Wizard Omega (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 4)

by Rodney Hartman

  Sparks flew out of the remaining overhead lights. Many of them blew up in blasts of magical energy. Suddenly, all the lights on the entire gun deck went out as they were overloaded.

  Pandemonium set in among the destroyer’s crew. The rally the Dragar leaders had begun to initiate with their troops disappeared along with the lights. While the gun deck was not pitch black due to the multitude of fires from burning gun turrets, the flickering light added to the chaos. Richard was glad his battle helmet was equipped with night vision equipment. He’d had to fight in the dark before, and it was no fun.

  “Terrie! Charlie!” Richard said over their com-link. “Hit them hard now. We’ve got to take care of this mob before more reinforcements show up.”

  “On the move,” said Terrie.

  A stream of chain-gun tracers from the starboard side of the gun deck confirmed the disabled wizard scout’s answer.

  As if Charlie didn’t want to be outdone, several rounds from an autocannon on the portside gave the old Sterilian’s answer as well.

  We’ve got some allies, said Nickelo with a mental nod to Richard’s right.

  A stream of video data in their shared space showed Richard what his battle computer meant. A small group of prisoners were attacking some of the four-armed Thargs by both physical and magical means. Richard noticed the elf prisoner he’d freed at the head of the group.

  Before Richard could say anything or act to assist the prisoners, he was hit from behind. The sound of breaking bones resounded in his ears as he was flung forward. A white flash of pain encompassed Richard’s brain. He passed out momentarily. When he came to, he felt a cold liquid being shot into his veins through several of the battle suit’s thread needles.

  Through his pain, Richard heard his battle computer shouting instructions in their shared space.

  Your back’s broken, said Nickelo I’m shooting adrenaline into you. One of the magic users hit you with some kind of force beam. I couldn’t make you dodge fast enough. I’m sorry. All of your suit’s assistors are offline now. I can’t make your battle suit move.

  In spite of his pain, Richard noticed everything around him appeared to be frozen in time. Tracers and spells crisscrossing the gun deck were stationary. Only his mind seemed to be moving. It had happened a few times before when he was caught in a desperate fight. Time either froze, or his mind speeded up. Even Nickelo didn’t know for sure. Whatever the answer, the time-freeze didn’t allow Richard to move, but it did give him time to make a plan with his battle computer.

  Situation report, Richard ordered.

  Your back’s broke, but Power from your self-healing reserve has begun repairing the damage, said Nickelo. It’s just a broken bone and a torn nerve. I calculate fifteen seconds until it’s healed enough for you to move. Your battle suit is a total wipe. All the assistors and most of the electronics are out. Fortunately, the battle helmet is in good shape.

  Can I make an emergency eject? Richard asked.

  Affirmative, answered Nickelo. You can once time goes back to normal. It won’t do you any good though since you’re paralyzed right now. What do you want to do, wizard scout?

  Richard wasn’t sure how long he had to make a decision. Based upon previous experiences, he knew a time-freeze could last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes. Richard noted the location of Terrie and Charlie as well as the two dolgars. None of them were close enough to help.

  A group of nine of the scaly Dragars was in a pyramid formation to his rear. Like everything else, they appeared to be frozen in time. Even so, Richard sensed eight of the Dragars were in the process of funneling Power into the Dragar at the tip of their pyramid.

  Spell casters, said Nickelo. I guess now we know why the spell that hit you was so powerful. It was basically like nine of them attacking you at the same time.

  Richard concentrated on the links from the eight spell casters to their leader. Although the energy in the links was frozen as well, Richard had no trouble understanding the dragon-looking Dragar mages were combining their Power with their leader in order to finish him with a follow-up spell.

  And your Power reserve is basically empty except for a single drop you’ve gotten from normal recharging, observed Nickelo. I tried to warn you not to waste all your Power using telekinesis on the golem.

  Richard ignored his battle computer. He wasn’t in the mood for lectures at the moment. He needed a plan, not a scolding session.

