Our first real skirmish was not very exciting. We encountered twelve Hoblins blocking the cross passage between sections four and twelve. We were on them in nothing flat; Lokust taking out three; Sinae competing with four of her own; Dell took out three with just her wand, and I was on ‘cleanup’ with the last two. All turned out to be conscripted crewmembers- enlisted at that.
“So, with a crew of ten thousand, where is everyone?” Dell asked. I think, given the light opposition, we were all asking that question.
“Why don’t you ask your Current where the party is, buddy?” Lokust suggested. “It worked last time.”
Another good idea from her.
“It’s not telling me a specific location like it did with Dell and Sinae. I guess I was more attached to them and less with the rest of Mare’s crew.” I answered as I opened my eyes with my Current sense still enabled.
As before when I did that, I could see the bright orange Current flowing all around us. I also noticed each of us having an insanely bright orange aura surrounding us- coming from us. Our Current pulsed at a slightly different rate than that of the ship, too.
“Wow! We’re overflowing with Current! I never expected it to look so beautiful.”
And then I caught notice of something in several Current ‘paths’ traveling along the deck under our feet. The Current’s usual orange pulse was interrupted intermittently by a slightly darker orangeish-red blotch that pulsed slightly slower.
“Hey, can anyone else see this?” I asked my friends pointing to one of the possibly corrupted Current streams.
“We see a deck, Chance. What do you see?” Sinae shot back thinking I was pulling something. She, Dell, and Lokust stopped and turned around toward me.
“There she goes again with that ‘I can see and feel the Current’ routine.” Dell added as both she and Sinae looked at me with a raised eyebrow apiece.
“Guys. Listen to her.” Lokust warned. “Chance can actually see the Current flowing around us. I bet we can all see it now…as we are now. Right, buddy?”
I nodded with a shrug.
“Everyone close your eyes and ask your Current to help you see it then open your eyes. I’m thinking Lokust is right.”
Kitty, Dell, and Lokust recoiled as they each opened their eyes. They began looking around in awe as if seeing the compartment we were in for the very first time. Each time their eyes passed over me though they shaded them with their hand.
“I would’ve never imagined it to be this beautiful,” Sinae gasped, intentionally looking off to the side of me.
In fact all three of my friends seemed to suddenly be avoiding me visually!
“Hey, buddy? Not to split hairs, but why are you SOOO much brighter than Kitty and Dell?”
“You mean, why is she so much brighter than you and Dell, Lokust? Sinae corrected.
“Everyone! Don’t! move!” Dell hushed us as I noticed her gaze fixed on me. She blinked twice. The beyond serious stare she was giving me made my blood suddenly run cold!
Everything was still and silent for a moment.
In the next instant she had grabbed her bow, grabbed an arrow, attached something from it to her wrist protector- which I hadn’t even known she’d had, nocked the arrow, pulled back, and fired!
I felt the fletching tickle my neck as her arrow passed by me at extremely close range.
She’d done that all in one, smooth, motion!
A blue arc raced past me just after I’d turned to juke out of the way.
A big Hoblin had appeared behind us some ninety feet away, but was now withering as Dell absorbed its Current.
“Damn, Girlfriend! Nice shootin’!” Lokust swooned.
Sinae regarded Dell quietly- as if re-evaluating our friend.
“It just suddenly appeared back there. I had to tone down my Current sight to see past you, Chance. Sorry I got so close to you. I’ll give my next shot a wider margin.”
“Very nice! I guess mom was right renaming you ‘Artemis’; you definitely got the skills!” I praised.
“So what were you saying about the Current I assume we all can see, Chance?” Sinae asked to get me back on topic.
“See this stream right here?” I pointed. “Every-so-often a darker hued blotch passes along it. Watch.”
“Wonder what it means, buddy?” Lokust questioned.
“Tainted Current.”
“You mean these things can travel the Current conduits?” Dell gasped. “Is that even possible?”
“As possible as a woman with next to no specialty weapons training making the money shot on a bad guy on the first try.” Sinae responded calmly.
“Without colateral.” She added with a nod to me.
Dell gulped.
“Well. Mom said we’ve been optimized.” I shrugged again. “I think my conduit theory makes sense the way these things just ‘pop’ up. Let’s get those two crewmen someplace safe until they wake up.
From my job of tracking down and fixing Current leaks through the Mare, I knew of a ‘wet’ closet nearby. A ‘wet’ closet was a term we used to describe a water filtration and reclamation compartment. Current and water didn’t mix very well, so had to be isolated. Since no Current flowed near these compartments save for a few illuminators, I was hoping them safe to hide recovering transformees.
“I would’ve never thought of moving them to a wet closet, buddy. No Main Current conduits- no badies. Great idea if…if they can’t fit through a ‘keep alive’ conduit!”
 
 
Once back out patrolling the passageways, I motioned us into one of the larger compartments in this section.
“I don’t see any of them in here, Chance. What’s up?” Dell whispered loud enough so that only the four of us could hear.
“I’ve been thinking…”
“Is that wise, buddy?”
I ignored my friend’s friendly jab. “Thinking about my conduit theory. I wonder what would happen if a conduit was suddenly cut off… isolated?”
“We’d probably be knee deep in Hoblins, Chance. IF your theory holds true. It could be a way of containing engagements.”
“Let’s find out. Lady Kitty can you put a shuriken here and here,” I said as I ran over to and indicated a specific spot on the compartment’s deck. “then here and here?” I pointed to another. “Lady Lokust? Time to use that fancy shunt of your’s. After Kitty stops the Current flow to that spot, I want you to shunt around it using the outermost shurikens. Understand?”
“Copy that, Lady Chance. Ready when you are Lady Kitty.”
“Huntress, you might want to take a better vantage point. Remember I’m going to be doing the close in stuff. Please don’t shoot me.”
“Let’s just do this, guys.” Dell answered as she pulled her bow, attached and nocked an arrow, and took aim at the soon to be blockage.
“When you’re ready, Lady Kitty?”
Sinae reached into one of her bandoleer pouches and four throwing stars whizzed from her hand to embed themselves in the deck at exactly the places I had specified. Wow, was she good! Lokust quickly unwound, snapped the whip a few times and smoothly jumpered the outer shurikens. It all happened in under a second!
With my Current sight still enabled, I noticed four darker blotches stop and move back and forth a few times between the inner stars.
Four Hoblins sprang from thin air right in front of me! Dell nailed two of them almost instantly as I pulled my backup and dove, two-fisted, at the other two.
“Impressive, buddy, but I thought magic wands were used for magic, not impaling.”
“Point taken. But I haven’t settled on an attack style yet.”
“Throwing bolts of blue Current looked pretty impressive when we rescued the girls, buddy. Why not adapt that?”
“Hey, guys? We have three more of our crew to get to safety?” Kitty interrupted as she leaned down to remove Lokust’s shunt and her weapons from the deck. “We can debate attack styles later.”
Once the crewmen were relocated to safety, I chose another tainted conduit that looked busier than the previous one. I specified a longer blockage and Kitty repeated her amazing throw. Lokust again bypassed the blockage and this time we were rewarded with twenty-four Hoblins.
This time I decided to really ‘use’ my wand and asked my Current to help recover the tainted Current that made up our foes.
I was rewarded with five separate bolts of Current striking five different Hoblins. Only three proved to be crewmembers.
Again Dell’s swift arrow attack immediately took out four Hoblins, all conscripted crew. Seven more Hoblins fell to her bow in quick succession.
Kitty’s deft ability with her shurikens drained another four, and Lokust went berserker on the remaining four.
We had rescued twelve of our crew in total, but one of those, a woman under Dell’s supervision died as we carried them to the wet closet. She had been only partially restored. Her legs had remained disfigured with the sickly gray skin.
“I think we’re running out of time, Chance.” Lokust said sadly as I wiped tears from my eyes.
“We have to split up, take different parts of the ship.” I said as I noticed Sinae looking at my chest.
“What’s the matter, Lady Kitty?”
“Check your locket, Chance. Your cleavage is glowing pretty bright.”
“Well that isn’t good. Is it, buddy?”
“How should I know! Mom? What’s it mean when your locket looks like a space beacon?” I asked, hoping the hologram would appear with an answer.
“Were you calling me, honey?” Mom’s image asked as she appeared in front of me. I lifted and showed her my locket.
“Well that isn’t good.”
“No kidding! What do I do about this, mom?”
“You need to drain off some of your Current, Chance. Try returning it to the ship’s reservoir.”
“Gotcha.” I said as I enabled my Current sight and found a pure return conduit. Placing my hand to the deck over the conduit, I asked some Current to leave my body’s reserve and return to the ship.
A warm, pleasant feeling flowed down my arm and out my hand to the deck. I waited until I felt no further transfer then stood back up.
“That. Was. Amazing! I’ve never seen anything like that before, buddy!”
“If your lockets start glowing you’ll each need to find a Current return conduit that isn’t tainted and kindly ask some of what you’ve stored to go back to the ship, everyone got that?”
My friends nodded.
“Okay then, let’s split up. Kitty, take the Bridge and CC. Huntress, take environmental. Lokust, you’re familiar with maneuvering, so you take care of business there while I head down to Engineering and try to purify the Current reservoirs and see what I can do to chase these things from the conduits.”
We all went in different directions.
“Was it wise to split the team so soon, honey? You girls just got together. You haven’t had the time to gel. You must have a lot of trust in them.”
“I trust them with my life, mom. We would do anything for each other.”
“I wish I had the full cooperation of my team back in the day, Chance. At least I had fifty percent. That ain’t half bad, as they say. I’ll be monitoring each of you on this mission, so if you need assistance, don’t hesitate to call on me.”
“You can do that, mom? I thought the DataTab was your only terminal?”
“Just one more special feature of the lockets, honey. Another is an isolated, encrypted and untraceable, long-range, communication system. Has everyone gotten all that?”
“Kitty copies.”
“Huntress copies.”
“Grub…er…Lokust copies, Major.”
“Chance copies, mom.” I added. The hologram looked at me wryly as if she was going to say something, but disappeared instead.
 
