A Secret Quest Read online

  A Secret Quest

  Title Page

  Chapter I

  Chapter II

  Chapter III

  Chapter IV

  Chapter V

  Prequel:

  Chapter I

  We all have to do hard things from time to time. That's just the nature of life and the universe. Sometimes a person can go a long time with everything seemingly free and easy; the entire world just falls into place. But every so often, we're thrown an obstacle that needs to be overcome or a test that needs passing. It happens to everyone, and how we handle these challenges is what defines a person. Dyamatti was all too aware of this.

  When the princess was a young girl, her father, the great King Laurenitis, would often school her about such things. And the harsh nature of life, well, those were the types of lessons he would drill into her hardest of all. She always figured it was because he desired that she have the tools necessary to make the challenges that lie ahead at least somewhat manageable. She knew he did it only because he loved her.

  The King always knew that the young princess would one day have the weight of an entire people resting on her slender shoulders. But Dyamatti was no ordinary princess. She was no ordinary young girl, for that matter. She was Vunarri. And that meant that she would have been uniquely special even if she wasn't a princess.

  Her powers over energy began to manifest themselves when the princess was an adolescent. The palace doctors ran a myriad of tests on her the minute strange occurrences started to happen, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Except of course, for the strange mutation in Dyamatti's genetic code. There was a small extra bit where none should be. But it didn't really appear to be harming anything or serving any real purpose. So the doctors sent the princess on her way, chalking everything up to her being nothing more than a less-than-graceful young lady.

  At first it seemed harmless enough. Her passing by a holo-monitor or light source would cause the device to glow wildly before shorting out and falling dark. But things took a turn for the dramatic when she caused the engines on the royal yacht to overcharge by nearly a thousand percent. The mercury engine's manifolds blew out from the excess of raw power and the star-drive's primary plasma coupling melted as if it were nothing more than low-grade enlar. The incident stranded the royal family in deep space for nearly three days until the yacht could be towed back to Alpheena for repairs. There could be no doubt about it. Dyamatti was Vunarri; one of the famed and feared Elemental Witches.

  Most people of the Empire simply regarded the tales of Vunarri as nothing more than urban myth and silly superstition. But the people of Alpheena suspected there was more to the stories. There were simply too many strange tales and holographic evidence for there not to be something going on. Officially, the government had no comment on the matter, but that only served to make people more curious and believe that the King, and possibly even the Empire, was hiding something.

  There were said to be at least four types of witches. The first type had complete control over water and possibly other types of liquids as well. Another type was believed to be able to wield fire and flame as if such forces were merely an extension of the witch's own body. Then there were those who could seemingly move objects with nothing more than a thought. And lastly, there were the witches who could manipulate energy in all its various forms. They were considered to be the most powerful of all Vunarri, and the most feared.

  It was of the last type that princess found herself to be, and fortunately for her and those around her, she was able to gain control over her abilities before causing too much damage. However, much to the amazement of her parents and even herself, Dyamatti found that her powers were far greater than any of the other Vunarri she'd heard stories about. Making the fact that she never accidentally caused anyone great harm, or killed anyone, even that much more surprising.

  It was because of her uniqueness that her father pressed even harder on her, in order to make her as strong and capable as she could be. Laurenitis was well versed in the game of politics and any weakness, or uniqueness, could be exploited by an adversary. The king was most determined that this was never going to happen to his daughter. Instead, he would see to it that she would grow up to be a wise and strong leader for her people. Sometimes that meant that the princess was subjected to less than desirable circumstances. Case in point: her latest assignment.

  Most of the time Dyamatti was jetting across the cosmos doing her father's work, she was afforded the most deluxe transportation and accommodations that money could buy. Usually her primary task was visual service; meet this diplomat or that trade representative. All she had to do was look good in public. It was something the princess was a master of. Her elegant beauty and graceful charms won her fans across all the Empire.

  But sometimes, however, she would have to get her hands more than a little dirty. On some missions Dyamatti would have to keep up appearances for the masses, but her true objectives were of a darker shade. Gathering secrets about foreign heads of state or keeping tabs on an untrustworthy rival can be dirty business, after all.

  Although she was loath to use her powers on others, there wasn't always another option. Not only was it necessary to get out of some of the more sticky situations, her Vunarri powers were also indispensable when it came to covering her tracks.

  For instance, her time on the Gleen home world was mostly well spent, save for the small altercation she and her entourage found themselves in when the Gleen representative caught the party trying to depart with some 'accidentally' obtained documents that would have given Alpheena an edge on the bidding wars for a new trade route through Gleen space.

