“Excuse the interruption, High Priestess, but Capt. Serangetti requests the Coven’s attendance in his situation room.” Charli paged through Pegasus’ transducers.
“Thank you, Lady Charli. Locations of our other Coven sisters.” I asked as I tried to shake the last vestiges of sleep from my eyes and stretched once more before extraditing myself from the too-comfortable lounge chair.
“Ladies Kitty and Artemis are down in the Training Room. Lady Lokust is taking yet another shower. Ladies Chantell and Simone are in Engineering trying to familiarize themselves with the equipment…”
“And Lady Hope has been waiting for her daughter to finally wake up!” Mom said as the elevator door opened and she stepped off.
I caught a yawn in my hand. “How long have I been out?”
“Around twenty-four hours, give or take a day.” Mom smiled as she took my hand and led me back to the waiting elevator.
“Main level.” She said.
“Have the others been told Serangetti wants us?”
“All sisters have been alerted, High Priestess.” Charli reported instead of Mom as the door opened to Pegasus’ main level.
“Thank you, M’lady. Alert the Captain that we’ll meet him in his conference room in an hour. Right now I need to cleanup. I’m sure Kitty and Artemis do too.” I said as I opened the door to my quarters.
Mom giggled quietly as we parted ways- she heading back to her quarters.
“Oh, hey, buddy. Love the facilities.” Lokust greeted from her bed, towels wrapped around her body and hair.
“You leave me any hot water, buddy?”
“Very funny. You try it yet?”
“Try what?” I asked with a tilt of my head.
“You know…it.” She winced, looking embarrassed.
I nodded to let her know I understood.
“Then you know how good it feels.”
“Ummmm, yeah…no.” I began to nod then finally got what she meant and shook my head ‘no’.
Instead of continuing the conversation, I walked into the lavatory, closed the door, and began undressing. My comment about the hot water was only to goad my friend about her ‘explorations’. In all honesty, I hadn’t had a chance to explore the ‘new’ Chance farther than necessary hygiene, and frankly, I was reluctant.
As it was, the hot water felt invigorating, but certain places felt way too sensitive.
 
 
“Have a good shower, Chance?” Lokust asked as I exited. She had dressed and was facing away from me, brushing her shiny blond hair out.
“So…was that a high ‘C’ or just a high ‘E’-flat, buddy?”
“What are you talking about, Lokust?”
“Nothing. I just thought I’d let you know that our quarters aren’t as soundproofed as you thought. That’s all. Like I said…nothing.”
“I appreciate the discretion, buddy. Tell the truth, I’ve been debating any exploration. What if I give in to…um…my desires and lose focus on all of you, Pegasus, the Brooms… What if they’re somehow connected to me? That if I let my mind stray…”
“Give it a rest, Chance. Like I said, I heard you in there just now and the world didn’t spiral into oblivion. My only question to you is: did you enjoy it? Wasn’t it amazing? I know,” Lokust glanced to the floor quickly and refocused on me. “I know I wasn’t expecting such a reaction! I almost ended up on the floor when the first couple hit! Its intoxicating, buddy! I can only hope it’s that way for you, too.”
After her heartfelt admission, I realized that we…Lokust and Chance, had reached another level of familiarity. We were girlfriends. Not just girlfriends, but best girlfriends! We could talk to each other about anything. Anything at all.
“It did fell amazing.” I admitted, but I still blushed in embarrassment. “But we’re due in the Captain’s conference room in fifteen minutes.”
“Full tactical or diplomatic mode, High Priestess?”
“Diplomatic.” I said as I finished putting on fresh panties from my dresser drawer and searched for its accompanying bra. Sometimes when you magically transfer articles of clothing from one place to another their order changes slightly.
“Thanks, by the way.”
“What for?” I asked.
“Well for one, transforming some of my things so Lokust can have a couple changes of clothes. Also, thanks for the new dress. It fits perfectly and the color compliments my complexion.”
 
 
We all met at the entrance hatch fifteen minutes later. Pegasus’ external sensors had alerted us to Capt. Serangetti’s arrival. Apparently we were to be escorted to his Conference room as we had been two days ago.
 
 
“Welcome again, My Ladies.” He greeted with a charming smile.
Again, several of the hangar staff whistled their appreciation. And as before, Serangetti had to remind them of proper etiquette.
As we began walking to the exit, Serangetti stopped and looked at me.
“I know it is none of my business, Lady Chance, but several of the hangar staff have complained about receiving a mild shock while in close proximity to Pegasus over the last two days. Would it be possible to limit such protocol to more inhospitable environments in the future?”
“Sir. Pegasus’ specifications are highly classified and as such require higher than normal security measures. I will however repeal the tactile warning if you can guarantee your crew will not try to get too curious. That includes negotiating the ceiling support structure to obtain paparazzi images.”
“M’lady. Some of us do not mind the occasional pervy stocking of our quarters’ observation windows. I, at least, consider it a compliment.” Chantell countered sweetly as she struck a sexy pose and air kissed.
“Well that explains the second degree burns on Stranik’s face and hands.” Serangetti deadpanned as he escorted us out of the hangar.
“So why tease the poor guy, Lady Chantell?” Mom questioned with a devious smile and tilt of her head.
“I wanted to see how far he would go. Got to hand it to him, he sure has a high pain threshold! You could hear the sizzle and crackling all the way to our passageway door.” She giggled. “I didn’t know Pegasus was a ‘bug zapper’ too.”
“Well, I never thought anyone would last more than five minutes.” Simone giggled as she blushed brightly.
“Stuff like that happened to your Granny all the time, sweetie. Especially the way you rock a towel and your civvies!” Chantell said as she mock-fanned her face. “Sooooo HAAAAWT!”
 
 
“Lady Chance! Lady Kitty!” Lyra shouted as the young Lynxin flew through the air at us as we entered.
I was fortunate enough to jump out of her way.
Kitty wasn’t so lucky!
“Lyra!” Serangetti shouted, his eyes wide in surprise. “Such enthusiasm, my kitten, but allow your cousin to regain her footing! You have been taught good little kittens do not attack family, but are courteous and well mannered!”
“I’m just glad to see them, Poppy!” The girl explained as she leapt into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Nice move, honey. Next time move a little slower so we can at least see you do it, okay?” Mom whispered as she stopped next to me and leaned into my ear.
“Fight or flight, M’lady. I chose the later in this instance to spare the kitten.”
Mom’s expression changed instantly as she stared at me in concern.
“Chance?”
“The urge was there to protect my sister, mother- a very strong urge. I know she is just a child, but the urge was there just the same. I’m not sure why.”
“Do you suspect something about her, Honey? Did we miss something?”
“I’m not sure,” I said as I blinked on my Current sight and observed the little furball of energy. I couldn’t see anything obvious.
“Nothing I can make out, Mother…but I feel…”
“My Ladies. I have had the surviving Daycare specialists interview the futures in question. They feel it is in the futures’ best interest to relocate and reunite as soon as possible, so departure is at your discretion.” Serangetti announced as he started our meeting.
“We appreciate your confidence in us, Captain. We have accommodations prepared for twenty females and twenty males aboard Pegasus.
Serangetti’s eyes opened wide!
“How did you know, My Lady? How did you know the exact count?”
“A little Current told her!” My Coven sisters chorused to my embarrassment.
Lyra began giggling uncontrollably!
I waited until the kitten settled down.
“We begin our departure preparations on your order, Captain.” I said as we all sat down to continue our meeting.
It was decided we leave the next morning after breakfast.
 
