Spectra's Gambit (12 page)

“Exactly, all of which could be controlled. Sure, occasionally some might mix with the ‘wrong’ families, but overall the plan appears to have worked extremely well,” she said.

“And you were able to confirm this via DNA evidence?” asked Greymere.

“As much as possible. Doctor Rannor was unhappy to realize that he was part of the breeding program so he did his best to prove it wrong, but in the end it looked undeniable,” she said.

“Is this program still going on now?” I asked.

“I am sure it is, but I would assume its effectiveness to be reduced. Considering the number of generations this appears to have encompassed, I suspect that whoever is running the program is still well-entrenched into the highest positions in the galaxy,” she said.

“Imperial Humans,” said Greymere.

“What?” I asked.

“Imperial Humans: that is what they called their race. Just as Grandmaster Vydor sees magi as a separate race, they see their genetic line as unique and more than human.”

“What does Grandmaster Vydor think of this?” asked Spectra.

“Grandmaster brushed it off as a failing of the old Empire and not something to concern himself with anymore,” answered Shea.

“Of course not. He has his own master race to build now,” said Greymere.

I was about to deny that when Shea said, “I suppose in a sense that is true.”

“But where does that leave us?” asked Spectra.

“Well, what are the actual facts we have?” asked Doctor Hawthorne.

“Someone is trying to genetically engineer a superhuman race,” started Doctor Leslie. “But why would they kill off the Cathratinairians? I don’t see how that helps them. Every super race needs slaves to serve it, after all?”

“Maybe they saw the Cathratinairians as a threat?” I asked.

“Could be, but I would think the biggest threat would be the Zalionians,” said Greymere.

“And, where is the oringal Cathratinairian home world now?” asked Spectra.

“In the Zalionian Empire,” I said.

“Are you suggesting that the Cathratinairians might not have been the ultimate target?” asked Greymere.

“It would take a mastermind with a lot of patience to pull that off, but maybe. Anyway, we must visit that planet and check things out,” said Spectra.

“It would take the better part of a year to get there,” started Greymere.

“No, we can get there much faster than that,” said Spectra.

“Before we do that, we’d better check with Grandmaster Vydor. Showing up uninvited to a secure military base might not be looked upon favorably,” I said.

“What if he says no?”
Spectra sent privately.

“But I thought conditions for life on that planet were wiped out by weapons testing?” asked Doctor Leslie.

“He won’t. He will understand that we are following up on clues – he used to work in intelligence, remember?”
I sent back privately.

“I suspect Spectra is not going to be looking for the living,” said Shea. “I don’t know if there will be anything left to investigate after all this time, but it is worth a shot.”

“But, what if he says no?”
Spectra sent privately.

“What are you getting at?”
I sent back.

“But how are you going to get there?” asked Greymere.

“You are among magi, Greymere,” answered Spectra. “I can open a gate to anywhere I have placed a marker, and I placed one there when I visited it a long time ago. It really will be just a short walk.”

“You will have to go via the Spirit Realm, I assume?” asked Shea.

“Yeah, so it will just be me and Dusty. The rest of my team is not ready for that, yet,” she answered. Then she sent back to me privately,
“I am thinking it might be best to go unseen and get back before anyone knows we went.”

“I don’t think that is a good idea,”
I sent back.

“What can I do?” asked Greymere.

“You used to be in intelligence, didn’t you?” asked Spectra. “Well, then you could go through all the data we have and see if we’ve missed anything. A fresh set of eyes with quite a different background might discover new connections in the data.”

“Are you taking me up on the offer, then? Are you going to join our team and kingdom?” I asked.

“Why not?”
Spectra asked me, continuing our private conversation.

“Because it could damage the relationship between our people, and that is a risk I am not willing to take
,
”
I sent.

“You said I would not have to hide my race anymore. Is that offer open to all of my kind?” Greymere asked.

