Disclaimer:
This work is fiction. The work has no relationship with any person existing at any time anywhere whether real or imaginary or copywritten. Everything in this work is mea culpa.
This work is the property of Kerrik Wolf (saethwyr@ (SPAM) hotmail.com). Please remove (SPAM) to contact me.
You should not read this work if you are under the age of legal consent wherever you reside. This work may or may not contain any and/or all of the following: death, dismemberment, violent acts, implied sex, explicit sex, violent sex, rape, cannibalism, blasphemy (depending on your religion), BDSM, torture, mimes, and just about anything unwholesome that you could consider.
The pokegirl universe was first documented by Metroanime and to him all of us who reside or visit there owe a debt of thanks.
Feedback is encouraged. I enjoy hearing from people. Positive feedback will be appreciated, cherished and flaunted in front of people. Negative feedback will be appreciated, cherished and listened to, that I might continue to grow. Flames will give me a good laugh. Feedback may be delivered to: saethwyr@(SPAM) hotmail.com. Please remove (SPAM) to contact me.
This story is AU and takes place in the same Earth as New Beginnings.
Bhavacakra
One
(9/04/06 0000 Texas League - Disputed)
“It’s time.”
Kerrik put down his hammer and looked at the glowing piece of steel in his other hand. “I know.” He tossed it into the quench bucket and headed for the door as he stripped off his gloves. “Lead on.”
“Why do you do this? It is hot and noisy.”
“Smithing requires focus, concentration and imagination, just like spellcasting does, which makes it good for mental conditioning. However, the real reason I do it is I find it relaxing.”
As they stepped outside, the smithy wavered like smoke and was gone.
The moon was full and clouds scudded overhead, whipped by the wind. Light flared in the distance as lightning danced from cloud to cloud and the air rumbled faintly.
Raven’s normally bright colors were washed out in the moonlight and appeared various shades of gray. She reached for his hand. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I need to, but it’s going to come around and bite me in the ass. Whenever I do anything like this it does.” He smiled at her. “But then, that’s why I have you ladies, right?”
Whisper and Misery were waiting for them in the small stand of trees. Kerrik looked at them both and shook his head. “Is all of this really necessary?”
We want to know what is going to happen here and if something goes wrong we want to be able to protect you.
“Whisper, if something goes wrong, you need to flee. Nothing that is going to happen on this mountain tonight can kill me. At worst, it might move me somewhere else briefly. You, on the other hand, it could destroy and I don’t want to return only to find any of you dead.”
Whisper looked into his eyes and nodded. I will take Misery and leave. Raven will do as the maharani wishes to. If she disobeys you and dies, can I be maharani?
Raven’s head slowly turned to look at the cabbit, who stared blandly back. “Kerrik, you were talking about a regular training program for the harem, right? I think we will start that in the morning.”
“Cool, I’ll get to kick both your asses.” Both pokegirls turned to glare at Misery, who grinned back. “I will.”
You will try.
Raven smiled slightly. “There is no try. There is only do or not do. Misery will be a not do.” She started to say something else but broke off when she realized that Kerrik wasn’t listening and was moving towards the platform he’d carved. “Are we boring you?”
He didn’t look back as he ran a hand down the platform to remove the last of the dust. “No, but nothing ever changes in your squabbling. You argue and threaten. Later, when you think I’m not paying attention, you sneak off and fight. Apparently it settles nothing, since you do it again and again. At least with a formal training program you won’t have to sneak away.”
The three pokegirls exchanged glances. We were not aware that you knew.
“You never asked and I decided that since you didn’t kill each other, what was there to complain about?” He turned to look at her and began undoing his shirt. “But when you come back and smell faintly of smoke or blood or even fresh soap, when I know that nobody has bathed since that morning, it’s not that hard to deduce what’s happening. I’m just surprised that you saw fit to try and hide it from me.”
Misery stepped forward. “May I help?” When he nodded, she started undressing him. “We weren’t sure how you’d take us fighting.”
