by Ramy Vance
The negative emotions and energy coming off Vardis vanished, and he ceased looking like a threat. Now it was hard for Alex to see him as anything other than a nuisance. “Apologies if I’ve kept you too long,” he said as he bowed slightly and disappeared into the night.
Alex stayed outside for a little longer, watching where Vardis had gone. She didn’t trust him, but she had no idea what kind of game he was playing. Even worse, it seemed like the most trustworthy person at this moment was the Dark One. “God, I hope this crap gets easier.”
Chapter Seven
The next two days were given to team Boundless to recoup from the mission. Each member of the team found that when they woke up the next day, they were hardly able to get out of bed. Jim was the first to call the medics in due to him being the first to rise.
By the time Alex woke up, medics were stationed around her bed. Apparently, no one at the base had taken into account how much wear and tear was put on the rider’s bodies by flying and fighting in space.
Myrddin showed up to speak with Alex privately after she’d been released from her medical check. He was waiting for her in her barracks, sipping a cup of tea while the medics brought her in, sitting in a wheelchair. “Glad to see you’re still walking. No pun intended.”
The medics helped Alex get into bed and propped her up. Alex couldn’t begin to express how happy she was to see Myrddin. The worries she’d had before about Myrddin holding back information or keeping her on the outside had been dispelled. “Glad you found time in your busy schedule to stop by.”
Myrddin conjured a cup of tea and offered it to Alex. “Not a problem. The dragonriders are my pet project. I believe you and the DGA are tied for the most time I spend. The Riders are far too valuable a project to allow someone else to oversee.”
“How many different groups are there?”
Myrddin scrunched his face as he counted. “Far too many to name. The DGA and the Riders are my primary human projects. The MERC program is another one close to my heart since it holds the most humans throughout any corps, but that runs predominately on its own. It’s a huge group. Has a pretty solid infrastructure. Then there are a handful throughout the nine realms that I run with different racial delegations and the like.”
“Racial delegations?”
Myrddin finished his tea and placed the cup on the table next to Alex. “It is not my place to determine how any of the realms deal with the Dark One. That has been a problem in the past. It was one of the reasons the gnomish world fell. My predecessors showed up and informed the gnomes they were going to tell them how to defeat the Dark One. In many ways, it seemed like an invasion of another kind. I’ve learned from their mistakes.”
Alex blew on her tea to cool it down. “How do you handle that now?”
“Slowly. With patience and understanding. But war politics isn’t why I’m here. I came to see how you were doing.”
“You came just to visit me?”
Myrddin was examining Alex’s wheelchair as if he were looking for things to improve. “No, not to visit only you. Although you are the leader of Boundless, I have a lot riding on all of you. Jim is the youngest human mech rider. Jollies is perhaps our most proficient rider. The drow have only allowed one of their own to participate in the joint war efforts.”
Alex leaned forward and asked, “What about Brath? What’s your interest in him?”
Myrddin’s brow furrowed and grew dark as his eyes sharpened. “Brath. Sometimes we hold our failures more closely than our successes. If you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about him. Lest you worry, he is just as exceptional as the rest of you.”
Alex thought it better to keep from probing. “You talk to anyone else yet?”
Myrddin nodded slowly. “First, the dragons. They are all recovering well. Chine will have to spend more time under observation than the rest. We thought the same would be said of you. Of the Riders, Jollies is the one having the hardest time. Her bone density wasn’t properly accounted for. She’s on bed rest in the medbay for the next two days.”
For all the irritation Myrddin had caused Alex recently, she was glad he had checked on her team. It let her know he cared. At times like this, Alex thought, that was the most important thing. “Itching to get your hands on that weapon?” Alex asked.
Myrddin looked solemn as if this was a question he’d been contemplating his entire life, and he was preparing to give the proper answer. “We’re waiting until all the riders can be present. You risked your life for this. We should wait until you’re all ready. Until then, at the request of your teammates, we’re providing a…movie day. I believe that was what Jim called it.”
