“Three seconds,” said Margery.
Suddenly Charlie flew back with a broken lever still in his hands.
Boom!
The metal eject plate on the backside of the engine room exploded outward, followed by the glowing hyper-drive.
Boom!
The Defiant shook, bouncing both Sergeant Ron and Charlie multiple times against the ceiling and floor. When the shaking stopped, Sergeant Ron felt pressure on his back. It was Charlie, the big lizard’s form limp. Sergeant Ron scooted out from underneath his friend and rolled him over to gaze into the mechanic’s visor. The Sterilian’s eyes were open. The thought that Sterilians didn’t have eyelids popped into Sergeant Ron’s mind just as Charlie’s lips moved.
“Might need to order another hyper-drive,” hissed Charlie revealing double rows of serrated teeth in what Sergeant Ron knew was the Sterilian’s version of a grin.
Sighing with relief, Sergeant Ron helped his friend to his feet. “Well it ain’t coming out of my pay, I can tell you that. I’m blaming this one all on Rick.”
Charlie hissed a laugh. “Yes. His plan.”
Sergeant Ron joined in with a laugh of his own. “That’s right. It was his plan. And don’t think I’m not going to remind him of it.”
“Assuming we still alive,” said Charlie hissing even harder.
“Yeah. Assuming that.” Sergeant Ron flashed another smile. “Now all we’ve got to do is find Rick and give him the bad news.”
Chapter 33 – Spell
____________________
Where’s Rick? Jeena wondered as she did her best to help Comstar hold his defensive shield around the yacht, against the incoming missiles and plasma beams.
“Something’s happened,” shouted Comstar. “Enemy fire has slackened somewhat. I can feel it.”
“One of the destroyer’s has been taken out of action by the Defiant,” said Danny using the external speaker on the helmet of Jeena’s power-suit. “Sergeant Ron’s maneuvering to try and take out the other destroyer. Give him a few…oops. Belay that. Margery just told me the Defiant’s been hit. The recon ship’s hull is breached and her hyper-drive is starting to go into overload.”
Jeena knew almost nothing about hyper-drives, but what she did know told her having one overload wasn’t a good thing. Come on, Rick, she thought as she reached through their bond link to touch the other half of her soul and urge him on. What she found was an emotion of pain beyond compare. “He’s burning,” Jeena said in the space of her mind she shared with Danny.
An image of her bondmate locked in battle with a cat golem made out of molten metal flashed in her mind. She instinctively knew the vision was being forwarded by Nickelo to Danny and on to her. She sensed her bondmate’s Power reserves dwindling as burning energy swept through his body and into his very soul.
“The golem is using magic against Rick,” said Danny still talking over the helmet’s speaker. “Our wizard scout’s in trouble. He doesn’t have magic spells of his own. He can’t defend himself.”
“But I can,” Jeena said, “and I will. Comstar, you and the gnomes are on your own. I have to help Rick.”
“Do what you must,” said the male elf. “Calatron and his gnomes and I can handle this end.”
Pulling her donated Power back from the elf mage, Jeena converted it into a heat resistance spell and then reinforced it with an accelerator spell. It will shorten the duration of the spell, she thought, but the accelerant will double the spell’s effectiveness. She sent an emotion down her bond link that she hoped meant “take it.”
“What are you doing?” asked Danny in her mind. “I told you Rick can’t use magic.”
Jeena ignored the ex-battle computer. Her thoughts were on a time when Rick and she’d been on an asteroid. They had been forced to work together to create a spell that would close a time-bubble and dimensional gate with the aid of three spheres. Her bondmate and she had cast the spell together. He’d formed the spell out of pure Power, and she’d converted it into magic. I’ve never tried sending magic directly to Rick, Jeena thought, but we’re bonded. It’s got to work. Lady, please let it work. With that thought, she pushed the magic down the link to her bondmate, immediately sensing resistance.
“Take it,” Jeena said again, trying her best to send the command as emotion-speak down their bond link. “You are not alone. I am here.”
The resistance gave way, and the magic sped down the link. Then Jeena waited. That was all she could do.