 
“Pegasus, enable entry hatch and full sensor scans of all boarding, non-Corps members.” I ordered as our large group neared the ship.
“Sensors operational, High Priestess.” She replied.
“Wow! This thing talks to you too?” One of the older boys asked in amazement.
“Pegasus is alive and sentient, just as you all are, young man.” I answered. “Lady Charli, begin monitored boarding.
“As you wish, High Priestess.”
Dad…Charli was already at her station both monitoring our passengers as they boarded, but, most importantly, also plotting an efficient course to and through the different systems we needed to visit.
With the help of a few of the Daycare specialists, we boarded the orphaned children- with their belongings- one or two at a time. In the case of the N’vree triplets, three at a time. Capt. Serangetti and Lyra watched the proceedings from just to the left of our boarding ramp- the smaller Lynxin having to be held to keep her excited demeanor under control.
Though taking over an hour, we finally boarded all but two passengers.
“Captain? We’re ready for you and Lyra, sir.” I said, bowing my head to them then gesturing to the ramp.
Lyra was absolutely bouncing with energy! Literally, as she leapt off her father and bounded up the ramp to the hatchway.
An alarm sounded and the hatch sealed tight in an instant!
“High Priestess, an anomaly has been detected.” Charli announced over my comm as Lyra began pounding her fists on the seamless metallic hull.
“My Lady! What is the meaning…”
“Pegasus has detected an abnormality with Lyra, sir. Please allow me to investigate. I promise the kitten will be unharmed.” I said as I blinked and enabled my Current sight.
It took some time and more than once Lyra had to be calmed, but I finally found ‘it’.
The taint was very small and I doubted it had enough power to do anything beyond existing. Still, it didn’t belong.
“Sir,” I began gently. This was going to be a sensitive issue. How to tell him his child was still tainted…
“There had better be a very good reason, Lady Chance! From your dour expression one might deduce that Lyra has not been purified as would have been expected. Is that a correct assumption?” Serangetti’s tone left no margin of error as to his intent. His voice echoed throughout the large hangar and people started taking an interest in us.
“My Lady, Lyra, could you step off of the boarding ramp, please? Lady Charli must recalibrate the sensors and to do that we need to be away from the ship.”
“Lady Chance, I suggest Lady Kitty attend her cousin also?”
“Affirmative. Sir? Lady Kitty is on her way to calm her cousin.”
The hatch opened. Sinae and Mom walked calmly down to the hangar deck where Sinae offered her hand to the kitten.
Serangetti immediately tensed at their arrival.
“Sir, I must ask you to please step away. Lady Chance will be as discrete as possible.” Mom advised.
“Poppy! Don’t let them hurt me, Poppy!” Lyra shouted hysterically.
“Lyra, honey, Lady Chance has no intention of hurting you. Our sensors picked up something strange on you. Might you know what that is?” Mom continued as she carefully knelt down in front of the girl so as not to tear her elegant, cream colored, very formfitting, dress.
“No! You’ll hurt he-me! Poppy, keep her away! Please, Poppy!”
“Kitten, this is not like you. Please answer Lady Hope’s question. It is the only way we can help.” The Captain urged his daughter.
“Lady Hope? Could I have a word, please?” I asked Mom. She stood and walked over to me.
“What’s going on? Charli said she detected taint on her. I couldn’t see a thing.”
“I found a small amount of tainted Current at the middle of her back, Mom. It barely shows through her clothing. It’s barely alive, let alone able to manifest.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
“I feel there is something…something she isn’t telling us, Mom.”
“Does this have anything to do with your feeling yesterday? You know, the feeling you got when she jumped at you?”
I thought about that- and how Lyra might be covering for something…
I nodded ever-so-slightly.
“Here’s what we do, mom. We make it a game for her. We need to be ready though so the first thing we do is get into uniform. You, me, and Kitty. I’ll try to draw out the taint as gently as possible.”
“Chance, you think we should risk exposing Witch Corps to Mare’s crew?”
“Like they haven’t been exposed before?”
“Good point. At least some of the female crew has seen us. From what Kitty said the Bridge crew definitely knows about us…”
“Let’s get Lyra involved as a junior member, shall we?” I suggested with a smile as I turned back to the frightened little kitten.
“My Ladies, to uniforms.” I ordered.
Instantly, a blue light engulfed Mom, Kitty, and I, and when it faded we were in our Witch Corps uniforms. The light was merely for show and privacy, and not necessary.
Multiple gasps echoed through the hangar- two of which were the Serangettis’.
Presenting my empty right hand to Lyra, I manifested my wand. Her eyes widened instantly.
“How do I look, Lady Lyra?” I asked the girl with a confident smile.
She started laughing and clapping her hands together with such enthusiasm I thought she would pop!
It felt like all eyes were upon us now as I knelt before her. The loud murmuring certainly confirmed we had everyone’s attention. I even heard the title ‘Current Mage’ mentioned more than a few times.
“My Lady. I was wondering…” I paused for effect as I continued to smile at the young Lynxin. “Would you be interested in a uniform like this?”
I thought Lyra’s head would snap off and bounce across the deck, she nodded so hard- and several times too!
“You know…this uniform… it comes with a whole lot of responsibility. Think you would be able to handle it, Lady Lyra?”
Again the kitten tried to nod her head completely off!
“If you’re sure. Please stand straight and tall so I can get your measurements for the uniform then.” I continued then held my wand out horizontally from its middle. A green, coherent light scanned her from head to toe. She giggled the whole time but managed to basically stay still.
“Please turn around so I can get your back, M’lady.”
Still giggling profusely, she turned and I used my wand again to scan her. This time I pointed out the tiny tainted spot to Mom with my free hand. She nodded then walked over to the Captain.
“M’lady, you have something on your clothing back here. Let me see what it is.” I alerted as I touched the tainted spot.
“Don’t touch her!” Lyra screamed as I gently touched her back.
“Her?” I asked in shock as Lyra turned to face me in anger.
“She doesn’t want to go back! She wants to continue playing with me!”
“Who? Who wants to continue playing, M’lady?”
“My friend! She wants to stay with me…here! We want to play together.”
“Kitten? What friend? I see no one but you, me, and the Ladies.” Her father asked in confusion.
“Lyra? Did you meet somebody in that other place where we first met?” I asked tenderly.
“She said her name is ‘Savanna’, Lady Chance. She was lonely and I asked if she wanted to play with me. We played for a while and we became best friends! Can she stay?”
“What did ‘Savanna’ look like, M’lady? What sub-species? Did she say? If I am to rescue her, I need to know what she should look like, right?”
“I’ll ask her.” Lyra said as she began to concentrate. While she did that, I looked to Mom, Kitty, and the Captain.
“Savanna says she’s ‘human’.”
That really didn’t help because most subspecies considered themselves ‘human’.
“I need to know more specifically, M’lady. So many call themselves ‘human’. I need to know if she is Lynxin, Terran, Antarran…what subspecies of human is she.”
The young Lynxin began to concentrate again. This time it took much longer.
“She says she wants to be Terran!”
That caught me off guard! Everyone else too, for that matter!
“She…she wants to be Terran?” I asked in confusion.
“Lyra? How old is this…‘Savanna’?” Her father asked out of curiosity.
“Oh, she couldn’t walk yet. I had to carry her around while we played. On my back, Poppy.”
I had a sudden feeling.
“M’lady? What is it? I know that look.” Kitty asked noticing the familiar expression when my Current sense got a hit.
I smiled.
“Oh, Lady Lyra, I am so very proud of you! Even though not officially inducted into our Coven, you have already displayed the values we have swarm to uphold. And do you know what those values are, M’lady?”
“Nooooo?” The girl replied timidly.
“Life. You have protected a life, Lady Lyra! If what you say is true, and Savanna is as old as I think, you may have just saved her life before it has even officially started. May I try something?” Lyra nodded cautiously. “Tell Savanna that I am going to give her some of my Current. Tell her it might sting a little but that I am not trying to hurt her. I only wish to make her stronger. Okay?”
 
“Okay, My Lady. She’s ready.” She said after a much longer time.
 