“I guess I have been a crappy tamer, haven’t I?”
She paused to give him a surprised look. “What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve been with you three for a couple of months now and if you haven’t learned that much about me, then I’m not doing my job as a tamer.”
“We’ve been too busy to train with you. Building the house and getting everything else set up here on the mountain took up our time.”
Raven shook her head. “No, Misery, he is right. He has not been doing his job as a tamer, and I have not been doing my job as maharani. What we have been doing instead is living together as man and women, when none of us are. Kerrik is a kami and we are pokegirls.”
We need to journey.
“I don’t know what that means.” Misery folded his clothes and put them aside as he lay down on the rock. “We need to go somewhere? I like it here.”
Tamers in the future will go on what they will call taming journeys during which they will acquire new pokegirls. Some they will sell or give away but there will be a small number that they keep. With the ones they keep, these tamers will forge bonds that will last a lifetime after they retire. We have not done that and so the retirement is not going smoothly. Gold eyes glittered in the moonlight. We need to do this.
“How many more pokegirls does he need?” Misery put her hands on her hips. “I, for one, don’t think he needs more than us.”
“He’s not a normal tamer,” Raven moved forward to join the mini-top. “Normal pokegirls would not do well with us and therefore almost none of those we meet will stay.” She grinned. “It looks like we will do our part for Operation Cowslip after all, by finding them tamers of their own.”
Misery waved a hand to get their attention. “He’s beginning.”
Whisper joined them as Kerrik’s eyes began to softly glow. The glow spread across his face and over his body. Muscles rippled and bone shifted as he shrank slightly and his frame became slimmer. After several minutes the glow faded.
Raven helped him to sit up. “How do you feel?”
His ears went back for an instant. “Smaller.” His voice wasn’t as deep as it had been. He frowned. “Weaker too, but that only makes sense after locking away most of my power.” He pushed to his feet and swayed for a second before steadying.
Misery cocked her head and moved to stand in front of him. A grin slowly appeared. “I’m taller than you now.”
A hint of challenge glinted in his eyes as he met her gaze. “True. Does it change anything?”
The smile grew. “We may have to find out.”
Raven is getting ready to remind you of your place, Misery. You might prefer to do that on your own.
Misery blinked and looked at the archmage, who was watching her with a thunderous expression. “Oh, shit.”
She yelped when claws sank into her throat and Kerrik pulled her face down level with his. “You need to pay attention to me, rabbit,” he hissed. “You are prey to me and if you ever start anything, you’d better kill me because I will kill you if you don’t. You might win in a battle with me, but remember that I have a lot of experience that you don’t.” He smiled hungrily. “I can smell your fear.” His eyes went wide and he shoved her away with a convulsive movement that resulted in him stepping back too. “Fuck.” He closed his eyes and shivered. “Please forgive me, Misery,” he whispered, “I’ve done something terrible.”
Raven was at his side in an instant. “What is it, Kerrik?”
He was watching Misery. “My plan was to lock away my power and to take on the appearance I’d have if I were the kami equivalent of seventeen, remember?”
Misery’s hand hovered over his shoulder without touching, her eyes hooded as she watched him. “I shouldn’t have challenged you, Kerrik.” He reached up and took her hand and she visibly relaxed. Her mouth went wide. “My god.”
What is it?
“He became an adolescent in truth, instead of just looking like one.”
Raven frowned. “What does that mean?”
Kerrik shrugged. “I’m not completely sure, but it probably means periods of increased aggression, flares of temper, and all the usual teenaged crap.”
“Were you like that as a kid?”
“Oh, yes, indeed I was.” His fingers tightened on Misery’s. “I am definitely going to need your help, ladies.”
Can you repair the damage that has been done?
“No, my powers are greatly reduced and won’t return unless certain conditions are met. If they don’t, then I’ll be like this for a good twenty years.” He gave a wry smile. “Most of the conditions have to do with one or more of us being millimeters away from death, so I’m not in a hurry to try and create the circumstances necessary for them to be returned.”
