Elven Gambit

By S T Xavier

Rylae can't get a normal vacation. Hiding in trees, scouting an enemy compound, strange assassins, risking her life for someone else's problem - these are not the ingredients of a relaxing time visiting your parents on an elven homeworld. Then again, Rylae wasn't expecting a normal visit to Tir Tairngire. Once she knew her childhood best friend was staying with her parents, there was only one possible reason why - she wanted Rylae's help. To protect her parents, Rylae has no choice but to provide it.

Elven Gambit continues the story of Commander Rylae Westiel, Executive Officer of the UCST starship Corsari. Book 2 of the Ugly Dirt Box Universe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: S T Xavier
• Release date: Sep 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9780990653530

S T Xavier

S T Xavier is a new writer whose desire to combine his favorite things - stories, magic, spaceships, and the voices in his head - has coalesced into his first novels in the sci-fi/fantasy realm. His characters have a story to tell, and he’s obligated to tell it until that contract with the red horned guy expires. He is a practicing computer geek, avid collector of fantasy art, amateur player of decent video games, and voracious devourer of stories. He currently lives in Charleston, SC with his three cats and the numerous voices that occasionally let him sleep.

Book preview

NOTES ON MAGIC USE

If you read Rylae’s Storm, book one in this series about unattractive brownish-colored rectangular spacecraft, then you’ve already been introduced to a little bit of magic as it’s used in the universe. However, there are some points of clarity that I want to make regarding true adepts vs the usage of ‘common magic’.

Almost any elf, dwarf, or goblin can use ‘common magic’. They all have the ability to channel mana into an outgoing force to create a spell effect. ‘Common magic’ is created through the use of a focus. Elves generally use spellsand drawings. Dwarves generally use runestones. Goblins generally use props to signify the target of the spell (e.g. a straw doll to represent a person).

Once a specific spell is created with one of those foci, any common user can create the same spell using the same foci, even if the user is of a different race. The mana is drawn through the focus to the user. For example, any user (elf, dwarf or goblin) can cast a cleaning spell as long as they know how to draw the spell using spellsand and have practiced with focusing the mana.

An adept, however, is an abnormally talented magic user who channels mana flows easily and directly, without necessarily needing a spell focus. Adepts usually have a main ability which they can perform without effort, such as creating fire or ice, but through training can learn to manipulate mana in any way. Powerful adepts are able to create their own spells, with or without a focus, by channeling it through themselves.

Only around 2% of all folk are adepts. They usually find their abilities as children and are trained from a young age to manage their talents. With directed training, they tend to take high-paying jobs in the UCST (engineering and science), in mana battery development, in technology creation, and as caregivers in hospitals. Occasionally an adept is found later in life and uses their untrained ability for different purposes, but these are rare.

CHAPTER ONE

Commander Rylae Westiel, Terra, Admiralty City, Year 7401 (current day, age 124), Autumn

I love being right, even if I’m the only one who knows I’m right.

The UCST Corsari has been docked on Terra for almost three weeks since our last mission on Stenchstone, and it’s been fairly busy. Being the Executive Officer of a starship is very detail-oriented on the best days, but even more so when we’re docked. Finishing the tech inventory and creating detailed requisitions of everything we need to restock has filled a lot of my days, and sorting through personnel records has filled a lot more of them.

But I can’t help laughing at the parchment sitting on the table in my on-ship quarters with a detailed light tag tournament bracket on it. I knew it was going to happen! Total lack of surprise from the XO!

While on the peaceful goblin world of Stenchstone, my Chief Science Officer, Zaxn Gloomfire, helped my engineering team recharge part of our mana batteries with Stenchstone’s unused mana reserves, causing a bit of an overload. Stenchstone’s mana doesn’t have the same makeup as the mana from many other worlds, and it hadn’t been tested for many years so no one actually knew what it would do. It seems that Stenchstone has a particularly overpowered version which caused all of our magical systems to push just that much harder for awhile.

Thankfully, Zaxn the nerdy science goblin was able to put a stint in place to help lower the power and get us home without trouble, but the battery still needs to be completely drained of power and recharged from zero to fix the problem. The adepts in Engineering, working with my best friend, Chief Engineer Tanna Aldamiel, have to do something to drain the mana that’s in the battery. As expected, they opt for fun over boring, and thus the light tag tournament bracket.

Light tag is a game that adepts can play where they create balls of solid light and chase each other down with them. Adept children play it on every mana-rich world, using large balls of soft light which splash like water when they hit a target. There are even light tag spellshooters which non-adept kids can use to play with their adept friends. It’s a harmless game that helps adept kids learn how to control magic.