“First, though, we get you dressed properly, young lady.” I said as I slowly waved my wand in circles over her head. The same blue light appeared and when it faded, Little Lyra had an official Witch Corps uniform of her very own.
Mom looked ready to pass out as she reached out in curiosity and felt the fabric.
“This…it…no way, it…High Priestess?”
“Lady Hope?” Capt. Serangetti asked curiously.
“Her uniform…it feels like…like Weaver’s silk!”
“Impossible! The Weaver Species died out almost a thousand years ago.”
While Mom and the Captain debated the probabilities, I knelt back down to Lyra.
“So how does it feel? Does it fit comfortably?”
“It is amazing, High Priestess.” She swooned, smoothing her hands down her sides. Unlike our uniforms, her ‘Bustier’ was incorporated into the jumper-style dress and only an outline of orange stitching.
“Now, I’d like you to hold out the hand you write with- palm up, alright?”
“What’s going to happen now?”
“Well…every Current Mage needs her wand, right?”
“Uh huh?”
“Well, now you need to think about making your wand appear, so…think about your wand. What would it look like…what color…how big…”
“I want mine to look like yours, High Priestess!”
“Well that makes things convenient. Think about a wand that looks just like mine appearing in your hand.
As before, the kitten began to concentrate. I half expected the precocious little Lynxin to conjure one on her own! Waiting a moment for that very outcome, I allowed several more seconds to pass so that it would appear harder than she thought. I finally conjured Lyra’s wand- a wand that would actually work if she found and had the Current to do it. It appeared magically in her upturned left palm!
She jumped!
“It worked! It really worked!” She cried happily as she began waving it around excitedly. Hangar personnel began running and jumping out of the way in fear as she did so. I tried to suppress my smile and laughter, as did mom and Kitty.
Lyra’s ‘Poppy’, though, had another look. This look was focused on me and questioned my decision- my sanity- to put something so implicitly dangerous into the hands of his six-year-old kitten.
“Hold, Lady Lyra! As I said, there is a lot of responsibility that goes with the uniform; even more that comes with that wand. You must first learn how to use it properly so you don’t accidentally turn anyone into an amphibian. Plus,” I continued with a bright smile. “There is proper wand etiquette. A proper Current Mage must remain regal and well poised at all times while using her wand.”
She stopped waving the wand madly about and instead, held it tight to her chest with both hands and a guilty face.
“Sorry.” She apologized quietly.
“Now, let’s help Savanna into this world. Ready?”
“Uh huh?”
“Good, I’m going to feed Savanna some Current.” I said as I gave a lilting gesture of my wand to the spot on Lyra’s back.
“Ooooooooo, that feels warm, My Lady.”
Seeing the taint clear and a healthy looking spot of orange Current grow slightly larger, I cut my Current feed.
“Lady Kitty? Could you, Captain Serangetti, and Lady Hope possibly provide some courage to our sister as she helps us recover Savanna?”
“Of course, High Priestess.” Mom and Sinae chorused as all three offered their hands to little Lyra.
The small, bright orange spot of Current seemed to brighten and enlarge a little more.
“Captain, if I may? Were any of the Daycare Specialists expecting?” I asked cautiously.
“Specialist Christanson, I believe, but…” He replied sadly.
“I see. Thank you, sir. Your daughter is a true hero then. You have taught her well, sir.” I praised as he looked at me in confusion. Lyra seemed to beam with pride as I complimented her ‘Poppy’.
“Now then…shall we begin?” I paused a moment. “Lady Lyra, do you have any play dolls?”
She nodded.
“Do you know how to hold them properly?”
Again she nodded.
“Could you show me how you would hold a very young doll in your arms?”
Lyra pretended to cradle a virtual infant in her arms while Mom, Sinae, and her ‘Poppy’ placed their hands on her shoulders. Placing my wand gently on the spot of Orange Current on her back, I began to concentrate. Once ready, I pulled my reserve wand and pointed it at her waiting arms, and worked my magic. I could feel the small, Current ‘entity’ travel through me.
 
 
When the blue light subsided, Lyra’s- everyone’s- eyes, widened at the sight of a healthy, naked, baby girl gently squirming in the young Lynxin’s arms.
The infant blinked a few times, gurgled happily, and began reaching for Lyra’s whiskers as the girl leaned her head closer.
“Owrrrrrww!” That hurt!” Lyra cried out as ‘Savanna’ latched onto one and pulled.
Sinae, Capt. Serangetti, Mom, and I laughed. Lyra looked confused as to why the infant had done that and why we all thought it humorous. She gently raised her head and extracted her whisker slowly from the baby’s grasp.
Savanna started to get fussy, and began ‘gurgling’ louder.
“Savanna says she wants her Momma, High Priestess.”
“I’m…I’m not sure that’s possible.” I said quietly, not knowing how to explain.
The baby got more fidgety and her complaining became louder.
“Savanna wants YOU, High Priestess. She says she is cold and wants her momma.”
“But I’m…I’m not her momma, M’lady.” I tried to explain as the baby started crying.
“She wants YOU, M’lady.” Lyra urged as she offered the crying infant to me.
I didn’t know why, but I immediately accepted the child. Maybe it was because it looked like Lyra might drop her? Maybe…on some level…
Lyra smiled and carefully, I took possession of the infant.
Who was I trying to kid! I felt…‘it’. Not the ‘it’ as in the ‘Current’ I knew so well. No. The pull that- I guessed- almost every woman feels…that…that maternal urge…instinct…need… to hold a baby close…close to my…to my breast!
Alien emotions were coursing through me at light speed stifling and confusing me so much that I had no clue what to do.
The tiny life in my arms began to protest and wiggle even more. Snapping out of my fog, I realized I was now rocking her gently and ‘shhhhhushing’ her with pouted lips. Something, deep inside, suggested that maybe…just maybe, she was hungry.
“I’d say she was hungry, M’lady.” Mom confirmed my feeling.
How in the world could I do that?
Basic biology finally presented itself, and when I felt my bustier getting a little uncomfortable, I knew my magic had worked. With another blue flash, I was back in my ‘diplomatic’ dress and little Savanna had a Weaver’s cloth blanket wrapped around her.
Looking over, I saw that Mom’s and Sinae’s eyes were bulging, and that Lyra and Capt. Serangetti’s mouths were hanging wide open.
“M’ladies? Could you board our last two passengers while I attend to our newest guest?”
Mom, Sinae, and Lyra all nodded in overwhelmed silence before I turned and walked up the boarding ramp. Once inside Pegasus I pulled the dress strap off my shoulder far enough to be accessible. Savanna needed no instruction.
I, on the other hand, could have used a briefing on what to expect, as my legs went weak and I leaned hard into the passageway wall for support.
“Lady Cha…Holy Shit, buddy! When did this happen?” Lokust began to ask until she actually saw what I was doing. “Um…who’s the father?” She gulped in curiosity.
“I’ve been chosen as a surrogate. Her real parents are…” I said, but couldn’t finish.
“But, ummm…how can you…you know…” Lokust pointed to the baby contently nursing at my breast.
“She was hungry. What else could I do?”
“But doesn’t…it takes time to develop…I mean…it doesn’t just magically…oh.” She blushed as she suddenly realized who she was talking to. “I guess it CAN magically happen to…with us. What’s it feel like?”
“I could work the magic on you if you care to try it.
Lokust paled as her mouth dropped open, but she seemed to have taken the time to at least think about it.
“Um…I’ll pass…for now. Where we gonna keep her, buddy?”
“Savanna will be staying in our quarters…unless you have a problem with that?” I declared as I raised an eyebrow to her.
“Nope. Not at all, High Priestess.” She answered before quietly turning around, walking down the passageway, and disappearing into the childrens’ bunkroom on the right.
Recovering the strength in my legs, I carefully walked down the passageway and entered the quarters I shared with Lokust and now Savanna.
Conjuring an infant-safe crib at the foot of my bed, I carefully placed the now sleeping baby into it and covered her with a blanket I had also conjured with the crib. I sat in a nearby chair to take inventory of my new feelings while watching Savanna as she slept.
 
  
In all my life, I had never felt so…so contented…so fulfilled…so…needed? Is this how mom felt after I had been born? Had she experienced these very same emotions when first setting eyes on me? Did she feel the urge to protect me with her life? Did she feel the same overwhelming, intimate connection to me as I now felt for Savanna? How could this have happened in such a short span of time?
 
