Cypher Theorem Series Box Set: Books 1-3, The Zero Class, Shadow Moon, Dragon Fire: A Science Fiction Fantasy

by Mark Brandon Powell

  ***

  Vernon grabs the lockbox out of the locker, and the lock disengages. The tournament was over and it was within proximity of his HaLO. The free for all match didn’t last long for him and his team. There was something he didn’t even think about, his team was in first place. Of course everyone would group up and turn on his team.

  He puts back on his pendant, staring down at the cold pewter colored metal, and wonders could this have helped him win? Vernon mind then jumps to the questions he is going to ask his father and mother about the pendant. What is it, why did you give it to me, how do I use it, what do you expect of me?

  All packed and changed into a fresh set of clothes he heads for the bus. Walking out of the player’s locker room his head is hung, low contemplating what he has to do next. He should be happy, or dancing if he danced. They qualified! They even get to skip the first two rounds with the byes they received. Vernon raises his head as he is about to turn the corner on the casinos’ game room floor. There stand both his parents waiting for him, smiles as wide as they can get.

  “Vernon over here son!” Eugene yells.

  “Pops, Mom? What are you doing here?” Vernon runs over to his parents and gives them both a big hug.

  “We came here to see you. You said this was important right?” Alexandria replies.

  “Yea I did but I never thought that you would come, you both said that you couldn’t.”

  “We were able to make some last minute arrangements, and I have to say that you were really something out there. I never knew you were that good. You’re gonna have to show me that disruption thing you pulled on that lightning kid.” Eugene says.

  “Yea, about that I need to ask you about this pendant. What is it and where did it come from? They had us register all our runes before the tournament, and this set off the rune detectors.”

  “Son, that is a long conversation. One that is not for a public setting like this one. I promise when we get home we’ll talk about it.”

  “Alright but I…” Vernon’s sentence gets cut off.

  “Vernon, good job out there, you really were something to watch indeed.” A man’s voice says from the hallway.

  “Tyler?” Eugene asks timidly, “Is that you?”

  “It is, how have you been doing…” Tyler pauses, “Eugene, Alexandria?”

  “Good, nothing out of the ordinary to report here.” Alexandria answers, putting her arms around Vernon. “Just been raising this one, and trying to keep busy working.”

  “That is good to hear, I have been painfully busy myself over the last 17 years. You might not have heard but I got promoted to Captain Commander some years back. The reason I’m here today is the higher ups wanted me to oversee these tournaments. Asses our youth for potential candidates. You didn’t hear that from me though.”

  Vernon perks up at hearing this and excitedly asks, “Really?”

  “Yes really, and you were really something out there. I have never seen an ability like yours before.”

  “You must be joking, with all the government secrets that you must have access to. You must have seen something similar.” Eugene replies.

  “Nothing a human can control. So no, I haven’t seen anything like what your son can do. To dispel or disrupt someone from casting is like nothing ever seen on this world in human hands. You add that onto your son’s incredible physical strength and speed. He's already as good as some of my first year candidates at the academy. He would make a fine candidate.”

  “Well that is just something that we have yet to discuss completely with Vernon on what he is doing in the future.” Alexandria says.

  Vernon pulls out of his mother’s embrace and faces her. “No mom it isn’t. This is what I have been talking about for some time now. I want to join the Paladins. You know, follow in yours and father’s footsteps. Be able to prove to myself that I am not just some worthless zero, a waste of magic.”

  “Stop that right there Vernon. You are not some magic score. You are so much more than that! You are our son and we both love you very much. You are special to us in ways you can’t comprehend.” Alexandria replies, her eyes welling up with tears.

  “Yes I imagine you are very special Vernon, and you should listen to your parents, they have years of experience you don’t. The zero rating in the magic tests only shows what type of magic someone is attuned to or how strong of a bond with that element the person has. It's not a test of magical ability or power. Zero is there because there is no attunement to any type of element.”

  Alexandria nods, “See Vernon, never let that be used against you again. Not by, or anyone else. Wear it proud.”

  Vernon lets out a huff. Wear it proud she says. Easy for her to say, she isn’t one. Vernon thinks.

  Tyler looks in a few directions and says, “With that said, I am getting all sorts of reports that are filling my vision and I have to get back to my duties. It has been good to see you both, Alexandria, Eugene. Work, work, work. Never a dull day as the Commander. And Vernon try not to be too hard on your parents. They have done more for you than you know, and I know they love you very deeply.” Tyler turns to walk away, giving a half wave goodbye.

  “Don’t work yourself into an early grave,” Alexandria yells to him, “I know the last Commander tried to do that and it got her nowhere.”

  Tyler yells back, not turning around. “That may be true, but there are still a few messes I have to clean up before I can slow down.” Tyler walks off around a corner with a final wave goodbye.

  Vernon turns to his parents, “You never told me you know the Commander of the Paladins?”

  “We sure do. He is a dear friend to us and we asked a favor from him many years ago that we have yet to pay back.” Eugene says.

