THE JOINING: The Cycle of the Shards Book One
Chapter 8

The great storm swirled across the gas giant, its color a brownish spot among the planet’s bland cream colored hydrogen landscape. It was a rather large planet, its size larger than the rest of the local system’s planets combined, yet still dwarfed by the local star. The storm had been going for hundreds of cycles and astronomers assumed that it would continue for hundreds more. From the stars above it was an oddity, one of the more unique things about the planets in this area of space but nothing that merited a closer look. To Critock, who was looking down at the planet after his hopper had emerged from the tear, it looked like nothing more than a spot of dried mud, even if it was slowly moving. He shuddered, marveling at how ugly space could be sometimes. He turned to Tomkari, who was peering out the window curiously.

“Ugh.” The soul shuddered alongside Critock. “I’ve never seen a storm that big.”

“Yeah, I’m sure the Qua’roti are real big on the beauty of the universe and the wonders that the Five have wrought. Then you get out here, and there it is! A great planetary pimple. You’ve got the coordinates for your favorite planet?”

“Yep! So much water on it I’m surprised we can’t just pick out the blue light.” The ship shuddered as it switched to mental controls, and Tomkari entered the solar address into the ships memory. He passed control back to Critock and a star map appeared on the view screen as it automatically plotted the quickest course to Earth.

“Looks like its only about an hour so if we speed. What’s the plan when we get there?”

“What’s an ‘hour’?” Critock had been having a hard time acclimating to the new terms Tomkari had absorbed. The wisp had been talking nonstop ever since the journey had began about the different features of Earth, its people, and now its time. He hoped that once they arrived that the mission would take over Tomkari’s mind, because right now it was driving him crazy.

“Oh! It’s a period of time…” Tomkari began before being cut off.

“Never mind. Pretty simple.” Critock tapped a couple of panels on the screen, and different images began loading up as the hopper began moving away from the planet. He pointed at a picture of a small forest, near a hill overlooking a building, which Tomkari realized was the school where their target likely was. “We land here. It’s going to be around mid-day, we can get in without anyone seeing us, and with this planet if anyone does nobody will believe them anyway. I’ll ‘soul up’, and head straight for the school. You take the sword, and meet up with me later. I’ll be joining with this guy.” A picture of an middle-aged man came on the screen, slightly graying, and wearing glasses. “He’s a teacher. Science of all things, so he can probably help us get our bearings.”

“If he works with us. Joinings are rough even if the joinee knows about it ahead of time. Essentially invading his body is going to be pretty traumatic.”

“He gets the perks, after we’re done he’ll be able to run the world if he wants. He’s a man of science, once he hears a ‘Space Alien’ needs him to save the world he’ll be fully on board. We use him to access their systems, get some pictures, figure out which one of these kids is Pt’ron. Get him, get the shards, get out. Simple.”

“Question. All the years you’ve been doing…well, everything. You’ve done something like this before?” Tomkari floated closer, his concern visible due to slightly changing to a more subdued shade of white.

Critock sat in the control chair. “Well…not exactly. I haven’t done a lot of joining since the academy. Didn’t take to it much. But it’s easier on me than it will be on him.”

“I know.” Tomkari hovered next to him, looking at the images. “I won’t join. It goes against everything I believe. I did as part of my training, but once I joined the Qua’roti, I felt…I don’t know, free. Like this is how my life was supposed to be like. And what right do I have to take control of someone else’s body and replace them?”

“My understanding is that it’s not supposed to be a replacement. You join, it’s a partnership. I don’t really want to give up my solo life, such as it is, but I can understand the appeal; two minds working in tandem.”

“Well yeah, that’s the theory. A lot of things work in theory.” Tomkari flew slowly across the room. “But it’s an innate need for every being throughout the Universe to compete. With you and the teacher, he’s going to try to rebel, and you’re going to have to fight for control.”