 
“M’lady. Pardon the interruption, but Capt. Serangetti wishes to bring along inventory for the baby.” Simone whispered from the open doorway.
Without saying a word, I looked to her and nodded. She then approached and gazed at the sleeping baby girl.
“She’s absolutely perfect, M’lady. So adorable, and she even has your hair color.” Simone cooed.
I hadn’t noticed until now. She did have a head full of black hair- full for a newborn that is.
“By the legend of Greyskull! Its true!” Chantell gasped quietly from out in the passage.
I nodded and she entered and stared at the crib then at me.
“I heard the comm traffic, but I…High Priestess, how is this possible?” She whispered.
“Should we even need to ask, Lady Chantell?” Simone countered quietly. “After everything we’ve seen her do?”
“I’ll give you that one.” She said shaking her head in awe. “Girlfriend. You are simply amazing!”
“It does seem there is nothing our High Priestess can’t accomplish if she sets her mind to it.” Simone agreed. “If you want, I can stay here and watch her while you attend to the Serangettis, Chance.”
“Thank you, Simone, I appreciate it. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I had to force myself to take my eyes off the crib and again force myself to leave my quarters! How had I become so protective all of a sudden?
Chantell accompanied me to the entry hatch where the Captain, Lyra, Mom and Sinae had just topped the ramp and waited patiently.
“High Priestess. Permission to come aboard?”
“Permission granted, Commander, and welcome aboard Pegasus. Please, make yourself at home.” I greeted happily.
“Now if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to your quarters.” I said as I motioned them forward. We stopped at the elevator.
“Sir. All security onboard Pegasus is three-fold; Voice recognition, retinal scan, and facial scan. For added security, one needs to supply Current for the device to work. For example, please place your thumb on the right side of the device right there,” I showed both him and Lyra. “Now lean down so the scanner can read you and say your name.”
“Commander Kimbou Serangetti.”
“Welcome aboard, Commander. I hope you will enjoy your stay with us aboard Pegasus.” The AI confirmed his first access pleasantly. Lyra began giggling hysterically as the elevator’s door opened, waited almost thirty seconds then closed.
“Once we are underway, security protocols will be disabled for all public areas. High security areas such as the Bridge and Engineering will remain stringently enforced while we carry non-Corps passengers. For individual quarters, you may select the level of access according to your preference.” I informed.
“Now you try it, M’lady.” I nodded to the girl.
“Lady Lyra Serangetti.” She announced regally after placing her thumb.
“Welcome aboard, Lady Lyra. Enjoy your journey.”
Again the kitten seemed ready to pop with excitement.
The door opened and we entered this time.
“Observation level, please.” I requested.
 
 

 
 
“Wooooow! This is so great!” Lyra shouted as the door opened and she ran into the observation lounge.
“Commander? You look surprised.”
“Everything about this vessel surprises me, My Lady!”
I smiled. “Your quarters are just through that door, sir. Same security protocol.”
“Poppy! Can I do it this time?” Lyra shouted excitedly and hurried over. Before we had even come close, she had the door flung open and was shrieking in delight from within the suite!
Her father’s eyes popped wide when he stepped through the doorway and took in the suite.
“Poppy! Look at this! It looks like one of the ships on the outside! Is this my bed, High Priestess? Is it? Is it?”
“Especially for our newest Current Mage, My Lady.” I said as I bowed at the waist to her.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
“High Priestess. I have a woman requesting permission to board Pegasus. Chief Specialist Cassandra Anderson from Mare’s Daycare.” Charli’s voice announced over our comm.
I immediately looked to Capt. Serangetti.
“I felt some familiarity might help the futures’ behave, High Priestess. They can be albeit…challenging at times- especially during such a long trip. I have personally vetted her and assume full responsibility for her, My Lady.”
I nodded my acceptance.
“Permission granted. Add her to the ship’s crew manifest and please show her to the bridge to await my arrival.”
“As you wish, High Priestess.” Charli acknowledged.
Snapping my fingers, my guests’ luggage appeared at the foot of the larger bed.
Lyra’s eyes got big again and she gasped in awe. Cmdr. Serangetti looked about ready to pass out.
“If you and Lady Lyra would follow me, sir.”
 
 
“Sandra, good to see you well again.” I greeted as I entered the Bridge.
The brown-haired, young woman with blond streaks throughout turned quickly and stared at me.
“Have we met, Ma’am?”
“Chance. Chance Summers.”
“You can’t possibly be the same Chance…”
“Yes she IIIiiis.” Sinae sang from her weapons console.
“Did those…things…do this to you?” The stunned woman asked.
“Truth is…the truth is well beyond your clearance level. Let’s leave it at that and move onto why you are here, shall we.” I said in a serious voice. “Commander Serangetti?”
The tall, handsome Lynxin stared at me a moment as if caught doing something mischievous.
“Chief, the reason I asked you to come along was to attend to the futures…children…on our mission to relocate the orphans with their secondary or alternate guardians. Since this mission might take some time and the Coven will be focusing on flight operations, I thought it wise to have someone trained in dealin…attending and tutoring the children. High Priestess, the Galactic Council has given their approval to temporarily raise Chief Anderson’s clearance to Level Twenty-five: ‘Top Secret’. I hope you know what that means, My Lady?”
Anderson looked behind her as Serangetti spoke the title before looking back to him then to me. She looked very confused.
“He’s talking to you, Sandra. Welcome to the Corps. Temporary as it may be.” I said as I pulled her into a hug.
“What Corps? Why did the Captain call you all a ‘Coven’?”
My clothing changed instantly. I was now wearing my uniform. It felt tighter than usual up top.
“Recognize this, Sandra?” I asked as I finished by manifesting my wand in my right hand.
“OHMYGOD! That was real? You were real?” She exclaimed while the color drained from her face.
Instantly her arms were around me, squeezing tightly.
“Thank you! Thank you! You gave me my legs back? Was that also real?”
“Glad I could help.” I whispered in her ear to confirm.
“High Priestess, I took the liberty of having Pegasus place an extra single in the female’s bunk room when I intercepted the Commander’s communiqué from council.” Charli informed me.
The Lynxin Commander glared back to Charli’s station in contempt.
“My sincere thanks, Lady Charli. Would you care to greet our new ‘Reservist’?”
Charli’s station tube cleared to reveal my ‘activated’ father as she stood. I stifled a laugh as Anderson’s eyes and mouth both opened wide.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Lady Sandra…Or do you prefer Lady Cassandra?” Charli asked as she approached and bowed her head.
“Um…Sandra or Sandy is okay, um…Lady Charli?” She bowed awkwardly
“That’s silly, Lady Sandra! All members of the Coven are called ‘Lady’, Lady Sandra.” Lyra informed the woman then giggled. She was being so quiet; I had forgotten she had gone over to sit next to Sinae.
“Well said, Lady Lyra!” I praised. “Lady Lokust, status.”
“All passengers have boarded and have been cross-checked to the supplied manifest. Passenger personals have been stowed and secured. We’re ready on your command, High Priestess.”
“Thank you, Lady Executive. We’ll continue after I show Lady Sandra, Lady Lyra, and our esteemed Commander the ship. Feel free to begin non-propulsion preflights.”
“As you wish, High Priestess.” Lokust confirmed.
 
 
So how’s my little one, Simone?” I asked quietly as I entered my quarters.
“Still fast asleep, Chance. She’s a doll. Oh, Chantell dropped these off and Savanna slept right through me putting one on her.” Simone answered as she held up a recyclable diaper and pointed to more sitting in front of the closet.
“Thank you very much, Simone. We’re about ready to leave so we should get up to the bridge.” I said as I reached into the crib and carefully lifted Savanna to my shoulder. I felt more comfortable having changed back into my ‘diplomatic’ dress.
 
