Although Richard wasn’t sure about the accuracy of his battle computer’s analysis, he was a hundred percent sure he didn’t want to face another demon. “Then I guess we’re screwed. We need to get to the engine room. I can see the energy output of the hyper-drive on my passive scan, but I can’t go meandering around this maze of hallways trying to get there. We need a schematic of this ship.”
“I know, and we’re going to get it,” said Nickelo, who was beginning to sound more confident. “We just can’t let Zenthra know we’re getting it.”
“Then how?” Richard said trying to prod his battle computer into giving a direct answer. Even though their conversation was taking place at near nanosecond speed, they still didn’t have time to dawdle. As the master computer, the demon would be thinking at nanosecond speed also.
“If we work together,” said Nickelo, “I believe we have a seventy-two percent probability of breaking into the ship’s computers enough to get what we need. I can take care of the logic and emotion if you deal with the magic. We just need to be careful.”
Richard immediately began forming an active scan. He’d much rather try something than stand around discussing options. “You’re better at this than I am. I’m giving you control of my scan. Lead the way, and I’ll follow along.”
“Compliance, oh greatest of wizard scouts.”
Richard followed along as his battle computer directed his scan. Before long, he sensed the scan begin touching the flows of energy moving throughout the ship. Within the space of two nanoseconds, they found the ship’s security firewall. Like his previous encounter with three-way security during the attack at the Academy, he sensed a tangled knot of energy. Sections of it kept moving and changing shape.
“That’s the magic part,” said Nickelo.
Richard mentally nodded his head. “No kidding. I figured that one out for myself. This isn’t my first rodeo, you know.”
“Hmm,” said Nickelo. “I’ve got a feeling I’m going to regret giving you a copy of my book on Cute Sayings and Slang of 20th through 21st Century America. They’re not nearly as funny when you say them.”
Richard remained quiet in order not to get caught in a banter session with his battle computer. Unlike his friend, he wasn’t able to allocate separate logic threads to handle multiple things at once. At least not when he was trying to do something as complicated as unraveling magic-based computer security.
Concentrating on the task at hand, he followed the twists and turns of the magic in the security program while ignoring the non-magic parts. Its apparent movement slowed as his mind replicated its moves. Before long, the magic appeared to stop altogether. Once it did, he sensed what it was doing. He fed the results into the part of his mind shared with his battle computer.
“I still can’t make heads or tails out of it,” said Nickelo.
“Then we’ve failed?” Richard asked.
“Negative,” said Nickelo. “I’m going to merge the data you’re sending with my analysis of the logic and emotions. Just give me a couple more nanoseconds.”
Merged as he was with his battle computer for the scan, Richard’s mind was also operating at nanosecond speed. “Too bad I can’t think this fast all the time.”
“You’d get bored,” said Nickelo. “Trust me. I do.”
In point of fact, Richard was already getting bored. His battle computer was correct in that thinking at nanosecond speed had its pitfalls. The wait for his friend to use the information to create a hacking program was becoming interminable. Bored, Richard let his mind drift. He sensed the hundreds of computers in the destroyer’s network processing mountains of data as they calculated optimum attack angles to use against the Defiant. He also sensed something else. Something he’d sensed before. It was the taint of demon essence.
The demon essence was faint, but it was there nevertheless. As he concentrated on the area around him, Richard sensed the demon essence begin to stir as if something was drawing its interest.
“Hurry, Nick. I don’t think we’ve got much time. I think the demon’s starting to suspect something’s amiss.”
Richard sensed data beginning to enter his shared space. Part of it was a schematic of the ship with a green path marking the quickest way to the engine room.
“Drop your scan, Rick. You’re at sixty-one percent Power in your reserve. You may need every bit of it before this battle’s over.”
As soon as he dropped his active scan, Richard’s mind reverted back to normal speed and his focus fell to Felspar, still waiting for an answer to his question.
“Follow me,” Richard ordered. “Keep it as quiet as possible. The farther we get before an alarm sounds, the better.”
Before he’d taken more than a couple of steps down the hall, Richard stopped and turned back to the dwarves. “Try not to get a hole in your power-armor. You’re going to need it in one piece before we leave.”
Felspar hefted his battle-axe. “We’ll do our best, but I’m thinking it’s going to be easier said than done. Those bats may not cooperate. Besides, we have to get close to use our hand weapons. If you’d bothered to tell us more of your plan before we left the Defiant, we’d have brought range weapons.”
“Yeah,” said Storis. “Crossbows with magic quarrels would’ve been nice.”
Richard nodded his head. He knew both dwarves were right, but then he hadn’t really known exactly what his plan was going to be before they’d left. That had limited how much he could’ve explained. Since he didn’t have any crossbows on him at the moment, Richard figured the dwarves would just have to do the best they could with what they had.
Nickelo sent a suggestion into their shared space. “You could always summon range weapons from your pack.”
“It’d be a waste of energy, Nick. Normal crossbows and quarrels wouldn’t do squat against power-armor. You know that as well as me. I can’t summon magic items from my pack. Fortunately, I’ve got something better than an old-fashioned crossbow.”