(9/04/06 0900 Texas League - Disputed)
“You have a message.” Raven offered him the pokedex.
Kerrik didn’t take it. “Did you watch it?”
“Yes.”
“Is it from Poppet apologizing for insulting us?” She shook her head. “Is there some emergency?”
“It is from Jamie. He wants to know if he can still become kami soon, even if we are angry at his mother.”
“That’s not an emergency, but still, it’s an obligation.” Kerrik sighed and rubbed his face with a towel. “I need to take care of that before he gets killed again.”
“He’s been killed before?”
“Yes and no. You were there when he nearly died. If I hadn’t been there he would have. And, once, he did die, until I changed time and kept him from being killed by bringing him and his family to this world.”
You changed time? How?
“It’s a long story and one for later, when we’ve got a week so I can tell it properly.” Kerrik growled in the back of his throat. “I want to purchase this mountain and the surrounding land, but I need some supplies to make the Texas League take notice of me. I was going to get them from Bastion, but Cassiopeia will report to Shikarou as well as me, since he’s the executive officer. He’s probably given her orders to report my location if I transmit to her. He’s anal that way.”
“So go somewhere else and transmit to her.” Misery sat down next to him and took his hand. He’d already noticed that she liked touching him and would often seek him out just to do so. He’d decided that it probably had something to do with her being still being a touch telepath from when she was a snugglebunny.
Wouldn’t she just track any shipments as well?
“Damn, Whisper’s right.” Misery flicked an ear over Kerrik’s shoulder. “Is there another way to get supplies?”
Kerrik looked thoughtful. “Well, it would have been a lot easier before I locked away most of my powers, but maybe. I can have Bastion send me a weaver and set up production here.” He grimaced. “No, that’s a bad idea too, since the weaver could have a tracer built into it and disabling it would require destroying the weaver.”
“Your people are kind of paranoid, aren’t they?”
“Only with outlanders. A weaver can be used to make anything, so it behooves us to know when foreigners have them. Most humans don’t have the right base of personal responsibility to trust with something like that. The ones that do can’t seem to keep that sort of thing from falling into the hands of those that don’t.” He sighed. “If I’d thought this through before giving up my powers, I could have just built a construction facility offworld and avoided the whole issue, but I didn’t.”
“You could work things out with Poppet.”
“I didn’t start it and I’m not going to be the one to end it. Poppet is too used to making her little edicts and not having to pay anything for them. This one will be cheap; all she has to do is apologize and formally invite you three to live on Haven.”
Misery blinked. “We’re not going to live there if she does, are we? I like it here.”
He wrapped his fingers around hers. “No, this is our home now.”
That is good to hear. I would not want to share you with the spare pokegirls that live there. There are too many elves that do not have a tamer.
Kerrik’s ears went back. “How about we not talk about me having sex with elves?”
Raven gave him a stern look. “I believe we have already discussed whether or not you would let a pokegirl go feral around you if you could stop it, even if it is an elf.”
“She won’t go feral around me; I’ll go somewhere else.”
“Kerrik.”
His ears went flat at her tone. “Ok, here’s a bit of wisdom. I don’t like my mother. I don’t like my aunt. Neither one of them is particularly fond of me, although my aunt is the only one of the two who commanded me to kill myself. These facts, when put together, indicate that mothering me is not a way to charm me.”
Why did your aunt tell you to die?
“She commanded me to kill myself and, when I told her no, ordered her household troops to help do the job for me. She didn’t just wave her hand and say: boy, drop dead.”
What made her hate you so much?
He watched the horizon for a moment before speaking. “The short version of this explanation was that my blood became impure and my people obsess over purity. In the process, I also acquired some pretty impressive abilities and she wasn’t too fond of that either. My mother sided with her sister, even if she wasn’t quite as vocal about it.” His voice echoed with bitterness. “She only told me to leave and never return.”
