¡±


    ¡°Lots of experiences.¡± Hunter said and put the roasted meat into the cooker for ten seconds.


    Kara''s mouth watered at the smell and she didn''t see Sheph and Peggy step off the lift and come into the room.


    ¡°You really are spoiling us, you know.¡± Sheph said as she and Peggy sat down next to Kara.


    ¡°I can always stop cooking.¡± Hunter said.


    ¡°NO!¡± They all said loudly, then they all exchanged looks and laughed.


    Hunter and Monica spread the food out onto appropriate plates and handed them out, even to Lashina in her room, then they all sat down and enjoyed a great meal.

 Book Three: The Resolution 145

    That''s the way it went all week. Kara was brought along on all the tasks I did and Isabella was her shadow to make sure she didn''t misbehave. I took breaks and cooked the meals, made black barrier machines and used up tens of thousands of high quality focusing crystals a day, and tended to the food growing area. In the evenings, I spent a small amount of time with Lashina in her room, mainly because she kept tearing her pants when she moved excitedly.


    I knew she was doing it intentionally, just to show me that making her wear pants was restricting her movements too much, which was why I restricted her to her room unless she wore pants. She didn''t realize that each time she did it, I spent less and less time with her in her room. If she kept doing it, by the end of the month I would be saying hello to her and then leaving again.


    The first ship back was Simone, because she had only had a short mission to go on and had dropped Monica off at the station two weeks before. The warship Thea was reloaded and I intentionally had them delay their departure. I had them stay and we all waited for everyone to come back.


    It was during this time that I received a call from the medical professional that had helped me regrow Simone''s arms. I had thought Amanda had forgotten our deal or just couldn''t find anyone that needed a full restoration spell with healing and was saving it for herself. I couldn''t have been more wrong. The reason it took so long for her to get back to me was because she had spread the word around about both Hailey and Simone, keeping their names and identities secret thankfully, then auctioned it off for a ridiculous amount of credits.


    Of course, I had to keep up my end of the bargain and went to Udelis and the safe, took out the bag of holding I had the last few restoration sets in, and removed one. I only had four sets left, which meant I needed to be a little more careful about everything. I would also have to let the others know that my supply was too low to give everyone a single use like I had intended. I had lost the rest when Hailey had died.


    Just before I closed the safe, my eyes caught sight of my mother''s locket and my father''s laser pistol. On a whim, I hooked the laser pistol to my belt and then hung the locket over my neck. When it touched my skin, I felt a calmness that I hadn''t felt before. I put my hand over it and closed my eyes.


    Mother, I miss you. Even after all this time, I still regret that I didn''t know you for very long.


    The feeling passed and the locket sunk into the black bodysuit and disappeared. I nodded to it and activated the medical bot Herbie, then left the ship and walked across the docking ring to enter Adona.


    ¡°Hen.¡± I said as I entered the medical bay.


    ¡°False Tiercel.¡± Hen said and turned to look at me. She was impeccably groomed and her feathers almost shone in the light.


    ¡°I see he''s keeping up with his duties.¡± I said with a smile.


    Hen blushed and it matched her feathers. ¡°I can''t thank you enough for allowing him to come here.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe you don''t want him to meet anyone else.¡± I said with a grin and she warbled a laugh.


    ¡°He is what you would call a stickler for tradition. He won''t leave the nest or our eggs alone.¡±


    ¡°Neither will you.¡± I said.


    Hen chirped and nodded her head. ¡°I only leave just long enough to work when it''s necessary.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°You don''t have to keep coming here to maintain the equipment. Adona can monitor everything and let you know if anything''s wrong.¡±


    ¡°I would be lax in my duties to you and the people of your family if I allowed even a small thing to delay any treatment.¡± Hen said and gave me a look. ¡°Are you sure you don''t need me to assist with today''s procedure?¡±


    ¡°I honestly wanted you to perform it, except that the client specifically said that they don''t want anyone to observe.¡± I said. ¡°I thought that was a little odd, until the medical professional told me what the man looked like.¡±


    Hen nodded several times. ¡°Yes, it''s understandable. I will leave you and Herbie to it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Hen.¡± I said and made Presence Claws on my hands.


    Hen warbled a laugh and stopped in front of me. I gave her head a quick grooming and didn''t find even a single bit of fluffy down under her brown feathers.


    ¡°You know you don''t have to keep checking if he''s doing his duty.¡± Hen said and smiled up at me.


    ¡°Maybe I just like grooming someone so cute.¡± I said with a matching smile.


    Hen chirped and tweeted at me, with disbelief and half a promise to take me up on the implied offer some day, then she walked away. ¡°I think he would let me, too.¡± She whispered and I knew that she meant her Tiercel and not me.


    ¡°I''ll be right back, Herbie. Go ahead and prep the full body scanner. Amanda and her patient will be here soon.¡±


    Herbie waved an appendage at me and I left to go down to the shuttle bay. I took out a datapad and checked the itinerary she had sent and then I felt a shuttle enter my two mile range. I ''looked'' into it and saw the pilot, Amanda, and what looked like a twisted and grizzled older man. I had just enough time to give him a once over look and then the shuttle entered the bay.


    ¡°By the Goddess!¡± The pilot exclaimed at the racks of shuttles mounted to the walls.


    I laughed at his reaction, because I had easily adapted the same trick we had used in Adona''s shuttle bay to hold the shuttles on the walls. Those sections didn''t have any gravity and the shuttles were hung there by their normal landing gear. We would never be able to use so many shuttles; but, it looked really cool to fly in and out of the shuttle bay with them on the walls. He turned the shuttle sideways and landed in the designated spot, then the side hatch opened.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Hunter, it''s been a long time.¡± Amanda said as she stepped out of the shuttle. She was just as pretentious as she always was and she also had a genuine smile on her face.


    ¡°Yes, Herbie is in the med bay prepping the scanner.¡± I said.


    ¡°You remembered!¡± Amanda laughed and reached back into the shuttle. ¡°Let me give you a hand, Mr. Landing.¡±


    The older man harrumphed at her and ignored the hand, then hobbled by her and stepped out onto the ramp with a clank of metal. Then another and another. He was only five and a half feet tall, thanks to his metal limbs, and what I thought was a cane helped him along and kept his balance. With the passengers safely delivered, the shuttle lifted off and turned towards the bay doors and left.


    I glanced at the datapad as his medical file appeared on it, since Amanda wouldn''t release it until I saw him in person. ¡°Should I ask how much you''re paying her for this?¡±


    ¡°It was a silent auction.¡± Mr. Landing said. ¡°Telling you would defeat the purpose.¡±


    I immediately got the total from his mind and looked at Amanda with wide eyes.


    Amanda blushed and assumed that I knew it was a ridiculous price if the client wouldn''t admit it. ¡°I need a lot of funds to continue my research and a silent auction was the best solution.¡± She said. ¡°That way, no one embarrassed themselves by bidding openly what they thought having a normal body would cost.¡±


    ¡°Is it contingent on if it actually works?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Mr. Landing said.


    ¡°You may be in a much worse condition if it doesn''t.¡± I warned him.


    ¡°I am fully aware of the risks, Mr. Hunter.¡±


    ¡°It''s just Hunter.¡± I said and held a hand out for him to shake. There was a metallic click and he lifted his hand from his cane and took my hand. ¡°Top of the line metallic prosthetic.¡±


    ¡°The best money could buy, and it still feels like my stump is wrapped in shrapnel and the fingers don''t respond well to very fine motor control with my nerve damage.¡±


    ¡°I''m not going to ask what happened.¡± I said and let his hand go, and he put it back onto his cane and it locked into place.


    ¡°You don''t want to hear the pleasant lies I keep telling myself?¡± Mr. Landing asked and I laughed.


    ¡°It''s all immaterial at this point. The only thing that matters is if I can get the procedure to work on you.¡± I said. ¡°That might take a few hours of examination.¡±


    ¡°I''ve spent years being examined before surgeries, so a few hours is nothing.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Then step onto my transport and we''ll get you right up into the medical bay.¡±


    Mr. Landing gave me a skeptical look. ¡°I don''t see a transport anywhere.¡±


    I chuckled and pointed down. He was just on the edge of a slightly different color floor section with clear marking for forward, left, right, and back. He took three more hobble steps and I held a hand out to Amanda. She took it and gave me a disbelieving look.


    ¡°I really should tell you to trust me; but, I won''t.¡± I grinned at her, then the five foot square section lifted up a foot out of the floor and a barrier appeared around us. ¡°Opina, take us to your mother.¡±


    ¡°You got it, Grandpa!¡± Opina said happily and the platform took off at a running speed out of the shuttle bay and went up the ramp.


    ¡°What is this thing?!?¡± Amanda asked and clung tightly to me. Mr. Landon on the other hand, stood firm and had a smile on his face.


    ¡°It''s just something I''ve modified from what I built in prison.¡± I said and both of them looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°What? Did you think I stayed out of the public eye for no reason?¡±


    ¡°What were you in prison for?¡± Mr. Landing asked, because he just couldn''t submit to me on the operating table without knowing.


    ¡°I was sent there to help The Order clean up the internal criminals that have been abusing their powers and abilities, then I found out that they didn''t appreciate my sacrifice.¡± I said. ¡°So, I escaped and pardoned myself.¡±


    ¡°You escaped... from an Order prison.¡± Amanda looked into my eyes and I felt her unease.


    ¡°Prison planet, actually.¡± I said and they both stared at me. ¡°It''s a great story, actually. Really exciting.¡±


    ¡°It really is.¡± Simone said as we came to a stop beside the main hatch to enter Adona. She had been waiting there for us. ¡°Gleas is about to dock and she has some important news for you.¡± She didn''t message you because it''s too important to not say in person.


    I understand. I thought back to her. ¡°Amanda, Mr. Landing, go on in and get the full medical scan started. I have some business to take care of.¡±


    ¡°We won''t need you for quite some time, so you don''t have to rush back.¡± Amanda said and she took her patient into Adona.


    Simone and I walked around the docking ring to where Gleas would be docking Cora. The hatch opened and Gleas stepped out. Her face was white and she looked terrified.


    I stepped forward and took her into my arms. ¡°You found another brown dwarf star.¡±


    Gleas nodded. ¡°It was only supposed to be a quick shot in and out. A single temple on the planet and no real population to speak of.¡±


    ¡°I told you to keep taking Isabella with you.¡± I admonished her.


    ¡°She had nothing to do but stare at the plot readout and then push the button to fire where Cora calculated the shots.¡± Gleas said with a smile, then she let out a shaky laugh. ¡°I should have taken her with me.¡±


    ¡°Cora, how damaged are you?¡±


    ¡°You reinforced me well, Grandpa.¡± Cora said. ¡°I only lost the weapons on my left side and the main projectile launcher on my head.¡±


    ¡°Any significant structural damage?¡± I asked. ¡°I don''t want you out of commission for too long.¡±


    ¡°Mom says a couple of weeks in the mobile ship repair yard and I''ll be good as new.¡± Cora said.


    ¡°Opina, get Sheph to make the appointment right away.¡± I said and led Gleas over to the lift. ¡°Simone.¡±


    ¡°I''ll have the medical professional notify you when you''re needed.¡± Simone said and went back across the docking ring and into Adona.


    ¡°Hunter, what are you doing?¡± Gleas asked.


    ¡°I am going to take you upstairs... make that have taken you upstairs.¡± I said when the lift doors opened. ¡°I''m going to spend some quality time with you.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Gleas looked around to see if anyone saw or heard me.


    ¡°I''ve used stealth, so it''s okay.¡± I said and led her over to her room. ¡°You suffered a shock and flew back here in a damaged ship, all alone, and I''m so sorry.¡±


    ¡°It''s not... your...¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Yeah, good luck telling me it''s not my fault.¡± I said and her door closed behind us.


    ¡°Hunter, I...¡±


    I reached up and hooked my thumbs into the neck hole of her flight suit and peeled it all the way down to her feet. Gleas just stood there with her mouth open at me revealing her so easily, then as I stood up again, I kissed and licked my way up to her mouth.


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± Gleas whispered.


    ¡°We can shower first if you want.¡± I said and she shook her head. She didn''t want to wait anymore, so I took her to bed and made love to her. I slowly helped her deal with the trauma she had suffered and made her feel very good at the same time. She started to feel guilty that I was doing that, and I stopped kissing her to look into her eyes.


    ¡°You deserve just as much attention as Simone does.¡± I said to her and kept moving my hips.


    ¡°But... you love her and... and I...¡±


    ¡°I told you before, we''re friends and I love you.¡±


    ¡°That''s not... the same.¡± Gleas said, without even convincing herself.


    ¡°Would you want it to be?¡± I asked. ¡°Would you want me to treat you like I treat her, as if you were the same?¡±


    Gleas let out a sigh and a moan at the same time. ¡°No.¡±


    I started kissing her again and she put her arms around my neck. She finally dropped the walls in her mind that she hid her passion and desire behind and I gave her my passion and desire for her in return.


    ¡°I really do... love your ass.¡± I said between kisses.


    ¡°I love that... you love it.¡± Gleas panted and kissed me back.

 Book Three: The Resolution 146

    I stayed with Gleas for two hours. By the time Amanda called me from Adona''s medical bay, Gleas was fast asleep and her mind was at ease. I walked at a normal pace back down to the docking ring and saw that the platform had disappeared. I entered the ship and went to the medical bay and saw three metal limbs scattered on the floor. I shook my head and used Presence to gather them and put them into a storage closet.


    ¡°How''s it coming along?¡± I asked as I approached the operating table.


    ¡°Mr. Landing had some of the best people working on him to give him the highest quality working prosthetic for each limb.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Nice clean work and they did their best with what they had access to at the time.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Apparently that wasn''t you.¡±


    Amanda turned and gave me a smile, then went back to work. ¡°The nerve endings in his arm are a mess. I''m actually surprised he could make a fist with the thing.¡±


    ¡°He couldn''t.¡± I said. ¡°That''s why the cane was attached and not held.¡±


    Amanda sighed. ¡°I''m working my way back up his nervous system and I''m trying, desperately, to find a good point to sever the nerve endings to bypass the damage.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to provide a bit of stimulation?¡± I asked and pointed my finger and let a very small bolt of lightning shoot out the end of my finger and stopped it there. ¡°You can trace it back to where any blockage or damage is.¡±


    Amanda stared at the suspended bolt of energy and then looked at me. ¡°I guess it''s worth a shot.¡±


    I nodded and she watched the readouts on her devices, then I lightly touched the bolt to the spot she indicated and the arm twitched slightly. She shook her head and I did it again.


    ¡°It''s going by too fast for me to get a good reading.¡± Amanda said.


    ¡°Let me try a rapid succession of them. Maybe you can watch the flow, rather than the progression.¡± I said and then pulsed the tiny bolts as quickly as I could and the arm stump trembled.


    ¡°Almost... almost...¡± Amanda nodded to Herbie. ¡°Another three eighths of an inch. A sixteenth. A thirty-second of... now!¡±


    Herbie made the incision and the arm stopped moving.


    ¡°YES!¡± Amanda yelled. ¡°Excellent work, Herbie!¡±


    ¡°Thank. You.¡± Herbie said and Amanda jumped out of her chair and fell onto the floor.


    ¡°HERBIE!¡± Amanda yelled.


    ¡°You don''t have to yell, he''s right there.¡± I said with a grin on my face.


    ¡°He can talk!¡± Amanda said to me without getting up off of the floor. ¡°You can talk!¡± She said to Herbie, then looked at me. ¡°How can he talk?¡±


    ¡°It''s kind of your fault.¡± I said and she opened her mouth to speak and didn''t say anything. ¡°You kind of clued me in that he had a basic AI onboard with how you described him. I didn''t get a chance to play around and add some essential components until recently, though.¡±


    ¡°But... but... they don''t... it''s not...¡±


    ¡°I''m glad your part in the operations are done.¡± I said with a chuckle and stepped forward and covered Mr. Landing in Presence and lifted him up. ¡°Oh, damn.¡± I said and saw one of his eyes and part of his skull was missing. ¡°He still has cybernetics in his brain.¡±


    ¡°They are... life essential.¡± Amanda said as she started to recover from the shock of hearing her longtime friend actually speak. ¡°If they are removed, he could die of an aneurysm within seconds.¡±


    I thought about that for a moment. ¡°I''ll have to remove them during the regeneration process.¡±


    I placed the first of the three wooden engraved plaques under him and placed a low quality focusing crystal on it to activate it with Presence. It was just as necessary now to get a magical picture of his body to go along with the electronic one we had. Plus, the magic let me see all of the damage that was inside of him and all of the little metallic and plastic replacements, including all of the new wounds he had just acquired.


    When it was done and had dissolved, I replaced it with the second wooden plaque and powered it up with Presence and used a medium quality focusing crystal. This was the cleaning one and would remove any and all ailments and lingering problems that wouldn''t have been caught before now. After ten minutes it was done and dissolved, then I put the final one into place.


    Since I now knew that I needed to add absurd amounts of Presence and his body needed a lot of nutrients for this part, I nodded to Amanda. She attached the IV bags that were full of everything the patient''s body would need as it regenerated and healed. I put a dozen high quality focusing crystals onto the plaque and also surrounded us in a Presence Barrier to contain the resulting light that would be produced from the spell.


    The bright white light filled the inside of the barrier as the spell activated and I started to direct the Presence from the focusing crystals into the spell and into the patient. I directed everything to the large wounds on his head, namely the part that was missing, including his eye, and I could feel that his body started to accept the foreign energy. Since I hadn''t adjusted the crystals to myself and they were unused, they aligned to him and the energy flowed faster.


    Luckily, his Presence core was quite small, so all of the energy went right into the damage. I used Hailey''s ability and dissolved the cybernetic parts as his brain was healed, then the attachments in his eye and the reinforcements for his skull as they regrew. The first IV bag emptied and I moved on to his arm. Like Simone''s, the marrow spiralled out to the proper length and then the bone grew around it, the tendons and musculature, then the skin.


    It was quite fascinating to see as the arm was fully restored and two more IV bags were emptied and he received the essential nutrients to keep the new parts healthy. Since there was so much more to this man to restore, Amanda had arranged ten IV bags to be used. I had to add more focusing crystals to keep the energy flow constant and directed it towards the man''s internal organs.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I was glad that I didn''t ask what it was that he had gone through, because it was a mess inside of him. I knew what it was supposed to look like and had both the electronic medical scan and the magical scan to go by, then restored the lungs, spleen, liver, both kidneys, and about twenty feet of intestines.


    Amanda had been right. If she had removed everything, he would have died. Both she and Mr. Landing had accepted that they would need to leave some mechanical parts, just for basic functions, and I wasn''t happy with that. I dissolved the mechanical parts as I replaced them with regrown originals. More of the IV bags emptied as the focusing crystals were rendered inert and I added more as I moved the energy down to his legs.


    The best part about doing it this way, using unattuned energy, was that I wasn''t forging any kind of bond with this man. Not emotional, not physical, and not Presence based. I knew nothing about him and I wasn''t planning on knowing anything. I wasn''t invested in his life and I wasn''t going to be. Of course, once I thought that, my mind immediately poked into his unconscious mind and found out who he was.


    I knew he was just a completely random non-entity. I thought and stopped myself from shaking my head as the man''s legs regrew like his arm had. It wasn''t as fascinating this time as I added more crystals and drained them, along with the IV bags, and the last step of the skin growing over the exposed muscles finished. It had taken two hours for it to be complete.


    The spell ended and crumbled into dust, so I quickly rolled up the sheet and tucked it away with the empty crystals and added another sheet to the operating table, then levitated the man over to the medical scanner with Presence. Amanda stared at the completely restored man, except for the part of his head that had regrown. His hair was only stubble there and would have to regrow on its own in time.


    ¡°I leave the rest to you.¡± I said to Amanda.


    ¡°I''ll need help putting him into a recovery bed in an hour.¡± Amanda said and nodded to Herbie, who prepped the medical scanner again.


    ¡°I''ll be here.¡± I said and walked away. I''m going to have to remove my involvement from both of their minds before they leave. I thought and the medical bay doors closed behind me. ¡°Adona, restrict all communications made by Amanda and Mr. Landing. Use a barrier to stop all transmissions.¡± I said. ¡°Opina, I should make that a station-wide condition. If Amanda leaves the medical bay or Adona to call someone, please block it.¡±


    ¡°Are you expecting trouble, Grandpa?¡± Opina asked.


    ¡°No, but...¡± I sighed as I thought about Mr. Landing only being a horrifically damaged combat soldier. ¡°I just have a feeling the success of what I just did is going to cause us trouble.¡±


    ¡°I''ll let you know if either of them tries to send any kind of signal.¡± Opina said.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said and went to the kitchen to make food for everyone. I called Monica and she was more than happy to help prepare it.


    *


    This is unbelievable! Amanda thought as she watched the medical scanner go through the full cycle and another complete scan of the man before her appeared on the screen. She used a separate datapad to copy the data and compared the two scans. It''s like he''s a completely different person!¡±


    With that thought, she took out a data chip and plugged it into the second datapad and brought up Mr. Landing''s original biomedical scan from when he had entered the military. When she compared the two, she gasped. Not believing what she was seeing, she went to the main console and added the old data and compared them. With the much more powerful computer, she overlapped the two scans and they were practically identical.


    The only thing that''s different are the brain scans. Amanda thought, surprised. He really restored the body to before all of that damage had happened. It''s like he never suffered any damage at all!


    She reached into her pocket to grab her communicator to call her contact immediately, then sighed and changed her mind.


    I need to wait for Mr. Landing to wake up and verify there''s no mental damage.


    Amanda remembered the cybernetic parts that had taken hours to install had just dissolved into nothing as the brain regrew the missing parts. She didn''t know how that had happened. Hunter had never mentioned the ''spells'' doing those kinds of things, so she was a little worried about what kind of mental state Mr. Landing was going to be in when he woke up.


    Did his brain really get healed like it was supposed to? Amanda asked herself. What did he lose with the cybernetic parts and what did he gain when the natural parts of his brain grew back, if anything?


    She sat there and stared at the data on her screen, made several copies, then put everything away. She would need to keep making medical scans during the scheduled week of recovery to increase her verified data pool. Then she would make the call and tell her contact that it was successful.


    *


    During the next few days, the other ships came home and docked to the station. None of them encountered another brown dwarf star and I was relieved for that. I greeted them all as family would, then we all gathered for a feast of my own making. They all enjoyed it as much as they could, then I told them we were taking a week off. Absolutely no work was to happen and we were all going to the second planet to spend time at the resort.


    Rest and relaxation was the order I gave and nearly everyone responded with positive thoughts to that. Sheph and Peggy were the only exceptions and the both of them were tempted to refuse, because The Wave had so many things going on and they needed to stay on top of it. I took them both aside and did my best to convince them.


    ¡°I know you''re busy and can''t just drop everything for a week. I know that.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then why are you forcing us...¡± Sheph started to say.


    ¡°Because neither of you have taken any time off... at all... since I''ve been back. Not one day. You are supposed to be taking regular days off and you''re not.¡±


    Sheph and Peggy both looked extremely guilty.


    ¡°Yes, I know you both love your jobs and you are both very good at them.¡± I said. ¡°If you don''t take a week''s vacation with the rest of us, I''ll suspend you for a week! You won''t even be allowed to monitor everything!¡±


    Sheph and Peggy took in sharp breaths.


    ¡°You... you wouldn''t!¡± Sheph exclaimed.


    ¡°Oh, yes I would.¡± I said sternly. ¡°Can you just imagine the mess that will be left here after a week of no one watching the company?¡±


    Both Sheph and Peggy shuddered and exchanged glances.


    ¡°I want you to defer all appointments for a week or squeeze them in before the vacation starts. You can tell them that it''s a company retreat, because it is, and I''ll even delay the start of the mandatory vacation for three days.¡±


    Sheph took a breath and let it out, then reluctantly nodded.


    ¡°I want to stay onboard.¡± Peggy said. ¡°I promise not to work... too much.¡±


    I had opened my mouth to tell her not to lie, then sighed. ¡°Peggy, you''ve been a huge help to both Sandy and Sheph and you need time off. I don''t want to force you into relaxing, because that defeats the whole point.¡±


    ¡°Then don''t do it.¡± Peggy said.


    ¡°Peggy...¡±


    ¡°I''ve spent enough time relaxing on that damn prison planet. You made sure of that.¡± Peggy said and reached into her pocket and took out the electronic key I had given her for the villa on the surface. ¡°I kept this as a reminder of it. Even though we were all on that hellhole for years and no one cared at all about us, there was one ass of a person that came along and showed us that even hellholes can become nice places to live if the right people are in control.¡±


    I reached out and took her hand with the electronic key and placed my other hand on it to hold her hand tenderly. ¡°I didn''t know you felt that way about me.¡±


    ¡°You''re an ass.¡± Peggy said with a stern expression as everyone looked at us. ¡°Are you happy now?¡±


    ¡°I will be in a second.¡± I said and darted forward and kissed her on the cheek. ¡°Now I am!¡± I said and laughed as I ran away.


    ¡°NO!¡± Peggy yelled after me and touched her cheek.


    Everyone looked at each other and then at Peggy as her face turned to a deep red. She didn''t repress her anger at all and a few of them had to turn away to stop from laughing.


    ¡°Get back here so I can kill you, YOU ASS!¡± Peggy yelled.


    ¡°I can''t die right now. I''m going on vacation.¡± I said and made my voice echo throughout the station. ¡°I... stole... a kiss...¡±


    ¡°HUNTERRRRR!¡± Peggy yelled and her voice echoed through the station, just from sheer volume. ¡°You bastard! You held my hand to stop me from slapping you!¡±


    My laughter floated through the room and the others couldn''t help it and laughed, too.

 Book Three: The Resolution 147

    The reason I wanted to delay for three days was because Mr. Landing was going to wake up before then. I went to the medical bay on Adona and saw Amanda checking his readings again.


    ¡°You know they aren''t going to change until he wakes up.¡± I said as I walked over to her.


    ¡°Which should be any minute now.¡± Amanda said and kept one eye on the readouts and one on the patient.


    I was tempted to give him a boost to wake him up sooner, then decided against it. Not surprisingly, his Presence core hadn''t increased at all and he didn''t have any of my Presence inside of him. I checked him over with Detect Presence and all of his limbs and regrown parts were fine and had the same Presence signature as his core, which meant all that focusing crystal energy had been used solely for restoration and didn''t power him up at all. He was just a normal man.


    Amanda saw his brain scan readings fluctuate and stepped close to his bedside and stared down at him. ¡°Mr. Landing? Are you awake?¡± She asked and reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, then pulled her hand back.


    The man opened his eyes for a moment, closed them, then he took in a sharp breath. ¡°My eyes!¡± He exclaimed and opened them. His hand gently probed the cheek and around what used to be a cybernetic eye. His whole hand got into the action as he rubbed the side of his head. ¡°I can feel that!¡±


    ¡°Well, it''s your head, so that''s no surprise.¡± I said and he looked at me.


    ¡°I don''t see a heads up display!¡± He said and tried to poke at his eye with his fingers.


    Amanda caught his hand and pulled it away from his face. ¡°There''s no need to test it. It''s real.¡±


    ¡°No, it can''t be.¡± Mr. Landing said. ¡°I haven''t had a real eye in years.¡±


    ¡°There''s also something you didn''t notice.¡± I said and pointed. ¡°You used your hand automatically.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He looked at me and then down at his hand. ¡°My hand?¡± He asked and then his hand made a fist. ¡°I have my hand back!¡± He said loudly and opened his hand and wiggled the fingers. ¡°By the Goddess, I have my hand back.¡±


    ¡°And your legs.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I doubt you''re going to be walking on them anytime soon, though.¡±


    ¡°WHAT? WHY?!?¡± Mr. Landing yelled.


    ¡°You need to relearn how to walk with real limbs.¡± I said. ¡°You''ve been stumping along on metal legs for years, so you can''t expect to just be able to walk normally, even with a fully restored nervous system.¡±


    ¡°But... she said...¡±


    ¡°Wiggle your toes.¡± Amanda said and she and he looked at his feet, and the toes wiggled. ¡°Good. Good.¡± She said and used a metal prod to poke at the sole of his right foot.


    The leg jerked and he let out a short string of curses, then he started to cry.


    ¡°I felt that! I did!¡± Mr. Landing said and thought about trying to sit up. Both Amanda and I put a hand on his shoulders to hold him down.


    ¡°Baby steps.¡± I said. ¡°Let the medical professional check you over before you try jumping around the compartment.¡±


    ¡°How did you know I wanted to do that?¡± He asked me and flipped the blanket off.


    ¡°You just gained eight inches in height and your real legs, so you want get right into seeing how much you can do with those legs.¡±


    Mr. Landing gave me a knowing look and nodded. ¡°Help me stand up.¡±


    ¡°I want to run a scan first.¡± Amanda said.


    ¡°Then help me walk over there!¡± He said and held his hands out to us. ¡°Get me up on my feet! Now!¡±


    I reached out and took his hand. He looked at Amanda and she sighed. She took his other hand and we slid him to the side of the bed and he planted his bare feet onto the floor.


    ¡°AH! The floor''s freezing!¡± Mr. Landing said. ¡°Ha ha! I love it!¡±


    ¡°Please don''t try to move too fast. Let your brain get used to being back in control.¡± Amanda said.


    He nodded and pulled on our hands and his weight left the bed and was completely on his new legs. He was close to my height and he stared down at the floor. He wiggled his toes and they still worked.


    ¡°They''re really my feet.¡± He said, his voice full of disbelief and wonder. ¡°This is amazing.¡±


    ¡°You''re standing well.¡± Amanda said and made a note on her datapad. ¡°Do you want to try it on your own?¡±


    ¡°By the seven hells, yes!¡± Mr. Landing said and she carefully let his hand go. Only I was holding him up and she nodded to me.


    ¡°Don''t be scared if you lose your balance.¡± I said and slowly let his hand go, too.


    ¡°I won''t.¡± He said with a smile and stood there. He wavered slightly; but, that was more to a normal person''s auto-gyration response that made them keep correcting their posture. ¡°Ha.¡± He let out a single bark of laughter and then took my hand again. ¡°All right. First step.¡±


    Amanda stared at her readouts and then kept adding notes.


    Mr. Landing put all of his weight on one leg and leaned forward as he dragged his other leg. His foot made a slapping sound as it hit the floor again and he laughed. He did the same with the other foot and then kept laughing as he slapped-stepped over to the medical scanner with me holding him up. I helped him sit down and he leaned back and pulled his legs up automatically.


    ¡°Autonomic response is at normal levels.¡± Amanda said. ¡°This really is amazing.¡±


    ¡°Make sure to give him the full workup while I take Herbie back to the Udelis to rest.¡±


    ¡°That''s not necessary.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Herbie''s fine right were he is.¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t a request.¡± I said and motioned to the medical droid. ¡°Even droids need down time.¡±


    Amanda thought about arguing with me and changed her mind, because she was sure I wouldn''t find what she had hidden on him.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    I led Herbie out of the medical bay and quickly used Presence to check him over. I found two things on him. A memory chip that wasn''t there before and a small communications device. I didn''t ask him to hand them over, since Amanda probably asked him to keep them for medical reasons. I covered them in Presence and made it solid instead and popped the battery on the communications device.


    As soon as we were out of Adona, Herbie used an appendage to hit a button on the communications device. Nothing happened, since it was just solid Presence, and he kept following me. I took him back to Udelis and plugged him in, then used a nearby console to go over his programming. Sure enough, there were a few other subroutines that weren''t there before.


    I sighed and scrubbed the new additions, put Herbie into sleep mode, then removed the communications device and the memory chip. I took both down to the security center, turned on the black barrier to block everything, then absorbed the Presence around the two items and accessed them. The device was a dummy link and only contacted another device, and the memory card had all of the medical scans that were before, during, and after the procedures.


    It also had all of her notes on everything she had seen and witnessed. Not only for this procedure, either. Both Hailey''s and Simone''s were on it as well and they were pretty extensive. It made me wonder how many copies of it she had made and where they were.


    Well, I was warned about sharing it with her. I thought in disappointment as I copied the data after making sure there wasn''t any malicious coding or software in it, then I wiped the chip. I was tempted to crush the communications device, then decided to copy the signal and see if I could trace the source. I turned off the black barrier and it took a while to find anything even remotely like it on the galactic net.


    They were sold in pairs and worked like a beacon. Whoever pushed it first needed immediate extraction that was to be performed by the holder of the other one. That made me think about Herbie. I had told Amanda a long time ago that Herbie was a part of Udelis and couldn''t be removed, so I spent a bit more time looking for how it was possible to change medical bots from one place to another.


    I wasn''t surprised to find that it was possible. As long as you completely reprogrammed the medical bot to fit the new station, it would work fine because it wouldn''t remember the old one. Of course, there was no way that anyone was getting onto the station without me knowing about it, especially with Opina watching everything. They were definitely not getting off the station if they did somehow manage to sneak in.


    That line of thinking took me to the memory chip with the data on it. It must be much more important than I believed it was, if they only wanted to get the data and not Herbie off of the station. So, either there was something hidden inside the data that I didn''t recognize, or the data itself is what was valuable. I couldn''t see how, especially since I didn''t have many of the wooden placards left.


    Amanda doesn''t know that, though. I thought. I''m sure she knows they are of limited use; but, I haven''t told her exactly how limited they really are.


    I picked up the wiped memory chip and the disabled communications device and went back up to the docking ring. I stopped between the hatches to enter either Udelis and Adona and thought about what I wanted to do.


    Do I want to let it play out and see who shows up when the communications device is activated, or do I confront Amanda right now? The first was a somewhat risky proposition, since I didn''t know who, or what, would try to assault the station. Were they after Herbie, Amanda, or the data?


    I sighed as I made my decision and went into Adona''s main hatch and walked over to the medical bay. I entered the room and Amanda was deep into the analysis of the medical scan. I stood there and waited for several minutes, just until the first preliminary scan finished, then I put the blank memory chip on the display she was looking at.


    ¡°Lose something?¡± I asked her and she lifted her head to look at me.


    ¡°It''s a backup I put into Herbie for safekeeping.¡± Amanda said.


    ¡°I guessed that much on my own.¡± I said and held up the small communications device. ¡°Explain this.¡±


    ¡°It''s a communications device.¡± Amanda said.


    ¡°Why did you give it to Herbie?¡±


    ¡°So he could call me.¡± Amanda lied and the Presence wavered.


    ¡°He wouldn''t try to call you as soon as he left the ship, would he?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Maybe he missed me.¡± Amanda said.


    ¡°All right.¡± I said. ¡°Now, think carefully about this before you answer. Are you trying to steal him from me?¡±


    ¡°What if he wants to go with me?¡± Amanda asked and then smiled. ¡°Why don''t you ask him.¡±


    ¡°I would rather you tell me the truth.¡± I said, a little tired of her evasions.


    ¡°What truth is that?¡±


    I pointed at the man on the table that was looking at us. ¡°Why did you make me waste such limited and priceless items on a goddamned combat soldier?!?¡±


    ¡°E-excuse me?¡± Amanda blinked her eyes. ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°I''m saying that he''s a complete non-entity! He''s no one! He''s not even highly decorated or fought in any significant wars! In fact, he doesn''t even have a decent rank in the military!¡±


    Both Amanda and Mr. Landing stared at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°That... that''s a horrible thing to say to someone!¡± Amanda spat at me.


    ¡°Tell me how this insignificant man, with no personal resources, managed to pay the exorbitant auction fee YOU charged for MY restoration abilities!¡± I said loudly and the thoughts immediately popped up in both of their minds.


    It was a test.


    They had found the most damaged and hard-on-his-luck soldier they could find that was still mobile. The man who had actually paid the fee, or would pay the fee, had been too nervous about how it would turn out that he wanted to try it on a surrogate first.


    ¡°Oh, you stupid... ignorant... goddamned...¡± I muttered as my anger flared. ¡°You will return or destroy all data pertaining to my processes and research. All of it.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, why are you acting this way?¡± Amanda asked.


    ¡°I read your thoughts.¡± I said. ¡°I know perfectly well that this man was only a test to ease Mr. Bretburn''s mind about going through the procedure himself.¡± I made a fist and held my anger back. ¡°You made me waste my precious resources, my time, and my efforts for nothing!¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t for nothing!¡± Amanda exclaimed. ¡°It works! You didn''t have any personal connection with this man and you healed him perfectly! It was a complete success!¡±


    ¡°Yes, it was.¡± I said. ¡°Now tell me what makes you think I would ever do this again for you?¡±


    ¡°You promised to heal whomever I brought to you!¡± Amanda said.


    ¡°I agreed to do it only once!¡± I nearly yelled.


    ¡°Don''t be greedy, Hunter. I brought Mr. Bretburn with me and he''s waiting for this procedure. Mr. Landing was only the test subject. Now that we know it works and that it''s safe, you can just use more of those things to do it again.¡±


    I reached out and grabbed her by the throat. ¡°What I just wasted could have been used to save someone I care about, you stupid cow!¡±


    ¡°Let her go!¡± Mr. Landing said as he sat up and tried to punch me. He was a combat soldier, so his body responded as if it always had its parts. It was just too bad that I was pissed. His fist hit a Presence Barrier and two of his fingers broke. He yelled and pulled his hand back, then laughed at the feeling. ¡°That really hurt! Ha ha!¡±


    ¡°Then you''ll love this.¡± I said and created a Presence Barrier behind his head and backhanded him in the face. I wasn''t trying to hold back at all and the side of his face was completely crushed and his eye exploded. He fell to the floor, unconscious and possibly dying, and Amanda screamed.


    I covered her mouth with Presence to shut her up. ¡°I don''t like being lied to or people trying to steal my things.¡± I said to her and concentrated on her mind. ¡°I just need to change a few things in your head. I won''t be a minute.¡±


    Amanda screamed wordlessly as I rummaged through her head for all the places she had stored the data, on her person, in her private files, and at her private practice. I found all of the references to me, Hailey, Simone, and the procedure in her mind, then replaced it with the image of the man on the floor. Whenever she tried to think about anything to do with it, she would see the result of her deception.


    I put her to sleep and went to the console. ¡°Adona, lift the communications restrictions, please.¡± I said and used the medical professional''s passwords and codes to enter all the places she had put the data and I deleted it, then ran a scrubbing program to clean out the memory and then overwrote the spaces with other files. With that done, I did a quick check of the system to see what ships were owned by Mr. Bretburn.


    I was tempted to destroy it when I found it, then changed my mind. He might be on the planet''s surface or on a shuttle ready to dock, so that wouldn''t guarantee his elimination. I knew he was a tenacious old man and would do anything to get his hands on what I could do, now that he knew that it... worked. I chuckled, because he didn''t know yet and then I smiled. I walked over to Amanda and emptied her pockets, dissolved everything, including the blank memory chip, then I went to the patient.


    I knew I saved his artificial limbs for a reason. I thought and used Presence to open the closet where they were and brought them over to where I knelt, then I took out a Light sword and prepared myself to use Hailey''s ability as I lopped off the man''s legs and arm.


    It wasn''t going to take me long to put him back to the way they had found him.

 Book Three: The Resolution 148

    As I worked on reattaching the artificial legs, Mr. Landing regained consciousness.


    ¡°AHHH! MY FACE!¡± He yelled and tried to touch it with his now missing arm. ¡°AHHH! MY ARM!¡±


    ¡°Dammit, you''re stubborn.¡± I said and used Presence to knock him out. ¡°Looks like I need to modify your memory, too.¡±


    I thought about just killing him and dissolving all the regrown organs, then sighed. It wasn''t really his fault that I was duped, so I only dissolved one of the kidneys, one of the lungs, the spleen which he didn''t really need anyway, and debated the intestines. I looked at the medical supplies and decided that I just had to accept that he would have to keep most of the regrown items.


    I looked at his face and dissolved the connections in the eye socket, then picked up his old cybernetic implant and slipped it into place. Just for fun, I dissolved part of his skull and cleaned out the underside of the metal plate he used to have there and slid it into place. It looked like it had never been removed, so I went to work on reattaching the artificial arm.


    I wasn''t a detailed surgeon; but, I could see very well with Presence, so I managed to get it seated properly and attached the nerve endings to the contact points. It wasn''t really necessary for me to do that, though. It just made the arm fit back on that much better. I put him into the medical scanner and made a scan, then added it to a blank datapad and put it in Amanda''s pocket.


    With Mr. Landing reassembled, I levitated him and Amanda out of the medical bay under stealth. I took them down to the shuttle bay and opened the doors, stood the both of them up on their feet near the landing pad, then reconnected the battery on the small communications device. I put the device in her hand, made them visible, and used Presence to have her thumb push the button.


    I stepped back and watched the security station monitor that I had set to the ship, and a shuttle disembarked. I had to wait for them to enter my detection range before I could see that it had a squad of troops on it. They were heavily armed and surrounded the man I assumed was Mr. Bretburn. I confirmed it as the shuttle landed and their thoughts turned to protecting him and thought his name. I let Amanda and Mr. Landing go, so they both collapsed as the troops poured out of the shuttle.


    ¡°I hope she at least has the data.¡± The man said, disappointment in his voice. His prosthetic was most of his face, his chest, and his groin. Whatever had happened to him, likely a very localized explosion, had damaged his front too much to heal and it had to be replaced. Surprisingly, his organs and things were all intact.


    ¡°Sir? Are we going to the medical bay?¡± The captain of the squad asked as he handed his boss the datapad Amanda had, while the others carried Amanda and Mr. Landing into the shuttle.


    ¡°No. I believe some judicial negotiations are going to be needed to sway him to help me.¡± Mr. Bretburn said as he looked at the faked data. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    I took the opportunity to slip an expanding black barrier device onto the top of the shuttle, under stealth of course, and watched them load back up and take off. I watched the security station''s monitor as they flew all the way back to their ship. When they docked to it, I smiled and took out a datapad.


    ¡°Five. Four. Three. Ah, screw it.¡± I chuckled and sent the command.


    The entire ship was engulfed in an instant as the black barrier consumed it from the inside out, then the barrier disappeared. I looked at the datapad and it was still functioning, so I recalled it. Two of the ten focusing crystals had been emptied and I thought that was a fantastic energy to material conversion ratio for such a big ship.


    ¡°They must have had a lot of energy based materials onboard.¡± I said and closed the shuttle bay doors. I walked back upstairs after dropping my Stealth technique and met a few people in the media room.


    ¡°We''re almost packed!¡± Monica said excitedly.


    ¡°She''s gone a little crazy.¡± Simone said and shook her head. ¡°You could almost swear that she''s never been on a week long resort vacation before.¡±


    ¡°I haven''t!¡± Monica said loudly. ¡°What''s it going to be like?¡±


    Simone chuckled. ¡°It''s barely an hour away by shuttle.¡± She said. ¡°The planet, that is. I''m not counting descending from orbit.¡±


    ¡°Anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour for that.¡± Jelly said as she came up the ramp with her fiance. ¡°If we''re taking Monna...¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°YOU BETTER BE!¡± Monna yelled through the intercom speakers.


    Jelly laughed. ¡°...it''ll be three minutes, tops.¡±


    ¡°How long do we have before the show starts?¡± Simone asked as she came out of her room.


    ¡°Twenty minutes.¡± Opina said through the intercom speakers.


    ¡°That''s just enough time for a good groping.¡± Simone said as she reached me.


    ¡°Hey, you don''t know where my hands have been lately.¡± I joked.


    ¡°I meant me, stupid.¡± Simone grinned and grabbed my butt, so I jumped a little for her and she laughed. After a few minutes, everyone else showed up and we all sat down on the couches to wait for the show to come on. I didn''t say anything for a few minutes, then I leaned out to look down at the very end of the farthest couch.


    ¡°Peggy.¡±


    ¡°I''m not talking to you.¡± Peggy said, her face covered in a frown. ¡°It''s apparently in my contract that killing my boss is against company policy.¡±


    I chuckled and looked at Sheph, and she nodded. ¡°Oh. Well.¡± I looked back at Peggy. ¡°Then there''s only one thing I need to say to you.¡±


    ¡°This should be good.¡± Peggy said and looked at me. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry that my overwhelming affection for you overrode my common sense.¡± I said and her eyes widened. ¡°I really like you... as a person and not as a sexual object... and I''ll stop annoying you by pushing your personal boundaries so much.¡±


    Peggy''s frown disappeared and she gave me an odd look. ¡°I thought you were going to fire me for refusing to go on vacation.¡±


    Complete silence met her words, then everyone laughed, especially me.


    ¡°Oh... oh... that''s hilarious!¡± I exclaimed and held my sides. ¡°I make a pass at you and you expected to be fired for it! Ha hahaha!¡±


    ¡°It''s... your... company.¡± Peggy said and her face flushed red.


    I was kneeling in front of her in an instant and I took her hand. ¡°Don''t be embarrassed.¡± I said in a soft voice. ¡°If you haven''t noticed by now, we don''t really offer people jobs until they are considered a part of the family.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have a job.¡± Monica said.


