“I’ll teach you to try and steal my wife. Draw your phase rod, sir. I’ll teach you a lesson you won’t soon forget.”
Richard had no intention of fighting his father. He raised his hands. Before he could speak, he heard the swish of a phase rod activating. A split second later, his mother was standing in front of him with her phase rod at the ready. Richard noticed it was in stun mode.
“Don’t be a fool,” said Janice. “I’ve had it with you and your temper. Rick and I were consoling each other.”
Anger continued to flash in the commandant’s eyes. “Out of the way, Janice. He’s a man. He wasn’t trying to console you. I’ll teach him to—”
Wham!
In a movement so fast Richard was barely able to follow, his mother slammed her phase rod down on his father’s right wrist.
Crack!
The sound of breaking bone made Richard involuntarily flinch. While his mother’s phase rod might be in stun mode, its brerellium shaft along with its creallium core was heavy enough to do a lot of damage.
To his father’s credit, he didn’t scream. His phase rod flew down the tunnel chipping pieces of stone off the floor as it went.
Thomas gritted his teeth as he held his shattered wrist. “Now wait a minute, Janice. This is between me and—”
Janice whirled and made a backhanded swing at the commandant’s left leg.
Crack.
Down went Richard’s father. This time, Thomas did let out a high pitched groan. “Argh.”
Richard was unsure what to do. A part of him wanted to intervene. He started to move, but a glance from his mother warned him back. He withdrew until he felt the stone of the tunnel’s wall against his back.
“Wise decision,” said Nickelo. “Otherwise, you’re liable to be lying on the floor along with your father. Besides, his healing reserve’s already repairing his injuries. I calculate a ninety-eight percent probability your mother will keep her attacks to nonlethal ones. I’ve got a feeling this little confrontation has been brewing for a while.”
As Richard watched, his father leveraged himself up with his good arm until he was able to lean against the wall of the tunnel.
“What are you doing, woman? Have you gone crazy?”
“Me?” asked Janice with anger dripping from every syllable. “Yes, I’m crazy. I’ve warned you, Thomas. I’ve taken all of your temper I’m going to take. You’ve crossed the line. I’m done. You hear me? I’m done!”
“Hmm,” said Nickelo. “I calculate your mother has some temper issues of her own. I guess you get yours honestly.”
“Hush, Nick,” Richard said. Although his mother’s voice held an angry edge, he didn’t think the tears streaming down her face were from anger.
The commandant held out both hands before him in a stopping motion as he hobbled a couple of steps away from the wall.
“Good self-heal,” observed Nickelo. “Your father’s healing ability appears to be much faster than yours. I calculate your arm would only be half-healed by now.”
Richard ignored his battle computer. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but somehow his innocent hug had triggered a landmine. He was tempted to make a hasty retreat, but at the same time, he didn’t want to draw attention to himself.
“Janice,” said Thomas. “You can’t mean that. You’re tired. You need to—”
“You’re right, Thomas, I am tired,” said Janice. “I’m tired of your temper. I’m tired of never knowing when I’m going to get jerked away from my family to do some Creator-forsaken mission for ‘the One.’”
“But our missions are important,” said the commandant. “We’re time-commandos. We have a responsibility.”
As Richard continued watching, the phase rod dropped out of his mother’s grasp. She buried her face in her hands. Her chest heaved, but her sobs were barely audible. His father looked as if he wanted to hold his wife but at the same time, like he feared any action would start a new round of attacks.
After a few seconds, Janice removed her hands from her face and looked at her husband through reddened eyes. “Do you know what I was doing when ‘the One’ teleported us on this mission?”
“Uh…, you were in our home on Risors, the same as me.”
“No,” said Janice. “Not the same as you. I was upstairs putting our son to bed. I was reading him a story. He’d just given me the biggest smile when…, when…”
“It’s all right, Janice. He’ll understand. I’ve explained it to him.”
“He’s six years old. Believe me. He doesn’t understand. He needs his mother at home. He needs his father.”
