The Plasma Master

  Chapter 6

  Smardwurst appeared at Ned’s room the next morning with breakfast, but Ned adamantly stated that he wanted to see General Marnax immediately, even before eating.

  “I’m sorry, Ned,” said Smardwurst, who was obviously concerned at Ned’s rather abrupt change in mood, “but we arrived at Varlax Kanlor a few hours ago, and the General is on the surface at the moment. I don’t expect him back soon. He has some rather pressing matters to attend to, and you probably won’t be able to speak with him until next evening. He did mention to me, though, before he left, that he thinks it would be wise if we kept the purpose of your being here a secret for now. There’s no reason you can’t come down to the station and look around, though. The scenery isn’t the best in the galaxy, but I’m sure we can find something interesting to do.”

  Ned was forced to reluctantly comply. He had hoped that General Marnax would have some idea as to how Ned could go about learning more about his power. It had occurred to Ned on waking that the General had not given much of anything to him in the way of information.

  Ned agreed with Marnax that there was no point in broadcasting the reason Ned was there, especially since the chances of his presence being of any use to the Alliance were seeming more slim every minute. As a result, the conversation between Ned and Smardwurst as they ate, and then as they walked to the shuttle bay to prepare to leave for the planet’s surface, was limited to discussing the particulars of Ned’s flight training of the previous day and other such matters that were probably relevant but not very satisfying to Ned.

  The conversation was cut short, though, as the bay doors slid open and Ned caught sight of Varlax Kanlor through the shuttlecraft’s viewport. He realized suddenly that it was the only planet he had ever seen up close other than Earth, and the difference was staggering.

  “People actually live there?” Ned asked Smardwurst.

  “There were many people there once, before the Empire attacked, but now there’s only our outpost.”

  “But how did they survive? The entire planet is a desert!” Ned was in awe of the massive blotch of red that covered the surface of the planet. It was broken by strips of green and brown, but the red expanse covered nearly all of the side of the planet Ned could see. There was not a cloud in sight. “It’s just a big red sand pit!”

  Smardwurst looked over at Ned, surprised. “Nedward, the redness is not sand. It is water.”

  Now Ned was really shocked. He had missed it at first glance, immediately comparing the planet’s appearance to that of Mars, but now he could see that the brown and green areas – sick-looking shades of both colors – were continents, and that the seas were colored dark red. It was as if the entire ocean had rusted. “Why is it like that?” Ned asked.

  Smardwurst turned away again, a distant look on his face. “Before Dark Viper came to power and this war began, the inhabitants of Varlax Kanlor were enemies of the Anacron Empire. A conflict began between the two powers and lasted several years, but then the Empire developed a weapon that ended the war. The weapon delivered a lethal toxin into Varlax Kanlor’s oceans, and a chain reaction resulted that poisoned the entire planet. The Kanlorans were forced to migrate to another world, and the Empire happened to have one to spare. The price, of course, was total surrender.”

  Ned was aghast. “You mean that a single weapon destroyed the entire planet?”

  “Yes,” Smardwurst said. “We now have a defense against that type of weapon, but when it was first developed it had a tremendous effect on the balance of power in the galaxy.”

  As the shuttlecraft flew closer and closer to the planet’s surface, Ned kept picturing the Earth in his mind. What, he wondered, would happen if the Anacron Empire ever reached it?

  “As I said,” ventured Smardwurst at one point, “The view isn’t much, but the planet is ideal for a military outpost. Even the air is toxic now, so absolutely no one even thinks of coming here.”

  Ned wondered momentarily how efficient it would be to have an outpost on a planet where you couldn’t breathe the air, but a moment later the outpost came into view as the shuttlecraft flew down over a devastated mountain range, and he had his answer. The outpost was a huge city-like structure covered with a clear protective bubble. Several airlocks were located around the bubble’s outer edge, and the shuttlecraft entered through one of these.

  Smardwurst showed Ned around. They walked among the buildings that made up the outpost, Smardwurst describing their functions and Ned trying to get a good mental picture of the place so he could find his way around alone when he needed to. The buildings were neither Earth-like nor particularly futuristic; they were little more than sheets of metal bonded together and seemed to have been designed with not falling apart as their sole intended purpose. Aesthetics had apparently not been a consideration. Ned wondered how many planets looked like this. He wondered if he wanted to know the answer.

