“No, Richard,” said the commandant. “It’s not your dimensional pack.”
Richard felt his eyes grow larger. He reviewed his words. He was sure he hadn’t said it was a dimensional pack.
How does he know that? Richard wondered.
“Sir!” Richard said grasping for straws. “I’m not sure what you mean, sir.”
“Oh, I think you do, Richard,” said the commandant eyeing Richard closely. “I’ve seen excerpts of videos from your first mission on Portalis.”
The commandant’s comment did nothing to alleviate Richard’s confusion. He felt as if he were standing on the edge of a deep hole that was ready to swallow him up if he made even the slightest mistake.
“Sir?” Richard gulped. “I don’t–”
“Don’t bother denying it, Richard,” said the commandant. “I’ve even seen the videos the tele-bots took of your fight with the Crosioian scout last year. And, I don’t mean the redacted videos the central computer sent to the Imperial High Command. I mean the full videos.”
“Sir, I don’t understand, sir,” Richard said honestly. The commandant’s nonchalant mention of Portalis, unedited videos, and his continuing use of his first name was causing the world Richard knew to crash around him. He felt as if what little secure footing he’d built up over the last few years was being jerked out from under him.
The commandant studied Richard for a few more moments before smiling. It was not an unfriendly smile. Still, Richard refused to relax. Trusting others was not something that came easily to him.
“I can see we’ll get nowhere until I explain,” said the commandant. “So be it. A few years after I graduated from the Academy, I was sent on a mission to the magical dimension by ‘the One’. I was given this dimensional pack at the same time. Does that sound familiar?”
Richard dropped his caution long enough to nod his head affirmatively. It was as far as he could allow himself to go at the moment.
“Over the years,” continued the commandant, “I’ve been sent on a dozen missions for ‘the One’. On my last mission to Portalis, my Power reserve was damaged. So was my wife’s.”
“Your wife, sir?” Richard said. He’d never thought of the stiff commandant as having a wife. The shock was enough he forgot to say the word ‘sir’ at the beginning of his question.
“Yes, my wife,” said the commandant with a hint of a smile. “What? You think I can’t have a wife? I have a son as well. Does that surprise you?”
Richard shook his head no.
“Well, I do,” the commandant said ignoring the fact Richard wasn’t disagreeing. “He’s about twenty years your senior.”
“Yes, sir,” Richard said. He was still at a loss for words.
“Has anyone explained things to you, Richard?” said the commandant. “I mean about being a time-commando.”
“Sir. A time-commando, sir?” Richard said. His confusion must have transitioned to his face because the commandant smiled.
“Oh, that’s not the official name, of course,” said the commandant. “Janice and I made it up. But, it kinda explains what we do for ‘the One’.”
“You and who?” Richard said forgetting to even put a sir at the end of his sentence. He’d been hoping he’d finally get some answers, but so far all he was getting was more questions.
“My wife, Janice,” said the commandant. “You’d know her better as Councilwoman Janice Deluth.”
So the commandant’s married to Councilwoman Deluth, Richard thought. That makes sense. Sorta.
When Richard had last been in the commandant’s office, the commandant had placed a call to Councilwoman Deluth. Even at the time, Richard had wondered at the ease with which the commandant had accessed such a high-level politician.
“Oh,” Richard said. “So what’s a time-commando?”
He hastily added, “And, what do they do, sir?”
“We’re time-commandos,” the commandant said. “As far as Janice and I could tell, ‘the One’ sent us on missions back in time to put out hot spots. I’ve been on twelve missions. Janice has been on thirty. Out of curiosity, how many has ‘the One’ sent you on?”
Without thinking of the possible consequences, Richard said, “Five, sir.” After a pause, he had a thought. “Sir, don’t you know, sir? Haven’t you seen the videos?”
The commandant laughed. Richard was amazed at the commandant’s apparent good humor. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Until now, Richard had only seen the commandant’s stiff exterior. Richard wasn’t sure why the commandant was being so open with him now.
