“I have always tried to help you two, and I am here to help again. I know how hard it is being part of an organization that does not respect your abilities,” he said.
“So what?” I asked, interrupting him. “You want us to become sorcerers like you?”
“Oh, Dusty, I am no more a sorcerer than I am a wizard. Things are not really that black and white. I would have thought you had learned that in Korshalemia,” he said.
“Get to your point, old man,” said Spectra. She was practically crackling with pure energy. I realized that she was slowly building up power for something. Henrick was at least a master-level magus and not someone to be toyed with, but Spectra did not understand the concept of a superior adversary and would not back down. If I did not act to defuse the situation, we could be in serious trouble.
“Look, Henrick, Grandmaster Vydor has negotiated a cease-fire between us, so whatever it is you want to say, say it and move on. Otherwise, I will simply call him and that will end our truce,” I said.
He smiled and said, “No need for threats. All I have done was help you both, just as you are now helping Jade, Kymberly and Saraphym. I just wanted to let you know that my door is always open for you two, should you ever need anything – perhaps help with your particular spell line, or anything at all. I am here for you.”
“You put a mage bolt in my best friend’s back while trying to kill my husband, and left her brother for dead. I hardly see that as the action of someone who just wants to help,” said Spectra, her power continuing to grow. It was reaching the highest level I had ever seen her gather. Whatever she was planning, it was big.
“Think about it, my dear. If things had not played out as they did, where would you be right now? But I understand your concerns, so I will help you one more time,” he said as he tossed something our way and vanished.
I did not accept that his help was necessarily the kind of assistance I wanted and reached out with my telekinesis to catch whatever it was that he threw.
“Is he gone, or just hiding?” asked Spectra.
“He is gone,” I said.
“What did he throw?” she asked.
I brought the object down and said, “It looks like a datapad.”
Spectra yelled out a command word and power flew from her fingertip into a nearby pile of rubble, completely devastating it and leaving behind a massive crater in its place as she discharged the energy she had collected. “Let’s go home,” she said and opened a gate.
I thought about reminding her that we had not found anything yet, but our air was getting low and she seemed in no mood to talk, so I followed her into the Spirit Realm where she sat down and rested for a minute.
“What is on the pad?” she asked.
“It looks like information about a space station, and if this fits his normal pattern I would guess that there is something on it about this station that we need to know.”
“He is always working to steer history his way,” she said. “And usually successfully.”
“Do you think he really intended to arrange our marriage?” I asked.
“Oh, I don’t know and I don’t care,” she said. “We found each other, and that’s all that matters. Let’s get that datapad back to Nemesis and see if the station’s computers have anything on that deserted station,” she suggested.
Chapter Seventeen
Back on Nemesis, we changed into traditional magus robes, as our armor needed a thorough cleaning after being exposed to such a deadly environment. It was very late at night, so I left orders for our team to assemble after breakfast and sent Grandmaster Vydor a report about what happened on the surface. I knew he would want more details, but I had other plans for the evening and would send those details in the morning. Once that was handled, Spectra and I ate and then headed to our quarters and just enjoyed each other’s company until we fell asleep.
The next morning, we gathered the team and Greymere told us about the attack. “As far as I can tell, from time to time people get mad at our doctor and try to assault or kill him. Often the word gets out that an attempt was made, though I can find no evidence that he actually spreads the word himself; when that happens, the assailants disappear.”
“Good work, you two,” I said. “It sounds like you contained the threat with minimal force, and yet strongly enough to discourage them from trying again.”
“But, Master, at least one of them is dead,” said Saraphym. “I used too much force.”
Spectra moved close to her and said, “Saraphym, live combat is highly unpredictable; you have to react instantly to the situation and make decisions with no time to think them through. If you tried to hit him more gently, he might not have been disabled and the battle could easily have spread. Since you finished him in one blow the battle ended quickly, and that protected those around you. Is that not the best outcome?”
“I suppose so, Master,” she said.
Spectra smiled and continued, “Don’t dwell on it. From the sound of things, you acted correctly in the circumstances. Now, you are going to have to show me this kick of yours. I think you have been holding out on me!”
“Yes, Master,” said Saraphym, now looking more embarrassed than distressed.
“We have not been here very long,” I mused, “and there have been two attacks already. I hope we are not destabilizing the region.”
“Not at all,” said Greymere. “I wondered also about the number of attacks, but when I looked into it I found that it is fairly normal to have several random attacks here every year.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes. In fact, this year so far has been one of the better ones. I don’t think that will change until we officially raise the Wizard Kingdom banner and put some troops on the station.”
“That will come in time,” I said. “Right now we have two objectives to focus on. The first is the Cathratinairians: while Shea works on a vaccine, we have to find the source of the virus and shut it down, if possible.”
“Master,” said Jade, “if it is the group that is trying to develop a race of pure humans, we could be on an impossible mission.”
