Spectra's Gambit

by Vincent Trigili

  The Lost Tales of Power:

  Spectra’s Gambit

  Written and Published by Vincent Trigili

  Copyright 2014 Vincent Trigili

  Editors:

  Kristi Trigili

  Elaine Kennedy (elaine.p.kennedy@gmail.com)

  Cover designed by Cormar Covers

  ISBN: 9781311432322

  EBook Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Introduction

  The Lost Tales of Power is a collection of novels that describe an immense persistent multiverse. The books are a mixture of standalone and miniseries all set in the same universe with overlapping and intertwining storylines. While the books are a mixture of classic science fiction and pure fantasy, some effort is being made to keep the books in the realm of the possible, or at least theoretically possible given some basic assumptions.

  Lost Tales of Power Series:

  Volume I - The Enemy of an Enemy

  Volume II - The Academy

  Volume III - Rise of Shadows

  Volume IV - Resurgence of Ancient Darkness

  Volume V - The Sac’a’rith

  Volume VI - Spectra’s Gambit

  Volume VII – The Sac’a’rith: Rebirth

  Volume VIII and beyond - TBA

  To be informed when new books are released:

  Visit our website: http://losttalesofpower.com

  Follow us on Twitter @VincentTrigili

  Sign up for Email notices via: http://smarturl.it/LostEmail

  Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LostTales/

  I hope you find as much enjoyment in reading these stories as I had living them. If you enjoy the books, please post a review and spread the word about them. As an independent author, word of mouth is the only marketing I can afford. Thanks!

  Time Line So Far:

  IE = Imperial Era (similar to BC, counts backwards)

  EM = Era of Magic

  12/01/01 IE – Enemy of an Enemy starts

  01/20/02 EM – Enemy of an Enemy ends

  02/01/02 EM – The Academy starts

  08/30/42 EM – The Academy ends

  05/15/55 EM – Rise of Shadows starts

  12/30/58 EM – Rise of Shadows ends

  01/31/59 EM – Resurgence of Ancient Darkness starts

  03/15/59 EM – The Sac’a’rith starts

  08/11/62 EM – Spectra’s Gambit starts

  10/31/62 EM – The Sac’a’rith ends

  01/25/63 EM – Resurgence of Ancient Darkness ends

  02/01/64 EM – Sac’a’rith: Rebirth starts

  08/25/64 EM – Sac’a’rith: Rebirth ends

  01/01/65 EM – Spectra’s Gambit ends

  Chapter One

  Karathlathornka entered my study precisely on time. His massive frame still had a somewhat chilling effect on the room, as he was approaching twice my size. Time had taken its unstoppable toll on him. His great stride had slowed over the years that I had known him and the orange of his fur had faded, but despite his advanced age he still carried himself with a dignity that made you think he might have one last fight in him. His large cat-like eyes showed great wisdom and seemed untouched by his age.

  He lowered himself onto one of the couches and said, “Hello, Vydor.”

  “Greetings,” I replied, unsure why he had come to see me. I had given him sanctuary in the Wizard Kingdom ever since I had sent Dusty to rescue him, and in all that time he had never asked for anything. He lived just above the poverty level and seemed content to stay there. I gave him a generous stipend, but he never spent it on himself.

  “Vydor, I am getting old and it is apparent that the years ahead of me are much fewer than the years behind me,” he said.

  I was at a loss as to how to respond. It was likely to be true, but I did not know how old he was nor how long his race lived. Kellyn had done the best she could to heal his injuries, many of which were decades old, but even her generous healing powers had their limits.

  “I know I have ceased to be of use to you, but there is no one else who can help me,” he said.

  “I cannot turn back time, my friend,” I said.

  “No, but you have successfully slowed it. However, my concern is not about myself,” he said.

  “You are concerned about our agreement after you pass?” I asked.

  “Yes, I need it to continue,” he said.

  In what seemed like a past life, when I was chief of intelligence on the Dragon Claw, I had hired him to help with intelligence gathering. He was the best source of information that I had ever obtained. I never learned his methods of acquiring information, but he never failed me. He was also extremely expensive. “Karath, decades ago I decided to look beyond our agreement to see what you were doing with all the money I paid you. I traced it to a high-security medical facility far over on the other side of the Old Empire. I did not pursue the matter beyond that, except to confirm that they were getting the money and using it. I might be inclined to be favorable to your request, but would like to know your reason.”

  He smiled, a grin that exposed a jagged set of serrated fangs. “That’s the problem with working with you intelligence types: hard to keep secrets. You probably know that I am the last of my kind, and that when I die my race will be extinct.”

  “Yes, that is my understanding,” I said.

  “Well, that is not the whole truth. On that station are thousands of my race, held in cryogenic suspended animation,” he said.

