But from the look on Tia’s face, he had a feeling she was already plotting her revenge.
The only person in the room who looked unhappier than Tia was Sergeant Hendricks.
When Sergeant Hendricks accompanied Richard back to his room, the armorer half-jokingly said, “Heck. I could’ve retired to a life of luxury with my winnings.”
“You know it was a little on the cheating side,” Richard said. “I’m a wizard scout, after all.”
Sergeant Hendricks laughed. “Yes, you are. And now everyone in the regiment knows it as well.”
“Fat lot of good that’ll do,” Richard said with a hint of bitterness.
Based upon previous experience, he’d found it rarely did any good to flaunt his wizard scout abilities. But damn it, they made me mad with that coward talk.
Richard knew his line of thinking was childish. He also knew his battle computer would be lecturing him about it even now if he were here. Richard shrugged the thought off. He was what he was. Any further conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Come on in,” said Sergeant Hendricks in a friendly voice. “My casa is your casa.”
Richard thought his armorer was awfully free with his invitation considering it wasn’t his room. But Richard actually didn’t mind all that much. His passive scan had already told him there were two people outside. From their Power frequencies, he knew who one of the visitors was. And, he had a good hunch about the identity of the second visitor based upon similarities in frequencies.
The door to the room opened. Tia walked in followed by a young boy of about twelve years of age. He was dressed in a blue mechanic’s uniform with the comet insignia of the cat squadron on his chest.
“Oh, you already have a visitor,” said Tia looking a little embarrassed. “We’ll come back another time.”
“Hold on there,” said Sergeant Hendricks as Tia and the boy turned to leave. “I’m just a fly on the wall. Don’t mind me.”
“Well…,” said Tia looking at Richard. “It wasn’t all that important. I just wanted to introduce my brother to you. This is Daniel.”
Looking at her brother, Tia said, “Daniel, this is Wizard Scout Richard Shepard.”
“Hello, Daniel,” Richard said trying his best to sound unintimidating.
The boy looked down at the floor. Richard didn’t blame the young lad for being a little hesitant. The last time they’d met, Richard had scrambled half of the boy’s intestines with his phase rod.
No one said anything for several seconds. In an attempt to break the ice, Richard said, “Daniel, I’d be honored if you’d call me, Rick. All my friends do, don’t they Tia?”
“Yes,” said Tia. “And even some people who aren’t all that friendly with you. I don’t think it was fair what you did to my teammates and me. I haven’t quite decided whether we’re friends or not.”
“Well, I think of you as a friend, Tia,” Richard said trying to mend any fences before they were totally broken down. “And, Daniel, I’m sorry I hurt you before. I really am. If it’s any consolation, your sister broke my nose and knocked out one of my teeth.”
The boy looked up at Richard’s remark. “Liz told me about it. She said you’re lucky she wasn’t really mad.”
Richard gave a slight smile. He was grateful for being lucky as well. He knew Liz could be extremely vicious if she were of a mind. Daniel returned Richard’s smile with a tight-lipped one of his own. Richard had a feeling all was forgiven.
“I’m sure you two know this old space-dog,” Richard said pointing at Sergeant Hendricks.
“Oh, yes,” said Daniel in a voice Richard took as semi-controlled excitement. “You’re the famous, crazed, escaped-convict from Diajor. My father says you’re the only person to ever escape from the prison. Did you know the Empire has set a two hundred thousand credit bounty for your return dead or alive?”
Sergeant Hendricks laughed. “That much, huh? If that’s the case, then heck, I’m tempted to turn myself in just to collect the reward.”
Tia and Daniel looked at Sergeant Hendricks as if trying to figure out whether he was serious. When the armorer smiled, Tia and Daniel broke out in laughter. Sergeant Hendricks and Richard joined in. Richard gave a sigh of relief. He was pretty sure the fences were mended.
“I’m glad you’re here, Tia,” Richard said. “How proficient at Power usage are you, if you don’t mind my asking? You’ve got access to a large Power reserve.” Looking at her brother, he added, “And you do too, Daniel. You’re both linked to the same Power reserve as Liz.”
