Chapter 31

The Moon
Spectre Moon Base
August 15, 2019
20:53 EDT

I stood there for a good five minutes or so watching the little arms inside the med chamber do their work. There were perhaps a dozen or so arms, but the only ones moving were two that pulsed some sort of energy at Aleena’s wound. Aleena lay on her side under anesthetic while the two arms were positioned directly opposite of each other. One would pulse and the other would pulse a few seconds later. The doctor said that the pulses would help promote growth, but I hadn’t seen any growth yet. Or it was happening so slowly that it wasn’t perceivable in such a short amount of time.

After a while, my stomach made its presence known, and my friends and I made our way to the cafeteria, but not before heading to our respective rooms to get out of our armor and take a quick shower. Mason and I were already on our second plates, while my friends were still on their first when I noticed my mom enter the cafeteria with Illia in tow. The two of them made a beeline over to the table my dad was sitting at, him looking up when they got close. After a short exchange, my dad stood up and hugged the small Scyftan woman who had a big smile on her face. After they released each other, my mom spoke once more and then led her friend over to the buffet line while my dad sat back down, continuing his meal.

“Who is that?” Sonja asked, having seen where I was looking.

“The leader of the Hellraisers, Illia Kulza. Apparently she and my mom go way back and were childhood friends. I don’t know the specifics, but they were supposed to meet each other for lunch one day, a few years after my mom joined the Spectres. Illia never showed, and my mom searched everywhere for her. I think they thought the other was dead until they saw each other thirty minutes ago.”

“She attacked us, so why is she free? Especially with how powerful she is?” Mason asked.

“She’s powerless right now and can’t even shapeshift or use Mindspeak,” I answered. “You see the band on her left arm? That’s an Inhibitor Band. As long as she is wearing it, anyone in this room would be able to take her down. She isn’t a threat.”

“What about dimensional storage? Inhibitors don’t affect that, so couldn’t she have some weapons in those?” Ben asked.

“Abi scanned her and all the other Hellraisers and had them remove all of their items with dimensional storage. All of those items are currently locked in a secure location so she doesn’t have access to anything.”

“What about the others? Where are they?”

“They were escorted to a lower level earlier. They’ll be held down there until Abi leaves with the dragons in a little over a week.”

We finished our meals in relative silence and then left the packed cafeteria so another group would have somewhere to sit. After making our way to the lobby or lounge or whatever you want to call it, I decided to roll off the remaining Skill Gems, having been interrupted earlier. Once everyone had their phones out, I called out the last of the Tier D Skill Gems, 806D.

It turned out to be a skill called Sweeping Strike. The ability was similar to Cleave, which dealt damage in a frontal cone, but it was different in that it dealt damage to all enemies within a certain range of his target. Whoever learned it could attack something in front of them, and also hit enemies who might be standing beside or behind them.

After hitting the roll button I waited to hear the tone signalling the conclusion of the roll. Looking down at my phone, I saw that Mason was the winner. I rolled 70, Mason rolled 80, and Anja rolled 10, with Ben and Sonja passing on it. After handing it over to him, I took one of the seven Tier E Skill Gems out of the pouch and called it out next.

“579E.”

“Minor Lifesteal,” Ben answered. “It’s a perk that heals for five percent of all damage done. Not a lot, but it’s something.”

Before I could start the roll, Anja spoke up, “I pass. I’ve already got it.”

“Alright, let’s roll,” I said, tapping the button on my phone to start the roll. It took no longer than before, and soon there was another chime. This time, I rolled 9, Mason rolled 53, Ben rolled 8, and Sonja rolled 82, winning it.

“Congrats, Sonja! Here you go,” I said tossing it over to her.

While everyone was congratulating her, I was already taking the next Skill Gem out of the pouch and rolling it around until I could see its face.

“Next up is 1066E.”

“Well this one is pretty crappy,” Ben replied after a short delay. “Rain of Fire ... it’s somewhat similar to Meteor Shower, but does very little damage and it’s over a small area. The area and damage can be increased as it ranks up, but the real kicker is that it is a channeled ability, requiring the caster to remain stationary to do any damage. I think I’m going to pass. This might be the first Skill Gem that we sell off.”

“Anyone else want it?” I asked, quickly seeing shaking heads all around. I took another pouch out of my storage and dropped the skill gem into it.

I took the next skill gem out of the pouch and was about to call out the number when I saw a group of people stop just inside my peripheral vision.

“Everyone, I would like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Illia. Illia, you’ve met Jonathan. These are his friends and members of his team, Mason, Ben, Anja and Sonja,” she said, gesturing to each as she said their names.

