Chapter 11: Interlude 1 – Mary

Chapter 11: Interlude 1 – Mary

Fourteen years ago…

Location: Estriduros Republic; Acordus System

Lieutenant Mary Baker wakes to an alarm blaring throughout the pirate starship.

What’s this now? Damn pirates!

She sits up and looks around the brig where she and what remains of the Black Tiger Mercenary Company are currently imprisoned. Well, her colleagues and the little girl also known as Sara Valterion.

No, not Valterion. Just Sara, I promised Frank…

The alarm stays on, and one after the other, her cellmates awake. They look at her, silently asking for guidance. She can only shrug in response. She doesn’t know more than them.

At least the girl is still asleep.

Pirates start running up and down the hallway outside the brig, but when she calls after them, asking what’s up, she’s ignored. Absently, Mary reaches up to scratch her neck and curses. “God dammit! Fucking collar…”

Suddenly, the alarm cuts off, and Mary hears the engine powering down. For the next hour, nothing happens, then suddenly, a squad of soldiers in uniforms appears in the hallway and walks toward the brig. They don’t open the door and instead ask who they are. Mary tells them her prepared story about how they were hired to protect a freighter and got overwhelmed by pirates. Then she points at Sara and tells them she’s the only survivor.

The soldiers step back and seem to talk to their superior officer. Five minutes later, a soldier unlocks the door and starts leading them to a shuttle. Inside the shuttle, Mary points at her collar. “Can someone remove this, please? I’d like to have my magic back.”

That earns her only snorts, and some looks of disbelief. An ominous feeling starts spreading within her.

Oh no, please don’t let this be one of those nations!

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Ten years ago…

Location: Estriduros Republic; Olovis System; ERS Kurlinum

That’s my chance!

Mary is currently aboard the Cruiser Kurlinum and works as a Space Mage for Star Force. Four years ago, she thought herself saved from the pirates, only to be enslaved by an anti-Mage nation.

Unfortunately, they saw her value as an upper-end Senior Mage and drafted her to jump their warships. Of course, Mary tried to escape every time her magic was activated, but the collar is very effective in tracking down her location after she used Personal Teleportation.

Now though, things are different. For the first time, Mary is close to the border of the republic, and from what she learned over the years, this neighboring nation is a normal one that doesn’t enslave their Mages.

The Kurlinum is currently closing in to the wormhole that leads to the neutral space between the two nations. Even though both nations are more or less at war, trade is still going strong between them. Mary counts on this, as she has set her eyes on one of the freighters that is about to enter the wormhole. There are five additional ships waiting in line, and the Kurlinum’s helmsman prepares to join the line.

Mary decides to speak up. She turns to the Captain. “Captain Ignir, why don’t we skip the line and do a direct jump?”

The Captain raises an eyebrow and looks at her with a curious expression. She has never made a suggestion before. “And why would we do that?”

Mary clears her throat. “Well, we’re supposed to patrol the neutral sector… What if there are pirates waiting and plunder the freighters before us?”

The Captain gets a strange expression but nods. “A valid concern. Let’s do it that way. Ensign Heppman, please take us out of the line.”

“Aye, Captain.”

The starship gets into position and the Captain nods at Mary. She feels her magic being unlocked and takes a deep breath.

Don’t mess this up!

She ignores the primitive AI she got from the republic and focuses fully on the freighter before the wormhole.

I’ve got line of sight, that’s even better than relying on one of their Ais.

Mary starts casting the Personal Teleportation spell and focuses on the freighter she’s seeing on the viewscreen. Right as the location locks in, the Captain moves his hand and the viewscreen cuts off. Mary startles in surprise and almost fumbles the spell, but her long experience saves her. She’s got the location. Now she just has to trigger the spell.

Suddenly, the collar is reactivated, and her magic dies off. The Captain sighs. “I should have known… Your previous Captains warned me, but I didn’t believe them. I know you were trying to escape again… Don’t deny it. Unfortunately, that was your last straw. Your career in Star Force is over, effective immediately.”

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Location: Estriduros Republic; Estriduros System; Mage Academy Station

Mary takes in the giant cubic space station before her. She’s got no clue where they are bringing her. Following her last attempt to escape, the soldiers took her AI and put her into a shuttle, destination unknown.

It doesn’t look like a prison… But who knows with those Estriduros people?

The lower third of the cube opens up and shows an enormous hangar bay. The shuttle flies inside and sets down. Her watchdogs tell her to disembark.

Two hours later, Mary finds herself inside a luxurious office opposite a massive man with an extremely high-pitched voice. He introduces himself as Charles Meraldor – Headmaster of the Maga Academy Station.

Oh, so that’s what they want me to do…

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Today…

Location: Estriduros Republic; Estriduros System; Mage Academy Station

Mary lets out a long sigh. She hates every second of her job as an instructor for young Space Mages here at the Mage Academy Station.

Another year full of wasted potential… I’m not even allowed to teach them the easiest Space magic spell… For security reasons.

