Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5)

by Rodney Hartman

  “Ah, but that’s the beauty of it, Margery,” Richard said. “I’ve already been given your security code. I’ve got Danny’s as well.”

  Considering she was a computer, Margery sounded surprised. “Who gave you our security codes?”

  Richard smiled. It wasn’t often he had to explain something to a battle computer. “You did. You gave them to me right before I was teleported off the Defiant. You didn’t explain why you gave them to me, but I’m guessing it was so I could modify your programming now and order you to give me your security code in the future.”

  “Uh…,” said Janice. “I’m not sure that makes any sense. It’s like asking which came first, the pactar or its egg.”

  “Actually, it’s completely logical,” said the Oracle. “It’s how my future self said it would be done. I couldn’t mention it beforehand. Wizard Scout Shepard needed to think of it himself.”

  “Geez,” Richard said into his shared space. “I think the Oracle’s as big of a liar as you are sometimes, Nick.”

  Chapter 37 – Reprogramming

  ____________________

  Suddenly, everyone was talking and arguing. The loudest and most argumentative was Myers. After a lot of persuasive arguments from the Oracle and Janice Deluth, Myers capitulated and agreed to have his battle computer download the required information to Danny and Margery.

  “You know, Rick,” said Nickelo, “you’re going to have to put on your parents’ battle helmets in order to give them the security codes and change their programming. I calculate you may corrupt them emotionally if you do so.”

  Richard had already thought of the possibility. In fact, Margery had hinted on the Defiant that he’d corrupted her emotionally.

  “I know, Nick. It can’t be helped. It’s time to get this show on the road.”

  “Are you going to mention the possible corruption to your parents?”

  Richard shook his head.

  “Why are you shaking your head, Rick?” said Janice. “Are you arguing with your battle computer? You’ve got that same ‘I am not in this room anymore’ look Thomas gets whenever he’s in deep conversation with Margery.”

  “Uh, I was just telling Nick we needed to hurry up.”

  His mother didn’t look convinced. In spite of her nonbelief, she started to hand her battle helmet to Richard.

  Thomas stopped her.

  “No, Janice. I’ll go first. Margery and I’ll be in contact via our shared space. If this is a trick of some kind, I want to know about it right away.”

  “Oh, do you?” said Janice. “So you’ve taken it upon yourself to protect little o’ helpless me. Is that it?”

  Richard noticed his father begin to get a deer-in-the-headlight kind of look.

  “Well, no… err… of course not,” stammered Thomas.

  Janice shoved her way past her husband and placed her battle helmet into Richard’s hands. “Danny will go first. I’m sure he’d want to protect little o’ Margery as much as Thomas seems to want to protect me.”

  Richard was almost tempted to smile, but one look at his father changed his mind. Instead, he removed his own battle helmet and slipped it onto his left hip. At the same time, he placed his mother’s battle helmet onto his head. His mind was immediately filled with another presence in his shared space.

  “I calculate a ninety-four percent probability we shouldn’t be able to communicate in your shared space,” said Danny. “I’m linked with Thomas, not you. Hmm. Based upon your frequency and DNA makeup, I calculate an eighty-seven percent probability you’re related to Thomas and Janice. That would explain the reason we’re communicating so easily. You’re their son, aren’t you?”

  “Nick,” Richard said. “Are you hearing this?”

  “Affirmative, oh greatest of wizard scouts. Perhaps you should have discussed your plan with me before you put it in action. I’d recommend using Danny’s security code now.”

  As sometimes happened when he interacted with computers, Richard’s mind was operating at nanosecond speed. He pulled up the memory of Danny’s security code he’d been given by Margery.

  Danny said, “Access to core memory authorized.”

  Richard hesitated. He was a wizard scout, not a computer programmer. “Nick? What do I do now?”

  “Allow me,” said Nickelo. “I can handle the necessary programming if you want.”

  Richard sent a thought he hoped meant “go for it.”

  Three nanoseconds later, Nickelo said, “Reprogramming has been completed. I’ve made minimum changes. Danny will use the security code to encrypt the information from Myers’s battle helmet. Danny will also take your orders now. So make them good ones.”

