January 15, 2110

  Castle

  A low-hanging tree bristled with ice as shallow gusts of wind blew across the frigid terrain. Snow slid off the tree’s branches as Castle chilled near the top of it, listening to tunes and sharpening a few of his throwing knives. Ivinage and Frob had only a few more hours before Evwei gave her pre-battle speech. If they failed to capture Castle before that time, he would lead the rescue mission, not Ivinage. For his own purposes, Castle had to be the one to lead the mission. In spite of the high stakes, Castle remained composed and unflustered. Besides, how would a couple of chumps like those two be able to capture a supreme being like himself?

  Looming in the distance, Ivinage, followed by her assembled squad, trudged in the snow-covered trails down in the valley near the forest on the outskirts of base camp. They were training for a final effort to capture Castle; running, jumping jacks, squats, stretches.

  Castle heard Ivinage in the distance. “Come on, squad! We can do better!”

  “Oh God! I’m feeling the burn,” one soldier complained, hunched over, wheezing from breathlessness.

  “Jeez! I think my spleen is in my stomach,” another panted.

  “I feeeel nothing,” Frob hummed as if it wasn’t a big deal. He was at the front of the line, practically strolling through the workouts like it was a warm-up to him. He was clearly in the best shape.

  Castle chuckled. “That Frob kid’s brains all became brawn.”

  From below Castle, a soldier approached him. “Castle, Evwei sent stardust as your payment.”

  Castle smiled as he glanced at the jar of the most spectacular substance in the galaxy, at least in his opinion. Without stardust, slip space technology would be impossible, and the galaxy would be a dull, non-interplanetary bore. Stardust is a mysterious substance used to stabilize wormholes, and wormholes are a tricky thing. Wormholes don’t want to exist because they’re cosmologically nihilistic and hate the fact that they violate natural law. A bit like Castle in a badass way. Anyhow, as soon as those portals snap into existence, those stubborn things want to snap right back out. The only way to balance out the implosive pressure of a wormhole is to stuff it with negative mass to compensate for its existence; consequentially, that would theoretically require a few suns’ worth of mass to balance out the existence of the negative mass. Because mass in the galaxy doesn’t just explode into existence to balance out the negative mass; some theorize that stardust taps into another dimension where mass is created there to compensate for it here in our galaxy. This is a concept far above the heads of even the greatest scientists across the galaxy, and because of that, stardust goes mostly unexplained. All scientists know is that the substance can help create, as well as stuff negative mass into a wormhole. All that said, Castle is among the awesome few who know the true science behind stardust.

  Castle dropped down from the tree and grabbed the container of stardust. “You may go.”

  The soldier left, and Castle headed down to Ivinage, Frob, and the others. At the top of the slope, leading down to the valley, Castle hopped up and sent his aura down to the snow. Using his aura as a snowboard, Castle slid down the snow to Ivinage. Castle flipped off his aura and landed in front of Ivinage, showboating through the whole motion.

  “Ivinage, take my advice, kid, and let a pro handle the rescue mission. You and your squad of misfits have tried to capture me for days, and not a single, sad attempt was remotely close so, just stop… hold on to that last drop of dignity you still have.”

  Castle noticed Ivinage’s eyes wander away from his. Ivinage asked, “What’s that you’re holding?” Castle knew Ivinage was trying to distract him, but he didn’t care.

  Castle was happy to talk about stardust. “Oh, this? It’s stardust. It’s my payment for the last mission you and I completed so spectacularly.”

  “Your payment?”

  Castle laughed. “You think this army has any jemns left? Haha… yeah, right! So instead, Evwei pays me in stardust… you know… the whole damn reason you allsungs had your eyes on this planet in the first place. Or did you forget what you’re fighting for, Ivinage?”

  “No. How could I after all we’ve lost? Or did you forget everyone on this planet is involved in this war? Everyone.” Without knowing it, Ivinage stated one of the most essential pieces to making Castle’s true mission a success.

  “Your species is so greedy, yet separated over so much. Most of this planet, Xan’Ohmo, is uninhabitable for most species. But it is ripe in stardust, the fundamental material used in slip space technology… the galaxy runs on this liquid gold.” Castle held the jar of glowing stardust over the envious Ivinage.

  “The socialists are trying to push us into those inhabitable areas. What would you suggest we do, die?” The allsungs had had a rough last couple of decades. Their home planet had been divided into two powers: The socialists and the monarchy. The conflict migrated when both powers sent colonies to this planet, Xan’Ohmo, to mine for stardust. To that end, over time their own home planet had simply forgotten about the colonies on the planet. It seemed lately the galaxy was just full of sob stories like this; unfortunately, it was a reality to many.

  “And you are trying to force the socialists into those same areas of this God-forsaken planet. War never has one side to it.” Castle angled with a fat grin. “I’m on the side of the paycheck.”