  Richard thought back to a conversation he’d had with the Commandant the previous year. It was during one of his last time-commando training sessions. The Commandant had just showed his friend, Stella, how to set up a one-way link in order to transfer Power to Richard’s reserve.

  Richard could still sense Stella’s link from that training session attached to his reserve. It was heavily trapped. He knew it well because he’d helped her trap it. Even if he had wanted to, Richard knew he couldn’t pull Power from his friend even if she’d been there.

  What are you thinking about? asked Nickelo. I can’t hear you. You need to think in your shared space so I can help.

  Apparently, his battle computer could sense his mind working, but he couldn’t pick up on the full direction of his thoughts. Richard took a nanosecond to bring Nickelo up to speed.

  The Commandant once told me powerful magic users could use one-way links to draw Power from an opponent. Do you remember?

  I remember, said Nickelo. And you mean steal Power, don’t you? But unless my data-banks are getting faulty in my old age, the Commandant also advised against it. Links are forever. Are you sure you want additional links hanging around even if you could make one?

  Richard took a moment to sense the other links that had been attached to him over the years. There were four of them. One link belonged to Stella. It was still active. Although heavily booby-trapped, he could still feel a faint trace of his friend through her link. The knowledge his friend was alive and well somewhere in the galaxy gave Richard comfort.

  The other three links were a different matter. One of the three belonged to the Commandant. His father had given his life by pushing Power into Richard’s reserve during the battle for the Velos spaceport the previous year. His father’s act of sacrifice had saved the lives of Chief Instructor Winslow and himself. The Commandant’s link hung lifelessly off of Richard’s reserve as a constant reminder of his failure to save his father’s life.

  The third link was the most recent. It was from the dark-elf priest who’d fed him Power during the healing ritual on his last mission for ‘the One’. The link hung lifelessly off of his link. Although the dark elf had been his ally, the link was alien. It had a sinister feel to it which had occasionally caused Richard to have nightmares.

  The final link had been attached to him by the elf, Shandria, when she’d taught him how to attack and protect links. According to his battle computer, Shandria had died almost 90,000 years ago. But even so, the link she’d attached to his reserve seemed less dead than that of the Commandant’s. He’d often wondered why. Still, whenever his mind brushed against the link, it was a depressing reminder of the friend he’d lost. He’d even had a schoolboy crush on the elf.

  Well? said Nickelo. I asked you a question. Are you going to answer?

  Yes, I am, Richard said in a voice he hoped sounded like he was confident in his decision. I’d much rather have an extra link hanging around than be dead due to lack of Power.

  Richard suspected his battle computer wasn’t fooled by his false bravado. The four extra links already attached to him were bad enough. They’d been created by people who had cared for him or who had at least been an ally. Richard had a feeling being stuck with a hostile link for the rest of eternity would have some less than desirable side effects.

  Well, if that’s your decision, said Nickelo, maybe I can help. I was there when the Commandant made the comment about one-way links to steal Power. Since the idea intrigued me, I’ve been researching what it would take to create such a link whenever I�
�ve had a spare nanosecond. Based upon my research, I calculate a seventy-eight percent probability you might be able to construct a one-way link by modifying one of your active scans. Instead of drawing information back to you, the scan could be used to create a link to draw Power. Naturally, there’s a twenty-two percent probability it won’t work. And…, it could be dangerous. Are you sure you want to proceed?

  Yes, Richard said surprising even himself with the sound of confidence and determination in his thoughts. Feed me the necessary specs. This is our only chance of staying alive. I’m paralyzed, and with the battle suit’s assistors out of action, even you can’t help me move. If those Dragars get their spell off, I’m a dead pactar anyway.

  I agree with your logic, said Nickelo. I’m sending you the specs now for modifying your active scan. Your natural recharging has given you a drop of Power back in your reserve, but I’m not sure it will be enough to create an active scan. You know how Power hungry they are.

  Richard did know. As he absorbed the specs in his shared space, Richard tried to think of every possible way he could save Power on the scan.

  I have to be efficient, Richard thought. I have to be more efficient than I’ve ever been in my entire life.

