by Bob Blink
“The control units are gone,” Den-Orok said simply. “It is as I feared. She made sure that no one could destroy her creation easily.”
“You’re certain?” Iach-Iss asked.
“She herself showed me how the system worked from this very location. She could have hidden the units anywhere. Even if we could find them, I am uncertain of what would be required to reintegrate them.”
“What does this mean?” Jolan asked, although he already suspected he knew.
“We will be unable to do as we promised,” Iach-Iss said sounding slightly embarrassed. “Without the control units, we have no ability to affect the status of selected portals in the manner we discussed. We can, of course, shut the entire system down if you wish. Once done, however, there will be no way of ever starting it up again. The portals on all of Gaea would be dark and dead as they have appeared for the past thousand years, except this time they would be dead and would gradually erode and crumble away.”
Jolan could barely imagine what it would mean to him and others. Getting around Gaea would revert to months of travel as it had been when he first arrived. No longer could they simply step between cities. Perhaps it would be good for the world, slow down events that were happening, and allow the place to develop more normally. This was a decision he couldn’t make. He knew what he would have chosen, but this had to be taken back to Vaen and the Queen.
“We better get back and tell them,” he said finally.
Chapter 180
Asari zipped up his leather flight jacket against the brisk wind coming in from the ocean as he walked across the courtyard toward the Council building. He was headed from the dorms to see Morin for a minute, then off to meet with his dragon friends for a planned flight over parts of Kimlelm. Looking at the monitors was well and good, but actually flying over the country was a better way to see what lay below and plan operations. The past week had seen far too much planning as far as Asari was concerned, but it remained uncertain when any action would be initiated. Today’s brisk breeze was an indication that winter was close, and there wasn’t much sense in initiating any serious action this time of year.
Asari was a bit out of sorts, and he knew the reason. Jolan and Shyar were on Earth. In addition to simply missing them, he was a bit jealous. He would have liked to spend some more time there as well, but this hadn’t been the appropriate moment to suggest it. Everyone was actually a bit surprised that Jolan had made the trip just now, but given the activities that had been planned for the immediate future he felt it was as good a time as any, and he owed Shyar both the trip and a honeymoon. Asari and Den-Orok had dropped them off at Tilano several days ago. Jolan had said they would only be gone a week, an Earth week, which meant seven days. They would go back and pick them up in a few more days. One of the dragon’s communicators had been hidden in the tunnels near the Nexus in case something brought them back early and they needed to call for pickup.
After indicating this wasn’t a shopping trip when besieged with dozens of items people would like to have from there, Jolan had agreed to bring back a supply of the aviator glasses like the pair Asari had purchased on Earth when he was there. The graduating class of pilots had been told they would each be getting a pair as part of their successful completion of the flying course. Jolan had also had baseball caps made up with the words “Angon Airforce” and “Class 01” on them.
Major Wylan and Kavel already had the pilots hard at work. Daily flights were being made into Kimlelm, re-establishing contacts with the surviving rebel groups, and bringing in supplies and in some cases people to support them. Hopefully the resistance could be salvaged from the losses that had been inflicted by Ale’ald since the portal system had been compromised. They were fortunate the skimmers were powered with self replenishing systems like most of the dragon gear since the vehicles were constantly being flown.
The inability of the dragons to shutdown much of the portal system had been a major disappointment and a significant embarrassment to the two dragons. They were back to limited use of the system. The three portals identified in Kimlelm were marked off-limits for now. They had to assume any use of the portals would be noted by Ale’ald, who could easily enough jump to the selected address and determine where they were. Since they were located close to some of the surviving resistance groups, giving away their location would compromise their safety. The scouts were a far safer means of coordinating with the groups.
Asari wondered if they should shut down the entire system. He hadn’t felt the Settled Lands were so bad off back before Nerila had discovered what the portals were. Of course, he liked being able to jump between cities and get around quickly. Without the portals he wouldn’t be able to visit Tomas in Seret as regularly as he did. It would also mean he’d need to make some different arrangements for his girlfriend who lived there.
Den-Orok had been extremely annoyed at what Tur-er had done, and was quite vocal about it. Iach-Iss was mostly embarrassed by the outcome of the mission to Tilano, and felt their failure was another indication of the failing power they were able to bring to the situation. Only Asari knew the dragons had violated the privacy of one of their own by returning to the Lost Territories and searching the old quarters of Tur-er, a violation that normally would have never been considered. It hadn’t mattered. They had found nothing that would help them and finally admitted that the matter was closed. Unless Vaen and the Queen elected to close down the system completely and forever, there was nothing they could do. The matter had been considered, and such drastic action would only be implemented if it appeared that Ale’ald was likely to win the war without such a move.
