Zax - 4. Chapter 4

This was not going to spoil everything, Timfer swore. He picked up his back pack and, before marching straight out the door, pointed a finger. The Elite can damn well stay here with Father. “You, I want you to stay here and protect Keufer K’han, my father“. It was a direct order, with all of his command behind it. By the time the Elite figured out what was happening he would be long gone. This was just like his father to pull a stunt at the last minute. Oh, he could sit and discuss things for hours with you, but there was always a surprise of some sort in the result. Timfer was really annoyed, so why was he smiling with tears? Because, he was going to miss home and the evil, old bastard he loved more than anyone.

~*~

It wasn’t a question of being confused. He understood the situation. Now. It wasn’t even a matter of being objective. Zax watched the young Timfer depart and calmly turned ninety degrees and walked to a display case and it opened at his silent command. Inside he selected a simple amulet and chain. It was an artifact of his world. It brought a smile to his lips. After placing the chain over his head, he closed the display and turned and then bowed for the monitors and gestured no harm intended, guessing the message would be plain. He then, with the grace of the zephyr, left the room knowing exactly the path he had chosen.

~*~

Timfer left the vault at the back door that opened into a tunnel of about 300 meters. The tunnel in turn opened into a natural cave at the end of which was his perch above the rift that split the mountains asunder. Knowing his father was watching, Timfer ran the last few meters and dived into open air. Down he went head first with arms outstretched. Almost instinctively he snapped his hands and on air formed wings did his plummet change into a soaring glide toward the hot thermal that would lift him up ten kilometers in a spiral.

~*~

Opening the back door proved to be no problem for Zax. He simply waved his hand and the formed metal irised open into the connecting tunnel. Sensing nothing to be alarmed about, he calmly walked the distance to the mouth of the cave. At the edge of the rift, he put his thoughts into action. He stared into the sky and clapped his hands loudly above his head. Instantly, he shot straight up gaining velocity, his mind controlling his trajectory, guiding him to a perfectly timed rendezvous with a small clipper class starship.

~*~

Well, thought Keufer K’han. That was unexpected. He had returned to watching the speck he knew was his son rising in the thermal. The Elite should of followed his son. It was as he feared, Timfer’s rite of passage was going to be ’interesting’. K’han smiled. He could still monitor his son for a while from his desk, an embrace amulet was not just for memories after all. And he could ponder his new secret. Who knew an Elite could take off like that.

~*~

With an additional snap of his hands Timfer transformed into full air formed battle armor. The following snap had him shooting forth in full propulsion. He would dock with his baby, his star clipper in less than half an hour. He had spent his youth fantasizing about what he wanted. The fundamentals were the same for every ship, but the rest was completely up to the mind of the owner. How he let his mind wander over its design.

~*~

Zax slowed his velocity as he approached his target. He approved of what he saw. It was a six formed vessel. Someone was very lucky or very spoiled. Formed air, earth, fire, water, space and most importantly spirit. As soon as he was in position he sent a docking request, which was received and responded to with a docking perch extending from the hull of the sleek thorn. Landing with grace, Zax bowed before the door and waved his hand opening the vacuum lock. Stepping into the ship proper, he was not surprised by what he saw but he was very pleased. The interior space was not divided into winding hallways and small cabins. Most of the ship was one large open space. He sensed there was abundant storage space as is, but he also sensed this was the compact modulation of the ships design. Since the ship was spirit formed and thus had no need for a spiritual center, it did not matter where he performed the ritual he had in mind. But his natural grace had him walk to the very center of the interior space. He solemnly knelt and removed the seed amulet from his neck. Reverently he kissed the seed and placed it upon the surface of the ship’s floor. He waved his hand and watched the seed disappear into the ship.

~*~

Timfer just stood there looking at the Elite standing next to a table set for dinning. Something smelled good. Forget that. He was put out. And he was going to tell someone how put out he was. And he was, but the Elite was justing standing there smiling. And Timfer was just standing there glowering. They might have stood there for the rest of their existence, except for the sudden, very loud growling of a protesting, hungry stomach. The Elite seemed to take this a sign of acceptance because he took this moment to pull out a chair and sit, taking his napkin and placing it over his lap.

~*~

About a 1000 kilometers below, Keufer K’han was laughing, partly at his son’s chagrin and partly in relief. So the Elite did not follow but anticipated his son’s maneuver. Oh he was going to enjoy this.

February 5, 2011