Untitled (50 page)

"Well, there's no doubt for whom they're working," Ennez said, kicking one of them slightly.

"Since Princess Marilith is 'on the quits' with the Black Hats since the
Triumph
fiasco, working for someone like her, no doubt, has a great appeal for them," Beth said.

Davage picked up one of their pouches and rummaged through it.

"Their tactics did seem to favor a direct assault—something Black Hats might find difficult to deal with. And they have an assortment of novel accessories here with them that were very effective in countering the Sten and the Point."

"And TK and the Dirge," Syg said.

"And Shadow tech, too," Beth added, still smarting.

"They were surprised by my Silver Tech," Syg said. "They didn't seem to be prepared for it."

Ennez grabbed a pouch. He pulled out an assortment of colored flowers, little balls, frogs, cats, birds, and a few small items that looked like crude dolls.

"The blue flowers appeared to be effective against the Point, if I recall," Dav pointed out.

"The green one got me," Beth said, painfully

"The birds seemed to draw in TK energy."

"They had some sort of potion that, upon contact, brought all these items to life," Dav said.

"You mean this here?" Ki said pulling a black bottle from a pouch.

Dav looked at it. "The same," he said. Kilos unstoppered the bottle and smelled it. "It smells like jasmine."

Ennez examined one of the dead cats. "Appears to be a construct of some sort. This one is made out of rosemary, oils, and other assorted chemicals. Very clever."

Ennez pulled out a blue flower and looked at it. "Beth, could you Point me please?" he said, holding up the flower.

"I'm not going to Point at you, Ennez!" she screeched.

He set the flower down and walked away. "Now, Point at it."

Dubious, Beth Pointed at it. Sure enough, the flower began to grow in size, absorbing the deadly Point energy. The flower, after about ten seconds, appeared close to bursting.

"Beth, stop the Point, I want to …"

"I can't—that's what I was trying to tell you before."

The flower exploded in a spray.

"You can't stop a Point."

They looked around—dead bodies in all sorts of exertions. In death they were both male and female of various sizes and complexions, all fairly young. All with spiked red hair.

Dav knelt down over the robed man and examined him, looking for some sort of hidden portal.

"They came pouring out of this man, as if he were some sort of gateway or open door. He feels solid enough now."

Beth examined the dead man. "I also heard the Fanatics of Nalls were experimenting with new uses of the Gifts. They bragged about something called the Box, where many people or things could occupy the same space. I also heard that they had discovered the secret of the Hulgismen's immunity to the Sisters power."

"Immune to the Sisters? They are going to flip when they see this, and they are probably going to want every one of these bodies and constructs sent to their research facility in Valenhelm or Pithnar for testing," Ennez said.

"It appears we will not be needing the Magistrate after all. The Sisters will probably kick him right out," Davage said.

* * * * *

Davage was right about the Magistrate. Ten Sisters and a small squadron of Marines arrived in a matter of minutes and politely informed the Magistrate that they were assuming responsibility for this situation.

The Sisters, always polite, always smiling, yet never challenged. The Magistrate returned to the village and drank himself to sleep.

Davage and Ennez showed them the bags full of trinkets, and they seemed quite disturbed by all of it. They, obviously, had heard little of this Fanatics of Nalls sect.

After a few more minutes, a Marine approached Davage.

"Captain, sir, the Sisters urgently request fealty over all bodies and materials taken from this attack, though they fully acknowledge your skill and bravery in collecting them, express their profound relief that no one here was killed or injured, and are wishing to compensate you any price you deem fair."

A Sister toyed with a blue flower from one of the pouches. Another one tugged on a frog.

"I desire no compensation."

"In that case, Captain, the Sisters request these bodies be taken with all possible speed to chapel Twilight 4 where the Sisters will begin the slow process of examining and discovering all their secrets."

"I see. Twilight 4, way to the south of Remnath, if I am not mistaken."

Syg wandered over to Dav and hung on his arm.

"Correct, sir. On the morrow a procession of three Fleet vessels will arrive to provide escort for these bodies."

