Reyes followed up the blow with one of his own, the sword darting out like a striking cobra only to be blocked by Herzer’s buckler. It struck off the buckler in a shower of sparks and Reyes circled to the “downward” side in the direction of the retreating Megan.
“Don’t think so,” Herzer said, taking a couple of steps back and contemplating the dilemma. He couldn’t penetrate the field, but he didn’t really have to. All he had to do was take Reyes out of play. He wanted to know what he was facing, through, so he keyed the communicator for an open frequency broadcast. “Reyes, you hear me?”
“Yes,” Reyes said, frowning. He didn’t know how Herzer had gotten his frequency, but he didn’t really care. He knew it was the Blood Lord commander from the markings on his suit. The security on the Icarus group had been unusually tight, but Chansa’s people had been able to get that much information at least.
“There are four shuttles full of Blood Lords going to be landing in about ten minutes,” Herzer said. “You gather your people and get out and I’ll let you leave. Let bygones be bygones. You know the ship’s crashing, right?”
“I know that,” Reyes replied. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll let you live. With Megan’s Key and the power from Mother, I can kill all your Blood Lords and take the fuel. Before the ship crashes.”
“But you’ll have to get past me,” the Blood Lord said, calmly. “And that ain’t gonna happen. Just go home.”
“I don’t think so,” Reyes snarled, stepping forward cautiously and swinging his sword back and forth. “All I have to do is nick that pretty suit of yours and you’re history. Time to die, Herzer.”
“One question,” Herzer said, backing away again. “That’s not a personal protection field, is it?”
“No,” Reyes replied, smirking and pausing to savor the moment. “Celine’s little toys can take those down. This is a grav field priority tied to the full output of the Samarian reactor. Anything impacting on it, just makes it get stronger. There’s no way through it. So why don’t you just step aside and let me go… play with your little girlfriend.”
“Don’t think so,” Herzer said, backing up steadily and sheathing his mace. “But thanks for the information…”
“… you stupid motherfisker,” Herzer continued, with the communicator shut off. He pulled off one of the thigh magnets and extended the cord, spinning it around and then tossing it to the right of the council member.
The cord was five meters long and there wasn’t more than three meters between them. So when it got to the end of the tether, the magnet swung to the left until the line hit the field around the Key-holder. At which point, the magnet started circling him in a “degrading orbit,” spinning faster and faster as the gravity field, which was pulling to the right and increasing the spin, got brighter and brighter.
When the magnet finally impacted on the field it bounced and started to rewind only to be wound tighter by the gravitic impulse. As soon as it was tight, Herzer planted his feet and leaned back and sideways, pulling the Key-holder off his feet and spinning him around in an arc, letting go when Reyes was well off the deck and drifting towards the rear of the ship. As Reyes passed, Herzer gave him an added little tap outwards. Best to be sure.
Reyes flew away soundlessly, his thrashing arms entrapped by the field and the cord that wrapped it. Well, he was probably screaming, Herzer thought, but it wasn’t as if anyone could hear it. Herzer watched as the Key-holder drifted rapidly towards the rear of the ship and then walked in that direction to make sure he was really gone. He could think of about four ways Reyes might live, and he wanted to make sure none of them happened.
Reyes continued more or less to the rear of the ship, drifting outwards slightly. The ship generated a very small gravity field, thus the term “microgravity,” and it was possible he could still be pulled down to the deck. The “upward” vector had slowed noticeably as Herzer watched. That was, until he passed the protective guards around the ion cannons. Those extended out a meter from the hull and Herzer had been slightly worried that Reyes might figure out a way to snag one. Once he was beyond the guards, he was very much in deep space. Of course, he might still call on Mother for help. Couldn’t have that.
“Evan, you in Engineering?” Herzer asked.
“Yes,” Evan said. “The Durgar are gone. They all just left, even before Captain Van Buskirk could get to them. He says they’re headed towards the control room.”
“Much good it will do them,” Herzer said, watching the rapidly dwindling council member. “Evan, do me a favor.”
“What?” Evan asked.
“Hit the main engine start,” Herzer replied.
“You’re serious?” Evan asked.
“Yep,” Herzer said. “Can you start it?”
“Easy,” Evan replied, curiously. “I’ll do it right now. But why? It’s only going to send us that much faster to Earth.”
“I just want to see what happens,” Herzer said, standing about a meter behind the blast shield.
“Engaging… now.”
The space behind the ship was suddenly lit by a blue glare, so fierce that Herzer quickly dropped his solar goggles over his eyes. The council member, however, was noticeable even in the glare. The edge of the field had impacted the grav field around the council member, which had brightened even beyond the glare of the excited ions exiting the rear of the ship.
Herzer felt himself very slightly pushed to the rear of the ship and stuck one hand out to brace against the blast shield. He kept his eye on the council member’s bright figure, though, until with a final blast of fire, it winked out.
“Kill it,” Herzer said a second later, blinking his eyes.
“Done,” Evan said as the blue glare of the drive dissipated. “What was that all about?”
“A physics experiment,” Herzer replied. “Megan, honey, you okay?”
Chapter Thirty
Megan was done being frightened.
She had only spent a few years in the harem, after all, and it wasn’t like she hadn’t seen the sky the rest of her life. But she’d found, after being inside four stone walls for five years, that the outside world had become a frightening place.
And space was ten times worse. She was on the underside of the ship, now, in darkness and cold with nothing around her but the curving hull and space. It frightened her so bad that she’d been walking with her eyes shut and when she opened them she realized she had no idea which way the lock was.
“I will overcome this,” she muttered, staring at the smooth hull that stretched in every direction and then out to the stars. “I will.”
She took two of her thigh magnets and then slowly lay backwards, holding herself in place with her boot magnets and outspread arms. Her full armor was more than proof against the interplanetary cold of the hull, so she lay there, drinking in the light of the stars. So many stars, so many planets. And humans confined to just the one, trying again to wipe themselves out. If the ship impacted, they would wipe themselves out.
She felt a slight shudder and a pulling motion and realized that the main engines had started. But after a moment, they shut off again, and the stars hadn’t changed one iota. They didn’t care about humanity, about its survival or its fall. But she did. So she reached for the power, grappling with it, eyes open to the stars. And felt it… change.
“Mother,” Megan said. “Are you doing this?”