Xandrian Stone Book 1: Beginning of a Legend

by Breitenstein, Christian Alex

  We talked a bit more, then he excused himself for training and I left the game room, continuing with my round. Next stop was the neighboring shared quarters, to check on Lindan and satisfy my curiosity... never mind. There they were, marching down the corridor looking miserable. Not the Lieutenant, he looked like he was having fun. Not in the sadistic way, but he was spending his time productively. After they passed me, I snuck out of the game room and into the shared quarters whose door was just a couple of steps down the corridor.

  In there I immediately walked to Lindan, who was lying on his cot and watching his tablet computer. "Yo, man! Feeling healthy, or got something to do for the lowest medical slave of this Brick?" I grinned. He frowned. "My dad is a medical officer, don't disrespect them like that please." Talk about a joke misfiring. "Sorry, Lindan, did not mean to. The question, however, was serious. Is all well or are there any ailments?" "For real? You were added to the crew?" Hm... maybe I had misjudged his character. "Yeah, the captain plucked me right off the pad so to speak. Seems that I am a rather rare healer, power-wise." He peered at my rank insignia. "Then why are you not yet special promoted?" "The captain opposes the idea of special promotions. Can't say I blame him, honestly." "Yeah, yeah... You are guaranteed to pass the academy anyway. No, all is well here." The last bit he spoke mainly to his tablet, no longer looking at me. I bowed a little, smiling, and walked the length of the (empty) shared quarters. Then I left them through the side door at the end.

  Turning left, towards the back end of the Brick, I was not given any opportunity to ponder about Lindan's behavior, because the corridor widened from 2 to almost 10 meters and I suddenly was in the training area. The first thing I saw was two guys beating each other up with staves and a woman yelling at them to not fight like noodles but warriors and other creative remarks like that. She wore a uniform with the red bands of a weapons wizard, and her ribbons sported 3 pips. Guessing that I was standing behind the leader of the weapons wizards, I waited until the fight was over before making myself known.

  Not that that was needed though. As soon as the fight was over, she spun around, I noticed her lieutenant rank, and she started yelling: "Passengers do please stay... in their..." the last bits were spoken a bit uncertainly, so I decided to announce myself. "Cadet Xandrian Stone, assigned to the sick bay, on medical rounds. Is any medical assistance needed, ma'am?" Her face split in a wide grin. "New guy!" She slapped me on the side of my shoulder in a way that she might define as comrade-like, but knocked me half a step away. "Oh, a noodle! You're omni, so you're gonna get hard like a warrior too!" I was not sure I liked that. Then again, she was right: I am omni! And in retrospect, the lessons she gave me the following days did save my life many times over later. So, answering "Aye, ma'am, I will do my best." was the best decision I had ever taken in my life until then.

  But first, I had some healing to do. Not my shoulder, I had taken care of the bruise she left there already. But combat training did, as I had suspected, create work for a healer. Nothing wild, bruises mostly. One guy took a hit with a staff on the side of his nose, leaving it standing at an awkward angle. It happened right beside me, the injured being knocked to me. So I gripped his nose, righted and healed it almost instantly and pointed to his training partner. "On you go!" He did as commanded, a slightly bewildered look in his face. After two steps he stopped though, his shoulders rocking in silent laughter. Everyone around us who had seen this laughed not so silently, drawing the attention of the lieutenant. "What's this ruckus?" While I was still massaging my nose, the phantom pain was just going away, one of the bystanders answered: "Boss, Emil here took a hit to his nose. Xandrian healed it right away and sent him back to the fight. It looked hilarious." "How bad was the injury?" "Ma'am," I answered, "it was broken." "Good thing you are a master healer then, eh? Now back at it, everyone! An enemy would not give you pause to laugh, instead they'd attack the healer instantly!" Three of the training guys flung themselves at her, pinning her to the ground while Emil positioned himself between her and me. "Go that way, to the guys waiting there." he commanded in a calm voice. I complied.