  After an hour or so Green Scorpion arrived at Varlax Kanlor, and Smardwurst, after making sure Ned would be okay in his absence, left to see to matters pertaining to his ship. Ned walked around for a while longer, this time focusing on the different species – or races, as Smardwurst had put it – living there. As was true on Galactron and Green Scorpion, most of the people here looked like humans. There were some, however, who had odd-looking skin, different facial constructions, and even different numbers of limbs. Ned made a conscious effort to keep from staring, but sometimes he was uncertain of how successful that effort was. At what was approximately the planet’s noon, Ned ate lunch at one of the station’s cafeterias. All of the food he had been given here had been free – whether because he was a guest of Smardwurst and Marnax or because money was not used here at all he wasn’t sure, although he doubted that the latter was true. He wondered once again whether he would be able to find a way to repay the Alliance for everything he was being given.

  That train of thought reminded him of his purpose on being there at the station, and he decided to try to find General Marnax. Perhaps he would have a few spare moments to speak with Ned. As he walked toward the building in which Smardwurst had told him the General was holding his meetings, Ned went over in his mind what he should say. In truth, he hoped that Marnax would do most of the talking. Ned was quickly running out of ideas as to what he should, or even could, do here, so far away from anything familiar. Ned eyed the building he was heading toward as he approached. It was slightly larger than the surrounding structures and noticeably more elaborate in appearance. He turned off the walkway and entered. The hallways inside were curved overhead, somewhat like the corridors on the starships Ned had been on. Working his way toward the general area where he suspected Marnax would be, Ned turned a corner and stopped cold.

  Ned had seen hundreds of people that day, but there was something about the woman striding down the hallway toward him that set her completely apart from them all. She glanced at Ned only briefly and did not slow at all, but in the few seconds it took for her to walk past him she left an indelible impression in his mind. She was about Ned’s height and age, although she might have been slightly younger. Her dark blue pants and jacket and her black shirt and boots were obviously not the uniform of a StarBlazer officer, and she wore no insignia of any kind. A rather large blaster hung from her belt. Long black hair fell below her shoulders in waves, and Ned might have thought her pretty if it had not been for the look on her face. It was totally expressionless, as if it had been carved from stone. The look in her steel gray eyes suggested that she had seen and been through more than Ned cared to imagine, along with an expectation that the future would hold nothing better. In that instant when those cold eyes were turned toward Ned he felt that, regardless of any stone he might hold or power he might have, if he ever stood in her way for any reason he would be dead before he could blink.

  He stood there for a moment, wondering at the strange experience, then realized that he had stopped walking and slowly continued on. Ned kept walking, but he was slowly changing his
mind about speaking to the General right away. First of all, he had no intention of poking his nose into every room that Marnax might be in. Also, even if Ned did find him, and even if he was not in a meeting at the moment, he would probably not welcome the intrusion. Ned was beginning to reason through his feelings on the matter now and decided that his intent had probably been due to impatience; there was no reason he could not wait a few more hours until General Marnax was ready. Ned probably wouldn’t be able to get much out of him in the middle of whatever he was doing anyway. Instead, Ned walked back out of the building and toward the edge of the outpost’s protective bubble.

  The bubble ended on top of a high structure that ringed the outpost, but there was a lift pod that led up to a patio on top, where people could sit and look out on the surrounding blasted mountainside. Sitting and staring at the sorry excuse for scenery, Ned’s feelings of hopelessness of the previous day returned to him. What was he going to do? Sit and wait until something happens, he told himself. There was nothing else he could do.

  General Marnax sat at one end of a circular conference table and glanced at each individual seated around it. To his right was Marvis Harvey, who was always present during discussions involving war matters – which basically meant all discussions. To the General’s left was Uz Janis, who had been in charge of the recent battle with the Empire. Also seated there were leaders of various sections of space and representatives from most of the planets in the StarBlazer Alliance. Ambelshack Devorion, StarBlazer’s starfighter fleet commander, usually attended these meetings, but he was currently out with his squadron escorting a group of supply freighters that was being forced to fly close to Anacronian space. Mirana Kelar, of course, had not arrived yet, but then she generally worked according her own schedule.

  General Marnax brought the meeting to order, and then listened as the various representatives made their reports about conditions in their respective regions of space and events that had transpired there recently. The news was not surprising in most instances. The Alliance was holding, even gaining new support from civilizations that had been especially hurt by the Empire, but the chances of sustaining against such a massive enemy were uncertain, and they were becoming increasingly so. The last of the representatives was in the middle of her report when the doors slid open and a young woman walked in. Ignoring the speaker, she walked directly to the table and addressed General Marnax.

