“Vulture lucky commandant stopped fight,” said Stella with a strange rasping noise coming from her translator. Richard took it to be laughter. “You almost in my trap.”
“I’m sure,” Richard grinned as he picked up an overturned chair and resumed his seat.
“You’ve both learned well,” said the commandant. “But sparring is not why I brought you here tonight.”
Richard grew curious. “Then why, sir?”
“What’s the current Power level in your reserves?” asked the commander.
“I at ninety-two percent,” said Stella.
After a glance at the readout on his heads-up display, Richard said, “I’m at seventy-three percent now.”
The commandant nodded his head in approval. “Good.”
Perplexed, Richard asked, “Good, sir?”
The commandant leaned forward in his chair. “Oh, I don’t mean good in that you burned through three times as much of your Power reserve as cadet 37. But good as you’re low enough on Power to proceed with our training.”
The commandant’s answer did nothing to answer Richard’s question as far as he was concerned. His confusion must have shown on his face.
“I’ll explain shortly,” said the commandant. “But first, Rick, do you know why your reserve is lower than cadet 37’s?”
“Ah… because her Power reserve is three times as large as mine?”
The commandant smiled. “Okay. You’ve got me there. But that’s not the only reason.”
“Sir?” Richard said.
The commandant turned in his chair to face Stella. “Cadet 37, do you know why?”
“Vulture tried to slow down blows with telekinesis, sir,” answered Stella with a smug-looking smile. “I too strong. Battle suit too strong. Take too much Power. Not efficient. Sir!”
Now that he had time to think about it, Richard knew his friend was right. The commandant had told him several times during previous training sessions that slowing down an opponent’s blows was almost as expensive in Power usage as levitation. Given that Stella was so big and her battle suit that much stronger, it had cost him dearly in Power.”
The commandant smiled his approval. “Precisely, cadet 37.”
Richard noticed Stella’s chest turn an even darker gray.
“But in our case, Rick, your inefficient use of Power worked to our advantage,” said the commandant.
Richard didn’t see how, but he continued to listen patiently. He’d noticed over the past three weeks the commandant occasionally liked to stretch out the suspense.
“Have either of you seen someone transfer Power to somebody else?” asked the commandant.
Richard perked up instantly. The commandant had his full attention.
“I not, sir,” said Stella.
“I have, sir,” Richard said. “I’ve seen several magic users feed Power to other magic users to strengthen their spells. Also, TAC Officer Myers transferred Power into your reserve while I was healing you in hangar 1.”
Looking a little uncomfortable with the subject of his healing, the commandant said, “Oh. I’d forgotten about that. But yes. Many magic users and even some wizard scouts can transfer Power to someone else’s reserve or even directly to the other person.”
The commandant directed his attention to Stella. “What I’m going to ask you, cadet 37, is purely voluntary. I completely understand if you don’t want to help.”
“I help, sir,” said Stella.
“Ah… hear me out before you decide,” said the commandant. “You may change your mind.”
“I listen, sir,” said Stella.
Richard looked from the commandant to Stella and back to the commandant. Both of their expressions seemed serious. The intensity of Stella’s look reflected his own interest in where the commandant was going.
The commandant gave a tightlipped smile as if trying to lighten the mood. “We’re fresh out of magic users for our demo, so that leaves us with wizard scouts.”
Richard hardly breathed. After several near-death experiences when he’d run out of Power, he was anxious to hear what the commandant was proposing. Richard noticed the commandant’s eyes twinkling.
He’s enjoying this, Richard thought.
“Only wizard scouts who are diviners can transfer Power,” said the commandant. “And, only one out of a thousand wizard scout cadets are diviners.
The commandant pointed at Richard. “You’re a diviner because you specialize in everything. Why and how I don’t know. But you are.”
The commandant touched his right hand to his chest. “I’m also a diviner… among other things. Unfortunately, although I hate to admit it, my Power reserve is no long structurally sound enough to transfer Power. If I tried, I’d probably rupture my reserve.”
Richard saw a strange look pass over the commandant’s face. Richard could only guess at how much it cost the commandant emotionally to admit his weakness.
I don’t ever want to grow old, Richard thought.
Nickelo intruded upon Richard’s thoughts. If you don’t shut up and listen, you might get your wish. Pay attention.
“Rick, due to your… err… incompatibility with TAC Officer Myers, I hesitated to ask him to assist with this phase of your training.”
Richard said a silent thank you. The last thing he wanted was to be around his TAC officer.
“Thankfully, cadet 37 is also a diviner,” said the commandant.
“I help, sir,” said Stella. “Rick my friend. What I do?”
The commandant nodded his head at Stella in thanks. “In order to transfer Power,” he explained, “a diviner must attach a one-way link to the recipient. Then assuming the recipient doesn’t block the link, the diviner draws Power from his or her reserve and sends it to the recipient.”
“A one-way link, sir?” Richard asked. He’d never heard of such a thing. “What’s that?”
The commandant smiled. “You should know, Rick. You already have one attached to you.”
