A blue dot appeared on the heads-up display. It looked a long ways off.
“That’s our rendezvous point,” said Jennifer. “Any closer and the spaceport’s anti-aircraft missiles will make short work of our rescuers.”
Telsa glanced over her shoulder. “Where to now?”
Speaking out loud for her companion’s benefit, Trinity said, “Jennifer, plot the extraction site on the driver’s console. Then get your sensors working and make sure we’re not being followed.”
“Compliance,” replied Jennifer speaking over the battle helmet’s external speakers.
Trinity noticed the hover-tank shift direction to the right as Telsa headed cross country in the direction of the extraction point.
“Uh, we’ve got company,” said Jennifer continuing to speak over the battle helmet’s external speakers. “Some cats from an inbound convoy are peeling off and heading in our direction. I calculate they’ll be within weapon’s range in two minutes and twenty-three seconds.”
Trinity reached out with her mind and located eight cats heading in their direction. The energy sources on two of them were very large; obviously heavy cats. She made a quick calculation. They’d never make it to the extraction site before the cats caught them. She also had no doubt the light tank they were in would be destroyed in the first salvo from the heavier cats.
“Jennifer, you’ve already hacked into the hover-tank’s computer. What’s your range?”
“I can control the tank from approximately four thousand meters away depending on terrain, wizard scout.”
“Good,” Trinity said. “Everybody out. Now!”
Considering the circumstances, Trinity was surprised when both the professor and Telsa complied with her orders without argument or discussion. Once all three of them were out the hatch and standing on top of the turret, Trinity waited until the hover-tank moved into a depression. Once it was semi-concealed, she wrapped all three of them in Power and levitated off the hover-tank and onto the ground. After they were down, she converted the Power into her best stealth shield and hoped for the best.
The hover-tank didn’t slow down. It was out of the depression within seconds as it began blazing across the desert with its anti-gravity fans throwing a trail of sand into the air behind it.
Still using the battle helmet’s external speakers for the benefit of their two guests, Jennifer said, “I calculate a sixty-nine percent probability our pursuers will continue to follow the hover-tank. Your best stealth shield is a little weaker than normal since you’re trying to hide all three of you, but I calculate it will still be good enough to prevent detection by those UHAAVs’ electronic sensors. I do recommend that you stay here until the cats pass.”
Trinity’s instinctively wanted to put as much distance between her and the approaching cats as possible, but she bowed to her battle computer’s recommendation. Following Jennifer’s advice had saved her life too often in the past to start ignoring her now. She wasn’t going to stop trusting just because of a few cats.
“What are we doing?” asked the professor sounding nervous.
“Hiding,” Trinity said stating what she thought should have been obvious. “So stay down. Once those UHAAVs pass us by, we’ll hoof it to our rendezvous point. A civilian recon ship is supposed to pick us up when we get there.”
“Civilian?” asked Telsa. “Why? I assumed this was a military operation since you’re a wizard scout.”
Trinity grinned. “That’s something you’ll have to take up with the central computer. I’m just the wizard scout. The central computer’s apparently running the show now for some reason.”
The sound of roaring engines stopped any further conversation. Trinity and the others hunkered down as the armored cats moved past. Trinity noticed grains of sand bouncing into the air at each step of the massive armored beasts.
“They’re close,” Trinity said in her shared space.
“One of the Leviathan cats is passing only two hundred meters away,” said Jennifer. “I’d call that close.”
Trinity pictured the massive six-legged Leviathan cats in her mind. They were the heaviest armored UHAAV in the galaxy as far as she knew. She’d gone up against them before. One Leviathan cat had more than enough firepower to take on a battalion of light hover-tanks.
Gripping her phase rod tighter, Trinity monitored her passive scan until the last of the cats was at least a thousand meters away. Once they were in the clear, she stood up and motioned to the others. “Let’s go. As soon as they find out our hover-tank’s empty, they’ll backtrack until they find us.”
