Wizard's Blood [Part Two]

by Bob Blink

  All of this was in preparation for Friday and Saturday, which were the final exams. Three hours was allocated to each student for the final exam, and there were two different teams of instructors, so it took the full two days to test everyone. Randy was lucky to get a Friday afternoon slot for his test, so he would be able to leave for home on Saturday.

  The task was simple enough. The first was a straightforward shooting test, where he had to show he could hit the targets at random unspecified ranges. Randy did better than he had during the learning sessions, but he was never going to be invited into their hall of fame.

  The second and more important part of the final test was the stalking and take down of a target. They were given a start position, and told they needed to slip unobserved into the target zone, establish a hide, and wait until the designated target appeared. When the target was on the platform, they could take the shot, in this case a one-foot clanger off to one side of the platform where the target would periodically appear. The other men on the platform were not important, but would be searching for him as he made his way into the area and while he hid. Points were lost for almost everything. If he was spotted as he made his approach, he’d lose points depending on how many observed him and how often. He’d lose points if they detected his hide and, of course, he’d lose points if he blew the shot.

  A half hour into his stalk, Randy had to make a decision. The platform was visible, but it was still out of the approved range. This was to be a close in shot. He had to approach to within two hundred yards before making an attempt. He could see two ways to go. The first looked easier, slipping down the hill, through the mud and water and into the trees that he could follow along the bank until he got to the base of the hill off to the left. The second required him to scramble across some hard rocks and then through a bunch of the thorny bushes he hated. Not only were they sharp, but one had to move extremely slowly or the movement of the bushes would reveal one’s position.

  Randy started to move toward the river and then paused. The choice was too obvious. There had to be a trick. At the last minute he turned and started to make his way slowly and carefully down the hill the harder way. It took another hour and a half to make his way through the barriers and inside the designated range. The markers were clear once he found them. He made his way over to a depression in the ground where he hoped to set up.

  Once he was in position, he realized he had a problem. If he raised his head, he could see the platform and the top half of the targets, but if he lowered his head down to rifle height, the roll of the land hid the targets from view. He couldn’t shoot prone from here. Sitting was not an option either, because the grass was too short to hide him. While he could potentially wait, roll into a sitting position and make the shot, the spotters would see it, costing him too many points. He could see another position where he could sit behind some bushes, but it would require a slow crawl across some open ground. It could be done if one were patient, but his allotted time was running out. He didn’t think he could make it in time. He considered his options, looking around for another possibility. From what he could see, the slope of the land made most of the shots similar to what he had where he was currently located. It was shoot here or try and make it over to the second location. Finally he made his decision. He switched around slowly, pointing his feet toward the platform and his head away. Once he’d switched around, he rolled onto his back. He could now rest his left arm on the side of his chest, support his right against his side, bend slightly at the waist and get a shot at the target. It wasn’t as stable as he liked, but they had given him a short range target, so he thought it might work. Five minutes later he was presented an opportunity and successfully smacked the clanger with his shot.

  When it was over, he didn’t quite make the cut. He had missed passing by a few points, his marginal long range shooting costing him dearly, and his squirming around to get into position had been detected by two of the watchers. That had cost a few more critical points. He had apparently misread the terrain, and there had been a slightly different approach that would have taken him to the safe position he’d spotted, but he hadn’t realized his problem until he was committed. Randy didn’t mind at all. He hadn’t passed, but he headed home with a scratched and proven rifle and the certainty he had learned invaluable skills that he could and soon would pass to the team on Gaea via the pairing-crystals.

  Chapter 117

  Randy was back in Boulder by mid afternoon on Saturday and found that there had been significant activity on several fronts while he had been gone. Tishe had come a few days earlier with a message from Buris that everything was now in place and waiting for his return to complete the final electrical wiring. While Buris felt comfortable with completing the task on his own, he didn’t really want to make the final connections without Jolan being there. Tishe also left news that she had once again made one of the mental contacts with Shyar, and she was now certain that was who it was. She could sense Shyar’s uncertainty about who Tishe was, and while she had tried to project an explanation, at this time there was no indication that it had been received. She was certain she felt a bit of disquiet in Shyar about not being able to sense Jolan’s presence. Tishe felt the link was stronger, which was encouraging, but thus far she had been unable to pass useful information, only vague feelings.

  Upon reading the note Randy was ready to make the transition back immediately, which he needed to do soon in any event if only to set the timer. There were a couple of tasks that he should attend to here first though, and then he could spend a few days back on Gaea.

  Janie had made a long list of items that had arrived by mail or delivery service while he had been gone. The largest was the solar array equipment, some of which she noted was in the garage. Apparently Tishe had taken some of the pieces back with her a few days earlier. There was also a note from the archery shop that his special order had arrived and was available for him at his convenience. Gene had called and indicated that ten of the Remington rifles had been returned, fully tuned and set-up for them. The remaining seven would be available in another week.