 

 
 
Lokust’ perspective:
“Just one more special feature of the lockets, honey. Another is an isolated, encrypted and untraceable, long-range, communication system. Has everyone gotten all that?” The hologram of Chance’s mom explained.
I gazed at the high-tech locket as I fished it out from between my tits.
That was still really strange to say! ‘My tits’. I hated to say it, but I was actually starting to get used to them.
“Kitty copies.”
“Huntress copies.”
“Grub…er…Lokust copies, Major.” I acknowledged with a start. I almost forgot my codename. Was it actually a codename or was it my permanent ‘female’ name?
“Chance copies, mom.”
That was my buddy: ever the wise ass!
Major Summers’ halo disappeared and I continued on my way to maneuvering.
My first solo encounter came just minutes afterward. Six goons had rounded a passage intersection and I asked my Current, as per Chance’s suggestions, to help me drain and purify our enemies through my wand.
I was rewarded with the same arcs of blue energy that Chance had used before we split up. The rush I felt could only be described as intoxicating!
All six rewarded me with crewmen and I promptly found a wet closet to hide them. I quickly left a message on one of their DataTabs to stay put until all six had recovered then to await further instructions.
Given this ‘getup’ I wondered if they would heed my message at all. I mean, I would be thinking of doing something more than heeding a message from ‘Lokust’- Way more, in fact.
“Keep on task, Grunfuller. After the ship has been rid of these abominations, then you can think about getting yourself laid!”
I must have blushed deep crimson! I didn’t know she could hear my thoughts with that thing. Though, she did say she would be monitoring us.
Shit.
“Yes, Maj. Summers, ma’am. I’ll stick to business, ma’am!”
“Good girl. You’ll need to find a pure return conduit soon, Lokust. You’re at eighty percent Current capacity.”
“Copy that, Major. Thanks.”
Summers’ halo nodded to me then disappeared.
I had the privilege of dispatching twelve more Hoblins before I reached my designated objective. Two of the eight crewmen I recovered remained almost half Hoblin or just ‘half’. I had to assume the worst since only half of them reconstituted. Thankfully they didn’t last long because the screams of agony turned my stomach and I had to look away while covering my ears.
One specialist, a woman I had seen a few times around the ship, begged me to kill her.
Maj. Summers halo reappeared and advised me on how to do just that. She told me it was the most humane way she knew.
I cried my eyes out for several minutes after snapping her neck like a dry twig.
Finding a secure vantage point just through this section’s airtight bulkhead, I took in my situation.
“Lokust, Chance. Buddy? We have a real situation down here.” I said as I touched my locket.
“What’s the problem, Lokust?”
“This section is just crawling with these things! No way am I gonna clean this place up alone.”
“How many is ‘crawling’, buddy?”
“Offhand I’d call it close to five or six…”
“Oh, come on! Five or six! I’ve seen you take out…”
“Five or six hundred, buddy! You didn’t let me finish.”
“Oh. That’s a little different.”
“No kidding? Gee, I thought that was a drop in the bucket, Chance! Am I going to get some backup down here?”
“Huntress here. I’m almost done in Environmental, Chance. Give me time to hit the potty and I’ll be there in a few minutes, Lokust. Hold tight.”
 
 
Dell’s perspective:
“Just one more special feature of the lockets, honey. Another is an isolated, encrypted and untraceable, long-range, communication system. Has everyone gotten all that?” The hologram of Chance’s mom explained.
“Kitty copies.”
“Huntress copies.” I answered as Chance’s mom nodded and disappeared.
“Grub…er…Lokust copies, Major.”
What a ditz, I thought. Of anyone, Grunfuller had this coming! I couldn’t count how many times he had tried to make a pass at both Sinae and I, or the other five thousand women on the Mare!
“Chance copies, mom.”
I rolled my eyes. That was our Chance!
I made it most of the way to Environmental before taking resistance. Twenty Hoblins were waiting for me as I turned into the main passageway to the section, but I was fully prepared! Something inside me…something felt I needed to set myself for a trap.
Flying four arrows in my first assault and four kills, I took a tactical retreat into the narrower passage from which I had come. This would act to funnel the enemy and slow their advance.
It was easy for me to thin the onslaught and I casually retrieved my arrows, pulling my wand and draining the remaining six using the technique Chance had shown before we split.
Entering the Environmental section, I was surprised that only a few Hoblins were here, but then I saw the reason. The Environmental section of the Mare used organics to filter and renew our breathable atmosphere- organics being trees, bushes, all manner of plant life. Basically anything that would ‘breath in’ carbon mono and di-oxide (CO and CO2).
To limit the amount of carbon particles in the atmosphere, water was used and reclaimed for the process.
According to our information, Hoblins were made up of Current. And Current hated water.
Most of the twenty-five Hoblins in this section were of the disposable type; aka Conscripts. Only twenty of them restored completely. The five that didn’t I dispatched with cold, callous, efficiency.
I questioned my newfound demeanor toward the unfortunates, but something inside of me told me that they were no longer suffering…that their torment was now over. They were the lucky ones- the ones that didn’t need to face the horrible fate the rest of us would experience if I and the rest of our team failed!
A few tears escaped my eyes despite that attitude.
“Lokust, Chance. Buddy? We have a real situation down here.”
“What’s the problem, Lokust?”
“This section is just crawling with these things! No way am I gonna clean this place up alone.”
“How many is ‘crawling’, buddy?”
“Offhand I’d call it close to five or six…”
“Oh, come on! Five or six! I’ve seen you take out…”
“Five or six hundred, buddy! You didn’t let me finish.”
“Oh. That’s a little different.”
“No kidding? Gee, I thought that was a drop in the bucket, Chance! Am I going to get some backup down here?”
“Huntress here. I’m almost done in Environmental, Chance. Give me time to hit the potty and I’ll be there in a few minutes, Lokust. Hold tight.” I said as I located and placed my hand, palm down, on a pure orange Current return conduit. As Chance had instructed, I asked my Current to release back into the Mare’s system. It was even more amazing of a feeling than draining Hoblins!
Once relieved, I headed back to maneuvering. I had thought about finding a wet closet, but figured the recovered crewmembers would be safe here. Just to be sure, I moved them all beside the carbon scrubbers.
Chance’s mom appeared running next to me as I hurried through the passages.
“In order to not interrupt the whole team, you can tap the locket twice to secure a channel to the member you wish to talk to, Artemis.”
“I think I like ‘Huntress’ better, M’lady. I seem to have found the disposition for that name. Thank you for the Comms information.”
“Of course, M’lady Huntress. Good hunting.”
Touching my locket twice, I specified my intended team member.
“Lokust, Huntress. I need a safe approach vector.”
“Approach vector? Dell, We aren’t in a shuttle. Oh…I get it! Passage F2M09 should be clear unless the badies know how to respawn. ETA?”
“I’ll be there in five if no resistance. Huntress out.” I said as I rounded another intersection and saw the Corpse…well, half a Corpse at least. Her head was laying at an odd angle and I knew immediately that Lokust had done what I had to do to a fellow crewmember. I suddenly felt really bad for Lokust and vowed to offer her my shoulder when I got to her.
If needed, that is. I didn’t know if her attitude had been affected by her change like mine had. My thoughts quickly went to Sinae and what she would do in similar circumstances.
 