Raven cocked her head. “How did your blood become impure?”
“I wasn’t always part kami and part sidhe.” He smiled when Misery’s eyebrows shot up. “Magic can do wonderful things. I’m not sure that this particular thing is wonderful, but it was accomplished by magic.”
“Why did you want to change what you were?”
“I never said I did.” He rubbed an ear tuft as Raven and Whisper exchanged a glance. “While this discussion is informative, it’s not helping me to get the supplies I need. If I could get to Bastion, I could get a supply of nanorobots and build my own facility. Perhaps I could instruct her to send them to earth somewhere and construct what I need here.”
If you can go to Bastion, you can get what you need? Whisper’s antennae uncurled slowly. If that is what you need, then we will go there.
“Unfortunately, none of us have been there, so we cannot teleport to it.” Raven gave her a curious look. “Does anyone have a spare spaceship?”
Kerrik made a show of searching his pockets. “Fresh out.”
Will Bastion have the ability to track things leaving the surface of the planet and going into space?
He nodded. “Bastion station can, if the spaceship is inside her sensor envelope, but more importantly, the satellite web is designed for tracking spacecraft and it is set up to cover the whole planet. Why?”
If we go to my former home, we can go to Bastion.
Raven blinked. “You have a spaceship?”
The cabbit smiled toothily. I do indeed. She laced her arm through Kerrik’s. Shall we go?
“We’ll go by Marco Island first and I’ll contact Cassiopeia and tell her to prepare the nanorobots for shipment. That way she can’t track us to here. After that, we’ll get in touch with Jamie and see when I can make him kami.” His ears flicked and he smiled slightly. “Does anyone need a bathroom break before we go?”
(9/04/06 1045 Everglades, Indigo League)
Whisper appeared and let Kerrik go as he released Raven and Misery from their pokeballs. “We’re about a kilometer outside of Marco Island, and their patrols don’t swing out this far unless they’re collecting new pokegirls. I like being safe; so, Raven, please establish a close security perimeter. We don’t really want any guests right now, so let’s keep it as unobtrusive as possible.”
Raven nodded. “Misery, you’ve got Kerrik. Whisper, you and I are in the sky. Stay close to the treetops.”
She and Whisper took off as Misery pulled her SMG around to a ready position. Kerrik pulled his com out of his pocket and clipped it on his ear. “Virtue, link me up with Cassiopeia on Bastion.”
Several seconds passed. “Clan leader, it’s good to hear from you. King Shikarou has been trying to locate you.”
Kerrik snorted. “Tell him all he has to do is deal with Poppet. I want you to collect and prepare half of your nanorobots for transshipment. I’ll be coming by to pick them up in a little bit.”
“Is that all you want, clan leader?” There was a warm chuckle in his ear. “My holds are full of raw material and I could make what you want or, if nothing else, I can easily give you four times the number of nanorobots you request without significantly depleting my reserves.”
“Four times what I want? I’d appreciate it if you did, Cass.”
“May I inquire as to what you’re building?”
“I’m going to need another production facility in the system, both for redundancy and so I don’t have to order you not to tell Shikarou what I’m doing or where I am.”
“I appreciate that. He’s ok, and if you ordered that you’d have to remove him as XO, which would mean that I couldn’t help him as much as I have been.”
“I don’t want that either. I’m not sure when I’ll be arriving, but it should be sometime today.”
“I’ll have your package ready in thirty minutes.”
“No surprises, now. No tracers, or anything like that, or nanorobots programmed to construct them when I’m not paying attention.”
“I would never do that, sir.” She chuckled again. “And even if I wanted to, you’ll have Virtue or Vice overseeing construction since you haven’t asked for a controller. They’d spot anything like that long before it could provide any useful data.”
“I’ve always appreciated your brains as well as your looks, Cass. Thanks.”
“You say that to all the girls, clan leader. Now let me get to work.” The link died.
