Queen's Quest

Chapter 2

Chapter two Queen's Quest

I had been looking forward to another cruise on the Nessa, and all that goes with it when I was called to the commander's office, without further explanation. Commander Demlin was an outstanding officer, he didn't micromanage, certain results were expected orders were passed down and it was left to captains, lieutenants and chiefs to get the job done. On the way to his office, I worried that I was being transferred and off one of the best ships in the fleet. Serving aboard the Nessa was highly coveted, you knew the navy appreciated your talents; pride and morale were top notch, if you were only in it to kick back and slough off the Nessa wasn't for you.

Arriving on the bridge, I was directed to wait, shortly by another elf who I recognized as Gravin Tormish senior weapons Officer Gretchen Geardot one of the humans serving aboard the Nessa and a pixie. Before we could introduce ourselves, captain Demlin called us in. Returning his crisp salute and standing at attention the captain looked at us and grinned.

"At ease everyone stand down. All of us were wondering what was going on thinking the worst…

"I've got orders here direct from Queen Magiere ordering all of you to report immediately to Bal Sera and that means no side trips to the Elvin Mistress this is high priority, so pack your gear for an extended tour."

"Captain," I asked, "Are we being transferred off the Nessa?" He looked at me and smiled,"

"Not exactly, Commander it's a special mission we're going on, and yes, I said, "we're."

The Nessa is involved in this as well along with the Frala. I've already spoken with the queen and given my orders, as has Captain Giyax, now it's your turn. We'll speak again when you return, so that's all I have to say for now, you are dismissed." We saluted and exited his office quickly.

As we walked down the corridor speculating on what we had been "volunteered" for,

"I didn't get a chance to offer my name Commander, but it's Fashar." Suddenly popped into my head. I turned to look at the male pixie keeping right up with us looking back at me. "I thought all the pixies serving on the Nessa were female," I thought. Pixies could not speak; instead, they conveyed their thought through telepathy. It was a bit unnerving at first you thought you were talking to yourself until you realized a pixie was talking to you.

"Actually there are two of us commander Ensign Praxx is the other but he's only been aboard a short time so I guess that's why I was picked."

"So Ensign, have any ideas what's going on/" I thought.

"Actually I do commander, but security demands I say nothing, besides there's always the chance I might be wrong so we'll see." Nobody else had any clues, so we went our ways to pack for this mission that was coming from the queen herself.

We boarded a shuttle, which took us to Star City the sprawling military base in Karenta where we were taken directly to Bal Sera and the palace by special transport. Before entering the palace grounds, our Id's were carefully scrutinized by palace security then we were ushered inside. Escorted down a long hall by a butler we entered a side room with a number of people standing around a table or in little groups talking with each other. It was obvious another crew was here as well, although I didn't recognize any of them. Once we were in the room Queen Magiere called for silence.

"Well it looks like everyone is here finally, I think we can begin." She looked at us and indicated we should take seats.

"I'd like to introduce the two scout ship crews. First, from the battle star Frala, commanding the scout ship Osha, Commander Leesil Urgon, Lieutenant Junior Grade Kerin Giselbert, Lieutenant Commander Ulric Groyt, Chief Ladira, Lieutenant Junior Grade Premin Hawes, and Lieutenant commander Midras. I quickly noticed there were two humans in the crew, Kerin Giselbert, and Premin Hawes, plus their medical officer, another Faerie, actually a naval officer. Continuing, Magiere stepped over to us,

"The second crew, from the battle Star Nessa, commanding the scout ship Inkara, is Commander Denchy Gambein, Lieutenant Junior Grade Gretchen Geardot, Ensign Fashar, Lieutenant Commander Gravin Tormish." Just then, a Faerie parted from the group of obvious witches she was standing with.

"Finally, let me introduce the Inkara's medical officer, Commander Jina." She was very attractive and although I had no proclivities towards my own s*x she looked quite interesting. Long silvery hair with two pronounced ears poking out, olive skin with delicate lips and features.

"Jina comes highly recommended by not only Queen Kolee, but my old friend Elansa. Jina is an accomplished surgeon and doctor as well as an eighteenth degree sorceress."

Somehow I always had the impression sorceress's didn't look so attractive but then most people steered clear of these women they were known for varying temperaments and you could find yourself suddenly turned into something very unpleasant . Her high recommendations notwithstanding, I certainly hoped she wasn't going to be trouble.

Queen Magiere then began her description of the mission.

"Each scout ship will be accompanied by a battle Star; however the scouts will range far ahead of their Battle Star escorts which are only there as backup for maintenance and logistics support, as well military support should it be required. The Osha, along with the Frala will cover Quadrant 8, while the Inkara, along with the Nessa will cover Quadrant 9.

This will be a lengthy mission that will seek to determine if there is life in these Quadrants as well as the possibility that Elvin and Faerie life originated in one of these sectors." The queen then went on to detail where these quadrants were located, as well as support protocols.

Finally, at the end of the meeting, the queen announced,

"Your ships are waiting, the only things not on board are yourselves and your gear, if you do not have personal weapons you may draw them from the armory at Star City please report immediately to pad twelve, good luck and good hunting!" We then moved out into the hallway and gathered around Jina. I shook her hand,

"Welcome aboard Jina, on behalf of my crew and myself your part of our little "family" now, most of us know each other from service aboard the Nessa." We then continued to chat as we headed out of the palace.

"So you've spent a lot of time down in Dros Del Noch, how did the dwarves treat you?"

Jina laughed as only a Faerie can, a magical tone all it's own to her voice.

"They were my "slaves" but I was only in Barkesh less than a month before getting orders to report here, actually I've spent the last two years stationed at the military legation at MoonCall."

