Wizard Omega (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 4)

by Rodney Hartman

  “I’d think other militaries would hesitate to have foreign soldiers serving in their units,” Richard said. “Aren’t they concerned where the volunteer’s loyalties lie?”

  Richard noticed a strange look cross over the duke’s face. It was a cross between anger and hurt.

  “We’re an honorable race, wizard scout,” said the duke. “Trecor has never been the aggressor in an interstellar war. However, when we’ve been forced to defend ourselves, we have done so with ferocity. And, we never quit. But as to loyalty, our word is our bond. Elizabeth tells me the wizard scout corps has a similar code of honor. When one of our volunteers swears to serve in another military, they will do so honorably.”

  The duke caught Richard’s eyes and held them for a couple of seconds. “Let me ask you this, wizard scout. Do you think Elizabeth would betray the Empire?”

  Richard didn’t have to think about the answer. He knew.

  “No, of course not, sir,” Richard said. “I’d bet my life on Liz.”

  The duke smiled approvingly. “And well you could. Elizabeth is an officer of the Empire now. She’ll do her duty even if it means waging war against Trecor.”

  That part of the duke’s speech Richard didn’t agree with. It seemed to be carrying loyalty a little too far. He couldn’t see betraying his own people just because he’d given someone his word. But then, how did anyone know until they faced the situation themselves. The duke had been right on one point. One of the core values of the wizard scout code of honor was that their word was their bond. Richard wondered how far he’d be willing to go to keep his word.

  The duke didn’t give him time to wonder. “Ah. We’ve arrived.”

  The hover-car began to descend as it made its approach to what appeared to be a large parade field. Richard saw nothing visually. However, his passive scan picked up masses of lifeforms below. There were too many to pick out individually. His passive scan basically registered a blurred mass of life.

  “Is the hospital underground?” Richard asked.

  “Yes,” said the duke with an understanding smile. “For a second, I forgot you were a wizard scout. You can sense the staff and patients can’t you?”

  Richard nodded his head. “Yes, sir. There appear to be thousands of them.”

  “Yes, there are,” said Duke Bistoria. “But we’re only interested in four of them today.”

  Richard waited for the duke to elaborate, but he didn’t. Mentally shrugging his shoulders, Richard resolved to wait. He hated to ask questions. Somehow it made him feel inferior for some reason. Richard supposed his battle computer would chastise him for having such archaic ideas. He had a feeling Nickelo would say, “How can you learn if you don’t ask?”

  While the logical part of Richard’s brain agreed, something else inside rebelled against the concept. He supposed it had something to do with the hodgepodge mixture which was his DNA.

  Once the hover-car landed, the duke wasted no time in leading Richard to a high-speed elevator. They descended over three hundred meters before the elevator came to a stop. When the door opened, the duke led the way into a crowded room bustling with activity. Without slowing down, Duke Bistoria guided Richard into a less-crowded corridor.

  “The four patients I’d like you to look at are located here,” said the duke. “As I said, their injuries have resisted the efforts of our best healers. Neither traditional medicines nor the Power of our healers have been able to counteract the malfeasance which has corrupted their wounds. The best we can do is ease their pain and keep their injuries from getting worse.”

  “Well, I can certainly take a look, sir,” Richard said. “But I doubt I can do anything if other healers have failed; especially if they’re any good.”

  “I can assure you they’re the best,” said Duke Bistoria. “All I ask is for you to take a look.”

  Richard said nothing further, but he was concerned. He was pretty sure the duke hadn’t gone to all the trouble to bring him here just to have him take a look.

  He’s going to want results, Richard thought. But, I don’t care how concerned he is for his troops. It’s not standard procedure for a leader of the duke’s rank to scrounge up a healer to get a few of his soldiers healed.

  Richard promised himself he wasn’t going to take on some stranger’s pain without a very good reason.

  The duke’s healers are just going to have to figure out how to do it on their own.

  The duke and Richard continued walking while making enough turns for Richard to get confused. Soon, the portion of the hospital they traversed became nearly empty. Richard saw a sign which read ‘Intensive Care Unit’ followed by the words ‘Contagious Diseases Section’.

