The Eternal Wanderer's voyage from Realmspace to Greyspace was relativly quiet, with only the occasional mishap and explosion from Zebart to worry about. Onestar, Hall and Pascal passed the voyage by planning their next mission. First things first, however. Greyspace was a stopover. Their next destination was Krynn, to see what happened to Hall's wife.
The ship was about three days out of Greyspace when the black speck of the sphere could be seen. The lookout spotted it on Alpha shift, while Hall was on the helm. Onestar was with him in the helmroom when it was spotted.
[I see it,] Hall said, his voice slightly distorted by being on the helm. [Yet another black pearl in all this mess.]
"When we arrive on The Spectre," Onestar began, "I suggest we take the shuttle to our private dock. We've got to hit the treasure hoard to recruit a salvage mission."
[I wonder if anyone knows of the Dragon's Cave,] Hall thought aloud. It was that cave that Hall and Onestar discovered quite by accident four years ago, where a samurai and a bard would kill a Great Wyrm Red Dragon. Alone.
It was also that cave, a treasure trove beyond measure, that financed their purchase of the Eternal Wanderer.
"I doubt it," Onestar answered. "After all, we found it by sheer luck, and the metal in my armor."
Hall just nodded. Onestar's Banded Mail armor was compised of a rare element called Tonaltalium, one which had some unique properties. It was most useful for psionicists: The metal actually made their mental abilities stronger. It also seemed to open a portal in space, one which led to an extra-planar cave and a sleeping dragon.
[Since Tonaltalium is found on only one planet in the known spheres, I can see what you mean. Have you ever given any thought to going back to Omnispace?]
Onestar looked out a portal. "None. My life there is over. I am no longer the man from Sphereworld. No longer the orphan who woke up on Omni Prime, with only vague memories of who I was and what I did. That no longer interests me."
Hall once again nodded, and the pair went silent.
Greyspace's Crystal Shell loomed before them, larger than anything. It even seemed to blot out the phlogiston behind them. When it comes to spheres, Greyspace is one of the biggest.
Crystal was on the helm, while the senior officers were up on deck. Onestar looked over to Hall and nodded. Hall picked up a speaking tube and spoke some orders.
"Open the Spherewall!"
From the bow of the ship, a burst of bright light poured out. With no sound, the wall of the sphere shimmered and parted, revealing pinpoints of light within. In the distance was a world, no bigger than the tip of a mage's wand. Once the shell wall stabilized, the hammership entered.
"Get proximity readings and location estimates," Pascal said. "See how far out we are from The Spectre."
"Aye."
"Gentlemen," Onestar began, "This is merely a cargo pick-up and delivery point only. There is no shore leave, inform your departments that if they need any materials from The Spectre, inform either Pascal, Ville or Phantom. You three will be the landing party, along with Zebart."
"What about you and Hall, Captain?"
"We have some business to attend to elsewhere in the sphere, Phantom," Hall answered. "We'll be taking the shuttle out once we determine our location."
"That seems to be coming in now," Pascal said. "Let me go check."
"Phantom," Onestar answered, "I want you to take Zebart with you. If you can, lose him somewhere on The Spectre."
"Captain, are you sure? The Neogi are all around there. He'll be picked up and taken to any one of a number of slave ships."
"And when that happens, the Neogi empire will fall," Onestar replied. "Do what you can."
"Aye, aye, sir."
Pascal returned to the group. "Telemetry places very close to The Spectre. It is about fifteen days from our current position."
"Very well. Hall and I will be leaving at the beginning of the next shift. Pascal, you have the ship until we return. We will rendevouz with you at The Spectre in twenty days."
"Of course, Onestar." Pascal nodded.
"Very well. Let's be off, then."
The shuttle (actually a modified wreckboat equiped with a minor ki helm) began to fade into the dark eternal night of Greyspace. Once out of range, Pascal ordered the ship to resume spelljamming speed and proceed toward The Spectre.
Pascal was on the bridge, Ville beside him as acting First Officer. It was rare for both Onestar and Hall to be away from the ship, but no one questioned their orders. The pair trusted Pascal and the crew with the ship; and the trust was returned tenfold.
Li was checking through the charts, verifying their position and telling Crystal to change course slightly through a speaking tube. Phantom was below, making everything ready for their arrival on Spectre.
"A simple cargo drop off and pick up," Ville commented to no one in particular. "When it involves the Spectre, nothing is simple. I was there once before. Almost didn't leave in one piece. Group of Illithids almost made me part of their crew. If it wasn't for Hall, I'd be some stinking Mind Flayer's dinner." Ville suddenly stopped, looked around and saw Estress standing near the doorway.
"Present company excluded," Ville commented.
**No offense taken,** Estress said, bowing as the words formed in Ville's mind. His next comment could be heard by the other on the bridge. **I am still an illithid, and I still enjoy the taste of a brain now and then. Human brains especially. They have a taste that cannot be compared.**
The rest of the bridge crew suddenly felt a cold chill run down their spines.
