Galactica: Book 1 - Via Lactea

 

Sitar led a group in the guts of Thebes to reach the life forms rescued from Erigon IV. They were walking silently between huge crates when they heard a strange conversation.

"OWW! OWW! Take it out!"

"Stop complaining! Take it like a Man!"

"But it is the size of a log!"

"Given it is wood, what do you expect?"

"OWW! Are you trying to drill me a new hole?"

"If you stayed still, rather than jump all over the place, it would take less time and be over with quicker!"

"OWW!"

"What a sissy! Now suck on it!"

"But it is all covered in blood and shit! It is filthy!"

"So? It is your blood and shit, not mine, you fool! Next time, you will wait for me to put on a sheet rather than bend over the crate in a rush for your fun!"

"But you did not bring anything!"

"Look around, you idiot! There are plastic sheets everywhere. If you had waited for me to put one on the crate before bending over, you would not be crying like a baby. Things would have slid in a lot faster."

«A lot faster?» asked Sitar as he tried to figure out where the voices came from. «I fail to see how this would have influenced the end result of what looks like a rape!»

The same harsh voice continued to berate the cry-baby: "All you thought about was to get this over with as fast as possible!"

"That is not true! I like to play with it too!"

"Do not tell me that! You are always afraid we will get caught, as if the Princes would care about us exploring!"

Some sucking noises were heard, much to the disgust of Sitar and the others.

"See! It is not that bad, and you feel better already!"

"Yes, you are right, but it still tastes awful! Can I pet it?"

"Finish cleaning up before doing anything else! Then you can play with Albert for a while, but we need to feed it and water it before going home."

«Feed it? Water it? How kinky are these Boys?» wondered Sitar, still trying to locate the couple.

"I know. Prince Enron would not put up with us mistreating your Snake!"

«Enron! What are you teaching the Youngsters?» thundered Sitar across the telepathic space.

«Me? Nothing!»

«Then you need to hear what I am hearing!»

Sitar replayed the conversation he had overhead for Enron’s benefit, much to the embarrassment of said Elf!

Sitar finally figured out why he could not see the Boys: they were hidden by a crate siding that covered a hole in between adjacent wood boxes. He used telekinesis to lift the cover and move it aside silently. The Boys were looking into a vivarium at a Snake, a King Cobra no less, and were gently petting it while one was replacing the water bowl’s contents with fresh water, and the other held a live mouse in a cage. To say that Sitar was shocked and worried was an understatement! One of the Boys was vigorously sucking on his left thumb.

"What is going on here?" he asked gently, so as not to produce a startle reaction.

"I told you we stayed too long!" said the boy that had called his friend names. "Now, we will lose our little pet!"

"This is a King Cobra, no mean pet you have there. It can kill in a single bite."

"We know, but we found the egg in the tessaract while on a school show, and decided to take care of it. The Mother seemed to have been killed. It never was aggressive toward us," replied the other Boy, between sucks on his thumb.

"It has always been nice to us too!"

"Ok. What was that about drilling another hole?"

"Oh that! I was trying to get in this place too fast, before Mark put in a plastic sheet, and slipped. I had a huge wood splinter in my thumb and he took it out! It was so painful!"

"I see. The conversation led me to believe something else was occurring. So, you have no problem with Albert the Snake?"

"No, he is gentle, except for Mice. He hates their sound. We talk all the time!" replied the thumb-sucking Boy.

"You talk to the Snake?"

The older Boy raised his shoulders. They might as well tell everything.

"Yes. Well, we talk is a way of speaking, we do not need to talk aloud, we hear what Albert wants to say and he hears us."

«Like this?»

«You too?» replied the two Boys in amazement.

"Yes me too. It is called telepathy. It is rare Children of your age acquire inter-species telepathy, but not unheard of. After all, Harp could at four years of age."

"Cool!"

"Have you reported to the College of Magic yet?»

«No. Dad calls Mages freaks, and he would probably get mad at us if he knew we could do this.»

«Is that so? Well, your dad will be freaking out on the hull of Thebes shortly!» said Harp, that had kept monitoring the conversation from his own work.

"Boys, stay here and keep company to Albert. We have some work to do a bit further down in the Tessaract, but we should be back in half an hour. Talk with Albert, and see if he wants to leave with you to come with us."

"Where shall we go?"

"To the Imperial Suite. We keep the most talented close at hand, and you sure are part of the lot."

"What will happen to Albert?"

"If he wants to, he is welcomed to join with us. You are friends, and we do not separate friends."

"Ok. I shall talk to Albert and ask what he thinks."

"I do not know if Albert knows who his namesake is? He might want to change his given name!"

"I did not think of that. Let us bring that subject when we talk to him in the Imperial Suite."

***

Sitar and his group progressed deeper in Tessaract 2, reaching the entry to level 16 where the survivors of the Erigon Star System. Once the group made its way within the psionic shield, they noticed intense organised psionic activity.

«I am surprised you are still alive!» Sitar stated, overshadowing all telepathic exchange.

«Are you one of the Gods?»

«Yes, I am the God of War of Atlantis. You are not the one we met. Your mental signature differs.»

«The first ones have passed on. We are the second generation. We have learned to cooperate in understanding our world with the help of the Teacher you left behind.»

«That must be Thebes or one of his colleagues. They love teaching to youngsters, under the guidance of the Gods of Enlightenment and Learning.»

