Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One: Prognosis
Chapter Two: Recruitment
Chapter Three: Sub Sector Six
Chapter Four: Official Introduction
Chapter Five: Mission Impossible
Chapter Six: Back Story
Chapter Seven: Blink
Chapter Eight: The Rise of the Syndrome
Chapter Nine: Search and Rescue
Chapter Ten: Kidnapping and Extortion
Chapter Eleven: In the Maze
Chapter Twelve: Search and Rescue
Chapter Thirteen: Trojan
Chapter Fourteen: The Thing
Chapter Fifteen: Steve McQueen
Chapter Sixteen: Exposure
Chapter Seventeen: Moon Landing
Chapter Eighteen: In My Feelings
Chapter Nineteen: Okay
Chapter Twenty: A Bit of Intrigue
Chapter Twenty-One: Data Collection
Chapter Twenty-Two: Hunting and Gathering
Chapter Twenty-Three: Secrets
Chapter Twenty-Four: Liaising With Your Office
Chapter Twenty-Five: Preparations
Chapter Twenty-Six: Astral Plane
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Elemental, My Dear Watson
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Going to War
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Surprises
Chapter Thirty: Snakes and Ladders
Chapter Thirty-One: Revelations
Chapter Thirty-Two: A Devil’s Bargain
MAGE MARINE MISFITS
by Derek Wallace
Prologue
Every seat in the green room was taken, as uniformed generals exchanged notes and gossip, waiting for the meeting to begin. The head of the security wing of the Galactic Federation, General Klaus, walked in. His AI assistant, Golem, glided alongside him and the room quieted down.
“Good evening generals, we have a long session to get through and your time is valuable. So we will get right down to it.”
“Appreciate that, Klaus,” said a gravelly voice from the back. It was General Fa, a Stoneman of Stouvraz, the colony on the outer edges of Andromeda. He resembled a big hunk of rock, and he liked to talk a lot.
“Golem, load the files,” General Klaus said. His AI immediately pulled up the files and they appeared in front of every general around the table top.
“The Martians broke into the LX5 last night and stole the blink. They don’t have the trigger, but the Brotherhood traffics AI Toths to them. They are capable of reverse engineering the trigger in no time. We have to get it back as fast as possible.”
“Indeed. But the Martians have been closed for trade or diplomacy for ages. Their Omni shields keep all species out, even the shapeshifters. If they got the blink back home, we have no way to get it back,” General Faux of Brant, said.
The files in front of them flashed, and seven faces were now staring at them.
“We might be able to at least destroy the blink if we use a suicide squad.”
All the generals were silent, staring at Klaus.
“You see before you seven names, of recruits who are – shall we say – unusual. Under normal circumstances, they might have been drummed out of the service, even imprisoned for crimes. Some have a sheet serious enough to merit execution.”
“What makes you think we can trust such beings with a task this important?”
“We can’t. But we have a new contender for head of the squadron who just might get the job done.”
“We don’t have room for failure on this one Klaus.”
“I understand that. And of course, we will have auxiliary forces trailing them. If they fail to steal back the blink, they will be fitted with explosives powerful enough to destroy Martian military capabilities. All we need is one of them to be in place. We have seven.”
The bureaucrats in the room relaxed, nodding in relief at the plan B.
“So either they succeed or we blow them up?” General Fa said.
“Excellent summary general,” Klaus replied with a nod. Golem reached out and changed the files. Now there was just a name flashing across their screens.
“All in favor of the formation of Squad M15-F175 attached to Platoon Z-58 of the Galactic Federation’s 18th Expeditionary Fleet say aye,” General Klaus said.
All the flashing red numbers on the screens went green.
“Aye,” all the generals said.
General Klaus nodded. “Very good generals. I will arrange for the squad to be up and running expeditiously.” He turned to his AI, “Golem? Assemble the troops.”
Chapter One: Prognosis
Jaime Pravin Hall startled awake, looking around him in bewilderment. He couldn’t tell what time it was because the government hospital regulated light twenty-four hours a day. The hospital was located on an asteroid anchored to Jupiter in the Asteroid Belt and the whole dome was climate-controlled. He didn’t know how long he’d been out or if the procedure had been successful. All he knew for sure was that his head hurt.
A lot.
His hand flew to his throat where there was some sort of obstruction and he coughed into his fist, distantly unsurprised to see blood on his palm when he opened it. Whatever they’d done to him, his body obviously wasn’t pleased.
He swung his feet to the side, intending to get up and find someone who could tell him something. No sooner had his feet touched the cold tile of the hospital floor than an alarm went off.
He froze as a nurse burst into the room.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, her face suffused with color.
“I…was going to find someone to…tell me what’s happening with me.”
“I see. Well, get back in bed and someone will come to talk to you soon.”
Jaime hesitated but the nurse crossed her arms, her expression uncompromising. With a sigh, he climbed back into bed, shuffling up until he could rest his back on the metal headboard. He manipulated his pillow so it was wedged between the cold metal and his back. Even with the thermal self-heating pajamas he was wearing, the all-pervading nature of the hospital cold and his own fear guaranteed that he couldn’t stop shivering.
