Jerad’s holding fire until you close the distance, said Nickelo. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?
No, Richard said honestly. But I’m doing what I think’s best.
When Richard was twenty meters from the Warcat, he sensed increased energy from the back of the Warcat’s weapon’s pod.
This is it, Richard said as the anti-armor missile raced out of the weapon’s pod heading straight towards him.
Richard moved the Tomcat’s right arm forward as he dodged to the left. The end of the disconnected third leg hit the head of the missile. It exploded in a blast of blue paint. Half of the Tomcat’s disconnected tail was covered in blue paint. However, very little of the paint had touched the Tomcat. He continued running towards the Warcat as it pulled back around the corner.
Jerad didn’t move fast enough. When Richard reached the corner of the building, he slung the disconnected tail low around the corner and pulled back. Richard felt resistance and heard a thud. A moment later, one of the Warcat’s legs appeared around the corner entangled by a loop of the Tomcat’s disconnected tail.
“You’re getting slow in your old age, Jerad,” Richard said over the Tomcat’s external speakers. Richard jumped on the prone Warcat’s back. He reached into the Warcat’s exhaust and pulled out a claw full of engine parts. The Warcat stopped moving. Richard rolled the Warcat onto its back and looked into its cockpit. A small figure in a battle suit was inside.
“Nice going, Rick” said a feminine voice over the Warcat’s external speakers. “The only problem is I’m not Jerad.”
Richard felt a weight hit the back of his Tomcat.
An unknown lifeform of two hundred and twenty kilos has attached itself to your back, said Nickelo.
Richard had no doubt Nickelo knew the identity of the lifeform as well as he did. It could only be Jerad. Dressed in his battle suit, Jerad would weigh one hundred and eighty kilos. Richard feared the extra forty kilos was a magnetic anti-armor mine.
If he’d been in real combat, Richard would have slammed the Tomcat’s back into the side of the building in hopes of crushing the attacker. But this wasn’t combat, and Richard had no wish to hurt his friend.
The weight on Richard’s back diminished by a hundred and eighty kilos. Richard twisted his head and caught a glimpse of a figure in a black battle suit diving around the corner of the building.
Boom!
A wall of blue paint erupted around the Tomcat and covered the cockpit window. All Richard could see was blue.
Richard laughed to himself and muttered, “Good job, Jerad. Good job.”
* * *
“Good job, blue team,” said TAC Officer Myers. “You showed initiative and thinking outside the box. Cadet 147, abandoning the Kraken and proceeding on foot over the top of the building was unorthodox. However, it showed an aptitude for creativity worthy of a wizard scout. You’ll be taking over as your cohort’s first sergeant when you return from your three day pass.”
TAC Officer Myers walked to Richard’s front until he was only a hand’s breath from Richard.
“And you, cadet 832,” said TAC Officer Myers. “You would’ve been dead a half dozen times in actual combat. The controllers cut you some slack by allowing you to continue on to the end of the training scenario. But it doesn’t matter. As I expected, you lost. What’s your excuse this time?”
“Sir! No excuse, sir!” Richard said. Cadets never had an excuse as far as TAC officers were concerned.
“You bet there’s no excuse,” TAC Officer Myers said. “Well, your high-level friends aren’t going to help you this time, cadet. You’ll report to Sergeant Ron at the motor pool bright and early tomorrow morning. You’ll clean every cat to his satisfaction if it takes all weekend. Do you understand, cadet?”
“Sir! Yes, sir,” Richard said.
“Then get out of my face, cadet,” said TAC Officer Myers. “You’re fouling my air. All of you get out of my hangar now before I have every one of you on extra duty.”
Four pairs of feet wasted no time in exiting out the door of hangar 1. Once they were outside, the four cadets slowed to a more reasonable pace.
“Tough luck, Rick,” said Jerad. “I really mean that.”
“No problem, Jerad,” Richard said. “You got me good. I was convinced Telsa was in the Kraken. I assume you purposely drove it erratically to fool me.”
