Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8)
Page 49
Neither of the bats said anything.
“No, it won’t. Hundreds of millions of lives on both sides were lost during the first battle for Estos. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions more have already died today. Will more killing bring any of them back?”
The animal that was Richard’s temper rattled its cage. He held it at bay. Too much was at stake to let his orc temper out now. A feeling of peace came down his bond link from Jeena. He drew comfort from knowing he wasn’t alone. He became more confident in his plan.
“The demons are our real enemies. They always have been.” Richard glanced at the supreme leader before looking back at War-King Bistoria. “The fleets on both sides have been disabled by my bondmate and me. They will remain disabled until each of you agrees to work together to stop this war. Every life lost is one less resource for the real battle that is to come. The killing must stop. It has to stop. It is going to stop.”
The hologram of War-King Bistoria straightened and turned to look at his Crosioian counterpart. The supreme leader spread her wings and swiveled her ears at the war-king’s image. They nodded at each other. The supreme leader lowered her wings.
“You have our attention, Wizard Scout,” said the supreme leader. “How do you propose we proceed?”
* * *
Disengaging hundreds of thousands of starships locked in mortal combat was no easy feat, but the battle and fighting-computers were up to the task. Using the magic of the jammer ship, Richard, or rather the computers Nickelo, Margery, Danny, Mykias, and Trypredor, returned control of ships and computers back to their intended masters on a carefully planned scheduled. Under the direction of Admiral of the Combined Fleets Bistos and her Crosioian counterpart, first individual ships withdrew to agreed upon lines. Then detachments and squadrons disengaged to be followed by entire fleets.
After several hours of ships pulling back without incident, it became apparent to all that the war was over. No one needed to tell Richard that animosities would continue to exist. There had been too many deaths on both sides for it to be otherwise, but he was satisfied. The war was over. When the demon armies came, he knew that the living beings on both sides would know their real enemies. On that day, they would become true allies.
When they see the demons come, then both sides will fight as one, Richard thought.
“I calculate only a forty-seven percent probability you are correct,” said Nickelo in their shared space. “Nothing is a given.”
Richard glanced at the silver-haired elf standing next to him.
A deep emotion of love came down their link.
Richard smiled. “You’re wrong, Nick. Some things are a given. They always will be.”
Chapter 63 – Much to Do
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The POWs who could walk were spread out in semi-organized lines stretching out for hundreds of meters in every direction as they waited for the troopships to land. Trinity stood off to the side of the command tent, watching non-commissioned officers in a nearby line as they reminded their troops they were still soldiers of the Empire and would act as such or there would be hell to pay. Despite the sergeants’ yells, Trinity recognized a softness in their admonitions as they did their best to make things easier for those under their commands. The soldiers and sailors had already spent their time in Hell. The long weeks of suffering on Estos were almost over.
A roar in the air caused heads to turn upward as the ion thrusters of the first of the troopships shot out to slow down the huge medical ship. An emblem on the bow of the starship depicted a bat with a lightning bolt in its paw. Trinity unconsciously fingered the hilt of the phase rod attached to the left side of her belt.
“Relax,” said Jennifer. “The war’s been over for two days now. This is not the first Crosioian ship you have been around.”
Trinity thought back to the other POW camps she’d helped evacuate over the last forty-eight hours. Unlike this compound that was in a relatively low-radiation area, the other camps had been composed mostly of soldiers and sailors too sick to even get out of their cots. It had been a close call, but she took comfort in the fact that her battle computer had assured her most of the POWs were going to live.
Reaching out through the blue-gemmed ring on her left hand, Trinity sent an emotion of concern to Jared who was located on the far side of the planet.
An emotion of hope came back.
Trinity smiled. Her part in the evacuations was almost over. Soon she and Jared would be together again, at least for a while. She didn’t know what Rick had planned for them in the future war against the demons, but one thing she did know, she had hope. The entire galaxy had hope.
The medical troopship touching down on the north side of the compound brought Trinity out of her thoughts. Rear and side doors opened as ramps lowered to the ice-covered terrain. Medical hover-vehicles of both Crosioian and Empire design descended the ramps, spreading throughout the compound as they made their way toward medical tents holding the sickest of the POWs. White-suited bats and humans along with a dozen other races ran down the ramps of the hospital ship. Some of the medical personnel began setting up processing stations while others opened large boxes containing decontamination equipment.
A camouflaged light hover-vehicle flew out of an opening in the top of the ship and made straight for the command tent. The camp commander, a two-star general, stood at stiff attention flanked by a bevy of colonels and majors in tattered uniforms. The hover-vehicle landed twenty meters away. Two Crosioians wearing white uniforms with red markings on their sleeves got out of the vehicle. The lead bat walked to within three steps of the general and his group before stopping.
Spreading her wings slightly, the Crosioian raised a paw across her chest and hissed. A mechanical voice came out of the translator attached to her waist belt. “I am Death-Before-Dishonor, the commander of medical taskforce Alpha One. We have been ordered here to help. We have much to do.”
The camp commander saluted, as did his staff. “Yes,” said the general. “We all have much to do.”
Trinity nodded as she thought of what lay ahead. They still had a war to fight, only this one would be against their real enemies—the demons.
Chapter 64 – A Yellow Gem
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Richard and Jeena sat at the small table in the kitchen of their home in the elven capital of Silverton. The war between the Empire and the Crosioians had officially been over for two months, but having the supreme leader and War-King Bistoria say it was over and actually ending hostilities were two different matters. It had taken every bit of Richard and Jeena’s time and skills during the last eight weeks to extricate the opposing forces and actually implement a viable ceasefire. With that next to impossible task accomplished well enough that no one was killing each other anymore, it was time to move on to the next phase of the operation. Richard glanced around the room at the others attending the impromptu meeting.
