“What do you mean “reporting for duty”?” Kiyan asked.
“Psychological state deteriorating” flashed in Kiyan’s vision.
“You are my commanding officer, what do you want me to do Sir!” Corban stared straight ahead.
The data pertaining to earth military practices flooded Kiyan’s mind until he stopped it. Ok I have one order for you. I want you to treat me like you did before. Before any of this happened. Do you understand me officer Corban? At ease!” Returning the salute Kiyan waited for a response.
“Psychological state improving” appeared in Kiyan’s vision.
Corban wasn’t sure what to think. His response had been a kind of automatic action from what he knew of military customs yet Kiyan exhibited an even greater knowledge than Corban had. The idea that Kiyan didn’t want to be treated like a commanding officer finally sunk in and he answered with a “Yes Sir”. Seeing the look on Kiyan’s face at being addressed as such struck home what was meant and Corban relaxed and reached out to mess up Kiyan’s hair. The smile that was returned was enough of a confirmation.
Kiyan was as relieved as Corban by the lack of formality under his command. After all he was only twelve. Corban caught the thought and got the distinct impression that it was meant for him. A twelve year old ascended bender that rivaled his own bending skills. A twelve year old cybernetically enhanced boy with a partial AI in his head that could pilot one of the most powerful ships in the known worlds. A twelve year old boy that had access to more than twelve thousand years of knowledge and now had the intellect to use it. He had always had the intellect but now it was developed in a way that made it a sharp blade instead of the blunt instrument of before. Yep a twelve year old boy.
Chapter Nine: Thoros
For Merlin the last few hundred years were full of adventure. He smiled remembering king Arthur's court in the sixth century. Little had changed until the church seized power. Merlin had watched from the shadows as the dark ages ravaged the people and shackled the feet of progress. The church managed to unite most of the known world under one banner. There were wars but only with the church's permission or more accurately blessing. Poverty and disease were the portion of those not fortunate enough to be born with blue blood. Merlin found much to do in the way of healing. There had been attacks on the timeline that Merlin dealt with and variations of the probable futures that threatened the balance of time so he had much to do.
Unfortunately great powers had rested in the hands of some who used their powers to do great harm. Some of these people even learned some bending and became warlords and wizards that controlled armies. Perhaps the worst was the life mage that had been drawing energy from people in an attempt to gain immortality. All attempts to change the man's course had failed leaving only one unpleasant option. Few were the people that tried to use their powers for good and were allowed by those in power to act for long. Toppling each one of these people that enslaved the people was more than Merlin could do. The church solved part of the problem by declaring these people as demon possessed and waging holy wars against them. The church also destroyed any mention of the ungodly powers that they had defeated so the future forgot about what lay in the past. There were those that walked among men that were of the old world. Some of these shifted and assisted the church defeat those that misused their power however the church betrayed them and they are no longer known to men. The dragons became a thing of myth as some chose to walk alone and fight evil quietly and as others left and went to the refuge.
The church had become corrupted and used its power for suppression. Despite Merlin’s attempts to shift the timeline it appeared that the dark ages were fixed and couldn't be shifted. Merlin had watched over the ancestors of the people that broke the iron rule of ignorance. Some lived uneventful lives and some needed to be watched every moment for fear of death. The smoldering memories of the lives lost in defense of these people could not be erased from Merlin's memory. There had been robbers that were struck down before they could steal life and purse. The popes that had fallen victim to their own poisoned wine. Not all the events had included a lost life, sometimes something as simple as leaving a coin laying on the ground at the right place and time was enough to alter events. There had been incursions in the timeline and drakken assassins had made attempts. The worst were the dark energy plagues that had been released. Merlin shuddered at the memory of the lives lost before he could find the infernal devices.
Queen Elizabeth the virgin queen's arrival recalled Merlin to the present. He had served King Henry the eighth as a royal bodyguard under a different name and face and he served the protestant queen now as an agent in her secret service. He had personally dealt with several threats on her life and had been instrumental in others being uncovered. Elizabeth had made a great many enemies so he had a full time job. He listened to her instructions concerning a ball that was going to be held and when asked, respectfully made a few security recommendations.
A glimpse of a married Elizabeth and a looted England in a future informed Merlin he had work to do. A quick scan further informed Merlin that the threat came from the past. Finishing his work for the day he could already feel the past changing. Slipping back in time towards the end of 1548 he took a more detailed scan of the timeline. Thomas Seymour seemed to be the cause of the disturbance. Following Seymour's timeline back Merlin restrained himself from simply vaporizing the villain. That child molesting cur, Merlin thought for a minute and noticed a few items that had a unique temporal signature to them. Upon closer examination they turned out to be letters from a friend in Spain urging Thomas to marry the young Elizabeth and make a try for the throne of England. Following them back in time Merlin found they had simply appeared in a satchel of mail being delivered to Seymour.