My friends greeted Illia, and she greeted them in return.

“Jonathan, Illia tells me that Abi is holding on to her dimensional storage items.”

I nodded. “Not just hers. We had the Hellraisers remove all of them after their ship was tractor beamed into the landing bay. We didn’t know what they contained so we decided it would be better to be safe than sorry. I was planning on giving them back when they arrived in Pygmaean space.”

“She told me about your job for them. I like it, though you didn’t need to offer them that much. The thing I don’t like is you planning to inject my friend with Inhibitor Nanites. I will not--”

“I told you it’s alright, Tesze,” Illia interrupted. “My team did try to kill his, which is something that I am very happy didn’t happen or our reunion would have been much more hostile, I imagine. I don’t blame him for not trusting me, though. Even if you do.”

“That still--”

“No. I appreciate you trying to protect me like you did when we were younger, but I don’t need your protection right now. I deserve the punishment he has set out,” Illia insisted.

“She did tell you that the nanites are modified, right mom? The majority of the time they won’t even do anything.”

“I may have neglected to mention that part,” Illia said, smiling rather sheepishly.

“Abi took the Pygmaean design and modified it. The Pygmaean version is just a batch of self-replicating nanites that follow a simple, unchanging command which is to emit a type of energy that interferes with someone’s attributes and skills. Abi’s version works very much the same way, but the nanites are always in communication with a device that is either worn like a bracelet or injected as a subdermal implant. That device will constantly communicate with Abi and a different subdermal implant I will have injected. While the implants are far enough apart, the person with Inhibitor Nanites will function normally, but if they are too close together, then the nanites will begin emitting that energy until they are far enough apart once again.”

“What happens if the subdermal implant or the bracelet or whatever is destroyed?” my mom asked. “If that happens in combat she would be helpless.”

“Abi scanned all of them as they left their ship. Their levels, combined with the armor they were using will leave them with a one in one trillion chance of the implant or bracelet being destroyed, with that number being calculated by Abi. Each of them will be given a small device they can activate in an emergency which will shut down the nanites for five minutes. Enough time to evacuate themselves to someplace safe before meeting with Yuki to acquire a new bracelet or have another subdermal implant injected.”

“Yuki?” my mom asked, puzzled. “Why would they be meeting with Yuki when she is here?”

“I didn’t talk to dad about it yet, or my sisters, but I’m pulling Yuki off the protection detail for my sisters.”

“Pulling her off? Why? She’s one of our best!” my mom exclaimed.

“I’m not saying she isn’t, but my sisters weren’t the target earlier today. Yuki was. If Yuki wasn’t with them, then none of them would have been in danger, but Aleena was almost a victim of collateral damage. If Yuki didn’t have Precognition, Aleena would have been collateral damage,” I insisted. “She said that she wants to go to Pygmaean space to get stronger if she can’t guard the girls, something I told her she’d have to talk to dad about. If she goes to Pygmaean space, then it makes sense that she should be the contact for the Hellraisers.”

“How would the bounty hunters even know what Yuki looks like? Her human form looks nothing like her Scyftan form.”

“The only thing I can think of is that Dhir was given each Spectre’s file over fourteen hundred years ago. Mana signatures are a big part of security, so it would make sense for those to be in the file, right? Now he is putting out bounties using that data.”

“That’s how we found you, Jonathan,” Illia said. “Mana signatures are very often the way bounty hunters find their targets. Each of us carries a small handheld device which points us in the direction we need to go, if we get close enough.”

“So you’re saying that every single Spectre is a potential target?”

“Only the ones who were Spectres when you left Scyftan space. Any recruited since then are safe.”

“Damn it!” my mom spat under her breath. “Is there any way to stop the scanners?”

“Not unless you can block someone’s mana signature entirely. Or keep them somewhere that isn’t easily accessible,” Illia answered.

“I’ve got Abi working on it. She’ll let me know if she comes up with anything.”

“Well, I’ll probably go grab your dad and take him to talk with Yuki in a while. The reason we came over is that we need one of Illia’s dimensional storage items. The hairpin, in particular.”

“My scanner is in one of my rings as well. It might help to have Abi take a look at it,” Illia added.

“Well, we’ll have to go up there to get them. Abi can’t keep them in her dimensional storage which means I can’t get them from here.”

“I figured as much, which is why we came now rather than later when you might be busier.”

I nodded looking over to my friends and holding the Skill Gem pouch up, “I’ll be back in a few minutes and we’ll finish with these.”

