Chapter Four

The mission Briefing and a Bold Solution

Fred was waiting for Sky and Jane to appear. Courtney and Heather assured him at least Jane would be on time be after all this was her job. Moments later Sky and Jane walked in and took seats at the front of the room. Fred nodded to them and started the meeting. “Alright now that everyone is here, I start with what I know, and then Todd can fill us in with what he and his crew found out on their scouting mission so far.”

Fred was all business as he spoke, very clear and decisive. “We know some rogue mages are fanatical about trying to build up power to attack some race. We have no idea what race the plan on attacking. They are most likely abducting mages to use as batteries of some sort. It has recently come to our attention that sharing magic is possible to do willingly or not.” Fred looks at one after the other trying to judge their expressions before continuing. From what we found out they can take someone’s magical gifts for their own also. For all, we know they might even find a way to gain someone’s elemental affinity too. We must stop them at all cost-free the abducted magic users and capture them if possible. Team leader Todd I’ve read your reports and would like to hear your take on the situation first hand.” Fred beckoned Todd to stand as he sat.

Todd stood up and thanked the captain. “We know some rogue magic users are fanatical againt a race we are yet to find out who. These are well-organized people and have many resources. They have three light class battlecruiser and around seven modified private ships for battle also. On top of that, they have two space cruisers able to carry over a thousand people each. We think they’re going to attempt a raid on a planet or space station to capture a group of people. They are gearing up with a lot of magic and powerful kinetic weapons of various types. They are going for overkill and plan on wiping out any resistance and give no quarter. We were close to finding out who they were going to attack when we were discovered a day ago, we snuck away and were followed halfway here. We have pictures of the solar system we believe they’re based in. We were yet to find out what planet or planets they occupy yet. Four of the planets support life and only one human life. The other three would take little to change for the atmosphere to be breathable for humans.” Todd was just about finished with his part of the briefing. When Sky held up a hand to ask a question with a sorrowful look.” Sky do you have a question that can’t wait till I’m finished”?

Bring her hand down she nodded yes. Todd motioned her to continue. “I wonder if you know or have an idea where the abducted magic users are being held? I can wake them up and take away some of the magic we have to deal with.” Sky wanted to save the misfortunate magic users from their ill-fated happenstance. She was hoping Todd knew where they were. If not, she would have to wait to trace the magic to the source when the rogue mages used the power; they were stealing.

“Why is that so important you know where they are? We’ll find them once we interrogate the rogue mages for the abducted people.” Fred asked her with his interest peaked.

“Because if they use up all the magic, they hold too quickly the shock to their bodies could kill them before we can rescue them in time. I don’t know if this will change your plans, but I can trace any magic use to its source once it’s used. I think the healing would have to be done near the victims. Once I know the nature of the spell, they used too comatose the magic users; I can send out a wide range healing spell for any others close by.” Sky looked to Fred for something only he could give her without asking. She was the youngest and most inexperienced person aboard. She also knew now that Fred was a little headstrong and needed to feel in charge.

Fred realized just how little Sky knew what magic could do before she came along. Have the mental capacity of a Titan and all five elemental affinities with the size of wells she had were mind-boggling. He had no idea what she was capable of and didn’t think she did either. There were spells not in the ships database that only a few knew about and very rarely used. She claimed to be able to see a spell that was cast on an object or person. The biggest question was how he was to use this gift he was given without giving her too much to do. He had a scouting and attack crews at his disposal and an overpowered little girl who was by most standards indestructible. She also tended to be very unpredictable too. He was tempted to ask her what she wanted to do.

Sky took one of Jane’s hand and looked her in the eyes then away. Jane didn’t understand at first until she felt rhythmic pulsing in her hand; it was a code she was taught in basic training. Jane squeezed her hand and made a circle start over. Jane could barely pay attention to both Fred and Sky. From what she got from Sky was, go together first save good men when the attack starts. Sky looked briefly to Jane and winked motioning to Fred.

Hoping she understood Sky she cleared her throat. “I have a suggestion to get the abducted magic users out of harm’s way before everything gets too hectic.”

Fred looked to Todd who nodded that she knew of tactics and covert operations. Jane was a tiny bit hesitant on her suggestion “I think Sky and I can go ahead after the initial scouting and see about rescuing the mage. Once you contact any mages, pull back, and Sky and I will follow the stolen magic. Once we locate and free the abductees, we’ll send a signal to start the assault.”

Fred mauled over Jane’s request. “What are you going to do about the magic user’s once they're free? You can’t just let them run around with a battle going on. Even if they want to fight, they are more likely to get in the way than to help.” Jane said nothing as she pondered the question. Sky was the one to answer.

