All characters are 18 years or older. It seems like it took forever to get this done. I hope you enjoy. Greg has survived the grip of of an event horizon, well a few microseconds. He has seen the thing in the dark space between spaces. Time has passed and the Blink Technology has been revealed to the world. It will slowly take over long distance travel. It will revolutionize space travel. Humans can look up at the stars and know that they are taking their first steps to those stars.
Masquerade:
It was predawn in the house of Jon Masters. I was alone in my wanderings of that ancient place. While the mansion and stonework was mere centuries old something ancient slept beneath Windsword. The slumbering presence was not human but did not feel malevolent. I wondered what dormant something his house lorded over. Maybe it was that very reason that Jon Masters had constructed his home here. I pondered reaching out with my thoughts to touch the sleeper but thought better of it. Let sleeping deities lie. It was yet another sleepless night and I walked barefoot on the first floor with my mind open listening to the dreams and thoughts of its residents. One of the cooks was having a nightmare about being naked and cooking for the guests due for the masquerade. A maid was dreaming of all those roaming hands of the men attending the party touching and caressing her. We are so vulnerable while we sleep. Our minds wander the corridors and trappings of consciousness older than the pyramids or civilization as we knew it. At our heart, we are primitive creatures that fear the dark and the unknown. I knew all about coming face to face with both. I had seen the face of the thing in the rift and survived.
I came upon Jon's music room. I felt a sudden pang of envy for all those talented people who could play a musical instrument. I loved music but had no talent in either playing or singing. I saw a single name painted in golden letters on the dark lacquered wood of the grand piano, Bösendorfer. They had been making high quality pianos for over a hundred and thirty years. I looked around to make sure I was alone before I sat down at the piano. I lifted the fallboard revealing the monochromatic keys beneath. I pretended that I was a critically acclaimed concert pianist. I placed my fingers on the cool keys and a melody formed in my mind. It was soft and yet had a power to it. My fingers seemed to move of their own accord and music poured forth. It was an ancient J'Nai funeral dirge. It gathered force beneath my fingertips. While I had been hesitant at first my confidence built by the second as the air was filled with a song whose age eclipsed the entirety of the human race.
I sung low at first the alien syllables weaving their way through the melody and like the music my voice built until I was singing full out. I closed my eyes as Steve's memories, my memories, blazed behind my eyes as I played and sang. I saw the home world in all its glory. The city of the Immortals washed in the light of the triple moons hanging in the night sky. I walked paths paved in ghost steel through gardens so intricately laid out it might as well have been magic. It was the height of the J'Nai civilization where the entire galaxy was a mere step away. The skein of the web stretched across the entirety of lightyears and connected uncounted worlds with the cradle of J'Nai civilization. I walked amidst the best and brightest of psychic engineers, mage poets, and warrior priests. We shared thoughts as easily and freely as our bodies took in oxygen. I was a repository of those minds and all I had to do was unlock it.
A counter melody mingled with mine and my eyes snapped open. Isix was seated next to me and playing. Her touch on the keys was soft and yet as confident as mine. I shifted melodies and she followed with an ease that was a joy to hear. The new song was a battle anthem written by my friend the warrior poet Irulainin Nighthammer. She was a lover as well as a fierce defender of the J'Nai people. She fell in battle toe to toe with the Silent King on the tomb world of Kerlakk IV. She slew the Thanaton king but suffered mortal wounds in the duel. I carried her body from the killing grounds to her personal warship named after her, the Nighthammer.
The melody changed again but this time it was Isix leading the way. I recognized the Osirin melody at once. It was the prayer of the greeting of the dawn. I sang the first syllables of Bennu's Birth and she sang right along. Her voice was a strong airy alto soprano a stark contrast to my own tenor. When I looked over I saw tears of joy sliding down her cheeks. She wasn't wearing the ever-present hood. Why would she hide such beauty? We finished the song and she flung her arms around me. Her thoughts touched mine thanking me. I held her close and thanked her for the company. The head chef appeared and began pulling the heavy drapes from the windows allowing the first light of morning to spill into the house.