When the professor and Telsa stood, Trinity moved out at a blistering pace. At least it was a blistering pace for her two companions. She knew her battle suit could run a whole lot faster if she wasn’t weighed down by the others. She hustled her two companions forward as fast as they could go in the direction of the extraction point. After ten minutes alternating between a fast walk and running, a sound echoing in the distance drew her attention.
Boom!
Trinity looked back the way they’d come. She noticed a billow of dark smoke in the distance.
“I’m guessing that’s our hover-tank,” said Telsa.
“You guessed correctly,” said Jennifer over the battle helmet’s external speakers. “I lost control of the hover-tank five minutes ago. I had turned the autopilot on before I lost control, so it’s been running in a straight line ever since. Those cats are six kilometers away now, but they’re headed back in our direction. I calculate it won’t take them long to catch up with us.”
“I thought you said something about having a stealth shield up,” said the professor. “Won’t that prevent them from detecting us?”
Trinity looked at the professor and pointed at the ground. “Yep. It’ll hide us from their electronic sensors, but it won’t hide those.”
The professor glanced down with a confused look on his face. His eyes widened when they focused on three sets of footprints in the sand leading back to the point where they’d jumped off of the hover-tank. The professor nodded his head. “I see your point.” After wiping his forehead, the professor panted, “I’m not used to this much physical exercise. I don’t get a chance to do a lot of calisthenics when I’m in the lab. How far is it to our pickup point?”
Looking back, Trinity noticed drops of sweat streaming down the Eorian’s face. She glanced over at Telsa. The short female was holding up surprisingly well considering she was also supposed to be a scientist.
“I’ve got a feeling the pickup point is too far,” Trinity said. “I don’t think you can make it on your own, professor.”
“Can you heal?” asked Telsa. “I heard wizard scouts can heal. Maybe you—”
“I’m not a healer,” Trinity said. “I wish I was. A healer could replenish the professor’s body so he could run the whole way. As it is, we’re left with only one option as I see it.”
Before either of her companions could ask what the other option was, Trinity grabbed the tall Eorian and threw him over her shoulder. She took off running while ignoring the protests coming from the professor. A quick look over her shoulder confirmed Telsa was hard on her heels. Increasing the pace to a near run, Trinity noticed Telsa keeping up easily enough. While breathing hard, the short female seemed to have abnormal stamina.
“Is there any wonder?” asked Jennifer in their shared space. “Have you looked at her Power reserve? It’s partially healing her. That’s why she’s able to run so well.”
“Yeah, I noticed her reserve, but I assumed she was untrained.”
“Oh, I calculate she is. Sometimes, rare individuals can partially use their Power before they’re trained. How do you think the first wizard scout came into being; through osmosis?”
Trinity increased the pace even more until it became obvious Telsa could no longer keep up. At that point, Trinity backed off the pace until she found a sustainable rate of movement for the young woman. They ran for a full twenty minutes. Trinity knew they w
ere getting close. The trouble was she also knew the pursuing cats were closing in as well.
“Incoming,” said Jennifer over the battle helmet’s external speakers. “I highly recommend you take cover.”
“What cover?” Trinity said as she dropped the professor and shoved both him and his grad student flat on the ground. She jumped on top of them to provide at least a little cover with her battle suit.
Whoosh!
A trail of red flames passed overhead. A dozen rockets exploded a hundred meters away throwing sand in every direction.
“Recommend you run for all you’re worth,” said Jennifer speaking out loud. “I hacked into the rocket’s guidance systems and threw them off course, but the computers on those cats are making adjustments as we speak. I calculate the next salvo won’t miss.”
Trinity jumped to her feet and pointed ahead. “Go! I’ll try to cover you.”
“Go where?” asked Telsa regaining her feet. “There’s nothing but sand as far as the eye can see.”
Reaching out with both hands, Trinity grabbed the professor and Telsa and gave them a shove to start them on their way. “Just go!” she yelled.
Her two companions got.
