Violet Hunter paced across the campus
toward the Grand Masters’ black tower, which stood in stark contrast to the
airy glass-fronted buildings of the Space Academy. The black marble facade of
the Council Hall was unbroken by windows and reflected the gray overcast sky.
She shuddered at the ominous symbol of the power wielded by the Grand Masters.
The massive iron gates at the entrance
prevented casual visitors. The candidates filled the flagstone plaza in front
of the gates, anxious about the interview by the Grand Masters. Many candidates
had arrived early, although the gates were not due to open for another thirty
minutes. They stood around in quiet groups, or wandered restlessly through the
plaza. Violet scanned the plaza and saw none of her close friends.
A cool breeze stirred through the plaza.
Violet shivered and tuned out the swirl of emotions from the surrounding
people. Her sensitive mind needed a protective shield. She reflected on the
past two weeks with her own mixture of sentiments. Her graduation ceremony a
week ago was not the happy triumph she had envisioned. Her joy at seeing her
mother for a few days was tempered by her mother’s discomfort. Silvia rarely
left her flower-filled gardens on the quiet planet of Cirrus-beta, although her
daughter’s graduation was a special event. The Space Academy brought back
memories of Violet’s father, who had died before she was three years old.
Silvia was distressed to the point of tears by every familiar sight in the
Academy grounds, and Violet dared not talk about her father. Her mother had
returned to her secluded gardens immediately after the graduation, still
unaware of Violet’s plan to become a Grand Master’s pawn. And then, three days
ago, Violet was elated by the notice of acceptance as one of the hundred
eligible candidates.
Staring at the other students, Violet wondered
what else she could do to improve the chance of success. The Grand Masters
selected only handful of pawns from the hundred candidates. Despite the odds,
Mother Tingu had been confident that Violet would be chosen. After ten years of
lessons to control her empathic talent, she trusted Tingu.
A familiar hostile mind loomed closer
through the expectant crowd and Violet automatically strengthened her mental
block. Big, blond Marius Krupp shoved past her with a loud taunt, “Violet, the
midget candidate! You’re no beauty with that silly mark on your face! What
Grand Master would want you?” He snickered and swaggered away to join his
cronies in a noisy group of toughs.
Violet glared at his retreating back and
shook off his disruptive influence. It was true that she was smaller than the
majority of the candidates, and she had few pretensions to beauty. Her large
green eyes were her best feature, while the star-shaped birthmark on her
forehead was inherited from her mother.
She sensed her friend, Srinivasan,
approach from behind. He remarked quietly, “Don’t worry about your height,
Violet. Marius is foolish to antagonize you. I’ve seen you trounce larger men
than him.”
Srini’s slender physique was deceptive,
concealing his ability to fight. Moreover, he was a genius at mathematics and
deciphering esoteric languages. He had coauthored the initial paper
interpreting the ancient symbols carved on the rock faces of the planet Aman-el. Violet believed he
was a prime candidate for selection as a pawn.
“I don’t suppose the Grand Masters care about
the height or looks of their pawns,” she reflected with a wry grin. “Although,
it is a mystery to me how they select their pawns.”
Srini nodded amiably and his black eyes
gleamed. “Let me enlighten you! I’ve analyzed the Grand Masters’ selections
over the past twenty years. Statistically, the candidates with the top academic
qualifications are the most likely to become pawns. So, our chances are
excellent, Violet. Both of us achieved the highest honors in our major subjects.”
“I’m glad to hear your conclusions.” Violet
glanced at the massive gates, “I wish the gates would open. It is several
minutes past the scheduled time.” She sensed the level of anxiety ratchet up
among the candidates as they watched the iron gates. Voices were raised in
complaints at the delay.