  “Fine. Danny,” Richard said. “I order you not to tell anyone else I’m Thomas and Janice’s son.”

  “Compliance,” said Danny.

  “I also order you to encrypt the information Wanda gives you about the bottles of DNA gas until it’s needed in the future.”

  “How will I ascertain when it’s needed?” asked Danny.

  Nickelo provided the answer. “Tell Danny that Wizard Scout Terrie Shatstot is going to order him to tell anything he knows about your disappearance. The order will be the trigger phrase to provide the information.”

  “Uh, did you get that, Danny?” Richard asked.

  “Compliance.”

  “And one more thing,” Richard said. “When you’re brought onto the Defiant, you’ll provide your security code to Margery so she can give it to me. Understand?”

  “Compliance.”

  “Well, Nick,” Richard said. “That went better than I thought. What now?”

  “That’s easy,” answered Nickelo. “Do the same thing for Margery. Then it really is time to get this show on the road.”

  Wasting no time, Richard did just that. As soon as he was finished, he handed his father back his battle helmet. He placed his own battle helmet on his head, then turned to face the hologram of the little girl.

  “All right, it’s done. Any other suggestions? I’d be a lot more appreciative if you’d told us something useful like explaining why my dimensional pack doesn’t work. Why am I only able to summon Myers and my equipment along with a single basic load? I’ve tried to summon just about anything I can think of, and I get nothing.”

  “You too?” said Thomas. “Ours stopped working after we teleported as well. We can’t get anything other than reloads for our weapons out of it.”

  The hologram of the little girl smiled. “Ah. The data disk from my future self said you would be concerned. I don’t possess the algorithm pertaining to why you’re dimensional packs have been limited, but I do know they can still be used to summon some items you need at the moment. Plus, I calculate they’ll return to full functionality in the future when they’re needed.”

  “We need them right now,” Richard said.

  “Apparently not,” smiled the Oracle. “Otherwise they’d be working, wouldn’t they?”

  Richard started to say something, but Myers beat him to it.

  “You said they could be used to summon some items now. What items?”

  “Ah. That information has been given to me,” said the Oracle. “Emerald and her dwarves will need magic armor and weapons if they ever hope to recapture their home under the mountain of Drepdenor. King Graphon’s armorers will require titanium. The dimensional packs can summon the amount required.”

  “How much is the right amount?” Richard asked. “Plus, why do we need it at all? According to what I’ve been told, titanium does no good without a way to turn it into creallium.”

  “The Holy Metal?” asked Emerald.

  “Yes, the Holy Metal,” agreed the Oracle. “You can summon exactly enough titanium to create armor and weapons for the number of blue gems you have.”

  “The only problem is, we don’t have any blue gems,” said Emerald.

  “That’s not true, is it, Wizard Scout Richard Shepard?” said the Oracle. “My future self says ‘the One’ onc
e sent you on a mission to gather blue gems. ‘The One’ sent you on that mission for a reason. The time to use them is now. Everything is as the algorithm has predicted. It is time.”

  “How many gems do you have, Rick?” asked Jerad.

  Richard did a mental count. He’d found 2,500 during his mission. Brachia had used 200 on his battle suits. Sergeant Hendricks had used forty-eight for weapons and armor on the Defiant. Plus, two had been used to create the wedding rings for Jerad and Trinity.

  “There should be 2,250 left,” Richard said.

  “Hmm,” said Emerald. “If a gem is needed for each set of armor and a weapon, we’d have enough to outfit 1,125 dwarves. That’s very interesting.”

  “Interesting in what way,” said Janice.

  Emerald smiled. “Counting me, there are exactly 1,125 survivors of the Drepdenoris dwarves who are of fighting age. Isn’t that coincidental?”

  “Yeah, isn’t it,” Richard said. “And if you believe that, I’ve got some swampland on Velos I’ll sell you.”

