“Ms. Kor, it is time for your lesson. I sent you a message over the computer’s system, but you’ve ignored it. Follow me.” He turned and began walking away.

Confused and annoyed, she searched the room for answers before realizing she’d better catch up with the cantankerous yonat.

In the training room, the yonat went to the panel and ordered up a rubber ball: twenty-five centimeters across and purple.

“Ms. Kor, show me this skill you have mastered.”

A jittery sensation shivered down her spine. Why am I nervous? I practiced this for two days. I can do this in my sleep. Okay, not in my sleep, but I know what I’m doing. The magic is mine, it is a well of ability within me, reaching out like invisible tentacles for me to mold and utilize at my will. The mean old unicorn will not intimidate me. Despite her bravado, her hands trembled as she picked up the ball.

Okay, Viera, you can do this. Just toss the ball, and back it up in time. Nothing to fret about.

“Today, Ms. Kor. Neither of us are getting any younger.”

It took all her will not to roll her eyes. After taking a calming breath, she tossed the ball. It bounced off the wall with a satisfying thunk. When it was halfway to her, she pushed a bit of her power out to freeze it in time.

“Well, at least you can still do that. From what I can tell, you’ve isolated only the area around the ball. I’ll admit I’m surprised you managed that.”

Her ire grew as he spoke, and she used her magic to send the ball back in time. The ball didn’t move. She poured a bit more magic into the area. Still, nothing happened.

“Please continue, Ms. Kor. I feel the magic building up but am uncertain as to what you're doing.”

She mumbled under her breath. “For fuck’s sake.” One more push, and she felt her concentration break. There was a loud booming sound before a shock wave of energy slammed both her and Flower Prancer back. The ball, which had been held in stasis, shot forward too fast to see, a purple smudge in the air, and flattened itself on the wall, bits of rubber exploding in every direction.

Chapter 16 - Time Keeps On Slipping … Or Exploding

Viera

The blast of her spell had driven Viera from the center of the room and into one of the walls. She was thankful she hadn’t hit the table. All the air had been forced from her lungs. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her forehead on her knees. What now?

“Ms. Kor, now is not the time for a nap. You haven’t successfully shown me that you can move a ball back in time. We can get the panel to create a new ball. Then we can dissect what happened and figure out what you did wrong.”

Take a nap? What the hell is he thinking? There were times having an unfeeling teacher may not be the worst thing. She got up and wiped the nonexistent dust from her pants. With a slightly shaky voice she said, “Panel, green bouncy ball, ten inches, if you please.”

The ball appeared in the opening, and, trying not to tremble, Viera took it. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Then she turned and walked confidently to the center of the room. Again, she tossed the ball, waited for the satisfying thunk, and used her magic to stop it.

The ball froze. With a force of will, she ignored anything Flower Prancer had to say. Repeating the motions she’d done over and over in the small guest room in Torville Station Number Six, she pushed out her magic and watched as the ball retreated from her, moving to the wall in the exact arch it had been traveling as it flew towards her.

Once it reached the wall, bounced, and was halfway back to her, she released the magic and let it fly once again, hit the wall, and return to her hands.

“Thank God,” she muttered under her breath. Then she turned to her trainer with a smile. “Was that acceptable?”

“Do it again, Ms. Kor.” His tone was flat and unimpressed.

Body tense, Viera turned towards the wall and did it again. Everything went smoothly and again she didn’t cause a sonic shock wave.

“Again.”

The word didn’t surprise her this time. His critique of her form did. They spent the next two or so hours moving the ball back and forth in time with Flower Prancer trying to get her annoyed enough to cause a sonic boom, or at least, that’s what she assumed.

When the room started to spin, she put her hand on the table and groaned.

“Ms. Kor, have you had anything to eat beyond breakfast?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “When would I have eaten? You’ve been with me the whole time.”

He grumbled. “Off to the main cafeteria with you. We’ll pick this up later. Then we’ll discuss that first trick of yours and see if you can master it as well. Though we’ll need to get some stronger practice gear.”

She couldn’t stop the eye roll this time.

***

The ship served a dish that was similar to pasta, but not quite. It had a green sauce that tasted almost like alfredo but wasn’t. There were protein bits that were shaped like meatballs, but … well, the meal tasted okay, but was weird. The dish was gummy and lacked flavor.

Viera was on her second plate when Thorn sat down next to her. “Oh! Fozzi with narsh, my favorite. The kitchen hasn’t made it in forever. They must’ve gotten the ingredients at Torville Station Number Six.” She leaned down, kissed Viera on the cheek, then headed to the kitchen for a plate of food.

When she returned, Juniper and Flower Prancer were with her. They all sat and ate for a few minutes. Then Thorn smiled. “We’ll hit the GPS in the middle of the night. You probably won’t even feel it. How was your morning? You’re eating your fozzi like you like it as much as I do.”

There were so many words to sort through. “Flower Prancer found me, and I've been doing magic. I need calories. The food is … interesting. It’s like pasta and meatballs, but not.”

Juniper snorted. “That’s exactly how Scout first described pasta to me after he tried it. Fozzi with narsh, but not.”

A huge smile on her face, Thorn shot a glance at Flower Prancer before focusing on Viera. “So, did you wow with your progress in magic?”

Viera groaned. “I don’t think so.”

Flower Prancer snuffled and shook his head. “She was adequate. She can move a ball a few seconds back in time, which is a baby step into her magic. She also had a spectacular fail.”

Both Thorn’s brows flew up. “The fail was that good, eh?”

“She discovered a new magic that we’ll need to dissect. If she can recreate it and do it in a secure environment, the failure will be a happy accident. If it was a one-time occurrence, it will be yet another mess up in a long line of my witnessing Ms. Kor not being able to master the simplest aspects of her trade.”

Viera bit back the first thing she wanted to say. After working in an elementary school with kids who said mean things and an administrator who was an ass, Flower Prancer was a walk in the park. She slowly set down her fork before it became a ‘happy accident’ in his face, and asked, “Do you know what magic I performed with my mess up, Elder?”

She tried to sound respectful, but she figured she probably failed when his tail swished.

Like her, he took a moment to eat some food before he answered. Maybe he needs time to collect himself. Maybe he’s only human … or yonat, or whatever, after all. “I don’t know what it’s called. We’ll ask around at Torville Station Number Six when we return, but from what it looked like, you sped up the time of the ball itself while slowing down the environment around it. When you released your spell, the ball shot forward like a train, accelerated through space and time, until it hit the wall.”

Viera gulped. “It didn’t hit the wall, it died against the wall, becoming a pancake of rubber ball. It left an indent.”

“Yes, Ms. Kor, that is to be expected at that speed.” He was back to being patronizing. Viera felt on better footing with his contempt.

Juniper leaned in. “You know, I have a lot of downtime in the engine room when things are running smoothly, and we have a long trip. I have a few reference books on magic.”

Viera perked up at that. She’d been asking for anything she could read, and no one had anything.

Juniper saw her reaction and smiled. “I’ll hook you up later, when I have time. The rumors are they don’t exist, but it just isn’t true. The idea that wizards don’t write is ludicrous. They just don’t like to share. That’s the key you have to remember.” She turned back to the yonat. “Anyway, from everything I’ve read, moving an object in time isn’t basic magic. Moving an object in one time frame while the space around it moves in another time is mad skill advanced. You mocking Viera for her lack of anything is rude. You do know that praise helps people learn and advance much better than belittling them, right?”

If it wouldn’t have caused a scene, and possibly an international—intergalactic?—incident, Viera would’ve leapt up and kissed Juniper right then and there. As it was, everyone stared at Flower Prancer, waiting for his answer.