The kings summit, p.4
The King’s Summit, page 4
“Hey. I’m heading out for a trip. I just need my thrusters checked.”
The worker walked around the ship, noting his observations on the screen projecting from his forearm. There were no doors on the crafts.
They were completely sealed off to protect travelers during trips. They entered and exited their ships through the port stations on the dock or with orbs.
He pulled a scanner from the chest pocket of his navy coveralls, and Quielle sighed. He knew what was coming next. “You have some frosting on your left side, and one of your radars is down. I can get you a new DE-J7 model, but there’ll be a eight day hold for final inspection.”
Quielle didn’t have that kind of time. Seemed like every time he came back from a mission, the engineers had programmed a new model into the COGs (craft and orb generative systems). The oversized vending machines were spitting them out faster than they could be validated. Aquillo visited the orb center every few months to check on his creations and re-power the COGs.
“Yeah, it was glitching, but it’s been cleared,” he lied. “It should reboot once I refuel.”
“Alright then," the worker said with much less excitement than before. “Well, thrusters look good. We’ll get it defrosted and do another quick inspection. It’ll be ready for you in an hour.”
“Thanks, man."
Quielle left, taking the elevator down seventy-three floors to the bridge. He crossed over, tapping the scanner and waiting for the door to the manufacturing side to open. The desk for visitor sign-in was empty, and so was the visitor center. As he walked into the first-floor training compound, the temperature dropped noticeably. They kept it freezing in there to simulate space for the trainees, so everyone else had to suffer along with them. He passed by the training pool where a traveler was easing into the water in full space gear.
The orb transit and install departments were down the hall. Transit was Mia’s department back when she and his mom worked at the OC. Tomia Delu had been the whole package back then: beautiful, driven, and loyal to those close to her. A ten-year-old Quielle, gap-toothed and scrawny in clothes that were bought for him to grow into instead of out of, had taken one look at her golden brown skin and full-face smile and fell in love. She didn’t pay him much attention. Even after twelve years and significant muscle gain, she still saw him as her friend’s son.
They stayed close through the years. Mia took him out for drinks to celebrate his acceptance into Deep Exploration, and he was there when she opened the doors of her seeker business. If it weren’t for him getting stranded on that mission, he would have been with her when the soldier broke into her place, and he probably wouldn’t be headed to Inestar now.
Quielle passed the change-out room where Tonure and the rest of Sinest’s team were inside, cracking jokes and laughing loudly. There was no time to catch his brother up on Aquillo’s assignment for him before he left. Having two sons working in space exploration had always been a major source of pride and worry for their father, so Quielle tried to keep Tone in the loop about every mission, sending the coordinates for where he was going and a guess of when he would be back. Tone did the same. But Quielle needed an extra couple of days to stake out the area around Inestar and plan his approach, so he had to leave immediately. There was only time for one stop.
The weapons lock-up was underground, beneath the Orb Center. Hundreds of employees and visitors passed over it every day, unaware that some of Dewar’s most deadly weapons were beneath their feet. Being prince gave Quielle access to this- the secret and the place.
He dug in his pants pocket and pulled out one of the orbs Tone packed in his travel kit. The ball of swirling light was no bigger than an eye. Cool and unnaturally weighted like the enhanced alloys that coated the outside of his ship. It was a product of innovation and magic, like most things at the OC. He curled his fingers around it and squeezed, fracturing the sphere and sending light spinning out of his clenched fist. It was a weird sensation. The sound was like glass shattering in his hand, but the orb was nowhere near sharp enough to scratch the skin. Quielle stretched his arm out and opened his hand. Light shot up to the ceiling before showering down to form a passage next to the change-out room door.
He stepped through the portal into an endless stretch of knives, blasters, explosives, and tools for even the most creative method of torture. There was no way he was going into Inestar with just a kit and six orbs.
5
The day of the Dewarian’s arrival came faster than Jaya expected. There was no fanfare or grand send-off for her. She was summoned by Bas, who told her to get her things and leave through the main gate.
Durand at least helped her carry her two trunks out, but her mother was in the gardens giving agricultural lessons to the children. She wouldn’t abandon her position to come say goodbye, and Jaya didn’t think she could handle it anyway, so it was probably for the best.
He stood forty paces away from the wall. Far in the distance behind him was what had to be his spaceship. It was either white or a very shiny silver. In some areas where the sun was hitting just right, it would disappear altogether. Any other day, she would have thought it was a mirage.
He didn’t look like he had just walked half a mile through the midday desert heat, not in his all-black and long sleeve shirt. His fitted pants had large pockets on the sides that bulged with whatever was stuffed in them. If the rugged attire didn’t give it away, the muscular build and two curved knives- harnessed in full view for their benefit, no doubt- would have. Chaperoning was not one of his normal duties.
Jaya forced herself to stop sizing him up like they were in the hexagon. She tried to overlook the fact that he was visibly armed while her daggers had to be hidden to not give the wrong impression. If his king wanted her dead, he would have come here to do it himself. It wasn’t the most calming thought, and it did little to put her at ease over the tension she felt radiating off of his servant like a red haze.
