The Infinite Nebula Star

Blesser Trine Anderson stood on the low rise hilltop and stared down at the forgotten city of Dredge, the dark city of rebels that refused to become all that the future wished for them. Long ago, they had been destroyed. Long ago, the threat of rebellion had been vanquished.

Sighing heavily, Trine moved forward, her deep purple eyes focused on the dark shadows, her standard issue black boots sinking in the soft dirt. She didn’t understand why she had been summoned to a ghost town, why she had to leave Metropolis in order to investigate empty buildings.

Lifting her right wrist to the pale moonlight, Trine pressed the small blue button on her Communications Bracelet. Light flooded the dark city from the floating orbs ahead of her. The sooner she discovered the cause of the summons, the better.

A shrill cry pierced the silent night, bringing Trine to a halt and her left hand to her laser. It was a well known fact that the wild beasts that roamed the barren plains hunted in large packs, killing and eating whenever they happened upon prey. Trine shook here head and walked confidently toward the silent, now well-lit town.

Trine lifted her right wrist once more, leaving her laser holstered at her hip, she pressed the red button and spoke into the Communications Bracelet in a clear, definitely feminine voice. “This is Blesser Trine Anderson, twenty-fifth division of World Police, sent to investigate summons to Vector 75G. Come back.”

“This is CommLink twenty-nine. What is the purpose of your communication, Blesser?” the voice that spoke was as clear as if the man speaking were walking beside her toward the hidden secrets of Dredge.

“Strange cries heard. Seeking proximity scan.”

“Proximity scan granted. Heat seeking beginning now. Please give location.”

“Seventy-five paces from Dredge, Trine looked at her Communications Bracelet as the hologram rose to hover above it, showing Trine in the center of a large field surrounded by hills. Atop the hill on the other side of Dredge were seventeen large beast-like shapes. Trine cursed.

“Course of action, Blesser?” the man queried.

“Flames,” Trine pressed the black button, causing the hologram to vanish. “Be sure to kill all seventeen beasts. I want no surprises.”

“Yes, Blesser. Over and out.”

Trine reached Dredge at last, the fallen gate cracking underfoot as she crossed the burnt beams and entered the vacant streets. Or, not vacant. A summons had been made from Dredge, after all. Trine removed the laser from its hold just as flames engulfed the distant hill. Trine paused to run her gloved fingers through her blue hair, her heart beating a steady rhythm. A soft smile danced on her lips as she heard the death cries of the beasts.

“All seventeen,” she murmured, sure that CommLink would cover the area while a Blesser remained. She looked up and down the street she now stood on, listening for the faint vibrations of the summons. Turning left, Trine didn’t bother to look at the dark buildings standing guard on either side of her.

Over a thousand years ago, when all life had seemed to dissolve to nothing more than happenstance and miracle, the scientists redeemed the human race with relative ease. Cloning, Artificial Insemination, Birthing Centers and the like had risen up in the cities of the world. Only one noticeable flaw arose with the age of science. Despite all attempts to do otherwise, all children born and created were brown haired, brown eyed and fair skinned. Thus, the age of non-elective surgery began. All children were changed, according to the will of their parents or owners. Brown eyes were changed to any color imagined, hair was far from average hues and tones, and flesh took on as many pigments as could be created.

The Nebula Police took over justice and protection of the newly colored world. Summoners were the second ranking officers, responsible for small crimes alone, responsible for summoning the Blessers if the need arose. Blessers were the highest order of the Nebula Police, Slicers were the lowest ranking. Blessers were born, not chosen. To be a member of the Nebula Police was the highest honor a soul could gain. Most remained Slicers, content with their position so long as they remained employed by NP. Few rose to Summoners.

Trine already the top Blesser, being sent only to investigate the most urgent of summonings, treated as royalty and the wealthiest of all working class. Trine was twenty-eight and was the most desired Blesser in the new realm. All Blessers were a class by themselves, above royalty and, in most cases, the Protector himself.


“Blesser Anderson!” a voice shouted from her Communications Bracelet, bringing her to a halt.

