Space Assassins: The Complete Series 1-5, page 65
“He was going to teach me some new spells. He said it was time for me to learn the fun stuff.”
“And he is a great visla. I am sure he has many amazing things to share with you.”
“If I ever see him again.”
“You will,” Hozark said. “Your father loves you very much.”
“Sure.”
“I was just in his office, and do you know what he had on his desk? This,” he said, pulling the gladiator doll out of his pocket.
“Suvius the Mighty!” Hap gushed, taking the toy and holding it tight.
“He looked at this every day, hoping to have you come back to him. I can promise you, he will not give up hope. And neither will we.”
Happizano actually seemed calmed for a moment, and strangely enough, Hozark found himself experiencing an odd emotion for a killer. Empathy.
“I’ll tell you what,” the assassin said. “Let me show you a little trick.”
He pulled power from his konus and directed it to the air above his hand with a simple spell. “Arcatis vespool,” he said, the magic flowing out and forming a tiny snow flurry that quickly condensed into an ice cube.
“Whoa. That’s cool.”
“Here, you try,” he said, taking the konus from his wrist and slipping it over the boy’s.
It was large for him, obviously, but for one of Jinnik’s blood, pulling from a konus should be quite simple. In fact, when he was grown, Hap would likely be able to do the opposite, charging the device as easy as breathing.
But for now, he was just a boy, learning the first bits of how his power truly worked.
“Arcatis vespool,” Hap said. “Arcatis vespool!”
“You must not force it. The key to casting is the intent behind the words, not just the words themselves.”
Happizano took a breath and squinted his eyes with concentration. “Arcatis vespool,” he said.
A tiny snowflake formed above his palm, but no more. But it was something, and with it, his spirits brightened.
“Keep at it, young Jinnik. Practice. And tomorrow, I shall help you further. In the meantime, it is late. Get some rest.”
Hap looked up at the Ghalian master. “Hozark?”
“Yes, Happizano?”
“Thanks.”
“It is my pleasure, young Jinnik,” he replied, stepping out the door. “Until tomorrow, then.”
Chapter Forty-Five
The following morning––if it was actually morning, one could never tell in space––found the crew in surprisingly good spirits for a group dealing with the myriad deadly, and downright confusing, variables they had faced of late.
But despite losing the opportunity to get some much-needed rest and relaxation at the visla’s estate, they were nevertheless well-stocked with supplies, and had a destination dialed in.
It wasn’t their first choice, but if they had to pick a second one, visiting the leader of the Five wasn’t a bad fallback.
Corann kept a cozy home wherever she was based. All the better to maintain her warm and friendly motherly vibe. It wouldn’t be a visla’s life of luxury, but she would feed them well, and the beds would be soft and welcoming regardless.
It was a big question mark just how long it would take the Ghalian spy network to discern the likeliest location of Happizano’s father. It could take mere days, or it could take weeks. But one thing was certain. Once they had been tasked with this mission, they would find him. It was just a question of when.
“Sleep well?” Uzabud asked as the violet-haired girl walked into the galley.
“What’s it to you?” she shot back with a groggy yawn.
Her snark was not exactly on point this early in the day, but with better sleep and a significant amount of food, she was actually beginning to look healthy for what was likely the first time in no one knew how long.
As was always the case this early in the day, her hair was something of a mess. The effect only added to her typically off-kilter appearance.
There was something about her. They all felt it. But none could quite put their finger on what it was. One day, Hozark hoped, they would learn the truth of her nature. But for now, that was not a secondary, or even tertiary concern.
“You are looking well, Henni,” the Wampeh said as he sipped his usual morning tea concoction. “How has your sleep been?”
“Better,” she admitted. “Thanks.”
With Hozark, she had adopted a more considerate tone. Not because he could kill her in less than the time it took for her to draw a breath, but because, despite his deadly nature, he had taken her under his protection and accepted her as a part of their odd little group.
She wouldn’t exactly call it a family, but these people had a bond that seemed somehow different than other crews she’d flown with.
The Ghalian were bound by their order, of course. But they had been through a lot together, and it showed. The same with the annoying pilot. Bud was a cocky bastard, but it was clear Hozark trusted him implicitly.
Laskar was the wildcard. He was part of the team, but he seemed to grate on everyone’s nerves on a fairly regular basis. But he was a good pilot, and a very good navigator, so it seemed his grating nature was given a pass.
In short order, everyone had gathered in the galley and was enjoying a relatively quiet breakfast before digging into the day. Everyone but their newest guest.
“I suppose I’ll go wake up the kid,” Bud said, sliding up from his seat. “A little food in his belly should keep him from bitching. At least more than usual.”
Bud left his mug on the table and strolled out while stretching wide, his shoulders crackling as he did.
“Oof, that didn’t sound good,” Laskar noted.
“Just working the excess awesome through my bones, is all,” Bud said with a grin, then headed off down the corridor.
A few minutes later he returned, a slightly confused look on his face.
“Uh, guys? Any of you seen the kid this morning?”
“Why, Bud?” Demelza asked.
