Muses, Mishaps, and Murder!

Chapter 25 Enchanted Mode

Muse Paisley

If Mason heard my thoughts, he pretended not to.

I'm not sure if he reads them the entire time, but only when I didn't want him to.

The ground shook. Holbrook held her friend, and Gloria stopped trembling.

Mason dialed the security office. "Gloria took one airship out. No, she isn't wounded, but she needs help."

"Agency-14 shot down four airships, but casualties were low. The rest fled, but it's now under control."

They waited for the security leader, Frank, to arrive.

He hopped over a fence and hugged her claw as Gloria wept. Fat tears formed salty puddles.

"But they attacked you," Frank said.

Gloria raised her snout. "Most of them are misguided. They think we're the villains, and if we slaughter them without care, aren't we?"

"You saved our lives, but I've always set my weapon to stun and am unable to imagine your pain." Holbrook patted her friend.

Frank motioned for them to leave. "I'll take care of Gloria."

"We'll come back for her," Holbrook said.

Mason and Holbrook entered Charlotte Shuttleman's tiny loading dock with their books and packed them away.

"The cultists fired on me." Arms stretched from Charlotte's walls. She located a bag of kale chips. "I need more energy." Crunching sounds filled the air.

"Charlotte, I want to use the phone before we go at top speed. Try heading west at first, and they might think we are heading in the wrong direction." Mason received a busy signal. He called a different number. "General Allen, they're striking earlier, but Agent Rock-Heart is heading into a trap. I tried to contact her."

Holbrook and Mason harnessed themselves in and fell asleep. They woke hours later as Charlotte dodged the last of the mines.

"You fell unconscious. I'm slowing to increase mobility," Charlotte said.

Mason left his seat. "I feel terrible about what happened."

"I'll come back. Gloria is okay after the mission to fool Deb is over," Holbrook said.

"We were being fired on, but I dodged them, and two of their drones blew up, entering the minefields. These mines were formed by the metallic flesh of my slaughtered ancestors. The leader's children wandered in and were accidentally wounded."

"That is disgusting," Mason said.

"I agree, but it is a reminder to my planet that evil exists among us. We keep ships away, usually to protect other lifeforms, but this is an emergency."

Holbrook unlatched her harness, ran to the cargo hold, and returned with their books.

"Charlotte, please turn on Enchanted Mode to calm our nerves."

"Will do." Charlotte's inside transformed into a garden. "I heard Gloria's sobs, and it made me sad. Let's pretend we are safe?" Whiffs of roses and fresh mint filled the recycled air of the ship. Seats turned into a red picnic blanket, and they read to each other for hours before they were out of the minefield.

Apollo watched them.

I napped and woke up four hours later. Charlotte landed at the shipping port. The hub was located on a moon with a few buildings, farms, and manufactured air. I didn't have the luxury and time to explore the twisted spiral structures or smell the food from the restaurants, which were mostly Princess Burger Hashes.

Mason, Charlotte, and Holbrook entered the main building.

Agent Rock-Heart waited for them. "We evaded their forces."

Her informant was stiff and not breathing. I felt the surrounding suffering. I didn't want to see it anymore.

The supervisor slugged my arm. "Stop freaking out, and that is an order."

I sniffled.

"Keep it together," Apollo said.

Agent Rock-Heart knelt on the cold cement floor. "He sacrificed his life to save me."

"No, I think I can save him." Mason began emergency medical treatment. He gave the man a shot from his pocket. "Your friend needs old-fashioned CPR." He compressed the man's chest and began to sing the song Staying Alive, by the Bee Gees. "Sorry, the song has the perfect CPR rhythm, and my mom isn't here."

The bear man awoke. The shipping yard's on-staff medic placed him on a stretcher.

"I'll be okay," he said.

I spoke to Mason. "You did a wonderful job."

Mason rested his hand on his side as he steadied himself up. "I only took a medic course and the additional combat training to anger someone who didn't believe in me."

Agent Rock-Heart trembled. "Trick Deb into giving you information, and General Allen said you could."

She handed him Tolbert's phone.

Deb was on the other line. "Where are you?"

His voice improved. "I escaped, and I'm in front of Rob's factory."

"Why didn't you eliminate Mason?"

"Don't worry. I took care of him with a slow-acting poison. It doesn't kill, but it turns rats into blathering idiots."

"Stop making light of Mason. You failed to kill him. You always joke when you make mistakes." Deb hung up.

"I couldn't trace it," Agent Rock-Heart said.

Mason called the ship with Tolbert's phone and imitated his voice. "Traitors and rats are on The Farting Squire. They plan to fire on your ship's laser cannons and your boosters. Target them first, but don't fire on the ship." He called each of the spaceships except two science ships that he couldn't reach.

Charlotte raced. She shrunk in size and spied on the ships.

Twenty ships fired upon each other.

Agency-14 troops boarded and arrested them. The screen went dark.

"I'll pick you up. Sorry, I needed to leave their range," Charlotte whispered.

"Are you okay?" Holbrook asked.

"We'll talk about it later." Charlotte changed her form into a larger ship when she landed in the warehouse shuttle bay. "I had to go silent. Cult members are catatonic except for the ship's children."

"But children were not supposed to be there," Agent Rock-Heart said. "Most of the cultists are single."

Holbrook spoke to Charlotte. "Gloria needs me. Deb-Dagger will not let her get away with destroying her airship."

I kicked my chair across the room. "That is how those cultist Muses acted, and we can't get a word out of them. They're too loyal to Deb."