The last of my fellow Black Adders pouredthrough the breach in the wall wielding all their psionic powers inperfect unison. “Charge!” came the command and we all rushed forth.It was strange to follow flying bodies into battle, but theysucceeded in breaking through the shield wall. For the first timesince the invasion we were winning! As we reached the formerposition of the humans many of us ditched our wands and took up themore powerful staves that the enemy had recently started usingagainst us. Just when we thought we had them on the run, the othersappeared.
The Seven, as we took to calling them. Theyseemed to be the greatest of the Magi, and ruled over them. Theyjust stood in the middle of the corridor with no protection.“Shields!” came an order from someone, and everyone who couldgrabbed up shields from the fallen Magi and formed a wall with themin front of us. Just as we got our shield in place they started tofire. The shields held, but we had no opening to fire back. Itseemed we would be locked in this stalemate until the shieldsfinally gave out, but then one of the Seven stopped firing and spunhis staff around until it was vertical and while chanting slammedit into the ground. The force of that blow shook the veryfoundations of the colony and sent us flying. The shield wall wasbroken and they proceeded to pound us with their bolts. Screams ofdying people were all around me as I lifted a shield back intoplace and began to return fire. Soon others began to do the same,using the small area of safety I had created. One of thetelekinetics behind me started throwing shields at the Seven, buttwo of them successfully blocked everything thrown at them. Thenthe one in the front traced a semicircle towards us in the airwhile chanting. Suddenly an arc of energy leaped forward andslammed into us. I was thrown against the wall, and then everythingwent dark …
I gasped for breath as suddenly I was back inthe hollow with the Black Adders. The room was still spinning abit, and my body ached from where I had been hit during the battle… but it was not I who had fought that battle, it was Darnath. Mymind reeled, and when I got my senses back I looked at everyoneagain. I felt as if I knew them better. I recognized all of themfrom that fight. They had all been there by my side; well, byDarnath’s side. “Oh, wow … I feel as if I was there,” I said.
“Yes, sir. I gave you a copy of my memory ofthe event, so in a way you were there. You experienced everythingthat I did, and know everything that I know about that battle,”said Darnath.
“What happened after that?” I asked. I neededto know more.
“Well, sir, I was the first to recover,”started Kellyn. “I heard sounds of fighting further down the hall,but knew I had to tend to the wounded first. I could only find fiveother survivors. I treated their wounds as best I could there inthe hallway. I was not able to do much before more of the Magi cameback and found us. Jerran ordered us to run as he opened fire witha staff he had recovered. To everyone’s surprise he did not shootat the Magi, but rather the wall next to them. This ruptured theside of the colony and opened the chamber to the outsideatmosphere, sucking the Magi out in the process. We were far enoughaway to be saved by one of the colony’s airlocks, which slid shutand kept us alive. From there we worked our way back to the centralcomputer core, hoping to unite with anyone that was left. By thetime we reached it the battle was over. There was nothing butbodies and pieces of bodies everywhere. We tried to find …” At thatpoint she broke down crying. Andreya did her best to comfort her,and everyone was quiet for a while.
“Black Adders, I am greatly impressed andproud to know you. General Tizar was right; you showed them what anImperial soldier really is: strong, unwavering, loyal and fearless.You kept fighting, even when it was obvious you could not win. Evennow, months later, you are still fighting. You could have given uplong ago, but instead you held out. First it was to get informationto Tom and his forces, then to my squad and now finally you areattempting to get to the gate and cut off all hope of retreat bythe Magi.” I paused and looked them over, then said, “As rankingbattlefield officer I hereby award you all with the Medal of Honor.You are without question some of the finest men and women thisEmpire has ever produced!”
They all looked stunned, but squared theirshoulders. A little bit of pride and strength seemed to creep backinto them. “Now then, let’s clean up this camp and get to thatgate.” More than ever I wanted to get them safely off this rock. Ilooked at Darnath and asked, “Did you detect any indication thatthey suspected I was not alone?”