Unfortunately destroying the letters was only going to slightly delay the incursion. Seymour's wife died in childbirth yet his son if born would became instrumental in the fall of Britain. Finding himself without an heir Seymour set his eyes on Elizabeth. Deciding in the end that Seymour should atone for his crimes Merlin whispered a few rumors into life and wrote a few notes that brought the matter before members of the royal court. From there the enraged nobility took the matter into their own hands and Thomas got his just desserts. Returning to the future Merlin noted that the flow of time seemed to be returning to equilibrium.
The ball seemed to be going uneventfully until Merlin caught a thought from one of the partiers that was not favorable to the queen. Catching a glimpse of the man with his hand on a dagger and nervously looking at the queen. Merlin scanned his mind discovering a plot involving the heretic queen's end. Making a step forward Merlin stopped as one of his agents quietly disarmed the man and holding the assassin's own dagger to his back escorted him from the room. Merlin smiled to himself as he made another scan of the assembled guests, he had taught Elizabeth's guards well.
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Corban woke from what he couldn’t really classify as sleep. Attempts to sleep had been useless. Corban rolled out of his bed and reached for his cloths. After getting dressed he poured a cup of water and was about to drink it when he noticed the bubbles rising to the top of the glass. Staring at it he realized it was boiling. The water vaporized in a cloud of steam then he jumped as the glass shattered. The cuts disappeared in a burst of flame without leaving a trace. Corban was not sure if he should go to the med bay or call Kendra. The door to Corban’s room slid open before he could make a decision. Corban looked up at the door and froze when he saw Fred and Addy. It was not more than another moment before he felt the overpowering flow of energy.
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Fred hadn’t been able to sleep and wanted to ask Corban about a new earth bending skill he had been practicing. When the door opened Fred noticed the expression of helplessness on Corban’s face then he felt the heat. Fred didn't have time to respond before the wave of heat struck. Trying to block it Fred was overwhelmed. Attempting to earth bend was useless as he felt his skin melting. H
e began to life bend instinctively, heat was a form of energy he thought. Linking with Addy he was able to bend the energy away from vital organs but it was still more than he could take. Losing consciousness Fred slipped into earth bending with his life bending, then the darkness set in.
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Corban opened his eyes again and hardly recognized where he was. The burns and scorch marked around his room making it look like a war zone. Finally remembering what happened he tried to raise Alec on the coms. A projection of Alec appeared next to him.
“What happened?” Corban was still a little fuzzy.
“You appear to have ascended.” Alec analyzed the scans of the room for the last few hours. “There has been a buildup of temporal energy in your person since you have arrived. Kendra warned me this might happen.”
“I don't feel ascended.” Corban noted.
“From what I understand your bending skills will be stronger, you will have access to innate ascended abilities like increased regeneration, improved reflexes and basic matter energy manipulation. You probably won't be able to sustain an ascended state for years.” Alec tried to explain what he knew however lacking his databases were on the topic.
“I remember getting a glass of water and it began boiling.” Corban rubbed his head trying to remember.
“You appear to be primarily a fire bender. Not to mention a fire elemental. It is not uncommon for a new ascended to ascend in their most natural form.” Alec seemed distant as he scanned for something. “Something is missing. Have you seen Fred?”
The final pieces of the morning began to make their way into Corban's mind. “Fred! He was here! “
“You are sure? We need to find him now if that is the case.” Alec sounded as worried as an AI could be. “Corban do you feel well enough to meet me in simulator one?”
“I feel fine now but Fred came just before I lost control. What if I hurt him?” Corban was beginning to feel frantic.
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Kiyan woke from the strangest night he had ever slept. He felt more rested than usual somehow. His dreams had been stranger than normal yet they were not like the other dreams, just normal strange dreams. The strangest part was that he could remember everything that had happened on the ship while he was asleep, like he had been awake all night paying attention to all the information that had been presenting itself to him. Climbing out of bed he mentally picked an outfit from his wardrobe but suddenly found himself wearing it before making a move. A query about what was happening informed him he had been outfitted with a holographic apparel module. Wondering what else was new caused a flood of information. Kiyan stopped the data stream before because he decided to find out the old fashioned way.
“Commander Kiyan please meet us at simulator one.” Alec made a request. Still finding it strange that he was the commander of a vessel capable of destroying a planet he accessed the teleported and materialized in the simulator.
“Kiyan I don't know how to say it but, I seem to have ascended and inadvertently lost Fred and Addy. Corban had a psychological rating of deteriorating.
“I asked you here to go over the sensor logs of this morning to we can find out what happened. “Alec respectfully asked Corban of he was ready. Hearing an affirmative response from Corban Alec started the simulation.
The group watched the event of the morning until they saw Fred and Addy simply disappear into thin air after glowing brightly.
“Could they have been burned badly enough that the automated medical systems transferred them to the cryo pods?” Corban seemed to be getting desperate.
Both Kiyan and Alec responded with a no simultaneously. Alec glanced at Kiyan before continuing. “We both would have known the instant that might have happened besides none of the cryo systems are active right now.”
Wrapping all that he knew about the matter Kiyan sent it to Theo and Kendra. It wasn't more than a minute before they were both standing by him.