"I require no escort."

"The Sisters insist. They feel something sinister is afoot and wish to take no chances. Furthermore, and no disrespect intended, sir, but the fine vessel
Seeker
will not be the lead ship. You will be providing escort to the lead vessel, where the bodies and materials will be kept in safe passage."

Davage shook his head. The Sisters looked a bit concerned.

They pummeled the Marine with thoughts.

"Please, Captain, the Sisters again acknowledge your skill and seniority and greatly desire that your honor be not damaged in this matter. They were simply hoping to provide the citizenry with a grand Fleet display, as in the days of old, and they are certain that, when you see the lead ship for yourself, you will be pleased."

"My honor is not damaged, Sisters, and thank you for your concern. I will abide by your wisdom and look ahead with great interest to this grand procession on the morrow."

The Sisters mentally chattered amongst themselves and appeared relieved.

With that, the Marines quickly collected the bodies and were gone within the hour.

11

The next morning, Davage, Syg, and Ki went down to the docks to await the arrival of the Fleet. Davage had to admit, the Sisters had piqued his curiosity about this procession, and, in particular, the lead ship that was coming.

Ki announced that she was thirsty and headed to a nearby pub. Beth and Ennez followed.

Syg, getting impatient, wanted to know when he was going to propose to her.

Soon, Syg, soon …

Before long the Fleet began arriving, their gas-compression engines screeching through the cold air.

The first to arrive was the
Blue Max
, a fairly new
Straylight
vessel commanded by Captain Wythleweir, a lady of House Conwell. Wythleweir had little Fleet experience. No doubt the vast Conwell fortune and connections came into play during the appointment proceedings for the
Blue Max's
captain's chair.

Gracefully, the
Blue Max
set down in the bay, next to the
Seeker.

Shortly, the
Caroline
roared down from the mountains. An old
Straylight
, the
Caroline
was captained by Captain Stenstrom, Lord Belmont, in his thirteenth appointment. Light as a feather, the captain brought the
Caroline
down on the other side of
Seeker.

The villagers were buzzing with excitement. It had been a long time that so many ships had been here at once. They anxiously awaited the arrival of the last ship, a "surprise" that the Sisters had promised.

They didn't have long to wait, soon, coming out of the western sky, a black dot approached.

Dav and Syg looked at it. It didn't sound like a
Straylight
, no roaring, no characteristic whistling, it thrummed with a steady beat.

Dav Sighted it.

"Syg, you remember Ki mentioning a lady named Demona of Ryel and her fine vessel
Triumph
that we all admired so much?

"Yes, Dav—why?" She squinted and strained to see the ship that was approaching.

"Because there it is."

Clear in Dav's Sight was the
Triumph
… not the ship that was currently speeding Demona of Ryel to her home, but an identical, much larger version built in Provst by Lord Milos of Probert, the first of a new class. It was a long ship with a narrow, elongated upper hull and a squashed, flattened lower section with no "neck" between the two. It looked like two huge teardrops fused together. The engines were splayed flat at either side on sturdy gantries that retracted into the hull, and they glowed with blue light. It put down in the bay and was clearly much larger than the
Straylight
s next to it.

With the exception of being much larger than the original, it was the spitting image of Demona's ship. Syg, in a flap, was pummeling him with questions, but he wasn't listening. He stared at it, lost in nostalgia.

After a time, a beaming Lord Probert and the Lady Branna of the Science Ministry disembarked.

"Well, Captain, what do you think of her?" Probert asked.

"Lord Probert, it certainly looks like the
Triumph
I remember. Quite a bit larger than the original, if I recall correctly."

"It had to be larger, Captain," the Lady Branna said, "as this stubborn old man, and soon-to-be unwilling guest of my dungeon, would not part with his tried and trues. This is the ship of the future, Captain. It is equipped with a fully capable tach drive, along with Lord Probert's beloved Stellar Mach coils, as he would not be rid of them. It is fully shielded and mounts devastating Sar-Beams instead of Battleshot batteries …"

"An error in judgment that I will see your blue-haired carcass rotting in prison over, I swear it, Lady Branna," Probert said, pointing at her.