“I can bring my house in a pocket space and let them sit it out till it’s over. I can use magic to keep it upright always and feel motionless. They will be comfortable till it’s all done, and they stayed safe.” Sky watched for a reaction from Fred, who was slow to say anything.

“I think we can consider that, for now. Do you have anything to add Todd since she was to be part of your crew in the upcoming mission”? Fred checked with Todd to see if any of his plans were changed by the request Sky made.

Todd smiled and appeared to look for words. “I don’t know how to ask for them, and they would be extremely valuable if she were to sell them, but before the mission starts, I would like to request some of the gold tomes we used to fight the aliens with. The magic from them was incredible and would help greatly in any upcoming battle. As for Jane’s plan, I think it would work; Jane’s is a competent soldier and Sky has the magic to back her up. I think they will work well together on this mission. I have a feeling Sky can keep themselves hidden from any danger if need be or get them out. Plus, Jane is pretty hard to injure now as well.” Todd didn’t know where Jane came up with the idea, but he thought it might have had something to do with Sky holding Jane’s hand under the table.

Fred looked at Joe. “That is an excellent idea using the gold tomes for a magical boost. I’m sure Sky will share if she can spare any extra magic at hand with us.” All but Todd smiled and looked to Sky. Todd was the only one who never seen or experienced the real scoop of the magic Sky held. “I think Sky should go with us on the first scouting trip to help avoid detection by any unseen magical gifts they might deploy. Conny’s scanners have improved greatly, but Sky’s natural abilities will come in handy.” Joe was watching Fred’s reaction to his gift. So far so good he voiced no concern yet. After the first pass to assess the enemies, positions, strengths, and weaknesses.” Joe paused. “We only have two ships, and we have to deploy three teams. Maybe we can steal one of the enemy ships during the first pass”?

This time Fred stopped him. “That is not going to work; I have a gut feeling we have a ship under our noses,” Fred said scratching his head. “Don’t ask me where though it’s just a feeling, maybe William has one in a pocket space somewhere and forgot about it. Rocssanna might even have one in that purse of hers.”

It was the sound of Sky punching her hand that startled everyone. Fred turned surprized at Sky’s sudden interruption. “Captain Fred Sir, the Bright Whites ship, is right under your nose. It’s just in pieces now. Well actually it’s in large rocks I was saving for throwing at the enemies. With a little magic and some guidance, we can have it better than new, because we’ll be piloting it.

Fred was momentarily speechless and along with everyone else. He watched the ship get torn to pieces by large spheres hurdled at near light speed. There should be mostly slag left after the attack. ‘Was Sky’s magic ability able to bring it back from oblivion? Did Sky have that kind of power’? Fred asked himself.

“Ensign Sky how are you going to reconstruct the ship, Bright White? I saw it destroyed by you and there were very few large pieces left intact. Can you heal something with that much damage done to it when it’s that large”? Fred wasn’t sure even Sky could do that, but he was going to believe her if she said yes.

“I think it’s possible to do I guess if I wanted to waste time. I think looking at the original blue prints and specifications would be faster and easier. Don’t forget it was a ship they modified over the years. Healing it would be like taking patch work and making it patch work again. If I make it again with more updated parts from scratch don’t you think that would be better? We could even make it into a different ship if you want with the same materials”? Sky let him consider the options she gave him for a moment.

“Could you make another ship like Little Tooth? She’s state of the art with most of the available upgrade options. You won’t find any ship of this class finer.” Fred stated with pride reflexing on the effort he put into to customizing the ship with Joe. “We put a lot of time and research in putting her together. We even took a slight pay cut to have some of the parts custom made.”

Joe tapped Fred on the shoulder. “We were told not to reveal too much of the deals we made for this ship. Not everybody can get the deals we made so don’t get all boastful on me and spill the beans, and we lose everything.

Sky checked with the Imperial Orders plans for the same starship class as Little Tooth and found secret upgrades and options that weren’t presented to Fred do to cost and lethality of the weaponry. “Captain Fred Sir since Little Tooth completion there has been many new additions to the weapon arsenal. There are also some options that aren’t offered do to the guilds outrageous prices. If you want, I can make the new Little Tooth ship no. 2 with all the possible upgrades and options available? Then if you like, them, I can incorporate them into Little Tooth no. 1.” I think there is enough raw material from the Bright Whites ship and the asteroids to do it.”

Todd looked to the little girl. “Have you ever built a spaceship before Sky? I’ve never heard of anyone building one out of just magic are you sure it’s even possible to do”? Todd pondered for another question. “Would you even have enough magical energy to cast that many spells so quickly we don’t have a whole lot of time”?