“No, sir. As far as we can tell, your planworked. They think it is still only you,” he responded.
“Good. So they must know there are only threelogical places for me to go: the central computer, the exit hatchor the gate. They might assume I do not know about the gate, butthat would be a foolish risk. They do not strike me as the type totake unnecessary risks, so we should assume the gate will beguarded and watched. Major Jerran, can you take us around to theopposite side of the gate from the storeroom that we just camefrom?” I asked. “That might put us behind their defenses.”
“Yes, sir, but that will add at least an hourto the walk. From here I would estimate four or five hours until wereach the gate,” was his reply.
“Fine. Take us that way and stop us about anhour before the gate for a final rest and preparations,” I ordered.As I leaned on my right arm in an attempt to stand, a blinding painshot through me causing me to fall back to the ground where I wassitting.
Darnath noticed immediately and asked, “Sir,what’s wrong?”
“Aah, I think I dislocated my shoulder, I amnot sure how. No matter; if you will just help me pop it back in, Iwill be fine to travel,” I said through gritted teeth.
Then Kellyn came over, smiled at me and said,“Sir, just relax. This won’t hurt a bit.” I doubted that her petiteframe could support enough muscle power to readjust my shoulder,but even more I doubted that it would not hurt! Ah, well, I hadbetter cooperate; she was, after all, their medic. She knelt infront of me and closed her eyes, placed her right hand behind myshoulder, and pressed her left hand ever so gently on the front ofmy shoulder. I assumed that she was about to examine it, but then Ifelt warmth passing between her hands and moving through my body.Her hands had a faint pink glow about them, as if they weregenerating the heat themselves, and instinctively I wanted to jerkaway, but I was paralyzed by her touch. I felt my bones move andshift back into place. She then looked up directly into my eyes andI felt a connection that I had never known before. Instantly it wasas if she could see through to my inner most being and I could seehers. Hers was a beautiful pool of color that shimmered constantly,but I feared what she saw in mine. I knew what was there. A look ofhorror passed over her face, and then it was replaced by stubborndetermination. She started to say something, but before she couldspeak Darnath warned us that a Magi scan was nearing us. Fearingshe would not be able to react in time, I quickly reached out toher, pulled her close to my body and envisioned my thought shieldexpanding to surround both of us. I got it up barely in time, amere second before the light from the scan passed over us.
Once it passed, I tried to stand but got verylight-headed, and once more fell to the ground. This time Kellynwas there to slow my fall. “Now what is wrong with me?” Iasked.
“Sir, you overextended yourself by hiding mefrom the scan,” answered Kellyn, who started digging in herpack.
“Sir, from what you have told us I assume youhaven’t used your powers very much before coming here, and sincecoming here you have been using them non-stop. That alone would bepushing your mental strength to the limit, but then to extend yourshield to cover Kellyn …well, until just a minute ago I thoughtthat was impossible. It must have been very difficult, and it hasexhausted you,” stated Darnath.
“Here, sir. This will help clear your head abit,” said Kellyn as she handed me what looked like a bar ofchocolate.
“Candy?” I asked.
“Yes, sir. We discovered a while back thatthere is a chemical compound that your body depletes as you useyour powers. We can manufacture it, but it tastes horrible. So Iprefer to disguise it in candy. It is
no substitute for a good mealand rest, but it will help you get by until we can manage that,”answered Kellyn.
After eating the candy bar, I did feel betterand was able to stand. “Amazing, my arm feels like it was neverhurt. No wonder they call you a master healer!” I said. “But how inthe world did I get hurt in the first place?”
“Sorry, sir, I should have known that wouldhappen,” started Darnath. “When I transferred my memory of thebattle to you, your mind completely re-enacted the fight. For mostpeople that is the extent of it, but for those of us who are morepsychically sensitive, the re-enactment often extends to themuscles. You see, when I hit that wall I broke my collarbone, sowhen that happened your body must have had a muscle spasm whichthrew your shoulder out of joint.”