“He’s not in his room.”
“Perhaps he is in the restroom or bathing compartment,” she offered.
“Nope. Checked there too.”
Hozark’s brow furrowed ever so slightly. “This is disconcerting,” he said. “And you are certain he was not merely hiding?”
“Dude, this is my ship. I know the nooks and crannies. He wasn’t in his room, or anywhere I could see.”
“Shit. You think he spaced himself?” Laskar asked.
“There? Your mind went there?” Bud asked.
“Just asking.”
“He’s a kid, Laskar.”
“A kinda messed up kid,” he replied.
“Enough of this nonsense. Come, all of you. We must search the ship. And I do not mean just the living spaces,” Hozark said. “He is relatively small and could be anywhere.”
“Aww, shit,” Henni said, dropping her food back onto her plate. “Well, I guess it’ll taste good cold too. So, what do we do?”
The five of them split up, each with a different part of the ship to search. It was a smuggling ship, and Uzabud had outfitted it with many secret compartments in which to hide contraband, should the need arise. Unfortunately, that also meant there were a very large number of places the young boy could hide.
Bud seemed incredulous that a mere kid could have even found the hidey-holes he had so painstakingly constructed and concealed, but Hozark was firm. They had to be thorough.
It was rather time-consuming, but after nearly an hour the group reconvened in the command center. Each of them empty-handed.
“How is this possible?” Demelza wondered. “He has to be somewhere.”
“I’m telling ya. He spaced himself.”
“Shut up, Laskar.”
“He actually has an interesting point,” Hozark said, a curious look in his eye.
“What? You really think he’d do that?”
“Not exactly, Bud. But this line of thinking does give me an idea. I shall return shortly.”
Hozark walked the corridors of the large craft until he reached the location of the umbilical spell that connected his vessel to Bud’s mothership. He uttered the words to open the seal between both craft.
Happizano was there, seated quietly in the seeming void of space. Of course, there was a magical tube of air connecting the ships, but that was not visible to the naked eye. He didn’t even look up at Hozark.
The assassin stared a moment, then let out a small sigh.
“Are you all right?” he asked as he took a seat next to the boy.
Hap did not answer, his eyes fixed on the hull beneath him.
Hozark waited a long moment, deciding what to say or do next. He could simply haul the boy inside, of course. But that would not rectify whatever this situation was, and it could even possibly make it worse.
Finally, he spoke. “Tell me. Why did you choose this place? There are many far more comfortable locations to hide.”
Hap slowly looked up and met the Wampeh’s gaze. “I was gonna steal your ship,” he admitted.
Hozark was greatly amused, on the inside. The sheer gall of the boy. The balls, though they likely had not even dropped yet. It was impressive, and he couldn’t help but approve of his young guest’s plan. He lacked the requisite skill to carry it out, of course, but nevertheless, he had tried. And that was more than you could say of most.
“You planned to fly home, I assume?”
“Yeah,” the boy replied, looking away.
“But you quickly learned that my ship is much harder to force entry to than the umbilical spell, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
Hozark chuckled slightly. “My dear boy, you should be proud of your accomplishment. To overcome the spell sealing off this space required a fair bit of magical skill. And had you attempted to access one of the lesser ships mounted to the hull, you might have even succeeded, though that is still not likely. You see, in space, the docking spells are far stronger out of necessity.”
“Why is yours harder to get into?”
“I am a Wampeh Ghalian, and my spells are much, much stronger than most.”
Happizano said nothing. It wasn’t the angry reaction he had been expecting, but he was chided, nevertheless. The Ghalian master was about to invite the boy back inside the mothership when something caught his eye. Something utterly unexpected.
Puddles. Several of them. Tiny puddles of water, in this place, nowhere near any source of liquid. Hozark’s interest was suddenly piqued.
“Show me,” he instructed the boy.
Hap reached out with his hand, the oversize konus still dangling from his wrist. “Arcatis vespool,” he said, casting with not just the words but the intent, as he had been instructed.
A swirl of sparkles appeared in his palm, slowly coalescing into a tiny snowball. It wasn’t a hard and fully formed ice cube. Not yet. But it was worlds of improvement from what he had been able to do the day before.
Hap placed the little ball of snow on the deck and watched as it slowly began to melt like the others had.
“I am most impressed, young Jinnik. You have greatly improved, and in just one day.”
“I still can’t get it right, though.”
“No one does at first. This is a process, and it takes time. For some, far longer than others. But you have a visla’s blood in you, and I believe you will be a great caster one day, if this is any sign of your growing powers.”
“You think?” he asked, making eye contact again, at last.
“I do,” Hozark said. And he wasn’t just giving lip service. If the boy was able to do this with just minimal instruction, he would indeed grow to be a power user of some force.
“So, now what? Are you gonna take me back inside?”
Hozark thought but a moment. “No. You may remain here as long as you like. But when you are ready to come back inside, there is food and drink waiting for you in the galley.”
With that, Hozark opened the access and slid through, leaving the boy to his thoughts. He wasn’t all right. Not by a long shot. But he was, at least a little bit, less upset. And that was a good place to start.