“But our missions are important,” protested Thomas. “The fate of three gal—”
“Our son is important too,” said Janice. “Our marriage is important. I can’t keep this up any longer. I’ve been doing missions for ‘the One’ for three centuries. For what? They never end. They just keep coming. I’m tired, Thomas.” Her voice broke, and the tears came. “I’m tired to the point of death.”
This time, Richard’s father did step next to his wife and wrap his arms around her. “Janice. Please don’t say things like that. I…, I couldn’t live without you. I wouldn’t want to live without you.”
“What about our son? Can you stop these missions? Can you guarantee ‘the One’ will leave us alone and let us give our son a normal life?”
“You know I can’t. As long as our Power reserves are whole, ‘the One’ will send us on missions. There’s nothing we can do about it, my love. I swear, I wish to the Creator we could spend the rest of our lives as a family with our son, but we can’t. There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m sorry, Janice. I’m so sorry.”
Until that moment, Richard’s mother had been keeping her arms hanging at her side. She suddenly raised them and embraced her husband, and buried her head in his shoulder. Between sobs, she said, “I wish to the Creator I’d never been born with a Power reserve. I hate this life. I want my son.”
Richard slowly edged his way backward until he got around a corner of the tunnel. His last view of his parents was of them standing in the middle of the tunnel holding onto each other.
The sound of sobs followed Richard as he made his way down the tunnel. Not all of the sobs sounded like they were feminine.
Chapter 41 – The Elf and the Defiant
____________________
Jeena whispered a low-level shield spell. The blast of wind and small bits of dust and sand bounced off the shield.
“That was cool,” shouted Brachia over the roar of the landing starship. “I want to be a magic user when I grow up. I could travel the galaxy putting on shows.”
Jeena smiled at the boy. He was a strange one. Sometimes he was a little boy, and sometimes he acted like someone well beyond his years. She liked him anyway. Along with his sister, the three of them had accomplished a lot together.
A silvery starship came to a soft landing on the stone platform.
Concrete, Jeena thought. Brachia says it’s concrete.
Trying not to let her apprehension show, Jeena forced herself to relax by silently repeating a mantra taught to her by Priestess Aldriss. The chant worked. Jeena felt ready to meet whoever stepped off the starship.
A ship that goes to the stars, Jeena thought. I read hints of such in the writings of the ancient Letian elves. I thought they were only legends. Now I’m going to travel in one. None of my friends will ever believe me.
Dozens of octopods came driving up in hover-vehicles of every sort. To Jeena, it was organized chaos.
“Why so many?” Jeena asked.
Brachia laughed. “Storage doesn’t get many visitors nowadays. I’m told the big resupply ships stopped coming before I was born. The octopods live to do their mission. I think they’re concerned their missions are coming to an end. The arrival of the Defiant is a boost to their morale.”
Jeena thought back on all the children had told her over the past week as well as what she’d seen. The entire planet was devoted
to maintaining and supplying thousands of warehouses to support the variables of ‘the One.’ According to the children, their uncle was one of those variables.
So am I, Jeena thought. That is, if I’m to believe what the Oracle told me.
Glancing at the starship before her, Jeena noticed writing on the bow. She made a gesture with her hand and whispered a single word. The writing wavered in her mind before settling down into the name Defiant II.
Jeena pointed at the writing. “I’d say Defiant is a good name for a ship that’s trying to prevent the destruction of three galaxies.”
“Yeah,” agreed Brachia. “Keka says Uncle Rick is half-owner of the Defiant. I think that’s a good name for his ship. He can be stubborn at times.”
Suddenly, Brachia laughed.
When Jeena looked around to see the cause, she saw nothing. “What’s so funny?”
“I was just thinking that you’re a little stubborn too, Jeehana.”
Jeena didn’t argue the point. She doubted any of the instructors she’d had in school would either.
A large ramp began lowering at the rear of the Defiant.
Jeena steeled herself for the inevitable. She knew from speaking to the children the ship had human males as part of her crew.
