Sac'a'rith (4 page)

“Under the castle we destroyed,” she said. “He was collecting gems and other natural materials.”

“Do you think they were kept deep enough to survive the blast?” I asked.

“Yes, more than deep enough,” she said. “He was terrified that someone might find them, so he forced slaves to dig deep caverns and sealed them in with rock.”

“Well, it sounds like we have our answer,” said Felix. “I’ll set a course to the Siden System.”

“Wait, who owns the planet?” asked Ragnar.

“Who cares?” asked Felix.

“If someone has a claim on it, they might not take too kindly to us mining there,” said Ragnar.

“No one seemed to care that we leveled a large section of their forest and destroyed a castle,” retorted Felix.

“That was different,” cut in Ragnar.

“Even if it belongs to someone, we have a right to salvage,” said Felix.

“That sounds more like a right to steal,” said Ragnar.

“Hold on,” I said. “Crivreen, check the database. Does anyone lay claim to it?”

Crivreen walked over to a terminal and started searching. While he did that I turned to Shira and asked, “You said they are sealed in; will we have to blast through the rock, then?”

“No,” she said. “I know a way in. I used to hide down there when he was really angry.”

“Well, it’s in Phareon space, but there’s no record of any claim on it,” said Crivreen.

“Then it’s ours,” replied Felix. “Let’s go before someone else thinks of it.”

“All right, then; lay in a course and let’s get this done,” I said. I could tell that Ragnar was still a bit uncomfortable, but in this case I agreed with Felix; it was ours by right of salvage.

“We need to stop for some supplies first. Our fresh water and food stores are running low,” said Crivreen.

“What would it take to start up those gardens we have?” asked Ragnar.

“The hydroponics? I believe they work but have never been used,” I said.

“Yeah,” said Crivreen. “I looked them over a while back. I think they are fully functional, and it would be good to get them going. Not only would they provide food, but they would help the air scrubbers.”

“What would it take to get them going?” I asked.

Crivreen scrolled through a list on his terminal. “With regards to materials we need some seeds, seedlings, organic compost and a few other things, but none of that should be an issue. The real problem, of course, is that we need someone to tend to them. They will need regular care and maintenance.”

“I could do it,” said Shira, “if someone shows me how.”

I looked at Crivreen who shrugged, then I said, “I’ll take you back there. I’m sure that there are manuals in the database. We can figure it out as we go.”

“Okay, so we head to Zenfar for supplies, then over to Siden?” asked Felix.

“Yes,” I said.

Felix went to the bridge to set the course and I led Shira back to the hydroponics bay. The bay was filled with empty racks and silent equipment. When Narcion was alone on this ship there had been no need for it, so I was pretty sure the equipment had never been used.

“Wow,” said Shira. “It looks far more complex than I expected.”

I was about to say something to let her back out, but then I remembered that the most important thing for a former slave was to find their own identity. This would be the perfect time for her to grow. “We can stop over in Zenfar for a few days and see about training you or getting someone from the station to help get this thing fired up, if you want.”

“No, I’ll figure it out. How long till we get to Zenfar?” she asked.

“At least a week,” I said. “Once Felix has the course laid in, we will be able to work out our arrival date.”

She looked around the room, stiffened her shoulders and said, “I will have this ready in time.”

“Well, let’s fire up these terminals and make sure you have all the access you need.” I poked around for a while but couldn’t figure it out, so I contacted Crivreen on the comm.

“You need to add ‘Garden Master’ to her profile,” he said.

“Garden Master?” I asked.

“Yep,” he said. “Whoever set it up named the security profile for hydroponics ‘Garden Master’.”

“Okay, thanks,” I said as I added the role to her profile and then turned to Shira. “Congratulations, Garden Master.”

Her eyes seemed to expand to fill her face as she quietly whispered, “Garden Master.”

“Looks like there’s a ton of information in here; do you want help to go through it?”

She shook her head, walked over to the terminal and started paging through the information. “I have this.”