“All who are of the same race as you? Sure, but it would be better if we had a name for your race,” said Shea.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Shea smiled and said, “We do not call Dusty’s race after the fish that was used to create his race long ago. It has a new name because it is not the same race. The same is true of your people; you are not the same race as the animals you are partially descended from. If you let me do that medical examination, we will build a DNA profile for your race and name it. From that point forward you, and any of your race that we come across, will be treated the same as any other sentient beings we come across, and that includes opening immigration to our kingdom for your race.”

“Wow,” he said softly. “No more hiding? For any of us?”

“Yes, you can stop hiding,” she said gently.

Everyone was quiet while he processed that. It was impossible to know what Doctor Leslie and Doctor Hawthorne were thinking since they didn’t know what was going on, but they seemed to understand that something major had occurred in Greymere’s life.

“I’ll do it, for my people as well as myself, but there must be no way to connect me back to any of my previous identities. Too many people risked their lives to help me hide,” he said.

Shea smiled, “Great! Now you have something to celebrate over dinner with Saraphym. Stop by my office in the AM and we can work out the details.”

“Sounds like we have a plan,” I said. “I will contact Grandmaster Vydor and get his blessing, and then Spectra and I will leave for our investigation. Greymere, I want you to live on the Nemesis and work with the team to start understanding how we function as Battle Wizards.”

I left the meeting to find a private place from which to call Grandmaster Vydor. After searching for a while without success, I donned my helmet and teleported outside the station. There I used the ring that Grandmaster Vydor had given me to call him and waited for his reply. The stars spread out around me, and I thought about Greymere. This is where his race lived, out here and free. It made me a bit jealous to think that he could just drift out here in perfect peace and no one would ever disturb him.

“Hello, Dusty
,
”
sent Grandmaster Vydor as he appeared in front of me.

“Grandmaster! I did not mean you to come all the way out here
,
”
I sent.
“Where is your space suit?”

Grandmaster Vydor was dressed in his normal robes, standing in the hard vacuum of space as if he were on solid ground.
“Oh, I dislike them. They are much too confining. What is it you have to report?”

I told him first about Greymere, and then of Spectra’s plans.
“I thought we’d better check with you before we travel out there.”

“That was wise of you, Dusty. I will clear it with Zalith, but I am sure he will not mind you looking into this. I suspect nothing will come of it, but Spectra is right: it is worth checking,”
he sent.
“Now, I would like to meet Greymere. Can you bring him out here?”

“I don’t see why not
,
”
I sent. Then I sent to Spectra,
“Is Greymere still with you?”

“Yes, I’m walking back to Nemesis with him,”
she sent back.

“Ask him to come out of airlock 13 and find me,”
I sent back.

“Okay,”
she sent.

“Oh, and Grandmaster Vydor is going to ask Zalith for permission for us to visit, so all is looking good there, so far,”
I sent.

“Great. Greymere is on his way now,”
she sent.

I watched the exterior hatch until it finally opened.
“Grandmaster, he may be hard to see,”
I started to send but then stopped when I saw him fly out. It was the most beautiful sight I had seen in a very long time. His skin was an iridescent black and had a multicolored sheen to it. It was completely different from the last time I had seen him, and I realized that was because he was no longer trying to hide.

“Greymere, glad you could come out. I am sorry to have to speak to you in this manner, but the lack of air out here makes normal speech rather troublesome,”
sent Grandmaster Vydor.

“You must be Grandmaster Vydor,”
he sent back. He was more comfortable with telepathic communication than I would have expected. Mundanes could not use telepathy any more than Shea could, but they could take part in a telepathic conversation if a magus began it; I would have expected him to be uncomfortable with someone speaking inside his head unless he’d had prior experience of it.

Nor did he seem surprised that Grandmaster Vydor was just standing there in the cold vacuum of space. That might have been normal for his race, but he must have known it was not normal for a human, even an Imperial Human.

“Yes, and I remember you well. No need to pretend,”
he sent.