  All of these deliveries reminded Randy that he was getting low on funds. He’d better bring back another supply of gold and have Gene’s father convert it for him just to have it available. He didn’t think there were many major purchases left, but it would be better to have the funds available in the event something came up rather than have to scramble at the last minute.

  “This is probably the most important item,” Janie said as she came back into the kitchen where Randy sat reading through the notes. She handed him a rather formal looking stack of papers.

  “Beyer, Wilson, and Sons, Attorney’s at Law,” he read aloud. He gave her a questioning look. “I’ve never heard of them.”

  “They were Grandfather’s lawyers,” Janie said. “I looked them up after I found this. They are a very old firm in Boulder. I found this document in the files along with some of his other papers that Dad had filed away. I suspected Dad never told you about this, given his feelings about grandfather, but this appears to be something special for you. It reads like he left something for you which is being held by the law firm until you come calling for it.”

  Randy was immediately interested. Quickly he paged through the document, scanning the text until he got to the part that Janie wanted him to read. He was of the same opinion. There was something the firm had taken possession of from his grandfather by instructions in his will that would be released to Randy when he appeared and claimed it. That his grandfather had gone to such unusual lengths made him certain it was something related to his abilities, which Grandfather and his dad had fought about. There wasn’t any other reason Randy could think of that whatever it was hadn’t been passed to him through his father. He had only to appear at the firm and show proof of who he was. He wondered immediately how his being declared dead was going to affect things.

  “It appeared to have been signed by Grandfather and Mr. Beyers.”

>   Randy wanted to go there immediately, but it was a weekend and it had waited all these years so he expected it could wait a bit longer. He needed to get back to Gaea, and perhaps it would be best if he simply waited until his return to follow up on this matter. He wanted to talk with Tishe about Shyar, and that was pulling at him even more urgently.

  “I think you had better go with me on this one. The law firm might be aware of my being officially listed as deceased, and as my legal heir, you would be in line to get whatever they have if they won’t release it to me. I’m going to make a quick trip to Gaea, but as soon as I get back I’m going to want to check this out. I have that itchy feeling again that this might be important.”

  Janie nodded in agreement and smiled when Randy added, “Thanks Sis. I never would have found this myself. I had almost given up hope of finding Oscar’s effects. This may not turn out to be them, but I’d be willing to make a bet that it will.”

  Randy decided he would make the run into the archery shop first, since it was getting late and the shop would be closed tomorrow which was already Sunday again. He would enjoy taking the special delivery back with him this trip. He climbed into the rental car which he had paid to sit idle at the airport for the past couple of weeks, and headed over toward the university.

  “Ah, yes,” said the store’s owner, when Randy handed over the sales slip he’d been given when he placed the order some weeks earlier. “A very unusual order. I’ll be right back.”

  While the man was in the back room, Randy looked around the shop, wondering what he was not thinking about and what he really should be bringing back from here. While he had put a great deal of effort into moving Gaea from the bow and arrow to firearms, there were some advantages of the bow. First, of course, was it was far more silent. That reminded him he needed to ask Gene about the silencers when he saw him tomorrow.

  The owner returned with a long and heavy box which he gently laid on the counter. He cut the heavy fiber tape around the bottom so it could be opened and they could look at the contents. Reaching inside, he pulled back some padding material, and grabbed one of the items and handed it to Randy.

  “The note I received back from the manufacturer said it took them some time to match the weight and balance and point of impact with the arrow you brought as a sample. They appeared to be very interested in that arrow by the way. They hadn’t seen some of the materials before, and would very much like to get a large sample of the wood. They claim it appears to be very well suited to the making of arrows and wondered if you could contact them.”

  Randy looked at the arrow he now held. It looked to be about the same length as the arrow he had gotten from Asari, but this one gleamed with a faint coppery sheen. Vapor deposited copper, very thin, covered the entire arrow. Even the feathers had been replaced with a special plastic spiral that was coated with the copper deposit. The heavy and sharp tip was very strong and sturdy steel, with the thin copper coating. It would shed the coating once it impacted anything substantial, but by then it wouldn’t matter. No part of the arrow was left uncovered, so there would be nothing for a wizard to grab onto with his magic even if he were quick and aware enough to try.

  “Very nice,” Randy said, as he peered into the box where the rest of the four dozen arrows he’d ordered lay. Lying there alongside the new arrows was the same shaft he’d had shipped to the manufacturer of the precision arrows. He pulled it out and compared. He couldn’t tell a difference in weight, but the new arrow was just slightly more than an inch shorter.

  The arrows hadn’t been cheap, and he’d paid in advance to get the unusual features he’d asked for, so now all he had to do was close up the box and take it with him.

  The man watched as Randy slipped the two arrows back inside, replaced the padding, and closed up the box.

