by Dan Oakley
“You did it yourself. You sent an energy bolt into the lizard.” She rubbed her solar plexus.
“It was me? I did that?” I blinked at her and then the animal in disbelief. “But I don’t know how I did it.”
“We’ll get to that. That’s what the training is for.”
“What’s the other thing?” I asked, puzzled.
“Sorry?”
“Well, you said for one thing, so what was the other thing?”
She smiled broadly. “Oh, yes.” She chuckled. “The second point is that he wouldn’t have eaten you for lunch. He isn’t real.” Her green eyes sparkled as though she’d just told me the funniest joke in the world.
I was stunned. I stared at her, speechless and then my temper flared. I’d been battling this creature, believing I was about to die, and she thought it was all one big joke.
I stomped over until I was close enough to touch the animal. It looked real. Its scales were multifaceted and glistened. A thin thread of saliva dripped from its mouth. I reached out to nudge it with the tip of my boot and then stepped back quickly.
It felt as solid and real as anything I’d ever encountered.
“It is real,” I said firmly.
She shook her head, causing the red strands of her hair to bounce. “No, you were fighting me. The lizard followed my movements.”
She held up her arms, which were encased in the same material as my uniform, but her jumpsuit was purple. She also had small silver patches on each of her wrists and elbows. She pointed to similar patches on her legs. “Virtual realism models. I admit they’re pretty convincing if you haven’t experienced them before.” She gave me an apologetic smile. “I didn’t think you’d actually believe it was real. I mean, why would we have a lizard aboard the ship?”
She frowned as though she couldn’t believe I was so stupid.
My cheeks flushed with heat. How on earth was I supposed to know the lizard wasn’t real? I’d never seen anything modeled with virtual realism before. I crossed my arms and glared stubbornly at her. Somehow she’d turned this around to make it my fault for believing the animal was real.
“It was unnecessary and cruel.”
She sighed. “I suppose it was a little cruel, but it wasn’t unnecessary. Come with me.”
I felt like running away and throwing a childish tantrum, but curiosity got the better of me, and I followed her out of the cavernous hall. She appeared to be walking straight at the wall. I flinched when she didn’t stop, but she just walked straight through.
It flickered and then returned to its solid-state.
She’d disappeared, and I was left staring at the smooth surface of the blue wall.
“What are you waiting for?” I heard her say as clearly as if she were standing next to me.
“There’s no door,” I said, feeling sure I was missing a trick.
“Again, virtual reality, Tomas. There’s nothing in your way. Walk through it.”
My forehead puckered in a frown. What was she talking about? There was a wall in front of me! I reached out, wondering if my fingers would pass through it. Was the wall an optical illusion?
But my fingers met with resistance. It didn’t feel as hard and unyielding as I’d expected, but there was definitely something there.
“I’m not going to wait all day,” she snapped. “Just walk through it.”
I raked my hand through my hair, which was still damp with sweat. I didn’t have much choice. I couldn’t stand there all day, but if I walked into a wall, I’d get a bloody nose. The mage was probably trying to trick me again.
I took a deep breath and went for it, tensing my muscles as I expected my body to slam into the wall, but she’d been right. I passed right through it.
I looked around in surprise. She was standing just a few feet ahead of me, and we were in a chamber. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I realized it was a cave. The walls were carved from rock…or at least, they looked like they had been.
There was a platform in the middle of the cave, which supported a touchscreen display. It was odd to see such advanced technology in an ancient dwelling.
The walls of the cave were marked with symbols.
“What is this place?” I asked in awe.
She smiled, looking pleased with herself. “It’s a model of one of the caves on Tor. The caves were discovered on a science expedition a decade ago. It’s evidence that humans lived there many generations ago. I made the model.” She beamed with pleasure and pride as she looked around the cave. “It’s a pretty good likeness, even if I do say so myself.”
I was starting to feel dizzy. This was a model, yet it looked real enough to me. How could I tell the difference between a model and reality?
My mind was struggling to process the virtual realism models, so I decided to ask something basic. “What’s your name?”
“Trella Najailer.” She said her last name with a flourish and tucked her red hair behind her ears.
“When did you realize you were a mage?”
“I’ve always known. I grew up in a family who were blessed with magic, so I was expected to become a spacemage and serve the Kingdoms.”
“How long do you think it will take me to learn to be as good as you?”
She raised an eyebrow. “We don’t have enough time in the world to teach you how to be as good as me. However, in a few weeks, you should be able to function as a satisfactory mage.”
I smiled at her cockiness and realized she saw me as competition.
“And once I’m trained, what will I have to do for the kingdoms? Will I train as a jumpmage? That’s what you do, isn’t it?”
Her eyes grew guarded, and she looked away. “I help with the starship jumps. I’m not sure what you’ll be doing.”
She turned away and began to tap on the touchscreen. She obviously knew more than she was letting on. What did they have planned for me? I had a feeling I wouldn’t like it much.