Critock sighed. “Well, lets hope it doesn’t come to that.” He remembered the one joining session he took part in. He was telling the truth that it happened during his academy days, but it was not part of any particular training session. It was with her, his intended, his Shau’ri. It was during a great battle, in fact before she was anything more to him than a friend, and she had belonged to another. But the other was gone, and she was in pain, and the only way that he thought he could help her survive was with his strength. So for the first and what he hoped was the last time in his life he changed, and joined with her. He didn’t remember much since it was so long ago, but he remembered her confusion, her mind screaming at him and in pain, and yes, there was a fight for control even though Critock had no wish to take her body for his own. In the end though, the merging of their minds and bodies did advance them to a greater intimacy and eventually for her to become his Shau’ri, and him hers.

Until the traitor.

Until Pt’ron.

Critock was shocked out of his memories by an alarm sounding out over the bridge of the hopper. It was loud, shrill, and impossible to ignore. The whooping of the alarm caused Critock to instinctively put his hands over his ears, and Tomkari pulsed brightly from fear. “WHAT IS THAT? WHAT’S HAPPENING?” Tomkari yelled to be heard over the alert.

“PROXIMITY ALARM!” Critock tapped a pad and the alarm shut off. He looked over the screens and noticed the radar. “Three Mikroni vessels just came out of the tear, coming right for us.”

“Maybe the Qua’roti are sending support for us?” Tomkari hoped out loud.

“Not a chance. Alpha knew that if we make too large a splash then Pt’ron will know we’re coming. “

Tomkari peered closer at the screen as the ships were coming into view. The Mikroni construction was apparent even at distance as the ships were anything but sleek. There were multiple hulls, and each one looked slapped on top of each other, and there were two structures emanating out from the crafts that could only be described as wings. He shuddered. “Horrible designs. And you’re right. Those are Mark-3 Mikroni. Only pirates use those types of ships. No style, but hard to get rid of.”

“You can tell what type of ship they are at this distance?” Critock was tapping screens rapidly and scrolling his hand around, and his ship began to pick up speed to try to evade.

“I like ships. Being isolated with the Qua’roti gave me a lot of time on my own.” The ship shuddered and Tomkari suddenly realized the danger they were in. “They’re firing at us!”

“Yeah, they’re pirates. Kinda what they do.” Critock put both hands out and splayed his fingers on the screens, then twisted. The ship twisted with his hands, and then dove. It worked to avoid the next volley of shots but the three enemy ships followed in a pyramid formation, two ships forward and one back. The one in the back was noticeably larger than the others, with at least two more layers of hull. While the lead ships were vaguely brownish, characteristic of pirate ships where the pilots were interchangeable, the rear ship was completely black, with the exception of its wings which were a bright red shade. That one was obviously the leader, and a good one with how cautious he was being, Critock thought, slipping back into his military thinking for a moment. Knowing he was unfamiliar with this part of space, he called out to Tomkari. “Where the hell are we? What can we use?”

“I don’t know! I’ve never been this far outside of Marconian space!”

“Didn’t that machine teach you anything useful?” Critock spat, and attempted to turn around quickly to catch one of the pursuers off guard. His hopper wasn’t exactly built for combat but he did have some small lasers on board, and he hoped that a display of aggression would cause the pirates to hold back. The hopper spun around and let off an array of shots at the enemy ships. Most did not hit, and the ones that did didn’t seem to hamper them at all. Critock let out a guttural clicking of curses.

The enemies fired back, and Critock swung his ship left, then right again, then made a lazy but fast swing around. “Hang on, we’re going to shoot past that moon.” At this point, the orange moon was the closest one, and he was counting on it’s slight gravity to pull at least one of his tails off. The hopper moved as close to the moon as Critock dared, hoping that with what his ship lacked in defensive capabilities it made up for in evasion. The hopper almost skimmed the surface, with his enemies close behind, before he thrusted away from the moon, slingshotting around to increase his speed. The internal stabilizer alarm went off for a moment before it shut itself down, the gravitational forces enough to strain the ship but not break it. One of the lead ships followed him beat for beat, and was still trailing him after the swing around, followed by the larger black ship. The other enemy, the worse pilot of the two, was not so fortunate. As Critock pulled up, the doomed ship tried to match velocity but did it at a bad angle. The internal systems of the Mikroni vessels were not meant for this type of chase, and an engine simply shut down. That was enough for the pirate ship to lose altitude quickly, and crash on the surface of the moon, there to stay as a silent lonely grave.

