"Tunkuni Amothetet enthi-Teknomet, Part 1"
20th Daas, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity
"Proximity alert activated. Proximity alert activated. Proximit-"
"Shut up."
I glower at the screen as we leave the wormhole.
Goryhell.
There's someone floating towards us. A woman. I think. They look at me. Pain floods my head then a voice through the void.
Bring me Lukhuin's pride. Bring me Vorosh.
I stagger out the room. Grab a comms piece. "Vorosh, I need you here, some crazy lady is in my head demanding your presence."
Blinding light and heat sear through the ship as a portal opens and she steps through. "You may address me as Tunkuni Amothet etenthi-Teknomet, mortal." Crushing gravity pulls me to the deck, and I fight it all the way. "Bow before me."
I roar, blind as blood drains from my eyes, and tear myself up from the deck. "Go to hell."
The weight releases. I pracrtically hit the roof. The woman laughs. "The rumours of your family's resilience are true then."
I scowl at her. "Either tell me who you are, or get off my ship."
Visions fill my head of possibilities.
I am here to deal with someone who possesses more threat than you realise, child.
Vorosh catches up with us. I can tell from the light and heat behind me. I fling myself left as hard as I can. The woman raises her hand, but Vorosh sends torrents of blazing white at her, intercepted by a telekinetic field.
I tap my comms again. "Mum, we've been boarded and now this... woman, is having a mage duel with Vorosh."
Speaking of Vorosh, she's switched tactics. The bulkhead beneath the woman explodes in a searing blaze of yellow-white, and it catches her off guard, dropping her field; she's engulfed by the torrents she was holding back. Vorosh chucks so much energy at her my fur is catching on fire. I sprint to the door. Eventually Vorosh stops.
The woman...
Stands smiling. "Impressive for one so young."
Dad joins me at the door. So does Daas.
Vorosh looks at her. "Who or what are you?"
Vorosh... Squashes flat. "You may address me as Tunkuni Amothetet enthi-Teknomet, mortal. Bow before me."
Dad reaches out to pick Vorosh up, but as soon as he gets to her he is fighting against falling as well. The woman looks at Dad, and Dad glowers back, and growls as he crunches forward, the deck bending beneath him. The woman's eyes go wide, and she focuses all her efforts on him. Vorosh's shell collapses, and then she flows back to Daas as Dad step by step pushes through. She starts walking backwards. Dad's bones are creaking, but he still doesn't bow.
She changes tactics, and flicks the force to the roof instead, pinning Dad up.
A black wolf leaps past my head, darts around the walls. She lets go of Dad to try to catch Mum, ripping panels out behind her as Mum goes faster than anything this woman has tried to face before.
Then she can't; Dad's sabres slam shut through her left leg. Mum pounces and her jaws grasp a hand.
I walk over. "First rule of dealing with us - we never bow. Now who are you really?"
Grepp hands Daas a glue-gun. "She is someone else who wants stability in the region." The woman looks at him. "No, of course I haven't told them, I figured you'd have done what I told you to do and speak to Vorosh nicely." Pause. "They're ex-slaves, what did you expect?" Pause. "You aren't in the Zahit enthi-Teknomet any more."
She looks at me. "It appears I may have miscalculated what it would take to impress you."
Breathe. One. Two. Three. "I am really starting to lose my patience Ms..." I work through the syllables. "Tunkuni Amothetet. Why are you here?"
She looks at Vorosh. "To recruit one of the most exceptional Psionics of her species."
Vorosh looks at her coldly. "Forget it. I'm here to break Septima's fleet then go back home to break an empire."
The woman looks at Mum and Dad. "Would you let go of me?"
Mum and Dad look at each other. Dad frowns. Mum raises an eyebrow. Dad rolls his eyes. Mum tries to smile as best she can with her teeth through the woman's hand. They stare at each other.
The woman looks at me. "Please?"
"Mum. Dad."
Eventually, they let go.
The woman's leg and hand start healing as soon as the teeth leave her. She a vision of a portal in front of the fleet appears in my mind, and Brigantia fills the view. Then shuts back to an invisible dot against space. "I will open a shortcut to Brigantia in exchange for taking Vorosh as an acolyte."
Vorosh looks at her Baat-Vootan. "Not going without my husband. And he isn't going because we need him here."
I look at Vorosh. Hmm. Then back at the woman. "You open a portal to Brigantia for us, and then open another portal to the Gateway when the preparations we need are underway, and we have a deal."
Vorosh looks at me. Then Daas. Then Mum. Then me. "Rivkah, are you sure?"
"We're all on the board... A fighting chance to save the Kyaese in exchange for my chief engineer and my best mage. That's the best shot I'm going to get."
The woman looks at me. I feel her probe my mind, sift my memories. Her face softens. She waves her hand, and the portal appears to Brigantia.
I take out my comms device one more time. "Hi Appia, its Rivkah. We found a shortcut, see you soon."