Out of the corner of her eye, Durand shifted her father’s trunk from one meaty arm to the other. Might as well get on with this long walk before his chivalry runs out. She took a step forward but was stopped by a deep command. “That’s far enough."
His voice was hard, and his stare, trained on Durand, was cold enough to send Inestar into its first winter. The Dewarian lifted his chin and said, “You can go now.”
Clearly caught off guard by the hostility, Durand gave her a ‘are you sure about this’ brow lift. No. Why would I be sure about going to space with an angry stranger? Jaya cleared her throat and nodded, giving him her most convincing smile.
He slid her trunk off his shoulder and sat it on the ground. As he turned, he grabbed Jaya’s hand and briefly squeezed before walking back to the wall. It was the most physical contact she’d had with him in the fifteen years they’d known each other. The Dewarian kept his icy stare on Durand’s back until the gates closed behind him. Poor guy. He was really looking forward to seeing the spaceship.
The Dewarian’s hands balled into fists at his side, then he raised one and held it mid-air. Was she supposed to do that too? Maybe this was their way of greeting. She wasn’t given specifics on their customs. The invitation was cordial and to the point. His fingers spread, and light shot out of his palm in tiny white sparks.
Another wizard.
Without explanation, her angry, magical chaperone picked up Jaya’s trunks and walked toward the illuminated doorway. Pausing halfway in, he turned, giving her an expectant and impatient look.
The half-mile walk to the ship wasn’t looking so bad after all. Heat exhaustion be damned. Who knew what would happen once she stepped through that doorway? Maybe it only worked for wizards, and she’d be blown back, making a Jaya-sized hole in the guard wall. Or maybe she’d be sent hurtling through time and wake up a billion years from now somewhere where humans didn’t exist, and giant bird lizards would put her in a cage and feed her mud rocks.
You’re being ridiculous. It’s just a door.
Jaya stilled herself- mentally chanting her last thought- and stepped towards the white arch. It wasn’t like she had a choice. She tilted her head, trying to sneak a peek around the side. The arch was thin as a sheet of glass. How was she supposed to fit in there with her hips? Gods help her if she got stuck.
Just go in one, two… Her body clenched before she could cringe-leap through the doorway. She tried again, but her feet were stuck in the sand.
“Close your eyes." His voice took her by surprise. It wasn’t that she’d forgotten he was there, but the compassion in his voice wasn’t a moment ago. Jaya looked up, squinting against the bright sparks that surrounded him. His full lips were still set in a stern line, but his eyes- hooded and richly brown, she noticed from this close up- held a hint of amusement. “The glare can be a lot ‘til you get used to it. “
Okay. She could do this. It was just a damn door... that could lead anywhere. Before she could talk herself out of it, Jaya clenched her eyes shut and took one giant leap forward. She probably looked like a camel jumping a creek, but when she opened her eyes, the ship's sleek navy and chrome interior greeted her.
The Dewarian, not bothering to hide his amusement now, slid past her and strolled down the circular walkway in front of them. Jaya followed behind but couldn’t help looking back to see if the glowing arch was still there. It had been replaced by a chrome wall.
Navy floors ran throughout the ship. They stepped into an open area with circular walkways that branched off in four directions, including the one they had just come from. To their left was a small flight of stairs leading up to a platform that had to be used for controlling the ship based on all the handles, blue screens, and panels. A curved, blank wall was the only other thing on the platform. No windows.
The Dewarian took the second pathway, leading them to a dead end. He placed his hand on the chrome wall, which faded, giving them entry into a bedroom. “You can leave whenever, but I’ll need to program your hand into the scanner for you to get back in.”
Jaya nodded absently, taking in the plain white room and its three pieces of furniture: a round table with a cube for a chair and a bed at the top of a short flight of stairs.
She wasn’t sure what she expected, but she reminded herself that this wasn’t a luxury getaway. If anything, she needed as little distraction as possible if she was going to complete her end of the deal and get back to Inestar alive.
6
Jaya was going to die of boredom before she even reached Dewar. She would become a cautionary tale Inestar parents told their children to get them to work harder. Or maybe the kids would use her story to get out of boring morning lectures.
Storytelling was Inestar’s way of preserving history, and those stories were almost always turned into lessons to ward off death.
She could hear hers now. The Dewarian would be turned into some gruesome, slimy half-man who abducted her because he was lonely. Durand would be the brave friend who fought the monster off as long as he could until he was knocked unconscious by a stray tentacle. Like all the monster’s victims before, boredom would consume her within the first week.
It had been two days. On the first day, her wonderful chaperone sat her trunk down and left her to explore her space. Since then, he had only shown up to program her hand into the door scanner and given the sage advice to “not die in here''. “No one but you can get in now unless the scanner is reset at the OC."
Jaya had no idea what the OC was or why he thought she’d be faced with a life or death situation in this room. She had unpacked her trunks and put her clothes in the dresser, the room's fourth piece of furniture, she discovered. That took all of twenty minutes.
Sleep had always been hit or miss for her. With the unknown surroundings and an even lesser-known near future, she was averaging a few hours in naps. So the past two days had been filled with planning, stressing, and sitting on the hard cube chair, trying not to scream at the white walls.
