“You don't know how much I appreciate that it really is a hard choice for you.” I said and put my arm over Luxea's shoulder and we left the cargo area. I led Luxea to the cockpit and Rubin turned to look at me, then he jumped to his feet and grabbed my shoulders.
“What the hell did that bitch Kara do to you?” Rhubin practically yelled into my face.
“Huh? What?” I was too surprised by the outburst to understand what he meant.
“Hunter! You look twenty years older than when you left!” Rhubin exclaimed. “Did she burn through your Presence or something? How do you feel? Are you okay?”
Luxea had been shocked as well by Rhubin's outburst and now she looked at me with the same discerning eye. “Good lord.” She whispered. “I didn't even notice.” She said and reached up with both hands. “Give me the blast shield.”
I held in my sigh and absorbed the Presence holding the blast shield in place, and both of them gasped when she took it from my face. “I was hoping it wouldn't be that noticable.” I said as they stared at the subtle lines at the corners of my eyes and a few more creases on my cheeks and forehead.
“You're grown up now.” Rhubin said. “You were just barely a man who turned seventeen and you still had some baby fat on you. Now, your chin is more chiselled, your cheeks are slimmer, and your hair is thicker.” He shook his head. “I don't know what happened to you, but... damn! That's some crazy Order voodoo magic if they can make someone age twenty years in only a few hours!”
I wasn't gone for just the time I was on the planet hunting (Undecipherable), Rhubin. I thought. I've been gone for centuries. I couldn't tell them that right now, though. “It's a long story, and I'll tell you both everything after I meet with The Order.”
“Hunter, what if they imprison you?” Luxea asked. “What if...”
I reached out and touched her hair and looked into her eyes. “I'll worry about that if it happens. Until then, we've got three days, assuming Rhubin can restrain himself and keep pace with The Order ship that's escorting us.”
“That's... going to be difficult.” Rhubin said with a smile. “I'll do my best.”
I chuckled. “Just get the way points from the other pilot and we can jump to each system and wait for them.”
“Now that sounds like a better plan!” Rhubin said and sat down and called the other ship.
He still likes to show off his piloting skills when he can. I thought, then shook my head mentally. No, not still, he does. Come on, Hunter. This is now. This is now.
Luxea and I stood there and listened to Rhubin and the other pilot exchange information, then both ships moved out to the Lagrange point before we jumped into hyperspace.
“I'm going to take a shower.” I said and made Luxea's decision on what to do first. She didn't hesitate as she followed me out of the cockpit and we went to my room. Look at this place. I thought. It's like I never left. I glanced at Luxea. Of course, thanks to the unsummoning ritual, technically I didn't.
Even my head would start to hurt if I thought about it too much. Leaving and spending hundreds of years somewhere else and then coming right back to the point where I left, just seems like an impossibility. Of course, with my recent experience visiting Earth, I knew it was possible.
“Hunter? What's this?” Luxea asked as her hand touched my hair to untie it and her arm grazed the extra hair I had that was hidden.
“It's part of the story I'll tell you later.” I said and absorbed the Presence disguising it.
“Oh... dear lord...” Luxea whispered at the sight of all my hair.
“You might need to stand back when you untie it.” I warned her, and she chuckled and started to undo the ties holding it all in place. It flopped down and covered her like a curtain and she hugged it and took several deep breaths as she pressed her face against it.
“H-Hunter, why do I have the feeling that I've missed this?” Luxea asked, a little confused. “I feel like I haven't done this in forever and it was only yesterday that we were asleep in bed together!”
“That's a little difficult to explain, especially since I can't tell you why until I tell you all of it.” I said and turned to her. My hair was long enough now that she could hold onto it and I could turn around without pulling on it. “I can't tell you yet, in case you get called as witnesses.”
“It's that big of a secret?” Luxea asked.
“Assuming Kara doesn't tell them, yes.” I said. “She might not think it's a secret to keep, though.”
“And... and you're going to tell us...”
