Port Hole Read online

  Duulahar smiled. “I noticed that you used the word woman a lot.”

  “It isn’t that they are all women, they are all stable. Despite hardship, torture, and prejudice, they all remain stable. You know better than anyone what an unstable hero can do to a population.”

  Duulahar blinked. “You are absolutely right. I do know what that is like. Is that why you chose me?”

  “Partially. Amiline Masko was on the shortlist for the hero project on your world. That was how she came into Minos’s sphere, and that is why she died.”

  Duulahar nodded slowly. “That was the one thing that no one could tell me. How he got her alone. Now, I have a fair guess that he took advantage of her fascination and turned it on her.”

  “Precisely. There are other so-called heroes who take advantage of those who trust them. They need to be watched and stopped to keep those vulnerable people safe. Are you up for participating in the watching if that scenario arises?”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “That is not something I will watch. The behaviour will be dealt with immediately.”

  Jianik smiled slowly. “Excellent. While I am not encouraging aggression, there are those who are taking advantage of their position for personal gain do require a bit of a smackdown. They need to know that someone is watching and that someone will act.”

  “I would act, will the rest?”

  Jianik nodded. “Oh, yes. They will.”

  “Get me the clearances, and I am in. I just have to attend my mother’s wedding this weekend.”

  They shook hands, and the deal was struck. When the legal training was over, Duulahar would become a member of Team Eight.

  * * * *

  Eight months later

  “Port Hole, can you do anything?” Made muttered it next to her ear. Blasts of power were coming out of the cloaking darkness. There was no way to locate where the enemy fire was coming from.

  “I can, but we are going to need to stay back. Light comes with heat.”

  “Got it.” Made clicked in the coms twice, and Port Hole reached up, opening a path to the star at the centre of the cluster. Beams of light that burned began to sweep the darkness. When she saw movement, she closed the ports, moved them fifty metres closer, and opened them again.

  The Army of the Dark was a group of gifted who did not need light to carry out their crimes. Light was, in fact, their enemy.

  “Can you hold it?”

  “You have five minutes.” She held the two ports in place, and the others ran for the twenty men who were currently blinded.

  Made and Mini Max charged forward, Wrapped was right behind them. Cone of Silence had swords out and was charging forward while Forecast pulled a blaster in defense of Port Hole.

  Port Hole was providing the illumination as the heroes charged into the fray. “I hate getting stuck behind.”

  Forecast smiled. “Don’t think of it that way. You are enabling the fight. If it wouldn’t tire you out, perhaps you could create pinpoint and use it as a weapon.”

  “What is that?”

  “It is a weapon you use a lot. You can cut through steel with water by forcing it through a small hole, you can cut through an army using stellar plasma.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I have seen it.” Forecast snorted and shot into the darkness. A hand continued to creep toward them, and she shot it again.

  Forecast grimaced. “I see a lot of stuff.”

  “So, in this future, did I ever explain how the pinhole worked?”

  “You said something about opening a portal right in front of your eyes but facing away.” Forecast whirled and fired again.

  Port Hole twisted and looked into the darkness around them. She thought she saw a figure move, so she tried the technique of creating a port hole that was tracked with her vision. Two streaks of light emerged, and something in the darkness yelped. “Huh. It worked.”

  “Yeah, but you can’t control how far the beam goes, so just make sure that you know what is behind it before you set it off.”

  Port Hole felt her control over the rifts in the fabric of space buckling. “Good advice. Can you let the ladies know that they are about to be in the dark?”

  A crackle came through the coms. “No need. We got them all. Well done, Port Hole. You can ease up.”

  The voice was masculine, and that was a dead giveaway. She gathered her strength and opened her hands wide, lighting up the shadows and causing a daylight glow for hundreds of metres.

  There were over a dozen bodies on the ground, and the ladies were working on the remainder. Forecast was firing at the soldiers who were sneaking up on them, and Port Hole held her position for another two minutes before she slumped and had to stop.

  She was sitting on the ground and reaching through space to give herself treats.

  Wrapped came back and blinked. “Where did you get the cookies?”

  Port Hole grinned. “My mom. I have a snack station for just this kind of event.”

  She reached through again and grabbed a bottle of juice.

  The team was standing around her, and as she sipped the juice, she started laughing. The kindest women she had ever met were covered in blood and recovering from battle. She was sitting on her ass and getting her strength back so that they could activate their transport and get home. It was so prosaic, it was funny, but she just wanted to get back to her chickens.

  “Are we good?”

  Made nodded. “The Army of Dark is disassembled. We can all head back to base, debrief, and get home.”

  “Great. Help me up, and I will activate my cycle.”

  Forecast chuckled. “You are riding behind me. Trust me, it is safer that way. You are not steady.”

  They helped her up, and no one laughed at her weakness. Mini Max was a foot and a half tall, so Wrapped took her, and soon, everyone was on a cycle, and they were headed home.

  Port Hole woke up when they were back at the base, and she sat up slowly. “Sorry. I think I drooled on you.”

  Forecast chuckled. “I am used to it. Come on, a little rest and a report, and we will be ready to go home again until the next call.”

  Port Hole snorted. “You sound like my mom.”

  “My son says my voice can be relentless.”

  Port Hole got off the cycle, and she stood straight, brushing at her suit and removing her helmet. “How old is your son?”

  “Six.”

  “Is his father in the picture?”

  “No. Yes. I have no idea. I will explain it another day.” Forecast reduced the cycle back to the orb that they all carried with them.

  The others were slightly ahead of them, but as they walked into their headquarters, the mood changed. Laughter broke out, there was light shoving, and Mini Max carried Cone of Silence down the hall with one hand over her head.

  Port Hole had never been in a workplace before, but she guessed that this was one of the better ones ever developed. Work hard, play hard, go home. It was a mantra that she was going to live by.

  Author’s Note

  Thus concludes my introduction of the Origins of Team Eight. I hope you enjoyed them.

  Look for the true adventures of Team Eight to begin after October of 2019. These ladies are going to go on some wild rides... and the mystery of Taxo and Max will be explained, if not solved... eventually.

  Thanks for reading,

  Viola Grace

  About the Author

  Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

  An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around, and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.<
br />
  In real life, she now is engaged in beekeeping, and her adventures can be found on the YouTube channel, Mystery Bees Apiary. Just look for the cartoon kittens.