To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

  A slight adjustment brought the ray to the center of the river and Daniel held the control stick steady. He could see no difference in the aquatic life in eastern part of the Hirus but the homesteads and small towns certainly were different; they were vacant. He sensed plenty of wildlife, raccoons, squirrels, bobcats, snakes, and such, and the occasional cow or chicken. The people were gone and either fled in a hurry or possibly resisted and were captured and carted off to some work camp set up by the invaders. The Pentrosans favored that sort of thing and it would not surprise him to find the Zuneans had a similar practice.

  The clouds above continued to light up with bright flashes, but those were the thunderheads of a storm blowing in from the ocean, and had nothing to do with spell-casting. Lightning bolts struck on both sides of the Hirus along with heavy sheets of rain, and mighty winds that bent broad branches back like an arm-wrestler defeating his foe. No sound penetrated the Manta’s shield so the fury of the storm, like the previous spell-battles, was mute.

  “Thyateara is the port city on the south bank of the Hirus where the river meets the ocean,” Simon broke the silence. “I am sensing hundreds of warships in the harbor, all of which I think we can safely assume are dreadnaughts and man-o-wars, along with scores of troop carriers and frigates belonging to the Zuneans, Pentrosans, and Ecoppians.”

  “I am also sensing the current residents of that city,” Sero stated, even though he rarely displayed the need to verify Simon’s reports. The Demfilian-born Accomplished must have something more in mind, and he demonstrated the notion by adding, after clearing his throat, “There are huge quantities of trinitrotoluene across from the city on the north side of the Hirus. The containers number into the tens of thousands and are larger than spheroids.”

  Daniel immediately focused his scan where Sero had indicated and sensed far more than explosives. There were thousands of non-Aakacarns in the massive installation and groups of people and pigs, apparently trying to ride out the storm in ships anchored tightly to the surface. Those were light weight vessels made of reeds with extra strong fibers so tightly woven together, and coated with a green substance, that not even air or water could flow through the hulls. The material composition of the things he learned after examining the aftermath of the first attack from the sky on his Northland Holding. Bits and pieces of the vessels had been all scattered all over the place. “The Zuneans have built a massive skyship base,” he spoke in hushed tones that were loud enough to be heard by all.

  “If we can destroy that base and the skyships,” Carlos began to say, his voice filled with excitement at the prospect, “it could set the Serpent’s and these particular allies back for months or maybe longer.”

  “What you say is true,” Daniel replied, “if the Zuneans had to replace those sky vessels without the assistance of Accomplisheds. Even with Aakacarn help it would take time and resources away from other activities and perhaps interfere with any planned offensives. Beyond that, striking here, now, would send a strong message to the rulers of Zune, Pentrosa, and Ecoppia; that their bases are not safe or secure.” He was sorely tempted to order the attack.

  “Maestro, I am not sensing any Aakacarns on either side of the river, which means the common soldiers will only be able to sense the harmonics of the CAPU, but not recognize the source or have the ability to target us,” Carlos added more encouragement to go on the attack. “There might not be a better time to assault them, especially during this storm.”

  Daniel inhaled a breath in order to respond, “We will…,”

  “How big is the skyship base?” Tim asked, interrupting the reply.

  “Huge,” Daniel answered, “It stretches five spans to the north and runs a little over a span east along the river to the ocean.”

  Tim nodded and then asked, “Where are the large quantities of trinitrotoluene?”

  “There are a few thousand near the Hirus and about as much in the naval installation,” Sero replied, “but twenty times that number are in a large store-house about three spans inland.”

  “So, Daniel, the best you can do is blast apart those enemy assets near the river,” Tim shared his assessment. “While we are assaulting the installation to the north, we will likely be on the receiving end of their explosive devices and from the navy base on the other side of the river. The enemy forces on the south side are not likely to be neutral and as for targeting us, they won’t have to be precise. Both sides can launch thousands of those large containers of trinitrotoluene into the river and we won’t be able to avoid being struck. The release of all that energy against the outer shield of this manta will not be Aakacarn in nature so your life-force will be drawn on all the more. To sum it up, the benefit to cost ratio is not good enough, I recommend we not attack at this time, and stick to the original chore.”

