“Oh,” said Telsa softly. “I didn’t know.” She looked away for several seconds before turning in her chair to face Trinity. “Why would anyone in their right mind want to be a wizard scout?”
Trinity had thought about the same question during many a sleepless night. She sat down in a seat across from the short woman. “I think being a wizard scout is a calling. Haven’t you ever felt like you’re supposed to be doing something, but you aren’t?”
Telsa nodded.
“Well, that’s how I felt before I became a wizard scout,” Trinity said. “I was attending the military academy on Risors. Everyone in my family had been officers in one branch of service or another. I thought that’s what I was supposed to do. Tradition and all that, you know?”
Telsa nodded her head. “Yeah. Kinda. My parents expect me to take a position in their hyper-drive company. I like science, but…”
Trinity locked eyes with Telsa. “But it’s not enough, right? You’ve just got this feeling inside you that you’re supposed to be doing something more important. Is that it?”
Without saying a word, Telsa looked down at her hands for several seconds. Trinity noticed her nod several times. Finally, Telsa looked up. “You know, Trinity. I know I didn’t do any fighting per se when you rescued me, but I felt more alive during our escape than I’ve ever felt in my life. I really do like science. It challenges my mind. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder if… if I should be doing something else.”
“What are you doing, Trinity?” asked Jennifer in their shared space. “You’re not a recruiter for the wizard scout corp. She’s happy where she is. Why not leave well enough alone?”
“Because she isn’t happy,” Trinity told her battle computer knowing in her heart it was the truth. “You’re a computer. You wouldn’t understand.”
Trinity looked closer at Telsa. She knew the woman was shorter than any wizard scout she’d ever met, but at the same time, she sensed Telsa had the heart of one of Earth’s lionesses. She had no doubt Telsa would never quit anything once she was committed.
“You know, Telsa,” Trinity said. “That’s how I felt until I became a wizard scout. The Intergalactic Wizard Scout Academy is tough training, and being a wizard scout is an even tougher profession, but I’ve found my purpose in life. I know now that I was destined to be a wizard scout.” Remaining silent for a few seconds, Trinity gave the young woman time to digest what she’d said. When she gauged the time was right, she said, “I think you’re destined to be a wizard scout as well, Telsa. I can sense it.”
A shocked look came over the young woman’s face. “Me? I’m a scientist. I’m no soldier.”
“No you’re not,” Trinity admitted. “You haven’t been trained. Nevertheless, you handled yourself well during our escape.” Trinity laughed. “You can’t shoot worth a flip, but that can be fixed easily enough. If we get some free time, I’ll take you to a gun range. After a few thousand rounds, I’ve got a feeling you’d pick up the shooting concept just fine.”
Shaking her head, Telsa said, “Look at me. I’m small. I’ve always been small. From what I hear, wizard scout training is the toughest in the galaxy. I’d never make it.”
“Not with that attitude you wouldn’t,” Trinity said. “And you’re right. The TAC officers will do everything in their power to make you quit during the two years of pre-Academy. Even if you make it through that, they won’t let up. You’ll have four more years of the toughest training you can imagine until you graduate from the Intergalactic Wizard Scout Academy and earn your golden-dragon insignia.”
“You’re talking as if you think I’m going to seriously consider it,” said Telsa. “I told you, I’m a scientist.”
“Yes, you are, Telsa. The question you have to ask yourself is whether that’s all you ever want to be? Think about it. Applications for the Academy are easy enough to find on the tele-network. I’d be more than happy to sign a letter of recommendation for you. But I’ve got to warn you, TAC officers hate favoritism. So if we ever meet while you’re a cadet, it might be best if you pretended you didn’t know me. That’s just a suggestion.”
Trinity waited a few seconds for a reply. When none came, she stood and patted Telsa on the shoulder. Then she left the room. She’d done what she could. Now she had other things to think about.
“That’s for sure,” said Jennifer. “So, may I ask what your plans are, oh wizard scout extraordinaire?”
