“You’d be right, Master Raj,” said Rembis. “The last time I walked down this tunnel was nearly a hundred thousand years ago, yet it looks just like I remember it. Speaking of remembering, if my memory serves me correctly, the next side tunnel to the left will lead to the vault where the best of the dwarves’ weapons and armor are kept. The gate is just beyond. Queen Emerald insisted on having weapons and armor close by in case they were ever needed to repel a breach in the gate. She kept a regiment housed in the vault along with a company of magic users.”
“Should we expect trouble?” asked Leethor as he checked to make sure his longsword was loose in its scabbard.
Rembis shrugged. “Doubtful. Not on this side of the gate at least. The guardian would’ve detected intruders.” He tightened his grip on his staff nonetheless. “Once we are through the gate, well, that’s another story. Who knows what lies beyond?”
At the next intersection, Rembis led their small contingent down a tunnel only a quarter the size of the Queen’s Way. Within fifty meters, the tunnel opened into a vast cavern over three hundred meters wide with dozens of arched doorways carved into the walls at various heights. Stone staircases led up to a half-dozen levels containing more of the intricately carved doors. In the center of the cavern were rows of what appeared to be stone weapons racks. All of the racks were empty.
Rembis stopped and waved a hand to encompass the multitude of doorways on the upper levels. “Most of those are the quarters for the soldiers who were stationed in the vault.” He pointed at the empty weapons racks. “Those held the soldiers’ equipment.” He turned to Telsa. “I’m sure you remember the weapons and armor Queen Emerald’s metalsmiths were making with the blue gems Rick summoned for us. Those weapons and armor were created out of Holy Metal in order to work against creatures in the void. I’m also assuming you remember the vampires that inhabited Old Drepdenor.”
Telsa shuddered and involuntarily raised her left hand to her throat. A vampire had nearly bitten her during an ambush in Old Drepdenor. “What I remember is that the equipment wasn’t completed in time to help us when we fought the vampires. My friends and I barely got out alive.”
“Yes, it was a shame,” said Rembis. He looked at Telsa. “I mean about the weapons and armor not being completed in time. Still, they were eventually finished, and Queen Emerald’s troops used them to clear the vampires out of the dwarves’ old home. It was a fight to remember, I can tell you that.” He grinned. “To be honest, sometimes I still wake up sweating from nightmares of that battle.”
Leethor walked over to one of the weapons racks and touched the stone with his gloved hand. He whispered something too low to hear and nodded his head. “Whatever was stored here was powerful indeed. These weapons and armor, where are they now? They might come in handy during any future battle against the demons.”
Rembis gazed at the empty racks before shrugging his shoulders. “I cannot say. They were here when I left for my mission to Old Drepdenor. This is the first time I’ve been back since. I can only speculate that Queen Emerald took them with her wherever she went.”
Nodding his head, Master Jathar glanced around the cavern. Telsa noticed him concentrate on two wide doors on the opposite side of the vault. The doors were ten meters in height and twice as wide. “I sense a large amount of energy from the other side of those doors,” said Master Jathar. “Am I correct in assuming that is the location of the guardian’s gate?”
“You are,” replied Rembis. He glanced around the vast cavern he called the vault with a faraway look in his eyes. “My memories of this place are of happier times. This place was once full of laughter and feasting dwarves.” He looked at Telsa. “The Drepdenor dwarves liked to drink a bit, in case you’ve forgotten.”
Telsa laughed, the sound echoing in the emptiness of the vault. “I haven’t forgotten, and if memory serves me correctly, they drank a lot more than a bit.” She pointed at the double doors. “Shall we?”
With a nod, Rembis led the way. Leethor took up position by the gnome’s side with an arrow nocked in his bow. Master Jathar and Telsa followed three steps behind. When they all reached the other side of the vault, the gnome waved his hands in the air and said words Telsa heard but quickly forgot. A glow appeared around the double doors. They opened slowly inward with nary a sound. Telsa was impressed.