  “If you’ve made so much already, then why don’t you just leave?”

  Castle thought for a moment, then made up some silly reason. “Because when I retire, I want a hologram monitor the size of a star cruiser.” In Castle’s head, he marveled at his acting ability.

  “That’s baaad for your eyes,” Frob added.

  “Oh… and, umm… tell your friend to get out of the bushes before he hurts himself.”

  Ivinage’s grin dropped to a pout, and she flexed her jaw in frustration. Ivinage signaled for her squad member to hop out of the bushes. A second later, the soldier wiggled free from the black branches and dark brown leaves.

  Castle teased, “Nice effort though... NOT!”

  From down the valley, a soldier boogied through the snow, down the low-angling trail. His large boots clumped with each step. “Hey guys, we thought it’d be fun to make a video of all the attempts Ivinage has made to capture Castle. You guys wanna see?”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “A highlight reel of my impeccable skills? How could I pass on that?” Castle marveled.

  “Sure. Maybe we can learn from our mistakes. Come, squad,” Ivinage said, gesturing for her squad to follow.

  Castle, Ivinage, Frob, and a bunch of others followed the soldier into a dark room where chairs lined the center, facing a screen. Inside, the soldier flipped a switch on a hologram projector, and the reel began. Castle threw himself into the nearest chair, which was almost set off by itself; the way Castle wanted it.

  As the first scene opened, Castle saw himself working out in the training valley, a distance away from the camera; shirt off, ripped, and highly in shape. If Castle were by himself, he might even get a bit of a bulger from watching himself like this. Boy, he was a unique one indeed.

  Ivinage’s squad members were lined up behind a group of boulders much closer to the lens. She tapped on the shoulder of the nearest person. “Hand me a light grenade. We’ll blind Castle so he can’t see us coming.”

  “Uh… I umm… about that--” the squad member began.

  Castle stopped doing pull-ups on the bar and started to jog away. “Hurry up! He’s getting away!” Ivinage demanded.

  “I’m fresh out,” the solider finished his statement.

  “I told you to bring them!”

  “Well, see… I wasn’t really listening. I dozed off and started thinking about fighting a growllar monster in the snow. But there is good news: I won!”

  Castle laughed at the idiotic squad playing before his eyes. He pulled up another chair and extended his legs on the seat as the reel continued to play. Ivinage yelled, “Fine! Does anybody… anybody at all have a stupid grenade?”

  Another squad member answered, “I gave mine to Frob.”

  Ivinage screeched, “You what?!”

  Frob hollered, “Fire in the hole!” He then tossed the grenade. It chipped off the rock the squad was hiding behind and bounced back at them.

  “Run!” a squad member shrieked.

  They all bolted, and the grenade went off, blinding the camera. A ring and the sound of tussling bodies played on for a few more seconds.

  The audience cheered and laughed at the comedic gold playing before them. More soldiers had gathered into the room for some cheap entertainment. One soldier fell to the stone floor in an uproar of gut-cringing, belly laughter.

  Another soldier chuckled and said, “I could watch this for days!”

  The second scene opened. Castle was training a female allsung in martial arts. He was way above her skill level and taught mostly by kicking her ass. She came at him, and he dodged right, tripping her over his leg.

  Castle extended his hand to help her up, but she swiped it away. “Is this how you train men, too?” she grunted.

  “I treat women and men the same in a fight. I like to believe I’m a very unsexist, forward-thinking gentleman,” Castle teased. “Just ask my girlfriend. Oh… I should mention, she’s human, and… you know… humans aren’t as strong as omelics, so it is a bit different.”

  “That sure sounds complicated,” the allsung teased.

  “Girl--” Castle flipped his hands forward in jest, smiling, “--you are just so clever.”

  “You really are a strange one. At least you are--” the allsung female began.

  “Hold that thought.”

  Castle cut her off as Ivinage dashed at him from behind. Castle used his aura to trip her. Two more came from the other side, and Castle flipped over them and used his aura to slam them into the wall.

  When Castle finished, he began, “You were saying?”

  The room had erupted into laughter. Castle sat there, enjoying every second of this homemade film. His eyes twinkled and legs were crossed in front of him, stress-free and comfortable.

  He whispered to himself, “Whoever recorded and edited this did an outstanding job.”

  As the third scene opened, Castle was sitting up in his favorite tree. Ivinage approached from below. “Hey, Castle! Catch!” She tossed a light grenade at Castle.

  Castle extended his arm and caught it, “One… two… three.”

  Ivinage realized what he was about to do. “Oh shivf!” she yelled, then took off sprinting in the other direction.

  “Four.”

