Chapter Twenty One

The Three Skys are Everywhere

Todd could sense them being filled with magic and earth. He could tell they were nothing, but dust given a temporary life to save and to take other lives. He wondered what they must feel knowing they’ll be dust once more when their tasks are done.

Todd, Courtney, Heather and three of the Sky clones followed him on to Shining Fang. Todd found these versions of Sky lacked many emotions and were quieter than the original. He didn’t know why they were silent until the smelt the food when they entered. Drakanna was at the entrance of the mess with a sombre smile.

“Rocssanna and William were kind enough to supply finger food for when you couldn’t stop to eat a meal sitting down. They are complete in that they are life-sustaining but lack the need for utensils.” She waved them in and then acknowledged the three extra crew members. “Hi Sky, I realize you do not need to eat so I’ll make a virtual snack if you like. It’ll be there only in taste with no substance to mess with your magical composite bodies.” Drakanna told the three Sky’s.

The three answered as one. “Thank you, but I’m fine. I’ll just head to the bridge and take positions for take off.” One clone stepped forward. “I’ll be to the right of the bridge.” Then one of the others stepped forwards. “I’ll take one of the control chairs and start scanning for hostiles close by. With my added magic, I should have a greater range than anyone else on the ship. That way, we can catch up sooner even with your diverting to rescue Jane, my parents, and me. And thank you for the rescue we weren’t prepared for the nauseating feeling coming from the psychotic mages to disable us so thoroughly.” She stepped back as the last one-stepped forwards. “I’ll be on the left of the bridge,” she said. Then two of them together spoke again as one. “I’ll give Drakanna any extra power if she needs it, even if it’s processing power. I’m still about five times faster than her current processor.”

Drakanna makes a “humph” sound with her hands on her hips. I’m still at least twice as fast as Conny and five times faster than any other AI system.” She told everyone lessening as she did something even Conny didn’t do, blushed. The Clone Sky just smiled and left for the bridge.

Todd quickly grabbed up two what looked like meat rolled-up in a kind of flatbread and a bottle of juice that would attach to his belt. He rushed to catch up to the three clones. “Excuse me. But I’m going to have a hard time keeping the three of up apart. Could I refer to you three as Sky number one, Sky number two, and Sky number three”?

The three girls stopped and turned around to look at Todd. Although They weren’t quite as tall as Todd, they had an overpowering impression when considering his eyes. “How would you tell me apart and remember which number you gave me. Just call me Sky and don’t worry, I’ll know who you’re talking to. There are only three of us. I would be able to tell blindfolded.” They turned and started for the bridge again.

Todd thought about what they said. They were the same person so they wouldn’t want to go by numbers. Numbers would put one before the other, that was a bad idea. He thought as he took a bite of the strange rolled food and was surprised at the taste. He could hear Courtney and Heather voice their enjoyment of the wonderful food. If the Knights weren’t such kind people, he would have saved them just for the food they could make and cook.

Courtney and Heather caught up to Todd on the bridge and found that three Sky’s were already there. Only one was sitting the other two were standing. The one sitting had faint spell circles around her and hardly moving while murmuring some arcane words as she glanced about. Todd was the only one who could see the faint spell circles she was working with. But everyone could feel the powerful magic being worked in the room.

Todd had to ask as everyone took their places. “Sky what are you doing with the magic? It’s quite powerful whatever you’re doing. We can feel the magic being worked.”

The Sky on the right answered for all of them. “I’m tweaking the magical auto scanning around the ship’s hull. It will allow us to detect that strange chaotic magic they're using from further away.” She motioned towards the one sitting down. “I’m also working on the targeting system and the size of what the railgun can shoot. Before it was limited to the size of the barrel, now I believe it can be between 1-300 centre metres (quarter inch – ten ft.) in diameter of any material. But feathers or sponges would make horrible projectiles.” The two Sky’s standing both laughed and the one sitting smiled as she was murmuring the arcane words. She looked back to Todd and the others. “I found it funny. I guess you don’t understand the dynamic of them to get the joke the way I do.” She gestured to the third one who was standing.

“I’m saving the magic users that are in the process of getting their gifts stolen. Then I’m marking the ones who are doing it for execution. The way they’re stealing the gifts are extremely painful and leaves the person dead. Not only that, but they're going to use the stolen gift to kill yet more people. In some cases, to test them out on the few people they couldn’t use as batteries. They are evil people who care not for lives but their own and little of the ones under them. Death will be a kindness to the galaxy, a cure to an ailment to all the civilized living.” She saw she had Todd undivided attention.

Just as she was about to ask for a favour, he made his own announcement. “We’re going to take off in five, four, three, two.” As he said one, the ship left the ground with no feeling of movement.

A smile split everyone face, but Sky’s and she didn’t know why. That was when Heather called out loud. “What a ride, Instant speed with no thruster noise at all. Sky, I don’t know how you did it, but this is easily the most advanced ship I’ve ever been on or even heard of. If you ever build a star pleasure cruiser, I would be the first to book a free passage.” She said, giving Sky’s clone sitting beside her a big smile. The clone returned the smile with a nod while still working her magic.