“One down!” Tomkari announced happily, but Critock was too focused to celebrate. They still had two angry pirates behind them who, now that they had lost one of their compatriots, would redouble their efforts in order to get revenge. He weighed his options. The other moons were too far off and he doubted that the same trick would work again. The only thing as close as the first moon was the planet itself, and there was no verifiable solid ground to get close to, despite the gravity and the size.

Unless…

Tomkari pulsed in alarm as the hopper suddenly dove towards the giant planet. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

“Calm down, I’ve done this before.” He was lying, but the soul didn’t need to know that. Despite the danger of this attempt, Critock found himself smiling as they dove. Bounty Hunting for these past few years may have been a way to earn a living but it had been very repetitive and easy, for the most part. Running from bloodthirsty space pirates in a desperate race to right the wrongs of his past and save the entire Marconian Empire in the process? Hell, this was fun!

Tomkari did not share Critock’s apparent glee, and not for the first time wished he had some manner of hands to hold on to the ship with as the stabilizers were stressed again. The hopper dove steeply and shuddered as it went. The planet below asserted its gravity upon it and it was an immense strain, but as the ship shook Critock knew it would hold together, at least for the first part of his plan. The next part was going to be the real test.

Behind them, and uttering their own curses at the stubbornness of their prey, the two pirates guided their ships after the hopper, but they did not match the speed and velocity of the descending craft, choosing wisely this time to take a more leisurely way down to the planet itself.

Critock checked his sensors as he reached what he thought was a good level, one that on any solid planet would be normal cruising altitude. Of course, on this planet, he had only a slight idea of what would be normal or safe, since there was no real land to use as a reference. All there was were a series of gases, and a unfathomably huge storm, which was exactly what he was heading towards. Tomkari realized it only when they were on the verge of entering it, and panicked further. “ARE YOU INSANE?”

“Been called that for years. Might’ve took.” As he said that, the hopper entered the storm. Immediately they were hit by winds greater than either of them had ever encountered before. The controls were wrenched from Critock’s hands as the ship seemed to go sideways, and the internal stabilizer alarm came back on, this time refusing to turn back off. He fell from his chair, and struggled to get back into it as the ship was tossed back and forth.

If the pirates were hesitant at all about entering the storm, they didn’t show it as they charged immediately into the swirling mass, and were equally as unprepared as both ships were tossed away in the storm along with the hopper. The larger of the two vessels’ wings suddenly switched configuration, sliding along the body of the ship from above to below, and it seemed to help buffer the winds as the ship regained control. The other pirate ship, either by following the lead of the first or by some unheard orders, did the same, and soon the two were back in pursuit of the still floundering hopper.

Tomkari wasn’t screaming, but he was still terrified for his life as he watched Critock scramble to regain some form of control. The pilot could see the two pirates coming up towards him, and he finally regained his seat fully, scooting closer to his controls to make a quick change. As he was doing so he began explaining to Tomkari, more for his own sanity than anything else. “The trick is…oof…to go into the storm, accept it, don’t fight against it, or we’ll lose too much speed.” As he was saying that, he lightened up on the controls and let the wind direct him, redirecting the bow of the hopper. Once he was satisfied where the wind was blowing, he reignited the thrusters. Where once the pirates were almost in firing range, now they were trailing off into the distance. But just getting farther away from them was not going to accomplish anything. He knew they couldn’t stay in this mess forever, and when he did escape, he knew they were going to be right behind him. So instead, he had to use what was in front of him, and right in front of him was a particularly nasty part of the storm. Lightning raged throughout, and in the middle was a huge tornado spiraling and whirling unpredictably. It wasn’t something that he really wanted to do but he knew this was his best shot to get rid of his enemies and get back on his mission. He tapped a course, waited for the wind to die down slightly, and then fired engines in full. The hopper jumped forward suddenly and rushed towards the tornado. The pirates, not believing that he was getting away from them in the first place, took advantage of what they perceived to be their enemies lack of judgment, and headed for the same place. The lead pirate grinned a horrible, tooth-filled grin inside his cockpit. It did not matter what hell that he was led to, he would have his victory.

