Matthew sighed. “I don’t think Grandfather ever found what he was looking for with the Defiant. He’d been working off and on at the Academy for decades as I understand it. A few years ago he ended his quest and began working fulltime for Commandant Jacobs. I’ve only seen Grandfather a few times since he came to the house that day. Mother forbade him from ever returning.”
Wow, said Nickelo. The kid’s an open book once you get him started. I’m glad you only asked him one question.
Hush, Nick, Richard said unamused. He could tell Matthew was hurting. Richard had once heard an unlimited supply of credits didn’t buy happiness. He guessed whoever told him that was right.
Myers continued to stand off to the side out of earshot while clutching his box to his side. Richard made no attempt to start up a conversation with his brother. They had nothing in common; not really.
After fifteen minutes, Sergeant Ron and Councilwoman Deloris got out of the hover-limo and joined Matthew and Richard. Myers wandered over as well.
“Let’s see it,” said Sergeant Ron.
Councilwoman Deloris nodded to Myers. He opened his box and removed a piece of dull brerellium no bigger than a fingernail. Richard sensed a blaze of Power coming from the chip. He recognized the Power’s frequency. It was Margery, the Commandant’s battle computer.
“What the–” Richard started to say before he caught himself.
“Are you sure she’ll work?” said Sergeant Ron.
“Her databanks have been partially wiped,” said Councilwoman Deloris. “Our computer psychs tell me giving her something meaningful to do is the best therapy she can receive. She was with the Commandant over seven decades. That’s too long to expect her to bond with a new wizard scout, even if we had new ones available.”
“Wizard Scout Myers,” said Sergeant Ron. “The Commandant was your father. Do you agree with this? Seems to me your mother and you have a lot of say in the matter.”
“Battle computers belong to the Empire, not individuals,” said Councilwoman Deloris. “The Imperial High Council can reassign them anytime they want.”
“Yeah, right,” said Sergeant Ron in a tone making it obvious he didn’t agree. “Well, Gaston?”
Myers looked at the processing unit in his hand for several seconds. Finally he looked at Sergeant Ron. “Yes. I think it would be the best thing for her. The Defiant is familiar to her. So are you. The Commandant and you spent several years together hunting those pirates of yours. I think Margery will feel at home on the ship. Besides…”
Myers remained silent for several seconds.
“Besides, what?” prodded Sergeant Ron.
Richard saw Myers look at him before turning his attention to Sergeant Ron.
“Besides…,” said Myers, “the Commandant connected a one-way link to Shepard during the battle at the spaceport. Margery will sense it. Mother thinks having the link nearby will help Margery cope with the loss of her wizard scout.”
“Will someone please tell me what I’m missing here?” Richard said.
Councilwoman Deloris spoke first. “The new control systems on the Defiant have been designed to work directly with a battle computer. Margery will be installed inside the Defiant. She’ll help control the new hyper-drive. I guess it’ll probably be easier to think of the Defiant as a large battle helmet from now on.”
Great, Richard thought. That’s all I need, another computer trying to control my life.
Chapter 18 – The Black Dreadnaught
_____________________________________
While Sergeant Ron and Councilwoman Deloris verbally clawed and scratched at each other a few more times over the next hour, in the end, they came to an agreement. The Defiant II’s overhaul would continue as planned with no stipulations other than Matthew would be assigned as part of the Defiant’s crew.
As predicted by Sergeant Ron, acquiring Sergeant Hendricks, who was apparently now Private Hendricks, as the ship’s armorer was out of the question. Councilwoman Deloris made it plain the delicacy of the current political situation made such a request impossible. Barring some miracle, Private Hendricks would serve his full sentence on Diajor.
Even without a deal to release Hendricks, Richard thought Sergeant Ron had come out with the better part of the deal. After all, the Defiant II was getting a lot of advanced equipment for the measly cost of taking on one extra crewman.