 
Arriving on the bridge, I conjured a smaller, baby ‘seat’ next to my station and carefully placed Savanna, still fast asleep, into it and tucked the blanket around her before placing the seat’s harness over her and securing it.
“Now we’re ready.” I said as I looked at the infant next to me.
“Flight Status.”
“All preflights except propulsion systems are green.” Lokust reported.
“Lady Artemis, contact Mare Tower and tell them we are go for departure.”
No acknowledgement came though I know I saw Dell at her station when I entered.
“Lady Artemis?” I repeated as I looked over to her station. She was just staring at me with a very surprised expression. “Dell?” I asked in concern.
“I…IIIIIII didn’t want to believe what I heard on the comm.! I can’t believe you…Chance? Is…is she really yours? Now?”
“According to Lyra, Savanna chose me, not the other way around. Who am I to argue? Now, can you alert Mare Tower that we’re ready?”
“Right away, High Priestess. Mare Tower, Pegasus. We’re a go for departure.”
“Copy, Pegasus. Ground crew has been given order to clear the deck. You are ‘Go’ for Propulsion preflight.”
“Pegasus copies, MT.”
“Hope, Simone, Charli? Make it so.”
Once more, mom looked over at me with a stunned expression. I also noticed Chantell staring at me with a quirky smile.
“What did I do wrong now?” I asked with a sigh.
“Nothing, High Priestess!” They both chorused.
“Propulsion is ready and at the pilot’s command, High Priestess.” Simone reported.
“Mare Tower, we’re ready on propulsion.” Dell advised.
“Pegasus. You are clear to translate, or do you prefer to back out of the hangar. You are quite large for our shuttle bay.”
“Pfffft. Piece of cake, High Priestess.” Mom shrugged off the advice.
I looked to Artemis and nodded.
“Mare Tower, our pilot took offence to that. We’ll translate.”
“Um, copy, Pegasus. We’re just going to…um…keep our heads low…very, very…low.”
Mom grunted in annoyance as she started working her console. Pegasus came alive and we felt only the slightest movement.
“X, plus one foot. Beginning translation.” Mom announced as our view of the hangar began to slowly pan to the left.
“One hundred fore and aft.” Chantell called out as the hangar’s sidewall came into view. Mom glared at her angrily.
“Fifty fore and aft.”
“Thirty fore and twenty aft.” Chantell announced calmly.
Mom began paying very close attention to her console and she might have even been holding her breath.
“Fifteen fore and fifteen aft.”
Mom seemed to relax a little.
“Five fore and five point five aft.”
“Honest to God, Shan, if you don…” Mom groused.
“Two fore and two aft!” Chantell’s voice announced with a little more excitement.
“Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.” Charli’s voice rang out over the transducers.
“Five fore and aft.”
Mom had actually been holding her breath! As confirmed when the numbers started increasing and she exhaled heavily.
“Twelve fore and eight aft.”
“Shit.” Mom swore under her breath and made a small adjustment.
“Twenty fore and aft. Hey! Who says women can’t drive?” Chantell tittered.
“Thirty-five fore and aft.”
“Compliments to your pilot, Pegasus! Give us a minute to change our shorts down here, though.”
“Y’all kin go straight ta hell!” Mom snarked as she seemed to relax even more. Her face though, beamed with pride.
“One hundred-twenty fore and aft, High Priestess.”
“Way to go, mom!” I cheered. I quickly looked over at Savanna.
My little darling was still sound asleep.
“Translation complete, High Priestess.” Chantell announced with much relief.
“Way to handle the tiller, Major!” Charli congratulated.
“Pegasus, Tower confirms translation complete. You are cleared for departure. That pilot of yours must have a set of titanium ones the size of…what? The old man’s onboard? Ah, shit…really?”
There was a pause.
“Pegasus, sending departure vector to you now. Safe journey.”
“Vector received, High Priestess.” Mom announced with a giggle.
“Take us out, Lady Hope. Lady Charli, is the first leg of our trip computed? If so transfer to our pilot.”
“As you wish, High Priestess.”
“First stop is Antarra. ETA: nine standard hours and thirty-seven minutes.”
I heard Cmdr. Serangetti gasp in surprise behind me. The Mare would probably take three or four weeks.
“Course transfer from navigation complete.” Mom confirmed.
“Artemis, Ship-wide please.” I requested.
“Ready, Chance.”
“Attention all passengers. This is Lady Chance. Our first destination will be Antarra in nine and a half standard hours. Please stay seated until our pilot has ordered the fasten seatbelt sign extinguished. Thank you.”
Again Mom and Chantell stared at me like I had three heads.
“Ladies, that is getting very irritating.” I warned as they looked to each other and snickered quietly to themselves.
“Course received and entered, High Priestess.” Mom reiterated instantly becoming serious.
“Engage.” I ordered and reached over to Savanna to adjust her blanket.
Again Chantell and Mom exchanged glances. I caught it out of the corner of my eye.
“You think she found that old flash drive you told me about, Hopewell?” Chantell whispered.
“If she did, she put it right back where I stashed it, Shan. The protection spell is still unbroken.” Mom whispered back.
“Pfffft. You think that would stop her, Hopewell? Look what she did with our supposedly ‘Top’, Top Secret projects. As I recall, you put protections on them, too.”
“She’s a very gifted witch, Shan. I wouldn’t put anything past her. I’m just glad she’s on our side.”
“What side would I be on, mother?” I asked calmly as I ran a gentle finger over Savanna’s precious cheek.
“Why, the side of truth, justice, and the American way, honey.”
“Telephone call for Mr. Reeves. Mr. George Reeves.” Charli giggled out in a strange sounding, nasally, female voice.
“Up yers, Armstrong!” Mom shot back, looking to the ceiling.
“Unbelievable! Transportation AND entertainment!” Cmdr. Serangetti chortled as he held Lyra in his lap behind us.
“Lady Simone, Active Camoflage to ‘Deep Space’ mode.
“As you wish, High Priestess.”
 
 

 
 
About an hour into our mission, Sinae let out a disturbing, low-pitched, growl and stared at Lokust just as Savanna woke up and began fussing. I had been acknowledging all the systems’ check reports and hadn’t been paying attention.
“Well it wasn’t me! Geez! One time and I’m branded a pariah!” Lokust mysteriously complained.
“Lady Chantell, is there something wrong with the environmental system? “ I asked as I began to sniff the air.
“Everything is in the green, High Priestess.” She replied after checking her console.
“Then what…”
It didn’t take long to find the cause.
“Awwww. Savanna’s first poopy.” Mom groaned sarcastically.
“I know the name of this tune. You have the helm, Shan.” She added as she transferred control of her console to Chantell and stood up.
“Come along, High Priestess.” She nudged me. “Time for parenting lesson number two: what goes in, must come out…or…Orifices Wild.” She announced deadpan with a bemused smile.
As if scripted, Savanna began crying loudly right before I picked her up.
“We’ll be in our quarters, buddy. You have the Bridge.”
“Aww, Jay-effin-Cee! Will someone PLEASE open a window? At least light a match!” Chantell cried out before the Bridge’s door closed behind us. Mom giggled evilly to herself the whole way back and into my quarters.
 