Luckily, they didn’t make him wait long. Less than ten minutes after the nurse had disappeared, a tall stocky man walked into the room, his linebacker shoulders barely fitting in his body scrubs even with the stretch of cotton poplin they were made of.
“Mr. Hall, it’s good to see you awake.”
Jaime stared at the man; at least he thought it was a man. It could well be a Cyd. The government liked the human-robot hybrids because they could work longer hours. They also didn’t require much in the way of sustenance, other than a battery recharge, and were not eligible for any worker’s rights.
“What is happening to me?” he asked, cutting straight to the point.
“Well, Mr. Hall, we carried out the procedure and unfortunately complications arose.”
Jaime folded in on himself, not really wanting to know what he meant.
“What kind of complications?”
All of a sudden, the room was green. He was alone with a roomful of synths and holos, numbers and figures, faces flitting from one to the other in an endless stream of files. An Artificial Intelligence Assistant Operating System gave a monotonous account, highlighting information from all the flashing files.
Jaime blinked, wondering what was happening.
‘Zorica Killa Warwick is a savant. She is a known demon worshiper with the ability to summon imps. She’s been known to put some evil curses on her enemies. Her focus is destructive magic.’ The AI intoned as Jaime’s eyes were drawn to a picture of a silver-haired, tall, honey co
mplexioned female with eyes so light grey they looked almost white. She was very likely magically-modified; Jaime didn’t know of any race with that eye color. She was a half-breed the files said, half-human half-Stits.
Interesting combo, Jaime thought. Stits and humans had been in a war for centuries over the resources on Pluto. They weren’t generally known to get along.
‘Epone Fayza; a disgraced Elementalist mage who was falsely accused by jealous colleagues of messing around with infernal magic and kicked out of the Lyceum. Her focus is also on destructive magic.’
Jaime studied her picture, eyebrow raised. He’d heard of her, the mage who could lay down sustained magefire, compress ice-shards, or fling rock balls. She’d been one of his inspirations for volunteering for the magical enhancement program when he heard she’d joined up. He’d been hoping to work with her. But why was he seeing her file now? Wasn’t it classified?
He blinked, looking around for someone, anyone who could tell him what was going on with him, but all he could hear was more droning from the AI.
‘Jordan Adity Anand, a.k.a Jules Marchiatto, former mobster, third born son of Leo Marchiatto, head of the Brotherhood of Midnight crime Family. Got hit with a truth spell by a former bitter lover (rumored to have wanted to stay in the closet while his lover wanted him to come out) which made him a target in his own crime family. Uncle got him a place in the Galactic Federation.’
Jaime grimaced. “That is way more information than I needed to know about an apparent stranger,” he told the AI.
“I beg your pardon?”
Jaime jumped, looking around him. The green room had vanished and he was back in his hospital bed, the doctor guy looking at him with concern.
Jaime froze with fear, not knowing how to react.
“What just happened?” he asked.
“You…went into some sort of trance…” the doctor said reluctantly, eyes on the screen flashing Jaime’s vitals. His EEG was all over the place.
“W-what?”
“Mr. Hall, there’s something you need to know about your operation.”
Jaime frowned. “First of all, you’re not the doctor I saw before. Who are you?”
The doctor looked discomfited. “I apologize for not introducing myself as soon as I came in. I’m Professor Humphrey Okoye, in charge of the Neurosurgery department here at Northwestern Military Hospital.”
“Where’s my regular doctor?”
The professor sighed. “He…was transferred to Alpha Centauri.”
“What? Why?”
“That is not your concern. What you need to know is that you are in the best hands.”
“Then why do I feel like you’re shining me?”
The professor looked away, sighed deeply, and then looked back at Jaime. “Mr. Hall, we have some bad news for you.”
Jaime leaned back. “Uh huh?”
“The operation did not work,” the professor said on a deep breath, “and there were some…side effects.”
Jaime stared at him, willing him to continue. After a moment, the professor did.
“You have tumors in your head, Mr. Hall.”
Jaime just continued to look at him, not really taking in the words. His mind was still spinning from everything. Waking up full of fear, the weird vision thing that had happened that seemed so real, and now…this.
“Mr. Hall?”
“Yes?”
“Did you understand what I said?”
Jaime nodded his head slowly, still not looking at the doctor.
“So, am I dying?”
Humphrey shook his head, “No. We will take care of you. There are ways to manage your condition - pharmacy and healing sessions. It would have to be on an ongoing basis but we can definitely do it.”
“And…?” Jaime raised his eyes to the doctor’s.
“And what?”
“What’s the catch? The Federation wouldn’t be willing for me to undergo such intensive care without wanting something back. What is it?”
Humphrey shook his head. “I wouldn’t call it a catch exactly. It’s more of an opportunity.”
“Sure. Hit me.”
“It’s not my place to explain. Once you’re ready to leave, you have a meeting to attend.”
“And how long until I’m ready to leave?”