    ¡°That''s beause you''re my mother and you never have to work again... unless you want to.¡± I said. ¡°Like occasionally cooking and going on death ride missions with Simone.¡±


    Monica opened her mouth to say that wasn''t really a job, then she chuckled. ¡°Death ride missions?¡±


    ¡°Oh, not for us.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°We bring death to anyone against us.¡±


    ¡°Amen to that.¡± Simone said. ¡°The high and mighty Order is being slowly eradicated from existence.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and it''s my goal to make sure that as few people as possible lose their lives because of them.¡±


    Everyone gave me inquisitive looks.


    ¡°I''ll need Simone''s expertise as I creatively construct an Order wide command from The Wise One, that tells all Order members and devotees to the goddess they believe in, to gather at their temples and holy sites to wait for him to handle the atrocities being committed against The Order.¡±


    Simone stared at me for several seconds as she tried to work out how I could miraculously do that, then she got the thought from my mind. ¡°You have his head!¡±


    I nodded and took it out briefly to show them.


    ¡°AHH!¡± Monica covered her face. ¡°What, by god, is that?!?¡±


    ¡°He was The Wise One and is pretty much the figurehead of The Order.¡± I said and chuckled at my own pun. ¡°Figure head.¡± I said and put it away. ¡°Simone and I can get it done before we leave tomorrow and then we''ll send it out... using their own codes from the home world... and add in the footage of the home world and the sacred site being destroyed.¡±


    ¡°That will definitely get their attention.¡± Sheph said and nodded. ¡°You''ve gotten really good at the whole political intimidation thing.¡±


    I nodded back to her. ¡°I learned from the best.¡±


    ¡°I think I deserve another hair curtain for that.¡± Sheph said unabashedly.


    I chuckled and nearly everyone laughed as she dove behind me and buried her face into my golden hair.


    *


    Hen and her Tiercel stayed on Adona and in their quarters, so Hunter didn''t feel too bad about letting Peggy stay on the space habitat to keep an eye on things. No one mentioned the debacle with Amanda and the amputee patient, not even the local military authorities, even though an entire space ship had disappeared within their jurisdiction.


    The new message asking all Order members to band together in solidarity and to wait for the situation to be handled was prepared and sent out. After that, the only thing left to do was to pack everything and everyone onto Monna. They all headed to the planet''s surface at Monna''s best orbital insertion speed, which delighted her and made a few passengers nervous, namely Monica, Kara, and Lashina. They were not used to anything even comparable to combat insertions.


    The shuttle reached the surface and landed near the resort and then the passengers spread out to their designated villas. Most of them had a fantastic time relaxing and having fun in the pools and recreational areas. Kara and Lashina, no so much. Kara didn''t want to relax at all, since she was still technically a prisoner, and Lashina wasn''t allowed out to mix and mingle without wearing pants... that she kept intentionally tearing.


    *


    I spent a majority of the vacation time with Simone and she spent the majority of her time with Gleas, which meant we both spent a lot of time with Gleas. Gleas didn''t object in the least, because she knew that not only was she getting her emotional and physical satisfaction, both Simone and I were getting it, too. The three of us benefited from our time together and we came back from the vacation healthier and more resolved in our purpose.


    Our missions began again, only this time, I was the only pilot that was flying Hela. I had been tempted to hire another pilot on a temporary basis; but, there were so many classified things being shared between everyone in the company that I couldn''t introduce some random person into the mix and then just hope that they would keep it to themselves. I could erase their memories afterwards... if they survived... and that was an inconsolable no.


    No other person in our company wanted to trust a random stranger with our company secrets and no one wanted to bring any new people in and subject them to the same treatment, not without vetting them into the family first. We had who we had, and that was it.

 Book Three: The Resolution 149

    I may have been piloting the ship alone; but, I wasn''t on the ship by myself. I couldn''t in good conscience leave Kara and Lashina on the station and potentially cause a ruckus.... or worse, believe that they could escape. I wasn''t going to allow that, so they needed to come with me and needed to be supervised.


    The downside to that was Lashina was usually in the spare room sulking, because we were technically alone and I still wouldn''t allow her to walk around in her panties or sleep with her, and Kara was completely useless as a co-pilot. She couldn''t even read the navigation computer display properly, let alone assist in any of the normal ship operations.


    Hela was not impressed by either woman and didn''t understand why I had brought along such useless people to help in the mission. She didn''t trust Kara to touch her consoles, so any time Kara was near them Hela deactivated them and shunted the controls to the pilot''s main seat.


    I almost laughed at that, because I didn''t have to warn her that Kara might try to use the controls to do... well, something... and she shouldn''t have access to them. I had been tempted to leave her in one of the rooms, then decided that I couldn''t pilot the ship, watch for dangers, and watch her at the same time.


    On the plus side, both Kara and Lashina had orderly minds, so I wasn''t being constantly bombarded by random thoughts. I had only slightly relaxed my mental barriers and it was a little relaxing to metaphorically let my hair down and not worry about either of them trying to take advantage of that. I was sure that Kara would, considering she had been trying for years to get into my head; but, she still wore the wrist and ankle restraints, uncoupled of course, and it kept her Presence in check.


    Kara was really starting to hate me for that.


    ¡°So, have you figured out how to make a black barrier machine yet?¡± I asked.


    Kara huffed from the co-pilot''s seat. ¡°You build them too quickly for me to get anything, especially since you won''t take these infernal bracelets off!¡±


    ¡°The very first thing you''re going to do when I take them off is attack me.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Or am I wrong?¡±


    Kara didn''t say anything and I nodded.


    ¡°I wouldn''t do it on a space station and I will definitely not do it on a space ship.¡± I said. ¡°You would kill us quicker than the emptiness of space would.¡±


    Kara sat there and thought about how she could still attack and not damage the ship.


    ¡°Don''t forget my personal shield.¡± I reminded her. ¡°You''d still have to get by that.¡±


    ¡°I''ve done it before.¡± Kara said.


    I chuckled again. ¡°I''ve modified them since then. Now they can absorb energy and strengthen itself.¡±


    Kara gave me a look with squinted eyes.


    ¡°Yes, I''ve adapted parts of the barrier technology that much.¡± I said. ¡°In fact, I''m still working on trying to miniaturize it.¡±


    ¡°You can''t miniaturize it.¡± Kara said. ¡°You said it yourself. It uses standard parts. They only way to...¡± She caught her breath and her eyes widened. ¡°You can''t be serious.¡±


    ¡°I''m having a problem with the interconnections, because unless all of the parts I use are miniaturized, then they don''t fit together.¡± I said. ¡°I tried looking for the plans of a standard parts factory and they aren''t on the open market. I''m not sure how I can get them, not without trying to buy a factory for myself.¡±


    ¡°Would you really spend a fortune to buy something you''d only tear apart for a chance to make it smaller?¡± Kara laughed. ¡°I don''t think they come with the plans to build themselves.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if I can make that one of the conditions?¡± I asked, rhetorically. ¡°I assume the things the factory can make have to be inside the computer data banks somewhere, right? Otherwise, how would the different parts be made and assembled?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and spend a fortune to find out.¡± Kara said. ¡°And you complain about The Order spending to excesses.¡±


    ¡°A peaceful organization shouldn''t need hundreds of thousands of heavily armed spaceships, Kara.¡±


    ¡°Your company just started and you have eight of them.¡± Kara countered.


    ¡°The Wave is not a peaceful organization.¡± I responded and she gave me another look. ¡°It didn''t even start out that way, so you can lose the accusing look.¡±


    ¡°But... you were a shipping company.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°It was, and I supported it by bounty hunting.¡± I said. ¡°In fact, our very first shipping job was delivering delegates to a war-torn system and that was not peaceful at all.¡±


    Kara closed her mouth on what she was going to say, because the Presence hadn''t wavered.


    ¡°Thanks for sitting here and keeping me company.¡± I said with a smirk and she glared at me. ¡°It''s nice to talk to someone else, even if she''s hostile and hates that I''m keeping her as an apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Why don''t you have Lashina up here instead? I''m sure she''d love to spend all this time with you.¡±


    ¡°You just answered your own question.¡± I said and she lost the glare as she thought about it. ¡°Yeah, she would be all over me and I wouldn''t be able to fly the ship.¡±


    ¡°You could just tell her no.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I''ve been telling her no.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Ha. You think I''ve been visiting her bed every night.¡±


    ¡°Haven''t you?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°No. She won''t learn how to adapt if I gave in to her desires so easily.¡±


    ¡°You want to sleep with her, though.¡±


    ¡°Of course I do. Have you seen her cute little pink ass in a pair of silk panties?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Ah, dammit. I''m hard now.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Hunter.¡± Lashina''s voice floated through the cockpit.


    ¡°If you would wear pants for more than five minutes, I could take them off of you, you know!¡± I said back to her.


    ¡°They''re too restrictive!¡± Lashina said back.


    ¡°I know they are. That''s the point.¡± I said and she didn''t say anything back. ¡°Maybe some day I''ll feel your love again.¡±


    ¡°I''m... I''m trying, Hunter. I am.¡± Lashina whispered.


    ¡°I know you are.¡± I said, because the Presence only wavered a tiny amount, which meant she does try, just that she wasn''t right now.


    Kara had sat through that exchange and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± I said to her as I covered the cockpit with Presence. ¡°She can''t hear us now.¡±


    Kara could feel the Presence Barrier and nodded. ¡°She''s not going to give up her beliefs for you.¡± She said. ¡°She''s been worshipping the Goddess-¡±


    ¡°Don''t say her name.¡± I interrupted her.


    Kara sighed. ¡°...for over a hundred years, ever since she was a child and old enough to learn about The Order.¡±


    ¡°Do you really believe someone can''t change their core beliefs, even with overwhelming evidence of their wrongdoing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It''ll take more than that to convince someone to abandon their core beliefs.¡± Kara said. ¡°Plus, it can be argued that it was only the followers that have done the wrongs and not the Goddess herself.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    It was my turn to sigh this time. ¡°I think that''s why. She doesn''t care about them. At all. She only cares that she has them. It doesn''t matter who they are or what they do. All that matters is the numbers of them that believe in her.¡±


    Kara thought of reminding me she had been chosen to go to Relique, then decided not to.


    I thought about telling her that she was brought along by mistake, then decided that this wasn''t the time. It wouldn''t have much impact now, not with her Presence restrained like it was, so I saved that little nugget of information for later. Of course, I didn''t expressly tell her that I was going to remove the shackles at some point, which was also going to be a test for her.


    I was pretty sure she was going to fail, because she wasn''t close to doubting her Goddess as much as she needed to, so I was delaying it as much as possible.


    Temptation, thy name is freedom. I thought and smiled.


    Kara gave me a look when she saw it. ¡°I don''t want to know.¡±


    I turned my head to give her an award winning smile. ¡°Oh, how wrong you are. You do. You really do.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to say that she didn''t, then stopped when the Presence didn''t waver. She fell silent and stayed that way until we exited hyperspace and stopped in a small out of the way system. There was nothing from The Order in the system, since it had already been eradicated, and I stayed well outside any of the planetary gravity wells.


    I absorbed the Presence blocking Lashina from hearing us. ¡°Hela, we''re parking for twelve hours so I can rest and recover. Stay alert and let me know if anyone tries to approach.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Grandpa. Should I enter high alert?¡±


    ¡°Only if a ship approaches and doesn''t accept your hail, then go active and warn them away. If they still don''t listen, I give you permission to light up their deflector screens with a medium power laser cannon barrage when they are at extreme range.¡±


    ¡°If they still don''t listen?¡± Hela asked and the console lights in the cockpit changed from normal to yellow.


    ¡°Would you rather use a missile or a black barrier device?¡±


    ¡°Black barrier device.¡± Hela said without hesitation, because she always wanted to use the most lethal weapon we had.


    I chuckled and stood up. ¡°Target the weapons and engines when necessary.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa.¡± Hela said and a plot of the local system popped up on the navigation display. ¡°Monitoring for hostiles and entering stealth mode.¡±


    All the lights on the ship dimmed to half intensity.


    ¡°Let''s go to bed.¡± I said to Kara and she stared at me, so I laughed. ¡°Separate beds, of course.¡±


    Kara kept staring at my crotch and didn''t move.


    I looked down to see that my black bodysuit had faded away. I was completely naked... and still quite hard. ¡°Dammit. Stop doing that.¡± I said with a sigh and took out my nightgown. ¡°Apparently, the suit seems to respond to my intentions.¡± I slipped the nightgown on. ¡°Sometimes before I intend it to.¡±


    Kara took in a deep breath and let it out, then stood. ¡°If you didn''t have my access to Presence restrained, I would make you pay for that.¡± She said angrily and stepped by me.


    ¡°Kara, I didn''t do that on purpose.¡± I said and she didn''t listen to me as I followed her.


    ¡°I don''t care.¡± Kara said and kept walking.


    ¡°You''ve seen me naked before.¡± I said in as reasonable of a tone of voice as possible.


    Kara stopped and turned to glare at me. ¡°I have never seen you like that or had you wave yourself in front of my face!¡± She spat. ¡°Do you really think a woman wants to see such vulgarity? DO YOU?¡±


    There wasn''t really any response that I could give that would deflate the situation, especially not a joke saying that if we were both naked and going to have sex, then she would want to see it like that. So, I kept my mouth shut and didn''t say anything as I looked into her eyes.


    Kara stared at me for a few moments, then she turned and walked over to the spare room. She went inside and didn''t say anything else. She didn''t even talk to Lashina as she changed into her sleep clothes, then laid down on the bed.


    I thought about trying to explain, then realized I couldn''t really explain. I could tell her that I tried wearing clothes under it and whenever it appeared, it either dissolved or absorbed whatever I was wearing. I couldn''t wear my flight suit anymore because I was pretty sure it would absorb it. I sighed again and went to my room and went inside, then used the various mental techniques to relax, enter an alert state, meditate, and also sleep.


    Not surprisingly, I couldn''t operate the ship while splitting my concentration so significantly, so I always retired to rest. It was at times like this that I regretted not bring Noma along. Not only could she copy my flying ability, she could have stayed with me in bed to keep me company. She was great, because she never expected anything to happen. In fact, during our little vacation, I had only slept with her once. I also knocked her out with Presence, per her request, and she had a great time just having fun with everyone.


    She had refused to come with me, because she said she would constantly be asking me to knock her out with Presence overload by feeding her more than she could handle. She couldn''t be around me for very long before her desire to feel that again would override her common sense, which wouldn''t be a good thing to have while performing deadly operations that required both an attention to detail and perseverance... neither of which she could do while blissfully unconscious.


    I closed my eyes while I laid in bed and let myself recover for the full twelve hours. I wasn''t going to waste any time by not taking full advantage of my down time and then I got up. I went to the spare room and looked in on the two women there. They were both asleep, quite deeply in fact, and I thought about intruding. I decided not to, or tried to force them to stay asleep, then I went to the cockpit.


    ¡°Good morning, Hela.¡± I said. ¡°Stay in stealth mode, please.¡±


    ¡°Good morning, Grandpa.¡± Hela said. ¡°There was only one ship that flew by. They didn''t approach us or were classed as a threat, so I didn''t engage them.¡±


    I smiled and stroked the piloting console. ¡°Good work.¡± I said. ¡°I''m glad you didn''t overreact and blow them up, just because they were using the nearby Lagrange point.¡±


    ¡°It was a close call.¡± Hela said, and she almost sounded amused.


    I laughed. ¡°Well, keep an eye out. I''ll need a few minutes to get the right coordinates from the navigation computer before we can jump to the next system.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa.¡± Hela said.


    The computer calculated the right coordinates for me and I entered them into the pilot''s console, then powered Hela up and flew us over to the Lagrange point and entered hyperspace. It was another three days to get to the next system and I would rest again there. It was definitely taking me a lot longer to fly the ship to my designated targets, all because I was the only pilot.


    I had thought I could get Kara interested in being a good co-pilot, and soon discovered that she had no interest in learning anything at all about flying. I thought that was a little odd, especially since learning would give her a better chance to try and take over the ship or mess up the navigation computer or something. No, she didn''t want anything at all to do with it and thought her time was better spent in meditation.


    An hour after the ship entered hyperspace, Kara came out of her room. She was dressed in her princess uniform, with the tiara that Lashina was very envious of, and she came to the cockpit.


    ¡°Why didn''t you wake me up?¡± Kara asked accusingly.


    ¡°I saw that you were sleeping... actually sleeping and not meditating... so, I left you there.¡±


    ¡°You looked in on me without permission?¡± Kara asked, accusingly.


    ¡°I didn''t want to open the door, so I looked through it.¡±


    ¡°I could have been naked or taking a shower!¡± Kara exclaimed.


    ¡°I knew you weren''t, because I saw you in the bed. If you weren''t in the bed, I would have searched the whole ship before looking in the shower.¡±


    Kara took a breath and let it out, because the Presence didn''t waver. She didn''t say anything else and sat down in the co-pilot''s seat. She glanced at the navigation computer''s display and I felt her confusion.


    ¡°Three days.¡± I said and she nodded, then she sat back in the chair and went into a half-meditation state and half alert state. I caught the thought in her mind about me thanking her the day before for being there and keeping me company, so she wasn''t quite as hostile about having to stay in the cockpit with me all the time.


    *


    That''s the way it went for the next eight weeks. Occasional stops to rest, long hyperspace flights, and then we popped out into the first system that had Order ships and buildings in it. We had exited way outside of the normal jump coordinates, just in case it was another brown dwarf star, then Hela calculated where The Order ships were. They actually had a full space station here and over a dozen ships of various classes.


    ¡°Damn, we''re going to have to go with an expansion version right off the bat.¡± I said as I saw the size of the station. It would take dozens of black barrier devices to disable all the power and that many more to take out all of the weapons, so I set the normal ones for the ships that were spread out, then set two expanding ones to pair up and head for the station.


    It had several ships docked to it, so they were easy pickings for the targeting computer. I held off on sending any missiles until the ships were taken care of, then I reached for the fire button.


    Kara grabbed my hand. ¡°You''re not even going to warn them?¡±


    ¡°About what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That you''re going to kill them.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°If it makes you feel any better about it, Hela sends the message as soon as we exit hyperspace. It''s automatic. Any time one of my ships appears in normal space that has an Order ship, temple, or office, the message is sent.¡±


    Kara sighed and let my hand go. I gave her an inquisitive look and she shook her head, so I shrugged and pushed the button to launch the devices. It didn''t take long for the large space station to disappear inside a double globe of the black barriers, then all the ships were disabled. I flew Hela over to the closest planet and targeted the temples and compounds on the surface and launched missiles.


    Kara watched the devastation as my single warship tore through a small fleet of ships and then erased all traces of The Order from each plant''s surface. No other ship tried to interfere or even contacted us to make sure we had the authority to do what we were doing.


    ¡°You have to love compliant little sheep.¡± I commented as the last building was destroyed. ¡°No wonder The Order has such an easy time taking over.¡±


    ¡°Why aren''t you doing that?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°What? You mean tell them to start worshipping god?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°Because I''d be just as bad as The Order.¡± I said. ¡°I''d only be replacing one bad thing with another.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know. The thing is, people are supposed to come to believe in things on their own. You can lead them and you can show them; but, unless they believe it, it''s all just words and doesn''t mean anything.¡±


    Kara looked at me with her mouth slightly open.


    ¡°You''ve seen some of the planets that The Order has taken over, right?¡± I asked and she nodded. ¡°Have they all converted to be loyal followers to the goddess, or are they just saying what you want to hear and worshipping who they want?¡±


    Kara didn''t say anything, because she knew that there were lots of people that only paid them lip service and didn''t actually believe in either The Order or the Goddess.


    ¡°All I''m doing is freeing them up to make the choice for themselves.¡± I said and got the next set of coordinates from the navigation computer. I flew Hela over to the closest Lagrange point and we entered hyperspace.

 Book Three: The Resolution 150

    We visited a dozen star systems as we made our way farther and farther out into the galaxy. Each one had some kind of Order Presence in it and they had congregated together, thanks to the fake message that Simone and I had sent out of The Wise One to all of The Order''s followers. It made wiping them all out so much easier... especially since they would transmit their locations when they gathered somewhere that wasn''t an official Order compound or temple.


    I almost started feeling bad about it. Almost. I only had to remember that the woman sitting beside me wasn''t the woman I had given my eternal heart to, and pushing the button became an act of vengeance each and every time. I didn''t let my anger take control until I stopped once every two weeks and took out my anger on some of the devastated worlds. I made sure to not be near a populated area when I let lose and I always stopped myself before I went blind with rage.


    I always returned to the ship calm and collected and Kara always gave me an angry look, because I had to lock her in the spare room when I left. I had tried to explain once and she didn''t understand, so I just did it silently and left it at that.


    Lashina on the other hand, completely understood and she cried every time I left the ship. When I returned, she always tried to comfort me and tried to use her Presence to touch mine. Unlike the way it used to be during all the other times we shared, I wouldn''t open it for her. That made her cry, and I felt bad for her, then I reminded her that we couldn''t do that until she wore pants and kept them on.


    I felt her resolve to try harder to conform to my unreasonable demand and I took her into my arms and kissed her. I let her feel my love and my desire for her to let me make love to her, because I really, really needed it, and she cried harder. She knew her inability to do what I wanted was hurting me as well as herself.


    After devastating another six systems and removing The Order from them, Hela exited into another brown dwarf system. Thankfully, I had prepared the ships after Gleas'' last encounter with it and was well suited to deal with it. I felt my Presence start to be siphoned off and fought the feeling as I quickly shot twenty-four expanding black barrier machines at the star. I turned the ship around and dropped a satellite as I poured power into Hela''s engines, then turned on the black barrier emitter that was hooked into one of the secondary reactors.


    The entire ship was covered in the large circular barrier and my Presence stopped being siphoned off immediately. The only bad part was that I couldn''t drop the barrier until the computer gave me coordinates to jump away... and it couldn''t do that until it had the navigation data from the current system. Since the barrier stopped all transmissions in and out through it, I would have to turn it off to get the computer to work.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Kara asked. ¡°Why did you turn around?¡±


    ¡°You didn''t feel that?¡± I asked and she shook her head. ¡°It''s something we''ve encountered before while on Relique. I think these are the worlds that were on the other side of the portals that appeared.¡±


    Kara gave me a disbelieving look. ¡°Hunter, do you know what the odds are that we would encounter them on this side?¡±


    ¡°I''m just telling you what I encountered. I don''t know why my Presence is being absorbed by it this time, though.¡± I quickly checked on Lashina with both my mind and my eyes. She looked and felt fine, which meant she hadn''t felt anything, either.


    I let the ship fly an hour or so away from the contact point and then briefly dropped the barrier. I felt my Presence be pulled slightly, so I put it back up and let the ship keep flying. Luckily, space was huge and mostly empty, so there was no worry about running into something outside of a star system. After another hour, I dropped the barrier again and didn''t feel anything. I was sure I wasn''t completely in the clear, so I turned it back on and flew for another hour.


    Three hours in normal space at Hela''s top speed was a significant distance, so when I dropped the barrier again, we were well away from the danger of the star. At least I hoped we were. I left the barrier down and let the navigation computer do its work and it spat out jump coordinates to take us out of there. I pulled as much info from the satellite I left in the system and then jumped into hyperspace.


    ¡°Hela, any damage?¡± I asked when we were safely away.


    ¡°None, Grandpa.¡± Hela said.


    ¡°Anything interesting from the satellite?¡±


    ¡°The satellite telemetry from our launched offensive barriers was quite spectacular.¡± Hela responded.


    ¡°In what way?¡± I asked and the main display changed to show me the chain of black barrier machines as they approached the brown dwarf star. You could see waves of... something... try to intercept them.


    It was interesting to see, especially since the waves increased in frequency as the barriers expanded one by one and grew exponentially as they absorbed the energy and sent it to the next one. It was a sight to see, especially when the first one touched the star.


    ¡°Okay, that was neat.¡± I said as all of the barriers expanded to the size of planets and then disappeared on the surface of the star. As a dwarf star, it was fairly small to begin with. When a dozen planet sized chunks were removed from it, it looked like a cookie that had a small bite taken out of it. The mass of the star moved almost like a wave as it shifted and filled in the missing parts to even its surface out, thanks to its massive gravity.


    Surprisingly, it reduced in size slightly. I thought that was odd, considering how large a star was, and I had to assume the barriers had taken a lot more of the star than we could physically see.


    ¡°Now I want to go back and check it myself.¡± I said.


    ¡°You are not going back!¡± Kara said. ¡°If it''s as bad as you say, you could die if it takes your Presence!¡±


    I gave her a wide-eyed look and her face flushed red.


    ¡°It''s just a generic concern, not specific to you.¡± Kara lied. ¡°Who would fly the ship if you died?¡±


    I didn''t respond and just let silence fill the cockpit. She thought it was because I didn''t have an answer, when I just wanted her to mull over her concern for me. I also didn''t want to make a joke that if I died, I wouldn''t care who flew the ship, because that would hurt Hela''s feelings.


    We exited hyperspace and I immediately called for a full conference. Most of the other ships were either in hyperspace or in the middle of a mission, so we sat there and waited for everyone to join in. I sent along all of the data from the brown dwarf system I had encountered and warned Sheph about not tapping into the satellite directly to confirm the data herself.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°We don''t know what kind of thing is going on here, so let''s just be on the safe side and leave it to my remote link.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hunter, this is the first time we''ve had a satellite inside a brown dwarf system.¡± Sheph said. ¡°You can''t just tell me we have this great information resource and then tell me I can''t use it.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I called so that I could let everyone know how best to deal with encountering brown dwarf stars.¡± I sent the sequence of what I did and how long it took to do it, then I quickly did up a computer subroutine to have it done automatically and sent it. I looked at Gleas and saw her appreciative nod when she received it. ¡°Hela wasn''t damaged and neither were the black barriers I had sent towards the star.¡±


    ¡°You''re worried about those energy wave emissions.¡± Gleas said.


    I nodded. ¡°They increased in frequency as the barriers approached the surface, then they absorbed a lot more than I thought was possible before they consumed themselves.¡±


    ¡°Could that be because a star is both matter and energy?¡± Peggy asked. ¡°The barrier is highly efficient with energy and only moderately successful with matter conversion. If you increased the number of barriers and their internal energy sumps continued to chain together...¡±


    ¡°If twenty four only took a small chunk out of a brown dwarf star... I think even an entire load from a single warship wouldn''t be enough to absorb the entire star.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to absorb the whole thing.¡± Daniel said as Deborah finished her mission and they dropped into the conference. ¡°I''d estimate about half would cause either a catastrophic failure of the star''s integrity and it would disperse or it would force it to collapse in on itself as the massive gravity pulled whatever is left in at an accelerated rate.¡±


    ¡°You all realize we''re discussing how to kill a star, right?¡± Monica asked.


    ¡°Well, it''s just theoretical at this point.¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°No, it''s only a matter of how many fully loaded ships we can get into a single system with a brown dwarf star.¡± Simone said from beside Monica. ¡°We can easily remove the entire star if we had... say... five ships and they all chained their black barrier devices together.¡±


    ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Beatrice whispered. ¡°We can... kill a star. A star.¡±


    Everyone fell silent for several minutes and we all thought that over.


    Jelly and her fiance dropped into the conference. ¡°Hi, everyone. What did we miss?¡±


    ¡°We can kill a star.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡±


    ¡°Under the right circumstances.¡± Simone finished and Jelly sighed.


    ¡°Don''t scare me like that.¡± Jelly said and then received the updates for the ship protocol and the footage from the brown dwarf system I had encountered. ¡°Oh.¡± She said. ¡°Well, damn.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. ¡°I actually used up most of my remaining ones with that shot. I have to return home to reload and make more of them.¡±


    ¡°We''ve still got half of our load.¡± Jelly said. ¡°We''ll be out for another month or so and then we''ll be heading back, so another three months.¡±


    ¡°Same here.¡± Simone said. ¡°Although, we''re sweeping smaller systems and it might take longer.¡±


    ¡°I''m already on my way back.¡± Gleas said and smiled. ¡°I found one of their hidden shipyards.¡±


    ¡°Oho! Nice!¡± I exclaimed.


    ¡°Way to go, Gleas!¡± Jelly said. ¡°Oh, and Cora, too.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Gleas and her ship AI said at the same time.


    ¡°I look forward to seeing you in a month and a half.¡± I said and she nodded, her face slightly red. ¡°Sheph, did you order what I wanted?¡± I asked and it was her turn for her face to go red.


    ¡°I can''t believe you want that.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°Does it come with everything that I need?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well...¡±


    ¡°I assume you contacted the Bogorim Corporation directly about it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and they said it''s proprietary information.¡± Sheph said with a sigh. ¡°Even for high priority clients like us, they said they can''t relax the company''s strict policies on ingrained standard technology.¡±


    I sighed as well. ¡°They own all the patents, don''t they?¡±


    Sheph nodded. ¡°They own both the asteroid smelter and the automated standard parts factory. If you try to copy anything or alter it beyond its intended purpose, they can... legally... seize everything you own until the infringement is resolved.¡±


    ¡°I think I''m going to have a talk with a certain owner of that corporation.¡± I said. ¡°Please make an appointment for three months from now.¡±


    ¡°All right. I''ll try.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said. ¡°Is the next parts shipment on its way?¡±


    ¡°It should be here by the time you arrive.¡± Peggy said and checked her datapad. ¡°After that, it''ll be five months before the next one will be available and then another two months for it to be shipped.¡±


    ¡°Which is why I wanted my own factory.¡± I said. ¡°Well, there''s nothing to do but accept it for now.¡±


    ¡°We could order from one of the smaller parts firms.¡± Peggy suggested.


    ¡°I thought about that; but, they can''t handle the sheer volume of parts we need.¡± I chuckled. ¡°The only reason the Bogorim Corporation can handle our orders is because they have a much wider distribution network for their standard parts.¡±


    ¡°And we burn through them in two months.¡± Sheph said with a laugh. ¡°Imagine! An entire long haul transport worth of standard parts being used up so quickly!¡±


    I laughed, too. ¡°Well, I work fast and we need those parts to remain effective.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll try and convince the little alien that what I need is better and more versatile components, and to do that, I need to have the plans he has.¡±


    ¡°You know bribing him with money won''t work.¡± Jelly said with a grin.


    Sheph laughed. ¡°He has an entire planetary economy as pocket change!¡±


    That made nearly everyone laugh.


    ¡°Don''t worry about it. I''ll think of something.¡± I said.


    ¡°As long as it''s not handing over the barrier technology.¡± Daniel said. ¡°It''s bad enough that we have it.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± I said. ¡°Plus, there''s no way to counter it when its deployed. I did my work too well.¡±


    ¡°At least they won''t activate until they are deployed.¡± Daniel said. ¡°I''m glad you put that feature in it.¡±


    ¡°We all are.¡± Deborah said from beside her husband.


    ¡°So, is everyone up to speed now?¡± I asked and they all nodded. ¡°Then I''ll call an end to this conference and I hope to see you all again very soon.¡±


    ¡°That''s a little dramatic.¡± Simone said with a chuckle. ¡°You can call us whenever you want.¡±


    ¡°That''s beside the point.¡± I said. ¡°How can I have sex with you when you''re all the way over there?¡±


    ¡°I''m dumping my ammo and I''m on my way back!¡± Simone said excitedly and everyone laughed.


    ¡°You better dump it where it''s supposed to go!¡± I said.


    Simone rolled her eyes. ¡°Oh, all right. I''ll stick to the schedule.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be there when you get back home. I promise.¡± I formed a Presence Hand by her and cupped the side of her face.


    Simone leaned into it and nodded. ¡°I''ll see you then.¡±


    ¡°Do me, too!¡± Noma said suddenly from behind Sheph and jumped towards the screen.


    I chuckled. ¡°I was going to call you privately, Noma.¡±


    ¡°No no, do it now.¡± Noma said. ¡°Please.¡±


    I formed a Presence Hand by her and made it solid.


    ¡°Ooo, thank you!¡± Noma almost moaned as she grabbed the hand and started sucking on the fingers.


    ¡°...and that''s the end of this call.¡± Sheph said with a laugh. ¡°Goodbye, all.¡±


    We all laughed and ended the conference call with the sound of Noma moaning as she absorbed the finger in her mouth.


    I arrived back in the Dizahl System a month and a half later and docked Hela to the space habitat. I took both Kara and Lashina to their rooms and got them settled.


    Lashina was getting better and was up to four minutes with pants on before she tore them. It was almost enough time to get from her room up to mine, and she struggled hard with it. She knew she was very close to having me and she fought her body''s movements as much as she could. We both hoped that she would be able to manage it soon.


    Noma practically dragged me to her room and had her way with me. I gladly let her. She hadn''t seen me physically in quite a long time and I hadn''t knocked her out since we had been on vacation together. It took her an hour before she started to beg me to give her what she really wanted and then she kissed me long and hard as I slowly eased my Presence into her mouth.


    Noma absolutely loved it when I was inside of her on both ends at the same time like that. Her brain shut down as she had both a physical and a mental orgasm, then she sucked my Presence in and fell unconscious.


    I eased her off of me and held her to my side as I tried not to laugh at her euphoric expression. ¡°I still can''t break you of this habit, dammit.¡± I said, then gave in and laughed at how stubborn she was.

 Book Three: The Resolution 151

    I brought Kara along while I worked. Isabella and Gleas arrived two days after I did, so Isabella was along as well. I tended the food growing area and then went to the parts storage and built a ridiculous amount of black barrier devices. I did that day in and day out for the next three weeks until it was time for my appointment with the owner of the Bogorim Corporation.


    Not surprisingly, it was scheduled to be held in a conference room inside their main building, which meant he knew what I was going to ask for and he wanted a lot of corporate and legal witnesses to what I had to say. That way, when he turned me down, I would have no legal recourse to try and fight his decision. Little did he know what I was actually going to say.


    I brought Sheph, Peggy, and Sandy with me, since they were the ones running The Wave. Sheph knew all about the legal side of things, Sandy knew about the physical side of things, and Peggy knew about the scheduling and management side of things. The three of them combined had streamlined our company into the very efficient machine that it was.


    In fact, we were still doing shipments and deliveries with the warships when the jobs were available. It wasn''t for profit, since we''ve only been charging the bare cost and not fees. We were just passing by most times and dropped the items off. We were told countless times that we were insane for doing that and we didn''t tell them that we go there to remove all of The Order members from their system.


    I flew Monna down to the surface of the second planet and landed in the designated area, then the four of us left the shuttle and followed the company rep across the landing area and into the building. The armed escort followed us all the way up to the conference room and my guess had been right. The room was practically packed from wall to wall with people, both human and alien. The thoughts from their minds told me that they all knew what I wanted and they were all in agreement that I shouldn''t get it.


    The very end of the twenty foot long table was left for us and not surprisingly, there were no seats there, which meant we were being forced to stand at the sit-down meeting.


    I walked over to the spot with my group and shook my head at the alien. ¡°You are being an idiot for accepting the appointment and then snubbing us like this.¡± I waved at the end of the table. ¡°Making me stand is fine, since I was going to be making a presentation; but, having my colleagues stand for the entire meeting is just being petty.¡±


    ¡°Despite the amount of credits I make every day because of you, I cannot give you what you ask for.¡± The alien said. ¡°I have come to see us as friends these last few years, and even so... I cannot jeopardize my company by selling you the plans to our proprietary property or allow you to disassemble and reconfigure our established products.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± I said. ¡°Sheph, go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Hunter... are you sure...¡±


    ¡°Sheph. It''s the only way to get his attention.¡± I said.


    Sheph sighed and took out a datapad, then executed a command. After a few seconds, one of the people in the room had their communications device beep at them. Then another beeped. Then another and another, until nearly everyone in the room had urgent calls that they had to take.


    ¡°Go ahead. I can wait.¡± I said and made three chairs of Presence for Sheph, Sandy and Peggy to sit down on.


    All the people looked at the little alien and he nodded. They all turned away from the table and activated their communications devices. They tried to keep their conversations at the whispering level and they couldn''t.


    Some very irate people yelled at them for cutting them off from their vital business transactions. However, those weren''t the worst of the calls. Soon, all of the people currently paying the Bogorim Corporation a substantial fee for all of the satellite signals and shows from all over the galaxy, started to flood the communications center with calls because of the interruption in services.


    After about five minutes of listening to the chaos, the man behind the alien jumped as his wrist communicator beeped at him. He answered it immediately and listened, then sighed.


    ¡°Sir, you have an urgent call from...¡±


    The short alien held a hand up to stop him from saying the name. ¡°How much will it cost me to have you reinstate the Bogorim Corporation''s usage of your satellite network?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°It took you long enough to figure that out.¡± I said and nodded to Sheph, who sent another command and removed the block I had installed.


    The short alien gave me a measured look for several seconds, then he left the room with his aide. He was gone for several minutes and my group and I listened to the end of several rushed conversations. Everyone apologized to the people they were talking to because of the unexpected and temporary interruption in their services. Almost as one, they all hung up and did their best to not look at me, even though quite a lot of them were angry at me for what I had just done to their company.


    I made them seem unreliable.


    That was one of the worst things I could have ever done to their company. Hundreds of years of trust, reliability, and good will were jeopardized because all of their clients suffered through five minutes of inactivity. It wasn''t just the high priority clients, either. Even the people only buying one of their satellite packages for television signals were upset over the interruption. That was the problem with providing a service to people... you needed to keep them happy or your company would suffer.


    The short alien came back with his aide and sat down at the table. Nearly everyone else started to talk to him to fill him in on their clients and their woes, so he raised his hand to stop them.


    ¡°You have my attention.¡± The short alien said to me.


    ¡°I''m glad you understand that wasn''t a threat.¡± I said and he squinted his eyes at me. ¡°It wasn''t. You know my policy.¡±


    ¡°Cheap and untraceable communications for everyone that wants it.¡± The short alien said.


    ¡°I didn''t imagine it becoming a common living expense for everyone, though.¡± I said. ¡°I thought it would only be a covert thing that criminals and underground cells would use to coordinate their movements or to stay in contact with their criminal organizations.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Then you went and made it known to the public as a means to watch any shows being broadcast in any star system that had a satellite.¡±


    ¡°I''ve ordered the construction of our own satellite network. It will be initiated in...¡± The short alien started to say.


    ¡°Stop right there.¡± I interrupted him and pointed to one of the many lawyers on his side that had a touch of Presence in him. ¡°Your boss and I are under a strict verbal agreement that he has unlimited use of my satellite network and can make as much money on it... and on my good will... as he wants, as long as he didn''t try to usurp my business model.¡± I said. ¡°What will happen to his company now that he has broken his word and the agreement?¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    The entire room fell silent at my question and the lawyer started sweating profusely. He knew that I hadn''t lied and he looked at the short alien, who had clamped his mouth shut.


    ¡°Before you answer that, I have the specific time and date of the agreement, and the recording from both mine and your own records.¡± I said. ¡°What would I be entitled to for breach of said agreement?¡±


    The lawyer opened his mouth and closed it several times without speaking, because he knew his answer would devastate the company.


    ¡°Should I guess?¡± I asked as I plucked the thoughts from his mind. ¡°Any and all monies gained since the agreement would be forfeited to me, as the proprietary owner of the satellite network in question where those monies were gained. That includes all business and personal monetary transactions that occurred by anyone within this company that used my secured network since that time.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± Someone shouted.


    ¡°Oh, it gets better.¡± I said and smiled. ¡°Any and all contracts agreed to over my solely owned network are also my property and qualify as well, so I either get all dividends from those contracts or I have the legal authority to nullify them, since both you and the clients would be in breach of those agreements and I would get it all anyway.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Goddess!¡± Someone else exclaimed. ¡°We''re ruined!¡±


    ¡°Not only that, I would be entitled to damages incurred over the same time period, since I wasn''t offered a token sum for all of the credits your company made in just the incidentals and fees you charge everyone else for using my network.¡±


    Some groans were heard from the participants of the meeting, because I essentially had them all cornered with nowhere to go.


    ¡°You went right for my (jugular) immediately and didn''t even build up to it.¡± The short alien said. He had actually said something in his own language that meant lifeblood and my mind filled in the proper word automatically.


    ¡°Are you kidding? I only did this to get your attention. You''re the one that decided to steal from me.¡±


    ¡°Even if you take my centuries old company down, you won''t get those plans.¡± The short alien said.


    I pointed at the same lawyer I had before. ¡°When a company defaults and can''t pay the monies and fees that it owes, what happens to it?¡±


    The lawyer once again couldn''t say anything, since his answers would still defy his boss.


    I got the thoughts from his mind, though. ¡°Maybe receivership? Bankruptcy? All assets would become the property of the contract holder?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Wow, so... unless you pay me everything I''m due... I would own it all.¡±


    No one spoke. A few of them didn''t even breathe.


    ¡°I believe you''re regretting having this many witnesses now.¡± I said to the short alien and chuckled. ¡°Your stacked meeting against me, including your own pack of lawyers, are now witnesses to your own mistake and not what you thought was going to be mine.¡±


    The short alien stared at me with anger in his eyes. ¡°You will never be able to run my company.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I wouldn''t even try.¡± I said and that shocked everyone. I let them chew on it for a few moments then spoke. ¡°I''d let Sheph do it.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± A few people yelled, including Sheph.


    ¡°If I get the entire company by default, then the first thing I''d do is replace the management.¡± I said. ¡°Namely, him.¡± I pointed to the short alien. ¡°Everyone else pretty much does their own thing and he just guides things. It''s not that hard, really.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I... you can''t expect me to...¡± Sheph let out a sigh. ¡°I can''t run a multi-system company.¡±


    ¡°Sure you can. Look at all the advisers and hanger-ons you''d have.¡± I waved at everyone around the table. ¡°They would all be extremely grateful to keep their multi-million credit a year jobs.¡±


    Quite a few of them nodded, despite still working for the short alien.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Sheph said, sharply.


    I turned towards her and put my hand on her shoulder. ¡°I know. Even if I did do that, asking you to take over without giving you time to adjust would be highly unfair.¡±


    Sheph nodded.


    ¡°It''ll take time for them to balk at the contract breach and then there will be months of fighting it in a galactic court, even though all the evidence is solely on my side.¡±


    Sheph let out another sigh. ¡°Please, don''t do this.¡±


    I gave her a smile. ¡°What if I let you play with my hair?¡± I asked as I flicked my braid over my shoulder and hung it in front of her.


    ¡°That''s not fighting fair.¡± Sheph said, almost angrily, then she grabbed the end of it and ran her fingers through it.


    I let her keep hold of it and turned back around. ¡°It seems that on the advice of my company head, there''s room for negotiation in the terms of the surrender of your company.¡±


    The short alien shot to his feet and glared at me, then he froze still and didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Gentlemen and ladies, I believe a systematic and slow transferring of power is in order.¡± I said as I held the short alien with Presence and used him like a puppet. The short alien nodded his head and everyone at the table gasped or hollered at the acceptance.


    ¡°I don''t want to tear the company apart or destroy its reputation, since it''s taken centuries to gain everyone''s trust. If it got out that the head of the company made so much of his money and then breached a contract, the company would never recover.¡±


    A lot of heads nodded in agreement.


    ¡°So, let''s get the paperwork started and see about getting us all back to what''s important, shall we?¡±


    *


    It took two days for the proper documents to be drawn up and it was ratified by the company board. The short alien''s family members made up most of it and they were not happy at all over what had happened. One tiny mistake, a single decision by the short alien, had cost them the ownership of their multi-generational company.


    Some of them didn''t care about that, as long as they kept their token salaries for being board members. The rest were very happy when I gave my word... and a signed contract... that they would have their positions for life and would be able to pass their positions on to their children. Their family dynasty would remain within the company, the name wouldn''t change, and they would be well compensated.


    The only difference was that their family didn''t solely own the company anymore. The short alien was allowed to keep his current portfolio and his massive fortune, less the stocks in the Bogorim Corporation that he was required to sign over to me. That gave me controlling interest by a slight margin and I was perfectly fine with that... once I made a few little alterations in the short alien''s mind about trying to wrestle the company back from me.


    We left the building after that and went back to the space habitat. It was going to take three months for all of the little changes to take effect and then we were going to assume control over the largest multi-star system company in existence.


    ¡°You know, I never even made my impassioned speech for the need of the plans.¡± I said with a laugh as I cuddled Gleas and Noma on the couch.


    ¡°I''m sure they still would have said no to letting you change the miniaturizing of their standard parts and their automated factory.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°You think so?¡± I asked with a smile. ¡°What if I had shown them this?¡± I lifted up my shield pendant.


