Spectra's Gambit

by Vincent Trigili

  Once they were out of sight I decided enough time had passed and I ought to get off the ship. I disconnected my datapad and moved towards the maintenance hatch I had used to get on board. My luck ran out as I reached the last intersection.

  “You there, stop!” called out a voice behind me.

  I wished I had replaced the blasters I’d lost on the last mission, as the wizards did not carry any on their ship. They had no need for them as their wands were far superior, but only a magus could use those. That left me with only my swords to defend myself, which would not go well here in a long corridor against armed defenders.

  I turned to face them, stalling for time, and said, “What’s the problem?”

  “Who are you, and what are you doing down here?” they said as they walked toward me with blasters drawn.

  A quick glance at their uniforms told me they were still using Imperial rank, and that gave me an idea. “I am Lieutenant Commander Mike. Now put your weapons away and stand at attention! I should have you thrown in the brig for addressing a superior officer like this!”

  Confusion covered their faces for a moment, and that was all I needed. They had closed the gap sufficiently for me to draw my swords, leap forward and knock their leader down. He fell to the floor and hit his head hard on the deck.

  The second officer started to turn to bring his guns to bear, but I was way ahead of him. A quick upward swipe from my swords took off his arms, and then I cross-swiped through his chest as I turned to the next attacker and finished him off. The third officer tried to use his gun as a club, but my blades easily cut through it, leaving him defenseless. Before he could make a run for it and raise the alarm, I removed his head from his body. All three of them were down and not moving.

  I grabbed a pair of their blasters and made a run for the hatch. Fearing more would be coming soon, I threw stealth to the wind. Just as I reached the hatch I heard a sound behind me and turned, just in time to see the leader stand up and fire his blaster. The bolt traveled at the speed of light. I knew this, but I swear I watched it leave the barrel and fly right at my head. It seemed to take forever to reach me, and yet I could not move out of its way. I had heard others describe this moment, the moment when you’re sure death is upon you, but had never truly understood it.

  Instinctively, as the bolt traveled towards me, I relaxed a little and let its power wash over me. I smiled as I realized for the first time that even in my bipedal form I was immune to energy-based attacks, since I could just absorb the power. I looked back at the soldier whose face was blank with confusion. I brought my hands in front of me and redirected the power of the blast back at him. The bolt hit him square in the chest and knocked him off his feet. His limp body dropped to the floor and did not move again.

  I tossed my newly-acquired blasters on the floor, as I would no longer need them, and exited into space.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  I watched the explosion wrap around Greymere and, to my amazement, he managed to absorb all its energy and redirect it to an exterior wall. That redirection punched a hole clear into space, and the resulting decompression sent him flying into the vacuum.

  I braced myself and held on in order to prevent being sucked out. I knew he would be fine out there as would I, thanks to my armor, but I wanted to verify that Spectra had made it to safety before I got out of telepathic range of the station.

  “Spectra? Are you clear?” I sent.

  “Dusty, Nemesis is too far to gate to directly, so I am going to have to gate us to the Spirit Realm and then back to Nemesis,” she sent.

  “Okay, then I will meet you in the Spirit Realm. We will have to come back for Greymere. He is floating around out there somewhere,” I sent.

  I was worried that this meant we were taking Saraphym to the Spirit Realm before she was ready, but it was unlikely this station would hold up much longer so quick action was needed. I looked again out through the hole that Greymere had used to fly out and silently wished him good luck, then I cast Spirit Walk to leave the realm and meet Spectra at our normal evacuation point.

  Moments after I arrived, a gate opened and Saraphym walked through, followed by Spectra. “Welcome to the Realm of the Dead,” I said. She looked very scared and a bit disorientated.

  Spectra quickly opened a gate back to the Nemesis and I helped Saraphym through. We came out on the bridge, much to Jade and Kymberly’s surprise.

  “Masters!” started Jade.

  “We’re okay, but we need to get closer to the station so we can pick up Greymere,” I said. “Where are we?”

  “We are still flying back to the station from the patrol you sent us on, Master. We should be there in a couple of hours,” said Jade.

  Spectra had helped Saraphym to a seat and asked her, “How are you doing?”

  “I’ll be fine soon, Master,” she said. Her whole body was shaking as if with cold, and the color had drained completely from her face.

  “You don’t sound very convincing,” I said. “What happened?”

  “It was as you said, Master,” she said. “The realm felt just like home. I felt like I was born to be there. It took all the strength within me not to turn into a butterfly and fly away. The very air was delicious …” She took a deep breath and steadied herself. “I have never been so out of control before. If you hadn’t seized me when you did, I don’t know what I would have done.”

  “I was afraid of that,” said Spectra. “I suspect your butterfly form is closer to the spiritual world than the physical. For most spiritualists, a quick walk-through like that is a non-event.”

  “The station is gone, Masters,” reported Kymberly.

  “Then it was worth the risk to do the Spirit Walk,” I said. “But I think when we pick up Greymere it will be time to learn how much of a risk it really is.”

  “What do you mean, Master?” asked Saraphym.