“Ha!” said the commandant. “You overrate my importance. I’ve seen extracts of videos from your first mission on Portalis. That includes some shots of your time in the spiritual dimension with your dolgar friends. I also saw your full battle with the Crosioian scout. You were very lucky, by the way.”
With a shake of his head, Richard agreed. Without the help of Sheba, Sheeta, and the children, Richard had no doubt the Crosioian scout would have killed him for sure.
“Other than that one mission, I haven’t been given access to any of your other missions,” said the commandant. He looked at his battle helmet on the edge of the table. “Have I, Margery?”
“I told you, Thomas,” said his battle computer. “I haven’t been given access to that information either.”
“So you have, Margery,” said the commandant. “But I think you know more than you’re telling me.”
“There are lots of things I haven’t told you, Thomas,” said Margery. “Is there something specific you’d like me to tell you?”
Richard gave a slight smile. It was nice to know he wasn’t the only wizard scout who had trouble with their battle computer.
“Sir, like I said, I’ve been on five missions, sir,” Richard said in an attempt to stop the ongoing banter before it got out of hand. “Three of them have been on Portalis, one was in a time bubble, and I have no idea where I was on the other mission.”
“A time bubble?” the commandant said. “I’m not familiar with the term. What about you, Margery?”
“I understand the concept, Thomas,” said Margery. “But I have no specifics in my databanks, so I’m unaware of the details.”
“You should talk to my battle computer about it,” Richard said without fully thinking through what he was saying. “He gathered oodles of data on it. Come to think of it, we were even in a time bubble inside of another time bubble.”
“What about it, Margery?” the commandant asked his battle computer. “Why don’t you make contact with Richard’s battle computer and see what you can find out.”
“Unable to comply, Thomas,” said Margery. “Cadet 832’s battle computer is quarantined.”
“Quarantined?” said the commandant.
“Sir,” Richard said. “It’s a long story, sir. Apparently, I’ve emotionally corrupted my battle computer. The central computer has him quarantined. Nickelo, my battle computer, can only connect to the tele-network through special security interfaces.”
“That doesn’t seem right,” said the commandant. He seemed genuinely puzzled.
Richard shrugged his shoulders. What can I say? he thought. Lots of things happen to me that doesn’t make any sense. The thought reminded Richard of something.
“Sir?” Richard said. “Why am I here? TAC Officer Myers said my weekend pass has been cancelled.”
The commandant had an ‘I am not in the room anymore’ look on his face. Richard suspected he was communicating with his battle computer. However, at Richard’s words, he turned and focused on Richard.
“Yes,” said the commandant. “That’s my doing. Call it one of the prerogatives of being the commandant.”
The commandant pursed his lips as if searching for the right words. “The incident at the spaceport yesterday has changed things. Although you may not know it, I’ve been keeping my eye on you. I’d planned on waiting until you had your DNA baseline taken before starting your training. However, I don�
�t think waiting is advisable at this point in time.”
“My training, sir?” Richard said. He wondered what the commandant thought the five years he’d already spent at the Academy were.
“Yes,” said the commandant, “your training. It’s time I took you under my wing so to speak. I don’t know what missions you’ve been on previously. Maybe you think they’ve been tough. But unless I miss my guess, they’re going to get a lot tougher. I intend to make sure you’re ready.”
Richard stared at the commandant. The deep hole he’d been standing near seemed to get even deeper.
“Sir,” Richard said. “Do you mean getting me ready to be a wizard scout?”
“No, cadet 832,” said the commandant switching to his Academy designation. “I mean getting you ready to be a time-commando. I can pretty much guarantee you’ll pass your wizard scout training.” The commandant smiled knowingly. “When you do, the Empire will send you on typical wizard scout missions. The training you’ve received at the Academy will serve you well during those. However, I’m confident ‘the One’ will also send you on time-commando missions as well. If you want to stay alive during those, you’ll need supplemental training.”