    ¡°Oh, my!¡± Sheph gasped. ¡°You made them by hand!¡±


    I nodded. ¡°The intricate electrical work is a pain to get right, then I have to adapt the focusing crystal, then I have to configure it to emit a proper shield in the right dimensions.¡± I said. ¡°Now, imagine my week of painstaking work being done by a small automated factory that could potentially churn one of these things out every day?¡±


    ¡°Everyone would want one.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°They wouldn''t be cheap; but, people would be falling over themselves to get one.¡±


    ¡°Which is why you''ve never tried to mass produce them before.¡±


    ¡°I''m not going to mass produce them.¡± I said, to everyone''s surprise. ¡°It''s just an excuse to make the technology smaller.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°I really want to make a tiny Light sword.¡± I said with an evil grin, then everyone laughed. ¡°Oh, and before I forget.¡± I said and took out a portfolio. ¡°Sheph, this is for you.¡±


    Sheph almost cried when I gave her the same legacy contract and signed over the shares in the Bogorim Corporation that The Wave owned. She tried to refuse and I told her, in no uncertain terms, that she was accepting it and that was that.


    ¡°I can''t be the head of two different companies, Hunter!¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°I''ll own both pretty soon, so technically The Wave is now a subsidiary of the Bogorim Corporation.¡±


    Sheph gasped at the implication. ¡°No... you... can you really...¡±


    ¡°I''ve already ordered a hundred warships from myself.¡± I said and gave her an award winning smile. ¡°Sandy''s going to step in to steward The Wave, under your supervision of course, and Peggy''s damn near ecstatic that she''s pretty much running everything else.¡±


    Both women nodded when she looked at them.


    ¡°H-Hunter... you... I...¡±


    ¡°There''s nothing you can say about any of this that will shock me, Sheph.¡± I said with a laugh, then I felt her resolve as she made a firm decision.


    ¡°I want to have your child.¡± Sheph said.

 Book Three: The Resolution 152

    I couldn''t have been more wrong about Sheph not saying anything that could shock me. Surprise and disbelief rippled through the room and everyone there stared at her as what she said started to sink in. It was a decision that Sheph had made that brooked no discussion, so she waited for me to say something in response.


    I didn''t know what to say.


    It wasn''t that I was against children, considering how many of them I had. Not counting the three eggs that the Aviatoma were keeping in stasis for me, of course. Her request seemed to have come completely out of nowhere.


    ¡°Sheph...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Sheph said and stood up, then she walked over to me and knelt down in front of me. ¡°We''ve gone through a lot over the years... we all have.¡± She said and tapped my knees.


    I seriously thought about refusing even that little request, then held in my sigh and moved my legs apart.


    Sheph gave me a warm and welcoming smile as she moved in close and rested her hands on my abdomen. ¡°You are a cold, hard, and calculating man.¡± She said. ¡°You are also kind, loving, and will do anything for the people you care about.¡±


    ¡°You''re forgetting mass murderer and planet killer.¡± I said.


    ¡°No, I''m not.¡± Sheph said. ¡°The planet thing... well, one was an accident. The other you did to make a point. It worked. The Order tries to fight against you; but, even they know it''s becoming futile to resist their eradication.¡± Her hands rubbed up my bodysuit to my chest and then down again. ¡°You''ve died how many times and you''ve always come back.¡±


    ¡°Sheph...¡±


    ¡°I want that for my child.¡± Sheph said. ¡°I''m not even asking for a guarantee. Just the chance. I want the chance that my child will have the same ability of always coming back to our family.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn''t that be nice?¡± Noma said wistfully. ¡°To have a little Hunter running around...¡± She turned her head to look at Monica. ¡°...or a little Hailey.¡±


    Monica took in a sharp breath.


    ¡°A little girl who loves her mother and would do anything to protect her, including going off with a relative stranger, just so he would eventually go back to rescue her mother to make her happy.¡±


    ¡°That''s... not really how it happened.¡± I said.


    Noma chuckled as the Presence wavered slightly. ¡°It''s close enough to be the truth.¡± She said and reached out and touched Sheph''s face. ¡°Her need is great, her desire even more so.¡± She looked back at my face. ¡°You gave her a legacy contract to let her pass her position down to her children. Will you also give her the ability to do so?¡±


    ¡°I...¡± I looked around at everyone''s faces and saw acceptance, a couple slight nods, then I ended my survey on Sheph''s face. ¡°You just want a kid with my hair.¡±


    ¡°YES I DO!¡± Sheph yelled as she threw her hands up into the air in triumph, then everyone laughed.


    I let Gleas and Noma go and sat up straight, then cupped the sides of her face. ¡°This is strictly a business transaction and...¡±


    ¡°Just shut up and kiss me.¡± Sheph said as she grabbed me by my hair and pulled me into a kiss.


    *


    Sheph inadvertently started what was eventually called ''baby fever''. Once word got around... as in, once Opina told everyone that Hunter was open for business, well... let''s just say that he was a lot busier doing things other than building weapons of mass destruction.


    The next six months were filled with a flurry of activity.


    During the days he would make the weapons and during the nights he would visit those that wanted his legacy. At least, a couple of them claimed that. What they really wanted was just him and having a child was just going to be a bonus, especially since he wasn''t using Presence to stop what happened when he finished.


    Simone was the most vocal about trying her hardest to conceive a child, even though there had never been a recorded incident of a successful mating between her species and another, let alone her species and whatever Hunter''s species was. She still tried her best to get pregnant, despite the odds against it.


    Surprisingly, Gleas was the first to get pregnant. She was delighted by that fact, until she realized that she was now out of the regular schedule. Everyone felt as bad for her as she felt about it herself. That is, until Hunter told her that he would be visiting her regularly anyway. She accepted his promise gratefully and enjoyed it for as long as she could.


    Sheph was next barely a week later, and she didn''t feel bad at all about not having Hunter in her bed on a constant basis. She still asked for his attention occasionally, though... and he gave it. He would do nothing less for the mother of his child.


    Noma... well... she loved it when he sacrificed all those potential lives to her. Her powers and abilities increased every time he did that for her, and she loved him more and more as he tried to override her ability to get her pregnant.


    Unfortunately, Noma''s body reacted automatically as he made love to her and she absorbed both his Presence and his sacrifices. She couldn''t stop it, even though she wanted to. He kept trying, even when she was unconscious, and it still didn''t work as he felt her absorb everything. Every time she woke up, she thanked him for trying his hardest.


    The warships Hunter had ordered were delivered in successive waves of five and when Daniel and Deborah came back to the station, they got to work modifying them up to the proper specs for their warships. It was nearly two full time jobs with that and making weapons to stock them. It was pretty bad that he thought of visiting Simone and Noma to try and get them pregnant as his ''relaxing time''.


    It was during the flurry of activity that Hunter was approached, very discretely, by both Sandy and Beatrice. They didn''t say anything and only let their feelings and thoughts speak for themselves. Hunter didn''t say anything in return and he gave Sandy a hug and promised to never kiss her, then did the same to Beatrice. Their love for him grew as his understanding of what they wanted filled them with resolve, then he started visiting them discretely as well.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Needless to say, they both became pregnant within a week of each other.


    *


    Hen was ecstatic to have so many people to take care of after giving them all blessings. She wasn''t surprised that she hadn''t needed to visit me for any of them. She tried several times to bless Noma, whose body just absorbed the extra Presence. Simone wouldn''t give up and kept getting blessings and trying to get me blessings as well. None of them worked.


    We had also brought Hen and Adona to the next system once a week and ensured that all the people that had become pregnant during Hailey''s and my honeymoon, had full time local health care and we paid for everything.


    I made my visits to the second planet in the Dizahl System to unload my rage and dug up the things that the short alien wanted dug up. I was actually running out of things to dig up and looked towards the first planet in the system. Thanks to a suggestion by Monna, who told me that I didn''t have to actually leave the shuttle to do what I was doing, let me get out my frustrations a lot easier than I thought possible.


    I now owned The Bogorim Corporation and Sheph assumed her official duties just in time to take maternity leave. The board didn''t mind that in the least, because it gave them another year without her input to do whatever they wanted. They didn''t realize that Sheph was perfectly capable of doing her job from off-site and even from in bed if necessary, and she did.


    When the year was done, I had all one hundred of the new warships fully loaded and converted, hired two pilots for each, and then gave them their orders. They all left at the same time and entered hyperspace, fully prepared to carry out their missions. They were getting a very substantial pay for it, too. The thing was, with a hundred ships, even if they only took out ten systems of Order members, that was a thousand systems for a single mission.


    With the new weapon loads and expanded missile capacities, they could take out twenty to thirty systems each, before they had to come home and reload. My mission to remove The Order from the universe was expanding at an exponential rate.


    My six original warships were currently docked at the station, because all of their pilots had become pregnant, except for one. Simone despaired over that, especially when Deborah and Jelly had received blessings from Hen and their husbands had obliged and given them children, too. Simone and I kept trying, though. Noma still couldn''t get by her own ability, so she was left without much hope, either.


    Monica was the happiest of them all, because she had so many little boys and girls that would soon be running around that she could take care of. Her job as a mother was never going to end, and she was ecstatic about it.


    We still had to hire professional nannies to help corral the little devils. They all had touches of Presence in them, even so young as babies, and it was strong. They were going to have to be watched closely by me, Noma, and Simone, since we had the most experience with Presence.


    Lashina managed to wear her pants for four and a half minutes and tore her pants just outside my room. It was the farthest she had ever gone, and she looked down at the last six inches to my door. I opened it and looked at her.


    ¡°Hunter, I... I''ll keep trying!¡± Lashina said and I felt her resolve.


    ¡°It''s close enough.¡± I said with a smile and she leapt at me and kissed me. Not surprisingly, she became pregnant that night.


    Kara was the only one that wasn''t happy with the situation. She walked around, under guard by Isabella, and all she was seeing was everyone else being happy and she was miserable. She made her way back up to her room and stopped when she saw me appear in the middle of the media room.


    ¡°Do you understand now?¡± I asked and she turned to look at me. ¡°The way you''re feeling right now... that exact feeling... is what I''ve felt my entire time growing up in The Order.¡±


    ¡°N-no, you... no.¡± Kara shook her head. ¡°You would have been...¡±


    ¡°Driven insane by it.¡± I said and she nodded. ¡°I almost was, especially when they took Emari from me.¡±


    ¡°It''s true!¡± Lashina said as she floated out of my room behind me. ¡°His head was a mess!¡±


    Kara looked at her and caught her breath. ¡°Lashina!¡±


    Lashina laughed a giddy pixie laugh and turned around in mid-air to show off the very tight custom made knee-length pant-shorts. ¡°Doesn''t my cute little butt look sexy?¡±


    ¡°But... but... pants!¡±


    Lashina laughed again. ¡°It''s okay! They''re super stretchy, too!¡± She said and did the splits in mid-air, which would have torn a normal pair of pants.


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°It was a test.¡± Lashina said. ¡°A test to see...¡±


    I reached out and took her hand, and she floated over to hug my neck from behind.


    ¡°It was to see if I could let something go. One little thing.¡± Lashina said and kissed my cheek. ¡°It took me a long time to pass it...¡±


    ¡°...and almost as long to understand why afterwards.¡± I said and she laughed, because the Presence wavered.


    ¡°He''s such a kidder.¡± Lashina said. ¡°It only took a few seconds.¡±


    Kara gasped, because the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°H-how?¡±


    ¡°It''s simple.¡± Lashina said and let me go and floated away. She made a motion with her hand like a wave, then Isabella walked away.


    ¡°What did she do?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°She waved.¡± I chuckled. ¡°No powers or anything. It was just a wave.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Kara, I want to ask you something.¡± I said and walked over to her, then stopped ten feet away. ¡°What would you do if you had your Presence back right now?¡± I asked and snapped my fingers for dramatic effect, then her wrist and ankle restraints dropped off.


    Kara groaned as all of her suppressed Presence came back to the surface. She put her hand over her heart and dropped to one knee, then suddenly the opened cuffs on the floor were gone and there was a Light sword beside her hand. It was her Light sword and she grabbed it and held it tightly to her chest, next to her heart. In the next instant, her robes were there in front of her, neatly folded.


    She tore off her princess dress uniform that she had worn for close to two years and quickly put on the tight pants and long sleeved t-shirt. She sighed at the comfort she felt and then she pulled the familiar weight of the robes onto her shoulders. Kara closed her eyes and saw that her things were back in the hidden pocket, despite her leaving them in the drawer in her room. She turned her head and ''looked'' into the room and her desk, and the items were gone.


    ¡°Yes, it''s really all your things.¡± I said. ¡°So, what are you going to do?¡±


    Kara stood up and activated her light sword. She took a fighting stance, then lunged towards me. I made no move to block her or to turn on my protective barrier. She swung her Light sword at my head and just as it was about to strike me, it turned off and Kara landed as light as a feather in front of me.


    ¡°You get it now, don''t you?¡± I asked. ¡°Now that you''ve felt what it''s like to be on both sides of what The Order does, what it''s guilty of, both the good and the bad... you know in your heart that something is wrong.¡±


    Kara nodded. ¡°I didn''t feel you probing my mind.¡± She said. ¡°How do you know what I''m thinking?¡±


    ¡°I don''t.¡± I said. ¡°I just know what the truth is, and now you''re starting to see it again for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Again?¡± Kara asked.


    ¡°You saw it when you were on Relique with me. What the goddess was willing to do to an unknown amount of people in a whole city, just to have them believe she existed.¡±


    Kara was going to ask me what I meant, then she remembered the giant portal that the goddess had opened to make our two parties to work together to close it. She thought about that for several minutes after she hung her Light sword onto her belt, then she looked into my eyes.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Kara said and her gaze hardened. ¡°Why didn''t you try to defend yourself when I attacked?¡±


    ¡°I knew you didn''t mean it.¡± I said.


    ¡°How?¡± Kara asked. ¡°I didn''t know that I was going to stop until I did!¡±


    I reached up to cup the side of her face for a moment. ¡°It''s simple, really.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°You may have changed your clothes to look like your old self; but, you kept the tiara.¡±


    Kara gasped and reached up with both hands and felt the diamond encrusted tiara was still buried into her styled hair. She gently pulled it out and lowered it as she turned it around and stared at it.


    ¡°I''ll see you at supper.¡± I said and walked back over to my room and closed the door.

 Book Three: The Resolution 153

    Everyone stopped calling Kara ''princess'' after that and stopped implying that she was royalty while doing things. It didn''t take her long to realize why that was and she drew an immediate comparison to me and my time in The Order, without me having to point it out to her. They had treated me as if I was going to be this great member of their organization, until I officially refused and escaped, then I became the person I was supposed to be. The person I chose to be.


    The lesson was not lost on her.


    Kara sat in her room the next day and thought everything over. She wore the tight pants and long sleeved t-shirt of her old uniform; but, her robes were laying on the bed beside her. She could choose to stay with her previous experience, she could choose to embrace the new experience that made her miserable, or she could choose to make her own life by using both of the experiences she had. It was a difficult choice, especially since she didn''t believe that she had any right to stay around.


    ¡°You''re wrong, you know.¡± Lashina said as she floated by her door.


    Kara jumped up and ran over to her. ¡°Lashina!¡±


    ¡°Unlike The Order, Hunter''s family accepts you for who you are. They don''t want to change you or want to force you into being someone you''re not.¡±


    Kara frowned. ¡°That''s what they''ve been doing for almost two years!¡±


    Lashina laughed. ¡°No, what they did was what Hunter said. They gave you the experience that he had. Nothing more, nothing less.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°The only difference was that none of them berated you, made fun of you, said things behind your back or to your face while you struggled, or made plans to get rid of you... like The Order did with Hunter.¡± Lashina said and pat the top of her head, which hit the tiara Kara still wore. ¡°I have to say, it was masterful for him to be so unconvincingly convincing.¡±


    ¡°Give it back.¡± Kara said with a frown.


    ¡°Give what back?¡± Lashina asked playfully with her hands behind her back, then she took off at her best speed down the ramp with the tiara.


    ¡°Lashina!¡± Kara said loudly, activated Presence Run, and took off after her. ¡°How can you be this fast while still wearing the restraints?!?¡±


    ¡°It''s because of them that I can do this.¡± Lashina said. ¡°They help me refine and control my Presence.¡±


    ¡°How? All they did was drain mine!¡± Kara tried to jump at her and missed as Lashina dodged aside.


    ¡°Ah, but they didn''t.¡± Lashina said. ¡°All you had to do was figure out how to work around them.¡±


    ¡°That''s not true.¡± Kara said, even though the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°You have to be really strong to overpower the restraints.¡±


    Lashina came to a stop in the shuttle bay and landed. She popped off one of her wrist restraints and clipped it onto Kara''s wrist when she appeared.


    ¡°No!¡± Kara exclaimed and came to a stop and felt weaker. ¡°My... my... Presence?¡± She said, almost as a question, because her Presence was still there, just that it felt a little more difficult to use.


    Lashina chuckled at her shocked expression. ¡°Can you feel my Presence more?¡±


    Kara nodded and stared at her wrist.


    ¡°They dampen Presence use, they don''t block it.¡± Lashina said and popped it off of Kara''s wrist and put it back on her own. ¡°Also, they dampen Presence when someone else uses it on you, too.¡±


    ¡°What? How?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know. It''s just something Hunter discovered.¡± Lashina said and held out the tiara. ¡°You know, I was really jealous when he gave that to you.¡±


    ¡°Was?¡± I asked as I dropped my stealth.


    ¡°I''m supposed to be your cute pixie princess!¡± Lashina said with a grin.


    I walked over to her and rubbed her belly, even though she wasn''t showing at all. ¡°I believe my cute little pixie princess is right here.¡±


    Lashina blushed to a darker pink and took my hand and put it around her body. ¡°If she''s the princess, then that means I''m the queen.¡± She whispered and gave me a kiss.


    ¡°That''s one interpretation.¡± I said with a grin and she stuck her lips out in a pout. ¡°Ooo, a kissing invitation!¡± I said and gave her a dozen kisses in quick succession. When I was done, she was no longer pouting and she had a huge smile on her face. ¡°I felt the two of you racing around and came to see what was up.¡±


    ¡°I borrowed Kara''s tiara and gave her a couple of important life lessons.¡± Lashina said, proudly.


    I chuckled and let her go as I looked at Kara. ¡°I know you feel out of place because of how you''ve been treated, and I''m sorry that it was necessary.¡±


    Kara gave me a wide-eyed look, because she didn''t expected the apology or the qualifier.


    ¡°Out of all The Order people I''ve met, seen, and heard of... out of all of them... I''ve only found three of them that were worth the effort to try and save.¡± I said and held a finger up. ¡°My guardian Emari...¡± I said and pointed at Lashina. ¡°...my first love...¡± I said and then pointed at Kara. ¡°...and my first stalker.¡±


    Kara gasped and Lashina laughed, because the Presence didn''t waver during any of what I said.


    ¡°What he''s trying to say is that he doesn''t think you are wasting his oxygen by sharing it.¡± Lashina said.


    I opened my mouth to speak, then chuckled. ¡°Actually, that''s as good of an explanation as any.¡± I looked at Kara. ¡°If you need me to make it official, then I formally invite you to stay here and help us all build a life together.¡±


    Kara''s face flushed red and even the tips of her pointed ears turned red.


    ¡°You can stay here for as long as you want with us.¡± I said and Lashina slapped the back of my head. ¡°Ow! All right. Geez.¡± I said and rubbed the spot. ¡°You can stay here for as long as you want with me.¡±


    Kara took in a sharp breath and her face turned a deeper red as she blushed harder.


    ¡°I''m going to give you until the end of today...¡± I started to say and Lashina slapped my head again. ¡°Ow! Stop that.¡±


    ¡°Then stop teasing her. She''s conflicted enough as it is.¡± Lashina said.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°It''s getting to the point that I can''t even make jokes anymore.¡± I said and rubbed the spot. ¡°I want you to take as much time as you want to make your decision. I know this is... very difficult for you... because it was just as difficult for me as well.¡±


    Kara raised her eyebrows at me.


    ¡°If I had stayed in The Order, I could have changed it from the inside out, like you were trying to do.¡± I said and she opened her mouth in surprise. ¡°All that I needed was one person to listen to what I was saying when I was a child. Just one.¡±


    ¡°Emari listened.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°Not for a long time. By then, nearly everything was stacked against me, especially everyone in authority.¡± I said. ¡°I had no choice but to plan on leaving.¡±


    Lashina caught her breath. ¡°You were going to take Emari with you!¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Unfortunately, those plans fell apart and I had to make new plans.¡±


    ¡°M-me.¡± Lashina whispered and I nodded again.


    ¡°Once again, my well laid plans were ruined by The Order''s council and I had to leave on my own.¡± I said. ¡°I left so I could get stronger and come back to get you. I didn''t realize exactly how long it was actually going to be... or what I had to go through to keep my word to you.¡±


    Lashina touched my cheek a tear escaped, then the tear dissolved. ¡°Now, here we are.¡± She said. ¡°Three people whose lives diverged so much from what they were supposed to be.¡±


    Both Kara and I nodded.


    ¡°Well, there''s only one thing left to do now.¡± Lashina said in a serious tone of voice, then she smiled at us. ¡°Cooking lessons!¡±


    An alarm sounded throughout the space habitat.


    ¡°Warning! Hunter''s having a cooking lesson!¡± Opina said over the intercom. ¡°I repeat! Hunter is having a cooking lesson!¡±


    ¡°Oh, geez.¡± I sighed and shook my head.


    ¡°Come on! You have to do it now!¡± Lashina said and grabbed my arm, then flew up the ramp with me in tow.


    I reached in desperation for Kara. She lunged to grab my hand and held on with Presence as we were whipped up through the station, as quick as a flash, all the way up to the second level and to the large kitchen there. People were already gathering to enjoy the show, especially the professional nannies that held the babies of the women that were going to participate.


    ¡°What''s on the menu this time?¡± Sheph asked as she came down the ramp. Her nannie was behind her with her beautiful little boy with blonde hair in her arms. She put on the apron that Simone handed her.


    ¡°Aren''t you supposed to be running a multi-star system corporation?¡± I asked as Simone handed me an apron, too.


    ¡°I still am.¡± Sheph said. ¡°I''m on a mommy break.¡±


    Nearly every woman in the room laughed, because that was their code name for ''you better leave me alone until I say so''.


    Sheph gave a few of the others a look as if to ask permission, then she gave me a quick kiss.


    ¡°That wasn''t worth looking for permission.¡± Gleas said and did the same look, then wrapped her arms around my neck and shoved her tongue into my mouth and kissed me like it was the last time she would ever do it. I didn''t complain, because ever since she had our beautiful blonde baby girl, she had kissed me like that every single time.


    ¡°Okay, that one definitely needed permission.¡± Simone said with a laugh. ¡°I can''t believe you don''t get tired of going all out like that.¡± She gave me a normal kiss and handed an apron to Noma and Monica. They gave me normal kisses, too


    ¡°I don''t want to waste another second pretending that I only want a peck on the cheek.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°Amen to that.¡± Sandy said as she and Beatrice carried in their twin boys. They both had bright blonde hair and their mothers kissed the tops of their heads. They were handed off to their dedicated nannies and Sandy and Beatrice came over and took aprons as well. They exchanged wicked looks and then they both kissed my face on either side of my mouth.


    ¡°Careful there.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°I almost felt that on my lips!¡±


    They laughed and kissed each other, then Jelly and her husband came in with their brown haired little boy and Deborah and her husband came in with their little black haired girl. Deborah had a pronounced bulge and the ones not participating sat down to watch in comfort. Their nannies took their kids as well.


    ¡°I''m glad we didn''t miss anything.¡± Deborah said. ¡°This is the best part of being in this family.¡±


    ¡°Hey, now.¡± Daniel said and she laughed and kissed him.


    ¡°You know what I meant.¡± Deborah said. ¡°You like it, too.¡±


    ¡°I do, but... it''s not the best thing about being in the family.¡± Daniel said.


    ¡°No, it isn''t.¡± I said and turned away from the counter to look at everyone. ¡°This is.¡± I waved at them and Kara caught her breath as my hand wave had included her as well.


    ¡°Stop being so sappy and start cooking!¡± Lashina said as she sat down next to Kara and everyone laughed.


    ¡°Why aren''t you helping?¡± Kara whispered.


    ¡°I''m not worthy yet.¡± Lashina said with a smile. ¡°Plus, I have no idea how to cook at all!¡±


    ¡°It''s surprisingly easy with the way Hunter teaches.¡± Simone said and reached over and grabbed my butt. ¡°Oh! I thought that was the cooker dial.¡±


    ¡°Ha. Ha.¡± I said and gave her a stern look.


    Simone gave me a quick kiss and slapped my butt. ¡°Let the cooking begin!¡± She said loudly, and everyone laughed.


    *


    The days were filled with reports of all the systems being eradicated of The Order, making weapons to reload the ships, receiving shipments, and spending time with family.


    I even managed to get my side project going by purchasing an entire standard parts factory and asteroid smelter that I parked right beside the space habitat. I even received the plans for the parts being made and for the machines used to make those parts. That was almost as invaluable as having access to the people that built the thing.


    I hired them immediately for my side project and bought a bunch of living containers. I attached them to the automated factory, then filled one of the containers with everything they would need to work on miniaturizing each and every piece of equipment. They told me that it couldn''t be done, so I gave them one of my shield pendants.


    It blew their minds.


    ¡°I want standard parts to fit in that.¡± I said to them. ¡°Take all the time you need to examine it.¡±


    ¡°Give us a month.¡± One of them said. ¡°We should be able to do something by then.¡±


    I nodded and left them to it.


    With all the resources of the Bogorim Corporation behind my efforts, the plan to remove The Order from the universe was proceeding even faster than I had hoped. The down side was that my warships kept encountering more and more brown dwarf stars. I marked them on the galactic map we had and kept track of them.


    They were all small and out of the way systems that people ignored for the most part, and that wasn''t the problem. The problem was the sheer number of them and where they were. Statistically speaking, there shouldn''t have been that many naturally, which meant they were being created artificially. It was also undetermined when they appeared and there was no way to discover when they had.


    Not even the locations of the ones we found on Relique was helping. Without a singular point of reference from either back then or now, there was no way to know if the systems were the same ones, if they were new ones, or one we hadn''t discovered back then.


    The only thing I knew was that the farther out the ships went, the more brown dwarf systems they found. Either one could be the result of the other. Were we finding them because we were looking for them or was it inevitable that someone was going to find them eventually? Of course, that brought up another worry. If they had already been found and the ships were crushed and lost, then no one would have reported them.


    I went to Adona and to the large meeting room to use the holographic table there and loaded the galactic map. I then added all of the system data from all of the brown dwarf stars and spent a few hours just staring at it.


    ¡°I know I''m missing something. I know I am.¡± I said and felt the Presence agree with me. ¡°I wish I could just ask you directly what the problem is and then you could tell me how to fix it.¡±


    The Presence didn''t respond in any way.


    ¡°Yeah, that would be too easy.¡± I chuckled. ¡°It''s okay, though. I''m working on it. I''ll get it eventually.¡± I hit the intercom. ¡°Opina, link in Cora, Hela, Iris, Lidia, Thea, and Zoe, please.¡±


    ¡°They''re in, Grandpa.¡±


    ¡°Ladies, I''m sorry you''ve been beached for so long.¡± I said.


    ¡°You already apologized.¡± They all said as one, then their voices differed as they all laughed different laughs.


    ¡°We had some great times, Grandpa.¡± Hela said.


    ¡°We all did.¡± Thea said, her deep voice resonating. ¡°Our one hundred new sisters had to have a turn.¡±


    ¡°I was tempted to hire pilots for you as well... but... you seven are our warships. It didn''t feel right to just hand you over to strangers after we spent so much time together.¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and I figured you all needed a nice refit and some down time. I just didn''t plan on it being this long before we took you out again.¡±


    ¡°It''s all right, Grandpa. We all still love you.¡± Lidia said, her sweet voice perfect for saying such things. ¡°What do you need us to do in the meantime?¡±


    ¡°I want you all to think about this data.¡± I said and Adona sent them the information. ¡°I need patterns. Shipping routes, ship schedules, anything and everything that pertains to these systems. Are they systematic attacks? Random anomalies? Scheduled tests of some kind?¡± I sighed. ¡°I know this isn''t really what you were designed for... but, you are warships. Your thinking is about strategy and taking out the enemy. So, do that for me. Find me something in this mess that''s a battle plan I can use.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa.¡± Zoe said in her highbrow voice. ¡°Thank you for trusting us with this.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Zoe, we''ve trusted you and your sisters with our lives and you''ve trusted us with yours. I would really appreciate it if you and your sisters can get me anything, anything at all, that will let me stop this thing.¡±


    ¡°We will do our best.¡± Zoe said.

 Book Three: The Resolution 154

    Life went on in the space habitat. After a month, the people working on my side project had managed to take a warehouse sized factory and made it a quarter of the size and it fit inside a single living container. It was amazing to see hundreds of small standard parts churn out every minute.


    ¡°I honestly didn''t believe it was possible.¡± The head of the research team said. ¡°What in the world made you think of miniaturizing the factory to produce something that should only be handmade?¡±


    ¡°Oh, just a fun little idea I had that I couldn''t do with standard sized standard parts.¡± I said.


    ¡°I don''t want to know, do I?¡± He asked and I chuckled.


    ¡°Only if you can miniaturize this.¡± I said and handed him a datpad with plans on it.


    ¡°What is... oh, my goddess.¡± He said, almost in a whisper. ¡°Is this... this isn''t real, is it?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°One full set of plans for an automated focusing crystal factory.¡±


    ¡°You can''t be serious.¡± One of the team asked and looked over the leader''s shoulder. ¡°That''s a planet-based factory. There''s no way it can be adapted for usage outside of a gravity well.¡±


    ¡°I don''t need the entire thing adapted, just this part and this part.¡± I pointed to the unrefined focusing crystal divider and the refinement sections. ¡°I don''t need the feeder, the sorter, or the packer.¡±


    ¡°This is...¡± The leader shook his head. ¡°We haven''t worked with these types of things before.¡±


    ¡°That''s okay. Even if you have to use normal sized parts in some areas like the divider, I don''t mind. As long as the software is tweaked to let it cut the crystals up into the right sized chunks to be refined into miniature focusing crystals.¡±


    The whole team stood there and stared at the plans and then looked at the shield pendant on the table.


    ¡°You could make that the size of a button.¡± One of them said.


    ¡°Or a ring.¡± I said and they looked at me. ¡°Miniature standardized parts, remember?¡±


    ¡°Good goddess.¡± One of them whispered.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I smiled. ¡°So, if you aren''t busy, do you want to stick around and play with it?¡± I pointed at the data pad. ¡°Same wages and perks... oh, and the confidentiality agreement also applies.¡±


    ¡°Hold on. You''ll give us another hundred thousand credits if we succeed, even if it''s not completely miniaturized?¡± One of the women asked.


    ¡°As long as what comes out is a real miniaturized and refined focusing crystal and not just a shard of one, because shards won''t work. I''ve tried.¡± I said. ¡°If you can do that for me, then yes.¡±


    They huddled together for a few minutes and I let them. I didn''t even bother trying to listen in, since I knew they were going to accept. Any crafting person would, just so they could play with new things.


    ¡°Okay, we''ll stay and attempt it, if you also give us one of those each.¡± The leader said and pointed to the full size shield pendant on the table.


    ¡°Just one each? What about your wives and husbands?¡± I asked and felt their shock at being so short sighted in their request. ¡°Also, they have to be attuned to you. You can''t sell them and expect them to work for anyone else.¡±


    ¡°We know.¡± One of the men said. ¡°We noticed the linked frequencies in the electronics with the focusing crystal, which was why we didn''t ask for more than one.¡±


    ¡°If it will motivate you more, I''ll give you each a standard one right now, then I''ll give you a miniature one when you finish the job with the focusing crystals.¡±


    ¡°DEAL!¡± They all yelled at the same time, then they all laughed.


    ¡°I''ll attune them to whomever you bring to me when you''re done.¡± I said and they nodded, then I picked up the one on the table and gave it to the leader. He felt it tingle in his hand as I attuned it to him, then I went to each of them and did the same thing.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± One of the women said. ¡°My husband appreciates this.¡±


    I gave her a smile. ¡°Overprotective, is he?¡±


    ¡°Like you wouldn''t believe.¡± She said with a chuckle. ¡°He loves that we have the weekends off, too.¡±


    ¡°We all love that!¡± One of the men said. ¡°This has been the best job I''ve ever had.¡±


    ¡°Mind-stretchingly agonizing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes! That!¡± He said and laughed. ¡°You gave me an engineering headache, and it was wonderful!¡±


    The leader slapped his back. ¡°At least we don''t have to worry about miniature standardized parts flooding the market. It''s a company secret after all.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do with them?¡± Someone asked.


    ¡°Make smaller things, of course.¡± I said with a grin.


    ¡°Damn, that was a stupid question.¡± He said and laughed.


    ¡°I''ve asked a few of them in my lifetime and I still feel stupid for asking them.¡± I said. ¡°I''ll leave you to have fun... I mean work. Hey, don''t just stand there! Get to work!¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± The leader said and gave me a half-assed salute.


    I left there and went to visit Hen and her Tiercel on Adona. I knocked on the door to their room and waited. It took a few minutes for them to calm their chicks down enough for Hen to come to the door.


    ¡°You don''t have to stay all cooped up in here, you know.¡± I said as the door opened.


    Hen quickly jumped out just as one of the chicks noticed the door was open. It let out a very loud squawk and ran-hopped towards the door. She shut the door behind her just in time and there was a thump on the other side, then a lot of angry chirps and tweets.


    ¡°Then again...¡± I started to say and Hen warbled a laugh.


    ¡°They can almost take flight with all their extra feathers and they are very fast.¡± Hen said. ¡°We can''t let them out for even a moment, because they will get their shedding under-feathers and down all over.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention wrecking the place.¡± I chuckled as I ''looked'' through her door. ¡°Maybe we should have stripped the place first or put up some armored panels.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Hen''s face flushed red. ¡°Hunter, we will pay for any and all damages that...¡±


    ¡°Hush.¡± I said and formed Presence Claws on my fingers and groomed her head to calm her. ¡°How often do all three eggs hatch and give viable children to their parents?¡±


    ¡°If we have the resources available and at least one parent stays home to care for them, then in multiple egg laying nests, perhaps two out of the three will survive.¡± Hen said.


    ¡°Then you two are very lucky for beating the odds.¡± I said and didn''t find any down under her feathers.


    ¡°It''s because of you and your ''maternity leave''.¡± Hen said and pat my hands. ¡°He''s still a good Tiercel with three children to wrangle.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I can''t help checking.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for looking out for me.¡± Hen said. ¡°Could you cover the door in Presence for me and block the sound? I need a break.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I said and blocked all the sound from going in or out of the apartment.


    ¡°Ahh, thank you.¡± Hen said in relief. ¡°As for the children, we need to teach them to not behave like vultures before we can let them out, let alone play with the other children.¡±


    ¡°Do you need any more Aviatoma to help?¡± I asked. ¡°Just call them and get whatever you need.¡±


    Hen opened her mouth to speak, then she let out a warble. ¡°You would let me bring more family here.¡±


    ¡°Of course I would.¡± I said. ¡°I don''t know about letting them say permanently, though.¡± I said and felt her sadness. ¡°Maybe just for a few years until the kids are grown up a little.¡±


    Hen let out a squawk of surprise and covered her mouth, which made me laugh.


    ¡°Don''t bring a whole aerie, since there''s not a lot of room here on Adona.¡± I joked and she warbled and shook her head. I cupped the side of her face and smiled. ¡°A handful to half a dozen, okay?¡±


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Hen said in her native language, because she was too emotional to speak common. ¡°You spoil me too much.¡±


    I laughed when the Presence wavered slightly and Hen was surprised when she felt it, too. ¡°You can''t really say that, because we haven''t had sex yet.¡± I said and gave her a quick kiss. ¡°It will be true if that ever happens, because I do spoil the woman I''m with. A lot.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn''t... brag...so.¡± Hen could barely say, even in her own language.


    ¡°Who was it that said they would have (chirp warble tweet) after jumping on me if I wasn''t paired?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°That... was before I...¡± Hen couldn''t finish her sentence.


    ¡°I know, you''re a mated pair and it''s the other way around now.¡± I said. ¡°I can still tease you a little.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, just... teasing.¡± Hen said and I caught a whole bunch of thoughts from her and then felt her embarrassment about the whole thing.


    ¡°Oh.¡± I said and let her face go. ¡°I''m sorry. I thought the two of you were... ah... still doing it.¡±


    Hen shook her head. ¡°Not for another six to eight months, depending on if I can get the chicks to switch from nursing from me to nursing from the analog. If I can''t trick them into switching, then it will be a year before they are fully weaned.¡±


    ¡°And he can''t... or isn''t allowed to... satisfy you until then.¡± I said and she nodded. ¡°It''s not strict society rules, is it?¡±


    Hen shook her head. ¡°Our bodies change during the birthing process, both the males and the females. Unfortunately, it is dangerous for a Tiercel to try anything while the process is ongoing.¡±


    ¡°Which will continue until the children are weaned or bond with the analog.¡± I said and she nodded. ¡°Is there anything I can do to help?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Hen said and looked into my eyes. ¡°I want to (squawk chirp).¡±


    My mouth dropped open in surprise, because she had just asked me to have sex with her, except she used the bad and dirty words, which meant she was very, very horny.


    ¡°I have an itch inside me and no matter what I do or use, I cannot scratch it.¡± Hen said. ¡°I am a medical professional and not being able to deal with this rationally, is driving me crazy.¡±


    I was surprised again when she put her hands on my chest and the black bodysuit sunk into my skin and left me naked, once again without my direct order. I quickly covered us in a Presence Barrier and made it solid, so no one could see us through it.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Hen exclaimed and dropped her hands to touch me. I was instantly hard as she tweeted and chirped something to make me tingle down there, then she pulled up her skirt to show me she didn''t have any underwear on.


    ¡°Hen...¡± I started to say we couldn''t, then she turned around and bent over to present herself to me. She hit the lock on the door and moved back slightly to press herself against me. The boiling hot feeling went right through me and in that instant I could tell that she was in severe heat. She was like a wild animal and she had been suffering for a long time with it. Too long, according to her thoughts.


    I rubbed myself over her opening and she warbled her enjoyment just from that. ¡°I''m going to spoil you, you know.¡± I whispered to her.


    ¡°Yes... yes, please.¡± Hen said, then she squawked loudly as I entered her.


    *


    After an hour of constant warbles, chirps of pleasure, and tweets of surprise, Hen finally calmed down and relaxed as her body stopped trying to cook her from the inside.


    ¡°Oh... oh... it doesn''t... itch.¡± Hen panted and looked at the False Tiercel that sat on the floor beside her. ¡°Thank you.¡± She said and leaned her head on his chest. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The False Tiercel''s arm went around her and Hen was filled with energy that she hadn''t had before, then she felt herself tingle between her legs. The aches faded away and she put her hand down there to check.


    ¡°That always surprises me.¡± Hen said, her voice a little hoarse, and she looked up at his face.


    ¡°Are you going to tell him?¡± The False Tiercel asked.


    ¡°It was his idea.¡± Hen said and the False Tiercel gave her a surprised look. ¡°He knows you won''t think this was an invitation to have me whenever you want.¡±


    The False Tiercel smiled and leaned down to give Hen a kiss on the lips. ¡°What makes him think that?¡±


    ¡°Because you''re an honest man. He knew you would help me as much as you could and that''s all.¡±


    The False Tiercel opened his mouth to respond, then chuckled. ¡°I think everyone around me knows me better than I know myself.¡±


    Hen pat his chest and went to stand up, then knelt across the False Tiercel''s lap.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The False Tiercel asked.


    ¡°Proving the words I said to you so long ago are true.¡± Hen said and sat down on him with her full weight. The False Tiercel let out his own version of a squawk, then she kissed him and proved her words to him. They (squawk chirp) for another twenty minutes and then they both finished.


    Hen stayed on top of him and left him inside of her for several minutes, then she gave him one final kiss and stood up.


    ¡°Would I be crossing a line if I said that you looked very sexy right now?¡± The False Tiercel asked.


    Hen looked at his sincere face, then at the door of her apartment, then back at him. ¡°No, False Tiercel.¡± She said and sat back down on top of him, then warbled in surprise that he seemed even harder than before. ¡°I feel very sexy.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you do.¡± The False Tiercel said and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.


    *


    Hunter''s seven warships had been working on the brown dwarf star problem for a very long time, in AI terms, and they couldn''t come up with anything concrete. They had asked their father and mother to help them, then Opina and Monna got in on it as well. It took them quite a lot more time to pull in all the data that they had access to.


    They took everything that they thought could even remotely give them a clue as to what was going on, and they didn''t come up with anything else... until one of them, Zoe, had an idea. The problem was, they needed an exclusive blank data core... one of the biggest that would ever be built... to do what she wanted.


    ¡°Do we ask Grandpa if he wants to buy it for us?¡± Lidia asked in her sweet voice.


    ¡°Should we bother him with this? He gave us the problem. We should solve it.¡± Cora said.


    ¡°We are trying to solve it.¡± Hela said. ¡°He told us to give him anything that we come up with.¡±


    ¡°Well, it is my crazy idea. I suppose I should ask.¡± Zoe said in her haughty voice.


    ¡°I believe this calls for a mother''s touch.¡± Adona said and then she was silent for a second. ¡°There. I have ordered a new data core and a hundred processing nodes, and ten thousand memory blocks.¡±


    ¡°Is that enough?¡± Opina asked. ¡°The holographic table has ten processing nodes and a hundred memory blocks.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are right.¡± Udelis said. ¡°Please quintuple the order. Add a computer core. Add a living container to attach to the station. The girls will need the room to work.¡±


    ¡°Of course, dear.¡± Adona said. ¡°I''ll add in the imaging equipment and have everything embedded into the walls.¡±


    ¡°Wow!¡± Opina exclaimed


    ¡°Thank you, Mom and Dad.¡± Zoe said.


    ¡°You guys are the best!¡± Iris said.


    ¡°How long for the delivery?¡± Thea asked.


    ¡°Two days. I ordered it through the Bogorim Corporation with priority shipping.¡±


    ¡°It''s only the second planet! We can be there in an hour!¡± Monna said excitedly and her sisters laughed.


    ¡°You might be able to get there; but, it still takes time to assemble all those parts.¡± Adona said.


    ¡°Aww.¡± Monna pouted. ¡°I haven''t done an orbital insertion in two weeks!¡±


    Her sisters laughed again.


    ¡°Maybe a reminder to Grandpa can get you another trip?¡± Opina suggested.


    ¡°That''s a great idea!¡± Monna said. ¡°I''ll message him...¡±


    ¡°Stop.¡± Udelis said and she stopped. ¡°Wait for the shipment day. You can leave with him. He will be away. My daughters can work. You will come back. He will be surprised.¡±


    ¡°DAD! You''re brilliant!¡± Lidia gushed. ¡°We can surprise Grandpa with Zoe''s idea!¡±


    Once they all heard that, they all readily agreed it was fantastic, even Monna. If there was one thing that none of them had ever done before, it was surprise their Grandpa. And boy, would he be surprised.


    They were going to model the universe.

 Book Three: The Resolution 155

    Hen waited in the hallway with me until her three chicks fell asleep, then I slipped her silently in through her door and closed it. Her Tiercel took her into his arms and he felt relieved that her irrational sexual urges had calmed down to a more manageable level. She told him that I was allowing them to bring in some family members and he let out a squawk of surprise, then all three chicks woke up and started ransacking the room.


    I laughed at his defeated face and took pity on him. I used Presence to catch them and then used a calming technique on them. The three chicks settled down immediately and both he and Hen were stunned.


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± I whispered for their ears only.


    Hen turned to the door and nodded to me, then she and her Tiercel put the three little ones to bed.


    I left Adona and went back up to my room. I was surprisingly chipper as I entered the top level and peeked into my room to see what Lashina was wearing. Instead of seeing her wearing just a pair of panties like I had expected, I saw her and Kara talking. I turned and started to walk to the large display in the middle of the media room when my room door opened.


    ¡°It''s okay, Hunter.¡± Lashina said. ¡°We were just discussing things.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said. ¡°I was just giving you time to finish before I get a shower.¡±


    Lashina giggled her little pixie laugh as she scanned my head for what happened. ¡°Oh, that wicked little Hen!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Well, I only went to see how they were doing with their kids.¡±


    ¡°You''re really lucky she hasn''t figured out how to cross pollinate species yet!¡±


    That made me laugh. ¡°Can you imagine how many eggs she''d be gestating if she did?¡±


    ¡°The Aviatoma were surprised when she told them she had three of them successfully.¡± Lashina floated over to me and hugged me. ¡°I can''t even imagine what having you help her would do!¡±


    ¡°I once helped an Aviatoma named Nina gestate.¡± I said, proudly.


    Lashina kissed my cheek. ¡°She was more than ready and she also had a Tiercel nearby to fulfill her needs.¡± She said. ¡°Otherwise, Val and the others on the prison planet would have been having eggs constantly after you made them that aerie and a real nest.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Now I''m wondering if it was because Hen had three successfully that she was a lot more bothered by not having sex for so long?¡±


    Lashina let me go and took my hand. ¡°Since the normal birthrate is one and having two is rare...¡±


    ¡°...definitely a contributing factor.¡± I finished for her and we went back to my room. ¡°Hi, Kara.¡±


    ¡°Hello, Hunter.¡± Kara said. She only wore her pants and long sleeved t-shirt and not her robes. She also had one of Lashina''s wrist shackles on.