“REALLY? REALLY?” When Tomkari realized where Critock was headed, it was all he could do not to demand to take over the flying, despite his fear. This man truly was mad.

“Just hold on!” Critock grimaced. This was going to be pretty rough.

The ship entered the darkest part of the Great Red Spot, the worst part of the storm. The winds were somewhat lessened but where the wind was less it was more than made up for by the increased lightning. Critock could detect through experience in a planetary storm that the clouds surrounding the storm would light up before emitting a bolt of electricity, so he was able to evade the lightning, but only just. He dove in and out as quickly and safely as he could, and hoped that his flying was enticing the pirates to get closer to him.

It was doing just that. The apparently erratic flying that Critock was putting on display was aggravating the pirate that was not in command, and despite the increasingly angry orders of his superior, he rushed into the dark storm while the lead pirate held back, wanting to keep an eye on things but not willing to sacrifice his ship for the cause. The pirate, now alone in the storm, started firing wildly towards Critock, whose moving back and forth caused every shot to fall wide. Incensed that his enemy was seemingly taunting him, the pirate moved his engines to full, and shot towards his prey. Just as he had him in his sights, a stray bolt of lightning that he did not notice shot out of the cloud to his left and struck the vessel’s hull dead on in the center. Mikroni hulls are built to defend against ships and various space debris, but the power of the electricity was nothing that the ship was built for. The electricity flowed throughout the ship, shutting down and destroying systems and leaving the vessel powerless, having fried the main controls. Helpless and screaming, the pirate and his ship moved on through the storm with no ability to stop, and while he would not die immediately, the planet would claim him just the same.

The remaining pirate was as angry as Critock was happy at the turn of events. One on one was a fair fight but to the pirate, he just wanted his victory and to fulfill the contract he had already been paid a fair sum for. Being careful to avoid the lightning, he moved forward into the darker clouds himself, ready to take his turn to destroy this bothersome hopper.

Tomkari was a little queasy, but had to admit he had misjudged the plan. Critock even allowed himself a little bit of relief, though he still had an eye on the lead ship that was advancing towards him. “I like these odds better.” Critock uttered.

Just as he said that, he was caught off guard by a new valley of shots from the pirate, and without the forethought to evade, the shots hit true. The ship rocked from side to side, and Critock had to quickly react to avoid a new lightning bolt shooting out of the cloud closest to the ship. “Hold on! I’ve got it!” He called as the ship pitched up to avoid another dozen shots.

“Are we okay?”

“No! No, we’re not okay! Lost sensors, lost weapons.” In spite of his usual nature, Critock started to worry. He was still headed towards the tornado, but not being aware of the capabilities of the ship behind him, he wasn’t sure if it would be any help. And with the new damage to the ship, he couldn’t even be sure if it wouldn’t just destroy him instead.

The pirate saw the flame and fire erupting from where his shots had struck his enemy, and his anger subsided. He didn’t need those fools to reach his victory. Less to share the bounty with anyway. He would take the news of their destruction back to his Mistress, and she would share the rewards of the day with only him. He laughed at the pitiful attempt to get away, and moved forward to finish his task.

Tomkari sighed. He knew that in some cultures to die in battle would be a great honor, but it was never in his plans to go out this way. He looked at the rear view, looking at the ship approaching on them, and realized they were being toyed with. With nothing else to do while waiting for the last shots and hoping for a miracle, he noticed something. “Critock…”

“I’m working on it! I’m working on it!” He was frantically looking for a way out, tapping different panels and trying to strategize quickly.

“No, what’s the exact model of this ship?”

“I know you like ships, but time and place, Tomk!”

“Really, what is it?”

“TK421-74Z Tyrannian Supernova Star-Hopper.” If it gets him to shut up before we die, Critock thought, it’ll be worth it.

“It’s the Zeta Class? You’re absolutely sure?”