«How may we serve you?» asked another member, a bottom-dweller.

«You can serve us by continuing to learn. We are tracking your genetic evolution, and we expect you to reach the level necessary to morph and become fully integrated into the population of this Ark within a few generations. Maybe your great-grand-children will be led out of the safety of this Tessaract layer to take their rightful place amongst us and the Stars. I came here for two reasons. First, to confirm the Teachers’ and Monitors’ progress report. Second, to encourage you and tell you that you were doing well. It may seem a long time to you between our visits, but we, as Gods, have been very busy. You are not, and by far, the only life forms rescued. We have had to deal with many surprises, some bad, but mostly good ones. You are, so far, one of the good ones. Keep up the good work.»

«Thank you.»

«We will pay you further visits as time goes by. Hopefully, these visits will be more frequent, because you will need guidance in the art of psionics. It is not an easy path. You probably wonder why you are unable to feel other life. It is intentional. We do not wish to overwhelm you and give you a feeling of inadequacy. Try to fully understand each other: you are only three psionic species in this protective bubble. Our own word had 25 or so psionic species, and quite a few more on the verge of reaching that point. It will be difficult for you to adapt if you do not overcome your small differences when you are led out of this sphere of influence.»

«And how many were on the verge of psionics, as you call this?»

«Do not sink under shock when I tell you. I am not in the mood to practice mouth to mouth resuscitation with one of your species!» replied Sitar as he pictured himself trying to do just that with what amounted to a Sperm Whale.

«Is it that bad?»

«If you consider psionics as something bad, maybe you are not ready to hear the number.»

«Sorry for the bad image projected by my esteemed colleague. We never have met yet, since I hug the sea bottom, but he is a fine debater. I suspect he is overwhelmed.»

«I understand. As for the number, it was, at the time we had to leave our refuge to bring war to the Soul-Eaters, in the vicinity of several thousand species ready to emerge. We now have seen quite a few do that, and not necessarily those we thought were the most likely candidates.»

«I now understand your fears for my friend. I fell off a rock when you told that number. This Ark must be a veritable storm of psionics.»

«It is, but each species occupies a narrow bandwidth, that keeps each species’ sanity and group transmissions separate. Only a select number of us are capable of inter-species communications, mostly the leadership of each species. Eventually, we hope all of those with psionics will be able to select which band they wish to exchange on, thus relieving the current backlog of communications between species. Do you have any other question? I have two to collect outside of this psionic bubble, two young Human Males that have mastered communications with a species of Crawler, a King Cobra Snake. They will be added to the Human leadership today, even if they do not know it yet!»

«Does this happen often?» asked one of the swimmers.

«Unfortunately, no. But we hope this will be so later.»

«Can we ask the Teacher about other species?»

«Certainly. The Teacher will supply you with information that you can assimilate, while not overwhelming you. Some questions will remain unanswered. Do not take this as an attempt to hide things from you, but as a protection for your own psyche. We do not want to harm you by exposing you to too much variance too quickly. Just one thing: If you think it is possible, then it probably is. Is there anything else?»

No one asked more questions, and after a profusion of thanks, the group made its way out, picking the two Human Boys and their friend, Albert.

***

At the College of Magic, the testing continued. The Australopithecus Regressi Children tried to prove they had some Magic in them. Tom and Jerry were busy enjoying a side-trip with Willie Coyote, so the choice of the candidates had fallen on the Elders of the families visited earlier. The Children were nervous, and it could be smelled! Fear does have a stench that attracts predators like honey attracts Bees. Runt converted to an Adult Australopithecus Regressi and then moved to the eight would-be Mages. He was done evaluating the group after twenty minutes. Their range was from Level 12 to level 8, not much magic there, but still, with some practice and a lot of effort, they could expect to gain a workable magical core.

Hugging the Children, Runt shifted back to his standard Wolf form and began to scan his four younger brothers. There, the results were a lot more encouraging, as two showed a level 4, and another a level 3, and the last one a level 2 magical core. Things definitely looked well for Greywolf’s family.

"We are done with establishing your core size. Let us move to the dining hall. The students should be headed that way in half an hour, and I do not feel like being mobbed!" said Runt.

"As if that would happen given your size!" exclaimed Harp.

"You have a point. By the way, you seemed far off for a bit while I was doing the evaluation?"

"Yes. Sitar found two Mage candidates as he moved into Tessaract two, both wild class One! He should be joining us for lunch as soon as he has picked them up on his way out from his meeting with the Erigon IV survivors."

"Wild class One? How is that possible?"

"I have some idea, but I would prefer we talk to them before I elaborate. I have a bad feeling there."

Runt groaned. If Harp had a bad feeling, some bowels would get exposed to quick oxidation! The group made its way to the dining hall and the future students were ported inside. Harp just did not want to attract attention to his presence until the last minute, and sitting at the top platform, well away from the main door, was likely to keep him out of sight as much as he could. He invited the new students to sit at a side table, under an invisibility spell; Runt and himself made their way up the different levels of teaching staff dais to the top and made themselves invisible as well.

They had barely sat down when the bell announcing lunch time rang. At first, nothing could be heard, as the thick wooden doors kept the students outside of the dining hall. Gradually, a faint sound, more like a rumour, could be heard percolating across the wood, telling those in the room there was a considerable crowd outside.

"When you told me the College had grown, I had estimated it had maybe increased by 50%, but from the number of seats I counted, it is more like 1,000%!" exclaimed Harp.