  When the awkward situation turned violent, Lt. Colonel Hastings' men did a valiant job of protecting the princess as always. But two of the assailants managed to get past the line of defense the bodyguards had created. Dyamatti, however, was more than able to fend for herself. With a quick flick of her hands, blue-green bolts of pure energy arced from her fingers and shot across the room. The bolts impacted on her attackers with concussive force, throwing them backwards across the room and incapacitating them. The other Gleen, seeing what they were up against, decided that discretion was the better part of valor and hastily fled the scene, leaving Dyamatti and her party to return to Alpheena with the private documents unchallenged. After the princess used her powers to disable any holographic recording devices in the area, of course.

  Aldarneeri was something completely different, though. The system was nearly a hundred and fifty light years from Alpheena, which was far further than the princess was accustomed to traveling. And unlike her usual forays, there would be no public appearances. To the contrary, this mission was to be as subdued and inconspicuous as possible. Dyamatti doubted if even her own mother knew where she really was and what she was doing. If anyone were to ask the princess about her actions, she was simply to state that she was attending a conference. And in a matter of speaking, that's exactly what she was doing.

  Then there was the fact that the fate of the entire Empire would be riding on her success or failure. It was an uncomfortable proposition for sure, but the princess convinced herself that she was up to the challenge. Her gut and thoughts were loudly stating otherwise, though. And for the entire long journey to the Aldarneeri system, she was a nervous wreck. At least she could take some small comfort in the fact that on this venture she at least had a companion to share the risks with. It was one of her father's oldest and most trusted allies: Councilman Arazmus Tyra.

  The old politician had been with her on many occasions in the past, but rarely did he partake in the more risky endeavors. And even when he did, it was usually to serve as nothing more than a distraction from what the princess was really up to. This time, though, Tyra
was to be the primary contact when the Alpheenians arrived at the appointed coordinates for their clandestine meeting.

  Such consolations were of little comfort to Dyamatti, however, as she silently paced back on forth inside her quarters. Tyra had been an invaluable asset to her in the past, but he was of little use if matters were to turn deadly. If that was to be the case, and the princess had every reason to think it could be, the old politician would become nothing more than an old man in need of saving. It would only make a bad situation worse.

  It wasn't that the princess didn't believe in Tyra's skills. But there were so many different factors in play with this mission that the chances of everything going off completely without a hitch were very slim, indeed. Her father had learned that other parties may have somehow gotten wind of the Empire's actions. If that was truly the case, then it wouldn't be unreasonable to suspect that the meeting, however secret, might have already been compromised. There was a good chance that things might get out of hand rather quickly. Those were the undeniable facts and despite the princess' best efforts, she couldn't envision how any of them would complete this mission unscathed.

  But whatever reservations Dyamatti held, they would have to be shoved aside. The Alpheenian vessel had arrived at the designated location and would be joined by the other secretive ship at any moment. Any doubts the princess had about the mission were now irrelevant. She had work to do.

  And as if on cue, a voice broke through the silence on the ship's comm. “The Zyglarine ship has just come out of warp and is maneuvering to dock with us, Your Highness. It's time.” it said.

  “Understood, Colonel.” The princess responded, trying to sound as confident as she could.

  “Have the councilman meet me at the port airlock.”

  Usually the ship the princess traveled in was far larger than the vessel she was currently aboard. The idea behind a large, opulent ship was to make a powerful statement of imagery. The bigger and more powerful the starship, the bigger and more powerful the Alpheenians appeared. It was a simple idea, really. But the ship she chose for this journey was much smaller and far less imposing. The hope was that a vessel that looked unimposing would be viewed as such and hopefully ignored.

  It wasn't long before all those needed were standing patiently at the port airlock: The princess, Councilman Tyra, and Colonel Hastings accompanied by three of his best soldiers.

  Fortunately the party's wait was a short one, as soon there was a series of beeps emanating from the control console that was just to the right of the airlock hatch. The princess and the councilman both readied themselves and got into character.

  Hastings calmly strode over to the console and activated its controls. A three-dimensional display popped up giving the colonel a holographic image of the party waiting just outside.

  “Scanning...” he muttered as his fingers tapped the controls.

  The holographic image focused on one of the Zyglarine party at a time, highlighting them as each was thoroughly scanned for any foreign items that might be a threat. When one Zyglarine was confirmed to be clear of any weapons, the console would emit a series of chirps before moving on to the next. There were five in all, which were completely scanned by Hastings before he sounded that all was clear.

  Tyra glanced over at the princess and gave a nod. But as Dyamatti knew such a simple gesture was rarely so simple. Contained within that nod, Tyra conveyed a great deal. The time had come for the princess to fully embrace what the strange magnetic field of Alpheena had made her. From here on out, she would be more Vunarri than princess and the fate of billions of people within the Empire would be riding on her shoulders, and they would never even know it.

