The Gem Lords

The Realms - Part 2

     "There are several ships coming in closer," said Karog, who'd returned to the bridge and was now wearing a Helm of Farsensing. "At least thirty. Five hundred miles away and closing."

     "Let's see them," said Callan, who was sitting in the Captain's chair and was in charge of the ship while Strong was away.

     Thomas gave the command to the mirror, and the image changed to show a broad curve of the planet below, swirling with cloud, with the tiny, black specks of a space fleet silhouetted against it. He gave another word of command and the image zoomed in on the ships. As before, they were all arranged in the same plane, as if they were sailing on an invisible ocean a thousand miles above the planet's surface, their sails billowing as they closed the distance.

     "Another fleet is approaching from the other direction," added the trog. "Twelve ships, six hundred miles away. They'll have us surrounded within the hour."

     "I'll inform the Captain," said Callan, donning a Helm of Telepathy. He closed his eyes in concentration, and a few moments later opened them again, frowning unhappily. "He says to sit tight. The situation is under control."

     "If they attack," said Prup Chull, "they'll have the Captain, Saturn and Drenn as hostages. What if they tell us to surrender or they'll kill them?"

     Thomas laughed. "If they think they can hold Saturn hostage, they may find they've bitten off more than they can chew. Besides, they can teleport back any time they want."

     "They have wizards of their own," Karog reminded him. "Maybe better than ours, and if they can also teleport, they can have dozens aboard that ship before you can say..." The trog suddenly froze, looking worried. "Could they teleport aboard the Jules Verne? We could find a boarding party holding swords to our throats at any moment!"

     "We haven't seen any sign so far that they can teleport," pointed out Thomas, "and Saturn commented that the magics of our ship are superior in almost every way to theirs..."

     "Because all the wizards of Lexandria University were available to work on the one ship! What if these wizards are so powerful that just one man can create a flying ship? That would explain why they have so many of them."

     "All right, pipe down!" snapped Callan angrily. "We have our orders, let's just carry them out. Karog, keep an eye on those ships. Gown, put the mirror back on the Hopu. I want to see what they're up to. No-one speaks unless they have something to report."

     The others fell into an uncomfortable silence. Talking things over helped them to deal with their fears. If one of them was really scared about something, one of the others might be able to give reasons why he was worrying needlessly. Thomas knew better than to argue, though, remembering Matthew's description of the first mate and his tales of how he was constantly looking for reasons to discipline them. The man was a bully and a control freak, and the wizard wasn't going to give him any reason to have a go at him. He sat silently, therefore, and kept the words of his defensive spells at the forefront of his mind, ready to cast them on the Orb of Protection the moment the ship came under attack.

☆☆☆

     Thomas is on the bridge, thought Lapis Lazuli, sitting in Daleen's cabin and staring thoughtfully at Daleen's face in her dressing table mirror. Timothy's deep in meditation in the chapel. Neither of them will be out and about until Strong and Saturn get back from the other ship. This is the perfect opportunity.

     The idea had come to her just a couple of minutes before, the perfect way to rid herself of the demi shae, and no matter how hard she examined the idea, she could find no major flaws in it. There was a risk, of course. Her timing would have to be perfect if she wasn't to join the demi shae in death, but anything worth doing was risky and this was definitely worth doing. And it was so simple! All she needed was a couple of minutes alone with the woman, and with everyone important being otherwise occupied at the moment, the perfect opportunity was presenting itself right now.