  “You have six days before the Empire sends over two thousand warships to Ergana Prime and annihilates the entire planet. Word has it that the starship Devastator will be joining the battle. I suggest you get moving.” She said it matter-of-factly, without any perceptible emotion, and it gave the impression to those present who had not yet met her that she might have been joking.

  The impression on Marvis Harvey was somewhat different. He rose to his feet and managed to keep from shouting. “If you’re going to barge into an official meeting of the Allied Council an hour late you might at least have the decency to…”

  “Mister Harvey, Miss Kelar,” Marnax interrupted. “Please sit down. Mirana, are you sure?”

  Major Harvey added, “How did you find this out?”

  Mirana seated herself and then looked at Marnax again. Her eyes never wavered and her face never lost its iron cast. Ignoring Harvey’s question she said simply, “I’m certain.”

  “Then I think you’re right,” Marnax said. “We’d better get moving.”

  The sun – although Ned was quick to note that it was not his sun – was falling below the horizon when Smardwurst reappeared. He called to Ned as he stepped out of the lift pod, and Ned rose and walked over to greet him. Ned had remained on the outpost’s perimeter for the remainder of the day, lost in thought, and he welcomed the opportunity to do something new. He would rather have done just about anything, as long as it took his mind off of his feeling of hopelessness.

  “Nedward!” Smardwurst called. “How has your day been?”

  “Fine,” Ned replied.

  “You may be pleased to learn that General Marnax has returned to Galactron and wishes to speak with you. Are you ready?”

  Ned was elated, and his smile betrayed that fact. “Yes.”

  Smardwurst had Ned pilot the shuttlecraft back out of Varlax Kanlor’s shield bubble and into Galactron’s shuttle bay. The controls were designed to be simple, and Ned had spent plenty of time practicing the previous day, and the ride back was a smooth one. Smardwurst had been seeing to repairs on his ship, responding to the few messages that had arrived for him while he had been aboard Galactron, and attending to other business that was either too technical or too boring for him to bother to mention to Ned – although Ned found himself wishing he knew enough about things to comprehend whatever Smardwurst had left out, regardless of how insignificant it may have seemed to the green freighter captain.

  Smardwurst offered to walk Ned to the General’s office, but Ned said he would be all right alone. Green Scorpion would be staying at Varlax Kanlor for a while longer, so Smardwurst chose to remain on Galactron to look after Ned should the need arise. He had been quite impressed with the progress the Earthling had made in adapting to his new setting. Ned may have felt discouraged about his inability to pilot a starfighter effectively, but almost no one could fly a starfighter well enough to stay alive in a real battle – not without years of practice. Even more impressive to Smardwurst, though, was how Ned was holding up emotionally. It was hard even now for Smardwurst to imagine what it would be like to leave one’s home and move to a place where the technology was so vastly superior to one’s own and where many of the people did not even look like people by any familiar standard. And it surely did not help that Ned had absolutely no idea what he was expected or even able to do in this new place. He had held up well, though, and Smardwurst, who had been the primary reason for Ned’s presence here in the first place, was determined to see to it that things continued to go as well as they had so far.

  Ned hesitated for a moment before the door to General Marnax’s office. He went over again in his mind what he wanted to say, trying to predict what the General might say in response. He thought momentarily of going back for Smardwurst, thinking that perhaps he might be better off after all with someone else to balance the conversation if Ned said something stupid, but discarded the idea immediately. He would be fine, he told himself. The worst that could happen was that Marnax would be unable to think of anything for Ned to do, and that Ned would be forced to spend the next few days or weeks or months – years perhaps? – learning and waiting. As if speed might somehow ward off that possibility, Ned put a stop to his musings. He strode up and pressed the door call button. It beeped, the door slid open, and Ned stepped inside.

  Ned stood at the end of a short, narrow hallway. There were doors to the left and right, but they remained closed as Ned walked past them. Ned correctly guessed that the hall was a security measure, that he was being covertly watched, and that if anyone unauthorized tried to enter the office beyond he or she would meet a rather unpleasant welcome from whatever lay behind the doors. At the end of the hall Ned touched another panel, and Marnax’s voice said over a speaker, “Come in, Ned.”