If Alex could have, she would have leaped out of bed. “Are you serious?”
Myrddin jumped back a little bit, caught off-guard by Alex’s excitement. “Uh, yes. He thought you might enjoy it a lot.”
Alex didn’t want to tell Myrddin, but since she’d gotten her eyes, she had been wanting to watch a movie. She’d spent much of her childhood listening to movies her father wanted to watch with her.
Myrddin stood and got ready to leave. “Also, one of the DGA agents has leave now as well. She should be arriving within the hour. Abby. I hope you all hit it off.”
If Myrddin hadn’t been in the room, Alex would have jumped for joy. Also, she had to be able to move comfortably. But she wanted to maintain some kind of professionalism, and she couldn’t move much. “Great. Can’t wait to see everyone.”
Team Boundless was wheeled into Alex’s barracks a few hours later. Everyone was complaining, Brath more than anyone else. A couple of strings had been pulled, and Jollies was brought into the barracks as well. After Boundless got settled, Abby arrived. She stood in the corner of the barracks for a bit after the soldiers left the room, not knowing whether she was going to talk to anyone. When Alex finally noticed her, she waved for Abby to come into the room.
Abby walked slowly as if uncertain if she should be included in the events, but Alex patted her bed multiple times to let her know she should feel comfortable enough to take a seat. Within minutes, Alex, Jollies, Abby, and Gill were in a heated debate over which movie they should watch.
Despite Alex’s protests, they ended up watching a new elvish movie that Gill convinced Jim and Brath was worth viewing.
Needless to say, none of the humans were prepared for their first forays into elvish cinema. To begin with, there was hardly any dialogue. Most of the movie took place in a forest, with long shots meandering through trees. After the first hour, Abby finally convinced everyone to try another movie.
They eventually settled on an old film about a group of dwarves and halflings and elves making a journey against insurmountable odds. Alex was ecstatic about the choice. It was one of her parents’ favorite films. She wished she was watching it with them, but she was glad her first movie experience was being shared with her teammates.
From there, they watched movies far into the night. The soldiers arranged for an additional bed to be put in for Abby and for Jollies’ medbay setup to be brought into the room.
For the first time in a while, Alex forgot she was a soldier. She, Abby, and Jollies stayed up late, talking about whatever dropped into their minds. Alex would have been hard-pressed to remember the conversations, yet they felt more important than anything going on in the world at the moment.
Alex didn’t know when she fell asleep, but it was the most peaceful repose she’d had in a long time.
Chapter Eight
The briefing took place at nine in the morning after the two-day leave. Team Boundless was rested, having enjoyed the brief period of normalcy. They were allowed to be teenagers for a bit, and even Brath seemed like he had benefited from not thinking about war 24/7.
Unfortunately, things had to return to normal, and Alex could see the disappointment on her team’s face. For two days, they hadn’t talked about the Dark One, read anything about battle tactics, or been drilled on flying exercises. They’d visited their drago
ns, but the beasts were still resting as well.
The briefing was a reminder that this was just a break.
Abby accompanied Boundless to the briefing. She wanted to get information on the weapon that was being used and take it back to the DGA base. They would run tests and do research. If she skipped out on the briefing, she would have to wait for secondhand information. “Don’t make sense to wait around when I’m right here,” she had said.
There were no disagreements. Abby was part of the Middang3ard efforts, even if she was in another department. Jim mentioned that was something the military had problems with. You almost never saw government agencies working with each other. Maybe that was why Myrddin’s system worked so well.
The briefing was to take place in the quarantine area of the base, which was where the shard was being kept. Alex wondered whether that was where Vardis was being kept as well. She doubted it. Even if she had her suspicions about Vardis, it wouldn’t have sent the alien the right message.
As Boundless made their way toward the quarantine area, Jollies floated around Alex’s head, complaining. “We should have more days like this. The last time we got a day off, it was a national holiday. And then this whole thing happened. It wasn’t even a full day off.”