* * *
Overwhelmed by burning pain and loneliness, Richard began releasing his hold on reality. His soul couldn’t take any more. He was done. Before his grip on consciousness released completely, he sensed something coming down the link he shared with his bondmate and recognized it as some kind of spell. He sensed his natural resistance reach out and try to prevent the spell from attacking him. At that moment, he sensed an emotion flood his mind. The emotion was full of love and seemed to say, “Take it. You are not alone. I am here.”
Gripping tightly to the emotion, Richard used it as an anchor link to override his resistor ability. He latched onto the spell accompanying the emotion and pulled the magic into his battered soul. Even in his tortured state, he knew he couldn’t use magic, but he did understand it. A part of his mind saw the interweaving lines of magic and sensed something helping him. The something was Nickelo. With his battle computer’s assistance, he followed the lines of magic and converted them into pure Power. When the conversion was done, he released the Power inside his body. The hybrid spell washed over him, chasing the burning pain away. He felt the molten teeth of the golem tearing into his neck, but they no longer burned. His self-heal surrounded the wound and attempted to repair the damage, but even as it healed, the golem’s fangs tore the flesh anew. Pulling Power from his dwindling reserve, Richard sent an active scan into the golem’s body seeking a weakness.
“It’s a creature of fire,” came Nickelo’s thoughts in their shared space. “The golem’s body is molten metal interlaced with flecks of titanium, but if the data from your active scan is correct, the soul of the creature is fire. The fire appears to be centered in the two red gems that form the golem’s eyes.”
Richard remembered how he’d killed a previous cat-golem by removing the gems it had used for eyes. He had a feeling he didn’t have time to do that before his bondmate’s converted spell gave out. Already he sensed the Power in the spell losing effectiveness as it began using up the last of its energy.
Striking out with his phase rod, Richard hit the golem’s left eye. The rod bounced off, doing no apparent damage. Something bit at his left hand. No, not my hand, he thought. My finger. My ring finger. He sought out the point on his finger that hurt and found his red-gemmed ring. The ring was tingling. More accurately, its gem was tingling. Reaching into the gem, he found a line of energy connecting his ring to the red gems the golem used for eyes. With no time to consult with his battle computer, he gathered what remained of his bondmate’s spell and forced it through his ring and into the link to the golem’s eyes.
“Arrgh!” came a shrill cry of pain.
The cat-golem released its grip on Richard’s neck and began rolling on the floor, scratching at its eyes as if trying to rip them out.
Richard fell to the floor and grabbed his neck with his right hand as he struck out at the golem’s head with the phase rod in his left. Healing Power from his self-healing reserve wrapped around the wound in his neck and began to heal it at a rapid pace. Not for the first time, he thanked the Creator that his self-heal worked faster ever since the battle in the Presence of the Lady.
“Bright Wing,” Richard mentally shouted in dragon-speak. “Overload the engine. Now!”
“What about you, Brother?”
“I won’t be here,” Richard said, hoping he was telling the truth. “Make it happen or we’re all dead.”
Richard sensed the silver dragon manipulate the hyper-drive’s energy in a manner to make it feed upon itself. The drive�
�s energy began increasing incrementally. Wasting no time, he shifted into the void and levitated out of the engine room. An orange demon and at least a dozen mages lay unmoving on the room’s deck. One of the three remaining orange demons was falling back as Red Wing and the supreme leader took turns hammering its defensive shield with their phase spears. Between blows, the two bats took turns firing phase pistols at the remaining mages. The last two orange demons were locked in combat with Sheba and Sheeta. The dolgars and demons appeared to be evenly matched with neither side giving way to the other.
Shifting out of the void long enough to yell, “Out! Everybody out now!” Richard wrapped himself in Power and shifted back into the void. As he did, he sensed Sheba and Sheeta shift into another dimension and disappear. He saw the supreme leader begin to shimmer, but Red Wing remained solid.
“She’s out of Power,” said Nickelo in their shared space. “She warned you she was low when we were on the Defiant. She can’t shift.”