He must be talking about the link the elf Shandria attached when she was training you, said Nickelo with an air of smugness.
Richard absentmindedly nodded his head in agreement. He could still sense the link where Shandria had blocked it off after she’d finished his training. The link was still there. As Shandria had explained it, Power links were forever. They could be blocked off, but they couldn’t be removed.
“That’s a dead link, sir,” Richard said. “It goes nowhere. The elf Shandria died almost a hundred thousand years ago.”
“Maybe so,” said the commandant. “But it’s still there. And I sense it’s heavily trapped. Are they yours?”
“Uh, no sir,” Richard said. “I wasn’t all that good at the time. Shandria blocked the link off.”
The commandant shrugged his shoulders. “No matter. The important thing is it’s a one-way link. I want you both to look at it. And, Rick, make sure your natural resistance doesn’t attack cadet 37.”
Early on at the Academy, Richard had been identified as a resistor. His Power automatically tried to defend him from perceived attacks. His resistor ability was what prevented him from being healed by normal healers.
Richard sensed Stella send a tentative active scan towards Shandria’s link. As it drew near, Richard felt his own Power begin to react. He reined in his Power. Stella’s probe began to lightly touch the link.
Too bad I can’t rein in my Power when someone’s trying to heal me, Richard thought.
Don’t worry about it, said Nickelo. In a few days, you’ll be able to selfheal. It won’t matter then.
Richard sensed a line of Power from the commandant join Stella’s. The two lines merged together, and the commandant began guiding the combined scan along the link.
“Notice how the link is formed,” said the commandant. “The formation of the link insures Power can only be sent from the giver to the recipient. The elf who created the link could give Richard Power, but she couldn’t draw Power from him.”
A
thought occurred to Richard. “Sir, are you implying I could have drawn Power from Shandria?”
“Actually,” said the commandant, “you could have sucked the elf dry. She must have trusted you very much to give you that much control over her.”
“I didn’t know,” Richard admitted.
“Well,” said the commandant, “you can bet the elf did.”
Richard had no time to consider the implications. The elf Shandria was long dead and turned to dust. Still, her trust in him, even if he hadn’t known it, was humbling.
“Here’s my request, cadet 37,” said the commandant. “Would you be willing to attach a one-way link to Rick so I can demonstrate how it works? I doubt he’ll have much use for the technique in our dimension what with wizard scout diviners being so rare. However, it might come in handy in the magical dimension.”
“Link always there?” said Stella dubiously.
“Yes,” admitted the commandant. “The link will always be there. It can’t be destroyed once it’s created.”
The commandant gave Stella a few seconds to stew the matter over before adding, “Of course, you could block the link after the demo so Rick can’t draw Power from you without your approval.”
When Stella didn’t reply, the commandant said, “And like I said, I understand if you’d rather not help. I wish I could do it, but I can’t.”
“I help,” said Stella. “But Rick must teach me to block links.”
“It’s a deal,” Richard said. He wasn’t sure he’d have done the same if he was in Stella’s shoes. Stella was his friend, but to be that trusting went against the grain.
Another thought hit Richard. “So the link will always be hanging there?”
“Yes,” said the commandant. “That’s a reason you probably don’t want to do this too often. Imagine having the link of a dead friend always out there as a constant reminder of your loss.”
Richard didn’t have to imagine it. Shandria’s link was already a constant reminder that he’d lost a good friend and companion.
* * *
A few short minutes after Stella’s agreement, the commandant guided her in creating and attaching a one-way link to Richard. At the same time, the commandant showed Richard how to determine it was a one-way link. He also guided Richard through the process of preventing unwanted links from being attached. Once Stella attached her link to Richard, she transferred Power to him.
Richard looked at the readout on his heads-up display. His Power reserve was back at one hundred percent.
“Sir,” Richard said. “It feels strange receiving Power from Stella. Her frequency is different. Will that cause any problems in usage?”
“Not that I know of,” said the commandant. “Like I said, you’ll probably only use the technique in the magical dimension.”
“Sir?” said Nickelo over the battle helmet’s external speakers.
“Ah,” said the commandant. “I was wondering how long it would take for one of you battle computers to get in the conversation.”
“Yes, sir,” said Nickelo.
Richard noticed his battle computer was being unnaturally respectful.
“You keep stressing one-way links, sir,” said Nickelo. “This implies there are other types of links. That information is not in my databanks.”
“Good point,” said the commandant. “The answer is yes, there are other types. Magic users can trade one-way links. So can elves. The setup would basically be like a divided highway with traffic going in opposite directions.”
“What about a single two-way link, sir?” said Nickelo.
“I’ve never seen one,” said the commandant. “But I’ve heard very powerful magic users can use them. I’m not sure it would have any advantage though.”
“Sir,” Richard said attempting to get in on the conversation. “Can I create a one-way link setup to only pull Power in my direction?”
“Are you asking if you can steal Power, Rick?” said the commandant. “Hmm. The Oracle once told me some high-level demons could do such a thing. I doubt us mere mortals have the capability.”