 
Sinae’s perspective:
“Just one more special feature of the lockets, honey. Another is an isolated, encrypted and untraceable, long-range, communication system. Has everyone gotten all that?” The hologram of Chance’s mom, Maj. Summers, explained just before disappearing.
“Kitty copies.” I responded.
“Huntress copies.”
“Grub…er…Lokust copies, Major.”
I rolled my eyes. Grub…excuse me, Lokust was such a Glurp!
“Chance copies, mom.”
I rolled my eyes again at my friend’s unnecessary response right before I met with five Hoblins. Four shurikens and one wand ended the confrontation. I quickly found a wet closet for the survivors and left standing orders to stay put and await further instructions.
Holding up my hand as an experiment, I asked the stars to return to me-, which they did obediently- and placed them back in my pouch. They didn’t stay there long as I met thirty Hoblins on the move coming from the CC. This skirmish lasted twice as long and required me to use all of my stars and use Chance’s wand trick on the rest.
The wand method worked relatively well and I used it more in my next engagement ten minutes later.
“Major. Any way to talk with just one member of the team, sir?” I asked hoping Chance’s mother would indeed be monitoring my progress.
“Tapping the locket twice opens a private link, Princess.”
“I would like it very much if you just called me ‘Kitty’, sir. I was disowned from that title eighteen standard years ago when my ideals clashed with those of my father. He went as far as shortening my tail saying if I couldn’t respect him, I shouldn’t get respect myself. It is still my belief that he was wrong in doing so.”
“You are so much like her, Sinae! Libra didn’t mix words either, nor was she ever that spiteful. Your father was wrong for maiming you, dear, but I believe he meant well in that respect must be paid to our elders. Reading your father’s file, I have to say that he did have charges brought against him and received the same punishment he inflicted on you. Prince of the throne or not, your Grandmother has never forgiven him and I see several communications sent from her to you that were summarily deleted without opening.”
“How did you retrieve those?!” I demanded as I removed eight more Hoblin obstacles.
“You don’t know by now, Kitty?”
“I haven’t had a lot of time to think, sir. Maybe my personals were not as secured as I was led to believe?”
Two more Hoblins fell to my stars.
“I used magic, Kitty. The same way Chance restored what was rudely taken from you. By the way, you need to drain off some Current. I’m reading ninety-nine percent in your Current reservoir.”
I stopped dead in my tracks.
“My tail is back? For real? Its not going to vanish when I return to normal old Sinae?”
“Of course not! What do you think we Summers’ are, Indian Givers?”
“I don’t know what that is, but I didn’t mean to impugn your character, sir. It just seemed out of the realm of possibilities.
“One on your six, hun.” She reported and a quick throw cleared the passage.
“Restoring your tail was not out of the realm of our tricks, Sinae. You are welcome to keep it or just let Chance know if you don’t. She can whip up a masking spell so you look like you always have since joining the Mare. Your choice, dear.”
“Thank you, sir! I think I’ll keep it!”
Major Summers disappeared wearing a happy smile. I quickly found and used a pure return conduit.
Clearing the CC was only slightly more of a challenge but once done and the restored crewmembers safely hidden away, I headed up to the Bridge.
That was where I found Capt. Serangetti and the other Bridge officers. I was amazed that they had remained human and not been conscripted like the others. Maybe Hoblins were not compatible with humanoid control systems?
“Just what the HELL are you?” Our captain shouted after I had quickly cleared the bridge of the three deformed abominations I found there.
“Lady Kitty of the Coven, sir!” I said standing to attention, but with my left arm out from my side. My dispensed stars whirled back into my waiting hand and I quickly pouched them.
Serangetti’s eyes almost popped from his head at seeing that.
“Just what the hell is the ‘Coven’, ‘Lady Kitty’?” He asked, looking closer.
“Who are you?”
“Sorry, sir. I cannot answer that at this time. It would require above TOP SECRET clearances from multiple branches of several planetary militias, sir!”
“Then maybe you can tell me what those ‘things’ were and why they want my ship! Is that also above my clearance level?” He growled angrily.
“They are called Hoblins, sir. Why they have boarded the Mare is not yet known. My Coven and I are working to free all hostages and recover as many conscripted crewmembers as possible, sir.”
“Conscripted…crewmembers? I don’t get it, Princess.”
He must have assumed the royal title given my tail. Only royalty on my planet had full-length tails.
“Lady Kitty, sir! I must protest the presumptive title you implied. As again, that information is above your clearances. As for the conscripts, sir, the Hoblins have a means of, shall we say, ‘converting’ humanoids like us into…into whatever they actually are. The Coven is the only team capable of dispatching them and recovering conscripted crewmen, sir. That is all I can relate at this time, sir. If you will excuse me, we have much more work to do and are running out of time. Please remain here and secure the door. We will contact you when we have re-secured the ship.”
I hurried off the Bridge tapping my locket twice.
“Lady Chance, Lady Kitty. Bridge and CC clear. Proceeding to next objective.”
“Lady Kitty, Lady Chance. You might want to join me down here in Engineering. We have a very, very big problem.”
“What kind of a problem, Lady Chance?”
“Do you have any experience disarming detonators? Big…hulking…Bomb detonators?”
“I’m a bit out of practice. How big are we talking?”
“Ooooh. About the size of the Current return reservoir? It looks like they have it rigged to rupture when the pressure builds up.”
“On my way! Kitty out.”
I stopped suddenly as something…some ‘feeling’…hit me. Like someone reaching out and grabbing the scruff of my neck.
Something wasn’t right!
“Hey, guys? I’m heading back to the Bridge. Something isn’t sitting right about the Captain.”
“Copy that, Kitty. Lokust, Huntress? I could use your help here in Engineering while Kitty investigates.”
“Copy, Chance. Lokust and I will be there as soon as we clear this section. It might be a while.”
“Copy. I’ll see if mom has any experience that might be useful. Chance out.”
The Bridge access would not respond to my passcode. Either they had followed my orders, or…
Taking my wand in hand, I asked my Current to help me gain access to Mare’s Bridge and pointed it at the access panel.
The door ‘whoooshed’ open quickly and I entered just as fast.
“Lady Kitty? What is the problem? Did you forget something?” Capt. Sarengetti demanded.
I concentrated on the scent of my fellow Lynxin, but noticed him staring at my hat- at my ears in particular.
Damn. My only tell had been noticed!
“Something isn’t right! I’ve detected a strange scent in here and it took me a while to recognize it. I’d like to investigate.”
“By all means, M’lady. Feel free to look around.”
Carefully, I used my nose to investigate the various smells I had previously associated with the real Bridge crew. Stopping at each officer and each enlisted. As planned I saved Capt. Serangetti for last.
I smelt it on him! The slight stench of rotting flesh mixed with week old trash and spoiled dairy. I also smelled fear.
“Huh. I don’t smell it now. Strange. I could have sworn… Oh well, I guess I was wrong. Sorry for the intrusion. Carry on.” I said playing up that I had made a mistake. It occurred to me that the real Serangetti would have known me, restored tail or not. This guy was a doppelganger.
As I headed for the door, I prepared myself. I readied four stars and concentrated on where I wanted them to go- who I wanted them to hit.
I took action as soon as I felt my targets begin to twitch. My four stars found their marks without me laying a hand to throw any of them. I wasn’t even facing my enemies!
I turned and eyed up my prey as four blue arcs flashed and sputtered into me. As happens with ‘fully assimilated’ Hoblins, nothing was left. The other Bridge officers stared in complete fear of me as I eyed them and let a snarl escape my throat.
“You just killed them!” One of the ‘real’ bridge crew bravely declared, but wisely didn’t move a muscle.
“If that was truly the Captain then his body would still be here- it would still be solid matter. Those were Hoblins impersonating Capt. Serangetti, his first officer, and those two other officers whom I’ve never met. What were his last orders, Lieutenant?”
“We…we…we were preparing to increase speed to full, m…mmmmm, ma’am…M’lady.”
“Well I suggest you belay that order and bring Mare to a halt. The invaders have sabotaged the Current Return Tanks to over pressurize. Do any of you know the result should that happen?”
“The ship would explode?”
“Along with everyone on this bucket! So, while our team clears the ship of hostiles, I suggest that you carefully examine everything in the Bridge and CC. Look for anything that might be out of place or adjustment. Send the information to SFC Chance Summers’ DataTab. She’s working with us and will pass it to us. Lock this section down to be safe and keep away from the Current conduits. A wet closet would be safest.”
I left the Bridge and hurried to Engineering.
“Kitty, Chance. Bridge and CC clear for real this time. Heading to your location. Do you recommend an approach vector?”
“Passage 4E2C to Bulkhead door 4E2CR3. It should still be clear.”
“Copy. On my way. Kitty out.”
 