Kerrik rubbed his hands together and reached for his pokedex. “Ok, now for Jamie.” He punched in a com code. A hologram of Jamie appeared above the pokedex. “Good morning, Jamie.”
“Kerrik! Father made me promise to tell you to call him immediately.”
His grandfather snorted. “Noted. He got along without me for a long time, before coming here, I’m sure a little while longer won’t kill anyone. I got your message about becoming kami. I have put it off too long over your mother and I apologize to you. When can you be available?”
Jamie looked thoughtful. “Right now I’m making a quick tour of what will be the WAPL leagues to see if they’re developing along historical lines and if we can help them at all.”
“Planning to put Jahana out of business before they get started?”
Jamie shrugged. “We talked about that, but it’ll be a century before Daniel Jahana is even born. We’re not going to worry about it. We don’t have any plans to start the fight leagues there, though.” He pursed his lips. “You do know that mother will want to be there when I do become a kami.”
Kerrik nodded. “That’s one of the reasons I’ve been putting it off and one of the reasons it will not take place on Haven.” His ears flicked. “I think we’ll do it in Misery’s old cave. I asked if I could use it and she agreed.”
Raven gave Misery an inquisitive look. The mini-top nodded and replied quietly. “I’m not using it and this way I know it won’t get trashed by feral pokegirls or humans.”
Whisper grinned, her fangs gleaming. Aren’t all humans feral?
Kerrik gave them a stern look and put his finger over his lips. They subsided as he continued. “When do you anticipate being available for the change?”
“In a week I’m supposed to be traveling to another league. I was going to fly, so we can find a good point and teleport back to Haven. Where do you want us to meet?”
Kerrik’s ears flattened for a heartbeat. “I’m willing to return to Haven long enough to provide transport. I suspect a lot of people are going to be trying to come to your conversion. I’ll provide transport for everyone that you want there and no others.”
Jamie grinned. “Thanks, grandfather. I appreciate that. I’ll work on a list of who I want there.” He sobered. “Does that offer include mother?”
“If you want here there and she wants to be there, she’ll be there.” Kerrik shrugged. “I may even speak to her. And, of course, if she wants to apologize to Raven, Whisper and Misery, we will listen.”
“I’ll let her know. Maybe she will.” Jamie didn’t sound certain. “I’d also like to point out that father didn’t insult them.”
“No, he didn’t. What he wants is for me to do things for him and his kingdom. If I wanted another kingdom, I’d have one. Since apparently I do not, I probably also don’t want to be a troubleshooter for one. If he wants to call to say hello, that’s one thing, but recently he hasn’t.”
“I’ll pass that along to him.” Jamie raised his head and appeared to be listening to someone out of range. “Ginevra wants to know if she’ll be making the change, too.”
“No. I won’t perform this in job lots. She’ll have to wait her turn.” Kerrik smiled slightly. “I doubt I’ll make the offer in less than a year. All four of you will have to get used to you being kami before I’ll consider making anyone in your harem one.” His smile widened. “Is she saying bad things about me?”
Jamie nodded. “Oh, yes.”
“At least she’s consistent.”
“Oh, now you’ve made her mad.” Jamie grinned. “Madison just reminded me that I’m late to meet with a policeman who is going to talk to me about the local laws before I break any more of them. I’ll talk to you later, Kerrik.”
“Be well, Jamie.” The image vanished. Kerrik put his pokedex away. “Ladies, now it’s off to Edo and Whisper’s house.”
(9/04/06 1300 Texas League – Disputed, 0400 Edo)
The house and the adjoining barn that Whisper had called home were a burned out shell that still smelled of smoke in the moonlight. The woods around her home had caught and sputtered out without spreading.
“What happened?” Kerrik sniffed the air and his ears rotated as he listened intently.
More than likely it was bandits. They’d tried twice before to attack my home. Whisper’s antennae uncurled as she sampled the area with her psychic gifts. Unless there is a dark pokegirl here, we are alone.