  “First we have to get Greymere back safely,” I said. “He was blown clear of the station well before it exploded, so we must assume he is flying around out there somewhere looking for us. Where would he go?”

  “Master, I would say he’d go to the command ship of the attacking fleet,” said Saraphym.

  “What? Why?” I asked. That would have been the last place I’d have thought to look for him.

  “Master, from his perspective, he is still on a reconnaissance mission. It will be the first thing he thinks of doing once he determines that he is out of communication range,” said Saraphym.

  I looked at Spectra, who merely shrugged, and then said, “Okay, Jade, head toward the most likely target for the command ship. Now, we need ideas on how to find him.”

  I looked around and this time received no help. His native form was almost invisible by its very nature, and his ability to absorb energy would make him nearly impossible to pick out in such a crowded region. I thought about this problem as we approached the region.

  “Master, we should be in visual range now if he is near the command ship,” said Jade.

  “Master Dusty, let me go out and look for him,” said Saraphym.

  “Maybe, but not yet,” I said. “Greymere, are you out there?” I sent.

  “Master Dusty! Oh, it is so good to hear your voice! Or feel it, or whatever the term is!” he sent.

  “We are hidden nearby using only Nemesis to cloak us. Can you find us?” I sent.

  “Too much disturbance in the ether here. I doubt I will be able to guess which wake is yours,” he sent.

  “Is there a way we can signal you without being seen?” I asked.

  “A low-power, directional EM pulse aimed away from the fleet should work. I will easily see it, and they will overlook it,” he sent back.

  “What do you think, Spectra?” I asked.

  “That should work just fine. If we keep the beam narrow enough, they won’t see it. Remember, from their perspective they have just won the battle, so they are busy cleaning up and getting ready to pull out. They
are not looking for us at all,” she said.

  “Okay, let’s try it,” I said.

  “Setting pulse to run for one nanosecond,” said Jade.

  “Okay, I saw it. On my way,” Greymere sent.

  Once we had him back on board he walked up to me and said, “It is good to see you, Master. I thought I’d lost you back in the explosion.”

  Before I could respond, Saraphym ran up and gave him a big hug. “Don’t scare me like that!”

  “Like what?” he asked.

  “I’m sure you went all by yourself onto that command ship, risking your life instead of getting to safety,” she said.

  He just smiled and held out a datapad to me. “Sure, but I got most of its database before the patrol found me.”

  “Patrol?” demanded Saraphym.

  “Oh, don’t worry, it was only a few soldiers with guns; nothing I couldn’t handle,” he said.

  “Okay, you two,” I said. “Do you have the other datapad from the station, too?”

  “Yes; here it is, Master,” he said and handed me the second datapad. “The command ship was staffed with Imperial Humans, at least everyone I saw; the same as on the station and on the medical ship.”

  “Then do you think this is some kind of internal coup we are getting mixed up in?” I asked.

  “Maybe. I am hoping that data will tell us more,” he said.

  “Master, should we follow the fleet or get clear before they jump?” asked Jade.

  “Get clear,” I said. “We will hang out in this sector and examine the data we have so far.”

  “Master Dusty,” said Greymere. “We have been following our tip from Henrick, and until now we have stayed barely ahead of this fleet. If we don’t follow it it might get ahead of us, and whatever we are supposed to find may be lost.”

  I thought about that. “You have a point, but right now we are just flying aimlessly from station to station. We need to stop and rethink our plans.”

  “I agree, Master,” he said. “But if we attach ourselves to one of their command vessels, we could continue to analyze the data while staying hidden with the fleet. If the information in the database we copied tells us we need to go another way, we can just detach ourselves and fly off; if not, we will be with the fleet that Henrick has connected us to. ”

  I had to concede that he had a point. “Very well. Jade, keep us hidden. Choose whichever of their carriers seems busiest right now and head toward it. We will be aiming to land in the shadow of one of their sensor arrays. Kymberly, it will be your task to find that landing spot, and Saraphym, let us know if they spot us.”

  Nemesis’ cloaks were probably sufficient for what we were planning, but I did not intend to leave that to chance. I wrapped the Nemesis in darkness and erased all trace of it from any possible view. Jade and Kymberly found a good landing place and attached us without issue. Our mass was so minuscule compared to that of the carrier that we would never be noticed here, even if we weren’t hidden. I relaxed my spell and let Nemesis take over the cloak.

  “We will remain cloaked and run in low-power mode just to be cautious, but we should be perfectly safe here. Let’s get all this information into our databanks and see what we can find,” I said.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Flame tried to pull me down to lie with her, but I was too restless. I just kept pacing back and forth. Ever since that meeting with Mantis and Grandmaster Vydor I had been unable to relax. I could feel power crackling around me as I walked, and I wanted to do something … anything … but all I could do was wait.

  “Shadow, what’s wrong?” asked Flame.

  “It is Dusty and Spectra. They are still under deep cloak. I cannot risk going to them yet,” I said.