“Oh,” Richard said. “I was just wondering.”
“I’m sure you were,” said the commandant. “But that ability is not as desirable as it sounds. If you attached such a link and drew Power from someone, you’d probably have to kill them as well. You know magic users and other wizard scouts consider it an act of war to scan their links without permission. And once you killed them, the link would still be there hanging out in space for eternity. I think it would take a large emotional toll on a person after a while.”
Richard nodded his head, but he wasn’t convinced. He was tired of always running out of Power. Having a few dead-end links hanging around didn’t seem like that large of a price.
“I want to thank you, cadet 37,” said the commandant. “You’ve been a big help. And now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to Rick in private for a few minutes.”
Taking the not so subtle hint, Stella stood up and said, “I go now.”
“The snack bar is still open downstairs,” said the commandant. “Get what you want and have it put on my tab. Rick can meet you there when we’re done.”
“I have credits, sir,” protested Stella.
“I’m sure you do,” said the commandant. “And you’ll be rolling in the credits once you graduate and get five years of back pay. But for now, I’m buying. No arguments.”
“Sir! Yes, sir,” said Stella.
Stella gave a rare salute and left the office. Richard hoped the commandant kept him long enough for his friend to finish eating. He liked Stella, but watching her down a handful of squirming worms was not all that appealing.
Once Stella was gone, the commandant said, “Hand me your dimensional pack, Rick.”
“Yes, sir,” Richard said as he rose to fetch his dimensional pack from the credenza where he’d left it.
“What’re you doing?” said the command in a surprisingly harsh tone.
Richard wondered if he’d done something wrong.
“Sir!” Richard said automatically reverting to cadet speak. “This cadet is going to get my dimensional pack as requested. Sir!”
The commandant smiled. He responded in a much more relaxed tone. “I know what you were doing, Rick. I want to know why you’re walking over to get your pack.”
Richard wasn’t exactly sure what the commandant wanted. Both Chief Instructor Winslow and the commandant were always stressing efficient use of Power.
Richard shrugged his shoulders and wrapped Power around his dimensional pack.
“What’re you doing?” said the commandant switching once again to a harsh tone.
Completely confused at this point, Richard froze in place.
“Err… sir,” Richard stammered. “Ah… I thought you we’re hinting I should levitate my pack to me.”
This time the commandant laughed. Richard thought he had a friendly laugh for an old man. That is if you could call someone who looked like they were in their late twenties old.
The commandant raised his hands as if in surrender. “Sorry, Rick. I couldn’t resist.” He laughed again.
“Watch this,” said the commandant. “My dimensional pack is in my locker over there.”
Richard looked in the direction indicated by the commandant. A high-security brerellium plated locker stood upright by the far wall. He’d never seen it in the office before. Its door was closed.
The commandant held out his hand. His dimensional pack suddenly appeared in the air within arm’s reach. The commandant reached out and grabbed it.
Richard sat up in his seat. He’d sensed no Power usage from the commandant.
“How?” Richard said so amazed he forgot to even say sir. “Teleportation?”
“Actually, Rick,” admitted the commandant, “I’ve never figured out the mechanics. Margery says it’s some kind of self-generated dimensional shift. The end result is I can summon items I have previously tagged with my Power.”
“Tagged, sir?” Richard said remembering his military courtesy.
“You can sense Power frequencies, correct?” said the commandant.
“Yes, sir,” Richard said. “Everything has its own frequency.”
With an approving nod of his head, the commandant continued with his explanation. “Correct. Even non-living things have at least a residual amount of Power.”
Nick, Richard thought. Do you see where he’s headed?
Just listen, Rick, said Nickelo. You’ll learn a lot more in life if you just listen.
Richard returned his concentration back to the commandant.
“I previously used some of my Power to tag my dimensional pack,” explained the commandant. “I basically summoned my Power back to me. My dimensional pack came with it.”
Intrigued, Richard said, “So you can summon items, sir?”
“Any item I have previously tagged with my Power,” said the commandant. “The larger the item, the more Power it takes to tag it.”
Something didn’t sound right to Richard. He hesitated to express his doubt to the commandant.
Nick, Richard thought. Something had to provide the Power to transport the pack. How much Power do you think it takes to tag something?
Why are you asking me, Rick? said Nickelo It’s not in my databanks, and I’m not connected to the tele-network.
Aren’t you in contact with Jonathan? Richard said hoping he’d caught his battle computer in a mistake.
We’re both working on decrypting the Crosioian scout’s battle computer, said Nickelo. I’m not wasting our precious processor time finding information which you can figure out if you just listen to the commandant.
Fine, Richard said. I’ll ask the commandant.
As it turned out, he didn’t have to ask.
“You may be wondering what supplies the Power for the summons,” said the commandant.
“Yes, sir,” Richard admitted. “I didn’t sense any Power leaving you.”
“No, you didn’t,” said the commandant. “I think the best way to explain is to show you.”
“I’d like that, sir,” Richard said.
Wizard Scout (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 3) Page 35