“Well, just call if you need anything,” I said and left her to work. On my way out I could hear her saying, “Shira, Garden Master,” quietly to herself.

“Zah’rak, we are cleared to dock,” said Felix.

“Great. Once we’re docked you and Crivreen head over and get whatever supplies the ship needs, and Shira and I will look for what we require for the hydroponics,” I said.

“Nah, Crivreen should take Ragnar,” said Felix. “I’ll stay with the ship.”

I knew he would say something like that. He always did. I didn’t know why, but he never went onto any stations that weren’t mission objectives; or at least not since Narcion died. “Very well,” I replied. Once we had docked, the four of us headed over and went our separate ways.

Shira walked close to me with her head down and didn’t say much. She would respond to direct questions with as few words as possible, and seemed to have lost ground in her recovery. I wished we could have taken Shea with us, or at least kept in communication with her. It was obvious that she’d helped Shira in a big way.

“Shira, you’ve done wonders with the hydroponics. I’m very impressed!” I said, attempting to brighten her mood.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Besides the organic supplies, is there anything you want?” I asked.

“No,” she said.

“More training manuals, perhaps?” I asked.

“No.”

“Would you like to see their hydroponic gardens while we’re here?” I asked.

“No.”

“Anything for yourself?” I asked.

“No.”

I sighed and continued to walk towards the shops that would have what she needed. In each shop she silently searched for and gathered the various supplies that were required. She didn’t interact with anyone except me but we got through it.

What could I do to help her? She had gone through a very dark time, but that was behind her now. She was young, healthy and free; she could make anything of herself now, but mostly she just moped around.

Once everything was ordered and we had arranged for it to be delivered to our cargo hold, I decided to try to lighten her mood by taking her to a nice restaurant. I figured it was likely that she had never been in one before, as slaves were not welcome.

When we were seated she seemed to collapse into herself even more. The server had to coax an order out of her, and I was starting to doubt my judgment in bringing her on board the station. It seemed that my good intentions weren’t enough and it wasn’t working out.

The meal passed in silence and I was about to take her back home when into the restaurant walked someone I hadn’t expected to see again.

“Raquel!” I said as the warrior walked up to the table. In the harsh station lights her hair looked redder than I remembered it, but it was definitely the same person. She no longer wore the hooded cloak that used to be her signature outfit; instead she wore sleek, modern purple-and-grey battle armor that faintly pulsed with power.

“Hello, Zah’rak,” she said and sat down at the table.

“We were just leaving,” I said. Shira was deathly afraid of Raquel and I didn’t think it would be good for her recovery to have to deal with this fear right now.

“Zah’rak,” said Raquel. “We need to talk.”

“What about?” I asked.

“It would be better if we moved this conversation onto the Night Wisp,” she said.

“Ragnar, Raquel is here,”
I sent.

“That’s wonderful! Bring her aboard. It will be great to catch up with her
,
”
he sent.

That was not the reaction I was hoping for, but I suspected he was right. There were so many unanswered questions left from the time we had spent with Narcion, especially relating to that final battle.
“Okay, we’ll be back soon, but don’t forget about Shira,”
I sent.

“She will probably hide in hydroponics with her new supplies,”
he sent,
“but sooner or later she needs to start facing her fears.”

Raquel was the widow of Narcion, the man who had freed me from slavery and led us until his recent death, but I didn’t know her at all. For a while we had thought her an enemy, and I still had a hard time shaking that. She had tried to break up our team and turn us against Narcion, but in the final battle with the necromancer she had fought by our side and Narcion had fully trusted her.

I was about to say something to Shira, when I noticed she was gone.
“Shira, where did you go?”

“I’m in hydroponics,”
she sent.

“Seems that Shira went ahead,” I commented.

“Yes, she transported herself away as I approached,” said Raquel. “Shall we head to the Night Wisp, then?”

“Are you sure about this, Ragnar?”
I sent.

“Yes! We have many questions which only she can answer. We need to take advantage of this opportunity,”
he sent.