High Lord Trenadine and Master Jathar occupied the other two chairs at the table. They were staring at the portable halo-pad Richard had placed in the center. Lacking additional chairs, Rembis, Leethor, and Wizard Scout Telsa stood around the perimeter of the kitchen, looking at the halo-pad as best they could. A fuzzy holographic image of Richard’s adoptive niece, Dren, and a man-sized cockroach shimmered above the halo-pad.
“Can’t you make the image any clearer, Nick,” Richard said out loud growing increasingly frustrated at the horrible connection. They had things to do, and faulty equipment wasn’t a problem he needed at the moment.
“No, I cannot,” replied Nickelo over the battle helmet’s external speaker. “The signal has to penetrate the two protective shields around Portalis, not to mention that the point of origin is in another dimension. You should be grateful that you can get any kind of communication at all.”
“Believe me, I’m grateful,” Richard said giving Jeena a wink. “Can’t you tell? That doesn’t change the fact that the reception sucks.” Turning his at
tention to Dren and Keka, he got serious. “How’s the work on the teleporter on Storage coming along?”
Dren shrugged. “I supposed the teleporter’s working well enough now to transport both equipment and personnel—”
“If you do not overdo it,” said Keka clicking his mandibles for extra emphasis. “As I’m sure you are aware, the teleporter on Storage was only intended to care for the needs of time-commandos. It wasn’t designed to transport large groups of personnel or anything like that.”
“Understood,” Richard said. “It wasn’t like I was planning to try transporting an army anyway. What about the time travel part of the teleporter? Have you got that working yet? I’ve got a hunch we’re going to need it sooner than later.”
Frowning, Dren shook her head. “Not yet. Brachia’s working on it now. That’s one of his areas of expertise. He’s only been back on Storage a month, so he’ll probably need a few more weeks to get it right.” She smiled. “But don’t worry. He’ll get it working. My brother can be irritating at times, but I’ve got to give him credit. He knows his teleporters.”
Richard nodded his head. “I’m sure he does. Tell him to hurry. We’re in a meteor shower without a thruster, otherwise.”
Pulling a small vial out of his pocket, Richard placed it on the table. A glint of a yellow flashed from the minute gem floating in the bottle’s clear liquid. Rembis had given him the bottle shortly after the battle in the Criterion system. The barest hint of Power came out of the yellow gem. It wasn’t much, but Richard didn’t care. It was all he had. It would have to be enough.
Looking at Jeena, Richard nodded toward the vial. “We need at least a fist-sized yellow gem to close the gate. Are you ready for one more adventure?”
The swirling in Jeena’s molten-silver eyes sped up. When she smiled, the emotions coming down her bond link gave him all the answer he needed.
Where ever he was going, Richard knew he wouldn’t be going alone.
Epilogue
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The figure of a dark-haired man wearing a white shirt with frill on the cuffs and collar came walking down the corridor toward the energy field that was the entrance to the Dalinfaust’s prison. One of the demon guards failed to bow fast enough for the man’s liking. With the barest movement of his index finger, the demon guard turned into a gray liquid that formed a nauseating pool on the tunnel floor. A glint of pink flashed out of the ooze as a fingernail sized gem sunk to the bottom.
“Master,” said the other demon guards in unison as they scattered to make way.
With a wave of the dark-haired man’s hand, the energy field dissipated. Once the shimmering doorway was gone, he entered. Glancing at the tortured lump of flesh that was the Dalinfaust, the master demon said, “It is time.”
“Time for what?” asked the Dalinfaust between groans. “My thousand years are not yet complete. Are you changing the rules?”
The dark-haired man laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant laugh. “Do not think to instruct me in rules that I helped create, demon.” The man waved a hand.
The Dalinfaust’s cell expanded to contain the forms of the Dalinfaust’s brothers, Efrestra, Cancontus, and Zenthra. The body of the demon Zenthra looked in even worse shape than the Dalinfaust.
The master demon waved his hand again and muttered a single word.
All four brothers fell to the cell floor howling in pain. The pain lasted only a second that could have been an eternity. Time mattered little to the master demon. When the dark-haired man determined he had the four brothers’ full attention, he released his spell.
The forms of the four major demons fell to the cell floor, groveling before their master.
“I have allowed each of you to pursue your individual plans for many years. They mattered not to me as long as you did my bidding. That was in the past. It all stops now. The time has come for the four of you to work together. I will brook no defiance on any of your parts. Do you understand?”
The four brothers didn’t answer. There was no need. The master demon knew they understood only too well. From this point on, they would work together to further his plan. Anything else would result in pain beyond even their imagination.
The dark-haired man smiled. Everything is going according to plan.
[End Transmission]
Acknowledgments
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This book could never have been completed without the assistance and support of family and friends too numerous to mention. However, I would be amiss if I did not give special thanks to my wife, Karen Hartman, for her support and encouragement.
About the Author
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Rodney Hartman is a retired US Army veteran with over twenty years of experience in military operations ranging from Infantry Private in the paratroops to Chief Warrant Officer flying helicopters during the Persian Gulf War. Mr. Hartman worked for many years as a computer programmer before retiring and pursuing a career as a fulltime writer. Mr. Hartman lives in North Carolina with his wife and family along with their cat, McKenzie.
If you would like to find out more about the author and/or upcoming books, please visit: http://www.rodneyhartman.com/
You may contact the author at: rodney@rodneyhartman.com
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