  “Enemy assets,” and “benefit to cost ratio,” were terms Tim had learned during his studies with Captain Van Etter and Captain Isly, both former Captains of the Taracopian Royal Navy. Tim and Gina gained a great deal of knowledge from the highly experienced senior officers, including vocabularies a bit more extensive than that of the average mountaineer. Daniel restored the two senior officers from Condemnation along with four hundred twenty men who were captured by the Serpents during the fall of their base in Port Joppa to the rebels in Taracopa. The two dreadnaughts they served on were destroyed at anchor. All of those experienced seamen were currently serving on the Atlantan Guild’s fleet of Wager-class patrol boats.

  Daniel glanced back at his friend, who had come a long way from hunting and tracking for food on the slopes of Mount Tannakonna. The Admiral was correct. An assault from the river would not result in the destruction of the entire base, more like a fifth, and would not eliminate the store-house full of trinitrotoluene, so therefore an attack would not justify the delay, especially if absorbing the counter assault drained too much potential from the driver’s vat of life-force energy. “Had I sat in on some of those lessons you and Gina took, perhaps I would have arrived at the same conclusion as you.”

  Tim leaned back in his chair with his legs out stretched and then crossed them while placing his hands, fingers interlocked, behind his head. The fiber on his wristband connected to the tabletop-viewer was stretched as far as it could go and even so he managed to look smug. “Hound-pup, it is possible you might have concluded the same thing as I, but I doubt you would have done so as quickly as me. You have way too many thoughts swirling around in that head of yours. It takes time for the right one to pop out.”

  As if the drummer did not also possess total recall as a result of being in range of Daniel’s first spell. Let’s see how fast his ideas pop out in the future and then will see which one is the hound-pup.

  The designation, back on Mount Tannakonna, was applied to the person who lost a bet, race, or any challenge. Folks needed the few coins they managed to earn and so betting with money rarely happened. No formal challenge had been issued by Tim, so Daniel shrugged it off as an attempt to lighten the mood, seeing as Carlos had turned around to fix a stare on the Admiral that implied without words, “Mind your non-Aakacarn business.” Even so, Daniel did not appreciate the inference that he was too slow in making decisions.

  “Given our current speed, I estimate you have just under a tenth of a mark to make up your mind,” Simon announced, clearly ignorant of the fact that Daniel already had. “Shortly after that we will be in the Eastern Ocean and the decision will be made by default.”

  “In other words, not making a decision in time is a decision in and of itself,” Tim evidently felt the need to clarify the Chief Aid’s words.

  Daniel increased the speed to One-Seven-Five, choosing to proceed with the mission and deal with the base eventually. “Has either of you geniuses figured out my decision or should I ask Sero to make it clear to you?”

  The question went unanswered until one person felt it was time to speak up. “Since we have just shot beyond the base and out into the ocean, it can be assumed that our Maestro
has decided to carry on the mission without attacking the enemy assets,” the Four-bolt Accomplished seemed to be pleased to make the clarification.

  Jagged bolts of lightning flashed in the sky and a whirlwind touched down on the surface of the ocean, creating a waterspout.

  “Simon,” Daniel spoke the name without looking to his left. “Exchange seats with Sero.”

  Chapter Three: Learning to Soar

  Daniel tilted the control stick forward and down, diving the ray deeper, below where the water was being drawn into the spout. Turbulence shook Manta One briefly and then they were far enough beneath the surface to smooth out the ride. The storm above had so little effect at the new depth that it might as well have consisted of nothing more than a breeze with a few scattered raindrops.

  “Joel’s record is four hundred spans per mark,” Tim stated as if someone aboard actually needed reminding of the fact.