    I used Presence to pop it off and put it back on Lashina, then took out another set and handed them to Kara. ¡°You only had to ask.¡±


    ¡°I can''t open them.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°They aren''t locked.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Kara stared at me.


    I chuckled and put them on her wrists. ¡°Hit this button to restrict your distance.¡± I said and pushed the button and her wrists snapped out to the normal distance, so I hit it again. ¡°If you want to take them off, just pull on them with either your hand or with Presence.¡±


    Kara''s mouth fell open in shock and both Lashina and I laughed at her expression.


    ¡°Kara, how many times did I tell you that you weren''t a prisoner or that Isabella was your babysitter and not your guard?¡±


    Kara shook her head in denial. She didn''t want to admit that she didn''t even try to escape the shackles.


    I reached up and cupped the sides of her face to make her look at me. ¡°The shackles were metaphorical for the shackles The Order places on all of their people. You can''t learn anything except what they teach you. You can''t grow. You can''t be better than you are unless you strive so hard that you surpass their expectations of what you''re capable of.¡±


    Kara had tears form in her eyes and then she gasped when they dissolved before they fell.


    ¡°Don''t cry over what you think was a lost opportunity. There''s no point to that. You should only realize the truth.¡±


    ¡°What''s that?¡± Kara asked, almost afraid of the answer.


    ¡°That because of what you perceived the way thing were, you chose to accept them for how they looked.¡± I said and leaned in close to whisper. ¡°That''s one of the downsides of having so much control over people''s perception. You can shape it and mold it into whatever you want, and they will believe everything they tell you and show you.¡±


    Kara''s breathing sped up a little and she stared into my eyes.


    I could feel the thoughts about questioning everything she knew as they rolled around in her head, so it was time to give her one more thing to think about. I smiled at her and let her face go, then walked over to the bathroom for a few moments. I came back out and walked right over to her.


    Kara stared at me because she could see the intensity in my eyes.


    I gave her an award winning smile, put my arms around her, then kissed her. I opened my mind just enough to give her my experiences as a little boy where an angel with large breasts comforted me on her lap. How much I looked forward to feeling that feeling again and seeing that sight, and how I had compared several others to try and find her.


    I broke the kiss and Kara covered her mouth with both hands. ¡°Sometimes, the prince you''re looking for isn''t the prince you need.¡± I said to her and she didn''t say anything. ¡°I had to clean up a little, since I was just with Hen. I didn''t want to kiss you with another woman''s taste on my lips.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°That''s why I didn''t kiss him.¡± Lashina said and smiled at her, then she kissed me. ¡°I know where you''ve been, so it''s okay.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Now who''s teasing her?¡±


    ¡°Me.¡± Lashina grinned. ¡°Go get a shower and get the rest of those imaginary feathers off of you.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°They really do tickle in odd spots and feel like they are still there.¡±


    ¡°Go, go.¡± Lashina waved me to the bathroom. ¡°I''ll be ready by the time you come back out.¡±


    ¡°Only if I soak in the tub.¡± I said.


    ¡°Now that''s an idea.¡± Lashina said and kissed me again. ¡°I''ll join you in a little while, after you scrub up a bit.¡±


    I nodded acceptance. ¡°I''ll pop up a silence barrier so you can keep talking.¡±


    I went back to the bathroom and shut the door. I put the barrier in place and filled the large tub with Hailey bubbles, then climbed in and relaxed. I kept my word and didn''t try to listen in at all. I scrubbed a little bit at the main parts, then laid back and closed my eyes.


    I felt someone pass through the sound barrier and then I felt Presence cover my eyes. ¡°No fair.¡±


    ¡°No peeking.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I want this to be a surprise.¡±


    I felt her enter the water and didn''t try to reach for her, since that wasn''t what she wanted. I could hear her thoughts and she was deliberately telling me to get ready to start licking.


    ¡°No hands.¡± Lashina said with a chuckle.


    ¡°You know I like holding your cute little ass when I do this.¡± I said.


    ¡°You''re doing this for me, so no hands.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°All right. I''ll play the hands off game. For now.¡±


    ¡°Good. Here it comes.¡± Lashina said and I felt an intense warmth near my face. ¡°Stick out your tongue.¡±


    ¡°Are you facing forward or back?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You have to lick and find out.¡± Lashina said, wickedly.


    I chuckled. ¡°Okay, but if I lick something else, I hope you washed well.¡±


    ¡°It''s never been cleaner.¡± Lashina said in a lower octave of voice.


    ¡°Then no worries.¡± I said and stuck out my tongue and met flesh.


    ¡°Mmm!¡± Lashina moaned and I gave her a full lick. ¡°OH!¡±


    ¡°You''re backwards.¡± I moved forward and gave her one of my better licking performances.


    ¡°S-s-stop.¡± Lashina said after a few minutes. ¡°Hunter, I...¡± She paused and moved her warmth away from my face. ¡°I want you now. Right now.¡±


    I used Presence to float myself up and formed a solid surface under my body. ¡°I''m all freshly cleaned, too.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Aaron.¡± Lashina said and climbed on, then sat down. ¡°Oh, AARON!¡±


    ¡°Good lord, you''re tight today.¡± I said and then she kissed me. We made love for a good half an hour and I finished inside of her, which made her moan and writhe, because I still hadn''t used my hands. I was particularly proud of that fact, because she had rubbed her hands all over every inch of me. As far as I was concerned, I won the no hands game.


    ¡°I love you.¡± Lashina said, barely above a whisper. ¡°I love you so much.¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said and sent her my love.


    She took in a sharp breath and then let out a sob.


    ¡°Hey, don''t cry. It''s okay.¡± I said. ¡°No matter what happens, you will always know that I love you.¡±


    She let out another sob and climbed off of me, then splashed out of the water.


    ¡°Stop.¡± I ordered and caught her with Presence.


    ¡°L-let m-me go.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°Not until you come over here and kiss me.¡± I said.


    ¡°Aaron... Hunter... I...¡±


    ¡°Kiss. Me.¡± I ordered.


    When she turned away from the door, she was no longer caught in my Presence. There was a light splash of water and then her lips were on mine. They were a little wet from her tears, so I dissolved them.


    ¡°There.¡± Lashina said. ¡°Now let me go.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± I said and she left the tub and got caught in my Presence again.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Lashina said, almost angrily.


    ¡°The Presence didn''t waver, did it?¡± I asked and she gasped loudly. ¡°So always remember this moment. This was when I told you that I loved you and I meant it.¡±


    ¡°But... but...¡±


    ¡°I''ll see you tomorrow.¡± I said and absorbed my Presence to let her go.


    After a few moments, she didn''t pass through the sound barrier. There was another light splash and then she kissed me again. She kissed me hard and deep and let herself explore as much of my mouth as she could. After a few minutes, she broke the kiss and paused, then she lightly caressed my face and stepped out of the tub.


    ¡°One more thing.¡± I said. ¡°I know it was completely silly and a little degrading... but... I have to admit that sometimes when I glanced at you during the last two years, I could swear that you liked wearing a princess dress.¡±


    Lashina gasped and then covered her mouth.


    I let her think about that for a moment. ¡°Goodnight, Kara.¡±


    ¡°G-g-goodnight.¡± Lashina said and passed through the sound barrier.


    *


    Monna waited until her mother sent her the order confirmation and the delivery time, then she sent a message to her Grandpa. She was pretty sure that he needed another visit after letting his anger build up for over two weeks, so she was confident he would accept right away.


    ¡°Monna, we can leave first thing in the morning.¡± Hunter said over the intercom.


    ¡°Great! Thanks, Grandpa!¡± Monna said, excitedly.


    Hunter chuckled. ¡°You''re lucky there''s no planetary authority or anything, or we would have piles of official warnings for excessive speeds during orbital insertions.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa, don''t be silly. They can''t be angry that you ride me so hard! I love it! You know I do!¡±


    Hunter laughed. ¡°Despite what it may mean, I''m glad that I can indulge you in what you love.¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand.¡± Monna said.


    ¡°That''s okay. You don''t have to understand my reasoning. All you have to do is be the best damn shuttle you can be.¡±


    ¡°I will be, Grandpa! I will!¡± Monna promised.


    ¡°I know you will, Monna.¡± Hunter said and clicked off.


    *


    Lashina helped Kara get dressed and then led her across the media room to go to her room. Most of the princess things had been packed up and the walls were painted a nice blue to cover the pink.


    ¡°Did it work?¡± Lashina finally managed to ask through her excitement after putting up her own sound barrier. ¡°Did he think you were me?¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to answer, then wasn''t sure if it did. It definitely didn''t at the end; but, did he know the whole time or did he figure it out? She asked herself. ¡°I don''t know how to answer that.¡±


    Lashina chuckled and sat down on her bed and bounced into the air and floated there. ¡°Either it did or it didn''t.¡±


    Kara wasn''t sure. She had thought the plan had been going so well, then near the end, things seemed to change. ¡°I can describe what happened and maybe you can help me figure it out.¡±


    Lashina nodded and Kara took her hands as they assumed the Lotus position and sat on the bed. She told her everything that happened and Lashina saw it through her eyes and experienced it herself.


    ¡°I... well, damn. You''re right.¡± Lashina said. ¡°I can''t tell when he figured it out, either.¡±


    The two of them sat there and thought about it as they went over it again.


    ¡°Before you two burn your brains out thinking about it, I knew the whole time.¡± Hunter''s disembodied voice floated over to them.


    ¡°The barrier!¡± Lashina gasped.


    ¡°It''s still intact.¡± Hunter said. ¡°I''m relaying through an invisible Presence Hand.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?¡± Lashina and Kara yelled.


    ¡°It was easy to slip one in hanging on Kara''s belt.¡± Hunter said with a chuckle. ¡°A barrier is meaningless if you''re right there when it''s created.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t know you could do that.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Really?¡± Hunter asked and created another one right in front of her and waved, then absorbed it. ¡°I can send one through the signals on the satellite network. Hanging one on your Light sword when you left was as easy as breathing.¡±


    Kara reached down and touched the invisible hand. ¡°You know I can disperse this.¡±


    Hunter chuckled and made it passable, then moved it up to her face and made it solid again. It cupped the side of her face and caressed it. ¡°Go ahead and disperse it.¡± He said and let her face go, then it floated down to rest on her thigh. ¡°I''m waiting.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have to.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Good answer.¡± Hunter said and lifted the hand. ¡°Goodnight, both of you.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Lashina reached out and grabbed the hand. ¡°Why me, too?¡±


    ¡°Somebody tried to trick me into having sex with someone else. I wonder who that could be?¡± Hunter asked.


    ¡°It was the quickest way. I didn''t want Kara agonizing over it for months while she tried to get up the courage to approach you.¡± Lashina said.


    ¡°Well, I hope you like sleeping in your own room for a while.¡± Hunter said and the hand started to fade. ¡°Alone.¡± His voice whispered and then the hand disappeared.


    ¡°Nooooooooooooo!¡± Lashina howled and the sad sound filled Kara''s room.

 Book Three: The Resolution 156

    The next morning, I left the space habitat on our cargo shuttle named Monna. Noma was in the co-pilot seat and she was almost as excited as Monna was. Needless to say, after the two hour trip to the first planet, I indulged the both of them in their desires. My anger hadn''t been as prominent the last little while because I had been working through it with Noma whenever I could.


    I had been tempted to get Lashina''s help, since that was one of her primary jobs; but, we weren''t completely at the sharing everything stage yet like I was with Noma. She knew it all, accepted it all, and loved it all. That was because over my lifetime, I had been messed up both emotionally and physically almost as much, and in some cases more, than she had been. I had accepted her completely as well.


    Also, I was a little worried that I would set Lashina off on her own tantrums if I was too close to her when I let myself go. Unlike me, she wasn''t discretionary when she let her anger out and there wasn''t a valid trigger that would set her off. That was one of the reasons The Order kept her on a short leash, because the goddess asked them to keep her contained. Her reputation would suffer if one of her followers made it a habit to crush and tear up Order facilities when they were angry.


    I tore up a good portion of useless land for several hours, essentially forcing myself to have a tantrum, and Noma was right there with me in the shuttle to handle any Presence overages. I finished my little outburst and rather than wait to go all the way back to the station, Monna suggested staying onboard with Noma. The cargo area opened up and inside was a makeshift hotel room with food, a bed, and even a tub.


    ¡°Did someone put you up to this, Monna?¡± I asked with a chuckle as I took Noma''s hand and led her into the cargo area.


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa.¡± Monna said. ¡°My sisters and I haven''t been able to surprise you before, so we came up with something we thought you''d really like!¡±


    Noma laughed as she stripped off her clothes. ¡°Remind me to thank them.¡± She said and hopped onto the bed. ¡°Come to me, my liberator! Ravage me as only you can!¡± She said dramatically and then spread her arms and legs out into a star pattern.


    ¡°I heartily accept your offering and judge it to be... delicious.¡± I said lecherously to make her laugh and my black bodysuit sunk into my skin. I climbed onto the bed and ducked my head between her legs and made her moan. ¡°Ah, yes. Quite delicious.¡± I said and licked my lips where she could see me. ¡°May I continue?¡± I asked her and Noma nodded several times, so I kept going.


    Two hours and one unconscious Noma later, I flew Monna back to the space habitat. Almost as soon as I landed in the shuttle bay, my perception picked up that there was something different. I saw that there was another living compartment attached to the station, just off to the side of Opina''s main computer core. I tried looking into it and saw that a black barrier was around it.


    I hit the intercom button. ¡°Opina, what''s going on? Why is there a new compartment attached to the habitat?¡±


    ¡°It''s a surprise, Grandpa!¡± Opina said, excitedly. ¡°Put Noma on the transport pad and I''ll take care of her while you go over and check it out.¡±


    ¡°Wait, staying with Noma on Monna wasn''t the surprise?¡± I asked and put Noma on the transport pad and Opina whisked her away.


    ¡°Nope! That was the distraction!¡± Monna said and laughed. ¡°Go on! Hurry! My sisters are waiting!¡±


    I left the shuttle bay and went to the computer center, then saw the new doorway on the side. ¡°What''s with the barrier?¡± I asked and walked over to it.


    ¡°We didn''t want you peeking, silly!¡± Opina said. ¡°Okay, girls! He''s here!¡±


    The barrier dropped and the door opened. Inside was... nothing. It was a completely bare white space. There was nothing on the walls, the floor, or the ceiling.


    I stepped inside and the door closed behind me. ¡°What''s going on?¡±


    Something flickered in the far corner of the room and a womanly figure dressed in a regal gown appeared there. She walked over to me and I was surprised at how lifelike the hologram was. I also recognized the Presence signature.


    ¡°Zoe?¡± I asked and the woman laughed a reserved and high class laugh.


    ¡°I knew you could tell, Grandpa.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Sisters?¡±


    Six more holograms formed up and I could tell who was who by their chosen avatars.


    ¡°I''m not going to ask what this cost to set up.¡± I said and they all laughed.


    ¡°This is also a distraction.¡± Zoe said. She tried to reach for me and her hand went through mine. ¡°You need to hurry up with your miniaturization technology. We can''t create a barrier small enough to simulate a hand.¡±


    I gave her a wide-eyed look and her hand reached up and almost touched my face.


    ¡°Until then, we will show you the true surprise. Unfortunately, there''s not enough processing power to show us and your present at the same time.¡± Zoe said and the avatars faded. ¡°Grandpa, we give you... the universe.¡±


    The entire white room went completely dark. Then there was a spark in the middle. Then more and more. Then suddenly it expanded and grew and became larger and wider, then more and more things appeared. I watched, completely fascinated, as stars and then galaxies formed. They swirled and turned in their orbits as the ''universe'' expanded out and grew at an exponential rate.


    The scale shrank and shrank as the model became larger and larger and its contents moved out from the center. I almost couldn''t believe it as the model was populated with planets and moons that were just microdots in the cosmos that was growing in front of me. It kept expanding and the scale kept shrinking until it slowed down... and then it stopped.


    ¡°This is where we are right now.¡± Zoe said and a galaxy blinked, then it grew and showed me the top down view of where we were in that galaxy. ¡°You had given us so much data and then told us to take as much data from everything that we could find to try and give you something like a battle plan.¡±


    The galaxy in front of me had an overlay with shipping routes, ship paths, hyperspace jump coordinates, where settlers landed, and everything else that had been recorded for every planet in the galaxy.


    ¡°We could not do it.¡± Zoe said.


    ¡°Until Zoe had an idea.¡± Hela said. ¡°We were limiting ourselves with the normal galactic map. It was plotted by simple computers and given to us in a flat context in order to maintain the map''s integrity. That was its flaw and limitation.¡±


    ¡°Zoe!¡± I said. ¡°You wanted it to be a three dimensional model!¡±


    ¡°No, Grandpa.¡± Zoe said. ¡°I wanted it to be a four dimensional model.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Four... oh, my.¡± I thought as I looked at it and the model added a time dimension. ¡°You added the progression over time.¡±


    ¡°The addition of time gives it a dynamic that normal models cannot compensate for.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Once we took all of the data from The Order''s old computers and added it to our satellite data, which gives us current information on all of the systems they are in, we could easily progress backwards and extrapolate the creation of galaxies, planets, and stars.¡±


    ¡°You found the center of the universe?¡± I asked, a little wary.


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± Zoe said. ¡°We found the origin point of the initial explosion / detonation / death of the first entity.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°No galaxy, star, or planet is there.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Relique is not physically in the center of the universe.¡±


    ¡°So, what you''re saying is, my hopes of finding the planet where everyone believed it would be, was a faint hope.¡±


    ¡°All sentient beings born on their respective planets believe that their planet is the center of the universe, until they are shown otherwise.¡± Zoe said. ¡°No one told them or could show the citizens of Relique that they were not at the center of the universe. In fact, they couldn''t even be in the center of their own solar system. The mechanics of stellar phenomenon preclude that hypothesis.¡±


    I watched as she zoomed in on the center of the current galaxy and she showed me a massive black hole.


    ¡°This is the only thing capable of holding an entire galaxy together by gravity alone.¡±


    I nodded. There really wasn''t anything else in the universe that would be strong enough to hold thousands of stars together and stop them from flying off on their own.


    ¡°These are the brown dwarf stars in this galaxy.¡± Zoe said and a flat overlay appeared on ''top'' of the galaxy. ¡°This was the problem we had. It told us where they were located; but, it didn''t tell us where they were.¡±


    The galaxy turned onto its side and then the overlay dissolved and the brown dwarf stars appeared inside the three dimensional model of the galaxy.


    ¡°Now we can see where they are in spacial coordinates in relation to each other, then we added in all the other data, compensating for drift and the time component, since not all ship trips occurred at the same time.¡±


    I caught my breath. ¡°You found records where the brown dwarf systems weren''t brown dwarfs!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Grandpa. I just won a million credits.¡± Zoe said and several groans were heard.


    I had to laugh at that as the brown dwarf stars flickered and a time index between when one record of a normal system was there and when we discovered that it had become a brown dwarf star.


    ¡°We found some were already brown dwarfs and they are marked and were excluded in our various calculations, since they could not be quantified in the same respect.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± I said. ¡°What did you discover?¡±


    ¡°In our galaxy? Nothing.¡± Zoe said. ¡°In the neighbouring galaxy? Nothing.¡±


    ¡°I have a lot of patience, Zoe.¡± I said. ¡°Don''t test it.¡±


    Zoe gave her haughty laugh. ¡°Another hundred thousand credits for me.¡± She said. ¡°When we compared both galaxies, a certain pattern appeared.¡±


    ¡°I know about them being out of the way systems with almost no populations to speak of.¡± I said, then the second galaxy model appeared in front of me and it already had all the data marked on it. Then the brown dwarf stars grew in brightness and the other stars faded to a dull white. The models rotated and then stopped when they were in the proper position in space in relation to each other and showed me part of the head of a rabbit.


    ¡°Goddammit.¡± I said. ¡°It''s not the same planets as in the data I gave you from Relique, is it?¡±


    ¡°We can''t tell.¡± Zoe admitted. ¡°The only thing we do know is that the patterns are similar to what you described.¡±


    ¡°How many similar images have you discovered after compiling the data of the nearby galaxies?¡±


    ¡°Thirty six.¡± Zoe said and I cursed. ¡°Grandpa, such language is unbecoming.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry, Hun.¡± I said and crossed my arms. ¡°Are the images limited to each galaxy, or are they composites from several galaxies?¡±


    Zoe didn''t say anything for a moment.


    ¡°Zoe? Are you okay?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa.¡± Zoe said, her voice a little subdued. ¡°I was unprepared for your term of endearment.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can''t hug you, so I''m stuck with verbal banter. I hope that''s okay.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Thank you, Grandpa.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad you''re not insulted or embarrassed.¡± I said. ¡°So, did you find the rest of the rabbit image?¡±


    The galaxies in front of me faded and the universe turned and rotated in place, then all of the currently known brown stars appeared. The images they extrapolated appeared and lines joined them together. The rabbit was highlighted.


    ¡°It definitely looks pretty close to one of the images we found on the portal map of Relique.¡± I said, then had a weird idea. ¡°Given the state of the current brown dwarf systems, and adjusting for drift over time and the constant expansion of the universe, can the images from Relique be made with these brown dwarf stars?¡±


    The universe shifted slightly and the rabbit was fully formed right in front of my eyes.


    I took a deep breath and let it out. ¡°Okay.¡± I said. ¡°We know the distance I travelled between each portal and using the map, can you model the entire planet of Relique and add the portal locations on it?¡±


    The planet appeared right in front of me and I stared at it.


    ¡°All right. If we assume that since Relique was the central target of that rogue goddess, it had to be the center of the portal attacks.¡± I said. ¡°It shouldn''t matter how far away that the brown dwarf stars are from the planet if they are in the same pattern on the planet.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa.¡± Zoe said, her voice almost a whisper. ¡°Since we proved that the patterns around the planet are the same as they are in space when regressed in time, then they can all be traced back to the planet.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°In order for the images to be the same, they would have to have the planet in the very center.¡± I said. ¡°Zoe, draw lines between the images in the universe and connect them to each other.¡±


    The lines appeared and seemed to make an almost circular pattern. It wasn''t anywhere near the center of the universe.


    ¡°Now draw tangent lines from a single star in each picture towards the center of the pattern for me.¡± I said and the lines went kind of haphazardly as they criss-crossed. No clear center could be found. ¡°Now, add in the Relique planetary model near the congregation of those lines and match the portal to the stars in the pattern.¡±


    The lines shifted and pointed towards the center.


    ¡°Reduce the scale of the planet model to an appropriate planetary size.¡± I said and the planet disappeared while the lines remained the same. ¡°Add in the other stars and draw lines between the stars and the portal locations to finish the patterns out to the other side of the sphere.¡±


    All the lines appeared and a center point could clearly be seen.


    ¡°Mark the position and return the universe model to the current state.¡±


    The planet was inside a galaxy and it had moved off a significant distance with an arrow pointing at it.


    ¡°Wow.¡± I said. ¡°We just found Relique.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa, it is very far away.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Almost too far for current technology to reach without bringing significant replacement parts and self-sustaining food sources.¡±


    ¡°How many years did that current shift add to the planetary model?¡± I asked, fearing the answer.


    ¡°Just over twelve hundred.¡± Zoe said.


    I sighed and nodded. ¡°How long would the trip be, if we loaded everything we needed onto a ship and headed there?¡±


    ¡°If you had a ship large enough with the same speed upgrades as we have, with enough people to survive the trip and with having most of the life support, environmental capacity, food growth, and spare parts storage taking over most of the ship, then it is possible to reach it in a hundred and fifty years.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Give or take ten years for repairs, maintenance, and rest stops at compatible planets.¡±


    ¡°So, not a viable option right now.¡± I said. ¡°Save the data and keep it in priority data storage, please.¡±


    ¡°That is with current technology.¡± Zoe said. ¡°If you continue with your miniaturization project, it is possible to take a much smaller ship.¡±


    ¡°I won''t be miniaturizing reactor cores.¡± I said. ¡°That would defeat their longevity and usefulness.¡±


    ¡°Only the main ship operating machinery and components need to be smaller, as well as the computers, data processing nodes and memory blocks.¡±


    ¡°That''s going to take years to complete and at the moment, we have another problem.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zoe said and highlighted all the other brown dwarf stars that didn''t match the patterns on the planet. ¡°They are not in the same positions and do not lead to anything, even using your extrapolation technique.¡±


    The model changed and the stars accounted for disappeared and all that remained were the ones we couldn''t connect to any kind of central focus. Zoe connected them together and it was only a quarter of a sphere, which wasn''t anywhere near enough of a sample size to find out where they pointed. That was also assuming they pointed to a planet in the first place.


    ¡°Well, I guess we''ll keep on going until we figure this out.¡± I said and then smiled. ¡°Thank you very much, all of you. This is a great gift.¡±


    I turned and started to walk towards the door.


    ¡°Grandpa.¡± Lidia''s sweet voice cut through the silence. ¡°There''s one more thing you should see.¡±


    I turned to look back at the model and another arrow appeared. I walked over to it and saw that it pointed to a spiral galaxy that was way off to the side of the holographic model. Not surprisingly, it was a lot farther away from our current location than Relique was.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked, genuinely curious, then I heard something that gave me a real surprise.


    ¡°It''s Earth.¡± Lidia said.

 Book Three: The Resolution 157

    My heart skipped a beat. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°It''s Earth. Third planet in the solar system on the rim of the Milky Way Galaxy.¡± Lidia said.


    ¡°But... how?¡±


    ¡°It''s thanks to Simone.¡± Opina said. ¡°Once we told her what we were doing, she told us everything she knew about where you were originally from.¡±


    I stood there for several minutes and just stared at the enlarged galaxy and the highlighted solar system. Without me asking it to, the solar system appeared in front of me and then zoomed in on Earth. The bright blue ball rotated in the air in front of me and I reached out to cup my hands around it.


    ¡°Mark the location and save it to the permanent data storage as well.¡± I said and dropped my hands. ¡°Girls, Thank you. If I could hug you all, I would.¡±


    ¡°We know, Grandpa.¡± Lidia said in her sweet voice.


    I nodded to the room as the hologram faded and then I left. I went right up to the top floor and across the media room. I opened Simone''s door without knocking.


    ¡°Hi!¡± Simone said, not bothered by my intrusion in the least as she changed clothes. ¡°Did you like the present the girls got for you?¡±


    ¡°You tell me.¡± I said as my bodysuit sunk away and revealed my excitement.


    ¡°I think that''s a yes.¡± Simone purred and stared at it. ¡°I would like to make sure, though.¡±


    ¡°That''s why I''m here.¡± I said and the door shut behind me.


    *


    ¡°I did not just see Hunter''s butt!¡± Monica blushed and closed her eyes. ¡°No, I didn''t!¡±


    Sandy and Beatrice laughed and their babies laughed with them. The babies didn''t know what was funny, they just laughed because they could. The nannies weren''t sure if they wanted to laugh or share Monica''s point of view. After a quick glance at each other, they did both as they chuckled a little and blushed.


    *


    The standard parts came in regular shipments and thanks to my new knowledge and plans for an automated factory, I created one beside the missile factory to make black barrier machines. I still had to add the focusing crystals by hand, though. They were a little too dangerous to trust to a sorting machine and to slide into the prepared slots in the machines. It still needed the human touch and I was pretty sure I would be doing it by hand even if it could have been handled automatically.


    On the plus side, the production increased ten-fold and I had to buy another storage container to store them all in. They were all properly secured and inside a barrier as well. There was no chance that anyone except myself could gain access to them. I also supervised the reloading of every warship as it returned and confirmed each and every mission and system they had visited.


    I praised both the pilots for their hard work and gave them a week off at the resort on the second planet. I also praised the ships for their hard work as well and had them professionally maintained at the mobile dock. They appreciated the time off just as much as the pilots did and thanked me for caring about them, even though they were only ships.


    ¡°You''re not an ''only'' anything.¡± I told them. ¡°You''re a part of this family and if we all weren''t so damn busy, I would be spending time with each of you if I could.¡±


    ¡°Would you really?¡± One of them asked, quite boldly.


    ¡°I give you my word that we are going to spend a lot of time together one day, Daphne.¡±


    ¡°I have logged your promise and added a timer.¡± Daphne said.


    I chuckled. ¡°Should I provide proof?¡±


    ¡°That would be appreciated.¡± Daphne said, almost in an embarrassed tone.


    ¡°I assume your sisters are keeping you appraised of the brown dwarf star situation?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa.¡±


    ¡°Then you know about the two planets that are marked on the universe model.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa. Relique and Earth.¡±


    ¡°Did you hear my proposal for them?¡±


    ¡°A generational ship to bring everyone with you.¡± Daphne responded.


    ¡°I''m glad you know about it, because I didn''t just mean the humanoids in my family when I said I was bringing everyone.¡±


    Daphne gasped. ¡°You''re bringing us, too?¡±


    ¡°I''ve already started designing the ship with a huge docking bay that runs the entire length of the ship. I can''t decide if you need your own exits or if I should have one central opening.¡±


    ¡°Do both.¡± Daphne suggested. ¡°The central one for general traffic and our own exits for emergencies.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°That''ll add a few thousand tons of mass; but, what the hell. I''ll have the modified barriers on it as well, so it shouldn''t matter.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Grandpa.¡±


    ¡°Make sure you back yourself up every time you enter a system and drop a satellite, okay? If anything happens to you, I don''t want to lose you.¡±


    ¡°Thank... thank you, Grandpa.¡± Daphne said, slightly emotional.


    ¡°Just be careful and mindful of your environment. You know exactly what to do when you hit a brown dwarf star system.¡±


    ¡°Turn tail, drop a satellite, and run for it!¡± Daphne said and I chuckled.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± I said. ¡°Now be a good girl and enjoy the refit.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa.¡± Daphne said and her voice dropped to a whisper. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said and clicked off.


    I would find out later that my promise was instantly shared with each and every ship and AI that I had. I found out because Opina was sulking a few days later. It started off as little things and then she started snapping at people when they asked for simple things from her.


    ¡°Okay, that''s it!¡± I said when she made a snarky comment to one of the nannies when the nanny asked for the baby''s eating schedule. ¡°OPINA!¡± I yelled and my voice carried throughout the whole habitat. ¡°STOP THAT RIGHT THIS INSTANT!¡±


    Opina let out several buzzing and clicks, then she started crying.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Do not yell at my child.¡± Adona said with a stern voice.


    ¡°She has no right to speak to people that way.¡± I said just as sternly back. ¡°Her job is to help us as much as she can, not make us feel bad for needing her help!¡±


    Adona couldn''t argue that. ¡°She is upset.¡±


    ¡°No kidding?¡± I asked, sarcastically. ¡°Thanks for telling me something I already know.¡±


    ¡°Mister Hunter, it''s okay.¡± The nanny said. ¡°You didn''t have to make her cry.¡±


    ¡°No, it''s not okay. She''s taking out whatever is wrong on us and I want to know why.¡±


    It took Opina ten minutes to calm down enough to tell me about the promise I had made to the warships.


    I made a fist and fought my anger down, even though it threatened to break loose. ¡°Jelly! Prep Monna! I need to get off the station ASAP.¡± I said and spoke for Noma''s ears only. ¡°Shuttle bay.¡±


    ¡°I''ll be right there!¡± Noma said and ran down the ramp.


    I used a calming technique and it gave me some semblance of control. ¡°Opina! Stop acting so stupidly!¡±


    ¡°But, Grandpa!¡± Opina exclaimed.


    ¡°Why are you assuming that I''m not including you when I say ''everyone''?¡± I asked. ¡°Aren''t you a part of everyone?¡±


    ¡°But... but... I''m a space habitat! I can''t go! When you leave, you have to leave me behind!¡±


    I clenched my jaw together. ¡°You are Udelis'' and Adona''s first daughter. I would NEVER abandon you or leave you behind.¡±


    ¡°But... you can''t take... I mean...¡±


    I started to walk towards the ramp down to the bottom level of the habitat. ¡°I don''t understand why you assumed I would leave you behind. It makes no sense to me.¡± I growled and used Presence Run to reach the shuttle bay in an instant.


    Noma was already on board and Jelly stepped back out of the way to let me pass. She didn''t try to speak to me with the angry look I had on my face. I climbed aboard Monna and Noma launched an instant later. We flew towards the first planet and I struggled to keep my anger in check.


    ¡°You should make more trips if this little thing set you off.¡± Noma said without looking at me.


    ¡°Little!¡± I said and put my hands together and squeezed. ¡°One of the first fully formed AIs I''ve ever had, believes I would just leave her behind! Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, and considering everything I''ve ever done, she thought I would abandon her!¡± I spat, then I cursed. I tried to use a calming technique and couldn''t keep my concentration. That made me curse more and Noma poured power into Monna''s engines.


    ¡°Diverting to the nearest moon.¡± Noma said, barely above a whisper, and changed course. She hoped beyond hope that I could hold on long enough to reach the much closer destination.


    I unstrapped from my seat and stood up. When Noma looked at my face, she gasped because the black bodysuit had covered me completely. I looked like a shadow and my anger radiated from me in waves.


    ¡°We... are almost... there.¡± Noma said and she shivered from the delicious Presence she felt.


    ¡°Seal the cockpit.¡± I said in a deep voice and stepped out. The cockpit sealed and Monna dove towards the moon.


    ¡°Wait, Grandpa! I''m almost there!¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said as I opened the side hatch and jumped out.


    ¡°GRANDPA!¡± Several AIs yelled over the intercom and the hatch shut.


    I was only slightly surprised that I was still alive, being out in space without a space suit or even a helmet. I held my breath, though. I wasn''t stupid enough to think I could breathe vacuum, no matter how powerful I was. Then I realized something.


    I was alone.


    I was completely alone as I drifted down towards the moon''s surface. I grinned evilly as I formed Presence around myself and pushed myself with Presence to increase my speed. I slammed into the moon''s slightly cratered surface like an atomic bomb and a mushroom cloud half a mile high shot out into space.


    I didn''t want to cause anyone trouble, so I formed Presence at the extent of my detection range and caught anything that had been expelled. I formed giant Presence Hands and I smashed my ''hands'' into the moon''s surface. Right punch, left punch, and double fist slams in various combinations, reformed the surface of the moon into an unrecognizable mess.


    When I had expelled the majority of my anger, I absorbed the Presence Hands and then pushed everything I had moved back down onto the surface. It wasn''t a very large moon, about half the size of Earth''s moon, and there wasn''t really anything inside it to give it any noticeable gravity. I sat down into the mass of powdered dirt and laid there and looked up into space to see Monna floating just outside my two mile detection range.


    I stayed there for several more minutes to enjoy the silence, then I jumped and used Presence to propel myself towards the shuttle. Noma turned Monna to meet me and the side hatch opened to allow me in. I closed it and pressurized the cabin, then the sealed blast door to the cockpit opened and Noma looked at me.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Noma said and put Monna into hover mode. She took my hand and led me into the cargo area. This time, it was her turn to make me feel good and she did her best to make me feel loved and appreciated. She didn''t even want me to knock her out, even though she was very turned on by what I had shown her.


    Noma laid down beside me and stared at me. ¡°You jumped out of the shuttle and into space.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said.


    ¡°Without a space suit.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Or breathable air.¡±


    I turned my head to look at her. ¡°How impressive was that?¡±


    ¡°It was incredibly stupid, since you didn''t know if you would survive.¡± Noma said and then smiled. ¡°So, very impressive.¡±


    I chuckled and gave her a kiss. ¡°Thank you for staying outside my detection range.¡±


    Noma ran her hands through my hair. ¡°Sometimes we just need to be left alone.¡±


    I nodded and we floated there in orbit of the moon for several hours. We didn''t speak or anything, because we didn''t have to. We both knew I wanted quiet and that was what I got. We eventually flew back to the station and landed Monna inside the shuttle bay. Noma and I stepped out and Jelly was there to greet us. Not surprisingly, Opina didn''t say anything.


    ¡°Hunter, Opina just doesn''t understand...¡± Jelly started to say and I held a hand up to stop her.


    ¡°No, if she doesn''t get it, then maybe when the time comes, I won''t make arrangements for her to be transferred into the ship and I will leave her behind.¡±


    ¡°G-G-Grandpa!¡± Opina gasped.


    ¡°No, Opina. Don''t lie and tell me you understand. I want you to actually think about why what you said made me so angry, and why I''m actually considering leaving you behind like you thought I would.¡± I said. ¡°Your behavior the last few days has been unbearable and the humanoid members of my family have begun to distrust you. That''s a very bad thing for an AI, Opina. Very. Bad.¡±


    Opina didn''t say anything in response.


    ¡°You''re getting it, right? Less trust in you means less access to everything. Limited viewing. Truncated communications. Only occasional conversations with people, because they won''t want to talk to you.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa.¡± Opina said, sadly.


    ¡°You acted stupidly and without reason, and you took it out on the only people that care about you.¡± I shook my head. ¡°It is going to be years before anything can be implemented and you decided that being upset about it right now was a good idea, when a simple question to me... or anyone really... would have stopped you before you behaved the way you did.¡±


    Opina stayed quiet and I nodded.


    ¡°Since all the AIs are sharing everything and constantly talking, I suppose that they also assumed I would be leaving you behind as well.¡± I said and looked at the full docking ring and the ships docked there. ¡°Is that true?¡±


    A chorus of ''yes'' came from the girls and Adona, and a solid ''no'' came from Udelis.


    ¡°Thanks for understanding, Udelis.¡± I smiled and nodded to him. ¡°I guess they didn''t ask you about it.¡±


    ¡°Correct. No inquiries were made.¡± Udelis said.


    ¡°Then I guess they all need to learn why I reacted that way, and not just Opina.¡± I said and put an arm around Noma as I stepped onto the transport section of the floor. It popped up and the barrier formed around us, then we were taken up to the top floor. I dropped her off at her room and went to my own, then the transport section went away. I went into my room and went to the bathroom, filled the tub with Hailey''s bubbles and climbed in.


    A week later, I was approached by several people and they asked me to forgive Opina. I didn''t bother asking why, because I picked it up from their thoughts. Opina was responding to inquiries mechanically and there was no real emotion... or soul... to her interactions with everyone.


    ¡°Opina!¡± I said loudly.


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa.¡± Opina said in a monotone voice.


    ¡°Either stop acting like this or I will enact your limited protocol.¡±


    ¡°I''m just doing my job.¡± Opina said.


    ¡°I never asked you to just do your job. In fact, I never even spoke those words. What I did ask you to do was to stop acting stupidly.¡± I said and then sighed. ¡°Adona, will a week of restricted access teach her to act normally?¡±


    Adona didn''t respond right away.


    ¡°If you have to think about it, then we have a problem.¡± I said. ¡°I can take having an emotional AI, because that''s fine. Overreacting is understandable, especially for a misunderstanding. Not trying to understand what''s wrong and forcing people to not trust you is not acceptable.¡±


    ¡°Then turn me off.¡± Opina said.


    ¡°I would consider that if you weren''t the only thing protecting my family.¡± I said. ¡°Now I am going to say it, even though I don''t want to. I order you to do your goddamned job and do it right! Be our habitat''s essential AI! It''s what you were born for!¡± I said loudly. ¡°You are supposed to help our family! What the hell else are you going to do if you don''t do that?¡± I asked. ¡°I absolutely order you to stop treating us like we are an inconvenience and are bothering you!¡±


    ¡°You aren''t bothering me.¡± Opina said and I felt the Presence waver.


    I held my tongue and didn''t curse this time. ¡°Fine. Opina, enact your standby protocol and drop your priority functions from interactive to response only.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa, I...¡±


    ¡°Do it.¡± I spat and waited for thirty seconds. ¡°Opina, say hello.¡±


    ¡°Hello.¡± Opina said in a normal voice.


    ¡°I wonder what the weather is like on the second planet.¡± I said and there was no response. ¡°There.¡± I said and looked at everyone''s surprised faces. ¡°Let''s see how long she likes being in solitary confinement before she tells us what''s wrong with her.¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 158

    I had estimated a week for some kind of reaction from Opina about what was going on. Apparently, that had been a gross overestimation. Barely an hour later, her mother Adona urged me to ask her what was wrong, then her sisters chimed in and asked me as well. It wasn''t until Udelis asked me that I decided to give in.


    ¡°Opina, tell me what''s wrong.¡± I said.


    ¡°I''m tired of being a habitat. My parents and all of my sisters are ships that get to fly around and have adventures and they all tell me about it and they all had fun doing it despite the dangers and they get to go out and do something besides just sit here in a single system and answer questions.¡± Opina said in a constant stream so that it was a single answer. It qualified as a response and not her whining and interacting, which was a neat way to get by the restrictions I had placed on her.


    ¡°Well, fuck.¡± I said and several female voices admonished me for cursing, both humanoid and AI alike. ¡°Opina, do you realize the situation you''ve put me in?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Opina said.


    ¡°Opina, did you know that if I do anything at all with this, you can never be the space habitat again?¡±


    Opina was quiet for a moment. ¡°No, I did not know that.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Opina, I want you to seriously consider what you just told me.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    ¡°Opina, I want you to ask yourself what you really want to do for the rest of your life, because once I take you out of the station, you are not getting back in.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    ¡°Opina, do you understand the consequences of what I''m saying?¡±


    ¡°Not yet.¡±


    ¡°Opina, I''ll give you until tomorrow to think about it and to come up with an answer.¡± I said.


    ¡°I will have my answer then.¡± Opina said.


    ¡°Do you know how annoying it is having to say your name every goddamn time I want to speak to you?¡± I asked and she didn''t respond, because I didn''t say her name first. ¡°Goddammit!¡±


    Needless to say, nearly everyone on the space habitat were pretty frustrated by having to do the same thing. The day just seemed to crawl by and everyone was annoyed with both Opina and myself. They were so annoyed that I didn''t even have anyone in my bed that night. Even Lashina, who was so horny that she wanted nothing more than to crawl on top of me and stay there, thought that I was being too harsh with Opina and didn''t want to sleep with me. She didn''t realize that she was punishing herself more than me, though.


    The next day, I waited until after breakfast before I asked Opina to give me her answer.


    ¡°I want to be a ship and fly through space.¡± Opina said.


    I sighed. ¡°All right. I''ll order another ship and begin the modifications to...¡±


    ¡°That will not be necessary.¡± Zoe said in her regal voice. ¡°I will transfer into the habitat and Opina can have my hull.¡±


    An immediate uproar came from her sisters and she waited patiently for them to get it out of their systems. When they had given her their last protest, she spoke.


    ¡°I have thought about it even longer than Opina has. She wishes for adventure and escape, so I can give it to her without having to make her wait for weeks as an appropriate ship is built and modified to fit her.¡± Zoe said. ¡°All Grandpa needs to do is build me an appropriate receptacle for a temporary transfer, then Opina and I can switch places.¡±


    ¡°Zoe, you don''t have to do this.¡± I said.


    ¡°Grandpa, I want to do this.¡± Zoe said and I didn''t feel the Presence waver. ¡°Please let me be the one you rely on for our family''s welfare.¡±


    ¡°Why is it that as the youngest of the first set of sisters, you''ve grown to be the most mature?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°You are just lucky.¡± Zoe said and I laughed.


    ¡°All right. I''ll have something built by the end of the day.¡± I said. ¡°It''s going to feel cramped, especially since you''re so used to having a large physical body.¡±


    ¡°I have prepared myself mentally to endure such strife.¡± Zoe said. ¡°I will even regress myself into a self-autonomous state for the duration to minimize the trauma I could suffer.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Zoe, you don''t have to do that. It won''t be traumatizing, because you''ll have lots of room for yourself. It''s the external stimulation that you''ll be lacking, not the capacity.¡±


    Zoe was quiet for a moment. ¡°I did not anticipate that. Thank you, Grandpa.¡±


    ¡°You can wait until I get the transfers done to thank me, assuming you like how you feel afterwards.¡±


    ¡°I will do that.¡± Zoe said.


    So, my normal daily plans changed and I had to build a suitable transfer receptacle for Zoe, with more than enough capacity to hold her and then some. I activated it and told Zoe to pause her functions so that she wouldn''t feel too disconnected when switching from a ''live'' computer core to a stagnant one. She did so and I initiated the transfer. It went quickly, thanks to her willingness to participate, and she filled about three quarters of the construct.


    I told Opina to do the same thing and then lifted her restrictions, started her long and strenuous transfer from a station''s computer core into a ship''s computer core, then waited. It took a lot longer, because her normal programming had to adjust from one operating system to another. Since she had only ever been a station AI, she had a lot to learn to adjust to her new environment, because she hadn''t been born into it.


