“Rensi, can you have your tribe standing by?”
“What do you need us for?” It was amazing how clear the connection with him had become. I believed it was a sign of his confidence in me.
“We are going back to the Bristola main harbor where the battle is taking place. We might need you. Can you please meet us there at dawn?”
“Yes. We will be there.”
Rensi spun up into the air and the Farians watched with awe, perhaps understanding that I was speaking to him. Axis slipped his hand into mine as we watched him go. Then he turned back to his soldiers.
“Where are the POWs, Bravo Ilisa?”
“Tied up on the furthest back ship.”
“Did you find out anything about Murex?”
“He was also captured and has been used to teach Gorgin and a few other pirates how to open themselves to telepath with animals, but it hasn’t been very successful. The animals are very standoffish, as you might imagine.”
“They only opened up to me because I was able to show them examples of me on Serpul with my firefins and dolgons,” I said.
“That is likely true. Our ocean animals have been scarred by mistreatment and by the fear of the blue flu. Plus, we have never been able to communicate with them. These are new waters we are trying to swim.” Ilisa seemed like a very intelligent leader. I liked her right away. I regretted not letting her guard me…
“Well, I just asked Rensi to bring his tribe close to the harbor. Maybe they can help us with the battle. They will be there by dawn.” I looked to the sunrise. It was already starting to lighten over the town and cliffs of Bristola.
“That should only be an hour away. We need to get back to the battle and update Cartari with what we have found.”
“Yes, and use the speeder to help out the Spec Ops teams.”
“Did you disable these ships?” Axis asked.
“Yes. The rudders are dismantled. It will take a few hours to fix, so the ships are at least grounded for now. They can’t use them for this battle.”
“Brilliant work, Bravo.” Axis nodded to his solders then he lifted his hand to signal the silent, dark floating silhouette of the speeder closer. It lowered parallel with the deck. The soldiers all jumped in. Axis gave me his hand to help me in. “Back to the courtyard of the castle, quickly.”
Axis winked at me as we sped away and I held to the side of the speeder, watching the early time before dawn start to brighten the land and waters. I was leaving behind my place of captivity, but we were returning to the true battlefield…
War awaited us.
Seventeen
Axis
Cartari’s eyes flashed at me as I entered the command room. He was shouting orders and hardly had time to relinquish command, he was so in the flow of commanding the combat himself. The control panels were flashing with symbols of sunken ships, downed laser cannons, injured telekinetic warrior counts, crashed aircraft, and buildings on fire.
I had missed a lot.
Is he going to forgive me?
When Ceritha appeared behind me, Cartari’s eyes softened a little and he smiled, nodding to the Princess, a shock of his reddish-brown hair slipping down, forcing him to toss his head back and grin. He stopped with his sharp orders and came over to bow low over her hand.
“Princess, I am glad you are safe.”
Ceritha bowed to him as well. “Thank you, Commander Cartari. I am in your debt. Thank you for letting the Prince and his unit come to my rescue and for holding down the command while they did.”
“You are most welcome. You are one of us now. A Curan of Farian. You are destined to be with us.” Cartari’s green eyes laughed again and I shoved him gently in the shoulder, the jibe about Destiny not missed by either me or Ceritha, clearly, for she blushed and squeezed my hand.
“Bravo, Princess, please make yourselves welcome.” I said the words as way to acknowledge Ceritha, but also as a way to indicate that I had to dismiss myself from them now and take care of business. Also, as a way to remind Ceritha that she was now under guard of Bravo Ilisa and could not leave her side. Ceritha moved to the side of the command room and looked at one of the large control screens, asking Ilisa for explanation about the legends and flashing lights. I turned back to Cartari.
“I am glad you found her, Axis. Anything else I need to know?”
“We disabled three of their twelve ships that are waiting back in the Darken Coves, killed a few pirates, tied up and knocked out a few more. My speeder is back and available to help out the Spec Ops teams. Word is that Gorgin does have Scientist Murex and has been trying to train himself and a few of the other pirates to speak to ocean animals to control them as war steeds, but so far unsuccessfully, which is why he wanted the Princess.”
“That might explain the firefin and dolgon pods that we have sighted outside the harbor.”
“How many?”
“Three total. One scarlet firefin, one orange firefin, and one dolgon pod. The firefins seem to be together, and the dolgons seem to be with the pirates. Is it possible we have firefins on our side?”
“Yes, the Princess asked the firefins that we went to analyze to come to the harbor by dawn. That is the scarlet tribe. They must have spread the word to the other firefins. The dolgons must have been reached by the pirates, somehow. We shall have to ask the Princess to try and speak with them, persuade them to not assist the pirates.”
“What harm