“Proficient?” said Tia. “I’m good at bongo if that’s what you mean. So is Daniel, and so was Liz.”
“Is bongo all you use your telekinesis for?” Richard asked.
Richard had noticed earlier a high percentage of the regiment had access to Power reserves, but he hadn’t pursued the matter. He’d figured it had nothing to do with his mission. But after watching the game of bongo, he wasn’t so sure. Richard wished he’d gotten the chance to talk to Liz about it before she’d left. Liz had been a wizard scout cadet the same as he until she’d been forced to D.F.R. out of the Academy. He was certain Liz could give him the information he needed much better than her siblings. But she was already gone.
“What else would we use it for?” said Tia with a questioning look on her face. “All it’s good for is moving around a bongo ball.”
“Why?” asked Daniel who seemed more interested in the subject than his sister. “Is something wrong?”
Richard shook his head no.
“Of course not. I was just curious. I’m just surprised the Empire hasn’t tried to recruit more of you. They pretty much stripped everyone in the Empire with even a meager Power reserve during the last couple of years.”
Richard paused as he remembered the battle at the Velos’ spaceport the previous year. When the Crosioian dreadnaught had crashed into the spaceport, part of it had broken off and landed on the barrack’s complex used by the pre-Academy cadets. The loss of life had been horrendous. Only a few of the pre-Academy cadets had survived.
“Most of the Empire’s potential recruits for the wizard scout corps were killed last year,” Richard explained. “Quite a few of the soldiers in the 147th could easily qualify for wizard scout training.”
“We’re Trecorians,” said Tia a little harshly. “We’re not some breeding ground for the Empire. Your government tries often enough to lure our best soldiers away. Most of us tell them to stick their head in a supernova.”
Considering her sister was a commodore with the Empire’s navy, Richard was surprised at Tia’s response. He’d assumed Tia would consider it an honor to be thought good enough to become a wizard scout. Apparently, he was wrong.
“Why do you mention it, uh…, Rick?” said Daniel. “There isn’t even an Academy anymore. Everyone knows the era of the wizard scout is over.”
Not everybody, Richard thought. I don’t think that.
“True, there’s no Academy now,” Richard admitted. “However, there could be again in the future. We just need to find another source of DNA gas.”
“Why?” said Daniel sounding surprisingly bitter. “So wizard scouts can continue to keep the secret of eternal youth to themselves?”
“What?” Richard said taken aback by Daniel’s response. “The average life expectancy of a wizard scout is five years after graduation. That’s hardly a perk.”
“Yeah,” said Tia getting back into the conversation. “But for the ones who do make it past those five years, they might stay young for another eighty years. Terrie is forty-two years old, but he still looks like he’s in his twenties. He once told me he might live another sixty or seventy years.”
Holding up her hand before Richard could speak, Tia said, “Don’t get me wrong. I like Terrie. But when I’m an old lady forced to get around in a hover-chair, Terrie will still be running around in the body of a twenty-eight year old. That’s a hard pill for a lot of people to swallow.”
&
nbsp; “Terrie’s disabled,” Richard said. “His Power reserve was damaged last year. He can never be an active-duty wizard scout again, you know.”
“So?” said Daniel. “A lot of people would risk dying in five years if they had a chance to stay young for the next seventy or eighty years. Isn’t that why you volunteered?”
The double attack from the children was a little daunting to Richard. He’d often suspected a lot of strangers were at least unconsciously jealous of the seeming Fountain of Youth reserved for wizard scouts during the last eight hundred years. Richard wished Terrie was here to help him navigate through the treacherous asteroid belt he suddenly found himself in.
“Actually,” Richard said in answer to the boy’s question. “I didn’t volunteer. I was escorted to a starship by armed guards and sent to Velos for training; no questions asked.”
“You could have left,” Tia pointed out. “Don’t tell me avoiding the ordeal of old age didn’t play some part in your staying.”