 
Chance’s perspective:
“Kitty copies.”
“Huntress copies.”
“Grub…er…Lokust copies, Major.”
“Chance copies, mom.” I added. The hologram looked at me wryly as if she was going to say something, but disappeared instead.
I began my trek to Engineering at a hurried pace. Along the way I came up against moderate opposition.
Two of the crew that I recovered didn’t all come back- meaning that one was missing her legs all the way up to her hips and the other…well…trust me, it wasn’t pretty! Mom came back online with advice.
“Honey, they can’t be saved. I’m sorry. The best you can do is put them out of their misery. A quick snap of their neck is all it takes.” She said sadly.
As tears ran down my face I did as suggested to the disfigured, grotesque, ‘thing’ that used to be one of Dell’s most valued men. With a loud snap, it was over for him. I hoped he was now at peace.
The female crewman looked at me, horrified! Even though I knew she was in extreme pain her eyes begged me to reconsider even more than her gasping words.
“No. Please. I don. Wanna. Die! Please! Please! No!”
My heart crumbled. Somehow, I had to figure a way to save her! I was now a member of the Witch Corps! That in itself meant I was a witch. Witches supposedly could do miraculous things. We could…did Magic!
Thinking quickly about that, I pictured what this woman needed to return to normal. It was easy to see. She needed her lower half returned to her. And fast! She was bleeding out quickly from her open torso.
That was it! She needed her lower half returned.
Concentrating, I asked my Current to find her missing parts and help me reconstitute her. I also asked it to hurry or we would lose her and I didn’t want to lose more lives than necessary- that it should let me know when found.
A quick feeling made itself known a second later. It was an excited type feeling from within me. Elation and pride?
“Please, no! NOooooo!” the woman tried to scream as I pointed my wand at her and gave my Current permission to do the impossible.
When the blue plasma cloud dissipated, a whole woman lay unconscious before me. I quickly felt for her pulse and was rewarded with, not only a strong pulse, but she began to moan and move her newly restored legs.
Her eyes flashed open and she looked at me with those same, horrified, eyes.
“How do you feel?” I asked as I wiped fresh tears from my cheeks. “I tried the best I could to restore you. Can you talk?”
“What are you?” She asked in a shaken, raspy, voice.
“I’m a member of the ‘Coven’, ma’am. We’re here trying to liberate this ship from the invading Hoblins. Are you able to walk?”
She immediately turned her attention to her legs.
“My legs! Oh, God! You gave me back my legs! How?”
“We’re not called the ‘Coven’ for nothing, you know.”
“What about hi…him?”
“He was too far gone, I’m afraid. I want you to hurry and get to the nearest wet closet and stay there. The Hoblins can’t reach you in there. Go.” I said.
“Wait! Who are you? What’s your name?”
“I am called Summers. Lady Summers. Now hurry to the wet closet!” I answered as I hurried away.
“So, Lady Summers is it? And what made M’lady choose such a noble title?” Mom commented, as she appeared running next to me.
“What was I supposed to say, mom? ‘Hi, I’m that creepy guy, Chance Summers that comes to fix your Current leaks?”
“Point taken, M’lady. But more to the point. How the hell did you do that? Reconstitute a whole body from only half?”
“I figured that the other half had to be in me somewhere! I asked my Current to find it and help me return it. Isn’t that what you would have done?” I explained as we turned another intersection.
Mom didn’t answer and I slid to a stop to look at her.
“Mom? You would have done the same, right?”
Still silent, mom’s avatar looked sadly to the deck.
“I was trained as a Marine, Chance. Our job was to accomplish the mission quickly and with as little casualties as possible. We were to leave those deemed ‘lost causes’. I’m afraid that half a woman meets that criteria, so no, I wouldn’t have tried that. But I am very proud of you, honey! You have raised the bar for the Witch Corps even higher. Teach your team that trick so that they can help reduce their casualty count as well. You are a true Summers, Chance! Keep up the good work.”
Mom’s hologram disappeared just as I ran headlong into another Hoblin patrol. I actually ran right through them, knocking them against the passage walls as I did. A simple ‘flick’ of my wand proved to be the stunned creatures’ undoing and I hastily moved four more recovered crewmen into a nearby wet closet. There would have been five, but for one, just the poor SOB’s head reconstituted with a blank, lifeless stare.
Eight more Hoblins tried to jump me, but ultimately failed. One of the six crewmen needed his feet returned, so after doing that, I hurriedly found sanctuary for them and continued on my way. Ten creatures guarded the door into the Engineering section. Two of those had been merged a few times judging from their size. My wand made short work of eight of them, but the bigger ones posed more of a challenge. One of them caught me square in the belly with a well-aimed blast and threw me back several dozen feet. Thank goodness for my armor! It actually helped me absorb it! As luck would have it, I came to a stop right over a pure Current return conduit and took the opportunity to empty some of my reservoir.
Now I was ready to take on these two beasts! I looked up at them from my three-point linebacker stance, a diabolical smile pasted to my face.
Reaching into my stocking, I pulled my backup wand and focused on the two lumbering behemoths closing on me. The incoming surge from these things was incredible!
As the blue arcing faded, eight of my fellow crew lay unconscious just five feet from me. Surprisingly, all seemed to be completely intact.
Once I got inside engineering, I saw why this section was so heavily guarded.
“Lady Kitty, Lady Chance. You might want to join me down here in Engineering. We have a very, very big problem.” I told her as I looked from my hidden position. I also used our official ‘Corps’ callsigns in case she was being observed.
“What kind of a problem, Lady Chance?”
“Do you have any experience disarming detonators? Big…hulking…Bomb detonators?”
“I’m a bit out of practice. How big are we talking?”
“Ooooh. About the size of the Current return reservoir? It looks like they have it rigged to rupture when the pressure builds up.”
“On my way! Kitty out.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Of any of us, Sinae was the most likely to have bomb-handling training
“Hey, guys? I’m heading back to the Bridge. Something isn’t sitting right about the Captain.”
Damn it all!
“Copy that, Kitty. Lokust, Huntress? I could use your help here in Engineering while Kitty investigates.”
“Copy, Chance. Lokust and I will be there as soon as we clear this section. It might be a while.”
“Copy. I’ll see if mom has any experience that might be useful. Chance out.”
“Mom? Any experience with Hoblin detonators attached to Current return reservoirs?”
“I might have some. Let me look at it, M’lady.”
“Knock off the ‘M’lady’ stuff, mom! Any ideas?”
“I would first suggest clearing this section, honey. Then we can get a better look at this device.”
“If I clear the section, my reservoir will be pretty full, mom. The way that tank is rigged, I don’t think adding more to it would be a good thing.”
“I see your point. How about you do the catwalk?”
“Excuse me? I really don’t think these things will see me that way, you?”
“I mean use that catwalk up there! It looks like it might get close enough for me to scan that detonator. And just so you know, I think you would look spectacular on THE Catwalk, honey. Rawwwwwwhll!”
“I never knew you to be that much of a pervert, mother!”
“I’m not, but I HAVE done my share of some of the biggest Catwalks-, and not just in Paris, honey. Just get us up there and stick to business.”
Twirling my wand over my head so that I didn’t hit my hat, I asked my Current to lift me up to the Maintenance catwalk about thirty feet above our current position. The feeling of being able to fly was exhilarating! Once my feet lightly touched the metallic walkway, I silently, cautiously, moved closer to my target.
“So where did you learn that, young lady?” Mom asked as she appeared in front of me.
“Well.” I crossed my arms in front of me. “We’re Witches, right?”
“Full-fledged members of the illustrious Witch Corps, yes, Chance.” Mom answered, but I could see she was trying to connect that question to her’s.
“I didn’t have a chance to make my broom appear so I had to improvise. Now, can you lend your expertise to our objective?”
“Give me a moment to analyze. Please hold.”
“And you wonder where I get it.”
“Kitty, Chance. Bridge and CC clear for real this time. Heading to your location. Do you recommend an approach vector?”
“Passage 4E2C to Bulkhead door 4E2CR3. It should still be clear.” I answered.
“Copy. On my way. Kitty out.”
“From what I can ascertain, this detonator is Current-based, so any additional Current applied, such as your magic, will cause the tank to breach. You have to find some way to detach it and clear it from the reservoir, ASAP.”
“I was actually afraid you would say that. I guess I need to do this in old Chance mode.” I cringed as I ‘sheathed’ my wand, held out my left hand, and made a flourish motion. Three normal Rerouters appeared. Flourishing my right hand, a six-foot shunt appeared.
“I’m not even going to ask where you had those hidden, honey. So, what are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking if I can reroute the detonator’s sensing mechanism, I can use the shunt to isolate it from the return tank. I can’t gaurantee I won’t rupture the tank though.”
“Risky at best, honey. You could overcharge your reservoir.”
“Is that something bad? I thought you said that once I reached ‘threshold’ I didn’t have to worry.”
“Truth is, honey, I don’t know what would happen. I’ve never been in a situation where so much Current was flowing before. Not in my entire fifteen hundred years!”
“Well, I guess we’ll find out, because I can’t think of another way.”
“Be careful, Chance! I’ll be right here beside you. Not that I’ll be of any help, though.”
“I’ll have to hover over to the tank. Mom? Think that would cause it to trigger?”
“My scans indicate that shouldn’t affect it, Chance. A direct hit of Current, though, would most definitely cause a ‘Kaboom’.”
“Lokust, Chance. We’re ready to make our entrance. You have eyes on the bad guys?”
“A little busy right now, ladies.” I paused to look down as I hovered dangerously close to the huge detonator. It had to be almost as big as my bed! About the same dimensions, too!
“Chance, Lokust. You have about twenty hostiles within twenty feet and the concentration stays about the same in the rest of the section. Welcome to the hive, ladies!”
“So I guess this is where all the cool Hoblins hang out, huh? Okay, Huntress and I are ready. If you can provide some cover fire?”
“I have my hands full with the detonator. Mom says it can be falsely triggered by a direct Current shot. I’m trying to isolate it from the main return tank with my rerouters and a shunt.”
“I got some chewing medium and heavy metalized thread if you need it, buddy.”
“We’ll need more than that if this doesn’t work.” I replied as I carefully placed the first of my rerouters to what looked like a Current–based sensor. I hoped my Current sense was working properly because that was the only way I could ‘see’ those specific components.
Hovering over to the other side of the insanely large device, I reached out with my Current sense again and cautiously placed the second rerouter.
So far, no Kaboom.
“Knock, knock.” Lokust announced over our comm and I quickly hovered back from the detonator. With a flourish, my wand replaced the last rerouter in my hand. I pulled my backup, too.
Lokust and Dell hurried through the door.
“Honey? I’m home!” Lokust shouted in a strange Latino accent as bolts of blue Current shot between her and several Hoblins. Likewise, Dell’s arrows found and drained several more creatures. If you looked close you could see her arrows magically returning to her quiver after they had done their jobs. The effect was her rapidly firing arrow after arrow without seeming to run out. It was a fascinating thing to see.
“Not to be outdone, I did my best to provide air cover, taking out twenty or so Hoblins from overhead.
“Good God, they’ve gained experience! I don’t think Chantell OR Charli could ever handle a wand as well as you girls can!” Mom’s hologram gasped as it hovered beside me.
Lokust flourished her wand toward the main Current return tank and a ‘whooshing’ sound broke the chaotic noise of our attacks. Several dozen Hoblins flew away from the tank into the middle of the section’s deck.
I was astounded!
“Looks like the Mage of the Four Winds is in the house.”
“You knew she could do this, mom?”
“Of course! Each one of you bears striking resemblances to your home worlds’ fabled heros. Sinae is a deadringer for her ancestor and my dearest friend, Libra, Queen of FeLane. Dell embodies the Greek Goddess, Artemis, whom, I might add seems to be her distant grandmother if the ancient statue is authentic. Lokust…Lokust was not borne on Earth and is the product of parents from two different worlds. She resembles her mother who is descended from one of the great ‘Mages’ of her maternal world. I have only served with Breeze De Vane a handful of times, but I can assure you, that,” Mom’s hologram motioned down toward Lokust dramatically, “is her, Chance.”
“You’re kidding me. Grub had an ancestor named ‘Breeze’? De Vane? And she was a Wind Mage? Really?” I snickered.
“Would I lie to you, honey? Yes, De Vane was her joined name- and it’s pronounced Bree-zee. She was quite the bad-ass and you wouldn’t want to cross wands with her for differing opinions, Chance. Once she got wound up, you just stepped back and let her go to town!”
“Sounds like Lokust alright.” I giggled as I watched from above as my two friends continued to clear the section.
Ten blue arcs suddenly streaked back to the bulkhead door. Sinae stood tall and very angry looking as she absorbed her targets.
“Chance, Kitty. Welcome to the party.” I said over my comm.
“Nice of you to invite me. Even better that you guys saved a few for me.” Kitty replied somewhat catty.
“How ARE you doing that, Chance?”
“On old Earth, witches rode around on flying broomsticks, but since I was hard-pressed for time, I had to improvise. Plus, this was the only way to get over to the detonator to disarm it.”
“That’s the detonator? Holy glurp heap, that thing is huge!”
“Yeah, so if it isn’t too degrading, could you come up here and lend a hand, princess?” I requested, shaking my head and giggling.
“I take it I just ask my Current to hover me up, right?”
“That’s what I did. Should work the same for the rest of the Coven, too.”
 