“I’m not exactly sure,” Trinity admitted. “For starters though, you can get me the plans to the monsignors’ temple. I’ve got a few questions I need answered.”
“Compliance.”
Chapter 11 – More Mystery
__________________________
“Keep you left leg pointed away from those guards,” said Jennifer. “Charlie did his best on your pants’ patch, but the camouflage is nowhere near as good as the rest of your battle suit.”
Trinity twisted her left leg slightly. “There are a lot of guards. It’s kinda hard keeping the patches away from all of them. I do have to walk, you know?”
A feeling resembling a sigh intruded itself into Trinity’s mind.
“Just do the best you can, wizard scout. Truth be told, I only calculate a two percent probability the patch will give you away.”
Pressing as close to the wall with her back as she could, Trinity waited until the guards passed. Once they disappeared around the corner, she moved on.
“How much further?” Trinity asked.
“I’ve plotted the control room for the temple’s security on your heads-up display. We should be there shortly. Just get me close enough to hack into their systems. It’s a hardened site, so we’ve got to get real close.”
“Roger that,” Trinity said. She was thankful they didn’t have to actually go inside the control room itself. She was good, but she doubted even she was that good.
Two red dots appeared on her heads-up display.
“Priests,” said Jennifer stating the obvious. “They’re coming our way.”
Finding a convenient spot out of the direct line of traffic in the hallway, Trinity waited. “Here’s where we find out how good my best stealth shield is at close range. I’ll be lucky if one of them doesn’t accidentally brush up against me.”
“You’re lucky these priests like to keep the lights a little dim in their hallways,” said Jennifer. “If you were standing in full daylight, your battle suit’s camouflage wouldn’t be nearly as effective.”
The two priests rounded the corner giving Trinity a good look at them. “Go to clear visor,” she ordered.
The red tint of the night-vision visor switched to clear. As soon as it did, it became obvious one priest was in green and the other was dressed in blue.
“I’ve missed you, Crendril,” said the green-clad priest. “I’m glad the higher-ups are working out their differences. I said all along it was those dissidents causing all the trouble.”
“Well, it’s not over yet,” replied the second priest. “We’re lucky that gem sliver is able to allow initiations to proceed. If we can’t recover the Hallowed Gem from the Carsoloians that sliver of the gem may be our only salvation.”
“It’s not certain the Carsoloians were involved,” said the first priest. “I heard—”
The priests turned the far corner cutting off the rest of their conversation from Trinity. She waited for their footsteps to disappear as well. Even semi-invisible as she was, it wouldn’t do for someone to hear her moving.
“Actually, you’re pretty quiet,” said Jennifer giving rare praise. “I calculate an eighty-seven percent probability it’s safe for you to start moving again now.”
Continuing down the hall, Trinity wondered about the priests. “They seemed awfully chummy. Do you think the threat of civil war is over?”
“Doubtful, wizard scout. Cavos is a powder keg. One spark in the wrong place and it will blow up in your major’s face.”
Trinity stopped to allow some life forms she spot
ted with her passive scan pass an intersection ahead. “What’s a powder keg? And he’s not my major.”
“Whatever you say about the major, wizard scout. It’s none of my business. As for a powder keg, it’s an old Earth reference to an explosive powder humans used before they developed more efficient ways of killing each other. Isn’t progress wonderful?”
When the life forms cleared the intersection, Trinity moved forward as quietly as she could. “You know, Jennifer, you’re not all that funny.”
“Hmm,” said Jennifer. “I thought it was pretty good considering I don’t have a sense of humor. By the way, I calculate if you can get me to that wall over there, it will be close enough to the control room for our purposes. If you wrap one of your active scans with a stealth shield, I can get started.”
Once Trinity reached the wall, she prepared the active scan and turned control over to her battle computer. “Do you want me to follow along?”
“Not this time, wizard scout. You’re not a diviner, so you can’t help me with energy flows. And you have no affinity with computers, so you can’t help me with them either.”