For the past several days the dragons had worked closely with Wylan and Kavel and their teams to use the monitoring system to determine the concentrations of Ale’ald’s troops and the locations of their wizard teams. Once a more complete picture of their current deployment was understood, they could plan the best way to adapt tactics to their weak points as well as set up a continuous monitoring of key concentrations, especially the wizard’s forces. Movements would give them advance notice of possible actions and allow for their own troops and mages to be deployed.
* * * *
Yesterday’s flight had been a nice distraction, but simply flying in the scouts was becoming less fun than it had been. Asari couldn’t pilot the vehicles, and so was relegated to being simply a passenger. Since no action against the enemy was anticipated, he didn’t even get a chance with the ship’s weapons.
Today, Buris’ lab was busier than Asari had seen it in some time. With the technological marvels that Gene had brought from Earth, and now some of the new items brought by the dragons, far more mage students had shown an interest in technology. Buris even had a half dozen apprentices, who, like Asari, had no abilities with magic at all. They were waiting for Iach-Iss and Den-Orok who were going to give some instruction on several power units they had brought from their base. Both the knowledge and the chance to interact directly with the dragons were strong motivators. Even Tishe was here. She was still seeking a simple power system for the refrigeration unit she had designed and hoped to distribute one day.
Conversation was animated while the group waited for the two dragons to arrive, with multiple topics under discussion around the room. Asari was just starting to wonder what might be keeping his friends when he sensed something was wrong through his link to them and heard the sharp blasts of extreme amounts of energy being released down the halls.
“The dragons are under attack!” he shouted, knowing it was true but not having any direct confirmation. The energy blasts had to be an Ale’ald attack, which meant they had wizards within the College building at the moment. That probably meant one or more of their triads had managed to penetrate the security of the Inner Court and there might be attacks elsewhere as well.
Buris ran to his intercom to warn Morin over at the Council building and see if any attacks were taking place there as well. Asari hurried across the room and grabbed the sole
dragon weapon they had, which fortunately hadn’t been returned to Wylan as planned a few days earlier. One of Buris’ apprentices that Asari knew better than most grabbed one end of the bulky weapon and helped him as they ran down the hall. Several of the lower level mages ran back into the dormitory to seek help, and a couple of them followed after Asari. Tishe was hot on his heels as they hurried toward the sound of the fighting.
The first of the triads had waited while the dragons walked past them and continued down the hall toward the lab that the triads had learned they would be visiting today. The second of the two triads waited farther down the hall. Only the two triads were within the Inner Court. The triad in charge was made up of three wizards that had been resident within the Inner Court for several months now. The second triad had been smuggled in the previous night, and then only with a great deal of luck. The means they had used would soon be discovered, and that method would be forever closed. It didn’t matter. By then the members of these two triads would be dead. The leader realized this, but somehow it didn’t seem to bother him, which would have perplexed him had he more time to think on the matter. All he could focus on was the importance of taking down the two creatures that walked in front of him.
The first bolt of blue-white fire that was launched at the dragons from the triad in front of them was almost successful. Iach-Iss and Den-Orok didn’t normally raise their personal protective barriers, and their minds weren’t on attack. Fortunately, the devices they carried in the sole pocket in their simple clothing detected the sudden rise in the surrounding energy and responded accordingly. Since the protective barriers the dragons used were not magical, their devices could control them.
The energy-bolt slammed into them moments after the barrier snapped into place, followed by a second bolt from their rear. These were not the bolts of a high level wizard, but the far more intense energies that could be controlled by a melding of three minds. Fortunately the triads were not built from the strongest of the wizards, and intense as the beams were, the barriers the dragons were able to wrap around themselves deflected the brunt of the initial attack. Both were tossed across the floor by the blast, however, making them easy targets for the two triads.
It didn’t take the triads long to realize the two dragons were unarmed and didn’t have a means to fight back. This was very fortunate, because neither triad was protected by the metal barriers they had become accustomed to using which could stop the coppered bullets the locals liked to use against them. They also realized that the dragons were able to deflect their best efforts, so the two triads teamed up, both concentrating their attacks on Iach-Iss, who was closest to them.
The air crackled with the intense energies, and they could sense the barrier around the dragon weakening. The lead triad had to momentarily break off its attack and slam another bolt into the second dragon, who had stood and attempted to charge them. Then it turned its attention back to the first dragon, who wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. After finishing him off they could take care of the other one.
While the triads knew they would be attracting attention and could soon expect to be confronted by some of the mages that lived in the building, they weren’t too concerned. The mages wouldn’t be able to interfere unless there were many of them of a high enough level. They were more worried about the rifles, which were why they’d chosen to make the attack here, a considerable distance from the soldier’s barracks and their weapons.
