by Scott Baron
Instead, Ootaki hair––now highly charged Ootaki hair, at that––was woven throughout the ship’s hull, magically powering the craft from tip to tail. It was incredible, the amount of power that quantity of the magic-storing hair could channel into the craft.
And with the Earth’s sun providing a steady stream of magical energy, renewing the power of the hair with every ray, it was very likely that there would be no way to break the cycle. To break the link.
“Hang on a minute,” Charlie said as a realization dawned on him. His voice sounding strange to his ears in the eerie silence of the dead ship’s walls. “Why the failsafe? Why threaten to destroy Earth if they already had the power to do so?” Gears were turning in his head as things became clearer.
Charlie raced through the wrecked ship, careful not to fall through the weakened areas of flooring where the metal was still weak. He darted out into the fresh air, a wild look in his eye.
“What is it?” Leila asked, a flash of concern crossing her face. “Is everything okay?”
Charlie was beside himself with his revelation. “Look, I was thinking. If this really is an invasion, then they have no desire to destroy the planet. So why the freezing spell?”
“Because they needed to neutralize the locals. To keep the fighting to a minimum,” Rika said.
“But they could neutralize them by killing them, right? But they didn’t. They froze everyone and just left them there.”
“Ah, I see what Charlie is getting at,” Bawb said. “And a valid point.”
“Which is?” Rika asked.
“That they are planning on subjugating the populace, not killing them.”
“Exactly!” Charlie agreed emphatically. “And if they really are coming here to conquer the planet, then they are planning on using the population as assets. Slaves or servants. But whatever it will be, that means there has to be a way to shut it off. It would be the only way they could use these people.”
“Hmm, a very interesting take on things,” Ara said as she considered his points. She fixed her gaze squarely upon her friend. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“You know it,” Charlie replied with a grin. “We need to talk to Cal.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
“I suppose it could work,” Cal said over Eddie’s external speakers, making it possible for Ara to participate in the discussion––the giant dragon could certainly not fit inside his passenger compartment. Nor would she want to.
“And your other AI counterparts?” Ara asked. “What is their opinion on this plan? We wish to unfreeze just one victim, but we will not proceed without the full agreement of the parties overseeing the planet’s well-being. And that would be you and your friends.”
“Which is greatly appreciated, Ara. However, even if there were a dissenting member, I think we can all agree that these are extenuating circumstances and extreme measures must be risked if there is any possibility they can make a difference.”
“What Ara is proposing should not be risky,” Bawb noted. “At least, not if we manage to craft the right counterspell.”
“How does that even work?” Ripley asked, bouncing impatiently on her toes. “I thought you said you couldn’t cast anything against the spell already being pumped out by the hair-filled ship.”
“Yes and no,” Bawb replied. “You see, we cannot directly attack that spell with anything overtly hostile. That would cause either the fail-safe to engage and destroy the planet’s atmosphere––”
“Which would be bad,” Charlie noted.
“Or, it would cause the frozen people to either perish or become trapped in their state of stasis permanently.”
“Also bad,” Rika added, throwing Charlie an amused wink.
Even Bawb chuckled slightly. “In any case, we now possess something of an advantage, stemming from my experience aboard the Tslavar ship. There was residual magic from the un-freezing process. I could faintly smell it on the dazed prisoners––though how best we can utilize that observation I was not entirely certain. But from what Ara has told me, we may have an option, Cal. Is that correct?”
“Yes. I’ve been looking into the way your magic casting functions, after the successful neuro-stim transfer of a spell from Ara to Rika and Ripley. The sending out of the information to the recipients was straightforward enough, though novel at the time. The downloading and parsing of the spells themselves, however...well, that was the more difficult aspect.”
“Wait, do you mean you can actually pull traces of someone else’s magic from Bob’s memories?” Charlie asked. “Something we can use to crack this spell? Is that even possible?”
“We do not know for certain, Charlie. However, with Ara’s help, I believe there is a decent possibility she may be able to aid our AI collective in identifying the precise portion of the memory that would be of use in this instance. Then, if I am not mistaken, she could re-work the spell, taking the fragments from Bawb’s memory and restoring it with her own knowledge of these arcane skills. But only if the casting was going on nearby.”
“But the booby traps––”
“Not if we are using their own magic against them, Charlie,” Ara said. “Obviously, I cannot recreate their actual spell this way, but I can get a good feel for the magic behind its creation. With that, I can then cast a spell that their safeguards would sense as non-threatening. While it would not be entirely of their origin, I think enough of a similar magic woven into my spell should keep their defenses from activating.”
“Should?”
“Well, nothing is one hundred percent in this sort of thing. But I am fairly confident we can make it work.”
“Hang on a minute,” Leila interrupted. “You’re talking about casting a complex spell from a trace of one tucked away in a memory. But what if there was something more tangible you could use as well?”
“By tangible, what exactly are you talking about, Leila?” Ara asked with curiosity.
