Jeena thought back to the time when Stella, the dragon Bright Wing, and her had infiltrated a Crosioian space station to retrieve bottles of DNA gas. Stella and she had been forced to take on four Crosioian scouts by themselves. The memory of the Sterilian’s skill with her quad of phase rods was still fresh in Jeena’s mind.
“It’s the Defiant,” said Asquan from the pilot’s seat as he slowed the X-shuttle down to maneuvering speed.
Looking past the elf teen’s shoulders, Jeena noticed the Defiant solidifying to their front. The little recon ship did a one-eighty and presented her backside to the shuttle. The makeshift clamps Sergeant Ron had installed to secure the X-shuttle to the recon ship’s back looked like a mighty small target to Jeena.
“Do you think you can hit those securing clamps?” asked Richard.
“I better,” laughed Asquan. “If I do not, Tia will have my hide the next time I see her. She made me practice it in our halo-simulator about a thousand times before she left for Trecor.”
Thinking back on the young Trecorian fighter pilot, Jeena wiped at her eye as she remembered the tearful goodbye between Tia and the human male, Matthew Deloris. Tia had left to rally the Trecorians and convince them to end their part of the civil war against the Conglomerate. For his part, Matthew had been ordered by Richard to return to Risors and take charge of the Conglomerate’s forces.
“That is no easy task,” said Danny in her mind. “Matthew’s mother might have been the empress and the de facto leader of the Conglomerate, but according to Sergeant Ron, there are forty-eight people vying for the Conglomerate’s leadership. Matthew is way down the pecking order.”
Although Jeena didn’t know what a “pecking order” was, she understood the gist of her battle computer’s comment. “Which is the whole reason we are here,” she said, nodding toward Felix Deloris strapped into the bench seat across from her, next to Stella. His wrinkled business suit contrasted sharply with the battle suits of the wizard scouts sitting around him. “We will soon see if Sergeant Ron’s theory about taking out the top ten contenders will motivate the other thirty-eight to clear the way for Matt.”
“Affirmative,” replied Danny.
Timerman turned around in the copilot’s seat. “The force field’s in place. I’m lowering the ramp. Don’t linger getting through the access tube to the Defiant’s cargo bay. If we’re attacked, Asquan and I are raising the ramp and taking off with no questions asked. Those of you without environmental suits would hate to be stuck outside admiring the vacuum of space if the force field goes bye-bye.”
“He’s joking, right?” asked Felix Deloris, his face looking a little white.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Richard unbuckled and moved across the aisle to unhook the thin businessman. “Timerman’s an orc. I haven’t quite figured out his range of humor yet. My recommendation is not to give us any trouble. The sooner we get you into the cargo bay of the Defiant, the better.”
Jeena noticed the deceased empress’s brother move with a purpose for the rear ramp with Richard’s gloved hand holding the man’s left arm just above the elbow. As soon as Felix’s foot touched the ramp, the businessman started floating up.
“Help!” cried Felix.
“Calm down,” said Richard as he pulled the man back onto the ramp. “I’ve got you. The gravity unit doesn’t extend to the ramp. The magnetics in my boots are keeping me down. Or don’t your luxury space yachts work that way?”
The now completely white-faced Felix closed his eyes and grabbed onto Richard’s arm for dear life. “I hate space travel, yachts or otherwise.”
Watching closely to make sure Felix Deloris didn’t try anything foolish, Jeena remained in the shuttle and covered her bondmate. Within seconds, both he and his prisoner disappeared down an opening in the Defiant’s skin that had appeared near the end of the shuttle’s ramp. She waited until all the remaining occupants of the shuttle had departed except for the teenage elf and orc pilots.
The ring on Jeena’s left hand tingled. “You may as well go now,” said Danny. “Asquan and Timerman will be staying onboard to do their post flight.”
“I’m going,” Jeena replied as she tentatively placed a foot on the shuttle’s ramp. When she did, her foot tried to float upward. She hastily stepped back, eyeing the ramp.
Two sets of laughter sounded behind her.