“YES, I’m sure, what difference can it possibly make?”

“Critock, give me mental control.”

“WHAT? Tomk, I know we’re…”

“Just do it. Trust me.” Even with moments left to live, Critock took the time to take a hard look at the wisp that just moments ago was panicking. But now when he looked at him, he could detect confidence, even through the featureless spirit looking figure that floated before him. He nodded, and put his hand on the console. The switching over was not accompanied by a detectable shudder, likely due to the fact that the storm was causing enough rough flying as it was. Tomkari turned and looked out the window, and then the ship started smoothly moving.

The pirate saw his prey suddenly change course, and pick up speed, heading straight for the tornado at a new angle that was going to lead them right into the harshest part of the windstorm. Cautiously, he followed, but was not willing to get to close in case of a feint. The hopper was being buffeted by the winds harshly, but the ship maintained its level speed. Critock glanced at Tomkari, who seemed completely at ease. He was going to ask him about his experience, but decided to wait until later, should they still be alive. Whatever he was doing, he needed all the concentration he had.

Tomkari guided the hopper right up to the base of the mighty tornado, and then suddenly moved the ship as close as he could to the swell of it, beginning to fly parallel vertically alongside it, all the way up, and all the while continuing to accelerate. The ship groaned and complained all the way up with it’s creaks, and for the first time Critock was the concerned one. “Tomk, this isn’t going to work, the ship can’t take it!”

“Trust me.” Tomkari just repeated, and continued to fly.

The pirate growled. He saw where the trick was going. Following the tornado up was a fools errand, and would likely lead to the destruction of the vessel. But if they were able to get lost among the sight and sound and fury of the tornado, they could escape from him. This was something he could not allow. Throwing caution away, the pirate accelerated to the tornado and began to cautiously climb upwards. Just as Tomkari was hoping for.

Just as the pirate’s ship had reached the tornado, Tomkari directed the hopper to begin spiraling around and around the tornado itself, still going upwards but also sideways. To Critock it seemed the whole world was spinning and he just sat back and clutched his chair for dear life. To the pirate it seemed suicidal but he could not lose the ship now. He couldn’t lose his victory! He joined in alongside the tornado, turning his craft at a sharp angle and began spiraling upward slightly behind the hopper. Immediately he realized that this was a mistake. He felt the full force of wind ripping at his ship, and realized all too late that while he was keeping up for a moment, the turns were getting sharper, and maneuverability was not the strength of this vessel.

Three rotations later, it all came to a head. Tomkari was still accelerating as safely as he could, and the Pirate was replaceing it harder and harder to maintain speed and keep up with the smaller craft. It was a stray gust of wind that moved the Pirate’s ship that much closer to the tornado that ended it. Knowing he was lost as his wing clipped the side of the tornado and began to swallow the ship whole, he fired wildly, with one last blast of anger and hatred, as the ship disappeared into the tornado.

Critock whooped, but Tomkari was silent, still concentrating. He backed off on the acceleration, and slowly began getting farther and farther away from the tornado, still rising towards space. After what seemed like an eternity, the ship broke away, moving through the cloud cover in the sky, and accelerated quickly to escape the planet’s gravity along with the graves of the pirates that had threatened them.

Once they were free, the air seemed to escape from Tomkari as he floated lower, and lower, and then finally rested on the ground, and Critock turned to him, awestruck. “Where the hell did you learn to fly like that?”

Tomkari mentally turned the controls back to manual. “Lot of simulators. I like ships. Your Zeta-Class has an extra stabilizer, which helped. Can we still make it to Earth?”

“Yeah, nothing important damaged. Sensors, proximity, weapons. We don’t need them for a landing. At least we better not. We’ve also lost some time, you ready?”

“To be honest, I’m more ready now than I was. Though I think I need to rest.”

“You do that, you’ve earned it.” As Tomkari went back to the rear quarters on the hopper, Critock marveled at how lucky he was to have met the soul. After that flight, he didn’t think there was anyone else living that he would rather fly with. He adjusted the controls, and the ship resumed its previous course. Earth was closer than ever, and it was time to begin.