Spectra's Gambit

by Vincent Trigili

“Oh, Dusty, thank you, but this is my home now. I want to stay here,” she said.

  I expected that answer, as it was every spirit’s desire to get out of the Spirit Realm and stay out, but my offer was sincere. If she wanted to see her family, I would have found a way to make it happen. “Then it is settled. Now for the other issue to be addressed. As soon as we get these spiritualists on board, we will have to separate from the Wizard Kingdom.”

  “But why?” asked Greymere.

  “The treaty prevents the Wizard Kingdom from permitting spiritualists to train and improve their powers,” I said. “I am sure Grandmaster Vydor would fight for us. He has already allowed Spectra and myself to train, which is causing strain in the relationship between the realms. If we enlarge our group to a full corps, that could very well mean war.”

  “I see,” said Greymere. “Then our very existence threatens the entire realm’s safety.”

  “Only for as long as we are part of the Kingdom and bound by the treaty. If we leave the Kingdom, Grandmaster Vydor can honor the treaty and stave off war.”

  “But it means that we will truly be alone and have to find our own way from now on,” said Spectra.

  “I have a complete copy of all the training materials that the Academy has, so we can start our own school right here on this ship, not unlike the first wizards on the Nevermore,” I said.

  “We will build the first corps of spiritualists that either realm has seen,” said Spectra.

  “I guessed this might be the plan,” said Kymberly. “I think all of us did, which is why there was a concerted rush for transfer while it was still possible.”

  Greymere leaned back in his chair and seemed pensive.

  “Grandmaster Vydor and Master Kellyn will want to stop us from doing this, but as wizards we are sworn defenders of this realm. I feel this is the only path that keeps the realm from war,” said Spectra.

  “Will we be their allies?” asked Kymberly.

  “No, at least not officially, as that would not now be any different from being under their jurisdiction,” I said. “I hope we will remain on friendly terms, though.”

  Spectra looked over at Greymere. “Any thoughts about this?”

  “Yes,” he said. “We are talking about protecting our family and our realm. I will help no matter how it turns out, but I suggest we do all we can to preserve friendly relations with the Wizard Kingdom. I have a strong feeling that war cannot be avoided in the long term, and that someday we will have to join them in the common defense.”

  “See! Doesn’t he sound just like a spellweaver!” sent Spectra privately. “I tell you, other than the fact he isn’t a magus, he fits the mold perfectly. I wonder can we make him an honorary spellweaver?”

  “What about the priestess?” asked Nanny, saving me from having to reply to Spectra.

  “Shea? Well, I expect she will remain loyal to the Wizard Kingdom,” I said.

  “No, her loyalty is to a much higher cause than that. I suggest that, once this is done, you should ask her to join us,” said Nanny.

  The look of surprise on Spectra’s face was priceless. Only Nanny ever seemed to pull that off, and I was always happy to be there to see it.

  “Nanny,” said Spectra, “are you sure? A cleric among spiritualists?”

  “Yes. It is the wisest move you could make right now,” she said.

  Spectra was quiet, and I decided to leave that point on the table and circle back to the beginning. “Now, we still have a mission to complete. It will take us about a year to get to the station where the viruses are stored. Our plan is to use that year to train and integrate the new recruits. Once we arrive at that station we will have to steal their database, which will contain the information Hospital Station needs to create vaccines. When we have the data, we must destroy the virus samples without exposing ourselves.”

  “That seems like a reasonable plan. Was there any information in the data from the other station on the specifications of our destination?” asked Greymere.

  “No,” I said. “Surprisingly, though, there was in the data you acquired from the cyborgs. It seems they also have a plan to take control of that base, but it is unclear if they know exactly what is there.”

  “How would they fare against the viruses?” asked Kymberly.

  “The humans, or I should say those based on human bodies, should be fine. The rest would die, the same as the others; at least, that would be my guess,” said Greymere.

  “Then maybe they want to shut it down also?” asked Kymberly.

  “Or take it for themselves,” I said.

  “Which means we need to beat them to it,” said Greymere.

  “Certainly, but we have no idea how far ahead of us they are, if at all,” I said.

  “I suggest that we get the troops on board immediately and table the rest of the questions until we are underway,” said Greymere.

  “Does that mean we are all in this together? There is no turning back from this path,” I said.

  “We are beyond that now,” said Greymere. “I am in, and I know Saraphym will follow my lead.”

  “Jade and I were in long before you announced it,” said Kymberly. “I am sure Chrimson will wish to stay on with us.”

  “Or at least with you,” I said with a chuckle. “Nemesis, I know you have been listening. Are you with us?”

  “Master Dusty, you are all my family. Where else would I go? Of course I am with you,” he said.

  Spectra had called it right again; everyone was in, just as she wanted. She was building a kingdom, and I was her chosen king. I just hoped I would be a good one.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  I was just settling in to a relaxing evening with my wife Kellyn when she said, “My love, there is an emergency call for you.”

  I sighed, activated my communicator and asked, “Grandmaster Vydor here, what is the emergency?”