"In the Cantard?" we all gasped. Jina laughed again,

"Oh it wasn't as bad as all that, I made a lot of friends there, the witches guild has a small field office there. Part of our training involves spending time out there treating people, surviving, blending in."

Now that she had our full attention, she stopped and added.

"The Cantard is a crucible in a way for young witches, besides the aforementioned tasks they must perform, there is great temptation out there, unfortunately many succumb to not only evil, but the vices prevalent in that region, it takes a strong will and determination to last five years amidst all that."

'I've heard a lot of stories about life out there," said Gravin.

"If the Cantard can corrupt as easily as that aren't there a lot of evil black witches out there?" Jina gave him a hard look pursing her lips.

"It's not something our guild wants to admit, but yes, there are a few, but it's part of the challenge as well. We advise all trainees going out there to stay well away from them, but once in awhile…Once in a great while a young witch will foolishly ignore her superiors

And go up against one of these dark witches, and sometimes that young witch will triumph."

"How many times does that sort of thing happen," asked Gravin. Jina gave him a wicked grin

"Umm about ten years ago."

"Quit teasing us," continued Gravin, "who was it?"

"Me." Jina promised to tell us more as the trip unfolded but right now, we were all due back at Star City and take off.

The only crewmembers who didn't draw weapons were Jina and Fashar for obvious reasons the ships manifest listed five Kryer m-6 Auto rifles, two Ping sniper rifles as well as four Omma plasma rifles and an equal number of pistols stocked in the ships armory although with the exception of Jina and Fashar we all had our own weapons.

Upon boarding the Inkara, we were all in for a surprise. The Trigati class of scout ships were new being based on Morda technology. For starters, the ships main computer or AI was a hologram, in our case a dark elf who went by the name of Ennis. We also discovered that the AI's character could be re-programmed into another entity altogether. The bridge was laid out with the captains chair center, with the weapons officer's chair at an angle to my right, and my co-pilot and communications officer's seat on my left Once any of us sat in our assigned seat, the accompanying console immediately engulfed you the seat conformed to your body, with all the proper instrumentation and controls right at hand. It took a little time to get used to you always felt some strange beast was attacking you, but it was just the controls conforming to your personal body dimensions.

So Gretchen would be my co-pilot, and engineering officer, with Gravin my weapons officer. There was even a special perch built to a smaller scale for Fashar, who offered a restrained opinion of his station but I could tell from his the thoughts cracking across the inside of my brain he was thrilled. Jina sat in a special jump seat just to the rear of the bridge on the flight deck but she was excited at her station, a state of the art sick bay set up to allow any type of major surgery. Our cabins were small, but comfortable, and the galley offered a relaxed atmosphere for meetings as well as dining.

"This ship better have plenty of "Potsie Pies," on board said Gravin, or it's a mutiny right now!" Gretchen and I both agreed. These tasty meat and vegetable pies or pastries were an Elvin favorite but Gretchen had obviously become hooked on them as well. Generally, they were consumed at lunch taking care of hunger pains for the rest of the day. Potsie pies were a national dish some were better than others, and many eating establishments boasted of their pies. One reason the Elvin Mistress was so popular was due in part to their pies, Renee prided herself on the pies she served.

I checked to make sure there was plenty of "Weidner's Dark" and Drowma in stock. Even Gretchen admitted there wasn't any beer on Pyrra equal to Weidner's Dark. We finished stowing our gear and flight bags, Gretchen was carrying a Vymont auto shotgun, which needed to be secured in the arms locker. The Vymont was a ten gage wrecking machine firing four rounds in less than three seconds usually fleshette's that could tear someone to shreds in as much time, it was Pyrra's contribution to personal self-defense.

A little over an hour later, we were accelerating away from the planets surface; we were to rendezvous with the Nessa for a meeting with Captain Demlin as to transmit codes and signals. Docking with the Nessa we quickly passed through security up to a wardroom where the crews from both scout ships as well as senior staff from both Battle Stars gathered. After introductions, the meeting got underway. Captain's Demlin and Giyax conducted the briefing.

"While each of us has an allotted Quadrant to cover we will remain in contact through the Stellar-com. Each Battle Star will assume a high orbit around the first suitable planet then as the search progress it will move up maintaining long range communications with the scout ship." The briefing lasted a little more than an hour with both Captains wishing us luck . Before we left the Battle Star, A visit was paid to the main entrance of the ship where a slightly larger that life statue of the ship's namesake was perched on a part of the bulkhead designed to look like a rock. Everybody rubbed her bottom for luck creating a very bright and shiny posterior for her.

Two hours later, we were traveling in hyperspace bound for Quadrant nine, which according to calculations would take a little over three weeks. The time would be spent however involved in study programs and blocks of instruction to meld the crew into a functioning team. Each crewmember, myself included was involved in career advancement study programs, usually pertaining to our chosen specialty. To pass the time we had books encrypted on data crystals, exercise and weapons training, as well as music. Aboard ship we maintained a "day"/"night" cycle keeping our bodies regulated to a proper sleep pattern. As the "evening" approached, we fell into gathering on the bridge in an informal chat session enjoying our beer ration, although Jina preferred wine. We discussed any problems that had come up but mostly we told personal stories and witty anecdotes however, Jina's time in the Cantard was always a hot topic, ant this evening was no exception.

All of us were fascinated by her experiences there. The Cantard was an often-discussed topic, a place few had ever visited, but all had heard stories, and once in a while could claim they knew someone who had actually been there. It was a place where unrepentant Ogres criminals, cheats frauds, the worst of society fled. Moon Call was the only place worthy of being called a "town." "Moon Call, You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." Another popular description went; "One does not simply walk into Moon Call…There is evil there that does not sleep."