“I see. Well, since that is now all behindus, let’s get moving,” I said. I was not sure how I felt about whathad just happened, not only with my shoulder but also with Kellyn.For the moment I would just move on to the next step and put itaway to think about later. I noticed that Kellyn began walking muchcloser to me after our encounter. She seemed a bit worried aboutme. I wanted to blame her concern on my recent collapse, but theimage burned into my mind was that look of horror I had seen on herface. She saw something when she fixed my shoulder that had hervery worried about me. There was only one thing that I could thinkof which that might be, but surely she did not think she couldfight the dark figure who waited for me?
Chapter Sixteen
We moved out and traveled in silence for awhile. There was something that had been on my mind, and thisseemed like a good time to ask about it. “Major Jerran, when thefirst of the Magi spoke to us, he called his group the Magi; later,when I met you, you also referred to them as the Magi; yet as faras I know Larath coined that name a couple of weeks ago and it wasknown only by a few select members of the Dragon Claw’s crew. Sohow did that name get known here?”
“Sir, forgive me, but the better question is: How did Larath know that name?” was his answer.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“Well, sir, we call them the Magi, becausewhen our telepaths probed them we learned that is what they callthemselves. This was long before even Lieutenant Tom arrived,” heanswered.
“I see your point,” I said and nothingfurther was spoken about that. This was not the first time a threadof information had led back to Larath. What part did he play in allthis? I was still missing some key piece of information. I knewthere was some piece of data that, once known, would shed a lighton the rest of what we knew and would make sense of it. I had noidea where to find it, however. Then I remembered the book Icarried with me. It was written in a language that looked similarto that on the wands. Maybe that was a clue.
“Major, the writing on the wands and staves,do you ever see it elsewhere?” I asked.
“Yes, sir, but only on their clothing andsome of their jewelry,” he answered.
“Then this is not their primary writtenlanguage, I assume?” I prompted.
“No, sir. They have another language forthat. It looks somewhat similar but we cannot read it,” heanswered. He paused a moment then continued, “One of our latemembers could read it. He learned it by telepathically stealing theinformation from one of the Magi, but he was killed before he couldpass it on.”
“If he could do it then can Darnath, Luke, orGafar also do it?” I asked.
“Yes, sir, but not without giving away ourposition to the Magi,” he answered.
“Well, it is good to know it is an option, ifa dangerous one,” I said. I was about to ask about the book when wecaught up with Darnath.
“Sir, this is the last safe place to rest.Just around the corner is an automated security checkpoint. Once wepass that we will be about ninety minutes from the gate, but underconstant threat from patrols and surveillance,” reportedDarnath.
“Okay, then set up camp here and let’s haveone more meal. We do not know when our next chance will be,” Iordered. As everyone got busy I turned to Darnath and asked, “Canwe get by this checkpoint undetected?”
“Yes, sir. We will be able to walk rightthough it. Your thought shield will make you completely invisibleto it, and we have our own methods that work as well,” heanswered.
“How does my thought shield render meinvisible to electronic sensors?” I asked.
“Well, sir, we do not know for sure becausethere is no way to measure or record what happens, but whenpsionics decide to use their powers to hide, they disappear fromall sensors as well. The prevailing theory is that the body’snatural electromagnetic field is somehow being affected, thusrendering the sensors useless,” he answered.
“Interesting. So then let me ask you this, ifI had on my shoulder a standard navy issue medical alert patch andput up my thought shield, what would happen?” I asked.
“Well, sir, the patch would lose its abilityto read you, so all your vital signs would register zero and thepatch would assume you were dead,” he answered. “Sir, I take it youask because that happened?”
“Yes, and that is exactly what happened.Well, at least that mystery is solved,” I said. “Okay, everyonebring me what you were able to get from the storeroom and I willsee if I can figure out how to make a nice bomb.”
“Sir, if you do not mind, I think I shouldtake care of that since I am a demolitions expert,” Major Jerransaid with a hint of fear in his voice. Perhaps he was worried how Iwould react to that statement.
