Move, Richard! You’re in danger, warned Nickelo.
Sure enough, the turret was headed in his direction.
“Crap!” Richard shouted out loud. He rolled over, got to his feet, and began running again. Unfortunately, he was running back into the minefield.
Where’d they get these mines? Richard asked. We’re in the magical dimension. They should only have medieval weapons and magic. There isn’t supposed to be any technology on Portalis.
Ahh…, I assume you mean there isn’t supposed to be any technology on this world except for yours, Nickelo said. Because you’re special, right?
Richard thought of a great retort, but since Nickelo was graciously marking the remaining landmines on his heads-up display, he wisely kept his mouth shut. A loud explosion from his rear told Richard the turret had landed in the minefield. Several secondary explosions occurred in rapid succession until the battlewagon’s turret rolled to a stop.
Richard cleared the minefield. We need to get back to the main battle. It isn’t over yet. William and the elves are still outnumbered ten to one. And, that demon’s doing a number on those unicorns. We need to get back in the fight.
Roger that, Rick, said Nickelo. Follow the route on your heads-up display. We should be able to get back to King William in about three and a half minutes.
Whenever Richard encountered a group of orcs he couldn’t avoid, he took them out with well-placed plasma rounds. They were cannon fodder. The real battle was near the main gates to the elven city. The demon-giant towered over those around it. Accompanied by its strongest magic users, the demon’s forces were forcing the elven defenders back against their own walls.
A white banner marked the location of King William. Richard activated the zoom on his battle helmet’s visor. He spotted the boy-king riding his pony in the thick of battle. His guards were doing their best to protect him, but they were hard pressed.
Richard swore. The fool! I told him to stay where he was until I got back.
He’s a king, Rick, said Nickelo. He might be twelve years old, but he’s too brave to standstill while his soldiers are dying.
Before Richard could reply, a deep, unearthly voice reverberated throughout the entire valley. It was the demon.
“Victory is ours!” shouted the giant who was the demon. “Bow down now and worship me. I will give you a merciful death. Continue to defy me, and your pain will be eternal.”
Two minutes out, said Nickelo.
Richard fired a long burst from his M63 lightweight assault rifle at a troll lumbering his way. The troll fell. Richard knew it would be back up within seconds, but he didn’t care. He just needed to get to King William’s side. He kept running.
A cheer erupted from the valley floor. Richard noticed King William and his elite guards had fought their way to the remaining unicorns. King William’s white banner merged with the white bodies of the unicorns. A small group of elves broke through the ring of orcs and joined the unicorns as well. They all charged forward together in the direction of the demon.
“No!” Richard shouted knowing full well his voice wouldn’t carry. Nick, I’ve got to get there!
But Richard knew Nickelo couldn’t help him. No one could. It was too far. Helpless, Richard watched the core of guards surrounding King William slowly fall until only a handful remained by their king’s side. A knot of elves added their weight to King William’s charge. Bolts of lighting and fireballs shot out from the elves creating a brief opening in the demon’s line of defenders. A flicker of white charged through the opening. It was the leader of the unicorns, Elf Friend Swiftmane. Richard could just make out the female rider on the stallion’s back.
The demon-giant swung a club the size of a tree, but the unicorn dodged the blow. The arm-length horn on the unicorn flared with a light so bright it rivaled the noonday sun. Swiftmane rammed his horn into the left side of the demon’s chest. A scream of pain and hatred filled the air as the glowing horn broke off in the demon’s heart. A wave of light washed over Richard. The ground trembled, and Richard lost his footing.
Struggling to rise, Richard felt the cells of his body start to tingle as everything turned dark.
“No!” Richard shouted. “Not yet! Let me see if the boy’s alive! At least let me say goodbye!”
Mission complete, said ‘the One’ without any hint of emotion. Return to training.
Chapter 2 – Back Home
_____________________________________
The darkness gave way to light. Richard stumbled, but the legs of his battle suit stiffened keeping him upright.