  Yes, you do, agreed Nickelo. And you have to be quick about it as well. I calculate your active scan will drain what little Power you have in less than 430 nanoseconds.

  Any hopes of success faded from Richard’s mind. What? I can’t think that fast.

  No, you can’t, said Nickelo. But 430 nanoseconds is a long Sunday drive in computer time. I can help. Merge your mind with mine. Use our shared space to synchronize our thoughts. We’re a team. We can do this if we work together.

  Encouraged by his battle computer’s thoughts, Richard did his best to comply. He trusted Nickelo. But complying was easier said than done. Richard tried jumping from his shared space directly into Nickelo’s mind, but it didn’t work. His battle computer’s mind was too foreign, and his processors were too fast. The blur of information blinded and disoriented Richard. He was forced to retreat back into his own mind in order to keep his sanity.

  Suddenly, Richard felt a stirring in the center of his being. It was as if something dormant in his very makeup had awakened. The something merged with Nickelo’s mind drawing Richard along with it. The something made sense of the flood of information which was his battle computer’s thoughts. At nanosecond speed, Richard saw and understood things no human mind had a right to know. He also saw a ghost of a memory.

  The memory was of a stolen human embryo. From a previous ghost-memory, Richard knew the embryo was him. As Richard observed the memory, another presence removed a part of itself and merged it with the DNA of the human embryo. The presence was part of ‘the One’. Small bits of DNA from other creatures were spliced into the embryo as well. Orc, troll, gnome, dwarf, elf, and dragon became part of the embryo’s DNA. The embryo was still fully human, but it had enough pieces of DNA from the other creatures to be influenced by their traits.

  Richard followed the ghost memory until he was suspended in space a hundred thousand meters above the planet Portalus. Although at a dizzying height, Richard could see crisp details on the planet’s surface as if he were only a few meters away. Somehow he knew that which he saw was from 100,000 years in the past.

  The surface of Portalus was composed mainly of water, but two large continents provided dry land on opposite sides of the world. One continent was protected by a powerful shield. That continent was inhabited by all the various races Richard had come to know during his missions for ‘the One’ on Portalus. The ghost memory gave Richard the knowledge that the inhabitants of the continent were destined to remain at their current level of advancement. They were eternally in what Richard thought of as the middle ages.

  The second continent was a conquered land. A bustling spaceport near the heart of the continent was home to a host of Dragars and their furry, four-armed, Tharg allies. Slaves of every imaginable race and species did their bidding or died at the first sign of defiance.

  The spaceport was surrounded by a familiar energy. Richard recognized the energy as magic. The magic formed a time-bubble. Starships driven by magic blasted off from the spaceport using the time-bubble to raid civilizations yet to be born.

  Richard noticed a pyramid-shaped temple at the spaceport. He sensed a red, gaseous-energy leaking from the point of the pyramid. Richard had no trouble recognizing the gaseous substance. It was DNA gas. The gas was leaking into a crack in the time-bubble to be lost to parts unknown. But Richard did know. He had no doubt the escaping energy from the temple was the source of the DNA gas vent on Velos.

  But the DNA gas vent was destroyed, Richard thought.

  Yes, it was, agreed Nickelo. But that will occur in the future. This memory is of the past. The gas escaping from the pyramid is apparently the source of the seepage for the DNA gas vent at the spaceport. The difference in time is inconsequential. The Dragars’ spaceport is in a time-bubble.

  Richard had a sudden queasy feeling. Is the DNA gas…uh…, Richard trailed off unable to finish his thought.

  I think you already know the answer to your question, said Nickelo. The refined DNA gas given to you and every other wizard scout over the last 800 years is seepage from sacrificed dragon eggs. Your eternal youth and self-healing comes at the cost of the lives of untold thousands if not millions of unborn dragons.

  Shame and revulsion swept over Richard. He was ashamed his gain of self-healing was from another’s loss. He was repulsed that the sacrificed life-force of other intelligent beings was flowing in his veins.