When adults play it, however, it can get a little more cutthroat. I’ve seen balls thrown that are as large as boulders, as solid as boulders, and infused with lightning to cause a debilitating shock to the player it hits. With Stenchstone’s overcharged mana in play, I’m sure it’s going to get ugly. They’ll likely get some warehouse personnel to help with setting up a course of random objects as obstacles, giving the players places to dodge and hide.

I’m not technically supposed to sanction this kind of thing, so the short version is that I know nothing at all about it. Looking over the bracket, though, I see the names of some Admiralty adepts, including a couple Vice Admirals. I’m thinking this one might be more official than most, probably because of the overcharged mana. That thankfully puts it completely out of my hands. Some Admirals may not be happy with it, but they can take it up with the VAs playing the game.

I see a couple names that surprise me, though. Lieutenant Zaxn Gloomfire is on the bracket, and that just seems unfair. He’s no longer the same nerdy science goblin that I met when he joined the ship, and hasn’t been since the day on Stenchstone where I watched as he destroyed three flanks of attacking goblins with large walls of fire. I can only imagine he’s going to be an unexpectedly difficult challenger for most players, especially since he’s likely the only goblin on Terra with even a small understanding of Stenchstone mana. He’s still not a physical threat, but he’s become friends with a goblin platoon leader who saw him in action on Stenchstone and has likely received at least a little extra training in that area.

Lieutenant Commander Sen Foulmuck is another surprise, but not as much of one. Sen’s an excellent Chief Caregiver in our ship hospital ward, but she’s a rather evil-mannered goblin at heart. Some days it’s weird trying to reconcile the difference between her personal evilness and her inherent goodness as a caregiver. But, as a caregiver, she’s also a powerful adept focused on healing magic. I can see her as a force to be reckoned with in the tournament.

The biggest surprise of all, though, is Commander Tanna Aldamiel. In the thirty-some years we’ve been friends, I’ve never known her to play in a light tag tournament. Truthfully, I’ve never known her to be very active at all. She hates her training sessions with our Security Chief, Lieutenant Commander Lada Axesmith, and generally looks down on the two leaders of our battalion, Major Gimmir Giantbasher (whom she refers to as ‘Sir Fights-a-lot’) and Master Sergeant Simon Darkrender (whom she has unaffectionately nicknamed ‘Sergeant Shoots-at-stuff’).

Tanna’s an exceptionally powerful adept, or she wouldn’t be able to run my engineering department at all, but playing in the tournament? I scan through the rest of the parchment, finally getting to the bottom where I think I understand. One line at the very bottom – Bookmaker: Lieutenant Commander Aelon Onoviel. I’m sure he somehow talked her into joining the tournament, but I have no idea how.

Aelon is my Chief Tactical Officer in charge of our flight crew. He’s a master pilot, and excellent with math, which explains why he’s the bookmaker for the tournament. He’s also an incredibly handsome elf currently dating Tanna, who’s equally majestic in her beauty. The two of them together look like elves from fashion catalogs. However, outside of his very small realm of genius, Aelon’s one of the dumbest elves I know. I don’t know how Tanna can stand him in any way outside of his looks, but I know better than to ask questions.

Shaking my head, I roll the parchment and place it in my wardrobe. Vice Admirals or not, betting on a light tag tournament isn’t exactly within the regulations, which is why it showed up in my quarters on parchment instead of in a terminal message. Tanna probably placed it in here while I was in some meeting or other. Regulations or not, I make a mental note to find out what odds Aelon is giving on Zaxn and Tanna. That bet would be worth a few credits. Maybe a few on Sen as well, since I’m sure she’ll be one of the nastier players in the tournament.

Returning to my table, I sit, touching the charm as I speak my personal code to log into my holoterminal. A green glow spreads across the table, showing me an interface to write reports and messages, keep track of my calendar appointments, and view certain details of the ship. The terminal is powered by a flow of mana from our ship’s secondary battery, which also serves as a magical router to connect mana flows between our ship and a router at the Admiralty, allowing us to pass information back and forth.

I check my messages and see one from Kesn. Ambassador Kesn Dreadthief is the newest member of my crew, replacing Ambassador Calgonnel Telathyr who was lost to the enemy while on Stenchstone. She’s currently finishing her first month of training at the Admiralty so she can join our ship officially, but has at least five months left before she’s fully ready. Being new to pretty much everything outside of the goblin world of Stenchstone doesn’t help, but she’s smart and eager, and just a really great goblin overall. I’m glad to have her eventually on my team, and she’s quickly become a good friend as well.