“Misery, spiral out and clear the area.” Raven was pulling her staff from the cleavage of her dress. It expanded and she grounded it with a solid noise. “Catch any pokegirls and kill any humans.”
“I’d prefer she take humans prisoner too, thank you very much.” Kerrik’s eyes met the archmage’s. “Best of all, I’d really like it if she just reported back here via her twee so we could deal with any intruders.”
Misery looked from maharani to tamer. “If I see anyone, report back and shadow until you’re in position to assist. Got it.” She faded into the woods.
“I am still not completely used to being someone’s subordinate.”
Kerrik raised an eyebrow. “You think?” He grinned at Raven’s scowl and turned to Whisper. “Are bandits a big problem around here?”
They are an issue throughout Japan.
“I’m surprised that the Japanese haven’t crushed them yet.”
The Edo League isn’t concerned about what is happening here while they consolidate their grip on the rest of the land belonging to them. Beijing is far from here, after all, and the traditional enmity between the Chinese and Japanese did not die when their nations did. Therefore, only a few tamers are in Japan to deal with bandits who may also have pokegirls as part of their forces.
Kerrik frowned and then his ears went flat. “Are you saying that Beijing is the capitol of the Edo League?”
Yes. In recognition of the Japanese, it was named the Edo League, but the power belongs to the Chinese.
“Why not to Japan?” There was a dangerous edge to his voice.
China still has over a hundred million people in it while Japan has little more than ten million. The decision made sense to the people allocating the lands. Why does it matter to you?
“What did the Japanese government have to say about that?”
Nothing. Most of them died in the war or from the Red Plague. The Imperial Family was the same way, and the crown prince died in the Indigo League.
“I see.” His face hardened. “Prince Naruhito probably died in the assassination attempt on him in 1993. That would be -9 AS.” He blinked. “Jamie might have died then too.”
Who?
“Jamie Harris, the man from pokegirl prime who provided the sperm for my grandson Jamie Wolf and his brother Graeme.”
Considering that Jamie Wolf was born three hundred years after the time that Jamie Harris lived, I would like to hear the story about how that came about.
“Me, too.” Raven leaned against a tree and put on a patient expression. “We do not have anything to do until Misery returns.”
Kerrik looked amused. “Well, the short form is that Shikarou was in love with Poppet and decided to give her a present, one that nobody else could give her. He and his harem went back in time to get sperm from Jamie Harris and, in the process, foiled an assassination attempt on Prince Naruhito of Japan. The memories of the event were downloaded to Selene and I reviewed them as part of my preparation before coming here.”
Can we hear the long version?
“I think that will have to wait until later, when we have more time.”
“Does that mean it is possible that this world’s Poppet didn’t meet Jamie or move to the Blue League?” Raven gave them a speculative look. “While I agree she is an arrogant bitch, she was one of the driving forces behind a lot of the things the Blue League did. Without that, they will suffer a lot more under the ferals and the repressive rules they were putting into place when she arrived.” She smirked. “I have been spending time reviewing things too, since Virtue has been willing to help.”
“It’s quite likely you’re right.” Kerrik rubbed an ear as he thought. “Jamie Harris would still have been a police sniper and would have lost his arm. The situation in Texas was still pretty chaotic at that point and wounded were being evacuated to safe states like Wyoming, where there was no active combat. He was still convalescing from that loss and Shikarou suspected that he’d developed an infection. In fact, he healed Jamie to make sure it didn’t kill him.”
He frowned. “His family was on the coast and it was hit pretty hard, even without legendaries to back them up and his brother would still have been converted by Cocooner. All of this would probably have still led him to be depressed enough to volunteer for a suicide squad and therefore meet Poppet.”
That sounds like another interesting story.
“I don’t think Poppet is aware of how much of it I know,” Kerrik admitted, “and I’m not planning to tell her after we make up.”
It sounds like we may need to verify whether or not Jamie and Poppet met here. If they didn’t, will you want to correct that deficiency?