  “Yes, and it seems he is even still keeping it today.” Alexandria says with a sigh of relief, “But like your father said Vernon we will talk about everything when we get home. You don’t want to miss your bus now go and have a safe trip home.”

  Vernon hugs both of his parents tightly, and they hug back. Vernon has tears of his own, that begin to cloud his vision as he begins to speak.

  “Thank you for coming today, it really meant a lot to see you here, I love you both.”

  “We love you too Vernon, we’ll see you at home.” Eugene says.

  ***

  Tyler walks through a set of double doors held open by two paladins in full dress, leading into a private parking lot. The parking lot is normally there for high paying patrons of the casino but his high position granted him access. Passing through the doors turned on the auto drive on his car, and it pulls itself around stopping in front of him. The sleek black door facing Tyler opens and slides toward the back. Tyler climbs into and situates himself on the black leather seats. As the door shuts, his HaLO creates a secure signal. Allowing him to access all his incoming files and tasks he has coming due in his short absents.

  He waves his left hand out in front of himself, moving all the overlaid displays out of the way and opens a new display. He makes a search of all the currently unused facilities that are within Saint Anthony. His search only returns one result. He beckons his HaLO to search the listing, warehouse three. The display changes over to data from inventory lists. Surveillance over the last few days starts playing, and use logs over the last several days.

  Tyler mumbles to himself, “Alright, that’s good. Seems like there isn’t anyone using it right now, or any scheduled use for the next few days.” Again he calls out, “HaLO pull up Vernon Douglas.” The screens all change over to Vernon and his information.

  Vernon Douglas, born 982 SD.

  Data corrupt or missing for magic type.

  Data corrupt or missing for parental information.

  Data corrupt or missing for location information.

  Attends Saint Anthony Runic Academy.

  Available surveillance shown.

  The screens show where Vernon has been, who he talked to, and what he was accessing over the net over th
e last few days within a few minutes. Tyler stops the feed at Vernon kissing a girl. Tyler circles the face of the girl with his finger, calling for his HaLO to identify the selection.

  Marie Zieschang. Born 982 SD.

  Fire Elemental.

  Daughter of Saint Anthony Dome Board Member Wayne Zieschang and wife Victoria.

  Honor student.

  Dance team captain.

  “HaLO, call Sebastian.”

  A new screen appears and Sebastian Fullers name appears in the upper right of the new window. Tyler reaches out to the screen in front of him and cuts the video feed.

  A hesitant voice answers the call, “Paladin Fullers here, how can I help you this evening Commander?”

  “Yes Sebastian, I got something I need to you do. I need you to pick up a girl for me, and transport her somewhere. Her name is Marie Zieschang. She should be on Dome route four right now, I’ll send you the coordinates. Just tell her it is about Vernon Douglas and she needs to come with you.”

  “Is there something I need to be alert for sir?”

  “No there isn’t, just a training exercise I cooked up for a potential recruit. The girl you are about to pick up is his girlfriend. The old ones are the best ones.”

  “Understood Commander, she will be there within the hour.”

  “Thanks Sebastian, just leave her at warehouse three inside the mirror room. I’m going to have someone else there to do the testing. Also one last thing, be gentle with her. She is the daughter of one of the board members in Saint Anthony. I don’t want to be hearing about this for the next few weeks from the top brass.”

  “Yes sir, I’ll be discreet. “

  Tyler reaches out and closes the window, ending the call. He gestures a new window open and brings up an email. A keyboard materializes slightly over his legs, and he begins to type. The message is for Vernon and has a location tag attached to it, so once he is at his home it will send to him.

  Tyler lets out a small sigh of regret and mumbles under his breath, “Alright Vernon, test number one let us see how you handle this.”

  15

  Vernon arrives home to a notification flashes in the upper left of his vision. It’s an email. He’s tired, and there are a hundred questions racing through his mind. He almost disregards it. Email was not normally something he would even look at. He gets so little of it, and he opens it not even thinking about it. The first few words send a chilling shot of terror down his spine. Stoping him in place.

  We have your cheerleader, if you want her back come to the Montmerry mansion. You will find the directions below. You may have one person to accompany you. If you alert the Knights, or Paladins, she disappears... forever.

  Vernon's mind starts racing in panic. Who would do this, why, was it really Marie or mistaken identity because Marie isn’t a cheerleader? He pulls up the GPS tracker for Marie. They had linked each other together so they could find each other when needed. It was more for Marie sake than Vernon’s. She likes to know where Vernon is at any time she wants because she wanted to know he was safe. The irony of that was not missed now that he has to do the same.

  He waits GPS, and it feels like hours pass by but it's only seconds. Her icon is grayed out, showing her lasted logged location as the school. Turning to HaLO messages she’s also not connected. She has disappeared off the whole network.

  "So this message is for me," Vernon mumbles to himself slightly shaking his head back and forth. Adrenaline starts to pump though his system thinking about his next move. Duke!

  Vernon calls him up. “Duke, I’ve got a problem. Marie was kidnapped!"

  "What, no way? Kidnappings don’t happen anymore. You’re joking with me because I just home, I’m tired, and you’re trying to get a rise out of me. Right?"