Alex swatted Jollies away. “That’s why we got two full days. It’s not like you can just call a timeout in a war. If we’re needed, we’re needed. When was the last time you had a day off, Abby?”
Abby wasn’t listening. She was looking down at her datapad as she was walking. “Hm… What was that? I was running diagnostics on your arm. There might be things I can upgrade so it runs a little smoother.”
Jollies giggled as she flew over to Abby. “Doesn’t look like she takes a break even on her days off. She was up all last night working.”
Abby shrugged as her nano-parts absorbed the datapad back into her body. “I don’t need as much sleep as I used to,” she explained. “Part of being a cyborg, I guess. Didn’t wanna keep everyone up by blabbing. Used to hate when my sisters did that.”
Brath, who had returned to his usual disgruntled demeanor, caught up with the girls. “Glad to hear you didn’t. Jim and Gill wouldn’t shut up last night.”
Gill and Jim exchanged glances that hinted they might be hiding something. “It was a riveting game of chess,” Gill said. “One that went on for far too long. Alex, you are lucky you made us take it outside.”
Jim clapped Gill on the back and laughed. “Yeah, it took like six hours or something. And Gill doesn’t believe in trash-talking during games of strategy. I had to teach him a lesson or two.”
“Your trash-talking didn’t help you win.”
Jim strolled away nonchalantly. “Yeah, but it did make it harder for you to win. You gotta admit that.”
“True. Perhaps that counts as a strategy. Wouldn’t say it’s a winning strategy, though.”
Abby laughed at Jim’s and Gill’s banter. “Kinda nice to be ‘round folks my age,” she said between giggles. “Everyone’s so serious at DGA. I think Anabelle’s the only one who ever laughs.”
Alex wracked her mind, trying to remember the names of everyone she had met on their mission with the DGA. “That’s the elf, right?”
“Yeah. She’s cool. Really cool. I like her a lot. I mean, as a teacher or whatever. But, yeah. It’s a pretty serious place.”
The kids arrived at the quarantine area, and the soldiers guarding the office let them in. Myrddin was already in the room, as were Vardis and Roy, the latter doing a double-take when he saw Abby. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the DGA? Don’t tell me you can teleport now with those nano-bots.”
Abby shook her head as she walked farther into the room, which was separated from the shard by a thick sheet of glass. “Got a couple of days off. You might want to try it sometime. My pa used to say you can work a horse to death but then all ya got is a dead horse.”
“Your country wisdom gets more morbid each week, you know?”
Abby peered through the glass to get a better look at the shard. “Just savin’ the best ones for last.”
Alex went up to the glass to look at the shard as well. “So, you said you wanted to wait until we were all here to talk about the shard, right?” she asked.
As Myrddin prepared to speak, Alex looked inward and found her voice, turning it outward and projecting it at Abby. Hey, don’t react. At all. Otherwise they’ll know what I’m doing. But can you hear me? Answer or rest your right pinky on the glass.
Alex didn’t hear a response, but Abby did place her right pinky on the glass. She kept her eyes trained on the shard.
Alex nearly jumped out of her skin with excitement. Perfect! Okay, it might be weird to talk back while trying to listen, but that shard looks just like the last one, doesn’t it? Like it’s made out of the same stuff the Dark One was using to separate us from our dragons.
Abby’s voice came through, small and squeaky as if it were uncertain of itself. Yeah. I’m running a diagnostic. They look to have the same basic mineral structure, but I’ll have to get my hands on it to pull a sample.
Can you do that?
Abby tapped her pinky on the glass. No one could have seen it but Alex, whose dragon eyes magnified everything. A single nano-bot crept out from under Abby’s nail and jumped onto the glass, cut a nano-bot sized hole, and went for the shard. Don’t worry, it’ll seal everything up when it’s done, Abby assured Alex.