  I continued to pace back and forth, trying not to use my power to reach out to them. I knew if they were spending all this time in deep cloak that there was a good reason for it. It would be foolish and risky to risk exposing them without knowing what they were hiding from.

  “Oh, I’m sure they are fine,” she said.

  “That is not what I am concerned about. What if I do not get to them in time?” I asked.

  “In time for what? To change their minds?” she asked with a chuckle. “You do remember you’re talking about the wizards that you trained, and trained to be stubborn, too?”

  I sighed. “I did it well, I fear.”

  “That you did!”

  “I just want to remind them that, no matter what, they have family here,” I said. I was struggling with this whole idea that Spectra and Dusty were forming a group to split from the Wizard Kingdom, and I was sure that Grandmaster Vydor, Mantis and the others were reading too much into the training of the spiritualists. Despite that, a shadow of doubt lingered in my mind and I wished to see for myself.

  ‘Spectra’s gambit’, as Grandmaster Vydor called it, was a dangerous game on many levels. It was not limited to herself and those like her; two realms stood in the balance. But, I had to ask myself, would I not do the same in her place? I was starting to believe that she was right and we were in the wrong.

  “Did you hear they discovered a new species out there?” asked Flame.

  “Yes, I saw Shea’s report. Very interesting specimen. I wonder how many more like him are out there?”

  “I would hope lots, or he will be very lonely,” she said softly. She gently laid her hand on her stomach and said, “Imagine never knowing this.” Her belly was still as flat as it ever had been, but that would change dramatically in the coming months.

  I smiled at her. The prospect of being a father to twins was still overwhelming, but I dared not show it. She needed my support. Her family line had a history of problems during pregnancy, and despite Master Kellyn’s assurance that the babies would be born full-term and healthy, she had nightmares of losing them. Master Kellyn insisted that there was no way Flame would lose a child on her watch, and I know that helped, but some fears have to be beaten the hard way: through experience.

  “Mantis will be reaching the council soon with Grandmaster Vydor’s reply,” I said. Mantis had been delayed, or had deliberately delayed, which gave Grandmaster Vydor time to talk with the elite wizards here. We still had no elite wizards that were native-born, but had started to build a sizable contingent of immigrants.

  “Is the alliance over?” asked Flame.

  “Not yet, but I fear it is in its death throes. Already the last of the elite wizards have left, those who do not wish to immigrate to our realm. Trade with their merchants has all but dried up, and the last shipments of medicines we sent to them was refused at the gate.”

  She was quiet for a while and then asked, “Will this mean war?”

  “I cannot tell. They are a proud people and feel that we should be subject to them,” I said. “They have a history of subjugating any other wizard groups who tried to get a foothold in their realm. If they apply that logic here, they might very well attack.”

  “I don’t see how they can think it wise. We outnumber them considerably now,” she said.

  “A thousand students do not equal even one elite wizard. Yes, we have raw numbers, but they have training and skill on their side. Their force is far more mature and battle-hardened. If it comes to war, it will be bloody, that is for sure,” I said.

  “Do you think they would win?” she asked.

  “I do not think there could be a winner. Each side would be so thoroughly devastated as to make any victory hollow at best,” I said.

  “Then the sorcerers would win,” she said.

  “In the Korshalemian realm, yes. In ours, I imagine Henrick would rise to power over anyone else,” I said.

  “Is there anything we can do to stop it?” she asked.

  “No, it is beyond us. It is up to Grandmaster Vydor to avoid war without making us slaves. I know that he will stand his ground on our independence and do his best to keep the treaty alive, but he is growing tired of their games and might just call th
eir bluff soon,” I said.

  It seemed poetic justice that Spectra’s quest for independence was the driving force behind Grandmaster Vydor’s need to make a stand for independence in defiance of our greatest ally.

  “Do you really think it is a bluff?” she asked.

  “I am hoping it is, my love, with all I have in me. Anything else would be a waking nightmare.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “Greymere, here, drink this,” said Nanny.

  “No, really I am fine,” I said. She had brought me an illuminescence potion, which I knew to be a rare commodity since only Shea and Doctor Leslie could make them as yet.

  “You can’t lie to me, young man. I can see that your energy levels are low,” she said.

  “I will drink a little from Nemesis’ generators in a while, but really I am fine,” I said.

  “See that you do,” she said and disappeared into a wall.

  I was starting to get used to a mothering ghost, but I suspected that it wasn’t something I ought to be so familiar with.

  “You’d better do as she says, or she might well pin you down and pour that potion down your throat,” said Master Dusty.

  I smiled. “That she might, Master! Where did she come from?”

  “She was Spectra’s nanny when she was growing up and took care of her after she lost her parents. We brought her on board to help with Nemesis, and apparently also to keep you in line,” said Master Dusty.

  I leaned back and rubbed my shoulders. I had been working for almost a week on correlating all the data we had collected. At first we all worked on it as a team, but it became apparent that the others had very little training in data discovery, so I broke off from the group in order to work faster. Nemesis joined me and we spent most of the week linking the various pieces of information together and building plausible models for the missing data. Working with a living computer was just another oddity I’d had to get used to with this odd little group.