“...after meeting with The Order.” I said and walked over to the closet and hung my uniform up. It was still fully charged and I hadn't used its powered function in a long time. I hadn't aired it out in a few days, though. “Even if they do sentence me to prison or mining at one of their crystal mines, I'll ask for a delay and tell you everything.”
Luxea had followed me so she could keep hugging my hair. “You can't say anything now because it might affect what we say if we're questioned?”
I nodded. “It will completely divert them from the case if they focus on the secret.”
“Then do that!” Luxea said. “If you feel them trying to railroad you, then...”
I chuckled. “That might happen anyway; but, they'll know I'll be doing it on purpose if I do.”
“Hunter, I don't want to lose you.” Luxea said. “I... you...”
“Yeah.” I said and turned to her. “I can feel something between us.” I said and slowly pulled my long hair out of her arms and took its place with my naked body. “The roots are there and we can cultivate it and make it grow.”
Luxea stared into my eyes and I could feel her trying to make sense of me.
“Sometimes it's better to just accept things without question for a little while.” I said and started to undress her. I let my hands wander and her eyes widened as I took liberties with her that I never did before. A gentle caress here, a slight grab there, and by the time I was done and she was naked in front of me, the moisture between her legs dripped onto the floor.
“Is this really happening?” Luxea asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I did promise you that I would be doing a lot more than hugging you when I came back to the ship.”
Luxea licked her lips and plumped them up a little. The small blush she showed flowed over her face, down her neck, and slightly colored her breasts. She was both unsure if she wanted it right now and positive that she wanted it right now.
“The shower can wait.” I whispered to her and took her to the bed.
“H-Hunter.” Luxea whispered back. “Ever since I met you on the long haul transport, I... when all we did was brush each other's hair and...” She took a breath and let it out. “I've wanted this.”
“No, you didn't.” I said and she raised her eyebrows. “At the time you wanted to have sex, and it could have been good; but, I had no experience at all. You wouldn't have had as much fun as you thought you would.” I brought Presence to my hand and touched her neck, then I slid my hand down over her breast and across her abdomen.
“Oh.... oooohhhh....” Luxea moaned and writhed under my hand as I let my Presence touch her own. I leaned down and kissed her as my hand slid between her legs. It didn't take her long to beg for me to put something else there.
Rhubin had to eat his meals alone for the next three days.
We arrived at The Order's home planet and both my ship and Kara's parked in orbit. I was dressed in a set of normal Order clothes and Apprentice robes under the big bulky space suit. I hopped across the distance to the shuttle and boarded, then the shuttle flew down to the planet. The pilot thanked me for returning the suit and I stored it properly after checking it with the proper maintenance protocols.
I had to almost completely cut myself off from sensing things, because I knew that if anyone from The Order felt how much I could actually sense, my attempt to cover up what had happened to me would be all for naught. I wasn't going to give the game up so soon.
“Did you tell them what happened?” Kara asked me as the shuttle came in for a landing.
“No.” I said and she looked at me with surprise. “I'll tell Luxea and Rhubin all of it after this meeting.”
“Hunter, you won't be leaving after the meeting.” Kara said. “Neither of us will.”
I didn't say anything and the hatch opened and the ramp extended. Kara gave me one more glance and then she walked ahead. I let her get half a step ahead of me and matched her stride perfectly. There were a dozen Order members and a platoon of troops waiting for us. I almost laughed out loud at the overreaction. We were stopped at the bottom of the ramp and Kara was relieved of her Light sword. When they checked me, I didn't have one and they asked what happened to them.
“I lost the three of them in battle.” I said. “My personal one and the two that had previously been owned by my parents.”
Kara turned and looked at my face. 'Really?' She asked with just her mouth moving. I nodded slightly and she turned back to the man checking me. He took out a small device and ran it over me. I saw it failed to detect any focusing crystals and he nodded to The Order members waiting for us.
“This way.” One of the men in robes said and everyone turned towards the building.
“We have been here before.” Kara said, a little annoyance in her voice. “I was even on the council.”
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The man twitched and kept walking. “You were suspended, pending review.”
“Not by you, surely. You aren't qualified.” Kara countered expertly.
