The commandant perked up. Over the last few weeks, Richard had grown to trust the commandant. It was a relief to be able to talk to someone who could actually understand what he was going through. The commandant seemed to enjoy having someone he could talk to about his missions for ‘the One’ as well. During their training sessions, Richard had confided almost all of his secrets to the commandant. The only exceptions were Nickelo’s relationship to the battle computer Jonathan, and their ability to hack their way out of the armory. He also hadn’t mentioned their ability to bypass the tele-network’s security systems. Richard didn’t think the commandant would be very thrilled knowing Nickelo could spy on him using the central computer’s tele-bots.
“About spirit-horses,” the commandant said. “I don’t think you realize what a powerful asset he, she, or it is. The ability to travel between dimensions and other planets at a whim may be even more useful than teleports.”
“Maybe,” Richard said unconvinced.
“Maybe?” the commandant said. “How can you say that?”
“Well, sir,” Richard said. “Take this last mission. I couldn’t summon a spirit-horse myself. I think he only comes when Sheeta forces him to come. And, I have no control over any of the dolgars. They come when they want, do what they want, and leave when they want.”
“Fortunately,” said Nickelo out loud, “the dolgars seem to appear when you need them the most. And, you did use the spirit-horse to travel from that ice planet in the spiritual dimension to a more civilized place in the magical dimensional.”
Although they were not in their battle suits, both Richard and the commandant were wearing their battle helmets. Nickelo’s voice coming out of the battle helmet’s speaker seemed very loud to Richard in the crisp, night air.
“Nick,” said the commandant with a smile, “I wondered when you were going to put in your two credits’ worth.”
“Oh, he has been sir,” Richard said. “He’s been jabbering away in my head for the last hour.”
“I don’t jabber,” said Nickelo who sounded offended. “I merely advise and occasionally make pertinent observations.”
The commandant laughed. “I think the two of you argue almost as much as Margery and I.”
The commandant increased his pace to an easy trot. “I think you’ve caught your breath enough, Rick. Our time is almost up, and I want to finish this last lap around the airfield.”
“I’m fine now, sir,” Richard said as he picked up his pace to match the commandant’s. His legs hurt, but at least his lungs no longer burned.
“Yep,” the commandant said, “you cadets nowadays are soft. Look at me. I’m in my nineties, and I can still run you into the ground.”
Richard didn’t bother pointing out the commandant’s ability to selfheal meant his body never ran out of breath. Additionally, his body treated aching muscles as an injury and automatically used the commandant’s selfheal ability to return them to baseline.
“Tell me more about your spirit-horse,” the commandant said.
Nickelo didn’t wait for Richard to answer. “Oh, Rick used his spirit-horse several times on our last mission. In fact,” Nickelo gleefully pointed out, “that’s why he gained weight.”
“Oh, do tell,” said the commandant as if he was hot on the trail of a burning mystery. “I’m all ears, Nick.”
“Richard’s mission was to find power crystals,” said Nickelo.
“Power crystals?” said the commandant. “I’m not familiar with them.”
“Yes, sir,” Richard cut in. “They were blue gems about the size of my little fingernail. I found them mostly embedded deep within some glaciers. I think they’re smaller versions of the gems a golem I once fought used for eyes. I think I told you about that fight, sir.”
The commandant nodded his head, but he didn’t say anything. He seemed content to wait for either Richard or his battle computer to expound further.
Nickelo took up the story. “Richard’s mission was to find twenty-five hundred of the power crystals. He was being stubborn as usual.”
The commandant laughed. “That’s our cadet 832, isn’t it?”
Richard blushed. He was glad he was wearing his battle helmet. He didn’t like being embarrassed in front of the commandant.
“Yes, it is,” agreed Nickelo. “Rick refused to seriously look for crystals until Sheeta promised to bring a spirit-horse each time Rick found five hundred crystals.” Nickelo gave a laugh. “Once Rick figured out he could get food and a warm bed by finding crystals, he started getting serious about searching.”
“Is that the way it went, Rick?” asked the commandant.
The commandant was frowning, but Richard thought he could see the corners of the commandant’s lips twitching as if he was trying his best to suppress a smile.
“I wouldn’t put it exactly that way, sir,” Richard said. “But, yes, each time Sheeta brought a spirit-horse, I used it to travel to a town on Portalis where I stayed at a nice inn for a few days.”
Nickelo laughed again, “He’d have stayed there a lot longer, but ‘the One’ kept teleporting him back to look for more crystals once Rick recuperated a little.”
“Hmm,” said the commandant. “Maybe those spirit-horses aren’t as useful as I thought. I mean, if you can’t summon them yourself, what good are they?”
“That seems to be the story of my life, sir,” Richard said. “At first glance, something seems good, but then I find out it has a bunch of rules and limitations.”
“I see,” said the commandant. “Well, let’s start fixing one of your limitations now.”
“Which limitation is that?” Richard asked. He’d learned so much from the commandant in three short weeks, he was anxious to see what else the old wizard scout had up his sleeve.
“As I’m sure you’re aware, your Power reserve is too small,” said the commandant. “So, you have to be more efficient with what you have. Let me see you do a dimensional shift.”