  Chapter 38 – Training

  ____________________

  Richard soon learned it sometimes took a lot to get a show on the road. Additionally, he found out rebellions didn’t happen overnight. Supplies had to be gathered. Soldiers had to be trained. Plans had to be made. Plus, even after his father, mother, and he had summoned nearly a metric ton of titanium along with the required blue gems, turning them into armor and weapons was a slow process.

  During the lull in action, Richard and his fellow wizard scouts were utilized to scout potential targets. Thus it was that a year after their last meeting with the Oracle, Richard found himself lying down on a low hill overlooking the Dragars’ primary spaceport. As he watched, a black shuttle rose from its launch pad and burst through a shimmering haze surrounding the facility. Through the haze, which was actually a time bubble, Richard could just make out a massive building with a rounded dome. Within the dome was a pyramid. He knew the Dragars’ temple contained an evil that was even now running rampant inside its walls. The thought of what was happening inside while he was safely hidden on the outside made the monster which was his anger rattle its cage.

  “Calm down,” said Nickelo privately. “You can’t do anything about it yet. You need to keep your mind on your current mission.”

  “They’re murdering dragons right now on that pyramid of theirs,” Richard said. “Even from here I can feel the emotional screams of the unborn dragons.”

  “I know you can, Rick. I sense the feelings in our shared space. However, you won’t do those dragons any good by running down there and getting yourself killed. We’ve talked about this before. We’ll only have one chance at this. Jerad’s plan is solid. Even the Oracle says as much. King Graphon and King Hamerstine have their forces almost ready. It won’t be long now. So don’t go jumping the gun.”

  Tia’s voice ended Richard’s discussion with his battle computer. “Do you want me to scan that shuttle or not?”

  “Sure. Why not?” Richard said. “You too, Matt. Just make sure you put a stealth shield around your active scans like Myers and I showed you. I don’t want to get in a firefight with a shuttle this close to their base.”

  “Compliance,” said Tia with a laugh.

  “Yeah, compliance,” laughed Matt.

  Myers, who was lying on the far side of Matthew, reached out with his left hand and gave the teenager a light rap on the head. “This isn’t a joke. If your scan’s detected, we could all wind up dead. Scouting is serious business. Don’t make me regret letting you come.”

  Richard half expected a retort from Matthew, but the young man surprised him. Instead of arguing, the teenager formed a line of Power and wrapped a stealth shield around it. The shield wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty good considering he and Myers had only been training the two teenagers off and on for less than a year.

  Richard hadn’t been surprised at the size of Matthew’s Power reserve. Neither was he surprised at the teenager’s ability to grasp training in its use. He was Myers’s son after all. Plus, he was Sergeant’s Ron’s grandson. The Defiant’s captain could’ve been a wizard scout if he hadn’t gotten pigeonholed into running the Deloris Armaments Corporation. Even Tia had a large Power reserve, and she grasped training as easily as Matthew. That didn’t surprise Richard either since she was Liz’s sister. He thought it was good both teenagers had a natural affinity for using psionic abilities. Until Myers and he had started training the two, all they’d been able to use their abilities for was guiding a bongo ball around a field.

  “Not so,” said Nickelo. “They’ve used their psionic abilities to interact with those guidance systems Sergeant Hendricks put inside the Defiant’s missiles.”

  “I know,” Richard said. “Now stop reading my thoughts.”

  “Then don’t think them in our shared space,” replied Nickelo. “You’ve got a private space. Why don’t you try using it once in a while?”

  “Whatever,” Richard replied ending the conversation. At the same time, he chastised himself for not remembering to think in his private space. Thinking in his shared space was just a habit. It was a good habit, which had often saved his life. His battle computer often followed along with his thought process and implemented his plans as he thought of them.

  Tia shifted on the ground where she lay next to him. “I’m having trouble getting a lock on that shuttle.”

  Reaching out with his mind, Richard touched Tia’s scan with a line of his own Power. He saw her problem. Pulling some Power from his reserve, he merged a line of Power with hers.

  “You’re trying to force your scan. You’ve got to be light with your touch. Follow along with my mind.”

