From the author of the Books of Lessaenes comes a new Sci-Fi adventure...
From the ashes of an overpopulated, resource-drained Earth rose the Empire of Homina, centered around the planet Celatys, humanity's new home. After more than a millennium in...
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Seven cargo ships approached the Celatysian port of Nardysk in the dead of night, each manned only by a two-person crew. Obviously, the Emperor did not see reason for the unnecessary expenditure of manpower on a mission as basic as this one. Little did he know, this "trivial" shipment would prove to be historic.
The ships flew in a v-formation, ensuring that every pilot was afforded a clear view of at least one other ship, in order to properly set his or her course. The most experienced of the pilots, a man who was rumored to be over a hundred years old, was positioned at the front of the v, leading the others.
The pilot of the third ship on the left side of the formation was named Tarien Lynnstrijker. It would do you good to remember that name- it will prove to be an important one in our story. Now, Tarien was a typical Celatysian man. He had no Gift, although he and his wife both carried the recessive Tactile gene. This allowed for their daughter, Tuofah, who was but a toddler at that time, to be a very adept Tactile. At age two, she could already build a perfect wooden model of nearly any building she saw.
Tarien himself, unfortunately, was not so remarkable. Rejected by all other fields of work, he was forced to endure the monotonous job of shipping goods and sometimes people from Celatys to other Hominan planets.
Currently, he sat at the console of his ship, reclining in his worn, leather chair with his feet up on the board. His copilot had fallen asleep ages before, and he was nearing the end of his shift. It was at times like this that he began to reflect on the unbearable drudgery of his existence.
He served Homina, because not to do so as an able-bodied man would mean being sent directly to prison. He worked as a pilot, because he did not possess the skills required to take up a more complex profession. He shipped building materials from Unau to Nardysk because the ambitious Prime Minister Saara Remy wished to renovate the capital city.
Tarien began to realize that he had never truly done anything of his own free will.
And that was when he broke loose from the formation.
.............................
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*Saara Remy*
The spacious room was completely silent, save the sound of the woman's shoes on the polished wood as she walked. She circled the ovular table, carefully surveying its occupants. The Ministers represented Homina's best- Gifteds, Scholars, and former war heroes. Yet, at times, it seemed that even they were not enough.
"I will ask you one more time," she said tersely, pausing before her seat at the head of the table before elegantly sinking into it. "Where is Cargo Ship 113-C?"
"The pilot left his formation eight hours and forty three minutes after they were deployed. He turned off all systems that we could use to track his location," one of the younger Ministers replied. "Nearly five hundred thousand Marks' worth of materials were lost, Madam Remy. I was also able to hear some feedback that felt like his ship somewhere outside the Unau Circle."
"Thank you, Minister Caddan," Saara smiled. "However, it is not the ship and what it contains that concerns me. The Emperor's project can be completed without the cargo that was to be transported by 113-C. Its absence would only lead to a few minor setbacks. The reason I have called you all together tonight for the investigation of that particular ship, is the fact that my son is onboard!" she exclaimed. "I act, not as your Prime Minister, but as a mother."
"Your son, Madam? On a cargo ship?" Caddan frowned.
"He is an adventurous boy," Saara shook her head. "I allow him to do as he pleases, to go where he pleases, because to this day, he has not failed to return to Celatys before sundown."
"I can no longer hear the sound of the ship!" Caddan gasped.
Shocked murmurs echoed throughout the room as other Auricles confirmed his statement.
"If the Auricles cannot hear it, and I, an Ocular, no longer see it in my mind's eye, it is gone," Saara proclaimed, bitterness in her usually kind voice. "My Eric is gone."
"We are deeply sorry for your loss, Madam Remy."
"Thank you, Minister Laghlan," Saara closed her eyes for a moment, before quickly regaining her composure. "Now, who can inform me of the name of the cargo pilot who so cruelly stole a young Gifted with a bright future?"
"Tarien Lynnstrijker, Madam," Laghlan stated.
"Lynnstrijker," Saara spat the name out as if it was a vile thing. "Thank you, everyone. I appreciate your willingness to come here at a time as late as this. This meeting is now adjourned."
She stood up, her hands folded in front of her, as she watched the Ministers trickle out of the room until only one remained in his seat.
Jay Remy. Her husband.
"What are you going to do about it, Saara?" he asked simply.
"What do you mean?"
"They didn't elect you Prime Minister, second only to the Emperor, so that you could be a sitting duck. Surely, there's some way you can use your Gift to calculate Eric's location, or, at the very least, avenge him!"
"Patience," Saara said softly. "I will avenge him. I will do more than avenge him. He is clearly out of reach, but I will find and destroy his family with a power greater than that which we possess."
"And what, Saara, would that power be?" Jay inquired, looking quite curious.
"I will root them out," Saara announced, "with Imperial orders."