Still, Trella was the best person to teach me about the ship and its missions. So far, despite the setback with the virtual realism giant lizard, she’d been the friendliest person I’d met on board so far… if I didn’t count the android in the mess hall.
“So,” Trella said, turning to me as she continued to swipe and tap on the screen. “We’re going to start off with the basic stuff. Academic rather than action. You might think that’s boring, but it’s important to get the basics down first.”
She had no argument from me. I just wanted to learn as much as I could as fast as possible.
We spent the rest of the day with Trella going over some junior level physics on the touchscreen, and me failing miserably to grasp the most basic concepts. I couldn’t lie. It was excruciating. For someone who’d stopped formal education at eleven, I struggled. I was never going to get the hang of equations. Trella was rapidly losing patience. She wasn’t a natural-born teacher.
“Seriously, you don’t even understand quadratic equations?” She shook her head. “This is far worse than I expected.”
I felt like an idiot, but I wasn’t stupid. I just needed someone to take the time to explain things to me. She expected me to pick up things in half a day when she’d spent five years learning them at school.
She must have picked up on my despondent expression and sighed. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll get there. It just might take a little longer than I expected. Why don’t I just try to explain things in simple terms, and we’ll return to the equations later?”
“Sounds good.”
“Okay. So, magic is a form of energy, and as such, it does follow the regular laws of physics. There is a higher plane of energy that most people can’t access, known as the votoom zone. Once you figure out how to access that, you’re home and dry. Everything else is just learning by rote.”
“And how do I find this zone?”
“It’s difficult to explain. It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever have to learn so don’t get mad if you can’t do it as quickly as you’d like. It�
��s different for everyone. For me, it’s a kind of vibrational plane. I can sense a slight difference in the vibrations around me when I access it.”
She looked at me expectantly, so I nodded, even though I had no idea what she was talking about and didn’t have the first clue about how to access this funny zone thing.
“So, for example,” Trella continued, “you accessed the zone earlier when you sent that energy bolt at the lizard. What did that feel like?”
I thought back, shaking my head. So much had been going through my mind at the time that it was hard to remember. “I felt angry, frustrated…”
“Yes, and?”
I shook my head and shrugged. “I can’t remember feeling anything else.”
She frowned. “Not to worry, we’ll try to access the zone later. Now, do you know about Mage biology?”
I shook my head, realizing there was a lot I didn’t know.
“Well, magic is usually genetically inherited, which is one of the reasons why it’s extraordinary for someone from Terrano to have inherited magical abilities. Mages are rare. We have a mutation associated with our mitochondrial DNA, inherited from our mothers. Of course, there is always the chance of a spontaneous mutation occurring, which is a possibility we can’t discount. But it’s far more likely you inherited the magic from your mother.”
“I never knew my mother.”
“No, I’m sorry. That must have been hard.” Her green eyes softened as she looked at me, and I was taken aback. I wasn’t used to sympathy.
I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. No one had ever shown me kindness and sympathy apart from Maureena.
Then Trella clapped her hands together, breaking the spell, and grinned. “Now for the hard part. Training. Are you ready?”
Chapter 11
After my first introduction to Trella’s training methods, I was afraid we were going to launch headfirst into some hand-to-hand combat involving magic or something equally dangerous. So I was surprised when she held up the device strapped to her wrist to scan my eyes.
“Keep still, and don’t blink.” She held the device parallel to my eyes. There was a single beep. Satisfied, Trella lowered her arm.
She tapped on the touchscreen a few times and then nodded, satisfied.
“That’s one job out of the way. Now your retina scan is on the system, and you should be able to access most areas on the ship. Some places, such as the officer’s quarters are out of bounds unless there’s a ship-wide emergency in which case you can access pretty much any area of the ship.”
I nodded trying to take it all in. “What’s next?”
Trella grinned impishly at me. “Now I take a little sample.”
She moved so fast I didn’t see it coming. At first, I thought she’d just slapped me on the shoulder, but then I felt the stinging pinch and realized she’d stabbed me with a needle.
Instinctively, I pulled away and pressed a hand against my injured shoulder. “Ouch! What was that?”
“I need a sample of your blood,” she said.
“What for?”
“Well, we need to make sure you’re healthy and not suffering from one of the viruses found on Terrano and some of the other lower planets. Most viruses have been wiped out in the Kingdoms’ advanced planets, but there are a few stubborn pockets where they hide out in places like Terrano. Also, we need to check your DNA to find out what mage mutation you have.”
Intrigued, I looked at the device Trella had used to stab me. It was a small, chrome cylinder, no larger than a pencil. It had a bright, shiny needle attached. When Trella tapped the button on the side of the cylinder, the needle retracted.
She moved towards the platform again and stepped up to the large touchscreen. She pressed a few buttons. Another section of the floor lifted, and a cupboard appeared out of nowhere. It contained various scientific instruments, and she placed them on top of the cabinet.
She slipped the chrome cylinder into a slim cassette and clicked it into place.