"What can I say? I took your old station as Teacher of Magical Ethics. Both Students and Staff have felt my teeth close to their ham. Each class is 500 students apiece. I teach seven days a week, eight hours a day, when I am not on the Bridge. My work week is in the order of 60 hours, of which 48 are spent teaching, and ten on the Bridge. Two hours are spent to arbiter ethics issues. As soon as lunch is over, I have a class to teach. They do not expect me in the School until five minutes prior to class, so I shall not be expected up here."

"How does Ferriday handle himself?"

"He survives."

A whistle shrieked outside the wooden door and the noise calmed down. The wooden doors opened magically to the sound of a roll of drums, and then a very solemn music was heard that gave the tempo to the procession of Staff members followed by Students walking into the vast Dining Hall. Discipline was apparent everywhere. Gone was the free-for-all that seemed to have characterised Nestor’s reign. The Staff stayed standing behind their chairs, waiting for the students to take a similar stance behind theirs. Each magical Species had specifically designed seat, but none were regrouped.

"That is as I ordered," said Runt. "I did not wish to see cliques or discriminatory behaviours install themselves in this place. You will notice that there are always a minimum of three other species separating two members of the same species. They share food, bedding, living quarters, study halls, exercise and training grounds, even bathrooms and showers."

"A nice move there, Runt, but I suspect it did not always go well," commented Harp.

"A couple of well-cut heads solved the issue. Bigotry warrants death."

As the last Student took her standing position behind her chair, Ferriday walked in solemnly in the middle alley, He progressed at the same pace as the procession had done, climbed to his reserved seat as the Dean of the College, two levels below Harp and the Royal Assessors’ table, as the Royals charged with evaluating the College were now called. Currently, no Assessor was apparently present as the table looked empty. The Runt and the two Sabre-tooth Cats were nonetheless standing behind their respective place at the table, still hidden by Magic. Harp was also standing, in front of his Throne as Prince of Magic and the ultimate authority of the College. still under the invisibility charm as were the new candidates to join the College, so Ferriday took his place as was his custom.

Ferriday waited for total silence to set in before talking.

"Sit down!"

Everyone quietly sat down, waiting for their food to appear. Even the Staff obeyed. Ferriday clapped his hands together expecting food to appear, but was totally shocked when nothing happened. He looked around, panicked! What was going on? Harp choose that moment to make his presence known, as well as the three Assessors, with a thunderclap that sent shivers down the spine of the most hardened Mages.

"Hello, Ferriday. We have come to inspect the College and see how you were handling the job. So far, I must say we have been impressed! Discipline reigns master here, as it should be in a place where power is welded daily."

"My Lord!" exclaimed Ferriday, shocked.

"Introduce us. Most students have yet to meet me personally, since I have delegated exams for the past few years."

"Certainly, my Lord." Turning toward the Student body, and using a charm to amplify his voice, not that it was necessary given the fine acoustics of the room, Ferriday introduced Harp:

"Meet on the top podium, Harp, Prince of Magic, son of Harold, the Emperor! Below him from left to right, are the Runt, Professor of Ethics and Assessor of the College; I think from the little pink dot on his nose I recognize Spare Ribs, and beside him his brother Fang Chao, Mages and Commanders of the Royal Feline Guards, also Assessors for the College. Those must be recent promotions, as I had not been informed of them."

"They are. We need not inform you of transitory promotions or permanent ones either, come to think of it, Ferriday," replied Harp coldly. "The College Assessors change regularly to prevent any attempt at manipulating their reports. It is not that I suspect the two Felines to be susceptible to baksheesh, quite the opposite; I just want to keep Mage ham out of their teeth!"

A thunderous laugher from the Student body accompanied Harp’s statement, much to Ferriday’s shame.

"Sit!" ordered Harp, as the Assessors and Ferriday obeyed. Harp let his gaze roam the vast Hall before willing food to appear in front of each guest, without even moving a muscle. He had learned that totally motionless, noiseless Magic was scarier than any theatrics. He then sat down on the Wolf-shaped Throne which moved silently forward so he could access his food without issue.

The lunch progressed in relative quiet, as the three Assessors took turns asking questions about the College from Ferriday. Occasionally, a question was referred to a staff member if it required more precise data, and sometimes, questions came up to the Assessors from the Staff or, on one occasion, from a Student. Harp kept mostly quiet, leaving the Assessors to their work. The growls of the Leopards were very unnerving to the Staff, much to the amusement of the Students. Harp figured some of them would let go of their lunch as soon as they could port into a private room. The Runt did not help one bit by keeping his hair on end and his teeth bared for most of the time, barely letting down his guard as he ate a huge 12-inch thick raw steak. The Cats kept exchanging glances with each other and the Runt, enjoying immensely the abject terror they were inducing in the Magical Staff. Finally, lunch was over and Harp removed the food from the table. He was surprised the disappearance of the edibles was not accompanied by the usual explosion in speech and a mad rush for the exit. Using the expectant looks of the Staff and Students, he began talking.