Chapter Forty-Six
It took multiple jumps for Bud to finally bring them to Corann’s current home turf on the world of Etratz.
Laskar had plotted the most direct course he could, but given the pull on their Drookonus, and the likelihood of encountering Council vessels in some of the more directly accessible systems, they had been forced to take a somewhat circuitous route in the interest of safety.
Once they arrived, though, concerns seemed to melt away. Etratz was a pleasant world, and Corann’s bungalow was a truly welcoming place surrounded by other, similar pleasant abodes. It was something of an idyllic locale, and the perfect place for her to set up shop and live unmolested.
Of course, her sweet, motherly demeanor had made her a favorite among the locals, and her neighbors, young and old, often dropped by to visit the kindly woman. And more often than not, she would have fresh-baked treats on hand for the local youth.
And through it all, not a one had the slightest inkling that the leader of the deadliest group of assassins in the galaxy was living just down the path.
Uzabud swung his ship in low over the town, making a casual loop before dropping down at the landing site conveniently near Corann’s abode. Of course, that was intentional on her part. Quick access to her ship was always a concern. As well it should be for any master assassin, let alone the leader of the Five.
“All clear?” Laskar asked as they settled into a low hover just above the ground.
“Yeah. No signs of any hostiles anywhere,” Bud replied. “Hozark?”
“All is well, my friend. I have reached out to Corann and announced our arrival.”
“Wait, I thought the skrees were all on the fritz,” Laskar said. “You mean we have working ones?”
“Not exactly,” Hozark replied. “The unit built into my shimmer ship is still functional, but only on for a specialized Ghalian spell. I am afraid it would do no good in attempting to contact any outside of my order.”
“Ah, shit. I was hoping we’d get our communications back up and running sooner rather than later.”
“I am sorry to have raised your hopes. But do not fear. Soon, we should be able to repair our systems.”
“I’m just looking forward to some home-cooked meals,” Bud said. “She may be the leader of the Five, but damn, that woman can cook.”
“Always thinking with your stomach, Bud,” Hozark joked.
“Wait, we’re visiting a chef?” Henni asked.
“No, Henni. But Uzabud is correct, Corann is quite skilled in a kitchen,” Demelza said.
“Then what are we waiting for?”
“We aren’t,” Hozark said. “Come. We have arrived.”
He gathered his small bag and headed for the door.
“You heard the man. Time to offload,” Bud said with a grin. “You’ll love this place, Hap. And Corann? She’s really, really nice.”
The boy didn’t seem terribly enthused. But since he’d found his little quiet place in between the docked ships, he had at least seemed to improve his attitude a bit. And with Hozark showing him the ropes, he was picking up a few little spells here and there.
The practice of them gave him something to focus on other than missing his home. Naturally, it was still hard for him, as his father had planned on working on spells with his son.
They’d both been looking forward to the lessons, and they had planned on some quality time as soon as the visla returned from his most recent task. But that had been a decoy to lure him from his home. And then all of this happened.
But he seemed to be faring better. At least, so Hozark thought. And while it would hurt until he was back with his father, the boy was making progress, and, perhaps, even a few new friends.
* * *
“Hozark! Demelza! Wonderful to see you both!” Corann called out warmly from her seat on her porch as the group arrived.
“Corann,” they replied, each of them giving the cheery woman a big hug.
It was all for show, of course. Ghalian assassins were not exactly known for their displays of affection. But here, in public, to all who might observe, she was not a deadly killer, but was the kindest, sweetest, friendliest woman in town.
“And you, Uzabud. It had been too long. And I see you have Laskar with you. I am glad to see you are still flying together.”
“He can’t shake me,” Laskar said with a cocky grin.
“Nor would he want to. Your flying skills are something to behold,” she said, turning her attentions to the boy standing beside Hozark. “And you must be Happizano,” she said, squatting down to greet him. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Quite an up-and-coming young caster, I’m told.”
“I’m not any good,” he replied, bashfully.
“Oh, it just takes time and practice. I’m sure Hozark told you how when he started out, why, he couldn’t cast to save his life. And now look at him!”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. We all start out from nothing and build our way up. But look at me, talking your ear off without even giving you a proper welcome. Come and say hello. I’m Corann, and we do hugs around here.”
Before he could even think to protest, she wrapped the boy up in quite possibly the most comforting, motherly, and warm embrace he’d ever felt.
“You’ll love it here, I just know,” she said as she relaxed the embrace. “And who do we have here?” she said as she turned to greet the violet-haired young woman hovering nearby.
“This is Henni. She’s flying with us, for the time being,” Bud replied.
Corann beamed with joy and moved to give the girl a hug.
Henni’s eyes went wide and she leapt back, right into Bud.
“She’s a killer,” she gasped. “A stone-cold killer. And so many. Hundreds. No, thousands.”
Corann eased back from her open-armed welcome, but her smile didn’t falter once. But the faintest flicker of interest shone in her kind eyes. Despite her most cheerful, sweet, and motherly appearance, Henni had read her like an open book.