"Morning Sir," she said. "That was the loveliest piece of music I ever did hear. You both play beautifully."
"Thank you," I replied while Isix pulled her hood up to over her face.
"I must attend Master Jon," Isix whispered. "...Thank you, Greg,"
"I didn't know you could play," Rhea said appearing from her seat at the far end of the music room.
"Neither did I." I said and she smiled. "I guess I have hidden talents."
"Did you ever meet Her?" She asked as she sat in my lap.
"I was there when she passed. I was her second when she dueled the Silent King. I carried her back to her ship and family."
"Tell me about her. What was she like?"
I closed my eyes again and I shared my memories of the great lady with Rhea. I told her about the many firsts I shared with Iru. I described our first meeting, our first duel, and the first time we made love. She was a legend and rightly so. She had a way of looking at things that was shared and taught at all the temples of the war god. I guess she was the J'Nai version of Leonardo De Vinci or Sun Tsu. I often went to the Hall of Fallen Heroes to speak with her shade. I felt the tears come and I faltered and stopped. I realized I had loved her. Iru and I had shared a connection as strong and fierce as that of the one I possessed with Rhea.
"I'm sorry." I muttered feeling the warmth of Rhea's thoughts in mine.
"NO... don't you dare apologize for loving someone! I told you before, I am privileged to love you. Honor her memory and her immortality is assured."
The smell of cooking bacon interrupted our little discussion. Our minds were intertwined as I recalled another life and another time but now it was time to embrace the present. I carried her towards the dining room and she silently clung to my neck. We sat impatiently waiting for the cook to appear with the scrumptious smelling food. Cindy and the others arrived and soon we were eating, chatting and laughing. Everyone seemed upbeat and looking forward to the masquerade. Jon and his sisters showed up and joined us. I asked Jon who would be attending the masquerade. He said only a select group of friends and acquaintances had received invitations. There would be members of British nobility present and we should be on our best behavior. He hinted at a few special guests but wouldn't say who they were.
The staff of Windsword went into overdrive after that. They were receiving shipments of food and alcohol for tonight's masquerade. It was like watching an army on the move. There was a definite rhythm to everything going on around me. Since the weather was nice I took a walk outside. The gardens were in full bloom and the air held a hundred different scents. The girls were helping the staff get the mansion ready to receive its guests. I spotted extra security forces wandering the grounds. They tried to appear inconspicuous but when you work with them so often you develop a sense of being watched. Rhea was far subtler in the way she kept an eye on me. I took a seat and closed my eyes. I pulled up emails from Nick, the Pentagon, and the White House. Nick sent me a tentative schedule for my return to the states as well as an invite to a private clue, the Equinox Club.
The members of the Joint Chiefs sent me well wishes on my recovery and were looking forward to working with me again. Lydia, I mean the President also sent me a rather interestingly worded email about my scheduled dinner at the White House. It was the hint or maybe innuendo was a better way of describing the wording. Lydia was after all the first unmarried person to inhabit the Oval Office in over a hundred and twenty years. Hell, she was a lot of firsts all rolled up into one. I guess to sum her up she was the first female, Native American president. I replied to the POTUS with an equally ambiguous email that was far subtler than she had been. I opened my eyes and saw that I was no longer alone on the wooden bench. The nameless redhead that I had briefly met at the White House was mere inches from me.
"Hello Greg," she said smiling.
"You have me at a disadvantage."
"My name is Gabrielle. I am here on business."
"Are you apart of party security or something else?"
"Something else..." she said becoming all business suddenly. "I am tracking someone."
"Let me guess, you think that someone will be at Jon's party."
"Got it in one, but there is one problem..."
"You weren't invited." I said and she nodded. "I guess I could put in a good word for you. But what's in it for me?"