“It’s perfectly safe, Jeehana,” said Asquan. “Even if you floated completely free of the ramp, the force field would keep you from drifting more than a couple of meters.”
When Jeena turned to glare at the two teenagers, they both hastily turned back to their control panels and pretended to look at their instruments.
“He is right,” confirmed Danny. “I calculate only one chance in a hundred-thousand that the force field will deactivate while you are outside the shuttle.”
Never fond of being laughed at, Jeena drew Power from her reserve and formed it into a one-word levitation spell. The magic wrapped around her, giving her a feeling of stability. Taking a step forward, she used the spell to maintain contact with the ramp. Hurrying into the access opening at the end of the ramp, she slid down the ladder as fast as she could while doing her best to avoid looking at the vast emptiness of space.
“You will get used to it,” said Danny. “Look at me. Moving around in the vacuum of space does not bother me at all.”
“You’re a gaseous life form inside a brerellium steel chip in my ring. You don’t even breathe. I’m the one who would be harmed if the force field stopped working.”
Her battle computer laughed. “That is true. I calculate that is why it pays to be a gas-based life form instead of a carbon-based one.”
Before Jeena could reply, her feet made contact with the bottom of the access tube and she felt the force of gravity again. With a flick of her left hand, she released the levitation spell. As she turned to enter the cargo bay, Jeena heard loud voices.
A red-faced Sergeant Ron was facing Felix Deloris. “I had nothing to do with the death of my daughter,” said the Defiant’s captain. “I wish I could’ve helped her, but you know how stubborn she is.”
“Was,” said Felix. “My sister’s dead. Remember?”
“Don’t ya think I know that?” said Sergeant Ron. “Don’t ya think I would’ve given my life to save my only daughter’s if I coulda?”
Felix shook his head. “Words are cheap, Father. What are you going to do now? Kill me to regain control of the company? Well, you’re wasting your time. I might own half of the Deloris Armaments Corporation on paper, but I don’t know squat about the company. Diane took care of everything. I just signed whatever she stuck in front of me.”
Sergeant Ron looked at the metal deck before glancing back at his son.
Although Jeena rarely detected emotions from the humans on the Defiant, she sensed a wave of sadness wash over the captain and then noticed the red heat of anger in his face disappear as he spoke.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, Felix,” said Sergeant Ron, sounding meeker than Jeena had ever heard the contrary old man speak. “I’m more sorry than you can imagine, but things are going on that’re bigger than the both of us. Matt needs to take charge of the Conglomerate. We need you to help him do it. You’ve got the political know-how. He’s got the knowledge of the company’s inner workings and the drive to make it happen.”
“Ha!” laughed Felix. “Jaqual Thoris and Ycckomar Minist have already consolidated their grasp on the political power in the Conglomerate. Why do you think they were trying to get me off Risors? I was in the way. They were sending me to a comfortable but secure house arrest on Thandar Five. Those two will never let Matt take charge. I suspect they’ve got my nephew under arrest for treason by now, if they haven’t already had him executed.”
This time Sergeant Ron was the one who laughed. He looked at Richard before glancing back at Felix Deloris. “That’s where you’re wrong, Son. As of two hours ago, both Thoris and Minist are sitting in a prison cell on Di
ajor waiting for a military tribunal to be convened. They were both up to their eyeballs in Governor Jenkin’s battle plan. They helped betray the Empire on Estos.” Scratching his beard, Sergeant Ron gave Felix Deloris the once over. “I’m assuming you had nothing to do with that disaster.”
The balding businessman glared at his father. “You know very well I didn’t. I may not be the smartest man in the galaxy, but even I know you’d have me on the way to Diajor by now if you had any doubts about my involvement.”
Felix Deloris glanced at the others in the cargo bay, staring at Jeena for several seconds. His eyes took on a glassy look before he shook his head and hastily looked away. After seeming to take interest in his scuffed shoes for several seconds, he raised his head. Jeena noticed he made sure to avoid eye contact with her, seeming to take great pains in concentrating on his father instead.
“So it’s true,” said Felix. “Diane told me you were working with mythical creatures.”
