Nickelo mentally smiled again. His wizard scout was definitely learning.
Chapter 44 – Armor and Weapons
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“I heard you the first fifty times, Wanda. I’ll be careful.”
Gaston made a final function check of his phase pistol. It was fully loaded with fifteen rounds. He checked the ammo pouch on his utility belt. The contents hadn’t changed. Only two spare magazines were inside.
“Too bad your brother can’t summon you more than your basic load. Forty-five rounds won’t go far in a firefight.”
“He’s not my brother. I told you to stop calling him that. Shepard and I may share a few bits of DNA, but that doesn’t make him my brother.”
“Well, my point’s still valid,” said Wanda. “You’ll need to use your phase rod as much as possible and save the phase rounds for emergencies.”
Gaston kept some of his thoughts in his private space. Even Wanda couldn’t be trusted with his most sensitive secrets. He had a feeling the entire recon was going to be one big emergency. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
Whatever the danger, he thought, we have to pinpoint the location of the dwarves’ gem. Then I’ll need to find some way to be put in charge of the team assigned to destroy it. They’ll have to give my team the fourteen bottles of DNA gas. Somehow, I’ll figure a way to destroy the gem with only thirteen bottles. Then I’ll be able to take one bottle back to Diane. We can finally be together. We’ll be able to live like a real family; Diane, Matthew, and me. We won’t be like my parents. Diane and I won’t have to worry about ‘the One’ tearing us apart. We can be together forever.
A knock on the door brought Gaston out of his thoughts. When he opened the ornately carved piece of wood, he saw a tall figure dressed in the uniform of one of King Hamerstine’s soldiers. Unfortunately, it wasn’t one of the King’s men. It was Shepard.
“What do you want?” Gaston said a little harsher than he’d intended. Wanda had advised him to try and get along with Shepard since they were on the same side. Unfortunately, any interaction with the man always put him on edge.
Instead of answering, Shepard just stood there with the insolent sneer Gaston had grown to hate.
“I said what do you want? I’m busy.”
“Don’t make this any harder than it is,” said Shepard. “Can I come in?”
Part of Gaston wanted to slam the door in Shepard’s face, but he resisted the urge. In spite of his dislike for the man, Gaston was curious. He knew his brother wasn’t fond of him either, so he doubted Shepard would be here if it wasn’t important.
While he didn’t say anything, Gaston did step to one side. His brother came inside like he owned the place and placed a folded battle suit with a complete utility belt on the table. The pile of equipment even had a shoulder holster on top.
Pointing to the pile of equipment, Gaston asked, “What’s all this?”
“It’s my battle suit,” said Shepard.
“I know it’s your battle suit. Do you think I’m stupid or something?”
Shepard grew red-faced. Trying not to draw attention, Gaston reached down and fingered the handle of the phase rod at his side just in case. The man had a temper. Gaston knew he was liable to attack. After a few seconds, the red left his brother’s face. Even so, Gaston noticed the man’s fists were balled up and the knuckles remained white.
“You’re all making a mistake,” said Shepard. “I’ve got a very bad feeling about this recon. You haven’t fought dimensional-shifting opponents before. As far as I know, even our parents haven’t.”
This time Gaston felt his own face heating up. Shepard had no right to call them his parents. His brother hadn’t shown up on the scene until late. As a child, Shepard hadn’t always been scared his parents were going to be teleported out to do some mission for ‘the One’ without notice. The man hadn’t grown up fearing to let his emotional guard down out of concern his mother was liable to disappear at any time.
“He has no right,” Gaston thought in his shared space.
“Now, Gaston,” said Wanda. “Don’t start trouble. He’s not the enemy. See what he has to say. I doubt he came here just to make you mad.”
Like he often had to do when he was around Shepard, Gaston used the technique his father had taught him to control his anger. Slowly, he felt his muscles relax.
“What’s your point, Shepard?”
“My point is you’re going to need an edge. I may be able to give you one.”