Jane was the one to answer Todd. “If you were to play nice when Sky offered to show us how to regulate the magic in the practice room. You would know just how much magic she holds, and you wouldn’t have asked such a silly question. Just picture a tank about twenty metre (66 feet)across and about fifteen kilometres (9 miles) high, full of magic. Then times that by five and then you’ve got roughly the amount Sky can hold. Not to mention it is close to three times a potent as our own magic.” Jane then turned to Sky still holding her hand. “I am worried about it being a lot of work though. We’re not talking about a few hundreds of spells there has got to be tens of millions of spells to construct something that size out of raw material using just magic. It could take years for one person to build a spaceship by themselves in the best-case scenario.”

“Who’s best case scenario most peoples or mine. I think most of you forget that I have full access to all information link to the galactic web. There are spells encrypted very few mages have access to, at my disposal.” Sky cupped the side of Jane’s face. “Thanks for worrying about me; but what I can do in an hour most can’t do in a week. In a day, I can do what most will take over three months to accomplish. In three weeks, I think I can have the ship built with all of the bees and weasels.” Sky said with a smile pulling her hand from Jane’s reddening face. Sky smile slowly slid down into a frown. “I think I’d get lonely working though. I’ll still have to do some of the work physically and most of it will be done in super speed. Mommy and Daddy might be able to help but they can’t do any of the magic. Plus, most of you will see me only at meals. Even then it would be for ten minutes every hour. But we need the extra ship to pull it off. Mommy’s space ship is too big at least now I know why it’s so big.” Sky snapped her mouth shut. No one knew of the Titan ship cloaked behind the house in the pocket space. She wasn’t supposed to know either. With magic the mages managed to shrink it down to just over twice the size of a human, still too small for use now.

Fred looked to Sky. “Your parents have a spaceship; I didn’t know that no wonder the pocket space was so heavy? Why can’t we use it for at least this mission”?

Looking to Fred, Sky let go of Jane’s hand stood and walked to Fred. Whispering into Fred’s ear, “I was never told of the space ship either, I was snooping around, and I found it not too long ago. The inside of the ship is thirty times the size any human could use. There was no magic and no computers inside the ship either. I don’t think we should let anyone else know we’re Titans till mommy and daddy tell them. I let slip by accident the fact mommy has a ship, I didn’t mean to say anything about it.” Sky looked up and frowned at Todd. “Todd heard us already he has a magic that is instinctual to listen to hushed conversations.”

Fred looked to her and whispered back. “How do you know about his listening habits”? He looked to Todd who made an almost imperceptible flinch at getting caught.

“I had the same bad habit of wanting to know everything that is going on around me. I pretend not to hear more things than you can possibly know.” Sky giggled in his ear remembering embarrassing things people did when they thought no one could hear them. “I learned to tune out private conversations better than you can with your premonition visions.” Sky stood up to speak out loud. “I can build the new ship in three days of local time. But the inside of the cargo bay will be out of this time stream for those three days. Time will be going much faster, and I will seem like I’m constantly eating when you do see me in the mess hall. With all the magic, I’ll be using I’ll look to you like a glutton. I will assure you I’m still a cute young lady who must eat like two adults while working on the ship.” She wondered if she should tell them that she was more than likely suffer magic burn the whole time while she worked. She was used to the burning feeling after experiencing it so many times.

“I don’t think Fred would want me to build the ship we need if he knew of the possibility of a constant magic burn.” Sky thought to herself. She looked to see who would possibly help her while she was working. She wasn’t sure if anyone would willingly help if they knew what she was going to put herself through to get the ship constructed in time to be of use.

Joe saw Sky hesitation and knew she was more than likely hiding something. “Sky is there anything you want to share with us able the ship's construction? You seem distracted more than usual just now”? He asked looking into her eyes holding her gaze.

Surprized at Joe’s observation she had to think quickly. “I think with the pocket space sack of rocks constantly being used. I think someone casting a healing spell might help alleviate some of the effects of vertigo some of you will no doubt experience.” Sky said. She started to think it would be nice to see some friendly faces while she worked also. She didn’t mind the long hours, but she would have liked to feel others around her too.

“Are you sure that’s all you want to ask I have a feeling there is more you to what you’re going to do”? Fred wasn’t buying her omission of the real fact for the healing. “I’m getting a feeling your holding back something from us. How much magic are you going to be using during the material processing will it be enough to cause magic burn”?

Sky noticed her boots were wearing and needed to be replaced soon. “I might feel a little burning sensation while I’m processing the metals and reshaping it. Using magic will allow me to use fewer parts so the actual structure of the ship will be stronger, and a little tweaking here and there will allow a more efficient energy transference throughout the ship. There are so many ways I can tweak the ship by building it from scratch with almost solely with magic.” Sky’s excitement was almost contagious when she talked about what new things she could do. Fred wasn’t side tracked as easily as she had hoped.