“The slain prisoners. The ones cut down by the Tslavars during Bawb’s escape have been sitting in a cooling facility to be stored and eventually studied. They may be dead, and the rest of us do not possess any skills that might allow us to glean any additional information from them. But you’re different, Ara. You can sniff out magic.”
Ripley saw where her olive-skinned friend was going with that. “Oh my God, yes! I totally get it! Wouldn’t those bodies still retain the distinctive smell of the magic that was used to release them from their stasis spell?”
Ara sat up a bit straighter. It was a clever idea, and in conjunction with the audacious plan she, Cal, and Bawb had devised, that might just be the thing that put them over the top. That is, if the bodies still retained traces of that particular bit of the Tslavar magic.
In any case, it was worth a try. And with their adversaries routed and sent to their makers, they at least possessed the one thing lacking in the past several frantic days.
Time.
“I will fly to Los Angeles immediately,” Ara said. “But I will require Bawb to accompany me. Cal’s facilities are already prepared for the linkage, and I feel confident, based on my previous experience with the machine, that I can help him and the other AIs pinpoint the information locked in Bawb’s memory. And once we have that, we can prepare for the next step.”
“You mean turning this thing off?” Ripley said.
“Oh, nothing so hasty,” Ara said. “First we must make certain the reversal spell even works. And for that, we will need a test subject.”
“Plenty of those lying around,” Charlie said.
He looked at Bawb. The conflict in his friend was plain to see. Here he was, trying to reverse the very magic that was keeping Hunze trapped, and they were going to need a guinea pig to test it on. Of course the urge to free his golden-haired love was fierce, but Bawb was also practical, no matter how much it hurt.
“There is risk,” Bawb said as plainly as though nothing was troubling him. “I suggest we first attempt the process on a p
risoner.”
“We do not experiment on our prisoners, Bawb. And besides, after the Great War, the focus has been on rehabilitation and return to society.”
“Be that as it may, surely there are some who would be more suitable for this test than valued citizens?”
Cal was silent a long moment.
“Perhaps there is someone who fits your criteria.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Eddie and Rip provided Bawb a much-needed lift back to Los Angeles, where he and Ara would immediately get working on their plan. He’d have just as soon flown there on his giant red friend’s back, but without his space suit, the ballistic orbit of her flight would have been rather uncomfortable. As in, freeze-to-death uncomfortable.
So it was that he bummed a ride with an overly curious and exuberant teen, and her wet-behind-the-ears ship. It made for an interesting flight, but one that, fortunately, did not last too long.
“Oh, we’re here already?” Ripley said, taking a breath from her incessant chatter.
“Yes, it would appear so,” Bawb replied, anxious to get off the ship and get started having the AIs poke around in his head.
It would undoubtedly be more relaxing than listening to all of the teen’s theories about Tslavars and magic and space travel. Ever since she had received her neuro-stim upload of magical casting ability, her mind had been racing with the what-if’s and how-about’s of her new knowledge.
And it was exhausting.
“I greatly appreciate the ride,” Bawb said as he disembarked.
“Oh, yeah. No problem!” Ripley replied. “You know, if you want, I bet I could help Uncle Cal with some of the––”
“But don’t you need to visit the fabrication labs to have your weapons assessed and reloaded? I thought that was first on your list, was it not, Eddie?”
“Yeah, he’s right, Rip. We really should get over there and get that taken care of ASAP. Wouldn’t want to have to miss out on another battle because we’re in dry dock.”
“Shit, you’re right. Thanks, Bawb. Good lookin’ out.”
“It is my pleasure, Ripley. And thanks again to you both for bringing me to Los Angeles. It is greatly appreciated.”
“No worries, dude,” she chirped. “Okay, Eddie. You ready to get that new toy tuned up and reloaded?”
“You know it, Rip. See you later, Bawb.”
“Safe travels, Eddie,” the Wampeh said as he watched the ship lurch skyward.
“She can be a bit much at times,” Cal said when Eddie was out of sight. “But she’s a good kid, and she and Eddie have proven their worth on more than one occasion.”
“Yes, they are valued members of our team, no doubt. Now, where do you need me to go, Cal? I understand you have already rigged up a device suitable for Ara.”
“Indeed. We made a modified neuro-stim band that would not only fit her head, but also accommodate her most unusual brainwaves.”
“She is a Zomoki. One of the oldest. It is only logical that she would function a bit outside of your normal parameters, I’d think,” Bawb said with a little grin. “But as for this much smaller being now standing before you, where exactly would you like me to go?”
Cal directed him to a nearby building, where they had set up a feed running from Ara’s outdoor setup to the massively modified neuro device that would attempt to allow her access to the Wampeh’s memories.
It would be far too dangerous to let her go traipsing willy-nilly through Bawb’s mind, and the damage it could cause to both of them was a very real possibility. But with the help of the massive AI network channeling all of their spare processing power to this one task, the ancient dragon would be able to pick her way through a minute or so of her friend’s memories without much risk.
Bawb slipped the neuro-stim band onto his head and leaned back in the reclining chair. “What do I do?”
