Several days after teaching her sisters the ins and outs of solar sail spells, Amelia was in the pilot’s seat, staring at the forward scrying crystal, which she’d adjusted with a series of reversed-pinch to zoom in on a particular object, which was some distance away.

  When the object was finally clear on the crystal, she stared with awe at a massive cube of ice, which was pockmarked from meteor strikes. It was impossible to determine the scale of it, but her gut told her it was really massive.

  “Come and see this!” Amelia shouted, “We’re coming up on our destination!”

  Marta stepped into the room, then looked over her sister’s shoulder. After a few minutes, Iris joined them with a yawn, because they’d been taking shifts watching over the ship.

  After twenty minutes, the huge cube became visible to the naked eye.

  “What is it?” Iris asked.

  “According to the book, this is a port, like on the sea.”

  “Really?” Marta stared with a furrowed brow, “Why is it made of ice?”

  Amelia shrugged.

  Hidden among the instruments and controls, there was a set of bells, which Amelia had taken from the mechanical alarm clock that was mounted between the scrying crystals. At this point in time, the bells rang!

  Amelia stared with horror at a huge ball of ice that had detached from the cube and was accelerating toward them!

  “What is that sound?” Marta yelled to be heard over the ringing!

  Amelia shouted back, “Hostile magic! We’re under attack! Brace for acceleration!”

  Iris and Marta each crammed themselves into one of the rear corners, while Amelia shoved the throttle forward and laid hold of the stick for vectoring the rocket nozzles! Starwitch shot ahead and Amelia veered to one side, hoping to get out of the ice ball’s trajectory, but that did little good, because it followed them, as if it had an attraction spell on it!

  Amelia cursed, then shouted, “Any ideas, ladies? That hunk of ice is homing on us!”

  Iris muttered the words for ‘distance’ and ‘sense’, then ordered, “Amelia, face us straight into it! Marta, on my mark, you shoot a heat spell, the strongest you’ve got, straight ahead!”

  “Yes, ma'am!” Marta forgot herself and slipped back into military mannerisms.

  Amelia spoke in a grim tone as she obeyed, “You got it!”

  The rock loomed ever wider, revealing that it was at least twice the width of Starwitch, an impact they couldn’t possibly survive, but just as they were about to crash into it, Iris shouted, “Now!”

  Marta shouted the magic word for ‘heat’ and the ball of ice suddenly exploded into hot steam! The witchpit got uncomfortably warm for just a moment, but they were soon on the other side of the cloud, unharmed!

  Port Commander Haley Knotley stood in the control center of Ice Palace Two, with one hand on the port’s spell-core and another on a thin, mythril wand covered in runes related to ice and water, which she’d been using to direct the hunk of ice she’d flung at the ship she’d taken for an unfamiliar pirate. The walls of the room were ice, because that was the primary material the port had been built from.

  The walls had been polished to a mirror shine and been marked with scrying runes, allowing them to display scenes outside the port, like large windows. The mythril core of the port was mounted in an icy pedestal, which had been built around it, at the center of a raised dais. The exits of the room were down below, to avoid obstructing the port commander’s view.

  Haley was only four foot, six inches tall, which made her rather small by human standards, but that was fine, because she was half human and half dwarf. Though she had her dwarf father’s heavy bones and height, she was built more like a miniature version of her mother. Her hair was fine and black, with a terrible tendency toward being frizzy that she’d never tamed, despite a lifetime of effort. Her ears and nose were rather large, at full human size, despite her height and build, which had gotten her confused with a gnome more than once, an impression that never lasted long. Anyone that accused her of being a gnome got punched, which revealed another thing she’d gotten from her father: extremely dense muscles. She wore a heavy, pale-blue parka and a long dress, but since it was so cold in the port, she wore trousers underneath.

  She noted with satisfaction the way her target seemed to explode, reasoning she’d hit a water tank, but as she relaxed, she felt a rather strong hand lay hold of her neck, which lifted her into the air! She struggled to breath and swung both hands in an attempt to lay hold of her invisible assailant, but connected with nothing! In her haste to attack, her wand tumbled down the dais and she let go of the spell-core!

