“Leaving jump space in five, four…” K’rra announced.

She continued counting down, and then the ship lurched. The light show in the cockpit ended, and the stars returned. Kaster eased the control collective, turning the Outlander towards their target world.

“Scanning Brandak now,” K’rra said. “Nothing interesting. Breathable atmosphere, a little thick. Primordial forest, mostly. Crude early-stage amphibians. There’s not much here in the way of minerals or potential crops. A garbage world that would be overlooked by most. Beings trying to stay under the radar might find it appealing.”

“Like pirates?” Kaster asked.

She nodded, “Sure.”

“Or a religious sect?”

“Possibly. You think Rogue Furys may be here.”

Kaster stared at the scanner monitor, “I suspect a coven was here, once, a while back. But that Fury temple on Obeza is too close for comfort. The coven would need to leave.”

K’rra didn’t like thinking of Obeza, the world where Kaster had recently lost his arm. He had the bionic replacement hidden under a robe sleeve and glove, but she couldn’t help but think of how painful it must have been losing it.

“The Furys on Obeza would force the Rogue Furys to join?” She asked.

He looked at her, “Is that what they tell you happens?”

“It is.” She replied, recalling the brief mention of Furys in Academy. “Focus users represented an extremely chaotic element within the Federation, and the Fury Order was traditionally responsible for bringing rogue groups into their fold, thus ensuring stability.”

Kaster studied the scanner, saying nothing. Finally, he pointed to the screen, “Let's land here.”

K’rra looked at the map. Kaster had indicated a valley in a mountain range. She cycled through several views, finding heavy metals and other indications that there may have once been a settlement of some sort on the world.

“Any reason for landing there?” K’rra asked. Zooming out, she found some similar types of abandoned settlements. All equally as small.

“I have a feeling about it,” Kaster said.

K’rra scrunched her nose. She wasn’t about to argue with her Master, but she could discern no rational reason to land there over dozens of other sites that were just as non-descript.

When they landed Kaster asked her, “I’d like you to come with me.”

“You would?” she asked. “Are you sure that’s the right way to demand a slave's help?”

He gave her a look, “Slave. Get dressed. You’re coming with me.”

“Yes, Sir!’ she said enthusiastically.

She was glad the two jumps had given her ample time to wash her jumpsuit multiple times. There was no way she was about to go exploring an alien world in the dress Kaster had given her, the single most prized and only possession she considered hers enough to claim ownership.

After dressing, she took a few moments to find a belted holster and strapped on the blast pistol she’d shot the Doctor with. She found a medical scanner and a datapad in the sick bay, which she added to a small satchel stuffed with bandages and other emergency supplies.

Exasperated, Kaster asked, “Have you got enough stuff? We’re only going for a short walk.”

“Survival favors the prepared,” she told him smugly, figuring he probably wouldn’t spank her for trying to look out for him. Probably.

They left the ship and made their way across soft ground. Even in a mountainous region, the soil seemed to suck water up like a sponge making the ground squish with every step. They wandered through thickets and vales until Kaster spotted the abandoned settlement.

A cluster of prefabricated buildings, some square, some domed, clung together in the shadow of a young forest. The buildings and the antenna on top had all been covered in a blanket of moss, giving the empty village an eerie feeling. Kaster advanced into the village with no fear.

“Look there,” he pointed. “Old landing pad impressions. Not new. Hard to say how old. Someone has been here in the last year, however.’

“How can you tell?” K’rra asked, struggling to keep up with him. “You didn’t even so much as stoop down, let alone walk over, to determine all that.”

“Three indentations equidistance apart. Maybe two and a half centimeters deep with rounded edges. Even a small starship, say a hundred tonnes, would make an impression in this soft soil of at least five centimeters. Moss typically grows one to three centimeters a year. This is a lush world I’m going to guess three is the number. That there is still a depression tells us that something heavy landed over there within the last six months. Elementary, my dear.”

The buildings in the settlement radiated like spokes away from a central point. What looked like a fire pit, with three rows of curved stone benches, dominated the center. The square buildings were two-story, prefab settlers' homes capable of housing a dozen beings. The domes were a little larger, being admin and comms buildings.

They picked through a few of the settler barracks and then the admin building. Anything of value had long been stripped away, leaving bare floors and cracked walls. K’rra had hoped that the admin building would have a central computer, anything to explain why this site was empty. Even locks and door controls had been cut away with torches and taken away.

“Looks like they abandoned it,” she said. “Whoever they were.”

“What makes you say abandoned?” Kaster asked.

“Everything of value is gone. It’s all been meticulously packed away.”

“I don’t think abandoned, though,” Kaster said. “I have a feeling the original owners didn’t want to go. Did you see the door controls? All cut away.”

K’rra stopped to inspect one, “Yeah, I thought the settlers did that. Spare no expense, leave nothing of value behind.”

“How many settlements have communal fire pits?” Kaster pointed to the center of town.

“It does seem odd. If I were planning a new settlement, things like an aquafer or garage would take precedence for resources.”

“Unless the entire reason for the settlement was the communal aspects.”

“You have a group in mind? I’d love to hear your hypothesis.” K’rra said as they walked across an overgrown path between two buildings.

“A coven of Rogue Furys.”