  Doctor Hawthorne appeared on the screen and said, “Grandmaster, I am sorry to disturb you at this late hour, but the hospital is under attack by a large fleet and none of our allies is close enough to help.”

  “I will be there in a minute,” I said, and then over the telepathic network, “Shadow, Mathorn, Salsartazar, meet me in the gate room immediately. One of our stations is under attack.”

  “I will be back soon,” I said to Kellyn.

  She sighed and replied, “I understand.”

  I donned my ceremonial robes and transported myself to the gate room, and within moments the others arrived. “Doctor Hawthorne says that Hospital Station is under attack, and none of our allies is close enough to help. Our first goal will be to ease the situation, and then we can try to establish a reason for this sudden increase in hostility.”

  They indicated that they understood and I opened the gate to Hospital Station. As soon as we were through the gate I could feel the intense energies pounding on the station’s shields. They would not hold out for long under that attack.

  “Mathorn, reinforce the shields. Shadow, Salsartazar, search the station and make sure we have no boarders,” I said.

  Mathorn, who was an elite spellweaver, closed his eyes and focused his energies on the shields. I knew that they would soon be a hundred times stronger and left him to work on that while I headed towards the command center of the hospital.

  When I arrived I saw Doctor Leslie on the communicator with several heads of the trade consortiums. Doctor Hawthorne came running over to me and said, “Thank the Emperor, you made it!”

  “What is the situation?” I asked.

  “Our shields are eighty per cent depleted –” he began, but was cut off by a report informing him that the shields had recovered completely and were far more powerful than previously.

  “The shields are being dealt with. What else is there to report?” I asked.

  He took a deep breath and said, “Thank you, Grandmaster. I don’t know what exactly happened; it makes no sense to me. The Phareon govern
ment sent a demand for taxes, and when I said we could not pay what they were asking their fleet jumped in and demanded our immediate surrender. When we did not comply right away, they launched an attack.”

  “What of our allies out here?” I asked.

  “They cannot get any fleets out here in time, but they are willing to launch counter-attacks against other stations to draw our attackers away. The problem is that this station is likely to fall before they can do that. The government forces moved too fast for us.”

  “This station will not fall. Get the government representative on the communicator, and also the leaders of our allies, and let us see if we can resolve this. Do not mention my presence yet,” I said.

  While Doctor Hawthorne attempted to arrange this discussion, Mathorn sent over our telepathic network, “Grandmaster, they are attempting to overwhelm the shields with focus fire.”

  “Any sign of boarders?” I asked.

  “Not yet, Grandmaster,” sent Shadow. “But I am sure we have some intruders. It would have been easy for them to board covertly ahead of this attack, and if we assume they want control of this station instead of merely destroying it, they would need to have boarders already in place.”

  “Keep watch for them. I want to do all we can to prevent a fight in the corridors of this hospital,” I sent.

  The government official was arguing with Doctor Hawthorne, unwilling to entertain anything but complete surrender.

  “Shadow, drain the energy from all the power stores on the attacking ships,” I sent. I knew their power plants would recharge their stores in a few hours, but this would temporarily remove their ability to attack and hopefully give them a reason to talk.

  “Done,” sent Shadow.

  “We have lost communication with the Phareon fleet,” said Doctor Hawthorne.

  “Give them a few minutes to get some emergency power online and they will contact you again, I am sure. Hopefully they will be more willing to talk this time,” I said.

  Doctor Hawthorne smiled. “What did you do?”

  “Me? Nothing, but Shadow drained all their power so they are helpless at the moment. It will be a few hours before they can attack again,” I said.

  “Amazing: you just stopped an entire fleet without harming a single person,” he said.

  “Stopped? No, delayed only. If they press this we may have to fight, but let us continue on the path of peace as far as possible,” I said.

  “I agree,” he replied.

  Not long after that the government official contacted the station again, and this time Doctor Hawthorne was able to convince him to attend the peace conference.

  While we waited for everyone to get on the same communication channel I asked, “Who are the groups that matter?”

  “Resden is our key ally. If they continue to back us, they can match the Phareon government’s fleet. The major problem at present is that the big consortiums constantly fight each other, and there’s no love lost between them. The only reason this station has held out so long is because it is the one and only place which they all agree is neutral,” he said. “The defensibility of this station has mainly been a bluff for decades now. We have no real offensive power.”

  “If Phareon successfully defeats this station, what happens?” I asked.

  “For a brief period the trade consortiums will rise up as a unit and go to war, but I suspect internal fighting would destroy that alliance, and it is possible that the government would end up the victor in the long run. The wild card would be Resden. If they join the fight, there is a chance that they could overthrow the government and that would probably bring on a period of anarchy. If they don’t, then the government ends up more powerful in the long run. Neither outcome is good for Resden, so it is hard to say which they would prefer.”

  “And if Phareon fails here they end up weaker, with all of the trade consortiums stronger,” I said. “It is a calculated risk for them.”