While continuing to run down the hall, Richard removed his 9mm pistol from its shoulder holster and attached the silencer to the end of the barrel.
Nickelo sent a feeling of approval. “That gives you seventeen shots.”
As soon as Richard turned the first corner in the hallway, he saw two human mercenaries wearing orange jumpsuits walking his way. They were both carrying holstered sidearms. The mercenaries caught sight of them at the same time. The mercenaries turned to run back the way they’d come while simultaneously fumbling to extract their handguns. Richard put a 9mm slug in the back of each man’s head. A twinge of regret passed over him, but he did his best to ignore it. He didn’t like killing needlessly, but the humans had been part of the destroyer’s crew. The ship was trying to kill his friends. If he had to kill every member of the crew to protect his friends, then he’d do so.
“You had to kill them, Rick. Even if they hadn’t been armed, they’d still have sounded the alarm. I calculate your best course of action is to kill anyone you meet before they can alert others of your presence. Besides, if your plan works, everyone on this ship’s going to be dead in a few minutes anyway.”
Richard jumped over the bodies of the two mercenaries and began running toward another corner in the hallway. “I know I had to stop them. I wish there’d been another way besides putting a hole in their heads. Why are humans on this ship anyway?”
“No idea,” replied Nickelo. “However, you should be grateful there are. The Crosioians operate on sonic senses. With humans onboard, it looks like they’ve had to mark key components on their ship with visual as well as sonic markings. That’s why there are lights in the hall.”
“I don’t need lights. I’ve got my battle helmet.”
“True,” agreed Nickelo, “but if your visor gets damaged in a fight, I calculate you’ll be grateful for the lights. Remember when you had to fight in the dark during your first mission for ‘the One’?”
Richard remembered all too well.
Conti
nuing to follow the green path on his heads-up display, Richard ran toward a set of stairs leading down into the bowels of the ship. He sensed a dozen life forms at the bottom of the stairs. With no time to consult the dwarves, Richard dove down the stairs, straight into a squad of Crosioian marines. They were all in power-armor and armed to the teeth. As he fell, Richard snapped off two shots from his 9mm at the armored head of the nearest bat creature. The metal slugs bounced off.
“Did you really think that was going to work?” asked Nickelo. “Your 9mm is for soft targets. These marines are wearing heavy armor. Even a plasma round would have to hit a weak spot in a joint to penetrate.”
Richard landed on a marine with a full-body block, sending both the Crosioian and him tumbling to the metal deck. Richard came up swinging with his phase rod in full-destructive mode. He caught one of the bat creatures in the metallic joint near the base of her neck. The phase rod bounced off the tough armor, but not before the phase energy penetrated to her spinal column. The sub-atomic explosions of phase energy turned the spine and nerves into a mixture of dust and blood. At the same time, he sensed the demon essence inside his phase rod suck out the life force of the creature.
Switching directions with his phase rod, Richard swung at a nearby marine. The bat creature was trying to bring her plasma rifle in line with a dwarf’s back. The phase rod hit the bat’s rifle and broke it in half. The rifle exploded. The blast of plasma energy flung both the marine and Richard in opposite directions. Richard was up in a flash swinging his phase rod at anything in range.
The area below the stairs turned into a jumble of armored bodies and plasma rounds as Crosioians and dwarves began firing at each other. Alarms began sounding throughout the ship.
“Well, so much for surprise,” said Nickelo.
Richard was busy dodging all the plasma beams and balls of magic crisscrossing around him. He sensed more than saw one of the marines aiming a weapon at his back. Throwing up a hasty defensive shield behind him, he angled it toward the ceiling just as the marine fired a burst of plasma rounds. The rounds ricocheted upwards and hit the ceiling before bouncing back down. Several of the plasma rounds hit one of the Crosioian marines in the chest. One of the high-energy rounds must have found a weak spot in the marine’s armor because Richard sensed the round tear through the bat creature’s heart.
“You were lucky,” said Nickelo as if he was commenting on something as casual as the weather. “Those rounds could just as easily have hit a member of your own security team.”
Richard started to swing his phase rod at the head of another marine, but Felspar beat him to it. With a mighty stroke of his battle-axe, the dwarf sent the armored head of the bat creature flying through the air. The head hit a wall and clattered to the floor below.
“Sharp axe,” Richard commented to his battle computer. “The Crosioians’ power-armor is nearly as tough as my battle suit.”
“What’d you expect?” asked Nickelo. “Sergeant Hendricks spent more than two months coating the dwarves’ weapons with titanium. Once he installed some of those blue gems you found for ‘the One’ in the handles of their weapons, they became very dangerous.”
“So I see. I guess those spells Comstar and the gnomes added to the creallium edges didn’t hurt either.”
“No doubt,” replied Nickelo.
Looking around for a new target, all Richard saw were a half-dozen dwarves and a silver dragon standing in the middle of the lifeless bodies of a dozen bloody and battered Crosioian marines. Bright Wing was still gripping a marine in her mouth. She shook her head from side to side in a manner similar to a dog killing a rat. The dragon must have noticed him watching her because she gave the dead marine a final shake before letting the body drop to the floor. The sound of the heavy armor hitting the metal deck echoed through the now quiet hall.
