“To the left,” said Danny through the metal band Jeena wore across her forehead.
“I know,” Jeena replied as she made a hard turn to the left.
Stella raised the M12 over Jeena’s shoulder and fired a ball of magic from the wand underneath the rifle’s barrel. The resultant fireball exploded in the middle of half a dozen Crosioians.
As she continued to run, Jeena sensed a strange energy coming from outside the space station. The energy was so powerful it threatened to overwhelm her senses.
“What’s that?” Jeena asked Danny.
“It’s the black hole,” replied Danny. “Ignore it. The station’s defensive shield is negating its effects. You need to concentrate on your mission. We have to get to the vault where the bottles are stored.”
“I’m trying,” Jeena said as she pointed her staff in the opposite direction of the hallway. Without even taking time to mouth a spell, Jeena sent a blast of magic at three Crosioians attempting to set up some kind of crew-served weapon. The three soldiers and their equipment basically disintegrated before Jeena’s eyes.
A series of explosions echoed down the hallway from the direction of the shuttle bay.
“Is Bright Wing okay?” Jeena asked growing concerned for the welfare of the silver dragon.
“Don’t waste time worrying about her,” said Danny. “She’s having a field day using her breath weapons and spells. I think the little lizard has a vicious streak in her. Just be thankful she’s on your side.”
Jeena was thankful.
Another corner loomed ahead of Jeena. They were getting close to the vault. Suddenly, two winged creatures wearing armor and carrying glowing spears came around the corner.
“Crosioian scouts,” said Danny stating the obvious.
Four colored beams of phase energy appeared in Stella’s hands as she activated her phase rods. Before Jeena could say anything, the wizard scout ran past her in the direction of the two scouts. The Crosioian scouts began running to meet the wizard scout halfway.
Before she could charge in support of her friend, Jeena detected two more life forms behind her. She skidded to a stop and spun around as she pulled a wand from her belt. Two more Crosioian scouts had somehow appeared behind them. Jeena shouted the word of activation for the wand and sent the green beam of a paralysis spell toward the Crosioians. The beam hit something invisible to the front of the scouts and ricocheted down the hallway.
One of the scouts raised a rifle of some type and fired a beam of energy at Jeena. She drew Power from her reserve and shouted a spell. The resulting magic formed a defensive shield just in time to deflect the beam back at the two scouts. The beam bounced back and forth between Jeena and the scouts until it finally petered out of existence.
The closest scout threw down her rifle and charged to the attack. At the same time, Jeena sensed the other scout reaching out with a line of Power and probing the link to her Power reserve. Jeena had a sudden feeling she was in serious trouble but didn’t know what to do. Whatever form of attack the scout was attempting was nothing she’d been trained to defend against.
Fortunately, Jeena wasn’t alone. A line of Power reached past her from the rear and knocked the scout’s line away. Jeena recognized Stella’s frequency.
“Don’t let the scout engage you,” warned Danny. “She’s a better close-in fighter than you.”
Jeena wondered how the battle computer thought she was supposed to stop the scout. The Crosioian was only a few steps away. Jeena knew Stella was in heavy combat with the two other scouts. She knew she’d have to take care of these two on her own.
Jeena concentrated on her two scouts. The farthest scout was forming another line of Power. She had little doubt the scout was preparing for another attack against her link and got the distinct feeling the scout had figured out a way to circumvent any counterattack by Stella.
The sense of powerful energy outside the space station drew Jeena’s attention again. The energy reminded her of something she’d sensed before. The Staff of the Lady of the Tree seemed to be responding to the black hole’s energy. A link that was already attached to the staff began to tingle. It was the same link the ‘helper’ had used when Jeena tried to save the green sphere during her last mission for the Oracle.
Without taking time to reason things out, Jeena sent a cry for help down the link. Something seemed to respond to her call. The response was very faint as if far way or possibly as if from a great difference in time.
Suddenly, everything around Jeena slowed to a stop. Or maybe her mind sped up. She didn’t know or care which. The charging scout was only a handful of steps away. Jeena’s eyes were focused on the glowing blue tip of the scout’s phase spear. It seemed to promise an agonizing death. With her death imminent, Jeena opened her mind to the link attached to the Lady’s staff. At the mercy of whatever creature was at the other end, Jeena waited to see what would happen.
* * *
Richard was blind. He’d just finished healing General Fenmar. He had healed his parents’ Power reserves first, as best he could. Even so, he knew the reserves of both wizard scouts were too damaged to ever be fully functional again.
While repairing his parents’ reserves, Richard had picked up the unmistakable scent of his brother. He hadn’t needed Nickelo to tell him that his own brother had been the one to damage his parents’ Power reserves. Surprisingly, he wasn’t sure how to react to the knowledge. The commandant had once told him that both Janice and he had their Power reserves damaged during their final mission for ‘the One.’ Richard had always assumed it had been due to enemy action. Now he knew better.
“You knew this was their last mission,” said Nickelo. “You knew what was going to happen. Now your parents can live the remainder of their lives without any interference by ‘the One.’ Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“He’ll never leave them completely alone,” Richard said. “You know that.”