A message on her holographic interface catches her attention. It’s this year’s class list. She skims the 32 names, stumbling a bit over the name Sara, but ignores it after reading the last name Nelson.

A quick glance in the mirror nearby shows tired blue eyes. The past 14 years have left their mark on Mary. She still looks as young as ever despite being over 80 years old – Thanks to a cheap version of Song Medical’s longevity treatment, she bought during her time in The Empire. Her mid-length, blonde hair is kept together in a ponytail, but her tan is long gone.

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She sighs again, straightens her blue instructor’s uniform, and leaves her room. The elevator takes her up to level 42, and she prepares herself for the upcoming new class by checking the new students’ power levels.

Hmmm, two in Senior Rank already, that is rare… Looks like we have to do some extra work in teaching them the Starship Jump spell, or non-wormhole travel as those idiots call it here. The rest, yeah as expected… Mostly mid-range Junior. Also, there are a lot more Novices than last year. What is that? Almost the lowest possible score on Novice rank? And the name again…

She shakes her head. Besides the few outliers, it is a fairly standard class of new Space Mages. The elevator arrives on level 42 and Mary gets off and says goodbye to the other two instructors who were with her in the cabin. Walking down the hallway, she greets the few people she recognizes and before long, she has arrived at lecture hall 42-23s. The clock on her interface tells her it’s 0800 sharp.

Perfect.

She takes a deep breath and waves for the door to open. Sounds of conversation reach her ears.

“…the instructor is nicer than that Brennan dude!”

“…to learn actual magic.”

“Hey, the door is open!”

The conversations quickly fall silent after that, and Mary starts to walk into the room.

She lets her gaze wander from student to student. There are more boys than girls. Some have eager expressions, others look slightly afraid. Her gaze wanders to the rows in the back, moves further… Then stops… And moves back. Her eyes widen. And she stops mid-stride.

It can’t be! No, I must be dreaming. That face… and the hair. No, her magic is blocked! I saw it with my own eyes.

She catches herself before falling over, quickly walks over to her desk, and sits down. She takes deep breaths while trying to get herself back under control. Mary sees confused glances directed her way, the girl in question included. Green eyes, a sharp face with a light skin tone, and lots of freckles, framed by long wavy light red hair.

There IS a similarity with the Duke, but it just can’t be… Must be a coincidence. Oh right, they are probably wondering why I’m just sitting here.

Mary gets up and straightens her uniform again. “Good Morning my fellow Space Mages, welcome to your first lecture on Space magic. I’m sorry for not greeting you right away… I was a bit distracted. Anyway, let me introduce myself. My name is Mary Baker, I’m a Senior rank Space Mage, and I’m going to be one of your instructors for the next two years. Actually, for the first year, I’m the main instructor, and most of your lessons will from by me.”

She opens up her interface and selects the introductory presentation for Space Mages. A flick of her hand brings it to the screen on the wall behind her. She turns back to the class. “For starters, who can tell me why Space Mages are so important?”

Instantly almost half the students raise their hands, the red-haired girl included. Mary enables her interface’s naming function and floating name boxes appear over the students' heads.

She looks at the class and randomly selects the young man sitting next to the red-haired girl – Sara Nelson. She does another doubletake, remembering the lowest possible power next to that name.

That’s it. It can’t be her! Even if the Artifact had failed, she would be way stronger, at least Senior Rank.

Before anyone can notice, Mary refocuses and calls out the boy – Simon Storkis. “Simon, you’re up. Please tell the others.”

He nods and starts speaking. “I think Space Mages enable travel between star systems. Without them, we couldn’t navigate through wormholes and would be lost who knows where.”

There are a few sharp intakes of breath in the room and Mary can hear a few shouts of “for real.”

Mary smiles and waves her hand to show the next slide on the screen.

“Excellent answer, Simon. Space Mages are indeed the ones responsible for fast traveling between systems. While there are ways to enhance frequently used wormholes to be safe without a Space Mage, someone has to set up wormholes in the first place.”

That sentence causes another wave of exclamations. Mary laughs inwardly.

Who would’ve thought that wormholes are artificial? This always gets them. One of the few highlights of this job! The faces are always too funny.

A girl in the front row raises her hand. She has a pretty face with dark skin and brown hair hanging down her back in a braid. Mary beckons her to speak.

“Miss Baker, what do you mean with Mages setting up wormholes? Aren’t they a natural occurrence?”

The older Mage allows herself to smile before answering. “That is a common belief, especially here in the republic, where Mages aren’t…”

She stops before saying something that can get her in trouble. “Forget what I just said. Wormholes are indeed artificially created. They are masterfully crafted pieces of Magitech. Two giant rings must be placed at both ends to set them up, then a connection between them is formed. The start point is easy to place, as it is in the system you are currently in. To place the ring at the destination, it needs a Space Mage of at least Senior rank to make a jump without a wormhole.”

Mary stops again, knowing that this will cause another uproar. It’s the biggest one so far. After most of the students calmed down a bit, Mary raises her hand.