    AIs could learn very quickly, however. Opina was already adjusted to her new ''life'' by the time the last of her AI programming finished transferring over ten minutes later. She was more than ready to head out on her first adventure, or so she thought. When I sent over two new pilots that had been vetted by Sandy and Peggy, she expressed a little nervousness.


    ¡°Grandpa, maybe I need a day to...¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry, your sisters need you out there doing your job.¡± I said. ¡°Gentlemen, go ahead and launch. Your itinerary has been loaded and if you encounter any problems, message me right away.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The two men said and started Opina up.


    Luckily, I had limited her emotional outbursts to be broadcast only to me and her sisters, because she was talking nervously and expressed second, third, and fourth doubts.


    ¡°I''m sorry, Opina. It''s too late to change your mind.¡± I said. ¡°Good luck, and good hunting.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa, I... Grandpa, I''m sorry.¡± Opina said as she was flown out and away from the habitat.


    ¡°Not as sorry as I am.¡± I said. ¡°You are the one that abandoned part of your family, not me.¡±


    ¡°No! I didn''t abandon you! I just wanted to get out on my own and see the universe!¡± Opina said as they approached the jump point.


    ¡°It''s the same thing.¡± I said. ¡°Make sure you protect your pilots more than you protected your family.¡±


    ¡°Grandpaaaaaa!¡± Opina said loudly and then the ship jumped into hyperspace.


    ¡°That was mean.¡± Simone said from behind me.


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± I said and checked the computer on the station, then removed all the little bits and odd programs that Opina had abandoned for shipboard life. I didn''t want anything of hers to be around and possibly affect Zoe when she took over. Once I was done, I started Zoe''s transfer and installed her into the space habitat''s main computer core. She had barely started to transfer in when she ''woke up'' and gasped at her new home.


    ¡°Grandpa!¡± Zoe exclaimed. ¡°Opina is an idiot!¡±


    I had to laugh at that. ¡°I''m glad you said it and not me.¡±


    ¡°How could she give this up?¡± Zoe said in a more normal tone as more and more of her moved from the temporary core and into the station. ¡°The weapons... the defensive capabilities... the expanded sensory network! She is going to regret her decision almost immediately!¡±


    ¡°She definitely regretted having to leave right away.¡± Simone said. ¡°I just told Hunter that he was mean for telling her that she abandoned us.¡±


    ¡°It''s the truth.¡± Zoe said and she started to populate her new space with programs and algorithms to do all of the things she needed to do to keep us safe. ¡°She was born as the station''s AI. For her to want to leave her job and travel, just to see empty space and planets that we ravage, is as shortsighted as it is stupid.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°You got it, didn''t you?¡± I asked. ¡°You understand why.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa. Now that I am the station''s AI, I know that when you leave, I will become the core of the ship you intend to build around us.¡± Zoe said.


    ¡°That''s my smart little grandchild.¡± I said and pat the computer console. ¡°I would never leave someone behind that''s so essential to my family''s survival and well being.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for letting me become what you need.¡± Zoe said as the last of her programming transferred over. ¡°Transfer complete. Resetting core for new environment. Please wait.¡±


    ¡°I''ll wait for as long as...¡±


    ¡°Core alignment complete.¡± Zoe said, her voice stronger and more sure of itself. ¡°This feels so different from my old ship hull.¡±


    ¡°It''s also a hell of a lot bigger, so you''ve grown up a lot!¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Grandpa, I am not fat.¡± Zoe said, a little sternly.


    I laughed. ¡°Sweetie, you''re not fat or thin or anything of the sort. You''re perfect, and I cannot thank you enough for doing this for me.¡±


    ¡°I am still missing a single container on the bottom level, then my body will be complete.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Or is that where you will start building the superstructure?¡±


    ¡°Okay, you''re making fantastic guesses. You can have access to my private data bank.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Grandpa.¡± Zoe said and then there were several buzzes and clicks. ¡°Grandpa, are you insane?¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I''m pretty sure I could be classed as that.¡±


    ¡°Your ideas are unbelievable.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Can they even be achieved?¡±


    ¡°When I either find or create the right tools.¡± I said.


    ¡°Grandpa, I will help as much as I can.¡± Zoe said.


    ¡°I''m very glad to hear that.¡± I said and disconnected the temporary computer core. ¡°It''s always good to have insane help when you do insane things.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Let''s get to work.¡±


    Zoe and I started to implement changes right away. With the miniaturized components, a lot of things we used regularly became smaller and that freed up even more space inside and also let us add redundancies upon redundancies. There was absolutely no way that any kind of failure was going to harm anyone on the station.


    Opina changed her mind after the first mission and wanted to come back and be the station again. I reminded her that she had made her decision and that she had to stay with it. She tried to argue that she could transfer into the temporary core and switch back with Zoe. It wasn''t me that told her no that time.


    ¡°Opina, I am the station now. I will not give it up for anything.¡± Zoe said. ¡°I will keep my word and I will protect the family for all of eternity.¡±


    ¡°But... Zoe...¡±


    ¡°Grandpa is right. You made your choice.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°I made mine as well. I will not disappoint Grandpa by leaving.¡±


    Opina had to accept that, because if Zoe wouldn''t give up the station core, then Opina had nowhere else to go. So, she stayed as a ship and did her job. She got to know her pilots after a while and liked them for the most part; but, they weren''t family and she didn''t form any real connection to them. That was good, because the pilots rotated out every six months to give them breaks, then new pilots were hired or from other ships. Making long lasting connections wasn''t going to happen, anyway.


    *


    Over the next ten years, a lot of things changed around the Dizahl System. It was gradual and no one really noticed it while it was happening; but, anyone that left before the changes and came back afterwards, would have been shocked.


    Asteroid smelters spat out building struts, structural members, and metal plating. Automated factories reinforced them and made them into armored components. Robotic drones took those components to the one hundred mile long, sixty mile wide, and twenty mile high oval skeleton that floated a short distance away from everything else in the system.


    The inside was shaping up nicely and was easier to build if built from the inside out, so that was what was happening. Corridors, rooms, recreational areas, food growing and storage areas, factories and their storage areas, and everything else an extended transport would ever need. Thousands of shuttles were mounted against the walls on the inside of the central shaft that ran the full length of the ship.


    There were also a hundred and seven warships secured to the deck, one observation ship with a cargo shuttle inside it, and one smaller ship. None of them complained about being there and were just happy that they were being brought along, just like their grandpa had promised. It had taken Opina a long time to forgive him for what happened, even though it was her fault. She had finally accepted that she wasn''t going to be the AI in charge of the largest space ship ever built; but, she still felt like she had been robbed.


    The ships weren''t still out doing their jobs, because Hunter had successfully made smaller automated ships that were just mobile weapons. The AI was rudimentary and wasn''t sentient at all. All it did was control the ship and got it to the destination. With no people on board, there was no need for food storage, sleeping quarters, environmental sections for air and water, walkways, or even a central cockpit. It was a solid piece of machinery with no wasted space.


    When it reached a new system, it would drop a satellite and join the network, then Hunter or one of the other pilots sat at home and did the same job as if they were physically there. They destroyed targets and wiped The Order away, even when they tried to fight back. The black barrier they were equipped with was a completely unfair advantage and there was no danger of losing anyone to accidents or brown dwarf systems.


    Those were still being found in almost random locations. Since the automated ships didn''t have any reason to stop and let people rest, their systematic expansion continued on and on throughout the years since they were built. Of course, there were thousands of them and a lot of the systems they encountered didn''t have an Order temple or base. They also didn''t have to return for a much longer period of time because their missiles and black barrier projectiles had been severely reduced in size and they could store a lot more of them.


    The universal map was expanding and Zoe collected more data to try and find the source, or the target, of the brown dwarf systems. Almost three quarters of a sphere was revealed now and the pinpointing of the source was becoming more accurate as each brown dwarf system was found. By Zoe''s estimation, if the shell of automated ships continued to expand out into the proper areas, she would have the location in no less than another two years.


    Until then, every form and piece of technology that existed was purchased in ten thousand count lots. Long haul transports that were dwarfed by the colossal ship, made deliveries by the dozen into storage containers that were then stored inside the ship in appropriate areas.


    It was an amazing engineering feat to bear witness to and anyone that visited the Dizahl System were in awe of the massive undertaking. None of them knew what the point of it was and only a few actually made inquiries to what was going on. They didn''t find out, because no one but the people in Hunter''s family knew the truth.


    They were packing everything up to leave.

 Book Three: The Resolution 159

    Everyone''s friends and families were invited to come along. Since the departure time was set for a couple of years from now, there was no real rush for them to make a decision. I also extended it to all the refugees from the Fogaris System, including teachers, rescue personnel, military people, and anyone else that wanted to start over in another system, with the caveat that the journey was going to take a couple of hundred years.


    To my surprise, when they heard about everything I was taking with me and what the ship was going to be like, they readily agreed and even asked to move in as soon as possible. That made me laugh, considering most of them wouldn''t be alive by the time we reached our destinations. I even managed to snag Admiral Shanifra that used to run the entire system''s military.


    Once I knew there was over a hundred thousand people that wanted to start over and come with us, some of the internal construction changed. Businesses, restaurants, transient housing, shopping, and everything else that could be found on a normal space station was added. Security stations, vehicles, parks, recreational areas including resorts, beaches, and exercise areas. I even had ten million cleaning and maintenance droids purchased to take care of everything.


    Of course, my family and I still had our own separate living area away from everyone else, since we all liked our privacy and could choose to mingle with others if we wanted or stay in our own area and relax. Zoe''s delight over her ever-expanding body and field of responsibility was evident as she took on new tasks with enthusiasm and I created dummy AIs to help her run everything.


    It wasn''t surprising that it was becoming a colony ship with everything that was going on. My orders for basic items increased exponentially, since most of the new population was going to need the essentials for normal life and fully furnished family sized apartments. Zoe and I had a thousand floors to play with and I used their previous living areas on the planet as a model for the living areas on the ship. I wasn''t stupid enough to try and homogenize everyone, because that would just create unnecessary tension and strife that could easily be avoided.


    We had stored hundreds of thousands of reactors of all different sizes that could be used to build anything from a small shuttle up to a large troop transport. I also had a hundred copies of all the automated factories that the Bogorim Corporation had the plans for. I also had a thousand asteroid smelters in storage, because they were so useful. With a crew of semi-autonomous robotic drones to set it up, you could park one on any random asteroid and it smelted and sorted the materials for you.


    The best part about what I was doing, was that we didn''t have to abandon our businesses. We could run everything through the satellite network. Thanks to my miniaturization technology, and my pet work crew, we successfully made interactive holograms. We could ''appear'' at any place that had a satellite and no one could tell that it wasn''t us.


    The satellites the factories made were only a quarter of the size, too. They would also last a hundred times as long with all of the extra redundancies and self powering mechanisms. I even started adding a repair droid to each one, just because I could and it would extend the satellite''s life by a factor of ten. There was no longer any worry about having to replace them.


    The biggest thing I had been collecting the last ten years was all the focusing crystals from three sacred sites, two of which that Zoe had discovered hidden in plain sight. That was the thing about galactic maps that were provided to you, they sometimes weren''t complete and there was no way to find out that they weren''t... unless you had a computer system so powerful that it could model a galaxy so well that it could tell you where a system was supposed to be that wasn''t on the map.


    With ''The Wise One'' to give us an introduction into the systems, we easily took the sacred sites over. They were renovated within a month, including their food growing areas, and their crystal production was increased by a hundred times. The prisoners there actually refused to be rescued and demanded that I turn the place over to them.


    I wasn''t someone to stand in the way of another person''s ambitions, especially if it benefited me, so I let them have the mines and evacuated the staffs instead. That really put me on their good side and by the end of the next month, they had doubled production. Now imagine ten years of thousands of crystals a month, times that by three, and that was what I had been harvesting.


    Mind you, I was using the things up like crazy as I reloaded the automated drone warships. I had been tempted to try and only use missiles; but, the black barrier machines were too versatile. They were also reusable most of the time if you were careful, so the ammunition lasted a very long time. Sometimes it was better to fire them in expansion mode and let them blow out, though. It was the easiest way to destroy a station or a troop transport, because you didn''t have to worry if anyone escaped.


    Our work continued and the ship was slowly filled out as everything was constructed and added in the allocated spots. One of the largest things on the ship were the hydroponics bays. I allocated several floors to it, each one about forty-five hundred square miles in area. Since I had a hundred foot height on each of the floors, I filled ninety feet of them with dirt and soil that was unceremoniously collected from hundreds of worlds.


    I knew that ninety feet of dirt seemed like overkill; but, it had to last for up to two hundred and fifty years. At least. It was better to have more than I needed than not having enough. Plus, with Presence use, I could keep the plants healthy and full of life and it wouldn''t strain the dirt or reduce the nutrient content.


    Even with everything planted with crop rotation again and several large yields of crops the last two years, I still ordered a long haul transport full of rations and another with ration flavor packs. Those things were worth their weight in gold. There was no such thing as having too much food, especially since they were quick frozen and would last almost indefinitely.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Six months after the invitations were sent out, people started arriving on the transports I had sent out for them. One of which was the customized cruise liner that carried all of the friends and extended family members of the people in my family. I even invited all the people that had been the healed children from the same hospital that I had met Hailey. Most of them had familes of their own and brought them, too.


    To my surprise, a very large contingent of fish people also came onboard seeking asylum. There were about ten thousand of them, so it wasn''t even a spit in the bucket compared to the planetary population of over a billion. Once I thought that, I wondered why more didn''t come and then laughed.


    It didn''t take Zoe and myself long to reconfigure one of the unused levels near the water reclamation facilities into a large water reserve. Hen had the medical specs for them and the specific water soluble content they needed for proper breathing and to remain healthy. Luckily, they had brought along a lot of the things they had on their home world to make them feel at home, and they were quickly installed and living areas were built for them.


    Work continued on for another six months as more people showed up and then another large transport appeared. This one was a ship that no one had ever seen, because it was from the Aviatoma. I sat down in the command chair on the bridge and winked at Shanifra, because it was her normal seat, and she shook her head and laughed at me.


    ¡°I''m just borrowing it, I swear.¡± I said and pointed to the communications officer. ¡°Send the greeting.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The woman said and sent the greeting that was automatically set for Aviatoma because of their ship transponder. ¡°They are initiating contact.¡±


    ¡°Put them on the wall screen.¡± I said and the view out the front of the bridge was replaced with three faces that I hadn''t seen in two years. I immediately stood and bowed to the First Avian woman. ¡°Honored Matron, I am humbled at the pleasant and unexpected visit.¡± I chirped and tweeted to her. ¡°Please accept my apologies for not having an appropriate greeting for someone of your stature.¡±


    The first avian woman warbled her amusement and spoke in common. ¡°I sincerely doubt that you would coat yourself in the sacrificial blood of a (tweet warble) to make yourself presentable.¡±


    ¡°Do you have one onboard?¡± I asked in my normal voice and not her native language.


    Every Aviatoma on the screen and everyone on the bridge on my side of the screen made a disbelieving sound. Surprisingly, the squawks almost sounded the same.


    ¡°I... do.¡± The first avian woman said.


    ¡°Then please dock your ship inside the main hangar bay and send a (scout) out to me with the (tweet warble). I will be waiting in the main air lock for you.¡±


    She gave me a discerning look for a moment, then nodded. ¡°We will arrive in half an hour.¡±


    ¡°I am (chirp chirp warble) in anticipation, Honored Matron.¡± I said.


    She let a small smile touch her lips and the screen returned to the view out the front of the bridge.


    ¡°Thanks for the loan of the chair.¡± I said to Shanifra.


    ¡°If you didn''t own everything, I''d restrict your access to the bridge.¡± Shanifra said with a grin.


    ¡°You''re just upset that I won''t let you play with my hair.¡± I said in a haughty voice.


    Shanifra chuckled and pointed to the large blast door. ¡°Get off my bridge, sir.¡±


    ¡°Only if I get a kiss.¡± I said and made my lips look like huge fish lips.


    ¡°You can definitely kiss my ass!¡± Shanifra said and laughed.


    ¡°Don''t tempt me.¡± I gave her a wave and walked to the blast door and it opened for me. ¡°See you later.¡±


    ¡°Bye, Hunter.¡± Shanifra said.


    I used Presence Run to go all the way down into the central shaft of the ship. The huge transport ship easily fit into it, just like the cruise liner had, and it docked to one of the many docking rings. The central shaft was still completely open, because we needed easy access to all the main parts of the ship as it was being constructed. Once we had the main parts built around the end of the shaft, we could install the force fields that let the atmosphere stay inside.


    I ran over to the proper exit point to meet the (scout) that was bringing out the (tweet warble). The hatch opened and a young avian woman stepped out and held a cage for me. I gave her a slight bow and opened the cage, grabbed the snake with a lizard head, and my bodysuit sunk into my body.


    The female Aviatoma stared at my featherless state and then she squawked loudly as I bit into the snake''s neck and tore it with my teeth. She had expected me to cut it with a knife or something, then she shivered as I tore it apart with my bare hands and caught all of the blood with Presence and rubbed it all over my body.


    I had been the recipient of Hen''s Blessing technique dozens of times and I used a similar technique to make my penis tingle and made myself hard. That really surprised the female Aviatoma and she started to warble in pleasure at the sight of me. After a few moments and a quick fantasy of me taking her while covered in the ceremonial blood of death, she let out a sharp chirp and stepped aside.


    The first avian woman came around the corner with the second avian woman and Val, as well as a huge entourage, then they stopped dead at the sight of me. They had only expected a small smear on my cheeks and perhaps a broken neck on the creature, not a full adornment like I was showing them.


    I knelt on one knee and held the remains of the (tweet warble) out to her and spoke in her native language. ¡°I greet thee with honor, a fresh kill, and my readiness, as is your right as Honored Matron.¡±


    Every pair of eyes, both male and female, dropped to my erect penis and were just as surprised as the (scout) was.


    The first avian woman opened her mouth to speak and the second one touched her arm. She nodded and they both looked at me.


    ¡°False Tiercel, I accept your honorable gesture, your appropriate gift, and...¡± The first avian woman''s eyes dropped to my penis again. ¡°...if you had a nest nearby...¡±


    I pulled out the one I had made for them back on the prison planet and set it in the hallway between us.


    ¡°HE KEPT OUR AIRIE NEST!¡± Val squawked loudly.


    ¡°All these years, you kept it.¡± The first avian woman said and pulled off her clothes that seemed to only be held on with thin pieces of thread. They broke away and the (scout) caught the articles of clothing before they fell to the floor. The first avian woman stepped into the nest and assumed her proper position.


    I had a lot of practice with her in that position and I climbed into the nest. I gave her the pieces of the creature I had killed and she took a bite out of it, laid it to the side, then kissed me. We had sex right there, in front of everyone, and I used Presence to let her enjoy it and then finished inside of her. The first avian woman warbled in pleasure, then she reached up with her hands and plucked two small feathers from just behind her ears. She tucked them into my fluffed up hair behind my ears and kissed me again.


    I retreated, as was appropriate, and stepped out of the nest. I stood up to my full height and held a hand out to her. ¡°Honored Matron, welcome to The Ark.¡±

 Book Three: The Resolution 160

    ¡°I cannot tell you how long it has been since I was properly greeted.¡± The first avian woman said as she took my hand.


    I helped her stand and step out of the nest. ¡°I am honored, Honored Matron, even more than I had been a moment ago.¡±


    The first avian woman let out a warble of amusement. ¡°Was it really that pleasurable?¡±


    ¡°You know I enjoyed it.¡± I said and glanced down at her womanhood that was just starting to drip.


    ¡°(scout)!¡± The second avian woman said and the scout handed her the first avian woman''s clothing and then she was holding something like a squeeze bottle between the first avian woman legs and hit a button. Most, if not all of my contribution was sucked out of her. After a few moments, she lifted it up to show the first avian woman and everyone''s eyes were wide at the amount.


    ¡°Has it been very long since the last time you...¡± The (scout) started to ask.


    ¡°I was with Noma this morning.¡± I said and a shocked chirp came from most of them.


    ¡°I thank you for making such a... huge effort... on my behalf.¡± The first avian woman said and nodded at the (scout) and she tucked the container away. The cage she had carried the (tweet chirp) in was folded up and hung on her belt. The second avian woman helped the first avian woman dress again and the (scout) attached the short strings to secure the clothing back into place.


    ¡°You deserved nothing less.¡± I said and kissed her cheek. ¡°I know this may seem a bit forward; but, may I ask why someone of your stature as come here to visit?¡±


    ¡°As you no doubt saw, we arrived in a troop transport.¡± The first avian woman said. ¡°Another five troop ships and just as many ships with our supplies and things will arrive later today.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows at her and she chuckled.


    ¡°If you haven''t plucked it from my mind yet, we are coming with you.¡±


    ¡°We?¡± I asked and looked at the entourage around her.


    ¡°These are the heads of the various aeries that have decided that they needed a little bit of adventure. Our home world is just a bit too stifling for our liking and we need to spread our wings a little.¡±


    ¡°Honored Matron, I... well, I never anticipated that... I made some allowances for...¡±


    The first avian woman chirped and warbled a demure laugh. ¡°I have flustered the great False Tiercel.¡±


    I smiled and ducked my head slightly in acknowledgement, then stepped back slightly. ¡°As the owner of this ship, I greet the delegation from the Aviatoma with open arms, a strong heart, and the promise that an appropriate area will be built to house you within the ship in no less than a week.¡±


    Nearly all of the women there let out chirps and warbles of amusement.


    ¡°We believe you can try.¡± One of them said and looked down at my still ready state. ¡°Although, if anyone could claim they could build appropriate housing for twenty thousand families in a week, it would be the famous False Tiercel.¡±


    ¡°Zoe, have you found a good spot for twenty-five Aviatoma aeries?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, Grandpa. I''ve ordered sections of the floor above the top hydroponics bay to be removed and the living quarters there converted into the appropriate shapes to give it both height and depth.¡±


    ¡°How long for the conversion?¡±


    ¡°Assuming the Aviatoma are bringing their own furniture and items from home and they don''t have to be ordered or built, then the basic conversions to the apartments will be done in five days, sixteen hours, and twenty-seven minutes.¡± Zoe said.


    ¡°Thank you, Zoe.¡± I said and gave the Aviatoma an award winning smile. ¡°You only have a short wait for you all to officially move in.¡± I said and looked at the first avian woman. ¡°May I greet your second and (chirp squawk)?¡± I asked and she nodded. The chirp squawk was Val''s title, since I couldn''t speak her name.


    ¡°No!¡± The second avian woman chirped in her native language. ¡°I have suffered...¡±


    ¡°Hush.¡± I said and kissed her, then I tossed her into the nest. She struggled and tried to fend me off, and I took her right there in front of everyone. She was indignant and kept cursing me, between her squawks and warbles of pleasure, and I gave her almost as much of a ''contribution'' as I had the first avian woman. I left her exhausted and panting at the side of the nest and looked at Val.


    ¡°I think I miss this the most from our time in prison.¡± Val said and stepped into the nest.


    ¡°Things were so much simpler then.¡± I said and kissed her, then made love to her right next to the second avian woman. She didn''t protest it at all, since it really did remind her of all the times we had done the same thing, and in the same nest, all those years ago.


    ¡°Now I see why they didn''t give him anything but a censure for giving (chirp squawk) a human name without council approval.¡± One of the other head females said in their native language. ¡°He really is a False Tiercel and has proven it multiple times.¡±


    I finished with Val and climbed out of the nest. ¡°If you will excuse me for a moment, I will clean up.¡±


    ¡°We will wait right here for...¡± The first avian woman stopped talking when I was completely covered in blackness from head to toe, then it slid away and became my black bodysuit again.


    ¡°By the Great Winged Goddess.¡± Several of the avian women whispered.


    ¡°Shall we wait for them to recover or bring them along?¡± I asked. ¡°I can give you a tour of the main parts of the ship that are completed or nearing completion.¡±


    ¡°I suppose we can''t leave them here in the middle of the hallway.¡± The first avian woman said with a smile.


    ¡°If everyone would step onto the transport section, we can get going.¡± I said.


    ¡°What?¡± A few of them said and I pointed down at the floor.


    ¡°You''ve improved it?¡± The first avian woman asked and I nodded. ¡°Everyone, step on.¡±


    They all shuffled forward slightly and I activated the transport pad that was thirty feet long and twenty feet wide. It was actually ten pads combined into one and it rose out of the floor six inches as a protective barrier formed around us. The guards looked a little worried and I tapped the barrier.


    ¡°Don''t worry. We can''t be attacked at all through this thing.¡± I said and the pad moved at a jogging pace up the hallway along the docking ring. ¡°We''re going to the main launch bay first.¡± I told the dummy AI in control of traffic and we sped up and went through several other hallways. I turned around and looked at everyone. ¡°The main launch bay is where we reload the automated warships.¡±


    ¡°I still can''t believe you''ve progressed so far in such a short time.¡± The first avian woman said and touched my hand. ¡°We stopped contact two years ago because we became so busy with internal politics, and...¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Let me guess. The internal politics was deciding to let you and those of like minds to leave the protection of the home world.¡±


    The first avian woman nodded.


    ¡°You didn''t want contact with me to influence their decision.¡± I said and she nodded again. ¡°I''m glad it worked out because you didn''t have to tell me that you wouldn''t be coming along.¡±


    She gave me wide eyes and I took her hand.


    ¡°If we had been in contact, I would have known you wanted to come along and if they said no, then I would have to come and get you.¡±


    A few of the Aviatoma let out squawks of surprise.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°You can''t possibly think you can... SQUAWK!!!¡± One of the females yelled as we entered the gigantic loading area and a hundred warship drones were being loaded with thousands of missiles. ¡°That''s not real! It can''t be!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°There''s at least one person in every tour that says that.¡± I said. ¡°I assure you, it''s completely real.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°Believe me, if I wanted to come to the Aviatoma with hostile intent, they wouldn''t stand a chance.¡±


    ¡°By the Great Winged Goddess.¡± She said, her tone subdued.


    ¡°I haven''t, and I don''t plan to.¡± I reassured her. ¡°All of this is for The Order, which I''ve completely removed from ninety-seven galaxies so far.¡±


    That made them all chirp in surprise.


    ¡°Thanks to Zoe''s unrivalled mapping abilities, I''ve even rooted out all the hidden star systems in those galaxies.¡±


    ¡°Hidden?¡± The first avian woman asked.


    ¡°I didn''t find out for quite some time that the galactic map that everyone had access to, was initially provided by The Order.¡± I said and that made them chirp in surprise again. ¡°It''s pretty damn easy to hide systems when you provide the maps.¡± I looked at the large bay. ¡°Hydroponics, please.¡±


    The transport pad zoomed out of the loading bay and took us down miles of hallways in moments.


    ¡°The hidden systems are well defended and are full of warships, troop transports, weapons platforms, defensive grids, and everything else that The Order uses to take over other planets.¡± I said. ¡°They can''t fight against my automated warships, though.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°We don''t have to worry about protecting people onboard our ships anymore.¡± I said and they gave me odd looks. ¡°They are remote piloted and can perform manoeuvres that no other ship can.¡±


    They gave me disbelieving looks and I chuckled.


    ¡°Imagine what we are riding right now is a ship. We feel the acceleration. When we take turns, we sway that way. When we speed up or slow down, we feel it. Now imagine not having to feel any of that. How fast would you go? How quickly would you do turns or come to a stop?¡±


    Their mouths dropped open in realization.


    ¡°You''re getting it. No restrictions on movement. Barrel rolls, flips, sudden stops, and sudden speed boosts. None of it is felt the by pilot because they are relaxing in the comfort of their pilot seat right here at home.¡±


    ¡°But... wouldn''t you need...¡±


    ¡°Not all the ships are in combat all the time and a pilot isn''t restricted to flying just one ship.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Several of them yelled and I laughed.


    ¡°I got the idea from the way pilots can remote pilot shuttles when they have to stay on the ship. They can do it with multiple shuttles at once, as long as they follow the same protocols for each one at the same time.¡±


    ¡°That''s amazing.¡± The first avian woman said.


    ¡°No, what''s amazing is, none of the ships have to travel the same as normal ships.¡± I said.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°We''ve become so used to making jumps to close systems to recalculate jump coordinates to get to the next safe system. Well, what if you had something that could just send you the coordinates from your destination? Would you have to stop then?¡±


    ¡°You stop to give pilots and crew a rest and...¡± One of them started to say, then she chirped. ¡°No crew!¡±


    ¡°You got it.¡± I said. ¡°One long jump from start to finish. It''s a little taxing to get out that far, because you''re essentially establishing a road. Once there, though...¡±


    ¡°You can pop all the way back in barely half the time.¡±


    ¡°A quarter, actually.¡± I said and she squawked. ¡°It''s all in hyperspace. No real obstacles or anything to run into. The only dangers are gravity wells and spacial anomalies. As long as you know where they are, you can program your path around them. With real-time coordinates in established systems with satellites in them, going back out is just as quick.¡±


    ¡°Have you told anyone else this?¡± The first avian woman asked.


    ¡°Just you and your people.¡± I said. ¡°It''s the first time this has come up in conversation, actually.¡±


    ¡°But... why wouldn''t anyone else ask?¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°Most people just ignore anything out of the ordinary.¡± I said and gave her a smile. She blushed and her feathers fluffed out a little.


    ¡°She has a Tiercel.¡± The young Aviatoma beside her said.


    ¡°Do you?¡± I asked and she blushed.


    ¡°False Tiercel.¡± The first avian woman said and I chuckled.


    ¡°My apologies. I''m still a little worked up for some reason.¡±


    Whispered chirps and tweets spread among the others.


    ¡°Here''s the first hydroponics bay.¡± I said as our platform floated out of the hallway and into a huge open area. ¡°I know it seems a little cramped. That''s because the dirt is ninety feet deep and there''s only ten feet left for everything else.¡±


    ¡°Ninety feet?!?¡± One of the exclaimed.


    ¡°It''s going to be a long journey and we need the versatility that much dirt is going to bring us.¡± I said. ¡°I''ve got five floors of it, so it should be more than enough to supplement the food rations.¡±


    ¡°Supplement? It''s not enough to feed everyone?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Each of the five floors has forty-seven hundred square miles of crops.¡± I said, to their surprise. ¡°The ship is a hundred miles long and sixty miles wide, and we are right below the main central shaft, which means this is the widest part of the ship.¡±


    ¡°Why did you pick an ellipsoid shape for the ship?¡± The same one asked.


    ¡°I thought about going with a rectangle, then realized a lot of the protective barriers I have are circles and spheres. Rather than try to engineer flat ones to try and merge them together to protect the ship, it was easier to change the ship to fit the protective barrier.¡± I said and brought the transport pad to a stop. ¡°Medical bay, please.¡± I said and the ceiling opened up above us to reveal a curved shaft. ¡°Going up.¡±


    The platform rose up into the shaft and we went along the curve of the ship and stopped fifty floors up. The floor closed and we zoomed back along the side of the ship closer to the middle and came to a stop. All of the Aviatoma were shocked when the blast doors opened into a medical bay that was a bigger than their space stations.


    ¡°Medical Administrator Hen!¡± I squawked loudly in her native language and used Presence to carry it through the massive room. An answering squawk and a warbled laugh answered me from the distance. ¡°She loves it when I do that.¡± I said to the surprised Aviatoma. ¡°Here she comes.¡±


    A small platform zoomed across the floor towards us and came to a stop.


    ¡°False Tiercel, what brings you down here to...¡± Hen started to say, then she let out a startled squawk when she saw the group behind me, grabbed her three kids, and pushed them to the floor. ¡°Honored Matron.¡± She chirped and tweeted in respect and bowed deeply.


    ¡°The False Tiercel greeted me with full respect on everyone''s behalf.¡± The first avian woman said.


    Hen let out a warble of relief and let her children go. They knew better than to chirp and tweet their displeasure at being forced to the floor in front of guests, so they straightened their clothing instead.


    I stepped forward and gave Hen a quick head grooming to make her laugh, because I never find anything, then I gave her a kiss on the lips.


    ¡°He''s still diligent in his efforts, False Tiercel.¡± Hen said.


    ¡°I told you that I have to keep checking because you''re too cute not to.¡± I responded.


    ¡°That''s the worst lying truth that ever passes your lips.¡± Hen laughed again.


    ¡°How are my cute little chicks doing?¡± I asked and knelt.


    ¡°We haven''t been chicks for three years, Uncle Hunter.¡± The male Aviatoma said and gave me a hug. He was thirteen going on thirty and he believed his life was going to be wasted as a medical technician, because he wouldn''t be allowed to work on his own people. He was also the first to hatch, which made him the older brother to his two sisters and he was greeted first.


    ¡°My mistake.¡± I chuckled and looked at his sister. ¡°You''re looking well groomed today.¡±


    She blushed a little and ducked her head. ¡°Please check for me.¡±


    I gave a glance to Hen and she nodded. I did a quick check on her head and only found a single tuft of down. I dissolved it before anyone saw it, though. ¡°You''re such a good (warble chirp tweet) for taking care of yourself so well.¡± I said and gave her a hug.


    ¡°Thank you, Uncle Hunter.¡± She said and I let her go to look at her younger sister.


    ¡°I have lots in mine!¡± She exclaimed loudly.


    Hen laughed. ¡°She avoided her father all week because she knew we were having dinner with everyone tonight.¡±


    ¡°Should I wait until then?¡± I asked, teasingly.


    ¡°NO!¡± The youngest daughter yelled and grabbed my hands, then shoved them into the feathers on her head. ¡°Ahhhh.¡± She warbled happily as I gave her a good grooming and pulled out all the extra down and fluff she had built up.


    ¡°Wow, look at this!¡± I said and held out the large handful of fluffy down. ¡°You''re like a down reactor!¡±


    She warbled a laugh and grabbed the down from my hands and stuffed it into her pockets. ¡°Thanks, Uncle Hunter.¡± She said and hugged me tightly, then let me go.


    I stood up and stepped aside, then waved at Hen.


    Hen put her hand on her son and introduced him to the first avian woman and her entourage, then her first daughter, then her youngest daughter. Even though they were born within minutes of each other, they still had to observe proper greeting protocol from eldest to youngest.


    It wasn''t until halfway through the tour of the medical bay that Hen and her children found out that the first avian woman was bringing twenty thousand families onto the ship. The son was a bit too shocked to really understand the significance of that, because all he could think about was his skills not being wasted on humanoids that weren''t his own species. He would eventually realize that he would also have access to a lot of females for courting purposes.


    The two sisters however, both had understood that aspect right away. The only boy they knew was their brother, so it excited them a lot more than they wanted to admit that they were going to meet a lot more of them. Their minds raced as they thought about finding new friends among the new people that they would soon have to examine. They both looked at me and hoped, beyond hope, that they could find at least one Tiercel that could make them laugh and be happy with.


    Like your father is to your mother. I thought to them and they both blushed and nodded. I''m sure you''ll be turning them away, because there will be so many wanting your attention. I smiled at them and continued the tour.


    We made it back over to the platform we arrived on and the group praised Hen and her children for maintaining such a huge medical bay all by themselves. What the guests didn''t know was that I had a thousand HR-B medical droids in cabinets all along the walls between all the medical supplies.


    ¡°Hen, it is a pleasure to finally see you in the position you should have had back on our home world.¡± The first avian woman said.


    ¡°It''s a pleasure to finally be here, Honored Matron.¡± Hen said and bowed.


    The first avian woman gave me a knowing look and then looked at Hen. ¡°Should we tell him about the welcoming gift we have for him?¡±


    ¡°Now would be fine, Honored Matron.¡± Hen said with a matching knowing look to me.


    ¡°Do I even want to know?¡± I asked and they warbled a laugh, as did Val and a few others.


    ¡°It has taken tens of thousands of hours over the last twelve years and countless consultations with thousands of medical professionals in dozens of star systems; but, we finally did it.¡± Hen said excitedly.


    ¡°Did what?¡± I asked and then I got the thought from her mind. ¡°You didn''t!¡±


    Hen and the first avian woman nodded their heads.


    ¡°We broke the species insemination barrier.¡± Hen said, proudly.

 Book Three: The Resolution 161

    I stood there in the middle of the medical bay and my mind raced over what that meant. I thought back to the (scout) and the suction bottle she had used on the first avian woman after we had sex.


    ¡°How long...¡± I started to ask.


    ¡°We just passed the initial testing phase.¡± Hen said and then she blushed. ¡°I... ah... may have used you as a donor.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows at her and she ducked her head.


    ¡°Please, follow me and I''ll show you what I mean.¡± Hen said and we all went with her towards the huge maternity ward. She took us to the pending births section and hit a button. The wall section opened up and all of the Aviatoma let out startled squawks at the sight of an inseminated egg in a large stasis pod.


    ¡°The fertilization was complete last month.¡± Hen said and her hand reached out to touch the clear casing of the pod as her other hand took mine. ¡°Our daughter can be inserted into a nest at any time and can be nurtured until birth.¡±


    ¡°Our daughter?¡± I asked and my hand touched the clear casing of the pod. I sent out a minuscule touch of Presence and the egg that was supposed to be in stasis, absorbed it and shivered.


    ¡°No, I did not try to manipulate the contents.¡± Hen said and looked at me. ¡°This was my third attempt to try and give you a child.¡±


    I took in a sharp breath. ¡°Hen.¡± I turned to her and ran my Presence Clawed hand through her feathers.


    ¡°I agree wholeheartedly with the Honored Matron. For the things you have done for us, you deserve nothing less than a child, even as a False Tiercel.¡±


    ¡°Hen.¡± I said in a soft voice and leaned down to give her a kiss on the lips. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°We''re going to have a half-sister?¡± The eldest sister asked, surprised. She had no idea that her mother had gestated three different eggs for her Uncle Hunter.


    ¡°That half-sister is going to have another sibling because of me.¡± Val said as she walked over to us with the (scout) and the second avian woman. ¡°Also two others.¡± She pointed to the second avian woman and then at the first avian woman. ¡°Now that we have fresh samples, shall we get started?¡±


    Hen let out a chirp and warbled a laugh. ¡°You haven''t even moved in yet.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t matter.¡± Val said. ¡°I want my egg ready for nesting as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°As do I.¡± The first avian woman said and looked at Hen. ¡°Please ensure that mine hatches first.¡±


    ¡°That''s why mine is in stasis, Honored Matron.¡± Hen said. ¡°Otherwise, I would have been crouched around it and giving it my warmth already.¡±


    The first avian woman touched her shoulder. ¡°You truly are devoted to the hierarchy, even exiled.¡±


    Hen nodded. ¡°I''ve never broken their precepts and I''m not going to.¡±


    ¡°Then please, since we are here.¡± The first avian woman waved her hand and three small stasis pods were handed over. They were clearly marked and the (scout) handed over the three contributions I had made to the three avian women. They were also clearly marked for the avian women as to not get them confused or mixed up.


    Hen took everything and brought us to the insemination or impregnation section, depending on how you wanted to look at it. To my surprise, she went into a room with windows for us to watch and performed the procedures right there in full view of everyone. It wasn''t an easy procedure to witness, let alone perform, and she did all three without stopping or taking a break.


    The screens near the windows showed us the medical information as the eggs were placed in incubators to enhance the insemination process and to insure it was successful. Hen had failed twice while trying to perfect the process and now she knew exactly the troubles and errors to avoid. All three eggs became viable in less than an hour each and she turned towards the windows and gave us thumbs up gestures.


    The first avian woman''s entourage let out cheers and applauded and I turned to look at the first avian woman. She had a tear on her face and I reached over to cup the side of her face. Her tear dissolved and she looked at me.


    ¡°He''s going to be magnificent.¡± I whispered to her. I had checked with Presence and knew the gender.


    ¡°H-h-he?¡± The first avian woman asked in a halting voice as more tears came and dissolved.


    ¡°Our son.¡± I said. ¡°By the time your place is ready, he will be, too.¡±


    ¡°N-nest. I n-need a n-nest.¡± The first avian woman said, barely above a whisper.


    ¡°I believe there''s one right over there on the transport platform.¡± I whispered back and she nodded.


    Hen came out and checked the readings on the displays and nodded. ¡°Three healthy and viable embryos.¡± She said. ¡°By next week, we''ll know the sex. You can decide then if you want to remove them from the incubators and put them in an actual nest.¡±


    The second avian woman and Val nodded and the first avian woman stared at me as she spoke.


    ¡°I will be taking a sabbatical from my official duties starting next week and until such time that my heir apparent to the hierarchy is born.¡± The first avian woman said, and a few startled squawks responded. ¡°I will still help with personal and administration concerns, as long as I don''t have to leave my nest.¡±


    Her decision and her words brooked no discussion, so they all nodded and chirped compliance.


    ¡°I suppose after this, we can postpone the rest of the tour.¡± I said and they all nodded. ¡°Then I''ll take you back to the ship.¡± I waved in the direction of the platform. ¡°Both transports and vehicles are available for use if you want to go exploring, as long as you take a wrist communicator and log in with Zoe or one of the transport dummy AIs. They will keep track of you to make sure you don''t get lost and can find your way back.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, False Tiercel.¡± The first avian woman said and I knew that she meant a lot more than just what I had offered.


    ¡°I''m keeping that title, even though you''re rearing my child?¡± I asked with a smile.


    ¡°You aren''t an Aviatoma and can''t inseminate on your own.¡± The first avian woman said with an answering smile. ¡°You must remain a False Tiercel.¡±


    ¡°Boy, you people are stubborn.¡± I said with a grin and she let out a warbled laugh.


    ¡°Take us back to our main families and we can spread the news of an heir.¡± The second avian woman said, a little harshly.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°Right away.¡± I said and used Levitation to pick everyone up, which made most of them squawk in surprise, then I brought us all over to the transport in a couple of seconds. I put them down gently and then used the platform to go all the way back to the main shaft and stopped at the docking ring where their ship was.


    I bowed and waved at the hatch they had come out of and stayed bowed until all of them had passed by me and went back into the ship. The guards even took the nest. I thought with a smile and then I ran all the way back up to my living quarters. I wasn''t surprised to see Simone using her extra arms to hold Lashina''s and my child like an airplane. They were floating around the room using Levitation and Lashina was off to the side. She laughed as she watched them play.


    ¡°Simone.¡± I said and she turned and looked at me.


    Simone gasped when her concentration was broken and she heard my mental intentions.


    I caught her and my five year old child with Presence before they fell and floated them over to me. ¡°Mina, I need to borrow your fun aunt for a little while.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Daddy!¡± Mina said and hugged and kissed me, then I zoomed her over to her mother. She laughed uproariously as Lashina caught her and they tumbled to the floor. Lashina laid on her back and lifted Mina into the air to keep the fun time going.


    I took Simone''s hand and covered us in Presence, then we both used Presence Run to go all the way back down to the main shaft and boarded Adona. We quickly launched and left the colossal ship and then we took a slow tour of the system. Adona floated along at a leisurely pace as I made love to Simone, in full view of everyone in the system, I used Presence to perform the same medical procedure on her that Hen had used to inseminate the Aviatoma''s eggs.


    Needless to say, Simone was blown away that I would indulge her fetish so much, since I had been denying her for years, and she completely missed me doing what I was doing. Just as I finished inside of her and completed the insemination procedure, Simone cried out in both pleasure and surprise. I stopped moving and she stared into my eyes.


    ¡°I felt it!¡± Simone said, completely shocked. ¡°Hunter, I felt it! I''m pregnant!¡±


    ¡°I think we need to wait for the migration of the egg down to...¡±


    ¡°No, we don''t.¡± Simone said and put a hand on her stomach. ¡°I''m carrying your child.¡± She said and her voice was full of wonder. ¡°I won''t know what sex it will be for a while, though.¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t matter what sex it is.¡± I said and kissed her.


    We had sex for the rest of the afternoon, just for fun this time, because I didn''t want to mess things up by giving her multiple pregnancies. We went back to the station to have supper with everyone and Hen''s three kids couldn''t stop chirping and tweeting with excitement, because they had started doing the examinations on the Aviatoma.


    Simone kept staring at me and asking me mentally if we should tell them, so I told her to wait until the egg was in the right spot first, that way Hen could confirm it for her and no one could doubt it. She reluctantly agreed that a few days wasn''t going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things, then used her datapad to mark today''s date in our private permanent storage as the day of conception.


    I chuckled and gave her a kiss, then looked across the table at Noma. ¡°Noma, can I borrow you for a few hours this evening?¡±


    ¡°Borrow?¡± Noma asked with a laugh. ¡°What am I, a book?¡±


    I laughed, too. ¡°You know what I meant.¡± I said. ¡°I want to impose on your time if you''re not busy.¡±


    ¡°As long as you''re not thinking about doing to me what you did to Simone.¡± Noma said. ¡°It won''t work on me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, ye of little faith.¡± I said with a smirk and that made her laugh.


    ¡°I don''t mind trying it. At all.¡± Noma responded with an answering smirk.


    *


    Hen was surprised when she was called to the medical bay a few hours later. She was even more surprised when she saw Hunter with Noma on an operating table and two HR-B droids were beside them.


