Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8)

by Rodney Hartman

  Curious, the scout turned to face the direction of the energy source, noticing a glowing ball behind a set of large windows. Pointing her ears at the room, she sent out a sonic wave. She detected something moving inside the energy source.

  “Hello,” came a voice in her mind.

  No, not a voice, the scout thought. It is more an emotion than anything else.

  The life form inside the engine room shimmered and blinked out before reappearing near the stairway. The creature was a lizard-looking reptile the length of one of the scout’s wings. Sensing Power in the creature, the scout spun on her heels and cocked one wing with the point out in preparation for defending herself.

  A dragon, thought the scout. My mother told me about them. They can be dangerous.

  “Whoa there,” said the wizard scout as he moved between her and the reptile. “This is Bright Wing. She’s a member of our crew, so your promise not to harm anyone on the ship applies to her also. Uh, Bright Wing, this is, uh…” The human turned to look at the scout. “Uh, I don’t know your name. Mine’s Rick. You bats do have names, don’t you?”

  The scout looked from the human to the dragon and back. Seeing no immediate threat, she retracted her wing. “My name is Blood-On-The-Wing-Point-From-A-Dying-Enemy.”

  “Hmm,” said the wizard scout. “That’s a mouthful. I doubt introducing you that way would endear you to any of the crew. What say we just call you Red Wing for short? We humans have a habit of shortening names. My real name is Richard Shepard, but most people call me Rick for short.”

  The hiss that came out of the wizard scout’s translator when he said his real name made the scout stare. “Richard Shepard?” she said before she caught herself.

  “Uh, yeah,” said the wizard scout. “That’s what was on my birth certificate, or so they tell me. Why?”

  The dragon opened its mouth and spoke in what the scout knew was intergalactic standard. “Rick is not naturally empathic, so he may have missed what I felt. You were surprised when he said his real name. I am curious why?”

  If Red Wing’s mother hadn’t told tales of her encounters with dragons during her time-commando missions, the idea that she would be having a conversation with a dragon would have surprised her. As it was, Red Wing took it in stride. For whatever reason, she was drawn to the dragon as if they were somehow connected. She found herself trusting the creature.

  Before she realized what she was doing, Red Wing replied honestly, “When the wizard scout called Richard Shepard pronounced his real name, his translator hissed words that sounded like the words we Crosioians use for tribal brother. Pathetic humans are our sworn enemies. A human could never be our brother. You, on the other hand, interest me, dragon. When I take my prisoners off this ship, you should come with me. You would be considered an honored guest in the Long Wing tribe. We would not force you to stay in an engine room. I sense your Power. I believe you would be destined for great things if you became our ally.”

  “The humans are my friends, and Rick is my brother,” said Bright Wing. “I am part of the crew, and no one forces me to maintain the Defiant’s engine. I do so voluntarily.”

  The scout shrugged her wings. “The offer stands should you change your mind.”

  The wizard scout called Richard Shepard gave a facial gesture Red Wing recognized as what the humans called a smile.

  “Uh,” said Richard, “I doubt Sergeant Ron would appreciate you trying to recruit members of his crew. Maybe we should keep that between the three of us.”

  “Sergeant Ron? Why sergeant?” Red Wing asked, curiosity overcoming her natural animosity toward humans.

  “Well, that’s a story in itself,” said Richard. “Let’s just say he’s the captain of the Defiant, but he prefers to be called Sergeant. He says he’s a sergeant because he works for a living. He doesn’t much care for officers, which I guess is one of the reasons being called a captain riles him up so much.”

  Red Wing snorted a laugh. She didn’t much care for officers either. She thought of the years she’d served in the military as an enlisted soldier before becoming a scout. “Then I will be sure to address him as Sergeant before I kill him, if the need arises, Wizard Scout.”

  “Uh, Rick. Call me Rick, or Richard, if you prefer.”

  The scout shrugged her wings again. It matters not what I call him, she thought. He will die soon enough once I present him to the tribal leaders.

