Trial 017 - 2019 Wattys Sci-Fi Winner

Rehema Neith

21.09.2722

"Any word on the Gholians?" Harkhaf asked.

Rehema didn't answer right away, her eyes trained on the view outside the viewport. She was back at the Cadmus Institute, floating in the Dwarf Star along with Arius and Tabal, just outside the debris of shuttles. Up close, the wreckage was even more horrible than the security footage had made it out to be, the bodies of many former students and teachers drifting in the moon's orbit. By now, five days after the attack, international cleanup crews had assembled in the moon's airspace, beginning the arduous work of collecting the bodies for identification and to return them to their grieving families. The cleanup crews also had another purpose, which was to scan the wreckage they sifted through to compile data for a holographic rendering for the investigation later on.

Harkhaf's ship, the Limelight, hovered nearby, maintaining an open channel with the Dwarf Star. Unlike Arius's ship, which resembled nothing more than a flying white sphere, the Limelight was a sleek vessel nearly three times the size of the Dwarf Star, built for style and capable of carrying a large number of personnel, which suited Harkhaf's investigative style. However, the ship was currently uncharacteristically empty, since most of his crew had remained behind in the Institute, making this one of the rare occasions where Harkhaf was short on manpower.

"Rehema?" Harkhaf said, calling her attention back. The video call had surprisingly good quality, and his annoyed look was obvious on the screen.

"Yes, actually," Rehema replied, tearing her eyes away from the wreckage. "You remember how you told me it'd be difficult to get the Gholians to talk?"

"Yeah?" Harkhaf responded.

"Well, I got them to talk."

Rehema twisted the dashcam over to Arius and Tabal, seated at the main controls. Arius was keeping his eyes glued to his dashboards, giving Tabal his professional privacy. Meanwhile, the large Gholian had squeezed himself into a third seat, manually inputting his parameters to track the missing warships.

"You brought one with you?" Harkhaf asked incredulously. "Why is he on your ship?"

"He was a contact," Rehema said simply. "Turns out the Gholians are looking for ten missing warships, which, by the way, happens to match the number of Gholian warships that attacked the Career schools."

"Eleven," Harkhaf corrected her. "One attacked the Cadmus Institute, too."

Rehema chewed her lip, thinking back to the security footage of the Gholian warship that had portaled onto the scene. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before, and it wasn't just the improbability of the whole situation. As far as she was aware, no ship traveled in space by portal, only by accelerating using negative drives.

"I wouldn't worry about that eleventh," she muttered. "At least, not yet."

"Okay," Harkhaf said, but he didn't sound reassured. "So...I take it your Gholian friend is providing some means to track these missing warships?"

"Correct," Rehema confirmed. "Any news on High Mage Rasmussen?"

"No, not yet," Harkhaf admitted. "But you won't believe who I have on board."

"Who?"

"Another Mage," he answered, smugly. "Calls himself Bekhet."

"How did you persuade him to accompany you?" Rehema asked.

"I ran into Bekhet and his acolytes near Rasmussen's office," Harkhaf said. "They were looking for him too. Once I got the call from you saying you had a lead on the Gholian warship, he overheard and volunteered to join me."