  Duke Bistoria led Richard past two armed guards who opened a set of double doors at their approach. Richard noticed boxes of bio-suits stacked on shelves near the doors. The duke didn’t stop to put on a suit. He just kept walking as if contagious diseases were the least worry on his mind.

  Richard followed the duke without comment. He wasn’t too concerned about diseases. His self-healing would eliminate any biohazards which might enter his body. During his last mission for ‘the One’, he’d been around enough diseases not to be concerned now. However, Richard did wonder about the duke’s refusal to wear protective gear.

  Maybe he’s immune to whatever it is, Richard thought.

  Since the crowds had thinned, Richard was able to pick out individual lifeforms in the nearby rooms and corridors. He drew in a sharp breath. The frequency of one of the lifeforms was familiar. The frequency was very familiar. The lifeform of interest was with a small group of other lifeforms heading their way. Richard remained silent, but he kept a close eye on the intersection of corridors to his front.

  Then Richard saw her. Coming around the corner at a brisk walk was a woman with short-blond hair and blue-steel eyes. She wore a white Empire naval officer’s uniform trimmed with gold braid. The woman was Commodore Elizabeth Bistos.

  Richard hadn’t seen his friend since his graduation from the Academy the previous year. In his opinion, she hadn’t changed a bit. She was just as beautiful as ever. Richard smiled and gave Liz a friendly wave.

  “Liz!” Richard said.

  Liz was accompanied by an older, blond-haired woman dressed in the blue jumpsuit of Trecor’s mechanized forces. The woman reminded Richard of Liz in both looks and manners. A younger girl in her mid-teens walked next to Liz. Like his friend, the young girl had short-blond hair and blue-steel eyes. The teenager’s right arm was in a sling.

  One other individual walked with the group. He was dressed in a black wizard scout jumpsuit. Richard hadn’t picked up the man with his passive scan, but as soon as he recognized the man, Richard understood why. The man had been one of Richard’s former TAC officers at the Academy. The man was Wizard Scout Shatstot. His former TAC officer’s wizard scout specialization was in healing. Richard remembered his former TAC officer trying unsuccessfully to heal him after a particularly realistic encounter in a holo-square. Richard had actually liked Wizard Scout Shatstot. Unlike most of his other TAC officers, Shatstot had treated him like a human being most of the time.

  What’s he doing here? Richard wondered.

  Richard didn’t wonder about it long. When Liz heard his shout and saw him walking towards her, she began running down the hallway in his direction.

  Richard picked up his pace and passed Duke Bistoria. Holding out his arms, Richard prepared to give Liz a hug. The scene reminded him of a video he’d once watched where two long-lost lovers had a joyful reunion. Richard didn’t care if she was a high-ranking officer or not. He’d missed her.

  As soon as Liz drew close, she thrust out her arm and hit his nose hard with the palm of her hand. A white flash of pain took the place of the scenery around him. Richard heard the crunch of cartilage as his nose broke. He felt warm liquid splatter across his face.

  Power from his self-healing reserve surrounded his nose and immediately began attempting to bring his body
back to baseline. Richard’s sight started to clear. But Liz had been a pre-Academy cadet for two years with Richard, and she wasn’t finished. She didn’t give him time to recover. Richard sensed Liz starting a spin to send a booted foot against the side of his head.

  Richard could have dodged, but he didn’t. At the last second, he’d seen the angry look on his friend’s face. She was pissed. It went against his nature to be someone’s punching bag, but he forced himself not to counterattack. He could selfheal. Liz could not.

  The kick was well aimed, and Richard felt himself falling to the floor. He spit out a mouthful of blood and part of a tooth when he hit.

  “Elizabeth!” shouted a male and female voice in unison. Richard recognized the male voice as that of Duke Bistoria.

  “How dare you?” shouted Liz with pent-up rage hardening her voice. She gave Richard a kick in the ribs. “You’re supposed to be my friend. How dare you? They were my family, damn you! How could you?”

