Defender of the Empire 2: Facades (2 page)

Chapter 2 – Consequences

Spectral Empire

Prima Imperium

Rylynn

Roughly two months ago, I had just been trying to survive moment to moment on a raid-torn world. The advanced tech of the Primary Citizens had meant as much to me as magic. It would have been nice to have, but was so far outside of my experience as to be in a different universe. Citizen tech was far more alien then having the Telmicks smash the only home I had ever known. Then, suddenly, I had been thrown into that other universe.

I smiled as I opened my next panel and spied the fried circuit lattice and its shattered crystals. Using the skills that Lieutenant-Commander Eric D’trace had taught me, I went to work.

No, he is not the same D’trace as the one who had played a bandit during the second trial of the Admiral’s Challenge. This D’trace is the elder brother, but to me, they look like twins. This lieutenant-commander is in charge of the
Hail Mary’s
engines.

For several weeks now, I have been lending a hand in repairing the damage the ship had suffered when she and her crew had come to rescue me and my friends. I felt it was the least I could do. Though that was the driving force behind my need to help, I have to admit that it also had three added benefits. The first was that I got to learn the ship’s systems inside and out. The second was that the crew got to know me. The third was that the sooner the
Hail Mary
was fully functional, the sooner I could assume my new commission and get away from the Academy—particularly from my roommate and others who couldn’t stand my presence. The feeling was rather mutual, since I couldn’t stand theirs, either.

As I settled down to repair the circuit, I studied the damage that had been done. One of the faden crystals connecting the ruined circuit to the main power grid had broken when the power within it had nowhere to go, since its old path had become little more than dust. Red crystals did not do well when forced to channel violet levels of power. I carefully unsecured the circuit lattice and disposed of it and its shattered crystals. Sand trickled from many of the slots as I moved it. Thankfully I had remembered to have a protective sheet under my work. It would not be a good thing to have a stray crystal dust fragment interfering with the other circuits. The crystals were hardy and carried more power than copper wire, but that didn’t mean they weren’t picky.

Bundling the ruined circuit away, I went about installing its replacement. That lattice was easy enough to slip into place and secure. From a small box, I carefully selected the proper crystals. They were rather small, about the size of my thumb nail, and cut into cubes. The box held a mix of quartz and merolite crystals. I placed a couple of red crystals into slots that connected to clear crystals. The clear stones were fine since they could handle any power level, but the systems connected to this circuit couldn’t handle any power over red, thus the red opaque. Continuing to repair the circuit, I placed an orange opaque citron next to the red stones, then a yellow opaque citron next to that. I then fished out two smoky quartz. They were mostly colorless, except for the swirls of black that gave them their name. The black within them would drop the violet level energy down by two levels each, till the yellow citron could handle it. I then replaced the shattered faden crystal—a clear stone with white threads running through its core—with a new one. Reconnected with the main power line, the stones emitted a soft glow, like a light flower had bloomed in their hearts.

“How’s it going?” D’trace asked as he came over. The metal flooring clanked under his LF boots. Big clunky things, but at least they could handle just about any terrain.

“I finished this panel,” I said. He checked it over. His practiced eye didn’t need much time. He nodded. “Very good,” he said, then grinned at me. “Even better news is that it looks like we’ll be getting underway by the end of the week, if not tomorrow.”

I blinked at him. “Really?”

D’trace chuckled and nodded. “I would not lie about something like this. I hate being planet bound. Everything is always the same outside the window.”

Thrilled with the news that we would be off to new places by the end of the week, I set about replacing the panel cover. I then asked where I was needed next—what other fried circuit needed to be replaced.

D’trace laughed at my enthusiasm. “Captain will get mad if I overwork you,” he replied.

“Please Sir, let me stay. I can get a few more circuits fixed before dinner,” I pleaded reasonably.

D’trace shook his head. “You learn quickly, Rylynn, and you show an aptitude for power crystals. I also appreciate your enthusiasm. The problem is, no matter how enthusiastic you are, you still need sleep. The circuits are intricate and require your full attention.” He patted my shoulder gently. “I know you will do your best, but when you are tired you are not at your best. Go eat and relax and come back refreshed. It will not do to finish repairs quickly only to realize that we need to backtrack and find out where things were rushed.”

With that gentle reminder of the facts, I was dismissed. On my way back to the Academy I was joined by my friends. Our respective supervisors appeared to have the same internal clock, and a similar sense of practicality.

Jason had been the first to notice that I had stopped going to classes at the Academy, since I had been in all of his afternoon ones. I had told him that since we had been transferred to the
Hail Mary,
I figured that I should do what I could to help the ship that had helped us. Besides, the professors had agreed that I could go and help with repairs. I think it was to get me away from the other students who were somewhat miffed that I now outranked them and had a commission on a starship. I guess they figured that if I was out of the way, the others would focus on absorbing the material put before them.

Jason, Marius, and Westley had agreed that I had a good idea, and also received permission to aid in repairing the
Hail Mary
. Though we always arrived together, we very rarely saw each other as we helped where ever we were needed. Considering the damage that had been done to the ship, we were pretty much everywhere. Though, maybe now that the ship was so close to being repaired, we would be seeing more of each other.

Some may wonder why we returned to the Academy for the night instead of sleeping on the ship. The answer was, simply because we had no time to move in. All of our energy had been spent on getting the ship spaceworthy again. Until that happened, we were stuck between being Academy trainees and crewmembers. It was weird and I didn’t like it.

