《Cautious Of The Intruder》Chapter 8

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After their initial surprise, at my theory, Gregory said. "in a few more cycles, the true night will begin, and you can get a better view of the night sky. Unfortunately, we probably won't be on the planet."

"I see. Well, that's good to know. I don't think I could live in a world without ever having a night sky." I say then change the subject, "so where are we going to find a small crew? We will need an archaeologist and navigator at the least. Also, supplies I have a lot for a single person but divided up amongst a small group it won't last long at all."

When Gregory and I looked to the prince, he threw up his hands. "sorry, I have no money, they have given everything I have ever needed to me, and let's face it, if I go asking for enough supplies for a group. Someone is going to report this to the council and my mother."

Gregory held up a hand to wait. "Before we even consider the crew, we need to get our hands on a ship capable of traveling to another system."

"You both need not worry about a ship. I got that covered, but supplies are an issue and the crew." I replied.

"Well, I Can probably afford supplies replied Gregory but registering a ship, not to mention if it fails the inspection, the cost of a retrofit is far beyond my means." Then the sprite took out several tiny scraps of Tritarium to show around.

Laughing, I ask, "Is this what you guys use for barter."

Confused, they both look at me, grinning like a fool. Then Jarlen says. "do you know how rare this metal is. That probably took Gregory years of digging in his mountain."

"I suppose that means your Chemistry is not up to par with my homeworld," I stated as I pulled an eight-inch by three inches by a one-inch bar from my dimensional storage. I say chemistry, but it also required someone to pour power into a tungsten alloy during the smelting process. But this one bar made both men's mouth drop to the floor.

"Don't even mention supplies and registry. You could purchase a basic mid-sized freighter with that amount of tritarium." Gregory excitedly claimed as he tried to touch the bar.

Prince Jarlen, however, was more interested in what I said about creating the metal. "your people had a method of making Tritarium." He asked excitedly. Pointing at the scraps in Gregory's fist, he said. "that right there is nearly the equivalent of an entire year mining on one moon."

"Sure," I said, "but considering what I know of your own people. I'm not ready to divulge such secrets, not until I Can spread it equally amongst the various races, anyway."

Scowling, Jarlen nodded "better to not hand the method over. The council will destroy anyone that might take from their personal power. They strictly monitor all tritarium usage."

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With a look of disappointment on Gregory's face. I returned the tritarium to my pack and instead pulled out a gold bar and a few diamonds. "would these be better for barter items?"

They both nod assent, "although not nearly as valuable. We use those elements in the machines controlling the defenses so especially on the moons. We can get a good deal off them," explained Gregory.

Walking over to the window, Jarlen pointed out. "the sun will be on us soon, so we should rest up. I have a feeling it's going to be a long day."

Confused, I ask, "why don't you just get in a vehicle if the sun is too much for you?"

Jarlen looked skeptically at me "did you hear me arrive in a vehicle. I flew here from the spaceport."

"I wanted to say nothing about this because I didn't want to ask about secrets and make you want to leave me behind. But there is only one bag of holding in our entire system. It's been in the queen's hands ever since before my people left our original forests thousands of years ago. However, I have been curious about where your bag is. I haven't seen you reach inside anything to get those elements."

Looking at my two new companions, I shrug it would be a hassle to keep everything a secret, anyway. "This is no bag. It is a dimensional space inside me. In my world, there are people with what we call superpowers, and the older a person can survive with those powers. The stronger they get (I still don't buy into what Joshua said that it was only a few that did.), The first time I hit a barrier in my growth when I eventually pushed through, I gained an aura of power." I released my Aura for them both to feel.

When my aura spread through the room, they both collapsed to their knees and felt that a giant the size of a mountain stared down upon them, like mere insects. Coughing and with a bit of blue blood coming from his nose, Jarlen spoke. "my mother and a few in the council can create an aura, but this is inconceivable. Yours makes that entity that destroyed our city look like a child throwing a tantrum."

I shot him a look of warning. "From your story, the entity, or whatever disdained your people. Why would it release its full power? So don't just think I Can protect you all because I'm stronger than some. I wasn't even close to the most powerful in my world. Our best course of action is still to figure out why they wanted the so-called invaders destroyed and whether they succeeded, or if those people hid away."