“We’ll be waiting,” Mason said. “There isn’t really anything else to do for the rest of the night.”

“Actually, there might be,” I replied, looking back over to Illia. “What are the chances that another group of bounty hunters made it to Earth already?”

“Very low. We didn’t detect any other craft nearby, but that doesn’t mean that other bounty hunters don’t have shrouds. Abi would probably be able to give you a more definitive answer.”

“Alright. Ben, check what time the new Fast & Furious movie is airing and then buy us five tickets. I’ve been wanting to watch it for a while now.”

“You got it,” he answered, looking down at his phone.

I nodded and turned back to Illia and my mom. “Let’s go.”

We quickly made our way through the portal room and up to the moonbase while Illia and my mom chatted. After pulsing the door with my mana, I led them over to the area that the hatch usually appeared. The hull was seamless, but as we got close, an opening started taking shape. It was also a surprise when a ramp appeared as well, making it much easier to actually board her.

They followed me as I navigated to a room adjacent to the landing bay. The massive vault door opened as we neared. On other ships, a room such as this vault might have numerous security measures to prevent entry, but Abi was a security measure all on her own. She is able to keep track of everything happening inside her, and if she doesn’t want someone in the vault, it simply won’t open.

Entering the vault, I walked over to the large crystalline chests that were sitting up against one of the walls. After finding the one with Illia’s name, I pulsed my mana at it. The top split open and sitting inside was Illia’s armor, as well as all of her accessories. I quickly spotted the hairpin, but didn’t know which of the four rings she needed, so I grabbed all of them.

Standing back up, I handed the hairpin to Illia and then held out my hand which was holding the four rings. She grabbed the plainest looking one and after a second a small device appeared in her hand. She handed it, and the ring back to me, and then took a couple of tablets out of her hairpin’s dimensional storage, before handing that back, too.

“I don’t need them for anything else, so you can lock them away again,” she said. “You can let Abi take a look at that, as well. Maybe she’ll be able to use it to come up with something that will stop it from working.”

“I’ve already scanned it, so you can put it away again. I should know in an hour or so if I’ll be able to block it,” Abi replied.

I shrugged and handed both the ring and the scanner back to Illia. The scanner disappeared and she handed the ring back. After I had put the items away, I gestured for them to walk ahead of me. When the vault had locked behind us, I led them back through the halls to the ship’s exit, and then out of the hangar.

“Illia and I are off to go speak with Tich and Thomas. If you go and see a movie tonight, make sure Abi is nearby. Or have her pilot the shuttle, just in case.”

“Will do,” I said before they turned and started walking in the opposite direction.

[Abi, my friends and I are probably going to see a movie at a theatre shortly. Can you have the shuttle on standby, in case we need to make a quick getaway?]

[Certainly, ] she answered. [I will also position myself in geosynchronous orbit directly above your location, since my sensors are vastly more powerful than the ones on the shuttle. You will have to come up with a name for it, by the way. We can’t just keep calling it ‘the shuttle’.]

I laughed as I was walking past two technicians who were in conversation. I had expected them to look at me like I was a weirdo, but they just kept on chatting. ‘I guess its normal when your race is telepathic,’ I thought to myself.

[I’ll let Yuki or someone else name them. How are the other two shuttles going?]

[Slowly. I need Tich to deliver some power plants, since I won’t be using a small part of my core for these ones. They’ll be a bit bigger, but still quite powerful, able to hold eight people in the back and the same six up front.]

[Cool. We’re going to the theatre near South Keys, so if you want to position the shuttle there, we’ll be teleporting there shortly, ] I said as I walked through the portal.

[It’s starting up now and will be there in about twenty-four minutes. You may want to delay a bit if you can, just so it will be close enough should you be attacked shortly after arriving. You really should be more careful, you know. You were attacked mere hours ago, and you’re putting yourself at risk.]

“Back to the base, please,” I asked the two guards before replying to Abi, [Illia says that there is a very remote chance of another group being here already. We’re far away from Scyftan space. Besides, as soon as I mentioned the theatre in front of my mom, I’m betting she had a large number of Spectres secure the area.]

I nodded at the guards when they gestured me to go through and then turned to meet back up with my friends.

[If Illia’s group received the bounty, then there are likely other ships nearby that have also received it. I estimate that there will be teams showing up within the week. I’ll be placing additional sensors on approach vectors that will detect most of them, but that may not detect shrouded ships.]

[Well, hopefully you’ll come up with something that will stop those scanners from working, and then we won’t have to worry about it. Any bounty hunters would be looking for a needle in a very large haystack.]