The man twitched again and walked a little faster. I let out a very low chuckle and let the Presence carry it only to Kara's ear. She glanced at me and saw my smile. She let a smile show on her face for a moment, then she wiped it away and faced forward. We were led all the way back to the council chamber and things had changed a little since I had left. Everything had been reinforced and I saw constant patrols by Order members and troops alike. The doors opened and I saw the council again, in their eyes, for the first time since over a year ago.
I burst out laughing when I saw the not-fuzzy-anymore alien that I had arranged to have shaved. “It still hasn't grown back?!?”
“SHUT UP!” The alien yelled loudly. “It takes decades to grow Gruskluan hair!”
I brought my mirth under control and saw that a few of the council members shared my view of it being funny. “Please accept my apologies.” I ducked my head. “I honestly didn't know that.”
“So you admit it!” The Gruskluan exclaimed.
“Yes, I admit my ignorance. I did not know it would take that long to grow back.” I said and the alien grit its teeth. One of the women on the council had to cover her mouth to stop her laugh.
“Take the proper positions.” One of the other council members said and Kara and I walked to the center of the chamber. It was the middle of a circle carved into the floor and after a short humming sound, we were covered in a dome-shaped security field to stop us from leaving or using Presence.
“This is new.” I said and looked at it.
“Take that ridiculous thing off your face.” The Gruskluan said.
“But I like it.” I said and tapped my blast shield. “It's come in handy quite a few times.”
“Master Moor.” One of the other council members said with much more respect.
“Hunter, please remove it.” Kara said.
I absorbed the Presence and slipped it off, and a few people caught their breath. Both males and females. I tucked the blast shield into my robes and waited for their reactions to run their course.
“There are a few... inconsistencies in your reports, Master Moor.” Another council member said. “Would you care to explain...”
I stood there and tuned out pretty much everything and looked around. If I hadn't been severely handicapping myself at the moment, I would have been able to see where The Wise One was. I knew Lashina wasn't there, because she was still off-planet on her tour for The Order. I gave up staring at the hidden door after a few minutes and just stood there and didn't say anything.
“Apprentice Ullir.” The Gruskluan said, his voice just below the point of yelling. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“About what?” I asked and saw his flesh grow pink in anger.
“Weren't you paying attention to the charges being laid against you?” He spat.
“No.” I said honestly and the woman off to the side let out a bark of laughter and turned her head away to try and hide her face.
“I will not suffer insolence inside the council chamber!” The Gruskluan said.
“Perhaps if you would stop being so insufferably angry at everyone, people would give your words the weight they should have, instead of everyone having to avoid talking to you.” I said and he glared at me. “Plus, I wasn't being insolent. I was just not paying attention to your blustering. It's quite wearing on the nerves and the ears, to be honest.”
The not-fuzzy-anymore alien stood and pointed a finger at me. “I hereby...”
“I humbly request an impartial judge, or at least one who is willing to actually listen.” I interrupted him. “I know my reputation here is lacking and I have done this on purpose. I made myself an annoyance to ensure that you would be glad to be rid of me when I came of age. I had not suspected that you wanted me dead if I didn't join you.”
Complete silence met my words and not one person felt the Presence waver.
“I suspect that one is responsible for those orders.” I pointed to the Gruskluan. “A simple prank drove him practically to madness. His mind is so close to being consumed by his anger, I'm having a hard time being in the same room with him.”
No one said anything and I looked at their faces.
“So, you were all too afraid to say that to his face? Too afraid to tell him he's being unreasonable?” I asked and several of them sighed. “Where is The Wise One?”
“On sabbatical.” One of the other council members said. “He apparently had a vision that...” The man stopped talking. “He will be busy for a while.”
“Well, that's convenient, isn't it?” I asked. “Both of the people that profess tolerance and gentle words, Master Lashina Oleneth and The Wise One, are conspicuously absent from this trial.”
“They are too lenient when it comes to you!” The Gruskluan said. “If they had used a firmer hand on you while you were growing up, you could have made a proper Order member!”
“You are really delusional.” I said and smiled. “If you had used a firmer hand, besides already giving me several compulsions that went against The Order's code of honor and their precepts, do you really think I wouldn't react appropriately?”