“I told you that you might ascend but I had no idea that the release would have been so tremendous.” Kendra pondered the information for a moment.
“Kiyan perhaps this is what was meant in your dream by in the light of the unborn. Theo also seemed at a loss. Figuratively Corban was just reborn an immortal. But he rest doesn't make sense. Alec what was the Avenger doing at that moment?”
“I was conducting scans of the timeline and the surrounding space. The avenger was stationary. No unusual energy spikes until Corban. I don't have better scans because the temporal energy released blocked my scanners momentarily except for the optical sensors in the corridor.” Alec gave all the details that he had. “When I figured out what was happening I erected a thermal containment field but there were no other life signs at that time.”
“From what we saw from the corridor it looks like Fred was converting the heat and bending it back as life energy. Amazing but it might explain what happened.” Kendra thought for a moment before continuing. “If he was exposed to life energy of that level and if he earth bent he would be attracted to the nearest mass of bendable earth like a magnet. With that much energy passing through them matter might have become so close to energy that the attraction may have shifted his location. Basically he may have teleported himself somewhere.”
Kiyan could already feel the drop ships being prepped for travel by Alec. He also knew every planet or mass of bendable earth within tens of light years. There were hundreds. A glance from Kendra and Theo told him that they knew the same thing. A flash and they were gone to conduct search operations from their own vessels. Kiyan informed Corban that he was going to the bridge so he could use the command chair to obtain a full sync with the ship. Corban decided to see if he could be of some use on the bridge as well.
Corban thought for a moment and remembered that he was supposed to have some new ascended powers like maybe enhanced senses. Casting his mind out he found that his range was remarkably enhanced. Still not able to scan more than a few light minutes he sensed the telepathic relays in the ship. Connecting with them he realized that he could significantly enhance his range. Also by focusing on one area he was able to sense even farther. The drop ships warped out and he realized each of them also had relays too. Connecting with them he could sense for a light minute or two around the dropships also.
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Fred lay on the cool ground letting it drain the heat from his body. Opening his eyes and not seeing anything Fred stood up. He felt stiff for a moment as he groped his way around. Hearing Addy in his head made him more comfortable yet the darkness and definite feel of earth around him was confusing. Perhaps he was in the simulator. Addy was sending feelers out and mapping the room. It took a few minutes but Fred and Addy soon had a rough idea of what the room was like. There was a few cells around the edge of the room with bars in the front of each one. Addy was in a cell on the far side from Fred.
Thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him Fred noticed a flicker of light approaching from the hallway. A few humanoids walked into the room with torches. It took a couple moments to for Fred to adjust to the new light level. Nearly choking when he recognized the race of his captors. Fred watched as the Thorans approached his cell. One of them muttered something in a guttural language that Fred didn't recognize. Looking at Fred the same one repeated himself louder.
“He wants to know who you are and how you got here.” Addy explained that she was able to sense what they meant mostly.
“I am Fred and I don't know how I got here.”
The leader spoke to another of the thorans and he produced a small device, tapping on the screen a few times it made noise in the same language as the thorans. Fred assumed it was some sort of translation device. A few more noises and some of them began muttering to themselves. Fred wasn't sure what to think until one of them addressed him.
“Using the device the leader seemed to accuse as much as he interrogated. You speak the tongue of a human. Earth is a protected world. It is not technologically advanced enough to be able
to send people into space. Humans are weak and backward. How are you here? Answer me human.”
Addy sent a glimpse of the mind of the leader. It was rife with suspicion and fear. It seemed that this group were fugitives from something. The idea of something that Fred could only define as terrorism passed through his mind. Fred tried to explain that he was from another world.
“You lie, humans cannot move between worlds.” Addy sent a warning.
Fred realized that no matter what he said the leader was not going to believe him. Seeing Addy in her battle form in the cell behind the group he got an idea. Feeling the earth around him he sensed where the bars connected with the earth. Fred began to take a bending form and shifted the stone around the bars. Letting Addy know his plan the bars began to fall. The group wasn’t paying attention to Fred and his escape because Addy had engaged the rearward members of the group. It was another moment before Fred freed himself and launched at the disorderly group. He was pleasantly surprised when the first one crumpled at his impact. Turning from the fallen thoran he flung some loose rocks at another. Addy flung a few darts at the remaining thorans. Near instant paralysis took all movement from any that the darts touched. Fred took a look around the room even as he felt the blade at his throat.
“You are not a human. You lie. What are you? And that creature tell it to stop or you will die.” The thoran twisted Fred's arm behind his back.
Feeling Fred's pain Addy snarled and sent out vines covered in thorns. “Please stop, I can't fight him.” Addy still writhed in rage but she restrained herself.
“You are a pathetic weakling human. Your bones will bleach in this cave.” There was a shower of sparks as the thoran slashed the knife at Fred's throat. Addy took the opportunity to fill the thoran’s surprised face with darts.
“Are you OK? I saw him slice your throat.” Addy was examining the stunned Fred. There wasn't a single scratch. “Your skin is as hard as a rock!”