“Absolutely. I have some training, but deferto your superior skill,” I said and passed him all that I had.“Please make a timer that will give us fifteen seconds onceactivated,” I ordered. Then a thought occurred to me. “I shouldhave realized you would have demolitions training. With yourtelekinetic skill you can place the explosives easily with a levelof safety far beyond that of the average person.”
“Yes, sir, all telekinetics are required toget certified as demolitions experts for that very reason,” hereplied and then got to work on sorting out the jumble of parts wehad given him.
“Sir, I need to tell you something more aboutthe path ahead,” said Darnath.
“Speak freely, Darnath,” I prompted.
“Well, sir, the corridor is likely to haveaudio sensors to record any sound. So we will have to be as quietas possible, as our powers will have no impact on such recordings,”he said. He looked like he wanted to say more but kept quiet.
“Go on, Darnath, do not be afraid to talk tome. We are in this together and it is important that we keepcommunications open,” I said.
“Sir, well … if you don’t mind, I will letKellyn explain since it is her idea,” he said.
“Very well, Kellyn, I am all ears,” Iprompted, wondering what was up.
“Well, sir, please forgive us but when wefirst met up with you we weren’t sure what to think of you. Ofcourse we would follow the chain of command, there was no questionabout that; but you were an outsider to us, and we did not know ifwe could truly trust you. We have been imprisoned in this colonyfor a very long time, some of us all our lives, and that does notexactly breed trust for official representatives of the Empire.”She paused here. They were clearly worried about how I was going toreact to all this. I just waited quietly, doing my best to give noindication of how I felt about this admission. Then she continued,“Sir, back in the tunnel when I healed your shoulder I probed muchdeeper into you than I should have, but we had to know what kind ofperson you really were at the core. You have all the indications ofa psychic, but you were not imprisoned with us. We had begun towonder if maybe you were a plant by the Magi, or somethingworse.”
She paused again, as if afraid to continue. Iremembered the memory that Darnath gave me of her. She alwaysappeared timid, yet when it came down to fight or flight she stoodwith the best of them. Eventually she continued, “Sir, I know itwas wrong to probe you like that but the connection we made while Ihealed you was the first time any of us could see behind yourthought shield and I was sure it was our only chance to find outfor sure who you really were.” Sh
e stopped there and locked gazeswith me, and seemed to gain confidence. “Sir, I learned that youare exactly what you represented yourself as, and more. We know nowthat we could have trusted you completely from the start.” Shestopped there and waited. They were all waiting for myreaction.
“Kellyn, well done,” I said. “If we were backon the Dragon Claw I would request that you be promoted to my team.You saw a small window of opportunity and used it. Most peoplewould have hesitated, and with that scan so close behind when youhealed me, the chance would have been lost for good,” I responded.I did not like all this probing, but if I had been in her positionI would have done exactly the same thing and I needed to keep thatin mind. She saw a golden opportunity and took it. It was exactlythe kind of thing I tried so hard to teach my men back on the ship.The fact that I had been the target did not change that, and Icould not let that interfere with my judgment.
“There is more, sir,” started Gafar.
“Go on,” I said. Now what?
“Well, sir, we have known for some time nowthat we can safely bring you into our telepathic communicationslink. You see, when Darnath gave you that memory it was really afinal test to be sure we could.” He paused, and then continued, “Wedid not mention this before because we felt we needed a way to talkthat you could not hear in case you were not what you appeared tobe. But now we know you are trustworthy and you definitely have thegift of psionic abilities, though untrained; so we can bring youinto that communications network.”
I thought about this for a while. These BlackAdders kept proving to be a lot more resourceful than I gave themcredit for. I looked at each of them, lingering briefly on Kellyn.I could not get that look of horror out of my mind. If we ever gottime alone, I would have to ask her about it. “Seeing that we willhave to be silent for the rest of the journey, this is good timing.What do I need to do?”
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