Chapter 19

Thaum closed his eyes for a moment to think. He identified what he needed from the wreckage. Formulated a spell and cast it. A small fay creature made of light popped into existence, causing both girls to jump in surprise. It flew through the hull to collect the supplies.

Thaum snapped a finger in front of their faces, "While I'm getting the ship moving, you two search the contact list I got from the arms dealer. I want someone with a decent ship nearby."

"what for," Alice asked.

Thaum left to work, saying, "Questions later." He would explain, but it just seemed like too much of a bother, and Alice would probably turn it into 20 questions if she got the chance. Time was valuable; they could talk once everything was moving again.

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Several hours later, they were moving again in a new direction. The thruster was still missing because nanites can only repair damaged parts. Thaum was confused why they couldn't 3d print the parts because that's essentially how they repaired things. Ellora had told him the manufacturers prevent the nanites from creating new things for several reasons. They all came down to galactic security, and Thaum wondered how much the manufacturers paid the nanite creators or the politicians for that to become the norm.

It would take days for the small replicator on board to create the parts and longer for a skilled engineer to put it all together and install it. Most of the problems came from the jerry-rigged nature of the ship. Nothing was to the manufacturer's specs anymore; everything was a clusterfuck of integrated and cobbled-together systems. None of which were designed to work well together. The whole thing was a bundle of printers that, by some miracle, worked at the moment.

The good news was they found a smuggler's base from the arms dealers' contacts nearby. Two days or so, and they will have an entirely new ship. One designed for stealth which fit their needs more than their current ship, and hopefully a new contact list for places to refuel. The smugglers were getting fuel from somewhere; soon, they would be too.

The lack of current problems became the new problem for Thaum. He had shown magic right in their faces, he had hidden it from Ellora's mining crew for a short time, and Thaum was already tired of it. He wasn't going to spend the effort to keep it from his own crew, so he didn't. Alice had known on some level, but explanations had to come soon, or the million and one questions would, or worse, the skulking around like he was a puzzle to be solved. Thaum sighed, 'might as well get it over with.'

Thaum set them down in his bed. He smirked, laid down between them, and pulled them on top of him, Alice squeaked and looked ready to say something, but Thaum said, "So about the magic thing." which shut any protest down.

He rubbed circles on their backs and said, "I don't want a million questions. So here it is, I can do magic. Yes, that means teleporting around or what looks like it. Creating barriers, elemental explosions, etc., etc." Ellora took in a sharp breath and blinked owlishly. Thaum continued, "So before you ask, yes, I can do it, it being anything. However, there are time and effort constraints. Some amazing things are easy with magic, and some simple things are near impossible.

Alice hadn't opted to move off of him. She was gazing with a slightly open mouth which widened when he flicked his wrist and sent out a light show of etherial butterflies.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Thaum continued, "This how I get things done, how I am a 'ghost.'" he chuckled at Ellora. "This, however, changes nothing. You are either with me or not. If you choose to walk away, you will keep my secrets, or I will hunt you down. Any questions, scratch that. You have three questions."

Alice sat up, "you created the Appolimus, didn't you."

Thaum chuckled, "Yes, but how did you figure it out."

Alice smirked, "you just confirmed it. You just happened to find one of the largest stashes of one of the rarest materials in existence, and you have magic. Either you used magic to find it or magic to make it."

Thaum pulled her back down with a new look of appreciation for the woman, "Then it was an excellent question, two more to go."

Ellora tried to prop herself up on her elbow, but that arm was missing again. Instead, she ended up nested deeper into Thaum's one-armed hug, "My ancestors could supposedly use magic, nothing like this, but they could affect effect the moods of people and supposedly even read minds."

Thaum shrugged, "unsurprising, you are slightly empathic."

"Really!" Ellroa jumped up.

Thaum let her down gently, "I said slightly. I would probably be the only person who would notice because I find it difficult to turn off my own empathic powers around you."

Alice scowled, "There is no way you can read emotions and still be such as ass most of the time."

Thaum smiled, "it's a gift."

Ellora snuggled up to him and ran a hand up his chest, "Can you teach me."

Thaum growled, then suddenly shifted sideways and kicked her out of the bed, "what did I say about trying to manipulate me, This is my only warning to you. Ask."

Startled, Ellora took a moment to sit up and say, "Please teach me."

Thaum glowered, "First, the politeness wasn't the issue. Trying to weaponize your sexuality against me was. Second, when I say slight, I mean slight, you will have a natural talent for the mind arts, but you will still be starting from scratch like everyone else. Third I do not teach my skills lightly, especially mind-affecting abilities considering how seriously I treat manipulation. If, and I mean IF, I train you in magic, it will be after you have earnt it."

The room remained silent for several minutes. Alice, deep in thought, quietly asked, "Why us? If you are so 'amazing,' why us?"

Thaum let out a heavy breath, "I'll take that as the third question, then we sleep. Ellora will sleep in the cockpit in zero-g." Both women openly gaped at him. The woman was sent to the proverbial couch.

Thaum didn't care and continued, "First, I needed people. I'm old enough to know that even if I can do everything alone, I'm still only one person and need help. Makes things easier. I can get more done and all that. Then there is the question of qualifications, do you deserve to stand at my side? No, no one does, and no one ever will. I could go out and get the best the Galaxy offers, but being the best is a position of power, which comes with enemies and worse drama. You were selected because you were there, good enough, and didn't have baggage... Now go to bed."

Alice was about to ask another question but stopped; That was the third question, and trying Thaum's patience was unwise, especially when he was in a mood. Ellora slumped out of the room, and Alice slipped under the sheets and rolled over. Thaum glanced at her and shifted to his side, facing away from her. It took Alice a long time to fall asleep.

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Several days later.

Things were beginning to go back to normal. The strange glances had stopped along with the questions, which he ignored.

Thaum was piloting the ship. Ellora was seated behind him to the left, and Alice to the right on her console. Alice said, "We will be in range of the base's sensors soon. We might want to wait for confirmation the ship is there before getting closer."

Thaum replied, "No need, I've already made the ship invisible. It will only last a few hours, but that is more than enough time."

Ellora smirked, "So we finally see what you can do with magic."

Thaum sighed, "It's been three days."

Ellroa said, "You learn about magic, like actual magic, and then have the person that told you about it refuse to show it to you and see how patient you are."

"I'm not your entertainer."

Thaums ship drifted towards the station. The engines were turned off in case they left a detectable trail beyond the stealth spell. Alice tapped her console and exclaimed, "The information was right, the night runner is there."

On-screen, a small ship, corvet class, but only if you include its oversized engines. The ship was long and thin with quad main thrusters. This ship was designed to outrun everyone in a straight line. Thaum thought there wasn't enough cargo space for a smuggler's ship, but he guessed that these people had yet to form the relationships necessary to pass the borders "without inspection," so they relied on speed.

This ship will suit him well. Thaum hummed in thought. In a moment, he had a plan.