**A joke. Forgive me.** Everyone then 'heard' the rough equivalent of laughter. Most of the tension in the room was lifted. Most.
**What exactly is the cargo we are delivering?** Estress asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Captain Onestar made arrangments for us to drop off some Vallenwood from Toril here in Greyspace. Reportedly, there is someone who is willing to pay 100,000 GP for our cargo.
**Impressive,** Estress replied.
"We're then picking up some spices from someplace called the "Kessel Mines" and transporting them to Krynn. The spices are rare and cannot be transported via interdimensional travel. Supposedly, it ruins the taste."
"Also, Hall wants us to hire some mercs," Ville added. "He wants to send out some of the crew in a tug ship to tow the Dreadnought back here to Greyspace. Onestar and Hall went off to ready their "secret base" for repairs, I guess. I find it hard to believe that there are things as big as a base that can be hidded in Wildspace."
There are many things seen and unseen in the night. Simply because you cannot see it with your eyes, does not mean it is there.
"PLANET HO!" A voice bellowed from above breaking the moment of silence. Pascal went over to the port and looked outside.
"There's the Spectre," he said, making a few mental computations. "We should be in orbit in a few hours."
Blaise Pascal looked ahead at the flat diskworld known as the Spectre. Two viperships were guiding the hammership to a landing at one of the two human settlements on the planet below. It had taken them twelve days to travel from the sphere wall to the flat world, which was three days less than the arcane had predicted. Favorable travel conditions and cunning navigation tactics had shaved three days off the trip. Pascal counted his good fortune and looked back on the ship. The crew was jumpy, which is common after a trip through the flow. Since Hall and Onestar were not due back for eight days, some shore leave was possible after all. Mind you, the Spectre isn't exactly a great place to visit, put it would make for a good change of scenery.
Without warning, someone called from the crow's next: "Squid at five o'clock low, and she's hailing us!"
Pascal picked up his scope and looked at the ship behind them. Another vipership had arrived to guide the squidship, which was slowly pulling along side the hammership. The squid was painted light blue with aquamarine and silver highlights. The sails were made of a semi-transparent, gossamer material, which made the ship appear graceful, if not fragile. His trained eyes also noticed metal ribbing along the hull of the ship, and the piercing ram had been tipped with a thick, copper point. This ship looked fragile, but it was still a squidship: one of the most versatile and dangerous ships available.
Pascal looked at the markings. One of them looked like two dragons, red and gold, in a circular formation which looked vaguely like the yin/yang symbol. He had seen this symbol before, be he couldn't remember exactly where. Some of the pennants on the ship's flags looked like personal blazons. Two of them were very pronounced—the owner's of the ship most likely. The hailing continued.
"Phantom, take the bridge. I'm going to the hailing crystal," the arcane said.
"Aye sir!" Phantom replied.
A few minutes later, Pascal was in the helm room, using his magic to activate the hailing crystal. The image of a stunning human woman with flowing reddish brown hair and piercing green eyes appeared on the crystal. Her attire suggested a wizard; perhaps a cleric.
"I am Blaise Pascal, second officer of the Eternal Wanderer, how may we be of service?" he asked.
The image in the crystal replied: "I am Tiegorus of Maplegrove, captain and owner of the Calla Maraine. Are your captain and first officer present? I have urgent information for both of them."
Tiegorus of Maplegrove... Now Pascal remembered the dragon symbol. It was the symbol of the Nimar, an order of wizards that prevented Cartania from its own destruction, but were banished in the process. Of all the wizards in Solaris, this woman was the closest one to re-claim the title of "Nimar."
"They are both away on business, but we are supposed to meet them here, in eight days time," Pascal said.
The woman quietly spoke to someone to her left; someone not visible in the crystal.
"Very well. We will remain here until they arrive. Some rest will be good for us." She paused. "By the way, how is Hall?"
Pascal paused for a minute, surprised to hear such a question. "He has been a bit on edge for the last several weeks, but otherwise he's fine, why?"
"We used to adventure together. We have some catching up to do. Sadly, this rendez-vous is not a social call," Tiegorus said.
"Understood. We will meet you on the docks. I look forward to meeting you in person, Lady Tiegorus. Your reputation precedes you."
The woman blushed and nodded her head respectfully. "We'll meet you on the docks. Calla Maraine out."
At that the image faded out, and the crystal turned a smoky-white.
Interesting, Pascal thought. What could be so important that this ship would go to so much trouble to seek us out? He was still thinking on this when the first waves of icy water bit the underside of the hammership.
Meanwhile, in one of the many dirty, seedy, grungy taverns that populate The Spectre's main port, something stirred. In a corner, darkened and hidden, there was a glint of light as a candle from the other side of the room caught metal.
It flickered to life for a second, only to disappear. Whatever it was, it had left, moving silently for its size.