  “Very well, Rick,” said the scout. “I will answer to the name Red Wing while I am on this ship.” She pointed her ears at the dragon. “My offer stands, Bright Wing, should you change your mind.”

  The scout sensed an emotion of laughter from the dragon before the reptilian creature blinked out and reappeared in the engine room.

  “Shall we?” said the wizard scout who claimed his real name was Tribal Brother. The human jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Your room’s this way.”

  When the human turned and began walking in their original direction, Red Wing followed. They didn’t go far. It was, after all, a small ship that was obviously intended for long-range recon missions. Stopping in front of a curtained doorway, the man called Richard Shepard pulled the curtain open and stepped into a small room. A set of bunk beds similar to those that had been in her prison cell were on one wall. Opposite the beds were two metal lockers along with a desk and chair.

  The human pointed at the beds. “I’ll have our mechanic Charlie remove the bunk beds and attach a metal bar to the ceiling. My battle computer tells me Crosioians hang by their feet when they sleep. If he told me wrong, let me know, and I’ll have Charlie leave the bunks as is.”

  Red Wing noted the height of the ceiling. “A metal bar will do. I was in the infantry before I became a scout. I am used to sleeping in cramped quarters on our troopships with my head close to the deck.”

  “Uh, fine then,” said Richard. “You’ll need some gear. That orange prison jumpsuit you’re wearing doesn’t seem appropriate for a Crosioian scout.”

  Shrugging her wings to show indifference, Red Wing said nothing. She hated the shameful clothing the humans had given her, but she wasn’t about to let the wizard scout know. She watched the man remove the pack off his back and set it on the desk. Reaching inside, he pulled out a Crosioian fighting-suit. The scout armor was in deactivated mode. The human held the suit out in her direction.

  What is the fool doing? she wondered. Is this some kind of trick?

  Overcoming her suspicion, Red Wing took the fighting-suit from the wizard scout’s hands and turned it over in her paws. As far as she could tell, it was in perfect condition. Forming an active scan, she probed the armor.

  The energy pod is fully charged, she thought, growing more perplexed by the human’s actions. “What is this for?” she asked.

  Instead of answering, the human reached into his pack again and pulled out a fighting-helmet. As soon as he did, Red Wing shivered with excitement. She recognized the frequency of the fighting-computer inside the helmet. It had belonged to her mother.

  Offering the helmet to her, the wizard scout said, “This was your mother’s. It was recovered after our fight on Veturna. It’s been kept in a warehouse on Storage along with the rest of her equipment ever since. Based upon her equipment, I know she was a time-commando, the same as me. From what my niece and nephew tell me, there’s quite a bit of Crosioian gear in some of the warehouses on Storage.” After Red Wing took the helmet out of his hands, the human said, “Or at least there used to be. A lot of the warehouses were destroyed during an attack on Storage that happened at the same time as the battle on Estos. I’m not sure how much of your species’ stuff is left.”

  “My species’ equipment?” Red Wing asked. The actions of the human were not logical. He is my prisoner, she thought. Why is he giving me armor? Will he be foolish enough to give me some of my mother’s weapons? Surely even a human would not be that stupid.

  Focusing her ears on the human’s face to detect any sign of deceit, Red Wing said, “What
do you know of time-commandos? How do you know my mother was one?”

  The human flashed a smile. “I’m a time-commando. It doesn’t take much to recognize another from their equipment.”

  Reaching into his pack, the human pulled out a belt with a half-meter long metal rod attached. Instinctively, Red Wing reached out with her right paw before catching herself. She pulled her paw back. I am a scout, she thought. It does no good to let the human sense my eagerness.

  Richard laughed. “I’m not an idiot, if that’s what you’re thinking. I know what I’m doing.” He offered the belt to her. “Take it. The phase spear belonged to your mother. It’s not quite the same as when she had it, but it’s still operable.”

  Taking the belt from the human, Red Wing was half tempted to activate the phase spear and kill the wizard scout then and there. The memory of her word of honor to take him to the tribal leaders kept her natural inclination under control.

  “What do you mean it is not the same?” Red Wing asked more to give her time to ferret out the human’s intentions than any desire to understand what he meant.