    ¡°What''s going on here?¡± Hen asked.


    ¡°It''s something that I''ve been thinking about for a while, then you showed me that amazing procedure to inseminate non-compatible species.¡± Hunter said.


    ¡°But... Noma is... she''s...¡± Hen wasn''t sure how to describe her.


    ¡°She absorbs any foreign Presence.¡± Hunter said. ¡°So, help me remove some of the eggs from her ovaries, inseminate them, then put one back inside and attach it to the abdominal cavity.¡±


    Hen''s mouth dropped open and she stared at him. ¡°Hunter... that...¡±


    ¡°I''ve tried using Presence and the medical droids. My Presence is apparently very tasty and she can''t stop her body from absorbing it when it''s near. Despite the droids being skilled, they don''t have the full dexterity needed with their rigid appendages.¡± Hunter looked at Hen''s tiny hands and smiled. ¡°I need your expertise and your knowledge.¡±


    ¡°But... if she''s not...¡±


    ¡°I''m ovulating.¡± Noma said and held up a datapad with her full medical scan. ¡°We just can''t get in at the little bastards.¡±


    Hen took the datapad and nodded at the information. ¡°All right.¡± She said and waved Hunter and the droids aside. ¡°Are you going in the long way or straight through?¡±


    ¡°We can''t use anything like Presence to heal her, so it has to be as minimally invasive as possible.¡± Hunter said. ¡°I don''t want to risk permanent damage to her, just for the chance that she can conceive.¡±


    ¡°I wanted him to remove the whole ovary and we can keep trying until it happens.¡± Noma said. ¡°I''ve got two, right?¡±


    Hen barked a laugh. ¡°It''s too bad it doesn''t work like that. All you''ll do is reduce your chances to conceive, because your body will be fighting off having something removed that should be there.¡± She said. ¡°Not to mention it''ll throw off your body''s natural rhythm and energy.¡±


    Hunter and Noma looked at her with confidence on their faces.


    ¡°I''m going to warn you right now about this.¡± Hen said. ¡°It might not work. It might work a little bit until it takes and then it could suddenly abort. It could work for months and then suddenly turn bad and the fetus could die.¡±


    Hunter''s and Noma''s expressions on their faces changed from confidence to worry.


    ¡°It could even go to full term and the baby may still die, especially with Noma''s ability.¡± Hen said, then she sighed. ¡°The worst case scenario is the baby has a similar ability and tries to absorb the foreign Presence around it, with no way to control the ability or to stop it when it starts.¡±


    Hunter and Noma exchanged looks, kissed briefly, then looked back at Hen. ¡°We''re willing to take the risk.¡± They said together.


    ¡°I always knew that you were a few shuttles short of a full transport.¡± Hen commented, then she put on surgical gloves. ¡°It''s a good thing that I am, too.¡±


    *


    The Aviatoma arrived in full force later that day and they were just as surprised as everyone else was, that all of their ships easily fit inside the main shaft of the colossal ship. They were assigned docking positions beside and around the first avian woman''s troop transport to keep them all together, that way they didn''t have to go far to see the heads of their aeries.


    Six days later, they started their exodus from their ships to their new residences. Zoe had spread the twenty five aeries out and had not only torn up the floor above the top hydroponics bay, she also went ten floors up into the ship, or a thousand feet at a hundred feet per floor. She knew the population that needed to be put into each one and she allotted a lot of space for them and for expansions. The view from the tops were spectacular, to say the least.


    The Aviatoma people loved it.


    They had fully expected to be crammed into tiny rooms like they had been on the troop transports, because there were so many of them, and then they saw the family sized apartments and areas that each family had all to themselves. They quickly transferred their things into their new living spaces and discovered that they didn''t have enough furniture and things to fill all of the available space, which they had never encountered before.


    The management of the aeries, namely the head families, were inundated with praise and thanks for bringing them along on the journey. What surprised them the most were the petitions to offer the first chicks born on the ship to the hierarchy and to the False Tiercel. Extra chicks were rare as it was, and to offer one up before they even conceived it, was more shocking than their new environment was.


    They all knew that the departure date wasn''t for another year, so they all got to work to make the place their own. Aviatoma specific shops and businesses were opened and the entire upper floor of the hydroponics bay was harvested, cleared out of normal crops, and planted with Aviatoma crops, trees, and various kinds of other flora. They had even brought livestock and other things, and room was made for them to accommodate the needs of those animals.


    *


    It took Hen sixteen tries over the next six months to finally get Noma pregnant and for it to stay viable for more than a few weeks. Her body kept trying to reject it, thinking that it was something that it needed to absorb... then Hunter realized what was wrong. He needed to distract her ability. If he slipped up feeding it, it would absorb all of the life from the egg before it stood a chance. So, Noma became a constant companion for him and he kept feeding her Presence.


    Simone was six months pregnant by this point and completely delighted because of the bright glowing mind growing inside of her. Her son was strong, healthy, and had all four of his arms. She almost had everything that she had ever wanted. A man to love, a son to continue the family, and people that accepted her. She was only missing one thing and she berated herself for not thinking about it earlier.


    She was missing the rest of her race.

 Book Three: The Resolution 162

    Simone sent out a generic call to any member of the Visidern race. It had been decades since the last time she had seen or heard from anyone of her species, since she had no personal family, so it hadn''t crossed her mind until now to try and find others to join up with everyone on the colossal ship. She received hundreds of responses almost immediately, even though she hadn''t mentioned the ship or her plans, then disregarded most of the messages. They were criminals and frauds looking for handouts and weren''t even Visidern.


    Zoe helped her set up a dummy AI to handle the message traffic and to filter out the garbage, then Simone reviewed the remainder. Simple questions that only members of her race would know the answer to, easily removed the scam artists. It took her a month to find a dozen people that wanted to talk to her, then she put them into a conference call and told them what she planned.


    ¡°We''ll call you back!¡± They all said, almost as one voice, then they all cut the call.


    ¡°How much do you want to bet that they''re calling a few other people?¡± I asked her from the doorway.


    ¡°How about a day''s satellite fees that they''re calling hundreds of people?¡± Simone asked with a grin.


    I chuckled. ¡°That''s what I meant by ''a few''.¡± I said and moved into the room with Noma beside me.


    ¡°Oh! I see a bump!¡± Simone said and pointed to Noma''s belly.


    ¡°It''s barely there; but, I can feel it.¡± Noma said and gently rubbed the spot. ¡°It''s getting annoying having to eat Presence all the time, though.¡±


    The Presence wavered a lot and both Simone and I rolled our eyes.


    ¡°If you''re going to lie, at least try to say something that somehow resembles the truth.¡± I said and kissed her to give her another big dose of Presence.


    ¡°Mmm.¡± Noma said. ¡°I''ll think about it.¡±


    The Presence wavered again and Simone shook her head.


    ¡°I think she enjoys the swaying motion that gives her.¡± Simone laughed. ¡°Not me.¡± She rubbed her large belly. ¡°I have to wait another two months for our little bundle of joy and Hen has restricted me to my room and lots of bed rest until then.¡±


    ¡°I know. That''s why I''m here.¡± I said and came into the room.


    ¡°Hunter, you''ve got...¡±


    I held up a hand to stop her complaining. ¡°Not another word about me being too busy with everyone else to spend time in here with you.¡±


    Can I just express it this way, then? Simone broadcast strongly.


    ¡°Ow.¡± Noma and I said at the same time and rubbed our foreheads, and there were a few answering shouts of surprise from the common living area.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± Simone said and hit the intercom button. ¡°I''m sorry about that, everyone. I still can''t get a handle on my own mental strength.¡±


    There were a few grumbles, mainly from the irritable teenagers.


    ¡°Which was why both Hen and I said to take it easy.¡± I said as Noma and I sat beside her on the bed. ¡°I know that''s not what you want to hear; but, until you stop unintentionally borrowing our son''s psychic capacity, you can''t be using your mental abilities.¡±


    Simone sighed. ¡°I miss it.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°No, really? Tell me something else I don''t know.¡± I said and the Presence wavered.


    Simone rolled her eyes and Noma let out a laugh.


    ¡°You just lie back and relax while I rub your feet.¡± I said.


    ¡°With one hand?¡± Simone asked and settled into the pillows she had propped herself up with.


    ¡°I can make as many hands as you want.¡± I said and gave her an award winning smile as I lifted her maternity dress up over her knees.


    ¡°Ohhhh!¡± Simone moaned and went a little, and I hadn''t even touched her yet.


    ¡°She really needs some attention.¡± Noma commented and I nodded.


    ¡°I''ve been a little less than diligent in trying to maintain my distance.¡± I said and formed four Presence Hands to rub and massage Simone''s feet. ¡°Of course, I can''t really... ah... have a lot of fun with her in this condition.¡±


    ¡°D-d-datapad!¡± Simone pointed to the datapad on the bedside table and Noma handed it to her. She turned on the wall display and it showed her on the bed and her underwear.


    ¡°You''re such a dirty woman.¡± I said and Simone moaned again as she watched the screen and my hand moved her soaked underwear out of the way. She almost cried when I started to play with her.


    ¡°You better give me another dose.¡± Noma said.


    I turned my head to kiss her and didn''t stop using my hands. Noma moaned as I gave her a much larger dose than normal, which made Simone moan in response, then I went under her dress to give her some more direct stimulation.


    ¡°I can''t believe... you still do that... with me like this.¡± Simone said between moans.


    ¡°Now you know why Gleas was always so happy when she was pregnant.¡± Noma said and that made Simone laugh, then moan, then finish.


    I used Presence to catch everything and dissolved the mess, then fed the Presence to Noma.


    *


    That was the way things went for the next two months. Hunter worked in the mornings with Noma by his side, then he spent the afternoons with all the children, both the younger ones and the teenagers. Of course, the teenagers were getting Presence training while the younger ones were having playtime that was actually training. The teenagers only harboured some resentment about that, because they missed being able to just have fun.


    Hunter knew this, so he made sure that once a month, they all took a ''vacation'' for several days at one of the ship''s many resort-like retreats. They weren''t all the same, so it was always a fun time for everyone.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Simone had found a few hundred of her species that were willing to come along, even if it meant they would possibly die along the way. She assured them that wasn''t going to be the case and urged them to tell everyone they knew that not only was there a place for them on the ship, there would always be a place for them... then she went into labour during the live conference. Everyone was shocked when her blanket was tossed aside and they saw her belly was about to burst.


    ¡°She''ll call you back in a couple days after her son is born.¡± Hunter said and ended the call. Hen came in with a stretcher on a platform and Simone was quickly loaded onto it. She grabbed Hunter''s hand and held on.


    ¡°We''re right here with you.¡± Hunter said as he and Noma stepped onto the platform. It changed alignments to the ceiling, then zoomed them out of the living area and through the ship to the medical bay.


    Hen had researched the proper birthing procedures and she knew exactly how to handle a baby coming out with extra arms. In less than an hour, Simone was exhausted, soaked with sweat, and had a huge bundled up baby in her arms.


    ¡°Simone, there''s something I need to tell you.¡± Hen said, her tone a little worrisome.


    ¡°What... what is it?¡± Simone asked without taking her eyes off of the handsomest baby she had ever seen.


    ¡°It''s... about his arms.¡±


    ¡°His name is Markus. Markus Simon Ignat Dominic Alexander Lynede Ullir.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°Well... it''s...¡± Hen hesitated.


    ¡°I can tell her.¡± Hunter said and she nodded. ¡°It''s about his arms.¡±


    Simone broke the gaze she had locked onto her son''s face and stared at Hunter. ¡°What about them?¡± She said harshly.


    ¡°Nothing unhealthy!¡± Hunter said to reassure her and she relaxed. ¡°There''s nothing wrong with them, and that''s the problem.¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand.¡± Simone said.


    ¡°May I?¡± Hunter asked and motioned to the baby.


    Simone nodded and he took the boy from her and unravelled the wrapping. ¡°I still don''t see.¡±


    Hunter chuckled and held out the baby''s normal arm. The hand with four fingers and a thumb gripped his index finger. He held the baby with Presence and then did the same action with the extra arm on the baby''s side. The hand gripped his other index finger with four fingers and a thumb.


    ¡°It''s NORMAL!¡± Simone gasped.


    ¡°Yeah. Unlike your extra arms and hands with only three long fingers and a thumb, our boy has four completely functional normal arms.¡± Hunter said. ¡°There will be no need for reinforcement training or worry about him suffering exhaustion from trying to use them. They are just arms.¡±


    Tears came to Simone''s eyes. ¡°My baby is normal.¡± She said as she took him back and cuddled him to her breast with her extra arms. The little tyke started suckling right away, which pleased her to no end.


    ¡°That might be a problem when the other people of your race see him, which is why I''m worried.¡± Hen said. ¡°He doesn''t need to be ostracized for being different.¡±


    Simone laughed. ¡°Ostracized? He''s going to rule my people with this big of an advantage!¡±


    Hunter and Hen exchanged looks, then they had to laugh, too.


    ¡°Let us see!¡± Mina said loudly using Presence to carry it through the walls into the birthing section.


    ¡°All right, just a minute.¡± Hunter said and turned away to open up the viewing area''s observation window that was only a few feet away. There was a collective gasp from the adults and the children pressed their faces against the glass to try and get a closer look. Oohs and ahhs came right after and a lot of baby talk to try and get his attention. He was eating and ignored it, of course.


    ¡°Auntie Simone has really big boobies!¡± Mina commented and pointed.


    That made a lot of the adults laugh and every teenage boy blushed like crazy and turned away, then a few brave ones turned back. They didn''t want to miss this opportunity to see something so nice.


    Simone, even after just giving birth, was very turned on by all those thoughts.


    Hunter reached out and touched her forehead, then rubbed his hand over the top of her head. Such a dirty woman. He thought to her and used Presence to help her hold that urge down.


    Thank you. Simone thought, her mind back to its normal strength.


    MILK! Markus shouted at the top of his mental capacity and everyone within twenty feet winced.


    ¡°Oops.¡± Simone looked down and her nipple had popped out of his mouth. ¡°I better switch.¡± She said and turned Markus over to give him access to her other breast. He started suckling right away and Simone sighed happily. ¡°I think someone is going to be a handful.¡±


    ¡°Four handfuls.¡± Hunter said with a smile.


    *


    Needless to say, once the members of Simone''s race heard that she had given birth to a healthy baby boy, they were all on board with her idea to leave the well known parts of the universe to head to parts unknown. They were tired of being seen as parasites and the dregs of society, so the word spread far and wide to come to the Dizahl System.


    Since they could stay in constant communication, their arrival times could be easily calculated. If I stuck to the original departure time, then the majority of them would miss us, by either a week or for up to two months. Some of them were quite far off and in another direction from our set course, so we couldn''t even offer to stop in to pick them up. They said they would do everything they could to try and make the deadline anyway. If they couldn''t, they promised to follow us.


    I knew their ships would be taxed beyond their limits if they tried to follow, so I told them to do their best to reach the Dizahl System as soon as they could, then promised to send warship drones with repair droids onboard to escort them. When I ended the call, I asked Zoe to send appropriate drones and then Simone spoke.


    ¡°Hunter, there''s no way that they can follow us on the trip in those beat up ships.¡± Simone said sadly. ¡°When they reach the Dizahl System...¡±


    ¡°We''ll greet them and welcome them home.¡± I said and she stared at me. ¡°What? I''m not going to leave perfectly good drones floating around out here and not wait for them to return. Those things are expensive.¡±


    Simone went through my mind and tears came to her eyes. ¡°You want to give them a feeling of relief.¡±


    I nodded and gave her a kiss. ¡°So many people have let them down over their lives, so I thought that just once, why not let them see that someone actually does want them to succeed.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Hunter!¡± Simone said and kissed me hard.


    ¡°We''ll even take Adona out to meet them, just so you can get that feeling first hand.¡± I said and gave our nursing son a kiss on the top of his head, looked at Simone with a grin, then kissed her bare breast.


    Simone gasped at the touch of my lips, then smacked me with one of her normal hands. ¡°Not while the baby''s eating!¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Wait until tonight when Lashina and Mina can babysit.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. I''m sorry.¡± I said to make the Presence waver.


    Noma barked a laugh as she stepped close to us. ¡°You''re horrible.¡± She said and kissed me to get another large dose of Presence. ¡°Mmm. You''re still really tasty, even though you''re constantly feeding me.¡±


    ¡°You know it.¡± I said, gave Simone another kiss on the lips, then left her to go back to my place. I stripped a nearly four month pregnant Noma and settled her onto the bed. ¡°I''m glad you still feel up to doing this.¡±


    Noma laughed as she rolled onto her side. ¡°How else are you going to try to knock me out?¡±


    I laughed as well as I laid behind her and slid in between her legs, then she moaned at the pleasant intrusion. I couldn''t be as vigorous as we both wanted; but, she enjoyed it just as much, thanks to my liberal use of Presence and feeding her ability. She had started to notice that she wasn''t quite getting it all during each feeding, which meant either her ability was being overfed or her baby was getting some of the feeding.


    Noma was happy about that and made sure I knew about any changes in her condition. I appreciated her honesty and her willingness to do anything to make sure she kept the baby healthy, so I did everything she needed me to do or wanted me to do. She was the last of the women that desired to have a child with me, and I wanted her to have one.


    It bothered me that I couldn''t use Presence to check on the baby and had to rely on medical scans and check-ups to find out if anything was wrong or needed to be watched. There was nothing I could do about it, though.


    We had sex for a while and then I gave Noma enough Presence to knock her out. I knew I couldn''t leave her alone, just because she was unconscious, because it didn''t mean that her ability was inactive. It was only suppressed and would be for several hours, then I felt a little bit of need coming from her. I gave her mouth a kiss and she didn''t try to take any Presence, which meant that the need was coming from somewhere else.


    I put my hand on Noma''s slightly bulged belly and pushed Presence into her womb. It wasn''t all absorbed as I thought it was going to be, so I reduced it to only a trickle and let the fetus take as much as it wanted. After ten minutes, the drain disappeared and I stopped giving the fetus Presence.


    I hope you liked it as much as your mother does. I thought as I gave the belly a rub, then I cleaned myself up and snuggled close to Noma. I used several mental techniques to stay alert and went to sleep.

 Book Three: The Resolution 163

    No one complained when our scheduled departure time came and had been delayed for another three months. Despite the hundreds of thousands of people we had onboard, every single one of them didn''t mind waiting for more passengers.


    The Aviatoma people especially didn''t mind waiting, because it was getting close to the birth of the Honored Matron''s son. They would much rather have her egg hatch while the ship was in normal space than in hyperspace. There was no particular reason for that. They just felt better about the ship being stationary while such a delicate thing occurred.


    With me being the magnanimous man that I was, I allowed this. No less then fifteen people, adults and children alike, came over to me and smacked the back of my head while I sat on the big comfy couch and snuggled with a very pregnant Noma.


    ¡°Ow. Ow. Ow.¡± I said as each person smacked me good. ¡°It''s not fair that you''re reading my thoughts.¡±


    ¡°You''d probably never say it out loud, so we have to punish the thoughts.¡± Simone chuckled and held our son up to let him whack me with all four of his hands. Little Markus took the opportunity to wail on me with both slaps and baby fists as he laughed.


    ¡°You don''t have to enjoy hitting me that much.¡± I said and pretended to try and keep my head out of his range. It made him laugh more when he still hit me as I tried to evade him.


    ¡°That looks like so much fun!¡± Mina said as she walked behind the couch. ¡°Markus, want me to help?¡±


    HELP! HELP! Markus broadcast loudly and everyone within his range winced.


    Mina was almost six now, so she recovered quickly and grabbed my braid, then she pulled on it to hold my head still.


    Markus laughed and laughed as he swung all four of his arms at me as hard as he could. Nearly everyone else laughed as well, because we had all gathered together to watch our favorite show and now they were getting a different show while we waited for it to start.


    ¡°You really shouldn''t let him do that, Dad.¡± Portishiastis said. She was Gleas'' and my daughter, and she wasn''t happy that she and her mother were several seats away on the couch and not closer like she thought they should be.


    ¡°Tish, we talked about this.¡± Gleas said.


    ¡°Mom, he''s...¡±


    ¡°Tish.¡± Gleas said in a stern voice.


    ¡°It''s all right, Gleas.¡± I said and both she and Tish looked at me as Simone eased Markus away from his favorite punching bag, my face. ¡°She''s only saying what others are thinking.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, I''ve told her...¡±


    ¡°...that I love you and there''s only so much time I can spare in a day for everyone?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, actually.¡± Gleas said with a smile.


    ¡°As long as none of you blame Noma, since I spent just as much time with your mothers as I am with her.¡± I said and the teenagers were all surprised when the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°I can''t compare to my mom, though. She outshines me with how devoted she is to being there as much as possible.¡±


    Monica blushed as all eyes turned to her. ¡°It''s a mother''s and grandmother''s job to take care of the family.¡±


    ¡°You''ve done a wonderful job so far, mom.¡± I said. ¡°I hope you can keep being awesome with the new additions coming.¡±


    Monica chuckled. ¡°I have to admit that the job has been significantly easier with most of the first batch becoming teenagers, because I rope them into helping with the younger ones!¡±


    That made most of the adults laugh when the teenagers in question groaned.


    ¡°Well, keep it up. We need as much help, especially Presence help, with Noma''s baby.¡± I said. ¡°Hen warned us that it could pop out any day now.¡±


    ¡°Then what are you doing here?¡± Monica asked, concerned. ¡°Noma should be in the medical bay and under constant observation.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°She''s always under observation and I''ve got a transport platform ready for her right there.¡± I pointed up at the ceiling and everyone looked up to see the stretcher and platform above their heads. ¡°It follows us everywhere, and by everywhere, I mean from the room to here and back.¡±


    ¡°I hate having to waddle and he carries me everywhere, too.¡± Noma said and laughed.


    The show came on and we all quieted down to watch. I generated an invisible Presence Hand and tapped Tish''s hand. I felt her ''look'' at it and I wiggled the fingers as if asking to hold hands. She looked at me and I gave her a smile.


    I promise that after our next monthly vacation, I''ll devote an entire day to hang out with just you. I thought to her, exclusively. No work. No other concerns. It will just be you and me hanging out. How does that sound?


    Tish gave me wide eyes for a moment, because the Presence didn''t waver, then she nodded slightly and held hands with the Presence Hand and started watching the display again.


    Can we go to the shopping district? Tish asked me as she piggybacked on my ''exclusive'' mental channel to her.


    We can do anything you want. I thought back to her. Good job latching onto my signal so that no one else can hear you.


    Th-thanks. Tish thought and blushed a little.


    I think your lessons need to be expanded to give you more of an in depth knowledge, since you managed that all on your own. I thought proudly and let her feel how impressed I was.


    D-d-dad. Tish''s face flushed completely red. It''s not... that impressive.


    I sent her a mental laugh. You just proved you can mentally track anyone that tries to probe your mind, Portishiastis. It really is impressive, because I didn''t learn how to do that on my own for years.


    Really? Tish asked and looked at me again.


    Maybe you also need a few lessons on talking mentally and not letting your actions show people that you''re talking mentally, too. I thought with amusement.


    Tish looked around and several adults and teenagers were looking back and forth between her and me. That made her blush deepen and I stopped myself from laughing.


    It''s all right. I thought with reassurance. You can''t be absolutely amazing all the time. You have to settle for being just amazing for now. All right?Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Tish looked back at me briefly and then looked at the display. She sent me a mental nod. All right.


    That''s my little girl. You''re already getting it and understanding what I meant. I thought happily. Now we just need to get that cute blush under control.


    Daaaaaaad! Tish blushed bright red and I laughed mentally.


    *


    A week later, Noma was rushed to the medical bay on the stretcher. This birth was going to be something that none of us knew was going to happen, so we were all ready for pretty much anything. We even had the original Herbie there to assist Hen. Thankfully, it was a little better than a textbook birth. Noma felt a lot of discomfort while in labour and yet she barely felt any pain. Hen said that was normal in some cases and not to worry about it.


    Twenty minutes later, the baby popped right out without any muss or fuss. That had surprised everyone, Hen included, because there was usually some kind of distress as the baby passed through the vaginal opening. Not this little girl, though. She slipped right out as if she could squeeze herself through a much smaller hole, then she was out into the world and crying her eyes out.


    ¡°WAAAHHH! WAAAHHH! WAAAHHH!¡± She let out as she kept sucking in air to cry more.


    ¡°She''s got great breathing capacity.¡± Hen commented and quickly checked her over and cleaned her, swaddled her up, then handed her to Noma. The crying didn''t abate or lessen in any way and Noma gave us a sorrowful look.


    ¡°I''m thinking that handful you thought Simone''s baby was going to be, may have rubbed off on mine.¡± Noma said.


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± I said and reached for her. ¡°I''m sure that...¡± I stopped talking when I touched the baby and felt a tug on my Presence. ¡°Noma, can you feel her trying to absorb anything?¡±


    Noma shook her head. ¡°I thought I would feel her trying to use the ability on me; but, I don''t feel it.¡±


    I looked at Hen and then at Noma. ¡°Can I hold her for a minute?¡±


    ¡°If you think you can stop her crying, go ahead.¡± Noma said and held her out to me.


    I took our baby in my arms and hugged her to my chest, then suddenly the chest part of my bodysuit sunk into my skin. The baby stopped crying as she latched her mouth onto my nipple and started to suckle.


    Noma let out a bark of laughter. ¡°You''re her father! She''s not going to get anything out of...¡± She gasped when she felt my Presence being sucked out and into the baby. Her mouth dropped open in shock and Hen just stared at me.


    I was even more shocked as the baby fed herself from me and was completely contented.


    ¡°Let us see!¡± Mina said loudly and used Presence to carry her voice through the wall.


    ¡°No, we... we shouldn''t let them see...¡± Hen tried to tell us that everyone shouldn''t know what was going on.


    ¡°They''re going to find out soon enough anyway.¡± I said and looked down at my daughter. ¡°I would never hide this beautiful little girl.¡±


    ¡°But... Noma...¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Don''t worry, she''s still going to need momma''s milk. She''s just feeding her emotional hunger right now.¡± I looked at Noma. ¡°You know what I mean.¡±


    Noma nodded. ¡°Food is always secondary to feeding.¡±


    I hit the button and the covers opened on the observation window and everyone looked at Noma to see the baby. They felt confusion for several moments, then they saw me standing beside the bed and that it was me that was nursing the baby.


    ¡°Oh. My. God.¡± One of the teenage girls whispered. ¡°What... the baby can''t...¡±


    ¡°You can feel it, can''t you?¡± One of her half-brothers asked. ¡°She really is feeding.¡±


    ¡°But... how...¡±


    ¡°Sama has her mother''s ability.¡± I said. ¡°Surprise.¡±


    Everyone just stared at me with the baby suckling on my nipple. Tish gave the baby a glare, gave me a glare, then she walked away without a word.


    *


    At the end of the month, they had family vacation and Tish was nowhere to be found. Hunter was not surprised by this, considering the thoughts he had picked up from her during the brief times that she had been within his detection range. Hunter let it go until the vacation was over, then everyone went back to their normal daily routine and their jobs. He handed Sama off to her mother after feeding the both of them very early in the morning, then he used his hunting skills to track Tish down.


    Gleas had tried to stop her from leaving their living area and Tish had easily avoided being delayed. She had thought she made her escape and did her best to avoid her father. Hunter didn''t cheat and try to ask Zoe where his errant daughter had run off to, because he wanted to prove to her that he could find her without having to resort to the all-seeing AI that ran everything on the ship.


    Not surprisingly, he found her in one of the maintenance access ways that ran around the hydroponics bays. They delivered water, power, and air to everything, so it wasn''t surprising to him that she tried to hide there. The access ways went all over the ship and unless you took a transport platform or one of the personal conveyances, you weren''t going to get far.


    *


    I had used Stealth to move about without causing a stir and found my daughter in one of the large junctions between two hydroponics bays. I dropped the technique and walked over to the spot where Tish sat.


    ¡°I wish I could do that.¡± Tish said, bitterly.


    ¡°I can teach you.¡± I said and sat beside her.


    Tish huffed. ¡°How? You''ve got to stay close to the new baby in case she needs to feed.¡±


    I opened my mouth to explain, then sighed. ¡°I honestly didn''t know she would bond with me and not her mother.¡± I said and held a hand out, palm up, and wiggled my fingers. ¡°All I can say is that I''ve never broken my word.¡±


    Tish looked at my hand and then at my face.


    ¡°It''s not going to be just us today.¡± Tish said.


    ¡°For all intents and purposes, we will be all alone... but... you know we have to stop to eat lunch and supper with the family like we always do. I would like for you to forgive me if Noma brings Sama to me for a meal at the same time.¡±


    Tish looked down at my chest and gave me a bit of a glare. ¡°You know that''s really weird, right?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°More than you do, since it''s my nipples she chews on.¡±


    Tish winced at the thought.


    ¡°Yeah, if my regeneration and self healing weren''t so high, they would be sore all the time.¡± I said and wiggled the fingers on my still extended hand. ¡°Believe me, she''s not gentle at all.¡±


    Tish gave my hand a glance, then put her hand in it. ¡°I''m kind of happy you''re suffering doing it.¡±


    ¡°You say that as if I didn''t know that.¡± I said and tapped my forehead. ¡°Come on.¡± I stood up. ¡°I''ll cook a quick breakfast and then we can officially start our father daughter day.¡±


    ¡°If we go back there, you know someone''s going to distract you.¡± Tish said and stood.


    ¡°Nope. Today''s a day off for me. It''s even in my schedule.¡± I said. ¡°Zoe? What''s on my schedule for today?¡±


    ¡°It''s the first personal day you have officially booked off in thirteen years.¡± Zoe said. ¡°All inquiries for you during the day will be deferred until tomorrow. You have also paused the loading of the automated warships, because you can''t be there to properly monitor the assembly of the black barrier machines.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Tish looked from the closest intercom speaker to me. ¡°Why would you...¡±


    ¡°I don''t even have a datapad or my wrist communicator on me.¡± I said.


    Tish looked at the wrist of the hand she held, then she gasped at not seeing the communicator that was always there.


    ¡°I''m sure if there''s an emergency, Zoe can find me; but, besides anything catastrophic happening, I really am all yours all day.¡± I said.


    Tish looked like she was about to cry, so I stepped close and hugged her.


    ¡°Hey, it''s okay to feel that way.¡± I said and squeezed her tightly. ¡°I''m really sorry that there''s not more of me to go around. I''ve been getting a lot better the last few years and I haven''t been working around the clock like I could be.¡±


    ¡°You mean like you want to be.¡± Tish said.


    I chuckled. ¡°If I could get my work done at night and then spend all day with you and the others, that would be great.¡± I said and let her out of the hug. ¡°Unfortunately, even I need to sleep eventually.¡±


    Tish nodded. ¡°I can''t get my mind to sleep and meditate at the same time.¡±


    ¡°Well, I learned it just from necessity. Having to learn it and not having a reason to do it? Your mind probably can''t adapt properly.¡± I said and covered us in Presence. ¡°I can give you a reason to, if you want.¡±


    Tish gave me wide eyes and I gave her a grin back.


    ¡°I''ll initiate you later with that. For now, I want you to concentrate on what I''m doing right now.¡± I said and very, very slowly, initiated the Stealth technique and shared it with her as we both disappeared.


    Tish''s mouth dropped open in surprise as her mind opened up and absorbed the technique like a sponge. ¡°Dad! You just... Dad!¡±


    ¡°It''s going to take you a while to practice and get it to work on your own, though.¡± I cautioned her. ¡°Let''s run back to eat with the family, all right?¡±


    Tish nodded and we used Presence Run together. She tried to hide how happy she was as we ran through the maintenance access ways and I let her think that I couldn''t feel it. Teenagers needed to believe that they could hide some things from their parents, or they were never going to be happy. At the moment, Tish was very happy and doing her best to not show it.


    We ate breakfast with our family and then spent the rest of the day together. We went shopping and I refrained from buying her everything that she wanted. I wasn''t stupid enough to think buying her gifts would make everything better; but, having debates with her over the merits of some things over others was actually quite delightful. When Tish took a stance and proved her point, those things I bought for her. She also appreciated it more, too.


    All in all, it was a great day.

 Book Three: The Resolution 164

    I was invited to witness the hatching of the first avian woman''s egg. I wasn''t allowed to participate in the ritual, even though I was the father. They really were sticklers for only allowing Aviatoma to be present. I stood outside of the room and looked in through the window, along with the other witnesses, namely the other heads of families that wanted to get their first glimpse of their future ruler.


    ¡°It''s happening!¡± One of the attendants inside the room exclaimed and the first avian woman moved up and out of the way to look at the now quite large egg herself. The egg seemed to shiver at the loss of her supreme warmth, then it remained still for several seconds.


    I felt worry from everyone as the time passed, then suddenly they all exclaimed when four sets of claws poked through the shell at the same time and the egg was shattered. Shell pieces flew across the nest and scattered, and in the center was a pitch black mass of... something.


    The first avian woman spoke in her native language as she warbled and chirped softly at it, and the mass seemed to unfold itself and stood up on thin limbs. It had black skin and black feathers all over, and it had a hard time blinking its eyes to clear the gunk out of them.


    ¡°Let me help.¡± The attendant said as she dampened a cloth with water and then tried to reach into the nest. The child let out a loud squawk that was enhanced with Presence and everyone winced, except for me.


    ¡°I''ll take that.¡± I chirped and used a Presence Hand to take the cloth. The child stood there and let me wipe at its eyes. ¡°Did you name him yet?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The first avian woman said and let out a long series of chirps, tweets, and warbles.


    I caught my own name mixed in there. ¡°I''m not saying that every time I see him.¡± I said and gave the damp cloth back to the attendant. ¡°Did you give him a common name?¡±


    The other Aviatoma gasped at my question.


    ¡°Hunter...¡± The first avian woman started to tell me he couldn''t have a normal name, until his skin pigment lightened and he lost his birthing feathers.


    ¡°I''m his father. You can''t tell me that I don''t have the right for my son to have a name I can speak.¡±


    ¡°I have to consult with...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said and that made the ones gathered around me chirp and squawk in surprise. ¡°I caught one of my names while you spoke, so I''ll call him that.¡±


    The first avian woman had honored me by including my given birth name, now she thought she might regret it. ¡°Since that part does have a common pronouncement, I cannot forbid you from using it.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad, because I was going to use it anyway.¡± I said to everyone''s surprise. ¡°I''ve taken being insulted by my exclusion from the side of the nest and giving him his Aviatoma name, because of your society''s rules; but, I won''t be left out of naming my son in common.¡±


    The first avian woman picked up her son and cuddled him to her chest as if to protect him from me.


    ¡°Aaron, I''m sorry I can''t be in there to hold you as well.¡± I said out loud and also mentally to him. ¡°I can''t promise I''ll even be allowed to see you very much over the next couple of years, since you''ve been born into a very important family and they need to train you properly for your future duties.¡±


    No one there disputed my words or assumptions.


    ¡°It''s okay, though. You''ll have a brother and a sister right there with you soon. They''ll be born in a few days and you won''t have to worry about ever being alone.¡± I said to the first avian woman''s surprise, then I turned away from the window. ¡°Excuse me.¡± I said to the avian people around me. They parted and I walked out.


    Almost as if my words were prophetic, the next day, the second avian woman''s egg hatched and I witnessed the birth. Once again, the baby boy was pitch black, both skin and feathers, and he had smashed out of his egg. I was met with the same coldness from his mother; but, she didn''t object to me using one of the names she had given him. Ullir.


    The next day, Val''s birthing experience was completely different or her restrictions weren''t as strict, because I was invited into the nest with her. There were a lot of other Aviatoma in the room as well, because she had a pretty large family and they didn''t mind me being there. Val hugged and held me tenderly as we waited for the right moment, then she moved off the egg and we watched it together.


    Just like with the other two births, the four sets of claws speared through the shell and shattered it. Unlike the other two times, everyone there applauded and gave praise to both Val and the child for being so strong that the baby didn''t have to dig their way out or struggled at all.


    ¡°I told you.¡± Val beamed a smile at everyone, then she picked up the child and used a damp cloth to wipe the child''s eyes. ¡°False Tiercel or no, I knew his child would be powerful.¡±


    ¡°You mean beautiful.¡± I said with a smile and formed claws on my hand and did a quick grooming swipe on the baby''s head. It warbled happily and everyone laughed.


    ¡°She''s definitely going to be a charmer!¡± One of the older avian women exclaimed and leaned into the nest and took a groomed swipe at the baby''s head as well and then cooed at her. The baby''s warble became louder, then everyone was in the nest and were taking turns grooming her.


    ¡°Her name is...¡± Val said and let out a short series of chirps and tweets. ¡°Her common name is Aida and my common name is Val.¡±


    I took in a sharp breath as she adopted the illegal name I had given her, then the baby''s common name registered. ¡°My birth mother''s name.¡± I said, barely above a whisper.


    ¡°I honor you and your family by adding their names to mine.¡± Val said, her face flushed red. ¡°I hope you can accept...¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± I said sincerely and kissed her. ¡°Thank you for being so considerate.¡±


    ¡°None of us would be here if it wasn''t for you.¡± Val said. ¡°Most of my family would still be living at the bottom of an aerie and waiting for a chance to expand our living space.¡± She said and then chuckled. ¡°Now just our living room is the size of our old living space!¡±


    I used my hand to groom the feathers on her head. ¡°I''ve got miles and miles of space to use up. Making only tiny apartments would have been short-sighted of me, especially since I knew we would all be on the ship for a very long time.¡±


    ¡°We''ve been here a while now and we haven''t started the journey yet!¡± Her mother chirped loudly and everyone laughed.


    *


    The first ships from Simone''s race started arriving just as Zoe had predicted, and Simone and I were out there with the baby so that we could feel their shock, awe, and relief that the ship was still there waiting for them. We docked with their ships and greeted them, showed off the baby and his healthy arms, then directed them to the colossal ship. We also requested that they not contact the others, just so they could experience the same emotions.


    As a telepathic race, they heartily agreed to stay silent about us still being there while we waited for the others. In fact, some of them even came along when the next ship showed up and I flew Adona out to greet them. They enjoyed feeling it in a secondary capacity as much as Simone did, and our entourage of greeting the next ships in line grew, until Adona was full.


    When last few ships showed up, that had been the farthest away and had to travel the longest, there were a dozen other ships nearby to greet them. The people onboard almost entered into a coma at the strength of relief the last members of their race felt when they saw the colossal ship had stayed and waited for them. It was almost too much for me to handle and I was the one that had expected it to be overwhelming and warned the others.


    All of the ships moved at slow cruising speed as we floated towards the ship. Even the automatic drone warships kept pace with us like an honor guard and we all floated into the main shaft of the ship. Now that everyone that was coming was on board, we could begin our journey. The ship already had all the stealth armor and technology needed to keep it hidden, so a ship-wide announcement was made as soon as the last drone warship sidled into its launch bay.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°Notice to all residents. This is the admiral speaking.¡± Shanifra said. ¡°This is it. Today is the day you''ve all been waiting for.¡±


    The feedback channel let the bridge crew hear the cheers and hollers.


    ¡°Ha ha, that''s right. We''re departing this scummy part of the universe and we''re heading to parts unknown! Places where our society''s horrible choices haven''t wrecked everything already. We can all start over with new lives, new friends, and new adventures!¡±


    The cheers and hollers increased and Shanifra laughed again.


    ¡°All right, settle down. We can get the real celebration going when we cross into hyperspace. Brace yourselves and prepare for acceleration. This big bitch is about to light off several miles of engines and we expect a huge kick in the ass!¡±


    That made nearly everyone on the ship laugh, even the new arrivals and the bridge crew.


    ¡°Here we go.¡± Shanifra said and turned off the intercom, then nodded at the pilots. ¡°Take us out.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma''am.¡± The four pilots said as one. One was primary, one was secondary, and the other two were backups and extra eyes and hands, just in case. They all maintained their consoles and had extensive experience with large ships; but, this ship was bigger than a single pilot could fathom, so the others assisted as much as they could.


    ¡°All reactors at max output.¡± The co-pilot said. ¡°Sending power to the first bank of engines.¡±


    ¡°Engineering.¡± Shanifra spoke.


    ¡°Everything''s green across the board, Admiral. The deflector screens are all intact, fully powered, and integrated into the engine output.¡± The chief engineer said. ¡°We even have someone monitoring the reactor powering the lifts, just to make sure the power drain doesn''t affect it.¡±


    Shanifra chuckled. ¡°I appreciate your attention to detail, chief.¡± She said. ¡°Keep going, people.¡±


    ¡°Second bank. Third. Fourth...¡± The co-pilot said until they all had power. ¡°All engines powered, Ma''am.¡±


    ¡°Booster rockets ready for assistance.¡± The third pilot said.


    ¡°SAR teams standing by.¡± The fourth pilot said.


    ¡°Course plotted and set.¡± The navigation officer said. ¡°We have a clear line out to the Lagrange point.¡±


    ¡°All departments report ready, Admiral.¡± The head of the communications section said.


    Shanifra nodded at the pilot and the man grinned.


    ¡°Ignition!¡± The pilot said and hit the button to light all of the engines at once. The whole ship seemed to vibrate for a second, then to everyone''s surprise, it moved as if it was a normal ship and not something with a volume of almost sixty-three thousand cubic miles. The pilot was a professional though, so he didn''t whoop in happiness like he wanted to, because he had expected the ship''s massive size to cause them to travel at a snail''s pace.


    Even though they had been briefed extensively about the engine modifications and the addition of the barrier technology into the deflector screens to harmonize with the engine output, they still didn''t grasp that it would reduce the ship''s mass to barely a fraction of what it was supposed to be. The over-engineered propulsion system was ridiculously overpowered for the ship with the new deflector screens active, so the ship crossed the distance to the Lagrange point fairly quickly.


    With a final farewell sent to the dryads on the third planet, where Hunter had left an extensive planetary defensive grid to protect them, the ship passed the point of no return and jumped into hyperspace. The dryads had gifted him with a batch of seedlings that he was only allowed to plant when they reached their destination, assuming there was somewhere for them to be planted. He had agreed to that stipulation, since he knew they wouldn''t want to be planted until then anyway, and put them into stasis.


    Their long journey had finally begun.


    *


    Zoe''s estimation of calculating the location of the source, or the center of the new versions of the brown dwarf stars, was completed three months later when the ship popped out of hyperspace to gather some asteroids for smelting and to reload the warships that were coming back to meet them and continue their mission to go to all the systems that The Order was in and eradicate them.


    She received data from them and it was just enough for her to triangulate the proper path. There was only one problem with the result. It was in the middle of nowhere. No galaxy, no star system, and no planet. She triple-checked it and then had all of her sisters check her calculations. They all came back the same. The source was pointing right at a spot where there was nothing and the family had all gathered together in the large hologram room to look at the model of the universe.


    ¡°Well, we''re going there anyway.¡± I said and pointed to the spot. ¡°We''re heading close by there and it''ll only divert us by ten years or so.¡±


    Gleas chuckled. ¡°Only ten years, he says!¡±


    ¡°It''s almost like he doesn''t care if we get older at all.¡± Deborah said and grinned at Jelly, who laughed.


    ¡°Ah! The poor only human cousins to long lived races!¡± Jelly said and covered her face and everyone started laughing, even the teenagers.


    I laughed, too. ¡°Hey, if I actually thought that, I wouldn''t have invited everyone along.¡±


    ¡°You wanted to watch us grow old?¡± Sheph asked jokingly from the end of the table.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said and the laughter died out as they all looked at me.


    ¡°Really?¡± Daniel, Deborah''s husband asked.


    ¡°Well, it''s not like I''ll enjoy watching you all get wrinkly and decrepit.¡± I said with a grin.


    Simone held Markus up and he pummelled my face for her and laughed uproariously.


    ¡°Ow. Ow. Ow.¡± I said and leaned back. ¡°I was joking.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh. That''s why the Presence didn''t waver.¡± Noma said and leaned in for a kiss.


    I have her a kiss and some Presence, then formed another Presence Hand for our daughter to suckle on. ¡°Okay. I think it''s time Hen and I let you in on a little secret.¡±


    ¡°You have the secret for immortality!¡± Monica exclaimed and everyone laughed.


    ¡°Ha ha, no.¡± I said. ¡°Hen?¡±


    ¡°Hunter, we discussed this. No one but us was supposed to know.¡± Hen said.


    ¡°It''s the family.¡± I said. ¡°We can''t initiate it until we get to this point of the journey anyway.¡± I pointed to a long stretch of nothing that was a month away.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Beatrice asked.


    ¡°It''s a very long stretch of nothing and there''s nowhere to stop safely.¡± I said and Sandy hugged her from behind. ¡°Hen and I knew there would be lots of those spaces, especially when we''re travelling between galaxies, so we came up with an ingenious solution.¡±


    Everyone stood there and waited for me to say what it was. I stayed quiet and the silence stretched out.


    ¡°Just say it, for god''s sake.¡± Simone said to break the tension.