  “Why?” I asked. No matter how much I learned, he always seemed to possess information I did not. I could not imagine the loss of information that his death would one day represent.

  “Well over a century ago, a virus swept through my home world killing most of the population faster than anyone could treat it. No cure could be found. Myself and a small number of others who were off-world at that time pooled our funds to place the survivors there until a cure might be found. I am the only one left of that group.”

  “So all this time you have been carrying the burden of your entire species on your shoulders,” I said. “No wonder you worked so hard to keep me from ending our agreement.”

  “Yes, and my debt to you for maintaining it all these years is beyond anything I could pay. You can surely understand why I want it to continue,” he said.

  I sat back and thought about that a bit in silence. I did not want to continue to pipe money and resources out to some remote medical center, but I did not relish the idea of letting thousands die over that inconvenience.

  “Vydor, you have always been a kind and generous man. Living here in your nation these past years has shown me that the kindness you have always portrayed in our negotiations was not a tactic but truly part of who you are. I am calling on that kindness now. You are all I have left,” he said.

  “Karath, I have no intention of letting your race die out if I can help it. Let me summon Doctor Leslie and Kellyn. I want you to tell them everything you know about this virus and the events around it. Will you do that?” I asked.

  “Certainly,” he said.

  I would have
liked to call Rannor in for this, but he had finally retired last month. He had already reached retirement age when we started the school, and while our advances in medicine could slow aging to some degree, there was only so much we could do. If he were more advanced in his magical studies, he probably could have bought more time; but he insisted he was content with the life he has lived, and did not desire to extend it needlessly.

  When the others arrived, I briefed them on the situation and they started grilling Karath. For his part he was slow and deliberate with all of his answers. He had a tremendous amount of information leading up to the freezing of his clan, but very little after that. One of the others in his group had taken care of the details, and he was long gone.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “We need to visit this hospital and see the medical records. I find it hard to believe that in all this time they have not been able to deal with a virus,” said Doctor Leslie.

  “Kellyn, do you think you could cure them?” I asked.

  “Definitely, but it would do no good until we could isolate and contain the spread of the virus. Once we have their medical records we will know more,” she said.

  I looked over at Karath, whose eyes had grown as large as coffee mugs. “Karath, I will not renew our agreement, I will change it; we will take your people into our own care.”

  “I hardly know what to say,” he said.

  “I suggest we go to visit that hospital,” I said.

  “It is way over on the other side of known space. It will take years to get there,” he replied.

  “Not for us. We leave in an hour,” I said with a grin. Doctor Leslie and Kellyn left to get the supplies they would need, and once they were ready we gathered in my study to make the trip.

  During my investigation decades ago, I had paid a visit to the hospital where Karath had been sending the money I had paid him. It was properly known as Heritage Memorial Hospital Station, but since the fall of the Empire most people simply referred to it as the Hospital Station. Under the rule of the Empire it had accepted only the most powerful patients, but now it served its local region, a shining beacon of an age long past. When I had visited previously, I had left myself a marker to use as a reference point to gate right into their waiting-room. I weaved a gate and we all traveled through it, instantly crossing many light millennia of space: a trip that would have taken years by conventional means. As we walked into the waiting-room, the receptionist behind the desk sprang to his feet. “Grandmaster! I am sorry, I did not know you were scheduled to visit!”

  “Surprise visits are not typically scheduled in advance. Please call Doctor Hawthorne, and tell him I am here with Karathlathornka and we would like a full tour and briefing on the Cathratinairian patients,” I said.

  “Yes, sir!” he said and hurried off.

  “This should not take long,” I said quietly.

  “Vydor, I have reason to believe it is primarily your contributions that are keeping this station open,” said Karath.

  “That is good to know,” I said. That would give me considerable leverage, but also gave them a perverse incentive to keep the Cathratinairians frozen.

  Before I could continue, Doctor Hawthorne came into the waiting-room. “Hello! This is a most unusual surprise!”

  “Do you get a lot of normal surprises?” asked Doctor Leslie.

  “No, no, but that does not matter. My aide tells me that you would like a tour and update on the Cathratinairians?” he asked.

  “Yes, please,” I said. Doctor Hawthorne was a consummate diplomat and not at all thrown off by Doctor Leslie’s comment. He had spent the decades since the collapse of the Empire keeping this station running and negotiating with all types of tribes, nations and consortiums. His only real bargaining chip in those negotiations was the advanced medical technology and training of his staff, which far exceeded that of the surrounding medical facilities.

  “Follow me.” He led us deeper inside the station and into a very large room, filled as far as the eye could see with cryogenic beds. “In here we have about half of the survivors. There is an identical room on the other side of the station holding the remainder. As of this morning’s report, all beds are functioning at optimum level and all patients are stable.”