“Fine,” Trinity said. “I’ll just stand here and wait for someone to bump into me. Is that what you expect me to do?”
“The stand part, yes. The bump part, no. Now let me concentrate. Hacking into a large mainframe like this one isn’t easy even for me.”
Trinity had a feeling Jennifer was just blowing her off, but she remained silent anyway just in case it would disturb her battle computer. She had no desire to get involved in a running battle with the monsignors’ guards. They weren’t her enemy.
In less than a minute, Trinity grew bored. A swirl in the marble of the wall opposite her reminded her a little of Jerad’s chin. No, his chin is more squared at the bottom. It goes well with his face. He’s got a nice—
“Are those thoughts intended for me?” asked Jennifer. “If not, do me a favor and think about your romantic interest in your private space. I’m a little busy at the moment.”
“He’s not my romantic interest,” Trinity said feeling her neck grow warm.
“As I’ve said before, who are you trying to convince; me or you?”
Trinity said nothing. She made a silent pledge to keep any future thoughts about the major in the private space of her mind.
Over the next few minutes, several groups of priests and guards traversed the hallway. Since the corridor was narrow, whenever one of the groups approached, Trinity levitated to the ceiling and remained flat against it until the group was out of sight. Luckily for her, they all seemed oblivious to the fact that an intruder was only a few centimeters above their heads.
After nearly ten minutes, a stream of data began scrolling down the side of her heads-up display. A 3D schematic of the room where the Hallowed Gem had been kept appeared on the display as well.
“Got it,” said Jennifer. “That was more difficult than I originally calculated. It’s fortunate I think at nanoseconds speed and have superior processing power to—”
“If you don’t stop patting yourself on the back, Jennifer, you’re going to hurt your arm,” Trinity said. “Now, what’d you find out?”
“Fine,” said Jennifer. “I should be used to your lack of appreciation by now. As to what I’ve found, a backdoor exists in the security system’s firewall that allows a section of the gem room to be de-energized.”
“You mean it would no longer be composed of creallium?” Trinity asked.
“Affirmative. At least that one section wouldn’t be. Once de-energized, someone with the ability to shift into the void between dimensions could enter and steal whatever was inside. I calculate that’s what happened to the monsignors’ gem.”
“A shifter?” Trinity asked. “Shifters are rare even among wizard scouts. Was the backdoor put in by the Carsoloians?”
“I don’t have sufficient data to make an accurate calculation, wizard scout. The Carsoloians paid for a lot of the work on this temple, but it was all subcontracted out. The company responsible for the portion of the programming in question is called Cavos Security Incorporated.”
“Sounds like a big company,” Trinity said.
“Actually, big sounding names don’t always mean big in the real world. From what I can gather cross-referencing data from the tele-network, Cavos Security Incorporated, or CSI as it’s called, is a startup company formed two years ago. Their headquarters is right here in the city of Tremar.”
“That’s convenient,” Trinity said mulling a crazy idea over in her mind. “I’m thinking we should pay our friends at CSI a little visit.”
“Should I inform the major what you’re going to do, wizard scout?”
Trinity thought about it for a few seconds before shaking head. “Negative. We haven’t really found out anything useful yet. We’ll let him know later. For now, mum’s the word.”
“Compliance. Now that you have what you were looking for, how do you plan on getting out of this temple?”
Trinity grinned. “Carefully, Jennifer. Very carefully.”
Chapter 12 – Retrofit
______________________
When Trinity arrived back at the spaceport, the Defiant had undergone a remarkable transition. Her outside hull gleamed as if fresh off the assembly line. Even the metal around the hyper-drive’s exhausts had fresh coats of ion paint. Only one maintenance truck remained, and it was empty. The slew of crates that had previously been stacked on the docking pad had somehow magically disappeared.
Walking up the ramp into the cargo bay, Trinity was immediately faced with a maze of boxes stacked from deck to ceiling. Squeezing through a narrow pathway between two lines of various sized crates, she came to a stop where the space between the boxes came together even more.