Glancing at her Power reserve, Trinity noticed it was low. She’d known it was getting low, but she hadn’t thought it would be quite that low.
“It’s an expensive drain on your Power reserve to keep a stealth shield on three people,” said Jennifer. “You specialize in detection, not protection. You’re down to nine percent Power in your reserve.”
“That’s just friggin’ great,” Trinity said. “I’ve got a squadron of cats hot on my heels in attack mode. What am I supposed to do with only nine percent Power?”
“Don’t ask me. I’m just your battle computer. You’re the great and all-knowing wizard scout. However, I do recommend you figure something out real quick. Those cats have launched their next salvo. I calculate those high-explosive rockets will be here in ten seconds.”
Twelve incoming energy readings on her passive scan confirmed her battle computer’s warning. Forming a line of Power, Trinity reached out with an active scan and touched the lead missile.
“Are you kidding me?” Trinity asked. “That’s a tactical nuke. What the hell are they thinking?”
“I calculate they’re thinking they don’t want to miss this time,” replied Jennifer. “Thankfully, I’m embedded within a hardened brerellium steel chip inside your battle helmet. I might actually survive the blast. I calculate a hundred percent probability your companions and you won’t. Recommend you stop the missiles before they get closer.”
Trinity gathered some of the remaining Power in her reserve and reached out to penetrate the lead missile with an active scan. She located the warhead’s detonator. Converting the active scan to telekinesis, she squeezed hard. At the same time, she reached out with another line of Power and knocked her two companions down using telekinesis.
Boom!
Throwing up one defensive shield around herself and a second one around her two companions, Trinity gritted her teeth and waited for the approaching wave of energy from the tactical nuke. A wall of radioactive sand and energy hit her defensive shield sending her rolling across the sand.
“You’ve got too much of your Power diverted to the professor and Telsa’s defensive shield,” said Jennifer. “I recommend that you at least give yourself as much of a chance as you’re giving them.”
“I can self-heal,” Trinity said. “They can’t.”
The blast continued rolling Trinity along the ground, but her battle suit was the toughest armor the Empire’s technicians could create. It was up to the task. By the time she came to a stop, she was bruised, and her right arm was broken. She wasn’t too concerned about herself since she could self-heal. Making a split-second decision, Trinity diverted more of the remaining Power in her reserve to the defensive shield surrounding her two charges.
“You’re at four percent Power,” said Jennifer. “Three percent; two percent; one percent. Empty.”
Just as she ran out of Power, the last of the tactical nuke’s blast rolled past them. Trinity regained her feet and looked behind her. A mushroom cloud of dark sand was billowing high into the sky. She felt an unpleasant tingling in her skin.
“Radiation poisoning,” said Jennifer. “You’re Power reserve is empty, so you can no longer self-heal. I highly recommend you get to some cover. The good news is that all of the missiles were destroyed by the blast of that tactical nuke. Unfortunately, I sense the cats are preparing another salvo as we speak. I calculate these next missiles will kill all three of you even if none of them are nukes.”
Glancing around, Trinity saw nothing in the way of cover. That is unless flat sand as far as the eye could see was considered cover. She did spot two forms half buried in the sand thirty meters away. Running over, Trinity knelt down and uncovered her two companions. She noticed darkening splotches on both the professor and Telsa. The blue Eorian seemed to be the worse of the two. He was lying on top of Telsa as if he’d been trying to protect his grad student.
“I calculate the female’s Power is partially healing the radiation damage to her body,” said Jennifer. “She might actually live if you can get her out of the radiation zone before her Power reserve is empty. Of course, since you chose to use the last of your Power keeping up their defensive shield, you’re going to die along with the professor before you can make it to safety. Telsa will probably outlive you now. That’s just my opinion. You can’t heal yourself if you don’t have Power.”
Trinity felt a drop of Power regenerate in her reserve. It was used up almost immediately by her self-heal ability. It didn’t heal much. With a regeneration rate of one percent of her Power reserve every sixty minutes, she knew it would be hours before she’d have enough Power in her reserve to do any good. She also knew she didn’t have hours. She’d be long dead before she regenerated any useful amount.