“Sometimes it pays to act like you’re less capable than you are, Rick,” said Jerad. “I figured you’d put mines in the intersection before I could reach it.”
“You were right,” Richard said. He laughed. “I was sure you’d be in the Warcat. I figured you’d put Telsa in the Kraken.”
“Why?” said Telsa sounding a little indignant. “Because I’m a female? That’s the same attitude Jerad had.”
“Yeah,” said Tam. “Jerad tried to tell us he was taking the Warcat. Ha, like he’s in charge or something. We set him straight real quick, didn’t we, Telsa.”
“You bet,” laughed Telsa. “We made Jerad draw straws. He lost and got stuck with the most powerful cat.”
Richard smiled. Telsa and Tam were typical of the attitude of most wizard scout cadets. They didn’t put up with gender bias in any shape or form. During his two years at the pre-Academy, and the three years of training at the Academy, Richard’s attitude towards women had changed. As far as he was concerned now, whoever was best suited for a task was who should do it. Gender didn’t matter. Jerad, on the other hand, was old school. He occasionally thought of females as the gentler sex who needed to be protected. Telsa and Tam were often forced to give Jerad an attitude adjustment.
“Well, your maneuver worked,” Richard said. “And, Tam, you almost got me as well. I didn’t consider you might lie down on your back to get more elevation for your cannon. Good idea.”
Tam didn’t say anything. She could be a hard case sometimes. However, Richard thought he saw a slight smile lift the corners of her lips at his praise. One thing Jerad had taught him over the years was that well-deserved praise cost very little. Good leaders could use it to help keep their unit motivated and functioning smoothly. Richard wasn’t anybody’s leader, and he didn’t want to be. But, he didn’t mind giving praise when it was deserved.
“Well, enough patting each other on the backs,” said Telsa. “Let’s see if we can con Sergeant Ron or Sergeant Hendricks into giving us a ride back to our tents. The last hover-bus stopped running thirty minutes ago.”
“Agreed,” said Tam. “I’ve got a date that won’t wait. I’m so ready for this three day pass, it isn’t even funny.”
Chapter 6 – The Visitor
_____________________________________
Sergeant Hendricks stopped the truck outside the perimeter of the tent compound the junior cohort was using as their temporary barracks.
“Thanks for the lift, Sergeant Hendricks,” said Jerad. “It’s much appreciated.”
Tam, Telsa, and Richard echoed Jerad’s comments.
Richard started walking away from the truck in the direction of the tents.
“Hold on, cadets,” said Sergeant Hendricks. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Without giving any of the cadets time enough to answer, Sergeant Hendricks said, “Your battle suits and helmets need to go back in the armory. What’d you think you were going to do? Take them with you on your three day pass?”
“I assumed they’d stay stowed in our tents,” said Jerad. “That’s where we’ve been keeping them for the past three weeks. It’s guarded.”
“Well, you assumed wrong, cadet 147,” said Sergeant Hendricks. “The new rule is all cadet equipment must be stored in the armory when not being used for actual training. It came straight from the Imperial High Command earlier today. Security is being increased all across the board on Velos for some reason. So hand the stuff over, cadets.”
Richard and his friends stripped off their battle suits and put on their cadet jumpsuits, boots, and hats instead. Once they were finished,
they handed their battle suits and helmets to Sergeant Hendricks.
“And in case you’re wondering,” said Sergeant Hendricks, “your TAC officers removed all your utility belts and weapons out of your tents earlier today. That includes your fancy knife and pack, cadet 832.”
Richard groaned. He’d hoped they would forget about his dimensional pack since it wasn’t standard issue. With it, he could summon almost any item he could imagine within certain limitations. First, the more technologically advanced an item, the more Power it took to summon the item. Second, whoever or whatever controlled the dimensional pack sometimes made exceptions to the rules. Unfortunately, the rules fluctuated sometimes which made it frustrating to figure out what he could summon with the pack. But his dimensional pack had been a life saver several times, and Richard hated to lose it.
Once Sergeant Hendricks had all their gear stored in his truck, he waved and said, “Enjoy your passes cadets. I hear your training is going to get even harder starting next week.”
