Proving True
Chapter 14

The following morning, I wake to find an email from Master Kreq.

Be in Building G, node 4 at 1000. Bring the amulet and wear loose fitting clothes or your gi.

I know that building. It’s a small craft hangar bay for the maintenance facility. I put my gi in a bag, I’ll wear sweats but change if Master Kreq thinks it will be beneficial. Athena walks to the building with me.

The door of the building opens into a square room, twenty feet to a side. A portion of which has been given over for storage. It’s a universal concept for ships in general and starships in particular: there’s never enough storage space. If I ever buy a shipyard I’ll change that. This one has tables stacked to one side, and several bags and bins holding recreational equipment such as bowling balls and pins, footballs, all manner of stuff. Master Kreq has placed some exercise mats on the floor. As Athena and I enter, he stops sweeping the dusty mats. He tosses his broom to one side and bows in greeting. I return the bow. Athena follows suit and bows as well.

“Good morning, ladies. Sonia, I spoke with my friend and shared my concerns. His opinion is that on a vessel this size there are going to be complainers and malcontents. They actually have a list, albeit a short one, of crewmembers who may be upset enough to act on such impulses. Now, take a few moments to stretch and settle yourself. We will begin when you are ready.”

“Very well, I brought my gi just in case you want me to change? Will we start with or without the amulet?”

“As I said, make yourself comfortable. How you are dressed is fine. We will start without the amulet.”

Accepting the rebuke, I hand my bag with the amulet to Athena. I take a few deep breaths and do some stretching before we begin testing. He invites me to sit or kneel. I elect to kneel for the moment. Master Kreq pulls a bowling pin from one of the bins. He places it on the floor a few feet in front of me.

“Don’t try to picture anything in particular about the pin. Open your eyes, this is an active exercise, not a passive one. Just open your mind to learning whatever the pin has to tell you.”

I try to cover my frustration with humor, “I guess the pin doesn’t want to tell me anything.”

Kreq chuckles, “Perhaps. That surprises me, I’ve always considered you easy to talk to.” We both grin. He returns the pin to the bag and replaces it with a football. I look at it intently and for a split second, it looks like it shimmers a bit. And then it’s gone. Kreq looks to Athena, “What did you see?”

“I saw you place the football on the floor. It then stopped being visible. I do not know what happened to it. Do you know where it went?” Her gaze oscillates between Master Kreq and me.

I look at Kreq. I have no idea what happened or where it may have gone.

“Not a clue,” Kreq answers her. He picks up his broom and waves it through the area where the ball had been. “I wanted to verify that you hadn’t made it invisible. Which you may have done, but either way: it’s not there anymore.”

“So where is it?” I ask him.

“Like I told Athena, I have no idea.” He looks at me pensively for a few heartbeats. “Shall we try with the amulet now?” I’m not sure how wise that is, but I trust him. I hold out my hand to Athena, she places the carrying strap for the bag in my palm. I take the amulet from the bag by its chain and place it around my neck. I hand the bag back to Athena. More or less on a whim, I whip my head around and look at one of the tables stacked adjacent to the door. It starts to shimmer like the ball did. Then it’s gone.

However, suddenly it’s in the air and falling to the deck. In the blink of my eye, it went from the top of that stack to a spot four feet to the side. And finding nothing beneath to support it, fell to the floor. “I believe we have identified your gift, Sonia. You have the ability to teleport objects and probably yourself. Your history indicates this, and the events we’ve seen here today, confirm it. But your ability is like a sword fresh from the artisan. You must be sharpened, tempered, and polished. As is, you are more of a liability than you are an asset.” And we still don’t know where the ball is.

“My ‘gift’ is teleportation? Wow. It’s odd to me that you use a sword as your metaphor. I was thinking ‘whip knife,’ wielded by a skilled handler it’s a devastating weapon indeed, but used improperly it does more damage to the wielder than the target.”

“A very apt description,” he says clapping his hands together. “Today’s exercise is now concluded. It’s your down day, but not mine. I must be going. I will see you in class.”

I look at the clock in my perCom, it’s not even lunchtime yet, but I feel like I’ve just finished a double shift. Athena and I return to my stateroom so I can take a nap. I open the casCom and send a message to Roy:

Have you seen or heard anything from DuQuois?

It’s not that I need or want anything from her, but I just feel happier knowing I haven’t been abandoned. I lie down for a nap.

Two hours later, I wake. Checking my mail I see a response from Roy.

Yep, but she’s purring instead of growling. It’s a mystery to me. By the way, I have some of those archived reports you asked about, they’re at Central. Come get them.

“Central” is the Central Engineering Office, I have to meet with my counterparts there in an hour anyway. It is my down day, but this is one of those meetings that can’t be missed. And it’s typically only an hour.

The other engineers and I are sitting around discussing our needs and wants as well as our hopes and fears when DuQuois breezes into the room. We’re all bracing for Hurricane Loreena when the greatest surprise of the cruise happens. Her face is not only glowing, but it has twisted into a smile. “Ah, here you all are!” she says. “Isn’t this a lovely day? Miss MacTaggert—Sonia—you are doing such a marvelous job! Keep up the good work and I’ll see what I can do about getting you a raise,” her gaze goes from me to the rest of the engineers in the room. “You’re all doing well, keep it up, as long as I’m fishing for one raise I can fish for more. Have a fantastic day, all!” And she’s gone.

A full minute passes before anyone speaks. It’s Roy, “What in the nine hells just happened?”

Hal Buckles, the assistant Transit boss from Area B asks, “Should we report that? Should we start keeping tranq guns near by?”

Ned Breedly, the Transit Engineer from Area D, chimes in. “Or wearing them as sidearms. I was beginning to suspect I was dreaming, or hallucinating. Sonia, is there anything you’d like to share with the rest of the class?” All eyes turn to me.

“I am at a loss,” I respond. “I don’t think I’ve seen her a dozen times on the entire cruise. And she’s been mean and nasty to me every time. This is a statistical outlier for me. But I have an idea. I’ll investigate and get back to you. Now, where were we?” The meeting finishes rather quickly as we all have trouble focusing given what we’ve seen. We break up and go about our business. Back in my stateroom, I open my holoCom and type out a message to Shawna,

Do I have you to thank for my boss’s vastly improved mood? If so, thank you very much and if I’m ever upset I may need to see you for the same therapy.

I can’t help but chuckle as I press the send button. Her reply is almost instantaneous.

Yes I am. You are welcome and you owe me big time. She is one twisted individual. I think she broke one of my lady petals. HKADTM.

Hugs, Kisses and Deep Tissue Massage, only Shawna would close a message with a signature like that. I have another message, this one from Master Kreq.

I have some spare time, are you free to meet me in the dojo in an hour?

I’ll be there. I reply, I have enough time to swing through the snack bar for a little something to tide me over as I don’t really have time for lunch.

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