"We came here to see how the College was being handled. I shall wait for the reports from the Assessors to grade each faculty, but rest assured I am impressed by the discipline that permeates this venerable Institution. As the Founder of the College of Magic in my previous incarnation as Merlin, I am proud to say this Institution well on its way to realise the goals I had set for it some twenty thousand years ago. You took your time, but you are finally moving forward. But this is only one reason the Assessors and I have decided to visit the College of Magic today. We have news to forward to you, and as Mages or Mages in the making, you will be charged with the difficult task of answering questions from the general public concerning the news I shall shortly impart to you. Furthermore, you will be deeply involved in handling scientific research on the topic I am about to talk to you about, all under the direct supervision of the Imperial Ethologist, our Brother, Prince Colibri, and his colleague, King Enron, the Biologist. Please stay quiet until I am done, then we shall try to answer all questions, starting with the Staff and progressing to the Students."

Harp took a sip of apple juice, and began explaining what had been observed in the Eden Tessaract layers, to many gasps and short whistles of shock. He then talked about the research beginning in the Ark Tessaract layers.

"We have a lock-down on the Eden Tessaract layers, but this is a stop-gap measure. We shall reopen the Eden project for maintenance and surveillance shortly. Until the closure, very few Mages were involved. It is no longer the case from now on. Each and every team that goes in there comprises at least two Mages. We shall try to include a shape-shifter in each team. That rule shall also apply to the Ark Tessaract. You will now be in very high demand for escort duty. Brush up on defence, offence, and shape-shifting. The Dragons will come and bond with as many as possible, giving you that capacity. Note that bonding requires a certain power level and the ability to reside in your magical core for long periods of time. Work to improve your magical grade and increase your magical core, thus making it easier to live it it. You were graded on arrival. If you have felt some major changes in your power level over the years, get graded anew. After all the Leopards managed to gain two levels by self-training."

The number of questions were unending, and covered all aspects of the new issues. The most common concern was what would happen if the Insects left the Eden tessaract to disseminate across Thebes. The precautions taken to prevent just that event from happening without proper controls set in place were described, but as Harp explained, no amount of precautions could compensate for a negligent visitor. By the time the last question was fielded, the afternoon was well underway, and the Students were let go to practice spells, with a last reminder from Harp.

"We plan to announce these facts to the general public within two days. We need to talk to all the Mages in circulation. Please refrain from talking about this subject to non-Mages or to Mages where you risk being overheard. Be particularly weary of talking to your siblings or family members that are not Mages. We do not, under any circumstance, want the rumour mill to run wild. It is vital for us to maintain a tight lid on this, and you are our first bulwark to this end. Dismissed."

Just as the giant doors opened to let the students out, Sitar walked into the room with his two protégés and their friendly Snake wrapped around the two Boys’ neck. The Students parted in front of the advancing God of War, whose glowing eyes made it clear he was not there for a game of hop over the Sheep! No one dared to stay behind to eavesdrop on the conversation, well aware they might lose some important bits of anatomy for that kind of indiscretion. Once the Students and Staff had left, to the exception of Ferriday, Harp brought the new Students into the visible range and presented them to the Dean.

"Ferriday, you will find their Magic level in the College database," the Runt informed him. "I plan on seeing them in my classes starting tomorrow. The Registrar should get their data as well, and the Student Councillors should meet with them this afternoon to establish their timetable. I planned on taking them to the Councillors myself, but I need to delegate this to Spare Ribs and Fang Chao because of these two unregistered Class 1 Mages. Could you accompany the Cats, in case the Councillors have issues with Feline telepathy?"

"Sure, no issue, Prince of the Wolves."

"Hey, no buttering the toast. I am only a Mage, and I shall be Prince once Dad dies, not before. Meanwhile, I am only Duke. I am in no rush for that title!"

Ferriday left the huge Hall framed by a group of Children and two rather impressive Sabre-tooth Snow Leopards that walked majestically the Venerable Halls of his Institution as if they owned the place. Then it came back to him. Harp and Ian had taken these two to play as Kittens in the Halls, playing practical jokes on Students and Staff alike.

***

"So, what did you learn while coming here from Tessaract 2?" asked Harp as he eyed the two Boys.

"First, introductions are in order. The blond one is named Mark, the other one Ovid, and they are Brothers. I found them in the Tessaract talking to Albert, a King Cobra Snake. As you already know, their Dad is a jerk that has a problem with Mages, calling them freaks. I also learned while talking to the two Boys he is not the only one. They have formed a resistance group and plan to try and sabotage the space-ship, putting the blame on the Magical community. I have asked Thebes to increase the monitoring of the Dad and anyone entering in contact with him. I want a full relational tree made before we strike them down."

"That is proper hunting technique," stated the Runt.

"It is also the proper counter-terrorism method, and proper military intelligence as well," replied Sitar.

"Is there anything else you have learned?"

"Yes. They call themselves the Followers of the True God. That adds another dimension to the issue. We thought we had disposed of that notion, but clearly, some ideas never die."

"I wish I knew what brought this up?"

"Dad has never been happy with what he had, even before we were rescued. He always blamed everyone for his own shortcomings. As these limitations became ever more flagrant and he felt left out by the constant progress of those more fit to power than he, he became increasingly vocal and aggressive in expressing his dissatisfaction. I was five when we were rescued, and he was already a prick, debasing everyone, including Mother, at the slightest chance he had. When she died in her sleep from a ruptured aortic aneurism, he became physically abusive toward us. Only our previous training in the army allowed us some protection. A couple of broken fingers, a double kick in the balls, and a knife applied to his family jewels made it clear we were not to be attacked again. However, he told us he would get us one day during our sleep, so we left and we have been roving around Thebes, getting food from dispensers as we moved around. He put his gang after us, so we resorted to sleeping in the Jungle layer of the Ark. These arse holes would never find the courage to go in there. They are slipper warriors, who think they are very strong to attack the weak in gangs. Fortunately, the number of weak people in Thebes is limited to those jerks, much to their mounting displeasure. This is where we found Albert’s egg, abandoned or washed away from the nest by a flash flood. We incubated it and talked to the life inside for the whole time. Finally, just before the day the egg hatched, we received a faint answer. We did not go anywhere for the next two days, keeping the egg on our body to keep it warm until Albert hatched. Then we had to find out what it was, and that voice told us all about Albert, and how to take care of his needs. We have been doing that since."