When his battle computer didn’t reply, Richard concentrated on the voices around him. The mix of loud voices didn’t bode well. Everybody seemed to have an opinion on how best to proceed. Even though he was still blind, Richard stepped in to take charge.
“We’re not landing at the Oracle’s,” Richard said. “Matthew, I want you to make a high-speed pass. Janice and Thomas, you’ll make a high-altitude drop and retrieve the DNA gas. The rest of us will continue on to the spaceport and stop that black destroyer from taking off.”
“Why us?” asked Thomas. “We’ve got the most fighting experience.”
Although Richard knew his next words would hurt his father, he pressed on anyway. “Because your reserves are damaged. You can still do some small things like levitation and self-heal, but neither of you will ever be the wizard scouts you were. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”
From past association, Richard knew his father was a proud man. The truth would hurt, but he didn’t have time for niceties. The fate of three galaxies hung in the balance.
“Tia’s going to pick the two of you up,” Richard continued. “You’ll bring the bottles of DNA gas to the spaceport and give them to us. We’ll take over from there.”
Although he couldn’t see, Richard could almost feel his father’s face turning red.
“If you think I’m going to stay back in the rear while you do the fighting, you’ve got…”
The voice of Richard’s father faded into the distance as something else pulled at Richard’s mind. The something was coming from the link the elf, Shandria, had attached to him.
No, Richard thought. It’s coming from Shandria’s staff.
With a start, Richard realized the thing he felt wasn’t even coming from Shandria’s staff. It was actually coming from something connected to her staff. Then, he recognized the something. It was the presence who’d once helped him when he tried to close the time-gate during the battle with the black destroyer. With the assistance of the ‘helper,’ he’d been able to close the gate, but the green sphere and
the sphere’s brothers had been destroyed anyway.
Richard had no doubt the presence he was feeling was her. He had no idea who she was, but he did know she was important to him for some reason. When they’d last touched minds, he’d felt a great sense of peace. This time he felt an emotion that seemed more like a plea for help.
Concern for the presence swept over Richard. Suddenly, his mind went into hyper-speed.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” said Nickelo. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve got a few problems of our own, buddy.”
“I have noticed,” Richard replied. Regardless, he couldn’t help what he was feeling. She needed help.
An image of molten silver flashed in his mind. The image helped Richard reach a decision.
With more than a little trepidation, he lowered the defenses he’d carefully constructed around his mind. The presence’s reaction was immediate. The three-way connection from Richard to Shandria’s link, to her staff, and on to whatever presence was at the other end was tenuous at best, but it was there. The presence drew Richard toward her until he could sense a powerful force of energy. The energy was probably the most powerful force he’d ever encountered. For some reason, the energy seemed familiar.
“It’s gate energy,” said Nickelo. “It’s similar to the energy from the green sphere. Only it’s infinitely more powerful, if you don’t mind my slight exaggeration.”
Richard was curious why the presence was interested in the energy. Whatever the reason, he felt like she was becoming increasingly desperate. Richard concentrated harder on the energy. He tried moving closer to it. As soon as he did, the energy began pulling him toward it with a force more powerful than anything he could imagine. Without knowing how, Richard succeeded in twisting with his mind and breaking free of the energy’s grasp.
“Well, that was different,” said Nickelo. “Perhaps instead of trying to go to the energy, you should let it come to you.”
If things had been happening at normal speed, Richard would probably have given up and gotten back to his own problems. Since his mind was operating at nanosecond speed, he took the time to examine the energy closer. He noticed the pull of the energy wasn’t consistent. It seemed to have ebbs and flows.
During one of the ebbs, Richard let his mind reach out and follow the energy back toward its source. He didn’t get very far. When the energy suddenly reversed course, he was ready for it. He changed direction as well. Using the same technique he’d used to get Tia and him onboard the fighter-shuttle during the battle at Cantonsburg, he slowed his speed just enough to allow the leading edge of the energy to catch up. He wrapped a thin strand of the energy with his Power, stretched the strand of energy out, and connected it to the link to the presence.
Richard quickly found out the presence wasn’t one to waste time. As soon as the strand of energy touched her link, she took control of the strand from Richard. His connection to the presence immediately disappeared. She was gone.
Richard’s mind switched back to normal speed. He looked around the cabin of the shuttle. His sight had partially come back. The other wizard scouts were looking at him. His father was bent down only an arm’s length in front of his face.
“Well, are you going to answer me?” said Thomas. “What makes you think I’m going to do something just because you tell me?”
Richard stared deep into his father’s eyes. He could see a lot of himself in those eyes.
“Because,” Richard said keeping his voice steady, “you’re a wizard scout. Because you can take orders as well as give them. Because you need to take orders this time, and finally, because ‘the One’ is depending on you to follow my orders. The algorithm requires it.”
His father’s face lost its red and returned to a more normal shade. The commandant opened his mouth to speak but immediately closed it. Without uttering another word, Thomas returned to his seat and sat down next to his wife.
Richard relaxed. Everything was going to be okay.