The message isn’t important, as she’s just letting me know she has to ditch our dinner plans tomorrow. She’s a bit evasive about the reason, so I’m guessing she’s found herself a date. Kesn’s one of the most attractive goblin women I’ve ever met, so it’s no surprise that she’s had men of all races – goblin, elf, dwarf – trying to get some of her time.

If Tanna wasn’t so busy, I’d wonder if she had something to do with it. Tanna’s been trying to hook me up with a man for the last thirty years, every time we’re docked on Terra. I can easily see her doing the same for Kesn, although I truly don’t see that Kesn needs any help in that area. Kesn’s incredibly beautiful, with a perfect body and smooth green skin. If she wasn’t so incredibly awesome, I’d hate her for her beauty as much as I hate Tanna for hers.

It’s bad enough when Tanna makes me feel like a skinny flat-chested elven waif every time I go near her, but add in Kesn and I just can’t compete. I guess it’s good that I just don’t try. Being a Commander on a starship makes it practically impossible to date anyone, regardless of how I feel about my looks, so I just live vicariously through my two attractive friends. I’ll have to pry more details from Kesn about this new man of hers.

I scan through the rest of my messages, but nothing else seems important right now, until I get to the bottom of the list. I’ve left these messages in here for weeks – one happy, and one not-so-much.

The happy message is my congratulatory message on becoming a captain candidate. After finalizing our last mission, I was approved to be added to the Official List for Future Starship Command. Not only was I added, but I was added as position 6 out of 292. I’m in less of a state of shock now as I was when I received it, but it’s still a bit crazy.

Vice Admiral Railmaker, the dwarf in charge of the list, offered me an immediate position on a message ship, but I declined it, passing it farther down the list. Message ships are good, but their only mission is to land on a world for a few days, connect the routers to collect and disseminate messages, then fly to the next world. They also carry a small number of travelers who need to world-hop. After spending years on an ambassadorial ship, and after my last mission, I feel that’s a bit beneath me. I hate feeling like that, but I know I can do more important work on a different type of ship.

I was also offered a position as a Captain in the Office of Intelligence at the Admiralty, which was both endearing and amusing. I received the offer due to the intelligence work I did on our last mission, finding the details and source of the goblin rebellion on Stenchstone and stopping it before it happened. I was stunned that they thought so much of my mostly-accidental work that they’d offer me such a prestigious position.

At the same time, it was hilarious that they offered it to me, considering I’m the reason the job was opened in the first place. Captain Grovr Darkmuck, the previous Intelligence captain, was actually the leader of the Stenchstone rebellion, and it was my work that captured him. It made me feel like I won some kind of game with the young elven XO outmaneuvering the goblin warlord who spent years in intelligence gathering and planning. But, as funny as it would be, I declined the offer. Sitting at the Admiralty for twenty years instead of being on a starship just doesn’t appeal to me.

I look under that message to the other message I have saved. This is the not-so-happy message. It’s from Mother on Tir Tairngire, the elven world where I was born. Over the past few weeks, we’ve exchanged a few messages, mostly about work and things. As Chief Caregiver at the Academy Hospital in the city of Corsari, which my ship is named after, Arlien Westiel is a rather important elf who works on managing the direct details of the hospital, communicating with the Admiralty on caregiver training status, and setting up trade agreements with other worlds for hospital and caregiver training needs. Due to that, and the close proximity of the two worlds, a message ship runs between Terra and Tir Tairngire every three days.

It’s been nice to talk to Mother again, even if it is mostly about work. Since I spend years at a time off-world, it’s difficult to stay in contact with family. Normally we send a few messages while docked for a month, but not many. This time, being docked for at least six months until the battery is drained and recharged, Kesn is trained, and the trial of Grovr Darkmuck is completed, there’s been more time to send messages.

Even then, the first message I received from her is still bad news. We haven’t talked about it since it arrived, but I know it’s hanging out there. On one hand, it’s good because I’ll have to go home for awhile to deal with it. I haven’t seen Mother and Father in years, and it’ll be nice to spend time with them. With all the docking time we have right now, I should be able to get the time off with no problem. In fact, I have a meeting scheduled today to ask Cap about it.