  When I turned around, the guys on top of the lieutenant got off her and helped her on her feet again. She was smiling. "Good reaction, everyone! carry on!" Straightening her uniform, she went back to her observer post. "She's like that." said one of the guys behind me. "She indicated that she might be a danger to our healer, so these three acted as if that was so." "I see, it was a test. And they passed." "You all did, you yourself did not freeze or something but distance yourself from the potential enemy immediately." "Yeah, Emil told me to do so." "Which is why he passed as well." "This is a fun place to be!" "That's the spirit, healer!"

  And so the rounds continued. A healer on medical rounds was really just like that: I walked slowly to a place: crew quarters, bridge, game room, shared quarters, training, infirmary and closing the circle in the mess hall. Round and round I went, stopping at each place for a bit, just being present, talking to whomever was there and not occupied before continuing.

  The third time I came through the shared sleeping quarters, three cots were occupied. The other two cadets had been released from marching it seemed, and they lay in their cots like dead - the soft moaning kinda betrayed their act. I was about to just pass through, but then I reconsidered. I was after all on my medical rounds and the two were likely in some sort of distress. So I approached them, stood between their cots and asked if they needed any medical assistance. Both mumbled no, get lost. I shrugged and complied. Lindan was watching me with a mostly hard set face, but before he could hide it I saw his mouth twitching a bit, like it wanted to smile against his will. Good sign right there.

  Supper time came and was announced by the whole crew gravitating towards the mess hall. So I gravitated with them, mixing in, it seemed like a good idea. The mess hall was a large room with long tables and rows of chairs at each table. I counted 60 places in there - with maximally 48 people on board, 27 crew and 21 in the shared quarters. Today we were 25, 21 crew (myself included), the Drill-lieutenant and the 3 cadets. The 3 other cadets. Those ended up sitting at one of the long tables in the back half of the room all by themselves, while the rest of us filled the tables in the front half of the room. They seemed to be mostly silent, while we were chatting and laughing. Even the Drill-lieutenant allowed himself a smile every now and then, I saw him at another table with his face towards me.

  We eat.

  Our departure was right after dinner, I was summoned to the bridge. "It is tradition for a new crew member to witness their first spacetime in the bridge, where the view is second to best. Only weapons wizards are allowed in the turrets, so normally people do not see much of space at all." The Commander said. "Stand there beside the wall behind the captain's chair." I did, looking forward to seeing what was going to happen. 'You know that this is not why you're here, don't you?' asked the Commander telepathically. 'Of course, sir. You are giving me the first bits of experience that I can later use on my own commands.' 'Exactly. Pay attention.' As if he needed to tell me that. The captain suddenly needed to scratch his nose and got us off the planet.

  "All stations ready?" he yelled. Yelled, because navigation, communication, shields and engines were each in separate rooms in the larger bridge area. The bridge itself was known as the core bridge. A navigreen, yellow, blue and red light flashed on the captain's control orb, indicating readiness of all areas. "Okay. Navigation, plot us a course into orbit. Sub-light engines, get us there gently." In the screen, I could see the barracks falling away and suddenly became overwhelmingly dizzy. I supported myself at the wall, trying to control myself and keep myself from toppling over. The movement in the screen visibly slowed, then stopped.

  "Engines, what is the problem?" "Sir, I am being overridden and am no longer in control over the engines!" The engine wizard had a quizzing undertone in her voice however, like she suspected what was causing the problem. The captain turned and looked at me, just in time to see me straighten up
again, still a bit dizzy. "Stone, what are you doing?" "Um sir, nothing I think. I just felt very dizzy suddenly and supported myself at the wall to not fall and tried to control myself to get over the dizziness." The captain smiled. "Some times, I forget that you have been in this crew for less than half a day. You just experienced what engine wizards call motion sickness, your senses were confronted with a new form of motion and have to learn to cope with it first. Engines, what can he do?" The engines wizard, an elderly woman with one pip, was entering the core bridge, so no yelling was needed.