“We can do the viral screen and the DNA test using the same sample. The machine is now spinning your blood into separate sections. We’ll use the plasma section to test your blood for antibodies to see if you’ve been infected with any viruses. Then the cells will be used for the polymerase chain reaction. It’s an old-fashioned technique, but it still works well. The machine will separate the cell layers and extract the white blood cells. They’re the cells that contain the DNA.” Within seconds the machine was beeping, and Trella leaned over it and set the program for the next step.
“PCR is much faster these days. We used to rely on biological enzymes. Now, of course, we have manufactured enzymes that can do the job much faster.”
I wasn’t sure what to say in reply to that, so I just nodded and waited for the results to come in.
It didn’t take long.
The machine beeped, and Trella frowned. “You’ve tested positive for antibodies to the Human Leopold Virus.” She looked me up and down. “ You’ve got antibodies in your blood, which means you have some immunity and have been exposed to the virus in the past, but the PCR hasn’t amplified any strands of the DNA from the virus, which means you don’t have a current infection. Still, better safe than sorry.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant and peered over to see what she was trying to take out of the cupboard. She held up an even bigger cylinder this time and clicked a vial of amber liquid onto the end. This needle was much larger than the last one she’d used.
“You’re not sticking that in my arm,” I said, looking in horror at the huge needle.
“Don’t be such a baby,” Trella said, advancing on me.
I knew I was behaving like a child, but I couldn’t help taking a step back. “Can’t you just cure me with magic?”
Trella shook her head and laughed. “Of course, I could do that. But magic isn’t the approved treatment for the Human Leopold Virus.” She tapped the vial on the end of the massive needle. “This is the approved method, so grit your teeth and count to three.”
When I got to two, she plunged the needle in my shoulder. I only felt a slight sting, followed by a cool, tingling sensation as the contents of the vial made their way into my system.
She removed the needle and patted my arm. “There now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly pleasant. Then again, I’ve been on the receiving end of your magic when you transported us to the ship, and I think that might have made me feel worse, so I’m glad we stuck with the injection.”
Trella’s jaw dropped open, and she stared at me as though she couldn’t believe my cheek. “Remember who’s in charge here, Tomas,” she said firmly, but I saw her mouth twitch with a smile. “Now, I’ll just send the DNA results to the main screen.” She pressed the green button on the analyzer, and a huge array of data began to stream on the transparent touchscreen.
We both walked over to stare at it. I guessed Trella knew what it meant. I didn’t have a clue. It just looked like a string of letters to me.
“It’s a bit quicker because obviously we are isolating mitochondrial DNA rather than the whole genome,” Trella said, opening a box on the touchscreen to perform a search.
She tapped away, and it seemed to be taking a lot longer than expected. When I looked away from the screen and focused on Trella, I saw she was frowning.
“Is there something wrong? Don’t I have the right mutation?” Suddenly, I felt anxious. Had this all been a mistake? Perhaps I didn’t belong here after all.
She shot a quick sideways glance at me and then turned back to the screen. “It’s not that. It’s there’s something a bit odd about these results.”
She ran a hand through her red hair and then tapped the screen again to bring up the letters and numbers as though they would make more sense when she looked at them for a second time.
She didn’t talk to me for a long time, and I was starting to get nervous. “What is it?”
Trella chewed on a thumbnail, and then fin
ally, she turned to me. “Tomas, there are a number of known mutations in the mage world. Seven, in fact. You and I share one here.” She highlighted a region on the screen. “It’s what’s known as a polymorphism — just a single A to T as you can see here.”
She pointed to the touchscreen then I shrugged.
“What’s wrong with that?” I asked.
Trella shook her head. “Nothing. In fact, that’s the result I expected. This mutation is associated with a strong form of magic. One of the strongest. It’s possible for mages to have mutations in more than one region. So for example, I have two out of the seven known mutations. Having more than one mutation gives an unusual strength to a mage. History has recorded powerful mages having three or four of the mutations, but no one has been known to have more than four.”
I swallowed hard. “So I have more than one mutation, too?”
Trella looked at the machine and then glanced back at me. “Tomas,” she said in a low whisper. “You have all seven.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Seven mutations?”
She pressed a finger to my lips to hush me. “Don’t.”
I shook my head. I didn’t understand why she was reacting like this. There was no one else around apart from the two of us. Unless we were being watched?
“Is someone listening in?” I asked.
Trella shook her head. “Not to my knowledge, but you don’t understand. This is a big deal. Mages who are found to have three or four mutations don’t live normal lives. If news gets out about this Tomas, you will be a specimen. They will want to do studies on you.”
“But you just put the test results into the system, so how can I keep this quiet?”
“They’re not in the main system yet. I could…alter the results file.” She bit down on her lower lip, her intense green eyes meeting mine. “I can hack into the system. I never told anyone this before.” Her face paled as she confided in me. “The thing is, it’s all about vibrations and machines if you are on the same vibrational level, you can tap into that energy.”
“You’re a hacker?” I couldn’t keep the shock out of my voice.
She shrugged. “I went off the rails a bit as a teenager, but I’ve never done anything bad with hacking.”