But it’s still bad news. The first message I received from Mother after I told her I was back simply told me that my childhood best friend, Saeralyn Gwalindiel, was staying at home with Mother and Father. It’s been about two weeks since I received that message, and I’ve been trying to ignore it while at the same time working to free up my time to go out there. If Saeralyn is staying with my parents, it’s because she’s hiding out from something. If she’s hiding out from something, it means she’s in some kind of trouble. And if that trouble finds her while my parents are around…

I try not to think any farther than that. She’d already been at my parents’ house for a month or more before I found out, so the threat obviously isn’t immediate, but it still bothers me. Not just that, but the thought of dealing with Saeralyn again still bothers me, too. She was my best friend as a child, but so much has changed since then. I wasn’t ready to see her again when our paths crossed two years ago, and I’m still not ready now, but it seems like I don’t have a lot of options here. I need to rescue her from something again, and I have to protect my oblivious parents who have no idea she’s in trouble.

I check the time, my calendar, and my messages again. I have some time before my meeting with Cap, and nothing else important right now, so I decide a nap is the best idea. I set a timer on my terminal to wake me, then slide over to my bed. Laying my hands behind my head, I drift off, thinking of Saeralyn.

CHAPTER TWO

Tir Tairngire, City of Corsari, Year 7312 (age 35), Spring

"Can’t you just buy a new desk?"

Father turns and glances down at me. A new desk is new. It has to be broken in and taught how to be a proper desk. An old desk has already lived a life and has stories to tell. It has character. It’s more comfortable. It has experience and knows how to be the best desk it can be.

Mother chuckles. Dear, if you just want a desk with character, you can grade papers on Rylae. She has plenty of character!

I roll my eyes. Yeah, like I want to help Father grade papers every day.

That’s another reason I want a desk that knows how to be a proper desk. It’ll be happy to help me grade papers every day, unlike certain rebellious daughters with character. He ruffles my hair, which I quickly fix as soon as his hand is away. Someone could see me!

Besides, he continues as he turns to Mother, if I just wanted something comfortable, I could grade all my papers on you. He runs his fingertip from the top of her ear to the base of her neck as she closes her eyes.

Ugh. Gross. I’m going to go look at something else while you two are being weird.

I turn and leave before those two get any more disgusting. I mean, seriously. We’re in public! Adults are horrible. And they complain about me!

I turn a corner around two more ‘desks with character’ and see some chairs. These are all old, too. This whole shop is full of old stuff. I don’t understand why he can’t get new things, like a desk with a terminal in it. None of this old stuff is in style anymore!

Going past some of the chairs, I come to a row of rocking chairs. Okay, rocking chairs are at least sorta nice. They can be fun. I find a wooden one with a little padding and sit in it, slowly rocking back and forth while I look around the shop.

Father wanted to go ‘antiquing’ today, which is how we ended up here in the first place. I guess the other old folk wandering around the shop are also ‘antiquing’, whatever that means. Probably means ‘buying old stuff because we’re boring’. I don’t understand why some elves are so obsessed with old junk.

Because maybe some of it’s not ‘junk’.

Crap. Was I thinking out loud again? So embarrassing! I turn to the sound of the voice and see an elf girl about my age, wearing an orange shirt and jeans, walking up to me. Sorry! I didn’t mean to say that out loud! I just don’t get why Father would rather come here than get a nice new desk.

The girl sits in a chair next to me and rocks slowly. New furniture doesn’t have a story. Everything in here has a story. That chair you’re in was owned by the wife of Nithunien Aladiir, the adept who helped design small mana batteries. It’s older than the entire city of Melithas.

I stop rocking to stand and take a good look at the chair. Okay… I guess that’s kinda cool. Probably as cool as history can get, though. I shrug and turn to the girl. How do you know this chair is that old?

She shrugs. This is my shop. I know a lot about all of the things in it.

I look at her incredulously. Your shop? I don’t think so. You’re like my age! They don’t let 35-year-olds own shops!

She gets out of the chair, straightens her shoulders, pushes her long red hair out of her face, and stares at me with orange eyes while clasping her hands in front of her. "When Momma and Poppa are away on business, it’s my shop! I help keep the place clean and educate stuck-up elf girls on why ‘old junk’ is cooler than new things!"

I laugh at her so hard I almost fall down. When I open my eyes again, she’s looking at me with her eyes wide. Sorry! You look so serious! It’s funny!

She tries to stay serious for another second, then she laughs too. Still laughing, she puts her fists on her hips. "I look serious because I am serious! Antiques are serious! You should be serious, too!"

