Child of Time (17 page)

“Ship designation Avenger.”

“Commander designation Kiyan”

“Ship’s AI integrated system designation Alec.”

“Main shields online.”

Kiyan accessed the command station configuration and
made a selection with a thought. There was a hum and a glimmer as a
command chair appeared in the center of the room.

Corban watched as a command station appeared in the
middle of the room and Kiyan walked over and sat in it moving
faster than Corban could see. Somehow whatever that blue matter was
that had integrated with Kiyan’s system had changed him. The
structures under Kiyan’s skin glowed and the ship began moving
again. It looked like Kiyan was Corban’s new commanding officer.
Coms activated in front of Corban as Kendra demanded to know what
the problem was. Corban replied as best he could trying to explain
what happened.

Kiyan sat in the chair and what was in the bridge
faded as he was able to see what the Avenger saw with its scanners.
Seeing the next few blasts dissolve in the bubble of distorted
space time that surrounded the ship Kiyan decided to make an
offensive move. Informing Alec of his plan the ship moved from
behind Theo’s ship. Selecting a few targets and activating the
point defense system and main weapons Kiyan watched as a few
fighters exploded under a hail of laser fire. A couple missiles
fared no better. Main weapons were charged. Balls of plasma raced
toward the targets and ripped through their shields leaving glowing
holes melted in the hulks.

Alec informed Kiyan that the gravity canons were
charged. Kiyan watched as Kendra’s and Theo’s Ships began hailing
the drakken with plasma. Selecting a target area Kiyan fired the
gravity canons. Invisible orbs sped from the ship and seemed to
attract to mass. The drakken ships acted like magnets to the forced
point singularities. Striking the first few ships the singularities
lost containment. The implosions devastated any defenses on the
unlucky target ship. Three more battleships warped in guns hot. The
drakken fleet began to shrink under the withering fire of the six
warships. Alec requested permission to launch fleet support and
fighter drones under remote control.

---------

Deep Current was in command of the Shark as it warped
into the middle of the battle. Looking through the eyes of the ship
he felt somewhat uncomfortable. He would have rather been fighting
in water rather in the vacuum of space but the collective had
chosen him as captain of the Shark. Scanning the already present
ships he recognized Kendra’s Athena and Prometheus’ Odyssey. He was
a little surprised when he identified the third battleship as
Kiyan’s Avenger. Strange he thought it seemed to be dishing out the
most damage in spite of the fact it had the most inexperienced
captain. It had taken DC most of the last day to become accustomed
to the bio neural interface onboard his ship. He fired and selected
new targets as he watched the hangers on two on the other ships
including the Avenger de-shielded and opened releasing hundreds of
fighter and dozens of dropships in full combat mode. DC wished he
had an AI integrated into his ship in that moment. The thought of
how much work controlling that many drones would take was
overwhelming. As it was, it was a good idea on a smaller scale,
perhaps ten dropships would be manageable. Feeling like his mind
would fragment DC saw from not only the Shark but from the ten
dropships also. Connecting their auto pilot to his targeting
systems made it easier to control them. The added firepower was
making a difference.

----------

Kiyan felt a tinge of sadness as he doomed
innumerable drakken to death with the order to fire all weapon
systems at the dwindling fleet. The memory of what the drakken were
capable of passed through his mind with a new feeling of
resolve.

The drakken fleet had nearly half of its number
crippled or destroyed by the time eight more battleships had
arrived. Most of the remaining number were soon joining the fallen
before the fragments of the fleet decided to flee. Unfortunately
for them they were joined by a FPS when they warped and a second
later the warp frame opened again depositing the atomized remains
of the fleet.

Kiyan gave Alec control of the ship as he disengaged
and let the vision of the space within sensor range fade. Focusing
on his surroundings he saw Corban still busy with the control
panels at his station. Corban’s panel displayed a message then went
blank before he turned and looked at Kiyan.

“First officer Corban reporting for duty sir!” Corban
made a full salute and stood at attention.

Looking at Corban Kiyan realized that there was an
overlay on everything he saw displaying information about what he
was looking at. When he looked at Corban he saw all the information
that could be had about him. He saw “first officer Corban, Age
fifty-four, weight one hundred seventy-three galactic standard
pounds, psychological state nervous and/or confused, eye color
green,.......... Kiyan shook his head and only saw a fraction of
the information left. He realized that he could control it and
accessed the system and set it to display information on
demand.

“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.

---------

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.

---------

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. He 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.