 
“And I thought Hoblins smelled bad!” I complained after I breached the seal on Savanna’s diaper.
“All part and parcel with being a parent, honey. You think you smelled like a rose at this age?”
I just looked at Mom while I squeamishly cleaned Savanna’s bottom.
“You know, Chance, there are just some things that magic won’t help with.” Mom chuckled to herself a moment. “I know…I’ve tried.”
“Yeah, I just found that out. Not even my Current wants anything to do with this! Aaaah…I think I’m gonna wretch!”
“Don’t be such a pansy!” She advised in a very low octave and strangely accented voice.
Savanna cooed then ‘grunted’ and her face turned red again while she left me more to clean up. This time liquid was involved and soaked the clean diaper I had attempted to slide under her.
The little demon even smiled at me and began cooing again.
Mom laughed hysterically!
“Once you’re done there, she’ll probably want fed again, honey.” Mom advised after she composed herself.
“I figured as much since my boobs are feeling really uncomfortable.”
“You’re the one who decided to start lactating, honey.”
“So what else could I do? Something told me she was hungry. And she picked me, mom. I really didn’t have much choice.”
“Most single moms don’t, Chance. Just be glad you missed all the fun parts. Stuff like the morning sickness, the weight gain, the having to pee every hour on the hour because the baby is crowding your bladder… And I don’t even want to think about that time we went to the beach and Greenpeace showed up!” Mom grinned.
“What’s Greenpeace?”
Mom’s grin vanished. “Never mind.”
“Excuse me, Lady Chance? Lady Charli told me I might find you here…Oh how precious! How old is she?” Sandra Anderson interrupted then, seeing Savanna, broke into a big smile.
“I recovered her just before Lyra and Cmdr. Serangetti boarded.” I answered honestly.
Anderson’s broad smile became clouded.
“Excuse me? Did I just hear you say you ‘recovered’ her only a few hours ago? How…?”
“Somehow the Hoblins conscripted her. Lyra found her while in the Current and befriended her. Since Savanna couldn’t walk on her own, Lyra ‘carried’ her while they played.”
“Then I recovered the children from the Current. Through some unknown cooperation, Savanna stowed away on Lyra. When boarding Pegasus, our scanners picked up the very small and weak, -still tainted- Current on Lyra’s back and I investigated. Lyra claimed she could communicate with the tainted entity and through her, I learned Savanna might be an unborn Terran female. I used my magic to manifest her into this world. Supposedly, Lyra claimed Savanna wanted her mother…she claimed that was me.” I explained as I finished dressing the fussy baby in a cute little, pink, one-piece I had just conjured.
Anderson stood stationery for a while with her mouth hanging slightly open.
“Wait! You just saved me five days ago. There is no way you could’ve given birth in that short of tim… Hold on. You said her name is Savanna?”
“I never said I was pregnant, M’lady. I have only been female for six days. What I did say is that I found Savanna parasitically joined to Lyra’s back while still conscripted as tainted Current. The Hoblins use the Current conduits throughout the ship to get around unseen. I just found her, gave her enough of my own Current to survive recovery, and reconstituted her back into our world. I’m really not sure how old she actually is. My guess is less than nine months though.”
“Specialist Christanson…Elle Christanson was expecting. She told me she had chosen Savanna for the baby’s name. I believe she was six months along when we…oh,” She choked and quickly covered her mouth. “Oh, Gods, no.”
“I had Charli search the MIA’s. Both Elle Christanson and her spouse, Walker, appear on the list, Sandra. I’m very sorry.” Mom reported sadly.
Anderson looked to Savanna while I held her to my right breast. Tears ran down her cheeks.
“I…I hope you made those monsters pay!”
“One of the leaders, we recovered and placed in custody. A second, we think, has been purified and reabsorbed into the Current.” Mom told her. “But there are still many more scattered throughout this Galaxy. We won’t stop until the Hobgoblins are extinct, Sandra. That is the mission of Witch Corps.”
“Witch Corps?” Sandra gasped. “I’ve heard that name before.” She admitted as she began to search her memory.
“My father investigated a shuttle craft crash about twelve years ago. I was only twelve at the time and snuck a look at his report. It claimed the ship was registered to something called ‘Witch Corps’. The cause was listed as ‘unknown’. The next time I peeked at the file, every trace or mention of it was blacked out- redacted.”
“You might want to talk to Chantell, Sandra. She was piloting our shuttle when she was attacked.” Mom suggested.
“Attacked?”
“Hobgoblins stowed away in the Current tank and attacked as she was on approach. She barely managed to manifest her ‘life pod’ in time. It’s a longer story than that, though.” Mom told her.
“So Lyra claimed that Savanna told her she wanted you to be her mother? If that doesn’t sound strange…” Sandra decided to change the subject as I interrupted.
“I think Sandra still needs her own uniform, mom. Don’t you?” I asked randomly as I dislodged Savanna from my nipple. She had begun falling asleep and I didn’t want her to be affected as I REALLY accessed my Current. She complained a little but calmed as I gently patted her back.
“It would go a long way to the Coven accepting her, High Priestess.”
Sandra was instantly dressed in the Corps’s black, white, and orange Weaver silk right up to the pointed hat. The requisite locket hung proudly in her cleavage. Savanna let out a little burp and seemed to smile.
“What did you just do to me, Chance Summers?” Our ‘reservist’ demanded. “I feel very strange.”
Mom looked at me in surprise.
“Chance? Did you just…you know?”
“Temporarily, why, you don’t think she can handle it?” I answered.
“Can’t handle what? What can’t I handle?” Anderson demanded.
“She didn’t change much, honey, and she doesn’t resemble any of our past sisters like you girls do.” Mom observed.
“Who should I resemble? Why won’t you answer me?” Anderson grew angrier.
“She’s a six-thirty. What skillset, honey?” Mom noted.
“I don’t know. Why don’t we ask her?” I suggested.
“Why am I a…a ‘six-thirty’? What is that? What’s a ‘skillset’? I want one of you to answer me right NOW!” Sandra shouted angrily and instantly pointed between us.
A bluish glow formed at the tip of her pointer finger and began to expand.
“OH MY GODS! I’m on fire!” She cried out and began to stare at then try to shake out the Blue plasma ball. It quickly disappeared.
“Interesting.” Mom said as she raised an eyebrow to our newest member. “A plasma projector. I don’t think we’ve ever recruited one of those before.”
Sandra was still examining her finger. “Plasma Projector? Are you saying I did that? Just now? Me?” She asked, dumbfounded.
“Yes, that was all you, Sandra. That is your talent…producing and projecting balls of Current in the form of blue Plasma. I took the liberty of ‘activating’ you. That’s why you feel ‘funny’. By doing that, I’ve unlocked your ability to communicate and interact with your latent Current.”
“Huh?”
“She turned you into a full-fledged Witch, honey.” Mom simplified with a devious smile. “Welcome to the Corps, Lady Sandra. You do the uniform proud, by the way.”
“You…witch…uniform…clothes…ME?”
“I’ll bet right now you’re wishing you never boarded Pegasus, huh?” I giggled as Sandra tried to speak AND remain standing.
“Come now, honey! You can’t still be denying what you know you feel flowing through your body? It’s magic, M’lady! Magic, as in the far ancient days of yore, is alive and well today. You are now a part of it. So please try and compose yourself. You still need to manifest your wand.” Mom said in a gentle, calming, but dramatic tone.
While waiting for Sandra to come to terms with her new reality, I switched Savanna to the other breast to see if she was still hungry. She refused it and instead looked up at me with those perfect, wonderful, new eyes. I felt on the verge of losing myself in those innocent, beautiful, blue pools!
“Ready whenever you are, Lady Sandra.” I pushed gently as I looked back to her and tried to gage her psychological stability.
“Ready for what?” She finally asked as she snapped back to us.
“A proper witch wouldn’t be caught without her wand. Feel ready to manifest yours?” I explained.
“Lady Sandra, please keep up. This is important.” Mom scolded gently.
“My…wand? You want me to…to make…to manifest my…a wand?”
“Yes. I want you to hold out your dominant hand, palm up. Ask your Current- that ‘funny’ feeling inside of you- to help you manifest your wand. It should look something like this,” I said as my wand appeared in my free hand. “Only with details specific to your individual character.”
I dematerialized my wand. Savanna burped again, but quietly this time, her cute little smile appearing only momentarily.
“Go ahead and try it. As I said, ASK, don’t command, your Current to help you manifest your wand. I’ve found it much easier than demanding your Current make a wand appear. Demanding is rude and demeaning to most sentient species. Your Current is no different, Sandra. Treat it with respect and it in turn will respect you.” I instructed then nodded for her to try.
It didn’t take her quite as long as Simone before her wand popped into existence. As with Simone, she jumped in surprise and almost dropped it.
“Remember that ‘feeling’, Sandra. The feeling you had just before the wand materialized. It will feel less strange as you use and push your magical abilities. So…how do you feel now?”
“I…..IIIIIIIII did it? I really did it? I can’t believe it.” She exclaimed in amazement. “I’m a witch!”
“Are you announcing it to the world or trying to convince yourself, Lady Sandra?” Mom asked kindly.
Anderson just looked at us as her smile widened.
“I think she likes it, Hope.”
Mom instantly stared at me with her mouth slightly ajar.
But only for a moment.
“Now, about the uniform.” I continued. “Lady Hope is going to brief you on its properties and nuances…but mostly its history along with the history of the Corps. She’ll also instruct you in changing out of it using your magic. Ladies? Savanna and I will be up in the observation lounge, if you wish to converse or relax.”
 