You’re back in your tent, said Nickelo. You’re back at the Academy.
Richard almost yelled his frustration, but he held it in. He was back at the Academy. He was cadet 832, Richard Shepard, again. The memories of the battle were already starting to fade similar to a dream upon waking.
Was it a dream? Richard wondered. But he knew it wasn’t.
Richard saw a man and two women wearing shorts and t-shirts sitting on one of two cots in the tent. They’d been conferring with each other, but they looked up at Richard with half-formed questions on their lips.
“How long have I been gone?” Richard asked attempting to beat their questions to the punch.
The man spoke. “About thirty seconds, Rick. Ah…, how long do you think you were gone?”
The man was Jerad. Along with Tam and Telsa, they were Richard’s best friends at the Academy. Jerad was also Richard’s current tent mate. At least he’d been before Richard had been teleported out of the tent by ‘the One’.
Nick, Richard thought. How long were we there?
We were on Portalis for five months and twenty-three days give or take a few hours, said Nickelo.
At another time, Richard might have commented on the inexactness of his battle computer’s answer. But he was too frustrated and emotionally spent to take notice now.
Richard didn’t answer Jerad’s question right away. He removed his battle helmet and tossed it on his cot. By the time he sat down, Richard had control over his emotions.
“Just shy of six months, Jerad,” Richard finally answered.
The shorter of the two women, Telsa, stood up and spoke. “You’ve got a screwed-up life, Rick. Did you know that?” Telsa must have sensed Richard’s internal turmoil because she patted him on the shoulder and added, “But I’m glad you’re back safe.”
Richard nodded his head in thanks. In Richard’s opinion, Telsa was probably the smartest cadet in his cohort. She’d come straight to the Intergalactic Wizard Scout Academy fresh out of a high-priced university with her degree in astral physics in hand. In the five years he’d known her, Telsa had never explained why she’d decided to be a wizard scout.
“Well, did you do anything interesting this time, Rick?” said the second woman, Tam. “Or was it another hide-and-seek mission for ‘the One’.”
Richard noticed Telsa give Tam a warning look, but he couldn’t blame Tam for being curious. He’d be too if their roles were reversed. Tam was an ex-mercenary, and subtlety was not her strong point.
Forcing his anger at ‘the One’ to the side, Richard answered his friend as best he could. “Interesting?” Richard said. “That’s not quite how I’d describe it. Two minutes ago, I was in the middle of a battle fighting alongside elves, unicorns, and a young boy I’d promised to help against a demon and every kind of nasty from your worst nightmare.”
Rubbing his face with both hands, Richard let out a deep breath before continuing. “Now I’m here sitting on a cot talking to you guys. It’s surreal popping back in here. I don’t even know who won the battle. For all I know, our side lost, and everyone I’ve grown to care about during the last six months died.”
Richard felt a small hand on his shoulder. He looked up. It was Tam.
“I’m sorry, Rick,” said Tam. “I can’t begin to imagine.”
His three friends looked at each other as if avoiding his gaze.
Suspicious, Richard s
aid, “What am I missing?”
“Ah…,” said Jerad. “I hate to be the one to break it to you, but if you’ve been gone six months like you say, you probably don’t remember.”
“Remember what?” Richard said as he tried to think back to what he’d been doing when ‘the One’ had teleported him out of the tent those long months ago.
“Well,” said Jerad sounding almost apologetic. “We’ve got formation in fifteen minutes. Then we’re going to the airfield for our final testing in U.H.A.A.V.s.”
A flood of memories rushed through Richard’s mind. U.H.A.A.V.s were Ultra-Heavy Ambulatory Assault Vehicles, or ‘cats’ as the soldiers called them. They were the primary ground-assault armor for most of the advanced civilizations in the galaxy. Their nickname, cats, came from their inventor and chief architect, Catherine ‘Cat’ Belyakov.