Unable to do anything about her Power reserve, Trinity turned in the direction of the approaching UHAAVs. She spotted the eight armored behemoths heading directly for her. They weren’t even deviating to avoid the new radiation zone. She noticed a series of flashes from the cats as the next salvo of missiles left their launch tubes.
“Incoming,” said Jennifer.
“Yeah, I see them,” Trinity said steeling herself for what was to come. “Those cats have launched their missiles.”
“No,” said Jennifer. “I mean incoming from above.”
Looking up, Trinity noticed a bright light streaking through the sky. A series of smaller lights left the larger one speeding directly toward the approaching UHAAVs.
“Missiles,” Trinity said.
“Actually, they’re anti-ship torpedoes,” corrected Jennifer. “I calculate someone’s going all out to save you.”
Two of the torpedoes changed direction and intercepted the missiles from the cats.
Boom!
The missiles were consumed in the torpedo’s blast.
“Those were non-nuke missiles this time,” observed Jennifer. “You’re one lucky wizard scout. If they’d been another set of nukes, I calculate you’d be dead.”
“Yeah, lucky me,” Trinity said as she felt her skin continuing to blister from the effects of the surrounding radiation.
The remaining torpedoes slammed into the formation of cats.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Smoke and flames replaced the cats. Trinity didn’t know if they’d all been destroyed, but she didn’t care. She had a feeling any remaining crewmembers were now going to be too busy trying to stay alive to worry about her little group.
The bright light overhead turned into the dull gray of a recon ship. It continued coming in fast. Trinity had been on enough starships to know it was coming in too fast to land. As it drew near, a yellow beam of light reached out and enveloped Trinity and her companions. The ship’s tractor beam pulled all three of them into the air toward an opening that suddenly appeared in the side
of the ship.
Once the tractor beam deposited them inside the ship’s airlock, the outside door closed. Trinity stood and stepped in front of the two unconscious forms of her companion where they lay at her feet. She drew her phase rod, but she kept it inactivated.
The inner door of the airlock opened. A scraggly haired, older man dressed in a nondescript grey jumpsuit stepped inside the airlock.
The old man eyed the phase rod. “You ain’t a gonna to be needing that. The name’s Sergeant Ron. Welcome to the Defiant.”
Chapter 2 – Saying Goodbye
_____________________
After the old man’s quick introduction, he took one look at the professor and Telsa and immediately went into action. With the aid Trinity and another crewmember named Charlie, the two unconscious forms of Trinity’s companions were taken directly to the Defiant’s infirmary. Once there Charlie, who happened to be one of the Intergalactic Empire’s many lizard races, took charge. He was a four-armed Sterilian, and he used all four arms to simultaneously run a medical diagnostics on the professor and Telsa. With the aid of a robo-doc, the two unconscious patients were soon undergoing treatment for radiation sickness.
“How are you holding up?” asked Sergeant Ron. “You got the same dose of radiation as them.”
Without taking her gaze off Telsa and the professor, Trinity said, “I’ll be fine now that I’m out of the radiation zone. I’m a wizard scout. Even though my Power reserve is staying empty, its natural recharging is providing enough Power to allow my self-heal to bring me back to baseline.”
Out the corner of her eye, Trinity noticed the old man nod as if he understood what she was saying completely. Ignoring the Defiant’s captain for a moment, Trinity looked at the metal table where Telsa lay. The medical readouts on the table’s computer display were nearing the normal ranges for a human. The readouts on the second table weren’t as good. From what she knew about Eorian physiology, Trinity was pretty sure the professor’s vitals were well below norms. In her opinion, his blue skin looked more gray than it did blue. What was even more distressing was that his breaths were coming in ragged gasps as if he was struggling for each lungful of life-giving air.
Trinity Unleashed (Wizard Scout Trinity Delgado Book 1) Page 4