An hour later, during a private meeting in the captain’s cabin between Sergeant Ron, Councilwoman Deloris, Myers, and himself, Richard found out how wrong he was.
“We are not, and we will never be, a spy ship for the Conglomerate,” said Sergeant Ron working himself into another frenzy. “You can forget it!”
“For once in your life will you listen to reason,” said Councilwoman Deloris. “You act like the Conglomerate is the Empire’s enemy. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Wow, said Nickelo in Richard’s shared space. She’s good. I think she almost believes what she’s saying.
“Well, guess what?” said Sergeant Ron. “The Defiant’s not going to be a spy ship for the Empire, the Conglomerate, or anyone else.”
“Will you be reasonable?” said Councilwoman Deloris. “It’s not spying. All you have to do is try and locate an anomaly in the Trecoriarns’ sector of space and report its location back to us.”
“You mean to the council, don’t you?” said Sergeant Ron knowing full well it wasn’t what his daughter meant.
Richard could tell the councilwoman was losing control of her temper, but once again she bit her tongue at the last second.
Myers looked at Councilwoman Deloris and said, “May I?”
Still biting her tongue, she nodded her head in lieu of speaking.
“They should know all of it, councilwoman,” said Myers.
Councilwoman Deloris gave Myers a dirty look, but then she nodded her head in acquiescence. “If you think we must.”
All of what? Richard thought.
Are you asking me? said Nickelo. How would I know? But if you pay attention, maybe we’ll both find out.
Myers opened the box he’d placed on the table earlier. He pulled out the processor chip it held.
“Once Margery is installed in the ship’s control network,” said Myers, “she’ll be able to correlate the ship’s equipment to pinpoint any anomalies in the Trecorians’ sector of the galaxy.”
“So?” said Sergeant Ron. “The galaxy’s full of anomalies.”
“You’re correct, Sergeant Ron,” agreed Myers, “but this anomaly is special. During my parent’s last mission for ‘the One’–”
Richard drew in a deep breath and glanced at Councilwoman Deloris. Myers caught the movement of his eyes.
“The councilwoman has been fully briefed on ‘the One’ and my parent’s extracurricular activities,” said Myers, “as well as yours.”
So much for secrets, Richard thought.
Ah, yes, the human species and secrets, said Nickelo in their shared space. I sometimes think the only way for a human to keep a secret is to only tell themselves and then pray for amnesia.
“Don’t act so surprised, Rick,” said Councilwoman Deloris. “The Commandant and I were close. We had few secrets between us.”
Hmm, said Nickelo. I wonder how she can say that without her nose growing longer?
Richard understood his battle computer’s analogy. He’d read a book of old Earth nursery stories, so he was familiar with the one about a wooden boy who had a nose which grew in length whenever he told a lie. Richard thought it was a good story.
Too bad noses don’t really grow when someone lies, Richard said into his shared space. As concerned as Councilwoman Deloris is about her looks, I’ve a feeling she’d speak a lot less.
No doubt, giggled Nickelo.
“Is there a point to all this?” said Sergeant Ron. “I’ve got a starship to run.”
“Uh…, yes, Sergeant Ron,” said Myers. “The point is during my parent’s last mission for ‘the One�
��, they stowed away on a black dreadnaught. The crew’s uniforms had insignias of a black dragon with a red stripe down its side.”
Sergeant Ron sat up straight, but he said nothing. Richard noticed the knuckles of Sergeant Ron’s fingers turn white as they clinched the edge of the table.
Myers glanced at Richard. “I suspect you’re missing the relevance of my last statement.”
Richard glanced at Myers. He was curious, but he refused to give his ex-TAC officer the satisfaction of asking him a question. Councilwoman Deloris came to his rescue.
“Forty years ago, the Commandant and Gaston’s mother went on a mission for ‘the One’,” said the councilwoman. “My… father and my mother happened to be in the original Defiant near the Trecorians’ border when they got an encoded message from the central computer. It directed them to pick up survivors in an escape pod a few light years away.”