  “Stop struggling and listen!” The voice was that of a woman, presumably another witch, “We’re not here to attack! We don’t even know you, so would you please calm down and talk to me?”

  Haley was lowered to the floor and her neck released. She spun around as soon as that happened, swinging with all her strength, but still saw no one and connected with nothing.

  “Where are ye?” She demanded.

  The unseen woman answered, “I’m in the ship you just hurled a ball of ice at. Why would you start by attacking?”

  “Ye got no markings of allegiance!” Haley growled, “That’s what pirates do, but me’s paid up with the local cutthroats, so they can’t touch me! That means ye gotta be from another faction, well outside yer own territory, so ye’re fair game!”

  The distant woman groaned, “We’re not pirates, you idiot! We’re just new to space travel, so how could we possibly know how we’re supposed to mark our ship, to make you think we’re friendly?”

  Haley growled, “That’s what a pirate would say!”

  “It’s also what a normal person would say. Now, if we were pirates, wouldn’t we be trying to kill you, instead of talking?”

  Haley paused and considered. She wasn’t actually stupid, because no one stupid could possibly have been promoted to the position of port commander. She was also a witch that had extensive training. In truth, she was very smart, but she had a regrettably stubborn nature, beyond that of even her father, which led her to hold onto ideas a little longer than she should have. That was precisely the reason she’d been assigned a post that barely mattered to anyone.

  Haley didn’t like it, because she was in a suspicious mood, but the distant woman had a point.

  Haley reluctantly admitted, “Aye, me could reason that way, but me has to be careful, because ye never know.”

  “I’m Iris. What’s your name?”

  “Port Commander Haley Knotley.”

  “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.” Iris’ tone turned friendly, “What’s a port commander?”

  “Me’s in charge of this port, the big ice block, which ye can call Ice Palace Two.”

  Iris asked, “Does that mean there’s more than one Ice Palace?”

  “Aye. There’s more than seventy of them.”

  “Okay.” Iris paused for a long moment, then pointed out, “I’ve got two sisters with me, who would like to join the conversation. Can we…what’s the right word, Amelia?” Again, she paused, then went on, “Can we dock and come aboard?”

  Haley considered a moment, but couldn’t find any reason to say no, despite the fact she wanted to, and reluctantly answered, “Fine.”

  Amelia was impressed by the sheer immensity of Ice Palace Two as Iris took the pilot’s seat for docking, since she was in direct contact with someone aboard the port, via bone transduction.

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  Amelia was busy working the winches for the masts, while Marta ran off to the spell-core, to cancel the sail spell, because it was somewhat interfering with maneuvering the ship.

  Iris took them around a corner of the place and toward a large opening that revealed a few small ships were parked inside, with a few people in pressure suits walking around. After some quick calculations based on the size of the people, Amelia arrived at a width of approximately two miles for the port.

  The opening to the docking bay was a square hole, about ninety yards across, with a huge, sliding door that was mostly made of ice, though it had some metal parts, including a set of rails to open and close on.

  Muttering to the person in the port, Iris waited until the sail spell had vanished and Amelia got the last of the masts retracted, then gingerly took them inside the much larger structure.

  As they passed the threshold of the door, Iris shutdown the engines and released the sticks. There was a sudden tremor that shook the ship, as an external force laid hold of Starwitch!

  Marta rushed in, asking, “Have we been hit?”

  “What was that?” Amelia demanded.

  Iris turned her head to Amelia and explained, “The Port Commander told me to expect this. It’s just the Docking Witch using telekinesis for final landing. She’s an expert at this kind of thing.”

  “She must be rather powerful.” Marta muttered with slight concern.

  “We ought to extend the landing gear,” Amelia suggested, “otherwise, we’re likely to snap off the control fins.”

  “How?” Iris asked.

  Amelia stepped beside the pilot’s seat and pushed one of the many levers forward, until it clicked in place. Beneath their feet and far to the back of the ship, mechanisms whirred to life for a moment. The sisters watched the scrying crystal that gave a view of the ship’s underside as three little hatches popped open. Much like the cargo bay, they were invisible when closed, but once the little hatches slid inward and out of the way, a set of tires on solidly-built landing struts were lowered out of the dark recesses of the hull. Once they were fully extended, a shudder ran through the hull, due to the mechanisms locking in place, then the whirring stopped.