I find that I prefer the quick changes, the ones that sweep you up and dump you somewhere new. They might be disorienting, but they don’t have a long transition time. I felt like I’d gotten stuck climbing over a wall, with one foot on either side. I had the feeling that I might fall, but wasn’t sure which way I’d tumble. If I had just vaulted I’d know
exactly
which way I was going to fall and I wouldn’t have had time to think about how much it was going to hurt. As Aunt Sylvie had always said, ‘ripping a bandage off is easier and less torturous than taking it off slow’.

I guess those in charge either didn’t know that, or wanted to watch us sweat. Ace would have muttered something about admiring the power such people had… before figuring out how best to dispose of them so the power could be his. Then he would go about refining their techniques—he was a scary son-of-a-gun.

“So, how was everybody’s day?” Marius asked casually as we trekked back to the Academy. When I stopped to think about it, it always amazed me how well Marius pulled off being a fifteen cycle old Academy trainee. According to the Shade Commander, Marius was one of the masters at the skill. He was able to make himself believe that he was who he said he was and keep the facts straight. The commander had said that it was a skill that I could develop, since I already had the raw talent for it. And I had to agree, though privately. I had proven to myself that I was adept at acting terrified out of my mind, and letting others believe what they want about me… and yes, some of that was through lying by omission.

Most of the time I can’t imagine Marius as anything other than what he appears to be, even if he is my teacher in all aspects of Spectrals and their Shades. That is his new mission—to train me. Since Knight has been publicly dismissed from service, and disappeared before he could be arrested, Marius has been pulled from the hunt.

I’m not sure how he feels about that, but I plan to make it up to him by learning all I can, as fast as I can. Then, I’m going to hunt the disgraced admiral myself—not only for my own peace of mind, but because he has my Spectral imprisoned in a foul weapon that most consider to be a myth.

“Good,” Jason said, answering Marius’ question. “I’ve been working on the transporter controls.”

Westley groaned. “Crap, remind me not to let them transport me anytime soon.” We all laughed at Jason’s indignant gasp.

“Fine,” Jason said, straightening his posture in a way that reminded us all that he really was an imperial prince name Gaelen. “I’ll make sure they test its operation on
you
first instead of the fruit.”

Westley sputtered, and I laughed. “Yeah, I can see it now,” I said softly. “Crewmen Jason Winter giving orders…” I let it trail off.

Marius sniggered and Westley grinned. None of us could think of Jason as his Imperial Highness Gaelen Imperen. We might not have known his real name, but we knew
him.
We knew the person without the pomp and circumstance. If that bothered him, he should have thought about it
before
he changed his name and left the guards behind. But I don’t think it did—he wanted to make a life for himself with the Legion Fleet and be just like everyone else.

Unfortunately, Admiral Knight had known of his plans and saw an opportunity. We almost lost Jason, first to the Zar’daka, then back to his family when the emperor revealed who he was before us and the Admiralty Board. As a group, we had stood up to the emperor (I still don’t know how we remained alive) and Jason was allowed to remain. His true identity was kept a secret by us.

We knew who he was, but he couldn’t pull rank on us since that was a secret. Which was what I had just reminded him of. I’m nice that way.

“Whose side are you on?” Jason asked, his sullen look almost hiding the self-mocking amusement he had for the situation.

My brows rose. “Mine, of course.” Jason snorted and I wondered what he would think if he knew that Marius and I were both Spectral Shades, with standing orders from both the Shade commander
and
the emperor to keep him safe. Mentally, I rolled my eyes. As if we wouldn’t have done that anyway—I mean, seriously, we went after him to the edge of the Empire to save him from Telmick mercenaries and their Zar’daken employers.

“Which might be why you have the job. It’s just official now,” M. Kit suggested. I smiled slightly as Westley discussed his activities of the day.
That makes sense,
I thought to her.

“Of course,” she replied, and I could imagine her preening… if Medi-Comps
could
preen. “I am a computer. We were made to be logical,” she continued.

Of course,
I thought back, before turning my full attention to what Westley was saying.

“Well I helped repair the LFGs and LFAs that had only suffered minor damage. I also got to fly in a few of the replacements.”

“Oh? And which did you like better?” I asked.

He smiled. “The LFA still holds a special place in my heart, but the LFG would be fun, too. Maybe not as fast, but it would still be fun to see what kind of maneuvers you could pull off with one of those.” His eyes gleamed just like after that race where we tricked several thousand Zar’daken darts into flying into their own mothership.

“And thus we see the true Westley Trin,” Marius groaned.

“Hey man, you would enjoy it too. I know you’d love to punch holes in an enemy’s shields so we could get up close and personal. Or have you forgotten how much you enjoyed betting on how many darts you could get with a single shot?”

Marius rolled his eyes. “I haven’t forgotten.” He then shot me a wink when Westley wasn’t looking. I figured that was because Marius had probably flown a few LFGs in his time. I would be more surprised if we stumbled over something he
hadn’t
done. I knew he was older than he was letting on, and age tends to breed experience, which I was thankful for since he had helped me figure out how to explain my knowledge of where Jason had been taken to Westley. Knight’s disgrace had helped to give the story plausibility.

I told Westley that I had woken to hear Knight speaking aloud to someone, supposedly the Zar’dakens, and he had given the coordinates for the meet. I remained quiet and still as he talked, letting him believe that I was still unconscious and as observant as the voiceless walls. The truth was, it had been Kylesst who had heard, not me. As for how I had known where to go once on the mercenary ship, I had cobbled together various facts. I
had
researched the basic layout of Telmick ships. I also knew from experience what Telmicks would do to a prisoner. The short of it is—I made it sound like a lucky guess. While that story may have been true at some point, I was against leaving any stone unturned. It was only knowing that Luna had already found Jason that gave me the ability to move us quickly through the corridors.