Wizard's Blood [Part Two]

by Bob Blink

  “Five hundred yards?” asked Major Wylan doubtfully.

  “I’ve taken deer at almost that range with this very rifle,” Jolan said. “A skilled shooter could do better.”

  “How do we develop such skills?”

  “I have a plan for that. We’ll talk later.”

  Jolan then went through each of the others guns, explaining the differences and advantages of each.

  “I plan on bringing a dozen or more rifles that are even more accurate than these, and all will be alike. Those will be used to build a couple of special wizard hunting teams.”

  Next he pulled out a pair of the two-way radios. He had Asari come up, and explained to him how they worked and then sent him down the hall.

  “For now, we have a dozen of these. They are radio communications, and don’t require wires between the devices to work.”

  “Asari, can you hear me?” he said into the device.

  The group was startled when moments later they could hear Asari’s voice come clearly through on the small speaker. He showed them how it worked, and several talked to Asari before handing the unit back to Jolan. “It’s good for up to five miles outside, and it has a set of earphones, so the conversations can be kept private if desired.”

  When Asari came back, Jolan showed them the computer gear and explained what it was. Sliding the half dozen large books across the table so they could look at the type of information that was available, he then fired up the iPad and pulled up the same book on trains that lay open on the table.

  “The paper books have the disadvantage of requiring a lot of space and are heavy. The electronic version doesn’t have that problem. Look what you can do with it electronically.” He showed how easily one could scroll through the pages, and enlarge any particular page or detail one wanted to see.

  “I brought the equivalent of several hundred books that we can view on the computer and the tablet here. I still need to work on a means of printing material, but that will be on another trip.”

  Familiar with the iPhone operation, Asari latched onto the iPad as soon as Jolan was finished with it. Eagerly, he was scrolling through the menus, while Jolan explained the issue of power.

  “I brought a number of batteries, and the means to use the sun to charge most of the devices, but we need to have a serious discussion on what we can do about power. Even if we only have a local power station, many of the devices I can bring require far more than we can effectively supply with batteries. One of the books is on power systems, and I would like Buris to have a look so he can see what might be possible.”

  The meeting lasted another hour, until everyone had their chance to look over the items and ask their questions. When they were done, the group gathered up the treasures, and carried them downstairs where a wagon waited to carry everything over to the College and down to Buris’ lab. Finally, it was just Jolan and Asari alone.

  Reaching down to the floor where he had placed the heavy case, Jolan picked it up and laid it on the bed.

  “This is for you,” he said as he snapped the latches and opened the lid. He pulled out the blue zipper bag and handed it to Asari.

  Feeling the weight, and perhaps suspecting the contents, Asari beamed and opened the bag. His eyes widened as he saw the magnificent pistol inside.

  “The one we lost was old, and really not very good,” Jolan said. “This is supposed to be one of the best available. It is very accurate, and has special sights.”

  Jolan explained the improvements and how the sights would provide pointing in the dark. Asari had to pull the blanket over his head so he could try it out, returning with an even wider grin. He then looked over the holsters, and gasped when he saw the almost infinite supply of ammunition.

  “Dragons, Jolan. This is too much,” he said finally.

  “No, you deserve it. The minute I saw it I knew it was meant for you. Now, I’ve got to go see Chancellor Vaen for a minute, then I’m going to bed. I see you have the iPad. Have a look at the movie Avatar. It is truly spectacular..”

  * * * *

  They cornered him at breakfast. Apparently Asari had pulled in most of the group when he started the movie the previous evening and they had all been entranced by it. The discussion started with a lot of questions about the movie and what was real and how it was made. There were also a lot of questions about what was going on in the movie, since they’d had to try and guess what was taking place by the actions they could observe without the benefit of understanding any dialogue. Given that handicap, and no cultural anchor point to start from, they had not surprisingly totally missed the main point of the movie. Jolan tried to explain as best he could. Fortunately Timmy had insisted he watch the movie back on Earth so he knew the plot.

  “You have to teach us English,” insisted Nerila when he had finished explaining what had been happening. Several others nodded in agreement.

  They were right Jolan realized. He had realized the need, but it was something well down the list of his need-to-dos, and he had figured he would work that out after the winter was over and he was back here full time. Once again he’d fallen into the trap of how things were done back on Earth. There was a better way here. He promised to look into it, and headed off to see Chancellor Vaen immediately after eating.

  “Of course it could be done with pairing-crystals,” Chancellor Vaen said when he explained what he had in mind. “It would take a bit of your time, but the technique is straight-forward enough. We have a team of experts that could work with you. Once the master crystal is made, you would have to spend a bit of time to finish off each individual crystal before it could be used. We have come a long way, but still haven’t managed to find a way to simply duplicate a loaded crystal in quantity.”

  “What if I wanted to pass additional information to some people?” he asked.

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “I think that my background in the sciences might be useful to at least two people here. If I could make up crystals for them that exceeded just the language and a bit of culture, it might be useful.”