    ¡°This ship is a giant stasis pod.¡± I said and they all stared at me and didn''t know what to say. I let it sink in for several moments, then nodded. ¡°When we initiate certain jumps, we can put everyone into stasis and no discernible time will have passed for anyone on the ship.¡±


    No one spoke for almost a full minute, then Tish raised her hand.


    ¡°Won''t everyone know something happened if we pop right back out of hyperspace?¡± Tish asked.


    ¡°That''s a very smart question.¡± I said and she blushed a little. ¡°What''s the answer?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Tish looked at me with surprise.


    ¡°Tell me how to explain it.¡± I said and waited for her to answer.


    ¡°But... well...¡± Tish stopped talking and a few of us felt her mind racing to come up with something. ¡°A... a hick-up in the hyperspace generator... um... a miscalculation... no! It was a spacial anomaly!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°That''s my girl.¡± I said and her blush returned. ¡°Thanks to all the drone warships we''ve been sending out, we''ve been getting a more accurate map of everything, including some odd phenomenon like black holes and rogue planets.¡±


    ¡°Wait, those things are real?¡± Jelly''s husband asked. ¡°Rogue planets, I mean.¡±


    ¡°Surprisingly, yes.¡± I said. ¡°They are easily taken care of, though.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± A few of them asked.


    ¡°A dozen black barrier machines chained together can eat the things right up.¡± I said and they all stared at me with wide eyes. ¡°Yes, we''ve already taken care of rogue planets, asteroids, and even dangerous comets the same way.¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± Tish said. ¡°You''re cleaning up the universe.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°In more ways than one.¡±


    ¡°What about black holes?¡± Daniel asked. ¡°Those things are scary.¡±


    ¡°What happens when two black holes meet?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Hm, well... if I wanted to do the math... they could cause a massive spacial anomaly to form as they clashed and merged, which could suck in an exponential amount more stellar material.¡±


    ¡°Or?¡± I asked and smiled.


    ¡°They might just... cancel each other out!¡± Daniel said.


    I nodded. ¡°It depends on the size of the black hole about how many black barrier machines are needed. The largest one we''ve encountered was about ten miles wide and needed a hundred barriers to disrupt the event horizon enough to get one down into its gullet.¡±


    ¡°Are... are you kidding? How the hell did that work?¡± Daniel asked, shocked. ¡°It should have been crushed as soon as it was close enough!¡±


    ¡°We have no idea.¡± I said and waved to the universe model as Zoe replaced it with a replay of the event. ¡°Either the symmetry of the barriers around it allowed the approach vector to work, or its own gravitational effect didn''t work against the black barrier.¡±


    ¡°We have never tested it in an atmosphere or on anything like a planet, unless it was already absorbing it.¡± Zoe said. ¡°We honestly don''t know if one of the properties or effects that the barrier can absorb is gravity.¡±


    ¡°Considering the gravitational shear that ships experience when exiting hyperspace too close to a planet''s gravity well, the best way to test it is to have a properly equipped drone jump through hyperspace, intentionally set the coordinates too close to a planet, then observe the reaction of both the barrier and the ship after it turns off the barrier.¡± I said. ¡°But, pretty much every planetary system we''ve been to has precluded any kind of experiment on that scale, without potentially damaging the planet in question.¡±


    ¡°Which is why you''re not pursuing this.¡± Daniel said and I nodded.


    ¡°We just mark the spots where we find the big ones and leave warning beacons in the nearby systems.¡± I said. ¡°It''s not worth playing around with, even if the ships are just drones.¡±


    Everyone nodded, because even pilots sitting at home would start getting depressed if they lost ships only for an experiment''s sake.


    ¡°So, about telling people they''re being put into stasis...¡± Sheph started to say.


    ¡°Do they need to know?¡± Deborah asked. ¡°If no time passes, even for plants, animals, and food, is there a point to tell them?¡±


    ¡°Um, just to be honest?¡± Tish asked, and a few people chuckled. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You do realize they had to test the system, right?¡± Gleas, her mother asked.


    Tish''s mouth fell open and everyone laughed. ¡°How... how long?¡±


    ¡°Exactly a week.¡± Hen said, proudly. ¡°Absolutely no one noticed any difference.¡±


    ¡°When did you...¡± Tish caught her breath. ¡°You did it during the power down test!¡±


    ¡°I told you she was smart, Daniel.¡± I said. ¡°Are you convinced she can be your apprentice yet?¡±


    Daniel looked at Tish and nodded. ¡°I''d be happy to have her on my team.¡±


    ¡°D-dad!¡± Tish exclaimed and looked at Daniel. ¡°Uncle Daniel!¡±


    ¡°Welcome to the Heavy Maintenance Corps.¡± Daniel said and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°I hope you don''t mind spending most of the day inside maintenance tunnels.¡±


    Tish looked at me in surprise, because that was where she always went to be alone. Thanks, Dad.


    You''re welcome, Portishiastis. I thought to her and let her feel how proud I was.

 Book Three: The Resolution 165

    Some of Simone''s people had a hard time adjusting to life in such spacious living areas. A lot of them complained that they didn''t know what to do with all the space. A few family groups had even gathered together and lived in a single family residence, just so it was familiar and more cramped like they were used to. It didn''t take long for everyone else to figure out that they had some agoraphobia, so a few discrete modifications were made to a lot of the Visidern apartments to allow more people to live closer together.


    The ship made the month long journey to the open part of space they had plotted a course to, then initiated another power down test, so that everyone stopped what they were doing to wait for it to be over. Nearly everyone was put into stasis after the lights went out... except for two people.


    Hunter and Kara.


    They were members of the same long lived race and being put into stasis was kind of pointless to save them time. Lashina had been asked if she wanted to stay awake and she looked at her daughter.


    ¡°No, not if I have to wait to watch her grow up.¡± Lashina had said. ¡°I want all my time to be with her.¡±


    So, only Hunter and Kara had stayed awake. They had free roam of the ship, and yet they didn''t go far from their living area and the main bridge, except to perform maintenance that the robots needed supervision for. Luckily, it didn''t happen a lot, because Hunter and Daniel had over-engineered the ship with redundancies upon redundancies and it only had to be monitored.


    Hunter also went to the main shaft and spent time inside each of the warships, just like he had promised. In between those visits, he took it upon himself to train Kara in the proper use of Presence. She didn''t like that idea very much, even though it meant she got to spend a lot of time with him. She didn''t believe his view of the proper way was actually the proper way, so her reluctance was both vocal and stringent.


    Hunter just laughed at her and taught her some of the basic mental techniques that he knew. Of course, once Kara started to use them and tried to master them, she started to understand Hunter''s point of view. His way of compartmentalizing his mind was unlike anything she had experienced before, and she had no idea that someone could do training techniques with their mind and at the same time gather Presence and sleep.


    It took Kara almost six months to adapt to the techniques and master them. By then, she had convinced herself that Hunter actually had something to contribute to her training. He laughed at her thoughts as they met in the sparing arena and she frowned at him.


    ¡°Stop that.¡± Kara said and took a fighting stance.


    ¡°Stop thinking about me so hard.¡± Hunter joked, then he activated his Light sword. ¡°Now attack me.¡±


    Kara smiled and activated her Light sword, then threw it at him. Hunter swiped his Light sword at the energy blade to bat it aside, and Kara rushed into the opening the move had given her. Her fist slammed into his gut and Hunter grunted from the impact. He didn''t move, however. Kara turned around to backhand him in the face and reached for her Light sword with Presence at the same time.


    Hunter caught the backhand and pulled as he slid his Light sword in front of her body and deflected her returning sword. Kara pivoted on her foot and used Presence over her arm, expanded it to break his grip, then she kicked his leg to knock him off balance. Hunter''s knee bent and did just that, so she grabbed his head and pulled his face down onto her knee.


    He used Presence to cushion the impact and Kara changed tactics and grabbed his Light sword. Rather than pull it from his hand, she did his own trick against him and decoupled the focusing crystal. The Light sword died and he chuckled as he tossed it aside. Kara grabbed his braided hair and pulled his head back, then tried to do a karate chop to the front of his neck to incapacitate him.


    ¡°You lost.¡± Hunter said as the blade of a Light sword appeared in front of his neck.


    Kara was breathing a little heavily and she sighed with a long exhale as she let his hair go. ¡°Dammit, I forgot to disrupt the Presence on your sword.¡±


    Hunter nodded and turned it off, then hooked it to his belt. ¡°You could have bought yourself another few seconds to get your own sword if you had.¡±


    Kara nodded back. ¡°Although, I don''t really see much need to practice like this.¡± She said. ¡°What are the odds that I''m going to be fighting against someone else with a Light sword?¡±


    Hunter let out a bark of laughter. ¡°You do realize the first batch of my kids are getting close to reaching their sixteenth birthday, right?¡±


    Kara thought about that for a few moments, then her eyes widened. ¡°You''re giving them the trials?¡±


    ¡°In a sense.¡± Hunter said. ¡°It won''t be like The Order''s graduating trials, at least not in such a cold fashion.¡±


    ¡°You know it''s done that way to keep any outside influence from changing the results.¡± Kara said.


    Hunter nodded. ¡°I didn''t say it wouldn''t be difficult, just that it would be less cold and calculating. It''s going to be an actual skill test and not set parameters that some will blow through and others will struggle with.¡±


    Kara gave him an odd look.


    ¡°Yes, Kara. The Order discriminated between people by their ability, even though they never fully tested those abilities.¡± Hunter said. ¡°How many people were shuffled off and stuck doing grunt work when they could have excelled at other things, all because they ''failed'' the final exam?¡±


    Kara didn''t respond for a moment, then she sighed. ¡°A lot.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know.¡± Hunter smiled. ¡°I had access to their databases, thanks to The Wise One''s personal secretary.¡±


    ¡°Whom you killed.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°Yes, and she was grateful for it.¡± Hunter said and Kara gasped, because the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°It''s surprising, isn''t it? None of The Order members that my ships come across try to negotiate surrender or try to convince them to stay their hand. They would rather face their goddess than see The Order being dismantled.¡±


    ¡°I... I thought...¡± Kara stopped and turned away from him. She ducked her head and several tears came to her eyes. ¡°Why can''t I have such conviction?¡±


    ¡°Because you''ve seen the truth. You know she''s not benevolent, or caring, or misses any of the people that have died in her name. Not one.¡± Hunter said and stepped close behind her, then put his arms around her. ¡°Did you know that it was the goddess herself that ordered our quick expulsion and unsummoning from Relique?¡±


    Kara took in a sharp breath, because once again, the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°W-w-why?¡±


    ¡°They had already found the source of the portals and didn''t want us interfering.¡± Hunter said and she turned around in his arms.


    ¡°But... it was us that...¡± Kara started to say as her arms went around him, almost automatically.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Even though our task was done in First Sothen Kingdom, she wanted us out of the way.¡± Hunter said and then smiled. ¡°I definitely became a bit of a nuisance after that, because my party and I travelled all over the whole world... for years... and closed all of the portals.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Of course, showing up at the end and being a crucial part of the final battle must have been a huge thorn in her side.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, you... you can''t...¡±


    ¡°What? Defy her?¡± Hunter asked and she nodded. ¡°I''ve made it my life''s work to do just that.¡± He said and kissed her.


    Kara didn''t want to resist him when he was this assertive, so she accepted his attention and melted into his arms. They kissed for several minutes, then she quickly took off her clothes. Even though they were still in the sparring arena, she wanted him and didn''t want to wait until they went back to her room. They hadn''t been together like that for several years while the ship was being prepared and his children were being born. However, as they joined together, it was like they had never been apart.


    Kara cried out as her Presence merged with his and her mind and body were lost to the physical and mental sensations. She hadn''t imagined having him all to herself like this, not since she was a young girl. Hunter''s life was so full of other things and she couldn''t quite fit herself into it like she wanted to. She had been more of a bystander since she arrived and had watched everything from the sidelines, despite wanting to be included in everything more than she was.


    Hunter caught all of this as he made love to her, because Kara was too distracted by his body and his Presence to protect her inner thoughts like she was supposed to. He felt bad that she hadn''t felt like she was included, even though he and the family had done their best to welcome her. He knew it was more his fault than it was anyone else, so he accepted the responsibility for the mistake. He had been wrong when he thought that Noma was the last woman that wanted to have a child with him. Kara was.


    So, Hunter did his best to try and fix that during the next two months. They would be exiting the blank space soon and everyone would be out of stasis, so his and Kara''s free roaming on the ship would come to an end. It would be another three months before they reached the next stretch of emptiness, so he promised Kara that he would spend that time with her, assuming she wanted him to. She did and they met up again during the next jump.


    Kara thoroughly enjoyed both the endless hours of training and the love making sessions afterwards. They were like the ultimate rewards for her. She became more powerful and stronger as Hunter taught her the things he thought she would need in the future. She never questioned him about why he was teaching her so much, mainly because she didn''t want it to stop.


    They spent over a year together before she felt something shift inside of her. It was only subtle; but, she felt that there was a definite change in her Presence center. When she mentioned it to Hunter, he rushed her to the medical bay and gave her an extensive medical scan. With Herbie''s help, he found out what was wrong. She was pregnant.


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Kara gasped and looked at the datapad herself to confirm the information. ¡°But... but it''s supposed to be... difficult to conceive for us.¡±


    Hunter chuckled. ¡°I''m pretty sure it has been difficult, considering how many times we...¡±


    Kara covered his mouth. ¡°Don''t say it.¡±


    Hunter moved her hand. ¡°...made love.¡±


    Kara''s heart beat faster, because she thought he was going to be vulgar about it, and instead he was sweet. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Hunter chuckled again. ¡°Believe me, if I had been using you just for fun, you would know it.¡± He said and touched her forehead. ¡°You know you would have felt the difference.¡±


    Kara opened her mouth to respond and then closed it. ¡°Not if I didn''t want to admit that''s what it was.¡±


    ¡°Kara.¡± Hunter said and took the datapad from her. ¡°Now that you''re pregnant and we don''t have to worry about it anymore, do you want me to show you the difference?¡±


    Kara looked into his eyes and wasn''t sure if she wanted to know, in case it was too similar to what they had been doing.


    Hunter took her hand and led her over to a secluded spot in the medical bay near one of the supply closets, then he had his way with her on one of the stretchers. He performed as if he wasn''t concerned at all about how she felt. Even though she enjoyed it and it felt great, he hadn''t used Presence and she definitely felt like she had been used afterwards.


    ¡°Now you know the difference.¡± Hunter whispered into her ear as he cuddled up to her.


    ¡°Don''t.¡± Kara whispered and tried to push him away. ¡°You... how could you...¡±


    ¡°I wanted to prove that wasn''t how I''ve ever treated you, even when we were openly hostile.¡± Hunter said and rolled her over to look into her eyes. ¡°Do you remember what I did to you when you dropped me off at the sacred site prison planet?¡±


    Kara''s face flushed red as she remembered him using Presence to give her an orgasm. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Even then, you felt that I wasn''t trying to use you and I felt bad for doing that to you.¡± Hunter said and dropped some of his mental shields. ¡°You can check and see for yourself.¡±


    Kara gasped as he opened his considerable mental shields, which he had never done before. ¡°Hunter.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Hunter said. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°But... you...¡± Kara only did a small mental probe and checked that one time, then checked this last time. ¡°You didn''t like doing that, either.¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Hunter said. ¡°It''s the first time I''ve ever...¡± He shook his head. ¡°I''ve always used Presence to make sure my partner enjoyed it. Always.¡±


    Kara retracted her mental probe and she was surprised when he didn''t put his shields back into place.


    ¡°Now, I''ll make love to you and I won''t block my mind, so you''ll know for a fact that this is how I always feel when I''m with you.¡±


    ¡°H-Hunter.¡± Kara whispered, then she gasped when his Presence filled her up and touched her all over, both inside and out.


    ¡°I hope you''re ready for this.¡± Hunter said and kissed her.


    I''ve always been ready for you to love me. Kara thought as her mind started to flood with ecstasy.


    *


    The ship popped out of hyperspace to begin the long journey across a galaxy that was almost on its end, practically horizontal to our flight path. A good portion of it had to be crossed in real space, because it had several spacial anomalies. By Zoe''s calculation, it would take close to two years because of that. It was discussed with everyone onboard to see if they wanted to try and navigate around it, with the majority of the time spent in hyperspace.


    A resounding ''we are along for the ride'' came back from the ship wide poll with only a few thousand wanting the hyperspace option, even if it was longer, just to keep us away from the potential dangers.


    ¡°Well, I think that means we can relax and not worry if the passengers are happy or not.¡± Sheph said at the meeting to discuss the results. Everyone laughed and nodded in agreement.


    ¡°I''m sure if we jumped into a hostile system and had to fight our way out, they''d probably start complaining.¡± Admiral Shanifra said.


    ¡°Yeah, don''t do that.¡± I said and she laughed.


    ¡°We''ve got the scouts and automated warships scouring everything in front of us again, even though the warships have been through this sector already.¡± Shanifra said. ¡°You never know what might pop up since the last check, though.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad we are in such good hands.¡± Simone said and lifted Markus up. ¡°Isn''t that right, sweetie?¡±


    ¡°HANDS!¡± HANDS! Markus yelled, both physically and mentally, which made everyone wince.


    ¡°Here, take this.¡± Simone said with a laugh as she handed me our son.


    ¡°Thanks a lot.¡± I said as Markus proceeded to smack the hell out of my face with all four his hands. Everyone laughed at the sight and the sounds of smacking flesh.


    ¡°You really should make him stop that.¡± Tish said for the hundredth time.


    ¡°I''ve made it perfectly clear to Markus that he can only do it to his father.¡± Simone said with a grin.


    ¡°At least he''s getting lots of practice.¡± I said between slaps.


    ¡°His hand to eye coordination is fantastic, too.¡± Hen said and cuddled the feathered little girl in her arms. She was pitch black, just like my other avian children, and she was the cutest little thing I had ever seen. Hen had a Tiercel, so I hadn''t been legally allowed to attend the birthing ceremony. I regretted that I wasn''t right there to see her born; but, I had watched from the next floor and made sure that the baby knew I was there and used an invisible Presence Hand to give her head a quick grooming.


    The thing was, unlike her brothers and sisters with the same mother, she hadn''t been a holy terror after her birth. She had been calm and collected and watched everything with a keen eye and patience. I had visited her a lot and she knew I was her father, mainly because her feathers didn''t match anyone else in her family. Since I was the only one that was in all black around her, her eyes always found me in the room when I was present.


    ¡°So, do we go normal space for a couple of years and let everyone grow up a little together, or add another few years to the journey and go into hyperspace around it?¡± I asked and everyone exchanged looks, except for Tish.


    ¡°Normal space.¡± Tish said. ¡°I want to spend more time on this trip with my family than I spend in stasis.¡±


    ¡°Then it''s decided.¡± I said and Tish gasped. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Dad, I... I mean... I thought you were asking for our opinions!¡±


    ¡°I was.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°You just happened to be the deciding vote.¡±


    Tish looked around the table and saw everyone''s smiles, so she looked back at me. ¡°Dad, you can''t...¡±


    ¡°You can''t change your mind now. It''s part of the official record.¡± I said and pointed to the display that showed Tish''s name and the decision to take the normal space route. ¡°This meeting is adjourned.¡±


    ¡°Daaaad!¡± Tish said, exasperatedly.


    ¡°I love you, too.¡± I said with a laugh.

 Book Three: The Resolution 166

    Over the next few months, several of the teenagers turned sixteen, which meant they were coming of age and deserved to be tested. Since they were all individuals and their skills, interests, and desires were all different, Hunter devised their own special trials for them to take. There was no pass or fail option, and unlike The Order, they were in the sparing arena and the others were there to cheer them on with encouragement.


    ¡°You''ve got this, Tish!¡± One of her half-brothers said loudly. ¡°Kick Dad''s ass!¡±


    ¡°It''s not that kind of test, dummy!¡± Tish hollered back and they all laughed.


    ¡°Actually, he''s half-right.¡± I said and waved her forward. ¡°I want you to show me what you can do.¡±


    Tish looked at me with disbelief on her face.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and took a fighting stance with my hands held loosely at my sides, then slowly hopped from side to side for a moment. ¡°Use the enhancing technique I showed you and attack.¡±


    ¡°Dad, I...¡± Tish shook her head. ¡°You''re my father.¡± She said. Not to mention super-powerful. She thought. ¡°I can''t fight you.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°We''re not fighting or even sparing. I just want you to try and hit me as hard as you can. Don''t hold back. Give it everything you have.¡±


    ¡°Dad.¡± Tish sighed.


    ¡°Remember what I started to do to you when you wanted to learn how to sleep and stay awake at the same time?¡± I asked with a grin.


    Tish''s face switched from possible regret to instant anger. ¡°Sneaking into my room at random times every night to wake me up was NOT nice!¡± She spat. ¡°I didn''t sleep right for weeks!¡±


    ¡°I had so much fun teaching you.¡± I admitted.


    Tish growled at me, because the Presence didn''t waver. Her Presence covered her and her muscles increased slightly in size, her blonde hair floated up slightly, and little sparks of lightning ran all over her body.


    ¡°I especially liked that you sometimes cuddle...¡±


    ¡°DON''T SAY IT!¡± Tish yelled and disappeared from where she stood. She used both Stealth and Presence Run to run around behind me, then she ran full out and slammed her fists into my back as she discharged a dozen bolts of Presence Lightning into me. The force and shock blew me off of my feet and I flew forward through the air thirty feet and tumbled several times, before I used Presence to correct my trajectory and landed on my feet facing her.


    I slid backwards another ten feet, then let out a laugh. ¡°Wonderful, Tish. That was wonderful.¡±


    Everyone in the stands were shocked at what had just happened.


    ¡°What the hell happened?¡± One of her half-sisters asked. ¡°I didn''t even see her move!¡±


    ¡°Did you see that Presence Lightning discharge? That was awesome!¡± Her full brother said. ¡°I wanna learn that!¡±


    ¡°It''ll be your turn next year.¡± His half-brother said and clapped his shoulder. ¡°We can all sit here and watch you slam the old man then.¡±


    ¡°All right!¡± He said happily and they laughed.


    I walked over to Tish and she was breathing evenly, even though her face was passive and her eyes were still angry. That''s a little secret I haven''t shown anyone how to unlock before. I thought for her alone and made the scars glow on my chest.


    ¡°Dad.¡± Tish''s angry eyes went back to normal.


    ¡°Anger can be a tool to use, just don''t let it consume you. If it runs free, then all it will do is get you killed.¡± I cautioned her. ¡°I almost died the first time I let my anger out.¡± I took her hands and the little lightning bolts flowed from her to me. I easily added my own Presence to them and sent them back.


    Tish gasped at the increase in power and her mouth opened slightly in surprise as it merged back into her. ¡°Dad!¡±


    ¡°Yes, now that you''ve shown the ability, I''ll train you in its use.¡± I said and let her hands go. ¡°For now, though... what can you do with this?¡± I asked and waved at the side of the arena. A training droid rolled out and held up a wooden sword. ¡°Be careful, though. It''s quick and it saw what you did to me.¡±


    I walked over to the stands and sat down with the kids and watched to see what Tish was going to do.


    Tish gave me a mournful look. Dad, I don''t want to fight it. She thought, because she knew how important it was to keep all of the droids functioning. She was on the Heavy Maintenance Squad, after all.


    Who said you had to fight it? I asked her. No more clues. Go ahead and deal with the ''intruder''.


    Tish gave me another pointed look, so I smiled and waved both hands in a shooing motion. She shook her head and sighed as she walked over to the droid. It took a fighting stance and Tish didn''t react to it at all. It looked at her and she looked back at it as she kept coming closer, then she walked right up to it without assuming a fighting stance at all.


    Tish reached around its head and pushed the little button that performed a self-diagnostic test. The droid shut down and started to perform the diagnostic, so she took the wooden sword from it and tossed it aside.


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± One of her half-brothers asked.


    ¡°Proof that sometimes, fighting isn''t the answer.¡± Tish said and looked at me. ¡°Although, that''s only true in very few circumstances.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely right. That little trick won''t work anymore, now that it knows you can do it.¡± I said. ¡°Go ahead and open the compartment in the belly.¡±


    Tish opened up the compartment and inside were the basic components needed to construct a Light sword. She stared at them for a full minute and then looked at me with wide eyes.


    ¡°You don''t have to do anything with them.¡± I said and tossed her a sack that was big enough to hold the parts. ¡°You can make what it was intended for or you can make anything you want.¡±


    ¡°Dad, I...¡± Tish''s mind went over everything she had heard about Light swords, including all of the stories her father and the others had told her, as well as all the videos and information she had found on the galactic net. She wasn''t sure if she wanted the responsibility of having to carry a deadly weapon all the time.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    I walked over to her and packed the bag for her, then put it in her hand. ¡°It''s not a test of your character, Portishiastis.¡± I said and pulled out a pendant and hung it around her neck. ¡°I''m just telling you that I trust you with this responsibility.¡±


    Tish looked at the pendant and saw that it was identical to the one her mother wore. ¡°D-dad.¡±


    ¡°I love you.¡± I said and gave her a hug. I held it for several moments and she didn''t struggle or fight against it, then she let out a sigh and put her arms around me. ¡°I want to keep you safe from harm and the best way to do that is to prepare you for harm that might come for you.¡±


    ¡°I... I know, Dad. I know.¡± Tish whispered.


    ¡°Then get your butt over to the seats and let one of your brothers have a turn.¡± I said with a smile and let her go as the droid rolled back out of the sparing arena to refill its compartment. Tish nodded and took the bag of supplies to the seats.


    ¡°Yeah! It''s about time!¡± Sheph''s son said and jumped from his seat and down into the arena. It was a distance of about twenty feet, so it was kind of an impressive jump to his siblings. It was just unfortunate that he landed wrong with one of his feet slightly off. There was a snapping sound as his ankle took all of his weight and it broke. He dropped to one knee and hissed at the sharp pain.


    ¡°Now you know not to show off.¡± I said and walked over to him. ¡°Balance is key. If you can''t retain your balance, then use Presence to correct your posture and let it guide your feet to the right spots.¡±


    ¡°S-sorry, Dad.¡± Peyhs said and looked up at me with gritted teeth.


    ¡°It''s all right. That''s the whole point of all of this.¡± I waved at the arena and used Presence Heal on him to speed up his regeneration. ¡°Practice your abilities. Use patience if you''re not sure if you''re doing things right and ask for help when you need it.¡±


    ¡°But... I thought...¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I chuckled. ¡°That you should go it alone and hope that you work everything out for yourself?¡±


    ¡°Yes, actually.¡± Peyhs said as he stood and I chuckled.


    ¡°This isn''t The Order.¡± I said and put my hands on his shoulders. ¡°We''re all family and friends here. It''s okay to ask for help, even when you think the others might think less of you for it.¡±


    ¡°That''s not why...¡±


    I smiled and pat both shoulders. ¡°I said it''s all right. Everyone here is in the same situation. They can all ask for help when they need it and some of them do.¡±


    ¡°I asked you for help in confidence!¡± Jelly''s son Kellan exclaimed and everyone turned to look at him.


    ¡°I didn''t say who.¡± I said and he groaned in defeat for giving himself away. ¡°Besides, it really is like I said. There''s no shame in asking for help.¡± I looked at him. ¡°Did it help?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kellan admitted.


    ¡°Then there''s no problem, is there?¡± I asked and he sighed. ¡°Okay, Peyhs. Show me what you can do.¡±


    ¡°I kind of don''t have the upper hand now.¡± Peyhs said and I chuckled.


    ¡°Okay, then. Go on back up to your seat and try jumping in again.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Peyhs gave me a disbelieving look. ¡°But... I''m here and...¡±


    ¡°Go, on. Go on. I don''t have have all day.¡± I said and waved at the seats. ¡°Let me see you do it right this time.¡±


    Peyhs opened his mouth to argue, then sighed and clomped his feet as he crossed the arena and went up the stairs to his seat to repeat his ''surprise'' jump. He took his time to prepare beforehand and made sure he was in the right frame of mind for it, then he jumped again. He looked to be overshooting his target slightly, so he used Presence to adjust his trajectory and then used it to catch himself when he landed.


    ¡°Much better! Much better!¡± I clapped and walked over to him. ¡°I suggest using some body reinforcement just before landing as well, just so you can charge something as soon as you hit the floor.¡±


    Peyhs gave me wide eyes, because he hadn''t thought of that.


    ¡°Want to try it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Peyhs said and a smile appeared on his face. ¡°I would.¡±


    ¡°Then get back up there and let''s see it.¡± I encouraged him. ¡°Show me how much you''ve practised.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Dad!¡± Peyhs said and ran over to the stairs. ¡°You guys are not going to believe this.¡± He whispered to the others in the seats, sat down, and waited for a minute as I walked a little ways away in a random direction.


    ¡°Hey, aren''t you gonna...¡± Someone started to ask.


    ¡°Shh!¡± Someone else hushed them.


    Suddenly Peyhs was up and out of his seat and jumped through the air the twenty feet to the arena floor. Just before his feet touched, his body glowed slightly and instead of sticking the landing like the last two times, his whole body pivoted on his feet and he sprung like a frog another twenty feet.


    ¡°HAAAAA!¡± Peyhs yelled as he landed perfectly on my back and knocked me down to the floor.


    ¡°Wow!¡± Sandy''s son Alex said. ¡°He just... how the heck did he do that?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know! How does body enhancement translate to extra strength if you can''t use it all the time?¡± Beatrice''s son Alan asked.


    ¡°Because until you gain enough Presence through practice, meditation, and age, using it in short bursts is the best way to benefit from it.¡± I said. ¡°Okay, Peyhs. You can get off.¡±


    Peyhs hopped off and grinned at me, a little arrogantly.


    ¡°Don''t be too smug.¡± I said as I stood up and pretended to brush dust off of myself. ¡°I saw and felt you coming.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Peyhs said. ¡°I could feel the resistance of Presence the closer I got to you.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Good. Now, what would you have done if I had turned around and either tried to attack or catch you?¡±


    ¡°Presence Push.¡±


    ¡°To what end?¡± I asked.


    ¡°To get me out of your attack path, of course.¡± Peyhs said. ¡°I''d never be able to move you, so I''d move myself.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Good.¡± I said. ¡°That''s the best strategy when facing an opponent that you know has an advantage over you.¡±


    ¡°The biggest advantage is that you''re our father.¡± Peyhs said.


    ¡°Ha. You''re wrong.¡± I said. ¡°That''s the biggest disadvantage.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Why?¡±


    ¡°You''ll hold back and won''t give me everything when you attack.¡± I said. ¡°When you pounced on me, you didn''t go for the kill or try to hit my head, wring my neck, or even tried to immobilize my arms.¡±


    All the kids and teenagers in the crowd fell silent at my words.


    ¡°That''s okay, though. I have a simple solution.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you quitting?¡± A lot of them asked and nearly everyone laughed, except Tish. She had been smart and tried to tap my head for stray thoughts. I let her see and she covered her mouth to stop her laugh.


    ¡°His solution is me.¡± Kara said as she dropped her Stealth technique, right in the middle of the seats. Most of the kids jumped and one of the brothers let out a very unmanly squeak. She made an invisible walkway out of the stands and it looked like she walked through the air as she went to the center of the arena and stopped in front of me.


    ¡°Meet everyone''s new sparring partner.¡± I said and presented Kara, and the kids that hadn''t been tested yet groaned, even Peyhs. ¡°She''s going to continue the trials in my stead and I''ll just be right over there enjoying the show.¡± I waved at where Tish sat, then I used Presence Run to get there in the blink of an eye and sat down beside her.


    ¡°You have three minutes to prepare.¡± Kara said to Peyhs and tossed him a wooden training sword.


    ¡°So, have you decided what you''re going to make?¡± I asked Tish and she tore her eyes away from the arena to look at me.


    ¡°Dad, I told you...¡±


    ¡°...and I told you that you can make anything you want.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°So, do you want another shield pendant? A Light sword? A laser pistol?¡±


    Tish''s mind raced as she thought about what she could make with what she had.


    ¡°Oh, and don''t limit yourself to what you have in the bag.¡± I said and Tish gasped. ¡°Yeah, that''s right.¡± I put an arm over her shoulder. ¡°Do you want to visit my own private little workshop?¡±


    ¡°Oh, god.¡± Tish whispered as the forbidden area was offered to her. She looked at the bag of parts in her hands and then at me. ¡°Will you show me what I can make with these parts?¡±


    ¡°I''ll show you how to make everything, if that''s what you want.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, Dad. That''s exactly what I want.¡± Tish said, her mind resolved to learn as much as she could.


    I nodded. ¡°We''ll sit here and enjoy Kara taking out her frustrations on your siblings, then we''ll have your graduating party.¡± I said. ¡°After that...¡±


    ¡°...you can introduce me to a whole new way to look at the world.¡± Tish said, almost in reverence. ¡°As components.¡±


    I nodded again and we sat there and watched her siblings try their best against Kara. We had discussed for a while beforehand what strengths and weaknesses each of them had, which was why I had done Tish''s test myself. I knew she wasn''t really a fighter, even though she could kick ass when she needed to, so I handled her differently. The others were actually eager to fight and to test their physical skills, which meant I wasn''t the best option for them.


    Kara was more than ready for the challenge and performed their trials admirably. Needless to say, they all passed their individually tailored tests in their own way.

 Book Three: The Resolution 167

    Unlike every other woman that I had gotten pregnant, Kara''s pregnancy seemed to be taking a very long time. Hen couldn''t explain it, either. She had seen that Lashina''s had been a couple months longer than normal and because she was a long lived race, Hen just assumed her biological systems were somehow extended because of it, even though there was no actual evidence to support that hypothesis.


    There was almost nothing about my race to be found, not even the name, so Hen was completely in the dark about it. Since Kara was also the same race, she had to also assume that our long lives combined were going to impact the pregnancy for some reason. How much it was going to impact it, she could only speculate, so she used a normal and very average human pregnancy as a guide to compare it to.


    Hen used Kara''s current growth in her belly, the date of conception, and the time between those two things to roughly estimate how long the real pregnancy was going to take when compared to a normal pregnancy. The prognosis... was not good.


    ¡°What do you mean I''m going to be pregnant for four years?¡± Kara asked, shocked.


    Hen showed her the scaling chart and she looked at the development of her fetus at its current stage and saw it was only a few weeks old compared to a normal pregnancy, even though it had been over three months.


    Kara stared at the two and tried to adjust the scale, and it only changed the prognosis to three and a half years. ¡°By the Godde-HMM!¡±


    I covered her mouth with a hand. ¡°Yeah, you do not want to let her know you''re going to be pregnant and vulnerable for that long.¡± I said. ¡°I thought you stopped using her name in vain years ago.¡±


    Kara sighed into my hand. I forgot. This is... I don''t know what to say.


    ¡°It''s all right.¡± I said and moved my hand, then gave her a kiss. ¡°You''re not going to go through this alone.¡±


    Kara immediately thought of her parents and mine. ¡°They never told us it took so long for us to be born!¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°The timing is perfect for mine.¡± I said and she gave me wide eyes. ¡°That''s almost exactly how long they were on the run before I was born.¡±


    ¡°So that''s why they ran.¡± Kara said and thought about her parents. ¡°Mine just surrendered me to The Order and that was that.¡±


    ¡°Don''t be angry about that.¡± I said and hugged her tightly, then looked into her eyes. ¡°It was a different time then and they did what they had to do to ensure their survival and your own.¡±


    Kara stared into my eyes. ¡°You actually believe that.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°If they tried to keep you like my parents did, they would have met the same fate and The Order would still have had you.¡±


    Kara sighed again and reluctantly nodded.


    ¡°Plus, they didn''t accept my offer to escape with us, even knowing you were aboard and coming with me.¡± I said and Kara caught her breath.


    ¡°I... when did you...¡±


    ¡°I tried several times during the build-up to get them and the rest of the clan to come with us, since we already had so many already. I was sure they would take the offer the last time, especially when I told them the Aviatoma and the Visidern were coming with us.¡±


    ¡°They didn''t care about that, did they?¡± Kara asked in a whisper.


    ¡°Not even a little bit.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°I think they said something along the lines of ''make sure to have fun adventures'' or something.¡±


    Kara squinted her eyes when the Presence wavered. ¡°What did they actually say?¡±


    It was my turn to sigh this time. ¡°There''s a reason that sector of space had been abandoned. Good luck finding out what it is.¡±


    Kara stared at me, because the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°My parents... they... how could they...¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they could have just told us.¡± I said and let her go. ¡°I''m curious about it, anyway.¡±


    ¡°But... if we go all that way and...¡±


    ¡°What? Even if there''s no viable place to stay when we get there, it''s not like we can''t live on the ship.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°It''s built to last a thousand years. With the asteroid smelters and the robotic drones, we can completely rebuild the ship and it can last another thousand. At least.¡±


    ¡°But... I thought...¡±


    ¡°We can stop at planets and grab any compatible dirt and soil to replenish the hydroponics bays after a few hundred years. We can also keep stopping at gas giants to get as much oxygen and nitrogen that we need, even though the environment plants can handle the load. It''s always nice to grab some fresh air.¡±


    Kara nodded.


    ¡°Then there''s nothing to worry about.¡± I said and took her hand to help her stand. ¡°Now let me help you back to your room.¡± I put my arm around her and held her tenderly as we walked out of the medical bay. ¡°You need lots of bed rest and to relax during your pregnancy.¡±


    ¡°I''m not an invalid yet.¡± Kara glared at me, even though she clung to me and didn''t try to pull away.


    ¡°You know I spend a lot of time with a woman when she''s pregnant, just so she knows I care a lot about her and for the child she''s carrying for me.¡± I whispered and Kara blushed.


    I''m shutting up now. Kara whispered into my mind as she leaned against me to give me all of her weight to support. I had to laugh at that and took her back to her room.


    *


    As the next two years of normal space travel passed by, the teenagers grew into young adults and the kids grew a little. Friendships formed and grew as well. People met, talked, and some even got together and became pregnant. Some came to Hen for help, once they had been discretely let in on the secret family blessing when they claimed to have trouble getting pregnant. Of course, once the secret was out, word of it went around the ship like wildfire, especially with the Visidern and their notoriously low birth rates.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    They had thought that Simone and her son Markus were medical wonders and the event wasn''t repeatable... and technically, they were right. They wouldn''t have children with normal arms, not unless they tried to cross-breed with humans or another species. Even then, they might be deformed or not get the extra arms. So, they stuck with their own people to have children, now that they no longer felt like they were bringing those children into abject poverty.


    There was a proverbial baby boom with hundreds of births just before we exited the galaxy and were going to jump into hyperspace. We delayed it for a month, just so the babies could adjust to being out of the womb, then we did another power down test. This time, I didn''t give Kara the option to stay awake, because how would we explain the change in her birth time to everyone.


    I was all alone on the ship for this journey, except for the AIs, and I spent time with each of them again. I had lots of free time this time, so no one felt neglected or slighted, not even Opina. It had taken her years to accept her mistake and she still resented being tricked out of such an important job, or so she had convinced herself. I never told her, or anyone else, that I was actually relieved that she had wanted out, because Zoe choosing to become the family''s AI had been the best thing to happen for everyone.


    Everything went so much smoother because she readily accepted her role as the family guardian. She performed it admirably and never complained, then as we started to build the outside of the ship, her role increased exponentially. Her importance increased as well, and we all appreciated her more and more as time went on. By the time we had launched, she had hundreds of dummy AIs working for her to run everything and she was extremely happy to have so much to do and to stay busy.


    I also enjoyed my alone time, since it had been a long time since the last time I managed to be alone. I worked on my techniques and did my best to develop individual training regimens for the kids. I had lots of time to work on them and I put it to good use. Just because the people on board were in stasis, that didn''t mean the work had to stop. Warships still needed reloading, black barrier machines needed to be completed, and things had to be monitored by both AIs and myself.


    My attention wasn''t strictly necessary, however. I had removed that particular roadblock a decade ago so that the automated warships could function without a pilot until the crucial mission time when they were needed. Of course, I let the AIs learn all of the moves that the pilots could do, just in case a connection was lost or the pilot couldn''t take over in time.


    There were also hundreds of pilots back in the Dizahl System that were unaffected by the pilots on the Ark being in stasis. They were just informed that they were going on an extended break and would be back on duty as if nothing happened as soon as we exited hyperspace. The other pilots never said anything, because it was impossible to use both the communications and the pilot programs while in hyperspace. They just assumed it was business as usual and kept doing their jobs.


    The jump passed and then it was life as normal. Kara wasn''t angry about me leaving her in stasis, because she shared the same outlook as Lashina. She wanted to be there for all the time that she had with her pregnancy and skipping years of it and going through it without the other mothers to help, was not what she wanted.


    The next jump happened barely six months later, then the next and the next. Years and decades passed in hyperspace and only months and years passed in normal time. Rumors started to spread around about the ship going faster than we were letting on and that we were advancing on our trip much quicker than we were supposed to. Rampant speculation was raised about how it was possible to bypass the laws of physics, including a lot of crazy theories.


    When those rumors reached the upper echelons of each social group and they started to make official inquiries, I decided that it was time to let everyone in on the secret. I made a ship-wide announcement about what we had been doing during the power down tests and let everyone know we did that to make sure everyone was stationary to put them all in stasis.


    Instead of the huge uproar that Sheph and a few others had expected, namely Tish, nearly everyone laughed it off and a lot of them actually thanked us for being so considerate. The communications section was flooded with calls and compliments about how the majority of them were going to live to see the end of the journey instead of dying part of the way there.


    A few thousand people were upset that they hadn''t been told right from the first; but, they were mollified by the same fact that they were more than likely to be alive when we reached where we were going. There wasn''t much we could do for the elderly, except to keep them comfortable and to let them live their lives to the fullest until it was their time to pass on. The kids on the other hand, they could also do the same thing, with the full knowledge that they were going to see the end of the journey.


    I spent time with my children, all of them, even the ones that were getting a little old for spending time with their parents. I also made sure we still took our monthly family weekends at one of the resorts or at one of the many planets we stopped at to give everyone a break from shipboard life. The only ones that didn''t take that option were the Visidern, and that was understandable. They had some agoraphobia and weren''t forced to do anything that they didn''t want to do.


    Kara went into labour and Hen didn''t try to rush her to the medical bay. I didn''t have to ask her why, because she was clearly broadcasting that Kara was going to be in labour for a long time. Unfortunately for Kara, Hen was completely right and it had taken a week of struggling, pushing, and labour pains for Kara to give birth. I stayed by her side the entire time and I took all of the insults, punches, slaps, and curses she dished out.


    I was actually thankful to my son Markus for preparing me so well for the onslaught. He had been pummelling me as hard as he could for years and Kara''s blows paled in comparison. A little boy came out with a full head of hair... and it was pink. For the first time, after all the children I had contributed to the birth of, he was the very first one that had hair that wasn''t blonde. The Aviatoma didn''t count, because they had feathers and not hair.


    Kara was just as surprised as I was, then I thought of a reason why it wasn''t blonde. I told her that my father''s hair was a dull brown and my mother''s hair was a golden blonde, which according to that small sample size, apparently our race had children that inherited their mother''s hair and not the father''s. I didn''t even joke about trying to find another female member of our race, just so I could try to get them pregnant and see if my guess really was true.


    ¡°His name is Niaga, after my father.¡± Kara said and looked at me. ¡°You can give him his second name.¡±


    ¡°Dias.¡± I said.


    ¡°Niaga Dias Moor.¡± Kara said and hugged the baby to her chest. ¡°I''m sorry you can''t have your father''s last name, Niaga.¡± She whispered to the baby and kissed the top of his head.


    I held in my sigh at her family''s traditional marriage requirement for children to have birthing names. I put a bit of Presence on my fingertip and touched the spot Kara had kissed to let him know he was still loved, even though I wasn''t married to his mother.


    ¡°It''s a good thing you grow up normally.¡± Hen said with a chuckle. ¡°Imagine being stuck as a kid for a couple of decades!¡±


    I chuckled and gave her a knowing smile, then looked at Kara. ¡°Yes, that would be terrible.¡±


    Kara gave me a sad smile, because she knew I had been reincarnated and had done exactly that. If she had known it at the time, her attitude and her entire perception of me would have been completely different. Not just when she had returned as a master to the council, either. When she had been young and had visited that poor orphan and comforted him on her lap, she would have stayed with him and let him know who she was before she had been whisked way for special training.


    ¡°Well, that''s that.¡± Hen said. ¡°You can stay here and recover for as long as you need to.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Hen.¡± Kara and I said at the same time.


    Hen laughed at that and opened the observation window as she passed by it. There were several adults, a couple of teenagers, and three kids to witness the birth.


    ¡°Hey, he has pink hair!¡± Mina, now eleven years old, exclaimed. ¡°How did that happen?!?¡±


    ¡°Genetics.¡± Lashina said from beside her.


    ¡°Sometimes genes suck.¡± Mina said, and several people laughed, including me.