“The guardian’s maintenance spell is so good, the doors don’t even squeak on their hinges after a hundred thousand years,” she said.
Smiling, Rembis said, “See. I told you so.”
Looking beyond the open doors, Telsa made out a tunnel half again as wide as the doors. A pulsating green light a hundred meters away illuminated the tunnel in a light so bright she was forced to switch her helmet’s visor to a darker filter in order to compensate. She heard Rembis and Master Jathar muttering spells as glows appeared in front of their eyes. Turning to Leethor who was holding an arm across his eyes, Master Jathar cast a spell at his fellow elf. When Leethor lowered his arm, his eyes were covered with a glow resembling those of Rembis and Master Jathar.
“Sorry about that,” said Rembis. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been here. I should’ve warned you about the light.”
With her battle helmet’s filter in place, Telsa took a closer look at the tunnel. It started out the width of the two doors and widened as it got closer to the source of the green light. The light itself came from a green orb thirty meters in diameter. The top of the orb just touched the ceiling and sides of the tunnel.
Rembis pointed at the orb. “Well, that’s the gate. It’s locked, but the spell that Tharantos-Ratira gave me is attuned to our frequencies. She assured me the spell would create a temporary opening that would allow us to pass through the gate unharmed. She thinks the same spell will return us here, but to be honest, she said it had never been tested. No one who has gone through the gate from our side has ever returned.” The gnome looked at Telsa and Jathar. “Are you sure you want to enter? It has been my experience that it’s often easier to enter into something than it is to get out. I remember hearing sailors say that it’s a lot better to be on land wishing you were out on a ship in the ocean than to be on a ship in the ocean wishing you were back on land.”
Telsa glanced at Rembis. “The sailors where I’m from say the same thing about space and starships.” Turning, she looked at Master Jathar. “I’ve got a feeling that if we enter this gate, there’s a good chance you’re going to be more than a tad late to your council meeting this afternoon.”
Jathar shrugged and gave a determined smile. “There will be others. I only hope I am alive to attend them.”
Glancing at the gate for several heartbeats as she gathered her thoughts, Telsa finally looked back at her companions. “I appreciate your help, but this is my responsibility. I’m a wizard scout. My job is recon. I’ll go in first and check the place out. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find a yellow gem and return in time for all of us to get back home for supper.”
Leethor, Master Jathar, and Rembis all traded glances. Leethor un-nocked his arrow and returned it to his quiver. He strapped the bow on his back in a well-practiced maneuver before drawing his sword. “I am an elven scout. I would be ashamed to go back to my bondmate and tell her that I allowed a wizard scout to go into danger while an elven scout remained behind.” He looked back at Master Jathar and Rembis. When they both nodded their heads, Leethor returned his gaze to Telsa. “Portalis is our home. We will all go together or none at all will go. So let us stop bantering about it and get on with our mission. I have a nagging feeling we are going to be late for a lot of suppers before we return to Silverton.”
Telsa nodded her head. Truth be told, she was glad they were going with her. She had a feeling hell was no place to be alone.
“I calculate you are right,” said Raj out loud. “Hell is no place to be alone. So as Commander Leethor says, let us get on with it. The longest journey begins with the first step.”
Telsa, Leethor, Rembis, and Master Jathar al
l stepped out at the same time.
There’s no going back now, Telsa thought as she kept pace with the others.
When they reached the edge of the orb’s light, none of them slowed their pace. As her foot made contact with the pulsating green light, her entire body began to tingle. The stone of the tunnel disappeared. Telsa gasped. New Drepdenor was gone, replaced by something that could only be described by a single word.
Hell.
Chapter 19 – Stealth
______________________
A bright flash of light to Tia’s right was her first warning that things weren’t as they should be. The second was the blast of plasma energy hitting the force field of her Trecorian R3 long-range fighter. She fought the buffeting spacecraft and gained enough control to bank the fighter on a ninety degree path to the right from her original course. At the same time, she sent out a passive scan in an attempt to locate whoever or whatever was firing at her. In the emptiness of space, she’d found passive scans comparable in range to the sensors on fighters like the R3. She spotted eight blips of energy to her nine o’clock position, heading her way at a high rate of speed. That was all the information she needed. Six of the blips were outpacing the other two by a ten-to-one ratio.