  “We probably should have considered that a long time ago, although many are not willing to share their knowledge so freely. But to answer your question, I am certain you could have the techs add the additional knowledge when you do the finish work on those two crystals.”

  “Is this something that could be done in the next couple of days before I go back to Earth?”

  “Come, let’s go see our experts.”

  As a result of the inquiry, Jolan found himself back on a table much like the one they had used on him long ago to remove the block to his development.

  “Once we start, all you need to do is scan through your mind. That sounds strange, but you will find that it is easier than you might expect. The spells we use will guide your efforts. When you locate knowledge to be transferred, simply indicate your desire by focusing on that area. The appropriate area will be marked for copy. Once you have completed the selection of materials to be transferred, simply close off further scanning. The means to do so will be obvious once your have started the process, and the copying will begin. It will take about an hour, perhaps a bit longer. The day after tomorrow you can come back and we will complete the finishing steps.”

  “This will transfer knowledge to a non-mage as well?” It was important to Jolan that Asari be given the information as well.

  “Absolutely, although the transfer to that person will take a bit longer. You want how many copies of this made?”

  Jolan had spent a bit of time considering how to approach this to come up with the number copies of the language and culture. He wanted three of the copies enhanced, although one a bit differently than the others. “Ten,” he said. The tech looked surprised, but nodded.

  It had been as simple as they had said, and he’d felt nothing as the process proceeded. In fact, he fell asleep while lying there as they did the copying after he’d completed the selection process. Promising to come back in two days, he le
ft the medical building and headed down to see Buris. There seemed to be a great deal to take care of in the few days he was going to be here.

  Unlike the show and tell meeting Jolan had held with the group, Jolan spent a great deal of time working with Buris and showing him how each of the new pieces of equipment operated. The charging systems were all rolled out, connected, and tested. While much of the computer system was beyond Buris at the moment, Jolan explained he was in the process of making English language learning materials and that Buris would soon be able to read all the materials directly. At that time, the functioning of the system would make much more sense.

  Buris was fascinated by the small batteries used in the electronics and wanted to know more about their construction, which Jolan promised him was in the materials or would be in a future delivery. They spent a long time talking about power systems, and whether a small steam engine could be set up outside the lab to be used with some equipment that Jolan wanted to bring so they could generate standard 120V power for the lab. Just having it in the one location would significantly affect what equipment he could bring from Earth.

  The next morning Asari and Jolan went to see Major Wylan. He had selected the man who would be the lead for their “Seal” teams, and Jolan was going to show him the .300 magnum and how it performed. Asari was coming along and was going to test out his new pistol at Jolan’s insistence. Asari hadn’t wanted to waste his ammunition, but Jolan promised to bring more and explained that he needed a bit of practice so he was comfortable with it. Despite the remarkable performance Asari had shown with the old Colt, practice could only make him better. Reluctantly Asari brought along a full box of fifty rounds of the precious ammunition.

  “This is a bit different than the guns I hope to bring later,” Jolan explained to Wylan and Samm, the man chosen by Wylan to lead the teams. For one thing, they will be a bit more accurate, and they won’t have the same kick. This one is quite powerful, and that makes it a bit harder to shoot.”

  Samm settled down behind the rifle as Jolan suggested, and peered through the scope. It took him a bit to get his eyes in the right location and adjust the focus, but Jolan knew he’d figured it out when the man gave a grunt of surprise.

  “You can count a man’s nose whiskers with that thing,” he remarked when he stood up.

  Jolan replaced him at the bench and opened a box of the ammunition. He pressed three rounds into the internal magazine, and nodded to the others to slip on the ear protectors he’d brought along. Finding a comfortable position behind the rifle that rested on homemade sandbags, Jolan carefully fired off the three rounds. When the runner brought back the target, there were three holes with a maximum spacing of just over an inch and a half. Not great for one hundred yards, Jolan thought, but the others were impressed. Next he shot at the five hundred yard target, resulting in a three shot group that covered almost fifteen inches, but each shot would probably have killed a wizard at that distance.

  Samm took his turn after Jolan adjusted the scope and explained about bullet drop, and, while he didn’t do as well as Jolan, he turned in an acceptable performance. By the time he’d finished the second box of ammunition he’d adjusted to the nasty recoil and was printing groups better than Jolan had done. Both Samm and Wylan could already see the potential of the rifle and were enthusiastic about the prospect of getting a number of them. Jolan promised at least a dozen of equal or better accuracy. In turn, Wylan promised to begin selecting the men for the teams from the ranks. They wanted men who had already proven themselves in combat, were dedicated to bringing down the enemy, and who had already demonstrated excellent marksmanship skills with the Gaean made rifles the military was currently using.

  They also fired a few boxes of ammunition through the Mini-14 to demonstrate what it could do, which really caught Wylan’s attention. Jolan told him frankly there was no way he could get any reasonable quantity of the guns nor enough ammunition to make arming many of his men a viable proposition. He would turn it over to Buris and maybe they could come up with something. Jolan realized how valuable Shyar would be right now, and how much he missed her.