Heat rose to Jeena’s face. “I am not—”
“Jeena is an elf,” said Richard, placing a hand on her shoulder. “She is also my bondmate and my wife, so watch your tongue.”
The balding man raised both hands in a stopping motion. “You’ve got me wrong. Diane told me that Gaston was conducting missions on a planet with elves, dwarves, dragons, the whole works. I didn’t believe her until now.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at a two-meter-long silver-winged creature resting on a nearby crate filled with magic globes of energy. “Between the elf and the miniature dragon over there, I’m convinced.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” said Richard. “There’s a dark side filled with vampires, werewolves, demons, and every kind of nasty you can think of. The demons are our real enemies. The Conglomerate and the Empire need to work together again, or we’re all dead.”
“The Conglomerate is the Empire,” said Felix standing straight. “You’re the traitors. I’m not the one in charge, so it doesn’t matter what I think, but if I was, I wouldn’t help you anyway. I don’t care what you say or do to me. My sister’s dead. I think you killed her.” The thin man pointed a finger at Richard. “She warned me about you, Wizard Scout. And don’t try to frighten me with children’s tales of demons or whatever. I’ve never been a religious man. Demons are just contrived tales to scare the uneducated into compliance. I don’t believe in them. I seriously doubt you do either.”
Sergeant Ron opened his mouth to speak, but Richard raised a gloved hand before the Defiant’s captain could say anything. “Then I’m gonna make a believer out of you…Felix.”
Jeena sensed something on the edge of her scan. Something was coming. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she sensed it under the ship’s steel decking.
“Not under it,” corrected Danny in her mind. “It’s in the void. Check the frequency of the creature.”
Reaching out with a scan spell, Jeena felt for the creature with her mind. She found it readily enough and immediately recognized its frequency.
“Rick, what are you going to do?” Jeena asked, growing suddenly concerned. “Are you leaving me?”
Her bondmate turned and smiled. “Just for a minute. Felix here and I are going to take a short trip. We’ll be back soon enough.”
Also seeming to grow concerned, Sergeant Ron said, “He’s my son, Rick. I don’t want—”
“Relax,” replied Richard. “Trust me. We’ll be right back. He won’t be harmed.”
With those words, Jeena sensed her bondmate reach out with Power and wrap it around Felix Deloris and himself. The Power vibrated. As she watched, Richard reached out with his left hand and grabbed onto Felix’s arm. Both the businessman and her bondmate shimmered before turning translucent and sinking into the floor. Jeena got a vivid view of two large round eyes as Felix Deloris disappeared into the steel deck. His final scream echoed off the walls of the cargo bay as his head sunk below the surface of the metal floor.
Sergeant Ron glanced at Jeena, stress lines punctuating the corners of his eyes. “What’s Rick up to?”
Jeena shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure. His spirit-horse is in the void right below us. I can sense your son and Rick mounting the stallion now.” The sensation of the life forms in the void disappeared. “They are gone now. Do not ask me where. Richard said he would be back in a minute. We will just have to wait.”
A minute passed. Then another. Ten more minutes passed before Jeena sensed a disturbance in the void below the cargo bay’s deck.
“The void is not below the deck,” said Danny. “It is the space between dimensions. How many times must I explain it?”
Jeena banged the back of her left hand against a metal supply crate, making sure the red-gemmed ring on her finger took the brunt of the blow. “Quiet, Danny.” Catching Sergeant Ron’s eye, Jeena said, “They are back.”
A dozen heartbeats later, the forms of Richard and Felix Deloris rose out of the metal deck. Jeena sensed Power dissipate from around the pair. An ashen-faced Felix collapsed to his knees with both hands clasped in front of his face. The business man’s lips moved, but Jeena’s normally sensitive ears picked up no sound. Is he praying? she wondered.
With an unexpected tenderness, Sergeant Ron knelt by his son’s side and wrapped a protective arm around the man’s shoulder while patting his back. The Defiant’s captain looked up at Richard and demanded, “What did you do to him?”
Richard’s gaze met Jeena’s and he stared at her for a second before turning back to Sergeant Ron. “I showed him who our real enemies are. I took him to the spiritual dimension. I’ve got a feeling he’ll help us now.”