  “They would not have seen it as much of a risk. They timed their attack perfectly, when there were no fleets close enough to defend us,” he said. “My guess is that recent activity out here by your … or rather, our people has caused them to think they need to act now before you get too much of a foothold.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “But it still seems awfully sudden. I suspect there is more to it than what is apparent at this time. Perhaps it is related to the Cathratinairians.”

  “You think that whoever wants them eliminated somehow pushed the government into attacking us?” he asked.

  Our discussion was interrupted by an aide telling Doctor Hawthorne that the conference was ready for him.

  I sat out of sight and just listened for a while as they argued back and forth. Tempers were flaring, and soon it became obvious that all-out war was imminent. I decided it was time to interfere.

  “Look, that station is our property and we want it back: pure and simple,” said the Phareon ambassador.

  I stepped into view, which silenced the room. In my full ceremonial robes I was easily recognized. There was a collective gasp as recognition spread through the collected leaders. It was clear that none of them expected that I would actually come out here. “With all due respect, Ambassador, the Phareon government has no claim on my station,” I said.

  “Grandmaster,” he replied, “I had no idea that you laid claim to that station, but it has been part of our region for decades.”

  I raised my hand to cut him off and said, “Ambassador, we have supplied the primary funding of this station since before the Great War. Our claim to it predates Phareon’s very existence, and it will not be denied. I have already disabled your entire attacking fleet, and I know about the sleepers you have on my station. You will stand down.” I noticed the representative from Resden grinning. I thought he looked familiar, but I could not place him at the time. “I had hoped you would be reasonable and come to a peaceful agreement with my friends here, but unfortunately you have forced my direct intervention.”

  “With all due respect, Grandmaster, that station was given to us by the Emperor himself. I know you respect the rule of law, so I think you will agree it is ours to claim,” he said.

  “I do indeed respect the rule of law, but I also know that it was not the Emperor’s to give, nor am I subject to his laws. It is simple, really: since you have forced my hand by attacking my property, I will bring my forces to bear to defend this station. If you wish to play at war, I suggest you choose a different target,” I said.

  The ambassador was quiet, but the representative from Resden said, “Think carefully about this, Phareon. In all of history, has Grandmaster Vydor ever bluffed?”

  I decided it was time for a peace offering. “Here is how I suggest we resolve this. The hospital will continue to operate exactly as it has for the past several decades, but I will also make it an official embassy of the Wizard Kingdom. Doctor Hawthorn, will continue to run it and be my representative out here. We are willing to open up trade with our region, through this station, to all the trade consortiums that have stood by us.”

  “Would you grant us an embassy in your kingdom?” asked the ambassador.

  “That could be arranged, but your mundane travel methods would limit the usefulness of such an embassy, so it might be more reasonable for you simply to have a section on this station as your embassy,” I said.

  “Resden would like to say we agree with Grandmaster Vydor’s proposal and are happy to continue our standing agreement with Hospital Station,” said the representative from Resden.

  The other consortiums were quick to agree, leaving only the Phareon government outstanding. I had really left him no choice. I doubted they would be willing to risk war with us, but he was possibly wondering if I could bring any real force to bear this far from my kingdom.

  “Grandmaster, I will have to confer with the president, but I am sure we can work something out,” he finally said.

  “Then you will withdraw your fleet im
mediately,” I said.

  “Once they are able to do so, they will withdraw for now,” he said.

  “Very well. Contact us when you are ready to talk again. Until then, we will operate as we always have,” I said.

  With that everyone began to leave the conference, and Doctor Hawthorne said, “You certainly know how to work a room.”

  “You have done a remarkable job out here and laid the foundation for this agreement. If we did not have so much support, a more bloody resolution could have been forced which would have crushed any hope of the Wizard Kingdom making friends out here.”

  “Could you really have taken on that fleet alone?” he asked.

  “The greatest problem would have been the people they almost certainly have on this station. There would have been a high risk of noncombatants being killed while we rooted them out,” I said. “With Mathorn’s shields in place around the station, the fleet was more of an annoyance than a threat.”

  “Thank you for coming so quickly. The situation had grown beyond my ability to control,” he said.

  “You are part of the Wizard Kingdom, and we defend our own. Now that it is known that we are here, I will station some troops here full-time, and our engineers will upgrade the station’s defenses.”

  “I dislike the idea of having military forces here,” he said. “But I knew sooner or later it would have to happen.”

  “We live in a hostile universe, Doctor; but we have bought you peace for the present. I am going home to get some rest. Shadow will move some forces out here and oversee improvements to the station.”

  “Thank you, Grandmaster,” he said.

  Chapter Fifty

  The hospital was alive with constant activity as engineers from the Wizard Kingdom worked to shore up the defenses and expand the station so that it could support a defense force. For my part, I was slowly packing up my office. I had not yet been told I was to move, but Light told me to prepare. I would be sent on to something new soon, and I was eager to find out what it might be.

  I quietly sang my favorite hymns while I worked. It was amazing how much I had acquired in my short time out here. I wonder if Doctor Leslie would want any of this? I thought to myself. I could not see how to transport it all myself. Light had blessed me so much since coming here that I hardly knew what to do with it all.