  But… but…, Richard stuttered as he tried to think of something to say.

  But you didn’t know, said Nickelo completing his wizard scout’s thoughts. And neither does any of the other wizard scouts. If they’d known before their testing, I calculate most would have refused to complete their DNA baselines.

  What can I do? Richard said.

  What’s done is done, said Nickelo. You can’t bring back the lives of those who’ve been lost. But…, maybe you can stop the sacrifice of others to come. Just keep going with the memory. We’ll see where it takes us.

  Don’t you know? Richard said. It’s your memory, isn’t it?

  It’s a ghost of a memory, replied Nickelo. Parts of it I’ve seen before. Other parts are new to me. I have no recollection of a lot of what we’re seeing.

  Richard continued following the memory.

  Time passed. Richard was increasingly sickened by the continued slaughter of millions of innocent dragons. He felt a natural affinity for the dragons. The deaths of so many of their unborn were hard to watch.

  Just as bad was the knowledge the dragon’s lifeforce was used to fuel the Dragars’ armies as they conquered their part of the galaxy. Not satisfied with their conquests, the Dragars used their time-bubble to raid the future and bring the spoils of their futuristic wars back to their own time.

  The time-bubble is the key, said Nickelo. Recognize it?

  Richard did. The time-bubble had the same frequency as the green, orange, and purple spheres.

  The spheres are dead, Richard said. His head was starting to hurt. While he was above average in intelligence, the concept of overlapping time and time-bubbles was becoming increasingly hard to grasp.

  I won’t argue, said Nickelo. You’re looking at a memory of a time-bubble. The spheres were alive during the time of the memory.

  Something in the time-bubble drew Richard’s attention. It was a feeling more than anything.

  Nickelo must have sensed Richard’s unease because he said, What is it? What do you see?

  Uh…, I’m not sure, Richard admitted. But something seems familiar. It’s a feeling I got when we hacked our way into the Crosioians’ Master computer last year. It’s coming from the temple.

  Actually, said Nickelo, I think it’s coming from underneath the temple. I sense what you’re sensing now. You’re correct. It has the same demon stench we encounter
ed during our hack of the Master computer. I wonder…

  Wonder wha– Richard started to ask before he was interrupted by Nickelo.

  The time-freeze is ending! shouted Nickelo. I hope you’re ready. You’ve only got a snowball’s chance in hell of making this happen, so make me proud, wizard scout.

  With no additional warning, time began once again. With a thought, Richard sent a slim thread of an active scan at the Dragar casting the spell. Perhaps the Dragar failed to notice his scan, or perhaps it thought Richard’s scan was too weak to worry about. Regardless of the reason, the Dragar made no attempt to block Richard. Instead, it concentrated on completing its spell. Richard recognized the spell. It was a variation of a fireball.

  In the space of a few nanoseconds, Richard’s active scan touched a point on the Dragar’s Power reserve. Richard gave control of the scan to his battle computer. With the speed only a computer can accomplish, Nickelo converted Richard’s scan into a one-way link. Once the one-way link was active, Richard drew Power out of the Dragar’s reserve and used it to strengthen the link.

  Realizing its danger, the Dragar dropped its spell and tried to tear the one-way link off its Power reserve. But the Dragar was too late. Richard was already sucking Power out of the reserve so fast the Dragar couldn’t pull any down its own link.

  Don’t let up, said Nickelo encouragingly.

  Richard didn’t. The Dragar’s Power reserve was large. In the blink of an eye, Richard’s own Power reserve was full. He continued drawing Power from the Dragar’s reserve. Richard molded the Power into a concentrated sphere of pure Power an arm’s length above his head.

  Both the lead Dragar and the other eight mages feeding it Power tried to destroy the parasitic, one-way link. But they were all too late. Once Richard had drained the reserve of their leader, he began back-tracking the links the eight spell casters had attached to their leader’s reserve. Richard found their reserves and sucked them dry as well. His ball of concentrated Power glowed brighter and brighter until even his battle suit’s visor could no longer protect him from the sphere’s glare.