Six missiles inbound and two fighters coming up behind them, Tia thought. What have I gotten myself into? “Computer,” she said, forcing her voice to remain steady. “Plot time to target for those six missiles and prepare countermeasures.”
“Unable to comply,” came the mechanical voice of the R3’s computer. “Sensors are not picking up any targets. The area is clear up to three light seconds in all directions.”
A glance at the tactical heads-up display on the fighter’s windscreen confirmed the R3’s computer was right. The display showed only empty space around her ship. The only problem was that Tia knew better. The energy readings on her passive scan were showing up bright and clear.
With no help forthcoming from the R3’s computer, Tia banked hard left ninety degrees and headed straight for the point where her passive scan told her the inbound missiles were located. Since her R3 was twice the size of the Zip fighter she’d flown on the Defiant, she knew there was no way the bulky ship could outmaneuver the incoming missiles. My best bet is to meet them head on and try to take them out before they detonate.
“Prepare countermeasures for manual activation,” Tia ordered the fighter’s computer. “Activate on my command.”
“Compliance,” said the mechanical voice.
Danny, Tia thought, where are you when I need you? She knew where he was. He’s with the elf, and no amount of wishing is going to get him back. I’m stuck with the fighter’s standard tactical computer. She sighed. It can’t compete with a battle computer. It’s just hardware. It’s not a living organism like Danny and Margery.
Tia began second guessing her decision to make the recon of a reported Crosioian intrusion into Empire space on her own. It had seemed like a great opportunity at the time to do something besides attend staff meetings and draw up plans A, B, C, and every other letter of the alphabet as contingencies in case Liz’s primary rescue plan went wrong. She’d known her sister would be angry when she found out her younger sister had left on a mission better suited for a fighter pilot than a member of the admiral of the combined fleet’s personal staff. She’d gone anyway. Deep down, Tia knew why she’d done it—the real reason why. Matthew was in the area organizing one of the Conglomerate fleets. Unfortunately, he was still too far away to provide help in her current situation.
Maybe if I get killed, Liz won’t be as angry, Tia thought.
Reaching out with an active scan, she tried to estimate the decreasing distance to the incoming missiles. No one needed to tell her that her passive scan abilities were weak when it came to estimating distances without Danny or Margery to help her, but it was what it was. She had to make her best guess.
“Activate countermeasures,” Tia ordered when she thought the distance was right.
“Compliance,” replied the R3’s computer.
Two dozen miniature rockets shot out from the sides of the fighter and streaked ahead, splitting up to take slightly different flight paths. All the while they sent out energy footprints designed to fool missiles into thinking they were an R3 fighter. At the same time, Tia wrapped the fighter in Power and activated a stealth shield. Her stealth shields were also weak, but it was all she could do.
The R3’s stealth shield obviously hasn’t worked against the missiles, Tia thought. Maybe the stealth shield Rick taught me will do better.
Tia could only hope. Her friend had worked with her some after their Portalis mission to improve her stealth shield, but she knew she was no wizard scout. Whether her shield was good enough to fool the incoming missiles was something she was soon going to find out.
“Warning,” said the R3’s computer. “Sensors are detecting incoming missiles.”
“About time,” Tia said. She glanced at the fighter’s heads-up display. Orange blips on the display confirmed four of the missiles had changed their course to intercept her countermeasures. The other two missiles were still heading in her direction, but their courses appeared to be wavering from her port to starboard.
They’re having trouble pinpointing my fighter, Tia thought. My stealth shield must be confusing them at least a little.
“Impact in five seconds,” said the R3’s computer. “Recommend evasive maneuvers.”