Shepard unhooked the phase rod from the utility belt on the table. He held it out.
“See if you can activate this on your own.”
Gaston felt himself growing angry again at the audacity of Shepard for thinking he could order him around. Once again, Gaston used his father’s technique for controlling his anger.
“Wise decision,” said Wanda. “I calculate a ninety-one percent probability this may turn out to be beneficial for you.”
Overcoming his anger, Gaston jerked the phase rod out of his brother’s hand. It was slightly heavier than a standard-issue phase rod.
“The dial looks different,” Gaston said.
Shepard pointed at the phase rod. “My nephew Brachia increased the energy output by almost twenty-five percent. You’ll need to adjust your desired phase energy accordingly. The numbers on the dial aren’t very reliable.”
Gaston thumbed the dial to fifteen percent and thought the command to activate the rod in destructive mode. He sensed a small amount of Power leave his reserve. The brerellium shaft of the rod popped out of the handle as phase energy began running up and down the length of its creallium core.
A strange sensation of hunger filled the room. The hunger felt evil. A desire to swing the phase rod at Shepard swept over Gaston. He resisted the urge. He didn’t like Shepard, but he had no wish to kill him. The man was a good fighter and might come in handy.
After a few seconds, Gaston looked at his brother, who was nodding his head as if something he’d anticipated had occurred.
“I thought so,” said Shepard. “Our DNA’s close enough for you to energize my equipment.”
As Gaston watched, Shepard pushed the folded battle suit toward him.
“You should take this on the recon,” said Shepard. “The material of the battle suit’s embedded with titanium. Brachia installed one of those blue gems in the suit. If you activate the gem, the titanium will temporarily turn into creallium. It’ll provide protection from creatures in the void.”
“Say something, Gaston,” said Wanda. “He’s offering you a great gift.”
Gaston wasn’t as trusting as his battle computer. He wasn’t sure what Shepard had up his sleeve, but he suspected a trick of some kind.
“My battle helmet won’t work with your suit,” Gaston pointed out.
Shepard took on a blank look as if conferring with his battle computer before replying. “No. It won’t. We’ll have to switch out battle computers.”
Gaston wasn’t sure what to say. He’d seen Shepard’s phase rod in action. It was a very dangerous weapon. If what his brother said about the battle suit was true, he’d have an advantage if it came to a fight with a vampire.
“Why me?” Gaston said still suspicious. “Why not one of the others? Why not my parents?”
Gaston noticed Shepard grow noticeably red in the face. For some reason, he didn’t think it was from anger.
“They don’t have a close enough match to my DNA,” said Shepard. “They each only have half.” He paused before adding, “Besides, I did offer it to the others first. None of them could activate any of my gear. Even Thomas and Janice weren’t able to make it work. My battle computer says it requires someone with DNA from both parents to have a close enough match.”
“My advice would be to take him up on his offer,” said Wanda. “What have you got to lose?”
“How about my life?” Gaston said.
Making his decision, Gaston removed his battle he
lmet and thought the command to eject his battle computer. When the brerellium-armored chip popped into view, he extracted it.
He looked at Shepard. “Well? Are you just going to stand there? We’ve only got two minutes of backup power to make the switch.”
Much too slowly for Gaston’s liking, Shepard placed his own helmet on the table and extracted its CPU. As soon as the chip was out, Gaston grabbed the battle helmet and inserted Wanda into the slot.
“You there, Wanda?” Gaston asked.
“Affirmative. I’ve completed a full diagnostic check of the battle helmet. It’s different, but nothing I can’t handle. I’ve put the instructions for energizing the battle suit’s titanium on the helmet’s heads-up display.”
After removing his old battle suit, Gaston tried on the new one. The suit shrank to accommodate his shorter frame. Once he sealed the suit, he activated it in armor mode. Following the instructions on his heads-up display, he thought the command to energize the titanium. He felt energy surge through the suit, but he felt no difference.
