destroyed them.
Then, e ven Om chose to go strangely silent on her after a while.
Now that we have renewed our direct link, I must return to my efforts to fully access all of our protocols and abilities. That is the priority now. There is still much damage to repair. New links to form. Doing so will require most of my full attention.
I will be here, at your call, if you need to confer with me. I am very happy with this turn of events , Naero.
Me too, Om. Glad to have you back. Do what you have to do and let me know if I can help along the way.
A call came in over her wristcom. The one that still had the neutron detonator. The call came directly from Klyne.
“H ey–”
“J ust listen, Naero. We don’t have much time.”
“W hat’s–?”
“L isten! Intel has taken this matter out of my hands. Your little display rattled everyone–including the Mystic High Masters. They’re demanding to test you on their own as a grave threat. They’re sending you directly to Janosha itself.”
One of the three, secret Mystic homeworlds.
“Is that…bad?”
“I t almost never happens. Almost no one ever goes there this soon, except for a few of the highest level adepts. The ones being groomed to become masters themselves. Even Intel has never been there in force, except for a few chosen adepts, very close to the three High Masters. And they are deathsworn never to speak of whatever they see there.”
“W as Baeven one of those adepts?”
Klyne hesitated. “Yes. And he was also the only one to ever escape from Janosha, against the will of the High Masters.”
Naero grinned. “That sounds about right.”
“T hat was only part of the reason why he became an outcast, and why the Mystics still have a death sentence on his head.”
“V ery well, then. What do I do?”
“I ’m not sure. Janosha is the homeworld of High Master Vane. He is beyond contrary, the most difficult, demanding, and abrasive of all the Three. Chaos practitioners usually are somewhat anti-social. Vane has take that to an art form.
“U nlike the other two High Masters, Vane is unforgiving, brutal, unpredictable, and a harsh taskmaster.”
Naero laughed.
“Can’t be any worse than Aunt Sleak.”
“D on’t bet on that. Vane has absolute power over his adepts–including the power of life and death. He has executed several of them over the years, without question or explanation.”
“M aybe that’s why Baeven got the hell away from him.”
“C ute. Being a Maeris isn’t going to earn you any points with Master Vane either. And you’ll still be very vulnerable. You’re burned out. Or, at least we thought you were. But at best, you can’t control your abilities.”
“H ah. I don’t even know what they are.”
“B e on your guard, Naero. Learn and develop everything you can on Janosha, but do your best not to provoke Master Vane. Hold that curt tongue of yours that gets your family into so much trouble. In raw power, only the two other High Masters combined can match Vane. You will be under his direct authority utterly. And after this little incident, he will most surely decide your fate.”
“ Great…”
The link cut off abruptly. Ingersol must have been made aware of it.
Klyne was right.
Intel tested and grilled her over the next week.
Ingersol explained at one point. “We need to make some more copies of the KDM and the index before we turn you over to the Mystics.”
“Y ou guys made over a thousand copies before. I know deciphering it’s a major pain, but don’t tell me they’ve already burned through that many?”
“M aeris, I just follow orders. Intel says we need more copies. I gotta make more copies. So just lie there and don’t give us any crap. Believe me, I want to get you the hell away from me and my people as soon as possible. Troubles swarm around you like scavengers and carrion eaters following an army on its way to a battle.”
“H aisha, I love you too, Ing.”
His eyes narrowed to slits and
Then, e ven Om chose to go strangely silent on her after a while.
Now that we have renewed our direct link, I must return to my efforts to fully access all of our protocols and abilities. That is the priority now. There is still much damage to repair. New links to form. Doing so will require most of my full attention.
I will be here, at your call, if you need to confer with me. I am very happy with this turn of events , Naero.
Me too, Om. Glad to have you back. Do what you have to do and let me know if I can help along the way.
A call came in over her wristcom. The one that still had the neutron detonator. The call came directly from Klyne.
“H ey–”
“J ust listen, Naero. We don’t have much time.”
“W hat’s–?”
“L isten! Intel has taken this matter out of my hands. Your little display rattled everyone–including the Mystic High Masters. They’re demanding to test you on their own as a grave threat. They’re sending you directly to Janosha itself.”
One of the three, secret Mystic homeworlds.
“Is that…bad?”
“I t almost never happens. Almost no one ever goes there this soon, except for a few of the highest level adepts. The ones being groomed to become masters themselves. Even Intel has never been there in force, except for a few chosen adepts, very close to the three High Masters. And they are deathsworn never to speak of whatever they see there.”
“W as Baeven one of those adepts?”
Klyne hesitated. “Yes. And he was also the only one to ever escape from Janosha, against the will of the High Masters.”
Naero grinned. “That sounds about right.”
“T hat was only part of the reason why he became an outcast, and why the Mystics still have a death sentence on his head.”
“V ery well, then. What do I do?”
“I ’m not sure. Janosha is the homeworld of High Master Vane. He is beyond contrary, the most difficult, demanding, and abrasive of all the Three. Chaos practitioners usually are somewhat anti-social. Vane has take that to an art form.
“U nlike the other two High Masters, Vane is unforgiving, brutal, unpredictable, and a harsh taskmaster.”
Naero laughed.
“Can’t be any worse than Aunt Sleak.”
“D on’t bet on that. Vane has absolute power over his adepts–including the power of life and death. He has executed several of them over the years, without question or explanation.”
“M aybe that’s why Baeven got the hell away from him.”
“C ute. Being a Maeris isn’t going to earn you any points with Master Vane either. And you’ll still be very vulnerable. You’re burned out. Or, at least we thought you were. But at best, you can’t control your abilities.”
“H ah. I don’t even know what they are.”
“B e on your guard, Naero. Learn and develop everything you can on Janosha, but do your best not to provoke Master Vane. Hold that curt tongue of yours that gets your family into so much trouble. In raw power, only the two other High Masters combined can match Vane. You will be under his direct authority utterly. And after this little incident, he will most surely decide your fate.”
“ Great…”
The link cut off abruptly. Ingersol must have been made aware of it.
Klyne was right.
Intel tested and grilled her over the next week.
Ingersol explained at one point. “We need to make some more copies of the KDM and the index before we turn you over to the Mystics.”
“Y ou guys made over a thousand copies before. I know deciphering it’s a major pain, but don’t tell me they’ve already burned through that many?”
“M aeris, I just follow orders. Intel says we need more copies. I gotta make more copies. So just lie there and don’t give us any crap. Believe me, I want to get you the hell away from me and my people as soon as possible. Troubles swarm around you like scavengers and carrion eaters following an army on its way to a battle.”
“H aisha, I love you too, Ing.”
His eyes narrowed to slits and
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