"That is quite a story, Boys. We will go to the Imperial Suite and install a vivarium for Albert. I was considering asking for a name change, given Albert the Snake is an Elf that went down on record as the one that attacked Harp when he was four. I do not think it is good to impinge on the Honour of your friend by keeping him associated with that name. I could talk to him directly, but I think it is best you breach the subject yourself. If he wants to keep that name, he can."

"We will talk to him about it while we walk to the new home," replied Ovid.

"That better be quick, since I am not in the mood to walk 120 miles!" replied Harp. "You have until we reach the Gates of the College to tell him."

"It is still five miles away," replied Mark.

"One thing bothers me. Why was it not discovered earlier?" wondered the Runt.

"They always whisper, and never talk about each other aloud. My Dad only knows two members, and three members is considered a cell. Nothing is ever written. They memorise everything. Dad does not even know how to write. And they always wear head gear to hide their face, so they can not recognize each other on the street."

"If Dad only knew we could hear him clearly exchange information via the vents, we would have been dead a long time ago!" added Ovid. "We figured a long time ago their exchanges were encrypted as well. No one uses his real name or the name of a place."

"That will complicate things. I need to talk to Paschal. We need a way to record their exchange, break the codes, and track their displacements in Thebes. I just hope there are no Mages in the group."

"I do not think so. They openly profess hatred for anything different. If there is a Mage, he is either a nut or a mole," replied Mark.

"Given the number of nuts in Mages, I would not dispense with that option."

"How do you plan to call the general population Mages to the meeting, Harp? I do not see how this can go unnoticed by the non-magical population, since it will constitute a fair share of the current population of Thebes."

"I plan to work by shifts. It takes less than a minute to transfer the data telepathically, and I shall use the pyramidal structure to transmit it. One hundred get the information, and those transfer to 10,000, and so forth. In less than half an hour, we are done. I decided against grouping them in the Amphitheatre. It was too conspicuous."

"That makes sense. However, if there is a traitor in the Mages, we shall not know."

"We would not have known anyway. And if there is a sudden explosion of rumours we shall be sure there is a traitor, but just not whom. Ah, here come the two Cats and the newly minted Students of Magic. Have they been placed in dorms yet?"

"Yes. This is what caused the delay. They wanted to stay together, but the policy of the College about dorms was clearly explained to them and also the reason behind it. They will not be sharing any classes either, to prevent undue competition. My Brothers were the most obstinate, thinking that I would overturn the policy for their benefit since I had instituted it in the first place. The Dean is in his office, if you wish to meet with him on private matters."

"I need to review the reports before doing so. Let us go home."

"Albert wants to change his name to Zen, if you agree. He thinks the meaning of the word matches his character much better than that of traitor!" said Ovid as they exited the College grounds to move to a portal.

"Zen it is then! It does seem to match his character well. I have never seen such a well-mannered King Cobra," replied Harp. "You two Boys will be coming back to the College with me tomorrow so I can add you to the Student body. If you are as good as Sitar says, you might well find yourselves under my tutelage."

Both Boys did cartwheels out of joy, until Harp whistled.

"That means only one thing, Boys: you will work your balls off trying to keep up with my regimen! I take the best of he best, and ask Colibri when you meet him: some days, he probably swore me to Hell and back!"

"He was not the only one! Enron wanted you dead a couple of times a day too!" added Sitar.

"What will happen to Zen? Can he come with us to school?" asked Mark, to nods from Ovid.

"I do not see why not. There is one issue: there is only one of him, and two of you. If I decide to leave you in the dorms, you will be separated, so only one of you shall have his company at night. And remember, very few speak Snake! Or for that matter, Wolf, Dog, Feline, or any other species-specific languages. Most speak a reformed type of Atlantean between species. You will be singled out. Jealousy is rampant amongst Mages, and some are quite vindictive. I had to clear ranks repeatedly, and I hear that the Runt has done the same, but we can not spend every waking day protecting your back. I will take the afternoon to teach you some protective shields. You will have to protect Zen. I would not put it beyond some jerks to try and hurt you by hurting him. I suggest you eat, sleep, shower, and walk around with him around your neck all the time. Explain that to Zen."

"Could he learn the same protective spells?"

"I do not know, Mark. Maybe. After all, Canines, Equines, and even Elves learned them, and the later were particularly Pig-headed!"

***

After a quick lunch at the Mess Hall of the Imperial Guards, the Boys were introduced to the Emperor and the others. Even Zen got his moment of glory, as he hunted down a Rat for lunch, much to the amusement of the Feline Centurie!

"So, Boys, can you tell me what brought you to the attention of the God of War? I hope it was a prank! He deserves one for all those he did on my account!" said Harold.

"No, we speak Snake..."