Richard had a sudden, burning desire for his battle computer. Participating in philosophical discussions on the good and bad points of youthful longevity was not something he enjoyed or was good at. Richard wasn’t entirely sure of his motives for remaining at the Academy. However, he was pretty sure semi-eternal youth hadn’t played a major role in his decision.
“Actually, Tia, I’m not sure I had a choice,” Richard said. “My life is… complicated. But, I don’t think a long life was a deciding factor in not trying to leave. You can either believe that or not.”
Neither of the children seemed convinced.
“Well, anyway…,” Richard said in an attempt to get the conversation back on track. “That’s not my original point. I was curious about the extent of your abilities with Power. Haven’t you tried training them? Heck, as far as I can tell, a lot of the soldiers in our regiment have access to Power reserves a whole lot larger than mine.”
Tia looked at the floor as if seeking the right words before answering. Richard waited patiently, which even he had to admit was unusual. After a few seconds, Tia spoke.
“You should probably talk to Terrie about it,” said Tia. “He’s a wizard scout after all. I can’t speak for everyone, but my abilities are limited to bongo. I’ve tried moving objects heavier than a bongo ball, but it never works.”
Richard was well aware most people with Power reserves required training to fully use their abilities. He’d been a rare exception in that he’d been able to levitate objects and work with energy flows as an untrained child. He’d always assumed at least some others could as well. Now he wasn’t so sure.
“Surely some people do more with their Power than use it to play some silly game,” Richard insisted. The reddening faces of Tia and Daniel let Richard know he’d used a poor choice of words.
“What’s wrong with bongo?” said Daniel sounding more than a little affronted. “It has an important role in the Alliance. Wars between Alliance members have been averted due to bongo.”
“Wars?” Richard said amused at the exaggeration of children.
“He’s not kidding, Rick,” said Sergeant Hendricks apparently jumping to the children’s defense. “Once I found out about the…, uh…, financial possibilities of bongo, I did some research. The politics of the Alliance is a strange beast. Without a war-king, the member planets are free to ignore directions of the Alliance’s governing body of dukes and duchesses. When major disputes arise between planets in the Alliance, they are sometimes settled by a game of bongo.”
“You’re kidding,” Richard said. “What kind of silly system is that?”
The glares from Tia and Daniel told Richard he’d made another poor choice of words.
I really wish Nick was here, Richard thought.
“Actually,” said Sergeant Hendricks, “I think it beats the hell out of blowing each other to bits. A lot of people would say settling differences with war is a silly system.”
Richard shrugged his shoulders and admitted defeat. He couldn’t argue against all three of them. Besides, he hated conversations which required a lot of thinking on his part. He much preferred action to words.
“Fine,” Richard said. “I stand corrected. And I think I’ll take your advice, Tia. I will talk to Terrie about it.”
Chapter 27 – Brachia
_____________________________________
The twenty-second day after Jeena left Silverton found her standing in front of a shimmering wall of energy. It was unlike any magic she’d ever encountered. The energy felt alien to her. A hundred paces beyond the wall of energy, Jeena saw the dark entrance to the Oracle’s compound.
“So how am I supposed to get in?” Jeena wondered aloud. “No one bothered to give me a word of passage.”
Reaching out with her hand, Jeena touched the shimmering wall of energy. It looked like magic, but it didn’t feel like magic. Jeena frowned. She pondered its source.
“It seems similar to the frequency of the Power in the gem on the Lady’s staff,” Jeena said.
On impulse, Jeena touched the tip of the Lady’s staff to the wall of energy. Blue ripples of Power shot out in all directions along the length of the energy-wall as it responded to the touch of the staff. Jeena drew the staff back and waited. She didn’t have to wait long.
Within five minutes, a small figure walked through the entrance of the Oracle’s compound in her direction. As the figure drew closer, Jeena realized the figure was a human boy. If he’d been a high elf, Jeena would have guessed his age at about 140. After doing a rough calculation in her head, she estimated the boy was about seven in human years.
“Hello,” said the boy as he stopped on the other side of the wall of energy.