  “I’m really curious,” the man asked after struggling with himself. “The arrow is based on one of our best performing hunting arrows, but why the copper. What can that possibly do for the arrow?”

  “Oh, that’s quite simple,” Randy said as he picked up the box and prepared to leave. He managed to keep a straight face as he added, “It makes them immune to magic.”

  “The only way you’re going to get silencers for those rifles is to steal them,” Gene said the next afternoon when Randy went over to pick up the rifles and tell Gene about the course. “I can hack into the manufacturer’s records, and I have only found one place in the area that has one like you want. You might be able to find a way to steal it from that dealer, but I suspect it wouldn’t be easy. You’d most likely end up in jail.

  “They aren’t ever shipped direct to end users so if you knew that one was being shipped, you might be able to steal it from the delivery truck before it got to the dealer. That again would take a lot of luck and involves a great deal of risk. You also might have to wait a very long time for one like you want. They seem to sell a number of pistol silencers and .22 caliber silencers for rifles, but the larger caliber versions aren’t that popular. It might be easier in Europe where they have a somewhat different attitude about the things. Why don’t you simply make one. We have the patents for several designs. I’ve looked.”

  Randy was disappointed by Gene’s assessment, but he wasn’t about to take a great risk for something he thought might be nice, but didn’t have a specific need for. He also wasn’t eager to put someone at risk by attempting some hair-brained robbery, nor risk bringing the police’s attention to his activities. He’d managed so far to maintain a low profile. He was more than halfway through his planned time on Earth, and didn’t want to screw things up now.

  “Forget it,” Randy said. “When I come back, we’ll have a look at the plans. Maybe we can work something out. Any other news?”

  “Yeah, we’ve got a private investigator watching your wizard friend in California,” Gene said. “I was able to get a reference to someone, and called him. He will keep a watch and send reports to an Internet address I set up, so there is less chance he can trace anything to us. I set up payment the same way.”

  “You warned him to not take any chances? I’d rather miss something than warn Ryltas that he’s being watched.”

  “He knows the man is dangerous, and that we don’t want him trying to break into the house or take any chances. We want to know his schedule, who he seems to have contact with, etc. We are supposed to get weekly reports.”

  “Good. I’ll have a talk with Chancellor Vaen while I’m on Gaea. They really want me to bring Ryltas back. I think it’s a mistake and maybe I can change their minds.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot, the chemist wants to see you about that stuff you wanted him to investigate.”

  “What did he find?”

  “I think he was able to isolate the active ingredients, but he wants to run a test on it. You said you could tell. He said it’s easy enough to separate the stuff out, but unless you have a couple of years and a few million to invest, don’t expect to be able to make the stuff. He’d never seen anything quite like it and wonders what it is supposed to do.”

  Randy would have liked to go and see the chemist, but once again he really had to take care of priorities. He needed to get back to Gaea, and decided he would take the rifles Gene had helped him load into the car, and leave tonight. Once he got back he’d go over the list and decide what was most important.

  “You’re going to check whether they’ve found a way for me to go, aren’t you?” Gene asked.

  “You’re still interested?”

  “More than ever. You’ve got to find a way.”

  “I’ll ask. I’m sure Asari has been keeping them working on the task since he wants to come this way just as bad.”

  * * * *

  “You can see where I had trouble,” Jolan said. He had spent the first afternoon going through the knowledge transfer process again, and the first pairing-crystal had been used to bring Samm up to speed on his experiences at the sniper school. The rest of his team would have the memories transferred in th
e next couple of days. In addition to the skills from the course, Jolan transferred enough English that each man would be able to read and think in Earth units. The equipment he brought was calibrated that way, and best they not try to make conversions each time they wanted to plan a shot.

  “Remarkable how real the memories feel,” Samm noted. “I feel almost like I was at the school itself.”

  “That’s what I’d hoped. I brought the first ten rifles, so once you feel comfortable, you can start the training of the first team. Each rifle has the scope mounted and a preliminary zero to three hundred yards. It also has a bipod which they will find is an incredible aid when shooting prone. Each man will need to re-sight their assigned rifle the same way we did at the school. The drop due to gravity will be slightly different here, and each man needs to personally learn the technique and any quirks of his weapon. They will have one advantage. There is no reason we can’t use the laser rangefinders. We are after results, and while the skill of estimating distances might be valuable, we don’t have the luxury of time.”

  “I need to get the course set up, and I want to start them practicing your hiding and stalking techniques. We have less than two months before the war is likely to start. Have you thought about how we want to deploy the teams?”

  “Not nearly enough,” Jolan admitted. “I suspect they would be used most often as two-man sniper teams, but I can see reasons to group them in as many as six man squads. It would probably be wise to select the two top men as team leaders. Maybe we should have some kind of competition in the final test for the position.”