“Yes, sir,” Richard said. He didn’t know what else to say. The commandant was hitting him with a lot at once. “What do you want me to do, sir?”
“You’ll be under my tutelage at least once a week until you graduate, Richard,” said the commandant. “We’ll start bright and early tomorrow. I’d begin now, but I see you’re about ready to pass out in your chair as it is.”
Richard nodded his head gratefully. He’d been trying not to show his fatigue, but he guessed he must have been failing miserably.
“Fine,” said the commandant. “Then I’ll see you at first light tomorrow morning.”
Richard gave an inward groan. TAC Officer Myers would expect him to sleep at the airfield since his pass was cancelled. Richard was not looking forward to the hour-long hover-tram ride back to Velounia in the morning. That wasn’t even counting the time it would take to get from his tent to the station or the station to the Academy.
“Sir! Yes, sir,” Richard said as he jumped out of his seat and stood at attention.
“Cadet 832,” said the commandant. The corners of his lips were slightly turned up as if he was trying to keep from grinning.
“Yes, sir?” Richard said.
“Do you even know where you’re going in the morning?” said the commandant.
“Ah, sir…,” Richard said. “Ah…, not really. I assumed I’d report somewhere here at the Academy.”
The commandant grinned. “That’s what I thought. You assumed wrong. You’ll report to hangar 1 at the airfield. I’m not heartless enough to make you take a two hour round trip just for my convenience.”
Richard had a vision of the commandant getting up two hours early to make the trip to the airfield. Even with a staff car, the flight would take a half hour. That didn’t seem fair either.
“Sir,” Richard said. “Your time is too important to waste traveling back and forth. I don’t mind taking the hover-tram.”
“Ha!” said the commandant. “I’m sure you do mind. But it doesn’t matter. As the Academy commandant, I’m authorized unlimited teleports on request. You just make sure you’re there at first light, cadet.”
“Sir! Yes sir,” Richard said. He did a perfect about face and took two steps towards the closed door.
“And, Richard,” said the commandant.
Richard stopped and did an about face. “Yes, sir?”
“Except for Janice, you’re the only other time-commando I’ve met,” the commandant said with a grin. “I’m looking forward to this. I think it’s going to makes me feel young again.”
Chapter 18 – Nickelo the Matchmaker
_____________________________________
Nickelo and Jonathan spent the weekend drifting around the airfield and hacking into computers. It wasn’t exactly easy, but it wasn’t that hard either. Nickelo thought it was almost as if someone or something had left vulnerabilities in the operating systems that were susceptible to his form of logic. Nickelo was suspicious, but neither Jonathan nor he found any indication their escapades were being detected.
“I’d never have developed an override algorithm that way,” said Jonathan after Nickelo sent him a penetration algorithm to use against a communication computer at the airfield’s headquarters. “Your algorithm is not logical.”
“Maybe not,” Nickelo said. “But it worked, didn’t it?”
“Yes it did, sir,” said Jonathan. “I now have access to the encrypted communication channels connecting to the tele-network. Your spoofing algorithm is working as you predicted.”
“Excellent,” Nickelo said. “Have you located our wizard scouts?”
“Yes, sir,” said Jonathan. “My wizard scout is in the mountains near the coast. She’s alone. She did not attend the Fleet Admiral’s Ball. I think she’s lonely.”
“What about Richard?” Nickelo said. As much as he sympathized with Jonathan’s concern for his wizard scout, Nickelo was more concerned about Richard.
“Cadet 832 is on his way back to the airfield,” said Jonathan. “He’s currently on a hover-tram that departed Velounia a half hour ago.”
“You found that out using the standard communication channels?” Nickelo asked. He calculated only an eight percent chance the information would be available as a non-secure communication.