I keep laughing as I match her pose. Yes, ma’am! So sorry, ma’am! Serious face starts now!

She falls to the floor from laughing so hard. I offer her a hand to help her back up. Taking it, she stands and brushes herself off with her other hand. You’re fun. I’m Saeralyn Gwalindiel. My parents own the shop. What’s your name?

Still holding her hand, I shake it like we’re conducting business. Rylae Westiel. Mother is a caregiver at the hospital, and Father…

Her eyes grow wide as she interrupts me. You’re Mr. Westiel’s daughter! I love him! He’s my favorite teacher! He knows so much about history! You’re so lucky!

I roll my eyes. Of course you’d love Father. I guess someone must love his boring stories about things that already happened.

She cocks her head to the side as smiles. I take it you don’t like history?

Shrugging, I answer, I just get tired of Father always talking about things that already happened. I’m more interested in things that haven’t happened yet.

She looks around the shop. Is Mr. Westiel here with you?

I laugh. I sure wouldn’t come here by myself! I’ll go find them with you if you promise to quit fangirling! It’s kinda embarrassing. For you, I mean.

She grins. I can be good!

I wave for her to follow me and walk back toward the desks. They were over here somewhere when I last saw them, but they were being gross with each other.

Saeralyn’s voice behind me replies, Maybe we should look for them near the beds, then?

I gasp and stop cold, causing her to walk right into my back, knocking both of us to the floor. Rolling over, I look at her with wide eyes. That’s terrible!

She starts laughing so hard she can’t breathe, and that makes me laugh again. I stand and look down at her. You’re gross, but you’re funny. Let’s go find my old gross parents.

Maybe your ‘old gross parents’ will find you first. You’re being loud enough that a faerie cat could find you. I turn to see Father coming closer, with Mother behind him. Saeralyn stands in the corner of my vision, and Father notices her. Oh. Hello, Miss Gwalindiel! Good to see you!

She curtsies. Hello, Mr. Westiel. Thank you for coming to my family’s shop!

I elbow her in the side. I thought earlier it was ‘your’ shop.

The embarrassment is immediately visible on her pale face. It is. I mean, it’s my family’s. I mean, Momma and Poppa’s. I mean…

I start laughing and put my arm around her. I’m just messing with you. Calm down, Saeralyn!

Mother chuckles from behind Father. Jakobian, maybe we should find one of Miss Gwalindiel’s employees to help us with that desk and leave Rylae to finish her important negotiations with the owner.

Father smiles. Good plan. I’ll come find you in a bit, Rylae. Miss Gwalindiel, I’ll see you in class tomorrow. He turns and walks off. Mother winks at me before she follows.

When they walk away, I turn to Saeralyn and wink sarcastically. Good job on the whole ‘not fangirling’ thing. A little more practice and we might make you a presentable elf in the near future.

She grins and pushes me. "I doubt there’s anything you can teach me about how to be presentable!"

ǂǂǂǂ

The beeping of my terminal wakes me from my memory and light sleep, and I sit up to touch the charm with a smile. That memory always makes me happy. The day we met was fun, and Saeralyn was my best friend from that day. We were so close for sixty years, and then we suddenly weren’t. It’s much nicer to think of the fun at the beginning than the pain at the end.

I check the time in my terminal and I have about fifteen minutes before my meeting with Cap. Perfect. I walk into my washroom and clean myself up a little. My short black hair is a little messed up from my nap, so I straighten it out to cover my ear points and lay a little more evenly on my shoulders. I put some blue color around my green eyes to make those stand out more than the red freckles across my nose and cheekbones, then use some face cream to even out my skin tone.

I decide to change into a clean uniform, just for looks. Stripping off the white-blue-and-gray jumpsuit uniform I’m currently wearing, I walk back out to my wardrobe and pull out the covered hanger with my dress uniform on it. Still white-blue-and-grey, the dress uniform is a shirt, jacket and slacks instead of a single jumpsuit. My meeting with Cap technically isn’t formal, but looking good won’t hurt.

I carefully pull the shirt over my head while making sure my hair stays straight, then make some adjustments to my small breasts under the fabric. Pulling the slacks on, I belt them around my shapeless waist, then pull the jacket on, adjusting it on my shoulders so it fits properly and looks good while hanging open at the front. There are buckles on the jacket to close it, but no one actually does that. I think the buckles are mostly for design now.

I finish looking over my reflection and decide that I’d be okay with giving this pretty young elf some time off to go visit home! Cap will probably still give me a difficult time, but anything’s worth a shot.

I leave