His cohort had been transferred from the main Academy area to an airfield out in the desert and given three weeks of familiarization training in the armored vehicles. Richard only vaguely remembered the classes. He remembered he’d just been getting the hang of piloting the cats when ‘the One’ had sent him on his mission. Not that he’d been very good at piloting the more advanced cats. Richard’s previous experience with heavy armor consisted of riding in troop-carrying cats on a handful of occasions during assignments in marine recon. Until the Academy had started the cadets’ heavy-armor training three weeks ago, Richard had never actually tried to pilot a cat. He hadn’t been alone in his inexperience. Most of the cadets in his cohort had never been behind the controls of the metal behemoths.
With sizes ranging from the three-meter-high Warcat scout to the ten-meter-tall Leviathan, the multi-legged, weapons-packed, armored-attack vehicles were difficult for even experienced pilots to maneuver. The only saving grace for Richard and most of the other cadets had been that their battle computers were allowed to assist them in controlling their cats when the need arose.
However, some of the cadets in his cohort who had previous experience in armor had been able to run circles around infantry types like him. Jerad, for instance, was an expert at cats. Before coming to the Academy, his friend had been in a heavy-armor unit. Richard remembered hearing that Jerad had started off as an enlisted man before earning a field promotion to lieutenant. After that, he’d served in every position from platoon leader all the way to battalion commander. From the few stories Richard had been able to pry out of his friend, Jerad had piloted just about every type of cat in the Empire’s inventory.
“Formation in fifteen?” Richard said. “That’s just great. I’m not even sure I remember how to drive a cat much less fight in it. And to top it off, I’m starved. Do I have time to go to the mess hall?”
Jerad shook his head no. “Sorry, buddy. We just got back from breakfast before you popped out of here.”
Richard groaned.
“Why don’t you just grab something out of that high-fangled pack of yours, Rick?” suggested Tam. “You can grab me a protein bar while you’re at it. Only the Creator knows when TAC Officer Myers will let us eat next.”
Normally, Richard would have jumped at Tam’s idea. The dimensional pack on his back was a unique item he’d been issued during his freshman year at the Academy. With it, he could summon almost anything he could think of if he had the Power. Unfortunately, he didn’t always have the Power. This was one of those times.
“Can’t,” Richard said. “My Power reserve’s empty. I need a few minutes to recharge.”
“Then get used to being hungry,” said Tam her eyes twinkling. “TAC Officer Myers wants everybody in their physical training outfits. I don’t think he’d appreciate you showing up in your battle suit.”
Richard had no doubt Tam was right. TAC Officer Myers had been riding his case ever since Richard had arrived at the Academy. Myers appeared to dislike him as much as he disliked his TAC officer.
“No doubt,” Richard said as he began stripping off his battle suit. “It never ends, does it?”
The moment Richard began to undo his pants, Telsa said, “Well, I guess that’s our cue.”
“Yeah, Rick,” said Tam laughing. “You’re not all that good looking, buddy, regardless of what you apparently think. See you later, guys.”
After Telsa and Tam exited the tent, Richard continued stripping off his battle suit. “What’s with them? They’ve seen me naked before.”
Jerad laughed. “Yeah, so have I, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy it. Besides, it’s one thing when we’re in a community shower. I guess they figure it’s different when they’re in a small tent with a man stripping off his clothes.”
“Whatever,” Richard said using his word for ending a conversation when he didn’t want to talk about something any longer.
“Five minutes!” came a shout from outside the tent. “Let’s go, cadets!”
* * *
The morning dragged by. Once Richard and his cohort left the tent-cantonment area, their TAC officers took them on a ten-kilometer run before taking them back to the airfield for their testing in cats.