“How do I know it’s working?” Gaston asked, growing even more suspicious. He wondered if his brother was trying to trick him into depending on the suit during a fight when in reality it would provide no protection at all.
Gaston sensed Shepard wrap himself in Power. His brother shimmered as his body shifted into the void. As Gaston continued to watch, Shepard reached out with one hand and grabbed for his arm. Instead of passing through as expected, the man’s hand was stopped by the battle suit’s energized titanium.
“See, Gaston,” said Wanda. “You’re too suspicious. You need to be more trusting. Not everyone’s out to stab you in the back.”
Gaston ignored his battle computer. She was always preaching to him about the good in others. Sometimes she was a fool. Fortunately, he wasn’t. Gaston thought the command to de-energize the titanium. He then switched the battle suit out of armor mode. The black suit took on the consistency of soft leather again.
“Okay, it works,” Gaston admitted. “So what are you going to do? Use my gear? If we get in a fight, you won’t do us any good if you’re not in armor.”
Shepard shook his head. “I’m hoping I won’t be forced to wear your gear. We’ll soon see.”
With those words, Gaston watched Shepard take his pack off his back and open the flap. A dull black was visible in the opening. His brother pulled out a battle helmet, battle suit, a fully equipped utility belt along with a phase rod, and a shoulder holster. Shepard quickly inserted the brerellium chip that was his battle computer into a slot in the battle helmet.
Shepard glanced up. “I’ve been told that fifty-five battle helmets and two hundred battle suits were made for me. I don’t know how many I’ve got left on Storage since several have been damaged over the years, but this is one of those extra sets.”
“Function check is complete,” said the voice of Nickelo, his brother’s battle computer, over the helmet’s external speakers. “See, Rick. I told you there was a seventy-four percent probability ‘the One’ would allow you to summon another set of equipment if you gave the other one away.”
Shepard stood there looking at him for a few seconds as if expecting something. Finally, the man gathered up his gear and started for the door.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” asked Wanda. “I calculate he’s significantly increased your odds of staying alive.”
“Shepard,” Gaston said before his brother made it to the door.
His brother stopped at the doorway and turned around. The man didn’t say a word. He just stood there with an arrogant expression on his face.
“Uh, thanks,” Gaston said, forcing the words out.
With a nod of his head, Shepard pointed at the phase rod on Gaston’s hip.
“Be careful with that thing. When it’s in destructive mode, the demon essence will infect whoever it touches. Normal healers can’t remove its taint.”
“I’ll try to remember,” Gaston growled. Matthew had already told him how Shepard nearly killed the entire royal family of Trecor by infecting them with something from his phase rod.
Shepard turned to leave again.
“You know, Gaston,” said Wanda. “If you’re ever going to make peace with your brother, this might be the time. You never know, you might need him as an ally one day.”
Gaston knew she was right. Shepard might come in useful.
“Wait,” Gaston said.
His brother turned around again. Gaston tried to ignore the man’s obvious arrogance.
“We aren’t enemies,” Gaston said. “We should be working together. Our common enemy is ‘the One,’ not each other.” When Shepard didn’t say anything, Gaston pressed a little harder. “Do you enjoy being forced to do the bidding of ‘the One’?”
That got a response.
“No,” said Shepard. “I hate him, or it, or whatever ‘the One’ is.”
“Then we should be working together,” Gaston said. On a hunch, he decided to make a peace overture. “This is our parents’ last mission. You know what’s going to happen. ‘The One’ is getting ready to chew them up and spit them out. He’s going to do the same to you eventually unless you stop him.”
Shepard got a strange look on his face. For a fleeting moment, Gaston thought the man’s natural insolence disappeared.
“You said our parents,” Shepard said.
Gaston locked eyes with Shepard. “I’m wearing your battle suit. At this point, I guess it’s hard to deny we’ve got at least a little DNA in common.”
Neither of the wizard scouts spoke for several seconds. Finally, Shepard broke the silence.
“I don’t want to be your enemy.” After waiting a few seconds, Shepard stepped into the hallway before turning back around. “Take care of yourself, Myers.”