The council members looked uncomfortable at my words.
“Yeah, you see it now, right?” I asked them. “None of you high and mighty people stopped them from trying to brainwash me against my will.” I said. “How many children that are currently Order members weren't given the honest choice of leaving or joining when they came of age? How many joined without question after your 'training'?” I looked at all of their faces and knew the answer. “Ha. All of them. Ha ha ha!”
My laugh reverberated throughout the chamber and then it died off as if it never happened.
“Until I came along.” I said in a serious tone. “Wow, what a surprise I must have been to your nice and orderly slave factory.” I smiled. “A voice of dissension. Someone that didn't agree with being taken and indoctrinated into an organization that murders people that disagrees with it, because they believe that their Order requires strict obedience to their rules and regulations.”
No one responded, and I didn't expect them to.
“As for the charges against me, murder and what have you, the original crime was a reaction to someone I loved being killed in front of my eyes. I lost control of my emotions and killed her killers.”
“So you admit it.” The Gruskluan said.
“I admit that it happened.” I said and then smiled. “It's actually your fault.”
“EXCUSE ME?” He yelled.
“You illegally declared me a rogue of your organization, even though I am NOT a part of that organization, and she was killed because she associated with me.” I said and one of the woman on the council gasped. “Yes, it was The Order's fault. Your actions precipitated the situation and people died because of it. One innocent life and three very guilty ones.”
“Those aren't the only people you killed.” The Gruskluan spat.
“Of course not.” I said. “I'm not on trial for any of them, though.”
“Yes, you are.” One of the others said.
“Why?” I asked. “A lot of them were your bounties.”
“We... are not counting them.”
“Oh, well that's good.” I said and reached into my robes and pulled out the sack I had saved for them. “Here's (Undecipherable)'s head.” I opened the bag and dropped the head to the floor. To my surprise and delight, it flipped over and landed neck first against the floor with a plop and stuck there. The burned through eye holes and several missing horns were quite the sight for the council members.
“No!” The Gruskluan exclaimed and everyone felt his remorse.
“Oh. That's why you sent me after him.” I said and everyone looked at me. “You believed he was going to kill me.”
“Yes!” The alien spat. “Do you know how long I worked with him to...”
I formed a blue Presence Hand behind him and grabbed his neck and snapped it. It didn't kill him because his biology was different, so I formed another Presence Hand. I grabbed his light sword and attuned the focusing crystal to myself, then struck him down with it and cut off his head. Everyone was stunned at the sudden turn of events and stared at the pieces of body that fell to the floor. I turned off the Light sword, wiped my Presence from it, and dropped it.
“WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!?” One of the women yelled as she finally came to her senses.
“The bounty was to bring back the head of those responsible for the theft of the items from The Order.” I said and pointed. “Here is (Undecipherable)'s head and there is his collaborator's head.” I pointed to the Gruskluan. “I had been wondering how someone lower than the council could gain access to The Order's archives for evidence and confidential information.”
We had a datapad that Luxea had made with all of the pirate's data that she had recovered from their ship and I produced it from my robes and held it up.
“With all the restrictions you have in place for people having access to this kind of information, I knew it had to be someone important to give out The Order's shipping routes, base locations, both actual and hidden, and ship inventories, etcetera, etcetera.” I said. “Not to mention that pretty much every ship registers their goods and shipping routes at Order facilities all over, to ensure that there's a record of their passing.”
“How did you get that?” One of the others asked.
“From (Undecipherable)'s pirate cargo ship.” I said and placed the datapad on top of the severed head at my feet. “This proof should satisfy the bounty requirements and plug the hole you had in your information network.” I looked at their disbelieving faces. “You might also want to check over all the people the Gruskluan has given orders to, just in case.” I said. “When you pay Lashina the bounty for this, you should have her check over anyone that was involved as well.”
“You're really giving her all those credits?” The woman who had yelled before asked.
“I gave my word that I would.” I said and looked at her face and then at the other nine. The council was now down two members, Kara and the not-fuzzy-anymore alien. “So, who will take over my case?”