“Yes?”

“What are you doing in Dredge? I demand that you return to the base immediately. Another Blesser will be sent in your stead.”

Trine rolled her eyes when she realized that Protector Briac Adair was the man calling her from CommLink.

“I’m already here, Protector. I might as well discover the reason for the summons.” Trine noticed prints in the soft dirt and knelt beside them, her purple eyes sparkling. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“You should not have answered the summons to Dredge! A lesser Blesser should have been sent.”

“A lesser Blesser?” Trine smiled. “Really, Protector.”

“I shall send reinforcements to you,”

“Don’t bother with that,” Trine replied with obvious irritation, her fingers brushing the nearest print lightly. “I shall be out of here before they arrive. Dredge is, after all, abandoned.”

“Did you find the cause of the summons?”

“No,” Trine followed the footprints with her eyes, noted their destination. “Not yet, Protector. I must observe radio silence for the next few moments.”

“If I do not hear from you within ten, Blesser Trine, I will send reinforcements!” Protector Briac hissed angrily.

“It’s a date,” Trine replied lightly before standing to her feet and following the trail into the large building twenty feet away.


:: ::


“A summon from Dredge and you allowed Trine to go! Unacceptable” Protector Briac shifted his gray eyes to look at the CommLink Commander, who bore the scrutiny without the slightest bit of unease. “She is headstrong enough to refuse to return here. Set the timer! Ten minutes!” And he strode from the room.

Protector Briac quelled his rage for mere minutes as he struggled to keep his word about delaying the reinforcements. Blesser Trine refused to give him an inch in her life and sending Riders to back her and Sheilders to cover her in Dredge would officially force him out of her life completely. Blesser Trine was to be at a banquet in thirty minutes and she was off investigating a summons, in Dredge of all locations.

Briac held in the fierce curse that threatened to emerge from his mouth unchecked as he paced the hall. “Ten minutes, Trine, no more.” He growled angrily.


:: ::

Summoner Sebille Girnwood shifted the papers in mild irritation as she pressed a random key on her keyboard. She struggled with her anger for a moment before resigning to her fate for another few moments. Sebille decided that she wouldn’t get a single report entered by the end of her shift and leaned back to run her fingers through her short, flame-red hair.

“Drifting, sister?” Blesser Saffire Girnwood asked as he leaned against her desk , his arms crossed over his broad chest. “What have you done now, dearest?”

"Spoke my mind,” Sebille grumbled.

“Again?” Saffire laughed loudly. “When will you ever learn? You want to emerge from the bowels of Summoner, don’t you?”

"You know that I do, Saffire!” Sebille placed her booted feet atop the desk and crossed her arms behind her head.

“Then keep your mouth closed, little sister, and you will soon be a Summoner, First Class.”

“Just because you happened to be born a Blesser doesn’t mean that I will rise to be a Shielder. Maybe I am meant to be Summoner VIII alone.” Sebille sighed in discontent.

"Sebille Girnwood a mere Summoner, Eighth Class? I think not. Although, at the rate you’re going, I wouldn’t expect much more.” Saffire leaned down, his teal eyes trained on his sister’s multihued eyes, one dark green, the other fuchsia. “For a year, Sebille, just say nothing, look the other way, become a Third Class and then, sister, then you can be as outspoken as you choose.”

“I’d rather remain a Summoner VIII, brother dear,” Sebille snapped smartly, her eyes twinkling. “Than sacrifice my scruples.”

Saffire opened his mouth to retort when his Communications Bracelet sparked to life, bringing Sebille to a fully upright position, her eyes widening.

“This is Blesser Trine Anderson in Dredge. Requesting immediate reinforcements and the Summoners Saffire Girnwood and Sebille Girnwood to Vector 75G." Trine’s voice was calm despite the circumstance that would lead to her calling for two Summoners. Saffire lifted an eyebrow and pressed the red button on his Communications Bracelet.

“Summoner I Saffire Girnwood answering call to Vector 75G with Summoner VIII Sebille Girnwood.” He said gently as he stood.