She reflected on her achievements in the past
few years. Violet
had won a scholarship to the elite Space Academy on Terra. After the requisite
four years of coursework, her qualifications were excellent for a Grand
Master’s pawn. She had graduated in the top rank with a master’s degree in
xenobiology and wilderness exploration. In addition, she was a certified expert
in weapons. One fact was omitted deliberately from the official records. After
tests at an early age had indicated a high psychic potential, she had visited
the White Mother Tingu for secret lessons in defiance of the prohibitions of
the Grand Masters.
Impatient candidates shuffled their
feet, and Violet wondered if the Grand Masters had deliberately kept them
standing in the cold wind. Ordinary people must wait until their superiors were
ready. That attitude was on par with the ominous black exterior of the Grand
Masters’ Hall.
Tessa Brown, her pretty blonde friend,
joined them and tugged at Violet’s arm. Her voice shook, “I don’t want to be
chosen as a pawn. Do you, Vi?”
Violet brushed aside her timid friend’s
fears. She grinned fiercely, “I’d love to serve as a pawn. Then I’d learn more
about these mysterious and powerful Grand Masters.”
“Oh Violet, I’ve heard some of them are
horrible, truly evil, and not even human,” Tessa whispered, her brown eyes wide
in alarm. Her family had insisted she apply as a candidate in the selection of
pawns because of the associated honor, even though poor Tessa was terrified of
the idea.
“Well, I don’t think you need to worry.
I’m sure the Grand Masters won’t want a scared pawn,” Violet said, in an
attempt to pacify her friend. She focused on staying calm, despite the
bombardment of emotions from Tessa and all the other nervous students.
“I should love to be chosen,” Srini
said, his black eyes shining with excitement. “It’s a great honor to serve the
Grand Masters, and I’ve always wanted to explore uncharted regions of the
galaxy.”
Violet smiled at his enthusiasm. She
agreed, although her attitude was more cautious, “Yes, I’d love to explore
other planets, although I know the missions can be hazardous.”
Doubts crowded into Violet’s mind as the
minutes passed. Would she be selected by one of the enigmatic Grand Masters?
Her ambitions for a career exploring new worlds would be achieved if she became
a pawn. On the other hand, Mother Tingu would be disappointed if she were not
selected. In reality, she had few other options for a career in space. Despite
her rigorous training, she did not meet the stringent physical requirements for
the Space Corps because of her small stature. Professor Gullish, her Brululian
teacher for xenobiology. had offered to recommend her for the scientific
surveys. But again, competition was fierce for the limited places. She needed
to leave Terra, where the high population placed a considerable strain on her
mental shields. Violet yearned to travel, rather than retiring to her mother’s
peaceful home on Cirrus-beta. Selection today as a pawn was her best chance to
achieve her goals. She bit her lower lip and steeled herself for the interview.
The iron gates swung open with the swish
of well-oiled hinges. The crowd of graduates surged forward, their feet
rustling on the flagstones. Violet cringed at the flare of their excitement and
strengthened her mental shield. The candidates marched through the gates into a
spacious hall adorned with colored banners, and fell silent as they waited for
instructions.
A loudspeaker blared, “Candidates will
enter the interview chamber in groups of twenty.”
Two black-uniformed guards stood on
either side of an inner door, which was decorated in images of the major
civilized planets of the galaxy. The guards opened the door and allowed the
first group of twenty candidates to enter the chamber. They walked through the
door in silence, staring straight ahead.
By easing past other, more reluctant
candidates, Violet maneuvered to the front of the crowd. She decided not to join
the first group to be interviewed. It would be better to position herself in
the third or fourth groups. Her plan was to avoid being seen too early when the
Grand Masters would wish to see more candidates, and not so late that all pawns
had been selected.
Srini and Tessa stood nearby, and both
sent her anxious glances, as if she offered moral support. Violet had lost her
nervousness. She was curious rather than frightened. The interview must be some
kind of evaluation. Would they see the fabled Grand Masters?
After a short interval, the second group
of candidates was called inside. Violet sensed their taut excitement as they
passed through the door. There was no sign of the first group, and they must
have departed by another exit.