That comment brought the entire Mess Hall to instant stand-still. A falling pin would have made a thunderous noise in the vast Hall.

"Come again?" asked Harold, clearing his left ear with a finger.

"No, we did that this morning!" Ovid deadpanned.

Harold looked at Ovid, not really catching the meaning. It was only the roar of laughter that followed the stunned looks of his Boys that lit Harold’s lantern, and he blushed deep red!

Samson the Elf was holding his ribs laughing like a lunatic, and Diamondcutter the Dwarf, who had swallowed his coffee the wrong way was being slapped on the back very gently by Bjorn the Troll so he could breath out.

"Yes! Two pranksters!" exclaimed Alexander. "You are now officially part of our family! And no Magic!" added Alexander, in the tone used by Kids to say ‘See? No hands!’.

Sitar shoved a glass of cold water into the hands of Harold while snickering.

"What did I do to the Gods to deserve this?" moaned Harold.

"Nothing to me!" replied Ian innocently. "I can not speak for my Brothers!"

"I hear nothing! I see nothing! I say nothing!" added Harp.

"We smell nothing!" Tom and Jerry added in duo.

Harold tried to salvage some of his dignity under the howls of the Wolves. Finally, Sitar took pity on his Dad and explained what the Boys had said, proof supplied by Mr. Zen, whom picked up a hard-boiled egg on command and swallowed it whole.

As the Boys explained their circumstances, the weather in the Mess Hall became progressively stormier. Every species present showed signs of barely contained fury. Even the Faeries seemed to double in size, not that the end result would have impressed anyone except those that knew their normal diminutive size.

«Thebes?»

«Yes, Emperor?»

«Implement Imperial Directive Omega-1. Authorization: Harold, Delta – Alpha – Ram – King.»

«Imperial Directive Omega-1 initiated. How deep must it proceed?»

«To all levels.»

«Acknowledged. Every resource assigned. Search begins. Do you want a count?»

«Yes.»

«Count triggered.»

As this private exchange went on, the Protectors looked at Harold, expecting him to blow his top at any moment. Finally, Harp could not hold it any more.

"Dad? Are you sure you are doing OK? It is the first time I see you hold your temper so long. You are not running a fever and not telling us, are you?"

"No, Harp. I took action. You know how action calms me down."

"Ah! And what action did you take?" asked Ian, even more worried.

"I implemented an Imperial Directive pertaining to high treason against the Imperial Family."

"And..."

"You will not like it. It implies Prime Telepathic Directive One."

Only those who knew about prime Telepathic Directive One understood the implied meaning and gulped. Prime Telepathic Directive One was the one in charge of protecting the privacy of the citizens of Thebes from abusive telepathic scanning.

"How deep did you request this rupture of protocol to go?"

"As deep as necessary. We were the first. I have not had a count yet, so none of those present here are involved in the conspiracy."

"That was what my mind reported. As it seemed friendly, I let it go without balking, Dad. Did anyone else feel the brush of the Artificial Intelligences?" said Harp.

Ian nodded as well as Alexander. Others shrugged.

"Was it that warm feeling I had for a short while?" asked Mark.

"Yes. That you felt it is remarkable. Did you feel it too, Ovid?"

"Yes. And so did Zen. He liked it a lot."

The last statement again produced a hush in the crowd around the Imperial table.

"Harp? Test that Snake. Now!" ordered Harold.

"Test Zen? Will it hurt?" asked an alarmed Ovid.

"No. It is much like the power level test you underwent with Sitar. You felt nothing; neither will he. For that matter, I shall complete your test. We have time this afternoon."

«Emperor, may I infringe on your family time?»

«Proceed.»

«The first count indicates 452 implied in the immediate Imperial vicinity. They are receiving high priority orders that will eventually regroup them within an empty sector of my Body. By tonight, they are reassigned to the UZ-639 sector, under the guise of either occupying a higher office, or doing an inspection in a new military sector. Telepathy has its advantages. They get the assignment they so wish and think they will gain more leverage. Everyone is told it is short-term so their family need not move with them.»

«Continue. Question: Species involved?»

«Humans only so far. Jefferson will be pissed, my Lord. He thought he had cleansed this cesspool. Should I inform King Jefferson?»

«No. The poor Child has enough on his plate already. Has he found a mate yet?»

«As you wish. Yes. He wants to mate with one of the Goblins.»

«That is interesting. I wonder who is the lucky guy?»

«We promised to keep his lover’s identity secret until he judges the time right, your Majesty. We think his hold-back two-fold: first is the recoding of genetics so the two species can produce viable hybrids and second, the reprogramming of the Goblin mating and artificial womb machine.»

"Dad, how do you plan to get rid of the traitors?" asked Colibri.

"I have an idea which will please quite a few of our closest allies," replied the Pharaoh, with a carnivorous smile.

«Are you ready for an updated report, your Majesty?»

«Yes.»

«We have tracked 39 distinct organisations. Some 33 of them were so-called religious groups. We have inventoried 15 individuals who claim Revelation of God; another 12 claim they are reincarnated Gods; more troubling, six claim to get their power from your Son Ian. These six groups are the most fanatic. Rest assured none ever met your Son. A thorough dump of their memories reveal a thirst for power that rivals the Priests of the Ancients. We did not inform Ian of this fact. We are sentient enough to value our self-preservation and we know how the Heir will react when he learns of this. Three groups can best be described as politically motivated. One group is what the Ancients labelled Anarchists and is exceedingly well organised; the second group wants to institute democracy so they can gain control and manipulate the populace to serve their interests, mainly greed. The last group is composed of dissatisfied court Rats that want to replace the Imperial family with their own. They are extremely divided and keep negotiating treaties they break before the ink dries on the scrolls.»