Just before he drove off, Sergeant Hendricks stuck his head out of the truck and hollered, “Oh, and cadet 832. Don’t forget to report to hangar 1 at first light. Sergeant Ron’s going to be there to issue your cleaning equipment. Tough luck, old boy.”
Sergeant Hendricks gave Richard a look that seemed to say, ‘I’m sorry about that’. Then he drove off.
The security on the arms room will prevent us from communicating, Rick, came a thought from Nickelo. So please try to stay out of trouble.
I’ll do my best, Richard said. I guess I’ll see you next week. Play nice with the other battle computers.
You know they’re prevented from communicating with me unless the central computer provides a special security interface, said Nickelo. I get bored to tell the truth.
Hmm, Richard said. Why don’t you see if you can figure out a way to contact me while you’re in the armory? After all, secured vaults like the armory are intended to prevent things outside from trying to get in. Maybe there’s a weak spot on the inside. At the very least, it might keep that nanosecond brain of yours busy.
Is that an order, wizard scout? said Nickelo sounding excited. Current security protocols built into the battle helmet prevent me from attempting to breach Empire security. I require an override from my wizard scout to do so.
Then consider that an order, Nick, Richard said. Bust whatever security protocols you think reasonable. I’ll leave it up to you. I trust you.
Complying, said Nickelo with what sounded like increasing excitement. I won’t let you down.
Once the truck was out of sight, Tam said, “Well, you boys go do your thing. Telsa and I have a double date tonight. Jerad, we’ll meet you tomorrow afternoon at the spaceport.”
“Oh, and Rick,” said Telsa as she placed her hand sympathetically on his shoulder. “We really are sorry. I know you wanted to see Liz.”
“Thanks, Telsa,” Richard said. “Go have fun, guys. I mean that. I suppose it’s better for just one person to get stuck on extra duty instead of three. It’s just as well. I’d bet a month’s pay, assuming I actually got paid, that TAC Officer Myers would’ve found another reason to cancel my weekend pass even if I had won our little encounter.”
“That’s the spirit, Rick,” laughed Telsa with a playful punch on Richard’s arm. “Look on the bright side of things.”
“Let’s go, Telsa,” said Tam. “I’m already beautiful, but you’re going to take some work.”
“Ha!” said Telsa. “You wish. Your parents told me you were so ugly when you were a child they had to tie a bone around your neck to get your pet pactar to play with you.”
“I’ll ugly you,” said Tam. “If I get my hands on you, I’ll pull out half your hair. Then we’ll find out how your date likes dancing with a bald woman.”
Telsa took off running for the females’ section of the tent city with Tam close behind.
“For someone so short, Telsa sure can run,” Jerad laughed.
“I’d be running too,” Richard said. “Tam can be dangerous if you get her riled.”
“That she can,” agreed Jerad. “But you know they’re joking, right? Sometimes I think you have trouble telling.”
“Of course, I know they’re joking,” Richard said. At least, he was pretty sure Tam was joking.
Richard and Jerad watched until their two friends turned the corner of the tents and were lost from sight.
“Just think, I’m going to have to deal with that all by myself this weekend,” said Jerad as he led the way to the males’ section of the tents. “See why I wanted you there, Rick.”
“Well, I’ll be thinking about you, Jerad,” Richard said. “Come to think of it, maybe I’m getting the better part of the deal after all. I think the Academy’s cats are more mature than Tam and Telsa sometimes.”
“Maybe you’ll get the cats cleaned faster than you think, Rick,” said Jerad. “If you finish in time, try to meet us at the spaceport tomorrow afternoon. I want to introduce you to someone.”
“I was supposed to meet Liz at the spaceport at 1400 hours tomorrow,” Richard said. “Do you think you can make my apologies to Liz? You know Myers won’t let me even make a call while I’m on extra duty.”
“Consider it done, Rick,” said Jerad. “Tam, Telsa, and I will be there anyway.”