  While the ship was gently lowered to the floor, one of the people in pressure suits ran over to the door and waved a gleaming wand. The huge door of the port slowly slid downward, making it apparent they were being shut in.

  “Uh, is it safe to let them seal us in?” Marta asked in a nervous tone, “Remember, they did attack us.”

  Iris shrugged, “I think we’ll be fine. The Port Commander thought we were pirates, since our ship lacks allegiance markings.”

  “Well, I hope we’re not forced to pick a side we won’t like.” Marta spoke in a weary tone.

  Iris sighed, “I know what you mean.”

  After a few more minutes, the ship lightly touched down on the floor of the docking bay.

  The sisters watched the scrying crystals as the huge bay door fully closed and the person with the wand gestured to someone else. Another figure in a pressure suit ran over, hauling a long and heavy hose with a nozzle on the end.

  “Amelia, what are they doing?” Marta asked.

  Amelia shrugged, “No idea.”

  The hose-bearer opened a valve on the nozzle and water sprayed out. Most of it vaporized in the total lack of atmosphere, but as they sprayed it at the gaps around the door and the one with the wand waved it, fresh ice built up between the two icy surfaces, until the gap was sealed to their satisfaction and the hose nozzle was closed again.

  The one with the wand held it into the air and waved it in a circular fashion. Some distant rumble began, which came up through the landing gear of Starwitch, to be felt in their feet.

  Acting on a hunch, Amelia glanced at the atmospheric pressure gauge.

  “Look at this.” She pointed and suggested, “That’s why they sealed us in, so they can fill the room with air. It’s probably to make us more comfortable.”

  “Oh, okay.” Marta seemed reassured, “That’s nice of them.”

  After a few minutes, the needle on the gauge hit a level Amelia had marked as normal and shortly after that, the distant rumbling ceased. After a bit more gesturing between the people in pressure suits, they all removed their helmets. Two of the three were women and Amelia suspected they were witches.

  “I think we can open our doors now.” Amelia pointed out.

  Amelia climbed down a short rope ladder to the floor. She wore a heavy coat, because the port was rather cold.

  She turned around and finally got a good look at the massive room, which reminded her of an ice cave, though it was perfectly rectangular. The ice was mostly fogged, with a somewhat dirty appearance, especially the floor, which appeared to have decades of grime frozen in it. The room was large enough for some truly massive ships, but very little of it was occupied.

  Three other ships were in the bay, though they were much smaller than Starwitch. The first was a red sphere held up by eight landing struts, which appeared able to extend to great length, possibly to serve as masts for light sails. The next was shaped like a snowflake and painted white, with a central hexagon for the living quarters, though each of the six spokes of the shape appeared to have a little observation room with windows. An expert eye told Amelia the spokes served as large masts for sails, though she wasn’t exactly sure how it maneuvered, since they appeared to be fixed. The last was the smallest of all, with a green, segmented body like that of an insect and six landing struts that resembled legs. Folded on top was an arrangement of what looked like cloth, which appeared to roll and unroll on cables, probably a set of flexible masts. With all of it stowed, the thing looked like it had insect wings.

  One of the port’s witches walked up and growled in an angry tone, “We made an exception to standard procedure, because you’re new, but from now on, you follow the docking schedule!”

  Amelia turned to face the woman, who wore a pressure suit in a high-visibility orange shade, with her helmet under her arm, which was little more than a glass cylinder, with a lip for attaching to her suit’s rigid collar. On the back of her suit was a fairly large gas canister, which attached to a hose that went over her shoulder, to connect to a valve, which probably regulated it. In her other hand, she held a thin, mythril wand, which bore some runes related to gravity and telekinesis, leading Amelia to conclude the woman was responsible for landing Starwitch. The woman had darker skin than anyone Amelia had ever seen before, in a shade that almost resembled chocolate. Her gray eyes had an intensity rarely seen, at least outside the Dugaria military, though without the half to full-crazed edge of the witch officers. Her face was long and almost horse-like, with sharp cheekbones. Her extremely curly hair had been tied back as a set of dreadlocks that looked so springy, they likely completely filled the backside of her helmet, at least when it was on. She had a few wrinkles around her eyes, which only added to the intensity of her glare.