«I shall keep it to myself as well. How far are you in your inventory of traitors?»

«We have covered 55% of the population.»

«Estimate the completion time.»

«We should be done by compline.»

«Once this is done, institute lock-down across Thebes. We shall begin the hunt as soon as this is established. Timor is in charge of the security during the lock-down. The Wolves and Felines will hunt and guide the Legions and other allies in tracking down the traitors. What has been done to prevent leaks and runs?»

«The hunting field is kept incommunicado. Once a person enters the area, the only use of a portal is to move within the selected area, never to leave. We decided it might be a better training exercise for the troops if the traitors were free to move within the area.»

«Agreed. Urban warfare is missing in the training program. What is the configuration of the terrain?»

«It is varied. There are wide spaces that will allow for the involvement of Dragons, Pegasuses, Canines, Equines and Centaurs. Then there are wooded areas best fit for Elves, Felines, Faeries, Dwarfs and the old Head Hunters. Between the two types are wooded savannah that are well suited for the Goblins and the Orcs. Sparsely, there are more urbanised areas good for the Legions, who sorely need to fine-tune individual combat skills. There is even a highly dense area reminiscent of the Casbah urban structure, where the Humans and Mages will do well. The Trolls will probably love that too as it gives them continued rooftop to rooftop run of the area. All in all, it will be a good workout.»

«Do not alert the Units involved until deployment. Let us see how good they are at being deployed on call. In fact, target for deployment the most badly prepared in your estimate.»

«I can do this, you Majesty, but I would sorely displease your family. They keep their command top-notch, and would be excluded from the selection. May I suggest an alternative?»

«Go ahead?»

«Let the Units under Royal command get involved. They will represent less than one percent of the total but will probably do most of the work, making those we do select look terrible and help us kick their complacent attitude off, at least for a while.»

«That is a good idea. I shall not even tell my Sons and Daughters that their commands are to be engaged tonight. Let us see how they are ready themselves for all eventualities.»

«Given how Prince Sitar drives them, they probably could deal head-on an open rebellion, bloody the space-ship from top to bottom, and barely get a scratch. I see them train in the Fields of Mars daily for an hour, with all sorts of scenarios, and they adapt quickly, effectively, and coordinate to find a winning strategy every time. We keep changing the conditions in their reserved labyrinth and we have yet to figure one they will not succeed and shame us. We even change conditions on the fly, from climate to terrain, and they adapt instantly. Had they been this fine-tuned when they did their Ordeal, we would have surrendered on day one!»

«Stop the flattery. Now, I need to focus on the two new members of my extended family. Keep extracting the traitors the way you are doing. Tell me five minutes before completion.»

«Acknowledged.»

«One last question before I go handle the newcomers. What do we have on their family?»

«Single Dad, homophobic, xenophobic, racist, misogynic, a religious fanatic that believes Humans are the superior race, violent, but well controlled until he blows a fuse. He believes he has been given a mission by God to enslave the other races and has all the difficulty in the world of tolerating getting instructions from his immediate superior, a Dwarf and a Female to boot. He slipped between the cracks. The directive has allowed us to raise a good number of these individuals. They have also been ‘promoted’ to the new sector on a temporary basis. He killed his Wife late last year by losing her in a white-water raft expedition in the Eden Tessaract. He had planned on killing his two Sons but they out-smarted him and survived his efforts at drowning them as well. We are sorry this did not raise the alarm but his story was plausible, and the Boys did not talk about the drowning attempts during the after-event debriefing. Children sometimes protect abusive Adults because they feel insecure outside of a familiar family structure.»

«Thank you.»

Harold turned to talk to Harp after this short exchange with Thebes.

"Harp, let us go back to the College to test these two fine additions. And we will also test Zen. Sitar? Quietly prepare a secondary crew for the Secondary Bridge if it is currently off-line."

"It is never off-line, Dad. We never know when we shall need it."

"I keep forgetting your motto: prepare for the worst and expect it to get worse."

"I shall keep the Units under normal schedule until we are ready to intervene Dad. No use tipping the traitors that the jig is up by changing habits."

"Agreed. If you need me, I will be at the College of Magic. Harp, Ian, Runt, Paschal, Enron, Tom, Jerry, Mark, Ovid and Zen, follow me.»

The Royal party exited the Mess Hall and ported directly into Ferriday’s office, which was empty. They quickly walked to the testing grounds and found a small, currently unoccupied, arena.

The Runt confirmed Sitar’s level assessment for the Boys, but asked Harp to validate what he was reading on the Snake.

After cross-validating their measures, Harp, Ian and the Runt turned to the Snake and nodded together.

«Zen, you are hereby admitted in the College of Magic as a Class 1 Mage in training, the same level as your two friends. We shall begin giving all three of you high-level shields so you can live in relative security in this cesspool of unbridled ambitions. Focus, now, so we transfer the exhaustive language dump of the community of species that compose the Empire of Atlantis. It should be done in two minutes. Then we will begin training you in Magic Theory in the same manner, followed by your first practical exercises. By Vespers, you should be able to defend yourselves, protect each other, and even do some basic offensive spells. Zen, although you were brought into the family as a pet by Mark and Ovid, you are now a full-fledged member of the Empire, as are Mark and Ovid. Dad, we officially request that Zen, Ovid and Mark be incorporated into the Imperial Family.»

