“This way,” Kaltor says to me as he enters the ship ahead of us and motions to his left. On either side of the ramp opening inside the ship, three people in the black and red ESF armor are squatting down and looking through the opening. Something about the energy around them tells me they’ve all got some kind of Power ready and waiting to be used - I can sense it in a way I never used to be able to before the increases to my Perception, Mana, and Aura, but the feeling is vague. I scan one of them randomly as we turn down a corridor to our left and find I’m interested to know more about her Power.

  Xena “X-ray” Cariou (Scout)

  Level: 155

  Power: Go It Alone (Tier 2 Major)

  Conditions: None

  The interior of the ship is just as sleek and powerful as the outside. We enter a small chamber that seems to function like an airlock together and I feel the loss of Saint Marianne’s calm at the moment. It’s been nothing but chaos and tension. I glance at Carlotta and wonder what Kaltor would do if I just broke her neck right here to make sure I’m the last person she ever messes with.

  “Pause here,” orders Kaltor, and Carlotta and I both comply. Machines, lasers, and nanites emerge from openings in the walls and swarm all over us. Neither of us dares to move. I remember these checks from going on spaceships with my parents when I was young and this is no different, if more thorough. I tense up a bit, wondering if something about me will trigger the tests or sensors to assess me as contaminated or a threat to the ship, but the inspection concludes without incident and we continue on. I’ve seen nothing other than fast, brutal action in the past when danger tried to infiltrate a ship like this. Maybe a bit too brutal for someone as young as I was - it definitely landed the message and increased my paranoia at the time.

  The sounds we make walking on the floor, the colorful panels set in the dark metal walls, even the aura of the ship is something I can’t really put into words. The power of the ship is almost a thing that comes to life for me from deep inside. I have no doubt that there are Powers that run this ship and give it capabilities far beyond a normal one.

  Kaltor moves through the corridors swiftly and we encounter only a couple of people; both of them move aside right away and nod respectfully. Carlotta keeps up with us and part of me admires her courage at the same time I want to drive my fist through her skull. I watch for signs she’s reading my mind while I’m picturing what I would do to her, but she’s either not reading my surface thoughts or she has well practiced control of her expressions.

  We stop at a door that looks just like any of the other doors to our left and after a short pause it opens and we follow Kaltor through. It’s not a big room, maybe 25 square meters, with diagnostic equipment lining all the walls and a sleek dark red chair in the middle of the room that belongs in a dentist office. To our right, a woman in a lab coat is stereotypically looking at some kind of cellular action on a screen above what looks like a microscope. The woman is slightly heavyset with purple and pink hair, and a warm smile for us when she looks over. I pull the information I can find out about her.

  Hazel Johansen (Power Technician)

  Level: 69

  Power: Power Insight (Tier 2 Minor)

  Conditions: None

  “Captain Kaltor,” she says in acknowledgement. Although I’m not really sure of the normal protocols around interactions on a ship like this, it seems more casual than I would have expected and Kaltor is completely unbothered by it.

  “Hazel, we have two people here for a complete battery of tests,” instructs Kaltor.

  “Two?” exclaims Carlotta, then she holds her hands up instinctively and takes a step back. She looks around, her shoulder length black hair waving back and forth.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  I hadn’t really noticed before, but she’s quite pretty and really a nice person. Maybe we should just tell her what she needs to know and let her leave the ship? Why is Kaltor insisting on testing her anyway? Surely that’s a violation of standard practice?

  “Your tricks don’t work on me, girl,” says Kaltor in a calm, even voice. “One more time and it will be your last. Make no mistake, I don’t care about General Voss and I will kill you if you target anyone on this ship. You’ve just disqualified yourself from observing, so there won’t be a test for you.”

  I blink a few times as my head clears and I glare at Carlotta like my gaze could burn right through her. Mind fuckery! I leap at her with superhuman speed, fist cocked to ram it through her face, and stop in mid air, straining to move.