Richard noticed the sudden silence. “The alarms have stopped. Why?”
“I calculate a ninety-two percent probability the ship’s commander figures his crew already knows something’s up,” replied Nickelo. “Why bother continuing to sound an alarm?”
Richard sensed two lines of Power snaking out in his direction. He reached out with a line of his own Power and knocked one of the lines aside. The second line unsuccessfully tried probing his Power reserve before withdrawing. Nothing indicating the owners of the lines of Power showed up on Richard’s passive scan. He turned in the direction the lines of Power had come from expecting to see a couple of magic users. Although mages could be tough when they were at a distance, he had a feeling they wouldn’t last long in the confined space of the hallway. Plus, he had his security team and Bright Wing to back him up.
Richard completed his turn and saw who was standing in a side hall. “Damn it.”
Located only a few meters down the hall were two of the bat-winged Crosioians wearing the black armor of scouts. Both of the scouts carried short-stabbing spears with glowing points of phase energy. They also held plasma rifles, which were leveled at Richard and the dwarves. Neither the scouts nor their phase spears registered on Richard’s passive scan.
“Hmmm,” said Nickelo. “The last thing you need is Crosioian scouts. They’ve got stealth shields up. I’m not picking up either of them with my sensors. They’re not amateurs.”
Felspar and two of the other dwarves started to move toward the scouts with their weapons raised.
Waving the dwarves back, Richard shouted, “No! They’re scouts. You can’t take them.”
“I’m not scared of—” began Felspar.
“I said no,” Richard repeated in a much harsher tone than he’d used the first time. He wasn’t scared of the scouts either, but he was respectful of their abilities. Whenever he’d fought teams of Crosioian scouts in the past, he’d always had the help of the dolgars or another wizard scout. He wasn’t sure if he could handle two at once by himself. However, he was very sure the dwarves weren’t a match for them. His security team would fight valiantly, but he knew they’d be dead within thirty seconds of the start of any fight.
“But—” argued Felspar.
“No buts,” Richard said. “Get Bright Wing to the engine room. That’s an order.”
“You can’t take two scouts on by yourself,” Nickelo said in a voice that sounded almost like a plea for sanity. “Let the dwarves help you. Some of them might survive. I calculate a forty-three percent probability you can beat the scouts if the dwarves and Bright Wing help.”
“I stay with you, brother,” said Bright Wing.
Richard sent back an emotion that meant ‘no.’
“I need you to go with Felspar and the others. You’ve got to overload the ship’s hyper-drive.”
Sensing angry emotions building within the dragon, Richard cut off any pending defiance with a series of emotions of his own. “I’m depending on you, sister,” Richard told her. “I’ll be along shortly.”
When Bright Wing continued to hesitate, Richard resorted to her sense of honor. “You told me you owed me your life for rescuing you from the Dragars. I’m asking you now to do what I say. Please.”
The dragon turned and began running down the hall toward the engine room. The dwarves were hot on her heels. Surprisingly, neither of the Crosioians attempted to fire at the retreating dwarves or try to stop them.
“You’re him,” said a metallic-sounding voice from a translator attached to one of the scouts’ waist belts.
“All of our scouts have been given your Power frequency,” said the second scout who happened to be the larger of the two. “We can smell traces of your Power on the short ones. Great honor will go to the one who takes your head.”
“The honor will be mine,” said the smaller scout. “Your head will go well with the others on my trophy wall.”
“No,” said the larger scout. “I’ll tend to this one. You must stop the short ones before they damage the ship’s engine.”
“I smelled this one first,” argued the smaller scout. “The honor shall be—”
The larger scout spread her wings in a display of authority. “I gave an order. You will obey.”
The smaller scout made hissing sounds. The translator made a series of unintelligible screeches. Richard assumed even its advanced electronics wasn’t able to interpret whatever curse words the Crosioian was uttering. Despite her apparent bravado, the smaller scout meekly turned to follow Bright Wing and the security team. Richard had a feeling the scout would have no trouble overtaking and killing them. He knew he wouldn’t if the situation was reversed.
“She’ll kill them all before Bright Wing can do her part,” warned Nickelo. “You’re committed now. You’ve got to keep both scouts here.”
“How?” Richard asked. “I seriously doubt asking politely will do the trick.”
His battle computer remained silent. Richard knew it meant Nickelo couldn’t come up with a logical plan with better than a five percent probability of success.
Fine, Richard thought. If there’s no logical way, then I’ll have to try something emotional.
“Coward!” Richard yelled at the back of the smaller scout. “You’re just like all the other scouts I’ve killed over the years. You talk big, but I can smell the fear that causes you to run away. Any heads on your trophy wall are probably from old women and children.”
In a motion too fast to follow, the scout spun and raised her plasma rifle to fire.
“He’s baiting you, fool,” said the larger scout. “Do as I ordered. Stop the others. I’ll deal with this human.”
The smaller scout hesitated but didn’t turn to leave. Richard noticed the end of her rifle barrel shaking slightly. He’d hit a nerve.
Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5) Page 11