  "I wish I was. I just tried to locate her through GPS, and her location hasn’t been uploaded within the last five hours."

  "Which means you’re in more serious of a relationship that you lead on. That and she’s off the grid. Either far in the country side, someone forced shut off her HaLO uplink, or someone is disrupting it. The last two highly unlikely because only..."

  Vernon cuts him off, "Only paladins can do that, I know, but that wouldn’t make any sense…"

  "No but it could be a rogue paladin, trying to get revenge for their kid from the tournament today. I heard of something like that a couple of years ago. It was a big scandal and he was stripped of all credentials and exiled."

  "Well, they told me I can’t contact the knights, or paladins but I can bring someone with me."

  "I'm already on my way."

  Vernon forwards the email to Duke with an added message 'we can get there faster if we meet there'. They show up around the same time, and both stop to catch their breath.

  Duke talks first, still gasping for air, "So what’s the plan?"

  "No plan, just go in there and see what they want. If we get lucky, we kick the crap out of them. If not, we might die and or they kill Marie." Vernon says.

  He looks up at the mansion in front of him. The front gate is open, but Vernon thinks that can’t be the best entrance. In the video games he plays, they always wait or set traps at the front entrance like this. Vernon keeps his eyes on the building looking around for another entrance.

  He asks, "Duke, do you think you can see any other entrance other than the front. I don’t even see windows on this place... and that’s a little weird."

  "We can check the back but I don’t see a way to get back there."

  With no other visible way to get through Vernon tells Duke to be careful as they take their first steps into the main gate. Their feet hit the ground and a metallic click rings through the air as the large iron gates begin to close. They rush through, making sure not to get locked out. The large metal gates creak and moan as they shut close.

  They each give the other a look and in unison they say, "Crap!"

  Vernon asks, “Did we just step on something that locked us in, where you can’t leave once you enter?"

  "I think we just did, and that’s humiliating. Actually judging from the looks of it we might have tripped a sensor. See them on the left and right of the gate.”

  “Let’s forget about it because we need to get Marie. With the way I’m feeling right now, whoever is in here will want to escape from me."

  “Let’s just stay focused.” Duke says softly as he places a hand on Vernon’s shoulder, “We’ll get her back.”

  They turn their search back to finding an entrance other than the front. At the back of the mansion there still aren’t any other doors. The large white stone and red bricked building had seen better years. The only visible windows were in the back and sealed up with what looked like steel panels. Behind the mansion, is a dense brush of trees and shrubbery all dead, or had shed their leaves for the upcoming winter months. There was another high brick fence in the back that was visible through the brush, but nothing else.

  "Alright,” Vernon says with regret, “I guess front door it is. Let’s try to not trip any sensors this time."

  "Same goes for you." Duke replies.

  They make their way back to the front of the building, taking extra care with each step to not be heard. A stairway entrance looms in front of them. The large entry doors are already open, and Vernon can only see a distant light toward the back of what looks like a long hallway. As they pass through the front door they take notice of the workmanship that was put into making it. It was a solid, heavy and intricately hand designed. When Vernon touches the door, it takes no effort to move.

  "Man this thing is a solid work of art, we probably couldn’t even blast through this door. Even if we wanted to." says Duke.

  Vernon nods in agreement, "If this one closes we might be stuck."

  “At least it will be something to look at if we do.”

  Entering the hallway they look around. The white light fills the corridor from a faraway point. To both the left and right everything has been sealed up with metal, and no other
way to go but into the light. Vernon shrugs and walks toward that light. They hear a click and quickly turn to look behind them. Vernon’s spirit sinks as the doors close. He had walked too far to wind burst toward them before they would shut.

  Duke turns to Vernon and says solemnly, "Well, at least we have each other."

  "This is not the time to be making jokes." Vernon replies.

  A stairway in the floor leading down is the source of light. On either side of stairway, is a large metal door about a foot thick with no door handles. Each are polished to a mirror shine. Vernon looks into the door, and sees his reflection. He pushes the door on the left a little wider, and no fingerprints are left on the door.

  "Duke do you think these doors have runes in them?"

  “Maybe, because they have to weigh like a ton each. Just like the front two."

  "Hopefully it will be just a bit farther now and we can get Marie back."

  "God willing."

  Descending down the spiral staircase their feet echo the sound of shoes on metal. Reaching the last rung they notice the room is covered wall to wall in mirrors. There is a single chandelier on the ceiling in the center of the room. Vernon tries to get a better look at it but the light was blinding. The floor is back-lit with a faint blood orange color. He gets a weird feeling about this place.

  As the two walk toward the mirror at the back of the room, Vernon notices something seems different with his reflection. Almost as if there was a ripple to them.

  Duke asks, “Vernon does your reflection look different to you?"

  “Yea it does. It’s distorted a bit."

  "What do you think that is?"

  Vernon reaches out to touch the mirror. His fingers awaiting the resistance of the mirror, but it never comes. They go into the mirror, and he pushes his arm through the mirror as a ripple forms. He pulls his arm back quickly.