 
“Pegasus, Please clear the observation lounge ceiling.”
“As you wish, High Priestess.”
Blue-shifted streaks of light randomly arced, fore to aft, above me. The sight took my breath away! I quickly conjured Savanna’s special seat next to the lounge chair I had chosen to sit on.
“I thought you would like to see the beauty of this world, sweetie.” I told her as I lay her into the seat. She immediately tried to focus on the brilliant lightshow overhead. A smile appeared on that precious, cherubic face again.
Sitting here, under the traversing stars, I contemplated and tried to make sense of all the things that had happened recently. How, not quite six days ago, I had just been Chance Summers, a normal- well, slightly normal anyway- Current Specialist assigned to Mare de Tempest and nothing special. I had few friends, and no family because of a senseless attack on my home planet. An attack that I, until recently, hadn’t known specifically targeted my parents.
My parents…
As I now knew, there was nothing normal about them. Both were secretly members of an elite Special Ops force called ‘Witch Corps’- a task force specifically conceived to combat the newest, greatest threat to galactic peace. It amazed me how, in the short span of six days I had learned of, became a member, and now led the illustrious and mysterious, EFMC Witch Corps.
What I found even more mindboggling was the undeniable fact that I had a family again! That Mom, Dad, and even my Aunt Chantell were on a starship of my conjuring and very much alive. My family though, had expanded. It now included my best, trusted, and only friends: Lokust Grunfuller, Kitty Sinae, Artemis Dell, and Simone Redman.
If that wasn’t enough, what really blew my mind was I now had a daughter! I had gone from a somewhat normal guy five days ago to the High Priestess of Witch Corps AND mother of a newborn! A beautiful, perfect baby girl that shared mine and my mother’s jet-black hair, and possibly our rich, jade green eyes.
It overwhelmed me how much my life had changed, and in just the blink of an eye, relatively.
“Honey? Chance? Are you alright?” Mom’s voice quietly called out to me.
“Sweetheart? Why are you crying?” Charli’s voice wondered at the same volume level.
“Lady Chance? What’s wrong with her, Poppy?” Little Lyra demanded as I finally got my crusty eyes opened. I blinked them quite a few times to clear the cloudiness.
“I think the gravity of our new reality has finally caught up with her.” Lokust said as she smiled at me.
Surrounding me was my family- my new family. All smiled as I finally opened my eyes and looked around. I felt more tears form and I tried to blink them away before having to resort to wiping them from my eyes and cheeks. I had a blanket over me.
Looking over to Savanna I started to panic when I didn’t see her in her seat!
“Relax, honey. She’s in capable hands.” Mom reassured as Dell stepped from behind me holding my daughter in her arms. There was a huge look of contentment on my Coven sister’s face as she carefully handed the sleeping bundle to me.
“I’m jealous, Chance. She’s so adorable and well behaved…” Dell suddenly stopped to wipe her eyes.
“Is Lokust right, Chance? Had I realized you were stressing out this much, I wo…”
“It’s all so amazing.” I interrupted. “Everything that’s happened…to me…to my friends…to my…to my family It seems like some gigantic, impossible…dream. Nothing about the last six days seems remotely possible! Nothing!”
Mom suddenly leaned to me and squeezed me tightly.
“Oh, honey! You’re the one that is amazing! I would have never imagined that my daughter’s heart and character would be so big. You have made your so-thought dream, a reality. Because of you, Charles, Chantell, and I have received a second chance. The chance to experience our daughter at her full potential. To gave us the opportunity to work with her. To be a family again, honey.”
Savanna began to fuss and I wondered why since she had just been fed.
“She probably needs fed, honey.”
At my look, she explained.
“You’ve been up here for about three hours, Chance. Artie and Simone just came back up from changing her.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with you, Lady Chance. This all feels like some fantastic dream…I’m so afraid that it will end all too soon.” Simone admitted.
“I’m at a loss for words too, My Lady. I have never seen the stars in such a way as this. Can I ask how fast, or is that classified, My Lady?”
I nodded to Charli.
“At our last course waypoint measurement, forty-five LY/sec, sir.”
Serangetti suddenly dropped into a couch off to our left.
“Poppy, are you alright?” Lyra cried in panic. He waved to calm her.
He finally began to breathe after several minutes passed with a very urgent gasp.
“As unbelievable as these last few days have been, what I just heard is the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever been witness to! How can a craft such as this travel through space at such a rate?”
“Lady Simone, care to answer that.” I requested.
“Our Lady Chance here somehow found then gained access to my severely panned and defunct master’s thesis- one the Professors all laughed at, by the way- and made it reality.”
“We must be using fuel at an astounding rate! When and where do we stop to refuel?” The Commander asked.
“Fuel reserve stands at ninty-two percent. Based on current fuel usage, estimates predict a fuel reserve of eighty-eight percent when we reach Antarra.
Again, Serangetti gasped heavily.
“Chance ‘found’ a design for a Current Economizer I doodled in my offline time on our last cruise, sir. She incorporated it into Pegasus’ design.” Dell admitted with a proud smile.
“Unbelievable! Had I known such talent existed under my command…”
“If Chance hadn’t found and incorporated those inventions, no one would have been the wiser, Kimbou. Chance took the opportunity to utilize her friends’ unconventional, unpopular, and unproven designs. It was a bold decision and worthy of the Summers’ legacy.” Mom crowed.
Savanna chose to remind me she hadn’t been fed and was running out of patience.
“Everyone out. The princess has spoken.” Mom laughed as I prepared to feed Princess Savanna Summers.
I actually thought the title and name fit this bundle of joy.
“Do you mind if I stay, Chance? I haven’t seen the galaxy like this ever. It’s quite the show. I’ll just sit over here.”
“That’s one of the reasons I included it in the design, mom. Have a seat. Relax.”
 
 
“High Priestess? Do you have a min…ute?” Sandra asked as she exited the elevator. She stuttered as the stars streaking overhead caught her attention. “Wow! That’s amazing!”
Savanna was again asleep in her ‘car seat’ as mom called it.
“What’s on your mind, M’lady?” I asked, noticing she had changed out of her uniform and back into her BDU’s.
“High Priestess, I hope you don’t think I’m a coward or weak, but I wish to be deactivated. I’m not sure the Corps is in my best interest. I’m finding it very stressful keeping control of myself- my magic- around the children. As you may realize, some of them can be very…demanding.”
“I realized that when I was in the Current to rescue them, Sandra. Some of the older kids were reluctant to leave. I would assume it was the first time they had been unsupervised. I found myself aggravated by their refusal and finally resorted to militaristic behavior.”
“You mean you had to act like an adult, Chance? You had to play the ‘Parent’?” Mom cut in.
“So you understand why I can’t allow the temptation of magic interfere with my responsibilities to the children. I might unintentionally do or cause something…”
“Done.” I said without blinking.
“Done? But I don’t feel any different.”
“I deactivated you, but since you’ve already acclimated to the feel of your latent Current, your initial ‘funny’ feeling no longer exists.”
“So now if one of the more aggressive children should push my limits, I won’t accidently turn him into anything…interesting, right?”
“I would still audit my emotions, just to be safe, Lady Sandra. Sometimes we tend to retain magic once enlightened to it. You might find you are still able to manifest your wand or change your clothes, or even produce a tiny ball of plasma.”
“So…once a witch, always a witch? To a certain degree? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Unfortunately. Sorry.” I apologized sincerely. “We’ll hold your place in the Coven should you change your mind, Witch Corps Reservist, Cassandra Anderson.”
“I truly appreciate that, High Priestess. And thank you again for allowing me on your humanitarian mission.” Sandra said as she quietly turned and walked back to the elevator.
“The girl has a set, honey. Not many have found the Corps not to their liking, let alone had the nerve to opt out.” Mom said after the elevator door had closed. “Then again, you didn’t really deactivate her, did you?”
I smiled deviously. “We may have been a little too quick to activate her in the first place, Mom.”
“Being thrown onto the front lines without the proper training or confidence isn’t the wisest of moves- even if the front lines are quiet at the moment.”
“But when working with children- especially four in particular- one needs as many defensive weapons as one can get.” I waggled an eyebrow.
Mom shook her head and smiled. “So what do you know that I don’t, young lady?”
“Our ‘humanitarian’ mission isn’t going to be as smooth and simple as it appears.”
“You think I don’t know that? After a thousand years of experience, I’ve learned that rarely is a ‘simple’ mission, simple.”
“High Priestess, you and Lady Hope are requested on the Bridge.” Charli alerted.
“See? Told you!” Mom bemoaned.
Picking up Savanna in her ‘car seat’ we headed to the elevator.

Chapter 30

“What happened?” I asked as we entered the Bridge. I took my station after Lokust relinquished it, and placed Savanna’s seat down next to it.
“High Priestess, long-range sensors have detected the shuttle’s propulsion signature.”
“Where?”
“Off our three heading toward the Magellan system. Four thousand-thirty-eight LY’s and increasing.”
“How far are we from Magellan?”
“Sixty thousand and ninety LY’s. Thirty minutes at this velocity given the course translation radius. It’s doable.”
“Negative. Stay on course to Antarra. I’m not going into any confrontation with children onboard. Prepare a sensor agent for launch. Have it follow at one point five LY’s in deep space camo mode. The least we can do is keep tabs on him.” I ordered.
“We have ‘sensor agents’? Lokust questioned in amazement.
“What she said! I didn’t think we…wait…here they are. Allow me a moment to configure one and…okay, ready, High Priestess.”
“Launch an agent, M’lady, and enter it into the intelligence database.”
“Probe away with augmented programming to follow the propulsion signature in stealth mode, M’lady.”
“ETA to Antarra.” I requested.
“Antarran outer defensive boundry in three hours, High Priestess.”
“Alert the Antarran government of our mission and arrival time, Lady Artemis. With any luck our Hoblin will be monitoring the communication.”
“As you wish, High Priestess.”
“Simone, are the Brooms fueled?” I asked as I looked over to her.
“Ready to go on your order, High Priestess.” She answered after checking her console.
“Want me to initialize their AI’s, High Priestess?” Charli offered as, once again, I got a feeling.
“No. Something doesn’t feel…right.” I warned. “Let’s continue our primary mission.”
 