Councilwoman Deloris looked at her father. They exchanged stares for several heartbeats. Richard was grateful he couldn’t read thoughts. From the glare in each of their eyes and the strain on their faces, Richard figured they were exchanging volumes.
Sergeant Ron was the first to blink. He turned his eyes downward to look at the table. Scratching at the table’s surface with a fingernail, Sergeant Ron took up the story.
“When Sharon…,” he looked at Richard in explanation. “When my wife and I arrived at the coordinates, we located a strange-looking escape pod which was giving off even stranger energy readings. The pod showed signs of heavy fighting. We tried to make contact but failed to get a reply. Since the original Defiant didn’t have a tractor beam, I put on a pressurization suit and went over to check it out. Sharon and the rest of the crew remained in our ship. While I was trying to find a way into the pod, a black dreadnaught materialized nearby and began firing at the Defiant. The dreadnaught had an insignia of a black dragon with a red stripe down its side.”
Sergeant Ron stared up at the ceiling as if lost in his memories. When Councilwoman Deloris cleared her throat, Sergeant Ron looked back at the group and continued his story.
“The Defiant fought back as best she could,” said Sergeant Ron. He shrugged his shoulders. “But she was only a recon ship. Sharon must have decided the only way she could help me was to try and lead the attackers away. I saw the Defiant’s hyper-drive activate as Sharon made a run for it. The black dreadnaught followed her. I never saw either starship again.”
Sergeant Ron’s voice broke. He looked back at the ceiling. Several seconds passed.
“My parents,” said Myers taking up the tale, “told me Sergeant Ron eventually gained entry into the escape pod. My parents were inside in stasis. Sergeant Ron was able to wake them. Between the three of them, they repaired the pod enough to limp to a shipping lane. After they were rescued, Deloris Armaments mounted the largest search and rescue ever recorded. The searchers never found any sign of the black dreadnaught. However, they did find pieces of the Defiant’s wreckage. DNA testing confirmed the deaths of the crew, including Sharon Deloris.”
Richard had a thousand questions running amok in his mind. He didn’t know which one to ask first or even if he should ask any.
I don’t get it, Richard thought into his shared space. I’ve heard Sergeant Ron speak about his wife lots of times. How can she be dead?
Well, I suppose he could have remarried, Nickelo thought back, but I calculate less than a four percent probability of that. However, this would explain why you’ve never seen her. Didn’t you think it strange Sergeant Ron left his wife in order to follow you around for the past year?
Richard had thought it strange, but anytime he brought it up, Sergeant Ron had always turned his question into some kind of joke about his wife being glad to get him out of the house.
But…, Richard thought, he talks about his wife as if she’s alive.
People deal with grief in different ways, said Nickelo. I guess this is Sergeant Ron’s way. Based upon information in my databanks, it’s not a very healthy way to deal with grief, but there it is.
Richard thoughts were brought back to the present.
“How does all this affect us?” Richard said. “I mean…, how does it affect us today?”
“My parents” said Myers, “told me they had stowed away on the black dreadnaught while it was in the magical dimension. They made the mistake of getting locked in a storeroom lined with energized titanium. Somehow, the dreadnaught jumped to the physical dimension. Locked in the storeroom as they were, my parents didn’t see how. However, the Commandant told me they detected a surge of energy before the jump. Eventually, a crewman opened the storeroom, and they made their escape. After sabotaging one of the dreadnaught’s engines, they used one of the ship’s escape pods to get away. Their pod was damaged by anti-ship fire, but they managed to make it to freedom. ‘The One’ ordered them to go into the pod’s cryogenic chamber until help arrived.”
“I still don’t get it,” Richard admitted. “I don’t meant to be unfeeling, but you said this happened forty years ago. How is that pertinent now?”
“The burst of energy sensed by the Commandant and Councilwoman Deluth was similar in frequency to the Power readings from the DNA gas vent at the Academy,” said Councilwoman Deloris.
