Zero-Point

by T J Trapp

  One of the guards served as the deejay and soon dance music filled the yard as the sun began to set over the woodlands. Celeste found that an unknown advantage of being bonded was being able to dance with Daniel in a way she had never danced before; since the two were mentally linked, they could feel each other’s actions and respond as one fluid item, to the cheers and applause of their co-workers. As the evening wore on, the patio filled with dancers; even Alec led Erin to the floor for a few dances.

  “I’m glad that pretty much everyone from the shop was able to come,” Alec said to Frederick during a break in the music. “I’m going to miss all of you guys.”

  “Yes,” Frederick answered. “The only one not here seems to be Linda. I thought she was planning to come, but I didn’t see her at the shop today. Of course, I was porting back and forth between the shop and the ring fabrication facility so maybe I just missed her.”

  “I tried to call her,” another shop worker chimed in, “but didn’t reach her. But you know how it is. Ever since those … those beasts … have appeared, our satellite cell reception winks in and out.” Then the deejay started another fast dance and the patio again filled with laughter.

  While Celeste danced with several of the guards and checked out the various food tables, Daniel danced with Zalla. “I understand why the boss and the boss-lady want to go back home, and I understand full well why Celeste wants to go. I’m just going to help out the boss and then I want to come back home here as soon as I can. But why do you want to go to this new place?”

  Zalla laughed. “It isn’t the money. Princess Erin pays us very well, but most of us would do it even if we had to pay her! It is the thrill of the adventure that moves us. How many people get to go to a new land? An unknown place? That is why I am going.”

  “I guess I can understand that, although that’s not me,” Daniel began, when he sensed Celeste gasp.

  Something is wrong.

  ✽✽✽

  Erin and Celeste were standing by the dessert table.

  “I have sensed them also,” Erin said quietly to Celeste, picking up a bite-sized cream puff. “The Great Wizard detected a disturbance a little while ago and is using his wizard tools and camera eyes to see if anyone is approaching our woods.” She bit into the cream puff. “I want to finish my dessert before anything else happens to upset my life.” She finished off the cream puff and reached for a piece of ornately iced cake. “Cook has spent all afternoon making these, and I have spent all afternoon looking forward to eating them. I am not interested in some elf viper keeping me from enjoying my sweet feast.” She popped a forkful of icing into her mouth.

  Daniel and Zalla joined them.

  “Trouble, Princess?” Zalla asked.

  “Alec is checking out the surveillance system cams to see if anyone is sneaking up,” Celeste said.

  Just then Alec emerged from the shadows and took Erin’s elbow.

  “It is worse than you think,” he said softly. “There is an oscillation in the dark energy field – it seems to be coming from near the front gate at the edge of our property. It feels like a suppressor field. I suspect our equipment is not going to work, although we still have power.” As Alec spoke, the electrical power flickered and went out. “And there it goes,” he said.

  Suddenly the little votive candles seemed brighter. But even without electricity, the music from the deejay’s cell continued; most of the dancers did not notice the lack of power.

  “Put down your cake and go see if Stubby works,” Alec said to Erin. She quickly popped the rest of her piece of cake into her mouth, then went into the ranch house, retrieved her little pistol, and brought it out to Alec. She aimed it at a log away several yards away from the patio.

  Click. Click.

  “Let me check its death pellets and try again,” she muttered.

  Click. Click.

  “Stubby has no fire,” she said to Alec. “He will not speak.”

  “I suspect our vehicles won’t work, either,” Alec said. “Daniel, go to the barn and check to see if our ATVs will start.” He looked at Erin. “Our attackers think that they are moving the advantage to themselves.”

  Erin started eating another piece of cake.

  “What are we going to do?” asked Celeste.

  “Our choices are to fight or flee,” Erin said pragmatically. “I am going to fight, and you are going to flee.”

  “What?” Celeste said.

  “It will take them some time to come down our little entry road from where they parked. That is why we did not smooth out the ruts in our driveway.” She continued to attack her cake with her fork. “But before they arrive, I am going to finish my dessert. I am not going to let any elves spoil my enjoyment of Cook’s work.”

  Before Erin had finished eating, Daniel returned. “You were right, boss – none of the four-wheelers work. The generator doesn’t work either.”

  Erin put her empty plate down on the side table. “They will expect us to be confused with the power out. They will not expect us to be able to determine where they are.”

  “Daniel, I need you to find Sylvia and port all of our guests away to safety. You need to go with them, Celeste.”

  “Can’t we just go hide in the woods?” asked Celeste. Her heart was throbbing, and her hands were sweaty.

  “No, the elf mothers will sense your location,” Erin said. “They will know that anyone in the woods at night is hiding from them.”

  “Then why can’t I just stay with you?”

  “No, the only ones who should stay are my fighters. The elves will be able to sense the non-fighters. And if we have to focus on protecting you, the elves will take advantage of that fact and it will tilt the outcome to the elves’ advantage.”

  “Can you handle that many elves?” asked Celeste. “I mean, I know your guards are pretty good, but will you be okay?”