  “Hold on,” Daniel warned moments before increasing the amount of life-force energy flowing into the CAPU from one bolt to two. It was doubtful he managed to keep the thrill at what he was doing out of his voice, not that he much cared. Some people felt he should be more dignified, but he did not seek or need their approval.

  Even being thrown back in his seat as the crescendo part of the propulsion unit amplified the power up to nine lightning bolts of potential did not dampen his enthusiasm. The number on the console which had read, “One-Seven-Five,” increased so fast the digits were a blur until reaching, “Four-Zero-Zero.”

  “Joel did not mention being slammed back into his seat, nor did he mention the ride being so rough,” Tim’s tenor voice came out with a quiver in it.

  Sero, sitting rigidly with his arms thrown backwards, took a deep breath, and then relaxed. “I suspect Accomplished Glader increased the speed of his ray gradually.” His voice had the same tonal quality as the Admiral’s.

  “A Seven-bolt Accomplished can focus as much energy in moments what it would take a Two-bolt a quarter of a mark to equal,” Simon explained. He sounded a little out of breath, but then added in a stronger vibrato, “Our Maestro, perfect as his memory is, does not always take that fact into account, seeing as he started his career in spell-casting with six lightning bolts of potential. He really has no idea the amount of effort and concentration it takes for those of us with lesser potential to accomplish the same thing.”

  Daniel held back his reply, choosing to concentrate on piloting the ray. Joel had more experience and so probably did a better job at holding the ray steady or, perhaps, the currents in the Serinian Channel were not as strong as those in the ocean. Whatever the difference in pilots, Daniel was pleased the spell, Continuity, was powerful enough to allow him to control the manta’s movements even against the underwater current that seemed to be trying to shove the vehicle to the north; He could feel the strength of the ocean struggling to have its influence over the vehicle.

  He took a deep breath and that small movement caused his right hand to move the tiniest fraction to the left, and the manta jerked to the northeast. Each of his passengers grunted, straining against their straps. He pulled the stick back to the right and the ray flipped sideways and was suddenly headed due south and down deeper into the depths. He could feel the shield spell demanding more energy from him as the weight of the water increased.

  Gravity had pulled him, and consequently his arm, at a right angle sharper than he had expected. As smooth and gently as he could he gradually leveled the ray out and then turned, tilting the vehicle back up and to the east. The weight of the water lightened and so did the demand on his potential from the shield spell.

  Even so it was nearly impossible to keep the manta going in a straight line. He was constantly making minor corrections to maintain an easterly heading. “Simon, I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to focus all of my seven bolts of potential into the CAPU,” Daniel said and was surprised to hear his baritone voice come out in tremolo.

  The whole ray was vibrating in time with the slightest course adjustment and he was only using two of the seven bolts of person potential at his command. He could try three; the daring thought came to him, overriding his caution.

  A pod of orcas was swimming west and unfortunately in the path of the manta. He pulled the stick, ever so gently, to the right, banking to the south, and then back to the east as a cow and her calf, the last of the pod, were safely in the rear viewer. “I am gradually going to increase the speed,” he announced.

  Only a tenth of a mark had passed since they entered the ocean and already they were so far out from land that not even through Osprey Vision could the shore be seen. Fortunately the harmonics given off by the CAPU were so powerful, sharks, tunas, porpoises, various species of whales, and countless other creatures of the deep were getting out of the way, giving him the room and the confidence to focus more of his potential into the emerald. At Four-Five-Zero the ride was so bumpy no one dared speak for fear of biting their tongues. In Daniel’s case it was a desire not to repeat the experience.

  He pushed the velocity up to four hundred seventy-five SPMs, requiring about three and a half bolts of personal potential. The manta jerked right, left, down, and then up so quickly the force of the water, combined with the thrust of the CAPU, flipped the ray all the way over backwards, and into a spin that after more than a few rotations had them going in the opposite direction. It was all he could do to keep from vomiting during the violent course transition. From the smell coming from behind, he knew some among his crew had been less successful in keeping down the contents of their stomachs.