  There was a brief countdown of beeps before the airlock doors pulled apart, revealing the group of Zyglarines standing on the other side. The princess noted that they looked rather unremarkable. Aside from only having four fingers on each hand, cone-shaped ears that were rather large compared to a human's, and a slight grayish-blue tinge to their skin, Dyamatti noticed that they looked about as nervous and uncomfortable as she felt.

  “Councilman Tyra.” the Zyglar in front said through his translation device, “it is such a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”

  “Likewise, Ambassador To'lok.” Tyra replied politely., “I trust your journey here was uneventful.”

  “We weren't followed or tracked, if that's what you mean, Councilman.” the ambassador quickly responded, knowing all to well what Tyra implied.

  “Excellent. Then we can begin.” Tyra said, his face forming into a charming smile.

  The councilman gestured over to the princess, “Ambassador, allow me to introduce to you Princess Dyamatti, first heir to the throne of Alpheena.”

  To'lok gave a graceful and deep nod, saying as he did, “Princess, you are far more beautiful in person. The holoimages fail to do you justice.”

  “You are too kind, Ambassador.” Dyamatti replied giving a graceful nod of her own. She was no stranger to politics and had done this same diplomatic dance a thousand times before.

  “Now that the introductions are out of the way, we can proceed to more important matters.” Tyra said, echoing the feeling of all those gathered to keep the meeting as brief as possible.

  “Of course, councilman.” To'lok agreed. “I've brought the devices.”

  The Ambassador gestured to one of the Zyglar standing beside him and held out his hand expecting to receive something in it. The other Zyglar nodded knowingly and removed a knapsack from around his shoulder. His long fingers peeled back the opening to reveal a small metal box contained inside. The Ambassador reached his hand inside the knapsack and pulled the box out, opening it in one fluid motion. From inside the box, two bracelets made of the purest platinum glistened and sparkled.

  “I believe you will find that these bands will do what you require.” To'lok stated confidently. “It took our top minds nearly a major cycle to fabricate them to your specifications. They'll channel and focus the princess' power and help sustain the reaction you need for much longer than she would otherwise be able to.”

  The ambassador held out the intricate platinum bands for the councilman's inspection. Tyra eyed the bracelets carefully. He gently retrieved one from To'lok's grasp and inspected it from all angles. He was no engineer, to be sure, but he was positive that the bracelets were of the highest quality and craftsmanship. “I think these will do very nicely.” he said as he passed the band back to To'lok's waiting fingers.

  The ambassador snatched the band from Tyra's hand and hastily placed them back in the box from which they came. He closed the box and sealed the clasp before passing the box to Tyra who in turn gave the precious package to the large military man standing next to him, saying as he did so “Take great care with those. They are perhaps the most important things in the Empire.”

  The colonel confirmed the councilman's words by adding “You heard the man. Keep those someplace safe. I want two men guarding them at all times.”

  The soldier gave a hearty “Yes, sir!” before turning smartly about and heading off deeper into the vessel to do as he was commanded.

  All parties involved were quite aware of the risks they were taking. This meeting needed to be as secluded as possible simply because of what was at stake. If other powers outside of the Empire had any inkling of what was transpiring, there we be suspicion and doubt cast over the entire region of the galaxy. After all, hyperspace transport was the single most important goal for nearly every race in the galactic vicinity. If word got out too soon that the Empire's scientists had apparently solved the riddle of instantaneous travel across the cosmos, other forces would be hard pressed to acquire such knowledge for themselves. The entire region could erupt into violence and war.

  As if to punctuate those concerns, a voice abruptly broke over the comm. “Colonel, we've got visitors”, it said.

  Hastings stepped over to the comm panel and pressed the appropriate key. “Who is it Lieutenant?” he barked as if both
annoyed and suspicious.

  “Three small ships are on an intercept course. By their configuration, I'd say Galutian skirmishers.”

  “Damn!” Hastings hissed as he turned to face the remaining two men. “Get the princess and the councilman to their quarters now!”

  The two burly soldiers quickly but politely escorted the Dyamatti and Tyra from the airlock and back into the Alpheenian vessel. When Hastings was sure they had been suitably removed from the scene, he went back to the comm panel.

  “How far out?” he asked.

  “Two minutes, Colonel.” came the unwelcome reply.

  “What's going on?” To'lok asked, his tone much more nervous than it had been.

  “Raiders, Ambassador. That's what's going on.” Hastings replied tersely. “This meeting is adjourned.”

  The colonel raced back over to the air lock controls and began to furiously tap the sequence in. After a few seconds, an alarm sounded and the airlock doors began to part. Hastings gestured toward the Zygarline vessel and said, “I suggest you leave the area as fast as your ship will take you.”