  "Son, stand at attention. That helps best." I had no idea how to help myself, so I followed her advice and stiffened myself. She went back to the engine, and after the captain's command started moving us again. The dizziness hit with full force, and for a moment it was all I could do to not barf all over the captain. Trying and failing to solve the whole problem at once, I started chipping off little parts of it. First, I fought to control my stomach, which after a little while got better. Then I could start tackling the dizziness and had an idea. We were moving at speed through space, in low orbit, by now, but relative to the Brick I was not moving at all. So I focused myself on the Brick, and the feeling of heavenly stillness when I reduced my senses to just me and the Brick.

  It worked, actually. I felt my breathing becoming more natural again, and could try and uncramp my arms and legs. No, only the arms at first - just to be on the safe side. Then I loosened the muscles in my face and blinked, seeing a couple of very amused faces. "Yeah. Laugh at the new guy." I added a lopsided smile to clarify that I was not mad. It was the captain that snorted a laugh first, then the others joined in - eventually even I could bark out a laugh or three. My legs were still in cramp mode, so I started to work on them next. "Is it always this much fun for the new guy?" The Commander answered. "No, usually it is comparatively boring. Motion sickness is something only the engines wizards have. Normally, when we ferry one we bind him to his cot, with a healer at his side, for the journey to the academy." The captain continued. "Yes, but with white wizards we cannot be so gentle. At the academy you are going to be flooded with magical inputs, and need to be quick on your magical feet to keep up. You'll thank me later." I produced a weak smile. "Aye, sir." The laughter was more hearty this time and I sounded less like a dog.

  "Walk a couple of steps, cadet." Without thinking, I did just that and to my great surprise, the new feeling of dizziness was small and easily manageable. The captain nodded to himself. "Navigation, set a course for the Eden 3 station. Engines, get us there if you please." The moon below us dove away and the planet took center stage on the screen. "Cadet, this concludes your space initiation." I saluted the captain. "Thank you, sir. Sir." Nodding at the Commander I left the bridge and went on a round, to see if all was well on board.

  When I reached the infirmary, the ensign proffered his hand. "I am David Boore, kinda forgot the formal introduction earlier." We shook. "Xandrian Stone." "I'll take the evening rounds. Why don't you report to your quarters and watch space through your monitor until you fall asleep?" Now THAT was a good idea. "With pleasure, sir." He swatted the "sir" away. "David. You are an initiated spacer now." He grinned and I nodded. "Xandrian, then." "Have a good night, Xandrian. Report here at 06:00 in the morning." "Will do. Good night, David." He left on his rounds, and I headed to my quarters.

  Inside, I got out of my uniform, used the facilities (the cleaning spells here were a bit basic, missing the massage part of those at home) and, refreshed and clean, hopped on my cot. Snuggling myself in, I did not even get to ask the monitor to show space. I fell asleep almost instantly.

  I slept, no pun intended, like a Stone. At 05:30, the screen came to life, telling the time, and a gentle female voice informed my sleeping self that it was time to get up.

  At 05:40, the voice became more insistent.

  At 05:50, it yelled "GET YOUR SORRY ASS OUT OF THE COT, CADET!" And I fell out of said cot, trying to comply. Scrambling to my feet, I giggled. "You sure are insisting." Cheerily, the voice informed me that "It is 05:52, you are expected at your post in 8 minutes." 8? Crap! After a record facilities use and getting clothed properly, I stood at the entrance to the infirmary at 05:59. I was still a bit out of breath, I had sprinted from the quarters to the infirmary to be on time. "Ah, Xandrian. I heard your sprint here, and it was too long to be from the mess hall here." He patted the wall of the infirmary, which was, from the other side, also the wall of said mess hall. "Sorry David, it will not..." He waved me silent. "Don't worry. The Commander informed me of your problems at liftoff, I also forgot that you have been a part of us for less than a day even right now. From speaking with other engines wizards, I know that this experience is very taxing and that it is a sign of great magical talent to be able to walk around less than 12 hours after liftoff. Also, as we have been having a functioning infirmary for years" - he patted his chest - "we can live without your services for a bit longer. Go get a good breakfast and take the morning off. See you at 13:00."

  I nodded. "Thanks, boss." I grinned and let myself be shooed out of the door by him. Turning right, I entered the mess hall. Besides the six large tables with then chairs each there were also 7 food stations. Those were each inscribed with many-layered nutrition magic runes and on top a series of carvings. Those carvings, commonly referred to as "buttons", let you choose the composition of your meal, or randomize if you had no real preference. That day I felt adventurous and hit the large randomize button, channeling some raw magic into it.