  Jolan left them to clean up the guns and went to see how Asari had done. He was shown a couple of targets made at twenty-five feet that had patterns roughly ten inches in diameter. While Asari was very pleased with the results, and loved the new pistol, Jolan couldn’t bring himself to tell his friend that it came from the factory guaranteed to shoot groups under and inch and a half at three times the distance Asari had been shooting.

  Chapter 109

  “I think you should take someone with you next time you travel,” Chancellor Vaen said when they were alone in her office. “You’ve made a strong case for how important Earth is going to be for the survival of the people on Gaea. Yet you are our only contact there. Should something happen to you, how difficult would it be for us to establish ourselves there?”

  Jolan had to admit it was a reasonable request. Once again he’d been so focused on the tasks he needed to complete that he hadn’t been thinking of the broader implications of establishing extended relationships between those here and people on Earth.

  “Did you have someone in mind?” he asked, wondering how much thought Chancellor Vaen had put into the matter.

  “It seems like it ought to be one of your group. That keeps our secret restricted to those who already know, and they have all had their memories enhanced with the pairing-crystals you made up. How has that worked out?”

  “Very well. Better than I could have hoped actually. I had them watch one of the movies afterwards and then answer a series of questions I made up. The test was in English as well as the answers. Everyone did extremely well. You’d put a lot of marginally effective language schools out of business back on Earth with this technique.”

  “You still have some of the crystals left, I understand.”

  “I made one for you, in case you wanted it, and then I made two for Altz. It seemed that he might benefit from the scientific background, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted him to have it. He’s apparently had a checkered history here. From what I was told, you told them not to give him that information. That means they still have one with the English plus scientific background on hand as well. We can save those against a need along the way.”

  Vaen nodded. “My relative has always been a bit erratic. I should have seen it years ago, but I wouldn’t want him to be our only contact with Earth other than you. I vote him out of the selection. Besides, he’s content and happy searching through the vast library with Rifod and Nerila.”

  “Your relative?” Jolan asked, wanting to verify what she had just revealed.

  “Altz. He is essentially a many times over great grandson. He was always brilliant, but never one to follow the rules. So, given that Altz isn’t an option, whom would you select?”

  “Asari desparately wants to go, but we still haven’t discovered how they used to take those without the ability to tap the power. We know it can be done, but I don’t want to experiment with someone’s life at this point.” Actually, Jolan had a suspicion how it would work, but wasn’t about to voice it at this time. Once his thought became known, there would be someone that would want to try it, with potentially disastrous consequences if he was wrong.

  Mentally he thought through the list of his friends and how they might react or benefit from making the transition. Rifod and Nerila might find the trip the most interesting with their keen interest in almost everything. Neither would want to go without the other, and that would mean all progress with the library investigations would come to a stop. They were also a bit more timid than some, despite the impressive achievements they had turned in. The value they had here was reason enough not to select them. Their current task was undermanned as it was, so he couldn’t see that as an optimum choice.

  After a minute he said with certainty, “I think it should be Tishe.”

  He’d managed to surprise Vaen.

  “Tishe? Why Tishe? Given
the way you two sometimes argue, I’d have thought she would be your last choice.”

  “There is something unique and untapped in Tishe. We’ve already seen she has unique abilities. Also, she would see Earth through a youngster’s eyes, without any of the preconceived ideas we all have. I just sense it might be a good thing. Besides, none of the others seem quite the right fit, or they are needed here. If Shyar were available, I’d select her. I owe her a trip there anyway.”

  Vaen rested her chin on a fist and thought. “Tishe. You know that I suspect she will most likely replace me one of these days.”

  “Never happen. You must be good for another couple of hundred years now.”

  This wasn’t idle speculation on Jolan’s part. Vaen now looked to be in her mid thirties. It seemed she was no longer getting younger, but if her past history was correct, then she’d a long time to go before she once again showed the age she’d carried when Jolan first met her.

  “I suspect when the time comes, I might be willing to step down for her. I also sense something special there, but she has a lot of years of growing up to do before we will really know.”

  “Do you want to tell her, or should I?” Jolan asked.

  “Why don’t you invite her and see how that goes? If there is any issue, let me know and I’ll talk with her. Do you know when you are planning on going back?”

  “Two days, three at most. There are a number of tasks that are going to require some advance effort back there. I need to get them started. If Tishe comes along, spends a few days, I can send her back with another load. Later, once things are moving along, she can come back again if she wants.”

  “How do you plan to work these trips?”

  “After I returned, I made it back to the Nexus after being here a little more than four hours. The sensation I couldn’t travel was gone, so it seems at most I have to remain here only a few hours each trip. That’s another thing that is different than Cheurt experienced. From Earth I can return to Gaea at any time. Initially I was going to plan on being gone for a couple of months, but now I suspect I’ll return every couple of weeks with whatever items I have gathered. I might simply drop them in the cavern, and go back. If someone needs me to come into town, they could leave a note, or even better, send Tishe to tell me.”