Richard detected excitement in the councilwoman’s voice. Her eyes had a strange look to them as well.
“So?” Richard asked. He still wasn’t making the connection to current events.
Councilwoman Deloris reached out and grabbed Richard’s hand. “The Imperial High Council received word last month the Trecorians were having problems with pirates in a black dreadnaught.”
Richard noticed Sergeant Ron’s eyes focus on his daughter as she continued speaking.
“Additionally, our spies…, err…, the council received word a Trecorian monitoring station on planet X3321 was picking up an intermittent anomaly nearby registering a frequency which was also similar to the DNA gas vent.”
Richard’s mind was slow sometimes, but even he could put one plus one together on occasion. The pieces started falling together.
“So, are you telling me,” Richard asked,” that my mission on planet X3321 was to obtain information about this anomaly?”
When the councilwoman didn’t reply fast enough, Richard said, “I almost got killed. Why the hell didn’t you just ask the Trecorians? Why risk my life? And why me?”
“Why you?” said Myers. “Because I told the councilwoman you were the best. And, the council didn’t ask them directly because there’s a spy in our system somewhere. Which I’m guessing is why you walked into a trap.”
Richard was angry and growing angrier. He was supposed to be working for the Empire. Now he’d just found out he’d almost lost his life on a private mission for Councilwoman Deloris. He let his feelings be known. When he was done ranting, the room was quiet for several seconds.
“Rick,” said Councilwoman Deloris. “I’ll admit I have a vested interest in locating a new DNA gas vent, but the benefits would be for everyone. If we could discover a new DNA vent, maybe the Academy could be reopened. Think about it.”
Doubtful, came Nickelo’s thought. She was trying to close down the Academy last year before the DNA gas vent was even destroyed if you remember.
Richard did remember.
“So you think the anomaly is a new DNA gas vent?” Richard said.
“No,” answered Myers. When Richard started to speak, his ex-TAC officer held up his hand to stop him. “But…, we do believe it may be a lead to another vent. That’s why the Imperial High Council approved your transfer to Trecor. You failed to get the required information last time. If you’re embedded with them, you may be able to find out something pertinent.”
“So you do want me to be a spy?” Richard said. The disgust dripped from his words.
“No, of course not,” Councilwoman Deloris assured him. “You’re there to help with their training. However, if you should happen to find something out about the anomaly, well…”
“What about the black dreadnaught?” Sergeant Ron asked. He’d remained silent during most of the conversation. “How does it fit in?”
“As you well know… Father,” said Councilwoman Deloris, “the pirate’s black dreadnaught hasn’t been spotted for decades. Our informants tell us Trecorian survivors from an ore convoy were attacked by the Balorian pirates. The survivors reported a black dreadnaught with a dragon insignia accompanied their attackers.”
“The black dreadnaught gave off energy readings similar to the DNA gas vent as well,” said Myers. “If Shepard can’t find anything out about the anomaly, perhaps he can discover something about our mysterious black dreadnaught. My battle computer calculates a sixty-seven percent probability it may lead us to another DNA gas vent.”
“Why us?” Richard said. “Why not some of your Conglomerate stooges?” Looking directly at Myers, Richard added, “And why me? You’re a wizard scout. Why don’t you go?”
Myers’ eyes flashed anger, and his face turned red. Richard noticed Myers bite his lip in an effort to remain silent.
“Rick,” said Councilwoman Deloris before Myers lost control. “Gaston wanted to go. But you’re the best rounded wizard scout the Empire has. You possess all of the specialized skills. Since we don’t know what we’re facing, we don’t know what skills may be needed.”
Richard took the councilwoman’s praise with a grain of salt. She was a politician after all.
“And also because of you, Father,” said Councilwoman Deloris. “We all know how obsessed you are with that black dreadnaught.”
Wizard Omega (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 4) Page 20