  The top of the station shimmered bright green and my breakfast greeted me with delicious corn bread smell. It looked and smelled like SNNR variation 51-23-0: A large piece of corn bread with tomato-heavy cut and fried vegetables and no sauce. Talk about a hearty breakfast!

  I sat while the last of the others were leaving to go on duty, spooned a good bit of vegetables on an edge of the corn bread and bit.

  Hot! Supreme Divine, the vegetables were awful hot! I chewed quickly and swallowed too soon, having to take a sip of water to help with the burning feeling down my throat. Then I healed the burns, took another sip and, taking a deep and relieved breath, spooned a much smaller bit of vegetables onto the bread. Blowing gently, I let it cool a bit first and then bit.

  Aaaahhh... Now that was better! That taste, that smell - I was in a perfect moment.

  In the middle of the morning, as I was lying content on my cot, digesting and resting, the wall monitor beeped at me. I looked a bit groggily and saw "Incoming call from Sup. Adm Johnson. Accept?" My mouth was suddenly bone dry, I was wide awake and my heart was happy that it could legitimately hide behind my breastbone. "Yes." I croaked and cleared my throat, standing up and straightening my uniform.

  "Cadet Stone." He looked at something on his desk. "Able Sensor, 35 to 40 meters range, resolution: single celled. Master Healer. Correct?" He looked at me piercingly and I became very aware of his glowing white dress uniform and the lots of ribbons of all colors on his shoulders. "Aye, sir." "That is not the whole truth. Don't lie to me, cadet." I felt like an insect under a very highly magnifying microscope. "Aye, sir. The Captain... " "Forced you to not let this be known?" The picture on the screen split and the video of the eyes of the classification officer rebuilding themselves under my hands filled one half of the screen. "No, sir. He … asked me politely to keep it under wraps for now. I agree with him that a special promotion, cool as it would be, might not be optimal at this time, sir." He nodded. "Very well. This has become known, however. You are made Adept Healer and Prime Cadet."

  Wow.

  "Now that we have this covered, let me tell you why I called you in the first place." I nodded, It was a bit over the top for the highest ranking officer of the navy to promote one holding the lowest possible rank. "For this, it might be better if you took a seat, son." Getting a bad feeling, I touched the table rune on the wall. After the table and chair were grown, I sat.

  -ADDENDUM—

  I was asked to add some technical information here, about
the Bricks. Stuff everyone knows, but they say that this might be read by someone who does not know about the Brick-Gardens, Scripture or why re-infusing a pre-scribed rune is so hard. Silly, really - but I am a servant of the people, so I serve.

  So, let's take this one thing at a time: Brick-Gardens first.

  Back then and now, any and all vessels the SFSN flies around in are basically fruits. The inside is much like relatively flexible wood, walking around on it is actually quite comfortable. Much like hard stamped, but not totally compressed, earth. The outer shell, the skin, is a very dense, very rigid and hard wood, sometimes described as ironwood. As there is very little iron in use, as we all know wood is a much better conductor of magical energy, you may well not have had contact to iron. Iron is a so-called metal, very very hard and rigid, a stuff harvested out of red earth with a lot of heat. How exactly that works I do not know. Coating Bricks with an iron armor proved to not work all that well, and there are no other real uses for the stuff.

  Oh, remind me to add the test-flight we did with the three Ironbricks, as we called them, in a later diary. Funny story, that.

  Any way, Bricks are grown in gardens. The seed is a little ball, of all things, much like an onion in appearance. You can, however, peel it apart and put it back together and it will still grow. The peeling apart is needed to inscribe the runes that dictate the growth of the plant, to make sure that it's a Brick and not some sort of overlarge pumpkin or something. After planting, the gardener (a regular person, all the magic is already done) will stay at its side until the edges of the Brick are about as long as his foot (which takes about an hour or so), and then he (or she) can walk away, the plant won't need any more help to grow.