  These doors slid open as well, and Ned found himself gazing into a black hole. At least that was the impression he got. The polished black walls, ceiling, and floor of the spacious room were in stark contrast to the light gray of the walls without. The room was in the shape of a many-sided polygon. Set into the wall panels were recesses that displayed various works of art – paintings, sculptures, and miniature replicas of starships and other futuristic-looking vehicles, as well as several objects that were probably awards of some type. Potted plants also lined the walls, although none of them looked either familiar or friendly. The plants were adorned with a beautiful array of multicolored flowers and leaves, but they also all had some sort of mouth that looked to be lined with vicious teeth. Long, green tentacles writhed slowly beneath the leaves, and Ned was grateful that the plants were well ba
ck from the center of the room.

  Gerran Marnax sat directly across the room behind a massive desk, which was made out of the same shiny black material as the floor. Despite the blackness of the room, the lights overhead clearly illuminated everything in it, and Marnax’s smile lent some comfort to the somewhat hostile decor. “Come in,” he repeated pleasantly. There were several chairs on the near side of the General’s desk, and Ned took one of them.

  “How are you?” Marnax asked.

  “I’m okay, I guess,” Ned replied, “considering the fact that I’m lost in space with no idea of what I’m supposed to be doing.”

  Marnax smiled. “I suspected you might be feeling that way. As a matter of fact, I haven’t been able to come up with much either. The fact is that, as far as I can tell, neither you nor I know enough about your power to make much use of it. And I’m not going to send you off somewhere and have people shoot at you just to see how strong the power really is. Even if you really are completely invincible to damage, there are plenty of ways you could be harmed. For one thing, if you were in a ship that was destroyed, I doubt that a protective shield would do much against the vacuum of space, do you?” Ned shook his head. “So there really isn’t much that I can think of for you to do, at least not at the moment. Even if I were to have you just go into battle and try to do as much damage as you could, I’m sure the Empire would think of a way to capture you, or worse. I can think of a few ways myself.”

  This was not at all what Ned had wanted to hear from the General. He had heard it plenty of times from himself, and the sound of it was starting to get tedious.

  “The way I see it,” continued Marnax, “you have two choices – and they really are entirely up to you. The first is to return home. I know that that would mean abandoning your entire purpose in coming here, but at least you would be able to be with your friends and family again, and maybe you could develop your strange talent on Earth. And it would be considerably safer.” Put that way, going home seemed especially tempting. Ned considered it for a moment, but then shook his head. “I can’t go back,” he said flatly. “I won’t risk hurting my family again.” As he spoke the words, Ned realized that what he was really saying was that if he was going to lose control again and end up hurting people he wanted them to be StarBlazer citizens instead of his family. He did not like that implication and started to mutter that that was not what he had meant, but Marnax cut him off.

  “I understand. I can assure you I would make the same decision if I were in your place.” Marnax paused for a moment and then continued, completely changing the subject. “Ned, you have told me why you came here to assist us in the Alliance. Would like to hear why I am here?” Ned said he would. Marnax reached out for a photograph that was sitting on the desk facing him and turned it around so Ned could see it. It showed a woman, a young boy and girl standing next to her, and a baby in her arms. “This is why.”

  “Your family?” Ned asked.

  Marnax nodded. “This war is not my idea of the ideal line of work. I was a starship captain once, much like Captain Varlon. My family and I transported people and goods from planet to planet, and we were very happy. We got to see many different parts of the galaxy, meet different people, and yet we were always together. Ren and Jenez even had friends on our ship, so they had a strong sense of security.

  “Then the Alien war started. The Aliens - to my knowledge we never even succeeded in making contact with them, so we never found out what they called themselves – they struck seemingly out of nowhere, and seemingly from everywhere at once. The Empire was strong, but this was the most powerful enemy it had ever faced. Some people I knew left to join the war, but I stayed on my ship, afraid of what would happen to my family if anything ever happened to me. Then one day we were attacked. We were in spacedock around a strongly-fortified planet, or we would surely have been destroyed. As it was, the Imperial forces repelled the attack, but my ship was severely damaged, and several members of my crew were killed. I was more afraid for my family than ever then, but again I chose not to risk my life at war.

  “Still, I felt that I should do something to help the Empire, so I ran for a position on the Imperial Council. I was fairly well-known and had a certain reputation for being able to think through difficult situations, and I was admitted. That was the first time I met Trelan Thendrak. He was an ambitious councilmember from the Anacron homeworld, and in many ways he dominated the Council. He was well-respected by everyone on the Council, including myself. He was concerned that perhaps our military would prove to be insufficient against the Alien threat, and he began studies on alternative ways of fighting our enemy.