Tessa gripped Violet’s hand tightly; her
face was blanched with terror. “I’m scared,” she moaned.
“Don’t worry! It won’t take long. The
Grand Masters seem to decide quickly,” Violet said to encourage her
fainthearted friend.
The door opened for the third group of
candidates. Violet stepped forward, eager to complete this step. Whether she
succeeded in becoming a pawn or not, her life would move into the next stage
after today.
Marius boasted loudly, “The Grand
Masters dominate the galaxy. They rule over many planets. I’m going to grab
that power!” He shouldered roughly past her to enter the door first.
Obnoxious brute, she thought, let him be
the first to take the stage. But, his words disturbed her. Did the Grand
Masters fight over planets? She walked steadily toward the door, staying with
her two friends. Any Grand Master who chose Marius would not be to her taste.
She hoped to find one with less grandiose goals.
Once inside the interview room, Violet
stood near the middle of the twenty candidates, watching what happened. Tessa
clutched her hand, nearly desperate with terror, and Srini stood rigidly on her
other side, wearing a frown of concentration on his brown face.
The candidates clustered uncertainly at
the back of the room, staring at a low platform bearing a row of strange
objects. Twelve tall cylinders were surmounted by black spheres. Violet was
disappointed. No Grand Masters were visible. She could sense no living entities
in the room, apart from the twenty jittery candidates.
Gasps of alarm came from her companions
as a humming sound filled the room and colored points of light flared on the
spheres. Some spheres had a single pair of lights, arranged like two human
eyes, while other spheres had three, five or more tiny lights. Violet saw sets
of red, blue and yellow lights, as well as other colors. When the pseudo-eyes
lit, she sensed very faint presences, as if the Grand Masters watched the
candidates remotely via the spheres.
Tessa trembled violently. Violet dropped
her friend’s hand, ignoring her beseeching eyes. She did not wish to be
contaminated by Tessa’s display of weakness. They would be judged separately.
An artificial voice called, “Candidates
will walk onto the stage, one at a time, and stand still for evaluation by the
Grand Masters.”
One brave candidate stepped up, nearly
stumbling in his haste, and stood silently for a few minutes before he was
dismissed to the left exit. The bully, Marius, strode to the front, and was
dismissed even more quickly than the first candidate.
Violet compressed her lips and stepped
forward, resolved to take her chance. She stood erect and stared at the row of
lighted spheres. An uncanny vision wavered before her eyes, and she tensed,
holding her breath in awe. The hazy image focused into a semicircle of twelve
people seated on thrones, human men and women and alien creatures. Their eyes
glowed in the bright colors she had seen on the spheres. One alien was a mass
of writhing tentacles, while another resembled a green gelatinous blob. One
humanoid woman was dressed in red robes, and another in a green gown, and two
men were clad in somber black robes.
In the midst of these amazing sights,
her attention was caught by a dark man in blue robes seated at one end of the
semicircle. He had a grim face like an eagle with fierce black eyebrows over a
hooked nose. His eyes were half lidded. While she watched, his eyes opened and
blue beams flashed out, piercing straight into her face. She stared boldly into
those laser blue eyes. Yet in the next moment, his eyes slid slowly past, and
she doubted he had even noticed her.
She stiffened in alarm and shielded
smoothly, hoping belatedly to conceal her psychic power. The eerie vision of
the twelve entities vanished from sight as swiftly as it had arisen. Violet was
disappointed; she wanted to inspect the Grand Masters more closely. Surely, she
had perceived the mysterious Grand Masters in the transient image. One or more
of the strange beings in her vision might be the culprit she sought.
Violet blinked, returning to the cold
reality of the interview room with the lighted spheres atop each tall cylinder.
The mechanical voice called, “You have been chosen. Walk through the right hand
exit.”
Violet grinned and raised her fist in
triumph. She had succeeded in the first step of her risky venture. As a pawn,
she could study her Grand Master and pursue her dream of exotic travel.
No comments:
Post a Comment