  “Everyone on the Horizon has strong mental protections to avoid Galactics or humans who have Cognitive or Psychic Powers, and to prevent creatures we encounter turning us against ourselves or enslaving us. I’ve warned her and will provide you with protection, but no further action, am I clear? My word is law on this ship and there’s more going on than you know.”

  I grit my teeth, not sure why Kaltor tolerates this kind of Power on his ship.

  “Go ahead Calrik,” says Kaltor and he gestures at the chair. “Let’s do it now. I don’t want to give Carlotta a chance to sabotage the machines or the tests.”

  Carlotta doesn’t look happy to hear that, but doesn’t say anything. And… fuck her after what she pulled. I eye the red chair with a lot of reluctance.

  “What are you testing for?” I ask.

  “Full battery,” says Kaltor immediately, then realizes I must not have understood what that meant when he said it before. “Full scan for Galactic entities, parasites, alien life forms, and a slew of other things that probably couldn’t have gotten through the ship’s scanners, but we have to be sure. It also gives a deep scan of your Power set, just to be sure. This is one of the only ones in existence.”

  “You have all that here?” I ask. What is this ship?

  “The Horizon gets called into situations that require it,” Kaltor says. Really, it’s more of an explanation than he has to give me.

  I nod and stall a bit more by looking around, but instead of another question I hop in the chair and lean back. There’s no getting out of this situation, so might as well dive in. I half expect restraints to pop out of the arms of the chair to hold me down so I can be tortured. Instead, a dozen lights in thin streams or more scan me from head to toe and then those are replaced with other scans that seem to hit me with vibrations. I’m familiar enough with the process to know that the lights themselves are just to ensure the person running the tests can be sure they have been completed and covered everything needed. I’ve had a different version of this test multiple times in my teens to detect a Power that wasn’t there… or at least didn’t show up.

  Hazel wheels over on her office chair and places a device on the back of my left hand that pierces the blood vessels there and draws some blood. It’s not hard to notice how fast it heals over, but Hazel has already wheeled back to slot the device into an opening in one of her terminals. Progress bars and icons indicating computation appear everywhere.

  “Ok Calrik, you can get up,” Hazel says.

  There’s a silence and tension that’s almost unbearable to me while all her machines and crystals do their things. I’m confident that there isn’t an alien creature controlling me or waiting, hibernating inside me. But… am I sure enough to bet the human race? Sure enough that I don’t feel the need to look at the test results as they pop up? No.

  I’m also unsure if I’m going to show up with any Power and what kind of problems any result is going to cause me. I still marvel that some of the earliest Powered humans, along with our greatest scientific minds, managed to crack this process.

  Carlotta is watching intensely as well.

  In the end we both watch for nothing. Once the tests are done, Hazel shuts down all the mechanisms and the original investigation she had on the screen when we arrived appears..

  “Results have been sent directly to you, sir,” says Hazel, fully in professional mode. “Carlotta, I’ve transferred the results regarding Calrik and any hostile being or any Galactic threats to you directly and a copy to the General. They are all confirmed negative - he’s clean.”

  “And the rest of the results?” she asks, with intent.

  “The rest is none of your business,” asserts Kaltor, and there’s not going to be any room for discussion based on his tone and the look on his face. “Get off my ship.”

  As soon as he says it, a door opens and two powerful looking ESF fully armored troops step into the room and escort her out.

  Once she’s gone, Kaltor motions to me to follow him and we travel through what must be most of the Horizon until we reach an office of some kind. I catch a glimpse of the helm and the rest of the bridge through an open door before it slides shut - and it’s impressive.

  Kaltor’s big frame means he has furniture that suits my height and he motions for me to take a seat in a big leather chair across from him. Without asking me he pours two tumblers of whiskey and drops some ice into each of them, then hands one to me. I’m not a big drinker, but do you turn down a drink that Kaltor Deane offers while he holds your fate in his hands? No.

  “Now…” he says without any preamble and looks me straight in the eye. “Let’s talk about what those tests found.”