“Wise decision,” said Nickelo. “They may need to be in close proximity to the human crew for a long time.”
Richard looked away from the meeting on the stern long enough to glance at his elven comrades. “Everyone’s in bad shape. I think the elves’ spirits are nearly as battered as their armor.”
“Can you blame them? There were twenty-eight in their party yesterday. Now they are down to fifteen counting Amir and you. Several of the elves had to kill one of their friends when they turned into vampires. I calculate that would get anyone down.”
The memory of having to cut off Sergeant Thornbriar’s head flashed in Richard’s mind. “You don’t have to explain how they feel to me. Believe me. I know.”
“I’m sure you think you do, but I will dwell no more on the subject. The big question now is, what are you going to do?”
“Me?” Richard looked back at the huddled elves and the sloop’s captain on the aft deck. “I’d say it’s more a case of what’s Mia and the mages going to do. I’m just along for the ride.”
“If you seriously think that, then we are in worse trouble than I calculated. My recommendation is that you take charge of the situation and make things happen.”
“What things? I was dumped in the middle of the desert with most of my memory gone. I’ve been wandering around this Creator-forsaken place getting into fights I didn’t start and nearly getting killed for who knows what reason. I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. Just how do you suggest I go about making things happen?”
“That is for you to decide, Wizard Scout. I am just your battle computer.”
Richard was about to make a snide comment when he noticed Freestrod standing above him. The old mage squatted down and leaned his staff across his shoulders. He stared at the bundle of leather setting on the deck next to Richard’s knee.
Having removed his battle helmet at dawn when it became light enough to see, Richard had set both the helmet and utility belt on top of his brother’s old battle suit.
The old mage pointed at the gear and spoke in pretty decent intergalactic standard. “Commander Astradis told me that he gave you the equipment from the first display case that broke. I take it for granted you cracked open all of the cases somehow.”
Unsure how to respond, Richard opted for the truth. “I did.”
The old man gave a half-smile and rubbed his chin. “One day we shall have to discuss how you accomplished that feat when you have almost no Power available. Today, I am more interested in this equipment of yours.”
Looking down at the pile of leather, Richard shook his head. “It’s not mine. I think it belonged to someone I once knew.”
“Yet you wore the helmet and wielded the sword of red fire,” insisted the mage.
“It’s still not mine.” He looked out across the bow.
Amir sat on the other side of the bow’s deck, eyeing Richard.
Richard looked around for the rest of his team. Skylark and Grapeon sat on a crate near the middeck. Minsk was nowhere to be seen.
“You know where Minsk is,” said Nickelo. “His body is back in the dwarves’ treasure room along with the other elves that fell. I saw Tracer cut his head off.”
Richard had seen the same thing out the corner of his eye, but he’d been avoiding thinking about it. He’d been trying to avoid thinking about a lot of things he’d seen during the night.
Amir got up and walked over to squat near Master Freestrod, then pointed at the pile of gear. “I too saw you wearing that helmet.” His eyes narrowed. “I’ve seen something like it before. The red glow in front of the wearer’s face is not a thing that’s easy to forget.”
Picking up the battle helmet, Richard tossed it to Amir. The big man caught it with one hand. He barely looked at it. His eyes stayed fixed on Richard.
“The red glow you saw is a night-vision filter,” Richard said, growing suspicious of the big man’s sudden interest. “It helps the wearer see at night.” Switching to his shared space, Richard said, “What’s with him. He almost seems angry. Did I do something wrong?”
Nickelo snickered. “You often do, but in this case, I must admit I am as mystified as you.”
Amir tossed the battle helmet back.
Without taking his eyes off his teammate, Richard caught the helmet in his left hand, gripping it in such a way that he could use it for a weapon if the need arose.
“I have seen something similar to both the helmet and the sword of red fire,” Amir said in a voice that held an edge. “How is it that you know how to use them?”
Feeling as if he were standing on the edge of a deep, dark abyss, Richard weighed his answer before replying. All of the elves, including Master Freestrod, were staring at him as if waiting to hear his next words.