“Sorry, Grandmaster; I meant no disrespect
,
”
he sent.

“It is fine. I understand. We met, what? almost a century ago? That was a different time,”
sent Grandmaster Vydor.

“Yes, indeed, but not as interesting as this time is now becoming,”
he sent back.

“Dusty has informed me of his offer to you, and rest assured he has the full authority to offer it. Even if he had not, I would approve it. All your people are as welcome in my kingdom as any other sentient race, and I welcome your involvement in this mission,”
sent Grandmaster Vydor.

“Thank you, Grandmaster. Safe harbor for my people is a debt I cannot hope to repay, but I will serve Dusty the best I can in the hope of giving something back,”
he sent.

“No payment needed. Oh, by the way, Raquel sends her regards and asked me to tell you that she will be heading out this way soon to lead the Sac’a’rith in Narcion’s place. She wanted you to know that you are always welcome on her team,”
he sent.

“Raquel?”
Greymere seemed a bit surprised, maybe even concerned, at the mention of that name.

“Yes. After she left you, she came to find me and is now also a citizen,”
he sent.

“But how did you know to bring her message?”
he asked.

Grandmaster Vydor smiled and sent,
“The ways of wizards are mysterious indeed!”

“Well, thank you for the message. If it is not an imposition, could you let her know that I am greatly honored by her offer but will be helping Dusty’s team for the foreseeable future?”

“I will. It was good to see you again, old friend. Unfortunately, I must go now. Dusty, wait to hear back from me, but I am sure I can secure permission for you to go
,
”
he sent.

We exchanged goodbyes and then Grandmaster Vydor was gone. It was not that he teleported, or moved away; it was more that he just ceased to exist. One moment he was there and the next he was not. With any other magus I could easily see them move, regardless of how they did it. No one could hide what they were doing from me, no one except Grandmaster Vydor.

“We should get you back inside. You have a dinner date,”
I sent.

“Yes. I am concerned about her. She is obviously smitten with my chosen bipedal form, but that is not who I am,”
he sent.

“Make no mistake: she might yet be young in the art, but she is still a spiritualist. She can see your true nature just by looking at you. If she is smitten with you, it is because of who you are, not what you look like
.
”

“Can all magi see me that way?”
he asked.

“No, but several of the power lines can. It just so happens that every magus on my team can do so,”
I sent.

“Just my luck,”
he sent back.

As we headed inside I thought again about how comfortable he was around magi and using telepathy. I assumed that this was because he knew Grandmaster Vydor, but it was apparent that he also knew the new elite wizard Raquel. At some point I would have to find out more about his past, but for the present I thought it best to let it go as I wanted to gain his trust.

Dusty and Spectra had left for the Cathratinairian home world, and Jade and Kymberly had wandered off somewhere, leaving me alone with Saraphym. They seemed to find excuses to do that whenever they could and I had to admit I did not object. She was entertaining to hang around with.

“Greymere, come for a walk with me,” she suggested.

“Sure, where to?” I asked.

“Oh, just along the shipping hub. I like to watch the ships come and go,” she said.

“Lead the way, then,” I replied.

I was unsure how I felt about her, but it was clear she was interested in building a relationship with me beyond the professional one of being fellow members of Dusty’s team. Dusty had explained to me that she could see me for what I was, no matter what form I took, and that is what she would be drawn to, but I could not forget that her race looked very similar to the one I currently resembled. Yet there was something about her, maybe it was her smell or something in her voice; I did not know exactly what, but there was something more to her, something familiar. Whatever it was, I felt I should know it but it was just out of my mental reach. It was enchanting in a way, drawing me closer to her and softening my resistance to building a friendship with her.

As we approached the windows she asked, “What is it like out there?”

“Surely you have been there?” I asked.

“Oh, of course. I have extensive training in operating in space, but it is always in my armor, so I am not really out there,” she said. “It’s like we take a bit of inside with us when we go.”