  Erin looked at her. “There are a lot of elves coming – I do not know how many – and I have an untested guard force. Their training is good, but you never know how the untested will perform until they have been hardened in the furnace of battle. I would have preferred an easier opportunity for my guards to test their skills, but this is the ones that the fates gave us.

  “Unless these elves are unusual, they haven’t taken the time to determine our strengths and weaknesses. If the elves are well-coordinated and properly armed and shielded, it will be a struggle. If they haven’t fought serious opponents on this world and underestimate us, we have a chance. Luck plays a part as well as skill. The outcome is never decided in advance and the Great Wizard always has a few surprises.”

  Celeste had never seen Erin assume her accustomed role as warrior-princess, and stepped back, wide-eyed.

  Alec took the mic from the deejay and addressed his guests. “I thank you all for coming to our celebration. However, I’m afraid we are going to have to cut things short. We have a little problem we need to address.

  “It seems that we have some unwanted visitors. We need to get you all out of here, in case we have any trouble. Grab some food to go, and follow Daniel and Sylvia to the barn. We are going to port everyone home, back to the shop.” The guests started to murmur and whisper among themselves.

  “Do you need us to stay and help, boss?” someone asked.

  “No, a few of us are going to stay – Erin and me, and a few others – and we can handle our trespassers. They won’t be able to follow you back to the shop, and you will all be safe there. Our visitors are still a distance from here, so you have plenty of time to port home.” He raised his glass. “Good journey,” he said, as a farewell toast.

  ✽✽✽

  The guests headed to the barn, and Alec walked with Celeste. Daniel was already at the portal in the barn, and a few of the guests had gone.

  “Boss, I’m having trouble operating the portal. It’s not responding very well – it’s very difficult to use, and very slow. I’ve only been able to port a couple of people so far, and just one at a time.”
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  Alec focused and felt the dark energy fields. “The field suppressor that the elves are using is creating irregularities in the dark energy background. Let me show you how to damp the dark energy instabilities. It will require more time to prepare for each transit and we won’t be able to send many people on each trip.”

  Sylvia stepped up, “I can help port if you need more help.”

  “Good idea Sylvia. We have two portals here – Daniel is using the one to the old shop. You could use the one to the ring fabrication facility and port some people there. They can either go home from there or you can port them back to the shop. But, once you get there, either place, wait until I come to tell you the coast is clear. Keep everyone calm when they are there.”

  “Okay, boss,” Sylvia said.

  Working together, the three were able to smooth the irregularities and were soon porting people away from the ranch. However, the process was much slower than usual and Alec started to be concerned. When Sylvia ported herself and the last load of her people, Alec gave a sigh of relief.

  Daniel and Celeste were the last two remaining to port. Alec gave Celeste a big hug. “Good journey, my daughter. I will see you in a while. Stay safe and don’t worry about us.”

  Then he turned to Daniel and said, “Good journey. Take care of Celeste if anything happens to us.”

  “I will, boss, as if I have any other choice.” Daniel took Celeste’s hand and they stepped onto the portal.

  Daniel started to focus and slowly the dark energy built up in the portal controller.

  Celeste looked at Daniel and sharply exclaimed, “What are you thinking! You’re thinking we can both go to your mother’s to spend the night? What is she going to think about that – that you brought home some tramp off the street in the middle of the night?”

  “Well, I guess we could find a hotel.”

  “And somehow you think that would be better?”

  “You can stay in my sister’s room. Becky won’t mind.”

  “I was thinking more about staying in the shop until Alec arrives – and then I could go back to my nice bed at the ranch. It’s bad enough that you feel everything I feel, without having to sleep on your sister’s bedroom floor on my last night here.”

  Daniel silently continued his task of feeding dark energy to the portal controller until it had enough dark energy to operate. He released the energy. The world dimmed, went black, and returned.

  49 – Battle at Queens Wood

  As soon as all the guests were ported from the ranch, Alec rejoined Erin and her guards. They had already retrieved their weapons, changed into battle gear, and were ready to fight, but looked nervous. They were armed with swords and short spears or pikes. The biggest man carried an axe; many also carried a rifle or pistol in the hope they would function.

  Erin sensed the attackers.

  “The elves have not increased their pace,” she informed her troops. “The mothers should have sensed that some of our people are scurrying away. Since they did not try to reach us before we ported our friends to safety, that means they are more interested in our transporter than they are in us.”

  “We will follow your plan and wait at the barn,” Zalla said. “We will act like we are waiting to defend ourselves against the attacking mothers.”

  “I sense six mothers and their clutchmen – and some other warriors – I think about forty people in all. There are two mothers at the back gate and four mothers approaching Queen’s Wood from the front. They also have a group of others, coming along behind the mothers. They act like they are carrying something, something large and heavy, probably to destroy the transporter.”

  “Anything from your elf memories?” Alec asked.

  Erin felt her rod and it buzzed slightly. “Usually the elves will send only one or two mothers when they intend to capture or kill orbs. This is a very large force of mothers and their henchmen deployed against us.” She looked at Alec. “Your test of our transporter has really stirred them up.”