No way, Tia thought. This is an R3, not a Zip fighter. They’d have me for sure. There’s only one way to get out of this.
Shifting her course to meet the lead missile head on, Tia fired the fighter’s plasma weapons. Hundreds of balls of red energy streaked out from the fighter’s ten plasma cannons. She might be clunky, Tia thought, but the R3 has one hell of a lot of firepower.
A bright light erupted to Tia’s front. The windscreen blacked out as the fighter’s computer automatically activated the blast filter. A moment later the windscreen returned to normal.
“Both missiles have been destroyed,” said her computer. “My sensors are picking up two targets inbound at your twelve o’clock. I calculate they are Crosioian double-wing fighters. Range is a quarter of a light second.”
Long-range fighters similar to my R3, Tia thought. They’re designed for deep space recon. They must be here to monitor the buildup of Conglomerate ships. The question is why weren’t my ship’s sensors able to detect them while they were farther away?
Tia shoved the question aside and fired all four of the R3’s anti-ship missiles. She counted to three before pulling the trigger on her plasma cannons to give the missiles time to get some distance. Well before the missiles reached their targets, a burst of light appeared in space, then two more.
Her intercom crackled. “The double-wings’ anti-missile missiles have destroyed three of your missiles,” said the R3’s computer.
Tia noticed green balls of plasma energy heading her way and jerked the fighter hard to the left, avoiding most of the Crosioians’ return fire. What little hit the R3’s force field did no damage. A burst of light in the distance drew her attention.
“Your fourth missile knocked out the shield around one of the double-wings,” said her computer. “The follow-up rounds from your plasma cannons destroyed the fighter. The remaining fighter is preparing to fire additional anti-ship missiles. Recommend you not allow that to occur. The R3’s force field is down to twelve percent.”
The distance to the remaining fighter was well beyond anything Tia had done before, but in desperation, she reached out with a line of Power the way Richard and his brother Gaston had shown her. She probed for the life form inside the approaching double-wing. When she found it, she wrapped Power around something inside the life form, then jerked hard with telekinesis.
“The enemy fighter is acting erratic,” said the R3’s tactical computer. “It appears to be drifting in space. Weapon systems are powering down, so is the ship’s force field.”
Either I g
ot lucky, or the Crosioian’s trying to lure me into a trap, Tia thought. I should probably just put a couple of hundred plasma rounds in the fighter and be done with it. On the other hand, maybe I can access the double-wing’s computer and download something that might prove useful. At the least, it might keep Liz from blowing her stack when she finds out what I’ve done if I can show her the Crosioian’s battle plan or something like that.
Leary of a trap, Tia approached the double-wing while probing it with an active scan. She sensed the pilot. The bat was dead. Even so, something inside the fighter kept slipping in and out of her scan. It wasn’t so much a life form as it was…something else.
Tia targeted the double-wing and started to pull the trigger on the R3’s steering level. The ring on her finger tingled. An emotion of concern came down the link she shared with Matthew.
He’s sensed my emotions during the battle. Of course he’s concerned.
Tia sent an emotion of relief back up the link to let the man she loved know she was okay. Easing off the trigger for the plasma cannons, she stopped the R3 a hundred thousand meters from the Crosioian fighter. The sense of presence from Matthew gave her an idea. She sent a feeling of need through their link along with a line of Power.
I don’t even know if this is going to work, Tia thought. We’ve never shared Power before. All I know is my active scan isn’t powerful enough to pinpoint whatever’s still in that fighter on its own. I either need to get help, or I need to blow the fighter up and move on with my mission. It’s too risky to approach the ship any closer on my own.
After counting to five, Tia was rewarded with a feeling of Power coming down the link she shared through her ring with Matthew. Intertwining a line of her own Power with his, she formed another active scan and reached out toward the double-wing. She’d never been able to wrap her scans with a stealth shield before, but on a hunch, she tried to do so the way Richard had shown her. The extra Power from Matthew apparently did the trick because she sensed a stealth shield form around her active scan.
Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8) Page 19