Neither saw Asari and his helper round the far corner down the hall and hurry their way. Slipping to the floor and positioning the heavy weapon they carried onto his shoulder, Asari positioned it with the help of the man beside him. Once the weapon was steady, he extended his thumb and index finger to the trigger spots on either side of the stock and slowly pinched them together. A roughly foot wide ball of distortion seemed to leap from the front of the weapon, crossing the distance to the triad almost instantly. When it encountered the combined shield the triad had formed, the ball expanded and spread across the surface of the shield, crackling and flashing with bolts of energy that glowed greenish-purple. The shield glowed bright red for an instant and then collapsed. The energy pulse continued inward to wrap around the three wizards that had moments before been protected safely inside their barrier. As the energy touched each of them, their eyes grew wide and screams erupted from their throats. Their entire bodies glowed from within with the terrible energies the weapon had called forth, and within seconds they had fallen to the floor dead.
Asari hadn’t waited to see the final result. As soon as he was certain the shot had connected, he’d turned toward the second triad that was farther away. Before he could bring the weapon into line, he saw the floor opening up underneath the group. Tishe stood off to Asari’s left, her eyes fixed in concentration. She had drawn on her powers as a Naturemage and had opened up a sink hole that extended deep into the rock below the building. The three members of the triad suddenly realized they were falling, and screamed as they dropped into the deep hole. Asari could hear their screams for some time, and then just as quickly as the hole had formed it closed up again. Solid rock filled the hole from the bottom up to the floor. All that remained was a slightly irregular circular patch in the stone of the building floor to mark where the three had stood moments before.
While others checked to be sure no threats remained, Asari flashed a grateful look at Tishe, and then together they hurried over to the dragons. Den-Orok was unharmed, but Iach-Iss was lightly burned by the intense energies that had started to pass through his defensive barrier. Den-Orok extended a hand and helped his friend to stand. Both looked at the group that had come to their aid.
“My thanks,” he rumbled, looking at each of them in turn. “I think it’s my turn to spend some time on the medi-table.”
He turned to Asari. “We’re going back to the base for a few hours. Go and tell Wylan it’s time to send Ale’ald a message. Tomorrow we need to plan an attack to show them what they have to face.”
Chapter 181
“I don’t know how to properly express our apologies for the oversight that allowed this attack to happen,” Chancellor Vaen said to Iach-Iss the following afternoon when the group had gathered once again. The dragons had returned an hour earlier from the Lost Territories using the portal downstairs after Iach-Iss had spent the night on the medi-table. He now appeared as good as new, all signs of the burns from the attack having vanished.
“We share any fault,” Iach-Iss grumbled. “I should have been less complacent. For Den-Orok and myself to wander around anywhere outside our own base without being armed is simple carelessness. We allowed the comfort of being back here cloud our judgement. We will not allow the situation to repeat itself.”
They had already made changes. Both Iach-Iss and Den-Orok now carried one of their own weapons in carry rigs on their backs, the heavy weapons looking almost small against their bulk. This was an arrangement they had used in the past and allowed them to reach over their shoulders and bring the weapons quickly into play should the need arise. Had they been so armed the other day, the two triads would have been dispatched effortlessly.
“We have begun a complete check of all our security efforts,” Vaen explained. “We already know how one of the triads was able to get inside the Inner Court. That won’t happen again. The other triad is far more worrisome. From the bodies we have identified the people, and they have all held positions here for some time. They have been able to come and go into the city. How they were able to do so requires a careful review. We are convinced there are no more triads here at the moment, in part because they had to bring in an outside group to support the attack. Clearly Ale’ald felt the chance to eliminate the two of you was worth losing a group they had worked hard to move into place.”
“Since they have been integrated into the work force, they will have had access to all of the rumors, gossip, and knowledge available to the people here. That has to be at least one source of the leaks back to Ale’ald.”
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“There are likely others,” Vaen admitted grimly. “We have long suspected there were individuals inside. Now we have proof. This means we need to have a long look at everyone that has access to any critical information and reevaluate their loyalties. It will take some time, but we will find any others. In the meantime, we need to be far more careful. Who knows what kinds of things might have been overheard?”
“I think we need to send Ale’ald a message,” Den-Orok rumbled. “Even though the seasons are not right for a significant outbreak of hostilities, we need to attack them. The attack should focus on taking out the triads they have in several locations. They need to realize that we will be coming for them, and watching the portals will no longer give them warning as to where and when we are likely to strike.”
“We have already chosen several targets,” Major Wylan said. “Den-Orok and my team have been in communication while Iach-Iss was recovering. We will be ready to launch an attack in a couple of days.”
“Why the delay?” Vaen asked. “I would think an immediate response would convey a stronger message.”
“Several reasons,” Wylan explained. “For the primary location, we want to start shifting troops around to get their attention. We wouldn’t want them to be caught off guard. We want them to be concerned that we are up to something. That will get their triads in place and ready to respond. After all, the primary goal is to bait them, and then take them out.”
“Another reason is some of the weapons we want to deploy. Gene and Buris had already started modifications on something when the skimmers first arrived, and can have a significant number of the new skimmer launched bombs available close to the attack site in two days. This will be a more realistic test than they were planning, but Gene is convinced everything will work fine.