“Hello,” Jeena replied politely.
Unlike the other humans Jeena had encountered on her journey, the boy didn’t give off waves of emotion. She could sense his aura, but his emotions weren’t unfettered; they were controlled.
“I’m here to see the Oracle,” Jeena said trying to prod the young boy into fetching someone in authority. “It’s urgent I see him.”
“I know,” replied the boy with an infectious smile. “The Oracle sent me to meet you.”
The boy pulled a mask of some kind out of a bag at his waist and put it over his eyes. The device reminded Jeena of the goggles some elves put over their eyes to protect them when they were swimming.
“Oh,” said the boy sounding surprised. “You’re an elf. That’s a very good spell you have. Did you do it? Can you do it to others? Can you teach me how to do it? I’d like to turn Dren into an old woman. I think that’d be funny. Wouldn’t it, Omar?”
“Whatever you say, captain,” said a strange sounding voice.
Jeena looked around. She saw no one besides the small boy.
“Uh…, who’s Dren?” Jeena asked ignoring the disembodied voice for the moment.
“Dren’s my sister,” said the boy. “She used to be fun, but not anymore. All she wants to do is work.”
As Jeena tried to process the boy’s words, he suddenly lost his boyish attitude and spoke in a manner well beyond his years.
“My name is Brachia, fair maiden,” said the boy. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
The boy looked at Jeena for a moment, and then he switched back to his boyish mannerism.
“You’re beautiful,” said Brachia. “What’s your name? Are you married?”
Although she was in a hurry to meet the Oracle, Jeena didn’t want to hurt the inquisitive boy’s feelings. Because elves had so few children, all children were precious to them, even children of other races. For that reason, in addition to the innocent smile on the boy’s face, Jeena took the time to reply patiently.
“Thank you, Captain Brachia,” Jeena said as she performed the best curtsy her old body could handle. “My name is Jeehanathoraxen. I’m a priestess of the Lady of the Tree. And, no, I’m not what you humans would call married.”
“Good,” said Brachia grinning. “I’m not married either, err…
Jehan… err…”
Jeena returned Brachia’s smile. “It is a rather large name for someone so small. Perhaps it would be better if you called me, Jeehana. That’s my friend name.”
“Jeehana,” said Brachia as if mulling the name over. “Yes, I like that name much better. And you’re not married. That’s good.”
“Oh?” Jeena said with a smile. “Are you looking for a wife, Brachia? Perhaps you should consider waiting a few years before making such a drastic move.”
“Oh, not me,” laughed Brachia. “I’m only seven, silly. But I was thinking of–”
The disembodied voice which had spoken earlier interrupted the boy. “Your sister says less talk and more walk, my captain. She said the Oracle is waiting.”
“Oh,” said Brachia sounding a little embarrassed. He flashed a grin at Jeena.
“Watch this, Jeehana. This is cool.”
Straightening up and speaking in a formal voice, Brachia said, “You may enter the home of the Oracle, fair Jeehana, as long as your intentions are pure.”
The shield in front of Jeena shimmered slightly, and she sensed a change in the flow of energy. When the boy waved his hand to beckon her forward, Jeena stepped through the energized wall. As she did so, a warm tingle passed through her body. With the tingle, Jeena felt her back straighten. She looked at her left hand where she grasped the staff. Her wrinkles were gone. She was young again. The polymorph spell was broken. Jeena noticed the illusion spell Master Jathar had placed on the Staff of the Lady of the Tree was gone as well.
Once Jeena was past the wall of energy, Brachia removed his googles. Jeena noticed the boy’s eyes widen as he looked at her true form for the first time. The boy smiled shyly.
“Uh…, I could tell you were beautiful,” said Brachia. “But I had no idea how beautiful. Everything was a little blurred through the true-form goggles. You’re only the second elf I’ve ever met. The other elf was a male. He was mean. He tried to kill my sister and me.”
The boy looked closely at Jeena as if evaluating her. “I think you’re a nice elf.”
Wizard Omega (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 4) Page 29