“Young lady just how much are we talking about when you say a little magic burn? The soles of your feet, up to your ankle, to your knees, just how far are we talking here? You’re going to tell me truthfully ensign Sky, or there will be no ship built period.” As Fred spoke you could tell why he was a captain. His voice just demanded obedience without fail. Everyone got flustered but the little girl before him, trying to intimidate Sky is like staring down a full-size Titan.

“All the way Sir. It will take about three hours to get to that point and about six hours before I can case a healing spell to heal myself. I’m getting used to the pain now since I get burned so often. I bet you didn’t know there is actually a second-degree magic burn. The feeling is not only your skin but your insides too.”

Sky flinched remembering the times she had second-degree magic burn ”When I was attacked in my guest room, they took enough in one shot to go all the way to the top. I passed out briefly from the pain when the second burn happened for the first time. While casting a spell on the practice room doorway when the aliens started taking the magic, I was constantly half way with the second burn till almost the end, and they stopped taking the magic. When that happened, my magic was down to one third. It seems though the faster I can drain it the faster it fills back up, and it is more potent than before. I get hungrier when I use a lot of magic too.” She hoped she could distract him enough to let her build the ship.

“Why would you even consider building the ship if you get even a little magic burn, I know I wouldn’t? Courtney said looking around the room

“Yeah she’s right you shouldn’t even try it if you know you’re going to feel a little of magic. No one should go through any pain intentionally Sky, you shouldn’t do it if that’s going to happen.” Heather said to Sky.

Jane was going to say something also, but Sky cut her off. “Would any of you accept magic burn if it meant healing Jane’s condition? Would you help save someone’s life if it meant taking a little pain? Would you go through some pain if it meant stopping monsters from hurting people? I’m asking you this because I’m more than willing to do this and more.”

Sky walked up to each crew member as she spoke tilting her head back to look them in the eyes. “Yet you would stop me from helping Jane and all the mages the rogue monster mages have abducted and or killed so far and will keep doing till they are stopped. I will build that ship. I will save those people and those who would most likely follow if they’re not stopped. The real question should be; do I have help or hindrances to do so”? Sky had her tiny hands on her hips looking taller than everyone. All but Fred hung their heads in shame and contemplation at what Sky said

Fred stood up and walked behind Sky putting his hands on her shoulders bring her real size to light. “This young lady is willing to do so much for everyone she meets. I have no doubt she will try and build the ship in secret if it were possible. I have no intention of letting her do that. Therefor I’m going to ask for volunteers to cast healing spells while she works. You will not be forced to help, but you must let her do what she feels she has too. Joe and I will take turns in shifts to keep her in as much comfort as possible.” Fred looked around at all the crew at the briefing. “Now, do I have any volunteers to cast healing spells and to help with the vertigo we’re most likely going to suffer while she pulls material from her pocket space sack of rocks”? Fred rolled his eyes hated Skys name for the pocket spaces she created.

No one lifted a hand, they all stood up and gave Fred and Sky a salute. Todd was the first to break the silence. “Ensign Sky are you sure your only nine years old? Very few officers would put themselves through what you’re going to do for people you don’t even know. My squad and I will be more than willing to lend you some magic for the construction of the new ship.” He briefly studied each of his teammates in turn and they all share to same look of resolution he felt.

Fred walked back to the front of the briefing room. “Will be making a pass through the rogue mages system they took residence in. While we are scouting out their bases Sky can work on the new ship. It’ll take a couple of days to get to the system, so I want you to work out a schedule for casting the healing spells. Plus, we still want you Sky, if you can make some more of those gold tomes you invented. Right now, you are the backbone of this operation and I hope your parents don’t object to what we’re putting on your shoulders.” Fred felt guilty at fact he was relying on the young girl so much. Without her help, it would be easy to lose a lot of lives.

“Captain Fred Sir you have placed nothing on my shoulders that I wasn’t willing to carry without being asked. Almost all my life I could not help with just about anything. You and Joe gave me the ability to do so much more. I know what magic is now and that I can use it. My world is full of infinite possibilities, helping save lives gives them the same infinite choices. So, thanks for giving me some way of making a difference in my life and those of others, hopefully for the better.” Sky wiped a few tears away hoping what she said would convey enough of how she feels needed and to belong.

“We’ll have one more meeting just before we cross over into possible sensor range of the rogue mages. Until then Sky will make some tomes and draw up the new ship’s schematics. If you have any suggestion or ideas, feel free to voice them or wait till we have the next mission briefing. Dinner will be served in four hours in the mess hall. Until then this briefing is over, see you at dinner.” Everyone stood and saluted Fred and he gave a salute in return.