 
“This is sooooo, awesome, Chance!” Sinae swooned as she hovered up beside me. Her eyes couldn’t get much wider than they were right now.
“So now what?” she asked as I sheathed my backup wand and pointed my primary at a Hoblin that was getting a little too close to Lokust on the deck below us.
The blue arc quickly did its thing and I noticed my locket was shining pretty bright at the moment.
“You…um…want to take care of that, Chance?” Kitty suggested, nodding to my chest.
“And if what I put back raises the pressure enough to trigger the bomb?”
“Good point. Could you maybe share with me, Chance? Or does the Major have rules against that?”
“You girls are just chock-full of wonderful ideas, Princess. To be quite honest, Chantell, Charli, and I never tried it. Never needed to try it.” Mom said from my other side.
“No time like the present to find out.” I said as I held out my hand palm first to my friend.
Once our palms touched, I asked some of my Current to travel into Sinae. I was rewarded by a warm, pleasant tickle running down my arm.
“Fascinating! I must say that you ladies are even more dynamic than we were back in the day. I’ll have to remember that for the next time the situation arises.” Mom said.
I stared at the holographic image of my supposedly dead mother. I say supposedly because, well, with a Bio-Desolver attack…nothing organic…nothing…survives. Since finding out my mother was the leader of a ‘so far out there’ Black Ops group, well…I…I couldn’t know for sure. Who knows what tricks she still held in reserve.
“Oh. I’m sorry, honey. This A.I. your father designed is so sentient, I feel like I’m still here. Please forgive me?”
I didn’t believe the face of the hologram that was pleading with sad eyes. Call it a ‘feeling’, but this image was entirely too real AND free thinking to be artificial.
“We need to get this thing off the tank before our luck runs out, ladies.” I said to center my attention.
Hovering closer, I used my Current sense, located and placed the third rerouter. I reproduced the shunt in my left hand. Just as I was going to hand Kitty one end, I stopped. Something didn’t feel right. Up to this point, everything had been easy…too easy!
“Is it me or are things too easy?” I asked no one aloud.
“Chance?” Kitty asked curiously.
“Think about it. If there wasn’t more to this then where are the guards?”
“You mean like that one?” Kitty said as a shuriken levitated out of her bandoleer pouch and shot past my left ear, straight into a merged Hoblin lumbering toward us on the catwalk.
She had the good sense to move away from me and the detonator as she drained the hideous thing.
Three crewmembers appeared out of the blue plasma ball. Two rolled off the narrow catwalk and fell, but stopped just feet from the main deck. Sinae had her wand out and pointing to them. With a slight, smooth, downward stroke of the wand the two settled onto the deck below us, still unconscious.
“Well met, princess.”
Kitty’s wand instantly pointed to mom’s hologram.
“Stop calling me ‘Princess’!”
“But, M’lady, you ARE of the royal bloodline…”
“I…I don’t care! I am Kitty Sinae of FeLane. My affiliation with the hierarchy of my home world means nothing at the moment…especially when peoples’ lives hang in the balance!”
Mom’s hologram wiped her eyes.
“God! You are so much like her! If Libra could only see you, dear.”
“Chance. Please concentrate and use that well developed Current sense of your’s. Find the trips you feel there should be.” Sinae advised calmly. “I’ll keep the area clear.”
Focusing on the detonator, I put everything into my ‘sense’. After a few minutes of intense concentration, I finally found another pressure sensor. It was well hidden and would be very difficult to access.
“I know that look, Chance. This is the nasty one, right?” Kitty asked as she stared at me.
“Sinae? I need you to get to the deck and get the rest of the Coven to higher ground. Something’s going to give when I place this last reroute…” I began as I tried to produce another rerouter from my hidden inventory. My palm came up empty.
“Damn! I’m out of rerouters!” I cursed as I tried once more and got the same results.
“Allow me, M’lady.” Kitty giggled as she rolled her hand to produce one of her spares.
“Thanks.” I said quietly with a nod to her.
“Now please. Get Dell and Lokust to higher ground! If I foul up, the tank will empty to the level of the breach. And I’m not sure how resilient you three are to Current. I’m not even sure if I’ll survive this.”
“Chance…”
“Go! Get the other two to safety, Princess!” I urged with a growl. I asked my Current to negotiate with hers to lower her altitude then pointed my wand at my friend. She began sinking to the main deck below, a look of horror on her face.
Once her feet touched she hurried toward Dell and Lokust. All three took a short flight of steps to a platform about eight feet above the main deck. They continued to decimate the remaining Hoblins in this section. I returned to my task of placing the fourth rerouter.
 