  He reduced the potential flowing into the CAPU to a trickle, slowing the ray to not much more than an actual manta could swim. His throat was dry and even though his stomach was not quite settled, brought the canteen to his lips and quenched the thirst caused by the near continuous spell-casting involved in powering the underwater vessel.

  “I have come to the conclusion four-fifty is about as fast as a manta can go safely under the water, no matter how powerful the pilot is,” Simon spoke softly with tightness in his voice.

  Daniel agreed with the assessment, but was still drinking, and so took a few moments to finish the last mouthful before answering. “Four-fifty it is and that will be in my official report.”

  Sero fixed his attention to the rear. “I’ll get that,” he said and then focused potential in a beam that ended beyond Daniel’s peripheral vision.

  The odor of vomit vanished moments later and Tim said, “Thank you.”

  Daniel was a bit surprised the mountaineer had been the one to lose his dinner. “Hound-pup, are you feeling delicate?” he asked while eyeing an enormous grouper swimming to the right of the manta.

  Tim chuckled. “I’m no hound-pup. It was your Chief Aid who vomited on me.”

  It was small wonder, really, when Simon chose to remain silent.

  “Everyone who needs to use the privy should do so now,” Daniel gave fair warning. “Because the next phase of the mission could prove to be even more interesting.”

  He waited for each person to use the privy before unstrapping himself from the pilot seat and removing the wristband. Even though the weight of the water pressing on the shield had been heavy, it was not more than the ray could withstand, and so no damage occurred when the potential for the spell winked out. The crew compartment went dark, the outer shield, Osprey Vision, and Freshen Air, all ceased the moment the gems lost contact with his skin. A sphere of light appeared above Sero, providing illumination, Simon glowed briefly and the air began to freshen, both of them had the necessary spells in their repertoires.

  Manta One drifted in the current about a span below the surface while Daniel refilled his canteen and also took advantage of the opportunity to stretch his legs a bit after sitting for so long. Four steps taken back and forth in the confined space, even repeatedly, were not much of a stretch, but were better than not moving at all.

  A quarter of a mark went by and it was a long enough time for everyone to
prepare themselves for what was to come next. “Are you ready?” he asked after strapping back in and putting on the wristband, once again powering the spells. The panoramic view returned and the two Accomplisheds ceased their spells.

  Daniel tilted the control stick back without going forward and the manta swam backwards and down until it was facing the surface. He waited for a school consisting of more tunas than he wanted to count to pass by and then sent two bolts of his personal potential into the emerald. In moments the ray shot upward, far faster than a bolt launched from a crossbow, and breeched the waves traveling at four hundred spans per mark. The difference between passing through air and water was felt immediately. The ray flew up even faster, reaching the speed of four hundred ninety-five SPMs in a matter of seconds, and the vehicle was well above the storm clouds by the time he pushed the control stick forward and leveled off, heading east.

  A full moon glowed brightly in a vast sea of countless stars, while bolts of lightning flashed below, illuminating the thunderheads in which they were spawned. Daniel grew nervous. Is it possible to fly out into the boundless heavens?

  He did not want to find out. A person could get lost up there, best if we don’t try to go any higher.

  Upper air currents buffeted the manta and ice began forming on the fins, and yet neither hindered the spell, Continuity, from responding to Daniel’s manipulations of the control stick. But the responsiveness granted by the Symphonic came at a high price, requiring nearly as much personal potential from him as the CAPU. His throat was dry and getting drier. A cautious person would slow down, back off a bit, but that type of person would not be spans in the air aboard a vessel meant to operate under water. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, he more than doubled the speed, and for the first time ever was able to sense the harmonics of the CAPU, behind the manta!

  Only those who are outside the focal point of a spell can sense the ripples. This should not be happening.