“The spiritual dimension?” Jeena asked. “You mean where your dolgars live?” Her bondmate had told her about the lava-spewing, barren land of the spirit wolves.
Shaking his head, Richard looked down at the still praying Felix. “No. Deeper than that. I took him to the demonic plane. I showed him our real enemies. He’s seen them first hand now.”
Hoping she hadn’t heard correctly, Jeena said, “The demonic—”
“Just the upper-most level,” said Richard as if that made a difference. “My soul was drawn there during the battle at the Presence of the Lady when I healed the elf children. I saw our real enemies then. I saw the massed demon armies waiting for the command to wipe out every living thing in the three galaxies.” Pointing at the kneeling Felix, he said, “Now he’s seen them too.”
As Jeena looked at her bondmate, he knelt beside Felix Deloris. Placing a hand on the thin man’s shoulder, Richard glanced over at Sergeant Ron kneeling on the other side of his son. He and the Defiant’s captain traded glances. Sergeant Ron sighed and then nodded. When he did, Richard turned his attention back to Felix.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” said Richard in a soft voice, “but it was necessary. The time for our petty hidden agendas and narrow-minded goals is past. We’ve all got to work together to have any chance against what’s coming.”
Felix Deloris shook his head, then bent over until his head was almost touching the deck. “It’s hopeless, I tell you. Nothing can stop them. Everything’s lost. We’re all going to die.”
The hopelessness in the man’s voice hit Jeena hard. Whatever the man had seen had obviously overwhelmed his senses. In spite of her determination in the struggle to save the three galaxies, she began wondering if their fight really was hopeless. Apparently sensing her growing despair through their bond link, Richard looked up at her, catching her eye. She saw him shake his head slightly before turning back to Felix Deloris.
“If I thought it was hopeless,” said Richard still kneeling beside the businessman, “I wouldn’t have wasted my time taking you to see what’s coming. I’d have gathered my friends and run to the farthest corner of the galaxy and lived out as many years as I could before the demon armies overwhelmed us.”
An image of billions of demons overrunning the three galaxies flashed in Jeena’s mind, followed by the thought of running to a safe area with her bondmate
. She struggled to push the thought away, but it persisted nonetheless.
As if sensing her internal struggle, Richard stood and stared at her for a long heartbeat. He turned and looked at the others in the cargo bay. When he spoke next, it was in a voice full of conviction. “I tell all of you here and now that it’s not hopeless. I’m not going to run and hide. I’m going to fight what’s coming as long as there is breath in my body. I’ve got freewill. One thing I’ve learned during my missions for ‘the One’ is that nothing is set in stone. Working together, and by that I mean all of us working together, we’ve got a chance. We just have to put aside our differences. Each of us has to swallow our pride and prejudices and use every asset at our disposal to hold the line against what’s coming.”
Jeena felt the ever-growing determination of her bondmate through the link they shared between them. His determination and courage became hers. She gathered strength from his words. No, not just his words, she thought. There’s more to it than that.
“He’s forming a Circle,” came the thought from Danny in her mind. “I do not think he even realizes it, but he is.”
At her battle computer’s words, Jeena realized Danny was right. She sensed a line of energy reaching out from her bondmate and connecting everyone in the cargo bay in a continuous ring of Power. Even the dragon Bright Wing was included. As Richard’s determination and courage jumped from one person in the Circle to the next, it increased with each successive jump. She felt her own resolve grow as it fed on that of the others in the Circle. The feeling of despair at the words of Sergeant Ron’s son fell to the wayside where it belonged.
I am a living creature, Jeena thought. I think. I can fight. I will fight against all who seek to come against us.
Jeena looked around the room, catching the eyes of everyone there. She had a feeling if the demon armies could see what she saw in the eyes of the Defiant’s crew, the armies of the dark would have second thoughts about attacking the lands of the living. Even Felix Deloris rose from the floor and stood ramrod straight. He stared into her molten-silver eyes before turning to her bondmate.
Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8) Page 3