“Same to you, Shepard.”
With that, his brother gave a final nod of his head and disappeared down the hallway.
“I’m proud of you, Gaston,” said Wanda.
Gaston didn’t reply. He kept his thoughts in the private area of his mind. He began thinking of ways he could use his brother to get a bottle of DNA gas for Diane. They needed to complete the mission for ‘the One’ to get home, but getting a bottle of DNA gas for the empress was also a priority.
I swear I’ll get it if it’s the last thing I do, Gaston thought in his private space. I can’t let Diane down.
Chapter 45 – Holo-square
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The two bat creatures walked past Jeena’s hiding place. One of them stopped and turned to face her direction for several seconds. The creature’s furry ears swept from front to side as if seeking something. Jeena scarcely breathed. After a few heart-rending seconds, the creature’s ears stopped moving. The Crosioian turned back around and rejoined its companion. They both continued down the hallway.
“Good,” said Danny. “Your invisibility and silence spells are still holding.”
Jeena didn’t hear Danny the computer as a physical voice. Instead, she heard his words as thoughts through the metal headband Brachia had made for her.
Jeena thought her reply. “Yes, they’re holding, but those two bats obviously sensed something. I’m not sure what. By the way, is Stella still with me? I can sense the spells I put on her, but I can’t sense her.”
“Stella’s fine,” said Danny. “She’s about five meters behind you. She’s a wizard scout with her best stealth shield up. Combined with your spells, she’s virtually undetectable.”
“Well,” Jeena said. “Just make sure she keeps up. If I get in a fight, I want her close enough to help.”
“She will be,” Danny assured her. “She’s a wizard scout.”
Jeena checked the image of the space station Danny was projecting in her mind. She’d made it about two-thirds of the distance to her destination. Stepping out of her cubbyhole, she began walking in the direction of her prize. Each time one of her feet made contact with the metal deck, Jeena cringed. Even thoug
h logic told her the silence spell would keep her from making noise, her natural instincts said otherwise. She was well aware if she was discovered, both Stella and she would be in a fight with no one else to help.
“Don’t forget about Bright Wing,” Danny reminded her. “She’ll help if she can.”
Jeena knew the silver dragon was somewhere on the outside of the space station waiting to teleport in when needed. Jeena half wished she was out there with the dragon.
“You’re not wearing an environmental suit,” said Danny matter-of-factly. “You’d die a horrible death in the vacuum of space.”
“What makes you think I’m not going to die a horrible death in here,” Jeena asked as she continued moving down the hall. “Besides, I’ve got a spell that could help.”
“Oh, I give you a fifty-fifty chance of avoiding a horrible death,” said Danny with what sounded like a chuckle. “I figure there’s at least a fifty percent probability your death would be quick and relatively painless.”
Jeena ignored the computer. She didn’t want to get sidetracked from her mission. Acquiring those bottles of DNA gas was the priority. Drawing Power from her reserve, Jeena mouthed the words for her best detection spell. When no words came out, her spell fizzled.
“I keep reminding you that your verbal spells won’t work when you have a silence spell on you,” said Danny.
Jeena bit off a retort before it was fully formed. The computer was just trying to be helpful. Still, it was a little aggravating to have Danny trying to advise her about spells when he hadn’t ever done one himself.
Switching to a lower-level detection spell that required only hand movements and thoughts, Jeena sent a ball of magic down the hall. She was getting close now. The Crosioians were bound to have detection spells and traps in the hall.
“They wouldn’t be using spells,” said Danny. “The Crosioians use technology just like we do.”
“Speak for yourself,” Jeena said. “I use sp—”
A loud clanging reverberated throughout the space station as alarms sounded. With a wild thought she might be able to grab the bottles and escape if she was fast enough, Jeena began running down the hall. Before she got twenty steps, a squad of bat creatures dressed in armor and carrying the long metal rods Danny called rifles came charging around a corner toward her.
Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5) Page 36