  Erin and Alec and the guard team waited in the back of the barn. They could see the tree-lined drive leading towards the front gate of the ranch. The gibbous moon provided the only illumination, and the broken splotches of moonlight waving across the lawn as the wind moved through the trees gave an eerie feel.

  After several minutes, Erin sensed again. “The elves know we are in the barn, and are preparing to attack us.” She let a memory flow into her mind. I am getting much better at selecting memories from ancestors that I like, she thought to Alec. I know what they are doing.

  “What are they doing?” Zalla asked.

  “I understand the elf tactics,” Erin said. “The elves guarding the back gate have positioned themselves to control our transporter and prevent any of us from using it. They expect to collect any escapees from our ranch – not to fight a dedicated force. By doing that, they have isolated themselves from the elves coming through our front gate. We should take them before we decide on how to fight the others.”

  Alec nodded in agreement. Battle plans were Erin’s forte.

  Zalla looked at Erin in the flickering moonlight. “The elf mothers – there are six of them. We only have you. If they are this strong, what are we going to do?”

  “Surprise and luck. Couple those with skill and training, and we have a glimmer of a chance.”

  “Good enough,” Zalla said resolutely, and returned to the guard force formation.

  “We will wait a few minutes,” Erin said. “Until the time is right.”

  The guards stood nervously, shifting from foot to foot, not wanting to show any fear.

  “All right.” Erin stood tall, facing the back gate. “The mothers are almost close enough to start to twist the lines,” she said to Alec.

  “I have damped the dark energy enough that I can port us all at once. Go time?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she answered softly.

  She turned to face her troops. “The elves approach. To arms! We go on the attack!”

  Zalla snapped to attention; the other guards followed suit. Erin gave last minute instructions both to remind and reassure her people. “Remember to fight in teams. They have an empath mother and a coercer mother in this group. The empath can tell what each of you are feeling, and the coercer will be able to twist your will, if she gets hold of you. The fighting clutch will move with a flow and coordination that only an empath can create. They are the fiercest fighters in existence. You will not survive if you try to fight them alone. Fight like I taught you, working together, and you will be able to match them.”

  Zalla nodded. “Yes, Princess.”

  “Alec and I will disable the two mothers while you engage the fighters. After we defeat the mothers, we will come to your assistance.”

  Zalla nodded and everyone gathered on the portal circle.

  Focus. Alec let the dark energy flow. The light from the moon dimmed, went black and then the moonlight returned.

  Erin was first off the portal. She sprinted towards the clutchman who was guarding the door of the transporter shed, looking in the other direction. Before he noticed her, her sword was out, and she slashed at once before the clutchman reacted. He fell.

  “Forward,” she directed. “There are ten warriors left, besides the two mothers.” Erin could sense her troop’s excitement, mixed with apprehension, as they moved to engage the elf clutchmen. Erin held back and waited. At first she heard tentative clicks as her fighters tried out their weapons. Then she heard the repeated ring of steel on steel as the guards engaged in battle, as she had taught them.

  Time to twist the lines. Alec touched her arm and fed her dark energy. Erin sensed the lines; they felt thick and dull. Try harder. Nothing. Then, she thought of a little red river stone in her pocket that seemed to glow in her pocket. As if through a fog, she slowly gained awareness of the mother’s lines; then the lines became brighter and bolder and Erin could twist them easily and confidently.

  The coercer mother obviously had not expected a for
ce coming from the direction of the portal. Alec continued to feed dark energy to Erin. The coercer mother twisted the lines back, but she was not prepared to face a strong opponent.

  Now. Erin twisted the lines hard and fast.

  The coercer mother was no match for Erin, and with a muffled shriek she collapsed to the ground. The lines around her broke and sheared as she died.

  The empath mother tried to manage the flailing, twisting lines, but she could not control them without her coercer. She fell to the ground in a fog; Erin could tell that she had lost contact with her clutchmen.

  Erin could still hear the fight between her guards and the clutchman force. The three elf clutchmen of the empath clutch no longer fought with the exquisite coordination and speed they had when linked to their mother, but even without it, they were a tough match for Erin’s troops. Alec focused and gently probed one of the clutchmen with dark energy. He felt the rebound of dark energy. They are wearing diffusers and certainly have rings, he reported to Erin.

  With the two mothers dispatched, Erin joined Zalla and the guard force; laughing with glee, Erin jumped into the fray. With Erin’s assistance, her guards soon gained the upper hand and did away with the elf force.

  Zalla leaned on her sword, panting. “Well,” she said. “How did we do?”

  “Let’s check our people,” Erin said. Zalla whistled the call that Erin had taught her, and the guards assembled.

  “Missing two,” Zalla said.

  Through the moonlight, Erin sensed and soon located the missing. One guard had been knocked out, and one had suffered a serious gash to her leg. The other guards helped move the two wounded next to the portal shed.

  “An excellent showing against the best the elves have!” Erin paced up and down in front of her fighters. “Remember. You must fight as teams. We would not have had any casualties if you had stayed together. The two who are injured, we will see if we can heal them. Zalla will help Alec to do that. Zalla, you need to help so that you will learn how.”