“I’d like to. I know I have a misguided sense of propriety, but I don’t like the idea of Japan just rolling over for China.” He scowled. “It’ll have to wait, though, since I gave up time traveling with my other major spellcasting skills.”
“Can you still cast the spell that creates a temporary delta bond?”
“No, why?”
“If you could, then you could use it on us and we could take you to that time.”
He blinked. “True. I can’t cast it anymore, but since you can read now, I can teach it to you and you can cast it.”
“Then teach it to me and we will go. We can use Whisper’s telepathy and our twee’s to mesh properly to prevent any mistakes.”
“That might work.”
Why do you not have a twee? It is a rather useful item.
Raven glanced at her harem mate. “That is a question that I would like to see answered as well.”
Their tamer shrugged. “I can’t have one. It’s ironic really, since I was involved in their design.”
“Why not?”
“I’m an adult and I’m a complete regenerator. What that means is that if I implant a twee, my body will reject it.” He dropped cross-legged onto a flat rock. “I can’t have implants of any kind, well, not and keep them for any amount of time. That’s why I carry the com for Virtue and Vice. They can access the same psychic frequencies that twee do and they give me some kind of communications ability with people who do have them. Granted, it’s not nearly as fast as mind to mind communication.” A tiny smile flashed. “I can’t keep piercings or tattoos either. The piercings will just heal up and eject anything in them and the tattoos will get absorbed into my skin over several hours. It also means that I can’t have medical nanorobots either, since my body gets rid of them faster than they can duplicate unless they dismantle me completely.” The smile grew. “And just for the record, having your body expel an implant that’s inside your now healed up skull is a bitch and a half.”
The mini-top stepped back into the clearing. “Nobody is around.”
Kerrik nodded. “Ok, Whisper, where’s this spaceship at?”
She lifted off to hover a half meter from the ground and drifted backwards a handful of meters. The sapphire in the middle of her forehead burst into brilliant light. The air seemed to flicker and a gold horizontal circle appeared beneath her feet. Rings appeared on its edge and it grew with phenomenal speed until it was five meters across. Whisper lowered her feet and stood on the surface. Join me.
Kerrik looked at Raven, who shrugged. “I have never seen her do this before.” She took his arm before teleporting onto the platform. Misery jumped onto it and yelped as walls suddenly grew up from the edge to enclose them in a dome.
Where is Bastion?
“Do you know what a Lagrange point is?”
No.
“A Lagrange point is a place in a three body system that is in a gravitational balance. Here, objects much smaller than the bodies involved won’t wander away due to gravitational influences. Something put in them will stay there, at least for a period of time. Only two of the Lagrange points for the earth-moon and sun are completely stable, and are called L-4 and L-5. The L-4 point is sixty degrees ahead of the earth’s orbit while the L-5 point is the same distance behind it. Bastion is in the L-4 point, where it’s far enough away to make discovery unlikely, but close enough to reduce transit times for supplies. Right now, Bastion is roughly seven light minutes or 126 million kilometers ahead of the Earth.”
That does not tell me where Bastion is.
He blinked. “You’re right.” He pulled his pokedex from his belt and consulted it for a moment before pointing. “That way.”
I will have to get us out of the atmosphere. I presume you do not want me to extensively disrupt the area with high levels of acceleration.
“That would be nice.”
Very well. The view changed. The spaceship was floating in space and in the distance two stars shone down on them.
Kerrik blinked. “We’re not in the Sol system anymore. Where are we?”
Procyon. It is eleven light years from Earth and the shortest jump I could make. I can travel at sublight speeds up to .99 c but my space teleport can only jump a minimum of ten light years. If I knew exactly where Bastion was, I could jump from here to there, but since I don’t we’ll come out just outside Earth’s atmosphere and travel there the long way.
Raven was staring at the stars. “I have never been in space before.”
“I have.” Misery was tapping her foot on the ground. “I hopped aboard the space shuttle that the US had up when the Revenge War started and killed the crew. I was sick for three days after experiencing microgravity.” She looked over at Whisper. “Why aren’t we floating and why aren’t I throwing up?”