The airfield was located in the desert two hundred kilometers south of the main Academy area back in Velounia, the capital of the planet Velos. Other than being a hot and miserable place for cadets to train, Richard saw no reason for the Academy’s airfield to be located where it was. As far as he could tell, someone had marked an X on the ground and bulldozed anything green as far as the eye could see. The airfield consisted of thirty-two massive hangars situated in a horseshoe shape around an asphalt runway. The U.H.A.A.V.s were stored in the hangars.
After their run, the hundred and twenty-four cadets in Richard’s junior cohort were gathered inside hangar 1. Every few minutes, their TAC officers called off the names of eight cadets. Those cadets were then divided into two quads of four cadets each and assigned to cats for their final urban training.
As the day wore on, Richard waited for his name to be called. So did Tam, Telsa, and Jerad. While they waited together, his friends tried to give him a refresher course in piloting cats.
“Your best bet is to get assigned to one of the smaller cats,” Jerad said. “If you remember, piloting one of them is like wearing an oversized battle suit. If you’re unlucky and get put in one of the larger cats, try and let your battle computer help you as much as possible. Don’t worry about most of the controls. All you’ll need for this test is the steering mechanism and weapons. If you’re lucky, whoever you’re against will be just as inept at piloting a cat as you are.”
“Thanks for the words of confidence, buddy,” Richard said.
“Try to get a Warcat if you can,” said Jerad ignoring Richard’s interruption. “It’s your best chance to win your fight. You don’t want to give Myers an excuse to put you on extra duty this weekend. You do remember we’re going to the Fleet Admiral’s Ball don’t you.”
Richard had forgotten until Tam had reminded him earlier. Before ‘the One’ had sent him on his mission, Richard remembered he’d been looking forward to spending the long weekend with his friends in Velounia. He remembered Jerad had somehow acquired eight invitations to the Fleet Admiral’s Ball. His friend had given two invitations each to Telsa, Tam, and him with strict instructions not to come alone. Richard remembered he’d been fortunate in that the destroyer Blaze was currently in orbit above Velos. His friend, Liz, was second officer of the speedy starship. Richard had invited her as his guest. Tam had also reminded him that he was supposed to meet Liz tomorrow afternoon at the spaceport in Velounia. After what he’d been through the last six months, Richard was looking forward to a break. And, he desperately wanted to see Liz again. He needed to see her.
Richard nodded his head at Jerad. “Yeah, I remember. And even Myers isn’t going to keep me from going this time.”
Jerad laughed and patted Richard on the back. “That’s the spirit, cadet.”
* * *
The hours passed until only Tam, Telsa, Jerad, and Richard were left in the hangar. Finally, he heard his number
called.
“Cadet 832,” said a squat, toad-faced man dressed in the silver and black of an Intergalactic Wizard Scout Academy TAC officer. He was TAC Officer Gaston Myers.
“You’ll be in the Tomcat on the red team,” said TAC Officer Myers. “Sergeant Ron will be waiting for you in hangar 32 to issue you your equipment. And, I better not hear you gave Sergeant Ron any of your lip. If he says jump, the only thing out of your mouth should be to ask how high.”
Sergeant Ron was the Academy’s chief of maintenance. He was an older man who was a little on the unconventional side, but Richard liked him anyway.
When Richard didn’t answer his TAC officer fast enough, TAC Officer Myers said, “Do you understand, cadet?”
“Sir! Yes, sir!” Richard said as he switched from parade rest to a stiff attention.
“Cadets 147, 303, and 422,” TAC Officer Myers said to Jerad, Telsa, and Tam respectively. “The three of you will be on the blue team. Sergeant Hendricks will issue your U.H.A.A.V.s when you get to hangar 2. Any questions?”
“Sir! No, sir!” said the three cadets as they snapped to attention as well.
Richard risked a glance out the corner of his eye at his three friends. He had assumed since the four of them were the last of the cadets, they’d be in a two-against-two scenario. Obviously, he’d been wrong. Richard caught Jerad’s eyes.
Wizard Scout (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 3) Page 2