  “Eventually he found one. He did not explain it – did not even reveal it at first, until he had gained significant control over it. When he had, he displayed it to the Council. He did not, however, make it at all clear what his power did. He could control light, much the way you do, and he could destroy things with it, as well. But no one was sure how it worked, nor how powerful it really was. In attempts to discover more about the power, Trelan taught a few of his close associates how to use it as well. Still, none of the rest of us understood at all, but we all trusted Trelan and believed that he was working in the Empire’s best interest.

  “Then Trelan announced that he was ready to use his power in the war. He and the others who had mastered the power began to accompany our starships into battle, and when they did the results were astounding. Somehow, those four people were able to turn the tide of battle time and again when the odds seemed overwhelming. The power seemed to be just what Trelan had hoped it would be. He named it the Anacron Plasma force – I don’t know exactly why – and the Plasma Masters were revered throughout the Empire.

  “After a while, though, it began to appear that even the Plasma force would not be enough to hold our enemies off. The Plasma Masters always traveled together, and so they could only be at one place at a time. The Aliens began to overwhelm us simply by their numbers. Trelan stopped fighting for a time and studied his power again. A month or so passed, and then Trelan announced to the Empire that he had discovered a way to unite the powers of the four Plasma Masters and form a weapon that would annihilate anyone who opposed the Empire. His plan required that each of the four Plasma Masters delegate their power to a single person, and that person would then be able to amplify the combined power into an unstoppable force. Trelan offered to instruct whoever the Council chose to wield the power, but it did not take long for them to elect Trelan himself. He had been the leader in matters concerning the Plasma force from the beginning, and everyone was anxious to end the war as quickly as possible.

  “But, on the night when the Council finalized its decision and the other Plasma Masters prepared to turn over their power to Trelan, one of them, named Koral Ralok, betrayed the Council and … this is where the details of the story are unclear, even to me. The Council captured Koral, but he had either lost or sabotaged his power in some way, so that the four powers could not be combined. Trelan’s plan was stopped, and the war continued.

  “Trelan was furious after that. The Plasma Masters traveled with our army less and less frequently, and most of us on the Council saw them only occasionally. Our military was weakening, and there did not appear to be anything we could do about it. Then Trelan addressed the Empire again. In a speech that turned out to be extremely charismatic, if chilling, he announced that he had thought of another way in which he might use what remained of the power to aid the Empire in the war. He and the other Plasma Masters worked in total isolation after that. Somehow Trelan, who had now been affectionately named Dark Viper – apparently in relation to the speech I mentioned – constructed the superfortress Venom and destroyed the Alien army. The survivors fled, and we have not heard of them since.”

  Ned wanted to interrupt and ask the General if he was proposing that the stone Ned had found had something to do with the Plasma force, he but restrained himself. He reminded himself that Marnax was supposed to be telling Ned
about his family, and that changing the subject now might seem rude.

  Marnax continued. “Everything changed after that. Dark Viper had been appointed Emperor by the Council, mainly since the entire execution of his project was dependent on him, and since we had pretty much been doing everything he had said anyway. As I said, he was trusted and respected by just about everyone. Even I voted to uphold him as Emperor, although the vote was originally intended to last for the duration of the war only. No one mentioned voting him out again when it was done, though, and soon it became clear that Viper was there to stay. That might have been the end of things, but Viper, too, had changed. It bothered me that he chose to continue to be called Dark Viper instead of his given name – his motives just didn’t seem right. I began to disagree with much of Viper’s policy in ruling the Empire, as well. For instance, Viper had the entire population of the planet Anacron moved to Venom. He said it was for protection, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was more of a containment than a protection.

  “I voiced my objections, but most of the Council and most of the Imperial subjects who wished or dared to say anything supported him. Instead of incite a rebellion, I decided that the best thing to do would be to simply take my family and leave the Empire. I talked it over with Rinel, my wife, and she agreed. When Anacron moved to Venom, my family and I, along with a few close friends, took our ships and flew beyond the space claimed by the Empire.

  “Sometimes I wish it had ended that way, with the Empire continuing on its path and leaving us alone. It didn’t. Over the next year or so hundreds, then thousands, then millions of people left the Empire to join me and those with me. Apparently there had been more people who agreed with me than I had thought. They appointed me their leader and we selected the name StarBlazer, and before I knew it entire star systems were pledging their allegiance to us. To me! I thought of leaving again, but that was simply not a possibility. Not only did these billions of people look to me as a leader, but the Empire – or, more specifically, Dark Viper – had begun to be annoyed by the continual emigration of Imperial subjects. Viper forbade anyone to leave the Empire, and perhaps as a convenience for those who already had he defined the borders of the Empire as ‘all known space.’