“I just do,” Richard said, deciding to remain as noncommittal as possible until he got a better feel for the man’s obvious anger.
Amir pointed at the helmet. “Show me. Put it on again. I want to see you in it up close.”
Richard noticed the big man tighten his grip on the handle of his sledgehammer. “I might, sometime. I don’t think now is the time or pl—”
“I said show me,” repeated Amir, clenching his teeth. “Put your gear on now, and show me how you use it.”
The elves sitting at the other side of the bow rose and made their way toward the middeck to stand near Skylark and Grapeon. As they moved, Amir stood and raised his hammer to waist level.
“Be careful,” said Nickelo. “He is still wearing his chainmail. If he attacks, you will need something besides your helmet to defend yourself.”
“Relax,” Richard said. “If he was thinking about attacking me, he’d have drawn his sword.”
Amir drew his sword with his left hand and took a fresh grip on his hammer with his right. Staring at Richard, he said, “Show me how you use it. Do it now.”
Master Freestrod had also stood when Amir did. The mage cleared his throat. “Amir, perhaps you and I should talk to the high priestess first.”
Shaking his head, Amir pointed at the pile of gear. “No. One way or the other, he is going to put on his equipment. I will know for sure, and I will know now.”
“Perhaps it might be a good idea to put on the battle suit like he says,” said Nickelo. “I am not sure what’s happening, but I would feel better if you were wearing your armor. I can help you in battle moves if you have it on.”
Amir’s demands had grown loud enough for Mia and the others at the stern to hear. They were no longer talking.
Richard noticed Mia looking at them. He made a last attempt to reason with the big man. “I told you it’s not my equipment.”
Amir’s face turned a darkening red. He gritted his teeth and raised both hammer and sword. “Are you going to put it on or not?”
Holding out both hands in a stopping motion, Richard said, “Fine. I’ll put it on.” He stood and placed the battle helmet on his head, lowering the visor so it extended to the tip of his nose. “There, are you happy?”
Amir gestured at the remaining gear with his sword. “All of it. I want to see what you look like with all of it on.”
Richard glanced at Master Freestrod.
The old elf shrugged his shoulders.
He looked at the elves standing near Skylark and Grapeon.
Skylark started to walk to the bow, but Amir pointed his hammer at her and said “No.” She reconsidered and remained where she was.
“I recommend you put your battle suit on and activate it,” said Nickelo. “I am not sure what kind of bee the man has in his bonnet, but that sledgehammer of his is dangerous. I would be more comfortable if you were wearing full armor.”
Richard was forced to agree. He’d started to think of Amir as a friend during the last couple of weeks. No longer. One look at the veins popping out on the big man’s temples washed all thoughts of friendship away. Without further argument, he removed his boots and shirt.
As he unbuckled his pants, Amir said, “What
are you doing?”
Pulling off his pants, Richard said, “That’s a battle suit. It’s a form of armor for a wizard scout. The wearer has to be bare-skinned for it to work properly.” He pulled on the battle suit’s trousers and slipped on the boots. Once the boots sealed with the trouser legs, he picked up the battle suit top and put it on. After the top meshed with the trousers, he strapped on the utility belt with its phase rod and Deloris blaster. He looked at Amir. “There. Now are you satisfied? I’ve got it on.”
The color of Amir’s face lightened, almost returning to normal. His grip on the sledgehammer and sword seemed to relax. “It’s different than I expected. I just thought…” He tightened his hold again on his hammer. “Is that all it does? It looks too thin to be armor.”
“Rick,” said Nickelo. “This is dangerous. Activate your armor. Do it now.”
The veins on Amir’s temple began showing again as the man raised his hammer to waist level. “I said, is that all it does?”
Footsteps sounded from the stern of the ship. Richard’s passive scan told him Mia and the others were on their way forward. While the sloop was small, he had a feeling something was going to happen before they got here. He didn’t understand what was going on, but one thing he knew for certain, he wasn’t going down quietly if it came to a fight.