“That may be,” I said, “but if we can deal them a blow and let them know that we know they exist, it may force them to back off. Covert groups like this fear exposure over all other threats. Their power base will come tumbling down if everyone knows what they are up to.”
“So, really,” said Greymere, “all we have to do is make them think we are on to them.”
“Possibly,” I said.
“What is our second aim?” asked Greymere.
Spectra placed her hand on my shoulder and said, “Greymere, you know something of what it is to be rejected by society, and so do we. Before I go on, do you know what a necromancer is?”
“Yes,” Greymere said. “A powerful master of the dead.”
“Have you ever met one?” asked Spectra.
“Recently, in fact, and I hope never to do so again,” he said.
“Then you understand why it would be undesirable to create more necromancers?” she asked.
“Completely,” he said.
“If you could perform an action that would impede all future necromancers, would you?” she asked.
“That would depend on the cost,” he said carefully.
“The cost is that no spiritualist may ever be allowed to learn and practice their art,” she said.
Greymere looked briefly at Saraphym. “What? That hardly seems reasonable.”
“Necromancers are spiritualists turned bad. History records that most spiritualists have taken that path, so wizards in both realms have outlawed - us,” Spectra told him.
He put his arm around Saraphym, turned back to Spectra and said, “That is why you took this mission all the way out here with green troops. You mean to train them in defiance of the ban.”
“Oh, I secured permission,” I said. “It took months of persuasion, but we are not defying orders.”
/> “No, not yet,” said Spectra. “I mean to prove that with the right training and support we can build a spirit corps without becoming necromancers.”
The way Spectra said that told me that someday I might have to choose between my wife and the Wizard Council. I was not looking forward to that day.
Greymere smiled at that. “Then I will do all I can to help you, though I am not sure how I can assist.”
“You can tell us what you know about this,” I said and handed him the datapad. I did not explain where it came from. That would take too much time and would have to wait for another day.
He thought for a moment and then said, “It looks like the coordinates of an old Imperial space station. If I recall rightly, this was one the High Council used when it came out this way for whatever reason it did.”
“Do you know anything about its current situation?” I asked.
“Last I heard, it had been abandoned,” he said. “If that is correct, by now it’s been stripped of anything of value by scavengers and is probably just an empty husk.”
“We have been told by a reliable source that this station is somehow connected to our current mission. Can you think of any connection?” I asked.
“Well, if the High Council met there, then it is possible that planning or other work was done there with regard to the breeding program, but that is just a guess,” he said.
“Ready this ship for launch. We are going to check it out,” I said.
Everyone moved off to their duties, and I left to go and report to Grandmaster Vydor. I figured that by now he had received my message and was probably looking for me. When I got into my office there was a message from him telling me to call him once I was up. I signaled with my ring and waited.
“Hello, Dusty,” came Grandmaster Vydor’s voice in my head.
“Hello, Grandmaster,” I sent back. I gave him all the details I had. “Our plan is to fly out to this station and see what is there.”
“If Greymere is right that it has been abandoned, it should be a safe first mission for your team,” he sent.
“Hopefully safer than this station, Grandmaster,” I sent and then told him about the recent attacks and Greymere’s findings.
“Yes, I am aware of the instability of the region, but it is too early for us to move in. As your team expands its activities there, more and more people will slowly come to believe that Hospital Station was always ours. That will give us a foundation of good will to work from,” he sent back. “Continue to the station as planned. If Henrick is suggesting you should go there then he already knows what is there, and we need to know what he knows.”
“Grandmaster, is he friend or foe?” I asked.
“He is a political power in our realm with whom we have to contend. I imagine we will work with and against him in various engagements as time rolls forward. That being said, his clear desire is to rule the entire realm, and we cannot allow that to happen.”
“I liked it better when it was just sorcerers we dealt with and everyone was either for us or against us,” I sent back.
“It was never as simple as that, and it is not really like that anywhere. Let me know what you find on that station. If Henrick is interested in it, then I need to know what is there,” he sent, and after a parting blessing he ended the call.
While I was talking with him, Spectra had come into my office. “So what did he say?”
“Not much; just that if Henrick was interested in that station he needed to know what was there, so we are to report back what we find,” I said.
She smiled, “Good. I was worried he would go himself once he found out Henrick was involved.”
“Spectra, he trusts us. I know that is hard for you to accept, but he does,” I said.
“As you can guess, when Shea found out we were launching she asked to come along,” said Spectra.
“And you told her no, I assume?” I said.
She slid up next to me and gave me a lopsided grin. “Well, I am not the mission leader, so I told her I would ask you and here I am!”
I chuckled. “You still don’t want her along.”
“Oh, Dusty, I love her dearly, but we need to do this alone. We need to prove we can,” she said.