  Richard had no idea what Liz was talking about. He heard the anger in her voice, but the anger was outweighed by pain and fear. He’d hurt her somehow. He just didn’t know how. Instinctively, Richard curled up into a tight ball to ride out the storm of his friend’s fury.

  When the kicks stopped, Richard risked a look between the arms he’d curled around his head. He saw Liz struggling in the arms of Duke Bistoria. The duke had her in a bear hug. The older blond woman had interposed herself between Liz and Richard. The woman had a finger in front of Liz’s face and was moving it in time to words Richard couldn’t hear through the ringing in his ears. The teenage girl stood off to one side looking confused.

  Wizard Scout Shatstot walked over and helped Richard to his feet. His ex-TAC officer looked like he wanted to laugh.

  “Well, 832,” said Shatstot, “I see you’re still just as skilled at making friends as I remember.”

  Richard spat another mouthful of blood onto the floor. The bleeding from his nose had stopped and the bone was almost repaired, but it still hurt. Richard could feel a replacement for his missing tooth starting to form in his empty socket. He knew his selfheal ability would repair ninety percent of his wounds very quickly. The other ten percent might take several minutes or even several hours in the case of serious wounds to completely heal.

  Richard was thankful his injuries were minor. He knew they could’ve been worse. He was well aware Liz had pulled her punches. He’d fought her several times in the combat pit during their pre-Academy days. She was very good. Richard was thankful she’d only broken his nose. He knew she could just as easily have gouged out both of his eyes if she’d so desired.

  “Let me go,” said Liz through gritted teeth as she struggled to free herself from the duke’s grasp. “I’m fine now. Let me go.”

  Duke Bistoria reluctantly released his daughter from his bear hug. Liz twisted her shoulders to speed up the process. She glared at Richard, but she didn’t move to renew her attack.

  “I’m sorry,” said Duke Bistoria looking at Richard. “I hadn’t expected this reaction from my daughter. She’s been taught better.”

  “And you’re an Empire officer,” said the woman who was an older version of Liz. “I’m ashamed of you, Elizabeth.”

  “I’m sorry,” Richard said as he watched his friend warily. “I don’t know what I did, but whatever it was, I’m sorry.”

  With a glance at the blood and broken tooth on the floor, the duke said, “Are you all right, wizard scout?”

  Turning to Wizard Scout Shatstot, the duke said, “Terrie, can you help him?”

  “He’s a wizard scout, sir,” said Shatstot. “His Power is already healing him. Besides, he’s a resistor. I couldn’t heal him even if I tried.”

  Early in his time at the Academy, Richard had been informed he was a resistor. His Power naturally resisted other forms of Power. While it meant his Power occasionally reacted to prevent or lessen energy attacks on him, it also meant he couldn’t be healed by others. The only exception he’d found was some of the dolgars who were healers could heal his wounds.

  The older woman turned to Richard. “I apologize for my daughter’s actions, wizard scout. Perhaps we should have explained earlier.”

  Richard said nothing, but the confused look on his face must have more than made up for his lack of words.

  “My name is Kristen,” said the woman. “You’ve met my husband and daughter of course. And, I see Wizard Scout Shatstot and you are friends already.”

  Richard wasn’t sure about the friend part. He shrugged his shoulders noncommittally.

  Pointing to the teenage blond-girl, the woman said, “This young lady is my daughter Tianika.”

  The girl nodded her head a little timidly. Richard gave her a curt nod in return. He felt as if he were standing on the edge of a deep pit. He figured his best bet was to talk very little and listen a lot.

  “Before we try to explain further, wizard scout,” said the duke, “perhaps you’d like to clean up a bit. Your face is a bloody mess.”

  Richard thought he caught a sudden look of concern on Liz’s face. She still looked angry, but she gave him the impression of someone who’d just discovered they’d went further than intended.

  “If it’s all the same to you, sir,” Richard said wiping the worst of the blood off his face with his sleeve, “I’d kinda like to find out what’s going on. I’ve a feeling I’m missing a little information.”