As soon as the ramp touched the ground, a tall figure dressed in a gray jumpsuit walked down the ramp toward them. Jeena relaxed. The figure had gray hair and pointed ears. He was an elf.
“Ah,” said the elf when he got close. He bowed at the waist. “My name is Comstar, High Priestess. Sergeant Ron, our captain, thought you might feel more comfortable if I was the first to make your acquaintance.”
“Sergeant?” Jeena asked.
The old elf smiled. Jeena thought he had a friendly smile. She felt her muscles relax. If an elf was part of the ship’s crew, she figured there was little to fear.
“The Defiant’s captain prefers to be called Sergeant Ron,” explained Comstar. “He’s a quirky human, but he knows his business. I’d trust him with my life. You can too.”
“From what I’m told,” Jeena said, “I think I already am.”
Comstar smiled again. “Aren’t we all?”
The old elf glanced at Brachia. “Well, who do we have here?”
“Oh,” Jeena said suddenly remembering her manners. “This is my friend Brachia. I’m Jeehanathoraxen, high priestess to the Lady of the Tree, and a lord of the Council of Light of Silverton.”
“Well met, Lord Jeehanathoraxen,” said Comstar with another bow.
“Jeehana,” Jeena said. “Please, call me by my friend name. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to need all the friends I can get if I’m going to complete my task.”
“Well, Jeehana,” said Comstar, “I think you’ll find you have many friends on the Defiant.”
Comstar got down on one knee until he was at the same height as Brachia. The old elf smiled again and stuck out his hand.
“Well met to you also, Master Brachia. I’ve heard a lot about you from your uncle.”
The young boy grasped the elf’s hand and gave it a shake. “You know Uncle Rick?”
Comstar nodded his head as he returned the boy’s shake. “Oh, yes. As it so happens, he’s my cabin mate on the Defiant.” With a whisper as if sharing a secret with the young boy, Comstar said, “Your uncle’s kind of funny at times. He makes me laugh.” With a wink, the elf added, “Plus, he’s a good cook.”
The old elf stood up. He moved his hand toward the Defiant. “Shall we? The rest of the crew are anxious to meet you.”
The next thirty minutes was a blur of introductions. Amazingly, the Defiant’s crew consisted of dwarves and gnomes as well as a few humans. One of the crewmembers was even a species of humanoid-sized lizard. Jeena’s initial apprehensiveness at meeting the crew slipped away the more she was around them. Even being near the human males wasn’t as bad as she’d feared. Like Brachia and Dren, the humans on the Defiant kept their emotions on a tight leash. She could sense them, but they didn’t threaten to smother her like the emotions of human males on Portalis.
The only exception to sensing the humans’ emotions was the one they called Terrie. He was a strange blank to her. He obviously had a stealth shield of some kind protecting him, but even its existence eluded her. Although Terrie was a human male, Jeena found she was able to be around him without feeling too uncomfortable. She would have talked with him further after they were introduced, but a fiery, redheaded woman called Angela hustled Terrie out of the room before Jeena got a chance to talk to him alone.
After the introductions were complete, Comstar took Brachia and her on a quick tour of the ship. It was all orc to her, but Brachia was full of questions. In order to finish the tour, Comstar and she were forced to leave the young boy in a deep discussion with the ship’s armorer over the best technique for mixing magic and technology.
As they were heading down a ladder to visit the Defiant’s engine room, Jeena stopped and faced Comstar. The ship was crowded with crewmembers and visiting octopods, but for the moment, they were alone.
“May I ask you a question?” Jeena said.
“Of course. At present, my only duties are to accompany you. Sergeant Ron really is concerned about your comfort.”
An image of the old captain appeared in Jeena’s mind. Somehow, he didn’t seem like the type to worry about anyone’s comfort. Still, as Priestess Aldriss had often told her, you never knew what was in someone’s heart.
“I appreciate Sergeant Ron’s courtesy,” Jeena said. “I must admit, I was surprised to discover an elf was onboard. You are an elf, aren’t you? You look like one of my race, but at the same time, you’re different.”