“We, or you?” I asked. She gave me the most pathetic fake hurt look I ever saw, but in the end I really could not tell her ‘no’. “Fine. We will leave behind the best medical resource in the entire multiverse and hope no one gets hurt.”
I had hoped that bit of sarcasm would help her see how silly she was being, but instead she gave me a big hug, thanked me and ran out of the room.
Chapter Eighteen
“Master Dusty, the next jump could be a problem,” said Greymere.
“Why?” I asked.
“We will come out of jump space into a known junction of several jump routes, and that is typically where pirates hang out,” he said.
I sighed. “This is just like flying with Master Shadow all over again.”
“Except that on that mission we were hunting pirates,” said Spectra. “All we have to do here is re-cloak when we come out of jump space and coast through the trap.”
“If there is a trap out there, based on what I have seen of this craft so far I believe we should be able to do that easily,” said Greymere.
“But, Masters, that would leave the trap for anyone else who comes through,” said Kymberly.
I knew that Master Shadow would not leave a trap standing, and had flown with him against far superior forces, but I had to agree with Spectra: that was not what we were here to do. “We need to focus on our mission. An entire species is depending on us.”
“Although I think you are right, maybe we should save that decision until after we jump,” sent Spectra privately.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
“The trap might be a good place to do some combat training,” she sent.
“Depending on what is there, that might be true – especially since we expect the station to be abandoned,” I sent privately and said aloud, “But there is no need to make that decision yet. Let’s wait and see what is on the other side of this jump. Our cloak will give us all the time we need to evaluate the situation and respond as we deem best.”
Kymberly smiled and returned to her place at the science station. Normally I would have preferred to split the crew into two shifts, but in order to train Jade, Saraphym and Kymberly I had everyone doubled up. Thankfully Greymere was already well versed in ship operations and could train Saraphym in tactics. The two of them seemed to be spending a lot of time together, and I was starting to wonder if Saraphym had had more to do with Greymere joining us than any responsibility he felt for his species.
Greymere gave me a slight nod and then said, “I suggest we come up short on our jump, maybe two hundred or so kilometers. That should give us extra time to cloak and react, as needed.”
“I agree. Set the exit point there and jump when ready,” I said.
“Yes, Master,” said Jade, whom I was training to be the second shift command and pilot.
Once we cleared jump space and re-engaged our cloak, Kymberly reported that there was a single vessel near the jump exit. “It appears to be heavily damaged and limping away.”
“Anyone else around?” asked Spectra.
I wished I had Master Shadow’s vision. Although in many ways my detection skills were superior to his, his range was vastly greater than mine. “Nothing on tactical, and I see nothing close by that is cloaked. Kymberly, what is the status of the vessel?”
“Master, they are leaking atmosphere and fuel. I’d guess they only have a few hours to live,” she said.
“How many on board?” I asked.
“I can’t quite tell. Too much interference,” said Kymberly.
“Jade, pull up close to them, say, within five or ten kilometers so I can get a better look,” said Spectra.
As we approached the vessel I asked, “A
ny indication that anyone spotted us?”
“No, not that I can see,” said Saraphym.
“Master Spectra, we are at five kilometers,” said Jade.
“Hold here,” she said and then softly chanted a spell. Soon a spirit formed in the room and flew out through the walls. I did not recognize the spell, which was an unnecessary reminder of just how far beyond me Spectra was in skill.
“Nothing,” said Spectra after a while.
“Nothing?” I asked.
“There is nothing alive on that ship,” she said. Her eyes were still closed and she was weaving slightly.
“Can you see the controls on the bridge?” I asked.
She sighed slightly and then opened her eyes. “No, that spell can only see living things, and I could find nothing on that ship. It is clearly bait for a trap.”
“I suggest we ignore it and move on,” said Greymere.
“Can we at least destroy it before we go?” asked Kymberly.
“If we do that, it will surely spring the trap,” said Greymere.
“But if we leave it then someone else will fall for it, for sure,” said Kymberly.
“Tactical, how many shots from our grand staves would it take?” I asked.
“With the extent of the damage, it would not take more than a couple. We could blast it and re-cloak before anyone could respond,” said Saraphym.
“If we are going to do that, I recommend you use your anti-matter missiles, as they have a much greater range. That way we can be much further from the trap when we set it off,” said Greymere.
“Our supply of missiles is limited this far from home. I’d rather not use them up on something like this. Jade, pull out to maximum range. Saraphym, once we are in position fire a full volley, using all staves. Jade, as soon as she is done, re-cloak and get us out of here.”
I hoped I was making the right choice as we pulled away from the bait ship. Somehow I needed to find a balance between Kymberly’s altruism and Greymere’s pragmatism. Tactical lit up with alarms as soon as we opened fire on the bait ship. The volley completely destroyed it, but five other warships jumped in to surround us.
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