 

 
 
It happened so fast and I had absolutely no time to prevent it!
Without warning a smaller, concealed charge detonated causing the huge detonator package to fall to the deck below nearly hitting me in the process. The small explosion created a three-foot hole in the Return tank’s wall. I was at ground zero for the resulting deluge of pure Current. I could feel it filling me. Overloading me!
Well, if this was how I was going to go, I might as well try to limit causalities. Although unable to see, I asked my Current to retrieve my supply of spray sealer. Feeling them materialize I began to spray, double-handed, the gaping hole, hoping to stop the breach. I hoped that I could hold more than my locket suggested. I also wished mom could physically be with me in my last moments of this existence.
A strange, high-pitched, whistling filled my ears as I dropped the two empty sprays and materialized two more to keep on spraying. It was not unlike the high-pitched whistling I had heard when I first reached my ‘threshold’.
That didn’t matter at all right now. I had to get this tank patched! No matter what! Even if I didn’t make it, I had to save the ship! I had to save my friends!
Eyes still closed tightly, I sensed the Current flow slow as I produced two more spray sealers and pointed them to the hole.
The leak seemed to be stopped- my patch job holding- as I dropped two more empty sprays a moment later. Should I open my eyes to check my work or had I gone over my limit and now permanently blind?
“My God! Chance!” Dell’s voice filled my ears. I guess they still work, I thought.
“Chance! Are you conscious? Chance! Answer me!” She sounded very upset.
I chanced to open one eye and when the Engineering section filled its view, I opened the other.
The top portion of the Current Return Tank loomed up beside me in all its blazing, bright orange, glory. My Current sense was still enabled. I blinked it off. To my surprise, I was still hovering beside the tank!
“Chance! Chance, Wake up!”
I held my hands in front of me to check them, to make sure I still had them.
“Oh. Thank God! She’s still alive!” Dell exclaimed in relief below and off to my right.
“Buddy? Can you hear us? Chance?” Lokust questioned gently.
“I…I think…I think I’m okay. I feel really funny, though.”
Kitty appeared on my left and stared at me, her hand shading her eyes. Her form seemed to be awash in some intensely bright light. If it wasn’t for her Witch Corps outfit and the tassled ears extending through her pointed hat, I wouldn’t have known who it was.
“Could you turn it down a few notches, Chance? I can barely keep my eyes on you.”
“Me? But I…I don’t know how I’m doing this. I’m not even sure how I’m still alive!”
“Maybe you should put back what you absorbed? As much as you think the tank can take without reopening that breach.”
“I’ll try. No guarantees.”
‘Time to go back into the reservoir.’ I thought to all my excess Current as I closed my eyes again.
The warm, pleasant, tickling feeling told me that I was discharging my stored Current. It felt so good that I felt myself arch backward, my arms splayed out from my sides.
“By the Great Gods and Goddesses! How is she doing that?” Dell cried out from below us.
“Looks like its orgasmic! Maybe I’ll get to try it someday soon.” Lokust’s voice opined from below.
“Oh, God, did that just come out of my mouth?” She gasped.
“As well as several other things in the last section we cleared, you slut.” Dell giggled.
 
 
“Feel better now, Chance?” Kitty asked a few minutes later. I had just felt the last of the excess Current leave my body.
I nodded as I flexed my arms, legs, neck, and spine.
“Good. Let’s get both of you down to the deck then.” Kitty suggested.
“Both of me? I don’t understand.” I asked as I finally looked to my right side and saw mom’s naked hologram floating there. She seemed to be unconscious for some odd reason. Had I somehow overloaded the A.I.?
I noticed something strange with it though. It looked too…real?
“She seems to be stuck in your levitation field, Chance. So I guess you’ll both have to land?”
“Hey, girlfriend!” Dell embraced me excitedly as my feet touched the deck. “We thought you were a goner up there, Chance. Then you…WOW…I mean…how did you do it?”
“How did I do what? Empty my reservoir? You should all know how I did that. You’ve all done it at least a half dozen times. I hope.”
“No, Buddy. She means, how did you make all that Current go back into the return tank from twenty feet away? All we saw was an uncontained stream of Current flowing from you, arcing up and over to the tank like a planet-based rainbow. Only it was bright orange! It was so beautiful, buddy!” Lokust clarified. It was obvious she was very impressed.
“Chance? I’m not feeling a pulse. We need to get the medics on the double.” Kitty urged.
“She’s a hologram, Sinae. They don’t have pulses.”
“I also shouldn’t be able to touch a hologram, Chance, but this one, I can!”
“What? How can she be…” I gasped as I knelt down beside a strikingly real looking and feeling Hope Summers! Quickly reaching for her carotid artery, I felt nothing.
She sure felt real!
“CPR.” I shouted as I motioned for Sinae to start. “Start compressions here about a hundred twenty a minute.”
Kitty tenderly began compressing mom’s chest.
“Can’t we get the medics, Chance?” Lokust asked.
“Sure. Start hunting down more Hoblins until you find one!”
“Oh…that’s right…sorry.”
“Hey! Mage of the Four Winds. See if you can ventilate her.” Kitty suggested sternly.
“Huh?” Lokust asked cluelessly.
“She means you Lokust! Use your fancy wind power to force some air into her lungs.” Dell commanded.
“Oh. Yeah, why didn’t I think of that?”
“Chance. If this really is your mother, we have to do everything in our power to save her. You have any lifesaving tricks tucked away under that hat of yours?”
“We need to jumpstart her heart. I’ve seen Current techs take a strong dose before and they needed to be ‘shocked’ back into…um…rhythm?”
“Well, we better figure something out soon or you may actually get that burial ceremony you complained about being deprived of eight years ago!”
Dell was right! I had to save mom. Somehow I had to figure a way to shock her heart back to life. Concentrating, I asked my Current for help. More like I pleaded with my Current to help me save my mother. I pictured how I thought it was done, but worried how much power was too much. A feeling of happiness filled me as a plan formed.
Standing up, I materialized my wand and pulled my backup from my stocking.
Holding the two wands like a pair of antique drumsticks, I knelt back down.
“Clear!” I ordered as I placed my wands on her- one I touched to just above her right breast, the other I held to her left side at the bottom of her ribcage.
A surge of Current flew from my left wand through mom’s chest cavity and reentered my right wand. The lifeless body arced up instantly and fell back to the floor. Sinae felt for a pulse again and shook her head sadly.
“Clear! I ordered again and asked my Current to increase the charge. I hit her again and mom’s body convulsed even higher off the deck, but again fell back.
“I’m still not getting anything, Chance. Should you hit her again?” Sinae asked with tears streaming from her eyes. They were starting to mat the fur on her cheeks.
“I need to try something else.” I said as I noticed her locket still chained around her neck but laying on the deck.
“Mom’s locket.” I said as I picked it up and examined it. “It’s me! She has my picture in it! As I am now! Its completely colorless.”
“Maybe you should fill it up, Buddy. Maybe she’s just out of juice.”
Placing her locket back on her chest, I consulted my Current and asked if some of it could temporarily migrate to mom. I placed my palm over mom’s locket and chest and began my transfer.
“Will you look at that! Her hand is shining bright blue!” Dell gasped.
It took a while, but I provided mom with a good charge of Current. Enough to bring the color back to half of my portrait.
“Clear!” I ordered again and concentrated on the amount of charge I wanted to administer increasing it slight over my last attempt.
The body leapt up in a great spasm then fell back to the deck. Sinae quickly felt mom’s neck for a pulse. A smile sprang to my friend’s face.
“That did it, Chance!” Sinae almost sang as we saw mom’s chest rise and fall on its own.
“Are you sure she’s alive, Buddy?” Lokust knelt down beside me and leaned in close to look.
Mom’s fist suddenly shot skyward incredibly fast! Lokust flew head over heels twice before landing on her backside fifteen feet away.
“Ouch.”
Mom instantly sat straight up, her eyes wide open in terror.
“What! Where am I!” she demanded.
“Major Hopewell Summers?” Sinae inquired cautiously.
“Summers. ‘H’. Major. U.S. Marines. Serial number…” she began, but I cut in.
“Mom? It’s me. Chance? Chance Summers? Your daughter?”
“My who? Chance?” Mom asked in confusion. She began to look around and I managed to catch her attention.
“It’s me, mom. I know…I know I don’t look like you remember…you do remember me, right?”
“You…you reached threshold?” She stated, still confused.
“That’s right, mom! I reached threshold! I’m in the Witch Corps now. We’re all members of the Witch Corps now. Do you remember?” I asked hoping she did.
“Chance. You look perfect!” She said cupping my face in her hand gently.
“Libra? I thought you had died…”
“I’m Kitty Sinae of FeLane, Major. Libra was my Great-grandmother, sir.”
“Princess Kitty Sinae of FeLane.” Mom declared definitively with a smile.
Sinae snarled.
“Artemis? Why…I haven’t seen you in…”
“Dell ‘Artemis’ Kananacretas, Major Summers. Artemis was supposedly my grandmother many millennia removed.
“Breeze? How can you be here? I watched you fall to your death on Juantis!”
“I’m Grunfuller…Lokust Grunfuller, Major Summers. I’m her descendant.” Lokust said as her face drained of all color. “Is…is that what happened to my Great-great-great Grandmother?”
Mom continued to look around still looking a bit dazed.
“Where am I, Chance?”
“We’re on the Mare de Tempest, mom. It’s the standard year 3276.”
“They’re still flying that thing? It’s got to be over five hundred years old by now!”
“It gets us where we’re going, mom.”
“Why am I stark naked by the way?”
“This is how we found you, sir.” Sinae answered. “You appeared after Chance sealed a three-foot breach in the Current Return Reservoir behind us. She absorbed a good bit of it as she tried to seal the hole. It took several minutes to return enough Current to stop her and her locket from shining.”
“We thought she was going ‘Super Nova’ on us before she did that, Major Summers.” Lokust added.
Mom’s eyes began to search the air around her and us.
“Could it be?” She began to mutter to herself. “Could she have actually reached her second threshold? But I was told that was theoretical and impossible under the best of conditions.”
“Second threshold, mom? You never said anything about a second threshold!” I cried in fear that I might not be long for this world.
“Libra and her scientists theorized that if, after reaching primary threshold, a person absorbed an exponentially larger amount of Current, say…seventy to a thousand times the amount required for primary threshold, that person would encounter a ‘second’ threshold that could further modify the recipient to accept an incalculable amount of Current or maybe even become Current themselves. Since the end result was never verified and remained undefined, the science-types decided to drop that brainstorming project and focus on our uniforms and tech instead. After what happened to me, we all considered it too dangerous to investigate.”
I had begun looking at my hands to see if I somehow had been converted to Current.
“Chance? Honey, are you alright?” Mom asked with concern.
“Have I just become a monster? No better than the Hoblins?” I whispered to myself.
“Honey? A penny for your thoughts?” Mom asked.
“Does this mean I’m like ‘them’, mom? Am I a monster?” I cried.
“I told you, Libra’s people only theorized the results, Chance. You look perfect in every way a mother would hope her child would look, honey. Do you feel like going out and crossing the galaxy on a murderous crime spree?”
“Of course not, mother!”
“Point proven, honey.”
“Major? If we could get you off the field of battle to a safe location? I’m sure you are very tired from your ordeal and would especially like to put on some warm clothing?”
“Yes, Princess. I think we should definitely get someplace safe; and yes, it is a bit cool in here. Breeze! I swear if you don’t stop looking at my nips, we’ll have that knockdown-drag out you’ve been wanting!”
Lokust quickly looked away, but her ashen face spoke volumes.
“You know what they say, once a pervert always a pervert, Major Summers.” Dell giggled.
“Let’s get you back to my place, mom. It should be safe there. Can you stand or should I levitate or carry you?”
“I think I can stand, honey. Thanks for the offer though.” Mom said as she began to roll to her side. When she had finally gotten up and turned around to us, she was met by all four of us- her Coven- standing at attention.
“Major Summers!” I announced. “Witch Corps reporting! The Coven is at your service and command, ma’am!”
Mom broke into tears and dove into my shoulder where she began crying in earnest.
“Lokust and Huntress. Stay here and relocate the recovered survivors to safe locations. Follow standard procedure and leave instructions for them to remain where they are until told otherwise.”
“You got it, Buddy.” Lokust acknowledged.
Dell and Lokust walked away and began lifting and dragging unconscious crewmen away.
“This way, Major.” I told mom as Sinae and I helped her hobble out into the section passageway toward my quarters.
 