“Ah, that’s a long story, Jeehana,” said Comstar. “I’m an elf, but I wasn’t born on Portalis.”
“Were you born here in this galaxy?”
Comstar shook his head. “No. I was born in the magical dimension the same as you. Only I wasn’t born on Portalis. You’ve been on Storage for a week. Surely Brachia and Dren have told you this planet is only one of tens of thousands of inhabited worlds in this galaxy.”
Jeena nodded her head. The children had told her much during the past few days; so had the insect, Keka. Also, she’d spent a lot of time viewing historical videos of the diverse species of the galaxy along with their accomplishments. She wasn’t sure she believed all of it, but she’d seen too many things already to deny at least some of it was true.
“Well,” said Comstar, “you’ve only been on Portalis.”
“Until now,” Jeena corrected.
Comstar smiled. “Yes, until now. I, on the other hand, have been to dozens of worlds in our galaxy in the magical dimension. Our galaxy is just as full and diverse as the one we’re in now. The inhabitants of our galaxy have starships of their own powered by magic. Vast empires extend across hundreds of worlds.”
Jeena looked into Comstar’s eyes. She saw no hint of humor. “It seems hard to believe,” she confessed. “If so many ships fly between the stars of our galaxy as you say, how come no one’s ever contacted us on Portalis?”
The old elf looked down for a moment before answering. “Dragars.”
“I’m sorry,” Jeena said. “Did you say dragons?”
“No. I said Dragars. They were drawn to Portalis a hundred thousand years ago by a source of immense Power. They conquered an entire continent and built a spaceport near their city.”
Try as she might, Jeena couldn’t remember ever reading about Dragars. Not even the writings of the Letians mentioned the name.
“I’ve never heard this before. Are you sure it’s true? Perhaps it’s just a legend.”
Comstar shook his head. “I wish it were. The Dragars attacked my homeworld of Enneastar. They killed my family and I was taken prisoner. I served on one of their black starships as a slave. I know the truth of their spaceport on Portalis because I’ve been there.”
Jeena wanted to ask more, but two octopods began climbing down the stairs behind them. Rathe
r than have the slimy creatures squeeze their way past, she opted to forego her discussion and continue on to the engine room. Once she arrived, she got another surprise. A two-meter long silver dragon was waiting to greet her.
“So, you’re the variable we’ve been expecting,” said the dragon.
Jeena didn’t hear the words. Instead, she sensed them as emotions.
Unsure how to speak using emotions, Jeena decided to use her voice as normal.
“I’m told I’m a variable, so I guess it’s true,” Jeena said. “I’ve never spoken to a dragon before. In fact, I’ve never even seen one of your species until now. I’ve read about dragons, but they’ve been long gone from my world.”
“Actually,” said the dragon, “the dragons were legion on Portalis at one time. My ancestors traveled throughout the galaxy spreading magic wherever they went. They even populated other planets in the galaxy with races from Portalis. It was a glorious time in dragon history.”
“Spreading magic?” Jeena asked. The dragon’s choice of words seemed strange. “Do you mean they cast spells?”
A sense of laughter echoed in Jeena’s mind. Even though the laughter came as an emotion, Jeena sensed friendliness. The dragon wasn’t laughing at her.
“No, not spells, fair elf. Dragons are magic. Our very essence is magic. Even our breath is magic.”
“I see,” Jeena said although she really didn’t. “My name is Jeehanathoraxen, but you may call me Jeehana. Do you have a name?”
Again the laughter echoed in Jeena’s mind. “You couldn’t pronounce my name, Jeehana. However, my brother calls me Bright Wing. So do my fellow crewmembers on the Defiant.”
“All right, Bright Wing. Uh…, you’re a crewmember?” The concept of a dragon as a member of a starship’s crew seemed more than strange.
“Yes. I tend to the starship’s engine. It’s fortunate that I do. From what I know of your mission, we’re going to be traveling a very long way. Now, Jeehana, if you’ll pardon me, I must attend to my duties.”
“Farewell, Bright Wing.”
Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5) Page 34