One of the men stood. “I will.” He said. “You do realize you just killed a member of The Order council.”
“Actually, I just killed a rogue.” I said and the Presence didn't waver. “Once the Gruskluan admitted that he's been working with (Undecipherable), not used to work with, he was automatically a rogue. Unlike me, he was a member of The Order and broke a lot of your laws.”
“You broke the law, too.” The man said.
“Which one?” I asked. “As far as I can recall, I am still not a member of your organization. In fact, you still haven't given me my coming of age ceremony.” I smiled. “Guess what? I'm still a minor according to your laws. You can't hold me accountable for anything you might perceive as a crime.”
“Your guardian can be.” The man said.
“You took her from me long before any such supposed crimes had been committed.” I said.
“Your master is standing right there.” The man said and pointed to Kara. “She assumed responsibility for you.”
“Once again, I have to refute your response. She has not been, nor has she ever been, my master.” I said and the Presence didn't waver.
Kara's face became red and I put my hand on her shoulder.
“However, she agreed to come here to stand at my side, as the honorable person she is, to support me in my time of need.” I said. “Since I have committed no crimes under your jurisdiction, she is only here for moral support.”
The man looked like he was chewing glass. “You seem to have an answer for everything.”
“Of course I do.” I said with a smile. “Don't all children believe they know everything?”
“You attacked this council.” The man said.
“A child's tantrum after not getting his way.” I said and looked at the scaly alien. “I'm glad your arm grew back.”
“Where is my focusing crystal?” The scaly alien asked, his voice neither angry nor sad.
“It was old and weak; but, it was still useful.” I said. “You should be happy to know that I used it to remove (Undecipherable)'s twisted apprentice from the universe and it was destroyed.”
The scaly alien waited for a moment to feel the Presence, then he gave me a slight nod.
“So, is that it?” I asked.
“You stole a shuttle.” The man said.
“The beheaded alien said I could take it. He never said I had to return it.”
“I'm saying it.”
“Actually, since the not-fuzzy-anymore alien was in charge at the time, his order for it to be mine is what I'm going with.” I said with a smile. “I assumed it was a coming of age gift.”
“You will return the shuttle.” The man said. “We cannot let you keep it. It's worth...”
“Hundreds of thousands of credits. I know.” I said and chuckled. “All right. I'll have it prepped and remote piloted down.”
“The pilot as well.” The man said.
“Actually, he was contracted under The Order and is not a member. His contract ended about six months ago. Since he was still under orders by this council to accompany me and fly me where I needed to go, he didn't abandon his post and can't be charged with anything. He stayed as the shuttle pilot through a lot of happenings and fulfilled his mission.” I took out another datapad. “Here is all the relevant paperwork and the proof that we didn't use any of The Order's supplies that we didn't immediately replace, and we never stopped at any reloading station to take advantage of The Order's generosity.”
“He really does have an answer for everything.” The woman near the end of the table whispered.
“The guard's weapons...” The man started to say.
I took out both the rifle and the laser pistol and laid them on the floor. “They are fully charged and haven't been used once.” I said. “A few things happened and I never got the chance to use them.”
“Yes, we saw the reports.” The man said. “Are you really going to stand there in front of us and say that you're not guilty?”
“When did any of you ask me if I was guilty or not?” I looked at their startled faces. “Hey, are you finally understanding it now?” I asked. “You all assumed I was and all you've been trying to do is prove it. Even though a lot of you are natural lie detectors.”
Once again, they all looked uncomfortable.
“Now you're starting to see how blind you people are. It's unfortunate that all of this had to happen for that realization to sink in.” I waved at the two heads on the floor. “So, can I go now?”
“Are you guilty?” The woman near the end asked.
“Guilty of what?” I asked in return. “Unless you're specific, if I say no, it would be a lie.”
The woman had to think about it for a few moments. “Are you guilty of...”
“No.” I said and she caught her breath when the Presence didn't waver even slightly. She looked at the other council members for several minutes and no one said anything.
The man now in charge of my case sighed. “You are free to go.”