I had to admit he was right; she had inside information we were lacking. I stood to my full height, head and shoulders taller than Raquel, but I knew better than to think that would intimidate her. “Sure, let me take care of the bill and we can be off.”

As we left, I noticed that she was wearing an armored backpack. “Travelling light?”

“Always,” she said. “Why is Shira afraid of me?”

“Among other reasons, she did try to kill your husband several times,” I said.

“I see. She thinks I’ll seek vengeance, then,” she said.

“Yes,” I said. It was a reasonable conclusion, and having seen Raquel in battle I wasn’t confident that even our entire team could stop her. Over the months since that fight, Ragnar had insisted several times that Raquel was not hostile to Shira, but Shira either wouldn’t or couldn’t believe him. So far Ragnar had never been wrong in his predictions, and my instincts told me he was right this time too.

“Neither I nor Narcion ever saw her as an enemy. She was merely a pawn forced to play a role until you freed her. She has nothing to fear from me,” she said.

Her answer was logical and reasonable, but logic and reason failed in the face of deep-seated emotional wounds such as those Shira bore.

We walked the rest of the way to the docking port in silence, and out of habit I headed towards the security bypass line which my status as a special agent allowed me to use. “Oh, sorry; I guess I need to take you through the public access.”

“No, this will be fine,” said Raquel.

As I approached the security checkpoint one of the guards said, “Hey, Zah’rak. Where’s Shira?”

“She found her own way back,” I said.

As usual, they let me pass without even checking my ID, which was foolish on their part but convenient for me so I never reported them. I was about to mention Raquel when I noticed she was gone.
“Raquel?”
I sent.

“I’ll meet you at the Night Wisp’s airlock,”
she sent back.

When I reached the ship she was there, waiting for me.

“I prefer not to deal with security gates,” she said.

I didn’t blame her. If you didn’t have special access like I did, they were a royal pain and would be worse for her because I was sure she was armed. “They don’t bother me much anymore.”

I led her onto the Night Wisp and asked everyone to meet us in the common room. Shira didn’t want to come, claiming she was busy. Instead of arguing with her, I turned on the comm. system so that she could listen in. When everyone had settled in, I said, “Raquel, the last time we saw you, you said you had to turn yourself in.”

“Yes, and I did so; but that’s not why I’m here,” she replied.

“I think we need some answers first,” interjected Felix. “For a while, you were trying to break up this team and turn us against Narcion. You warned us of great doom if we stayed on course, but then helped us complete his task. Now you’re back, after supposedly turning yourself in to the authorities?”

She sighed. “Yes, all of that is true. It’s complicated. Narcion and I are from a different era, one that has been long forgotten.”

“I think you’d better start at the beginning,” said Felix.

“Very well,” she said. “When the wizards of old were conspiring to tear the weave and put an end to the current great war of magic, Narcion designed the tables as an escape plan.”

“That table we destroyed was Narcion’s?” I exclaimed.

“Yes,” she confirmed.

“But that would make him a sorcerer!” said Crivreen.

“Please let the lady speak,” said Ragnar.

“I need to go back a little farther. When I first met him, Narcion was a minor wizard who did his best to stay out of the wars. He was never a gentle person, but his dark side was well under control at that time. He often took people in randomly and helped them get started in life. That was the way he was,” said Raquel.

I smiled at her comment, as that was just how this team had been formed. Narcion might have been the most ruthless and merciless warrior I had ever heard of, but he poured himself into this team and made us what we were today.

“The wars found him; they found everyone eventually. It was a very dark time. The wars forced him to fight, and all the death and destruction he had to take part in changed him into the cold and calculating man you knew. He turned to necromancy in order to gain the power he needed, but the evil art twisted his soul and turned him darker.”

Raquel had to pause there, choked up with emotion. I started to say something but Ragnar stopped me. She had previously confided that he had turned to necromancy to obtain vengeance for someone close to him, but this remark about the war was new. I wondered if that person close to him had been Raquel herself.