Chapter 63 – The DNA Gas Bottles
____________________
The moment Jeena sensed the ‘helper’ latch onto a strand of the black hole’s gravitational pull, she jerked hard on her link and took control. As soon as she did, the presence of the ‘helper’ disappeared. Everything around her returned to normal speed.
The Crosioian scout was almost upon her. With no time to think, Jeena reacted by splitting off a minute piece the black hole’s energy and attaching it to the scout. The effects were immediate. She heard a short-lived, high-pitched scream. The scout collapsed to the metal deck and was immediately flattened into a splotch of blood and bat fur combined with the crumpled remains of the scout’s armor. The deck itself bulged and caved downward into a hole about the width of a tall elf. The remains of the scout disappeared along with a portion of the deck.
“Hold on to something,” said Danny.
Jeena sensed the decks below the hole collapsing one upon the other as the intense pull of the black hole continued to exert force on what was left of the Crosioian scout’s body. A large rush of air passed over Jeena and knocked her down as the station’s atmosphere was sucked into the hole.
“The scout was pulled all the way through the station,” said Danny. “The hull’s been breached.”
The escaping air tried to suck Jeena into the hole. She grabbed hold of a convenient bracing bar protruding from the side of the hallway. Holding onto her staff with one hand, she gripped the brace bar with her other for all she was worth. If she’d only had the strength of her hands, Jeena doubted she could’ve held on against the force of the escaping air. Thankfully, the additional strength of the environmental suit’s assistors was just enough to allow her to hang on.
Even as she was being buffeted by the gale-force winds, Jeena sensed a line of Power reaching out toward her. It was coming from the second scout. The bat-creature was somehow able to maintain her position against the blast of wind. Jeena sensed Power forming a shield around the scout.
The line of Power from the scout moved toward Jeena’s chest. Without taking time to think things through, Jeena split off another piece of the black hole’s energy and attached it to the second scout. Once again, she heard a high-pitched scream as both the scout and her equipment was crushed against the deck. In less than a heartbeat, the force of the escaping air doubled as the space station’s outer hull was ruptured in a second spot.
Jeena reached out with her mind and felt for the locations of Stella and the remaining two scouts. All three were surrounded by shields of Power that appeared to resist the flow of air.
While continuing to hold onto the brace bar, Jeena twisted enough to see a blur of phase rods and phase spheres striking one another. The blows were faster than her mind could register. Although Stella was holding her own, she appeared to be hard-pressed. Jeena feared the wizard scout would soon succumb to the attacks from her two opponents.
Splitting off two more lines of the black hole’s energy, Jeena attached them to the remaining scouts.
They barely had time to scream before they were smashed downward into a bloody mess. Soon, there were two more holes in the space station’s outer hull.
Caught as she was between the four holes, Jeena felt the wind slacken somewhat. She tightened her grip on the Lady’s staff and tried to stand, but couldn’t.
A line of Power reached out toward Jeena. She prepared another strand of the black hole’s energy in preparation for defending herself. Before she could form her attack, Jeena sensed the frequency of the line of Power belonged to Stella.
The wizard scout’s Power enveloped Jeena and shielded her from the wind. When Jeena released her grip on the brace bar, Stella’s Power raised her to a standing position. A second later, Stella was standing next to her. Jeena noticed the wizard scout was floating a hand’s breath off the deck When Jeena looked down she realized she was floating as well.
Levitation? Jeena wondered.
“We hurry,” said Stella. “Power run l
ow soon.”
Jeena drew Power from her own reserve and mouthed the words of a levitation spell. She wrapped the magic energy around both Stella and her.
“I’ll handle the levitation,” Jeena told her friend. “You handle the shield. Between us, maybe we’ll have enough Power if we hurry.”
Hurry they did. As they traveled down the hallway, they came upon a set of thick metal blast doors with a force field blocking their way. Jeena connected a strand of the black hole’s energy to the obstruction. Before long, another hole in the deck marked their progress toward the vault. The new hole vented an increasing amount of the space station’s atmosphere into outer space.
The bodies of several bat creatures were flung against Stella’s shield. The wizard scout’s Power was strong enough to keep both of them protected. Eventually, they spied a thick set of double doors ahead. No guards were in sight. Jeena commented on their absence.
Stella made a rasping sound Jeena had come to associate with laughter.
“I think the last four bats that bounced off shield were guards. Be careful. Auto-weapons still there.”
Jeena was sure her friend was right about the auto-weapons. While the physical guards might be gone, they’d encountered plenty of computer-controlled weapons during their holo-square training. They’d never actually made it inside the vault during any of their training scenarios.
“I could rip the doors off from here,” Jeena said thinking of the remaining strands of the black hole’s energy she’d gotten from the ‘helper.’
Stella’s battle computer, Jonathan, spoke using the external speakers on the Sterilian’s battle helmet. “Bad idea. The atmosphere in this part of the station is a near vacuum thanks to all the holes you’ve been punching in the outer hull. We have no idea how the bottles of DNA gas are secured inside. As soon as you rip the doors off, the bottles are liable to be sucked out faster than the two of you can catch them. Some might even break. We need all twenty-nine bottles according to the central computer.”
Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5) Page 45