Frustrated, Trinity gave a yell. “How the hell am I supposed to get through this crap?”
A gray reptilian face appeared at the far end of the cramped passageway.”
“Suck in breath,” said Charlie. His advice was accompanied by a prolonged hissing sound. A metallic laughter came out of his translator box.
The hissing sound continued as Trinity blew as much breath as she could out of her lungs and squirmed through the opening. Once out the other side she took in a couple of deep breaths before eyeing the Defiant’s four-armed mechanic.
“There’s no way in Platos Minor those shoulders of yours could get through there,” Trinity said. “What gives?”
Another bout of hissing came from Charlie. He pointed to his right. “I go through side airlock. Much easier. No room in cargo bay.”
Trinity looked at the open airlock and back at the tight space she’d somehow been able to squeeze through. “Why didn’t you tell me before I made a fool of myself trying to get through there?”
More hissing came from Charlie. “Wanted to see if you could do it.”
Trinity shook her head and made for the stairs. “You’ve got a strange sense of humor, Charlie. Has anyone ever told you that?”
“Yes,” admitted Charlie with a wide grin revealing his double row of serrated teeth. “Many times.”
Trinity made her way up the stairway followed by the sound of the mechanic’s hissing. When she came to the communications room, she went inside. The room was even more cluttered with equipment than it had been on her last visit. Telsa was nowhere in sight. A quick check with her passive scan located the little scientist in the Defiant’s galley.
“I’ll talk to Telsa later,” Trinity told her battle computer. “In the meantime, I’d better send Captain Stevens an update. No use getting her dander up if I don’t need to. Besides, I’ve got a favor to ask.”
“Uh, if I remember correctly, the captain isn’t much on favors,” said Jennifer. “It’s your funeral. Do as you please. You usually do.”
Clearing off a stack of small boxes from the top of the holograph pad, Trinity punched up a secure line to Captain Stevens. She fully expected to get the special operation captain’s answering service. Instead
, she was surprised when a meter-high version of the blonde-headed captain appeared over the top of the pad.
“Well, speak of the devil,” said Captain Stevens. “I was just reading a couple of reports on the Cavos situation. Your name popped up several times.” The big captain grinned. “The comments weren’t exactly flattering.”
Trinity returned the captain’s grin. “What else is new?”
The normally gruff captain’s grin grew even wider. “Not much. So what’s up? I’m guessing you didn’t call me to chitchat.”
“No I didn’t, sir. I need you to do me a favor. I’ve got reason to believe a shifter of one kind or another was on Cavos the day the monsignors’ gem was taken. I’d like you to check if any known shifters were in the vicinity of Cavos around that time.”
Captain Stevens scratched her jaw. “Shifters are a scarce commodity. There’s less than twenty wizard scouts still alive with that ability, and most of those are on the disabled list.”
“Yes, sir, I know. Some of the other forces in the galaxy have shifters as well. I’ve been told that some Crosioian scouts can shift into the void. I’ve had to fight some of their shifters during simulator training, and those are tough fights. I’m sure Crosioian scouts aren’t the only ones who can perform dimensional shifts.”
The big woman studied Trinity for several seconds. “Shifters are sensitive assets. You’re talking G4 level top secret security classification. I’d have to call in a lot of favors to find out what you’re asking.”
“I’ve no doubt you would,” Trinity said locking eyes with the special operations captain without saying anything further. She knew the captain would either do it based on trust or not do it at all.
After an eternity that lasted only a few seconds, Captain Stevens nodded. “Fine. I’ll see what I can find out. But if I ever make general, how about getting assigned to someone else and save me the aggravation of having to deal with you?”
Smiling, Trinity nodded. “Consider it done, sir. If you find out anything, send it to Major Criteron. I may be traveling under stealth mode off and on for the next few days, so I’ll be incommunicado.”
Trinity Unleashed (Wizard Scout Trinity Delgado Book 1) Page 13