Desperate, Richard did something he thought he’d never do. He attached a link to the Crosioian scout and fed Power down the link. Red Wing stumbled in mid-swing but recovered quickly. She shimmered and shifted into the void. A moment later she was levitating through the engine room’s walls and into the hallway beyond.
Richard followed suit. The hallway was empty. It was just as well. A glance at his Power reserve told him he was going to need every drop he had to get Red Wing and him back to the yacht. As they passed through the troopship’s hull, he sensed the hyper-drive overloading to a critical level behind them. At the same time, he sensed Bright Wing’s life form disappear from the engine room.
“Don’t worry,” said Nickelo. “She just teleported. She can teleport short distances, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“Thanks for the update,” Richard said increasing the speed of his levitation to maximum.
“You are at six percent Power in your reserve,” said Nickelo. “I calculate Red Wing and you will run out of Power and shift back into space two hundred meters short of the yacht. Too bad you let that golem put a hole in your battle suit. It won’t seal now. I hope you’ve been practicing breathing in a vacuum, because if you haven’t, I calculate the next couple of minutes are going to be less than enjoyable for you.”
Something came down the bond link Richard shared with Jeena. It was Power. As soon as it mixed with the Power left in his reserve, more Power was created. Richard sent half the Power he now had down the link to Red Wing.
“Is that enough?” Richard asked in his shared space. “Are we going to make it now?”
“I calculate you will not have to try breathing in a vacuum, if that’s what you are asking,” replied Nickelo. “You will not have any Power to spare, but I calculate a ninety-two percent probability you will both make it to the yacht.”
A light so bright even the max filters of Richard’s battle helmet couldn’t keep it all out was accompanied by an oncoming wave of energy.
“The hyper-drive overloaded,” said Nickelo. “The transport and the remaining destroyer exploded. Go deeper into the void. Go now!”
Richard went deeper, sensing Red Wing and the supreme leader also going deeper.
“Of course they are,” said Nickelo. “I’m in contact with their fighting-computers. The supreme leader has plenty of Power in her reserve, but the Power reserves for Red Wing and you are dwindling fast. You know the deeper you go in the void, the more Power it takes to maintain the shift. Uh, if you don’t mind, I’d like to revise the estimate I gave you on making it back to the yacht. I’m basically giving you a snowball’s chance in hell now.”
Richard didn’t need to check his reserve to know his battle computer was right. He could feel his Power dropping fast. So was Red Wing’s. Before he could come up with an alternate plan, a line of Power reached out from the supreme leader and attached itself to Red Wing. Richard sensed Power passing down the link and transferring into Red Wing’s Power reserve. As soon as it did, he sensed Red Wing draw Power from her reserve and pass it down the link he’d attached to her.
“Your reserve is back to six percent,” said Nickelo. “I give you a sixty-two percent probability of reaching the yacht now.”
More Power came down the link Richard shared with his bondmate. When it mixed with the Power in his reserve, more Power was created.
“You are at ten percent Power now,” said Nickelo. “I calculate a one hundred percent probability the three of you are going to make it back to the yacht alive.” Nickelo laughed. “You really are one lucky wizard scout.”
Richard touched his neck as the last of the flesh torn out by the cat golem finally healed. “Yeah. Lucky me.”
Chapter 34 – Alternate Solution
____________________
Once the wave of energy from the exploding transport and destroyer rolled past, Richard moved higher in the void in order to conserve Power. He hung back to let the two Crosioian scouts make their way to the yacht, which was now a thousand meters away, while he covered their line of retreat just in case.
“Your elf and the others are fortunate,” said Nickelo in their shared space. “If the yacht had been any closer to the explosion, I calculate Comstar’s shield wouldn’t have been able to protect the occupants. As it is, you can see that the yacht’s still extensively damaged.”
Because his battle suit couldn’t seal, Richard was forced to remain in the void. Even so, he was able to see the Crosioians’ yacht. The bridge was a total wipe and the remains of the docking tube that had attached the starship’s airlock to that of the transport was dangling in space, holding on to the yacht by only a few loose cables. Holes of various sizes along the length of the ship’s hull leaked vapor into the vacuum of space. A large tear the size of a small truck in the starboard side of the Gaze at the Stars’s hull belched a ball of flame. Two hundred meters to the yacht’s rear was the X-shuttle, flanked by the zipper and the dragon-fighter. Continuing to reach out with his passive scan, he noted the battered hulk of a pirate destroyer.