She ignored him.

"Canisters?" Dav asked quietly, hopefully.

"Yes," Lady Branna said, "it mounts canisters, though I pushed for deleting them as well."

"I would send you straight to hell first."

"And Captain, it mounts our first, fully functional electro-teleporter assembly. No more need for Arrow Shot; we can now materialize directly from orbit."

"A scandal!" Probert said. "Who ever heard of such a thing?"

"The scandal, Lord Probert, will be when you resort to cannibalism for survival once your rotund backside has polished the stones of my dungeon floor for a while!" Lady Branna replied.

"You'll starve me, will you, harpy! I will ensure you get your three nourishing meals a day in prison, Lady Branna!"

Davage was impressed; Lord Probert and Lady Branna had outdone themselves. He laughed and separated the bickering duo.

"It is a fine vessel, Captain," Probert said. "I already have five more spars laid in Provst. I'll be wanting you in attendance to pick one out. Bring money, as always."

"You would have me set the
Seeker
aside?"

"I wish to see our finest captain set sail in our finest vessel. Do you not agree, Lady Sygillis, that Captain Davage is our best?"

"I suppose he does well in a pinch," Syg said, smiling at him, infinitely relieved that this was not Demona of Ryel's ship.

"It is a fine ship, but to leave the
Seeker
… we've been through so much together."

"Oh," Probert said, "you Fleet captains, so sentimental. You talk of the
Seeker
like it's a living thing, like it has a soul. If it has a soul, Captain, it's because you gave it to her. Will your new vessel be any different? It needs a soul too, I suppose, does it not?"

He smiled. "Time marches on."

"Well, then, let's aboard, and I'll show you around."

Probert offered his arm to Syg, Davage offered his to Lady Branna, and they went in.

* * * * *

Davage ordered the
Seeker
into the air, the screaming gas compression engines slowly lifting it out of the bay, the massive underside of the ship creating an artificial rainstorm of dripping water. The dock was its usual mass of waving, cheering people watching the giant ship climb away.

Davage always had a sheepish urge to drop the nose and buzz the dock, soaking those in attendance. It was his dock, his town, after all, but as he didn't want to burst the eardrums of every one of his people, he fought the urge off.

Gracefully, he ordered the ship set at station three thousand feet in the air. There, he waited for the other two escort ships and the
Triumph
, whose engines were starting to throb with blue light.

The
Caroline
, performing a slow spin to clear away the water, joined him to his right. The
Blue Max
then began rising in loud, workmanlike fashion, parking at his left.

Soon, the
Triumph
rose into the sky, much larger than the escorting
Straylight
s, but infinitely quieter.

Davage got a Com from the
Triumph
. Yard Marshall Tempus, a yarding captain from Bern, popped into view—apparently a permanent captain had yet to be appointed. In fact, the whole crew were made up mostly of guests, dignitaries, Admirals, and others, all dressed in their finest, with a small squadron of Marines and a few Sisters to guard the "cargo" of dead Fanatics and their baggage.

"Tempus to escort fleet, we are ready to proceed."

"Shall we ascend to a standard cruising altitude of seventy thousand feet and bear planetary revolutions?" Davage asked.

"No, no, Captain," Tempus said. "Let's give the people something to see. Cruise at five thousand feet and make for parking revolutions only. Let's go nice and slow. To Twilight 4 as in the days of old."

Syg, sitting in Dav's chair, looked up. "What's that mean?" she whispered.

"It means this trip is going to take a while … several hours at least."

"Well then," Tempus said, "if the
Seeker
will park to my right and the
Caroline
to my left, the
Blue Max
will bear tail. Keep to a standard formation and let's open the baffles a bit … let 'em hear us coming."

"Aye, Marshall. Helm, you heard him. Collect at four and stay tight."

Crewman Saari, Lady Branna's daughter, smiled, and slowly, the
Seeker
tucked into the starboard of the
Triumph
and the procession began moving to the south … a grand Fleet display not seen in some time.