In a calm voice, Richard said, “The suit’s in deactivated mode. Here, I’ll show you what it looks like when it’s activated.”
Although some of his memory had returned, it was still full of gaps. One thing he did remember though was how to activate a battle suit. He had a feeling he’d done it thousands of times in the past. As he thought the activation command, he grabbed the phase rod off his hip with his left hand. The helmet closed around his face and neck, sealing it with the upper part of his battle suit. The suit itself changed shape. In a split-second, the soft leather became a hardened alloy, encasing him in armor impervious to all but the strongest weapons. Thumbing the phase rod’s activate switch to stun mode, Richard waited to see what would happen. He didn’t have to wait long.
Amir’s eyes flashed fire and he roared with anger. “It was you! You murdered Glory! I’ll kill you!” Raising his hammer and sword, the big man rushed forward.
Master Freestrod twirled his hand and shouted a word Richard couldn’t make out. A green beam shot out from the old mage’s hand.
Richard sensed a line of energy reach out from Amir. It deflected the green beam into the air.
“I told you Amir was a magic user,” said Nickelo. “He must be a shaman of some type. I calculate his hammer and sword aren’t the only things you need to worry about.”
Ignoring his battle computer, Richard dodged to the left as Amir brought his hammer down. The blow missed, tearing a hole in the deck. Richard ducked beneath the man’s sword thrust and struck out with his phase rod.
For such a big man, Amir was fast. He twisted out of the phase rod’s way and shoved out with his hammer, aiming for Richard’s face. At the same time, a line of magic reached out and wrapped around Richard’s legs, tripping him to the deck.
The battle suit twisted of its own volition, causing a blow from the sledgehammer to pass through air instead of Richard’s head. He thanked the Creator that he’d instinctively given the command to override the battle suit’s safeties.
“Good thing too,” said Nickelo. “I calculate the magic in that hammer is strong enough to crack open your helmet and smash your head into bloody goo. I recommend you avoid testing my theory.”
Taking a backswing with his phase rod, Richard caught Amir on the side of his left leg just below the knee joint. The big man stumbled but succeeded in recovering at the last second. Jumping to his feet, Richard aimed a spinning side kick at Amir’s chest. Already off balance, Amir fell back against the ship’s railing and dropped his sword in an effort to catch hold of the wooden rail. His fingers slid off the wood as his momentum started to carry him over the side of the ship.
Skylark and Grapeon were running from their position near the stairs to the middeck. They lunged forward in an attempt to grab hold of their teammate before he went over the side. They were a hair too slow. Amir went over the side, followed by a splash of water shooting up into the air.
“Stop the ship!” yelled Skylark. “He’s a giant. He can’t swim.”
“He’s got his armor on,” shouted Grapeon as he looked over the side. “He’ll drown.”
“Good riddance,” said Nickelo. “He was trying to kill you, Rick. He’s getting what he deserves.”
Richard wasn’t so sure. “He said I murdered someone.” A sick feeling passed over him. Something told him he’d done a lot of terrible things during his life. He wondered if murder was one of them. No, I’m not a murderer. And I refuse to become one now.
Without waiting to consult his battle computer, Richard jumped over the railing, into the water. Sensing Amir’s life force twenty meters below and sinking faster, Richard held his breath and kicked his feet, swimming down as fast as he could.
“You do not need to hold your breath, Wizard Scout. The battle suit is a self-contained environment. I calculate you can go down a thousand meters before you’d experience problems.”
Breathing normally, Richard focused on reaching the sinking Amir. The battle suit was heavy—heavier than the big man’s chainmail. Going down fast wasn’t the problem. Going sideways was. Amir was now thirty meters to his right and ten meters below him, then five meters below, then none. All of a sudden, Richard found himself lower than Amir.
“This suit’s too heavy,” Richard told his battle computer. “I can barely swim in it. Maybe I should deactivate it.”