 
“High Priestess, I just received a reply from Antarra, Norge Center. They welcome us to their system and have provided course and unique access code to clear their border.”
“Major, Reduce speed to sublight about two LY’s out and take us in as if a ‘normal’ spacecraft. Default Active Camoflage just before we decelerate.”
“Aye, Skipper.” Mom responded.
“Lady Kitty, weapons status?”
“Ready on your command, High Priestess. All batteries, fore and aft are fully charged.” She smiled ominously. “Are you expecting trouble, Chance?”
“No, Lady Kitty, Chance has done her homework and knows that arriving into Antarran space with anything less than fully charged weapons indicates submission and therefore weakness. By showing that we can and will defend ourselves, we confirm our registry with the EFMC.” Mom explained. “If you hadn’t guessed it by now, EFMC Witch Corps has always been Military shorthand for ‘those kick-ass, ruthless, hardcore bitches that ask no questions, and take no prisoners’.”
“Much to our dismay that reputation alone has been sufficient to de-escalate some interplanetary incidents.” Mom told us but looked disappionted.
“Yeah, you always seemed so distraught after one of those, Hopewell.” Chantell snickered as she arrived and took her station.
“How are our passengers?”
“The little…dem…darlings…are eager to stretch their limi…legs. I have no idea how Sandra does it. There would’ve been at least fifteen lifeless corpses by now if I had to watch them alone. Hey, I thought she said you deactivated her? When I left, she was still beaming Current like a lighthouse. Oh, and I hope you don’t mind the Meeting Room getting trashed so early on our maiden voyage. Some of the bigger kids indulged themselves in some kind of ‘Battlefield One’ shit. Tables overturned, chairs upended…some broken containers here and there… Kinda reminds me of that disagreement you and me had with that barkeep on Treste. What was the name of that bar again, Hope?”
“Wee Willies.” Mom giggled as she reminisced.
“But hey. Who woulda thought the guy would be so sensitive, yeah?”
“Major, We’re approximately four LY’s out from Antarran outer defenses.” Charli announced. “Try not to overshoot this one, huh?”
“Kiss mah ever-lovin’ ass, Armstrong!”
“Pull the safeties on all weapons, Lady Kitty. Target as many primary Defensive Arrays as Pegasus is capable of! Target only.”
“Long-range Particle Cannons are armed and set for a full spread, targeting eighteen primary defensive arrays per cannon, High Priestess. Broom weapons have also enabled and targeted another forty-six primary defensive arrays.”
“Finger off the trigger for now, M’lady.” I suggested.
Kitty snarled in reply.
“Yep, that’s Libra alright!” Chantell wisecracked.
“High Priestess. I heard we were on approach to Antarra. Permission to enter the Bridge, My Lady.” Cmdr. Serangetti requested.
“Permissions granted,” I said without even looking back. “Find a seat. Lyra, sweetie, have you ever been part of a Bridge crew before?”
“No, High Priestess, I haven’t. What would you have me do?” She replied, overjoyed at just being asked.
“You do know that every member of Witch Corps has specific duties while onboard Pegasus, right?”
“I do, High Priestess.”
“Then you should not be surprised that I have assigned you the duty of ‘Failsafe Weapons Officer’. Please take your station next to Lady Kitty.”
“Failsafe Weapons Officer, High Priestess?”
“Yes. It is your job to make sure Lady Kitty only fires our weapons on my order. Too many times in the past has there been an ‘oops’ that has caused ‘major’ conflicts and I am not about to start one now, so please, take your station, M’lady.” I explained while glancing over to Mom a few times.
“I didn’t tell her about those…” Chantell whispered.
“Shut it, Shan!” Mom hissed back quickly. “Slowing to Sublight, High Priestess.”
“Active Camoflauge to default.” Simone relayed.
“We’re visible to their sensors.” Charli announced.
“Lady Simone, front and center, please.” I requested.
“Me? What did I do? Pegasus is running just fine, Chance.”
“We’re about to contact Antarra and I thought it appropriate that our resident Antarran be the one to do that.”
“But I’ve never been to Antarra before! I’m not even Antarran…um…normally anyway.”
“I’ll do it, High Priestess.” Mom offered with a devious grin. “Probably scare the piss outta them when they see me…alive.”
Simone stared at Mom for a moment then sighed heavily.
“Alright, I’ll do it.” She sighed again, disheartened as her clothing changed to her uniform. “What should I say?”
“Remember how your granny acted, honey?” Mom asked.
“I remember she was very gruff and aggravated easily if I didn’t do what she said, when she said. Mostly though, she was very loving and kind to me.”
“Yeah…that’s about it. Think ‘Cold-hearted Bitch’.” Mom agreed. “Except for that last part. Ol’ Jules never came across as the nurturing type.”
“More like the ‘wham, bam, thank him, SLAM’, type.” Chantell added on a whim and devious smile. “Look, just don’t take no shit from whoever appears on the screen and we’ll be golden.”
“Act as you feel you should, Simone. Let your intuition guide you…let your memory of your grandmother…guide you. Mom claims that she and the queen were really close…” Chantell choked. “They were close friends. Use what you’ve learned to act accordingly.” I advised. “Everyone to uniforms!”
Simone nodded silently, but looked apprehensive at the same time.
“We’re being hailed, High Priestess.” Artemis announced.
I nodded to a very apprehensive Simone.
“Bring it up.” She ordered after steeling herself.
“Unauthorized craft, you are hereby ordered to stop and surrender to be boarded, by order of the Royal Antarran Defense Command!” The bearded middle-aged man with red hair growled with a very angry sneer.
“Well hello to you too, sir.” Simone greeted happily.
“Well now…who let you out of the Queen’s mansion, little girl?” The face on the display smiled hungrily and his eyes continued to stare menacingly.
“His rank is ‘Major-General, M’lady.” Mom whispered. “Be strong. He’s all hot air. Think what Grammy would do.”
Simone thought for a moment. An evil smile appeared.
“The Queen’s Ladies-in-Wait are permitted to travel from time to time. Or has something changed in the last two hundred years, Major General?”
“They have not and you should have no problem submitting to my command. Prepare to be boarded!”
“And what if I say ‘PISS OFF’? Then command the Royal Antarran Defense Commander to kiss my perfectly smooth, delectable ass?” Simone growled back sexily as we all stared at her in utter amazement!
“How dare you verbally assault the Royal Defense Command! For that you shall pay! Prepare the weapons!” He demanded to someone off to his side.
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a first class ‘A’ hole, sir? This ship will never surrender to the likes of you or anyone thereafter your death! Do you not recognize me? Do you not know who I am? What we are and represent?” Simone fired back.
“I see nothing but an over-sexed, harlot that is only aggravating me more! Push no further or suffer destruction!”
“Kitty and Lyra. On her mark.” I said giving the authorization. Lyra immediately touched her console and Kitty’s indicated acknowledgement. “One automated array only M’lady.”
Kitty frowned.
“Oh to Hades with this! You shall prepare to surrender to ME, AntarJack!” Simone replied heatedly and nodded to Kitty.
Pegasus belched- that’s actually what it sounded like from inside the Bridge- as one particle cannon projectile launched and sped- at light speed- toward its target. Suddenly the ordinance split into eighteen smaller projectiles and impacted their targets. The explosive lightshow was even impressive from our position.
“Oops.” Kitty deadpanned evilly.
“Oh, they’re just decoys anyway! We were being tested. They do it all the time, M’lady.” Mom admitted when Simone’ mouth began to drop open. She quickly recovered.
The face of the bearded guy on our display fell instantly!
“My Lord! Eighteen arrays simply vanished! I have never witnessed such destructive power in my entire career! Who is this arrogant slut to have this much power at her whim?” A frantic voice in the display’s background cried out.
“I am Lady Simone Gutteson-Redman and I am a member of EFMC Witch Corps! Do not aggravate me or our High Priestess any further!” Simone demanded regally.
“Gutteson. Gutteson…” The man repeated her surname several times until his eyes opened wide.
“My Lady, did you receive an access code?” He asked courteously after a few seconds pause. It was the difference between night and day suddenly.
“Sending it now, sir.” Simone said pleasantly as she nodded to Artemis.
“Please pardon the test, Lady Simone. You have bested our Array Programmer AND befuddled him at the same time. Congratulations on eighteen impressively clean kills. Proceed to the designated landing port in Norge on Antarra.”
“Thank you, Major-General. It was…fun.” Simone responded courteously and signaled Artemis to disable the transmission.
“Gods, is he an asshole!” She hissed as she returned to her station.
“Yeah, but he’s probably got a huge penis.” Chantell teased wickedly.