“Just close your eyes and try to focus on the times when you were in closest proximity to the recently unfrozen captives. We will be relaying rough data to Ara throughout the process, and when a particular memory shows promise, we will focus in on it, allowing her to access that snippet in time.”
There wasn’t much more to worry about. It would work, or it wouldn’t, so Bawb did as he was asked, closing his eyes and letting the strange tech-magic machine reach into his thoughts and memories. It took but an instant for him to feel the strange sensation of technology probing in his mind.
Normally, the process wouldn’t have even been noticeable by the neuro wearer. But in Bawb’s case, he had just absorbed an utterly massive amount of magical power from their captured visla, and that power afforded him an unusual experience within the device itself.
Ara’s presence was there on the periphery. He could almost smell it, a musky magic just beyond sight.
So, this is what she means by smelling magic, he mused as he marveled at the merging of tech and magic.
As it turned out, the additional power he now had flowing in his veins worked both ways, and Ara was startled at just how clearly she could sense her friend’s mind. His memories were clearer than she’d expected, as were the sights and smells contained therein.
“There! That one!” Ara called to the AIs monitoring the process. “Their caster was boosting their spell. That’s the one we’re looking for,” she informed them, pinpointing the section of memory containing the magical signature she required.
It was far more complete than she expected it to be, Bawb’s newfound power making the memory far sharper than anticipated. And with it, the smell of the spell that had freed the prisoners. It was there, dancing at the tip of her nose, almost familiar in its smoky aroma.
Cal and the others turned the full processing power of their combined systems to the lone task of isolating the identified data stream. What was a tangible memory to the Zomoki and Wampeh was perceived as pure data to the machines. Whatever the case, in a matter of seconds they had copied it and secured it to their storage facilities.
“We have what you needed,” Cal informed them both. “We have refined and cleaned the signal and are sending the information to you now, Ara.”
Bawb opened his eyes and removed the band from his head. The last thing he had felt while they had been in the shared neuro space was the effort it was taking for her to absorb the data. It was simply never designed to implant information in a brain of her nature, and the strain was palpable.
The Wampeh rose from his seat and took to the stairs, taking them two at a time as he rushed to the low building’s rooftop where his friend lay, quietly working to assimilate the new spell.
He watched his Zomoki friend, her brow furrowed, eyes closed, as the band resting on her massive head struggled to transfer the data. Her own magic was crackling in the air, an instinctive reaction to her internal fight. She was dangerous to all around her without meaning to be, and if something went wrong, she could cause a lot of damage in an instant.
Bawb took a deep breath and concentrated, pulling up the stolen visla’s magic from within. It was such a massive amount of power, he almost lost himself in it for a moment, overwhelmed by the sheer potency. But he was a Wampeh Ghalian, and in short order, he had his newfound power under control.
Focused. Harnessed. Standing by at the ready to help his friend, or protect the others. Whichever case arose, he would be prepared. He just hoped neither eventuality would come to pass.
Finally, several long minutes later, the weary dragon opened her golden eyes.
“Got it.”
Chapter Fifty-Five
The sight of an alien space vampire flying atop a giant red space dragon might not have been such an unusual occurrence in both of their distant galaxy, but for the cyborgs of London who were helping prepare their test subject, it was enough to cause their entirely electronic speech centers to stutter for a moment.
“That’s a–that’s a–that’s a dragon!” the poor fellow guarding the street outside the Tower of London managed to stammer.
“Yes, Te
rry, that’s a dragon,” Charlie said with a little laugh. “And yes, that’s a space vampire on her back,” he added, sharing an amused look with Leila.
His queen had been practicing spells with Rika ever since they arrived in London. While both were tired from battle, a bit of casual magic work was both a soothing as well as bonding experience for them. Some women went on spa dates. These women devised new ways to wield their magic and toss people to-and-fro.
“You two okay?” Charlie asked. “Need anything?”
“We’re good,” Leila called back. “Just let us know when you’re ready to begin.”
“Will do,” Charlie replied as he walked to meet his returning friends. “Hey, guys, Vic said things went okay in LA.” He sized up his Zomoki friend. Ara looked a tiny bit tired, but the sun’s rays had been replenishing her energy as she flew high above the cloud cover, popping into low orbit as she returned to the UK.
Bawb climbed down from her back, taking off the helmet to his space suit, conveniently retrieved while they were back in LA. The brief stopover had also given him a moment to check in on Hunze.
The golden-haired woman lay exactly where he’d left her. Untouched, unbothered, and unwaking. She was safe, which was his primary concern, but she was frozen in stasis as well.
“I see you have our test subject nearly ready,” Bawb noted as he began unfastening the space suit closures. “Big one, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. Apparently, he was one of the leaders of the Chithiid loyalist sect that fought against the humans and AIs in the Great War. Cal was telling me about it the other day.”
“We have all heard the stories,” Bawb replied.
“Well, yeah. But he was finally getting into some of the details. Everyone lives together in peace now that the war is over, but they teach this stuff to every Earth-born kid in school so they never forget. I mean, this wasn’t all that long ago.”