“I had better contact them before we dropout of stealth, just in case they are a bit trigger-happy,” Icommented. Kellyn brought up the connection on the main viewer, andsoon the captain appeared.
“Greetings, Captain, we are about nineminutes from your wake at present, and are about to drop out ofstealth,” I said.
“Excellent. As soon as you can, establish thegraviton link and pass navigation over to us for the next jump.There will be about a day and a half on the other side of the jumpwhile we skirt around a black hole, so we can have your celebrationthen,” he said.
Our ship’s engines would not be ready to makeanother jump for hours yet, but relative to the fleet we were soinsignificant that they would just drag us along.
“Darnath will get that link up as soon as weare in range. Captain, why don’t you, Dr. Rannor and Zalith join usfor dinner after the jump?” I asked.
“That sounds like a great idea, say at 2000?”he asked.
“2000 it is, then,” I said and we ended thetransmission.
After the jump Darnath ran up to the messhall to start cooking. He came from a long line of chefs and wepersuaded him into volunteering to cook all the major meals. Kellynand I also went up to prepare the table and make sure all was inorder.
Gafar offered to stay and watch the bridgeduring the dinner. Out here in interstellar space it was unwise toleave the bridge unmanned. There were too many unknowns to dealwith.
“Thank you, Gafar, but this is going to bea problem during the wedding tomorrow. I do not want anyone to haveto miss it,” I said.
“Well, maybe the captain can spare somecrew members to stand watch so that we need not worry aboutthat,” offered Kellyn.
“That is a brilliant idea,” I said. Iwas a bit annoyed I had not thought of such a simple answer.
While waiting for dinner, I went to theship’s library and focused on crafting the scrolls I would need forthe battle. I was deep into this preparation when I heard Gafarsend from the bridge, “Vydor, the captain’s shuttle is on itsway.”
“Okay, I guess we are ready. Land them inbay two.” Zalith would no doubt want to see the Dark Talon, soit was easiest to have them dock in the same bay. We went down tomeet them. As soon as the bay was pressurized, we entered it.
Zalith was the first off the shuttle. Iwalked right up to him and gestured at the Dark Talon while saying,“Hello, old friend, the Dark Talon is ready for you to fly her homeafter the meal.”
“Thank you, Vydor, but I took the liberty ofbringing two Dark Knights to take her home now.” As he said that,they came off the shuttle. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.I was worried what they would think of me, since I had ledtwenty-five of their squadmates to their death.
One of them walked right up to me and lookeddirectly into my eyes. He was a good half-meter taller than me, butI looked up and held his gaze. I knew that was what he wouldexpect.
“Vydor, we reviewed the logs and journals ofyour mission, and we are impressed at your honor and valor in theface of death. The battle was won because of your leadership,” hesaid and handed me an emblem.
I had to break his gaze to see what it was,and I barely held my composure. It was the emblem of the DarkKnights. The significance of this gift was not lost on me; I knewwhat it meant. They now numbered me as one of their own. Using aminor bit of magic I attached it to my staff, which had become thesymbol of my rank. “It will be an honor to fight with the DarkKnights again,” I said with as much pride in my voice as I couldmuster.
He just gave a slight nod, and they went overto the Dark Talon. I saw that the captain and Dr. Rannor haddisembarked from the shuttle. “Well, if I know the Dark Knightsthey will be asking for clearance to launch right away, so let’smove out of the bay,” I commented. As we exited I told Gafar togive the Knights clearance to launch as soon as they wereready.
Once we were out in the hall, propergreetings and introductions were exchanged all around. Kellynseemed to be a bit embarrassed over the compliments she received,but she deserved them all and more. As we walked through thetraining rooms on our way to the lift I noticed the captain waslooking around. I wondered what he was looking for. Soon we got tothe lift and were on our way to the top deck, and the observationlounge.
On the ride up, the captain remarked, “Youknow, Vydor, for some reason I was expecting strange things, but sofar your Raven looks, well … normal.”
I just smiled and opened the door to theobservation lounge with its wide-open view of the fleet around us.Our visitors caught their breath as they walked out under it. Theydid not say anything for quite some time, and we just let them takeit all in. I finally could not resist any longer and said, “I thinkyou were saying something about how normal the ship was?”
“This is an awesome view, Vydor. It is easyto forget what is out there when you spend your time moving fromone office to another on the Dragon Claw,” said the captain.
“Yes, we eat most of our meals up here underthe stars. It is quite humbling,” I responded.
Darnath, Andreya, Jerran and Luke joined usand we moved over to the table to eat. For a while the conversationover the food was mostly small talk, but eventually it moved toquestions about us. Dr. Rannor began by asking, “Kellyn, is it truewhat they say about you?”
“Well, that depends on what they are saying,”she replied.
“They say you can instantly heal any injuryor illness,” he said.
“Well, not exactly. I can heal, but my powersare limited. For instance, I cannot turn back time and make anyoneyounger, nor can I help anyone who is already dead. Minor injuriesare easy, but major things like growing new limbs or organs take alot out of me. Mental illnesses are beyond me at this stage, whichis baffling. I am also fairly limited in the type of healing I cando. For example, if a person is brain-damaged, I can heal thephysical brain, but I cannot return to the person the memories andabilities that were lost,” she replied.
“That is remarkable,” he said.
“We are also told that you all talk to eachother without speaking, can move objects without touching them, andother impossible feats. How much of these stories are true?” askedthe captain.
“They are probably blown out of allproportion but we can do what you just listed. You must understandthat we are fairly weak compared to those we will be going upagainst. We have only had a year to study and practice, and thesearts take a lifetime to master,” I said.
“How does this all work?” asked Dr.Rannor.
“It is not as mystical as you might think.There is an energy force is woven through the universe which doesnot seem to interact at all with normal matter, at least not in anyway we have been able to detect. Some people are born with anability to tap and use this energy, and that is how we achieve whatwe do. The chanting, wands, and other trappings are used to helpfocus and store the energy, which is where it starts lookingmystical. It seems that each of us is gifted in a different way sothat what we can do with the energy is a little different. We canall do some basic things, such as talk telepathically, but for themost part our powers are sharply divided. For example, Kellyn isthe only one of us who can heal a serious wound, while Andreya is amaster of illusions,” I said.
“You make it sound so simple and normal, yetwe have seen what the sorcerers can do with this energy so we knowthere is great power in it. You say you cannot match them yet, sohow are we going to fight them?” asked Zalith.
“We are hoping that when combined with thepower of the fleet we will stand a chance. In truth we had plannedto stay in hiding for a few more years, but the recent developmentsout here make me a bit concerned. We need to monitor the situation,at least. I fear if the Seven are here then the sector is theirsand there is not much we can do about it. Historically, though, theSeven have not been known to come out to fight if they think themaster wizards are around to fight back, so we are banking on themoverestimating us.”