  The duke nodded his head. “I understand completely. Then let me be blunt. You’ve met us all before.”

  The duke pointed to his teenage daughter. “Tianika was with the group of cadets you attacked, as were two of my other children. My wife was one of the pilots who were trapped in the burning Leviathan. I was the pilot who was trying to break the windscreen from the outside when you shoved me to the side and freed them.”

  The duke paused. Richard used the time to allow his overwhelmed brain to catch up.

  I attacked the duke and his family, Richard thought. No wonder Liz is pissed. Have they brought me here to kill me in order to get their revenge?

  “We’re soldiers,” said the duke’s wife, Kristen, as if sensing his thoughts. “We all understand you were just doing your duty. We’d have done no less. But, you nearly destroyed our entire family. I’m afraid that’s why Elizabeth’s greeting to you was less than… uh… cordial.”

  “You almost killed them all, Rick,” broke in Liz. Her voice quivered. Her anger was gone or buried so deep it was undetectable. “You spared their lives, and for that I’m grateful. But…, that damn phase rod of yours did something to my sisters. They can’t even be healed.”

  Richard stared at Liz and the others. Things were beginning to fall in place. He sent a quick active scan towards the teenage girl, Tianika. He recognized her now. He’d glimpsed her face through her visor when he’d smashed her elbow with his phase rod. His active scan told him all he needed to know. He could sense attempts had been made to heal her elbow, but they were incomplete. Even as he scanned her arm, he sensed something evil inside her arm slowly eating away at the bone. The frequency of the evil was the same as the demon essence which resided in his phase rod. Apparently, a portion of the essence had been transferred to the injury. The demon essence was slowly continuing to eat away at the girl’s life force.

  Nickelo always said Richard often acted without thinking. Richard proved his battle computer right once again. Without wasting further time on talk, he wrapped Tianika’s arm with Power from the reserve he used to heal others. He pictured how the girl’s elbow should be and compared it with how it was now. He pulled the difference into himself. Richard sensed the demon essence in the girl’s elbow being transferred into him along with the injury.

  Since he was looking for it, Richard sensed his own Power isolating the small amount of demon essence. He was a resistor. The action against the demon essence was being done subconsciously. As the girl’s injury was pulled into him, Richard’s body replicated the injury in his own arm. He heard bone b
reak in his elbow, and he gave a loud scream as he fell to his knees. No matter how often he healed others, the acquired pain hurt just as much. Richard had a thought it was fortunate for others he seemed to forget how much it hurt shortly after the healing was complete. As he fell towards the floor screaming in agony, Richard doubted he’d ever heal anyone else if he accurately remembered the pain once the healing was over.

  Richard felt Shatstot catch him before his face hit the floor. His ex-TAC officer rolled Richard onto his back and looked at his arm.

  Richard vaguely heard Wizard Scout Shatstot speak. “He’s healing Tia’s arm.”

  When the teenager’s injury was fully replicated in his own arm, Richard felt the Power from the reserve he used to heal others begin to heal the girl. Within seconds, her arm was whole again. Then the Power began healing his own injury. At the edge of his senses, Richard felt the piece of demon essence struggle against his Power before the essence blinked into oblivion. After a few more seconds, his own elbow was basically healed. The injuries he took while healing others healed much faster than normal injuries to his own body. However, from experience, Richard knew it would be a couple of minutes before his arm was back to normal.

  Wizard Scout Shatstot helped Richard to his feet once more. “This is getting to be a habit, Rick.”

  Richard gave him a wry smile. He glanced to his left. Duke Bistora and his wife were standing by their teenage daughter. Tianika had her arm out of her sling and was twisting it around in an apparent attempt to show her parents she was okay. Richard looked to his right. Liz stood there watching him closely. She looked concerned.

  When Liz noticed him looking at her, she mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.”

  “What’d you do differently?” asked Wizard Scout Shatstot. “I’ve had to re-heal Tianika every day since the battle, and it has never lasted. All I’ve been able to do is reduce her pain.”