On day three, Jaya started to smell herself. She went to scope out her hygiene options in the bathing area, which connected to her room, expecting it to be just as plain and empty as her room. So the metal shower was a complete shock.
It was like the outdoor one they had near the training complex in Inestar. Except instead of an old bucket being tilted forward with a rope by a second person- someone you had to be okay with seeing you partially naked- and cold water being dumped on your head, there were shiny handles and a big, round outlet overhead. Showers in space? Jaya was by no means Fipy’s best student, but she had learned enough in her science lectures to know that something wasn’t right about this situation.
She turned the handles, watching in confusion as water rained down on the glossy white floor. When the water warmed against her fingers, Jaya began to question if they had ever left Inestar. If this was all concocted by her grandfather to make her think she was losing her mind.
She stripped out of her gray pants and shirt and stepped under the stream. It was, in a word, euphoria. Calm and bliss like Jaya had never experienced before. Amazing the difference warm water and privacy made. She took her time washing, even cleaning, and detangling her hair. The water wasn’t running out of warmth, and this was better than staring at the clinical walls of her room. But eventually, she would have to get out and return to the real world. The one where she was traveling through space to take yet another life.
Padding out of the bathing area, deflated despite her shower, Jaya rifled through the second drawer to find something comfortable to put on. Whoever picked out her clothes knew she was going off planet. Their idea of Dewar fashion was thundercloud-shaped hats and bedazzled masks with holes for the ears but not the eyes. The gaudy dresses all had long trains, and Jaya would fall flat on her face when someone inevitably stepped on one.
She closed the drawer and opened the one below it. More of the same with some extra, and thankfully solid-colored, fabric. It was long and lush. With some folding and draping, it would make a nice dress, but she’d have to get creative with where she hid her weapons. She grabbed a simple ankle-length dress that was probably meant to go underneath a much more fancy dress and slipped it over her head. There was only one towel in the bathing area, so her curls would have to dry freely.
The remains of fruit and bread she had packed and eaten were on the floor next to the table. It looked like someone had come into Horace’s surgery room and dumped a load of trash on the floor. Jaya imagined that any day now, flies would materialize from thin air to buzz around the filth. Since a trash can wasn’t included in her stay, Jaya picked up as much as she could carry and went to find one.
It wasn’t hard to find her way back to the main area. The first corridor she took led her to a dead end. The second led to a small nook that had the makings of a kitchen. Things just keep getting stranger. She dumped the trash in a bin next to the walnut cabinets and noticed a small glowing sphere next to an empty mug. She reached for it.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Years of combat training had given her control over her reactions, so she didn’t shriek as her racing heart told her to. Instead, she turned to face the Dewarian. Even though he was sitting on the counter that reached Jaya’s waist, his feet touched the floor. His eyes were on his long, nimble fingers as he peeled what looked like an orange. Oranges didn’t grow in Inestar, but Bas occasionally got one from an outsider or noble in a bribery basket.
He finished working the fruit free, then unfurled his large frame from the countertop with the languid control of an apex predator. No sign of the curved knives from before, but Jaya wouldn’t bet her life on him being unarmed. She shifted to the left, closer to the sheathed knives on a magnetic strip.
His unhurried footsteps were a distraction on their own, but Jaya also had to deal with how those light jeans hugged his thighs, and the olive green sweater magnified his hard muscle and umber skin. So at odds with the harbinger of death who had dismissed Durand with a look that said he would rather slit his throat. This version of her chaperone was refined- comfortable. Definitely not a slimy tentacle man.
She blinked hard, trying to gather her thoughts and catch up with what was happening. He was saying something, offering her some of the orange. Jaya took the offered slices and absently popped one in her mouth.
It was amazing. Of course, it was amazing.
She sighed up at the ceiling in frustration as the burst of sweet citrus gyrated across her tastebuds.
It was the firsts, she decided. Jaya had had too many firsts in the last few days, and it was causing her emotions and hormones to go into overload. That’s why she was losing her mind over fruit and eye-banging the space wizard. She just needed to take it easy on the experiences for a while, and she’d be fine.
“How was it?” He asked.
“It was good. They don’t grow in Inestar, so it’s hard for me to get them sometimes," she lied.
Squinting, he sized her up from her bare feet to her head. He chuckled. “You’re going to have to lie better than that, Jaya, or your grandad’s going to be one granddaughter short.”
A harsh silence crept into the space between them. He knew. No, he couldn’t know. Jaya held his stare while she tried to devise a convincing denial. The orange peels hitting the trash bag below were like thunder cracking through the room. “What… what are you talking about?”
He tsked. “Definitely needs work. Lucky for you, you have me.”
“Who are you? And how do you know my name?”
He leaned against the small island and crossed his arms over his broad chest. The picture of composure. “Jaya Nideha. Granddaughter of the Inestar chief- Bas. Twenty-seven years old. 5-foot-8. Father, deceased. Mother, unknown. Don’t look so surprised. No one comes on my ship without me knowing everything there is to know about them.”
Jaya's hand slid closer to the knives.
“Wow. Violence before breakfast, huh?”