The professor looked up at his chart, streaming in real time behind Jaime’s bed. “You’re mostly well. We’ll observe you overnight and probably discharge you in the morning.”
“And where is this meeting I’m to attend?”
Professor Okoye just smiled. “Someone will come by to escort you.”
Jaime nodded. He knew how the Galactic Federation forces worked. If they didn’t want to tell him anything, they wouldn’t.
“I’m gonna…get some sleep now,” he said.
The professor nodded to him and then to the nurse. “Aileen will give you something to help with that.”
He turned and left the room. Jaime lay back and let the sleeping draught do its job.
∞
‘AX-8721 is a rogue AI that uploaded itself into the mind of his Toth creator, Mathias Tural Teke. The mad scientist has an active heartbeat and brain activity and so the AI cannot be destroyed even though their sentience is illegal. The combination of AI and scientist is also advantageous to the Federation.’
Jaime shook his head, wondering if he was dreaming or this was a vision or what. He was back in the green room - even though he distinctly remembered Aileen pressing the button that would deliver a sleeping-draught straight to his nervous system, less than a minute ago. The flashing screens of files, the AI’s voice, the solid feel of the leather couch his hand rested on…it all felt so authentic, so real. Is this what the tumors in his brain were doing to him? Hallucinations?
‘Uzochi Tiryaki, a turncoat seer from Brekson, who chose to surrender and fight for the Federation rather than die, upon capture. This is in spite of the Brekson known policy of death rather than surrender.’
Jaime hadn’t even been aware of this policy. He didn’t know much about the Breksonite sector of Messier 81. This was par for the course seeing as Brekson was perpetually at war with the Federation - at least they had been for as long as Jaime’s memory went.
‘She Who Is Not Named, formerly known as Ash Novembertempest Wolf is a Drueerd. She is convicted of killing her rapist, a capital crime for her species. The winged pacifists abhor violence and, as a result of her crime, she was stripped of her wings and sentenced to prison. She chose service to the Galactic Federation instead, thus severing ties with her people.’
Jaime was beginning to wonder what this list of people stats was about. Was the professor wrong? Had the surgery granted him some ability to hack into Federation files? Or was he imagining things? He didn’t think the hospital should consider letting him go until they had this - whatever this was – under control.
“I need to wake up,” he said aloud, and suddenly he was back in his hospital room, feeling the cold drip of liquid in his veins, the sharp sting of the needle, the cool air that ensured he was never quite warm enough.
“What is happening to me?” he moaned in despair, even as he pressed the buzzer for the nurse. She was with him in the blink of an eye – Aileen, her name was Aileen – watching him with warm concern.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Hall?”
“Something’s wrong with me.”
“Well…yes. There is.”
“No I mean apart from the tumors. I’m…hallucinating or something.”
Aileen examined his vitals.
“Well, you’ve had a spike in your EEG again, in the last ten minutes-”
“Ten minutes?” Jaime interrupted, “It felt like a lot longer than that.”
“You have a psych eval in the morning. Would you like to have your appointment moved up?”
“Yes, please. I don’t think I can rest without some answers.”
“I’d h
ave to consult with your medical insurance provider. Seeing a doctor out of schedule might result in an out of pocket charge.”
Jaime had some savings. Not much but he had some. He also knew how expensive these ‘out of pocket’ expenses could get. It was a way to discourage unscheduled visits and regulate how people accessed health care. But Jaime didn’t know if he had it in him to wait until morning.
“Mr. Hall? What would you have me do?”
Jaime opened his mouth and closed it again. He could not afford to pay for a doctor’s visit and he knew it.
“I’ll wait until morning.”
Aileen smiled, “Good call. Now shall I increase your sleeping draught dosage so you can sleep some more?”
Jaime shrugged. “Is that even safe?”
Aileen inclined her head to the side, looking bemused. “Of course it is Mr. Hall. We would not do anything to endanger your health.”
Jaime thought about the tumors currently growing in his brain and only just managed to stop himself from sneering. “Okay, I’d like to sleep now,” he said instead.
Aileen bent over the console by his bed and clicked some numbers. Jaime’s vision went hazy immediately and his eyes grew heavy. He closed his eyes, hoping that he wouldn’t go back to the green room. It freaked him out too much.
That was the last thought he could recall when he opened his eyes and realized the sun was up.
∞
“Mr. Hall? My name is Alexia Harman. I am here to escort you to the general’s office.”
Jaime straightened up. “The general?” he repeated in disbelief.
“Yes. Are you ready to go?”
Jaime opened his mouth and then closed it, turning to the closet to collect a change of clothes. He hadn’t been expecting his escort to appear so early in the morning. She’d practically arrived with his breakfast. The doctor hadn’t given him a clean bill of health yet. He still had to visit the shrink. He most definitely wasn’t ready to go.
He changed out of his hospital pajamas. He had been in his soldier’s uniform when he checked in and that’s all he had with him. He felt less vulnerable after he changed and emerged from the bathroom.
“I haven’t been cleared to leave,” he said to Alexia.
Mage Marine Misfits: Book 01 Page 1