“Here, sir?” Richard said. The airfield wasn’t crawling with people this late in the evening, but it wasn’t exactly deserted either.”
“Yes, here, Rick,” the commandant said in a tone that brooked no nonsense.
Richard shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t going to argue with the commandant. Richard wrapped his body with Power from his reserve and shifted into the void. He immediately felt his Power reserve begin to empty rapidly. Richard used telekinesis to lower himself through the asphalt and into the ground below. Using levitation, Richard kept pace with the commandant above.
Nick, Richard thought. Help me be as efficient as I can be with my Power. I want to impress the commandant if I can.
Ha, Nickelo said. Don’t hold your breath.
Perplexed, Richard said, I don’t breathe while I’m in the void. Why would I want to hold my breath?
It’s just a saying, Rick, said Nickelo. Never mind. And, you’re the one that has to learn to be efficient. Not me.
Thanks for nothing, buddy, Richard said.
When his Power reserve approached fifty percent, Richard levitated back to the surface and shifted back into the physical dimension.
“Good,” said the commandant. “You used about half the Power in your reserve to stay in the void for a minute and twenty-two seconds.”
“Yes, sir,” Richard said proud of his accomplishment and enjoying the commandant’s rare praise. “I’ve been practicing.”
“But…,” said the commandant, “when I say good, I mean good for an amateur.”
Richard’s swollen ego shrank back to normal. “Oh. What did I do wrong, sir?”
“You went too deep into the void, son,” said the commandant. “The deeper you go, the more Power you use.”
Although it was undoubtedly a meaningless slip of the tongue, Richard enjoyed being referred to as son by the commandant. As an orphan, he had no idea who his parents were. It was not a good feeling. Richard pushed the feeling aside. The commandant was trying to teach him something importa
nt. Richard didn’t want to disappoint him by not paying full attention.
“I don’t understand, sir,” Richard reluctantly confessed. “I thought it’s a case of either I’m in the void or I’m not. What do you mean, sir?”
“I wish I could demonstrate,” said the commandant, “but I’m not a shifter, so I can’t. All I can say is using Power efficiently is subtle. Whether you’re scanning, levitating, shifting, healing, or throwing up a shield, you need to use the minimum Power necessary to get the job done. That takes control, and control takes practice.”
“I understand,” Richard lied. He didn’t want to let the commandant see the extent of his confusion. Richard thought a little white lie was the best approach to protect his self-esteem.
The commandant smiled. “Hmm… now why don’t I believe you?”
Richard started to protest, but the commandant cut him off.
“Save it, cadet,” said the commandant still smiling. “I’ve heard any excuse you can come up with from a thousand cadets ahead of you. If you ever get assigned to the Academy for forty years like I have, believe me, you’ll have heard it all.”
The commandant stopped running. Richard stopped as well.
“I want you to practice, Rick,” said the commandant. “And I mean put your all into it. Whenever you get a free moment, I want you to practice using minimum Power.”
“You want me to practice dimensional shifting, sir?” Richard said.
“I want you to practice everything,” said the commandant. “Using Power efficiently is the same regardless of how you’re using it. If you can double the efficiency of your Power, you will have effectively doubled the size of your Power reserve.”
“Yes, sir,” Richard said. While he already spent a lot of his spare hours practicing, Richard would be the first to admit he sometimes just went through the motions. It was one of his battle computer’s biggest gripes.
“I’m going to give you the best advice I can ever give you, Rick,” said the commandant.
Richard was all ears. “Sir?”
“Always have a backup plan,” said the commandant.
Disappointment filled Richard. He’d thought the commandant was going to give him some grand wizard scout secret.
“I do make backup plans, sir,” Richard said defensively.
The commandant just looked at him without saying a word.
Richard endured a few seconds of the commandant’s stare before admitting, “Well, sometimes I guess I do go in halfcocked.”
“Sometimes?” Nickelo said with a chuckle. “How about most of the time? I keep telling you a direct-frontal assault is not always the best way.”
The commandant laughed. “Don’t overthink it, Rick. Just make sure you make backup plans when you have a chance.”
The commandant pointed to a building whose top peeked over the top of hangar 3. Although it was night, Richard could see perfectly through the red tint of his battle helmet’s night vision filter.
“What building is that?” the commandant asked.
“It’s power plant three,” Richard said.
“Yes, power plant three,” said the commandant. “One power plant could easily service all the needs of the airfield, but we have three. Do you know why?”
“Uh…, backups? Richard said.
“Exactly,” said the commandant. “The power plants run the airfield’s defensive shield and the Empire’s secondary teleporter. It also supplies all the other power needs of the base. If one power plant is destroyed, there are two more to take up the slack.”
“I understand, sir,” Richard said. This time, he actually did understand. Having two backups for high-priority equipment was standard operating procedures for marines.
“I’m sure you do, Rick,” said the commandant. “I was a marine as well before I became a wizard scout.”
The commandant gave Richard a friendly pat on the shoulder. “What say we finish our run now? I don’t know about you, but I’ve got other things to do before I can call it a day.”
“Sir! Yes, sir,” Richard said. He’d done enough brainwork for one evening. Running sounded like a much better option.