“Negative,” said Nickelo sounding concerned. “If you deactivate your suit, it will unseal. The two of you are already fifty meters down. You would never make it to the surface carrying Amir before you both drowned. He’s on the verge of drowning now. I calculate he has another twenty seconds of air before he’s forced to draw a breath. If you take in water, it won’t be any fun, but you won’t drown; at least not right away. Your self-heal will keep you alive until your reserve runs out of Power. Amir does not have the luxury of self-heal. When he drowns, he’ll be dead.”
Richard had a vision of the Deloris blaster levitating into his hand back in the museum. He tried to remember how he’d done it.
“That’s a good question,” said Nickelo. “You were a little busy at the time, but I monitored you drawing Power from the link you have to whoever or whatever is at the other end of the gem in your ring. If you try doing it again, maybe you can levitate yourself underwater.”
Kicking up in an attempt to reach Amir, Richard could tell it was a losing battle. He was moving up and to the side, but not fast enough to prevent Amir from drowning. With few available options, he stopped swimming and concentrated on his ring. It felt warm—warmer than usual. He sensed the link from him to whomever or whatever was on the other side of the gem. Drawing a little of the residual Power that was leaking from his reserve, he passed it down the link. In less than a heartbeat, more Power came back than he’d sent. He passed all of the Power back down the link. Again, more Power was returned than he’d sent. He wasn’t sure it was enough to do what needed to be done, but he sensed the life force in Amir growing dimmer.
It’s now or never, Richard thought.
Using the Power returned from the gem’s link, Richard wrapped it around his battle suit and willed it to move through the water, toward the drowning man. The suit moved. Within seconds, he was close enough to grab hold of Amir.
The muscles in the man’s neck were bulged out, and his eyes were opened wide. They focused on Richard for a brief second. The eyes no longer blazed with hate. They held more of a look of acceptance. Then Amir’s mouth opened, and out came a stream of bubbles. When the bubbles stopped coming out, Amir tried drawing a breath. Panic filled the man’s eyes as he began struggling in Richard’s grasp. The struggling grew less, then stopped.
“You are seventy-five
meters down and sinking faster than ever,” said Nickelo. “The sloop has stopped, but it is three hundred meters away now. If you intend to save Amir’s life, you need to get to the surface, and fast.”
Wrapping an arm around Amir’s neck, Richard kicked upward. At the same time, he used what Power remained from the link to levitate both them upward.
The water’s cold, Richard reasoned. His lungs are full of water, but he’s not dead yet. I can still sense his life force. If I can get him to the surface, maybe the elves’ medic can save him.
From the concentration of life forms overhead, Richard sensed the location of the sloop several hundred meters away. A smaller concentration of five life forms was nearly straight overhead.
“They must have launched the sloop’s dinghy,” said Nickelo. “My advice is to make for that.”
Richard was way ahead of his battle computer. Kicking hard, he broke the surface and tried forcing Amir’s head above the water. A wave pushed them both under. Again, he forced Amir’s head clear. This time hands were there to pull Amir into the ship’s dinghy. One of the seamen rolled Amir onto his back. An elf Richard recognized as the lancer’s medic cleared the big man’s airway and began pushing on his chest. One of the seamen helped Richard into the dinghy while two others began rowing with all their might. At the tiller, Lieutenant Yasland turned hard and made straight for the sloop three hundred meters away.
As he knelt on the floor of the dinghy, Richard felt useless. He watched helplessly as the medic worked on Amir. The seaman who’d helped him into the dinghy began helping the medic strip off Amir’s chainmail. Richard noticed Amir’s right hand still locked around the handle of his sledgehammer.
“Death grip,” said Nickelo. “The man’s muscles are frozen stiff. His heart is still beating, but I calculate it will stop long before the dinghy makes it to the sloop. Not that it matters. There are no healers with magic on the ship. The medic is doing the best she can, but I calculate her efforts are for naught.”
Wizard Gigantic (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 9) Page 36