 
“Nice digs for an old heap.” Mom said as she looked around my quarters. Her eyes instantly locked onto the storage container and her old sea chest.
“So it’s true. Oh, Chance, I’m so sorry! Charles and I…we never meant for you to…”
“Its okay, mom. The A.I hologram explained it to me…to us. You and dad didn’t know it was coming.” I assured her gently.
“So you had no trouble unlocking my sea chest?”
Not after I hit threshold, mom. I just asked nicely and both latches ‘popped’ open eagerly.
“They WHAT? What do you mean they POPPED open EAGERLY?” Mom asked, perplexed.
“I asked them to please open and they ‘snapped’ open like the springs were wound too tight! I never thought something that old would react like that.
Mom stared at me as if peeling back the layers of my very being and staring straight into my soul!
“Mom? What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?” I asked as things became even more uncomfortable.
“What? No, nothing’s wrong, honey. I just thought I put a better spell on that thing.” She pointed offhandedly at the old trunk. “It was only supposed to open for me…and me alone.”
“Maybe it somehow knew you were…you know.” I proposed cautiously. I noticed Sinae was being very, very quiet from the couch.
“That’s possible, I guess. Current IS sentient.” Mom stated in concession. “Maybe I should put something on.”
Mom gingerly made her way over to the container filled with her things and opened the top. She then looked back to me in curiosity.
“Someone has gone through my stuff.” She stated flatly. “Would that have been you, Chance?”
“After the shipment arrived we sort of had an opening party, sir. Grub invited Simon, Dell, and me over to support Chance. She…he was very reluctant to open even the shipping containers without our pushing him.” Sinae fessed up.
“So you were all curious as to what they contained.” Mom smiled. “It was an excuse to neb and get drunk, am I right?”
“Pretty much, mom. I hadn’t even considered opening this stuff if they hadn’t arrived bearing beverages!”
“Well, it’s a good thing we did, or else the Mare would already be lost, Chance.”
“I agree with Kitty, honey. The Witch Corps is the only unit capable of defeating the Hobgoblins. Why won’t this thing work? I know I said the trigger spell right!” Mom groused as she opened and closed the container’s lid several times.
“What are you trying to do, mom?” I asked. Watching her frustration building each time she reopened the container.
“The spell. It isn’t working for some reason.”
“Maybe you need to rest before you can use your Current?” Sinae suggested.
Mom lifted her locket, looked at it intently, and frowned angrily.
“Really? As if I needed to go through THAT again? ARRRRGH!”
“What? What’s wrong?” I asked in worry.
“I could be wrong, but I think I need to reach threshold again.” Mom growled angrily.
“In order for the spell to activate, I need to ‘reactivate’.”
“Couldn’t I just ask the container to…”
“Honey, its keyed to my DNA!” There is no way…”
Gently removing her hand from the lid, I asked the Current within it to trigger the spell for mom. As I reopened the container, mom’s eyes opened wider than I had seen in years.
“Shit and damnation, you actually did it!” She cursed as she again stared at me. This time it was sincere and approving.
Looking into the container, I saw that the contents had changed and another Witch Corps outfit sat, plain as day, directly on top. My mouth dropped.
“My spare uniform. Excuse me, honey. I need to get suited up.” Mom gently touched my forearm to persuade me to move out of the way.
Within minutes I was watching her hook her bustier and place her hat.
“Alright, I’m ready, ma’am.”
“For what, mom?”
“I’m ready for you to power me up, ma’am.” Mom explained as she stood to attention.
With tears in my eyes, I wrapped my arms around my mom.
“Please let her have her Current back. At the level she was ‘post threshold’.” I muttered in a whisper. A gasp escaped mom’s lips just before the intense blue light engulfed both of us and I heard that strange whistling noise spool up. Similar to what I heard when I reached my threshold.
Once the light faded, I gently retrieved mom’s locket and looked at it. My portrait was fully colorized and it even glowed with a slight, bluish hue. I saw mom looking down at it also, her eyes bulging.
“What in Libra’s name did you just do to her, Chance?” Sinae demanded.
“Major Summers needed to re-up, Sinae. I simply asked her Current to allow that, so she could help with our efforts to liberate the ship.”
Mom quickly reached for my locket and stared intently at it.
“This is impossible…unless…”
“Mom, I did what I needed to do. You needed your Current returned to you, and that’s all I did. There was nothing impossible about it.”
“Obviously.” Sinae added with a smirk only she could make.
“Do you feel up to helping?” I asked as I looked sternly into mom’s eyes.
In response, mom flourished both hands. A thick, leather-looking, belt with a holster appeared. In the holster was strapped a strange looking weapon similar to an ancient handgun. Mom looked to the ceiling with a sigh of thanks and quickly wrapped it around her waist then buckled it. The belt rested loosely and sagged off her right hip. She nonchalantly bent down to tie a leather lace hanging from the bottom of the holster around her thigh then stood straight.
This time, Mom flourished just her right hand and a wand materialized. She quickly kissed it lovingly and inserted it into a smaller tube shaped ‘holster’ on the left side of her belt.
“Now I’m ready to kick some major ass!”
“So. What’s with the strange piece in the holster, sir?” Sinae asked just before we left my quarters.
“Witch Corps Peacemaker. Libra designed it specifically for us. Lethal to any Hobgoblin other than the REALLY big ones and also holds six standard .50 caliber cartridges in case a non-Hobgoblin ‘minion’ decides to get brave. Flat on their ass and dead as a doornail usually with one shot.” Mom replied as her eyes sparked excitedly.
“Let’s get back on patrol.” I suggested as I motioned to the door.
“Wait! I just want to try one thing.” Mom halted and turned back to her storage locker. She closed the lid then opened it once more to reveal her previous wardrobe, completely intact.
“Just wanted to make sure I could still work that spell, ladies. Now…bring on the bad guys!”
 