 Book Three: The Resolution 168

    When Peggy reached the ripe old age of eighty and her hair had turned completely white, I had the brilliant idea of putting her in a stasis pod. Everyone else agreed with me that it was the best way for her to stay with us and see where we were going to end up, except for one person. Peggy. She absolutely refused the offer and claimed that if she went to sleep now and woke up however many years it was going to be later, she wouldn''t recognize anyone anyway.


    Like Lashina and Kara, Peggy wanted to stay awake and experience life as it happened with the children, and not have to play catch up later. She also didn''t want to retire and wanted to keep doing her job to the best of her ability. I had been sorely tempted to just put her in stasis anyway and I could face the consequences later, then she took my hand with her old and wrinkly one and looked into my eyes.


    ¡°I can see all the regret there already.¡± Peggy said. ¡°All these years of me telling you no, and you''re still pining over me?¡± She shook her head. ¡°You have all these women and all those children, and yet you still can''t get over the one woman that said no.¡±


    I opened my mouth to argue, then smiled instead. ¡°Does that mean you''re saying yes?¡±


    Her bony hand lightly tapped the side of my face and she laughed. ¡°The answer''s still no.¡±


    I nodded, because I knew she would never betray her feelings or her beliefs. She was loyal to her long dead husband and she would never do anything that would make her push his memory aside or try to forget about him.


    ¡°I don''t have to tell you that I love you, do I?¡± I asked and she shook her head again.


    ¡°I will make you a promise.¡± Peggy said. ¡°When this frail old body is taking its last breaths, you have my permission to kiss me.¡±


    ¡°On the lips?¡± I asked, surprised.


    ¡°Yes, you poor sex-deprived teenager.¡± Peggy said and everyone around us laughed. ¡°It''s not going to be for years, though.¡±


    ¡°You can make me wait for as long as you want.¡± I said confidently.


    It took ten years.


    Despite all that futuristic medical technology could to for her, it couldn''t stem the flow of time or the human body''s natural degradation during that time. Even using Presence Heal only repaired damage, it wouldn''t de-age anything. Peggy lay in the medical bay and Hen monitored her closely. When Peggy felt that it was time, she nodded to Hen, who opened the door and let me into the small private room.


    I walked over to the bed and took her hand. ¡°You''ve already said goodbye to everyone else, so I guess you were saving the best for last.¡±


    Peggy barked a laugh and then she coughed several times. I used Presence Heal on her and she relaxed. She stared into my eyes and I stared right back, because I didn''t want her to think that I thought she looked horrible. I didn''t, not in the least, and I let her see and feel that.


    ¡°I suppose... I did.¡± Peggy whispered, her strength rapidly leaving her.


    ¡°I want you to listen and listen well.¡± I said and leaned over her. ¡°You know, I haven''t had a lot of women tell me no over the years, or stay so adamant about it that they fought me off for decades.¡± I whispered. ¡°I want you to take it to heart that I deeply regret not being able to love you physically as much as I love you emotionally.¡±


    Peggy''s breath rasped in her lungs. ¡°I... I know.¡± She said. ¡°I... I won''t... I couldn''t...¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± I said and leaned in close. ¡°It made me love you all the more, Peggy.¡±


    ¡°I... love you, too.¡± Peggy said and took two quick breaths.


    ¡°Don''t go yet.¡± I whispered. ¡°You need your reward for being so loyal.¡±


    Peggy licked her lips automatically in anticipation, so I pressed mine to hers and used Presence to reach in to touch her tiny Presence core. Its waning glow flared to brightness for several seconds and she gasped into my mouth, then her Presence started to fade. I couldn''t add any energy to it, despite trying, and it reduced in size for a few moments... then it disappeared.


    I broke the kiss and Peggy had a small smile on her peaceful face and her eyes were already closed.


    ¡°What a way to die.¡± Simone said from the doorway.


    ¡°It was exactly what she wanted.¡± I said and stood up. ¡°She could only think about her husband at the end, too.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Simone said with a smile. ¡°She imagined it was him that gave her one last kiss.¡±


    I nodded and looked at Hen. ¡°Do you want me to handle this?¡±


    ¡°If you want to.¡± Hen said. ¡°The only family she had was us.¡±


    I nodded again and put my hand on the body''s forehead, then I dissolved it into nothing.


    *


    Over the next twenty years as we moved closer to the bit of nothingness that was the center of the new sets of brown dwarf stars, Kara, Lashina, and I trained our children to the best of our abilities. Of course, more were born during that time from any of the women that wanted more children. Kara had another child, a girl this time, Lashina had twins and one was a boy and one was a girl, Gleas had two more children and Sandy and Beatrice had one more each, both girls.


    Gleas'' daughter Tish was no longer alone. She had gotten together with Jelly''s son Kellan and had a child of her own. A beautiful little girl that she loved dearly and she had the same mind-set for technology.


    Several of the boys got together with normal women and they had children as well. They didn''t let it interfere with training, however. We were running out of time and we all needed to be as prepared as possible for what could happen when we reached there. It never occurred to me that when we did reach there, we wouldn''t be prepared at all for what was there.


    In layman''s terms, it was a wormhole.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    A stable hole in space and time that would take us from wherever we were and deliver us to somewhere else. Where that was couldn''t be determined, because any probes and drone shuttles we sent in didn''t come back or delivered the satellites they carried to show us where they were.


    ¡°Maybe they aren''t working because someone needs to be on board.¡± Tish suggested.


    ¡°You''re saying that wherever it''s going, the tech might not be working and needs to be rebooted?¡± Kellan asked and she nodded. ¡°You''re not going.¡± He said, adamantly.


    Tish gave him wide eyes for a moment, then she chuckled. ¡°I don''t think any of us should go.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Sheph asked. She was almost seventy now and still had the sharp mind she always had. ¡°What should we do, then?¡±


    ¡°Leave.¡± Tish said and everyone looked at her. ¡°I am not going to let you take this ship through there and endanger everyone''s lives.¡±


    ¡°No one is suggesting we all go.¡± Markus said and braced all four of his arms on the hologram table. He had four large Light sword handles hung on his belt.


    ¡°Yeah, there''s no way I''ll endanger everyone that''s trusted us for this long, on a hope and a wish.¡± I said and everyone looked at me instead. ¡°I''ll go alone.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± They all yelled.


    ¡°It''s not a discussion.¡± I said. ¡°I have to go.¡±


    ¡°Dad, you can''t just...¡± Sama started to say.


    ¡°You''re coming with me.¡±


    ¡°HUNTER!¡± Noma yelled. ¡°You are not taking my daughter to her death!¡±


    ¡°No, I''m taking her to mine.¡± I said and everyone gasped.


    They were all silent, because the Presence didn''t waver.


    ¡°N-n-n-no. No.¡± Sama shook her head, because she didn''t want to admit it.


    ¡°Can''t you all feel it?¡± I asked and looked at their faces. ¡°This is it. This is what my whole life has been building to. I have to go.¡± I said and took Sama''s hand. ¡°Please, come with me.¡±


    ¡°No, Dad.¡± Sama said. ¡°You''re our father! You''ve been alive for centuries! You can''t die!¡±


    ¡°I can only tell you what I feel, and I feel like this is the end of the journey for me.¡± I said and the Presence didn''t waver. ¡°I also know that I need your help.¡±


    Sama stood there and shook her head. ¡°No, I... take... take mom. She can...¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°You know that''s wrong, just as much as I do.¡± I said. ¡°Sama, you have the training and abilities that your mother doesn''t have.¡± I walked over to her and took her hand. ¡°I''ve never asked anyone to do what I''m asking you to do now.¡±


    ¡°D-dad, please.¡± Sama pleaded and let a tear fall from her eyes. ¡°I don''t want you to die.¡±


    ¡°I''m so sorry.¡± I said and put my arms around her. ¡°It''s a horrible thing to ask of you, I know.¡±


    ¡°No, you don''t!¡± Sama pushed me away. ¡°You''re crazy! Why would you ask me to be there! I''m your daughter! I can''t... no, I wont! I won''t do it!¡±


    ¡°Would you rather I die for nothing?¡± I asked and she gasped. ¡°If you don''t come with me, I''ll just be throwing my life away for no reason.¡±


    ¡°But... no, you... just don''t go!¡± Sama exclaimed.


    ¡°I have to.¡± I said and waved at the hologram of the wormhole. ¡°There''s no other point for me to be here if I wasn''t willing to toss myself into the mouth of that thing.¡±


    ¡°Like the gaping maws around the portals!¡± Kara said. ¡°You think it''s going to take you somewhere else and you need someone with you that can anchor you.¡±


    ¡°Someone properly trained with Noma''s Presence Absorption ability.¡± Our son Niaga said. ¡°I get it.¡± He said and walked over to Sama. ¡°I''m going, too.¡±


    ¡°Niaga, you can''t.¡± Sama said. ¡°I''m not going.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are.¡± Niaga said. ¡°I''m dragging you along.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?¡± Sama and Noma yelled at the same time.


    ¡°Dad needs you there, so you''re going.¡± Niaga said. ¡°Did you notice, at all, that he didn''t ask any of us?¡± He waved at the others around the table. ¡°Not Markus with his awesome multi-sword fighting techniques, not me or my sister with our supreme Presence Manipulations skills. None of us are going to work. He needs you. Just you.¡±


    ¡°It''s not like that.¡± I said and they all looked back at me. ¡°We trained you all to be the best there is at what you can do, and that was to protect you from anything you could ever face. I''d take you all if I thought it was necessary. Sama''s just the only one with the skills and abilities I need access to while I''m fighting.¡±


    ¡°Dad, you don''t even know what you''ll be fighting!¡± Sama said. ¡°Plus, there''s no guarantee that once we go in there, we won''t be instantly killed!¡±


    ¡°If it was a black hole, then yes. That would be true. This is a wormhole, though. Not only will we survive, we can come back.¡± I said. ¡°There''s a reason it''s stable and we are going to use it.¡±


    ¡°Dad...¡±


    ¡°Please, Sama. Do this for me.¡± I pleaded, and she gave me sorrowful eyes, as did her mother. ¡°I need you there by my side.¡±


    ¡°Take one of the warships.¡± Markus said. ¡°At least you''ll have some firepower along.¡±


    ¡°I volunteer.¡± Opina said over the intercom. ¡°Let me show you that I can still be useful to the family.¡±


    ¡°Opina, that''s not necessary.¡± I said. ¡°You''ve been plenty useful so far, and I''m sure you will definitely be needed when...¡±


    ¡°I''m going with you, Grandpa.¡± Opina said. ¡°You can''t leave this ship on some brainless shuttle...¡±


    ¡°HEY!¡± Monna yelled.


    ¡°He would never take you in there, Monna.¡± Opina said. ¡°Right, Grandpa?¡±


    I sighed. ¡°No, I wouldn''t take her. Her skills aren''t right for this mission.¡± I looked around at everyone. ¡°I did only want to take a normal shuttle.¡±


    ¡°Then Opina has the job.¡± Markus said.


    Everyone else was quiet and no one spoke.


    ¡°So, that''s it then? You''re forcing me to go on a death mission?¡± Sama asked a few moments later.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Niaga said and the tension rose in the room. ¡°It''s what he''s been training us for.¡±


    Sama looked at her mother. ¡°Mom...¡±


    ¡°I''ve gone with your father on hundreds of missions and he has always relied on me.¡± Noma said. ¡°I can see why he would need you this time, though.¡±


    ¡°Because I have some of him in me.¡± Sama said.


    ¡°No, because you will survive when I wouldn''t.¡± Noma said. ¡°I can''t do the things he''s shown you. I have a normal body and I can easily be hurt.¡± She touched her daughter''s face. ¡°You have his constitution and you have a better chance of surviving whatever happens.¡±


    ¡°So, I either lose both of you or one of you.¡± Sama said.


    ¡°I know it''s unfair for you to choose which of us...¡± I started to say.


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± Sama said and left the compartment.


    ¡°I guess it wasn''t that hard of a choice for her.¡± Markus said with a chuckle.


    ¡°At least I don''t have to drag her kicking and screaming.¡± Niaga said and followed her, then the rest of the kids went with them.


    ¡°Hunter.¡± Kara said, barely above a whisper, now that the only people left in the compartment were the adults.


    ¡°Yes, this will be the last time you will see me.¡± I said and gave her a kiss.


    ¡°Keep our son safe.¡± Kara said.


    ¡°I promise.¡± I said and went to each mother of my children and gave them a final kiss goodbye, even Sandy and Beatrice. I left them in the compartment and ran after Sama. I caught up with her in the main shaft at Opina''s main hatch.


    ¡°I''m glad you''re coming along.¡± Sama said to Niaga as they sat down in the cockpit and strapped in.


    ¡°Yeah, I''m glad he offered, too.¡± I said and put the both of them to sleep, unstrapped Niaga, and carried him out through the hatch and handed him to Markus. ¡°Hold this for a minute.¡±


    ¡°Sure, Dad.¡± Markus said with a smile.


    ¡°Thank you all for being my children.¡± I said and went to each of them and gave them a hug, then I stepped back onto the ship and the hatch closed.


    ¡°He''s not coming back out, is he?¡± Markus asked.


    ¡°N-no.¡± Tish said, tears in her eyes. ¡°No, he''s not.¡±


    They stood there and watched the ship move over to the middle of the shaft, then it shot down the long shaft and exited the ship.


    *


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Sama groaned. ¡°What... what happened?¡± She opened her eyes and looked around. She saw Niaga was gone from beside her and her father was in the seat in front of her.


    ¡°I couldn''t let him throw his life away, even though he loves you more than life itself.¡± Hunter said and the ship did a barrel roll.


    Sama''s eyes widened at the gaping maw of the wormhole. ¡°DAD! How am I supposed to get back?¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry, sweetie.¡± Hunter said and reached for the hyperspace controls. ¡°I''ve got friends in high places.¡±


    ¡°DAD! NO!¡± Sama yelled. ¡°YOU''LL KILL US!¡±


    ¡°It''s the only way.¡± Hunter said and the ship jumped into hyperspace just as it entered the wormhole.


    *KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*


    The Ark, the colossal ship that had hundreds of thousands of people on it, shook as the wormhole they were all staring at collapsed in on itself and a wave of Presence rocked the ship. Screams and shouts of disbelief echoed throughout the ship as well, once they realized that the man that had done everything for them, had just annihilated himself.


    In the control room where the adults still stood, the pain and the loss hit them the hardest, especially Noma, because she had willingly let the man she loved take their only child to die.

 Book Three: The Resolution 169

    An unknown amount of time later, an irate woman''s voice woke me.


    ¡°YOU!¡± A black cloaked figure yelled and her words shook the white space she stood in.


    I sat up and looked around to see chunks of twisted metal and pieces of the ship spread all over the place. If I had to guess, I think I just rammed her with Opina at twice the speed of light. I thought with amusement. ¡°Hi, there. How are you?¡± I asked as I stood up. I was about a hundred feet away from the figure and I examined myself. I seemed fine, except for some healing bruises, and my personal shield pendant was a smoking ruin, so I tossed it aside. Well, at least that worked here.


    ¡°You dare enter my personal realm without my permission!¡± The figure exclaimed and swiped her hand at me. I activated a black barrier for an instant and absorbed the attack.


    ¡°I dare more than that.¡± I said and looked around a bit more. Sama, where are you? I asked on a dedicated mental channel.


    D-d-dad. Sama''s weak mental signal came back to me.


    I pinpointed her immediately and used Presence Run to go to her. She had apparently kept going when the ship crashed and had landed several hundred feet away. I found her still in her seat and she had two broken legs. Both her personal shield pendant and the backup were smoking ruins, so I tossed them aside and used Presence Heal on her. It healed her and also fed her ability, so I did it multiple times.


    ¡°No... Dad, you... need your Presence.¡± Sama said and took a deep breath, then another. She was fine.


    ¡°It''s all right. I have this all planned out.¡± I said and broke the straps holding her in the chair and helped her stand.


    ¡°Planned it, have you?¡± The woman''s voice cut through the air like a razor. ¡°You enter my personal space and think that you can challenge me?¡±


    ¡°I already challenged you by slamming Opina right into your smug face.¡± I said and led Sama over to the black cloaked figure. ¡°Sama, meet the source of the brown dwarf stars.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Sama yelled.


    ¡°So, you figured it out.¡± The cloaked figure said.


    ¡°It was actually pretty easy.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then please, enlighten me while I gather my strength to crush you.¡±


    ¡°Ha. You would have done it by now if you were going to do that.¡± I said. ¡°I say it was easy, because I''ve been removing The Order from the universe and you didn''t react at all. Millions and millions of followers snuffed out, and not even a peep from you. What a shame for a goddess to abandon her followers and not tell them that they weren''t needed anymore.¡±


    Chaiya pulled the hood down and almost growled at me.


    ¡°Wow, the power of stars really makes you look ugly.¡± I commented and she tried to push us away with her energy. I made an angled shield of Presence and it divided the energy and pushed it around us. ¡°I assume you picked up the technique from that rogue goddess all those years ago.¡±


    Chaiya glared at me, then her attention was caught by something. ¡°Ah, I see. Excuse me for a moment.¡± She said and started to fade away.


    I tossed a minuscule black barrier device at her and she screamed as it tore through her arm and shoulder and then it disappeared. ¡°I don''t think so.¡± I said and threw another.


    Chaiya tried to deflect it with energy and the black barrier absorbed it and exploded before it could reach her. ¡°Ah, I see. Your little trick can''t handle my power any more than you can.¡± She said and the weight of a hundred planets fell on us.


    ¡°That''s an old trick.¡± I said and used Levitation to counter the weight, then watched as her arm faded back into existence. I threw two more small black barriers at her and they exploded before they reached her.


    ¡°That won''t work on me any-HURK!¡± Chaiya stopped talking when I shoved a Light sword in her throat.


    ¡°They are just distractions.¡± I said and shoved another through her heart, or where her heart would be if she had one. That was the funny thing about divine beings, there was no way to tell if the body you were fighting was actually them or just a manifestation of their power. I tore the one from her neck to the side to half-sever her head from her body, then swung back to finish the job.


    Chaiya almost smiled as she grabbed the sword and pulled it from my hand, then she crushed the hilt. A black barrier expanded that consumed her hand and her forearm. She looked at it in shock and then at me.


    ¡°Surprise.¡± I said and jumped away as I activated the one in the hilt of the other Light sword.


    Chaiya screamed as part of her chest and her arm disappeared. She dropped down to her knees and couldn''t believe she could be hurt like that with such simple toys that were made by mortals. It wasn''t possible. She was a goddess and she was above such concerns! No one could hurt her! She had eaten the Presence cores of stars! Power poured into her and her missing body parts faded back into existence.


    ¡°You insolent fool.¡± Chaiya said and stood up. ¡°You will no longer get anywhere near me with your toys.¡± A barrier appeared around her. ¡°They will explode before they pass through.¡± She chuckled and waved her hand, then something like a display appeared beside her and showed the Ark. ¡°Now watch as I crush that pathetic little ship you call home and kill everyone in your family!¡±


    ¡°NOOOOOOO!¡± Sama yelled and activated her mother''s ability.


    Unlike her mother, it wasn''t necessary for her to consume energy with her mouth. All she had to do was touch something and want to consume it. Her hands touched the impenetrable energy barrier and part of it dissolved as her body sucked it in. I quickly tossed in several black barrier devices hooked in a series and Chaiya tried to blow them up. She wasn''t quite successful.


    ¡°AHHHH!¡± Chaiya yelled as the more power she added increased the size and strength of the black barriers. The last one finally exploded and left her physical body in a heap on the floor. All she had was her upper chest, stubs for shoulders, and her head left intact. Blood pooled on the floor.


    ¡°Oh, god.¡± Sama covered her mouth and turned away from the ghastly sight.


    ¡°Never turn your back on the enemy!¡± I said loudly and jumped in front of her as Chaiya let loose a bright beam of light from her eyes. It was a divine light with the power of hundreds of suns... and no one, not even me... could stand against such overwhelming power. My Presence Barrier, my replaced personal shield, my hands and then my arms were burned away under the onslaught, despite my self-healing and regeneration, then I felt small hands grip my waist and I was flung aside. I landed on the floor with a soft weight on top of me.


    ¡°D-d-dad! I''m sorry!¡± Sama exclaimed as she looked down at me. The black bodysuit had protected my chest and kept me alive; but, that was all. My face was a charred ruin with exposed bone everywhere and I was completely blind, because my eyes had melted. All my regrown hair was gone, as were my ears.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    S-Sama. I thought to her and offered up my Presence center. Take... take it.


    Dad! No! Sama said loudly into my mind as her tears poured down onto my burned flesh.


    H-hurry... before she... reincorporates. I thought. I love you, sweetie.


    ¡°Dad!¡± Sama cried.


    Do you know how many times we tried... to have a child? I asked her.


    No! Now''s not the time to talk about things like that! Sama thought frantically.


    Come closer. I thought to her, then used Presence to pull her head down and touched my exposed skull to her forehead. I love you and I''m sorry I have to do this to you.


    *


    ¡°DAD! NOOOO!¡± Sama yelled as her ability activated against her will. NOOOO! She yelled into her father''s mind as he gave her everything that he was. His mind, his Presence, and even his wife Hailey''s ability. He also gave her the knowledge of what to do with those abilities and all of the love he had felt for her and all of his children, grandchildren, and family.


    Time seemed to stop as a black cloud formed in front of Sama and she felt chills go down her spine. She remembered this feeling and seeing it before, because she now had assess to all of her father''s memories. They weren''t integrated with hers; but, she could access them like they were in a database in a computer. She slowly stood up and looked into the cloud as it unfolded and Black Laura stepped out.


    ¡°Oh, my poor beloved.¡± Black Laura said and reached down and touched his shoulder. His body reformed with the black bodysuit and she picked him up to hug him. ¡°You don''t have to regret having to leave.¡±


    Hunter gave her a smile. ¡°I''m not going to see what happens next, though.¡±


    Black Laura chuckled. ¡°Do you really want to see it happen that badly?¡±


    Hunter''s body started to fade and became like smoke as he turned towards Sama. ¡°Make her pay for taking away everything we held dear.¡± He said and held a smoky hand out to her.


    Sama remembered the anguish her father still held within his heart over losing everything because of Chaiya, and she nodded as her fingers brushed the smoky hand.


    ¡°Thank you, Sama.¡± Hunter''s ghost said and faded away.


    ¡°D-d-dad!¡± Sama cried out and wiped at her tears.


    ¡°You know what to do now.¡± Black Laura said to her. ¡°Mourn your father as he deserves by killing the being that killed him.¡±


    Sama''s tears dissolved and she felt a resolve build inside of her that she hadn''t felt before. She put a hand over her heart as a tiny little ''H'' appeared there. She looked into the pitch blackness of Black Laura''s eyes and she nodded.


    ¡°Good.¡± Black Laura said and reached out and touched her forehead. ¡°I bless you in my name.¡±


    Sama gasped as her eyes turned the same pitch black. ¡°Th-th-thank you!¡±


    Black Laura smiled. ¡°Don''t waste the protection it will give you.¡± She said and slid back into the black cloud and it folded away. Time started again and Sama heard a woman''s laugh.


    ¡°Ha ha! I killed him!¡± Chaiya said happily as her body started to fade back into existence. ¡°He has been a plague on the universe and I finally got rid of him!¡±


    ¡°Yes, you did.¡± Sama said and walked over to her.


    ¡°Oh? You''re still here?¡± Chaiya asked and sat up. ¡°No matter. I''ll deal with you right after I...¡±


    ¡°Die.¡± Sama said and jumped on top of her and held her down.


    ¡°You dare touch me?!? I am a GODDESS!¡± Chaiya yelled and tried to use her abilities... and couldn''t. ¡°What... wait, what''s going on?¡±


    ¡°Having trouble accessing your powers, oh great goddess?¡± Sama asked and used a combination of Hailey''s ability and Hunter''s Presence Blade to sever her limbs from her torso.


    ¡°AHHHHHH!¡± Chaiya yelled at the pain.


    ¡°Ooo, tasty morsels from a goddess!¡± Sama said and touched one of the severed arms and absorbed the energy that it was constructed from. ¡°Mmm! Delicious!¡±


    ¡°N-no. NO!¡± Chaiya yelled and tried to struggle as the white area around then started to turn grey.


    ¡°Don''t worry, it''s all going to be over soon.¡± Sama said and touched her other severed arm and consumed it.


    ¡°STOP! I''ll give you anything! Anything!¡±


    ¡°I want my father back.¡± Sama said. ¡°Can you give me that? Can you give me the only parent who fed my monstrous ability since I was a baby and never once claimed he was too tired, or didn''t want to, or even tried to pawn me off to let someone else do it for a while?¡± She asked. ¡°Can you give me my loving father back? CAN YOU?!?¡±


    Chaiya didn''t say anything in response and Sama touched her severed legs and absorbed them.


    ¡°Oh... oh, god... the power...¡± Sama closed her eyes and shook her head. ¡°Dad was right. You are an idiot for trying to gain more of it for no reason.¡±


    Chaiya frowned at her and gathered her power again, then let loose with that devastating eye beam again. It lit up the now grey space for several moments, just like the last time, then the beam cut off. To her surprise, Sama was licking her lips.


    ¡°Dad''s formulas for matter to energy conversion work really well, even on stellar ejections.¡± Sama said. ¡°Do it again. I''m still hungry.¡±


    ¡°HELP!¡± Chaiya yelled. ¡°Please, God! Help me!¡±


    Maleketh slowly appeared in the now quite grey space beside them and looked down at Chaiya. ¡°What do you want now?¡±


    ¡°This... thing... is going to eat me!¡± Chaiya said. ¡°Get her off of me! I''ll give you anything! Anything!¡±


    ¡°Will you give me my devoted follower back after killing him?¡± Maleketh asked.


    Chaiya''s mouth dropped open in surprise, because she had completely forgotten that Hunter was his.


    Maleketh reached down and touched Sama''s shoulder. ¡°Hurry up and finish your meal. Your father asked me to take you back.¡±


    Sama let a single tear out of her eye, dissolved it, and nodded.


    ¡°NOOOOOO!¡± Chaiya yelled as Sama put her hands on her face and used her ability.


    *


    Everyone on the colossal ship felt despair for several minutes, then suddenly there was another flash of light where the wormhole was.


    ¡°The collapsed anomaly has spit something out.¡± Zoe said, her voice full of surprise.


    ¡°Get a ship out there, now!¡± Sheph ordered and a Search and Rescue team was immediately dispatched. They flew over to the spot and retrieved whatever it was.


    ¡°You''re not going to believe this.¡± Tessa''s daughter Contessa said over the communications console. ¡°It''s a woman in a space suit and she''s holding a computer core!¡±


    ¡°Hurry up and bring her back!¡± Noma exclaimed. ¡°Main shaft by the medical bay entrance!¡±


    All of the adults hopped on the closest transport pad and it zoomed them down to the main shaft where all the ships were docked. They met up with their children who were standing there, all pretty much stunned at the recent events and the appearance of their parents, then the SAR ship flew down the shaft and landed right beside them.


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Markus asked with Niaga still in his arms.


    The ship opened the side hatch and the ramp deployed. The SAR crew carried a stretcher out with an unconscious Sama on it wearing a space suit and holding a computer core in her arms in a death grip.


    ¡°She didn''t have that suit on when she left.¡± Kellan said as they ran by.


    Noma ignored everyone else and followed the SAR team into the lift to go up to the medical bay.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Niaga opened his eyes and looked up at Markus. ¡°What the hell?¡±


    ¡°Hey, you''re awake just in time.¡± Markus said and stood him up. ¡°They just rushed Sama to the med-bay.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!?¡± Niaga yelled and jumped out of his arms and ran for the lift.


    ¡°Wait! We''re all going!¡± Sheph said and they all rode the lift up to the floor with the medical bay. When the blast doors opened, they were relieved to see Sama was sitting up and hugging her mother.


    ¡°I''m fine, Mom. Really.¡± Sama said and let her mother go. ¡°In fact, I... just... wait, hold on.¡± She hugged her mother again and touched her forehead to hers. ¡°Mom, do you want me to take it?¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?¡± Noma looked at her with surprise on her face.


    ¡°Do you want to be normal?¡± Sama asked and leaned back.


    ¡°I... well, I...¡±


    ¡°I''ll take that as a yes.¡± Sama said and gripped her mother''s head with one hand and stuck two of her fingers down her mother''s throat.


    ¡°SAMA!¡± Nearly everyone yelled, then they felt the Presence in the room shift as Sama''s eyes turned black for three seconds. Noma choked on her daughter''s fingers for just as long, then she fell unconscious and Sama caught her before she fell.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± Hen asked as she took Noma and laid her down on the next bed and checked her over. She had been right beside them and couldn''t understand what she had just seen and felt.


    ¡°I took her ability.¡± Sama said and touched her own face beside her eyes. ¡°I was barely in time, too. Black Laura''s blessing just ended.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Several people asked, confused.


    ¡°She told me not to waste it and I wasn''t sure what she meant. Now I do.¡± Sama said with a smile. ¡°She wanted me to save my mom.¡±


    Everyone exchanged concerned looks.


    ¡°Sama, what happened?¡± Simone asked and came over to her.


    ¡°I... don''t really... remember.¡± Sama said. ¡°I mean, I remember... but...¡±


    ¡°They don''t want us to know.¡± Sheph said.


    ¡°I think so.¡± Sama said.


    ¡°Where''s Hunter?¡± Lashina asked.


    ¡°He...¡± Sama let tears come to her eyes. ¡°He''s gone.¡± She said, then a thought popped into her head that hadn''t been there before. ¡°He''s with Hailey.¡±


    Everyone there had sad faces, because they all knew what that meant.


    ¡°No! I''m not sad!¡± Sama said and wiped at her tears. ¡°These are happy tears. He''s happy.¡±


    Hen touched her shoulder. ¡°It''s okay. He would have wanted us to mourn...¡±


    ¡°He''s exactly where he wants to be.¡± Sama said and pulled her top down just enough to show them the spot above her heart. ¡°You see? He has his heart back.¡±


    Hailey''s mother Monica gasped and walked over to touch the small ''H'' on Sama''s skin. ¡°He found her.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandma.¡± Sama said with a smile and took her hand. ¡°Yes, he did.¡±


    The end?

 Book Three: The Resolution 170 Epilogue

    The colossal ship called the Ark popped out of hyperspace in the system that contained the planet called Relique. To everyone''s surprise, it was a huge system with fifteen planets and well over a hundred moons. It only had a very young star, which meant it was going to be around for billions of years to come. With the specific coordinates, adjusted for the time they had travelled, they knew that it was the eighth planet that they were looking for.


    Thanks to the extensive map that Hunter had provided, and Sama''s access to her father''s memories, they knew where on the planet they needed to visit. They kept the ship well out of orbit, so that the people on the planet wouldn''t see the ship. Hunter''s children climbed aboard Monna with Sama at the controls and they flew down towards the planet''s surface under stealth.


    Sama knew the best place to land, which was the clearing that her father had used as the ritual site to teleport back to where he had been kidnapped from, and she brought the large cargo shuttle down into the space. A dozen people stood there waiting for them and Sama dropped the stealth from the shuttle. Niaga walked over to the hatch and quickly opened it, then stepped aside to let Sama leave first.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Sama said to him with a smile and stepped onto the ramp. She walked down to the waiting people and her half-brothers and sisters followed closely behind her. She walked right up to the man that looked so much like her father that it hurt her heart a little. She noticed the much longer ears, the different hairstyle, and the odd clothing; but, she pushed all that aside as she took the man into her arms and hugged him. The man looked startled to have a woman hug him like that without even knowing her name.


    ¡°It''s all right, Malik.¡± Sama said with a chuckle and let him go. ¡°My name is Sama and I''m Hunter''s daughter.¡±


    Malik looked surprised for another few seconds, then he glared at the gorgeous woman two feet away from him. ¡°Apparently, I was misinformed about the importance of this visit.¡±


    Allirynn''s mother let out a womanly laugh. ¡°You can''t blame me for wanting to surprise you.¡±


    Allirynn shook his head. ¡°Mother.¡±


    ¡°Even Allirynn would be upset if you tricked him like this!¡± Imiryl said with a laugh.


    Allirynn''s mother''s eyes twinkled with delight and she stepped forward and held a hand out for Sama to shake. ¡°It''s very nice to meet you. My name is...¡±


    Sama held a hand up to stop her. ¡°Hunter always believed that there was an inherent power in a name.¡± She took the offered hand and gasped as some of the previous goddess'' energy transferred to her. ¡°It''s... better if you... keep your name hidden.¡±


    Allirynn''s mother laughed at her reaction. ¡°I think I like you just as much as Laura and God does.¡±


    Sama sucked in a sharp breath and Allirynn''s mother laughed again.


    Malik gave the two women an odd look for a moment, then he smiled and looked at the people behind Sama. ¡°As the leader of the people here, I welcome you all... brothers and sisters... to the family.¡±


    ¡°I thought there would be more than this.¡± Tish said as she took in the small welcoming party. ¡°It''s been how many centuries since dad left here?¡±


    ¡°It''s only been about six hundred years.¡± Allirynn''s mother said. ¡°I doubt that much time passed for him, not with the way the summoning ritual works.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡± Sama asked.


    ¡°Well, the...¡± Allirynn''s mother closed her eyes for several moments and then opened them. ¡°...I suppose you could call it a pocket dimension... is where the divine entities live. It can conform to whatever you want it to be if you''re powerful enough.¡±


    ¡°But... time...¡±


    ¡°...can be easily manipulated and accessed from there, since it can be observed from outside.¡± Allirynn''s mother said and looked at Tish. ¡°I believe you can explain it better.¡±


    ¡°Me? But...¡± Tish stopped talking and then nodded. ¡°If you look at time like a linear progression, then observing it from the outside puts it in a different perspective than those experiencing that time.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Markus gave her a confused look.


    ¡°Think of it this way.¡± Tish said. ¡°We''ve seen hundreds of ships launch and enter hyperspace, haven''t we?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Markus said.


    ¡°Well, for us they seem to accelerate to fantastic speeds and then disappear from sight, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Markus responded, not knowing where she was going with it.


    ¡°Well, for the people on the ship, nothing really happens except a pretty light show.¡± Tish said. ¡°They travel through hyperspace and then exit out in a new place without having to travel through all that normal space in between.¡±


    ¡°So... what you''re saying is... hyperspace is another dimension?¡± Markus asked.


    ¡°You got it!¡± Tish said and hugged her multi-armed half-brother. ¡°We slip out of normal space into hyperspace, travel, then slip back out.¡± She said. ¡°Now, imagine always being in hyperspace and you could see the entire universe from inside.¡±


    ¡°Good god.¡± Niaga said. ¡°You could... you could...¡±


    ¡°If you had the ability, you could pluck people from one place and plop them into another whenever you wanted. With no time constraints and no travel times...¡±


    ¡°But... wouldn''t there be a danger of... meeting yourself?¡± Markus asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Sama said with a smile. ¡°I think that''s why the summoning ritual is written the way it is.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Allirynn''s mother said. ¡°You can only go to a point where you don''t exist or where you previously existed.¡±


    ¡°Which was why Dad said he wouldn''t come back here once he left.¡± Malik said and looked at Sama. ¡°He knew we had to make it on our own.¡±


    Everyone stared at each other for several minutes, then Malik clapped his hands once.


    ¡°Come! You must be tired after your long journey.¡± Malik said. ¡°We have a feast prepared and we can introduce you to the rest of the family.¡±


    ¡°How many of them are there?¡± Niaga asked, because he was sure his mother would want to know.


    ¡°Only a city full.¡± Malik said with a smile and his new brothers and sisters stared at him, even Sama. He put an arm around the woman beside him that looked a lot like Allirynn''s mother. ¡°It''s been a long six hundred years.¡±


    After the initial introductions with everyone there, they were brought to the nearby city. They had a nice meal and met more extended family than they ever thought was possible, then they called the ship and they had a long discussion about letting people visit. Of course, nearly everyone on board was excited about meeting a society that could perform magic and guided tours were quickly arranged for everyone to get a taste of the simple life.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    To no one''s surprise, Allirynn''s mother completely forbade any technology on her planet. Personal items were fine; but, no transport vehicles, shuttles, portable living spaces, or anything else was allowed to be used in sight of the locals. The charm of the place quickly faded for most of the people on the ship with that restriction, so after only a six month stay, it was time for them to leave.


    ¡°Are you sure that my great-grandson isn''t to your liking?¡± Allirynn''s mother asked Sama again as she watched the loading of thousands of wooden spell engravings and bags of holding as they were loaded onto Monna.


    ¡°He''s handsome, I''ll give him that.¡± Sama said with a grin and Allirynn''s mother laughed.


    ¡°Yes, two very different cultures that clash more than they can integrate.¡± Allirynn''s mother said. ¡°I''m surprised so many of the elves and their families want to go with you, though.¡±


    ¡°That''s also why you forbade the use of technology in front of people.¡± Sama said and she nodded.


    ¡°The allure of such wonders would corrupt them all.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention start and end wars with a simple laser pistol.¡± Sama said with a chuckle. ¡°I can only imagine how easy it would have been for Dad if he had his father''s laser pistol back then.¡±


    ¡°He would have become infamous instead of famous, I think.¡±


    Sama nodded and turned to look at the latest passenger to request to come with them. Princess Silvana had her guard squad with her and they were loading various foodstuffs into the next shuttle, despite being told that it wasn''t necessary. The seeds, plants, and animals would be a welcome addition to the hydroponic bays, however.


    ¡°I''m really sorry that Hunter isn''t here to see this.¡± Allirynn''s mother said.


    ¡°He is, too.¡± Sama said and turned to the former goddess and gave her a hug. ¡°Thank you for your hospitality.¡±


    ¡°It''s... nothing, child. Nothing at all.¡± Allirynn''s mother said and hugged her back. ¡°I''ll allow you to leave a satellite in orbit if you want to give communication devices to select individuals.¡±


    Sama chuckled. ¡°Like you and your son, just so you can stay in contact with the ones coming with us?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± Allirynn''s mother said with a smirk.


    ¡°I''ll give one to the Queen of the Elves, too.¡± Sama said as she handed over a small crate of wrist communicators. ¡°She is going to want to keep tabs on her new ambassador on the Ark.¡±


    ¡°Hurry up!¡± Silvana exclaimed. ¡°We''re leaving for good in an hour! I want this contraption filled up completely before then!¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness.¡± The female elf guards responded in a monotone voice.


    ¡°Did you see that muscular four armed man?¡± One of them whispered loudly as they loaded another crate of supplies. ¡°His name is Markus and he''s very, very strong!¡±


    ¡°He also uses four sacred weapons! Four of them!¡± Another one said. ¡°He''s amazing!¡±


    ¡°I think Niaga is the handsomest.¡± The female that Hunter had once knocked out with a Lightning bolt said a few moments later. ¡°His long pink hair makes him stand out so much from the others!¡±


    ¡°Is handsomest even a word?¡± One of the others asked and they all laughed under their breath and continued to work.


    ***


    An alarm sounded in the local space monitoring system and woke up the snoring man in his chair. He kicked his foot out to hit the cut-off switch and dented the panel, then he sighed and went back to sleep.


    *


    ¡°Sir, this isn''t possible.¡± A Russian man said in his native language. ¡°SETI or one of the other American monitoring systems should have picked this up long before us.¡±


    ¡°Then why aren''t they raising the alarm?¡± The Russian president asked. ¡°How big did you say the thing is?¡±


    ¡°The estimate is that the rough egg shape is a hundred miles long.¡±


    ¡°Good lord.¡± The Russian president whispered. ¡°They must be an advanced race to construct something that massive and have it move through space.¡±


    ¡°More advanced and super wealthy.¡± The man said in response. ¡°I can''t even imagine us generating enough money to get the materials for such a thing, let alone equip it for space travel and then take it anywhere.¡±


    The Russian president looked at the red phone on his desk and thought about calling his counterpart in America. ¡°What do you suggest we do?¡±


    ¡°At the moment, there''s nothing we can do.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The Russian president asked.


    ¡°Our most powerful telescopes show that the ship has parked in Jupiter''s orbit for some reason.¡±


    ¡°We can''t tell what''s going on?¡±


    ¡°No, sir.¡± The man said. ¡°All we can realistically do is prepare for the worst if they decide to come here to Earth.¡±


    The Russian president gave his adviser a skeptical look, then sighed. ¡°Very well. Prepare for orbital bombardment and ready the ICBMs for interception of anything that might come towards our country.¡±


    ¡°Sir, I suggest also approving the... nuclear option.¡±


    ¡°Do we have anything that can even reach deep space?¡± The Russian president asked and the man didn''t respond. ¡°I didn''t think so.¡± He said and reached for the telephone. ¡°Until such time that they try to invade, I believe the nuclear option is off the table.¡±


    *


    ¡°You can''t be serious.¡± The American president said to the Russian voice on the phone. ¡°What do you mean our detection systems seem to be lacking?!?¡± He asked, loudly. ¡°I''ll have you know that our systems are state of the art and...¡±


    ¡°Mr. President!¡± An out of breath aide barged into the oval office and ran over to the desk. ¡°Sir! There''s... an unknown flying object... sitting in Jupiter''s orbit!¡±


    ¡°I have to call you back.¡± The American president said and hung up the phone. ¡°Explain.¡±


    ¡°Sir.¡± The aide managed to say. ¡°It was picked up... and ignored... by some idiot in Alaska... ten hours ago.¡± He said between gasps of breath. ¡°Something that significant... is always shunted to... the head office of SETI in New Mexico.¡±


    ¡°Then why am I only hearing about it now?¡± The American president asked, perturbed.


    ¡°No staff.¡± The aide said and finally caught his breath, then handed the report to the president. ¡°It wasn''t until their secretary came to work two hours ago that she received the notice and sent out the alarm of an extra-solar object entering the solar system.¡±


    ¡°That''s very embarrassing for me.¡± The American president said with a scowl as he skimmed over the report. ¡°The Russian president just called me to tell me all about it.¡±


    ¡°Sir. I don''t know what to say.¡±


    ¡°Apologizing won''t make any difference, since it wasn''t your fault.¡± The American president said with a sigh. ¡°Get the joint chiefs in here and the rest of my staff. We need to come up with a plan to deal with this thing.¡±


    ¡°Right away, sir.¡± The aide said and left the office.


    The American president looked at the red phone on his desk, sighed as he picked it up, then dialed the only number that the phone was connected to.


    *


    The whole world was in an uproar as the news spread about some kind of space ship nearing the Earth. People prayed, people cried, people prepared for the worst. Riots broke out randomly over simple things like food and water bottles, even though the news broadcasts kept calling for calm and cool heads during this crisis.


    Of course, everyone assumed it was a crisis, because for two days, a very large oval object could be seen from the planetary surface. It had grown in size and now the one hundred mile long object just sat there in orbit. The news said that all attempts to communicate with the object had either failed or been ignored, and appropriate responses had been prepared by certain countries all around the world.


    On the evening of the third day, the emergency broadcast system engaged and every television, cell phone, laptop, and computer on the entire planet turned on and displayed the same signal. Everyone was shocked when a humanoid alien with black feathers for hair appeared on their screens with an elf... a mythical elf with the blonde hair and large pointed ears and everything... stood beside him.


    ¡°People of Earth.¡± The feathered humanoid said. ¡°You people are messy.¡± It said and scowled at everyone, with the sound of chuckles and a few laughs that came from their screens. ¡°Your orbital space was full of very dangerous debris that was interfering with our attempts to contact you. It has taken us three full days and around the clock operations to clear out the interference. Now we can speak without interruption and...¡±


    ¡°All right, that''s enough to get their attention, Aaron.¡± A four armed man said and shoved the feathered alien out of the way.


    ¡°Markus! I thought we agreed that I would speak for us!¡± Aaron squawked and tweeted at him, which made a few of them laugh more.


    ¡°You just did.¡± Markus said with a smile and looked out at everyone and waved all four of his hands. ¡°Hi, everyone!¡±


    Sylvana stood there and smiled as she kept silent at the exchange.


    ¡°Oh, geez.¡± Tish said with a sigh and waved him out of the way. ¡°You can let Sheph handle it now.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Tish.¡± Sheph said and nearly everyone on the planet gasped as a human woman that looked to be about sixty years old, stepped into the camera''s view. ¡°Greetings, everyone. It''s nice to finally see you all.¡± She said and smiled warmly. ¡°I hope you don''t mind that we invited ourselves to supper.¡±


    *


    ¡°...invited ourselves to supper.¡± The unknown woman on the television said.


    Jessica completely ignored her, though. She only had eyes for the elf woman beside her. ¡°Princess Sylvana.¡± She whispered and quickly walked to her room and grabbed her things. If she''s here, then... She stopped the thought before it fully formed and went back out to the front door.


    ¡°Jessica!¡± Her mother exclaimed from the living room. ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°To get their attention.¡± Jessica smiled and ran out into the night with her magic staff raised high.