“And you suppose the Fury Order found out and forced them to join the official orders?” K’rra said.

“Rogue covens are given a choice. Join and become controlled or perish.”

“Federation educational materials insist that Rogue Furys were brought into the order.” K’rra said.

“I’m sure they say that. I’m sure they say that the rogue elements are asked.” Kaster agreed. “But I doubt they say much about what happens when a coven refuses.”

“I don’t believe the Federation would execute coven members that refused,” K’rra said.

“Who said the Federation were the ones doing the killing?”

K’rra curled a lip in revulsion. “Our training materials describe the Furys as guardians of the galaxy. Knights and Defenders who took on the mantle of maintaining justice and order.”

“If they were so wonderful, so instrumental, why are they in decline? Why are they rare now instead of raining out of every starport?”

“I have wondered that myself,” K’rra said. “I’d speculated that perhaps finding believers of the true faith was becoming more difficult. What is the reason?”

“I have no idea the real reason, but I suspect it’s a combination of factors.” Kaster stopped and scanned the forest edge to one side of the settlement. He began walking in that direction with purpose. “The Fury Order demanded stringent adherence to their mandates. See, the Federated Systems and all their neighbors were deeply concerned that there were beings that could do extraordinary things by thought alone. How do you police someone who can pass through a wall? Or control another being’s mind?”

“That would be quite the quandary for law enforcement,” K’rra said.

“Right. And the solution was to force these people into a monastic order. And to deny them reproductive rights. Just in case these qualities could be passed on to their children.”

“I assumed that was voluntary,” K’rra said. She had unsettling flashbacks of her own homeworld, where pregnancy was licensed only to the brightest minds. Had she stayed, she could never have had a child. Something about that bothered her to the core.

“They had a choice. I suppose that is voluntary. The alternative was death,” Kaster said. They’d gotten to the tree line, and Kaster strode into the conifer forest.

“It was not explained this way in school.”

“Of course not,” Kaster said. “The Federation are supposed to be the good guys.”

“Supposed? They are. Democracy is the greatest form of self-governance. Adhered to on all worlds of the Federation, including Gyth.”

“Propaganda,” Kaster spat. “You yourself chose a caste system.”

Irritation flashed through K’rra. Democracy had saved her homeworld after nuclear war. Democracies were less likely to war with each other. Democracies gave everyone self-determination. To suggest it was a charade, just an act to placate the masses, made her want to start snarling.

“I chose a caste system. My choosing was democratic,” K’rra snapped. “Forcing systems that exclude citizens from self-determination leads to turmoil, chaos, and violence. My own world was almost destroyed because of this.”

“And who counts the votes on your world?”

“A centralized computer tallies the votes in real time…”

“Who runs the computer?”

“An elected committee voted on by the duly elected senators…” she was getting flustered.

“So, the people counting are chosen by the ones who benefit from their counting?”

K’rra stamped her foot, “Democratic institutions are time-honored and a civic duty to enforce fairly. It sounds salacious when you say it like that. Every citizen holds the democratic process… Immutable… Honored…”

“You’re angry,” Kaster said.

“You’re purposefully making me so.”

“Remember your place, slave caste.”

K’rra opened and closed her mouth. “You are trying to vex me, Sir.”

“No, I’m reminding you of your place.”

“Sir, I understand that you are trying to expand my thoughts. Religious adherence to a system without considering alternatives indicates rigidity in thought.”

“And that is exactly it.” Kaster said, “The Federation indoctrinates its citizens through schooling. Their beliefs have become yours as a type of religion. When you read history, do you find it odd that the good guys, the best team, was always the winner?”

“I’ll have to consider that, Sir,” K’rra said while wondering why she’d gotten so heated at having lifelong beliefs challenged. She was a scientist, wasn’t she supposed to consider all things based on evidence? Kaster had only given her conjecture, but her reaction made her question if she could see evidence were it presented. “Why are we in the forest, Sir? The settlement provided no insight regarding the Needle class scout ship.”

“Don’t worry about losing your temper,” Kaster said. “You were right I was purposefully needling you.”

“Why would you do that, Sir?”

“I needed camouflage.”

“How do you mean?” K’rra was now confused. Was he toying with her again?

“There’s another Fury nearby. Your emotional outburst provided a screen.” Kaster stopped and turned to K’rra, “We were being watched. But not by any of the Furys from Obeza. This one is a Rogue.”

K’rra looked around the woods, trying to spot the Rogue Fury that Kaster spoke of.

“You won’t be able to see her. But she senses me.”

“What happens when two Rogue Furys meet, Sir?”

“Depends.” He said, cooly. “But this one is desperate and hunted. She sees us as a danger. Worries that we are hunting her.”

“Is it the Fury Jae?” K’rra whispered, worried how things would go if they met the woman again who had cut off Kaster’s arm.

“No.” Kaster turned slowly, scanning the foliage. “This one is wild. Almost completely self-trained.”

“Is that even possible?” K’rra asked, her worry escalating.

“It is, especially when the path has been laid before them. If a student starts with just enough training to realize what they are. Then, their teacher is taken from them, and they do not find another instructor, they can develop wild and unpredictable skills.”

“Oh, stars.”

Kaster smiled, “And this one means to kill us.”

First:

Rogue Fury – Part 1