Alex and Abby turned around to face Myrddin, who was waiting for everyone’s full attention. “This is less a briefing and more a meeting,” Myrddin explained. “I’m glad Abby-Lynn could join us as well. Her knowledge always proves to be invaluable.”
Abby modestly waved away Myrddin’s compliment, conjuring old Southern manners into Alex’s mind from books she’d read in braille. “Hardly. Don’t know much about alien tech yet.”
“I believe you said the same thing about gnomish aqueduct restoration last week, as well, a topic Brath would no doubt want to hear about at some point. But on to business. The shard, a weapon Vardis proposes we use to destroy the Dark One once and for all, has been retrieved. Vardis, would you care to explain how this weapon would do that?”
Vardis stood and walked toward the shard. He rested his hand on the glass, and Alex hoped that Abby’s nano-bot had returned. She also made sure she was guarding her thoughts. “The dragonriders witnessed a fraction of what the shard was capable of on the moon. The defense matrix used—”
Brath cleared his throat loudly. “Oh, yeah, the matrix that malfunctioned and almost killed all of us. How did that happen again?”
Vardis slowly turned, his eyes neutral, and an apologetic smile crept across his face. “The system was hacked from off-site. If anyone had managed to get as close as we did, they would have been killed. I’m surprised we survived. But you can at least attest to the power of the weapon.”
Gill raised his hand as if he were in a classroom. “This is a meeting, correct? We are all welcome to share our opinion?”
Roy good-naturedly nodded. “If you have something to say, get it out. This ain’t that rank B.S. You guys were on the ground floor. We need to hear what you have to say.”
Gill stood, his calmness wielded like a weapon. “We saw an attack by the Dark One’s ship that looked capable of taking us out in one blow. The shard weapon defense wasn’t able to stop five riders, and we were operating in a very limited manner. How would this weapon be able to destroy the Dark One if it could hardly handle us?”
Alex could have kissed Gill. She wouldn’t have, but she could have. With everything that had been going on, Alex hadn’t had a chance to stop and ask herself how a weapon that couldn’t handle the dragonriders could handle the Dark One.
Vardis didn’t seem perturbed by the question. “Ah, a good observation. Simply put, the weapon was also under a handicap. It was only using 0.05% of its energy. The defense that was summoned would be akin to your dragon batting its eyelash to shoo a fly. Outside the defense matrix, t
he weapon will operate at 100%.”
Gill glanced at Myrddin, looking somewhat disappointed by the answer. “Will you explain to us exactly how this weapon works?” the wizard asked.
Vardis pressed his hand to the glass, and the shard began to glow. “Your team witnessed it firsthand. The shard is capable of summoning constructs from my dimension. The constructs take on the physical properties of whatever is used to summon them. They are nearly impossible to destroy at full power, but their true potential is in their volume. Millions of kin can be summoned at a time—a force to easily overrun the Dark One’s.”
Myrddin ran his long fingers through his silver beard. “What are these kin?”
Vardis turned away from the glass, and the shard ceased glowing. “They are biological constructs engineered in my dimension for the sole purpose of war. Elementals. One of the reasons they could be defeated was due to them being forged of rock, the weakest of elements. But if we were to use fire—a volcano on Middang3ard, for instance—they’d be unstoppable.”
Roy scoffed as he folded his arms. “You’re saying your weapon is an army. You think we should give you the resources to build an unstoppable army? For all we know, you could be just as bad as the Dark One. The only difference is his army isn’t made up of hyperdimensional elementals, just flesh and blood like the rest of us.”
Vardis’ eyes darkened in that way only Alex seemed to notice. Even if she hadn’t, she could feel the hatred coming off of Vardis. It hit her hard. This time he wasn’t trying to hide it. Even if anyone else in the room didn’t have telepathy, there was no way they couldn’t sense this.
When Vardis spoke, you could hear the rage in his voice. “The Dark One took everything from me. I am nothing like him. Once he is destroyed, I want nothing else. You can keep the damn shard.”