“I’m curious, Jerad,” Richard said. “How’d you manage to finagle eight invitations to the Fleet Admiral’s Ball? I heard there are ship’s captains orbiting Velos who didn’t get an invitation.”
“Ask me no questions, and I’ll tell you no lies, Rick,” said Jerad with a smile. “I keep telling you, it pays to have friends.”
“So you do, Jerad,” Richard said. “I’m coming to appreciate that more the longer I’m around you guys.”
Since he shared a tent with Jerad, Richard refrained from making any more comments about his friend’s weekend plans until it was time for Jerad to leave. Richard hated goodbyes. They were always awkward, and they left him uncomfortable. Richard was the first to admit he still had room for improvement in his social skills.
Richard made a silent promise not to let the bitterness he felt towards his TAC officer mar his friend’s weekend pass. He reminded himself if the situation was reversed, his friends would be telling him to enjoy himself and not to worry about them.
“You know, Jerad,” Richard said, “I really do hope you guys have a good ti–”
Jerad was slightly ahead of Richard. He’d just raised the flap to enter their tent prior to stepping inside. Instead of entering, Jerad began backing away from the tent.
“Woah!” said Jerad. “Maybe you’d better enter first, Rick. One of your friends is back.”
Peeking past Jerad, Richard saw a large, black bundle of fur laid out on his cot. Two red eyes opened and stared at him. The creature stood up on the cot and stretched while opening a tooth-filled mouth in a wide yawn. The creature looked similar to a large wolf back on Richard’s home planet of Earth. Richard noticed the wolf-creature was actually levitating a few centimeters above the covers of his cot.
“Tika,” Richard said. “You can’t just keep popping in like this. I’ve told you that before.”
During a mission for ‘the One’ in the spiritual dimension, Richard had been thrust into the middle of a cave full of newborn dolgar pups and their mother. In spite of the obvious differences, the mother and pups had accepted him as one of their pack. In return, he’d helped them defend their home from attack. Since that time, the wolf-looking dolgars had taken up the nasty habit of surprising him with their presence at the most inopportune times. While he’d never mentioned the dolgars or his missions for ‘the One’ in his official reports, Richard had shared the information with Tam, Telsa, Jerad, and of course, his friend, Liz.
Tika looked at Richard and sent an emotion Richard associated with the dolgar pack’s leader, Sheeta. The dolgars’ language consisted mostly of emotions accompanied by a few growls or barks. Richard had learned a few words of the dolgar l
anguage during his time with the dolgars, but he was far from proficient.
“What about Sheeta?” Richard asked the dolgar.
“Come,” said Tika with a low growl.
Richard sent an emotion which meant ‘no’.
“I’ve got things to do,” Richard said. “I can’t just leave.”
Richard was never sure how much any of the dolgars understood when he spoke using intergalactic standard. A substitute battle computer had told him last year the dolgars were slightly higher in intelligence than humans in some areas. But without a common language between Richard and the dolgars, he had a hard time telling how much they grasped. However, he couldn’t help but feel they understood what he said a lot better than he understood what they said.
“Uh, Rick,” said Jerad, “It might be best to carry on this conversation inside our tent with the flap closed. Some of the other cadets might not understand. There aren’t many cadets around right now, but there’s no use taking a risk.”
“Yeah,” Richard said. “I think you’re right. I definitely don’t think Myers would be very understanding.”
“No doubt,” laughed Jerad. “He’d probably give you more extra duty for having wolf hairs on your cot.”
Stepping inside the tent, Richard prepared to shut the flap. He noticed Jerad was still standing outside.
“Aren’t you coming in?” Richard said.
“Only if you remind your visitor I’m not food,” said Jerad only half-jokingly. “She may not remember me from her last visit.”
“Oh, she remembers you, Jerad,” Richard said smiling. “She hasn’t torn your throat out, has she? I think that’s her way of saying she likes you.”
“Yeah, right,” said Jerad not at all comforted by Richard’s assurance. “If she likes me so much, how come I feel like a thick steak with all the trimmings?”
Wizard Scout (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 3) Page 6