  Another of the docking bay witches in the same style of pressure suit rushed over and grabbed the angry woman’s arm, saying, “Calm down, Agnes! They obviously don’t know the rules, yet.” Her tone turned sour, “Then there’s the fact Haley mistook them for pirates, so we’re trying to be friendly to make up for that, okay?”

  The second woman was much younger than the first, probably about seventeen years of age, with short, vibrantly red hair in a shade that wasn’t natural, and hazel eyes. Her expression was cheerful, warm and friendly, a quality that pervaded her mannerisms. Her nose had been pierced with a thin, silver loop. Silver and crystal earrings in the shape of lanterns dangled from her ears, which glowed from the inside, producing a flickering light that mimicked a flame, though it was obviously an illusion. Amelia was observant enough to see a series of runes etched into the metal of those, along the base of one. The three runes she could see read as ‘light’, ‘glow’ and ‘illusion’. The woman held a mythril wand etched with runes related to ice and cold, causing Amelia to conclude she’d been the one to close the door.

  “Yeah, you’re right.” Agnes nodded and bowed her head to Amelia, saying, “Sorry for my rudeness. I can get a little too caught up in schedules and the proper way of doing things.” She slid her wand into a little loop on the belt of her suit, then held the hand out, “I’m Agnes Vixen.”

  In the background, Marta and Iris climbed down, also in warm clothing.

  Agnes and Amelia shook hands.

  The young woman sheathed her wand and offered her hand as she introduced herself, “Alice Talbot.”

  Amelia shook hands with Alice, then bowed her own head, “I’m Amelia Blackwell, and these are my sisters,” next, she gestured as she named them, who bowed their heads in acknowledgment, “Marta and Iris. We’re pleased to meet you.”

  The third member of the docking crew, who’d manned the hose, finally finished putting it away and moved to join them. He was rather short compared to the two witches, but he seemed to make up for that by being wider and more muscular. Amelia had met little men before, but she’d never seen one that seemed to have been built out of pure muscle. His eyes were a dark green shade. His head was shaved, but he had a massively bushy beard, which he pulled out of his suit as he walked over, seemingly because he disliked having it tucked away. It turned out to reach all the way to his belt-line!

  He grinned and spoke loudly, almost yelling, “Ye can call me Nonar Bonebuster!”

  “Welcome to Ice Palace Two.” Agnes offered, “For future reference, the outer door of this port is only open for six hours of every twenty-four. Haley, the Port Commander, woke us all in the middle of the night, just so you could dock. That’s a waste of water and time, both of which are of great value to us, so please, don’t make a habit of it.”

  Alice smiled, “Don’t mind Agnes. She’s a very serious woman.”

  “Aye!” Nonar agreed and grinned extra wide, “She is very spurious! We could totally do without her!”

  Agnes slapped the short man on the back of the head and loudly growled, “Alice said ‘serious’, you deaf idiot!”

  “Well, me doesn’t care! Me always stands by me word!” The head of Nonar swiveled to glare at Agnes as he growled back, “So, me challenges ye to prove ye’re exactly what ye claims to be!”

  As the two of them began a pointless argument, Alice quietly stepped aside and beckoned for the Blackwell sisters to follow, that they might reach a safe distance.

  “Is that normal behavior?” Marta looked to Alice for an answer.

  The young woman rolled her eyes, “Not by the standards of ordinary, sane witches, but that is how they normally behave. Nonar has trouble with his hearing and a tendency to treat his every word as a vow, at least until Agnes browbeats him into submission. I just try to ignore them when they get going. They’re always arguing, which should be no surprise, since they’re married.”

  Amelia’s eyes went wide and she opened her mouth to speak, but Iris got there first, “Married?”

  “Thirty years, they tell me. I think Nonar picks fights on purpose, so they can enjoy making up in private.” Alice winked, then requested, “Please follow me, because Haley wants to apologize for hurling a piece of the port at you, which had better be coming out of her pay, rather than mine.”

  The sisters followed the friendly witch, who drew and waved her wand at a section of wall, which melted and flowed to either side, revealing a hallway.