  The wizard scout removed his phase rod from his belt.

  Red Wing forced herself not to react. He gave his word of honor to be my prisoner, she thought. He is a scout the same as me, even though he is human. If he wanted to kill me, he could have done so in my cell when I was helpless.

  “My niece and nephew removed a demon essence from your mother’s phase spear and placed it in my phase rod,” said the human. “That essence was destroyed a couple of weeks ago. Now both my rod and the spear you hold in your hands are just normal phase weapons.”

  The scout set the armor, helmet, and weapon’s belt on the desk. “Why are you giving me these? Do you think to bribe me into not killing you? I am a Crosioian scout. Once I present you to the tribal leaders as my prisoner, I will kill you in honorable combat. I will also kill your female. The gift of a few trinkets will not stay my hand.”

  The human shook his head. “I’m sure you’re going to try to do what you say. Whether you succeed or not is a different matter. In any regard, this equipment belonged to your mother. As far as I’m concerned, it’s yours now. If we’re going to be allies, I need you to be equipped with the best gear possible.”

  Red Wing snorted, spraying liquid from her nose in laughter. “Are you insane? We will never be allies. You killed my mother. I am going to kill you.”

  “Your mother and I were soldiers. She fought honorably. I respected her for that. I still do. As far as killing a parent goes, I told you that your kind killed my father.” The human called Richard glanced down at the floor before looking back up. “Don’t think for one minute that I enjoy this interaction between us any more than you. A part of me wants to activate my phase rod and kill you and every single one of your kind. As far as I’m concerned, you’re all vicious murderers. The only reason I don’t do it is because I know both of our species has been manipulated by the demons. They and their Dragar allies are our real enemies.” He pointed at the equipment on the desk. “I know you think I’m a fool for giving you those.” The human bared his teeth in a smile. “Well, hold onto your wings, because I’m about to convince you that I’m an even bigger fool.”

  Red Wing doubted the human could make himself appear more foolish than she already thought he was but said nothing.

  “I agreed to take you to your tribal leaders,” said Richard. “Assuming your capital world of Fealty is in the part of the galaxy we think it is, Sergeant Ron figures it will take at least a week to get there. I’m going to use that time to train you how to use your diviner skill to defend the link to your Power reserve and how to attack that of others. I’m also going to teach you fighting skills that I’ve picked up over the last six hundred years as a time-commando.” Reaching into his pack, the human pulled out a pouch. “And I’m going to give you this.”

  This time Red Wing reacted before she could control her actions. She grabbed the pouch and held it in front of her face, scanning it with sonic waves. “This is my mother’s dimensional pouch. You are a bigger fool than I thought. I have the same frequency as my mother. With this pouch, I can summon a bomb and destroy this ship, if I so desire.”

  The human gave a tightlipped smile. Picking up his own pack, the wizard scout walked toward the curtained doorway and pulled it back. He turned around once he’d stepped outside. “We’re both scouts. We’re a dying breed. I sense dragon essence inside you the same as it is inside me, the same as it is in all scouts regardless of species. When our DNA baselines were created, the essence of dragon DNA was inserted into each of us. One day maybe we’ll tell each other how it was done for our species during training. In the meantime, I’ll say this. I’ve fought three Crosioian scouts. They all tried to kill me, but they all tried to do so under honorable conditions. I trust you to keep your word. As for this equipment and the pouch, I believe we will be allies. I believe we will be allies sooner than later. So you may as well get it into your furry little head that I’m going to train you to be the best scout you can be in whatever time we have together. When the opportunity comes to fight our real enemies, I want to know that whoever is standing at my shoulder is the very best there is. That means regardless of whether they are human or bat. So get used to it. When we get to Fealty, I’ll speak to your tribal leaders. Then you’ll understand.”

  Red Wing kept her ears trained on the human for a full twenty seconds while he stood there without saying another word. She detected no sign of dishonesty in his facial features with her sonic scan. Finally, she spoke. “I will not take you to Fealty.”