“Please bear with me. I know it’s a lot to take in and I will explain shortly what I mean with jumps without wormholes. Before that, let’s finish real quick with the role of Space Mages. Your job, after you graduate from the academy, will be on a starship, with no exceptions. There you will have partial command of the vessel right before and during wormhole travel. It is your responsibility to ensure a safe crossing. Your AI helps you during that time in the form of plotting the route in real-time. We will get into the details of this in the practical part of the lessons. There will be a final exam on a real starship, and you will be traveling through a real wormhole. Now, are there any questions?”

There are of course, and Mary happily answers all of them. They are mostly the same. The students want to know if Space Mages have other abilities besides wormhole navigation.

It’s the same question every year… And if I tell them the truth I get into even more trouble, dammit!

With a slightly twitching eye, she declines. “No, unfortunately, that’s all…”

Another student asks if there are size limitations on starships and Mary tells him that the answer is part of the next part of the lesson.

That leaves the red-haired girl with the last question. “What did you mean earlier with the republic and Mages? Are you from somewhere else?”

That hit a nerve! Mary grimaces, but answers anyway. “Yes, I was born in the Starseeker Kingdom far away from here, but circumstances left me stranded here… Let’s just say, that Mages are not collared everywhere.”

That lights a fire in the girl's eyes, and she shows a big smile.

Huh, I wonder what this is about. Is she planning on fleeing with almost no power? Even I didn’t manage…

After the questions, Mary dismisses the class for a short break and prepares for the next part of the lessons: Power levels of Space Mages.

There is so much I have to leave out… All things teleportation. That is like half of the things, a Space Mage can do. Damn that so-called republic!

Those thoughts leave an ugly expression on her face, which she quickly removes once the students start coming back in.

“Welcome back. We will now dive a little deeper into the four different ranks you’ve already learned about… While it is a pretty straightforward process in the other two Mage classes, we have a few specialties here in Space Magic. I have already mentioned one of them, starting at Senior Rank: Non-wormhole space travel.”

The students are rapidly taking notes and listening to her with their full attention. Mary changes the screen again to show the four power levels that are known to the students.

Such a waste that they don’t even know about Grandmaster and Archmage… That’s what motivated me as a little girl. And the possibility to learn a second or third class of magic…

She looks back at the students. “But let’s start from the beginning as there are quite a few Novices among you. Novices can navigate small, and most mid-sized starships through wormholes.” The screen shows a ship next to Novice rank, with a measurement of 350 meters standing below.

“As you can see, that means you can work on ships that are up to 350 meters in length. This is the maximum that can be achieved in Novice rank. At the lowest end, you should be able to navigate ships of about 200 meters in length. Most of you are already halfway through the rank, which means that you should be able to work on ships that are somewhere between 200 and 350 meters in length. The biggest issue at Novice rank is gravity. For your power to work, gravity on the ship must be switched off.”

That’s why every halfway decent nation immediately advances Novices to Junior…

A holographic projector activates on the wall, showing the Estriduros System before the students. At the edge, there are a few dozen purple rings marked.

“As you can see, the wormholes in the system are out of the gravity wells of the planets. This is the case at every wormhole you’ll see, as gravity affects every Space Mage to a degree, but Novices are the only ones, who can’t use their power on ships if there is gravity.

“Moving on we have the Junior rank in which the majority of you are in. The maximum ship length here is 500 meters. From this rank upwards, there is no need to switch off gravity anymore. Next is the Senior rank. Maximum ship length here is 750 meters, which includes most capital ships.”

A holographic starship appears in the room, with a snap of Mary’s fingers, it disappears in a purple flash and reappears at the other end of the room.

“This is non-wormhole space travel. An ability, that makes Senior Space Mages and above the most sought-after Mages in existence! With that power, it is possible to establish new wormholes and move starships without the help of a wormhole. The range is dependent on the Mage’s power and the strength of the navigational AI. It sits between 10 and 100 light years.”

That causes another uproar among the students and the two Senior Mages grin broadly. The people next to them stare at them with envy in their eyes, and a few even congratulate them. Mary waits for the noise to quiet down before continuing.

“And lastly there is the Master rank. There are no more size restrictions for starships, besides the size of the wormhole, but that doesn’t matter too much as they too can simply teleport the whole ship to their destination. The range of Masters is somewhere between 100 and 1000 light years.”

Mary continues to answer more questions after her presentation. Mostly her answer is “No, sorry. Unfortunately, that’s not possible.” Most of the time she has to lie.

The first lesson is always the hardest… So many questions… So many dashed hopes.

Then finally, the lesson ends, and Mary releases the students for lunch break. Today is no practical lesson in the afternoon, so the students have the remainder of the day at their convenience.

The students start leaving until just a single one remains. It’s the red-haired girl!

“Miss Baker, I still have a few questions regarding Space magic…” She shakes her head and whispers. “I just can’t believe this is all there is to such an important class of Magic.”

Hmm, she is curious and still has that glint in her eyes, maybe I have to show her more in secret… Just in case for the small chance that she IS Sara Valterion after all… Maybe this helps if things ever catch up to me. Let’s at least hear her out.