Chapter 27 – Flight of Hovercraft
_____________________________________
First call the next morning came way too early for Richard’s liking. Jerad beat him to the punch by turning the light on. The bright light illuminated the inside of the tent.
“Let’s go, cadet,” said Jerad.
“You’re way too cheerful for my liking this early in the morning, Jerad,” Richard said.
Easing himself out of the blanket, Richard swung his legs off the side of the cot. He picked up his boots. Even though his passive scan indicated no lifeforms were inside his boots, Richard had been a frontline marine too long to take it for granted. Turning his boots upside down, Richard pounded them against the edge of the cot. No snakes or spiders fell out. Satisfied, Richard pulled his boots on and spent a minute straightening up his side of the tent.
“Two minutes,” yelled their acting squad leader from outside.
“Time to go, Rick,” said Jerad.
Richard followed his friend outside. They double-timed to their cohort’s formation area. Richard stepped into his position with time to spare. One of the TAC officers gave him a once over as he walked past, but he walked on without saying anything. Another cadet two positions down the line from Richard didn’t fare as well. As the cadet dropped to the ground and began doing pushups, the TAC officer explained in minute detail how the cadet’s shave didn’t meet Academy expectations.
“Commandant on deck,” shouted one of the TAC officers.
“Company, attention,” said TAC Officer Myers from the front of the formation.
Richard snapped to attention along with the other 123 cadets.
“At ease,” said the commandant.
Richard went to parade rest. When you’re an Academy cadet, there’s no such thing as ‘at ease’.
“Today, we’re going to do something a little different,” said the commandant. “We’re going to throw the published training schedule out the window.”
There was no murmuring in the formation, but Richard could feel an increase in tension. Changes to the published schedule usually consisted of an extra road march or some such thing.
Richard was as much at a loss as the other cadets. The commandant hadn’t mentioned anything the previous night.
“Although it’s supposed to be a secret,” said the commandant, “being a cadet once myself, I’m sure all of you’ve heard DNA baselines are scheduled for three weeks from today.”
The commandant scanned the formation. “Ah, I see no signs of surprise, so I’ll assume you already knew.”
The commandant continued scanning the formation from one end to the other as if glancing at every cadet individually. Richard knew that wasn’t possible, but when the commandant looked his way, it felt like their eyes locked for the fleetest of moments. It was very disconcerting.
“Well, let me tell you something that may surprise you,” said the commandant. “Your DNA baselines are now scheduled for the end of this week.”
This time Richard caught the merest of murmurs from the formation. Richard’s mind started roving over the possibilities. He’d be able to selfheal. And, he’d finally have a shared space with his battle computer. That would mean he’d also have an area of his mind in which to keep his thoughts private. Richard could hardly wait.
“At ease,” said one of the TAC officers. At the command, even the hint of murmuring stopped. Richard caught a look at TAC Officer Myers’ face. For a moment, Richard thought he’d seen a strange expression on Myers’ face.
I think he’s as surprised as we are, Richard thought. He embraced the idea. It meant the commandant didn’t confide in Myers with everything. It made Richard feel better. Myers wasn’t a time-commando.
“As a result of this scheduling change,” said the commandant, “you’ll begin your preparation training at th
e DNA Center today. Once you’re released from here, your TAC officers will form you into chalks. A flight of hovercraft will be landing in exactly twenty-two minutes to take you to the spaceport. You’ll return this evening via hover-tram. The process will be repeated for the remainder of the week.” The commandant paused. “Any questions?”
Naturally, there were none. Mere cadets didn’t question the commandant during a unit formation.
“Fine,” said the commandant. “Then I have one more bit of news that may interest you.”
The commandant remained silent for several seconds as if waiting for the suspense to build. Richard felt the tension around him. Even the TAC officers seemed to be hanging onto the commandant’s every word.
“You’ll soon hear about this in the news,” said the commandant, “so I think its best you’re told now. The Imperial High Council in its infinite wisdom has voted to modify the training program here at the Academy. As you know, the senior cohort graduated shortly after beginning their senior year. I suspect most of you assumed you’d have the same fate.”
Again the commandant paused for several seconds before continuing. “I’m sorry to say, that will not be the case. After your cohort receives your DNA baselines, you’ll have another two weeks of orientation. Your cohort will then graduate early, and you’ll receive your golden dragon pins. You’ll then be divvied up and shipped out to your new units.”
This time Richard heard whispering all around him. Richard wanted to say something to Jerad who was next to him. Before Richard could speak, TAC Officer Myers turned around. Even in the predawn light, Richard could tell his face was beet-red.
“Attention!” TAC Officer Myers said.
The cohort snapped to attention. Silence reigned. TAC Officer Myers glared threats in the cohort’s direction. Richard no longer had any desire to speak to Jerad. He knew his TAC officer had been pushed to the limit. Myers was undoubtedly taking it as a personal insult his cohort had the audacity to whisper when the commandant was speaking.
TAC Officer Myers did an about face and stood at attention facing the commandant. The cohort remained at attention as well. Richard noticed the other TAC officers were also standing at a board-stiff attention.
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