  The wizard scout stepped back and started to activate his phase rod before catching himself. “You gave your word that you’d take me to your tribal leaders. If you’re going back on your promise, then the deal’s off.”

  The facial fur on Red Wing stiffened, but she kept her irritation under control. “I am a Crosioian scout. My word is my bond. I swore to take you before our tribal council, but they will not be on Fealty. They will be assembling for an, uh, event on the planet Astaris. I will kill you there.”

  “Astaris?” Richard said. “I’ve never heard of it.”

  Red Wing hissed laughter. “Of course you have not, human. It is on the far edge of the galaxy. It is farther than any Empire ship can travel without an overhaul of their hyper-drive. Even if this starship could get that far, you would never slip past the fleets of warships and automated space mines. Your captain will need to drop us off on one of our planets near the Empire’s border. Once I send a coded message, a Crosioian ship can pick the elf, you, and me up and transport us the rest of the way to Astaris.” Red Wing laughed again. “So you see, foolish human, your plan to have me guide this ship through our territory will not work. Do you think me foolish enough to let you map out our troop locations so this ship’s crew can take the information back to your high command?” Red Wing bared her fangs and hissed another laugh. “I will keep my promise to take you to my tribal leaders, but it will be on my terms. This pathetic recon ship cannot travel to Astaris without being destroyed. You will go there on a Crosioian warship, in chains as befits a shameful prisoner, or you will not make the journey at all. There is no other way.”

  Red Wing waited for the wizard scout to begin shouting or go back on his word and try to kill her. She placed her paw on her phase spear in preparation for killing him first before she took care of the rest of the crew. The human surprised her by nodding his head and speaking in a normal voice.

  “Is that so? I guess we’ll see. In the meantime, have your mother’s fighting-computer send the location of Astaris to my battle computer so Sergeant Ron can plot a course.”

  “Were you not listening, human?” Red Wing said, astonished by the obvious density of the human. “It is too far for your ship to fly without an overhaul. We must transfer to a Crosioian ship.”

  The human smiled. “Just send the location. Let Sergeant Ron and I figure out how we’re getting there. In the meantime
, get your gear on and meet me in the cargo bay. Your training starts in thirty minutes, and I don’t take excuses for being late.”

  With that, the human turned and left. Red Wing pulled the curtain shut behind him. She had a lot to think about.

  A voice spoke in her head. “What do we do now?” said her mother’s fighting-computer.

  Red Wing swiveled her ears toward the ceiling before turning them to the folded up fighting-suit in her paws. “Do?” she said. “You will send the location of Astaris to the wizard scout’s battle computer as requested. It will do them no good. They cannot get there.”

  “Compliance. What will you do?”

  Red Wing didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she began putting on her fighting-suit. “What will I do? I doubt the foolish human can teach me anything, but I will go through the motions to learn his weaknesses. Once we are on Astaris, I will present him to the tribal leaders. Then I will remove his head and place in on my tribe’s Wall of Honor.”

  Red Wing smiled. Her mother would be avenged if it was the last thing she ever did.

  Chapter 15 – Bad News

  _______________________________

  Tia sat in the largest of the conference rooms on the dreadnaught Destiny. Admiral of the Combined Fleets Bistos and War-King Bistoria along with a dozen of the warship’s officers were also there. Her sister and father leaned forward as the hologram of Wizard Scout Trinity Delgado finished her report. A second hologram farther down the table displayed miniature figures of Rick, Jeehana, and members of the Defiant’s crew. A third hologram held an image of Matthew Deloris and his uncle, Felix Deloris, along with an older man she didn’t recognize.

  Tia knew Matt was somewhere on Risors. Seeing him but knowing he was so far away brought an emptiness inside her that was hard to ignore. Doing her best to push the feeling aside, she considered the fact that her sister and father were even allowing Matthew and the other Conglomerate personnel to listen to Trinity’s report in real time. It said a lot for what had occurred during the last forty-eight hours. While hostilities between the Conglomerate and the Empire forces hadn’t ceased entirely, a ceasefire of sorts had been implemented well enough to hold out hope that the two sides were on their way to reconciliation.