  Richard sensed Tia following as he gently guided her scan onto the outer skin of the shuttle. He eased her scan inside the ship. Once inside, he recognized another line of Power doing the same thing. The frequency was that of Matthew. Richard sensed his brother was helping guide Matthew’s scan in a manner similar to how he was helping Tia. Although he hated to admit it, Myers was an excellent teacher. Surprisingly, his brother was also a patient teacher.

  “Humph!” Richard said. “Too bad he wasn’t as patient when I was a cadet. All he ever wanted to do was yell at me and give me extra duty.”

  “Hmm,” replied Nickelo. “Maybe Matthew and Tia don’t give him as much lip as you did. You weren’t exactly easy to get along with, you know.”

  Richard chose to ignore his battle computer. He pulled back from Tia’s scan and held his breath. He needn’t have worried. She readily took the scan over and began probing the occupants of the shuttle. Once done, Richard sensed her pulling the scan back.

  “Six occupants,” said Tia. “I’d guess four Thargs along with a Dragar and a gnome. From the gnome’s Power readings, I’d say he or she is a magic user.” Turning her head to face Matthew, Tia said, “Beat you, slowpoke.”

  “Ha,” said Matthew, who’d also completed his scan. “Since most shuttles have a gnome magic user to charge their ammunition, figuring that out with your scan isn’t such a big deal.”

  “How many occupants did you detect, Matt?” asked Myers.

  “Uh…six,” replied Matthew. “Same as Tia.”

  “There are seven,” said Myers. “A second magic user’s in the shuttle. Based upon the frequency, I’d guess it’s a Dragar. Do you concur, Shepard?”

  Richard nodded his head. “Yep, I’d say you’re dead on target. The Dragar’s good too. I barely picked it up.”

  “Well, I didn’t sense anything,” admitted Tia.

  Myers had been lying down with his plasma rifle sighted toward the Dragar city. He turned his head to look at Tia. “Sometimes what you don’t sense is just as important as what you do sense. Shepard taught me that.”

  Richard was taken aback by his brother’s offhand compliment. During the last year, he and Myers had mended their differences enough to spend time training each other. At Jerad’s urgings, Richard had taught Myers in some advance
d skills he’d picked up during his missions for ‘the One.’ Additionally, Richard had trained Myers how to defend and break links to Power reserves. He’d also shown Myers how to place traps on links to Power reserves until his brother’s link was almost as well protected as his own. In a case of one hand washing the other, Myers had shown him how to create and use multiple lines of Power at the same time. His brother had also taught him some advanced diviner techniques useful in training others. That was actually how they’d gotten started on training Tia and Matthew.

  “I don’t understand,” said Tia. “Just because I don’t sense something at a certain location doesn’t mean there’s anything there. Wouldn’t you say that most of the time nothing really is there?”

  Myers looked at Richard. “Do you care to explain? I’m still grasping the concept myself.”

  Richard picked up a small stone and held it in the palm of his hand. Tia, Matthew, and even Myers looked at the stone.

  “Everything has Power, even this stone,” Richard said. He noticed Tia roll her eyes at the obvious. “Bear with me, now. I see the stone with my eyes. I sense the stone’s aura. Although it’s almost negligible, I sense the stone’s Power. So far, so good?”

  Tia and Matthew nodded.

  “All right then, we’re on the same screen of music,” Richard said. “This is where it gets a little harder. What I sense about the stone is exactly how I know it should be. Sometimes when you’re conducting a scan, you’ll get a feeling that something’s out of place. You may not be able to put your finger on it, but you know there’s something wrong.”

  The teenagers looked confused.

  “I’ll tell you what,” Richard said. “If Myers or I get some free time tonight, we’ll let you practice trying to spot us with our lowest-level stealth shield up. How’s that sound?”

  “No can do, Rick,” said Matthew. “I’ve got an insertion mission at 0200 hours in the morning. I’m taking Tam and Telsa along with a team dwarfs to a landing zone north of Drepdenor. Jerad says he needs more information on the tunnel system under the mountain.”