«It is so granted. Thebes, add a new species to our Vassals: the King Cobra, led by Zen.»

«Records updated. Decree published. It even helped flush out more of the traitors. Some just can not stand Snakes. They are being relocated for target practice.»

«I like that Thebes. He is so Snake-like and efficient!» Zen sent much to the amusement of the Royal party.

After half an hour spent discussing Magic theory came the practical side of things. As Harp insisted on non-verbal Magic done through mind projection alone, no fancy spell movements and incantations were needed. Both fitted Zen like a glove.

«Remember! You shape an image of the action you want and then mould the magic to it to finally release the energy to do your bidding. All these stupid wands, hand movements, and verbal spells only distract you from what you should be doing: observing your enemy to counter its actions while attacking it relentlessly. A wand is a distractor for your enemy but also a tip as to where your next spell will hit. If you project a spell without even a look at your opponent, without moving a hair much less a muscle, the opponent will not be able to read your body language to read your intentions and ready his defences. Similarly, a stave is a glorified wand that can store a series of spells and distract, but neither will stand up to wand-less Magic. I have a Stave; we all do. We use it mostly in hand-to-hand combat, to extend our reach. I can not remember the last time I use Bata to send a spell. Similarly, Sitar’s Sword is mostly for show. Please do not repeat that to Excalibur. She might feel offended.»

«Could we see what you mean?» asked Zen.

«Sure. Get behind that shield and watch. We shall fight each other for five minutes, no holds barred.»

The Royals moved into the centre of the arena after making sure the three observers were on the safe side of the ward.

"Are you sure you want to be on the battlefield, Dad?" asked a worried Ian.

"Hey, I am a Mage too. I need some exercise, and so far, I have been unable to find a training partner worth his arse. They all seem afraid to hurt me. It is ridiculous. Give it your all out Boys. I want to sweat."

"Ok. You asked for it. We are two seconds to the beginning of the engagement. Move to your respective positions and prepare to defend yourselves. The rules are simple: To disengage move behind the force fields or lay down on the sand. Thebes will immediately port you behind the shields."

Suddenly a whistle blew and Harp immediately sent out a variety of hexes, stunning spells and even a good dozen killing spells all around him while porting to the roof of the arena. The Boys had moved before the spells had even moved out of Harp’s core and he found his own shield hit by spells of differing power.

Ian converted into his Sun form and absorbed the magical energy, increasing in brightness several thousand times, then he returned the spells right back at their senders, before taking the form of a Pegasus and dive-bombing Harold with a few hundred pounds of sand he had teleported right over his Dad.

Harold turned the sand into a powerful tornado that could have eaten the meat off any bone, but Enron dumped several million gallons of water on the sand Snake, collapsing it to the arena floor.

Paschal took Mitsuko out and began spinning on a single leg, sending shards of Magic in a dense sphere around him. He then ported right beside Harp and tried to smack his arse, only to meet Bata on the down-stroke before being violently thrown against the shied.

What shocked the observers was the absolute silence that accompanied the battle. No yelling of spells, no fancy hand movements, nothing that could tell them that a spell was forthcoming. The number of shape shifts also took them by surprise. It went from that giant gold dragon to a tiny hummingbird. Quite often, the shifts were so numerous they could not guess what kind of animal would come out of the shift. Hand-to-hand combats were as vicious as armed combats. Roundabout kicks, repeatedly failed judo, karate or other fighting tricks proved to them the Royals were going at it with abandon. At five minute, the whistle blew, putting an end to the engagement.

«So, is your curiosity satisfied, Zen?»

«Yes, very much so.»

The training of the new recruits continued, and by Vespers, they were all ready to beg for mercy.

«We go back to the Hall for supper. We need to shower first, so let us move to the College’s showers. Do not forget to keep your shields up. They may not be traitors, but the occasion may be too tempting for some ambitious jerks.»

The shower proved Harp right. A couple of stunning hexes went their way and got deflected. Ian made the floor so slippery for the guilty they fell on their back and could not even crawl to reach a wall, much to the amusement of the other Mages sharing the shower stalls. When the stalls were empty, the three guilty let out ear-splitting screams, bringing the freshly dried up Mages to the door of the showers. The hot water had suddenly been replaced by several hundred gallons of ice-cold water accompanied by ice cubes! The observers could not help but laugh at the rapidly shrinking family periscopes!

***

As the group walked to the Hall for the evening munching, Ian became progressively silent, then turned whiter then a ghost, before turning deep purple and exploding in a fury of light.

«Dad!» Harp whimpered as he saw the feral look in Ian’s eyes just before the Heir turned into a white-hot living plasma. Harold turned around just in time to see his first-born flash out emitting a roar that sent a message to everyone in Thebes that the Prince was on an extermination mission! Death was marching out! «He found out! May God have mercy on those that cross his path tonight!»

«Everyone to shelters! Now!» ordered Harold across telepathic broadband transmission.

«Grandpa! Hold on! I am coming!» thundered Ian with such a ferocity steel turned hot as he passed through Thebes to reach the old Mage that had won the hearts of the Imperial family.

Ian's Rage ¹