  “Needless to say, that offended not only the StarBlazer Alliance, but also other worlds that had not pledged allegiance to the Empire. They all allied themselves with StarBlazer, and before we knew it we had a war on our hands.”

  Marnax looked into Ned’s eyes, and there was a hint of sadness there, mixed with fierce determination. “So you see, Ned, I, too, have in a sense been driven from my home by forces beyond my control. There was no running from the war this time. If I sat back and left the fighting to others I risked losing, and that meant that I risked letting Viper use my family and me as examples of what happened to rebels – which is, of course, what Viper calls us. I had no choice. I assembled my fleet and went off to war. You may think that I’m safe here in this massive battleship, studded with guns and permeated with guards, but I can assure you that my family is safer still. They are locked away where no one will ever find them but me. I never, ever risk direct communication with them anymore for fear that someone will find out where they are. That is what this war means for me. Victory means I will be reunited with my family. Failure … is not an option.”

  There was silence for a moment as both pondered what had been said. Finally Ned spoke. “I want to do anything I can to end this conflict.”

  General Marnax nodded. “I’m glad. You might have guessed that the power you hold is a form of the Anacron Plasma. I am not certain of this, but if it is, then there is a good chance that it can be used for much more than making glowing stars and shattering drink containers.”

  The possibility intrigued Ned, and frightened him a little, too. “If that’s true, though, how can I possibly learn to use it that way? If everyone who knows anything about it belongs to the Empire …”

  “That’s what I’ve been thinking about,” Marnax interjected. There was a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “Not all of them do. I told you that the Empire captured Koral Ralok. But even though he admitted to betraying Trelan’s wish, he hadn’t technically committed a crime. He had never promised to surrender his power. Koral felt he couldn’t stay with the Empire, though. Like me, he decided to leave. Some people followed him, and a few more might have followed later, but support for Trelan was high at that time, and Koral was generally regarded as a traitor. I’m not so certain of that, though. I believe that Koral acted just as I did. He withheld his services from a leader he did not think worthy of them.”

  “So Koral is against the Empire? Do you think he could teach me about the Plasma? Does he still command it? Do you know where he is?” Ned was ecstatic. This was exactly what he had wanted – an opportunity to master his power and put it to some productive use.

  “Well, I may or may not know where Koral is now. He has not been heard of since he left. As to whether or not he still has command of his power, I don’t know. Certainly he never manifested it after betraying Trelan, but maybe he withheld it so that Trelan wouldn’t take it away. I don’t know.”

  “Well, I have to find out!”

  “I suspected you would feel that way. I have arranged for Smardwurst to fly you into the Uraxis Nebula. Rumor has it that Koral may have traveled there before he disappeared. I have other pressing matters to attend to or I would accompany you. As it is, I think you will be safe. The Uraxis Nebula is well outside of Imperial space, by which I mean that the Empire doesn’t have troops there, although of course they claim it. Something inside the Nebula prevents scanning, and it may be dangerous to travel inside it, but something tells me that you’ll want to go anyway.”

  “Yes!”

  “Good. If you’re ready, I think you should leave immediately. If this power of yours really is of some use to us, then we definitely need to keep it a secret from the Empire for as long as we can.” Marnax rose, and Ned did so as well. Marnax walked around the desk and started to lead Ned out of the office.

  Suddenly Ned remembered something and stopped. Turning to Marnax he asked, “General, today as I was wandering around the outpost I saw this girl… I don’t know what it was about her, but for some reason it seemed like she didn’t belong. Maybe it was just that she was the only person other than me who I’ve seen here without a StarBlazer uniform, but I’m not sure. Do you know who she is?”

  “Blue and black outfit, long black hair, probably looked like she was about to shoot someone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mirana Kelar. She’s something of a mercenary who works for me from time to time. She can be difficult to work with sometimes, but she’s the best at what she does. I can’t count the number of times she’s dug up vital information about Imperial troop movements, attack plans, and a dozen other things for me. I don’t know how she does it but she hasn’t failed yet and I don’t expect she ever will. She charges an enormous price, but it’s worth it.” Ned and Marnax began walking again toward the door. “The information she brought me today was especially important. That’s why I’m a little anxious to get you out and back as soon as possible. Things are beginning to look like this war will be over very soon, and I intend to be the victor.”