The clone to the right replied to Heather gestured to the clone on the left. “Sorry I can’t talk right now, but I can. My left side is very busy too. I won’t be building anything for a while, but I’ll let you know if and when I do.” She turned to Todd sitting in the captain’s chair. “I have a request of you, Captain Todd Sir. Could I show you where the magic users that are in most danger at this second and how best to save them? I’m protecting them right now but with a few well-placed shots could stop it for the foreseeable future. The transference of gifts seems not to be shared openly with everyone like the evil, chaotic magic they seem to spew out of their foul souls. So.” She paused, tilted her head to the side and batted her now puppy dog eyes. “Could I pretty pleas...” She paused again. “Sorry, Captain, you’re not mommy or daddy.” She stood straight and tall with a slightly deeper voice. “Could I take control of the ship when we reach space few ten seconds to take out the few targets within a range from here. Sir.”

Todd looked to Courtney and Heather, who both shrugged their shoulders — not giving any opinion of their own. Yet not giving any objection meant they weren’t opposed to it either. So, Todd asks the question. “Couldn’t you mark the targets and we fire at them. In the simulations, we all got next to perfect scores. I know the ship is technically yours, but right now I’m the captain. You can putt a little more faith in us. We are part of the elite in the galaxy.”

She smiled. “I’ll mark the targets for you, but some of the shots have to be guided around objects and other ships to enter in a specific way to avoid collateral damage. Please don’t miss understand my faith in your skills. I just know you are not able to make most of the shots I want to make. There are fifty targets in total and twenty can be made from here right now.” She said and gestured to the open space around them. Please, Sir, just ten seconds could save twenty plus lives, twenty-one. A target just became available.” Around them, the targets were marked, and pertinent information was displayed under them.

“Do it.” Was all Todd said? Instantly the ship spun around firing from both railguns’ projectile in all directions. The only indication of motion was the stars and the planet appears to move around them. Yet the feeling of an unfathomable amount of magic being used could be felt. There was no spent magic just pressure of it leaving the three Sky clones.

The ship stopped just as suddenly as it started. Each target started to blink with a hit in bold letters under them even as the last targets were to be hit the Sky on the right announced. “Captain Todd Sir the ship is under your command.” She sounded a little down and didn’t seem like what she did was successful.

“Were all your targets hit Sky? You don’t seem so happy saving all of those lives.” Todd asked her.

“Since we began, they started trying to get the gifts from the magic users faster. Two of the twenty-one died before the shots connected, and three will likely die before we can help them. The only thing I can take solace in is the fact their gifts won’t be used for furthering evil. The others are safe from having their gift taken. It still won’t help them from being placed inside one of the chambers. We all know how to work those. Fred and Joe have disabled some of the ships and freed some of the abducted people.”

Heather interrupted Todd and Sky. “We have a call from captain Fred, Sir. He says Sky requested a regrouping to plan a few changes.”

Todd wondered how Heather had a conversation without hearing it himself too. The ship must have linked with the communication implants in their ears. “Alright, open the link. Things have changed enough to warrant the fact.”

An image of Fred and Joe appeared, they noticed the three Skys. “I see you picked up a few new crew members. I thought Sky had made herself bigger and shaved her head.”

“I am Sky.” The seated Sky said now finished with her spells and motioned to the other two Skys to either side. There are elven of me, one is the original, but we are all Sky.”

Fred smiled; he should have known Sky never did anything simply. Joe put a hand on Fred’s shoulder. “That’s Sky for you, no end to what she can do.” He said to Fred, and everyone nodded in agreement.

Fred addressed the Sky standing on the left almost as tall as he was. “Sky how do we tell you apart from your sisters. I can’t just call you all Sky now can I”?

The three Skys all smiled. This time the one on the left answered. “We are all Sky, we share the same mind and are aware of each other in all we. You just have to talk to me you want. I’ll know if you're talking to me or all of me.”

Fred wasn’t sure what to make of them. “Alright, I’ll go with that right now. Sky and Jane are trying to save the aliens that were attacking her. So, that leaves us to continue the rescue of the abducted magic users. There are other Skys from what I learned from William and Rocssanna. They’re helping free the others on the next colony on the planet.”

The Skys just nodded as if he was stating common knowledge. “We’ll start on the next ships with abducted people onboard and free them, and once Sky and her parents are done, we’ll start on the next planets.”

The Sky that was seated interrupted him. “Excuse me, Fred Sir. I will be finishing with the aliens soon and will be joining my parents in an hour or so. We’ll save the entire race of tiny being that escaped from a planet that was pulled into their star. They were travelling for years in many dimensions; they were staving and had no trano to eat. Trano is the easiest eaten of the three forms of magic they can metabolize. I believe Trano is spent magic that they can eat. The planet they were on Tranis, seemed to be the only planet with the source of food they required. The spiders I think they were just pets that they kept in storage and were sent down to feed. It just happened to be where I was. You know where the story began from there.