The blood pounded through Sebille’s veins as she looked up at her brother. “I can’t go to Dredge. I’m on paperwork, you know that.” She whispered as Saffire took hold of her arm and caused her to stand.

“Trine is in trouble, Sebille. She would never summon us, never. Something is going on in Vector 75G. Wouldn’t you rather be on the front lines, discovering the disturbance for yourself? Or, would you prefer to hear about it a month after it’s all over?” Saffire sighed as he ran his fingers through his sea foam colored hair. “Well?”

Sebille slid into her dark brown leather Summoner jacket and winked. “What can they do to me?”

In unison, Saffire and Sebille spoke their desired location into their bracelets and pressed the yellow button, fading from the World Police Headquarters in Metropolis to Vector 75G in answer to the second Summoning in a matter of hours


:: ::


Trine wiped her sweaty palms on her thick black pants and swallowed in an attempt to ease the burning in her throat. She stood in front of the building that had once been a hospital in Dredge but was now a gutted out shell of brick. She knew that logic persisted that she return to the scene of the crime and investigate but the chill within her argued that she should wait until others arrived. So, Blesser Trine Anderson stood in the lit, vacant streets of Dredge, waiting for the reinforcements to arrive. Much to her relief, the first Blesser to arrive was Saffire, his teal eyes full of concern, Sebille close behind him.

“Blesser Trine, what is it?” Saffire queried as soon as he reached her. “What is happening in Dredge?”

“I-I don’t know, for certain,” Trine replied as she nodded at Sebille, who tilted her head in answer. “A Summoner is dead.”

“What?” Saffire looked behind Trine at the building looming behind her. “How is that even possible?”

“The building is full of dead, actually,” Trine swallowed again and drew in a deep lungful of air. “Hundreds of dead bodies litter the floors in there.”

“Blesser Trine Anderson!” came a call from the entrance of the doomed city.

“Here,” Sebille called, her mind racing. Trine was clearly shaken. Even if Sebill hadn’t been Trine’s best friend, she could have seen that the young woman was in shock, her face pale and drawn, her purple eyes dark. “Are you certain, Trine? Sleeping or injured, maybe, but a whole town of dead people?”

“And where did they all come from? Dredge has been empty for over fifty years, Vector 75G off limits for longer than that.” Saffire tugged at his glove nervously as Trine shut her eyes.

"I assure you that they are all dead. Though, what I cannot understand, is how did a Summoner end up here and die as well?” Trine opened her eyes and nodded at the small group of reinforcements before turning on her heel to enter the building. Saffire and Sebille glanced at each other before following her.

Soft globes of blue light illuminated the large first floor of the building, an open area with pillars every thirty feet, dirty tile floor and bare walls. Saffire noticed the first dead body immediately, his eyes narrowing as he glanced at his sister. Sebille was watching her friend, looking for some signs of trauma. So it was that when Saffire muttered a curse, she finally turned her attention to the body littered floor.

"What happened here?” she whispered.

“That’s what we need to find out, Sebille,” Trine sighed as she crossed her arms and suppressed a shudder. “Before the Protector gets wind of this and locks down this Vector.”

“It’s too late for that, Blesser Anderson!” the Protector bellowed as he entered from the street, the reinforcements filing in behind him. “For I assure you that I have already gotten wind of this situation and this Vector is officially locked down. You three will report to Metropolis immediately and await my return.”

Trine hissed as she faced the man whom had been the ban of her Blesser existence since she started at WP. She approached him, facing him squarely, her eyes blazing. “A Summoner is dead, Protector. This is a murder investigation, no a political fundraiser.”

"Beware, Trine, for I have been patient for far too long. Do not disobey me in this, Blesser.” Briac narrowed his grey eyes at her.

“You do not frighten me, Protector,”

“Do not forget who runs the world, Trine. I hold the keys to your prison, my dear, and it is time for you to realize who is truly in charge.”

"So this is officially the end of our relationship, Protector,” Trine remarked softly as she glanced over her shoulder at the bodies and the two friends who stood waiting.