 

 
 
Returning to the Engineering section, we entered to see Huntress and Lokust lifting the last four remaining crew. They had done an outstanding job of clearing the more than five hundred recovered crewmembers strewn about the main deck.
“Hey, Chance. Kitty. We’re almost done her… Major Summers! Attention!” Lokust shouted as she saw mom come into the section. Dell and Lokust jumped to attention with an unconscious crewman on each shoulder.
“Give it a rest you two!” Mom growled in frustration.
“Yes, ma’am…sir!” Lokust responded.
“Stand down, dear.”
“Thank you, ma’am, and may I say you really do the uniform proud, ma’am.”
“Don’t kiss my ass, Grunfuller! I’ll kick it so far down the rabbit hole even Alice wouldn’t find it!” Mom growled in anger.
“What a bitch.” Lokust mumbled. “I liked the A.I. version much better.”
“Glad to know I won’t be replaced anytime soon, girls.”
Dell suddenly got really serious as she stared, unblinking, toward my mother.
“Got a problem, Artie?”
‘Shhhhhhhhh!”
The poor, unconscious crewman on her shoulder fell to the deck.
“Did she just ‘shhhhh’ me, Chan…?”
Before mom even finished pronouncing my name, Dell pulled, connected, nocked an arrow, and let it fly. It barely missed mom’s neck! A blue arc signaled that the Huntress had scored another Hoblin.
“Shit!” Mom cursed as she turned to see the remnants of the invader fizzle out over two hundred feet away.
“Thanks, Dell. Good shot.” I congratulated.
“I thought you were going to give more leeway from now on.” Lokust asked.
“I didn’t have time and she was in the shot. I had to curve it around her as it was, Lokust.
“You had to ‘curve’ it around me?” Mom asked incredulously.
“Yes. Not an easy thing to do, but with the right amount of ‘English’ it can be done.” Dell explained.
“I’m glad you’re on our side, sister!” Sinae replied as she exhaled heavily.
Dell nodded then walked over to mom.
“Major Summers, welcome back to the Corps.” She said as she took mom’s hand and shook it politely.
“The pleasure is all mine, Artie. Nice to have you back as well.” Mom smiled.
“But ma’am, I’m not my distant Grandmother.”
“How many shots have you missed on this campaign, Artie?”
“Um…one…I think?”
“Out of how many kills? How many shots?”
“Um…I lost count at one thousand…I …I think?”
“You’re her, honey! No doubt about it. Nobody I know of other than Artemis could make over a thousand kills and flub just one shot!”
“Well if Lokust hadn’t stuck her head up at the wrong time, I wouldn’t have had to recall the shot in the first place!
“Annnnnd there’s the proof!” Mom giggled with a huge, satisfied smile on her face. “Honey, a recalled shot doesn’t count as a flub OR a miss. It counts as not putting a hash mark in the ‘Friendly Fire’ column. That’s a good thing! God, she has to be so proud of you!”
“Who? Who has to be so proud of me, ma’am?”
“You’re Grandmother, Artemis, of course! Contrary to popular myth, the Gods of old never really disappeared. They just packed up and moved to a new planet or system where they could feed off the admiration and prayers of another primitive, but developing civilization.”
So, you knew Artemis….THE Goddess of the hunt…for real?” I gasped, flabbergasted.
“Our paths may have crossed once or twice on a mission or two. Is that so strange now that you gals are all in the Corps?” Mom challenged.
 
 
Once again, we split up. I asked mom to stay with me and we moved to our selected section. The Armory was mid-ship and supplied the Mare’s weapons with the required munitions. Since the Current reservoir breach had been thwarted, I figured the Hoblins would try to actually blowup the ship.
Our first resistance appeared in the form of three ‘merged’ Hoblins and I made extremely short work of them. Mom looked a little put out that I’d had all the fun. Only two crew were recovered from that encounter and we quickly moved them to the nearest wet closet.
As soon as we left the safety of that wet closet, twelve Hoblins engaged us. I hung back and let mom loosen her muscles a bit on them before I took out the last one. One of the recovered crewmen didn’t completely reconstitute and to my horror, mom pulled her weapon and unceremoniously fired a shot into the poor woman’s head. Granted she was only a head, shoulders, and most of her torso, but I felt I could have restored her to normal. Not now that an antique bullet and half her brains were scattered on the deck!
“Why did you do that?” I asked in outrage. “I could have saved her, mom!”
“She was already decomposing, Chance. She was too far gone to save. Not that any of us could do that, that is.”
“I have. I’ve done it a dozen or so times so far! I just ask my Current to find the remnants and alert me when found. I then ask for the Current’s help to restore the victim. I thought I told you that before…wait, I told your A.I. self.” I said as I smacked my forehead lightly.
“You tellin’ me you can reconstruct someone deteriorated by the Hobgoblin conscription? My daughter can actually restore a human conscript?”
I nodded.
Another group of twenty attacked, and once more I elected to let mom work out her frustrations. Seven more crewmembers were recovered and I illustrated my talent for mom to witness on the two I had recovered. Mom said nothing as we moved on from securing the recovered.
Ten Hoblins tried to jump us as we turned an intersection just before reaching the armory. Within seconds our path was once again clear. A pair of disembodied legs had to be left behind.
“So you have your limits?” Mom asked out of the blue.
“If my Current can’t find the remnants in what I absorb, I can’t really reconstitute them, now can I? Look,” I said looking into my mother’s eyes. “If you feel you should end every partial we recover, that’s on your conscious! I prefer to rescue as many of my fellow crew as I can. End of story.”
Turning, I continued to the section door and began to open it.
I felt a hand touch my shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Chance. I guess I never saw things that way before. We were always ordered to leave the collateral. Get the job done and leave the collateral.”
“Even if that collateral was one of your own, mom?”
“No, Chance. We always made sure to bring our guys back home.”
“Mom…these ARE my ‘guys’! I’ve been stationed on the Mare with most of them for five years now!”
“Oh. I thought you were just here on a mission.”
“Sorry to deceive you, but I just found out about the ‘Corps’ just under a month ago. And I’ve only been your daughter for, at most, a day! Two at the very most. Is there anything else you need to know that your A.I. failed to pass along?”
Mom thought for a moment.
“How long has it been? How long since…”
“Since you and dad were disintegrated by a planetary Bio-Desolve attack? It’s been eight years, mom! Eight years since everyone at home just disappeared! The recovery teams weren’t even able to set foot on the surface until two years ago, mom. Can you even comprehend how many years of counseling it’s taken to cope? Then, just as the hurt and nightmares finally start to fade, I get a shipment of my mom’s recovered stuff! What’s more, I find out that you are practically immortal and have been leader of the Witch Corps for more than thirteen hundred years! Does that answer your question, ma’am, or do you want more from me, mother!” I told her before breaking down.
I felt Mom wrap her arms around me and pull me into her shoulder. I could smell her perfume and that just made things worse.
“I missed you, mom! I’ve really missed you and dad! I’ve thought about you every day and dreamed about you every night. I’ve tried to understand why…why they did that to a whole planet. Since finding out about the Corps, I can’t help thinking it was the Hoblins trying to destroy their arch-enemy. Hope Summers. My mom.”
Mom held me for several minutes until I got my emotions under control.
“Chance? Honey, I can’t possibly relate to what Charles and I put you through the last eight years, nor can I ever stop saying I’m sorry. Right now, we have a job to do- a job that you and your friends accepted when you put that uniform on. A job only you and the rest of the Coven are equipped to complete.”
“I know that, mom. The A.I. made that abundantly clear.”
“So, do you feel up to kicking more Hobgoblin ass?”
“We need to liberate the ship, mom. If we are all the Mare has, then we need to fight until the last Hoblin has been absorbed.”
Mom smiled and kissed my cheek.
“I’m so very proud of you, honey! Now…show me what you can do. I’ve got your back.”
We entered the compartment and were astounded by the number of Hoblins collected there.
I danced into action with only my primary wand, absorbing twelve creatures at a time with it and strangely, doing the same with my unarmed left hand! Spinning and dodging enemy weapons fire, I continued my attack, making quite the dent in their ranks. Occasionally, I would fire Current from my left hand to block any flanking moves from my opponents.
In all truth, I actually lost track of time, but next thing I knew only a few Hoblins still walked the deck and hundreds of unconscious or semi-conscious crewmembers lay strewn about.
Five out of the remaining nine Hoblins were of the ‘merged’ variety and were slowly closing the three hundred foot gap between us. They seemed oblivious as they stepped on and audibly crushed the casualties under their heavy feet.
“We need to get these people out of here before even more die, mom.” I said as I turned back to her.
“Mom? Where are you?”
“Up here, honey.” Her voice answered from above. She was actually sitting sidesaddle on an ancient straw broom!
“You were having so much fun; I decided to get out of your way. Since Hobgoblins don’t seem to know how to climb, I figure some altitude couldn’t hurt. So what is your plan for the behemoths?”
I felt a burning sensation on my back and turned to see one of the biggest Hoblins firing Current at me.
“How dare you attack my daughter!” Mom shouted as she rained Current bolts down on the monster. They didn’t seem to do any damage!
I added to her attack and noticed no slowing of their advance. These things weren’t your typical Hoblins!
“Chance? Time to retreat!”
“Why?”
“It’s them! We have to get the coven to regroup. You all need valuable information on the original Hobgoblins. Our normal attacks won’t faze them. Nothing we’ve used in the past has even made a dent!”
“Then let’s get out of here and regroup.” I repeated and made for the bulkhead door.
“Chance, Witch Corps. Coven meeting, my place, ASAP!” I announced into my comm as soon as we had the door secured and had some breathing room between ‘them’ and us.
“Honey? Do you need to purge your Current?” Mom asked as she suddenly stopped, as if she’d forgotten something.
“No. I’m good, mom.”
“But Honey? You just absorbed over six hundred Hoblins. How could you not need to purge off some of that?”
I’m fine, mom.” I showed her my locket. It wasn’t anywhere near starting to glow. “Let’s get back to base.”
Mom eyed it and me curiously for a moment then nodded. We hurried back to my quarters.