Pulling my Aura back, I grin at the disheveled pair, "the second power is something I just noticed one day many years ago. I have a tiny dimension inside my body. The spot itself doesn't grow any larger than the size of the head of a pen. However, inside, it never stops. Once I even stuffed a whole hill inside to see how much it held, and that patch of earth is still slowly compacting into a sphere. Many smarter men than I theorized that these little pocket worlds would continue to grow, for as long as our powers did."

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"Now, stealing my homeworld, to fill in my dimension would have been utterly foolish of me, not to mention, was soon illegal, punishable by immediate execution. I paid for a short trip to the already mined asteroids and began seeing how many I could hold. Now my tiny world is roughly one third the size our moon is. I do not know how large it is in comparison to your world, so don't ask. Anyway, that was around thirty years ago, and the rocks are still compacting. Someday I may put more inside. There are other abilities on top of my physical strength, but I will keep those to myself."

Gregory finally spoke up for the first time in a while. "At any rate, it is going to take some time to get things together and planned out. Let's head to the city, and while you lie low. I Can go to the port and find us a guy to help with the registration. At the same time, his highness looks into finding a useful crew. How many can your craft hold, anyway?"

"To be honest," I said, embarrassed. "I have never brought it out since I bought it off the Twins. It was always there as a last resort to escape our mighty overlords." Standing up from my seat at the table, I turn and head out the back door. Closely followed by my guests. Looking out over the dunes below, I grin and with a wave of my hand. I blast a wave of power down and flatten a square mile of sand, reinforcing it temporarily. Then I take a bowling ball-sized cube. They made these fancy gadgets after extensive research into dimensional spaces. Pressing the button on the side, I threw the ball, and about one-hundred feet before it hit the ground, it unfolded from its space.

Finished, The ship was fifteen hundred feet tall, thrusters to the nose. It had four wings spanning around one thousand feet in all four directions from the main body. The wings themselves had four cannons sticking out of each, and on both sides, several maneuvering thrusters, built into the wings. The main body was a brick, with a cone-shaped nose sticking out between the wings and rounded at the forward end where the bridge crew controlled the ship. The ship itself was standing, with the nose pointed toward space and two massive thrusters sticking out from the bottom for lifting off and several maneuvering thrusters there as well. There are several more all over the body.

Jarlen just stared dumbfounded then said, "while the whole unfolding from a ball was cool and all, this ship is way too small. Gregory, looking rather disappointed, agreed."

I just scoffed at them both, "Remember, my people like playing with space. Don't judge a book by the cover, or in this case, a ship by its hull." Then I hit the switch still in my hand, and the ship folded back in on itself, returning to me. I turned around and went back inside, this time taking the comfortable sofa for myself.

The three of us then spent the remaining time until the sun went down, planning our next step.

We sat in Gregorys hovering vehicle; it was a flat round disk with a clear crystal dome on top. When we entered the vehicle, I couldn't even see any controls. Gregory just told it to go to the nearest port, and off we went.

After around two hours, I saw a massive domed city coming up beyond a tall dune. Looking over at Gregory, I ask, "why is the city in a dome?"

Gregory glanced up from what looked to me like an old tablet from the pre-power era in my world. He was reading something in a foreign language, not surprising as English is the only language I ever bothered to learn. Why learn another language when everyone had a version of a universal translator on their person. Please ignore the fact that mine didn't work before my being dumped on this world. Then in a disdainful voice replied, Only the Sand sprites want to live in those extreme temperatures all the time.

Speaking of the translator, I pressed my finger to my ear and thought, "Can you hear me?"

{Yes, Slate, I Am attached to your brain, so if you focus your thoughts toward me, I Can pick up the signal.}

"I have a question regarding the names you give their races: are they really elves and sprites like the fairytales told to children?"

{No, I Can't translate their names or many concepts they use; however, I Can designate words to describe them, and those seemed appropriate.} replied the monotonous voice. (I need a name for this thing)

"How is calling the sprites goblins appropriate?"

{The name that other races gave the sprites of this world is, as far as I Can tell, a derogatory word for them, so Goblin fit rather well.}

"Thanks for the input, Al."

{Al, why did you call me that?} asked the A.I.

"Because you need a name, and it's short and simple," I replied.

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