“What relationship, Blesser?”

“Saffire. Sebille.” Trine glared at Briac for a second longer before hissing. “You will rue the day you pulled rank on me, Protector.”

That said, Trine stepped past him and the reinforcements awaiting orders out into the streets of Dredge. Saffire and Sebille followed, each refusing to look at Briac as they left.

"Clean sweep in here,” Briac commanded as he looked at the bodies. “Do not touch or near the bodies. Ensure that I will not be disturbed and then set up guard outside the city. Quickly!”

The reinforcements did as ordered, leaving Briac alone with the hundreds of dead bodies in a matter of moments. Briac stared at the body of the Summoner, his eyes growing dull with anger.

“Why enfold a Summoner? We were so close to achieving all that has been sought for centuries!” Briac called out. Silence lingered for many moments before a voice answered, cold and chilling in its calm control.

“The time of our reign begins today, Protector.”


:: ::


Trine, Saffire and Sebille stood among the scorched bodies of the dead predators to stare down at the globe-lit city of Dredge. Sebille was shaking, her mind racing as she relived the moments before. There were so many dead bodies and Protector Adair had sent out the Blessers. Sebille glanced at her bother. His jaw was set in a firm line, his eyes hard and cold.

"He’s sent the reinforcements out as well,” Trine mused and Sebille looked at the city walls where the reinforcements set up a perimeter. “He is breaching protocol.”

“Surely you don’t intend to confront him once more, do you?” Sebille asked as she moved closer to her best friend. “I realize that you are protected to a degree but only to a degree.”

"A degree can make all the difference,” Saffire whispered.

“Oh? So now you’re suddenly rebellious, huh?” Sebille snapped.

“I set up a Shifter,” Trine smiled and pressed 7-5-9 and then the purple button on her Communications Bracelet and a hologram of Briac rose before the three of them. A shifting shadow drew closer to him but no sound came through.

“They performed a clean sweep,” Saffire said in anger. “They removed the sound chip.”

"Who is that?” Sebille leaned closer. “You performed a Life Scan, right?”

“Of course,” Trine frowned.

“I would give anything to hear what is being said,” Saffire tapped 8 on Trine’s Communications Bracelet and a soft crackling was heard. Faintly, the voices inside the destroyed hospital could be heard at last.

“-if you believe that-“ Briac snarled.

“I do, Protector, and it is time you believed as well. You were given an opportunity that few others have been given.” The shadowy figure spoke in calm tones that left the three eavesdroppers breathless.

“Few others? There appear to be over a hundred bodies here! That, sir, makes me wary.”

"The Summoner was a mistake, granted, but the others-oh, no, Protector. Each one is special, each one is needed just as you were needed.”

“Were?”

“I can contain my rage but only for a short time. I am old, Protector, but I am not senile. Never forget where your loyalties lie.”

“Nor you,”

The figure bowed. “Are we through here, Protector?"

“If you wish us to be so, Elder,”

“And the Blesser?”

“I will control Trine, never fear,”

“You have said that for many years, Protector. Just know that Blesser Trine Anderson is an asset that will soon be enfolded...as are all the Blessers.”

“I understand,”

“See that we are not disturbed again,”

“Yes, Elder,”

Trine released the Shifter by pressing the purple button once more and looked at her friends. “I think that danger has burrowed itself under NP.”

“I am inclined to agree, Blesser,” Saffire growled and as one they pushed the yellow buttons on their Communications Bracelets and spoke their destination.


:: ::


In the shadowed grove of the Halls of Blessers, Sebille chewed on her lip. "We can be destroyed just for setting foot on Blesser ground without permission."

"You have my permission," Trine said as she leaned against the trunk of a large tree. "What we need to do is get on one of the transports heading to one of the outlying planets. The danger is here, not on the other lands."

"What of the other Blessers?" Saffire quiered as he looked up from the study of the flight plans he'd pulled up on his CommBracelet.

"We must find them quickly but if none can be persuaded, we go alone."

All three nodded and followed Trine out from the shade of the trees.