I can control the gravitational gradient on my ship and I do not like the smell of vomit. I helped to provide supplies and crew to the asteroid station and quickly learned that while I enjoy being weightless, many do not.
Kerrik grinned. “I like microgravity, but sometimes it takes people a while to get acclimated. The factory complex will have a pharmaceutical section and anti-nausea drugs are simple to make. I’ll add them to the list.” He looked to Whisper. “When can we make the second jump?”
I can jump multiple times a second. There was a glow of mischievousness. I was hoping that going here would impress you enough to give me special attention.
“Trust me; I’m impressed to find you can go extrasolar. I will find a way to reward you for it, too.”
Raven folded her arms and gave them a grumpy look. “We should return to Earth.”
Kerrik was looking out at the suns. “I think we’ll return later and see if there are any asteroids here. If so, we might construct a base here, too. I like having redundant facilities available and I wouldn’t have to worry about someone finding it here, unless there are other spacegoing races around. What’s the maximum range you can jump?”
I do not know. The first times I jumped, I came out in deep space and when I was trying to jump as little as possible I came out near this system. Then I jumped to it and have used it ever since. From here, I can reach anyplace in the solar system that I have been to before.
“Can anyone else do this?”
The starlightexpress pokegirls can do something similar, but they tend to have maximum jumps of less than a light year at a time. Two of the ones I know have been to Centauri. The rest, she shrugged, don’t have anyone who wants them to travel. Of course, they don’t have my problem since their minimum jump distance is less than a kilometer.
“You do know that you are not a cabbit, right?” Misery smirked when Whisper rotated to look at her. “Cabbits don’t have your powers. Come to think of it, neither do starlightexpress, not really.”
I am a child of the Creator, and as far as I know, unique. Cabbit is the closest to what I am, so I took that name. I am not a starlightxpress since I do not transform to use my gifts. She turned back to her tamer. What do you think I am?
He reached up and she shivered as he traced one antenna with a fingertip. “I think you’re my pokegirl and any other labels are unimportant.”
Whisper flushed with pleasure. Misery chuckled. “I don’t think it’s her ego she wants you to stroke.”
I will remember your impertinence the next time we train.
“That’s enough, ladies,” Kerrik said laughingly. “Back to Earth, Whisper.”
In an instant a familiar blue sphere hung below them. Kerrik pulled out his pokedex. “That way.” The domed platform swung in line with his arm and the earth fell away as Whisper accelerated quickly. “How fast can you accelerate?”
I am not sure. I cannot explain how I travel like this, only that I can. Perhaps we should run some experimental tests later to see.
“That sounds like a great idea.”
Raven looked around. “I have to pee.”
On one side of the ship the floor extended out past the wall of the dome and grew another wall to merge with the dome. It became opaque and a door appeared in the wall. This is the bathroom.
“What else can you create?”
I can create whatever is needed. This is my domain and I make the air and can produce food, if only of a bland texture and flavor. Only Raven would have to bring her own food, as I cannot create complex biological items such as blood. Interestingly enough, I cannot create food that I can eat, but I do not appear to require sustenance in space. However, I do require taming as usual.
“Do you have to stay where you are?”
No, although I prefer to remain where I am. I can move anywhere on the ship, and can even be tamed. When I sleep the ship will remain in whatever configuration that it was in when I was last awake. Letting me die, however would result in the ship returning to the essence from which it is made.
Raven chuckled as she headed for the door. “That is a very good thing to know.”
Name: Wolf, Kerrik
Age: Unlisted
Residence: Kingdom of Haven - Currently Texas League
Status: Active
Rank: NA (5)
HRA rank: Colonel
Security Clearance: Omicron
Licenses
Tamer Y
Master Tamer Y
Researcher N
Watcher N
Breeder Y
Active Harem
Raven
Whisper
Misery