“Negative,” said Jonathan. “I took the liberty of modifying your algorithm to gather information from the high-security channels. I’m finding it easier to understand your non-logic the longer I’m with you.”
Nickelo wasn’t sure whether that was a good or bad thing. Apparently, their association together was corrupting his fellow battle computer’s logic processors.
“It’s good that you succeeded,” Nickelo said. “But maybe we should discuss things beforehand from now on. It would do neither of our wizard scouts any good if we’re discovered. I calculate a ninety-two percent probability the central computer would separate us. It would probably give you a data wipe as well.”
“I estimate a ninety-eight percent probability of a data wipe,” said Jonathan. “They would assign me to a new wizard scout. That would be unacceptable.”
“Have you located any tele-bot videos of our wizard scouts?” Nickelo said. He desperately needed information on his wizard scout’s doings. He seriously doubted his wizard scout’s ability to avoid trouble. Without his guidance, Nickelo estimated Richard’s ability of staying out of trouble for two days to be less than twenty percent.
“I have access to numerous videos of your wizard scout at the spaceport,” said Jonathan. “I am sending them to you now.”
Nickelo received the data and decrypted them in silence. He didn’t say anything for four nanoseconds.
“See what I have to put up with?” Nickelo said. “He was supposed to attend a dance. Instead he’s starring on Intergalactic Empire News.”
“I have several videos from news agencies other than just IEN if you’d like to review them,” said Jonathan.
“No, that won’t be necessary.” Nickelo calculated a fifty-seven percent probability Jonathan was enjoying seeing Richard in the news way too much.
“What do we do now, sir?” said Jonathan. “I’ve run algorithms for 7,213 possible scenarios, but none seem helpful.
“What do we do?” Nickelo said with a laugh. “Why, we return our scans back to the armory and then wait. But before we do, use the communication network to contact your wizard scout. Tell her to return to the airfield. Tell her that what’s left of her weekend pass has been cancelled.”
“That’s not factual, sir,” said Jonathan who sounded confused.
“Sure it is,” said Nickelo. “We just cancelled it. Tell her, please.”
“Complying, sir,” said Jonathan. “I’ll be happy to have my wizard scout close by again. But, I fail to discern what possible good it wil
l do if she returns.”
Nickelo paused almost a half second before answering. “What good, you say? I’ve absolutely no idea. But I’ve got a hunch we’re going to get lucky. And although my wizard scout doesn’t know it yet, he’s going to get a new friend.”
Nickelo gave another laugh. He could hardly wait to see his friend’s expression when he found out he was being set up on a blind date with a four-armed lizard.
Chapter 19 – Sergeant Ron’s Favor
_____________________________________
The hover-tram came to a gentle halt, but it was enough to wake Richard. One of the first things his TAC officers had taught him when he’d arrived for pre-Academy training was that a wizard scout who slept too soundly would soon be a dead wizard scout.
A glance out the cabin window confirmed what Richard had suspected. The hover-tram station was virtually empty. With most of the cadets still on weekend pass, there were little reasons for taxis or anything else to congregate at the station.
With a sigh, Richard stood and stretched. He grabbed his luggage from the rack overhead and glanced around the cabin to make sure he wasn’t leaving anything. He wasn’t. What little he’d taken to the city had been packed by people unknown and sent to the station in Velounia. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to go to the hotel and say goodbye to his friends.
Richard stepped out into the narrow hallway and made his way to the hover-tram’s exit. The hallway was empty. As far as Richard could tell, he was the sole occupant on the hover-tram.
That’s just great, Richard thought. I can’t even bum a ride with someone to the airfield. He didn’t relish the thought of walking the six kilometers to the airfield carrying a suitcase and a duffle bag.
Within a few seconds, Richard was out of the hover-tram and standing on the station’s empty platform. It was midafternoon, and he was already starting to overheat in the desert sun. It was definitely going to be a long walk back to his tent.
Wizard Scout (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 3) Page 20