  Castle tossed the light grenade at Ivinage and looked away. It exploded in an array of light, knocking Ivinage to the tundra. Ivinage flayed around in the snow, covering her eyes.

  “AHHH! I can’t see! What the hell, Castle? You asshole!”

  Castle laughed, clutching his stomach. “You’re right! I’m an asshole. But… I’m an asshole who knows he’s an asshole. And don’t worry, you’ll recover.”

  As the fourth scene opened, Ivinage and Frob were hiding in two opposing corners of a tight hallway. They were using the corners of a doorway for cover. Castle was in the other room, sitting at a table, eating allsung food. Castle nearly choked down each bit with disgust. Ivinage started signaling and gesturing to Frob feverously, but Frob gave her a confused frown.

  “What’s that mean?” Frob asked.

  Ivinage pointed furiously at Castle. Frob just stared back, dumbfounded. Ivinage rolled her eyes before giving up. Instead, she just Hail Mary charged at Castle, who sat there, uninterested. Ivinage collided head-on with Castle’s aura and bounced to the ground.

  “Damnit!” Ivinage grunted.

  “Whelp--” Castle stood over the downed Ivinage, “--thanks for interrupting me from forcing down this shivf you call a meal. I’ll happily kick your ass instead.”

  Castle grinned. Ivinage began to get to her feet.

  “I got him!”

  Frob charged in aimlessly, not even looking forward, and speared into Ivinage just as she reached her feet. They both went tumbling through a few chairs.

  Castle shrugged and went back to forcing down his meal. Ivinage and Frob lay wasted on the ground.

  Castle cheered as the highlight reel ended. Laughing, he looked around the room. “Did everyone--”

  Castle stopped as he noticed something odd: Everyone had left the room; he was alone.

  Snap!

  From the ceiling, a glass and metal reinforced container dropped. Castle jumped from his seat and tossed a knife to the ground. It slid under the container just as it crashed to the ground. The blade of the knife created a slight gap between the floor and container, too infinitesimal to notice.

  Ivinage appeared back in the room. “I finally caught you!” She smiled and patted the container. Positive energy emitted from Ivinage. She took laps around Castle, taking in her achievement. “I caught you!” Ivinage repeated in excitement over and over again.

  Castle decided to play along. “Not bad… not bad at all. How did you pull off this feat?”

  Ivinage was happy to inform Castle. “First, I remembered how unbelievably massive your ego is and realized I could use it against you. So, I spent a day coming up with this whole plan. I got a volunteer to record all our failed attempts,” Ivinage air-quoted, “all to feed your ego and get you distracted. Then I got more volunteers to watch the film, cheering and laughing to set the mood. Oh… and man, you have really pissed off some people. There was no shortage of allsungs here with a bone to pick with you. Now, here we are.”

  “Here we are,” Castle repeated. “I have to hand it to you, this was your best attempt yet.”

  “Attempt?” Ivinage stopped in the middle of her lap around the cage.

  “Yeah… you almost got me.” Castle used his aura to fill the gap left by the blade and lift the container off him. “But I’m just too damn awesome!” the vociferous Castle cheered.

  Ivinage fell to her knees and pounded the ground. “Dammit! Why are you doing this to me? Why?!”

  “Come again?”

  Ivinage got up, furious. She grabbed Castle by the cloth over his chest and pointed her finger in his face. “All I want to do is be there when my friend is saved! So, why the hell can’t you just lighten up for ONCE and let me lead this mission?”

  “Because you’ll get yourself and every prisoner killed!” Castle made up an excuse. “From the very first conversation I had with you, I knew you weren’t cut out for something important like this - the shivf that would make the absolute difference in this war.”

  “Yeah. And I knew that from the start, too,” Ivinage admitted.

  “So stop pretending to be something you’re not!”

  Ironic. Castle was doing the same thing he’d lectured Ivinage on, only Castle was acting as a mercenary, not trying to change his character.

  “Then, then… let me come. I don’t have to lead. You can lead. Just… please!”

  “Hell no!”

  Evwei walked into the room. “Castle! Ivinage! Stop this!”

  Castle began to walk away but stopped to look at Ivinage. “Look, whether or not you’re involved in that rescue mission is ultimately up to her. But you’d be risking your friends’ lives by leading the mission instead of me. Hell, you’d risk their lives by being on that mission.”

  “You said you don’t care if others die,” Ivinage retorted.

  Castle stopped. “You’re right, I don’t care… not a single bit. But you sure as hell do. ”

  Castle walked out of the room and into the snow. Evwei and Ivinage watched, not sure what to say. Castle wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he was lying. To some degree, Castle cared. Despite a foundational code the Brotherhood of Relics stood by, he couldn’t help getting attached to others. The emotional pain of Gharah’s fate would destroy Ivinage and Frob. Even Castle didn’t want that for them.