  From there he led us through several research labs and introduced us to various doctors and staff members. Then he led us into a large conference room. “Now, can I answer any questions?”

  “May I see their complete medical records?” asked Leslie.

  The doctor hesitated, so I said, “This is Doctor Leslie. She is the head of medical affairs for the Wizard Kingdom.”

  “In that case, here you are,” he said as he logged on to a terminal and then gave her access.

  Kellyn joined her and the three of them talked back and forth for a while about the case and the treatments that they had tried over the years. Eventually I interrupted them and asked, “Doctor Hawthorne, summarize it for me: why have you not cured them yet?”

  “We simply do not have the technology to do that. The virus mutates faster than we can treat it. We had hoped that by now there would be enough technological advances to counter it, but with the fall of the Empire we have lost much ground on that front.”

  “So what is your plan?” I asked.

  “To wait for technology to catch up and give us the tools we need to fight this thing,” he said.

  “Doctor Leslie? Can you and Kellyn cure this?” I asked.

  “Without a doubt, but the infection rate on this virus is off the charts. They would be re-infected almost instantly,” she said.

  “Well, that is easy enough to counter,” said Doctor Hawthorne.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “The virus is extremely narrow in range; it will only infect people with very specific DNA. That is why only the Cathratinairians have been infected so far. All we have to do is mask that marker and they will not be re-infected,” he said.

  “Wouldn’t that cure them, too?” asked Karath.

  “No, DNA masking can prevent infection, but once a patient is infected, it is too late for the mask to be effective,” he said.

  “It sounds like we have a perfect team here: Doctor Leslie and Kellyn cure them, and you prevent them from becoming re-infected,” I said.

  “It could work, but you must forgive me for being skeptical that you can cure them when you have merely reviewed their medical records,” said Doctor Hawthorne.

  “We have means beyond what you have here to enact a cure. Have you tested your DNA masking at all?” I asked.

  “We have used it in other cases with success but no, not in this specific case. There was no way to do that safely,” he said.

  “Then use me,” said Karath.

  “What?” asked Doctor Hawthorne.

  “Test the DNA masking on me,” said Karath.

  “If it fails, you will die,” said Doctor Hawthorne.

  “That is an acceptable risk,” he said. “But before we do that, I need to transfer full control over this case to Grandmaster Vydor in case I do not survive.”

  “Certainly, but I must warn you how fast this virus mutates. The masking might only make you temporarily immune,” said Doctor Hawthorne. “Even if it succeeds, this is short-term protection only. I cannot keep you safe from infection for long.”

  “Kellyn, what is your opinion of all this?” I sent via our telepathic network, then asked the doctor, “What do you mean?”

  “My love, I think he has been completely honest so far, but this virus worries me,” she sent back.

  “Well, the DNA mask will not actually change Karath’s DNA. It will just block the receptors that the virus uses. If the virus mutates to use different markers, it could make things much worse,” said Doctor Hawthorne.

  “What do you mean?” I asked of Kellyn then said, “So we will have to keep him in biological isolation until we know it is safe to let him out. How lon
g would that be?”

  “There is no way to know. This virus is highly adaptive. We would just have to wait for all the virus cells to die off,” said the doctor.

  “It’s too perfect. Nothing like this could have happened on its own,” sent Kellyn.

  “Karath, are you still prepared to do this? You heard Doctor Hawthorne. If the DNA masking fails you might not survive,” I asked.

  “Yes, I am, and the sooner the better,” he said.

  Chapter Two

  “Grandmaster, thank you for meeting with me,” said Doctor Hawthorne as I settled into his office.

  It had been about a week since we agreed to test the DNA masking on Karath, and Karath was going through some final preparation for the test. “What can I do for you, Doctor?” I enquired.

  “Assuming this works, what do you plan to do with all the Cathratinairians?” he asked.

  “We have found several places where they could settle and start their lives anew. We will probably move them to one of those, give them enough resources to get started, and from there it will be up to them,” I said.

  “I see,” he replied and then he looked off into space, quietly thinking.

  “What is bothering you, Doctor?” I asked.

  “Well, I have two problems that I don’t know how to solve,” he said.

  “What are they?” I asked.

  “Once you pull your funding, this hospital will go bankrupt, leaving me with one hundred and fifty people whom I can no longer provide for,” he said.

  “That is quite a problem. What course of action are you considering?” I asked.

  “There is nothing out here for us, but we cannot afford transport to anywhere else. If you could help us with that, then maybe we can scatter and find places to fit in,” he said.

  “You do not like that idea,” I said.

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “We are a big family here. We have served together for over a century now. Splitting up would be painful at best. We are also unlikely to find anywhere with the tools and resources we have here. I cannot imagine the pain of losing patients merely because the nations around here are too poor for decent medical technology.”