“That’s the one the Defiant took out,” said Nickelo. “I detect no life forms on board. It’s a total wipe.”
At the mention of the recon ship, Richard reached out with his passive scan looking for the Defiant. He spotted it twenty thousand meters away moving toward the Crosioians’ yacht while using only its ion-drive for thrust. The absence of the familiar frequency from the ship’s prototype hyper-drive they’d gotten from the late empress was obvious.
“Margery sent word Sergeant Ron had to jettison the hyper-drive,” said Nickelo. “It was in critical overload after being hit by enemy fire. That doesn’t bode well for any escape attempt. I calculate it would take over five thousand years to get back home using only our ion-drive.”
Ignoring the bad news for the moment, Richard continued probing the recon ship for damage. Other than the missing hyper-drive and a few scorch marks, the Defiant appeared to be in pretty good shape. Still, Nick’s right, he thought, forgetting to keep his opinion in his private space. A starship without a hyper-drive is a sitting duck for any pirates or Crosioian ships that may be on the way here.
“Of course I’m right,” said Nickelo sounding insulted. “Did you actually have doubts? From what I can gather with my sensors and your passive scan, the yacht’s engine is intact, but its bridge is completely gone. I calculate the yacht’s flying days are over.”
A feeling of concern came down the bond link from Jeena. Sensing trouble, he increased his levitation to max speed. Within seconds, he passed through the yacht’s hull and into the ship’s engine room. Two groups were lined up on opposite sides of the large room. About sixty or so bats, some in pressure suits and some not, were on one side of the room armed with rifles and pistols. Red Wing and her supreme leader were positioned at their head. Jeena and Comstar stood near the opposite wall, flanked by Felspar and his dwarves. Calatron and the other gnome mages formed a triangle behind Comstar feeding Power into the elf mage. Although no one was yet firing their weapo
ns, the tenseness of the situation was apparent.
“Lay down your weapons,” ordered Red Wing. “You are now prisoners of our supreme leader.”
“Like hell we are,” snarled Felspar raising a glowing battle axe in one hand and a modified M12 plasma rifle in the other. “You’re the ones who are prisoners. The Defiant and our fighters are outside. If you don’t surrender, whoever we don’t kill will be blown apart by our fighters.”
“Crosioians do not surrender!” hissed a large bat wearing an orange jumpsuit and carrying a meter-long wrench in one paw and a phase pistol in the other.
Red Wing spread her wings. “Enough!” When both groups grew semi-silent, the scout pointed at the Defiant’s crew. “Your only chance is to surrender. You are deep inside Crosioian space. A squadron of our fastest warships is on their way here at this very moment. I sensed the Defiant jettison her hyper-drive during the battle. You cannot escape with only an ion-drive.” Gesturing at the supreme leader, Red Wing said, “You have fought honorable to aid our supreme leader in her battle against the pirates. One thing I have learned during my time on your ship is that elves, gnomes, and dwarves are not our enemies. Surrender and live. Do otherwise, and only death will be your reward. You are outnumbered and outgunned. Do not be fools.”
“Ha!” said Jeena. “Outnumbered we might be, but outgunned…hardly.” She pointed the jeweled end of her staff at Red Wing. “You obviously have not been on the Defiant long enough, if you have not learned the power of magic. I assure you, seven mages and a high priestess are a force to be reckoned with.”
The supreme leader hissed and spread her wings. When she did, Red Wing lowered hers.
“Our distress call was acknowledged before the bridge was destroyed,” said the supreme leader. “A dozen of our warships will be here within the hour. Your ship has no hyper-drive. Lower your weapons, but you may keep them. As Blood-On-The-Wing-Point-From-A-Dying-Enemy has said, humans are our enemies, not you. We will treat you as equals. Only the humans in your group will die. I give you my word as a Crosioian scout that they will die in honorable combat if you lower your weapons now.”
Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8) Page 30